Table of Contents

Auld John; or, Grace and Debt

and other Gospel Naratives.

Auld John; or, Grace and Debt.

Just Like Him.

The "Golightly" Disaster.

What meanest thou, O sleeper?"

A Basket of Grapes.

"When He died on the cross."

"God says I am Saved."

The Ambassador's Tale.

"This is not Death; this is Victory!"

"Any Man;" or, "It Means Me."

Barabbas or Jesus?

Luke 23.

The Call of the Bride

THE BRIDEGROOM.

THE BRIDE'S "JEWELS OF SILVER."

THE BRIDE'S "JEWELS OF GOLD."

WAS HEAD OF GOD'S CREATION,

THE BRIDE'S "RAIMENT."

CHRIST, THE RAIMENT.

THE BRIDE'S DECISION.

Christ and Christianity

Colossians 1.

Earth, Heaven, and Hell

W. T. P. W.

"I Have a Message from God unto Thee."

"MESSAGE FROM GOD UNTO THEE."

W. T. P. W.

"Go to Joseph"

"JACOB'S WELL WAS THERE"

"Remember Lot's Wife"

Luke 17: 32.

A Man in Christ; and A Man of God

A Mediator and a Ransom

(CBA12,316)

Christ's Three Appearings

Three Great Facts, and Their Effects

W. T. P. W.

One Appeal More

(CBA12,316)

The Two Alexanders

(CBA12,316)

W. T. P. W.

Reciprocal Affection

Cant. 4.

Records of Grace

The Blood of Atonement.

"That which was Lost."

"Haud on, Dearie, He'll no' Shak' ye aff."

How am I Justified?

(ACTS 13: 26-52.)

"He is my Saviour."

"That's Delightful."

"He's not Put them Back on me."

"I am Going Home."

Mutual Agreement.

"Yet there is Room."

(LUKE 14: 22, 23.)

"He Stole it away in the Meeting."

"I Know I'm all Wrong."

Do you Hope, or Know, that you have Eternal Life?

"This Year thou shalt Die."

THIS YEAR THOU SHALT DIE."

A Rent Veil, A Risen Saviour, A Redeemed Sinner

Matthew 27: 35-55; Matthew 28: 1-11.

The Gospel from the book of Ruth

MEETING WITH CHRIST

REST IN CHRIST.

RELATIONSHIP TO CHRIST

God's Salvation and the Scorner's Doom

The Young Doctor

"Comfort my Mother."

A PARTING COMMISSION.

A FOOTBALL MATCH AND ITS FRUIT.

"IS THERE NOTHING TO DO BUT BELIEVE?"

"WILL HE LET ME SLIP AT THE LAST?"

"THE LORD HATH NEED OF HIM."

FOUR THINGS WORTH KNOWING.

1. JESUS MADE LORD AND CHRIST.

2. SALVATION IS IN HIS NAME.

4. THE SALVATION OF GOD IS SENT TO THE GENTILES.

GOD SAYS I AM SAVED.

THE FOUR SUPPERS.

1. THE SUPPER OF SALVATION.

2. THE SUPPER OF COMMUNION.

3. THE SUPPER OF JOY.

4. THE SUPPER OF JUDGMENT,

THE BLOOD AND THE HYSSOP.

"ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD."

ARE YOU READY?

THE WANDERER'S RETURN,

2 Samuel 13: 23, 2 Samuel 14.

TODAY — A FAREWELL WORD.

A Student Story

or Bread Cast Upon the Waters

CBA10766.

A Student Story;

or Bread Cast Upon the Waters

Noah's Carpenters.

"WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?"

Divine Openings.

HEAVEN OPENED ON JESUS.

AN OPENED BOOK.

OPENED GRAVES.

OPENED UNDERSTANDINGS.

THE HEAVENS OPENED TO US.

AN OPENED HEART.

AN OPENED HELL,

"A Leap in the Dark."

The Rope from Above.

"Milk without Money;" or,

A Lesson We Must All Learn

The Comfort of the Blood.

"Go to Joseph."

"Which line are you on?"

A Bright Sunset.

W. T. P. Wolston - Articles

W. T. P. Wolston

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With the prayerful desire that the Lord Jesus Christ will use this God-given ministry in this form for His glory and the blessing of many in these last days before His coming. © Les Hodgett (contact@stempublishing.com) (2011)

Auld John; or, Grace and Debt

Auld John; or, Grace and Debt

and other Gospel Naratives.

by W. T. P. Wolston.

Publisher: "Gospel Messenger" and George Morrish.

Auld John; or, Grace and Debt.

"Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." — Rom. 4: 4, 5.

This lovely and striking scripture was forcibly impressed on my mind, as well as illustrated, a few weeks ago, when calling on an old man who had been for a few weeks under my care, for a malady which, sooner or later, I saw must close his earthly history. I had not seen him for a few days, and on inquiring how he was, he replied, "Weel, doctor, I dinna ken muckle odds. Onyway, I'm nae better, an' to tell the truth, I'm no' makin' muckle o't."

John had been a steady hard-working man all his days; had risen to be foreman in the factory where nearly all his life had been spent, and had so gained the esteem and respect of his employer, that for some years, in view of his manifest feebleness and advanced age — nearly seventy — he had given him to understand that his presence or absence at the works was a matter of his own choice, his good weekly wage continuing in either case.

As he reclined in his easy-chair, it did not appear to me that his death was near at hand; but his simple confession of an unimproved condition gave me the opportunity I had long wished for of a little quiet talk with him as to his spiritual condition; so to his reply I rejoined, "Do you mean that you don't think you'll get better?"

"Weel, I've jist ta'en that thocht. Gin I could get to the country, maybe 'twad set me up a bittie; but ye ken my legs are that poorless the noo I canna gang awa."

"So I am sorry to see, John; but now tell me, suppose you don't get better, do you feel sure you'll 'gang' to the heavenly country? In other words, are you fit to die?"

"'Deed I'm no sae sure aboot that; tho' I think aboot it whiles."

"What are you thinking, and how do you expect to get there? Have you been a sinner?"

"Ay, that ha'e I, an' a muckle yin tae."

"Well, how do you suppose a sinner, and a great one too, can get to heaven? There is no sin allowed in there, and yet sinners get there?"

"I fancy I'll jist ha'e to work an' dae the best I can; tho' I'm feart my time's short; and I ha'ena dune eneuch."

"Oh, there is no doubt about your not having done enough. If that's the road you're on, John, it does not lead to heaven, but to hell."

"God forbid I should gang there, doctor; but surely yin maun work to get to heaven? We canna hope to get to yon happy place withoot working for't?"

"But what can a sinner do but sin, John? The Word of God says, 'We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf' (Isa. 64: 6). Now, if our best doings are as 'filthy rags' in God's sight, how can that help us, or clear away the many sins His all-seeing eye discerns? Depend upon it, my dear fellow, you are upon the wrong tack entirely. For many a long day, I confess, I was on it myself, till I learned that, 1st, I could not do anything; 2nd, that God did not want me to do anything; and 3rd, that Christ had done everything needed, for my salvation when He suffered on the cross, bearing my sins, and God's judgment of them, and cried, 'IT IS FINISHED,' before He laid down His life in atonement. Now, if God wanted you and me to do something more for our own salvation, that would be to ignore the value and efficacy of Christ's finished work. The gospel is this, that God loves us, Christ died for us, and His blood was shed to wash away our sins, and the Holy Ghost has come down from heaven to tell us this good news, and lead our hearts to trust simply in Jesus and His finished work."

"But ye ken I've been sic a sinner, an' I aye thocht I maun dae something," said the old man with intense earnestness, as tears filled his eyes.

"Did you never hear that lovely scripture, 'Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness'?" (Rom. 4: 4, 5.)

"Yon's no in the Bible, surely?"

"Oh yes, it is, I am glad to say."

"Whaur? I, never heard tell o't a' my days."

"It is in Romans 4, the chapter that tells us how a poor guilty sinner like you or me can be justified before the God we have so sinned against. Is it not beautifully simple?"

"I dinna quite grup the meanin' o't."

"It just means this, that the man who works ought to get his pay; and in no sense regard it as a favour, because he has earned it. On the other hand, if a man ceases working for salvation, and just simply believes in God who justifies the ungodly on the principle of faith, his faith is counted to him for righteousness. Now observe, John, it is the 'ungodly' that get the blessing, those who don't deserve it, and who have not earned it, so that it may be by 'grace' or 'favour,' which is God's way of acting towards us. Now God acts in grace — the activity of His own nature of love after we have 'sinned and come short of his glory,' and on the righteous ground which the finished work of His own beloved Son affords Him. That grace blesses, and justifies the vilest, and most hell-deserving sinner, who, turning away from himself and his own doings, trusts simply in Jesus, having faith in His blood, and in God who sent Him to be the Saviour of the world."

Listening most eagerly, and drinking in the truth as the old man was, nevertheless the freeness of the gospel, I could see, was his stumbling-block; so having put a few more queries, by which I judged he had really condemned himself as an ungodly sinner before God, and that he truly desired to be saved, I ventured to apply the little bit of his own personal history I have named.

"Did you get your wages last week, John?

"Oo ay; they aye come reg'lar."

"But did you work for them?"

"No me; it's yersel' kens weel it's mony a day sin' I wrocht a hand's turn."

"And yet the 'siller' has come regularly?"

"Reg'lar as the clock, sir. The maister's rale guid. He aye sends't whether I work or no."

"Now, long ago, when you wrought a good week's work, did you think it a great act of grace on your master's part to pay your week's wage, which you had toiled for?"

"I thocht naething o' the kind. I had earned it, an' 'twas only richt he sud pay me."

"Just so. In fact, after you had worked he was in your debt until he had paid you, and there could be no question of grace about it at all?"

"Weel, that's yae way o' lookin' at it."

"But for some months past, though you have done no work, nevertheless, you tell me, the money has come just the same. What do you call that, John?"

"Weel, that's grace, to be sure," the old man answered with emphasis, as the tears flowed faster.

"Quite right. Don't you see how your own master's kind treatment of you illustrates the verse I have been quoting? What you could not earn he sends, because he knows you need it. In the same way God sends you salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, and you have only got just to believe in Him, and receive thankfully what in grace He sends to you."

"Oh! I begin to see licht through't noo. I never heard it explained in this simple way afore," said the old man softly and slowly.

"Thank God if you do see it, John, even though late in your life. Now tell me, do you really take your place as an ungodly, hell-deserving sinner before God; give up all thoughts of your own works, and simply cast yourself on Him, believing His word and His Son?"

"That dae I, truly. I canna dae ocht else after what ye've been tellin' me, I'll jist lippen till Him alane. I DAE believe Him!"

"Well, John, then you are a blessed man from this hour; for it says — 'But unto him that WORKETH NOT but BELIEVETH on him that JUSTIFIETH the ungodly, His FAITH [not his works] is counted for RIGHTEOUSNESS;' and you are entitled to know yourself justified before God, and fit for the heavenly country through faith in Jesus' blood, for the 4th of Romans goes on thus — 'Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin'" (Rom. 4: 6-8).

Satisfied that his faith was sincere, and his perception of the gospel childlike and simple, I gave my medical instructions and left him, saying I would call again in two days.

The next day an urgent message came requesting me to call immediately. I went. John was gone! — gone to the heavenly country, I could not but believe, the way to which he had so recently learned. He passed away in his chair without warning or struggle, his heart having suddenly failed.

Reader! if you should pass away, just exactly twenty-four hours after reading this, where would YOU spend eternity? Do not forget that if you slight grace, you will receive what is due to you — your wages. What are they? do you ask. Listen, and never forget — "The wages of sin (and unbelief is sin) is death," and "after death"  -  terrible thought, fearful future — "the judgment."

What an awful eternity must that man's be who remembers, while writhing beneath the judgment he feels is the just and righteous wages of sin, that he might have been in the enjoyment of grace for ever but for his own folly. Works, "wicked" or "dead," can never save, and only lead the doer of them to the dreary dungeons of the damned. Grace conducts the vilest sinner, who trusts in Jesus' blood, right into eternal glory and blessedness. Be persuaded, my friend, to "taste that the Lord is gracious."

Just Like Him.

Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." — Isa. 6: 5-7.

The Lord is ever swift to bless, slow to judge. He delights in mercy; judgment is His "strange work." David said, "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy" (Ps. 103: 8). Isaiah's experience of this blessed fact is recorded above. Paul wrote with a full heart: "I thank Jesus Christ our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained [What? wrath, judgment, an everlasting hell — the due reward of my deeds? No! but] mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." (1 Tim. 1: 12-16).

These witnesses are joined by another to the same effect, who says, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. . . . And account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation" (1 Peter 3: 9- 15).

Thus it is evident that God, though He must and will assuredly judge sin, delights in blessing, and wants all men to be blessed and saved. This surely is a fact of immense moment for you and me, dear reader, and if you are yet unsaved, shows that the fault is not on God's side. God is slow to judge; man is slow to believe. God hastens to bless and save, when the soul takes its true place of self-judgment before Him.

Now, if you are not yet saved, why should you go any longer unsaved? You cannot answer that query save by confessing that you do not simply and fully trust the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the deadly evil that afflicts you, — unbelief.

But perhaps you are somewhat anxious to be saved, yet cannot see the "way of salvation" clearly. If so, may the Lord, in His mercy, use the simple little narrative which follows to help you to see clearly His grace, and urgent desire to set your anxious soul at rest in His presence.

One Friday evening, in April 1872, I received the following letter:

"15th April 1872.

Sir, — I heard Mr S. and you preaching the gospel on Sunday evening; and, if you remember, you were speaking about the sprinkling of the blood on the door posts (Ex. 12). I understood it was a type of the blood of Jesus, and those that are saved sinners have, as it were, the blood sprinkled on their door posts. Well, I have not got that blood sprinkled upon my door posts. You ask, Why not? I don't know myself, for I would like very much to have it, yet I cannot find it. I suppose I am not seeking for it in earnest, or I would have a share of it with others. I have longed to be saved for six years or more, and I cannot find peace. I believe that Jesus died for all sinners, and that I am one among the worst of them, and I am in great need of a Saviour, yet there is something I don't understand. I think it is because I have not faith; but, if you can explain it any better, I will be at the Hall the Sunday after next, if the Lord will spare me, to hear you once more. I am afraid I will never get another chance. I have had the gospel set before me plain enough, both by you and by my parents, but I think I get harderhearted every time. I have tried to pray for faith, but Satan seems to laugh at me, and tell me I am too late. I feel as if he had too fast hold on me now to get away from him.

Oh, will you pray for me, that I might have light, and that I might find the true Saviour? I hope the Lord will bear with me a little longer. I have given up all hopes of being a Christian. I shudder to think of a terrible judgment day."

As there was no signature appended, and I did not at all know the handwriting, I was quite at a loss to know who the writer could be. That it was a truly anxious soul I was sure, and could only pity any one remaining ten days in such a state of sheer wretchedness, and I looked up to the Lord to give a suited word when the time should come of which the writer spoke.

But God's ways are not as ours, nor His thoughts like ours, "For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him."

The Lord's Day following the receipt of this letter, I was just about to commence a Bible class with some young men in my own house, when a violent ring of the door bell came, and an urgent message for me at once to see a patient who was thought to be dying, if not already dead. Hastily driving to the house, I found that the mother of the family had suddenly become unconscious, and her husband, and several of her children, were gathered round her, expecting each breath to be the last.

She certainly was in a most death-like swoon, but she was breathing, though quite unconscious. I proceeded to apply suitable remedial measures to her, and sought to calm the fears of those who tremblingly watched their loved one. My patient I knew was a Christian, and so also was her husband, and some of the other members of the family, but at the fireside stood some of whom I was not sure.

Turning to the father I asked, "Are all your children converted yet?" "No, no," said he, "I wish they were." Then addressing the eldest of this little company round the fire, who had come home from her place of service for two or three hours, and whose name I knew, I said, "Is it true, Mary, that you are still unsaved?" A painful "Yes" was her only reply, but as it was coupled with a deep sigh, I thought she might be anxious, so begged her to come with me into another room, that we might be alone for a few moments, while others carried out my directions with regard to the mother.

"I suppose you know where your dear mother would be if she died?" I said.

"In heaven with Jesus," was Mary's reply.

"And if you died?"

"I should go to hell, I know," she answered, bursting into a flood of tears.

"But have you no desire to be saved?"

"Oh, yes, indeed I have. I want to be saved, if I only knew how."

"How? Why, it is very simple. 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.' Only believe Him. Just trust Him as you are, — a poor guilty sinner. He has died for sinners; His blood avails to cleanse the most guilty; and He says, 'Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.' Come to Him, that is all you have to do. Just trust Him. Do you think you can?"

"I should like to. I wish I could. Will you pray for me, doctor?"

"Let us kneel together before Him," I said, and then, while she wept, I prayed the Lord to spare the beloved mother, if it was His holy will, and save the sin-burdened child who knelt before Him.

As I rose to go back again to see the sick one, I said, "Don't get off your knees till all is settled, and you have found Jesus." The mother I found decidedly rallying, and she shortly completely recovered. On returning to Mary, after the lapse of some minutes, I found her awaiting me, standing on her feet, with a beaming though still tearful countenance. But these tears were tears of joy, as she said, "I have found Him; Jesus is mine." Yes, thank God, she had found Him, and peace, and life, and joy in Him, and she has gone on her way rejoicing ever since.

Two days afterwards I learned that Mary was the writer of the anonymous letter!

Was not this just like the Lord, my reader? This anxious soul proposed to itself to wait ten days. But Jesus loves to meet the truly anxious one at once, and thus He must needs let the mother fall sick, and the physician be sent for, just at the moment when the sin-burdened one was by, that His own message of grace might be spoken to her.

May He speak to you now. The seraphim flew to relieve Isaiah. The father ran to meet the prodigal. God makes haste to be gracious to you, my friend. Do you trust Him as simply as Mary did, and pardon, peace, and joy divine are yours for ever.

"I rest in Christ the Son of God,

Who took the servant's form

By faith I flee to Jesus' cross,

My covert from the storm.

At peace with God, no ills I dread,

The cup of blessing mine:

The Lord is risen, His precious blood

Is new and living wine.

Jesus put all my sins away

When bruised to make me whole;

Who shall accuse, or who condemn,

My blameless, ransomed soul?

O thou avenger, see the blood

That makes the guilty clean

No prey of thine the soul on which

This token once is seen."

The "Golightly" Disaster.

In July 1886 a friend kindly placed at our disposal, and pressed us for a few weeks to occupy, his airy sea-side house at D-, a summer resort, the salt breezes of which have but to be known to be enjoyed. Assuredly gathering that the Lord had some work for us there, we went, reaching our quarters one Friday afternoon. The same evening the Corn Exchange, a good-sized building, was secured for a gospel meeting on the following Lord's Day evening, and a little handbill issued announcing the subject, which ran thus: "Saved at the bottom; or, a lesson among the weeds. A true tale, and a salt word for sailors and lands-men."

This arranged, I got down to the harbour, inquiring among the many fisher folk who loitered there if any one possessed a boat in which some of my party could — weather permitting — have a sail on the morrow. A weather-beaten old tar, to whom I spoke first, assured me that no craft suitable for the purpose was kept there, and then suddenly turning, shouted, "Sandy, Sandy, come here."

"Who is Sandy?" said I.

"Oh, Sandy H-. He's got a tidy little fishing yawl, perhaps he can accommodate you." Thus called, Sandy, a fair-haired lithesome young fellow of twenty-eight, with a cheery face, who had been standing amongst a group at some distance, came forward, and on hearing what was wanted, expressed his willingness to tidy up his boat and have it ready by four P.M., though fearing it would not be "o'er comfie for the leddies." He pointed out his boat, a broad-beamed undecked yawl, with the well-known lug-sail so common on the east of Scotland, and assured us she was a grand sea-boat, and like her name the "Golightly."

Sandy was true to his word, and at the appointed hour was waiting our arrival, with two other men, Andrew H-, his elder brother, and James S-, his brother-in-law, whom we found to be the "Golightly's" usual crew. Andrew was the skipper, and during our little sail we were all much attracted by his sedate, good-humoured, sunburnt face, and stalwart form, as he skilfully managed his boat, which sped gaily along over the white-crested billows which a stiffish breeze produced. Telling the three men of the meeting arranged for the next evening, they readily promised to be present, and to bring some friends, and James S-  very simply confessed the Lord Jesus as his Saviour, saying he had known the Lord about a year only.

When we reached land, after a couple of hours of most enjoyable fresh sea-breeze, the three partners engaged to meet us again on the following Tuesday, at the same hour, and renewing their promise to be at the Corn Exchange we bade each other good-night.

The meeting in the Corn Exchange I shall never forget. God had arranged it, and He was there, and that is everything in a gospel meeting. The place was well filled, and amongst the listeners were our three friends of the "Golightly," and many others of the simple fisher folk of the place. Jonah's history (chapters 1 and 2) was before us, and the downward course of this disobedient man traced out. Sent to Nineveh, he "rose up to flee unto Tarshish" (which means destruction). Mercifully he never got there, but he "went down to Joppa" (beautiful); of course found a ship there going where he wanted to go, and so "paid the fare thereof," — as the sinner pays his own way to hell, — and "went down into it." Once on board he takes a third downward step, and is profoundly unconscious of the general danger which the storm that God had sent out threatened, for "Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep." Thus it is with man oftentimes; God speaks, but he hears not.

But God will have Jonah aroused, and "What meanest thou, O sleeper?" rings in his ears, and rang in the cars of the Corn Exchange audience again and again, as the indifferent, the unawakened, the unsaved, the unpardoned, were besought to receive the gospel. Thoroughly aroused, and probed by the pointed queries, "What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?" Jonah confesses, "I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land." This, however, cannot calm the storm; and at length, prompted by a sense of his sin, and at his own request cast into the sea, he finds himself the object of the special care of God, for "the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah."

But sin ever brings its own fruit, and the soul that sins must know repentance toward God. "In the belly of the fish three days and three nights," Jonah passes through deep exercises, and learns wondrous lessons. He prays, he cries, and his soul faints. He gets into "the belly of hell"; floods compass him, billows and waves pass over him, and the weeds are wrapped about his head. Three downward steps he had taken himself; God conducts him yet lower. "I went down to the bottoms of the mountains," he says; and then with a sense that all is over, — that he is, as far as human aid is concerned, helplessly, hopelessly lost,  - he is brought to the point of real blessing; and having learned that "salvation is of the Lord," he owns it, and is free on the spot, — reaching dry land in a moment. So the soul that feels and owns its guilty defiled condition, and takes the place of being lost before God, is taught of God that it is an object of His love and mercy, and that "the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Hence whoever trusts in that blessed Son of Man, finds a Saviour, and salvation, on the spot. Many and urgent were the appeals to the unsaved not to defer salvation to tomorrow, as it never comes, for I felt as though some of my hearers might never hear the gospel again.

The interest was great, and it was quite evident that God's Spirit was mightily at work among souls; and when we sang the closing hymn,

"Salvation without money;

Salvation without price;

Salvation without labour, -

Believing doth suffice.

Salvation now — this moment!

Then why, oh why, delay?

You may not see tomorrow;

Now is salvation's day!"

I could not but believe that some were accepting God's offered grace. Nor in this was I disappointed, as events afterwards showed and some were heard to say as they left the hall, "The man spoke as though we were never to have another chance of being saved." Prophetic words, indeed, as regards some.

The next day, Monday, was a lovely summer day. The sun shone brightly, fleecy white clouds soared high in the deep blue sky, and the sea was like a mill-pond, scarce ruffled by a gentle breeze. About three o'clock in the afternoon the "Golightly," with her wonted crew, and ten other occupants, most of them women, all cheerful, blithe, and eager for work, put out of harbour to go to some not far distant "mussel scalps," to gather bait for the usual nocturnal fishing expedition. The boat, laden beyond its capacity, for which the calm fair weather might account, had scarcely emerged from the harbour when a sudden and quite unexpected squall struck her. The sheet  - the rope attached to the lower and hinder end of the sail — had unfortunately been made fast to a thwart, and, owing to the throng of women, could not be let go. The boat heeled over, filled, and sank, within one hundred yards of shore, carrying her thirteen passengers down with her. Of these four only came to the surface, and help

being quickly at hand they were rescued. Among these were James S-. Carried to the bottom and held there by two women for a time, when they let go he rose, and was picked up. The victims, however, included my friends Andrew and Sandy H-, the former's wife, their younger brother of seventeen, and a girl cousin of a similar age. Locked in each other's arms the manly skipper and his youthful wife were shortly after brought to the surface. Parted not in life, thank God, they were not divided in death, as I afterwards learned. The others who were drowned were two young men of seventeen and twenty-two years, and two young women aged seventeen. The squall passed by, the sun shone again brightly; but how different the scene it shone on, as one by one the nine lifeless bodies were brought to shore! Oh, the terrible power of death! And what folly can equal that of the sinner who goes on heedless of his soul's salvation?

There was scarcely a house among the fisher folk not, nearly or remotely, connected with the drowned, and sorrow possessed many a heart to the full, as they mourned the loss of parents, children, brothers, sisters, cousins, or friends and playmates.

The gloom which this painful event cast over the town can easily be imagined, and the sympathy for the stricken and bereaved families was widespread and real. A public funeral took place on the Wednesday, and a sad sight it was, as, carried shoulder high to the old kirkyard, the coffins of the husband and wife, side by side, were followed by the seven others, borne in single file. Thousands attended, and preceded or followed. While a simple service was conducted in the old kirk, the nine wreath-covered coffins, all side by side, — a sight one could never forget, — rested in the vestibule, and then were borne each to the last resting-place near by. Over the grave which held Andrew H-  and his wife, by the desire of some relations, I read John 5: 24-29, and spoke of the blessedness of having eternal life. This blessedness the two who were undivided in death had lately been taught to know, and so the saddened hearts that mourned them were comforted.

Of the nine who were thus suddenly cut off, five were at the Sunday evening meeting, two known to be believers in the Lord Jesus. Of the rest, one can only say, God may have spoken to them, and they believed the gospel, but no one heard them say that they were converted. It is a mistake to put off deciding for Christ till it be too late. "Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth (Prov. 27: 1), is God's word to every one of us. How solemnly was it illustrated here. Two of the dear men who were to meet me on Tuesday passed into eternity on Monday! So much for man's proposals.

And now, my dear reader, how is it with you? Are you saved? Are you converted? Are you ready to go? Have you peace with God? Are your sins pardoned, and all washed away in the precious blood of Christ? If not, let me beseech you not to delay one single hour. God may never give you another opportunity of hearing His gospel. Believe on Jesus now. The work of redemption is finished. The cross is past, the blood of atonement has been shed. God has accepted it; and He will accept you, if you trust the One who shed His blood for poor guilty sinners, as we both are by nature. Come then to Jesus. Come now. Come as you are; and, simply trusting Him, you will be able to say, Salvation is of the Lord."

One word more. "Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee" (Job 36: 18). "Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."

What meanest thou, O sleeper?"

(Read Jonah 1, 2.)

We have in Jonah a remarkable illustration of the way in which a soul learns, through deep and terrible exercises, its own nothingness, and that "salvation is of the Lord"; and you will see he does not get deliverance until he says this.

In the first chapter he illustrates, in a most striking way, what man is as a sinner in departing from God. There is glaring disobedience and sin, and then, as a consequence, he is in a most critical position; but he is profoundly careless and indifferent until he is awakened. There are souls now as careless and indifferent, who have never yet been awakened.

Jonah is told to go east, and he goes west. There is thorough disobedience; and that is why the Apostle Paul says of us all, when he speaks of "the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others" (Eph. 2: 2, 3). Observe, the "child of disobedience" ripens into a "child of wrath." And what is that? A man may go on in disobedience and refusal of the claims of God now, but he cannot escape the judgment of God at the last. May you never reach the spot, my dear reader, where the wrath of God abides on you for ever. Believe the gospel now, for the object of that gospel is to deliver you from your sins and their consequences, and to bring you to God, that you may be a child of God, and know Him as your Father.

Jonah illustrates, then, the innate disobedience of man. God had said to him, "Arise, go to Nineveh. . . . But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish [destruction] from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa [beauty]; and he found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord" (Jonah 1: 3). Mark how Jonah's course is downward, like every child of Adam who has not been turned to God. He goes down to Joppa, and what does he find? He finds a ship going to Tarshish. Of course he finds a ship! The devil would be sure to have a ship there that day if there had never been one there before, to meet the disobedient soul as he gets there. And the devil has plenty of Joppas — earth beauties — and plenty of ships for you, my unsaved reader, to help you to get your own way and do as you like. He will pander to your lusts to ensure your destruction. Hell is the Tarshish to which you are surely wending your way.

But Jonah paid his fare, we read. And what is the fare, on his downward road, which the unconverted man pays? He pays his sinful fare to hell, and the price is his own soul. The Christian is on the upward road to heaven, and he has not to pay his own fare. Thank God, it was paid for him by another, even Jesus the Saviour.

Next, Jonah goes down into the ship, — another downward step. And don't you think, my friend, that your course has been a downward one until this very hour? And you have not got to the bottom yet. But the Lord had His eye on Jonah; and, thank God, He has His eye on you too. You have not your eye on Him, but He has His eye on you.

God now begins to take Jonah in hand, for He sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken" (Jonah 1: 4). The effect was great, and all, save one, were alarmed; for we read, "Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, . . . but Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep" (Jonah 1: 5). How often it happens that when God draws near unto a man he is profoundly unconscious of it; he is "fast asleep," — lulled asleep by Satan. Some are lulled asleep by the pleasures of sin; others, by the thought that they are not so bad, that they are better than their neighbours, — are orderly, religious, careful, moral people. Oh, if this be your condition, may the Lord arouse you! May He — make this paper the shipmaster to you, to rouse you from your sleep of sin.

What roused Jonah? "The shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not" (Jonah 1: 6). And thou, O unsaved reader of these lines, what meanest thou? Arouse! be awakened, for what is the next thing coming? Destruction, — sudden destruction! "The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say [as men do more than ever now say], Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. . . . When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power" (1 Thess. 5: 2, 3; 2 Thess. 1: 7-9).

You may say that Jonah's insensibility in the tempest-tossed vessel is but a picture. True; but what is it a picture of? Of the state you are in. Every one in that ship, save Jonah, knew the danger; and every Christian knows your danger, my friend, — knows you are in danger of perishing; nay more, knows that perish you must, unless you too are waked up, and led to say, "Salvation is of the Lord." You are, alas, indifferent now, and indifferent in a day when everything that God can do He has done, and the whole light has come out. Again I cry, "What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise!" See what your state is. The shipmaster could only say, "Call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not." He did not know that God does think on us. He did not know what the Christian knows, nor that God says, "I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me" (Jer. 29: 11-13). God has so thought of us, that He has sent His only begotten Son into the world to die for us, for "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3: 18).

Jonah's friends were not sure of any way of escape; but, thank God, I can tell you of a way of escape, through the blood-shedding of the Lord Jesus on the cross. In their extremity, the Gentile mariners "said every, one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah" (Jonah 1: 7). It is a good thing when the lot falls upon a man and he feels that he is the sinner. Then (Jonah 1: 8) they ask Jonah four questions, which I will also ask you: (1) "What is thine occupation?" Sinning. That has been your occupation since you came into the world. Do you say, That is a terrible charge? God says," The thought of foolishness is sin" (Prov. 24: 9). (2) "Whence comest thou?" Oh! it is a terrible thing when the Lord has to say to souls, as He did when on earth, "Ye are from beneath" (John 8: 23). (3) "What is thy country?" Ah, my friend, there is no mistake about your country. You belong to the world," Ye are of this world" (John 8: 23). You are in and of the world, and the world loves its own. (4) "And of what people art thou?" The enemies of the Lord. All unbelievers are such, though they may not like to own it.

The Christian's occupation is pleasing the Lord. Where does he come from? "As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly." His country is heaven, and his people are the children of God.

Jonah, now fairly "come to himself," in reply to these four queries says, "I fear the Lord, the God of heaven." Can you say that? The mark of a converted man is, that he fears the Lord; that of the unconverted, that "there is no fear of God before their eyes" (Rom. 3: 18). At Jonah's reply "were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? (for the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.) Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may, be calm unto us? . . . And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you; for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you" (Jonah 1: 10- 12). Jonah comes to the conviction that he is the guilty one. It is a great moment when the soul gets to this point. I am verily guilty; I am so thoroughly guilty, that I am only fit to die. Others felt that they should perish; Jonah felt that he deserved to perish.

But though many learn that they are guilty, they have still deep lessons to learn ere they find out what God's salvation is; for when they have found that they are guilty, oftentimes they begin to try to mend; and here, at first, "the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not." It was all of no use. "So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from her raging" (Jonah 1: 15). Then he would feel indeed it was all over with him. And so, but for God, it was. The only way of escape now for him was through the life of another.

"Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights" (Jonah 1: 17). It is given us for a figure. Jonah was preserved from these billows swallowing him up by the direct intervention of God. And what can prevent you and me from being swallowed up by the waves and billows of Divine wrath? Nothing but the direct intervention of God. But He has intervened, blessed be His name! The Lord Jesus Christ has come down in grace, given His own blood, taken sins upon Himself, been made sin, died, and has been raised again, and is at the right hand of God, and the Christian's life is "bid with Christ in God."

Jonah gets wonderful experiences in the belly of the great fish. He has been convicted, not only of sin and guilt, but of powerlessness too, and that he has a heart opposed to God. The first thing a soul does that is awakened is to pray, and "Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly" (Jonah 2: 1). But I want you to see that it is not his prayer that brings him deliverance. He says, "Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice." There is positive agony of soul. Do you say, I know nothing about that? You will know it, then, my friend, one day, when your cry will never be heard. In the history of his soul, Jonah had gone down into the depths of hell, therefore he never went there actually. He now adds, "Thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me" (Jonah 2: 3).

I love to think of this verse, too, as a shadow of the experience of my blessed Saviour, who went through all the waves and billows of Divine wrath that never one of them might fall on me. But the man whom God takes in hand goes through deep exercises of soul, though I want you to see that your exercises, however deep, do not save you.

Every man must, sooner or later, learn what a fearful thing sin is, and how great the holiness of God. He learns there are depths of unbelief and impurity in his heart that he never knew before, and that the more he struggles and strives to restrain these evils, the more they bubble up, for their name is legion. Sin ever distances from God. Hence Jonah says, "I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple" (Jonah 2: 4). But what now are his experiences? "The waters compassed me about even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the waters were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains" (Jonah 2: 5, 6). Three steps, says Jonah, I took myself, — down to Joppa, down to the ship, and down into its sides to sleep. But when God took hold of me, I went deeper down still, — "down to the bottoms of the mountains." Here his exercises get deeper still. "When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord" (Jonah 2: 7). But, my friend, it will not do to merely remember the Lord. You must believe in Him too.

But the soul that is real before God, is ever led to judge itself and its ways, — i.e., it repents. That Jonah did this is evident from his next words, "They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy" (Jonah 2: 9). This is the judgment he passes on his former life and the world which had allured him. Repentance, be it never so real and deep, is not deliverance however, and this he sighs for, but seeks to get it in a wrong way, when he adds, "I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed" (2: 9). Still he is not delivered. Sacrifices and vows cannot deliver. Have you learned this? Jonah did, for he pulls up short, and exclaims, "Salvation is of the Lord" (2: 9); and immediately deliverance comes in. Many a soul is in the state of Jonah ere he said, "Salvation is of the Lord." Such are saying, "I will sacrifice, I will vow, I will pay." Ah! you are in the belly of hell still, and the soul never gets out that way; the gates are all barred. But the moment self is let go, with its sacrifices, its vows, its prayers, and its paying, and the soul sees that "salvation is of the Lord," then deliverance comes.

"And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land" (Jonah 2: 10), — not into the mud, but on to dry land. He was saved by a miracle. And that is what the Christian says," I am saved by a miracle. I was on my road to hell, I had paid my fare and gone down into the ship; but the Lord came in, and took hold of me, and saved me by a miracle." Yes, it is a greater miracle that saves a soul now than the one that saved Jonah. It was a great miracle certainly that saved Jonah, a wonderful thing that God should prepare a great fish, but not half so wonderful a thing as that He should design and plan such a wondrous scheme as that by which my salvation is secured. I am saved by the life of another, like Jonah, but not till that other has gone down into death for me. My sin was put away by the death of the One who had life in Himself — the One on whom death had no claim. He could offer a sacrifice that could clear the soul from every penalty that could fall upon it. He sweeps away the penalty by bearing it, and He sweeps away the sin by dying; and then He comes up on the resurrection side of the grave, and the Christian's life is hid in Him.

I look up and see a living Man in glory, and God says, I am "in him." There is dry land for you, my friend. Truly "SALVATION IS OF THE LORD!" and those who simply believe in Him can sing with joy,

"The Lord is risen: with Him we also rose,

And in His grave see vanquished all our foes.

The Lord is risen: beyond the judgment land,

In Him, in resurrection-life we stand!"

A Basket of Grapes.

The reason why many souls have not the assurance of salvation, is that they are looking within for something to rest on; instead of simply resting on Christ, and believing what God says about Him, and them, when they believe in Him. This state of matters was forcibly illustrated by a bedridden old lady, whom I saw some time since. God had converted her nephew, a worldly doctor, in a remarkable way; and no sooner was he in the enjoyment of the Lord's grace, than he sought to get all his relatives to share his new-found joy. Recognising the state his old aunt was in, he asked me to pay her a visit, apprising her of my coming.

The old lady received me very pleasantly, and we had a long conversation. She knew she was a sinner, — a lost sinner, — and owned it. She desired most fervently to be saved. She knew that no works of her own could avail before God. She believed the Lord Jesus to be the only Saviour of sinners. She had often cried to Him to save her, but no answer had come to her cries as yet. After finding out that she was a truly seeking soul, — ripe for salvation, I might say, — I asked:

"Now what is the hindrance? Why do you not know that you are saved? You tell me that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is able and willing to save you, and that you are most willing to let Him save you, and yet you are not sure of salvation. Do you think He has got anything more to do for your salvation?"

"Oh, no! I'm sure His work is all finished. He said so on the cross."

"Quite true; only I suppose you think there must be something wrought in you, before you can be sure you are saved?"

"Yes, that's just it," she replied.

"And what, pray, is lacking in you?"

"Well, sir, I'm not thankful enough for all He has done for me. I think if I felt more thankful, I should know I was saved."

"Oh, I see where you are," I replied. "Now tell me, supposing I were to send you a basket of grapes by my servant tomorrow morning, what is the first thing you would do?"

"Oh, of course I should thank you," replied the old lady, most energetically.

"Well, suppose on the other hand you sent me a basket of grapes, what do you think is the first thing I would do?" I replied.

"You would thank me, wouldn't you?"

"Not first."

"Why, what would you do?" she asked most eagerly.

"I should take them. Then, secondly, I should send you a hearty message of thanks."

"I see it! I see it!" exclaimed my old friend, as the joy-tears welled down over her wrinkled features. "I've just got to take salvation first, and then thank the Lord for what He has given me."

"Exactly so. 'The gift of God is eternal life.' What He gives we have only simply to accept, and then thank Him for time and eternity."

"Dear me, how simple it is!" she exclaimed, falling back on her pillows. "I always thought I must feel something within that I never could feel; but, thank God, I see it all clearly now. It is so simple I wonder I didn't see it before." Thus she entered into sweet peace and rest in the Lord, and, not long after, departed happily to be for ever with Him.

Reader, can you say with her, "I see it"? If not, why not? Nothing can be simpler than the gospel. God gives, man receives; God speaks, man hears; Christ acts, man believes. To look within for anything is sheer folly. It is the work for and not the work in us that saves us.

Christ's work on the cross is perfect. Nothing can be added to it. God has accepted it for us, and has set Jesus at His own right hand in glory, in token of His appreciation of Him. His atoning work on the cross has glorified God, and put away our sins for ever from His sight. By it too Satan's power is broken, and the grave opened, death being annulled.

Every claim of God on us has been met by Jesus. He took our place in death and judgment, that we might get His place in life and glory. And He says, "Because I live ye shall live also." Faith believes this. Faith reckons with. God, and sees things as He sees them. Feelings or experiences have no place at all. "Abraham believed God" — i.e., he took Him at His word. I believe Him, dear reader. Do you? If so, you will say, "Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift."

BEHOLD the empty tomb,

The place where Jesus lay

Upon the cross He bore our doom,

And rolled our curse away.

The ransom fully paid,

The work completely done,

God, who on Him our judgment laid,

To glory raised His Son.

There where the sprinkled blood

Doth in the light abide,

We now rejoice before our God,

Together satisfied.

We glory in His grace,

We sing what He hath done

And sound abroad in this dark place

The Gospel of His Son.

"When He died on the cross."

The sudden illness of a beloved servant of Christ called me some years ago into the western highlands of Scotland. As it was to be a comfort to the patient, and those around her, I remained a few days, staying with them in the comfortable farmhouse where they had secured lodgings for some weeks for change of air. The evening following my arrival, we gathered a few of the country-folk into the farm-kitchen for a little gospel meeting. It was an out-of-the-way, picturesque, but lonely spot, so that gospel services were of rare occurrence, and gladly hailed; though, as it was then the height of the wheat-harvest season, only those who were in thorough earnest came, after a hard day's work.

Among my auditors I noticed two interesting looking children, about twelve or thirteen years of age. They turned out to be part of the farmer's family, being twin-sisters. At the close of the meeting I intimated that I would preach on the morrow evening at a schoolhouse some three miles distant. The word of God was with power, and these two dear children were arrested by it, which was evinced by their close attention, and an urgent request to their father to be allowed to attend the meeting the following evening.

To this request the cautious farmer gave a negative response, not that he disliked the meeting, but that he would need their services to carry food to the reapers, go messages, and help generally in the harvest field, and he thought they could not thus toil all day and walk six miles at night. Much disappointed, the young truth-seekers pressed their suit again, and promised to rise as early as he liked, and work as hard as he pleased, if only they might go.

Their earnestness carried the day, and having obtained consent, they retired cheerfully to rest, rose early next morning, toiled all day in the burning sun, and at sundown set off together for the meeting. Little wonder, thought I, if God should bless such earnest souls.

That night many gathered together; the 3rd of John was my theme, and I noticed the intense eagerness with which the young couple heard the word of life. "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again;" and, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life," — showed the two musts in their full force. Man — every man  - must be born again, and to this end Jesus must die. But who is this Son of Man giving Himself for others? That query, verse 6 answered: "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." The Son of Man is no less than the Son of God. A human being, but a divine person. In Him the heart of God is made known, and God is seen loving and giving, while man's part is believing and having. How simple! And "whosoever" was shown to be any one, every one, — each poor sinner that believes God's word.

I felt sure God was blessing His word, and when the meeting broke up, and we were on our way home, I quite expected to find among the blessed, the earnest young souls who cared to travel six miles for the gospel after a hard day's work. Nor was I disappointed. Overtaking Violet, I asked her if she had understood the gospel. "Oh yes, sir, I see it all clearly now, and I believe in Jesus, and know I have eternal life." A little more conversation assured me of the dear child's real faith in the Lord; so leaving her, I quickened my steps, and was soon along side of Marion.

"Well, Marion, are you saved also, as well as Violet?" was my query. "Yes, sir, I believe I am; I see tonight that Jesus died for me, and I believe in Him," was her response, while the youthful face was as bright and joyous as the one I had just left. I could only praise the Lord as I saw the girls were twin-sisters in grace as well as in nature.

Slackening our pace a little, Violet overtook us, whereupon I introduced them to each other in their new relationship as sisters in the Lord, each welcoming the other with great gladness on hearing of her conversion. Then, as we walked on, I sought to instruct them a little, and confirm their newborn faith. Just before we reached home, I said, "I want to ask you each one question more: When was it that Jesus put your sins away?" In a moment Violet replied, "Oh, tonight, sir." Turning to her sister for her reply, I had a moment to wait, and then the little maiden firmly said, "When He died on the cross."

"Right, my child, right," said I it was when He was on the cross He bore them, and there He atoned for them, and then He put them away from God's sight for ever. You and your sister have got the knowledge of that blessed fact this night for the first time in your history, but the work was done when Jesus died."

I have often heard of my young friends since then, as following the Lord, and trust to meet them in glory with Him. I narrate this simple story, because so many earnest souls are not clear on the last point alluded to. Many a true and honest soul is troubled about sins, and afraid of being finally lost on account of those committed after conversion. They put it thus: "I believe Jesus bore my sins up to the time when I was converted, but what about those I am guilty of since?" Let me ask you a question: When Christ died on the cross, how many sins had you or I committed? None; we were not either of us born; but still, blessed be His name, I know He bore mine, — all of them too. "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree," says Peter, and this is enough for me. He bore them when He died; He forgives them when I believe. That is a great difference. He blotted them out on the cross. I know they are pardoned, and blotted out, when I believe Him; and I know it, not because I feel it, but because God says it.

"In the Lord we have redemption,

Full remission in His blood;

From the curse entire exemption,

From the curse pronounced by God;

What a Saviour Jesus is!

Oh, what grace, what love is His!

Sweet His name, that name transcending

Every name on earth, in heaven;

Praise, through ages never ending,

To the Son of God be given!

He alone the Saviour is,

Everlasting praise is His!"

"God says I am Saved."

Not long since I was asked to visit a young girl, about seventeen years of age, who had injured herself, and was thought to be dying. I had known her for some time, and was aware she was very delicate, but, on calling, learned she had fallen out of bed, and received an injury to the back of her head, which would eventually prove fatal it was judged. Being under the care of another surgeon, I had nothing to do with her treatment; so, after making a few inquiries as to her bodily suffering, which was great (specially when moved by others, for she was almost completely paralysed), I began to speak to her about the state of her soul.

"Are you quite happy?" I said.

"No, sir."

"Why? Are you not saved?"

"I am not sure."

"But why are you not sure? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?"

"Yes, but I don't feel saved."

"Do you feel lost?"

"Yes, I do;" and she now began to weep.

"Why do you know you are lost."

"Because I am a sinner, and God's Word says so."

"Then you believe His Word, do you?"

"Oh yes, sir; indeed I do."

"Well, then, His Word says, 'Look unto me, and be ye saved.' Do you believe that?"

"Yes."

"But are you looking to Jesus?"

"Yes, sir but I don't feel as I should like to."

"Granted but does it say, 'Look unto me, and feel saved?"

"No."

"What then?"

"Be ye saved."

"What?"

"Be ye saved."

"When is that, today or tomorrow?"

"When I look."

"But are you looking?"

"Yes, I am really looking to Jesus."

"Then, are you saved?"

She paused a moment, and then firmly replied,

"I don't feel it, but God says I am saved. I see it now."

The next moment her eye lit up, and her pallid face told the tale of a new spring of joy having been opened to her.

"Well," I said, "if any one were to come in, and ask you now if you were saved, what would you say?"

"I would say 'Yes.'"

"And if they asked you how you knew it and were sure of it, what would you say?"

"I would say that I do believe in Jesus, and God says in His Word that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life; and though I don't feel it, I do believe what God says."

"Then you rest your soul on Jesus and on God's Word?"

"Yes, sir, I do; and I could die happy now. I'd like to go at once to Jesus."

"You have no fears?"

"No, none."

"No doubts?"

"No; why should I? I see it all clearly. I'm only a poor sinner — and Jesus died for me — and I believe in Him — and God says I'm saved — and so I know I am."

I had a little more conversation, and called two days after to find her truly filled with joy and peace in believing. Her face shone with the joy the knowledge of God alone can impart. Leaving town for a few weeks, I found, on my return, that she had lingered about a month, giving a constant bright testimony of Christ to all about her, and, full of quiet calm rest and joy in Christ until the end, had at length passed to be for ever with Him.

And now, dear reader, a word with you about the state of your soul. Are you saved — or lost? Which? Don't shirk the question. It must be answered soon. The longest life has its end. Who has given you a lease of long life? A long eternity you shall have. Where will you spend it? Another day may find you in it — gone for ever from earth, where Christ died, "suffered for sins once, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." Gone where? With Christ? Or without Him? Would it be without Him? You tremble to say "Yes." Stop, — listen. Your future is awful. Forgotten by man, — forsaken by God, — for ever in hell! Oh, pause a moment in your downward course! List the voice of love speaking to you — speaking from heaven — "Come unto me." — "Look unto me." — "I am Jesus." — "By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved."

You have nought to do but take your true place as a lost sinner now before God. Acknowledge your sin. Justify Him, — He'll justify you. It is all summed up in the sweet confession of the dying girl. May you this day be able to say, like her, "I'm only a poor sinner — Jesus died for me — I believe in Him — God says I am saved, and so I know I am."

RISE, my soul! behold 'tis Jesus!

Jesus fills thy wondering eyes

See Him now, in glory seated,

Where thy sins no more can rise.

There, in righteousness transcendent,

Lo! He doth in heaven appear,

Shows the blood of His atonement

As thy title to be there.

All thy sins were laid upon Him,

Jesus bore them on the tree;

God who knew them laid them on Him,

And, believing, thou art free.

God now brings thee to His dwelling,

Spreads for thee His feast divine,

Bids thee welcome, ever telling

What a portion there is thine.

In that circle of God's favour,

Circle of the Father's love,

All is rest, and rest for ever,

All is Perfectness above.

Blessed, glorious word, "for ever!"

Yea, "for ever" is the word;

Nothing can the ransomed sever,

Nought divide them from the Lord.

The Ambassador's Tale.

"For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God. . . . For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. . . . Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." — 2 Cor. 5: 10-21.

A distinguished theologian is reported to have once asked a noted stage actor, "How is it, when you act, you can move your audience, almost at your will, either to laughter or tears, whereas when I preach they are unmoved?" To this, quoth he, "My lord, the answer is easily given. I PLAY FICTION as though it were FACT, whereas you PREACH FACT as though it were FICTION," Pointed, though doubtless unpalatable words which all who preach or write to souls may well give heed to. Paul needed them not. FACTS pressed heavily on his spirit, and made him most urgent in dealing with precious souls. If you doubt it, my reader, afresh peruse the solemn, most solemn, yet blessed verses at the head of this paper, and then ask yourself, Do I believe this fervent ambassador?

I shall briefly draw your attention to two facts in this passage which were the mighty springs in the apostle's soul of earnest and affectionate appeal to men. They were —

1, "The terror of the Lord" (2 Cor. 5: 11);

2, "The love of Christ" (2 Cor. 5: 14).

The verses I have quoted give a wonderful picture of the whole family of man. Christ is the central object. His wondrous love to ruined man evinced in His death is the theme. His love, and His atoning work for sinners, blessed, and reconciled to God by His death, are in bright relief in the forefront of the picture, if I may so say, while the background (for every picture has its background) is the judgment-seat of Christ, with "the terror of the Lord" for all those who know not His love.

Let us look at the picture a little more closely, and, first, we will examine the background.

1. — "THE TERROR OF THE LORD."

Remember this is a fact, not a myth. "Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men." What will produce this "terror"? "We must ALL appear [be manifested] before the judgment-seat of Christ." Does Paul fear it for himself? Certainly not. He says, "We ARE made manifest unto God," i.e., even now. He has had all out now with God, sins, sin, guilt, ruin, everything he has had fully exposed to God's eye, and he knows how all has been fully met, by that death of which he speaks in a moment. He does not wait for the judgment-seat to detect anything; grace has led him into God's presence in the full acknowledgement and confession of all even now, and that all has been fully met by Christ's death. He is very clear on this. "We ARE made manifest unto God." Reader, are you? But what a terrible moment will that be for the sin-screening, guilt-hiding, iniquity-covering, transgression-veiling, gospel-neglecting sinner, when, compelled to stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, ALL will be exposed, manifested, and brought to light. "The things done in the body" are in view. Of things "good" there are none; of "bad," abundance. The Christless soul, having "done evil" only, comes forth "unto the resurrection of damnation" (John 5: 29). What can be the only issue? The lake of fire. "Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20: 15).

Unsaved reader, do you believe this? God says it. Paul knew it. I believe it. The devil believes it. And you doubt it. You — who are most concerned in the matter! Can it be? What madness! what utter folly! Be persuaded. "Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men." Yes, beloved reader, I would persuade you to flee from the wrath to come. It is a fact. It is no use your denying it. God has said, "Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power" (2 Thess. 1: 9). Paul was so impressed with the terror which that moment must bring to unsaved souls that his whole heart longed for their salvation, hence the words "we persuade men." The last account the Holy Ghost gives of his preaching is in Acts 28, and then he spent "from morning till evening" "persuading them concerning Jesus." It is a mighty, solemn fact, there is judgment coming most surely. Sinner! I warn you, flee!

Do I hear you saying, —  I am persuaded, I see my danger, my sin, its certain judgment, my inevitable destruction, if I go on as I am going; how am I to escape? Oh! you have seen the background of my picture, and like it not. It is well. Fix now, therefore, your undivided attention on the lovely One who is found in the front, and all your terror shall vanish, and your fears flee away, as you ponder.

2. — "THE LOVE OF CHRIST."

"For the love of Christ constraineth us." Charming words! Earnest as this blessed ambassador might be, urged by the sense of the "terror" of the day when the majesty of God will be maintained by the final and eternal judgment of sin, personally, in those who are there found in their sins, he was only the more urgent because he had discovered that, in order to save men from that day of judgment, He who will then be the judge had Himself died to deliver the guilty.

Love was the spring of this marvellous act. Sin had come in. This, God must judge, in maintenance of His own character. But sin brought death, and, viewed in this light, "ALL were dead." Further, "ALL must appear before the judgment-seat of Christ." To appear there with a single sin is certain and everlasting condemnation. What is to be done? He who knows the extent of man's offence alone can meet or atone for it. After the offence, but before the day when He will judge it, Christ (who will be the judge) enters the scene, and becomes a man that, as a man, He might die and bear the judgment resting on man. This indeed is love! What was man's condition in God's sight because of sin? "Then were all dead." But oh! what news! "One died for ALL." Magnificent grace! Unparalleled love! Uncalled, unasked by one, He "DIED FOR ALL." This is a new kind of love. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15: 13). Mark the words "no man." Here, however, dear reader, is love which exceeds that. The love of Jesus, the God-man, far exceeds this limit, for He died for all — for His enemies certainly, not the less for His friends, if He had any. Blessed Jesus! It is this love manifested in death — love stronger than death, and which many waters could not quench — which wins the heart to Him. Does He love me? Yes. Does He love you? Yes, without a doubt. Are you sure? Positive. Why? Because He died. For whom? "FOR ALL." Now get out of that number if you can.

But how can I be sure that Christ loves me? Because He died for me. Why did He die? Because He loved me. Well, if this be so, I ought to live unto Him who died for me. Quite so; and that is just what Paul judged. So wonderful is His love in dying for such guilty sinners as we have all been, that, the moment the heart discovers it, the judgment is formed, — I ought to be for Him who is so thoroughly for me. The soul that gets hold of this is a "new creature" truly, and has the sweet sense of being "reconciled" to God. Enmity is cast out and annihilated by such overwhelming love as the cross displays. All is of God. The desire to have us near Himself, and the love that effects this blessed result by the cross, are both divine. Further, He sends out the message of reconciliation first by Christ, next by ambassadors, who, standing in the very stead of Christ, proclaim the heavenly tidings in the cars of all who will listen. It is suited to ALL, it is designed for ALL, it is proclaimed to ALL, that "One died for ALL," and if "ALL" do not believe, it is their own fault, and to their own eternal loss. Reader, beware lest you slight heaven's message. Hear it!

"Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though GOD DID BESEECH you by us; WE PRAY YOU in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. FOR he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." What a message! God now beseeching you to be reconciled to Himself, because He once on the cross took up with Christ the question of sin. There and then His judgment of it fell upon Christ, so that now whoever believes in Him stands before God in all the value of that work by which God has been glorified and sin put away. God's righteousness, and His estimate of that work, are seen not only in His taking Christ out of the grave into glory, but by His putting the believer in Christ in the very same place before Him that Christ now has. In death on the cross He took our place, in life now before God He gives us His place. What righteousness and what love!

My reader, can you find it in your heart once more to refuse God's appeal to you? Say not, like Agrippa, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian but, receiving the word simply, may your response be in the words of this fervent ambassador recorded elsewhere, "I AM PERSUADED, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8: 38, 39), "for I know whom I have believed, and AM PERSUADED that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Tim. 1: 12).

"This is not Death; this is Victory!"

Marvellous words these, indeed, to come from the lips of a dying mortal, now on the verge of eternity! But I heard, and can never forget them.

Soon after sunrise on a glorious Lord's Day morning in July 1874, I was hastily summoned to the bedside of a middle-aged lady I had been attending for a short while. Floods of golden light illumined the chamber where she lay, and a glance at her face told me she was rapidly sinking, and that the swoon, on account of which I had been urgently sent for, was the harbinger of her departure now near at hand. Scanning my face earnestly as I lightly touched her wrist, where no pulse could be felt, she eagerly said, "Doctor, am I dying? Don't be afraid to tell me. You know I am quite ready, so you may tell me the truth fearlessly."

I knew how tenderly and truly she loved her husband and her five children, all standing round her bed, and how she, the devoted and ever-thoughtful wife and mother, was beloved by them, and so felt what a wrench it would be to part from each other, but at such a moment it was better that all should know the truth, so I quietly rejoined, "Yes, my dear friend, I think you have come nearly to the end of life's journey here. Your pilgrimage is over, and you will soon be at home with the Lord."

"Do you really mean that?" was her quick reply, as a smile of deep joy, and a flush of glad surprise, lit up her handsome face.

"I do indeed, I think before the sun has gone to his rest today, you will have gone to yours for ever."

"Oh, that's glorious! Do you mean that today I shall be absent from the body, and present with the Lord?"

"Yes, that is just what I mean."

"Then I shall see Jesus today, my precious Lord and Saviour. Oh, what good news!" and she clasped her hands with emphasis, while in her heart she turned to the Lord in accents of praise. Then fixing her eyes on her husband, she exclaimed, "J-, did you hear what the doctor has been saying? He says I am going to see Jesus today, that before the sun sets I shall be for ever with Him, in all the rest and glory His precious blood has secured for me. Is not that glad tidings? I feel much at leaving you, and all the dear children, but you will all meet me again in heaven I know. You will be there I know, my love, and" — now turning to the children respectively, and calling each endearingly by name, she added — "you will be there, won't you — and you — and you — and you — and you, my youngest? Yes, you must all meet me there."

Weeping profusely, as they all were, she bade them weep not for her, as she added: "Think of this, the doctor says I am to see Jesus today. Yes, today I am to see Him, and be with Him for ever."

She paused a moment or two, and then turning to me abruptly exclaimed, "Doctor, you told me I was dying. That is a mistake. THIS IS NOT DEATH; THIS IS VICTORY!"

And so indeed it was, — a complete fulfilment of the blessed Lord's words, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death" (John 8: 51). She said much more in the same strain, and continued rejoicing in the Lord, and in the thought of that day seeing Him, till soon after noon, when she joyously passed into His blessed presence.

Such a scene could never be forgotten by an eye-witness. And what was this, my unconverted reader? Do you tell me it was the ebullition of an excitable nature? Well, that may be your way of reading it, but let me ask you, Do you fancy you are likely to have a similar ebullition on your deathbed? Do you think that to be told you would die this day, shortly after you have dropped this paper, would fill you with joy? Nothing of the kind. You know better. The one thing you are afraid of is death. Why? Because "after this the judgment." Yes, you know that death and judgment are before you, and they are too distasteful, direful, awful things for an unsaved sinner to meet. I don't wonder you dislike funerals, and would not care to be alone in a room, or a house, with a corpse. I don't blame you for fearing death, but it just shows, my friend, where you really are, as to your soul's state. You know not the fruit and effect of Christ's death.

The difference between the end of a believer and an unbeliever is immeasurable. To the one of whom I have written, death was not death, it was "victory" most truly. Now to you, my unsaved reader, death would be an awful calamity. To you it would mean defeat and eternal damnation, for the meaning of God's word, "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment," may be expressed in two words — two terrible words — death, and damnation. No man that gets into judgment can escape damnation. When God judges, He will do so in righteousness without one whit of grace. Now He is speaking in grace, which reigns through righteousness, and the believing sinner is gifted with eternal life as the fruit of Christ's death.

It is wonderful to think that the death of Jesus, when He is confided in, really delivers the believer from the necessity — I say not the possibility — of death. Let me quote in full the verses in Hebrews 9 already alluded to: "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation" (Heb. 9: 27, 28). Ponder, my dear reader, the "as and the "so" in these scriptures. "As" what? As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment," — i.e., that to die and bear God's judgment of sin is the lot of man by nature. "So" what? "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many," — i.e., that Christ has taken on the cross these two consequences of sin, death and judgment. What is the result? The believer is delivered from the common lot of man. The believer in Christ is connected and identified with Christ, who is on the resurrection — the heavenly — side of death and judgment; and inasmuch as Scripture says, "As he is, so are we, in this world," the believer knows now that he has death and judgment behind him at the cross, instead of before him.

It was the knowledge of this that made my sick friend so joyous in the hour of her departure. She thought not of death and judgment, but of Christ and glory, and could truly and happily say, "This is not death, this is victory." She knew the emancipating effect of "the gospel according to the power of God; who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began; but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished [annulled] death, and hath brought life and immortality [incorruptibility] to light through the gospel" (2 Tim. 1. 9, 10). She knew why Jesus became a man — viz., that He might die and deliver others, as it is written, "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb. 2: 14, 15).

What a Saviour! what a salvation! what a victory! The devil destroyed, and death annulled; the believer delivered, and brought to know that Christ is his life before God. What could fill the heart that knows this but peace and joy? Well may we triumphantly inquire, "O death, where is thy sting?" It is buried in the bosom of Christ, and we, who believe, shall never taste it or feel it. "O grave, where is thy victory?" It has no reply. Christ has lain in its cold depths, broken its bonds burst its barriers, and now shares His victory with all His own, so we may well shout, "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Happy am I to be able to sing, —

"Death and judgment are behind me,

Grace and glory are before;

All the billows rolled o'er Jesus,

There exhausted all their power."

Reader, which is before you, death or victory?

"Any Man;" or, "It Means Me."

God's ways of reaching the soul are wondrous and manifold; but as it is by His Word that it is quickened into life, so also by that same Word ever is it that liberty and peace are known. When He begins a work, He always finishes it; though many a year may roll by between the moment when He awakens, and the hour of full deliverance.

I do not mean that this must always necessarily be the case, though, as a fact, it often is so; but it is a sweet thought, that His gracious eye is never for one moment taken off the soul that is the object of His love, and about to be the subject of His saving grace.

As to Moses of old He said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows, and I am come to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey;" so now, blessed be His name, does He "see," "know," and "hear" all the groans, sorrows, and tears of an awakened, exercised sinner, and in His own time and way does He love to "deliver." Oftentimes the way of His deliverance is very striking, as perhaps my reader knows.

Some years ago I received one evening a letter from a lady, begging me to call next day to see her servant, who, she stated, was very deaf. The next morning I was wending my way to the house, when I met, in the street, a dear Christian man, a greengrocer. We stopped and had a little talk about the Lord, and then he said, "Oh, doctor, I should so like you to see a young woman I have just parted from. I had gone to her mistress's house with some vegetables, and finding she came from my part of the country, I was led to speak to her about her soul. She is in an awful state of distress, and has been so for over two years. At that time she lived in Berwickshire. God's Spirit was working mightily in her neighbourhood, and many were being converted. One night she attended the preaching of one of the Lord's servants you well know — Mr J. W. S. That evening she was deeply convicted of her sin, and of her lost condition as a sinner before God. Though invited to remain and be spoken with, she left the meeting, and went towards her own house. As she neared it the thought presented itself that just then was the moment when she might be saved, but that if she missed it she might never be. Acting on this she retraced her steps to the preaching-room, but hung about outside the door, fearing to go in and be spoken to. Eventually she went back to her house, without pardon or peace. No sooner had she reached it, than Satan whispered in her ear, that as she had thus acted, all hope of salvation was, for her, for ever gone, — she had missed the day of grace, and the Lord would henceforth have nothing to do with her. This foul lie she believed, and from that moment settled gloom filled her soul, and anguish has been her constant portion, as she regards herself hopelessly and irretrievably lost."

Much interested in this sad case, I said, "Where does she live?"

"With Mrs  -, in No. 23  -  Street."

"Is she deaf?"

"Yes, very. Why do you ask that?"

"Well," I said, "it is very remarkable; she must be the very person I am just going to visit professionally, as I got a note from her mistress last night."

"The Lord go with you, and give you a word for her anxious troubled heart?" and so saying, my friend passed on his way, and I made for the person in question.

The bodily ailment having received due attention, Jane (for such was her name) was leaving the room to follow my instructions, when I recalled her and said, "You are certainly very deaf, Jane, but I fancy not so deaf but that you can hear the voice of Jesus. Have you heard His voice yet?"

She instantly dropped her head on her bosom, and the sad pained look — which almost all the deaf have  - deepened into utter gloom as she remained quite speechless.

"You surely do not mean to say that you have come to this time of life, and that the Lord has never yet spoken to you of His love, or called you to come to Him?"

"My doom is fixed," was now her sad reply.

"Your doom is fixed! What do you mean by that? Do you mean that your case is too bad for Christ? that He will not save you?"

"I fear so, sir."

"But why will He not save you? If what you say be true, you are the first sinner I ever met that Jesus would not save. Tell me, did He never call you to come to Him?"

To these queries Jane gave no answer; so after waiting a little I said, "I expect the truth is just this: in days gone by He did call you, and you were almost converted, but the devil got you to defer your soul's salvation; and as you did this, he has told you since that your day of grace is over, and that Christ would have nothing more to say to such a wretched good-for-nothing sinner. Now, is not that your case?"

Quite amazed at this unfolding of her history, she exclaimed, "Yes, that's just it; but how could you know that, sir?"

Without telling her the way in which I had thus got to know her history, I merely said, "The blessed Lord often lets His servants know the state of people's souls, that through them He may meet their need. John 2: 9 is not recorded without a divine purpose: 'When the governor of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, he knew not whence it was (but the servants which drew the water knew).' The Lord tells His servants wondrous secrets for His own glory oftentimes."

Thus saying, I went on: — "How I got to know your state is not the point, Jane, but this — Do you really want to be saved?"

"Indeed, I do, sir; I would give everything to be saved, and know it."

"Well, can you save yourself?"

"No."

"Do you believe that Jesus is able to save you?

"Yes, I believe He is."

"But is He willing? that's the question."

As to this, all was darkness; so, assuring her of His willingness, yea, His fervent desire, to save all who come to Him simply, and trust Him only, I at length said, "Now, if He said in His Word He would receive and bless you, would you believe Him?"

"If I saw it in His Word, I would believe Him?" was her answer.

Looking to the Lord for guidance in His Word to help this poor trembling soul, I took out my little pocket Testament and read to her, 'In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified' (John 7: 37-39). Now, Jane, that is plain enough. The only question is, are you really thirsting? Are you really desirous of having Christ as your Saviour and Lord, and of having the thirst of your needy heart met by Him?"

"Indeed, sir, I am thirsting. Oh! if only I could be sure that it meant me."

"Well, look at it yourself;" and I turned the page round that she might see it. "He says, 'If any man thirst.' Who does 'any man' mean?"

There was a moment's pause, and then faith won the day, as she exclaimed, "It means me!"

From that moment she knew she was saved. The troubled look departed from her face, and instead thereof it was lit up with the joy of God's salvation.

Some years after this I was preaching the gospel in a town in Berwickshire. After the meeting a young person came and spoke with me, whom at first I did not recognise as my friend Jane. Recalling the foregoing incident, I said playfully, "Well, Jane, is your doom fixed?" "Oh yes, sir 'my doom is fixed;' but fixed with Christ," was her happy answer.

And now, my dear reader, what about your soul? Is your doom fixed? How do you stand in relation to Christ? If you are still a careless, unconcerned sinner, what an awful doom is yours! "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Ps. 9: 17).

I pray you let not this doom be yours. If the Spirit of God has awakened you to a sense of your sin, be thankful for it, but do not rest there. Salvation is not in anxiety, but in Christ. Let nothing keep you back from Him. You may have Satan laying to your charge every conceivable sin, but this need not keep you from Christ. Recollect He came "to seek, and to save, that which was lost." As such, you may claim Him as your Saviour this very moment.

How sweetly fall His blessed words on the ear of a wearied, miserable, self-condemned sinner, — "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." Thirsty, all you have to do is simply come to Him, trust Him, believe Him, give Him credit for His love, and then drink and live for ever. He gives you eternal life; but more, He gives you also the Holy Spirit, to dwell in you, and lead you unto all truth. When you have received from Him what His love supplies, then "rivers of living water" will flow out. Coming to Him and drinking, they flow in, as you believe. Afterwards they flow out in testimony and service for Him. How simple, and how sweet!

In John 3: 5, the Lord speaks of a man being "born of water, and of the Spirit." This is the new birth, and the water comes down. In John 4: 14, He says, "The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." This is worship; the new life, in the power of the Holy Ghost, rising to its source — God. The water springs up. Here in John 7 the water flows out in every variety of service to Christ.

Dear reader, who does "any man" mean?

Barabbas or Jesus?

Barabbas or Jesus?

Luke 23.

W. T. P. Wolston.

The Spirit of God has said elsewhere that "the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1: 18). "But," you ask, "how am I to be saved?" By believing on the Son of God. Salvation is yours through what He has done; through nothing that you could ever do. What could man do? What did man do? Listen to God's tale of what he did. Scripture faithfully tells what man is — man's state — what man has become when he can treat the Son of God thus:

"The whole multitude of them arose, and led Him [Jesus] to Pilate." They accuse Him, they set Him at nought, they mock Him, they array Him in a gorgeous robe, they rail on Him, they crucify Him. Pilate could find no fault in Jesus, but they cry, "Crucify him! crucify him!" and they take Him to Calvary, the place of a skull, and Scripture says, "There they crucified him." Whom? Him, the Son of God. The world thought the only treatment Jesus was worthy of was to be crucified in a graveyard between two malefactors! That tells what man is; and it tells what God is also. Could He have delivered Himself? Certainly. Would He deliver Himself? No. What did He do? Did He accuse them? No; no upbraiding, no accusing word is heard. "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted; yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."

That cross which tells the bitter hatred and enmity of man to God, is the only means whereby God can save man. Yes, it needed that slain Lamb, it needed that spotless Victim on the cross, ere God in righteousness could save man.

But let us turn to Scripture, and see there what man did to the One who had "done nothing amiss." I say it solemnly, the world lies before God this day charged with the murder, the cruel murder, of His Son. I grant there was love in His heart, but that does not excuse man. Scripture brings out plainly what man does, what man is. His thoughts and his treatment of the blessed Son of God show what he is. You cannot deny it, you cannot get out of it, you cannot escape it; man would burn the Bible if he could, because it is the record of what he has done. You say, "Oh! that is not us, we did not live in those days, we did not cry, 'Crucify him.'" You blush for your forefathers? Nay, rather blush for yourselves, ye who are not Christ's; for they who are not for Him are against Him. If you are not Christ's, you side with those who cried, "Crucify him!" Oh, what a blot on the world's history — they slew the Son of God!

What think you is the moral and spiritual state of that world which can refuse the threefold testimony then given to Jesus, the Man of Sorrows? Pilate says, "I find no fault in him;" the thief says, "This man has done nothing amiss;" the centurion says, "Certainly this was a righteous man." But He is crucified!

What is the effect of reading this? Is it not thoroughly to persuade you that the world treated Christ shamefully? But I ask you the question, Have you sided with the world or not? Are you still in the world and of it? or are you among those who are His? There are only the two classes — those who have fled to Jesus, and those who have not. Are you for Him or against Him? Do you side with Him, or are you of those who cry, "Crucify him!" I ask you again, are you His? Does the world take cognisance of you that you are a Christian? Have you confessed Christ? Does your classmate or your fellow-worker know you are Christ's?

"But," you ask, "what is it to be a Christian?" A Christian is one who knows and loves Christ; who follows Him and owns Him as Lord. You say, "I profess to be a Christian." Ah, that won't do, there is nothing so despicable as mere profession. Beloved reader! eternity will bring everything into full light, and if there is a thing that will ensure eternal damnation, it is the empty lip-profession without the possession of Christ now.

I appeal to you — Have you been converted? By conversion, I mean converted to, something and from something: converted to Christ and from the world. He who is converted changes ground, changes states; he is off the ground and state of condemnation. Are you a Christian? The day of the Lord will bring out who are on the Lord's side and who are not; the veil will be drawn down, and you will be discovered, you who are mere empty professors. I beseech of you, shun unreality; let there be real, genuine work; go down before God and own your sin, your unworthiness, your weakness, and He will save you — save you this very moment.

You are either for or against Christ. Are you for Him? One thing is certain, if you are for Him, you must take your stand for the despised, the rejected, the world-hated, the thong-bound Saviour. Are you for Him, or do you side with the world? Where are you? Can you say, Christ for me? Thank God, I can say it, Christ for me. Can you say, I have seen Him in all His beauty, His perfection, His lowly grace, His gentleness and love? Can you say that, to you, Bethlehem, Calvary, and Bethany are sacred spots? Bethlehem, where He was born; Calvary, where He suffered for me and in my stead; and Bethany, whence He ascended, are dear, but dearer far than they is Christ Himself. What think you of Christ? Do you love Him? Is He your Saviour? Is He the object of your heart's desire and love?

They crucified Him! You weep as you hear of His sufferings and His sorrow; but I would have you rather weep for the sins that caused His suffering; I like when the ploughshare of conviction goes deep down in a soul, and when it gets broken down and is in tears for its sin. Whitfield used to put this question to awakened souls, "If God cast you into hell for ever, would He be right in so doing?" If they answered Yes, he was satisfied they had a right sense of sin, and God's judgment thereof.

The perfection of Christ is brought out in His sufferings; as the sugar-cane has to be bruised before we can have its sweetness, and the fragrant plant rudely shaken ere it yields its perfume, so the more we see Christ subjected to, all the more strongly His perfection is manifest; the more He passes through, the more is His intrinsic worth fully known. He was bound, blindfolded, set at nought, and mocked. He is asked, "Art thou the King of the Jews?" He answers, "Thou sayest it." Pilate finds no fault in Him, but "they were the more fierce." Pilate wishes to be quit of Him, he has heard of all He has done, how He had healed the sick, raised the dead, made the blind to see, the lame to walk, the dumb to speak, and he does not wish to be responsible for this Man's death, so he sends Him to Herod.

This strange Person is brought to Herod, and the cry is, "He is a King." Herod was glad to see Jesus: "He was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him." He wished to see the One who could raise the dead, cleanse the leper, and give sight to, the blind; but there was no sense of need in Herod's soul, he knew not that it was better far to see the Saviour Himself, than to see any miracle performed by Him. He sees Jesus, he questions Him, but mark the dignity of the Lord: He answers the usurper nothing. Jesus answered Pilate, because in him He recognised the deputed power of God, even though that power was misused.

And now mark what follows: "Herod, with his men of war, set him at nought." Have you? Tell me, have you not? Herod made light of Christ, and, dear soul, have you not made light of Him, too? If you have never come to Him and believed in Him, you and Herod are the same, you have both equally "set him at nought." "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Did Herod believe on the Son of God? No. Do you? If you do not, you are on the same ground as Herod.

In verse 12 we read: "And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together." That day they were made friends over the determined slaughter of the Son of God! Dreadful thought! Pilate is glad to make friends with the king; but, oh! what an unholy compact. Those two newly made friends will find themselves side by side through a long, endless eternity. And where? Oh, soul! Spend not your eternity with those who murdered the Son of God. You will if you do not believe on Him: if you are not brought to Him you will surely spend your eternity with His foes. A long dark eternity without the Lord! — is that your choice?

"I find no fault in him." Oh, why did Pilate not act on this? We are told he tries to release Him, but the cry of the multitude is no! Pilate wishes to set Him free, but he does not wish to lose the world's favour. And you, are you not afraid of this, too? Afraid of losing the world's favour! Beware, rather, that you lose not your own soul. Pilate, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them, but they cried, "Crucify him! crucify him!"

Barabbas or Jesus? becomes now the question. They cried out all at once, "Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas!" Pilate is defeated; they choose Barabbas. In a moment "they were instant with loud voices requiring he might be crucified." And mark what follows: "And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed."

Jesus or Barabbas? This was the question which divided them. Surely some will be found for Jesus. Not one! I fancy I hear you say, "I would, had I been there." Well, show yourself on His side now. Side with Jesus, and let the world know, too, that you have done so.

The cross that should have been for Barabbas was used for Jesus! There was plenty of wood to have made Jesus a cross, but He who had done nothing amiss was crucified on that cross which should have been for Barabbas, the murderer! Plenty of wood to make a cross! Ah, yes; the fear of that made poor Peter deny his Lord. And does not the fear of the cross, the ridicule, and the taunt of the world, make you deny Jesus too?

Barabbas' friends must side with him, and Jesus' friends must side with Jesus; but there was not one for Jesus. Yes, it was really so; not one for Jesus, the Son of God. In a moment they cry, "Crucify him! Release Barabbas!" They have indeed divided — divided to a man, and all, all are for Barabbas, the murderer, and not one for the Man in whom they could find no fault.

Do you assent to this? No! Then let there be this day from you the confession that you are Christ's, that you are on the Lord's side.

The world may do what it likes with Jesus, He is "delivered to their will;" man does what he will with the Son of God; Christ allows man to do his worst to Him: they scourge Him and crown Him with thorns. He says, "Do your utmost, do your worst, I shall not complain; and when you have done your worst to, me, then I shall do my best for you." When they had nailed Him to the cross, He dies for them. He died in their stead, He dies as a victim to meet the claims of a righteous God. He bears the judgment that ought to have been theirs. He drinks the bitter cup of wrath, that they might not have to drink it. He says, "Father, forgive them." Oh, what love! No love like His. I would that you knew Jesus, my Jesus. Oh! confide in Him, trust Him, love Him.

"Unmoved by Satan's subtle wiles,

Or suffering, shame, and loss,

His path, uncheered by earthly smiles,

Led only to the cross."

In verses 27-31 we are told that "there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children; for, behold, the days are coming in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us; for if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?"

Do tears fall from your eyes for Him? Weep for yourselves. What does He mean? He means there will come a day when there will be the world's prayer-meeting! "Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us!" They are in sore need, but what is it they want? It is a place of refuge, of security, a shelter. "The great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (Rev. 6: 15-17.) The world is frightened, and betakes itself to prayer, but it is too late. Oh, beloved one, you can find a shelter from that wrath now in the bosom of Jesus; not in the mountains and the hills, but in Jesus — Jesus who died on Calvary.

The last the world saw of Jesus was with a crown of thorns upon His head; the next it shall see of Him will be when He is crowned in glory with many crowns.

But, "if they do these things in a green tree, what shall he done in the dry?" Christ was the green tree; the unsaved soul is the lifeless, leaf. less, fruitless, dry tree. I saw a man the other day with an axe in his hand laid at the root of a tree. It was winter-time, and the tree looked much like the others around: they were all leafless, and there was nothing outwardly to denote any difference, nor to make the passer-by doubt that when spring-time came it would, like the others, burst forth into leaf; but it had been tapped, and found hollow; a cumberer of the ground it was cut down ready for the burning! Are you this tree?

Christ was the green tree in all His dependence on God, in all His beauty and perfection. He was a green tree going to judgment, going to be cut down in the midst of beauty and verdure. What, then, will overtake you, you unsaved soul, you who are a dry tree? "If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" Cannot you see your own case? You have not forgiveness, you have not pardon. Oh, what shall be done in the dry? See it cast into the fire. Look at the rich man of whom we read in Luke 16. In a moment cut down, and being in a torment, he lifts up his eyes and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom, and he cries, "Have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame." A dry tree ready for the burning! But, thanks be to God, because the green tree suffered, many a dry one will escape.

If man has done these things to the Son of God, if He gets this treatment from man's hand, what, think you, will the treatment be that man will receive from God's hand in a day of righteous retribution? If you are among the doomed, you will remember that you once heard of a way of escape, but you would not receive it. Oh, unsaved soul, come to Jesus, come now!

We go to the cross, and see Jesus forsaken and in darkness, but the darkness is only from the sixth hour to the ninth; it passes away from Him; but oh, unsaved, lost soul, there will be no ninth hour for you; no passing away of the darkness for you, it will he for ever.

"Away with him!" was the world's prayer; His was, "Father, forgive them." They revile Him and say, "Come down from the cross; if thou be King of the Jews, save thyself." He says, No; I will not come down, I will not save Myself, I will die for you. Oh, what love! Is not this love indeed? He dies, but He does more than that: when He is risen He tells His disciples to begin at Jerusalem, the place where He had been put to death, and to the very people who had cried, "Crucify him! crucify him!" He bids them preach the forgiveness of sins through Him — Jesus. And now I write as an ambassador from Him to proclaim to you the forgiveness of your sins, and salvation through the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Will you believe in Him? Will you accept salvation?

As you drop this paper, are you on the world's side, or Christ's? Barabbas or Jesus?

The Call of the Bride

The Call of the Bride

W. T. P. Wolston.

Chapter 1.

THE BRIDEGROOM.

"And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men's feet that were with him. And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on. And he said, I am Abraham's servant. And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah my master's wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath. And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell: but thou shalt go unto my father's house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son." — Gen. 24: 32-38.

The twenty-fourth chapter of Genesis gives a most beautiful illustration of the Gospel of God, now presented by the Holy Ghost to the guilty children of Adam. It is a pictorial representation of the time in which we live. In the bygone ages, Abraham desired for his son Isaac that which would be a joy and comfort to him; and at this present time, God does the same for His Son. He is seeking that which shall be the source of endless joy to His only, His well-beloved, Son, Jesus. And what is that? A BRIDE.

The Son's Bride, with her jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, is what I desire to call your attention to; and, beloved reader, rest assured this has not been left on record merely as a family transaction in the history of Abraham's descendants, but because it is fraught with the deepest interest to us now, and is full of instruction and beautiful simile.

In the beginning of this chapter we see Abraham giving directions to Eliezer, his servant, to go to his country, and to his kindred, and take a wife from thence unto his son Isaac.

In Eliezer we have not only a ready and faithful, but also a prayerful, messenger; and need we wonder then that his mission from Hebron to the distant city of Nahor in Mesopotamia was so prosperous? No; we can but share, as it were, in the faithful messenger's joy, as he recrosses the desert, taking with him to his master's son the one who shall be so dear to his heart. And in these days there is One who has come from heaven's far-off land on a similar errand — the Holy Ghost. He has come down to us. Angels have been passed by, and to man, fallen man, has been delivered the Gospel message of peace; and from the family of Adam the Holy Ghost is gathering out those who shall form the Bride, and He is leading across the pathless desert of the world this Bride for the Son, to whom the Father has given "all things." Safely is He leading her onward to that happy moment when she shall be presented, radiant with the jewels that have been given her by her long-expected Bridegroom, the Lord of all.

Have you ever thought that there is a living Man, seated on the throne of heaven, waiting and longing for the time when the Church, His Bride, shall be associated with Himself in glory, and when He shall share all the honour and dignity of that throne with the one for whom He died? So it is. "Christ loved the church and gave himself for it;" and of Him individually the believer can say, "Who loved me, and gave himself for me." How happy and blessed are they who form an integral part of the Church! Reader, can you look forward with joy to the meeting of the Bride and Bridegroom? Can you picture the scene, and share by anticipation in the joy, when all heaven shall be in ecstasy, because "the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready"?

Twice in Scripture do we read of ecstatic joy amongst the heavenly hosts. First, at the birth of the Lord, we are told: "And suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2: 13, 14). And again at the marriage of the Lamb: "And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints" (Rev. 19: 5.8).

Do you wish to form part of the Bride here described? I do not now ask, Do you want salvation? or, Do you want to escape from hell? No; I ask now, Do you want what God calls you to? Do you desire to possess the honour He here offers you? Will you have the dignity and glory He puts at your disposal? Will you accept it, or refuse it? Which? Can you for a moment hesitate? Oh, better far spend eternity as the happy Bride of the Son of God, in the brightness of heaven's glory, than spend it in the darkness of hell! Better far be bound to Jesus with the cords of love, than be bound in hell with the cords of your own sins! — for in one state or other must eternity be spent.

But let us return and look in detail at what is here written. The scene represented is in the distant country of Mesopotamia, and the servant is there telling a tale that will allure one to leave all that is dear to her in her native land, and go to be the bride of him whom she has never seen, but of whom she hears such wondrous tidings.

Eliezer's mission is very simply and clearly told. He is a true and faithful servant; his sole desire is to serve his master. He says, "O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master" (verses 12-14).

What a beautiful example this is to each servant of God! Would that we all were more prayerful, more dependent on God for the success of all we undertake in His service, then might we look for an equally blessed result. He prayed, nor had he long to wait for an answer; for we are told, "And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her; and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up." Mark here the eagerness of the servant in his master's work: "And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking" (verses 15-19).

Rebekah, type of the sinner, meets the messenger thus at the well. And does not God delight to meet you, dear soul? Yes. You think you have something to do, that you must get into a certain condition, before you can get into the presence of God; but you are mistaken. Rebekah, going just as she was to draw water, is met by Eliezer; and so, too, the sinner, just as he is, has presented to him, and must receive from God, His testimony to the Person of the Lord Jesus.

What does drawing water signify? It is the action of an unsatisfied soul, an expression of thirst. We have in the New Testament an account of one who came to draw water at Samaria's well, and to whom the Lord said, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." The truth taught figuratively here is the necessity for you to have Christ now as your own, and to he satisfied with Him, for it is He alone who can satisfy the cravings of the needy soul. As Eliezer met Rebekah, so would the Lord meet you. "Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher" is the first address of the seeker to the sought one.

So, in the 4th of John, when the blessed Lord would win the confidence of Samaria's erring daughter, "Give me to drink" is the gracious word that began an interview which did not end till, convicted of her sin, and commanded by His grace, that revealed heaven's best gift (Christ) to earth's worst sinner (herself), she left His side only to bring others back with her to that sacred place of blessing, by the words, "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" Such, my reader, is the lovely way Divine Grace stoops to win man's heart. It has won mine. Shall it not win yours also?

Having secured her attention, got into her company, and gone with her to her mother's house, Eliezer begins to unfold his mission; and see his earnestness: "I will not eat till I have told mine errand." And what doth he tell? "And he said, I am Abraham's servant. And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly, and he is become great; and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maid. servants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah, my master's wife, bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath. And my master made me swear, saying, . . . . Thou shalt go unto my father's house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son" (verses 34-38).

His first care, you see, is to unfold the tidings about this only-begotten son; i.e., he presents distinctly, a PERSON enriched with all that the father's love could give, and concerning whom he had purposes which deeply concerned one of those who, for the first time, heard of this would-be bridegroom, Isaac.

What a type of Christ! We must not forget, too, that in Gen. 22 we have in a wondrous figure the death and resurrection of Jesus, as of that scene it is written, "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises, offered up his only-begotten son, . . . . accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure" (Heb. 11: 17-19).

Thus it is not till Christ has died, risen again, and ascended into heavenly glory, that the Holy Ghost comes to seek the heart of the Bride for the absent one.

Before Isaac gets his possessions or his Bride, he is the risen heir; and thus is he a type of our Lord, who had first to die for His Church before He could have her with Him in glory. "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John 12: 24). How far the antitype exceeds the type I need not say. How wonderful it all is! and how blessedly true! What the restraining arm of God saved Isaac from, His own beloved Son had to endure. He hung on the cross, He died a shameful death, He descended into the grave, as the Church's Representative; and, blessed be God, He rose again entitled to claim "His own" in virtue of His atoning death and blood-shedding.

What does the Holy Ghost reveal of that only. begotten Son of God? All that the Father hath is His: "Unto him hath he given all that he hath." The Man in the glory is the One to whom the Father has given everything. "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand" (John 3: 35). He "also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should how, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2: 9-11).

Scripture abounds with testimony that all has been given to Jesus; but there was one thing yet in the mind of God, of deeper and greater value than all that had been given, a priceless gift in the sight of Jesus, and that was a "Bride" to be His helpmeet. How wonderful is the thought that the Son of God so loved that Bride as to come down to earth and give up His life in order to possess her! He loves the Church — loves her with so great a love that we are told He "for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame." For her He left His Father's home on high; for her He became a "Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;" was mocked and scourged, and at last crucified between two malefactors. But the fruit of all His sufferings is that He shall have a spotless Bride for ever seated by His side in glory. All has been done to win her, and she shall be His. That was what sustained His heart while here on earth; that was what He looked onward to in the midst of all His untold, His unutterable agony. He was doing His Father's will, was paying the costly price demanded by a righteous God to redeem those who are to form His Bride. Costly, indeed, was the ransom! Great, indeed, was His love. But it is joy to know He shall have full recompense for all His labour, all His sufferings; that His heart shall be fully gladdened, when He shall have the Church, His Bride, with Himself in glory.

"He and I in that bright glory

One deep joy shall share;

Mine, to be for ever with Him,

His, that I am there."

Oh, beloved reader, will you be there? God wants you to share this joy and love, and to rank with Him to whom He has given all things. But you say, "Can this be for me? Does God mean this for me?" My answer to this question is very simple. How did Rebekah know she was the one Eliezer wanted for Isaac? She could have no doubt on that point, for she stood by as the servant (see ver. 42-52) detailed to Laban how he had prayed to the Lord that he might meet the "appointed" one at the well, and recognise her by this sign, that when he should ask water for himself alone, she should not only yield this request but volunteer water for the camels also. Now Rebekah knew that she had exactly corresponded to this wanted personage, having said and done thus to the letter, and therefore must be the one the servant was in quest of.

If you have any doubt whether you am the one Jesus wants, just tell me — Are you a sinner? "Yes." Then listen: "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Tim. 1: 15).

"Yes, but I do not know whether I am 'appointed' to be saved, or, in other words, if I am among the elect." Very likely, and I did not know that the night I came to the Lord, but I knew something far more to the point, viz., that I was "lost." Do you know and acknowledge that? "Yes, indeed I do," you may reply. Very well, hear the Saviour's words, "The Son of man is come to seek, and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19: 10). Now what do you think? Are you the wanted one? You own you are a "sinner," and further, a "lost" one, and God says it was for such Jesus came. How can you escape the conclusion that He wants you? It is impossible to do so. Whether you want Him and are willing to accept God's wondrous salvation is the only open question. He offers it now to you, and it only remains with you to accept or reject His offered gift.

The exalted Son of God is patiently waiting till the last heart shall he won for Him. Say, shall your heart be won for Jesus? Shall the strong chains that bind you to the world and the slavery of Satan be broken even now by the tender accents of the Bridegroom's loving voice, saying unto you, "Come unto me"? Can you look back on the dark scenes of Golgotha, and see all that He suffered there to win you to Himself, and yet refuse to give Him your heart's affections? Surely not.

I ask you in God's name, and as a herald from heaven's far-off land, Will you come to Jesus? I take up the words of Rebekah's friends, and say to you, "Wilt thou go?" Let yours be the heart that joyfully responds, "I will go." Look at His beauty, He who is "the chief among ten thousand" and "altogether lovely," and rejoice in the truth that you may be His. He lingers over you with deepest patience and strongest love; He is knocking at the door of your heart; oh, soul, open unto Him. He, lures you with all the deep affection of His true heart of love; He would draw you to Himself. Again His accents fall upon your ear, calling you this day, and saying, "Come unto Me."

Let your response be that of Rebekah's when she unhesitatingly said, "I will go." What decision there is expressed in these three words, "I will go!" and will you be less decided than she? Her vista was one of earthly joy, tarnished with earthly sorrows, and ending with death; but that which is now offered to you is perfect, unending, unclouded joy, and glory with Jesus in heaven. God, in grace and mercy, proposes to lift you from your present state of degradation, in which your sins have placed you, and deliver you from the eternal future of misery which awaits every unsaved soul. He invites you to association in all the love and glory of heaven, as the Bride of the Lord of all.

This, then, is the call which now by the Gospel falls on every sinner's ear. That which fits the sinner for the presence of God is provided also through the finished work of Jesus, and doubt. less typified by the "jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and raiment," which Eliezer gave Rebekah, and of which I shall treat, with the Lord's help, in future chapters.

Chapter 2.

THE BRIDE'S "JEWELS OF SILVER."

"And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah" — Gen. 24: 53.

The effect of the word of God, when it for the first time really reaches the soul of a sinner, is to raise the question of fitness for the presence of God. Am I fit to go to God? is the query which the awakened soul will put to itself, and answer in the negative when the Gospel call has aroused it to the invitation of God. Now the perfection of the Gospel of God is this — that not only does it call the sinner to God, but shows the soul the way to come, and the ground of access to Him. In other words, it provides that which fits the guilty sinner to stand in God's presence, cleansed, forgiven, and happy.

Further, before the soul is called on to decide for Christ, it has brought before it the tale of His work and its effects for all who believe God's message about His beloved Son. This truth is strikingly illustrated in the verse at the head of this chapter. Having found the one whom he wishes to gain as a Bride for Isaac, Eliezer brings out the things which were at once the pledges of the reality of his message, and the answer to any question of poverty or unfitness to respond to his call by reason of the lack of these things. The jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and raiment, were suited to the glory of the sphere whence they came, and to which she was invited; and once accepted and worn by Rebekah, would make her personally suitable to the scene and home to which she was called. These gifts must have for ever silenced her fears (if she had them) that she did not possess the attire and the ornaments that the Bride of such "a mighty man of wealth" should possess. Nay, more: she receives and possesses them ere she has to decide whether or not she will accept the call to be the Bride of Isaac.

Let all this have its application to you, dear reader. God wants you for His Son, and the Holy Ghost tells you, in the Gospel, what Christ has done by His death to fit you for the presence of God.

But you may say, "God may be willing to receive me, but I am quite unfit to go to God. How can I, who am such a sinner, go to be with Jesus in glory?"

Let not the question of unfitness keep you back, for God does not invite you without putting before you the jewels and raiment that will fit you for His presence, and for the place He calls you to. It is He that fits you, bear that in mind; you cannot fit yourself. All your attempts to fit yourself will but end in your being clothed in filthy rags.

Rebekah has listened to the messenger, she has received the gifts; he has told her about his master's son, of the wealth and honour of him who is sole heir of all his father's possessions; he tells her also that he has come to seek a Bride for him, and Rebekah at length discovers that she is the one whom he seeks. She is asked to be the Bride of Isaac. Does the thought cross her mind of her fitness? or is the question asked, "Does he wish me?" We are not told so; but, trembling, doubting one, the heavenly Bridegroom wants thee. Art thou willing to go? Wake up, O sinner, to see that it is thee he wants. Rebekah may think of the riches and honour that shall be hers as the Bride of Isaac; but great as they were, they pale before the glory that shall be yours when in association with Christ in heaven.

We read in verse 53, that "the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah," thus fitting her with the bridal raiment suited to the high station about to be hers. Reader, do you want that which will fit you to be the Bride of the Lamb? It is all ready for you, offered to you, as Rebekah's was to her. Will you accept, as she did, "jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment"? How rich and how rare are these jewels! Let us look at them separately.

The jewel of silver is the first in order; and as we gaze on its beauty we see engraven upon it, in sparkling letters, REDEMPTION. Gold is the symbol of DIVINE RIGHTEOUSNESS, while RAIMENT tells of a suited covering. Thus you see the believer has three things: 1st, Redemption; 2nd, Righteousness; 3rd, Raiment; and they are all free gifts; you have not to purchase them; you are not to work for them. Eliezer gave to Rebekah, and she received.

The meaning of the jewels of SILVER we learn in Ex. 30: 12-16, where we read of silver in connection with making atonement, or giving a ransom for the soul, i.e., Redemption. "When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary [a shekel is twenty gerahs]: a half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD. Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD to make an atonement for your souls."

In Exodus we have the first mention of redemption, and in Revelation we have the last. It is found all through Scripture, till it culminates in that magnificent song of heaven: "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" (Rev. 5: 9). The blood of Jesus is the believer's redemption money — that, dear reader, is the jewel of silver He offers thee. Wilt thou accept it? Thou must either be redeemed or be eternally lost; and as it was of old, so is it now: "The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less." The same for the rich, the same for the poor, every one must have the same Saviour, the same salvation through His sacrificial death, the same redemption price, and that is Christ. Christ from first to last, we owe all to Him. He alone is our Redeemer, our precious jewel of Silver.

On turning to Ex. 38: 25-27, we read: "And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents. . . . And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil; a hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket." The boards of the tabernacle (type of the believer) rested on the sockets of silver, or, in other words, had a foundation on redemption, and figuratively teach us that every, thing rests on atonement. Precious indeed in the sight of God is this fair Jewel of Silver; and shall we fail to value the heavenly gift?

How often is redemption brought before us in Scripture! Let us look at a few passages in the New Testament: and first in that epistle which gives the foundations of man's relationship to God after he has sinned. I allude to Rom. 3: 23-25, where the Holy Ghost says, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood." Man's sin is met by God's grace, which provides a Redeemer, and a redemption based on the shed blood of that Redeemer. The sinner has only to believe in Jesus in order to enjoy present and eternal redemption from the consequences of sin that God must judge.

After man's sin, and before God's judgment of him and it, at the great white throne, Christ steps in, bears sin, and is made sin on the cross; sustains God's judgment in respect thereof, fully satisfies all the claims of God's righteous throne, makes propitiation, or atonement, and effects redemption for every poor sin-stained soul that trusts in Him. Mark, redemption and purchase are not the same. If I buy a slave, the slave is mine, and is still a slave. If I redeem a slave I take him out of the condition in which he was a slave, and the moment I redeem him, he is a slave no longer, but a free man through the redemption which I have effected — perhaps at a great cost to myself — but which he now rejoices in. Mere purchase would still leave his fetters on him, but redemption means their being for ever knocked off and the man set free.

Now this is exactly what the Gospel does: it delivers the sinner who believes from the righteous judgment of God — Christ having borne it — and from the present power of Satan — Christ having overcome him. What a blessed Redeemer! and what a redemption! Who would not have Him and it when both are to begotten by faith?

Again: "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Cor. 1: 30). How plainly it is stated here that Christ is made our redemption; but do you believe it? Are you willing to be redeemed?

Again: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Gal. 3: 13). What more could He do for us? He has redeemed us "once for all." Once is sufficient, for that once has satisfied the righteous claims of God.

We are redeemed by the blood of Christ, but, oh remember, divine judgment will inevitably overtake you if you are not sheltered by that precious blood. To be without the blood will be as certain judgment to you as it was to the Egyptians on the night of the Passover in Egypt: but yours will be eternal judgment.

Have you ever thought of the extent of the meaning of Redemption, and how it affects you? What does it mean? It means that you may be set free from the judgment due to you on account of sins. "The wages of sin is death." Oh, sinner, will you not flee to the refuge from the wrath to come?

Then, in Eph. 1: 7 we read, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." Here we have not only the redemption in the Beloved, but we have the forgiveness of sins, and it is according to the riches of His grace.

Again, as it were, does the heavenly Bridegroom open the casket and anew offer to you this precious jewel of silver. Do not undervalue it, it may not again be offered; do not refuse it, lest to the pangs of hell be added the bitter remorse, that redemption from its flames and torment had once been offered you, but you refused to be redeemed.

Again, in Col. 1: 14 we read, "In whom we have redemption through his blood;" and in Titus 2: 14, "Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." What did He give? He gave Himself;  to redeem whom? All who will receive this silver jewel of redemption. Christ Himself is the half shekel of the sanctuary; yea, He is the sanctuary itself where all may find rest and salvation.

In Hebrews 9: 12, we have it spoken of as an eternal redemption. "But Christ being come . . . neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained ETERNAL REDEMPTION for us.

The Spirit of God also speaks of it as a present, known, precious, and perfect redemption; Christ was perfect, therefore His work was perfect. "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,' (1 Peter 1: 18). You see it is no mere hope of redemption that is offered to you, it is a blessed certainty, "ye know." Mark it well, beloved fellow-believer: "Ye know" it, for the precious blood of the Son of God has been given to redeem you.

If you simply believe in Jesus, you are entitled to swell that song of heaven which rises to the ascended Lamb of God. "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood" (Rev. 5: 9).

What a note! "Redeemed to God!" If you believe in Jesus you are not only redeemed from judgment and the lake of fire for ever, but "redeemed to God" NOW. I have not reached heaven yet, but I have reached God, every simple believer in Jesus can truly say. It was to effect this He died. "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3: 18).

Dear reader, do you believe these blessed truths of God? Let me urge you not to despise them. Your own eternal ruin — spirit, soul, and body, will be the sure result if you do. As the servant "gave" the "jewels of silver" to Rebekah, so do I bring to you the tidings of God's gift to the world — His Son, a Redeemer, a Saviour. Oh, be entreated to accept this blessed Saviour now, and enjoy "redemption" as a present portion. The slave cannot redeem himself, nor can you. "None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him" (Ps. 49: 7). If you cannot do it for your brother, much less can you for yourself. You must let another do it for you. The only One who could do it is Jesus. His work of redemption is finished. "He gave himself a ransom for all." See the cost of our redemption. Himself! Can you refuse any longer to trust Him? Nay; trust Him simply; receive Him as your Redeemer — as your redemption — and then go on your way, not ashamed to wear the priceless and sparkling "jewel of silver" sovereign Grace has given you, always singing -

"My Redeemer! Oh, what beauties

In that lovely name appear;

None but Jesus, in His glories,

Shall the honoured title wear.

My Redeemer,

Thou hast my salvation wrought."

Chapter 3.

THE BRIDE'S "JEWELS OF GOLD."

"And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah." — Gen. 24: 53.

When the servant comes to call Rebekah, he brings out the things that fit her for the sphere to which she is called. We have seen the value of the "jewels of silver," viz., redemption; now let us look at the "jewels of gold."

Gold, in Scripture, is used as a symbol of Divine righteousness. As such, it occurs in many of the types of the Old Testament, specially in the articles in the Tabernacle and Temple, which are symbolic of God's righteousness in government and judgment.

Take, for example, the Ark of the Covenant. "And they shall make an ark of shittim wood; two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold; within and with. out shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. . . . And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee" Ex. 25: 10, 11, 16).

Now the Ark of the Covenant was the throne where God manifested Himself in righteousness, if any could. in righteousness, draw near to Him. God, who was to be approached, is holy — infinitely so; and holiness is a nature which delights in purity and repels evil; hence He sits on a throne, which judges in righteousness and with authority the evil that holiness abhors. Further, the law — the testimony of what God required of man — was in the ark, but thank God it was covered by the mercy-seat. Another has well said, "Suppose an ark with no mercy-seat. The law would then be uncovered; there would be nothing to hush its thunderings, nothing to arrest the execution of its righteous sentence. Could a nation of transgressors stand before it? Could a holy and righteous God meet sinners there? Could mercy reign, or grace shine forth from such an ark? Impossible! An uncovered ark might furnish a throne of judgment, but not a seat of mercy."

But God knew this better than we, and hence we read: "And thou shalt make a mercy-seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy-seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end; even of the mercy-seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof, and the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark, and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee" Ex. 25: 17-22).

With the cherubim looking down on it, the mercy-seat thus formed the basis of the throne of God. Both were of gold — pure gold. Thus in the ark and its covering we seem to have a marvellous connection of human and Divine righteousness in the Lord Jesus. He was perfect in human obedience and love to His Father, and lived perfectly up to the responsibility of man according to God. But He also glorified God. All that God is was glorified by the Son of Man, and not only does the Son of Man go righteously into the glory of God, but by His going to the Father righteousness is proved; and we can go where He is, in virtue of Him and His work for us.

The shittim wood and the tables of the law are in the ark, but all is clothed with the gold — God's own righteousness.

The cherubim, who always in Scripture are connected with the judicial power of God, or are the executors of the will of that power, are of gold also, and the direction of their faces is important. Inwards towards the mercy-seat. Why? Because they could thus see that which the moral nature of God demanded should be on the mercy-seat, if man, a sinner, is to draw near to a holy God who hates and must judge sin. But what do they see on the mercy-seat? Blood. Yes, blood must be put upon the mercy-seat, as the witness of the work of atonement done for those who had failed in responsibility before God. The claims of His throne must and can only be met by blood — the sign of death having been undergone — and when the blood is sprinkled, the cherubim gaze upon it as expressive of the satisfaction of God in that which enables Him to permit the sinner to approach to Himself.

What a comfort to see thus that God's claims in righteousness are met by the blood of atonement, and we draw nigh to a mercy-seat sure of acceptance in righteousness!

We have the same truth taught by the use of gold in the New Testament. For example, turn to the book of judgment, which the Revelation most emphatically is. There the Apostle John says: "I saw . . . in the midst of the seven candle. sticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a GOLDEN GIRDLE." John had often seen Jesus, had often enjoyed sweet companionship with Him, had heard His life and peace-giving words, had lain his head on His loving bosom, knew Him well; but now when he sees Christ, he sees Him with a garment down to His feet, and he recognises Him not. The garment down to the feet shows priestly discriminating judgment, the golden girdle Divine righteousness as displayed in Christ where He now is.

He threatens with judgment those who have departed from Him. Priestly discrimination and judgment are here brought out. It is no longer grace meeting man's need, but judgment meeting him as he is.

That the "golden girdle" signifies Divine righteousness is clear from Isaiah 11: 5, where the Spirit of God, speaking of the judicial dealings of Christ in righteousness with the earth, which usher in the millennium, says, "And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins."

Again, the Lord says to the Church of Laodicea, "Because thou sayest, I am rich . . . and knowest not that thou art . . . poor . . . I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich" (Rev. 3: 17, 18). What a solemn call! And who is it to? To the professing Church, accounting itself rich without having Christ as the righteousness of the soul by faith.

Reader, are you a mere professor? or do you really possess Christ as your righteousness before God? If the former, you had better heed the call of Christ in glory to possess yourself of true and approved righteousness by buying it of Him. You must have to do with Him in order to get it.

Now in order to stand before God, man must have a righteousness suited to God. Do you think man has any righteousness? No; yet he must be righteous to stand before a righteous God. Man may say, "I will work it out, I will fit myself for the presence of God," but when he stands before God he finds he has no righteousness: "We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isa. 64: 6). Ah, why does man not take God's word for truth, and seeing that he can have no righteousness of his own, accept what God has provided and so freely gives?

"There is none righteous, no, not one," is written against man once, yea, thrice, by God (Ps. 14; Ps. 53; Rom. 3). Spite of this, many serious souls drop into the snare laid by Satan, and, "being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God" (Rom. 10: 3). Dear reader, are you one of this class? If so, may God use this paper to show you the utter folly of your course.

Now the essence of the Gospel is this, — that when man is utterly helpless and guilty, and can furnish no righteousness suited to God, so as to be able to stand before Him, then God comes out, and by the work of the Cross — the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus — confers on every one who believes in Jesus divine righteousness, which enables the soul to stand before God in unclouded peace. When man has no righteousness for God, then God has righteousness for man.

This is the burden of Romans 3, to which I would direct my reader. Should you think that in order to stand before God there must be works on your part, how does verse 20 dispel such an illusion: "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin" — not the blotting of it out. The law can recognise, detect, and measure the sin, and then can only condemn the sinner; so that it is clear the law can afford no help, and confer no righteousness. Whence, then, is it found, if not in man's own efforts to keep the law? The answer is plain. "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (verses 21-23). All have sinned, and come short of yielding what was due to God, and then, all being manifestly without righteousness, God manifests His righteousness to all, and confers it upon all that believe (not who work).

The aspect of this manifested righteousness is unto all, i.e. it is universal; its application is to all that believe. Here is a limit: "All them that believe." But why this limitation? Because "righteousness" is not by "works" now, but by faith on our side, even as it is of grace on God's part, as it is written: "Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (or mercy-seat) through faith in his blood, to declare . . . at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Rom. 3: 24-26). The righteousness of God is declared to be this, that He is just in justifying the one who believes in Jesus. This is no new doctrine, for "Abraham believed God, and it (his faith) was counted to him for righteousness"; and at a later day, David also (Ps. 32) "describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness with. out works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin" (Rom. 4: 3, 6, 7).

Now the point of all this is, that it is God's grace and not man's good behaviour which secures these blessings to the poor guilty one. Did you ever ponder these words of the Spirit of God, dear self-righteousness worker? "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom. 4: 4, 5). If I work for you at £ 1 per week, it is only right and fair you should pay when the work is done; this is debt; but if, when the work I should have done I fail to do, and then you come and give me £5, that would be grace. Just so does God act. Unable ourselves to do anything but sin, Christ has come in grace, and on the cross borne sins, and been made sin. The judgment due by God to sin has been sustained by Jesus, and He has glorified God about sin.

The proof of this is clear, for God "raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Rom. 4: 24, 25). Then what now is this justifying righteousness of God? Simply, WHAT IS DUE TO CHRIST. Our due, and the due of sin, Christ took and sustained on the cross. The judgment that was due to us fell on Him. The moment He bare "the sins of many" (Heb. 9: 28), God in righteousness forsook Him; hence His cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" What is the answer to this cry? God raises Him from the dead, and then in righteousness accepts and connects with Christ every one who has faith in Him.

To make it plain. Christ took my place in death and judgment on the cross, and now I get Christ's place before God, by faith in His blood. Is this right? Clearly so; it is due to Christ that if He took my portion to extricate me from it, I should share His portion, if, in grace, He be willing to share it with me. God, therefore, against whom I have sinned, is "just" in now justifying me, because Jesus has been delivered and condemned for my sin, and then raised by God in proof of His satisfaction and delight in Him and His work of redemption for me. I might go further, and say He would be unjust to Christ to condemn me for those very sins for which He condemned His Son. Nay, He is righteous, "faithful and just," as John puts it, and shows His righteousness by justifying every soul that clings in faith to His beloved Son. He judges sin, and justifies the sinner who believes in Jesus. Thus is God's righteousness declared.

How beautifully harmonious is every part of this wondrous way of possessing a righteousness suited to God, needed by man, provided by God, and possessed by the believer!

A threefold cord of righteousness now binds the believer to God, and the Scripture says, "A threefold cord is not quickly broken." The various strands of this golden cord of righteousness are: (1) Grace; (2) Blood; (3) Faith.

1. God's GRACE is the SOURCE of justification.

"Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3: 24).

2. Christ's BLOOD is the MEANS of justification.

"Much more then, being now (not hoping to be by-and-by) justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him" (Rom. 5: 9).

3. The soul's FAITH is the PRINCIPLE of justification.

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5: 1).

Now if these be the true sayings of God, where have you room for "works"? Nowhere, at least in Romans. Some one will say, What about James? Does he not say, "Ye see then, how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only"? Yes, he says this, and it is most needed. But do not for a moment think that Paul and James clash. The truth is this. In Romans you are justified before God BY FAITH, and that only; in James you are justified before men BY WORKS. God can see faith, men cannot, but they can see works. God must see both, and surely will see works when faith exists.

But there is more than this. Not only is the believer justified from all offences by faith in the Lord Jesus, but "they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5: 17). The "gift of righteousness" is to be "received," you notice  -  not earned, as many suppose. When received by faith, the possessor is assured he shall "reign in life." This sweetly accords with the expression, "justification of life," which flings a flood of light upon the present standing of the believer. "So then as it was by one offence toward all men to condemnation, so by one righteousness toward all men for justification of life. For as indeed by the disobedience of the one man the many have been constituted sinners; so also by the obedience of the one many will be constituted righteous" (Rom. 5: 18, 19, New Trans.). In verse 18 we have the aspect of Adam's path and Christ's, given us in contrast. Adam's involves "condemnation," Christ's "justification of life." In verse 19 you have the effects. Adam's disobedience constituted all his family "sinners." Christ's obedience unto death constitutes all who are His (and we are His by faith in His blood) righteous.

Then the moment I am linked with Christ by faith I see (1) that I am through His work justified from all the offences and sins of my old life as a child of Adam, and (2) that I am the possessor of a new life, called in Romans 6: 23, "eternal life," and that I have "justification of life," and hence shall "reign in life," being constituted "righteous" by God Himself, in virtue of my association with Him who died and rose again, and is now at God's right hand in glory.

We also read in 2 Cor. 5, "He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

The truth therefore is, that Christ is the believer's righteousness before God: and the believer is also made the witness as well as the subject of God's righteousness, inasmuch as he is brought into the same place of nearness to God, in life and glory, as Christ Himself (viewed of course as the Man who died and rose again). The believer and Christ are viewed as one, and as Christ is the righteous One, all His are viewed as possessors of a righteousness in Him, which is suited to the glory of God where Christ now is. On the cross Christ identified Himself with us in our sin, shame, guilt, and death. By His atoning death all we had done and been was for ever swept away from before God. Rising from the dead, the head of a new family, He associates with Himself in life, standing, and place before God in glory, all who trust Him, and whom therefore He calls His "brethren."

In conclusion, I would only now ask you, beloved reader, have you yet accepted the "jewels of gold" the Gospel messenger brings to you? Have you yet received the "gift of righteousness"? If not, I would urge you to delay taking so important a gift no longer. Come to Jesus as you are. Receive Him, and in receiving Him you will receive all and far more than I have written of, for all that God can give you in blessing is wrapped up in the Person of Christ, and once you receive Him you receive all. May you be able to see what another saw and wrote, viz.:

"The risen Christ had ended

Righteousness of law:

God's righteousness was something

Quite distinct, I saw.

That MAN above — whose dying

Closed the things of old —

WAS HEAD OF GOD'S CREATION,

Channel of the gold.

"That MAN was in the glory,

I in Him up there.

Before His God and Father,

I was thus brought near.

The Place I found was opened,

Where was wealth untold —

The MAN beginning all things,

In Himself the gold.

"I once was lost, a sinner

Under Satan sold,

And now I'm lost in glory,

In the source of gold.

'Tis when God's Christ in glory

We at last behold,

We learn, as with Rebekah,

He begins with GOLD."

Chapter 4.

THE BRIDE'S "RAIMENT."

"And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah."  - Gen. 24: 53.

We have looked at the "jewels of silver" and "jewels of gold"; now, I would desire to direct your attention to the "raiment." But let me first say it is of no use hearing the Gospel unless it produces an effect upon you, unless it shows you what you are, and what God is, and what He has done for you. Unless it turns you to the Lord for salvation, the effect of your hearing the Gospel is but to add the weight of heavy responsibility to your already sin-burdened soul.

God is calling you in this hour of His grace to association with Christ in glory; He is offering you a place with Christ. Christ could not have a place down here because of the sin and wickedness of man, so God gives us a place with Christ in glory. He offers you a part or portion with Christ. Eliezer travelled from Canaan to Padan-Aram for a bride for Isaac; Christ is in glory, and the Holy Ghost came down from heaven at Pentecost, and from that time till now His constant effort has been, and is, to lead souls to yield themselves to Christ. There ever have been, and will be, hindrances and difficulties in the way; for Satan is ever busy in trying to keep you out of the blessings God has for you — the great blessing of being "one with Christ." But what breaks down all opposition of Satan and the human heart is that God wants to bless you. Do you believe that God really wants, and is waiting to bless you?

Reader, do you possess that which fits you and gives you a true title to be in the presence of God? Have you the bright hope before you of this glory with Christ? Before you can stand in His presence you must have on suited raiment; the courtly Robe of Heaven must be yours — and that is Christ. God has provided it for you, and I, as the ambassador of God, now offer you in His Name

CHRIST, THE RAIMENT.

Oh, sinners, and all ye workers for salvation, better far barter your own self-made clothing, which is useless before God, and accept what He in His grace and mercy has provided for you; provided for you without money and without price. Your own raiment — in the way, I mean, of good works, almsgiving, or morality — may do well enough to clothe you in the sight of your fellow-sinners; but they are no covering in the sight of a God who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity; and, sinner, you must be clad suitably for God or be eternally lost.

There is a great difference between working for salvation and working from salvation; the first is your own futile attempts to clothe yourself; the latter is working because God has already clothed you and made you fit for His service.

The first covering or raiment we read of in Scripture is the fig-leaf "aprons" of Adam and Eve; and what avail were they when the guilty ones heard the voice of God, saying, "Where art thou?" They knew they were naked, and they tried to hide themselves from God. The miserable knowledge obtained by their sin had but taught them they were now unfit for the presence of God. You, whose life has been one long pathway of sin — sins of so deep a dye that you blush at their remembrance — mark, it was one sin only that made Adam unfit to stand before God. One sin drove the guilty ones from the Garden of Eden; one sin brought death into the world: what then about your numberless sins?

Can you brave the presence of a sin-hating God in nothing but your nakedness and burden of guilt? Adam and Eve hid themselves, for they could not stand in His presence in their nakedness. But oh, the love of God's heart! No sooner was. clothing needed than He in mercy and love provided it. "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them" (Gen. 3: 21). How different is their clothing now! Instead of an "apron" in which God has not put one stitch — the whole thing being paltry human effort — each is arrayed in a "coat" in which man has not put one stitch, for the Lord God made and conferred the suited garment. What grace! and what a lesson to workers for salvation now! And, sinner, Adam's need was not greater then, than yours is at this present moment; and God is as willing now to clothe you as He was to clothe Adam and Eve.

But do you know your need? Oh, what can cover the nakedness of your guilty sin-stained soul? I do not address you as a poor sinner, but as a guilty sinner in need of clothing in order to fit you to stand before a sin-hating God. Doing your best will not do: it but discloses the sense of your guilt and need by arraying yourself in what you think will suit God; but it will not do. Your own clothing is filthy rags in the sight of God: you are but trying to hide behind your works, as Adam tried to hide himself from God behind the trees of the garden. But you, like he, shall be drawn from your hiding-place and obliged to own yourself to be naked and undone before God; obliged to own your own clothing to be valueless.

The Apostle Paul's wonderful comment on this is found in 2 Cor. 5: 1-3: "For we know, that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven (if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked)."

This last clause is very solemn. The Apostle had fears that some in Corinth might be found like Adam — naked — when they were clothed, i.e., when in resurrection. Though resurrection should bring soul and body together again, so that he called the person clothed, nevertheless he fears they may be found naked — in other words, Christless — not having that covering for the whole man which fits it for the presence of God. How awful to be a mere professor of Christ here — to have on a lovely garb of morality, so-called good works, and religiousness, so as to pass current as one of Christ's people; to die, that is to be unclothed; to rise again, alas, not in the first but the second resurrection, that is, to be clothed, and then find yourself in the holy blaze of the great white throne a naked sinner, never having been washed from your sins in the blood of Christ, nor had Him as your clothing before God!

Reader, are you clothed? have you Christ as your raiment? or do you think you will be accepted as you are?

Look at Matt. 22: 11: "And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to his servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." We have here a warning, as well as the truth of the end of this dispensation, for it is the guests here, not the bride; but the warning is for all who have not on raiment. "How camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?" The King gave him an opportunity of telling the reason why he had no wedding garment on; but what is the result? what the consequence of this meeting between the King and his guest? The man was speechless. How earnest thou in thus? Was there no provision made for the guests? Was there no raiment for thee? Yes, there was the robing-chamber, and there were garments provided, as is the custom in the East, but the man neglected the provision made, and the result was the command, "Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness." Oh, soul, will you be warned ere it be too late? God would fit you for His presence; Christ is the garment, the royal raiment He has provided for you; therefore, "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ."

The man here described did not want a robe; he may have been one of the "good" mentioned in verse 10; his life may have been a blameless one; he may have been a dutiful son, or a kind husband and father, a useful member of society, one of whom his country was proud; then what need had he of a robe? The King would surely acknowledge him as he was; his deeds were sufficient to recommend him to his Sovereign, and so he passes in; but what is it to find? Ah, what indeed? His unworthiness; and that there is nothing left to be done but to bind him and cast him forth.

Professor of Christianity, have you been converted? Have you on the garment that fits you to stand before God? If you were to die this night, would you be naked in the presence of God? I beseech you to ask yourself the solemn question, and to rest not till you have truthfully answered it: Have I been born again? have I fled to Jesus? have I found Him? have I Him as my covering, my raiment? Can you say, Yes? If not, oh, precious soul, beware; be warned: thou hast detailed before thee in these verses an event in thine own history, the moment when before God thou must stand, and find the clothing of morality to be of no avail. You find you are not in Christ, therefore you are still in your sins; you hear the question asked you, "Friend, how camest thou in hither?" and thou, thou shalt be speechless. Oh, what a moment when thou discoverest the true state of thy precious but eternally lost soul. No excuse hast thou to offer; thou shalt be speechless. No extenuation can be offered by thee. It is too late; thou standest before the King, then forced to be a judge, and the awful silence is broken by the command, "Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Oh, be warned! What is God's command now? It is "Clothe him;" clothe him with the raiment I have provided for his need; but if you reject His provision, then it will be "Bind him." What a contrast! Clothe him with Christ, put upon him the "best robe;" and "Bind him" with the cords of his sin, and "cast him into outer darkness."

Oh, ye unsaved souls, wake up to the reality of your perilous position! Why does the Spirit so often warn you? Why does He so often bring your own case, as it were, before you? Why? why? Is it not because God always warns before He judges? Is it not that He gives the unsaved soul often the opportunity of escape, though, alas,, he heeds it not? Yes, He is a God of mercy now, though one day He will be a God of judgment to those who scorn and reject His proffered mercy. God warns, but man goes on, and on, and heeds, it not. We have but to look around us in order to see the truth of this.

What are those agonised accents from yonder bed of death? It is an unsaved soul finding out with his latest breath that he has scorned the offer of salvation, that he has left unheeded all the warnings of a gracious God, till it is too late!

Oh, what must it be to be swept into eternity without one ray of hope! Care ye to die thus?

Come to Jesus. "Come, for all things are now ready." The silver is for thee, the gold for thee, the raiment for thee. "Put ye on Christ." Eliezer brought raiment to Rebekah and she received the gift — I bring you Christ, will you receive Him?

In Luke 15 we again find mention of raiment: "Bring forth the best robe and put it on him." Had it been left to man to choose the raiment, he might have been content to robe himself with the garments that holy angels wear; but God gives more befitting raiment to the Bride of the spotless Lamb of God. She shall be arrayed in the best — the glorious robe of the "King of kings."

You know the beautiful story of the prodigal son here given; but have you observed, it was not till "he began to be in want," that he thought of his father's home, and the joy and abundance there. Want is the discovery the soul makes when in the far country, away from the Father's house. But the last thing man does is to turn to God for help; he will try all other expedients first, ere he goes to the only Source of help and succour.

The prodigal, like too many in the present day, goes and joins himself to a citizen of that country. And who is that citizen? Satan! And oh how successful he is in providing for the wants, the lusts, of sinners! He does his utmost to keep you away from the Father's house of plenty; and how often he is successful, too! He gilds over the husks to make them fair to the eye; but when the sinner eats of them he finds out they are bitter to the taste, they are unsatisfying, they are but husks; and yet such is the morbidness of his appetite, he fain would fill his belly with them.

The prodigal is brought to a sense of his need before he says, "I will arise and go to my father." Ah, he has found out that he is helpless and in need of food and raiment, and he comes just as he is; in his rags and poverty he comes, and is he refused? No! He is first welcomed, and then clad.

Many try to clothe themselves before they go to God; they have found out their need of God, but they think that before going to Him they must better themselves; but man must come just as he is, and be beholden to God for all. Come as you are; it is thus God delights to receive you.

"I have sinned," said the prodigal. Have you known the moment when you found that you have sinned, found that you were undone, and lost, and naked; when you have gone down before God with the words, "Father, I have sinned"? I call this the grandest moment of a sinner's experience on earth, when he gets before God, and finds out — what? That the One whom he has. offended and sinned against, and whom he thought was against him, is for him, is waiting in grace to receive him, is on his side.

"I have sinned." It must be individual confession; it will not do to rest satisfied with, "We have sinned." No; you must get alone with God, and forgetting all else in the deep penitence of your soul, own to Him, "I have sinned." Sooner or later the awakened soul passes through this searching conscience-work, this conviction of sin, ere it is clothed and is at peace. This precedes the clothing in the case of the prodigal before us.

"I have sinned, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." Ah, this is the man God clothes. I urge you to consider your own individual case; it is of paramount importance, this humbling yourself before God. The ploughshare of conviction must go deep down in the soil — the deeper the furrow the surer is the seed to be safe, and the brighter the prospect of a harvest of golden grain. What is the result of the prodigal's confession? It is the command to "Bring forth the best robe and put it on him." Oh, what love! "Bring forth the best robe." Prodigal, will you have Christ? He is the Best Robe. "Put it on him." He was not even asked to put it on himself, it was put on him; all was done for him, he did nothing but receive his father's gift of love. And your case is the same: God has done all; He provides the raiment, and, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." The first Adam, who was unfit for the presence of God, has ended his history in the death of Christ, and in the second Adam the believer is gloriously complete.

The claims of God have all been met, and after the darkness of Calvary, the bright rainbow of God's acceptance shines forth to man; the Corn of Wheat fell into the ground so that in resurrection He might be enabled to say, "I go to my Father, and to your Father." What blessedness it is to be "found in Christ!" "accepted in the Beloved!" Again, I say unto you, "Put ye on Christ;" stand in that which God gives you, and have peace; throw away the fig-leaves, and God will clothe you with Christ. Precious raiment! Sinner, come to God as thou art, and hear Him say to thee, "Take away the filthy garments from him . . . Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment" (Zech. 3: 4).

It has been said there are two steps to be taken, "Out of self into Christ, and out of Christ into glory;" but it seems to me there is but one step needed. Will you take it? It is, "Out of self into Christ," to abide there for ever in all the fulness of His perfection.

What a place! To stand before God "accepted in the Beloved," the One who is the joy of God's heart! What have you done to merit this? Nothing; but Christ has done all. "That ye have put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts . . . and that ye have put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph. 4: 22-24), is the truth of the new position in Christ. "Put off" and "Put on." It is the blessed substitution of Christ for self, the result of that work when "He who knew no sin was made sin for us."

If you are wise you will not slight, but gladly receive, the instruction of the Lord Jesus, who says, "I counsel thee to buy of me . . . white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear" (Rev. 3: 18).

See how He wants to clothe you with that which alone can make you suitable to God. "White raiment!" How different from the repulsive "filthy rags" of "our righteousnesses." You would not admit one clothed in "filthy rags" to your house and table, and will God? No. Then away with all that springs from or savours of self, and array yourself in all the perfection of Christ, and His work for sinners.

The Raiment, then, that is offered to you, is Christ, and having Him you have redemption, and righteousness, and peace. Christ is all, and I have that which fits me to be His Bride when I possess the jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and the raiment. It is Christ, Christ, Christ — all Christ; Christ from first to last, Christ for time, and Christ for eternity; "For of him, and through him, and to him are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen."

Once again I ask, "Wilt thou go?" — go across the desert to Him? Oh, the joy of knowing that God has forgotten my sins, and given me liberty to forget myself, and let my thoughts be all given to, my glorious Bridegroom! "Wilt thou go?" Would that I could hear you say, "I will go." God can hear you say it wherever you are. Oh give Him the joy of listening to thy whispered "I will go."

Decide for Christ; you have heard all about Him who is the silver, and the gold, and the raiment. He has been offered to you freely, and shown to be the only way you can be acceptable to God, and fitted to be the Bride of Jesus. Will you accept the gifts? Will you have Christ?

"Wilt thou go?" is God's challenge to your heart. Can you refuse? Will you not come to Jesus?

God presents Christ to you now as an object of faith. Rebekah did not see Isaac until the journey across the desert was accomplished, but he came to meet her when the desert sand was left behind; he came to meet her when she had reached the green fields of Canaan.

"I shall see Him in His beauty,

He Himself His Bride will meet;

I shall be with Him for ever,

In companionship complete."

Oh, Christless soul, can you risk spending a joyless, hopeless, loveless eternity, without Jesus? I charge you by the joys of heaven, to which God invites you, and by the horrors of hell, of which He warns you, "Be ye reconciled to God" — "Put on Christ."

You have but to decide, and honestly say from your heart, "I will go," and He will receive you and welcome you and fill your heart with joy and love. Oh, come to Jesus! Accept the gifts offered to you in God's well-beloved Son; accept the silver, the gold, and the raiment, and know that thou art fit to be the Bride of that Son, "to whom the Father hath given all things." Let yours be the joyful words: "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels" (Isa. 61: 10).

Chapter 5

THE BRIDE'S DECISION.

"And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things. And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master. And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten, after that she shall go. And he said unto them. Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master. And they said, We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them. And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way. And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahai-roi; for he dwelt in the south country. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the servant. What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a veil, and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death." — Gen. 24: 53-67.

We have, in previous pages, been looking at this chapter, and seeing how simply and sweetly the Gospel is therein foreshadowed and illustrated; and now, in referring to it once more, I avow, most distinctly, my object is not to unfold the Gospel in its doctrinal view, but to get your soul, my reader, if possible, brought to a distinct point before Christ.

The Lord help me to pen, and you to peruse, this paper as if indeed it were the last occasion on which I could appeal to you, or you have the opportunity of receiving Christ.

I find, then, here one question: the person most interested gets one simple question put to her, to which she must make, on her own responsibility, one answer — Yes or No.

The narrative is very simple, the type equally beautiful, the application heart-winning. The Father of the Lord Jesus Christ offers to give you eternal glory in association with His Son. Consequent upon the death, resurrection and ascension of His Son — which are the proofs of God's love on the one hand, in giving that Son to die, and His righteousness on the other, in raising and glorifying Him as man, in token of His delight and satisfaction in the work He has accomplished for sinners — there has come from heaven a divine messenger, the herald of a divine message, and it falls now on your ear. It is this: God wants to have you for His Son, He does not come and press upon you that you want His Son; that possibly may not be the case consciously, for many do not care to have Christ, as they are not aware of their lost and needy condition as sinners. When people really want anything they cast about till they get it, but if they are indifferent they are passive.

It is perfectly true you want a Saviour; but salvation is not the thought here. God here proposes to you to share the glories of His beloved Son. Do you not see to what glories and dignities you are invited? Instead of being left to die in your sins, and then pass unpardoned and unblessed into outer darkness, to be the miserable companion of the devil and his angels (Matt. 25: 41), God wants you to enter into relationship with Christ now, by faith in His name, and then be the sharer of His joys through the endless cycles of eternity's blissful day.

This is the message Eliezer brings. He comes from Canaan, where Isaac abides. The father sends his servant to the far-off land to get one, if he could, to cross the desert to be the Bride to the unseen and unknown Bridegroom. Three things are necessary if you are going to be a sharer of the glory of Christ — redemption, righteousness, and raiment; but "jewels of silver," "jewels of gold," and "raiment," the very articles which typify these three things, the servant brings out and offers to Rebekah. Silver is the type of redemption: the only way the soul can draw near to God is on the ground of redemption. I need righteousness, and gold is the symbol of Divine righteousness. "Raiment" speaks for itself, and these three things I must have.

Christ is your raiment, if you will have Him as such, and all else.

I address you as a messenger from God. "Bold ground," you say. Yes, but no more bold than blessed. In the name of my Master I come, and want to win you for Christ. I want to win you for Christ as you read this paper. O unsaved man, unsaved woman! my message is this — I want you I want you for Christ. God wants you for Christ.

"Oh, but I am such a sinner!" True, that is. quite true. "I cannot, is I am, draw near to God." False. The veil is rent, the blood is shed and sprinkled before God, the new and living way exists, and you are bidden to come to God just as you are.

Nevertheless, mark, Eliezer does not say, "Wilt thou go?" before he gives Rebekah the jewels and the raiment. If it be the question of what will fit me for the Father's house, could anything be better than what He sends? The Gospel tells you that Christ came into the world, and it tells you, too, what He has done. The law tells me what I ought to do, and smites me because I have not done it. Law tells me of myself; the Gospel tells me what Christ is, and what He has done.

Are you going to have Christ? You have often heard about. Jesus, but are you on your way to Him? I want this to be the moment of your betrothal.

What I want now is decision. Redemption is accomplished, the blood has been shed, and the claims of God have all been met by the cross. That which the sinner needs has been wrought out for him by Jesus; and now it is for you to accept the Gospel message, for you in the truthful integrity of your soul to say, "Come what may, I am going to be Christ's." You may have some time to wait ere you see the Lord Jesus face to face; the desert may be long in crossing, but one sight of Him will more than make up for all the toil or trouble of the way.

Rebekah hears the message one day and starts the next. Many have put off coming to Christ for ten days and have spent them in hell. I beseech you to come now to Jesus.

Notice here how that arch-enemy of present blessing — procrastination — appears.

The servant "rose" and said, "Send me away unto my master." Her relations reply, "Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go." They want the moment of decision deferred, and you want that too, don't you? "Some day," you say, "but not just now." You want to defer it. This is the plausible voice of the devil. If you are not turned to the Lord, your back is towards Him; you are still in your sins, and they will bring you to judgment. Ten days are most insidious. Felix was a man of ten days. "Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee." Ah, poor Felix, when will his convenient season come? He never had a more convenient season. Oh, turn now to Jesus! Oh, ye halters, who are not yet decided for Christ, take Felix as a warning!

Perhaps you think you will turn to the Lord when you reach your deathbed. Delusive hope, for you may never have one. I heard lately of a procrastinator whose constant reply to earnest Christian friends, when they spoke to him of his soul's salvation, and urged him to come to Christ, "I am sure that God is so merciful, that if I turn to Him, even on a deathbed, He will hear my prayer and save me, so I shall wait till then." Though repeatedly warned, this was his refuge, and so on he went, till he came, not to his deathbed, but, as was his wont, into the hunting. field. While the hounds were in full cry after the quarry, his horse leaped a hedge, on the further side of which were lying some sheep. Disturbed and frightened by the sudden apparition of the horse, the timid creatures fled in all directions. Their scampering off alarmed the usually sure-footed steed, who fell, flinging his rider. Three words burst from the lips of the falling man — not "God have mercy!" but, addressing the sheep, "Devil take ye!" They were his last words, for he broke his neck and died on the spot. Reader, he sure of it, procrastination is the thief of souls, as well as of time, and I quite agree with Rowland Hill, who termed it "The recruiting-officer of hell."

God may never give you the opportunity of repentance on a deathbed. Now is the only time you can be sure of finding Christ.

Sinner, I warn you, these are facts, stern facts, "But what do you want me to do?" you may reply. I want you to yield yourself to Christ just now. I want you to make sure of eternity, and not put off, even until tomorrow (which never comes), the momentous matter of getting really hold of the salvation of God.

Ye young ones, I appeal to you. It is vain to say "Let me die the death of the righteous." If you are going to die the death of the righteous you must live the life of the righteous. It is vain to suppose you can get Christ when you like: you must get Him when you may, and that is just now.

"And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go" (ver. 55). Such was the procrastinating speech of that day, and how solemnly is it echoed by many a soul nowadays — Do you say, "I will decide for Christ in a few days at the least: at most, ten? Ten days hence! Oh, no! It must be now if you want to be with Christ in glory; if you want to be with that rapturous throng around the Saviour; if you want to join the chorus, "Worthy is the Lamb."

What does God say? Now. Jesus will have you now. I earnestly implore you not to delay. I lay no claim to being a prophet when I say you may never have another Gospel message and another day of grace in which to be saved. Really, my dear reader, you can have no idea of the joy of being Christ's or you would not delay a single hour in turning to Him, receiving the pardon of your sins, the salvation of your soul, and the sweet heart-thrilling assurance that He is yours and you are His. Do you know that Jesus loves you and wants you, wants to claim you as His? "Jesus . . . having loved his own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." Oh, to be His own loved one — His very own! Nothing changes that love of His. Jesus wants to have you numbered among His own, His very own.

Will you yield? Let not Satan deceive you with a few days hence, ten days. Now is the time.

Well, what is the servant's answer to be — "Send me away, for I have failed?" Oh, say, must I go and tell my Lord I have failed — failed to win your heart for Him? Shall it be so? Oh no, no; give me the joy of saying to my Lord, "This heart is Thine."

What was Rebekah's answer when her relations said to her, "Wilt thou go with this man?" She said, "I will go." No one else can decide for you. You have a soul, its eternal welfare depends on your answer. You have a soul to be saved or lost. Oh, will you let any one, anything, come in between the Lord and your soul? Decide, decide now.

Jesus wants you, Jesus is waiting for you. Oh, let nothing hinder you from coming to Him. "We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth," was the word then; it is you that are concerned now. Wilt thou go? dear soul, Wilt thou go? Oh, say, "I will go!" —  Yes, have Christ, be Christ's! Shall He be thine? What say you? "Wilt thou go?" The Holy Ghost puts the question to you, it is not my question. God's question is, "Wilt thou go?" Wilt thou go to meet Christ and be His? Give me thine answer; oh, let there be no more delays. How can you tell you will have time to decide tomorrow? Tomorrow is God's, not yours. "Today, if ye will bear his voice, harden not your hearts." Let there be no more procrastination. God lingers over you; again and again He lets you hear these words, "Wilt thou go?" "Wilt thou go?" "I will go," says faith, "I will go," says the decided heart, "I will go," says the earnest one.

"I will go;" this is the calm, quiet resolution of the soul that wakes up to see the glory that is offered, and the grace that offers it.

What is the absolute alternative if Christ is not received? The dreary darkness of an eternal night, in which the only light is that shed by the lurid flame that is never quenched, the only companions sinners and devils as wretched as yourself, and the only occupation vain regrets over the folly and unbelief that have landed you in a spot beyond the reach of the hand of God Himself.

All depends on yielding yourself, or not, to Jesus. If the language of your soul is "I will go," you will thank God for all eternity.

Would you like all to be saved but yourself? Would you like all to be included and you excluded from that blessed number who surround the Lord Jesus in unfading glory? Surely not. Then halt no longer, but give a decided answer to the query which again I put — nay, which God in His sovereign grace once more puts to thee.

Soul, "wilt thou go?" Thou canst hardly say no, when to remain is to be eternally lost. What is thine answer? "Ten days hence." Beware, the clemency of God will not last for ever. Ten days hence and the door of heaven may be closed for ever against thee, and in vain shall thy piteous cry be, "Open unto me." But, thank God, there is yet another answer thou canst give, "I will go." Let it be thine.

Rebekah had never seen Isaac when she decided to go to him, but she believed the report that Eliezer gave. And think you not that as they journeyed across the desert many a question was asked concerning the one to whom she was going? And would not her heart grow warmer and warmer towards him as she heard his praise? And shall it not be so with you? The Holy Ghost, we are told, "Will take of the things of Christ and reveal them unto you." Oh, listen to Him, let no trumpet-sound of earth deaden His voice. He would tell you of God's well-beloved Son. Oh, learn of Him, of all His gentleness, love, and grace, and of His glory, too; and as each beauty bursts upon your admiring gaze, know that He may be thine, and if thine, then shall the jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and the raiment become more precious to thee because they are His gifts.

Did Rebekah stop the camels to pick up the agates of the desert? I trow not; and wilt thou linger by the way to gather the withering pleasures of a death-doomed world?

Oh, no! Haste thee on to the joy, the satisfying and endless joy that is to be possessed only at thine Isaac's side. Be unfettered, be but a sojourner and pilgrim here; heaven is thy home, speed thee on to it. And what shall the meeting be when thou shalt see Him face to face? Wonderful as was the story you listened to by the way, yet your astonished soul in wonder shall exclaim, "The half had not been told."

There are three things the Lord has done for us. He loved us, He gave Himself for us, and He has washed us from our sins. Why has He done these? "That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish." What a glorious Bride shall the Church be in that day when "the marriage of the Lamb has come!"

Rebekah, goes, she commits herself to the guardianship of Eliezer, and at eventide she sees Isaac coming; and what is that but a simple type of the meeting with our Lord? Isaac was comforted when he received his Bride; and have we not read of Jesus, "Who for the joy . . . set before him endured the cross, despising the shame"? His joy will be full when He has 'His Bride in glory with Him. And is that blessed hour near? The last step of the journey may he indeed most near; this night it may be that "He that shall come will come." He is coming. Three times in Rev. 22 He says, "I come quickly." Are you ready? "Wilt thou go?" "I will go," is the only answer suited to such a call of grace. And now, in conclusion, I would say, Let all know you are Christ's. Confess Christ. Own Him.

"The Father, from eternity,

Chose us, O Jesus Christ, in Thee,

In Thee, His well-beloved;

And we, as given to Thee — Thy Bride

In Thee, Lord Jesus, do confide:

Thy love remains unmoved.

From Thee daily

Strength receiving — to Thee cleaving,

Blessed Jesus!

May we all show forth Thy praises.

"Before the world we'd make our boast,

That Thou, in whom is all our trust,

Art Lord of life and glory:

And soon Thou'lt bring us to that place

Where we shall see Thee face to face,

And, glorified, adore Thee. Amen! —

Be then

Praise and blessing, never ceasing,

To Thee given,

Here, and when we come to heaven."

Christ and Christianity

Christ and Christianity

Colossians 1.

W. T. P. Wolston.

There are three points in this chapter which I want to bring simply before you; not in the order, however, in which they occur in the passage, because I am not going to instruct advanced Christians, but seek to meet the need of souls who are not fully established in the grace of God.

First, we have Christ, then Christian position, and thirdly, Christian practice. You must begin with Christ. Paul gives thanks when he hears of their faith in Christ Jesus: "We give thanks unto God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints" (ver. 3, 4). Whenever a person really has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, it comes out in love to the people of the Lord.

Have you faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? May I give thanks to God for you because you have faith in the Lord Jesus? The moment Paul learned that these Colossians had faith in Jesus, he began to give God thanks for them.

Lower down in the chapter you will find the Christ in whom they had faith fully brought out; but here Paul was filled with rejoicing when he learned that there had really been faith in Christ Jesus — that they had turned round from themselves — that they had gone outside themselves entirely, to cling to the blessed One whom God had presented to the sinner as the object of his faith and trust.

What does God want? If there is a person not yet saved, what does God contemplate for that soul? What does He command? To turn to His Son — to receive His Son. For He has sworn by Himself that every knee shall bow to His Son — "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth." Angels, men, and demons, all must bow to Christ. But it is not a question here merely of bowing to Christ, but of the soul of a sinner, conscious of his condition and state as a sinner, turning round to the Lord Jesus Christ, and truly and simply trusting Him as a Saviour. These Colossians, though they had been heathen, unbelievers, and ungodly, got tidings about God's beloved Son. He is presented to them, and they trust Him. This is the first thing that God looks for. It is what He sends out the gospel to produce: "Faith cometh by hearing, and bearing by the word of God." What God wants is to produce a link of confidence between your soul as a sinner and His Son as a Saviour. Now what will produce that? A sight of Himself.

First of all, I would like to find out whom it is that I am called upon to trust. If I want to cross a bridge, I should wish to be sure that it is trustworthy; and if I am to trust a person, I must know him to be trustworthy. You will say to me, You want me to renounce myself thoroughly; to turn from self in every shape and form, and to trust myself simply and solely to Christ. just so; that is what I want — that is what God wants. But then I must first of all see who it is I am to trust.

1. — CHRIST.

Now if you will come down to the middle of the chapter, you will find the One whom God bids you trust. In verse 15 you will find brought out the Person of the One whom God says you are to trust, "who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature." Here I get the glory of the Person of the Lord Jesus. He was a real, true, living man; but He, who is this, is the image of the invisible God — God whom you never saw and never will see. Many people think that they will see God by-and-by when they get to heaven. They are mistaken. "No man hath seen God at any time." He dwells in "light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, or can see:" and yet by-and-by, when I get up into the glory, I shall see and know this blessed living God. But how? In the Person of His own dear Son. Get hold of this clearly — "He is the image of the invisible God."

You remember that passage in Job 9 where poor Job, when his friends were tormenting him, asks, "How can a man he just with God?" If God were a man, he says. I would go to Him, I would speak with Him; but "He is not a man as I am," and therefore I am in hopeless darkness because He is not a man, and I cannot understand Him, nor reach up to Him. Job was in bewilderment; what he wanted was something tangible. He says, "Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both." What the sinner requires is one that can reach up to the lofty heights of the claims of God in holiness and righteousness, and come down to the profound depths of man's ruined and sinful state. This is just what we have in Jesus. "He is the image of the invisible God."

What is an image? It is not a likeness. An image might be no likeness whatever. Look at the stamp. It has the Queen's head upon, it; it is not a bit like her, but it represents her. An image is that which represents and stands for one who is not in the scene; it gives the idea of representation. "The image of the invisible God" is One who stands for and represents God. The Lord Jesus is the One who comes down to represent God — He is God; and if I want to know the living God, where do I go? I gaze into the face of Jesus; I look at Him in the three-and-thirty years of His wondrous history in this sorrow. stricken and sin-stained world, where He was the Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and I say, There is the One who is the image of the invisible God! Do you want to know God? Gaze on Jesus.

In connection with this, will you look at the First Epistle of John — "We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding. that we may know him that is true: and we are in him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5: 20, 21). What were these idols? The old Highland minister said they were little idols with white dresses and gaily coloured cloaks. Nay, it is not a question of an idol down here at all, but of having a thought of God that has not its perfect counterpart in Christ. Where is the true God seen? In the Man Christ Jesus. There are plenty of people who have idols — that is, who have not right thoughts of God. They have notions and thoughts about God for which there is no counterpart in Christ, and such have idols. Christ is the image of the invisible God, and whatever represents God falsely has no counterpart in Christ, and is therefore an idol.

This is a point of great importance; for there are many who, if asked, would say, I am afraid of God. If I were to ask them, "Are you afraid of Jesus?" they would answer, "No; somehow I feel I could trust Jesus — I should not be afraid if the Lord were upon earth — I could go to Him without fear, and I could weep at His feet, as the poor woman did at the Pharisee's house, and I should love to lean upon His bosom, as John did, but I could not draw near to God."

A young convert came to me one night when I had been drawing attention to this matter, and said, "I cannot thank you enough for that word. I have been converted and trusting in the Lord for many months, but I had an undefined fear of God. I loved the Lord, and could trust Jesus anywhere; but I had an idea that God was a little different from Christ, and thus I could not feel the same confidence in Him, but I see it now. I have got hold of Christ as the image of the invisible God, and it has made all happy."

Do you want to know God? Let me, take you to the Gospel of Luke (Luke 7), and let us look for a moment at that poor woman who was about to bury her only son, and she, too, a widow — a pitiable sight any day, but how much more pitiable now that her only son is to be buried. The Lord says, "Stop." He tells her not to weep. He says to the young man, "Arise;" and the dead man arose, and He delivered him to his mother. Now you will say, That was a very tender-hearted, gracious, compassionate man, who felt for the poor widow in her sorrow; and so indeed it was, but it was much more. That tender, compassionate man was a blessed, perfect expression of what God is in the very springs of His nature. You have a wrong thought of God if Jesus in His life and death does not fully portray Him to your soul. He is the image of God; and if I can trust Jesus, I can trust God.

Who was it that wept at the grave of Lazarus? A tender, compassionate man, who was the expression of God's own heart. Did He not weep in sympathy with the sisters at that grave? Most surely! He sighed in communion with God as He viewed the ravages sin had wrought, and wept in sympathy with the sorrowing sisters. Blessed Jesus! Such a heart as He had! "Never man spake like this man," said the officers of the Pharisees; and while fully endorsing this, we can surely exclaim, "Never man loved like this man!" I go to Him as a man, and I read in Him the very nature of God.

There is in Christ, so to speak, this double life, perfection of manhood before God, and all that God is in the grace of His heart, and in His holiness too, revealed before man. All that God is in the very essence of His nature is expressed in the words, the sighs, the tears, in every movement of the Man Christ Jesus. There. fore when Amos says, "Prepare to meet thy God," I reply, "I shall be delighted to do so. I shall meet Him, I shall see Him in the form of Him who is the sinner's Friend — the sinner's Saviour." Would you be afraid to trust Him? Though covered with the guilt of ten thousand souls, there is love enough in Him to meet it all, and value enough in His blood to put it all away.

But let us look at our chapter a little further. Not only is Jesus "the image of the invisible God," but He is the "firstborn of all creation." How is He the firstborn? "For by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him and for him. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist" (ver. 16, 17). It is perfectly clear He was not second then. People are disposed to say that He must be inferior to God because He became man. But no: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Go back to the beginning, to creation, and there He was. There was the One who began, and by whom all was made.

People often speak about God the Father as the Creator, but in Scripture creation is always referred to Christ. But why is He called the first. born of all creation? Because if He came into the scene of creation He must have the first place there. He is the firstborn: not as to time, but as to rank, and station, and dignity. He must have the first place. Won't you give it Him? If I look towards heaven, He made it; towards earth, He made it. He is the Creator, and more than that, He is the Redeemer. The One who undertakes my redemption is the Creator of heaven and earth. Who is the Man that comes down to redeem? The Creator: He who made all things. He humbles Himself and comes down into the scene He made, that He might glorify God, put away sin, abolish death, burst open the grave, defeat Satan, and bring man back to God. "He is before all things, and by Him all things consist." But He is a man who has come down to die. I never can say that God died; but that He who died was God, and that He became a man that He might die. But if He becomes a man He must take the place of the firstborn. The firstborn of a family gets the title and property of the family. He is the one on whom the dignity and the glory of the family rest, and it is in this sense that Christ is said to be firstborn. I get Him as a man in this scene, perfectly representing God, and meeting man. Can you trust Him? Have you faith in Him?

Further. "It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell." And in Col. 2 it is said, "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." What a wonderful Being! In the Person of that blessed Man dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. I have God thus manifested in human form, at the same time that I get the perfect expression of what a man ought to be for God. If you trace Him from Bethlehem, where He came in, on to Bethany where He went out, what strikes one? If you look at His life, you will see that it is one sweet savour to God from His birth to His death; and one beautiful, shining stream of perfection, and grace, and beauty towards man, so that God was obliged from time to time to open the heavens and to say, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." When your heart delights in your child, you delight to speak about it, even to others.

The Lord Jesus was One whose whole heart was towards God. He sets His face as a flint. "Lo, I come," He says, "to do Thy will, O God." and again in John 4, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." And in John 17, "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do;" and in John 19, on the cross He says, "It is finished," that we may hear it, and that we may know that the work has been done which sets our souls free before God. Is He not worthy of your confidence? Is He not the One on whom your soul can repose in the greatest gladness? Oh to be loved by this wondrous Being, this God-man — this man who is the expression of all that God is — God manifest in human form, and One who has glorified God even unto death! This is the love I rejoice in, the love of this precious One. If you have been a halting, hesitating sinner up to this point, do you not think that you can perfectly trust the Lord Jesus now? I see that it is God revealed in a real living man that I am to trust.

But not only is He "the firstborn of all creation," He is also "the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the pre-eminence." And now He has gone up to God's right hand as One who can never die. Every one I love down here — those whom most I love — may die; death shoots its arrows relentlessly at those whom most I love, making a target for its shafts of the nearest and the dearest. How sweet and blessed, then, it is to hear the Apostle John say, "He laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last; I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of death and of hades" (Rev. 1: 17, 18). What then can I say? I may let the tendrils of my heart go out and twine around Him now, because there is no fear of those gentle cords being rudely snapped. Jesus is One who can never die now; He is alive for evermore. Here is One you may love without a bit of suspicion, without a bit of fear of your heart ever being wounded by His being taken from you. You can never be taken from Him, nor can He ever be taken from you.

We have thus seen the One whom God bids us trust; and again I repeat my query, Have you faith in Him? Surely He is worthy of your trust. Perhaps you fear He will not have you. So thought a young man to whom I was speaking after a meeting in London. I inquired, "Are you the Lord's tonight?" "I should like to be." "Can you trust Him?" "I think I could." "Are you willing to be Christ's?" "I am." "And is the Lord willing to have you?" "I don't know; I am not quite sure of that." "Oh," I replied. "Christ is thoroughly willing to have you; and if He is willing to have you, and you are willing to have Him, I call that a settled matter. You are in business?" "Yes." "Well, suppose I come to your warehouse and choose some goods. You fix the prices, and I am willing to buy. I name the quantity and the quality, and you name the figure. The whole thing is settled. What is that?" "I call it mutual agreement." "And is the bargain settled?" "Oh, yes, I have agreed to sell, and you have agreed to buy. It is mutual agreement." "Just so," I went on, "is the way a soul comes to Christ. Christ has agreed to have you and you to have Christ. That is mutual agreement. When the deciding point comes, there is mutual agreement between the Saviour and the sinner. The Saviour agrees to save, and the sinner agrees to be saved." "I think I see it clearly now," he responded, and left me with a bright smile of joy on his face.

If you have never done so hitherto, you must do what the child did. She called her father — "Father!" "Yes, my child." From the top of the house to the bottom she was calling, "Father, where are you?" She could not see him, as he was in a dark cellar, the only entrance to which was a trap-door in the floor, which she had never seen before. Standing over its edge, she said. "Father, I want to come to you." "Well, my child, come." "But there is no ladder, how am I to come?" "Jump, and I'll catch you." "Oh, but, father, I don't see you." "But I see you, my child." Her faith was tried; she hesitated; could she trust him? In a moment more down she goes. Did she fall on the cold cellar floor? Oh, no, but on the bosom that loved her most on earth, and received the warmest kiss and the most tender embrace she had ever had, because she trusted him. Well, now, you have to trust the One you don't we. Cannot you trust Him now? There He is in. all His beauty at God's right hand, and all you have to do is to trust Him.

"Abraham believed God;" he took God at His word, and "it was counted to him for righteousness." Faith is taking God at His word. An old lady who was supposed to be dying sent for the one she had been long accustomed to hear preach the Word, and as he considered that she was dying, he thought it but right to ask, "What is your hope for eternity?" She answered through her feeble asthmatic breathing, "Sir — I - have — taken  - God — at — His — word."

It was a grand answer: "I have taken God at His word." It is no question of how I feel, or what I have experienced or passed through. Many young converts try to decide their standing before God by their feelings and experiences, and hence never have settled peace. Such souls are like children to whom I give a handful of beans. The child sows them, and next morning goes to see whether the beans have sprung up and become scarlet runners. Not seeing them, she begins to wonder if they are there at all, and to rake and hoe the surface of the earth in order to make sure of it. "Leave them alone, silly child," I say, "and they will begin to grow in time." You say you trust Christ; but tomorrow, perhaps, you will begin to rake your heart to see whether you have received Christ, and whether you have the right kind of faith.

The seed is the Word, and the soil in which it is sown is the heart of man. "Leave it alone," God says. "The kingdom of God is as if a man should cast seed into the ground." Leave it alone. It gets the dew by night, and the sun by day. And what comes? "First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." Don't he looking at the surface of your heart and at your feelings, but take God at His word. I took God at His word fifteen years ago, and He is as true today as He was then. You may ask me, "Have you not been a poor, feeble, faltering child since then?" "Yes, alas! I have." "Has not God been disappointed in you?" "No." "How is that?" "Because He knew I was good for no. thing when He took me up." The question of worthiness was settled on the spot. Who was the worthy one? Christ. Am I then to give thanks to God for you today that you really trust Christ? If you really do trust Him, if your soul is settled, we can look a little at

2. — CHRISTIAN POSITION

Let me show, you what it is to he a Christian. Look at verse 12 — "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." The moment you have faith in God's Son, you are fit to be with Him. The work of Christ alone makes us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. And who are the saints? Are you a saint? "Oh, no, sir." Why not? "Why, a saint is a very holy person." A saint is one who has been set apart to God by the work of Christ and the action of the Holy Ghost. But, you will say, there must he sanctification. What does being sanctified mean? Separated to God. There is nothing so simple as sanctification as it is given us in Scripture. If you call practical holiness sanctification, it follows justification. But there is a sanctification which comes before it — "Such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." So that really, viewed in one aspect, a man is sanctified before he is justified.

Some will be saying, "This is not right doctrine." But look at 2 Thess. 2: 13 — "We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." This is the divine and human side of the effect — namely, of God's having chosen you to salvation. It is not a question of you "brethren, who love the Lord," but of "brethren beloved of the Lord." "God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation." Now you will say, "There is election coming in — that dreadful thing election. You don't believe that Christ died for all?" Indeed I do, because God says so. "Then what is election?" It is a family secret, and you must be in the family of God to understand it.

Suppose I were going up to a gate, and I find written upon the gate, "Whosoever will may enter in." I say "That's free enough; I'll go inside." "But how do you know that it means you?" It says "whosoever;" that means me, and anybody. I touch the door, it flies open; I enter, the door closes, and on the inside of it I see written there, "Whosoever gets inside this door never gets out." Now, election secures this. God takes good care that the soul who believes His word never shall be lost. "God hath chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." The two things, sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, are inseparable; where one is the other must be. Look at God's Word. "He has chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit — AND belief of the truth."

Supposing, three weeks ago, a sinner — we will say some young woman — has been awakened by the preaching of the Word and has gone back to her home. She has no longer any taste for the world. She is miserable. Her friends can't understand the change, nor can she, for she has no joy or peace: only the sense of sin and longings Godward. The Spirit of God quickened her three weeks ago, and separated her to God. Perhaps, through reading Scripture, she gets hold of the truth, believes in Jesus, and the truth sets her free. The Spirit works, the soul is quickened, sanctified, believes, so that of it it can be said, "God hath chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth."

To illustrate it, let us imagine we have got upon the table a dead man. He is unconscious; you can touch him; he feels nothing. I take 100lb. weight and lay it upon his chest. He is quite unconscious of it. But supposing that I by any means infuse life into the man, he wakes up to consciousness, and the first thing that he does is to give a deep groan, and exclaim, "Oh, this burden, this weight!" just so it is not till the sinner is quickened by the Spirit of God that he feels his sin, and begins to groan, and to desire to find salvation. What can he do then? He is compelled to let somebody else come and take the weight off him. That is what Christ did when He died upon the cross. That was the work which put my sins away. Christ comes and does the work, and the Holy Ghost leads me to see the work that put away my sins.

Our meetness for glory is the work that Christ has done for us, and which fits us for the presence of God. Hence it is written in Hebrews 2: 11 — "Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." (In passing, let me say that I earnestly hope that every one of you would be thoroughly ashamed to call Him "Brother." Never call the Lord Jesus an "Elder Brother." It is most irreverent, though He may in His grace call us brethren.) He has finished redemption completely. He has done the work that puts our sin away, and He says, "I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." He tells Mary Magdalene, "Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father." She comes to Thomas and says to him, "The Lord bids me come and say that you are his brother." Thomas says, "I don't believe it." But afterwards he does believe it, and the moment he finds himself in the presence of Jesus, what does he do? He bows down and says, "My Lord and my God!" Ah, Thomas, you are right, and we all may learn from you. in this respect.

God has set us in His own presence, and "made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." But there are the two sides of sanctification. There is the doctrinal side; but there is also the progressive or the practical side. When a soul has received the Lord Jesus Christ, there ought to be progress practically; but first of all I get my position, and I must regulate my behaviour by the relationship in which I stand. For instance, I don't behave to you as your child would. Why? Simply because I am not your child. I must know that I am a child of God before I can walk like a child of God.

Now, then, having received Christ, you are fit for glory. What next? "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son" (ver. 13). We used to be Satan's slaves, kept in the dark, but now we are translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son. We are in the place where Christ rules and reigns, delivered out of Satan's kingdom altogether. I am entitled to know that I have a new place before God, delivered from darkness, and brought into His light. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (verse 14). We know that we are redeemed, and we know that we are forgiven. There is no doubt about it at all. Mark these five points: We are "made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light" — for the light in which God dwells. Secondly, we are delivered from the power of darkness. Thirdly. we are in the kingdom of the Son of His love. Fourthly, we are redeemed through His blood. Fifthly, we have the forgiveness of sins.

Perhaps you will say next Sunday, "I believe in the forgiveness of sins." In the forgiveness of whose sins? Not of everybody's, for that would not be true. In the forgiveness of Paul's or Peter's sins? That would not do any good. Do you believe your sins are forgiven? "No, I could not be sure of that." It comes to this, then: you believe in "the possibility of the forgiveness of sins." But I believe that my sins are forgiven. That is what faith does. I believe I am forgiven through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

At this point Paul stops, and says, as it were, I cannot tell you more about the blessing. But I must tell you about the Person who has brought the blessing in. You are redeemed out of bondage, and now I should like you to know more about the Person of the One who has redeemed you. He is the image of the invisible God. All fulness was pleased in Him to dwell. You are made meet for heaven. You are delivered from darkness. You are translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son. You are redeemed, you are forgiven. Yet there is even more than this. Peace is made through the blood of His cross. What is peace? It is the complete settlement of every question between the soul and God through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only have I committed sins, but I have a sinful nature. It too has been condemned in the cross of Christ. He has made peace by the blood of His cross.

Sixthly, then, you have peace with God; and seventhly, you are reconciled. "You that were some time alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight" (ver. 21, 22). That is how it all comes  - through the death of Jesus clearing away my sins, and I may say, myself too; and He is going to present us holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight.

But now comes a terrible word. "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled." I ask you, Do you mean to continue in the faith, or do you mean to give Christ up and go back to the world? "Of course not," you will say. I do get "ifs" and "buts" sometimes in Scripture, and they art wholesome landmarks. If I see a man going on with the world, I say, That ends in death; and if I walk after the flesh I shall die. God's Word is very plain about this. "If ye walk after the flesh ye shall die;" and I take that in its strongest meaning — ye shall he eternally lost — not spiritual death, nor death of the body, but that death is the end of walking in the flesh; i.e., the end of that road is the lake of fire; and the end of the other road is the presence of God. "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye have heard," He presents you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight.

What a new place to be set in! How has it come in? Through death. Christian position means a man being in Christ. It is the butterfly-state, if I may be allowed the expression. What was the caterpillar-state? Is it the state that man was in, in the flesh? What then does the chrysalis-state set forth? Death. I accept the sentence of death that lies upon me, and the truth that I am dead with Christ. But what now? The warmth of summer comes; the chrysalis breaks its shell, and out comes the butterfly. That is Christianity. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." You could not tell in looking at the butterfly and the caterpillar that they are the same being. The caterpillar was a grovelling creature, a constant marauder; the butterfly has a different life, a different nature altogether. "You that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works." There is the caterpillar. There is man in the flesh; an enemy to God by wicked works.

There are three kinds of works spoken of in Scripture, "wicked works" (ver. 21), "dead works" (Heb. 9: 14), and "good works" (ver. 10). Wicked works are those of the lost, careless man. But supposing he turns away from wicked works to do religious works, these are what are called in Scripture "dead works." Which do you think the better? I know that "dead works" or religious works are better in man's sight, but neither are the fruit of the Spirit, nor have they any connection with Christ. The believer's instruction is, "that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works." For my own part, I don't believe in a person's Christianity unless there is, after conversion, a great change in his life.

3. — CHRISTIAN PRACTICE.

We get the new practice of a Christian if we go back now to verse 9. "That ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." As a believer, it is your privilege to know and to do the will of God. Christ Himself came to do the will of God, and you are filled with the knowledge of all that He desires. "Filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual under. standing." You have a sense of what suits the Lord. You have His mind. You have learned the meaning of Ecclesiastes 10: 9, 10. "He that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength; but wisdom is profitable to direct." Or you are like the two hundred men of Issachar. Of them we read, "And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do" (1 Chr. 12: 32). You get the mind of the Lord, and you have to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing — pleasing the One who has delivered you. The new nature delights in this. I confess that I do like to do what I like. How is this? Because I like to do what the Lord wants me to do. The new creature delights in the will of God. But perhaps you will say, "You will put him under law, won't you?" No; for the old man was regulated or bound by no law, and the new man requires no law to bind him, because he is a divinely regulated being, a new creature in Christ Jesus. People are fond of being under the law, because it speaks of themselves, and occupies them with themselves. The gospel is all about Christ from first to last.

The Christian life is the reproduction of Christ down here, but you must begin at God's end. It makes all the difference which end of a telescope you look through. If you look in at the big end of a telescope, do you think you will see anything there? I know what you will see  - yourself. And if people look at their own experience and feelings, it will do them no good; but if they looked at Christ, they would bring forth fruit to Him. "Being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God" (ver. 10); day by day your soul enlarging in its capacity to enjoy God. I don't understand a Christian not full of joy, but going about with his head bowed down like a bulrush. There may be false professors, and they ought to be miserable, but this only proves what I say.

Supposing we get a bad bank-note, it is but the witness that there are a great many good notes. If you by grace have turned to the Lord, be the real thing, "walking worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing." Now I want to give you a golden rule. You often want to know whether you can go here or there. A friend asks you to go with him somewhere. You are not sure whether it would be right. Whatever you do, don't go and ask a good person if he would go, but go and ask the Lord if He would go. Would you not like to please the one you love best? And whom do you love best now? Jesus. Then the answer is very simple. Will it please Him? If it won't please Him, it won't please me.

"Strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness" (ver. 11). God will strengthen us. poor, weak, feeble ones as we are, to all patience; and that is what we all need. We are oftentimes weary, the road seems long, and we need patience. You are never to he impatient. You may say, I have a bad temper, and can't help it. The Lord is the great One, the only One to cure bad tempers. Christ never had one, and the Christian is to live Christ, to follow Christ. Some. times, instead of being strengthened to long-suffering with joyfulness, we are apt to be short-suffering with grumbling. Amid all the trials of earth, a Christian should be like the lark, or like the cock-robin in a storm. Many Christians are like the hen in a storm; and we all know what a hen in a storm is. She is overwhelmed by it. We are not to he like a duck, indifferent to the storm; nor like the hen, alarmed and upset by it; but like the robin, who feels it keenly, but sings his sweet song in the midst of it.

What, then, is the position of the Christian? Meet for glory, delivered from the power of darkness, translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love, redeemed, forgiven, at peace with God, reconciled, and about shortly to be presented before Him. If you knew that you were going to be presented at court, you would say, "I should like to be all fit and ready." And you cannot tell the moment when you are going to be presented, not at an earthly court, but into the very presence of the King of glory in the courts of heaven.

Meanwhile you will be strengthened by His might to all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness. Thus we shall be above the trials of the way. There will be many pin-pricks — domestic, business, and ecclesiastical ones. You may get many pin-pricks from your brethren, and even from the sisters too, but Christ's power sustains the soul above all. We have to live where the Lord sets us down, and to suffer there, and to go through it all the expression of joy in Himself.

May the Lord strengthen us, by His Spirit which dwells in us, to live a little like Him here, till caught up to be fully like Him there!

Earth, Heaven, and Hell

Earth, Heaven, and Hell.

Luke 14: 15-25, Luke 15: 11-32, Luke 16: 19-31.

W. T. P Wolston.

Extracted from "From the Far Country to the Father's House"

- "Grace and Truth" Gospel Series.

Publisher: Morrish. CBA8836.

In this discourse the Lord Jesus brings before us earth, heaven, and hell — earth with its hindrances, heaven with its happiness, hell with its horrors; and all divinely real. The hindrances are real, and you yourself, my dear unsaved reader, are the very witness that they are so; otherwise, you would have been converted before now. You cannot say you have not been called, sought, and invited. "Oh," you say, "I have been hindered." Take my advice then: take a flying leap over the hindrances of earth, and taste the joys of heaven, lest eternity find you in the horrors of hell.

In the fourteenth chapter we have the invitation, in the fifteenth, the man who accepted the invitation, and how he was welcomed, and in the sixteenth, the man who would not accept it, and from whose eternal future the Lord draws aside the veil. And who was this last? I believe he was the elder brother of Luke 15, the one who would not go in, though the Father came out and entreated him. Why would he not go in? Because he was too good; he would not go in with such company — he refuses to have to do with the younger brother — whom grace had saved, and the brothers are sundered for all eternity.

He who will not go in when called by grace must taste the terrible truth of the sixteenth chapter — find himself outside for ever: and let me tell you this, my unsaved reader, you cannot find yourself in hell without having passed the open door of heaven to reach there. How terrible! To pass heaven's open door, with its joy and its gladness and its love, to spend eternity in the lake of fire.

In the fourteenth chapter the Lord gives us the paltry excuses of the heart of man; in the fifteenth the irrepressible love of the heart of God; in the sixteenth, the eternal misery of the one who made the excuses. He shows us earth and its madness, heaven and its merriment, hell and its misery. You are on earth now: where will you spend eternity? "In heaven, I hope," you say. Make sure of it, my reader, make sure of it.

Have I put a false colouring, on these chapters, or what do they teach? Is it not madness to refuse God's grace, and slight God's mercy, though the "excuse" of chapter 14 be polite? Does not chapter 15 show a scene of divine gladness — the joy of God over the sinner's salvation, and the sinner called to share that joy for evermore? And is not chapter 16 the scene of man's misery — utter, eternal misery — as he is seen to fall from the lap of luxury to the pit of hell?

The Lord presents here the piteous condition of the lost soul — its cry for help, its wail. Look! What is all it dares oven appeal for? There is given here the circumscribed extent of the prayer of a lost soul in hell. One drop of water! One drop; and it is denied. Why? — Because the guilt of the sinner has landed him in a spot where the mercy of God cannot reach him.

Do you ask, "Is my guilt so great that it cannot be pardoned?" Not now! Now there is no blessing God does not offer you freely; now, but not then; then there is only left for you one thing, to mourn throughout an endless eternity your own terrible folly in rejecting the offer of God's salvation.

Now it is all mercy and no judgment; then it will be all judgment and no mercy. Now Christ offers you everything His love can give; then He can only judge you. If you refuse His love you must taste His power; if you pass by the open door of heaven, and make light of the voice that bids you come in, there is nothing left but the terrible future of which Luke 16 is the picture. The rich man dies, and, I dare say, everything that could make a death-bed easy and painless surrounded his — every luxury his money could buy; but he dies — money cannot keep off death. When death comes in, that cold, pale, grim monster, what terror will seize your soul, you that are Christless, unsaved, unpardoned, unblessed. Do not think that you are going to have a long time to prepare. You may be swept off in a moment, having no time for anything. Mark the rapidity of this scene. He dies and is buried, and in hell he lifts up his eyes. Look at the transition. Life, death, burial, hell, torments! This is the Lord's own solemn picture of the end of an unconverted man. Do you tell me it is but a picture? True; but if the picture is so terrible, what, oh what will the reality be? Can you brave it? Dare you risk this awful future, this terrible hell?

There is thirst in hell, but there is no water; now, if any man thirst, there are rivers of living water wherewith to slake his thirst — now, but not then. Oh, will you not drink now and live? Will you be there, and find even one drop denied you?

"Son, remember!" Yes, memory will go down with you there. You must leave your money, leave your pleasures, leave everything you have prized and valued on earth behind you; but you will carry two things down with you - your sins and your memory! You may try to stifle convictions now, to cover up your sins now, to hush the voice of conscience, and it is quite possible you may succeed. It is quite possible you, who have neglected the gospel, may come to a death-bed, and conscience give you no warning word; for the wicked have "no bands in their death, but their strength is firm." Yes, you may come to a death-bed, and have no fear to die, and yet you are Christless, unsaved. Why is this? Because your conscience has been stifled so long, till at last it gives you no warning cry, and mourning friends dry their eyes and say, "He died like a lamb, died like a lamb!" Alas! died and was damned! "Son, remember!" remember amid the flames of hell, remember those gospel preachings when you wished the preacher would have done, when you thought him mad because he would seek to warn you, seek to draw you into a place of safety.

"Son, remember" how you despised the love of God; when the portals of heaven stood wide open to receive you, how you refused to go in.

Think of reviewing a lifetime in which you did your best to damn your immortal soul, and to know you had succeeded! Is this true? Is it a reality? Is it a fact, that by-and-by, in eternity, you must cast your eye back over your history, and, as the long dark night of eternity rolls on, you must remember that you refused to let God save you? Yes, it is but too true of every gospel-neglector, or gospel-rejector. Are you such, my reader?

Can you bear to picture yourself in that scene of ceaseless woe, with all your joys gone, all your pleasures gone, all your friends gone, and you having waked up to find yourself a sinner in your sins? Memory reigns supreme there. Memory brings back all your past life, your wasted opportunities, and you say, Will it go on? Will it never end? Yes, it goes on, it goes on, it will never end.

The Lord tells here the past, the present, and the future of a soul in hell. "Remember" - how that word fills up the past! "Tormented" - that is the terrible, the everlasting present. "Now thou art tormented." "But," you say, "is there no escape?" Listen: "Fixed" — there is the future. "a great gulf fixed." What does that mean? That God Himself cannot then bridge it over; He then has, I may say, no power to show you mercy. Your portion is settled for ever: memory crushing you with all the scenes of your lifetime, which is for ever past, beyond recall; torment, sorrow unspeakable in the present; and for the future a "great gulf fixed" between you and those eternal scenes of joy and gladness in which you too might have been, had you not refused to share them.

But, thank God, now there is pardon, now there is room, now there is a welcome in the Father's house for you, now God's invitation is going out to call you to his great supper of salvation.

God's feast is a feast of joy, a feast of salvation. He Himself provides the feast; He spreads on the table that which divinely meets the needs of the guests. But besides meeting your need as a sinner, God has a deeper motive. He wants to gratify His own heart by having you as a guest.

What a grand thing it is to know that God wants me for His guest! He wants company. In Luke 14 the great thought of the heart of God is, He wants to have you, wants to have you for His own. Though man has sinned and gone away from Him, His love remains the same; He comes out in the energy of His grace, and entreats you to come to Him, to be His guest. I find the kind of company, too, who accept the invitation, the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind, i.e., those who could bring nothing to the feast.

It is on earth the invitation comes. Earth is the waiting-room, in which the fate of the soul is decided, either on the one hand for glory or on the other for the dark, the bitter gloom of the lake of fire. Who shall decide? With you, my reader, lies the responsibility.

Perhaps you are saying, "I must wait a more convenient season." Take care, lest it never come. Take care, lest, like Felix, your faith may be in a convenient season which never comes. He trembled once, and you may have trembled once in your history. There are moments when God puts the gospel before a soul in such a way that it is almost constrained, almost persuaded to believe; but the soul puts it from him, does not decide, and the moment never recurs again.

I ask you, my reader, do you accept or do you decline God's invitation? Either you must accept it and go in, on the ground of being a lost, ruined sinner, or you must refuse, like the elder brother, who did not like this ground.

Earth has its ranks and stages, but there all are gone. If I asked Nicodemus, the moral man, How came you here in heavenly glory with Christ? "Oh," he would say, "it was the blood of Jesus!" Woman of the city, how came you here? "It was the blood of Jesus!" she replies. Paul, the blasphemer, the persecutor, how came you here? "The blood of Jesus" is again the answer that thrills through heaven; "that blessed, precious blood of Jesus!"

If I look, too, on the terribly dark side which Luke 16 speaks to us of, it is all the same. What took the rich man to hell? His sin. Look at the category, in Revelation 21, of those who find themselves in the lake of fire for eternity. "The fearful, the unbelieving, abominable murderers," etc., etc. What brought each one there? His sin. All rank, all difference is gone then. Sin consigns the unbelieving sinner to hell, and blood brings the believing soul to glory; all else is set aside.

Where, then, will you be found for eternity'? Will you be found among the number of those who tread that golden city with Jesus? Do you accept or refuse his invitation?

We have looked at the man who would not go in — turn now and look at the man who did go in. He says, "I will arise and go to my Father." That is decision. There comes a moment when the soul decides. Do not suppose you have to fit yourself before you come. Christ meets you where you are and as you are. Christ knows — all about you, and He knows too He is the only One who can meet your need, and so He asks you to come to Him. The prodigal said, "I will go;" there was decision, and, oh, how the Lord yearns to meet a returning soul, how He loves to greet that soul, to bid it welcome, to show out all His love to you!

You may be returning with a weary heart, with a slow footstep; but I read, "the Father ran, and fell on his neck and kissed him." What does that kiss tell? It tells of unchanged affection. The heart of God has never changed towards you. And what did the Father say? Why, he did not speak a word. With reverence, I might say the Father's joy was too deep for utterance.

There is no reproach, no word about the past. If you go to hell you must remember the past through eternity; there it is, "Son, remember." If you come to God now, the past is all forgiven, all blotted out, no memory of it remaining, and not a word to remind you of it; for God delights to say, "Their sins and iniquities I will remember no more" (Heb. 10: 17).

True the prodigal was not worthy, but why did he get the kiss? Because he was worthy? Not at all, but because the Father loved him! The prodigal does not say, when he comes to his Father, "Make me a servant;" and very rightly, for if he had made a bad son, I do not think he would have made a very good servant; and another thing, if you come back to God, you have no business to tell Him what He shall say to you, and how He shall treat you, and what He shall make of you. No, no! you have just to leave Him to do as He likes; and what does He do? He folds you to His heart in the tenderest embrace of love! The Lord sees the first returning thought of the prodigal's heart, the very first; and why? Because, I believe from the very day the prodigal left his Father's house, the Father never left His post, as it were, of watching the road for his son's return. And oh, how He welcomes him, all unwashed as he was, in all his rags!

"Bring forth the best robe," He says to the servants; and that is my province. That is the Evangelist's work, i.e., to tell you of Christ, to seek to display His attractions before you, to tell you that you have nothing to do, but that Christ has done it all for you. Christ Himself is the best robe. There is the best robe for the worst sinner.

"Put shoes on his feet," too. The law said, "Take off the sandal." Grace says, "Put shoes on," i.e., "I will provide him with fitness to tread those courts above." The law says, "Take your shoes off, you are not fit." Grace says, "I will make you fit."

And then there is the merriment, the joys of heaven, and oh! who would be fool enough to put aside this, and risk what the sixteenth chapter gives? Will you not come to Jesus, hear Him say all is forgiven (and the all, you know, is a great deal in your case), and taste the gladness of heaven

"They began to be merry." And we never hear that they left off; there was no end. We begin down here, but it goes on and on and on through the countless ages of eternity.

Only come to Jesus, and then you will taste the sweetness and truth of these lines -

"Every sin shall be forgiven,

Thou through grace a child shalt be

Child of God, and heir of heaven,

Yes, a mansion waits for thee,

Even thee, even thee,

Yes, a mansion waits for thee."

W. T. P. W.

"I Have a Message from God unto Thee."

"I Have a Message from God unto Thee."

W. T. P. Wolston.

Extracted from "From the Far Country to the Father's House"

- "Grace and Truth" Gospel Series.

Publisher: Morrish. CBA8836.

Such, Reader were the words of Ehud to Eglon (Judges 3: 20). It was a message of DEATH. Mine to you is a message of LIFE! Do you care to hear it? Stop! Don't fling it away; you may never have another. Pause a moment!

"I can't today; I have not time for these things."

Indeed, why?

"Oh! I am too busy today; I wish to settle a few little matters of interest, and some of greater importance, connected with my occupation in life. These religious matters must be left for Sunday."

Then the object of your interest, that which commands you for this day at least, is not anything which relates to eternity; it has only to say to time. What a solemn thought! You, a sinner, determining to spend this day — and that perhaps your last on earth — in business or pleasure, while the salvation of your immortal soul is neglected.

"But we must live, and I want to be free to enjoy myself at Christmas-time."

Indeed? What do you mean by "Christmastime"?

"Oh, Christmas is the time of the year when they say Christ was born, and we all try to be very merry at that time."

Quite so; and may I ask, Where is Christ now? Is He still here?

"No, certainly not; He died."

How did He die? I thought He was the Lord of Life.

"Well, to tell the truth, He was killed — men put Him on a cross, and there He died, between two thieves."

Then, in plain language, men murdered Him?

"Yes; I suppose it amounts to this."

Well, then, is it not a serious thing to be holiday-making in connection with this murdered man? Most surely. Nothing could be more solemn.

But I have a message from God to you about this rejected One. He is alive. The men the world prizes and does homage to are dead and buried. The only man God counts worthy of honour and glory is alive in heaven. His message to you today is about Him, the blessed Son of His love, the Lord Jesus Christ. He. was dead once, for Him men "slew and hanged on a tree" (Acts 5: 30), "but God raised Him from the dead" (Acts 13: 30). Of Him, Paul spake in ancient Athens, "wholly given to idolatry," and seemed "a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection" (Acts 17: 18). He could say, and, sinner, you must remember, that then, "ignorance God winked at; but NOW commandeth all men everywhere to repent; because He has appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness, by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead" (Acts 17: 30, 31).

Friend, have you repented? Have you ever yet truly bowed to the name of Jesus? Not yet? Then do not delay. God's APPOINTED DAY draws near — how near you know not. Suppose IT dawned today. What a terrible state you would be in! Unrepentant, unforgiven, unprepared, uncleansed, Christless, LOST! O, dear soul, do not "mock" or say, like some in old Athens, "we will hear thee again of this matter" (Acts 17: 32). The mockers and the halters of that day were alike left to their own vanity and unbelief; for "Paul departed from among them" (Acts 17: 33), and you, if you halt, or hesitate to receive the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, can count on nothing but this coming judgment; for He said, "If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins" (John 8: 24), and, Scripture adds, "after this the judgment," saying, "and as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation" (Heb. 9: 27, 28).

Your portion is "death" and "judgment." "It is appointed unto men." Do you fear these two terrible consequences of sin? I have good news, "a message from God unto thee" — a message of grace. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3: 18). God thus opens a door of escape for thee, dear soul, whoever thou art. None are too vile, or too far off, for Christ's precious blood to meet. It cleanseth from all sin. He is alive. "He is risen" (Matt. 28: 6). "Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. 15: 3), and "was raised again for our justification" (Rom. 4: 25). His resurrection is the clear proof of the value of His blood, which was shed in atonement for sins. "Raised up from the dead," "alive," "glorified," He sits at God's right hand, the exalted Christ and Lord. All things are His. All must soon own Him — every knee bow to, and every tongue confess Him. Do not wait for dire and awful, yea eternal judgment, to force from your lips a confession of His worth. Bow to Him now. Believe Him now, and the "salvation of God" is yours. To delay even for a day is folly, and may cause your eternal ruin. Procrastination is the thief of souls, as well as of time. Besides, this Lord may return. "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him" (Matt. 25: 6).

Do you say, "Where is the promise of His coming?" I reply, in God's everlasting word, which further adds, "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night!" (2 Peter 3: 4.) Can you meet Him? Dare you, then, face Him as you now are, in your sins? No, sinner! no thou canst not. Turn, then, to Jesus, now. Yes, this very day. "Now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6: 2). "Hear, and your soul shall live." The Lord Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live" (John 5: 24, 25).

What a blessed thing it would be if you were at once to come to Him. If you have reached so near the end of the year without His blessing, oh, I beseech you, do not let it close and leave you still unsaved. Let the closing hours of 1877 find you fully decided for Jesus. You have nothing to do but simply to trust Him. God bless thee, my dear reader! "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," and for eternity thou wilt remember with joy this

"MESSAGE FROM GOD UNTO THEE."

W. T. P. W.

"Grace and Truth" Gospel Series. Publisher: Morrish.

1.   Beacon Lights along the Shores of Life.

2.   From the Far Country to the Father's House CBA8836

3.   Believe and Live

4.   Whither Bound?

5.   Building on the Rock

6.   The Great Invitation.

7.   Wrecked but Rescued.

8.   Far above Rubies.

9.   The Captive Freed.

10. Saved and Satisfied.

11. The Valley of Blessing, and how many enter it.

12. Life Streams from the Riven Rock.

"Go to Joseph"

"Go to Joseph"

W.T.P. Wolston.

Joseph is a most beautiful and complete type of the Lord Jesus in the days of His humiliation and in the days of His exaltation. The day is not come yet when God will compel men to give Jesus as due; because God has, what Pharaoh had not, long patience, and the long-suffering of the Lord is salvation.

Joseph, you will remember, went out in the guilelessness and love of his heart to meet his brethren (Gen. 37). They plotted against him to slay him, and at length he was sold to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver, the price of the meanest slave. And I need not remind you of Another, who came from His Father's house to see how His brethren fared, and met with precisely the same treatment — "His own received Him not" — and at length for thirty pieces of silver He was betrayed, and sold, and then cast out of this world; not into a dungeon, but into a grave.

It is true loving hands took Him down from the cross, and placed Him in a sepulchre; but wicked hands sealed Him there, and the world hoped never to see Him again; "but God raised Him from the dead." The One whom men slew God raised up.

He came in all the love of His heart; but man had no love for Him. I ask you, my reader, Have you any love in your heart for Him?  - Does He look in and see in your heart affection for Him. self? If not, do not you be the one to judge those who cast Him out in the day of His lowliness and humiliation.

As Pharaoh placed Joseph by his own side in his day, and they cried "Bow the knee" before him (Gen. 41: 40.43), so God has placed Jesus at His right hand today, and commands men everywhere to bow to Him. Every knee shall bow to Jesus; but God would have you bow your knee — and more, bow your heart — to Jesus now. Have you gone down in His presence, delighted to own His value now, delighted to call Him Lord? If not, the sooner you do, the better will it be for you.

The humiliation of Jesus gave Him a moral claim on God for exaltation, and He has exalted Him, and "given Him a name which is above every name." There is no name like the name of Jesus. God has declared that all shall own Him Lord — angels, men, and demons — and you may be sure all includes you. The demons never owned Him Lord when He was on earth, but the day will come when God will compel them to own Him Lord. And for you, my reader, when is to be your day of owning Him Lord? now, when He is waiting on you in long-suffering grace, or in the day of His power, when you must bow? "Bow the knee" is God's word to you now.

Doubtless to many a proud Egyptian noble there was great humiliation in having to bow to this Hebrew servant; but the day of famine came, and neither their pride nor their parentage would meet the pangs of famine. Then they cried to Pharaoh and Pharaoh's word was, "Go to Joseph." And many a soul in trouble cries to God. What is God's answer, as it were? "Go to Jesus." Have you, my reader, the sense of soul hunger? God's word is, "Go to Jesus." Do you say, I know what soul hunger is; I would like to be saved, if I knew how to go to Jesus? Look and see, in this interesting narrative, how they came to Joseph.

He was, according to the meaning of his name Zaphnath-Paaneah, "a revealer of secrets," and "the saviour of the age." And is not this what Jesus is?

Look at Him in the fourth of John, when that poor woman meets Him at the well. Does He not show Himself to her as the revealer of secrets, when He said to her, "Thou hast had five husbands"? Ah! Christ knows all about you; Christ knows every sin, and for those who believe in Him, He has pardoned every one. Knowing all about us, He loved us; and loving us, He came down to save us.

When the woman found He knew all about her, does she fly? No, she stays and talks with Him, and one moment she is a convicted sinner, and the next Christ reveals Himself to her, and she leaves her water pot and goes into the city, and says, "Come, see a Man which told me all things that ever I did; is not this the Christ?" Instead of being afraid of Him, she calls to all to come and know Him too; and they come and find He is not only the Revealer of Secrets, but the Saviour of the age — the true Joseph.

Let us look at how Joseph received his brethren when they came to him in their need.

"Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt; get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt" (Gen. 42: 1-3). They heard that there was corn in Egypt. They heard that there was deliverance to be had if they could only get it, and they were perishing. They heard there was salvation, and they felt their need, and felt they would like to he saved, but they could not get salvation without going to the saviour. They could not get deliverance apart from the deliverer; they could not get food in their hunger save from Joseph — Joseph the despised one, the one they had hated, the one they had cast out and sold, but the one whom God had raised up to have every resource in his power, and every. thing that could meet their need.

And you, my reader, do you feel you are in need of salvation? Have you heard of a deliverance which you would like to be yours? Is your soul hungry, and have you heard of "bread enough and to spare"? Have you heard of salvation that others have known, and would you know it too? Then you must come into living contact with the Saviour. It is from the Saviour only you can get salvation. Jesus is that Saviour, and He waits and longs to save you.

Joseph's brethren are in need now, and they come to Joseph; and you must do just the same — come to Jesus.

"And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land; and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down them. selves before him with their faces to the earth" (ver. 6).

They come and bow themselves down to Joseph; and it is a blessed thing when you are compelled, even by your need, to bow to Jesus, for He is the only One who can meet that need.

"And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. . . . And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies. Hereby ye shall he proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. . . . And he put them all together into ward three days" (vv. 7-17).

His brethren did not know Joseph, but he knew them. He spake roughly to them. They thought he was a hard man. Do you think Christ is an "austere Man"? He will tell you what you are; tell you that you are a sinner full of enmity to God, that there is no good thing in you. People do not like that. They do not like to be shown what is in their hearts.

Joseph deals with his brethren as God does with the sinner, for God must get at our consciences, and must make us feel and know what we have been and are. So Joseph's dealings with his brethren arouse conscience, for they say, "We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us" (ver. 21).

It is a wonderful thing when the soul is brought to this point, to own itself a guilty sinner before God. God must have reality. Have you, my reader, ever seen yourself thus in the light of God's presence? Has your conscience ever been awakened to cry, I am undone; I am verily guilty?

"And Joseph turned himself about from them and wept." And did not Another greater than Joseph weep over guilty Jerusalem; and not only weep, but shed His precious blood because of the love of His heart to guilty man?

"Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack" (ver. 25). What is the lesson of the money in the sack? That if you are to get salvation, you cannot buy it. You are too poor to buy it, and God is too rich to sell it. Salvation must be God's free gift, and you must have it as a gift, or not have it at all.

Joseph's brethren come back, and tell their father all that Joseph had said; and Jacob refuses to let Benjamin go down with them, for he says, "His brother is dead, and he is left alone; if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave."

But the famine increases. Their need increases; food they must have or die. Judah offers to be surety for his brother, and Jacob is constrained to let the lad go; but he says, "Do this: take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present. . . . And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight. Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: and God Almighty give you mercy before the man" (Gen. 43: 11-14).

This is man's way of getting salvation. People think they are going to be saved by propitiating God. They will work and give alms, and what not. But it will not do. No money will buy salvation, and God does not want appeasing. He is waiting to be gracious, waiting for the moment when He can display what is in His heart, which is only love.

Joseph's brethren came down again to him, and when he saw Benjamin he gave commandment that they should be brought into his house. "And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house." Yes, the soul wakes up to learn it is guilty, and then it fears the presence of God. But Joseph spake comfortably to them to win their hearts, and they sat at meat with him. "And the men marvelled one at another. And he took and sent messes unto them from before him; but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him."

Then in Gensis 44 they have to confess their sins. Judah says, "God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants" (ver. 16). This is the point God would bring us to. Not only conscience making us see our state, but also there is the owning of that state. "I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." So said David in Psalm 32, and so must every soul that really turns to God.

In Genesis 45 the wonderful climax is reached. Joseph reveals himself to them. "I am Joseph." The Joseph they had sold as a slave stood before them as a ruler over all the land, but meeting them in all the grace of his heart. He caused every one else to go out, and the guilty were left alone in the presence of the saviour. What a lovely picture of divine grace follows: "And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt" (Gen. 45: 4).

When the work in the conscience is done, then the Lord can come near and reveal Himself. He never comes and reveals Himself till the sinner takes his true place — is angry with himself.

"Be not grieved nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither," he says: "for God did send me before you to preserve life." You have been guilty, Joseph says, but God had a purpose in it.

And man was guilty of nailing the Saviour to the cross: but God had His own thoughts, His own meaning in it all, and that very death, on the cross, of the Saviour, becomes the basis and groundwork, through atonement, of the great deliverance Christ accomplishes for the sinner; salvation for him is the fruit of the sufferings of the Saviour there.

But after all this display of the heart of Joseph to his brethren, and after seventeen years of caring for them, and giving them the best of everything, and rewarding them only love for their hatred, the last chapter of Genesis shows they still did not fully know Joseph.

"When Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him" (Gen. 50: 15-17).

All this is like some doubting, fearing, unhappy Christians, who tell me they believe on the Lord, and yet they have not peace. They are full of fears; they are not sure He has received them and forgiven them: they do not know His heart; and another thing, they have never had all out with Him. Have no reserves, my reader. Have it all out with Jesus, and do not you be the one to make our Joseph weep; for the heart of the Lord Jesus feels today your lack of trust in Him, after all He has done for you, all the kindness and the love He has shown to you. Wound not then His loving heart by any lack of confidence in Him.

"And Joseph said unto them, Fear not." That is just the way the Lord Jesus loves to comfort the soul. To get the confidence of the heart, He says to the trembling one, "Fear not: I am Jesus."

Joseph says again, "Fear ye not: I will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them."

And that is what Jesus says; for we are not only sheltered by His blood, but saved by His life. He will nourish and care for each me all the way along. Oh, my reader, believe Him simply, and never wound His heart again by one single doubt.

"JACOB'S WELL WAS THERE"

SWEET was the hour, O Lord, to Thee

At Sychar's lonely well,

When a poor outcast heard Thee there

Thy great salvation tell.

Thither she came; but, oh! her heart,

All filled with earthly care,

Dreamed not of Thee, nor thought to find

The hope of Israel there.

Lord! 'twas Thy power unseen that drew

The stray one to that place,

In solitude to learn from Thee

The secrets of Thy grace.

There Jacob's erring daughter found

Those streams unknown before,

The water-brooks of life, that make

The weary thirst no more.

And, Lord, to us, as vile as she,

Thy gracious lips have told

That mystery of love revealed

At Jacob's well of old.

In spirit, Lord, we've sat with Thee

Beside the springing well

Of life and peace, and heard Thee there.

Its healing virtues tell.

Dead to the world, we dream no more

Of earthly pleasures now;

Our deep, divine, unfailing spring

Of grace and glory Thou!

No hope of rest in aught beside,

No beauty, Lord, we see;

And, like Samaria's daughter, seek,

And find our all in Thee.

"Remember Lot's Wife"

"Remember Lot's Wife"

Luke 17: 32.

W. T. P. Wolston.

The 32nd verse of Luke 17 "Remember Lot's wife," is the Lord's solemn comment on Genesis 19; and there is something weirdly strange about this word of the Lord.

"Remember Lot's wife." What about Lot's wife? She stands the everlasting witness of the folly of not obeying the word of the Lord, the folly of a sort of middle path, when God's word has declared what is coming on the scene. Lot's wife is the picture of many souls: they would like to be saved, but they have not reached the point of safety, have not reached the spot where there is safety. The Lord says to such, "Remember Lot's wife." Did she not want to be saved? Yes. Did she not wish to escape destruction? Yes. Did she not make a show of escaping it? Yes. Did she escape it? No! "Remember Lot's wife." She might have been saved, but she was not saved, and yet she was not overtaken by the judgment of the cities; not one drop of that liquid fire fell on Lot's wife: no, she was cut off, but not by the judgment which fell on the cities.

There are two points, I believe, come out about Lot's wife: she was unbelieving and she was disobedient; and, dear unsaved reader, is not this what you are? Have you believed God? Have you obeyed the Gospel? You know you have not! "Remember Lot's wife."

Because of her indifference, because of her coldheartedness, she was turned into a pillar of salt. She was a hypocrite, she appeared to leave the city, she appeared to be going to the mountain, but her heart was in the city; she did not really believe in the judgment coming; she said in her heart, "I see no sign of judgment coming; I will look back and see if what those men said is true:" she looks back, and is turned into a pillar of salt.

Did the judgment come? Yes! Lot's sons and the cities of the plain were all destroyed. God is not mocked! And the Lord says that "As it was in the days of Lot, so shall it be when the Son of Man is revealed." This is not the Lord's coming into the air for His people, but His coming with them to the earth for the premillennial judgments.

The last act of the world towards Christ was to nail Him on a cross between two malefactors. The last the world saw of Christ was dead between two thieves! Did they not see Him when He rose from the dead? No! Did they not see Him in resurrection? No! Have they seen Him in glory? No,! Faith has; but the world saw Him last on the cross, to which, with wicked hands, they had nailed Him; it will see Him next, in the day of which Luke 17 speaks, when He comes again in judgment, when He puts His hand to His strange work of judgment.

Do you know, my friend, there is judgment coming? The world is like a murderer between the passing of his sentence and the execution of it; and what is that? A condemned felon, only waiting the moment when, on the scaffold, that red-handed murderer shall expiate his crime. The world is like that. Its condition is fixed. But what comes in between the sentence and its execution? A way of escape! You who have not taken that way of escape, "Remember Lot's wife." She was one who knew there was a way of escape and did not take it! The angels dragged her even out of Sodom, but that did not save her from the judgment of God. She was dragged out of Sodom, but she never reached the mountain. Half-way will not do; there is no safety halfway, either for Lot's wife or for you.

We bring the message of judgment, judgment coming, but before it falls there is a way of escape for you, if you will take it; for judgment is coming, surely coming.

You may say, "I do not think I shall live to see the world judged." Very likely not, because the Lord may do with you as He did with Lot's wife, cut you down, before the judgment comes. The Lord does not say, "Remember Sodom," but "Remember Lot's wife," the woman who might have been saved but for her own awful folly, and was very nearly being saved, but — she was not saved! Cut down by God's hand in judgment, because she did not believe the message. How solemn is the word, "Remember Lot's wife."

Did she not hope to be saved? Yes! Did she not expect to reach a happy place with her husband and daughters? Yes! Did she reach it? No! She was cut down, because there was no faith, either in the judgment coming, or in the way of escape.

We read in Genesis 19: 12, "And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? Son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place." Are you the only one of your family? Have you any still unsaved? "Bring them out," says God; "get them out of the world, break the fatal spell that binds them to the world of the dead, loose the chain that holds them, bring them out to Jesus." He wants your faith to pierce the clouds, wing its way to the very throne of God, and there leave your loved ones at the feet of Jesus.

The evangelist's desire is to drag you out of the world to Christ.

"Out of the world?" you say. Yes, right out, for if your heart is out of the world you are morally outside the scene.

A Christian brought to know Christ, having the joy of the Lord's love in the heart, is entirely outside the present scene, or if occupied with it, is only so in order to get souls out of it.

How do I get my heart out of the world? I get a glimpse of Christ, I see Him, before the day of the execution of the coming judgment, doing a work for me, whereby I can escape from the coming judgment, and then going back to the glory; my heart gets attracted to Him there, where He is, and drawn completely away from the world. Home, then, is the place where He is who has won my heart, and this scene becomes a wilderness to me, because He is not in it.

Before God judges He always warns; and have not you, my friend, had many a warning note falling on your ear? Look at the grace of God in this chapter. The angels find their way to Sodom, they are, if I may so speak, evangelists to the house of Lot, and while declaring what is coming on the scene, they point out a place of safety.

And what has God done! Before the day of judgment falls on the world, His own Son has stepped in, and done a work on the cross, where. by the sinner may escape.

There is a way of escape, and God works, and the Holy Ghost works, and His servants work, to try to get you on the road that leads to a place of safety.

The very fact of God's sending a Saviour is the irrefragable proof that man needed salvation, and how shall we escape if we make light of Christ, if we "neglect so great salvation?"

Have you not heard the message often, and yet you are unconverted? I would fain, like the angels, lay "hold upon your hand," and bring you forth, for you are, like Lot, a lingerer still. You do not deny that judgment is coming, and yet you linger. What has seized you, to be any longer careless about your soul? Put the Bible in the fire, and I could understand your conduct; but tell me you read the word of God, tell me you believe Scripture — believe the tale of the blood-shedding and death of the Son of God — tell me you believe the tale of the day of judgment coming, and I cannot understand you. Oh, wake up, wake up, be no longer careless! If you merely say you believe Scripture, you are in the world and of the world, depend upon it the world knows very well who belongs to it, and God knows. God knew that Lot did not belong to that defiled scene — Sodom, and "delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked."

The angels said to Lot, "Up, get you out;" and to you, unsaved soul, I say, "Up, get you out." Men talk of the progress of the world. Where is the progress? "Oh," you say, "look at science." Yes, I grant it. "And look at the inventions, the improvements." I grant it, but are children more dutiful? Are servants more faithful? Are masters and mistresses more considerate and careful? Are husbands more tender? Are wives more prudent? No! no! The world is making great progress, but to what? I will tell you. To judgment! To judgment! Did not Sodom progress? Yes! and all of a sudden it was judged; and "As it was in the days of Lot, thus shall it be in the day that the Son of Man is revealed." Then, in fancied security, they reared their heads proudly aloft, and defied God, and so they do now. But the judgment came then, and it will surely come on this scene in which you are.

But that judgment is not what I press so now. Lot's wife never saw the judgment; she was cut off, but not by Sodom's judgment; and you, halting, unbelieving sinner, "Remember Lot's wife."

Lot's sons-in-law did not believe the word about coming judgment; they seemed to say, "If you are going to leave the city — give up the world — we are not;" and they remained, and tasted the judgment they courted.

"Up, get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city," says Lot. But what thought the sons-in-law? They thought he was a fool, and was playing the fool for their amusement: he seemed to them as one that mocked. It was not they who mocked him, but "he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law." The very idea of their city being overthrown was ridiculous, for Sodom had never been more busy, never more prosperous; the sun was shining, and there was no sign of coming judgment. They refused the message that told them of the way of escape, and perished in its overthrow. It was sheer unbelief, and many a time has not the preacher seemed to you as one that mocked? But search the Scriptures, and see if these things are true or no.

I am not mocking you, I am warning you, delivering my own soul too, and if you sink into the lake of fire — you will, if you do not come to Christ — you can never say in its depths that you were not warned. Oh, flee to Jesus, flee to the mountain, "escape for thy life!"

Perhaps you say, "I would rather stay where I am." Very well, but you can never say you were not warned. Do you say, "Christians are not consistent"? I own it; but are God's words true? It will be no consolation to you by and by, that you did not believe because Christians were not consistent.

Arise! flee for thy life, flee to the Lord now, lest thou mayest never have another opportunity.

"Oh, but," you say, "you do not expect the Lord so soon, do you?" I do expect Him every moment, and I will tell you what, if He comes tonight, tomorrow you will believe. "Believe what?" Believe the devil's gospel, for the devil has a gospel. Oh, yes, you may yet be a believer, but you will believe a lie. "God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie" (2 Thess. 2).

I have no doubt part of the devil's gospel to you will be, "You are all right." Satan will say, "You are getting on all right now you have got rid of these troublers."

The troublers are taken up to meet Christ, and the world will go on just as before, but no more troubled by these preachers. Sons and daughters no more troubled by converted parents, brothers no more troubled by converted sisters. No! the troublers are gone, the fools, the madmen in your eyes, are all gone; and you are left to enjoy a Satanic, balmy calm, untroubled by anything about your soul - till, till one day the bubble of fancied security bursts, and swift destruction falls, and there is no escape.

Oh, arise! flee now! now while you may. Have you lingered long? Delay no longer. The Lord would lay His hand on you and bring you forth. Can you linger still? You that have hesitated — have not decided — have not been in earnest about your soul hitherto, oh hesitate not, linger not, lest you taste judgment, before the day of judgment. "Remember Lot's wife," lest the mercy of God be too long disregarded, and He show no longer mercy but judgment.

Thank God you are still in life, still here where the gospel is preached; if you had died yesterday you would have been in hell! You that are undecided, impressed about the truth, half-decided, but not quite, oh, "Remember Lot's wife." Will you refuse the Lord's hand, that would touch you, and drag you now to Jesus?

Look! the angels drag them outside the city, but outside the city is not safety, out of the world is not safety, to have broken with old habits is not safety, to make good resolutions is not safety; you must get to the mountain, — get to Christ.

The mountain, I take it, is the same place where Abraham had communion with God; the mountain, I believe, typifies Christ, — Christ the only place of safety, Christ God's salvation, Christ risen from the dead, Christ the sinner's friend. Hear God's exhortation to you, O soul — "Escape for thy life." Hear also God's warning word to the unsaved soul, "Remember Lot's wife." Who bids thee be warned by her — take warning by her solemn end? The Lord! They are His own words.

She started on the road, but she never reached the mountain. Nothing can save your soul but Christ; anxiety will not save you, desire to be saved will not save you. She got out of the city, but she never got salvation. She turned round to see if there was any truth in what she had heard, and if she might not yet get back to Sodom, and she stands the witness of the righteous judgment of God on a soul that was not real, was not true, did not with her heart believe the message; and tell me, shall it be with you, Christ and the mountain-top, and safety, or judgment on the plain, eternal judgment? Do, you say, "I will think about it, I will think over what you say"? Then to you I again say, "Re. member Lot's wife," one that turned aside when God said, "Escape to the mountain."

Reach Christ you must; it is not how near have you got, but have you got to Him? I do, not know how near she was to Zoar; she might have been just outside the gates, and her husband going in, but she never went in; never, never.

And I do not know where you are: you may be but two inches from Christ, but let me tell you, if you are but one hair's-breadth from Christ, that hair's-breadth will ensure your eternal damnation; you and Lot's wife will be in the same case, eternal monuments of the righteous judgment of God on your own outrageous folly — you might have tasted salvation; but you did not.

God lingers over you, calls you, would drag you forth, points you to the mountain top, points. you to Christ; "Stay not," He says, "do not halt or hesitate, there is no place of safety, peace, or security, till you have got to that spot, the risen Christ in glory."

You say, "Did not Lot get to Zoar?" Yes, and he got safety there, but he did not get tranquillity; he had security, but he had not peace, he had doubts and fears in Zoar, so, soon, he went to the mountain.

Going into Zoar is like people who desire to be saved, but who want a little bit of the world too. "Is it not a little one?" says Lot, i.e., he is half-hearted. Must I make a clean cut? he says.

It is a sorrowful thing to be in Zoar. Zoar is a kind of ditch, into which the devil likes people to fall, who really are converted. He likes them to take a bit of the world with them. "It does not do," he tells them, "to be too true, too out-and-out for Christ."

O, my friend, escape for thy life and flee to the mountain; never rest till you reach Christ. Look not behind, "Remember Lot's wife." Smoking corpses, a burning city, and ashes throughout all the plain, were the only things that remained to speak of the utter folly of disbelieving the warning of God. I said the only things, but there was yet another. Had a traveller drawn near to Sodom that day, a strange sight would have met his eye — a pillar of salt! Charred? No! Blackened? No! No sign of that fiery judgment had touched the Pillar of Salt. No! It stood the witness of the folly of going halfway, of being half persuaded, almost decided, but only almost. "Remember Lot's wife."

What turned her back? Love of the city she had left. Oh, whoever you are, decide for Christ now! Supposing the Lord were to shut the door tonight, where would you be? You, who think you would like to be a Christian some day, think it is a good thing to be a Christian, — mean to be one some day, — to you, I say, "Remember Lot's wife."

Ye halters, ye undecided, ye who know the claims of the world, think of her, on her way to salvation but never reaching it — having her back for a moment turned on the world, but turning round again. Let me beseech you, decide now: the way is open, the Lord calls thee, the evangelist beseeches thee, God urges thee, the Church would welcome thee; turn round, own your sin, confess your guilt, acknowledge your danger. Come to Jesus!

He will receive you, pardon you, you shall know now His salvation, know security and tranquillity likewise. There remains but one thing for you to do, get to Christ, reach Christ, believe on Christ.

How couldst thou bear, through the long, the morningless night of eternity, to be the counter. part of Lot's wife? And what is that? A person who was lost within sight of salvation, who went down to the pit passing by the open door of heaven on the road. Oh, do not risk such a fate! Come now — turn now!

May this lead you who are unsaved, so to remember Lot's wife, that you shall never be like her. If I remember her I will take good care never to he like her. The Lord give you to hear God's word to you, and to believe on His Son.

And for us who are Christians, if there is but one day more before the return of our Lord, may we know what it is to do as these angels, to seek to drag those whom we know out of the world, and to draw them to Christ.

Unsaved reader, wouldst thou "remember Lot's wife"?

"Then linger not in all the plain,

Flee for thy life, the mountain gain!

Look not behind, make no delay!

Oh! speed thee, speed thee on thy way!

Haste, traveller, haste!"

If thou slightest the warning of that Pillar of Salt thy future is thus solemnly pictured:-

"'Almost persuaded,' harvest is past!

'Almost persuaded,' doom comes at last!

'Almost' cannot avail; 'Almost' is but to fail;

Sad, sad, that bitter wail — 'Almost,' but lost!"

A Man in Christ; and A Man of God

A Man in Christ; and A Man of God.

Address by W. T. P. Wolston.

Thursday Evening, August 6th, 1891

(From Notes of Addresses and Readings at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.)

2 Cor. 12; 1 Tim. 6: 6-12; 2 Tim. 3: 14-17; 4: 1-8.

You will observe, beloved friends, in these scriptures, the occurrence of two remarkable titles, "A man in Christ" and "A man of God." Of them I would speak for a few moments. A remarkable difference exists between the two.

Although every Christian be a man in Christ, it does not follow that he is, practically, what Paul calls a man of God. One gives us position, the other practice.

What a wonderful expression Paul opens with. "I know a man in Christ above fourteen years ago . . . caught up to the third heaven."

Observe the effect of this on Paul. He kept it quiet for a long time. I rather think if some of us had such a revelation as he had, our brethren would have known about it very soon.

Now, what is a man in Christ? I tremble, lest I fail to convey the truth concerning it; but I will say what I trust may help the youngest soul here. If you are born of God, and possessing the Holy Ghost, you are "a man in Christ."

The history of the first man is very sad. Where does that history end? It only ends in sin, shame, and death, in the scene through which we are passing. What Paul learns is this, that there has come into this scene One who, Himself God, has become a man, that He might travel over the pathway of man in this world, and one loves to think there is no possible position that a saint could be in that we do not find the Lord taking up. I see two things in the history of that blessed Man. 1. The beautiful and perfect revelation of what God is. "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." (John 1: 18.) If I would know God I must gaze upon the person of Jesus. 2. We have the perfect exhibition of the pathway of man, as he should be for God; not only that He comes to make known God to us, but to take up all the responsibilities of man; and once and again He is met by a voice that says, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." At His baptism the heavens are opened for the first time, and the Father's voice is heard saying, "Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased." (Luke 3: 22.) He does not say at the baptism, "Hear Him;" that goes without saying, as if every one would be sure to hear Him. Then again, on the mount of transfiguration, the end of the pathway is drawing nigh, and there Peter suggests the thought of making three tabernacles — "one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias." (Luke 9: 33.) But the Father could not brook such an indignity as bringing Him on the level with the law-giver and the reformer. Their day has gone by, hence the word is, "This is My beloved Son: hear Him." (v. 35.)

Though He might have gone up to glory from that mount, and none would have challenged His right, He turns, and comes down, and goes down into death, because if He had not died the corn of wheat must have abode alone. But on the cross He took up the whole question of man's sin, and guilt, and state before God.

Not only did He bear our sins, but He was made sin. He bridged the entire distance between God and man. He closed up in His own death on the cross — where in grace He died vicariously — the history of man in the flesh, so that when Jesus was dead on the cross, one universal scene of death was the only thing before the eye of God; every other man was dead in sins, and Christ was then dead for sin. But what follows? Resurrection! The annuller of death rises from the grave, and meets Mary at its door. Her heart was full of affection for the Lord. She goes to His tomb, and is detained there. She was a woman who had now no home here, because He was absent, and therefore she remained weeping. He rises from the dead to meet the heart that was broken, and bleeding, in sympathy with, and love for Him. I wish we men had half the affection that that woman had. She had seen angels, but turned her back on them. Which of us would not have been detained by angels? Then she turns her back on man — the gardener, as she supposed; but she hears a voice, and turns round and sees Jesus Himself, and He reveals the truth. A most blessed revelation indeed was it; viz., that He was going to a new place. He said, "Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father." Mary, I doubt not, felt thus: "Lord, I lost you, but now I have got you. Am I to lose you again?" How sweetly He calms such a thought in her heart as He goes on, and gives Mary her eternally unequalled commission, "Go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father, and your Father, and to My God, and your God." (John 20: 17.)

There is a man gone up into the glory on the ground of divine righteousness. Man in Christ has gone into glory. The first man went into death as the end of a pathway of self-will, disobedience, and sin; and God let him stay there; and now there has come in this second man, this last Adam, who only reached death as the end of a pathway of subjection, will-lessness, and obedience, and God takes him out of death and gives Him glory; but He does not go up to that glory until He has stopped by the way, to tell this loving woman, and commissioned her to tell others, that His Father was their Father, and His God their God. He links and associates us with Himself in the place where He is gone — that is what I understand to be a man in Christ. He brought Godhead to earth, and now He has taken humanity into heaven, and there you have got a home. The Lord goes up, and the Holy Ghost comes down. Stephen sees Jesus in the glory. The devil cannot bear that, so he batters his head with stones, and silences Christ's witness in death, in reality doing Stephen a favour, by sending him by that more quickly to be with His Saviour, for Satan ever defeats himself. Saul of Tarsus was standing by, and Christ takes up this man who had heard Stephen's testimony to Himself as man in glory, and, converting him, in the midst of his murderous work, makes him the "chosen vessel" and channel of conveying these glorious tidings to the Gentiles.

Stephen, who had seen Jesus in glory, dies in the likeness of His master; and then the Lord, as it were, says, "I will pick up that man that has heard I am alive in glory, let him see Me where I am, and then I will cause that man to live, and testify for Me on earth where I am not."

2 Corinthians 12 coincides, apparently, with the time chronologically when Paul came to Lystra, (See Acts 14: 6-20.) God gave him this marvellous revelation: "Caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." (2 Cor. 12: 4.) So far as we can judge just at a moment when, for Christ's sake, his life was despaired of by others on earth — for the rabble "having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead" (Acts 14: 19)  - it was the fitting moment to let a man, who had apparently done with earth, see what heaven was like. Thus in the wonderful wisdom of God He lets this blessed man, in this particular part of his earthly pathway, see and hear Jesus there; and then he comes back to earth, to the scene whence Christ was cast out, and there he freshly learns the sufficiency of the grace of Christ.

Everything that we possess is up there. All the springs and resources of the soul are in heaven. When Paul came down what a dingy, murky scene must this world have seemed to him, after the unsullied glories of the scene he had been caught up to! What difficulties he came back to — all the dull duties of life!

Paul gets this wonderful revelation, and then he gets the "thorn in the flesh"; and just as Paul got the "thorn in the flesh" — so the Lord sees good to let us have one — and we cannot get on without the grace of Christ. "My grace is sufficient for thee" is a lovely word for our souls at all times.

If you have a very difficult pathway, is not the grace of Christ enough? the arm of Christ enough? Ah! yes. The more we learn that He is our life, and we are just set here, and to be here for Him, the more deeply we feel we cannot get on a single inch without Him. We hear Him say, "My grace is sufficient for thee." The Lord does not usually take away the difficulty, but gives strength to go through it. Paul is an illustration in his own pathway of this truth.

Christianity is the reproduction of the life of Christ in the life of the Christian. As "a man in Christ" I see the place grace gives me in glory, and am to taste the grace that flows from that glory for every exigency of the pathway here.

Now let us briefly look at the "man of God" in 1 Timothy 6. The same man writes to Timothy  - a fellow-servant young in years. He had a great desire for him, and he writes exceedingly plainly on the subject of godliness. Some suppose "that gain is godliness." The injunction is, "From such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain." Gain is not godliness, "but godliness with contentment is great gain." This is an immense thing, but how is it to be attained? Lot wanted a little bit more than he had got. He had not then this godliness. He was tested and failed. I believe the same test comes often across our path. If I am determined to get on in the world God may let me, and then I shall find the word true, "He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul." "We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out" is a good word to remember.

People say sometimes, "He died worth so and so." This is a great mistake. A man never dies worth what he leaves behind, but what he has sent on before.

Do you want to be rich? You will fall into a pit. This is the point. "They that WILL [they want to] be rich fall into temptation and a snare." It is not that there is any harm in money, but in the love of it.

I believe it is often proved to be with us, as you get it stated of Israel in Haggai's day. They were dwelling in ceiled houses, and the house of God lying waste. Self was uppermost, but God was watchful of His people. His hand was on them, hence we read, "He that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes." How did the holes get there? I believe the Lord cut them.

Having warned Timothy thus, the apostle now exhorts and addresses him by a most lovely title. "But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life." He, as it were, says, You are here where man has cast God's man out, and here you are to be in the place of Christ. It is a wonderful favour to be God's man in a dark world. The Shunamite could say, regarding Elisha, "I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually." (2 Kings 4: 9.)

What a nice thing that others can perceive the features of the man of God. In 2 Timothy 3 Paul points the way to you and me to be such. He says here, however, "Flee these things," which he has named; and then adds, "Follow these things"; viz., "righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness."

"Lay hold of eternal life" is a remarkable word. You say, "I think I have got it." Are you quite sure of that? It is evidently something that he had to reach out and grasp; for was he not told to lay hold of it? It is what belongs to the man in Christ, but he is to lay hold of what really belongs to him, therefore he adds, "Fight the good fight of faith."

In one aspect eternal life is ours now, as being the gift of God received by faith; in another, it is a future thing — "the end everlasting life." That is the goal — the end of the Christian's pathway.

Now turn to the next epistle. What Paul presses here is open to every saint of God. "Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Tim. 3: 14-17.)

Scripture is that which our souls are turned back upon, and which really fits the man of God  - whoever he may be — for his work. Then in 2 Timothy 4: 5 we read, "Watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." Do the work of the evangelist. People ask me, "Are you an evangelist?" "I don't know," I reply. I do not know or care whether I am one or not, if I can only do the work of one. The work of the evangelist is to bring Christ before souls, and bring souls to Christ. In the day when everything is out of gear, the servant of Christ is to be "man of all work." When an establishment is in full working order there may be the tablemaid, the housemaid, and the cook, but when things are diminished, and retrenchment is the order of the day, then there comes as a necessity the "maid of all work"; and so the servant of Christ may have to do a little bit of gospel work, a little bit of teaching, a little bit of pastoral work. Any service for Christ is sweet.

How beautiful to find this dear old servant of Christ now saying, "I have fought a good fight;" a lovely close to a grand history. He has spoken in these two epistles about some making shipwreck of faith (1 Tim. 1: 19) some departing from the faith" (1 Tim. 4: 1) some "denying the faith" (1 Tim. 5: 8); some "being seduced from the faith" (1 Tim. 6: 10); some "erring concerning the faith" (1 Tim. 6: 21); others "overthrowing the faith of some" (2 Tim. 2: 18); others were reprobate concerning the faith." (2 Tim. 3: 18.) But the truth that God had given him he had kept, hence he could say triumphantly, "I have kept the faith." (2 Tim. 4: 7.) The devil wants us, dear friends, to give up that which God has given us. These epistles shows us the value of holding it fast. What joy it is to be a Christian, a possessor of eternal life, passing through this scene of trials, but linked with heaven before we get there. It is very sweet to hear Paul now add, "There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing. Faint not then, fellow-believers, fellow-soldiers, for you will get a crown also, for it is for "all that love His appearing." The Lord keep us in His infinite grace, knowing that we are men in Christ, and seeking to be truly men of God, going on simply, quietly, fervently, till we see His blessed face; and what an answer to all the exercises of the way will it be, when we see Him and are like Him, and with Him, for ever in glory.

A Mediator and a Ransom

A Mediator and a Ransom.

Notes of an address on Job 33 and 1 Tim. 2: 3-7.

W. T. P. Wolston.

Manchester Series. — No. 248.

(CBA12,316)

The truth of the gospel could scarcely be more beautifully expressed than it is in this passage in Timothy. It is a paragraph that contains a volume of truth in a very little space, and if a soul once gets the real meaning of it — lays hold of it for itself, it puts it into possession of peace with God. In Job 33 we have the very same thought illustrated by Elihu. Job was as busy as ever he could be, justifying himself, and goes the length of saying, "My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go" (Job 27: 6). He never made it out, however, for at the end of the story he is obliged to put his hand on his mouth and say, "Behold, I am vile" (Job 40: 4). The Lord seems to say, "I will never let you go, Job, till you have given up those filthy rags, your own righteousness, then I will justify you, I will give you my righteousness." When you get into the presence of God, like Job, you must say, "I am vile." Job went a little further in Job 42: 5, 6, and said, "I have heard of thee with the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth THEE. Wherefore, I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." One of the strongest words in our language, "Abhor!" "I abhor myself!" Have you let go your own righteousness, now, Job? "Ah! dust and ashes!" he replies. A sight of God produces this. Only the presence of God can enable any to let go their own righteousness; not that they have got any to let go, really, only they think they have. It is like some young man building his hopes on some rich relative, and going on counting, and expecting, and acting as if it were all right, and certain; but by-and-bye he finds he is not in the will at all, his hopes are all dashed, and he is left worse than a beggar. But, when you have got to this place, to abhor yourself, then what a comfort it is to turn round and find God loves you, is it not? to find "God our Saviour" instead of our Judge.

The common thought is that God is our Judge, and so He is; but who made Him a Judge? Who put God on the judgment seat? You did! I did! The sin and guilt of man have forced God into the place of judgment. God must judge sin, or else God and man would be both alike, neither of them thinking much about it, and there would be no righteousness; but, so far from His desiring to take the place of judgment, why, even here, to Job, He says, "I desire to justify thee (Job 33: 32). This is an answer to a question put by Job in the ninth chapter, when Bildad was putting barbed arrows into him, insinuating that he was a hypocrite, and informing him that "the hypocrite's hope shall perish," and, further, that "God will not cast away a perfect man" (Job 8: 13-20). In Job 9: 2, Job replies, "How should man be just with God? If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand" — much less the other 999 things. More, "If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean; yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me." Job saw it was all of no use. Ah! Job knew very well, however much he might try to justify himself before his friends, yet in his heart of hearts he knew he could not stand before God. And, when he has learnt this thoroughly, the grace of God comes in and shows him how he can be justified, how he can be saved, and that, beloved friends, is what I want to show you tonight. How you can be justified. How you can be saved, and how you can know it, too; and I would go farther and say, how you may be saved tonight, for God's salvation is a present salvation. Does the salvation of a sinner rest on what a sinner can do? No! On what Christ will do? No! but on what Christ has done. The sinner is utterly helpless, he can do nothing. Christ can do, nothing more, but Christ has done everything. "It is finished," is the dying Saviour's legacy to a lost, helpless, guilty sinner. How the grace of God pursues a man, seeking his soul; goes after him when he does not care a bit about it; seeks him that He may save him. He pursued Saul of Tarsus when he only hated Him. He is pursuing you, following you in grace tonight, though you do not care for Him and though you have come in here not caring even about the salvation of your own soul. You say, "Why do you single me out?" I'll tell you. Because I want you to be saved. Oh! let His grace, let His heart, who is thus pursuing you in love, win your heart for Him tonight.

There are five different ways Elihu speaks of here, in which God may go after a soul, and I have little doubt that almost every heart in this hall has been sought, in one or more of these ways, by God, and will silently range itself in one or other of these classes. You will know, in your own souls, if any or all of these ways have been true of you. But, first, he brings out the person of the Saviour. It is all very well for me to tell you to come to Jesus, to believe on Jesus, but you say you want to know who He is; what kind of a Saviour He is. In Job 9: 33, Job had said, "Neither is there any Daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both." What Job calls a "Daysman," Paul calls a "Mediator." "There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." One who, in the dignity and majesty of His own person, can reach to all the glory of the throne of God; One who can meet the heart of God, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, One who can come down to all the degradation, and misery, and sin, and sorrow, and wretchedness of man. One who in the glory of His own person can lay one hand in righteousness on the very throne of God, and lay the other hand in tender love on the shoulder of the poor sinner. "But," you say, "do you know such an one?" I do! I do! His name is JESUS. Jesus, the man Christ Jesus. Elihu here presents himself as the type of Christ, and as Job had sighed for the Daysman, Umpire, or Mediator, he now steps in and fills up the gap between Job and God, saying, "Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead; I also am formed out of the clay." That is, I am a man! Such is Christ, a man, a real man; the One to whom, for whom, the heavens were opened more than once when He was on earth, and whom the Father's voice from heaven proclaimed to be His own beloved Son, yet laid in a manger. The reputed son of Joseph the carpenter, actually the son of Mary, and really in His nature the Son of God. The reputed son of Joseph He must be, in order to claim the throne of David; actually the son of the woman He must be, to redeem man; but really the Son of God He must be, if He is to meet the claims of God! Oh! to think of being loved by this One. Son of God! Son of man! If Son of God, what is there He has not power to do? if son of man, He can understand and meet the needs of my heart. Trace Him through His life. Was there ever such an One? Think of those unknown thirty years at Nazareth. We get glimpses of it that let us know that, spent as it was at home, it was a life of perfection. He was the only One who ever lived a life suited to God, perfectly pleasing God. When He emerges into public life, at His baptism, the heavens are opened for the Father's voice to be heard proclaiming His pleasure in Him. Jesus is One who in the dignity, and beauty, and glory of His own person delights the very heart of God, but One whose heart is so ineffably tender that there is not the poorest or most wretched sinner who could not go to Him and tell out to Him all his woe and all his sin. He bore my sorrows in His life, that He might sympathise; He bore my sins in His death, that He might save. This is the "Daysman," the "Mediator," this is "the man Christ Jesus." This is the One that God presents for your acceptance this evening. Are you afraid of such an One? The hypocrite might be afraid of Him, the Pharisee, the Sadducee, might be afraid of Him, but was there ever a trembling sinner afraid of Christ? Never! Never! "My terror," he says (verse 7), "shall not make thee afraid." But ah! there is a day coming when the terror of the Lord shall make you afraid; there is an hour coming when, if you despise His love and mercy, you shall quake before Him. But now is the day of His grace, and "My terror shall not make thee afraid" is the soft and thrilling word of the Saviour to the chief of sinners now.

Do you say "I am innocent"? That is a lie to begin with. Never was there one innocent since God put that pair in the Garden of Eden. If you are innocent you have no need of Christ, the Christ of Scripture, the only Christ I can present to you — the One who died because you are not innocent, died to make atonement for your guilt. Christ brings such boundless happiness to a soul, such wellsprings of joy unfathomable. There is nothing good, nothing really happy out of Christ. Have you everything this world can give you? its luxuries, its pleasures, its gaieties, its smiles? Soon you must leave them all behind, and pass away alone into eternity, and if you have not known Christ in time, will you ever know Him in eternity? No, never! If you have not slaked your thirst at the fountain of the water of life in time, think you, you will ever get one single draught thro' the endless ages of eternity? No, no! never! If you will not have Christ in time, you cannot have Him in eternity. If you enter eternity without Him, you must spend its long, its gloomy, its endless ages without Him; the word of God tells you so. It is now you must be His, if you would be His then.

But Job says, "He findeth occasion against me, he counteth me for his enemy; he putteth my feet in the stocks, he marketh all my paths" (v. 10, 11). Well, and do you not think it is a good thing for God to mark the paths of a man, when he is going farther and farther from Him to mark his paths, and arrest him? Elihu says I will tell you the truth about God, show you the injustice of your thoughts of Him. I would ask you tonight, has the fear of the Lord never made you tremble yet? "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Have you never felt it yet? If you are here tonight quarrelling with His goodness and grace, you are very far from having this wisdom. It is true there is ruin and wretchedness around, but who has made the ruin? It is man that has caused it, aided and abetted by Satan. It is not God who has caused it, but it is God who has come in to repair the breaches, to remedy what man has ruined; nay, more than this, man has ruined himself, and God brings in redemption, through Christ. If I come to the cross, what an answer to the thought that God is my enemy. Why, He has bruised His own Son that He might deliver me. So far from having a hard thought towards me, Elihu shows us here five ways God takes to seek to deliver me.

1st, "God speaketh once, yea twice" (verse 14). The voice of God has been heard by you. He has spoken and you have not heeded. Perhaps, twice this very day you have heard the voice of God through His Word. Tell me, are you converted yet? Have you come to Jesus yet? No, you have not! You are here tonight and still unsaved. You have heard the Word of God but you have not perceived it. You have let it go by you unheeded. Some of us who know the Lord can look back and remember how many times He spoke to us, and we did not listen. We were engulphed by the whirlpool of gaiety and pleasure, and His Word was nothing to us; His voice was not perceived. But has He given you up, given up His pursuit of your soul? No, and if the voice has passed till now, unheeded, uncared for, come to Jesus this evening, listen to His voice this evening, I beseech you. Though you may have fortune, favour, everything that the world can place at your feet, you know that anything this world can give cannot fill your heart. Your heart is empty still if you have not Christ! You are unblessed still if you have not Christ! You are unsaved still if you have not Christ! You are lost, lost, if you have not Christ! You do not like the word "lost?" But it is true. Does it sound harsh? God says it. There is no middle ground, the word of God fixes you, either still among the lost, still among the dead, still among the unsaved, without Christ; or found, alive, saved, having Christ. "This my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found." Do not turn to your neighbour. It is you I am talking to. You. I want your soul tonight. You say, "Why are you so much in earnest, why are you so anxious?" I will tell you. I am persuaded of the reality of heaven and its blessedness; I am persuaded of the reality of hell and its torments; I am persuaded of the reality of the salvation of God, and can I be anything else but earnest, very much in earnest? I beg of you, awake! I entreat you by the terrors of a coming judgment-day. I entreat you by the light of an open heaven. I entreat you by the darkness of that gloomy scene the portals of hell disclose. I implore you where you sit just now, affectionately implore you, entreat you, — pause, consider, rush not headlong into that terrible abyss. Hear, hear the word of God, once, twice spoken to you! Will you turn your back on that love; will you turn a deaf ear to that voice, that voice that speaks as never man spake?

2ndly: But God has another way, "In a dream in a vision of the night," etc. (verse 15.) He will try again in the night, when the eyes are heavy with slumber. God goes to that slumbering one, and awakens his soul by a dream. I could tell you of many an one who thus has been met by God. It may be that some here can remember some terrible dream, something that caused them to awake trembling and affrighted. But, tell me, tell me, did you heed the warning voice; did you turn to God with the morning light, or are you still unheeding? Tell me, will you still go on despising, rejecting?

3rdly : There is another way God has of pursuing a soul, "He keepeth back his soul from the pit and his life from perishing by the sword" (verse 18), i.e., He preserves from sudden danger. Well do I remember when I was a boy of 16, a brother of mine fired at and shot a partridge. The bird, wounded mortally, flew awhile and then fell into the water. "Fetch it, he said, and I plunged into the sea. The bird was not worth sixpence, but I risked my life, risked my soul, to get it. Only the mercy of God brought me to shore, a few more yards and I must have sunk, for I was quite exhausted, the distance was long and the tide strong against me. But He spared me, that He might save me. He has saved me now. Perhaps, some of you can remember a time when He thus delivered you from some sudden peril. He spared your life to save your soul; but, tell me, is it saved? Not yet? Then see, He has another way of reaching your hardened and careless heart.

4thly : "He is chastened also with pain upon his bed," etc. This is a way God constantly takes to awaken a soul. One is laid upon a sick bed, perhaps a careful physician has done all that human skill can do, and tender relatives have watched around that couch, and lavished every loving care upon the sufferer, but the case seems hopeless, and the soul is trembling on the very threshold of eternity. God steps in. "I must have that soul," He says; "I will bless the means, I will bring back that one from the very gates of hell." Perhaps many of you can remember some such time in your history, when your life hung as by a thread, and perhaps you thought you were very peaceful then, quite calm in view of death, not afraid to meet it, and you say you do not feel that calm and peacefulness now. Ah! Satan knows well enough how to give a soothing draught to a dying soul. Perhaps he told you — you had never done anything in your life that was much amiss, that you were as good as your neighbours, and God was very merciful. But tell me, though, was your soul washed then in the blood of Jesus? Was that the ground of your peace, that He had met death and Satan for you? Or were you just deluded by Satan? He knows how to administer an anodyne to a dying soul — how to make a death-bed easy. Think you his power is not exerted then? Ah! have you never heard that word of God the wicked have "no bands in their death"? Go down on your knees and thank God you did not die then! I can very well remember the time when I was thus laid low. Had I that peace, you ask? Had I that balmy feeling? No! Not I! I knew the truth too well. I knew I was lost! lost! I knew that if I died I should be lost for ever, and my cry was "Lord spare me, and I will serve thee." I doubt not many of you have thus been brought back from the brink of the grave, but has it brought you to Jesus? God delights to carry by the lips of some one the message of His love and grace to a soul thus on the very verge of eternity. "One among a thousand," perhaps, only, will speak the word of the Gospel of peace; nine hundred and ninety-nine will pass by your bed with never a word of Jesus; never a message from God for you; but one may bring you that message, "deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom." Ah! this blessed Jesus has opened a doorway. God has found the ransom. God has estimated it. God has provided it, and He sends out that message, "deliver that man from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom." CHRIST is the RANSOM; He is also the Mediator. "He gave himself a ransom for all" (1 Tim. 4: 6). This is one of the most magnificent statements in all the word of God; I hardly know anything to equal it. "He gave himself a ransom for all." The moment your heart believes in Christ liberty is yours, peace is yours, salvation is yours, blessing is yours, everything is yours. This is the Glad Tidings that was "to be testified in due time." Thank God it is due time still. The due time still runs on, and Christ is still waiting to receive you; not now as a Judge but as a Saviour. The One who has met the claims of God is your Friend and Saviour. There He is, alive in heavenly glory for you to trust in, and the moment you trust in Him you get a present salvation. All God asks of you is to believe in Christ. "Will there not be works," you say? Of course there will be works. "Will there not be a change," you ask? Of course there will be a very mighty change! I have very little belief in conversion where there is not this mighty change; a perfect revolution. Instead of having self for a centre, you get Christ for a centre; instead of having self to think about, and self to be seeking to please, you have Christ to think about, and Christ to please, and Christ to serve; Christ, who has given Himself a ransom for you. With regard to works, they come in in their right place. When we know Christ we seek to please Him. We work for Him, not to get life, but because we have got it. We do not labour to work out our own righteousness, for "He will render unto man his righteousness" (verse 26). "You cannot justify yourself," God says, "but, now, I can justify you, because I have righteously condemned and dealt with your sins in the person of that blessed substitute on the cross," and the consequence is, when your soul is brought to God, the blood of Christ washes your sins away, you know you are saved, and your heart is left free to please, and serve, and follow Christ.

But there is a 5th way God takes in dealing with a soul, which I can only say a few words on rapidly. "He looketh upon man and if any say I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not, He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light" (verses 27, 28), i.e., if any soul honestly confesses his guilt. It is scarcely possible, but there might be one such case here tonight. A soul who had never heard the voice of God speaking before; never heard the word of God simply preached; never been aroused by a dream; never been preserved from sudden and imminent danger; never been brought back from sickness nigh unto death, from the brink of the grave. If there is such an one here, let me say, you have heard the word of God tonight; you have heard the voice of God tonight; you have heard the gospel simply preached, and you are responsible now; responsible to take your place before God in simple and honest confession, owning your guilt. Then comes the precious word "He will deliver his soul from going down into the pit; and his life shall see the light," i.e., the knowledge of a present and full salvation. If you are looking only to Christ, resting only on Christ, why, it is what His death has secured for you, that you should know the forgiveness of your sins; know what His death has done for you. "He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." There is nothing more to be done, nothing more to be waited for. Christ can do nothing more, and you can do nothing at all. When an anxious man asked "What must I do to be saved?" the answer was, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." It is all God asks from you. Christ has gone up on high in all the perfection of His work for us, and God delights to say, as the fruit and. consequence of His death and finished work, "Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom." If He says that in the Old Testament, He says in the New Testament "Who gave himself a ransom for all." Oh! what a Saviour! and God would "have all men to be saved." I would tell the whole world if I could gather them together to listen to me, that when man's efforts were utterly useless, when he could do nothing, Christ "gave himself," and ah! if there is one word that could touch a heart that has never been touched before it is this, He gave Himself! He gave Himself! and, if He gave Himself unsought, unasked, uncalled for, has He not a claim on your heart? Shall not your heart be Christ's from this moment? Has he not a claim upon it? I can only say, if I had been undecided up till this very moment, I would decide for Christ tonight. Oh! had I ten thousand hearts I would give them all to Christ tonight! And, do not be ashamed to own Him; do not be ashamed to confess Him; do not be ashamed to go home and make a stand for Christ. He was not ashamed to stand for you, and to be scorned, and derided, and spit upon; He was not ashamed to die between two malefactors for you, and do not you be ashamed to own Him. May God give you — each one — tonight to know rest and peace in Himself. W. T. P. W.

Christ's Three Appearings

Christ's Three Appearings

W. T. P. Wolston.

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. "Heb. 9: 27, 28.

"Herein is love with us made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, so are we in this world" — 1 John 4: 17.

The verse in 1 John 4 brings out most distinctly and clearly what the new place is that the believer. has before God. It is this: Christ's place. "As he is, so are we in this world." In the most marvellous way does the Holy Ghost condense the present position of the believer, to the joy of our hearts — we who are Christ's. But some may say, "Impossible! Does the gospel unfold to a poor guilty sinner on earth a standing before God in the perfection of Christ?" Yes. "How can this be?" The passage in Heb. 9 tells you how; you have there the grand foundation on which this blessed truth is built — "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." The effect of the once-offered sacrifice of Himself to put away sin — the fruit of the corn of wheat which fell into the ground and died, so that it might not abide alone — is, that of the children of God it can be truly said: "As he is, so are we." And mark, it is not, "so we shall be," but, "so are we in this world." How wonderful is this word of the Holy Spirit! Truly man could never have penned it of himself.

Look at Christ in all His love and grace while here on earth. Look at Him in all His perfection now in glory, and then consider for a moment this most wonderful passage: "Herein is love with us (God's love, not ours) made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." But let us look for a little at what was first required in order to bring about this grand result. In Heb. 9 it is all beautifully unfolded. "Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

There are three periods in the history of Christ brought before us in these verses. In verse 24, He does appear; verse 26, "He has appeared;" and in verse 28, "He shall appear." I will take them up briefly in their chronological order; and may the Holy Spirit lead you, my beloved reader, to search more fully into these wondrous truths, the outlines of which I now present to you.

1. — HIS PAST APPEARING.

"Now once in the end of the world hath he appeared, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."

Why was this needed? The following verse tells us: "As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." As it belonged to man to die and be judged, so Christ was offered up in death, and bore God's wrath and judgment in man's stead.

I can understand the "as" and "so" in John 4: 17 when I have grasped the mercy of the "as" and "so" of Hebrews 9: 27, 28. As I was a ruined, guilty sinner, only fit to be judged and condemned to death, so Christ went down into death for me; He suffered that I might never suffer; He bore my judgment and the wrath of an offended God, which was my due; He completed the work of my salvation; He has done all that is needed to bring me to Himself in glory; and now the Holy Spirit can give out this grand truth to the believer, to say with joyful boldness, that in the sight of God, "As he (God's Son) is, so are we in this world."

Oh, beloved fellow-believer, what is this? What is the force of these words, "As he is, so are we"? It is not merely substitution, grand as that work is, but it is transmutation — the taking of us into identity and association with Himself.

"He has appeared" to do a work we never could have done. In all the counsels of God one thing alone was found that could save ruined man; and in His great love for us, the Lord Himself came down to perform the work. As we deserved, so He received; He bore the judgment of God upon sin, so that there is now no condemnation to them who believe. Now "we may have boldness in the day of judgment." Well may the Holy Spirit preface this wondrous truth with these words: "Herein is love with us made perfect." Yes, this indeed was love, perfect love on His part; love sufficiently perfect to cast out all our fear. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear."

"No man of greater love can boast

Than for his friend to die.

Thou for Thine enemies wast slain!

What love with Thine can vie?"

This is the Friend the believer has — the Friend and Saviour, God wishes you to have. Will you not have Him? See what He has done for you. "He was once offered to bear the sins of many." You may be one of the many whom Christ died to save. God is now beseeching you to be one of the blessed number. Oh! refuse Him not; for if you will not have this Christ now, while He is willing and waiting to receive you, it will be this same Christ and Lord, to whom all judgment is given, who when this long day of grace is over, will say unto you: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." And you shall then be one of the many — ah! how many — to whom the words will apply: "These shall go away into everlasting punishment." With which will you have to do, — God in grace, or God in judgment?

Jesus wants you to know Himself in grace, to know Him now. He is seeking you, yearning for you, waiting to receive you with outstretched arms, of welcome. Oh, come to His loving embrace. You must either come to those outstretched arms of love and mercy, or sink for ever beneath His uplifted arm of judgment. Can you for a moment delay in your decision? Which shall it be, God or Mammon? Is there aught on earth that can lure you from His arms? — aught that can blindly lure you on to death? Jesus is calling you to come to Him. "Come unto me" are His words to you. Oh, come and taste the blessedness of belonging to Him, of being loved by Him, of having Him as the "friend that sticketh closer than a brother."

2. — HIS PRESENT APPEARING.

In Hebrews 9: 24 we read, that Christ has gone into heaven, "Now to appear in the presence of God for us."

While telling you of the first blessed truth, "He has appeared," I made no restriction. I tell it to you, my reader; I would it were told to ALL. But now I have to confine myself to the BELIEVER when I say, "in, the presence of God for us." But my prayer is, that He may stand as the Representative of all who may read these pages, and of thousands more.

Believers in the Lord, Christ represents you in the presence of God, and soon there will be the lovely sequel which verse 28 gives: "Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." But again, I would turn to all, and say, Look at Jesus there in the glory of heaven itself; gaze on Him by faith at God's right hand, and remember that place may be yours. Earnestly I would entreat you not to let haunting memory have the task of echoing in your ear, through an endless eternity, "That place might have been yours."

Who is the One who stands in the presence of God for us? It is Christ, the same Christ who was here on earth, and who died on Calvary's cross. He is the only one who can represent us there, and He does it. Michael the Archangel would fail to do it. Angels know not the extent of our need; but Christ is there. Dwell on the thought, REPRESENTATIVE OF His PEOPLE. Oh, how much it includes! Christ is there in the presence of His Father-God, not only to represent you, but also as your Advocate and High Priest. As Aaron the high priest bore the names of the twelve tribes of Israel on his shoulders and breast, so that they might be presented to the Lord Jehovah; so Christ bears our names on His bosom before His Father's throne — your name and mine graven on His heart! Amazing thought! Yes, our names indelibly carved there with the graving-tool of love. The love and power of Christ combined bear us before God continually.

What a place of security the believer in Jesus has! How could he have a doubt or fear as long as he looks at Christ in glory? and knows from God's Word that "as he is, so are we." Look at Christ and His finished work, and believe on Him, and the question of salvation and security is settled. I see in Him the One who has espoused my cause — the One who has so merged me in Himself, that God, while looking upon me, sees me in Jesus — He sees me in "Jesus only."

3. — HIS FUTURE APPEARING.

"Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." The first time Jesus appeared, it was to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He bared His bosom to Jehovah's wrath, and the uplifted sword of justice fell on Him. The storm-cloud of wrath burst upon His head; but the second time He shall appear, it shall be without sin unto salvation.

The question of sin was all settled the first time; and now He has to do with salvation alone. Has not this a voice for you, O careless one? You who are not looking for Him; you to whom it would not be glad tidings were you told, "The Bridegroom cometh;" pause, I beseech you, and consider your situation. You, as an unbeliever, are going on to meet two things — DEATH AND JUDGMENT. The believer also is going to meet two things, but oh! how different are they — CHRIST and GLORY. Death and judgment are behind him, not before; he looks back to the cross, and knows that for him they were ended there. He is on the other side of judgment; and now the bright prospect before him, and for which he looks, is the time when the Lord shall again appear unto salvation, i.e., the deliverance of the body from this evil world.

The manner of His future appearing is two-fold  - First, as the Bridegroom He will come into the air only, and catch up, His Bride, i.e., those who are His own. The 4th of 1st Thessalonians, and 15th of 1st Corinthians, describe this moment. "The dead in Christ" are raised, and those alive on earth changed, and both are caught up together to the Lord, and thus are with the Lord for ever. What a bright hope for the believer, instead of looking for death!

Later on the Lord will appear manifestly in glory to the world, as Son of Man. Then His saints will all be with Him. His second advent thus has the two stages. Into the air when His saints go to Him, and on to the Mount of Olives when His saints all come with Him.

The first Adam brought death into this world by sin; but for the believer, the death of the last Adam has put away sin, and delivered him from death and judgment.

To you who care not to look for Him, I would give this solemn warning: "If thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me. For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord." "When they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape."

But unto you, who look for Him, are these blessed words written: "They shall see his face." Delight yourselves therefore in the Lord; be ye ever on the watchtowers looking for His appearing the second time without sin unto salvation. Wait patiently for Him though He should tarry. "He that shall come will come." Meanwhile, beloved Christians, let us rejoice in the blessed truth that "as he is, so are we in this world."

Three Great Facts, and Their Effects

Three Great Facts, and Their Effects.

W. T. P. Wolston.

Extracted from "From the Far Country to the Father's House"

- "Grace and Truth" Gospel Series.

Publisher: Morrish. CBA8836.

"Then said he, Lo, I come TO DO THY WILL, O God . . . . BY THE WHICH WILL WE ARE SANCTIFIED, (2) THROUGH THE OFFERING OF THE BODY OF JESUS CHRIST once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering, and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God. . . . FOR BY ONE OFFERING HE HATH PERFECTED FOR EVER them that are sanctified, (3) WHEREOF THE HOLY GHOST ALSO IS A WITNESS TO US. . . . Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now, where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. . . (1) LET US DRAW NEAR With a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (2) LET US HOLD FAST the profession of our hope without wavering (for he is faithful that promised); and (3) LET US CONSIDER ONE ANOTHER to provoke unto love and to good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more as ye see the day approaching." — Heb. 10: 9-25.

There are three points in this Scripture which stand out prominently, and they are replete with blessing for the sinner, because flowing from what God in Himself is. God is here seen as wanting something. He had a will, a wish. There was something He desired. Man has rebelled, against God, but God, spite of this, wants to have us near Himself.

This is the grand truth taught in Luke 14. The supper was spread, and God announced the desire of His heart. "A certain man made a great supper, and bade many." The guests were slow to heed the invitation given them, so the Master told His servants to compel them to come in, that His house might be filled. How wonderful! God wants the sinner to be near Him. Who does He want? You! a poor sinner! Yes; He wants you, but you cannot be near Him in your sins. Then how can you be there? This is, the wonderful truth which the Gospel brings out, that the blood of Christ, His Son, can cleanse you from all sin. Thus, and thus only, can you get rid of your sins.

Sin, if not blotted out by the blood of Jesus, must sweep every one to hell, the moral man and the immoral, the old and the young, the. rich and the poor, every one whose iniquities are still upon him. Nothing but the blood of Jesus can save anyone from being lost for ever in the lake of fire. Sin consigns the unbelieving possessor thereof to everlasting judgment, and blood - the blood of Jesus — lifts the feeblest believer therein to everlasting glory.

But answer me this question, Are you in your sins, or where are they? You may have the best character in the world, and the devil will help you to make it better even than it is, for he takes a great interest in "the self-improvement society." This is a very old institution, founded in the garden of Eden, its first members having manufactured "aprons of fig leaves" in hope of remedying their state. It helps you to give up this bad habit and that wicked way, and all its members are devil — deluded into the idea that "dead works" are of some avail, and that by behaving better for the future the evil deeds of the past will somehow be erased. How this is to be effected the founder of this almost without exception universally patronized society is careful not to explain. "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8: 44). Yes, "the devil that deceived them" (Rev. 20: 10) was the originator of this soul-destroying agency.

Is it not strange that man should heed the suggestions of "a deceiver," "a liar," and "a murderer?" But, alas! so it is; and never stopping to inquire, how future amendment is to cancel past guilt in the sight of a God of infinite holiness, souls in crowds join the society, and — unless getting their eyes opened by grace to see that such a course is a huge Satanic delusion, a monstrous spiritual lie, a diabolical bubble, which they are only blowing to ensure their everlasting damnation — pass on, fascinated by dreams of self-improvement, till, hurled by death into eternity, they find that "improvement" is not Christ, and that the pit of hell is a terrible reality.

My friend, if you are not under the shelter of the blood of Christ you are lost, and, improve as you will, you are only after all an improved sinner. You are still in your sins. "But," says some one, "how can you prove I am lost?" Hebrews 10 shows me. The work of the Lord Jesus there spoken of proves this, and the Gospel tells me, "The Son of Man came to save that which was lost" (Matt. 18: 11). When did the shepherd in Luke 15 go after the sheep? Surely it was when the sheep was lost. Why did the woman carefully sweep the house? Because the bit of silver was lost. Ah! if you have not yet got the great fact that you are lost home to your conscience, I would not give much for your chance of salvation. It was the son which was lost that the father kissed and clothed; and it was to reach lost ones, to bridge the chasm that lay between the holy God and guilty sinners, that Christ said, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God!"

Do not imagine God views your sins and your guilty state by nature as lightly as you do. He says you are lost, and if He meet you as you are He must judge you for your sins. Righteousness keeps God apart from the sinner. This is why in the Old Testament we read blood was sprinkled on the mercy-seat. God's claims had to be met. Thus only could God permit the sinner to come near to Him. The will of God was to have the sinner near Himself. Christ did the work by which alone it could be so. He made atonement, and the throne of God was propitiated. Sin had to be swept away from before God. Jesus only could do that. He was the willing servant for that great work. "Lo, I come to do Thy will!" is the Son of God volunteering Himself for this wondrous service.

And what do we further read was the blessed result of Christ's work? "By the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ." Now we see what it is which separates the sinner to God. It is the work of Christ, that work which removed the great mountain of sin that intervened between the holy God and guilty man. This truth is beautifully set forth, in type, in God dealings with the children of Israel. Exodus 12 tells of the blood of the slain lamb sprinkled on the lintel and two sideposts of the door in the houses of the Israelites. That signified they were sheltered from the wrath of God. He was kept out, as a judge. Exodus 13 declares all are the Lord's because of the blood which had been shed; so now we see every believer is separated to God by the work of Christ on the cross. In Exodus 14 we find Israel protected and "saved" by God — Jehovah, in the pillar of cloud and fire, placing Himself between Israel and the hosts of Pharaoh. And in Exodus 15 we see the Israelites thoroughly happy with God as they sang their song of triumph on resurrection ground. That is the gospel of the Old Testament, and of the New likewise. Sheltered from God, separated to God, saved by God, and happy with God.

Who, then, I ask, was it who wanted to have me? God! And who could bring me to God? His Son, and that only by death, His own death on the cross. What comfort for the anxious soul! God seeks to have you near Himself. His will is coupled up with your blessing. Do you think Satan wants to have you? Pharaoh sought to overtake the escaped Israelites, but how did he succeed? To reach them he must march against the bucklers of the Almighty. God was on the behalf of His people, and what happened to Pharaoh? Israel looked back from the sunny banks of resurrection, and saw Pharaoh and his hosts sunk in the waters of the Red Sea.

Well might Israel sing, "The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation" (Ex. 15: 2). Great was their joy, and most blessed their song of praise; but it was not an endless song. Their confidence in God failed, and their song of triumph was succeeded by the murmurs of the wilderness. But what is said of the joy of the Father's house, that portion into which by grace we have been brought? Does the joy of that sphere ever fail? What does Luke 15: 25 say? "And they began to be merry." There is no word of that song coming to an end. It is an endless song. Hebrews 10 shows why our song will be an endless one. It is because of the work of Christ. That work gives me title now to stand before God in righteousness, and it will be theme for endless song hereafter.

In Israel's day, when the High Priest went into the holy place, he could not sit down. There was no seat there for the priest to rest on. Why was this? Because his work was never done. He was "offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins." The work which gives liberty in the presence of God was not then an accomplished fact. Now that work is done, and we have an High Priest seated, who ever abides within the veil. The blessed God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one whom God sent to deliver man right out of Satan's power, is our great High Priest. He is seated on the very throne of God, because He has finished the work God gave Him to do. Before He died He, cried, "It is finished," and here we read, "This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right hand of God."

Sinner, you will see the One who did that perfect work! "Every eye shall see Him." How will you meet Him? Will it be to be banished from His presence? It must be so if you do not now know Him, and come to be blessed by Him. If you now believe in Him and His perfect finished work, it will be all blessing — blessing now, and everlasting blessing when you see Him.

But does some one ask, "How do you know His work was perfect?" Hebrews 10 tells me so. The Holy Ghost is the witness to the perfection of the work of Christ on the cross. What is His witness? Read verses 14, 15, and 17. "By one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, whereof the Holy Ghost is a witness to us . . . and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." People try to get a witness in themselves. They seek some feeling on which to rest for happiness, but this they cannot have.

Suppose you had a legacy left to you, and you received a letter from a lawyer telling you so, would you put this question to yourself, "Do I feel this fortune has been left to me?" Ah no, you would never think of your feelings, but simply believe the letter the lawyer sent to you, and rejoice over the money which you believed was now yours. Thus is the witness of man valued, but how differently is the testimony of God treated. And the word of God cannot fail: His word is true.

The Holy Ghost witnessed the return to heaven of the great Finisher of Redemption before He came to give His testimony. For ten days He saw the Lord Jesus at the right hand of God, and then came to earth to announce the glad tidings, that where there is simple trust in Christ and His work, sins and iniquities should no more be remembered by God. What a sacrifice, when such is the work it has accomplished. We would speak with reverence, but, so great is the value of the blood of Christ, that the very memory of God has been affected by it. He will remember no more the sins of the one who believes in the preciousness of the blood of Christ. That blood has blotted out from the memory of God the sins of everyone who believes; but if that blood be despised, what is said of the memory of the lost one in hell?

Ah! memory will have a great place in the regions of the damned. Its powers will deepen the misery of the lost. Read what is written of that scene in Luke 16: 23: "In hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments. And he cried, Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted and thou art tormented."

You may be a good-for-nothing sinner, but if you believe the word of God as to the value of the work of Christ, the witness of the Holy Ghost to you is, "Your sins and iniquities will I remember no more." God has seen the blood, and when the sinner trusts in the work of Christ, the Holy Ghost is a witness to him that God remembers his sins no more.

We see, therefore, that we have in Heb. 10 these three great facts. (1) The will of God, which shows the Father's heart. He wished the salvation of the sinner, that he might take him as His child. (2) The work of the Son of God. That work secures the salvation which the heart of God desired for the sinner. This salvation is for everyone who will hear and obey the word of God; but we have also (3) the witness of the Spirit of God, which gives the assurance of salvation to the one who believes. The Holy Ghost witnesses to the sinner who has believed in the Lord Jesus Christ that his sins are for ever blotted out. What more does any one want? Only a heart to praise this triune God, who wills, works, and witnesses the present and eternal salvation of the feeblest believer in Jesus.

These three great, blessed, divine facts are the basis of the three beautiful effects which the Apostle now seeks to draw forth by the thrice repeated exhortation, "Let us." And he says, (1) "Let us draw near, with a true heart, in full assurance of faith." You must not doubt the Father's heart, nor the Son's work, nor the Spirit's witness. And what is a true heart? A heart that knows and believes it is in itself utterly untrue and not to be trusted. In Luke 8: 15 we read of the "honest and good heart" — that is, one which believes what God says of the heart of man, that it is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jer. 17: 9). it comes to God not seeking to screen itself. With such a heart, then, we must draw near to God, fully trusting God's revelation of Himself, and "having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience," which is the blessed effect in my soul of the knowledge of the work of Christ for me. The value of the sacrifice of Christ I have bowed to.

Then the Apostle goes on to say, "Our bodies washed with pure water." What is that? An allusion to what we get in Lev. 8: 6, the washing of the priests at their consecration.

And now what are the consecrated ones told by the Apostle to do? (2) "Let us hold fast the profession of our hope without wavering." How unlike this is to many a Christian now-a-days. I see souls who have what I call a "hook-and-eye" sort of faith. They are sure of their salvation today, and all at sea about it tomorrow. Surely this is the work of Satan in the soul. He accuses the brethren before God, and he fills the soul with doubts; but tell me what room there is for any one to doubt who believes in the ransom God has given for the sinner? God is the justifier of the one who believes. Satin cannot touch the blood of Christ, and in that blood the sinner who believes has been washed. The blood cleanses from all sin, and its efficacy is everlasting. Who can accuse you when God justifies you?

"But will not Christ condemn me?" asks the doubting one. How could that be when it was Christ who died for you? May your hearts lay hold of the wondrous security of the one who trusts God's word. "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering."

And what else are the consecrated ones exhorted to? (3) "Let us consider one another, to provoke unto love and to good works." This is very important. You may be able to see very little of Christ in me, but you are told to provoke me to increased devotedness. How can you do this? You must lavish your love on me. How would you cure a pump if it were dry? By pouring into it a few buckets of water, and soon the sparkling water will flow forth in refreshing and continuous streams. Now this is how you are to deal with the sleepy, half-dead brother or sister. Let such an one see in you that which you long to find in him, and thus by your love you will provoke him to renewed energy in the Divine way.

Then how needful the next exhortation. "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another: and so much the more as ye see the day approaching." Let us seize every opportunity of being together as God's people; then will there be occasion for this holy provocation. If you like best to be by yourself, I can only say it is a very poor thing, and a bad sign of your own condition. It is the sheep that is sick that straggles away from the flock. Let us keep together and care for one another. Let us answer to that for which God has created us in Christ Jesus: namely, love and "good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2: 10). Let our energies, beloved fellow-believers, be all controlled by the blessed Spirit of God, so that we may be to the praise of Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.

W. T. P. W.

One Appeal More

One Appeal More.

W. T. P. Wolston.

(CBA12,316)

Beloved Reader, yet unsaved! one appeal more would I make to thee, regarding the safety of thy most precious soul, ere the year rolls away. Oh! I beseech thee turn not a deaf ear to the pointed words I may address thee, for God only knows if another appeal, spoken, or written, shall be made to thee; and, if thou art cut off in the terrible state in which this finds thee, awful indeed must be thy future.

God indeed appeals to thee by my pen. Wilt thou heed His voice? When God was dealing with Pharaoh, the word was, "Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh" (Ex. 11: 1). We know what it was. Death — stern, cold, relentless, irresistible in its bond-breaking force, — entered the scene and the proud king gave way. To thee, dear soul, He speaks in voice of greatest love and tenderness, and, knowing well as He does thy true state as a lost sinner, bids thee turn to Himself. This year came in and found thee a stranger to God, shall it depart and find thee so? God forbid. Awake, awake, O slumberer, on the very brink of eternal ruin!

Not a few have heard the voice of God in the pages of "God's Glad Tidings," and, we rejoice to know, have been saved through believing. its simple testimony to God's beloved Son. The first article of the first number, "The Saved Soul;" or, "Christ Accepted," God graciously used for blessing to a poor dying man, who departed rejoicing, to be with Christ, a few days after. Many a number since then, has passed through thy hands belike, and, yet, sad truth, thou art still unsaved. Unmoved thou hast not been at times, but undecided thou still art. Soul! I call on thee, as thou valuest an eternity of bliss with Christ, and wouldst escape an eternity of woe without Him, decide! Thou need'st not wait one moment more — God knows thy guilt and sins, but He knows also the full value of that wondrous atonement for sins. that Jesus made on the cross.

"It is finished," is the Saviour's shout of victory in the moment of His death. The next moment the value of His atoning work is manifest. "The veil" is rent in twain from the top to the bottom, the throne of God is reached, vindicated, reconciled, and the way to it laid open on the one hand, and, on the other the opened graves proclaim how fully the need and case of man have been met — sin, death, and, Satan's power all overcome; and resurrection, both of Christ and those that, were His, the only fruit that could be expected to follow such a work, is seen in due time on the third day. "Come, see the place where the Lord lay," is the angel's call (an empty grave the proof of His perfect victory over all our foes), and "Peace unto you," the Saviour's sweet salutation when meeting His own at eve. Gone on high, seated at God's right hand, He has sent down the Holy Ghost to proclaim the joyful news of free and full salvation for all who will trust His name.

Now then, beloved reader, why wilt thou tarry a moment more? Cast thyself fully this moment on the Lord. Oh, come to Him! He will not cast thee out. Forgiveness of all the past thou shalt freely have at His hands; all shall be cancelled and blotted out; thou wilt be justified before men and devils; no longer a stranger and an exile, thou shalt be a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus; the fear and misgivings of thy heart all cast out by His perfect love, thou wilt enjoy His precious grace on earth, and shortly pass to be with Him in eternal glory. Refuse Him — and what must follow? The blackness of darkness for ever, the depths of an eternal hell, the wrath of a sin-hating God, the stings of a once smothered but now all powerful conscience, the pangs of undying remorse the sense for eternity of being LOST through thine own folly and unbelief; and, worse than all ere thou goest down to thine eternal abode of woe, thou must see Jesus face to face at the throne, and then "depart," ever haunted by the memory of His face once seen to be seen no more, and consumed with unavailing sorrow that thou didst despise His love, thou must endure through the morningless night of eternity the most awful fruit of thy sin, the being forsaken of God.

Dearest soul, canst thou brave this future? Nay, turn now to Jesus, heeding His own blessed words, "And let him that is athirst COME, and whosoever will, let him take THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY."

W. T. P. Wolston.

The Two Alexanders

The Two Alexanders;

or, Delay and Decision.

A Hospital Narrative.

W. T. P. Wolston.

Manchester Series. — No. 270

(CBA12,316)

Chapter 1. — "I'LL THINK ABOUT IT, SIR."

The work of the week was over, and the clock was just striking ten one Saturday night, during the session 1865-6, when, having seen the rest of the patients under my care in certain wards of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, I drew near to the bedside of Alexander S-. He lay in ward -, having been admitted four days previously with unmistakable evidences of consumption. This night I made a more careful examination of his chest than I had before done, and it was doubtless this that drew from him, the moment I had finished, the question

"Well Doctor, what do you think of my case?"

He was a carpenter, a fine, manly fellow of 20, and his calm, intelligent face did not give much evidence of the disease which had wrought frightful ravages in the lungs; however, he had been ill for some time, and I judged was prepared to receive the truth in reply to his query.

"You are pretty bad, I am sorry to say, Alexander," I replied.

"I guessed that, sir; but do you think I shall get better?"

"In this cold climate, I fear there is not much prospect of recovery for you, the only chance appears to me to lie in your getting to some warmer region, such as Australia."

"Well, sir, there is no hope in that quarter," he replied, "for I have no means to take me there, and no friends who could pay my passage. I hope you will do what you can for me here."

"You may rest assured of that," I rejoined; "everything that skill and care can furnish you with here you shall have."

Thank you, sir," he quietly replied, in no wise perturbed by my communication, which I now saw he was evidently fully expecting.

A pause of a moment or two followed, and then, turning the subject, I said, "Well, my dear fellow, now we have spoken about the poor, frail body, what about the soul? Are you saved, Alexander?"

"Oh! I could not say that, sir."

"But is it not time for you to be looking the things of eternity fully in the face? Why do you not come to Jesus, and then you would be saved?"

"I have thought of these things sometimes, sir, and I've read my Bible occasionally, and when I was well I went to church now and then. I know I'm not so good as I ought to be, but, I'm not so bad as a great many that I know of."

"All that may be quite true, Alexander, but it is beside the mark, and your not being so bad as some others will not help you before God, will it?"

"Oh, no, sir, that's quite true; but I have not lived a very bad life, and I hope to be saved."

"You need not 'hope to be saved,' you may know and have salvation where you lie this very night, if you will receive Christ; and perceiving that he was now somewhat interested I sat down on his bed and told him the gospel as simply and plainly as I could. He answered freely enough any question I put to him, and, as I pressed his own guilt upon his conscience, I saw he was convicted that he was a sinner, and, farther, a lost one, were he to die in his present state. Having unfolded the story of the cross, as God's only way of escape for a lost sinner, and assured him that God bade him do nothing but believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and rest simply on His finished work, I now pressed on him immediate acceptance of God's offered mercy and salvation. Quietly he listened to all till the clock struck eleven, when he said rather emphatically, "I'll think about it, sir."

"Stay," I argued; "why will you think about it, when God wants you to take Christ just where you lie, and be saved this night. The Philippian jailor heard of Jesus, believed on Him, and was saved immediately. Don't put off deciding, I beseech you."

"I promise you I'll think about it, sir. Good night."

Seeing he was determined only to "think about" and not to "receive" my message, I very reluctantly bade him "Good night."

His bed was quite at the bottom of the long ward and opposite its foot was a door. I crossed the ward, opened the door and was partly out in the passage, closing the door behind me, when, ere my hand released its grasp of the handle, a voice seemed to say, "Go back and speak to him once more." I hesitated. Was it fancy, or the Lord lingering in grace over one who was refusing His mercy? "Go back" again seemed to sound in my ears.

I returned to his bed, and, bending over him, said, "Alexander, I cannot leave you tonight with that terribly uncertain word, 'I'll think about it.' Oh, do decide for Christ. You may never have another opportunity of receiving or believing the gospel. God's word says 'Behold now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.' I have come back just to beseech you not to 'think about' but to receive Christ."

A shade of displeasure, I grieve to say, rose upon his brow, and again repeating "I'll think about it, sir, a second time, he said "good night," and sorrowful at heart, I scarcely knew why, I now finally left him.

Chapter 2. — A MORNING OF DEATH.

The next morning, Lord's Day, at eight o'clock exactly, the nurse of the ward came hastily to my sitting-room, which was some distance off, begging that I would at once pay a visit to Alexander. Very speedily I was in the ward. A death-like stillness pervaded it. Several patients and the two nurses were round the bed I had sat on nine hours before, pressing Christ and salvation on the occupant thereof. As I drew near they scattered, giving me a view of Alexander's face. White as the sheet that came in contact with it, the truth was apparent, he was not faint, as some supposed, from loss of blood, but DEAD.

He had risen that morning as usual, was seated at the table eating his breakfast when, without the slightest warning, a torrent of blood flowed from his mouth (a large vessel in the lungs having given way, and, ere he could be placed in his bed, life ebbed away, and his pallid and lifeless corpse alone met my gaze, as, for the third time within nine hours, I stood by that bed at the foot of the ward.

That moment I shall never forget! Gone, and where? Into eternal night, I feared. To myself I said, "Ah! poor Alexander, you will have time enough now to 'think about it,' when, alas! it is too late to believe and receive it."

Oh, the horrors of a night without a morning! I fear, poor fellow, he entered it by the gaping doorway of procrastination.

Chapter 3. — "I'LL NOT SLEEP TILL IT'S SETTLED."

It was a cold, cheerless day in October, 1865, and "Auld Reekie," [Edinburgh] more than ordinarily enveloped, in mist for the time of the year, was. sullenly submitting to be drenched with rain, and pierced' by the cold east blasts that came fresh from the northern ocean. Without, all was wet, cold, and dirty; within, everything was as bright, tidy, and clean as the usual autumnal expenditure of soap, paint, and whitewash could render the ward, while a blazing fire at each end diffused a genial glow of warmth, all the more enjoyable from the contrast visible through the newly cleaned windows. A good many of the beds had each their occupant, but still there was room for more ere, the complement, of eighteen was attained.

The hour was drawing near for the arrival of the visiting physician when, two young men entered the ward, and the elder, addressing me, said, "Would you be kind enough to prescribe for my friend, sir, he has a bad cold and cough?" Turning to see his companion, I beheld a youth of seventeen, whose face made a lasting impression on me, from its rare expression and almost feminine beauty. Fair as a woman, with a soft speaking, grey eye, a finely chiselled Grecian nose, and every other exquisite proportion, he seemed not a subject for hospital treatment, had not a delicate tell-tale blush in the centre of each cheek given a clue to mischief needing prompt attention. After a question or two and a cursory examination, I determined to induce him to remain in the infirmary, and accordingly urged him to do so. He hesitated, saying he had come from London for a little change and holiday, and to be in ward would be no holiday, and he did not think he was ill enough to necessitate this. There was some truth in this, but I was so interested in him that I alluded to the inclement weather as making it imprudent for him to go much out with his then symptoms, etc., So, after a little pressure, in which his friend joined, he consented to come in the next day at noon.

On Saturday, Alexander U- entered the ward at, the appointed hour, and at the usual evening visit, having seen my other patients, I proceeded to make a careful examination of his chest. The apex of each lung gave the faintest indication, of that dire disease which, I suspected from his cheek — consumption.

A question or two drew out the family history, His mother had died of consumption, and he had lost four brothers through the same fatal scourge, each of them having died, he said, within six weeks of taking ill, and then added, "I'm much afraid I'm going the same way, sir."

"Indeed, why should you think this?"

"Oh, they all began just like me, and somehow, I don't think I'll get better . . . . Do you think so, Doctor?"

"Well, Alexander, your family history is certainly very bad, but, as your trouble has been detected thus early, I hope, with proper treatment, it may be arrested."

He looked incredulous but thankful, and, perceiving that he was beginning to have some confidence in me, I continued, "Supposing you don't get better, Alexander, what then? Are you ready to die?"

"Me ready? Oh, no, sir; I'm not ready. If I were to die just now, I know I should be lost for ever."

"Then you have thought about your soul sometimes, I should judge from what you say?"

"No, sir; I can't say I ever thought seriously, though I was well brought up. I had godly parents, and a praying mother, but she's dead long since and gone to heaven, I believe (and here the remembrance of a mother's faith and piety caused the tears to fill his eyes). I got good instruction when I was a boy, but I left my home some time since and went to London, where I have been a clerk."

"And what happened in London?

"Well, sir, I'll tell the truth, I got amongst ungodly comrades, very soon I became dissipated and wild, and I believe it's my reckless life that has brought my illness on. It's all my own fault, I can blame no one but myself; I deserve punishment for my sins, and there's no chance for me to be saved, for I know I'm only a wicked sinner."

"But, would you not like to be saved?"

"Yes, indeed, sir; but there's no salvation for the like of me."

"There is where you are wrong. Did you never hear the word, 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners?' You are the very one that Jesus wants and came for He is a Saviour, and you are a sinner. They are just suited to each other. The sinner needs a Saviour to save him, and the Saviour is on the look out for the sinner to save. More, He died for the sinner. The 8th verse of Romans 5 says, 'God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' Now, don't you believe that Jesus died for you?"

"I believe He died for you, sir, for you are a good man, but He could not have died for a wretch like me."

"Wrong again, Alexander. It was not for the good Jesus died, for 'none is good save One, that is God,' and 'there is none that doeth good, no, not one.' So you see I am not good, neither are you, and yet Jesus died for us. The reason why He died was that He loved us, as Paul said,

"Who loved me, and gave himself for me." Oh, think of His love, and trust Him. There is in Him, now a free, full salvation, if you will only receive Him. What say you, will you turn to Him now, and trust Him? He died for sinners, but, having completely finished the work of atonement, He rose the third day, in proof of the value of His work, and now, alive in glory, He is waiting to receive, bless, and save you, just as He saved the thief on the cross."

"Oh, Sir, it's all for the like of you, but not for me."

I shall never forget that night, nor Alexander's face, as I passed on to tell him more of the grace and love of Jesus. Lying flat on his back, with compressed lips, heaving nostril, and eyes bathed in tears fixed on me, he listened truly for life. Every word seemed to enter his soul, while the more he heard of the Lord's love, only, the more deep became the sense of his own guilt. I had no need to press decision on him, he was only too anxious to be decided. By this time it was getting late, and the lights in the ward had been lowered, so I was about to bid him good night and depart, when he said, "Please, sir, won't you pray with me, before you go?" I am so much obliged to you for speaking with me, but I'd so like if you would pray."

This I did, looking to the Lord that His blessing might fall that night on the awakened lad. Scarcely had I finished, ere he grasped my hand and exclaimed, "Thank you, sir. Good night. I'll not sleep till it's settled."

I bade him good night, and retired to my bed.

Chapter 4. — A MORNING OF LIFE.

On the Lord's Day I usually visited the patients pretty early. So shortly after 9 a.m. I was again in the ward where Alexander was.

I had barely entered it when a sound, but rarely heard under similar circumstances, fell on my ear in the shape of a cheery but courteous "Good morning, sir." Looking up, I beheld my young friend dressed, and standing at the foot of his bed, which was the nearest to the door.

"Good morning, Alexander."

"It's all right sir."

"'It's all right!' What do you mean?"

"Oh, what you were speaking of last night. I could not sleep after you left for thinking, of my sins, and what you told me about the Saviour, and His love in dying on the cross for sinners like me. I lay awake thinking till four o'clock, and then (pointing to a window across the ward, opposite his bed), I seemed to see the Saviour dying on the cross, extended there for me and bearing my sins, and I heard Him say. 'Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' So I just came to Him, and I have rest now, sir. I have found Jesus, and I am so happy."

Had you seen his face at that moment, my reader, even you would not have doubted his statement. It was like the face of an angel, perfectly radiant with divine joy. There was no mistake about it. He had simply and unreservedly cast himself upon Christ (go thou, friend, and do likewise), and, as a consequence, was filled "with all joy and peace in believing." Alexander remained nearly a fortnight in the infirmary, during which time he gave every evidence of being a child of God, and grew rapidly in grace, while it was only too evident also that his bodily disease was taking the same rapid course as in his brothers. This being so, it was resolved to give him the chance of life which a voyage to, and residence in Australia afforded. A rich relation kindly paid his passage, so in November he returned to London to await the sailing of a vessel. While there I received two letters from him. One contained this expression: "I am very happy as regards my soul's salvation. I hope that you do always remember me at the throne of grace." The second, "I am thankful to be able to inform you that I am very much better indeed, and Dr. I- strongly recommends me to go to Australia at once. I am going, if spared, on the 30th of this month (December), in a ship called 'The London,' of London . . . . I hope you do not forget me in your prayers."

Chapter 5. — GOING HOME IN A STORM.

January, 1866, will long be remembered. During the first week there called at Plymouth for passengers and letters a magnificent, full-rigged iron ship of 2,000 tons. Her captain was a man of skill and experience, the officers and crew being picked men. On the 6th, "The London" sailed for Melbourne, with a cargo valued at £120,000, and having also a freight of living souls, of untold value, to the number of 239, amongst them being my young friend Alexander. Scarcely was the gallant ship out of sight of land than she experienced a succession of gales, which culminated on the night of the 10th in a hurricane, which many will remember cast numerous vessels ashore in Torbay. Before the fury of this blast in the Bay of Biscay she succumbed. Tremendous seas at once stove in her stern ports, smashed her boats, carried away her engine-room hatches, extinguished the fires, and rapidly filled the hold with water. By vigorous pumping she was kept above water till daylight of the 11th. Then the brave captain called all into the saloon and plainly said there was no hope of escape. This intimation was quietly received, because expected.

In the saloon the Rev. Mr. Draper prayed aloud, and exhorted the unhappy creatures by whom he was surrounded. Dismay was present to many hearts, disorder to none. Mothers were seen weeping sadly over the little ones, about, with them, to be engulphed, and the children, ignorant of their coming death, were pitifully enquiring the cause of so much woe. Friends were taking leave of friends, as if preparing for a long journey. Others, crouched down with Bibles in their hands, were endeavouring to snatch consolation from passages long known, or long neglected. At 2 p.m. a pinnace was got out, into which 16 of the crew and 3 passengers stepped, and scarcely was the boat clear of "The London" than, stern foremost, she sank, carrying to a watery grave 220 precious souls, amongst them my beloved young friend and brother in the Lord, Alexander U-.

When this heart-rending tale reached me I was deeply grieved at having been the promoter of the Australian voyage, so, knowing his father and only sister were alive, I sat down and wrote to the old man a letter of comfort, telling of the Lord's grace to his son while in the infirmary, and the firm conviction I had that his son was now with the Lord. The first man from the place where he dwelt brought a beautiful letter in reply. It was full of sadness and resignation. I give the substance: "I have had six sons. Four died of consumption, the fifth I heard of six months ago as lying ill in a hospital in China, and I fear he is gone; and now Alexander, my youngest, is taken, but, 'the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.' I believe you have been the means of leading my boy to the Saviour. He wrote many times to his only sister, beseeching her to give her heart to the Lord, and when his vessel touched at Plymouth he would be so happy to receive a letter which she wrote him, saying, she too had sought and found the Saviour. So I am comforted, though it is hard to bear."

The ways of God are wondrous, and in nothing more sweetly seen than in the channels of blessing He uses, and the way the, circle of blessing widens. The brother is converted in the infirmary, through his letters the sister is led to the Lord; he goes home to be with Christ in the way described (and what a blessing he may have been to many awakened souls on board that vessel God only knows, and, the day of the Lord alone will declare), while the sister holds on her way rejoicing for a brief year or two, and then joins her brother in the Lord's presence, as I have since learned from another source.

And now, dear reader, I must have just one word with you as to the state of your own soul. Whereabouts are you? Have you received Christ yet? If not, don't delay a single day. Let the history above recorded be both a warning and an example. Could there be a greater similarity, and yet a greater contrast? Both had the same name, lay in the same ward, were suffering from the same disease, were nearly the same age, heard the same glad tidings, and each on a Saturday night. One delays, and within nine hours is in eternity, I fear without Christ; the other decides, and in less than nine hours is in the full possession of joy and peace, through simple faith in Christ. True, he too now is in eternity, but I am persuaded it is "with Christ;" and often as I picture to myself the stricken vessel, and her fated freight, methinks, high above the roar of the wind, the lash of the waves, and the wail of sorrow, I hear, soft and sweet, the words of the young believer, "I am very happy as regards my soul's salvation."

Could you, beloved reader, say the same were: you in similar circumstances? Now, do be persuaded. If you have halted till now, halt no longer. Begin this new year with Christ. Let those that have rolled by suffice for rejecting Him. Receive Him now, by faith in His name, and start "in Christ a new creature."

Let not Satan lure you into saying, "I'll think about it, lest you be like the first Alexander in his end; but, the rather, may your language truly be, "I'll not sleep till it's settled;" then, surely, whether living or dying, your testimony shall be as clear and distinct as that of the second, "It's all right," and "I am very happy as regards my soul's salvation."

W. T. P. W.

Edinburgh, Jan. 1, 1873.

Reciprocal Affection

Reciprocal Affection.

Cant. 4.

W.T.P. Wolston.

Christian Friend Vol. 5, p. 1.

It is a blessed thing to cultivate in our hearts, not only the sense of what God has done for us, but also what He in grace has made us to be for Himself. It is most blessed to get away from ourselves, and entering into the secret of God's presence, there to learn what those sentiments are which fill His heart. The Spirit of God makes those who believe in Christ to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; so the apostle Peter says in his first epistle. (1 Peter 1: 8.) That is our side of this joy, but "It is meet that we should make merry and be glad," is His, for the Father has His joy as well, and it is boundless. He rejoices to have children near to Him — children who can enjoy God. "Christ suffered, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God;" and "we joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation." (Rom. 5: 11.)

It is that we may enjoy Himself that we are made nigh by the precious blood of Christ. It is not merely what He gives us, but Himself, who is to be the portion of our souls, and this is the fruit of the new birth. Because born again, we enjoy God Himself. "We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ." But what is this new birth? It is our getting a new nature, which has the capacity to enjoy and understand and know God. The soul gets this as the fruit of His grace. We are made to enjoy God; but then He has His side as well. His joy is to have His children near to Him, and we are to have the sense that there is nothing between our hearts and Himself. Thus we see there is the joy of the Father, and the children's joy likewise. In chap. 4 of the Song of Solomon we see Christ's part in this joy. The relationship here presented is not that of father and children. Of that the words of our hymn speak -

"Thou the prodigal hast pardoned,

Kissed us with a Father's love;

Killed the fatted calf, and called us

E'er to dwell with Thee above.

"Clothed in garments of salvation,

At Thy table is our place;

We rejoice, and Thou rejoicest,

In the riches of Thy grace."

In the fourth chapter of the Song it is the bridal relationship which comes out. It is the joy of the Bridegroom and of His bride.* We are prone to read this book so as to find Christ in it, and our hearts glow as we trace Him in its various scenes; but it is very sweet to turn for a moment and learn what the bride is to Christ. No language could be more lovely than that which we find He uses with regard to her. Listen to Him! "Behold, thou art all fair, my love" — all fair; "there is no spot in thee." Yet the more we know of Christ, the more we know of ourselves; and as we walk with God, as the years roll by, we take lower and lower estimates of ourselves. Each year we think less of ourselves than we did the year before. So much is this the case that the heart is apt to become legal. The exceeding worthlessness of what we find within us is so apparent to us. How blessed then, notwithstanding all we see ourselves to be, that Christ says of us, "There is no spot in thee; thou art all fair, my love!"

*As our readers know, the bride in this book is the earthly one — Jerusalem. Still the heart of Christ is the same in all relationships, and we may therefore fairly make an application to the church. — E.D.

It is blessed to dwell upon the Lord's thoughts of His people; to think of the Lord's pity, and of His compassionate love, though that is not the love referred to in the Song. Here it is the love of complacency. He is rejoicing over His bride, and he speaks of her beauty and of her comeliness. But how can He find in us that which can delight Him? He does find that which is the joy and rejoicing of His heart, though not because of what we are in ourselves. It is all the result of what He Himself has invested us with. Jacob found in Rachel that which met the desires of his heart; and we find in Christ that which satisfies us; and Christ finds in His bride, the Church, that which delights His heart. "Ah!" you say, "it may be so when He will have presented us to Himself 'a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.' Then the Church will be holy, and without blemish. Then all that which is worthless shall have been dropped, and only that which is His own perfect workmanship will abide."

But that is not the moment to which this chapter points. That day of glory and exceeding joy will come; but what we find here is something more wonderful than what will then be shown forth. Here we learn that even now, whilst we tread the sand of the desert, on our way to the glory that awaits the bride and Bridegroom, He finds in the Church that which delights His heart. He waits in heaven at the Father's right hand for the nuptial-day. Whilst then He is the portion of our hearts, He finds in us the portion of His heart. Look at what He says. As the Bridegroom speaks of His bride, the expressions of His love and appreciation deepen. He says to her, "Thou hast ravished," or taken away, "my heart; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes." Do we think of this? Do we believe it, beloved, that we are a joy to Him? We might well say of Him, that He has stolen away our hearts; but when He says we have ravished His heart, surely it is a wonderful thing. His delight is found in us; in the one He calls His bride.

It is not the individual believer, but the collective thing that is here spoken of. It is always the body of believers when the bridal affections of Christ are referred to; but in order that our souls, as a whole, may walk in the power of this wonderful truth, we must each individually be in the enjoyment of it. Each saint must dwell on that which Christ is seeking for in the assembly of His saints. It is through grace alone, I need not say, that any of us can enter into this — His joy concerning His own. But, I repeat, unless each one is individually enjoying it for himself and herself, we shall not, as a whole, answer to that which Christ is seeking us to be for Himself: There must be in your soul and in mine the sense of what we are to Christ. When this is known, and the heart has tasted it a little, we sigh to know it more deeply.

Look now at the response He gets from the bride. In Cant. 1 she is heard to say, "Thy love is better than wine." She knows His love, and it is better to her than all beside; but His language exceeds hers. Hear what the Bridegroom says to her: "How much better is thy love than wine!" (Cant. 4: 10.) What grace in Christ to say this of such poor heartless ones as you and me! Yet this is the estimate Christ forms of any little love He now finds in our souls to Him. "Thy lips," He continues, "O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue." Every word that falls from the lip, all that is the fruit of grace in the soul, is to Him like the droppings from the honeycomb. In Scripture honey indicates that which is food as well as refreshment. How such a scripture as this judges us! What has our conversation been? Has it been that which could feed as well as refresh the heart of the blessed Lord? "A garden enclosed," He says, "is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed." All this means she is entirely for Him, only for the Bridegroom. Ah, beloved, it is blessed when the soul gets to this! All that I am, and all that I have, belong to Him, to Jesus only. I am to be for Him here, and He says I am His own. He wants me for Himself. Is not His desire enough to make each soul surrender fully to Him? "He died . . . that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again." (2 Cor. 5: 15.)

But the Bridegroom enlarges on what the bride is to Him. "Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon." Such is Christ's appreciation of "His own," and we should have the sense of all this in our souls, of what He sees His people to be. If we carried in our souls more the thought of what we are to Christ, He would be morn to us. The eye would then be more off ourselves, and off one another. Then would our gaze on Him be more steady, and the ,joy of our souls be more calm and holy. Then we should be more jealous of that which would cause any distance between our souls and Christ. We would watch with eagerness its approach, and be able to shun it.

But He cares for His glory, and does preserve us for Himself; so we read, "Awake, O north wind." He sends His north wind, bearing its wave of trouble to rouse the careless one. We do not like this; but it is good and wholesome for the spices in His garden. It shakes them out. The wind gets through the branches, and the fragrance is poured forth. Trouble checks us. It casts us on God, and presses out that which is of Christ in us. Thus we learn what He would teach us. Then He can vary His dealings; the wind is changed. He says, "Come, thou south wind, and blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out." He gives deep enjoyment of Himself. He makes the sun of His presence to shine in upon our souls, and the heart turns to Him, and says, "Let my Beloved come into His garden." The joy of communion is then known and enjoyed. Then the heart says, "I am all for my Beloved. I am my Beloved's, and His desire is towards me. Let Him eat His pleasant fruits." The soul enters into His thought as to His bride. And how does He respond to her desire to have Him near her? "I am come," He says, "into my garden, my sister, my spouse." He appreciates that which is devoted to Him. He says, as it were, "It is all mine;" or, "I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten ray honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk." As the soul enters into communion, and is conscious that He draws near, the heart Goes out more and more to Him. "Drink, yea, drink abundantly; O beloved."

But as we thus muse on this joy of communion between the Bridegroom and His bride, we may well bow our heads in humiliation, and say, How little have we known of it! How little can we have been the joy and rejoicing of His heart! True, very true; yet faith lays hold of God's estimate of things.

Turn for a moment to 2 Cor. 11: 2, and see how the apostle sums up this matter. "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ."* The Song of Solomon does not go beyond the day of espousals, but Paul points to the nuptial day, when the espoused one will be presented as a chaste virgin to Christ. What does he mean by a chaste virgin? It is one who is true, about whom a breath of reproach could not have been; so he warns them: "I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." We need more of this simplicity, brethren — the simplicity that is in Christ. Let our souls awake ! Let us say before Him, "He is everything to me, and I am everything to Him." W. T. P. W.

* See previous note. — E.D.

Records of Grace

Records of Grace

being

Gospel Narratives and Addresses.

by W. T. P. Wolston.

"If God does not give me peace, I shall go mad," and so saying, the speaker rose, and excitedly paced the room, while the clock intimated the hour — just two A.M. — one Saturday in 1871. He was a tall, powerfully built man, in the prime of life, with a piercing dark eye, and a countenance that bespoke more than the ordinary amount of intelligence and force of character. All his natural boldness had, however, disappeared for the nonce, and he trembled visibly under the touch of the hand of God, now really laid upon him.

Our introduction was remarkable. On the previous Thursday a number of the Lord's people had gathered in Edinburgh to study His Word, and seek to edify each other. Called into Fifeshire early in the day, I only got back in time for the evening meeting, and was then led to speak a little on the history of Jonathan. We saw that in 1 Sam. 16 David is brought into view. Type, as he is, of the blessed Lord Jesus, little wonder that his person is described as "withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to" (v. 12). In 1 Sam. 17 we saw his antagonist, Goliath of Gath, the "champion" of Israel's foes, a striking type of man's enemy, Satan. His voice is soon heard, "Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. . . . I defy the armies of Israel this day: give me a man that we may fight together" (vv. 8, 10).

The effect of this challenge was obvious. "When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid" (v. 11), and for "forty days" (v. 16) — the time of perfect probation — this testing went on, and yet no man dared face the foe. How could he? Certain defeat could only have been the result. No, my reader, neither you nor I are a match for Satan. It is good when we learn it.

Then was foreshadowed the lovely statement, "The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world" (1 John 4: 14), and David comes on the scene, bidden of his father, to "look how thy brethren fare" (v. 18). They were faring badly enough, but, like sinners since, were too proud to own their nothingness. "Why camest thou down, hither?" says his eldest brother (v. 28), reminding one of the words "He came unto his own, and his own received him not" (John 1: 11), and then goes on to say, "I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle" (v. 28). The battle forsooth! There was none. No man dared meet the giant. Not even boastful Eliab. This David knew, and simply rejoins, "What have I now done? Is there not a cause?" This is perfect grace. Nothing chilled the love of Jesus, and nothing arrested the purpose of David. Thy servant will go, and fight with this Philistine (v. 32), is followed by action, for "David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling, and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David; therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith!" (vv. 50, 51).

What a picture is this of the victory of Jesus! Coming into this poor sin-stained world, He found man the servant of sin, the vassal of Satan, and consequently under the power of death, with its after-consequence — judgment. Satan had, and could wield, the power of death over man's conscience. But what do we read of Jesus? "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death, he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb. 2: 14, 15). Wondrous fact for men to hear! We die because we are men — sinful men. He became a man — a sinless man — that He might die, and deliver us. Blessed Saviour! What a deliverer and what a deliverance! Death is our portion. Christ, on whom it had no claim, took it. See this, and you get free. Goliath's head was cut off with his own sword. The chain of torture Satan can hold a sinner by — death, as the wages of sin — is snapped the moment you see Christ "made sin" — that "he died for our sins according to the Scriptures," yea more, that He "died for sinners." His death breaks Satan's power, puts away my sins, glorifies God about sin, and sets me free.

The giant's head off, his army "fled," and all Israel had to do was to "spoil their tents" (v. 53). So with us, we have only to enjoy the spoil of Jesus' victory. He has done all. We enjoy all. Proof of David's victory is seen as "Abner took him, and brought him before Saul, with the Philistine's head in his hand" (v. 57); and the evidence of Christ's victory stands in the fact that He is now alive before God, having "led captivity captive," and the Holy Ghost says, "Ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power". (Col. 2: 10). Yes, far, far above the angels who never sinned, there sits now a Man who was once in death for sinners. In that Man every believer is complete.

Thus came out the gospel, and then its proper effect on the one who hears, or sees, and believes it. "And it came to pass when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David; and Jonathan loved him as his own soul, . . . and Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow and to his girdle" (1 Sam. 18: 1, 4). This was, indeed, a fine result — typically, a grand conversion. David had done all; Jonathan gets all the fruit; and, as a right outcome, his heart is all for David.

When David came into the camp, Jonathan was "trembling"; as David advances toward the foe, he would be Jonathan "hopeful"; as he sees the giant fall, his head roll off, and his army flee, he is Jonathan "delivered"; the sharer of all the spoil, he is Jonathan "enriched"; and now, lovely climax, he is Jonathan "devoted." Yes, all is surrendered to the deliverer. What a lovely, picture of a young convert yielding all to Jesus!

Reader, do you know aught of this? If not, may you know it. Follow Christ fully. What will be the result? "javelins." If Christ be made much of, Satan must need oppose. Hence we read (1 Sam. 18: 10, 11, 1 Sam. 19: 9, 10), that thrice did Saul cast a javelin at David. But Jonathan "delighted much in David" (1 Sam. 19: 2), and began to "speak good" of him, saying to Saul, "His works to theeward have been very good, for he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine" (1 Sam. 19: 4, 5). Yes, David risked his life, but Jesus laid down His for us. Well may we "speak good" of Him. But if we do, what then? Look out for javelins. Satan cannot touch Christ, but he will touch you if he can; and so we read that David being off the scene altogether, Jonathan afresh witnesses to his worth, and therefore "Saul cast a javelin at him, to smite him" (1 Sam. 20: 33). Jonathan is now the target for his darts. Blessed would it have been for him if he had from that moment fully associated himself with David in utter rejection. Alas! hindered, like too many, by home influences, he fails in fully following the rejected king, and therefore misses honourable mention in David's kingdom (see 2 Sam. 23), where his name is conspicuous by its absence. This last lesson from his history is pregnant with importance to every lover of the Lord Jesus.

The foregoing, in brief, was what fell from my lips, and among my listeners was a stranger, whose appearance, and unconcealed interest in the ministry of the Word, attracted my attention. As the meeting broke up, an old friend, and fellow-Christian, a lady from a distant part of Scotland, greeted me, and at the same time introduced the stranger as her friend, Mr C-. Circumstances prevented any conversation, and he passed out. During that night, and all next day, a great desire possessed me to again meet, and have converse with this stranger, but, as I knew nothing of his whereabouts, nor of my lady friend's, I had no means of reaching him. The Lord, however, had His eye upon him, and to my joy, in the afternoon I casually met the lady. Making inquiry as to her foreign-looking friend, she said he was unconverted, a thorough man of the world in every sense of the word, but had a believing, prayerful wife, and she thought that now, for the first time in his life, he was beginning to take real interest in divine things.

"I have an immense desire to see that man again, and have a talk with him," said I.

"And that is just why I got him to go early to the meeting last evening," she replied, "only you were not there. Now, I fear it is impossible for you to meet."

"Why?"

"Because he leaves for the West Indies at ten tomorrow morning, and I know he is engaged to dine out, and thus will be occupied all this evening."

Learning where he was lodging in A- Street, I said, "I shall be preaching at Leith tonight, and will call on him at ten o'clock as I come up." To this offer she gladly acceded, and, at the appointed hour, I called, to learn that the object of my visit had been in, and gone out again. I told the servant I would call again at eleven. I did so. He had not come in. "I will return at twelve," I said to the doorkeeper, as I gave her my name to give Mr C- when he did come in. As the clock struck I was on the doorstep. He had got home five minutes before me, and received me most courteously, as I at once offered an apology for so untimely a visit. Make no apology, sir, I am truly glad to see you and had I but known you were coming would most surely have waited in for you."

Without further delay I told him simply why I had called, viz., an irrepressible desire for his soul's salvation. The spring was immediately touched, as he replied, he had longed for a conversation the night before. "I am a miserable sinner, a perfect wretch. I have had no peace for a week. I went to that same Hall last Sunday night expecting to hear you. I heard instead a little man with a terrible double squint, who worried me awfully with his 'two whosoevers.'"

Inquiring what that might mean, I learned that the preacher had dwelt on "whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20: 15); and "Let him that is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22: 17).

"These 'two whosoevers' have thoroughly upset me," he went on. "I don't think my name is in the book of life, and I'm sure if ever man deserved the lake of fire for his sins I do. I have scarcely slept since Sunday, and then you made matters worse last night, for you did nothing but fling 'javelins' at me all the evening. I could scarcely sit the meeting out." At this confession, I need not say I was deeply rejoiced, for I saw a spirit-wounded man — an anxious soul. I wonder, my reader, if you have ever known anything of this sort in your soul's history. It is high time you did, be certain.

Anxious about his soul's salvation, as he evidently now was, I did not feel led to comfort him all at once, so asked him if he had ever seen his full-length portrait as a sinner, as taken by God Himself.

"No! where is it?" he replied.

We drew in our chairs to the table, and, each getting hold of a copy of the Word of God, turned together, and read, "There is NONE righteous, NO, not one: there is NONE that understandeth, there is NONE that seeketh after God. They are ALL gone out of the way, they are TOGETHER become unprofitable; there is NONE that doeth good, NO, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become GUILTY before God" (Rom. 3: 10-19).

The effect of God's Word on that man's soul I shall never forget. Some scenes on one's life leave an indelible impression. This was one. He blanched and trembled visibly as he said, "True, true to life. Every line of it. Yes, that's me. That is my likeness. I could sign my name to it. I am indeed 'guilty before God.'" Thereafter, he opened up a little of his history as a sinner, — his careless, godless, Christless life, — a life surrounded by God's mercies and goodnesses, which he had taken thanklessly, scorning the love that had so blessed him.

His awful sin now loomed hideously before his awakened soul, and after a good deal of conversation, in which I vainly endeavoured to show him the grace of God, in giving His Son even to death for sinners, such as he and I were, his anxiety reached its climax, and he pushed back his chair exclaiming, "If God does not give me peace I shall go mad!" and then paced the room with a face betokening agony and despair.

I thought the Holy Ghost's divine and omnipotent javelins of conviction had done their work well, saw that no words of mine could avail to quell the storm that raged in his bosom, and knew that alone in face-to-face confession to God could he get deliverance; so after a few moments of silence said, "Get down on your knees, man, before God, and have it out with him. 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity' (1 John 1: 7). David shows us the way when he says, 'When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long: for day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I NOT HID. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and THOU FORGAVEST the iniquity of my sin' (Ps. 32: 3-5). Do just what he did, and you will get what he got — forgiveness, and the knowledge of it."

He fell in a moment on his knees before the Lord, and burst out weeping, as though his heart would break. When the violence of his hitherto pent-up, but now — in quiet confession to God — relieved feelings was a little spent, I prayed with him, simply confessing what utter sinners we had both been, but telling the Lord that the grace that had saved me could surely save him.

On his knees, in His own blessed tender grace the Lord spoke to him, and gave him perfect peace, for he rose, and gripping my hand as in a vice, said, "I can trust Him now. I see it all. Oh, what grace! what mercy! and to such a sinner as I have been!"

The storm was over, the clouds were gone, and genuine God-given peace and joy shone in his manly face, and he seemed to be filled with the Holy Ghost as we stood, and I quoted some scriptures to him. He had known somehow the letter of Scripture. Now he knew its spirit and power, and forcibly illustrated the apostle's wish, "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 15: 13). He got on the spot the conscious knowledge of forgiveness, and realised that he was justified by faith in Jesus; rejoiced in the present possession of eternal life, as the gift of God, and, being born of God, took joyfully the place of a child who had received the Father's kiss of welcome (Luke 15). Rarely, if ever, have I seen such a complete transformation, under the power of the truth.

It was near day-dawn ere we parted, and at ten A.M. I saw him off, rejoicing in Christ, as the train sped south, and he went to his far-off home. Since then I have heard of his welfare and steadfastness in Christ, and that his lips often proclaim the Saviour's love and grace to others.

This simple narrative of God's grace, dear unsaved reader, I have told just as it happened, with the hope and prayer that you may be led to the same blessed Saviour. As this paper falls into your hands, surely you may well ask yourself, Have I been all my days slighting the God whose goodness each year attests and each day proves? If you too have to plead "Guilty before God," let this be the last moment of unbelief Let there be a thorough and full surrender of yourself to the Lord Jesus — imitate Jonathan thus — and may you be a devoted follower of His all your days, and at the end hear His blessed voice saying to you, "Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

The Blood of Atonement.

"And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour nut the blood thereof; and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of Do manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof; whosoever eateth it shall be cut off. And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself with water, and be unclean until the even; then shall he be clean." — Lev. 17: 10-15.

IT is very striking to observe the marked contrast between the teaching of the New Testament and that which we get here with regard to the blood. Here it was not to be touched; it belonged to God, and the man who ate it should die. The reason is clear; man's life was forfeited, man was a sinner under sentence of death, and God would ever keep that before His mind. "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; FOR IT IS THE BLOOD THAT MAKETH AN ATONEMENT FOR THE SOUL." I do not suppose that the Israelites would grasp the meaning of this fully; but with all the light that the New Testament has given us, it should have the deepest meaning for our hearts.

What tidings for a man that is a sinner, and knows that he is at a distance from God, with the judgment of God hanging over him, to hear this verse! You see, my reader, we have sinned, and God must take notice of that sin, for "the wages of sin is death." No effort of yours or mine could put away that sin. Distance has come in between the soul and God, and nothing we could do avails to bridge over that distance.

What can atone for my sins? Can my tears? my prayers? my works? Nay, nay, who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? If all the penitential tears that ever flowed, and all the prayers that ever went up from the lips of pious men, and all the good works that ever were done, could be put to your credit, you would be thereafter, my reader, if still without faith in Jesus, just what you are this minute — an unwashed, an uncleansed, an unpardoned sinner. On the other hand, if your eye only rested for one moment, in faith, on the blood upon the altar, though you were being hurled from this earth for your wickedness, like the dying thief, who was too bad to be let live any longer, you would get to know that the blood had made atonement for your soul, and as that thief went to glory that day with Jesus, because of the blood upon the altar, so also would you. If you get hold, my reader, of the answer in the New Testament to this striking verse in the Old, you will get peace in your soul — peace with God.

You must get God's claims met, — God's claims in righteousness on man. How can those claims be met? The blood on the altar is given by God as the answer. Let us see what the Spirit of God has written about that blood. Read John 19: 28-37. Here you have the altar and the blood. What the brazen altar was in Old Testament times, with the smoking victim thereon, and the blood poured out for atonement, the cross of Christ is in our day. But in the Old Testament the fire consumes the victim, while in the New Testament the wonderful thing is this — it is not the fire of the altar that consumes the Victim, but the Victim that consumes the fire. And what is the fire? Always in Scripture the type of the unsparing judgment of God. There comes out blood and water from the side of the dead Christ, — the blood that makes atonement, and the water that purifies and cleanses. This was no mere man, though He was a man, but the Holy One of God, the Lamb without spot or blemish.

In the Old Testament the fire consumed the victims, and they were gone, and were seen no more but here the Victim rises from the dead, the judgment has been endured, the claims of God in righteousness have been taken up, and all met and settled by Christ on the cross, and now there is a living Saviour for you in glory, my reader. A living Christ on earth could only, convict me, because He is sinless and I am guilty, because He is accepted of God and I am rejected, because He is holy and I am a sinner. It is a dead Christ that is my ground of salvation.

Christ incarnate convicts man of being utterly unlike Him. "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone." But He died. He gave Himself for us. Death lay on us, and judgment hereafter. He takes the two consequences of sin — death and judgment. God forsakes Him because then He was standing in the sinner's room and stead

"He took the guilty culprit's place

He suffered in his stead,

For man, O miracle of grace,

For man the Saviour bled."

And what is the result? From the side of the dead Saviour comes the blood that makes atonement towards God.

There is a threefold testimony to the fulness of redemption — "the Spirit, and the water, and the blood" (see 1 John 5). The Spirit tells who Jesus is, the water tells of purifying, and the blood makes atonement. In the Gospel narrative first comes out the blood that makes atonement, that is Godward; then the water which flows over my soul and gives the sense of cleansing, that is manward.

When the history is told it takes up God's side first; but when John's epistle takes it up, it takes it up from man's point of view first, and gives "the water and the blood," telling of the cleansing of the soul before it speaks of the atonement which is God's side. In the Gospel of Matthew, "Pilate took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person, see ye to it. Then answered all the people and said, His blood be on us and on our children," i.e., they say, "Let the gravity of His murder lie on us. We cannot bear Him, we do not want Him, we will not have Him;" and Pilate says, "I wash my hands of it all." Poor pusillanimous Pilate, he could not get clear of the blood of Christ in that way. And let me tell you, my reader, if the blood of Christ does not lift you into glory, it will weigh you down into the lake of fire, for solemn and grave as is your condition as a sinner, it is intensified by this, that you have heard of the blood that can cleanse you, and have not availed yourself of it, and therefore you put yourself with those who cry, "His blood be on us." Oh, I beseech you, do not put yourself among that company.

In Rom. 3: 25 we get God's testimony to the blood of Christ. "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood." What does God call for from you now? "Faith in his blood;" and what is faith? It is not what I do or am, but my receiving God's testimony to the blood of Christ. The Spirit of God gives the definition of faith in John 3: 33, "He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true." Faith does this. God speaks, and faith puts down its seal, and says, "That is true."

From the side of the dead Saviour came out blood and water. Faith says, "That is true." That blood has met the claims of God, has been sprinkled on the very throne of God. It is a blood-sprinkled pathway right up to that throne, and the Holy Ghost would encourage you to have faith in His blood, only in His blood.

I ask you, Can you rest your soul for eternity, only and entirely on His blood? If you cannot, you do not know His Person, and you do not know His work, and you do not know His worth.

In Rom. 5: 9 you will find the effect of the blood of Christ on a guilty man (and Rom. 3 has shown me I am guilty), "Being now justified by his blood," is there any wrath for me? Impossible! Because the wrath has been taken by Christ, He has died for me. His blood has so completely answered for my guilt before God that God declares me justified.

There are three ways in which I am declared justified in Romans — "justified by his grace," that is the spring of it; "justified by his blood," that is the righteous basis of it; and "justified by faith," that is the way in which I get it; faith is the hand that is stretched out to lay hold of it. It is God that justifies, and whom does He justify? The soul that believes on Jesus. But I have wronged God by my sin. Now what can God do to a man who has wronged Him, taken his own way? Eph. 1: 7 gives the answer: "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins." God forgives the man who has offended Him. On what ground? The blood! He forgives me in the grace and love of His heart, not at the expense of righteousness. Grace reigns through righteousness. God forgives me through the blood.

I am justified then by Christ's blood, forgiven through His blood; and if I say, Yes, but I feel defiled by sin, moral defilement is on my soul, what then? Look at 1 John 1: 7: "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." I am cleansed by the blood. It is the blood of Jesus that cleanses me from every sin. Guilty, the blood justifies me. Having offended God, the blood pardons me. Being defiled, I am cleansed by that precious blood.

Do you say, reader, "But my conscience is often troubled"? Look at Heb. 9: 14: "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." The effect of the blood of Christ is to purge my conscience, and then the next thing is, I want to get to the spot whence all this blessing comes. But you say, Have I right to go into His presence? Heb. 10: 19 answers that: "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus." What right have I to go into the holiest, the presence of God? The blood of Jesus gives me the right. I have liberty now to go in. The veil is rent. God rent it, and the Holy Ghost says we have "boldness to enter into the holiest of all by the blood of Jesus." God has rent the veil, and the great sin of many of the teachers of the present day is that they have taken needle and thread, so to speak, and stitched the two sides of the veil together, i.e., they tell people they cannot go in now to God, whereas Scripture assures us we may.

There was no liberty to go to God till that blood had been shed, and just as sin had put me at a moral distance from God, the second of Ephesians tells me where the blood of Christ puts me, and leaves me too. Notice it:" But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." I am as nigh to God as the blood of Christ can bring me. As a sinner I was in Adam, far off; as a believer, I am in Christ made nigh.

Then Col. 1: 20 tells me He has "made peace through the blood of his cross." I have peace with God through that blood.

Look then, my reader, at what that precious blood does for the soul that is under its shelter, the blood that is upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls. Guilty, the blood justifies me. Having offended God, the blood secures my pardon. Being defiled, it cleanses me. Having a troubled conscience, it purges me. Being outside, it gives me boldness to go into the holiest. At a moral distance from God, it brings me nigh, and then sets my heart at peace and rest in His presence, and the Spirit of God lets me know it will never vary. I am brought in through the rent veil and made nigh through the blood of Christ once and for ever. Well then may we sing with the beloved apostle John, "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God, and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

"That which was Lost."

THE burning rays of an August sun were falling in meridian power on the level and fully ripe corn-fields of Somersetshire, as, over a quarter of a century ago, I wended my way from a village, where I had overnight preached the gospel, to another where I was announced to hold a meeting that evening. Pushing along at a good pace I saw before me, and eventually overtook, a little donkey-cart containing two women, evidently of a humble station in life. Offering them each a gospel tract, the elder, who held the reins, stopped her conveyance and thanked me courteously for the gift. A moment or two of conversation soon revealed that she was a simple and happy believer in the Lord Jesus, and knew her sins were forgiven through faith in His name.

"And do you know this blessed Saviour also?" I inquired of the younger, who was her daughter. A sad shake of the head, accompanied by a deepening of the settled melancholy of her face was the only response she made, but her mother put in, "No, she does not yet know the Saviour. She is in great sorrow, and cannot rise above it."

I had noticed that each was draped in mourning, and now learned that the younger had several months previously lost her only child, a babe of tender years. "She has never looked up since," now added the mother, "and refuses to be comforted."

Expressing my sympathy with the bereaved mother, I said, "But it surely ought to be a comfort to you to know that your dear babe is with Christ."

"Oh!" she cried, "if I were only sure of that, I would not care what became of me."

"Sure of that," said I, "why, how can you doubt it? "

"That is the cause of her sorrow," put in her mother again. "She thinks her child is lost for ever, and she is indifferent as to what happens to herself." How deep and real is a mother's love, I thought, but turning again to the stricken woman I simply said, "Have you never read what the Lord Jesus says about the 'little ones,' in Matt. 18?

"What does He say?" was the sad reply.

Taking out a little Testament, I read, "At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. . . . Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. For the Son of Man is COME TO SAVE that which was lost. . . . It is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish" (Matt. 18: 1-3, 11, 14).

The sorrow-stricken one was arrested by the blessed Lord's statements as to His interest in the "little ones," and she listened with the deepest attention as I read on. At verse 11, I pointed out that the expression "that which was lost" applied, simply and directly to the "little ones." They are not, because young in years, therefore "innocent," as men foolishly say, but being children of Adam, are "lost" as such, and therefore the Son of Man has come "to save" them. His work on the cross avails for them, and as they do not refuse it, He applies its efficacy for them — and His heart is gratified in saving them.

"Observe," I added, "that in Luke 19: 10, where the Lord is dealing with and addressing Himself to 'a man' who was old enough to have become a 'chief' and 'rich,' He says, 'The Son of Man is come to SEEK and to SAVE that which is lost.' He has to seek us big grown-up folk, for 'like silly foolish sheep, we have all run away from Him when we had strength and age to do so. Not so the 'little ones,' yet nevertheless are they 'lost,' too. Them He saves outright. Us He has first to seek. The 'little ones' — your dear babe, for instance — never ran away from Him, so He had not to seek it, but being the child of a sinful parent, it was 'lost,' and He died to save it, and I believe He has it safely now in His blessed arms. Don't you believe it too, now?"

The surcharged heart found relief in a copious shower of tears, as the truth of the eternal safety of her child burst upon her, and then "Thank God, thank God for that," fell from her lips. "Yes, I believe that," she added, "and oh, what a comfort to know my babe is safe with Jesus. I don't care what happens to me now that I know he is safe."

"But would not you like to be saved, too? Will you not let the blessed Saviour that has already saved your dear child, save you? "

"If He will have me," she softly answered.

"Oh, He will have you, without doubt. just trust Him simply. You see He has been seeking you for a long time, and perhaps He saw the only way to get at your heart — so full of earth and its ties — was to take away your darling child, thus giving you a link with heaven, and now He is calling upon you to surrender yourself fully to Him. Will you not do it?"

"He has saved my child, I will let Him save me too. Yes, I will trust Him, for He came to save 'that which was lost,' and I know I am lost, and He died to save me too. I see it all now clearly. Thank God, thank God."

I needed to say no more. The cloud had departed from her face, the load from her heart, the weight of sin from her conscience, and in the conscious sense of the favour of the Lord she rejoiced in His goodness to herself and to her child.

It is said that the Eastern shepherd, if he will take his flock over a brook, easily effects it. He does not drive his sheep, he leads them, and when he would have them cross the water — which they like not — he simply takes a lamb under each arm, goes over and deposits them on the other side. The anxious dam follows its offspring without hesitation, and the flock, following suit, is soon over.

Thus is it too with us oftentimes. God takes from our side here some tenderly loved one to scenes of rest and glory on high. The hearts of others left behind them get awakened, and the matter ends in solid conversion to God.

Reader, how is it with you? Are you still among them that are lost"? Why is this? Perhaps you say you cannot tell. Let me then point out the reason to you in the words of the Holy Ghost. "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost; in whom the god of this world (Satan) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (2 Cor. 4: 3, 4). Yes, the devil brings in the things of time and sense to block out of your vision what is eternal and divine. If you are wise you will decline to be any longer duped. Birds are wiser than men. Of them Scripture says, "Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird" (Prov. 1: 17). But Satan sets his net for careless sinners, and in they walk to their eternal ruin. Friend, be wise in time!

"Haud on, Dearie, He'll no' Shak' ye aff."

"And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment: for she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up  -  and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." — Mark 5: 25-34.

I WAS travelling in a third-class carriage on the Caledonian Railway some years ago, starting for an evangelistic tour, when, at a small station in the country, a middle-aged woman of grave and serious demeanour, and evidently of the humblest class of society, got into my compartment. Giving her a gospel tract, she read it, and then made some comment which led me to judge she was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, an impression which further conversation quite confirmed, — in fact, she was a child of God, and happy in the sense of His love to her. Presently she volunteered that she was going to her home, but with rather a sad heart, as she had been at the death and burial of one who had been her most intimate friend from the days of childhood. On my inquiring if her friend had died in the Lord, she replied, —

"Ou, ay. I believe she was a guid womun."

"What grounds have you for such a statement?" I asked.

"Weel, sir, she was a guid-livin' womun, for I've kenn'd her frae I was a bairn, but jist afore she dee'd I spier't (inquired) at her what her hope for eternity really was."

"And what did she say?

"She answered me, 'I canna say that I ha'e that peace, an' that assurance I've heerd some folk tell o', but I can truly say I'm like yon puir womun in the Gospels, wi' the issue o' bluid, who, when she heerd o' Jesus, cam' an' touchit the hem o' His garmint; and tho' I canna say I feel as I wad like tae, an' my faith is weak, I'm jist clingin' tae Him.'"

"That was good," said I; "and what comfort did you seek to give her?"

"Weel, weel, sir, I jist said, 'Haud (hold) on, dearie, He'll no' shak' ye aff!'"

The train stopped; my friend got out. I have never seen her since, and I never expect to again till I see her in glory, but her last words have remained firmly engraved on my memory; and though many thousands have doubtless heard this simple narrative in the preaching-rooms where I may have related it, I put it on paper and send it forth in an enduring form, with the hope and prayer that it may cheer some timid, doubting, yet withal believing soul.

"Haud on, dearie, He'll no' shak' ye aff!" It was a fine word for a dying soul, that clung to the Saviour, to hear. It is in such moments that Satan gathers up all his powers, arrays all his hosts, marshals all his forces, and shoots all his poisoned arrows to distress and distract the physically enfeebled one. What comfort in such a condition must it have been to this dying one, to hear such a sweet testimony to the blessed Lord as this, "He'll no' shak' ye aff!"

Let no one suppose that in narrating this incident I am pleading for an uncertain state of soul. Quite the contrary. If my reader has been hitherto in uncertainty as to his, or her relationship to God, my deep desire is that the apprehension of what God's grace really is may for ever dispel all the gloomy clouds which have hindered the enjoyment of the sunshine of His favour. Do not tell me about yourself, and what you are, or are not; what you have done, or have not done. Peace, and the assurance of salvation, are not found in anything that springs from us, but in what God is and has been for us, as seen in the life and death of His blessed Son, the Lord Jesus. You must then keep your eye on Christ, and your ear attentively open to what He says, if you are to have peace.

Look at the touching tale which heads this paper, and to which the dying woman referred. What was the state of matters? Twelve years ill, she had "suffered many things," had "spent all," was "nothing bettered," but "rather grew worse." Twelve is the number that speaks of completeness in matters of human administration. Here it was complete misery. Every human resource had been found to be a source of vexatious disappointment, not of healing. Complete poverty was the result, for she had "spent all." This is just the case for Jesus; and if you, my reader, have found out that you are a poor weak sinner, needing salvation, and unable to save yourself, — spite of all the remedies which incompetent spiritual physicians prescribe, in the shape of good resolutions, amendment of life, almsgiving, attendance on the means of grace, observance of ordinances, prayers, tears, penitential imposts, and perhaps even bodily flagellation, — you cannot do better than follow her footsteps.

Her faith was beautifully simple. She had heard of Jesus, and what she had heard had begotten in her heart the full conviction that to get into contact with Him, even remotely, meant sure and certain blessing. So convinced, her course is simple; may yours be the same. She "heard," she "came," she "touched," and "straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up," and, as a very simple consequence, she "felt" that "she was healed."

Now this is always the way the soul comes to Jesus, for "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." It is what you hear of Him in God's Word that leads you to cast yourself simply on Him. The moment faith does that, the blessing is sure, and present too. Faith always secures the blessing, because it has Christ for its object, and not "self" in any shape or form. There was no virtue in her touch; all the virtue was in Him whom she touched, though it flowed forth bounteously in response to that touch of faith.

But there is a point of immense importance here. Not only is she sure she has touched Him, though it were only the hem of His garment, the sense of healing being "straightway" communicated, but He knew He had been touched, and by whom. Yes, Jesus knows if you have come to Him in simple faith or not. He is not an inobservant witness of the heavings and throbbings of the weary restless heart, that scarce knows what it needs, yet finds all that need met in Himself. Here "Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him. . . . said, Who touched my clothes?" In vain do the disciples speak of the throng. The multitude had thronged but not "touched" Him; faith alone did that. Yet did He not know who it was? Clearly, for "he looked round about to see her that had done this thing." Why these queries, then? Because the Lord loves to confirm faith wherever He finds it. The woman, healed thus perfectly, was about to retire without any confession of Him whose grace she had tasted. So now is it with many souls. They have trusted Jesus, got a sense of relief, perhaps even the half hope that they are forgiven, but they have never got full peace or assurance. Why? Because they have never simply and fully confessed Christ, and hence never got to the point where they were free to listen simply to what He has to say to them. Till this moment is reached, two words describe the condition of such souls, viz., "fearing" and "trembling," which is just what we read: "But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth."

This is unreserved committal of one's self to Jesus, and what is the result? What I am wont to call the finest "confirmation service" in all Scripture. Had the Lord allowed her to go off without what now follows, she never would have had peace; for Satan would have followed her, and whispered, "Oh, yes, it's quite true you are better just now, but your trouble will be sure to break out again; you are relieved, not cured;" and the fear of the impending plague would have corroded the joy which she rightly had. How gracious is the Lord! He does not like any soul that has trusted Him to be duped, deceived, and distressed any longer by the devil; so he speaks words which for ever calm the troubled heart, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."

Not only is she made whole, but peace is to fill her heart if she thinks of the future; for "be whole of thy plague" are His last words to the one with whom He owns relationship by the exquisite epithet "daughter."

She had therefore the divinely given certainty, that she could never relapse into that state out of which the virtue which flowed from Jesus had drawn her. Similarly, the one who trusts Him now is entitled to know that forgiveness and eternal life are present possessions, and never can be lost; for what He gives in grace, He does not recall.

Scripture testimony is abundant on this point; e.g., "To him give all the prophets witness, that, through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive the remission of sins" (Acts 10: 43). "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace" (Eph. 1: 7). Again, "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake" (1 John 2: 12). Thus we see on what ground God forgives. Christ's work, and faith in His name. But not only does He forgive, which takes up my past history, pardoning my sins, — He gives something that I am to enjoy now and for ever. Thus my present and my future are met by what He gives, viz., "eternal life."

How is this obtained? Hear His own word, and doubt no more. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life" (John 6: 47). "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand" (John 10: 27, 28). What certainty! It is a confirmation of the simple saying, "He'll no' shak' ye aff." And not only does He give eternal life, but the one who believes Him is to know that he has it, for "These things are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20: 31); and, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life" (1 John 5: 13).

If you trust the blessed Son of God, ever so simply and feebly, present and eternal blessing is yours, and you ought to know and rejoice in it. Not only is it yours, but you can never lose it, for it is "in Christ," and therefore secure. Do you think sometimes He will give you up, because even since you trusted Him you have failed to rightly respond to His grace? Such a thought is entirely a suggestion of Satan contrary to the Spirit of Christ and the teaching of Scripture; for it is written, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6: 37); and, "Jesus . . . . having loved his own which were in the world, loved them unto the end" (John 13: 1). These things being so, of all who trust the Saviour, this also is true: "We are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth; whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thess. 2: 13, 14). Therefore, my believing reader, I will only add a closing word, "Haud on, dearie, He'll no' shak' ye aff."

How am I Justified?

(ACTS 13: 26-52.)

THERE are three points in this passage which are of great interest to the soul, viz., how I can get forgiveness, justification, and eternal life. They all three come out distinctly in this scripture, and are proclaimed by Paul to an audience which he had never seen before. Do you happily know, my reader, that your sins are all forgiven, that you are justified from all things, so that there can never be a charge laid against you — nay, more — that you are the possessor of eternal life? Do you ask, Can any one know this here? Yes, thank God, one can, and many also do, and two things follow, joy and the possession of the Holy Ghost — as in the last verse of our chapter.

The apostle came to Antioch in Pisidia, and they gave him a hearing, and he spoke to them of Jesus, of a Saviour. What we all need God provides, and that is a Saviour; and, my friend, if you are not saved now, it is your own fault, it is because you have not availed yourself of what God has provided — viz., a Saviour. The Jew refused this Saviour, trampled Him under foot, and then God turned to the Gentile. "I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldst be for salvation unto the ends of the earth," is God's precious statement; and if you are a poor sinner unsaved, there is salvation for you. God has done all He can do. He has done His part. He has sent the Saviour, now it is for you to accept Him. Who is a Saviour suited to? Lost people. Only lost sinners need Him. Are you saved? Perhaps you reply, I could not say that. Well, are you lost? Oh! you answer, I should not like to say that. That is the reason, then, that you do not know that you are saved, for the Saviour only came for the lost. Until you take your place among the lost you will never have the joy of knowing Jesus as your Saviour. You have heard the name of Jesus very often, — from a child, I doubt not, — but, tell me, is He yours, are you saved?

The apostle first unfolds the character of the One of whom he was speaking, and indicates His mission — "A Saviour, Jesus." He unfolds His name — the sweetest name that ever fell on mortal ears — Jesus. He then (ver. 26) goes on to say, "Whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent." Are you a God-fearing person who, though without the knowledge of forgiveness and salvation, is still looking towards God? "To you is the word of this salvation sent."

Do you say, I could not take up that ground? But have you never feared God yet? Then you will fear Him — fear Him in a day when it will be too late to taste His grace. Your days of carelessness and heedlessness will soon be over, and then you must meet God. The fear of God is a blessed thing. When I have the fear of God upon me I am in my right place, feeling my own nothingness, and His greatness. Right fear is the doorway of blessing. Are you fearing the Lord? Then, "to you is the word of this salvation sent."

How does God save men? Is it by the law? No; for "by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight" (Rom. 3: 20). Is it by our works? No; for "to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom. 4: 5). If it is "the word of this salvation," then the only thing the sinner has to do is to listen. The gospel is similarly preached to Cornelius, "Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter, who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved" (Acts 11: 13, 14). You may be saved by "words," by "works" never. What does God mean bywords? It is the tale of the work of another, the love and goodness of another, the life and death of another, and how God has raised Him from the dead, and put Him into glory; and you hear, and believe, and are saved before you know it.

There never was a simple look of faith to Christ, as a soul heard the story of His love, but that soul got salvation at once, though it might not know it.

Let me implore you to get into right relationship with God now. There is a breach between the world and God now. What is the breach? The grave of His Son. You may argue that He gave Himself. Yes, but this world demanded His death, they clamoured for His blood. Hatred put Him on the cross. Love took Him down, love buried Him, and love rolled a stone over His beloved body in the tomb. But who scaled Him in that tomb? Fear. Hatred killed Him, love buried Him, and fear scaled Him in, and set a watch over the grave, and then the world went away, and hoped it had got rid of Him for ever. But they have not, and they have yet to meet Him, for "God raised him from the dead," I need not say, without breaking the seal. No stone or seal could hold the Saviour in. "God raised him from the dead," and then there was an earthquake, and an angel came and rolled away the stone — not to let the Saviour out, He was out already — but to let you look in and see an empty tomb. Oh! then, I say, my Saviour is risen, my sins must be gone. When man had done his worst against God, then it was that God did His best for man. As a martyr, Jesus died for the truth of God; as a victim, He died for the sin of man. On the cross He took the cup due to man, but He took it from the hand of God. He had looked into it, fathomed it, and He took it, and drank it to the very dregs, and He holds out to you and me the cup of salvation which we have just to take and drink, and then bless His holy name for ever and ever. Precious Saviour!

In the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, we have more than the display of the love of God; we have the unfolding of His righteousness too, and there is the basis on which the gospel rests. Oh, what a love is the love of God! Let it penetrate your heart if it never has before. Christ's incarnation is the proof of His interest in man. His death is the sure proof of — more than interest, yea, of — His deep love; and now that God has raised Him from the dead in righteousness, and seated Him at His own right hand, God can offer to you the forgiveness of your sins, if you turn round to Him. The tide of human affection may at times rise so high as to cover for a moment the tablet on which are recorded your offences; but as the tide recedes, on that tablet of memory still remains the unerased list, but with God the tide is ever at the flood. "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more," He says. I look back to the cross and see my blessed Saviour dying, and faith lays hold of the work of the cross. I never can estimate its value, but God estimates it at its full value. I cannot measure the love of Christ, but I can enjoy it. The law can only convict and condemn you, but Jesus can save you, and He will if you look to Him.

What a charming unfolding of grace is here! "Be it known unto you . . . that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins." Is it conditional? No. It is unconditional, as free as the very air you are breathing as you read this paper. "And by him all who believe are justified from all things." Another scripture says, "Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3: 24). Then we read in Romans 5: 1, "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;" and again in v. 9, "Much more, then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." There is only one way of justification, "through this man." There are not three ways, but there are three parties to my justification. God is a party to my justification; Christ is a party to my justification; and I, most necessarily, am a party to my justification. God by His grace, Christ by His blood, and I by faith. The spring is grace, the basis is blood, the principle of it is faith. Faith is the hand that goes out, and takes the gift of God.

It is God that justifies. God is on your side now. I am justified from offences by the grace of God, the blood of Christ, and by my own faith; and then I am not only justified from offences, but I get a life in Christ that cannot offend. A believer in Christ has "justification of life" (Rom. 5: 18).

Is Christ alive? God raised Him from the dead. There was a man who deserved to die, and Jesus died for him; and now there lives a Man on the throne of God, and I live in Him. I have "justification of life." Yea, more, it is "eternal life," and all I have to do is to go on my way rejoicing in Him who is my life, and make much of Him till I see Him face to face.

Reader, shall He not be yours henceforth?

"Oh, take with rejoicing from Jesus at once

The life everlasting He gives;

And know with assurance thou never canst die

Since Jesus thy righteousness lives."

"He is my Saviour."

WHILE on my way to a little gospel meeting in the village of C-, I was asked by a Christian lady to visit a young woman who was evidently dying, and whose state of soul she was anxious to assure herself of.

Following her directions I mounted an outside stair, and entered a small attic room, where the signs of deepest poverty were manifest in every direction. The only occupants of the room were a middle-aged woman, on whose face care and toil had left indelible traces, and her daughter, a girl of twenty summers. It was just sunset, and the little window facing in that direction permitted a full stream of golden light to enter the apartment, which only made more visible the squalor and dirt which reigned supreme.

The evening rays fell full on the recess containing the bed whereon lay the one whom I sought. She had evidently been a tall and handsome girl, but now the fell destroyer, consumption, had left nothing but skin and bones. Her hair, jet black, lay in tangled quantities scattered over the pillow, in striking contrast with the pallid pinched face which was turned towards me, the brow covered with a cold clew, while the lips and eyelids were firmly closed. I saw at a glance that death was near at hand, which a touch of the pulseless wrist confirmed.

Having addressed a few inquiries as to her illness to the mother, who seemed pleased to see me, I turned to the dying one, and said, "Are you in pain?" Receiving no reply, I repeated my query in a louder tone. Again there was no response, and then the mother put in, "I don't think she can hear you, sir, she's too far gone now to hear." It almost seemed so, but I determined to try, again, so bending over her I said, "Do you know Jesus?

Oh, the power of that Name on the heart that knows its meaning! Immediately the departing spirit seemed to be called back from the border land, the eyelids lifted to permit a lustrous pair of eyes to fix themselves a moment on the stranger who put this simple query, the lips parted, a smile of unutterable sweetness lit up the dying countenance, and then faintly and with an effort she whispered, "He is my Saviour."

"Thank God," I rejoined; "and how long have you known Him as your Saviour?"

Her eves filled with tears at the remembrance of His mercy as she replied, "Not long, only since I lay down. I have been a terrible sinner, but Jesus loved me, and died for me, and I know He has washed all my sins away in His precious blood."

"And are you quite ready and happy to go?"

"Quite ready," was her answer, while the smile of joy again brightened up her moistened cheek, and then, her strength exhausted, she relapsed into the soporous state from which the mention of the Name of Jesus alone could recall her.

I left, and she passed away a few hours after.

Rarely have I seen a more touching instance of the power of the Name of Jesus. "Thou shalt call his name JESUS; for he shall save his people from their sins." To the believer's ear that Name is fragrant beyond description. Reader, may I ask, has it any fragrance for your heart? Do you know Jesus? Can you say, "He is my Saviour?"

Rest not merely in saying, He is a Saviour. The devils know that. You are not right till you can say, "He is my Saviour."

It is really a most blessed thing to be able to truly say those words. And who can say them? Every poor guilty sinner who trusts in Jesus' precious Name. He likes to hear the sinner say, "MY Saviour." All the world will sooner or later own that He is a Saviour; but what He prizes, is the simple confidence of the heart that simply yet boldly says, "He is my Saviour." Would you not like to be able to say it? Well, then, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved."

"That's Delightful."

Two servants of the Lord had been together proclaiming the sweet tidings of grace, and the audience had mostly scattered, when our attention was drawn to a middle-aged person, evidently deeply affected by the "good news" she had been hearing. Taking a seat by her side, I said, "Well, is it all settled?"

"No, I can't say that; I wish I could."

"What is the difficulty?"

"I don't see things clearly. You know I have been a kirk-member all my days, but that goes for nothing, I see, and I don't feel as I should like to."

"It is not what you feel that is important, but what you believe. Are you anxious to be saved?

"Indeed I am most anxious."

"And when do you wish to get salvation?"

"Oh, at once. Tonight, surely, if I can," was her eager reply, as she burst into tears.

"Well, you can have it now, if you like too. Listen to the Word of God, — 'The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, THOU SHALT BE SAVED' (Rom. 10: 8, 9). Do you understand that? Do you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead? "

"I do indeed."

"What do you believe? For whom did He die?"

"For all."

"Tell me one for whom He died."

"He died for me."

"You believe that?"

"Indeed I do."

"And did He die for your sins?

"I believe He did."

"And has He done all that was necessary for your salvation?"

"I believe He has."

"Yes, and God has raised Him from the dead, because all is done. Do you believe that also?"

"I do. I really believe in Him."

"And are you prepared to confess, — yea, do you confess, the Lord Jesus with your mouth?"

"Yes, I gladly do."

"Good; then God says, 'Thou shalt be saved!' Will you be saved, do you think?"

"I should like to be."

"Listen to what God says: 'Thou shalt be saved.'"

"That's delightful!" she exclaimed, with a fresh flow of tears.

"Yes, indeed it is; but if any one asked you, 'Are you saved?' what would you say?"

"I don't feel sure that I could say that I am."

"The point is not what you feel, but what does God say about the one who believes and confesses with the mouth. He says to such, 'Thou shalt be saved;' and if He says, 'Thou shalt be saved,' is not that tantamount to saying, 'Thou art saved'?" She did not quite see through this, so I went on, — "Would you rather have a £1 note, or a sovereign?"

"They are both alike in value."

"True, but one is gold, and the other is only 'I promise to pay one pound.' Now God's note is, 'Thou shalt be saved," whereas the gold might stand for 'Thou art saved.' This is just what Eph. 2: 8 says, 'For by grace are ye saved, through faith.' Again in Luke 7, the Lord gave a weeping woman, like you, the knowledge of pardon, salvation, and peace, in twelve words. It was a short sermon, but what a full one! 'Thy sins are forgiven. Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace' (verses 48-50). What wondrous words, 'Thy sins are forgiven'! Are you the woman He is speaking to now?"

"I am. I believe He forgives me."

"Go on. What next does He say?"

"'Thy faith hath saved thee.' I believe it. I see it clearly. I see it distinctly. It is so plain.  - I am saved. Thank God." And the tears of joy fell faster than ever.

"How did you come into this hall tonight — in peace?"

"Oh, no; unhappy, unsaved."

"And, now, how will you go?"

"He says 'Go in peace.' I shall go home forgiven, saved, and at peace."

"Yes, you have a living, glorified Saviour, and all that is left you to do, is to bless and praise Him. He has saved you, and you have just to live for Him, who died for you. Do you think He will let you drop?"

"I think not; I'm sure not if -"

"If what? "

"If I continue faithful and hold on to Him."

"Stop, I'll give you a text with no 'if' in it. 'My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any (angel, man, or devil) pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one' (John 10: 27-30). Now, with that before you, do you think He will let you drop?"

"No, never, I am sure He will not. It all depends on Him;" and she entered into rest, and we bowed the knee, and thanked God together.

Reader, cannot you similarly thank God?

"He's not Put them Back on me."

"HE'S above seventy, and unsaved, and getting feeble, and I've got him to come through from Glasgow to stay a day or two, and I'm going to bring him to the gospel meeting tomorrow night, and I'm real anxious about his salvation, and you will pray for him, won't you?" The speaker was a real earnest Christian woman, and the subject of her fervent wishes her uncle. How natural that we should wish our loved ones to be blessed of God! And how right, too!

Many years have rolled by, but I well remember seeing the prayerful niece and the aged relative sitting side by side where I was preaching the gospel the next evening. The subject before us that night was found in Heb. 9: 27, 28, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many: and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation."

There passed before us the two solemn appointments that the unsaved man has before him, viz., death and judgment, which simply mean death and damnation, for no one can rise out of judgment. Well did David know this, and hence his cry, "Enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified" (Ps. 143: 2). To die and be damned is the sure and certain lot of the sinner as such. He cannot evade these appointments. They are all divinely fixed. Sin has its sure penalties. These are they. "The wages of sin is death." But "all have sinned," hence death and judgment claim all rightly. Then will all be lost? No! Why? Our verses told us this too. The "as" and the "so" were examined.

"As" — "so" "As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." How wondrous! how divine! "As" to die and be judged was once the lot of man, because of sin, "so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." In love He went to the cross, "bare our sins in his own body on the tree," bared His bosom to the stroke of Divine and righteous judgment. Yes, He who "knew no sin," "appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Wondrous sacrifice! magnificent grace! Did sin entail death and judgment on the sinner? He "who did no sin," "was made sin," endured the judgment of sin, and died the death that was sin's wage. He made atonement for sin. "As" — "so." "As" death and judgment belonged to me, "so" Christ tasted and endured them both, and I am free. He took our place in death and judgment, that we, who believe, might get His place in life and glory. Never was love like this. In the days of His flesh they said, "Never man spake like this man" (John 7: 46). We can surely say, Never man loved like this Man.

The face of my aged listener betokened much interest, and ere long the tell-tale tears coursed quickly down the wrinkled cheeks as his heart was softened by the tale of the Saviour's dying love. The meeting closed with Bonar's lovely hymn —

"I rest in Christ the Son of God,

Who took the servant's form,

By faith I flee to Jesus' cross,

My covert from the storm.

Jesus put all my sins away

When bruised to make me whole;

Who shall accuse, or who condemn,

My blameless, ransomed soul?"

Inviting any anxious inquirers to speak with me in the sideroom, I was soon joined by the old man, still weeping profusely.

"Well, my friend," said I, "what is the matter?"

"I don't know exactly what it is, but I never felt as I do tonight," was his reply.

"Never mind your feelings the great point is, Have you believed the gospel?"

"Yes, sir, I do believe it. Of course, I have always believed it, in a certain sense, but I believe it tonight as I never did before, and I certainly do feel as I never felt before," and as he spoke he stroked his broad chest with his brawny toilmarked hand. "It was just when we were singing that hymn, it seemed to get all clear to me."

" What part of the hymn?"

" Oh, that bit where it says —

'Jesus put all my sins away

When bruised to make me whole!'"

"And do you now believe that Jesus has put all your sins away?"

"Indeed I do tonight, though I never believed this way before."

"You believe that Jesus bare your sins in His own body on the tree?

"I believe that now."

" How many of your sins did He bare?

" All of them."

" And where are all your sins now?

A pause of some moments followed, while the old man pondered this query, and then slowly replied,

"I don't feel quite sure as to that."

"Has He taken them to heaven with Him, do you think?"

"No, no; there's no sin in heaven, I'm sure of that."

"Well, then, what has Jesus done with them? You are sure He bore them all on the cross?"

"Yes, I feel sure of that tonight."

"And you are sure He has not taken them with Him into heaven?"

"Yes, I am certain about that too."

" Well, then, what has He done with them?"

" That's just the bit that I'd like to be clear about, but I'm sure He's not put them back on me."

"Quite right; that is true. But if He did once bear them all on the cross, and He has not taken them into heaven, nor put them back on you, what must He have done with them?"

With a deep sigh of relief, as the truth flashed on his soul, and a fresh burst of tears, the old man replied, with deepest emphasis, "Why, He must have put them away for ever."

"Exactly so. That is just what Scripture so blessedly states, and what I have been preaching, and the hymn sweetly corroborates —

'Jesus put all my sins away

When bruised to make me whole.'

If ever your sins could be found they must be found on Jesus, since He once bore them; and if they can't be found on Him, they are gone for ever from God's sight."

Peace, deep and real, entered his soul, and he left for home next day, rejoicing in his newly found Saviour.

Reader, are you yet able to truthfully say —

"Jesus put all my sins away

When bruised to make me whole"?

"I am Going Home."

IT is a wonderful thing to find that God's salvation is -

"Salvation without money,

Salvation without price,

Salvation without labour,

Believing doth suffice."

More, it is salvation now — this moment; yes, reader, you may have it now. I would have it, were I in your place, without any further delay, and be recorded in God's book as saved. Just look at your watch a moment. Do you note the time? Well, NOW means just this identical moment, so you can have no difficulty in grasping the meaning of that precious word, "Behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6: 2). There is no folly like that of putting off the salvation of the soul.

But if it, then, be true that by believing in Jesus, there is for you —

"Salvation now — this moment

Then why, oh! why delay?

You may not see tomorrow;

Now is salvation's day."

No! you may not see tomorrow — tomorrow may be too late!

As I was about to finish my day's work one Saturday, not long ago, I rang the bell of a house where one had long been ill. The door was opened by a relative whom I scarcely recognised, as it was nearly dark. I said, "How is A-?"

"Oh! have you not heard? she is gone."

"What, dead?"

"Yes, dead!"

Gone! she was gone from earth for ever. Was she old? No. Middle-aged? No. Young? Yes; not quite twenty-one years of age. I had seen her three days before, and I expected to have seen her again in life; but I did not.

Perhaps, my reader, you would like to know how she died? It was a long illness; consumption the fatal malady that cut short her days.

She knew perfectly well that she could not recover, but thought some little time would elapse ere the "golden cord" would be loosed. That morning, however, as her watchful relative was giving her some needed assistance, which brought her to the bedside of the feeble girl, there happened that which had not been before. Without any warning a large blood-vessel in the lung gave way, and the life-blood poured forth. Lifting her eyes towards heaven, she said very calmly, "Auntie, I am going home? I am going HOME!" and passed away to be with Jesus.

Reader, could you die like that? Her whole face brightened up; no fear was pictured thereon. She could say, quietly, calmly, "I am going home;" and the next moment found herself there. Sinner, you could not say that. You, who are on the broad road, could you call hell a home? Describe not the eternal abode of the lost, that region of speechless woe, by such a charming, sacred name. Oh, unsaved man! unsaved woman! have salvation! have it now! Flee to Jesus as you read this, for "now is salvation's day!" and He has said He will not cast you out if you come to Him.

Many a time this dying girl grasped my hand as I was leaving her after a medical visit, and said, "Doctor, will it be long?" I could not tell her how long; consumption is often a lingering disease. The last time I saw her before her death she said to me, as we parted, "Doctor, it will not be long, will it, before I am with Jesus?" These were her last words to me, full of peace and assurance of a present and eternal salvation. She longed to be with Jesus.

Dear unsaved one, open your heart to Him! just where you are, open your heart and let Jesus enter in! He will fill your heart. Be converted now. Decide for Christ, I pray you. Turn to the Lord while you may. "Now is salvation's day." just now — now. If you want to be saved, it must be now.

How shall I get salvation? Do I hear you ask this? You have nothing to do, and nothing to be, except to be and own what you are, an utterly lost sinner. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Come to Him in your 'Sins just where you are and as you are, this very moment, and Jesus will save you,

What will He do? you may say.

Come and see!

Oh, but I am such a sinner; He must, He will put me from Him.

No! He will put your sins away, but you He will receive. The prodigal came as he was, and was kissed while in his want and misery. Then he got the best robe which fitted him for the father's house. just so the sinner must come to Jesus by faith, without seeking in the slightest degree to fit himself for Christ. Your fitness for Christ is that you are a lost sinner, and need a Saviour; and, on the other hand, He is a Saviour looking ever about for the sinner whose heart He can reach and touch, in order that He may save him. Come as you are to Him, and He will save you on the spot.

Always remember this, that Christ does not help sinners; He saves them. When I talk of some one helping me, I imply that I have a little strength; when I say another saved me, I mean that my own power was gone utterly, and I were lost without recovery but for the act of another. Now this is just the gospel in a nutshell. As says the apostle, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly" (Rom. 5: 6). How simple and how blessed! When "without strength" (not trying to show I had a little, by good works and reforming my life) and "ungodly," i.e., not having a single thing to commend me to God — then Christ died for me, and by His death I am cleansed from my sin and guilt, and made fit for the presence of God.

Reader, may God grant to you repentance unto life, faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ, a daily walk that tells louder than words that your heart is Christ's; and, should you be called to die suddenly, may you be able to say, "I am going home."

Mutual Agreement.

"WELL, is it all settled?"

"No, indeed; I wish with all my heart that it were," was the sad reply I got to my query. The speaker was a tall well-dressed young man, of some five and twenty years, who was coming out of the door of a large and crowded hall in the south of London, where I had been, one Monday evening some years ago, preaching the gospel, speaking of the Lord's second coming. His grave and intelligent face was marked by deep emotion, and denoted the soul-exercise he had passed through as he had been listening to the tale of grace which the Spirit of God had unfolded that night, followed by solemn appeals to the unconverted, in view of the possibility of the Lord's immediate return, and the certain eternal woe that must be the fate of the unprepared, and hence unsaved, soul.

Arrested by my question, he stood still, as if inviting further converse; so I went on, "But if you wish the matter settled, why is it not settled?"

"I really don't know; but I fancy I don't understand it."

"Tell me, now, do you take your place as a really lost sinner before God, and are you anxious to be saved? "

"Indeed I do. I am most anxious to be saved."

"Are you willing to receive Jesus as your Saviour, just where you stand?"

"I am most willing. I wish heartily I could say He were my Saviour. I am quite prepared to receive Him."

"Do you think He is willing to receive you?"

"Ah! that is just the question. If I were only sure of that, I should be at rest."

"Oh, my dear fellow, rest assured on that score; I can answer for Him as to that. Have you never read, 'This man receiveth sinners'?" was my rejoinder. More followed, but still he saw not the truth; so, fancying that he might be in business, and that an illustration might help him, I said, "Are you in business?"

"Yes."

"What line?"

"Woollen goods —  wholesale," he replied, rather astonished at the sudden turn from things eternal to earthly matters.

"Suppose I turned up at your warehouse tomorrow, would you be prepared to do business with me?"

"Certainly."

"Well, suppose that I come wanting so many bales of cloth of a certain quality and price, you would be prepared to sell them?"

"Most decidedly."

"And when I have agreed to take and pay for, and you to sell and deliver these goods, what would you say about the matter?"

"I should called it settled."

"And settled, what by?"

"Mutual agreement," was the reply.

"Exactly so! I agree to take, and you to deliver. Now, see: here you stand and tell me you are willing to receive the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, and God's Word says He is willing to receive you, a 'sinner.' What do you call that?"

"I should call that mutual agreement also," was his slow but firm reply.

"Yes; Christ is agreed to receive you, and you are agreed to receive Him. Are you not at one in this matter? Are you not both of the same mind?"

"Dear me, how simple it is! I see it all clearly now, thank God. I just receive Christ simply by faith, and He receives me?"

"That is just it, and exactly as it is put in John 1: 11, 12, I He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.' You believe on His name, don't you?"

"Yes, I most sincerely believe in the name of the Lord Jesus!"

"Then God says that is how you receive Him: and receiving Jesus, you become a child of God; for, again, it is written, 'Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus' (Gal. 3: 26). The moment you believe in Him really, you receive Him, and become a child of God."

The cloud disappeared from his face, the anxiety departed, his eye was lit up with a new-born joy; and, seizing and "wringing my hand most warmly, he went on his way, saying, "Thank God. Thank you too. I see it all. It's so simple. It's mutual agreement. He receives me, I receive Him, and now I'm a child of God. Good-bye, and God bless you!"

Reader, can you say it is settled? If not, why not? It must be that you are not willing, because Jesus is. He said to some who listened to Him once, "Ye search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me, and ye will not come to me that ye might have life." (John 5: 39, 40).

"Yet there is Room."

(LUKE 14: 22, 23.)

"YET there is room!" To an anxious seeker of salvation, what comfort is in these words! They. tell that the door is yet open, that the voice of grace yet sounds, and that whoever comes will be made welcome!

But where is it that "yet there is room"? In the Father's house, the Saviour's home, at the "great supper" which God has spread, and to which He has invited you, my reader.

God wants you to be His guest. He has spread His table with every bounty love could furnish, much less than our poor needy hearts could desire, and sent out His servants with the word, "Come; for all things are now ready."

And what is the result of this loving call? All invited have "made excuse." Man does not want to be God's guest. God wants man's company, but man does not want God's, in such close proximity as a feast suggests, so he politely says, "I pray thee have me excused."

Alas! "a piece of ground." "five yoke of oxen," or, strangest of all, "a wife," sufficed to prevent the acceptance of God's call. There was no heart. Had there been, the one just married would have said, "Where I am wanted, my wife will be welcome too; I will take her with me."

It is a sad picture, dear unsaved reader, of your heart, is it not? But listen to me. God is in earnest. He will certainly have His house filled. If you will not fill a seat in His house, some one else will. Do not miss your opportunity, I beseech you.

To you I now say again, "YET THERE IS ROOM." Oh, heed the call of God. Where will you spend eternity? It must be with him whose "guests are in the depths of hell;" or with God, who now again invites you to be His guest in heavenly glory. Again He calls; will you again refuse? Your life is wearing to a close. You began it a stranger to Jesus and His blessed salvation. Will you end it in the same dreadful state? God forbid! "Yet there is room." Come now to Jesus. All you have to do is to cast yourself simply on Him. He has died, and risen again. The work of atonement is accomplished. God's claims are all met. The question of sin has been forever settled on the cross. There He "who knew no sin, was made sin for us;" and the sins of all who trust in Jesus have been borne for ever away. Will you not trust Him?

Had you anything to do, you might delay; but when all is "finished," and all "ready," the only thing left for you to do is to come, and appropriate in faith what love provides for your present and eternal blessing.

I assure you God is waiting to bless you. Nay, more, He is most anxious about you being His guest. He says, "Compel to come in." Are not these strange words? They, show the reluctance on your side to come, and the earnestness on God's side to get you to come.

Oh, let me "compel" you to come ere you drop this paper. God loves you; why do you refuse Him? Christ has died for sinners; why do you not believe Him? You are going straight to hell; why do you not turn to the Lord?

Have you no shrinking from the "wrath to come"? Do you not see the awful folly of your present path? Blinded by Satan, sin, and the delusions of this present world, you are hurrying on to a scene of endless despair. Oh, sinner, you must wake up to your state. You are unwashed, unpardoned, unclean, and unjustified, and you will soon stand a self-condemned criminal at the bar of God. Countless are your sins indeed; but the crowning, damning one of all will be this, that you refused grace, despised mercy, rejected Christ, and "excused" yourself from being saved; and, consequently, ensured your eternal damnation.

Oh, my fellow-sinner, I call on thee. Awake, awake! arouse thee to thy danger; sec thine impending doom. "Escape for thy life," I beseech thee. "Compel to come in," warrants me in calling on thee, with all the earnestness and affection I possess, to turn to the Lord. "Yet there is room," may assure thee that, if thou dost but come, thy salvation is certain.

But thou must no longer delay. God's house is nearly full, I am sure. Some guest will be the last," has been well said and then the shut door will solemnly thunder to lazy, half-awakened sinners, — No room, no room, NO ROOM!

What crushing conviction will then possess the soul that finds itself too late! It will be willing, but too late; wishing, but too late; wanting, but too late; weeping, but too late; praying, but too late; pleading, but too late. Oh, how dreadful!

Reader, fancy yourself going down to hell with "yet there is room" resting on your memory, and "too late" ringing in your ears, and stamped in living' characters of fire before your guilty, godless soul for ever. This must be the fate of a gospel-neglecting, a Christ-rejecting soul. Shall it be your fate? With you now lies the opportunity and the responsibility of accepting God's call.

Once more, "Yet there is room." Oh, my friend, be persuaded. Yield yourself just now to the Saviour. His words are sweet and true. "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." Again, "He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."

Reader, farewell. May this appeal be used of the Lord to your coming to Him while "yet there is room."

"He Stole it away in the Meeting."

THIS title, dear reader, may seem a little strange, but if what it involves has not yet taken place in your history, I trust it may now come to pass. You will be an immense gainer by losing what the speaker, whose words I quote, referred to.

There are moments in the history of certain places, as well as souls, when God comes very nigh unto them. Such was the case in the town of L- some years ago, when a wave of gospel blessing rolled over the inhabitants thereof. God's Spirit was working blessedly, and in some streets there was scarce a house that grace did not visit and save some therein. In some cases whole households were blessed. The gospel meetings, held in large halls, were crowded with attentive listeners, anxious inquirers, or rejoicing believers, many of them but just converted. Truly they were blessed moments — "times of refreshing" — such as one longs and prays to see again.

Among my auditors, one Lord's Day evening, I observed a young person very deeply affected as the preaching went on. The tale of the Lord's dying love, of the value of His blood, and of the interest of God in man's salvation, completely commanded her soul; and tears flowed freely as she eagerly heard the Word. An "after-meeting" being announced, I observed that she kept her seat, so at a fitting moment I drew near and got into conversation with her. She was still weeping profusely, but no look of anxiety was on her face. Inquiring of her why she so wept, she replied, "Oh! I can't help it, after what I have seen tonight."

"And what have you seen tonight — yourself a lost sinner, and Jesus a living, loving Saviour?"

"Yes, that's just it. I never saw things before as I see them tonight."

"Then the Spirit of God has shown you yourself tonight as an utterly lost, ungodly sinner in God's sight?"

"Yes, I see that most clearly. I've seen that I am utterly helpless and lost," and here the tears rolled faster than ever.

"And what else have you seen?"

"I have seen that Jesus loved me, when I was a poor wicked sinner; and that He gave Himself for me, and died for me on the cross, bearing my sins, and God's judgment of them."

"That is a blessed thing to have learnt. And now, tell me, how many of your sins did Jesus bear on the cross? "

"I believe He bore them all, every one of them," she replied.

"And how many of them did He blot out from God's sight, by His precious blood, when He so hung on the cross?"

"I believe He blotted them every one out," was her emphatic reply, "for it says, 'The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.'"

"Good. That is faith. And if He died for them all, and blotted them all out when He shed His precious blood for you on the tree, how many do you suppose He forgives you tonight, now that you believe in Him?"

"I believe He forgives them all, every one," she replied, with a fresh flood of tears, which had, however, the manifest appearance of tears of joy, as indeed they were.

"Quite right, my dear friend," I rejoined; "you have a Divine warrant for knowing that. To a poor sinner, weeping at His feet, the blessed Saviour once said, 'Thy sins are forgiven; thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace;' and He says the same now to you, depend upon it. Of all who trust in Him it is truly written, 'In whom we haze redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace' (Eph. 1: 7). And, if I understand you aright, you are now, for the first time in your life, assured that your sins are all blotted out, and forgiven through the finished work and present grace of the Saviour?"

"Yes, thank God, I am quite sure about it now," she replied, and her face, radiant with joy, bespoke the inward sense of the Lord's forgiving love.

"That is an immense mercy, and now that the Lord Jesus has so greatly blessed you, may I ask how much of your heart are you going to give to Him?"

"I couldn't give Him any," was her sincere and simple, but, nevertheless, to me astounding answer.

"Couldn't give Him any?" I replied in amazement. "What can you mean? Here you sit and tell me that, for the first time in your life, you have learnt that Jesus has borne all your sins on the cross, sustained all the judgment due to them and you, blotted them all out, and forgiven them all this night, and then you add that you 'couldn't give Him any' of that heart of yours that should be His, entirely His, henceforth."

"I have none left to give," was her quiet reply, "HE STOLE IT AWAY IN THE MEETING."

"Ah! I see what you mean now. He won your love by the revelation of His own."

"Just so; while you were speaking tonight of Him, and His love in dying for such as me, before I knew it I was drawn to Him, and my heart is His, not mine, henceforth."

Reader, has your heart yet been stolen? You are just beginning a New Year. Most likely many a kindly voice has wished you a "Happy New Year." With all my heart I wish you the same. Would you have a certain receipt for it? Taste the love of His heart, — "the love of Christ that passeth knowledge," and let Him, in return, simply and unreservedly, have the love of yours, and this year and every other shall be truly happy. For "blessed are all they that put their trust in him," and each such one may add, "Thou wilt show me the path of life; in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Ps. 16: 11).

"I Know I'm all Wrong."

RETURNING from preaching the gospel in Glasgow a few nights ago, I found two young men the only occupants of the compartment of the train I was in. To each of them I gave a different little book, viz., "The Two Alexanders," and "The Young Doctor," but each narrating God's grace to a young man in the old Edinburgh Infirmary, now pulled down. They each read their respective book carefully, and at the first stopping-place one young man got out, first requesting that he might keep the little book, as he would like to read it again, a request I was only too glad to comply with.

Left alone with my other fellow-traveller, who had been reading "The Young Doctor," I said, "Well, could you die like that young doctor?"

" No, indeed, I couldn't; I wish I could though."

" God's grace it was that saved him: can it not save you also?"

"I'm sure I don't know. I wish it could. I know I'm not saved, and though I think about it sometimes I can never see through it; I can't get to the bit somehow."

"Then evidently you have sometimes thought seriously about your soul, and eternity, and that you have to meet God some day? "

" Yes, and I have had some solemn warnings too."

" What were they?"

" I work a steam crane, and twice I have fallen off a great height and been badly hurt; and during the summer, the rocks where we were working were struck by lightning. The smell of brimstone was awful, but I was not hurt."

"And did you not feel that God was speaking to you in all this?"

"Yes; and for a while — about three months — I did my best to be a Christian, but then the impression wore off, and I gave way to temptation, and I'm as bad as ever."

"That is sad! but I fear you were trying to be religious as many do, and that's a grand mistake."

"Perhaps I did; but, any way, I know I'm all wrong."

"That is the first step to getting right, my friend," I replied; and then putting the gospel simply before him, I trust he was led to see that Christ saves the lost out-and-out without any doings on their part, and was led to simply trust in Him.

This young man is just a sample of thousands around us, — perhaps the counterpart of your history, my dear reader. Is it so? Have you not had warning after warning from God? How have you heeded them? Have you been endeavouring to turn over a new leaf and lead a better life, in the hope — oh, how vain! — of fitting yourself for God's presence? No greater delusion could possibly possess your soul. It will be a great day in your history when you wake up to say, "I know I'm all wrong!" It was the moment of blessing for the prodigal when, in the far country, he said, "I perish with hunger." Friend, have you ever yet "come to yourself" with this appalling discovery, "I'm all wrong"  -  not partly wrong, but "all wrong"? When you discover this, you are at one with God's thoughts about you, for He has said, "There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3).

Let me beseech of you, if you have never yet judged yourself according to God's Word, so to do without one hour's delay. This year of God's grace is fast fleeting by, let it not go past you, and leave you as it found you, "all wrong." Oh, do come to Jesus. He is waiting to bless and save you. Only trust Him simply. He has done the work that can blot out all your many sins; all you need to do is to cast yourself simply on Him. "Acquaint now thyself with him and be at peace, thereby good shall come unto thee." To delay is folly of the deepest kind. Who can count on tomorrow? A lease of your house, your shop, your farm, you may have; but not of your life. So put not off until tomorrow what, if you are wise you will do today, viz., come as you are to the Saviour, and let Him save you. Own your guilt, your need, your misery, and then taste His grace, His love, His mercy. Think not to bring anything, all He wants is an empty heart, that He may fill it with His love, — a burdened conscience, that He may purge it with His blood.

May you be enabled, dear reader, to simply trust Him, and then, truly tasting "that the Lord is gracious," pass on your way no longer "all wrong," but all right, happy in His love, and waiting for His coming!

The Lord Himself fill you with the sense of His grace and love; and, in conclusion, with all my heart can I say, "Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. AMEN."

Do you Hope, or Know, that you have Eternal Life?

THIS question, dear reader, is one of the deepest importance, and your answer will evidence either that you are, if hoping, still in uncertainty as to the salvation of your precious soul, and consequently without peace with God; or, if knowing, in the conscious enjoyment of God's grace toward you through the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom you believe.

Most of those to whom I put my query decidedly answer, "I hope," very frequently adding, "it is impossible to know." If you agree with such a reply, allow me to show you from Scripture that it is not only possible, but actually contemplated by God, that whoever believes in His Son should not only have eternal life, but know that it is possessed even now. To effect my object, I cannot do better than relate how one who, like you, "hoped," was led to "know."

I was preaching the gospel in the south of Ireland, having but one evening to devote to that particular place. In the afternoon a young believer informed me that her mother had promised to come to the gospel meeting at night. She was an elderly person, by no means opposed to the things of God, but had never given evidence of having simply received the truth of the gospel in its peace-giving power. Anxious as the daughter was for her mother's blessing, she was nevertheless importunate that I should not speak personally to her for fear of her being offended, and laid rather a strict embargo on my lips should I happen to come in contact with the old lady.

At the close of the evening gospel meeting, as I was standing near the door, I saw Mrs H- (whom I recognised from the afternoon's conversation) passing slowly out. Offering her a little tract, and at the same time expressing a wish that she might receive no harm on her way home from the rain (which was falling in torrents), she replied that she did not think she would, and further, that she was glad she had come, for she had much enjoyed the meeting.

As I had been speaking on the text, "Be it known, therefore, unto you that the SALVATION OF GOD is sent unto the Gentiles, and they will hear it" (Acts 28: 28), I added, "I trust you now know the salvation of God, and have eternal life."

"I hope so," was her reply, showing no desire to pass me.

"But why should you only 'hope,' my friend, when God wishes you to 'know' that, if believing in His Son, you have eternal life?"

"Well, sir, I believe in the Son of God, and all I can say, is I 'hope,' and I don't think any one can 'know' as long as they are in this world."

"If you will permit me," I answered, "I will show you just one little verse in the Word of God which will settle that matter definitely."

"You need not trouble yourself," said she, "I know the Word of God well. Ever since I was a child I have studied it, and I don't believe there is a verse you can show me that I don't know."

"Just one, Mrs H-."

"Well, where is it?" said she.

Taking her large-print Bible from her hands, I found and read to her, "These things have I WRITTEN unto you that BELIEVE in the name of the Son of God, that ye may KNOW that ye HAVE eternal life" (1 John 5: 13). I read it a second time, and then said, "Do you believe in the name of the Son of God?"

"I do," was the emphatic reply.

"You really do own that you are a lost sinner needing salvation, and that nothing but the bloodshedding of the Son of God could avail to put away your sins."

"I do."

"You repudiate all thought of salvation by your own works, confess that you are an undone, guilty, lost sinner, and now simply believe in the name of the Son of God?"

"I do," was again the short and sincere answer I got.

"Well, then, granting all that, have you eternal life?"

"I hope so."

"Oh," was my reply, "I see it now; in the days when you went to school, which is, of course, a great while ago, they used to spell differently then from now."

"How so, sir?

"Why, K-N-O-W used to spell HOPE in those days? "

"Not at all, sir."

"What did they spell?

"Why, of course, they spelt KNOW the same then as now."

"There is a mistake somewhere," I replied, "there must be, for you say you believe in the name of the Son of God, and He says, 'These things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life,' and you stand there and tell me that you only hope you have it."

"Let me see that verse myself," said the old lady, suiting her actions to her words by diving her hand into her pocket and taking out and adjusting her spectacles. Once and again she read slowly to herself, and then most emphatically out aloud, "These things have I written unto you that BELIEVE ON THE NAME OF THE SON OF GOD, that ye may KNOW that ye HAVE ETERNAL LIFE." The Spirit of God blessed her perusal of the sacred message, and filled her heart with peace as she believed it. "Hope" died on the spot, and faith and amazement mingled had full possession of her soul.

Looking up, she now added, "Well, is it not strange? For, often as I have read the Epistle of John, I never saw that verse yet. Of course I must have read it, for I am very fond of St John's writings, but I never saw it in the light I do now. I am very glad you spoke to me, sir, and showed me that verse. Dear me, how dark I have been, and there it was all the time and so plain too; I wonder I never saw it before! "

"Well, thank God you see it now, and you believe it simply as it stands, don't you?"

"Oh, yes, there's no room left for 'hoping' or doubting now; I'm sure now, and I have to thank you for drawing my attention to the Lord's Word."

We had a little more conversation, and then, seeing that she was now resting simply on the Lord and His blessed written Word, I bade her "Good-night," closing our short and only possible earthly interview with this question, "And now, Mrs H-, if a friend meets you on your way home and asks, 'Have you eternal life?' what shall you say?" With a face now beaming with joy in the assurance of God's salvation, she replied, "I should tell them that I KNOW I HAVE IT because I believe in Jesus, and God has said, 'These things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life.' Good-night, and good-bye, sir."

To her it was truly a good night, and to me truly good-bye, for not many weeks after the dear old lady passed away to be for ever with the Lord, in the sweet enjoyment of the present possession of eternal life.

And now, my dear reader, I trust you will be as simple as was the one of whom I have written. If you know that you are a ruined, lost sinner (and you must know it if you accept the testimony of the Word of God), just look away from yourself simply to Jesus. You will never get peace by looking to yourself, or trying to realise or feel assurance. This only is obtained by simply receiving God's testimony to you. You must receive His witness to you before there can be any witness in you. Nothing can be simpler. I must be in a relationship in order to enjoy its proper affections, or fulfil its duties. I must know that I am a son of God before I can feel like one; so must you. I must know (and I do know) from God's Word that I "have eternal life," before I can (and I do) feel that I have it; so must you.

"This Year thou shalt Die."

GOD usually warns before He judges. So infinite is His mercy and grace that, perhaps, even one might not go beyond the truth in saying that He always does. Scripture abounds with instances. Sodom was visited by two heavenly messengers the day before the fire of God consumed it (Gen. 19). Pharaoh had warnings in abundance long before his final doom. His chariot wheels came off some hours before he "sank as lead in the mighty waters" (Ex. 14, 15). The impious Chaldean monarch had his warning written before his eyes by the "fingers of a man's hand," and from the lips of Daniel heard, "God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it," hours before the enemy gained ingress to the city, yet "in that night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, slain" (Dan. 5). Judas got his warning when the Lord said, "One of you shall betray me." He heeded it not, and went "to his own place" (John 13, Acts 1). Pilate was well and wisely warned, when, even on the judgment seat, he got the message from his wife, "Have thou nothing to do with that just man." Disregarding it, he signed the Lord's death-warrant, and who shall say not his own at the same moment of time?

How different might have been the end, for time and eternity, of all these men, had God's warning been heeded, His message believed, and His mercy besought; had repentance and self-judgment taken the place of unbelief and indifference.

The five words which head this paper were God's warning message to another man. Hananiah was a false prophet. Unsent of God, he prophesied lies in His name. To him came the word of God, "Hear now, Hananiah, the Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth; this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year, in the seventh month" (Jer. 28: 15-17).

It was in the fifth month of the year (see ver. 1) that Hananiah uttered his false prophecy and got his warning — "this year thou shalt die"; and "Hananiah the prophet died the same year, in the seventh month," is God's record of what took place. His word ever comes true.

Reader, have you ever thought that God may have spoken as to you, "This year thou shall die." May I ask, Are you ready to die? Are you converted? Are you prepared to meet God? Are your sins all washed away? If not, you have not much time left. A few more brief days and this year will be numbered in the past, and if "THIS YEAR THOU SHALT DIE" apply to you, it surely behoves you to be on the alert.

Very likely you will say — How do you know I shall die this year? I do not know it, nor affirm it, but God knows, and if your days on earth are numbered, where will you go when you die? Will you spend eternity in heaven or hell? There is no third place. Annihilation is a lure of the devil to get careless sinners to go on in sin till it be too late. Believe it not, my friend. Dear unsaved fellow-sinner, death is before you — two deaths.

"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." What is that? The second death, which Rev. 21: 8 describes as "the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." Surely, to die once is enough. Then you pass out of man's sight, but do not cease to exist. In the second death you pass out of God's sight, but, appalling thought, exist as long as He does. He is the eternal God, and yours will be eternal judgment.

Really, my friend, it is time you were alive to your future. You need not be a gross, scandalous sinner to ensure these two deaths. You have only to go on quietly as you are, in unbelief, and disregard of God's word (and He may be giving you your warning. by this paper, viz., "This year THOU shalt die"), to seal your eternal doom.

Quite possibly you may argue — The chances are greatly against my dying this year, it has nearly sped by, and I am young and hale.

So may have retorted three young men, in the full possession of health and strength, as they, one week evening, heard a friend of mine preach from the words, "This year thou shalt die." The next evening the mangled corpses of all the three were found in a railway cutting. Crossing this, as a short way home from work, an express train overtook and slew them. As to their souls and eternity, nothing was known. They had never confessed Christ, but God had coupled the gospel with the warning they heard over-night.

Death has indeed been busy this year, and my unsaved reader may well heed the poet's words: —

"Both old and young the dart of death

Lays level with the dust;

So, reader, whilst you still have breath

Make Christ alone your trust."

Your heart, sinner, is the target at which death relentlessly shoots his arrows, and possibly, even as you read this, the shaft is being put to the bow which shall fulfil the solemn words, "This year thou shalt die."

For a man to continue in his sins, unrepentant, unforgiven, unwashed, unsaved, when grace is calling him to a Saviour, is folly of the deepest dye. Who can gainsay it? Do you, my reader? Let me tell you what has happened "this year" to others. I was holding some special gospel meetings in a country village, lasting over a month. The last night I spoke on Acts 17, where Paul at Athens "preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection," and then added, "God . . . now commandeth all men everywhere to repent; because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead" (vers. 30, 31). The effect on his hearers is thus given: "And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead some mocked; and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed" (vers. 32, 34). His audience was split into three classes — mockers, procrastinators, and believers. That night I pressed greatly the folly of procrastination. One man, noted for his godlessness and indifference, who was present, fell dead next day without one moment's warning. and with no confession of Christ on his lips. He had got his warning over-night, "This year thou shalt die," but I fear heeded it not.

Again, a Christian man I know, repeatedly brought an acquaintance to hear the gospel from my lips during the past summer. At the end of the meeting I, on two or three occasions, spoke with him. At first he treated the matter of his soul's salvation rather jocularly. The last time I saw him he was more sober, but unsaved, and undecided, and said, "I will hear you again." He did not, nor ever will. A few days later his friend heard him humming

"I can believe, I do believe, That Jesus died for me."

Is that true?" said the Christian. "No," was the honest, but sad answer, "but I wish it were." Ten days later, he suddenly fell on the pavement, became unconscious, and in twelve hours passed into eternity, with no further testimony that is known. God had said, "THIS YEAR THOU SHALT DIE," and he had got his warning.

Depend upon it, my reader, you are getting yours. These solemn facts are true, and, if you are inclined to regard them as mere coincidences, which preacher and writer of the present day are wont to cite, let me affectionately urge on you to carefully peruse, yea, get off by heart, the following weighty words of one long since gone to his rest. Truly wrote Young:

By nature's law, what may be, may be now;

There's no prerogative in human hours.

In human hearts what bolder thought can rise,

Than man's presumption on tomorrow's dawn?

Where is tomorrow? In another world.

For numbers this is certain; the reverse

Is sure to none; and yet on this perhaps,

This peradventure, infamous for lies,

As on a rock of adamant, we build

Our mountain hopes; spin our eternal schemes,

As we the fatal sisters could out-spin,

And, big with life's futurities, expire.

Not e'en Philander had bespoke his shroud:

Nor had he cause; a warning was denied.

How many fall as sudden, not as safe?

As sudden, though for years admonish'd home

Of human ills the last extreme beware,

Beware, Lorenzo! a slow, sudden death.

How dreadful that deliberate surprise

Be wise today; 'tis madness to defer;

Next day the fatal precedent will plead;

Thus on, till wisdom is pushed out of life:

Procrastination is the thief of time;

Year after year it steals, till all are fled,

And to the mercies of a moment leaves

The vast concerns of an eternal scene,

If not so frequent, would not this be strange?

That 'tis so frequent, this is stranger still."

Such words should be graven on the heart of every procrastinator. Reader, are you such? Let me urge you to at once come to Jesus. You may well trust Him. Trusting Him, pardon, peace, and eternal life are yours. For the Christian there is nothing but glory with Christ ahead of him. He has a title without a flaw to that glory. It is his Saviour's blood. He has a prospect without a cloud. Every cloud is gone. The sin that was his has been borne by Jesus. The death and judgment, that sin demand, have been endured by Jesus, in his room and stead. Thus he has "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

For the believer death, should it come, is but the doorway into glory. I stood at the bedside of, an aged believer but a week since. Among her last words, as she quietly winged her way to glory, were these: -

"So calm, so safe, so satisfied,

The soul that clings to Thee."

Come, say, dear friend, will you not turn to Jesus now and believe on Him? Let me entreat you. All the work has been done by Jesus "It is finished," is the legacy, of the dying Saviour to the needy sinner. Receive this priceless heirloom, and then, should God's will be that "this year thou shall die," your happy portion will be "to depart and be with Christ, which is far better."

It is important to remember, that the believer is not looking for death, but for the Lord's second coming. Cheering indeed are the words, "God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we watch or sleep we should live together with him" (1 Thess. 5: 9, 10). "To live together with him." There, dear fellow-believer, is our eternal destiny. "And they have no rest day nor night" (Rev. 14: 1) solemnly describes the eternity of the lost soul.

May God, in His infinite goodness, lead you, my reader, if hitherto undecided for Christ, this moment to decide for Him, for, again I repeat, concerning you the word may have gone out of His lips — a word of warning — which though unheeded will not be unremembered in hell —

THIS YEAR THOU SHALT DIE."

A Rent Veil, A Risen Saviour, A Redeemed Sinner

A Rent Veil, A Risen Saviour, A Redeemed Sinner

Matthew 27: 35-55; Matthew 28: 1-11.

W. T. P. Wolston.

What the gospel does for a soul that receives it, is to bring it to God, not merely to bring a man to heaven when he dies, but to bring him to God now, to enjoy God now, before he gets to heaven. "Christ suffered for sins once, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." Now that is the very last place where you who are unconverted would like to be brought. You do not want to be brought to God, and I will tell you why; because you are afraid of God. The unconverted man is always afraid of God; he does not want to get into His presence; and why? Because he knows very well that there are some questions God will raise with him, and he is not prepared to answer them. God must raise the question of sin with every soul. It is a question that has to be answered between every soul and God, and the man that does not know Christ cannot happily answer it in God's presence.

Now, there are three things that mark Christianity — a rent veil, a risen Saviour, and a redeemed sinner. In Hebrews 10: 19, 20, we read: "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh." Here the Spirit of God gives us what the veil was a type of. If we turn to the Old Testament we shall get what this veil was, and what it was used for. It had a twofold use, it shut man out, and it shut God in — man could not go in to God, and God could not come out to man.

If we look at the description of the tabernacle, we shall see it was an oblong tent divided into two parts, the holy place, and the most holy. The whole mass of the people might come no farther than the brazen altar in the court of the tabernacle, on which the sacrifices were offered — type of the death of Christ in atonement for sin. Beyond this the people dared not go. The priests, the sons of Aaron, might go farther, having first washed at the laver which stood betwixt the altar and the door of the tent. They went inside the first covering into the holy place, to perform the service of the tabernacle, but the veil shut them out from the most holy place. Within that veil they might never go; what was there, their eyes might never look upon.

Inside that veil was the ark of the covenant, containing the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant, and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy-seat; each cherubim looking towards the mercy-seat. But besides this, what else was there? The presence of God! God dwelt there between the cherubims, and into that presence they could not go, and if He came out, it could only be in judgment. Oh, the solitariness of those long years wherein God dwelt alone! One only day, once in a year, might man approach God. Once in the year the high priest might go inside that veil, shrouded by the incense, and with the blood of atonement in his hand, and every other man was shut out.

Christ, as man, walked this wilderness path without sin, and that is what no other man ever did. In life, then, the life of Christ, there is no approach for a sinner to God. By His death only can you approach God.

Let us look for a moment at what that wondrous veil was made of. If you turn to Exodus 26: 31, you have it: "And thou shalt make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work; with cherubims shall it be made."

Now what is the blue? The blue is the well. known symbol of what is heavenly. And was not Christ heavenly? Where did He come from? From heaven! He could say while walking this earth, "The Son of man which is in heaven." He is "the second man, the Lord from heaven." He came from heaven, down to this earth, and everything about Him was heavenly. There you get the blue the heavenly character of Christ, as the God-man, God manifest in the flesh.

What is the purple, then? Well, purple is the imperial colour, and what is He? King of kings, and Lord of lords. He whose right it is to reign shall yet be displayed in this character to the whole universe of God. In bitter mockery they clothed Him in purple in the day of His shame and agony, but He is King of kings and Lord of lords, and the wide universe of God will yet own His sway. There never has been an earthly king or potentate whose kingdom has not been taken away from him; death has come in and robbed him of all his glory, but this King, after a long and glorious reign over the wide earth during a thousand years gives up His kingdom to the Father, that God may be all in all. Death comes and takes it from every other. This One goes through death first — wears no crown in life down here, but the crown of thorns they gave Him in cruel mockery — rises up out of earth, and there. by acquires the right to be set as Son of man, God's King, over all creation.

Then there comes the scarlet. "Oh," you say, "scarlet means suffering." Not always. Scarlet is the Jewish royal colour, for not only is He to be king over the whole earth, but in very special manner He is "king of the Jews," and as purple was Gentile colour, so scarlet was the Jewish emblem of royalty. They put over His cross, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews," and they wrote it in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin, that all peoples and tongues might read the inscription. It really did describe who He was, and what their guilt was, for He was king of the Jews, and they had crucified, in scorn and hatred and unbelief, their king.

Next, you have the fine twined linen of cunning work, figurative, I believe, of His only nature as man; that which all could see and recognize and underneath the veiled Godhead. Perfectly righteous, perfectly holy, perfectly pure, as man, and with all the glory of the Godhead shining through. The cunning work is emblematic of the way God devised by which He was legally Joseph's son, and thus heir to the throne — the Jewish law esteeming Mary as Joseph's wife after espousal — really the son of Mary, as it is written, "a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son," while actually as to His nature the Son of God, — yea God Himself become a man. Amazing mystery of Divine wisdom and love!

"With cherubims shall it be made." Cherubims symbolize the governmental dealings of God; and is not "the government upon His shoulder?" Has not God committed all judgment to Him?

We first read of the cherubims in Gen. 3: 24: "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the cast of the garden of Eden cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." Here, as the executive of God in judgment, they appear looking outward toward man in his sin. Secondly, in Exodus 25: 18-20, we get: "And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy-seat . . . of the mercy-seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof . . . and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubims be."

Here, in type, they gaze inward on to the blood-stained mercy-seat, which we know from Rom. 2: 25 means Christ — having finished a work which enables God righteously to save guilty man. Thirdly, we have seen them in the veil, i.e. connected with Christ personally. What does John 5: 22 mean? "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." Again (v. 27), "and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man." And again, God "hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead" (Acts 17: 31). And, "who shall judge the quick (or living) and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom," but our Lord Jesus Christ? (2 Tim. 4: 1).

It is, then, clear that Christ both judges and executes judgment on the ungodly. How then, sinner, can you escape it? The rent veil is the silent, the eloquent answer. He who is the judge, after your sin, but before the day of His judgment thereof, steps in and Himself sustains the judgment, that He may deliver you from it. What amazing love!

The veil was to be hung upon four pillars of shittim wood. "What is the shittim wood?" you say. Well, I believe the shittim wood speaks of His humanity. He took a human form that He might be able to die. But the shittim wood was overlaid with gold. Gold, in Scripture, represents Divine righteousness. The hooks, likewise, were of gold, and the sockets were of silver, Now silver is typical of redemption. You will notice the sockets of the tabernacle were made of the half shekels of silver that were paid by the people as redemption money — "every man a ransom for his soul" (See Ex. 30: 12; Ex. 38: 25-28). Everything is based on redemption.

Since the fall, man cannot meet God save on the ground of redemption. But how is this redemption accomplished?

Jesus dies, and by His death opens the way of life for you, for me. Read carefully the tale the 27th of Matthew records. Look at it; look at the scorn, the enmity, the mockery, the hatred He passed through. "Oh," you say, "but did not God comfort Him in that terrible hour, did not God sustain His soul?" I believe from the third hour to the sixth hour, that is from nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified Him, until twelve o'clock, that God did stand by Him, did sustain His soul, did manifest to Him His perfect, infinite delight in Him. I believe that never was He so the delight of the Father's heart as in that hour, when, scorned by the world, and forsaken by His own, He hung there between heaven and earth.

But see what happens! At the sixth hour — that is, twelve o'clock, noon — darkness, like a pall, falls over the whole land. What is it? What is this strange eclipse at noonday? Is it God in judgment coming forth to execute vengeance on men — on sinners for their treatment of this Holy One, His beloved Son? Is God about to pour forth His judgment on their guilty heads? Well might they think so. No doubt they did. Well might they believe it was swift and just retribution coming for their murder of Him, of whom even the thief dying by His side could say, "This man hath done nothing amiss;" whom Pilate declared to be a "just person," in whom he could find no fault; who even their own guilty hearts and consciences must have known was unworthy thus to die.

But was it God's judgment on a guilty world? No! It was something greater far, deeper far. It was not God dealing with sinful man, but God dealing with His own Son, God deal. ing with Christ, because of man's sin, that He had taken upon Him. In that terrible hour, when darkness veiled the land, there was another far greater eclipse, a perfect eclipse between God and that One who hung there, even, His own beloved Son, bearing sin. God hid His face from Him then. When all had forsaken Him, as He says, "Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, then, at that very time, God forsook Him too!

And those three hours of darkness, those three hours of total eclipse between God and the One on the cross, rolled on, and then at the ninth hour, three o'clock in the afternoon, comes that great, that terrible cry from Him, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Ah, He forsook Jesus in that hour, that He might never forsake you and me. There was darkness for Him that there might be only light for us. He bore the judgment that we might go free.

Once more, He cries with a loud voice, "It is finished," and gives up His spirit. "No man taketh it from me, I lay it down of myself."

And at that same moment God rends the veil, cherubims and all. He who should execute judgment on man, has in grace sustained and borne it for man; the price has been paid, redemption has been accomplished, and God is able now to come out in grace to man, in spite of his guilt, because of what Christ has done, and man may go in to God through a "new and living way." Beautiful word, a living way. I like that word! How a living way? Because it is not a dead Saviour that I am presenting to you now, but a risen and a living Saviour. He "ever liveth to make intercession for us." He has gone into the grave and come up out of it, having abolished death, and destroyed him who had the power thereof. The third day the tomb was empty, the Saviour had risen. That open grave, that risen Saviour, are the proof that the sins for which He suffered are for ever gone.

And what about the redeemed sinner? Well, I need not say much about him — Christ has everything to do with his redemption, He has brought him to God, as I said at the beginning, and the sinner, or rather he is the believer now, thus brought to God, has nothing to do but to "joy in God," and to wait quietly for the return of the Lord to take him to be with Himself, delighting in the meantime in every little bit of sweet service he can render Him while he stays here.

As a redeemed sinner I have nothing to do but to rejoice in the One who has redeemed me. "But what about your sins?" you ask. Well, I will tell you: God has talked to Christ about my sins, that He might talk to me about Christ.

During those three hours of darkness God dealt with the Lord Jesus about my sins, that He might be able to speak to me only of Jesus.

"But what about the judgment-seat: are you not afraid of that?" No. If I were to stand there and hear every one of my sins brought up, I should only say, "Lord, remember — Lord, remember." Remember what? "Not me, but Christ. Remember He died for me. I am unworthy, but He died for me. His blood was shed for me."

Have you ever noticed one thing lacking in the vessels of the tabernacle? There is no seat there found. And why, think you? I will tell you. Because the priest's work was never done. "Offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right hand of God." There is no repetition of His offering, there can be none. Whatever your sins are, His offering, once offered, is a full discharge for all. "Offered one sacrifice for sins." For whose sins? For sins. But for whose? For sins. It does not say for whose, nor for how many, and if I had the whole sins of a nation on my shoulders this moment I should not care, with my eye on this word of the living God, for the next moment I might know that I am without a single one, free to go in boldly into God's presence because He died for sins, and therefore He died for my sins. That veil was rent: rent, too, from the top to the bottom. Why from the top, to the bottom? Because man had no hand in it. If man had rent that veil, it would only have been to bring out swift destruction on himself. God Himself opened the way of access thus for the very vilest sinner into the holiest of all.

God will never enter into judgment with one who simply trusts in Christ. Those who believe on Him will be with Him, and like Him, before that judgment-seat is set. John 5: 28 says, "The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment."

"And does not that all take place at once?" No; more than a thousand years roll between the first part of that verse and the second. The Lord takes two days to empty the graves and to raise the dead. Could He not do it all at once? No; impossible! He comes first to fetch His own. He Himself descends into the air, and there is the sound of the trumpet and the voice of words, His own voice, and part of the graves are emptied, the tombs are opened, and their occupants come forth. Where do they go? They go up with their Lord, to be for ever in His own bright presence. "They that have done good unto the resurrrection of life," that is, of that eternal life which they possessed, because He gave it to them when they were still down here. That light that He lit in their hearts never went out, that life He gave never was extinguished, once lighted. God never intended that that light should go out. "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."

"They that have done good," then, i.e. all who have Christ, go up to be with Him, and the rest of the dead remain in their graves, and more than a thousand years roll by, and then there comes another opening of the graves, another resurrection of the dead, and they stand, small and great, before the great white throne; to be judged out of those things written in the books, according to their works. "They that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment." They stand there clothed in their sins, to he judged. Which of these two resurrections are you, my friend, going to have part in? Are you going to stand before Him in your sins then, or do you know what it is now to have boldness to enter into the holiest, through that new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh?

Do you know what it is to "draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith?" And let me tell you "full assurance of faith" does not mean a very great amount of faith, but that which simply clings to Christ, and trusts in His atoning blood as its only ground of access there to worship within the veil.

"Where do you worship?" one asked me, some weeks since. "Oh," I answered, "I am very High Church; I worship inside the veil, in the holiest, and that is in heaven itself. I know of nowhere else where I can worship. If I worship the Lord Jesus, I must worship Him where He is." If you look on to Heb. 13: you will find something else combined with being "inside the veil," and that is, "outside the camp." Now, people oftentimes do not like this, they do not like the reproach outside the camp; but depend upon it, the two go very much together, and if I am not prepared for the reproach of being outside the camp with a rejected Christ, I shall not know much of the joy of being inside the veil. These two truths are like the two blades of a pair of scissors — one is very little use without the other — to have one blade alone is no good at all, but when you have both joined together, how good and how useful. There is nothing so cutting as these two blades together — "inside the veil" and "outside the camp." People like to get inside the veil, but depend upon it they do not remain there long unless they know something of what it is to be outside the camp too. That is why one hears so often of loss of joy: loss of peace, too, oftentimes. People want to mix up being inside the veil with God and being in the world too, and they cannot; they want one blade of the scissors without the other.

The Lord give us to hold fast the profession of our hope without wavering, provoking unto love and good works, that is, being so true to the Lord ourselves, that we may be helpers of each other till the day of His coming again!

"In the grave they could not find Him,

He had told them so before:

Justice could no longer bind Him,

Mourner, let your fears be o'er;

'He is risen!'

Jesus lives for evermore.

'Peace unto you!' this His greeting,

Word of Him that cannot lie,

From the heart that bore our judgment,

Heart of love that cannot die.

'Peace unto you!'

Still He speaketh from on high.

'It is finished!' 'He is risen.'

Ye who these blest words receive,

Peace in Him is now your portion,

Peace eternal He will give,

'Peace unto you!'

All who on His name believe."

The Gospel from the book of Ruth

The Gospel from the book of Ruth.

W. T. P. Wolston.

Chapter 1. — DECISION FOR CHRIST.

"Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion Ephrathites of Bethlehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women. of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab; for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread. Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? Are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have an husband also tonight, and should also bear sons: would ye tarry for them till they were grown? Would ye stay for them from having husbands? Nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me. And they lifted up their voice, and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother in law, but Ruth clave unto her. And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law. And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me. When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty; why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty had afflicted me? So Naomi returned, and Ruth, the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab; and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest." — Ruth 1.

There are three characters, beloved reader, in this chapter, which bring before us and illustrate three entirely distinct states of soul. In Naomi you have the sad and solemn case of a backslider; in Orpah you have the fearful condition of a soul that prefers the world to Christ; and in Ruth you have the beautiful picture of a soul that prefers Christ to everything. You can easily tell, my friend, which of these three, characters is yours. Are you a backslider? are you one who prefers the world to Christ? or, are you one who prefers Christ to anything and everything? Do not say you do not know; that is not true. You do know. When I was in the world I knew quite well that I preferred the world, and that in my heart there was nothing but enmity to God's beloved Son.

In the Old Testament Scriptures, as well as in the New, you have the truth unfolded that God loves us, and wants us to know and love Himself. Men do not believe it, but there it is. Look at Naomi, she is the picture of one who has known the love of God, and turned her back upon Him for something in the world. Is such an one reading this paper? — one who has known the love of God, walked for a while with the Lord, confessing His name, seemed for a time really true-hearted to Him, enjoyed the sweetness of His presence, and then something has come in — something perhaps in your worldly circumstances — and little by little, insensibly perhaps at first, your back has been turned on the Lord. At first the turning away was very slight, but it was turning from Him, and little by little, little by little, you got farther and farther of, till at last the soul woke up to find it was utterly empty.

Everything is bitter in the soul that has given up Christ for the world. "Call me not Naomi (i.e., pleasant), call me Mara (i.e., bitter)," says Naomi (ver. 20). Oh, reader, are you one that has got back into the world, and turned your back on the Lord? Fain would I have you turn right round to Him again this moment. Oh, wandering one, return, return! Backslider, the Father has missed thee from the family circle, the Saviour has missed thee from His side, the Shepherd has missed thee from the flock; oh, return, return! Nothing has changed His heart towards you; spite of all your wanderings, He loves you still; He would have you back by His own blessed side. In this chapter I get him bringing back Naomi.

Ten years she and her family had been away from Judah; yet she ought never to have left Judah, the place where God was known. It was quite natural she should go when there was a famine there, you say. Yes, quite natural, for nature always turns its back upon God; but see the folly of it. Could not God have maintained them in Bethlehem? "Bethlehem" means "the house of bread;" and could not God have maintained them there in peace and plenty? But what does she get by leaving it? Does she get peace and plenty in Moab? No, the heart that leaves God for the world gets plenty of trouble, but not one scrap of peace; a soul that has slipped away from the Lord, and got back into the world, wakes up, sooner or later, to find itself in misery and wretchedness.

Naomi leaves Judah with her husband and her two sons; a little while, and the one she loves best in the world is taken from her side and laid in the cold tomb. Ah, the Lord knows how to touch a heart by a sorrow like that. He says, Child! I love you too much to let that pillar remain by your side on which you are leaning. I will take that pillar away that you may lean on Myself. And now Mahlon is sick and dies. ("Mahlon" means sick, and "Chilion" pining.) And Chilion too is "pining" and dies; and she is left alone. Here comes the epitome of her history. "The woman was left of her two sons and her husband" (ver. 5). Thank God He did not leave her! Thank God, though you leave Him, He does not leave you. Do you know what passing through grief, such as this scripture unfolds, means? He would draw your heart by it to Himself.

And now see how the grace of God draws the heart back to Himself. Naomi rises up to return; not alone because she had found Moab only a graveyard, but because in the moment of her deepest distress and sorrow, when everything was broken up in Moab, she heard that there was plenty in the land she had left. Fool that she was ever to leave it! She hears that the Lord had "visited his people in giving them bread." Oh, how our Father loves to visit His people and give them bread! He may chasten His people when they need it, but the delight of His heart is to fill them with jay to overflowing. It was the grace of the Lord that drew her back.

What drew Peter, after his terrible denial of his Master? It was that look of love. Though all should deny Him, he would not. He had said he would go to prison and to death for Him, but never deny Him. Full of self-confidence, which is often the secret of backsliding, he says he will never deny Him; but he was sleeping when he ought to have been praying; he was cutting of the servant's ear when he ought to have been quiet; he forsook Christ, and fled, when he should have been near Him; and though he went into the palace of the high priest afterwards (it was John who took him in), he did not get there by clinging to Christ, and a little servant girl can make him afraid, and deny that he ever knew his blessed Lord.

"Thou also wast with Jesus," she said.

"Woman, I know Him not," replies Peter.

Then another said, "Thou art also of them."

And Peter said, "Man, I am not."

But soon a third urges, "Did I not see thee in the garden with him?"

And then Peter began to curse and to swear, saying, "I know not this man of whom ye speak."

Terrible picture of our weakness, when away from God! Within earshot of Jesus he can turn round and deny that he ever knew Him. And Jesus heard it, and turned round and looked at him. "You do not know Me, Peter?" That was what that look said. "You do not know Me?"

What kind of a look do you think the Lord gave Peter? Was it a withering look of scorn and contempt? Did it say, "Miscreant, liar," in its glance? He deserved that it should, but oh, no, it. was a look of broken-hearted love, of love so tender and strong. A look that said, "I love you still, Peter: if you do not know me, I know I love you." And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

I do not wonder that he wept bitterly. The grace of the Heart that he had wounded broke him down; and then afterwards we are told of the Lord's meeting and restoring this backsliding one. He appeared to Simon after His resurrection. The fact is recorded, but did you ever wonder how He restored him? Did you ever wonder what passed between the Lord and Peter that day? He does not tell us. We only know the fact. The Lord does not tell out all that goes on between a soul and Himself. He not only restores Peter. but He brings him to judge the thing that led him away, and then He trusts him again. The backslider never gets right with God till he has it all out with Him. When you get back, and judge the point of departure, then He restoreth the soul. The Lord does what we never do. We say, "I could never trust so-and-so again, after what has passed." The Lord shows out to all how He can trust Peter after He has made him judge himself.

On the shore of Galilee's lake the Lord publicly restores Peter. First of all He says, "Lovest thou me more than these?" Not more than these fishes; but Peter had said that though all should deny Him, he would not. Peter, using a word which implies more than love in general, answers, "Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I have a special affection for Thee."

A second time He asks him, and a second time Peter answers, "Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I have a special affection for Thee."

And now a third time the Lord puts the question. Three times Peter had denied Him, three times He interrogates him; and this third time He uses Peter's own word, "Hast thou a special affection for me?" and this time Peter flings back the door of his heart and says, Lord, look in. "Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I have a special affection for Thee." No one else would think I love Thee, but Thou knowest; no one else could believe it possible but Thou. The Lord seems to, say, "Now, Peter, you take care of what I love best. I will put into your care that which is dearest to Me. 'Feed my lambs,' 'Shepherd My sheep,' 'Feed My sheep.' I can trust you now that you distrust yourself." That is how the Lord restores, and gives back confidence. May He thus restore you this moment, O wandering one!

Now turn and look at these two young people who say they will go up with Naomi. Naomi does get back to the land, but on the road see the mischief she does. Oh, backsliding one, if restored, beware how you again slip away from the Lord, lest you be the cause of everlasting ruin to some other soul or souls under your very roof. There is nothing so terrible as backsliding, nothing so disastrous as slipping away from the Lord!

Both these two young people had passed through the same sorrow, were in the same circumstances, under the same influences, and with the same testimony before them; for Naomi must have unfolded something of God to them, to make Ruth speak as she does afterwards. Orpah thus had the same opportunities, the same privileges, the same advantages, as Ruth, and at first they turn their backs on the world together. These two seriously mean to leave it; and I doubt not, beloved unsaved soul, you too have had your moments of serious thought; you have had your moments of conviction, have you not? Have you never trembled as you heard the preacher reason of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come? You know you have. But have you decided for Christ? No doubt you have said, "It is better to be a Christian than not to be one." Your sins have come up before you, and you have trembled as you thought you must some day have to do with God, and you have felt afraid of the judgment to come.

But perhaps you say, "I have had no convictions, no anxiety, no fear for the future, or thought about my soul and God." Do you say that? Ah! then, my careless, Christless friend, there are days of hopeless sorrow before you; days of terrible conviction, days of fearful anxiety, days of agony, and remorse, and terror unspeakable; but where? In the place where hope never comes; when anxiety, and convictions, and sorrow, and remorse come all too late. Oh, that you may be aroused, awakened, convicted now, my unsaved readers; now, while you have still time to decide for Christ!

It may be, with some of you, that deep sorrow has been known in your heart; death has knocked. not at your door, but at the door of one you deeply loved; and as that one has been taken from you you have felt, "How would it have been had I been called away like that?" Ah, what would it be if you died now?

Young man, what would the issue be if you died this moment in the state in which you are? Where would you spend your eternity — your long, your endless eternity?

Hoary old man, grown old in forgetfulness of God, grown grey in rejection of Christ, with all your sins still upon you, if God called you away at this very moment, where would you spend your eternity?

Young woman, so gay and thoughtless, thinking only of the world, caring only for pleasure, with no thought of Christ, unwashed, unforgiven, if God were to cut you down now, as you read this, where would you go to spend this endless eternity that is before you? It is high time you were converted. Oh, turn round to Jesus, your sins shall all he forgiven; you shall taste the blessedness of knowing the Lord. It is better far to belong to Him, happier far to be numbered among "His own;" and could you have a moment better than the present to accept Him as your Saviour? Could you have a more important moment than this moment, in which to decide for Christ? Impossible! He loves you and wants to save you. His name, Jesus (i.e. Jehovah, the Saviour), may well invite your trust; but put it off, put it of till tomorrow, and what shall then be? God knows.

But a few days ago I was called to see one who had been the day before in life and health: in six hours she was a corpse; and friend, it may be so with you tomorrow, or even today, and what do you think it would be to die in your sins? Think! think! I warn you; be warned in time! Have you no care for your precious soul; no anxiety to flee from the wrath to come; no desire to be with God's beloved Son by-and-by? Oh, would you not like to know that your sins can be forgiven? Would you not like to he found among the ransomed of the Lord, by-and-by? Would you not like that your voice should swell that chorus of praise to the One who died to save you? Would you not like to be there in that scene of life and glory? Oh, decide, DECIDE NOW, DECIDE FOR CHRIST!

Truly, this world is a scene of sorrow and death. What had Naomi found Moab to be? A graveyard! And what is this world? A great graveyard! Sorrow and death everywhere. The hearse that you meet as you go into the street tells you of death. If you turn from it and go another way, what will presently meet your eye? A house with the blinds all drawn down. Oh, you say, death has been there too. A few steps farther and you meet one draped in deep mourning; death again has been taking away the loved one. You go to your home, and there the first thing you see is the black-edged letter waiting for you, telling once more the tale of sorrow, bereavement, and death; and a morning or two hence some one else may take up the newspaper, and there, the last upon the list, "died suddenly," is your name.

Yes, this world is one vast graveyard, but what a relief it is to turn from it to the living God! I cannot tell you what it is to my heart to know that the One who loves me best can never die. The one I love best here is the one with whom my deepest sorrow is connected, for death may come in and take that one away from me. But I have One to love now who can never die. Ah! but you say He has died. Yes, and He died for me, that is the best of it; that is what wins the heart for Christ. He died for me, and now the heart may flow out to Christ unhinderedly, and never shall its tendrils be rudely broken. You may love Him deeply, tenderly, yea, with your whole heart; your deepest affections may go out to Him, and never shall they be crushed or disappointed, for you will have found One to love who can never die. You who have known sorrow, would you not like to know Him to comfort you in it? You who have known death taking your dearest, would you not like to know Him who is the Resurrection and the Life? You who want an object to live for, would you not like to know Christ? Is your heart empty? He will fill it, for Christ fills to overflowing. There is life for the dead, comfort for the sorrowing, bread for the hungry, everything in Jesus, and an object to last you all your days, One who can never die.

Perhaps you say, "I should like to be a Christian, it is better far to be a Christian, for the world has never really satisfied me yet." No, and it never will, for the heart is too big to be filled with aught except Christ, but He fills it to overflowing. But you tell me, "Some Christians are not happy." I will tell you why, they are likeNaomi, backsliding ones. They want to have a bit of the world and a bit of Christ; to hold the world with one hand and Christ with the other. No wonder they are not happy, they are not the right. kind of Christians at all; they have too much of Christ to really enjoy the world, and too much of the world to fully enjoy Christ; now, do not they deserve to be miserable for their half-heartedness? I think so. Besides, look at the damage they do; what is the effect of their half-heartedness? Why, by-and-by they will say to some young person who wants to be out-and-out for Christ, "Well, you know, you must not go so far; if you are going to be as decided for Christ as that, you will have to give a great deal up; you had better not take such a stand."

After this sort speaks Naomi, saying, "Go, return." "Go back!" I have no words strong enough in condemnation of such behaviour to inquiring souls. "Go back" where? Go back to hell? Go back to the lake of fire and brimstone? Go back to Moab and its gods, and to hell at the end? for that is the real meaning of it. And this is the advice of one who knew the living God. Get all you can in the world, and everlasting ruin at the end. Even the world holds Christians, who act in such a way, in contempt. Very deep and profound was the contempt I had for unreal Christians when I was in the world. I respected real Christians, though, alas, I hated them; but I despised half-hearted ones. Oh, beware of in any wise ceding the truth one bit; by so doing you lose everything and you gain nothing.

Yet Naomi's words seem kind and plausible, "The Lord deal kindly," etc. (verse 8); "The Lord grant you that ye may find rest" (verse 9). What mockery! Turn your back on. Him, and look for rest! What might they have answered her? "We had everything, and it has all been swept away by death. Our cup was full, but it has been dashed to the ground, and we are empty and desolate in the world; we want something living and abiding." Just suited are such souls for God to come in, and fill, and comfort, and satisfy. And they seem in earnest, too, and say, "Surely we will return with thee." They appear so interested, so engaged about it. like a heart almost decided for Christ. But Naomi says, "Turn again." Oh, how could she? Turn from God! Turn back to the world; the world that had failed to satisfy them! Naomi was the very picture of some crooked, crotchety, cross-grained people, who have no expectation of other people being saved; it is as much as they know they are saved themselves.

I suspect, too, that Naomi had a bit of Scripture in her mind that day, that no Moabite should enter the congregation of the Lord, even to the tenth generation. (See Deut. 23: 3, 4.)

So now she brings out this — If you go with me, your worldly prospects will all be blighted (verses 11.13); go back, and the Lord give you something in the world. Worldly prospects all ruined; I think I see Orpah's face. I cannot stand that, she says; I never thought of that. This brings Orpah to the point, and now, dear reader, comes the point whether you really want Christ or not. "But," you say, "will my worldly prospects be blighted?" So it is often. The moment you are out-and-out for Christ, your old companions will slight you and leave you. Do you, therefore, say, It is up hill work being a Christian? Yes, it is; but look at the top of the hill, look at the end of the path, it is all brightest glory, the fair scene of light, and joy, and blessing with Christ for evermore.

When this point is come to, there is decision; and then comes the line of demarcation. Hitherto, these two had been going on side by side, to the same spot; and there may be two souls in one family, perhaps two sisters, whose hearts are moved — both think they would like to be Christians; but now decision is called for. Ah, I am not prepared for that, says one. I had not counted the cost, says Orpah; good-bye, Naomi, good-bye. I shall always feel kindly towards you, and I hope we shall meet again some day; but I can. not go with you at that cost; and she turns her back on God and on blessing. From that moment Ruth goes one way, and Orpah another; the one is decided for God, and the other is decided for the world; and they separate for ever, each step now taken more widely sundering them from each other; sad finale to what seemed so hopeful a beginning.

Oh, but you say, the picture is so dark, so dreary. Shall I lose in this world? Very likely. Will my prospects in life be blighted? Very likely. Then it is so dark, I could not be a Christian. And you go back, you choose the world, you reject Christ.

Everything in the world looks fair and bright before you for a time, and you say it is most natural you should cleave to the world and turn away from God; most natural, but what is the end? A little while and the grass is cut down, and tomorrow — tomorrow it is cast into the oven, the solemn end of an. unconverted soul. A bright prospect the world has, most surely! No real joy for time, and nothing but real sorrow for eternity. You turn your back on God and blessing, on Christ and His love, and presently you are cast off by God, forsaken by Him, and then you spend your eternity where hope and light and love never, never come; and you choose this, and call it a bright picture, do you? Nay, it is like the rich man in the gospel, who was hurled in one moment from the lap of luxury to the lake of fire! Your path ends in death now, and judgment for ever.

Oh, I warn any one who is this moment just balancing the matter. Do you turn back? "I do." Do you answer really, I do? You choose the world? "Yes." You turn your back on the truth, then, and back into the world in affections you go? Against Christ? "Yes." For the world? "Yes." Back to her people and her gods goes Orpah, and you follow in her steps. Hear what Isaiah says of these gods, "gods that cannot save"' (Isa. 45: 20). What an awful picture of a soul that turns its back, deliberately, in cold blood, on God and His Son!

One of these two characters is yours. Either, like Orpah, you refuse Christ and you choose the world, or, like Ruth, you say now, I cannot go back; you tell me the road is rough; I care not, it is the end of the road my eye is upon. Ruth is the picture of a soul that says, I will have Jesus, come what may in between. There is something in Jesus that attracts my heart, and Him I must have. But it will he a rough road. I care not, I must have Him. There will be stones in the way. I know it. There are lions in the path. No matter, "I will go!" "Where thou lodgest, I will lodge." Mark how she goes into details; let the road be ever so rough, the accommodation ever so bare, she has sat down and counted the cost. "Thy people shall be my people," even though the Lord's people be a despised people, "And thy God my God," that is, the end before Ruth is God Himself.

To the heart that wants salvation, that wants eternal life, I say, What is it you covet? It is God Himself. What do you want to possess? It is God you want. In Isaiah 45 we hear of gods that can. not save, and then God unfolds what He is, "a just God and a Saviour." How just? Because He will not pass over or make light of sin. How a Saviour? He gave His own beloved Son to die on Calvary's cross, the just for the unjust, to bring us to Himself. And now He is willing to save to the utter. most all that come unto Him through Jesus. "Look unto me and be ye saved," is His word. If I tell you of my God, what is He? A loving, a gracious God, a saving God, a God who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up to die in order that He might spare you. A God who loves you, and who wants to save you.

Well, do you say "Thy God shall be my God"? My heart delights to hear the words. What a God He is! a just God, and a Saviour. "Look unto Me, and be ye saved." Does He say, Look unto Me, and feel saved? No, it is. "be ye saved." If it were feel saved, Satan would whisper, But you do not feel aright. It is "be ye saved." Are you looking to the Lord? then you are saved; the moment your heart says, Well, God is for me, He loves me, He bids me look and live, I do look. Then what does He say? "Be ye saved."

It is a blessed thing when the heart says, Christ is mine, I respond to His grace, to His call; hence. forward, I am His. I AM DECIDED FOR CHRIST. "When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, she left speaking," and so can I! If decision for Christ is the word you can say just this moment, my work is done. I trust you are not "a little bit inclined' towards" (No, no!), but "stedfastly minded" for Christ.

They come back to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest, and in the next chapter we read of Ruth gleaning until the end of barley harvest, and wheat harvest; what does that mean? She came in for everything. Whenever the heart is decided for Christ, everything is yours. The Lord grant you to have your heart so fixed on Christ, so pledged to Christ from this hour, that you may know you are Christ's, and Christ is yours, and all that He has is yours too. The God that gives life to the dead, speaks peace to the troubled soul, and comfort to the sorrowing one, gives life and hope and joy to every believer, and will take each such in a little while to be where He is, in scenes of eternal brightness and beauty. Oh! who would not have such a God? And you must make your choice. Either you must drop this paper godless, or for God. You must decide either against the Lord or for Him. There is not a single person can lay aside this paper undecided. If it is not for Christ, it is against him. "He that is not with me is against me." There is no middle ground. Is it among the foes, the adversaries of the Lord, your lot is henceforth to be cast, or numbered with His own, — able, henceforth, to sing this hymn that my heart loves?

"My heart is fixed, eternal God,

Fixed on Thee,

And my immortal choice is made,

Christ for me."

Chapter 2.

MEETING WITH CHRIST

"And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter. And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee. Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? And the servant that was set over the reapers answered, and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens: Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens. And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left. And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men. saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not; And let fall also some of the handfuls on purpose for her, and leave them, that the may glean them, and rebuke her not. So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley. And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed. And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned today? and where wroughtest thou? Blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she showed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought today is Boaz. And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the Lord, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest. And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field. So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law." — Ruth 2.

This second chapter of Ruth is intimately connected with the first chapter, which tells us briefly that a man named Elimelech, with his wife Naomi, and two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, under pressure of circumstances, left the land of Judah — left Bethlehem (the house of bread), and went down to Moab (the land of idolatry); turned their back on God and went into the world. A little while and Elimelech dies in Moab; a little longer and Mahlon is sick and dies, and then Chilion pines and dies likewise. Her husband and her two sons are taken away and Naomi is left alone. She wakes up to find her husband gone, both her sons gone, and she is left, the abject picture of desolation and sorrow.

Then she learns that the Lord has visited His people with bread, she hears of the grace of the Lord, and she sets out to return to Judah. Orpah and Ruth, her two daughters in law, say they will leave the land of idolatry and death and go up with her to Canaan. Canaan typifies heaven, and every sinner says he would like to go to heaven. They both make the start, and then. you get Naomi, in effect, saying, "If you go with me, your worldly prospects will be ruined, go back to the world."

Though they both say they will go with her, yet Orpah, true to her name, when she hears what Naomi says, turns back, frightened at the prospect. Orpah means "a fawn," and a fawn is a timid, easily frightened creature. How many Orpahs there are now! How many who turn back frightened, afraid of the roughness of the road; terrified at the difficulties! Orpah turns back to the world — to Moab, "unto her people and her gods,"' i.e., to her relations and her religion — and what kind of religion was it? Empty forms. A dull, Christless religion, with nothing in it for the heart. She is the type of a worldly professor. She goes back, and this brings Ruth to the front.

"Do not ask me to go back," she says, "I will go on." But the way is rough. "Never mind, I will go." But you will lose everything. "It is no matter, I will go on, I must go on. I have had enough of Moab. I lost my husband in Moab, the one I loved best I lost; the world has only been a scene of sorrow, desolation, and death to me. Is there not a place of light, and joy, and incorruptibility that you can tell me of, and that I may reach? Thy people shall be my people; I will go with you." And now comes the spring of it all, "Thy God shall be my God."

Can you say that, beloved friend? Can you say, "I want Christ?" Oh, blessed soul! if you can say, "I want Christ," soon you will wake up to the truth that Christ wants you. Precious, precious truth, Christ wants you! He has come into the world and sought you; you have not to seek Him. He has sought you; He came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost.

Well, Ruth goes on and gets to Bethlehem-Judah  - blessed place! May you get to God's house of bread — the feet of Jesus; may you reach the "house of bread" this day; the place where you shall find rest on the bosom of Jesus! God grant you to meet Jesus even this day! Would you not like to meet Jesus just now? Would you not like to know Jesus? Would you not like to have Jesus? Would you not like to be able to say, "This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend?" Would to God that this day I could introduce you to Christ! What joy would fill my heart! It is the evangelist's part, as an instrument, to introduce the sinner to the Saviour. You want Jesus? The evangelist comes and tells you Jesus wants you. You want to be made happy? Jesus wants to make you happy. You want eternal life? Jesus wants to give you eternal life. You want your sins forgiven? Jesus wants to for. give you. You want rest? Jesus wants to give you rest. Oh, would you not like to rest on the very bosom of Jesus henceforth? You say. "Yes, I would. I am anxious." Blessed sight! Do you talk to me of pictures? I say the two most lovely pictures under the sun are a company of saints happy in Christ, and a company of sinners wanting Christ.

Ah, you who want Christ — you are the very one Christ wants! He wants to save you. He wants to have you. He wants to take you with Him to everlasting glory. Will you let Him? Will you let Him save. you today? Will you yield yourself to Him now? Do you say, "I want Christ?" Well, listen, then. I am going to talk to you about a Friend.

Boaz is a lovely type of Christ as a kinsman. He was able to do the part of the near kinsman in His death and resurrection. He has bought the field.

Two things come out in Christ the Saviour: He is the full revelation of God, and He is a perfect Man too. There is a Man who can deliver you from the lake of fire, a Man who can bring you in righteousness to God, "a mighty man of wealth," and His name, His peerless name is JESUS. He was rich. He had everything. He was the eternal Son, the very delight of God, and in the grace of His heart He passed angels by, came into this world, and, oh, marvel of marvels, He who was God. became a man that He might rescue you. The first man, in his pride, tried to become as God, and he became a sinner; but listen! He who was God became a man, in the grace and love of His heart, in order that He might die and deliver you from the power of sin and Satan, and bring you in righteousness to God. "For ye know the grace of our Lord. Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye. through his poverty. might be rich." Oh, would you not like to have Christ? You say, "I am so poor." Yes, but He is rich, this mighty Man of wealth! Tell me, now, would you not like to be possessed of Him? Would you not like that there should be a link between your soul and this mighty Man of wealth? All that God is He showed in His life, as man on earth. All that the first man is, was fully met by His cross, when He took upon Him, as a Substitute, all the sin and guilt, then, by dying, swept it all away, rose again, and went to heaven as man. He came down as God, He went up as man (God too, always, of course). He perfectly manifested God to man down here, and now He perfectly manifested man to God up there.

"How wondrous the glories that meet

In Jesus, and from His face shine!

His love is eternal and sweet,

'Tis human, 'tis also divine!

His glory — not only God's Son

In manhood He had His full part

And the union of both join'd in one

Forms the fountain of love in His heart."

Oh, would you not like to know this Jesus?

Well, Ruth goes forth now to glean, "and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging to Boaz," a very important item that. What does it mean, do you ask? It means this, it was not sub-let, thank God. It belonged to Boaz, it was a place where Boaz got his rights, where he was everything. It is the place where Christ's claims are fully acknowledged. There was a chief reaper too, which I doubt not prefigures the One who carries on the work down here now, the Holy Ghost. But the field belonged to Boaz, and Ruth is among his reapers now. Oh, it is a grand thing to be among Christ's reapers. It is not sowing time now, it is reaping, and there is a day coming when He who sowed and they who reap shall rejoice together. His service is the sweetest joy under the sun; there is only one thing sweeter than His service, and that is Christ Himself. Do you ask, Is it hard work to serve Christ? I know of no joy like it, save the enjoyment of the Person of the Master.

And now, mark the intimacy between the master and the servants. "And Boaz said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you, and they answered him, The Lord bless thee." It is beautiful; there is perfect communion between the Lord and the reapers, and it is most blessed to see the way He comes in and out among them.

"Whose damsel is this?" he now says. He had his eye on the stranger, he marked the stranger and asked about her, and the servant can tell him all about her. He had found out all about her. The Lord puts the servant oftentimes in full knowledge of what is going on in a soul, just in order to meet the need of the soul, by His word, through the servant. Here, however, we have a beautiful picture of the way the Lord Himself deals with a soul now. Look at the tenderness of the Lord; do not judge of the tenderness of the Master by the roughness oftentimes of the servant. "Hearest thou not, my daughter?" Listen how tenderly He speaks, the moment you enter the field where He is, the moment you become a gleaner in His field, this is what He says. "My daughter."

But, you say, this is an Old Testament scene. Then listen to one from the New Testament. There was a poor woman, when the Master was on earth, sick and weary, and she hears of Jesus, and she wants to get to Him, for she says, "If I may but touch His clothes, I shall be whole." The crowd throng and press Him. She follows with the multitude, trying to get near Him. The crowd sways and moves, but she presses forward, reaches the Person of Jesus, touches the hem of His garment, and, lo! she is healed. The woman would have gone away at once, I think, but Jesus stood still and said, "Who touched my clothes?" If she had gone away, though she was healed, the devil would have suggested, Ah, yes, you are healed now, but you will be just as bad again tomorrow. This the Lord knew, so He arrests her footsteps as she had arrested His, and ere she departs, most sweetly confirms her. When she heard of Jesus she came, and when she came she touched, and when she touched she was healed; and then, being healed by His power, He confirms her faith by His word, and sends her away with words which she could never forget, and which I trust may fall as sweetly on your ear and heart, dear reader: "Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole, go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." Her past was — "thy faith hath made thee whole;" her present — "go in peace;" her future  - "be whole of thy plague." He assures her not only is she whole, but she is to be so ever after. Is not that a grand confirmation service?

But, best of all He owns relationship with her. Do you trust Him? Then He owns you. He acknowledges you the very moment you acknowledge and trust Him.

Again, there was a man sick of the palsy, in the 2nd of Mark, and they bring him where Jesus was. The house is full, but they take of the roof and let him down to the feet of Jesus, and when He saw their faith He said, "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee." And again, "Arise, take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house." And he went out by the door. He had come in by the roof, lying on his back on the bed. Thus, you see, whenever there is faith, the Lord owns relationship with the soul, and then sends it forth, a witness of His grace and power. There ought to be no cripples in the Lord's camp.

"Then said Boaz to Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? go not to glean in another field, neither. go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens; let thine eyes he on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them; have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground." His grace breaks her down entirely. What does he do? He puts everything at her disposal, and, the moment a soul trusts Christ, He puts everything at its service. The whole range of Scripture blessing is at your disposal when you trust Him, and you have but to drink of the streams of that fountain of living waters, which His own death and resurrection have opened up for your thirsty soul.

"Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly (to the heart — margin) unto thine handmaid." Ah, beloved, when Jesus speaks He speaks to the heart, for there is such grace in His words; such tenderness, such pity and compassion, such healing of the wounds of the soul.

But this only the more deeply bows down the soul before Him, and, while His grace is thus discovered and enjoyed, there is also discovered and judged what self is. This is repentance; a most necessary exercise of the soul, and one which ever accompanies the learning of God's grace. In figure, Ruth passes through this exercise when she says, "Though I be not like to one of thine handmaidens." She feels, and every new-born soul feels, "I am utterly unworthy of His grace. I do not deserve such love." She judges herself: it is repentance, self-condemnation.

"And Boaz said unto her, At meal time come thou hither." You see your soul is to feed, but where is it to feed? In company with Christ, while withal it feeds on Christ. "Eat of the bread, said Boaz. "He that cometh unto Me shall never hunger," re-echoes Jesus. What bread is it? "The living bread," the bread that "endureth to ever. lasting life." And this Bread is Christ Himself. "I AM the living Bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall LIVE FOR EVER; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world . . . . Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood HATH ETERNAL life" (John 6: 51, 54).

"Dip thy morsel in the vinegar," too, Boaz adds. What does that mean? Participation: the soul that knows Jesus is to have full participation with Him in everything. He shares all with us, and feeds us with the finest of the wheat. "And he reached her parched corn." Yes, beloved, that hand that was pierced for us on the cross is the hand that feeds us now, the hand that leads us and guides us. He likes to have us by His side. In the world we shall find people get tired of us, they do not always want us; but there is never a moment when Jesus does not want us by His side; no, never.

And to Christians I would say, Be sure and get your regular meals; get them in company with Christ, feeding on "the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." There is nothing He has He does not place at your disposal the moment you trust Him; and He wants you to take it all from His own hand in full communion with Him, self, so that He may see you enjoy, in His own blessed presence, those precious fruits of His work which love like His alone could make yours.

"And she did eat, and was sufficed, and left." What a picture of a soul simply sitting down and fully receiving the grace of God! What is the first thing I do when His grace offers me Christ the living Bread? Why, I eat. What follows? I am sufficed, satisfied. The heart is full, the conscience is perfectly purged, the soul is at rest. In place of being, like the swallow, ever on the wing, or the sparrow, ever seeking wherewithal to satisfy its hunger, I am deeply content. The old ceaseless cravings and wants of the heart are perfectly, fully, eternally met by Christ and His work; and then, as a simple sequence, comes this, there is something (in our case an immensity) "left," which we carry off for the benefit of others. Grace magnificently expands the heart, strips it of selfishness, and fills it with desires for the blessing of others. Till Christ is known, the heart is aching through its emptiness, for the world is too small to fill it, so deep are its caverns; but when Christ is learned, its deepest recesses are filled, and filled to overflowing, and there is abundance "left" for others.

But we must yet follow our gleaner, only, how. ever, to learn deeper lessons of the loving heart of the Lord of the harvest. So now, when Ruth is risen up to glean, the word goes forth, "Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not: and let fall also some of the HANDFULS OF PURPOSE for her, and leave them that she may glean them."

How beautiful is His grace! There is plenty of food, plenty. It is Bethlehem — the house of bread — she has reached most truly. Was not that a blessed handful the Lord gave that poor woman in the gospels, "Thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."

"But," you say, "I am afraid of the judgment-day." Well, then, here is a handful for you. "He that believeth, is not condemned;" and again, "He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me HATH EVERLASTING LIFE." Gather up that handful, beat it out, take it home, and eat it. "Hath everlasting life, and SHALL NOT COME INTO CONDEMNATION, but IS PASSED from death unto LIFE."

What have I for the present? EVERLASTING LIFE. What have I for the future? No CONDEMNATION." What about the past? I was in DEATH, and have PASSED FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE." What a complete salvation! I have thanked the Lord for that handful many and many a time, dear reader; and I trust you will gather it, too, this day, and thank Him likewise for its priceless value.

"So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley." That is, Ruth knew exactly what she had got, and she had got it in a way in which she could use it. "The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting," and many souls do the same. Ruth was not of that sort, she was a diligent gleaner, she was a wise gleaner. She did not take away any of the straw, she only took what she could make use of. What was the use of having it beaten out? She could take it away in a compact bundle and use it. And, when a soul gets hold of Christ, it knows what it has got; it is something tangible, no vague thing. A big bundle of straw may not have a single grain of wheat amongst it. Many people are what I might call straw-carriers. They are full of doubts, and fears, hopes, and feelings, and frames, and experiences, and maybe's, and uncertainties, and ambiguities; and they have nothing distinct. They can never say, "I know." Such, although they may be very diligent both as bearers and readers, have never "beaten out" their gleanings.

If you are of this sort, my reader, you take a plain word of warning, and do not trust any longer in uncertainties, but see to it, from God's own Word, that Christ is yours and that you are Christ's.

Ruth left the straw behind. What do you mean by leaving the straw? Why, leave the style of the speaker, or the eccentricity of the writer, leave everything I have said, and carry away only the golden grain of God's precious, enduring Word, on which your soul is to feed and fatten. One word from God is worth all beside. Get your hearts full of Christ, and go and confess Him. When people have Christ in their hearts, it comes out. It is our privilege to know, without a doubt, what our God gives us. Ruth knew exactly what she had got, and she took it home.

"And her mother in law saw what she had gleaned; and she brought forth and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed," — that is, the parched cam that Boaz gave her at meal-time. She could not eat it all. He gave her more than she could eat, and she took it home. That is, Christ so satisfies your heart that you are full yourself, and have the flowings over for souls round about. What a blessed result of meeting with Christ!

But now, one warning word ere I close, should this paper be in the hands of one who has not met Him. You have a soul. Is it saved or lost? You are going to heaven or to hell. Which is it? Friend, decide. Delay no longer. Loiterer, do not linger. Oh, decide now, or you, who are loitering now, and meaning to decide some day, may find that it is too late; that you are left out in the cold, and the door shut; that the gospel trumpet is no longer giving its sweet note of entreaty, or its warning note of alarm, but the trumpet of judgment is sounding instead your eternal death-knell, for you are without Christ.

You are unsaved. Oh, lingerer, do not risk it! Turn to the Lord now. Decide now. Yield your heart to Him. Is He not worthy?

"Worthy of homage and of praise,

Worthy by all to be adored,

Exhaustless theme of heavenly lays,

Thou, Thou art worthy, Jesus, Lord!"

Has He never had your heart yet? Then let Him take it now. May your language be, -

"Take Thou my heart, and let it be

For ever closed to all but Thee;

Thy willing servant, let me wear

The seal of love for ever there."

Will you not have Him now, and go and confess Him? Own you belong to Him, and let every one know you have, and love Him. And then may He feed your soul till you see the Lord in the air — caught up to be for ever with Him!

Chapter 3.

REST IN CHRIST.

"Then Naomi, her mother in law, said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley tonight in the threshing floor. Wash thyself, therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor; but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. And it shall be when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do. And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do. And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother in law bade her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly and uncovered his feet, and laid her down. And it came to pass at midnight. that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet. And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid; spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. And he said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter; for thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest; for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman's part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the Lord liveth: lie down until the morning. And she lay at his feet until the morning: and she rose up before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor. Also he said, Bring the veil that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and she went into the city. And when she came to her mother in law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her. And she said, These six measures of barley gave he me: for he said to me. Go not empty unto thy mother in law. Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day." — Ruth 3.

There is one little word in the first verse of this chapter that seems to characterise the whole chapter — the little word Rest. The early part of the book has given us a soul really decided for God. In chapter 1 we have Ruth decided for God, and the people of God. In chapter 2 we have what were the fruits of decision — meeting with Boaz, who is a type of Christ. She is broken down under a sense of His kindness, by His gracious words, but then she leaves Him, type of a soul that has got a sense of Christ's grace, touched the hem of His garment, but then some, how gets away out of the conscious enjoyment of His presence and of His Person. Ruth goes back to her mother in law, and we hear, for a time, nothing more about Boaz. Now, to be merely benefited, or saved by Christ, without the full enjoyment of Himself abidingly, is not enough. What Christ gives is rest — full, abiding, present and eternal rest. We get, then, rest in the third chapter, and relationship we shall find unfolded in the fourth.

Ruth 1 is Decision for Christ; Ruth 2 Meeting with Christ; Ruth 3 Rest in Christ; and Ruth 4 Relationship to Christ  -  being united to Him.

Naomi says, "My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?" I want to ask you, my* friend, one little question here. Have you rest? There is no real rest for the soul, till it is actually in the place Ruth illustrates in this chapter, and where is that? Where does Ruth find rest? At the feet of Boaz. And where does a soul find rest? At the feet of Jesus! Ruth feels Boaz is the only one in whom she can implicitly confide, and she goes and places her. self under his wing. She does what the Lord allows more than one sinner to do in the gospels, — places herself under his protection, — gets to his feet. Look, for instance, at the woman who was a sinner, in Luke 7 She gets straight to the feet of Jesus, and see how He blesses her! Have you found rest at the feet of Jesus yet? You say, What do you mean? Ah! it is clear, then, you do not know it. You have not found rest yet. You have never yet been quietly, calmly, seated at the feet of Jesus.

There is no real rest in the world; if you watch the faces as you pass along, how you see care, and anxiety, and restlessness, depicted in almost every countenance, leaving indelible lines. How rarely do you meet a person of whom you can say, What a restful face! Now, there are three rests spoken of in Scripture, and it will be my business in this paper to briefly open up the first two. You know where they both occur, in the end of Matt. 11, after what had been a stormy, dark day to the Lord Jesus. John the Baptist, His forerunner, was doubting if He were the Christ; Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, the cities where His mighty works had been done, had refused to believe Him; men had called Him "a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber," and He turns away from this dark, restless scene, upward to His Father, and says, "I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father; and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son; and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him" (Matt 11: 25, 27).

Oh, reader, are you a babe to whom the Son can reveal the depths of the Father's heart? The Father's heart, the Father's bosom, can only be known by revelation, but the Son perfectly reveals the Father.

Then the Lord turns round again to this restless, troubled world, and gives the loveliest invitation that ever fell on mortal cars. Resting Himself in the Father's perfect love, He calls every labouring, laden, restless soul to come to Him, undertaking to introduce the newcomer, whoever he may be, or whatever he may have been, to the same sphere of restful delight which He Himself had in the Father's love, spite of any surrounding circumstance. Never from His blessed lips fell there words more God-revealing, soul-need-meeting, love-begetting, and heartbreaking than these — "COME UNTO ME ALL YE THAT LABOUR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST."

Beloved, there is rest for the labouring, rest for the heavy laden, rest for the weary, rest for the anxious, rest for the troubled, at the feet of Jesus. IT IS REST OF CONSCIENCE. He gives you rest of conscience first of all, a perfect clearing of all that YOU HAVE DONE, through what HE HAS DONE. Have you been thinking you must do some. thing to be saved? Such a thought is a delusion of the devil, and a snare. You can do nothing but sin, and you have surely done plenty in that line already. "GOD SAW (what you never did, perhaps) that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that EVERY IMAGINATION OF THE THOUGHTS OF HIS HEART (not to name his acts) was ONLY EVIL continually" (Gen. 6: 5). This is your moral condition, and what fit for God can come from you, then? Nothing, simply NOTHING. "Yea," you reply, "I see that, and I have given up trying to do anything or to be better." What are you waiting for now, then? "For what Christ will do." This is another snare and delusion of the devil. Christ's work is already finished. He will Do no more for you than He has done. He can, in this aspect, do no more. He has died once. He has suffered once. He has borne sins once. He has atoned for them once. His blood has been shed once. All this is finished, and never will or can be repeated. God has accepted His sacrifice, and raised Him from the dead in token of His acceptance thereof, and of His perfect delight in Christ.

If, therefore, your sins are not now put away from God's sight by what Christ HAS DONE, they never can be, for you cannot do it yourself, and Christ will do no more in order to do it. Now, then, do you see? Either the work which gives rest to the conscience is DONE, or IT NEVER CAN BE. Which is the truth? "IT IS FINISHED," was the dying Saviour's legacy of love to the heavy laden sinner, and the soul that hears and believes gets REST about the solemn matters of sin, iniquity, transgression, and God's judgment thereof, through faith in Jesus, who died to secure this rest by Putting away the sin which hindered it, and then says, "Come unto me . . . and I will GIVE YOU REST."

Then He adds, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall FIND REST UNTO your souls." This rest is quite different from the rest of conscience which I get through the work of Christ; it is the REST OF HEART, the rest of spirit, that I get by communion with Him as a living Person from day to day. The first rest is the Sinner's rest, the second rest is the Saint's rest, and there is still another rest, of which the apostle speaks in Heb. 4: 9 — "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." That is God's rest, which we are going to get by-and-by. A sinner gets rest of conscience in the work of Christ; the saint gets rest of heart in the Person of Christ, and then there is God's rest -GLORY, where sin and its fruits can never come, into which He is going to take us who believe, spirit, soul, and body, for eternity: and that is the end of the path on which the soul enters who once trusts Jesus, comes to Jesus, confides in Jesus.

Now, tell me, would you not like to know these rests? You know the world cannot give you rest. Have you rest as you think of Death? Have you rest as you think of the Day of Judgment? No! you know you have not; "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked;" no peace till you come to Christ. Those who have come to Him have rest. It is impossible for a soul to have come to Christ and not to have rest. If you have not rest you have not simply come to Jesus, that's all; you may have come half-way, and you may he a little self-complacent, too, that you are different now from what you used to be, but there is no real rest save in personal contact with the Lord Himself, getting alone with Him, and finding out how He meets the need of the soul.

In the second chapter, Boaz seeks Ruth, and speaks to her when there are plenty of others by, but in the third chapter Ruth goes where she knows she will find Boaz, and speaks to him alone; and when a soul is bowed down with a sense of its own ungodliness, with a sense of its own utter unworthiness, and the grace that is in Christ, you will find that it will withdraw, and feel that the Lord Jesus alone is the only One to whom it can really go. Ah, beloved, your whole burden is never rolled off until you get to Him alone, until you cast yourself unreservedly upon the bosom of Jesus.

Naomi says, "Shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?" And where does she advise her to seek rest? At the feet of Boaz; and to you, dear unsaved one, I say, at the Saviour's feet there is peace for you, there is pardon for you, there is forgiveness for you, there is life for you, there is rest for you; to Him, then, to Him you must go.

Ruth is the picture of a thoroughly earnest soul. She does what she is bidden. She goes where Boaz is, and she casts herself down at his feet.

Perhaps some soul says, "Must I not make myself better first, must I not do something first?" You cannot, try what you will, you cannot make yourself one bit better, one bit more fit for the Saviour's presence. "Ah, but," you say, "Ruth was told to wash and anoint herself." Yes, but you are not, and that is the difference, for, as Job says, "If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean; yet shalt Thou plunge me in the ditch and mine own clothes shall abhor me." That is, all the efforts of man are not the least use. Snow water is the very purest of all water, and what does snow water typify? Rites and ceremonies, and everything else that springs merely from man's flesh. People are trying all this, but it does not do, snow water does not cleanse from sin; nothing can cleanse you before God, or give relief to your soul, but the precious blood of Christ. To try to improve yourself, is only a snare of the devil to keep you away from the Saviour. There is a little hymn that says:

"If you wait till you are better

You will never come at all."

The devil knows that, and so he whispers, "Improve yourself, try and make yourself better." No, no! Heed him not; come! come! come as you are; the more you labour, the more tired you will get, and do you get any nearer? Not a bit, only more burdened. It is a great thing when a soul is heavy laden, and when the burden gets intolerable. The devil tries to hinder you finding it intolerable by slipping the burden first on one shoulder, then on the other; now on the bosom, and then on the back, but the burden is there all the same; rest you never find till you find it at the feet of Jesus. Oh, listen to his loving call: "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." "I will GIVE," what a word for a helpless sinner! If you only knew the grace of His heart, and how He wants to give you salvation, you would trust Him at once, and receive what your weary soul need — rest.

And now Boaz speaks to Ruth. She has done nothing. but place herself under his protection, "And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth (which means "beauty") thine handmaid; spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. And he said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter, for thou hast showed more kindness at the latter end than at the beginning." How the Lord de. lights to have a soul in living contact with Him. self. He says, "Thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning." What does he mean by that? Why, in the 2nd chapter she had gone into the field merely as a gleaner, and there had met Boaz. Now she had gone straight to him, confided in him, put her case entirely into his hands. "Take charge of all my affairs, I claim thy care," she seems to say, "thou art a near kinsman," that is, the heart claims Christ, and cannot do without Christ.

Does your heart say that? Do you claim Him? "How can I claim Him?" you ask. By faith. Faith can always appropriate Christ. Because you and I were under sentence of death, He became a man, died, and by His dying abolished death, and put away sin; and now, in resurrection, He takes all who believe into living union with Himself. so that by faith I can go to Him and say, "Thou art a near kinsman." What is that lovely word which He sends on the morning of His resurrection to those who trust in Him? Listed, "Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." Who are His brethren? Those who confide in Him. He acknowledges them, He takes the kinsman's place. He says, "It is true that I am thy near kinsman." He takes our place, under the judgment of God, in grace upon the cross, takes our sins upon Him, goes into death and the grave, but He rises from among the dead, and the first thing He does is to share all His spoils with us.

Oh, who would not have such a Christ? a Christ who says to the faith that claims Him, "Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter." He delights to have a soul in close quarters with Himself. Look at the blind Bartimaeus; He first brings him near to Him, and then He gives him what he wants. Look at Zaccheus again; He brings him down from the tree and goes with him to his house. He delights to have a soul near to Himself; nothing rejoices. His heart like the simple confidence of a soul who can trust Him entirely.

"Thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning." That is, he says, "You used not to trust me, but now you do. You have more confidence in me than you had." What a lovely picture of the heart of Jesus! Satan says, "Don't you trust Him; He will not have you; you are not good enough;" but do not you believe Satan. You trust Jesus, there is nothing He values like confidence; He calls it "kindness" even. He has had hard and cruel treatment from many: will you not show him kindness? Many scorn and despise Him; do you trust Him. Does he see you confiding in Him? Behold then the rich fruit of this confidence. "I will do to thee all that thou requirest." He says, Every need of your heart I will meet. He owns Himself your kinsman. He owns you. He saves you entirely. He does all you require. You have nothing to do but to be still and trust Him.

"Howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I." Yea, there is a kinsman very near, and some of you have had very close dealings with him. You have tried to please him, tried to satisfy his claims, tried to meet his requirements. "Yes," you say, "I have tried to keep the law." You are right, there is the nearer kinsman, but can the law redeem? Can the law do a kinsman's part? No; the law can only condemn, can only prove you guilty; it cannot redeem.

"But if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the Lord liveth." You have nothing to do but to trust Him. He takes all upon Himself. He does the whole work. He blesses you. He brings you to God, and if you have got to go back into the city (and you and I have to go back and walk through the world, after He has saved us), see how He sends you back. He sends you back full. "He said, Bring the veil that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, He measured six measures of barley and laid it on her, and she went into the city." Six measures of barley! She could glean for herself about one ephah, and not a bad gleaning either; but now see what He gives! And mark this, too. She goes empty to him, holds the empty veil. Ah, there is something carried away that is very tangible, when I go to Christ. I carry away something very substantial that I have got from Him. Six measures. And what are His measures? They are filled full, pressed down, and running over; that is what He gives a soul that simply trusts in Him.

Then Naomi says, "Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest until he have finished the thing this day." My rest depends on the fact that He will not rest until there is something finished that enables Him to bless me perfectly. You have only to sit still and hear what Jesus says. Cast yourself simply on Him, and then you learn what rest really is. Boaz had something to do, but has Christ something to do? NO! But will He not do something? No! Has He done it, then? Yea, for we have heard those blessed words, the precious legacy of a dying Saviour, "IT IS FINISHED." "It is finished."

Chapter 4.

RELATIONSHIP TO CHRIST

"Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down. And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's: And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it. Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it. Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel. Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe. And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi. Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to he my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut of from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day. And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel, and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and he famous in Bethlehem: And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman. So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. And he shall he unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath borne him. And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. And the women, her neighbours, gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi: and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David." — Ruth 4: 1-17.

The complete and thorough espousal of our cause by Jesus is that which leads to our espousal to Him. When once I learn my own utter weakness and incapacity as a sinner to rightly respond to the claims of God, I am glad to have my case taken up by One who can settle every difficulty and liquidate every claim that lay against me. This Jesus does.

By nature my relationship to God is grave and serious to a degree. The Psalmist acutely felt it when he said, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps. 51: 5). To this true witness Paul adds his testimony, "And you who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience; among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others" (Eph. 2: 1.3).

What solemn statements of God's Word regarding man in nature!

Born in sin  - shapen in iniquity — dead in sins — children of disobedience — children of wrath. Man's history begins in sin, and ends in wrath. Such, dear reader, is your present relationship to God if not yet brought, through grace, to own your state, and to trust simply in the Lord Jesus. If this latter be true of you, however, everything is changed, and the above-quoted Scriptures, though they most truly describe what was your relation to God, in no wise apply to you now. Everything is altered the moment I have simply come to Jesus. "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new, and all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself" (2 Cor. 5: 17, 18).

Jesus is my Saviour, and does a Saviour's part, and all this in view of a deeper purpose of His heart, viz., to have me in relationship to Himself, as a member of His Body, that blessed assembly, which, as His Bride, He will have for ever by His side, the partner of as joys and glory, as well as the witness of His grace.

To have believers thus united to Himself is that for which He apprehends us. No pains, no, trouble, are spared to effect this deep and eternal purpose of His heart, and in the action of Boaz, in this 4th chapter, we have this precious truth illustrated.

"Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman, of whom Boaz spake, came by." Boaz states the case to this nearer kinsman; but is there any help to be got from the nearer kinsman? Will he redeem? No, he cannot. He says, "I cannot redeem. . . . lest I mar mine own inheritance." The law can do nothing for the poor guilty sinner but prove his guilt.

You remember the parable in the New Testament of the man who went down from Jerusalem, the place of royal grace, to Jericho, the place of cursing — figure of man, as a sinner, turning his back on God and the place of blessing, and going down the high road to hell. The poor man falls among thieves, who strip him, and wound him, and leave him half dead. "And by chance there came down a certain priest that way." By chance, mark. "Ah," you say, "here is just the right man, here is a man of a tender heart, a man who can help," but "He passed by on the other side." "I cannot touch him," he says. Why? Because to touch him would have been to disqualify himself, to make himself unclean; he would, so to speak, have "marred his own inheritance."

Then there comes a Levite, the second functionary of the law, but he passes by too, he cannot touch him or help him. The priest and the Levite were the "nearer kinsmen" of the wounded man, they were both nationally and religiously connected with him, but they cannot help him; the law cannot help, it can only condemn those who are under it. But when the Samaritan, type of the Lord Jesus, came down, he, though not bound to touch the wounded man, who had no claim on him, came where he was, went right down to the spot where he lay, picked him up, and set him in a perfect place of safety, yea, put him in his own place. The law could not help the sinner, so passing by, it made the way clear for the Saviour. The nearer kinsman could not redeem, and the way was made clear for Boaz; there was no reason why Boaz should take up Ruth's case, save that he loved her; and there is no reason why Christ should take up our case save that He loved us.

Jesus is ready to do a kinsman's part. He buys us and brings us back to God by the wonderful redemption price of His own life-blood which He shed for us. But You ask "Am I worthy?" That is not the question. The whole point is, not your worthiness, but the grace of Christ. A soul brought into contact with the law is necessarily miserable and self-condemned, for its claims can, not be responded to, for "by the law is the knowledge of sin"; the law gives a man a sight of his guilt, his sin and unworthiness, and the deeper the soul feels that the better, for the more it has the sense of its utter ruin the more suited is it to Christ, as then it is a question of only the total ruin of the sinner and the absolute grace of the Saviour. Oh, take the place of utter ruin, of being thoroughly lost and helpless; own yourself a sinner, and nothing but a sinner, and then you will find what the grace of His heart is. Nothing can be done to improve you; Christ takes up the case, and He does the whole work; it is not you doing your part, and Christ doing His, but He has done the whole work. The gospel is not, as one described it once, like a boat pulled by two oars, one oar "faith," and the other oar "works." That is the devil's gospel; you do your part, and Christ will do His! No, no, He saves the soul; He puts away sin; He brings in redemption; He settles all with God; He brings us to God, and then He says, "You will walk differently now, of course, now that you belong to Me."

"And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi. Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife." The price that Boaz paid we are not told, but the property and the coveted person became his. Redemption gave him title to claim Ruth as his bride. And have we not heard of One who both said and acted thus? "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field; the which, when a man hath found, he hideth, and for jay thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field" (Matt. 13: 44). The field is the world. The hidden treasure defines the souls in it precious to the Saviour's heart, and for the sake of them "He selleth all that he hath," gives up everything, and in sorrow, and woe, and bloody sweat, and death, and for the glory of God, He, on the cross, makes propitiation, meets the righteous demands of God, pays down the ransom price of His. own life, and then makes all His own by purchase. For the sake of the treasure — "His own" — He buys all.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it' (Matt. 13: 45, 46). The pearl is usually considered to be Christ, to possess whom, the sinner sells all. Such a thought is totally without foundation in Scripture. What has the sinner to sell? Nothing, unless you count his sins as being worth something, which is worse than folly. The sinner is guilty, defiled, ruined, bankrupt, lost, and dead in sins, and can do nothing but what ensures God's righteous judgment. To talk of his "selling," therefore, is folly, he has nothing to sell, and Christ cannot be valued at any price you may name.

But how simple and surpassing sweet becomes the similitude when I see Christ as the heavenly merchantman, who, beholding the Church, figured here as a "goodly pearl," sells all to make her His own. Little wonder that He says, "One pearl of GREAT price," for the price was Himself, and who, I say, can value Christ aright? None!

As the pearl lies deep in the mighty waters, and has to be fetched up by the venturesome diver, so the Church (composed, as it is, of sinners saved by grace) lay deep in sin, ruin, and condemnation, the mighty waters of divine wrath and judgment righteously impending on every soul thereof.

And what did Jesus do? "Christ also LOVED the church, and (1) GAVE HIMSELF for it: (2) that He might SANCTIFY and CLEANSE it with the washing of water by the Word; (3) that He might PRESENT IT TO HIMSELF a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5: 25-27).

Yea, blessed be His name! deep into the dark waters of our condition did He fling Himself, that by dying He might blot out our guilt, and then, rising from the dead, connect us with Himself in everlasting glory. His love was the spring of it all, and here is presented in a threefold aspect. In the past, "He gave Himself, — that settled every question of our guilty state before God. For the present, He sanctifies, purifying us by the water of the Word. In the future, He will present us to Himself as the Bride, the Lamb's wife, glorious and spotless, suited to Himself, His intelligent helpmeet for ever, sharer of His glories and joys. What love! Our past, present, and future are canopied with a love that leaves nothing to be desired but a more appreciative heart, to return to Him the blessed affections which fill His own bosom, and which alone can be gratified by such return, for love is only satisfied with love, and can brook no less requital.

"So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife." What an unexpected, but bright, and happy, finale to the path that opened full of sorrow and loneliness, when with firm purpose of heart she turned her back on Moab and its gods, to go to Israel's land and to confide in Israel's God. But such is this touching history (full of deepest meaning, too, as truly typical of Israel's future days of blessing under a risen and reigning Christ), and so, too, dear reader, will it be with you, if Jesus is now the object of your heart by faith. You are related to Him in a new, living, and eternal manner, by the Holy Ghost which dwells in you. The nuptial day is not yet come, but in the meantime the Holy Ghost forgets not to say, "I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Cor. 11: 2, 3).

As espoused to Him, O beloved, let there be chastity of heart to Him, simplicity, fervour, faithfulness, earnestness, confidence, unfeigned affection, untiring industry, unswerving loyalty of love, till the moment when He shall come and gather us up to be with Himself, and then shall every desire of His heart and ours be satisfied. He will have us in His own likeness and glory, and we shall have the joy of unbroken fellowship with Him for ever. I wonder not at all that in Rev. 19: 7-9, of that day it is said, "Let. us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage. supper of the Lamb."

It is the day for which He waits. Shall not we, with joy and patience, do the same?

The place nearest His heart, the highest place of all, is the place we shall get by-and-by. He will come and take us into the Father's house, and then the marriage of the Lamb will be consummated.

Oh, blessed Lord, hasten the day!

But, ere I close this sweet and fruitful book, I must put a few pointed queries to thee, dear reader.

Now, tell me, will you be there? Are you going to spend your eternity in those bright scenes of eternal day and rest, or are you going to spend your eternity shut out from them, and in the lake of fire?

The day is coming, dear unsaved soul, when all you cling to so tightly will be tom from your grasp most ruthlessly, and you must pass into eternity. And, listen, you have not wanted Christ here, and you have lived without Him here, and you must live on without Jesus there. When a man dies here, he passes out of the sight of his fellow-men, which is the first death: but then there comes the second death, and what is that? He passes from God's sight for ever!

Ah, beloved, does he still exist? Listen! "The fearful," that is, those who are afraid to confess Christ, ashamed to own Jesus now; "and the unbelieving," that is, the scoffer, the rationalist, the sceptic; "and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death" (Rev. 21: 8).

Sinner, there is your eternity! As God lives in heaven, you must live in the lake of fire. The first death closes irrevocably all intercourse with man; the second death closes irrevocably all intercourse with God. —  And oh, I ask, are you going to brave it? Are you going to risk it? Do you say, "I do not believe that bit of the Bible?" Then throw it all in the fire. It is all true, or none of it is true. If God is worth believing at all, He is worth believing entirely; and whether you believe or not, still is His word true. But then there is the other side, Jesus says, "I want you to live with Me. I want you to be loved by Me. I want you to dwell forever in My Father's house." But man often, alas, replies, "I would rather live without God, and die without Him, and be damned without Him, than bow down to be blessed by Jesus."

Ah, my friend, there will be no pride in hell; there will be no rebellion in hell, and you will carry down your memory with you there, and then you will remember how His grace besought you here. Oh, turn, turn to Jesus now, accept Him now, and in that day when He makes up His jewels you will be there, as, through His grace, I know I shall be there. If He has loved me enough to die for me, He is worthy of having all my heart. You may depend upon it you could not do a better thing than turn to Jesus now. He will give you rest for your conscience through His work, rest for your heart in Himself, from day to day, and, by-and-by, He will stoop down and lift you into the rest of God, where your song shall be of Him and His grace through all eternity's blessed bridal day!

"O precious Saviour, deep Thy pain,

When forth the life-blood flow'd

That washed our souls from every stain,

That paid the debt we owed.

Cleansed from our sins, renewed by grace,

Thy royal throne above

(Blest Saviour) is our destined place,

Our portion there Thy love.

Thine eye, in that bright cloudless day,

Shall, with supreme delight,

Thy fair and glorious bride survey,

Unblemish'd in Thy sight."

God's Salvation and the Scorner's Doom

God's Salvation and the Scorner's Doom

W.T.P.Wolston.

"Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord, Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? If we say, we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now, there. fore, come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the utter. most part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there. For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it. Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now, therefore, come, that we may go and tell the king's household. So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man. but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were. And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's house within. And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we be hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city. And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed), and let us send and see. They took, therefore, two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. And they went after them unto Jordan: and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king. And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him. And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria: and that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died." — 2 Kings 7: 1-20.

"Salvation is of the Lord." This is a word uttered by Jonah before the hand of God delivered him from the belly of the great fish, but after Jonah had learned the lesson which the Lord meant to teach him. "Salvation is of the Lord," i.e., it is entirely of God's grace. It may meet my need, and thanks be to God, it does meet it; but the condition I am in, whether rather higher or rather lower, in no way affects the grace of God; in fact the worse a man is, the fitter he is for salvation, for then he has nothing of his own to rest upon, and cannot deceive himself with the thought that he is better than his neighbours. The king, in this chapter, is a picture of man in his pride and his religion, and the lepers are a picture of man in his filthiness without religion, and God meets both cases. Elisha is a picture of Christ, full of grace and truth; the One who meets man in his guilt, however great that guilt may be.

Samaria — Israel — had departed from God, and as the result of that departure God had brought up the King of Syria and his armies against them, and they thoroughly beleaguered the city of Samaria till the state of famine and destitution passed all description. You can imagine nothing worse than a woman boiling her own son. When God draws a picture, He draws a true picture. Man likes to draw a bright picture and to throw a veil over the dark side; God describes faith. fully what man is.

In the king we see a certain measure of looking to God — he wore sackcloth next to his flesh. Sackcloth is in Scripture a well-known symbol of repentance; too proud to let the people know he thought the finger of God was upon him, he put the sackcloth within, not without. He was like many an one now, who has a certain amount of seriousness, but would not like his neighbours to know. He did not like to own his sin, and would willingly have blamed God or His servant, for this state, which was the result of Israel's sin. Though there might have been religion and formalism, there was evidently no turning of heart to God, in the king, for had there been real repentance, the sackcloth, I believe, would have been worn outside, not in. Moreover, he blames the prophet, and is determined to wreak his vengeance upon him. Man has done worse than that, man has wreaked his vengeance on the One who came to bless, who went about doing good, who healed their sick and raised their dead; Him in their bitter hatred they crucified and slew.

Elisha was a type of Jesus in being a blesser of Israel, and the king in his pride would have taken the prophet's life, and man in his sin did take the life of Jesus. Did it ever strike you what part you have had in the death of Jesus? I own your voice did not swell those awful cries, "Away with Him, His blood be on us;" but you have a heart that is in sympathy with those who did thus cry; for if you are not yet a child of God you are an enemy of God, for there are but two classes, children of God, and enemies of God. Do you say, I am not an enemy? Are you a friend then? Are you a child? Have you been born again? Have you been quickened by the Spirit? Have you eternal life?

"Oh, no one can know," you reply. Pardon me, my friend, you are wrong in that, the believer is entitled to know with absolute certainty that he is a child of God: "these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life." Another thing we know on divine authority. that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. It is impossible to be a friend of the world and a friend of God. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him," John says. God declares we were His enemies, "when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son." Do you own you have been an enemy? "No." Ah, you little know your own history; look back at it, have you loved Him? "Not as much as I ought." What an evasive answer! The fact is, people do not like to be brought to this point. For this very reason, BECAUSE we were enemies, the gospel is preached: it comes out as a message from God to those who are away from God; "we pray you," Paul says, "in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5: 20).

The king, in this chapter, I have said is the picture of an unconverted religious man; there was the external religiousness, but within there was hatred, he wanted the life of Elisha, Elisha who had done only good to Israel, whom the moment before he had called "my father." Look on farther in man's history and see; one moment the people are hanging on the lips of Jesus, and the next they take Him to the brow of the hill to cast Him down, and why? Because He had made them know their state, and they could not bear it (Luke 4). People do not like their consciences reached. The king was angry, and I am not very sorry when I see people angry at the gospel preaching, it shows that conscience has been touched. But are you an enemy of Christ's, and do not know it? Has Satan given you some sweet lullaby, whereby you are lulled into false security? Oh! wake up, wake up; be roused in time; be warned of the terrible danger of remaining one night longer an enemy of God!

Look, I beseech you, at the grace of God. A messenger goes down to Elisha, and the king follows. Why was not the messenger dealt with? Because grace comes in. It is a picture of man in his sin, man in his guilt; man in his hatred, confronted by grace. Now that your evil has reached its full height, now that you have shown your religion is false, and your enmity at its height, now that your sin has reached its culminating point, now God will come in and save you. Grace comes in to meet the desperate need of man's utter ruin.

Where are you if you are not a child of God? You are a sinner. You may be religious, so was the king, you are a religious sinner. You may be moral, you are a moral sinner. You may be educated, you are an educated sinner. God says to you, "There is nothing in your heart but enmity against me; I know what you are, now let me tell you what I am." Thus saith the Lord, "Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria." Grace seizes the moment when hatred has done its very worst, and says, "Now this is the moment of Salvation." It was at the cross, when man had done his very worst in putting Jesus there, when man's sin and man's hatred had reached their height, that was the very moment God chose to reverse everything, God took that moment to reveal His love, and put away man's guilt. The cross was the place where good and evil, love and hatred, met in mortal combat, and love conquered  - love gushes from His pierced side, love for God and His glory, love to the poor sinner in his sinful state, for nothing but His blood could meet. that sinful state and put away his guilt. There love triumphed over sin, and hatred, and all the dark enmity of man's heart.

"Tomorrow." Those words to the starving in. habitants of Samaria meant salvation, meant a thorough deliverance from their pitiable state. But unbelief always rejects the glad tidings of God. Dire, dark unbelief always throws cold water on the gospel of God; "if the Lord would make windows in heaven might this thing be?" says the nobleman. "Salvation tomorrow? I do not believe it," says the lord; "you tell me there is full deliverance coming tomorrow, it cannot be; if it were rained down from heaven it might be, in no other way could it be "in the gate of Samaria." But that is just the point, the whole truth, salvation comes to the very place where you are. And, dear reader, I have better tidings for you than there were that day in Samaria. I preach, not salvation tomorrow, for a shekel of silver, but salvation today, this moment for you, where you now are, salvation without money and without price. "Be it known unto you, that through this man is preached unto you the remission of sins," for "now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation." Salvation through Jesus' blood is proclaimed to you now, on the ground that you are a sinner and are lost. He knows your true state, and He offers you salvation now, without money and without price, salvation today, salvation TODAY. From the heart of God comes down the message to you as you are in your sins today, that the sin, the guilt, the debt, and the judgment due to man have been taken by another, paid by another — all the deep debt, and God the Holy Ghost is ready to take possession of the heart that believes God's message.

But what about the unbeliever? "Behold thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof." These are close dealings, mark them well. Oh, careless, scoffing soul, you who do not know Christ, do not want Christ, do not want to be converted, you may laugh now, you will not laugh in hell, depend upon this there are no scoffers in the lake of fire. It is all very well for you to laugh and have your sport when the evangelist proclaims the gospel, but remember, "thou shalt see it with thine eyes," when too late for thee to accept of it. "Son, remember," oh remember, you, even you shall know it is all true, when you can never have it. Thou shalt hear those sounds of heavenly music inside the gates where thou mayest never enter: music that thou mightest have joined in, but now never may. Thou shalt behold afar of that scene of holy divine joy and bliss of the redeemed, thou shalt see every eye fixed with ineffable joy on Christ, "thou shalt see it," but afar off, thou thyself being cast out and degraded: cast out for ever, "thou shalt see it," yes, see it, but shall not taste thereof. What a withering sentence! what a terrible sentence!

He who said, "Tomorrow shall a measure of fine flour he sold for a shekel," i.e., tomorrow shall salvation come to you, also said, "Thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof." Each word came true; as the first, so the second. And He who spake as never man spake says, "He that believeth on me shall never hunger," "He that believeth shall be saved," says also, "He that believeth not shall be damned."

I believe the fine flour is typical of Christ, the Bread of life, the Bread of heaven, given for man, Christ given for man's need. Oh, despise not His grace, slight not His love, risk not the unbeliever's doom. Oh, risk it not another day, another moment: go to Him, trust Him; let the lepers show you the way. They went out to throw themselves on unknown pity, you have only to throw yourself on the mercy of God, on the compassion of God; they came to the camp of the Syrians, and found everything they needed, and nothing to hinder their taking all they needed. And if you take the place of the lepers, of an empty one, and go to God, though you may have thought God your enemy (as they thought the Syrians their enemies, yet found all they needed, and found none to hinder their taking it too), you will find nothing to hinder your taking salvation and the ample provision God has supplied. You have nothing to do but to take it, and then to turn round and tell others, "there is plenty for you, too," enough and to spare; there is everything I need, and that others need too.

There is nothing that God keeps back from those who trust Him, from those who come forth to His dear Son. Oh, trust Him now, thou shalt find in Him a Saviour and a Friend, a helper and a succourer, thou shalt find in Him thine all, for time and for eternity, thou shalt find with me that "salvation is of the Lord." But oh, if thou art lost through thine unbelief, thou shalt find it is all thine own folly, thou shalt have none to blame for it but thyself. "And so it fell out unto him, for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died." He saw it, the food, the salvation for Samaria, but too late; there it was, the unmistakable evidence of the truth of the prophet's words, but not for him. And so with you, like the poor rich man in Luke 16, you shall be able to see afar off what you despised; I do not say how long or how often you shall see it, but once I say, you will have one long, one fixed look at the salvation of God, that might have been yours but for your own unbelief, "thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not taste thereof." Oh, my friend, you have despised mercy long enough, despise it no longer; you have turned from Christ long enough, turn to Him now, and receive from His hands the salvation He is so willing to bestow, that He may get the glory, and your soul eternal joy!

The Young Doctor

The Young Doctor;

or,

"Comfort my Mother."

by W. T. P. Wolston.

Chapter 1.

A PARTING COMMISSION.

The year 1873 was drawing towards its close, when a number of mutual friends gathered on the platform of one of our railway stations. We had come to say "Farewell" and bid "God speed" to some of the Lord's children who were just leaving Edinburgh for abroad. The foreign-bound travellers consisted of a lady, her youngest daughter and an attendant, proceeding now to join three other members of the family in a lovely part of the West Indies. Just ere the train departed, my friend called me to the carriage window, and, with all the tearful earnestness of a mother's love, said,- "You will keep your eye on Johnny, won't you? Promise me you will." To this I readily assented, adding,- "But you know, young men do not much care to be looked after by those like me." The next moment the train moved of, leaving the subject of this last request in our midst.

His position as House-physician in the Infirmary prevented his going with the party to the port of embarkation to see the last of his mother and sister. While they sailed he was to remain in Edinburgh for a few months, and then, having added to his professional acquirements by a visit to the London and Continental seats of medicine, was to rejoin his mother in the before-named far-off isles, where already a bright vista of success and honour lay open before him.

Johnny was the youngest son of his mother — she a widow — and but a few months previously had graduated in medicine at the University of Edinburgh, shortly after attaining his majority.

Tall, slender, singularly muscular and agile, his well developed physique would have drawn the attention of a stranger, apart from the handsome face and head which his broad shoulders supported. His face was very attractive, for the natural grace of the regular and finely-chiselled features, and aquiline nose, was enhanced by a sparkling pair of eyes, brimful of merriment; while constantly the expression varied, and a pleasant smile sat ever on the countenance. His light brown hair, crisp, curly, and short cut, gave him the appearance of being what he was — a thorough-going man in every sense of the word.

Possessed of mental powers far beyond the average, which enabled him quickly to acquire, and easily to retain, whatever he set himself to master, he carried likewise within a tender and affectionate heart, only more powerful than the iron will which knew no controlling force, save when those affections were appealed to. Firmness and tenderness were each in full force, while his bright buoyant disposition, affability, and easy, graceful manners, coupled with a readiness to do anyone a good turn, made him at once, whether at home, at school, at college, or in society, by universal suffrage, that which he deservedly was — a general favourite.

It was with mingled feelings of pleasure and pain that the Christian mother parted from the handsome young Doctor, for while there was so much over which nature could rejoice, there was in his case, she well knew, and he also, the one thing lacking which most her heart desired for her son-the knowledge of Jesus as Saviour and Lord, and the yielding of the heart, yea, of himself, to Him. This I knew also, for I had been well acquainted with dear J- all through his student career, and many a time he had heard me preach the Gospel. On several occasions we had spoken freely and closely on the matter of the soul's salvation; but, though sometimes interested, it always ended in his relegating the necessity of deciding for Christ to a future day. Enjoyment of the world shut out the claims of Christ; a poor choice surely, as the sequel will show.

Chapter 2.

A FOOTBALL MATCH AND ITS FRUIT.

The parting wish of my friend did not escape my memory, and I was pleased, soon after his mother left, to see the young Doctor appear at the Gospel meeting on the Lord's day evening; but plenty of work filled up his time within the hospital, and mine without, so we rarely met, till the month of February, 1874, when an accident which befell him drew us together.

Johnny was a great athlete. It mattered not what line he went in for, he was sure to be head and chief. One of the best all-round cricketers in Scotland, scarcely finding an equal in flat racing, and long and high jumping, his favourite game was football, at which he was such an adept, that a team was counted almost sure of a victory that had him in its ranks; proof of all which stood, on every hand, in his rooms, in the shape of numerous prizes of every description. His fearless play cost him dear. During the progress of a football match, late in January, he came into collision with an opponent, and was flung violently to the ground, receiving a severe and painful injury to one of his knee-joints. Undaunted by the sickening pain he rose, and endeavoured to continue play, an attempt which was followed by a dead faint, in which he was carried off the field, and thence conveyed to his rooms in the Infirmary.

Of this circumstance I did not hear till the middle of February, when, one Saturday evening, a note, pencilled by a strange hand, at his request, summoned me to his bedside. Hastening to the Infirmary, I found the once stalwart man more helpless than an infant. The injury to the knee-joint, though at first seeming of but trivial importance, had paved the way for one of the most acute attacks of rheumatic fever I ever witnessed. The injured limb was cradled in a Salter's swing; every other joint was pained and powerless, the only motion possible being that of rolling the head from side to side. Severe pain at the heart told the tale of mischief working in and round that often-before overstrained organ, while the acid moisture that literally gushed from every pore of the skin, kept one nurse constantly employed in vain endeavours to dry the face and brow.

He thanked me for coming, and after getting the details I have just given, and expressing my sorrow at finding him in such a case, I enquired if in any way I could serve him, and why he had sent for me.

"Monday, the 16th, will be the mail day, and I want you to write to my mother," was his reply.

To this I most gladly assented, noted what he wished said, and then added, — "And may I tell her that you have found the Lord? She will be sure to want to know that."

He quickly turned his face to the wall, while involuntary tears rolled down his cheeks as he answered, "I wish I could say that; I would give all the world, if I had it, to find Him: but I fear its too late now."

"Not at all," I replied, "it is never too late while you are in life. He is willing to have and to save you, and His word says, 'Now is the accepted time; behold, Now is the day of salvation.' Do you, my dear Johnny, really want to have Christ? This is the only open question.'

His answer was very like himself. "I have been praying to God all day. I am now anxious to find Christ, and to be saved, but I fear it's no use. Besides, it's a cowardly thing to turn now. I know it's only the fear of death that makes me turn."

Much more conversation ensued, during which he opened his mind fully to me, and I sought to open to him, as simply as I could, God's way of salvation, viz. the atoning work and blood-shedding of the Lord Jesus on the one hand, and the sinner's simple acceptance by faith of God's offered mercy-apart from all his own works or feelings — on the other.

Having read the Word, and prayed with him, I then left, with instructions to say to his mother that now at length he was "really anxious to be saved."

Dear reader, I wonder whether these last five words express your state. If so, read on.

Chapter 3.

"IS THERE NOTHING TO DO BUT BELIEVE?"

For many days dear Johnny's life hung in the balance as the fever ran its painful and wearisome course; at length the corner seemed to have turned, and those who were in constant attendance on him looked confidently for ultimate recovery.

During the space of a month from the first night I saw him in his sickness, I visited him constantly, to speak of Jesus, and press on him the urgent necessity of at once receiving Christ. Other servants of Christ also had access to him, and I doubt not were used of God in deepening the convictions, which it was evident to any soul-winner, he was passing through.

A favourite nurse who had charge of the wards under his care, by his own request, late in his illness, was deputed to attend him.

Soon after this, noticing that he was reading a collection of Gospel narratives and papers entitled, "Crumbs for the Hungry," she said to him, "Do you know, Doctor, that it has been reported all through the house that you are converted?"

"Yes," he replied, "I wish it were true; I wish I were converted."

That wish was soon to be gratified, to his joy and ours.

By the mail of 2nd March, he had sufficiently rallied to be able to pen a few lines to his mother, telling her of his hope of full and rapid recovery. Perhaps the exertion of this may have been too much for his exhausted frame; but, be it as it may, within a few days bad symptoms again set in, and hopes gave place to the gravest apprehension on the part of those who watched him, when, on Friday, the 13th, vomiting of the most intractable character set in, and lasted persistently day and night till the end.

This day I saw him, still unsaved; but his physical condition was such that I could say but a few words, pointing him again to the Lord Jesus as the friend of sinners. Pressure of work quite prevented an intended visit on the Saturday; but on Lord's day afternoon an uncontrollable impulse led me, spite of much hindrance, to his bedside.

A glance told me that Death had marked him as an early victim. To me it seemed now, or never. By his request we were left alone.

Daylight was fading, but just enough remained to permit me to read from my little pocket Testament the lovely tale of the return of the wanderer, and the welcome he received (Luke 15: 11-32.) Dear J- listened as he had never done before; he owned his sin, his misspent life, his often stifled convictions when in health, his ill-treatment of Christ, and of the grace of God. He had "come to himself," on the verge of the grave. "Repentance toward God," was manifest in the way he judged himself, and the whole, past in view of God and Eternity. "Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" was as yet, however, wanting.

Turning to Paul's 1st Epistle to Timothy, I read once and again to him that blessed 15th verse — resting place of countless weary self-judged hearts and empty sinners;

"THIS IS A FAITHFUL SAYING, AND WORTHY OF ALL ACCEPTATION, THAT CHRIST JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD TO SAVE SINNERS, OF WHOM I AM CHIEF." Its sweetness and fulness the Holy Ghost applied in power to his soul, and he saw that Christ had come for such as he — sinners. One difficulty remained: he had done nothing good in God's sight-plenty of that which he now, and truly, judged bad. Satan, fearful to lose a victim, suggested the necessity of his doing something. To this I cited the case of the dying thief, saved in the very jaws of death, unable to do ought but fear God, judge himself, confess Christ, and cast himself unreservedly on Him (Luke 23: 39-43), and reminded him of the dying words of the blessed Lord, "It is finished."

There was a moment's pause, and then the final query fell from his lips, "But, Doctor, is there nothing to do but believe?"

"BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED," was my only reply.

The setting sun gave me just light enough to see that with clasped hands, and eyes closed to all earthly scenes, his lips were moving in prayer. "Behold, he prayeth," is a great word for God to say of a sinner on earth (Acts 9: 11). It is the moment of deliverance.

A minute or two after he turned his head to me, as tears filled his eyes, and softly said, — "I believe Him now. I can trust Him now. I see it all."

Peace filled his heart, and praise filled mine, while deeper and fuller than either was the joy in heaven over this younger son, about whom the Father could say, "This my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found." (Luke 15: 24.)

He begged me to kneel and thank God for His abundant mercy to him in thus saving him. This done, I left him, with a restful look on his wasted, yet still handsome countenance, that had never been seen there before.

Chapter 4.

"WILL HE LET ME SLIP AT THE LAST?"

Late visit on Lord's day evening, and one early on Monday morning, gave me glad confirmation as to dear Johnny's simple and real faith in the Lord. He now begged I would be with him as much as possible, and a promise of an evening visit was a comfort to him. In the afternoon his strength rapidly gave way, and now, for the first time, I think, he himself laid aside all hopes of recovery.

This evidently led to a touching scene between him and the nurse I have already mentioned, which she narrated to me two days afterwards.

Some time before I saw him at night he had sent for her, and on her entering the room at once said, "Helen, go down on your knees, and give me both your hands." This she did, when he went on: "Promise me, Helen, that if I die, you will never cease seeking salvation till you find it."

Bursting into tears at this appeal, she sobbed, "I am too great a sinner."

"No," he rejoined: "remember, no one is too great a sinner to find salvation. I thought so too till yesterday, when Dr. W- led me to know and believe, that I was not too great a sinner for Jesus to save."

Noticing her tears, he added, — "Don't cry for me; I am going to heaven. Promise to meet me there. Don't believe in works, Helen; believe simply in Jesus."

Thus, immediately, did the new-born one seek the blessing of others: finest proof of grace really tasted.

A little respite in his sickness now ensuing, she endeavoured to cheer him, saying, — "You are a little better, Doctor; try and bear up. Perhaps you will get better yet. Many a prize you have won, and many an honour gained."

Putting out his wasted hand he interrupted her, motioned her to silence, and then said: "Now I have gained the crown of glory. I am dying, and I am not afraid to die. I am dying happy."

When I reached him between ten and eleven p.m., I saw a very great change since the morning. He welcomed me with a sweet smile, and — "I'm so glad you have come."

The nurses leaving us alone, I got by his side, and then softly said, — "Going home, Johnny?"

"They think I'm dying," he replied. "What do you think?"

"It looks very like it, dear."

"Yes, I think so too," he quietly rejoined.

"And you are going to Jesus? "

He turned his lustrous eyes on me, and inquired, "Do you think He will let me slip at the last?"

"Not He," I said, "it is not like Him."

"But I have known Him such a short while"

"Never mind that; you do know Him?"

"Yes."

"And trust Him simply?"

"Yes."

There was a slight pause, and then, the enemy making a final assault on this babe in Christ, he took my hand in both his own emaciated ones, and with a wistful gaze right into my eyes that I can never forget, added, "But, Doctor, are you sure he won't lot me slip, just at the very last?"

"Listen to His own words," I rejoined. 'My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I GIVE UNTO THEM ETERNAL LIFE; and they SHALL NEVER PERISH, NEITHER SHALL ANY (man or devil) PLUCK THEM OUT OF MY HAND. My Father, which gave them me, is GREATER THAN ALL; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand' (John 10: 27-29). There, will that do?"

The cloud was dispelled, the enemy routed by "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;" and as the sweetest smile of contented joy broke over his wasted countenance, he pressed my hand firmly, and said: "Yes, His will be done; but oh, comfort my mother!"

Much more passed that I need not relate, save to add that now, in the full light of eternity so near at hand, he again reviewed his life, only to judge it, while extolling the mercy of God which had met and saved him at the last moment of his earthly history.

On my asking him if he was dying happily, he replied, "Yes, quite happily; nevertheless, I should hive liked to have lived a little while, to serve and please the Lord."

A parting message to his mother, and an assurance, with his love, that he would meet her in heaven, though never more on earth, exhausted his strength; and at his request, I again thanked the Lord for his salvation, and then, being called away, left him, promising to return at midnight.

Chapter 5.

"THE LORD HATH NEED OF HIM."

These were the words on which A-'s eye fell on the morning of Tuesday, 17th March, 1874, as she referred to the Scripture Almanack for the verses for the day.

Turning to her elder sister, she exclaimed, "Johnny is dead!"

The sisters, with their mother, had received the first tidings of his illness a week previous to this date, and naturally were most anxious for each fortnightly mail. The Lord, in His tender mercy, took this wondrous way of breaking the news of joy and sorrow. Never were words more prophetic, and more precious.

Midnight had passed, and Tuesday, 17th, had begun its course with us when I got back to the Infirmary. My young friend was rapidly sinking. Though racked with pain, he listened gratefully through the night to the verses of Scripture I whispered in his ear, and would oft reply, — "Tell me more; tell me more."

His last words to me, spoken about 7 a.m., soon after which he became unconscious, were, — "If I die, all is well."

With his head resting in my hands, he gently breathed his last at 7.25 a.m., and his spirit leaving the now much-altered tenement, passed to be "for ever" with that Lord whose grace he had tasted on earth for but six-and-thirty hours.

Round his bed stood his grandmother, two friends, three nurses, and a kind fellow-resident physician, who had most tenderly and assiduously watched him day and night through his long illness; and as we thanked God for the eternal salvation, at the twelfth hour, of him who had just left our midst, not an eye was dry, not a heart that was not touched to its depths.

The dying request, "Comfort my mother," suggested the wording of the message which the telegraph wires in due course carried abroad — "Seventeenth. Johnny departed peacefully in Christ" — tidings which at once would break and bind again the mother's heart, telling, as it did, of her loss, his gain, and God's mighty, faithful grace, and answer to those countless prayers which, until now, had apparently laid unanswered on His table. Christian mothers, go on praying for your unconverted sons!

As long as memory endures will the scene of the beloved young graduate's interment abide. The tidings of his death produced universal regret through the University, not to speak of the sorrow, and expressed sympathy for his family, of numberless friends by whom be was loved both in town and in county. His compeers and fellow-students resolved on a public funeral. Four abreast, some six or seven hundred young men preceded the hearse, while on foot behind came the Resident Physicians and Surgeons of the Infirmary, and then a long string of carriages.

Perhaps, never again will the quiet and picturesque Dean Cemetery witness such a concourse round an open grave, as stood there that lovely Friday afternoon.

Funeral services are uncommon in Scotland, but just before the coffin was lowered, as the sun in warmth and brilliancy flung its rays full on the scene, nature the while restraining song of bird and sound of wind, so that a vast silence reigned over the mute assembly, the voice of prayer and thanksgiving was heard ascending. Thanks were rendered on account of him who was gone, sustaining grace and ministry of Divine sympathy besought for the sorrowing mother and family, and present and eternal blessing for the many young men who knew him in life, and now witnessed the last of him on earth, invoked.

Then was read, "And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still, And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother." (Luke 7: 11-15.)

The parallel and contrast between that day and this was shortly pointed out. Then, the blessed Lord comforted the widow by giving life to her son, but only for time. This day, how much deeper and fuller was the comfort He was ministering to the widowed mother, in first giving eternal life to the young man, and then, with a full consciousness of where he was going, taking him home, to be for ever with Himself. Each heart responded to this, so then turning to the many who had known him well, I said: "You know how he lived, let me tell you how he died. The qualities which caused him to be loved by all, and envied by none, give no ground for acceptance with God: that alone is found, where he found it, in the blood of Jesus."

The details I have already given were mainly presented, followed by an earnest appeal to all who were yet undecided for Christ, to at once turn to Him, receive forgiveness of sins, and eternal life through faith in His name, and then live for Him who died for us. Never saw I more young men with bowed beads, moved hearts, and melted feelings. What the result may be, the day of the Lord alone can declare.

The remains were then laid in their last earthly resting-place; precious seed, sown in faith, soon to spring up in resurrection bloom and unfading beauty, when He comes for whom we wait; for truly saith the Scripture, "Sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory;" and "We know that, when. he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."

And now, dear reader, permit me to ask, how stands it between thee and the Lord? Art thou still on the world's side? Art thou still a wanderer from God? Let me beseech thee no longer to do thyself harm. Young man — and it is for thee mainly that I have written these pages — wilt thou not now turn to the Lord? Venture not on delay, I pray thee. Because God's sovereign grace gave the one of whom I have written space to repent, and time to believe on a death-bed, is that an argument why thou shouldst delay? Nay. Beware! lest, cut down suddenly, the same mercy be not extended to thee.

Hast thou a lease of life? No. Then is there the more urgent reason why, as thou readest this, thou shouldst bow to the Lord Jesus, and believe Him simply. God loves thee. Christ has died for sinners such as thee. The Holy Spirit waits to seal the new-born soul that trusts in Jesus. Come to Him now, then. Surely the years now past may suffice to have wrought thine own will; begin this new one with God. Let 1876 be the year to which in eternity thou canst point back, and say with heart-felt joy, Then, I came to the Lord. Fear not to cast thyself simply on Him. None are too bad for Jesus to save. Let the faithful saying, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," since it is "worthy of all acceptation," have thy acceptation on the very spot where now thou readest this tale of God's grace to one like thyself.

The Lord, in His abundant goodness, grant a present blessing to every young man who may read the foregoing narrative of His mercy!

FOUR THINGS WORTH KNOWING.

I want to bring under your notice, beloved reader, four portions of the Acts of the Apostles, in which, occur the words, "Be it known unto you." They bring out four things which are well worth knowing. Thank God, I know them, and God wants you to know them too. They contain in themselves the true secret and spring of joy down here, and for all eternity by and bye.

1. JESUS MADE LORD AND CHRIST.

Will you take your Bible and read the 2nd Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles?

There, "Peter standing up with the eleven lifted up his voice and said, Ye men of Judea, and all that dwell at Jerusalem, BE THIS KNOWN UNTO YOU . . . . Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did, by him, in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain . . . This Jesus hath God raised up . . . being by the right hand of God exalted. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." (vv. 14-36).

The consequences of the death and resurrection of Christ are stupendous. Here is a reversal of Babel; God had come down there and confused their tongues. Now Jesus has been obedient, Jesus has glorified God, Jesus has died, and the result of the blood-shedding of the Lord Jesus, and His being raised from the dead, is that God can send down the Holy Ghost to teach in every language the things concerning Himself. Know this, says Peter, there was once in this world a man that honoured God, every one else has dishonoured God, but there has lived in this scene, and died out of this scene, a man whose every thought, and every word, and every action was suitable to God, and glorified God, and God has now glorified this One.

But how did man treat Him whom God thus honoured? Man cast Him out! Have you ever thought of this fact, God's Son has been murdered in this world? A false friend betrayed Him, a true one denied Him, and all forsook Him and fled. Pilate would have released Him, for even to the hard Roman Governor it was plain there was no fault in Him, but what did the multitude cry? "If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend." Caesar's friends must side with Caesar, and Jesus' friends must side with Jesus, and there was no one there that day to side with Jesus. "Away with Him, away with Him," is the cry: chief priests and scribes, the religious men and the rabble, all join to swell that cry; and now thought Pilate, "Caesar is my master, and I should not like to offend Caesar, I might lose my place or my popularity." Ah! beloved friend, many a man barters his soul rather than lose his popularity in this world.

But Pilate does not want His death — he has another resource — he brings out the poor miserable guilty Barabbas, the robber and fierce murderer, and side by side they stand — the cruel robber and murderer, and the peerless Son of God, and Pilate asks which he should release unto them. You would have said there could be no doubt as to their answer. Jesus had healed their sick, raised their dead, done good to all, and the other was a wretched murderer — they must choose Jesus. Listen, then, listen to their awful cry, "Not this man, but Barabbas!" "Not this man, but Barabbas!" And then they mock Him, and scourge Him, and on that peerless head they place a crown of thorns, and they lead him forth to die. The robber's cross, the heavy murderer's cross — prepared, I doubt not, for the robber, on which to expiate his crimes — was laid on Jesus, and He who had lift in Himself was led forth to dark Golgotha's scenes of agony and death.

But you will say, "Do you charge us with being the murderers of the Son of God?" No, but if still unconverted, I charge you with being partners with the world that slew Him. You may not have swelled that rabble cry, "Away with Him!" but you are indifferent to Him. You take the side of the world that did it; are you not still in the world and of the world? Does it not own you and claim you? and does not God know full well you are not yet Christ's, and have never bowed the knee to Him?

Do you say, The world is different now! Is it? Carry Christ into the street, and you will soon find if it is altered. A crowd will gather to listen to a German band or to see a puppet show, and no opposition be excited, but do you get up and speak of Christ at the corner of a street, and what will you find? Presently Policeman B274, comes up, and touching you on the shoulder, says, "You must move on, the thoroughfare cannot be obstructed;" or, "There is no room for this kind of thing here." Ah, no! there is no room for Christ; there is room for everything else; but I never knew the time yet when the world wanted Christ. The world does not care about God, — does not want Christ. It did not want Christ in that day, and it does not care about Jesus in this day. If any one does want Jesus, I have blessed news for that one. Jesus wants you, dear friend: more, far more than you want Him, Jesus wants you!

God has exalted the One you have not cared about as yet. God reverses the action of the world. The world mocks and, scourges Him; God sets Him at His own right hand. The world murders Him; God raises Him from the dead. God steps into the scene where man has done his worst — murdered the Son of God-and God lifts Him from the grave, and puts Him on His throne till he makes His foes His footstool. Are you His foe? "I hope not," you say. Are you His friend then? "I hope so." Well, I will tell you one thing, if you truly are the friend of Christ, you like His company, you like to be near Him. That is how I gauge my friends. My friend likes to be near me, likes to be with me. Do you say you are not His foe? Well, be honest, are you His friend then? A friend must show himself friendly. If you are not His friend, not siding with Him, you must be His foe, and it is a terrible thing to be a foe of the Lord Jesus; you will be His footstool in the day of His coming glory.

But would you not like to be a friend of this blessed Lord Jesus? If you are not His friend, you are guilty of the deepest, blackest sin outside of hell, — indifference, aye, deep rooted enmity to God's blessed Son. Not merely are you a sinner, but you are a guilty sinner. Guilty of slighting the. Lord Jesus. Peter says, Do you know this? The first fact God presses is this, you have slain the Son of God, there is your guilt. And God has put Him in glory. Have you been going on, wearing a garb of religiousness, without having Christ? Then you are a hypocrite. Hypocrisy is pretending to be what you are not. And there is another side to it too, viz., covering up what is really there. It is hypocrisy, too, if you love Him and do not own Him, — are ashamed to take His side.

Do you say, "He is Lord?" "Yes." But is He your Lord? You will have to own Him Lord some day, but will you own it only when you are His footstool? Which is better, to be a friend of Christ's now, and a friend of Christ's in that day, or a foe now, and His footstool when He comes to reign? My friend, look to it, have you only the name of a Christian, or have you Christ? Are you a real or a counterfeit Christian? If you are a counterfeit one, I will carry you on a little farther; perhaps you have grey hairs, and a long life of religiousness behind you, but death is before you, and when you die, a long funeral procession follows you to the grave, in which you are buried, and friends mourn you, and your name is recorded on your tombstone, and a list of your virtues, perhaps, but what then? There is another day coming, the day of the first resurrection, but you do not rise, and the Lord's people, all the dead and living, go up to meet Him, but you do not go up; they are for ever with Him, but you are not there. And long after there comes another day, and another resurrection, and the great white throne is get, and the Lord whom you never knew, sits on that throne, and there you stand before Him and before the whole universe of God in your true character — an unveiled liar. All your robe of religiousness torn from you, and you in your sins before your judge! Do you say, "This is terrible language?" The more the pity that it should apply to you then. It is true language, as true as terrible.

Turn now for a moment to the next thing Peter wants us to know, viz., that

2. SALVATION IS IN HIS NAME.

"BE IT KNOWN UNTO YOU all, and to all the people of Israel. that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him both this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4: 10-12.

Man slew Him, but God raised Him and put Him in glory. His name is down here on earth to be trusted in. And now this moment, as you read these lines, you may know the power of that name. God grant you may! Can you say, He is my Saviour? — can you say it honestly? Do you say "He is a Saviour." That will not do; it is no use to you His being a Saviour if He is not your Saviour. The moment a soul trusts in Jesus, it is saved. If you have come to Jesus, if you are looking to Jesus, if your soul is reposing in Jesus, salvation is your birthright, as a sinner now. You may know now that He is your Saviour. The reason I know I am saved is, not that I knew I was among the elect, but that I knew I was among the lost, and He came to seek and save the lost. He will never shake a sinner off that clings to Him, He will not shake off the feeblest soul that clings to Him.

Yes, His throne must come down ere He shakes a sinner off that trusts Him. Will you not trust Him? Will you not have salvation?

Do you say, "I see that He is exalted up there, and I see that His name is proclaimed down here, and there is no salvation in any other, but is it for me?"

Let Paul answer that question, as he gives us the third thing God wants us to know.

3. FORGIVENESS PREACHED, AND JUSTIFICATION OBTAINED THROUGH Him.

BE IT KNOWN UNTO YOU, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13: 38, 39).

"But," you answer, "I believe in the forgiveness of sins." Whose sins? "Whose? why everybody's, of course." That is not true, you do not believe everybody is forgiven. Do you believe in the forgiveness of Paul's sins? He believed that himself. Do you believe in the forgiveness of mine? I believe that myself, thank God. But do you believe your own sins are forgiven? — it is all nothing to you if yours are not forgiven. Because Christ's blood has been shed, and He has glorified God about sin, therefore forgiveness can be preached to you. "And by Him all that believe are justified from all things." By Him, not by your tears or your prayers, or anything you can do.

God comes out and forgives, as we get in the case of the two debtors in Luke 7. "When they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both." The one owed five hundred pence, the other fifty, but neither could pay, and He forgives in His own style, "He frankly forgave them both." There is the action, and the style of the action — without a grudge — that is the way God forgives a sinner. Oh, taste His love just now, come to Him now, believe Him now, taste His forgiveness and believe His word. Here is the third thing that I am to know — that I am forgiven — I am justified. Praise the Lord! Do you believe on Him? Then you are to know you are forgiven and justified. All that believe are justified. Satan cannot raise a single charge. God justifies, who will condemn? Christ died for me and was condemned for me, that He might never condemn me. He will not condemn the one He has died for. Does Satan say, "Look at your sins?" Ah, I say, "Look at my Saviour." Does he bring up my unworthiness? "Look at my Saviour," again I say, "He has met every charge for me, and He is worthy."

Many tell me they do not feel saved, or feel forgiven; but you must know you are forgiven before you can feel forgiven know you are justified before you can feel justified,

The last wondrous fact I bring under your notice is that,

4. THE SALVATION OF GOD IS SENT TO THE GENTILES.

"And when they had appointed him (Paul) a day, there came many to him into his lodging, to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not."

His last words to them were:-

"BE IT KNOWN, THEREFORE, UNTO YOU, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it." Acts 28: 23, 24-28. It is sweet to see how, in two or three words, God sometimes heaps up the whole of the blessing He proposes to bestow on the soul.

"The salvation of God!"

The moment I hear the word "salvation" it brings this to my mind. if God sends me salvation, it is clear I have not got it, that needs no proving; and if God sends it, it proves, too, that I need it. Salvation comes from God, that is the source. You are the recipient, and the thing sent is exactly what you need!

This was Paul's last sermon, and it was a very grand one, twelve hours long; his whole object was to make Jesus precious to their souls; and he kept them from morning till evening, speaking of Jesus to them, and it is the very sweetest work possible. I would rather be pleading with you for Jesus, seeking to make Him precious to you, than be Ambassador from the British nation to the greatest foreign court.

I will not detain you for twelve hours now, I promise you; but this I also promise you, that if you believe the word concerning Jesus, you will be a saved person ere you lay down this paper. Were you steeped in sins when you took it up, you may become whiter than snow ere you lay it down, through the precious blood of Jesus, God's beloved Son. Do you say, "I do not believe in sudden conversions." Well, I daresay you will be like those in the 24th verse of this chapter, "And some believed the things that were spoken, and some believed not."

Why did they not believe? Because they listened to the Devil's insinuation, just as you are listening to it now. There is one who believes in sudden conversions more firmly than any in the universe of God. Shall I tell you who that is? The most firm and thorough believer in sudden con. versions is the devil! Perhaps you never thought of that before. I will prove it to you. Look at Luke 8: 12. "Those by the wayside are they that hear, then cometh the devil and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved." The moment you hear the word of God, you are on this platform — those by the wayside: then, — then what? Mark this. Then cometh the devil, the moment they hear, lest they should believe and be saved. Was I right? Did I tell the truth just now? Ah, the devil knows full well that if you believe the message God is sending you through this paper, you will be saved on the spot. Satan knows well what the effect of the Gospel is, — hear, believe, be saved, and how quickly? Quicker than the time it takes you to read the words. The devil knows the truth of this full well; he knows the Gospel, he knows the effect, knows the power, knows the force of the Gospel far better than most, even, of those who preach it, and because he knows the power of the Gospel so well, he comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. He does not care what he brings in to draw the eye off Christ, or distract the soul from believing the word of God.

I know you have never thought of this before, never thought you could be saved where you sit, you have thought salvation was a long process, something you had to do. Satan likes you to believe that; if he can possibly help it he will not let you believe God has done it all, and that you may have salvation just now through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

"Some believed, and some believed not," and so it will always be; but the man who does not believe is an infatuated man, has not the wariness of a bird even. "How can you say that?" do you ask. Well, the Psalmist says, "In vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird," and Satan sets his net for you now and whispers to you, "Do not you believe in sudden conversions, do not you take in this sort of thing, you have a good deal to do before you can be saved." But, I say, if Satan did not believe so firmly in sudden conversion himself, he would not be so anxious to keep you from believing in the possibility of it. Oh, believe the word that God has sent to you just now! He sends to you a message of salvation, and you must accept it or refuse it, and remember, my friend, if you will not take God's salvation you must take God's damnation, for there is no middle ground. So do not trifle with God's offer of salvation. Remember, there is no door out of hell, though there is an awfully wide door into it. Take care that you do not go in by that wide doorway — procrastination!

Are you a rich man trusting in your riches? If you have not Christ, what is it all worth? You are a poor man if you have not Jesus, you have more sins than sovereigns, more guilt than wealth, and when you lie in the grave, and the worms feed upon you, who has your gold then? "My posterity," you say. Yes, but who has your soul? Satan has your soul, — your soul is in hell. Whatever you have got, if you have not Jesus, it is all nothing. And, Oh! tell me, would not you like to know Jesus, to possess Jesus today? "Yes," you say, "I would willingly barter all I possess to win this salvation:" that will not do. God is too rich to sell salvation and you are too poor to buy it. It must be His own free gift, salvation is free for everybody who cares to have it.

Having glanced at the four things that God would have us know, 1st, that Christ has gone to glory, God has put Him there, though man cast Him out: 2nd, His name is down here on earth to be trusted in: 3rd, that by Him I am forgiven and justified: and now 4th, the salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles and they will hear it; I would ask you, my friend, one solemn question ere I close, Where are you? Do you believe the things, or do you not? And I warn you, if God sends you salvation, do not you refuse it You get salvation by accepting the Saviour. "Mine eyes have seen thy salvation," Simeon said, for he held the Saviour in his arms.

What a salvation to refuse! Will you not take it? You have nothing to do but to take what God offers. Receive Christ, and salvation is yours both now and for ever. Receive Him and you have everything in Him. Christ is like a golden casket, and in that golden casket a magnificent specimen of every precious stone that is known. The casket is gold, and I have everything in that casket. Everything is in Christ, I have life in Him, acceptance too, He is made unto me wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Possessing Christ I all possess, I have everything in Him, and I have only to fall down and thank God. And can I lose it? Never! I shall lose eternal life the day Christ loses it, not before; for I have been accepted in Christ. He took all my sins and He is my righteousness.

May you, dear friend, lay down this paper knowing what Christ is, that from your heart you may echo the lines of sweet hymn,

"I have a glorious Saviour,

Who died upon the tree;

My sins he bare, and suffered there

The wrath of God for me!"

GOD SAYS I AM SAVED.

Not long since I was asked to visit a young girl, about seventeen years of age, who had injured herself, and was thought to be dying. I had known her for some time, and was aware she was very delicate, but on calling learned she had fallen out of bed, and received an injury to the back of her head, which it was judged would eventually prove fatal. Being under the care of another surgeon, I had nothing to do with her treatment, so after making a few enquiries as to her bodily suffering, which was great (specially when moved by others, for she was almost completely paralysed), I began to speak to her about the state of her soul.

"Are you quite happy?" I said.

"No, sir."

"Why? Are you not saved?"

"I am not sure."

"But why are you not sure? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?"

"Yes, but I don't feel saved."

"Do you feel lost? "

"Yes I do;" and she now began to weep.

"Why do you know you are lost?"

"Because I am a sinner, and God's Word says so."

"Then you believe His Word, do you?"

"Oh, yes, sir, indeed I do."

"Well, then, His Word says, 'Look unto Me, and be ye saved;' do you believe that?"

"Yes."

"But are you looking to Jesus?"

"Yes, sir, but I don't feel as I should like to."

"Granted; but does it say, Look unto Me and feel saved?"

"No."

"What then?"

"Be ye saved."

"What?"

"Be ye saved."

"When is that, today or tomorrow?"

"When I look."

"But are you looking?"

"Yes, I am really looking to Jesus."

"Then are you saved?" She paused a moment and then firmly replied,

"I don't feel it, but God says I am saved. I see it now." The next moment her eye lit up, and her pallid face told the tale of a new spring of joy having been opened to her.

"Well," I said, "if any one were to come in and ask you now if you were saved, what would you say?"

"I would say 'Yes.'"

"And if they asked you how you knew it and were sure of it, what would you say?"

"I would say that I do believe in Jesus, and God says in His Word, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life; and though I don't feel it, I do believe what God says."

"Then you rest your soul on Jesus and on God's Word?"

"Yes, sir, I do; and I could die happy now. I'd like to go at once to Jesus."

"You have no fears No, none."

"No doubts?"

"No; why should I? I see it all clearly. I'm only a poor sinner — and Jesus died for me — and I believe in Him — and God says I am saved — and so I know I am."

I had a little more conversation, and called two days after to find her truly filled with joy and peace in believing. Her face shone with the joy the knowledge of God alone can impart. Leaving town for a few weeks, I found, on my return, that she had lingered about a month, giving a constant bright testimony of Christ to all about her, and, full of quiet, calm rest and joy in Christ until the end, had at length passed to be for ever with Him.

And now, dear reader, a word with you about the state of your soul. Are you saved — or lost? Which? Don't shirk the question. It must be answered soon. The longest life has its end. Who has given you a lease of long life? A long eternity you shall have. Where will you spend it? Another day may find you in it. Gone for ever from earth, where Christ died, "suffered for sins once, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." Gone where? With Christ? Or without Him? Would it be without Him? You tremble to say "Yes." Stop — listen! Your future is awful. Forgotten by man — forsaken by God — for ever in hell. Oh! pause a moment in your downward course. List the voice of love speaking to you — speaking from heaven — "Come unto Me" — "Look unto Me" — "I am Jesus." — "By Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved."

You have nought to do but take your true place as a lost sinner now before God. Acknowledge your sin. Justify Him — He'll justify you. It is all summed up in the sweet confession of the dying girl. May you this day be able to say, like her, "I'm only a poor sinner — Jesus died for me — I believe in Him — God says I am saved and so I know I am."

"Rise, my soul! behold 'tis Jesus,

Jesus fills my wondering eyes;

See Him now, in glory seated,

Where thy sins no more can rise!

THE FOUR SUPPERS.

You will find four suppers spoken of in the New Testament — all entirely different in character. God invites us to be present at three, but not at the fourth. It is because men will pay no heed to the invitation to the first supper that they will be present at the last. Whoever is present at the first supper, and a partaker of it, has the privilege of being at the second supper, will certainly be present at the third, and will not be at the fourth. On the other hand, whoever rejects the first, even though he takes the second, will certainly not be present at the third, and is in very great danger of being present at the fourth.

1. THE SUPPER OF SALVATION.

The first is given from the lips of our blessed Lord in Luke 14, which I would ask my reader to carefully peruse. There we see the Lord going into the Pharisee's house; He heals the man with dropsy; He bids them choose the lower place, and then in verse 13 He says, "When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." Here we get instruction from the lips of the Lord about the resurrection of the just, as contrasted with the resurrection of the unjust, and from other parts of Scripture we learn that the former takes place at least a thousand years before the latter.

"And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God."

I suppose there is no person but would echo this and say, What a blessed thing to eat bread in the kingdom of God! to be in the resurrection of the just — a time of full and thorough blessing under the hand of God in a future day -what a blessed thing to be with the Lord! a blessed thing to be saved! Yes, but let me ask you, — Do YOU know it? Are you saved? Are you blessed? Have you eaten this bread? You say, "I cannot tell." Then you do not really believe it is blessed. This man was a mere religionist, who wished to pay the Lord a compliment, like those in the present day who are content with a mere form of religion, who have never been broken down before God, and have never eaten this bread, have never entered into what Jesus is. If I really believe it is blessed to eat bread in the kingdom of God, I shall leave no stone unturned until I am sure I have eaten it.

The Lord at once detects what the state of the man is. Everyone says, "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God" — but when you bring the Gospel down to man, alas! man does not care for it. Man is so deeply degraded, so full of himself, so proud too, that he does not care to go down amongst the poor, the halt, the maimed, and the blind — he has got a great many things between himself and God to hinder this.

Have not you, dear reader, paid attention to everything within your reach, and the only thing you have really neglected is your soul? Your body you have cared for well — you have fed it, clothed it, cared for it, protected it, pampered it, indulged it; but as for your soul, you have cared nothing for it. The salvation of the soul with men was always a secondary thing, and is always displaced by pleasure and endeavouring to get on in this world; and is it not the same with you? Yes, unless you have been broken down by the grace of God, smashed to pieces, as it were, before Jesus, and been made glad to take salvation.

The Lord then says, as it were, to this man, "I will test you. You say, "Blessed is he that shall eat bread" etc. I will see whether you are in earnest. "A certain man made a great supper and bade many." The "certain man" is God. Mark the word great: it is not merely a supper, but "a great supper" — great because of the elements included in the supper, great because of the One who spreads it, great because of the wondrous grace that spread it for those who, alas! would only slight and despise it.

Why is it a supper? No doubt the Lord meant here the blessed Gospel, that love of God which is travelling out now to sinners, and pressing on them that which he gives — eternal life through the Saviour's precious name. There is something peculiarly interesting in its being supper — not breakfast, nor dinner, but supper. Which meal is that? The last meal in the day. I understand therefore that this is the last dealing of God in grace towards man; the Gospel now preached is the very last dealing of God in grace with man: the next dealing will be the midnight of judgment.

When Israel was in Egypt, in Exodus 12 we read, "At midnight there was a cry heard." God is abroad in the land at midnight: there is nothing but destruction and ruin, and judgment for those who had no part in the supper inside, where the blood of the lamb was upon the door-post. What a lesson is therein taught us!

There was a morning of innocence, where everything was beautiful and bright, and all shone fair; but the woman was deceived by the devil, Adam followed his wife into ruin and sin, and man was cast out. Then came the noonday — the trying and testing of man under law, and man became a law-breaker. Then the Lord Jesus comes Himself in the evening of the ways of God, in fulness of grace, gentleness, kindness, and goodness. What then? They spit in His face, and say, "Away with Him." The last thing is, the Holy Ghost comes down and tells the news "It is finished "that God has spread a feast for man, and that all that man has to do is to eat of the feast God in blessed love has provided.

Who has He bidden? He has bidden you. Have you believed it? Have you accepted it? God prepares a supper, and sends servants to say, "Come, for all things are now ready." There is the Gospel note! Do you want salvation? "Come, for all things are now ready." Do you want pardon, forgiveness, eternal life? "Come." Do not stop away and think you have something to do — "all things are now ready." How sweet is that word "Come." Whoever you are, Come! and find all ready. I want righteousness, you tell me. God has provided righteousness, in Christ-life, cleansing, justification, all things are ready in Christ.

But now of the bidden ones, what did they do? "They all with one consent began to make excuse" — every one of them. Have not you made excuse? One said, "I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it." The man puts his bit of land in between his soul and God. Another says, "I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them; I pray thee have me excused." There is no open rebellion, yea, there is external politeness — "I pray thee have me excused." The moment God wants to have you and Himself in close quarters, you say No. Man cannot have it. "I pray thee have me excused." How solemn!

If God spreads a supper, it is not merely that you are to be blessed, though that is included — the grand and great thought in God's heart is that He wants you and me near to Himself.

If I go to a supper, I go because of the person who bids me and makes me welcome. God says, "I want to have you in My presence, to feed you with what I have provided." Man says, "I pray Thee have me excused." Oh! what a heart man has got! And what a heart has God got, longing to bless!

You say, "What a desperately bad man that must have been." Stop, have you eaten the bread? Have you accepted? Not yet. Then you are the man, because you have put something in between — it may not be a piece of land, it may not be five yoke of oxen, but it is something that keeps God and you asunder.

Another says, "I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come." Was that a good excuse for refusing God's supper? Had he been a right-minded man, had he had a sense of the grace of him who invited him, he would have gone himself and taken his wife with him; but he makes her the excuse. How easily the Lord reads thus the secrets of our hearts! How easily the devil finds an excuse in the things of life to hinder us!

If you are in earnest, if you have got a deep sense that you are on the verge of eternal damnation, you will not care for wife, husband, father, mother, brother, sister, master, or servant, you will fling all aside in determined, unquenchable desire to have salvation.

If you do not know your need, if you are not thoroughly broken down, you are always glad to make an excuse, and you think it a good one. Do you think it will be a good excuse when the Lord says, "Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment?" You will be speechless then, and He will say, "Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness." If, my friend, you are an excuse-maker (what an awful occupation! yet the devil has crowds of apprentices young and old), give that trade up on the spot, for you are forging the chains, soldering the rings that must hold you through all eternity in the depths of hell!

Excuses have ruined and damned thousands of souls. Have you one solitary excuse that will bear the light of that day? Not one! You say, "I am too bad, too old, too young." No, the Lord says, "Ye will not come to me that ye might have life."

Oh! that the Lord may show you the sin of these devilish, (for so they are in truth) excuses why you should not come to God. The true reason is that you do not like Jesus, you like anything and anybody but God, close dealings with any one under the sun but God. But you must have to do with Him, you must be brought face-to-face with God; better far be brought face-to-face with Him now in the day of grace, than in the day of judgment-now, when He calls you in love, and spreads before you a supper. Why not come? Why not accept Him? Do not hold back in the thought of anything you must do, anything you must bring or provide. Come as you are!

"So that servant came and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out, quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind." These grand ones, these self-occupied ones, he says, shall not eat of my supper — bring in the poor.

The sinner without Christ is a very poor person. Though he may have the riches of the whole world in his coffers, he is poor without Christ — poor indeed. There are very few rich people converted — riches are often the ruin of the rich. The Lord says, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!"

When I get a person who is poor, broken down, outcast, with neither character nor fortune, I can tell him of one Friend — the Friend called Jesus. Tell me, have you a Friend called Jesus. Do you know Him, trust Him, adore Him? Is He the object of your heart, the One you delight in? There is nothing so sweet to me as the company of my friends, and there is no company so sweet as the company of Jesus.

The "maimed" are those whom sin has wounded and crippled — and what maims a person as sin does? — all vitality, vigour, freshness, and power gone. "The halt," that is the lame, those who are unable to walk. Who can enter the pearly gates crippled by sin, unable to walk in? Furthermore, "the blind" are called. Who are "the blind"? You are, if still Christless. Do you see any beauty in the Lord Jesus? "Well, I can't say I do." Then you are blind. Jesus is the most lovely object in the universe of God — the "Chiefest among ten thousand." If the Christian is asked what he thinks of Christ, he answers "He is altogether lovely." Though I might paint the most lovely descriptions on canvas, and tell of it to a blind man, he cannot understand it, for he cannot see it. The real state of man is that he is "born blind."

"The poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind," this is God's company — not the good, but the bad. Whoever you are, I am bidden by my Master to make you welcome.

Now see how the urgency of the charity of God comes out here, and the universality of its expression: "And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in."

"Yes, says God, I have still room for many wayward sinners — go, compel them to come in." I thank God for that word. May I not entreat, implore, invoke you to come? I am bid to compel you to come in. Perhaps you do not care to come, you are not interested or anxious: "Go," says the Lord, "compel them to come." Oh! sinner, do you want to be damned? "No," you say. You certainly must be if you turn your back on Jesus. Oh! listen to His grace — "Go, compel them to come in." You have nothing to do, His grace has provided all: the blood of atonement is shed, the claims of God have all been met on the cross by the Lord Jesus, and the sinner has now only to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved on the very spot.

Oh! receive this word, let it sink down deeply into your heart; look back at the cross, see the blood shed of the Saviour, see the atonement finished, God's claims all met, the whole question of sin settled for ever. Now that work being done, the cup of wrath drunk, the righteousness of God vindicated, His truth maintained, His character fully revealed, and man's need fully met, what remains? Jesus has died, but God raises Him, puts Him at His own right hand in glory, sends down the Holy Ghost, and what then? God says, "Come and eat." You want to eat bread in the kingdom of God — come and be His guest. He would have you come. He invites you as you are to accept salvation. He invites you to His supper, to glory, to everlasting rest with Christ. He bids you to come to have forgiveness, and says if you do not you will offend Him. You must either receive or refuse. God brings before you Christ as a living, loving Saviour. Make your choice, but do not, oh! do not refuse, do not despise such grace; when He bids you, come, — when he invites you, respond. At your peril make an excuse.

The Gospel feast, then, is the first feast, the supper of salvation. If you eat God's supper, you are a saved soul — if you look to Jesus you will be saved, and be washed whiter than snow. "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." That is the supper of salvation.

2. THE SUPPER OF COMMUNION.

The second supper is the Lord's Supper, the supper of communion. Look at 1 Cor. 10: 16-21, 1 Cor. 11: 23-34, "As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come." And who takes this supper? Do you who are not converted? you who are not washed in the blood? Oh! but you say, "It is a means of grace." No! it is a means of judgment, because the very thing the Lord will answer when you say, "We have eaten and drunk in Thy presence," will be, "Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness." The only one who has the privilege of the Lord's Supper is the one who knows he has partaken of the Gospel supper — the real, true Christian.

The Lord's Supper is, as it were, a photograph. A photograph is a faint and always feeble resemblance of an absent one. This supper, then, is a lovely, beautiful photograph of Jesus — not as He now is alive in glory, but as he once was, dead on the cross for our sins. Therefore the gathering round the Lord's table to eat that supper is the memorial of the Lord's death. There is nothing like it! it has the greatest and sweetest claim on our hearts. I remember a betrayed, denied, thong-bound, thorn-crowned, crucified Christ. If, being unconverted, you partake of this supper, I would warn you, never do it again. You reply, "I have the minister's communion token." Have you had God's communion token? "When I see the blood I will passover you." "And THE BLOOD shall be to you for a TOKEN." God's communion token is the blood.

This briefly is the supper of communion. May the Lord give us to enjoy, understand, and appreciate it more. We are called to walk worthy of it, separate from all that is of the world. That cup tells me of the blood by which I am separated from my sins, from wrath, and from judgment; but it tells me also that I am separated from the world, and am to walk through it as a pilgrim and a stranger.

Let us look now at the two suppers given in Rev. 19.

3. THE SUPPER OF JOY.

This is the marriage supper of the Lamb by-and-by (vv. 6-9). I do not wonder at the word, "Let us be glad and rejoice." Heaven breaks out in melody, the hosts of heaven in thanksgiving — it is the bridal supper. It is the moment when the Lord has gathered His own people up in heaven with Him — all are caught up to meet the Lord, all are bright with His likeness — the day of the marriage comes, the day of the joy of His heart and ours.

"The marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready."

In that day the Church, the bride of Christ, shall be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." We have done here some little sweet acts of service, perhaps, for the Lord: He has marked all, every cup of cold water, every loving deed, and He will reward it by-and-by. In that day the practical righteousness, the godly conduct of the believer down here in the world, will find its counterpart and answer. As you have walked down here, so you will be known up there; our practical life and conduct will be remembered and manifested in the presence of the Lord. It is spoken of as a garment, because it will be seen, — it is what is manifest, external. Nobody has seen your service down here, everybody will see up there what you have been and done for the Lord during your pilgrim sojourn on earth during His absence.

How beautiful to go to the supper of salvation, the supper of communion, and now to the supper of the Lamb — the day of joy when with our blessed Lord, we see Him face-to-face, and are like Him.

If, my beloved reader, you have not taken the first, though you may have taken the second, you will not be at this one — these three go together. The supper of salvation meets me as a sinner, the supper of communion as a saint, and by-and-by the bride will be with her Lord, and like Him.

4. THE SUPPER OF JUDGMENT,

The last is not a supper of brightness, or gladness, or communion — it will be the dark, black supper of judgment, to which God will invite many guests, and they will all come, It is the Lord coming to deal with this earth in judgment (see vv. 11-21), coming down in solemn, fearful judgment on this scene where you and I now are. They refused Him on earth when He came in grace, but He will come back to make war. They crowned Him with thorns, God crowns Rim with glory; they parted His raiment amongst them, and cast lots upon His vesture — here on His vesture He has a name written, "King of kings and Lord of lords," and they will see Him again clothed. The world will see Jesus come back again. When did the world see Jesus last? What was the last glimpse the world had of Him? They had stripped Him, crowned Him with thorns, nailed Him to a tree, His blood flowing down to stain the very earth they trod upon. When they see Him again He has still a crown, but not of thorns: "on His head were many crowns," crowns of glory. His hand, once pierced and nailed to the tree, hold, now a sceptre. He is clothed with a vesture dyed with blood. It is the Lord coming in swift, solemn judgment — a day that draws terribly near.

"He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." It is the wrath of God poured out on man, who has refused the supper of the blessed God. Now the dealings of God are reversed, it is not grace but judgment. The Lord Jesus comes as the administrator of the judicial power of God. He comes to tread the winepress. In the vintage time the luxuriant bunches are cut down one by one, and thrown into the winepress; presently down comes the weight, till every grape is crushed. So will the blood be crushed from His enemies. Do you know a figure more fearful? You have trifled with God once too often when that day comes. His patience then worn out, His wrath will come on the surface. He will come as "King of kings and Lord of lords;" you have never owned His Kingship, His Lordship, yet. Christ and you are strangers; He loves you, but you do not love Him, and now comes the hour when you must know Him in His Kingship and His Lordship, and be crushed by His wrath.

Oh! careless soul, brave not, risk not that day. Then goes forth the word, "Come, and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God." It is another "Come" — no longer the "Come" of grace, of invitation to the Gospel feast. It is, "Come, ye fowls, be a witness of the righteous judgment of God, eat the flesh of kings," etc. Man in the end rises up in daring rebellion against the Lord; the once despised, refused Jesus comes as King of kings and Lord of lords, and swift destruction overtakes them all. In the 20th verse we see the beast and the false prophet cast into the lake of fire, — two men cast alive into the lake of fire, as in the Old Testament we get two men taken up to heaven alive. Men may delude themselves with the thought of coming days of brightness — but, one of these days, like lightning everything will be altered: the saints will be taken up, and desolation will begin to cover the earth. Satan will have the reins of government in his hands, the name of God will be cast out of the earth. Then the Lord of glory appears, and this fourth supper is enacted.

Will you be there? It is possible, nay, probable — because if the Lord Jesus came this hour and took up His saints, not one Gospel-rejector then left behind would be saved; for God says He will send you strong delusion. "In the twinkling of an eye" we shall be taken. The world may miss us a day or two, but not one week or month will have rolled by before the mischief will appear, the power of Satan will be displayed. When the world is led astray by the devil, ruled over by antichrist, it will go on till at length God's patience tires, and then this terrible judgment takes place. The Lord shall come from heaven in judgment. And all this precedes the Millennium, the thousand years of blessing, when the Lord will reign on the earth. I would not risk being at the fourth supper. I have made sure of the first, delight in the second, know I shall be at the third, and am sure I shall not be at the fourth. Friend, be thou of the same mind. May God give you to hear and believe His word in faith, and by-and-by, when Jesus comes, be found in that bright company, with Him and like Him for ever!

THE BLOOD AND THE HYSSOP.

"And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. . . . . And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning." Exodus 12: 13-22.

ISRAEL'S redemption and exodus from Egypt are a striking type of the Gospel and its effects now.

These verses show us God's way of salvation, and the way man must act in order to avail himself of God's rich and wondrous provision for his need. Judgment was about to fall on man. Egypt and all its households were exposed to this sure and certain judgment, the Israelite as much as the Egyptian — true figure of the world's present condition, with God's eternal judgment of sin drawing near to it. Death is at the very threshold. The Judge is passing by. Can His righteous wrath be averted? Can His entrance in this terrible character be arrested? These are the momentous questions of that night, and also of the present moment. Reader, can you answer them? Unless you know in reality the meaning of the two verses I have quoted you cannot do so; but if still in darkness, may God in His infinite mercy open your eyes!

There are a great many people who would tell you without hesitation that they fully believe the Word of God as to the death of Christ being the only ground of a sinner's hope before God, that they have given up all idea of self-righteousness as a means of keeping out the coming judgment and yet they are not saved. Why is this? They believe Jesus died, and yet they are not saved. Why is this? "Oh," you say, "they have not faith." I suppose that is at the root of it. No sensible man — no man honest, no man who has a notion of what God is, but must come to this conclusion, "I stand in danger." And then, too, he must believe, as an historical fact, the death of Jesus.

Still such are not saved. The reason is, the blood is still in the basin, and not sprinkled on the lintel and two side-posts. This is an illustration of what I mean.

It is as though you had gone into the house of an Israelite that night and put the question to him, — "Do you believe judgment is coming? Nine woes are past, but do you believe the last, worst, woe is coming?"

"Oh, yes, I believe it, and I have done as Moses commanded: the lamb is slain, the blood is shed."

"Is the blood in the basin?"

"Yes."

"Is it on the lintel and side-posts? No, not yet."

"And why not on the lintel and side-posts I do not know how to put it there."

"But are you safe from the destroyer? I am not sure; I hope so."

Now this is just your case, perhaps. You believe the blood of the Lamb has been shed; you know Jesus died. You know there is only shelter beneath that precious blood, but there has been no real application of the death of Christ to your own soul.

Why is this? There has been no taking the bunch of hyssop and sprinkling the blood. with it. The bunch of hyssop is a very insignificant thing — a poor contemptible thing — and people are not willing to go down so low.

Knowledge may ruin a person if there is not the application of the thing known to the heart. Remember you may go down to hell with the Bible at your fingers' ends, for knowledge is not faith nor repentance. But the bunch of hyssop, though a very poor, insignificant thing, is a Divine necessity. Had it been a bunch of cedar, you could have understood it — the cedar, with its lofty grandeur, that could almost shelter an army beneath its wide-spreading branches.

Solomon spake of all things, "from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall" — a little thing that does not take root in a decent fashion even, but springs out from between two stones! The cedar and the hyssop are the two extremes in nature, the highest and the lowest. You must take the blood up with a bunch of hyssop; that is, you must go and shelter yourself under that precious blood with a full consciousness that you are a lost soul, without a particle of innate worthiness or goodness.

In Lev. 14 the hyssop was buried out of sight; in Numbers 19 it was burned out of sight. David says in Ps. 51: "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean." There is no mistake about that man; he wants cleansing. "I will take hyssop," says David. "Oh, cast me where you will, treat me as you will, only cleanse me. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me, and shall be whiter than snow."

But further, it was on the end of a bunch of hyssop, that which spake of the lowest and most degrading thing in nature, they gave the Lord Jesus a sponge of vinegar in the day of His death, when He was suffering to put away sins. Yes, they could taunt Him with the bunch of hyssop in the hour of His agony, His deep untold suffering — His suffering for us; and Jesus, in the grace of His heart, received it, and said, "It is finished." What does that mean? It means that he was there undergoing from the hand of God the wrath, the dark, bitter agony that was due to you and me. He died for us, that we might live with Him.

Are you prepared, dear reader, to accept the bunch of hyssop yourself; in other words, to take the place of repentance and self-judgment before God? Mark! there never entered an unrepentant soul within the doors of heaven. Faith and repentance go together. Using the bunch of hyssop is a man going down before God in, the acknowledgement of his truly lost and ungodly state; not resting content with saying, "I know Jesus died, but I must wait till I go through some edifying experience, as I have heard of others having done, before I can know I am saved," but sheltering himself as a lost man under cover of that precious blood — applying it to his own heart. "But," you say, "I never saw the blood of Christ." Nor did I! I never saw the blood of Christ, and never shall see it, but I believe what God has told me about it. It is not when you see the blood, but God says "When I see the blood I will pass over."

But you ask, "Why sprinkle it only on the lintel and on the two side-posts? Why not on the ground, why not on the floor or basement?" I will tell you why. Because it is left for a careless soul like you to trample the blood of Jesus beneath the feet — to despise and scorn it. What does faith do? Faith looks up to it, shelters beneath it, and says "I stand beneath a blood-stained canopy." There was but one eye saw the blood that night. No Israelite saw the blood. They simply obeyed the Word of God, they put it on the outside of their houses in faith, and they remained inside in peace, secure under its shelter; and if God has told you that on the cross His blessed Son died to put away your sins, what have you to do? I Simply to repose on the truth of what God has told you. God bids us shelter ourselves beneath that blood, that precious blood which has been shed (Heb. 9: 11, 12). Christ's blood has been shed on the cross, and He having there suffered in our stead, once, and once only — having borne the judgment — has entered in once into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. On the ground of what He is, and what He has done and endured, we can enter in also.

Christ having borne sins, having taken them upon Him, having been on the cross made sin, put 'Himself in grace as a substitute in a place, out of which He could not extricate Himself save by putting away those sins. He was there on the cross with sins upon Him. He was on that tree under the judgment of sin, not His own, blessed be God, but ours! OURS! On the Cross in the deepest grace, He hung in the sinner's place. He endureth the wrath for the sinner, He died for the sinner. He was sacrificed for us, "Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us." "Sacrificed for us!" Charming word! It might charm the heart of the most hardened sinner. He sacrificed Himself. Yes, HE SACRIFICED HIMSELF FOR US, and yet you have never sacrificed a single half-hour for Christ. You never sacrificed a bit of pleasure for Christ, you never sacrificed your own will or your own way a single moment for Christ. You have sacrificed many a thing, everything for your own pleasure, but nothing for Him. Is this not so?

Pause, think for a moment. He sacrificed Himself for us, and then passed into the Holy Place, having obtained Eternal Redemption for us. And the apostle then adds: "How much more shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." If, in Exodus 12, the blood of the Lamb could preserve the greatest sinner all through that long night, so that no death or destruction could enter in there, "How much more," O careless sinner, "How much more shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" That blood that has met the claims of God-that precious blood that has silenced the accuser-how much more shall it bring a defiled, guilty sinner into God's presence, pardoned, blessed, forgiven, saved, to serve Him! Magnificent word "How much more!" Scripture all through speaks of the blood of Christ, and points the sinner to the blood of Christ that has met God, and satisfied His claims, and now there is nothing for you to do but trust it. If you despise it you must perish; if you shelter beneath it you receive eternal life.

It is an awful thing to despise the blood of Christ. Mark well the word in Exodus 11 which God whispers as it were in the ear of Moses to tell to Pharaoh. "Yet will I bring one plague more." Mark it, you who care not to be ranked among the despised followers of Jesus, who have trampled under foot His precious blood, there remains for you one plague more — one plague more - and oh! tell me, What will you do when this plague overtakes you? Will you try and escape it? Impossible! Will you try to put it off? Impossible! Impossible! Will you say as a dying man, a rich man, once said to his physician when he told him the plain truth that he could not live much longer? "Oh! doctor, I will give you all I possess if you can only give me one day more of life." Impossible! Impossible; that day he died. And, sinner, what will you do the day that plague overtakes you, the day the iron hand of Death seizes you in its relentless grasp? "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."

God had only "one plague more" for Pharaoh, but, O, Christless soul, God has two plagues more for you! "After this the judgment!" "After this the judgment!" How will you meet it? Oh! if you have never decided for Christ before, will you not decide for Him now! Will you not come to Him now? Will you not put yourself under the shelter of His precious blood before this coming judgment day arrives? I put my queries to you specially who have been moved under the Word of God before, but are still undecided for Christ" still unsettled, Oh! I appeal to you, risk no longer meeting these two plagues more, No longer let the god of this world blind your eyes to the coming danger, or harden your heart. Let not procrastination lead you astray.

I would you knew my Saviour, my Jesus, the Saviour I know, the Jesus I know — my blessed, precious Saviour. Now just tell me, Would not you like to know Him? Does not your heart sometimes long to know rest and peace? You will find it nowhere else — but you will find rest in knowing Him. Do you tremble to meet these two plagues more — these two coming plagues, from which there is no escape? Then listen to this. "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." "So Christ." If my sin demands death and judgment — so Christ was once offered, bearing sins, and enduring judgment from the hand of God to bring me salvation! "I am content," I say, "I am content. Beneath the shelter of that precious blood I will crouch — I am safe, I am happy. I am to stay in the house until the morning, peaceful and happy, keeping the feast within-feeding on Christ, enjoying Christ — feasting on Him each day."

"None of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning." I have clean done with the world; I want nothing from outside. Outside there is only death and destruction. The long dark time of Jesus' absence He calls the night. In the morning Jesus comes and takes us right out of the scene; and until then we are to remain in the house. Safely resting beneath the shelter of that blood, done with the world, we only wait till the morning, that bright and sunny morning, when He shall come to take us into the Father's house — when we shall hear His own voice calling us: "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away; for, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."

"Ah," you say, "I would like to be there in that morning. Well, if you would be there then, decide for Jesus now. Who can say you will get another opportunity? And mark! mark well! there are two plagues more! Two plagues more! but not for me. He has taken those two plagues for me, and now what is a Christian looking for? Looking for Him! To them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." An unconverted man is looking for two plagues more — he may shut his eyes to the fact — but there they are before him. Do you ask me: "What about the two plagues for you?" I answer: "They are behind me; Jesus has taken them for me, and I am looking for Him!"

May the Lord bless His Word, and give strength and courage to those who receive Him to come clean out of the world, and to live only to please and serve and follow Him. Do you think that is hard work and dreadful bondage? That is because you know nothing about it! It is hard work and dreadful bondage to labour in the brick-kilns of the world, and then go down into the depths of hell at the end. I call that dreadful bondage to go on serving Satan now — and then to go down with him where no drop of water shall ever cool your tongue — where the voice of God is never heard-into the darkness of an eternal night, which no ray of light shall ever penetrate. Shut out from Jesus? Yes, shut out from Him then for ever! Oh! decide for Him now!

You must decide for yourself; no one can decide for you. What a difference! Shut out from Him for ever, in the depths of hell, or going to be for ever with Him! Oh, will you not decide? I made my choice long ago; so now I know that death and judgment are behind me, and only Jesus before me. Will you not make your choice and choose Him just now? The Lord grant it! God has provided the "Blood," do you use the "Hyssop!"

"ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD."

"The word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me? . . . And He brought him forth abroad, and said, LOOK NOW TOWARD HEAVEN, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And HE BELIEVED IN THE LORD; and He COUNTED IT TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. And He said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to GIVE thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And He said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto Him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against the other: but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away." — Gen. 15: 1-11.

"If Abraham were justified by works he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For what saith the Scripture? ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." — Rom. 4: 2-3.

ROMANS 4 is the Divine comment on Genesis 15 — "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." He believed God. Now there is not one person who has not thought at some time in his or her history that he or she had something to do to be saved. Christian, did not you think so? "Yes," you answer; "I always thought I had something to do, until I saw that Christ had died, and done everything for me." Yes, He has died and done everything, and therefore if the Word of the Lord comes to me and tells me the work is finished, I have nothing to do but to believe it. When God's Word appeals to you — addresses you — be like Abraham; believe it!

God first says to Abraham, "Fear not." And why? Because, He says, "I am thy shield." Is it not a blessed thing to have God for your shield? The soul that has God for its shield is securely sheltered; though Satan let fly his most fiery darts, they fall harmless to the ground-they cannot touch it.

God is coming to Abraham in grace, in this chapter, and Abraham is before God in need; and if you, dear unsaved one, are to get blessing you must take the place of a sinner in need. And what do you need? You need pardon, you need salvation, you need grace, you need to be washed from your sins, you need just what God has got for you. And God is ready to GIVE you just what you need. God Himself is the Fountain, the Source of the supply; the Gospel comes out from the heart of the Eternal God. Peace is preached unto you, but where does that healing stream rise which sweetly soothes the troubled conscience? It rises in the bosom of the Eternal God!

Well wrote the poet:-

"The Father's boundless love we sing,

The fountain whence our blessings spring

How great the depth, how high it flows,

No saint can tell, no angel knows.

Its length and breadth no eye can trace,

No thought explore the bounds of grace

The love that saved our souls from hell

Transcends the creature's power to tell."

"Fear not," is the word which He loves to speak to the heart of the empty, troubled one. Do you ask, "What will He say to me?" "Fear not." "But I am afraid." "Fear not." "But I am unfit for God." He knows it well. "Fear not," He seems to say, "I will throw my sheltering wing over you." And oh! what can give the sense of protection like that? The moment you know God is on your side, though the devil may accuse you, and man may upbraid you, and your own conscience may convict you, you can go to God, and say, like Abraham, "Lord God, what wilt Thou GIVE me?"

Abraham takes his true place, that of a needy soul before God. It is the picture of a thoroughly upright soul who takes the place of nothingness, and goes to God with its need. Then the Word of the Lord came to him again, and God brings out Abraham, and there towards the starry firmament He points, and says: "LOOK NOW TOWARD HEAVEN, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them . . . . . So shall thy seed be. AND HE BELIEVED IN THE LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness." And what, dear friend, does your soul stand in need of! And where are you bid to look for all the blessings you need? Toward heaven. Is it, Look within? No, Toward heaven. "Look unto me," He says, and faith, sweetly responsive, pierces the cloud; yes, faith unfolds her wings, soars aloft, and never droops her pinions till at the feet of Jesus she calmly rests. Faith says, Jesus died for me. He has done it all, and I trust Him. Oh, dear one, "LOOK Now." God never says, "Look tomorrow." Tomorrow is not thine; tomorrow may find thee no longer on earth, but thy guilty soul plunged for over in an everlasting hell.

"Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness," and if you believe God you will get the blessing too. "If we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead," blessing is ours. God calls you now to believe, to look, not as Abraham to the stars — you are to look beyond the stars. God bids you look at that precious Saviour once on the cross for sins, but now alive and in the glory, to look to Him and be saved. His heart lingers over thee in love now. He will bless thee now if thou wilt take thy true place, a ruined, wretched sinner at the feet of the Lord. If a soul takes its true place in need, God comes out in grace, calling on it to "believe on Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification."

Abraham was called on to believe what God was going to do. You and I are called on to believe what God has done. Abraham believed God. Everything was against him, but he believed God, and I think there are not three finer words in Scripture recorded of any soul than these three. There was Abraham in his littleness, and God in His greatness, but there was an indissoluble link formed that day between Abraham and God — a link that could never, never after be snapped asunder.

Another thing comes out in this 15th of Genesis — not merely blessing, but inheritance. "The stars" tell of heavenly blessings. When I know that Christ bore my sins in His own body on the tree I can look up and see Him by faith at God's right hand, and enjoy all that I possess in Him.

"Abraham believed God." Do you? The great point of the first part of Romans 4 is that you count God worthy of being believed — you credit what He says, and you stand before God, linked with God, and justified by Him. He espouses your cause because you trust Him. First, I get unfeigned confidence in what God says, then God enables me to know why I am so sure of blessing. It was the grace of God that gave Abraham the blessing, and it is the grace of God that gives you pardon to your soul. Then Abraham gets the perfect knowledge of the ground of the blessing. Sacrifice. Why do I draw near to God? Because of the sacrifice. How are my sins put away? By the sacrifice. A sacrifice that you have made? No! but which God has provided. God's Word is what reaches my soul first of all. Then I want to know by what right I can know my sins are forgiven. And He says: "Take Me an heifer," etc., i.e., because of the sacrifice. Peace springs from the work of Jesus. He "made peace by the blood of His cross." The WORD of God, and the WORK of Christ are the pillars of my peace. The work was completely done by the blessed Jesus, and with. His dying breath the last word for us He left on earth was "Finished." But rising from the dead, what was His first word? "Peace." His last word was "Finished," His first word, returning to bless, was "Peace." What a solid foundation for faith to repose on!

But Abraham inquires, "Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And He said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, And a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young. pigeon." You ask, Why the five; would not one have been sufficient as a sacrifice? I believe it would; but that these express the difference in the grasp souls get of the value of the work of Christ. I look back at the cross of Jesus and I may have a very feeble view of Christ; that would be the pigeon: but I might get by the side of a saint who has a stupendous grasp of the value of the work of Christ, that would be like the heifer. Which is the safest, the cleanest? the one who has the feeble grasp of Christ and His work, or the one who has the mighty grasp of it? You reply, I should think the one that has the largest grasp of Christ. Then you think perfectly wrong, because it is Christ the soul has hold of; however feeble your faith may be, one look at Christ links your soul with Him and that link can never be broken. Heaven may be shaken, and earth shall be shaken, but you shall never be shaken who have put your trust in Christ. Heaven and earth may pass away, but His word shall not pass away he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life."

But most likely you will answer, I have such doubts, and fears. Listen then, "And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses Abram drove them away." The fowls are figures of Satan, and Satan's powers, and he will always try to disturb your view of Christ. "Abram drove them away," and that is what you must do. Do not allow Satan's suggestions a place for a moment; his one object is to prevent your eye being fixed on Christ. Rest simply on what God has said, and Christ has done, and what is the result?

Peace, peace, about the past, because Christ's work is so perfect that I cannot add to it. God has accepted that work for me and I will rest in it, and the Saviour that did it, and I have peace with God; and more, I am a justified soul. If I look at the past it is peace. Peace about my sins because they are cancelled by Christ, and I believe it, and my soul has a link with God; the sins that used to come between God and me have been borne by Christ, and now God has nothing at all against me. "Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace (or favour) wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

Think of it, I pray you, how beautiful to know you stand in the favour of God. You stand according to the acceptance of Christ. You have a right to the presence of God; the blood of Christ gives you that right. God's favour rests upon you, because you trust Christ, and you "rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Hope never means uncertainty in Scripture. We are not uncertain as to whether we will get it or not, we know the glory belongs to us, because the gift of God has made it ours. Oh! believe now — listen to His own words: — "The glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they maybe one, even as we are one." It is a gift. How do I know that I shall be in the glory by and bye? Because it is my Saviour's gift to me. How do I know my sins are washed away? Because my Saviour died for me. How do I know God's favour rests on me? Because I stand accepted in Christ. The moment you come to Jesus, His blood cleanses you from all sin, and that moment you are as fit for the glory of God as the blood of Christ can make you. I get peace, deep peace about the past, grace for the present, - I know His love for me and rejoice in it — and glory for the future, my Saviour's gift to me.

Beloved reader, let me beseech you to decide to be the Lord's now. If you still persist in unbelief, never expect to hear the gospel again. Why? If you are cut off in your sins, and damned for eternity, will you not deserve it? Oh! look to Him now — believe on Him now, and do not be ashamed to confess Him, and to own to all that He is your Saviour.

This year you began and have continued in unbelief, oh — let it not so depart. Is not God worthy of being believed? Surely. Is not the Lord Jesus worthy of your heart's affections? Most surely. Shall He not have both your confidence and affection? Would to God that I could hear you respond again, Surely, most surely; "I believe God."

ARE YOU READY?

"Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of man cometh." — Matt. 25: 1-13

These are the words of the Lord Jesus, and you may say, "What is there involved in that?" Well, beloved friend, precious and profitable as is every word of God, whether spoken by the Lord Himself, or by any of His servants, yet there is always something very specially impressive and instructive in the words spoken by the Lord Jesus Himself. There is one simple point I want to press on you now; one thought I have before me, and it is this, that if you are not ready when Jesus comes, He will bid you depart into everlasting punishment; if you are not ready, there is nothing before you but eternal woe — eternal punishment.

"They that were ready went in," those that were not ready were left outside. There is nothing more simple, dear friend, but there is nothing more solemn. "They that were ready went in," and oh, if the Lord came just now, what it would be to our hearts who know Him! The voice of the archangel and the trump of God would be heard, and His own voice, the voice of the Saviour, would bid us rise up to meet Him. We should be caught up to scenes of joy and rest with Jesus. But, my friend, are you ready? ready to meet Jesus, ready for that trumpet's call, ready to go in? "No," you say, "I am not." Then do not lose a moment, I entreat you, "be ye also ready," be ready now.

God wants to have you as the companion of His Son for all eternity. He is seeking a bride for His Son, just as Eleazer goes down through the desert and tells Rebekah of all Abraham's wealth and greatness and that unto his son he had given all that he had. "That is," says he, "there is a bridegroom in the far-off land, and I want a bride for him, I want a heart that is prepared to go out to meet him." So God is seeking now hearts prepared to go out to meet Christ.

There was a going forth in early times, in the apostle's days, there was a constant expecting the Lord's return; but then wise and foolish all settled down and went to sleep. The wise were wrong in going to sleep, but there was this difference between them, that when the cry was made, "Behold the bridegroom cometh," the lamps of the wise were alight; they needed trimming, but there was oil in them, they had never gone out. I have no doubt the Lord is gathering out a people now to wait for His Son, and one day when the world is expecting nothing, without any warning, He will come. He will come, and we who trust Him shall go up to meet Him, and the door will be shut. "They that were ready went in with him to the marriage."

He shows the bright side first, the joy of the marriage supper. "I desire," God says, "to make you the companion of my Son in Heavenly Glory. My heart's wish is that you shall share with Christ that bright scene of eternal blessedness." "No," answers the soul. "Then," says He, "you must share the fate of the devil and his angels; there is no alternative."

Soul, listen, listen! You must be with Christ for eternity; you must share with Him that bright scene of glory, or you must share for all eternity the fallen gloomy fortunes of Satan. Which is it to be? Soul, make your choice, your eternal choice. With Christ, or with Satan — which?

"Oh," you say, "I should like to be with Christ, of course; I have long made a profession of Christianity." Yes, but are you really a Christian? Are you ready? Profession is not enough; it is the lamp without the oil in it. Who are those who had the oil? They are those who had given their souls no rest till they had the certainty of salvation. The oil in the vessels is the Holy Ghost. They had not only "heard the word of truth, the gospel of salvation," and trusted in the Lord Jesus, but, as Paul tells us in Ephesians 1: 13 — they were "sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise."

Many souls are stumbled because of this, they think they have to possess the Holy Ghost in order to believe. Not so; you believe, and then you get the Holy Ghost. It is like a man buying a number of sheep, and then marking them as his own. God buys with the blood of Christ, and marks with the Holy Ghost. The wise virgins had the oil, and if you are in earnest you will not be content without knowing you are saved; and surely it is high time you were in down-right earnest. God is in earnest in His desire to have you; the devil is in earnest in his desire to damn you; I am in earnest in my anxiety to see you brought to God, you are the only one who is careless in the matter, and it is your soul which is at stake for eternity. O, ye heavens, look down on this awful sight — a sinner unconcerned about his eternal salvation! God was so concerned as to send His only Son that you might not perish. The Lord Jesus was so concerned that He came, and suffered, and died, the just for the unjust. The evangelist is deeply concerned that you may be converted. The devil is thoroughly concerned to seek to hinder your coming to Christ. You only are unconcerned about the matter. Appalling spectacle! an unsaved sinner on the verge of hell, totally unconcerned!

Oh, dear soul, the day of your concern is coming. What concern there will be when you wake up to find there is no oil in your lamps, what earnestness, what terrible earnestness will be depicted on your face, as outside the door you stand. "Too late!" says God. "TOO LATE?" exclaim you. "TOO LATE" will be the echo of the arches of heaven, resounding through earth, as then you cry, "Lord! Lord! open to me!"

Oh, be in earnest now, the Lord would have you roused to your state, you may never have another opportunity. Can you risk being among that number who are refused from His door, or hear those awful words, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire!" This is no imagery of mine. These are the Lord's own words, most solemnly true. If you are not the Lord's you must be damned. If you are not linked with Christ you must be lost. If you are not His by living faith now, there is nothing before you but one of these two things, either to knock too late outside that door, or to hear from His lips, "Depart from me." I have no doubt from Scripture that if the Lord comes and finds you unconverted, your history is over; the door will be shut, and not a solitary ray of hope will ever again fall on your benighted soul — the door will be closed for ever, Now ONLY is your time — oh, be in earnest NOW!

I believe the Lord is separating His own more thoroughly now. The Lord's people are banding together more, the world and the faithful are beginning to separate more and more even now, and much of worldliness as there is among the saints of God, yet the line of demarcation between them and the world is more distinct. What a tide of blessing too has rolled over the land; what means it all? He is coming! He is coming! coming quickly too. Are you merely a professor carrying the lamp in your hand? You must have the oil too. Have you ever known what it is to be broken down, tinder a sense of your sin? Have you ever been in earnest about your soul's salvation? Have you ever bowed in heart to Jesus? Have you ever been really converted? Are you ready to go in? Do not say, "I hope so," that will not do. It is not enough. You would not be content with a mere hope about things down here. No, it is only in the interests of their immortal souls that men are foolhardy and careless.

Do you ask, my reader, "How am I to get to Christ?" If you are in earnest you will soon find the way to Christ. "But," you say, "what do you want me to do?" I want you to take salvation from the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want your heart for Christ. I want you to bow down to Him, to love Him, to adore Him. May God turn your eye on His Son; for remember, He is coming. The heavens conceal Him now, but another hour and it may not be so. He may have come out, and those who are ready may have gone in, and the door may be shut, and shut on you for ever. Would you like to be outside? He wants to have you inside. He wants you to believe in His name, to believe in His love. He wants not merely to rescue you from the power of the devil, not merely to save you from hell, but to make you a sharer of the joy that is His, to taste the grace of His Father's heart, to bring you into association with Himself in the bright scene of his heavenly home. Oh let there be reality now in your heart, do not be content any longer with being a mere professor Perhaps your first real confession to Him may have to be, I have been only a hypocrite, and never a real believer at all," very likely: but believe Him simply just now, for if you are only dreaming of being a Christian some day, the time is soon coming when your dreams must be rudely broken.

"At midnight there was a cry made, Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him." Why midnight? The darkest time of all had come, and the dawn was near, the morning of His coming. The bright hope He gives to Christian hearts is that they shall be caught up to meet Him. If the Lord were to come today, there would be enacted a scene, of which the mount of transfiguration was a lovely picture. Moses is a type of those who have passed through death; Elias a type of those who go up without dying at all, but all are together with the Lord. Again, we shall be like Enoch, translated, taken off the earth without passing through death at all. No doubt Enoch was considered a pest to society in his day, because he prophesied of coming judgment, and warned men of their ungodliness. Men do not like to hear of coming judgment, but it is coming.

The last time the world saw Christ, they put a reed in His right hand in bitter mockery, and then they pierced that hand with nails and fastened it to the cross. The next time the world sees Christ, He will be holding the rod of power, wielding the sword of judgment. Will you meet Him in grace now, or risk meeting Him in judgment then? Would you like to meet Him if He came today? "Well, no, I cannot say that I should. I would rather put it off a little longer." Quite so! that answer just shows where you are. You do not know Him. The soul that knows the Lord will always like to go to meet Him. Every child of God delights to think he shall meet and see Jesus. My Saviour is the one who loved me and died for me, and I know nothing so sweet as this simple thought, to be with the Lord Jesus. It is transcendently sweet. Whose company does one love best on earth? The one dearest to us, of course. It is very simple; and whose company is so dear to us as His?

"Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps and the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out." Their lamps had gone out, there was no oil in them; there had been the profession of Christ; no doubt they had been baptised, and if they lived where confirmation takes place, had been also confirmed; had been members of churches, but there had been no question of real conversion. Have you been really converted? Have you the oil? Have you the Holy Ghost? How do I know I have the Holy Ghost? Because I am quite sure God is my Father, and it is the Spirit of adoption that makes me cry "Abba, Father:" the soul that is really brought to God — could you hear that one on his knees alone with God — would be heard to say, "Father, Father." Do you look up and call Him Father? "How can I call God, Father," you ask. By believing in Jesus you become a child. "Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." God gives the Holy Ghost to those who believe in Jesus. The moment you, as a poor sinner, take your place at the feet of Jesus, believe in Jesus, trust. Jesus, have done with confidence in yourself, and trust Him, that moment you become a child of God, and the next thing is the gift of the Holy Ghost. You get the oil in your vessel.

"But the wise answered, saying, Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you, but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves." Why does it say buy? Does it contemplate the possibility that anything we could give could purchase the gift of the Holy Ghost? Not at all. "Thy money perish with thee," Peter says to Simon Magus, when he suggests such a thought, "because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money." It is without money, without price, and still he says, "Come buy," and again, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold," and why is this? Because it contemplates a soul willing to pay any price; it contemplates a thorough, positive, earnest desire in the soul to get what it needs.

Friend, are you in earnest, again I say Are you ready? You ask, "Can a soul be ready?" Yes. "But what about my sins?" Did you never hear this — "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many?" He settled for me the question of sin when He suffered, the just for the unjust. How do I know I am ready? Because He died for me, He bore all my sins on the cross, and met all the claims God had against me. Are my sins to be put away by what He will do? No, by what He has done. A Christian stands between the first coming of Christ and the second; between the cross and the glory. I look back to the cross and see the work all finished there, when He was offered up. If I think of my sins, I am ready, because of what Christ has done; our readiness consists in this, that we have believed in the One who died and rose again, and we look forward now to Him as the coming One, enjoying meantime all the fruits of His finished work.

Do you say, It is presumptuous to be sure? Well, if God says, "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more," am I to believe God, or am I to doubt Him? "The gift of God is eternal life." Now what do you do with a gift from a friend, do you send it back, or do you take it? "I take it, of course," you say. Are you presumptuous to take it? I say if He speaks to me, I will believe His word. If He sends me a gift I will take it, let who will call me presumptuous. John says, "These things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life." I either believe God, or make Him a liar. I believe Him when He says I am a ruined sinner; shall I not believe Him when He says He gives me eternal life? I must believe the witness to me, before I can get the witness in me — believe before I can feel. Is He not worth believing? Is He not worth trust?

Trust Him now, do not delay: remember, "they that were READY went in and the door was shut."

But you say, "I do not like that word, 'the door was shut'." I do, because it prevents the possibility of the believer ever getting out again, he is shut in with Christ for ever. I grant you it is an awful word for those who are outside, and once more therefore ere I close, I would solemnly ask you if the master of the house rose up this hour and shut the door, which side of the door would you be? Do not risk it longer! Do not be infatuated, do not be outside the door in that day, with only the devil's portion for eternity!

And now, dear Christian, what a glorious future is before you, to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air! It is part of the victory of the Lord Jesus that you and I need never taste death, because He has tasted it in all its bitterness and woe for us. It is part of the spoil that He has wrung from Satan, that you and I may go up to meet Him without being taken through death at all. May the Lord keep our hearts waiting more simply for Himself, and may the Lord press these words on your heart, dear unsaved one, "THEY THAT WERE READY WENT IN, AND THE DOOR WAS SHUT!"

Do not sleep this night without knowing that you are ready, for you may lay your head down on a bed of feathers and awake in a bed of fire. May the Lord have mercy. on you who have no mercy on yourselves!

THE WANDERER'S RETURN,

2 Samuel 13: 23, 2 Samuel 14.

The narrative contained in these two chapters shows, most beautifully, the way in which God acts now, in His grace, and in His desire to bring back the sinner to Himself. There is one great point, though, in which the narrative differs from, indeed is entirely in contrast with the gospel; because whatever God does is righteous, and if He loves, it is righteous love; whereas the narrative shows us love travelling faster than righteousness, and the sequel is, there Is a grand revolt, David's throne is upset, as we see in 2 Samuel 15. If God shows love, if God saves me, He does it righteously; He saves by His grace, He saves utterly, but He saves righteously.

David brings back this young man, but he brings him back unrighteously without judging his sin, and the consequence was he got bold; and that is what people who do not believe in hell now are, they are bold and defy God. Absalom was a murderer. However deep might be Amnon's guilt, there was no excuse for Absalom. He was a murderer, and yet you hear him saying in the end of chapter 14, "If there be any iniquity in me." His sin had been unjudged, he had been brought back unrighteously, his conscience was hardened, and the consequence was, the moral character of the throne of David was destroyed; and where the moral character is destroyed the throne is upset, it provokes a revolt, as chapter 15 tells us.

Now God cannot make light of sin, though He has only love in His heart for the sinner. You have outraged God's character and God's throne, but you have not changed one whit the heart of Him who fills that throne; and though you may be a sinner of the deepest dye, yet you are an object of the love of God; His love has not been destroyed by your sin. And so we see in David, his heart yearns after the runaway.

Did you notice that it is recorded three times, "Absalom fled?" Why did he fly? Because his conscience, then fully alive to his guilt, told him that, though his father might be king, yet he himself was a murderer, and that there was nothing, in righteousness, for a murderer but death. So he fled, for sin makes cowards of us all, and when a man has sin upon his conscience, he feels he cannot face God. It is a solemn thing, my friend, to have to face God in your sins. Have to do with God you must; you cannot evade it; and you hive sinned. I do not care how much or how little, you have sinned. It may not be like Absalom's, but what is sin? Sin is man following the desire of his own heart; and have not you done that? You know you have.

Here, the desire of his own heart makes Absalom a murderer, and he flies from the presence of the king. And have not you got away, have not you fled from God? Does not your conscience still keep you at a distance from Him? But oh, do not you desire to get back to God? May His word bring you back just now! Why is the gospel preached? Because the world is away from God. If you were not away from God, why need the gospel be preached to you? The gospel tells you that you are away from God, but that His love wants to bring you back. God wants to have you.

"Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God." Not to bring us to heaven, not to bring us to peace, but to bring us to God; and no soul is brought to God till it is brought to trust the blood of Christ. How the grace comes all from God's side, too! Have you been seeking to know God? God has been beforehand with you. He has 'been seeking you. He gave His own Son for me long before I ever had a thought about Him; and now the cross tells me God wants to save me: and the cross tells me God can righteously save me. Are you unconverted, with a weight of sins upon your conscience?

God wants to bring you back to Himself. The soul of David longed after Absalom; three years had Absalom been away! and how long have you been away? Twenty years? Thirty years?? Threescore years? Well, I do not know your age, but this I know, that if unsaved, you have never been near Him yet. You have spent your life at a distance from God, but God wants to have you brought back; God wants to have the link of relationship formed between Him and you.

Cast your eye back for a moment over life's pathway, and tell me what relationship has there ever been yet between your soul and God? Has Christ been uppermost? Has He had a place in your thoughts? Has He had a place in your plans? Has He been your object? The soul that is unconverted and holiest says, "No, God has had no place in my thoughts hitherto; my plans have all been formed without Him; Christ has not been my object." But you must meet God. Why not meet Him now in grace, when in the love of His heart He wants to save you? Call you meet Him in judgment? In your sins? Oh! when is so good a time to meet Him as this very moment?

The reason man does not accept God's offer of mercy is because he does not care for it. Why did not the men in the Gospels accept the invitation to the feast? Because they were like you, who remain unsaved; they did not care for it, they had no heart to come, and you have not cared to be saved. If the heart had been right, the man with the yoke of oxen would have said, "The oxen are very fine, but I can wait until tomorrow to prove them," and the man with the piece of ground would have said, "I can wait till tomorrow to go and see that;" and the man who had married a wife would have said, "I am going to a feast, my dear, and you had better come with me," i.e., he would have gone himself and taken her with him. But they had no heart to go, and you have no heart for Christ's invitation; but though your heart is all wrong, God's heart is towards you.

David's heart was towards the prodigal, but he said, "If this heart bring him back, this hand holds a sword that must be planted in his bosom as soon as he returns." Then Joab comes in through the wise woman of Tekoah, as you read, and the end of it is that David gives way and brings him back without judging his sin. But does God bring back His prodigals without judging their sin? No, no. He has judged it in the Cross of Christ.

Until the Cross, where Christ suffered and bare sin, there was a barrier between man and God. Until the Cross of Christ, God is behind the veil: God dwelt between the cherubim (symbol of His righteousness); and there was a thick veil between man and God. The High Priest drew near once a year; went inside that veil, alone, with blood of others; but he came out again, and the veil remained. But when Jesus dies; when man had nailed Him to the tree; when man had done his worst — for it was man's hand that drove in those nails, it was man's hand that Planted the crown of thorns upon that peerless brow, it was man's hand that plunged the spear into that blessed side-then, I say, when man had done his very worst against God, God seizes that very moment, in His matchless, His exquisite, His infinite grace, to do His very best for man. Christ, in that hour of darkness, when God's righteous wrath and man's unrighteous wrath alike fell on His blessed head, does a work that enables God to come out in righteousness and in love to man, and save the vilest.

When Jesus died, not only the rocks were rent, but he who entered the temple next found the veil rent from the top to the bottom. Why from the top to the bottom? Because it was God's hand that had done it. If man had rent that veil it would have only been to bring swift destruction on himself; and if man goes into God's presence now without Christ's blood, what must it be but sure destruction to him? But God Himself breaks down the barrier; that Cross where the Holy One died for the sinner, opened the way into God's very presence. "I am the way," says Christ, and if you seek another way, you are on the wrong way.

David's love, as we have seen, outstrips his righteousness, but when God brings back the sinner, He brings him back in righteousness. The Cross of Christ tells me this, that God's grace reigns now, in the place where death reigned before, and it reigns through righteousness, not at the expense of righteousness. Instead of death falling on the guilty soul, death falls on Jesus — the death of the Cross, death in the dark shades of Golgotha — and that death opens the way into God's presence for you and me.

If I were not brought to God in righteousness, I should be afraid some day he would rake up the question of my sins; but when I know my sins have all been taken up by my substitute Jesus, and that He has borne every one of them, not as I know them, but as God knows them, then I know that I escape the penalty due to them, through sovereign love indeed, but love that is based on righteousness.

Do you believe this story of the Cross? Then do you not see in it how God loves you? Yes, He wants you. He tells me first of all that He has gauged my guilt, and that Christ took the full weight of that guilt on Him when He died; and "mercy and truth meet together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other."

The wise woman of Tekoah said, "We must needs die," i.e., the moral of her story is, Make haste; and the moral of my story to you is make haste, for you may soon die, you know not how soon, and you must meet God. "Yet," she says, "Doth he (God) devise means that his banished be not expelled from him." I have told you God's means. I know they find no acceptance in the eyes of man. "We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block and unto the Greeks foolishness," but the Cross of Christ is God's only way of salvation. Christ maintains the character of the Throne of God in righteousness, while He manifests the character of the heart of God in its deep, deep love. Can you, my friend, agree with a lunatic who once thus exquisitely expressed it?

"Could I with ink the ocean fill,

Were every blade of grass a quill,

Were the whole heaven of parchment made,

And every man a scribe by trade,

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry:

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

Though stretched from sky to sky."

Blessed! whatever else he did not know, he knew the love of God which "passeth knowledge."

Now there comes the contrast between the narrative and the gospel, between the King's message and God's message. The King's character breaks down; love reigns at the expense of righteousness; God's love reigns through righteousness. The King's message is, "Go, bring the young man back," but "let him not see my face." What is God's message to you? "Bring him, bring her to Me." "Christ suffered to bring US To God." Luke 15 says that while the returning prodigal was "yet a great way off, the father saw him, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him."

After two years Absalom gets the kiss, but how long has the sinner now to wait for the Father's kiss? Two years? No! Not two seconds! What do you find when you come to God? That He has open arms for you! I think that prodigal must have stood still in downright sheer amazement when he saw his father run; and he kissed his unwashen cheek! kissed him in his rags; fell on his neck and kissed him! What wondrous grace! God's own heart proposes the plan for our salvation. God gives up His Son to die; God's hand raises Him from the dead. God sends down the Holy Ghost, and God now Himself sends out the message, inviting the sinner to come near. It is all wondrous grace and love. In David's heart there is love, but not light. In God there is both. He has shown me up in my true character. He has to make no discoveries of me by and by. He has discovered my true state, and love comes in and meets that state. Light shows me my sin, love puts that sin away.

Oh! will you not turn to this One; the One in whom both love and righteousness are combined? Will you not receive Christ at once? With Him everything is yours. May you receive His grace, and taste the joy of it, and be a witness and confessor of how good is God, how perfect His way, and may you walk accordingly till the day when He shall take you up to Himself. But oh! my unsaved friend, do not you miss the day of His grace, the day of His love now and be left to face the day of His terrible judgment!

TODAY — A FAREWELL WORD.

"This day is Salvation come to this house . . . For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19: 9, 10.

Here is just one little word, my unconverted friend, that the Lord has laid very much on my heart, and I want to impress it on yours, and that word is Today. If you want to be saved, be saved today, if you want to escape the damnation of hell, escape it today. The Lord has dome to seek and to save today; He wants to save you today. Let me ask you this question, Do you want to be saved? "Oh yes," I hear you answer, "of course I should like to be saved." When would you like to be saved? When? When? "When I die," you say. Let me tell you then, my friend, if this be your thought, you are doing your very best never to be saved at all. You are doing your very best to secure your own eternal ruin, for today only does God offer salvation to you; today only is yours.

Today is a moment of priceless value, tomorrow you cannot call yours. The Lord's gospel is today, the devil's gospel is always tomorrow. The Lord's word is today, for today you are lost. Perhaps you say, "I do not agree with you, I do not believe I am lost." Are you saved then? If not, what are you? The Lord has given me this message for you: Go and tell them that they are lost, and that I came to seek and to save them today. Oh, listen to His message then today, for literally there lies but a comma, between "the acceptable year of the Lord," and "the day of vengeance of our God."

When the Lord was upon earth, and entered the synagogue, He read, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." (Isaiah 61: 1-2). He stopped in the middle of the verse, and did not read "the day of vengeance of our God." Why? Because it was then, and it is now, the acceptable year of the Lord. But what is the next thing? Vengeance! Judgment is the next thing in this world's history; how soon it may set in, I know not, you know not.

God in goodness is restraining now the wheels of the chariot of His righteous judgment, that the energy of His grace may go out. He is restraining judgment, that you may have another hour to be saved in. Oh, will you not make use of this hour wherein His grace lingers over you? Do not trifle with God, for if you are not a saved person at this moment, God knows you are lost; whether you know it or not-whether you believe it or not. Again, I say, do not trifle with God, do not sport on the very verge of eternity, on the verge of everlasting ruin. Do not risk that day of judgment, the judgment of the God whose mercy you have despised and refused. Think how the heart of Jesus yearns over you, think what He feels at your refusing His love — Jesus, who came from the Paradise of God,. down to the darkness and gloom of Golgotha, to save you, and yet you are utterly careless about it. Oh, wake up, wake up from your fit of madness, for madness it is. What madness so great, as for a sinner to say tomorrow, when God says today!

Christ has shed His precious priceless blood for sinners, and knowing this can you be longer careless? Can you bear to turn away from such love as His? Listen to this word "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha." What is that? Cursed when He comes! What will it be, think for one moment, what will it be to be cursed when He comes, and to bear that curse for eternity? Will you risk it? Will you not rather hear the Lord's word today? Salvation today. Mercy and pardon for the penitent soul today, and who could remain impenitent, when He calls so lovingly?

The devil would suggest putting it off till tomorrow. Today, says Christ; tomorrow, whispers Satan. Today Christ says, He will save you. Tomorrow He may be compelled to curse you. Why tomorrow? Because tonight He may come. Tonight, when all are wrapped in deepest slumber, the clouds may be parted, and the Lord descend from heaven, and those that are His will hear the sound of the trumpet, and the voice of words, and be caught up in the cloud to meet their loving and beloved Lord in the air, and you, yes, you will be left behind. You, child of godly parents too, you will be left, and left for ever: they gone to be with Jesus, you left behind to meet His judgment. I know, then, you will raise your hand and knock at His gate, only to hear those terrible words, "Depart!" "Depart!" "I know you not." Think of it. What will it be to hear the voice of Jesus saying to you, "Depart from me," telling you it is too late!

Oh! be warned in time, do not put it off: do not think you may have plenty of opportunities. "Today," He says. Today way be your sole — your solitary chance — of accepting Christ. It is real agony to the heart of the evangelist to think of seeing one he has known on earth among the number of the eternally lost on that day. For once, once, I shall see you (God grant it may not be once only), but once we shall meet, and where? At the great white throne. You, will be there, and I shall be there, but I shall be with the Judge, and like the Judge, and you, where will you be? Oh, will you be among the impenitent, the condemned, the unwashed, the unforgiven, among those who stand clothed in their sins, before that great white throne, to be judged out of the things written in the books, according to their works? Preachers say sometimes, Sinners are judged only for neglecting Christ. God does not say so. That is the deepest, darkest sin of all — the sin of despising His mercy, refusing His love — but there is more than that against you before God. In those books are recorded all your sins, every one of them; each thing put down you have done, each evil word, each evil way, each idle thought, for these you must give account in that terrible day, and this, as the aggravation of all the rest, that you heard the gospel of His grace, time after time, and rejected it. Do not, I implore you, reject it any longer! Do not refuse to listen to His voice a day more!

Jesus says, He "came to seek and to save that which was lost." He treats every one as lost who is not already saved by faith in Him. This is the point from which I behold the Gospel. I am lost; but Jesus came to seek and to save the lost; therefore He came to seek and to save me. He came to seek and to save you, will you not let Him? Do I hear you say — 'I am seeking Jesus?' Well, you are sure to find Him, for the Saviour-seeking sinner and the sinner-seeking Saviour are sure to meet. Whenever a soul is really anxious, the moment will come when the Gospel will fall on the ear of that one, and he or she will see Jesus, and get salvation. The soul that is anxious leaves, as it were, no stone unturned to get where it wants to get — to the feet of Jesus. Satan will always try to hinder the anxious soul; but his very devices bring out decision for Christ. Again I say, the soul that is really anxious will always get to Jesus. And where is the spot where you may meet Jesus, the Saviour? That spot, my dear friend, is the small circle of the consciously lost; for He came for the lost and only for the lost. Reader, if you are not lost, I have no Gospel for you.

The really anxious soul will not let anything hinder him in the deep desire of his heart to see Jesus, and do not you let anything hinder you, for today He wants you. Come then to Him today. Today He invites you. Answer his invitation today. Today you may have Jesus, today He bids you to His feast, do not hesitate then another moment, accept His offer, be His today, His only, His for ever. You know you have thought of these things before, have been "almost persuaded" to come to Jesus, have meant to come some day, but you have never quite decided, you have not come out boldly for Christ, and the time has passed on, and your convictions have passed, too, in measure. And today you are still undecided. Oh! I entreat you, I warn you, do not remain so another day. "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him."

Perhaps you say, "I have plans laid for tomorrow, that must be overthrown if I were to decide for Christ today." Yes, you may have your plans, but let me tell you this, your plans may be well laid for the morrow, but tonight a marauder may enter your house, and rob you of them all, that grim marauder death. Death, the relentless thief, whose power none may resist; then what will become of all your plans, what will become of you and your never-dying soul? Let me tell you of one who had once plenty of plans; he laid his schemes well, and for years to come; he was a rich man too, and all seemed to go well with him, and in his heart he said, The future shall be as the present. But was it? No! No! listen! "Thou fool," says God, "this night thy soul shall be required of thee." Then what of his plans? — what of his schemes? "In hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments." Why in hell? Because he would not go to heaven; because he chose the world instead of Christ!

Make your choice now, my friend: let me counsel you; decide for Christ, make a thorough surrender of yourself to Christ, and what will be the result? The moment you receive the Lord Jesus Christ, that moment salvation is yours. The moment you receive, in simple faith, Him who came from Heaven, and who died, and who is gone into glory, that moment you are entitled to know you have salvation. Salvation is a word that wraps up in itself all the blessings of the gospel. Be you like Simeon, take salvation the very moment you have the opportunity. The 2nd of Luke says that when His parents brought the child Jesus into the Temple, Simeon received Him into His arms, and "blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." That is it, I get everything in Christ, pardon in Christ, eternal life in Christ, He is my righteousness too, my sanctification, and my redemption likewise. Do I receive Christ? Then I receive everything. I get my sins forgiven, my soul saved, and I stand before God in the conscious possession of salvation, His free gift.

"Look unto me and be ye saved," says Christ. The moment a soul looks, in simple living faith, that moment it has salvation, for it has the Saviour. Christianity is no dry set of doctrines, for the mind to take in, but it is Divine truth and blessing for man, wrapped up in the person of the Man Christ Jesus, who came down and did a work upon the cross by which all my sins are put away, and who is gone up again into the glory, Himself to draw your heart and mind to Him up there; and now the Holy Ghost has come out, and says "You trust Him!" And oh, will you not trust Him? He is worthy of all your heart, shall He not have it!

Throughout this year, now drawing to a close, the gospel has been pressed on you again and again. You have over and over again heard or read it, and know well what its sweet sound means. Now I can only lay upon you the solemn, the awful responsibility of rejecting Christ any longer. Will you not say, Today — I know I have eternal life because I believe on the name of the Son of God. It is presumptuous to doubt, for God has said, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God:, that ye may know that ye have eternal life." It is true humility to believe God. This day, if you will decide, He will receive you; this day He will bless you; this day He will welcome you; this day He will save you; this day He will give you eternal life, pardon, peace, everything He can give you; but if you put it from you till tomorrow, tomorrow He may have only to curse you, and that for ever and ever.

The Lord give you, to believe, on Him today, and more, do not be ashamed to confess Jesus, do not be ashamed to own that He has saved you, and that you are His for time and for eternity.

Surely the past may suffice to have lived without Him, and the last moments of 1875 will be sweet to recall, if they mark the moment when you owned and confessed the Lord Jesus. Today, then, harden not your heart any longer, but, since God has said, "Behold now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation," do you say today — Lord, I can believe!

"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.

Just as I am — Thy love I own,

Has broken every barrier down:

Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,

O Lamb of God, I come."

A Student Story

A Student Story;

or Bread Cast Upon the Waters

;

And other Gospel Narratives.

by W. T. P Wolston.

Publisher: "Gospel Messenger" and George Morrish.

CBA10766.

A Student Story;

or Bread Cast Upon the Waters

The shades of winter evening were rapidly deepening, and flinging obscurity over the subjects which lay upon the tables of a well-known London dissecting-room, a quarter of a century ago, as a group of medical students might have been seen standing round one of these tables, evidently, for the moment, deeply engaged. The fading light, shut books, closed dissecting cases, and somewhat grave faces of the dozen listeners, showed that anatomy was not the topic in hand, as a seated student, who had till then been busy with his "Part," replied to the queries that came from every quarter of the group.

The conversation had been begun by S-, a typically thoughtless, and careless, young would-be medico, who, in passing the seated dissector — known to be a Christian — had railingly said, "Well, Spurgeon, how many have you baptized lately?" Medical students are notorious for their love of bestowing a sobriquet on all and sundry, from professors downwards; so the student thus addressed had, soon after he joined the college, and it leaked out that he occasionally preached the gospel, been dubbed with the name of the well-known and popular preacher.

"I do not baptize; I only preach the gospel, when, and as best I can," was the rejoinder.

"Oh! you don't baptize, you only preach. Come, tell us what you say;" and the loud tone of banter in which this was said quickly gathered, as it was intended it should, a little coterie of kindred spirits, expecting some fun from the roasting of the young Christian. At that moment, however, the senior demonstrator of anatomy, a grave demure man, of whom the students stood rather in awe, joined the group, and took part in the conversation later on.

"You want to know what I preach, do you? I preach glad tidings; the love of God to ruined man; the death and resurrection of His Son the Lord Jesus, and that faith in Him alone secures salvation; that man is guilty, undone, lost; and that the 'Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.' Human efforts are all in vain. Man's so-called good works are all valueless to win salvation. 'Salvation is of the Lord,' and 'the salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles;' whosoever will may have it, without money or price. 'The gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.' The last time I preached I spoke on the 10th of Acts, where it says about the Saviour, 'To him give all the prophets witness, that, through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.'"

"And do you mean to say that your sins are all forgiven, and that you are saved, Spurgeon?" continued his first interrogator.

"Through God's grace I can most certainly say so. I have had that joy for more than a year now."

"Well, that is presumption, and no mistake," "Did you ever hear the like?" "That's rather good to believe," put in a chorus of voices at once.

Nothing daunted, the assailed one replied, "How can it be presumption to believe God? If my salvation depended on my good works, I might well be filled with doubt and uncertainty; but if it depend, as it does, on the perfectly finished and accepted work of the Lord Jesus for me, it would be presumption to doubt that salvation, when God says so plainly in His Word to every believing soul, 'Thy sins are forgiven; thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace' (Luke 7). When an awakened sinner once asked, 'What must I do to be saved?' God's Spirit replied, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' And further, He has said in Ephesians 2, 'By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.' It surely cannot be presumption to believe the God of truth, when He says He sent His Son to save me, and that when I trust in Him I am saved."

"But you do not give sufficient place to our works," put in the senior demonstrator, who had been listening quietly till now.

"If God gives them no place, sir, had we not better leave them out of consideration? It says in Romans 4, 'If Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. But what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.' Our works are either 'wicked' (Col. 1: 21) or 'dead' (Heb. 9: 14), and certainly they cannot save us. Christ's work is finished, by it God has been glorified; and it is due to Christ that the one who forswears his own works, and trusts alone in Him, should partake of the benefits and fruits of that atoning work of His, by which alone can sin be put away."

"Ah! that makes it far too easy," said one; "Depend upon it, Spurgeon, you are all wrong," said another; and with varying other such comments the gathering broke up, and the dissector was left alone to pack up his tools in quietness, wondering, the while, what God would bring out of the incident. The bread of life had been simply presented; whether any were hungry enough to eat thereof, was a question. At any rate, the young believer found comfort to his heart in the words, "Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days" (Eccles. 11: 1), and, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void; but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (Isa. 55: 11).

Two days later this young student was again busy with his scalpel and forceps, sitting alone at a table, when one of his seniors, named J-, brought his "part," instruments, and book, and seated himself opposite to him, and began to dissect. Work went on quietly for a little, and then J- said, "That was strange stuff you were telling the fellows the other afternoon. I said nothing at the time, but I don't believe what you were saying. I don't at all pretend to be a religious chap myself, but I am sure a man would need to work hard to get to heaven. Your way of it would not be mine at all, if I cared for that sort of thing, which I don't."

"It is not my way, J-, it is God's, and that makes an immense difference. When the Lord was upon earth, and the Jews came and asked Him, 'What shall we do that we might work the works of God?' do you know what He answered them?"

"No. What?"

"'Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent' (John 6: 29). To believe in the Son of God is all that you or I have to do to get saved."

"But, man, it stands to reason that we ought to do something ourselves. Why, by your way everybody may get saved. Do you believe they will?"

"No, I believe nothing of the sort; for alas, all will not take the place of being lost sinners, and hence do not feel their need of a Saviour, and so do not trust Him. His words are true: 'They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.' The whole, the righteous — or those who think they are such — need Him not, but sinners are welcome to Him. As one of the latter, I have received Him, and He has saved me out and out, blessed be His name!"

"Oh, that's easily said, but I don't believe in your way of salvation at all, and you will never convince me that that is the way to be saved;" and so saying J- relapsed into silence, shortly after left the table, and for the rest of their student life took uncommon good care not to give an opportunity for a tête-à-tête with the man who knew Christ had saved him.

Some years rolled by; student days ceased, the ardently longed-for diplomas and degrees were possessed; and while J- went into practice in the far West, the other went north of the Tweed, to extend his knowledge, while filling the post of house physician in a large hospital. To that same city, in course of time, who should come but J-, attracted, as he supposed, by certain medical advantages of which he would avail himself; but led doubtless by the gracious hand of God, who had not taken His eye off him since the day an arrow, shot at a venture, had pierced the worldly coat-of-mail he wore in the London dissecting-room. Great was J-'s surprise to find his former acquaintance chief in those wards where he wanted to gather clinical information. Flung thus across his path again, J-'s friend felt greatly interested in him, and one Lord's Day said, "Do you ever go to hear the Word of God preached now?"

Sometimes; but I have not been since I came north. Where do you go?"

"I? Oh! I go to — Street."

"Who preaches there?"

"The preachers are various."

"Do they preach well?"

"That would be an open question. I believe they preach the truth, and that is what you and I want. You might do worse than come;" and so saying, a little notice of the meeting was handed to him, which he took, with the remark, "Perhaps I will turn in some night."

That evening the preacher was reading the 7th of Luke, when the door gently opened, and the unbelieving, but evidently interested, young doctor entered. His surprise was not small to find in the preacher the one who had invited him; but the Lord's sermon of twelve words: "THY SINS ARE FORGIVEN. THY FAITH HATH SAVED THEE; GO IN PEACE," soon riveted him; and though he did not go "in peace," he left impressed, and aroused to a sense of his need and danger, such as he had never experienced before.

The next Lord's Day found the doctor again present, as an aged and grey-haired servant of God sweetly unfolded the touching parable of Luke 15, and showed how, when man was lost, Jesus came after him; when he was dead, how the Spirit quickened him; and when he returned repentant, how the Father welcomed and rejoiced over him. Conviction of sin was now evident in the young physician, and two Lord's Days later, when he again heard his medical friend preach from the words, "Wilt thou go with this man?" he felt he must decide for Christ that night. He stayed to the second meeting for anxious inquirers; and then in converse with his friend, as they walked towards the hospital together, admitted that he had never been easy since the conversation in the dissecting-room. Persuaded in his mind that what he had heard was not true, he had gone home, searched the Bible for support, only to find that he was wrong himself, and that what he had heard was the truth. Convinced that he was wrong, and that God's salvation was free to all, by simple faith in Jesus, he had balanced the blessings of the gospel against "the pleasures of sin for a season", the devil had kicked the beam the wrong way, so he shut up the Bible, and turned again to the world with its sin and folly, but had never had an hour's peace. Now he saw he was lost, and was asked, "Do you believe that Jesus came to save the lost?"

"I do; I believe He came to save me, and I believe in Him."

"Then are you not saved?

"That is just the difficulty. I don't feel sure."

"Well," said his friend, "if God is worth believing on two counts, why not on the third? When God says in His Word you are a lost sinner, what say you?"

"I believe Him," he replied.

"Good. And when He says He sent His Son to die for you, and that if you trust in Him you shall be saved, what do you say?"

"I believe Him, with all my heart."

"Quite right. Now then, when He says, 'He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life' (John 3: 36), are you going to doubt Him?"

"That won't do. If He speaks truly on the two counts, He must speak as truly on the third. Yes, I see it. I believe in His Son, and I have everlasting life. He says it, and it must be true. Thank God, I am saved, forgiven, — without any works of my own, — by simple faith in Jesus."

"One question more: 'Wilt thou go with this man?'" "I will go!" was the emphatic reply; and the doctor started for glory, and is yet on his road, sure of the end through grace.

Reader, have you started yet? If not, just start at once.

"We know there's a bright and a glorious home,

Away in the heavens high,

Where all the redeem'd shall with Jesus dwell

But will you be there, and I?

In robes of white, o'er the streets of gold,

Beneath a cloudless sky,

They walk in the light of their Father's smile

But will you be there, and I?

From every kingdom of earth they come

To join the triumphal cry,

Singing, 'Worthy the Lamb that once was slain;'

But will you be there, and I?

If you take the loving Saviour now,

Who for sinners once did die,

When He gathers His own in that bright home,

Then you'll be there, and I.

If we are shelter'd by the cross,

And through the blood brought nigh,

Our utmost gain we'll count but loss,

Since you'll be there, and I."

Noah's Carpenters.

You don't look at all like a patient, Miss Emmie," I said, as a fresh, rosy-cheeked girl of seventeen, the very picture of health — the daughter of Christian parents — came one day into my consulting-room.

"No, Doctor. I'm not come for advice, but mamma said that she thought you would help me with a little subscription;" and at the same time she produced a collecting-book, entitled, "Indian Vernacular Society."

"What is the object of this society?"

"Oh, its object is to teach the little boys and girls in India to read the Bible in their own language; and I am doing all I can to help it forward," she answered most eagerly.

"A capital idea," I replied. "I suppose, then, the real object is that the children may hear of Jesus, and be brought to believe in Him, and thus be saved, and know that they are?"

"Exactly so."

"Well, I hope the Lord will use this effort to the blessing of many of them," I replied; "but before going further, may I ask you, Miss Emmie, did you ever hear of Noah's carpenters?"

"Noah's carpenters! No; who were they?" she replied, rather uneasily.

"They were people who may have helped to build the ark, by which others were saved, and yet never got in themselves."

"I never thought of them before."

"Very likely. But do you not think you are somewhat like them? Here you come trying to help other people to be saved, and yet, so far as I have ever heard, you are not saved yourself. Tell me, do you think you have ever yet come to Jesus yourself, and had your sins washed away? To put it plainly, are you saved?"

This query was followed by a lengthened silence; her face flushed crimson, her eyes filled, and then, with a burst of tears, she replied:

"No, I know I am not saved. I see, I have been like Noah's carpenters."

The bow drawn at a venture had truly entered the joints of the harness, and she was from that moment a spirit-wounded, and convicted sinner. A long and interesting conversation followed, which I need not relate. We looked at the Word of God, and she found out to her utter dismay and distress, that all her own righteousnesses were but as filthy rags in the sight of God, and that she was an utterly lost soul, needing cleansing and pardon. In this awakened state, after prayer with her, she left me.

Some weeks rolled by, and I was wondering what had been going on in my young friend's soul, when she again came at my consulting hour. Her pale anxious face betrayed what her words soon confirmed, viz., that since we parted she had passed through days and nights of deep soul-anguish.

"Mamma said she thought I might come and see you again, for I am so miserable and wretched I don't know what to do;" and, indeed, she looked all she said.

"I am most glad to see you, Miss Emmie. I suppose today you want something for yourself, not for others? "

"Yes. I am most anxious to be saved, if I only knew how to come to Jesus; but I am so wicked, and my heart so hard, and I feel so dead."

"You must just come to Him as you are — in all your sins — for He has said, 'Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.' just believe Him simply. Take Him at His word."

"I do believe on Him, but I don't get any good from it. I don't feel any different."

"You must not look at your feelings; you must just hear what He says, and give heed to His word. Now, look at this verse," and I turned to John 5: 24. "Mark what Jesus says, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.' Now, tell me, who is speaking here?"

"Jesus."

"And to whom is He speaking?"

"To me."

"Well, do you hear His word?"

"Yes."

"And do you believe Him that sent Him? Do you believe that God sent Him to save you, to die for you, and to wash away your sins?

"Yes, I truly believe He did."

"Now, then, see, you have complied with the two conditions given, you have heard and believed; listen to the three blessed consequences that the Lord says accrue to the one that hears and believes. Such an one 'hath everlasting life,' that is a present possession. Inasmuch as you hear and believe, what does Jesus say you now possess?"

"He says I have 'everlasting life.'"

"Good. Stick to that. But there is more in the verse. He says he that heareth and believeth 'shall not come into condemnation.' That, you observe, provides for the future. There can be no condemnation for the one who believes in Jesus, because He Himself, on the cross, bore that condemnation. Now, since you have heard and believed, what does He say as to your future?"

"He says 'shall not come into condemnation.'"

"If He says you shall not, do you think you ever can?"

"No; of course not. He would not tell me what is not true. He cannot lie."

"Exactly so. Thus you see He meets the present and the future in this verse. Nor is that all. We all lay in death; we were each one 'dead in trespasses and sins,' and out of that state we pass the moment we hear His voice, for He quickens us by His word; and so He adds here that the one who hears and believes 'is passed from death unto life.' Nothing could be simpler or more blessed."

Yes, I see it now. I have heard and believed, and, therefore, I have 'passed from death unto life.' Oh, how simple it all seems now!" and the pent-up feelings again got relief in a shower of tears, not now tears of conviction and distress, but those joyous, gladsome tears that will flow down the cheeks of a redeemed, pardoned, blood-washed sinner, when God's grace is tasted and enjoyed. I prayed with her, and thanked God for His grace in saving her; and she left full of peace and joy in believing.

Many years have elapsed since my young friend found Jesus, but I rejoice to know she holds on her way, a bright, happy witness of the Lord's grace, and is an earnest labourer for Christ, and a true soul-seeker in her own quiet sphere.

Reader, where about are you? Are you a Noah's carpenter or a real genuine Christian? Let not this hour pass away and leave you as it found you.

Did it find you unsaved? As you value your soul, let it not pass away and be for ever a witness against you and your unbelief Be persuaded to come to Jesus now. Then shall your future be bright and joyous, for you shall be saved, sanctified, and satisfied.

"WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?"

NOTHING, either great or small;

Nothing, sinner, no

Jesus did it, did it all,

Long, long ago.

When He from His lofty throne

Stooped to do and die,

Everything was fully done,

Hearken to His cry

"IT IS FINISHED!" Yes indeed,

Finished every jot.

Sinner, this is all you need

Tell me, is it not?

Weary, working, burdened one,

Wherefore toil you so?

Cease your doing; all was done

Long, long ago.

Till to JESUS' WORK you cling

By a simple faith;

"Doing" is a deadly thing

"Doing" ends in death.

Cast your deadly "doing" down —

Down at Jesus' feet;

Stand "IN HIM," in Him alone,

Gloriously "COMPLETE!"

Divine Openings.

"Now, when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape, like a dove, upon him; and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased." — Luke 3: 21, 22.

HEAVEN OPENED ON JESUS.

This scripture presents to us a very wonderful scene, — a Man on the earth on whom heaven is opened. Supposing the heavens were opened again now, and you became conscious that the eye of God rested on you, that He was close to you, how would you feel, my reader? Do you think God could speak of you, as of this blessed One here, as "well pleased" with your ways? God's delight in Jesus was attested by the gift of the Holy Ghost. He was the seal of the Father's delight in the perfect humanity and spotless ways of that lowly, praying Man. The Holy Ghost came on the Lord without blood, without redemption. The believer gets the Holy Ghost now as the direct result of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ; it is the seal of certain redemption, as having been cleansed by His precious blood.

There had never been anything up to this moment, in the history of man, to equal this scene. The birth of Jesus was wonderful, and a messenger from heaven might and did announce His birth; but now the heaven is opened as He emerged from the water, and the voice of God, the Father, is heard saying, "This is my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased." He was the only sinless, holy, perfect, blessed man in this scene of whom God could say, "In thee I am well pleased." Oh! the Christian's heart is refreshed by the sight, so unique, but so perfectly comely and fitting. There is no "hear him" at this point, as in the transfiguration on the Mount. Why? Because His moral worth and blessed words ought to have gained Him every ear, and it is taken for granted that He would be listened to, Further on in the Gospel, the Father's voice is again heard saying, "This is my beloved Son," but adding emphatically, "hear him" (Luke 9: 35).

Jesus was about thirty years of age. Time — the true test of all — had been given to show what He was. Here was One of whom the world was utterly ignorant. God's Son was in their midst, and they knew Him not. Here it is no question of a man coming, and testifying to Him, as John the Baptist had already done, but the Father of that Son speaks, saying, "This is my beloved Son."

Reader, what think you of Him? Can you answer and say, "This is my beloved Saviour." It is a sad thing if you cannot.

Having seen thus heaven opened on the Son of God here on earth, I will now point out to you a few other things in the Word of God that are opened; and I trust, as the result, that your heart may be opened, for if your heart be not opened to receive Christ, hell will yet open its mouth to receive you.

AN OPENED BOOK.

In Luke 4 Jesus is seen, in the power of the Holy Ghost, led into the wilderness, there utterly vanquishing Satan, morally, by dependence and obedience. Thereafter "he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom, was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath-day, and stood up for to read" (ver. 17). He begins at home, where He is known. "And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias: and when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised; to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book."

Now the passage, from which this is a quotation, goes on thus: — "To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God" (Isa. 61: 2). But look at the grace of Christ; the moment he gets to that comma — and for the unsaved sinner there is really nothing but a comma between him and hell — He closes the book. If the Lord were to now open the book, it would be all over with you, unsaved reader, for "the day of vengeance" come, "the acceptable year of the Lord" has ended. Now is the "acceptable year of the Lord," — the day of grace, of mercy, of pardon, and salvation; when the Lord again opens the book, it will be "the day of vengeance," and then, where will you be?

When Jesus came to this comma, why does He not read on? Because He says, as it were, the day of judgment is deferred, put back, while grace utters her lovely messages. How long is the acceptable time called? A year! But it is "the day of vengeance." judgment will come in a moment, when you are not thinking of it. judgment is short and swift, — a day suffices for it. It is a year of grace, and will you, therefore, trifle with it? I beseech you not to.

Does a "broken-hearted" one read this? God sent His Son to heal your broken heart. Are you a "Poor" sinner? God sent His Son to enrich you with all the blessings of the Gospel. Have you been a captive to sin and Satan? Jesus came "to preach deliverance to the captives." Oh! it is worth while to have one's heart broken to know what it is to have Him bind it up. Would Mary and her sister have been without those four days at Bethany? "Oh, no," they would say, "our very sorrow, and misery, and necessity, gave an opportunity for showing what He was. We saw the tear in His eye, we heard the words of comfort from His blessed lips, we saw the work of power of His hand; no, those days we would not have been without."

Christ came, He says, "to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind." Christ opens everything. Are you blind? He opens your eyes. Are you in prison? He opens the door and sets you free. Are you in the grave? He unlocks its hold, and lets you out. What could man do for Lazarus? Lay him in the tomb. What could Jesus do for him? Call him out of the tomb, and then say, "Loose him, and let him go." It is life and liberty. This is the gospel. Do you know it? Have you been healed, delivered, set free? This is the day in which Christ can bless you, in which the Lord can receive you, — it is "the acceptable year of the Lord," and it still goes on.

I love to think it was the Lord Himself first came to preach these glad tidings. The listeners were interested for a moment, and "wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth" (ver. 22). But presently, when He began to touch their consciences, it was another thing. God must reach the conscience, for while you learn that He is good, you must also learn that you are utterly bad; while you learn that "God is love," you must also learn that your heart is full of hatred against Him. If you learn the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, you must also learn that He is the truth too. Thus, though the people wondered at His grace, they could not bear the truth, so they "rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong" (ver. 29). Awful exposure of their heart's hatred! What does He do? "He, passing through the midst of them, went his way" (ver. 30). What was His way? It was away of divine mercy and goodness to man in every conceivable condition. Did He meet hungry men — He fed them; blind men — He gave them sight; leprous men — He cleansed them; deaf men — He opened their ears; dead men — He raised them. Whatever the need was, He met it. This was His way. He was the Healer, the Helper, the Blesser, this gracious Son of God.

At length men got tired of being ministered to by Christ, when, along with His grace, the truth as to man and his real state came out, and they made up their minds that they would not bear His presence any longer. They wanted, and plotted, to get rid of Him. This is what men did with this blessed One. They cried, "Crucify him, crucify him." Tired of His presence, they put Him on the cross. Perfect love and goodness personified was in their midst, and they could only say, "Away with him!" When He was presented to them as their king, they cried, "We have no king but Caesar," mocked Him with a crown of thorns and purple raiment, and then having stripped, and nailed Him to a tree, they gambled for His garments beneath His eyes! Who put Him on the cross? Men; men with hearts like yours and mine. Yes, and our sins nailed Him there. Of this expression of perfect goodness, concerning whom God said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," man said, "He is guilty of death," and they put Him on the cross.

Look at the awfulness of the hardness of the heart of man. Dying, and — as they thought Jesus was — dying of thirst, when one more tender than others would have given Him something to drink, the rest said, "Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him." Seeing Him suffer, they say, "Let Him suffer; give Him nothing to assuage His burning thirst." And He died! And does God at once take vengeance for the murder of His Son? No; God takes that moment, as it were, to say, "I will put away everything that could come between you and Me." He rends the veil of the temple from the top to the bottom. That which stood between God and man, is taken away by God. That death of shame and agony the Saviour suffered, at the hand of man, was the actual means of putting away the very sin of those who crucified Him.

OPENED GRAVES.

A work was at that moment wrought by Jesus that opened the grave itself. Nature was, as it were, more tender than the hearts of men. "The earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose" (Matt. 27: 51, 52). What took man into death? Sin. What took man out of death? Redemption. The graves were opened the moment the Saviour died. Before even Christ's own grave was tenanted, God opened the graves of the saints. Christ has robbed death of its sting, the grave of its victory. By dying, He has annulled death? How do I see that first? By an opened grave. The whole question of sin has been settled by the cross of Christ; and the opened grave and resurrection of the dead, are God's testimony to His estimate of the value of the work of Christ, and now the believer is associated with a risen Christ.

OPENED UNDERSTANDINGS.

The Lord rises from the dead, the work of redemption accomplished. The proof of redemption is in the opened graves, - opened graves the moment He died, and empty graves the moment He is risen. The day the Lord rose from the dead, He took His place amongst His own loved ones, said, "Peace unto you," and "then opened he their understandings, that they might understand the scriptures" (Luke 24: 45).

THE HEAVENS OPENED TO US.

But the work of Christ opens other things besides the grave, for, having ascended into heaven, and sent down the Holy Ghost, that blessed Spirit of truth indwells the believer; and we read of Stephen, that "he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God" (Acts 7: 55, 56). Heaven was opened then to a saint to look up and see Jesus at the right hand of God — to see a Man in the glory of God. A Man has gone in there to represent the believer in the glory of God, the Man who took his place, and bore his sins on the cross.

AN OPENED HEART.

These blessed tidings, about a risen and glorified Christ, the Holy Ghost loves to spread; and Paul, led of the Spirit, in Acts 16, finds himself called to Europe to proclaim them; and at Philippi, by the river side, "a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul" (ver. 14).

Has the Lord ever opened your heart, my dear reader?

This woman heard and believed, and then took her stand out and out with the Lord's servants; for "when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us" (ver. 15). This woman opened her heart to the Lord, and opened her house to His servants. Her heart was the Lord's, and her house was His too.

Christ opened everything; opened heaven, opened the book, opened eyes, opened graves, opened understandings to understand the Scriptures, opened hearts and houses, — and can you have a closed heart still? Oh! listen to this, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3: 20). Now you have the opportunity of opening. It has been the Lord opening hitherto. Is your heart still shut? Look then at Rev. 4, "Behold, a door was opened in heaven." The Lord has there come, and called up His own saints; and so what John sees open, the foolish virgins of Matt. 25 will find shut.

If you refuse to open your heart to the Lord, there is yet another scene that concerns you. In Rev. 19: 11, heaven is opened again, and Christ is seen coming out to "judge and make war;" and then, in Rev. 20, certain "books were opened." The book of the history of your life down here is opened by the hand of Jesus, and what does He read of you? Born in sin, lived in sin, died in sin; born in sin, lived an unbeliever, died an unbeliever. And lest there should be any doubt upon this point, God turns to His own book — the book of life; He looks down His register for your name, to see if your name is recorded there. Alas! it is not there. Oh, what a fearful thing for you! Will you not turn to Jesus today? Will you still shut your eyes to everything that He has opened? If so, you shall yet see two things, — you shall see the Lord when He opens the heavens in glory, and the books in judgment, and you shall see what may well fill you with dismay, for you will behold, and descend into

AN OPENED HELL,

when the prophet's woe is fulfilled on the careless pleasure-loving worldling, according as it is written, "Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! And the harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands. Therefore my, people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it" (Isa.5: 11-14).

"A Leap in the Dark."

"Then to you death will be a leap in the dark?"

"Well, yes, just so; I suppose it will be."

The one who made this terrible confession was a shoemaker of middle age, slowly nearing the grave under the fell power of consumption. Worse than this, he was an infidel, — a determined, avowed sceptic. I had been asked to visit him in his attic quarters by an old friend, who was himself a shoemaker, but, through grace, a Christian, and naturally most anxious about his unbelieving acquaintance. His friend obtained his permission for me to call by saying that, as a physician, perhaps I could give him some prescription which would relieve his sufferings; and when he begged me go, told me briefly of the sadly darkened state of the shoemaker's mind, urging me to put Christ before him if I could.

Having carefully examined him, and thus got his confidence by the interest which I displayed in his case, he asked me, at length, if I thought his condition amenable to cure. To this I replied that I was sorry to have to tell him I did not think he could recover.

"Then, how long do you think I have got to live, doctor?" he said.

"A few months, perhaps a year," I replied.

He made no reply, and the stolid look of indifference on his gloomy face was in no way changed by my remark. As he said no more, I continued, —

"And are you ready to die, Mr F-?"

"Of course I am, as ready as you, or any one else."

"And what has made you ready? Are your sins forgiven, and all washed away in the precious blood of Christ?"

"Oh, that's all stuff. I don't believe in any of that nonsense. I'm a freethinker."

"So I regret to perceive; but your being a freethinker will not fit you for God's presence?"

"I tell you I don't believe in a God at all, so I shan't have to meet Him!"

"Your not believing in Him will not help you to evade the solemn certainty of having to meet Him. The Scripture says, 'So, then, every one of us shall give account of himself to God.'"

"But I don't believe in the Bible. It's only fit for old women who can't reason. No reasonable man believes it in these days."

"Well, I am not an old woman, but, I trust, a reasonable man, and yet I am free to confess that I believe the Bible to be the Word of God. I believe it heartily from cover to cover."

"And what good has it done you?"

"Untold good, thank God. It has given me the knowledge of Himself in the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I know from its blessed pages that my sins are all forgiven, that I have eternal life, and, though I am sure of nothing for a moment in this life, I am quite clear and happy as to the future were I to die, or the Lord to come."

"Oh, that's all a delusion. Nobody knows anything about the future. How can they? No one has come back from the dead to tell us what comes after death."

"That is a great mistake. Why, the One who died for me is the very One who has come back from the dead, to assure me as to my future blessedness, as the fruit and consequence of His death for Me."

"I don't believe a word of it. No one can know what will be after death."

"Then to you death will be a leap in the dark?"

"Well, yes, just so; I suppose it will be," was his rather hesitating reply.

"Ah, my friend!" I exclaimed, "I am far better off than you, through God's infinite grace. If I should die, death would be a leap in the light."

"How do you make that out?"

"Because I have got the light now. Christ is my Light. He said, 'I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life' (John 8: 12). And He said also, 'Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness' (John 12: 35, 36, 46). Both you and I are, alike, sinners before God, but the difference between us is this: — You do not believe in the Lord Jesus, are walking in darkness, and know not whither you are going, viz., to judgment, and the lake of fire; I do believe in Him, have got out of darkness by letting in the light, and know clearly where I am going, viz., 'to be with Christ, which is far better.' Don't you think now that I have the best of it? All I can say is, that a man who takes a leap in the dark, when he may take a leap in the light must be a downright fool. What say you to that?"

He paused a moment or two, and then replied, "Well, sir, I never looked at it quite in that way before. I won't say there's not some reason in your argument."

With this our interview closed. I left him with my heart lifted to God that His Word might do its own work in his heart and conscience. I never saw him again. Upwards of twelve years have rolled away. Last June his friend, who had asked me to visit him, called to see me, and said, "Do you recollect, many years ago, visiting an infidel shoemaker in L- Street?

"Perfectly; and what took place between us too. What became of him?"

"He died in the Royal Infirmary just a year after you saw him."

"Died an infidel?"

"Oh no, thank God, he died a happy Christian, confessing his faith in the Lord, and giving a bright testimony. He dated the beginning of the change in his heart from that morning you saw him. Something you said to him about 'a leap in the dark' stuck to him, and he was never happy till he found the Lord."

"The Lord be praised," was my rejoinder, as I heard, with deep joy, of the Lord's grace to one who seemed so fortified in unbelief. It is, however, but another illustration of His goodness, and of the truth of His Word. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void; but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper whereto I sent it" (Isa. 55: 8-11).

And now, my dear reader, let me, in penning a few concluding lines, ask you, Are you still in "darkness," or have you received Christ as your "light"? When you pass into eternity, will it be for you "a leap in the dark," or "a leap in the light"?

I beseech you, most affectionately, not to put these queries from you. Answer them honestly before God. If you cannot reply, "To me death would be a leap in the light," turn to Jesus now. Trust Him, as you read these lines, and your eternal salvation is sure. "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness," may well win the confidence of your heart towards the blessed One who speaks, and who —

"Suffered in the shadow

That we might see the light."

Yes, He tasted death that we might live; endured the darkness, that we might enjoy the light; and sustained the judgment of God, that we might be freely justified. "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." Again, "But now once, in the end of the world, hath he appeared, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation" (1 Peter 3: 18; Heb. 9: 26-28).

Trust Him then, simply, my reader; and then when called hence, whether by falling asleep in Jesus, or, better, His coming in the air for His own (1 Thess. 4: 13-18), to you and to me, through infinite grace, it will be  A LEAP IN THE LIGHT.

The Rope from Above.

Some years since I was passing early one morning down one of the thoroughfares of Edinburgh, when I noticed numbers of people hastening rapidly in the direction in which I was going. The cause of the unusual stir I had no need to inquire, for just then the road made a bend, and full in view was a large crowd gathered before a house on fire. Sheets of flame leapt out of the windows, and dense volumes of smoke were rolling forth from the first floor.

Technically speaking, the burning house, itself the centre of a row, was "a first flat" and, fortunately or not as the case may have been, the tenants were out at the time. For the sake of my readers who are not acquainted with the "flat" system of building houses, I may say that the house in question, and two above it, entered from the street by a stair common to them all, each house having its own door opening into the stair at various levels. This being so, ingress to or egress from flats No. 2 and 3 can only be had by passing the door of No. 1, which really answers to the drawing-room floor of an ordinary house, the ground floor being usually, as in this case, a shop.

Drawing near the scene, I saw at a glance what was the state of matters. Neither fire-engine, fire-escape, fireman, nor fire-ladder were as yet at hand, while at the open windows of flat No. 2 stood two females, an aged woman and her daughter. Their dishevelled state and general attire told that from their slumber they had been awakened by the cry of "Fire," Only to find the floor beneath their feet in flames, their house filled with choking smoke, and the common stair, by which they sought escape, a miniature crater through which it was hopeless to attempt to pass.

Baulked in their efforts to leave by the stairs, at the windows they now appeared in company, uttering distressing shrieks of fright, and imploring help from the populace beneath. A fearful agony was on the face of each as they cried, and looked in vain for help from below. True, the help of firemen and ladders had been sought, but they were long in coming. At such a time each moment seems an age!

It was a touching sight as, side by side, they stood, — themselves utterly helpless, — while the devouring flame below seemed only to mock their agony, and with lurid blaze ever and anon leapt madly forth and up, from the window directly beneath them, as though it would gladly devour them where they stood, or drive them back to suffocation. The breeze was fresh, and the snow-white hair of the terror-stricken mother was waving wildly in the air, a strange contrast to the black smoke and lambent flames around. Altogether it was a weird and painful sight.

Just then a cheer rang forth from the crowd, and, looking higher than the women, I saw that some kindly workmen had, by another common stair, managed to get on to the roof, carrying with them a slender rope. To fasten it round a stack of chimneys — fortunately in a direct line behind the open window — was the work of a minute or two, and then, giving the rope a coil, and a well-directed fling over the eaves of the house, right down in front of the terrified, and now surprised women (for they expected no help from above), fell their only way of escape. Loud hurrahs greeted the providers of this way of salvation, while cries of "Lay hold of the rope," "Come down by the rope," indicated plainly to the unfortunate pair what they were expected to do. A way of escape having been provided by others, they were expected and urged at once to avail themselves of it. How right, and how simple this judgment; do you not agree with it, reader?

Quick as thought, I saw the women lay hold of the rope; but now the question arose, who should go first, — in other words, who had faith to trust this slender means of safety. From where I stood I could note an altercation as to who should first avail herself of it, and some minutes I think must have elapsed, while encouraging and hastening words rose thickly from below, — "Make haste," — "Don't waste time," — "You may safely trust it," etc. etc. At length the mother gained her point, — she was stout and heavy, it might not sustain her; the daughter was thin and fragile, she might safely trust it. A mother's love, I doubt not, was under and behind all, — a love only eclipsed by a Saviour's. The daughter took the rope in both her hands and got on to the window-sill. The crowd held its breath. The rope was pulled on first, to see if it held on above. All right. The thirty-five or forty feet beneath was looked at. The rope was long enough, and it was strong enough, and yet she lingered. I saw the reason why; when just about to launch away, doubts and fears evidently rose, and by the heels of her boots she clung to the raised sill. This lasted a moment, and then, with instinctive love, the mother gave her a push, and fairly forth she swung.

Descending too rapidly her hands "fired," and, while still some distance from the ground, she let go the rope and fell. Fearing this event, some strong men had gathered underneath, and into their arms she tumbled, receiving no harm whatever. The mother, encouraged by her child's success, and learning by her fall not to be too hasty in her descent, now committed herself to the trusty rope, and hand under hand slowly coming down, was soon by her daughter's side, right thankful for the rope from above.

At the time, and since, I have often thought how this scene illustrates the state of man as a sinner, and the dealings of God with him in grace. Man has sinned, and his sin has placed him in a position of imminent danger. "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3: 23). This word includes you and me, dear reader. Further, "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6: 23). And again God speaks thus, "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment " (Heb. 9: 27). As to what this judgment is which overtakes the dead, we are left in no doubt whatever. Hear God's testimony, "I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God: and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. . . . And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20: 12, 15).

Here we are told the final doom of the dead. They have no life suited to God. "Dead in sins" delineates their time condition. "Eternal life, the gift of God," they cared not then to accept; hence their eternal condition corresponds to their time state. Solemn truth! The actions of life bring forth fruit for eternity. Read what follows: "But the fearful (i.e., cowards, — those who are afraid or ashamed to trust and confess Christ), and unbelieving (those who are avowed infidels and scoffers, though outwardly moral and well-behaved, — and is it not notable that these two classes should head the list?), and the abominable, and murderers, and whore-mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Rev. 21: 8). I know men scoff at these solemn words of God. This does not make them less real or terrible, but only manifests the folly of the human heart, which refuses to believe God's testimony as to its present guilt and godless state, and future equally godless condition for eternity, and despises the way of salvation which God in His grace has provided.

The women I have written of were in as much danger while asleep and unconscious of it, as when fully alive to their critical state. Is your case different, O unsaved reader? Not one whit.

But perhaps you bow to God's Word, and seeing your guilt and sin, tremble in view of "judgment to come." It is well with you if so, and better still if you are willing to take God's way of salvation. He it is who alone can save. He has, so to speak, let down a rope from above, long and strong enough to meet any and every sinner's case, no matter how many or heavy his sins may be. Christ is God's way of escape from the lake of fire, and if you would escape the due reward of your deeds, my friend, you must trust to Him.

"Lay hold of the rope," said the crowd, preaching a suited gospel to the women. "Lay hold of Christ," say I. "This is my beloved Son, hear him," says God the Father. "I am the way, the truth, and the life. Come unto me," says Jesus. "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. . . . He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life: but the wrath of God abideth on him," says John the Baptist. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," say Paul and Silas. "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God," says Peter, the fisherman. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins," says John the Evangelist. "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed," says Isaiah, the prophet. "Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him," says David, the Psalmist-king. What a cloud of witnesses to His worth! He has come down to save, — it has all come from His own side, — and is it not strange that sinners will not trust Him?

Dear reader, if you still have your heels hooked on to some window-sill of feelings or hesitancy, oh, let me give you the push just now that shall cause you simply and sweetly to trust the Lord Jesus.

Fear not that you will fall. He will hold you up, the rope will not break; and His grasp of you — when once you commit yourself to Him — will never unloose; and He will land you in glory as the fruit of His work on the cross for you.

"Look to Jesus, look and live

Mercy at His hands receive

He has died upon the tree,

And His words are, 'Look to me.'

Come to Jesus, come and live;

He has endless life to give;

He from sin will set you free;

For His words are, 'Come to me.'

Rest in Jesus, there repose,

Shelter find from all thy foes;

Let His name be all thy plea,

For His words are, 'Rest in me.'"

"Milk without Money;" or,

A Lesson We Must All Learn

"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." — Isa. 55: 1.

I was on an evangelistic tour through the north of Ireland, accompanied by a beloved fellow-labourer in the gospel. Being announced to preach at the town of L-, on the 14th September, two routes to our destination lay open to us, — a long detour by rail, or a direct drive of about twenty miles on an outside jaunting-car over some verdant mountains. Taking the wise advice of our host of the previous night — a beloved brother in the Lord — we chose the latter, and being well furnished with little gospel books for the journey, we started. My friend sat one side of the car and I the other, and all along our journey we scattered our precious gospel seeds, giving them to walkers, jerking them to riders in vehicles, and now and then jumping off, as our stout nag toiled up the hills; and handing them to rustic cottagers, and sun-burned reapers in the fields of golden grain which, on all hands, waved under the balmy zephyr breezes of the loveliest day I ever saw in Erin's isle. I am thankful to say our tracts were welcomed on all hands; and one feels sure the fruit of this happy service will show up, in the day of the Lord, in the persons of some precious souls blessed through these little silent messengers.

The sun began to get very hot, and quite naturally, after two or three hours of this sort of work, we became rather thirsty. We had come on no very drinkable water, so, spying a little house where I knew there would be a cow or two, I asked our driver if he thought I could get some milk there. Receiving an affirmative answer, I ran to the door, which was open, and knocked. This brought out from the innermost apartment a sedate but pleasant- looking female, evidently, I should judge, the mistress of the primitive establishment. Looking at me, as much as to say, What do you want? but not speaking, I courteously said, "Will you be good enough to sell me some milk?"

She paused a moment, and then very firmly replied "No!" following up this decided negative with a pleasant smile, and "but I will give you some," putting as strong an emphasis on the "give" as she had placed on the "no."

So saying, she turned back to her little dairy, while I turned to my friend, who had come to my side, saying, "Now, that's the gospel, is it not? God gives, but He will not sell, salvation." We had a most delicious draught of cold sweet milk, for which we most truly gave her thanks, accompanied by some little gospel books, and a few words about God's blessed Son and His great salvation, which was as free to her, by faith, as she had made her milk to us, and then resumed our journey.

Then, and many a time since, I have pondered over this scene as a lovely illustration of God's way of dealing with souls who really want salvation. We did not know, and therefore did not count, on the bounty of the one we appealed to. And so it is with man. Not knowing God, he knows not the grace and love of His heart; and, though needy, and owning it too, fancies he must bring an equivalent to God ere he can get from Him that which he needs. If you, my reader, are of this mistaken class, may God open your eyes to see His way of salvation. His grace provides it, and not your works of any kind. There are two good reasons for this. First, God is too rich to sell salvation; and second, man is too poor to buy it. Hence you must get it as a gift, if you are to get it at all.

The quotation I have made at the head of this paper shows this truth very simply. The "thirsty" are invited. And are not you among this number? You certainly are, if you have not yet found Jesus, for "your labour," whatever its nature, "satisfieth not," our verses say. Thirst is a craving which the suited fluid alone can satisfy. Now the thirst of an anxious soul is really for God and His Christ, though very likely it could not put it in so many words; but the Lord Jesus, who knows the heart well, says, "Whosoever drinketh of this water [the well of this world] shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst" (John 4: 13, 14). Precious words! But not more precious than true. Again, He says, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink" (John 7: 37); giving also this sweet assurance, "He that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst; . . . and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6: 35, 37).

Now, dear anxious reader, are not you invited? Do not these glorious words of the Saviour encourage you to come to Him? They ought to, if they do not. Listen again, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." "But," you say, "how can I be sure it means me? Perhaps I am not thirsty enough, not anxious enough, for salvation." Very likely; no one ever was as anxious as he should have been, considering God's view of sin, and the awful danger of the unsaved sinner. But the point is not the measure of your anxiety, but the fact of your being "thirsty" or willing at all. If so, hear the word of the Lord: "I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. . . . Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 21: 6, 22: 17). What charming words! "I will give . . . freely." That is God's side. "Let him take . . . freely." That is your side. God gives; all you have to do is to take what He gives.

"What must I bring?" say you. Nothing! Come to Jesus as you are. "He that hath no money" is the invited one. You have no equivalent for that which God dispenses, so you are bid to come and buy "without money and without price." Why "buy"? Because it supposes a person in earnest. When a person goes into a shop to "buy" an article, his very presence there shows he really wanted it, or he would not have gone to the trouble of entering the mart. Buying implies direct dealing between two parties. This is the very thing God wants. He wishes you brought into His own presence in real desire to have salvation — the water of life — Christ. You come. What then? You find all is a gift. How simple!

What earnestness is with God, when thrice in this one verse He says "Come!" I cannot refrain from quoting it again, "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." How blessedly falls that heaven-born word on the ear — Come! come! COME! Who could refuse such grace? Come as you are; come in your sins; come in your guilt. Come in your distress; come in your sorrow, your want, your woe, your misery, your helplessness, your nothingness, your poverty, your hardness of heart, — yea, exactly as you are, as you read these lines. Only come, come to Jesus, and you will be received, blessed, forgiven, cleansed, and saved on the very spot.

More, you will be made the possessor of a new life, for, He adds here, "Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live." This, too, is a gift, as is all else that the soul receives from God; for it is written, "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6: 23).

Rest assured, if you come in any way but as a simple receiver, you must be rejected, as was Cain. Did you never notice that the Lord Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20: 35). This being so, who is to have the more blessed place, you or God? Let one speak who knew well this truth, "Without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better" (Heb. 7: 7). Now, then, what do you say? I will tell you what I say: "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift" (2 Cor. 9: 15).

The Comfort of the Blood.

"The blood was my first comfort, and I believe it will be my last comfort. . . . I feel as though the Lord were leading me from earth to heaven, by the steps of the 23rd Psalm, 'The Lord is my shepherd, . . . and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.'" The words came slowly from the lips of the dying man — a doctor — passing away from a loving wife and children, in the prime of life, with a rest and joy in the Lord I have never seen surpassed. A few days later he passed away, with "Bless the Lord" on his lips.

Many physicians are infidels. Why, I cannot say. I would that all such could have seen this dear friend of many years patiently pass through months of weakness, always rejoicing in Christ, and then at the last bear witness to the comfort of the despised blood of Jesus.

Ah! there is no real foundation for the soul apart from the blood of Christ. That blood cleanseth from all sin, removes every stain, purges the conscience, purifies the soul, relieves the distressed and sin-burdened heart, and sets the one who trusts it perfectly free in the presence of God. Death is robbed of its sting, the grave of its victory, and "judgment to come" has no meaning for the one who rests only on that which the Holy Ghost calls "the precious blood of Christ."

What folly can exceed that which despises God's only way of salvation — Jesus's blood? No solid real comfort is found apart from Christ and His blood.

What a portion is the Christian's! He has a title without a flaw, and a prospect without a cloud.

Infidel, what comfort will you have on your deathbed?

"Go to Joseph."

Joseph is a most beautiful and complete type of the Lord Jesus in the days of His humiliation and in the days of His exaltation. The day is not come yet, when God will compel men to give Jesus His due; because God has, what Pharaoh had not, long patience, and the long-suffering of the Lord is salvation.

Joseph, you will remember, went out in the guilelessness and love of his heart to meet his brethren (Gen. 37). They plotted against him to slay him, and at length he was sold to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver, the price of the meanest slave. And I need not remind you of Another, who came from His Father's house to see how His brethren fared, and met with precisely the same treatment, — "His own received him not," — and at length for thirty pieces of silver He was betrayed, and sold, and then cast out of this world; not into a dungeon, but into a grave.

It is true loving hands took Him down from the cross, and placed Him in a sepulchre; but wicked hands sealed Him there, and the world hoped never to see Him again; "but God raised him from the dead." The One whom men slew God raised up.

He came in all the love of His heart; but man had no love for Him. I ask you, my reader, Have you any love in your heart for Him? Does He look in and see in your heart affection for Himself? If not, do not you be the one to judge those who cast Him out in the day of His lowliness and humiliation.

As Pharaoh placed Joseph by his own side in his day, and they cried "Bow the knee" before him (Gen. 41: 40-43), so God has placed Jesus at His right hand today, and commands men everywhere to bow to Him. Every knee shall bow to Jesus; but God would have you bow your knee — and more, bow your heart — to Jesus now. Have you gone down in His presence, delighted to own His value now, delighted to call Him Lord? If not, the sooner you do, the better will it be for you.

The humiliation of Jesus gave Him a moral claim on God for exaltation, and He has exalted Him, and "given him a name which is above every name." There is no name like the name of Jesus. God has declared that all shall own Him Lord, — angels, men, and demons, — and you may be sure all includes you. The demons never owned Him Lord when He was on earth, but the day will come when God will compel them to own Him Lord. And for you, my reader, when is to be your day of owning Him Lord? now, when He is waiting on you in long-suffering grace, or in the day of His power, when you must bow? "Bow the knee" is God's word to you now.

Doubtless to many a proud Egyptian noble there was great humiliation in having to bow to this Hebrew servant; but the day of famine came, and neither their pride nor their parentage would meet, the pangs of famine. Then they cried to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh's word was, "Go to Joseph." And many a soul in trouble cries to God. What is God's answer, as it were? "Go to Jesus." Have you, my reader, the sense of soul hunger? God's word is, "Go to Jesus." Do you say, I know what soul hunger is; I would like to be saved, if I knew how to go to Jesus? Look, and see, in this interesting narrative, how they came to Joseph.

He was, according to the meaning of his name ZaphnathPaaneah, "a revealer of secrets," and "the saviour of the age." And is not this what Jesus is?

Look at Him in the 4th of John, when that poor woman meets Him at the well. Does He not show Himself to her as the revealer of secrets, when He said to her, "Thou hast had five husbands"? Ah! Christ knows all about you; Christ knows every sin; and for those who believe in Him He has pardoned every one. Knowing all about us, He loved us; and loving us, He came down to save us.

When the woman found He knew all about her, does she fly? No, she stays and talks with Him, and one moment she is a convicted sinner, and the next Christ reveals Himself to her, and she leaves her waterpot and goes into the city, and says, "Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did; is not this the Christ?" Instead of being afraid of Him, she calls to all to come and know Him too; and they come and find He is not only the revealer of secrets, but the Saviour of the age, — the true Joseph.

Have you come to this Revealer of secrets, this Saviour of the age, yet? Does your conscience answer, No; I have not come to Him yet? Why not, my reader? Perhaps you say in your heart, I do not know how He would receive me if I came.

Let us look at how Joseph received his brethren when they came to him in their need.

"Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt; get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt" (Gen. 42: 1-3). They heard that there was corn in Egypt. They heard that there was deliverance to be had if they could only get it, and they were perishing. They heard there was salvation, and they felt their need, and felt they would like to be saved, but they could not get salvation without going to the saviour. They could not get deliverance apart from the deliverer; they could not get food in their hunger save from Joseph, — Joseph the despised one, the one they had hated, the one they had cast out and sold, but the one whom God had raised up to have every resource in his power, everything that could meet their need.

And you, my reader, do you feel you are in need of salvation? Have you heard of a deliverance which you would like to be yours? Is your soul hungry, and have you heard of "bread enough and to spare"? Have you heard of salvation that others have known, and would you know it too? Then you must come into living contact with the Saviour. It is from the Saviour only you can get salvation. Jesus is that Saviour, and he waits and longs to save you.

Joseph's brethren are in need now, and they come to Joseph; and you must do just the same — come to Jesus.

"And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land; and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth" (ver. 6).

They come and bow themselves down to Joseph; and it is a blessed thing when you are compelled, even by your need, to bow to Jesus, for He is the only one who can meet that need.

"And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. . . . And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies. Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. . . . And he put them all together into ward three days" (vers. 7-17).

His brethren did not know Joseph, but he knew them. He spake roughly to them. They thought he was a hard man. Do you think Christ is an it austere man"? He will tell you what you are; tell you that you are a sinner full of enmity to God, that there is no good thing in you. People do not like that. They do not like to be shown what is in their hearts.

Joseph deals with his brethren as God does with the sinner, for God must get at our consciences, and must make us feel and know what we have been and are. So Joseph's dealings with his brethren arouse conscience, for they say, "We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us" (ver. 21).

It is a wonderful thing when the soul is brought to this point, to own itself a guilty sinner before God. God must have reality. Have you, my reader, ever seen yourself thus in the light of God's presence? Has your conscience ever been awakened to cry, I am undone; I am verily guilty?

"And Joseph turned himself about from them and wept." And did not Another greater than Joseph weep over guilty Jerusalem; and not only weep, but shed His precious blood because of the love of His heart to guilty man?

"Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack" (ver. 25). What is the lesson of the money in the sack? That if you are to get salvation, you cannot buy it. You are too poor to buy it, and God is too rich to sell it. Salvation must be God's free gift, and you must have it as a gift, or not have it at all.

Joseph's brethren come back, and tell their father all that Joseph had said; and Jacob refuses to let Benjamin go down with them, for he says, "His brother is dead, and he is left alone; if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave."

But the famine increases. Their need increases; food they must have or die. Judah offers to be surety for his brother, and Jacob is constrained to let the lad go; but he says, "Do this: take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present. . . . And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight. Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: and God Almighty give you mercy before the man" (Gen. 43: 11-14).

This is man's way of getting salvation. People think they are going to be saved by propitiating God. They will work and give alms, and what not. But it will not do. No money will buy salvation, and God does not want appeasing. He is waiting to be gracious, waiting for the moment when He can display what is in His heart, which is only love.

Joseph's brethren came down again to him, and when he saw Benjamin he gave commandment that they should be brought into his house. "And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house." Yes, the soul wakes up to learn it is guilty, and then it fears the presence of God. But Joseph spake comfortably to them to win their hearts, and they sat at meat with him. "And the men marvelled one at another. And he took and sent messes unto them from before him; but Benjamin's mess was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him."

Then in Genesis 44 they have to confess their sins. Judah says, "God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants" (ver. 16). This is the point God would bring us to. Not only conscience making us see our state, but also there is the owning of that state. "I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." So said David in Psalm 32, and so must every soul that really turns to God.

In Genesis 45 the wonderful climax is reached. Joseph reveals himself to them. "I am Joseph." The Joseph they had sold as a slave stood before them as ruler over all the land, but meeting them in all the grace of his heart. He caused every one else to go out, and the guilty were left alone in the presence of the saviour. What a lovely picture of divine grace follows: "And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt" (Gen. 45: 4).

When the work in the conscience is done, then the Lord can come near and reveal Himself. He never comes and reveals Himself till the sinner takes his true place — is angry with himself.

"Be not grieved nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither," he says: "for God did send me before you to preserve life." You have been guilty, Joseph says, but God had a purpose in it.

And man was guilty of nailing the Saviour to the cross; but God had His own thoughts, His own meaning in it all, and that very death, on the cross, of the Saviour, becomes the basis and groundwork, through atonement, of the great deliverance Christ accomplishes for the sinner; salvation for him is the fruit of the sufferings of the Saviour there.

But after all this display of the heart of Joseph to his brethren, and after seventeen years of caring for them, and giving them the best of everything, and rewarding them only love for their hatred, the last chapter of Genesis shows they still did not fully know Joseph.

"When Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him" (Gen. 50: 15-17).

All this is like some doubting, fearing, unhappy Christians, who tell me they believe on the Lord, and yet they have not peace. They are full of fears; they are not sure He has received them and forgiven them: they do not know His heart; and another thing, they have never had all out with Him. Have no reserves, my reader. Have it all out with Jesus, and do not you be the one to make our Joseph weep; for the heart of the Lord Jesus feels today your lack of trust in Him, after all He has done for you, all the kindness and the love He has shown to you. Wound not then His loving heart by any lack of confidence in Him.

"And Joseph said unto them, Fear not." That is just the way the Lord Jesus loves to comfort the soul. To get the confidence of the heart, He says to the trembling one, "Fear not: I am Jesus."

Joseph says again, "Fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them."

And that is what Jesus says; for we are not only sheltered by His blood, but saved by His life. He will nourish and care for each one all the way along. Oh, my reader, believe Him simply, and never wound His heart again by one single doubt.

SWEET was the hour, O Lord, to Thee,

At Sychar's lonely well,

When a poor outcast heard Thee there

Thy great salvation tell.

Thither she came; but, oh! her heart,

All filled with earthly care,

Dreamed not of Thee, nor thought to find

The hope of Israel there.

Lord! 'twas Thy power unseen that drew

The stray one to that place,

In solitude to learn from Thee

The secrets of Thy grace.

There Jacob's erring daughter found

Those streams unknown before,

The water-brooks of life, that make

The weary thirst no more.

And, Lord, to us, as vile as she,

Thy gracious lips have told

That mystery of love revealed

At Jacob's well of old.

In spirit, Lord, we've sat with Thee

Beside the springing well

Of life and peace, and heard Thee there

Its healing virtues tell.

Dead to the world, we dream no more

Of earthly pleasures now;

Our deep, divine, unfailing spring

Of grace and glory Thou!

No hope of rest in aught beside,

No beauty, Lord, we see;

And, like Samaria's daughter, seek,

And find our all in Thee.

"Which line are you on?"

"You don't think he'll get better, Doctor, do you? I'm sure I don't; he seems like dying tonight."

"While there is life there is hope in a fever case, so we must relax none of our efforts," was my reply.

The sick man had brought a delicate wife from New Zealand to see a noted physician. On arriving in Edinburgh, he found that death, at too early an age, had just swept the illustrious man from the land of the living, and then himself contracting typhus fever, his condition on the fifteenth day quite warranted the remark just given. The speaker was a kindly but shrewd lodging-house keeper, who had offered to the worn-out wife, and nurse of the sick man, to relieve them for a little, wait my midnight visit, and receive any directions I might give, while they got a rest.

Much interested in the welfare of his lodger, he was rather cheered by my reply, and readily took my orders. Seeing this, I added, "Whether he lives or dies is very doubtful, and all will depend on the nursing of the next twenty-four hours; but any way, I can tell you this, that Mr A- is ready to die. He is a true simple believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, has long rejoiced in the knowledge of the Lord, and of a present and eternal salvation; and if he departs, it will be to be with Christ for ever."

"Oh yes, sir, I am sure he's ready to die; he's a very good man," was the rejoinder.

"And I hope you are ready too, my friend," I said, turning to him, "for typhus fever is an ugly occupant of a house, and is no respecter of persons."

"Well, as to that I really can't say; in fact I don't think any one can know that he is ready in this life."

I did not stop at the moment to point out to him the contradiction of his two last speeches, — in one breath assuring me that he was sure the dying man was "ready," and in the next asserting that no one could know he was "ready" while here. It is worthy of notice, however, that this curious condition of matters is very common, when you begin to apply any special truth to a sinner's conscience. Perhaps, my reader, you feel there is safety (it is only fancied safety,) in generalities, and therefore avoid personalities and individualising. But let me assure you, that you must individualise yourself, and find out really where you are.

"Then, in plain language, you are not yet saved?" I went on.

"No; I could not take it on me to say that," was his reply.

"I see. But if you are not yet saved, have you found out that you are lost?"

"Lost? Me lost? No, God forbid! I shouldn't like to think I was lost."

"Well," I argued, "that is strange. You are not saved, and you will not own that you are lost."

"Certainly not. Of course I am not as good as I ought to be, — no one is, — but I am respectable and religious; that is, I go to church now and then; and though I can't say I'm saved, I shouldn't at all like to think I was lost. Because a man is not saved, it surely does not follow that he is lost."

At this moment the shrill whistle of a railway locomotive, about to move in the Waverley Station near by, disturbed the midnight silence of the air.

"What is that?" I exclaimed, hoping to shunt him to a subject which would just illustrate my point.

"That is the whistle of a railway engine."

"So I thought. By the way, can you tell me how many lines there are on a well-conducted railway?"

"Two, of course."

"And what do you call them?"

"The up line and the down."

"Exactly so. Now tell me, did you ever see a man with one leg in an up train and the other in the down?"

"No, of course not, and I never expect to. If a man is on the rails at all, he is either in the up, or in the down train; he can't be half in one and half in the other."

"I quite agree with you; and now I would just ask, Which line are you on? You are either an unbeliever or a believer. If still an unbeliever, you are in your sins, and steadily going on your way towards death, judgment, and the lake of fire, — the awful terminus of the down line. If, on the other hand, you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are certainly on the up line, and soon will find yourself in the glory to which the Saviour's blood brings every redeemed sinner at last. Now, be honest with yourself, which line are you on?"

The appeal laid hold of his conscience, and after a moment's silence, during which I saw he was convicted, he replied, "I admit your illustration is very apt; I never thought of it in that way before, but I must see to the matter in future."

Whether the Spirit of God used this to his awakening and conversion, I cannot say, as I did not meet him again, but my patient through mercy recovered.

And now, my reader, let me ask you, "Which line are you on?" It is the merest evasion of the truth, and the veriest folly, to say you cannot tell. If your lips will not utter the truth, let God's Word witness against you.

Did not David say, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me?" (Ps. 51: 5.) Are you other, or better, than the sweet Psalmist of Israel? But, again, he testifies, "God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back; they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one" (Ps. 53: 2, 3). He convicts himself of sin in the first passage, you and me in the second. How solemn!

Hear another witness. What says Isaiah? "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away" (Isa. 64: 6). This testimony is tremendously solemn as to the natural state of every one.

Again, hear the words of our Lord Christ, and He spoke to a most respectable, religious, and morally excellent man, when He said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh. . . . Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again" (John 3: 6, 7). What an inexorable "must" is that! It applies to the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the learned and the illiterate, the moral and the immoral, the religious professor and the careless scoffer, to prince and peasant, peer and pauper. It embraces all, and excludes none, from the necessity of the new birth; and it is manifest that all are yet on the "down line" who have not been born again by the Word and Spirit of God.

But, further, the Lord says to Nicodemus, — "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3: 17, 18). Now nothing can be plainer than this. The man who has not truly and really believed in the Son of God, who has not, in other words, been "born again," and turned to God through faith in Jesus, is "already condemned." He is not on trial, and the state of his soul an open question. The trial is over. The judge has spoken. The verdict is given. The unbeliever is "condemned already." The only thing future, is the execution of the sentence, — death; and "after this the judgment," — the lake of fire for ever, "the second death."

The testimony of Scripture then, my reader, is clear as to the line you are upon, if still an unbeliever. You are already a lost sinner, and as such you are treated and addressed by God, in the gospel. "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost," is the glorious news which Jesus Himself first proclaimed, and which the Holy Ghost yet carries forth. As an evangelist, it is my joy to tell you this. You are lost, but Christ came for such as you. He came "to seek and to save that which was lost." Now, I beseech you, let Him save you. If He does not save you now, He must execute judgment on you in a day not far distant. Which shall it be? Will you have salvation, or judgment, from the hands of Jesus? "Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men."

Friend, I urge you, with all the energy of my soul, to open your eyes, see that you are on the down line, call a halt on the spot, turn to Jesus just now, and join that blessed company of saved sinners, who, having believed simply in the Son of God, are "not condemned," and "shall not come into condemnation," but "have everlasting life," and are consequently, through grace, on the "up line."

Just listen simply to the words of the blessed Lord, and believe what He says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed [from the down line to the up] from death unto life" (John 5: 24).

In view thus of the Word of God, any honest soul can tell, with the greatest certainty, its real spiritual whereabouts and direction. So I beg you, my beloved reader, just look this matter full in the face. If you are not yet Christ's, do not lose a day without turning to Him. If His, through grace, seek to serve and follow Him faithfully.

Reader, "Which line are you on?"

PASSING onward, quickly passing;

Yes, but whither, whither bound?

Is it to the many mansions,

Where eternal rest is found?

Passing onward —

Yes, but whither, whither bound?

Passing onward, quickly passing,

Nought the wheels of time can stay

Sweet the thought that some are going

To the realms of perfect day

Passing onward

Christ their Leader — Christ their way.

Passing onward, quickly passing,

Time its course will quickly run

Still we hear the fond entreaty

Of the ever gracious One"

Come and welcome,

'Tis by Me that life is won."

A Bright Sunset.

"Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." These familiar words fell on my ear, rapidly, and repeatedly uttered, as, at noon on Monday, December 22, 1884, I drew up at a house where I was attending a lady. Another doctor's carriage, and a cab standing at the door, made me think that something was amiss, and I was left in no doubt that something had happened, as again and again "Bless the Lord, O my soul," came from the lobby within.

On the floor of that lobby, his head and snowy locks only supported by a pillow, was the speaker, the owner of the house, my aged and valued friend of many years' standing, Mr B-. I soon learned that he had gone out for a walk that morning, and had just been brought home in a cab, and a passing physician called in.

The frost being keen and the cold intense, we rapidly got the old man, for he was nearly eighty-two, into a bed close at hand, and, surrounding him with hot bottles, hoped that, with other suitable measures, he might get over the deadly chill which was apparent in every member. While thus ministered to, his lips ceased not saying, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." This continued for a little, when he interposed, "Give me air, air, oh for air!" Fanning him briskly with one hand, I rubbed his icy cold hands with the other, which brought forth, "That's good, that's good, thank the Lord, that's fine. Bless the Lord, O my soul."

Judging that he was capable of replying to my queries, I said, "Open your eyes, Mr B-; do you know me?"

"Know you? of course I do. You are my kind friend Dr W-. You've come at the right time; the Lord sent you, I am sure, and He's taught you just what to do for me. Rub away, rub away, that's fine, and doing me good. 'Bless the Lord, O my soul.' Bless Him, bless Him, 'and forget not all his benefits.'"

"Ay, that's right, we can't bless Him too heartily," I replied, "but tell me what has happened; have you had a fall?"

"No, I did not fall; I was just quietly walking over George IV. Bridge when I felt something queer at my heart, so I just slid gently to the ground, and when I came to I asked a gentleman who came to me to call a cab and bring me home, and here I am, and you're looking after me;" and "Bless the Lord, O my soul," again rang through the chamber. It was a touching and never-to-be-forgotten scene, for the joyous and praiseful spirit of the old saint was lovely to witness.

After a little while he again said, "Air, air, give me air;" and putting his hand to his heart, added, "What is this heavy weight I feel here, doctor? I feel something I never felt before, but my dear wife, just before she passed away, said she felt it. Doctor, I think I'm going to follow her. I think I'm going now, going to be with Jesus, going to see my precious Lord Jesus, who loved me and died for me. 'Bless the Lord, O my soul.' I should like to say 'good-bye' to my dear children, but if I can't, never mind. I shall meet them again in glory. I'm only going a little before. The Lord is coming soon, and then we'll meet again. 'Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies.'"

His strength now began to fail, he said little more, and, as the clock struck one, he quietly passed away to be with his Lord and Saviour, whose love he had known for nearly half-a-century here, and will taste for ever on high.

The worshipful departure of this dear old saint reminds one of the patriarch, of whom it is written, "By faith Jacob, when he was a-dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph: and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff" (Heb. 11: 21).

Reader, could you depart thus? I have little doubt you say, "I would like to." But let me remind you it is of no use joining company with Balaam, and saying like him, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!" unless you are numbered with those whom God counts righteous now, by faith in Christ Jesus. As a man lives, so does he usually die. "Be not deceived, God is not mocked."

How different to what I narrated may be your end. Auld Peggie's was different. A Christian friend of mine called, and pressed Christ on her. She put down her pipe, and weighed the matter a little; then, with callous unmoved face resumed her smoking, as she slowly said, "Na, na; I've lived without Him seventy years, and I can live without Him the rest o' my days." Shortly after she was found dead in bed, the pipe broken on the floor, and her withered arms thrown above her head, as if there had been fearful conflict with some unseen foe.

Will you imitate Caesar Borgia? who said, "I have provided, in the course of my life, for everything except death; and now, alas, I am to die, although entirely unprepared."

A dying colonel said, "I would gladly give thirty thousand pounds to have it proved to my satisfaction that there is no such place as hell." Friend, are you going there?

A wealthy manufacturer hearing of the death of an acquaintance, said, "Is he dead? It is very different with me; for my part I am so engaged in business that I could not find time to die." Scarcely were the words uttered than he fell on the floor, a corpse. Sharp work this, my reader; are you ready? You may go next, mind.

A dying queen's last words were, "All my possessions for a moment of time." She had it not, and you may not have another granted to you. How solemn for an unsaved soul!

How terrible to die like Gibbon, saying, "All is dark and doubtful."

Better far be like the one whose sudden and unlooked-for end I have narrated. Another dear friend of mine passed away saying, "As I may not be able to express myself distinctly by-and-by, I wish now to state that I am in perfect peace, resting alone on the blood of Christ. O precious blood of God's Son, which cleanseth from all sin! I find this amply sufficient to enter the presence of God with. 'When I see the blood I will pass over.' Oh the precious, precious blood of Christ!"

Friend, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," is God's way of salvation. You have only to believe. Works cannot save. Faith in Jesus can. Trust in Him then. Trust Him now, just now, as you read this. Delay is dangerous, nay more, it is the veritable doorway to hell. Millions are there who never meant to be, but died just before they believed the truth. They, believe it now, fast enough, when it is too late to avail them. Don't join their company, I beseech you.