Echoes of Grace: 1948

"Oh, it was the simplest thing in the world! It was just by presenting the right ticket. I held it out, the door was opened, and I was in. And the strange thing is, I found that the ticket of admission had been in my possession from childhood. I had carried it in my breast pocket for the last twelve months, and never had the sense to use it.”

"That is strange, for you were so anxious to get in. What kind of a ticket was it, and what was written on it?”

"Why, it was as plain a ticket as you ever obtained for a public meeting, and it had nothing on it but the words:

‘Admit the Bearer―

A SINNER.'

(Luke 18:13,14)

That was all. What kept me so long from getting in was, that I always added something to the words on the ticket, when I presented it. Whenever the Lord saw anything of my adding, it was refused. The first time I went, I wrote at the bottom, Tut not so great a sinner as many of my neighbors.' That would not do; so I rubbed it out and put down, 'But who is doing the best he can to improve.' That would not do either; so I became more anxious, and prayed and wept awhile, and then added, `Who is praying and weeping for his sins.' Even that would not do.

"After that I began to despair, and wrote down, 'Too great a sinner to be saved.' That only made matters worse. I had almost given up, when I looked at Christ and heard Him say, 'I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved,' and 'Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out,' as well as those precious words, 'Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.'

"I looked again at that parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, and saw that it was simply as a sinner that the Publican stood before God and was justified. He did not make his sins too great to be forgiven, nor too little to need forgiveness. He acknowledged what he was, 'a sinner'; and, trusting to the promised mercy and grace of God, he went down to his house `justified.'

"I remembered, too, that Jesus had said, `I come to call sinners to repentance.' So again I pulled out the old ticket, and without adding a word presented it. It was instantly accepted, and I entered.”

Reader! Go thou and do likewise, and, as God is true, thou shalt be justified.

"Apples of Gold"

Years ago a well-known English scholar wrote a verse of four lines as the longing of his heart:

"In peace let me resign my breath,

―and Thy salvation see

My sins deserve eternal death,

―but Jesus died for me.”

He gave it to a friend, the author of "The Life of Captain Hedley Vicars," and it became a great blessing to him. Dr. Marsh then quoted the lines to his friend, Lord Roden, who was so impressed with them that he got him to write them out for him.

He then fastened the paper over the mantelpiece in his study and there, yellow with age, they hung for years, a memorial of the beloved hand.

Some time after this an old friend, General Taylor, one of the heroes of Waterloo, came to visit Lord Roden at Tollymore Park.

Lord Roden noticed that the eyes of the old veteran were frequently fixed for a few moments on the verse over the mantelpiece.

"Why, General," said Lord Roden, "you will soon know those lines by heart.” "I know them by heart already," replied the General, with feeling and those simple words were the means of bringing him to know the way of salvation.

Some two years afterward the physician who had been with General Taylor while he lay dying wrote to Lord Roden to say that his friend had departed in peace. The last words which fell from his lips were those lines he had learned to love,

"In peace let me resign my breath,

―and Thy salvation see;

My sins deserve eternal death,

―but Jesus died for me.”

Lord Roden told the story of General Taylor and his beloved verse to a group of friends. Among those who heard it was a young officer in the British Army, recently returned from the Crimea. He listened carelessly enough, and no impression seemed to be made at the time. A few months later, however, Lord Roden received a message from the young officer. He wanted to see him, as he was near death. As the Earl entered the sickroom the dying officer extended his hands to him, repeating the lines:

"In peace let me resign my breath,

and Thy salvation see;

My sins deserve eternal death,

but Jesus died for me.”

And then he added, "Those simple words have been God's message of peace and comfort to my heart in this illness, and they have been clearly brought to my memory by the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, after days of darkness and distress.”

"Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered."

Rom. 4:'7.

Appropriation

One in whose spiritual history I was deeply interested was sorely troubled for many a day with this question: "How am I to know that Christ died for me?" He knew a great deal of truth. He was, intellectually, well instructed. He was intimately acquainted with the plan of salvation, and much interested in the subject of religion generally. But he had no personal enjoyment of Christ. He could not see his own interest in Christ. His constant difficulty was embodied in the question, "How am I to know that Christ died for me?” However, it pleased the Lord at length to make use of a very simple incident to answer his absorbing question. He was sitting beside me in my room, conversing about the matter of his salvation. He told me he felt assured that Christ died for sinners, but that he could not see how he was to appropriate Christ. There was a railroad timetable on the wall, and at the bottom of the timetable appeared the following statement: "Children under six years of age travel free." I called his attention to those words, and simply said to him: "Now, if you were a child under six years, would you have any difficulty in appropriating or applying that statement to yourself? Would it not rather be a difficulty, yea, an impossibility, not to apply it?

Before you can refuse the application, you must prove yourself to be over six years of age. To any child under six years of age, the statement applies with as much force as though he were the only child in the world. True, you do not see your own name given in the statement; and even though your name were there, it would not help you in the matter of appropriation, inasmuch as, if there were any other child of the same name, the question would be involved in hopeless uncertainty. But when you see your age, your state, your condition, you can have no further difficulty; you may refuse to take your seat, but you cannot refuse the application of the offer.

"And now to apply this illustration. I read in the first chapter of 1st Timothy, 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' Are you a sinner?”

"Oh, yes!" said he, "That I am in truth.”

"Well, if you are, in heart and conscience, a lost sinner, then Christ came to save you just as much as if you were the only sinner in the world. You must prove yourself to be not a sinner before you can refuse the application of the gospel message. The gospel applies itself, it is for you to believe and rejoice in the application.”

The Spirit of God blessed the illustration. The simple truth of the gospel flashed like a sunbeam into his mind, and he was enabled to kneel at my side and thank God that he now knew what he had so long desired to know, that Christ died for him. Speaking to a friend shortly after, he said, "Do you know that all the devils in hell could not shake my faith now!”

"Indeed," said the friend, amazed at this bold assertion on the part of one who had suffered so much from doubts and fears, "how is that?”

"Because it is founded on the Word of God.”

Blessed foundation! Not on feelings, not on reason, not on imagination, not on assumption, but simply on the Word of God. This is enough. "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; He was buried and rose again the third day according to the scriptures." 1 Cor. 15:3-4.

May the Lord bless this simple incident to many an anxious soul, and His name shall have all the glory.

Are You Satisfied? Is God Satisfied?

No, we have not made any mistake in writing our title as shown above.

There are numberless people who, when spoken to about the all-important matter of their soul's salvation, reply something like this: "I am doing my best; I pay my way; I do my duty; I seek to live an exemplary life; I attend church services, take communion, etc., etc. And, pray! What more can a man do? And what more can God expect?”

If the foregoing more or less accurately describes your way of looking at things, let us ask you to look back over your life, shall we say, since the last twelve months? Are you absolutely satisfied with every moment of that period, and with the most minute details of your life during that time? Has there been a thought, the remembrance of which troubles you? Have you uttered a word that you would rather have left unspoken? Has there been an act that you wish you could recall? In other words:

Are You Satisfied?

Frankly, we have never yet met a truly honest person who would not at once reply:

"Oh, no! I am not by any means satisfied.” Many will add: "But I am doing my best, and no man can do more than that.”

You cannot do more than your best, but the fact remains that, having done your best, you are still not satisfied. We are quite sure Nicodemus was not satisfied therefore, he "came to Jesus by night." We are equally certain that Saul of Tarsus was not satisfied, for after having done his best―and if ever a man did his best, he did he―discovered that he was the chief of sinners. This is not all, however. The still more important question is:

Is God Satisfied?

How can He be? If you are not satisfied with yourself, how do you expect God to be satisfied with you? Do you imagine that He is more easily satisfied than you are?

Or that the standard by which He judges is lower than yours? To ask these questions is to answer them.

This seems to show then―does it not?―that you are on the wrong track, and, if so, it will be wisdom on your part to discover where you are wrong and to get on the right track with all speed. The first question to consider is, obviously: How can God be satisfied? Let us say right away:

He is not satisfied with any one of us as children of Adam, "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

Romans 3:23.

Nor is He satisfied with anything that we do, for "by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight." Rom. 3:20.

And still more drastic is the statement that "they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

Rom. 8:8.

There it is, and nothing can alter it. That being so, it at once becomes apparent that, even if we were so conceited and foolish as to be satisfied with ourselves, God is Not Satisfied with us; therefore, humanly speaking, our case is hopeless. We are irretrievably lost.

Say, friend, have you realized that yet?

Have you accepted God's verdict concerning yourself? If so, then, thank God, there is hope for you. How glad we are to be able to tell you that God is Satisfied!

Not with you, but with Christ; not with your deeds, but with Christ's finished work.

Read this again and again, and rest your soul upon it: "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." 1 Peter 3:18.

There we learn the mystery of divine love and the glory of redemption. The eternal Son of God became Man, went to the cross, and once and forever settled the sin question to God's entire satisfaction and to His eternal praise and glory.

Do we hear someone inquire, "How do you know that?" Read the last verse of 1 Peter 3, and there learn that Jesus Christ "is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God: angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him.”

The fact that He who was on the cross as the Sin-bearer, is now "on the right hand of God" is the incontestable proof that God is satisfied. The empty cross, the vacant tomb, and the occupied throne bear eloquent testimony to that transcendent fact.

Now we are going to reverse the questions at the head of this paper and ask:

Is God Satisfied? Are You Satisfied?

We have already answered the first of these questions. When the Lord Jesus Christ died, was buried, was raised from the dead, and exalted at God's right hand, that showed that God was glorified and Satan was defeated sin was put away and death was annulled the power of the grave was broken, and the forces of the enemy were vanquished. So that now, those who "believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead" can say: "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 5:1.

That means that if you believe on Jesus, God is satisfied, you are satisfied, and you can sing, and sing with great joy:

"Sweetest rest and peace have filled me,

Sweeter praise than tongue can tell

God is satisfied with Jesus,

I am satisfied as well.”

Let us beseech you, as we close, stop looking in, cease looking around, and, here and now, look up. Behold Him who fills God's throne, and who fills God's heart! Believe in His Name, rest upon His finished work, learn the cleansing power of His precious blood. Then, forgiven, justified, saved, it will be yours in this life and through eternity to share with God His satisfaction and delight in His own beloved Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

An Atheist Said

"There is one thing that mars all the pleasure of my life: I am afraid the Bible is true. If I could know for a certainty that death is an eternal sleep, I should be happy. But, here is what pierces my soul: if the

Bible is true, I am lost forever.”

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.

Psa. 14:1.

"TO HIM GIVE ALL THE

PROPHETS WITNESS,

THAT THROUGH HIS

NAME WHOSOEVER

BELIEVETH IN HIM

SHALL RECEIVE

REMISSION OF SINS.”

Acts 10:43

"IF THOU SHALT CONFESS

WITH THY MOUTH

THE LORD JESUS, AND

SHALT BELIEVE IN THINE

HEART THAT GOD

HAM RAISED HIM

FROM THE DEAD,

THOU SHALT BE SAVED:”

Rom. 10:9

SEPTEMBER

The Best Things Are Free

What, reader, are the best things to you?

If you could have just what you like, what would you choose? Would it be money? Well, in some ways that would be a wise choice, for money will buy a great many things. You might wish for this or that, but if you wished for plenty of money, you could get anything that money can buy.

But there are things money cannot buy.

You well know that. It cannot buy the best things. It cannot buy relief from envy, jealousy, revenge, remorse. It cannot buy peace of mind and conscience. It cannot even buy health or freedom from pain. When you come to think of it, money has a very limited use.

Above all, it cannot buy life―it cannot keep from death. Neither can it give rest as to the future, as to the sins we have committed. The poorest here is on a footing with the wealthiest. Money will not, cannot buy freedom from guilt and from sin.

Now think it over and say whether it would not be better to have God take away your sins―to have them all blotted out forever―than to have great wealth. Would it not be better to be a child of God, to know Him, to be sure of His love and favor, than to be the richest man in the country?

You know that it would. Moreover, you know that you cannot buy the love and the favor of God with money. You cannot buy salvation with money. The best things, the most desirable things, the things that last eternally, cannot be bought with money.

No, they are free gifts. They are for poor and rich alike, for all who will receive them. The best things are free, they cannot be bought, they are God's gifts to sinners.

Now, if they are free, why do you not accept them? If one who was able to do so should offer you a large sum of money, offer it freely, how long would you hesitate about accepting it? You would take it as soon as you could, you would be in a feverish haste to get possession of it.

But here is something better offered to you freely. Something vastly better than money or anything that money can buy is placed before you and you are bidden to help yourself. Yet you delay to take it.

Why do you wait? Why do you not make sure of the best things while they are within your reach? The Spirit of God says through the prophet Isaiah:

"He, 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.

"By grace are ye saved through faith,” says the apostle Paul; "and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast."

Eph. 2:8, 9.

The Biggest Fool in the Village

A prize was once offered in a certain village for the biggest fool that could be found in it. Search was made, and a sick man was discovered who refused to tell his doctor the truth as to the symptoms of his disease. The judges were unanimous in awarding the prize to him.

What a fool! As a rule sick people are ready enough to tell the whole truth to their doctor to help him diagnose their case correctly and prescribe an effectual remedy.

There are people guilty of folly of a far worse character. Thousands of soul-diseased sinners refuse altogether to acknowledge the truth about themselves. Are you one of them?

Dear lost soul, acknowledge to the Great Physician that you are a guilty sinner and in need of a Savior. "He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him." Heb. 7:25.

The Blood-Marked Door

During a cruel and bloody war a commander took an oath in the presence of his troops that he would slaughter the entire population of a certain town, and in due course the bloodhounds of war were let loose on the defenseless people.

Now it so happened that a fugitive, seeking for a shelter, saw a sight which was the means of saving both his own life and the lives of others. He spied a number of soldiers as they broke into a house, the inmates of which they put to the sword. But on leaving it, they fastened up the place again and one of them, dipping a cloth into a pool of blood, splashed it on the door, as token to any who might follow of what had taken place inside.

Quick as his feet could carry him, the poor fugitive sped away to a large house in the center of the town where a number of his friends were concealed and breathlessly told them what he had seen. At once it flashed upon them how to act. A goat was in the yard. Immediately it was killed and its blood sprinkled on the door. Scarcely could they close the door again when a band of soldiers rushed into the street and began to slay right and left. But when they came to the blood-marked door they made no attempt to enter! The sword―so they thought―had already entered therein and performed its work. Thus, while the many around were slain, all within the blood-sprinkled door were saved.

The Gospel part of our story is not hard to detect. Feeble and imperfect the illustration is, yet it reminds us of those soul-saving words of God, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." Ex. 12:13.

Yes, "Christ our Passover" is indeed "sacrificed for us" (1 Cor. 5:7), and every true believer in Him knows that what has stayed the sword of divine judgment is His sheltering blood.

Reader, hast thou believed God's Word about the blood? Hast thou dipped the hyssop of thy faith in the blood? Hast thou sprinkled thy heart's door with the blood?

"The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth... from all sin." 1 John 1:7.

Brought Back

In a little street of a certain town stood a cobbler's shop. A lady who passed it frequently used to feel herself strangely drawn to interest in its owner. Only rarely could he be found alone, for the shop was the center of gossip and godless argument. Yet, when she passed him, that lady seemed to see the man as he had once been; not the drinking backslider of that day, but the happy believer in Christ he was before he had found pleasure in unrighteousness. Every thought of him was a prayer. At last she found him alone, and pleaded the claims of God upon his life.

"Madam," he said, "I thank you, but I cannot do it. I know I should have to alter the character of my shop if I let God again have His way with me. I am not prepared for any such step.” She saw, however, that her visit had touched him, and to her Lord she went in prayer for this deluded soul.

The only answer she obtained was to have that man laid upon her heart as a heavier burden than before. This cheered her, for she had often noticed that when the answer to a prayer drew nigh the intercessor would be greatly led out in anxiety, and often in special effort, for the soul requested of God.

While waiting for divine direction she pleaded more earnestly than ever, and then went down to the cobbler's shop to urge once more the claims of Christ.

The shop was cleared of men. The bright face lifted to hers told its own tale. He had Christ for company. God in grace had answered the persevering prayer of a burdened soul for one of his wandering sheep.

"He restoreth my soul.”

The Changed Word

An old man who once lived in the Adirondack Mountains lay dying, and asked one of his old companions to go for the minister. It was a few miles to the minister's house, and he found that the minister was away from home, and would not be back that day. He told the minister's wife that his old friend was dying, and she said, "Well, is there anything I can do?”

"He wants to know how to be saved.”

"Tell him this: 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners' and if he comes to Christ as a sinner, He will never cast him out.”

"Ma'am," he replied, "will you say that again? I want to get it straight.”

" 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,' and if he will come to Him just as he is, he will not be turned away.”

The old man went away. As he was going up the hill towards home he said to himself, "I don't like that word 'sinners.' I don't think old Jack is such a bad man. He used to chop wood for the neighbors and go for the doctor when anyone was sick, and he's done a lot of good. When I get home I'm not going to tell it to him just like that.”

On his arrival at his sick friend's he said, "Jack, the minister wasn't home, but I saw his wife and she gave me the directions. She told me that Christ Jesus came into the world to save folks.”

"Didn't she say 'sinners'?”

"Well, I guess that's what she did say, but I didn't want to call you a sinner I thought 'folks' would be better -I stuck up for you.”

"Abe, don't talk to me like that. Since you have been gone, my memory has been at work and carried me back to the time when I used to work with old Job Bitterman. He was a Christian, Abe, and I remember he used to sing:

‘Just as I am, without one plea

But that Thy blood was shed for me

And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee,

Oh, Lamb of God, I come, I come!'

And I'm going to come just like that. Now if that is the message, I can die happy.”

There on his deathbed he remembered the message he heard years ago that he had to come to Jesus just as he was. Will you come to Him like that now? Christ Jesus, the eternal Son of God was born in a manger, and went all the way to the cross of Calvary. There He died, the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God; and if you will only come to Him as a sinner, and receive Him as your Savior, you can say "He died for me.”

"All for me, all for me!

Lord, was it all for me?

From the throne to the manger,

From there to the cross,

Yes, it was all for me!”

"This is a faithful saying" will you not take it in? "Worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." Are you a sinner who wants to be saved? Then come, before it is too late. Come now, just as you are, and where you are. Do not wait too late! Now the Lord is waiting to be gracious. Come, embrace this faithful saying, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

"Saved by grace alone,

This is all my plea;

Jesus died for sinners,

Jesus died for me!”

MAY

The Chief of Sinners

Mary Martin wanted to be converted. She longed to be numbered among the Christians she knew. Coming home from work one day, she heard someone in the street proclaiming the truth, as it is in Jesus, to a small company of poor men and women. Attracted by the sound, she listened. Inwardly she resolved that she would surely go where the preacher would tell out his message on the next Sunday.

Mary ascertained the place where the preacher was to preach, and many times after that did she listen to his voice. Always she hoped that her turn would come, that God would change her heart and make her like others whom she knew. But, though she longed to be converted, she seemed to have been passed by.

Was there no mercy for her? Was she to be among the lost in the day of the Lord?

She dreaded death, and justly, for she knew her sins were unforgiven. She prayed devoutly, read her Bible, attended public religious instruction. But for all this, to say her peace was made, and that she was accepted of God, she could not. One after another of her Christian friends visited her, but she seemed hopeless.

Then despondency stole over her. No words seemed to have any affect upon her, and her concern in her soul's salvation gradually lessened. Those interested in her feared she was sinking back into the world from which she had appeared to be escaping. But God is rich in mercy; just as Satan seemed to triumph, He came in, in grace, and made her His.

One night the preacher chose 1 Tim. 1:5 as his text, and dwelt on the three things that characterize a Christian―"love out of a pure heart," "a good conscience," and "faith unfeigned." He showed that God is happy in bestowing these things on the sinner who receives the gospel; that it is indeed a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus had come into the world to save sinners―"of whom I am chief," said Paul, who wrote that epistle.

Mary listened most attentively. When she heard that Saul, the "persecutor, blasphemer, and injurious," was saved through faith in Jesus, a new light burst in upon her soul.

"What," she said, "that murderer, Saul of Tarsus, saved! Then why not I? He believed that Jesus who died on Calvary was the Son of God, and his Savior. Why should not I do just the same? I see it now as it never crossed my mind before. Jesus who is now in heaven has satisfied His Father's righteous claims upon the cross, and at the same time He took away my sins! Then I am free to look up into His face and call Him my Savior!”

She could scarcely restrain herself from going at once to the preacher to tell what the Lord had done for her. She went home, singing in the fullness of joy, to tell her family how her peace was made; for as she said, "Christ has put away all my sins.”

Mary still remains a bright and blessed testimony to the grace of God, in whom she has put her trust, and whom she now seeks to please.

Dear reader, will you be one of those who rejoices in Christ? The world has cast Him out, but He saves all those who come to Him―saves them just as they are.

The Chiming Clock

A Christian watchmaker was accustomed to go from house to house, pursuing his earthly calling. He rejoiced to carry into the homes of his patrons the glad tidings of "the grace of God that bringeth salvation.”

Calling one day at a house where he had previously done some work, the lady of the house led him to a room in which stood the large, old-fashioned family clock, recently put in order, to verify the result of his work.

Passing through the vestibule, she called his attention to a timepiece of exquisite foreign workmanship. It was, she remarked, useless, having since its arrival from France defied the skill of the various hands through which it had passed for inspection. No one could make it go.

"This clock," she said, "has a history of its own. It is a family heirloom. Tradition says that, besides being an excellent timekeeper, it used to chime at the quarters and half-hours and it played a melodious carillon on the bells of the church tower sculptured on the top at the hour. Now it can do nothing; it won't even run.”

"Might I be allowed to try my hand at it?" he asked. "I think I can put it in order.”

"If you do succeed," she replied, "we shall call it a miracle; although," she added in an undertone, "none of us believe in miracles, or in God.”

"How grieved I am to hear that, dear lady," was the grave reply.

Permission given, the watchmaker began taking the clock to pieces. The lady remarked that she had so often seen the process that she thought she could put it together herself. While the work proceeded, he told her what God had done for him. In his early years he had lived without God. When he had been brought to know the Lord Jesus as His Savior, he had been blessed and cared for in all things to the present moment.

When each bit of the works had been examined and cleaned and oiled, he prepared to put all in place, and asked if he might be allowed to follow his usual habit and sing a hymn while thus occupied. The lady pleasantly said that she would like to hear him sing, and a song of faith and thanksgiving arose to the Lord in that godless dwelling.

When all was finished, he ceased singing, and said, "Now you shall hear chimes and carillon this clock is a wonderful work of art.”

"Ah," she replied, "others have said so, but no one has yet been able to prove it.”

He touched the pendulum, but the movement stopped when his hand was withdrawn.

The lady asked if some part of the works was perhaps missing?

"No," he said, "all is in perfect order but I will pray to my God and Savior to show me where the fault is, and how to remedy it. He will hear me.”

"Do not give yourself so much trouble,” she said. But without waiting for permission, the man of faith knelt and laid the matter simply before Him to whom all power belongs. He asked that, for the glory of His own Name, and the sake of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the request for wisdom and intelligence might be granted.

He rose from his knees. She asked him how he could think that a God whom he believed to be the Maker of the universe could occupy Himself with such trifles.

"Madam," he replied with warmth, "we read in the Bible, in the words of Jesus Himself, that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without His will, and that the very hairs of our head are numbered.”

He then took his leave, asking to be allowed to return early the following morning to make a further attempt.

The rest may be told in his own words: "Twilight was coming on as I took my lonely way across the fields which led to my temporary dwelling. My heart was filled with thanksgiving to the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth, my Savior and Redeemer.

"Suddenly my thoughts returned to the clock that I had just overhauled. I saw it all in detail before me; but in addition to the portions which had passed through my hands, I remembered a small separate bit of the works which, it occurred to me, had probably not been touched since its transportation. Now I have it,' I cried. 'The fault is there.' I reached my lodging, praising and blessing God.

"The next morning early I returned to the house. The lady was writing in the verandah. She greeted me, and led the way to the clock. The extra works were soon taken out, cleaned, and replaced. I touched the pendulum, and with a measured tick-tock' the clock went on, as though it had never stood still. We sat awhile in silence. The third quarter chimed; when the hour ended, the bells in the tower rang out a merry carillon. At length the lady spoke: 'I can hardly believe my eyes and ears. But if your God has heard your prayer, and helped you thus, I too will believe in Him, and bow before Him.'

"And this, through His grace, she has done; and her whole household, one after another, has been brought to know the Savior, and to live to serve Him.

"I have visited the family for many years in my journeys to and fro. Together we have praised Him who came to seek and to save the lost, and then have gone on our several ways rejoicing in His love.”

God is sovereign in all that He does, and many are the varied ways in which He is pleased in His grace to lead souls to trust in Him!

Christian Profession

The truth or falsity of profession may be proved by a single test: LOVE! "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha" (accursed at His coming). 1 Cor. 16:22.

Love for (enjoyment of) God is not a human attainment. Only those transformed by saving grace into "new creatures in Christ Jesus" really love the Lord Jesus.

The charms of virtue, amiability, generosity, kindliness, considerateness, and other admirable qualities may yet lack love for the Lord Jesus.

Repeatedly the Word of God attributes to Saul of Tarsus: Human morality of the highest order; A religious profession; An outstanding personality; Unquestionable zeal and sincerity; The best of educational attainments; yet he was An enemy of the cross of Christ; Without a spark of love for the Lord Jesus; "A child of wrath" and needing imperatively the new birth.

Of one possessing exemplary characteristics, it is written, "Jesus beholding him loved him." Yet He must pronounce "one thing lacking," for the young man's departure manifested that love of riches―not love for Christ―swayed his soul.

"We love Him, because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19.

Come!

Sinner, wilt thou come to Jesus?

He is calling now.

Others find in Him forgiveness;

Why not thou?

Sinner, wilt thou come to Jesus?

Shall I tell thee why?

'Twas for thee this precious Savior

Came to die.

'Twas for thee the Well-Beloved

Left His Father's throne;

For He loves thee, and would make the

All His own.

Jesus bore God's righteous anger―

Bore it all for thee;

See that cross whereon He suffered―

Come and see!

Thine the sins that nailed the Savior

To the accursed tree;

Here is full forgiveness for thee,

And for me!

Sinner, wilt thou come to Jesus?

Canst thou still delay?

Listen to Him calling, pleading -

Come today.

Disappointed and Satisfied

Hegard, Professor of Philosophy in the University of Copenhagen, and for years the leading atheist of his land, says in the introduction to the revised edition of his works:

"The experience of life, its sufferings and griefs, have shaken my soul. They have broken the foundation upon which I formerly thought I. could build. Full of faith in the sufficiency of science, I thought to have found in it a sure refuge from all the contingencies of life. This illusion has vanished. When the tempest came which plunged me in sorrow, the moorings, the cable of science, broke like a thread. Then I seized upon that help which many before me have laid hold of. I sought and found peace in Christ. Since then I have certainly not abandoned science, but I have assigned it a secondary place in my life.”

A Divine Necessity

"Ye must be born again." Thus the Lord of Glory said.

The truth has been expressed as follows:

"You can take a vessel of any metal and reform it, change its shape and design. You can melt and mold it into quite a variety of forms. But you cannot change its essential nature. If of iron, or brass, or silver, it will remain the same metal. Not until you can change the iron into brass, the brass into silver, the silver into gold, can you change by your own effort your sinful nature and be a partaker of the divine nature. The outward life may be re-formed, but the soul remains the same in essential quality in the sight of God.”

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.”

Have you been born again?

The Divine Way

We are saved by grace―free, sovereign, divine, and eternal grace―not by our sense of grace. We are sheltered by the blood, not by our estimate of the blood. Jehovah did not say on that awful night, "When you see the blood, and estimate it as you ought, I will pass over you." Nothing of the kind. That is not the way of our God.

He wanted to shelter His people and to let them know that they were sheltered―perfectly, because divinely sheltered. Therefore He placed the matter wholly upon a divine basis. He takes it entirely out of their hands by assuring them that their safety rested, simply and entirely, upon the blood and upon His estimate of it. He gives them to understand that they had nothing whatever to do with providing the shelter.

It was His to provide. It was theirs to enjoy.

"Saved by grace alone!

This is all my plea:

Jesus died for all mankind,

And Jesus died for me.”

"Do" or "Done"?

In a large Southern city several charitable institutions provide "open doors" for the spread of the Gospel. In one of these, a hospital for incurably sick people, those who would carry the "Good News" to the inmates must go from bed to bed, speaking directly and individually to the patients.

A Christian gentleman, Dr. Wood, had for years visited this hospital every week.

Through his gentle ministry and loving presentation of the Savior many souls had learned God's way of salvation. But throughout the years one of the most afflicted of the poor, suffering inmates had remained unresponsive to the simple story of the Gospel. This man, Bob Hardy, now about twenty-three years old, had been born blind and, since early childhood, had been almost completely paralyzed. With keen mental faculties and the full grown body of a man, he lay, from day to day, year to year, a totally helpless invalid. Over this poor man, so grievously afflicted in body and seemingly hard and rebellious in spirit, Dr. Wood's heart yearned as he constantly prayed for his soul.

Another devoted servant of the Lord, Mr. Harrell, an evangelist, was specially interested, too, in Bob Hardy's salvation. However, since his labors kept him away from the South much of the time, his contacts with Bob had necessarily become quite infrequent.

On one of his visits to this Southern city, Mr. Harrell took a Saturday afternoon as an opportune time to call at the hospital for incurables. Passing from patient to patient, speaking to each one about Him who came from the glory down to the death of the cross to bring poor sinners to God, he noticed on nearly every bedside table books and pamphlets setting forth doctrines of works how to "work out" one's own salvation.

The mockery of such teaching, particularly among these poor, helpless sufferers! Unable to "do" in any measure for themselves, physically, how could they, by dint of mental effort, by "vain repetitions" (Matt. 6:7) of thoughts or words, or by any power within themselves, hope to improve their spiritual state or to prepare themselves for eternity?

Burdened with these thoughts, the evangelist went from ward to ward.

In the last room near the door Mr. Harrell found his old friend, Bob Hardy. As he lay motionless on his narrow bed, he seemed to be sleeping. The evangelist would have passed by, but the ward nurse greeting him by name, Bob heard and called out, "Hello, Mr. Harrell!” He turned to speak to the invalid, noting again the rigid body and limbs and the sightless eyes. A wave of deep pity for the helpless lad swept over him as he answered gently: "Well, Bob, you remember me. How is it with you, my boy? Has your soul found rest in Christ?”

The poor face, lined with the marks of suffering, grew tense. With evident effort the answer finally came: "How can I, Mr. Harrell? That is not for such as I. The nurse has been reading to me from the books the lady brought, and not one thing of them all can I do.”

Yes, on the table by the bed were the same little books―futile―useless―in their doctrine of "do.”

Breathing a prayer for words of wisdom, the servant of the Lord took in his own hand the stiff, unresponsive fingers of the crippled lad. In solemn tones he asked: "Bob, is God unfair?”

As though discovered in his own secret thoughts and realizing their unworthiness, the stuttering answer came: "N-no, oh no, Mr. Harrell; I wouldn't say that.”

"Ah yes, dear boy! If God's way to `peace that passeth understanding' demands of you one thing that you can't do send others can, then indeed He would be unfair.

But 'shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?'

"True, 'God is light,' and a holy God cannot overlook sin. But 'God is love,' too, and because 'God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' That is God's own word, Bob; you've heard it many times John 3:16. Let us take His word rather than listen to the reasonings of men.

“‘God could not pass the sinner by,

His sin demands that he must die;

But in the cross of Christ we see

How God can save, yet righteous be.'

"God's way to save lost sinners, Bob, was, through the death, burial, and resurrection of His own dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to do for them what they could never, never do for themselves. 'God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, judged (or condemned) sin in the flesh.'

Rom. 8:3.

"This blessed Savior 'came unto His own'―to the world as well as to His earthly people, the Jew― 'and His own received Him not.' They rejected Him, Bob they would not have Him as Christ, the Messiah, nor as Israel's King. They refused Him as Savior and as Lord. 'But as many as received Him'―oh, the simplicity of it! just took Him at His word and let Him into their hearts 'to them gave He the power to become the children of God, even to as many as believed on His name.' To the weakest, feeblest, most helpless one who will believe and receive Him, to that one He gives the power to become God's child. That is all that the strongest man can do in order to know forgiveness of sins and to become a partaker of God's life, safe for eternity.

Oh, Bob, you can do that―without moving a muscle, without speaking a word― you can 'believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.'”

Tears filled the evangelist's eyes as he saw responsive tears stealing from the sightless ones. Helpless to brush them away, and too choked with emotion to speak, Bob thought, over and over: "believe― receive―saved." As in a dream he heard his friend's whispered "Good-by, Bob, just rest in God's Word.”

As he left the building, Mr. Harrell met Dr. Wood coming in. "Wait a bit for me, Harrell, and I'll drive you back to town,” he said. When he came out, the doctor's face was beaming. "Something has happened to Bob Hardy, Harrell―something very wonderful. Did you see him?”

"Yes, Doctor, and I think I know the answer. Bob has found the work of salvation all done, and he can simply rest. Ephesians 2:8-9 is his portion now.”

Dear reader, are you, too, resting on the finished work of Christ on the cross of Calvary? Or are you― as blind, as helpless, as dead toward God in trespasses and sins as was dear Bob Hardy, and as is every soul out of Christ―are you striving in your own strength to work your way to salvation? We beseech you, in His Name, cease from all such hopeless labor, "vain sacrifice" in His eyes, and rest in His work, His way, the sacrifice of Himself on Calvary's cross. For "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.”

Eph. 2:8-9.

The Door Will Be Shut

Reader, the moment is fast approaching when every soul who has not Christ for his Savior will be found in an awful position.

At the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, all those who are Christ's―the sleeping ones raised, the living changed―shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air! (1 Thess. 4:16, 17)

What a moment will that be for every soul "left behind"! Every saint, every soul born of God, indwelt by the Spirit of God, every real child of God, by whatever name called by man, will be gone to be with Jesus forever. All who are not His will be left behind. In which company will YOU then be found?

It will be too late to flee, there will be no escape. "The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the water shall over flow the hiding place." There will be no escape.

"The door will be shut." Left behind, not only for a fearful, lost eternity, but for the unrestrained power of that "wicked one.”

Be warned now. Flee from the wrath to come!

An Echo of Warning

Some years ago I went with my parents to live in a small village where my father had bought a farm that had belonged to a man who had much property in the neighborhood.

The last tenant of this farm had died about a year before, and the people still talked of his tragic death. He was a well-to-do farmer, fond of laying out his money in buildings and in improvements on the farm. Thus he gave employment to a good many laborers, and spent his time amongst them six days of the week. Sunday was his day of making plans and arranging the work for the following week, for he was openly opposed to anything of a religious character. He was always ready to talk about the improvements he had made, and to show them to others.

About a year before he died a neighbor asked him how soon the work on his place would be finished, and if he expected to be satisfied with the outlay of money. He answered that it would take at least another year, and then "damnation death" might come and take him.

Just a year later, while out on his farm, he suffered a stroke. Paralyzed, he was carried home, and died almost immediately.

Dear reader, are there not many today like this godless farmer, trying to improve the world, and make it a comfortable place, without Christ? It is plain from his own words that the thought of death and judgment disturbed his conscience, however much he may have tried to silence such thoughts with the things of this life. No doubt the Lord's words to His disciples, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned" were known to this busy farmer. Alas! He openly refused this offer of salvation and put himself among the "fearful and unbelieving,” who have "their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." Rev. 21:8.

Perhaps, dear reader, you do not look upon yourself as an unbeliever. Can you think of the scripture, "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” without feeling afraid as to your future state in eternity? You say there are so many opinions that you get bewildered when thinking of these things. God's Word alone is the divine authority as to what we should believe. God says, "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.”

Can you say from your heart that Jesus died for you, a sinner―that God laid all your sins upon Jesus when He hung on the accursed tree? If so, you are saved, for God says in the gospel, "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." And you are not only saved, but made a child of God, "through faith in Christ Jesus." Instead of feeling afraid of eternity you have now "boldness in the Day of Judgment." You are already clothed in divine righteousness, and you stand before God in all the perfectness of the work of Christ on the cross, and in all the preciousness of His person―"accepted in the Beloved." And when Jesus comes "we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.”

The Erased Rock

Some time ago an incident occurred in connection with a Board of Trade inquiry into the loss of a certain steamship. Before the court the captain of the ship plainly stated that the rock on which his ship had been lost was not marked on his chart. The chart was examined, and it was found to be as he said. An official chart showed the rock very distinctly.

Experts were called in to give a close examination of the vessel's chart. By means of a microscope and a very powerful light the rock was seen to have been erased. So very carefully had it been done that it required these special means to detect the removal of the marks. The ship's captain thought that by getting rid of the rock from his own chart he would escape condemnation for his neglect. But there it stood upon the official copy. Thus his deception was discovered, and he was judged according to the true chart which he had been unable to tamper with.

There are a great many people who seek to erase certain facts from their own minds.

Their doing so will not erase them from the Word of God, however. That Word declares that

"ALL HAVE SINNED”

This is true of every person in the world today. No matter what the position he occupies, whether it be high or low, whether he be rich or poor, every one has sinned.

Do you believe this? You have sinned, whether you believe it or not. Sin has expelled men from the presence of a holy God, and will expel them from His presence for ever. Perhaps very soon you may have to meet the Son of God as your judge. If so, you will be judged in your sins and banished from the presence of God forever.

But today God desires to save you. He can save you righteously, "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." Flee to Him now. Believe on Him today.

Eternity

"Prepare to meet thy God." Amos 4:12.

Prepare thy God to meet;

Redemption is complete,

Eternity will never end.

Prepare, and take the sinner's Friend:

Accept Him while He lends you breath,

Remember what comes after death―

Eternity!

Extract

What we have sown we shall reap. Weeds will not develop into flowers, nor bitter herbs into fruit.

GOD ―

HATH APPOINTED

A DAY IN

THE WHICH HE WILL

JUDGE THE WORLD

IN RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Acts 17:31.

IT IS.

APPOINTED UNTO MEIN

ONCE TO DIE

BUT AFTER THIS

THE JUDGMENT;

Heb. 9:27.

BEHOLD,

NOW IS THE

ACCEPTED TIME;

BEHOLD,

NOW IS THE

DAY OF SALVATION.

2nd Cor: 6:2.

MISSING FEBRUARY

MARCH

Extract

The gospel does not bring us a work to DO, but a word to believe about a work DONE.

Extract

He lifts me to Himself. His arm comes down to me, but it lifts me up to Himself.

Extract

"Poverty of spirit is the bag into which Christ puts the riches of His grace.”

Extract

To be identified with Christ in the future, you must be identified with Him now.

"Then shall they know if they follow on to know the Lord.”

"TO HIM THAT

WORKETH NOT, BUT

BELIEVETH ON HIM THAT

JUSTIFIETH THE

UNGODLY, HIS FAITH

IS COUNTED

FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

Rom. 4:5

"THIS IS THE WORK

OF GOD,

THAT YE BELIEVE ON HIM

WHOM HE HATH SENT."

John 6:29

JULY

Extract

A man may hide God from himself, and yet he cannot hide himself from God.

Extract

Live by Christ, live unto Christ, live for Christ, until you live with Christ.

Extract

Our works will not save us, our ill success will not destroy us, our imperfections will only make us more indebted to Jesus forever.

"NOT BY WORKS OF

RIGHTEOUSNESS

WHICH WE HAVE DONE,

BUT ACCORDING

TO HIS MERCY

HE SAVED US.”

Titus 3:5

BE IT KNOWN UNTO YOU

THEREFORE,... THAT

THOUGH 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

AUGUST

Extract

Jesus is the only Savior.

Extract

You want to taste of life!

He bids you come to Him, and life eternal will be your portion.

You must have pleasure, you say?

At His right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Does your poor heart crave rest?

Listen, then, to His tender words:

"Come unto me,... and I will give you rest." Matt. 11:28.

Extract

"The truth judges, but it is grace withal. The same Jesus who sounds to the bottom of the heart all the sin that is there, has washed me from my sins in His own blood. If He shows us all the evil that is in us, it is to take it away. The light in Him is for us always grace.”

Extract

"God cannot bless us in evil, whatever His blessing in spite of it. But He does act in grace; and if His action is purity, holiness, light, it is also grace.”

Extract

Two things are to be distinguished: salvation, and the knowledge of salvation. First, how am I to get saved? Then, how am I to know it?

First, my salvation depends solely and entirely upon the work and the person of Jesus Christ our Lord. Second, the knowledge that I am saved depends solely on the record, the word, the testimony of God. "He that believeth not God hath made Him a liar because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son." 1 John 5:10.

Extract

When a pious old colored man was asked why he was always sunny-hearted and cheerful, he replied, "I always fall flat down on de promises, and den I pray straight up to de hebenly Father.”

Extract

Christ on the cross saved us from the Penalty of sin. Isa. 53:4, 5.

Christ on the throne saves us from the Power of sin. Heb. 7:24, 25.

Christ coming again will save us from the Presence of sin. Heb. 9:27, 28.

"Prepare to meet thy God!" Amos 4:12.

The Faith of Rahab

A report reached Jericho―all heard it; but Rahab believed the report. (Read Joshua 2 and Heb. 11:31.) She mixed it with faith. She had no more evidence of its truth than other people, yet she believed. There is power in God's Word. It should be believed, because it is His Word.

There is no one who does not act on the belief of man's word. If we were sitting in a railroad coach and an official came to the door and cried out, "This coach is not going on: you had better change," we should all, instantly, start out. No one would think of saying, "He did not address me; I shall sit here until he speaks directly to me.”

Thus it is with the report of the gospel.

It tells us the coach of self-righteousness, of ordinances, ceremonies, or prayers, does not go on to heaven. It tells us to change into the coach of God's righteousness, which is by faith of Jesus Christ.

Rahab believed and was saved. The fruit of her faith is seen in her hiding the two men. Her house became the only safe spot in all the doomed city. There was perfect security for all in that house, under shelter of "the scarlet line." All within that house were as safe as if they were already in the midst of Israel's victorious hosts, although the house was "on the wall"― the very thing that was first to come down.

Rahab occupied herself in seeking to get as many as she could under the shelter of the "true token." People might say, "How can you promise me security? How can a scarlet line save a man? Would not a white flag do better? Ought we not to send a message to Israel to say that we will become tributary?" No; come in! come in!

There is safety here, and nowhere else. All beneath the scarlet line are as safe as God can make them. If anyone were outside the door of that house, no power could save him. But all within were perfectly safe.

They were not hoping to be safe, or praying to be saved. They were not half or almost saved. They were saved. "Our life for yours" had settled all; and the "true token” gave perfect peace to the heart.

"I GO TO PREPARE.

A PLACE FOR YOU.

AND... I WILL

COME AGAIN, AND

RECEIVE YOU

UNTO 'MYSELF."

John 14:2, 3.

"THEY MAT WERE

READY WENT IN

WITH HIM TO THE.

MARRIAGE: AND THE

DOOR WAS SHUT.”

Matt. 25:10.

A Faithful Saying

"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I any chief."

1 Tim. 1:15.

There are many sayings in this world that are not faithful! Here is a faithful saying, and worthy of being accepted by everyone―"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." The Apostle Paul could add:

"Of whom I am chief." If you know that you are a sinner, you may know that you can be saved. You may know that you are saved, and thus enjoy "the salvation of God which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”

In a city of Nova Scotia, during the war, a street preacher read this verse but, quoting it a little differently, said: "If I make a mistake in the reading of it, please, anyone, correct me." He then read it, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to help sinners to save themselves.”

"Now," he said, "don't you think that is just what is written in this Word?" Not one contradicted him, and this is the reason: it is exactly what most people believe! They think that if one lives a good life, and follows Christ's example, he has a good chance of being saved!

But, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," and He never turned aside from His purpose. On the cross of Calvary He cried, "It is finished." Now all the world could go free, and any sinner who will come to Him as a sinner, and accept Him as Savior, may know, on the authority of the Word of God, that whosoever comes to Him "He will in no wise cast out.”

But if He had come only as an example for us, what a mockery it would be! How could we―sinners, unholy, unrighteous―follow the example of a sinless, holy, righteous man? Impossible! It would only be a mockery!

How good it is to learn from the chief of sinners, that he was saved, and is now in the glory with his Lord. You, too, may be saved. There is no excuse, for here we have the faithful saying, worthy of being accepted by everyone "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." So, has He saved you?

YET A LITTLE WHILE,

AND HE

THAT SHALL COME

WILL COME,

AND WILL NOT

TARRY.

Heb. 10:37.

PREPARE

TO MEET

THY GOD.

Amos 4:12.

APRIL

Forget These Melancholy Ideas

Dr. Smith, a well-educated man, lived until past middle age "without God in the world." He was well-known in the town where he lived as a boon companion of all who loved drinking and gambling and all the amusements of the thoughtless and worldly. Heavy family trials failed to stop him in his course of folly. The death of his second son in the army, and after that the loss of his third and youngest boy, who died at a boarding-school, made only a passing impression on his conscience. Time wore on, and at fifty years of age, as he said, he "had not one serious thought.”

An able preacher of the gospel lived in the same town as the doctor; but the doctor, who had heard the preacher spoken of, felt the greatest contempt and almost hatred for him―so much so, that on one occasion when he was making a professional call on a sick woman, seeing the preacher coming towards the house, he hastily left the room, ran downstairs, and made his escape through the back garden.

One Lord's Day afternoon―some weeks after this occurrence―he was on his way to see a patient. He had to walk past a park where a crowd had gathered. As he was threading his way through the people the following words fell upon his ear: "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.' It is the blood, and the blood alone, that cleanses from sin!” The preacher was no other than the man he despised. The doctor liked neither the speaker nor his words, "Sin! Sin!" He went on, and determined not to think of it.

Exactly one week after this an acquaintance called and asked the doctor to go out with him. He did so and, as they talked, they strolled on till, hardly knowing it, they were at the same corner where he had been the previous Lord's Day.

The preacher was again at his post and, singular it was, the very same words were being uttered by him when the doctor and his friend reached the spot. Surely, it did not happen by chance, but was thus ordered by God. Again the words, “‘The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.' It is the blood, and the blood alone, that cleanses!" rang out to the doctor's ears.

This time the words seemed to burn into his soul like fire. He could not sleep that night. SIN was staring him in the face.

Was he a sinner? Ah, he must banish such thoughts from his mind, or he would become utterly miserable. How heartily he wished that he had never heard those words! the same words, too, one Lord's Day after another!

The next day, and the next, he drank more than usual; but as soon as the effects of that had worn off the dreadful thought of sin returned. Thus more than a week went by, and then the doctor unburdened his difficulties to one who, he thought, would prove a wise friend. This was the reply he got: "My good fellow, you must be failing in health. I would advise you to find some new amusements and forget these melancholy ideas!”

But, instead of feeling happier, the doctor's anxiety continually increased. Conscience, once awakened, finds rest only at the feet of Jesus. What could he do? The sins of his whole life seemed to rise up before him, and a long, black catalog it was! He was afraid to go to sleep, lest he should die before morning and be summoned to give an account of himself to God. Thus, day and night, he was miserably unhappy.

Finally a thought struck him: "I will write to that preacher himself; perhaps he could help me!" He wrote, mentioning his trials, and asked for a private talk with him.

Gladly the preacher responded, and called upon the sin-convicted man at the earliest opportunity. It was evident that the Holy Ghost had used that short portion of one verse of God's Word to pierce his heart through and through, for truly, "The Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword.”

It was now the preacher's privilege and pleasure to tell the sin-burdened man of the Sin-bearer, to proclaim to him pardon through the "blood that cleanseth," and to say, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!”

They paid each other many visits. The doctor began to read the Bible for himself, and to value it as a "lamp unto his feet, and a light unto his path." Ere long he knew what it was to believe God, to be a new creature in Christ Jesus, and to have "joy and peace in believing.”

"Blessed, blessed news:

Mercy e'en for thee,

Flowing from the heart of God,―

So vast, so full, so free!”

Fragment

"The way to realize what sin is, is not to be in it, but to keep out of it.”

A Good-Living Man

Hector McLean was what the villagers called "a good-living man." Regular at church and orthodox in creed, he professed to be as good a Christian as was going. When his pastor called and inquired if he had really been converted, Hector began to recount his good deeds, and concluded by saying: "Not that they can save my soul; but I have the belief that it will all come right in the end.”

"Hector," replied the pastor solemnly, "I have always appreciated your regular attendance at meetings, but faithfulness compels me to say that you are a wicked trifler with God and your soul.”

Hector's face flushed with anger, and he exclaimed, "What do you mean, sir?”

"I mean that you are a lost sinner, and in danger of the wrath to come.”

"If you have nothing better than that to tell me, you need never call at my house again. Good day, sir.”

Mr. Faithful quietly left, hopeful that the turning-point had come at last. What though the interview had ended unpleasantly? Anything was better than indifference.

Late on Saturday evening there was a gentle ring at the door bell. "Mr. McLean, sir," whispered the servant.

"Come in, Hector," said the minister, pulling him into the study. Hector was so surprised at the hearty greeting that the apology he had prepared was forgotten, and he sat silently gazing at the floor.

"I hope you have no bad news," said Mr. Faithful, by way of bringing him round.

"Bad enough, sir. My false hope of salvation is gone. I know the truth of what you told me. At the time I was very angry with you; but I felt you spoke in love, and that it was a message from God. I was unwilling to give in, as I thought my good deeds ought to go for something in the sight of God but now I see my mistake. Will you please forgive my rudeness, and make the way of salvation clear to me?”

"Most heartily, Hector, and I am glad that it is not necessary for me to prove that you are under the curse of a broken law, and that no effort of your own can atone for sin, or make you acceptable to God. The Holy Spirit has done that already. I would, therefore, first draw you earnest attention to a text in the Old Testament. You will find it in Isa. 53:6: 'All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.' Now turn to the New Testament, 1st Peter 2:24: 'Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.' Where were you sins laid, Hector?”

"On Christ.”

"Who bore the penalty?”

"Christ.”

"Read in John's Gospel, 3:18: 'He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already.'

It is because you believe not in Him as your substitute that you are condemned. Pardon has been purchased and is offered to you, but you have not accepted it.”

"I think I understand it all now, sir. Here I am, a guilty sinner, self-condemned; Christ has atoned for my sins, and all I have to do is to thank Him for His love and to trust myself entirely to Him for the future. When I do so, His Holy Spirit will come in and teach me to know what is right. He will also guide me into all truth.”

"Yes, it is simply accepting the gift of God's love in Christ, who is waiting to receive you.”

Then and there Hector McLean knelt and gave himself to the Savior. Then he rose, and with tearful eyes and grateful heart sang―

“‘Tis done! the great transaction's done!

I am my Lord's and He is mine;

He drew me and I followed on,

Charmed to confess the voice divine.”

A Great Inheritance

During the World War, a young soldier took out a government insurance policy to be paid in monthly payments in case of his death, and he named his father as beneficiary. The boy was killed in action and, without any difficulty, the father received the monthly insurance payments.

Before long, the father died and his widow, the soldier's stepmother, now sought to receive the insurance. There was plentiful evidence that she had fulfilled her duties as mother to the boy, had cared for him and nursed him when he was a child and into young manhood. She was worthy of the money, as far as her works were concerned.

But, in discharging its obligations, the government considered only one thing: who was the nearest BLOOD relative? The boy's grandmother proved to be his only surviving BLOOD relative, and to her the payments went.

Some thought the decision unfair to the good stepmother, and would have questioned the matter further. But the ruling was settled and final, and personal opinions and wishes could not change it.

Good friend, God has made a bequest to His own the greatest inheritance of all the ages even eternal life. How can you qualify as a beneficiary? I do not ask if you are honest and pay your debts, if you are a good neighbor, or if you are morally clean. No, that is not the important question for your soul.

The great question is: What is your relationship to Christ? ARE YOU A BLOOD RELATIVE?

"But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."

Eph. 2:13.

You see, friend, good works and clean living are not the question no mention is made of honesty and good citizenship. The recipients of God's favor had been "far off” and "without hope" but now are made nigh.

How? By the blood of Christ. "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin."

1 John 1:7.

And how is this cleansing accomplished? Only by faith, dear soul faith in the blessed Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shed His blood on Calvary's cross to redeem us to God.

"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but with the precious blood of Christ." 1 Peter 1:18-19.

Handcuffs

I was walking along the railway platform for a few minutes before the train started.

My attention was drawn to a deserter from the army, handcuffed and seated between a private and a sergeant. His face betrayed great distress of mind.

The thought suddenly occurred to me:

If my Master were here, He would take his seat by the side of this man. Yes, blessed Jesus, Thy heart was too full of compassion ever to pass by a distressed sufferer.

These thoughts led me to take my seat opposite the poor man. I sat some time in silence, thinking of the mercy of God in delivering me from Sergeant Satan and the handcuffs of sin. Reader, if you are delivered, thank God. If not, then sit down with me a little and listen attentively.

The poor deserter appeared to be about forty years old. He had been a deserter many years but he had become so exceedingly that he had given himself up to the authorities. Being thus severed from those most dear to him on earth, 'and that probably forever, I found his heart was too full of sorrow to bear much conversation.

Addressing myself to the sergeant, as nearly as I can remember, this conversation took place:

"You seem to have brought your captive some distance?”

"Oh yes, sir; from beyond the border!”

"Indeed! It must be very painful to have one's hands in that bound position so far.”

"Oh yes, sir.”

The guard's heart seemed nearly as hard as the bayonet by his side.

"Well, sergeant," said I, "have you got your handcuffs off yet? Or are you still led captive by the devil? Sin will handcuff a man, and drag him along to judgment and to hell. It's sore work, Sergeant, to be dragged like that.”

"Well, sir, I'll tell you: I think a soldier will have less to answer for than anybody.

He is not tempted to rob and cheat, like the business man. Indeed, he's a good-hearted fellow, only he gets a little too much grog sometimes.”

"Ah, there you may be mistaken. I think I can show you a greater sin than drinking. I will suppose this prisoner first to have been led to enlist through the influence of drink. Granted, then, that drink has made him what he is. He may cast a look far behind him and say, 'My sin in drinking has broken the heart of my poor wife, has dragged me from my children!' " Here the tears began to run down the face of the poor deserter.

"Well, now, Sergeant, suppose an officer were to meet you on your way with him to prison. He announces that a great ransom has been paid―that the governor has sent a discharge for our friend here. Now, Sergeant, which would be the greater sin? His drunkenness that has brought all this misery on himself and his poor family? Or the hard-hearted sin of refusing to trust to the ransom purchased at so great a price?

"Oh let me tell you, sin has brought us into bondage, misery, and death. Satan has thus handcuffed man to himself. This man might sleep and dream there is no sergeant here, and no handcuffs. When he wakes up he finds it was only a dream. You are still here. Men may dream there is no devil to whom they are bound by sin, but when they truly awake, they find that this bondage is a terrible reality.

"But ah! if you knew the love of God to us poor handcuffed sinners! Even whilst we were yet sinners, God gave a great price for our ransom. Yes, 'while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' The ransom price is paid―God has accepted it, even the precious blood of Christ. God hath raised Him from the dead, and sends a free discharge to every sinner that believes.

"Now, Sergeant, how long would it take you to unfasten the handcuffs of this poor man?”

The sergeant took out a little key, and showed me how soon it could be done.

"That little key is like faith. Yes, even so soon, the soul that believes God's testimony that on the cross the ransom has been paid that through Jesus is preached the forgiveness of sins that by Him all that believe are justified yes, even so soon that soul is free. The chains of sin and Satan are broken forever.”

The sergeant seemed never before to have heard these "words of life." And oh, how comforting it was to my heart to see the face of the poor deserter brighten up with joy! The Lord opened his ear at last to hear the gospel of the grace of God.

Reader, are you still a bond-slave of Satan, hurrying on to hell? Let me ask you, "Who can deliver you but Christ?" The handcuffed prisoner could not deliver himself. He could scarcely get his hand to his eyes to wipe off the tears. I asked the sergeant, "What officer would deny the sufficiency of a ransom which had been accepted by the governor?”

Reader, you are virtually told by those who pervert the gospel not to believe the all-sufficiency of the finished work of Christ.

But God Himself has accepted the ransom, and proved this by raising from the dead Him who offered it. Some tell you that God will not pardon your sins for Christ's sake only; that He will not give you a free discharge from the power of sin and Satan, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone. Oh, flee! Flee from such dreaming liars!

Say some, "Do the best you can!" Best?

There is no best in a handcuffed sinner.

"Keep the law!" when God Himself says, If that were possible, "Christ is dead in vain"? Away with such lies!

Turn to the word of God. Believe the testimony of God to the value of the blood of Christ. He is sincere. It is true that he that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved.

But you ask, "Are there to be no good works?" Oh yes! But are the handcuffs on or off?. That is the question. The soul that has really been delivered from the power of Satan will never forget its liberation.

"We love Him, because He first loved us.”

"God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." Believe, then; believe and live.

"Hath Everlasting Life"

Unsaved reader, probably the most precious thing which you have is your life. If you were worth millions of dollars, and your life was in danger, you would give it all to have your life spared to you.

Satan was not lying to the Lord when he said, "All that a man hath will he give for his life." Job 2:4. But if this life is so precious to you, a life that has so much of unrest, of turmoil, disappointment, loss, pain, and grief, what would a life be that sweetened every bitter cup, a life which was full of joy and abiding peace, a life in which there was rest of soul, a life which death could not end?

You are afraid of death because you know you must meet God, because you know that after death is the judgment, and that if you die in your sins, you must stand before the great white throne and be judged, and that judgment will end in your being cast into the lake of fire. You know this because the Word of God tells you so and His Word, you know, is truth. God Himself warns you of the judgment which your sins will bring upon you, of the great white throne and the lake of fire. And it is God Himself who tells you of everlasting life.

If this poor life is of such value to you, would not everlasting life be of priceless value? You know that this life must soon end. It may not last another day this day may be the last day of your life. What would you not give for a life that never ended? a life over which death had no power?

EVERLASTING LIFE? Oh, unsaved reader, you need everlasting life. Without it there is nothing before you but the judgment of the great white throne and the lake of fire. But with everlasting life in your possession you are safe, saved, blest for all eternity.

You can have this life, have it now freely.

God now offers it to you, offers you forgiveness, salvation, deliverance from sin, power to do His will. You may have everlasting life now while you are reading this. How?

By simply taking the sinner's place, acknowledging your sins, humbling yourself before Him, and believing His own Word of love.

Hear what He says, "He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life." See John 5:24. Read the whole chapter and see what it is you have to believe to get this great gift.

There are a few simple truths you have to believe, but it is believing on a divine person, believing in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who died for you, the One who bore your sins on the cross, in whom you have to believe. You know what it is to believe in people. And if you believe in men, how much more should you believe in Jesus? He has proved His love by dying for you, sinner though you are. He now offers to you everlasting life. He offers it to you freely. You have nothing to pay for it, not a thing. No matter how rich you are, no matter how much you may possess, or how much you have done, you have nothing to give to Him for that life. It is, it must be, a free gift. The only question is, will you now receive it? This moment you may have everlasting life.

"He Will Hold Me Fast"

The author of this hymn, a dear Christian worker, was inspired to write the words by receiving from those urged to accept the Savior the oft-repeated protest, "I can't hold out!”

Many who have labored for the Lord in city missions are familiar with this excuse.

One such worker constantly replies: "It isn't that you must 'hold on,' but that you must let the Lord Jesus Christ hold you.”

The question is: Are you, in your weakness, attempting to "hold on"? Or are you, trusting in His never dying love and omnipotent strength, eternally held in His everlasting arms?

"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.

Hear the Word of God!

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

And he cried and said, Father Abraham, 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.

But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:

For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Her Fatal Choice

Come one and all of you to Christ today.

Come with your weary heart and He will give you rest. Come with your troubled, burdened conscience, and He will give you peace.

There is no rest to be found on earth.

Friends fail us; the world cannot satisfy.

The flowers of pleasure, plucked by the eager hand, fade almost at the touch. The harp of life has broken strings upon it. Then come to Jesus, and come now.

You want a home; you do not want to be an outcast for all eternity. You must come home as a sinner to the Savior; as a needy one to the One who can help you; as a bankrupt sinner to a rich and giving Christ; as having nothing to One who possesses all; as guilty and undone to One who pardons and forgives.

You must come with eyes of faith to see the living Savior at God's right hand; with ears of faith to hear His welcome to you; with a heart of faith to believe unto righteousness; and with lips of faith to confess His blessed name.

Now, will you come in this way? You are weak; He wants you to lean on His strength: You can do nothing; He wants you to trust His finished work. Will you do this? Poor Betty Heath was one who refused to come home. She was dying of consumption, but she did not believe she was near eternity.

She was expecting to get better, and would not give up hopes of life. When pressed to come home as a sinner to Christ, she said, "I must think about it.”

A Christian friend determined to tell her she had only a few days to live. He came, and found that Betty's Bible had been thrown aside. Gasping for breath as she lay dying, she was seeking to drown the voice of conscience.

The Christian said, "Don't you know that you are at the very point of death? Has no one told you that the doctor has pronounced your case utterly hopeless? You will be before God in a few hours.”

A despairing look came into her eyes as she heard the Christian speak. "Can it be true?" she cried.

"Yes, it is true," was the answer, "and I am come with a message of God's grace for the last time." He went on pleading, "Will you accept Christ now?”

Her answer was given, "Not tonight.”

In a day or two she was gone. She died with bitter curses against God and herself; with cries for mercy choked with imprecations. "Lost!" she exclaimed. "Too late!

I have thrown away my opportunity.”

Oh, wait not, lest you too find a death bed is a difficult place for repentance. It may be too late tomorrow. Come today.

"He's Not Put Them Back on Me"

"He's about seventy, unsaved, and growing feeble. I've got him to come and stay a day or two, and I'm going to bring him to the gospel meeting tomorrow night. I'm real anxious about his salvation. You will pray for him, won't you?”

The speaker was an earnest Christian woman, and the subject of her fervent wishes was her uncle. How natural that we should wish our loved ones to be blessed of God! And how right, too. I well remember the prayerful niece and her aged relative sitting side by side while I was preaching the gospel the next evening.

The subject before us was 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: Death and Judgment. That simply means Death and Damnation, for no one can rise out of judgment. 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. "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: "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.”

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!

The face of my aged listener betokened much interest, and ere long the tell-tale tears slipped quickly down the wrinkled cheeks. His heart was softened by the tale of the Savior'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 side room, I was soon joined by the old man, who was still weeping. "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.”

"Never mind your feelings; the great point is: Have you believed the gospel?”

"Yes, sir, I do believe it. Of course I've always believed it, in a certain sense, but I believe it tonight as I never did before. I certainly do feel as I never felt before,” and as he spoke he stroked his broad chest with his brawny toil-marked 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 bore your sins in His own body on the tree?”

"I believe that now.”

"How many of your sins did He bear?”

"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 he 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.”

"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'm 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 the truth flashed on his soul. A fresh burst of tears came as the old man replied with deep emphasis, "Why, He must have put them away forever?'

"Exactly so. That is just what Scripture so blessedly states, and what I have been preaching, and what the hymn so sweetly corroborates. If ever your sins could be found, they must be found on Jesus, since He once bore them. If they can't be found on Him, they are gone forever from God's sight.”

Peace, deep and read, entered his soul, and he left for home next day rejoicing in his newly found Savior.

Reader, are you able to say truthfully,

"Jesus put all my sins away,

When bruised to make me whole?”

"For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him.

"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us."

Psa. 103:11, 12.

How and When

"Whose heart the Lord opened." Acts 16:14.

You ask me how I came to Christ?

I do not know,

There came a yearning for Him in my heart

So long ago.

I found earth's flowers would fade and die,

I wept for something that would satisfy;

And then―and then somehow I seemed to dare

To lift my burdened heart to Him in prayer;

I do not know, I cannot tell you how,

I only know He is my Savior now.

You ask me when I came to Christ?

I cannot tell

The day or just the hour, I do not now

Remember well.

It must have been when I was all alone

The light of His forgiving Spirit shone

Into my heart, so clouded o'er with sin;

I think, I think, 'twas then I let Him in.

I do not know, I cannot tell you when,

I only know He is so dear since then.

How Much Does Sin Weigh?

An open-air preacher was telling out the old, old story, when a thoughtless youth rapped out, "You tell us about the burden of sin.

I feel none." Then he added flippantly, "How much does it weigh? Eighty pounds? Ten pounds?”

The preacher answered the fool according to his folly: "Tell me, if you laid a four hundred pound weight on the chest of a dead man, would he feel it?”

"No, because he is dead," answered the youth.

The preacher responded, "And the man who feels no load of sin, is dead spiritually.”

The lad's remarks only proved what he was. How true is the delineation of Scripture, "DEAD in trespasses and sins." (Eph. 2:1.) Do you feel the burden of your sins?

If you do not, you may well feel alarmed.

You are DEAD spiritually.

Picture a man lying dangerously ill. He is suffering intense pain. Suddenly the pain leaves him. He tells the doctor that he is much―better the pain has left him―he will soon be well. The doctor only shakes his head. He knows better. Mortification has set in. The pain has ceased. He is doomed. He is physically dead as to feeling pain. Soon the end will come.

Is this not a true picture of you spiritually?

You feel no concern about your guilt. You have no apprehension as to your eternal future. The situation is alarming. Wake up, before it is too late.

Possibly you already have awakened to the fact that you are a sinner and have to meet God. If so, you will be glad to know that God has anticipated your need and has provided a Savior in the Person of His Son.

Listen to His words of grace:

"God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Rom. 5:8.

Our sins demand judgment, but the gospel story unfolds the wonderful truth that a Substitute has taken the judgment and suffered for sin in our stead.

The sinner who believes is free, Can say, "The Savior died for me,”

Can point to the atoning blood,

And say, "This made my peace with God.”

"I AM THE DOOR:

BY ME

IF ANY MAN ENTER IN,

HE SHALL BE SAVED,

AND SHALL

GO IN AND OUT,

AND FIND PASTURE.”

John 10:9.

"I AM THE

GOOD SHEPHERD:

TOTE GOOD SHEPHERD

GIVETH HIS LIFE

FOR THE SHEEP:”

John 10:11.

NOVEMBER

"If a Man Does the Best He Can"

"I don't believe in your doctrine," said a sailor to a servant of Christ. "My opinion is that if a man does the best he can it will be all, right with him in the end.”

"And is that the only way by which a sinner can get to heaven?”

"I believe so and don't you think that it is a good way?”

"Do you expect to get there?”

"Of course I do.”

"How many times have you used profane language since you spoke to me?”

"Oh, well, I have got into that habit, but I mean to give it up.”

"And are you sure that you are able?”

"Certainly.”

"And is that the only sin you are guilty of?”

"Oh, no; I am not one of those people who pretend to be perfect.”

"Then, according to your own admission, you have not done the best you could; if that is the only way of getting to heaven, you have not the slightest chance of ever being there."

The sailor's mouth was stopped, for the time being, at least.

Dear reader, do you expect to be saved by "doing your best"? If so, better be undeceived now than find out when too late that this is not God's way of salvation.

"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Matt. 9:13. "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10.

What is the use of such a supposition as, "If a man does the best he can," when God's Holy Word distinctly and emphatically asserts that no one has ever done so? Listen to the voice of God: "They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Psa. 14:3.

You know right well, dear reader, that you have again and again done what you should not have done, and omitted to do what you should have done. You don't "pretend to be perfect." But let me remind you that one sin is sufficient to condemn you. You have committed thousands! "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

The "best" that you can do is to admit that you are a helpless, guilty sinner, unable to do a single good act to merit God's forgiveness. When you see yourself a sinner, lost, ruined, and condemned, you will be anxious to learn what the Lord Jesus Christ did to save you from hell. When by the eye of faith you see that "everything was fully done," you will cease talking about your "doing," and get occupied with His finished work.

"To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Rom. 4:5.

If We Neglect

Observe the form of this solemn and momentous question: "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" It is not said: "How shall we escape if we disbelieve, or despise, or scorn so great salvation?" It is written: "How shall we escape, if we neglect it?”

Suppose a man has been poisoned, and a sure and certain remedy or antidote is provided for him. He does not need to dash it on the ground, or trample it under foot He has only to let it remain untouched by his bedside, and the result will be the same as if he had destroyed it in a passion, or hurled it from him in contempt.

Salvation is definite. It includes three unspeakable blessings―deliverance from the guilt of sin, from the dominion of sin, and from the awful consequences of sin. It is great because of its Author, because of the means by which it was accomplished, and because of its end and object. As we think of the immense price paid for salvation, the depth of misery from which it saves, the height of blessedness to which it raises, we perceive how great it is―great beyond the power of human language to express.

Reader, is this great and free and everlasting salvation yours, or are you neglecting it? Do not imagine that in order to lose your soul you must be guilty of many and heinous transgressions to walk in the steps of Cain or Judas Iscariot. You have only to sit still and do nothing when Jesus stands at the door and knocks,―to keep the door closed when He offers salvation,―carelessly and indolently to neglect His salvation.

If this line of conduct be pursued, how shall you escape? On what good and solid ground can you rest any hope of escaping?

God's Word plainly affirms―"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." If we neglect this salvation escape is impossible and condemnation certain.

In Christ Alone

Taste for yourself, and you will say―

"None other name for me,

There's love and light, and lasting joy,

Lord Jesus, found in Thee.”

An Invitation

Come to the Savior, O sin-stricken soul !

To the streams from the fountain which cleanseth the soul―

The blood and the water that came from His side,

When Jesus, the Savior of sinners, had died.

'Tis the blood that alone for the soul can atone,

Saith the High and the Holy that sits on the throne;

The blood of Christ Jesus atonement hath made,

Thus now for the soul a foundation is laid:

Trust not tar thy works, build not on thy deeds,

These never, oh, never! can meet thy soul's needs.

'Tis faith in His blood whom God hath set forth,

Alone is of value, alone is of worth.

Believe in the Savior I Oh, make no delay.

For Jesus is coming to take us away;

And, O precious soul, if washed in the blood,

Thou wilt live thy forever in the glory of God.

Is Jesus God the Son?

This question is the supreme test today.

It is not sufficient to ask, "Is Jesus the Son of God?" for it is common nowadays to teach that all are sons of God.

Such a statement is as false as it is blasphemous.

But answer a plain YES or NO to this question:

"Is Jesus God the Son?”

Let the following scriptures speak for themselves on this point:

"The Word was God." John 1:1.

"All things were made by Him." John 1:3.

"The Word was made flesh." John 1:14.

"John bare witness of Him... and bare record that this is the Son of God." John 1:15, 34.

Let these scriptures shatter forever the lie that Jesus is not God the Son. The first chapter of John tells us the Word―a divine Person―was God, and the Creator of everything. That being the case He could never cease to be God. Next, we are told that this divine and glorious Person became a man Jesus, the Son of God. No wonder His very name carries this thought. The name, Jesus, means Jehovah Savior, and Jehovah is God. More than seven centuries before His birth His name was given, Emmanuel (God with us).

Let us answer like Thomas of old, as he found himself in the presence of the risen Savior: "My Lord and my God." John 20:28.

"It Is a Fearful Thing to Fall Into the Hands of the Living God"

How peculiarly solemn is the above passage of Scripture! One wonders that, in the face of so sure a reality, there can be such manifest indifference among men. Either it is not realized or not believed, it nevertheless remains a positive fact.

If the loving message of God's grace has not touched your heart, let me impress upon you the terrible alternative of falling into the hands of the living God for judgment.

The writer has lately been much in contact with unbelief in its various forms. There is infidelity in its grossest character, and hardened indifference, and righteousness by works, and still another class of people who think they are "too bad to be saved." The times in which we live are manifestly the last days as revealed in 2 Peter 3: "There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”

There are those who not only deny God's Word, but with the most impudent audacity conceivable deny the existence of God Him-self. Others do not like to go so far as that, but say that the Bible is not inspired, which is equally bad, for "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.”

To 'approach the Word of God to find discrepancies (so-called) is the grossest presumption. Is God not just in allowing such to be deluded? "And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth." 2 Thess. 2:11.

This is a solemn word for the infidel.

To the indifferent we would say: "Prepare to meet thy God!" "God... 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." Can you afford to be indifferent to such commands? No! Repent, then, and be converted, for the time is short!

You say, "I do not want to think of these things yet I want to have my fling." Reader, I implore you not to allow anything to come between your soul and God. All the pleasures, the riches, the positions this world can offer are not to be compared with the value of your soul. The Scripture saith: "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Mark 9:36-37.

Death may at any moment intrude itself, snapping the link connecting you with this fair and fascinating scene, and the solemn declaration is, "after death, the judgment.” Let me then beseech you, in view of the impending judgment which must inevitably fall upon all unbelievers, to flee to the only refuge, Christ, who is now saying, "Come unto Me" (Matt. 11:28) and, "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out."

John 6:37.

Again, a number of people are attempting to work out a righteousness of their own.

This is all the more extraordinary, as the Word of God is unmistakably clear on this point. Do you not think that, had God required anything from you, He would have made it plain? God has made it clear to the contrary. In fact He tells you, "All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags"

(Isa. 64:6).

Can you, then, offer anything to God?

No, self-righteous reader, you are included in that universal company of whom God says that they "have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).

Get into the presence of God; there you will discover your vileness and your nakedness before Him, and there and there only God can and does offer you righteousness, a righteousness of His providing and worthy of Himself―He offers you Christ.

"Too bad to be saved" is certainly a bad state to be in, but it is caused by unbelief of heart. When we read of the vilest character, the dying thief, and the precious words that fell from the Lord's lips in answer to the thief's request, we cannot think of anyone being "too bad to be saved." The question is not the amount of your sin, but do you believe God? Sin is sin in God's sight, whether we think it to be little or much, and our measure of it can never rise to God's. But, thank God, He has made a way whereby He can righteously forgive sinners in virtue of the mighty work of redemption accomplished by the Lord Jesus when He entered into the question of sin once for all and settled every claim to the infinite satisfaction of God.

And now, by simply believing in God, who raised up Jesus from the dead, putting your faith in the person of the blessed Lord Jesus, and in His finished work, you may have the assurance that being justified by faith you have peace with God (Rom. 5:1). Do take God at His word.

Let me ask every reader, How does the heading of this paper affect you? If with-out Christ, it should terrify you; but if you possess Christ as your Savior you have the unutterable joy of knowing that "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." Rom. 8:1.

Jesus Calls Thee

Art thou longing? Jesus calls thee

To His wounded side;

"Come to Me," saith He, and ever

Safe abide.

Seeking Jesus? Jesus seeks thee―

Wants thee as thou art;

He is knocking, ever knocking

At thy heart.

If thou'lt let Him He will save thee,

Make thee all His own;

Guide thee, keep thee, take thee safely

To His throne.

Wilt thou still refuse the offer?

Wilt thou say Him nay?

Wilt thou let Him, grieved, rejected,

Go away?

Dost thou feel thy life is weary?

Is thy soul distressed?

Take His offer, wait no longer;

Be at rest!

John 6:37

It is said that a celebrated bishop was very uneasy when dying, and in moments of special uneasiness and restlessness thus expressed himself: "Though I have tried to avoid sin and to please God to the utmost of my power, yet, from being conscious of my constant weakness, I am afraid to die.”

"My lord," said his chaplain, "you forget that Jesus Christ is a Savior.”

"True," replied the bishop, "but how shall I know that He is a Savior for me?”

The chaplain replied, "It is written, 'Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.'”

"True," said the bishop, "and I have read that scripture a thousand times, but I never felt its full value till this moment. Stop there, for now I die happy.”

It is blessed to see how scripture bears testimony to the person of Christ, and the completeness of His work. Its testimony is to the Christ who is in the glory of God, having by His death settled the question of sin.

"THIS IS THE RECORD,

THAT GOD

HATH GIVEN TO US

ETERNAL LIFE,

AND THIS LIFE

IS IN HIS SON.

HE THAT HATH THE SON

HATH LIFE;

AND HE THAT HATH NOT

THE SON OF GOD

HATH NOT LIFE.”

1 John 5:11-12

JUNE

Joy or Torment - Which?

Oh, that heaven and hell should more work upon men! Oh, that everlastingness should work more! Oh, how can you forbear when you are alone to think within yourself, What is it to be everlastingly in joy or in torment?

I wonder that such thoughts do not break your sleep, and that they come not into your mind when you are about your labor.

I wonder how you can do anything else; how you can have any quietness in your minds; how you can eat, or drink, or rest, till you have got some ground of everlasting consolation.

Is that a man or a corpse that is not affected with matters of such moment? That can be readier to sleep than to trouble when he hears how he must stand at the bar of God? Is that a man or a clod of clay that can rise or lie down: without being deeply affected with his everlasting estate? That can follow his worldly business and make nothing of the great business of salivation or damnation, and that when he knows is hard at hand.

Just in Time

Sometimes God is pleased to use a few words to awaken a soul. Such was the case some years ago, in the following remarkable manner.

The porters at the Sheffield station had cried, "Take your seats for Derby and the south!" I saw a man making every effort to reach the train before it started. It was a struggle. "All right!" shouted the guard.

The engineer answered with a whistle. The train moved. The man had made it safely.

He dropped into a seat by my side. Slam went the door. I said, "And the door shall be shut.”

I do not remember that another word passed between us. Two years later, when I had quite forgotten the circumstance, a friend of mine met with the same man, who told him that those words, "And the door shall be shut," produced such a solemn impression on his mind that he could not forget them. When he awoke in the morning, and all day long, they sounded in his ears. The madness and danger of delaying his salvation to the last moment became so evident that he believed that circumstance had been used of God in bringing him to Christ.

Reader, those are, indeed, solemn words in that prophetic parable of the ten virgins: "And the door was shut." The gospel train is fast filling. The last person will soon be in it. Then can you imagine what you would feel not to be just in time, but just too late? Will you be one who shall cry, "Lord, Lord, open to us"? The only answer then will be: "Depart from me, ye that work iniquity: I know you not." Receive the Savior now.

"For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6:2.

The Life-Line

A poor man on one of the rocky coasts of our country used to earn his livelihood by gathering and selling the eggs of the sea-fowl. One morning he went out on his perilous errand, and, looking down from the summit of a high cliff, he saw a ledge jutting out from the rock covered with a cluster of sea-fowl nests. In them would be many eggs, he thought.

He fastened his rope to a tree which stood near the edge of the cliff, and then gradually let himself down to the edge of the rock. In his eagerness to grasp his spoil he let go of the rope by which he had descended, and it swung out of his reach.

And there he stood on that narrow ledge of rock: above him a fearful height he had no hope of scaling, below him a terrific precipice, with the waves of the ocean raging at its base.

It was a moment of intense agony and dread. In desperation he sprang upwards.

It pleased God that he should grasp the rope anew, and he drew himself to the summit, trembling.

We can all realize the peril of that man's position. Ah, me! can we realize our own? Lost, we stand on the narrow ledge of life.

Above us is a mountain of guilt we have no power to scale. Below us is the fearful abyss of unending death.

But there is a way of escape! A rope hangs over us―a rope strong and sure, able to bear us up and land us safely. If we do not grasp it, a lost eternity lies ahead.

Oh soul, God has made perfect provision for your eternal safety. By faith receive the blessed Son of God, lay hold of the security there is in Him, and know the peace and joy of resting on the Rock―Christ Himself.

The Lord Jesus, the Great Physician

Art thou lame? Jesus can cause the lame to walk. Art thou blind? Jesus can cause the scales to fall from thine eyes. Art thou dumb? Jesus can loose thy tongue. Art thou wounded? Jesus can make thee whole. If thou art thirsty, Jesus can give thee living water. If thou art hungry, Jesus is the bread of life. If thou art dead, Jesus can give thee life. No matter what may be thy need, Christ can meet it. If my tongue is tied, it is Christ who loosens it; if my eye is closed, it is Christ who gives me sight; if my ear is shut, it is Christ who opens it.

The Lord Jesus is the Great Physician.

Only a Little While

"Well, Molly," said the Judge, going up to an old apple-woman's stand; "don't you get tired sitting here these cold, dismal days?”

"It's only a little while, sir," she said.

"And the hot, dusty days?”

"It's only a little while," answered Molly.

"And the rainy, drizzly days?”

"It's only a little while.”

"And your sick, rheumatic days?”

"It's only a little while, sir.”

"And what then, Molly?" asked the Judge.

"I shall enter into that rest which remains for the people of God," answered the old woman quietly; "and the troublesomeness of the way cannot pester or fret me. It's only a little while, sir.”

"All's well that ends well, I daresay," said the Judge. "But what makes you so sure, Molly?”

"How can I help being sure, sir, since Christ is the Way, and I am in Him? He is mine, and I am His. I shall see Him as He is in a little while.”

"Ah, Molly, you've got more than the law ever taught me.”

"Yes, sir, because I went to the Gospel.”

"Well, Molly, I must look into these things," said the Judge as he bought an apple and walked away.

"There's only a little while, sir, for that; and we are not quite sure of having even a little while," she said.

"Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh."

Matt. 25:13.

"Only One Man"

Is it possible that the great God above can care for one soul amongst all the millions of the earth? It is; for the One who came to tell us all we know of the heart of God said, "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God Over one sinner that repenteth." Luke 15:10. God desires that all should be saved; but He and all His angels rejoice over one. Have they rejoiced over you yet? The lifeboat men will save the whole of the shipwrecked crew if they can; if not, they rejoice to be able to bring even one safe to land. An instance of this is to be found in the records of the Deal lifeboat.

Looking out through his glass late one spring evening Richard Roberts, the coxswain of the boat, descried a new wreck upon the Goodwin Sands, and close to it a solitary man. He was running wildly about, afraid of standing still lest the treacherous sands should suck him in. Only one man! Was it worth while launching the lifeboat for his sake?

The lifeboat men had no question at all about that, for as soon as the tide would permit there was a rush for life belts, and over the wild waves the boat sped to the rescue. But to save that one man was no light matter. Night came over the scene, inky black, and their eyes could see nothing. The waves rolled over the boat, and though they shouted and strained their ears for an answer, no voice could be heard above the noise of the sea. They cast anchor and waited through the long night for the dawn.

With the first gray light they caught sight of the object of their search. He was not more than four hundred yards away, staggering towards the boat that had come to save him. It was but the work of a few moments to get him off those deadly sands into the safety of the boat. Unable to save himself, help came to him from without.

So "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." Has He saved you?

The saved man was captain of a Norwegian brig which had run on to the sands the morning before, and he had seen the six men that formed his crew drown before his eyes. He had lashed himself to the windlass, and thus escaped the fate of the rest.

When the tide fell and the wreck stood out of the water, he had unlashed himself and had for hours run up and down the sands.

When the tide rose and night came on again, he had returned to the wreck.

He received a royal welcome when he was brought into the town of Deal; and, depend upon it, not one of the lifeboat men grudged the labor and the hardships they had undergone to save only one man.

Oh, the value of one soul, who can estimate? The whole world is naught in comparison to it. For one soul, as well as for millions, Jesus died. For one soul He seeks today, and that one soul is yours. Welcome Him, welcome Him now. Take this precious message from God Himself to you, and make it your very own. "For God so loved you, that He gave His only begotten Son, that if you will believe in Him you shall not perish, but have everlasting life." Then, over your one soul there will be joy in the presence of the angels of God, and with joy you can exclaim, "The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me!" Gal. 2:20.

The Prince's Mistake

Prince Henry of Prussia, during his visit in this country, had the pleasure of examining the memorable sword which Frederick the Great presented to George Washington.

This sword had never been drawn from its scabbard, for Washington, in his will, specially requested that it should never be removed, except in defense of the country.

The Prince knew nothing of the will of George Washington as to this, and so he unwittingly violated the express desire of that great general by drawing the sword from its scabbard.

Dear reader, the Lord also has a sword, and it is referred to many times in His Word. You will find the first mention of it in Gen. 3:24, and the last in Rev. 19:15.

It is the awful sword of His righteous judgment, and concerning it He has spoken as follows:

"If I whet My glittering sword, and Mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to Mine enemies, and will reward them that hate Me" (Deut. 32:41).

But at the present time that sword is laid aside in its scabbard. It is the day of God's grace and long-suffering to the world. It is the acceptable time when He is showing mercy to poor sinners and saving them. And just as it was Washington's will that his sword should not be used in time of peace, nor even drawn from its scabbard, so it is really the will of God that keeps His sword from being used in judgment now. You will find that will expressed in 1st Tim. 2:4:―

"Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Do you know, dear reader, that God really desires that you should be saved? And knowing this, are you still unwilling to accept God's way of salvation by believing in His Son?

The Prince drew out the sword, not knowing the will of General Washington. Many, who know God's will, still go on rejecting His long-suffering mercy until He shall be compelled to draw His sword and render vengeance upon His enemies. Jesus said that the servant who knew his Master's will, but prepared not himself, should be beaten with many stripes. Have you prepared yourself by repenting of your sins and believing the gospel of God's grace?

"Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him" (Rom. 5:9).

The Question at the Fountain

It was a beautiful fountain, the gift of a philanthropist to his native town. Many drank of its refreshing waters. An aged Christian gentleman, well known and beloved, whose failing strength forbade much active labor in the gospel, often rested there.

As opportunity was given, he spoke to those who lingered around the fountain of another fountain, even the fountain of the water of life.

A worldly lady came up while he rested there one day. After drinking a glass of water, she remarked how refreshing it was.

"Yes," responded the aged Christian, "but may I ask if you have drunk of the water of life?”

The lady colored, turned away her head, and walked off without saying a word. But his question followed her; she could not get rid of it.

A year passed, and the aged Christian was at a Bible conference in a distant city. He was asked to visit a lady who, being sick, was unable to attend the meetings and yet greatly desired to see him.

"You do not remember me," she said, as she grasped the hand of the man of God.

"I shall never forget the question you asked me that day by the drinking fountain. You asked―'Have you drunk of the water of life?' I knew I had not, and was very angry at your question. But that question followed me. It kept me company in worldly society, alone, by day and by night. At last I was brought to Jesus, and I can now sing with truth―

‘I came to Jesus, and I drank

Of that life-giving stream;

My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,

And now I live in Him.'

I thought I would like to tell you that your word was not in vain, that you might be encouraged to ask the same question of others, even though, like me, they give you no answer.”

That question, my friend, I ask of you.

Have you drunk of the water of life? I do not ask if you know there is such a thing, but have you drunk it? Is it in you? Does it satisfy you? If not, then clearly you have not drunk of it, for concerning all who have, Jesus says that they "shall never thirst.”

They need no other pleasure. They seek no other joy. They have Christ and, having Christ, they have the fountain of life, and the source of all satisfaction and pleasure.

Is He yours?

The Rent Paid

Some time ago I fell into conversation with an old farmer about the things of God, and spoke of having everlasting life in Christ.

"Ah, well!" said my companion, "I am one of those people who do not believe in the assurance of faith.”

"Assurance of faith!" I repeated. "I confess that I do not quite understand what you mean. Would you make it a little more clear to me?” "Well," said he, "people did not speak in that way when I was a young man, but I hear men and women nowadays say that they know they are saved. Now, to my mind, it is presumption. They must wait till their deathbed, or the day of judgment, before they can know that.”

"Ah! Now I think I understand you. I suppose, if I were to tell you that I know I am saved by Christ, you would say, 'I don't believe you.'”

"Yes," he said, "that is what I mean.”

I apparently changed the subject. "Let me see:―one day last week was rent day, was it not? Did you pay your rent?”

"Oh yes," was his prompt and evidently proud reply, "I have paid my rent.”

"Now, if I were to say to you, 'I don't believe you have paid your rent,' what would you say?”

"I can prove it," he answered, sharply;

"I have the receipt, with my landlord's name upon it, my good man.”

"But what if I still should tell you I don't believe you have paid it?”

"Well," said he, in indignant tones, while taking a bunch of keys from his pocket, "you say that you don't believe that I have paid my rent. Do you see that key, sir?

It unlocks the desk in which I keep all my receipts, and if you come to my house I will unlock my desk, take out the receipt, and let you see it, with the landlord's name upon it. You say you doubt my word, indeed!

Do you think I care for you, or for anybody else?" He snapped his fingers in the air; then, changing his tone, he added contemptuously, "If all the people in the world said they did not believe I had paid my rent, it would not cause me to sleep a bit the less soundly tonight, for I know I have paid it, and I hold the receipt for the money.”

"Now don't be angry," I said, "for you will understand my meaning soon. Do you see this book?" I took my Bible from my pocket.

"Yes, it is the Bible. I know it all through from beginning to end.”

"But do you believe it all? Do you believe these verses? 'All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.' 'There is none righteous, no, not one:... there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way.'

Do you believe all this? You trust the word of your landlord a mortal man, like yourself. Do you believe God?”

"Yes," he answered again, "I believe all you quote from Scripture. I have never doubted it from my childhood.”

" 'As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned'," I read, and then asked my friend, "Do you believe that you yourself are lost, and need a Savior?”

"I know that Christ died for sinners.”

"Then," I asked, "did He die for you? Let me ask you to read this verse aloud slowly.”

The old man wondered and, as he said, "felt strange" as I handed him my open Bible, and pointed to the sixteenth verse of the third of John. He put on his glasses and read the verse slowly―very slowly: "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

"Tell me," I said, "who loved the world?”

"It was God," was the quick and unhesitating reply; and I saw the face of the old gentleman gradually lighting up.

"Then," I asked, "what did God love?”

"The world.”

"The whole of it?”

"It says so.”

"Then, we in the world form a part of the world which God so loved. But what did God do, because of His love to the world?”

"He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

"What is the meaning of 'whosoever'?”

"Why," he answered, "anyone, to be sure.”

"Now, may I ask you to read the last verse of the third of John?”

The eyes of the old man were filled with tears as he read these words of the living

God, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.”

"Read it again," I said.

He did so. Then I continued: "You told me just now that if I said I was saved you would not believe me. Do you think I care what a man says? No! If all the people in the world said they did not believe I was saved, it would be enough for me to know that God says I am saved. It will not cause me to sleep a bit the less soundly because a man doubts me. God says I am saved.”

The old man grasped my hand, saying, "I'm glad I met you; I never saw things before as I see them now; I shall never again speak as I did. God and His word are enough." He shook my hand heartily and wished me good-by, saying, "We shall meet again; if not on earth, up there," pointing to heaven.

Can you, my reader, "read your title clear to mansions in the skies"? Can you look back to Calvary, where Christ suffered and died, and say, with full assurance of faith, "The Son of God loved me, and gave Himself for me"?

The Skeptic's Challenge

Over the heads of the crowd the confident cry rang out. "There is no answer to prayer; it's all imagination. Don't be carried away. Use your own common sense. There is no hereafter. When we are dead we are done for.”

The speaker was standing at the foot of a monolith erected in an open space of a busy city. He had an excellent gift of speech and a winning manner. A large crowd of men and women stood around listening. In a persuasive voice he tried to prove the nonexistence of God and the inefficacy of prayer, concluding with a professed readiness to debate the question with any person in the audience.

At this juncture a man was seen making his way from the edge of the crowd towards the speaker, saying at the same time, "I accept the challenge.”

The people eagerly made way for this champion of prayer, and in a very few moments he was standing on the step of the monolith facing the crowd. He was tall and well dressed, but he was no orator. He had no set phrases to tickle the ear; he had not the winning, catchy demeanor of his opponent. For a moment or two he stood looking at the sea of faces before him, faces waiting with eager expectancy for him to open the debate. A flush of color came over his features, and the sweat stood in beads on his brow.

"Friends, I am not a public speaker," he said. "I did not come to this meeting with the intention of disputing anything our friend might say; but when he denied that there was any efficacy in prayer, and challenged anyone to prove the contrary, I felt bound to come forward." 'The crowd cheered the frank yet modest statement.

He went on again. "You see standing before you a man who was once as big a scoundrel as it was possible to find in the city.

I was a drunkard, a gambler, a, wife-beater; yes! everything the word 'brute' My wife and child dreaded the sound of my footsteps; and yet, bad as I was, my wife had for years been praying for me, unknown to me, and she taught my child to pray.”

He paused a moment, as if overcome with sadness at the memory, and then continued:

"One night I went home unexpectedly, rather earlier than usual, and, by accident, sober.

When I opened the door, my wife had just gone up the stairs to put the little one to bed. I stood listening at the foot of the stairs. My child was praying; she was praying for me. 'Dear Lord, save my Daddy! Save my dear Daddy, Lord! Dear Lord Jesus, save my Daddy!' And as she prayed in her simple childlike way, I heard my wife saying, with a sob in her throat, 'Lord Jesus, answer her prayer.'

"They did not know I was listening. I crept softly out of the house into the street. Strange feelings were coming over me, and ringing in my ears was my child's prayer: `Dear Lord Jesus, save my dear Daddy!' Was I indeed dear to that child? In what way?

She had never known a father's love. I question whether she had ever known a father's kiss. And as I thought of it, a great lump came into my throat; tears filled my eyes and I cried aloud, 'Lord, help me.

Lord, answer my child's prayer.' AND HE DID!

"Years have passed away since then. Today I am a Christian. My past is under the blood. I live in the present, a new creature in Christ Jesus.”

Again he paused, and then said earnestly, "Friends, don't you think I should have been a coward if I had kept silent today? Can I do other than believe there is a God, and that He not only hears, but answers prayer?”

The skeptic made no reply. The man's story had moved the crowd to tears, and when he finished speaking the people went silently and reverently away.

A Solemn Question

"What wilt thou say when He shall punish thee?"

Jer. 13:21.

You cannot say that you were never warned, nor that you were never shown God's way of salvation.

If still unsaved, unconverted, "without Christ," you will be speechless!

Something About Yourself

Dear reader, there are three undeniable facts concerning you. You can no more get rid of them than a bird could fly away from its own wings. What are they?

You have―

A God to meet,

A history to account for,

An eternity to spend.

But stay; this is not all! The God you may so dread to meet in coming judgment is prepared to meet you now in present blessing.

If you come to Him through Christ, He will wipe out every stain from your guilty history, and make you as fit for the highest glory as you are now fit for the lowest hell.

His precious Son has died. His cleansing blood has been shed. In spite of your sinful past your soul may yet -be saved. Oh, what a Savior Jesus is! If you only knew Him, the thought of meeting Him would no longer be your darkest dread but would become your brightest hope.

This may be yours, not because you have any merit, but all on the ground of pure grace. I ask: does it not suit your case?

For surely you have naught to plead, except God's love and your own exceeding need.

Accept, then, this all-gracious Savior. He is ready and able also "to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him.”

"Let everybody see it

That Christ hath set you free;

And, if it sets them longing,

Say, 'Jesus died for thee.'”

"BUT NOW,

IN CHRIST JESUS,

YE WHO SOMETIME

WERE FAR OFF

ARE MADE HIGH

BY THE BLOOD

OF CHRIST.”

Eph. 2:13.

“REDEEMED

WITH THE PRECIOUS

BLOOD OF CHRIST."”

1st Peter 1:18, 19.

OCTOBER

Sticking to the Text

In one of our large Eastern cities, in the slums, there are many cheap, disreputable lodging-houses, called "thieves' holes.” These homes of the friendless are establishments where those who are hard-up can, for a small sum, have a bed and the use of large fires by which to cook their fish or bits of bacon. Christian workers often venture into these places and hold meetings in the large kitchens.

A young, inexperienced, but warm-hearted Christian lad went with a few others to one of these "thieves' holes" to give the gospel. It was a house of the lower order, and on this occasion was occupied by about forty men.

After a hymn had been sung, the young man stood forth and gave out his text, "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7. He hesitated a moment, and a blasphemer, who thought to take a mean advantage of the young beginner, cried out: "What do you want, coming here to disturb us?”

"We do not wish to disturb you, my friend, we only wish to tell you from God that 'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'”

"Do you suppose we are extra filthy, then?”

"Not at all; we speak of sin stains, and declare, 'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'”

"What do you know about it, youngster?”

"I know by blessed experience that 'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'”

Try as he might, the young preacher could not get any farther than that text. And it was well that he could not: he had a good message. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son the blood that cleanseth from all sin!

To preach in such a place under ordinary circumstances was difficult one cooking, another eating, a third stitching, a fourth snoring, a fifth washing, and all perhaps moving except the sleepers. It was hard to deal with such a congregation at any time, but to have a scoffer in front of one made it doubly hard. Seeing his advantage, the heckler continued: "Go to the rich and tell them your rubbish.”

"True! They need to hear that 'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'”

"But there are difficulties in your Bible!”

"Very likely but there is no difficulty here the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'”

"Can't you tell us anything else, Mr. Ignorance?”

"No, friend, nothing better than that the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'”

"But why don't your God -?”

The man's blasphemy was again stopped by the text: "What God does not, I cannot answer for this I know He does: the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'”

"You make a good thing out of it, I expect?”

"We do, for the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'”

In this way the young Christian struggled on, amid blasphemies and oaths, fearful almost to death, until he had repeated about thirty times the words, "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

As he and his companion left the field of strife he felt that he had miserably failed, and wished that someone else, more experienced, had spoken: another might have done better. But he had been wielding the two-edged sword, and it had cut.

When that wicked man who had interrupted him lay down that night, he heard the words, "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." When he got up he heard them "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

All Monday he heard them "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." All Tuesday he heard them, and Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday. On Saturday no new message came, but still the old, old story, "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

' On the Lord's Day our young friend was tempted not to go near the place of his encounter. He knew not how the Spirit of God had blessed his message. However, he went, and as soon as the meeting began he saw his old enemy step forward, not to fight, as he at first feared, but to surrender his sword publicly.

"Mates," he said, "last Sunday's text has stuck to me 'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin'; and I've had enough of my old life. By God's help I'm through with it, and if there is cleansing for a vile wretch, I'll have it.”

There was cleansing for him; and, by simple faith in the precious shed blood of God's Lamb, he proved the truth of the text: "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin."

The Storm

It was Sunday afternoon, and a message to young people had just been delivered in the Gospel Hall. Ralph hurried out of the hall with the preacher's words still ringing in his ears: "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." Prov. 29:1.

Many times in his life Ralph had definitely been "reproved" by the Spirit of God― "convinced" of his sinful nature, of his utter lack of righteousness, and of the judgment that would be his portion if he persisted in his present course. He had been brought up in a godly home, had daily heard the Word of God, and he knew that his parents' earnest prayers for his conversion ascended constantly to the throne of grace.

"But," whispered Satan, "if you own yourself a sinner, and Jesus as your Savior, think of all the good times you must miss.

You are young. Wait!”

And Ralph did wait. Deliberately stifling the "still small voice," he sauntered carelessly down to the lake shore. There the usual Sunday afternoon loiterers strolled or sat around on the grass.. Some were reading newspapers, others chatted with friends.

Not caring for companionship today, Ralph refused to look for familiar faces. Instead, he fixed his gaze out over the lake.

There the white caps were riding on wind whipped waves. Black clouds rolled up from the horizon, obscuring the afternoon sun and rapidly hiding the clear blue of the sky. Buttoning his coat and pulling his hat over his eyes against the rising wind, Ralph now hurried along his favorite walk.

A little farther on a great oak spread its leafy branches across his path. He would take shelter there and watch the approaching storm. As he neared this haven, Ralph saw two men striding toward the tree, evidently having the same thought as he.

By this time jagged flashes of lightning were breaking through the rolling clouds, and the mutter of thunder was punctuated with sudden crashes. Ralph sped on, thinking how foolish he had been to get so far from shelter in the face of the approaching storm.

Suddenly, with an instantaneous lightning flash and a rending crash of thunder, the storm broke. Through pelting rain Ralph ran for the big oak. Half blinded by the stinging drops, he stumbled toward the tree where he had seen the two men take shelter.

Was there room for him? Were they still there? Peering through the blinding rain, Ralph could not see until he was almost upon them.

And what a sight it was! Prone upon the ground at the foot of the great tree lay the body of one, killed instantly by the bolt of lightning. At his side, weeping like a child, knelt the other man.

"Shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy"―it rang in Ralph's ears.

And then the full import of his own narrow escape burst upon his thoughts: suppose he had reached the tree and remained in its shelter, instead of this poor lifeless one now lying so still! In all honesty he had to confess that, had he been plunged thus into eternity, he would have been lost,―forever lost. With tear filled eyes and broken heart, he knelt beside the weeping man.

Humbly he thanked the Savior for sparing him that he might confess Him before men.

Dear reader, you too are on the brink of eternity. The next heart-beat may be your last. Are you ready to meet a holy God?

He gave His dear Son to die in your stead.

He died that you might live. Will you not accept so great salvation?

"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

2 Cor. 6:2.

"Take It in the Dark"

More than eighty years old, with wrinkled brow and whitened hair, she was still without peace and tossed with doubts. Her simple cottage life was often darkened by fears as thoughts of death and eternity ever and again pressed themselves upon her.

Friends had asked me to call on her, so, one afternoon last winter, I looked in upon her. The message of God's love, and Christ's death and resurrection, was again given the matchless story told once more. But still she looked within; still she waited to see or feel some change. So I sought to show my aged friend that feeling followed faith and did not go before it.

Suddenly, while I was yet speaking, a bright gleam of sunshine passed over that clouded face. "Then, sir," she slowly said, "you mean that I'm to take it in the dark?”

"Yes! that is just it," was my reply. "You cannot see it; the blessed ones are those who have not seen, and yet have believed. But, just simply believing what God says about the death of His Son, receive it; yes, as you say, 'take it in the dark.'”

Anxious reader, wait no more for happier feelings. Tarry no more for brighter experiences. But give glory to God, like Abraham of old, by believing what God says because He says it, and thus "take it in the dark." The message is, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:31. "All that believe are justified." Acts 13:39.

Tell Him All

A poor young piano teacher was the only support of her widowed mother and a number of younger brothers and sisters. Once, when in great need, she had printed on a concert program that she was a scholar of the great musician, Abbe Liszt. It was not true, but she was in great need, and although she was an excellent piano player, she was unknown and without recommendation. And what happened? Just at the day of the concert Abbe Liszt himself came to this town and stopped at the same hotel where the concert was to be given.

The young lady was horror-stricken when she heard of it. Here, where she had expected success, shame and consternation were before her. After a hard battle with herself she concluded to go to the great master and tell him all. With a beating heart she went to him and fell down before him and told him of what she had done.

But Abbe Liszt helped her up, saying, "Poor child, poor child; of course I forgive you.”

Then he asked her to sit down and play a piece she had on her program. He listened and helped her, drawing her attention to a few slight mistakes she had made.

"Now," he said, "you can say that I have taught you; and I would ask you to write on your program that Abbe Liszt will play the last piece himself.”

Dear reader, perhaps you are doing the same thing as this poor young piano player.

You have gone a long time under a name far more noble than the one mentioned, and with even less right. Many years you have borne the name of Jesus Christ you have called yourself a Christian but are you really His? His word says: "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.”

Before the awful day of shame and eternal judgment comes, go to Jesus and tell Him all. Do it now, today! He will forgive you, and put His own blessed name on the program of your life.

"The Best Man - Lost!"

Early in 1880, on the rocky coast of northern Scotland, heavy storms of wind, sleet and snow had persisted for several days.

One morning, as we were preparing for breakfast, a cry was raised in the village that a ship was aground. Hastening down to the beach, we could see her near the rocks off-shore.

She had been battling against the storm for a long time. Now, driven by wind and tide, the torm-tossed ship proved too much for her exhausted crew. Out of control, she turned to shore and ran head on towards the rocks. As the fearful onlookers watched they saw the ship, as though piloted by an unseen hand, turn into a narrow inlet. This inlet, or cutting, had been made by the fishermen of the village. It was the only safe channel for their little fishing boats through the rocky reefs along this rugged beach.

But could this larger vessel navigate safely a channel barely sufficient for them? Even as it seemed she would, the watchers on the beach became aware that the treacherous waves had jammed her against a jagged reef.

It was impossible to put the lifeboats out in such heavy seas. The rocket apparatus must be used to remove the crew from the doomed vessel. Dragging it to the beach, at times through four or five feet of snow, it required the united efforts of all the villagers to get it upon the spot nearest to the stricken ship. It was a time of the greatest excitement and anxiety as every sea that came over her threatened complete destruction. The oldest men there had never seen such a sea on the coast before.

The tide was coming in fast. Every moment was precious. Several attempts were made to get a line on board by means of the rockets, but the wind being so strong they were beaten down into the water before reaching the ship. Success came at last, however. An empty barrel, with a small cord attached, was thrown from the ship and reached shore. Then a large rope was tied on, hauled aboard, and made fast to the foremast.

Of the crew of eleven men on board, only four or five were in condition to help. The rest of them were below deck, entirely exhausted from their efforts and long exposure to the cold. As soon as the apparatus was ready for the traveling cage which was to be drawn along the rope, one of these helpless sailors was put into it. Willing hands quickly drew him ashore and into the care of kind friends.

This first man was scarcely in safety when the fast rising tide and the strong wind beating upon the ship suddenly raised her stern up over the reef of rock which previously had kept her head on towards shore.

Swinging round broadside to the beach, she settled down across another rock, her back broken and her mainmast splintered almost to pieces. The traveling apparatus became entangled across her bow and was rendered unmanageable.

At this juncture we saw through the drifting snow a man climbing over the side of the ship. Seizing the sagging rope, he swung towards shore, hand over hand. Out over the water he hung, a helpless man, buffeted by storm and sea. Great waves beat over him like falling houses, and, tossed by the raging wind, the poor fellow could make little headway.

As we strained to see through snow and spray, a heavy sea swept towards him―over him. We knew he could not last long.

When it was passed, we saw that strong man hanging helplessly by the bend of one arm. In a few more seconds he dropped into the surging waves. When his body was picked up two days afterward, it was found that the sea which crashed over him while he clung to the rope had dislocated both his shoulders.

Almost immediately after this man was lost, the bow of the ship lifted again over the rocks which were holding it. She swung free and in another moment she was once more head on to the beach, the apparatus disentangled and again workable. No time was lost now. The doomed vessel was rapidly breaking up, and all hands worked fast to rescue the crew. In half an hour the men were all safely landed. The helpless ones had been first to be put into the apparatus by those who had a little strength left.

One brave fellow helped to put all his shipmates (captain included) out of the ill-fated ship and into the hands of the friends on shore. He remained on board till the last with a quiet fearlessness which astonished all who saw him. When he came ashore the first question asked him was: "How can you be so calm amid such dangers?”

He said, "I am a Christian, and I knew that, come what would, I was safe in my Savior's keeping. 'The Lord is my salvation, whom shall I fear?'”

We then asked him about the poor lost man. "Ah," he said, "We begged him not to attempt to save himself in that way. It would have been impossible for him to reach shore without help. But he would― he would! He would not listen to us.”

"A fine fellow he was," added the captain, with tears running down his face. "He was the best man in the crew. He is gone―lost, because he tried to save himself in his own way.”

Yes, all the rest were saved, but by other hands than their own.

When the tide went out, it left a scene of desolation: a splintered skeleton of timbers, scattered planks, and broken barrels.

Such a solemn sight as we remembered the poor lost man!

Lost! And yet "the best man" of the whole crew! How was it possible? Simply because, to save himself, he trusted in his own strength to brave the waves.

And how is it with you who read this?

You, too, are on the sea of time in a vessel too frail to withstand the coming storms.

Are you ready to meet God and eternity?

If not, prepare now, before it is too late―before the day of grace shall have ended and you go down into the depths of a lost eternity. Receive the Son of God into your heart. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:31.

There's a Savior for You

Afar off from God in the broad downward road,

The soul may have wandered, 'neath sin's heavy load;

Yet still there's a message for Gentile and Jew,

And this is its purport―There's a Savior for you.

Though burdened with sin, and though laden with care,

E'en yet there is hope and you need not despair

For Jesus has met all the penalty due,

And now, in the glory,―He's the Savior for you.

Oh, why quench your thirst at the rivers or earth

By drinking from streams of unsanctified mirth?

Oh, why not the world and its pleasures eschew,

And heed the glad tidings? There's a Savior for you!

Ah, soon will this day of God's favor be o'er,

When He will forever have shut to the door.

How bitterly then all the past you'll review

When hearing no longer There's a Savior for you!

Three Indisputable Facts

A young man stood in the open-air and challenged the crowd with three indisputable facts facts which relate to every unsaved man and woman in the world.

You had better face them now, when there is mercy, for otherwise they will force themselves upon your attention in the Day of Judgment.

You must die but when?

You must meet God but how?

You must spend eternity but where?

Tight Corners

Captain Patrick Dove, of S.S. Africa Shell, was captured by the German cruiser, the Graf Spee, on November 15th, 1939. He was a prisoner with other captured British captains and officers on the German cruiser when she was attacked by the British ships, the Exeter, the Ajax and the Achilles, and driven battered and disabled into the harbor of Montevideo, only to be finally scuttled by her captain.

We can imagine, perhaps feebly, the feelings of Captain Dove and the rest, imprisoned in a narrow space, unable to see what was happening, hearing the mighty guns fire their deafening salvoes, feeling the very ship tremble under their feet, as shell after shell hit the cruiser. Naturally these Britishers wished for a British victory, but that would almost mean their death like rats caught in a trap. If ever men were in a tight corner these men were. What did they do?

Captain Dove writes, "I think that every man there prayed. I know I did. Most of us sailors are pretty firm believers in Christ, and we certainly needed all the comfort we could get at that moment.”

One would not condemn them for praying in their terrible extremity. Indeed, God answered their prayers. The British won the battle; yet the lives of the prisoners in the ship were spared, and they obtained their freedom.

A similar story was told us by a soldier who had been in the Dunkirk evacuation.

He said it was a moving sight to see scores of young soldiers, ordinarily careless, godless, swearing fellows, on their knees on the sandy beaches, with tears coursing down their cheeks, crying to God for deliverance.

But what we plead for is that true, vital belief in Jesus the Savior should not be reserved for extra-tight corners. It should govern our whole lives, and we ought not to be ashamed of it.

At some time every sinner and we are all such will find himself or herself in a tight corner. Sin has a habit of coming home to roost. "The wages of sin is death,” Rom. 6:23. "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”

Heb. 9:27. Nothing can be more terrible than the death of an unsaved, un-forgiven sinner. How agonizing to see one who has neglected salvation all his life pass into eternity! There will be no more opportunity to believe the gospel. There he is doomed and damned. Reader, wait not for a tight corner. Why neglect God, Christ, the Bible, and the means of grace, in fair weather?

You will seek the help of a neglected and flouted God when in a tight corner.

Wake up, dear soul! In the time of health and strength turn to the Lord, receive Him as your Savior, and seek grace to manifest Him in everyday life. Then when a tight corner comes He will be with you― He "will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

"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. 10:9.

Have you confessed the Lord? Have you believed on Him? Do not wait for a tight corner! Even now as you read these lines decide this momentous matter, and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.

Time

"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them." Eccl. 12:1.

When as a child, I laughed and wept,

Time crept;

When as a youth, I dreamed and talked,

Time walked;

When I became a full grown man,

Time ran;

When older still I daily grew,

Time flew;

Soon I shall find in traveling on

Time gone.

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

Psa. 90:12.

Time Enough yet

Thousands are trying to persuade themselves, "There's time enough yet." Reader! are you being thus deluded? Time enough yet for settling matters between you and God? Time enough yet―and your feet standing on the very brink of hell. Time enough―yet and the shadow of death darkening round your path. Time enough yet and the dark thunder cloud of wrath gathering thick and fast over your guilty head.

Time enough yet―and Judgment coming.

Time enough yet―and the Lord at hand.

Time enough yet? Yes, thank God! There is still time to be saved, but none to lose. Now this fleeting moment, even as you read these lines is the accepted time.

Satan will say, "Tomorrow." This is his gospel. Many have believed it. Will you?

"Behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6:2.

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:31.

True Joy

Earthly joys, like gleams of sunshine,

Quickly come, and quickly go,

Satisfying for a moment

Those who: pleasures here may know.

But true joy in all its fullness

We shall find in heaven above,

Blest in Jesus' glorious presence

And the sunshine of His love.

Yet the feeble comprehension

Of His wondrous love and grace

Is e'en here a happy foretaste

Of our joy when "face to face.”

The Wanderer's Return

James had been brought up in a well-to-do family. He had everything he could desire, but he soon learned to love the pleasures of the world. Sinking deeper and deeper into sin, he decided to leave home and have his fling in the world. He joined a company of minstrels, known as the "Ethiopian Serenaders." With hands and faces blackened, and dressed in grotesque costumes, they traveled around the country.

One day they took their stand outside a shop. In the window were some Bibles for sale. After they had sung several comic songs, James stepped forward and offered his tambourine as a collection plate.

The shop-keeper took a Bible from the window and said, "See here, young man! I will give you a dollar and this Book, if you will read a portion of it outside, among your fellows, in the hearing of the bystanders.”

"Here's a dollar for an easy job!" shouted James to his mates. "I'm going to give a `public reading'!”

The shop-keeper opened the book at the fifteenth chapter of Luke's gospel, and, pointing to the eleventh verse, requested the young man to begin.

"Now, Jim, speak up," said one of his companions, "and earn your dollar like a man!” James began, "A certain man had two sons: and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.”

"That's you, Jim," exclaimed one of the company. "It's just like what you told us about yourself and your father.”

Controlling his feelings, James read slowly on. "And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want.”

"Why, that's you again, Jim!" said the voice. "Go on!”

"And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks which the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.”

"That's just like us all!" interrupted the voice. "We're all beggars; go on and let's hear what became of it!” The young man was scarcely able to read, but with quivering lips he continued, "And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father.”

This was sufficient; he could read no more. Thoughts of home sprang up in the man's heart: the servants there, all having enough; and then himself, his father's son, his present state, his outcast condition, all constrained him to say: "I will arise and go to my father." He went; and oh, what a welcome he got!

Thank God, the story does not end here, for Jim rested not until he knew that not only had his father received him, but that God, too, found His delight in receiving and blessing him. I wonder, dear reader, if you have got away from home, away from God. If so, let me tell you, in love to your soul, that God is waiting to receive you back. Oh, think of the manner in which the heart of God has been expressed to poor, wretched man in the gift of Jesus! He has died, "the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.”

He Himself says, "Come; for all things are now ready."

Luke 14:17.

What a blessed invitation! And what a blessed Savior is waiting to receive you! He wants to save you; He has died to save you.

Was It Chance?

A missionary traveling in Brazil had sold some Bibles and Testaments in a little town in the interior of the country, but hostile influences began to work and one day evil disposed persons collected all the copies they could find and made a bonfire of them in the town square.

There was a strong wind that evening, and it caught a half-consumed leaf and carried it away, over the roofs, and let it fall into an open window, at the feet of a woman sitting there. Printed matter is not so common in those out of the way parts of Brazil as it is with us, so she picked it up eagerly and began to read.

"That must come from a good book," she said to herself, "for I see the names of God and of Jesus.”

She was right, for the leaf was a part of the third chapter of John's Gospel. She was totally ignorant of the grace of God to a sinner, so that it was with amazement that she read: "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

And another complete verse, "He that believeth in 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.”

She put the charred leaf aside to show to her husband when he came home from work. He too was interested, and the oftener they read the leaf, the more they longed to possess the whole book from which it came.

About a year later the missionary passed that way again, and called at this house to offer them Bibles and Testaments.

"No, thank you, we don't want your Looks," they said, "but we should like to have the book from which this half-burnt leaf was torn," and they showed him the piece of paper they had so carefully preserved.

With joy he recognized the page. He opened the Testament at the third chapter of John and showed them that it was the very book they wanted. They gladly took it and began to study it carefully.

There was no preacher of the Gospel' in that neighborhood, but God wrought by His Word in the souls of these people who were seeking the truth. The man and his wife were converted, and soon had their neighbors interested in reading the Scriptures with them, and several received blessing. Now there is a little company of believers in this little Brazilian town who have been led by faith in Christ unto salvation, without any preacher, solely through reading the Word of God.

May we not trace the hand of God in that gust of wind which carried the half-burnt leaf of the Gospel out of the fire and laid it at that woman's feet?

"Just chance," you may say yet it will have eternal consequences.

Those two Brazilians made good use of the mutilated leaf which fell into their hands, and they were saved. We live in a land where nothing is easier to get than the Holy Scriptures. Read the Gospels, the Bible, which is God's Holy Word, admit that you are a sinner, and come to Him who said: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

In whatever way this little magazine has come into your hands today, whether sent by mail, or handed to you, or even if you found it somewhere, be assured that it is not chance. God can use the smallest as well as the greatest means to reach men and make known His love, "for God willeth not the death of the sinner," but "will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

The Psalmist speaks truly when he says "The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.'

Psa. 119:130.

What Came of Missing the Train?

It was just nine o'clock in the morning.

The 8:50 train had been dispatched and the station master was settling down for an hour's quiet when a gentleman, with face red hot and bursting with ill-temper, rushed upon the platform. He loudly stormed against the bus driver whose neglect had caused him to miss the train. He declared he would rather have forfeited $25.00 than miss that particular train.

What was to be done? The only course was to wait for the ten o'clock train. But the gentleman was infuriated, and walked up and down the platform excitedly. Presently, when he had cooled down, the station master went up to him and said, "There's a comfortable waiting room inside, if you would like to sit down, sir.”

The man went in, and found a pleasant room, shaded by climbing roses on the outside. There was a table, on which were spread some gospel tracts. To while away the time he took one up and began to read:

"Passing onward, yes; but whither bound?”

Soon his whole attention was absorbed.

Time fled. Passengers began to arrive. The ticket office was opened for the coming train. Still he sat on, deeply interested in the message he was reading.

"The train's in sight," said the station master.

"The train?" replied the man, like one waking from a dream. Will you sell me this tract? I want to read it again.”

"Take it, and welcome, sir," responded the station master. "The lady who supplies the tracts will be glad if you will accept it.”

"Thank you, and her," said the man. He took it, and in another minute he was speeding away in the train.

A month rolled by. A gentleman leaped out of the train, offered his hand warmly to the station master, and said, "Do you remember me?”

"I do, sir," he replied. "You are the gentleman that missed the train a few weeks back, and were so troubled about it.”

"I need not have been. I missed the train that morning, but I found the Savior. Oh! what a tract that was. I had been so absorbed with business that I did not allow myself time to think about God, or to read His Word. I could not get away from the solemn questions that tract asked. Please tell the lady that tract has led me to the Savior. Now I want others to know Him, so I am buying all I can, and giving them away wholesale. I never knew what happiness was before.”

The gentleman resumed his seat in the train, and the steam-whistle sounded. There was a solemn joy in the heart of the old station master as he waved farewell to him, and saw the joyous look upon his face―a new creature in Christ Jesus.

"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. 10:9.

What Can Take Away Your Sins?

"I was taken suddenly ill, and lay unconscious for two days," said a man with whom I was having a conversation. He had been at death's door, as people say, but through mercy, had recovered. He freely admitted that it was a very serious thing to be called to meet God, that life was very uncertain, and that eternity was a solemn reality indeed.

I said, "And can you tell me now how a man can have his sins forgiven―what can take away all our sins and make us fit for the presence of God?”

After a moment or two he replied, "I believe it is by going to church.”

"Where do you find that in the Bible?”

I asked.

To this question he made no reply. Taking out a Testament, I read for him the words: "The blood of Jesus Christ His [God's] Son cleanseth us from all sin," and sought to impress upon him the fact that the only thing which could cleanse from sin and give peace with God was the blood: not our doing or righteousness, but what Christ has done for us upon the cross. Yet this very man had been present at meetings held in a house not far from where he lives, at which the words of the well-known hymn were sung:

"What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

Little did he appear to have taken in the truth contained in those words, which I suppose he had sung himself, or at least heard others sing.

Fellow-traveler to eternity, be in earnest!

Your eternal soul's destiny hangs in the balance. The sands of time are sinking: eternity with all its great realities is coming. How many of your friends and acquaintances can you recount who have already passed the confines of time and have entered eternity? You, too, must pass on! Time is but a dewdrop, a speck, compared to eternity, which is like a boundless ocean. Are you ready for it? If not, listen to the word of God: "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isa. 1:18.

"It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." Lev. 17:11.

What Is Grace?

I remember a person once saying that he "did not like the word Grace; the word Love meant the same thing and was much better.”

This is a mistake: grace goes a great deal further than love. Man loves that which is in some way, he thinks, worthy of love, and he thinks God is the same as himself, and therefore he says, "I must turn to God some day and try to be worthy of His love; and then He will love me." Now the grace of God is the very opposite to this human thought. I do not know anything like it in the whole world. "What is grace?" said I the other day. "Mercy," was the reply.

Well, it is true that the love of God and the mercy of God are both very, very wonderful. "God who is rich in MERCY, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins"; and both the mercy and love of God are thus in grace; that is, in pure unmerited favor. Yet this grace of God goes further, yea, far beyond the reach of all human thought.

Let us suppose a criminal, guilty of such crimes as to make him an object of the deepest abhorrence, standing condemned before the judge. Mercy would be a great thing shown to such an one; but if it were possible in the heart of a human judge to love such an one, so utterly worthless and undeserving, that would indeed be a wonder. But what would be thought if the judge so loved the poor guilty one as to put himself really in the place of the prisoner; bear the full penalty of all his crimes, and then take him into his own house, make him partner with himself, and say: "As long as I live, all that I have is yours." Ah! tell me where, amongst the cold-hearted sons of men, was ever grace shown like this? No! No! The glory of this grace belongeth alone to my God. Oh, how shall I tell of His wondrous grace!

My reader, you may have heard of it by the hearing of the ear, but has this grace ever reached your heart by the power of the Spirit of God? That God should thus love and pity and show mercy to the guilty: yes, the ungodly! the guilty! the lost! and send His own dear Son in sweetest grace to take the place of the lost and guilty, in purest grace to bear all their sins in His own body on the tree! Oh, look at the cross!

God in grace meeting man's utmost need.

Do you in your very heart believe it? Then you may cast yourself before such a God, confessing all your sins, your wretchedness, your misery; spread it all before Him. Do not try to make yourself a bit better than you are before Him. He will pardon the confessing sinner in faithfulness to the blood of Jesus. Jesus died for that purpose that God might be just not only in pardoning but in justifying every sinner that believeth.

But this is not all: God in pure grace takes the utterly unworthy sinner, now pardoned and justified, into perfect partnership and oneness with Himself in the ever-blessed Lord Jesus. In this grace He met the murderer Saul; from that moment Paul became the partner or joint heir with Christ. What a change! From that day he could say, "Not I, but Christ liveth in me." Right well did he know that nothing could separate him from such love as this. Yes, and God, in the wonders of His grace, can meet a murderer, a drunkard, a harlot, or, worse than all, a deceived and self-righteous Pharisee. Yes, and from this moment the days of thy partnership with Satan may be ended. Oh, may.

God grant it. May this be thy happy portion; pardoned, justified, forever one with Christ. This was grace; not only to take the sinner's place, but to give the guilty one an everlasting place with Himself in resurrection-glory. This salvation is wholly of God.

C. S.

"Who Loves Me"

(Gal. 2:20)

Wonder of wonders, Jesus loves me;

A wretch―lost―ruined―sunk in misery,

He sought me, found me, raised me, set me free.

My soul, the order of the words approve:

Christ first, me last, nothing between but LOVE.

Lord, keep me always down, Thyself above.

Trusting to Thee, not struggling restlessly,

So shall I gain the victory

"I ―yet not I"―but Christ―"Who loved me.'

Why?

"Pourquoi?”

It was the inquiry of a French peasant woman.

Some mountaineers were about to ascend the crag at the foot of which she lived.

They had called at her humble home in order to obtain refreshment. Having told her that their object was to reach the top of the mountain, she exclaimed in astonishment and asked her question.

Why were they about to risk their lives?

She who lived so near had never attempted to gain the summit. It was a dangerous climb what was the good of it? She could not understand that it was worthwhile.

The excitement of the adventure, added to by the risks they were to run, did not appeal to her imagination.

Could it be that for a mere view they would place their lives in the balance? What was their motive? What would be their gain?

Why? Why? The question comes to you today.

Why will you risk your eternal well-being?

Why will you go on day after day without forgiveness, without peace with God, without salvation? Is it worth while?

Why will ye die? Why will ye not come to the Savior now and live?

William Cowper

Leaving Westminster School "with no more religion than the satchel on his back,” broken down in fortune and depressed in mind, Cowper arrived in the old city of St. Albans. Here the "sense of guilt and the burden of unpardoned sin" laid hold on him.

In this state he opened a Bible, and the first verse he read was this: "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood." Rom. 3:25.

"Immediately," he says, "I saw the sufficiency of the atonement Christ had made, my pardon sealed in His blood. In a moment I believed and received the Gospel.”

Thus the author of the following hymn was saved:

There is a stream of precious blood

Which flowed from Jesus' veins;

And sinners washed in that blest flood

Lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see

That Savior in his day;

And by that blood, though vile as he,

Our sins are washed away.

Blest Lamb of God, Thy precious blood

Shall never lose its power,

Till every ransomed saint of God

Be saved to sin no more.

E'er since, by faith, we saw the stream

Thy wounds supplied for sin,

Redeeming love has been our theme,

Our joy and peace has been.

The Wonderful Seeker

It is a first principle of faith that God is the seeker; that there is heart in Him. We are not bid to batter at closed doors. We have not to soften Him to pity, or turn Him toward us. We feel our hardness toward Him, and we think Him hard. We listen to our consciences that accuse us, and we think we hear His voice in them, who yet "upbraideth not." What a revelation of God is this, when Christ, down here among men, becomes His true and only representative!

Conscience can never take the place of revelation. God only can tell me what He is, or what Christ did for me, or how my soul can be at peace with Him. For all this I must listen to the Word alone. It alone can bring in the true eternal light in which conscience and heart alike can find their rest and satisfaction forever.

It is a blessed thing to be able to give a free and general offer of salvation―to say, "Christ died for all: come to Him, and He will give you rest." Yet there are those who need even a closer individualization.

Those who lie wounded by the roadside, needing, not merely the call of the gospel, but the grasp of the strong, tender hands, and the binding up of the gaping wounds.

There are those to whom, if they cannot appropriate Him, Christ would appropriate Himself―those who dare not thrust out leprous hands to Him because of their pollution, and who can only be liberated and brought out of their isolation by that direct touch of His, in which a new, undreamed-of life for them begins.

"He goeth after that which is lost." How much do those quiet words involve!

"But none of the ransomed ever knew How deep were the waters crossed, Nor how dark was the night which the Lord passed through, Ere He found His sheep which was lost.”

The cross was the only place where He could overtake these wanderers. It is only as we realize what the cross is that we find the arms of this mighty love thrown round us. Here indeed He has come where we are. Here is the place in which, without rebuke, we can claim Him―our place, the place of our doom― our substitute and sin-bearer He who takes it.

The awful cloud which has shadowed His glory has destroyed forever the distance between us. The crucified One is ours; for the death and judgment He has borne are ours. These are our due our penalty; and we have them in the cross borne, and borne away from us. He has found the lost; and immediately we are freed and up borne by the might of this redemption and by the living power of the Redeemer: "He layette it on His shoulders, rejoicing.”

"Ye Must Be Born Again"

Don't mistake it, that means you; these are the words of Jesus, excluding none, including all:

"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3.

"THE LORD

IS GOOD ... AND

HE KNOWETH THEM

MAT TRUST IN HIM.”

Nah. 1:7.

"BLESSED IS THE MAN

THAT TRUSTETH IN

THE LORD,

AND WHOSE HOPE

THE LORD IS.”

Jeremiah 17:7.

DECEMBER

"You Have Asked the Right Man"

While visiting one of the large hospital the following conversation took place between a servant of the Lord and one of the patients, a man sixty years old.

"Well, my friend, I believe you have been, quite sick. I suppose you hope soon to be able to go back to your home?”

"Yes, thank you; I don't think I shall be here much longer. I have suffered a lot, but am better and hope soon to be able to go home.”

"May I ask you," said the servant of Christ, "where you expect to go after you leave this world? It matters little where we came from, but where are we going?

That is the important thing to be clear about.”

"You have asked the right man that question this time, and I will give you a plain answer. I am going to heaven.”

"Have you always been a good man?”

"Oh, no, sir; I am a sinner.”

"Well, I am glad to hear that. You seem to be quite sure that you are going to heaven. May I ask what authority you have for what you say?”

"Well, sir, it was hardly two years ago that I had a vision. I was caught up into paradise and saw Jesus. He spoke so kindly to me, and His face was so bright and happy. He told me I was not to stay there just yet, but that my sins were all forgiven and that I was a child of God and would soon be called to be with Him, to be there forever.”

"I am glad to hear all you say, my friend,” said the servant of the Lord, "but that would not be enough to satisfy me.”

"Not enough to satisfy you? What more would you want than to hear the Lord Himself say your sins were forgiven, and own you as a child of God?”

"I would want to have it down in black and white! Nothing less than that would satisfy me. It would not be enough to have a verbal agreement with a person about a piece of land, would it? I would want to have it in writing, no matter how truthful the person might be, and then it would settle all dispute for all time. Just suppose what you think was a vision was only a dream.

What would you have to assure you that your sins are forgiven, and that you are a child of God?”

"Oh sir, it was no dream, and you can't shake my confidence like that.”

"My friend, I don't want to shake your confidence by any means, nor lessen your faith in what God has said. I would only like to give you a surer foundation upon which to build your hope.”

"Have you anything better than that, sir?”

"Yes, I surely have. I have the Lord's own words in black and white. Without this I could never be certain.”

"Then let me see them.”

The servant of the Lord then took from his pocket the precious Word of God, and read to him these words: "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake."

1 John 2:12. And―"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God...loved, now are we the sons of God." 1 John 3:1, 2.

"You surely have the best of it, sir. I can see now that only as we have the Word of God for everything that we believe can we be fully persuaded that we are right.”

Dear reader, we ask you the same question asked the sick man: "Where are you going?”

"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." John 3:36.

"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death."

Prov. 14:12.

Echoes of Grace: 1948

Table of Contents

"Admit the Bearer - A Sinner"

"Apples of Gold"

Appropriation

Are You Satisfied? Is God Satisfied?

An Atheist Said

The Best Things Are Free

The Biggest Fool in the Village

The Blood-Marked Door

Brought Back

The Changed Word

The Chief of Sinners

The Chiming Clock

Christian Profession

Come!

Disappointed and Satisfied

A Divine Necessity

The Divine Way

"Do" or "Done"?

The Door Will Be Shut

An Echo of Warning

The Erased Rock

Eternity

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract

The Faith of Rahab

A Faithful Saying

Forget These Melancholy Ideas

Fragment

A Good-Living Man

A Great Inheritance

Handcuffs

"Hath Everlasting Life"

"He Will Hold Me Fast"

Hear the Word of God!

Her Fatal Choice

"He's Not Put Them Back on Me"

How and When

How Much Does Sin Weigh?

"If a Man Does the Best He Can"

If We Neglect

In Christ Alone

An Invitation

Is Jesus God the Son?

"It Is a Fearful Thing to Fall Into the Hands of the Living God"

Jesus Calls Thee

John 6:37

Joy or Torment - Which?

Just in Time

The Life-Line

The Lord Jesus, the Great Physician

Only a Little While

"Only One Man"

The Prince's Mistake

The Question at the Fountain

The Rent Paid

The Skeptic's Challenge

A Solemn Question

Something About Yourself

Sticking to the Text

The Storm

"Take It in the Dark"

Tell Him All

"The Best Man - Lost!"

There's a Savior for You

Three Indisputable Facts