Echoes of Grace: 1963

Hector Mabien was born and brought up in Scotland. After his conversion he used to say of himself that in early life he was "an infidel of the worst kind." He did not call himself this because he was very profligate,—for he was not, nor was he a drunkard, nor profane. Hector Mabien was so moral that people could point to him and say: "There is an infidel, yet he leads a better life than some of you Christians!" Thus his influence against Christianity was greater than if he had been living in open sin.

The conversion of his sister upset him badly. Together they had gone to the theater and the ballroom, and had enjoyed the same mutual pursuits. Now their paths separated. She found her sources of pleasure elsewhere, and could go with him to such places no longer. Mabien had to acknowledge that she was as good and kind a sister as ever; but the change in her spiritually only embittered him against the gospel of God. What could be done with such a man? How could he be reached? God had the answer.

One day he was browsing around in a book-store, as he often did. A beautifully bound book attracted his attention, and, seeing that it was something "religious," he bought it as a present for his Christian mother. It proved to be Dr. Keith's "Evidences of the Truth of the Christian Religion derived from the Literal Fulfillment of Prophecy.”

God's hand was in this. Hector Mabien was an unbeliever, but he was not an atheist. He believed in the existence of a Supreme Being, but he had never been convinced of the genuineness, authenticity and inspiration of the Scriptures. To exhort him, however earnestly, to become a Christian had little effect. What he needed was not to have his feelings played upon, but to be shown evidence that the Bible is a revelation from God. He was a great reader; and no book could be long in the house before he began to examine it. This purchase of his proved to be just what he needed.

As the author, Dr. Keith, quoted the passages of Scripture concerning the Jews, Judea, Edom; Babylon, Tire, Egypt, etc., and many others which were written undeniably thousands of years ago, and cited the testimony of travelers and historians as showing the literal fulfillment of the prophecies, Mabien became thoroughly convinced that no mere man could have foreseen and foretold with such minuteness what has happened! Only God could have known, and only through the Holy Spirit could this Book have been written.

Later, telling of his exercise of soul, Mabien said: "The first time I prayed, I had been sitting alone in the parlor. All had gone to bed but myself. As I read the predictions of the prophets which Dr. Keith cites, and over against them the undesigned testimony of the infidel Volney, in his "Ruins of Empires," as to what he saw in those lands, I could not but admit the claim of the ancient writers, that 'they spoke not of themselves but as they were inspired of God.' Believing I ought at once to confess to God, I got down to pray. Why, it seemed I shook the room in so doing. Like Saul of Tarsus, my question now was, `Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?'”

He soon openly confessed Christ, and identified himself with the people of God. Step by step he was led onward, until, as "a pedestrian missionary," Hector Mabien did, with humility and joy, "the work of an evangelist" in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. His was "the pen of the ready writer," and many are the articles which he wrote in defense of the truth as it is in Jesus.

"He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Heb. 11:6.

Saved by the Book

He was sitting in the park reading the Word of God, an unusual sight in this day of skeptics and freethinkers. "You are reading the best of books," I remarked.

"Yes," the young man responded; "and I prove its value more each time I read it." And he then quoted the familiar words of the poet:

"Man's books with heaps of chaff are stored,
God's Book doth golden grain afford;
Then blow away the chaff,
And spend thy time
In gathering up the golden grain.”

"But why," said I, "do you value that Book?" "Oh," he replied, "because it was from its pages I first learned how to be saved.”

"But are you saved?" I asked.

"Yes, by God's grace," said he; "and if you will sit down I will tell you how it happened. It was two or three years ago. I had been going on very carelessly, and was indifferent about my soul's salvation. My father and mother were not Christians, and did not seem to trouble themselves about me. But I began to grow weary of the pleasures of sin, and of the pursuit of that which could not satisfy me. Satan, however, seemed to say, 'You have not tried this,' and 'Why don't you go in for that? The best is to come.' So for a time I yielded to him, though I came home night after night feeling disappointed with the continual mockery of worldly pleasure.

"One evening I determined to stay home for a change. Taking a book from the shelf at random, I found it was an old Bible. As I idly turned over its pages, my eye was suddenly attracted by a verse which had been heavily penciled round by a former reader. There I read: “‘Wherefore, 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.' Rom. 5:12.

I said to myself: "Can that be true? I know I have done many things called sinful; but does that mean I am a sinner? And if I am, must I surely die?”

"I turned the page back, and in the third chapter, twenty-third verse I read: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.'

"The thought troubled me. The Word went straight as an arrow to my heart, and convicted me of my sinful condition. I closed the Book and went to bed very unhappy, but I could not sleep. I was afraid I might die in my sins. Finally I hurriedly dressed and went downstairs, and again opened the Bible. This time I found comfort as my eyes rested on the words: 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' 1 Tim. 1:15.

"Gladly I acknowledged in my heart, 'Then He came into the world to save me, for I am truly a sinner.' Eager for more light, I turned over the pages, and God by His Spirit directed me to several other portions, all equally enlightening.

"It was all rather complicated to me, for I knew little of gospel truth; but the words took hold, and I was able to rest in them. Of course, the light was only dawning upon my awakened soul, so I sought out a religious friend whose company I had previously shunned. Humbly I asked him to explain what I had read.

"I shall never forget my joyful eagerness when I read the simple statement: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:31.

"I sat long and listened to the gospel from this kind friend. Through him I heard of the death of my Savior for my sins, of His finished work, of His resurrection from the dead, and of His exaltation to glory. Then he told me that Christ is coming again. Oh, I have so much to learn! From that day the blessed Book has been my constant companion; I don't know what I would do without it.”

My reader, have you found that you are a sinner in God's sight? Then seek the comfort of the Scriptures, for they are indeed able to "make thee wise unto salvation." 2 Tim. 3:15.

Are You Satisfied?

"No, sir," said the nurse who had attended the dying Voltaire. "No, sir; not for all the world nor the wealth of Europe would I want to witness the death of another infidel.”

What a testimony to the horrors of infidelity! Paine, who had lived in debauchery and infidelity, died crying, "Christ, have mercy on me!”

Infidelity gives no comfort for a death-bed. Men may live without Christ, but what tragedy to die without Him! Even with the most profligate and hardened, conscience at times makes its voice heard. It speaks in solemn tones to their terror-stricken hearts: "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”

Though a species of pleasure may be found in the pursuits of the ungodly, it is evanescent and short lived—truly "for a season." Frequently its light expires amid the blackness of darkness forever.

Soul, nothing short of God can satisfy you. When Alexander the Great had conquered the whole known world, he was not content. Unsatisfied, he sat down and wept like a babe because he had not another world to conquer. The whole world his, he still was not satisfied. A Roman emperor, who had run the whole gamut of worldly pleasures, offered a large reward to anyone who should discover a new pleasure.

Do you seek happiness in the possession of wealth? A multi-millionaire was congratulated by a friend upon his immense wealth, and consequent happiness. His answer was: "Happy! Me happy? Can one be happy, when, almost daily, one's life is sought (and threatened) in exchange for his gold?”

Friend, be assured of this: without love to Christ you cannot be really happy. You were made for Him. Having Him for your Savior and Friend, you will have that which alone can satisfy the yearnings of your soul.

"At Thy right hand are pleasures forevermore." Psa. 16:11.

As a Flame of Fire

"And in the midst of the seven candlesticks One like unto the Son of Man... His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto fine brass." Rev. 1:13-15.

A portrait of Christ by the artist Hemling of the Netherlands, had been lost a long time. It was a distinguished example of fine art portraying the majesty of the countenance of the Son of Man as world-Judge, having eyes "as a flame of fire.”

When this famous picture again made its appearance, connoisseurs of art decided to exhibit it to the poet Goethe. He was also an art critic of some note, and his opinion was valued. Unknown to him the painting was placed in his room as a surprise. It did indeed have that effect! But it so troubled him that he could not give the calm, deliberate criticism expected. After a while he signaled for a servant and commanded: "Take that picture away! I cannot endure it.”

Dear reader, if "a child of the world," as Goethe once called himself, could not bear the piercing look on the face of the painted Christ, how then will one endure the gaze of the living Christ,—the gaze of the eyes burning "as a flame of fire"? Who shall be able to stand before the Son of Man? Surely none save they who are born of God through faith in the blood of His dear Son.

Tell me, my reader, are you cleansed by the shed blood of Christ? Does His Spirit dwell within you? Has the love of God been shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost? If so, you need not fear, for "perfect love casteth out fear.”

"But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." Eph 2:13.

A Soul-Winning Queen

In this day of popular contests for the title of beauty queen, fashion queen, or "what-have-you," it is refreshing to the soul to read of a queen who was truly of the blood royal, yet in real humility could own her allegiance to the King of kings.

Such a one was Victoria, a former queen of England. She, with other ladies of her court, could say with the prophet Jeremiah: "Thus saith the Lord... let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me.”

You may have heard a story involving one of Queen Victoria's "ladies." When she read in the Scriptures, "Not many mighty, not many noble, are called," she rejoiced to find the letter "m" preceding a-n-y. Said she: "That letter m lets me in!”

Indeed, the highest and the lowest are invited to be partakers of God's grace, not only for their own salvation, but, as workers together with Christ, to be able to show others the way.

The Full Context

"I know more about the Bible than you can tell me," said a young man as he refused a gospel tract offered him.

"Very likely," was the reply; "but do you know this?" The speaker pointed to the heading of the tract: "Thy sins be forgiven thee.”

"No, nor you, either; for no one can possibly know that in this life.”

This is the thought of many in so-called Christian lands, who repeat week by week, as part of their creed: "I believe in the forgiveness of sins.”

"Let me read you a verse of Scripture," said the one who had offered the tract: "Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins." Acts 13:38.

The Christian then made a few remarks on the simplicity of the Word. The young man replied: "Yes, yes, that is all very well; but you must not take a passage from its context. I am sure there is something about good works in the chapter. Give me the full context," he said angrily.

A good deal more was said on the subject, but the rebellious spirit of the young man made it evident that he did not have a mind open to God's Word. The Christian worker then gave him a "parting shot" by quoting Acts 13:41: "Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you." Then, with solemn conviction he added: "That, sir, is the context.”

Without another word the objector turned away, and we saw him no more.

In contrast with this, how refreshing was the case of a woman who was very anxious about her soul. These words of the Lord Jesus were repeated to her: 'Thy sins are forgiven. Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”

Scarcely had the words been uttered, when the woman, with tears running down her face, burst out: "Praise the Lord, then! I do believe; I am saved!" And her look of intense anxiety and distress changed to one of rest and peace.

What of your sins, my reader, all your guilty yesterdays? Are they forgiven, blotted out as a thick cloud? (Isa. 44:22). Or are you still fearful that they may appear against you as a host of witnesses in "that day"? (Rev. 20:12). Perhaps the language of your heart is: "Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions." "For Thy Name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.”

Then, there is a blessed word just suited to you: "To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins." Acts 10:43.

"I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." Isa. 43:25.

Complete Insurance

FIRE! FIRE!

What a heart-chilling sound! But how comforting to the owner of the burning building if he can say: "All loss is covered by insurance. It is completely insured.”

In so many ways we find that the children of this generation are indeed wiser than the children of light. They use lavishly the safe-guards provided for health, life and limb, investments and worldly possessions. They seek to preserve intact or insure for equal value everything tangible that belongs to them.

But of little interest to the worldling are the things of eternity. If his house were destroyed by fire, his first concern, usually, is: How much insurance? In contrast, if his earthly house of this tabernacle—his physical being—meets with disaster, and death is pending, the most important question for him to answer is: Are you saved? Is your salvation insured?

God has made provision for your eternal security, at tremendous cost to Himself, and He offers it to you for nothing. If you despise and refuse such wonderful love, what provision will you be able to make of your own that will satisfy God? Assuredly none.

Friend, own your sinful state now before God. Receive Christ as your own personal Savior, and your name will be written in God's book of life, and kept securely in the safety vault of heaven. God assures you that you shall never perish, but shall have everlasting life.

"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." John 3:16.

"I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one." John 10:28-30.

Believing in God, and Believing God

Sometimes people are asked if they know the Lord Jesus Christ. Their answer may be, "Well, I believe in God.”

Not many, even in these days when a mild agnosticism is popular among men in general, would deny the existence of a Supreme Being. But even these who declare themselves atheists, are often the first to call upon God in times of great danger and trouble.

To believe IN God avails but little. Perhaps you say, "I believe in God." What practical effect does that belief have on your life? Many in theory confess the name of God, but in their lives give the lie to their profession. They are practical atheists.

To believe IN God is one thing; to BELIEVE God is quite another. There is all the difference in the world between being convinced of the existence of God, and in believing what He says.

The Gospel teaches us first what to believe concerning ourselves; and then it tells us about Christ. In His Word, God says that man is lost, guilty, ruined, helpless. If you believe God, you must believe His Word, and thus you will take the place in which He sets you—that of the lost sinner. This is very different from carelessly admitting that "all men are sinners." You may not FEEL very bad; but whatever you may feel, you may KNOW that you are a lost sinner, because God says so.

If you do not take the place of the lost sinner, then on your own showing the Lord Jesus Christ is not for you. Only those who are "condemned already" can claim a Savior. God cannot accept your thoughts about yourself; but just because you accept God's estimate of yourself, you have the right to accept God's estimate of Christ for you.

You may think that you have to make yourself good enough for Christ to accept YOU; God says that Christ is good enough for you to accept HIM. Acknowledge the character He gives you, and receive the Savior He has provided for you. TAKE THE GUILTY SINNER'S PLACE, AND CLAIM THE GUILTY SINNER'S Savior.

"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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Rom. 10:9, 10.

Not Trying

By trying to get peace you will never succeed. How can you get peace? Simply by being satisfied with the Lord Jesus. God is satisfied with His work: are you? He says,

"Come unto Me..., and I will give you rest.”

You cannot have come to Him if you do not have this rest. Believe what He says. He longs to fill your soul. Come to Jesus now. Look off from self altogether— good self and bad self; and find in Him all you need. God finds in Him His full desire. You, too, will find in Him all your soul can desire for time and for eternity.

"He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." Psa. 107:9.

"Behold, the eye of the Lord is
upon them that fear Him, upon
them that hope in His mercy; to
deliver their soul from death.”

Psa. 33:18, 19.

"There is none other name
under heaven given among
men, whereby we must be
SAVED.”

Acts 4:12.

February

The Silent Cylinder

"And what do you do on Sunday?" The preacher thus questioned his taxi-driver.

"I have no Sunday," replied the man. "That's the day when I have most to do. Almost always there is a picnic crowd wanting service. I have no time for religion. And after all, it means nothing to me.”

The car ran smoothly, and without effort they overtook one vehicle after another. The preacher said to himself: "I must get at this man's conscience; but how?" And indeed the chauffeur was a fine specimen of a man. He and his car seemed made for each other, but neither God nor his soul had any place in his thoughts.

"You have a splendid engine," remarked the preacher, after a while, hoping to draw his man out a little.

"You won't find a better one, sir.”

"How many cylinders?”

"Six.”

"And your speed?”

The man turned to the speaker and winked.

At that moment a sharp listener could have heard an almost imperceptible change in the sound of the engine. The practiced ear of the driver caught it at once. He quickly moved some levers, but the car slowed down and stopped.

"What is the matter?" asked his passenger.

The chauffeur did not reply at once. He got out, made some adjustments, and on resuming his seat said: "Oh, nothing much. One of the cylinders wasn't working.”

They resumed their course and soon attained a still greater speed than before, and with an ease of motion which suggested almost unlimited power.

"Why didn't you run on with the five remaining cylinders?" asked the traveler. "They would have been enough for the trip, wouldn't they?”

"Well, sir, I am not satisfied unless all parts of my machine are working well.”

"All six cylinders have to be working?”

"Yes, sir.”

"I know a machine that runs on three cylinders," remarked the preacher.

"May I ask who the maker is?" said the man, evidently interested.

"Never mind that for the present," was the answer. "It has three cylinders, but the driver runs only on two.”

"What! All the time, sir?”

"Yes.”

"Then, sir, the man must be a fool. No machine could stand it. Does his boss know about it?" "Yes.”

"And he keeps him on without saying anything?”

"He speaks about it now and then, but the man will not listen to anything he says," replied the traveler sadly. "He is a good master, and very patient; but he says he will punish the man some day, and I know he will keep his word.”

“Excuse me, sir," said the driver, greatly puzzled; "but that master must be yourself!”

The preacher smiled. "No, it is someone with much more love and patience than I. Let me tell you what I mean. God is our master. He has made us, and we are the machines with three cylinders. They are called spirit, soul and body. Now you, my friend, are running on only two—the spirit (or feelings) and the body; and you let the third cylinder, your immortal soul, stay silent and dead. You even prevent it from doing its proper work.”

"Ah!" said the man. "You've got me there!”

"But God is full of love and patience," the preacher went on. "He has not dismissed you yet; I know that, since He has led me to speak to you. But don't trifle with so kind a Master. Accept the pardon He offers you through the Lord Jesus Christ, and get your three cylinders running together.”

They had reached their destination. The preacher shook hands heartily with the man, who said, as they parted: "Sir, I've been a fool, and I see what I've been doing. Here and now, before God, I promise to give my soul into His keeping. Thank you for warning me.”

Is the reader also running on two cylinders and forgetting the third, the spiritual part of him?—The Scripture says: "There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding." Job 32:8; 28:28.

God's Measureless Love

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;—
To write the love
Of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll
Contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

Fateful Delay

Daniel was a young man twenty-five years old. When I first saw him he was just recovering from a serious illness, and seemed very anxious about his soul. He realized in some measure that God had spared him from an early grave, and now his mind was exercised about eternal things. I endeavored to set before him God's simple way of salvation.

"Oh, if I am spared, how differently I will live!" he promised.

I tried to show him that delay was a device of Satan, and that he should NOW trust the Lord Jesus. But Daniel was on the road to recovery; and as his strength returned, his anxiety disappeared. He now seemed to be content with "turning over a new leaf.”

One day, on entering the hospital ward, to my surprise I found him there ill again. He was very much alarmed, and I again spoke to him of his present need of the Savior. My visits were earnestly sought, and I gladly made them, in the hope that at last he would be led, not to rest on "turning over a new leaf," but to come to Jesus, and become at once a new creature in Him.

Although Daniel's illness was even more serious this time, through God's mercy, he was once more restored. After a few weeks he was again convalescent, and hoped to be dismissed in a few days from the building where his life had been in so much jeopardy. He had as yet not received the free offers of the Gospel, but said he waited for "a more convenient season." (Acts 24:25).

As I was entering the hospital one afternoon, the nurse of the ward where Daniel was a patient hastened to me and requested me to follow her to his bedside. There he lay; and what a sight! Every limb trembled. His eyes wandered wildly, and his lips quivered. In deep pity, I spoke to him 'of the mighty love of Jesus. I told him of His death for the lost, His willingness to save.

For a few minutes he listened. Then, as if my words could no longer be borne, he gave me such a look that I" cannot soon forget it: Oh, the despair and terror that seemed mingled in that gaze! His voice almost filled the ward as he cried out: "It's too late! It's too late!”

Before the sun went down, death had laid hold and the lifeless form of the procrastinator was carried away.

"Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6:2.

All Manner of Sin

Solemn words are those of the Lord Jesus recorded in Matt. 12:31: "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.”

Some earnest souls who love the Savior find in these words anything but comfort. They torture themselves with the question: Have I committed this unpardonable sin? But the warning of the passage does not refer to them. The comfort of it does.

The Pharisees dared to say that the Lord Jesus Was in league with Satan—that He had an unclean spirit in, Him. Thus it was, they said; that. He could do such wondrous miracles as those performed by Him from day to day. They could not deny that the works of power were done; so in the hardness of heart and hatred against Christ they sought to keep the people under their power by their wicked assertion: "This fellow doth not cast out devils but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils." This was the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. For this there was no pardon.

Have you committed this sin? Do you hate the Son of God and speak thus of His wondrous works, ascribing His divine power to the influence of Satan's forces?

"Oh, no," I can imagine you replying; "I love the Savior, but I am such a sinner myself that I do not think there can be forgiveness for me.”

Take, then, the comfort of the verse. It is for you—the condemnation of it was for others. "All manner of sin." How inclusive! Could you strengthen it or make it wider? The Savior has died, and His precious blood cleanseth from all sin. Trust Him wholly now. Rest upon His, faithful Word. Believe it fully and peace will be yours.

"His honor is engaged to save
The meanest of His sheep;
All that the Father to Him gave
His hands securely keep.”

Only One Door

Christ, when here on earth said: "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." John 10:1. He insisted that He Himself was the door of salvation, saying: "I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved." John 10:9. Certainly no one should have difficulty in finding the door to heaven, seeing there is only one. The door is not such things as baptism, church membership, or good works. It is a Person—just one Person—the Lord Jesus Christ! All that any church, preacher, or priest can do to save men, is to point them to Him—the only door.

But this door, which is open now, will soon he shut, Jesus warned men: "When once the Master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us; and He shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are... depart from Me all workers of iniquity.”

The Lord Jesus counseled His hearers to "strive [agonize] to enter in at the strait gate" (Luke 13:24, 25, 27). A "door" or "gate," we understand, is just an entrance; so Christ is the entrance to heaven as He said: "By Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.”

When one puts his faith in, and depends wholly upon, the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, he has entered the door. He is saved, and knows on the authority of God's Word that he will be in heaven.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." John 5:24.

Every sinner is invited to enter this door. The Savior has promised: "Him that cometh to Me; I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37. He stands ready to receive and to bless every soul who comes to Him.

Reasoning Faculties

"God surely did not give me a mind with reasoning faculties unless He wanted me to use them." Thus said an unsaved man to me, and there is indeed a measure of truth in such a remark. But this deluded man ignored the fact that he, as an unregenerate member of Adam's race, was a fallen creature, and that "the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.”

Though the Bible contains nothing against reason; and although God reasons with man "from out of the Scriptures" (Acts 17:2), He never reasons with him about them. No matter who denies it, His Word is the only vehicle by which He conveys His thoughts to man. In 1 Cor. 3:19, God proclaims that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with Him. The next verse is even more explicit: "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain." 1 Cor. 3:20.

Conversion

What is conversion? It is indeed a genuine turning of the heart to God from one's own previous course.

Other things can be mistaken for it. There may be a change of ways, a profession made, a religious course adopted, and the heart still remain a stranger to grace and to God.

In true and full conversion to God there is the sense of deep need, of guilt and unworthiness. When the soul is brought into the light of the divine presence and the conscience comes in contact with the glory, then God is heard to speak. The sinner sees the crucified Lord, confesses his sins, and abhors himself.

It is then also through the word of the gospel that Christ is seen as the Savior, and trusted in. The gospel brings knowledge of salvation and forgiveness of sins. In full, genuine conversion, the Lord Jesus Christ becomes personally known. The guilty conscience is set at rest, and the heart is satisfied. Every truly converted soul is a miracle of God's grace.

"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.

C. H. M.

In Christ

Are all church members true Christians? No. One may be a member of any church, yet not be "in Christ." Union with Christ is what makes the true Christian, nothing less. One may be a zealous churchman, an ardent worker for a denomination, an active officeholder in a Christian group, earnestly seeking the good of the "Cause." Yet that one may be "without Christ," and, therefore, not a Christian, or "Christ one," as the Bible uses the name.

Where church membership is open to all who are not guilty of flagrant sin—and, sad to say, some who are—it is not to be wondered at if persons who have not been born of God, who have no vital union with Christ, who have no personal reliance on His precious blood, and no knowledge of their salvation, "creep in unawares." They may have become communicants wholly apart from personal dealing with God and heart acceptance of His Son as Savior, Redeemer and Lord.

How solemn it is to act so! And what an awful judgment awaits those who encourage others whom they know to be unfit, to come to the Lord's Table, and there profess to be what most of them know that they are not.

No "membership" in any church makes a Christian. Nor does church "connection" secure a place in heaven for anyone.

The gospel is God's good news of a Savior provided and a salvation proclaimed to all. Those who receive that Savior by faith, and are "in Christ" and He in them, are Christians—nobody else.

Some who are truly born of God may not always glorify their Father in heaven. They may at times conduct themselves carelessly, and in their ways become like to "the world of the ungodly," thus bringing divine chastisement on themselves and dishonor on the name of the Lord. But this does not change their relation to God as Father, or to Christ as Lord. Because they "belong to Christ" they will be made to feel their backsliding. God must chastise His erring child in order to restore him to walk in "the paths of righteousness.”

But the false professor, he who has no possession of Christ; the one who has "a name to live," but has no spiritual life; who is "in the church," but not "in Christ," must, sooner or later, now or in the coming judgment, be stripped of his false profession. His hypocrisy must be exposed, and the unreality of his life, as God knows it, shall be laid bare.

"For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:14.

Reader, make sure your Christianity is of God, and it will be real.

A Restless Prisoner

Sitting ready, I became aware of a little bird in my room. It was making fruitless efforts to escape. From wall to wall and against the closed window it dashed. At last it escaped through the back of the house. Poor little thing, how frightened it was of me! It had no relish for the near company of a human being.

I said to myself: "This is just how a sinner would feel, could he get into heaven unsaved. The presence of God would be intolerable. The poor man would be out of his element, and have no desires suitable to that holy place. His one thought would be to escape. Yet we hear people say: "Oh, of course, we all hope to go to heaven!”

WHAT IS HEAVEN? It is that holy abode where God in all His glory reveals the fullness of His love to those who "have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. There the great multitude of the redeemed delight to raise their song of praise to "Him that sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb forever." In heaven all believers in God's dear Son are conformed to His blest image; and there all is unsullied righteousness around and within each heart. Sin, sorrow, suffering, and death have no place there, and partings shall be no more. The presence of God and His Son make heaven home.

Would heaven be home to you, my reader?

To be at home in God's company you must possess divine fitness and divine affections; else you would only be miserable there, like the little bird in my room.

You could not join in heaven's song of praise to the Lord Jesus: "Thou art worthy." You would have nothing to praise Him for. The very heavens we see shall pass away (Matt. 24:3); the earth we live in shall be burned up; and there shall be new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. (2 Peter 3.)

Where will you be then, reader?

"There shall in no wise enter into it" (the holy city) "anything that defileth." Rev. 21:37.

If you are not washed in the Savior's blood, your presence in heaven would defile it. You cannot have a place inside. "Without" (outside) "are dogs"—unclean things. (Rev. 22:15.) In that state you must live forever "outside heaven, inside hell," where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt. 22:13.)

There is no middle place for respectable sinners. There is no rest in hell, and no back door out of it. (Mark 9:43-48.)

God's judgment now hangs over this guilty world, as once it did over Egypt and its rebellious king.

God said, "I will execute judgment: I am the Lord." Ex. 12:12. He did then, and He will do so again. Now He lingers in long-suffering grace in order to save.

God sent His beloved Son into the world to die to prove His love to man. Man showed his hatred of God by crucifying His Son. (Acts 4:24-28.)

God will never pass sin by unpunished; so in righteousness He poured out His wrath against it on the sinless One—made Him to be sin for us. Now sin has been judged to the uttermost; for Christ has died, established God's righteousness, and made it available for every one that believes. God is just, and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus. (Rom. 3:26.)

This is the only fitness which will avail with God to save a sinner from hell, and take him to heaven, for it is provided by Himself, and in His grace flows to us through a righteous channel, even through the crucified, risen Lord, and is possessed by the believer. So-called "good works" will not save. "To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Rom. 4:5.

Faith in Christ and the cleansing power of His blood shed on Calvary for sinners can alone justify one before God. Faith in Christ gives fitness and access to the Father, who hath made us (believers) meet (that is, fit) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. (Col. 1:12.)

Believe God's record (1 John 5:11), and you will be happy now in His presence, for His perfect love casteth out fear. (1 John 4:18.) You will love Him because He first loved you, and His love will be shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. (Rom. 5:5.) Heaven is home to you, dear sinner, saved by grace. There you will sing the song that begins on earth: "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood,... to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." Rev. 1:5, 6.

"Blessed are they that wash their robes (R. V.), that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city." (Rev. 22:14.)

"CHRIST JESUS CAME INTO
THE WORLD TO SAVE
SINNERS.”

1 Tim. 1:15.

"Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according
to His mercy He saved us.”

Titus 3:5.

March

The Cleft of the Rock

"Tom, did you hear that preacher say that a terrible time is ahead for this world, and that the only place to hide from it is in the cleft of the Rock? What did he mean?”

"In the cleft of the rock? Sure I know what that means. I was saved that way once; nor can I ever forget it.”

"How did it happen? Tell us about it.”

"You remember when the railroad first came through our town? It was a single track, and where it runs in that long curve at the foot of the hill, mighty little space there was between the rocks on the one side and the deep water on the other.”

"Yes; I often thought what an awful wreck it would have been if the train had jumped the track there. Just enough space for a train to pass without striking the rocks on the side of the hill.”

"And no place for a person to stand on the other side if a train should come while he was there. It was an awful place, before the roadbed was widened and the second track was laid. I shudder when I think of what might have happened to me there.

"It was when I was just a boy and not long after the railroad was built. My sister and I were coming home from school, and we thought it would be shorter and easier, as well as more pleasant, to try the railroad back instead of the long walk over the hill-path. It would have been after the time for the express, and no other train was scheduled, so we felt safe enough. We hardly thought of danger anyway. She was older than I, and I left all worry to her. We were going along leisurely; I was throwing stones into the water and she was looking on, when suddenly she screamed, as she caught my hand. "Run, run! The express is coming!”

"I heard its roar, and then the whistle as it came near the curve, but could not see it yet. Boys, you know, soon learn to tell trains and locomotives by the different sounds a n d by the differences in their whistles. I knew that it was the express. My heart seemed to stop. Had my sister not forced me on, I might have been powerless to run. We ran as fast as possible; but, how can the feet of children compare with an express train in a race, especially if that train is behind time and trying to make it up?

"Had we gone back we would have been safe, for we had only just started on the narrow and dangerous place when we heard the train. All that long run was ahead before we could reach a spot wide enough to let the train go safely by: and not far behind us came that express.

"It was a cloudy day and in the early winter, so that it seemed quite dark, especially on that side of the hill. Perhaps it was the darkness, perhaps the curve, that prevented the engineer from seeing us. He did not see us! The train came on as swiftly as ever.

"Oh, the awful terror of that minute, for it was but a minute! Each moment we felt must be our last. We could hear the roar of the train coming nearer and nearer, and did not know but that it was almost upon us. Yet we dared not look around lest we should lose time. We dared not even speak. Tightly holding each other's hand, we ran on. All this, you need not be told, took less time than it takes to tell it.

"Suddenly the whistle blew. The engineer had seen us, but too late to stop the train. Whether or not the whistle made my sister notice, I don't know; but just when we reached a place where a large chunk of rock had been blown out of the cliff by the side of the track. It seemed as if the rock had parted and a wedge had been taken out. Before I had time to think, my sister threw her arm about me and pushed me into the cleft in the rock. Then she threw herself forward and crowded me into the opening.

"Hardly had she done this when the train rushed by and left us safe in the cleft. We were saved, saved by a fraction of space and a single moment only. Had we gone any farther the train would have caught us, and—well, I would not be here to tell you about it.”

"That was a narrow escape, surely.”

"Yes; and I never think of it without a shudder. We were saved by that cleft in the rock. If ever children were thankful for anything, we were for that cleft in the rock. I often think, suppose it had not been there!”

"But what has that to do with the sermon we heard yesterday? Of course it was a good sermon, but I don't see how it applies to us, Tom. You and I are good, honest men. It need not concern us about God's punishing sinners. I believe He will, but not such men as you and I are.”

"Jim, I'll tell you why it concerns me, and maybe you too. I know I am not a Christian and so I am in the way of danger. Destruction's express train maybe coming along; it may soon overtake me. Then what? That sermon meant me; and I'm afraid it meant you too. But that minister spoke of the cleft in the rock. That is on my mind all the time, and I know what he means.

"We must find some place to hide, some place where destruction's train cannot reach us. Right alongside of where we are is a cleft Rock; and in that is the place to hide. That Rock is Christ; and that is what the minister meant when he said that we must `hide in the Rock, Christ'. That is what is meant by the hymn:—

"Rock of ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.”

"Jim, I've made up my mind to hide in that Rock! That is the place of safety we both need—and Christ is our only way to be saved.”

"Well, it does have more meaning to me now, Tom, than it did before. Yes, you are right; and thank God we have found that cleft in time!”

Reader, do not delay. Time is fast slipping by. The cleft Rock is at hand—God's provision for your eternal safety. Cast yourself into it. Make Christ your Savior. In Him is everlasting peace and security.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee." Isa. 26:3.

After Many Days

He was an excellent open-air speaker, the evangelist. His voice could be heard, on a quiet evening, at an astonishing distance, so that many, too timid to attend his meetings, heard the Word in spite of themselves.

In the neighborhood where he lived, was a notorious man, Joe Braley, a rough man of unenviable reputation. He was often in prison for his misdeeds, and nearly always wanted by the police.

One night, having selected a promising looking house just out of town for that night's work, Joe was loitering along the river bank with his bag of burglar's tools. Suddenly a distant voice fell distinctly on his ears: "Be sure your sins will find you out," cried the voice.

Curiosity prompted Joe to follow the sound for a distance along the river, until he found himself on the outskirts of a crowd. They were listening to the earnest words of a gospel preacher.

About an hour later the preacher was at home preparing for bed. A knock at his front door resulted in the announcement that Joe Braley wanted to see Mr. Russell. He immediately went to greet him, while Mrs. Russell, naturally timid and knowing Joe's character, crept quietly behind her husband in the darkness. There at the open door stood a sturdy figure, and a gruff voice asked, "Are you Mr. Russell?”

"Yes, I am," was the answer.

"Do you know me?”

"Yes, Joe, I do.”

"I want you to come for a walk with me.”

At this point Mrs. Russell made known her presence by laying hold of her husband and beseeching him not to venture out at that late hour. But her remonstrance was in vain. Together the preacher and his visitor walked off together in silence into the dark night.

Mr. Russell wondered what could be Joe's errand, as they went out of the town and up a lonely lane between two high hedge rows. Ere long Joe came to a sudden halt and said: "I guess you know what my life has been. I started out tonight to burglarize a house, but as I crept along the river bank a voice fell on my ears. I scarcely know what I did as I followed the sound until I came to a crowd and heard you preaching. I afterward inquired your name, and was told who you were, and where you lived. I want to ask you: Is all you said true?”

"Yes, Joe; every word of it," was the reply. "Then do you think there is any hope for me? Can Jesus save such a sinner as I?”

"Yes, Joe, I have no doubt about it whatever, for the Bible says He is able to save to the uttermost.”

"Well, preacher, you know much of my life, maybe, but you don't know all. There is hardly a sin under the sun that I have not committed. I would not even swear that these hands have not been stained with human blood. Can there be any mercy for such a deep-dyed sinner?”

"Yes, Joe; the 'blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin'. That is God's Word.”

"Then I want you to see me bury these things and kneel with me upon their grave.”

Cutting the turf carefully, he dug a little grave. He deposited there his revolver, skeleton-keys and other house-breaking tools. Then replacing the sod and treading down the earth, he again asked the preacher to kneel there in the darkness, and cry to God to have mercy on his poor soul. They rose from their knees and Joe wordlessly, but with a strong handshake, thanked the preacher. Then he walked resolutely down the road, away from his old life, and was heard of in that neighborhood no more. Where he went remained a question. If living, he evidently had put distance between himself and his old associates as his best hope for avoiding temptation.

Often in the ensuing years the preacher told the story of his midnight walk with Joe Braley. He had moved far from that scene, but he still prayed for, and wondered what had become of Joe.

About thirty years later, the whole country was busy with Sunday School celebrations. At one of the largest, where Christian parents and friends had met for a Sunday School treat, Mr. Russell, now a very aged man, was present with his family. To his surprise, a well-built and neatly dressed man came up to him and gripped his hand. 'Why, Mr. Russell, I am delighted to see you," he cried. "Don't you know me? I have cause to know you well. Don't you remember Joe Braley?”

"Are you Joe Braley?" The astounded old man could scarcely believe it.

"I am, praise God, but I am not the Joe Braley you knew. Since that night in the lane I have belonged to God, and have been seeking to lead others to Him. My wife and my three daughters are all believers. Forget you? Never! We shall forever praise God for you.”

Among the many glad hearts that returned from that gathering, not one thrilled with truer joy than did that of the dear old servant of God. How happily he told the tale of the long lost one—found! And how precious to him was the divine promise: "Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.”

An Old Aunt?

A few days ago I was in a small tea-room. There some school teachers were eating lunch, and they were chatting freely about their work with the children.

One of the group asked: "How much of religious teaching do you think our pupils can understand?”

I was at a separate table, but was close enough to hear. Another said, in reply, "Well, when I was a child I had to go to Sunday School every Sunday, but I never understood anything. "Oh, how I hated it!”

Then another said: "Yes, and in those days they used to talk about being saved or lost. Do you know, I had an old aunt who positively believed that! She used to go to people's doors and ask if they were saved.”

There was a great deal of laughing, and several remarked, "How very absurd," and "I wonder who believes it now! Let us ask Mr. White what he thinks it means to be saved.”

The one male teacher with them, a quiet, grave person, had not joined in the conversation, or the sad mockery of sacred things. In reply to their appeal, he said: "You will find a passage in the Acts of the Apostles which gives us the true idea: 'The Lord added to the church daily such as were being saved,' as the better rendering gives it. That means we are being saved all the way along. We persevere and walk in right ways and there is no need to talk of being lost in the end.”

As he began talking I thought he was a Christian, but now I could see it was a plan of his own he had developed, or of some man. I was greatly stirred in my soul. "What am I here for?"—So I questioned myself. Surely I must confess my Lord.

The scoffers soon left Mr. White to finish eating alone. When he rose to go, I said: "Excuse me, please. I have been intensely interested in what I overheard of your conversation. What you said of being saved all the way along is true of a believer; but I fear you are leaving out conversion. The question of sin must be settled first. 'It is the BLOOD that makes atonement for the soul'.”

Mr. White then sat down and took great pains to explain his theory. "I think we must be a little elastic in these days of advanced knowledge," he said. "We must be willing to look at things a little differently.”

Most earnestly I explained that God's truth had not changed with the changing times, and the Bible states that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Those who are saved by faith in Him want nothing new. I begged him to take his true place before God as a sinner and accept Christ as his Savior. "Then you can teach those children the truth. How responsible you are in their lives for good or evil!”

The Lord gave me a fitting message for him and all such: "If they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them." Isa. 8:20.

Mr. White hastily said his time was up. I felt definitely but kindly dismissed, and my heart was sad as I thought of the opportunity he was missing of influencing aright the young lives around him. I said aloud, "Oh, dear! If these are our teachers, what will become of the children?”

A young lady arose from a table across the room. She gladly received my proffered booklet, saying, "I am so pleased to have this. I am a Sunday School teacher, and I am often grieved to hear Mr. White talk so. He has great influence, but misuses it, I fear." As I look back at that tea-room encounter, let me tell you that I, too, had "an old aunt" who went from door to door with the gospel message, seeking to point sinners to the only Savior. And it occurs to me that, as I have also become "an old aunt" and now follow in the path, I must say to you in real affection and concern for your soul: "Are you saved or lost?”

The waves of judgment are fast rolling in on this poor world. The best that Satan offers you, poor lost one, must prove a "refuge of lies," while the believer has a rich store-house always at hand:—"The Word of the Lord endureth forever." 1 Peter 1:25.

Saved or lost: what a contrast! Our thoughts and words all fail to gauge—it so vast and deep in meaning and in result. May God Himself be your Teacher here and now, that He may lead you away from the school of man's wisdom to find pardon and peace in the work and Person of His beloved Son. Accept Christ as your Savior; and instead of being "a little elastic" you will be "girt about with truth." There is nothing uncertain or changing about a faith which is founded on Christ, the Rock.

"On Christ salvation rests secure;
The Rock of Ages must endure!
Nor can that faith be overthrown,
Which rests on Christ, the Living Stone.”

The Toss of a Coin

"I was once in a little town where many people were getting what you call 'converted'. Indeed, I was within the toss of a coin of being converted myself! It must have been what is called 'mass hysteria', and it all passed off again. I have never been troubled with such feelings since.”

So said a fashionable lady to her dinner partner, an officer in the army, who was as gay and thoughtless as herself. How sad, to be so close to such rich blessing, and yet to miss it! If that woman ever enters eternal perdition, what unutterable remorse will the memory of those flippant words bring her!

"Within the toss of a coin of being converted!" Whatever her words may have really meant, they left the heart-saddening impression that she had at some time been among the "almost persuaded;" but there had been no real work of grace wrought in her soul.

Felix "trembled," but it only made him desire to get away from the searching light of God's truth— "judgment to come." "Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season I will call for thee." These were words which made only too apparent his true condition. We are not told that he ever "trembled" again under the Word of God, or ever found "the convenient season" he presumed upon.

Near to the door, and the door stood wide;

Close to the port, but not inside;
Almost persuaded to give up sin,
Almost persuaded to enter in;
Almost persuaded to count the cost,
Almost a Christian, and yet lost.

A man, now a Christian, was once as near to damnation as the lady just spoken of was near to salvation. He had spent his substance and was down to his last coin. How should he spend that? He was despairingly miserable at the moment, and was seeking to find a short way out of it. "Oh, yes," whispered his old master, Satan. "You have just enough to pay the bridge-toll. Pay the fee, and jump from the bridge into the river below. That will end your misery.”

Obeying the suggestion, he paid his solitary coin. The center of the bridge was reached. Now for it! End your misery! "But wait," whispered another voice; "will it end your misery? 'After death the judgment'. Jumping into the jaws of death will not end your misery.”

That was enough. He fled from the bridge. God had spoken; his precious soul was ultimately saved, and today he is a rejoicing Christian.

Truly, if we may use the words of that deluded woman, he was literally within the "toss of a coin" of eternal damnation. Through God's grace, he missed it, and his old master, Satan, missed him. Thrice happy man!

Are you aware, unsaved reader, that you are getting perilously near—not, perhaps, to your last cent, but to your last gospel opportunity? Have you yet seen nothing in Christ to attract you? Nothing in your own deep need to drive you to Him? Well, remember, as a general rule, people die as they live; and that salvation missed is damnation reached. If you continue in your sin, earth once left is heaven forever lost.

Are you longing for deliverance, sighing for peace?

The precious blood of Christ is all you need to purge that guilty upbraiding conscience. His changeless love will satisfy the cravings of your aching heart.

"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6:2.

"Be it known unto you... that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things." Acts 13:38, 39.

"Almost persuaded;" come, come today;
"Almost persuaded;" turn not away,
Jesus invites you here,
Angels are lingering near,
Prayers rise from hearts so dear;
O wanderer, come!

"Almost persuaded," harvest is past!
"Almost persuaded;" doom comes at last!
"Almost" cannot avail;
"Almost" is but to fail!
Sad, sad, that bitter wail—
"Almost"— but lost.

"Not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but with the precious blood of Christ.”

1 Peter 1:18.

April

Christ in the Great Smokies

While we were traveling through the Great Smokies of North Carolina, we had a most happy visit with a dear old man. His life was devoted to carrying the good news of God's salvation deep Into the mountains and valleys of his native state. One night he told us of his own conversion. This is his story.

I was converted to God in my youth, when only a lad of about fourteen or fifteen years of age. I have grown old in His service, but I have never regretted He found me, so very early in life.

What brought me to Christ were simple everyday affairs, with no great manifestations at any particular time—just the hand of the Lord in His gracious providence, bringing things to pass after His own fashion. Though many Christians can point to the exact time of their conversion, I cannot tell the day, nor the week, nor the month even, when the line was crossed and I became a child of God through grace. It was a gradual dawning of light; and it is blessed to know that one is born again, though he may be ignorant of the moment of his new birth.

I was born and reared in the town of Asheville, North Carolina. It was then but a small town amid the beautiful mountains in this "land of the sky," this so-called "Switzerland of America," and indeed it is a beautiful region.

In my early school days I had a chum about my own age, a boy whose family had moved from Charleston, S.C., to our mountain town. Through his mother's prayers, training, and influence, he was firmly convinced that, when old enough, he should become a preacher of the gospel.

Often I laughed at my young friend and ridiculed his determination. I would say to him that to be an old long-faced preacher was the last thing I'd want. He always rebuked my folly and stood true to his purpose. We were much together, as two boys will be; and wherever you found one, you would generally find the other. But he was a regular attendant at a young people's prayer-meeting held once a week in the back room of the little church, and there I seldom went.

Across the mountain range east of the town, and some three miles over in the next valley was a wonderful old swimming hole. It was found in the mountain river called in the mellow Cherokee Indian tongue, "Swannanoa," which means beautiful. No prettier stream ever wended its way seaward than the Swannanoa of that time.

Once, with my oldest brother, I had spent some hours fishing along its rhododendron-clad banks. Coming finally to the swimming hole I plunged in at a point where it was usually not very deep, as I had not learned to swim very well at that time. On that day the river was swollen by recent rains and the current was strong. I was caught in the swift moving tide and carried down toward a deeper place below. In terror of drowning, I called for help.

A tree leaned far out over the water just there. My brother ran out on it and extended his fishing pole to me. Just in time I caught hold of the end of it and was safely brought to shore.

Not long after this, my chum came by my home to get me to go with him across the mountain for a dip in the river. I was away at the time, so my younger brother and some small boys went along. Reaching the place, he undressed and jumped in as I had done, in the shallow part above the leaning tree. But again the stream was swollen by recent rains and the current caught him as it had me. He was borne down toward the deep hole below, unable to swim out. This time there was no boy with a fishing rod to reach him; and the little fellows on the bank in their helplessness saw him sink beneath the waters. Soon the rippling waves completely hid from their terror-stricken eyes all signs of the simple tragedy just enacted.

When I reached home about dusk, my mother with trembling voice informed me what had occurred. I was shocked beyond speech; and without any appetite for supper, I made my way to my bed upstairs.

Sleep, however, would not come. Near midnight I arose and dressed. Slipping out the back door, I followed the path up the mountain and down into the valley on the other side. Before dawn I stood under the pale moonlight, a lonely, saddened boy on the bank of the old swimming hole. Through falling tears I gazed into the running water of the river. Somewhere underneath was the dead body of my boyhood friend.

Then it was that God spoke to me in my inmost heart. He seemed to say, "Suppose I had opened the gate of death and let you go through when this stream had you in its grasp. Where would you have been?”

The boy taken was ready to meet God, but I was not. I say it was then that God spoke to me, but other things in my life about that time also had a bearing; and somewhere along the line I knew I was saved.

The body of my dear friend was found days later, on a Tuesday. It was boxed up and placed in the entrance of the church, awaiting burial. That night I had an impulse to go to the young people's meeting. I passed by the casket in the front of the church; and with a silent prayer for help I took my place in the little circle in the back room, in the very seat of the dead boy. Somehow I feel that God has kept me in his place ever since. Instead: of sending him out as the preacher, He took him in His providence through the gate of death. Through my love and sorrow for my dead friend, God thereby touched my life, and turned me into the path which otherwise my playmate might have trod.

And now, my reader, if called to die, are you ready to meet God? I pray you, take life eternal as the free gift of God purchased for you by Christ's death on the cross of Calvary.

From the Other Shore?

It was on a night of storm and tempest. A railway switchman who lived near a signal tower on the banks of the river had a strange fear of coming calamity. He knew that the evening train had yet to cross the bridge over the river, and would soon be due to start on what proved to be its last run.

Just to see how things were going, the switchman clambered up into the signal tower. There he could hear the clicking of the telegraph instruments and keep the signalman company, for moment by moment the storm raged with increasing fury.

The train came duly into the station, and the passengers took their seats as they had done before. The whistle sounded, and she was out of sight in the darkness, crossing the great bridge, while the worst tempest of many days was at the height of its fury.

The signalman touched the handle of his instrument and signaled, "Train on line" to the tower on the other side of the raging flood. Then both men waited for the telegraphic signal that the train had covered the intervening "block" and had crossed the river in safety.

The silence in that tiny room was unbroken except for the howling of the storm outside. The minutes dragged slowly on, but the telegraph instrument uttered no sound.

"Is the train not due on the other side?" said the switchman.

"Yes," said his companion, "but we will give her a minute or two yet.”

There was silence again, until the stillness became oppressive. "Send a message," said the impatient watcher. "Ask if she has reached the other end of the bridge.”

The operator at once caught the handle of the telegraph instrument to send his message 'across; but the needle did not move. Under ordinary circumstances the needle would have clicked in response to the touch, thus showing that the current had flashed to the other shore and back again in the twinkling of an eye. But the needle was motionless. "Try another instrument," said his companion.

He tried another, and another, but all were silent. There was no message from the other shore. The silent needle told these two men in language more eloquent than words that an awful tragedy had taken place.

They looked at each other in consternation, for in that awful moment they feared that the whole train with its living freight must be engulfed by the raging waters.

"No message from the other shore!" Often these words have reminded us that a day is coming when those who have rejected the Christ of God shall want to send a message to the other shore. Scripture tells us something about this. It tells us of those who shall "stand without" and knock, saying, "Lord, Lord, open unto us." But He from within shall answer, saying, "I know you not whence ye are." Luke 13:25.

Unsaved reader, whether you are concerned about your soul just now I know not; but of this I am certain: you will be concerned some day. You may not be in earnest now; but the day is coming when you will be in earnest. Will it be too late? You have had your opportunities to receive the Savior, and you have refused Him. The day draws on when you must meet Him, and meet Him in your sins. Then shall come to pass the Scriptures: "Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer: they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me." Prov. 1:28.

Then shall you long for a message from the other shore— a message that can never come, even throughout the ages of eternity!

The two men, fearful that the train had gone to its doom, descended from the signal station. They crept on hands and knees along the bridge to see if they might find any trace of the train. After they had proceeded some distance along the rails, the bridge seemed suddenly to have disappeared. As they crept cautiously forward they could see nothing before them but yawning darkness. Far down beneath them poured the raging waters. They knew now what had happened. The central part of the bridge had collapsed into the river, carrying the whole train into the waters.

Not a single soul survived to tell the tale of that awful night. As the bridge went down, every telegraph wire had been snapped. No current could travel over these broken wires, and this was why no message came back from the other shore.

Friend, have you friends on "the other shore"? How terrible, then, will be your condition if you shall yet cry out for mercy when mercy's day is forever past! There can come then no answer but eternal silence! Are you prepared for this? Have you weighed what it means to be a lost soul for all eternity?

Arouse, unsaved one! Believe the proclamation of God's redeeming love in the gift of His Son. Take your place before Him as a lost and hell-deserving sinner and receive the gift of God, which is eternal life in Jesus Christ the Lord. The moment you receive Him as your Savior you will be in direct communication with "the other shore.”

Christ is the great telegraph wire between heaven and— earth a wire that can never be broken by any accident of time— an everlasting bond that the winds above and the waves below can never move. Are you willing to be saved now on God's terms? Then delay not.

"How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation." Heb. 2:3.

Peace: False and True

A mind at "perfect peace" with God—
Oh, what a word is this!
A sinner reconciled through blood—
This, this indeed is peace.

Peace with God is a priceless boon. Peace apart from God is a satanic delusion. That the latter exists is clear from the Loral's own words, "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace." Luke 11:21.

Satan is the "strong man"; the world is his "palace"; among his "goods" you are numbered, my unconverted reader; and "in peace" describes your state, if you have never yet been awakened by the Spirit of God to see your lost condition as a guilty sinner. Forgetful of the sins of the past, heedless of the calls of the gospel to repent and turn to God in the present, and oblivious to certainty of eternal judgment in the future, you carelessly pass along! No fear of God is before your eyes by day, as you do your own will, and take your own pleasure. No conscience-pangs disturb you at night. Unawakened, unblessed, unsaved, unconverted, the slave of sin, you move along, "in peace," and Satan will do his best to prevent that peace being disturbed.

‘But, dear soul, forget not, this peace is false. It is founded in sin, fostered by the devil, finds its sphere in the world, and has no link with God. I would not have your peace for ten thousand worlds.

Peace with God, on the contrary, is true, because divine in its nature and source. It is the blessed portion of every believer in Jesus. The reason is simple. On the cross, Jesus, our blessed Substitute, sustained, all the judgment of God against our sins. He "who knew no sin" was "made sin for us." God's claims were all met in righteousness. The result is thus stated: "Having made peace through the blood of His cross" (Col. 1:20), "the God of peace... brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant" (Heb. 13:20); and the first moment the risen Savior gets among His own, He says, "Peace be unto you" (John 20:19). Ascended now to the right hand of God, it is positively declared, "He is our peace" (Eph. 2:14); the Holy Spirit, sent from heaven, is now "preaching peace by Jesus Christ;" and the believing sinner can say in truth, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1).

Reader, which peace is yours? If yet in uncertainty, and desirous of getting God's peace, your wish, and mine for you, as well as the way these wishes are to be realized, is given in the following sweet words of the apostolic Paul: "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit". Rom. 15:13.

Righteous Richard?

"Righteous Richard," as he was called among his comrades, was one of a gang of workmen engaged in arduous labor on a difficult construction. Many lives are laid down in such work, and numerous hardships faced by these brave toilers, for they work oft-times many feet below the surface of the earth.

But God has His servants everywhere, and some delight to carry to these work-hardened men the precious name of Jesus and the good news of His salvation.

So it happened that Richard Reeves found himself listening to the old, old story,— listening as the missionary told of the lost eternity which awaits those who reject the Lord Jesus, but of the glorious future in the Father's house of those who own their sins to Him and trust only in His finished work at Calvary. But Richard could not 'see' all this— he liked his own way best! Addressing himself to those present, he said: "I believe in heaven, and I believe in hell; but I've never done any one any harm, and I've as much right to heaven as anyone else.”

"Ah," said the missionary, "then you're one of those self-righteous sort that think they are good enough for God. Remember, friend, God says, "There is none righteous, no, not one... there is none that doeth good, no, not one' (Rom. 3:10-12). If any one of you men," he went on, "were drowning at sea, or if a piece of this rock were to fall upon you, there is not one among you but would cry out, 'Lord, save me.”

There was a pause; then turning to Richard, one of the number questioned: "There, righteous Richard, how do you like that?”

But Richard was silent. In his heart he knew his lost condition and was even now calling on God to save him.

Reader, pause one moment. Have you ever cried, "Lord, save me"? You may think you are physically in safety as you read these lines, but you cannot be sure. Your life is not your own! Another moment and you may be gone— where? Where will you spend eternity? Do not, like Richard, think you are "good enough for God." Rather, believe what He has said about you: "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Believe Him, receive His Son, and be saved forever.

Not Hoping, but Having

C. H. Spurgeon, who became one of the world's great Gospel preachers, owns that his long life of faithful ministry was influenced by a young lad. In his early years as a Christian, soon after his conversion, he taught a class of boys in the Sunday-school. He was speaking to them one day from the words, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." John 3:36. One of the lads surprised him with, "Teacher, do you believe on Him?”

"Yes," said Spurgeon.

"And have you got everlasting life, teacher?" eagerly asked the boy.

"I hope so," said Spurgeon, rather timidly, for he was not yet accustomed to having the question put to him so bluntly.

When the boy heard his hesitating answer, he looked him straight in the face and said: "But don't you know it, teacher? The text says `hath,' and if it ain't true, it ain't true! And if it is true, it is true, and nobody need hope anything about it.”

That straight word from his pupil never lost its effect on C. H. Spurgeon. All through his long and faithful life of preaching the Gospel he gave full and clear testimony to the certainty of salvation.

There is absolutely nothing in the Word of God to warrant those who are "without Christ" (Eph. 2:12), those who have never been converted to God, nor born of the Spirit, to have any "hope" whatever of salvation while they remain in their Christless state. All who receive Christ as their Savior (John 1:12), have no reason for uncertainty. The believer in Christ should not merely "hope" to have eternal life someday— he has it now!

"He that hath the Son hath life." 1 John 5:12.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." John 5:24. '

The Message of Peace

The Gospel of God is a message of peace. "How beautiful upon the mountains" are the feet of them that bring it (Rom. 10:15)! How sweet to the weary heart that has sought and sighed and longed to know it, is the first experience of "peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 5:1.

There is no reason why this should not be the happy experience of the reader now. Peace has been made by the blood of the cross (Col. 1:20). The Son of God, the great Peacemaker, died, the Just for us the unjust, to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18). "The chastisement of our peace was upon Him." Isa. 53:5.

He became our surety. In His obedience unto death, His atoning sacrifice offered to God, He satisfied every claim that offended Justice had against the sinner, and gave back to God all that man's sin had robbed Him of.

Blessed be God, peace has been made. It is now made known in the gospel. The great question for you, reader, to ask yourself is, Have I got this peace?

Am I at peace with God? There need be no doubt about the matter. Peace has been made at the cross.

Peace is proclaimed in the gospel. And peace is possessed and enjoyed by all who believe and receive that gospel as God's good news to their individual souls.

Wounded for My Transgressions

(Isa. 53:5)

"Wounded for my transgressions"!
Slowly the words I read:
Swiftly the tears will gather,
Truly the heart should bleed;
Wonderful condescension!
Matchless infinite grace!
Jesus, the Sinless,— Holy,—
Taking the sinner's place.

Wonderful, wonderful story!
Wonderful depth of love!
Laying aside His glory,
Leaving the courts above;
Jesus, the Man of sorrows,
Homeless and friendless, He;
Wounded so cruelly wounded,—
Bruised— and broken— for me.

Fiercely the storm sweeps round Him!
Darkly the shadows fall;
Wrath, and anger, and judgment,—
Jesus— bearing it all;
Draining the cup of anguish,
Dying on Calv'ry's tree:
Wonderful plan of redemption:—
Jesus —dying— for me!

"LET THE WICKED FORSAKE HIS WAY, AND THE UNRIGHTEOUS MAN HIS THOUGHTS; AND LET HIM RETURN UNTO THE LORD.”
Isa. 55:7

May

A Cowboy's Story

Bob Hanson's appearance would have arrested attention anywhere. Especially was this true as he entered the American Bible Society Depot in San Francisco one afternoon. He was not the kind of a man one usually associates with a Bible Depot. He was a typical cowboy to whom one would more readily attribute lawlessness than piety. One eye was gone (shot out in a fray); his hand was tucked in his hip pocket as though feeling his revolver; his cowboy hat balanced itself on the back of his head. Indeed, he looked like a bandit ready to stage a "hold up.”

To the great surprise of the man in charge of the depot however, he demanded briskly: "I want the Book of Mark.”

As it was handed him he brought his great fist down upon the table with a resounding whack. He said: "This is the book that brought me to God four years ago, in one of the lowest lodging houses in this city. Funny how God works, isn't it? I'll tell you the story.

"For many years I was a cowboy in Arizona. I came to 'Frisco four years ago for a 'blow out.' After a night of 'hitting it up,' I awoke in one of the rottenest lodging houses in this city. But you know, I saw on the table in my room a little book. I read its title: "The Gospel by Mark.' I knew it belonged in the Bible, but why was it in that room? I was troubled and worried, wondering how it got into that place; but I left it alone.

"The next day, after another wild night, I saw the book again and was seized with a great conviction that it was for me. I picked up the book, and went over to the Union Park Square, in front of St. Francis Hotel. There, on one of the benches in the park, I began to read.

"I had never before read the book, and I just turned the pages to the eleventh chapter. I read there of Jesus driving the thieves out of the temple in Jerusalem.

"That very day I had planned to do something which, if discovered, would have sent me to San Quentin. 'There,' said I, 'that is what I am! I'm a gambler, and a thief, and God knows it. Christ could drive out those thieves, He could throw me into hell. He is a great Man all right. He is my Man!' And there on the park bench four years ago I gave my heart to Christ.

"Mister, I want that book of Mark. That book, and that book alone, brought me to God, but the devil has not left me alone. Forty times a day he tempts me, but I tell him, 'Get thee behind me, Satan,' and he leaves me alone.”

Another triumph of grace, another brand plucked from eternal burning, another trophy of redeeming love! What a testimony to the life-giving Word!

Dear reader, you may know nothing of the depths of sin to which this cowboy had sunk, but you need the same Savior. Scripture says: "There is no difference: for all have sinned." Rom. 3:22, 23. Degrees of guilt there may be, but all are alike sinners before God on their way to everlasting perdition. Will you not turn now to Him and be saved?

"For whosever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Rom. 10:13.

Too Easy

"That way of being saved is far too easy," said a young man to his Christian friend. "I just can't believe that all I need do is reach out and take salvation.”

For some time they walked on, talking of the all-important subject of their eternal destiny. Presently they came to a stone bridge which went over the railroad tracks. As they stood gazing down at the rails, the Christian said: "Do you remember when that tunnel was built? It took years, didn't it? It cost a mint of money too, and more than one man lost his life over the job. Since then you and I have often ridden through that tunnel. It is easy for us to get in a train and ride through; but it was pretty costly to make such a thing possible.

"So in the same way it wasn't easy to make it possible that you and I might be saved. It cost God the giving up of His Son; it cost the Savior the sufferings of Calvary, the bearing of our judgment, the going into death, in order that you and I might be eternally blessed. Oh, Robert, it wasn't easy for God! It was the hardest thing in all eternity. Yet how easy it is for you and me to trust the Savior!”

"I hadn't thought of it like that before," said his friend. Tears filled his eyes as the two friends went down on their knees on the stone bridge. Robert's heart overflowed with gratitude at this glimpse of Calvary, and he humbly owned his need of the cleansing blood of the Lamb.

"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift." 2 Cor. 9:15.

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:10.

"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." John 3:16.

Just Give Me Earth”

My first employer, Mr. Charter, was a thorough man of the world, well known in business circles, and well liked by his company; but his methods made him feared by his competitors. He was a very successful manager of one of the company's largest branches. Much could be said of his business acumen, but he was totally without God and ruthless in his dealings with men. All of his energies were put forth for worldly advantage.

Although I was quite young, I knew the Lord Jesus as my Savior. In my desire to witness for Him, God gave me grace and courage to speak a word occasionally to needy souls, and to hand out a gospel tract now and then. Mr. Charter often ridiculed my feeble efforts, especially if a group of salesmen were around. He would take advantage of such an opportunity to have some fun at my expense.

One morning I met my employer in the elevator as we were going to work, and I felt that I should hand him a gospel tract. He glanced at it and handed it back with a remark that I shall never forget: "Boy, you can have all the heaven you want, but just give me earth.”

That statement fully expressed his whole aim, object, and desire. I was shocked at such sophistry, but I have since learned that he was only one of millions who feel the same way. All are not so outspoken about it. Some will even say that they want to go to heaven when they die. They realize that they cannot always remain here; and having heard a little of the horrors of hell, they think they would prefer heaven' to hell.

But earth is decidedly their preference!

A few years later God spoke loudly to Mr. Charter. His sister died very suddenly, and within a few weeks his brother was taken without warning by a stroke of apoplexy. However, nothing seemed to change him.

One Wednesday Mr. Charter spent the day at his office as usual. He was feeling quite well, and after dinner, he and his wife 'went out for an evening of pleasure. On returning home about 2 a.m., he complained of being ill. A doctor was called, and he diagnosed his trouble as "influenza," but the following day he had lapsed into unconsciousness. He remained in a coma most of the time until about 3 a.m. on Sunday. Then he passed forever from this world which he had loved so dearly. Poor man! He died as he had lived—without God and without Christ.

How like the man the Lord Jesus spoke of in the twelfth chapter of Luke! He too had all his treasures on this earth. That man planned to build larger barns and increase his wealth.

"But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee." Luke 12:20.

Mr. Charter would not be guilty of business laxness; but in the most important transaction of his life, he had proved himself a fool. Even if he could have gained the whole world, he had lost his soul, a loss that cannot be estimated.

God speaks of this class in the book of Revelation as "those that dwell on the earth." It is also translated "earth dwellers" which expresses the choice of millions. In that book God reveals the judgments that are about to fall on such people.

Dear friend, are you guilty of this folly? Are you giving your immortal soul for this world you must leave? God says: "Death [has] passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12.

God has warned you that after death comes the judgment (Heb. 9:27). Don't wait any longer to come to God! Confess that you are a sinner, and accept the Savior He has provided. Don't wait for a more favorable opportunity, for it may never come.

This night your soul may be required of you. "Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." Prov. 27:1.

"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6:2.

"How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" Heb. 2:3.

Warranted to Remove All Stains?

As I opened my door one morning, I found on the steps a handbill advertising a wonderful preparation for the removal of all stains in cloth: "Sure to do so—never to fail.”

I read it and thought of other stains more foul— stains that had stuck into the textures of life and left a sorry mark upon soul and character— guilty stains. Who is without some of these marks?

Oh, how we try to keep them out of sight—cover them up—washing "with niter!" But the spots stick; they will not come out. Sly management may keep them out of other's sight, so that the garment of life is made to look tolerably respectable. However, sooner or later they glare out, and bring discomfort and terror.

One's very effort to conceal them makes them the more prominent—directs attention to them.

Now, what a sale one might have of a mixture that would "take out the stains of sin!" What a market it would find! Can anything do this? Yes, a stream, a mighty stream of precious blood; and "Sinners washed in that blest flood, lose all their guilty stains.”

Precious, you say? Then is it costly? Ah, poor sin-stained soul, it cost God the life of His well beloved Son, but to you it is "without money and without price." None are so poor but that they may wash in this soul-cleansing stream and be clean, for it is the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, that cleanseth from all sin.

Soul-stained, sin-defiled, will you try it? Try it, and you will find to your joyful satisfaction that it just meets your need—the very thing you want!

"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.

The Love of Christ

Christ is risen! Now He is at the right hand of God in the glory and there He makes intercession for us— for all His own. He represents us there in the highest place, the highest court in the universe. But why does He do it? Because He loves us. We are supported by His love.

In the trials, distresses, and vicissitudes of life, we are loved and cared for by Him in the highest heavens. Nothing can separate us from His love! Through Him that loves us, we are more than conquerors.

Assured Salvation

In his small home town, Bill Hinkley was a terror to the whole area. He was reputed to be so thoroughly evil that he was shunned by all. He broke his poor mother's heart with his profligacy, and then he ran away to sea.

But -could he escape God's eye? No! On that ship was a Christian captain whose chief joy was in seeing that his men accepted the Savior. In mid-ocean God met Bill Hinkley and dealt with his soul. Bill repented of his wasted years and received the Lord Jesus. When he returned to his native town, it was soon noised about that he had been converted.

"Bill surely needed religion!" So said one.

"If anyone ever did, he needed it," remarked another. But did not these good people need it? Oh no! They went to church! They said their prayers! They gave money to the missionaries! They were as religious as possible.

Shortly after his return Bill was at a meeting. The catechist (one who teaches the catechism) asked him to read a portion of Scripture. He did so; and then, thinking it a good opportunity to testify as to what God had done for him, he told them how God had met him while away at sea, showed him what a great sinner he was, and brought him to accept Jesus as his Savior. "And now," he said, "I know I am saved. I have eternal life through His precious blood.”

After he sat down, the catechist said to Bill: "Young man, do I understand you to say you know you are saved and have eternal life?”

"Yes, sir.”

"Well, young man, I have been a catechist for twenty years, and I have not the presumption to say that.”

Well, sir," replied the young man, "all I can say is that I deserve it more than you do.”

"How can that be?" asked the catechist.

"Why, sir, you come to God now, bringing your twenty years' good service as a catechist, and tell Him you will trust His mercy for the rest of your soul's welfare. But you see, I came to God with twenty-five years of sin and profligacy. All I could do was to ask Him, through the value He set upon His Son's precious blood, shed for sinners like me, to be merciful and pardon me, a wicked, lost sinner; and He did. Oh, none but that spotless One could bear away my sins! I thank God for the grace that has been brought to me through Christ my Savior.”

"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." 1 Tim. 1:15.

Fall Flat”

Mose was a poor colored man in a Southern city; and as the messenger of the Lord proclaimed the good news of God's salvation to a group of loiterers in the park, Mose stood unobtrusively under a shady tree and listened attentively. Never before had he heard the Gospel told so simply and plainly; and when the speaker shouted out the word of Luke 15:2—"This Man receiveth sinners"—poor Mose completely forgot himself.

With tears streaming from his eyes, and his lips trembling to express his deep feelings, he stumbled forward crying, "Massa, Massa, I falls flat on dat promise!”

Without a moment's doubt or quibbling, Mose took God at His word. Not one attempt did he make to fit himself for the presence of the holy One. He knew he was a sinner, and as such he rejoiced to find a Savior —he "fell flat," prostrate, dependent on His word and power.

How different was Mose's humble position in life to that of a prosperous merchant in that same audience! This man had been for some time deeply but secretly concerned as to his soul's welfare. What must I do to be saved? This was an ever-present question in his mind; and most assiduously was he trying to find the answer. Eagerly he gave his time and his money toward every charitable "cause," and most earnestly sought to "break himself" of every fault or habit which he could condemn. He believed that someday his very goodness in thought and deed would surely gain God's favor. Little did he take to heart the word that "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Rom. 14:23.

With amazement this man of good works heard the spontaneous response poor Mose made to the precious promise in "This Man receiveth sinners." Almost condescendingly he smiled at the simple and humble answer: "I falls flat on dat promise." He had not yet learned that "God is no respecter of persons," and that all must come to Him in the same way, and according to His Word.

As the preacher continued his exhortation, the merchant's attention was caught by the earnest words of Matt. 9:13: "I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

"Ah, then," he thought, "I too must take a low place before God. That requires that, as a sinner, I also must "fall flat" before Him in order to claim His promises. But then, what must I do to be saved?”

Like an answer from the glory came the preacher's next words: "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.

Although he had heard this scripture many times before, it now had new meaning to this self-righteous merchant; and as simply and completely as had the humble Mose, he "fell flat" on God's precious promise, and was accepted in His beloved Son.

"Cast thy deadly doings down—
Down at Jesus' feet;
Stand 'in Him,' alone,
Gloriously complete.”

Where Will You Spend Eternity?

You know that you are a responsible being responsible before God. God has made you accountable to Him. It is with Him that you have to do. Even though death may claim you, you will not be released from your responsibility to answer to Him.

God's holy Word is, that after there is judgment, and that after God hath killed the body He hath power to cast into hell. Answer then this solemn question: Where will you be in eternity? Remember, there is a God you must meet. There is an account you must give. There is an eternity you must spend. Where will you be then?

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

The Work of the Cross

Friend, do you say that God's salvation, as a gift, is too easy? True, all you need do is receive that gift and with it you are assured of eternal life. Yes, it is easy for you. But consider! What did that wondrous work on Calvary cost God, the Father of Him who wrought that work?

God gave His own Son a ransom for us poor, lost sinners. God gave the holy One for transgressors, the blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for them that are mortal.

For what else could have cleansed us from sin but His precious blood? Who was capable of covering our lost condition but the shed blood of God's Lamb? By what other one was it possible that we, wicked and ungodly, could be justified before God except by the sacrifice of the only Son of God?

Oh, what love! What grace! What mercy God has shown through Christ to worthless mortals! Through the agony of Him who has gone through death, burial and resurrection, the beloved Son of God the Father was given to save sinners and bring them into eternal blessing. What a price! And what a Gift!

"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." John 3:16.

Foulest and Purest

What is the foulest thing on earth?
Bethink thee now and tell—
It is a soul by sin defiled,
And only fit for hell:
It is the loathsome earthly den,
Where evil spirits dwell.

And what the purest thing on earth?
Come, tell me if you know—
Ms that same soul, by Jesus cleansed,
Washed whiter far than snow:
There's naught more pure above the sky,
And naught else pure below.

God's eye of flame that searches all,
And finds e'en heaven unclean
Rests on that soul with pure delight,
For not a spot is seen:
Cleansed every whit in Jesus' blood,
Whate'er its guilt hath been.

He sees the blood, but sees no stain,
That covers all the sin,
'Tis Christ upon the soul without,
'Tis Christ He sees within:
To judge it foul, were just to judge
God's Christ Himself unclean.

Thou Lamb of God, Thy precious blood
This great redemption wrought;
Not only snatched from yawning hell,
But to God's bosom brought:
And raised the ruined wrecks of sin
Above created thought.

"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 8:36, 37.

June

A Young Japanese Converted

He was a taciturn, sullen young boy, this Tamezo. Rarely did he speak even to friends. Stubborn and independent, he would yield to no one. His father left him to his own devices, and his chief pleasure after school hours was to ramble alone along the seashore. At high school he learned to deceive his parents to get money from them to spend in pleasure. They soon found this out, and remonstrated gently with him, but in vain. One day his father asked him: "Who do you think supports you?”

"Nobody," he replied.

This angered his father, and he said: "If you are not supported by me, why do you not earn your own living?”

This gave Tamezo an excuse to leave home. For a few days he sold newspapers for a meager living. Soon his parents began to worry about him, and took him back home; but Tamezo was still unhappy, discontented and discouraged. Again he ran away, this time to Tokyo, without telling his parents his plans. In their anxiety they soon traced him and took him home once more.

For about a year after this Tamezo worked hard in a drug store at Osaka, and carefully saved a little money. But, discontented, he went to Tokyo again and secured work as a laborer in the Honjo District. Still uncommunicative as he was, he had no friends or companions, and soon became lonesome.

One night a fellow-laborer persuaded Tamezo to go with him to a cafe. There he learned to drink saki, and soon the devil had ensnared another willing victim. More drinking and more evil friends followed. Soon he became a member of a wild gang, but their wild orgies of vice revolted the young man. One night after drinking and carousing with them, he slipped away to the banks of the River Sumida. There he listened to the whisperings of the dark, gently flowing stream. Above its murmur a voice seemed to call: "Why did you come to Tokyo? Did you intend to become a drunkard and a profligate?”

"No!" The answer came from his heart: "My intention was to study and make something of myself.”

Disgusted with himself, Tamezo sought a new environment. He gave up his work, and started again selling newspapers. But he did not give up drinking, nor did he renounce his evil friends. He sank lower and lower until, his own money gone, he spent in debauchery what he collected for his employer.

That good man guessed what was going on. Calling Tamezo into his private office, he warned him: "Young man, did you not come here to study and improve yourself? Stop your drinking! Be a man!”

Poor Tamezo refused to listen and again he ran away. This time he took with him his employer's money and went to Hokadate, a city in the far north. Here in a cheap hotel he took stock of himself. Why was he so wicked and degraded? Was he fated to be nothing but a disgrace and menace to those who would befriend him? Surely it would be best to put an end to himself and his sinful pathway. Yes, he decided, death was the only way out. In real sorrow of heart he wrote his parents and his employer, asking their forgiveness. Then he went down to the seashore intending to drown himself. There, standing and gazing at the sunset from a rock on Cape Tachimachi, he said to himself: "Death will end all for me.”

Bursting into tears the penitent young man cried: "Oh, my dear father and mother, forgive your unworthy son. Oh, my friends, forgive this unworthy wretch!”

In this state of mind and soul he plunged into the deep waters of the bay and sank. He remembered nothing more as he drifted unconsciously to and fro in the waves. But God had His eye upon him. Still unconscious, he was picked up by a fishing boat and was rushed to a hospital at Omori. This hospital was managed by Christian men who endeavored to save souls as well as lives.

Regaining consciousness in the hospital, Tamezo soon learned that the patients in his ward gathered together for the study of the Bible at stated times. He listened humbly, but took no part. One day a preacher came in and spoke from Luke 15:3-7. It was the parable of the lost sheep. How like to this poor, wandering, wicked boy! He now learned that even a sinner such as he was dear to the heart of Jesus, the Shepherd, and could be saved through faith in Him who laid down His life for the sheep. He learned of the cleansing power of Christ's atoning blood shed on Calvary's cross, and he "believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness." (Rom. 4:3).

The rebellion and gloom that had filled his heart all his life was dissipated, and it was now filled with joy and peace. Rejoicing in the love of God that could save such a wretch as he had been, Tamezo went forth in newness of life in Christ to tell others of such wondrous love.

Dear reader, is there any parallel in the story of this young Japanese boy to the condition of your own heart? If so, the love of the God that saved him can save you too. Will you believe?

"God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Rom. 5:8.

Christ for Me

We speak of the mercy of God,
So boundless, so rich, and so free!
But what will it profit, my soul,
Unless 'tis relied on by thee?

We speak of salvation and love,
By the Father, in Jesus, made known;
But if I would live unto God,
By faith I must make it my own.

We speak of the Savior's dear Name,
By which God can poor sinners receive;
Yet still I am lost and undone,
Unless in that Name I believe.

We speak of the blood of the Lamb,
Which frees from pollution and sin;
But its virtues by me must be proved,
Or I shall be ever unclean.

We speak of the glory to come,
Of the heavens so bright and so fair;
But unless I in Jesus believe,
I shall not, I cannot be there!

"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Heb. 9:27.

"These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name." John 20:31.

Saved on the Battlefield

The battle was over and many brave lads lay sorely wounded in the hospital tent. A weary evangelist had just lay down to get a little sleep, when an orderly came to tell him that a desperately wounded soldier wanted to see him.

He went to the dying boy, who said, "Sir, will you help me to die?”

The evangelist answered: "I would help you to die if I could. I would take you on my shoulders and carry you into the kingdom of God; but I cannot. I can only tell you of the One who can.”

He told him of Christ who was so anxious to save him that He left heaven to seek and to save the lost. He quoted promise after promise of salvation by faith. But all was dark to the dying boy. At last he read the third chapter of John which gives the account of a man inquiring the way of salvation, just as this poor soldier was.

The dying soldier lay with eyes riveted upon the reader, and every word seemed to be going home to his heart. When he came to the verse, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life," the poor fellow said: "Stop, sir; is that there?”

"Yes, it is right here.”

Then he said, "Won't you please read it again?”

It was read again. The soldier put his hands together, saying, "Bless God for that. Won't you please read it again?”

The whole chapter was read, but before the end of it was reached he had closed his eyes. His lips were quivering as he repeated the verse quoted. He had pillowed his dying head upon the Gospel truth, and soon was in the presence of his Savior.

May God help every lost one to look to the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world.

"Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Acts 13:38, 39.

"What Must I Do to Be Saved?"

How clear and assuring are the answers of God through the Scriptures to the heart questionings of an anxious soul!

How can I get right with God?

"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.

But how can God righteously save me, a sinful creature, without anything on my part to deserve it?

"Through this Man [Christ Jesus] is preached unto you the forgiveness of sir: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things." Acts 13:38, 39.

"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." 1 Tim. 1:15.

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

But how can I know that this is for ME?

"Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37.

Then HOW can I make this salvation my own?

"Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. 22:17.

Take, appropriate for yourself, dear anxious soul, the full, free forgiveness which, in virtue of the great redemption price paid on Calvary's Cross—the atoning death of Christ on the sinner's behalf—God offers to all.

The Two Corps: a Contrast

The Unconverted.
"March! march! march!
Earth groans as they tread,
Each carries a skull, going down to the dead;
Every stride, every stamp, every footfall is bolder,
`Tis a skeleton's tramp, with a skull on its shoulder;
And, oh, how it treads, with high tossing head,
That clay-covered bone going down to the dead.”

The Converted.
"March! march! march!
How lightly they tread,
Looking up to that One who arose from the dead;
Every stride, every step, every footfall is bolder,
`Tis a sinner draws nigh, with a load off his shoulder;
And, oh, how he treads, looking up to his Head,
Who triumphantly rose from the midst of the dead.”

"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.

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." John 14:6.

Under a 'Spell?

The open-air meeting was over. We passed among the listeners, distributing our tracts and looking for anxious souls, as the large company was dispersing. But there was one man who waited, evidently expecting to be spoken to. Well-attired and handsome, with intelligent eyes, he seemed to belong to the intellectual class. No sign of anxiety showed on his countenance, but rather the confident attitude of one who enjoyed a debate.

"Do you know the Lord Jesus, friend?" we asked, as we handed him a booklet. With a look of disdain he answered: "No! I believe in none of these things. I don't believe in God, nor do I believe in a hereafter.”

"But there is death, and you know you cannot escape his clutches. Are you not afraid to die?”

"Not I," he answered boldly.

"Possibly not. You have a good set of nerves; but what about 'After this the judgment'?”

With a slight twitch on his face, he admitted that "if there were such a thing, it would be a fearful prospect." This indicated to us that, even in his avowed unbelief, there was the terror of 'judgment to come' haunting his blinded mind.

"But we will not talk only of wrath: we desire to tell of redeeming love. We were once as far away from God as you are, and the light of His love revealed in Jesus came to our hearts finally from hearing the Gospel. The same precious grace and love that broke and won our hearts would melt and captivate yours, too, if you would turn now to Christ.”

But what an answer he made! The calm composure of his features fled; his eyes flashed with excitement; and the fire of hatred to God seemed to flare across his face. He almost hissed out, "Never! May I never know the love of God! Never!! I was once under the spell of these things, but the spell is broken.”

Our hearts sickened as we turned away. We have seen many a woeful sight in this sad old world, but none so full of horror and dark abandonment as the present gloom that enshrouded that soul and the coming eternal night that awaited it, if the mercy of God was still refused.

He had been under the spell! When, we cannot say; but somewhere, and sometime, he had heard with deepest interest the tale of divine love. He had been told that God had given the Son of His love to come to this dark, cold, distant world, where the victims to sin, and woe, and death were held in Satan's bondage. He had heard that only Jesus the Savior, full of grace and truth, brought hope and love to the doomed sons of men. The full, wondrous story of the triumph of that precious Savior this man had listened to, and had been enthralled to hear that He had borne the load of sin, grappled with death, annulled him who had its power, and risen victoriously, and ascended to the right hand of God.

That young man had heard this incomparable, irrepressible story, and for a time God's spell—the only gospel—had held him. But there he was now, cold and defiant, as if the very frosts of eternal winter had stiffened' his moral being. Why had this happened? Because that spell had only fastened upon his mind for the moment: it had not broken his heart! God's gospel is for the heart.

The writer, too, was once spell-bound. Thank God, that spell broke too. At one time the world with its glitter rose before him. Its honor, its wealth, its pleasure, its gilt and tinsel, seemed, in the clear light of early youth, to flash with splendor. Although he was the child of Christian parents, he felt his very life yield to the world's fascination.

But "Jesus Himself drew near," with His nail-prints and marred visage and peerless moral beauty. The cross of Christ stood before his soul clearly and distinctly in matchless grandeur. In its glorious light the vision of this world's mirage sped with scarce a flicker. That spell was broken only to give place to a greater; for by that same cross and that lovely Savior a charm seized his heart and still holds him fast. That spell can never break.

He rests there, for his heart is sweetly satisfied with Jesus; and he sings:

"Now rest, my long-divided heart;
Fixed on this blessed center, rest;
Nor ever from thy Lord depart,
With Him of every good possessed.”

Poor sinners, desperate in your need, or complacent without Christ, come to Him. Bring not merely your mind, but your heart, right to His feet. Lay all your secrets bare before this glorious Savior-Jesus. In Him you will find light and life and love and everlasting peace.

"I hear the words of love,
I gaze upon the blood;
I see the mighty sacrifice,
And I have peace with God.”

"Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." Prov. 27:1.

"How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" Heb. 2:3.

A Striking Contrast

Several years ago I was passing through a village and distributing gospel leaflets along the way. An old man was busily mending holes in the road. Stopping near him, I inquired how matters stood about his soul. He gave me, with evident self-complacency, an account of his own goodness. He went regularly to his church; he was honest; he always paid his debts, did not tell lies, did not curse and swear; he was always ready to do a kind turn for a neighbor, and his good deeds were numberless.

Poor fellow, how blind he was! I tried to show him by the Scriptures that all these things, though good and right in themselves, formed but a foundation of sand on which to build for eternity!

Poor fellow, indeed! He still insisted that he must work his way into heaven.

I had to leave him, feeling sad enough at heart. But just a little farther on I encountered an old woman. Bent with the weight of years, she was toiling feebly along, supported partly by a stick and partly by the arm of a younger person. As I approached her I said: "Well, friend, you seem very feeble. Evidently you have traveled long and far upon the road of life. But tell me: are you on your way to the bright home above?”

Her eyes sparkled at the question. "Oh, yes!" she replied eagerly.

"Well, but what reason have you to say so? How do you expect to reach there?”

"Only through the precious blood of Jesus!”—

Truly my heart leaped to hear the words. They sounded like the genuine "ring of the metal." We had a happy and interesting talk, and I found that she was indeed a dear old pilgrim, journeying Zion-ward. Oh, it was so refreshing to meet her, especially just after the other sad encounter. This dear old saint has since then gone in to see the "King in His beauty.”

Now, a word to you, my reader. That old man was brimful of himself. His talk was a great big letter "I." I do this and I do that, or else I don't do this or that! Not a syllable about the Savior!

Now consider the dear old woman. With her it was exactly the reverse. Not one word about herself. No, she spoke of "Jesus only!”

For you I have this plain, loving question-On what foundation are you resting? Is it self, or is it Christ? Ah, beware, I entreat you! Are you on the Rock-Jesus Christ? Satan has his terrible quicksands of self-righteousness, on which myriads of boastful souls are stranded. Indeed they are sinking, down, down, lower and lower, until they land in an eternal hell!

Dear reader, are you able to say, in the words of the old hymn:

"On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand"?

Growing Old

They say that I am growing old
I've heard them tell it times untold;
But I'm not growing old.
This frail old shell in which I dwell
Is growing old, I know full well—
But I am not the shell.
What if my hair is turning gray?
I still can see to follow Him
Who sacrificed His life for me
Upon the cross of Calvary.
What should I care if time's old plow
Has left its furrows on my brow?
Another house, not made by hand,
Awaits me in the Glory Land.
What though I falter in my walk?
What though my tongue refuse to talk?
I still can't read the narrow way;
I still can watch, and praise, and pray.
My hearing may not be so keen
As in the past it may have been;
Still I can hear my Savior say
In whispers soft, "This is the way.”
The outward man—do what I can
To lengthen out his life's short span—
Shall perish, and return to dust,
As everything in nature must.
The inward man, the Scriptures say,
Is growing stronger every day.
Then how can I be growing old
When safe within my Savior's fold?
Ere long my soul shall fly away
And leave this tenement of clay.
This robe of flesh I'll drop, and rise
To seize the everlasting prize—
I'll meet you on the street, of gold,
And prove that I'm not growing old!

J. E. R.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.”

John 5:25.

July

The Soldier's Treasure

A company of soldiers were gathered together for a social hour. One of them, though young in years, had seen considerable service and could tell some interesting tales of his travels. He was asked what he considered the most wonderful event of his history, and here is the story.

It was during the Great War. I was walking near my trench one day when I saw a young soldier—even younger than I—lying on the ground intently reading a book.

"What book is that you are reading?" I asked.

"My Bible," he answered.

"Oh," I said, "I have read that Book! It never did me any good. Give it up, man, give it up.”

"Listen to what I am reading," he answered quietly.

"'Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also' This is from John 14, and to me it is a most blessed portion of a precious Book. No, I could never give it up; why, man, if you knew what a treasure my Bible offers, you would not want me to give it up.”

As he spoke, I could not but note that the very light of heaven shone on his face. I walked away, deeply impressed by his evident sincerity.

A few moments later a bomb burst near the place I had just left—the spot where I had talked to the young lad. Wondering if he was safe, I ran back when the dust had cleared away. There lay his poor body with the head completely severed from it. But I also saw, sticking out of the breast pocket of his jacket, his TREASURE, his Holy Bible.

With a feeling of awe I withdrew the Book from his pocket and placed it in my own. Surely a Book that could give such evidence of joy as I had seen on the face now still in death, was worthy of being read with deep respect. I felt sure that my comrade had gone to that happy home above, the anticipation of which had delighted his soul so short a time before.

In a very different frame of mind than formerly, I read that dead boy's Bible. John 14 became my daily portion, and God blessed it to my salvation. In it I found the Way, the Truth, and the Life—I found the same Savior that the departed one had known and loved. Indeed, that precious Book became my own treasure and constant companion.

Why do I tell you this as the most wonderful event in my life? Because through this incident I was brought to believe on Jesus and in God's blessed Word—a Book that is able to make one "wise unto salvation." It is His message to the soul. It has furnished me with the needed instruction to prepare me for a better and happier sphere when I leave this world, and it gives me daily help, comfort, and courage to face the many trials on the road to the Father's house.

Friends, I pray you to take God's Word as your own guide, your treasure, and to receive His Son as the Savior of your soul. By delaying till tomorrow you may miss the opportunity to be saved. Accept the Lord Jesus now and you too will be prepared for that happier world.

"As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God." John 1:12.

For Me”

"Old John" lived in the town of Kent, and was quite satisfied with his quiet, self-centered life. However, when a Christian lady became deeply interested in his spiritual welfare, he listened courteously to her pleas; although he remained uninterested and unconcerned. When special evangelistic services were being held in Kent, Miss Denson invited John to attend them.

John did not care to go. Miss Denson then urged him to give the evangelist a hearing. John replied: "What can an evangelist tell me that I don't know? Evangelists are not college men.”

One thing the evangelist knew that John was totally ignorant of. He knew that his sins were forgiven! He knew that one may be a master of arts, a doctor of philosophy, or a university professor, yet never have entered "Christ's College.”

One night John turned up at the gospel service and heard a searching address in which the exceeding evil of sin and the wondrous love of God were explained and expounded. At the conclusion of the meeting John remained in the hall while the congregation was leaving. When he was greeted by Miss Denson, he exclaimed: "And it was all for me!”

Miss Denson, surprised at such a remark, inquired what he meant. With deep emotion John replied: "Jesus suffered all that for me!”

"Surely you believed that before!”

"Yes, Miss Denson, I believed that Christ died for everybody, but now I know that. He died for me.”

Many, like John, believe that Christ died for everybody in general, but not for them in particular, and so they miss salvation.

Some confidently assert that they always believed on Christ. But this cannot be true because God says all who believe are saved. Perhaps you, unsaved reader, think, or say, that you "always believed on Christ." If so, you were always saved, (Acts 16:31; Rom. 10:9), and your sins are all forgiven (Acts 10:43). Every believer on Jesus is the present possessor of eternal life (John 6:47), and is eternally justified (Acts 13:38, 39).

Some time before Mr. C. H. Spurgeon was taken to be with the Lord he remarked to some friends: "I can die on these four words." And the four words were these: "JESUS DIED FOR ME.”

May the reader be enabled to say truthfully:

I ask no other argument;
I seek no other plea;
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me.

"Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things." Acts 13:38, 39.

A Sample Case

What a short conversation! It consisted of only one question with little sincerity in it, and an answer, rough, pointed, and true.

"Here, Bill, you're a Christian man; tell us all about eternal life.”

"What would be the use?" This was Bill's answer. "It isn't eternal life you want—it's beer.”

Reader, are you shocked at such an answer? Does your nature shrink from its bluntness? Yet which is worse—the answer, or the truth of the answer?

Is it not true that thousands prefer "beer" to God's blessing—exciting fiction to God's truth—gambling to eternal verities—worldly entertainment to heavenly prospects—the passing pleasures of sin to the everlasting portion of the Christian—eternity without Christ to an endless life in the Father's house?

After all, was it not true kindness for Bill to speak out the truth, shocking as it was? Surely!

Now reader, let me ask you pointedly, what are you preferring to eternal life?

You will bitterly regret the loss of eternal life, when you lose the thing you are now preferring to it. Do you desire money? You must leave it. Are you seeking pleasure? It will come to an end. Whatever may be your present goal, the pleasures of sin endure but for a season—and then, ETERNITY.

Do you fear that in seeking the Lord in earnest, trusting Him as Savior, and receiving the blessing of eternal life, you will lose? On the contrary, you will begin to "see life," that which is life indeed. "He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3:36.

Only by receiving Christ can you begin to understand what true joy is.

"The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing." Rom. 15:13. As a believer in the Savior you will look back upon your former life as insipid and empty. You will discover that, for you, heaven has begun on earth.

"Happy is that people... whose God is the Lord." Psa. 144:15.

"Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he." Prov. 16:20.

No Heart Work?

She was visiting one morning among the sick and injured in a military hospital. One of the patients had shortly before been brought in with a badly smashed leg. He was young; but how repulsive was his countenance, with its sullen and impudent expression!

As the visiting missionary came toward his bed; he exclaimed that he wanted no preaching, for he was not going to die. Then, to deter any Christian effort, he swore violently.

God's messengers, however, dare not be easily turned from their God-given ministry. The value of each soul is estimated too great for them to permit personal considerations to hinder their efforts to claim it for Christ. Therefore, seating herself at the sufferer's bedside, the Christian talked to him of secular concerns, his friends and circumstances. She was paving the way for higher and holier themes by thus gaining his attention.

Gradually the soldier had unbended and chatted away without restraint. When finally the visitor rose, saying that other engagements were then before her, she asked if he would allow her, after such a long talk on things pleasing to him, to say a few words that were on her heart.

With reluctance he consented. Praying humbly for God's guidance she admitted that she had no worthy words of her own, but must choose for this time to read some of God's own words. However, she conceded that, if he liked, he might select the particular portion he would prefer to hear. After thinking a minute, he replied: "Oh well, read some part of Proverbs. That has only moral sayings in it—no heart-work.”

The Christian visitor turned the pages of her Bible, fervently praying for the right passage to choose, and was guided to the first chapter. She read from verse 24 through 28.

"Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all My counsel, and would none of My reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me." Prov. 1:24-28.

Truly was this word then proved faithful: for "The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Heb. 4:12.

The look of contemptuous derision and indifference on the listener's face changed to one of interest; then to one of awe and excitement. Before she closed the Book, the soldier was weeping. With trembling voice, he exclaimed that he was one of the refusers and despisers at whom God would laugh. Having mocked at God and spurned His truth so much and so long, he feared that it was too late for him to be saved, or for pardon ever to be granted to him.

But the Spirit led him to Jesus; and the scorner became a loving disciple, giving evidence of the work of God in his soul.

The "book of morals" was evermore a specially dear portion of the Bible to him, as that which had brought him to know the Lord and himself. The sinner had turned at the reproof, and the Reprover gave him the blessing.

"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." Prov. 28:13.

Accepting the Blessing

The butcher was busy cutting off bits of meat to put into his sausage mill. When the mail arrived he saw in it a letter from his old home in Germany. Hastily tearing it open, he read that he had, by the death of a relative, fallen heir to a considerable amount of money. After reading it again to make sure, he threw his butcher's knife on the block, tore off his dirty apron, and did not even stop to see that the pork was ground into sausage. Hurriedly he left the shop and rushed home to make preparations for going to Germany. There he would claim his inheritance.

Do you blame him? Would you have had him stay in his butcher's shop, with his block, and his cleaver, and his hog? Ah, no!

In him we see the operation of faith. The man believed what was told him, and acted on it.

Friend, God has sent His message to man, telling him the good news of salvation—infinite blessedness to be had on application. When a man believes the good news to be true, he accepts the blessing announced to him, and hastens to lay hold upon it. If he truly believes, he will at once take Christ with all He has to bestow. He will turn from his present evil ways, and set out for the heavenly city where the full source of the blessing is.

"As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God." John 1:12.

Remember!

Napoleon was leading his army across the snowy Alps into the sunny plains of Italy. Suddenly, loosened by the percussion of many boots on the icy road, a great avalanche of snow came crashing down the mountain side. Caught in its irresistible path, a young drummer boy was swept from his feet and plunged into the icy abyss.

There, hundreds of feet below his advancing comrades and inaccessible to their efforts to rescue him, the poor lad lay partly buried in the snow. Mangled and dying, he yet managed to beat his drum, constantly calling for the help that never came. Again and again at intervals his old comrades heard the roll of his drum grow fainter as they moved forward on the march. They longed to help him, but he was beyond all earthly aid.

You pity his condition! Yet, unsaved reader, your present state is far worse. You are sunk in the abyss of sin, unconcerned, perhaps unconscious of your peril. Hitherto you have not beaten the drum of repentance. You have not called for help. Will you perish thus? God forbid!

Remember, you cannot save yourself. Your own efforts cannot free you from the encompassing burden of your sins. Could your future life be perfect, yet "God requireth that which is past.”

Remember, friends cannot save you. Though their hearts break with sorrow at your plight, no power of theirs can bring you back to safety.

Remember, none but Christ can save. To Him alone must you look for salvation. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12.

Remember, He is willing to save you, and He is ready just now. He says, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37. Just as and where you are, you may come to Him by faith, and you have His own assurance that you are welcome.

Remember, He has done all the work necessary to save you. Atonement has been made. He cried on the cross, "IT IS FINISHED." The empty grave and the risen Savior enthroned in glory prove that glorious truth. God is satisfied. God is just, "and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Rom. 3:26.

Remember, there is no escape if you refuse God's only way of blessing; "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" Heb. 2:3.

If you sink from the abyss of your sins into the deeper abyss of hell, there can be no escape. "There is a great gulf fixed." There is no hope without Christ.

How terrible will be your fate if you find yourself where even God cannot have mercy on you! "Behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation;" 2 Cor. 6:2.

The Wrong Track”

At the bank my friend Sam was at the teller's window and I chose him to wait on me.

"Well, Sam," I said, "what about your soul? Is all well with you for the future? Have you peace with God?”

He replied tersely in two words: "I'm busy.”

"Busy," I repeated. "At what, or about what? You are praying, I suppose; you want to have your sins taken away, and to have your soul saved?”

Sam kept busily writing, but he nodded his head in assent.

"Ah, Sam," I said, "you are making a sad mistake—one which hundreds have already made. You are putting prayer in the place of Christ. You are looking to and leaning on your prayers, instead of trusting only in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is not God's way, and He knows a great deal better than you or anyone else. His plan for saving lost and ruined sinners is very different from the plan you have adopted. It is only by faith in Christ that a sinner is saved, and not by prayers or by works. The Lord Jesus Himself finished salvation on the cross. By His death and resurrection He has accomplished all that was needed to save the very vilest of the vile.

"God does not say that you shall be forgiven through your prayers, but He bestows full and eternal forgiveness upon all who believe in Jesus. Now Sam, that is God's way. Do you see it?”

After a few moments' thought he exclaimed: "Oh, I believe you are right! I was on the wrong track! I was in error.”

"And do you," I asked, "understand that peace has been made by the shed blood of Jesus? Can't you just rest there?”

"Yes," he replied again; "I was on the wrong track.”

A few days later I called to see him again. His greeting was a very simple but intelligent one: "I have rest now in the blood of the Lamb.”

I asked him if the thought of the sins of a lifetime did not 'disturb his soul. He answered: "I have no fear now; I can trust the Lord Jesus.”

When I remarked that the blood of the Lord Jesus was the true foundation of the believer's peace, and never could fail, he assented and added, "Oh, I was so mistaken! Now I have seen my error, and know that Christ has done all. I was on the wrong track!”

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

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

Good News

"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." 1 Tim. 1:15.

"The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10.

"Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." 1 Peter 3:18.

A Glad Welcome

O ye who are weary and wandering astray
In the path which the prodigal trod,
The husks of vain pleasure, your comfort and stay,
In the land of far distance from God,

O seek ye the Lord! for in mercy He waits
To respond to the penitent's cry.
It is you that He loves—your sins that
He hates! And He pleads with you—"Why will ye die?”

The work of redemption was perfectly done
When His life for a ransom was given;
The claims of God's justice were met in His Son,
Who is now at His right hand in heaven.

Soon, soon will the day of salvation be o'er,
For the moments are hurrying on;
The Lord will arise then, and shut to the door,
And your last hope of heaven be gone.

O come, then, to Jesus! come just as you are—
In your sorrow, your guilt, and your sin;
O come! as the prodigal came from afar,
And you'll find a glad welcome within.

He has pardon and peace for the sin-weary soul,
And a cup of salvation to give;
O doubt not the love that can now make you whole
But believe in His mercy, and live.

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Acts 4:12

August

High-Level Jack?

The British Isles present to the tourist and general traveling public many interesting sights, some of which are quite ancient. Old castles, historically interesting and architecturally beautiful, remain intact; and even those in ruins bring back to the awakened memories of savant and sight-seer alike thrilling stories read in childhood of murdered princes and rescued maidens.

At Newscastle-on-Tine one's thoughts are stirred especially by two marvels of man's construction ... the old castle built by Henry 2, in the year 1177, and the high-level bridge which was commenced in 1846 and opened to traffic ten years later. To my boyish mind the bridge was the greater wonder, containing as it did a roadway for public traffic and—most marvelous!—an overhead railway track 112 feet above the river. Designed by Robert Stephenson and built at the then tremendous cost of nearly half a million, it, rather than the old castle, was to my young mind the pride of "canny Newcastle.”

I remember well a workman identified in my mind with the building of this bridge. Indeed, the nickname by which he was best known was derived from that very structure. With other lads, I sometimes followed him, calling out, sometimes in derision, sometimes admiringly: "High-level Jack, with a chapel on his back!”

In 1848, Jack had been working on the upper portion of the bridge, high above the dark waters flowing beneath it. Suddenly the plank of the scaffold on which he stood slipped. Horrified and helpless, his fellow-workmen watched him fall. Surely, they thought, that was the last of Jack—he would be dashed to death.

But God had his eye on the poor, hapless fellow who seemed destined so soon to stand before Him. Just below the treacherous plank, on the lower part of the scaffolding, a huge nail projected. As Jack's thrashing body hurtled down, the heavy moleskin trousers which he wore were caught on this nail. There Jack hung suspended in mid-air between sky and water, between life and death. In those first awful moments when death seemed imminent, the frightened man was thoroughly awakened to the realities of eternity. But his concern was not for the physical death that seemed so sure, but rather for the eternal death now facing his poor lost soul. In his agony he cried aloud: "Save, Lord, or I perish!”

Did God hear the cry of this penitent, desperate creature? He who delights to show mercy had surely prepared the way of escape for this sin-burdened one. He has said: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. 11:28.

The nail was strong and firmly embedded in the structure. The cloth was good, and it held till his mates could lower ropes and reach their almost hopeless fellow-workman. High-level Jack, weary and aching throughout his wrenched body, with a heart overflowing with gratitude to Him who is "able to save to the uttermost," stood again on the river bank. There, a sinner saved by grace, he dedicated himself to the spreading of the good news of salvation.

Henceforth he traveled through the country carrying with him quantities of Bibles and gospel tracts. His fame as High-level Jack was spread abroad by his thrilling experience, and his constant load of gospel literature suggested the thought of "the chapel on his back." God was pleased to use His recovered one to turn many "from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.”

Reader, you may never fall physically on this earth; but if you are not "born again," and come to stand unsaved before the great white throne, you will be among those of whom it shall be true: "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Rev. 20:15. Awful descent with nothing to intercept—no hope of a return!

Now you have a choice. In that fateful moment, Jack was brought face to face with "life and death, blessing and cursing" (Deut. 30:19). He chose "life eternal"—and so may you. Will you not this moment "choose life," and say with High-level Jack: "Christ for me.”

The Work Which Saves Is Done

"Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst." John 19:28.

"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost." John 19:30.

"I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do." John 17:4.

"This Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God." Heb. 10:12.

Do you believe in that finished work? Have you accepted what the Scripture says about it?

Excellent Knowledge

Happy are they who are too rich to care for gold; too rejoicing to hunt for joy; too exalted to be proud; too high to be lifted up.

And who are these? They who know the Lord Jesus Christ as their own precious Savior; who know that "to live is Christ." Phil. 1:21.

"I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." Phil. 3:8.

Where Is Thy Soul?

Friend, where is thy soul?

There is no more generally accepted truth than the existence of the human soul. Yet there is no truth more commonly disregarded by mankind. The body reigns everywhere. Its appetites are pampered, its claims are deemed imperative, its wants are catered to with unwearying diligence.

The body is fed, nursed, adorned, comforted; every limb clothed, every organ gratified. But the soul is under-valued, famished, forgotten. Its claims are slighted; its eternal destiny is unheeded; its very existence is ignored.

My friend, your soul is really you! It is the living being that sojourns within the vesture of human flesh —thinking, speaking, acting— using your body as a vehicle of communication with the world.

Your soul, with all its attributes— conscience, reason, will, affections—destined for immortality, but ruined by sin—is of infinite moment.

"God to redeem it did not spare
His well-beloved Son;
Jesus, to save it, stooped to bear
The cross with all its shame.”

"Where's thy soul?" Have you surrendered it by faith into the Redeemer's hands? Are you committing the keeping of your soul to Him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator?

Do not suppose that there can be safety or happiness otherwise. The senualist, hoping for satisfaction in carnal husks, may say to his soul: "Soul, take thine ease: eat, drink, and be merry." But "in the fullness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits." "For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world and lose (or forfeit) himself?" (Job 20:20; Luke 9:25).

Only the Christ of God, who is "the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls," can save, and feed, and keep your soul unto life eternal.

And why does He prize it so? Because it cost Him SO MUCH— His very life.

"Lover of souls! Thou know'st to prize
What thou has bought so dear.”

Will you not come to Jesus, the eternal Lover of your precious soul, and give it into His keeping NOW? Tomorrow may be too late.

In an Express Train

"A coach to myself! How nice! Delightful and unexpected! The Lord Himself must have known how tired—how very tired I am.”

Helen Grant, who had been spending time and strength in seeking to win souls for the Lord she loved, settled herself contentedly in a corner of the empty coach. There would be two or three stops on the long run, but now in the depth of winter very few people would be traveling. Helen rested with closed eyes, glad to rest and pray for the work she had left behind and for the work which lay ahead.

The great station was busy as usual; people were crowding towards the train, but Helen was still hoping to be left alone. Most of the passengers were seated—the train was moving, and then—

"Well, good-bye, lass! Hope you'll find—”

The last words were lost in the noise as the handle of the door was seized and the door wrenched open by the practiced hand of a young railroad man in uniform. But it was no casual passenger to whom he said goodbye: it was his young wife. Her eyes were sad as she gave him a kiss—sad with the parting and, as it came out afterward, sorrowing for something more. She leaned out of the window to wave to her husband, and then sat down in the corner opposite to Helen Grant, and closed her eyes.

Soon Helen saw big tears creeping under the closed lids—tears that rolled slowly down the girl's cheeks. This would never do! There was a long non-stop run before them, and Helen felt pressed to offer what comfort she could. Gently she tried to draw the stranger into conservation, and by-and-by it all came out. Brokenly the young woman explained her situation.

"I've left home at an hour's notice. Word came, my father is dying! They've sent for me!”

How cold every word of sympathy seemed just then—though Helen Grant herself had lost her own mother a short time before. She said: "If that dear father of yours is ready to meet God and his sufferings are great—you cannot wish him to linger in his pain!”

"No; oh, no! I know he's all right! I have a good Christian father. I know for him it will mean heaven!" Then Helen laid her hand on that of the girl in the opposite corner, and said gently: "You can thank God for that. But what about you? If God's call came for you instead of your father, is it well with your soul?”

The girl's head bent still lower now, and the tears fell faster than ever. "No! I can't say I'm saved. I wish I could. I know there's something I do not have." "But it's something you may have, here and now, if you will," said Helen.

She pulled out her little pocket Bible and pointed out the verse. "See, here is God's own Word for it! 'All have sinned'—that includes you, and me, and everybody else. But read this: '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.' He says, 'Come'— Will you 'Come'—here and now?”

The express roared on at 40 or 50 miles an hour while there on the floor of the railway coach the two knelt down—Helen Grant and the girl whose name she did not even know till afterward.

"Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come!”

Very softly came the words—the plea for pardon—the surrender of a soul to Him who had bidden her come.

Then Helen Grant pointed to her Bible again. "He has said, `Come'—and you have just told Him you do come! Now, what has happened? Look at this: 'Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.' Has He cast you out? No! Then what has He done?”

Very softly came the words, while God's own peace and joy suddenly transfigured the young face: "He's taken me in!”

With a heart at peace with God and in the strength of His love, the young woman was now enabled to face the way before her trustingly and calmly. Some days after they parted, Helen Grant received a letter from her new friend. She wrote: "I was just in time to see my dear father alive. He died in peace, knowing he was going to be with Jesus. And I?—well, if I never meet you again on earth, I know I shall see you up in glory.”

So wrote the girl who, on her way to her father's deathbed, found Christ as her own personal Savior in a railway train.

The True Witness

One rainy Lord's Day evening two young men plodded along a muddy road. They were disappointed and somewhat discouraged at not having been able to hold a gospel meeting in the village they had left. Now they were returning to a town some miles distant.

Near a crossroads one suggested to his companion, a visitor in that area, that if he felt so inclined they might visit an old farmer who lived a short distance off the main road. He knew him to be in an inquiring state of soul; perhaps God would bless the visit, and so their long walk would not be a totally fruitless journey.

Only too glad for an opportunity to be used of the Lord, his friend consented, and in a few minutes they were on the way to the farmhouse. The twilight, deepened by a wet mist, set in before their destination was reached; but they soon arrived and received a hearty welcome. Upon entering, they found the old man sitting at the little kitchen window. He was poring over a large Bible which, with his spectacled eyes, he was attempting to read by the fast failing daylight. This was a good sign, they thought; and as he was alone, his wife having gone to a distant meeting, it was an opportunity for setting forth the Lord Jesus Christ.

This old man belonged to a group called the "doubters." Though taught from his youth the Bible and the Shorter Catechism, he had never been able to receive them in the childlike faith which the Scriptures enjoined. Like many, he "hoped" for acquittal in the great Day of Judgment through belief in the general "mercy" of God. He trusted partly in the sacrifice of Jesus and partly in his own honest walk and conversation. Attending regularly upon the ordinances of the church, he sought to bring up his family "in the fear of the Lord.”

One of the visitors asked the farmer what he was reading, and he answered that it was the fifth chapter of John's first epistle. "But," he added, "I don't 'see' it.”

Without further preface the visitor said: "We met three cows and two men as we came up the road; do you believe me?”

"Yes," replied the old man.

"How can you so readily believe my word, the saying of a stranger you never saw before?”

"Oh, I have no reason to doubt your word."

"Then you simply receive my witness to the fact?"

"Yes, I do.”

"Then turn to the ninth verse of the chapter before you. 'If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which He hath testified of His Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar: because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son. And 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; he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.'”

There was a solemn pause. Evidently the conviction of the simplicity of the truth was taking hold of the listener's soul. "The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple.”

The good wife returned home at that moment. She was a rejoicing child of God, and when told the story of meeting the cows and the men, immediately confirmed it, saying, "It was your brother Sandy and his neighbor driving the cows.”

Thus in the mouths of three witnesses was the fact established. It was called to the attention of the farmer that God has given on earth three witnesses to His accomplished redemption: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree (verses 6 and 8).

What more could man require? Believe them, and you will find peace.

The old man received light in his doubting soul and rested in God's precious Word. Now there was joy in that humble cottage, and after freely partaking of new milk and bread, they departed. How thankful they were to have been a help to the doubting old man, and to be used thus for their dear Lord's glory!

The Soul Robber

At a meeting once both Colonel Robert Ingersoll and Henry Ward Beecher, an eloquent preacher, were present. The noted agnostic, had spoken at some length and had brilliantly set forth his agnostic views. "How," questioned those present, "would Beecher reply to these attacks on God's Word? Would he defend Christianity?”

Not a word did the old man say, but sat relaxed, as though quietly meditating.

At last Colonel Ingersoll remarked: "Mr. Beecher, have you nothing to say on this question?”

The old man slowly lifted himself from his attitude of contemplation. "Nothing! In fact, if you excuse me for changing the conversation, I will say that while you gentlemen were talking, my mind was bent on a most deplorable spectacle which I witnessed today.”

"What was it?" at once inquired Colonel Ingersoll. Notwithstanding his peculiar views of the hereafter, this scoffer was noted for his kindness of heart.

"Why," said Mr. Beecher, "as I was walking down town today, I saw a poor lame man walking with crutches. He was slowly and carefully picking his way through a veritable cesspool of mud, in the endeavor to cross the street.

"He had just reached the middle of the puddle of filth, when a big, burly ruffian, himself all bespattered, rushed up to him, jerked the crutches from under the unfortunate man, and left him sprawling and helpless in the pool of liquid dirt which almost engulfed him.”

"What a brute that was!" said the Colonel.

"What a brute he was," they all echoed.

"Yes," said the old man, rising from his chair and brushing back his long white hair. His eyes glittered with their old-time fire as he bent them on Ingersoll. "Yes, Colonel Ingersoll, and you are the man.”

"The human soul is lame, but the hope inherent in Christianity gives it crutches to enable it to pass along the highway of life, with a semblance of respectability. Your teaching knocks these crutches from under it and leaves it a helpless, sprawling, and rudderless wreck in the slough of despond.

"If robbing the human soul of its only support on this earth—the Word of God—be your profession, why, ply it to your heart's content. It requires an architect to plan and erect a building; an incendiary may reduce it almost instantly to ashes.”

The old man sat down. Silence brooded over the scene. Colonel Ingersoll realized that in Henry Ward Beecher he had found a master in his own power of illustration-and said nothing. The company took their hats and departed.

"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good." Psa. 14:1; 53:1.

"The Word of the Lord endureth forever." 1 Peter 1:25.

Wanted?

Men are wanted: men of might,
Walking in the paths of light;
Men of purpose, men of power,
Fearless in the darkest hour.

Men of firmness, men so meek,
Who the Savior's glory seek;
Men of wisdom, men upright,
Guiding foolish ones aright!

Men of prayer, men so grave,
Used of God the lost to save:
Men of weeping, men who wait,
Watching still at Wisdom's gate.

Men so ready, men alert,
Powers of darkness to avert;
Men of candor, men who dare
Every secret thing lay bare!

Men so happy, men so glad,
Raise the drooping, cheer the sad;
Men so restful, men so calm,
Carry with them healing balm!

Men of singing, men of joy,
Tell of love without alloy;
Men of heaven, not of earth,
Witness of celestial birth.

"Who will stand, and who will go
Armor clad to meet the foe?"
"Master, here am I, send me;
Let me but Thy glory see!

"Transformation shall be mine,
I shall go in strength divine;
Fit me, fill me, bid me be
Just a witness here for Thee.”

"He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”

John 1:11, 12

September

Savior and Shepherd

While young Edie Mason was very ill she became anxious to be saved. A friend knew of her distress, and sent her a Scripture text card through the mail.

Slowly Edie read: "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.”

Sadly discouraged she sank back on the pillow, saying, "If I were only one of His sheep I should be happy.”

As that card fell on the coverlet it turned over. Displayed on the other side was a text. Lifting the card again, she read: "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." 1 Tim. 1:15.

"Oh," the sick girl said, as this glorious gospel verse enlightened her soul: "If I'm not a sheep, I'm a sinner; and Christ Jesus came to save sinners.”

Happily she trusted Him, and gladly He received her. Resting upon His strong shoulder she learned that the blessed Savior of sinners is the Shepherd of the sheep, and in perfect safety He keeps all who put their trust in Him.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee." Isa. 26:3.

Homesteading

Homesteading had just been opened up in the Northwestern provinces of Canada. With millions of acres of free land to be settled it is not surprising that many were anxious to secure homesteads for themselves and families. Among them were the Cantrells who chose a section in the province of Saskatchewan.

One of the sons of the Cantrell families, young Bob, was not content to farm, and as soon as he could leave home he went to the United States. There he obtained employment in a large store in Michigan.

In the course of time Bob rose to a good position in the firm, and was earning quite a large income. But like many young men, he began living at a pretty fast pace, and lost his position through drink. He now drank deep of earth's pleasures, but nothing he could do quenched the thirst of his immortal spirit, and he learned by bitter experience the truth of the scripture that "the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing." Eccl. 1:8.

At last finding life a burden, poor Bob resolved that he would end his miserable existence. He loaded his gun, and laying it aside, awaited a "convenient season" to put an end to his earthly course. But God's eye was upon him, and He would not let him forget his early training. The Holy Spirit made him realize his guilt, obstinacy, and rebellion, and turned his thoughts to his little Bible, which he began to read. His eyes were then opened to see that he was lost, guilty and condemned.

One day a friend casually suggested that he go and hear a preacher who was holding services in a nearby hall. Bob gladly responded, and went to the place through a blinding snowstorm. Several times he thought of returning home; but impelled by an unseen power he pressed on.

The preacher read that night the wonderful words of Isa. 53:5, 6. "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. 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.”

During the reading of the scripture, Bob rose to his feet, and with deep emotion inquired, "Is that in the Bible?”

The preacher replied that it was, and added, "I will show it to you." Reading for himself the wondrous declaration that God had laid all his sin on the head of the Lord Jesus, that He had been wounded for his transgressions, Bob exclaimed, "Thank God, that is enough for me.”

Bob left the hall rejoicing in Christ his Savior. He knew himself to be a new creature in Him, and humbly but happily he embarked on a new life for His glory.

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have passed away; all things are become new." 2 Cor. 5:17.

To Get Faith

Some say, "faith is the gift of God." So is the air; but you have to breathe it. So is water; but you have to drink it.

Some desire to have a miraculous kind of feeling. That is not faith. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." Rom. 10:17.

It is not for me to sit down and wait for faith to come stealing over me with a strange sensation; but it is for me to take God at His Word. You cannot believe unless you have something to believe. So take the Word as it is written, and appropriate it, lay hold of it. In John 6:47, 48, we read: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life." There is the bread right at hand. Partake of it. I might have thousands of loaves within my home, and as many hungry men waiting for it. They might assent to the fact that the bread was there; but unless they each took a loaf and commenced eating, their hunger would not be satisfied.

So Christ is the bread of heaven; and as the body feeds on natural food, so the soul must feed on Christ. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Believe and live.

D. L. Moody

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus?

"Will you please go to this address in your city and try to secure Mrs. Lemmel's written permission for the use of her hymn in my new compilation for the Chinese? There has been some difficulty about this, but I desire especially to include it in this volume, 'Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.'”

This request came to a dear young couple from a beloved servant of God whose life has been largely devoted to the work of the Lord in the Orient.

Of course C _ and S _ would gladly execute this commission. But didn't Mr. W _ say something about it being difficult? Perhaps they would find Mrs. Lemmel coldly aloof, austere, and proud of her accomplishments. Their timid hearts shrank from such an encounter. Only their love for the Savior and for him who had made the request strengthened them for what might be an unpleasant ordeal.

Looking to the Lord for wisdom and strength, they phoned the home where Mrs. Lemmel was living with other elderly ladies and secured an appointment.

It was a beautiful summer's day when our young friends drove out to the far end of the city and up to the pleasant private home. When they entered the living-room thy found a group of older women seated watching the television. Could Mrs. Lemmel be among them? Their hearts sank, for how could they explain their mission with all eyes centered on the T. V.? To their great relief, they were told: "No, she's in that room around the corner.”

What a lovely picture those dear young folks can still enjoy in retrospect! Soft, warm sunlight flooded the tiny immaculate bedroom into which they were ushered. A pleasant breeze flowing through the open window cooled the atmosphere. A bed, a tiny piano, a charming water-color and some plaques on the wall, perhaps two dressers with several items on them, and a rose-colored rocker: these were the furnishings. But, as the center and dominant spirit of the room, in the rose-colored rocker sat a well-looking lady, sturdy in build, but not really heavy. Her full face wore a wide smile and the bright welcome of her face was framed in beautiful, snow-white hair, all done up in tiny curls. She wore a long gown with a sweater about her shoulders and slippers on her feet. Altogether, she presented a picture of well-being rarely found in one past ninety years of age, as was Mrs. Lemmel. But her eyes were closed; she was blind.

The moment that C _ and S _ came into the room, as if she could see them Mrs. Lemmel reached out both hands to them and called them warmly to her. All their fear fled as they sat near this dear old lady; and, instead, their hearts were filled with love as she held their hands and listened to their errand.

While S _ was telling Mrs. Lemmel of Mr. W _ ‘s desire to use her hymn in China, the old lady's emotions seemed to flow through her hand into C _ ‘s to which she clung. At times, as if she could scarcely control the joy flooding her heart, she would squeeze C _'s hand harder and harder and even her quickened pulse from time to time indicated her inward delight.

Then when S__ told her that her hymn would be translated into three foreign languages for the children to sing, she burst forth with "Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!" And her poor eyes filled with tears.

"Of course you may have permission to use the hymn," she said, and proceeded to have C_ write such a statement for her to sign. Then, in her sweet, happy voice, she related some incidents in connection with her hymn.

Many years ago, while Mrs. Lemmel still had her sight, she composed "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus." She had sent it to a publisher but did not yet know the results until one day at a Bible conference. As she walked into a room she became aware that a large group of people were singing—"her hymn"! "For a while I just wasn't there!" she said.

As time went on, missionaries carried the hymn far and wide, even into the midst of a head-hunting tribe. One day as some people were fearfully entering the domain of this tribe, they heard the voices chanting. The guide turned reassuringly to them and said: "You don't need to fear. They are singing: Turn your eyes upon Jesus! The old chief of that tribe died with that hymn on his lips.”

Another incident involving this hymn comes from a soldier-lad during the Korean War. One night he was exceedingly lonely and sad and longed for peace and comfort. He turned on the short wave radio, and over the night air came the encouraging words of Mrs. Lemmel's hymn:

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free!
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there:
O'er us sin hath no more dominion,
For more than conqu'ers we are!
His word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well.
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
Chorus:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face!
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

A Good Word

I was employed as resident nurse in a hotel in the mountains, and had for a patient a very sick man. One day he felt that his end was near and asked for a preacher. The nearest pastor lived miles away, and I knew he was not at home.

"Is there no one, then, who can give a word of comfort to a dying man?" he pleaded. I knew of no one.

"Nurse," he cried, and seized my hand: "say a prayer for me—just a good word to God.”

The perspiration rose to my forehead, but just then an inspiration came to me. I rushed to my room. Down at the bottom of my trunk lay my old neglected Bible. My mother had marked her favorite verses in it. I read them one after another to the dying man, until I came to the verse: "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. This verse he asked me to read again and again.

"Nurse, you have brought peace to my heart. Now I can die without fear since God so loved me.”

Dear reader, that verse has brought peace to many millions of hearts. Will you not let it speak peace to your soul through faith in God's dear Son?

Settled Peace

A dead and risen Christ is the ground work of salvation. He "was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification." Rom. 4:25.

To see Jesus, by the eye of faith, nailed to the cross and seated on the throne, gives solid peace to the conscience and perfect liberty to the heart. We can look into the tomb, and see it empty; we can look up to the throne and see it occupied, and go on our way rejoicing.

The Lord settled everything on the cross in behalf of His people. The proof of this settlement is that He is now seated at the right hand of God. A risen Christ is proof of accomplished redemption. If redemption is an accomplished fact, the believer's peace is a settled reality.

We did not make peace! We never could make peace. Indeed, any efforts on our part only tends more fully to manifest us as peace-breakers. But Christ, having made peace by the blood of His cross, has taken His seat on high, triumphant over every enemy. By Him God preaches peace.

The word of the gospel conveys this peace; and the soul that believes the gospel has peace—settled peace before God, for Christ is his peace.

Through the finished work of Christ God has not only satisfied His own claims, but in so doing He has made a divinely-righteous way through which His boundless affection may flow down to the guiltiest of Adam's guilty progeny.

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

Salvation Assured

While walking along a country road one Sunday, I overtook a man who was going to a church a short distance off. As we talked together I asked him if his sins were forgiven. The question surprised him, and he answered: "I cannot say that they are.”

"Would you like to be able to say they are?" I asked.

"Well, sir, I would like to know for certain they are, but we cannot know in this life that God for certain has forgiven us. We must wait and see!”

"Indeed!" I said. "That is something new to me. I do not find it in God's Word. May I ask where you are going?”

"To church, sir. I always attend.”

"Do you join in saying the Apostle's creed?"

"Certainly I do.”

"Then you say, 'I believe in the forgiveness of sins.' If you believe in the forgiveness of sins, how is it yours are not forgiven?”

He told me he had never thought of that! As we walked on, I showed him how God could be just and the Justifier of those who believe in Jesus, and could righteously forgive on the ground of Christ's atoning death. Before we parted, he took God at His word. He said he knew for a certainty now that his sins were forgiven, and would be remembered against him no more.

"Blessed [or happy] is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity." Psa. 32:1, 2.

The Gospel in a Teacup

Our God is a God of preparation. Joseph told Pharaoh that his dream was repeated to show that the thing was "prepared (established) of God." Gen. 41:32. Here was a God of preparation in providence.

The same is true in nature; "He prepareth rain for the earth." Psa. 147:8; and it is equally true when providence and nature combine. "The Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah." God was the builder of that life-boat. "God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah;" the same God prepared "a worm," and "a vehement east wind" (Jonah 1:17; 4:6, 7, 8).

Can we wonder our God prepared salvation itself through the precious blood of Christ before the foundation of the world? 1 Peter 1:20.

"Thou, O God, hast prepared of Thy goodness for the poor." Psa. 68:10.

These thoughts came to me over a cup of tea, thoughts even more refreshing than the beverage. We, a group of Christians were traveling, and in the late afternoon found lodging with a cottager. One of our party got tea ready. The others stood aside, lest too many brewers might spoil the brew. While we sat and enjoyed our tea, one of us thought of a plan by which to preach the Gospel to the woman in whose home we were staying.

"What a number of people have worked to prepare this cup of tea!" he remarked. "Somebody got the kettle and the wood, this good woman boiled the water and scalded the tea leaves, and I poured it out. All that these others have to do is to drink it.”

"You must go farther back," said one of the party, as if afraid present company might get too much credit. "A Chinaman prepared the soil; others planted and tended the plant; others picked, dried, and packed it; still others exported it; sailors brought it over the ocean; merchants bought it; and now -”

"Without doing anything, you gentlemen drink it," said the first speaker.

This was the moment for the application; and it was suggested that, in this, one could discern that the cup of tea was like God's salvation. He did all the preparing, and lost sinners have only to accept and enjoy it.

It was put thus:—"God promised salvation in Eden, it was prophesied throughout the Old Testament, it was perfected by Jesus Christ Himself, and now it is proffered by the Holy Spirit. All we have to do is to `take the cup of salvation,' and be refreshed and saved.”

"Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people." Luke 2:30, 31.

"If we do this," added another of the group, "we shall soon say, 'My cup runneth over." Psa. 23:5.

How difficult it is to get thirsty sinners to see that God prepares this cup! They must, they imagine, bring their own sugar or milk; or at least they must bring their own mugs. No; God, who prepared a body for Jesus (Heb. 10:5), prepares a perfect salvation through Jesus. He treats us as Queen Esther treated the king, and says, "Come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared" (Esther 5:4). Since bidden ones would want more than a mere invitation, He says: "Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fallings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage." Matt. 22:4. The preparation is all on God's side. "Thou preparest a table before me." Psa. 23:5.

But we have left the tea-table for a dinner-table. Let us get back to our china cup. As the lady of the house did not seem very clear as to whether she had really received God's salvation, we presented a further illustration directly to her.

"It would not say much for our tea, if these friends, all the evening, were in doubt whether you had served them. Suppose someone asked them, 'Have you had a cup of tea?' And they answered, 'I'm not quite sure; I half think I have, but I am very uncertain.' Will they talk like that? Would it be complimentary to you if they did?”

"No, sir, I should think not.”

"Nor is it to God's praise if, having drunk of His pardoning grace, it has so little refreshed us that we doubt if we have ever tasted it. We must first drink what He has prepared, and then from a grateful heart extol the richness of the cup.”

Our God is a God of preparation. "Eye hath not seen what He hath prepared" (Isa. 64:4; 1 Cor. 2:9); but it includes "a place" here, into which He will bring us (Ex. 23:20), and "a place" which He has gone to prepare for us yonder (John 14:2); "a city" (Heb. 11:16), and "a kingdom" (Matt. 25:34), which "shall be given to them for whom it is prepared" (Matt. 20:23).

I do not even have to get my heart into a right state to receive God's provision, for "the preparation of the heart in man... is from the Lord" (Prov. 16:1). I take God's salvation in all its preparedness, and He takes me in all my unpreparedness.

"No preparation can I make,
My best resolve I only break,
Yet save me for Thine own name's sake,
And take me as I am!”

"As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”

Ezek. 33:11

October

Going West - or East?

"Well, Dent, I'm so glad to see you out again. I thought at one time you were 'going West."'

The two soldiers had met in the park. Dent, a man with tired, worn face, and wearing hospital blue, sat resting under the trees. His eyes were bright and hopeful enough in spite of all he evidently had endured. He replied heartily to his friend's greeting with, "No old boy, I'm getting on fine; but I would not have tone West' anyhow.”

"Well, you know what I mean-`pass on,' go under,' `peg out,' don't you know?”

The man in blue smiled quietly.

"Yes, I do know what you mean, and I'd like to explain what I mean. Can you sit down a bit? My leg is a bit shaky still.”

The other soldier sat down by his side and replied: "Go to it, Dent. I've wanted to hear how you got out of that tight scrape. A lot of your chums did not make it, I hear.”

"Well, you can guess how glad we were when the order came to charge, for we had been like dogs on the leash for days. We just went over the top and at 'em. I can't tell you how time passed, for we made a grand rush to reach the heights.

"The worst was over before I was hit. I ran on for a bit before I fell. I must have lain there a long time, for it was dark when I came to myself, and my tunic was saturated with blood. A burning pain soon aroused me entirely.

"It was weird, I can tell you, waking up like that. It was agony to move, and I lay still till a star shell burst, and for an instant lit up the area. I spied the outline of a shell hole, and tried to crawl to a bit of shelter.

"I had got about halfway when I came to one of our company. At first I thought he was done for; but I slipped my hand into his tunic and found his heart was beating, so I dragged and rolled him towards a fairly decent mound of earth. For a little while I lay exhausted with the pain of my effort, wondering who my buddy was.

"Another light flashed in the sky, and I got a good look at his face. Yes, I knew him. He was a fine fellow from our platoon, named Gilbert, but he was nicknamed by the boys, Filbert. He was a great favorite with us all—a jolly, friendly chap, a touch of a saint perhaps about him, but a good sport for all that.

"He was too good a man to lose, and I tried to bring him round; but it was not easy, there in the dark, and my leg throbbing at every movement. I had some water left, and I got a few drops down his throat, and laid close to get some warmth into him.

"At last he began to rouse, and I told him who I was. I said all the cheery things I could think of, such as 'cheer up,' "keep smiling," but he did not really rally. At last I said: 'Gil, old man, I fear you are 'going West.' Have you any messages?'

"Gilbert roused then, `No: I am 'going East'; not to the night, but to the dawn.'

"I thought he was wandering, so I tried again.

'Chum, you are wounded badly; I am afraid you are—,' and I hesitated for want of a word. He held my hand tight then, and said: 'Yes, I know; but all the same it is to the DAY I'm going. Christ has overcome the sharpness of death, and opened the kingdom of heaven for me. I know that, and I am so glad.'

"That was too much for me! I knew I was even then in deadly peril. At any moment a shot might find us and finish me off. At such a time a man is pretty honest with himself. I was not very religious; but like most of the boys, I had done a bit of thinking. Sure, I had put up a prayer when we went over the top; but I was not ready like Gil.

"It came over me all of a sudden—what was the difference between 'going West' and 'going East'? Here was a man who could tell me, if he only held out long enough. I put my lips to his ear and whispered: `Gil, can you tell me how I can 'go East' too?'

"That roused him! He seemed to come right back, and spoke strongly as he gripped my hand. 'Old man, the way is straight before you; it is Christ Himself.'

'Yes, Gil, but my sins! You know I've forgotten Him all these years.' As I said this I felt how far I was from the Way he spoke of. Gil lay still for a bit, then whispered with a tender thrill in his voice: 'There's the Cross, you know, and the MAN who died on it. You remember the old Sunday school hymn:

He died that we might be forgiven,
He died to make us good;
That we might go at last to heaven,
Saved by His precious blood?'

"Yes, I remembered it well. I could even hear the tune ringing in my ears. It all came back with a rush of memory: the faces of my classmates, my teacher's voice. But after all, it was only a hymn. Could I rest my soul on that? I tried again. 'But, Gil, is that gospel truth? Is that all?'

"Again came the whispered words: 'Yes, chum, gospel truth indeed. Listen to this, it is God's own Word: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." That's you and me. "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree." That's yours and mine. "Christ also hath suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." Don't you see that is turning us to the Dawn, to the Day?'

"I drank in the words, but it was too easy, I thought. I must know more.

'Yes, Gil, but what am I going to do to get all that? What is the connecting link?'

'Do! why, nothing! It's all done by Him, at Calvary. Ask Him to take you as you are; He will do all the rest.'

"I thought it over as best I could. There must be something for me to do, something to bring as a kind of atonement for the past. But after all, Gilbert knew best, and there was no other way I could see; so I let myself go and prayed the only words which came to my mind: "Lord, have mercy upon me! God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

"Then Gilbert's voice, very faint, came once more: `with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plenteous redemption'; 'The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.'

"The words came with authority, as if God Himself had spoken. He was very near us then. I trembled as I lay, but the burden had gone, and I thanked Him from my heart. Whatever came now I was safe. I did not understand, but knew whom I had believed.'

That was even better than understanding. I felt Gilbert's hand clasp tighten as he murmured. 'Another soul; this makes dying worth-while. My God, I thank Thee; keep, oh, keep him, and bring him safely to the eternal Day.'

"After this we both lay silent, and oh, how I longed for the dawn! At last it came faintly like a lovely primrose veil over the east. A thin line of light broke across us as we lay. Gil opened his eyes, and a smile lit up his face before it settled into the peace of the last sleep.

"Now do you wonder that I never say I am 'going West'? God has turned me from darkness to light, and has given me 'the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.' I have peace with God through the work of Christ and can rest in the assurance that,

"Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain—
He washed it white as snow.”

How Are You to Be Saved?

Read Luke 10:28-39

"What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Who would have thought that that question, which so many ask, would have been used to tempt Christ? But it is the language of one "willing to justify himself." What shall I do? No words can more plainly show the ignorance of a fallen sinner. When these words are on a sinner's lips in a self-justifying way, they show that he knows not his fallen, helpless, lost condition.

The Lord knows the pride of the deceived heart.

The religionist can repeat the law, and no doubt thinks he can keep it. "Do it," says Jesus, "and thou shalt live." Then He answers His own heart-searching demand with one of the most striking parables in the Word of God.

This parable of "the good Samaritan" is the answer to man's question, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" It describes man's condition—mine and yours, my reader. Fallen among thieves, stripped, wounded, left half dead. What a picture, and how true! Man is not innocent—not happy. He is fallen, guilty, helpless, undone.

Look at the dying man by the roadside; he cannot walk any further, no, not a step. He may not even call for help. Do you not see he is dying? Is this the man to talk about doing? Ah, poor, dying man! The law cannot help him! The priest and the Levite, who minister in the ceremonies of the law, have to pass him by; they cannot help him.

Lost soul, in the words of the prophet of old, "thou art the man"! This is your spiritual state. The law cannot help you; religious observances cannot help you. Neither can your own efforts, resolutions, struggles. There is only One whose aid can avail.

"A certain Samaritan... came where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him." Luke 10:33, 34.

This is Jesus, the Son of the living God, who in infinite love pitied fallen, naked, dying man, and came to earth to save him.

Yes, this is the glory of the gospel. God, full of tender compassion, rich in mercies, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, SENT His beloved Son to helpless man, laid by the roadside, fallen in sin and misery. "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.

Man could do nothing; Jesus came to him where he was. What a journey of love! He came from heaven's glory to Calvary's cross for the sinner. Christ has suffered for sin. The work is finished. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." 1 Peter 3:18.

My reader, do you thus know Jesus? Are you still asking: "What shall I DO?”

Have you been brought to know your utterly lost condition by the wayside? Has Jesus come to you, bound up your broken heart, poured in oil and wine? Has God revealed to you Jesus, taking upon the cross your place as a sinner, and now giving you His place in spotless purity forever? Do you know His loving care and daily mercies which He has promised His own until He comes again?

Dear one, if you know and believe the love of God in thus sending Jesus to save you, you have eternal life. It is the GIFT OF GOD.

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

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us." Titus 3:5.

Account for Me?

Everyone admitted that this infidel lecturer was a smart man. In debate, he could generally make his opponent, however clever, trip himself and look utterly ridiculous. As a lecturer, his arguments were subtly convincing, and his ability to mislead his hearers was attested by the spread of infidelity wherever he presented his infamous addresses.

But "God is not mocked," and He was holding in reserve one of His own to confound this emissary of Satan.

One night during one of his lectures in a rich mining town, he observed the presence of a most intent listener. The man was still wearing his rough, grimy miner's garments, and the massive frame and scarcely concealed muscles bespoke a man of unusual physical strength.

When the speaker concluded all his arguments against the Bible as the inspired Word of God, Jesus Christ as God's holy Son, and Christianity as the logical consequence of belief in them, he exultantly felt that he had successfully demolished in his hearers any faith that they had held in such theories, as he labeled them. He ended his address by saying. "Now I'm sure that I have succeeded in accounting to you for the myth that is called the religion of Jesus Christ.”

He had hardly finished when the miner whom he had previously noted rose slowly to his feet. Though clothed in grimy garments he towered majestically over his neighbors. His voice boomed through the hall as he addressed his words to the infidel speaker.

"Sir," he said, "I'm only a working man and I don't know your fancy word 'Myth.' But these people know me! They know that until three years ago I was the toughest man in town. They know that up till that time I had a miserable home, I neglected my wife and children, I cursed, I swore, I drank all my wages, and whoever withstood me soon felt the force of my fist.

"Then someone came along and told me of the love of God to poor sinners. He gave me a glimpse of Christ Jesus dying on Calvary's cross for lost wretches like me. He lifted me up with hope and faith in the very things that you now call a myth. I believed those very things that you now deny, and through my new-found trust in the cleansing power of the Savior's blood, my life was changed. These folks can tell you that all is now different. We have a happy home. I love my wife and children. I feel better in every way, and God has taken from me the desire for liquor. A new power has taken possession of me since Christ came into my life. Sir," and his face was all aglow, "if what you say is true, then how do you account for me?”

The lecturer had no explanation to offer, and that working man sent people home feeling that the Bible is still the Word of the living God, that Jesus Christ is anything but a myth, and that the gospel "is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.”

"I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth." Rom. 1:16.

The Shelter?

I occupied the seat in one of the cars in a funeral procession. As we drew near to the cemetery gates, I remarked to my fellow-passengers: "I have cause to remember this portion of our journey. It was just about here, under similar circumstances, that my sin-darkened soul was aroused to the realities of death and eternity.”

My companions seemed interested, and one asked me to tell them about it, so I continued: "It was several years ago, but the memory of it remains fresh in my mind. On that occasion I was following to the grave the remains of a dearly loved cousin, who had patiently suffered from a painful and distressing illness for a long time. Often she warned me of my careless indifference to the things of eternity; and often my sleeping conscience was stirred, but only for the moment. And so it was that on that day of her funeral I was still unsaved.

"Opposite to me in the car sat the minister of the church where my cousin had attended. Possibly he guessed the nature of my thoughts, as, leaning towards me, he said: With her all is well. She is with Christ, which is far better. She knew that if out of Christ she was lost; but that in Christ she was saved for time and for eternity. A storm-tossed mariner may know of a 'shelter'; but of what avail is that knowledge to him unless he gets into it? Out of Christ there is no safety. Are we in the refuge which God has provided? In Christ alone is your shelter. Get into it now, if still adrift. 'There is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.'

"I listened thoughtfully to the minister's voice. When it ceased I said to myself, 'I am not in the shelter.' As one in a dream I stood by the side of the grave, and that night I confessed to myself, 'If I die now I shall go straight to hell, for I am not in the shelter.'

"But, friends, the' God's Spirit had revealed my need of a Savior, He had already provided the means of salvation. Jesus was sent to shed His blood to redeem lost sinners to God, and under its shelter the trusting soul is safe from every storm. I entered that place of safety through faith in Christ, and now I can say, being sheltered, 'Thou art my hiding place; Thou wilt preserve me from trouble; Thou wilt compass me about with songs of deliverance.”

"Rock of ages, cleft for me, grace hath made me safe in Thee.”

We had now arrived at the grave-side, and stepping out of the car, I assisted one of my fellow-passengers to alight. She was a young girl about eighteen years old, and as she took my hand she said earnestly, "Thank you very much, sir, for having told us of the `shelter'.”

A few months later I received a call to the sickbed of the same young girl who had listened so attentively to me in the car. She was evidently very ill, but with a bright smile of recognition she whispered, "You told me of the 'shelter' and I want you to know that I am in it.”

With a prayer that God would, in the power of His Sprit, reveal His Son to this anxious soul, as a loving Savior, I gladly told her of the Rock, the Shelter, and the strong Tower of Psa. 61.

To all of this she listened eagerly, and several visits were made as she became weaker and weaker.

One day, in company with a friend, I called to see her again. The door was opened by a young woman who said, "Clara is too ill to see anyone today.”

As we were leaving she said, suddenly, "Wait a moment, please." Then turning to me, she said, "What is your name, sir?”

When I told her, she remarked, "I don't think she would like you to go away without seeing her.”

She led us to the bedside of the young girl who was evidently near the end. I thought she was too ill for reading or conversation, so quietly knelt at her bedside. I asked the Good Shepherd to reveal Himself to this weary lamb, and to comfort and sustain the sorrowing relatives. Then as I turned for a last look at the invalid, to my surprise, I saw that she was beckoning me.

I leaned over to catch the faintly uttered words as she said, "You told me of the 'shelter.' You read to me of one who was at His feet. I too have been at His feet and now I am going up there to be with Him. Good bye.”

Reader, are you in the "shelter"?

"Under His wings I am safely abiding
Though the night deepens, and tempests are wild;
Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me,
He has redeemed me and I am His child.”

A Shadow on the World

There's a shadow on the world, and it deepens;
The hearts of men begin to fail for fear:
Beneath apparent confidence and boasting,
Perplexity is growing year by year.

There's a shadow on the world: and its rulers
See lawlessness abound and tumult rife,
And prove that all their deeply thought out measures
Are powerless to quell the rising strife.

There's a shadow on the world—Christ rejected.
How can the creature man see aught aright
In the darkness which must always be before him,
When he has turned his back upon the light?

There's a shadow on the world: it betokens
The longsuffering of God is well nigh o'er,
And the blest atoning work of Christ the Savior
Shall be held out to sinful men no more.

There's a shadow on the world: the proud empires
Which o'er the world now boastingly bear sway,
Shall soon be swept aside by God's great power,
And the Lord alone exalted in that day.

There's a shadow on the world! The cross of Jesus Stands black and grim against the dark'ning sky. O world, poor world, ere God shall loose His fury, Repent! Believe! To Christ for refuge fly.

"The wages of sin is death; but
THE GIFT OF GOD is eternal
life through JESUS CHRIST
our LORD.”

Rom. 6:23

November

The Photograph Album

We had been holding gospel meetings in several sections of a large city, and God was giving blessing in the salvation of souls. One morning as I left my quarters I was met by a tall, thin, cadaverous-looking fellow in the street.

"Preacher," said he, "I am in the dark—my mind is much distressed. Maybe you will be able to help me. I'll first tell you a little of my history.

"I have been in this country for about ten years. I left my home to free myself from all restraint. I just hated religion, wasn't inclined that way a bit; and, like many other foolish young fellows, I determined to have my fling at the world.

"I am practically an atheist, though I haven't publicly avowed myself as such. I have blotted God out of my thoughts, and have acted as if there was no God. In fact, I've tried to persuade myself there is none!

"I haven't prospered much—had to push my way against tremendous difficulties; but at length I've settled here in business. I have a good wife, and we do pretty well, considering; but somehow, lately, I have been awfully troubled in my mind. I'm in the dark— can't see my way a bit. Somehow the thought keeps forcing its way in, that there is a God—that I shall have to do with that God whom I have been all these years practically denying.”

"No wonder you are in the dark," said I. "When, a man denies God, and lives without Him, he can't get anywhere else but in the dark. Don't you know the couplet: 'Light obeyed increaseth light; light rejected bringeth night'?”

"Well, can't you help me at all?”

"No, I'm afraid not; I don't know how I can."

"It does seem hard that I can't get some light.

It's awfully dark.”

"How long has this been troubling you?”

"About three or four weeks.”

"Can you account for it at all? Have you been reading anything, or hearing anything that has stirred your mind?”

"No, nothing at all. It came all of a sudden—night after night—so that I couldn't sleep for thinking. Can you account for it in any way?”

"Yes, I think I can. Does anyone ever pray for you?”

"Oh, I'm sure my brother in the Old Country does. He has never left off since I left home; I'm sure of that.”

"Then what you are now feeling is merely the beginning of the answer to your brother's prayers. He believes in God. He knows God; and now the answer is coming. You are getting uneasy, and the truths of past years are coming to the front again. How do you like it?”

"Oh, it’s awfully dark, and I'm miserable! I can't get any light anywhere. My health is beginning to suffer. I have no appetite. Can't you help me?”

"No," said I, "I'm afraid I can't; it's not so easy to get back to God when you have been going away from Him for ten years. Jesus Christ says, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me!' You can only get back to God by Him. But then you said that you could not believe a word in the Bible, so that won't help you at all.”

"No; I can't believe that.”

Without further talk, we parted. A few weeks passed, and I saw him coming into the service one night, at a place four or five miles from his home. At the close he came up to me saying, "Will you try and help me tonight? I am worse than ever; and if I don't get help soon, I shall die. I can't sleep, eat, or attend to business. It does seem hard.”

"Not hard, my friend, by any means. The Bible says, 'Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.' But, I forgot! You don't believe a word in the Bible.”

"No, I can't believe a word in the Bible; but can't you help me, somehow?”

"No. I have no other resource but the Bible; and that's no use to you.”

"What shall I do? I am all astray. I have got far away from God!”

"What did you say just then?”

"Why, that I had got far from God, and gone astray altogether.”

'Well, I think I could find one line that you could believe now. Shall I try?”

"Do! I shall be so glad to get one line that I can really believe.”

Turning to Isa. 53:6, we read together: "All we like sheep have gone astray." "Is that true?" said I. "Why, yes; that's true.”

"How do you know it is?”

"It describes me! I've gone astray! That's me, and no mistake! Why, there's one line that I can believe!

I never thought that you'd find a line like that in the Bible.”

"Well," said I, "you've got what you wanted now one line out of the Bible that you can believe; so good-night, friend.”

"Stop! Stop a bit! I've got a line that I can believe; but I'm just as much in the dark as ever. That line hasn't helped me at all.”

"No," said I; "it wasn't meant to. It merely states a fact that you knew before. It never does help a man to read he's 'gone astray,' when he knows it already.”

"Would you mind trying another line?”

"I don't mind trying another; but do you think you ought to? Isn't one enough at a time?”

"Well, you see, I don't think that one line has helped me at all; and I'd so much like to try a second.”

Again we turned to Isa. 53:6, and read the second line, "We have turned every one to his own way.”

"Why, that's true too; you say you went your way from God I went my way. That line describes us both. Yes, I can believe that line.”

"But observe," said I; "it is little more than you expected. Now you have two lines more out of the Bible that you can believe and know they are true. Isn't it strange, now! You never expected that, did you?”

"No, I never did. It is wonderful that I could believe those two lines. But yet, somehow, they don't seem to have done me any good. I'm just as dark, and feel no nearer God.”

"No," said I, "they are not meant 'to bring you into the light. They merely describe us two; and we know they are true, because they are our experience.”

"Well, would you mind trying to find a third line?”

"I don't mind trying any number, because I believe every line in the Bible; but I wouldn't advise you to try a third. You wouldn't be able to believe it.”

"I think I might; I think perhaps I might.”

"I feel sure you would not be able to," said I. "Still if you very much wish it, here it is.”

Once more we read together: "And the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." "There now," said I, "this third line is more than you can believe, isn't it?”

"Well, yes. I must confess I can't accept that at all. I can't believe that.”

"I thought you would not be able to. I told you that two lines were all you would manage at one time.”

"But how do you account for it that I cannot believe this third line?”

"I can tell you, but you will not like what I say." "I wish you would. How strange that I can believe two lines, but not three!”

"Well, then, the reason simply is that you are the biggest fool out! And I can prove it in five minutes, if you like.”

"I wish you would then, for you are hitting me rather hard.”

"Suppose that, instead of this Bible in my hand, I was holding a photograph album, and we were looking at the pictures. The first one would be a picture of your neighbor. 'Yes,' you would say, 'I knew that man well: and it's a capital picture of him.' The next one, I might say, is that of your business acquaintance. `Do you know him?' Yes—exactly; a speaking likeness!'

"Now, we will turn over to the third picture. This is my neighbor. Did you ever see him? 'No.' you reply, `I never saw him.' But I have,' I say; 'and I can vouch for that being a first-rate picture.' Now the fourth is my friend. Is he a stranger to you? 'Yes,' you say; 'I never saw him.' But, say I, I know it is as good a picture of him as are the others we have looked at. And then you reply, 'I can't believe that those two are a bit like the men you say, because I have never seen them; and until I do see them, I shall never bring myself to believe that those are their pictures, even though they are taken by the same artist.' Wouldn't you be a fool to reason that way?”

"Why, certainly I should; but I have not done that.”

"Yes, you have," I replied. "I have shown you four pictures in that one verse, Isa. 53:6. The first one was yourself—which you immediately recognized. The second was mine: and that, you said, you recognized also. Those first two lines showed us ourselves. Now the third line shows us just as plainly the Lord Jesus and God; and you assert that you can't believe that third line. What right have you to impugn the accuracy of the Holy Spirit in describing to you the Lord Jesus and the living God, when you have seen His accurate drawing of us two?”

"Let me hear the whole verse again. I fear that I'm a fool, after all! You are right!”

We read the verse over; and once more I tried to explain to him the meaning of the statements in the three lines.

"Do you mean to say," said he, "that my safety and whole future life depend upon my believing that third line?”

"Yes, I do!”

"Then I'll stake my entire existence, for time and for eternity, on that third line. I put my finger on it, and declare that I believe that every word of it is true!”

Solemnly we dropped on our knees, and I repeated his words to the Lord Jesus. He then followed in humble and broken confession of his sin; and ere he rose again the light had entered his soul. The three lines had accomplished the purpose of God! They had found entrance into his soul through the door of faith, and he was rejoicing in salvation.

Altogether Sinful

Although the leper had only one spot, he is a picture of thousands of people today. They are willing to admit that all is not as it ought to be in their lives, but they insist that they are no worse than others.

But when God reveals to them their own hearts, they see that they are sinners—that there is not a sound place in them from their head to their feet, and that their good works are only "filthy rags" in God's sight.

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

Not until we see our sinful condition as God sees it, are we willing to take our right attitude before Him and say to the Lord Jesus:

"Just as I am—and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot:
O Lamb of God, I come!”

I Have What I Want!?

One day while walking in the park, I saw near the gatehouse a woman wandering aimlessly, it seemed to me, among the shrubbery. As I drew near the expression on her face told of sorrow and trouble.

After a little casual conversation with her, I asked her if she was saved. She replied that she was not; but she desired greatly to find peace, and for a long time had been in real distress about her soul.

We went together into the gatehouse where she lived. There I told her as simply as possible of God's great love, and put before her the way of salvation He has provided through the death of His Son on the cross, of His resurrection from the dead, and of His ascension to glory. By God's grace she accepted the truth eagerly, and after a short time was led to trust the Lord Jesus as her own personal Savior.

When I saw her again, she told me that shortly after our conversation a man had come and hired a boat for fishing parties and to row visitors to the park around the little lake.

"He gets his meals with me," she said, "but I do not like it. He is an unbeliever, and I do not as yet know how to answer his questions.”

I advised her not to try to do so, butt to leave him with God. I knew that, no matter how firm he seemed to be in his opinions, they would not support him in the presence of God.

Later this man gave up his park employment and went with his wife to live in another city.

I was unable to see the gate-keeper for some time, but I sent a Christian friend with a letter to her from myself. In this letter I told the story of Lord Roden and enclosed a copy of the short poem which he kept fastened to his library chimneypiece. This is what I wrote:

"It was observed that a friend who often came to see his lordship always walked across the room and read the verse—

'In peace let me resign my breath,
And Thy salvation see;
My sins deserved eternal death,
But Jesus died for me.'

"Lord Roden remarked to his friend: 'You seem to enjoy my little poem.'

"'Yes,' said he, 'it has done me good, and the Lord has used it to the salvation of my soul.'”

In my letter to my friend in the park I quoted this verse. Having read my letter, the gate-keeper told my letter-bearer of the infidel of whom she had told me on my former visit. She added: "I have just received a letter from the man's wife. She says that her husband is dying and in great agony about his soul. He feels he is lost and cries out, 'Oh for some one to show me what to do!' Now what do you think of my sending the letter you brought, and its little poem, to him?”

This was agreed upon, and the letter was mailed that evening.

The next day, as the sick man lay in despair, he heard the postman's knock. "Oh," said he, "perhaps something will come that will do me good. If it is a letter, get it quickly and read it to me.”

His wife lost no time. She opened the letter and read it aloud, slowly and distinctly. As she came to the words of the poem,

"In peace let me resign my breath,
And Thy salvation see;
My sins deserved eternal death
But Jesus died for me,”
he called out, "Stop! I have just what I want,—
" 'My sins deserve eternal death
But Jesus died for me.'”

His wife is happy now in the knowledge that he died fully trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of his soul.

Beloved reader, God's ways are wonderful. He has used the printed truth in a little four-lined verse for the eternal blessing of several persons. Will you believe its message now, and receive the Savior who died for you?

What?

WHAT is the most important thing in the world?

The destiny of your never-dying soul.

WHAT is worse than being a heathen?

It is far worse to live in a land of Bibles and Christians yet not want the Savior!

WHAT shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel?

"Them... that obey not the gospel... shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power." 2 Thess. 1:8, 9.

CHRIST DIED FOR MY SINS. WHAT ABOUT YOURS?

True Peace

How sad is RELIGION without Christ! For many years I had just enough religion to make me miserable. Now I know Jesus as my Savior; and, having Him, I am indeed happy. I wonder what your religion does for you, dear friend?

A man I had met several times had always a gloomy countenance. Upon one occasion I said to him: "Nat many years ago I had enough religion to make me miserable, but not enough to make me happy! How is it with you?”

"That is my case exactly," he answered, startled into the confession by my own former experience being so like his own.

Another time, soon after my conversion, a friend came to see me. Clasping me in her arms, she exclaimed: "Something has taken ten years from your face since I last saw you!”

"Oh," I replied, "the years from my face are as nothing to the burden the Lord Jesus has taken from my heart.”

Did you know that your face is at times an index of the condition of your heart? Many countenances show traces of the burden "grievous to be borne" upon the heart. I feel keenest sympathy for them. Others, though furrowed and wrinkled with age, have borne a bright and glowing testimony to the inner "peace that passeth understanding.”

Friend, is the burden of sins still unforgiven weighing upon your heart? Or do you know Him, "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree"? The Apostle adds, "By whose stripes ye were healed.”

1 Peter 2:24. Dear one, there is rest and peace in knowing the deep meaning of these wonderful words, "By His stripes I am healed.”

Whatever your past experience has been, accept the Savior now, and in future you will have enough "religion" to make you happy in all conditions, and under all circumstances.

"He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed." Isa. 53:5.

Christ My Life

The successful business man declares: "To me to live is fortune.”

The unsuccessful one says: "To me to live is toil and labor.”

Says the philosopher: "To me to live is knowledge.”

The ambitious one declares: "To me to live is fame.”

What should be the ruling passion of the Christian of the 20th century? Does his voice ring out amid all the voices of the world? Does the Christian of today proclaim with Paul: "To me to live is not fortune, not toil, not knowledge, not fame, not glory—but to me to live is Christ"?

"Christ shall be magnified in my body... For to me to live is Christ." Phil. 1:20, 21.

No Time of My Own.

"Go with me to the concert this afternoon," said a city salesman to a new assistant at the warehouse.

"I cannot," was the reply. "My time is not my own. It belongs to my employers during business hours.”

The next Sunday afternoon the same salesman said to the young warehouse clerk: "Go with us and have a good time today.”

The same reply came: "I cannot; my time is not my own. It belongs to the One who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”

Years passed, and the young clerk was near the end of the pathway he had consistently followed for the glory of God. He had risen to an excellent place in business, and life lay fair before him. But now that life was fast ebbing away. "Are you ready to go?" asked a friend.

"Certainly," was the triumphant answer. "I have sought to obey God and to live for Him. He has directed me thus far, and I am in His hands. —My time is not my own.”

"We thus judge, that if One died for all, then were all dead: and that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again." 2 Cor. 5:14,15.

"Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price." 1 Cor. 6:19, 20.

"THERE IS NONE

THAT SEEKETH

AFTER GOD."

Rom. 3:11.

"THE SON OF MAN IS COME TO
SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT
WHICH WAS LOST."

Luke 19:10.

December

The Pawned Book

Dr. W. P. Mackay left home to attend medical college when he was only seventeen. Before his departure his mother gave him a Bible, with her name, his name, and a verse of Scripture written on the fly leaf. After his years of study, during which he received very high honors, he graduated. Later he became head of a large hospital.

Sad to say, the young doctor also became head of an infidel club. Its members practiced much that was licentious and vile, and they openly ridiculed God and His Word. So darkened had the soul of young Dr. Mackay become that the only thing that gave him any thrill was to have an ambulance unload some patient in a critical condition. Then he exulted in his skill as a physician.

One day a man was brought in on a stretcher. The lower part of his body had been horribly crushed. His face, however, showed such calm and peace that it amazed Dr. Mackay, though he was accustomed to seeing people suffer stoically. After the examination, with a smile, the patient asked, "What is the verdict, Doctor?”

"Oh, I guess we will pull you through and fix you up," replied the doctor.

"No, Doctor; I don't want any guess," the man said. "I want to know if it is life or death. Just lay me down easy, anywhere, Doctor. I am ready; I am saved by God's grace, and am not afraid to die.”

With a face fairly shining with radiance, the injured man continued: "I know I am going to be with the Lord Jesus Christ, and He says, 'Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out'. I have come to Him and accepted Him as my own personal Savior. But I want the truth. Just what is my condition?”

The doctor replied: "You have, at the most, three hours to live.”

The doctor's heart was touched by the bright testimony. Thinking there might be relatives to notify, he asked: "Is there anything you would like to have us do for you?”

Thanking him, the injured man said: "In one of my pockets is a two weeks' pay check. If you can get it, I wish you would send it at once to my landlady, and ask her to send me the book.”

"What book?" inquired the doctor.

"Oh, just the book," the man answered. "She will know.”

Dr. Mackay arranged for the man's request to be cared for, and then started on his rounds through the hospital. But those words kept ringing through his ears: "I am ready, Doctor. Just lay me down easy, anywhere. I am ready.”

Dr. Mackay had never taken personal interest in any patient, and had never been known to inquire about one. Now, for the first time in his life, he wanted to know how this one was getting along. He returned to the ward where the injured man had been placed, and finding the nurse whom he had assigned to the case, he inquired as to his condition.

"He died just a few minutes ago," the nurse informed him.

"Did the book get here?" asked the doctor.

"Yes, it arrived shortly before he died," the nurse answered.

"What was it? His bank book?" inquired the doctor. "No, it wasn't his bank book," replied the nurse. "He died with it under his pillow.”

"What was it?" asked Dr. Mackay.

"It is still there. Go and look at it," said the nurse.

Dr. Mackay went to the bedside, reached under the sheet and drew a Bible from under the pillow. As he did so, the Bible opened. As the pages turned over to the fly leaf, he saw there, in his mother's handwriting, Dr. Mackay's name, his mother's name, and a verse of Scripture. It was the Bible given him by his mother when he left home to attend college. With stricken conscience he remembered that in a drunken orgy, he had pawned it years before to get whiskey.

Slipping the book under his coat, Dr. Mackay rushed upstairs to his private office. On his knees, he asked God to have mercy upon his lost soul. In true repentance he accepted Christ as his Savior, and came into the realization that, "God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Rom. 5:8, and that "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.

God's eye was on His precious Word, and upon the equally precious soul of the young doctor. How blessedly He uses His Book to save the souls of poor, lost sinners!

"The Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Heb. 4:12.

A Sermon in Stone

In an old churchyard in Cornwall was found an unusual epitaph. First was given the name and age of the departed one, and then a real "sermon in stone" was engraved on the marble monument. My reader, let these words sink into your heart.

"I HAVE SINNED. I HAVE REPENTED. I HAVE TRUSTED. I HAVE LOVED. I REST. I SHALL RISE; AND BY THE GRACE OF CHRIST, HOWEVER UNWORTHY I AM, I SHALL REIGN.”

Friend, how far can you go with this saved soul? Not all the way, for you are still in this world; but everybody who reads this epitaph can start it. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:23. The word "all" leaves nobody out.

Now your next step is "repentance toward God." What is the way to repent? It is taking God's side against yourself. He says in His holy Word that you are altogether bad. (See Psa. 53:3). Then own that God's estimate of you is true, and that you are a lost, guilty sinner. When you do this, there is good news for you: "Believe on the Lord Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:31.

This was said to men on their knees. If your repentance has brought you to your knees before God, these words are for you. Christ on Calvary's cross made full atonement for your sins, and before He expired He cried: "It is finished!" He completed the work of redemption and God is satisfied. Now there is nothing for you to do but trust Him for eternal salvation—trust Him for present care and keeping in this world—trust Him to "change your vile body into the likeness of His glorious body" when we are, together, "caught up to meet the Lord in the air.”

Since God's Word assures us that the Lord is able for every need of His dear children, then surely such love and care should draw from our hearts the response: "We love Him, because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19.

Unknown, yet Well Known”

John Nelson Darby, a remarkable and devoted servant of Christ, passed away in 1882. He was one of the greatest scholars of his day. As a young man he had taken "holy orders" and had set himself the great task of the translation of the Scriptures. Son of an Irish clergyman, he traveled in various countries over hill and dale, mostly on foot, and wrote books of which there are many volumes.

But did this gain for him fame or a name among the sons of men? No! His last words prove otherwise. Soliloquizing to himself, he said, "Well, it will be strange to find myself in heaven: but it will not be a strange Christ He I have known these many years. How little I know of Him! I am glad He knows me, for He said: 'I know My sheep.'

To one person he said, "I am not a demonstrative man. But I have a deep, deep peace which you know." In answer to his question: "What is the justice of God?" some one replied, "I suppose His placing you on this sick bed.”

"Oh, no, no, no," he said. "That is the love of God." The following lines taken from one of his beautiful hymns fitly express what he felt at the close:

Light divine surrounds thy going,
God Himself shall mark thy way;
Secret blessings richly flowing,
Lead to everlasting day.

Though thy way be long and dreary,
Eagle strength He'll still renew;
Garments fresh and foot unwary
Tell how God path brought thee through.

There no stranger-God shall meet thee!—
Stranger thou in courts above?
He who to His rest shall greet thee,
Greets thee with a well-known love!

All students of Scripture are greatly indebted to Mr. Darby for his excellent exposition of the books of the Bible and for his well-known Synopsis.

On a tombstone in Bournemouth cemetery, England, where he was laid to rest, the following lines are carved in the stone:

Lord, let me live to Thee alone,
My life be only this:
To serve Thee here on earth unknown,
Then share Thy heavenly bliss.

Perhaps you who read these lines are absorbed in all the world affords in the way of learning. Your education may have secured for you a place among the great ones of earth. You may have aspired to reach the pinnacle of fame. But what is your gain, if void of the knowledge of God?

He "hath measured the water in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance." He took no counsel with men, no one taught Him knowledge, or showed Him the way of understanding. (See Isa. 40.)

On this basis we would venture to approach the well-thinking men of the day and ask, What are your aims in life? What are your prospects for eternity?

This devoted servant of Christ could undoubtedly have claimed a place among the inner circle of men of knowledge. But he chose, like Moses, to suffer affliction with the people of God, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.

Reader, what is your choice?

A Firm Foundation

"Are you a Christian?" asked a gentleman of a young lady.

"Of course I am! Why, I go to Sunday school, I give out tracts, and I like to help in every good work." As she gave a quick reply, the speaker turned away in surprise at such a question being asked her. However, her momentary feeling of annoyance soon passed away, and with a self-satisfied smile she joined her companions.

Annie had been brought up in a Christian home, and from her earliest years had regularly attended church. At fifteen years of age she was asked by a Christian friend: "Have you decided for Christ?”

"No," was Annie's frank reply.

"Will you decide now?”

"Yes; I will," was the answer given after a moment's hesitation, for Annie thought, "I shall have to decide sometime, and why not now? I mean to be a Christian, of course.”

Annie was soon received as a communicant in her church, and ere long, became a Sunday school teacher. She took part in all religious activities, and was considered by herself and others as a "Christian.”

In spite of her "goodness," at times an uneasy feeling would come over this young lady when she heard one of God's dear children speak of the peace and blessing of communion with Him and of joy in His service. What did it mean? She knew nothing of this! Her prayers were offered with unflinching regularity, but her religious duties were often tedious, though faithfully performed. Yet, she had decided to serve Christ, and was she not serving Him? Was she not the foremost in every good work? Was she not told how useful and helpful she was, and held up as an example to others by those who ought to know what a Christian should be? In these thoughts she stilled her conscience and rested satisfied.

Poor Annie! She was building upon the sand, striving to rear a structure without having first laid the foundation. Often, when alone she felt a soul-hunger, a longing for something more satisfying to the heart.

Time passed on. Annie married the man of her choice, without a thought of consulting the Lord's will in the matter. He had a pleasing appearance and seemed quite respectable and well-to-do. That was enough for Annie. But ere long she discovered her mistake. Right bravely she tried to hide this fact from others, and suffered in silence through the lonely nights, while her husband occupied the hours in gambling and debauchery.

Matters grew worse until scarcely a year from the time Annie became a bride, she found herself to be a deserted wife. Worse yet, she became very ill, and it seemed she might not recover.

Now did her "religion" comfort and sustain her? No! All before her was dark. When she seemed to be near death, no hope, no comfort was hers. Now she realized that the "goodness" in which she had trusted —her righteousness—was but as filthy rags.

In this state, and contrary to all human expectation, Annie began to recover a measure of health. But how torn with doubts and remorse was her poor heart! The Spirit of God held up to her all her pride and self-confidence and she trembled before Him. She who had thought herself so good, now saw her utterly ruined condition, and like Job she cried: "I abhor myself!”

Again she tried to make herself acceptable to God; but the more she tried, the more hopeless the task, and the poor girl began to despair of even being any better. She tried to pray, but she was afraid to. How could she ask to be forgiven, when she was painfully conscious of her own unforgiving spirit?

More and more miserable, Annie gave herself up as lost; but "He who came to seek and to save that which was lost" was tenderly watching over her. He by His Spirit had undermined the false foundation upon which she had been building, and He led her on to the Rock.

Leaving the town in which she had grown up, Annie went to live in a country village; but change of scene could not bring change of heart. She still longed for peace; but her soul was like the troubled sea, and would not be lulled to rest.

On the first Sunday night after her arrival, Annie went to "church," drawn there only by force of habit, and her desire to be numbered with Christians. Thus does Satan strive to keep sinners from the Savior. First he would persuade them that they are too good to need Him. Then when their eyes are opened to their lost state, he goes to the opposite extreme, and tells them that they are too bad—that their case is hopeless.

But Satan is a liar from the beginning. Both statements are equally false, for God says, "There is none righteous, no, not one." All need a Savior—One mighty to save. And the Lord Jesus is indeed "able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him." Heb. 7:25.

"Let not conscience make you linger,
Nor of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness He requireth
Is to feel your need of Him.”

Annie sat with eyes downcast and a heart ill at ease. Then the preacher read 'as his text: "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7.

The familiar words came to the unhappy soul as a new revelation. Like a flash of lightning, the Holy Spirit revealed to her the blessed truth they contained. "Cleanseth! Does it? Cleanseth from all sin? All sin? Then it cleanseth me! Even me! Thank God for that. What a Savior Jesus is!”

In an instant the burden rolled away, and peace entered her heart. Not a word of the sermon did Annie hear. She was too deeply stirred by this revelation Of the Savior—God who had been so graciously revealed to her. Now she was humbly content to say:

"I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all,
But Jesus Christ is my all in all.”

Building upon a false foundation can only result in everlasting grief and loss; but building on the true foundation, no matter what may come, all will be well for time and eternity.

"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. 3:11.

An Awful Future

Awful indeed must be the meeting between God and an unsaved soul. How can such a one measure up to God's standard of righteousness in Christ? When the plumbline is laid to a crooked wall, it does not make it straight, but shows out all its crookedness. The judgment of the Great White Throne will confirm the sinner's condition, but it can show him no favor.

The day of grace will be past soon. Then it will be too late to cry for mercy—too late when the sentence, "Depart from Me," is uttered—too late when the gates of heaven are closed—too late when the gates of hell are opened—too late when sinner and Satan, whom he has served, must be punished together -too late when they have been cast into the lake of fire, whence none can ever escape! Oh, what an end for an immortal soul!

What can be done now to save poor creatures from such a fate?

The only way of escape has been prepared already. Redemption is accomplished. Christ died and rose again. The sure foundation of grace and glory has been laid, and whosoever believes thereon shall never be confounded.

Christ "was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification." Rom. 4:25.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:31. These are plain words; who can misunderstand their meaning? The Gospel is the same today as when they were spoken.

The end is near, the time is short, and the eternal state, whether lost in hell, or saved and in heaven, shall endure forever. The coming of the Lord draws nigh. Unsaved one, realize for your eternal good that you indeed are perishing. Turn to Calvary now!

Behold! behold the Lamb of God
On the cross;
For us He shed His precious blood,
On the cross.
Oh, hear the overwhelming cry;
"Eli lama sabachthani?”
Draw near and see the Savior die
On the cross.
"Come, sinner, see Him lifted up
On the cross.
He drinks for you the bitter cup,
On the cross.
The rocks do rend, the mountains quake,
While Jesus doth atonement make—
While Jesus suffers for our sake,
On the cross.”

What? Which? Where?

WHAT ARE YOU?

An unbeliever or a believer?

Just a natural man or one "born again"?

A sinner or a genuine Christian?

Dead in sins or alive in Christ?

Trusting in your works or Calvary's work of Christ?

WHICH ARE YOU

Of the world or "not of the world"?

Blind or having eyes to see?

Naked or divinely covered?

To be judged or Another was judged for you?

WHERE ARE YOU

On the broad road or in "the narrow way"?

On the sand or on the Rock?

In the dark or "in the light"?

On your way to hell or on your way to heaven?

"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1 John 5:12

"For mine iniquities are gone

over mine head; as a heavy

burden they are too heavy for me."

Psa. 38:4.

Jesus said: "Come unto Me,

all ye that labor and are heavy

laden, and I will give you rest.

" Matt. 11:28.

Echoes of Grace: 1963

Table of Contents

January

From Infidelity to Christianity

Saved by the Book

Are You Satisfied?

As a Flame of Fire

A Soul-Winning Queen

The Full Context

Complete Insurance

Believing in God, and Believing God

Not Trying

February

The Silent Cylinder

God's Measureless Love

Fateful Delay

All Manner of Sin

Only One Door

Reasoning Faculties

Conversion

In Christ

A Restless Prisoner

March

The Cleft of the Rock

After Many Days

An Old Aunt?

The Toss of a Coin

April

Christ in the Great Smokies

From the Other Shore?

Peace: False and True

Righteous Richard?

Not Hoping, but Having

The Message of Peace

Wounded for My Transgressions

May

A Cowboy's Story

Too Easy

Just Give Me Earth”

Warranted to Remove All Stains?

The Love of Christ

Assured Salvation

Fall Flat”

Where Will You Spend Eternity?

The Work of the Cross

Foulest and Purest

June

A Young Japanese Converted

Christ for Me

Saved on the Battlefield

"What Must I Do to Be Saved?"

The Two Corps: a Contrast

Under a 'Spell?

A Striking Contrast

Growing Old

July

The Soldier's Treasure

For Me”

A Sample Case

No Heart Work?

Accepting the Blessing

Remember!

The Wrong Track”

Good News

A Glad Welcome

August

High-Level Jack?

The Work Which Saves Is Done

Excellent Knowledge

Where Is Thy Soul?

In an Express Train

The True Witness

The Soul Robber

Wanted?

September

Savior and Shepherd

Homesteading

To Get Faith

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus?

A Good Word