Echoes of Grace: 1978

He was a professional entertainer and singer. He sang and told side-splitting stories wherever he could find a group to listen. His contagious good humor and endless repertoire of funny songs and jokes never failed to captivate, amuse and thoroughly entertain.

To those who knew him, life to Sidi Musa appeared to be one long series of lyrics, laughs and jests. If one of his many fans had been asked to point out a happy man — a man without a care regarding life or death — he would probably have pointed to Sidi Musa.

But was this really true of him? The answer is, No! Behind the mask of careless frivolity lived the real Sidi Musa: a young man with an empty heart, an accusing conscience, and a sad, gnawing anxiety over the future of his soul. He was in the dark — and he knew it — and he craved for light.

As a religious Moslem he prayed more than tradition enjoined, even to the point of wearing himself out. What little money he made he spent to buy help from the "reader" class. He appealed to them constantly that they would give him from the Koran (the book containing the religious and moral code of the Mohammedans) a single verse upon which he could anchor his soul. But without avail, for in that book there is no such verse.

One day, driven to despair, he filled his shoes with small pebbles and walked some fifty miles, hoping and praying that the "Great Allah" would look down with favor upon his self-inflicted penance, and give him his heart's desire — peace.

Reader, perhaps you, like Sidi Musa, are wearing a mask of gaiety and mirth as a cover-up for an empty, sin-burdened heart. You may be "the life of the party" but your popularity will never remove your dread of eternity or give peace to your soul. There is One and only One who can give you abiding rest and peace. That One is Jesus, and to you He calls at this moment. He would have you know that He has "made peace by the blood of His cross" (Col. 1:20). Come to Him now, just as you are, and prove the truth of the grand old hymn:

Precious, precious blood of Jesus!

All the price is paid;

Perfect pardon now is offered,

Peace is made.

All of poor Sidi Musa's efforts only proved to him that Moslem prayers, fasts and self-inflicted wounds could bring him no peace. But the Lord Jesus, who loves to give rest to the heavy-laden, sought him out, saved his soul and gave him eternal peace.

Like every conversion to Christ, Sidi Musa's salvation was a miracle. His restless travels took him one afternoon to a Moorish market where thousands of Arabs were gathered to barter, buy and sell. It was never an easy place for a Christian missionary to preach the gospel. The persecution of the Mohammedans was keen and Sidi Musa mingled with the hostile crowd and joined the opposition.

But, in spite of the demonstration, Sidi Musa's ears were quick to pick up the strange and wonderful words which fell from the preacher's lips. Wonderful words of life! They subdued his anger and constrained him to withdraw from the rabble and stand close to the speaker where he drank in every word he had yet to read and say.

When the crowd finally dispersed and the missionary departed, Sidi Musa discreetly followed him to his home. There he anxiously inquired if it were really true that one could know, here and now, that he had passed from death to life, and know that he was saved?

When assured by the missionary from the Word of God that such was verily true, he exclaimed: "Man, I have prayed and toiled and suffered for this! To think that God grants me eternal life on these terms. It is wonderful, wonderful!" He believed, he was saved.

Note: Sidi Musa is now at home with his Savior, Jesus; but his visit to our missionary station, and his never-to-be-forgotten story lives on. Often when I see the heedless, the careless, the prodigal, living in apparent disregard of all the grace and claims of Christ. I say to myself: "Let me tell them of the gospel, for who knows but that behind that ripple of laughter, that jest, that boast, there may beat a sin-darkened, inquiring heart."

The Lord Jesus said: "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 Fortune Teller

A colporteur with his pack of Bibles, books and tracts was returning home one evening along a city street in the Far East. Suddenly he was accosted by a tall, handsome, young Turk who announced:

"I will tell your fortune."

Taken by surprise, the book seller did not immediately reply, and the Turk explained: "I am a fortune teller; I can tell you what will happen to you in the future."

"But how am I to know that you tell the truth?" replied the colporteur.

"Oh, I have books; I tell by astrology."

"Well, I would like to ask you a question first, so as to test whether you can really tell the truth or not. If you can tell my fortune, you can certainly tell your own. Where will you be in a hundred years?"

The Turk was greatly annoyed as he replied; "Oh, I don't know that; but you let me look at your hand and I will tell your fortune for you."

"But", said the colporteur, "I also am somewhat of a fortune teller. I also use books, and if you will tell me one thing, I will tell your fortune for you."

"What do you want me to tell you?"

"Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son?"

"No, He was not God's Son."

"Now", replied the colporteur, taking a New Testament from his pack, "I will tell you your fortune. My Book tells me, " '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.'

"This is your fortune: right now you have the wrath of the living, true God ever abiding on you; and in a hundred years from now you will be in hell, in the lake of fire that burns with brimstone, unless you believe on the Son of God."

A long conversation followed, and finally the fortune teller asked: "May I have one of your books?", a request which was freely granted. His next questions were: "Where do you live? When may I come to see you?"

The following day the Turk and a friend came and had another long talk with the colporteur and left with a Bible.

What the result will be, God alone knows. But, reader, let me ask: Have you ever thought about your fortune, your eternal fortune? You need not remain in doubt as to that. Thank God, we have a Bible that leaves no room for uncertainty in these matters.

Where will you be in a hundred years? Yes, where will you be tomorrow?

What could be more positive, more concise, more precious, and yet more awful than these solemn words: "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.

Mother's Prayers Answered

"Okay, Jose, within an hour you must board your ship!"

Jose shrugged his shoulders and contemplated the voyage indifferently. There was nothing to indicate that it would be any different from the many others he had made. A steward's job aboard a freighter doesn't provide much excitement, and regular trips to South African ports can become pretty monotonous.

While waiting, he was sitting in the humble living room of their neat little home near Lisbon. While his wife packed the clothes he would need for four or five weeks at sea, Jose casually picked up a book that lay beside the sewing machine.

"Christian Reading," he mused. "Evidently a religious book, judging from the title."

"Well", he soliliquised, "I'm forty years old now and have knocked about the world too much to bother about religion. If all Christians were like my mother, there might be something to it."

It was years since he had seen his mother, though she never failed to write and he knew that she never ceased to pray for him.

"It's good to have a mother like mine," he continued to himself. "What a pity that our ship doesn't cross the Atlantic sometimes—then there might be a chance of putting in at Bermuda where mother lives."

To while away a few more minutes he listlessly opened the Book in his hands. But immediately he did so, an arrow from God's quiver struck him, as his eyes fell on the words: "So then everyone of us shall give account of himself to God."

Here was a meeting Jose had never reckoned on! He had always been careful to keep short accounts with his mates. Now all of a sudden he realized a day was coming when he must settle up with God.

His wife glanced up and saw something was the matter, and asked him what was wrong. He gave an evasive answer; but asked her to put a Bible in his kit-bag.

He made his way to the ship, pre-occupied with this strangely solemn thought: He would have to meet God about his sins.

His sins! All his thoughts now revolved around his sinful past. Feelings of guilt and horror possessed him.

Once on board, he took the first opportunity to open his Bible, but everywhere he read it seemed only to add to his dread of condemnation. Divine statements such as—

"Be sure your sins will find you out," and "The wages of sin is death," haunted him.

He could not sleep at night, but tossed for hours in his bunk. Nor did the morning bring relief. So great became his distress that he could not eat. When he sought a quiet corner of the deck to search the Scriptures again, every sin he had ever committed seemed to be written down there in terms of judgment.

The other members of the crew counseled him to throw the Bible overboard—otherwise they said, he would go mad. But he dared not do that, although its message filled him with the terrors of hell. Days went by and his anguish only increased. There was not a single ray of light to pierce the gloom.

But behind the clouds God was working to prepare Jose's soul for blessing. In His time and in His way, He caused the unhappy man to at last discover the following verse: "All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme." Mark 3:28.

Here was a promise from the lips of the Savior Himself, and the Holy Spirit led him to lay hold of it. As he did so a wonderful calm descended upon his storm-tossed soul. Jose at once resolved that as soon as his boat returned to Lisbon he would seek someone who could show him the way of salvation.

His first evening on shore found him in a gospel meeting. There he heard the wonderful truth that has brought peace to millions: "The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7. He believed and was saved and rejoiced.

His first act was to write to his saintly old mother and tell her that her prayers had been heard in heaven and gloriously answered. Who can estimate the power of a mother's prayers?

God can save a repentent sinner at any age, and in any place, regardless of nationality or his moral condition. He can use a few words in print to tear the veil from our eyes. Yes, He can use Jose's brief, true story to bring the reader face to face with the realities of eternity.

That day of wrath, that dreadful day,

When heaven and earth shall pass away!

What power shall be the sinner's stay?

How shall he meet that dreadful day?

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

"Hide Thyself"

John Brenz of Wurtenburg was a Christian reformer in the days of Martin Luther. He was hated by the king who finally employed a troop of Spanish cavalry to arrest him.

On hearing this, Brenz immediately cast himself on God, and while in prayer he heard as it were a human voice say: "Take a loaf of bread and go into the upper town; and where thou findest a door open, enter and hide thyself under the roof."

He at once acted accordingly, and found only one open door—and that the last door on the street. Unnoticed, he entered the house and climbing to the loft, crept on his hands and knees behind some lumber and straw, and lay hidden in a corner.

The next day the Imperial troops entered the town and set a military watch at all the gates. Then they entered every house and systematically examined every room, probing beds, chests and straw lofts with their swords and spears.

Brenz, listening through the wall to what was spoken outside, knew from day to day how the hunt for him was proceeding. For fourteen days it continued until every house had been searched. The one in which he lay hidden was the last to be entered by the soldiers. Their spears which were thrust into the straw came as near as possible without touching his body. Then with joy he heard the word of command: "March! he is not here."

Brenz had not lacked food during his long concealment. The loaf of bread which he took with him as directed would have been insufficient. But the very first day, to his amazement, a hen came up to the garret and laid an egg, and that without the usual cackling. She quietly did the same the next day—and so on for fourteen days in succession. The fifteenth day she did not come and Brenz heard the people in the street say: "They are gone at last."

He was free! What an example of God's care for His servants whom He has sent forth to make known His 'truth and love to a lost and perishing world!

Standard Oil Job Not Big Enough

Years ago a committee representing the Standard Oil Company had an all-night session. The main task was to secure a manager for a new division of operation which the company hoped to open in China.

The chairman insisted that the manager must have four qualifications: he must be under thirty years old; he must be thoroughly trained; he must have proved generalship; he must be able to speak the Chinese language. Many good men had been considered, but each was found to be lacking.

It appeared that the meeting would fail of its object. But finally a young man arose, addressed the chairman, and declared that he knew one man who could meet all requirements.

He stated that the man was at that time in China, living in the very busy city where the company was planning to establish headquarters. He was 28 years old; had degrees from three colleges; had three years' study and practice in the Chinese language; and had full confidence of the Chinese people among whom he was widely known. Moreover he had been valedictorian of his class in college and was a natural leader.

Some one asked how much this young man was getting and his friend startled the committee by answering, "about six hundred dollars a year."

The chairman said, "There is something wrong."

"I know," said the young man, and then he went on to tell how his friend was engaged in carrying the gospel to the Chinese.

After thorough questioning regarding the missionary, the chairman said to the committeeman; "You go to China and offer him the position."

The committeeman was to offer ten thousand dollars a year. If that failed to secure him, he was to offer twelve thousand or even fifteen thousand.

The young agent crossed the ocean and half of China, found his friend, and offered him the position at ten thousand dollars a year, The young missionary declined. The offer was raised to twelve thousand, then to fifteen, but was rejected.

Finally the agent asked, "What will you take?"

"It is not a question of salary," the missionary replied; "the salary is magnificent. The trouble is not with the salary: it is with the job. The job is too little.

"You offer me a big salary, but a small job. I have a small income but I have a big job; and I would rather have a big job with a small income than a small job with a big salary.

"I thank you for the confidence expressed in your offer; but I feel that I should be a fool to quit winning souls to sell oil."

A Wicked Wretch Released

A foreign prince, once traveling through France, visited the arsenal of Toulon, where the galleys were kept. The commandant, as a compliment to his rank, said he was welcome to set free any prisoner whom he should choose. The prince, wishing to make the best use of this privilege spoke to many of them in succession, inquiring why they were condemned to the galleys. Injustice, false accusation, oppression, were the only causes they gave. They had all been ill-treated and were innocent.

At last he came to one who, when asked the same question, answered: "My lord, I have no reason to complain, I have been a very wicked, desperate wretch. I have often deserved to be broken alive on the wheel. I account it a great mercy I am here."

The prince fixed his eyes upon him, gave him a gentle blow upon the head and said.

"You wicked wretch! It is a pity you should be among so many honest men; by your own confession you are bad enough to corrupt them all; but you shall not stay with them another day." Then turning to the officer, he said, "This is the man, sir, I wish to release."

Let us take this story to our hearts. All the prisoners were offenders, all guilty, but only one owned and confessed it, and he was set free. So our gracious God deals with us sinners. If we confess that we are sinners, then we can claim the sinner's Savior, as our Savior, and His blood is sufficient to cleanse the wickedest wretch in the world.

William!

Long before the plow of the white man had turned a furrow in the prairie sod, brave laborers for Christ were sowing the seed of the Word of God among the native Indians. One of the early missionaries was a man named Mr. Evans who opened a mission station near a Hudson Bay Company trading post in the Canadian West. The whole account of his labors remains to be told in eternity; but the facts of the following anecdote have been preserved for us in the writings of Egerton Young, a devoted missionary who followed Evans to "the regions beyond" nearly a generation later.

It happened one day that some of the natives came to the missionary bringing a little Indian boy and asked Mr. Evans to keep him. The child's father and mother were dead and none of his relatives would have him. The missionary took pity on the unwanted orphan and for a number of years cared for him as his own son.

The boy not only grew up tall and strong in that Christian environment but heard many precious things about God and His Son Jesus Christ. He was taught to read and write and pray, and appeared quite happy with life at the mission station.

But one summer, when the Indians gathered to trade furs with the Hudson Bay Company, an Indian family from far away succeeded in coaxing the lad to return to their hunting grounds with them.

Forgetting the love and kindness shown to him for so long, and without a word of thanks or goodbye, he slipped away one dark night with his new-found friends.

But, when after many days they reached their hunting grounds, the run-away found life was not so pleasant. The natives were often very cruel. Often there was very little to eat. Furthermore, all the Indians around were pagans.

The boy, however, reasoned that because he lived with them he must be like them. As time went on he willingly forgot all that the missionary had taught him about the one true God and His Son Jesus Christ.

He grew up to be a wicked heathen like the rest. One Indian father sold him his daughter for a wife and they had several children.

One winter, having tired of the old camp, he decided to move his family to a new hunting ground where he thought there would be plenty of game to shoot and more animals to trap. Having acted on this plan and chosen a spot he built a wigwam.

Here he proceeded to hunt for days with all his native skills and perseverance; but strange to tell no game could he find. The deer which were needed so badly for food seemed to have forsaken the area. Again and again he was forced to return to the wigwam with nothing to eat. Finally, overcome with hunger, fatigue and despair, he said in his heart: "I will try once more, and if I cannot shoot a deer, I will shoot myself."

All the following day and the next he hunted, but could not find so much as an animal's tracks.

On the third day he became weak and ill. Utterly discouraged he exclaimed: "It's no use; I will die here."

Loading his gun and putting the muzzle to his head, he was about to pull the trigger when a voice called, "William!"

It was not his Indian name, but the name Mr. Evans, the missionary, had given him years ago when a little boy. He dropped his gun and looked around, but could see no one.

Finally, he realized the voice was in his heart and conscience. It seemed to be saying: "William, do you not remember what the missionary told you about the good, true God? — that He was kind — that even if we ran far away from Him, if we came back to Him He would forgive for Jesus sake? Why not pray to Him now?"

But when the poor, proud Indian recalled how ungrateful and wicked he had been, he protested: "I cannot pray; it is too mean to come and pray now."

But the inner voice persisted:

"It is worse to stay away."

Then he seemed to hear his wife and children crying for food in the wigwam. It made him decide. Kneeling in the snow he began to pray. He asked "the Great Spirit" to forgive the poor Indian who had been so wicked and gone so far away from Him. He asked for help in his troubles and prayed that God would give him food.

Then he asked in his simplicity that as soon as the snow was gone he might return again to the far-away mission station and learn to live for God.

As he prayed he grew stronger. In his heart he felt that help was near. He forgot that he was cold, hungry, weak and ill. He took up his gun with a glad heart for he felt that God had indeed had mercy on a poor sinful Indian.

He had not gone far before he was able to shoot a large deer. He quickly made a fire and ate some of the meat. He then hung part of it high in a tree away from the wolves. Then, taking as much as he could carry, he set off to his family in the wigwam, his heart filled with joy. In the days that followed he and his family never lacked food.

As soon as the snow had melted and the ice was gone from the lakes and rivers, he readied his canoe and took his wife and children back with him to the far-away mission station which he had left so long before.

There to his great delight he was able to find another faithful missionary who was carrying on the work begun by Mr. Evans. His name was Egerton Young and to him "William" told the above true story about himself and the love of God which would not let him go. Together they rejoiced over such wonderful grace and thanked God for His never-ending care for a poor, sinful Indian.

"Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days." Eccl. 11:1.

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him [on Jesus] the iniquity of us all." Isa. 53:6.

He is "mighty to save" (Isa. 63:1).

He is "able to keep" (Jude 24).

He calls to you now (Matt. 11:28).

The Gospel Through the Keyhole

Lock Heng, a young native of Malaya, was a member of the Penang Flying Club. When war came to the Malay Peninsula, he and other members of the Club, were mobilized in an Auxiliary Flying Corps which operated against the Japanese.

When Singapore fell to the Japs, these native airmen were sent back to their homes. But the Japanese intelligence department eventually led to their arrest and solitary imprisonment.

Once in prison, it was not long before Lock Heng found that the man in the next cell was one of his old comrades. This neighbor soon devised a simple but highly efficient system of communication between the two. It consisted of tapping messages at the keyhole of the door separating the two cells—using the Morse Code. Arrangements were made to hold daily chats when no sentry was near.

One day Lock Heng's friend signaled to the effect that he was feeling depressed and did not want to talk. Now, it should be told, that although Lock Heng was a man of up-to-date interests, he was also a true Christian, so his coded reply to his "depressed" friend was: "If — depressed — pray — to — God."

Answer: "I — don't — know — what — you — mean. How — can — I — pray — in — this — place? To — whom — shall — I — pray?"

Lock Heng's Answer: "Pray — to — the — God — of — heaven — in the — name — of — Jesus — Christ. — Just tell — Him — what — you — feel. — He will — understand."

Reply: "I — do — not — know — how. — Please teach — me — to — pray."

So the young Christian taught his friend a simple prayer. Then little by little he tapped out with his fingers by the key hole God's way of salvation.

God did not shake the prison as He did in the days of Paul and Silas (Acts 16:26), but by the same mighty power he caused the light of the gospel to enter that poor prisoner's conscience and heart. And the day came when within those terrible prison walls he accepted Christ as his Savior. He had found Him through the keyhole!

In answer to many prayers, after some months, release came. The day before their liberation a native preacher addressing his congregation used as his text the following verse: "Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you." Josh. 3:5.

The parents of the young prisoners claimed this promise, and true enough, on the morrow their sons were released.

Thus is the gospel spread. Not always by the eloquence of preaching, nor the printed word, nor by other well-known media, but sometimes by means hitherto unheard of. The channels vary, but the truth never alters: "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." 1 Cor. 15:3.

"God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform."

"Only an Enquirer"

Ted was a Russian living in south-east Poland. His wife was a true believer and faithful witness for Christ. But although Ted saw her rejoicing daily in God's "great salvation," he refused to accept it for himself, insisting that he was "only an enquirer."

Subsequently, he emigrated with his family to South America, where they settled as farmers in a Slav colony, many of whom were Christians.

Through his wife's gentle influence he attended the gospel meetings with her there. He got to like mixing with believers, although remaining "only an enquirer" himself. He was like many who lived in Noah's day before the flood — standing at the door of the ark, perhaps, but not entering in. To be so near to Jesus and yet not in Him is truly one of the saddest sights in the world today.

But with the outbreak of World War 2 Ted, attracted by glowing promises of advancement, joined the Polish Army. Visions of better living conditions for his family, and a modernization program for his farm when the war was over, helped persuade him.

Not long after he had enlisted he was obliged to bid his family goodbye and board a troop ship bound for Britain. In a few days they were far out on the Atlantic.

Ted's ship was one of a convoy, heavily escorted on account of enemy submarines. But despite the protecting cover a dreaded sub succeeded in torpedoing the two troop-laden vessels sailing before and behind the one in which Ted sailed.

In that dreadful encounter it seemed that everyone prayed. Certainly Ted did! In deepest sincerity he told God that if He would but save him from drowning this once, he would grasp the first opportunity to find spiritual help, and put his full trust in the Savior whose love he had so long spurned.

God in mercy answered his prayer—and Ted remembered his promise. In a few days he found himself safe from the sea, stationed in a Polish military camp in Scotland.

On his first Sunday there he was off-duty, so free to leave camp, he traveled on foot to the nearest town. Later he could be seen proceeding slowly along the main street as if searching for something. He was looking for a church.

He soon found one. It was a large imposing building, much more grand than he was used to, but he timidly entered and sat down. Acquainted only with the Polish language, and not even able to recognize the Scottish tunes of the hymns sung, he again returned to the street and resumed his walk.

Before long he came to a simple gospel hall and paused outside to listen to the singing. This time to his great delight he recognized the familiar strains of,

"O happy day, that fixed my choice

On Thee, my Savior and my God."

The music was irresistible, so he entered the hall and sat down. To his amazement a gentleman handed him a New Testament printed in Polish. The gentleman had immediately recognized him as a Polish soldier.

After the service, Ted soon made the Christians present understand what his chief desire was by pointing first to the Testament and then to his heart.

Three evenings later, along with several more of his Polish comrades, he again entered the hall. A Polish gospel meeting had been arranged specially for the soldiers. Afterward, the Polish speaker entered into an earnest conversation with Ted and listened to all his story. Finally the preacher asked: "Ted, from tonight, are you going to be a brother in Christ Jesus, or remain 'only an enquirer'?"

Ted at last faced the issue, and acknowledging the overwhelming claims of Christ he replied: "From tonight I am going to be a brother in Jesus Christ." Whereupon he broke into tears of repentance.

That night he walked back to camp, rejoicing in the knowledge of a full and free salvation through the finished work of Christ for him upon the cross.

With the first opportunity he sent the good news of his salvation to his wife. Through the grace of God, at the close of the war he was once more reunited with his family on their farm in South America.

How wonderful was the mercy of God to this poor soldier—first in saving him from what seemed certain death in the ocean; then in saving him from his sins and the second death—to a living faith in Christ Jesus.

Is Your Soul Safe?

The following tale told during a gospel address, aptly illustrates like a parable, many a soul's anxiety—and God's way to abiding peace.

A wealthy Mandarin in a land infested by robbers lived in constant fear of losing a priceless jewel in his possession. It was well known that he was the owner of it, and he could not sleep for fear that robbers might break into his house.

He first hid the gem beneath the floor, but there it did not seem safe. Next he put it in a recess in the wall, but that did not satisfy him. Various other hiding places gave no assurance of security. Anxiety and care were leaving their traces on him and making him sad of face and heart.

"Why don't you have it stored in the Imperial safe, where many of the Emperor's jewels are kept?" said a friend one day to the anxious Mandarin.

That was a new and happy thought. If the Emperor's jewels were safely guarded night and day, his would be safe there too.

So the jewel was handed over to the care of the king. Whereupon the look of care passed from the Mandarin's brow. Now he was trusting instead of fearing. The invincible guard who kept constant watch over the Emperor's treasures was preserving his precious jewel also.

"And so it is," said the speaker, "with those who trust themselves 'to Christ. They are 'kept by the power of God' (1 Peter 1:5). No enemy is strong enough to break His power; neither man nor devil can reach them to harm them."

Dear reader, your soul is precious beyond the value of any jewel. Jesus Christ Himself has said, "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Mark 8:36.

Christ has died and shed His precious blood to redeem your soul from eternal loss. Have you believed in His Word and His work for your soul's salvation?

Preaching - Yet Unsaved

The Conversion of John Wesley.

I left my native country in order to teach the Georgian Indians the nature of Christianity—but what have I learned myself in the meantime? That I, who went to America to convert others, was never myself converted to God!

I am not mad, though I thus speak, but I speak the words of truth and soberness, if haply some of those who still dream may awake and see that as I am so are they.

Are they read in philosophy? So was I. In ancient or modern tongues? So was I also. Are they versed in the science of divinity? I, too, have studied it many years.

Can they talk fluently upon spiritual things? The very same could I do. Are they plenteous in alms? Behold, I gave all my goods to feed the poor. Do they give of their labor as well as of their substance? I have labored more abundantly than they all.

Are they willing to suffer for their brethren? I have thrown up my friends, reputation, ease, country; I have put my life into my hand, wandering into strange lands; I have given my body to be devoured by toil and weariness.. But does all this (be it more or less, it matters not) make me acceptable to God? Does all I ever did or can know, say, give, do, or suffer justify me in His sight...?

Or that I am, as touching outward moral righteousness, blameless: Or, to come closer yet, the having a rational conviction of all the truths of Christianity? Does all this give me a claim to the holy, heavenly, divine character of a Christian? By no means.

This, then, have I learned in the ends of the earth—that I am fallen short of the glory of God; that my whole heart is altogether corrupt and abominable:... that, alienated as I am from the life of God, I am a child of wrath, and heir of Hell; that my own works, my own sufferings, my own righteousness, are so far from making any atonement for the least of those sins, which are more in number than the heirs of my head; that the best of people need atonement themselves, or they cannot abide His righteous judgment; that, having the sentence of death in my heart, and having nothing in or of myself to plead, I have no hope but that of being justified freely through the redemption that is in Jesus.

If it be said that I have faith... I answer, so have the devils a sort of faith, but still are strangers to the covenant of promise. The faith I want is a sure trust and confidence in God, that through the merits of the blood of Christ my sins are forgiven, and I reconciled to God.

While sitting listening to one reading Martin Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans, while Luther was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, John Wesley trusted in Christ and was saved.

"He Arose and Came"

A man might say I resolve to eat, but the resolve would never satisfy his hunger. A man might say, I am resolved to drink, but the resolve to drink would never satisfy the thirst. You may say, I am resolved to seek the Savior, but your resolve will not save you. Be like the prodigal who performed his resolution, saying, "I will arise and go to my father... And he arose and came to his father." Luke 15:10-20.

The Lord Cometh

In these morally dark days the Second Coming of Christ is merely an uncomfortable rumor to many. Many more have read or heard about it directly from the Bible—perhaps long ago—but only to forget, neglect or refuse to believe it.

But often the forgetters, neglecters, unbelievers and scoffers receive grim reminders from things happening all around them, from so-called, "current events."

Often the headlined report of some disaster or death comes as a voice from God to the careless, to recall the warnings of His Holy Word.

Perhaps a fitting example of this is found in the following Associated Press release of June 19, 1978.

POMONA, KAN. They were cruising on Lake Pomona in the showboat Whippoorwill, looking forward to a pork chop dinner and the performance of a 1930 musical. Suddenly a tornado struck, capsizing the boat, and pitching most of the forty-six passengers and thirteen crew members overboard.

At least nine people were killed and six were still missing and feared dead. Fourteen were injured.

To quote one survivor: "There were enough life jackets aboard but it happened so fast, there was no time. We were starting to turn back because of the weather, and it just hit, like a matter of seconds."

While our sympathies go out to the victims of this disaster, the circumstances serve to recall a most solemn warning issued to all by the Lord Jesus: "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be." Matt. 24:37-39.

"The Lord is not slack concerning His
promise, as some men count slackness; but
is long suffering to us-ward, not willing
that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. But the day of the
Lord will come as a thief in the night."

2 Peter 3:9, 10.

He Hid for Half His Life

Only to learn he was free! Early in 1978 the Belgrade police discovered a fugitive soldier who had lived in fear in his attic since 1945.

He had served three months in 1943 with the partisans of Joseph Broz, who became Yugoslav President Tito. Then he was captured by occupying German forces and joined the White Guard that fought the Communists. But President Tito won.

Fearing punishment for his war-time activities, the soldier decided to hide. He was then thirty-two; when found he was sixty-four. He lived in fear of discovery and punishment for half of his life!

It was only when discovered that he learned that no charges ever had been filed against him. He had sentenced himself to a punishment which no court could pass upon him, hiding in his workshop and the attics of his house and barn.

What a picture of one who knows not the pure gospel of the grace of God! The heart of God is full of love towards all mankind, He hates sin but He loves the sinner.

If you, dear reader, are that sinner," filled with enmity and fear" and hiding from God, come to Him now by Christ Jesus. This is God's day of grace. He has not one hard thought about you. He is ready to receive you, forgive you all, to cast out your fear and give you lasting peace in the assurance that "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7. Why not come to Him now?

A mind at perfect peace with God—

O, what a word is this!

A sinner reconciled through blood,

This, this indeed is peace

Three Indisputable Facts

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

(1) You must die — but when?

(2) You must meet God — but how?

(3) You must spend eternity — but where?

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

… "And That Means You"

"I don't believe it!" Not every unbeliever is as bold in his unbelief as was Anthony Harrold—a tough, illiterate old army pensioner who called "a spade a spade." Along with other vices he was a hard drinker. As his ungodly behavior increased, his poor wife became greatly troubled and succeeded in persuading him to attend a gospel meeting. Although not a Christian herself, she recognized that "religion" could be helpful.

At the gospel meeting the Holy Spirit convicted Anthony of his sins and he saw himself lost and condemned before God.

John Lawson, an ex-sergeant in the Royal Artillery was an earnest Christian. He heard of Anthony's case and paid him a visit, hoping to lead him to Christ.

Opening his Bible, Lawson read slowly: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him..." Here he stopped, and looking Anthony straight in the eye, added: "And that means you." He then resumed reading: "should not perish, but have everlasting life." Here he again interjected, "And that means you."

Anthony was amazed. That God should love a drinking, swearing old sinner like him was quite beyond him; and that God should give His only begotten Son to die to save him from hell was even more unbelievable. Striking his big fist on the table, he shouted: "I don't believe it!"

Ignoring the violent interruption, Lawson again read the verse, and gazing at Anthony repeated: "And that means you." Again Anthony struck the table and shouted: "I don't believe it!"

Instead of chiding Anthony for impugning the Word of God, Lawson inquired how long he had been in the Army?

"Twenty-one years and fourteen days", he replied.

This time it was Lawson's turn to strike his fist on the table and declare: "I don't believe it!"

"Do you think I would tell you a lie?" retorted the old man. "It was twenty-one years and fourteen days." "I don't believe it!" reiterated Lawson.

"Wife, bring me the parchment," Anthony demanded; and the document was presented.

Lawson perused it and then asked Anthony if he believed it.

Anthony's answer was, that although he was unable to read, others had read it to him, and he believed what they told him.

"How can you expect me to believe it when you refuse to believe the Word of God?" demanded Lawson. Then for the fourth time he read John 3:16, adding: "And that means you."

Suddenly the scales dropped from the eyes of the old pensioner's heart, and the light of the glorious gospel of Christ streamed in. He exclaimed: "I see it all! I believe it! Thank God!"

Anthony Harrold became a new creature in Christ. The lion became a lamb. The bottle was abandoned. His home life was changed completely.

He resolved to learn to read. His first spelling book was the Bible and his first lesson was from John 3:16.

Afterward Anthony was used of God in the conversion of his wife and they loved to read the Bible together and talk of God's amazing grace.

May the reader too believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as he or she reads these lines. When you do, you will be able to say: "GOD LOVED; GOD GAVE; I BELIEVE; AND I'M SAVED."

"O Happy Day!"

Philip Doddridge, writer of the well-known hymn, '0 Happy Day!" was born in England in 1702—the youngest of a family of twenty children. He was so small and weak at birth it was thought that he could not possibly live. The nurse wrapped the tiny baby in cotton and laid him in a little box.

But the Lord uses the "weak things of the world to confound the mighty." The child lived and grew into godly manhood. When barely out of his teens Philip Doddridge was an able preacher of the Word of God.

He was also a gifted hymn writer, and composed 364 hymns. Perhaps his best known hymn is "0 Happy Day!"—the new convert's outburst of joy in finding peace, rest and full satisfaction in his Savior and God.

In connection with "0 Happy Day" we quote the following interesting narrative: "It was prayer meeting night in January 1898. In an old hall in St. Louis, the pastor rose to dismiss the faithful company who had braved the freezing rain to attend the meeting. But with a love for lost souls, he invited anyone who desired the prayers of Christians to go forward while the last hymn was sung.

"A timid, earnest-looking, well-dressed young lady came forward and quietly knelt at a chair. This created intense interest. Several prayed aloud for her, while her tears told of great seriousness and conviction of sin.

"Ten o'clock came, and some were still on their knees, while others, without book or organ began to sing softly:

" 'O happy day, that fixed my choice

On Thee my Savior and my God.'

"Soon the entire audience was singing in sweet unity. When they came to the lines:

"`Tis done, the great transaction done,

I am my Lord's and He is mine,"

the penitent woman, still on her knees, lifted her clasped hands in prayer, while her face was as radiant as if from the throne of God."

One who was present that night said later: "To see that woman of culture and modesty rejoicing in the revelation of God's love was worth more than all the books written on the evidences of Christianity."

Effective Proof

"The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple." Psa. 119:130.

One day a skeptic asked a highly educated and cultured Christian woman how she would prove that the Bible was the Word of God, and she said, "How can you prove that there is a sun in the sky?"

"Why," he replied, "Because it warms me, and I can see its light."

"And so it is with me," she said, "the proof of this Bible being the Word of God is that it warms my soul and gives it light."

What Came of Missing the Train

It was nine A.M. The 8:50 train had been dispatched and the station master was settling down for an hour's quiet. Suddenly a man, with a red hot face and bursting with ill-temper, rushed on to the platform. He stormed against the bus driver whose neglect had made him late, declaring he would rather have forfeited $25.00 than miss that particular train.

What was to be done? The only course was to wait for the ten o'clock train. The man was infuriated, and walked up and down the platform excitedly. Presently, when he had cooled down, the station master went to him and said.

"There's a comfortable waiting room inside, if you would like to sit down, sir."

The man went in, and found a pleasant room, shaded by climbing roses on the outside. There was a table on which were spread some gospel tracts. To while away the time he took one and began to read: "Passing onward, yes; but whither bound?"

Soon his whole attention was absorbed. Time fled. Passengers began to arrive. The ticket office was opened for the coming train. Still he sat on, deeply interested in what he was reading.

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

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

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

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

A month had rolled by, when a gentleman stepped off the train and offered his hand to the station master.

"Do you remember me?" he asked.

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

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

The man resumed his seat in the train, and the whistle blew. There was a solemn joy in the heart of the old station master as he waved him farewell, and saw the joyous look upon his face. He was a new creature in Christ Jesus.

"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Rom. 10:9.

"Passing onward, quickly passing,

Yes, but whither, whither bound."

Scripture Quotation

"THE SON OF MAN CAME NOT TO BE MINISTERED UNTO, BUT TO MINISTER, AND TO GIVE HIS LIFE A RANSOM FOR MANY." Matt. 20:28.

An Infidel's Conversion

When Dwight L. Moody was still a young shoe clerk in Chicago, he often went out preaching in his spare time. When holding meetings in an Illinois town, the wife of the district judge asked him to speak to her husband.

"I cannot speak to your husband," he replied. "Your husband is a book infidel and I am nothing but an uneducated shoe clerk."

But the wife insisted and finally Moody called upon the judge. As he passed through the general office, the law clerks tittered, thinking how the learned judge would confound the uneducated young shoe clerk from Chicago. When he was admitted into the judge's private office Mr. Moody said: "Judge, I cannot talk with you, you are an educated man; I am nothing but an uneducated shoe clerk. But I just want to ask you one thing: When you are converted, will you let me know?"

"Yes," replied the judge, "when I am converted I will let you know." He then raised his voice louder and said, "Yes, young man, when I am converted I will let you know. Good morning!"

As Mr. Moody again passed through the general office, the judge raised his voice still louder so that all the staff could hear: "Yes, young man, WHEN I am converted I will let you know!" and the law clerks chuckled louder than ever.

But the judge was converted within a year! When Moody revisited the town and called upon the judge, he asked: "Judge, will you tell me how you were converted?"

"Yes," the judge replied. "One night my wife went to the prayer meeting as usual, but I as usual stayed at home reading the evening paper.

"I began to get very uneasy and miserable, and before my wife returned I was so miserable I was afraid to face her, so I retired for the night. On her return, finding me in bed she came to the door and asked if I were sick.

" 'No,' I replied, 'I am not sick; I am just not feeling well. Good night.'

"I had a miserable night and was so miserable in the morning that I dared not face my wife at breakfast. I simply looked in the door and said: `Wife, I am not feeling very well this morning, I will not eat any breakfast.'

"I went to my office and told the clerks that they could take a holiday. I locked the outside door and then went into my inner office and locked the door to that. I sat down, getting more miserable all the time.

"At last, in my misery and my overwhelming sense of sin, I knelt down and cried: “‘O God, forgive my sins!' But there was no answer. Again I cried: "’O God, forgive my sins!' but there was no answer. I would not say: "’O God, for Christ's sake forgive my sins,' because I was a Unitarian and did not believe in the divinity of Christ. Again I cried: "’O God, for Jesus Christ's sake, forgive my sins!' and instantly I found peace."

There is divine power in a faith that accepts Jesus Christ as the Son of God.

"Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Rom. 5:1.

"There Were Ninety and Nine"

The well-known gospel song "There Were Ninety and Nine" has been translated and paraphrased in many languages. The author was Elizabeth Clephane. To Ira D. Sankey who composed the music, a friend wrote: "One day I was talking with a woman of the most abandoned sort, who had hardened her heart by many years of sin. Nothing I could say made any impression on her. When I was about to give up, our old Scotch cook began to sing:

But none of the ransomed ever knew

How deep were the waters crossed:

Nor how dark was the night that

the Lord passed through,

Ere He found the sheep that was lost.

"She was in the kitchen, and was not aware that anyone was listening. The poor woman to whom I had been talking and was so hardened before, burst into tears, and falling on her knees began to pray to the Good Shepherd to receive her. She was converted and has often testified that the song led her to Christ."

A Christian lady visiting in a hospital in Ottawa was informed that a man lay dying.

When she reached his room he had drawn the sheet over his face. Kneeling by his pillow she recited the Southern paraphrase of " There Were Ninety and Nine."

With the last line, the dying man slowly pushed the sheet from his eyes and repeated: "And that little black sheep was me."

"Big Bill"

His massive frame, and mighty strength had won him the name for miles around; he was

known to everyone as "Big Bill." He was not only a tall, strong, bearded lumberman of the "Paul Bunyan" type, but a great drinker and swearer as well. Decent folk avoided him; but he did not care what people thought. He was one of the best lumbermen along the St. Lawrence river and apart from that, he lived only for himself. "He feared not God, neither regarded man."

At the time of our story, Big Bill was sitting on a stump whittling a stick. There was to be no lumbering that day; so now he was waiting for someone to go with him for a drink. Just then a boyish voice beside him said: "Mornin', Bill. Have you heard the news?" "What is it?"

"Why, some feller is coming to the island to preach, and they're letting him have the school-house," replied the speaker, a thin, bare-footed lad. Then the boy added with a grin, "I thought you might be going."

"What!" said Big Bill, now thoroughly interested, "what's that you say?"

"Oh, nothin'; only some feller's going to preach in the schoolhouse."

"Not much, he ain't!" exploded Big Bill. "We ain't never had religion or preachin' on this island, and we ain't goin' to start now — not so long as my name's Big Bill. And he affirmed his declaration with an oath.

The night came for the preaching. So did the preacher. And so did the people of the island. Some came to hear the Word of God; but most came to see what Big Bill would do. He was expected to make trouble and it would be a stouthearted preacher that would withstand him.

The meeting began. The preacher was reading his text when the door opened and in stalked Big Bill, loaded for trouble.

The first words to meet his ears were the preacher's text: "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.

Big Bill stopped and listened. The preacher repeated the text. Emphasized as they were, and read for the third time, by the power of God, the words took hold of Big Bill's heart.

Never before had he heard such words. The strong man was utterly disarmed by the text and he went quietly to a seat near the front of the room.

No one listened to that gospel message with more concern than Big Bill. At the close, the preacher advanced and shook his hand — the hand of the man that had come determined "not to allow any religion or preaching on the island." To his great joy, the preacher learned that Big Bill, as he sat in his seat, had surrendered him-self to Jesus and received Him into his heart. O, the power of the Word of God!

"There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." Luke 15:10.

"This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." John 17:3.

The Skeptic’s Challenge

"There is no answer to prayer; it's all imagination. Don't be carried away. Use your common sense. There is no hereafter. When we are dead we are done for."

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

At this point a man was seen making his way towards the speaker, saying at the same time, "I accept the challenge."

The people eagerly made way for this champion of prayer. He stood on the step of the monolith and faced the crowd. He was tall and well dressed, but he was no orator. He had no set phrases to tickle the ear; he had not the winning demeanor of his opponent.

For a moment or two he stood looking at the sea of faces before him. A flush of color came over his features, and the sweat stood in beads on his forehead.

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

"You see standing before you a man who was once as big a scoundrel as it was possible to find in the city. I was a drunkard, a gambler, a wife-beater; yes! everything the word 'brute' implies. My wife and child dreaded the sound of my footsteps; and yet, bad as I was, my wife had for years been praying for me, unknown to me, and she taught my child to pray."

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

"One night I went home unexpectedly, rather earlier than usual, and, by accident, sober. When I opened the door, my wife had just gone up the stairs to put the little one to bed. I stood listening at the foot of the stairs. My child was praying; she was praying for me: " 'Dear Lord, save my Daddy! Save my dear Daddy, Lord! Dear Lord Jesus, save my Daddy!' And as she prayed in her simple childlike way, I heard my wife saying, with a sob in her throat! " 'Lord Jesus, answer her prayer.'

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

Was I indeed dear to that child? In what way? She had never known a father's love. I question whether she had ever known a father's kiss. And as I thought of it, a great lump came into my throat; tears filled my eyes and I cried aloud.

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

"Years have passed away since then. Today I am a Christian. My past is under the blood. I live in the present, a new creature in Christ Jesus." Again he paused, and then said earnestly, "Friends, don't you think I should have been a coward if I had kept silent today? Can I do other than believe there is a God, and that He not only hears, but answers prayer?"

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

The Best of All Times

"This really must be the best of all possible times to be alive," read a humorous cynical editorial in the New York Times. Having summed up many modern developments designed for the ease, pleasure and well-being of man, it sarcastically concludes:

"What a splendid time to be alive!"

But all cynicism, sarcasm and other consideration aside, this is the best of all possible times to be alive, Why? Because "Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6:2.

Of this present fleeting day of God's grace it may truthfully be said, there never was a time like this, and never will be again. It is Satan's work to blind the minds of the unsaved and prevent them from hearing the good tidings of the grace of God.

"If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." 2 Cor. 4:3, 4.

”Freedom From Fear”

"Freedom from fear" for all mankind was one of the "Four Freedoms" proclaimed in the Atlantic Charter by the world's great statesmen a generation ago. But none of the signatories has lived to realize the ideal.

In many countries millions still live in fear, as terrorism, disunity, unstable regimes, terrible armaments, and "wars and rumors of wars" stir concern there and throughout the world.

But millions more live only in fear of death, their consciences warning them that one day they must stand before God. This is by far the most serious prospect. And it's real.

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

Is there no way of escape from God's judgment of my sins? Is there no hope of release from this bondage of fear? Yes, there is! "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" nearly two thousand years ago. He has died upon the cross—

"That through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Heb. 2:14, 15.

What Then?

An old Christian once asked a bright intelligent youth what he intended to do on his leaving, School.

"Why I am going to college to study law." "And what then?"

"Why then I expect to be made a judge."

"And what then?"

"Why, of course I shall be married and be surrounded by a large circle of friends."

"And what then?"

"Then I hope to enjoy myself for many a long year at the head of my profession."

"And what then?"

"Then of course I shall be getting old."

"And what then?"

"Why, of course I cannot expect to live forever, and I must die."

"And what then?"

"Why then I shall be buried with a grand funeral, and mourned over by all my friends."

"And what then?" again solemnly asked the old man.

"Why then—why then," said the boy, "I cannot tell what then."

Reader, are you perhaps dazzled by bright prospects of riches and honor? Then hear God's warning: "The rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torments." Luke 16:22,23.

Let us now question some true Christian as to his future:

"Why, I am hoping to be more like Christ my Savior."

"And what then?"

"Why, then I may have to pass through trials and persecutions for His sake."

"And what then?"

"Why, many of my friends will leave me."

"And what then?"

"His love will more than make up for it, and I shall get strength and patience to bear it."

"And what then?"

"I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I may sleep in Jesus, or He may come for me and take me to spend eternity with Him."

"But if you should die, what then?"

"I shall go to be with Christ which is far better. (Phil. 1:23) and my body will sleep in the grave until He comes for me, and then, 'The dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: And so shall we ever be with the Lord.' " (1 Thess. 4:16, 17.)

I am sure our reader can see the wonderful difference between the end of the student and that of the Christian. What are your prospects?

"Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!" Num. 23:10.

Whom Does God Love?

A teacher once put the following question to a class of boys:

"What class of people does God love?"

"Good people, sir," was the reply.

"Will the top boy read Romans three, verse twelve, the last part," said the teacher. The boy read:

"There is none that doeth good, no, not one."

"Then you see, boys," continued the teacher, "God has no one to love if only good people are loved by Him." The boys seemed amazed.

"Will the next boy read Romans five and eight," said the teacher, and the boy read: "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

"Whom does God love?" then asked the teacher.

"Sinners," was the reply.

Yes, and that, reader, includes you.

The Costliness of Salvation

When D. L. Moody approached the president of a mining company about his soul's salvation the man listened patiently and courteously, then said: "It's too cheap, I can't believe it is true. You ask me to do nothing but accept Christ in order to obtain salvation. It is too cheap. It should cost more than that."

Mr. Moody replied: "Did you go down into the mine shaft today?"

"Yes", said the man, "I did."

"How far did you go down?"

"Oh, several hundred feet."

"How did you go down?"

"Well, I pushed a button, the lift came up. I pushed another button, the lift went down."

"That was all you did, just pushed a button?" Mr. Moody asked.

"Certainly," replied the president. "The company spent thousands to sink that shaft and install that elevator; but all I did was to push a button."

"That's it exactly," said Mr. Moody, "Salvation has been wrought out at a tremendous price. It is the costliest thing in the world. Yet God offers it to you free because of what God has done by His Son."

Of all the gifts Thy love bestows,

Thou Giver of all good,

Not heaven itself a richer knows

Than the Redeemer’s blood.

Found Out and Turned Out

One summer afternoon, an English Duchess gave a garden party at her stately mansion near London. Detectives were engaged to safeguard the house and the guests, many of whom wore valuable jewelry.

The detectives were men of good appearance, men who would pass without remark among the guests. Furthermore, they were trained to know by sight all the nobility and gentry likely to be present on such an occasion.

During the course of the afternoon they spotted a guest unknown to them; he was a man with a suspicious manner. Approaching him they asked politely to see his invitation. Since he did not have the official card he was asked if he knew the Duchess. He assured the detectives that he knew her very well.

"In that case the Duchess will surely know you," they replied. "Come this way, and we will see."

The unhappy man was forced to go and soon found himself in the presence of the Duchess. Addressing her, a detective asked: "Does your Grace know this gentleman?" She eyed him narrowly and replied that she was not acquainted with him.

Whereupon rough hands were laid on the pretender and he was unceremoniously ejected. He was found out and turned out.

For what purpose is this story reprinted here? Because the day is surely coming when many an unconverted choir singer, many an unsaved Sunday school teacher, many an unregenerate partaker of the Lord's Supper, will be likewise found out and turned out.

Do you know the Lord? Yes, replies many a mere professor. Then the Lord will know you, for "He knoweth them that trust in Him." Nah. 1:7. All profession will thus be put to the test in that solemn day.

The Lord Jesus exhorts us to strive to enter in at the strait gate (Matt. 7:13, 14). It is too narrow for anything but reality.

Oh, be warned! Soon the Master will rise up and shut the door. To those outside who will clamor for admittance, how despairing will be the Lord's answer: "I never knew you: depart from me ye that work iniquity." verse 23.

"Oh, sinner, ere it be too late.

Flee thou to mercy's open gate!"

Come to the Lord now! Come in your true colors. Without a card of invitation in your hand He will receive you. He says: "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37.

"I came not to call the righteous, but

sinners to repentance." Luke 5:32.

'Tis eternal life to know Him,

Think, O think how much we owe Him!

A Wandering Sheep

I was a wandering sheep,

I did not love the fold;

I did not love my Shepherd's voice,

I would not be controlled:

I was a wayward child,

I did not love my home,

I did not love my Father's voice,

I loved afar to roam.

The Shepherd sought His sheep,

The Father sought His child;

They followed me o'er vale and hill,

O'er deserts waste and wild;

They found me nigh to death,

Famished, and faint, and lone;

They bound me with the bands of love,

They saved the wandering one.

Jesus my Shepherd is,

'Twas He that loved my soul;

'Twas He that washed me in His blood,

'Twas He that made me whole:

'Twas He that sought the lost,

That found the wandering sheep;

'Twas He that brought me to the fold,

'Tis He that still doth keep.

I was a wandering sheep,

I would not be controlled,

But now I love my Savior's voice,

I love, I love the fold.

I was a wayward child,

I once preferred to roam;

But now I love my Father's voice,

I love, I love His home.

A Remarkable Letter

Perhaps a no more remarkable letter was ever written — certainly none under more extraordinary circumstances — than the dying message of Jay C. Sterrett, a young cowboy of Alberton. Iowa.

The story of his tragic death, accompanied by the letter to his mother, appeared prominently in State newspapers, and was copied in many more distant cities. It reached the hearts of all who read it. And such was the interest and sympathy aroused in his own community that people from far and near, neighbors and strangers alike, drove from one farm to another telling and retelling the story.

While rounding up cattle late one evening, Sterrett was thrown from his horse into a creek. The fall injured his spine, paralyzing his body below the waist. He fell on his knees in such a position that he could keep his head above the water only by supporting himself with his elbows on the bank.

Hour after hour he lay in the icy stream, calling for help. His only companion was his dog, Ring.

In this painful predicament he managed to take from his pocket a note book and by the aid of his flashlight write a farewell message to his mother.

His body was found in the stream next morning by a search party, his faithful dog marking the place. The following letter to his mother, tied with twine, was found on the bank: "Dear Mother: If you were only here tonight.

I am lying in the creek in Bracewell's pasture and can't get out. The water isn't deep and I will try and fight it out until somebody hears me. If I had only listened to you and not rode the gray until I got a saddle blanket!

"Don't worry about me, for I sure feel that God is with me tonight. O, Mother, I am so thankful I was brought up in a Christian home. Dear brothers and sisters, live so you can always be prepared to die when you get into a place like this and think maybe you can't get out.

"All your sins come up before you, but if you pray for God to blot them out for Christ's sake, they will leave, and peace comes in their place.

"I am feeling better now. The water don't seem so cold, only my head gets dizzy sometimes. I forget everything and seem to fall asleep awhile. O, if I could only get out of here I would do more towards bringing others to Christ.

"My legs are paralyzed and I can't reach anything. Maybe someone will see my flashlight and come. I'm going to keep up as long as I have strength.

"I do want to see you all so much. There is a verse keeps running through my head and it is so beautiful: 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life!' I suppose this writing will all be useless if I get out, but somehow I don't feel like I would.

"The roads are so bad and it looks so stormy and I've yelled until I can't make a sound above a whisper.

"I'm getting awfully bad again. I'm getting so tired holding myself up to write, I must rest again.

"My back is hurt some way. I can't write any more. I want to bid you all good-bye. God bless you all. It is getting light in the east....

"Mother, it will soon be over. I'm in a hurry to go now. My suffering will be over forever." (Signed) "JOY."

Sterrett had often expressed a desire to lead others to the Lord Jesus. When he returned from the Army at the close of the war, he told his mother he would like to work bringing souls to Christ. Evidently his desire was fulfilled in a manner of which he never conceived. His testimony given in the hour of weakness and dissolution has reached more persons, and with greater effectiveness than most Christians influence in a lifetime. Like Samson, he accomplished more for \God in his death than in his life.

The End of His Days

An infidel store-keeper used the pages of his father's Family Bible to wrap parcels for his customers. Half of God's Book had been used for this purpose, when one day tearing out the next leaf, his eye fell upon the words of Dan. 12:13.

"But go thou thy way till the end be, for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days."

That word arrested him. What could be his "lot" at the end of a godless life? He wrapped up the mutilated Bible, took it home, read it, and was converted.

"For the Word o.. God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword."

"Call!"

To be at death's door with only enough strength to call on a name—to be heard and delivered because he called—was the experience of a young farmer in Manitoba not long ago.

He had just driven into a field of flax with his tractor-combine outfit and harvested a short swath. In order to test the moisture content of the crop, he stopped the tractor and with the engine still running climbed into the grain tank. But as he reached down for a handful of the seed his jacket caught in the rotating auger.

Realizing that he was being helplessly drawn into the machinery, he clung frantically to the edge of the grain tank while the auger stripped off his clothes, tearing his muscles and tendons in the terrible ordeal.

With a final effort he managed to hoist himself out of the grain tank and stumble to the tractor cab. Grasping the CB radio receiver he called one word—a name: "Dad!"

Back at the farmstead his father picked up the call. Sensing something was wrong he immediately sped to the field in a truck.

Covering his badly injured son with a parka and laying him in the truck he whisked him to the hospital 25 miles away. Here the young man eventually recovered.

He was saved by calling a name—the name of one he trusted.

May this incident remind us of God's merciful provision for every poor helpless sinner. To every living soul, each "appointed once to die, and after this the judgment," (Heb. 9:27), God has declared: "Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved." Acts 2:21. Reader, have you called?

"What's Your Name, Doctor?"

"Doctor, please!" It was the pleading call of a fallen soldier as he lay bleeding to death on the battlefield. The passing doctor with the Red Cross on his arm heard the faint call. He stopped, dismounted, attended to the man, gave all possible relief, and then ordered him to be conveyed to the field hospital at once.

As he was being placed in the ambulance, the wounded man asked: "What's your name, doctor?"

"O, no matter", replied the doctor.

"But, doctor, I want to tell my wife and children who saved my life."

That was becoming gratitude you say. And do you not think the Lord Jesus deserves as much from you? Does He not say to you as He did to another: "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee"?

Tell it to others, dear young believer. It will strengthen you. It will be a safeguard to you. It is more likely you will stand firm if you openly confess the name of Christ.

"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead. thou shalt be saved." Rom. 10:9.

"Liar and Fool"

The audience had begun to leave the hall, when a man pressed towards the speaker and exclaimed: "Well! Well! Blake. I am surprised to find a man of your culture carried away by anything so archaic as the Bible. When at some tiny cottage window behind the geraniums we see an old lady reading her Old Testament, there the old Book finds a place to which by nature it belongs. As for me, I have long since abandoned all belief in it."

Mr. Blake replied by opening his Bible and reading Rom. 3:3, 4:

"What if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar."

"Do you mean... Do you mean to call me a...?"

"No, sir," interrupted Blake, "I mean that God speaking through His Apostle, calls you a liar."

"But I do not believe your Apostle or your holy Scriptures. What is more, I do not believe there is a God."

"I am not surprised at that, for look here," said Mr. Blake, turning to Psa. 14:1.

" 'The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God!' You are a fool twice over, for you have not only said, in your heart, 'There is no God,' but you have said it in the hearing of these people. The eternal and omnipotent God says here in His Word that you are a fool."

At this point the now exasperated man hastily withdrew.

As he walked to his apartment, however, it seemed as though every step, echoed the words:

"A liar — a fool — a liar — a fool."

He went to bed, but could not sleep. He could not read. The Tower clock struck three. Hastily dressing he set out for a brisk walk in the moonlight. As he stood on the cliff at the back of the Parliamentary Library viewing the magnificent moonlit panorama, his conscience whispered:

"Has not the old Book rung true?"

In the hours that followed the angels beheld him prostrate before God on the floor of his room, under the deep conviction of sin.

Nine o'clock the next morning found him knocking at the door of the apartment occupied by Mr. Blake.

"Hello!" said Blake in his usual cheery voice. "Have you laid down the weapons of your warfare at the feet of Jesus Christ? Have you capitulated?"

That's what I've come for," said the unhappy man. "What a wretched night I've had!"

"Good!" said Blake, "I prayed that you might—and that it might be followed by an eternity of happy, happy days." What happened when they knelt side by side the—Vice Chancellor with his arm around the Honorable Member of Parliament—as together they entered into the presence of God, is too sacred for words. It will suffice to say that the man was saved that morning.

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." 1 Cor. 1:18.

"One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." John 9:25

Do You Know the Shepherd?

Some years ago a godly old lay preacher placed his hand on the head of his kneeling grandson, and prayed that the boy would not stray into the path of wickedness. The boy, then sixteen, had just announced that he planned to be an actor.

Eventually his ambition was realized; he became a British actor of wide acclaim, performing regularly in London theaters where comedies and murder mysteries usually headed the programs.

But strange as it may seem, the popular actor, ambitious to put on a one-man show, one evening recited to a packed house the entire gospel of Mark. The "performance" was rated a tremendous success and afterward, "St. Mark" became "one of the hottest tickets" in London West End theaters. Ever alert for a London hit, American producers arranged for the actor to appear in the United States.

It has been well stated that "any religious program in which unsaved people can take pleasure without having their conscience stirred, is not of the Spirit of God."

This would include great commercial, film productions, passion plays and the like—and alas, many church sermons too. True, God is sovereign and can use His living Word to bless souls in any setting. Nevertheless it is deplorable when commercial theater interests dare to resort to Holy Writ for purely "box office" reasons.

A gifted performer may act out and charm his pleasure-seeking audience with a Scripture reading, yet himself be quite unacquainted with the Author.

In this context, the following anecdote, although not new, is worth repeating: Among the guests at a large private social gathering sat a well known actor, and an elderly retired minister.

During the course of the evening, the hostess asked the actor if he would read the twenty-third Psalm for the entertainment of the company. He consented on the condition that the minister would also read the same Psalm. To this the old pastor agreed.

So the actor took the Bible and read, employing all the arts and charms of speech and expression which his training in elocution had taught him. The company was charmed and applauded warmly.

Then the pastor, bent with age, slowly and humbly took the floor. His reading was not flawless like that of the actor; but oh the feeling he put into the words; What reverence, confidence and praise were in his voice!

When the old saint sat down there was no applause; but the whole audience was subdued; and many an eye was filled with tears.

Afterward one of the guests asked the actor how it was that although the company was charmed by his professional rendition of the psalm, they were moved to tears by the reading of the old pastor?

"The answer is simple," replied the actor: "I know the twenty-third Psalm—that old man knows the Shepherd."

"I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine." John 10:14

The Enemy Pardoned

During the American Revolution there lived in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, a faithful gospel preacher named Peter Miller. Nearby lived a man who violently opposed him and openly abused both Miller and his followers.

Subsequently Miller's enemy was found guilty of treason, and sentenced to be hanged. No sooner was the death sentence passed, however, than Miller set out on foot for General Washington's headquarters to intercede for the man's life. But he was told that his request for his friend could not be granted.

"My friend! He is not my friend!" exclaimed Peter Miller. "I have not a worse enemy living than that man."

"What!" said Washington, "You have walked sixty miles to save the life of your enemy? That in my judgment, puts the matter in a different light. I will grant the pardon."

The pardon was written, signed by the general and handed to Miller to deliver. He immediately proceeded on foot, with all possible speed to the place—fifteen miles away—where the execution was to take place. He arrived just as the condemned man was being led to the scaffold.

When the traitor spotted Miller in the crowd, he exclaimed: "Why, there's old Peter Miller! He has come all the way from Ephrata to have his revenge gratified today by seeing me hanged."

The words were scarcely spoken before Miller stepped forward, and produced the pardon. The life of his worst enemy was spared.

"When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son." Rom. 5:10.

The Twelfth Hour

In one of Dwight L. Moody's meetings, a man once raised his hand. The evangelist went to him and said:

"I am glad you have decided to be a Christian."

"No," said the man, "I have not; but I will later on."

He gave his name and address and Mr. Moody visited him when he was ill and pleaded with him to decide for Christ.

"No," said the man, "I won't decide now; people will only say I was frightened into making a decision."

He recovered; but later suffered a severe relapse; and Mr. Moody visited him again.

"It's too late," said the sick man.

"But," Mr. Moody replied, "there's mercy at the eleventh hour."

"Mr. Moody," replied the man, "this is not the eleventh hour; it is the twelfth."A few hours later he was dead. Said Mr. Moody: "We wrapped him a Christless shroud, we put him in a Christless coffin, buried him in a Christ-less grave, and he went to spend a Christless eternity."

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

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

Just as thou art, without one trace

Of love, or joy, or inward grace,

Or meetness for the heavenly place,

O guilty sinner, come.

Your Soul Is Immortal

This world and all in it must perish. You see change, decay and death all around you. The great Pyramids must some day give way before the march of time. Most of the mighty cities of history are now but dust; and the cities that remain are so changed that people who used to live in them years ago, would not know them now, if they were to return. Men speak of becoming immortal by their own deeds, but a few years will blot out their memory.

On one occasion the great Napoleon was in the famous art gallery of Louvre. He expressed his admiration of a priceless painting to a general of his staff at his side.

"Yes," replied the general, "it is immortal."

"Immortal!" exclaimed Napoleon; "how long will it last?"

"Three hundred or four hundred years," the officer replied.

Pointing to a magnificent statue nearby, Napoleon demanded:

"How long will that last?"

"Three or four hundred years," estimated the general.

Looking him in the eye the emperor asked:

"You call that immortality? Ah, nothing but our soul is immortal."

Reader, where will your immortal soul be for eternity.

"These shall go their way into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal." Matt. 25:46.

Fame Without Future

Most towns have their celebrities. One of the best-known men in Johnson City was Blinky The Clown. For over 35 years at carnivals, fairs and sporting events Blinky, in his gaudy costumes and outrageous trappings, was always a star.

At Christmas he was the town Santa Claus; at Easter, the Easter Bunny; in area parades he was Uncle Sam.

His dingy $30-a-month apartment was cluttered with costumes, trophies and awards. For a generation he was the children's idol, although his own childhood had been spent in an orphanage. He never learned to read or write. He never married.

Blinky called the testimonial dinner given in his honor "the high point in his life." "I didn't think I had so many friends; but I have a lot of them," he commented.

It is believed that he would rather have had a million friends than a million dollars. But in spite of all the popularity and acclaim, one wonders if he knew the "Friend that sticketh closer than a brother," (Prov. 18:24) — "The Friend of publicans and sinners" (Luke 15:2)?

In 1976 Blinky's colorful career was cut short by a disease which proved to be incurable; but true to tradition, he jested to the end. A few days before he died in April 1978, he was heard to joke about death.

Hundreds came to pay their last respects to the clown who had become a local legend. His body lay in state, clothed (at his own request) in his favorite Blinky The Clown outfit.

This amazing little entertainer — "the man with a rhyme every time" — wrote this epitaph to be engraved on his tombstone:

Here lies Blinky the Clown

He don't know whether

He's going up or down.

All he knows is,

He's got to leave town.

Of poor little Blinky (he was only 5 foot 3) as of many another comedian—(and of many that laugh at them), it may be said:

"He knoweth not how to go to the City." Eccl. 10:15.

Reader, do you?

The Wrath to Come

During one of George Whitfield's sermons he broke off abruptly from his discourse on "the wrath to come" and burst into a flood of tears and cried:

"O, my hearers, the wrath to come! The wrath to come!"

Sometime afterward a young man who heard the sermon said:

"Those words sank deep into my heart, like lead in the water. I wept, and when the sermon was ended, I retired alone. For days and weeks I could think of little else. Those awful words would follow me, wherever I went. 'The wrath to come! The wrath to come!' "

It was God's voice by His servant to that young man and he sought and found a sure refuge in the Savior.

God warns us of judgment to come, and to beware lest it fall upon us. But He has provided a shelter, all-sufficient and sufficient for all, and He would have all hide therein. If we put our trust in Jesus, He will shelter us from the judgment which is ready to fall on this world of unbelievers.

"As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his evil wav and live.' Ezek. 33:11.

"A Wise Fool"

A certain lord kept a fool or jester in his house, as great men did in olden times.

One day his lord gave a staff to his fool and charged him to keep it until he met with a greater fool than himself. If ever he met with such an one, he was to deliver the staff over to him.

Not many years later the lord fell sick. His fool came to see him and was told of his master's illness.

Standing by his lord's bedside the jester asked:

"And where will you go?"

"On a long journey."

"And when will you come again—within a month?"

"No."

"Within a year?"

"No."

"What then— never?"

"Never."

"And what provision have you made for where you are going?"

"None at all."

"Are you going away forever," said the fool, "and have made no provision before your departure? Here, take my staff, for I am not guilty of any such folly as that."

"Him That Cometh"

Until I was sixteen I was quite a heathen. I never read the Bible. I could not have told you who Jesus was. I knew there was a God, but nothing more. But one Sunday night I had such a longing to go to a gospel service, I said to my brother: "O, Sid, I feel as if I would like to go to service; do come with me!"

"Why, Edith," he laughed, "what has put that into your head?"

My family was immensely amused that I, of all persons, should want to go. My father was practically an atheist. I was such a wild girl, and the leader in all the fun.

After a good deal of persuasion my brother came with me to a large hall. We sat in the back row. My brother thought the preacher was never going to leave off. It was all new to him too. During the service Sid said: "If this is coming to service, I will never come again; I was silly to come." When at last the service ended, I said: "O, Sid, that did make me feel uncomfortable!"

"Now, Edith, don't you begin, for I have had quite enough. Never do I come again," said Sid. "Nor will I," I said.

I thought no more about it until the next Sunday, when again I felt I must go to the service. So I pleaded with my brother to go with me. It never dawned on me to go by myself.

At last he put on his coat and came. We went to the same hall and sat in the same seats. The same thing happened. I felt so uncomfortable; and my brother was rather annoyed with himself for coming.

"I will never, never come again," I said to him when the service was over.

"You said that last week," he replied. "I know nothing nor nobody will get me to come again."

I never thought about it all that week until the time for the Sunday evening service came on. Again I felt I must go. And, oh how I pleaded for Sid to come with me! He did, but very unwillingly as you can imagine. We went to the same hall and again sat in the same seats.

As I sat there I knew I was a lost soul. Nobody had spoken to me personally, but I knew that if I had died that night I should have gone straight to hell.

"O, whatever is the matter with you?" Sid said, as he looked at me.

We went home and my brother hung up his hat and coat, but I paced up and down our large kitchen with my things still on. At last my brother came and said: "Edie, take your things off and sit down." "Sid," I said despairingly, "I'm going to see that man who preached tonight."

"All right, Edie, I will go with you," he replied. I never felt such love for him in all my life as I did at that moment.

So together we returned to the hall. As it happened, the preacher was just coming out. I went up to him and said: "O, sir, I want to be baptized." I thought baptism would save me. The good man looked at me, and then (Oh, how can I write it!) for the first time in my life I heard with understanding the story of Calvary. He spoke to me of the Savior, and told me of His love—how Jesus loved ME.

"O, sir, but I have not given Him a thought all my life! I have cared nothing for Him;' I said. Very tenderly and lovingly he replied: "My child, the Lord loves you and died for you."

For me! I could not tell you how I felt. In my joy I shook my brother and said: "O, Sid, listen to the good news!"

"What must I do?" I then asked the preacher. He took out his Bible and read me some verses. This was one of them: "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37).

"O, sir," I said, "I will come this moment." And my first prayer was: "Lord, save me, a sinner; and save my brother too." I rose from my knees and the preacher said: "Have you trusted Him? Do you believe you are saved?"

"Why, of course!" I replied. "Did He not say, `Him that cometh'? And I have come."

In my joy I ran all the way home with my brother. I burst in upon our astonished family circle and said: "I am saved! I have found Jesus Christ!"

I went everywhere telling people; I thought nobody knew the good news. I believe today as I believed then: if only they knew Christ they must love Him.

"But does it last?" someone reading my story may say. Well, it is many years since I came to Christ. I can say from the depth of my being that ever since I heard the wonderful message of God's redeeming love it has been the joy of my life to tell others. There is no joy in the world like seeing the love of God transform lives as it transformed mine.

I have seen drunkards, gamblers, swearers—men of all kinds and conditions—come under its influence, and the result has been wonderful. The Lord Jesus does not reform their lives; He makes them all new, pardoning and forgetting their past. Wonderful Savior! Saving and raising ALL who will receive Him.

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

Divine Relationship

A long time I wandered in darkness and sin,

And wondered if ever the light would shine in.

I heard Christian friends speak of raptures divine,

And I wished — how I wished! — that their Savior was mine.

I heard the glad gospel of "good will to men,"

I read "whosoever" again and again: I said to my soul, "Can that promise be thine?"

And then began hoping that Jesus were mine.

The words of the Savior no longer I'll doubt:

"Whoe ‘er comes to Me, I'll in no wise cast out."

On His truth I am resting—assurance divine.—

I'm "hoping" no longer — I know He is mine!

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish." John 10:27, 28

"The World Passeth Away" 1 John 2:11

Contrary to all the signs which indicate continuous progress and development, this present world has been aptly likened to a great ship sinking in the ocean of Time. In the light of Bible truth this analogy is true and gives the weightiest possible importance to God's message of hope to a hopeless world: "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.

The gospel is God's one and only way of salvation proclaimed to a perishing world. You ignore it or disobey it at your own peril and eternal loss.

In February 1940 the Canadian Pacific freighter, "Beaverburn" under the command of Captain Thomas Jones was sailing from Liverpool to Montreal. Off the coast of Ireland the "Beaver-burn" was struck by a torpedo and immediately began to sink.

There was no panic, no confusion. Because of their highly efficient training under Captain Jones — and absolute respect for his commands — the entire crew of 77 was saved, with one exception: The cook who failed to go to his life-saving station, jumped overboard and was lost. All the others, safe in lifeboats, were picked up by a tanker and taken to a seaman's hospital in Ireland.

How often in human affairs, to obey—or not to obey—is a life or death decision! In the matter of salvation it is always so. Salvation follows the obedience of faith (Rom. 16:26).

The gospel has not only to be heard and believed, but to be obeyed. It is accompanied by a command: "God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge this world in righteousness by that Man [Jesus) whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead." Acts 17:30, 31.

"Pull for the shore, sailor,

Pull for the shore!

Heed not the angry wave but

bend to the oar.

Safe in the lifeboat, sailor,

Cling to self no more;

Leave the poor old stranded wreck

And pull for the shore.”

Resting on the Word

Abenezer Erskine, the devoted Scottish preacher, who died in 1754, was visited on his death-bed by a friend who asked him:

"What are you doing with your soul, Mr. Erskine?"

"I am doing with it what I did forty years ago," replied the dying man. "I am resting it on the Word of the Lord."

How different the last words of Mirabeau, the notorious infidel: "Give me more laudanum, that I may not think of eternity. I have an age of strength, but not a moment of courage."

"His Life for Me!"

One of the survivors of the Norge sea disaster was a young girl who, when asked by a news reporter how she escaped, replied: "My brother and myself were going to visit our uncle in America. When the ship began to sink, he pulled me upstairs to where the lifeboats were. If he had not held me tightly, I should have been trampled on. Then he spoke some words (which I did not catch) very earnestly to the sailors who were putting people into one of the nearest boats. Then he lifted me in his arms and handed me over the side of the ship. Somebody in the lifeboat, which was already full, helped me in and got me a seat.

"Of course, I never doubted my brother was following, but the boat immediately rowed off. He was waving to me from the deck. No one knows my agony: my darling, my only brother sacrificed his life for me."

This pathetic incident is but a faint shadow compared with the grand old story of Jesus the Son of God, who laid down His spotless life for poor hopeless sinners. Happy is every one who can say with the Apostle Paul: "The Son of God who loved me, and gave Himself for me." Gal. 2:20.

"Healed by His Stripes"

A poor man was dying. Several times the clergyman had been to see him, and had read prayers for the sick, and told him what a great sinner he was. But the clergyman did not know of God's love to sinners, therefore all he said only made the poor man more miserable.

The visit was repeated several times, but the sick man received no comfort; he could only moan about the weight of his sins.

One Sunday morning he sent his child to bring the clergyman on his way from the service.

"It is no use for me to go," said he, "your father never seems any better."

"O, sir," answered the child, "Father said I was not to go back without you."

"Well, I'll take my sermon to read to him." And he followed the child. He found the poor man almost distracted about his soul.

"I've brought my sermon to read to you," said the clergyman, and he began reading the beautiful text, Isa. 53:5:

"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."

"Hold," called the dying man; "read that again, sir. 'Wounded for our transgressions'! Then He was wounded for mine! I have it!" he exclaimed, starting up. " 'Bruised for my iniquities.' Why did you not tell me that before, sir? But I have it now, thank God! I am saved."

That night, in full assurance of faith, he fell asleep in Christ, resting on His finished work.

The day following, the clergyman called on a friend, and asked what there was in that scripture more than another.

"Why," said his friend, who was a believer in the Lord Jesus, "this verse contains the whole gospel. Now, I pray you believe it. Can you say, `He was wounded for my transgressions? The Son of God bore my sins in His own body on the tree' "?

"I see," exclaimed the clergyman, "how blind I have been all along; knowing the Scripture with my head, and not believing it with my heart."

Next Lord's Day his congregation was amazed at the intensely earnest way in which he preached; still more so when he told them that he had been a blind leader, but that God's grace had shone into his heart, and that now he was a new creature in Christ Jesus. He begged them all to trust Him as their own Savior, too.

A Personal Matter

"Christianity," said Martin Luther, "is a

religion of personal pronouns." How true!

It is not, we are all sinners; but

I am a sinner.

It is not, Jesus is a Savior; but

Jesus is MY Savior.

A young man in the West Indies once said to the preacher:

"I believe all you say, and I like your preaching; yet I am not saved. How is that?"

"Have you ever," replied the preacher, "got into the presence of God and said, 'Oh God, if there were not another sinner in the world, I am one. As a sinner, I claim Christ as my Savior, even though every other sinner refuses Him'?"

"Well," said the young man, "it is your very personal way of putting it that I do not like."

There was the answer to his problem. He was not saved because he refused to make his own soul's salvation a personal matter between himself and Christ — the One with whom we have to do.

"Marvel not that I say unto thee, YE must be born again." John 3:7.

"Get My Mother in"

He was a well-known preacher who years ago told this story of himself: One wet, stormy night as he was about to retire there came a knock at his door. Opening it he found a poor, wretched little girl, dripping wet. She had come through the storm, and she said,

"Are you the preacher?"

"Yes, I am."

"Well, won't you come and get my mother in?"

"Why, I was just about to retire," the preacher said, "and besides it is hardly seemly for me to go out and get your mother in. If she is drunk, you can get a policeman to get her in. He is prepared for the storm."

"Oh, you don't understand!" she said. "My mother is not out in the storm and she is not drunk. She is at home and is dying, and she is afraid to die. She is afraid she is going to be lost forever, and she wants to go to heaven and doesn't know how. I told her I would get a minister to get her in."

He asked where she lived, and she told him of a district so vile that even in daytime respectable people did not go there without a policeman accompanying them.

"Why," he said, "I cannot go down there tonight and then subconsciously to himself he said, "It would be all my reputation is worth to be seen with a girl like this in that district in the middle of the night. No, I cannot go." Then to the girl he said, "I will tell you what to do. You go down and get the man who is running the Rescue Mission; he will be glad to help you."

"He may be a good man," she said, "but I don't know him. I told my mother I would get a minister, and I want you to come and get her in. Come quickly; she's dying."

"I couldn't stand the challenge in those eyes," the preacher said, "I felt so ashamed, and so I said, 'Very well, I will come.'"

He went upstairs and dressed and put on his overcoat, and then followed the girl. She led him down through the city and into the slum district, into an old house, up a rickety stairway, then along a long, dark hall into a little room. There lay the poor woman.

"I have got the preacher," said the little girl; "he will get you in. He didn't want to come, but he's come. You tell him what you want, and do just what he tells you."

"Oh, sir, can you do anything for a poor sinner?" she cried. "All my life I have been a wicked woman, and I am going to hell. But I don't want to go there; I want to go to heaven. Tell me what I can do."

The preacher, relating the incident, said, "I stood there looking down at that poor anxious face, and thought, whatever will I tell her? I had been preaching in my own church on salvation by character, by ethical culture, and by reformation, I thought, I can't tell her about salvation by character, for she hasn't any. I can't tell her about salvation by ethical culture, for there's no time for culture, and besides, she most likely wouldn't know what I meant. I can't tell her about salvation by reformation, for she has gone too far to reform.

"Why not tell her what your mother used to tell you? She's dying, and it can't hurt her, even though it does her no good." And so I said: "My poor woman, God is very gracious, and the Bible says, '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 three, sixteen." She said: "Does it say that in the Bible? My! This ought to help get me in. But sir, my sins! What about my sins?"

"It was amazing the way the verses came to me, verses I had learned years ago and never used, and I said: " 'The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.' First John, one and seven."

"All sin?" She said, "does it really say that the blood will cleanse me from all sin? That ought to get me in."

"I then quoted First Timothy, one and fifteen: " '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.' "

"Well," she said, "if the chief got in, I can come. Pray for me!"

"I knelt down and prayed with that poor woman and 'got her in' as she put it. And while I was getting her in, I got myself in, too. We two poor sinners, the one a minister and the other a dying woman of the street, were saved together in that little room...."

"For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" Romans 11:32, 33.

Not Saved!

New Year's Message by Charles Spurgeon

Not saved! Friend, is this your mournful plight? Warned of the judgment to come, bidden to escape for your life, and yet at this moment not saved! You know the way of salvation, you read it in the Bible, you hear it from the pulpit, it is explained to you by friends, and yet you neglect it, and therefore are not saved.

You will be without excuse when the Lord shall judge the living and the dead. The Holy Spirit has given more or less of blessing upon the Word which has been preached in your hearing, and times of refreshing have come from the divine presence, and yet you are without Christ. All these hopeful seasons have come and gone― your summer and your harvest have past― and yet you are not saved.

Years have followed one another into eternity, and your last year may have arrived. Let me ask you will you ever be saved? Is there any likelihood of it? Already the most propitious seasons have left you unsaved; will other occasions alter your condition?

Means have failed with you― the best of means, used perseveringly and with the utmost affection― what more can be done for you? affliction and prosperity have alike failed to impress you; tears and prayers and sermons have been wasted on your barren heart. Are not the probabilities dead against your ever being saved? Is it more than likely that you will abide as you are till death forever bars the door of hope?

Do you recoil from the supposition? Yet it is a most reasonable one; he who is not washed in so many waters will in all probability go unclean to the end. The convenient time has never come, why should it ever come? It is logical to fear that it never will arrive, and that Felix-like, you will find no "convenient season" till you are in hell. (Read Acts 24:25.)

O think what that hell is and of the dread possibility that you may soon be cast into it! Friend, suppose you should die unsaved; your doom no words can picture. You will "be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power." (2 Thess. 1:9)

I would fain startle you into earnestness. O be wise, be wise in time, and as another year begins, believe in Jesus, who is able to save to the uttermost.

Family Trees

Tracing the family tree back to its roots is an ancient vanity which absorbs many today. Societies are being formed and members are finding the study of their pedigrees fascinating, if not altogether flattering.

For example, a member of a genealogical society in Ontario claims to trace his family tree back to 495 A.D. and he includes Alfred The Great among his ancestors.

Another traces his bloodlines over the centuries to the Doomsday Book, a record of English lands compiled for William the Conqueror about 1086.

Another was elated by his recent discovery that one of his relatives was a soldier in the war of 1812 and took part in the sacking of Oswego.

For various reasons not everyone cares to identify his family tree. The history of the black sheep, or the skeleton in the closet is admittedly often better left untold.

The long, inglorious history of the whole human family leaves no room for boasting. That our first parents were as guilty, fallen creatures cast out of the Garden of Eden, and that their first offspring murdered his brother is the shameful truth.

And what was the continuing result for every member of Adam's race to this very day? Let the Word of God answer: "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."

The universality of death but proves the universality of sin. As another has said: "Man has fallen! Not this man or that man, but the whole race. In Adam all have sinned; in Adam all have died. It is not that a few leaves have faded or been shaken down, but the tree has become corrupt, root and branch. The 'flesh' or 'old man'― that is, each man as he is born into the world, a son of man, a fragment of humanity, a unit in Adam's fallen body― is `corrupt.' He not merely brings forth sin but carries it about with him as his second self; nay, he is a 'body' or mass of sin." Rom. 6:6.

"Climb your family tree!" urges the modern genealogist.

"Look unto the hole of the pit whence ye are digged," says the Word of God. Isa. 51:1.

Unless we are prepared to go to the very bottom, the study of our pedigrees is a profitless exercise; but once we see our lost estate, how brightly the gospel shines before our dark and sinful background. It tells of

Jesus the One who left the throne

To save a ruined race.

From heaven He came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19:10.

Reader, the Savior that God promised on the very day that Adam and Eve fell, is Jesus. He is the Second Adam, the head of a new race. At this moment you are either in Adam or in Christ saved or lost. If lost, why not come to Him now, confessing your need and claim Him by faith as your own. He waits to receive you just as you are.

"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." 2 Cor. 5:17.

The World Passeth Away

1 John 2:17

Years ago there was a long, severe frost in England. The river Thames was frozen over for weeks. So the enterprising people built streets of shops over the icy surface, and there was driving, and buying and merriment upon the solid glass-like river.

But one night, suddenly the thaw set in and the ice heaved and cracked and broke away in chunks. Booths and merchandise were hurled down the flood.

Let us suppose that some citizen had said, "It would be nicer to live in the beautiful ice street, than in the narrow lane where I now dwell," and then moved all his furniture and his family into a new house built on the frozen river. What would have become of him and his that night?

Such a supposition goes on to show the folly of being taken up with the present only. Wisdom taught of God says of sinful pleasures, "They are not what they seem; they are fine colored fruit, but hollow and corrupt inside. They do not last." Wisdom does not lay up treasures on earth, but in heaven, and says, "I must soon be done with earth, and heaven abides."

Peter Waldo

One gay evening in Lyons, France, long ago, when a wealthy merchant-prince was entertaining friends at dinner, one of the party suddenly fell to the floor, dead.

The rich merchant was Peter Waldo, the founder of the Waldenses, or Vaudios. At the time, he was living in the full enjoyment of his immense wealth, with never a care or a thought concerning his immortal soul.

But after the death at the dinner table things were never the same again. The shock was so great that he immediately abandoned all other interests in order that he might attend exclusively to the salvation of his soul.

In those dark days there were no gospel meetings to which he might report. He knew of no one who could show him the way of salvation. The church men themselves were densely ignorant and in the dark.

Happily, while groping for light, his attention was turned to the Bible, and to it he applied himself diligently to learn the way of life and peace. He read for himself in the Latin Vulgate God's way of salvation and remedy for sin.

He also employed gifted men to translate the gospels and other portions of the Scriptures into the language of the people, so that all might read for themselves "the wonderful works of God."

In this happy employment he learned to understand clearly the simple gospel of God, and found lasting peace for his soul.

Strong proof of the new life within him soon became evident. He gave freely of his wealth to the poor. Furthermore, he gathered around him a company of "born again" men like himself, and together they worked zealously spreading the gospel among the neglected multitudes all around. For this purpose Waldo had multiplied copies of the Scriptures in the Roman languages without the benefit of the printing press, which had not yet been invented. These copies, which began with the Gospels, soon included the whole Bible.

But opposition and persecution were soon aroused. Waldo was driven from Lyons. The scattered flock, however, "went everywhere preaching the Word," as the persecuted Christians at Jerusalem had done years before. Many of the Waldenses took refuge in the valleys of Piedmont, taking with them their precious new translation of the Bible.

Peter Waldo himself, after many wanderings and carrying the glad news of salvation wherever he went, finally settled in Bohemia. It was here that two hundred years later as many as eighty thousand persons are said to have been "slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held." (Rev. 6:9.)

Such are some of the highlights in the history of Peter Waldo, a man called of God from the class of the rich and learned. Awakened in the midst of a scene of pleasure and festivity by the sudden death of a companion, this merchant-prince of Lyons was brought face to face with the uncertainty in which his own life hung and his utter unpreparedness for death.

He realized that at any moment God might say to him as He had to another rich man long before: "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee." Luke 12:20.

When awakened to his danger and lost condition, Waldo inquired at the fountain-head of truth: "What must I do to be saved?"

And there in the Bible he discovered God's answer: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:30, 31.

Reader, don't let this man, living in the "Dark Ages," rise up in the judgment to condemn you. You have advantages and privileges which he did not. Beware, lest when these souls saved in the bygone ages of medieval darkness, sit down in the Kingdom of God, you find yourself "Thrust out." Luke 13:28.

"FOR THE SON OF MAN IS COME TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH WAS LOST." Luke 19:10

Are you still among the lost? Why is this? Perhaps you say you cannot tell. Let me then point out to you the reason in the words of the Holy Ghost: "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost; in whom the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." 2 Cor. 4:3, 4.

Yes, the devil brings in things of time and sense to block out of your vision what is eternal and divine. Birds are wiser than men. Of them Scripture says, "Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird." But Satan sets his net for careless sinners, and they walk in to their eternal ruin. Reader, be wise in time!

"This Year Thou Shalt Die"

God usually warns before He judges. So infinite is His mercy and grace, that one might not go beyond the truth in saying that He always does. Scripture abounds with instances.

Sodom was visited by two heavenly messengers the day before the fire of God consumed it. (Gen. 19.)

Pharaoh had warnings in abundance long before his final doom. His chariot wheels came off some hours before he "sank as lead in the mighty waters." (Ex. 14 and 15.)

Belshazzar, the impious Chaldean monarch, had his warning written before his eyes by "the finger of a man's hand"; and from the lips of Daniel, "God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it," hours before the enemy gained entrance to the city. Yet "in that night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, slain." (Dan. 5.)

Judas got his warning when the Lord said, "One of you shall betray Me." He heeded it not, and "went to his own place." (John 13; Acts 1.)

Pilate was well and wisely warned when, even on the judgment seat, he received the message from his wife: "Have thou nothing to do with that just man." Disregarding it he signed the Lord's death warrant― and who shall say not his own at the same moment of time? (Matt. 27:19.)

How different might have been the end, for time and eternity, of all these men, had God's warnings been heeded, His message believed, and His mercy besought; had repentance and self-judgment taken the place of unbelief and indifference.

The five words which head this paper were God's warning to another man named Hananiah. He was a false prophet. He was not sent by God, but he prophesied lies in His name. To him came the word of the Lord: "Hear now, Hananiah; the Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore, thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: This year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month." (Jer. 28:1517.)

It was in the fifth month of the year that Hananiah uttered his false prophecy and got his warning― "this year thou shalt die"; and "Hananiah the prophet died the same year, in the seventh month." Such is God's record of what took place: His word always comes true.

Dear reader, have you ever thought that God may have spoken as to you, "This year thou shalt die"? Are you ready to die? Are you prepared to meet God? Are your sins all washed away?

Very likely you will say, How do you know I shall die this year? I do not know it, nor affirm it, but God knows, and if your days on earth are numbered, where will you spend eternity, in heaven or hell? There is no third place. Annihilation is a lure of the devil to get careless sinners to go on in sin till it be too late.

For anyone to continue in his sins, unrepentant, unforgiven, unwashed, unsaved, when grace is calling whosoever will come to the Savior, is folly beyond measure. "O that they were wise... that they would consider their latter end!" (Deut. 32:29.)

Choose, Today

Come, make your choice, for life or death eternal―

Christ or the world― the broad or narrow way;

A home in heaven or an abode infernal―

Unending joy or sorrow: Choose, today!

Come, make your choice. Think how the time is flying!

Soon comes the journey's end for grave and gay,

Your every heartbeat brings you nearer dying;

Your life is but a vapor. Choose today!

Come, make your choice. It may be now or never

That you may choose for Christ. Oh, why delay?

On your decision hangs that vast "forever";

Delay not till tomorrow. Choose, today!

Come, make your choice. Hark to the lamentations

Of souls imprisoned where Hope sheds no ray

"Oh, for one hour on earth to take salvation!

But Hope is lost forever." Choose, today!

Come, make your choice. God offers free salvation.

Oh, will you not―as conscience bids you―say

"I will accept Thy gracious invitation,

And Jesus as my Savior choose, today.

"I Am Escaped With the Skin of My Teeth"

"For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed."Job 33:14,15

A wealthy, retired British army officer once proved the above scripture by a terrifying experience. He dreamed he awoke in hell.

Space will not permit covering the dreadful dream in detail. Suffice to say that he felt his presence there was a terrible reality. All that he had heard and read about hell proved to be only too true. "He lifted up his eyes being in torments."

When he awoke he was trembling with an eagerness of excitement which he never had felt before. Where was he? Was he on earth or in hell? What tremendous issues hung upon the answer! The agony and suspense of the moment were indescribable.

It was still quite dark and he dared not move. For awhile he lay fearing to close his eyes. Then he dressed as one in a daze.

His servants were afraid of him, but too well behaved to ask what had happened. He looked ten years older and his hair was white.

He had ordered his coach the day before to drive to Ascot. It was cup day at the races; the coach was at the door. He stepped into it more like a robot than a man. How he got to Ascot and why he went he could not say― he spent the whole journey thinking of where he had been last night. The memory of it made him shudder till the coach shook.

He was awakened from his reverie when his coach suddenly collided with a heavy van. He hardly knew what had happened. He heard as a man in a dream until brought to his senses by a shout from the van: "Go to h―!"

He had heard that profane phrase thousands of times at college, at the officer's mess, at the club― yes, used it himself; but now it was like a new language to which he had obtained the key.

His servant noticed him trembling and asked if he were ill; then he proposed they return home. But the man refused. The truth was, he dreaded being alone.

When they arrived at the race track, he tried to walk but could scarcely reach the stand. The first acquaintance he met was a fellow officer he had not seen for years, not since he left the regiment. This old friend shook his hand heartily enough and then exclaimed,

"Where the h―have you been all these years?"

The distraught man heard no more. He only knew that he had collapsed and was being carried away. He heard vaguely oaths and curses on all sides, as he had heard at race courses all his life; but now he started with each mention of the word hell. It was jest to the crowd; but to him it was now all grim seriousness.

Having arrived home, the doctor said he had had a shock and must be kept perfectly quiet. But the doctor didn't say, how. He might as well have talked of keeping the sea quiet.

How did he know that his patient might not fall asleep and wake up where he had been the night before― and be there forever?

Would life in hell never end? The contemplation of it caused the officer to faint away again. When consciousness returned, his brother Jack was sitting by his bedside. He had been sent for.

He asked Jack to read the Bible to him― about Lazarus and the man... He meant the man that died and opened his eyes in hell (Luke 16); but he could not bear to utter the word.

On being requested to read the Bible, Jack left the room and did not return for some time. It turned out that in all the house, which the officer had purchased two years before for three hundred thousand dollars, and had furnished with every modern requisite, there was not a Bible to be found.

So they sent for one. But again Jack went out, this time because he could not find the place. Nearly an hour had passed since he was first asked to read. At last he began: "Now a certain man was sick named Lazarus." That is wrong, thought his brother; he meant the story of the beggar, Lazarus. However, Jack was allowed to read on, although his brother did not listen further― this story was of no concern to him. But he knew that Jack could not find the other one. Then he mused: "Lazarus was sick, was he?... So was he... Lazarus was dead?... Would he be dead in another hour or so?" He heard no more until Jack read: "Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth."

"Where had Lazarus been?" wondered the listener. "Strange that Jack should read about him." Here Jack paused.

"Go on," said his brother; however, he heard but little until Jack read: "Many people were there to see Lazarus also, whom He had raised from the dead." "Would people be coming to see me?" he asked himself.

But hark! "They consulted that they might put Lazarus to death." How he pitied Lazarus! He then said to Jack:

"Jack, I have had a shock."

"Yes, old man, what was it?"

"Last night I was in hell."

Jack started in amazement, while his brother continued:

"It was only for an hour; but you see, Jack, I may be there tonight forever."

Tears filled Jack's eyes; he tried to speak; but both remained silent for several minutes.

"Jack, read it all again," said his brother, and this time he drank in every word as Jack continued slowly: "Jesus said unto her, thy brother shall rise again." Jack's voice trembled as he continued, "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."

"Stop!" shouted the now arrested listener. "Read that again!" And Jack read it again three times.

"Jack, do you believe that? Go on."

"And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?"

At this point the "sick" man gave a shout which aroused the whole household: "Jack, believest thou this?"

Never did a patient recover more speedily; he was out of bed like a shot. Before, the household was afraid he was out of his mind, now they seemed sure of it. He read and reread the chapter at least fifty times, and each time it became clearer.

"Shall never die! No more hell for me!" he kept repeating.

Retrospect

I thought today of my childhood days;

The prayer at my mother's knee;

Of the counsels grave that my father gave―

The wrath I was warned to flee.

I thought, I thought of the day of God

I had wasted in folly and sin―

Of the times I mocked when the Savior

knocked,

And I would not let Him in.

What joy to find that He loved me still,

And waited my love to win―

To make me know, on the cross of woe

He suffered for all my sin.

And that precious blood that from His side

Was drawn by the soldier's spear

Has cleansed my soul and made me whole―

To His Father brought me near.

The Latch Is on Our Side

A man once accosted a preacher in London and said, "I once heard you preach in Paris, and you said something which I have never forgotten, and which has through God been the means of my conversion."

"What was that?" asked the preacher.

"It was that the latch was on our side of the door. I had always thought that God was a hard God, and that we must do something to propitiate Him. It was a new thought to me that Christ was waiting for me to open to Him."

If Christ is not within, the fault is ours.

"Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life." John 5:40.

It's What You Believe, Not What You Feel

At the close of a gospel meeting when most of the audience had left, the preacher noticed a middle-aged person who remained in her seat. She was evidently deeply affected by the "good news" she had been hearing. Taking a seat beside her, the preacher said,

"Well, is it all settled?"

"No, I can't say that; I wish I could."

"What is the difficulty?"

"I don't see things clearly. I have been a church-member all my days, but that goes for nothing, I see; and I don't feel as I should like to."

"It is not what you feel that is important, but what you believe. Are you anxious to be saved?" "Indeed I am most anxious."

"And when do you wish to get salvation?" "Oh, at once. Tonight, surely, if I can," was her eager reply, as she burst into tears.

"Well, you can have it now. Listen to the Word of God: "The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, THOU SHALT BE SAVED' Rom. 10:8, 9.

"Do you understand that? Do you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead?"

"I do, indeed."

"What do you believe? For whom did He die?"

"For all."

"Tell me one for whom He died."

"He died for me."

"You believe that?"

"Indeed I do."

"And did He die for your sins?"

"I believe He did."

"And has He done all that is necessary for your salvation?"

"I believe He has."

"Yes, and God has raised Him from the dead, because all is done. Do you believe that also?" "I do. I really believe in Him."

"And are you prepared to confess― yes, do you confess, the Lord Jesus with your mouth?"

"Yes, I gladly do."

"Good; then God says, 'Thou shalt be saved!' Will you be saved, do you think?"

"I should like to be."

"Listen to what God says: 'Thou shalt be saved.' "

"That's delightful!" she exclaimed with a fresh flow of tears.

"Yes, indeed it is; but if any one asked you, `Are you saved?' what would you say?"

"I don't feel sure that I could say that I am."

"The point is not what you feel, but what God says about one who believes, and confesses with the mouth. He says to such, 'Thou shalt be saved.' And if God says, 'Thou shalt be saved,' is not that equal to Him saying, 'Thou art saved'?

"In Luke chapter seven, the Lord gave a weeping woman, like you, the knowledge of pardon, salvation, and peace, in twelve words. It was a short sermon, but what a full one! " 'Thy sins are forgiven. Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.'

"What wondrous words, 'Thy sins are forgiven!' Are you the woman He is speaking to now?" "I am. I believe He forgives me."

"Go on. What next does He say?"

“‘Thy faith hath saved thee.' I believe it. I see it clearly. I see it distinctly. It is so plain. I am saved. Thank God!" And the tears of joy fell faster than ever.

"How did you come into this hall tonight in― peace?"

"Oh, no; unhappy, unsaved."

"And, now, how will you go?"

"He says, 'Go in peace.' I shall go home forgiven, saved, and at peace."

"Yes, you have a living, glorified Savior, and all that is left for you to do, is to bless and praise Him. He has saved you, and you have just to live for Him, who died for you. Do you think He will let you drop?"

"I think not; I'm sure not if―"

"If what?"

"If I continue faithful and hold on to Him." "Stop, I'll give you a text with no 'if' in it: " 'My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any (angel, man, or devil) pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and my Father are one.' John 10:27-30.

"Now, with that before you, do you think He will let you drop?"

"No, never, I am sure He will not. It all depends on Him." She was filled with joy and peace in believing. Together they bowed and thanked God.

O Miracle of Grace!

He took the guilty culprit's place;

He suffered in his stead;

For man, O miracle of grace!

For man the Savior bled.

"It Is Finished"

"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.

As a boy in his teens, James Hudson Taylor lay in the hayloft reading a tract. He intended to read only the story and leave out the prosy appeal at the end. But when he read the words: "The finished work of Christ," the theme consumed him.

"If," he asked himself as he lay upon the hay, "if the whole work was finished, and the whole debt paid upon the cross, what is there left for me to do?

"And then," he wrote afterward, "there dawned upon me the joyous conviction that there was nothing in the world to be done but to fall on my knees, accept the Savior and praise Him evermore."

Nothing, either great or small,

Nothing, sinner no;

Jesus did it, did it all,

Long, long ago.

Weary, working, burdened one,

Wherefore toil you so?

Cease your doing; all was done,

Long, long ago.

When He from His lofty throne

Stooped to do and die,

Everything was fully done;

Hearken to His cry―

"It is finished." Yes, indeed,

Finished every jot;

Sinner, this is all you need;

Tell me, is it not?

A Waiting Christ

An old Puritan named Doolittle (actually he was a diligent worker and did a great deal) was preaching when a young man entered the congregation and took a seat near the front. He tried to keep as near to the end of the bench as he could, so that he might easily slip out; but he was obliged to keep moving towards the wall as others kept filling the seats. He soon became so jammed in that he could not get away.

The preacher was setting forth the glories of Christ, and all at once looked up to the right side of the gallery, and said to an old man sitting there: "Friend, are you sorry that you came to Christ so many years ago?" The old man stood up and said, "No, sir. I rejoice that I have known Him so long; and He is becoming more precious to me."

Turning to another old man on his left, the preacher said, "Are you sorry that you came so soon to Jesus?" "No, sir; but I am sorry that I did not come sooner," was his reply.

The preacher turned and looking down on the young man said, "Have you come to Jesus?"

The young man did not know what to say. So the preacher said again: "Young man, have you come to Christ?" and this time received for an answer, "No, sir."

"Are you willing to come?"

The young man looked up again and said, "Yes."

"And when will you come― now?"

Having fully gained his attention, the preacher set before him a waiting Christ. And the young man was brought to Christ that night.

An Answer to Prayer

A young man, recently converted, asked a fellow Christian what he thought of a concert and dance which were to be held the following Friday night.

"Why do you ask?" said his friend.

"My uncle who bought me a ticket wishes me to go, but I have a feeling that I should not be there. At the same time, I know my uncle will be angry if I don't."

"I am glad you have no desire to go and that you feel as a Christian you should not," was the reply.

"Perhaps if I go to the concert, Uncle will not press me to go to the dance; but, oh, I do wish I could get out of them both."

They knelt and prayed together about it repeatedly, always asking that some way might be opened so that he need not attend the concert or the ball.

Imagine their joy on Friday morning when it was announced that both the concert and dance were postponed indefinitely!

Together they praised God for such a direct answer to prayer. Happy is the one who can sing:

Jesus, Thou art enough

The heart and mind to fill;

Thy patient life to calm the soul,

Thy love, its fears dispel.

"Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee... God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever." Psa. 73:25, 26.

"Sir, My Sins!"

Joseph Denham Smith one day said to a young fellow who looked very gloomy:

"What's the matter?"

"Sir, my sins!"

"What about your sins?"

"I shall be lost."

"Can you read?"

"Yes."

Opening his Bible at Isaiah 53, Mr. Smith asked him to read the following lines in verse six:

"We have turned every one to his own way."

He then added, "A drunkard has turned to his own way, an infidel has turned to his own way, and God says that all have turned to their own way."

"Yes," said the young man as tears filled his eyes.

"Now read the next line."

"The Lord hath laid on Him (that is on Christ) the iniquity of us all."

"Is that true?"

"May I believe it?"

"You will be lost if you don't."

"I understand, I believe," said the young man.

And his face, so long and so tearful, suddenly became like the face of an angel.

"You are saved then?"

"Yes."

"And happy?"

"Yes."

"And at peace with God?"

"Yes."

Reader, may you also be filled "With all joy and peace in believing." Rom. 15:13.

"Be Ye Reconciled to God"

2 Corinthians 5:20, 21

Foolish souls! why will ye wander

In the ways of sin and death?

Cease like prodigals to squander

Passing time and fleeting breath;

Leave the paths your feet have trod,

BE YE RECONCILED TO GOD."

Who is He who thus beseeches

Rebel sinners to draw nigh,

'Tis our God, whose pardon reaches

All who will for mercy cry; Ere ye sleep beneath the sod,

BE YE RECONCILED TO GOD."

How could He, a God thrice holy,

News of peace and pardon send?

'Tis through Christ, the meek and lowly

Sinless One, the sinner's Friend;

He has shed His precious blood,

BE YE RECONCILED TO GOD."

But if still, for gain or pleasure,

Ye His wondrous grace repel,

Know that not a world of treasure

Could redeem your soul from Hell;

Haste to flee the avenging rod,

BE YE RECONCILED TO GOD."

Out of the Miry Clay

"Mother, I need you; do not leave me yet." It was the tearful appeal of a boy to his mother who lay dying. Her reply was gentle: "I will never be able to return to you, son, but you may come to me." He never forgot those parting words as life for him went on.

Youth, young manhood and college days came with their stresses and temptations. The fact that his father was a Methodist minister did not keep the young fellow from the snare of drink.

Subsequently he graduated with a law degree and was admitted to the Georgia bar. He was called by one judge, "the brightest boy ever admitted to our State's bench." But brilliance is no bar to the lust for liquor.

He became a seemingly hopeless alcoholic. When sober enough to handle a case, he was acclaimed as one of the cleverest of lawyers. But often he was simply regarded as a mere drunkard.

However, one day, during a prolonged drinking spree, came word that his father was critically ill. He hurried to his bedside and greeted him with:

"How are you, dad?"

"I'm weak in body, boy," answered his father, "but spiritually strong. When other props fail me, Jesus stands firm."

The prodigal squirmed uneasily; he had been one of the props that failed.

Later, when the end came and relatives were called in to say good-bye, he stood at the foot of his father's bed listening to his farewell messages. Addressing his son he said: "My poor wayward boy, you have broken the heart of your wife and have brought me in sorrow to my grave."

The dissipated man snatched away his tear-filled, bloodshot eyes, as his father continued: "Promise me you will meet me in heaven." Overcome with remorse, the prodigal son took his father's hand in his and shouted: "I promise! I'll quit drinking and set things straight. I'll meet you and mother in heaven."

With this promise the father died and went to be with Christ. His son never took another drink. The very next Sunday he went to hear his grandfather preach, and after the sermon he plodded up the aisle and publicly requested prayers of the congregation.

A few weeks later at the close of one of his grandfather's sermons he again walked up the aisle and declared: "I want to give all that's left of me to Christ." He came to Jesus as he was, a poor, guilty, helpless sinner, and Christ received him; His precious blood washed him whiter than snow.

A week later he delivered his first sermon from his grandfather's pulpit. It was the start of a long career of devoted service to the Lord Jesus, his newly-found Savior.

Great crowds were drawn to hear him preach the gospel. The president of the United States was among those who sought his counsel and spiritual help. God owned and honored his ministry as he labored from coast to coast, and thousands were converted through his preaching.

His name was Sam Jones― no longer, Sam the drunken lawyer; but Sam the Evangelist.

Hallelujah! what a Savior

Who can take a poor lost sinner,

Lift him from the miry clay

And set him free;

I will ever tell the story,

Shouting glory, glory, glory,

Hallelujah! Jesus ransomed me

No One Ever Cast Out

I never yet heard a single person say: "I came to Jesus and He cast me out." There never was such a case. If you are not saved and happy in the love of Christ, it is because you have never come to Him. For more than nineteen hundred years His own words have been standing on record: "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out."

John Bunyan knew the value of this verse and wrote for sinners like himself:

"But I am a great sinner," sayest thou.