Gospel Gleanings: Volume 8 (1908)

REJECTERS of Christ; cold empty professors; foolish virgins; a few more words and tears for you. Think of these words, “And the door was shut." What will this world be to you when that door is shut? What will be the value of this world's riches then? What pleasure will you find in sin then? What will the applause of men and the flatteries of Satan be worth then? Think, O think, dear reader; think seriously on that coming, solemn hour! Look that day in the face, and tell me, what is there in the wide range of thy thoughts and visions worth having when compared with Christ? If Satan's world be thy choice here, Satan's hell must be thy portion hereafter. And oh, remember the time is short: the door will soon be shut, and shut forever.

Haste, then, O thoughtless, careless sinner; delay not; forget not; but at once, and with thy whole heart, flee to Jesus. He is waiting to receive thee; ready to pardon thee; willing to save thee. He invites thee to come to Himself; hear then His voice of love—"Hear, and your soul shall live" (Isa. 4:1-3).

An Arrow From the Quiver of God

A LADY was once distributing- tracts on board a steam-packet, and, amongst others, she handed one to a gentleman. She passed along the deck, and as she returned she was deeply pained to see him tear the tract in fragments and fling it overboard. She simply said, as she walked past him, "You will have to account for that.”

The gentleman thought no more of the matter.

The tract was flung upon the waters, as he imagined, and he forgot all about it. But not so the living God. He had not forgotten either the tract or the man who had torn it up. He caused a little scrap of that torn tract to be blown by the breeze into the gentleman's bosom; and that very night, as he was undressing to go to bed, the fragment of the tract fell out of his bosom. He took it up. It was but a very small scrap, but it was just large enough to contain two words of immense weight and deep solemnity, namely, GOD and ETERNITY; and along with these two words, the lady's pointed utterance came back to his memory, “You will have to account for that.”

Thus, then, this gentleman had before his mind those three grand and solemn realities, God Eternity— Judgment—tremendous words! He lay down, but not to sleep. There was no sleep for his eyes, or slumber for his eyelids that night.

He was full of tossing to and fro till the morning.

The words, God, eternity, and “you will have to account for that “rang in his ears, and sounded deep down in his heart.

He arose from his couch and sought to drown his anxiety in the cursed intoxicating cup. But it would not do. He awoke from his wine only to feel with augmented force those solemn words, “God!— Eternity!— Judgment to come!" In short an arrow from the quiver of God had entered his soul. He had thought to get rid of that little tract—to drown that silent messenger. But no; God had His eye upon him. God sent the breeze and caused it to blow that identical scrap of the torn tract into his bosom. Of the scores of scraps into which the tract had been torn, not one would do but that very one, because it contained the very words which the Eternal Spirit meant to use as an arrow to pierce his soul.

How marvelous are God's ways! Who but an atheist could doubt that the hand of God was in that breeze which blew that little fragment into the gentleman's bosom? Blessed be His name, He knows how to reach the soul; and when He begins to work, nothing and no one can hinder. He had His eye upon that precious soul, spite of all its enmity and all his efforts to turn aside the arrow which sovereign grace had aimed at his heart.

The gentleman thought to get rid of the tract; but God was determined that just so much of the tract should lodge in his bosom as contained the arrow that was to be lodged in his heart. In vain did the gentleman seek to get rid of his impressions, to stifle his convictions. His misery increased, his anxiety became more intense. There was but one thing which could heal his wound and that was the precious balm of the gospel, the soothing virtues of the blood of Christ. He was brought under the sound of the gospel, and his troubled soul found rest in the finished work of Christ.

And now, reader, what sagest thou to these things? Hast thou ever felt aught of the awful solemnity of those words, “God—Eternity—and Judgment to come?” Remember, we earnestly pray thee, thou hast, sooner or later, to meet God—to stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. Do think of this! Think of what it will be to meet God out of Christ—to stand, in all thy sins, before the great white throne, where every man will be judged according to his works—to spend a never-ending eternity in the dreadful flames of hell.

Eternity! What an overwhelming word! Say, beloved reader, art thou prepared for it? If not, why not? Why delay another moment? Why not flee now—just now, to the arms of a Savior-God who stands ready to welcome thee to His bosom? Oh! do come, we earnestly beseech thee!

Come to Jesus, just as thou art. Trifle not with thy precious, immortal soul. Suffer not the god of this world any longer to blind thine eyes, and deceive thine heart. Let not the pleasures of sin and the fascinations of the world any longer detain thee. Flee from the wrath to come. Time is short.

The day of salvation will soon close, the acceptable year of the Lord will speedily pass away from thee. The door of mercy will soon be closed upon thee forever.

Do, oh! do, dear fellow sinner, listen to the warning note once more sounded in thine ear. God calls thee. Jesus calls thee. The Eternal Spirit calls thee. Turn not away thine ears. Say not, “Time enough." Thou knowest not what the next hour may bring forth. It may be thou wilt never see another sun rise; and oh! the thought of being cut off in thy sins and consigned to an everlasting hell is intolerable. We long for thy salvation. We would entreat thee by all that is grave, solemn and momentous, to come this very hour to Jesus. Trust Him and thou shalt never perish. Believe in Him and thou shalt be saved.

May this paper prove to thy precious soul an arrow from the quiver of God!

An Arrow Shot at a Venture

A PARTY of lively young officers was walking up and down the New bridge platform awaiting the arrival of the up train to Dublin, where they were going to a ball.

As the train came up to the station, with the conservativeness of railway travelers, they looked into each first-class compartment to find one empty. At length they decided on a carriage in which a gentleman sat reading. It was such an ordinary occurrence to see a traveler reading, and they were so occupied with one another, laughing and talking together, that they did not at first notice the book he was intent upon, or had they seen it was the Bible they might not have chosen him as their companion.

Soon after leaving the station they began to smoke; the one sitting next the gentleman saying,

“I hope you don't object to smoking?”

“Indeed I do.”

“Then so much the worse for you." At which sally they all laughed.

He said nothing for a time. Then, leaning over to the officer next to him, he inquired, “Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?”

“Shut your mouth," was the ready rejoinder.

Quietly looking the officer in the face, he said, “If you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you'll be damned.”

“Who asked you your opinion? Don't be annoying us.”

“My not annoying you will not alter the fact.

If you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll be damned.”

“What business have you speaking to us? We don't want your cant.”

“Your not wanting my cant does not alter the fact. If you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you'll be damned.”

“Let us sit on him.”

“Your sitting on me will not alter the fact. If you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you'll be damned.”

“Shove him out of the window.”

“Your shoving me out of the window will not alter the fact. If you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you'll be damned.”

It was getting too hot for the young fellows, and the train coming to a station they cried, “Let us get out of this into another carriage, and leave the old hypocrite to himself.”

He followed them to the door, and spoke aloud after theme “You leaving this carriage does not alter the fact. If you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you'll ALL be damned.”

Some years passed; and this gentleman was traveling in England by the L. and N.W. Railway. At Chester he went into a refreshment room, and while there a military-looking man came in.

He looked at our friend once or twice as if to make sure he was right, then stepping over to where he stood, said, “Pardon me, if I don't greatly err, we have met before. Do you recollect traveling in Ireland by the G. S. and W. Railway, and a party of young fellows getting into your compartment at Newbridge?”

“Perfectly.”

“Well, I am one of that party, and the one who sat next to you, to whom you addressed your question. I was thoughtless and worldly then, and we were all engrossed with the gaiety of the scene we were going to that night. But your sole answer to our many insults, “If you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you'll be damned,' lodged in my heart. I went with the rest, and dressed for the ball; but I could hardly see to attire myself properly, your words swam before my eyes. I attended the ball, but could enjoy nothing, for every voice seemed to re-echo your sentence. I could endure it no longer. I pleaded indisposition, and withdrew. How I cried for mercy! And, thank God, I saw that if the terrible negative was awfully true, the grand positive, Believe on the Lord' Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved' (Acts 16:31) was happily none the less so. And, like the Philippian jailor, f ' rejoiced, believing in God'" (ver. 34).

Have you ever thought, dear reader, that simple and easy as is the way of salvation, so also is the way of damnation-" He that believeth not, shall be damned "(Mark 16:16)?

“Because there is wrath, beware lest He take thee away with His stroke. Then a great ransom cannot deliver thee (Job 36:18).

J. C. R.

Assurance of Salvation

You say, “It never came with power and life to my soul, that He died for me." H you mean, you never had any extraordinary sudden manifestation, something like a vision or a voice from heaven, confirming it to you, I can say the same. But I know Her died for sinners; I know I am a sinner; I know He invites them that are ready to perish; I am such an one; I know, upon His own invitation, I have committed myself to Him; and I know by the effects, that He has been with me hitherto, otherwise, I should have been an apostate long ago; and, therefore, I know that He died for me; for had He been pleased to kill me (as He justly might have done) He would not have shown me such things as these.

I know that I am a child, because He teaches me to say, Abba, Father.

If I must perish, would the Lord

Have taught my heart to love His word?

Would He have given me eyes to see

My danger and my remedy?

Reveal'd His name, and bid me pray,

Had He resolv'd to say me nay?

I know that I am His, because He has enabled me to choose Him for mine. For such a choice and desire could never have taken place in my heart, if He had not placed it there Himself. By nature I was too blind to know Him, too proud to trust Him, too obstinate to serve Him, too base-minded to love Him. The enmity I was filled with, against His government, righteousness, and grace, was too strong to be subdued by any power but His own. The love I bear Him is but a faint and feeble spark, but it is an emanation from Himself; He kindled it, and He keeps it alive; and, because it is His work, I trust many waters shall not quench it.

Far be it from me to arrogate infallibility to, myself, or to any writer or preacher; yet, blessed be God, I am not left to float up and down the uncertain tide of opinion, in those points wherein the peace of my soul is nearly concerned. I know, yea, I infallibly know, whom I have believed. I am under no more doubt about the way of salvation, than of the way to London. I cannot be deceived, because the word of God cannot deceive me. It is impossible, however, for me to give you or any person full satisfaction concerning my evidence, because it is of an experimental nature. Rev. 2:17.

In general, it arises from the views I have received of the power, compassion, and grace of Jesus, and a consciousness that I, from a conviction of my sin and misery, have fled to Him for refuge, entrusted and devoted myself and my all to Him. Since my mind has been enlightened, everything within me and everything around me, confirm and explain to me what I read in Scripture; and though I have reason enough to distrust my own judgment every hour, yet I have no reason to question the great essentials which the Lord Himself hath taught me.

The gospel is a salvation appointed for those who are ready to perish, and is not designed to put them in a way to save themselves by their own works. It speaks to us as condemned already, and calls upon us to believe in a crucified Savior, that we may receive redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of our sins. And the Spirit of God, by the gospel, first convinces us of unbelief, sin, and misery; and then, by revealing the things of Jesus to our minds, enables us, as helpless sinners, to come to Christ, to receive Him, and to behold Him, or, in other words, to believe in Him, and expect pardon, life, and grace from Him; renouncing every hope and aim in which we once rested, " and accounting all things loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ " (John 6:3; Isa. 45:22, with John 6:40; Col. 2:6).

I think you want one thing, which it is not in my power to impart. I mean, such a sense of the depravity of human nature, and the state of all mankind considered as sinners, as may make you feel the utter impossibility of attaining to the peace and hope of the gospel in any other way, than by renouncing all hope of succeeding by any endeavors of your own, farther than by humbly waiting at the throne of grace for power to cast yourself, without terms and conditions, upon Him who is able to save to the uttermost. We must feel ourselves sick before we can duly prize the great Physician, and feel a sentence of death in ourselves before we can effectually trust in God, who raiseth the dead.

One thing is needful: to have our hearts united to the Lord in humble faith; to set Him always before us; to rejoice in Him as our Shepherd and our portion; to submit to all His appointments, not of necessity, because He is stronger than we, but with a cheerful acquiescence, because He is wise and good, and loves us better than we do ourselves; to feed upon His truth; to have our understandings, wills, affections, imaginations, memory, all filled and impressed with the great mysteries of redeeming love; to do all for Him, to receive all from Him, to find all in Him. I have mentioned many things, but they are all comprised in one, a life of faith in the Son of God. We are empty vessels in ourselves, but we cannot remain empty. Except Jesus dwells in our hearts, and fills them with His power and presence, they will be filled with folly, vanity, and vexation.

JOHN NEWTON.

An Awful End!

THIS solemn and awful fact which I now relate took place some years ago. Mr. L— was living without hope and without—God in the world-like the vast multitude today who are on the broad road that leadeth to destruction-having his fill with pleasure, worldly society and sin, when one day, whilst in the very height of gaiety and fashion, he was taken seriously ill with no hope of recovery. His wife saw very plainly that he was sinking and rapidly nearing the border of eternity. Deeply anxious about his soul's eternal welfare, she went to fetch a Christian woman who had just recently been converted and was happy in the Savior's love, knowing that she now had eternal life through faith in the Son of God, and that she was cleansed from her sins by the precious blood of Jesus (1 John 5:12, 13; Rev. 1:5).

When this Christian woman entered the room where the sufferer lay, Mr. L—fixed his eyes on her and asked, "What have you come for?" She said in her kind, loving, and gentle way, “To tell you about the love of God, to speak to you about Jesus the Son of God, who came into this world to seek and to save sinners; and to read to you from God's word." What do you think was Mr. L.’s response to this visitor's longing for his soul's salvation? “I don't want you, either to read to me from the Bible, or to pray with me, or to speak to me about the love of Jesus.”

Oh, how sad! In this way did he refuse the proffered mercy. He rejected the love of God, the precious blood of Jesus. Thus he preferred death rather than life, eternal misery rather than everlasting happiness! Unbelief is a terrible thing, it is a millstone hanging round a man's neck, dragging him down to hell and the lake of fire.

It is that which shuts the door of heaven against a man, and opens to him hell's door. “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool," says the wise man (Pray. 28:26). Far better to take the great heart of God and believe in His wonderful love (John 3:16).

The dying man lingered but a short while. The last words from his parched lips were, “Hell, hell, hell!”

Dear reader, let this awful end of Mr. L—be a most solemn warning to you. For we read in the prophecy of Isaiah (33:14), “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”

Then let heaven and hell stand before thee in all their realities and remember that word, “Everlasting." "Heaven, "or" the lake of fire"! Which is to be thine eternal dwelling-place? Today is the time to make thy choice. Tomorrow may be too late. Today we point you to the cross with the Son of God there uplifted, suffering, bleeding, dying; and all for sinners. Oh, what stupendous mercy! Jesus says, " Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” May you come now and receive this rest for time and for eternity! God grant it may be so, to His praise and glory. Amen.

W. B.

An Awful Resolution

I INTEND to make a million of money, even if I go to hell for it." Such were the words that were spoken over fifty years ago by a landowner in the West of England, at a banquet given on his behalf. The speaker had been left an orphan at an early age, and on attaining his majority was given a grand dinner by his tenants and friends.

One of the company, in proposing his health, expressed the hope that he would have long life and prosperity. In responding to the toast, he thanked them for their kind wishes, and capped his speech with the words that have been already quoted.

The gentleman, however, really meant what h said. Night and day he worked and planned, with the result that his speculations and investments were pre-eminently successful. With wealth came friends and honors, and he was eventually chosen to represent in Parliament one of the divisions of the county in which he resided. But, with all his possessions, he was far from being happy.

By-and-bye, the "M.P." became suddenly and seriously ill, Medical aid was summoned. The physician observed that the case was serious, and .asked for a consultation with another practitioner. The sick man was told that his illness might terminate fatally, and he was advised to settle his business affairs. The following Thursday was fixed upon for this, and the patient appeared most anxious that his life should be prolonged until then.

“Doctor, I'll give you ₤100," said he, “if you will keep me alive till Thursday." He was assured that all would be done for him that medical skill could accomplish. Next day he said he would give him £1,000 if he were successful. The doctor replied as he did on the previous occasion. This, however, did not satisfy him, and he swore dreadfully. Soon after this an old servant, who was in attendance, rushed out of the room, saying, “I could bear to hear my poor master curse and swear, but I cannot remain with him while speaking as he does now. He says he has seen a dreadful creature, who has come to take him away." The relations on entering the sick chamber, saw that death had preceded them, and had carried off its victim, leaving nothing but the clay tenement.

On his estate being wound up, it was found that he had made exactly a million of dollars. "How sad!" says one. Yes, indeed, it was very sad and, solemn. Many are hotly pursuing wealth. They have no idea of becoming millionaires, but they are determined "to make money." They have an ambition to die rich. And what then? They will' be compelled to leave their wealth behind. After death comes the judgment, and after judgment the lake of fire. Oh! reader, ponder the words of the Lord Jesus. “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul" (Mark 8:36)? If you were to become as rich as a Rothschild, or a Vanderbilt, and lose your soul, what a calamity that would be! It would, indeed, be an irreparable and eternal loss. “For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul” (ver. 37)?

A. M.

Belief or Rejection!

THE one grand distinction, before God, by which a man's state and destiny are determined, is the belief or rejection of the truth. To believe is to be saved; to live and die in unbelief is to be sealed up in hopeless and endless condemnation. True faith and certain salvation; continued unbelief and eternal misery; are inseparably linked together in the word of God. It is not sacramental efficacy or priestly absolutions; it is not by human effort or self-restraint; it is not by our own merit or our own exertions, and surely not by the merits or endeavors of our fellow creatures, that we can be saved: it is by grace through faith. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God path raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed" (Rom. 10).

The Blood Which Speaks

UNSEEN by human eye, Abel fell—the anger of Cain had spent itself upon its victim—the earth was stained with human gore, and the only tongue, as Cain doubtless thought, that could have witnessed against him was motionless beside him.

Death, which entered the world by sin, now received its first victim. Did Abel supplicate for his life? That probability will never be known on this side of the grave. No human ear overheard what passed between the brothers, and now the awe inspiring stillness of death was undisturbed by Abel's voice. Evidently Cain thought his work was a success, for when God asked him, “Where is Abel thy brother “he boldly denied all knowledge of what had but recently taken place. But the second question must have instantly dispelled all hopes of security and immunity from punishment. "What hast thou done?" proved that God knew of the deed; and the announcement, “The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground," told of a witness against him of which he had never dreamed.

The blood which he had shed had a voice which God heard, and He interpreted it to Cain. All was open to God, and to His ear it had spoken. Abel had not accused his brother, nor cried to God for vengeance; but his blood, poured out on the earth, spoke in terms which the Creator could understand. One made in the image of God, though in Adam's likeness, had fallen to the ground, the victim of jealousy and hatred; and whilst to Cain all seemed quiet, God heard what he did not, and took immediate steps in respect to it. He passed sentence on the murderer without interposing any delay; and that sentence, applying as it did to Cain's existence on earth, held out no hope of its remission, nor even of relaxation of its penalties; for God acted not according to what Cain thought or felt about the matter, but according to what that blood was in His sight; as He heard the voice of his brother's blood, when to Cain's dull ear everlasting stillness had settled down on the scene.

The justice of God's action no right-minded person could or would question. Cain had sinned, and he must suffer for it.

The blood cried to God, the blood of a righteous man. Of Abel's righteousness there can be no doubt. God's acceptance of his sacrifice attested it, and the Lord Jesus afterward affirmed it (Heb. 11:4; Matt. 23:25). Could not that blood then avail before God on Cain's behalf? No. Abel was righteous, yet he needed a sacrifice for him-self, as his offering shadowed out. Therefore he never could atone by his merits for his brother's sin, nor could they be placed to Cain's account.

“None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give unto God a ransom for him” (Psa. 49:7), declares the Psalmist; yet, if any saint could have helped by his merits a sinner on earth, here we should say was the opportunity for it. It was the first sin committed against a fellow creature, and God, not man merely, acknowledged the one who died as righteous. But all Abel's righteousness availed not for Cain. God acted not according to Abel's merits, but according to what that blood spoke of. So inviolable was the sentence and immediate was the judgment. He knew all along what Cain would do; but, kill the blood of Abel was shed, the ground was not laid on which He could act. When, however, Cain showed what he was and the blood had cried to God, action forthwith took place, for God responded to that voice. A fugitive and a vagabond was Cain to be on the earth, and the ground which he had cultivated with such success should henceforth refuse to reward his toil. Daily then and hourly would he be reminded of the condition into which he had been brought when that blood had been shed, a condition which never would alter, for it was based on what had taken place.

Thank God we read of the blood of another which likewise speaks. In this the two have a resemblance; but, speaking better things than that of Abel, tells us of a difference. It is called the blood of sprinkling, a term which the Hebrews would understand. Their forefathers had been sprinkled with blood in company with the book of the covenant, a token that they accepted the responsibility of the terms of the covenant, and would submit to the penalty if they broke them.

The blood of sprinkling speaks, we read. It has a voice, which, like that of Abel, God has interpreted, and a voice to which all do well to give heed, for it speaks of better things than his did.

Pardon, peace, redemption, a standing before God in the holiest—these are some of the better things of which it bears witness. “This is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins," the Lord said to His disciples the night before He suffered. From His lips they heard something about His blood.

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins," is the statement of the apostle Paul concerning himself and others, when writing under the guidance and by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. “By him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace by the blood of his cross," we read of in Colossians; and “boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus," we are told of in Hebrews (Matt. 26:28; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:20; Heb. 10:19).

Abel's blood spoke, and judgment ensued. The blood of sprinkling speaks (for its voice is never silent), not of man's deserts, but of God's favor; for whilst witnessing of man's guilt, who acted after that spirit of Cain, we learn from God Himself that it avails to put away sin. The contrast between the blood of these two is great. Thank God it is so, but the principle of action on His part we learn is similar. He delayed not to speak and act when Abel's blood cried. He acts now in accordance with what the blood of His Son declares. Abel's blood cried to God: the blood of sprinkling has a voice to God, and speaks to us. That cried for vengeance; this tells of God's judgment against sin having been undergone, so that He can now righteously act in grace. Irremediable was Cain's condition after God passed sentence upon him; irrevocable are the blessings of all who believe on His Son. Immediate, too, were the results for Cain; not less so are they for those redeemed by the blood of Christ; for that which is based on bloodshed can take effect at once, and will never, never alter.

“See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven" (Heb. 12:25).

Convicted and Justified

A YOUNG Christian had been asked to visit a young man in ill-health, who had been laid aside and unable to follow his employment for some time. There was much in the case to call out human sympathy, for the sick one " was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow"; moreover, the mother had been quite dependent on her son for support.

Our Christian friend embraced the first opportunity of calling at the address given to him, and found himself face to face with a bright, intelligent young man about his own age. But the luster of the eyes, the hectic flush, and short breathing, all told that consumption was deeply seated in his constitution. In course of conversation the sufferer said he had assisted his father in his business for some years, until his father's death, when, young as he was (then only eighteen), the weight of the business had devolved upon him. However, he struck out manfully to do the very best he could for his beloved mother, but the strain proved too much, and resulted in the breakdown of his health.

After listening to his sorrowful tale, the visitor introduced the more serious subject of the young man's standing, as to his soul, before God, and was told by the sick one that on the advice of some who had visited him from the chapel across the way he had prayed long and earnestly to God for mercy, in the hope that, some day, his prayers would be answered. The young Christian then read aloud Romans ill, down to the 23rd verse, and, with his heart up to the God of all grace to use His own word for blessing, took his leave, promising (God willing) to call again at an early date.

On his next visit all was changed. Rom. 3, by the blessing of God, had done its work in the young man's soul. Reliance on his own efforts had been abandoned, a deep sense of need had been created, and with the sense of utter helplessness there was an earnest longing to be relieved of the burden of guilt on the conscience. Never did thirsty soul drink more eagerly the cooling draft (Prov. 25:25) than did this dear soul drink in God's good news "concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord"—the sent One of the Father as Savior of the world; the One who in wondrous grace became a man, "the Son of God, the Son of man, with loving tender heart"; the One who had every perfection divine and human; who, in obedience to the Father, laid down His precious un-forfeited life, and in His death perfectly glorified God in all His nature and attributes, meeting God's highest claims and man's deepest needs. This anxious soul saw that this way of saving was truly glorious—worthy of God in every particular, and in every way suitable to the guilty, helpless sinner.

He confessed with the mouth Jesus as Lord, and believed in his heart that God had raised Him from the dead; and according to God's word was a sinner saved by grace.

His pilgrimage was short, but, in all his weakness and suffering, he proved the sufficiency of the Lord's grace until he was taken home by the One who had redeemed him, to wait there till the resurrection morning.

If these words should meet the eye of an anxious soul, let such an one be assured of God's readiness to skew like saving grace to all who rest on His immutable word in its testimony to Christ and His finished work. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

J. A. T.

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“There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one ... Destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace have they not known; there is no fear of God before their eyes.

“But now the righteousness of God... is manifested,... even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe-being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:10-24)

Do It Now.

I HAVE in my Bible a small card which was slipped into my letter-box some time ago along with a cycle advertisement. On one side was a printed table of prices, and on the other were the words, "Do it now." I have often thought of these three words, "Do it now," for they were obviously intended to invite attention, and in my case, indeed, had secured it.

How many times, too, has it been borne in upon me that in the affairs of this life men are very persistent in their endeavors to attract both eye and mind to things which promise either fame or money. No effort is spared and no expense considered too great, if only the end be reached.

If we turn to the word of God, we find how He, too, has displayed, if similar yet infinitely greater, persistence in His desire for the well-being and everlasting blessing of poor fallen man.

In the world all is confusion. Crime and sorrow, pain and death, are seen on every hand, and one stands appalled at the awful condition of God's once fair creation, and unavailingly do we look for any adequate remedy in the power of man to offer. Here we see man oppressing and over-reaching his brother, using every effort for the attainment of wealth, power, or distinction, regardless of the cries and tears of those whom he would use as his tools by which to gain his purpose.

Man too, on every hand, denying God, and propounding schemes from which may be eliminated the necessity of an omniscient controlling power in the universe.

We are asked to believe that the Infinite Being, Who by His word called things into existence, is regardless of His creatures' groans, and that the purpose of creation has been forever frustrated!

But has God forsaken His handiwork? Has He, Who commanded light to shine out of darkness, surrendered His purpose in regard to man because of his departure from Himself? Is it so, that because we have gone so grievously astray, we are left to ourselves—as well and deservedly we might have been—uncared for and un-pitied, and without hope? For the answer to this let us see what is recorded in the very first pages of the inspired history.

In the third chapter of Genesis we read of God coming down to speak with Adam and Eve, after their sin in disobeying His word, and announcing One to come that should bruise the serpent's head—the future Deliverer from Satan's power—in Whom they could hope—henceforth the only but all-sufficient hope and confidence of every contrite soul.

All through the successive periods of God's trial of mankind there shines out—dimly perhaps, but nevertheless perceptible to the eye of faith,—One to be born, Who should judge the world in righteousness, and fill the earth with blessing and glory, as the waters cover the sea. And in the New Testament we find yet more, even that He will bring in new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness shall dwell. But this same One was foretold as "despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,” by Whose stripes (His believing people can say) we are healed.

Yes, the God Who might righteously have destroyed forever His ungrateful and rebellious creatures for their despising of His goodness and rejection of His provision for man's happiness is He Who has provided the only effectual remedy for man's sin and ruin by sending forth into this, world His beloved Son to die for our sins. He it is, too, Who has with the utmost persistence and long suffering pressed upon mankind His divine message of grace. God's love has been manifested in the gift of His only begotten Son, and is now proclaimed far and wide so that all may know. "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).

God in His grace is still calling you to hear His voice, that you may repent and believe the gospel, and be blessed now and forever.

May not we too in view of the coming wrath upon every unrepentant and unbelieving soul, urge you, dear reader, to flee to Him in this the day of salvation, Whose death has so glorified every attribute of God's nature, that God has, for our justification, raised from the dead the Lord Jesus Who was delivered up for our offenses, and has with His right hand exalted Him a Prince and a Savior to give repentance and forgiveness of sins.

God is "just and the justifier" of every believer in Jesus (Rom. 3:26). "Behold, now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2). Will you not turn away from every other, and look only to Him, and be saved?

Dost Thou Believe on the Son of God?

John 9

SCRIPTURE abounds with questions of all kinds; but so far as man is concerned there is surely none of greater importance than the one which stands at the head of this paper. This question was asked by One who had performed the wonderful miracle of opening the eyes of a man who had been born blind, and who had already confessed before his neighbors and friends that "a man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash; and I went and washed, and I received sight." This was in itself a good confession, but further testimony quickly followed, when he declared this same Jesus to be "a prophet"; and, amidst the jeers of Christ's enemies, boldly asserted, in the full assurance of faith, " Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not; one thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see.

Pharisaic reviling was now freely heaped upon the man whose eyes were opened, and who was not afraid to own it; but brighter still shone his faith when their callous sneers only resulted in calling forth the further, but yet more precious, truth, " Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. They answered and said unto him, Thou vast altogether born in sins, and dolt thou teach us? And they cast him out." Yes, the religious world of that day had agreed among themselves that" if any man did confess that Jesus was Christ he should be put out of the synagogue." As then, so is it now, that the mere religionist is a bitter foe to God and His Christ. Hence the synagogue door was rudely shut in the face of this faithful confessor, only, however, to bring him into closer touch with his almighty Deliverer. "Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" This is the one great crucial question for each, and all, of Adam's race; and none can ever taste, or know, the joys of God's salvation who du not honestly confess that Jesus the Christ is, in deed and in truth, "the Son of God.”

On this divine foundation, everything rests for time and for eternity; and, amidst all the ten thousand dogmas of these last and closing days, faith only can give the true answer to Christ's question. Face to face with his glorious Deliverer, the man whose eyes were now open answers Christ's question with another “Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on Him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee." He, who is Himself" the truth," now opens the spiritual eyes of the one who has just confessed Him as Lord, and light from the glory of God fills his heart, as this further revelation entered his soul. It was none other than the Son of God Himself who thus spoke to him, and, as this stupendous truth was borne in upon his spiritual vision, he exclaimed," Lord, I believe” and he worshipped Him.

Dear reader, nineteen hundred years have nearly rolled away since this wonderful event took place upon this earth; but a fact still more wonderful rises up before my soul, as I meditate on the death and resurrection of the One who opened that blind man's eyes. "We know the Son of God has come, and hath given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true" (1 John 5:20). It was He alone who could say, "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again... I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father" (John 10:17, 18). It was by His own triumphant rising from among the dead that Jesus has been "declared the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness." It is His blood alone which cleanseth from all sin. Do you then feel your need of Him; and are you resting now by faith on His finished work and atoning sacrifice? Do you know Him, not only as "a man called Jesus," but as "the Son of the living God"? Were He not truly such, in both His person and His work, He could be no Savior to you.

If you do not, in this day of grace, own Him as such, and as a poor, lost, guilty sinner bow now at His feet as your Savior, you will hereafter be compelled to own Him, not only as God's Son, but also as the Son of man, when you stand before Him in the Day of Judgment. It was God who sent His Son, the Savior of the world; and, to know God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent, is life eternal. Be not then like the Pharisees of old, who, having asked of Jesus, "Are we blind also?" received this answer from His holy lips, "If ye were blind ye should have no sin, but now ye say, We see, therefore your sin remaineth.”

All is simple, dear reader, if once you realize your ruined, lost, and helpless condition, and confess your blindness. Then, and then only, will your blind eyes be opened by power from on high, and you will gladly confess, in common with all true believers, that "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Meanwhile, the question now awaits your answer, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?”

S. T.

Eternal Life: What Is It, and Have I Got It?

IT is worthy of observation that we find only one mention of everlasting or eternal life in the Old Testament—Dan. 12:2, where it 'refers to those who "sleep in the dust of the earth." We are indebted for the revelation of it to a later dispensation. It is a New Testament doctrine, and, blessed be God, a present fact.

Passing over Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Who rarely mention it, and always connect it with the future, it is only in the writings of John—the Gospel and First Epistle bearing his name—that we find it revealed and unfolded fully. Paul speaks of it, as recorded in the Acts and in Romans, &c., but the Holy Ghost has evidently 'made John to be specially the exponent of this personal, heavenly, divine doctrine of our eternal life in Christ, while Paul gives us some additional revelation in Timothy and Titus, as to its being the subject of promise before the world.

Turning to John's Gospel, we find the Lord, for the first time, presenting the doctrine to Nicodemus, and in the most striking way. The lifting up of the brazen serpent by Moses had been the typical rehearsal of this gift of eternal life, the determinate purpose of God's heart, with a view to which, and for its fulfillment, He had in the fullness of time sent forth His Son, the incontestable demonstration of His love to the world, so that whosoever believeth in should not perish, but have everlasting life.

At the close of that third chapter, John the Baptist, who had doubtless gathered the doctrine from Christ, is seen communicating it in the most definite way in connection with faith, to his own disciples and certain of the Jews. In chapter 4, to the woman at the well, the Lord presents it in connection with the Holy Ghost—the living water. And to His own disciples in relation to the ingathering of the fruit by those who toil for Him in the ripe fields that wait for harvesting.

In chapter 5:24, the Lord emphatically and solemnly, as indicated by the words “Verily, verily," presents it as the immediate, present, and necessary result of faith in Him. The following chapter, which gives us the feeding of the five thousand, and the teaching of Christ as to the truth of His own person being the true manna, the true bread, bread of God, and bread of heaven, spews the connection between feeding, upon Him and everlasting life which He was giving—who was the sealed one of God the Father—for that object, The 40th verse goes on to the personal, act of Christ in raising up at the last day those who have the everlasting life—which here He pledges Himself to supplement with resurrection.

But this same chapter deepens the subject to our souls in the 53rd and 54th verses, in its manifest connection with the redemption work of Christ—the alone basis for God's wondrous purpose of grace, so blessedly laid in the death of His Son; the lesson taught us evidently being that the possession of eternal life synchronizes with our personal association with Christ in the knowledge of Him in redemption who is the Son of the living God, who has the words of eternal life, and other than whom we have none to go to, as Peter confesses in verses 68 and 69.

In a remarkable scripture in chapter 12, the Lord teaches us that in sending Him, His Father had given Him "a commandment" (ver. 49) adding " and I know that His commandment is life everlasting." What a blessed picture of grace is this, the Father gives His behest to the Son whom He is sending into the world; and what is it? Not the exaction of His rights from ruined debtors. Not the execution of His sentence on rebels against His authority. Not reproach, and reproof, and denunciation, and threatenings of judgment and wrath. No! but one word, but one commandment, and that alike for all. God's behest to Christ concerning a lost world, God's commandment concerning those who are dead in trespasses and sins, is summed up in this one blessed word—"Life everlasting." “What so ever, “Christ adds," I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.”

So in communion with His Father in chapter 17, He speaks of the power given Him over all flesh, "That he should give eternal life" to as many as had been given Him, more fully spoken of in the next verse—" This is life eternal that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou Nast sent "—together sheaving out the connection between the eternal life as the plenitude of divine power and as the revelation of the Father and the Son.

Full of the same thought, in 1 John 1:2, he says, “For the life was manifested, and we have seen it and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us," But a marked advance is seen here, the eternal life being identified with Himself, who in the Gospel is seen as the revealer of it only. In chapter 2:24, 25, continuance in the Son and in the Father is predicated of the eternal life according to promise. In the last chapter (vers. 10, 11) he sums up the record that God gave of His Son—" God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son "; affirming too, that he had written these things to believers in the name of the Son of God, that they might know that they had it—the eternal life, closing the Epistle as he began it by identifying that life with the Son Himself (ver. 20), " And we know that the Son of God is come, and Hath given us an understanding, 'that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.”

We have thus traced the subject through these writings of the apostle John. Let us in conclusion ask the reader if, through faith in Him around whom every aspect of it clusters, who is its center and its bounds, he has possessed himself of that eternal life concerning which God has spoken in His own word, and about which, in character with its deep significance, He speaks to us in so blessed and varied a way. Its nucleus is the person of the Son of God, and its circumference the infinite value and eternal efficacy of the work of Him who was also Son of man! He who has by the Holy Ghost presented it in the Gospel, as an evangelist, that we should understand it, takes pains in the Epistle, as an apostle, that our hearts may be fully, assured that we have got it. We see it connected with the will and purpose of God before the world; alike with His promise and His commandment; and in the gift of His Son in grace this was the avowed object He had in view, manifested alike in the person and in the work of Christ—even life everlasting!

Have I got it?

Forgiveness of Sins

PRESENT full assurance of soul is the spring of the purest affection and of the freest service.

Indeed it is necessary to each of them. The present forgiveness of sins is to be asserted with all confidence.

I ask, What has been the business of the blessed God in this world of ours, if not for the very end of putting us into such a condition? Our sins brought Him here—and then, the putting away of our sins gave Him His history here, after He had come among us. He died and rose from the dead. For what do I see in that history—the death and resurrection of the Son of God—if I see not the blotting out of my sins?

As soon as ever sin entered, He was foretold—not as a Lawgiver but—as the Holy Sufferer and the Vanquisher of Satan. This is seen in the very first prophecy. It is as a Savior, as the Purger of sins, He is now revealed—the then mystery of His bruised heel and the serpent's bruised head—His death and resurrection as the Lamb of God and the Son of God. And what, again I ask, do I see in these great facts, if I see not the remission of sins? How can I, with any reason, with any simplicity of mind, stand before the cross of Christ and not apprehend the purging of sins there? If I do not apprehend that, everything should and must rebuke the darkness of my heart. Did not the rent veil, accompanied by the rent rocks of the earth and the opened graves of the saints, tell out that the death of the Son of God then accomplished had restored man to God, casting up a highway from the prison-house of him who had the power of death up to the bright heavens, and the throne of the majesty there? Did not the empty sepulcher follow in its appointed day, to bear like witness, and to tell that God was satisfied with the death of Christ, and that it had atoned for sins and made reconciliation? And then did not the gift and presence of the Holy Ghost come, in its due Pentecostal hour, to seal the same great fact? And I further ask, What was the preaching, the gospel, the testimony of the apostles immediately afterward, as we have it in the book of the Acts?

Surely it is remission, forgiveness of sins, upon the virtue of the blood or death of Jesus, to all who will receive Him.

All this is truly and indeed so. And now, our souls are to keep this blessed fact of our sins gone, as in the foreground. It is not to be treated as something which we might be able to descry in the hazy, misty distance, after some anxious scrutiny.

It is to be set in the foreground, where the rent veil, the resurrection, the Pentecost, apostolic preaching and apostolic teaching have already set it, that we may apprehend it as in the very light of noonday, and possess ourselves of it with all assurance.

“Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins "(Acts 13:38).

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace " (Eph. 1:7)..

Eternal life, forgiveness of sins, salvation, peace and glory!

These, dear reader, are yours, if you but now come to Jesus just as you are, in all your sins, but confessing them at His feet, who died for you.

Will you not then turn to God in true repentance and faith in His word, and receive this blessing?

Four Fools

1.—THE AGNOSTIC

“THE fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; but fools despise wisdom and instruction." “How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity; and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?” "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," are wise words, spoken by the wisest of men; and God always looks at the heart. Now the fool spoken of in the 14th Psalm has a large family today, and the so-called "Agnostic" has doubtless many children in every part of the habitable globe. But, adds the Spirit of God, “They are corrupt; they have done abominable works; there is none that doeth good." The infidel's heart has got no place in it for God, and hence his vain mind and darkened understanding blind his heart through ignorance; and, being “past feeling, he gives himself over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”

Yet God, in His grace, has given man countless proofs of His existence, and heaven, earth, sky, and sea, alike proclaim the glory of His handiwork.

The flashing comet, and the tiny blade of grass equally declare His power and wisdom, and the smallest insect, as well as the mightiest lion that roars in the forest, proclaim to all but the fool that their creator is God. Angels, who do His bidding; and demons, who "believe and tremble,” both alike acknowledge His existence, but it is man only, the grandest of all His works, who dares in his folly to say, "No God for me.”

What do you say, dear reader? Has God got any place in your heart and life, or are you still an unbeliever? Not only has the God who loves you revealed Himself in creation, but fully manifested Himself in "the Word, who was made flesh," His only Begotten, well-beloved Son. To know Him and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, is life eternal; but if you possess not this knowledge you are still a lost sinner, and “dead in trespasses and sins.” The believer, however, is privileged to say, " We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." Reader, do you thus know Him? If not, your mind is still blinded by the god of this world, and it is this terrible fact which hinders the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, from shining into your heart. “But we preach Christ crucified "; and the light from the glory of God still shines on that dark spot at Calvary, where man consummated his guilt and folly in the murder of God's Holy One. Notwithstanding this, the perfect sacrifice, once offered on that altar, has fully, and forever, met every claim of divine justice, and is God's own answer, in perfect love, to all man's hatred.

Then, “turn ye, turn ye; why will ye die. As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth." No longer, then, dear reader, close your ears to the wooings of divine grace. But remember that the day is fast approaching when God will no longer show mercy, but will laugh at the fool's calamity, and mock when his fear cometh. Beware, lest you die in your sins, and stand hereafter at the bar of judgment as simply an unbelieving fool! But " if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.”

S. T.

Four Fools

2.—THE RICH WORLDLING

THE parables of Christ are better than all the sermons of men, and speak with a voice that may well awaken the careless ones from their carnal ease. This present evil world, with all its wealth, and pomp, and pride, is just the very place where the natural man, led away by his covetousness, can easily forget God. Hence the solemn warning conveyed in Christ's words “Take heed, and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." “The love of money," Scripture tells us," is a root of all evil,” and greedy thirst for gold has led its countless victims down to the pit of eternal perdition. "Ye cannot serve God and mammon." If the eager desire for present gain was ever active in the mind of the Jew, surely, none the less, in these latter days, does the Gentile manifest the same grasping spirit.

And we shall do well to take in the solemn import of the Lord's words in Luke 12, "The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?" The anxiety that filled the worldling's mind was not as to where to get his next crust of bread. On the contrary, it was where could he find space enough to garner the bounteous harvest God had given him. The barns he then possessed were all too small to receive such overwhelming plenty. So, after due consideration, his well-matured plans were thus ex. pressed, "This will I do: I will pull down my barns and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits, and my goods.”

Such were his intentions, but alas! in all his thoughts God was not, and only present enjoyment and selfish ease filled his covetous heart. Further, he adds, "I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry." Mark the reasoning of that carnal mind! “Much goods! “Quite true." Many years! “Quite false. “Take thine ease!" Another miscalculation. "Be merry!" Alas, alas! they were but mere words from a "fool's" lips.

The eyes of a heart-searching God were on that worldling. And, as the shades of evening fell, these solemn words from the eternal world rang in his ears: “Fool! this night thy soul shall be required of thee, then whose shall those things be which thou horst provided? “A few short hours settled his eternal destiny! Gripped by the icy hand of death, the worldling leaves behind him all his riches, and his pleasures; and as a lost and guilty sinner, he goes that night to meet the God he had forgotten and despised! Dear reader, this is no fairy tale, but a living picture, drawn by the divine hand of Him with whom we have to do. Are you, when death's summons comes, ready to meet God? or, will you hear from His own lips those awful words, "Thou fool," which, for all who hear them, will mean eternal sorrow in the lake of fire? "O ye simple, understand wisdom; and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.... Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it" (Prov. 8:5, 10, 11). S. T.

Four Fools

3.—THE RELIGIOUS HYPOCRITE

THE most scathing invective that ever fell from the lips of Christ was reserved for His denunciation of those who " drew nigh unto Him with their lips, but whose hearts were far from Him." Mere lifeless profession is one of the great devices of the enemy of souls, who well knows how to transform himself into an angel of light.

It was the religious leaders of Christ's day who were the most prominent in their hatred of the Lord's teaching; and it was through envy and falsehood that the scribes and Pharisees delivered Him over to the civil power.

It was when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things which Jesus did, that they were sore displeased as the "hosannas" of the children rang in His ears; and vainly did they seek to catch Him in His words, when He ruthlessly exposed their hollow profession. Great in his zeal for the tradition of the elders, was the Pharisee, who, having asked the Lord to dine with him, “marveled that He had not first washed before dinner." And the Lord said unto him," Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.”

“Fools!" added the Son of God," did not He that made that which is without make that which is within also?... Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone... Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them " (Luke 11:37-44).

Whether it be the proud conceit of Simon, who understood not the grace of Christ in forgiving the sinful woman who wept at His feet, or the contemptuous sneers cast on the publican by the self-sufficient Pharisee who went up to the temple to pray, the Lord's words to all such religious hypocrites apply with equal force today. "Fools!" "Ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so, ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity... How can ye escape the damnation of hell" (Matt. 23)? No wonder is it that the Searcher of hearts should call them "fools," and put them in the same category as the infidel and the careless worldling!

Let us then, dear reader, take heed to the Lord's solemn and warning words. For God demands truth in the inward parts; and it is there He would have us to know wisdom. "Whoso hearkeneth unto Me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil" (Prov. 1:33). Real, however, we must all be with God, for it is with Him we have to do; and, sooner or later, all who are unreal now and content to wear the garment of a false religion, will be stripped of all their filthy rags, and, as they stand before Him, will be "found naked.”

The end of all this mere profession is solemnly depicted by the Lord in the case of the five virgins, with their oil-less lamps, whom He calls "foolish"; whereas the other five, with their brightly burning lamps, He justly calls "wise"; for when the Bridegroom came they were "ready." Yes, they were ready, and, as having the lamp of God's salvation and possessors of the oil of His Spirit, they went in with Him to the marriage. And "the door was shut." When mercy's door closes it will prove the eternal doom of all religious hypocrites, and to the bitter but unavailing cry of “Lord, Lord, open to us," the only answer they receive will be, “Verily I say unto you, I know you not.”

Dear reader, ere yet it be too late, cast away your garment of self-righteousness, and take from God's own hand the divine righteousness He offers you now in Christ, and then, as a true believer, you will be able to sing:—

“Clad in this robe, how bright I shine,

Angels possess not such a dress;

Angels have not a robe like mine,

Jesus, the Lord, my righteousness.”

S. T.

Four Fools

4.—THOSE WHO DENY THE RESURRECTION

A WAKE to righteousness and sin not, for some have not the knowledge of God; I speak this to your shame." Alas! there were those at Corinth who said " that there is no resurrection of the dead "; but on this vital and fundamental truth the whole of Christianity rests, for "if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised; and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins " (1 Cor. 15:14-17).

The serpent's hiss is heard all around, and, sad to say, there are many so-called theologians in our own land who do not hesitate, in their impious folly, to call in question the glorious truth of resurrection. The Sadducees of old have many followers today, but the Lord, when here, rebuked their folly by saying, “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

Job, even in his day, had no doubts as to the sublime truth of resurrection, for did he not say, “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand in the latter day upon the earth. And though, after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God?”

Hundreds of years after, Paul, the servant of Jesus Christ, exposes the heterodoxy of Hymen us and Philetus, “who, concerning the truth, erred, saying that the resurrection is past already, and overthrow the faith of some." The same beloved apostle did not hesitate to press this solemn truth upon his hearers at Mars' hill, when he beheld the city of Athens “wholly given to idolatry." In that powerful discourse God's devoted servant preached to Epicureans and Stoics, Jews, philosophers and Athenians alike, the grand and all-important truth of " Jesus and the resurrection.”

Spite of those who mocked " when they heard of the resurrection of the dead," Paul declared, in the power of the Spirit and with no uncertain sound, the tremendous fact that " God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent, because He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all in that He hath raised Him from the dead." Later on, in his letter to the Corinthians, the apostle remarked, “But some will say, How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come? Thou fool; that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die. And that which thou sowest thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain....

But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed his own body... So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." Yes, let men say what they will, the truth remains; and as sure as day follows night, so surely does resurrection follow death; and all who deny this, Scripture calls “fools.”

There is a resurrection unto life, in which all believers share; and there is also a later, or second, resurrection unto damnation, in which all unbelievers have their part. A thousand years, it is true, separate the two resurrections; but there will be, there must be, two. Reader, should you die before Christ comes, in which of these two resurrections will you be found?

Ere closing this paper, let me contrast the believer's blessings with the unbeliever's woes.

In a risen Christ all believers, even now, stand “accepted"; yea, through grace, they are the privileged possessors of eternal life, divine righteousness, and unclouded peace. His resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God are the measure of our complete and perfect acceptance “in the beloved"; for in Him we stand, with death and judgment behind our backs, and life and glory ours. Who then shall condemn those whom God has justified in a risen and glorified Christ?

Born twice, they may die once, or they may not die at all. Should they fall asleep in Jesus before He comes, their resurrection, like His, will be from among the dead, and as they rise to meet Him in the air they will be changed in a comment into His own image, and shine forever in glorified bodies fashioned like His own.

If you, dear reader, miss this first resurrection, you will have to take part in the second. Living in sin, and dying in sin, you will be raised again from the dead in your sins, and your resurrection, as an unbeliever, will be unto damnation. You may refuse, as many do today, to believe this, but it nevertheless remains true, whether you believe it or not, and the tremendous reality of it will be personally proved by yourself as you stand before God, at the last great assize, a lost, a ruined, a judged, and a doomed sinner. Do not any longer expose yourself to the charge of being called “a fool" by God, but be wise in time.

Come then to Jesus now, and trust in His atoning blood before it is too late—and the Father's house, the rest of God, and the smile of Christ, shall be yours forever.

S. T.

From Darkness to Light

WHEN I was in trouble and soul concern, God would not let me learn of man. I went everywhere to hear, but nobody was suffered to speak to my case. The reason of this I could not tell then, but I know it now. I was made to believe that part of my salvation was to be inherent something called holiness in myself, which the grace of God was to help me to. And I was to get it by watchfulness, prayer, fasting, hearing, reading, sacraments, &c., so that after much and long attendance in these means I might be able to look inward and be pleased with my own improvement, finding myself growing in grace a great deal holier, and more deserving of heaven than I had been. It was sweet food to a proud heart. I feasted on it, and to work I went. It was hard labor and sad bondage, but the hopes of having something to glory in of my own kept up my spirits. I went on striving, agonizing (as they call it), but found myself not a bit better. I thought this was the fault, or that, which being amended I should certainly succeed, and so set out afresh, but came to the same place. No galley slave worked harder or to less purpose. Sometimes I was quite discouraged, and ready to give all up, but the discovery of some supposed hindrance set me to work again. Still I got no ground. This made me wonder, and still more when I found myself going backward. Methought I grew worse.

I saw more sin in myself instead of more holiness, which made my bondage very hard and my heart very heavy. The thing I wanted, the more I pursued it, flew farther and farther from me. I had no notion that this was divine teaching and that God was delivering me from my mistake in this way; so that the discoveries of growing worse were dreadful arguments against myself, until now and then a little light would break in and show me something of the glory of Jesus; but it was a glimpse only—gone in a moment. As I saw more of my heart and began to feel more of my corrupt nature, I got clearer views of gospel grace, and in proportion as I came to know myself, I advanced in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. But this was slow work; the old leaven of self-righteousness (now christened holiness!) stuck to me still, and made me a very dull scholar in the school of Christ.

But I kept on making a little progress, and as I was forced to give up one thing and another on which I had some dependence, I was left at last stripped of all, and neither had nor could have aught to rest my hopes upon that I could call my own. This made way for blessed views of Jesus.

Being now led to very deep discoveries of my own legal heart, of the dishonor I had put upon the Savior, of the despite I had done to the Spirit of His grace, by resisting and perverting the workings of His love. These things humbled me. I became very vile in my own eyes. I gave over striving; the pride of free will, the boast of mine own works were laid low; and as self was debased the Scriptures became an open book, and every page presented the Savior in new glories. Then were explained to me these truths which are now the very joy and life of my soul.

W. ROMAINE

God Did It

A LITTLE boy had been repeating the hymn, “I lay my sins on Jesus," when his mother said to him, “Darling, have you laid your sins on Jesus?” “No," said the child, with great emphasis and decision,” I have not laid my sins on Jesus; but God did it.”

What an answer, coming from the lips of a child of under three years! How great the difference between my laying my sins on Jesus, and God's doing it! The fifty-third chapter of Isaiah declares that “Jehovah laid on him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all." And we find the same precious truth stated by the apostle in 2 Cor. 5, where he tells us that God made Christ “to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might become the righteousness of God in him.”

This is a point of immense value and importance in the atonement of Christ. It shows God acting for us, not only in giving His only begotten Son that we might live, but also in bruising Him on the tree for our sins. “It pleased Jehovah to bruise him.”

Yes, "God did it." The work is His from first to last. He knew what was needed and He provided it. He knew the demand, and He met it.

He knew what was to be done, and He did it. This is the only true foundation of peace. It is not enough to be able to say that, “I lay my sins on Jesus." True enough, no doubt, so far as it goes; but then I do not know the ten thousandth part of my sins. My conscience has never seized the full amount of my liability, the depth of my guilt. Human conscience is one thing, divine righteousness quite another. God's estimate of sin is very different from ours. There are thousands of sins that have never come within the range of my conscience—thousands more that have passed clean off the tablet of my memory. What of these?

And then the root of all these; what of it? What of the mighty claims of the throne of God—the claims of His nature, the demands of His holiness?

Is it not evident that before ever a divinely awakened soul can find settled peace he must be led into the depth, fullness, and power of that one brief sentence—"God did it"? Such an one must know and believe that God Himself has taken the whole matter into His own hands, and settled it in such a manner as to glorify Himself throughout all ages. He has been glorified with respect to sin, by the infinitely precious sacrifice of Christ.

It is He Himself who says, “I have found a ransom.”

Reader, what sayest thou to all this? Couldst thou give the same answer, if asked the same question? Dost thou now heartily believe that God Himself has found a remedy for thy ruin—an atonement for thy guilt—a perfect righteousness in which thou mayest stand before Him? This is the solid foundation of the soul's peace. Nothing else will do. It is not our works, our alms, our prayers, our religious duties, our church-going or chapel-going, our frames, feelings, or experiences. Not any of these things, nor all of them put together, can give the soul peace. The believer knows that God has met his case by His own work; that God Himself laid, all his sins on Jesus, who bore them and put them away forever, and is gone into heaven without them. This, we repeat, is the true and only foundation of the believer's peace, and it is fully and forcibly set forth in those three words “GOD DID IT.”

God Giving up His Son

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

With this and kindred passages many in these days are familiar; and by such simple statements of God's word many a soul has been cheered, and been sent forward on its way rejoicing in the consciousness of a love never before known, or invigorated for further service after tasting afresh of its sweetness.

There are three aspects in which this wonderful subject may be viewed. God's act in giving His Son for us; the Son's act of obedience unto death, though a voluntary surrender on His part; and the result of that death as it concerns us—propitiation for our sins. We say, "as it concerns us," because there are results of that death to be taken into account quite apart from its beneficial aspect towards us. God has been glorified by that death of His Son on the cross (John 13:31). Love from the Father has flowed out to the Son, and exaltation has been given to Him who stooped so low (John 10:17; Phil. 2:6-11). With the beneficial character of the sacrifice of Christ many of our readers are surely familiar. Some, too, well know and gladly own the place of honor now given Him who came to do God's will. But perhaps the third aspect—God giving His Son for us, what that was to Him—is not so frequently thought of. To this, therefore, we would direct the reader's attention for a little—requesting him to turn back, in the pages of the word, to a transaction which took place on Mount Moriah centuries before the temple was built, and nearly two thousand years before the wonderful proof of God's love to sinners was manifested on the cross.

“And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am" (Gen. 22:1). Since the day that Isaac was weaned, and Ishmael turned out of the patriarch's encampment, no communication that we read of had been vouchsafed by God to him. What would God now speak to him about? He had received the promised heir in whom his seed should be called. He saw him growing up the child of his old age—a figure of resurrection. All that he looked for was bound up with the existence of Isaac; and that rightly so, according to the divine word. He enjoyed in his son all that he was taught he could receive of the promised blessings on earth; for his seed must be sojourners in a land not their own, four hundred years, before the country in which he pitched his tent could be parceled out among his descendants.

Now God speaks to him-breaks a long silence—not, as often before, to promise something fresh, but to ask something from His servant. “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." What a word for the father was this! “Thy son, thine only son Isaac”—the long waited for heir, the promised seed, his only son. And not only was he reminded of the lad's relationship to him, but the affection of his heart must surely have been deeply stirred, as he heard the words, "whom thou lovest." Every word must have added poignance to his sorrow.

All that Isaac was is thus recalled to him, when asked to surrender him as a burnt offering. Such a trial none had undergone before. It was something new, which none had heard of before Abraham's day. Abraham, however, did not hesitate.

Isaac was all that to him; but if God claimed him as a sacrifice, he would not withhold him. So we read, "And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and slave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went into the place of which God had told him." He did not delay till noon, or procrastinate till it was too late to start. He rose early, got everything ready, and started forth on his journey. How beautiful was his obedience! nothing was allowed to interfere with the fulfillment of the command, so on the third day they approached the spot. Again, we read how perfect was his obedience; for, leaving his young man with the ass, "he took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together." Nothing was forgotten; the wood, the fire, the knife, the three requisites, besides the victim Abraham carefully provided. They reached the spot, and the last proof of his obedience was offered. "He bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son;" for God never enjoined the burning of a living victim, that was a parody on the original idea of a burnt offering, which men were instigated by the enemy to practice.

At this instant a further communication from God is made. “And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou halt not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me. “The trial was over, the proof of his obedience was complete, and the lad was spared. A substitute of God's providing in Isaac's place, and Abraham received his son as from the dead. God took knowledge of His servant's act, and was satisfied. But after all, had Abraham refused to surrender his son, he would have sinned. In thus complying with God's command he only discharged a duty, a trying duty surely, but still his duty. God had a right to demand the child, and Abraham had no right to refuse him. Could he have looked for a reward for doing his duty? Impossible. Was it not enough that Isaac was spared? Could he have solicited a favor for being obedient? God, he learned, was satisfied with his obedience, must he not have been satisfied with the substitution for his son?

Here, however, something more comes out. God teaches him, and us also, what substitution is. He would also give him to know He was satisfied with his obedience, and He would have him and us to know what He thinks of such an act as the giving up to death of a son, an only son. So again the angel speaks, "By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and Nast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice." No earthly blessing was too great for him who had done this thing. Thrice in this short account have we the words of God, "Thy son, thine only son." The yielding him up was in God's eyes, though an act of obedience, of such value that He would heap favors upon him. He would spew, by what He had sworn to give him, what He thought of this act.

Here then we have an indication of what the giving up of an only son is in God's eyes. This history of Abraham brings it out—the word of the angel sets it forth. And if the act of Abraham, which it would have been sin to have refused, called forth such manifestations on God's part of what He thought of it, what must the giving up His Son, His only Son—an act of pure grace—be in His eyes?

Reader, have you ever regarded the history of Abraham's offering up his son in this light—that here in a figure we have, beforehand, expressed what the giving up His only Son is in His estimation? Have you ever considered how great an act of surrender it was? and the fearful ingratitude of which those are guilty who despise the gift, and slight the proof of God's unvarying love?

“O wondrous hour! when, Jesus, Thou,

Co-equal with the eternal God,

Beneath our sins vouchsafed to bow,

And in our nature bore the rod.

On Thee, the Father's blessed Son,

Jehovah's utmost anger fell;

That all was borne, that all is done,

Thine agony, Thy cross, can tell.

Thy cross! Thy cross! 'tis there we see

What Thou, beloved Savior, art;

There all the love that dwells in Thee

Was laboring in Thy breaking heart.”

God Is Now Here, or the Infidel and His Board

THE owner of that pretty little cottage was an Atheist. As regards this world he was very prosperous; a carpenter by trade, he had plenty of work, health, and strength, and all he wanted. For years he lived despising God. He had a loving, praying, pious wife, but she had a long, long time to wait before her prayers were answered, though at last they were answered, and in a wonderful way too. One other treasure the carpenter possessed—a dear little girl, whom he loved with as fond a love as father ever bestowed on a child but, alas, such was his hatred of religion, that, notwithstanding the entreaties of his wife, he would not hear of her even going to school, lest she should learn to read her Bible, and be taught about the Christian's God; so the little girl lived untaught save by her gentle mother, who ceased not to pray that her husband's heart might be softened to receive the truth.

At last God's time of converting grace came.

The carpenter was taken ill, he became more and more so; his wife's fears were aroused. “Oh! if he should die, "thought she," what will become of his soul? “She prayed, and prayed, and when she saw the strong man becoming weak as a child, she determined to go to the minister, and entreat him to visit her poor husband. That minister had long striven in vain to speak words of truth to the atheist, but he had resisted his every approach with insult and scorn. Now this messenger of peace at once rose joyfully to go with the anxious wife; but no sooner did the sick man get a glimpse of him, than he assailed him with oaths and curses, and bade him be gone and never darken his door again.

The man of God, seeing it was useless to remain, mournfully left the wretched man, inwardly praying that he might yet turn and repent.

The terrified wife came in for no small share of abuse at daring to fetch the minister. Meekly she bore it all, and continued lifting up her heart in prayer for her husband. Presently he exclaimed, “I'll never let that man into my room to talk to me of his God, in whom I don't believe. Bring me a board and a piece of chalk." The wife obeyed, and what were her feelings of horror when she saw his lot, fevered fingers slowly write in capital letters, “GOD IS NOWHERE." “Place this," said he, at the bottom of my bed, that I may see it every time I open my eyes, and that all who enter may see my creed." The poor wife dared not expostulate, and tremblingly did as he bid her; then she sat apart, still pleading forgiveness for her hardened husband. The fever increased until delirium came on, and the life of the atheist was in imminent danger. Death seemed at the threshold.

Then shone forth the character of the minister; he came to the chamber of disease. His presence was unnoticed now, for reason was obscured. He at once decided to take the little girl to his own home that she might be, out of the way of infection; he strengthened the sorrowing wife and prayed with her. The little girl was received as a sacred loan by the minister's wife, who determined to make the most of the short time she might be with her, and teach her lessons of truth. She found her an apt and willing learner; she took her to the Sunday School, where, for the first time, she heard the word of God read and explained to the assembled children. She was allowed to be present at family worship, and heard with delight her loved father prayed for that he might recover.

Ere long God, in His infinite mercy, arrested the hand of death. The fever abated, then was subdued. The poor man was pronounced out of danger. The wife's heart overflowed with gratitude. The minister praised God in the congregation. The first request the sick man made was that his treasured little girl might be brought to him, and the doctor promised that, if all went on well, in a little time he might see her Days passed and the sick man gained strength, but he sheaved no gratitude to God, and his eyes still fell on the words of that terrible board at the bottom of his bed, for his wife had not dared to run the risk of exciting him by removing it. At length, permission was given for his little girl to see him for only a, few minutes.

Those few minutes were pregnant with eternal import! She was placed on a pillow near her father; and that heart, which was at enmity with God, was softened with the tenderest emotions towards the child.

“Well, my pet," said the carpenter, “where have you been while father has been lying ill?”

“Oh!" said the little one, "I've been so happy; the minister's lady is so kind; I love her so. The minister took me away, and has been so good to me: and they have taught me to read, and given me a book full of beautiful pictures; and I can read ever so many little words.”

The father listened with delight to his sweet, artless prattler; then said, “You can't read much yet, I should think. Could you read to me the words on that board at the bottom of my bed?”

“Oh, yes, father, let me try," said the little one; and she began slowly spelling and repeating each letter—GOD IS—she then stopped, got very red, looked again, then said, " Oh, father, I've got it—GOD IS NOW HERE," and added, “Yes, father, so He is, and He's been here all the time you've been so ill.”

“You must go now, darling," said the father, in a low, choking voice. The door was closed, a burst of repentant tears followed; and sounds, blessed sounds, which rejoiced the angels in heaven, came from that sick man's room—sounds of prayer, sounds of deep contrition for sine The requests of the loving, praying wife, long un-granted, but not forgotten, were now fulfilled the atheist became a penitent. Satan was taken in his own snare; the very same letters he had tempted the sinner to write, were the selfsame letters employed for that sinner's conversion I He now called on God, the living, the prayer-hearing God, for mercy; he was awakened to a sense of his transgressions, he was broken-hearted before God, and he now earnestly desired to see the minister.

That messenger of love and kindness at once went to him, showed him the way of access to Jesus, and had the joy of beholding him rise from that bed of sickness a new man in Christ.

In Romans, Colossians, and Ephesians we get three stages of advance; in Romans, dead with Christ and alive through Him; in Colossians, dead with Him and risen with Him; in Ephesians, dead in trespasses and sins, quickened together, raised up together, made to sit together in Him in heavenly places.

God Loves You!

MANY of our readers may perhaps have met with the incident of a little girl who, on seeing a poor man being taken to prison by a policeman, ran across the road, and looking up into his downcast eyes, quietly said, "God loves you.”

These touching words came as a surprise to the unhappy man. If he had ever heard such words before, it was now they entered the poor man's heart.

“God loving me?" he thought to himself. "Why should He love me?" Yes, why indeed? But this is the manner of God. “God commendeth His love to us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us?” (Rom. 5:8). Is not this love wonderful? And have you, my dear reader, ever considered it? If not, ponder it now. Believe and receive it into your heart. We who are saved can say by God's grace, "We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love" (1 John 4:16). If you believe this love with your heart, you too will be able to appropriate these words, and will know yourself as no longer a " miserable sinner," but as a rejoicing saint of God" Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace.”

Despise it not, but consider it, believe it now, and bless God for His unspeakable gift of Jesus.

Have You Peace?

I ONCE heard an evangelist tell the story of his being invited to tea at the house of a Sunday School teacher.

Whilst there he had occasion to go upstairs, and on the looking glass he spied, worked out in crochet work, the word "Peace." He came down and said to his kind hostess, " I see you have the word Peace' on your looking glass upstairs. May I ask if you have this peace?”

The word went home to her heart and conscience; and for the moment she felt offended that such a question should have been put to her. For was she not a Sunday School teacher? Was she not an assiduous worker in the school? Did she not regularly attend the services? Ah, yes, all true, but—she knew not this "peace." She could not truly answer "Yes" to the question put to her by her kind and solicitous guest.

She was truly aroused, and cried to God that she might know this peace, and she found it by believing on Him who "made peace!" by the blood of His cross. "Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Is this peace yours?

He Died for Me

DURING the disastrous war between the Northern and Southern States of America, a traveler, when visiting those scenes of desolation, entered what may be called a soldier's cemetery—the place where the slain had been buried after the battle of Chickamauga. The visitor's attention was arrested by a man planting flowers on one of its lonely and humble graves. He softly drew near, feeling that the scene was hallowed by such memorials of tender love.

“Is it a son that lies buried here?" kindly inquired the stranger. "No," was the reply. "A son-in-law?" "No." "A brother?" "No." "A relation?" "No," was still the brief reply. "Whose memory, then, may I venture to ask, do you so sacredly cherish" Pausing a moment to give vent to his emotion, he gave the following account of the young volunteer whose memory and remains were so dear to him:—

“When the war broke out, I was drafted to go and join the army. No draft money was given me, and I was unable to procure a substitute, and made up my mind to go. Just as I was leaving home to report myself for duty at the conscript camp, a young man whom I had known called on me and offered to go in my stead. You have a large family,' he said, which your wife cannot support when you are gone. I am a single man, I have no one depending upon me, I will go for you.' He went. In the battle which was fought here, the dear generous young man fell dangerously wounded. He died in the hospital, and was buried here. Ever since his death it has been my desire to visit the place of his interment, and having saved sufficient money for the purpose, I arrived yesterday, and today found his grave." Having concluded his touching story, he again bent over the grave, planted another flower, and, we doubt not, watered it with his tears.

The enquirer passed on, but his heart was too deeply affected with a sight, such as he had never seen before, and such as he is not likely ever to see again, to go far away. He returned to look once more on that sacred spot. But, oh! what now met his eyes! A sight that heaven itself would look down well pleased to see. Not only was the volunteer's grave now garlanded with flowers, but a rough board was placed at the end of the turf, on which were simply carved these few, but touching, weighty words—“HE DIED FOR ME.”

Nothing more. Nothing could be added without marring its perfectness. We know not which to admire most—the grateful love, the refined taste, or the sublime sentiment, of this remarkable, poor man. It stands alone, we hesitate not to say, in its great idea, amongst all the epitaphs in the world. Surely he must have known Him who died the sinner's substitute; and the confession of faith, which has been long on record, Who loved me, and gave himself for me." There, is only one great original. But, oh! what a lesson, what an example, what a rebuke, to me, to thee, my reader, to all mankind!

The volunteer died in generously taking his poor neighbor's place and saving him from the consequences of joining the Southern army; but the blessed Lord Jesus Christ died to save us from the consequences of sin—eternal misery. Not merely from poverty and suffering in this life, but from the torments of hell forever; where the worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. "If one died for all," as the scriptures plainly teach—though all will not be saved, for all men have not faith (2 Cor. 5:14; 1 Tim. 2:5, 6; 2 Thess. 3:2)—who then can be guiltless if grateful honors are not shown to His name We are not asked to garland His tomb, or to inscribe our faith on His cross; but we are asked to believe in His love, and in His dying in our stead, And faith will always make His love and His death as personal as Paul did; "who loved me, and gave himself for me." Not merely, He died for us or them, but “He died for me.”

The Heart at Rest

"The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him" (Lam. 3:24).

MY heart is resting, O my God!

I will give thanks and sing;

My heart has found the secret source

Of every precious thing.

Yes, the frail vessel thou horst made

No hand but Thine can fill—

For the waters of the earth have failed,

And I am thirsty still.

I thirst for springs of heavenly life,

And from Thyself they rise;

I seek the treasure of Thy love,

And close at hand it lies.

Thus a new song is in my mouth,

To long loved music set:

Glory to Thee for all the grace

I have but tasted yet.

Glory to Thee for strength withheld,

For want and weakness known—

For fear that sends me to Thy breast

For what is most my own.

I have a heritage of joy

That yet I cannot see;

But He who bled to make it mine

Is keeping it for me.

There is a certainty of love

That sets my heart at rest;

A calm assurance for today,

That to be weak is best;

My soul reposeth on Thy truth,

Who hath made all things mine,

Who gently bends my froward will,

And makes it one with Thine.

I will give thanks for suffering now,

For want, and toil, and loss;

For the death that sin makes hard and slow

Upon my Savior's cross.

Sometimes I long for promised bliss,

But 'twill not come too late—

And songs of patient faith may rise

From the place wherein I wait.

Mine be the reverent listening love,

That waits all day on Thee,

With the service of a watchful heart

Which no one else can see:

The faith that in a hidden way

No other eye may know,

Finds all its daily work prepared,

And loves to have it so.

My heart is resting, O my God!

My heart is in Thy care,

And while it finds its joy in Thee,

Can trust Thee everywhere;

The heart that ministers for Thee

In Thy own work will rest;

And the subject spirit of a child

Can serve Thy children best.

How Am I to Come to Jesus?

“BUT how am I to come to Jesus? Here is just the one thing I do not see. If I saw Him before me, I could arise and come to Him; but I do not really know what to do, or what you want me to do. If I knew it, I would do it. I want only to know it.”

He said this with unusual earnestness and anxiety.

“I am glad that you have thought about this question. I hope that it can be made clear to you. The best way is to take you to God's book. You remember what took place when the woman came behind Jesus, and touched the hem of His garment. She felt her own sad condition. She believed He could cure her. She struggled to Him through the crowd. She touched His garment, and was made whole. Now this woman was one who did come to Jesus.”

“Yes: it is plain.”

“But why do you say that it is plain? Tell me this—What was there in that act of hers that leads you at once to perceive that she came to Jesus? It was not her making her way to Him through the multitude. It was not the mere fact of touching Him. Others were touching Him.”

“No: there must have been something more.”

“Is it not clear that this was no common touch —a touch not by the fingers, but something else? Did not her heart go out to touch the heart of Jesus? Did she not put herself in such contact with Him that the soul was the instrument, and not the finger? Here, then, is my conclusion. To come to Jesus is to do what this woman did. Try to put yourself in her place. Try to enter into her feelings, and to realize what she felt. If you can do this, you will understand what is meant by coming to Jesus.

“Observe three things about her: she felt how utterly diseased and helpless she was, and loathed herself. Is not this your case? She fully believed that there was within her reach a mighty and a loving Savior, able and willing to save her. This is what I ask you to believe. She did not cease until she touched Him, and sent her soul out to Him in that touch. This is what I am urging upon you. This is coming to Jesus.”

“This does make it very plain. It is all plain now.”

“I will ask you a question. If Jesus were now here present before our eyes, what would you do? Would you go away?”

“Oh, no! I would go to Him, and fall down and touch Him, and cry, Be merciful to me a sinner.”

“But is He not here? Why not now? Do go and send out your heart and soul on this errand— to touch Him, and be saved. He is close at hand. He is waiting for this touch from you.”

And so the scales fell off those eyes, and he touched Jesus with as true a touch as did the woman of old. The dead was alive: the lost was found.

And now there was a change obvious to all. That dark, reserved, almost sullen man, was eager to speak and tell the good news to all. Is it not always so?

After a very few days his disease increased with fatal rapidity. He was stretched on a dying bed, and went through much suffering; but to the last there was simple joy and honest faith; and he loved to bear testimony to everyone in that shape that was so dear to his own soul: "Only touch Jesus, as the woman did, and as I have done. This is all. Do this, and you shall be saved.”

G. S. S

I Am Good, Am I Not

A BELIEVER in the Lord Jesus Christ, engaged in a hospital, was sent to nurse a lady who had come from New York on a visit with her family and was now found to be dying of cancer. The nurse felt at the time very much depressed under the idea that she was leaving what seemed to her a larger sphere of usefulness merely to attend upon one lady.

However, she got to the house, and was shown into the room where her patient lay, who seemed a very kind and gentle person. Sitting up that night she spoke to her of Jesus, but the patient appeared to take no notice; nevertheless she persevered with prayer to God to open her eyes, that she might see her danger and her need of Christ. For a time that prayer seemed unanswered, for on the following day, instead of giving any heed to her kind nurse's remarks, she appeared to be entirely occupied with worldly affairs. En the evening her husband happened to remark to the nurse, as he sat by his wife's bedside, "My wife is so glad to have you, she is quite delighted to think both of you will be able to go away together in a month." Thinking that the patient was asleep, the nurse replied, "Ah, poor thing, I'm afraid she will never go back to New York"; but the husband, perceiving that his wife was awake, put his hand up to hinder her from saying any more.

That night she was very restless, for she had overheard the remark and if troubled her, although she said nothing on the subject. Nurse, who took the opportunity of a sleepless night to speak again to her of Jesus and His blessed work, made some observation which called forth from her patient the remark, "I am good, am I not?" to which she replied, "You know you are a sinner, don't you?”

“I am not," said the dying woman, “I am good.

I am very patient, I never murmur, I do not indeed love Jesus, but I never saw Him, and how can I love Him? He has not been kind to me; I love only my husband and those who are kind to me.”

Poor creature! Her husband, it seems, was an infidel, and had instilled his wicked notions into her mind, so that she pretended that, because she had never seen Jesus, she could not love Him, and would not believe that “the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man " had "appeared” in that " Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

Again on the following day the nurse, anxious for her salvation, spoke to her frequently about Christ, but she still persisted in saying, “I am good." About five o'clock on the Sunday morning she said, "Nurse, am I not good?" She replied, “You are very patient and bear pain very well, but still that does not alter your condition as a sinner before God." To her nurse's glad surprise, she asked her to pray for her, which she did most earnestly, beseeching the Lord to reveal Himself to her dark soul, and show her the light of His divine love. After this she fell asleep, and on awaking said, “Come now, tell me honestly why you said last night I should never go away to New York.” Nurse was startled at her asking the question, and hesitated a little before replying, but she pressed for an answer, saying, " Come, be quick, tell me, I want to know, for I've got a lot to do before I die!”

Feeling that she was really dying, although no one told her so, but rather gave her to understand she would be well in a month and able to go back to her own home, nurse dared not trifle with her, but honestly said, " I am afraid you never will get better.”

Turning to her husband, she asked him if he thought she was dying. He answered decidedly, “No," and sought to hinder the nurse from saying anything further.

How terribly cruel is this practice so commonly pursued with dying persons, even by those who are not infidels! Rather than disturb the patient, they would let the dying sink into eternity wholly unconscious that so solemn a change is at hand! “The rich man died, and was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments." What a sudden and awful change!

Well, before the middle of the day, which was Sunday, she was taken so much worse that concealment of the truth was no longer possible, and as they all stood by her bedside she turned and said, " Nurse, if you are a Christian, pray for God to have mercy on me." This she did fervently, and then, feeling a little better for the moment, the dying woman said to those around her, " You ought all to go down on your knees and thank God I am spared a little longer.”

What a change was this in one of whom it could have been said with truth but a few hours before, “God was not in all her thoughts." But a greater change was at hand, for the darkness was passing, and the true light about to shine into her heart.

Towards evening of the same day she turned suddenly to her nurse and said, "Will God forgive me? I am a sinner, SUCH a sinner! I always thought I was good, but now I know I am not.”

Thus the Lord had opened her eyes at last, and you may judge how gladly her nurse told her that it was sinners the Lord Jesus came to save, not those who said they were good. Long and earnestly did nurse speak with her about the Savior and His love to poor lost sinners, until at last she fell asleep. When she awoke she said, “I think it was the Lord sent you to me; may God bless you; I am now resting in His blood, in His love; His blood has washed me.”

When shortly afterward her son came into the room, she said to him, "Sonny, mamma is dying; she is going to heaven to be with the Lord Jesus; she is now at rest with God." Her son replied she was all right, for she was always good. But she said, "No, I thought so once, but now I know that I was nearly lost." She spoke also to her husband about Christ, begging of him to meet her in heaven, and to come to Jesus. All night on Sunday night she prayed and praised God, and was calm and happy. On the Monday morning she said, "What a happy night I've had, I do love Jesus now; He has done so much for me." Her mother, who was a believer, replied, "You will soon be with Jesus." Her last words were, "The blood, mother," and then she sank to rest, trusting in the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, that "cleanseth from every sin" (1 John 1:7). Thus her end was peace, not by her own works, but by the blood of the cross.

But five short days have passed since nurse first came to her, a messenger from God to a dying sinner. Those who have fellowship with the “joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth " will be thankful that she was enabled by grace to be faithful from the very first moment of her arrival, and to persist to the happy end. It was grace that sent and sustained her, and it was grace that gave the sweet reward —a sinner saved eternally by the blood of Christ. "Unto Him that loveth us and washed us from our sins in his own blood... to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen" (Rev. 1:5, 6).

I'm Going — I Don't Know Where

HE was a watchmaker by trade, a steady, skilful, sober man, doing well in his business, and respected because of his moral, orderly behavior; but he was an infidel. He considered the Bible to be a book only fit for women and children. He was "too wise to be frightened with stories about hell." He was too upright a man, in his own estimation, to need a Savior. Thus his life passed away, till he reached the period of middle age, when suddenly he was smitten with a stroke of paralysis, which deprived him of power to walk or discern persons or things around him, and he was laid upon his bed, uttering one mournful cry—"I'm going, I'm going, I don't know where.”

For forty-eight hours incessantly, this one dreadful sentence proceeded from his lips—at first with frightful rapidity, so as to scare his friends away from his bedside, but gradually, as his strength declined, the same sad words were uttered in slower tones. Hour after hour, for two nights and days, nothing else was heard in his chamber, till at length the words—"I'm GOING—GOING—I DON'T KNOW W-H-E-R-E," were slowly and with difficulty ejaculated; and with them he breathed his last.

Reader, do you know where you are going? Are you on the way to destruction? Or are you in Christ, and therefore on the way to God? Would you not think it madness for anyone to get into a railway train without inquiring where the train was going? If, by mistake, a man found himself in a wrong train, would he not eagerly seek to get out at the first station and retrace his steps as soon as possible? Are you leaving the consideration as to where you are going till you lift up your eyes in hell, and find yourself in hopeless perdition.

I beseech you, stop, and ask yourself—"Where am I going?" If you can say, "To heaven, and to God"—the Lord be praised! If to ruin and damnation, at once turn to Christ. Believe on Him and you shall be saved, even now, immediately. Believe that God has visited upon Christ the judgment of sin which His holiness required. Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust that He might bring us to God. Trust then in Him, believe now in Him and your sins shall be blotted out. His love shall melt your stubborn heart, and ere long you shall reach the blessed haven of rest—the mansions of glory which He has gone to prepare for all who believe in Him.

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."—Prov. 14:12. Anon.

I'm the Sinner That Needs the Savior

WHAT more touching and yet true words, uttered by a dear woman who felt her need of this blessed Savior? She wept as she repeated them.

A servant of the Lord had been speaking with much power on Luke 7:37-50, as a wonderful instance of the grace of God, the blessed Savior and the poor sinner meeting, and how completely her heart was won.

As the woman listened to this thrilling narratives she too was attracted, and after their little meeting was over she told the preacher with the tears flowing, "I'm the sinner that needs the Savior.”

The Lord hearkened and heard, and gave her the still more blessed assurance that He needed her. As the blessed gospel was put before her, she found joy and peace in believing.

Dear reader, have you learned, like this dear woman, to say "I'm the sinner that needs the Savior?”

If so, the same loving welcome is yours.

The Infidel Father or the Pious Mother: — Which?

IN the United States of America, infidelity found an active champion in the well-known Colonel—, who made an open profession of his disbelief of revealed religion. It happened that a daughter of the Colonel's, to whom he was much attached, became ill. During the progress of her disorder, Dr.—was one day dining with the Colonel, and after' dinner, having adjourned to the Colonel's library, some deistical publications were introduced by the Colonel to the Doctor's notice. While they were occupied in looking at them, a servant came to announce that an alarming change had taken place in his daughter, and that his presence was required in her bedroom. Thither he went, accompanied by Dr.—. As he approached her bedside, she took his hand, and said, "Father, I feel that my end is drawing near; tell me, I entreat you, am I to believe what you have taught me, or what I have learned from my mother?" Her mother was a sincere Christian, and had spared no opportunity of instilling Christian truth into the mind of her child. Her father paused a moment, he fixed his eyes on his dying child, his countenance changed, his frame seemed convulsed to its very center, while his quivering lips could scarce give utterance to the words, "Believe, my child, what your mother has taught you." The struggle was too great, the conflict between the pride of human reason and the swelling of parental affection in the heart was more than he could bear, and even over his stubborn mind the truth prevailed.

Look Unto Me … and Be Saved

Isaiah 45:22

ONE Lord's Day afternoon when passing through the sick ward in the town hospital in G— I gave a gospel magazine to one of the invalids. By the way she thanked me I perceived she must have known me. I said to her, “I suppose I ought to know you as you seem to know me.” Her husband, who was sitting by, told me that his wife was known before her marriage as L. G., and then I recognized her as a Sunday scholar of many years before.

I inquired if she was saved, but the answer was “No." I pointed out to her how terrible a thing it was not to be saved, and asked leave to read a few verses to her from John 3 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." I said a few words about our being sin-bitten ones, and how that the Lord Jesus was lifted up for us on the cross. She asked me to come again.

On the following Sunday I was able to do so, and saw her for a few minutes only. I learned that she had had a very restless night, and she was then lying very quiet. Her husband and daughter (a young girl of about thirteen) were with her.

She was very weak, and the doctor was not sure that she would, last through the next night. It was a very solemn moment!

Three or four Christians had been asked to pray for her; and now on this my second visit, the words I gave to her were these, " Look unto Me and be saved." I sought to press this upon her in connection with the verses that had already been read, as God's message to her at the eleventh hour. And I asked, Would she not trust that precious Savior? She tried to say two or three words, but the only one I could catch was "Trusting." Oh! what a joy it was to hear it, and what cause for thankfulness.

I then begged the husband to ask her, which he did in a loving way, “Are you trusting in the Lord?” She bowed her head in assent twice, and he exclaimed, "I am glad.”

She lingered till the Thursday, and then passed away to be with the Savior on high, on the 16th January, 1908. When I asked Mrs. N. (who helps the nurses) about this dear departed one, she replied, “Yes, thank God, she died happy in the Lord.”

And now, dear reader, have you looked away 'from your poor wretched self, from all your own works and efforts, to Him the Savior, who died upon the cross for our sins that we might have full forgiveness and be saved now and forever?

Let me ask you to listen to what He has said, "Lo I am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for My own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (Isai. 43:25). And when on earth, this same one said to a miserable and wretched woman—a sinner indeed, but who came to Him just as she was with all her sins—"Thy sins are forgiven." "Thy faith hath saved thee: go in peace.”

Oh, then, will you not now look to Him? Do not hesitate. “Incline your ear, and come unto Me: hear, and your soul shall live." Then will you be ready, when the summons comes to you, to leave this scene for a brighter one. One thing is sure, the Savior is coming, and coming quickly.

Are you ready?

S. S.

My Resting Place

SHED not a tear for me,

O weep not that I die;

I am alone, where I would be,

In perfect peace I lie;

A refuge have I found through grace,