Gospel Light: Volume 3 (1913)

S UCH were the -words addressed by the Lord Jesus Christ to the intensely earnest and loving-hearted Jairus, who fell at Jesus's feet, and " besought Him greatly "to come and heal his" little daughter " (Mark 5:22, 23, 35-43). MAR 5:22-43

When Jairus left his house his little daughter was "at the point of death," and scarcely had he reached Jesus, and implored Him to come and heal her, ere messengers arrived with the heart-crushing intelligence, " Thy daughter is dead "; but before the broken-hearted father had time to be stunned by this fresh, overwhelming news, the blessed, tenderhearted Saviour and Lord anticipated all the mournful thoughts that would at once rush into his heart, by saying, as it were, " It is all the same to Me whether she be sick or dead, as I am both Healer and Life-giver ";and thus He touchingly stayed up the sinking heart of the bereaved father with those five divinely comforting words, " Be not afraid, only believe.”

And is there no comfort in them for thee, poor, weary, anxious, trembling, doubting one? Are you saying, “My sins are too many? Oh, "only believe" in Him who had all our sins upon Him on the tree, suffered for them there once for all, and that His precious blood cleanseth from all sin!

Do you still say, “Ah! but I am lost, helpless, and guilty "? Thank God for showing it to you, and causing you to own it; and now, for your immediate and lasting comfort, remember that " the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost "; that God has laid help upon Him who is 'mighty to save "; and is saying to you," Thou hast destroyed thyself, but in Me is thine help; and God is now commending His love to you in the gift of His beloved Son for you, by saying, as it were (yes, though you are lost, hopeless, and guilty), "Christ died" for those who are "without strength," "ungodly," and “sinners." Therefore, poor anxious soul, “be not afraid, only believe.”

“A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,

On Thy kind arms I fall;

Be Thou my strength and righteousness,

My Saviour, and my all.”

The above verse was blessed to a young woman who had long been anxious about her immortal soul's present and everlasting salvation. She said, "When you were reading that hymn last night, I saw the whole way of salvation for sinners perfectly plainly, and wondered that I had never seen it before. I saw that I HAD NOTHING TO DO BUT TO TRUST IN CHRIST.”

A poor woman was dying. A servant of the Lord who had known her for years visited her, and said to her, "You seem to be very sick.”

"Yes," said she, "I am dying.”

He continued, "And are you ready to die?”

She lifted her eyes upon him, and replied, "Sir, God knows I have taken Hint at his word, and I am not afraid to die.”

And that is all you have to do, dear, anxious, inquiring sinner; however dark and desperate your case may be, still the Lord says to thee, "BE NOT AFRAID, ONLY BELIEVE.”

H. M. H.

Like the rock that was smitten in the wilderness, to give water to the thirsty people to save them from death, so Christ who was crucified is a river of life, and every needy soul that comes to Him finds it to be so of a truth.

Behold, the Bridegroom.

Matt. 25:1-13. MAT 25:1-13

THERE is an immense difference between profession and possession, just as much as there is between current and counterfeit coin. A mere professor is like a bad filbert nut, all shell and no kernel; whilst the possessor is like the good filbert nut, kernel as well as shell are there, the shell of profession surrounds and has within it the kernel of possession. Which are you, my reader?

A mere professor of Christianity, or a possessor of Christ?

Religion is earthborn, and occupies its deluded votaries with themselves and the earth;

Christianity is heaven born, and occupies the truly saved with Christ and heaven.

In the chapter given at the head of this paper Christ is looked at in four different characters; first, as Bridegroom, hope and object of His people's hearts; second, as Lord of His servants, who will reckon with them when He cometh; thirdly, as the Son of man, who will as surely "come in His glory" as once He came in humiliation; and lastly, as King who has gone to receive the kingdom from His Father, and who will then return and reign over this demoralized world during the millennium or thousand years (Luke 19:12; LUK 19:12Rev. 20:4 REV 20:4).

But it is the first thirteen verses of Matt. 25. MAT 25 that I want to say a little to you about.

“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the Bridegroom" (v. 1).

The only place where the words “the kingdom of heaven” occur is in Matthew's gospel, and there they occur about thirty-two times.

It is called the kingdom of heaven, because the King is in heaven, having been crucified and rejected from the earth.

The ten virgins are a picture of professing Christians, the lamps mean profession, and they all went forth from Judaism or heathendom, professedly to meet the Bridegroom.

Mark you well, it was not death and judgment, the common lot of man, that they were expecting, but the Bridegroom who, as their Substitute, had borne death and judgment for them, so that there might be no hindrance to their constantly and joyfully looking for His return.

“Five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them" (vv. 2, 3).

These verses prove that half the profession of the day is false and half real; five of the ten were wise, and five were foolish. Now, the folly of the foolish consisted in this, that they took their lamps, and. took no oil with them; that is, they rested in a mere profession; they had no heart for Christ, and they had not the Holy Spirit, of which oil is the standing type in Scripture.

“But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps" (v. 4).

The wisdom of the wise is seen in their not resting in a mere Christless profession; they were not content with having put on Christ in baptism; they sought and found Him as their portion. There is nothing said about the foolish having "vessels"; but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. The wise had hearts for Christ; their bodies were the temples of the Holy Ghost, and thus their profession was a reality. Having believed with the heart unto righteousness, they were enabled to make confession with the mouth unto salvation (1 Cor. 6:19; 1CO 6:19 Rom. 10:10 ROM 10:10)

Which are you, a wise or a foolish virgin?

“While the Bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept " (v. 5).

This verse is a vivid and painful description of the condition of spiritual stupor and supineness that the professing church fell into during what is called "the dark ages," where the hope of the Bridegroom's return was entirely lost sight of.

“And at midnight there was a cry made,. BEHOLD, THE BRIDEGROOM; go ye out to meet Him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps" (vv. 6, 7).

These verses show very solemnly the-worldly and selfish ways into which the professing church fell; it gave up seeking Christ's, things, and sought only its own things; but the cry, Behold the Bridegroom," startled them from their slumbers, and produced a genuine revival. Revival refers to sleepy Christians, and to such the word is: “Awake thou that steepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light’ (Eph. 5:14) EPH 5:14 Dead sinners do not want reviving; each needs to hear the life-giving voice of the Son of God (John 5:25). JOH 5:25

When the fire has been lighted, and allowed through carelessness to get low, it needs reviving; but when it has never been lighted, it: is not reviving that is required then, but to be lighted: and this was the effect of the midnight cry; it manifested where there was life and where there was none.

“And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out” (or, are going out) (v. 8).

The foolish awake to the discovery that they had "NO OIL." They may trim their beautiful lamps by going to morning and evening prayers, by constant sacramental commemorations, by giving to religious causes, by visiting and helping the sick; but, having no oil, when they thus light their lamps it is only to see them flare up and blaze away for a few moments, and then go out in smoke, leaving their unhappy owners in greater darkness than ever—the sure end of mere profession.

“But the wise answered, saying, Not so: lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves" (v. 9).

The terms on which God sells and man buys the Holy Ghost are, “without money and without price “(Isa. 4:1). ISA 4:1 God is too rich to sell-and man too poor to buy on any other terms. Paul said to the Galatians, “Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” (Gal. 3:2). GAL 3:2 The wise virgins got the Holy Ghost by the hearing of faith; the foolish tried to get it at the religious law workshops, but were unsuccessful, as all must be who go there for it.

“And while they went -to buy, the Bride-groom came; and they that were ready went in with Him to the marriage: and THE DOOR WAS SHUT" (v. 10).

The coming of the Bridegroom will prove who are His and who are not; and that time is very near. Christians have nothing to do with fixing dates, but ought to be always expecting the return of their beloved Bride-groom.

“They that were READY went in with Him.”

Who made them ready? "Giving thanks unto the Father, which HATH made us meet” (or, fit or ready) "to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light" (Col. 1:12). COL 1:12

It is the Father's work to make His children ready for His own holy presence; and He has done it, and they are entitled to know it, and to praise Him for it.

“The door was shut," and it separated the wise and the foolish forever. The wise are inside with the Bridegroom, and the foolish are forever shut outside from the Bridegroom and the marriage feast. And now what an awful scene takes place on the outside of that shut door!

“Afterward came also the other virgins saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But He answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I KNOW YOU NOT. Watch therefore; for ye know neither the day nor the hour.”

Then eyes that never wept will weep, and lips that never prayed will pray, and hearts that never felt will feel, and knees that never knelt will kneel; but it will be all outside the closed door!

And these were not backsliders. Two things prove it: first, they had "no oil"; and, secondly, Christ says, "I know you not,” and "I never knew you." Now, what characterizes Christians is that they have the Holy Ghost, and that the Lord knows them (1 Cor. 6:19; 1CO 6:19 2 Tim. 2:19 2TI 2:19).

What will the end be of those who are left outside the shut door? They have thrown away their last chance; they have forfeited their last opportunity. Not one who has arrived at the years of responsibility, who has heard the gospel preached, and been guilty of rejecting it, will ever have another opportunity of being saved after Christ has been and taken His people home to glory (v. 12; Luke 13:24-27; LUK 13:24-27 2 Thess. 2:10-12 2TH 2:10-12).

The ' Christless religionist may plead, " I have been baptized, confirmed, and have regularly taken the sacrament.”

“I never knew you," is His answer.

“But I have wept, prayed, and done my best.”

Again He repeats, "I NEVER knew you.”

“But I have been regularly to church,

Chapel, or meeting.”

“I NEVER knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity," is the final word (Matt. 7:22, 23). MAT 7:22-23

O ye who are clutching tenaciously as with deathless grip the oil less lamp of a Christless profession, know ye if ye continue as ye are that your lamp will soon go out in the blackness of darkness forever! But now, before it is TOO LATE, come to Jesus for life, for the Holy Ghost, and for fitness for His return, and join the wise virgins at the midnight cry, “BEHOLD, THE BRIDEGROOM.”

Christ's Work and Word

There are some who, though they do not deny the present knowledge of forgiveness of sins, yet often hesitate to confess that they are saved. They forget that the object of Christ's incarnation and death was to SAVE, that He came to SAVE the lost; not to help, but to save, everyone that believes on Him. Hence He told the weeping woman at His feet, “Thy faith hath SAVED thee” (Luke 7:50). LUK 7:50 And when Zacchæus received Him joyfully, Jesus said, “This day is SALVATION come to this house" (Luke 19:9). LUK 19:9 The work of Christ saves; and the word of Christ says, You are saved by faith.

Come.

WHAT power and sweetness in this little word of Scripture, "COME"! How it lets us into the very secret of the bosom of God, and tells of the loving desire of His heart! that any and every poor lost one who hears it, should take Him at His word, and "COME.”

" He, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isa. 4:1). ISA 4:1

Here every thirsty, needy, penniless one is invited to come. It is the desire of the loving heart of God that he should come, come now, come just as he is, and drink at the living fountain of water so freely opened by the hand of redeeming love.

There is no hindrance: grace has removed every difficulty out of the way. The very fact of God's sending forth the invitation to come, proves that He has taken away every barrier.

Be would not, He could not, say, "COME” if the way were not perfectly open, perfectly free.

And not only so, but we may rest assured that, when God says "COME," He means what He says. He expresses the language of His heart. In a word, not only is the way open, but God earnestly desires that every thirsty, needy, helpless soul that reads these lines should come now and drink, come and draw water out of those wells of salvation -which are freely opened to all mankind.

Take another lovely passage, culled from the prophet Isaiah: " COME now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool " (Chap. 1:18).

Here it is not merely a question of thirst and poverty, but actually of scarlet sins, guilt of crimson dye. Even these need be no.

hindrance, seeing that God in His infinite grace has found a means whereby He can righteously cleanse the guilt, and blot out the sins, and render the soul of the poor guilty sinner as white as snow, or as the wool pure from the washing.

And let the reader specially mark the grace that shines in the words, “Come now, and let us reason together." Only think of the high and mighty One that inhabiteth eternity.

the Maker of heaven and earth, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the One who has power to destroy both soul and body it hell, think of His condescending to reason with a poor guilty sinner, full of scarlet sins!

What grace is here! What loving-kindness and tender mercy Who can withstand it?

Who can refuse to come? Who will harden, his heart against such love as this? God grant the reader may not do so! Oh! that you may come now, and trust in the perfect, because divine, efficacy of that most precious blood, even the blood of God's own Son, which cleanseth from all sin, and makes the soul clean enough to bear the full blaze of the holiness of God.

Take, again, a sentence or two from the gospel, from the very lips of Him who spake as never man spake, the lips of our adorable Saviour and Lord: " COME unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest " (Matt. 11:28). MAT 11:28

Here the laboring and the heavy laden are called to hearken to the same most touching, gracious, winning word, "COME." Every weary, burdened heart, every crushed and broken spirit, is invited to come to JESUS, who alone is able and willing, willing as He is able, and able as He is willing, to give rest.

Oh! what a soothing word is "rest" i How it falls upon the poor, distracted heart like showers upon the parched and thirsty ground!

Reader, do come, we beseech you. COME now, and have your thirst quenched, your burden removed, your sins forgiven, your guilt canceled. COME, we earnestly entreat you, now. Do not linger. Time is so short.

Eternity, with all its tremendous realities, is at hand. Oh, do COME now, relying upon the faithful and gracious words of the Saviour “Him that COMETH to Me I will, in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). JOH 6:37

C. H. M.

“I CAME to Jesus, as I was,

Weary, and worn, and sad;

I found in Him a resting-place,

And He has made me glad.”

Come, or, Depart; Today, or Tomorrow.

TODAY Jesus is saying, "Come"; tomorrow He will say, "Depart.”

Today is the day of salvation; tomorrow will be the day of judgment.

Today Jesus lets fall from His gracious, tender, loving lips, into the ear of faith, the invitation, "Come"; tomorrow He will thunder in the guilty ear of unbelief the terrible word "Depart.”

Today the three Persons of the ever-blessed Godhead are inviting poor sinners to come, and get cleansing, rest, and life. In Isa. 1:18 ISA 1:18 GOD says, " Come NOW, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

In this verse God Himself is inviting sin-stained sinners to come to Him, where they are, as they are, and just now; with the blessed promise that they shall be cleansed from all their scarlet and crimson-dyed stains, and be made as white as the pure snowflakes on a winter's day. But it is "NOW" that God invites.

In Matt. 11:28, MAT 11:28 JESUS says, " Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." In this lovely verse, which is clustered with blessing, Jesus is inviting restless wanderers after rest to come to Himself, and get it. He does not invite you to come to so-called church, chapel, or meeting-room, to get rest; or what would become of the thousands of bed-ridden ones?

No; He invites you to come to Himself, a living, loving Person. And those whom He invites to come are those who are laboring to do the best that they can; such He would have know that He has labored in the fires of a holy God's wrath against sin, and said, ere He left the awful scene, "It is finished.”

Then let the laboring ones trust His finished work, and get rest.

But He also invites to Himself the “heavy-laden," with the guilty conscience of unforgiven sin. Such He would have know that He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, and has put them away forever with His own precious blood; and He would fain give them rest from the intolerable load of a guilty, unpurged conscience.

What an unspeakable mercy, that in the midst of this scene of unrest, where there is naught on earth to rest upon, there is One who is inviting us in the most winning accents to come to Himself, and have rest! Poor anxious one, He desires that you should say at His feet what many thousands there can truthfully say—

“I heard the voice of Jesus say,

'Come unto Me, and rest;

Lay down, thou weary one, lay down

Thy head upon My breast.'

“I came to Jesus as I was,

Weary, and worn, and sad;

I found in Him a resting-place,

And He has made me glad.”

But it is "Now" that Jesus invites.

In Rev. 22:17, it is the SPIRIT that invites: “And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come.

And let him that is athirst come. And who-soever will, let him take the water of life freely." How exceedingly sweet and welcome it is to find that, just ere the canon of inspiration closes, the Holy Spirit joins in the cry of the Father and the Son, for sinners who are dead in trespasses and sins, to come and “take the water of life freely" He, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price " (Isa. 4: 1). ISA 4:1 The Holy Spirit's invitation is not only to the thirsty, but to "every one that thirsteth"; it is to whosoever, and whosoever means you, me, and anybody and everybody.

In Rev. 21:6, REV 21:6 God says, I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." Here we have God as a Giver, giving to the thirsty, giving the water of lite, and giving freely; but whilst the Holy Spirit invites and God gives, our responsibility is to '"take"; and if we do not take we must perish everlastingly in the lake of fire.

We have now seen in the scriptures that we have glanced at, that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, all join in inviting poor anxious souls to "COME," "Now,” “TODAY,” with the blessed assurance that whosoever comes will be sure to get present and everlasting cleansing, rest, and life.

Do you ask, "How am I to come?”

I answer, " The moment you own that you are a hopeless, helpless, and hell-deserving shiner in the presence of God, at the feet of Jesus bowing to the testimony of the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures, that moment you have come, and it is yours to know that you are cleansed, and that you have rest and life.”

Now, the devil will allow you to believe all that we have said, only he will say that “tomorrow " is time enough to come. Tomorrow is death, the grave, the judgment, eternity, too late, when, instead of hearing God {Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) say, "Come,” you must hear the awful word, "Depart.” Today Jesus is saying, "Come unto Me"; tomorrow He will say, "Depart from Me.” If He were to say, “Depart into the righteously deserved lake of fire," it would be intolerable enough; but when He shall say,

“Depart from Me," how inconceivably awful it will be to have to depart from the One who, once as a Saviour-God said, " Come unto, Me," but who will then as an inflexible Judge-God say, "Depart from Me"!

Today, as a Saviour-God, He is inviting you to Himself; tomorrow as a Judge-God He will be commanding you from Himself!

But not only will He say tomorrow, " Depart from Me," but He will add the terrible words "ye cursed"; and you will go away out of His presence with the curse branded indelibly upon your forehead.

Today He desires your blessing; but if you refuse to be blest, tomorrow He must curse you.

But He has yet more words to add to the already dreadful sentence, “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire” (and everlasting fire, not prepared for us, but) “prepared for the devil and his angels," and to be shared with them by those who have deliberately preferred the lie of the devil to the truth of God.

Oh, come to Jesus now, today, and “eternal life" shall be your portion; but if you put it off until tomorrow “everlasting punishment” will be your portion.

Today you may have "rest" and” eternal' life” in Christ; but if you refuse to accept His invitation, then the awful tomorrow will find you in "everlasting fire" and " everlasting punishment.”

Today Jesus is saying, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Tomorrow He will say, “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Which is it to be, "Come," or "DEPART"; “TODAY," or "TOMORROW "?

H. M. H.

Come to Him Just As You Are.

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isa. 1:18). ISA 1:18

“Come unto Ale, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). MAT 11:28

A YOUNG man, brought up in the Meath Industrial School at Blackrock, entered the Artillery, and acted there as a blacksmith. While at his work one day, his lacer sent for him; but he did not like to go in his grimy state. However, he was told that he must obey; so he went, but feeling very much ashamed in doing so.

When he came to his officer, who was a child of God, the officer said, “Sewell, I am very glad to see that you know how to obey orders. Now, that is the way you must treat the Lord Jesus Christ.: come to Him just as you are.”

The words went home to the young man's heart, and there and then he yielded himself to the Saviour; and for the last seven years be has been a consistent Christian, and the means of much blessing to many of his comrades.

This is a very simple illustration of how a poor sinner should come to Jesus; and in the earnest hope that God may bless it to others it is put into print. How many there are who think that they have to feel differently from what they do feel, or that they have to improve their condition, before they come to Jesus! It is all a mistake! Jesus is inviting you to come to Him just where you are, and just as you are, and just now; and "If you linger till you are better, You will never come at all.”

Jesus did not come to call those who were doing the best they could to merit His favor. He said Himself, "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." The Pharisees and scribes advertised the blessed Lord in the following words: "This Alan receiveth sinners, and eateth with them"; and the Holy Spirit saith that "God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us; and one who was" before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious," found his greatest comfort in the fact that" this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sin tiers; of whom I am chief " (Mark 2:17; MAR 2:17 Luke 15:2; LUK 15:2 Rom. 5:8; ROM 5:8 Tim. 1:15 TIM 1:15).

Are you conscious that you are a sinner?

And do you find that the poor publican's prayer, "God be merciful to me a sinner,” suits you? Then that is your recommendation to come to Jesus, and be assured that He is waiting to welcome you. Only come to Him just as you are.”

H. M. H.

Eternal Salvation.

"And being made perfect, He became the author of ETERNAL SALVATION unto all them that obey Him."—Heb. 5:9.

THERE are millions of people in this world who do 'not know what it is to be saved, but they all hope, to be saved.

Then there are others who will tell you that they hope they are saved'.

There are others, again, who believe they are saved, but who say that they are only saved so long as they believe.

There is a fourth class who, lastly, if asked whether they are saved, humbly reply, "By the grace of God I am"; and if asked for how long, confidently answer, "Forever! My salvation is as secure as God in His love and power could possibly make it.”

As to the first class, they being in their sins, M. Adam, out of Christ, on the road to "ETERNAL JUDGMENT," ready for it, and deserving it, God says that such are without Christ, having no hope, and without God in the world.

The second class are Christless religionists, who are clutching as with deathless grip the oil less lamp of an empty, formal profession. Or they may be badly instructed ones, having been taught that it is humility to hope and presumption to know. The teachers of such do cause them to err; but God has a word for them, as they will see before they finish reading this paper.

The third class, who say that they are saved but that their salvation only lasts as long as they believe, do, without being aware of it, give the whole credit of their salvation to their faith, instead of to Christ.

And now we will examine the belief of the fourth class in the light of Scripture.

First, they tell us that they are saved; and secondly, that their salvation lasts forever.

SALVATION is looked at in three ways in Scripture: first, as something we possess upon, believing in Christ; secondly, as something we are getting nearer to every day; and thirdly, as something that we shall get at the end of the path of faith.

A few scriptures will soon make these points quite clear.

When the Philippian jailor cried, "What must I do to be saved?" he was told.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus. Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

Paul said to the Ephesians “By grace are ye saved"; and the same apostle in his second epistle to Timothy says: “Who hath saved its, and called us with a holy calling; not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”

And in his epistle to Titus he says, speaking of salvation: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.”

Once more, Peter says, in his first epistle Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." (See also Acts 16:31; ACT 16:31 Eph. 2:5; EPH 2:5 2 Tim. 1:9 2TI 1:9; Titus 3:5 TIT 3:5; 1 Peter 1:9. 1PE 1:9) All these scriptures show that salvation is a present thing, not obtainable by our works, but received by faith.

Then as to the second aspect of salvation, we are looked at as getting nearer to it every-step we take; for, " now is our salvation nearer than when we believed " (Rom. 13:11) ROM 13:11

This refers to the salvation of the body.

We are also exhorted to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Mark you well, we are not told to work for salvation, but to work out that which is already our own Phil. 2:12, 13).

The third aspect of salvation puts it as something to be hoped for, something that we shall not get until the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ: " Ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body (Rom. 8:23). ROM 8:23 "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself " (Phil. 3:20, 21). PHI 3:20 This will be the consummation of salvation.

Now even Christians have to bear about in their bodies the marks of the dishonor that sin has done, to God in this world; but THEN we shall have bodies free from sin, disease, ache, and pain. “It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory” (1 Cor. 15:43). 1CO 15:43 Faith is connected with the salvation of the soul, which is instantaneous upon believing in the Person and work of Christ; hope is connected with the salvation of the body, which all true believers will have at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this salvation is an eternal one, of which Christ is the author, to all who, having trusted Him, are now found obeying Him.

We are saved, not by obedience, but to obey. “Wherefore He is able to save them to the uttermost for evermore] that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25), “Because I live, ye shall live also” (John 14:19). JOH 14:19

Christ died to save us, He lives to take care of us, and He is coming to glorify us.

“I give unto them ETERNAL LIFE, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's band I and My Father are one " (John 10:28-30). JOH 10:28-30 It is most clear, from the blessed array of connected scriptures which we have adduced, that salvation is to be possessed NOW; that we are to KNOW we are the present possessors of it; and that it is ETERNAL.

Many persons confound salvation with the joy of it. Now, salvation itself never can be lost; but the joy of it may be soon lost.

The psalmist said, "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation" (Psa. 51:12). PSA 51:12 He asked, not to have salvation restored; for when once God gives it, He never takes it away again what he asked and longed for was the joy of it. A circumstance that occurred in telegraphy will illustrate this point.

One friend wanted to send a telegram to another. When he handed it in at the office the telegraph operator said that he was unable to transmit the message, something having happened to the wire, and thus communication was interrupted, but he hoped to be able to send it on in an hour or so.

A man was despatched from each end of the wire to find out the cause of the obstruction; they met on the road, and found that a huge bough of a tree had been broken off by the violence of a storm, and had fallen across the wire, and the electric fluid had gone into the bough instead of traveling along the wire.

A ladder and saw were obtained, the bough was sawn from the tree and removed from the wire, and the wire straightened. This done, the operators signaled to each other, and the sentences were flashed from end to end at once.

Communication was 'restored, and the message was transmitted. No new wire was needed, hut the impediment to communication had to he removed.

So likewise, though it is impossible to break the eternal wire of salvation, yet if its possessor sin, and think lightly of it, or if he fail to confess it to his God and Father, he forfeits communion.

"If we" (saved persons) "confess our sins, Be is faithful and just [to Christ] to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness " (1 John 1:9). 1JO 1:9

Are you saved, dear friend? If you are, it is by the grace of God, and you ought to know it, and to thank God for it; and if you are saved, it is to wait for God's Son from heaven, and to work for Him until He comes.

(See 1 Thess. 1:10) 1TH 1:10

Oh, do not rest another hour without knowing that you are the present happy possessor of "ETERNAL SALVATION”!

H. M. H.

Except Joe Whitbread.

THE following circumstances were related by a Christian lady, well known to the writer, shortly before she was taken from this world to be forever with the Lord.

She was visiting in Dorsetshire, and had been asked by another Christian to see a poor -woman at a village about two miles from Brid port. On arriving at the cottage, she learned from a neighbor that the woman in whom she was interested had gone out.

But this neighbor, hearing from the lady,

Mrs. R—, that she had called to speak with the woman about her soul, remarked that there was a sick man, Joe Whitbread, living a few doors lower down, who would be glad of a visit.

Mrs. R— immediately went to the house, and after knocking at the door, walked in. She found the man was alone and very ill, being, in fact, doubled up with pain before the fire.

After speaking with him for a few minutes concerning his health, she turned the conversation to his state before God. He unhesitatingly declared that in that respect he was all right, as he had never injured any one in his life, and was not a bit afraid to die, altogether evincing his state to be one of stubborn self- righteousness.

Having heard all he had to say without making much answer, she proposed to read him a little from the word of God. He made no objection, and she accordingly opened her Bible at the Scripture commencing Romans, 3:9, ROM 3:9 reading it as follows, very slowly, and with much emphasis upon the words in italics: What then? are we better than they?.

No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin '-except Joe Whitbread.

“As it is written. There is none righteous, no, not one '—except Joe Whitbread.

“There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God '-except foe Whitbread.

“They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one '—except Joe Whitbread.

“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God '—except Joe Whitbread.

“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight '—except Joe Whitbread.

“But now the righteousness of God with out the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference '—except foe Whitbread.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God '—except Joe Whitbread.”

When she came to the last of these verses he cried out in great distress, “Oh, stop, ma'am! I can't bear it any more! Oh, stop, stop, ma'am!”

She, affecting surprise, asked what was the matter, remarking, “I’m only putting together what God says and what you say. God says, 'Al! have sinned '; and you say you have not; so that must be except Joe Whit-bread.'”

Only a few more words passed, and she left.

A day or two afterward, Mrs. R— paid a second visit, but to her surprise was refused admittance. His wife was this time at home, and stated that he was confined to his bed, very much worse in health, not able to see any one, and she firmly refused to let her enter his room. However, Mrs. R— elicited that he had been visited the day before by the clergyman, who was much surprised to find how his parishioner had been disturbed from the false security in which he had previously been so comfortably lulled; that he had received the sacrament, administered by the clergyman, who had assured him that he was all right; and they were charged on no account to admit the lady to see him a second time!

As the woman persisted in obeying the clergyman's injunction, Mrs. R— had very reluctantly to forgo an interview with the poor invalid.

Believing the Lord would yet open a way for her to see him, she made a third visit a few days later, when she found the woman tractable, and succeeded in gaining admission to the dying bed of the sufferer. The moment she appeared in his room his face brightened up with joy and gladness, and he exclaimed how delighted he was to see her, having been longing for her to come.

When his transports had subsided, he related what agonies of soul he had gone through since her first interview with him; so much so that a report began to spread in the village that he had lost his reason; but the Lord had revealed Himself to him, and it was all now PERFECT, CLOUDLESS PEACE, and he was longing to depart and to be with Christ.

They accordingly rejoiced and praised together for the wondrous grace that had rescued him from the self-righteousness in which Satan had held his prey. A few days after-wards he fell asleep, having been full of joy from the moment he found peace to that in which his spirit passed into the presence of Him whose precious, perfect work had made him meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light.

Dear reader, are you enwrapped with that terrible cloak of self-righteousness which so many are folding around them in a blind and fatal self-complacency? Oh let God's word penetrate your soul, and strip off you every false security—" There is NONE that doeth good, no, NOT ONE" (Rom. 3:12). ROM 3:12

W. R.

Fig Leaves and Coats of Skins

“HOW long have you known the Lord?” said a friend of mine, to an old man in Staffordshire.

“About three weeks, sir; but I have been for forty years sewing fig leaves together.”

There is a good deal expressed in those few words. Thousands are employed in the same profitless work as our poor old Staffordshire friend. Yes; thousands are occupied in the useless business of sewing fig leaves together.

The man who is seeking to save his soul by means of rites and ceremonies, ordinances and sacraments, church-going and chapel-going, is just sewing fig leaves together. So also the man or woman who is building upon prayers, fastings, and almsdeeds, is sewing fig leaves together.

All these things may be, and many of them really are, very good in their right place. But as a ground for the soul to rest upon for pardon and peace, as a title wherewith to draw nigh to a holy and righteous God, as a foundation on which to build for eternity, they are, in very truth, but sewing fig leaves together; and all who trust to them will find them to be so when, alas! it will be too late.

But let us turn, for a moment, to the third chapter of Genesis, and look at the first attempt ever made, in this world, to sew fig leaves together.

"There is nothing new under the sun,”

and we may see in Adam's apron of fig leaves the very earliest figure which Scripture gives us of man's righteousness in every shape and form, the very earliest type and illustration of all human effort to cover the sinner's moral and spiritual nakedness, from the day of man's fall in the garden of Eden, down to the present moment.

No sooner had man eaten the forbidden fruit, than his eves were opened. But, oh! what an opening! What a discovery! He found out that he was naked. He became possessed of a conscience of good and evil, and this self-same conscience made a coward of him. “The eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.”

Sad, sad opening! Sad discovery! They had listened to the serpent, and this was the result. Discovered nakedness! A coward conscience! Up to this they had lived in happy innocence, blissful ignorance of evil.

They knew only good. But now all was changed. They had gained the knowledge of their own nakedness, and lost the true knowledge of God.

And what then? How did they seek to meet their new condition? Just like the old Staffordshire man. “They sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”

Reader, mark this: "They sewed." it was their work, not God's. He never set 'a single stitch in the apron. It was man's work from beginning to end. This stamped its character. It was impossible that the work of a ruined creature could ever lift him out of the ruin into which he had plunged himself. He might work in the ruin, but he never could work himself out of it.

Hence we find that the very moment " they heard the voice of the Lord God, walking in the garden in the cool of the day, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God, amongst the trees of the garden.”

They dared not trust their fig-leaf apron.

It did not even satisfy themselves. How then could it screen them from the searching gaze of a righteous God?, It was " weak and beggarly.”

“And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

Think of this I "I was naked." Had he forgotten the apron? It would seem so. Ah! it was of no use: indeed, he completely ignored it.

Thus it is ever. All human efforts prove valueless when the testing-time, the trial-moment, comes. Nothing will stand but God's own work; and Adam's apron was not that. It was man's work, and not God's; and we may rest assured that nothing will, nothing can, avail; nothing can give peace but that which is of God. There is not, beneath the canopy of heaven this day, a soul possessing true peace who is resting on, or looking to, human efforts of any sort or description. In order to possess true, solid, divine peace, the soul must he resting simply on that which is absolutely and entirely of God.

Now, of this latter we have the earliest figure in the coats of skins which the Lord God made for Adam and his wife. There was this weighty difference between the apron and the coat: that God never set a single stitch in the former'; and man never set a single stitch in the latter. That was wholly of man, and therefore could not avail this was wholly of God, and therefore could not do otherwise.

Oh! that men would but ponder those early lessons of the apron and the coat. They are full of holy instruction for us. We may rest assured that they have a voice for every 'age, and a special voice for the present moment.

Christendom is studded, from one end to the other, with the manufactories of fig-leaf aprons. Millions of hands are employed in the miserable work; and those aprons may do well enough until that moment arrives when the voice of God must be heard, and their utter worthlessness will be found out when it is too late. “I heard Thy voice; and I was afraid; because I was naked.”

What utterances! The voice of God! Fear! Nakedness! Beloved fellow-sinner, we beseech thee to think of those things.

Think of them now. Say, on what art thou leaning? To which art thou trusting? Man's apron or God's coat, which? Oh! which?

Do not put this question aside. Look it straight in the face, this living moment. Come to the point now. Thou hast delayed long enough; delay no longer. Consequences of present and eternal moment hang on thine answer to this great question.

Say, then, dear friend, art thou trusting, in any way, to thine own works? or art thou reposing, in perfect confidence, upon that precious blood of Christ that cleanseth from all sin? Examine thy foundations closely and rigidly. Look well to thy title-deeds. It will be unspeakably awful to find out, when too late, that thou hast been building upon human rubbish, instead of building upon the Rock of ages.

Hearken to the following magnificent passage, and may the eternal Spirit interpret and apply it to thy precious soul: “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation; he that believeth shall not be confounded " (Isa. 28:16; ISA 28:16 1 Peter 2:6) 1PE 2:6

Here is thy ground. God has laid the foundation. He does not ask thee to add to it, but simply to lean upon it, to trust to it, to believe in it. And if thou wilt only believe in Jesus, thou hast the word of Him who cannot lie to assure thee that thou shalt never be confounded, world without end (see John 5:24). JOH 5:24

Freely.

NOTES OF A GOSPEL ADDRESS.

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.

And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come: And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). REV 22:17

IT is a delight to the heart of God to give, and He gives freely. He is too rich to sell and we are too poor to buy. In the scripture just read we have our side: “Whosoever will.”

Do you desire, do you wish for this blessed gift, the water of life? You must take; come to Him, and take. Take nothing less; and be careful to go empty, not to go full; for He fills the empty with good things, but the rich He sends empty away.

“How am I to take it?" you say.

In Rev. 21:6 REV 21:6God says, “I will give unto him that is athirst." Are you thirsty? Come with the empty vessel of faith, and take of the water of life freely.

If the world were full of thirsty sinners,

God has enough water to fill all. It is our responsibility to take. Believe in the Lord Jesus from the bottom of your heart, and you will get a draft which will prevent your thirsting again. The only qualification needed is to be thirsty. Jesus said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink” (John 7:37). JOH 7:37

If you turn to John 6:35, JOH 6:35you will see that drinking is believing on Him: "He that believeth on Me shall never thirst." In John 7 JOH 7 it is a pouring out of the living water:

“Out of his inward parts shall flow rivers of living water" (vv. 38, 39).

Who will get the water? All who believe.

Who get the Holy Ghost? All who believe.

Thousands are waiting for you who are unsaved here to-night, till you take of this living water, and become vessels of communicating it to their thirsty souls.

In Rev. 21:6, REV 21:6 God says, " I will give ... of the fountain." Do you know Him as the giving God, not the exacting God? He does not offer to sell, or as a reward: “I will give to him that is athirst." Has He made you thirsty? He gives of the best in heaven to the worst on earth:

“Oh, Christ, Thou art the fountain,

The deep, sweet well of love! ''

Oh, drink then abundantly, and thirst no more forever!

In Luke 16:24 LUK 16:24 there is a thirsting soul in hell, where there is not a drop of water.

Plenty of thirst there, but nothing to quench it. Alas! plenty of water now offered freely, with few to take it, because few are thirsting for eternal joy.

If you do not thirst on earth you will thirst forever in eternity, when it will be forever too late. The rich man asked for only a drop of water; but there was none, not so much as could be conveyed on the tip of the finger to cool his parched tongue. He who was once rich on earth, and thirsted not for the life giving water, is now enduring eternal thirst in the flames of hell! He refused it when it was freely offered; now he cries in vain for it.

There flows no stream through those arid regions; all are doomed to endure eternal, undying thirst. Come then now, whilst you may, ere it be too late, and drink of the life-giving streams.

H. M. H.

God has often been pleased to use the humblest means in accomplishing the great work of awakening souls to a sense of their need of salvation. I have seen one after another brought by a servant-girl to hear the Word. She continued in prayer for them; and, in answer to prayer, they were immediately brought to God, and found peace.

Little boys have gone into the street, and brought in careless sinners who, after hearing the gospel, and believing it, have gone out justified from all things. In one place, a blind infidel; in another, a cursing old sailor, utterly broken down with a sense of sin, and then filled with rejoicing in Christ Jesus. Old men from seventy to eighty, and little children of 'six, alike brought to know the certainty of salvation through the blood of the Lamb.

Hath and Are.

THESE are the words of Jesus the Son of God: —

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

Can these words be untrue?

Impossible!

Anxious inquirer, God has blessed them of late to many souls. They are most certain, most certain. Yes, it is Jesus who says them.

Do you hear His word? Do you believe on God who sent Him?

Then ponder these three words, “hath ever-lasting life." What a certainty" hath” gives! It is not, "I hope so." No, hath never hopes, but has, not only life, but ever-lasting life.

Do you ask, How is it possible that I shall riot come into condemnation? Do you say, I am such a great sinner; I think no one is plagued and burdened with sin as I am?

Then hearken. These are the words of God the Holy Ghost: —

“Be it known unto you, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by. Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses “(Acts 13:38, 39). ACT 13:38-39

Blessed message of God to a sin-burdened soul! Is it true? Reader, do you believe in your heart that God thus proclaims the forgiveness of sins through Jesus alone?

How simple, how certain!

Do you believe God about the death and resurrection of Jesus?

Then God justifies you from all things. He says so, does He not? Read it again and again. And just as surely as you believe God, just as surely you are, not shall be, but ARE, JUSTIFIED FROM ALL THINGS.

Think of these two truths "HATH everlasting life.”

“ARE justified from all things.”

Hoping and Having

THERE is a vast difference between hoping for salvation, and actually having it. Many never seem to get beyond the former, though it is their privilege to enjoy the latter.

Wherever the gospel is received, in its divine fullness, it proves itself to be "the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16). ROM 1:16

Its language is, “This day is salvation come to this house "(Luke 19:9). LUK 19:9 It "gives knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins" (Luke 1:77). LUK 1:77

In every case in which the gospel is really laid hold of it imparts peace and gladness.

When the Ethiopian eunuch received it, through the preaching of Philip, “he went on his way rejoicing "(Acts 8:39). ACT 8:39The Philippian jailer " rejoiced, believing in God with all his house "(Acts 16:34)." Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1). ROM 5:1

It could not be the gospel. God's good news, were it to leave one in doubt. How could God send glad tidings to people to leave them in doubt? Impossible. When God speaks, His word must impart a certainty equal to itself.

If a truthful person tells us a thing, we feel certainty; and our certainty will be in proportion to the truthfulness of the witness.

Were we to be uncertain we should simply be calling in question his veracity; or at least we imply that his word is not sufficient to satisfy us.

Now, " if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God, which He hath testified of, His Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son" (1 John 5:9-11). 1JO 5:9-11

And, be it carefully observed, the gospel does not seek to "persuade men" to believe something about themselves. It does not call upon me to believe that I am a Christian. It is a serious mistake to suppose that the subject of gospel testimony is anything about oneself. It is something about CHRIST. It is something that. God tells me about His SON; and when I, by grace, believe it, it makes me quite happy. It gives me life and righteousness, peace and joy, rest and satisfaction. I am called to look away from self altogether, straight to Jesus.

The object which God presents is His Son.

There is no uncertainty there. The One who presents the object is God; there is no uncertainty there. My authority is the Word; there is no uncertainty there. The moment a man looks at himself, for the ground of his confidence or peace, he is all astray. He is plunged in doubt and confusion.

What we really want is to keep close to the word, close to Christ, close to the sacrifice.

This will take us out of self, and fill us with a divine Object in whom we can find all we need. The devil can never shake the confidence of one who has once got thoroughly settled in the gospel of Christ. There may be conflict, trial, exercise, difficulty, depression, sorrow, and the like; but nothing can ever shake the peace that is really founded upon the word of God It is eternal and divine.

It partakes of the character of that word on which it is founded, and of the sacrifice of which that word bears witness. “The worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins" (Heb. 10:2). HEB 10:2 This is plain. To be "once purged" settles everything. “He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit” (John 13:10). JOH 13:10“Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:3). JOH 15:3

Some there are who seem to think that the only result of the sacrifice of Christ is to put us into a salvable state; that is, a state in which salvation is possible. The idea of being saved, of knowing salvation, of being assured that we are saved, is, in the opinion of such persons, the very height of presumption, the essence of spiritual pride, a setting up for being holier than one's neighbors, a being righteous overmuch.

This, however, is a great mistake, a mistake arising from not seeing the true ground of salvation, and the true authority for knowing that we are saved. The former we have in the blood of Christ; and the latter, in the word of God. Self has naught to do with either the one or the other. God declares unto us "glad tidings." He tells us of salvation through the name of Jesus, of perfect remission of sins through the blood of the cross.

Now, the question is, Can God's word give certainty? If He sends us glad tidings, ought they not to be believed; and, if believed, should they not make us glad? How could God's glad tidings leave us in doubt? Impossible. Where doubt exists, God's word is not believed, the fullness of Christ is not seen, the value of the blood is not apprehended.

Self, self, self, is the object before the mind, and hence, there is no peace, no joy, no happiness, no holiness. The soul that is dwelling in the gloomy region of doubt can neither be holy nor happy.

Dear reader, let me entreat you not to be-satisfied with HOPING for salvation. Stop not short of HAVING it. Adam knew he was safe, when God clothed him (Gen. 3) Noah knew he was safe when the Lord shut him in (Gen. 7:16). GEN 7:16 The Israelite knew he was safe with the blood on the door-post (Exod. 12.) EXO 12 The manslayer knew he was safe when he entered the city of refuge (Num. 36) NUM 36

Rahab knew she was safe under the cover of the scarlet line (Josh. 2.) JOS 2

Thus it is in every case where God's remedy is revealed and His word believed; there is certainty and peace. It is no longer hoping, but having. It is worthy of God and His word to give settled peace to the heart that trusts in Him. It would not be like Him to leave any soul in doubt and uncertainty. I should just possess all the assurance which God's word is capable of imparting.

May God grant to the anxious reader an artless confidence in the divine testimony to the value of the blood of Jesus Christ His Son.

C. H. M.

It is a fearful thing to wear out the patience of God, and sin away the day of grace. Hear, oh! hear His gracious call, ere it be too late.

God says, Now; Satan says, Tomorrow. God is true, and seeks to save. Satan is a liar and a murderer. Turn away from the lying murderer. Hear God, and live. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). ACT 16:31

How Does the Believer Know That He Is Justified?

CERTAINLY not by looking at his feelings. His feelings are as changeable as the wind. Nor yet by looking at his prayers, or his good works: all that he does is mixed with sin. If he looks at himself in .any way, he can find nothing that will afford a sure ground of certainty that he is justified; that is, that he is so clear of sin that nothing can be laid to his charge forever.

Can you, my reader, with eternity before you, with the prospect of standing before that Judge who knows every secret of your life, can you say that you are clear of all sin, so clear that nothing can be laid to your charge?

Are you ready to say, “How can any sinful man in this world know that he is thus clear of all sin?”

You will be astonished at the believer's simple, yet certain answer. It is this-CHRIST IS RISEN.

Bui you will ask, “What has that to do with a believer's justification?”

It has everything to do with it. “If Christ be not risen, ye are yet in your sins" (1 Cor. 15:17). A saved sinner knows and believes the love of God in sending Jesus to be his SURETY and representative: His eyes have been opened to see Jesus, bearing his sins in His own body on the tree. He knows that the blood of Jesus, his Surety, has met every claim of Divine holiness to the uttermost.

What love and mercy to lost sinners! Now the believer can say, " As surely as Jesus was condemned for me, was delivered to death for my offenses; as certainly as God dealt with Him on the cross as the Surety for my sins, so assuredly did God raise Him from the prison-house of death for my justification.”

Now if a surety is cast into prison for the person's debt he is bound for, when that surety comes out of prison, having paid the full demand, is not the person for whom he paid it as clear of the debt as the very person who was his surety, and paid it? And he knows he is clear of every claim. Why? Because his surety is now out of prison.

Just in the same way does the believer look outside himself to Christ, his adorable Surety.

Oh! ponder this well: it was an awful engagement, when Jesus became the Surety of all who through grace should believe on Him.

Yet still He trusted God. He knew that God would justify Him from all these sins and guilt, as He says, “Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption." He did not leave His soul in hell; He raised Him from the dead, completely cleared from all our sins, no more to be forsaken, but to be received up to the highest glory.

Now Christ had no sin to die for of His own; therefore His death was entirely for us.

Just so He had no sin to be justified from of His own, therefore His resurrection also was entirely for us; He died as our Surety, He rose from the dead as our representative; so that whatever God did to Christ on the cross is reckoned unto the believer; and whatever God did to Christ at His resurrection, He did to us in Him as our representative. CHRIST IS RISEN.

Is He perfectly and forever clear of all sin?

Even so cloth God justify every believer. It is God that justifies (Rom. 8:29-34; ROM 8:29-34 Heb. 10:14; HEB 10:14 1 John 6:17 1JO 6:17).

My reader, if thou art looking at thyself in any way, thou art far from knowing that thou art justified. If God shall give thee real faith in Jesus, looking entirely away from thyself at Christ, thou wilt not ask for anything to make thee more certain that thou art justified from all sin, than this one triumphant answer Christ is risen, who is even at the right hand of God.

The Scriptures everywhere teach that it has only been in the way of GRACE that God has ever established man in blessing since he fell in Eden.

How the German Squire Was Converted

WE have, within the last few days, heard of a case which has interested us exceedingly, and we are anxious to lay it before our readers, and to secure for it a permanent corner in our magazine. There is great value, and not unfrequently great power, in the record of God's dealings with a soul; nor have we, during the entire progress of the revival, heard of anything that has interested us more deeply than the case of the German squire. We can merely undertake to give the substance of the narrative, without vouching for the perfect accuracy of details.

This squire seems to have belonged to a class of persons who affect to despise' the word of God, and, as a consequence, to hate the name of Jesus. Being visited, on one occasion, by a Christian pastor, he charged him on no account, to name the name of Jesus 'while under his roof. The pastor assented, and spoke only of God,' as displayed in creation. He dwelt upon the exhibition of power and wisdom in the works of God, and having done so he took his leave.

Being invited by the squire to repeat his visit, the pastor did so, and spoke of God in His righteousness; in His holiness; in His majesty; in His hatred of sin, and 'again took his leave. Here the squire's conscience was reached. The arrow of the Almighty penetrated the joints of the harness in which his infidel system had encased him. He was a convicted sinner. The flimsy cobwebs of rationalism gave way before the stern realities of his personal guilt and the holiness of God.

The proud, self-sufficient skeptic became 'a humble broken-hearted penitent.

When the pastor called again, he found the squire in a state of intense mental anguish.

He felt the weight of God's claims bearing down upon his conscience, and his, own utter incompetency to meet them. God, as seen in creation and providence, was a vast distance from him. There was a great gulf between, which he could not bridge. He was wretched, and in the depth of his wretchedness he asked the pastor if, he could not give him any relief.

No," said he," I can do nothing for you; you have strictly forbidden me to name the only One who can do you any good, or afford you any comfort.”

This was a: moment of profound interest in the spiritual history of the, squire. The entire superstructure of rationalism, skepticism, and infidelity had given way. He beheld it all as a mass of ruins, and himself a ruin in the midst of ruins. Neither creation nor providence could furnish a resting place for his poor burdened heart and guilty conscience.

He had, under the blinding power of a senseless infidelity, sedulously excluded from his thoughts “the only. Name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,” even the precious, peerless, powerful Name of Jesus, the only medium through which the beams of divine glory can pour themselves, in beauteous harmony and consistency,, upon the soul of the sinner; the only ground whereon "God can be just and the Justifier" of the most ungodly sinner that believeth. He had built tip a system for himself in which the name of Christ had no place. The Materials of this system, had been furnished, not by revelation, but by rationalism, the most dreary of all isms. He had under the ensnaring influence of a proud intellectualism, entrenched himself behind what he vainly imagined to be the impregnable bulwarks of infidelity. He had tried to erect a platform of his own whereon to meet God; but now he found out his grand mistake. Christ is the only platform on which a holy God and a guilty sinner can meet; but he had shut out Christ. He would not have Him. His motto in reference to Christ was, “Oh, breathe not His name!”

What a moment! The poor squire was really miserable. He knew not what to do.

There was a link missing', and he knew not where to find it. An object was needed which his infidel system could not supply. A holy God! How could he meet Him? A righteous God! How could he stand before Him? A sin-hating God! How could he ever approach Him? What was to be done? It was indeed a moment of intense interest, a solemn crisis, a season never to be forgotten. 'He earnestly begged the pastor to go on, to tell him all, to keep nothing back. The door of his heart, which had, for so long a time, been secured by the strong bolts of infidelity, was now flung open. His conscience was fully reached. The plow had done its work, and the pastor had but to enter with the seed basket, and sow the seeds of a full and free gospel in the deep furrows of a convicted soul in a word, he preached Christ, that long rejected, much hated name. He showed the squire that the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God was the only thing that could put away sin, and justify 'God in receiving the sinner. He showed him that in the cross of Christ, " mercy and truth had met together; righteousness and' peace had kissed each other "; that all the divine attributes were gloriously harmonized; that V sin was put away, and God glorified; that in the death of Christ all the claims of God, and all the claims of conscience, had been perfectly answered: This 'was enough. The squire found rest for his troubled soul. 'He believed the record, and was made happy in believing. The bridge had been 'presented to him, and he instantly availed himself of it, to pass across that otherwise impassable gulf that, separated 'him from God. 'He saw in Christ the One who fins up every point between the throne of God` and' the deepest depths of a sinner's moral ruin. He 'found his all in that very name which he had so strictly forbidden `he named beneath his roof. C. H. M.

(From Things New and Old, 1861.)

I Credit It All.

IN these days of easy-going indifferentism (days marked by form without power, and routine without reality) it is-blessed to see a soul in downright earnest to be saved; and such a one it was my privilege to see and talk with a few days since.

He told me he was most anxious to be saved; that he had been harassed by Satan and by doubts for some weeks; that he was trying hard, but at present he could not say his feet were firmly planted on the rock Christ Jesus.

He confessed what a sinner he had been, and that his sins troubled him. Seeing he was a truly repentant soul, I took out my pocket Bible, and read from Ex. 12:13, EXO 12:13 The BLOOD shall be to you for a TOKEN... WHERE YE ARE; and when I see the BLOOD, I will pass over you.”

I pressed upon him that the blood of the Lamb and the word of God, and nothing else, was what God put before him for salvation; and that his faith must be in the word of God about the blood of the Lamb, which cleanseth from all sin (1 John 1:7). 1JO 1:7I then read from John 3:33, JOH 3:33 He that hath received His testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.”

I explained to him that on the cross, with His own most precious blood, Christ had paid to God the debts of those who believe in Him; that God, being perfectly satisfied, yea, glorified, with what Christ had done, had raised Him from the dead, and in that act had, as it were, receipted the bill; and that now Christ was in the glory of God as the paid and receipted bill in a safe place.

The dear man pushed down the bedclothes, stretched his arm out of bed, and, holding out his right forefinger as if pressing it upon the seal, exclaimed most earnestly, with tears, flowing down his face, “I credit it all! CREDIT IT ALL! Bless God I am free; I am delivered. My soul is saved. I am ready to go. Jesus has done it all, and He is in heaven waiting to welcome me. I credit it all!”

At this point his wife came into the room, when, taking her hand, he exclaimed, “I am, free from my burden, and I wish you were as; free as I am. Oh, don't rest until you have the love of God shed abroad in your heart as I have; until you are ready to go as I am!

I am quite ready to go now; Jesus has made me ready. He has done it all. You have not to look this way or that way, but only to, Jesus. I credit it all.”

I have seen this dear man several times since, and found him each time calmly looking to Jesus only, with simple, faith in God's word about the person and work of Christ, and full of "all joy and peace in believing" (Rom. 15:13).

And now can you who are reading these few lines say, "I credit it all"? Do you credit or believe what God says about you as a. death-deserving, hell-deserving, lake-of-fire-deserving, eternal-judgment-deserving sinner?

Do you credit all God says by His Spirit in His word about the peerless person and the precious blood of His own dear Son? Do you, in short, accept God's “token where ye are"? And can you from your heart say, with him about whom I have been writing, “I CREDIT IT ALL "?

I Must Chance It!

MY dear fellow, it would never do for me to think of those things. It would make me miserable, and I should not be able to get through the business of the day.”

So said a young man to me a few weeks ago, as I urged upon him the importance of giving heed betimes to his soul's salvation.

“But you do not expect to live forever? and the matter must be considered some day,” I replied.

“True," said he,” but I'll tell you my thoughts about it. I hope, before I die, I shall have a long illness, and then I intend to think of the subjects, and make my peace with God.”

“But should you be called away without a moment's warning," I answered," think what your state would then be.”

“I know it," he rejoined," but I must chance it, as thousands do.”

And so our conversation ended.

Perhaps, my reader, you are one of the thousands of whom this young man spoke, who are going to "chance it." If so, pause and listen! Is it so slight a matter in your eyes that you are going to chance whether you go to heaven or hell?

If so, you are playing dice with the devil.

The pleasures of the world and your precious soul are the stakes. You may enjoy the former, and vet be saved on a death-bed; but, humanly speaking, there are a thousand chances against you. Are you going to risk it?

The Bible tells of but one man who found salvation in his dying hour, and that was a crucified thief. This one case only is given that none may presume too much on God's long-suffering grace.

If you had invested your fortune in merchandise, to be shipped to some distant port across the seas, would you not insure it, so that you might not be ruined if the ship went down? And is not your eternal salvation of more value than many fortunes? “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). Can you answer that question?

You will have to meet God ere long. If you stand before His bar unsaved, you will be bound hand and foot, and cast into outer darkness, where " there shall be weeping, and gnashing of teeth "(Matt. 22:13). MAT 22:13

“I cannot meet God," said a dying lady to a preacher.

“Madam," replied the preacher,” but you must.”

“Hide me, oh, hide me from God! " she said, clutching the coverings of the bed, and drawing them over her face, as if to screen herself from Him.

And you, unsaved reader, must meet God, too. Is eternity, with its unending happiness or woe, such a trifle that you can afford to treat it with indifference? Can you contemplate unmoved the terrible position of those who die without Christ? And you are without Christ now, and their portion would be yours, were you now to die.

Will you not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved? Take the place before God of a lost sinner; it belongs to you; and then claim the lost' sinner's Saviour. Jesus is His name; oh, trust Him, turn to Him, now! He receiveth sinners, yea, the very chief. Let nothing hold you back. He has died for sinners like you. Your sins are great, but the value of His blood is greater.

Will you listen to this appeal, or shrug your shoulders, and callously looking the consequences of your rejection of Christ in the face, say, "I must chance it"?

“The FATHER loveth the SON, and hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth on the SON hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the SON shall not see life; but the WRATH OF GOD abideth on him" (John 3:35, 36) JOH 3:35-36

I Would Not Exchange Places With the Queen

I HAVE just been to the funeral of a very dear friend," said I to a merry-looking man, whilst waiting for the train,” and it is no small comfort, when a friend departs, to know with absolute certainty, that that friend is gone to be with Christ, which is far better.'”

“I should think," said he," there are very few that die who have that certainty. At least not many would like to chance it, if it were put to them Today; I mean if the question were put, Are you so sure of heaven that you do not mind dying Today?”

I replied, “I fear that even amongst those who profess to be Christians too few would stand that test. But it was very different with my departed friend. She had been ill only a few days, and on the day before her death, knowing there was no human possibility of recovering, she calmly said, 'I would not exchange places with the Queen.' Not the shadow of a doubt passed over her happy soul.

She rested, not in anything she had done, but in the finished work of Christ Jesus, the Son of God. Precious Jesus! Thy blood and righteousness never fail in the hour of death.

Nothing can be so certain as that which God has said, that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:14, 16). JOH 3:16

"Well," said he, "it is a happy thing when a person has such confidence; but I fear there are very few who have the happiness to enjoy it. Man is so given to sin, he has such strong inclinations to sin.”

Very true," I replied. "But you are not a man of all sin; you have not committed all sin. But God is the God of ALL grace, and that grace is seen on the cross, surpassing all your sins. Who can tell the value of the blood of Jesus as God sees it? I myself am the chief of sinners; I have not one particle of worthiness. But I tell you, if we are all killed before we reach home, I have no fear or question whatever about my salvation. It was eternally settled by the death of Jesus.”

“Ah!” he said," it seems to me a poor thing to hang one's salvation on.”

"What is? Is Christ a poor thing to trust? Is God's word a poor thing to trust?" "Oh! no, I mean it is a poor thing to hang on faith; to think that if you have faith you will be saved, let you sin and do as you like." "Ah! my dear sir, but the man that has real faith in Christ does not want to sin. He hates it, and longs for and delights in holiness; and he is the only one that gets delivered from sin. But now you try from this day, in your way, 'never to sin again.”

"I have tried," said he,” many a time; but still I sin in thought, word, and deed. I think I now see that to believe in Christ is the only -way both to get saved and to give up sinning."

Reader, what as to your dying hour? You cannot help the thought crossing your mind at times, can you now? Your dying hour may be very near; yes, very near! Now, are you prepared for that hour? What! are you going on carelessly in sin? Well may you tremble at the thought of your dying hour.

Are you trusting in forms and ceremonies of human religion? Ah! these will utterly fail you in your dying hour.

But mark the blessed condition of every, saved sinner: “Therefore being justified by faith, We have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1). ROM 5:1

Is this your condition? Are you justified?

Have you peace with God? Then, my reader, if you should fall asleep before Jesus comes again, yours will be a. HAPPY DYING HOUR.

CHARLES STANLEY

There is only one thing that enables the soul to triumph in death; it is knowing that Christ died for our sins, and that He who is now in heavenly glory is our life. It is only beholding there the Christ who. Was on the cross that will enable any one to say that death is but the opening of the golden gates that admit him into the celestial glory.

The Little Garden; or, Fruits of Repentance.

I WAS passing a little garden the other day, when I could not help standing to admire the beautiful order in which it was kept. Every foot of land was laid out in beds, and every bed growing something, bidding fair for fruitful crops. Peas, beans, plants, trees, everything looked well.

I thought as I looked at this garden, What man in his senses would expect vegetables and fruit, without the seed being first sown and the trees being first planted?

There must, of course, be the seed, the plant, the tree, before there can be the fruit.

Everybody knows that it is the tree that grows the fruit, and that the fruit is sure to be what the tree is. Fruit there cannot be without the tree first. It is not good fruit that makes the good tree, but the good tree that grows the good fruit.

I thought again, How many there are that are perplexed about the FRUITS OF REPENTANCE,

who might learn a lesson by this little garden!

Next to it was a piece of land that had been dug and manured some time ago, but had nothing sown in it. Oh, what docks and Weeds! I thought, That is all that mere education can do for fallen human nature. Exclude the seed, the word of the living God, and the more education the bigger the docks; and weeds.

“Do you know," said a lady to a Christian, friend, who was carrying the good news of salvation to the lost, “what sort of people those are that you are visiting? What a life of infamy that woman has led ever since she was a child! And her husband, what must he be to take up with such a woman? They must be told to repent.”

“I know all about it," said the dear Christian friend, who was about to set Christ crucified before these two unhappy persons, who were both ill; “and if I did not know that was as bad in my fallen nature as they, I should not go to speak to them of Christ.”

My friend had learned that we are by nature all alike, lost, guilty sinners, and that it is only as we are upheld by God, that we are kept from the most fearful sins.

Now, what did this lady mean by “they must be told to repent "?

She meant that they must be like this little garden before ever they could be worthy of Christ, or before it was at all proper to set Christ and salvation before them. They must be told to bring forth the FRUITS of repentance; and then these fruits would make then good trees, or Christians.

And how many would have told them to do so! They would have told them to be very sorry for their sins; to forsake them entirely; to lead a new life; to serve God, and love Him; and then they would give them a faint hope they might be saved at last through,

Jesus Christ.

One might just as well say to the crab-tree, Now you must cease to grow crabs, never grow another, and begin from this time to grow good apples: and if you do this, the gardener will come and make you an apple-tree.

That man is a poor gardener who does not know that before anything but crabs can be got from that tree, there must be a new nature; that is, apple-nature, grafted or implanted in that tree.

And that man who expects anything but sin from a sinful nature knows very little of the utter depravity of the human heart, or of what God says in His Word.

No, there must be repentance before there can be the fruits of repentance. There must be a new nature before there can be holiness, of life. An apple graft cannot bring forth crabs, and that which is born of God cannot sin. The old nature of man is sin itself, and brings forth nothing but sin; the new nature implanted by God is holy and divine.

If my friend had told these persons to bring forth holy fruits of repentance in their sinful condition, she would have denied the depravity of marl; and hypocrisy would only have been the result. But, to the praise of the God of all grace, she set at once the finished salvation of Christ before them; and they were both converted.

Many are perplexed as to what repentance is, and what difference there is betwixt faith and repentance.

This may make it simple. Suppose the inhabitants of Scotland had a very wrong opinion of her Majesty the Queen; they thought her austere and cruel, and consequently hated and dreaded her. Now she sends her son, the Prince of Wales, to make known her real character. He arrives in Scotland. Every act is an act of kindness: no expense is spared for the good of the people, and all he does is in the name of the Queen: and thus having given full proof first of her love to them, the Prince gives command that all Scotland shall now repent (or as the word always means in Scripture, to change their minds).

Now, this change of mind in Scotland would be by believing the Prince. To believe the son would change the mind toward the Queen; there could not be one without the other.

It is so as to repentance toward God. This -whole world has been deceived by Satan about God. All men have a dread of God: they think Him a hard master; and they hate Him, and in their blindness they prefer sin and Satan's world to God. The God of this world has blinded their minds (2 Cor. 4:4). 2CO 4:4But “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). JOH 3:16

And was not every act of Jesus an act of love to lost sinners? Oh, look at Him!

When did He spurn the sinner from His presence? Hear His sweet parable of the Father's joy in receiving the lost one who had spent all amongst harlots (Luke 15). LUK 15 His arms were wide open; little children were welcome there. Ah! the woman who was a sinner gave Him more heart-joy at His blessed feet, than the Pharisee's dinner on his table (Luke 7:37-50). LUK 7:37:50 Was anything spared to show out the love of the Holy God to lost sinners? No!

When the fearful hour for which Jesus came into this world arrived, when He said, Oh, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt "; and again when on the cross He cried, " My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Ale? " did God spare His own dear Son? No!

And unspeakably fearful as was that hour of darkness, when the HOLY ONE OF GOD was made an offering for sin. Yet He did not save Himself; He did not come down from the cross. He who made all things endured the utmost penalty of sin.

And did not God accept that amazing sacrifice? He did, and proved His eternal satisfaction with that one sacrifice, by raising Jesus from the dead. And all this reveals the LOVE OF GOD. “In this was MANIFESTED the love of God toward us," etc. (1 John 4:9, 10). 1JO 4:9, 10

Since Jesus, then, has proved that all men have an entirely wrong mind about God; yea, since Jesus has manifested undeniably the love of God to sinners„ God now commands all men everywhere to repent, or change their minds toward Him. Hence, if there be, by the power of the Holy Ghost, real faith in the Lord Jesus, there must be an entire change of mind toward God. The one implies the other, and where there is, by the Holy Ghost, this wondrous change of mind about God, not a mere change of notions, there is the utmost certainty that this will produce the fruits of repentance, sorrow for sin, forsaking sin, serving God from the heart, loving God, joy in God; yea, an entire change of life.

My reader, dust thou understand? There must be fruit; there must be sorrow for sin; there must be holiness of life. But thou must have life first, faith first, a change of mind toward God first, just as the seed must be put in the ground first.

CHARLES STANLEY

Look.

HERE we have an expressive little word which embodies much in brief compass, and opens up a wide field of truth before the vision of the soul. We have a lovely instance of the use of this word in Isa. 45 ISA 45"Loop unto me, and he ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else " (v. 22).

In the preceding verse we have a very fine statement of the character of the ONE to whom we are told to look: " Assemble yourselves, and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations; they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; A JUST GOD AND A SAVIOUR; there is none beside me.”

Here, then, is the ONE to whom we are told to "LOOK." He is "a just God.”

But if this were all, a guilty sinner dare not look to Him for anything hut judgment and 'eternal condemnation. The only possible issue of a meeting between "a just God" and a guilty man is the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.

“A just God" must punish sin. He cannot pass over a single speck or stain. It would involve the denial of His nature, and the overthrow of His government, were He td pass over the smallest atom of sin. It cannot possibly be. “He is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity.”

Sin, wherever it is found, can only be met by the just judgment of God.

But mark the beauteous and most marvellous combination! Blessed be His name!

We are not called to "LOOK" merely to “a just God." This would be terrible. Yea, it would be inevitable destruction. But when we listen to the other title which grace has linked on to "a just God," all is changed.

He is not only "a just God" but ".A SAVIOUR." Precious fact for us poor sinners! But how can God be "just" and "a Saviour"? The CROSS of Christ yields the glorious answer. There Justice had all its very highest claims answered. There the Majesty of heaven was vindicated. There, sin was thoroughly condemned. There all the demands of the throne were perfectly met.

There all the divine attributes were gloriously harmonized. There the most convincing evidence was afforded to all created intelligence, that God could never let sin into His presence. In one word, then, the cross is the only platform on which we can behold “a just God and a Saviour." There we see how God can be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. The atoning death of Christ forms the righteous ground on which God can “receive back His banished." Christ bore the just judgment of God against sin, in order that, as "a Saviour God," He might receive to His bosom the very vilest sinner that simply LOOKS to Him.

But who are they that are called to LOOK?

Is it some special class? No, thank God, it is not His way to limit His gracious invitation. Theology does this: but God never does. Hear the seraphic words, once more “LOOK unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.”

Such is the wide aspect of God's salvation.

When God spoke as a Law-giver, He addressed Himself to one people; but when He speaks as "a just God and a Saviour," He addresses Himself to “all the ends of the earth.” And may anyone" LOOK "? It is not only that he may, but he ought; not only is he permitted, but commanded. It is a command issued to all the ends of the earth. This includes everyone who hears the message. It includes the reader of these lines. Yes, beloved reader, whoever you are, you are this moment commanded to " LOOK, and be saved." Before you can refuse the application of this word to yourself, you must prove that you do not come within the range of “all the ends of the earth.”

Here we are at issue with theology, because theology is at issue with the heart of God, the grace of God, the Christ of God, the word of God. Theology limits; God does not.

Theology says, "Some"; God says, "All.”

All are commanded to "LOOK.”

True, they will not; but that is their awful responsibility. Theology says, “Man cannot look, and hence it is only deceiving him to tell him to do so.”

Does "a just God" deceive people? Will theology dare to say so? Well, it is God who commands "all the ends of the earth" to “LOOK" unto Him, and be saved.”

Yes, reader, one look at a Saviour God is salvation for thee. Never mind theology, of the puzzling, withering dogmas of theologians. Hearken to God. Remember, He commands you to "LOOK" unto Him, "and be saved." You cannot get over this. You cannot shake off your solemn, personal responsibility to LOOK, this moment, to a Saviour God.

Leave theology and theologians to settle their questions with God; but do you remember that you have a never-dying soul to be saved, and that the ONLY way of salvation is to hearken to the gracious commandment of " A just God and a Saviour "who says to your “LOOK UNTO ME.”

C. H. M.

The Lost Gold-Seeker

" ON May 28th , 1911, a party of prospectors recovered from an abandoned cabin beyond the Valdez Glacier, Alaska, the bones and personal effects of F.B.F., of Boston, a miner, who had been missing since the fall of 1908. F. and his partners attempted to reach the fourth bend on the head waters of the Klutina River, but ran out of supplies. The partners turned back, but F. wandered into the old cabin, and perished with hunger and cold.

“The dying man kept a record of his last days on the margin of an almanac. Some of the entries are as follow: Feb. 1st, No food yet." Feb. 9th, Ditto. I am awfully weak.'

Feb. 17th, Ditto. May the Lord have mercy on me. I thank Him, Amen." Feb. 20th, Ditto.' ‘Feb. 28th, Ditto. Do not expect to get up again.—F.B.F.'”

Thus another has been added to the long list of men who have lost their lives while searching for gold that perishes. What tales of hardship and suffering would be told if dead men's bones could speak! There they lie, strewn in the alluring but often fatal path trod by the seekers after earth's fickle wealth, as an awful warning to all who pass by. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26). MAT 16:26

According to the diary of F.B.F., we are glad to believe that God, in His grace, enabled him to know that there was mercy still reserved for him ere he passed out of time into eternity, “from whose bourn no traveler returns." There was doubtless a profound sense of his helplessness, and the certainty of meeting a holy God as a sinner; and that led him to cry, "Lord, have mercy on me.”

That was an appeal of faith, and a confession of absolute helplessness. “By grace are ye saved, through faith" (Eph. 2:8). And whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:2; ACT 2:21 Rom. 10:13 ROM 10:13)

"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly " (Rom. 5:6). ROM 5:6

F., having assurance that he was heard, could say, "I thank Him; Amen.”

Can you, too, dear friend, thank God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us? Can you thank Him for His unspeakable gift? That all surpassing love, displayed in the cross of Christ, where He, the holy Son of God, is thereby commended to you on the part of God Himself, for your reception by faith, that you may never perish, but have everlasting life (Rom. 5:8; ROM 5:8 John 3:14-16 JOH 3:14-16).

M. W. S.

The Lost Ticket; or, Is Your Life Insured?

THE London train was just about to leave the Exeter platform when a lady exclaimed, "I have lost my ticket.”

Her concern became so great that guards and passengers searched the train; but the ticket could not be found.

After the confusion had subsided, I said to my fellow-passengers, " Is it not very strange that there should be such anxiety about this ticket, which is but the passport of a day, and may soon be forgotten, while so many have no concern whatever about the journey of life, or whether they have a ticket that will pass them into heaven at last? You may see a man get his insurance ticket, post it to his friends, and look as if he had done a very prudent act. Is it not," I said again," strange that man should be so prudent and thoughtful for present things, and yet not care to have eternal life insured? Oh, that there were the same desire to have the passport of salvation, and to know it’

A man in the next compartment stood up, and said, " Will you have the kindness to tell me how a person is to have eternal life insured, and how he is to know it with certainty; in other words, what is his ticket for heaven, and how is he to know when he has dot it?”

It was evident, from the man's manner, that he felt the question to be of the utmost importance. I said, " We will take the case of a life insurance for illustration: A man insures his, life in a certain office; he believes the large figures, stating the amount of capital paid up, to be real; the policy is deposited in the safe keeping of his banker, lest he should lose it himself. Now, I ask, how does he know for certain that his life is, as it is called, insured?”

'Oh," said the man," he cannot doubt it if he have confidence in the company, and ill his bankers.”

“Very well, to carry out the figure: When I look to God for salvation, I am assured that the capital has all been paid up. Neither gold nor silver, words nor figures, can express the priceless value of the precious blood of Christ; and, mind you, the cross was no installment, leaving future calls to be met by sinful men.

Oh, no all was paid. The price of redemption was paid to the full, and paid forever.”

“But what is the life-policy, and how am to know that I have it?”

“Christ risen from the dead is the life-policy. God has shown His full and eternal' satisfaction and joy by raising that Blessed One from the dead, and exalting Him to the highest glory. Now, as Christ thus died for our iniquities; when thus dead, He could not be raised, but as justified from our guilt. Yes, His resurrection was as really for our justification, as His death was for our sins. Unless the question of sin is seen to be forever settled by Christ for us, we never can have full assurance of faith, as to final salvation. Christ having finished the great work of atonement, and having ascended up on high, the Holy Ghost came down from heaven, with the glad tidings of salvation, through the blood of Christ, and of eternal life in Him who is alive from the dead. All who have, through grace, believed this testimony, have been saved. The illustration then holds good; just as, when the capital of an insurance company is real, and a life-policy deposited in safe keeping, where it can neither be lost nor stolen, even so the believer knows by faith in God's Word, that the atonement for sin has been made; that Christ is his life-policy; for 'He is our life '; he that hath the Son hath life.'

He is at God's right hand for us, where we can neither lose Him, nor can aught possibly take Him away. Faith says, Because He lives, we shall live also.' Christ alive from the dead, raised to glory, is the believer's life-policy, his passport to heaven. If my salvation were in my own keeping I should be sure to lose it. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Yes, this simple heart-confidence in God removes every doubt. The love of God is shed abroad in the heart, and the Spirit bears witness that I am a child of God.”

“This seems very clear," said the man; “but will you allow me to state a difficulty I have had for many years?”

“Oh, certainly!

“Well, sir, it is this: I read in the Epistle to the Romans, that `justification is entirely through Christ, by faith, without the works of the law,' and this has given me comfort.

But then I read in James, Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.' Now, sir this has perplexed me for many years.”

“At first sight," said I," there seems a contradiction, hut it is only in appearance. In Romans the great question of justification before God is discussed; and before Him nothing short of absolute perfection can stand; and hence, Christ alone being perfect, we can only be justified by and in Him. But in James it is justification before men Ye see, brethren; and men can only judge by works.

Abraham was justified before God by faith at the birth of Isaac; but he was justified by works before men, thirty years after, when he offered him up. True faith is sure to work by love, and is sure to produce fruits. If you believe the kindness of a person to you in your need, you are sure to be affected by it. We love God, because He first loved us. But where so many make a fatal mistake is, in the-vain attempt to produce works before justification. When you see your neighbor's chimney smoke in the morning, what do you think? Why, that the fire has been kindled. There is sure to be smoke if the fire is applied, but you don't make smoke first. One person might speak of the kindling of the fire within; another might speak of the smoke seen without. There would be a great difference, but no contradiction. The Spirit of God, by Paul, speaks of the kindling of eternal life within; by James He speaks of its manifestation without; surely both are true. You put the seed in the earth, and with God's blessing you expect the plant and then the fruit. If salvation were by works, then could none be saved.”

The man left the train with an expression of real thankfulness; his last words were, "I hope to tell to others the gospel I have heard this day: Salvation first and works after.”

Reader! is your life insured in heaven? Can you look by faith at Christ Jesus, in the presence of God, and say, "He is my righteousness, my passport; He has taken possession of heaven for me?" Does Christ dwell in your heart, the hope of glory? Or are you gliding along the rails of life without a ticket?

You may be a professor; you may be trying by self-righteousness to buy a ticket, and hope some day to get one; that is, to be saved. It won't do. If God deals with you on that ground, you are lost. However you may ignore the death of Christ, God never can.

No, no, He will not sell you the ticket. It must be a free gift. The gift of God is eternal life, even Christ, God's greatest gift of love.

“God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. These things have I written unto you, that ye may know that ye have eternal life " (1 John 5:11-13), 1JO 5:11-13

It is of no use saying you are doing the best you can. What! do you mean you are doing the best you can whilst seeking to be saved in some other way than by God's free gift to lost sinners, eternal salvation, in, through, and by Christ?

“Oh, but," you say, “my frames and feelings.”

Ah, you will never be saved by looking at frames and feelings. Look away from your feelings; look simply to Christ. A person does not say, “I feel nice and happy, so it's all right; I dare say I have my ticket." No; he first finds his ticket, and then feels happy.

So, my reader, may you never rest till you have found Christ to be the all-sufficient passport to the heaven of eternal rest.

CHARLES STANLEY.

Modern Progress

I WAS traveling on the Birmingham and Derby line some time ago, when a gentleman was speaking, with evident satisfaction, on the wonderful improvement and rapid progress of society.

I quietly listened as he boasted of the development of man. At last I said, “You seem to have overlooked one thing.”

“And what is that, sir?" he said. I replied, " Why, sir, it is this: you forget that this world has yet to answer for the murder and rejection of the SON OF GOD. That is the end of this world's progress.”

The man appeared struck with surprise, and,

I thought, alarm.

I showed him that however man may dream of this world's gradual improvement, God's Word speaks out without mistake. Christ distinctly foretold that He should be rejected (Luke 17:25-30). LUK 17:25-30 For eighteen hundred years this world has treated with contempt the mercy of God, in giving Christ.

I asked him if he thought God would bear this forever. But my question was quite outside his philosophy. Finite reason knows nothing of the infinite God but what He Himself reveals. What a revolution took place in that man's thought in a moment!

He said, “I never thought in that way about the death of Christ.”

This reminds me of a question a young man once asked me. It was this: “If God knew for certain that men would reject Christ, where was the use in sending the gospel?”

“Well," I said," I will answer by an illustration. Suppose some nation, say America, were to murder the British ambassador; of course that would at once cut off all relations with England. Well, there would be one of two things for it: immediate judgment, or forbearing mercy. England would be just in demanding instant satisfaction. But now, instead of that, though England might well know that such was the inveterate hatred of that nation which had deliberately murdered her ambassador, that the offer of pardon would be rejected with disdain; yet would there be no meaning, no use, if, instead of demanding immediate satisfaction, she sent the most conciliatory message of reconciliation? Yes, England's character would he manifest to the whole world; and when she ever did proceed to extremities, still her clemency would be acknowledged by all.”

“Oh," said the young man," I see the point; the character of God is manifested.”

“Just so," said I. "And, oh, think of the person of Christ, the Son of God, heaven's Ambassador! And is it not even so that men by wicked hands have murdered Him?

And God did know that such was man's hatred, that he would reject Him. Yes, and having murdered and rejected Him, talks of progress. God knew it all, and most certainly all relations with God are cut off by the murder of Jesus. It is impossible for God to talk about keeping His law to men who are murderers of His Son. No, no, the whole world stands guilty before God. Surely man cannot be more guilty than the murder and rejection of Christ proves him to be.

“But, oh, the wonder of all wonders! God did not proceed at once to righteous judgment, but infinite love and grace burst through the very wounds of Christ; and God speaks peace and pardon to black, vile man through the very blood of His murdered Son. Yes, He knows man will reject even His mercy; yes, all men. But out of these very rejecters God is, by the power of the Holy Ghost through the gospel, gathering His Church.

And is He not glorified in that very world that still rejects Him? Yes! yes! Oh, the long-suffering forbearance, the grace that still beseeches men to be ' reconciled to God'!”

“Ah "said the young man," I never saw how God would be thus glorified in all His ways.”

Now, reader, what think you? Just look for a moment at the world, filled with wickedness and violence. Oh, what a scene! And if you look at what bears the name of Christian; nay, it will not bear looking at; I say, Do you think God will bear this forever?

He bore long in the days of Noah. But did not judgment come at last? He bore long with Sodom and Gomorrah, and men made PROGRESS; but at last God rained fire and brimstone. Has not Jesus said, " Even thus shall it be when the Son of man cometh "?

Why did He say that that day should come as a thief in the night? Why does the scripture say that this solemn event shall come at a time when men are saying, "Peace and safety"?

Ah! He well knew that men would believe a lie; yes, that lie of Satan, when he persuades men to say, “The Lord delayeth His coming"; and therefore the word of God is full of warnings, lest that day should take any of us unawares. The only PROGRESS that Scripture reveals is that of increasing iniquity.

(See 2 Thess. 2:7, 8; 2TH 2:7-8 2 Tim. 3, 2TI 3etc.)

But you ask, “Do not you believe the world will be converted by the preaching of the gospel?

Oh, no, reader, I do not, indeed! I just believe what the Word of God says, that the world will become so wicked, and the professing church so corrupt, that Christ will come again in judgment. Having first taken up the real Church, that is, all the true members of Christ, wherever found, living or sleeping, then that great day of wrath and vengeance of Almighty God will come. I do believe all that Scripture says, too, about the happy state of this earth during the millennium, after Christ has come in judgment.

A preacher, who had long preached the conversion of the world by the gospel, said to me the other clay, that nothing had surprised him so much as to find there was not a single passage in the whole Bible to prove that doctrine. But come, it is time for me to ask you a plain question or two.

Are you ready to meet Christ? Your heart may be set on something. What will that something be worth when Christ appears?

The Jews preferred a robber to Christ. Is there some secret sin, pleasure, money, or the world, that you prefer to Christ? Oh! my reader, is it possible? Are you a wicked rejecter of Christ? If so, the coming of Christ is a terrible day to you. And come it will. Oh! let me tell you, vile as man was in crucifying Jesus, God so loved the world that He gave Him; Jesus so loved that He thus died for our sins. Oh, blessed Jesus! Thou art precious!

Can you say so? Have you tasted the sweets of pardoning love? Do you say, That is what my soul longs to know? My friend, if so, God put that desire into your heart, and Jesus says, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:7). JOH 6:7

Since Jesus has died for your sins, can anything give God so much joy as pardoning them for His sake? When Jesus, alive from the dead, came into the upper room, His heart was so full of joy that His first words were, “Peace be unto you." What joy Christ has in speaking to those who believe in Him!

May you have joy in hearing those words of life, "Peace be unto you. And when He had so said, He showed unto them His hands and His side " (John 21:19, 20). JOH 21:19-20 This is enough for God, and you need no more. “By grace ye are saved.”

My fellow-believer, what a day awaits us!

What a change! To be with Jesus, to see Him as He is, and to be like Him! Even, so, come, Lord Jesus!

CHARLES STANLEY

God's perfect appreciation of Christ's perfect sacrifice is what constitutes the perfect security of all who, be it ever so timidly and tremblingly, trust therein. “When I SEE the blood, I will pass over” (Ex. 12:13). EXO 12:13 At the same time this is a perfect ground of confidence FOR us, however imperfectly it may be estimated BY us.

None Admitted Without Being Washed.

THE following incident was related by the widowed mother of a poor boy whop being in the last stage of consumption, was conveyed by his sorrowing parent, in the spring of 1882, to the infirmary in Glasgow.

For some weeks he had been rapidly declining, and, by the doctor's advice, she who loved him best was taking him where he would have constant medical attendance, and other wants supplied.

On entering the infirmary, and making the usual application, the mother was informed that her child must have a bath and a change of garments.

Fear took possession of the loving parent's heart, lest her boy in his delicate state might catch cold, and she exclaimed, “My child is perfectly clean.”

But the rules of the institution were imperative: "None admitted without being washed.”

And on the assurance that every precaution would be taken, and no risk incurred, she resigned her boy to the nurse.

In the meantime, while she waited, a wretched-looking woman entered the apartment, and, on asking for admission, was told it was necessary she should be washed, and other clothes put on.

To this she would not consent, and, after some altercation, left no doubt greatly displeased at not being received on her own terms.

Rapidly the thought passed through the mind of the anxious mother, and she exclaimed, “That is the gospel. No soul can enter heaven but those who are washed in the blood of the Lamb!”

After submitting to the 'regulations, the poor boy was conveyed to an apartment where the walls, beds, and everything were purely white, and he himself clothed in a similar garb; a faint emblem of that home where naught that defileth can enter. After lingering for a few weeks the sufferer passed away, to be, we trust and believe, forever with that precious Saviour who had washed him from his sins in His own blood.

Reader, whoever you may be, have you, like this dear boy, submitted to God's way of salvation, Jesus, the Way, and the Truth, and the life? Or, like the wretched woman in our narrative, have you turned away from God's gracious offer of salvation, and in the rebellion of your heart are you saying, like him of old, “Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean?”

To such I would say, "Be not deceived.”

"'Without shedding of blood is no remission.”

God cannot pass by sin, but He has judged it in the person of His own beloved Son, who was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Then come to Jesus just as you are. Cast your soul on Him for time and for eternity.

He has said, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." Thus, washed in the blood of the Lamb, clothed like the prodigal in the best robe, you have naught to fear.

Death and judgment are behind you, and should your Lord tarry, the former will but usher you into His presence, where there is fullness of joy, and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

God grant it may be so with all who read these lines!

The persuasion of there being virtue in Christ's blood is a measure of trust in it. It may be but a small measure; the trust may be very feeble; but it is trust; and Scripture connects salvation, not with some particular degree of trust or faith, but with any measure of it at all that has been produced by the Spirit of God. What said the poor woman in the gospel? “If I may but touch His garment I shall be whole.”

Oh, My Sins! Oh, My Saviour!

SHE was a woman of at least sixty years of age, I should think. Her hair was white with care, and her face wore a look of deep distress. I observed her sitting regularly in the same place in the meeting, and I longed to speak to her; but she gave me no chance, as she went away directly the meeting was over. Her sad and anxious face haunted me. I could not rest until I found out where she lived, and had visited her.

Her cottage was in a back lane, and beautifully clean. She was busy working when I entered, but willingly stopped to be spoken with about soul matters. Her one cry was, OH, MY SINS!

I asked her if she had long felt the burden of her sins, when she told me that she had wept and prayed for the forgiveness of sins for about thirty long, weary years, and had gone to the meeting-room, where I first saw her, all that time, in hopes that she should get it there; but it had never come to her longing soul yet.

I asked her if she believed that Jesus had died for our sins according to the Scriptures; had been buried, and raised again the third day, according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3, 4). 1CO 15:3-4

She assented to all this, but it brought her no comfort. She still indulged in the old mournful cry, “OH, MY SINS! Seeing that she was a divinely quickened soul, without the knowledge of the forgiveness of her sins, I endeavored to show her, from the Scriptures, that Christ had all her sins, by imputation, upon Him on the cross; that He put them all away before He left the cross, and that He was upon His Father's throne in-glory without one of them being upon Him now; for how could God have sins in His holy presence?

I asked her to tell me, if Christ had her-sins upon Him on the cross, and was now in the glory without them, where were they She looked up, and replied: "Why they are all gone, and I never saw that before"; and immediately she said, with an adoring, thankful heart, "OIL MY SAVIOUR!”

She now knew what it was to have not only the forgiveness of sins, but a Saviour in heaven; and could look up into His face there by faith and say,

“I know my sins are all forgiven;

Glory to the Saviour-God!”

Are you who are reading these lines troubled about your sins, and anxious to know the forgiveness of sins? Then believe that Christ died in the stead of the sinner; "and by Him all that believe are justified from all things" (Acts 13:39). ACT 13:39

H. M. H.

Old Betty; or, Nothing but the Blood of Christ

AT the great age of ninety-two, old Betty, as she was familiarly called in the little village of S—, was dying.

She had been a wonderful woman in her sway; always ready to lend a helping hand to a neighbor in distress, and was highly valued for her sterling principles.

For many years she had lived in an old thatched cottage at the end of the Park; and was highly respected by the great folks at the Hall, in whose family she had served from generation to generation. The little folks of the Hall very much loved the old nurse; and at every festivity held there old Betty was not forgotten.

But now she lay dying; the earthly tabernacle was falling to pieces, and the spirit was ready to depart to Him who gave it.

Only a little while before, the old vicar had left, and the new one had just taken up his abode at the vicarage. He was not long in becoming acquainted with the aged inmate of the cottage. Himself a godly man, he sought to win souls for his Master.

Finding old Betty one day nearing her end, and not knowing that she was safe in Christ, he said to her, while she seemed to be unconscious, "Well, Betty, do you know me?”

“No," was the reply.

."Not know me, Betty?”

“Do you know my Master?”

“Who is he?" asked she.

“The Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Yes; bless His holy name," was the instant reply; "I've known Him a-many years.”

“And what is going to take you to heaven?”

“NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.”

“But have you not done a good deal for your children and grand-children? for I hear you have been a good wife and mother, and an excellent neighbor; will not all these things help you to get there? See how long and faithfully you have served the family at the Hall. Why, Betty, won't all this good-ness help you a little?”

“No, sir," replied the aged woman, with emphasis. “Nothing but my Lord; nothing but His precious blood.”

More to the same purport passed between them, which showed to the visitor how firmly she was grounded in Christ. He knelt down beside her, and gave thanks to the Lord for the bright testimony the aged pilgrim bore to the precious blood whereby she was redeemed, and wherein she was washed.

What power there is in the name of Jesus; what sweetness and unction to the soul of one who loves Him, and is on the point of passing away to be with Himself! Do you know Jesus? That is sufficient to get an intelligent response from a heart that has tasted that God is gracious. So she died; with the foot firmly planted on the Rock of Ages.

We are not in the habit of loving people we don't know, even if we are ever so familiar with their name and their deeds; but the person must be known to be loved. Do you know Jesus? it is He who attracts the heart down here, and claims its allegiance and devotedness; and it is with Himself the believer is going to spend a blessed eternity.

The Only Hope

Those who really receive the gospel which God has sent feel that they do not embrace mere sentiments, or a formal set of religious views; but they renounce every other refuge, and trust in the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus from absolute necessity. As a man just aroused from sleep flees from a house enveloped in flames of fire, as a starving man eagerly devours a piece of bread, or as a sinking man cleaves to a life-boat, so every true believer gratefully welcomes the crucified and risen Saviour as the only hope set before him in the gospel.

A Passing Word

THE writer of these lines was told the following remarkable story by a relation of his.

She (with another lady) Was passing a spot on the outskirts of the populous city of S., where a man was preaching to a company of people. He related the story of his conversion, saying that, a little while before, he was going on Road, in the middle of the same city, and while passing such and such a spot, saw a crowd of people listening to preaching.

The road was thronged everywhere, electric cars were passing and re-passing, hut while he hurried on that Sunday evening, not staying to hear what was being said by the preacher, one word came to his ears, just one word, but a portentous one: the word ETERNITY.

He passed on, and also tried to pass off the word from his mind. He could not, however; it stuck in his mind, and arrested his, conscience. Such is the way of God with the soul. The arrow of conviction shot at a venture had done its work.

Monday came and went, Tuesday, too, and Wednesday arrived; but he still had the word ETERNITY with him. So he went on Wednesday to a chapel service. But he had no rest or peace till he let God have His way with him; and before another week was out he found Christ as his Saviour and got forgiveness of his sins. Peace filled his soul, not dread any longer at an unbidden word.

Sol there he was two miles away a week or two after relating the story to others of how God Spoke to his soul. The writer has often stood himself and preached at the particular spot, amid the noise and traffic, telling the story of salvation to wayfaring souls.

If any reader of these lines has not got salvation and is not ready to meet God, and is afraid of death and what comes after death! (that is, judgment against all out of Christ). He would beg of them to settle the all important question of ETERNITY. It is either with Christ in glory with the redeemed, or with the lost in the lake of fire, where hope, and joy never come.

B. L. N.

The Receipt

SOME time ago, I was standing with a commercial gentleman in his office, conversing with him about his eternal prospects. He was one who had manifested some anxiety as to the great question of his soul's salvation, and I had frequently spoken to him before.

On the occasion to which I now refer, we were speaking about the ground of a sinner's peace in the presence of God. There were some files hanging up in a corner of the office, and pointing to them I said, “What have you got upon those files?”

“Receipts," said he.

“Well," I said," are you anxious about the amount of these various bills?”

“Not in the least," he replied;" they are all receipted and stamped.”

“Are you afraid," I continued," lest those persons from whom you received the bills should come down upon you for the amount?”

“By no means. They are all legally settled, and do not cost me a single thought.”

“Now, then," said I, laying my hand upon his shoulder, " will you tell me what is God's receipt to us for all that we as sinners ever owed to Him as a righteous Judge?”

He paused to consider, and then replied, “I suppose it is the grace of God in the heart.”

“Nay; that would never do. God's grace in my heart is no receipt for all I ever owed Him.”

My friend paused again, and then said,

“It must be the knowledge of salvation.”

“No; you have not laid hold of it yet. You cannot hut see the difference between your knowledge that these bills are paid, and the receipts which you have on your file. You might know they were paid, and yet, if you had no receipt, your mind would not be at ease.”

“Well," said he, ' it must be faith.”

“Not right yet," said I; "faith is no receipt.”

At length, feeling assured he had the true answer, he exclaimed, “It is the blood of Christ.”

He seemed a good deal disappointed when I still demurred, and he quite gave up any attempt at further reply.

Now," said I," it is most blessedly true that the blood of Christ has paid the debt which I, as a guilty sinner, owed to divine justice; vet you must admit there is a difference between the payment of a debt and the receipt. For even though you had seen the full amount paid down, yet until you were in possession of the receipt, your mind would not be at ease, inasmuch as there was no legal settlement of the transaction. You must have a receipt.

“What, therefore, is God's receipt for that heavy debt which we owed Him? Blessed be His name, it is a RISEN CHRIST at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens! The death of Christ paid my debt, His resurrection is a receipt in full, signed and sealed by the hand of Eternal Justice. Jesus ' was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.' Hence the believer owes not a fraction to divine justice on the score of guilt, but he owes an eternity of worship to divine love on the score of free pardon and complete justification. The blood of Christ has blotted out his heavy debit; and he has a risen Christ to his credit.”

How marvelous that a poor guilty creature should be able to stand as free from all charge of guilt as the risen and glorified Saviour!

And yet so it is, through the grace of God, and by the blood of Christ. Jesus has paid all our debts, discharged all our liabilities, canceled all our guilt, and has become, in resurrection, our life and our righteousness.

If it be true that, “If Christ be not raised we are vet in our sins," it is equally true that, if He be raised, we who believe in Him are not in our sins.

C. H. M.

A Religion of Four Letters

"THERE is a wide difference between your religion and mine," said a Christian lady to one in whose spiritual condition she had long been interested.

“Indeed," said he, "how is that?”

“Your religion," she replied, ' has only two letters in it, and mine has four.”

It seems that this gentleman was one of that numerous class who are seeking to get top heaven by their doings, by attention to ordinances and ceremonies, by what the apostle in Heb. 9 terms "dead works." But he did not understand about the “two letters and the "four.”

His friend had often spoken to him, and on the occasion to which our anecdote refers, she had called to take her leave of him for some time, as she was about to go from home.

What do you mean," said he," by two letters and four?”

“Why your religion," said the lady," is D-01 DO; whereas mine is D-O-N-E, DONE.”

This was all that passed. The lady took her leave; but her words remained, and did their work in the soul of her friend, a revolutionary work verily. The entire current of his thoughts was changed. Do is one thing; done is quite another. The former is legalism; the latter is Christianity.

It was a novel and very original mode of putting the gospel; but it was just the mode for a legalist, and the Spirit of God used it in the conversion of this gentleman.

When next he met his friend, he said to her, “Well, I can now say, with you, that my religion is d-o-n-e, DONE." He had learned to fling aside his deadly doings, and rest in the finished work of Christ. He was led to see that it was no longer a question of what he could do for God, but of what God had done for him.

This settled everything. The four golden letters shone under the gaze of his emancipated soul, "D-O-N-E." Precious letters! Precious word! Who can tell the relief to a burdened heart when it discovers that all is done? What joy to know that what I have been toiling for, it may be many a long year, was all done, over eighteen centuries ago, on the cross at Calvary! Christ has done all.

He has put away sin, magnified the law and made it honorable, satisfied the claims of divine justice, vanquished Satan, taking the sting from death and the victory from the grave, glorified God in the very scene in which He had been dishonored, brought in everlasting righteousness. All this is wrapped up in these four golden letters, "D-O-N-E." Oh! who would not give up the two for the four?

Who would not exchange "d-o," for “d-o-n-e"?

Reader, what say you to this? What of your religion? Does it consist of two letters or four? Is it still "d-o" with you? Or have you found your happy portion and rest in "d-o-n-e"? Do think of it, dear friend, think deeply, think seriously; and may God's Spirit lead you this moment to cease from your own "D-O," and to rest in Christ's eternal "D-O-N-E”

C.H.M.

God's only way of meeting man in blessing is by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The only way by which He can make man happy, and deliver him from eternal condemnation, is by compassionating him in his helplessness and sins, and providing a full and eternal salvation for him, without money and without price. “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). ROM 5:8 This, known in the soul, is liberty. This is what the Spirit of God bears witness to; and “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17).

This alone gives abiding confidence, substantial comfort, and everlasting peace.

Repentance Unto Life.

THERE are not a few in this day who are very fond of talking about other great sinners. When a person does this it is sure sign of a deceived heart; by telling of the sins of others, he is merely showing how much better he thinks himself to be than they.

Now, some of this very sort came to Jesus, and told Him of the Galileans. Mark the words of Him who knows the heart: “Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things?

I tell you, Nay; but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." He repeats the same .solemn instruction respecting the, eighteen -upon whom the tower in Siloam fell (Luke 13). LUK 13

Oh, the millions who are fast "locked in this fatal mistake: "I am not so bad as So-and-so"! The drunkard says this, the thief, the liar; but above all the religious Pharisee.

Is my reader one of the millions thus deceived? Do you think yourself better than others? Are you doing your best to be so?' Is this the road you think leads to heaven? 'Without an entire change of mind about this, you also will certainly perish. Does God think you better than those Galileans, or those sinners at Jerusalem? He says, "I tell you, NAY." And in another place He says, "There is no difference; for all have sinned." It is true; God says it; you have sinned. May God give you entirely new thoughts about yourself; even His thoughts: that you are a guilty, vile, lost sinner; for, unless you know, own, and confess this, you shall likewise perish.

Still, this change of mind about self would never save the sinner without that other, and entire change of mind about God.

In Luke 15 LUK 15we get exactly man's thoughts of God, for the blessed Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, stood in their midst: "And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This, man receiveth sinners.”

Now, why did they murmur? Why! because they had got an entirely wrong thought of God; they did not know Him. They tried to persuade themselves that they were not sinners, or at all events, not such sinners as others, and then concluded that God only received such good people as they thought themselves to be.

This is man's thought of God, that He only receives and saves the righteous.

The well-known parable that follows (in three parts: the LOST sheep, the LOST silver, the LOST son,) is Christ's sermon, unfolding the character of God; and that character the very opposite of all man's dark thoughts.

The work of the Son in coming to seek and to save the lost sheep; the work of the Spirit in giving the light, as the woman who took a light and sought for the lost silver; and to crown all, the unspeakable joy of the father in receiving back his long lost son one, mind you, who could not be more unworthy, and (blessed be the God of all grace!) could not have been more welcome.

And now, my reader, have you got this part of repentance, this entire change of mind about God, though you may feel as vile as the prodigal? If you never did feel so, God grant that you may know yourself so had that you could not be more lost and undone. May your mind be forever changed by seeing the joy of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in receiving you as a lost sinner who cannot be more unworthy, and who cannot be more welcome. “I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.”

When God is thus revealed to the soul in Christ, and sin fully owned and confessed, a change of heart and life is sure to follow.

CHARLES STANLEY

The Risen Christ

WAS speaking in Woolwich the other day, and in trying to set forth the risen Christ, the following illustration 'Came to my mind:

Suppose God had made known that nothing could possibly save England from invasion and conquest but the resurrection from the dead of her greatest general, the Duke of Wellington. The enemy is on our shores the moment of peril has arrived. The good news flashes along the wires: what is it?

Wellington is risen! England is saved!

Yes, the 'good news would not be merely the history of his past life, great as were his victories; but the fact of God having 'fulfilled His promise in raising him from the dead.

Wellington is risen “would be the joyful sound. What his resurrection would be to England, the, resurrection of our Lord Jesus, the Captain of our salvation, is to every one who believes the good news of God.

The Apostle Paul had seen the risen Christ in heavenly vision above the brightness 'of the sun. This heavenly Vision had to do with &very thought and step of his after-life. In that risen Christ a new creation was opened up to him. Every thought in his heart was changed. He had been struggling hard to establish his own righteousness and blameless life. All this he now tramples under foot as dung add dross: bid things had passed away; all things were become new. The risen Christ is everything to him. “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, rand your faith is also vain," and "ye are yet in your sins," are his words.

Some in this day can preach what they call gospel without any risen Christ at all.

They will point to the life of Jesus on earth in the flesh, and tell men the way to heaven is to imitate the example of Christ as He lived on earth. Such 'a gospel was not worth a straw to the apostle. He says, " If Christ 'be not raised, your faith 'is vain; ye are yet in your sins." And again he says, "Wherefore henceforth, know we no man after the flesh yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more.”

In all the preaching of the apostles the promises of God are shown to be fulfilled in this one thing: the raising of Jesus from the dead. The Jews expected the Messiah to improve their condition as a nation. They knew no need of death and resurrection. They did not understand the solemnities of Calvary.

When Jesus died, the appointed, sin-bearing Sacrifice, the Holy One, the righteous One, was laid among the dead. But they knew not the everlasting destinies that were sealed in that sepulcher.

Let us stand by the tomb of Jesus in solemn meditation. What a mystery of love! What a place for the Son of God to take; the atoning Lamb, slain for us, dead and buried!

All this was fore-ordained of God. His purpose was, not the improvement of the old creation, but the beginning of a new creation.

Jesus must be the first to rise from among the dead. The great stone was rolled away from the door of the sepulcher. Jesus arose from among the dead. The linen cloths that bound His body are calmly laid aside. The napkin that was about His head is folded and laid in a place by itself. God has triumphed gloriously. Jesus has passed through death, and now He is "THE BEGINNING, THE FIRSTBORN FROM THE DEAD" (Col. 1:18). COL 1:18 All "this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes." The rejected Stone becomes the beginning of a new creation. Oh! behold this living stone, the risen Christ. Adam was the beginning of the old world, and he began it: in sin and death. But what a creation must that he which has the risen Christ for its beginning and foundation. Oh! blessed First-born from the dead, all Thy brethren are one with Thee in resurrection. We do not yet see this new creation, but we see Jesus, crowned with glory; and we know that what He is before God, that. God sees us to be; " for as He is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). 1JO 4:17

What a translation it is when a sinner is brought TO GOD; from darkness to light, from death to life, from sin to holiness divine!

“Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man [this risen Christ] is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not' be justified by the law of Moses " (Acts 13:38). ACT 13:38

These are the words of God, who cannot lie. So that he who believes God is as certainly forgiven all sins as that Jesus has died, and is risen. My fellow-believer, how plain this is! If Jesus Is risen, then you are forgiven: and not only forgiven, but justified through Him from all things. This is what gladdens my heart: dead with Christ, risen with Christ; justified with Christ....

Fellow-believer, this risen Christ is thy righteousness. Thou aft certainly justified from all things; through and in Him. If thou thus lookest at this risen Christ, and believest this one blessed fact, that thou art risen with Him, then mayest thou he well assured that there can be no condemnation to thee in Christ. Who can condemn the holy risen Jesus? Who can condemn those who are risen with Him? Think what it is to be one with Rim, in resurrection, life, standing, and spotless, cloudless righteousness. Boundless grace to take our place, and 'he made sin for, us in the old creation; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, the beginning of the new creation!

The justification of the believer is thus the risen state of Christ. Not the justification of himself as his old, sinful self. No; all that he was and is has been, not justified, but condemned, and put to death, and buried in Christ. So that God is now perfectly righteous in giving the believer this justified state in the risen Christ, who first bore our sins in His own body on the tree. How complete, then, the justification of the believer in the risen Christ. We shall be amazed, when all this is manifested in glory, that we did not more fully believe it and declare it to the whole world.

Now, if the risen Christ is thus the believer's' justified state, mark, it never alters, never varies. It must be what He is, unchanging, perfect, and everlasting. You must see plainly the risen Christ is ever spotlessly perfect before God; yea, more, He is incapable of failure; therefore the believer's justification in Him, yea, his perfection in Him, must be everlasting it can not, it need not, be repeated.

Yea, even further: so real is the oneness of the believer with the risen' Christ, so really is he risen with Christ, that the new nature is incapable of failure. He that is born of God cannot sin. His standing before God is in resurrection, in that new creation of which the risen Christ is the beginning, and into which not a breath of pollution can ever come.

In one word, the standing and justification of the believer is identical with the standing and justification of the risen Christ, and, therefore, perfect and everlasting.

The first words of the risen Jesus were, “Peace be unto you." And what a peace this gives the poor heart! Oh, my reader, is it yours, the peace of the risen Christ? Perhaps you say, But my walk and my works are not perfect as you describe.

That is quite true; and if your standing and justification were according to your works, it would be as imperfect as them. No; the believer is not justified by works, but justified freely through divine grace, and called to walk according to his justification. And as many as walk according to the rule of the new creation, as risen with Christ, peace be on them.

Whilst our standing before God is perfect in the risen Christ, the enjoyment of God's peace reigning in our hearts depends much on our walking in the Spirit, as dead and risen with Christ.

CHARLES STANLEY

The Salvation of Zacchaeus

READ Luke 19:1-10.

THERE is one priceless lesson lying on the very surface of the interesting story of the chief publican of Jericho, namely, that it matters not what a man's position or circumstances may be, if he be in earnest about his soul's salvation, in earnest in the pursuit of truth, in earnest in his desire after Christ, he shall, most assuredly, get all that he seeks for, and much more beside. The earnest seeker is sure to become a happy finder.

This, we repeat, is a priceless lesson for the soul at all times, but especially at a moment like the present, when there is such an amount of cold indifference, heartless profession, and dead religiousness.

Zacchæus was a rich man, a rich publican.

He had grown rich in the exercise of a most odious calling amongst the Jews, even the collection of taxes. Now, our Lord tells us, in the preceding chapter, that “it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than, for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”

How then," the enemy might say to Zacchæus, "can you ever get into the kingdom? How can you possibly be saved? Your circumstances, your calling, your position, all present an insuperable barrier to your sours salvation.”

The enemy might suggest such reasonings but faith can take up and use effectively the precious words of Jesus which tell us that “the things which are impossible with men are possible with God." God can do much harder Things than passing a camel through a needle's eye. He can save publicans and sinners.

But then He makes them in earnest about the grand business of their salvation. Zacchæus was thoroughly in earnest; so in earnest as to shake himself loose from his circumstances, and rise above his difficulties.

True, he lived in Jericho, the city of the curse. Moreover he was rich, a rich publican. But he was an earnest man; and "he sought to see Jesus." There was 'reality, that rare, that precious gem, reality. A real soul will surmount all sorts of difficulties: indeed, we always find that difficulties only tend to bring out reality where it exists. A slothful, careless soul will plead. “There is a lion in the way," when there is nothing of the kind; but an earnest soul will face a den of lions.

Thus when Zacchæus “sought to see Jesus," he was met by two real difficulties, difficulties which would have deterred and driven off ten thousand heartless professors.

“He could not for the press, because he was little of stature.”

Thousands would have found, in these two facts, ample grounds for giving up all idea of seeing Jesus. They would have argued thus: “It is evident that I am not called to seek Jesus. It is wholly, out of the question.

Providence has plainly put a double barrier in my way. It is impossible for so small a man, in such a crowd, to get even a glimpse of Jesus.”

But how perfectly delightful to mark Zacchæus overcoming his difficulties! Was there a crowd? He could "run before" it.

Was he little of stature? He could climb up into a sycamore tree. Yes; and had there been a thousand difficulties instead of two, this earnest, real, thorough-going man would have surmounted them all in that energy of purpose which grace had wrought in his precious soul. The very difficulties which furnish the careless, the indolent, the halfhearted, with excuses, only furnish the earnest, the real, the true-hearted with occasion to manifest their earnestness and reality.

In point of fact, there is no excuse for anyone. All are welcome. “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17). REV 22:17 Those who make excuses do not want to come; and it would be far more honest to declare plainly that they do not want to have anything to do with God, with Christ, with holiness, with heaven, than to put forth such flimsy excuses, or to plead difficulties which would be esteemed as nothing if they were really bent on an object. We may set it down as an absolutely settled fact 'that there is no reason in all this world why the soul should not come to Christ now, no proper excuse, none that will stand good in the light of eternity, no sound argument whatsoever against the immediate salvation of any soul that will only come just as he is, to the Saviour.

There is no insurmountable difficulty, no circumstance or set of circumstances, no hindrance of any kind presented by God, to prevent, the sinner, this moment, coming to Jesus, and finding full salvation in Him. Jesus is as ready now, as He was in the days of Zacchæus, to save all who come to Him. "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). JOH 6:37 For no reason, on no ground whatsoever, will the blessed Saviour cast out or refuse anyone who simply conies to Him. It is impossible for words to be more simple, for assurance to be more solid and satisfactory "I will in no wise cast out.”

So Zacchæus found it in his day. But he was in earnest. He did not fold his arms and plead excuses. He did not say, "If I am to be saved, I shall be saved; there is no use my troubling about the matter. If I am one of the elect I must be saved; if not, I cannot: I can do nothing.”

This sort of reasoning could not satisfy Zacchæus, or any one of his stamp. He had a soul to be saved, an eternity before him in the light of which present things were lighter than the small dust of the balance.

In short, he was in earnest, thoroughly, unmistakably, solemnly in earnest, as every man, woman, and child ought to be about the momentous question of the soul's salvation.

Hence, he "sought,'.' he." ran," he climbed." He was bent upon Jesus, and Jesus was bent upon him.

“And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up.”

Why did He look up? Because there was an earnest seeker amid the branches of that sycamore tree. It was not Adam running to hide; it was Zacchæus climbing to seek. And Jesus looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchæus, make haste, and come down for Today I must abide at thy house.”

What an answer! What a reward for the seeking, and the running, and the climbing!

What a moment! Zacchæus was looking down, in earnest faith, and Jesus was looking up, in infinite grace; their eyes met, and a link was formed which shall endure throughout the countless ages of eternity.

What an occasion! How little did that dear, earnest man expect to hear his own very name pronounced by the lips of Incarnate Deity! How little did he anticipate having as a guest at his house, the Son of God, God Himself, blessed forever! Could it be true?

Was he, a rich man, a publican, to be thus, blessed, thus privileged? Could it be possible? Had the camel forced its way through the needle's eye?

Ah! far more than this. An earnest sinner and a loving Saviour had met. Difficulties were removed, barriers swept away. Jesus, when He looked up, recognized in Zacchæus one that had been drawn by the Father, and He, as it were, said, “I shall have that man in heaven, spite of earth and hell.”

“Zacchæus, make haste, and come down for Today I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received Him joyfully.”

Not a word about his riches; not a word about his position; no reference whatever to his circumstances; no placing him under conditions; nothing whatever of this sort. A sinner and a Saviour had met, and what was this but "salvation"? Yes, salvation full and free.

The salvation which Jesus carried with Him was the salvation of God, and therefore was it in every way fitted to meet the need of Zacchæus. Men might murmur at this Man's religious mind might rebel against it; but that could not hinder the bright beams of God's salvation from shining upon a poor lost and guilty sinner.

“This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.”

And this, not because of half the goods given to the poor, nor because of the fourfold restoration; but because “the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

It is a present, and a, personal, and a perfect salvation, flowing from the very heart of God in the Person and work of Jesus, brought nigh and pressed upon the acceptance of " whosoever will.”

Oh! reader, art thou unsaved? Art thou uncertain? Art thou unsettled? Be in earnest about thy soul's salvation. God beseeches thee to be in earnest. Be not hindered by difficulties. Let nothing, we entreat thee, hinder thee in coming now, just now, just as thou art, to that loving Saviour who stands waiting for thee, and who will meet thee, just as He met the publican of Jericho, with a full, a free, and an everlasting salvation.

C. H. M.

so Great Salvation.

“How shall we escape, if we neglect so GREAT SALVATION?" (Heb. 2:3). HEB 2:3

A MAN is dying of some deadly disease. The best possible medical advice is procured; the only medicine known to cure such a disease is prescribed, and placed alongside the patient; he does not refuse to take it, but he neglects to do so, and dies, and thus has to pay the penalty of his folly. Whose fault is it?

A house is on fire. The inmates of the burning building are aroused, a fire-escape ladder is wheeled to one of the windows where escape is possible; a man is seen looking out of the window; he does not refuse the ladder, but he neglects it, and as the floor beneath him gives way, he falls with it into the flames below, and is burned to a cinder. Who is to blame?

A man has fallen overboard. He is unable to swim a stroke; a lifebuoy is thrown to him, and falls within his reach; he refuses it, thinking he is able to swim to the ship from which he has fallen; he neglects the only means whereby he could he saved from a watery grave, and is drowned. Where does the fault lie?

And you are a dying sinner, and God's remedy is salvation. You are not in a burning building, but you are exposed to the everlasting flames of the lake of fire, and God's way of escape for' you is salvation. You are overboard, struggling and sinking in the surging sea of death; but God has a lifebuoy for you, and that is His salvation. Now, do you receive it, or refuse it?

“I do neither," you reply; then you are guilty of neglect; and God's question to such is, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so, great salvation?”

You may say, as many are saying Today.

“But I am not wicked; I am not such a sinner as many around me; I have been baptized and confirmed, and am a regular and devout communicant at the place I usually attend.”

All this may be quite true of you, and yet you may be a neglecter of salvation all the time. God does not say, How shall we escape if we "break the Sabbath," get drunk, steal, tell lies, and don't go to “a place of worship." No! We may be most moral, may go to "church" or chapel or meeting, and be a member of one of such places, and still be neglecting "so great salvation.”

The great sin in this day of wide-spread' profession is NEGLECT. Neglect is the God and Christ and Holy Ghost dishonoring sin, the heaven-forfeiting, hell-filling, and soul-damning sin of this privileged moment in which we are living. And whilst you remain in this guilty state of indifference and neglect, there is no way of escape. You may look forward and behind you, on the right and on the left of you, but the words NO ESCAPE will stare you in the face; and most certainly there is no way of escape in ETERNITY, for there is no blood in hell! no Saviour pleads with souls there and no salvation is offered there!

But, thank God, NOW there is a way of escape. Oh, flee to the outstretched arms of Jesus! flee to the rich mercy of God! flee to, the great love of God! flee to the exceeding riches of God's grace! There is a way of escape now from sin, death, and judgment.

Oh, avail yourselves of it without another moment's delay, by accepting the “so great salvation" of God.

But it is not only that men are neglecters, it is what is neglected, "so great salvation,” that makes them so guilty and responsible.

Why is it called "so great salvation"? Because it saves me from my sins, from myself, from Satan, from the world, and from the lake of fire. It saves me to be a child of God, a member of Christ's body, a temple of the Holy Ghost, an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ. What incomparable, unpardonable guilt to neglect suck a salvation.

But it is called "so great salvation" because it is Christ Himself.

When the patriarch Simeon held the holy child Jesus in his arms, looking at Him adoringly and confidingly, he exultingly exclaimed, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word for mine eyes have seen 'Fin SALVATION " (Luke 2:29, 30); LUK 2:29-30 and when Jesus walked into Zacchæus' house (Luke 19:9) LUK 19:9 He did so saying, " This day is SALVATION come to this house.”

JESUS is the salvation of God, and to neglect Jesus is to be guilty of neglecting the “so great salvation" of God; and what possible way of escape can there be for those who do it? “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). ACT 4:12

But you ask, "How am I to receive Him?” John 1:12, 13 JOH 1:12-13 it says, “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, to them who BELIEVE on His name.

You may have neglected Him in youth, manhood, and old age. Oh, do so no longer! but receive Him in all the love of His heart, in all the efficaciousness of His blood, just WHERE you are, just AS you are, and just NOW, by simply believing on Him, and you will at once and forever he in the possession of God's “SO GREAT SALVATION." H. M. H.

The Son of God: His Word, or Man's Words

I HAD taken my seat one afternoon in a train leaving Liverpool for Southport, when a Romish priest entered the carriage, and sat down on the seat opposite to me.

Having long had a desire to speak to a priest, I felt that this was my opportunity. I said, “Sir, I have long had an impression on my mind, and I should take it as a favor if you would allow me to ask you a question.”

He very politely said, “I shall be most happy to answer you to the best of my ability.”

“Well, sir, "I said," if I am rightly informed, there is a very serious question at issue between you and the Son of God.”

“Indeed," he replied; and all eyes were turned towards us, and all ears were open to know what this could he.

“The question is this, sir: the Son of God says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life ' (John 5:24). JOH 5:24Now, sir, have been told that all you priests say, Verily, verily, we say unto you, He that heareth our words, and believeth on Him that sent us, can never know that he hath everlasting life, shall never in the present life know whether he shall come into condemnation or not, nor whether he has passed from death unto life or not.' Now, sir, I wish to know from you whether there is so flat a contradiction in your teaching to the words of the Son of God.”

I shall never forget the man's look. He-said, "May I ask who you are?”

“Oh," said I, " through the mercy of God, I am one who has heard and received the words of Christ, and I have found them WORDS OF LIFE. I do believe that God sent Him to die, the Sacrifice for my sins. I do believe that God raised Him from the dead. I HAVE redemption through His precious blood, even the forgiveness of sins; yes, and His blood cleanseth me from all sin. Oh, yes! I do believe these precious words, and I have everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation. I have passed from death unto life; hearing His word, I have all this. What should I have if I believed your words?”

"Ah," said the priest, " you must be mistaken in supposing it possible in this life to know that you are saved; or what could St. Paul mean when he said, No man knows whether he is worthy of favor or hatred '?

I reached the Bible, which I had in my hand, towards him, and said, “Will you kindly show me where St. Paul says any such thing?

“Oh," said he, " I think you know more about it than I do; you can find it sooner than I can.”

I replied, “Indeed I cannot find what is not in his writings; hut I will gladly read what he does say. In Acts 13:38,39, ACT 13:38-39after speaking of the death and resurrection of Christ, he says, Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him all that believe are justified from all things,' etc. In Rom. 5:1 ROM 5:1 he says, 'Therefore, BEING JUSTIFIED by faith, WE HAVE peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Col. 1:14 COL 1:4 In whom WE HAVE redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.' Why, my dear sir, there is nothing makes a man so happy as, to know that his Sins ARE FORGIVEN.”

“But do you mean to say there is no such passage in the Bible as the one I named?” asked the priest.

“On the subject of salvation there is not such a text," I replied. “Solomon, when speaking of the vanity of this life, did say,

No man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them (Eccl. 9:1) ECC 9:1 He did not mean to deny the gospel by his passage, but urged the usual mistake.”

“I think„" said the priest, “that man must be very presumptuous who thinks himself so holy and so good as to be quite sure he is saved. He may have many of the fruits of the Spirit in him, but yet it becomes him humbly to doubt.”

“Yes, indeed," said I," and if that were the ground of salvation, it would become him ever to doubt. But, sir, you make a fatal mistake in supposing that a 'Christian's hope is based on his goodness or holiness, or even on the work of the Spirit in him. There are thousands who are seeking peace with God this way, I know; but there never was one that found it thus. No, sir, it is not my work, nor the work of the Spirit in me, but the work of the Son of God for me, on which I must rely. He loved me, and gave Himself for me (Gal. 2:20). GAL 2:20Now I ask, Is it presumptuous to believe on Him whom God raised from the dead? He is the Rock that shall never be moved. Have you never read, sir, in chapter 10. of the Epistle to the Hebrews, that the offering of the body of Jesus Christ forever perfects, and that the Holy Ghost is to bear witness of this. For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.

Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us,' (Heb. 10:14, 15). HEB 10:14-15Yes, and however men may reject His witness, still it is true that we 'lave boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.? This peace can never be interrupted. Now, sir, would you not be very happy if you were quite sure that God had for Christ's sake forgiven your sins, as He certainly had forgiven the Ephesian believers, and every believer mentioned in the New Testament?”

“Ah," he said," if you will come up to my house at Birkenhead, I will teach you." He said this as he left the train.

My last words to him were these: “That would be poor teaching, where all is uncertainty and darkness.”

Just as the priest had left the carriage, a young man who had listened with the deepest attention said, " Will you speak to me a little further of the difference between resting on the finished work of Christ for me and the work of the Spirit in me? " He said that he had for many years been an anxious seeker for salvation but had looked for a sufficient depth of the Spirit's work in him, to be sure he had the witness of the Spirit, and was saved.

A friend from Manchester who was with me showed him from the Word of 'God that the Spirit did not bear witness how good we are, but how exceeding bad, how utterly ruined, we are by sin; that God Himself has sent His Son to be offered up for our sins; that the moment we cease from our own foolish efforts to be saved by our works, and come to Christ, with all our sin and misery, just as we are, then we have peace; according to His own words, " Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). MAT 11:28 In short, he showed that the Spirit bears witness to THE GLORY AND WORTH OF CHRIST.'

Light burst into the young man's soul, and at once he found peace through the precious blood of Christ.

And now, dear reader, with eternity before you, may I ask, Are you saved? If not, when and how do you expect to be saved? If not saved, you belong to that world which has rejected and put to death the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Romish priest has no. salvation for you. He does not even know that he is saved himself'. If you know a priest, ask him if he knows himself to be saved, and you will find that, on this most important question, all is uncertainty with him.

Come to Christ, and all is certain. “My peace I give unto you" (John 14:2). JOH 14:2 Oh, do not delay; tomorrow may be too late.

Do you ask, What shall I do? Oh, hear the words of Christ; let no man hinder you from searching the Scriptures. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). JOH 1:29 Behold Him now, His work of redemption finished. He has sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. As sure as you are reading this paper, so sure is it that He who died for sin is in the glory, alive from the dead, raised for our justification; even so sure is it, that he that believes on Him, raised from the dead, is justified, is saved. Let go doubt, let go works, let go self, let go all; receive Christ, trust Christ. Oh! is it so? Is Christ your all? If so, you have life, risen life, the life of the risen, victorious Christ, the Son of God; for "he that hath the Son hath life” (1 John 5:12). 1JO 5:12

If you are risen in Christ, seek to give body, soul, and spirit to Him, not that you may be saved, but because He so loved you as to save you by His own death. Oh, the love of Christ! the love of God! “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). 1JO 4:19

Dear reader, beware of any religion that comes short of present forgiveness of sins, and eternal salvation through the finished work of 'Christ. Do not rest, I beseech you, until you can truthfully say, “Christ has cleansed me from all my sins, and God accepts me in Him”, (see Eph. 1:6, 7). EPH 1:6-7

A Sudden Change

SOME years ago, the writer was returning home by rail from the village of S., in the county of D.

A beautiful day it had been, and it was then a glorious evening as I walked up to the elevated platform, which commanded a full view of the neighborhood and the road below.

Several persons who were on the platform before me were intently looking down on the roadside. Following their gaze with my own eyes I saw there a covered-up figure lying motionless in death.

Soon an omnibus drove up, and the lifeless form, which was that of a woman, was lifted up, and placed inside the omnibus. A young person (her daughter) took her seat outside in company with the driver, and her box was put up after her.

As the omnibus moved away the poor girl burst into a flood of tears. Less than an hour before she had left her home to go to a new situation as domestic servant, and her mother was helping her to carry her box to the station.

While they were hurrying along together the mother was taken ill, and in a few minutes died.

What a sorrowful change i instead of looking brightly forward to a new situation, to have to return home in such a manner with her dead parent. What changes there are in this world! “Man proposes, but God disposes.

But what of the mother who so quickly passed out of time into eternity? Was she ready for the sudden change? I trust she was.

How true it is that “in the midst of life we are in death” Death, the most unwelcome of visitors, will enter the home, and take whom he wills away. None can stay him.

My train came along shortly afterward, and I left the place; but the memory of that event has lingered in my mind, as doubtless it has in that of others who witnessed the sad occurrence. God speaks with no uncertain sound to men in this world, but too often they do not heed His warnings, and death overtakes them while they are still unprepared for the final journey out of time into eternity.

In the person and work of Christ ample provision has been made for the sinner. All he has now to do is to come to God by Christ, trusting in the Lord Jesus as his Substitute, sheltered by His blood from the final and unending judgment of a righteous God, which will be executed on an ungodly world, a world of sinners, and rejecters of His proffered salvation. Take, my dear friend, His proffered mercy Today, and find peace for your soul in the perfect, finished work of Christ.

B. L. N.

Thy Sins Be Forgiven Thee.

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Psa. 32:1). PSA 32:1

MY FRIEND, though a stranger to me, let me ask you this question: Could anything make you so truly happy as to know for certain that your sins were forgiven? To hear those words, "Thy sins he forgiven thee"?

Yes, THY SINS; all of them, every sin of thy heart, and sin of thy life, forgiven thee. Is it possible that this blessedness shall be thine?

Compared with eternity, thou hast only a few hours to live. At the end of these few hours, what is thy prospect? What a thought!

Soon, very soon, thou wilt be in glory or in hell! Nothing can be more certain. Is thy foot lifted up in the paths of sin? Hold! another step, and thou mayest be lost.

Whatever had that man done to whom Jesus spoke those wondrous words, "Thy sins be forgiven thee"? Let us look at Mark 2:1-12 MAR 2:1-12

Why, this seems strange; he had done nothing; he was too sick to do anything. He could not walk, nor even stand. He was borne of four, and they let down the bed' whereon the sick of the palsy lay. What a picture of man's condition! Sin-sick, so prostrate that he can do nothing; sin-palsied; so, bad, he cannot walk; cannot stand. True of you, true of me, true of all. “For all have sinned." " There is no difference." Every limb palsied; every thought defiled with sin! And they LET HIM DOWN at the feet of the Son of God. Have you been let down? Every sinner saved by grace has a letting down; down, down, down; and many a time, when he thinks himself let down, self has still to be let down, down.

Some are let down at once, utterly lost sinners, at the feet of Jesus, and at once are saved. It takes years to let down the self-righteous pride of others. But to be let down in the deep sense of sin and misery, fairly to sink at the feet of Jesus, and then to hear the first words of the Son of God, “Thy sins be forgiven thee," this is blessedness indeed!

Oh, my reader, have you, now, have you, been brought as a lost, helpless, hell-deserving sinner, to Jesus? Oh, have you? Hush!

Listen. Look at Jesus. He proposes no conditions to that helpless man. He does not say, If thou wert a little better, or, If thou wouldst walk a little, or, If thou wilt promise this or that. No, blessed Jesus! that would not have been like Thee; that would not have been grace.

Oh, how men do misrepresent Thee, my precious, pardoning, gracious Lord! Jesus pardoned first, and then gave power to walk.

And still He pardons first, and then gives power to walk in holiness before God. Is not this just what a sinner needs? To be pardoned and saved first; and, that being settled, then he has divine power, by the Spirit of God, to live as a child of God, and walk in holiness.

Look again at Jesus. What are those wounds in His hands and side? Oh! they tell us He has been dead, and is alive again.

“Without shedding of blood is no remission of sins. "He died," the Just for the unjust.”

“The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin” (Heb. 9:2; HEB 9:2 1 Peter 3:18; 1PE 3:18 1 John 1:7 1JO 1:7). All is finished.

Reader, dost thou believe? Cans't thou say, '" I do believe it! I do believe it! I am saved through the blood of the Lamb "?

CHARLES STANLEY

Time Enough.

“I AM going to ask," writes an inquirer,” if you will kindly give me an explanation of Matt. 20:1-17: MAT 20:1-17 the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard.”

A young lady lately came to me anxious about her soul. Her family, being all worldly, and anxious to put her off thinking of religion, told her that, in this similitude, the laborer who came in at the eleventh hour received as much as those who worked from the beginning; whence they argued that it was time enough for her when she became old, or was taken ill, to think of her soul.

Now, we can have little difficulty in tracing to its proper source this miserably false interpretation and application of our Lord's solemn and beautiful parable. The fact is, there is nothing whatever about the soul's salvation in the entire passage. It is simply a question of service. Our Lord is speaking to His disciples, who were saved already; and He is showing them that the most excellent work is that which is done without any reference to wages or reward (as a motive), but in the sweet assurance that the Master will give what is right.

Hence, therefore, it is a fatal mistake to apply this parable to the matter of the soul's salvation; and the idea of using it for the purpose of hushing the anxieties of an exercised conscience, is something perfectly shocking.

There is a very wide difference indeed between a laborer in the Lord's vineyard, and a sinner in his guilt and misery. The former shall receive his reward according to his Master's sovereign goodness: For the latter, there is nothing before him but the eternal flames of hell. Appalling thought!

But, oh! how dreadful to whisper in the ear of such a one, "Time enough"! There is certainly no such word in the Bible from beginning to end. It is Satan's opiate to lull souls into a slumber which may be interrupted in a moment by the arrow of death. It is a poor thing to talk of old age or a lingering illness; for who can count on either the one or the other? How little did those persons who, a few weeks since, stepped on board the Normand y, at Southampton, think that in three hours their bodies would be at the bottom of the ocean and their souls in eternity! We know not the moment when the hand of death may snap the thread which connects us, with this present scene of things. We may be called away without so much as a moment's notice. Who has got a lease of this present life? “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee." Alas! alas! it is to be feared that multitudes around us will have to exchange their slothful "Time enough" for a heart-rending "Too late"!

Reader, art thou one of those who say (or think, if they do not say), "Time enough"?

If so, let us entreat thee, most earnestly and solemnly, to hearken to a warning voice.

Pause, for a moment, and consider. God says, " Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

No foundation here for "Time enough"; no, nor anywhere in the Inspired Volume. To imagine that the call of laborers into the vineyard at the eleventh hour has aught to do with the soul's salvation is, we repeat, fatally false.

Nor this only. It is at once dangerous and basely selfish to calculate upon old age, or a death-bed repentance. There is not the slightest warrant for any such thing. And, even though there were, is it not truly contemptible to think of giving the best of our days and the prime of our energies to the service of sin and Satan, and then, when death approaches, and we can no longer enjoy the world and gratify our desires, to think of turning to Jesus? Is He not worthy of the best of our days and all our powers? Shall we live for self and the world as long as we possibly can, and, when "the king of terrors" approaches, think of looking to Christ?

What sagest thou, beloved reader? Dost thou see the baseness and the folly, the fallacy and the danger, of all this? If so, then we call upon thee, most urgently and solemnly, to come now, just as thou art, to Jesus. Fling far away from thee Satan's "Time enough,” and act on God's "Now.”

Be assured, there is no time to be lost.,

Every step you take in your present course is a step in the direction of “the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone." Oh! do come, this moment, to that gracious Saviour who stands, with open arms, ready to receive all who come to Him, and who has said, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out " (John 5:37). JOH 5:37

C. H. M.

Where there has been saving contact WITH Christ, there should be bold confession OF Christ; then there will assuredly be enlarged consolation FROM Christ.

Two Things Which God Has Joined Together

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

There are two things joined together in this verse. These two things man tries to put very far asunder. Read the verse again. Now what are those things? They are BELIEVING and HAVING. As we have it in another place, "He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life" (John 6:47). JOH 6:47

Sometimes a person will say, with great anxiety, “I do believe on the Lord Jesus. Christ. I am sure I trust in no one else. I feel I am a lost sinner. I fully believe that the death of Jesus was the atonement for sin. I have no doubt that God raised Him from the dead. I know that it is only through the shedding of His precious blood that sins can be forgiven. But I cannot get to know that 1 have everlasting life.”

If this really is my reader's condition; if you have heard the words of Jesus; if you do, really trust in Him alone; then there is no. question; there can, in that case, be no question whether you have everlasting life or not. I only ask, Do you really trust alone in the finished work of the Lord Jesus? If so, I have no need to ask, Have you everlasting life? If one of these things is true in you, namely, real faith in Christ, I know the other is. You have everlasting life; for Jesus says, “It is most certain, it is most certain, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.”

Yes, in one breath, Jesus joins these two blessed things together: BELIEVETH, HATH!

The discovery of this to the soul gives perfect peace. No more perplexity; no more uncertainty. The more deeply you feel your own unworthiness, the more amazing will the love of Jesus appear in dying for your sins.

Oh yes! sin will appear more and more terrible, and the glory of the cross shine brighter and brighter; the world will be now with thee lighter than vanity; for thou, even thou, hast a home in the mansions of light. And though tempted in a world of sin, opposed by a subtle enemy, and groaning over inbred corruptions, yet still thy trust is alone in Jesus, and thou hast everlasting life.

I think I hear thee saying, Is this true of me?

Trembling believer, Jesus has said it; it cannot be false. This MOMENT, if thine ears are opened by the Spirit of God to hear the words of Jesus, and thine heart to believe on God who sent Him, then certainly thou, even thou, hast everlasting life.

And how blessed, how perfect, the salvation of God Thou not only hast everlasting life, but thou shalt not come into condemnation.

Jesus says it, and He will keep His word to thee. Yea, even more still: thou art passed from death unto life. Just as all Israel passed through Jordan with the Ark of God, so, my clear fellow-believer, hast thou passed with Christ from death into resurrection, and therefore into everlasting life. Open thine eyes, for thou art risen with Christ. As surely as He took thy place in death, the divine Substitute, so surely has God given thee a place with Him in spotless, brightest glory. Go in peace, then, and doubt no more.

But there are two things more joined together. “He that believeth not is condemned already." Whether thou goest to the alehouse, or to church; whether thou art living in open sin, or trusting in thy strictly religious life I tell thee, if Jesus is not thine only trust thou art condemned already; thou art waiting the execution of divine vengeance as a rejecter of Christ, " Search the scriptures, and see if these things be so.”

CHARLES STANLEY

Willing or Unwilling Which?

AND they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Hilt thou go with THIS MAN? and she said, I WILL GO " (Gen. 24:58). GEN 24:58

What a blessed question, and what a fine answer!

Do you know that there is “one mediator between God and men, THE MAN Christ Jesus"? (1 Tim. 2:5). 1TI 2:5

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

“THIS MAN receiveth sinners, and eateth with them" (Luke 15:2). LUK 15:2

"Wilt thou go with THIS MAN?" God give you decision for Christ, and cause you to see your responsibility to say, "I WILL GO.”

“And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law,

We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you; come thou with us, and we will do thee good, for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel. And he said, I will not go; but I will depart to mine own land and to my kindred" (Num. 10:29, 30). NUM 10:29-30

What a contrast between the way that Rebekah and Hobab treated the invitation that was given them. One said, "I will go;” the other, "I will not go." How is it with you? Are you willing or unwilling to go to Christ? If you go to Him you will get forgiveness, redemption, salvation, adoption, the Holy Ghost, oneness with Himself, and you will share the glory with Him. But if you are unwilling to go, it will be to your own everlasting loss.

The writer was preaching some years ago in Derbyshire. The large preaching-room was densely packed; the Holy Ghost wrought mightily with the Word, and caused many to say that memorable night, “I will go to Jesus.”

There was a young man in that packed audience who said, if not in words, by his acts, "I will not go," and his delight was to make sport of those who had decided for Christ. George H left the preaching that night refusing the love of God, rejecting the Christ of God, resisting the Spirit of God, and ruining his own soul.

Early the following morning I was called in to see a young collier who had met with an accident in the coal-pit that morning; nearly every limb in his body was broken, and his head was an awful sight and size. I inquired his name, and was much startled when I was told that it was poor George H—! I put my lips to his ear, and asked if he were ready to go into ETERNITY. He shook his head, and died! Sad end to an unwilling soul!

Go TO JESUS AT ONCE. Fear not what your friends or companions will say. Remember, if they laugh you into hell, they will not be able to laugh you out again.

Rebekah believed what was told her about the absent Isaac, and gave up friends, home, and all, to take the long, tedious journey across the trackless desert to meet Isaac. And do you think that, after she had met Isaac, was united to him, and sharing his name, home, honors and fortune, that she ever regretted for a moment what she gave up, or the journey she took?

Do you ask, "Who is Isaac?”

He is a type of Christ.

Do you ask, "Who is Christ?”

He is "the Son of God," “the Saviour of the world.”

To those who believe in Him and are saved “He is precious." He is nearer than the nearest, dearer than the dearest, fairer than the fairest, lovelier than the loveliest, sweeter than the sweetest, better than the best. He is the chiefest among ten thousand; yea, “He is altogether lovely.”

What think ye of Christ? Will you not, by the grace and strength of God, give up everybody and everything to go to Him?

What a striking difference there is between Rebekah and Hobab! The former gave up everybody and everything for Isaac; the latter stoutly refused to give up anybody or anything. The first gained everything, the last lost everything.

Which are you, a Rebekah or a Hobab?

Have you found, as a poor sinner, such attraction and preciousness in Christ, as to be willing to give up all for Him, or do you see no beauty in Him that you should desire Him.

In short, are you willing or unwilling to go to Christ?

H. M. H.

Gospel Light: Volume 3 (1913)

Table of Contents

Be Not Afraid, Only Believe.

Behold, the Bridegroom.

Christ's Work and Word

Come.

Come, or, Depart; Today, or Tomorrow.

Come to Him Just As You Are.

Eternal Salvation.

Except Joe Whitbread.

Fig Leaves and Coats of Skins

Freely.

Hath and Are.

Hoping and Having

How Does the Believer Know That He Is Justified?

How the German Squire Was Converted

I Credit It All.

I Must Chance It!

I Would Not Exchange Places With the Queen

The Little Garden; or, Fruits of Repentance.

Look.

The Lost Gold-Seeker

The Lost Ticket; or, Is Your Life Insured?

Modern Progress

None Admitted Without Being Washed.

Oh, My Sins! Oh, My Saviour!

Old Betty; or, Nothing but the Blood of Christ

The Only Hope

A Passing Word

The Receipt

A Religion of Four Letters

Repentance Unto Life.

The Risen Christ

The Salvation of Zacchaeus

so Great Salvation.

The Son of God: His Word, or Man's Words

A Sudden Change

Thy Sins Be Forgiven Thee.

Time Enough.

Two Things Which God Has Joined Together

Willing or Unwilling Which?