Messages of God's Love: 1978

The simple folk at the railway mission made as a special object of their prayers a man named Williams. He was a drunkard and a very bad vicious man who openly defied God and despised His people. No one had as yet gained admittance to his house, and it took some courage to make the attempt.

“Would you be willing to go, Tim?” I was asked. I hesitated, for I was only a babe in Christ. But I loved my Master and was very eager to win a soul for Him. So after a pause I answered, “I’ll go if you will all pray for me.”

It was not without some inward trembling that I stood the next day at Mr. Williams’ door. I knocked rather loudly, and almost immediately the door swung open and a huge unwieldly form blocked up the entrance. Mr. Williams was very tall and stout, and his angry crimson face spoke only too plainly of a life spent in the devil’s service.

“Well, what do you want?” he shouted.

“I want to see Mr. Williams,” I said mildly.

“Well, you’ve seen him,” and in another moment the door was slammed in my face.

Nothing daunted, and I knocked again. Once more the door opened, and a very angry voice said, “Now what do you want?”

“I just wanted to speak to you.”

“Well, you’ve spoken to me, haven’t you?” and again the door was banged.

It took some courage to knock again, but I remembered the little praying band, and made another attempt.

For the third time the door was opened, and I won’t try to repeat the language that greeted me. When it was over I said: “I wish you would let me come in. I have something I especially want to say to you.”

To my surprise he stood back. “Come on in then,” he said sullenly. No sooner was I inside than he burst out again: “It’s those mission people that have sent you! I know them praying for me, are they?”

“Well, and why shouldn’t they pray for you?” I said.

He stared at me without answering and then said, “Well, come on,” and he almost pushed me into a barely-furnished room where he stood and faced me. “Now then, what is it you want to say to me?”

“I haven’t the least idea,” I said.

This seemed to tickle him intensely. He burst out with a roar of laughter.

“Well, that beats me,” he cried.

“Look here,” I ventured, “there’s a good meeting within a stone’s throw. There’s sure to be plenty of singing, will you come?”

Those praying must have been hard at it, for he said suddenly: “Wait a minute,” and he dashed out of the room shutting the door behind him.

I heard his voice behind the partition saying to his wife, “There’s a young fellow wants me to go to a meeting; what do you think of that?”

“And why shouldn’t you? It can’t do you no harm anyhow, but you must clean up a bit first.”

The door opened again. “I’m your man, and I’ve had a wash and brush up.”

In a remarkably short time we were trudging along arm in arm. I thought I must have looked like David walking alongside of Goliath. He was so huge and I was so small. We reached the hall and I steered my man up near the front as far as I could get him, and he fell into a chair which protested quite loudly.

I cannot remember much about the service, but the message was given by a whole-hearted evangelist, delivered in the power of the Spirit of God. We were deeply moved; many were broken down and brought to a sense of their sin, but none more so than the man at my side. When the speaker asked any who would like to receive Christ as their Saviour to remain, he rose, and with tears running down his cheeks he staggered up the aisle. Supported by two stalwart brothers, he knelt down, crying out loud for mercy. He was so convicted of sin that it was an easy task to point him to the Saviour, and before long he was a rejoicing soul, a “new creature” in Christ Jesus.

He went on well. The once drunken blasphemer became a kind husband and father and a worker for God in the little band of Christians whose prayers had by God’s grace brought him from the power of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son.

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” Romans 11:33.

“For there is no difference... for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.” Romans 10:12.

ML-01/01/1978

Harry's Prayer

Little Harry was one day playing with some toy blocks under the table. In the same room his mother was talking to his two older sisters, but as Harry was only four years old, she did not think he would pay any attention to what she was saying.

She spoke of the Lord Jesus dying on the cross for them and told them that they must believe it for themselves to belong to Jesus. As she finished speaking she said, “Yes, and Jesus died for Harry too, little as he is.”

That night when Harry knelt to pray beside his bed, he said his usual little prayer and then paused and added, “I thank Thee, Jesus, for dying for me.”

Harry is now a grown man and for years has been a faithful worker for the Lord Jesus. But he always says he was saved at the age of four, by HEARING and BELIEVING.

“Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14.

ML-01/01/1978

Little Things

There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes:... And Jesus took the loaves:...and likewise of the fishes.” John 6:9,11.

’Twas only a small boy’s basket,

And a small boy’s love for Him.

But the gift, with the love,

Moved a power above,

And thousands were fed by Him.

Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any.” Job 36:5.

ML-01/01/1978

Confessing Christ

A young airman was posted to an aircraft carrier for the first time. He had always prayed by his bedside in the barracks. On his first night on board he slung his hammock and kneeled down underneath it. None of his shipmates took much notice of him, but one young fellow, watching the airman intently, was conscience-stricken, for he remembered the time when he used to pray beneath his hammock; but he had backslidden.

The young fellow sought out the airman and talked with him, and as a result of their conversation, the backslider was restored to the Lord. The next night there were two men kneeling beneath their hammocks.

A Bible reading was started which grew in numbers, and before the ship’s voyage was over, the toughest and worst character on board had been converted. At first no one would believe it, but his consistent life proved the glorious fact to be true. He was gratefully going on for the Lord.

“For them that honor Me I will honor!” 1 Samuel 2:30.

ML-01/01/1978

Not Afraid

A little Burmese girl was lying near death. Looking up at her kind teacher, she said, “I am not afraid to die, for Christ will call me up to heaven. He has taken away all my sins. I wish to die now, so I may go and see him. I love Jesus more than any one else.”

“He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom.” Isaiah 40:11.

ML-01/01/1978

The Sunshine of His Face

It was a terrible night. The storm was raging fearfully round a vessel far away in the Chinese Sea, off the coast of Singapore. Could the ship live through the tempest? It seemed doubtful, and many stout hearts not accustomed to tremble, were trembling now.

The men off duty were in their berths below, but it was no time for sleep; for none could say whether they might not all be swept into the angry waters long before morning. Many were feeling now—with death staring them in the face, that there was something wrong within—that the great matter between themselves and God had never yet been settled.

But a cheerful voice was heard among them: “Well, my men, I’ve come down to read to you: the Word of God is the same in the storm as in a calm, and always does us good.”

The words came from a young officer who, whether on land or sea, always tried to serve God. His heart was full of the love of Jesus; he had come to the Saviour with his load of sin, and had left it there; and he had felt the perfect peace which that Saviour gives to those who trust Him in simple faith. The officer read, and talked, and prayed out of the fullness of his own spirit, rejoicing in his God.

After a while the storm abated, the howling wind sank gradually; the morning came at last, and the sun shone out on dripping decks, and torn sails, and weary workers. The danger was over and no harm had been done.

Everything went on as usual, and, as far as human eye could see, the solemn feelings of that awful night had passed away with the storm that gave rise to them. The vessel reached the port and the officer went on his way.

Some years afterward, while walking along the streets of Singapore, a man touched his hat to him. The officer stopped, and asked him how he knew him.

“O, sir,” said the man, “I have reason to know you, and much indeed to thank you for. Do you remember the night of that terrible gale off St. P—-? I was lying in my hammock in fear and trembling, when I saw you come down to read the Bible to the men. I could not hear a word you said, but I could see your face, and I watched you the whole time. I saw your bright, happy smile, just the same as ever. I said to myself, ‘Here I am an old sailor, many years at sea, and I am afraid now in this gale, and here’s a young man as happy as if he were ashore!’

“I felt that you had what I had not; I felt that you had what I heard you say you had—forgiveness of sins and eternal life. I prayed that night. Afterwards I came near you when you were reading, and when I left the ship, I was a believer in Jesus Christ.”

“He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [judgment]; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24.

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee.”

Isaiah 26:3.

ML-01/01/1978

Name the Place

First, Christ to His disciples said, (Matt. 28)

The last to shoot through boards was made, (Ex. 36)

Now put “de” in between;

And the place where a lame man dwelt is seen. (2 Sam. 9)

Can you name him who in great grace

Brought back the lame man from that place?

ML-01/01/1978

To Save An Enemy

Memory Verse: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9

In one of the battles of the civil war, a Union officer lay wounded. The fire was so fierce that his comrades could not remove him, and there he lay between the two armies. The poison in his wound and loss of blood created such a burning thirst that he kept crying out, “Water, water, won’t somebody bring me some water?”

Finally a tenant named Littlejohn, in the Confederate army, turned to his men and said, “Boys, I have a mind to go down and take that man a drink of water.”

“Don’t do it,” they said. “You wouldn’t live a moment.”

However, at the cries of the wounded man, Littlejohn’s eyes filled with tears and he said, “I can’t stand that. I’m going to carry that poor fellow some water if I die in the attempt.” Then filling his canteen, he strapped it to his side. Climbing over a wall, where the bullets were flying like hail, he went down to the wounded man, and holding the canteen to his mouth he gave him all the cool water he could drink. Then bracing him up with a knapsack under his shoulder, he put the canteen against his breast, so that he could help himself as often as he wished.

When they saw what a noble thing the young lieutenant was doing, both sides cheered as he clambered back over the wall and returned safely.

Truly it was a noble deed, and done for an enemy. How forcibly it brings to mind another deed which the world can never forget. Long ago the Lord Jesus looked down from heaven and saw men lying wounded and stricken on the battle field of life in this sin-cursed world. Sin creates a feverish thirst and unrest, and men look everywhere for peace, but in vain. “For there is no peace, saith my God to the wicked.” Then, not at the risk of His life, but at the cost of it, the Son of God came down to quench and satisfy that burning thirst.

“If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink,” He said.

And how did the world treat Him who came to bring salvation? They rejected Him, they despised Him, they sent Him back to heaven with the words, “Not wanted!” plainly written on His pierced hands, His bleeding brow, and wounded side. But the Lord Jesus laid down His life so that in resurrection perishing sinners like us might drink the living stream of life and never thirst again.

“He that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.” John 6:35.

“Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17.

ML-01/08/1978

A Little Chinese Martyr

During the boxer revolution in China many years ago Christians and lovers of the Scriptures were cruelly persecuted and slain—often in large numbers.

Little Ming, whose father had already been murdered because of his faith, hid herself in a cornfield to escape her persecutors. Her fiendish enemies discovered her, however, and demanded to know where her father had hidden his Bible, as they wished to destroy it. The wicked men threatened the little girl with death, but she refused steadfastly to betray the hiding place of the Book of God. That precious volume had revealed the Lord Jesus to her, and was her strength and stay.

The cruel men had no pity. They soon killed the faithful young witness, and she was numbered among the many already martyred for Christ’s sake. She would rather die than give up her Bible.

“Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Revelation 2:10.

ML-01/08/1978

An Indian's Refuge

A converted Indian was one day attacked by another member of his tribe who put a gun to his head, exclaiming, “Now I’ll shoot you, for you speak nothing but Jesus.”

The Indian Christian replied, “If Jesus does not permit you, you can’t shoot me.”

The man was so surprised at this answer that he dropped his gun and went home in silence.

“I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust... He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust.” Psalms 91:2,4.

ML-01/08/1978

Thank God for Reason

The workman visiting a large mental hospital was surprised when one of the patients asked him, “Young man, did you ever thank God for your reason?”

Awestruck he answered, “No.” “Then do it now,” came the reply, “for I have lost mine.”

“And they come to Jesus, and see him [the man]... sitting and clothed, and in his right mind.” Mark 5:15.

ML-01/08/1978

"Me Too!"

Little Janie was taken to a gospel meeting one evening, where the preacher was telling the sweet story of Jesus’ love. Janie listened carefully. At the end of the service, the preacher asked all to come to the Saviour. What do you think little Janie did? She stood right up and called out, “Me too!”

Yes, Janie was only a little girl, but she was big enough to know that she was a sinner, and that Jesus loved her and died for her. From that day, Janie wanted others to know Him too, so she got some Scripture story books, and lent them to her friends in the village.

Do you love Jesus? Have you said, “Me too"?

“Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14.

ML-01/08/1978

Little Cho

Cho, a little Christian Japanese boy, went to school without eating any breakfast.

“Why didn’t you eat your breakfast?” his teacher asked. “Didn’t you have anything to eat in the house?”

“Oh, yes,” said Cho. “We had plenty to eat; but this morning I got up late and only had time to read my Bible. That’s why I came to school without any breakfast.”

ML-01/08/1978

Who Was Ha?

METZIROAREM

Rearrange these letters to name a musician mentioned in 1 Chronicles 25.

ML-01/08/1978

A Prisoner Set Free

An African king once had unjustly seized a white man and put him in prison. To make sure he didn’t escape, he had heavy chains attached to his feet.

After some months had gone by, the weary prisoner was allowed to leave his cell though still loaded with his chains.

One day another white man discovered him, but he was too closely watched by the king’s guards to give the prisoner any help; however, he got permission to give him a book. The prisoner was much disappointed. He did not care much for books, so he threw the book aside and forgot all about it.

Three years went by. Then one day he thought about the book and took it up to amuse himself. As he was holding it, he felt something hard under the cover. Quickly he pulled it open, and what should he find but a file — the very thing he had wished for so long!

Without losing a moment, he started off to the forest where he could not be seen, and there hour after hour he filed away diligently at his chains. At last one day, to his great joy, they fell off from him, and he succeeded in making his escape. His only regret was that he had been so long in making use of the gift, and neglected the means of his deliverance for those three long years.

Is there anything we have neglected?

Have we neglected the Holy Scriptures? Perhaps for long years the old Book Mother gave us has been unopened—the book she made us promise to read. Alas, it has too often lain covered with dust and neglected while we were the servants of sin!

Faith in Christ and in His work of redemption on the cross will deliver us from our chains of sin. Those chains may be very strong and heavy, and we may be hardly able to move, but like the chains gave way before the prisoner’s file, so when we by faith see that Jesus has taken our place on the cross and died for our sins, then the power of Satan is broken. For faith brings in the power of God, our fetters are broken, our sins are gone, and we are free—forever! We can go on our way rejoicing in Christ’s salvation and in the glorious liberty of the children of God. O what a Saviour!

ML-01/08/1978

Under Pacific Skies

Memory Verse: “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Hebrews 8:12

Under the stars of an alien sky, somewhere in the Pacific, young Philip Welsher, a Marine, breathed his last. Mother and Dad and his beloved home were far away; horror, violence, devastation and death were all around. But Phil was “looking up,” far beyond the stars into the face of his Saviour.

Phil’s last message to his Mother and Father was written sometime before his death. His pals found it among his few possessions and mailed it home at once, in accordance with his request found on the envelope. He wrote: Dear Folks: I am writing this letter in the hope that after my death it will be forwarded to you. My purpose in writing is twofold. First, that you may be assured that while we are temporarily separated, we know that we shall soon be joined together with Christ in the presence of God. As I write this, I am in very little danger, but who can tell what the morrow may bring?

As I pass on, I wish to leave behind me a testimony to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that God may be glorified in my death... Today, knowing that I may very soon be called into His presence, I can say that I am trusting only in Jesus Christ who died as a sacrifice for my sins that I might have eternal life. He paid the price with His own precious blood, and by simple faith in Him, I am cleansed from all unrighteousness.

I am now with Jesus, and all is well with my soul. Jesus said: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.” John 11:25.

My second purpose in writing this letter, Dad, is that you might make the way of salvation clear to a friend to whom I have written a similar letter. Give the message as from me that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:3,4.

Dry your tears, Mom: a son has been called Home where he waits to be joined by the dearest parents a boy could have. Perhaps consolation may be found in knowing that when we shall again be together, it shall be even as He promised: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation 21:4.

Now, for just a little while, I would say, good-bye, and God be with you till we meet again.

Your loving son, Phil.

ML-01/15/1978

Peggy's New Testament

Peggy was just a little girl, and her parents were very poor. A kind man gave her a New Testament, and asked her to read a few verses of it every day. Peggy was delighted, but her parents were angry and threatened to take the precious Book away from her.

However, Peggy was so interested in her Book and the wonderful things it told her, that she could not stop reading it; so she dug a hole in the garden, lined it with pieces of wood, and then put a wooden lid on top. She covered the lid with a light layer of dirt. Into this strange place she put her precious Testament, taking every opportunity she could to read it.

Dear Peggy learned from the Book the way of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. She came to trust Him as her Saviour, and became one of His faithful followers. Nor did it end there. Her parents, seeing the wonderful change in their little daughter’s life, gave her liberty to read her Testament in the house, and by this means they were both brought to know the Saviour as their own.

Dear friends, you may not have such hindrance placed in your way by those at home as Peggy did, but has your heart been won for Christ?

“Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13.

ML-01/15/1978

Bible Searching in Genesis 22

Who was it of whom God did say, “Take now thine only son,

And on a mountain offer him and I’ll tell thee which one"?

Who was the brother of the man who was the friend of God,

Of whom he heard some news, as at Beer-Sheba he abode?

Who was it said to his young men,

Abide here with the ass,

And taking wood, and fire and knife, he on his way did pass?

On what day did Abraham lift up his eyes and see,

The place which God did tell him of and told him there to be?

From whence did Abraham hear the angel’s voice when to him he did call, And say, “Lay not thine hand upon the lad; nor do him harm at all"?

When Abraham an altar built and wood thereon did lay,

Who did he bind and lay thereon just as the Lord did say?

When in the morning one arose and saddled up his ass,

What did he to the wood before he on his way did pass?

When on the altar Isaac lay, bound, and laid on the wood,

What was it in his hand he took, who on the mountain stood?

Whose gate was it that God did say would surely be possessed,

And also that in them the future nations would be blessed?

How many young men went that day with their master and his son,

And started on their journey when day had not long begun?

ML-01/15/1978

"I Am the Door"

In a small town some boys used to come together and have a prayer meeting. A little girl named Sue was passing by and heard them singing. She stopped to listen, and thinking it was just an ordinary prayer meeting, open to all, she tried to get in. Reaching up her hand she pulled the latch, but the door would not open; it was fastened inside.

As she turned away, Sue thought, “What if this were the door of heaven, and I was left outside?”

The little girl went home, but could not sleep. Day after day she became more troubled at the thought of being shut outside the door of heaven.

One day she was reading John’s Gospel, chapter 10, and came to the words where the Lord Jesus says: “I am the door; by Me if any man enter in he shall be saved.” Sue paused and reread the verse again and again. Then by faith she entered in and was joyfully saved. And so may you, dear reader, by receiving the Lord Jesus as your Saviour.

I am the Door, the words are but four,

Millions are in, and there’s room for more.

The door’s open wide, come right inside,

And thou shalt be saved.

“FOR I AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST: FOR IT IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION TO EVERY ONE THAT BELIEVETH.” Romans 1:16.

ML-01/15/1978

"May I Address the Meeting?"

A young fellow came pushing his way to the platform; “Please, Sir, may I address the meeting?” said he.

Very surprised, I replied: “I hardly know you; what do you want to say?”

“Only this. I came here this evening with those other fellows at the back there, just to make fun of it all. You may have noticed us carrying on while the other man was speaking. But I can’t stand up against what I have heard; I have given in and asked Christ to receive me. And I want to tell the people.”

“Oh, then by all means come up here,” I said.

So up he came. His knees were literally knocking together for nervousness, but, clearing his throat, he began: “Lots of you people know me, and you don’t know any good about me. But tonight I have taken Christ for my Saviour. I believe He has saved me, and now, as long as I live, I never want to be bad again.”

The dear fellow was in dead earnest. There were tears in his voice, if not in his eyes. But salvation does not make us perfect. We are still weak and prone to sin, though our Lord and Saviour gives us power to resist temptation when we seek His help. We have to learn our own helplessness by experience. As to this young fellow, he had many a slip and did wrong many a time, but he had a real Saviour. He learned that He is a Saviour from the power, the love, and the practice of sin as well as from its guilt and penalty.

ML-01/15/1978

A Prodigal's Surprise

At a gospel meeting one night a man told this remarkable story.

He had gotten off at the train Depot one day, nothing more than a homeless tramp. He begged on the streets for a living for a whole year. Then one day, hungry and wretched, he touched a man on the shoulder and said, “Mister, please give me a dime!” As soon as he saw the man’s face he knew that it was his old father whom he hadn’t seen for years.

“Father, don’t you know me?” he exclaimed.

Throwing his arms around his son, the old man cried: “I have found you! I have found you! All I have is yours!”

“Think of it, men!” the man went on. “There I was a tramp, standing there begging my father for ten cents, when for many years he had been looking for me, longing to give me all he had!”

How vast is the love of God, “For God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8.

Long before we ever loved Him, He loved us and planned to shower us with his richest blessings in Christ. He has “blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,” and He has taken us into favor in Him, the beloved One (Eph. 1:3,5).

ML-01/15/1978

All Wiped Out

Memory Verse: “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” John 11:25

School didn’t come easy to Tom. When he started the new semester, he found the work assigned to him very difficult. Even when his teacher carefully explained the lesson, he still couldn’t seem to understand. He studied hard, but even then in his tests he hardly made passing grades.

Poor Tom determined to do better, but week after week went by and there was little improvement. This sad state of affairs continued until half the term had passed.

Then after the start of the second semester things took a turn for the better. Tom’s grades began to improve, and one day his teacher remarked, “Tom, I am proud of you. You have been trying hard and it is paying off now.” Tom worked still harder, his grades continued to improve, and soon he was among the best in his class.

At last the school year came to an end, and it was announced that there would be an open house for parents and friends to come and see the boys’ and girls’ accomplishments during the past year. Poor Tom dreaded the thought that his work and his poor grades for the first semester would be out on display for everyone to see. What would his parents say when they saw how often he had failed? How he wished he could do something to get rid of the bad part of his record so that his parents could see only the good!

Open house came, and after the program the students and teachers went to their classrooms to await the visit of the parents. Tom was nervous and uneasy, but at last the moment arrived when the door opened and his father and mother stepped into the room. They went at once to the large bulletin board where the workbooks were posted on display.

Tom watched in amazement as his parents, turning the pages of his book, instead of looking with disappointment on his record exchanged glances of evident happiness and pride. He had been so ashamed of his grades that he thought there must be a mistake. But Mother and Dad smiled at him reassuringly and then they talked with his teacher.

Tom would see for himself, so walking quietly over to the board, he turned the first few pages of his book. There to his delight he found that his good-hearted teacher had removed the first pages where his work was so poor and all that remained was the good half. Tears of gratitude welled up in his eyes as he turned to his kind teacher who read the expression of thanks on his face. She had wanted his parents to see only the good.

Isn’t this what our blessed Lord has done in a more wonderful way for all those who trust Him as their Saviour? He has taken away all the bad, and by His precious death He has put away all our sins. Now the Father can see only the perfect work of Christ, His dear Son, in His children.

“Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Hebrews 8:12.

I look not back; God knows the fruitless effort,

The wasted hours, the sinning, the regrets;

I leave them all with Him who blots the record,

And graciously forgives, and then forgets.

Can you say, dear reader,

On the Lamb my soul is resting;

What His love no tongue can say!

All my sins so great so many

In His blood are washed away?

ML-01/22/1978

He's Mine!

A Christian man tells the story of how the day after he first landed in Corsica, he distributed in the streets of Bastia some gospel tracts which were gladly received by all. He had brought with him from the hotel one small New Testament and had given it at the Old Port to a quiet-mannered, sad-looking lady in black. She had kept asking him for it. Four months later while walking on the Piazza, he was met by this same lady, who smilingly reminded him of the little book.

“Have you read it?” he asked. “Yes, Signor.”

“What have you found in it?”

"I have found Jesus Christ in it.”

“And who is Jesus Christ?”

“My Saviour.”

Oh how deep and precious is the joy of being able to say, “We have found Him” (John 1:45). “He is mine.”

ML-01/22/1978

Whiter Than Snow

Who doesn’t enjoy riddles? Even the Word of God contains riddles. Have you ever tried to find out the answer to Samson’s riddle in Judges 14:12,13 and 14? It has a very wonderful answer.

One day a teacher overheard some of her small school girls asking riddles. They were all different and some had amusing answers.

At last one little girl named Barbara asked a riddle no one could answer-not even the teacher, listening in, could think what the answer could be.

The riddle was, “What is whiter than snow?”

“I know,” said one; “it’s a fleecy white cloud!”

But that was not the answer. Then another girl said, “The white of an egg beaten up!” Still another said, “A pure white linen handkerchief;” and yet another, “A pile of fleecy white wool.” But no one could give Barbara the answer she wanted. Both the girls and the teacher had to give up.

“Tell us the answer, Barbara!” they all cried.

Barbara was a little Christian girl and this was her answer: “A heart that is washed in Jesus’ precious blood is made ‘whiter than snow.’ " She had learned that at Sunday school.

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

“Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Psalms 51:7.

ML-01/22/1978

Jesus and Zacchaeus

And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.

And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.

And he sought to see Jesus who He was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.

And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him; for He was to pass that way.

And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.

And he made haste, and came down, and received Him joyfully.

And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That He was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.

And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham.

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

ML-01/22/1978

Jesus Loves the Little Mexicans

In Texas once a little Mexican girl came to the Sunday school. There she heard things she had never known before. She learned of the Saviour’s love, and opened her heart to Him.

However, she felt there a difference between her and the white children, for sometimes the little white children were unkind to her. One day she went to the head teacher and asked, “Does the Lord Jesus love little white children more than He loves the Mexican children?”

She was told that the Lord Jesus loves all the little children, red or yellow, black or white, “All are precious in His sight!” Satisfied, she left the hall and soon returned with four other Mexican children.

“I wasn’t going to bring them to Sunday school,” she explained, “until I knew that Jesus loves them, too!”

ML-01/22/1978

Find the Words

We read, “If any would not——,

Neither should he eat";

Again, “the sleep of a laboring—

Is sweet";

Next, you’ll find that which

The prophet Jonah found,

Although he found it not

Upon the ground.

Place all together

And you shall see

What those in Christ

Are said to be.

(Read 2 Thessalonians 3; Ecclesiastes 5; Jonah 1; Ephesians 2)

ML-01/22/1978

Charlie the Moonshiner

In the Kentucky mountains an evangelist had been holding some gospel meetings and had the joy of seeing souls saved by the grace of God. However, the work was not without disturbances, for the drunken element would come and often “shoot up” the meeting. Things got so bad that women and children were afraid to attend.

However, the break came when Charlie Harris, one of the worst men in the community, got saved. Prior to his conversion he had cared nothing for his wife and family. He was always on hand at the meetings, drunk, and with his gun and moonshine, which he would sell outside the little school-house where the meetings were held.

One night he was shot, and soon after his two children died. This sobered Charlie, and one evening he sat in the school room, two seats from the front, and listened to the gospel message.

After the service he came up to the front and said, “I want to be saved!” The evangelist and others knelt down with him, and that night Charlie took Christ as his Saviour and Lord.

It seemed almost too good to be true. Many of those who knew Charlie said it wouldn’t last long; he would soon be drunk again and shooting up the meeting. But the change was real, for it was the work of God, and Charlie began to grow in grace and to be concerned for the needs of others.

He was especially concerned for the children. When the evangelist came back from a month’s absence, he found a Sunday school in progress, and they had asked Charlie to be superintendent. He had never been in a Sunday school before, in fact, he had never heard of one. Then not long after that they started a weekly prayer meeting.

Charlie was a very humble man, with nothing of this world’s goods, yet he was rich in Christ and heavenly things. He would walk 20 miles to talk to a man about his salvation, such was his love for souls.

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Titus 2:11-14.

ML-01/22/1978

Who Am I?

You read of me often in God’s holy Word,

But the name I was known by was changed by the Lord.

My first is in bushel (No light should be hid!);

It’s also in fishing, which sometimes I did.

My second’s in seaside as well as in hill;

My third is in mother (My wife’s became ill!)

My fourth is in money, and also in fold;

My last is in golden, but never in gold. (John 1)

ML-01/22/1978

A Fight with a Shark

Memory Verse: “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:17

Andrew Heyns, of Cape Coast, Africa, was awarded a medal for a very heroic deed.

His young nephew, John, was swimming in the Bay, thoroughly enjoying himself. Andrew was standing on shore, when to his awful dismay he saw the fin of a huge shark knifing through the waves and making for the boy. Without thinking twice he plunged into the water in hope of helping his nephew, though he knew it might mean death for both of them.

His long powerful strokes soon brought him to within reach of John and immediately he began to pull him to shore. The shark had disappeared temporarily, but again its terrible shape was seen making towards them. It had already severely bitten the boy’s left leg, and this time it took hold of his right foot.

Andrew pulled and struggled to liberate John in the faint hope of saving his life. With one last effort he succeeded, but John’s right foot and ankle were badly mangled. The shark disappeared beneath the waves, and the two made for shore. John had been conscious through it all, but when brought to shore, he lapsed into unconsciousness and was taken to a hospital.

That monster shark brought terror and death. So does sin. It fills us with profound horror to think of this great monster, sin, dragging down its victims. Sin condemns us now. “He that believeth not is condemned already.” John 3:36; and if you are unforgiven upon earth, it will bring you into eternal condemnation, for “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27. Such is one’s peril if out of Christ.

But the glad note of the gospel brings this message, “Unto you is born a Saviour.” Luke 2:11; “Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21.

The Lord Jesus saw us in our desperate need, and of His own voluntary will He came from heaven to rescue perishing sons of men. He gave His life a ransom for us (1 Tim. 2:6).

Listen again to the most wonderful words ever spoken: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

For “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

ML-01/29/1978

Tempted - Deceived!

One day a gardener in one of the big parks saw a fine, little, pedigreed dog following a man who was shabbily dressed. Patsy, the dog, kept sniffing at the man’s pant-leg. This made the gardener suspicious. He stopped the man, and discovered that he had placed a savory piece of meat inside the cuff on his pant-leg. It had been placed there to entice the little dog away from her home. The gardener rescued Patsy just in the nick of time, and the deceived dog was returned to its owner.

Satan is the great deceiver and tempter. He uses many different baits to tempt boys and girls away from the Lord and into sin. But the Lord Jesus came to rescue tempted and deceived ones, and will keep all who put their trust in Him.

“Be not deceived.” Galatians 6:7.

The Lord is “able to save” (Heb. 7:25), and “able to keep” (Jude 24).

Ask the Saviour to help you,

Comfort, strengthen and keep you,

He is willing to aid you,

He will carry you through.

ML-01/29/1978

The Low Knocker

One day I called to see the matron at a little private orphanage. Some of the children there had been attending our gospel services. I walked up the steps, but could not see the knocker! I looked all about, and at last noticed that it was very low down near the bottom of the door. So of course I had to stoop down to knock. I asked the lady why she had the knocker in the wrong place, and she explained that some of her orphans were very small, and could not reach it if it had been put in the usual place higher up on the door.

“Oh, that is beautiful,” I said, “to think that the smallest child can reach the knocker because it is so low down!”

And, dear young friends, the knocker is very low down on God’s door of mercy, so that any little child can easily get in. Have you knocked yet? The blessed Saviour has told us, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.” John 10:9.

ML-01/29/1978

Bible Acrostic

An archer who lived in the wilderness. (Gen. 21)

Peter’s brother. (John 1)

Mary’s sister. (John 11)

A disciple whom Paul loved. (Acts 16)

The mount of God (Ex. 3)

He fell out of a window. (Acts 20)

City where Saul lived. (Acts 9)

He sought to save his brother, Joseph. (Gen. 37)

Land where Abram once lived. (Gen. 15)

Timothy’s mother. (2 Tim. 10)

A drink they gave the Lord on the cross. (Matt. 27)

Jacob’s new name. (Gen. 32)

A captain who was a leper. (2 Kings 5)

He was plowing when Elijah passed. (1 Kings 19)

The initial letter of their names will form part of a verse in John 15.

ML-01/29/1978

The Brazen Serpent

The bitten people lay upon the ground

Dying and dead;

And still, the fearful serpents hovered round,

And terror spread,

Till Israel God’s strange remedy received,

And on the brazen serpent “looked and lived.”

That was a shadow dimly setting forth

A greater thing:

The sufferings and death, the matchless worth,

Of Christ we sing;

No life, no merit had that brazen sign,

But Jesus’ excellence is all divine.

Looking to Him alone, by precious faith,

God’s spotless Lamb,

We’re saved from wrath and everlasting death,

From guilt and shame

To Him and not the cross on which He died;

Our only hope is Christ, the Crucified.

And only looking, thence our life proceeds,

And we are blest;

Not from our tears, or prayers, or holy deeds

Expect we rest;

Yet, looking unto Him, for sin we mourn,

And righteousness and truth our lives adorn.

Oh to be looking all our earthly days

To Christ the Lord,

Trusting His merits, showing forth His praise

By deed and word!

Then go to see Him face to face above,

Completely healed, forever filled with love

ML-01/29/1978

Harden Not Your Heart

Fred was one of eleven children. His father was a much-blessed servant of Christ who sought to bring up his children “in the fear and admonition of the Lord.” Although most of his brothers and sisters accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, Fred hardened his heart to the gospel and allowed Satan to turn his thoughts to other things. He soon got into bad company and was led further down the path of sin. He started to drink and got in trouble with the law. His parents and relatives pled with him many times to turn from his downward course, but Fred ignored their pleadings. Finally his parents had to ask him to leave home because of his bad influence on his younger brothers and sisters.

Fred was a grown man when war broke out. With the war came bombing raids that brought terror and destruction and death. During one of the raids, while Fred was helping to put out the fires, one of the bombs hit him and he was killed instantly.

Just four days before Fred died one of his brothers had pled with him once more to turn to Christ from his evil ways. He reminded Fred of the danger of putting off salvation until it would be forever too late. Fred said he did not expect to live through the war, but in spite of this sense of impending disaster he once again rejected the free gift of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

When Fred’s relatives heard of his death, the Lord brought the verse to their minds, “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” Proverbs 29:1.

“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” Hebrews 2:3.

ML-01/29/1978

Ellen's Faith

A gospel meeting was in progress in a seacoast town when a message was sent up front to the speaker as follows: “Thanksgiving to God is desired of this congregation by the captain, passengers and crew of the Princess Anne, for their merciful deliverance from shipwreck during the late awful storm.”

The following day the preacher went on board the ship as she lay in the harbor and was chatting with a passenger when a lady came up and spoke to him.

“Oh sir,” she said, “what a wonderful blessing personal faith in Christ must be! Never did I see it more displayed than in my maid, Ellen, during the storm.

“When we expected every wave to swallow and send us to the bottom, and my mind was in such horrible fear—I was afraid to die—Ellen would come to me and say, with all possible calmness, ‘Never mind, missee. Look to Jesus Christ. He made—He rule—de sea!!

“And when, sir, we neared the shore, and did not know where we were, fearing every minute to be dashed on the rocks, Ellen said, with the same peace as before, ‘Don’t fear, missee. Look to Jesus Christ. He de Rock. No shipwreck on dat Rock. He save to de utmost. Don’t fear, missee. Look to Jesus Christ!’ "

The preacher wished, of course, to see this dear soul, poor, yet rich in faith. So she was called; and, in the presence of the sailors, the following conversation took place.

“Well, Ellen, I am glad to find you know something of Jesus Christ.”

“Jesus Christ, sir? Oh, He be very good to my soul! Jesus Christ! oh, He very dear to me!”

“How long is it since you knew the Saviour?”

“Why, sir, some time ago I hear Mr. Williams preach about de blessed Jesus. He say to us folks, de blessed Jesus come down from heaven. He pity we poor sinners. We die or He die—He die, so we no die. He suffer on de cross—He shed His precious blood—for we poor sinners. I feel me a sinner; I cry; I pray to Jesus, and He wash me in His precious blood. He save me!”

“And when did you see Mr. Williams last?”

“Sir, de fever take him; he lie in bed. He call us black people and say, ‘Come round de bed, my children. I go to be with Jesus... May you meet me before God; and den he fall asleep... He sleep till de trumpet of de archangel wake him.”

“For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed... Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

ML-01/29/1978

Water in the Ship

It is not the ship being in the water, but the water in the ship, that sinks her. So it is not our being in the world but the world in us that is so fatal.

ML-01/29/1978

Fulor's New Weapon

Memory Verse: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

Fulor was a hardened criminal in the town of Iramble, Brazil; he always carried two revolvers in his belt. Most of the townspeople were terrified of him and even the police feared him. He did as he liked and no one dared challenge him.

One day a gospel preacher arrived in Iramble to visit relatives. One of the relatives knew Fulor, and told the preacher about the gunman.

“I must see him,” said the preacher, “and tell him about the Saviour.”

So the preacher visited the dreaded Fulor. Fulor listened to every word the preacher said, and at the end of their conversation he accepted a New Testament.

The next day the preacher was holding a gospel meeting in his niece’s home. Just before the meeting began there was a stir among those present. Murmurs went round the room. Fulor had just come in! He sat quietly and listened thoughtfully. Afterward Fulor spoke to the preacher about his sins.

“Will God forgive even me?” he asked. The preacher assured Fulor that if he was sorry for his sinful life and took Christ as his Saviour, he would be saved for all eternity. Fulor did receive the Lord and was converted that day.

The following day the chief of police was looking out of his office window. Surely that could not be Fulor walking through the station door! But a few moments later there was a knock at the door, and in walked Fulor. In his hands were two revolvers. The police chief gasped. “This gunman has actually dared to walk into the police station and hold me up,” he thought. He thought too of his sick wife and children at home.

But Fulor placed the revolvers on the desk. “Chief,” he said, “please sell these two guns and buy some medicine for your sick family. Now I belong to Jesus, and my weapon is this.” Fulor drew from his pocket the New Testament the preacher had given to him the day before his conversion. “I have been a terrible sinner,” said Fulor, “but thanks be to God, Jesus has taken my sins away.”

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

“Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him.” Hebrews 7:25.

ML-02/05/1978

Sambo's Friend

A man had some hens and roosters. For some unknown reason, several of the young hens would often behave in a naughty way towards one of the old ones.

There was an old dog next door named Sambo who liked to visit the hens. Every time he came near, the old hen would take refuge on Sambo’s back. The dog, looking as grave as a judge, would never bark at the noisy young hens who made such a cackling at his feet. He would never allow one of them to fly up and disturb his old friend. He was truly a friend in need, and the old hen just loved him!

But there is another Friend in heaven, and He is better than any friend on earth. He is the dear Lord Jesus. He is the best Friend that a boy or girl can ever have. Is He your Friend? He will never forsake one who trusts in Him.

“There is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24.

ML-02/05/1978

The Samaritan

The robbers had plundered and left him half dead;

The ground with his blood all around was dyed red;

They’d stripped him of raiment, of silver and gold,

And left him exposed to the heat or the cold.

The scribe and the Levite his misery saw,

But both passed him by, though both knew the law.

Anon, a Samaritan, coming that way,

Perceived the poor man as he helplessly lay,

All naked and bare, drawing near to the grave,

And mark how he helped this poor man to save.

He dressed his sore wounds-attended and fed

The man whom he found stripped bare and half dead.

So Jesus the Lord in mercy draws nigh

To those who are lost, and ready to die;

He looks on their woe, and pities their case,

He shows them His blood and plentiful grace;

Assures them their sins are freely forgiven,

And says ’tis His will that they meet Him in heaven.

Dear reader, do you feel sorrow for sin?

Does conscience accuse, and fear dwell within?

Are groanings and tears your sorrowful meat?

Do you want to sit down at Jesus’ blest feet?

Oh follow Him hard, nor fear He’ll refuse,

The soul that is taught this portion to choose.

ML-02/05/1978

Safe in Jesus' Fold

“I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.” John 10:11.

I was lost, a little lamb,

Out of Jesus’ fold,

Faint with hunger and with fear,

In the dark and cold.

Jesus missed me, though a lamb,

Little, lone and weak,

And He could not rest for love,

He the lost must seek.

Now I’m safe, a little lamb,

Safe in Jesus’ fold,

Jesus found and brought me in

From the dark and cold.

Is He glad, and am not I—

I who went astray,

Glad that He has brought me back

To the heavenly way?

ML-02/05/1978

Don't Delay

Jurgen was the oldest boy in his family. When he was sixteen years old, his father died and Jurgen went to work in the coal mine to support his mother and his brothers and sisters. At noontime Jurgen and the other workers at the mine would sit and eat their lunches together.

One of the young men who worked with Jurgen was a Christian, and one day he told Jurgen and the other men about the Lord Jesus and of His love for sinners. Not many days later Jurgen fell down a deep mine shaft and was killed instantly. We don’t know if Jurgen believed the gospel message and accepted Christ as his Saviour.

The Bible says, “Behold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation,” and “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?”

ML-02/05/1978

His Goodness Will Find A Way

An old lady once lived alone in a little low cottage by the roadside. She was very poor, but her needs were supplied day by day by the hand of the Lord, which she ever acknowledged as the hand that supplied her, whatever or whoever the instrument might be. She would always say, “The Lord sent it.”

One day some naughty boys, thinking to have some fun at the old lady’s expense, climbed onto her roof and tossed a loaf of bread down the chimney. A few minutes later they knocked at her door, and pretending to take an interest in her welfare, they asked how she was getting on.

“The Lord sent me a loaf of bread,” she said.

At this they all laughed, saying it was not the Lord, “but it was we who put that down your chimney.”

“Well,” returned the old lady, “I am sure the Lord sent it, even if the devil brought it.”

How true the words of the poet, When the Lord’s people have a need, His goodness will find out a way.”

ML-02/05/1978

When to Trust Christ

“Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him.” Psalms 62:8.

Trust Him in the shadow,

Trust Him in the night,

He will never fail thee,

Trust His love and might.

Trust His wisdom ever,

Trust His tender care,

He will leave thee never,

Till His Home you’ll share.

“For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5.

ML-02/05/1978

God's Patience With Hans

Hans lived in a big city in Europe. His parents loved the Lord, and they often told Hans about Jesus and of how He came down to earth and died on the cross for sinners. They told him that the Bible says, “all have sinned,” that “there is none righteous, no not one,” but “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:9.

When Hans was nine years old war broke out. Planes would fly over the city where Hans lived and drop bombs on the houses and the people. Hans soon learned to listen for the air-raid signals and to run for the bomb shelters as soon as he heard them go off. He knew that he might be hurt or even killed if he was not in a shelter when the bombs fell.

During one air-raid a bomb struck the house of Hans’ friend Frederick. When the raid was over, they found poor Frederick dead beneath the rubble. Hans helped carry Frederick’s body away. He thought, “If I had died instead of Frederick, I would not have gone to heaven because I don’t belong to the Lord.”

The war ended when Hans was fifteen years old and there were no more bombings. But Hans was still in danger. He was in danger of spending eternity in the lake of fire because he still had not listened to the warning in Luke 13:5 that says, “except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

One day Hans went swimming. A girl who couldn’t swim got into deep water and started to sink. Hans, who was a good swimmer, went to save her, but in her fright she clutched him so tightly that they both began to sink together. Another man finally pulled them both to safety. Again Hans thought, “If I had drowned, I would have gone to hell because I don’t belong to Christ.” For awhile he was bothered by these thoughts, but his unsaved friends turned his mind off on other things.

One night Hans came home from a gospel meeting and told his mother that he did not like the speaker because of the funny faces he made while he was talking. His mother felt that the Lord was speaking to her son. She invited a Christian friend to their house. He talked to Hans about the love of the Lord for sinners and warned him of the judgment awaiting all who reject Him. He quoted John 3:18 that says, “He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Hans’ heart and conscience were now touched. He felt what a sinner he was and how greatly he needed the Saviour. He asked the Lord Jesus for forgiveness and received Him by faith into his heart.

After that he went and told his friends what the Lord had done for him. He told them, too, that they needed to accept Christ as their Saviour.

“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2.

ML-02/05/1978

"He Died for Me!"

Riding on the train some time ago I took from my pocket a little booklet bearing the title, “The Man Jesus Christ,” and handed it to a bright-looking young girl on the opposite seat, with the remark, “Do you know that Man?” Her simple, fervently expressed reply was, “He died for me.”

ML-02/05/1978

Tim, the Pick-Pocket

Memory Verse: “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.” Jeremiah 17:7

Tim was a clever pick-pocket. “Here’s a good one,” he said one day to himself as he saw a fat bulge in the hip-pocket of a man in front of him. “Easy does it,” he muttered silently, and he skillfully extracted what he thought was a well-filled purse and popped it safely into his jacket pocket.

When he got home, however, and sorted out his ill-gotten gains, he found to his disgust that it was only a book, and he threw it into a corner.

A few days later he noticed the Book where he had thrown it and, out of curiosity, he picked it up and started to read it. He kept on reading it-and it wasn’t very long before his life was completely changed!

Whatever book was it? It was a New Testament, and when he started to read it, it spoke to his heart and conscience. He soon realized that his way of life was all wrong, but as he read on, he found that God loved him and gave His dear Son, Jesus, to die for him so that his sins might be forgiven and his life transformed. He believed what God said, and his changed life was the result.

Some time after, holding up the very Book, he was telling how God had saved him. A man in the audience asked if he might look at the Book. He took it in his hands, and as he glanced at the fly-leaf, he said, “Ah, that’s what happened to my Testament!” It was the very man from whom the one time pick-pocket had stolen it. Now how happy the man was to find that the Book he had lost had been used by God to save the thief!

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

ML-02/12/1978

The Lion and the Conies

When Ed was at the zoo one day he stopped to watch some furry little animals in a large cage. They looked a bit like rabbits, but the sign said they were conies.

Ed was thinking they would make nice pets when suddenly there came a roar that shook the whole building. It was a lion’s roar. Before the lion could roar a second time every coney had disappeared. It almost seemed as if the ground had swallowed them up. Then the lion roared again. Looking more carefully, Ed noticed a large rock with holes in it in the back of the cage. From each hole he could see a pair of beady eyes looking out at him. Ah! that’s where the conies had hidden.

Ed thought what wise little animals the conies were. Even if the old lion could get loose in his cage, he might wear out his claws scratching at that rock, but he would never be able to have those conies for his dinner.

The Bible tells us that “the conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.” (Prov. 30:26.) It also says, “They are exceeding wise.”

Boys and girls, and older folks, too, have a Refuge like the conies, only a much safer and better place. That Refuge is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of sinners.

David found the Lord to be his Rock, and we can do the same. In Psa. 62:2 he says, “He only is my Rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.” Again, “My refuge is in God.” (vs. 7.)

The Lord Jesus said, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37.) Satan goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, (1 Peter 5:8), but those who take refuge in the Lord Jesus find in Him a safe and eternal shelter for their souls.

Those little conies had a good refuge, but those who trust in Jesus surely have a much more wonderful one!

ML-02/12/1978

"The Bible Tells Me so!"

“Jesus loves me this I know, For the Bible tells me so!”

Little Mary was playing happily on the doorstep, singing her favorite hymn. All of a sudden she stopped singing and sat quietly thinking.

“Mother,” she called; “can I have a needle and thread?”

“Why yes, dear! But what do you want a needle and thread for?”

“Oh I have to sew!” answered little Mary.

A few minutes later when mother peeked at her little daughter, she saw her busy with her sewing, her little fingers clumsily trying to do their best. As she worked she was still singing her song to herself: Jesus loves me this I know, For the Bible tells me so!”

“You are such a busy little girl today,” said Mother smiling.

“Yes,” answered Mary. “I have to sew because the Bible tells me sew,” and again she sang the line of her little hymn to explain it to Mother.

Perhaps you are smiling at little May’s mistake, but I wonder if we are as anxious to do what the Bible says as Mary was even though she was mistaken?

Here are some of the things the Bible tells us to do:

“Seek ye the Lord, while He may be found.” (Isa. 55:6.)

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:31.)

“Draw nigh to God.” (James 4:8.) “Children, obey your parents in the Lord.” (Eph. 6:1.)

“Giving thanks always for all things.” (Eph. 5:20).

“Jesus loves me this I know

For the Bible tells me so;

Little ones to Him belong,

They are weak but He is strong.”

ML-02/12/1978

Saved to Serve

Fred N. Charrington was the son of a wealthy brewer. His father sent him to college and hoped that he would eventually take over the management of the great brewery establishment. But one day when on a visit to Europe with a friend from America, William Rainsford, his friend, asked him if he knew whether he was “saved.”

At first Fred resented this question, but before they parted, William begged him to read the third chapter of John’s gospel. Fred promised he would and then he remembered an old friend had asked him to read that same chapter. He thought, “This is a curious thing. Both these friends say that they are “saved.”

He read the chapter through, and in the great mercy and love of God when he reached the last verse, “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,” he saw that Christ had finished the work for him on Calvary and by believing the good news, he was the happy possessor of eternal life.

Immediately he set about to work for Christ.

As a boy nine years old, he had taken a bundle of bills from his father’s desk and thrown them into the fire. When his father asked him why he did that, he replied that he wanted to see a blaze. Fourteen years later he flung away a huge fortune and threw in his lot with those who were seeking to reach poor boys and girls and bring them to the Saviour.

He told of how one day he saw a poor woman with her little children dragging at her skirts go to the tavern, and looking in she called to her husband inside, “Oh Tom, Tom, do give us some money. The children are crying for something to eat.” The man looked at her and his only reply was to rush out and knock her and her children down. “Sights like that,” he declared, “knocked me out of the liquor traffic.”

Not long Afterward his father was in a fatal accident, but before he passed away Fred had the joy of bringing to him the sweet and comforting words of the gospel.

For the rest of his life Fred Charrington worked and preached Christ among the poor and He had many enemies. One day when in his 73rd year, some men made a murderous attack on him. He was felled to the ground, and his life almost despaired of, but God spared him to carry on the work of the gospel. Eternity alone will reveal how many were saved and blessed through the mission work during those years.

He said: “I was born to a great inheritance worth more than a million, but it was defiled. I was born again to a greater inheritance, ‘incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven’ for me.” (1 Peter 1:4.)

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” (Rom. 1:16.)

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

ML-02/12/1978

Little Sherry

One Sunday afternoon when our Sunday School was gathering for classes, a new little girl was brought in. She was just eleven, with rosy cheeks and a happy smile. She soon made friends with all, and was known as “Little Sherry.”

Sherry came every Sunday for some weeks, and then one day her teacher asked her to stay behind for a chat. As they talked together, the teacher found that the child whom they had all learned to love was not saved.

“How can a little girl understand enough, teacher? There is plenty of time yet. I don’t want to come to Jesus until I get a little older.”

Four months later, little Sherry’s mother lay dying, and with her last breath she begged her dear girl to open her heart to the Saviour. But Sherry still held out and would not heed His voice.

Two years went by. One day her teacher had a letter from Sherry in which she said, “I am not well, and always feel so tired, and so unhappy too. I do want to belong to Jesus Christ. If only my name was in the Bible I would be quite sure that He loved me, and died for me, but I can’t believe it is really for me. Do pray for me.”

You may be sure the teacher did pray for her pupil, as she had done many times before. A little later another note came asking her teacher to please call on her right away.

Down by a canal, with chilly damp air filling a tiny room sat “little Sherry.” Though her cheeks were still rosy, and her eyes bright, the teacher could see that she was a very sick girl.

“Teacher, the doctor says I’m very sick, and that I must go to the hospital, but I am not a bit afraid, for I have opened my heart to the Lord Jesus, and He has come in.”

“Did you find your name in the Bible then, after all?”

“Yes, teacher, it is there. I knew my sins were great, and I so longed to be at rest and peace, and then one night that text came to me with new meaning, ‘Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.’ (John 6:37.) I believed it, and I say it over and over again when Satan tells me I am a sinner. I am just fourteen years old, and I think I am going to die, but I am so glad to know that I am ready. Isn’t the Lord Jesus kind to let me know that He loves me so well? The nurse says I may be gone before morning.”

Sherry was right. Before sunrise her spirit was at rest in the presence of her Lord and Saviour.

Do not wait until you are better, or older, or wiser, but let Christ who loved and died for sinners have your love, your life, your all, while you are still young.

“Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart.” (Heb. 3:7,8.)

ML-02/12/1978

James Gant

Memory Verse: “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.” 1 Peter 1:18, 19

Years ago in the history of our country many people in Africa were stolen away from their homeland and brought to the United States to be sold as slaves.

James was one of these little slave boys and lived in Texas on a big farm called a plantation. He never knew his father and mother. The family must have been separated before he was old enough to remember.

James was already big enough to do a hard day’s work when one day a man named Mr. Gant visited the plantation. Seeing all the slaves toiling hard at their work, he felt sorry for them because their lives belonged to another man. They had no chance to go to school and learn what they liked to do. He asked the owner of the plantation the price of all his slaves, and when told the figure, Mr. Gant paid the whole price for every slave on the plantation. Then calling the slaves all together, he told them that they were free and could go wherever they liked.

We can just imagine how some of them would act upon hearing the wonderful news. No doubt they clapped their hands, jumped up and down, shouted, laughed or cried. Maybe some ran over and thanked Mr. Gant for his kindness. Perhaps some couldn’t believe it.

James had no one to go to, but he had the best part of all because Mr. Gant took special notice of him and said, “Would you like to come with me?” James was happy to go with the kind friend who had set him free. So James became James Gant.

Charles Gant, grandson of James, told this lovely story, and how it reminds us of Another who loved us and paid the greatest price of all to set us free. We belonged to God who made us, but Satan came into this world and brought about man’s fall. We all became his slaves through sin, even as the Lord Jesus said, “Whoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” John 8:34.

He saw us in our misery, led on by Satan, and He pitied us. He did not need to ask “What is the price for all these slaves?” for His own Word tells us, “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23.) So He came down from heaven and paid the full price of our redemption by His death on the cross. His blood was the price, and He set us free so that we need not sin any more.

James was happy to go with his wonderful friend who had bought him and to be called by his name. And we who have been bought by the blood of Jesus are glad to follow Him and to be called by His name Christians or “Christ ones.”

“Ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Cor. 6:20.

James learned later on what it was to be bought a second time—bought with the precious blood of Christ. And he did glorify God in his life, for he became a preacher of the gospel.

ML-02/19/1978

How the Oatmeal Came

As a result of war many natives in the far East faced starvation because they could not get supplies of rice.

There was one Christian family who were in worse circumstances than many because they had a little daughter who specially needed oatmeal for cereal. This became harder and harder to get, and their precious little girl was wasting away. Her parents prayed to God about this special need, but they had no idea how such a prayer could be answered.

In the meantime an aircraft carrier arrived with supplies of food and medicine sent from kind people in many parts of the world. When the carrier anchored off the town, several sacks of oatmeal were brought up and put into the boats that were taking the food ashore. Some of the sailors remarked, “What’s the use of giving oatmeal to these people: all they want is rice!” But “orders are orders,” and the sacks of oatmeal were duly taken ashore.

The Christian father was on the dock where the goods were landed, and as everyone else made a rush for the rice, he asked what was in the unwanted sacks. He could hardly believe his ears when he heard that they contained oatmeal. For a small sum he was able to take home enough to last his little girl a long time. What grateful thanks they gave to God for such an answer to their prayers.

We do not have to know beforehand how God will answer our prayers. Our part is simply to tell Him our needs and trust His loving care. He loves us and hears His children’s prayers, so we can leave the answers to Him.

ML-02/19/1978

George's Protector

George was just a little boy and had been visiting his friend who lived on a farm some distance away. He was returning home alone when a bad thunderstorm came on, and it got very dark. His path lay through an old churchyard, and in the increasing gloom the tombstones looked like white ghosts!

Little George was really very frightened. He started to run, and he tried to whistle, when suddenly he saw a dark figure standing in the church doorway. But a familiar voice called to him—it was his father! How glad he was to hold his father’s hand. All his fears vanished at once.

When George was at school some years later, his mother entrusted his younger brother to his care.

“Take care of Harry,” she said. “He’s very small!”

One day George went into the playground and saw one of the big boys, who was a great bully, knocking little Harry around. He called to Harry, and the little fellow got away from his tormentor. Hiding behind his big brother Harry shouted, “Now come on, if you dare!” Needless to say the bully did not come near, for he was really a coward. He knew George and feared him.

George came to know the Lord Jesus as his Saviour, and later on in life he became a gospel preacher and a writer. He often thought of those incidents in his childhood. He found he had many spiritual enemies to fight, and how ready they were to take advantage of every weakness. George realized how good it was to have a strong Protector himself. He learned to call upon the Lord from the depths of his heart, and the Lord never failed to bring him the help he needed.

Dear young friends, have you given your heart to the Lord Jesus? Do you know Him as your Saviour? Can you say, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me,” because He has said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee"?

“Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.” Psa. 50:15.

ML-02/19/1978

Nothing to Pay

A visitor was riding his bicycle in the West Indies some time ago, and as it was evening when he arrived at his destination, he went into a restaurant and ordered a meal. It was promptly served and he had a good supper, but when he asked for the bill, he was surprised when the waiter told him there wasn’t anything to pay!

He couldn’t understand this. It was the first time he had been there, and he did not know the owner. He asked why it was there was no charge for his good supper.

“It’s my birthday today,” explained the proprietor, “and I always celebrate it by serving a free meal.”

“Well, thank you very much,” said the traveler. “Never before have I experienced such a thing-many happy returns to you!”

As he left he thought, “Here I am a stranger. I’ve done nothing to deserve a meal like this, yet it was given to me absolutely free.”

It reminded him of the story the Lord Jesus told to illustrate God’s great and free salvation. A great supper was provided, and when those invited wouldn’t come, all sorts of people were brought in from the streets and highways and treated to a splendid meal. It must have cost a great deal of money to provide such a feast, but although they had done nothing to deserve it, and had nothing to pay, still it didn’t cost them anything!

God’s salvation is offered free to all, but it cost the life of the blessed Lord Jesus to provide so great salvation. It is offered as a free gift to people like you and me who have done nothing to deserve it. Have you received that wonderful gift and thanked the Giver for it?

“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 6:23.

ML-02/19/1978

Forsaken

In the city of Shanghai, China, there was a man who had a large family, but sad to say he did not love them very much. He was poor, and could not buy enough food to feed them all, and so one day he said to the eldest girl, “You will have to take your little sister away, for we have too many mouths to feed.”

The eldest sister led her away to another part of that great city, and then said to her, “Wait here for a little while and I will soon be back.” This was a lie, for she had no thought of returning. After the little girl had waited a long time, she realized that her sister had forsaken her, and she started to cry. At last a kind policeman saw her and took her to a “love school,” which had been opened just for girls like her by missionaries who wanted to tell them about the Lord Jesus.

The kind missionaries took her in, and gave her a nice warm bath, a good meal, and a comfortable bed. She stayed in this new home for a long time, and there, with about two hundred girls like herself, she heard about how the Lord Jesus had died for sinners. She learned of a better home above where all the boys and girls who love Him as their Saviour will spend eternity.

Most of you who read this story have a father who loves you, and He would not leave you all alone on a street corner like this poor little Chinese girl. But no matter how much your father loves you, or how nice a home you have in this world, you will have to leave it some day. But if you come to Jesus and trust Him as your Saviour, His precious blood will cleanse you from every stain of sin and fit you perfectly for that bright Home above. He is already there and wants you to come and share His heavenly joys with Him and all His own.

“In My Father’s house are many mansions.... And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2,3.

“My Beloved is mine, and I am His.” Song of Sol. 2:16

ML-02/19/1978

He Is Mine

Edith L. Hennessay

He is mine, dear Lord and Saviour!

How the thought true comfort brings;

Oh, how sweet it is to nestle

Neath the covert of His wings!

He is mine! and naught can sever

Things above, nor things below,

Oh the blessed joy, and rapture,

That His own redeemed ones know!

He is mine, my precious portion!

Oh, how rich I am in Him!

Having Christ, possessing all things,

Till my cup o’erflows the brim!

I have found the priceless Treasure;

Found the Spring that never dries;

Found the peace past understanding,

And the rest for which one sighs!

I am His, I am His portion!

Oh, how blest with Him to walk;

Christ my Lord and I together,

Just as friend with friend to talk.

I belong to my Beloved,

And I know that He is mine;

In communion with my Saviour

Is a fellowship divine!

Oh, the bliss it is to know Him

In that wondrous tie, “His own,’

Just abiding ‘neath His shadow

In the secret place alone.

He is closer than a brother,

Or the dearest earthly love;

Oh, what will it be to know Him

In the brighter land above!

ML-02/19/1978

Just In Time

Memory Verse: “Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near.” Isaiah 55:6

On June 5, 1976, Norma Reynolds and her son Brad, with three other friends, went fishing on the Teton River, just below the enormous new Teton Dam. They launched their rubber raft a quarter of a mile below the dam, and lazily floated downstream catching a half-dozen trout on the way. Finally the bends in the river carried them out of sight of the dam.

It was a beautiful day. But Norma didn’t realize that the gigantic dam, high as a 30-story building, had sprung a leak. Already one side of the dam was rapidly eroding away, and realizing the danger of the dam’s breaking, the construction crew had the radio station broadcast a warning to people living downstream.

Meanwhile Norma and her crew of four floated peacefully down the river, not having heard the warning and knowing nothing of their danger. They could see the water had changed from clear to a murky brown, but they disregarded this one danger sign. How many there are who do not listen to the warning messages of the gospel. They disregard the warning “signs of the times!” God tells us in His word that “He has appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness,” (Acts 17:31) and all are warned to “flee from the wrath to come.”

At his gasoline station nearby Norma’s husband, Ross, learned from a customer of the radio warning. “My family’s on that river!” he burst out. In desperation Ross went in search of his family. Taking a gun he hastened to the cliff above the river and his eyes searched the scene below. Sure enough, there they were, a quarter of a mile away, out of shouting distance. Ross fired his gun and waved his arms, jumping up and down.

There was no response. He fired again.

Down below Brad heard a shot. Looking around and up at the cliff, Norma exclaimed, “That’s Dad! Something’s wrong!”

The river had changed to a cocoa brown and the current was swifter.

“Let’s get out of here,” said Ken; and together he and Brad worked the raft toward a bank three feet high. Back of that was the canyon wall which could be climbed.

The river was rising faster now, and the water was only six inches from the top of the bank. Jumping out of the raft, they thought they were safe. But what was that strange crashing noise they heard! Looking upstream they saw a 40-foot high wall of raging water tumbling and crashing toward them at 20 miles an hour. The dam had broken.

They all scrambled for their lives up the canyon wall, climbing rocky outcrops and slippery spots, barely staying out of reach of the furious, surging water.

They were Just in Time! Had they waited any longer after hearing Ross’s warning, they would have been just too late!

Dear reader, the coming storm of judgment on this sinful world is on the way, and this may be the last warning you will receive to escape. “It is time to seek the Lord.” Hosea 10:12. “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found; call ye upon Him while He is near.” Isaiah 55:6.

“Flee from the wrath to come.” Matthew 3:7.

“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2.

ML-02/26/1978

Africaner

Africaner was at one time a famous African chief and robber, but he had been converted to Christ through the missionary, James Moffat.

When he found his end approaching, he called all his people together, after the example, of Joshua, and addressed them thus: “We are not,” said he, “what we were, savages, but men professing to be taught according to the gospel. Let us then do accordingly. Live peaceably with all men. Remain together as you have done since I knew you. Behave to a teacher sent to you as one sent of God. I feel that I love God; my former life is stained with blood; but Jesus Christ has pardoned me, and I am going to heaven. O beware of falling into the same evils into which I led you frequently! But seek God, and you will find Him.”

ML-02/26/1978

Moses

Moses was born and grew up in the land of Egypt where his people were slaves. Pharaoh, the wicked king of Egypt, had ordered that all the little boy babies should be thrown in the river Nile. However, Moses’ father and mother placed their tiny son in an ark of bulrushes instead, and placing him on the river, they trusted God to take care of him. And God did take care of him, for when Pharaoh’s daughter found him in the river, he was spared and became her son.

Moses grew up in the king of Egypt’s court and was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. However, his heart was with his brethren groaning under their cruel taskmasters, and the time came when he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. One day he did what God never told him to do; he slew an Egyptian who was smiting one of his brethren. When Pharaoh heard it, he sought to slay Moses, and Moses fled from Egypt into the desert.

Poor Moses was now an exile. How sad and lonely he must have felt, far from home out there in the desert all alone! But God was watching over him, and one day as he sat by a well, some young ladies came to the well to water their father’s flock. They were the daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian. Other shepherds who also came to water their flocks would drive the young women away so they could water their flocks first. But Moses stood up and protected the young ladies and watered their flocks for them.

Their father was surprised that they got home so early that day, and they told him that a young man, an “Egyptian,” had delivered them out of the hands of the shepherds and watered their flock for them.

“Why is it that ye have left the man?” he said. “Call him.” And so Moses came and dwelt with Jethro and his family. One of the young ladies, Zipporah, became Moses’ wife, and a dear little son was born into their home. They called him Gershom, for Moses said, “I have been a stranger in a strange land.”

For forty years Moses kept his father-in-law’s flock in the desert, and during that time Pharaoh died. Then God sent Moses back to Egypt to lead His people out of the land of their bondage, across the wilderness to their own true homeland, Canaan.

Moses was a faithful servant of God all his life, and there was no one in Israel like unto him, “whom the Lord knew face to face.”

ML-02/26/1978

Faithful Sam

Sam was a negro boy years ago who was brightly converted to Christ. He was only 10 years old, but he soon made it known to all that he loved his Saviour, and there was a marked change in his little life.

His master was a stranger to God, an enemy of the gospel, and told Sam he must not attend any of the gospel meetings. This was a sad blow to Sam, but he prayed to the Lord about it, wondering what to do. Then it was impressed upon his mind that on Sundays and after work hours he was free to meet with those who worshiped God, regardless of the consequences.

So he went to the meeting. On his return he was ordered to appear before his master. Sam admitted that he had been to worship the Lord, whereupon his master ordered that twenty-five lashes should be given the boy.

“What can Jesus do for you now?” exclaimed his master in ridicule.

“He helps me to bear it patiently,” replied the poor boy.

“Give him twenty-five more,” cried the cruel wretch. It was done.

“Now what can Jesus do for you?”

“He helps me to look forward to a reward by and by,” answered the little sufferer.

“Give him another twenty-five,” roared the monster in rage.

This was also done, and while he listened to the groans of his little victim, he again demanded, “Now then, what can Jesus Christ do for you?”

The boy’s strength was failing fast, but with one last effort the youthful martyr replied, “He lets me pray for you, Massa!” and soon his spirit was with his Saviour.

The Good Shepherd takes the lambs in His arms, and the sheep upon His shoulders. There is tender love for the one, and eternal security for the other.

ML-02/26/1978

A Story From Kashmir

A missionary living in Kashmir, North India, had received a shock. He had been informed that his permit in the country would not be renewed, and he had to leave in three months time.

He had planned to do so much, and what was especially on his heart was a visit to Tibet with the Tibetan Gospel of John which had just been printed. Could he make the journey before he had to leave Kashmir?

He worked it out that the journey would take him six weeks, so he decided to go. Preparations were made, and he set off with his camp cot, a sleeping bag, some roasted barley flour, and the precious Gospels for the people of Tibet.

After traveling for three days the unexpected happened. A police offer caught up with him and showed him a written order from the Chief. He was ordered to return home and not to go to Tibet. He had to obey orders, and feeling sick at heart he returned to the mission station.

He then prepared to leave Kashmir. Leaving the hundreds of Gospels at the mission station, he told those who remained behind that the opportunity might come when the books could be given away. Little did they know how God was planning the distribution of the Gospels.

Two weeks after the missionary had left, four hundred Tibetans arrived in the area to do three months military training. A lady missionary who was still at the mission station gave some of the new soldiers a Gospel of John. The news spread like wildfire, and soon all the soldiers crowded into the station to get a copy of the Gospel. Then they came back to hear a gospel message, and listened attentively.

After hearing the message of the Gospel and had all received their booklets, they were ordered to appear before the garrison commander. He told them that plans had been changed, and the order to do their military training had been canceled. They were no longer wanted, and could return home. So it was that each soldier returned home carrying in his breast pocket the precious Gospel telling them of God’s love and of His way of salvation.

The missionary had been spared the long, dangerous journey into Tibet. Instead the Tibetans had come to Kashmir and were able to hear the Gospel and received the printed Gospel of John.

Truly “God’s way is the best way, He knoweth best.”

Deep in unfathomable mines

Of never-failing skill

He treasures up His bright designs

And works His sovereign will.

Stories From Other Lands

ML-02/26/1978

A Prayer-Answering God

Memory Verse: “As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.” Psalm 55:16

John Vihtelic was enjoying a weekend tour of Mt. Ranier National Park on September 11, 1976. After hiking over snow-covered slopes for most of the day, when evening came he was exhausted. Driving south toward Mt. Hood after dark, he took a shortcut along a dangerous gravel mountain road. After two hours of hard driving John dozed off to sleep. His car went out of control and plunged over a precipice down 150 feet to the bottom of a deep ravine.

Recovering from his initial shock, John found that he was not injured except for a few cuts and bruises. The only problem was that his foot was caught by a root that had punched through the windshield. It clamped his foot against the dashboard like a bear trap. In panic he jerked and pulled his leg for most of the first night, but it was useless; he was caught mercilessly. Finally he dozed off to sleep.

“Tomorrow,” he thought, “someone will find me.”

But nobody did find him. It was a little-traveled road, and his car was almost completely hidden. He shouted as cars passed by, but no one heard him. He flashed a mirror at passing cars, but no one saw him. He tried every way he could think of to escape, but nothing worked.

John obtained water by dropping his T-shirt on a wire into the stream below. Squeezing the moisture into his mouth he satisfied his thirst. Day after day he lay in the wrecked car. His family and friends spent days searching the area for him, but no one could find him. He needed help from One greater than man.

John’s worst times were at night when it was too dark to work and he couldn’t sleep. He would lay in the cold car and pray: “Please, dear Lord, get me out of here. I want to see my family.”

And God did answer John’s prayer, not at once but after 16 days. He was finally able to cut the root with his lug wrench and free his foot. Soon he was able to climb up to the road and was rescued. God had answered his prayer.

Dear reader, God is a prayer-answering God, and there is one prayer which He desires to hear more than any other. A poor publican prayed that prayer in Luke 18:13: “God be merciful to me a sinner.” God answered that man’s prayer, and anyone who prays that same prayer today will find that He is the same now as then—a God who delights in mercy and will save and bless poor sinners who call upon Him.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ... For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23.

Yes, with God there is forgiveness (Psa. 130:4); and He says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.” Psalms 50:15.

ML-03/05/1978

Danger

William Fletcher was only ten years old when he had a real adventure. It was freezing cold in Boston on January 26, but not too cold for William and his two friends to play on the pier down by the Reserve Channel. There was a neat raft floating next to the pier. The boys jumped down onto the raft and were having fun playing around on it.

It wasn’t so much fun, however, when the boys noticed that the raft was floating away from the pier. William’s two friends jumped safely back onto the pier. But William was too small to make the jump, and off he floated into the channel. The water was choppy and some of the waves came right up onto the raft. As the raft began to rock and twist, William fell down and clung to the boards for dear life.

He was cold and wet and there was a danger of his falling off into the water and drowning. He realized his peril and was really scared! But there is a danger, dear boys and girls, more serious than William’s, which many children know little about. It is the danger of passing out of this life without being saved. The Bible tells us, after death the judgment” (Heb. 9:27).

William needed a Saviour, and each one of us needs the Saviour One who can deliver us from the coming judgment. Jesus is that only Saviour. He died upon the cross for sinners, and all who put their trust in Him and confess Him as Saviour and Lord are saved with an eternal salvation.

William’s friends called for help. Out from the Boston harbor sped a Coast Guard boat to the rescue. Oh how relieved and thankful William was when strong arms reached down, lifted him from the bobbing raft and from the midst of the perilous waves, and set him in safety in the boat.

The Lord Jesus came down from heaven to where we were in our sins and guilt, and He is ready and waiting to save men and women and boys and girls who will trust Him. “Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13.

“Christ died for our sins... He was buried... He rose again the third day.” 1 Corinthians 15:3,4.

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

ML-03/05/1978

An Easy Acrostic

By whom was the harp and the organ first made? (Gen. 4.)

What are we told was Aholiab to trade? (Ex. 35.)

Who was the chancellor who wrote to the king? (Ezra 4.)

Now, who drove the cart the ark of God to bring? (1 Chron. 13.)

State to which craft did Demetrius belong? (Acts 19.)

Who was the coppersmith who wrought Paul much wrong? (2 Tim. 4.)

Who dealt in purple in Thyatira town? (Acts 16.)

On whom Ahasuerus set his royal crown? (Esther 2.)

Just one more question, for this is the last—Who served while Mary at Jesus’ feet lay fast? (Luke 10.)

Initials spell a city fair,

The city of our God;

And oft its streets in days of yore

Were by our Saviour trod.

ML-03/05/1978

Free At Last

Where are these people going-fathers, mothers, little children, with their flocks as well? They are leaving the land of their former bondage, and are on their way to their Canaan, their true homeland.

Pharaoh, the cruel king of Egypt, had made slaves out of the children of Israel; they sighed and cried and groaned under their bondage. God looked down upon His poor people, and in His love and compassion He sent them a deliverer.

God sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to let His people go, but Pharaoh refused. “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice?” he said. Then God sent terrible judgments upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Blow after blow fell in quick succession, but Pharaoh only hardened his heart and would not let the people go.

Egypt was almost destroyed. Then in the last solemn judgment all the firstborn in the land of Egypt died, but the children of Israel, those who had taken shelter under the blood of the Passover lamb, were spared.

That night there was a great cry throughout the land of Egypt. Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and told them to leave his people at once and go and serve the Lord as they had wanted to do. They were to take all their flocks and herds and be gone. Pharaoh even asked Moses to bless him also.

The Egyptians pressed the children of Israel to leave their land in haste for they said, “We be all dead men.”

Before leaving, the children of Israel did as Moses told them, and demanded of the Egyptians jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing. The Lord gave them favor in their sight, and they carried away the riches of Egypt. But this was what really belonged to them because the Egyptians had never paid them for all the work they had done while they held them in slavery.

So they started on their journey, a very large company, six hundred thousand men, besides women and children, and they had with them also their flocks and herds.

Oh how happy they were to be free from the tyrant, Pharaoh, and Egypt’s bondage. And Pharaoh is a picture of Satan, who keeps poor sinners under his power and makes them slaves in this world. The children of Israel were helpless, and their case was hopeless if God had not intervened, but He sent them a deliverer.

God has sent us a deliverer, even Jesus, His beloved Son, who in HIS death and resurrection has triumphed over the power of Satan and broken the bands of sin and death for all who believe in Him. Those who trust Him are saved, set free to follow Him, their great Leader, across this desert world to their home in that heavenly land above.

ML-03/05/1978

Help Rejected

John and Judith were a young couple, very much in love with each other and planning to be married in the spring. They were traveling along the interstate highway on January 26, 1978, and the weather that day was very bad. As they traveled south, they ran into a blizzard. The blowing snow and fast-forming drifts made driving very hazardous. John pulled the car off the highway onto the shoulder and stopped. They waited hoping the weather would improve after awhile.

At 2 a.m. Civil Defense workers spotted their car and offered to help them. The young couple turned down the offer, saying they had plenty of fuel and would wait. But the hoped-for better weather never came. No additional offers of help came either. They had passed up the only offer of help and paid a terrible penalty for doing so.

John kept the engine running so they could stay warm. But slowly carbon monoxide fumes seeped into the car. They began to get sleepy. At the last moment they realized some thing was wrong. John turned off the engine and cracked open the window. But it was too late; they dropped off into a fatal sleep and never woke up.

Poor John and Judith had turned down the only offer that could have saved them. How sad this was! And yet how many people are doing the same today with a more vital issue. In the gospel message they are warned of the danger of carelessly going on without Christ in their sins. How many say, “We will wait"? They have no sense or fear of judgment. But how terrible it will be to wake up one day in a lost eternity.

Twenty hours later John and Judith were found dead in their car a sad witness to the folly of waiting too long.

Dear reader, the Lord Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and He died to save you. You need Him NOW! Do not put off His offer of salvation.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

“How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” Heb. 2:3.

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

ML-03/05/1978

Little Eagle Eye

Memory Verse: “When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.” Romans 5:10

In the early days of our country when the Indians lived in the forest and the buffalos roamed the prairies, there lived a brave Indian chief named Eagle Eye. He was a great warrior, and he had a little son named Little Eagle Eye. He taught his little son how to use his bow and arrow, and to hunt. Little Eagle Eye became a fine hunter, and he often brought home deer and rabbit for the family to eat.

One day chief Eagle Eye was wounded with an arrow, and a few days later he died. Little Eagle Eye now had to provide meat for the family, and every day he went to the forest and brought home deer and rabbits and birds.

Then there came a very cold winter, and the forest was covered with deep snow. Many animals and birds died, unable to find food. Little Eagle Eye found it hard to bring home food with his bow and arrow.

However, one cold morning he said to his mother, “I am going out into the forest. I’ll be back by and by. I hope to bring some meat home with me.”

All day he walked in the forest, but no deer did he see. Then the sun went down and it began to snow. The snow covered his tracks and he couldn’t tell which way to go. He was lost.

Suddenly he saw a man coming on a horse. He ran towards him, and then he realized that he was a white man. He had been taught to hate the “pale faces” because they had cut down many of their trees and taken much of their land. Drawing his bow he would have shot the “pale face,” but the man called out, “Don’t shoot. I am your friend!”

That man was John Eliot, a missionary to the Indians in those early days. He loved the Lord and he loved the Indians, and he had gone to live with them in the forest and to tell them about the Lord Jesus, the Saviour who loved them too.

John Eliot took little Eagle Eye home with him that night. Then early the next morning he put the boy behind him on his horse and together they rode to little Eagle Eye’s home. The mother was overjoyed to see her boy again. She learned that John Eliot was a real friend of the Indians. He brought corn and food to the family. Then he told them about Jesus, the Creator, the God who loved them and gave His Son to die for their sins. Many of the Indians learned to love the name of Jesus, to pray to Him, and to sing His praise as they sat around their campfires.

ML-03/12/1978

Can You Wash a Piece of Coal White?

Mr. Grant was visiting in a small village and had been talking to the children there. Some of them thought that when they were baptized, their sins were washed away. To show that this was not so, Mr. Grant offered a prize to anyone who would wash a piece of coal white.

Of course he wished to show that our hearts were like coal, black all through, and that outward ceremonies, like sprinkling of water, could never cleanse away sin. There must be the washing in the precious blood which can only take place when the sinner comes to Jesus, believing upon Him who died for his sins.

However, three children tried to win the prize, and each brought a piece of coal which they had tried to wash. One boy had tried all morning. He had used cold water, then hot water, then soda and different kinds of soap, but the coal remained as black as ever.

So Mr. Grant used this simple means to show the children that sin cannot be purged away by ceremonies, like washing. Just as the Scriptures say: “For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before Me, saith the Lord God.” (Jer. 2:22.)

No, there is only one remedy for sin, and God gives it in that wondrous verse, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7.)

That precious blood, shed on the cross, atoned for sin; and all who believe are freely forgiven and are clean in God’s sight.

What can wash away my stains?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

So that not one spot remains?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

Oh, precious is the flow,

That makes me white as snow!

No other fount I know,

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

ML-03/12/1978

Musings on the Seashore

John Newton wrote many of the sweet hymns we love to sing. When he thought of himself he once wrote:

In every object here I see

Something, my heart, that points to Thee;

Hard as the rocks that bound the strand,

Unfruitful as the barren sand,

Deep and deceitful as the ocean,

And like the tides in constant motion.

Then thinking of His precious love, he sang:

In every object here I see

Something, O Lord, that leads to Thee.

Firm as the rocks Thy promise stands

Thy mercies, countless as the sands.

Thy love, a sea immensely wide,

Thy grace, an ever-flowing tide.

See if you can learn to quote these two verses by heart.

ML-03/12/1978

A Little Blind Girl

Into a little cottage by a brook in New York State there was born a tiny blind baby. Mr. & Mrs. Crosby, her parents, were very poor. They called their little girl Fanny.

Little Fanny was only one year old when her father died, and mother had to go to work. Her grandmother, who was a dear Christian, came to live at the cottage and took care of the baby.

As little Fanny grew older she would sit on grandmother’s lap, and Grandma told her wonderful stories from the Bible. She also told her about God’s wonderful world all around, about the beautiful sunrise and sunset, the moon and the stars, the clouds and the rainbow.

Then Fanny learned the names of the birds from hearing their songs. She would exclaim, “Oh there is a robin!... and that is a meadowlark.

Grandma and Fanny took long walks together and picked the wild flowers. As her little fingers touched each blossom, Grandma would elain to the little girl that these were apple or cherry blossoms, and she could tell many flowers by their scent.

In spite of her blindness Fanny learned to ride horseback and to climb fences. Then one day mother bought her a little lamb for a pet. The lamb would follow her wherever she went, and they had lots of fun out in the grassy meadow.

But best of all Grandma helped Fanny to learn the Word of God, and she came to know the Lord Jesus as her Saviour when she was just a little girl. She could not read God’s Book as most of us can, but her grandmother told her, “You can store much of God’s Word in your heart and mind. Then it will be with you wherever you go.”

She could quote from memory many of the Psalms, all the book of Proverbs, and all the book of Ruth. She also learned much of the New Testament and many of the stories of the Old Testament she could repeat word by word. These treasures which her Grandmother helped her store away in her heart remained with her all through her life.

Fanny had a talent for writing poetry, and she loved music. One day she wrote:

“Oh Book, that with reverence I honor,

What joy in Thy pages I see!

Oh Book of my childhood devotion,

More precious than rubies to me!”

She used to think that the little birds were singing songs of praise to God, and she imagined that the little brook which flowed in the meadow near her home also sang praises. She wanted to write little poems of praise to God herself, and soon some of these poems were set to music and sung by people everywhere.

A missionary from Korea told her one day about a little Korean blind girl. This little girl had a wonderful voice. She liked to sing Fanny Crosby’s hymns and people would come from hundreds of miles to hear her sing this hymn:

“Praise Him, Praise Him,

Jesus our blessed Redeemer!

Sing, O earth,

His wonderful love proclaim!

Fanny Crosby lived to be an old lady, and though she has long gone to be with the Saviour she loved, her hymns are still sung by Christians the world over.

ML-03/12/1978

Give Thanks

Let us give thanks and sing!

’Tis meet that we should praise

For that untiring care

That follows all our days.

For every gift that from above

Comes down from Thee,

Thou God of love.

ML-03/12/1978

Streams in the Desert

Here in our picture today is a caravan, people riding on camels, the way they traveled in days gone by and still do in Eastern lands. The caravan is passing through a dry and thirsty desert with nothing but barren sand below and the burning sun above. We shall call them

Thirsty Travelers

God speaks to you as thirsty ones (Isa. 55:1). Hear what He says: “He, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.” He knows your thirst for peace and pleasure which the world cannot give. If you live without Christ, you will always thirst here and in eternity. But you need not. God has provided

Wells of Salvation

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is become my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” (Isa. 12:2,3).

See those thirsty travelers in our picture, how they draw water from the well in the desert. They do not stop to ask where it comes from or how many have drunk before them. They drink and live. So have some thirsty boys and girls I know. They came to Jesus who is the only well of living water. He has given them life and joy. Now I must tell you another thing: These are Living Waters. Free!

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

Without money, without price! Men pay a high price for a glass of water in the desert, but God’s living waters are for “whosoever will,” and all are invited to take it freely. Have you drunk, or are you still unsaved, unsatisfied and thirsty? Some I know have drunk. Do you know what God expects them to be? Channels through which the living waters may flow out to others.

In John 7:38 we read of—

Rivers Flowing.

“Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his [innermost being] shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37,38)

If you are saved, seek to spread the glad tidings. Tell your schoolmates, your companions, and friends of Jesus. What an honor to be the means of conveying the water of life to one thirsty soul, to lead one weary sinner to Christ!

ML-03/12/1978

Drink!

Drink while streams of grace are flowing rich and free,

Reader, God’s abounding mercy,

Is for thee.

Now you may by heeding Jesus’ loving call

Know the joy of sins forgiven, once for all.

ML-03/12/1978

A Bear Story

Memory Verse: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5

James and Uncle Lou lived on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State in the early days. Their cabin was deep in the dense forest, which was the home of many wild animals. There were no grocery stores nearby in those days so they depended upon the wild game for their meat.

One day when they were short of supplies, they loaded their guns and started out to look for deer. They wandered deeper and deeper into the forest, but no animals crossed their path. After traveling for some distance they were unable to find their way back and realized that they were lost.

The sun had gone down and it was getting dark and very cold. Furthermore, they could tell by the dark clouds gathering overhead that a storm was brewing. They knew they could not get home before the storm broke, and they were not dressed warm enough to withstand the cold night air.

Suddenly James heard a crackling noise in the brush ahead of them. Peering through the trees he found himself face to face with a big black bear. Quickly he raised his rifle and fired. The wounded bear took a couple of steps toward them and then toppled over dead.

A cold rain was already starting to fall. James and Uncle Lou quickly skinned the big bear. They spent the night huddled together under the bearskin. The warm fur protected them from the driving rain and sleet. How thankful they were for the protection of the bearskin that cold stormy night. They felt it had saved their lives.

The next morning the storm ceased, and they found their way back home again.

When James grew older he learned about the Lord Jesus who willingly gave up His life so that sinners might be saved. His precious blood, shed on Calvary, is the sinner’s refuge from the judgment of God against sin.

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

I’m happy to tell you that the time came when James put his trust in the Saviour and went happily on his way home to heaven. When he had children of his own, he was faithful in telling them of the One who loved them and died for their sins. Even today his grandchildren have cause to thank God for this testimony of their Christian grandfather. They still have the bearskin. The same One who prided the bearskin and watched over James and Uncle Lou that dark stormy night, is watching over them today.

ML-03/19/1978

The Goldfish Bowl

Little Sue had to go to the hospital to have her tonsils removed.

“Don’t be afraid, Sue,” said her father. “You have a good doctor, and he will do his best for you. You also have a wonderful God, and He will take care of you.”

“When you come back home,” he promised her, “I will buy you something you’ve been wanting for a long time-a bowl of goldfish.”

Day after day as she waited for her throat to heal, Sue enjoyed so much fun watching the goldfish. Sometimes they went to the bottom and sometimes they came to the top to get air or food; but no matter where they swam, she could always see them.

“Sue,” said her father one day, “the goldfish bowl reminds me of something David said long ago. David thought about how God sees us no matter where we are. He said: “Whither shall I flee from Thy presence. If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.” Psalms 139:7-10.

“Daddy, does God see me just like I see the goldfish?” asked Sue.

“Yes, Sue,” her father replied. “God sees you wherever you are. He watches over you because He loves you, and He wants to protect you from evil and harm.”

“Daddy,” said Sue, “I’m glad that God loves me, and that He sees me wherever I am!”

“Thou God seest me.” Genesis 16:13.

ML-03/19/1978

David Livingstone

David Livingstone was saved when he was just a boy. As time went on he felt a call to go to Africa with the gospel of the grace of God.

In Africa he met Robert and Mary Moffat, who were also missionaries. David fell in love with Mary, the Moffat’s beautiful daughter, and soon after they were married.

“I’m going to pray for David every day,” said Mary’s mother. She kept her promise, and every day she prayed, “Lord, keep David as the apple of Thine eye. Hold him in Thy hand.”

God heard her prayer, and for many long years He held David Livingstone in His hand. What a safe place that was!

Those were the days when much of Africa had never been trodden by a white man. Sometimes David had to swim through rivers infested with crocodiles, but he always got through safely. Sometimes huge hippopotamuses swam around in streams through which his boat sailed, but they never upset him. Natives shot poison arrows at him, but they never hit him. He was in the midst of cannibals, but they did not harm him. David was safe in God’s hand!

Once some little children in Scotland sent him a money gift. They wanted him to use it to hire a native helper. David did hire a native helper. The helper went with him wherever he went. One day as they were crossing the long grass of the jungle, a big lion jumped on David, and knocked him to the ground. His fierce teeth caught hold of David’s shoulder and broke some of his bones. With his gun the native helper killed the lion and Livingstone’s life was saved. He lived to serve God for many years after that.

The children were happy when they heard the story about the lion, how that the gift of money they had sent was used to hire the native helper, who, under God’s good hand, had helped saved David’s life.

God had answered Mrs. Moffat’s prayer. David was safe in God’s hand.

Are you too safe in His hand, dear reader?

ML-03/19/1978

A Bible Lion

While the king of the forest was roaming one day,

He spied out a lamb which he seized as his prey;

But the brave shepherd lad, who was faithful and bold,

Slew the monster and brought back the lamb to the fold.

It was God who endowed in that terrible hour

His young servant with courage, devotion and power,

To go forth single-handed, that lion to brave,

Then from death and destruction His wee lamb to save.

Now on each Bible searcher this story unfold

A few words and simple, then let it be told,

Give the name of the shepherd, the place of the fight,

And of whom is that lion a likeness of might.

(1 Sam. 17; 2 Pet. 5)

ML-03/19/1978

Saved by a Spider

A Christian baker lived in times when people were persecuted and hunted because they were followers of the Lord Jesus and loved the Bible. Soldiers were sent out to round up those who faithfully confessed the Saviour’s name and to put them in prison.

One day the baker learned that a band of wicked men were on their way to take him. He saw them coming down the road. The only hiding place he could think of was his big oven where he baked his bread. Quickly he climbed in and closed the oven door. It may not have proved such a safe hiding place after all, but God was watching over this dear man, and used one of His tiny creatures to ensure his protection. A little spider began to spin a web over the oven door.

The soldiers came and searched the house, but they could not find the baker. They came to the big oven and would have looked inside, but one of them said, “Oh no, he’s not in there. See there’s a spider’s web in front of the door.”

So they passed by the oven without opening it and went their way. The baker’s life was saved! God had used one of His little spiders to save the dear man’s life.

ML-03/19/1978

The Lost Coin

Some of the stories told by the Lord Jesus are called “parables.” Do you know what a parable is? A little boy once said, “It is an earthly story having a heavenly meaning.” Our Bible story today is one of these parables about a woman who lost and found a piece of silver. You can read the story in Luke 15:8,9.

A Lost Coin

Yes, it was lost; not on the street or out in the fields, but in the house-not far away, yet entirely lost to its owner. This lost piece of silver is just like the sinner, like every boy and girl. Perhaps you are not lost away in the paths of open sin, like the drunkard and the openly ungodly, but you are lost to God. As your Creator, He has a claim upon you, but by sin you have become lost. Yes, already lost, and unless you are found now in this day of salvation, vou will be lost forever.

A Lamp and a Broom

Here in our picture is a woman with a lighted lamp in one hand and a broom in the other. Hid away in the dust in some corner of her house, the lost piece of silver lies. It is not perhaps of much value (only about 15c), but she must have it. Her “ten pieces” are imperfect without it, so she has lit her candle and taken her broom in hand to make a diligent search.

She is a picture of the Holy Spirit in this dark world whose blessed work on earth is seeking the lost. Not only pagans in far-off lands, but those who like this silver coin are lost in “the house"; those who have heard the name of Jesus often, who know the way of salvation, but who are still unconverted to God—still lost.

See how the light shines. When its bright ray falls on the silver, that will show where it is. This is like the Spirit of God convicting us of sin. A text from God’s Word falls on the ear or comes into the mind as a candle of the Lord (Prov. 20:27). This is God using His Word, the light of His gospel, as by His Spirit, to search for the sinner (Zeph. 1:12).

Sweeping and Seeking

She swept and sought diligently till she found it. But here is a word for the earnest parent, teacher and soul-winner. There must be earnestness, diligence, and persistent labor for the conversion of souls. The woman swept, made the dust fly, and turned everything over seeking for the lost coin.

It is often disagreeable work, disturbing the sinner in his lost condition, but it must be done. Sinners must be aroused and warned. The light must flash, the sweeper must stir up. The first stage of real conversion is awakening and conviction of sin. Have you been aroused, or are you still undisturbed and at peace in your sins?

Finding and Rejoicing

She found it. Joyful news! How wonderful when a sinner is saved, a lost one found. How the parent, the teacher, the soul-winner rejoices, and the “friends” are told all about it.

“There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” (Luke 15:10.)

ML-03/19/1978

Hans' Treasure

Memory Verse: “There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all.” 1 Timothy 2:5,6

During a war between Germany and France, the French Army captured a German town. As a reward for fighting, the victorious French troops were permitted to plunder the homes and take anything they chose.

One French soldier named Egelrich entered the home of a poor widow. When he went in, he found the lady surrounded by her four little children. The oldest, named Hans, ran up to the rough soldier, and offering him a Bible with pictures said, “There, that is my most precious treasure. I will give it to you, but do not hurt my mother.”

Egelrich was surprised, and opening the book his eye fell on a page he remembered reading years before. It was a message from God, and affected him so much he could not move. With his eyes full of tears he said to the widow, “I shall take nothing from you, but do let me have the Bible.”

“May God’s blessing go with you, noble man,” said the poor widow. Then he stood outside to turn away any other of his companions who might enter.

The next day German troops arrived and drove out the French from the town. Egelrich was shot twice in the breast and left for dead. However, he regained consciousness after a while and found that both bullets had lodged in little Hans’ Bible.

Seven years later, when Egelrich was chief of a battalion, he sent a letter to Hans with a sum of money enclosed. This is what he said: “This is a small reward to the noble boy who gave his most precious treasure as a ransom for his mother, and brought about the salvation of his grateful friend, Egelrich, Chief of Battalion.”

How wonderful are the ways of God, and how wonderfully He cares for those who trust Him. Even the hairs of their head are all numbered. Surely we can say, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.” (Psa. 27:1,3.)

Faith is a very simple thing,

Though little understood:

It frees the soul from death’s dread sting

By resting in the blood.

It sees upon the throne of God,

A Victim that was slain;

It rests its all on His shed blood,

And says, “I’m born again.”

ML-03/26/1978

Jumbo, the Elephant

What a wonderful creature the elephant is! God put him here on earth, and sometimes one will weigh as much as eight tons. These animals are so big that on the rampage they could destroy a whole village in the country where they live; yet they are so gentle at times they will babysit for their master while he is out. The elephant is so tenderhearted that he will even grieve over the death of his master.

Jumbo was a huge elephant who traveled in a circus years ago. He was so huge, and people would come by the thousands to see him and to watch him perform.

One day when the circus pulled into town, Jumbo had just been unloaded from the railway car in which he traveled. Instead of going the way his trainer wanted him to go, Jumbo decided to go for a walk instead. He got on the railway track, a very dangerous place, even for an elephant.

The shrill whistle of the approaching train meant nothing to Jumbo. In vain did the keeper try to get him off the track. The engineer, unable to stop the train in time, blew his whistle again and again, but Jumbo refused to budge.

Wasn’t he bigger than anyone else? In his faraway jungle home he had been used to having people get out of his way, and this monster coming down the track must do the same. Alas for poor Jumbo! He had more than met his match in the big locomotive that bore down on him. When the crash came, the front of the locomotive was buckled and damaged, but Jumbo’s great bulk was left a broken and battered mass beside the right of way, and Jumbo’s circus days were over.

Jumbo reminds us of some people who, when spoken to of their need of salvation and of judgment to come, only laugh and say that they are not afraid. They are like the grasshopper sitting on the railroad track and arguing with a diesel coming down the line and saying, “You can’t hurt me! I’m not afraid of you!”

But judgment is coming! “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” (Rom. 1:18.) And God “now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30,31.)

But how wonderful that the same blessed God has provided a refuge, a place of safety in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for our sins.

Dear reader, Scripture warns us to flee from the wrath to come. (Luke 3:7.)

We read of the believers in Thessalonica that they “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thess. 1:9,10.)

ML-03/26/1978

God, Our Father

Who has fashioned the world so wonderful?

God, our Father;

Who has given us all things beautiful?

God, our Father.

Life and health His creatures owe Him;

Natures beauties ever show Him;

Ransomed sinners through Jesus know Him—

God, our Father.

ML-03/26/1978

A Little Donkey

There was once a wild little donkey,

He had to be tied to a tree,

But Jesus was thinking about him;

He said, “Go fetch him to Me.”

And when they had brought him to Jesus

As quickly as ever they could,

That restless, that wild little donkey

Was quiet, obedient and good.

When Jesus was riding upon him,

He went just the way that he should,

A patient, submissive wee donkey,

Made so by the blest Son of God.

And Jesus is able to make you

Whatever He wants you to be,

He loves you and longs to forgive you

And make you both happy and free.

ML-03/26/1978

One Taken … One Left

Beth and Joanne were both 11 years old. They were schoolmates and friends. One Sunday evening they went to a gospel service, and a dear old man preached a very solemn sermon from the words, “One shall be taken, and the other left.”

There was a great hush over the hall, and the Holy Spirit was bringing the earnest words of the preacher home to many hearts. As the two children came down the steps to go home, Beth said, “Joanne, if Jesus came back tonight, would you be the one taken or the one left?” (Matt. 24:40.)

“I’m afraid that I should be left behind, Beth,” replied Joanne.

“I wouldn’t be left behind,” replied Beth, “for a long time ago I gave myself to the Lord Jesus, and He knows it.”

Can you say that, dear reader?

ML-03/26/1978

The Sandwich Man

Charles was a bright Christian, but he had an unsaved brother named Bob who was a professional tramp. For many years Charles prayed that his brother Bob would be saved, but one day he said to the Lord: “Lord, I give up. Bob is not interested in being saved. I have prayed so long, and I think I’ll just give up praying for him.”

That night he went to bed but could not sleep. Finally, he got up and kneeling down he prayed once more for Bob.

The next morning Bob came into Charles’ office and smiling said, “Charles, I’m saved!”

“When was it you were saved?” asked Charles in happy surprise.

“At two o’clock in the morning,” answered Bob.

“Why, that was the very time I got out of bed and prayed for you,” exclaimed Charles.

What happy times they had together after that, as they talked of the Lord’s grace and goodness to sinners everywhere.

Now, Bob’s desire was to serve the Lord Jesus, and so he became a “sandwich man"; that is, he carried a board before and behind him, with gospel verses printed on both sides. For many years he went up and down the streets of New York City, giving out gospel tracts, and talking to the poor drunken and sinful men about his wonderful Saviour.

Dear Christian, pray on. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16.)

“Be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 15:58.)

ML-03/26/1978

A Lesson From the Firefly

Two friends were taking a stroll one dark evening along the seashore, when they spied what one thought was a lamp shining in the distance.

“Look,” one exclaimed, “see that light? Someone in a cottage on the hill has placed a lamp to guide a boat to shore. Let’s go and see!”

On they went, but they found no cottage; instead they found what they thought was a lamp: it was a firefly. A lovely little light it gave out from its lamp which, as most of us know, it carries in its tail. Together the two friends stooped down to admire the little creature God had made and this little lamp which glowed in the dark.

How simply the firefly gives out its light; it shines because it is its nature to do so. Then, dear young friends, those of us who love the Saviour, who are saved and have the _ lamp of His Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we too, should shine for the Lord Jesus, and without effort give forth light for Him.

He says of those who are His disciples, that they are “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). And just as a candle is lighted to give light, His own should let their light shine before men, that they may see their good works and glorify their Father who is in heaven.

ML-03/26/1978

A Wild Elephant

Memory Verse: “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” Psalm 34:8

A missionary and his wife and another sister had been visiting some natives in a place some miles from their mission station. It was at the close of the day, and now they were returning home. Their little Volkswagon sped along the jungle road. The sun went down and darkness came on.

Suddenly as they rounded a bend, they found themselves confronted by a herd of elephants. Slowing down they beeped their horn, hoping the great beasts would move out of their way. But the elephants had no such intentions. The beeping of the horn only roused them to excitement and anger, and the forest rang with the din of their loud trumpeting as they thrashed about among the trees.

Inside the little car the missionary and the two ladies prayed, asking the Lord to protect them as they waited in fear in the midst of the melee. One big elephant mother and her baby remained on the road in front of the car. Fearful lest her baby should be harmed, the enraged mother approached the vehicle in which the three sat huddled in fear. When she found she could do nothing to this enemy, she brought her great trunk down with a resounding thump on the top of the car. Several times she did this, and then she tore off the door handles and bumper guards; in fact, anything that would come off. Then with her great trunk she pushed the Volkswagon on its side and turned it over several times off onto the side of the road.

But a cry from her baby deflected her from punishing the intruder any more, and a few minutes later she disappeared along with the trumpeting herd into the darkness of the forest. Happily, the missionaries were not hurt, except for a few bruises, and the car could still run. Pushing it back on its wheels again they took off along the jungle road and arrived home safely.

When they got home they told of their hair-raising experience, and the natives marveled at their escape for, said they, “When an elephant sets out to destroy something, it does not stop until destruction is complete.”

That night the missionaries thanked God for sparing them from harm and death.

Someone said to me, once, “I wish I could be as happy as you are.”

“You can be if you want to be,” I replied. She said, “I know, but I can’t trust Him.”

“I trust Him, and I know hundreds of others who trust Him, too. The Lord Jesus is the only One who ever loved me so much as to die for me. How can I not trust Him?”

ML-04/02/1978

"Nobody Loves Me"

When I was a boy an old man used to visit our village frequently. At one time he was prosperous, but becoming a slave to drink, he had lost a small fortune and with it many of his friends. Like the prodigal mentioned in Luke’s gospel, chapter 15, he had spent his all in riotous living; now he was forsaken and alone.

One day when this old man was walking along the street feeling sad and wretched, he was muttering to himself, “Nobody loves me! Nobody loves me!”

A little girl who had been to Sunday school and who knew of the love of God quietly stole up to him and rather nervously pulling at his coattails said, “Sir, Somebody loves you; God loves you.”

Eternity alone will reveal the effect of that little word “spoken in season.”

Did God really love that poor old man, broken and marred by sin? Most certainly He did, for we read, “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.)

ML-04/02/1978

All Blotted Out

Little Karen had suffered from soul troubles for a long time. Then one day she heard that the Lord Jesus had died for sinners, to put their sins away, and she readily believed on Him as her Saviour. From then on she had joy and peace, and she liked to tell others about her new-found happiness.

One day a man tried to reason with her and asked her how she could know that her sins were forgiven. In her own simple way, little Karen explained how that God had books. There was His Book, and there was her page in it; and on that page were all the sins that she had committed. Then she said, “The blood of Jesus was wiped across the page, and it covered all her sins.” They were all blotted out, and now she said, “God cannot see them any more.”

How sweet and precious a testimony this was of the grace of God and of the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus! We hope that many of our dear readers, both young and old, might come to know this same blessed Saviour and add their testimony to that of little Karen.

“I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins.” (Isa. 44:22.)

“Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” (Heb. 8:12.)

ML-04/02/1978

Linda's Prayer

I know a little girl who lived in a nice home, and I often saw her galloping about on her pony when I was there. But she had a very bad memory, and wasn’t getting along very well at school.

However, when she was twelve there came a great change, and she got along fine in her studies. One day her father asked her how it was? She said, “Well, Daddy, I asked Jesus to help me, and He did. Then I thanked Him and asked Him to help me again, and He did so. Since I found that He helped me with my studies, I go and ask Him about everything.”

“Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1 Thess. 5:17,18.)

Talk to Jesus about everything. Nothing is too small for Him to care about.

ML-04/02/1978

The Best Book

The Bible is the best Book,

The Book we hold so dear;

A story Book, a picture Book,

A Book of songs to cheer.

The Bible tells of Jesus,

Now in His Home above;

The Bible brings the message sweet,

THAT GOD IS LOVE.

“I have loved you,” saith the Lord. Where does He say that? In the Bible, of course.

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

ML-04/02/1978

Why Did He Make Me?

God made the birds to sing to me,

The blossoms on the tree,

To make me glad in summer days;

But why did He make me?

Dear child, how wonderful and sweet

The answer God has given:

The blessed Lord, who died for you,

Has need of you in heaven.

To make Him glad in paradise

He needs your little song;

He needs you for His love and joy

Where He has waited long.

ML-04/02/1978

After Many Years

Mr. Bailey likes to give out gospel tracts to people on the street. One day he gave a man a tract the title of which was, “I’m Not Going to a Christless Grave. Are You?”

Ten years later Mr. Bailey was visiting a town about eighty miles away. Suddenly a man on the street came up to him and warmly shook his hand. He said, “You’re the man who gave me a tract many years ago. I want to tell you that I am NOT going to a Christ-less grave now! Jesus is my Saviour.”

The Lord says, “My Word... shall not return unto Me void.” (Isa. 55:11.) The Lord never forgets any little work we do out of love for Him. We may not see the results here, but He still wants us to sow the Gospel seed.

ML-04/02/1978

Throw Out The Life-Line

Out in the great Northwest about 200,000 men were at work in the lumber camps spread over the vast timberlands. The lumberjacks welcomed the sturdy old missionary who, as hardy as themselves, would bring them a rousing gospel.

One such “sky pilot” had promised the “boys” he would be with them on a certain evening. Getting off the train at the station, as he walked along the railroad tracks about a quarter of a mile from the logging camp, he began to sing.

The clerk heard him, rushed out into the bunkhouse and called out, “He’s coming, boys!” Fifty men made a break for the door and broke into “Three cheers for the chaplain.”

After a little rest the evening gospel service began with one of the favorite hymns of the lumbermen, “Throw out the Life-line Across the Dark Waves.”

The missionary asked the foreman if the roof was good and strong, and being assured that it was, he told the boys “to pull out all the stops.” This they did, and how they joined in the singing of the grand old gospel hymn.

Throw out the life-line across the dark wave,

There is a sinner whom someone should save.

Somebody’s brother! oh who then will dare

To throw out the life-line, his peril to share?

Throw out the life-line, with hands quick and strong:

Why do you tarry, why linger so long?

See, he is sinking; Oh; hasten today

And out with the life-boat! away and away!

Soon will the season of rescue be o’er

Soon will they drift to eternity’s shore.

Haste then, my brother! No time for delay,

But throw out the life-line, and save them today!

ML-04/02/1978

The Old Family Bible

In the hospital the other day an old man who was a great grandfather, was telling me what a good mother he had had years ago. He still had the old family Bible she used to read to him when he was a boy. I ventured to suggest that perhaps she loved the Lord and is in heaven now. He felt that she was.

Then I asked, “How about you, Mr. Green, will you be there, too?”

“Oh,” he replied, “I was always good.”

I told Mr. Green that if he would read his old family Bible he would find out differently. For there God says, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Rom. 3:10.)

“For there is no difference; For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:22,23.)

There was only one good Man on earth, and that was Jesus, God’s dear Son. He died for sinners to put their sins away, and the only goodness that God sees among the sons of men is Christ in the hearts of those who trust Him as their Saviour.

ML-04/02/1978

Mr. No Says, "Yes"

Memory Verse: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17

Mr. No lived far off in Korea, which is north of the vast country of China. In his search for knowledge he had come across a book which described the lands of the West. It said that the people were powerful and progressive but that they professed the Christian faith, which was a very bad religion. However Mr. No had a mind of his own and thought, “How is it that these nations have made such wonderful progress if they have a wicked religion? I can’t quite believe it; I must find out for myself.”

For several reasons he did not want anyone to know he was interested in the foreign religion. He dared not attend a Christian service.

Now two missionaries, Mr. Underwood and Dr. Alden, had come to Mr. No’s very own area in Korea to tell people about the one God and His Son Jesus Christ. Believing that there were some who would not come to their services, but who might meet them elsewhere, they fitted up a “guest room” in the Korean style and started a class for the study of English. Mr. No joined it though English was not what he was after.

One day he was alone in Dr. Alden’s study and spied on his desk two little Chinese books, “Matthew’s Good News, and Luke’s Good News.” Like many Koreans Mr. No understood Chinese, and in a jiffy he slipped them up his sleeve. Sleeves are handy you see. They will hold books and pancakes and other things.

When Mr. No got home he went to his inner room and began to read. It was all so wonderful he could not stop until he had read both books, in fact he pondered them all night long.

Early in the morning Mr. No hurried to Mr. Underwood’s house to tell him he had taken the books from the doctor’s desk. Mr. Underwood assured him that Dr. Alden would be very glad for him to keep them.

“It is grand! It is good!” cried Mr. No holding up the precious books. He was not afraid now. He was so full of the good news he was eager to talk.

Do you remember Nathanael? The first time he saw Jesus he believed and cried, “Master, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel!” Mr. No was that sort of man.

In that never-to-be-forgotten night reading the wonderful story of God’s love, he saw that this was not a mere “foreigner’s religion” but the good news of a Saviour who had died for his sins.

He confessed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and was baptized. Little by little many more did likewise. So this is how Mr. No said, “Yes.”

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

ML-04/09/1978

"Will He Take Me as I Am?"

Rose was a young girl who lived on a farm. The burden of her sins became so great that one day she appeared at the preacher’s door in her working clothes and in great distress of mind. She didn’t wish to come in, but the preacher’s wife assured her that she was welcome.

Her difficulty was she thought she was not worthy to come to Christ.

“Rose,” said the preacher, “you wanted to stay outside this house because you were not dressed as you thought you should be, but we made you welcome just as you are; and so will Jesus.”

That illustration brought home the simple truth, and she asked, “Will He take me just as I am?”

“Yes,” he assured her, “just as you are, for it was sinners Jesus came to save.”

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” (1 Tim. 1:15.)

Then they sang together,

Just as I am, without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God. I come.

Rose returned home rejoicing in her salvation.

ML-04/09/1978

Rock of Ages

Augustus Toplady was a boy of sixteen when he visited relatives in Ireland. An earnest Christian farmer was holding gospel meetings in a barn nearby, and August went and listened. That night the preacher took for his text Eph. 2:13: “But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”

Young Augustus was soundly converted to Christ that night.

Some time later he was going home when a storm came on. He took refuge in the shelter of a great rock which had been split perhaps ages before. As a result he wrote the well-known hymn, “Rock of Ages, cleft for me.” The Rock in which August found refuge still stands, and his hymn has been sung by countless thousands since.

Rock of ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee.

Where the water and the blood

From Thy riven side which flowed.

Are of sin the double cure,

Cleansing from its guilt and power.

ML-04/09/1978

"Cling to the Rock, Johnny!"

A gatekeeper who worked for one of the American railroads, lived with his wife and little son in a cottage not far from the tracks. The line ran through a cut in the mountains, so there was little space between the tracks and the projecting rocks.

One day when the gatekeeper had just signaled the way clear for an approaching train, his little boy toddled out of the cottage and down onto the right of way. There was no time for him to reach the child to save him from the oncoming train, so he called out, “Cling to the rock, Johnny!” Little Johnny, accustomed to obey, locked his tiny arms around the rough edge of the rock, and the train went by. Johnny was saved!

Johnny clinging to the rock is a picture of faith in the soul that clings to Jesus. But the real truth is that the arms of the Saviour are round about every trusting child and will not let him go. All are safe and safe forever who are sheltered in those arms of love. No one who puts their trust in Jesus will ever be lost.

“I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.

“My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.” (John 10:28,29.)

ML-04/09/1978

Five Lights, but One Out!

“You will come to the gospel with us tonight, won’t you, Harry?”

As she spoke, Mrs. Mason gazed up at her tall son, and her voice had a pleading, though dubious note. Since Bert had gone to work in the city, he had given up the habit of his childhood, and for many Sundays he had never been in a gospel service.

“Well, Mother,” he said, “after all the slaving of the past weeks, a fellow needs a little rest; besides-,” but he could go no further, for the sweet anxious face of his mother forced back the confession that he no longer cared for things of that kind, so he broke off and fell into the question, “Whose going?”

“The two girls and I thought of going,” said Mrs. Mason slowly, and John is almost sure to come, and we so much hoped you would join us. We should be a party of five then!” she added brightly.

Bert had never been able to refuse his mother in anything. And something was at work in his heart tonight which he was unable to resist.

“It’s all right, Mother; I’ll come along and make number five,” he said.

As the little family set off for the gospel, they did not talk much along the way, but from four earnest hearts there went up prayers to God for the one with them that night who was a stranger to the joy which was theirs the knowledge of the Lord Jesus as Saviour.

As the service went on, Bert felt bored and wished many times he was back home. When the preacher began to speak, he settled himself in his seat and gazed about for some time, interesting himself for the next half hour.

“How come?” he thought; “Everything’s in fives! Five points in that decoration, five panes of glass in that window.”

Then looking up his eyes rested on a chandelier. There were five lights, but one was not shining, and as he gazed, he almost said aloud, “Five lights, but one out!-That’s me! Five people in this row: four alight, and one in darkness. That’s me!”

Not one word of the sermon had he heard, but all the way home a voice was saying, “Five lights, but one out,” and the response would come, “That’s me!”

He went to bed early but could not sleep. Still the voice went on, “Five lights, but one out! That’s me!”

He could stand it no longer. Switching on the light he found a Bible which his mother always left ready for him, and with a hazy remembrance of bygone days, he turned to John 1:10 -

“That was the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”

He read other scriptures, and the Spirit of God showed him what a sinner he was, but that God loved him and Jesus died for him.

Getting out of bed, he flung himself on his knees, and opened his heart to the Lord in prayer. He found a great burden lifted from his soul, and he knew he was saved. Before the morning dawned, he was able to say, “The darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.” (1 John 2:8.)

The glad news was soon told to his praying mother who poured out her heart to God in thankfulness.

“How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him.” (1 Kings 18:21.)

ML-04/09/1978

Joe and the Albatross

Memory Verse: “We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved.” Acts 15:11

Joe had a dear Christian mother who prayed every day that her boy might be brought to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. But Joe would have nothing of that kind of thing and left home to join the Navy.

One day when his ship was off the coast of Africa, he was found guilty of an act of rebellion and was given a very heavy sentence according to the strict discipline of the time. He was tied to the mast and heavy lashes were laid across his bare back. Sad to say, this punishment did not break Joe’s proud spirit, nor did he ever give a thought to his mother’s wise counsel to lift his heart to God in times of trial and danger. Rather he prepared to add to his guilt the crime of self-destruction.

With one wild yell, he leaped overboard and would soon have sunk into a watery grave if a strange thing had not happened.

The captain was a merciful man and really felt sorry for the poor boy whom he had been obliged to punish so severely according to the rules. He at once gave orders that a boat should be lowered to try and save Joe’s life. However, the wind was so strong that the frail craft seemed like it would perish in the heavy seas.

Now what do you think were young Joe’s feelings when he found himself face to face with death? How graciously God works, and in ways that we should never expect! The fear of drowning aroused Joe to a sense of still greater danger, that of his immortal soul. In that moment of extremity, he sought and found the Saviour who never cast out one soul who turned to Him for mercy.

Almost at the same moment a huge albatross flew over the water close to the surface. The albatross is perhaps the largest seabird known; it is very strong, but quite harmless. Reaching out his hand Joe caught hold of the great bird’s leg. It struggled to get free, but Joe managed to hang on until the brave sailors reached him and dragged him into their boat. Then he fainted from exhaustion; but in the Lord’s mercy they all reached the ship in safety. The albatross, rejoicing to be free again, soared away across the waves and was seen no more.

From that day on Joe had a special affection for every albatross he saw. In his old age he had one of those birds stuffed, and when his little granddaughter would come to visit him, she would stroke the bird, saying in her little baby talk, “Dood Albatross, you saved Grampa’s life!”

“I love the Lord, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because He hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.... I was brought low, and He helped me.” (Psa. 116:1,2,6.)

ML-04/16/1978

The Dying Prince

Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, when on his deathbed, asked his daughter, the princess Alice to sing his favorite hymn, “Rock of Ages.” She did so, and soon after he passed into the eternal world, hiding in the cleft of the Rock, the Lord Jesus Christ.

“A man shall be as a hiding place ... as a shelter of a great rock in a weary land.” (Isa. 32:2).

ML-04/16/1978

How the Good News Spread in We Ju

The good news of the gospel spread through Korea mostly by people themselves. Some people never saw a missionary and would hear only part of the “Jesus doctrine", and had to wait a long time for the rest. A certain woman of We Ju was such a person.

All she heard was this: “There is only one God and we must worship no other. We must put away our sins and try to do good. We must keep one day in seven holy. We must sing Yesu We Patkiu Umnay (Nothing but the Blood of Jesus)".

Her friend thought this was a very good idea so they agreed that no matter what others did they would worship the one true God and no longer pray to spirits and demons. They tried to sing the song but they did not know what it meant. Every seventh day they gave up to worship God as best they knew how. Soon others joined them, but they longed for more light. One such was a prizefighter who wanted to be different. The woman herself kept a wine shop, not knowing it was wrong. Because of this many people came to her door.

At last one day a colporteur came with a pack on his back. The books were New Testaments and Gospels. He spoke to them of the Lord Jesus. The two women and their friends had at last met someone who could tell them more. He told them the whole story of the gospel-how the Lord Jesus had died on Calvary to put away their sins. He also spoke to others who gathered around, and some believed, but he said he was sorry to see believers meeting in a wine shop. The woman was happy to have the colporteur help her pour the wine in the ditch. She had to find another way to make a living but God took care of her and did not let her come to want.

The number of believers increased. As for the prize-fighter, he became a true believer and later a preacher of the gospel.

Come to the Saviour, make no delay

Here in His word He’s shown us the way,

Here in our midst He’s standing today,

Tenderly saying, “Come!”

Joyful, joyful, will the meeting be,

When from sin our hearts are pure and free,

And we shall gather Saviour with Thee,

In our eternal home.

ML-04/16/1978

In the Cleft of the Rock

Nancy was a young girl in deep concern about her soul’s salvation. But she was led to trust in the Saviour through the words of Psa. 40:1-3 which her Christian father read to her.

“I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

“He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

“And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.”

The next day Satan, the tempter, harassed her, raising doubts and fears. Just then the lines of the old hymn

Rock of ages cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee

came to her mind, and the truth that she was “in Christ Jesus” was revealed to her soul.

“I am in the cleft of the Rock, and I cannot fall out,” she said to the tempter. In a moment Satan was gone.

ML-04/16/1978

No Need to Wait

“I have been in great distress about my soul for two years,” wrote a Christian lady, but I could not see the way of peace. Some told me I must ‘wait God’s time'; others said that I should ‘repent'; and one preacher said I must ‘break off my sins.’

“Then one day I was walking along the street and heard some words sung at an open air meeting, and they brought the light to my soul. They were

Just as I am and waiting not,

To rid my soul of one dark blot!

To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,

O Lamb of God, I come!

ML-04/16/1978

John Paton

On a farm in Scotland years ago little John Paton first saw the light of day. When he grew up, he felt a call to go as a missionary to the New Hebrides Islands and tell the cannibals who lived there about Jesus the Saviour. His friends tried to persuade him not to go, afraid lest the cannibals would eat him. But nothing turned him from his purpose, for he trusted the Lord would watch over him. At first the natives did not like John G. Paton, and several times they tried to kill him.

One night they came with flaming torches to set fire to the little mission he had built. Next they set fire to the reed fence which went from the building to Mr. Paton’s house. Mr. Paton and a missionary friend were inside watching the armed savages. They prayed to God for His protection knowing that the house would be on fire in a few minutes. Suddenly Dr. Paton rushed out of the house and began to fight the fire. The natives danced and yelled wildly, urging each other to strike a blow at the missionary. But it seemed as if he was standing behind an unseen shield held by the Lord!

Suddenly there was a roaring sound, and when the natives turned to see where it came from, they saw a black cloud coming through the sky toward them. An awful storm of wind and rain was coming. Almost instantly the rain began to pour down. Filled with fear the natives cried out, “It is God’s rain! Truly the missionary’s God is helping him. Let us go away!”

Throwing away their torches, they disappeared into the bushes, and Dr. Paton was left standing alone. Together he and his friend praised God for preserving them in the time of great danger.

The natives left the missionary alone after that, and as time went on many of those poor savages confessed their faith in the Lord Jesus. Some of the old chiefs in the islands became Christians. They began to wear pieces of cloth for clothing to show that they were true Christians and no longer cannibals.

One time water was very scarce on the island, and John Paton decided to dig a well there. The natives were afraid and said the missionary was trying to bring “rain from below!” At first Dr. Paton dug alone, but then he hired men to help him and paid them with fish-hooks. While the digging was going on, Dr. Paton was praying, asking God to give him a well of water.

Finally the water began to run in deep down in the well-plenty of water for everyone. When the natives saw it, they cried out, “Dr. Paton’s God is the true God!”

John Paton lived to be 83 years old. How glad he is now that he set out early in life, when just a boy, to serve the Lord Jesus who loved him and died for sinners everywhere.

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” (1 Tim. 1:15.)

ML-04/16/1978

What Was It?

He was a farmer King

Who reigned o’er Judah long,

And while he sought the Lord,

Ruled wisely and was strong;

But—oh, that little word,

It has a voice for all.

This word in Proverbs find,

Which caused this good king’s fall.

(Prov. 16; 2 Chron. 26)

ML-04/16/1978

A Lion Story

Memory Verse: “He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18

The missionary knew there were lions around, but he felt fairly safe on his big 500 c.c. motorcycle. Deng, his African Christian friend, was riding on the seat behind him. The two often traveled together to preach the gospel to those living in the many villages who knew not God or a Saviour’s love, but were traveling on to eternity. They wanted to tell them that the Lord Jesus loved them and died on the cross for their sins.

It was early morning twilight. They were riding down a steep, rocky hill, when suddenly Deng whispered something in Fred’s ear. Looking up he saw four eyes gleaming in the light of the headlamp. He jammed on the brake, and there he saw the outline of two full-grown lions, standing only 15 yards away, right in the middle of the road. The first rays of the sun were lighting the sky and he could see that one was a hungry-looking female, and the other a big male, his “collar” of fur bristling fiercely around his head.

Deng hung on tight as they put their feet down on the road to steady the motor cycle which Fred kept running. What should they do? They prayed that God would show them. They thought of how those lions were like Satan. Scripture says he goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). We are only safe when we have Christ as our Saviour. Then it is we are “kept by the power of God” (1 Peter 1:5), and that is a power above the power of Satan.

The male lion decided to act. He disappeared silently into the long grass beside the road.

“That’s bad,” Fred thought. “The male lion always stalks the prey, chasing it towards the female, who does the killing. He’s going to circle around and come up behind us.”

If they had turned around, the lioness would have jumped on their backs. And if she had missed the first leap, they still couldn’t have gotten away up the steep hill in time. They moved a little closer. She didn’t budge.

Fred blew the horn; he raced the engine; he blinked the headlights. But she stood her ground. He didn’t know how close her mate was behind them by now. Then she put her head close to the road and switched her tail back and forth like a cat watching a mouse. He knew then she was going to spring on them.

“Oh God, help us now!” Fred prayed silently.

Quickly he opened the throttle wide and headed the motor cycle straight at the lioness. For a second she watched them; then suddenly she turned around and ran down the road. He knew he had to keep right after her, or she might turn on them and maybe her mate was following. The lioness kept running down the road, like a galloping donkey, while they roared behind her for all they were worth. Then suddenly she wheeled off into the grass and disappeared. They kept sailing right on, thankful for the Lord’s deliverance.

“Deng,” said Fred, when they filly stopped for a rest, “this reminds me of that verse of scripture, ‘Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’ " Deng pulled his robe closer around him and blinked his dark eyes. The next time Satan tempted him to sin, he would remember that verse.

Perhaps the most wonderful lion story of all is told by Daniel, how he was put in the lions’ den. But he, too, was “kept by the power of God", and he could say: “My God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before Him innocency was found in me.... He delivereth and rescueth, and He worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.” (Dan. 6:22,27.)

The Sudan Witness retold.

ML-04/23/1978

The Stolen Apples

In a country village one cold winter’s night some children made their way to a little hall where a children’s meeting was held every week. At the entrance of the hall was a small shop and restaurant.

As the children came running into the hall many of them were munching apples. They stopped for a moment at a table near the door to see their names marked in the attendance register, and then settled in their places.

The group leader, who was a favorite with the children, was rather surprised to see so many eating apples; then suddenly a thought occurred to him. Leaving the boys and girls in the care of some of the helpers, he slipped out, and going to the shopkeeper he asked, “Have you any apples for sale?”

“Yes,” she replied; “I just had some delivered today. But I haven’t had time to sort and put them out yet.”

“Well,” he said, “I’m afraid the children who have come to the meeting tonight have taken quite a lot of them, and I would like to pay for them.”

The shopkeeper was quite taken aback, but was glad to accept his offer.

Going back to the hall he told the children what he had done. He told them he realized they had stolen the apples, and deserved to be punished, but no one could punish them now because the apples were all paid for. He explained that even if the shopkeeper forgave them for stealing her apples, she would have lost what they cost-somebody had to pay. But now he had paid the price himself and so everything was justly settled.

Then he went on to tell how all of us deserved to be punished for our sins, the many wrong things which we have done, but the Lord Jesus bore the punishment for us when He died on the cross, so we can be forgiven freely and justly.

Because Jesus paid the full penalty for all who trust in Him, they are safe forever. And this is how God puts it in His Word: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His strives we are healed.” (Isa. 53:5.)

ML-04/23/1978

Kornai, Who Ran Away

Kempi was a dear little Brahman girl in India. She had dark eyes, fair skin, jet black hair and beautiful white teeth.

One day a kind missionary lady visited her home and invited her and her brother to come to Sunday school. They both came, and that Sunday school from beginning to end seemed wonderful to Kempi. How she enjoyed the happy singing! When it was all over it seemed a long time to wait for the next Sunday to come.

But Kempi seldom missed, and soon the missionaries loved her dearly. As she learned of the love of the Lord Jesus for her, she gladly received Him as her Saviour. Her big eyes would fill with tears as she thought of all He had suffered on the cross for her sins.

One Sunday the missionaries missed Kempi’s sweet little face, and one of them visited her village to find out what the trouble was. She found Kempi very sick with malaria fever. Her mother had died and she was living with her aunt. The home was only a mud hut with a roof of straw. The floors were of dirt, and there were no windows-just the door.

Poor little Kempi was lying on the dirt floor, looking very neglected and miserable. No one seemed to have the desire or time to care for the little sick girl.

“Kempi,” said the kind missionary, “wouldn’t you like to come to our nice clean hospital at the mission, where we can take good care of you and help you to get better?”

“Oh yes,” Kempi whispered.

Hastening outside the missionary hired a man with an old bullock cart. They placed the little sick girl on some straw in the cart, and after a long wearisome journey they arrived at the hospital. Loving hands bathed Kempi and put her into a clean bed. Soon she was sleeping peacefully. The relatives had come along and watched everything that was done.

Every day the missionary read to Kempi from God’s word.

“Read me more about the Good Shepherd,” she said one day. “His words are like gold to my ears.”

At last Kempi got better and her relatives said, “It is time now for us to take her home.” Oh how the missionaries hated to see her go! They knew that in her own home she would hear no more of the Saviour and His Word, and she would be surrounded by much sin and wickedness. Also her own people would try to make her worship their heathen idols.

She was still just a little girl when her aunt said: “Kempi, you are old enough to be married. A husband has been chosen for you, and you are to go to his house to live.”

“Oh no!” cried Kempi. “I don’t want to get married yet!”

Her aunt was very angry with her and would not listen.

“But, is he a Christian?” whispered Kempi.

“I should say he is not!” answered her aunt. “He is one of our own caste, a fine Brahman.”

“But I cannot marry a man who is not a Christian. God’s word says that is wrong.”

Her aunt was adamant, however, and Kempi was betrothed to a man many years older than she. Instead of being happy, she found him to be sullen and unhappy. He and his mother were very cruel to Kempi. Like thousands of other little girls in her land, she was little more than a slave, working from morning till night with no time to run and play.

One morning early she was sent out with a basket to collect firewood. As she walked along she wished she could run away from that dreadful house. Then why not do so? But where would she go? She would go to her missionary friends!

She was near the railway tracks, and first thing she knew she was running down the tracks to the distant village. It was a long journey but she finally reached the mission station.

“Why, Kempi,” exclaimed the lady

missionary in surprise, “where did you come from?”

“I ran away,” said Kempi, “because they wanted me to marry a man who was not a Christian.”

The missionary soon had the whole sad story and then looked to God for guidance. They must get Kempi away from there for her relatives would soon come looking for her.

They hid her under the bed until nightfall, and then they dressed her in different clothes that made her look like a Mohammedan instead of a Brahman. Then they rode in a small cart drawn by a pony till they reached another village where they boarded a train. Kempi hid under the seat, and all the while the missionary prayed that her relatives would not catch them.

Next they changed to a bus and after a long ride they reached a city where there was a Christian school for girls. Soon Kempi was tucked in bed and sleeping soundly.

After three months it seemed safe for Kempi to return to the mission. How glad she was to be with her friends again. She did all she could to be helpful and was a bright testimony for the Lord. One day she was baptized and how happy she was to let all know that she belonged to the Saviour and wanted to live for Him.

Years passed and God had other joys in store for Kempi. She and a young school teacher fell in love and they were happily married. The Lord gave them a little family of their own, and it was their joy to seek to bring them up for Him.

“And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.”

John 17:3

ML-04/23/1978

How the Filipino Children Were Saved

Memory Verse: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23

Romeo Ancheta is the house father of the Tanay Christian mission orphanage in the Philippines. In May 1976, the terrible typhoon “Didang” swept over the islands causing great damage and loss of life. The mission was isolated and the 80 children faced starvation.

Romeo received a citation and an award from the president for his courage and unswerving devotion to duty on that occasion. The presidential citation read: “Mr. Romeo Ancheta in complete disregard of his personal safety decided to seek the assistance of the national disaster control center. He hiked through the mountains of Tanay, Rizal, with Ignacio Maravella, and swam across three swollen rivers. Unfortunately his companion, in the attempt to cross the third river, lost his life. Finally alone he reached NDCC the night of the 27th of May, 1976. Task Force “Buffalo” immediately responded to his needs, thereby saving the orphanage from starvation, fulfilling his mission of self-sacrifice.”

In a letter telling of his experience, Romeo wrote: “The experience I had in those days reminds me of the word of God in Rom. 8:18: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

“Hoping that you will pray for us more as we serve our Lord in this part of the globe.”

Romeo then went on to ask if his subscription of Messages could be increased to 100 copies.

No doubt the Lord was with Romeo as he swam those three swollen rivers to save the children’s lives, and we cannot help but admire his courage and devotion. But there is One who passed through a deeper, more dreadful river, to bring life to you and me-sinners ready to perish, without God and without hope in the world. Our blessed Lord Jesus, in obedience to His Father’s will and in love which many waters could not quench, nor the floods drown, (Song of Sol. 8:7) passed through death’s raging flood in those dark hours upon the cross. The waves and billows of God’s eternal judgment against sin rolled over His head.

He died that we might live. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 6:23.) God raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in heaven, and now gives “the bread of life” to everyone that believes in Him.

If in this world men are counted worthy of honor by their fellowmen, how much more so has God been pleased to honor His beloved Son for having glorified Him here on earth.

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,... and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11.)

ML-04/30/1978

Five Lions on the Road

An African missionary was telling stories of some of his experiences in a jungle country.

One day he and his wife were out for a walk. As they rounded a bend in the road they saw five lions coming down the road towards them. They looked around for trees to climb; there weren’t any. They couldn’t turn and run for the great beasts would have jumped on them in a moment. They had no guns. They prayed quietly to the Lord, knowing that He who had shut the lions’ mouths when Daniel was in the lions’ den was still the same and was watching over them out there in faraway Africa.

The lions kept coming closer and closer. The only thing the missionaries could do was to walk towards them. Then the lions stopped. God must have spoken to them. Then suddenly they all bounded off to the side of the road and stood there and roared at the two as they passed. As they walked by, it was as if some unseen hand were holding them back.

“This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.

O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” (Psa. 34:6-8.)

ML-04/30/1978

Doves

The dove is the bird that speaks of tenderness, love and sorrow. When the Lord Jesus was here on earth the Spirit of God descended like a dove upon Him (Mark 1). “Like a dove” for that was the character the Lord Jesus was going to take in this world.

The name, turtledove, makes us think at once of sweetness, kindness, beauty and grace. The dove, I am told, is the only one of all the birds that does not have any gall. Gall is very bitter, and it is hard to think of there being any bitterness about the turtledove.

There is no bitterness in the Lord Jesus, and if you trust Him as your Saviour, He will take away the bitterness from your heart. He will take away your sins because He died for you at Calvary. He will make you a happy Christian, a joy to your parents and a blessing to all who know you.

Once when I was a guest in the home of an old Swedish gentleman, he said to me, “I like the turtledove the best of all birds.” This was interesting to me, so I asked him why.

“Because the turtledove always says, ‘God is good, is good, is good! God is good, is good, is good!’ and I like that.” I had to agree with him, for surely the cooing of the dove sounds just like that.

How good a God we have, who gives us our daily food, the blessings of loving parents and friends, besides the rich provision of delicious fruits and delightful comforts. We should love Him for that. But most of all we should love and thank Him for the precious Saviour He has given, and we should trust Him as our own.

When your Sunday school teacher or parents want to tell you about the Lord Jesus, listen attentively, because they want to help you to know that blessed One who alone is able to save the soul and enrich the heart. The Lord Jesus will bring you to the Father; He will make you fit for heaven and one day will come to take you there. Do not let anyone lead you astray or take you away from trusting this wonderful Saviour.

ML-04/30/1978

Does the Rock Move?

A young girl had been brought to trust in Christ through hearing Duncan Matheson, the Scottish evangelist. However, she got into doubt through occupation with her feelings and experiences.

“I thought I was on the Rock, and was happy, but my faith seems to have moved,” said the girl in great distress.

“Does the Rock move, Annie?” asked the quaint but godly man, who had much experience in dealing with souls.

“Oh, no, Sir, He doesn’t move!”

“Well then, never mind your feelings; they are not your Saviour. Say, ‘Thou art my Rock,’ and sing On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand.

“Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.” Job 22:21

ML-04/30/1978

Little Cloud

Hsiao Yun (Little Cloud) was the little four-year-old daughter of Mr. Hu the gatekeeper at the mission compound in Manchuria. She lived with her parents, her brother Tong, and her older sister, Ping-an, in a little two-room cottage close to the gates of the compound. Much of the time she played in the front yard; for the most part she played around the big gates watching the people coming and going.

When the missionary and his wife came in or went out, sometimes they would give her one or two pennies. They thought the little girl would spend them on candy or on the sugar apples which children dearly loved in Manchuria.

“Hold out your hand, dear!” the missionary’s wife said one day.

Little Cloud closed her fingers tightly over a shiny penny.

“Hsieh! Hsieh! (Thank you)!” she cried. “We pu p’ei (I am unwohy)!”

That autumn the missionary had some special meetings and spoke about the great need for the gospel in India. He told of how many of the little Indian children had never heard the word of God.

Winter came on, and with it the biting, bitter cold of Manchuria. Little Cloud had just turned five. One day while playing about the drafty gateway she caught a cold. It quickly developed into pneumonia. They did all they possibly could for her, but the missionary and his wife and her own parents soon saw that there was no hope. She was sinking fast.

Then one day as they stood beside her bed, Hsiao Yun sat up and said, “Mother, I’ll meet you in heaven!” and she passed quietly into the arms of her loving Saviour.

One evening, as a bright fire burned in the stove, the missionary and his wife were sitting talking over the happenings of the day. Suddenly a knock came at the door, and when the missionary opened it, he saw poor Mrs. Hu standing there crying.

“Come in!” he said. She went straight to his wife and gave her a small soap box. With tears streaming down her cheeks and her voice choking with emotion, she said, “My little Yun, before she died, gave me these pennies, which she had saved up all unknown to me. She said they were to be used to buy Bibles for the poor little Indian children.”

The missionary opened the box, and sure enough, there were all the pennies that Hsiao Yun had received. The missionary and his wife added enough to make five dollars, and then sent it on to India.

So a little Chinese girl had a heart full of love that went out to others. She had thought of her little friends in India without the gospel of God’s grace. She “being dead yet speaketh.” (Heb. 11:4.)

ML-04/30/1978

Steven and Connie

Steven and Connie were engaged to be married. Like many other young folks they were foot-loose and fancy-free, giving no heed to their Creator and Saviour-God, or to the salvation of their souls. Connie was in her last year of college, and Steven, in his last year of medical school. He was awarded a Christian scholarship to take his last semester of school working in a jungle hospital outside of La Paz, Bolivia, in the Alto Plano. It was very ironic for him to have a Christian scholarship since he was Jewish. No one wanted him to go, yet no one could bring themselves to even say anything against it.

Steven finally reached Bolivia and went up into the highlands. It was cooler up there, and he complained of being too cold at night. That same night he was moved to another hut which was warmer. In it was a space heater. Unknown to him, the heater was faulty and leaked gas continually during the night. Steven inhaled the gas and by morning light was found dead in the hut.

When Connie heard about his death, she was beside herself with grief and also wished to die. In her state of misery she went to Maine to visit her brother, whom she heard was a Christian. He had come to know the Lord Jesus as his Saviour and was happily going on for Him. He always wanted his sister to visit him, but she never had gone. Now in her extreme need, she finally went to see him in order that she might relax and be able to forget her sorrow.

She saw the happiness and peace of her brother and that of the other Christians there, and found they all trusted in Jesus. She had already had many chances to accept the same Saviour as her own, but had constantly put it off. The death of Steven made the question of life and life after death very real to her. The time came when Connie also accepted the Lord as her Saviour, and now she is going on happily for Him who died for her.

“THROUGH HIS NAME WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHALL RECEIVE RISSION OF SINS.” Acts 10:43.

ML-04/30/1978

The Lion and the Dog

Memory Verse: “My sheep hear my voice ... and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish.” John 10:27,28

Two boys one day went to a circus, one of them carrying a tiny dog. Wandering around they came to the lion’s cage and stood watching the great king of beasts as he paced back and forth in captivity.

Presently one of the boys suggested they slip the little dog in between the bars of the cage and see what would happen. No sooner said than done, and the little creature, sensing its great danger, crawled to the farthest corner of the cage. The lion, noticing the little intruder, walked majestically across, smelled the dog all over and then resumed his patrol.

The young fellows went off, but returned some time later and went at once to the lion’s cage. What was their astonishment to find the great beast lying in the center of the cage fast asleep, while between its massive front paws, curled up like a round ball, the little dog lay fast asleep also. Evidently the lion and the dog had become fast friends.

Calling to the keeper, one of the boys said, “That’s my dog!”

“All right,” was the reply, “if you want it, then just step in and take him.”

Needless to say the matter ended there for the time being. The boy must face the lion to get his dog, and this he was not prepared to do.

Now in the Scriptures the lion is often a picture of Satan, the great enemy, but not in every case. The Lord Jesus is Himself spoken of as “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah.” There can be no question of His strong might beyond the power of Satan, and there can be no doubt as to the security of all those who trust in Him. Every one who trusts in Him is secure against every attack of Satan. He knows that before he can touch us He has to meet the Lord Jesus Christ. He has already been defeated by our blessed Saviour, and he cannot harm one who is “safe in Christ.”

The little sleeping dog between the lion’s great paws may well serve as a picture of the peace in which the believer rests in his Saviour’s arms. From His own dear lips came the precious words, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any [one] pluck them out of My hand;... and no [one] is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.” (John 10:28,29.)

How strong is His arm, how great is His power! Then, trembling sinner, trust Him now. And, dear Christian, put your hand in His, know that His hand is in the hand of His Father, and in the happy sense of security, sing,

Jesus, strength of our salvation,

None can pluck us from Thy hand;

In the hour of dark temptation,

Kept by Thee we safely stand.

ML-05/07/1978

Tom and the Sparrow

It was springtime and the little song sparrow, harbinger of warmer days to come, was singing sweetly in the nearby tree.

Tom had made a slingshot and went out in the fields this day to try it out. Looking around for something to shoot at, he spied the little song sparrow perched in the top of the tree, quite unconscious of approaching danger.

Tom crept softly under the tree until he stood directly under the little songster. Taking careful aim, he pulled the rubber which he had loaded with a stone and struck the poor little bird squarely in the breast. Down it came tumbling and lay dead at Tom’s feet.

Tom had been taught by his Christian parents to fear God and His Word, and instantly he remembered that verse: “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father... fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matt. 10:29, 31)

Tom felt terribly sorry at the thought of what he had done to one of God’s little creatures. With tears in his eyes he picked up the dead song sparrow, still warm, pressed it to his breast saying to himself, “Oh, if only I could give back the life I took!”

But that was impossible. Only God can give life. Never again did Tom shoot at a little bird.

What Tom could not do, God has done in a far more wonderful way for poor dead and dying sinners. We read in Rom. 5:12: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”

But “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16.)

“The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23.)

ML-05/07/1978

Brand Marks

Years ago in one of our western states the cattle roamed the open prairie. There were few roads and no fences. Early spring was branding time, when the calves would be branded so one could tell to what ranch they belonged.

One rancher said to another, “You just put your brand on my calf.”

“No we didn’t!” replied the other. “Yes, you did,” the first man insisted. “The calf’s mother has my brand on it.” The little calf was standing close to its mother so there was no doubt as to whom the calf belonged. They changed the brand mark.

Dear young reader, to whom do you belong? Christ, or the world and Satan? The Lord Jesus died to purchase you with His own precious blood. But if you have not yet come and owned Him as your Lord and Saviour, the world and Satan will claim you; you will carry on your person the brand marks of sin.

The Apostle Paul could say, “I bear in my body the [brand] marks of the Lord Jesus.” (Gal. 6:17.)

May each one of us who believe keep close to our Saviour, so that others will know to whom we belong.

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

ML-05/07/1978

A Pigeon Story

A lady living in Germany found on her doorstep a basket containing a live pigeon. There was also a note warning her that unless she attached a certain sum of money to the bird’s leg and released the bird immediately, her house would be burned down that night.

She notified the police at once. Immediately they chartered two planes, tied a long ribbon to the bird’s neck, released it, and instructed the pilots to follow the bird. The police officers followed in a car. Straight as an arrow the little bird winged its way homeward and flew down to a loft. A photograph was taken of the place by the pilots and a note dropped to the police. Rushing into the building they found two brothers feverishly untying the ribbon. They were arrested at once.

But they protested, “It is not our bird. It flew into the loft.”

The police officer ordered a test, and one of his men took the pigeon to a distant spot where he released it. It came straight home to the same loft. A second and a third time—it came home! Finally the brothers broke down and confessed that they were guilty.

“Be sure your sin will find you out,” the Word of God tells us in Num. 32:23. Perhaps, dear reader, you are restless and uneasy, and feel guilty, because deep down you know that somehow, sometime, somewhere you will have to give an account to God.

It is no use to deny one’s guilt like the men who said, “It’s not our bird.” God says, “Be sure your sin will find you out.”

But how wonderful it is to learn that God Himself has provided a Saviour to put away our sins and guilt.

“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8.)

Those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour can say, God “hath made Him to be sin for us” (2 Cor. 5:21)... “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.” (1 Peter 2:24.)

Christ, the sinless One, has died to save the sinner and, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8:1.)

“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

ML-05/07/1978

Going to Hell

Lord Cecil was preaching the gospel in Canada. One day he came upon a man lying drunk on the roadside. It seemed useless to say anything to one in such a condition, but the earnest Christian man felt impressed to sound a warning in his ear.

Stooping down he shouted into his ear, “Man, you’re going to hell.” Again he shouted the words.

Some nights after the man, in deep distress, came to the hall where Lord Cecil was preaching, and was truly converted to God.

ML-05/07/1978

Reach and Take

A white-faced wreck upon the bed she lay,

And reaped the whirlwind of her yesterday.

Before her rose the record of the past,

And sin’s dark wages all were due at last.

A gentle messenger of God was there,

Who kissed her brow and smoothed her tangled hair.

And, in the tend’rest accents, told of One

Who died for her—God’s well-beloved Son.

“No power could ransom such as me,” she cried,

“No cleansing stream my crimson sins could hide;

For souls like yours there may be pardon free;

The Son of God would never stoop to me.”

“I bring a gift of love,” the listener said,

“This dewy rose of richest, deepest red.

Will you not take it? Have you not the power?”

The trembling fingers reached and grasped the flower.

“My sister,” said the giver, “Just as I

Held out to you that rose of scarlet dye,

God offers you salvation from above,

Through Jesus’ precious blood His gift of love.

“Reach out and take it without doubt or fear.”

“Is it so simple?” sobbed the girl; “so near?”

“Yes, nearer to you than I myself He stands,

Eternal life within His pierced hands.”

“So simple, Lord?” she moaned. “Nothing to do,

But reach and take eternal life from You?

I take it, Lord?” And lo, the dying eyes

Were radiant with the light of Paradise!

O death triumphant! Victory complete!

Today she worships at her Saviour’s feet.

Lost one, God offers you for Jesus’ sake

Eternal life. Will you not reach and take?

A.A.P.

“The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 6:23

ML-05/07/1978

There Is A Green Hill Far Away

There is a green hill far away,

Beyond a city wall,

Where our dear Lord was crucified,

Who died for sinners all.

We may not know, we cannot tell,

What pains He had to bear;

But we believe it was for us

He hung and suffered there.

He died that we might be forgiven,

He died to make us good,

That we might go to Him in heaven

Saved by His precious blood.

Oh, dearly, dearly has He loved

Well may we love Him too;

First trust in His redeeming blood,

Then seek His will to do.

ML-05/07/1978

Teddy's Narrow Escape

Memory Verse: “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God; and there is none else.” Isaiah 45:22

Teddy was a big black Newfoundland dog. His home was in the rugged mountains and dense forest of Washington state. He had a kind master who often took him on hikes up into the mountains, and this Teddy enjoyed immensely.

On one such hike, Teddy became impatient with the pace his master was traveling, and decided to run on ahead and do some exploring on his own. He was having a great time sniffing the various scents and picking up the different sounds of the woodlands, unaware that his life was in great danger.

For hours two men had been driving their pickup truck back and forth along the winding dirt logging roads that threaded the forest. In the cab were two high-powered rifles, and as they rode along the men scanned the brush intently hoping to get a shot at a bear.

It so happened they drove past the very spot where Teddy was doing some exploring. Suddenly one of the men spotted a patch of black fur moving in and out among the brush.

“A bear!” he exclaimed. The truck jerked to an abrupt halt, and the two men jumped out with their rifles ready.

Because of his great size and shaggy black fur, people who met Teddy in the forest at first glance often mistook him for a bear. But this was the first time that he had met up with any hunters. He continued to amble through the forest, unaware that the hunters were silently stalking him, waiting for a chance to shoot.

About this time Teddy’s master became concerned about him, having heard the truck stop in the same area where the dog had disappeared. He gave a loud call, “Teddy!” Teddy pricked up his ears. For a moment he hesitated. He knew his master was calling him, but he was having such a fun time out there alone that he hated to leave.

However, Teddy loved his master and had been taught to obey; so turning around he ran back to him with the hunters still after him. When the hunters rounded the bend in the trail, they saw their “bear” go bounding into the arms of his master. They realized then that Teddy was a pet dog, and not a bear at all. The men set down their guns sheepishly but thankfully, apologizing to Teddy’s owner for attempting to shoot him.

In this world there are many dangers and pitfalls. The only place of safety is in keeping close to the Lord Jesus. Those who wander away from Him are an easy target for the enemy. Teddy’s master called him to come back, and his obedience meant the saving of his life.

Now the Lord Jesus is calling wanderers to Himself. How important then to listen to His voice and to come when He calls! May He not have to say of you, dear reader, “I have called, and ye refused.” (Prov. 1:24)

Come, every soul by sin oppressed,

There’s mercy with the Lord,

And He will surely give you rest,

By trusting in His word.

For Jesus shed His precious blood

Rich blessings to bestow;

Plunge now into the crimson flood

That washes white as snow.

Yes, Jesus is the Truth, the Way,

That leads you into rest;

Believe in Him without delay,

And you are fully blest.

ML-05/14/1978

A Stray Kitten

The other day a stray kitten came to our house. It stayed and now it has grown to love us already. All we did was to give it something to eat, and show it some kindness. Now it comes and rubs against our legs, purring all the while. Just a little cast off kitten, but how the children love him!

Doesn’t this remind us of the Lord Jesus? He picks up poor stray sinners and brings them to Himself. He shows us His lovingkindness-meets our every need, according to His riches in glory (Phil. 4:19). Apart from Him we are just wanderers in this world, but when we come to Him we find in Him a Saviour and a Home.

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.

“God setteth the solitary in families:... but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.” (Psa. 68:6.)

“Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house: they will be still praising Thee.” (Psa. 84:4.)

Oh how His heart must rejoice when we thank Him for all that He has done and when we tell others of His love!

ML-05/14/1978

Mary's Morning Message

Snow covered the ground that morning, and little footprints in the snow marked the way from little Mary’s home to the door of an old house back in off the street. A gentle knock brought the aged housekeeper to the door. A minute later the tiny rubbers were removed and the little girl with the golden curls was seated in the warm room beside the fire.

A few minutes later Mary’s aunt also entered, and hugging the dear little child in her arms, she imprinted a warm kiss on her cheeks.

“What has brought you out on this snowy morning so early, dear?”

Briefly came the answer: “To say my verse to you, Auntie.”

So without further explanation little Mary said, “God is love” "Jesus died.” That was all.

ML-05/14/1978

Just As I Am

Charlotte Elliott was a very talented young lady. She was on her way to a ball when she was met by a friend who was a godly evangelist. He spoke to her pointedly about her soul’s need of salvation in Christ. Charlotte went on to the dance, but she returned from the gay scene sin-sick, and casting herself on the mercy of Jesus Christ, just as she was, she proved His saving grace and power.

It was after that she wrote this hymn, which throughout those many years since it was first published, has been richly blessed to many throughout the world.

Just as I am without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come.

Just as I am and waiting not,

To rid my soul of one dark blot,

To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,

O Lamb of God, I come.

ML-05/14/1978

Two King Edwards

King Edward VI lived three hundred years ago. One day some of his court attendants were assembled tether. One of them wanted something on a shelf that was just out of his reach. Looking around for something to stand on, he saw a large Bible. Carelessly laying it on the floor, he stepped on it, and reaching up he grasped hold of the thing he wanted.

King Edward, not wishing to embarrass his attendant, said nothing, but instead stooped down and picked up the Bible, kissed it, and laid it on the table. The king knew the value of the Book that he held and who its author was; he did not wish it to be despised.

“The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.

He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him: He also will hear their cry, and will save them.” (Psa. 145:18.19.)

Jesus said, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37

King Edward VII lived three centuries later. When he was a boy, his mother, Queen Victoria, gave him a little gospel paper. Years later, when he was dying, he remembered it and asked one of his attendants to find it for him. He found it and read it to him. God used its message to bring the king peace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, before he died.

How solemn it would be if the Bible only told us we were sinners doomed to eternal punishment by a holy God, if it did not tell us how that same God so loved us that He sent His only Son into the world to be our Saviour and to bring us back to Himself.

But instead, what a wonderful Book the Bible is, for it tells us of Jesus who died for us, who lives again in heaven, and who is coming back for all those who have been cleansed by His precious blood.

“There is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 3:22-24.)

ML-05/14/1978

An Acrostic

Success, not Sloth, gives letter one,

Try Moon for number two, not Sun,

Third in Command, not in Obey,

For fourth try Price, but not in Pay.

Now, fifth in Apron, not in Leaves,

Sixth in the Sowing, not in Sheaves.

Search, bow the knee for number seven,

Take Christ and have your sins forgiven.

Two simple words these letters show,

A prophet spoke them long ago.

Isa. 1

Jesus said, “He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”

John 5:24

ML-05/14/1978

A Hurricane

“A hurricane is forming out in the Caribbean and it could strike here!” Such was the warning the people living in Cuba received of the approach of a hurricane some years ago.

For five days the Cubans were alert, afraid, and waiting. They still hoped the storm might turn and head out into the ocean, but who could tell? Some made preparations while others didn’t bother to do a thing.

How like this is to people who hear the gospel message, “Because there is wrath, beware lest He take thee away with His stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.” (Job 36:18.)

Some believe the message and seek safety from judgment by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Others think the wrath of God will never come upon them for their sins, and so they do not accept His way of escape.

The missionaries on the island took precautions and boarded up all doors and windows of their home, and laid in extra supplies of food in case of need.

Then it happened! The black flag was hoisted, and everyone seemed to be in a hurry now. A family of nine living in a shack near the missionaries came rushing in, asking for shelter. They were brought in. Then a young Christian friend came along to offer his help. An unsaved neighbor came asking for shelter too.

By eleven o’clock the winds were howling. Houses began to crumble, trees were uprooted, tiles from roofs were flung everywhere.

Then there came a terrible noise at the front of the mission house. Had the porch been blown down? They rushed to the front door, only to find that the unsaved neighbor had tried to open the door-just to see what the cyclone was like! It nearly cost the lives of the thirteen people in the house.

How this reminds us of Lot’s wife who looked back to the burning cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. She became a pillar of salt. She did not think Sodom was all that bad-her heart was still there. She became a standing witness to unbelief which doubts the Word of God and disbelieves the warning of judgment to come on this world.

When the storm passed, then the doors could be opened. What destruction there was everywhere! Hundreds of houses had been destroyed, trees uprooted, roofs blown off and many lives lost.

However, in front of the missionaries’ home was an electric sign box with a picture of a Bible opened at John ch. 3. Some Cubans who did not want the missionaries in their town had said before the storm that the first thing to be blown down would be the gospel sign. But in the midst of the desolation and ruin all around, stood the little sign and the glass was not even broken.

All the crops had been destroyed, and the Christians had to suffer the loss of food like the rest of the people, but none of them had lost their lives. Their faith in God was strengthened through this experience.

Can each one of us say we are safe in the Rock of Ages?

“Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee.”

Let all seek shelter in Christ because the storm of God’s wrath is soon to fall upon a world which has rejected His Son.

ML-05/14/1978

Cauliflower's Friend

Memory Verse: “And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” John 17:3

In a large fenced-in pasture a flock of sheep lived together. They lived in peace until some vicious wild dogs found their way into the pasture and began to harass them.

The dogs killed several of the sheep and one old ewe was so badly bitten and crippled that only with great difficulty could she walk. Just at this point someone arrived and drove the dogs away.

Sometime later the dogs returned, and poor Cauliflower appeared to be an easy target for their attack. Unable to defend herself and with her leg badly crippled, she had no chance of escape. Her owner lived too far away to look after her, so her case seemed hopeless.

However, in the same pasture there was a big strong donkey named Bray. Bray befriended poor lame Cauliflower, and the two would often be seen grazing side by side.

When the dogs attacked again, all of the sheep ran for their lives except Cauliflower. She could not run away fast enough to escape the dogs, so what do you think she did? She limped over to her friend Bray, and got as close to him as she could.

The dogs headed straight for her, but Bray put himself in between them. Before the vicious beasts could get close enough to bite Cauliflower, Bray lashed out at them with his sharp hooves. It mattered not what direction the dogs tried to attack from; Bray was always there. If any dog ventured too close, a powerful kick from the donkey sent him sprawling end over end.

Time after time the dogs returned to the attack, and all of those sheep who tried to run away were eventually killed. Only Cauliflower survived. She relied on her friend’s strength instead of her own, and he proved to be a faithful defender. The two animals lived together for many years; and never did Bray ever let the dogs harm Cauliflower.

Dear young friends, we too have a dangerous enemy. Satan is the enemy of our souls, and he would like to bring us down to death and destruction. But the Lord Jesus came into this world to save us. He died on the cross to deliver us from Satan’s power and from the judgment of God against our sins.

Those who put their trust in Jesus are His sheep and are the objects of His faithful care forever, for He has said: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” (John 10:27,28.)

Even after we know the Lord Jesus as our Saviour and Friend, Satan will still try to harass us. Not one of the Lord’s sheep will ever be lost, but if we stray away from our Shepherd, we will come under Satan’s power in one way or another. We are only safe from his attacks when we keep close to the Lord. May we realize that we are no match for the enemy’s power, but rely on our Saviour’s strength instead of our own. Then we will always have the victory.

“Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:57.)

ML-05/21/1978

Without Money

“Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat: yea, come, buy... without money and without price.” (Isa. 55:1.)

This is God’s invitation of love to sinners everywhere.

Little Joan and her mother used to go to the store together. Joan watched the storekeeper put bread, butter, meat and sugar in Mother’s sack. Mother took the sack of groceries but she didn’t give the man any money. She just said, “Charge it to my name.”

Little Joan wondered about how mother bought things “without money,” and the next day after school she thought she would try the same thing. So taking two of her little friends along, she went to the store and said to the kindly old storekeeper, “I’ll take a box of those chocolates.”

Old Mr. Smith put the box of goodies in a sack and handed them to her. Then Joan said, “Charge it to my name,” just like Mother had said. And it worked!

But it didn’t stop there. For Joan bought goodies for her little friends also. Several days went by and Joan began to get uneasy, wondering what she would do if Mr. Smith asked her to pay her bill. She knew she owed him more than she could pay, and now she was really afraid.

Sure enough, the bill came the next day, and little Joan cried herself to sleep that night. She would have to tell her mother all about it.

Buying without money wasn’t such fun after all. The result was that all her allowance money for some weeks and anything that she could earn went to pay that candy bill. That was the last time she bought anything from Mr. Smith and asked him to charge it.

But, dear boys and girls, do you know the Bible tells us that we can buy something WITHOUT MONEY from Someone who is far kinder than any storekeeper? Yes, He will sell to you WITHOUT MONEY and never ask you to pay for it. That is the Lord Jesus, that precious Saviour, “who though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.” (2 Cor. 8:9.)

As sinners, we all had accumulated a huge debt of sin-a debt we could never pay. There upon the cross He gave Himself in love for us. By His death and in the shedding of His precious blood He paid the awful debt. Now God offers salvation full and free, and sinners everywhere are invited to come and buy “without money and without price.” Those who come and trust in Jesus find all their sins were charged up to Him upon the cross.

All we owe now is a debt of love to Him which we shall never be able to pay through all eternity.

Himself He could not save,

Love’s stream too deeply flowed;

In love Himself He gave

To pay the debt we owed.

Jesus paid it all—

All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain—

He washed it white as snow.

ML-05/21/1978

Colporteur Gil

Colporteur Gil was a faithful servant of Christ in Portugal. Much of his work was done in the public squares and market places, with the aid of an easel and a scroll of Bible pictures. He was a wonderful public orator, and would immediately gain the attention of his hearers and hold it to the end. It was interesting to watch the crowd when he spoke. Hard-handed peasants listened with strained attention when he read and explained the parable of the Sower, and mothers wiped their eyes when they heard the story of the Prodigal Son.

After his gospel message Gill would offer the four Gospels and the Acts for sale in an attractive little case and hands would be stretched out from all over. One little girl cried: “Daddy, we must buy these little books. I have wanted them ever so much since a man came to our village selling them.”

When the gathering was over and the crowd dispersed, a countryman came to Senor Gil and told him, “I too am a believer. I bought a Bible a long time ago and I read it every day.” He was not too intelligent in the Scriptures, but Gil was able to point out to him the way more perfectly.

From the market Gil went to the hospital, where he was allowed to visit the patients. Among those to whom he spoke were two who were in the last stages of tuberculosis. They made a sign to show him where he could find their money, and they bought a New Testament.

A few days later one of them passed away clasping the New Testament in his thin wasted hands. Before he died he had told his roommates that he was “reconciled” to God.

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,...” (Rom. 5:10.)

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”

ML-05/21/1978

Saved Through A Tract

Mr. Bach, a missionary in South America, was 18 years of age when he came to know Christ as his Saviour. Before his conversion he knew Christ by name, and he knew much of His life and teachings, but that was not enough. The Spirit of God had brought him under conviction of sin, but it is one thing to be convicted; it is another to be born again.

When Bach was a student in Denmark, one Sunday afternoon as he walked along the street, a young man came up to him and apologized for stopping him. Then he took a tract out of his pocket and said, “Will you please take this little tract? It has a message for you.”

In contempt Bach crushed the tract in his hand and replied, “Why do you bother people with such reading? I’ll take care of my own interests.” Then he tore the tract into pieces and stuffed them in his pocket.

The young man did not reply, but as Bach turned to leave, he noticed he had turned his face toward the doorway, tears were running down his cheeks, and his hands were folded in prayer.

The young man’s attitude toward his crude actions and words of contempt brought deep conviction to Bach’s heart. When he got back to his room half an hour later, the first thing he did was to paste together the pieces of the tract. Before he had fished reading it, he was down on his knees asking God to forgive his sins and for grace to accept Christ as his Saviour. God heard his prayer, and the Lord Jesus who never turns anyone away, received the young student and saved him right then.

That same evening young Bach went to a gospel hall and publicly testified to the saving grace of Christ.

“If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Rom. 10:9,10.)

Since that night Bach looked forward to the privilege of meeting in heaven the young man who gave him the tract and wept and prayed for him. He hoped too that there might be some there to whom he himself had given tracts and who were the subject of his prayers and tears.

ML-05/21/1978

O, for a Thousand Tongues

O for a thousand tongues to sing

My great Redeemer’s praise,

The glories of the living God

The triumphs of His grace.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,

That bids our sorrows cease;

’Tis music in the sinner’s ears,

‘Tis life and health and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,

He sets the prisoner free;

His blood can make the foulest clean,

His blood avails for me.

My gracious Master and my God,

O help me to proclaim,

And spread abroad through all the earth

The honor of Thy name.

“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

ML-05/21/1978

She Had Waited Seventy Years

Memory Verse: “Through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.” Acts 10:43

Northern Ontario in winter can be a cold, white world. Little, widely-scattered settlements are separated by miles of frozen lakes and forest. The only roads are century-old trails connecting the water routes. Who could ever forget the smoke of each cabin rising into the still, frosty air catching the light of the fading sunset?

Oil lamps begin flickering, doors open and figures step out in the vanishing light to pick up an armload of firewood for the night. Voices are heard and their tones are mixed-some happy, some sad-for pain and sorrow are the lot of all mankind.

It was to several such settings that an Indian brother in the Lord and I had flown in January, 1967. Sometimes a few days can seem like weeks and that trip was one of those times. We held gospel services at the villages and were on our way home when the weather took a turn for the worse.

My friend had a wife and baby waiting in his village and I had a family waiting for me, so we were both a little homesick. We were 80 miles from my friend’s village when the weather made it impossible to go on. I searched the chart for a settlement within our fuel range. Upon locating one, I turned the plane in that direction.

By the time we landed and had secured the aircraft, a full-fledged blizzard was beginning to blow. That night, after the storm, the temperature dropped to 40 degrees below zero! In a sheltered area we built a fire, ate and unrolled our sleeping bags. My mind was filled with questions: “Where will we get fuel to fly on? What am I doing here when I could be somewhere else preaching to crowds? What if we cannot get out? or get sick? There’s not a phone or a doctor within 360 miles of here!”

Then I checked myself. “I am a child of God,” I thought and remembered the words of Paul to the church at Thessalonica. “In everything give thanks,” he had said: “for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thess. 5:18). Just then my fellow laborer said we should try to hold a service in the village.

Moments later, we pushed open a cabin door. There sat the oldest Indian woman I had ever seen. She was alone and blind. We proceeded with the “service” and explained the gospel of God’s grace to our “audience” of one. Two hours later she had received Jesus Christ through faith in Him, and the three of us began to sing:

“Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.”

We learned that she had heard about the gospel before the turn of the century from a traveler and that all those years she had longed to hear more. God had granted two men—one white, one Indian—the privilege of finishing that story of hope which had been begun so many years before! Her loneliness, blindness and poverty, mixed with misery and guilt, were intensified that night by the fury of a white blizzard.

But my friend and I knew that the God of heaven and earth had sent that storm to change the course of a little airplane with two preachers aboard and brought us to the very village, to the very cabin, where He, from before the foundation of the world, had chosen to save the soul of a dear Indian woman who had waited 70 years.

ML-05/28/1978

The Stars

When we look up at the skies on a clear night, we see many stars. Some of them are bigger and brighter than others.

Stars twinkle. Because they twinkle, people draw them with points. But stars do not have points. They are really great round balls like the sun. In fact, they are suns. Many of the stars are much, much bigger than our sun, but they all look so small because they are so far away.

We cannot see any stars in the daytime because the sun is so much closer to us that its brightness outshines the light of the stars.

There are ever so many stars billions of them. When we look at the sky at night we can see only a small number of all the stars there are. Most of the stars are too far away for us to see with our eyes alone. We know about these stars by looking through telescopes.

Where did the stars come from? Who made the stars?

How wonderful to have a Book which answers this question for us. And it is the only Book in the world which gives us the truth as to this. The Word of God tells us that: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth....

“And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; He made the stars also.” (Gen. 1:1,16.)

When we turn over to the New Testament, we learn from John’s Gospel that Jesus the Son of God created all things.

“All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:2,3).

But a far greater wonder than this is that He was that holy Babe in Bethlehem’s manger, that same blessed lowly Man who went about this earth doing good. Then, wonder of all wonders, He was that same holy Sufferer hanging upon Calvary’s cross, dying for sinners like you and me.

But He is not here now. He has gone back to heaven where He sits at God’s right hand.

One day soon He is coming to take all those who love Him to be with Him where He is, beyond the stars. And thousands, millions, of little children will be there gathered around Him to sing His praise forever.

Like the stars of the morning

His bright crown adorning,

They shall shine in His beauty,

Bright gems for His crown.

ML-05/28/1978

The Story of One Gospel Tract

Some years ago, someone known only to God gave away a small gospel tract with a great message. Our first acquaintance with this gospel tract is when it was found lying on the grass by a muddy road in Kansas. It was put there, by God’s mercy, just for a teenage boy who, because of the recent rain, couldn’t work in the fields.

This barefooted boy, who was too poor to own rubber boots, was walking to town some five miles from his home for a game of pool—which was never played. He noticed the tract, picked it up, and as he walked along was casually reading it. He read how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures: and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures and how one can have, through believing in Him, the knowledge of sins forgiven and a home in heaven for all eternity.

With much concern, he decided to turn around and go back home. He had taught Sunday school in the local church, but here was something he never dreamed of as being in the Bible. The only person at home was an older brother.

After a brief chat with him, he mentioned the concern he had as to whether anyone on earth could know where they would be in eternity. His brother didn’t know either but suggested they get the Bible and see if they could find out. They started reading in the 4th chapter of Romans and came to the 5th verse which reads, “To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Here he told his brother to stop reading, as that was the message he was looking for. It was simply believing in the finished work.

A short time later, a Scotch coal miner from Iowa, who during the summer, spent what he had saved from his winter’s work in gospel work, came to this area in Kansas and had a series of meetings in a schoolhouse. The young boy attended, and one evening on his way out of the meeting he was asked by the preacher if he was saved. He said he didn’t know, but related his experience with the tract and his Bible and how that his only desire was to tell others the story that meant so much to him.

“What you have experienced in your life is called being ‘born again',” the preacher said. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17.) He also pointed out to him scriptures that gave the assurance of heaven as his eternal home.

That young fellow was saved soon after that and became an earnest soul-winner, giving away thousands of tracts and witnessing to others of the matchless grace God had shown to him.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appear,

The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares,

I have already come;

’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me Home.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun,

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise

Than when we first begun.

ML-05/28/1978

A Book on Agriculture

Memory Verse: “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

Ramon worked in a book shop, and his employer had just scolded him because the books on the shelves, instead of being tidy, were in terrible disorder. Ramon was told to put them into the various subjects: Travel, Religion, Agriculture, Biography, and so on.

Ramon worked at it for some time, but after a while he grew weary of the job, and soon, with half a glance at a title, he would put it anywhere on the shelves. He had gotten nearly to the end of them, when he picked up a small black bound book. Opening it to see what it was about, his eyes caught the words; “A Sower went forth to sow.” Further down the page he saw, “Thorns... good ground... some 30, some 60, some 100 fold.” This must be a book on Agriculture,” thought Ramon, and placed it on its respective shelf.

Not long after a farmer came into the shop and asked for a book on soil and cultivation. Ramon pondered what to recommend on the subject; then he suddenly thought of that little black bound book. It would be just the thing. It would tell about seeds, cultivation and how to get good crops. So he got it down from the shelf. The farmer took Ramon at his word that the book was written for farmers, and bought it at once.

That evening the farmer sat down at home to look at his book, but when he opened it, he found to his disgust that it was a religious book. He had no interest in religion, and he threw the book into a cupboard. How vexed he was at that young fellow in the bookshop!

Some years after this when the farmer had a severe illness, and was unable to work, he asked his wife for something to read. She thought he had read all the books they had, but looking into the cupboard, she saw the little black book which he had thrown there years before.

“Have you ever read this?” she asked.

Then he remembered how the young man in the book shop had misled him and how annoyed he had been at the time. However, there was nothing else to read, so he decided he would have a look at it. He had no idea that it was a New Testament, but he started reading and, finding it surprisingly interesting, he read on.

Then he came to the words of the Lord Jesus, “Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He paused to think, then read on and on, hour after hour. It was all so new to him that he was fascinated by the story of the Saviour’s birth, and of the wonderful miracles which He did, and what He taught. Most of all, he was impressed at the story of His precious death on the cross and His resurrection.

When he came to John 6:37 and read those words, “Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out,” he remembered the invitation, “Come unto Me,” which had struck him so much earlier. By this time his hard heart had melted. “Lord Jesus,” he said, “I will come right now,” and so He who never turned anyone away, received him with those opened arms of love. That day the farmer found rest and peace in the Saviour.

Dear friend, have you ever started to read the New Testament thoughtfully? It is God’s message to you. You’ll find that it tells us that although we have not loved God, yet He loves us so much that He gave His own dear Son to die for us so that our sins might be forgiven and we be made fit for His holy presence. Not only that, but it tells us that when we put our trust in Him, we become children of God, objects of the Father’s love. Now we have a loving Father to turn to in all our difficulties; we can bring to Him our joys and our sorrows. Then one day soon we shall go home to heaven to be with Jesus in the Father’s house of many mansions.

What a treasure we have in the New Testament! Don’t throw it into a cupboard and forget it! Read it!

“Herein is love,

Not that we loved

God

But that He loved

us,

And sent His Son to be

the propitiation for

our sins.”

1 John 4:10

ML-06/04/1978

Washday

In many a home washday comes around every week with unfailing regularity. Even little girls delight to be like their mothers and love to wash their dolly’s clothes.

How happy it is when from earliest childhood a love of cleanliness is instilled into the heart. A dirty home can never be a happy home, and a lack of personal cleanliness can make one an object of dislike to others.

Now just as dirt is not tolerated in respectable homes, so sin could not be tolerated in heaven. God is holy, and He cannot allow anything unholy to enter there. It is His dwelling place, and no taint of sin can be allowed to defile it.

What about you and me? We are sinners—sinful in thought and word and deed. Must heaven’s door be shut against us forever because of this?

No, thank God, for there is a way of being washed from the black stains of guilt and cleansed from all that which would shut us out from God’s dwelling place in glory.

It is the way of the precious blood of Christ. There is no other way. We read that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7.)

I wonder if you have been cleansed from your sin?

Away up in the far, far north is the grave of a poor sailor who died during an Arctic exploration-a grave which perhaps is nearer than any other to the North pole. It bears upon the simple wooden post that marks its position amid those bleak, dreary, frozen wastes a simple prayer—

“WASH ME, AND I SHALL BE WHITER THAN SNOW.”

“A fine epitaph,” says an American writer, “but we must not leave it for our gravestone!” Nor must we leave it for our dying hour. Here and now we should seek cleansing, if we have not done so yet, through Christ’s precious atoning blood.

Happy is the boy or girl who is—

1.) Cleansed once for all from sins by the blood of Christ.

2.) Cleansed day by day by the purifying power of the Word of God.

“Though thy sins are red like crimson,

Deep, in scarlet glow,

Jesus’ precious blood can make them

White as snow.

“Consecrate yourselves

Today to the Lord...;

That He may bestow

Upon you

A blessing this day.”

Ex. 32:29

ML-06/04/1978

A Rose in God's Garden

“And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel. But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished. (Acts 12:13-16.)

I like this sweet Rose of Palestine, for that’s what her name—Rhoda—means. She says to me: Anyone can be the friend of the Lord Jesus. It does not matter how young you are no, nor how poor and humble you are. I was only a girl. Yet He had a place for me, so simple and lowly and unpretending, in His home and heart. He despises none: He casts out none: He waits for you.

And she says to me: You can please Him in the common duties of everyday life. It was my work to answer the door; nothing more wonderful or loftier than that!

There was a prayer meeting going on in that home, and I am glad I was at that prayer meeting. I left off praying to go and answer the door. My answering the door was service to Him as truly as my praying was. So remember that you can honor Him in the smallest and most ordinary affairs of the quietest and humblest life.

And again she says to me: See that you have a trust in Him which nothing can shake. The brethren would not believe me when I told them that Peter was safe and well outside; but I constantly affirmed that it was even so. You do the same. If you cannot argue with people, tell them to go down to the door and see for themselves. One better than Peter is waiting to enter there. “Behold,” the Lord Jesus says, “I stand at the door and knock. If any man open the door, I will come in.”

Indeed, I thanked that dear maid, Rhoda, for her wholesome and uplifting lessons. Peter is like a mountain in the kingdom of the Bible, Rhoda is but a wild rose blooming by the roadside. But both mountain and flower have their message for me, and I can part with neither.

ML-06/04/1978

Only One More Dance

“Only one more dance, Jim, and then I’m done with it forever. I know you’ve got the best of it, but then a fellow can’t say ‘No’ when one is asked to buy a ticket. I know as well as you can tell me that it is all false, this thing they call happiness, but then, once begun, it’s no easy job to give it up. I know I’ll have a headache all next day after dancing and drinking, and I’ll be miserable as possible, but it’s the last positively: then I’ll settle down to think seriously.

Fred was just a young fellow, and he had spoken these words to a friend who had been pointing out to him the danger of living a careless, Christless life.

“I don’t ask you to give up your dance,” Jim replied. “I know it’s a hard job if you’ve got nothing better, but I ask you to receive Christ, and there will be no difficulty then. There was a time when I was as fond of dancing as you are, and a good deal more besides, but from the moment I received Christ, I never had a desire to return; and what’s more, nobody ever asked me. I don’t need them, because I have Christ, and He quite satisfies me. I have all the joy and pleasure I want in His service. I can assure you there’s nothing false in it.

“You can’t say I’m long-faced or sad either, for Christ never made anybody that way. I grant you lots of religious folks are putting on a false front; but there is a real thing, Fred, I tell you, and nothing will give me greater joy than to see you in possession of it.”

“All right, Jim, I’ll see you again soon, and we’ll talk seriously about it then. Meanwhile, it’s no use talking about it when I’m going to have one dance more.”

He had it, and true as he said, it was his last. He caught cold; pneumonia set in, and before a week Fred was in eternity. His last dance may have been the price of his soul.

Reader, what if your soul goes at the same price? One thing is sure, your last dance will come—then definite judgment. There is yet an open door for escape. Christ still receives sinners. Tomorrow may be too late. God has said: “They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.” (Job 21:13.) “After this the judgment.” (Heb. 9:27.)

ML-06/04/1978

Mother's Bible

Memory Verse: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

The head waiter in a hotel had a beautiful gold watch, and one day when he was showing it to some of his friends, they asked him how he came to possess it.

“That is indeed a serious story,” replied the waiter. “I was working in a hotel in the mountains, and it so happened that one day I waited upon a very sick man in his room.

“One day he felt his end approaching and asked that a pastor might be sent for to come and visit him. But the nearest pastor lived a long way off, and he happened to be away from home.

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

" ‘Waiter,’ he said, and seized my hand, ‘Say a good word to me.’

“The perspiration rose on my forehead, but suddenly a good idea occurred to me. I hurried to my room and took from the bottom of my trunk my dear mother’s Bible, which had laid there for years neglected and forgotten.

“Her favorite texts were all marked. So I read them one after another to the poor man, until I came to the verse, ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’

“This verse he asked me to read again and again.

‘Should not perish, but have everlasting life,’ he repeated over and over.

“Then he grasped my hand and said, ‘Waiter, you have brought peace to my heart again through that verse, so that I am no longer afraid and can die. Take this watch as a remembrance, and keep it during your life. Then may you have a blessed eternity by trusting in my Saviour. John 3:16 is for you as well as for me, for it says, whosoever.’

“Now friends, do you wonder that I value my watch?”

Have you a Bible that once bonged to your mother or father? Is it hidden away and forgotten? Bring it out and read its life-giving words. Or is it on your shelf among other books, often seen perhaps, but neglected till now. Remember that you are far more responsible than those who have no Bible, and have never heard the gospel message.

Take it down from the shelf-perhaps there are passages marked years ago by the loved hand that is now still, and you have never even troubled to look at them. Will you not read them now?

That one verse, John 3:16, gives us, as has often been said, the gospel in a nutshell—God’s wonderful love.

His great gift of His only begotten Son, and everlasting life to those who believe in Him. It has brought blessing to thousands, why not you?

ML-06/11/1978

The Jellyfish

Tom was enjoying fishing with Grandpa in the bay. It was a sheered place, and the water hardly rocked the boat. Looking down into the clear water, suddenly, not far away, Tom saw a strange blue shadow just under the water. It was coming nearer and nearer.

“Look, Grandpa!” he exclaimed in an excited voice. “What’s that?”

Grandpa knew at once that it was a large group of jellyfish. He knew too well also that now they were in danger. If this sticky mass should swim around them, they could not get away. They would be carried out to the open ocean where the big waves would quickly upset the little boat.

Grandpa had strong arms. He rowed toward the shore as fast as ever he could. The jellyfish were coming closer, but so was the shore!

“Row, Grandpa, row!” shouted Tom, his eyes round with fear as he watched the jellyfish coming. Grana rowed with all his might, but nearer and nearer came the jellyfish. Now they were almost to the dock. Another minute and Grandpa jumped out and fastened the boat. Peter jumped out too. How glad they were to have reached the shore in safety. They watched the mass of jellyfish glide by and soon disappear from sight. This great sticky mass of living creatures had not been able to surround and trap them.

These strange fish make us think of sin and temptation. Satan, the great enemy of God and man, would like to overtake boys and girls and trap them in sin. Instead of reaching heaven’s shore, he would draw them out into the sea of eternal judgment.

Life is like a big sea. It is filled with storms, dangers and enemies. Even when the water is smooth and the sailing is pleasant, danger is still right there, like the jellyfish. But whosoever puts his trust in the Lord Jesus shall be saved and safe forever. Trust Him now, dear young reader. He loves you so much that He died for you on Calvary’s cross to put your sins away, and to have you with Himself in His own bright home in heaven forever. He shed His precious blood to purchase your redemption, and He wants to become the captain of your life if you let Him. If He can save you. He can also keep you safe.

ML-06/11/1978

The Money That Was No Good

A lady had taken a trip to Europe, and one day she decided to go out shopping. But she could not spend her money. She had plenty in her purse, and there were things in the shop which she wanted to buy in the worst way. But her problem was that her money was no good because she did not have the right currency for that country. She decided to go to the bank and have her money changed into that which was used; then she could buy what she wanted.

Have you ever thought that money will be no good in heaven? You cannot pay God for His blessings, and you cannot buy a ticket to admit you to heaven either. Some people offer God good works, others charity, still others fasting and prayers to pay for their admission; but this kind of money is no good there.

A newspaper once offered a prize for the best definition of money. The following got the prize:

“Money is a universal provider of everything but happiness, and is a passport to anywhere but heaven.”

Salvation cannot be bought with money, good works, charity, or anything else. Men are sinners— “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” (Rom. 3:23) and man needs redemption. The only redemption price that God will accept is the precious blood of Christ. Peter tells us, “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold,... but with the precious blood of Christ.” This is the only redemption “money” that’s worth anything in heaven.

Jesus said, “I am the Door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.” John 10:9

ML-06/11/1978

Sunshine

“Sunshine, sunshine,

all along the way.

Sunshine, sunshine,

turned my night

to day.”

So sang little Emmie as she skipped and jumped about on the sidewalk. And it brought to my mind how the Lord Jesus, our loving Saviour, wants us all to be really happy. He wants us to be bright and glad “all along the way” of life.

Come to Him now, dear little reader. Take Him to be your Saviour and Keeper and Guide, and you will sing “Sunshine, sunshine, all along the way.” He will give you gladness in your heart, and it will show itself out in your life and sing itself out on your lips.

ML-06/11/1978

Three Ripe Tomatoes

Outside his cabin, John Clarke paced up and down until he had almost worn a rut in the hard, sunbaked clay of the mission station.

Why did the Lord allow his wife to suffer so, to approach death with no hope of a doctor’s help for another week? Perhaps they should never have come to this lonesome jungle not with the white man within hundreds of miles, not even a government outpost. Why had they ever come to Africa? But no! That was doubting God. He had sent them there, and He had blessed their work; souls had been saved. God wanted them here.

But why was He allowing Mina to die? She couldn’t last the week out until the messenger could bring the doctor from the coast. And that strange request of hers—three ripe tomatoes. She thought they would help her and give her necessary nourishment to sustain her until the doctor arrived.

As far as he knew, there weren’t three ripe tomatoes in the whole of the Congo. There might be some canned tomatoes at their distant outpost, but ripe ones? They did not grow tomatoes in this part of Africa. John Clarke thought of praying for tomatoes, but considered it unreasonable to ask God for the impossible. Tomatoes couldn’t grow and ripen that fast, even if he did have seeds, and he didn’t.

Steadily the tropical fever was burning the very life from Mina Clark. By nightfall she was so weak she couldn’t talk; lack of food had sapped her strength until she could only moan and whisper occasionally to her husband. Only the prayers of the entire mission kept her alive that night, alive to face another day of suffering-physical for her, mental for her husband. As John leaned over her bed early in the morning again he heard her whisper, “If—only—I had—three ripe tomatoes.”

In agony of spirit Clarke heard that dying request-three ripe tomatoes. If only it were humanly possible to get them, he would go to any extreme. He picked up his wife’s hot hand and gripped it compassionately in his.

As John stood looking down into his wife’s face, a native servant appeared abruptly at the door and said there was a nearby tribesman out in front who wanted to see the missionary. Reluctantly John left his wife and stepped outside into the burning sunlight of the African summer morning. He had never seen this woman before, yet her tribal dress was familiar. Questioning her, he found that his guess had been correct-a bush-woman from the tribe he had visited last month. But what was she doing here this season of the year?

His question was easily answered. She had been sent to him for advice. Food was scarce this season, but she was afraid to eat this queer fruit she had grown from seeds left her by a white man. Were they all right to eat?

As John Clarke peered into the crude basket she carried, he almost cried for joy. There in the basket THREE RIPE TOMATOES. From seed sown months before in the providence of God, these tomatoes came now in answer to Mina’s prayers, in rebuke to his doubts.

And not only that, but the bewildered black lady said she had more! She scurried to get them at the missionary’s plea.

Mina Clarke ate the tomatoes and lived-lived until the doctor arrived with healing medicine, and lived to serve the Lord through the miraculous appearance of three ripe tomatoes, planted, raised and ripened at the appropriate time by the hand of the all-wise God.

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for Me?”

“Ah Lord God! behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee.” (Jer. 32:27,17.)

Miracles and Melodies

ML-06/11/1978

"Ye Must Be Born Again"

This is not being baptized. It is not becoming religious. It is not becoming reformed. It is a new beginning altogether.

Who are born again?

“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” (1 John 5:1.)

“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5.)

Are you born again?

ML-06/11/1978

Hoshio's Forgiveness

Memory Verse: “Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee.” Psalm 86:5

Miss Imhoff was an American in Japan for many years. One day she was talking to a group of children in a park in Nagasaki and telling them about the love of Jesus who died for sinners everywhere.

Hoshio was just a small boy then and seemed to have a dislike for the foreign missionary. Picking up a stone he threw it at the lady and struck her in the eye. Later she had to have that eye removed.

Hoshio disappeared; the police looked for him but could not find him. Miss Imhoff said she wished he could know how freely she forgave him.

“I mean to pray for that boy every day that he will become a Christian,” she added.

Years passed by. One day a Japanese warship anchored in Nagaki harbor. The Christians in the city planned a reception for the officers and crew.

Someone made a welcome speech, after which the Japanese commander of the ship acknowledged the courtesy. He declared that he himself was a Christian, and then he told the story of why he had given up the religion of his fathers for the faith of Jesus Christ.

“When I was a small boy,” he said, “I stood one day in a park in this very city, listening to a Christian missionary tell the wonderful story of Calvary. Thoughtlessly I picked up a stone and threw it at her, and it struck her in the eye.

“Thoroughly frightened I ran to the mountains where I remained three days without anything to eat. Then one of my young friends found me and told me that the lady missionary was not angry with me; rather she had said she intended to pray every day that I would become a true believer in Jesus the Saviour.

“As I thought about her kind words, I began to feel strangely drawn toward the Christ she loved. By and by I decided to embrace Christianity with all my heart and I confessed Jesus as my Saviour. Today I am glad to confess my faith in Him in the very place where I as a boy first heard the gospel.”

Strange to relate, Miss Imhoff herself was among the crowd listening to the officer’s words. What a surge of joy filled her heart, as she thanked the Lord for answering her many prayers.

God has said, My Word “shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isa. 55:11.)

“Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.” (Eccl. 11:1.)

ML-06/18/1978

The Baby Bunny

There was a loud splash, and I discovered that a baby rabbit had fallen into the stream. He was such a little fellow, and he would soon drown. So I jumped into the stream, shoes and all, and lifted the tiny little thing out of the water. His little heart was beating wildly and his body trembled with shock and fear.

There was a stirring in the hedge as a mother rabbit came out from beneath some bushes. She was worried about her baby, and her eyes were fixed on me. He was so cold that his little body was shivering, so I put him inside my coat to help him get warm.

I wiped his wet little furry coat till his eyes opened. All the time the anxious mother watched me without even blinking an eyelid.

At last the little fellow was feeling fit again, and wanted to be free. I placed him on the grass and walked away. In a few moments his mother was by his side fondling him.

I went on my way and thought about how the baby rabbit had strayed where he should not have gone. I thought of someone who loved him and rescued him. I thought, too, that many people are like that young bunny, and have strayed away into wrong places, even in places of real danger.

But God loves them. He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, into this world to rescue them. The Lord Jesus said that He came into this world “to seek and to save that which was lost.” He came to save you and me, dear reader. Won’t you have Him?

Childhood Days

ML-06/18/1978

Charles' Crown

The Duke of Hamilton had a little son. Charles knew that if he lived long enough he would become a duke and a rich man one day. But Charles was still only a little boy when he took sick and they could not save him.

Child though he was he had trusted the Lord Jesus as his Saviour and had learned many verses from the Bible.

“There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day,” he would say, quoting 2 Timothy 4:8.

One day his teacher talked with him about the stars, and the little lad exclaimed, “Oh, you can teach me about them now; but I shall soon know more about them than you do.”

On another occasion his younger brother stood at his bedside. “Douglas,” said the dying boy, “you will be a duke, but I shall be a king.”

And so God came and took His little child away to His heavenly kingdom, to be crowned with glory, just like His own beloved Son, whom He sent into this world to seek and to save the lost, and to bring them home to Him. Well might all His redeemed children sing, “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Rev. 1:5,6.)

ML-06/18/1978

How Ernie Couldn't Get Away

One mild spring evening 18-yeald Ernie Williams hunched miserably through a gospel meeting. As the Scottish evangelist, John McNeil, closed his message with a powerful appeal for souls to decide for Christ, the great congregation rose and began singing, “Oh happy day that fixed my choice On Thee my Saviour and my God...”

Fighting stubbornly against prickings of conscience and conviction of his sins, and anxious to avoid having any one speak to him, young Ernie darted out a side exit and boarded the street car for home. Just as he began to congratulate himself for making a clean getaway, the passenger sitting next to him leaned over and asked him, “Oh I say there, didn’t I see you at McNeil’s meeting tonight?”

Ernie deeply resented the intrusion and glared at the other passenger. The next moment he had stalked off the street car and boarded the next one. Here on the second car he had scarcely slid into a seat when he felt a hand from the seat behind laid on his shoulder. Then someone in a very kind voice said, “I believe I saw you leave McNeil’s meeting tonight, didn’t I?”

This was too much. Thoroughly annoyed and not a little alarmed, Ernie hurried off the car at the next stop without trying to see who had spoken. He hailed a cab and climbed in. Surely now he’d go home without any more personal workers.

Minutes later the cab driver stopped at a side street, and leaning over said very earnestly, “It seems to me I saw you go into John McNeil’s meeting tonight, young fellow, and you don’t look very happy.” Right then Ernie decided that he couldn’t get away from God.

Overwhelmed by his spiritual need, he felt all his resistance ebb away. He could only sit there choked by the lump in his throat. Sizing up the situation, the cab driver climbed into the seat beside him. From a well-worn Bible he pointed out passages which explained how a sinner could have peace with God through Jesus Christ. A few minutes later Ernie Williams, realizing how tragically wrong he had been to try to run from God, left the cab a new creature in Christ Jesus.

As time went by, Ernie himself became a faithful personal witness of Christ. He went to Canada and settled in Winnipeg, became the manager of a large department and the oldest employee in the store.

God had given him many trophies of grace. There is, for instance, an elevator girl named Ethel. One day he prayerfully offered her a copy of the booklet, “Safety, Certainty and Enjoyment.”

A day or two later Ernie recalls, “she walked up boldly and told me she had received Christ for herself.”

And God has used Ernie as far away as the jungles of Africa. As a pastime he began painting brightly-colored gospel texts on large canvas posters in various foreign languages and sending them overseas to missionary friends.

One interesting result: an African chief from a jungle tribe was attracted by one of Ernie’s painted posters while visiting a mission station in French Equitorial Africa. He went home but sent his son back to learn the meaning of the words painted on the poster. The son received the Lord as his Saviour and returned to the tribe with the gospel. Many of that tribe became earnest Christians.

Who would have guessed many years ago the chain of blessing that would result because a godly cab driver stopped and took time out to talk to an 18-year-old boy about the love of Jesus and of his relationship to Christ. Ernie is eternally grateful to God that he blocked all ways of escape that night after the gospel meeting.

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

ML-06/18/1978

Skipper, the Hero

Jimmy was spending a day at Musket Lake, north of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He had brought his dog Skipper along, for both were good companions, and he knew that Skipper was a good protector.

Suddenly Jimmy and Skipper saw a rattlesnake in the grass. It was about to strike at Jim, when Skipper attacked the snake, and instead of biting Jim, the snake bit the dog. Soon after the snake was killed by the neighbors.

How thankful Jimmy was that Skipper had saved his life. He rushed the dog to a vet, who helped him recover from the snakebite. Skipper is fine now, and no master is more pleased with his dog than Jimmy. Skipper even had his picture in the newspaper with Jimmy looking on.

How thankful we should be, too, that the Lord Jesus took our punishment on the cross. He suffered there for us so that we would not have to bear our punishment in the terrible judgment day that is coming. What a wonderful Saviour He is! “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24.)

ML-06/18/1978

Walking the Tightrope

Memory Verse: “Prepare to meet thy God.” Amos 4:12

“Our life is show business,” said Carl Wallenda. He was known as the greatest tightrope walker of all time. Year after year and day after day, Carl climbed onto the high wire. Carefully and skillfully he would walk for long distances on the wire balancing himself easily with his long pole. By this past March he was 73 years old and had been walking the tightrope for 58 years.

Carl reminds us of the way many people live their lives. They are caress of the danger of living without Christ, and they go on day after day, year after year, living for themselves and for the world. They live only for this world’s pleasures, but like Carl, they are walking the tightrope of life. And, sad to say, it is just “show business.” They really have not faced up to the solemn reality of death and eternity.

Last March 22 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Carl was doing a special outdoor act to attract people to the circus performance. A 300-foot long wire was strung ten stories high between the towers of two resort hotels. Carl began his walk.

Then the wind began to blow. For awhile he leaned into the wind, skillfully balancing himself with his pole. He was halfway across when an unexpected sudden gust threw him off balance. He made a desperate attempt to save himself, grabbing the wire with his right hand, but the high winds simply blew him right off the wire. People screamed as he plunged to his death on the pavement The word of God tells us, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Heb. 9:27.) Again, “Prepare to meet thy God.” (Amos 4:12.) Are you prepared to meet God, dear reader? Or are you walking the tightrope of life careless of your danger?

You can be saved today! “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:31.)

Passing onward, quickly passing,

Many on the downward road,

Heedless of their souls immortal,

Heeding not the call of God.

ML-06/25/1978

Hear and Come

Dream not that better you will be,

But come at once; to Jesus flee!

He loves to save, and why not thee?

O sinner, hear and come!

Oh, come, believe, oh, trust and live,

Freely your sins Christ will forgive;

All you can need He waits to give,

O sinner, hear and come!

ML-06/25/1978

Miss Bishop and the Indian Boys

Miss Bishop was brought up in a comfortable home in New England. But she gave up the comforts of life to live as a missionary among the Indians of the Far Northwest.

She was kind, gentle and very patient with the children; none of them had ever seen her lose her temper. They could see that she acted so much like the Lord Jesus she told them about.

Some of the big boys felt uncomfortable as they listened to what Miss Bishop taught them. They wished they could see Miss Bishop do something wrong just once; if they could only see Miss Bishop get mad! Then they could convince themselves it was not necessary for them to become Christians.

One day after school they were talking together, and they tried to think of something they could do that would make Miss Bishop angry.

“I know,” exclaimed Jimmie the Beaver. “I won’t tell you now. You come tomorrow early-find out then. Miss Bishop, she get mad! very mad!”

The next morning was very cold, but the boys were there at the schoolhouse bright and early. When Jimmie the Beaver told them of his plan, they all agreed that it was a good one. After they had stealthily carried out the bad deed, they hid and waited to see what the teacher would do.

Miss Bishop had to make her own path through the snow that morning. She was thoroughly chilled by the time she reached the schoolhouse.

Taking her little basket of kindling wood, she opened the door of the stove to start the fire. To her amazement the stove was packed with snow!

She rubbed her eyes to be sure she was awake. Then the truth dawned on her; the boys had played a nasty trick.

Picking up the water pail and the fire shovel, she quietly set to work to take out the snow. There was not one angry word or impatient look.

This was too much for the boys. They came out of their hiding places looking very sheepish. Then after asking Miss Bishop’s forgiveness, they took the shovel and the pail from her hands and fell to work themselves. They soon had the snow cleaned out and a good rousing fire going.

The patience of their teacher had a subduing effect on the boys. It convinced them that what she taught them about Jesus, the meek and lowly One, was true and in some of them at least there was a desire to turn to Him and want to be like Him.

And Jesus said: “Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.... For I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matt. 11:28,29.)

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

“It is time to seek the Lord.” Hos. 10:12

ML-06/25/1978

Edward's Discovery

The sun shone bright on Edward, as they say, for he was young, blessed with health and energy, and wealthy as well. One morning he called on an old schoolmate, the son of a wealthy banker, who asked him, “Edward, how are you getting along down your way?”

With a hearty laugh Edward replied, “Oh, we’re having a great time,” and he continued by giving his old schoolmate a list of his favorite sports-football, golf, tennis, and so on, in which he and many like him found their highest ideal of “life.”

His banker friend eyed him with pity, for he himself had once found in such things his own satisfaction; but God had opened his eyes to something better and had drawn him out of the world to find his joy in Christ and in His royal service here.

“Edward,” he said, “you seem to be enjoying yourself, and what you say reminds me very much of the words of a wise man I read about lately: “Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: (to all of which Edward heartily assented, saying to himself: ‘That’s just what I mean to do') But know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.” (Eccl. 11:9.) The last part was repeated slowly and solemnly: “For all these things God will bring thee into judgment.”

Edward was amazed. He never expected to hear such words from his friend, so hurriedly and confusedly he said “good-bye” and hurried off.

But he could not forget these words. They kept him company all that day, and the next morning when he returned home, they followed him everywhere. All day and in the still lone night, “For all these things God will bring thee into judgment” sounded in his ear. He could endure it no longer: it was hell begun on earth, he thought.

“I’ll go and see,” he said. So off he went to the bank where his old friend received him cordially. Edward told him his story, and the young banker, taking him into his room, spoke to him lovingly and earnestly, pointing him to Christ, the Saviour of the lost. Edward believed the record, and became a possessor of everlasting life in Christ. He was saved and went back home a new man.

At first he thought of keeping it all quiet, a resolve which Satan was well pleased with, but the light was there and could not be hid.

Returning from a meeting, Bible in his hand one day, he saw a number of his old friends standing chatting together. The tempter suggested, “Hide the Book,” and in a moment it was inside his breast pocket. He came alongside his former companions. One, observing the unusual size of his chest, poked it and said, “What have you got there?” And all at once, drawing out the Bible, Edward held it up before them all and confessed the Lord. From that day onward he fearlessly spoke of Christ, and God blessed his words to many a weary soul.

One night someone called and asked him to go and speak to a dying man. It was a plot of the enemy. On the way a shot was fired, aimed with deadly accuracy at his heart. The bullet passed through his coat, but his loved Bible, which he carried in his pocket, became his life-preserver. In days to come, he often showed the course of that bullet as it ran through the Old Testament, through the Gospels on to John, ch. 17:11, grazing the words: “Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me.” And to old age God did keep his child.

Dear reader, remember these words: “For all these things God will bring thee into judgment.” Your secret sins, your midnight deeds will all be there.

There is not a sin forgotten before God, and not one will pass unpunished in that day. Today God through Christ proclaims forgiveness of sins. All who now believe the message are “justified from all things” (Acts 13:39). But the rejector and despiser of God’s gospel passes on to the judgment.

ML-06/25/1978

How Ben Was Converted

Ben was a little fellow whose parents had put him in a Home for children. Some faithful Christians used to visit the Home regularly and taught the children Scripture texts. Ben was saved through learning the words of God.

When his parents were informed of the Christian teaching in the Home, they did not approve, but they allowed Ben to stay on the condition that his religion be not interfered with. Ben used to sit up in bed with his fingers in his ears while the children were taught the Bible verses.

One day a little girl in a nearby cot failed to say her verse correctly, and to everybody’s surprise Ben prompted her. Nothing was said at the time, but it was found that he had been slipping his fingers out of his ears by degrees, and had learned the precious words. This led to his opening his heart to the Saviour when yet a child, and he always learned his texts well.

ML-06/25/1978

Ah-Gim

Memory Verse: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” Romans 1:16

“Ah-Gim, you naughty girl, come here at once! I’ll beat you if you go to the gospel hall again.”

Granny Fung was waving her stick angrily at her little granddaughter. Ah-Gim, though she was not a very good child, and often disobeyed her Granny, did not quite like the look of that stick, so she came at once.

Granny Fung often went to worship at the village temple, paying the priest large sums of money and buying candles and bundles of incense. So did everyone else until the missionaries came to tell them for the very first time about the Lord Jesus. Before, when they lived in the jungle, they did not know who else to pray to except these huge ugly idols who could not see, or hear, or move a hand to help.

Ah-Gim has quite a few friends in the village, and during the heat of the afternoon they loved going to the village tap for a bath. They stood under the tap, and let the water pour over them, then ran home quickly and changed into clean dry clothes.

Two of Ah-Gim’s friends are the twins nicknamed Solemn and Serious, because they do not often smile. Perhaps if they knew Jesus as their Saviour, they would smile because He would make them happy.

Pearl is another friend whose father makes candles, and incense for the worship of idols. At first Pearl’s mother seemed pleased when Pearl said she would like to be a Christian, but then something happened which Pearl’s parents did not like.

Four families who had become Christians in the village burnt their idols. Mrs. Yang, a believer, took a tin of paraffin and a hatchet and went along to help get rid of the idols. They poured oil on them and set them blazing, and Mrs. Yang hacked down the little houses the idols lived in.

A good many of the village children loved coming to Sunday school. They learned to sing many of the gospel hymns which boys and girls in our land sing, only they have been translated into their own tongue.

Granny Fung became very ill with poisoned feet. The missionaries came and asked her if she would like them to pray for her. Granny said she would. Love found a way, and from that day Granny gradually came to love the Lord Jesus with all her heart.

She did not live much longer, but before she died everyone knew she had trusted the Lord as her Saviour. All the family were very sad because they dearly loved her. Ah-Gin told every one, “We had no priests come to burn incense or frighten away evil spirits, for Granny has gone to heaven to be with Jesus.”

ML-07/02/1978

Twelve Hours From Death

John, Lisa, Greg, Tony and Michael were five adventure-loving young people in St. Louis. Last February they decided to explore a cave, and crossing into Illinois, they traveled to the old School House Cave near Waterloo. Leaving their Cor parked on Joseph Fruth’s nearby farm, they began their adventure.

After they had worked their way slowly for more than a mile in the cave, they were suddenly blocked by high water. Turning around they began to retrace their steps. In the meantime, however, outside the cave a warm sun was rapidly melting ice and snow. The water ran quickly into the cave filling up the passage-ways and blocking the young people’s way out. As they waded in the rapidly-rising water, their lights got wet and began to go out.

In desperation they found a two-foot high hole which was at least dry. Huddled there in the darkness, they waited for help. They had no light, no food, and only a little drinking water. Trapped by the rising water in the darkness they were lost and in danger of being drowned. They were in a desperate position. If help did not come from outside, they would perish.

Like those young people, how many today are hopelessly trapped in their sins. Some adventures in life seem harmless enough, but, the Bible tells us, “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin,” and even, “The plowing of the wicked is sin.” God says “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23); and “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). As sinners we cannot save ourselves; we need the Saviour who alone is able to save.

That night farmer Fruth noticed the car still on his land. He called for help, and soon rescuers were hard at work. Rescue work was extremely difficult and very slow. The young adventurers had been in the cave two days before they were rescued. When examined at the nearby hospital, Dr. Schettler said, “If they were exposed twelve hours longer, I doubt if they would have survived.”

Those young people were rescued just in time. And dear young reader, the salvation of your soul is more urgent than perhaps you realize. God says “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2.)

It was with great difficulty that the rescuers brought those young people to safety. But the Lord Jesus had to give His life to save sinners like us. “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8.)

He’s your best and truest Friend,

One who always will defend.

Do not let Him knock in vain,

He may never come again.

Hear His gentle, loving voice.

Bid Him welcome, and rejoice.

When To Trust Christ

“Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him.” Psa. 62:8.

ML-07/02/1978

The Spilled Beans

“Tom,” said his father one day, “I want you to take this bag of beans and plant them in rows in the garden like I will show you.”

He then showed Tom how to sprinkle a few beans down each row, and to cover them over with the soft moist earth. Dad had other work to do, and so he left Tom by himself.

Tom worked away for awhile, and then he sat down to play. As he played he tipped the bag, and the beans spilled all over the ground. At once he set about to pick them up, but there were so many scattered over the ground that soon Tom became tired. Then the thought came to him that if he covered up what was left with dirt, no one would ever know he spilled them. Finally he got the rest of the beans planted and went home.

As the days went by he often thought of the beans he had spilled, but he did not tell his father. Sometime later his father went out to the garden to see if the beans were coming up. He saw several straight rows of little plants pushing their heads above the ground. But where did all these come from that were in a patch by themselves growing so thickly together? Tom did not need to tell his Dad then what he had done. His father guessed what had happened.

Tom was sorry for what he had done, and he learned a lesson that he did not forget, for his father spoke to him of the foolishness of trying to cover up his failure. “Be sure your sin will find you out.” (Num. 32:23.)

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

ML-07/02/1978

How God Answered Mother's Prayers

When Asa Kent was first born his mother gave her tiny son to the Lord. She asked God to draw her little boy to Himself early in life so that one day he might preach the gospel of His grace to all around.

But Asa’s mother prayed many prayers and shed many tears before her prayers were answered. Asa was a willful boy, and sometimes he felt impatient with his mother for her loving anxiety about him.

One day they had a cottage meeting in their home, and a few Christians gathered there to pray and to read the Scriptures. Asa’s heart was touched as he listened to the words of one godly old man, and it was then that he opened his heart to the Saviour.

Then it was it seemed the voice of God was whispering to him and saying that one day He would use him to preach the gospel. Asa talked to his mother about it and she joyfully told him the secret she had kept since that day, when a tiny babe, he was placed in her arms, and how she had prayed for him every day since.

When Asa grew older and went about serving the Lord, he would urge parents to pray for their children and trust the Lord to save them. He declared that it was his mother’s prayers, together with the lessons she had taught him in his childhood, that were used of God in his salvation and meant so much to him now as a worker in His vineyard.

“I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also...

“From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim. 1:5; 3:15.)

ML-07/02/1978

"As Far as the East Is From the West"

I knew an old lady once who on one occasion went to see a man and sought his help in getting some of her affairs taken care of.

“Well, Janie,” he remarked, “so you’ve come to me to take your burden off.”

“No,” she replied, “you could not do that; but the burden’s gone, all gone, ‘As far as the East is from the West.’ "

This was her reply whenever any one asked her about her salvation. She knew the Lord Jesus had borne her sins in

“His own body on the tree.”

So with a bright smile she loved to say, “The burden’s gone, all gone, ‘As far as the East is from the West.’ "

Dear reader, the Word of God tells us this. Read it in Psa. 103:12. Can you say from your heart that all your sins are gone? that the Lord Jesus has borne them into a land of forgetfulness, and that you rejoice in knowing you are free from all condemnation? If not, will you not come to Him and learn that your sins were all borne by Him?

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.

ML-07/02/1978

Lost!

Memory Verse: “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10

Sue and Janie were hunting for the cows that had strayed into the woods. It was hard to look for them for there were miles of big timber and often the cows would go far before stopping to rest or graze.

As the girls climbed over the logs and pushed through the thick brush they would stop every little while to listen for cow bells. After going a good distance without finding any trace of them at all, Sue noticed that the sun was going down in the west.

“Look, Janie, it will be dark before we know it. We’d better stop hunting and try to find our way home.”

Janie agreed, so they turned about and started homeward. “Oh, Sue! how dark it is already!” she cried in just a few moments. “It will soon be pitch dark, and we’re a long way from home!”

“I’m afraid so,” answered Sue. “It does get dark awfully fast here in the big woods. Let’s hurry!”

But it seemed of no use. In about half an hour they could scarcely see one another. “We’d better stop or we’ll get terribly lost,” Sue finally said. “Perhaps we’d better try calling for maybe someone is out looking for us.”

So they called, but as they listened for an answer, they heard only the hooting of an owl and an echo of their own voices. Again and again they tried, until Janie began to cry with fright.

Sue sat down on a log and tried to comfort her. “I’m not afraid,” she said; “the Lord will take care of us. Let’s just sleep right here on the ground, and we can surely find our way in the morning.”

But Janie only sobbed the more. The night grew darker and seemed to be filled with many strange sounds. Now and then they thought they heard a call, but it only proved to be an owl again. Suddenly Sue cried, “What was that? Look—look, Janie! Isn’t that a light—over there? Oh, it’s gone! No—there it is! It is a light! Listen—that’s a call—" and springing up, the girls began to shout. Immediately an answer came, and soon they found themselves in the light of their father’s lantern and in his arms. With great joy they were soon on their way home.

How many know what it is to be lost, lost in the darkness of sin. No matter how hard they tried, they could not find their way out! Then they saw a Light! It was Jesus! They heard a call! They knew a loving Father was seeking His lost child. Oh how good it was to be found!

Have you seen the Light, dear young reader? The Lord Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world: he that followeth Me, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12.)

Have you heard His call? “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28.)

ML-07/09/1978

Buried Alive

In India one day a young fellow named John heard a dog barking very excitedly and looked to see what was the cause of all the noise. Over in a distant field he could see the dog making the dirt fly as he dug into the earth. Every once in awhile the dog would stop for awhile and bark excitedly. John thought the dog had discovered a choice bone or perhaps it might be a gopher in his hole in the ground.

His curiosity was aroused and he decided to go over and see what it was all about. As he drew closer he discovered that the cause of the excitement had arms and legs. A doll, he thought! But how did a doll get away out here? Why should someone bury a doll so far from home? Maybe a farmer’s little girl had left her dolly out there while she was with her daddy in the field.

But as he watched, he thought he saw the doll’s arm move. The next moment he was running toward the dog and shouting for it to go away. Snatching up the object the dog had dug up, he found it to be a tiny baby girl, all covered with dirt, but still alive. She was only a few hours old.

“Who could have brought her there and covered her with dirt?” he wondered. Then the next question came, “What shall I do now?”

Looking anxiously around he spied a woman outside a small house and hurried to show her what the dog had uncovered from the ground. Gently the woman wiped off the dirt and said, “We must get her to a hospital at once!” fearing the baby might not live.

“I’ll take her to the mission,” said John, and off he went, running all the way. Arriving at the mission he told the story of how the dog had dug up the baby and showed the scratches on her little legs.

“The mother must not have wanted her baby,” said the missionary with tears in her eyes, “and so she buried her alive.” Then she quickly put the tiny thing into the hospital where they washed off all the dirt and put some soothing medication on the swollen eyes. Soon the little one was between clean cozy sheets in a nice cradle, and a nurse was gently rocking her to sleep.

They reported the matter to the police, and a policeman came to search for the mother. He and John found her huddled in a field, sick, and brought her to the mission. The policeman ordered her to take care of the baby and feed it. However, she was not a good mother and cared not for her child. One day she went away and never returned.

But the Lord Jesus cared for the motherless little baby girl, and she didn’t lack for love at the hospital, for the nurses all loved her. She grew up to be a happy little Christian girl, loving the Lord Jesus with all her heart.

“It is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” (Matt. 18:14.)

“Suffer the little children to come unto Me.” (Mark 10:14.)

Jesus died for little children,

All the children of the world:

Red and yellow, black and white,

All are precious in His sight;

Jesus died for all the children of the world.

ML-07/09/1978

Testing His Idol: As Told by a Missionary

A Buddhist priest named Cheo in China gave the following interesting account of himself.

He had, like many other Chinese boys, been placed in a temple while he was very young. The older priests had taught him to read and write, but above all he had been taught to regard the idols with great reverence. He had a great deal of freedom, and while attending the markets and fairs had frequently heard missionaries preach about the true God. But this had affected him very little, as he believed himself right and the missionaries wrong.

As he grew older he was placed in charge of a temple, and his special object was a large idol which stood on a pedestal facing the front door.

One day he stood watching the rain which was coming down in torrents. He suddenly faced about, and addressed the idol in these terms: “I have served you faithfully now for many years, and believe you are powerful and are able to do great things for those who worship you. But the missionaries tell me that you are false, and not able to help yourself, and therefore not able to help me. Now I am going to put you to the test.”

So saying he picked up the idol in his arms and carried him into the middle of the yard, and said: “Now, if you have any sense at all you will get out of this rain as quick as possible.”

He then turned and ran back to the temple, fully expecting the idol to follow close at his heels. But how great was his disappointment to find the idol still sitting just where he had been put, and the rain was washing the paint from his head and face.

He watched for a while and then said, “Well, you silly old fellow, you don’t know enough to come in out of the rain!”

He then carried the idol back to his place with the words, “Now I am through with you.” Closing the door he locked the temple, and coming to the missionary he began to ask him more fully about the true God.

We hope to meet that Chinese boy, grown to manhood and become a priest, in heaven.

“And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” (John 17:3.)

ML-07/09/1978

Pray Without Ceasing

Be prayerful, ask and thou shalt have,

Strength equal to thy day;

Prayer clasps the Hand that guides the world,

Oh! Make it now thy stay.

Ask largely, and thy God will be

A kingly Giver unto thee.

ML-07/09/1978

His Last Words

A wounded soldier was being carried from the battlefield.

“Put me down,” he said.

“Can I do anything for you?” an officer asked him.

“Read the verse in John 14 which begins with ‘Peace,’ " he replied.

Turning to John 14:27 the officer read: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

“Thank you,” said the dying soldier. “I have that peace; I am going to be with that Saviour; God is with me; I WANT NO MORE.”

These were his last words; and thus he departed to be with Christ, “which is far better” (Phil. 1:23).

What a reality peace is! Peace made by the blood of His cross (Col. 1:20). It is not something of our own making—it is what Christ Himself has made; and then He leaves His peace with us: “Peace I leave with you.” Nothing can alter it—nothing can end it. It cannot be touched nor taken from the one who has it.

And He who made that peace with His own blood lives, and lives forever. “He is our peace” (Eph. 2:14). Then it is ours by faith. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 5:1.)

ML-07/09/1978

President Lincoln and the Dying Soldier

Memory Verse: “The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

The following story of an incident in the life of President Lincoln was told by a soldier: “I had been in the hospital several months. One day in May, President Lincoln and Secretary Chase walked into the ward where I was lying. You don’t know how much good it did us to see them.

“We boys took solid comfort looking at Lincoln’s face that afternoon, and hearing him talk. He didn’t say much to me that day, but it was good to hear him say anything; his words were so gentle and so kind. And then he was as thoughtful as a mother; he knew just what to say. I had been very sick. He only spoke a few words to me, and passed on to Number 26.

“Number 26 was a Vermont boy, not over 16; he had been mortally wounded and was near his end. Mr. Lincoln stopped at his bed and, taking the thin white hand in his said in a tone that was as tender as a mother’s, " ‘My poor boy, what can I do for you?’

“With a beseeching look, the little fellow turned his eyes up at the homely, kindly face, and asked, ‘Would you write to my mother for me?’

" ‘Sure I will,” answered the President, and calling for pen, ink, and paper, seated himself at the bedside. It was a long letter that he wrote, at least three pages, and when it was finished the President rose saying; " ‘I’ll mail this as soon as I get back to my office. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?

“In some way the boy had come to know that it was the President. So, looking at him in the most appealing sort of way, he asked; “Won’t you stay with me ‘till it’s all over? It won’t be long, and I do want to hold on to your hand.’

“That was too much for the greathearted President to resist. The tears came to his eyes, and he sat down by him and took hold of his hand. The little fellow did not move or speak a word. This was sometime before 4:00 and it was long after 6:00 that the end came.

“But the President sat there as though he had been the boy’s father. When the end came, he bent over and folded the thin hands over the boy’s breast and then looked very sorrowfully at the pale thin face. The tears streamed down his cheeks unheeded. We all cried too.”

If love moved the heart of President Lincoln to tears, what love must move the heart of Christ, who gave Himself upon the cross for sinners like you and me.

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead; and that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.” (2 Cor. 5:14,15.)

“To know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.” (Eph. 3:19.)

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

ML-07/16/1978

A Sadder but Wiser Pup

Rusty the pup came dashing over to the woods and waited underneath a tree, looking up with breathless excitement. What was that strange thing climbing down out of the tree? It looked like a cat, so he would have some fun teasing it.

But it wasn’t a cat, and it didn’t try to run away. It just curled itself into a ball, and those little dark beady eyes looked out on Rusty all the while.

Rusty made a rush at him, barking loudly and fiercely, but he did not move, though the little eyes watched him steadily. When nothing happened, Rusty began to get vexed; he rushed in again to give him a nip, but with a surprised yelp of pain Rusty leaped back suddenly!

What happened? Though the little creature had not moved, something hurt Rusty terribly. Rusty was angry now; he would punish him for that, and so he dashed in again, but again he felt stabs of pain and bounded away. Now Rusty was really mad, and in fury he rushed in from one side to the other, barking in rage. But it only resulted in more stabs of pain, till Rusty could stand it no longer. Yelping with pain, he ran for home.

Uncurling himself, Porky the Porcupine went slowly on his way!

Rusty was in misery as he lay under the porch. His nose, his tongue, his mouth—his whole head was stinging with what felt like fiery needles. When Father came home, he called Rusty out and took in the situation at a glance. He brought a pair of pliers and soon removed the quills, and poor Rusty crawled under the porch again-a sadder but wiser pup.

Rusty had chosen his own playmate. He was like many boys and girls who choose to play with sin! They like to do many things that are wrong, go places they should not go, keep company with friends they should not be with, and listen to things that are not clean. Like the porcupine quills, those poisonous needles of sin enter into hearts and minds, and bring only great pain and sorrow!

Oh, how much better it is to choose the Lord Jesus for our Friend, and to have as our playmates those that love His name as Saviour. He will cleanse away our sins in His precious blood, and heal the sore spots that sin has left. Those that trust Him find that He gives peace and joy and happiness forever!

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23.)

M.J.T.

ML-07/16/1978

That's for You and That's for Me

George was just a little fellow, three or four years old, when he was taken one Sunday evening to hear the gospel preached. The preacher often repeated these words: “It is Jesus and His blood; that is for you, and that is for me.” This made a great impression on little George.

The next day an Irish lady, who had come to help his mother, was passing the window. Little George called after her saying he had something to tell her.

“Hi, my chicken?” she asked.

“I heard a man preach about God last night,” said George, “and he told us, ‘It’s Jesus and His blood; that’s for you, and that’s for me.’ "

And so earnest was little George that he struck his fist right through the window and broke the glass.

“George, whatever have you done?” exclaimed his mother, as she hurried into the room.

“Never mind about the window, Mother,” replied little George. “It is Jesus and His blood; that’s for you, and that’s for me.”

The poor Irish lady was becoming deeply interested in little George’s eagerness for her to believe what God says about Jesus and His blood, and Afterward she said that though she had often heard the same thing from his mother, yet she had never thought seriously about it before.

Soon after she came to the gospel meeting, and we believe that she was brought to trust in Christ through little George’s simple testimony to the blessed Saviour of sinners and His precious blood.

“Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise.”

ML-07/16/1978

Blind Mary Bunyan

While confined in Bedford Jail for twelve years for preaching the gospel, John Bunyan was visited by his wife and little blind daughter, Mary. Briefly recounting incidents of his arrest, Bunyan ended as follows: “On the morning after, we sent to Justice Compton, but he refused to release me, though I had broken no law whatsoever; still I am content that if my lying here will serve the cause of God, I will lie here till my flesh drops from my bones. Let it be as God will.”

“True, beloved, but we will do our utmost; the house is so dull without you. Your little Mary sits pining for your voice, and the other two are often crying for Father. It goes to my heart to see them craving for you. And some that I thought better of will not pay you. William Swinton, the sexton, owes you five pounds, you know; now he says not a penny will he pay you.

“Yet I am proud of you. Yield not, John, for we will beg from door to door before you shall yield for our sake, to do what you feel to be wrong in the sight of God. I pray much that we may see you again by our fireside, and I look through the stone lattice often, longing to see your brave face through the pane; but I pray more that you might stand fast like David against the giant, and that you shall one day, too, conquer. Think not of us, but be firm.”

“That I will,” said Bunyan, who had nestled little blind Mary in his arms; “but what will my Mary do if her father has to die for the truth?”

“Do, Father? Why, love you all the more, and pray for them that kill you, and come as quickly as I may to be with you. Oh, Father! I shall look upon your dear face in heaven. How I strive to picture you! But I should like to see you as you really are. When I feel your warm breath upon my cheek and rest in your arms, I feel I fear nothing and want nothing. But oh, Father! My mother taught me that you were Christ’s servant, and I am proud that you were called to serve while the great ones deny the Lord.”

“My little maiden then loves my Lord?” asked Bunyan, bending with tearful eyes over the clear, white face radiant with love that the eyes could not speak.

“Yes, Father, I’ve loved Him a little for a long time, but I’ve loved Him, I cannot tell how much, since these dark days began. When Mother and I sat trembling, and wondering how you were faring away from home, in the time of trouble, how I prayed for you, and I felt your God was my God, and I would serve Him too.”

“But ’tis not enough, darling, to say that you love Christ! What about your sins?”

“Oh, Father, I have confessed them all, and repented of them, and I do accept Jesus as my Saviour. I feel more certain every day that He has forgiven my sins. Is it not sweet to feel this—we are tied together by a bond that nothing can ever break?”

“Aye, it is, dear one; and with your love and the love of your dear mother, I feel brave and strong. You help me not a little to stand without flinching in the time of trial.”

ML-07/16/1978

"Except a Man Be Born Again"

Memory Verse: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3

George and Betty, and their little son Dick, lived in a slum district, in a room that was scarcely fit for a human dwelling. It was dark, for the broken windows were stuffed with paper and grimy rags; it was cold, for though it was winter there was no fire in the stove. A ragged mattress in one corner served as a bed for the parents, and a smaller heap served in another corner for Dick. There was a rickety table, but no chairs. The only seat was an old saucepan which stood upside down.

Alas, there was something that George and Betty cared for more than nice furniture and comfort alas, more than for their poor little neglected, starving Dick. The tavern was their one delight. Dick roamed the streets, summer and winter, and when he came home at night, it was to hear loud and angry words, and quarreling and fighting. He was glad to escape again in the morning to beg, or run errands, and lived as best he could, hungry and uncared for.

One day Dick saw some other boys he knew go into a house with many other children.

“Come along, Dick,” they said, “It’s warm inside.”

Dick went in. The room was filled with benches on which the children sat. A man with a kind face came up to Dick and asked him if he could read.

“No,” answered Dick. He was therefore led to the ABC class, and he wondered at the children who learned sounds from the white marks on a blackboard. But Dick was a sharp boy, and he soon understood what it was all about. He determined that he would go again until he knew how to read. The teacher showed him a beautiful book, and told him it would be his very own as soon as he could read it.

Months passed, and at last the time came when he could read the long words. The teacher told him he might now read aloud to him the name of the title page of the book he had shown him. Dick read, “THE NEW TESTAMENT OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST,” and waited, wondering what was coming next.

Then the teacher gave him the book and showed him that he had put a string in a certain page and marked that page with a pencil. “When you go home,” said the teacher, “I should like you to read this book aloud sometime to any who will listen.”

Dick thanked his teacher with a joyful face and ran home with his book.

His father and mother came home that day before they went to the tavern. They had never found out that Dick went to school. When he showed them his book and told them he could read it, they thought it was a joke. But Dick assured them that it was true and said, “Now you shall hear me.” He opened the book where the teacher had put the string, and read the verses that were marked. The parents listened attentively.

But when Dick came to the words which he read slowly and distinctly, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” (John 3:3,) George interrupted him, and said, “I told you, Dick, you couldn’t read. You’re just making believe, because you know Mother and I can’t find you out. It ain’t sense to say a man must be born again.”

“But it’s there,” said Dick; “I read it all right.” And Dick read it again.

“Now, how am I to find out the boy’s tricks?” said George. “Who is there around here that can read? Why there’s that missionary man. The next time he comes this way I’ll call him in—.”

“Dad,” said Dick, ‘I’ll call him now. He’s downstairs—I saw him only just a minute ago.” And Dick ran downstairs.

The “missionary man” had several times called upon George and Betty, but George had always shut the door in his face, and told him if he didn’t take himself off he would send him downstairs head first. However, now when Dick came back followed by the missionary, George did his best to be polite. He couldn’t offer his visitor a seat, for as you know there was only a saucepan. The missionary was so glad to find George sober and willing to see him. Dick now explained why his father had asked him to come and, finding the verse, he asked the missionary if he would kindly read it.

The missionary read the words as Dick had read them before.

“Now that beats me,” said George, “I say again, it ain’t sense. How can a man be born again? It ain’t possible.”

“No,” said the missionary, “not as you see it. You’re thinking of a man’s body. The Lord Jesus is speaking of his soul. You know a man has a soul that makes his body move and act and speak. When he dies, that is, when his soul leaves the body, well, you know it moves no more. But the soul goes on living when the body dies.

“Now God said that not only were men bad, but they were past mending. So He said He would give them a new life, His own life, divine life, in the power of the Spirit. That’s the meaning of being ‘born again.’ It’s a fresh start, you see, altogether. And God gives this new life to every man who comes to Jesus to be saved.”

Then the missionary read on about the serpent being lifted up in the wilderness, God so loving the world that He gave His only begotten Son to be lifted up on the cross, to bear the punishment of wicked men and women. “And whoever believes this,” the missionary said, “has eternal life. You see, Jesus said so, and it is as He said. If you want to have eternal life, He will give it to you now. And you’ll be a new man—born again.”

“Well, that’s news to me,” said George.

“Yes,” said the missionary. The gospel means just that—good news. The gospel is the good news of the Saviour.”

George talked a long time with the missionary, and asked him to come again. They had many talks and Dick read every day to his father out of his book.

And now, had you gone to George’s home a year later, you would have seen a wonderful sight. All was bright and clean, the broken panes were gone, the rags were gone, there were beds and chairs, and a bit of carpet was there, all clean and neat, and a fire was there, and there sat Betty clean and neat as her room.

What had happened? Had the rich neighbor paid a visit to George’s grimy room? No, but God had been there, and the blessed Saviour, who had knocked at the door, had been welcomed in, and he had given to George and Betty the eternal life which he had promised to give, as Dick had read in his new book. And so the old things had passed away, and all things had become new, because George and Betty, and Dick too were new creatures in Christ Jesus. George came home from work, not to fight and quarrel but to speak lovingly to Betty and to Dick.

George and Betty were thankful for the new life and the new home, and the new happiness. Most of all they thanked God for the Home that was to be theirs forever—the Father’s House, where they should be forever with the God who loved them, and the Saviour who died for them.

ML-07/23/1978

A Little Thief

Amy had come to visit her Aunt Winnie and her little cousin Sally, but before she had even taken off her hat and coat she had spied a little doll on the dresser. When no one was looking, she picked the doll off the dresser and laid it under her hat on the bed.

A little later she listened to the voices of her aunt and cousin in the next room. They were hunting for the doll, the pretty little doll that Amy had just stolen! If anyone had seen her cheeks then, they would have thought they were very rosy red indeed.

Oh what a guilty conscience the little girl had.

“I just can’t imagine where that doll went to,” she heard Aunt Winnie say. “I saw it here just before Amy came. It must be somewhere!”

Amy squirmed as she sat on the floor, pretending to be interested in some toys. Though she was just five years old, she knew that it was a very wicked thing that she had done. Now it sounded as though they were looking in her coat pockets. Finally she could stand it no longer, so she called, “Aunt Winnie, don’t look under my hat!”

And that’s just where Aunt Winnie did look, of course.

Amy learned that her aunt had planned to give her that little doll, but she could not give it to a little girl who stole things.

By and by Amy’s mother heard all about it, and sitting down on the sofa with her little girl along side of her, she read to her about God being able to see even hidden sins. She also read that all liars would have their part in the lake which burneth with fire.

How terrible that sounded to little Amy! She felt what a dreadful sin it was to steal that little doll, and then to act a lie on top of it. Yes, she knew she was a great sinner indeed.

Some time later, her sister, who was just two years older than she, was saved as she read and believed John 5:24: “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 [judgment]; but is passed from death unto life.”

She told Amy all about it, told her too that she could be saved, for God loved her in spite of her sins.

When Amy said her prayers that night, she told the Lord Jesus what a sinner she was, and asked Him to wash her sins away too. And the Lord Jesus did that, for He loved His little girl and came to earth to prove that love to her by dying upon the cross for her sins.

The next morning Amy said eagerly to her mother,

“Mother, I’m saved!”

“You are? Well, how do you know you are?”

“Didn’t Jesus die for little children as well as for big folks?”

“Yes, God’s Word says that He died for all, dear.”

“Then,” said Amy happily, “Jesus died for me, and I’m saved.”

ML-07/23/1978

Heidi's Trust

Little Heidi was at the children’s meeting and heard a talk given on the words “He knoweth them that trust in Him.” (Nah. 1:7.)

Afterward I said to little Heidi, “Does the Lord know you?”

“Yes,” she said.

“How do you know that?”

“Because I am trusting in Him.” “Well, how long have you been trusting Jesus?”

Little Heidi looked down and then she said, “Only since I came here this afternoon.”

She had heard the Shepherd’s voice. She did not wait until she got home. She did not even wait until the meeting was over; but while she was listening to the invitation she entered into the Shepherd’s arms, by just taking Him at His Word.

“These things have I written unto you that believe on the Name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.” 1 John 5:13

ML-07/23/1978

Valerie the Godless.

Memory Verse: “He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6

Stone walls do not a prison make,

Nor iron bars a cage.

Valerie, a young Russian girl, had been trained in all the beliefs of communism. She was an ardent leader among the young communists and so bold and outspoken against God that she earned for herself the nickname, “The Godless.”

Yet it was for sinners such as she that Christ died, and the wonderful message of the gospel was being preached in a careful way by some faithful Christians. Valerie heard the sweet story of redeeming love and bowed to its claims. One day she put her trust in the Saviour.

She was miserable when she remembered all she had said and done against God; in fact she had sought to impress on the young minds of her hearers oftentimes that “There is no God.” Now she wanted to attend the godless group meeting and tell them that there was a God and that she had put her trust in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as her Saviour.

Her friends advised her not to attend, but something compelled her to go.

After the singing of one of their communist songs, Valerie asked permission to speak. Stepping onto the platform where she had often stood, she told her new story of the love of the Lord Jesus in coming from heaven to die for sinners, and she begged her audience to leave their sinful ways and follow Christ.

Silence reigned; no one interrupted her. Then her voice broke the silence as she sang, “I am not ashamed to proclaim the Christ who died for me”—then she was arrested!

Valerie was only nineteen, and prison life was hard. She grew pale and frail behind the bars, but never regretted what she had done, for the Lord sustained her.

“If I were freed today,” she said, “I would tell my people still of the love of Christ. I am happy that the Lord loves me so much that He allows me to suffer for His sake.”

Then the news came—she was sent to Siberia. She helped a weaker woman to do her work as well as her own. Twelve and thirteen hours a day she slaved, but she could not be silenced. As long as life lasted she wanted to tell others of the love of Jesus who had saved her and still sought the lost and perishing.

In the Russian prison barracks half the inmates were Christians and it was a great comfort to Valerie to meet with other believers to sing of the Saviour and to have quiet times of prayer. From them she learned what baptism meant and now she wished to be baptized. One night they managed to reach the river where they broke the ice, and she and seven other believers were baptized.

From prison she wrote: “With Christ we are free everywhere. Oh how happy I am.” Prison could not bind her spirit; she was supremely happy, for she felt the presence of her Saviour with her night and day. She was like one of old who also was a prisoner of Jesus Christ and wrote saying, “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.... for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” (Phil. 4:4,11.)

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.” (Titus 2:11)

ML-07/30/1978

"Let Me See You, Daddy"

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” So wrote David in Psalms 27:1.

The secret of true Christian courage is to have faith in God.

Bessie was just a little girl of five, and at the Sunday school treat she was reciting her piece. She said a few words, then her lips quivered, and she burst into tears.

Her father, who had been standing behind a curtain, stepped out and asked, “Why, Bessie darling, what is the trouble? I thought you knew your piece well.”

“So I do, Daddy, but I couldn’t see you. Let me stand where I can look into your face, then I won’t be afraid.”

Christian boys and girls, and older ones too, need not be afraid. They can look into the face of Jesus and know that He is all for them, just as David found Him to be. He will give you courage and strength to do his will, whatever that might be.

ML-07/30/1978

Dan's Mules

“Be ye not... as the mule.” (Psa. 32:9.)

Dan was driving a team of mules down the main street of town one day when suddenly a voice from the sidewalk shouted, “Whoa!”

The mules were very glad to come to an immediate stop, and Dan looked around to see who had called. A man standing on the curb was grinning, so Dan knew that he was having some fun with him. Slapping the reins on the mules’ backs, Dan called “Giddap!”

But the mules were not at all anxious to move! It took a good bit of coaxing and prodding before they finally decided to stir. Again came the voice from the sidewalk, “Whoa!”

The mules stopped again. This time Dan was vexed, and his face got red with impatience and embarrassment. But the mules wouldn’t start again. They liked to hear that command from the sidewalk more than the voice of their master. When they finally decided to move, the man shouted again, “Whoa!”

By this time, quite a crowd had gathered and was enjoying the fun. Finally the man got tired of his game and walked away. Poor Dan hurried his wagon and team out of sight as fast as he could coax the slow-moving mules on their way.

The Bible tells us, “Be ye not... as the mule.” (Psa. 32:9.) How many boys and girls, and older folks, too, have stubborn natures like Dan’s mules? They would rather have their own way than to listen to what the Lord would have them do.

Dan’s mules were listening to the wrong voice. And two voices are speaking to you today, dear reader. I wonder which voice you will listen to.

One voice is that of the Lord Jesus. He wants you to come to Him and let Him be your Saviour from sin. He promises you a gift if you will do so. The other voice tells you to live on in your sin, pleasing only yourself and having your own way. And he promises you wages. That is the voice of Satan.

Listen, dear boys and girls. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23.)

“Be ye not... as the mule.”

ML-07/30/1978

Jesus Is God

Phil was just a little fellow and was very sick.

“Mother,” he said; “pray to Jesus for me.”

“To God, you mean?”

“Mother,” said her little Phil solemnly; “Jesus is God.”

ML-07/30/1978

God Is Able

Alex Peden was one of the Scottish Covenantors. Because he preached faithfully what he believed to be the truth, the king became angry and sent out his soldiers to capture him.

Once he and his friends stopped in a little valley, and the soldiers were just over the hill.

“Oh God,” prayed Peden earnestly, “cast the lap of Thy cloak over us.”

Moments later, a heavy mist rolled over the mountainside, hiding the little band of Christians from their enemies. The soldiers walked all around, and never guessed that they were near. Like David of old, they feared no evil, and God kept them safe in the hour of danger.

“Kept by the power of God.” (1 Peter 1:5.)

ML-07/30/1978

When the Tide Came In

By the Severn Sea, there lived a clever young boy named Clement, gifted beyond most boys of his age, with the promise of a brilliant manhood. From a child his parents had sought to lead him to a full surrender to Christ first of all, and their prayers were abundantly answered. He gave himself to the Lord and began to serve Him while he was still just a boy.

Clement discovered that there was a lonely signalman on the railway on duty every night. The boy could be seen making his way to the spot, choosing a time when the signalman was free. There he read the Word of God to him and spoke to him about his soul’s salvation.

One stormy afternoon, Clement went for a walk along the seashore. Darkness set in, with a high tide and wild gale. At suppertime, Clement had not showed up; hours passed and still there was no news of him. Then, at 9:00, there came a ring at the door. Listening, those who loved him heard only the words:

“Drowned!”

Hurrying down to the shore, there they found him—their boy, his body washed ashore on the high tide. Oh, his face! There was seal of heaven upon it—peace, joy, anticipation. Looking upon it, they saw it as it had been the face of an angel.

It seemed that Clement had gone out while the tide was still very far out, climbed up on a rock to read his Bible, and meditate and pray. The afternoon passed, perhaps he fell asleep; none will ever know. Then the tide waters came in, cutting off all hope of escape. When Clement woke up, he found he was cut off by the swirling waves; in the gathering darkness there was no eye to see him and no arm to save!

Very calmly he took his Bible, and sitting on the rock with the waves rushing madly all around him, he wrote a few lines on the fly leaf. Then he slipped his Bible into his overcoat pocket, folded the coat and tied it carefully around with his scarf into a firm bundle. Then, face to face with death, he awaited its coming without fear. Unable to swim, he plunged into the sea, striving to reach the shore, yet knowing his task was in vain. A short struggle-a little while, and all was over.

Clement’s Last Letter:

“In danger, I now declare that I do trust in Jesus as my own Saviour, and have trusted Him for about five years....Now I do pray to God...to help me to do His will and receive me to safety and holiness with Himself. I ask God to bless my father and mother,...and to keep all my brothers and sisters in His faith and fear.” —Clement

Such is the mighty power of Christ’s salvation—the certainty of faith and peace; perfect calmness in the face of death.

Dear reader, the Lord Jesus is waiting and willing to save you; He is able—His love can save and guide and keep.

ML-07/30/1978

A Scripture Acrostic

Of a “stone” and a “throne” of one color we read;

But how different the truths they unfold. (Rev. 2)

“In life or in death with my lord will I be,”

Said a Gittite to David of old. (2 Sam. 15)

But what should our speech be seasoned with, say (Col. 4)

And who was called “greatly beloved"? (Dan. 9)

A hundred true prophets he hid in a cave; (1 Kings 18)

And a land where God Abram’s faith proved. (Gen. 22)

Initial letters will spell a name,

In Proverbs 8 you’ll find the same.

ML-07/30/1978

A Communist Saved

Memory Verse: “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

I used to be a Communist. It was Sunday afternoon, and I had been to the races the day before. The horses I had bet on won, so I had done pretty well.

Presently a police car drove up, and I wondered what they wanted me for.

“That you, Charlie?”

“Yes, What’s up?”

Slowly the officer broke the news to me of the death of my little girl in a bus accident. It was a bolt from the blue, and I was stunned. At once my heart hardened with intense hatred against God at this strange providence. She had been to me the very light of my eyes, and now came this dark black pall over my soul.

Looking back now, I can see an overruling Hand in all these strange circumstances of seeming disaster, for they drove me to think of my own need, of the reality of eternity, and of meeting a holy God in my sins. The awful hollowness and infidelity of what I was going on with began to arrest me, and make me yearn for something real.

A friend suggested I go and hear a very outspoken preacher, a converted lieutenant colonel. We heard him declare boldly of the utter ruin of man at best, of his utter failure in every age. He likewise showed the “wondrous cross” as the one and only way of pardon and peace God’s provision for a perishing world, and all that without a prayer, without a tear, without a single effort on the part of man, for God had done everything for man’s salvation in the Person of His Son, as proved by the resurrection.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16.) All that was required of man was to take God at His word and enter into the good of the finished work of Christ.

This was going too far for me. I was not ready to condemn myself as a lost sinner, yet I realized that I was not right with God. But one thing I learned, as I sat under the preaching of the gospel, was this: If ever I were to see my little girl again, my sins must be forgiven in time, else there would be eternal separation. This was an unbearable thought to me.

This wakened me up at last and drove me to the feet of the Saviour. I discussed it with my wife, who had known Christ as her Saviour for some time, and while musing over these things before the fire, I determined that nothing would hinder me any longer from entering into the joy of His salvation.

In the quietness of my heart I yielded to Christ in simple faith. I put His promise to the test: “Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37.) It had been ringing in my heart. I came and found it true. Will you?

“Behold, now is the accepted time.” (2 Cor. 6:2.) None are refused who “come.”

ML-08/06/1978

George and His Tracts

George was a little fellow and had been given a few pennies to spend all for himself. However, instead of spending it for a treat, George bought some gospel tracts. These he placed in a box of gifts to be sent to a friend who was a missionary in India.

When the box arrived, it so happened that the son of an Indian chief was visiting at the missionary’s home. The missionary’s wife had taught the boy to read, so she gave him one of George’s tracts.

The boy read the tract. God spoke to his heart, and he became a true Christian. When he left for his home up in the mountains in India, he took this tract and others with him and read them to his own people. Some of them turned to God and gave up their idols.

So like the little boy’s five loaves and two fishes that the Lord used to feed five thousand, so God took little George’s pennies and fed a multitude with the Bread of Life.

Boys and girls who know the Lord as their Saviour, no matter how young they are, can serve Him and be a blessing to others. Scripture says, “Be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 15:58.)

ML-08/06/1978

The Raven

“Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them.” (Luke 12:24.)

The raven is a large, black bird, bigger than a crow. He doesn’t sing, but makes a noise like croaking. He builds his nest in a high tree, and ravens generally live in pairs. They feed on any kind of flesh, and have a special liking for other birds’ eggs.

In Job 38:41, the Lord says, “Who provideth for the raven his food? When his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.” Ravens are very common in Palestine, and the Lord Jesus taught His disciples a lesson from them when He was here on earth. He said, “Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?” Have you ever thought about what the Lord told His disciples to consider? He had been telling them not to be concerned about having food to eat, nor clothes to wear, for He would take care of them. “The life is more than meat (food), and the body is more than raiment (clothing).” He would have us to be more concerned about the need of our souls, for He feeds the souls of His people too.

The ravens do not store food away, like the squirrels and other little creatures God has made. God has not taught them to do this, and the Lord says, “God feedeth them.” Yet they are remarkably dependent on Him for food.

If God takes care of the ravens, will He not take care of us—those who trust in Him?

ML-08/06/1978

The Lost Knife

Jim was just eight years old, and lived with his parents on the edge of a lovely wood. He awoke in the morning to the singing of the birds, and dropped off to sleep at night amid the songs and chirps of a multitude of little creatures who filled the nocturnal hours with notes of joy and praise.

One day, during summer vacation, Jim needed a knife to cut himself a nice stick to make a bow and arrow, or something. He went to his mother and asked her if she would lend him her best kitchen knife.

“What do you want it for, Jim?” she asked.

“To cut a good, strong stick out of the wood,” he replied. “And, Mother, I’ll promise to take care of it and bring it back to you.”

“Mind you do,” said Mother, “or I’ll have to punish you.”

Off Jim went quite gaily, and found just the stick he wanted. But when, sometime later Jim appeared at the cottage door, it was apparent that he had been crying, and mother was alarmed.

“Whatever has happened? Have you cut yourself, Jim?” she asked.

“No, Mother,” said Jim; “but I lost the knife, and I felt so bad. I knew you would punish me. And then I thought; God can see everything, He knows where that knife is, and so I knelt down in the woods and I said, “Please, dear Lord, get me back the knife as it’s Mother’s good kitchen knife, and if I can’t find it she will punish me.

“I got up and went back a little way, and there it was among the dry leaves. So here it is, Mother. I knew God could give it back to me.”

Jim realized that nothing is too small to bring before the Lord, and his faith was rewarded. Has He not said: “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God; the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Luke 12:6,7.)

Scripture says, “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:6,7.)

ML-08/06/1978

Young King Josiah

Little prince Josiah became king of Judah when he was only eight years old. While his tutors were teaching him many things he would need to know in order to be a good king, God was speaking to his heart. And it says that “He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.” (2 Kings 22:2.)

When he was eighteen, he set about to do for the Lord some things that were on his heart. Things had declined sadly in his kingdom, for the people had forgotten God. They had neglected His Word, and they had not taken care of His temple. Now it was sadly in need of repair. Josiah told Shaphan the scribe to ask the high priest for money and hire carpenters and masons to repair the house of God.

While they were clearing away the rubbish that had gathered in the temple over many years, Hilkiah the scribe found a book he had never seen before. He showed it to Shaphan and said, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.”

Shaphan showed the book to the king, and read it before him. The people had not been reminded of these holy commandments of God for a long, long time. So they had neglected to do many things God had told them to do, and they were doing many, many things that God had told them not to do. When young king Josiah heard the words of the book, he wept, and so distressed was he at seeing how far they had gotten away from God, that he rent his clothes. He sent men to Huldah the prophetess, to inquire of the Lord concerning the words of the book they had found, “for,” said he, “great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us.”

The Lord gave the prophetess a word for the king saying that though the people had forsaken Him, and worshiped other gods, in His anger He would bring judgment upon them, but for the young king He had a word of comfort.

“Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place... and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord,” and He told him these terrible things would not happen during his lifetime.

After that the king gathered the people together and read to them out of God’s holy Book. He and all who listened made the solemn vows that they would be obedient and walk in the ways of the Lord.

After that Josiah ordered that all the idols should be destroyed, and he turned out of their places all the priests who had taught the people idolatry.

Thus young king Josiah labored earnestly to please the Lord, and to seek to bring his people back to God. It says, “there was no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.” (2 Kings 23:25.)

ML-08/06/1978

Paul, the Dog Team Trail Blazer

Paul, the Indian boy, lives in an isolated village far up in the frozen Northland. He is only fourteen years old but is an excellent dog team driver, and his dogs are so well trained for the trail that they can tell the way even when there are no tracks in the snow.

But Paul is not only an excellent guide over the trackless snow; he has been able to guide many other Indians to the Lord Jesus for the salvation of their souls.

Paul’s uncle was saved through a missionary and moved to Paul’s village where no one knew about the Lord Jesus, and where there was much drinking and sinfulness. Paul’s uncle became a real testimony in this needy village, but he was greatly persecuted. Like everywhere else, many people preferred their sins to the Saviour. No one seemed to care to listen to the wonderful story of the Saviour’s love until one day young Paul, who was then just twelve years old, accepted the Lord Jesus as his Saviour. After that Paul and his uncle enjoyed reading their Bibles together, and always they told others of the wonderful Saviour they had come to know.

“Let us pray, Paul,” said his uncle one day, “and ask God to send a missionary here to help explain the way of salvation to our people.”

So they prayed and missionaries far away were praying too. Finally a missionary felt he could go but he had an accident, and two years passed before the Lord finally opened the way for him to try again to make the trip with his dog team. This time all went well and several nights later he arrived at the village.

What a cheerful sight it was in the dusk to see the light gleaming out across the snow from the native chief’s cabin. The door of the cabin was flung wide, and stepping inside the missionary found not only a warm welcome but some great surprises awaiting him.

The news that he had arrived spread in no time and the villagers flocked to the chief’s cabin. Soon the room seemed to be filled to overflowing. As the missionary looked about at the glowing happy faces, he could hardly believe he was in the village where a short time ago there had not been one Christian and which had been noted for its drinking and wickedness.

Now the cabin was ringing with the joyous singing of gospel songs. The missionary noticed that they were using the same song books he had given Paul’s uncle ten years before. They were well worn but had been faithfully cared for, and the missionary marveled at how well the children and grownups had been taught to sing.

Then came the happiest surprise of all. The Indian chief and many others began to tell of how they had been saved—saved through the faithful testimony and witnessing of Paul and his uncle. Many had turned to the Lord, and the whole place had been revived. Liquor and cigarettes were no longer sold in the town. What wonderful things the Lord had done through a faithful young Christian Indian and a boy dog team driver!

During the days of his visit with them, the missionary found a hearty welcome in nearly every home, and how they did enjoy gathering together to study God’s Word! How wonderfully God had answered the prayers of Paul and his uncle, and the missionaries! The missionary himself could not help but think, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”

The last day they had a children’s meeting, and as the bright-faced children gathered together the missionary rejoiced to see how well cared for they looked. They were not the neglected, sad-faced children that he often saw in the villages where drinking parents thought of nothing but satisfying their wicked thirst. What blessed changes the gospel had brought in this isolated village, far from civilization as we know it!

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” Isa. 9:2.

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

M.J.T.

ML-08/13/1978

Sarah Martin

Sarah was just a poor girl, 19 years old, who made a living as a dressmaker. She loved the Lord Jesus and she longed that others might learn to love Him too.

One Sunday she went to the jail and asked the warden if she might visit the women there. Visiting was not usually allowed, but the warden’s heart was touched and he let the girl go into the jail.

Sarah went again and again. She talked and prayed with the poor women, wept with them too, and some of them came to know and love the Saviour.

Sarah grew to love this work so well, that she spent every Sunday afternoon visiting at the jail. Then, poor though she was, she gave up her sewing one day a week in order to have more time to work for her Saviour. Finally she left her dressmaking altogether and spent every day trying to help the poor women in the prison.

Sarah worked so hard that she didn’t live to be very old. Many women in the jail have cause to thank the Lord for her, through whom they came to know Him as the sinner’s Friend.

“This Man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.” (Luke 15:2)

ML-08/13/1978

Nets and Their Message

Perhaps some of our readers have seen a fishing net in the sea. In Bible lands they use them in a somewhat different way than the fishermen on our own shores, in “casting” and “drawing” them. But the lessons of the net are the same.

MENDING Their Nets—Matthew 4:21. Nets with rents let the fish slip through, so they need to be mended. Seated in their boat on the lake, James and John, the two young fishermen, heard the voice of the Lord Jesus calling them to Him by name, and we read “left the ship and their father, and followed Him.”

WASHING Their Nets—Luke 5:2, to make them ready for future service. The Lord used that clean net to bring a big catch of fish to the shore. Nets need to be clean as well as whole to be of use to the Lord, and the lesson would not be forgotten by these converted fishermen. Clean once for all by the blood of Christ, all true believers are, but they are to cleanse themselves from all defilement by using the water of the Word applied to their walk and ways. “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to Thy Word.” Psalms 119:9.

CASTING Their Nets—Matthew 4:18. Two more of that little group of young men of Bethsaida, Andrew and John, heard the Lord’s voice calling them as they were “casting a net into the sea.” “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men,” He said. They left their nets, and “followed Him.” There was no halting, no waiting until a more convenient day.

FORSAKING Their Nets—Mark 1:18. When the Lord bade these young fishermen to come after Him, they gave up their work to be followers of a homeless Saviour. The “riches of Christ are far better than the best the world can give.”

DRAWING The Nets—Matthew 13:48. This is the reward of all the fishermen’s toil. So when the gospel net is drawn to eternity’s shore, it will be joyful to find children, Sunday school scholars, and hearers, young and old, for whom many have toiled and prayed, safe on the heavenly shore, not to die like fish, but to live with Christ and serve Him forever.

ML-08/13/1978

Safe Behind a Wall

In the year 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia. But the bitter cold of the Russian winter brought about his defeat, and he and his troops were forced to return to France.

The Cossacks followed after them as fast as they could. People who lived along the way were frightened at the thought of what those fierce armed Russian horsemen might do to them. Many fled from their homes, and sought safety elsewhere.

In a small cottage lived an old lady with her little grandson. She had no place to go, so she decided to stay at home and pray to God for His protection.

“Oh God,” she pleaded, “be a wall about us.”

“What do you mean by a wall, Grandma?” asked the little boy in wonder.

“You will see, my child,” she replied quietly.

That night the Cossacks passed through, plundering as they went. But they didn’t go near the grandmother’s cottage. She and the little boy slept peacefully all night long.

In the morning they found that God had indeed been a wall to them. A heavy snow had fallen during the night and the wind had raised a great drift between the road and their home, thus completely hiding the cottage from view.

Both grandmother and grandson got down on their knees and thanked God for His great love and protecting care.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear.” (Psa. 46:1. 2)

“I have loved you, saith the Lord.” Malachi 1:2

ML-08/13/1978

Faithful Unto Death

In his much-loved 23rd Psalm, David wrote, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me.” There have been boys and girls who have shown true courage in the face of death.

Andrew Hyslop was a seventeen-year-old boy who lived in Scotland in the terrible days when the soldiers hunted down the Christians called Covenanters. Andrew’s home was burned, and he and his widowed mother and brother wandered about from place to place on the moors and in the mountains.

Finally Andrew was taken prisoner and sentenced to be shot.

“Pull your hat down over your eyes,” was the rough command of the soldier who had been ordered to do the wicked deed.

Andrew refused. Gazing steadfastly into his persecutor’s eyes, with his Bible in his hand, he said firmly, “I can look at you without a fear; I am not ashamed. But how will you face God in the day when you shall be judged by what is written in this Book?”

The soul of the brave young martyr was soon safe with his Saviour in heaven.

“Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (Rev. 2:10.)

ML-08/13/1978

Living for Christ

We may not be called to be martyrs for Christ’s Name, but none the less are we all to be faithful to Him. As we are faithful in little things, so shall we be in great things. Do you think the noble men and women who died for Christ could have done so had they not lived for Him?

ML-08/13/1978

Two Boys Who Made Fun

Memory Verse: “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

All was quiet in the little town of Chitina, far up in the cold interior of Alaska. In winter the sun only shone for two hours, between 10 and 12 o’clock, and the missionary had seen the thermometer drop to 87 below zero there. But there were heartwarming believers in the Lord Jesus Christ living in this town, and more were eager to hear the story of redeeming love.

Many of the people are Copper River Indians and they like to be called natives.

The missionary and Pinky, his giant Husky, made their way through the dark village to the home where two young missionary ladies lived. A bright light shone out, welcoming them across the snow, reminding him of the gospel light these two brave sisters were seeking to hold high in this lonely spot.

What a glad sight awaited him in the warm house! A large group of Indian boys and girls were there, studying their Bibles. They had come right from school, and most of the children evidently were eager to know more of the Saviour. They looked up with shy smiles of greeting as the missionary and Pinky came in.

Quite a few of the children were not yet saved, and the missionary noticed two of the older boys whispering and giggling, apparently not interested. He knew they were making fun of the Word of God and his heart went out to them. He prayed that the Spirit of God might do a mighty work of grace in their hearts, and in all the village as well.

That night they had a meeting in a little log building on the hilltop and the children were all there again, grownups as well, even though it was a bitterly cold night. Even the very elderly braved the cold, and walked long distances to hear the gospel.

What a good time they had singing! Then it seemed God was really working in the hearts of the listeners as the missionary spoke. When the meeting was over and nearly all had left, a ten-year-old boy, the son of a trapper, still waited.

“I want to be saved!” he suddenly burst out in agonizing earnestness.

The missionaries spoke to him, quoting him scriptures about the Lord’s death and His love for him. These words seemed to sink right into his very heart. When he realized that when the Lord Jesus died on the cross for him He finished the work of redemption necessary for his salvation and that all he needed now to do was to trust in Him, his face fairly glowed with joy.

The very next day this trapper’s son shared the glad news with his friends, and another boy the same age came to the missionaries’ home after school, saying he wanted to be saved too.

These two boys brought with them the two boys who laughed and made fun at the meeting two nights before. The missionary again spoke to them of their need of salvation, and told them of how the Lord Jesus was going to come for all who were saved and take them home to heaven.

The two boys who had made fun went home that night but they could not sleep. What if the Lord should come that night while they slept? They knew they were not ready, and it would mean they would be left behind for judgment. They were so miserable that they got out of bed and one boy peered out of the dark window.

“Look! Their lights are still on!” he cried. Through the dark night they could see the lights in the missionaries’ home still shining, so they quickly dressed and trudged over the snow.

When the missionaries answered the knock on their door, they were surprised to see the two boys with earnest looks on their faces standing on the doorstep. “Is something the matter?” they asked.

The boys were not laughing or making fun now. With tears in their eyes they said they wanted to be saved. Soon they were all rejoicing together with tears of joy, as they opened their hearts to the Lord, for the Lord Jesus has said, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37.

Never again would those two boys make fun of those who believe—for now they too are telling other boys and girls of the Lord Jesus, the Saviour of sinners who died for all.

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

M.J.T.

“I have blotted out as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud thy sins: return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee.” Isa. 44:22.

“Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” Isa. 45:22.

ML-08/20/1978

Saved Through His Dog

An old man who had no heart for the Lord or concern for his own soul’s welfare, had a good Christian wife. For years she had prayed constantly for her husband’s conversion, but it seemed her prayers were never answered. She could not even get her husband to go with her to the gospel services.

The good lady had an old dog of which she was very fond and whenever she went to church, her pet would always go along with her. He would go in and lie under her seat and remain perfectly quiet all through the service.

In time the old lady died. The old dog seemed heartbroken, as well as her husband, for he could find no consolation anywhere now that his lifelong companion had passed on.

For several Sundays the old man noticed the dog leave the house at a certain hour and then come back at a certain hour. So one Sunday morning he thought he would follow the devoted animal and find out where he went. The old dog seemed delighted to have his only master now go with him, and happily trotted along until they came to the church door. The old man stopped as the dog bounded up the steps, waiting at the top for his master. After standing a few moments, unable to make up his mind what to do, he said to himself, “I’ll go in to please the dog. It won’t do any harm.” So he went in and sitting down, he listened to the preaching. The next Sunday the old man went again to the church with his faithful friend, and Sunday after Sunday found him at church and the old dog under his wife’s accustomed seat.

Then one morning after the service he arose with tears streaming down his face and opened his heart to God. He told the congregation the story of how the faithful dog had been the means of leading him to Christ. So a faithful God answered his devoted wife’s prayers after all.

Both the old man and the dog have long gone—the old man’s spirit to join his wife’s before the Saviour in that happy land above, and to await the glorious resurrection morning. It is the writer’s earnest hope that this little story may find its way into some home, that some heart will be brought to rejoice in Christ, to whom be all the praise!

“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 (judgment); but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24.

“The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

ML-08/20/1978

Only a Bunch of Heather

A Christian lady, who loved to visit among the poor, gave a bunch of heather to a poor old lady. Sitting down in her tiny room, she handed it to her, saying that it had been just gathered from the Welsh hills.

She took the little bunch eagerly, kissed it over and over again, and the tears flowed down her face, and she told her visitor how years ago, when she was an innocent little girl, she used to play among the heather that covered the Welsh hills. And when she grew older, she got tired of her quiet country home, and against her mother’s wishes she went to live in the big city. There she married an ungodly man who made her a bad husband. Then followed a long life of sin and poverty, and her husband died and left her a widow. All this had hardened her heart against God and all that was good, but the sight of the familiar heather completely broke her down.

The next time the Christian friend visited her, she read to her Psa. 51 and when she came to the vs. 7—“Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” — these words found an echo in her heart. She wept tears of repentance, and prayed for pardon, and cleansing, and that same day she surrendered herself to God.

Years have passed, and this aged Christian widow still lives. Yet when friends visit her, she tells them the story of her conversion, and shows item a bunch of heather, faded and dry, but still very precious to her as having been the instrument used by the Lord to lead her to Himself.

How wonderful that the Lord uses little things to draw souls to Himself.

ML-08/20/1978

A Children's Favorite Hymn

Mr. Albert Midlane, a Christian man in the isle of Wight, wrote the beautiful hymn, “There’s a Friend for Little Children.” For almost a century it had been sung in Sunday Schools around the world, and it is as simple and sweet today as when it came from the author’s heart and pen.

What makes this hymn a special favorite is, that the Friend, the Home, the Crown, and the Robe are all for “little children,” just such as those to whom Jesus said: “Suffer little children to come unto Me.” Luke 18:16.

A FRIEND—One who “loveth at all times” (Prov. 17:17), and as people said of Him, “A Friend of sinners” (Matt. 11:19). “A Friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24. Do you know Him as your Saviour, and your Friend?

A HOME—The Father’s house (John 14:2), already prepared by the Lord Jesus Himself and waiting for all who love Him. There all the Father’s children go when earthly life is past. All who are “born of God”—but no others—will gather at last in that heavenly home. Will you be there?

A CROWN—A crown of bright glory for each brow—not a “corruptible” crown but an incorruptible one (1 Cor. 9:25). Yet this, as the little hymn says, is for those who have “found His favor,” those who are “saved by grace” (Eph. 2:8).

ML-08/20/1978

Shep and the Peanuts

Memory Verse: “The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

Young Kimba worked on a farm in Africa where they grew a lot of peanuts. One fine morning he set off with his pup Shep and his bag and headed for the field where they were planting peanuts. He whistled as he went along for he had a kind master and all the world seemed good to him. He began walking across the ploughed land, bending down and planting the peanuts at regular intervals.

With a joyful bark Shep followed his young master, but when Kimba looked behind him he saw that Shep had dug up each nut he had planted, and was just at his heels wagging his tail, and thinking it was a fine game.

Kimba hadn’t the heart to scold his dog, for he was just a pup and didn’t know much about farming. So he talked to Shep and tried to show him that he didn’t want the nuts dug up again.

Gathering up the nuts, Kimba went back to start all over again. But as he feared, Shep still thought it was a game and was busy digging up each one as it was put into the ground. This time Kimba was angry and smacked Shep’s paws, telling him he was being very naughty.

Soon, however, Kimba was joined by another farmer who also had a dog and who had been on the peanut farm for years. Kimba explained the situation to his friend. He suggested that the two dogs make friends and together watch the planting of the nuts. He thought that his dog would get the message across to Shep.

So again Kimba started off on his task, regularly planting nuts as he had done so often before. Looking back he saw Shep standing beside his new friend and ready to run for the nuts as before, but something restrained him. Kimba was able to finish the row, and then a second, and still Shep stood still beside his companion. The other dog was able to tell Shep what his master could not. He got the message across.

Then Kimba went over and gave both dogs a special pat of approval and never again did he have any problem with Shep digging up his peanuts.

Now God in heaven had a message for sinners like you and me—a message of love for boys and girls, and men and women. He did not use angels to bring this message down to earth, but He sent His own dear Son, who became a Man, like us—only He was both God and Man in one blessed Person, the holy sinless One. He brought the love of God down to this sin-cursed earth where all the sons of fallen Adam were ruined and lying under the power of sin and Satan.

An angel could not die to put away sin; no creature could do so. But Jesus, the Son of God, became Man so that He might die and shed His precious blood as a sacrifice for sin. Now the risen Saviour from heaven proclaims the message of love to sinners everywhere, how “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

Now God uses boys and girls, and older folks too, of course, who have trusted Jesus as their Saviour to get the message of the gospel across to others. Have you ever thought that He could use you to get the message across to your friends and neighbors? He will help you to tell them, or show them how much He loves them, if your every day life shows that His love is real in your own heart. He can work in their hearts and you might be surprised at finding someone ready and willing to listen.

“Hearken unto Me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep My ways.” Proverbs 8:32

ML-08/27/1978

Are You Sure?

“Can you tell me the way to Naples?”

“I think you must take the first turn to the left.”

“Are you sure?”

“No.”

“That won’t do for me; I must ask someone else.”

“You’re too wise to waste five minutes for want of being sure of being on the right road. Are you equally wise about your soul? What is your hope for eternity?”

“I think if a man does his best —”

“If ‘I think’ is not enough to depend upon for time, it will never do for eternity.”

The Word of God says; “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13.)

ML-08/27/1978

Seized by an Alligator

Down on the plains of Venezuela there was a boy who knew the Lord Jesus as his Saviour, and had confessed Him fearlessly before others. One day he went down to the river in the early morning to get water for the house. Unknown to him an alligator was lying in the water watching him. Waiting his opportunity, the alligator suddenly leaped on the boy and gripping him by the leg, carried him into the river.

There was no one nearby to help the poor boy, and in his desperation he cried out, “Lord Jesus, save me!” The alligator, for some outwardly unexplainable reason, dropped the boy. The little fellow clambered out of the river and ran to the house, with the marks of the alligator’s teeth on his thigh.

What made the alligator drop him? Surely it was God who answered the prayer of the poor boy in his desperate need. His Word tells us, “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry.” Psa. 34:15. He also says in Psa. 50:15, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.”

What a wonderful thing it is, dear young friends, to belong to Christ. Those who come to Him as sinners, desiring to be saved, have their sins put away forever. He makes them His own, for they are bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:20); and nothing can happen to them but what He allows for their good and blessing. He might have allowed the alligator to carry off that dear boy, but then for him “sudden death would be sudden glory.” He tells us in His Word that for the child of God, “to die is gain,” and “to depart, and to be with Christ;... is far better.” Philippians 1:21,23.

ML-08/27/1978

Betty's Song

In a little upstairs room three elderly ladies were hard at work sewing. They were poor and sewed to make their living.

Just then a little child’s sweet voice sounded from somewhere downstairs. “Listen,” said the oldest lady, “I hear a child singing!”

“Let’s ask her to come up,” suggested the youngest of the three, and soon she returned with a little girl named Betty.

“What were you singing, Betty?”

“I was just playing Sunday school,” she answered. “I go to Sunday school every Sunday, and then I come home and do it over for Mother and Baby, and for my little brother who is lame. Shall I sing it for you?”

“Oh, please do,” said all the three ladies at once.

So sweetly and clearly little Betty sang the children’s gospel hymn: When mothers of Salem Their children brought to Jesus, The stern disciples drove them back, And bade them depart; But Jesus saw them ere they fled, And took them in His arms and said, Suffer the children to come unto Mel As she sang the oldest of the three wiped the tears from her eyes: “Now we’ll read,” said the little girl, “but I’m afraid there aren’t enough Bibles to go around.”

So opening her little Bible she read: “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.”

“Teacher said we are like silly sheep, and the Lord is like a loving Shepherd. If we trust in Him we shall never want any good thing, because He knows all about us. I know it’s true ‘cause Mother and Baby were both sick, and we were all hungry, and when we prayed, God sent us something to eat.”

Then quickly closing her Bible, Betty said, “I must not be long, ‘cause I left Baby asleep and Mother trusts me.”

“Come again,” the three ladies called after her as she picked her way down the dark stairs.

The oldest of the three kept on sewing but she was thinking hard. Once she had had a little girl of her own, but she had never taught her about Jesus. Now God had sent a little child to teach her.

Betty came again, not once but many times, and each time the old lady learned new truths. Then one day she took her place as a sinner and asked the Lord Jesus to be her own Saviour. She was saved and happy, and the Lord blessed her.

Do you belong to the Good Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep? If you do there are many lonely, hungry hearts that you could make happy with the message of the Saviour’s love, just by singing to them, or telling them what you know about the Lord Jesus.

“A little child shall lead them.” Isaiah 11:6.

ML-08/27/1978

William, the Carpenter

William was a carpenter. When a boy in the Sunday school he learned to think of his soul and of eternity. But as he grew up, his business activities drove these thoughts from his mind, and he settled down to the duties of daily life as if he should live on and on and on. But one day, while lifting a big log, he strained himself. His strength gave way, and William had to exchange his business activities for a sick bed. There the lessons of his childhood came back to him, and his over-anxiety for the bread that perisheth was replaced by the cry of his soul, “What must I do to be saved?”

“Oh,” said he to me, “it goes hard with a backslider when he comes to lie upon a sick bed.”

“Yes, William,” I replied; “and it would go hard with us all if God should deal with us only according to what we deserve. But the precious blood of Christ cleanses the blackest heart from every sin.”

The next time I saw William, I found him grasping these words of Jesus: “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” The Spirit of God had given him a sight of himself, and a sight of the Saviour. The burden of sin was rolled away, his sorrows were gone, and increasing pain and weakness only proved his patience.

A long illness set in, during which William’s faith was strengthened, and his love to Christ increased. One day he said, “I wish to die, that I may go to see my precious Jesus. Oh, what love it was in Him to find me out! I should never have come to Him, unless He had brought me. And what should I have done without Him? I should be where there would not be a drop of water to cool my burning tongue. Oh, the love of Jesus!—His hands, His feet, His side! He forgives and casts none out. None—none—none!” On one of the last days of his long and weary illness, I said, “Even today Jesus may say to you, William, ‘Thou shalt be with Me in paradise'.”

His sweet smile seemed to answer, “Oh, that it might be so!”

Later in the day he rallied, and said to his mother, “I want—I want—!”

“Well, my dear,” she asked, “what is it?”

“To sing,” he said, “and you, and Dad, and all join with me.” He then began—

“Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,

This is your accepted hour,

Jesus ready stands to save you,

Full of pity, love and power; He is able!

He is willing! Doubt no more.”

As he proceeded, his eyes fixed on heaven, his voice grew louder, and for a time his soul seemed to gain victory over his bodily weakness.

“Come to Jesus!” he exclaimed, “Come, whosoever will! Come now, this is your accepted hour. Jesus will not cast any out! Jesus is ready to save you. Come to Jesus. None but Jesus can do helpless sinners good. Oh, come now, and do not delay; do not put it off. He will not cast anyone out.”

Then he begged his brothers and sisters to come to Christ. One of his sisters said, “Oh, William, we will pray.”

“That won’t do,” he replied, “you must come to Him, now, now! Ah, you little know what I suffer for your soul. The tears I have shed for myself are nothing compared to those which I have shed for you.”

And so he passed away. Dear reader, how many such appeals have you not heard? Come to Him who came to earth and died to save; who has gone to heaven, to bring to Himself up there everyone who received Him here.

ML-08/27/1978

Five Little Eskimos

Memory Verse: “Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:14

When the missionary arrived at Nome, which is the Eskimo capital of the North, he found a sad little family of children in a deserted cabin. Their father and mother had both been put in the federal jail. This was another one of the many homes in Alaska ruined by the dreadful curse of drink. Before this father began to drink he was the world’s fastest dog team racer known. Every year for many years he won the great Cape Nome Eskimo Dog Race.

But now he and his wife were in prison, and how hungry those little children were for the love of the Lord Jesus when the missionary first met them. They had thought that no one really cared for them, and it seemed to good to be true that the Lord Jesus had loved them enough to die for them.

The missionary was given permission to take the five youngest back to a splendid children’s home, where loving hearts welcomed them and cared for them. The time came when the four little Eskimo sisters accepted the Lord as their Saviour, and their little three-year-old brother, Jackie, already shows a sweet love for the One who loves him so much.

Now, the children of the famous dog team racer have started out on a far more important race: “Looking unto Jesus!” Christian boys and girls, who know and love the Saviour, can pray for these little Eskimo children, that the Lord will draw them to Himself and keep them in the midst of so many dangers and evils.

The Lord Jesus said, “Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:14.

ML-09/03/1978

A Ride on the Fire Engine

Charles was a little boy who lived near the fire station. He liked to go to fires and watch. When the fire alarm sounded he would race for the station and the firemen would lift him up, putting him between them on the seat of the great engine, and off they would go down the street to the fire!

One day is mother said to him: “Charles, I’m going downtown. Now, don’t you go to any fires while I’m gone. I want you to stay right here.” Charles promised to obey and his mother went downtown. While she was gone the fire alarm rang, and forgetting his promise to his mother, Charles ran to the fire station. Soon the firemen and he were roaring down the street to the clanging of the bells, while people and cars and dogs and cats all rushed to get out of the way.

It so happened that Charles’ mother was driving up the street and saw him, so she followed the engine until she came to the fire. She ordered Charles to come down off the engine and right there in the presence of all he got a good spanking for his disobedience.

The time came when Charles trusted the Lord as his Saviour. God used him and through his preaching many were won for Christ; but he never forgot that spanking and the lesson of obedience learned that day.

There is much in the Bible about obedience; it is the way to happiness and peace, dear young friends. Trust the Lord as your Saviour, seek to walk in obedience to His Word, and you will be a happy Christian.

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right.” Eph. 6:1

ML-09/03/1978

A Shepherd Story

A poor shepherd told a story of how he had been brought to God. He said: “I forget now who it was that said to me, ‘John, you are very poor.’ True. ‘If you fell ill, your wife and children would be hard up.’ True. And then I felt anxious and uneasy for the rest of the day. In the evening there came wiser thoughts to me, and I said to myself, ‘John, for more than thirty years you have lived in this world, and you have never possessed anything much. And still you live on, and have been provided each day with food and clothing, and each night with a good sleep. God has never sent you more than your share of trouble. When you needed help, it always came. To whom do you owe all this? To God. John, don’t be ungrateful any longer, but get rid of those anxious thoughts; for what could ever induce you to think that the hand from which you received so much, would close against you when you grew old, and have greater need of help?’ I prayed to the Lord and told Him these things, and thanked Him for such a Saviour. After that, I felt at peace.”

“Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust.” Psa. 40:4.

ML-09/03/1978

A Scripture Acrostic

A noble queen devised a plan,

It saved her kin, but hanged a man;

(Esther)

A man who in his strength did pride,

Did from his wife a secret hide; (Judg. 14)

Another to the Spirit lied,

His wife too, tried their sin to hide. (Acts 5)

The last to save God’s ark from pain

Put forth his hand and he was slain.

(2 Sam. 6)

The answer here is plainly told,

His own possession, which he sold;

In after years he sought and wept,

A cunning man the treasure kept.

(Gen. 25; Heb. 12)

ML-09/03/1978

Bible Trees

Bible trees, and such a lot of them too! Some green, some in blossom, some with fruit, others withered, one dead, another rooted up. Let us see what we can learn from four of them.

A TREE PLANTED—“A tree planted by the rivers of water” (Psa. 1:3); “Every plant, which My heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” Matthew 15:13. Planting comes first. Before there can be blossom or fruit, it must be planted. Planting is being born again, that work of the Spirit of God in the soul. That is the first thing, to be planted by God. See that you are truly converted, really born of God (John 1:13).

A TREE PRUNED— “Every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” John 15:2. That is to make it more fruitful. There are many things about us after we have been converted which God has to take away from us, by the sharp pruning knife, or cleansing, of His Word. We should be willing to let them go, to give them up, when God tells us. This is the way to be truly happy—“that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). and fruitful.

A TREE PULLED DOWN—“Hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon.” 1 Kings 5:6. A tree pulled down is not a pretty sight, but this had to be done before it could be raised up and covered with gold in God’s temple. The pulling or cutting down tells of natural pride, vanity, and all the rest that belongs to us as sinners, having to be brought down. Yes, we ourselves brought down, taken out from the world, to be beautified and glorified in Christ. The change when one is crucified, dead and raised up in Christ. Once a proud sinner in the world, made to be a pillar in God’s temple.

A TREE PLUCKED UP—(Jude 12). Because it bore no fruit. It was torn up by the roots, withered and dead, only fit for the fire. Just like the false professor, never planted by God, never born of the Spirit, therefore rooted up (Matt. 15:13). Beware, dear boys and girls, of this awful doom. Be sure you are trusting in Jesus, and truly converted, not merely professors without life in Christ.

ML-09/03/1978

Faithful David

In a Bible conference one evening the speaker was late in arriving. Someone suggested that the waiting time be spent with a few words from anyone who wished to speak. After a long pause, a boy stood up and slowly and very thoughtfully repeated the words:

“Jesus, I my cross have taken,

All to leave and follow Thee;

Destitute, despised, forsaken

Thou, from hence my all shall be.”

He then sat down. The people were deeply moved and sought to learn his story.

David was a Jewish boy who, because he had taken Christ as his Messiah and Saviour, was cast out of his home. He was disinherited, with his name erased from the family record. What little he possessed was taken from him. His parents said that they never wanted to see his face again. The boy had left all—“destitute, despised, forsaken!”

“For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” Philippians 1:29

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.” Matthew 5:11,12.

ML-09/03/1978

Lost in the Woods

One night years ago Mother and Dad came home in the car and told John and Bonnie that we were moving to the country. Both the children were happy about moving to a new house.

At last moving day came. A big van came to pick up all their furniture and belongings. Then Dad, Mother, John and Bonnie got into the car. They took a last look at the old house and away they went out into the country.

After a long drive they finally came to their new home. Then, after seeing every room in the house, John said, “Let’s go out and see what’s down the road.”

There were no more houses, but after a long walk, they came to a woods. John was fond of birds and hunting from tree to tree they saw lots of birds they had never seen.

Suddenly they found it was getting dark, and Bonnie told John they had better be getting home. But even as they walked through the woods, it got darker and darker.

“I think we are lost,” cried John. “I wish we had never come.”

Bonnie was afraid too. They couldn’t see a light anywhere, and they could never find their way home alone now. John was afraid of bears, and started to cry. The more he cried, the louder Bonnie shouted for mother. Now it was so dark they couldn’t see anything, so they just sat down and cried.

Then suddenly they heard someone far away calling, “John! Bonnie!” It was Dad. Both children shouted tether at the top of their voices, “Dad! DAD!”

Soon they were in Daddy’s arms, and hugging each other. O how happy they were to be found.

And that, dear boys and girls, is just the experience of one who first finds he is lost in his sins, in the darkness of this world. Perhaps he does not realize he is lost at first, but the Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd, came to seek and to save His lost one. He waits to hear that cry of repentance, “Lord, save me!” and immediately those arms of love will be around His child. And, oh, how happy it is to be carried home in those loving arms, for He will never let you go.

“The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

ML-09/03/1978

I Have Christ! What Want I More?

In the heart of London city

Mid the dwellings of the poor,

Those bright, golden words were uttered,

“I have Christ! What want I more?”

By a lonely, dying woman,

Stretched upon a garret floor,

Having not one earthly comfort—

“I have Christ! What want I more?”

He who heard them ran to fetch her

Something from this world’s great store;

It was needless—she died saying

“I have Christ. What want I more?”

But her words will live forever;

I repeat them o’er and o’er.

God delights to hear me saying,

“I have Christ! What want I more?”

Oh my dear, my fellow-sinners,

High and low, and rich and poor,

Can you say with deep thanksgiving,

“I have Christ. What want I more?”

Look away from earth’s attractions,

All earth’s joys will soon be o’er;

Rest not till each heart exclaimeth,

“I have Christ! What want I more?”

ML-09/03/1978

Six Thousand Miles for a Bible!

Memory Verse: “The holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 3:15

“Go to the town at the end of the line,” God seemed to be telling Jim. Exhausted from his several weeks of travel in the Soviet Union, Jim, a Christian from the West, slumped into a train seat and pressed his cheek against the steamy window.

“Go to the end of the line,” he thought. “Where I’d really like to go is home!”

But Jim didn’t go home. Instead he took the train to the little town at the end of the tracks. After a quick supper in an old brick hotel, he wandered through the streets looking for a place where Christians met.

Perhaps this is why God led him to this town. Perhaps he was to encourage the believers here. But after several hours he had found no such meeting place. Tired and baled, he returned to the hotel and went to bed.

The next morning, before he got up, the girl at the front desk rang his room. “Someone is here to see you.”

Jim dressed swiftly. He picked up a Russian New Testament from under the shirts in his suitcase and stuffed it into his briefcase. “It’s safer here,” he reasoned, hurrying out the door with the case.

In the lobby a middle-aged man grasped Jim’s hand enthusiastically and introduced himself by name. “Can we talk in this corner?” he asked, already leading Jim toward a chair.

They sat down. “You have something for me in your case,” the man said. Jim stiffened with fear, but tried to keep his face relaxed and emotionless.

Jim had been shadowed by the KGB during his trip. Twice, luggage left in his room had been searched. Besides, this Bible was his last copy. He had already given the others to grateful Christians.

“But,” he thought, “I might as well give him the Bible if he asks. If he’s from the secret police he’ll get it anyway.”

“I’ve only my personal belongings in my briefcase,” Jim hedged.

But the man persisted. “You have a Bible for me?” His gray eyes glistened as he looked anxiously at Jim. Resignedly Jim took out the Bible wrapped in tan paper and placed it in the man’s hands. The man ripped off the paper, pressed the Bible to his lips, kissed it, and fell to his knees praising and thanking God in a loud and jubilant voice. Jim was both shocked and relieved, but shaking the man by the shoulders, he said, “Be quiet. We’ll get in trouble. Let’s go outside.”

“How did you know who I was and that I had a Bible?” Jim asked.

Walking with him in the park still drizzly with sunlit streams and puddles after a morning rain, the man told Jim his story: “Three weeks ago on a Sunday our congregation—there are over 90 members—knelt in prayer asking God to provide us with a Bible. Not even the pastor had one. An elderly man in the group stood up in the middle of prayer and said, " ‘God has told me that a man named Jim will be in the town of—, three weeks from today. He will give us a Bible.’

“So they sent me as their messenger. That’s how I knew who you were. God led me to you.”

“What city did you come from?” asked Jim.

“From—-in Siberia.”

“That’s a long way,” Jim gasped.

“Yes, it is,” said the man. “Over 6,000 miles. And it took me exactly three weeks to get here.”

“Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?” James 2:5.

Slavic Gospel News

ML-09/10/1978

Talking to African Boys

The missionary in Africa was tired. “How could the gospel message ever reach all these people?” This was the question he was asking himself as he saw the ill-kept villages, the small huts the people lived in, and the children running about naked and unwashed. The need was so great, but he had no one whom he could send to the natives to live among them.

Then it was God had a surprise in store for the missionary.

“Are there any Christians here?” he asked.

“I am a Christian,” said one. “Come to the palava shed and have a meeting.”

What a sight soon met the missionary’s eyes. Thirty black little mouths, showing thirty sets of little white teeth all pealed forth in the Chokew tongue:

I hear Thy welcome voice,

Which calls me now to Thee,

For cleansing in that precious blood

That flowed on Calvary.

“How did this happen?” asked the missionary, and this is the story he was told: “A native African soldier had finished his course in the military school. He was able to read, and returned to his village. Back home he decided to take a few sheep to the Diamond Mines to sell and make a little money.

“On the way he stopped at Munjumbu’s village, where Daniel, a native evangelist was working. The soldier heard the gospel message of how the Lord Jesus Christ had died to save him from his sins. He believed the message and was gloriously saved.

He stayed for a while to learn more of this wonderful Saviour. Daniel gave him a New Testament and a hymnbook in the Chokew language.

The soldier left and returned to his village. Nothing was heard or known of him until the missionary found him teaching the Word of God and hymns to his own people in his own little village.

Truly God has many unknown followers hidden away in places where they are witnessing for Him.

The missionary felt so happy, yet he felt rebuked too. He had had no one to send to these people, but God already had His servant there. God’s ways were not his ways. He had the right man in the right place at the right time.

Stories From Other Lands

ML-09/10/1978

The Door That Disappeared

Tom lived on a farm away out in the country, far from the highway and train station. He had to walk about half an hour each day to school in the nearest village.

After Sunday school on Lord’s day he usually had supper with Grandma and then stayed for the evening service. Tom was glad not to have to walk home and back again in his best clothes. Besides, Grandma made super cakes, so he felt rather important to be her special guest.

Grandma lived right next door to the little gospel hall, in a quaint old cottage overgrown with honeysuckle, and with lavender and roses in the garden. The door was old-fashioned too, without any handle on the outside, and Grandma had to open it from within. Of course there was a back door, but Tom was content to knock and wait for Grandma to come and let him in.

That was years ago. Tom had grown older and left the farm to work in town. Dear old Grandma passed away and the house was sold.

After some years Tom came back to visit the farm, and as he passed the old cottage where Grandma once lived, he stopped to inspect the alterations the new owner had made. Imagine his surprise to see no door where he had so often knocked for Grandma to let him in. The door has been removed and the opening bricked up so that you could hardly see that there had ever been one there.

As Tom looked at the solid wall, he could hardly believe that there had actually been a way through—those happy days were a thing of the past. Then he thought of what he had heard in Sunday school when a boy, about the Lord Jesus knocking on the door of his heart which he must open from the inside. He remembered too that he had been told the Saviour would knock for the last time and then there would be no more opportunity to be saved.

Tom also had learned that there was a door open into heaven, that one day that door too would be shut forever, and then the last hope of entering there would be gone forever.

Tom had not thought much about these things when a boy, or bothered about them since, but now the absence of the door in the old cottage brought them to mind, and it was rather a shock to him to find there wasn’t a door there at all now.

Tom thought about it very hard that day, and he opened the door of his heart there and then. And what happens when any one does that? The Lord Jesus comes in, bringing happiness and peace; the sense of guilt is gone, and when the Lord takes charge, sin and selfishness have to go out. So it was with dear Tom.

The Lord Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” Rev. 3:20.

“They that were ready went in... and the door was shut.” Matt. 25:10

ML-09/10/1978

A Millionaire's Confession

The name Vanderbilt is a familiar one and always associated in the mind with great wealth. Cornelius Vanderbilt, who accumulated a vast fortune while engaged, first in Steamboat, and later in Railroad enterprises, died in New York in 1877, the possessor of wealth estimated at the enormous sum of one hundred million dollars.

Shortly before his death, he was supposed to be the richest man in the world, and his heirs divided the largest fortune ever bequeathed in the United States up to that time.

It is most significant and striking to learn that when at the point of death, and hearing Joseph Hart’s hymn, “Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,” mentioned, he exclaimed, “Yes, yes, sing that; I am poor and needy!”

Most weighty words surely, uttered under such circumstances. It is evident that what some men value most here, is absolutely worthless in eternity. “For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away.” Psa. 49:17.

“Were the vast world our own,

With all its varied store,

And Thou, Lord Jesus, wert unknown,

We still were poor.”

“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.” 2 Cor. 8:9.

Three stanzas of the hymn follow:

“Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,

Weak and wounded, sick and sore,

Jesus ready stands to save you,

Full of pity, love and power:

HE is able,

HE is willing, doubt no more.

“Let not conscience make you linger,

Nor of fitness fondly dream,

All the fitness HE requireth,

Is to feel your need of HIM.

This He gives you,

’Tis the Spirit’s rising beam.

“Come, ye weary, heavy-laden,

Lost and ruined by the fall:

If you tarry till you’re better,

You will never come at all;

Not the righteous,

Sinners Jesus came to call.”

ML-09/10/1978

Hosteen Nez

Memory Verse: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.” Isaiah 59:1

The wind sweeping down from White Mesa blew cold against Hosteen Nez, the Navajo Indian boy, as he herded his sheep and started homeward. When he had penned the sheep up in the corral, he found that one was missing. Where had he lost it?

He looked around the hogan, a low one-room hut, built of logs and plastered with mud, the only home he had known during his fourteen years, and it looked very pleasant and comfortable now. His mother was just taking some Navajo bread off the fire.

“Let me have it, quick, I must go back; I have lost a sheep,” he said.

The heavy clouds above White Mesa told him that a storm was already raging in the mountains and would soon come down the valley.

Where could that one sheep have strayed from the others? The boy was puzzled as he stumbled over the darkening trail, trying to recall the day’s stopping places. Surely it must have been in the Wash where he had taken them to drink earlier in the day.

The wind that had quickened to a gale seemed to cut through his clothing, and flurries of sand half blinded him. Oh, if he could only find his poor lost lamb!

Clouds piled darker over the mountains. There was an occasional flash of light, followed by a heavy roll of thunder. He longed to be at home, but a Navajo is not easily separated from his sheep, and so he plunged on and on toward the edge of the Wash. Straining his eyes through the dark, he called again and again.

Then a faint bleat that only an Indian’s ear could catch, and without thought of danger to himself, Hosteen was struggling toward a helpless bit of life caught in the treacherous quick sand. Experienced as he was in the ways of the desert, all his strength and skill were needed in that fight to save the lamb, but he won: and once again he struggled wearily up the sandy bank with the lamb flung over his shoulder.

The rain now came driving in sheets over the valley. It was not easy to carry the half cold lamb with its wet muddy fleece in his arms, partly protected by his coat, but he knew it must have warmth soon or his labor would be in vain. In remembering its helplessness he somewhat forgot his own discomfort and fear, and struggled on.

More than two hours later, weary to the point of exhaustion, dripping, shivering, with fear of the thunder still in his heart, he left behind him the darkness and storm and went into the shelter and welcome warmth of the hogan.

Near him, and sleeping content, lay the little lamb, its troubles over, its strength renewed. He watched it idly wondering at his feeling of affection for it. Queer what a fellow would brave and endure for a little helpless animal! It was not worth much money, but somehow he liked it; he had paid a heavy price for its life. It was his before it was lost, but it was doubly his now; he had brought it back from death with the price of his own labor and strength.

Months later Hosteen lounged at the nearest Trading Post. The door opened and a missionary entered and began talking in Navajo. What queer ideas the white man had, and how funny some of his words sounded. But what was that—a God who sought sinful lost men as a Navajo would seek a lost sheep.

“What man of you... doth not leave the ninety and nine... and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.” Luke 15:4,5.

Hosteen leaned eagerly forward. Again he felt himself facing the bitter wind; he saw the pitiful struggling lamb in the quick sand; he felt the joy of its rescue from the rain and darkness and rushing of the waters from the mountain height, that in a moment more would have doomed the helpless little animal.

“All we"—white men, Navajos, big men and women, boys and girls—“like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way: and the Lord hath laid on Him"—Jesus Christ, God’s Son—“the iniquity of us all.” Isa. 53:6.

“God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, came into the world to save sinners, and He not only found them, but He bought their safety by dying for them—giving His own precious life for them.”

Hosteen had always thought the white men’s God strange to understand. But the story of such love, how easy to understand, and so good. Could it possibly be—yes, it must be—true!

That day a tender Shepherd found Hosteen Nez. Has He found you, dear friend?

Perhaps you are thinking, “I wish I might know He has found me, and I have found Him.” You may know! It is so simple for a seeking Saviour and a seeking sinner are never far apart.

If you want Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Shepherd and His gift of eternal life, say to Him from the depths of your heart: “Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and need a Saviour. I take Thee just now to be my Saviour from sin and eternal death.’

You can be sure that you are one of His own for He says, “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” John 1:12.

ML-09/17/1978

Uncle Jim's Two Birthdays

When Katie was nine years old, she was given a birthday book for her birthday. “I will get all my friends to put their names in it,” she said.

Whenever any of Daddy’s and Mommy’s friends came to visit, Katie always asked them to sign her book.

One day Katie’s uncle came to dinner, and out came the book as usual.

When Uncle Jim had put his name against his birthday date he said, “And now I’ll put my name against my second birthday.” Turning over the pages to another date, he wrote his name and added, “Born again.”

“What does that mean?” asked Katie. “How can you have two birthdays?”

Uncle Jim smiled. “When I was just as old as you are now, Katie, my Sunday school teacher asked me to read a verse to her from the Bible. It was this: ‘Ye must be born again.’ I didn’t know what it meant, but she told me that if I believed that Jesus died for my sins and asked Him to forgive me, He would take them all away. She said it was like being born again and being in God’s family. ‘Wouldn’t you like to be in God’s family, Jim? Wouldn’t you like to ask the Lord Jesus to come into your heart right now?’ she asked me.

“I knew that even though I was only nine, I had done lots of wrong things and that I needed to have them forgiven. So Katie, I said that I would like to ask Him—and I did. That was my second birthday, and that was the date I have written in your book.”

Uncle Jim didn’t say any more just then. He could see that Katie was thinking hard.

A few weeks later, Uncle Jim came to dinner again. Out came the birthday book. “Would you like to see what is written in my book now?” Katie asked him.

“Yes, please,” said Uncle Jim. Taking the book from her he ran his fingers through the pages. Against the date when he had been to dinner the last time, was printed in capital letters, “MY SECOND BIRTHDAY,” and underneath was Katie’s name.

“I just did what your Sunday school teacher told you to do, Uncle Jim. I do believe what Jesus said, and now I am in His family, too.”

Uncle Jim gave Katie a great hug. “That’s just fine!” he said. “And now you will be able to tell lots of others about second birthdays and how they can be in God’s family.”

What about you? Could you put your name against two birthday dates? If you do what Uncle Jim’s Sunday school teacher told him to do, then you may.

—Our Treasury

ML-09/17/1978

Undaunted Dick

In his early days, when he was called “Undaunted Dick,” Richard Weaver knelt in prayer. He was to have fought with a man that day, but he met with a more terrible adversary. His body trembled from head to foot while the struggle lasted between the power of darkness and the power of light. In desperate fear of hell, the golden text of the Gospel, John 3:16, crossed his mind.

“Well,” he said, if ‘God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life,’ that surely means me. What faith was I could not tell, but I heard that it was taking God at His Word, and I trusted in the finished work of my Saviour. The happiness I then enjoyed, I cannot describe. My peace flowed as a river.” There and then Richard Weaver passed from death to life.

ML-09/17/1978

Bird Language

The Lord Jesus often used everyday things of life to illustrate His lessons. One day He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem... how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!”

Have you ever watched a mother hen with her young brood of chicks and listened carefully to the variety of notes that come from her throat as she scratches around the farmyard? If you listen quietly, you will hear too the answering cheeps of her young chicks. Every cluck of the hen is an instruction or warning to her chicks, and each one is instinctively understood and obeyed by them.

Even our ears will pick up many of the notes in the hen’s clucking, but the young chicks are much more sensitive than we can be, and they soon learn to interpret the calls. It is not only the farmyard hen who calls to her young, for almost all mother birds are able to instruct their young in this way. Wild birds are usually more alert than domesticated ones, because of the greater dangers to which they are exposed. Although they learn by experience, the actual behavior that follows a particular sound is natural to them.

A bird expert showed this by a pretty little experiment. He had a recording made of a hen partridge calling to her baby chicks, which included the warning call when she saw a hawk overhead. The chicks responded to this call by squatting flat on the ground and staying quite still.

This recording was played to four partridge chicks five days old which had been hatched out in an incubator. The chicks were pecking crumbs on a flat table, but as soon as they heard the warning note, they squatted flat down and stayed motionless till the recording played the “all clear” which followed a few minutes later. Then they jumped up and carried on with their feeding. Was not that a fascinating example of the instinct present in these little birds which had never seen or heard their mother partridge!

The Lord Jesus used the words quoted above to express His sorrow over His people of old, but how true it is of very many today in our land. He calls, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:28. What will be your response, dear reader?

ML-09/17/1978

Richard Baxter

Richard Baxter was particularly fond of the verse, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” He used to say, “That word Whosoever is the most comforting in the whole Bible. If God had said that there was mercy for Richard Baxter, I am so great a sinner that I would have thought He meant some other person of the same name. But when He says ‘Whosoever,’ I know that includes me, the worst of all Richard Baxters.”

“Oh tell to earth’s remotest bound,

Our God is love:

In Christ we have redemption found—

Our God is love.

Christ’s blood has washed our sins away,

His Spirit turned our night to day,

And now we can rejoice, and say,

Our God is love.”

ML-09/17/1978

Treed by a Bear

Memory Verse: “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.” 1 Peter 2:24

Mike Mann and Mike Hixon, both about 20 years of age, had hiked up Plummer creek in Idaho to go fishing the evening of May 29. Hearing a crackling in the bushes, they looked up and saw two bear cubs climbing up a tree. Looking in another direction they saw a huge cinnamon-colored bear raise up on her hind legs, then drop down and come charging through the brush at them.

Neither of the young fellows realized they could run so fast as they did that day. The mother bear took off after Mann, and he headed for the nearest tree. He was 15 feet up when the bear started to climb up after him. She came up about 15 feet, but by that time Mann had climbed to about 35 feet and was all out of breath. When Hixon began calling to him, he was too scared to answer.

Then the big bear backed down the tree and started after Hixon. Hixon climbed the nearest tree he could find, an old dead pine, and the branches kept breaking off as he climbed. However, he managed to keep out of the bear’s reach.

Running between the trees, moaning, mother bear kept both of the young men in their lofty perches for three hours. She found Hixon’s hat and chewed it to bits.

Eventually Hixon got down and ran for help. The bear and her cubs disappeared. Mann climbed down out of the tree and was soon met by Hixon and the park rangers.

Our late brother, Ernie Wakefield, used to tell the story of two men who also had an encounter with a mother bear, but they did not fare so well. They were on a vacation in Western Canada, and had taken their cameras along. Hiking across the country, they spied a baby bear playing on the mountainside. As they stood to watch, they heard a crashing in the bushes nearby. They knew it was the mother bear coming out of the woods, and so they set their cameras for a picture. When she emerged from the trees, she headed straight for them. Dropping their cameras they ran for the nearest tree and began to climb as fast as they could. One of the two was rather stout, and could get no farther than to hang by his hands from a lower bough.

Poor fellow! The bear, reaching up, with one powerful swing of her big paw knocked down the fat man, and began to tear at him with her claws.

Seeing his friend in need, the other man quickly came down out of the tree, and picking up a big piece of wood, he hit the bear over the head. But this only enraged the beast who now turned on him, knocked him down and began clawing at him too.

At this moment, they could never tell why, the baby bear began to cry. The mother bear left the two men on the ground and ran after her cub.

The men managed to drag themselves to where they could get help-a distance of several miles. There they were cared for and their wounds dressed. The stout man, however, never recovered; he died soon after.

After about three months, the thin man was able to go back to work. At the office he showed his friends the long scars on his head, chest and legs where the bear’s claws had torn him.

These scars he would carry with him for the rest of his life.

As the man told the story of his encounter with the bear and showed his scars, Ernie could not but think what the Lord Jesus has done for us. The one man came down from the tree to try and save his friend, but the bear was too powerful an enemy. He could not save him. The Lord Jesus looked down from heaven and saw us in the grip of Satan. In love and pity He came down to save.

At the cross he met the full power of Satan, and by His death and glorious resurrection, He defeated the great enemy of our souls. But more than that He bore the judgment of God against sin for all those who trust Him as their Saviour—they are safe forever. Yet in His body, the Lord Jesus will forever bear the marks of His sufferings, the nail prints in His hands and the spear print in His blessed side. Surely such love demands the grateful homage and praise of our hearts.

“Who His own self bear our sins in His own body on the tree.”

“The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Gal. 2:20.

ML-09/24/1978

Strange Wallpaper

In Japan one day a lady went into a bake shop to buy some cakes and buns. While waiting to be served she saw that instead of wallpaper the walls were covered with leaves from the Bible. This was so strange that she asked the old woman who operated the shop how that came about.

The old lady told her that one day while passing by a book shop, she saw a pile of papers which had been thrown away. As her shop needed papering, she thought this was just the thing, so she took some of the papers home and pasted them over the walls.

One evening her little grandson came in and began reading aloud from the paper on the wall. The old woman was so interested in what she heard that she listened eagerly, and got all who could read to read it to her.

One day a young man came who asked her if she understood it, and whether she was a Christian.

She told him how much she enjoyed hearing it, but she did not understand it much; so he promised to take her to a gospel service the next day. After this she attended regularly and became an earnest Christian. She now keeps a stock of tracts in her little shop and into every bag of cakes and buns she drops a messenger of the grace of God.

When Peter meant his best, he found out what a wicked heart he had. When he did his worst, he found out what a blessed heart Christ had.

ML-09/24/1978

Saved from a Tiger

In China once a mother went up in the hills to cut grass for fuel, for they were very poor. She had her baby tied on her back and held another little child by the hand. In the other hand she carried a sharp sickle to cut the grass with.

Just as she reached the top of the hill, she heard a roar, and a mother tiger sprang at her, followed by two little cubs. As the great cat sprang, the brave little mother slashed at it with her sharp little sickle.

Now this poor Chinese mother was very unlearned; she had never been to a gospel preaching or a Sunday school in her life. She had never seen a Bible, and she could not have read it if she had one. But one day as she was walking along the street, she heard a white lady talking to a few native women about someone called Jesus, who was able to help you if you were in trouble.

As the tiger tore her arm and shoulder with its great claws, she remembered this one name Jesus, and as she cut at the great beast with her little weapon, she kept crying out, “Oh! Jesus, help me!”

Do you think the Lord Jesus heard her cry? Indeed He did, for His ears an.-always open to our cry, and His promise is, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.” Psa. 50:15.

Sometimes we make promises and find we cannot do what we said we would; and sometimes we forget too. But the Lord Jesus is not like that. Abraham believed God, and he was “fully persuaded, that what He had promised, He was able also to perform.” Rom. 4:21. We may also be fully persuaded of the same thing. So this poor Chinese lady found out.

She went on hitting at the tiger, crying out each time, “Oh Jesus, help me!” And in a few minutes the answer came. Her great enemy, who could so easily have killed her, turned and ran away, her cubs following her. The woman also turned and managed to crawl back to her village with her little ones. She was quite badly hurt, but her friends carried her to the mission hospital where she was cared for, and got well again. While there she learned to know more about that blessed Lord Jesus, who had saved her from death. She found out that He could also save her from eternal death, which means banishment from God, because of our sins.

How glad this poor mother must have been to find such a wonderful Saviour, who could do so much for her. And He is still the same, dear reader. He wants to save and bless YOU, too.

ML-09/24/1978

After Many Days

One Sunday evening, at the close of a gospel meeting, a lady came up to me and said, “I can tell you your text of this night 34 years ago.”

“Really?” I replied, “What was it? Please tell me.”

“And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” Gen. 7:1. You spoke from that text on the first of April 34 years ago, in this town, and on that night I was turned to the Lord. I did not find full peace until the next day, but my mind was made up, and I decided for Jesus that night.”

“And He has kept you ever since?”

“Ever since, and He will to the end.”

I remember the occasion when reminded of it, and also the deeply anxious lady to whom I spoke after that gospel meeting that night. But it was sweet after a lapse of 34 years to find that the incorruptible seed of God’s Word had brought forth such good fruit, as her happy face, and evident delight in the Lord indicated.

ML-09/24/1978

Jack the Burglar

When Jack was only a baby boy just fourteen months old, he was sold by his mother to a gang of thieves. He was trained by them in all the tricks of pick-pocketing, and at eight years of age he was an expert in the business. As Jack grew older, his skill in daring increased. On one occasion he took part in a prominent theft, and there was a great hue and cry after him.

For three weeks he hid away in a house and then cautiously he returned to his old haunts.

Soon after while laying plans for another big burglary in the north, he was passing one Sunday a place where a gospel service was being held. A hymn was being sung, and as he was fond of music he stopped to listen. He made up his mind to attend a meeting there later on.

He did so, and though he had never been in such a thing as a gospel meeting, he was greatly interested in the hymns that were sung, and by what the preacher said. He did not know, however, that two detectives were on his track and followed him into the building.

At the close of the service the well-known hymn, “The Better Land,” was sung, and poor Jack, overcome with delight, threw up his hat and shouted, “Encore!” That was enough for the detectives, who laid hold of him at once.

However, a kind-looking old lady of 85, sitting on the seat in front, turned around and pleaded for him.

“Don’t take him,” she said earnestly. “Poor boy, though he has fallen so low, he is somebody’s son.”

Then looking at the culprit she said, “Come and sit here beside me.” He came, and the old lady kissed him on the forehead.

Tears started to his eyes. He was not used to such kindness as this. Never to his knowledge had he ever been kissed in his life before.

The service was over, and the old lady begged the detectives to leave the young man in her care. She began to talk to him, and through her gentle, earnest words, the Holy Spirit spoke to the heart of poor Jack. Again and again the lady repeated the words, “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost,” and they made an impression upon his soul.

That night there was joy in heaven over the return of another prodigal.

Nimble Jack, as he was called by his old companions, is now a child of God, and nothing gives him greater joy than to tell others of the Saviour who found him in all his sin and forgave him, and made him clean through His precious blood.

You may think, my reader, because you have not gone so low in sin as this young fellow that you do not need to be converted. But all have sinned, you among the number. And your sin is enough to shut heaven’s gate against you forever. You need to be purged from your sins, and only one thing can do it: The precious blood of Christ.

Confess that you are indeed a sinner, and you will find that Christ is a ready Saviour, and that He will save you and bless you and make you happy.

Only one heart to give,

Only one voice to use,

Only one little life to live,

And only one to lose.

How happily the working days

In Christ’s dear service lie;

How rapidly the closing hour

The time of rest draws nigh.

ML-09/24/1978

Faithful Buster: He Died for Me

Memory Verse: “Our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9,10

“This is just the day to go blueberry picking, Phil” said Helen to her brother. “I’ll get some pails, and here’s Buster wanting to go along too.” She stroked the good dog’s long silky hair.

“Of course we’ll take you as usual, Buster. If we meet a bear, Buster will take care of him in a hurry, won’t he?” answered Philip.

“Mother, can’t you go with us?” the children asked.

“It will be lovely to have some berries for the freezer, and it’s quite alright for you to go,” said Mother, “but I can’t go with you until baby gets a little older. Let’s ask the Lord Jesus to take care of you, because we ought not to do anything without first seeking His guidance and help.”

The children knelt while mother asked the Lord to protect and lead them in their berry hunt. As she prayed, mother thanked the Lord Jesus for dying on the cross to save them from their sins.

“Keep Buster with you, my dears,” she said. “Good-bye.”

The day seemed long for Mother, but late in the afternoon she heard Buster barking in the distance.

“Brother and sister will soon be home,” she said to baby Mary, holding her to the window. But they did not come. And when Father arrived from his work, he became alarmed.

“I’ll drive back to town for a search party,” he quickly decided. But before leaving he looked to the Lord in prayer.

Soon a party of men arrived and headed for the west woods, when sure enough—running toward them were two tired and frightened figures gasping and both trying to talk at the same time.

“Just as we came near the old shack, we heard Buster begin to growl, and then we saw a big bear. He was angry, and he rushed at Buster. Buster put up a good fight, but it wasn’t any use. He died and we hid in the loft of the shack until dark. If it hadn’t been for Buster, the bear would have killed us.”

Everyone was relieved that the children were safe, and they knelt down to thank the Lord for His care over them. Then when all was quiet once more, Mother drew Phil and Helen to her side.

“Your experience,” she said, “has made me think of something very precious. You said that Buster died to save you. Think how the dear Lord Jesus hung on the cross and took the burden of your sins so you would not have to die for them. How much He suffered for you and me! Have you seen yourselves as sinners in His sight, and do you believe that the Lord Jesus died for you?”

“Our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9,10.

ML-10/01/1978

Stories from Russia

Vera is a brave young student who was expelled from her university in Russia because of her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. She tells the story of how God answered her family’s prayer for food when she was twelve years old: “Father had been taken away to a prison camp when I was ten because of his Christian activities. We never stopped hoping that one day he would come home. But he did not come, and Mother could not possibly support us with the few rubles she earned cleaning the railroad station.

“I was the oldest in the family, and I remember how helpless I felt the day Mother cut the last piece of bread into five slices. She herself nibbled on the smallest piece.

“Before going to bed Mother prayed with us. She asked God to supply us with some food—and she prayed as if she expected an answer. Then we crawled on top of the old brick stove where we slept in the winter and tried to forget our hunger.

“That night, a prosperous Christian lady who lived across town had a dream. In her dream she heard a voice saying distinctly: ‘Paraska, you have everything. You have bread and heat in your house. But Anya, your neighbor, is hungry and her children are starving.’

“The voice in her dream was so persistent that Paraska awakened. She didn’t stop to consider that it could be anything but true. Even though it was past midnight, she got dressed and packed a basket of bread, sausage, and cheese.

“She hurried to our house as fast as she could move through the snow, and pounded frantically on our door.

" ‘Are you alive, Anya?’ she cried.

“My mother opened the door. We children, who were awake by then, watched in sleepy wonder as the snowy figure walked through the door and placed the basket on our wooden table.”

“Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.” Psalms 50:15

“Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.” 1 Peter 5:7.

ML-10/01/1978

The Goodness of God

“None good, but one, that is, God.” (Matt. 19:17.)

So said our blessed Lord; He was Emmanuel, God with us, God manifest in flesh.

If God is so good, but none the less in sorrow,

Like clouds that float along a sky of light,

For there are stars that daylight cannot borrow,

And God’s best promises shine out at night.

God is so good. Oh! for a soul on fire,

Oh for a heart to praise Him as I should,

God is so good, let my whole life inspire,

And with my lips proclaim that God is good.

ML-10/01/1978

Eileen's Dolly

“Daddy, you won’t forget my dolly, will you?” called out little Eileen.

“Indeed I won’t, my little sweetheart,” replied Mr. Hunt, taking his little daughter up in his arms and giving her a farewell hug and kiss. Soon he was waving good-bye as he disappeared around the bend in the road.

Eileen was very excited that day. She had never dressed a real doll of her own, only rag dollies which her mother had made for her. Every day she had asked her daddy when was he going to market, and she hardly slept the night previous to this eventful day.

Mr. Hunt was a cattle dealer, and after attending the market, he went shopping. He bought a beautiful doll with a wax face and yellow curls, and eyes that opened and shut, smiling to himself as he thought of his little girl’s delight.

It had been a long day, and now it was getting late. It might have been better to stay in town overnight and return the next day, but Mr. Hunt thought of how eagerly little Eileen would be waiting for his return with her doll; so he determined to go home that night.

Away from the city lights, on the way home, it was so dark that he could scarcely see the road. Then it began to rain and the wind blew the rain into his face. It blew up into a terrible storm. Progress was slow, but he trudged on.

Suddenly he stopped. “I am sure there was a cry,” he said to himself.

He went on a little farther. Then he heard the cry again, and it sounded so weird in that lonely spot.

“Who is it? Who is there?” shouted Mr. Hunt.

The voice seemed like the voice of a child, but Mr. Hunt was doubtful. He had quite a sum of money with him, for many would know of his trip to the market, and it might be a trap to way-lay and rob him.

For a moment he hesitated. At first he was inclined to press on home as quickly as possible, but how could a child be out on such a night? Then he heard the cry again, and said aloud, “If any man’s child is out here on a night like this, Anthony Hunt is not the man to leave it here to die.”

He left the road and made his way across the open field.

At last in a little hollow under some bushes he found a little dripping thing that sobbed, and he took it in his arms. Wrapping his cloak about her, he started home again.

“Don’t cry, little one,” he said; “I’ll take you safe home to your mommy.”

Soon the child cried herself to sleep.

The lights of his cottage beamed a welcome to him through the wet night, and how glad he was to see them.

“My wife has it all lit up for me,” he said. “It’s to cheer me up after such a bad trip.”

As soon as the cottage door was opened he saw that something was wrong. The room was filled with neighbors, and Mrs. Hunt stood among them crying.

“Oh, don’t tell him,” she cried. “It will kill him.”

“What is it?” he asked, turning pale.

“What is that under your coat?” inquired one, before the rest could speak.

“A poor lost child I found out in the field!”

The light fell on the sleeping child. It was little Eileen. She had wandered out to meet her daddy and her dolly.

“Oh, if I had gone on and paid no attention to that cry for help, how should I feel now?” said Mr. Hunt to his wife afterward.

“Thank God, you didn’t,” she replied, as she hugged her precious little girl to her heart, and the tears rolled down her face.

Is God less pitiful than man? No indeed, a thousand times more so. He listens to the cries of lost sinners and He sent His blessed Son down to this world to save. “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10.

But none of the ransomed ever knew,

How deep were the waters crossed,

Or how dark was the night that the Lord passed through,

Ere he found His sheep that was lost.

ML-10/01/1978

A Hunter Saved

A man who had a great passion for hunting was examining a house which he was moving into. When in one of the upstairs rooms he noticed scratched on the window the words, “Prepare to meet thy God.”

He staggered and for the first time in his life, he trembled and cried out, “Lord, have mercy on me! Save me!”

After much distress of soul one day he saw a notice that a well-known evangelist was to preach the gospel that evening in a town, and he rode sixteen miles to hear him. The text was, “Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

“Doubtless,” said the preacher, “there are some here weighed down with sin and misery, and wanting rest.” (At the same time pointing here and there.) “Have you tried the blood—the blood of Jesus Christ, which cleanseth from all sin?”

Stricken in his conscience, the man was melted under this appeal, and he saw Christ had shed His blood for him. Soon he was filled with joy and peace in believing.

ML-10/01/1978

Two Happy Boys

Coming along the country road on a quiet evening, I heard the sound of singing borne on the breeze. As it came near, I recognized the tune, and soon the words of the familiar gospel song:

“Saved by grace alone,

This is all my plea,

Jesus died for all mankind,

And Jesus died for me.”

Two happy farm boys on horseback came into view, each pouring forth a tribute of praise to the great Redeemer’s grace.

“You seem happy, boys,” I said as they passed by.

“Yes sir, we are,” was the quick response.

“Is it because you’re really saved by grace?”

“It is, but only a week ago, at the tent meetings.”

Up at the village a bright gospel tent was pitched, and under its roof the happy boys had heard and believed “the old old story of Jesus and His love.” Had they not good cause to be happy? Yes, indeed. Are you saved and happy?

ML-10/01/1978

Redeemed

Memory Verse: “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Ephesians 1:7

Mat, the Palomino, has been redeemed—for $500.

He is owned by Mrs. Boyd, a lady who lives near Toronto, Canada. She has ridden him for 17 years and intends to keep him as long as she can. But there was one chapter in Mat’s life that wasn’t all that happy to either his owner or himself. Last year circumstances were such that Mrs. Boyd had to “board out” her beloved pet to a farmer. He verbally agreed to feed and look after him while his family would ride him by way of reimbursement.

However, early this year Mrs. Boyd was surprised to learn that Mat had been sold to a horse dealer for $150. The dealer in turn had resold Mat to someone else and no one knew where he lived. The matter might have ended there had not the Toronto Globe and Mail carried the story, and a lady visiting in the area saw Mat’s picture in the paper. She recognized him as the horse her husband had purchased from the dealer for their family. She immediately got in touch with a delighted Mrs. Boyd who came at once and redeemed her pet for $500. Now both Mat and his redeemer are happy again.

We learn from Scripture that “to redeem” means to “buy back.” When man fell, he forfeited his life because of his sin. He cannot redeem his soul, nor can his brother (Psa. 49:7,8)—no one can—for the redemption of the soul is too costly it must be given up forever. Peter tells us that we cannot be redeemed with silver and gold (1 Peter 1:18), as many would like to think.

“What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul.” Mark 8:36,37.

There was only One who could redeem-only One who had the right to redeem. Unlike all others who were sinful men, He was holy, undefiled, “separate from sinners.” Furthermore, He alone could pay the infinite cost of our redemption, for He was the Son of God-the rich One “who for our sakes became poor that we through His poverty might be rich” 2 Corinthians 8:9.

He loved us—and O how great was His love—for He gave up His life and shed His precious blood to pay the price of our redemption.

What a Saviour! “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvion?” Hebrews 2:3.

ML-10/08/1978

The Untamed Tiger

In Africa once a traveler managed to capture a baby tiger. He brought the little thing home with him hoping that he could tame him. He gave the little kitten no meat, and he would talk to it and stroke its fur, until the young tiger gradually became used to him. The time came when it would follow him around like a dog, and he began to think that his kindness had completely overcome its wild animal nature. It grew to be a fine young tiger.

One day, however, as he was walking through the garden, he scratched his hand slightly against a thorn. He thought nothing of it, and a few minutes later he bent down to stroke his pet.

To his surprise, the young tiger became uneasy and excited, and refused to be quieted. He allowed it to lick his hand as he had often done before, but no sooner had the tiger touched the scratch than it leaped upon the man and bore him to the ground. The smell and taste of blood had awakened the beast’s wild nature, and had it not been for the thought and courage of a servant, the man would have lost his life. As it was, he was badly mauled and bore the marks to the end of his life.

All that man’s efforts to change the tiger’s nature were in vain.

The Bible tells us that we, too, have a nature that cannot be tamed, a heart that is desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9). We may try to be good and do better, to turn over a new leaf, seek to be kind, honest, and religious perhaps, but none of these things make us any better sinners than we are before God.

God knows that nothing can be done with our old nature. What we need is a new one. We need to be “born again” by His Spirit (John 3:3). When this takes place in our souls, He gives us a new nature, His own — pure, sinless, holy — which delights only in good, and shuns evil.

The Lord Jesus died to put not only our sins away, but also our old self, to make us like Himself and to give us a new life which delights in Him and heavenly things.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

ML-10/08/1978

Phil's Purse

It wasn’t a burglar who stole Phil’s purse. He was just a little fellow; in fact he had just had his fifth birthday. His purse was unusually full after his presents from aunts and uncles, Grandma too. He was feeling quite rich as he went with his mother to see the doctor, because he had a sore throat which would not go away.

Somehow Phil forgot his purse and left it behind at the doctor’s office. It was not until he got home that he discovered it was missing. Mother usually looked after it, but today she thought Phil would like to keep it himself. She phoned the police station and described the purse, but it had not been turned in to them. Mother had been to so many places that day that she didn’t know where to start to look.

Back at the doctor’s office the nurse found a purse and carefully put it away, sure that someone would come back to claim it. She could see that it had quite a lot of money in it, and she was sure the owner would soon come. After several days it was still there, and looking inside she could make out a name. Looking up the record she found Phil’s address. She asked the district nurse, and she said she would take it with her when she had to go that way.

Phil himself opened the door when the bell rang. When he saw his purse, his face lit up, and he took it from the lady quickly just remembering to say “thank you.” He rushed upstairs to his mother waving his purse with his face radiant. He joyfully counted his pennies—they were all there!

Then he suddenly thought of the nurse at the doctor’s office who had sent it back to him, and he took out his pencil to write a little note to her. He was only five and he very carefully wrote, “Fank you for my purss back. Love from Phil.”

“Do you think she’d like some chocolate peanuts, like I do?” he asked his mother. They both agreed she probably would. So mother brought his thank you letter and present to the doctor’s office, and the nurse was so pleased to hear from Phil—it made her very happy, and she hummed a tune as she went on with her work.

Have you ever stopped to think how much you have to thank God for?—your home, your father and mother, your family and friends, food and clothes? But above all for His wonderful love in giving Jesus His own dear Son, to die for you upon the cross, to pay the debt of your sins, and to bring you back to Himself.

When the Lord Jesus was here on earth, He cured ten men who were lepers. One of them—and only one—came back to thank Him. How much the Lord appreciated that, and he asked where all the others were. Are you, dear reader, like that one, and have you brought your grateful thanks to Him for saving you?

ML-10/08/1978

Joe, the Alligator

A writer in “The Scientific American” tells an interesting story of how an alligator sometimes gets his dinner.

The alligator is a lazy fellow, and instead of hunting for something to eat, he lets his victims hunt him. He lies on the surface of the water with his great mouth open, and like the possum, appears dead. Soon a bug crawls into his open jaws, then a few gnats and mosquitoes land, and finally a swarm of flies. But the alligator does not shut his mouth yet. He is waiting for a whole drove of things to enter.

A little later a lizard will cool himself under the shade of the upper jaw. Then maybe a small bird will come for a meal. After that perhaps a few frogs will hop up to catch the mosquitoes. More flies and little reptiles arrive until a whole crowd of creatures are having an afternoon picnic.

Suddenly there is an earthquake. The big jaw falls, the alligator blinks his eye, gulps down the entire menagerie, and opens his great front door again for more visitors.

That is like the trap that so unexpectedly closes upon pleasure seekers who choose the wrong company. “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.” Exodus 23:2.

“Be not deceived"; sooner or later, “evil communications corrupt good manners.” 1 Corinthians 15:33. Don’t go with the crowd, dear young friends. The Lord Jesus tells us, “Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.”

“Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matthew 7:14.

The Lord Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life.” John 14:6.

ML-10/08/1978

Dan, the Farmer

Dan C., a farmer from York, Pa., was a sinner and he knew it. It was his desire to be saved, but he was confident that prayers and works were the means to that end. To his sister he insisted that if he said his prayers and did the best he could he would surely to go heaven. No argument dislodged him from this forlorn hope. On a certain day his sister quoted the following to him: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever does the best he can and says his prayers, shall not perish but have everlasting life.” And again: “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save those who do the best they can and say their prayers.”

“Jennie,” he asked, “is that in the Bible?”

“No, but that’s the way you want it.”

Sometime later he saw his sister again.

“Jennie!” he exclaimed, “I’m saved!”

“Are you? How are you saved?”

“Well, it’s not what I have done, nor what you have done, but what Christ has done!”

That’s it! The work is finished Jesus paid it all!

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16.)

ML-10/08/1978

After Many Days

One Saturday about two years ago I attended a meeting of some Christians where many had gathered together for fellowship and ministry of the word. Between the afternoon and evening meeting supper was provided. Among those who were serving refreshments I noticed a lady whose bright happy face quite attracted my notice. Catching my eye she came up to me and said, “I should greatly like to shake hands with you, for I have never seen you since the night I was saved.”

Shaking hands with her cordially, I replied, “And when were you converted?”

“It is so long ago that I can scarcely fix the date, but do you remember preaching the gospel in the kitchen of a farmhouse at A—— more than 25 years ago?”

“Yes, I remember perfectly, and the date also. Were you in the meeting?”

“Yes, I was then a girl of 17, living nearby. I was invited to the meeting, I went, and God spoke to me through your lips that night. I was turned to the Lord. It changed my whole life, and I have been happy in Him ever since.”

At the time I did not know of anyone who was converted at that meeting, though the farmer’s two girls became very interested and found Jesus a night or two after at another meeting. It was a great joy, therefore, to meet this child of the gospel after so many years, and so our joy in meeting was very mutual.

ML-10/08/1978

How Roger Was Saved

Memory Verse: “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13

Roger was a fine swimmer and diver. In fact he was a swimming instructor at college.

One night he could not sleep, so he decided to slip into the pool and have a swim, thinking the exercise might help him get to sleep.

“I did not put the lights on in the pool,” he said, “for I knew every inch of the place, and the roof was made of glass. The moon shone through, showing the shadow of my body on the wall at the other end, making a perfect cross. I cannot explain why I did not dive at the moment. As I stood looking at the shadow of the cross, I began to think about the cross of Christ and its meaning. I was not a Christian, but I found myself repeating the words of a hymn I had learned as a boy: He died that we might be forgiven, He died to do us good, That we might go at last to heaven, Saved by His precious blood.

“I cannot say how long I stood poised on the diving board, or why I did not dive. But I came down from the board and walked along to the steps that I knew led to the bottom of the pool and began to descend. I reached the bottom and my feet touched the cold, smooth floor of the pool. The night before, the caretaker had drained the pool dry, and I knew nothing about it. I realized then that had I dived, I would have dived to my death.

“By the mercy of God the cross on the wall saved me that night. I was so thankful to God for His mercy in sparing my life that I knelt on the cold bricks and asked the Lord Jesus to save my soul. I experienced a two-fold deliverance that night, for the Lord heard my cry and gave me the peace and joy of knowing that my sins were forgiven. I knew I was saved.”

Though a clean-living fellow, Roger was unprepared for eternity, and had he been killed, his soul would have gone to hell. But God in mercy spared him, and now he is on his way home to heaven. How is it with you, dear reader? Whither bound?

ML-10/15/1978

Saved Under Water

Hank was a wild swearing dockworker, helping to load freight onto a big steamer. Going up the gang plank, he was jostled by another workman and fell overboard into the water. Uttering a horrible oath, he disappeared under the waves.

His mates got him out of the water a few minutes later, but it seemed at first that he was drowned. They worked hard to revive him, and finally they were successful. As he came back to consciousness, his first words were, “Praise God! I’m saved.”

“Yes, you were nearly gone,” remarked one of the men.

“I don’t mean just being saved from drowning,” said Hank. “I mean the Lord has saved me from my sins. He has forgiven me. He has taken my sins away.”

Then Hank told in the presence of them all what had happened when he found himself down there in the water under the ship’s hull. He thought his end had surely come.

In a moment of time his past life passed before him. He saw himself as a boy kneeling at his mother’s side, saying his prayers in his tender years. He heard his mother praying for him. His sins rose up before him mountains high. He cried to God for mercy, and pleaded with Him to save him for Jesus’ sake. God heard his cries. In that moment, he knew God had forgiven him; his sins were cleansed away in the blood of Jesus Christ. Well might he praise God!

Have you cried to God too, dear reader? If you have, you too can praise Him. If you haven’t, then call upon Him in faith now; He will hear your prayer, for He is willing and able to save.

“Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Rom. 10:13.

“He said,... Thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.” Luke 8:45.

I thank Thee, Lord, for saving my soul; I thank Thee, Lord, for making me whole; I thank Thee, Lord, for giving to me Thy great salvation, so full and free.

ML-10/15/1978

An Extract

Be much for the Lord if you want to be much like Him (2 Cor. 3:18).

ML-10/15/1978

Bad Company

Farmer Brown loaded his shotgun and slipped out along the fence to make it warm for the crows that were pulling up his young corn.

Now Barney, the family parrot, had also discovered the crows over in the cornfield, and being a very sociable bird, he flew over and joined them. Farmer Brown saw the crows, but he did not see Barney.

Bang! Bang! Bang! went the gun. Farmer Brown jumped over the fence to see the execution done. There lay three dead crows, and there lay Barney, his pet, his feathers all ruffled and his leg broken!

Gently he carried poor Barney home, and the children immediately asked, “Oh, Daddy! What did it? Who hurt our Barney?”

“Bad company! Bad company!” answered Barney in solemn voice.

“Ah, that was it,” said Mr. Brown. “Barney was with those crows when I fired, and got shot along with them. Remember Barney’s fate, children. Beware of bad company, for the old proverb is true; ‘Birds of a feather flock together.’ "

It is never safe for us to do a thing just because a lot of others are doing it. The Word of God tells us, “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.” Exodus 23:2. If we are not sure of a thing, how much better it is to ask Father or Mother, or go to the Lord about it. This will save us from many a wrong step and all the sorrow that comes with it.

ML-10/15/1978

Phil, the Brave

Phil and Gus were two boys in the same class at school. One day when they were in the schoolroom alone together, some firecrackers went off. Now the teacher had strictly forbidden anyone to bring firecrackers into the school, and he immediately demanded which one of the boys had done the deed. Gus denied it. Phil would neither admit nor deny it, and as a result, he was severely punished for his obstinacy.

When the boys got alone again, Gus asked, “Phil, why didn’t you say you didn’t do it?”

“Because there were only us two, and one of us must have lied,” said Phil.

“Then why not say I did it?” asked Gus.

“Because you said you didn’t, and I wanted to spare you even though you were telling a lie,” answered Phil.

Gus’ heart was melted. Phil’s moral gallantry subdued him. When the class was assembled again, Gus, the young culprit, marched up to the teacher’s desk and said, “Please, sir, I can’t bear to be a liar. I let off the firecrackers,” and then he burst into tears.

The teacher’s eyes moistened as he looked upon the young self-accuser, and as he thought of the undeserved punishment he had inflicted upon Phil, of whose guilt in the matter he had no real proof, his conscience was smitten. Then before the whole class, hand in hand with the guilty Gus, as if he and the boy were joining in the confession, the teacher walked down to where Phil sat and said aloud in the hearing of all the class, “Phil, my boy, Gus and I ask your forgiveness; we are both to blame!”

The class was hushed and still, as men and women in older schools are apt to be when something true and noble is being done—so still, you might almost have heard Phil’s tears dropping on his book, as he sat enjoying the moral triumph which subdued himself as well as all the rest. Then, from want of something else to say he gently exclaimed, “Hurray for teacher!” in which the rest of the class joined, and the tears flowed down the teacher’s cheeks again.

The Lord Jesus took our place and bore the punishment we deserved. He had no sin of His own to answer for. We were the guilty ones, but He took our place and died in our stead, because He loved and pitied us.

The teacher could not punish Gus for he had already punished Phil. And God will not nor can He punish a sinner for whom Christ has died. Those who have put their trust in Jesus as their Saviour are freely pardoned. God sees them as sinless now in His sight, made so by that precious blood which washes whiter than snow.

ML-10/15/1978

After Many Days

On the following Monday I was present at some similar meetings in the town of A——and during the supper hour a weather-beaten man came, gripped my hand, and said, “You know I was converted through you.”

“Indeed,” I said, warmly shaking his hand. “And where did you hear me?”

“Oh I never heard you preach, it was through one of your little books, but it is twelve years ago. I was then just a careless godless man. One day when I came in for dinner, I saw my little girl sitting by the fire twisting and about to tear up a little book. My wife at that moment exclaimed, ‘Take that book away from her; do not let her destroy it!’ I took the booklet and read the title, ‘God says I am saved.’ I said to myself, ‘That’s a queer title; I can’t say that,” and forgetting about my dinner, I stood and read the little book through. It was very simple, I thought, so simple only to look to Jesus and be saved; and when I had finished it, I read it through the second time. Then I said to myself, ‘If that’s all a man has to do, why should not I be saved?’

“I read it through a third time, and the light burst into my soul. I saw the truth, just as the dying girl did, of whom it speaks, and like her, I could say, ‘I’m only a poor sinner-Jesus died for me-I believe in Him-God says I am saved, and so I am.”

“Turning to my wife, I said, ‘Where did that book come from?’ ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘some coal was delivered here this morning, and when I untied one of the sacks, there on top was the little book. Was it not wonderful? But I found Jesus then, and I have been rejoicing in Him ever since. Praise His name! Who put the book into the sack? I don’t know, but God spoke to me through it.”

How wondrous are God’s ways and how happy will the person who put that book in the sack be when he or she finds out that it was the means of present and eternal blessing to an immortal soul. This story should cheer and stimulate tract distributors. If we sow the seed, God will bless it.

Be a good servant, by earnest effort, that you may become a son, is a common form of error. Be a son, by God’s grace, that you may become a good servant is the truth!

ML-10/15/1978

Out of My Sins

Jim Davis was a young man who had a beautiful home in the country, but he cared for nothing of the things of God until his dearly-loved young wife died after a short illness.

His heart was broken, and he was bowed with grief as he followed her to the grave. As usual, part of 1 Corinthians 15 was read at the funeral. For the next six weeks that young husband, whether it was wet or fine, went day by day and sat on her grave thinking about her, and quietly reading the last words of a scripture he had heard there. They seemed stamped upon his memory. He kept repeating and reading them to himself over and over again as he sat on the grave.

At last one day he was pondering once more the words, “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.”

“Yes!” he said, “that’s true, I know I’m in my sins.”

Then he went on in his little Testament: “But now is Christ risen,” and as he read these words he jumped up from the grave and said, “Why, then I must be out of my sins.”

He thanked God that His Spirit had lightened his soul with the real meaning of that sentence, showing him as in a moment that if Christ had not been raised, he was in his sins; but if Christ were raised and he believed it, he was “out of his sins.”

From that day he became an earnest Christian, seeking to live for Him who died for us and rose again.

ML-10/15/1978

Joe Packer, the Prize Fighter

Memory Verse: “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” John 1:12

It was Sunday evening in a little mission hall, and the audience was sweetly singing,

Someone will enter the pearly gate,

By and by;

Taste of the glories that there await;

Shall you? Shall I?

The audience was standing, and among them stood Joe Packer, the well-known prize fighter.

Someone will knock when the door is shut,

By and by;

Hear a voice saying,

“I know you not"; Shall you? Shall I?

So sang the little band softly, while Joe shook his head mournfully and heaved a deep sigh.

Someone will greet on the golden shore,

By and by;

Loved ones of earth who have gone before,

Shall you? Shall I?

As the voices died away, tears filled the eyes of the rough prize fighter, for the sweet face of his little girl whom he had lost eight years ago rose before his sight. Was she on the golden shore, hoping that he would come to greet her there? Should he disappoint her?

The crowd melted away until only two men remained. Mr. Martin had noticed the emotion on the poor man’s face.

“What about you, Joe?” he asked in a tone of sympathy. “Shall you be there by and by?”

“I’m afraid not,” was the reply given in a broken voice. “Though I’d give all I’ve got to meet my little Elsie over there.”

“Ah, yes,” exclaimed Martin, “and why shouldn’t you?”

“I don’t know how to get to her. And I live such a rough life, you know.”

“Come with me to the gospel service, and learn how you may see her again,” said Mr. Martin as he slipped his hand through Joe’s arm.

“No, not like this. I’ll go home and change first.”

“Hurry then, and I’ll be waiting for you at the mission!”

When decently dressed, Joe sallied forth and turned his steps towards the mission. Alas, on the way he had to pass his favorite tavern. He thought he should turn in to remind a friend of his about something. He was to fight that night at the rear of the tavern and had put down a $25.00 bet.

“Aren’t you going to stay; what’s the hurry?”

“Well no, I have somewhere else to go, but I’ll have a glass first before I leave.”

Away at the mission Mr. Martin was speaking with his eye on the door, but his man did not come.

No, Joe sat drinking glass after glass, although his conscience kept pricking him as he thought of his broken promise. More than once he said to himself, “This is the last. After this I’ll go!”

Nine o’clock came; then it seemed he heard a loud voice saying, “Put that glass down! Drink another and be damned!” He rose and staggered out of the tavern and made his way at last to the Mission Hall.

The service of course had ended, and the lights were being put out, when they were startled to hear the doors burst noisily open, and a man, evidently the worse for drink, staggered in.

“Over?” he cried.

“Yes.”

“Oh! Convert me! Do!”

“We can’t convert you, but God can.”

For over an hour they prayed beside the sobering man and explained to him his only chance of salvation. Joe could hardly believe that God loved him.

“That can’t be true,” he cried.

“It is.”

“Well then, it’s very funny.”

“Yes, it is most strange but most blessedly true. The Lord Jesus can save you, and take you through the pearly gate by and by,” said Mr. Martin.

“It’s no use. I can’t give it up, but this shall be the last time,” cried Joe. “What is it you can’t give up?” Then the story of the forth-coming fight came out, and Joe was besought not to endanger his never-dying soul for the sake of a paltry $25.00 in stakes he had paid down.

It was a fearful struggle to the last, the hardest fight he’d ever fought, as he often said later, but through the help of his Saviour that loved him, poor Joe came off more than a conqueror.

“All right,” he cried at last. “I’ll do it.”

Poor Joe Packer was wonderfully saved that night. With thankful hearts the little company of victors turned to leave the Hall.

“And you believe, don’t you, Joe, that God is able to keep you?” asked Mr. Martin.

“Well, I’ll let Him try,” said the now happy Joe. “But you must come home with me and help me tell my Sally. My! Won’t she swear! But she’ll be surprised to see me sober.”

Arriving at his door, Joe screwed up courage, and pushing his two friends in before him, he cried, “Now, Sally, I’ve got converted, and these men are come to convert you; so get ready!”

The astonished Sally did not swear but stared in scared amazement as Mr. Martin knelt and prayed for God’s blessing on that house and all who dwelt in it.

The prize fight was canceled, and the stakes were forfeited, greatly to the astonishment of those who frequented the tavern where Joe Packer’s conversion became the talk of the town. There was no doubt of its reality, for the life which he now lived testified to his utter change of heart. His Saviour had come now to dwell there, and old things had passed away. Behold all things became new. (2 Cor. 5.)

His past reckless life, however, told on him, and before another year had passed, the Lord took him peacefully home.

ML-10/22/1978

Lee's Pennies

In the city of Foochow, China, there lived a family named Wang, that had a little shop. Whenever they made a sale, the silver and the paper money was put into a cash box at the back of the shop. The pennies, hover, were not stored away so carefully, and sometimes they fell on the floor.

Those pennies were a temptation to little Lee, the shopkeeper’s son. He got to thinking one day, “If I ask for some pennies to buy candy with, Father and Mother won’t likely give them to me.” So he thought of a way to get some of them himself.

Lee put some sticky paste on the bottom of his shoes and walked about the shop where the pennies had dropped. When he came out, sure enough, some pennies were sticking to his shoes, and off he went to buy some candy.

Now Lee tried to make himself think that he did not actually steal those pennies. “I did not pick up the pennies,” he reasoned. “They stuck to my shoes as I was walking around.”

But conscience is not to be silenced that easy. Sometime later little Lee sat in the gospel mission and listened to the wonderful stories about Jesus, the sinner’s Friend. It wasn’t hard for Lee to accept that he was a sinner he had done too many bad things, and now he was unhappy.

Lee asked the Lord Jesus to come into his heart and wash all those sins away. The Lord did save him, and after that the burden was gone from his heart. He was happy in his Saviour’s love.

After that Lee felt differently about the pennies. There was no question now that he had stolen them.

“I praise the Lord Jesus for saving me from my sins,” he said afterwards. “What would have happened to me if I had kept on stealing pennies?” Then he went to his father and replaced the pennies he had stolen, and asked him to forgive him.

“Let him that stole steal no more.” (Eph. 4:28.)

ML-10/22/1978

A Faithful Sunday School Teacher

A well-known gospel preacher, much used of the Lord, once told a large company of Sunday school teachers the story of his life. “I was a boy from a broken home,” he said, “and my father and mother were divorced. I became a member of a Sunday school class in which there were 13 boys. Five of the boys were from broken homes. They knew little of love and kindness.

“Our teacher was a big man. He wore size 14 shoes. There were no discipline problems in that class because we had respect for his burly frame. Our teacher had never gone beyond the 6th grade in school, but he knew the Lord and he loved the boys in his class. He gave me love that I had never known before. He often played ball with me and other boys. All of the 13 boys in that class became Christians. Many of them went into full-time service for the Lord. How great is the godly influence of a Christian teacher who knows the Lord and loves those entrusted to Him!”

ML-10/22/1978

De River Too Strong

Once when on a trip in the West Indies we hired a buggy driven by two horses, for there were no cars on the island. It was thirty miles to town, several rivers had to be crossed, and there were no bridges.

In the Camp Moran River the water was running with great force. How were we to get across? Our driver knew where the shallow place in the river was, and at this point he boldly drove in. Further and further in we went, and deeper and deeper the stream. Soon the water was up over the wheels, and we had to put our feet up on the seats to keep from getting wet. Before long the horses were swimming. Even the driver began to get frightened.

“De River, him am flowing too strong!” he exclaimed.

At last, however, the river got shallower, the horses’ feet touched bottom again, and we were out of danger.

When we got to town, at the first gospel meeting I used this incident to impress on the audience that there is a great river, so to speak, between them and God, a river which is impossible for any sinner to get across by himself. And what we need is a good strong bridge, on which we can pass from death unto life, from our sins and lost condition to safety and eternal happiness. Thank God, such a bridge has been built!

The Saviour’s work of redemption is the bridge. We have not to help to build it, not make any contribution to the work. The work is finished! The bridge is built. All we have to do is cross it now by faith. We cross it when we come in repentance and faith to the Saviour, and put our trust in Him and in the power of His blood to cleanse us from all sin.

Have you crossed this river yet, dear reader? I mean, have you come to Jesus and confessed yourself as a sinner, and believed in Him for salvation? The word of God tells us, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:31.)

ML-10/22/1978

Luther's Robin

Martin Luther once said, “There is a little robin which preaches to me daily. I put crumbs on my window sill. He hops onto it when he is hungry and takes what he desires. Then he flies to a little tree close by and lifts up his voice to God, singing songs of praise and gratitude. At night he tucks his little head under his wing and goes to sleep, leaving tomorrow with God. Every day he preaches a sermon of trust in God to me!”

ML-10/22/1978

A Little Chimney Sweep

Memory Verse: “But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:13

Chimney sweeps are coming back again! It is estimated there are 1000 in the United States and Canada, and their ranks are growing.

Most of us haven’t seen or heard of a chimney sweep in our lifetime, but with the energy crisis and the rising cost of oil, natural gas and electricity, there is a swing back to wood and coal as fuels. This brings dirty chimneys and a return of the chimney sweep.

No doubt there will be stories told of modern chimney sweeps, but this one of little Charles goes back a few years.

A wealthy Christian lady, whose husband had died, lived alone with her little son Charles, just five years old, in a beautiful suburban home. Her one great desire now was that her little son should early be converted to God, and she earnestly prayed that He would draw his heart after the Saviour.

She sought to teach Charles some prayers, but only one would he learn, and that was: “Lord, convert me; change my heart; teach me to trust Thee, and teach me to love my brethren as Jesus loved us.” Charles would quickly recite his prayer, then quickly say, “Amen,” and climb into bed.

One day a servant announced that Charles had disappeared. The anxious mother ran all around the neighborhood, searching and asking people if anyone had seen her little boy. She published the news of his disappearance in the papers, and offered a large reward for any information concerning him, but all to no avail.

Time went by and one told her he had seen a small child drown by the river, that he had been drowned and buried in a small cemetery downstream. Believing this to be her little son, the poor mother went there to weep. She had a tombstone erected to his memory, upon which was engraved her little son’s prayer.

Three sorrowful years passed by for the lonely Christian mother. It was summertime, and the servants were busy cleaning the mansion. Coming in unexpectedly, she was surprised to find a little chimney sweep, black as coal, leaning against the fireplace. He looked so sad, and big tears rolled down his thin little cheeks leaving white traces upon his dark face.

“What is the matter, my child?” she asked kindly.

“It’s because—” he replied, trying to keep back the tears, “it’s because—my boss will beat me.”

“Tell me about it—why does he beat you?”

" ‘Cause I don’t earn enough money. I call out loud as I can to people to let me clean their chimneys, and nobody wants me. He says I don’t climb fast enough, and I don’t scrape hard enough. Yesterday I fell and hurt my leg, and tore my pants. We come to clean your chimney, and my boss is on the roof now. He is coming down,” and the little fellow sobbed bitterly.

“Well, I will speak to your boss.” “Oh please don’t,” he pleaded, “he will beat me all the more.”

“I will talk to God about you tonight.”

“To God? Oh I keep asking Him to take me back to my mother.”

“You have a mother then?”

“I had one once. Oh if I could only go back to her!”

“Do you know where she lives?” questioned the lady, her interest mounting.

“No; I was only little when I knew her. I remember only one house—and it had a garden. The fireplace was over here like yours, and Mother had a kind sad face like — oh, I’m sorry,” he broke off, for the words overcame the poor lady. She sank upon the sofa, then taking the boy’s hand she drew him near to her and said, “And what of your mother?”

He tried to recall some things about her, and then suddenly remembered—“She taught me a prayer” he said.

“Tell me that prayer. Tell me!”

Kneeling down, with trembling voice the little fellow prayed: “Lord, convert me—change my heart; teach me to trust Thee, and to love my brethren as Jesus loves us. Amen.”

“My boy! my boy!” cried the mother as she pressed him to her bosom regardless of his soot; “You are my son, Charles! I’m your mother!” and the sobs of both stopped their voices. They both wept, but they were tears of joy. Scarcely could the mother contain herself as she exclaimed, “O thank God! my boy! my boy!”

Here his bog, entered the room and was surprised to find the lady and the little sooty fellow down on their knees together. She asked him how he ever came to possess the child. He told her a man, who claimed he was the boy’s father, had placed him in his hands for a sum of money. This man was now dying in a hospital.

The lady hastened to the hospital. There she found a dying man who confessed that three years previous he had stolen a child, whom he found climbing over a wall.

From here on Charles was his mother’s chief joy, and oh how thankful she was to God for bringing back her long lost son, whom she had reckoned dead. To commemorate this wonderful event, every May 1St, she would gather as many as 50 small chimney sweeps around her table and provide them with a sumptuous feast. She would then relate the story of her little Charles and tell them that God hears and answers prayer.

She also taught them even as her little son was lost, so little boys and girls are lost in sin. And just as she loved her boy and yearned for him all the time he was away from her, so God loves every boy and girl, and older ones too, no matter how naughty or wicked one might be. Finally she told them that even as she welcomed back her little boy and kissed him, poor, ignorant and black as he was, so God is ready to forgive and to embrace every sinner, small and great, who comes to Him in repentance through the Lord Jesus Christ.

“For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.” (Luke 15:24.)

ML-10/29/1978

Busy Little Johanna

George Whitefield was an earnest man of God and powerful in the gospel. When he was preaching in New England, many were saved; among them a mother and her little girl, Johanna.

One day little Johanna said, “Mother, I wish I could tell someone else about Jesus. Will you pray while I go to some of our neighbors and tell them about Him?”

“Oh, Johanna, you are too young,” said Mother. “They would make fun of you and wouldn’t believe what you say.”

“But Mother, I think they would believe me. I must tell them about my Saviour. I want them to be happy and love Him too. Let me go over to old Sandy, the shoemaker, and talk to him.”

Soon Johanna was running out of the house and on her way to Sandy’s while her mother prayed that the heart of the old shoemaker would open to receive the message her little daughter had for him.

Old Sandy was at work in his shop. The little girl entered. She told the old man how the Lord Jesus had forgiven all her sins, and now she was very happy. She was sure that the Lord Jesus wanted him to be saved too.

The old shoemaker listened. At first he was surprised. Then tears began to run down his cheeks, and he put aside his work. Kneeling down he prayed that God would have mercy upon him and save his soul.

Others heard the gospel from little Johanna, and some believed in the Lord Jesus because of her faithful testimony.

“Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.” (Mark 5:19.)

ML-10/29/1978

A Little Child

Dear Lord, I do not ask

That Thou shouldest give me some high work of Thine,

Some noble calling or some wondrous task;

Give me a little hand to hold in mine;

Give me a little child to point the way;

Give me a little voice to teach to pray,

O’er the strange, sweet path that leads to Thee;

Give me two shining eyes Thy face to see.

Author Unknown

ML-10/29/1978

A Spurned Treasure

A wealthy old uncle left his young nephew a Bible in his will which read: “To my nephew I leave a copy of God’s priceless Word, which I trust he will use daily, and find within its pages real treasure.”

The young fellow was so disgusted and disappointed with his share of his uncle’s bequest that he threw the Bible into an old trunk in the attic, where it lay for years. Then one day when under great stress and trial, he turned to the old Book for a bit of comfort. What was his surprise to find within its sacred pages bills that ran into thousands of dollars. But he found there in reading the blessed Book what was infinitely more precious, the unsearchable riches of Christ, for through that Bible he came to know the Lord Jesus as His Saviour. Have you found Him, the greatest of all treasures?

ML-10/29/1978

Spook

Spook is a white German Shepherd owned by Mrs. Christine Rowe of Sacramento, California.

One day in October 1976, when the family were on a boat trip up the west coast of Canada, Spook fell overboard into the cold waters of the Pacific. Unable to save him, the family could only hope that his sufferings in the chilly waters of the great deep would not be too long. Later they returned to their California home 1000 miles away.

Seven months passed, and then one day Mrs. Rowe went to the dog pound to look for her brother’s dog who was lost. A white German Shepherd behind the fence looked strangely familiar and a startled Mrs. Rowe called, “Spook!” The dog went wild with excitement and came bounding towards her! Their loved pet had not perished in the ocean after all but had got to shore and found his way home at last.

Who saved Spook from those chilly ocean waters and gave him the instinct to find his way home across those long weary miles? Surely it was God, that blessed Creator who loves all the creatures He has made.

The pigeon released perhaps 1000 miles away has but one thought, and that is “Home!” and it will turn neither to the right hand nor to the left until its desire is realized.

We as Christians can learn an inspiring lesson from Spook and the pigeon. As pilgrims and strangers may we find no rest or satisfaction down here in this world, but press on in earnest haste until we are at home with our Saviour in the Father’s house forever!

ML-10/29/1978

Between Saddle and Ground

A wild reckless young man was riding his horse one day, when his horse stumbled and fell throwing him to the ground. Before he hit the ground, fearing that he would be killed, he cried to God in the act of falling, and was saved before he reached the ground.

Was his conversion permanent? His changed life from that moment showed that it was. Later on he became a well-known servant of Christ and wrote some lines beginning:

“Between the saddle and the ground

I mercy sought and mercy found.”

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

ML-10/29/1978

How Fred Saw the King

Memory Verse: “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.” John 10:9

Fred was just a poor boy in a small country village, but he had such a keen desire to go to London to see the King, that for years he had saved his pennies for the long-anticipated journey by train. When he actually did get to Buckingham Palace, he was stopped by the guards who told him he could not possibly see the King unless he had been especially invited.

While Fred was pleading to be allowed in “just for a minute” the guards suddenly snapped to attention and saluted a young gentleman who stopped and asked what was the matter.

“Please, Sir,'' said Fred, brushing aside the tears with his sleeve, “I’ve saved up for a long time to get enough to come to London, and I do so want to see the King, just to say “Good morning” to him, but nobody will let me.”

The boy’s pleadings seemed to affect the young man; he hesitated for a moment, then he said, “Come along with me, my boy, and no one will stop you.”

He led the way through the big gate and heavy doors, and all along the footmen bowed to him, then along the corridor with beautiful pictures on the walls, but Fred did not take his eyes off the young man who held his hand. At last the young man opened the door of a large room, richly furnished, where an elderly gentleman was sitting.

“Who is this?” he asked as they entered.

The prince smiled and said, “I found him outside on the steps, pleading with the guards to let him in. He says he saved his money for years to see you, Father, and I thought you would not mind if I brought him in with me just to see you. It would be the greatest moment of his life, I’m sure.”

“You are the King then, Sir,” gasped Fred in surprise.

The gracious monarch smiled, and shaking hands with the boy asked him how far he had come and how he had saved up enough money to travel so far. At first Fred was over-awed, but soon he was telling His Majesty all about his dream, his efforts and his difficulties, and how happy he was to get to see the King.

“Now you can go home and tell your father and your mother all about it” said the King, “and I admire your determination.”

Fred hastily thanked the prince too, and as a guard showed him the way out through the great doors again, his heart was singing for joy — he had seen and spoken to the King. His wildest dreams had come true!

When Fred arrived back home, his parents could tell by the light in his eyes that his trip was successful. Soon the entire village had heard his story, and Fred never tired of telling how the doors which were closed to him were opened by the kind prince who took him into the great palace and right into the King himself.

When we heard Fred’s story, we could not help thinking of something the Lord Jesus said: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” (John 14:6.) If we to go Him and trust Him as our Saviour, He will bring us to God Himself. But what He has done for us is so much more wonderful than anything the prince could ever do. We are all sinners and could never enter into God’s holy presence, but the Lord Jesus, we read, “once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.”

Fred only saw the King for a few minutes, but believers, saved by grace, will dwell in the Father’s presence, and in the presence of the King forever. Indeed we shall sit with Him on His throne and reign with Him eternally. O how wonderful it is when we think of all the Lord Jesus and God the Father have done for such poor, worthless worms of the dust.

“They shall see the King in His beauty.”

ML-11/05/1978

Saved From a Crocodile!

A missionary who worked in New Guinea was one day sailing down the river in a flimsy little boat. Suddenly a huge crocodile came alongside. It was so big it could easily have turned that little boat upside down. But suddenly it went away. The missionary wondered why.

Several weeks later he received a letter from a friend who lived far away saying that she felt God had made her think especially of him at such and such a time on such a day. Not only had she thought about him, but she had prayed for him, thinking he might be in some danger. The missionary knew that that was the very time the big crocodile had come alongside of his little boat, and then suddenly had gone away.

It’s wonderful how God answers prayer. The Lord Jesus was a man of prayer and He taught His disciples to pray. In the epistles we are told to “pray without ceasing” and “in everything give thanks.” (1 Thess. 5:17,18.)

ML-11/05/1978

From Wrong to Right

John was a farmer. He preached no sermons, but in his slow deliberate way he loved to speak of the Lord, and many times he proved the faithfulness of the One whom he knew and loved. Listen to what he says: “One day when I was out plowing, everything seemed to go wrong. The plow was wrong; the horses were wrong; the hired boy was wrong; everything was wrong. So I said to the boy, ‘You stand here for a few minutes while I go into the woods. So I said to the horses, ‘Whoa!’ And I went behind some trees and bushes, and kneeling down I told the Lord all about it. When I came back everything was altered! The plow was right; the horses were right; the hired boy was right; all was right.”

No wonder that boy grew up to know the Lord and become one of His trusted servants. Prayer changes things in a field, in a home, at school, and at work; yes, everywhere! Have you proved this?

ML-11/05/1978

The Stolen Food Package

It was after the World War and food was scarce in Germany. A Christian lady who lived in the city had visited her relatives on the farm. After she had returned home they found she had left behind her small hymn book, commonly used by the German brethren. Before mailing it back to her, her friends made up a food package and enclosed the hymn book in the parcel. She never received the package nor her hymn book.

Then several years later she received a letter from a certain clerk in the post office. He confessed that some years previous he had smelled food in a package going through the mails and succumbed to the temptation to take it home for his hungry family. On opening the package he was surprised to find the little hymn book. He was a stranger to grace and to God, but as he paged through the little hymnal and read some of the precious hymns, the Spirit of God used those hymns to convict him, not only of his sin in stealing the food package, but of many other sins as well. From the sacred lines he learned that grace had wrought for him upon the cross, that there the Lord Jesus had died that his many sins might be forgiven and all put away. Eventually the time came when he trusted the Lord as his Saviour, and the burden of his sins was gone forever. Now he must tell the lady to whom the little book belonged of how grace had wrought in his soul. Her loss was his eternal gain, for the Saviour had claimed another trophy of His redeeming love.

ML-11/05/1978

John's Deliverance

John was the son of missionaries serving the Lord in one of the islands of Indonesia. One day he was riding in a car driven by a native driver, Tukiram, and they were starting across a narrow bamboo bridge. Suddenly a truck came around the bend and started across the bridge from the opposite direction. To avoid hitting the truck Tukiram turned his car to the side. The fragile bamboo gave way and the car with its occupants crashed through the side of the bridge, turned over twice and landed in the river below.

They all might have been killed, but God did something wonderful that morning. The natives, who had gathered by the side of the bridge, soon crawled over the side and began righting the car. There was not much water in the river, and twenty men hauled and heaved until they had the car right side up. When the door was opened, out crawled the occupants, and not on of them was hurt.

How thankful to the Lord were John’s parents! But how much more were they impressed when they learned that another man with his ten children did exactly the same thing on another road, and all were killed instantly.

Sometime later they received a letter from a dear old Christian lady saying she had particularly prayed for them on March 24—that was the very day of the accident. Truly God does answer prayer!

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16.)

ML-11/05/1978

Transformed Through a Tract

A widow lady, who always kept tracts on hand gave one one day to a young fellow who begged a meal from her. He was very poorly dressed and his general appearance led one to form an unfavorable opinion of him. Outside her house, he sat down on the grass in the shade of a tree and began to read the tract.

Years later the same man came back, well-dressed and his whole appearance changed. He now gave the impression that he was a Christian man and in prosperous circumstances. Greeting the lady he said: “I’m not come this time to beg, but to thank you heartily for the tract you gave me. It made a deep impression and led me to the Lord Jesus. From Him I received the forgiveness of my sins. God who received me, cared for me. I got a job and by His grace I have prospered. The Lord has blessed me with a good and truly Christian wife and children who are already learning to love the Lord. Next to God Himself I have to thank you for all this, who gave me this tract which was such a blessing to me.”

ML-11/05/1978

A Bible City

It was once a city great and high,

Against which a prophet of God did cry,

Its people on hearing his solemn word,

Repented of sin and turned to the Lord.

(Jonah 3)

ML-11/05/1978

A Man of Prayer

A man of prayer in olden time,

Of honorable name,

Who asked that God might bless and keep

From every evil claim;

That God would still his coast extend,

And by His hand himself defend.

Who was the man? Where did he live?

His history and his service give.

Answer found in 1 Chronicles 4.

ML-11/05/1978

Adriannus, the Martyr

Back in the 2nd or 3rd century when Christians were tortured or thrown to the lions for their faith, a number of Christ’s faithful followers were sentenced to be tortured in the arena, a public place in Rome, by order of the heathen emperor.

Among the emperor’s soldiers who stood watching the suffering Christians was a young officer named Adriannus. With deep wonder and emotion he gazed at those Christian martyrs. Then all at once he went to one of them and asked, “Tell me, who gives you this courage and strength and joy in the midst of all your suffering?”

The faithful martyr replied, “The dear Lord Jesus in whom we believe.”

“And what will be the end of all your suffering?” the young officer asked.

The answer came: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.” (1 Cor. 2:9,10.)

That was enough for Adriannus. Immediately he went to one of the Roman judges and said, “Take down my name! I am a Christian!”

When the emperor heard what had happened, he ordered that Adriannus be thrown into prison. There the young officer was taught more about the Saviour by his fellow-prisoners. His love for his Saviour grew stronger. The time came when he, too, was martyred for Christ, and all the great torture he suffered could not shake his faith. He died a noble martyr’s death and entered into the joy of his Lord.

ML-11/05/1978

A Story of the Sea

Memory Verse: “The Son of man came ... to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28

On the island of Lewis lived a fisherman named Peter, a good man and true. He had a wife and a snug little cottage, and then one day his wife bore him a dear little baby girl. But soon after his wife took very sick, so she told Peter God had sent the child into their home, and he must teach her the way of salvation so that she would meet her mother in heaven. Then she died.

The loss of his dear wife was a great sorrow to Peter, but he did not turn to drink like some men do to drown their grief. He knew where to go. Like John’s disciples of old, he went and told Jesus.

Soon after another great sorrow came when his little girl followed her mother to heaven, and Peter was left all alone. Fishing did not seem half so interesting now, for he had none to fish for; but the Lord Jesus helped him.

One day when out on a fishing trip Peter met a young Swede named Jan Georg, whom he brought home to live with him. Of course he told Jan all about his wife and his baby girl, and about Jesus in heaven, so they became fast friends.

One day when they were out on the sea, a great storm came up. The big waves tossed their little boat up and down like a football. Poor Peter began to think this a strange answer to their prayers, but at last there came a calm and they put their nets in once more.

When they began to pull their nets in again, they were full of fish —big ones, small ones, fine ones, such a boat load! But they also found pieces of wreck floating about, and in the morning they saw more, so they knew a ship had gone to pieces on the rocks.

“What’s that?” exclaimed Jan, pointing toward something on a rocky ledge, left behind by the receding tide. Getting into a small boat they rowed toward it, and Jan clambered up.

“It’s a little girl lashed to the lid of a chest,” he shouted, and putting his hand to her heart he added, “and she’s still alive!”

So he lowered her down into the boat, and it made Peter cry, for he thought of his own little girl. But Jan had yet to descend the wet slippery rocks. Suddenly his foot slipped, and he plunged forward, striking his head against the side of the boat.

Just at that moment a big wave washed him under the boat and out to sea. Peter waited for Jan to come up, but he never saw him again. He had saved the child’s life but lost his own. With a heavy heart Peter looked about but could not find Jan, nor could he find anything that would tell the name of the wrecked ship.

Pinned in the corner of the tiny girl’s dress was a purse containing bills which totaled over $1,000.00 On the purse were the initials, “A.L.S..”

“That’s what we’ll have to call her,” said Peter,"Als', and since Jan Georg saved her, she’ll have to be ‘Als Georg.’ "

Those three letters are the initials of each one of us. They are mine, for I was A.L.S.

A Lost Sinner. Like the little girl on the rock, wrecked and dying; but like her I had A.L.S.

A Loving Saviour who saved me, but gave His life to do it. Jan was near to Peter, but how near the Lord Jesus was to God! Shall I not take His name and so be A.L.S.?

A Live Saint. Peter became a loving father to the little thing, working for her, and laying up the $1,000.00 for her future. What a Father God is, and what a portion He lays up for every one of His redeemed, adopted children.

Suppose one day, as Als sat on Peter’s knee, he asked her if she knew why she had such a name. She might say, “No, Peter, I don’t.” Then he might say, “My dear, once you were tossing in the sea. Then you were washed up on a rock, and a man named Jan Georg saved you, but lost his life in doing so. So I named you after him.”

If Peter could have told her Jan was alive on a distant shore, would she not want to go and see him? We know the Lord Jesus lives, on that heavenly shore, and one day all those who know Him as Saviour are going to see Him. May we not be ashamed to bear His name.

ML-11/12/1978

The Stolen Cake

Tom was just a little boy, and had a dear Christian mother. One day he saw her put a piece of cake on the cupboard shelf, and then she told him expressly that he must not touch it. But Tom got to longing after that piece of cake, and being a naughty little boy at times, sad to say he stole the cake from the cupboard and took it to bed with him. While eating it, he fell asleep with the half-eaten cake between his fingers.

Later on, when his mother came in to say good-night and give him a kiss, there was the little sinner asleep, caught red-handed with the cake.

In the morning when he woke up, he found the cake still in his fingers, but neatly folded in a white paper.

On the paper in his mother’s own handwriting he read the solemn words: “Be sure your sin will find you out.” (Num. 32:23.)

Not a word was said; never till the close of his life did he mention it, and then he told his sister, on his deathbed as he gave her the paper, how he had kept it hidden deep in his desk. Forty years before those solemn words had been the means of awakening him and bringing him to the Saviour. Years had passed by since he stole the cake, and yet those words remain still on his conscience, and he could not rest until he had sought “the Way” (John 14:6), which the Lord Jesus has told us is the “only Way.”

“I am the Way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.”

Sin, so sure to find the sinner out, could be forgiven, and the memory of it blotted out, but only by the blood of Jesus.

“I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins: return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee.” (Isa. 44:22.)

ML-11/12/1978

Margie's Three Texts

“Well, Margie, how does the matter stand between you and God?”

“Well, sir, bless His holy name, there is no matter between us now; it’s all settled.”

“All settled? Who has settled it, Margie?”

“Why, sir, God and the Lord Jesus settled it between them.”

“Do you think the matter is settled?”

“I don’t think; I am sure it is settled, for He said on the cross, ‘It is finished.’ (John 19:30.) He died under the judgment of God for my sins. He took the judgment for me. ‘He loved me, and gave Himself for me.’ It is plain to me at least. It was these three blessed facts: “Sins blotted out (Isa. 44:22); sins forgiven (Acts 13:38); and sins remembered no more (Heb. 10:17).”

ML-11/12/1978

The Cowboy's Conversion

A young Scotchman, brought up under a godly mother’s care emigrated to the States, and became a cowboy in the Rocky Mountain region. He imbibed the teachings of Ingersoll and lived a careless, godless life. But one day he came across a sermon, the text of which was “How wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?” (Jer. 12:5). The application of this pointed question brought home to him his mother’s early teachings and he was in great distress of soul. He saw a little Testament on his employer’s desk and took it out under the shade of a tree, but only became more distressed as he thought of his sins. Twice he drew his revolver to take his own life. Then he glanced down at the Testament. It was open, and in the goodness of God his eye fell upon John 6:37. He came to Jesus. He found that the Lord keeps His word, and Afterward spent much of his time proclaiming to others the truth of what that day he received alone with God.

ML-11/12/1978

That Holy Name

A Christian man was walking up and down the station platform one day, when he heard another man swearing and taking God’s name in vain. The Christian began to hum quietly the hymn, “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.”

The other man listened; his swearing ceased. Soon he came to the Christian and said, “Sir, I apologize! I’m sorry that I took the Lord’s name in vain. If Jesus is the Lover of your soul, as He was of my mother’s, I know how you must feel toward Him. I’ll not take His holy name in vain again.”

“God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a Name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,... and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11.)

“The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” (Ex. 20:7.)

ML-11/12/1978

Under the Shadow of the Almighty

There had been a sharp battle lasting for some hours and the Allied troops holding a village had been forced to retire before overwhelming German forces. In the confusion of the retreat a corporal and three privates found themselves cut off from their company, and they darted into the first open door they came to.

The house was deserted, so they climbed a steep staircase, hoping to reach the roof and from there watch the progress of the battle. But it ended in a large empty loft lighted by a skylight, high above their reach.

“Better lie low for a while,” said the corporal, and there they waited, hour after hour, listening to the sounds of battle going on outside and expecting every moment to be discovered and captured or shot.

Suddenly the corporal said, “Boys, let’s have a bit of service; it might be our last.” The men looked surprised, but they put down their guns and stood at attention.

“Can’t we sing something first? Try your hand at the Twenty-Third Psalm. Quiet, very quiet, now.”

Yea, though I walk through death’s dark vale Yet will I fear no ill; For Thou art with me, and Thy rod And staff they comfort still.”

Taking a small Testament from his pocket he began to read, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matt. 10:28-31.)

As he read there were loud shouts below, doors banged, and glass was smashed. But he went on: “I’m not a good hand at this job, but we must finish it off. Let us pray.”

A little nervously, but very simply, he asked God to have mercy on them, but if they were to die there, that they might meet death in peace. As he prayed a heavy hand thrust open the door. Not a man moved, and he went calmly on. After a short pause he began: “Our Father, which art in heaven.” The soldiers all felt, though they did not turn to see that a German soldier was in the room, that by the click of his heels he, too, was standing at attention.” For a few moments the suspense lasted, then the door was softly closed and the intruder was heard going downstairs. The shouts in the house ceased, and soon Afterward the noise of battle seemed farther away. At dusk the men ventured forth, and after crossing several fields were able to outflank the enemy and reach the Allied lines in safety.

“He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him.” (Psa. 91:15.)

ML-11/12/1978

A Child's Faith

He does not even watch the way—

His father’s hand he knows

Will guide his tiny feet along

The pathway as he goes.

A childlike faith! A perfect trust!

God grant to me today

A faith that grasps my father’s hand

And trusts Him all the way.

“I will trust, and not be afraid.” (Isa. 12:2.)

ML-11/12/1978

A Sweet But Sad Experience

Memory Verse: “He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” Psalm 40:2

Two little birds flew off from their mother’s nest that fine morning with not a cloud to mar their happiness. Awakened in the early hours by the singing of birds all around them they had joined in the chorus, and then their mother had brought them their breakfast of fat worms and grubs. Now they were spreading their wings and looking for adventure.

Away they flew, farther and farther afield, gaining more confidence as they tested their wings. Soon one of them spotted a strangely-colored stream below which called for closer inspection. With a cheery “peep” to his little brother he flew down to find out what this yellow, sweet-smelling stream was like. Unknown to them, they were flying around a famous chocolate factory, and the sweet river was a stream of syrupy glucose.

The little birds could not resist dropping down and taking a taste. Oh, how sweet and pleasant it was! And for some time they hovered low and hopped about dipping their beaks in the sweet-flowing liquid and enjoying themselves to the full.

Then feeling satisfied they stretched their wings to fly home again; but, to their horror, their feet were stuck fast in the sticky stuff. The more they flapped their wings, the deeper they seemed to sink. Soon the syrup was all over their wings and feathers, and they were a sad mess. Their case was desperate had not some kind man seen their plight and reached out his hand to rescue them both.

He lifted them out of the sticky liquid, took them to a nearby stream and washed all the syrup off their legs and wings. How bedraggled and forlorn they looked, but he put them down on a rock in the warm sunshine where they soon dried off. Then oh joy, when they stretched their wings, they found they could fly again. They circled around their rescuer, as if to show their gratitude, then away they flew and soon were safe at home with the rest of the family.

How like so many boys and girls and grown-ups, too! We see something that looks new and exciting, and though perhaps we are not sure it is the right thing to do, we want to try it—and the tempter is always ready to whisper, “Go on, try it, you can stop when you want to.” But we find when we try to leave it, we are caught and cannot get away.

This was Adam’s and Eve’s sad experience in the Garden, in the beginning, when they took the fruit of the tree which they had been told not to eat. When they had eaten it, they found they were caught in a way they had not expected. Their consciences told them they had sinned against God, and now they had put themselves under Satan’s power. When God came to meet them, they were afraid and hid themselves behind the trees. They had fallen into sin and could not get out of it. And we are like them, children of fallen Adam, and sinners, too, “for there is no difference, for all have sinned.”

But God loved man in spite of his disobedience and sin. He knew what would happen, and long before sin entered into the world He had devised a plan and a remedy whereby He could save His poor fallen creatures. He gave His only begotten Son and “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

Our sin called for judgment and blood must be shed, for “without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” The Lord Jesus took our place, He died for us and His life blood flowed at Calvary—the proof that death had come in. Now those who trust in Jesus for their salvation can say, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7. O, who would not love and serve such a precious Saviour and Friend!

ML-11/19/1978

Pete's Mistake

It was a hot summer’s afternoon, and the ferry boat was moored alongside the dock while the line of cars was slowly driving on. One convertible had its top down, and inside was a lively little dog named Pete, along with all the family, out for the day.

They parked in the outside line on the ferry, and the water gurgled and splashed beside them. Soon the landing board was lifted, the great horn blew, and the ferry was moving across the river.

Pete had never seen anything like this before and thought the water looked delightfully cool as it swished by. Suddenly before anyone could stop him, he had taken a leap straight out of the car and over the side of the ferry, right into the water.

Splash!

The children all shouted at once, and as quick as thought Dad jumped out of the car and dashed to the rear of the ferry. Just as Pete drifted past in the wash of the ferry and out into the swift-flowing current, Dad managed to grab him by his collar and haul him out of the water. Pete was landed safely—a sadder but wiser pup, we think, and fortunate to be rescued.

All on board the ferry congratulated Dad on his prompt action, but Pete had not realized what danger he had thrown himself into, and even if he had, he could not have saved himself from the fast-flowing river.

Perhaps, dear young reader, you have not yet realized the seriousness of being a sinner, for we are all sinners in God’s sight, and you will learn that you can do nothing to save yourself. Then turn to the Lord Jesus now. Call upon Him—He is a strong and wonderful Saviour!

“Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Rom. 10:13.

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.” Isa. 59:1.

ML-11/19/1978

A Scripture Acrostic

A son of Adam who went astray (Gen. 4);

Another son who took God’s way (Gen. 4);

A son of Lamech whom God blessed (Gen. 9);

Terah’s son at Mamre did rest (Gen. 25);

Amaram’s son who became high priest (Ex. 28);

Hachaliah’s son who rode on a beast (Neh. 2).

Initials give the name of a beautiful land

Where the Lord led His people with loving hand.

ML-11/19/1978

Be Ye Thankful

It was Thanksgiving Day and Al had stopped for coffee in a restaurant in New Jersey. Beside him at the counter sat another man, Bill, who proved to be friendly and talkative. Soon a lively conversation ensued in which Al commented on Bill’s sun tan.

“I just came up from Florida,” Bill replied. “I spend most of my time in the south now—I love boating. But at least twice a year I have to travel north on business. My wife’s family has a yearly reunion and all 27 of us get together.”

Al, a Christian, thought this sounded like a nice event and remarked, “How good it is to see families going on happily together.” Bill agreed warmly and further confided that he had been named trustee in father-in-law’s will.

“The old man left a fortune to be used to educate the boys and girls in his home town,” said Bill, “and for 32 years I have been helping choose the fortunate students.

“Of the 5,000 students in the school, each year six young people are selected to receive a four-year scholarship in the college of their choice, all expenses paid.”

How generous a gift that was! But I can tell you of an infinitely greater gift-the gift of eternal life. And you don’t have to be a good student or be carefully screened from a large group to get it! For “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 3:23. “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17. This man left his money to help boys and girls in this life, but the Lord Jesus laid down His life that you might live with Him in peace and happiness in His heavenly home forever.

“Well,” Bill said, “That was the business that brought me up from Florida to cold New Jersey. Just yesterday I signed checks for $144,000 for these students’ school expenses.”

“It must give you a good feeling to be able to help so many,” suggested Al.

But with a quick glance, Bill replied: “Not as much as you might think! There is so little appreciation. Do you know that for 32 years we have been doing this; six each year, six from the year before..., so that for four years there are 24 students we support each year. Yet in all that time we have received only two thank-you letters and two invitations to college graduations!

“I saw one boy at a party,” he continued, “and we had spent $18,000 on his education. I asked him how he was, if he had a good job. ‘Really great,’ he said, ‘marvelous opportunity!’ Think your college helped?’ I asked. ‘Oh, yes,’ he replied. ‘I never could have gotten it otherwise!’ ‘Well, it would have been nice to hear from you to that effect. When you were in college we heard from you regularly. At least twice a year you let us know how much you needed for expenses—but never a word since!’

“The boy’s mouth was stopped when I told him that,” Bill went on, “and I didn’t mind. When you think that there are 700 students who have accepted our gift and never said ‘thank you’ you might understand why I’m less than enthusiastic about having to sign that $144,000 in checks yesterday.”

Dear young friends, does that shock you? But are we not far more guilty? Do we not daily enjoy God’s good gifts—health, homes, loved ones, food, clothing, and many more good things besides—and yet how often we never say “thank you"? The Lord Jesus, the best Gift of all, came to earth to save you; yes, it cost God more than money to purchase our redemption. Christ loved us, and gave Himself for us. “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.” 1 Peter 2:24. Receive this free gift! Come to Him now; thank Him and praise Him—you’ll never be sorry!

“Be thankful unto Him and bless His name.” Psalms 100:4. “Be ye thankful.” Colossians 3:15. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.” 2 Corinthians 9:15.

“For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God.” 1 Thessalonians 3:9.

ML-11/19/1978

Stories From Africa

Mr. and Mrs. C.A. Swan, missionaries, lost a dear little ten-month-old son in far-off Africa. Revisiting the spot years later, he wrote: “As soon as I got a few quiet moments, I stole away alone to the spot of sacred memories where we laid to rest our darling little Reggie fourteen years ago. As I walked down the path I read again the familiar words, ‘Reginald Tremere Swan. Taken to be with Christ, Age 101/2 months.’ Heaven seemed much nearer than usual.

“As I stood again on the mounds that marked the sites of what were our temporary dwellings then when we first came with the light of the gospel to the dark Ochilonda, then upon the mounds of our more primitive home and the first meeting room, and my eyes rested upon the numerous dwellings of the native Christians. Oh, what memories crowded in upon me as I lingered amidst these surroundings.”

How blest and how privileged to be the child of parents who know the love of God! When that love is experienced by the natives, it makes them loving.

“Yes,” said one old man, “that man is saved, and why do I know it? Why do I know it is daybreak without even looking out from my dark hut to see if there are streaks of dawn? I know by the singing of the birds at sunrise. Their music gets into the blackness of my house, without my even looking out to see if the eastern sky is glowing with the rising sun. So it is with a Christian and his new heart. I cannot get in, past skin and bone, to inspect, but the new heart comes out in song like the birds at sunrise.”

ML-11/19/1978

The Dolphin

The dolphin is a lovable animal-that swims and dives in the water in a very playful way. It is related to the whale and gets to be about five to eight feet long. It is a mammal and breathes air; it can drown if it is under water too long. It has long been known as “the friend of sailors” and it has been known to keep a drowning man alive by hoisting him up on its nose when the man is trying to swim.

The dolphin swims in the sea and is an intelligent creature. It has a brain that is closest in size to man’s, and it is known that one dolphin will speak to another in a language that man does not understand. It is for this reason that when the government was interested in exploring “space", they called upon the telephone company to try to learn the strange language of the dolphins, in case they had to speak to someone in “space". To do this they obtained a baby dolphin, and the plan was to raise this dolphin just like a little child. They contacted a girl from New Jersey who agreed to be a friend and spend all her time with Baby Dolphin. But there were problems!

The first problem was that the dolphin loves to swim in the water, and the girl soon found that if she spent all her time in the water too, her human skin dried out; so she had to keep covered with skin cream.

Next, they found that the dolphin has a brain that is divided into two parts. One part stays asleep while the other part is awake. This is God’s way to keep the dolphin from drowning, as always one half of his brain is working. The poor girl, on the other hand, could never get enough sleep. As she tried to sleep on the dock, the playful dolphin would come up and splash water on her and want her to come swimming too!

Next, the telephone men built a plastic shield so the girl could get rest. This didn’t work, so a little hut had to be built because the dolphin would never stay still, and loved to splash and swim in the water.

The next job for the telephone men was to teach the dolphin to speak. They had a microphone and taught the dolphin to respond to over 300 words. He was a very intelligent animal. Next they put the microphone into the water to talk to the dolphin, and hopefully the dolphin would answer back in “dolphin” language.

They used word scrambling techniques and all of those things that the phone company uses to put more calls on wires going overseas. They thought that they were making real headway!

Then with the war in Viet Nam, the whole program came to a sudden end as the government was spending over a half-million dollars on the project, and then the funding stopped.

The telephone company spent a vast amount of effort and money trying to make men and the dolphin understand each other. How different it is that God has spoken to us so that we can understand His mind and His will for us. Though He was God Himself, the Lord Jesus became a man and dwelt among us so that we might know His Father as the only true God. Though we were sinners far from God, He gave Himself to redeem us and bring us back to Him.

The Bible tells us that “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on Him.” John 3:36.

ML-11/26/1978

Saved From the Ocean

“You never realize the sea is so big!” said a young fellow named Anthony, who had been drifting all alone in a tiny boat off the English coast.

It wasn’t what he expected when one summer’s evening he hired the boat, intending to go swimming from it in the bay. But he had lost both his oars, and now he was drifting, drifting out into the vast Atlantic, quite helpless and at the mercy of the tide.

He did, not worry too much at first, for he hoped he would drift toward shore, but then he found the land was getting further and further away, and he knew he was drifting out into the open sea.

By this time dusk had come and soon darkness fell. “Then,” he said, “I got very frightened. I thought a search would probably be started, but then I was afraid I would be missed, for the sea is so big. A couple of boats passed fairly close, but they did not see me.”

Yes, a search was begun; the lifeboat was launched, boats were alerted by radio, and air force planes on radar exercises were asked to help.

As we heard about young Anthony’s plight, alone, drifting helplessly in the darkness, we could not help thinking how many young folks are like that nowadays—not in a boat at sea, but on the sea of life, drifting alone in the dark. But a search for them is under way. That was why the Lord Jesus came into this world— “to seek and to save that which was lost.” And He has His messengers with the light of the gospel seeking to bring them to safety. Like the woman with the candle, looking for the lost piece of silver (Luke 15) so the Lord by His Spirit is looking for lost souls amid the darkness and ruin of this world, seeking to bring them “out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

We don’t know what all Anthony’s thoughts were in his lonely little craft, but we do know he was immensely relieved when suddenly a brilliant light spread all around him. One of the planes in the search had dropped a flare, and in its light he saw a fishing boat only a few hundred yards away. But more important still, it showed him to the fisherman who had joined the search. A few minutes later Anthony was safely on board and his boat being towed along behind.

You couldn’t imagine young Anthony saying to his rescuers, “Just leave me alone; I’m happy enough here!” No, he realized he was drifting farther and farther away from shore, from safety, and loved ones. An untimely fate and a long eternity stared him in the face. And it is like that too, for those who drift through this life, “having no hope, and without God in the world.” Ephesians 2:12. But God is searching them out, and He has those who bring the light of His Word to show where they are and to tell them of the Rescuer who is at hand. “The Lord’s arm is not shortened, that it cannot save” (Isa. 59:1) and His loving hand can reach us wherever we are.

If we call to Him like Peter did when he was “beginning to sink,” “Lord, save me!", His response will be as quick and sure to us as it was to him—“Immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand and caught him.” (Matthew 14:30,31.)—Signposts

Wide, wide as the ocean;

High as the heavens above;

Deep, deep as the deepest sea

Is my Saviour’s love.

I though so unworthy

Still am a child of His care,

For His Word teaches me

That His love reaches me

Everywhere!

ML-11/26/1978

A Scripture Acrostic

The head of a race that was favored by God (Gen. 28);

A name given to Jesus, our blessed Lord. (Matt. 1);

A prophet who in the Bible has written (Hosea 1);

A giant who by the Lord’s people was smitten (Deut. 3);

The drink they gave to our Lord on the cross (Matt. 27);

A wicked king who his worthless life lost (2 Kings 21)

The mother of one of the prophets of old (Samuel 1);

She prayed for his birth, and God blessed her tenfold.

The initial letters of these names seven

Give us a Name of God in heaven.

ML-11/26/1978

Tears of Concern

Dwight L. Moody, the much-used evangelist, when a young fellow, was persuaded to come to a Sunday school. But his teacher, who was a real “fisherman,” became concerned after some time because the boy showed no desire to be converted.

One day the teacher went to the shoe store where young Dwight worked and found him in a room at the rear of the shop wrapping up shoes and putting them on a shelf. After the usual greetings the teacher put his hand on the boy’s shoulder, and looking into his eyes told him how much Jesus loved him and wanted him for his service.

In after years Moody said it was when he saw the “tears of concern” in his teacher’s eyes that his heart was broken, and He gave Himself to the Saviour.

“The love of Christ constraineth us;... He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.” 2 Corinthians 5:14. 16.

ML-11/26/1978

The Bandits Were Scared

“Don’t go any further! Evil men along this river!”

Such was the alarming messages written on a scrap of paper and thrust into the missionary’s hand in Thailand. He and his companions were traveling up the river distributing gospels and Christian literature to the river folk and those in villages along its banks. They had heard reports of looting and even murder on some parts of the river, and now they were nearing its most dangerous stretch.

The missionaries prayed, asking God’s guidance and protection, and decided to go on. Presently they came to a lonely, secluded part of the river, and pulling in to the bank, they settled for the night. No sign of inhabitants did they see, the night passed peacefully, and in the morning they went on their way.

Then they learned that sometime before, a fisherman found this a good spot for fishing, and he went there again and again. The third night he was waiting expectantly in his boat at the same spot, when suddenly, out of the darkness, he saw a strange apparition—a ghostly figure right before him! Terrified he sat glued to his seat in the boat. Then with a yell, he paddled away for dear life. It was soon spread all along the river that the place was haunted, and no one, not even the bandits, would venture there after dark.

So the missionaries who had prayed and trusted God for His protection had been guided, unknown to them, to the-lone safe spot on the whole stretch of the river.

The Psalmist wrote, “He led them on safely, so that they feared not.” It is no vain thing to trust the Lord for our daily life and care.

“Jesus Christ: He is Lord of all.” Acts 10:36.

“Oh Lord... blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee.” Psalms 84:12.

ML-11/26/1978

A Chinaman Saved

Years ago Mr. C.T. Studd and his wife went to China as missionaries. One day Mr. Studd was preaching on the verse, “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him.” (Heb. 7:25.)

Afterward a wretched-looking Chinaman went to Mr. Studd, and shaking his finger at him said, “Look here, you are talking nonsense. Here I am an opium addict. I am also a murderer and adulterer. Your God cannot save me.”

But God did save that Chinaman, and he returned to his village to tell the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ to all he came in contact with. Large crowds gathered to hear him.

But Satan raised up enemies, even the magistrates who seized him and beat his back with bamboo switches until it bled. Then they let him go. But what did he do? He returned to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to his friends and neighbors.

Mr. Studd said of this faithful Chinaman, “No matter what he suffers, he keeps on telling the gospel to others. Such men are worth saving.”

ML-11/26/1978

Clean Inside And Out

Memory Verse: “I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Luke 15:10

It was in a little tavern on Main Street in a small town in Wisconsin. Little hands tugged at the rough sleeve of a work shirt that had been out in the hot sun all day—working on the railroad tracks.

“Daddy! Come on home! Mommy has supper ready—it’s getting cold! She says, ‘Come home!’ "

My dad worked hard and at the end of the day usually ended up in the little tavern. He usually came home within an hour, but sometimes it was after many hours, and then he was so drunk he shouldn’t have been driving the Model A Ford.

On those nights when he didn’t come home, Mother’s sad face would turn to me and she’d say, “You’d better get Dad from the tavern.”

If I was successful in getting him out of the tavern, I would follow him to the car, but I rarely rode home with him. Afraid to ride with him, I’d run home through the alleys and across the field.

Our large family knew what it was to be poor and to receive welfare aid. Mother had all she could do to cook, clean, patch and sew for so many, and make do with so little. As soon as we were big enough, we had to pitch in and help—carry wood and water and tend the garden. During all those years Dad drank away too much of what he earned.

Praise God! It was Sunday night, and the family had just returned from the gospel service. Two evangelists had been holding a series of gospel meetings in Blue River, and three of our family had already confessed the Lord as Saviour—myself, my brother Louie, and Mother. This was to be Dad’s night! He had attended many meetings of this series, and the Holy Spirit had strongly convicted him of sin.

Louie and I were upstairs when we heard loud talking downstairs. We tiptoed to the top of the stairs to listen. Suddenly Daddy called up the stairs: “Louie! Buddy! Come down!”

We got down there to find them rejoicing, with tears in their eyes.

Dad threw his arms around us saying, “I just got saved! The evangelist had preached from Luke 19, about Zacchaeus who climbed the tree to see the Lord. And I heard the Lord say to me, ‘Henry, come down!’ I came down, and the Lord saved me!” What a time of rejoicing we had!

Then Dad said, “I feel so clean on the inside, I think I’ll take a bath so I’ll be clean on the outside, too!”

Shortly after that he went to his overalls, brought out all his tobacco, went out to the wood-burning kitchen stove, and threw everything into the flames. Praise God! The next morning the two evangelists stopped by and joined in the rejoicing. Dad was bubbling! His cup was full and running over!

“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.” Luke 15:7.

Ten years had passed away since salvation had come to our family. I had moved away to Michigan. One summer’s night when we were sleeping the phone woke us up with its insistent ringing. Louie’s wife came on the phone with the almost unbelievable words, “Mother and Daddy are gone!”

“Gone?” I answered. “Gone where?”

“They are gone—they’ve been killed!” A head-on crash—just three short miles from the little house where they both were saved!

God gave grace at the funeral—over 300 heard the gospel preached by two Christian men. Two caskets —side by side—Mother and Dad! They’re gone from this scene, but, praise God, they’re at home in heaven with the Lord. What a victory! What great things God has done!

— Listening

ML-12/03/1978

John's Bible

John was the son of a poor widow who lived in Newtown. He was just thirteen years old when he bought a Bible for himself with his own money.

Of course in our day children much younger than he have purchased a Bible for themselves, but in John’s day Bibles were much more difficult to obtain than they are now. So it took considerable self-denial on John’s part to secure his much-prized copy of the Holy Scriptures.

It was a bitterly cold night when John arrived at the bookseller’s at ten o’clock, and finding the shop closed, he went to the kitchen door and knocked. The little family circle within had gathered for their evening reading of the Scriptures and for prayer, and his first knock was unanswered. But he continued knocking, and his perseverance was at last rewarded.

Opening the door one asked what he wanted.

“A Bible, sir,” John replied.

“If you will come in the morning,” said the bookseller from within, “you can have one.”

“I cannot, sir; I work two miles from Newtown and I don’t get back until late at night.”

“Come in, then, and you shall have one.”

In answer to further questions, John told the bookseller he had heard that Bibles could be obtained very cheap at that store, so he had saved up his money to buy one for himself.

Receiving the precious Book he went off with his purchase, well satisfied with the success of his errand.

The next morning his widowed mother came to the bookseller with the Bible in her hand. At first the bookseller feared that the boy had obtained the money for the Book in some dishonest way, but his doubts were soon dismissed.

“Did my little boy buy this Bible here last night?” she asked.

“He did, and he told me he had saved the money for it himself.”

“And how do you think he saved it?”

“I couldn’t say.”

“Well, I will tell you. He has to leave home early in the morning. I cut him two large pieces of bread—one for his breakfast, and the other for his dinner. That’s all I can afford. He has supper when he comes home at night. With this I gave him enough to buy milk—enough for breakfast and lunch.

Here the mother paused, for her feelings almost overcame her, but with an effort she proceeded: “My little boy ate the bread, but drank nothing but water for four weeks in order to have this Bible.”

Such is the story. What do you think of it, dear reader? Has the Spirit of God wrought such a love for God’s Word in your heart?

In this day many are turning from the truth of God to fables and fiction. May God give us all to value the Scriptures, to hide them in our hearts, to think over them, and to esteem them more than thousands of gold and silver. (Psa. 119:72.)

ML-12/03/1978

Lost And Found

Little Charles, only four years old, strayed away from a Sunday school picnic being held out in a wooded area in the country. It was not until evening when the children were mustered for the return home, that little Charles was missing. All were greatly anxious and distressed when it was discovered that Charles was lost. One teacher ran in one direction and one in another; the older boys hunted and shouted around every bush, and up and down the hills, but Charles could not be found.

The children all returned sadly to their homes, and a few of the teachers returned to continue the search.

It was not until midnight that it was discovered where Charles was. He had wandered along a road all by himself until he had lost sight of the rest of the children. Still on and on he trudged. At length an officer going along a lonely road met the little fellow, and as Charles was too young to explain who he was and how he had become lost, the officer took him to a nearby house, where the kind housewife gave him some supper and put him to bed.

The Sunday school teachers were thankful indeed when they knew where Charles was, and they telephoned his parents the joyful news—“Charles is safe!” Do you think that Charles’ father and mother were content to know that their dear boy was safe? No, they could not rest until their brown-eyed little boy was brought home.

Now the Bible tells us that “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own say...” Isa. 53:6; but the Lord Jesus came “to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10. In Luke 15 we read of how the lost sheep was not only found but taken home by the shepherd, and of the prodigal being not only forgiven, but welcomed and brought into his father’s house. Such is the love of God and the love of Christ for the sinner.

ML-12/03/1978

Four Rats

A man who was a slave of drink one night had a very strange dream. The next morning he told his dream to his wife and young son.

“In my dream,” he said, “I saw four rats. One was fat, two were thin, and one was blind.”

Neither the man nor his wife could think of a meaning of the dream. But the young son had an idea. He knew that his father spent much of his time at the tavern and spent his money for drink.

“Dad,” he said, “the fat rat is the owner of the tavern on the corner. He gets all of our money. The two thin rats are Mother and me. And the blind rat is you!”

Never could that father forget what his boy had said. He was sorry as he began to think how blind he was to spend his money on drink when his wife and son needed things which his money could buy. Humbled, he got down on his knees and prayed, asking God to help him overcome the terrible power drink had over him.

Scripture tells us, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” Prov. 20:1.

ML-12/03/1978

Tie Me to 'Oo, Daddy!

Memory Verse: “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” 2 Timothy 1:12

It was the beginning of winter, and this bright morning a sturdy fisherman had taken his little boy with him for a ride along the coast in his sailboat.

The sky was clear and the sun was shining when they started out, but they had not been out too long when the sky suddenly darkened. Then one of the worst storms in years broke over the bleak and rock-bound coast. The falling snow was so dense that it became almost dark. The wind began to blow hard and increased before long to a terrible gale.

While lowering the sail the fisherman was nearly swamped by the huge waves, and the boat all but overturned. Looking anxiously around for his little son, he found him safe, but to his horror, he discovered both the oars had been swept away.

Nothing was left for them but to drift on the angry billows, and for an hour or more the frail craft was driven at their mercy toward the rocks.

What were they to do? Only a dark watery grave seemed before them, and they must prepare for the worst. The fisherman could not swim, and so did not expect to escape himself, but he thought that if his child were bound to a wooden plank, there was a chance he might float in safely to the shore.

He speedily removed the seat of the boat, and taking a stout piece of rope, he proceeded to lash his little boy to the plank. Little Ben took in the situation at a glance, and fearing to be separated from his father he pleaded with tears in his little eyes, “No, no, Daddy; Tie me to ‘oo, Daddy!—Tie me to ‘oo!”

His poor father was much affected, and clasped the little fellow to his bosom. Then with his heart almost breaking, and an earnest prayer to God for help, he did as the child desired and secured the boy to himself.

A few minutes later there was a sudden lull in the storm and a break in the clouds. The fisherman could see through the gloom the form of a lighthouse and the boat was drifting toward it. The lighthouse keepers were on the lookout, and directed by the shouts of the fisherman, they located the boat. Before long both father and son were safe on shore and in the lighthouse.

Is our reader tied to Christ? Can you say in reality in your heart,

I am Safe in the arms of Jesus,

Safe on His gentle breast;

There by His love o’er shadowed

Sweetly my soul shall rest?

The Apostle Paul knew what it was to be safe in those arms of divine love when he said, “I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom. 8:38,39.

Christianity is not merely a plank of creeds or beliefs. We would not have you tied to them. It is knowing and loving a Person, the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you safe as linked with Him? If not then hear Him say, “I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.... Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:25,28.

There is a haven of bliss for your soul in that little word Me. “All the love and grace of the heart of God, and all the rest and peace for the sinner, are contained between those two letters, M and E—Me!”

Would that He were dear to you and that you could say, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” 2 Tim. 1:12.

Surely that little rescued fellow would ever be thankful to his father for tying him to himself and saving him from a watery grave. So it is with God’s salvation; it makes the Saviour precious to us and the Object of our love, and we long to see Him, to be like Him, and with Him forever. May Christ be your rest, and His coming your desire.

ML-12/10/1978

There Is a Lad Here

Most boys like to be useful; they want to be doing something. When those same boys are converted to God, there is often a great desire to serve the Lord Jesus who has loved them and given Himself for them.

Now this boy of John 6 brings out the true way to be useful. 1.) He was attracted to Jesus. 2.) He was in His company. 3.) He was useful to Him.

He Was Attracted to Jesus

We do not know what drew him whether it was a sense of sin or of need; whether an awakened conscience or an unsatisfied heart, or whether it was an interest in this wonderful Man, Jesus. Whatever it was, he had come.

Have you come to Him? You too are a sinner, and you need to be cleansed in His precious blood. Your heart can never be set at rest until you find Christ. Nothing else will satisfy. Only He can. Come to Him, boys and girls.

As a boy I came to Him. Afraid of judgment and with a longing of heart that could find no satisfaction or rest in anything,

I came to Jesus as I was,

Weary, worn, and sad;

I found in Him a resting place,

And He has made me glad.

I had heard of His grace to others, of His goodness to those in sorrow and distress, and of His mercy to sinners; now I taste of it all for myself.

Perhaps the boy in our chapter had heard of the Lord’s tenderness and kindness to all who came, and thus had been drawn into His presence. Anyway, he had come, and he had come to stay, for he had brought with him provisions for the way.

He Was in Company With Jesus.

He not only came, but he remained. Perhaps charmed by the Lord’s grace, he remained in His company, hearing His words and learning wonderful things from His lips as he followed him from place to place.

Then going into the mountain, the Lord Jesus desired to feed the multitude, and the opportunity comes for the boy.

He Was Useful to Jesus.

“There is a lad here,” says Andrew, “which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes.” Evidently, the boy was willing for them to be used. It may be he was near enough to hear when the Lord asked Philip, “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” and so he offered his little lunch his all—for the Master’s service.

Then in the Lord’s hands a little is made to go a long way; and so the boy’s five loaves and two small fishes become sufficient for a great multitude.

Would you like to be used of the Lord? Then first come to Him as a sinner, trust Him as your Saviour, and say to Him, as it were, “Lord Jesus, there is a lad here who would like to serve Thee.” He will use you in good time in one way or another.

The boy did not go first to Jesus to be used, but because he was attracted to Him, and being near Him was in the place where the Lord could use him, and where he could put all he had into the hands of the Saviour.

The great thing for Christian boys and girls who wish to serve is to be fit for service, “meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” 2 Tim. 2:21.

ML-12/10/1978

God Sends Bread From Heaven

“Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

“Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world....

“I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.” John 6:31-35

ML-12/10/1978

The Young African Prince

A dear old missionary at home on furlough had brought with him a young African prince who had become a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The missionary was asked to speak to a group of young school girls and had asked the young prince to go with him and say a few words also.

“What can I say to young ladies who know God,” said the young prince in surprise— “I who have only known Him such a little while?”

The answer of the missionary surprised him still more.

“You say they know God, but that is a mistake. Of course they have heard of Him ever since they were born, but some of them do not yet know Him. Their hearts have never yet been touched by His love.”

Arriving at the school, the missionary gave a little address and showed some of the idols and curiosities which he had collected in Yoruba, West Africa. Then at the close he asked his African friend to speak, and the prince began: “Dear young ladies, I cannot say much to you, for I find your language is a very hard one. I thought you all knew more than I do, for I have been brought up in a heathen country, and worshipped idols such as you have been looking at, and I have only known your God a little while.

“But my friend tells me that perhaps some of you do not know Him yet, and this seemed so strange to me that I could hardly believe it. Is it really true? Our gods are so wicked, and hard and cruel, we could not love them. But when your missionary came and told us about your God, how loving He is, and how He gave His only dear Son to die such a cruel death to save us, and wash away our black sins, then my heart believed in Him and I loved Him.

“Can you hear about such great love and not love Him back? My eyes feel as if they could weep for you. But you will soon get to know Him, won’t you?

“I must tell you that my father is a king, and I might be one next to him; but I do not want to be. I want instead to go and tell my people about this loving God and His Son Jesus, and my brother may be king. I pray that you will soon all know God.”

Are any of us like this young African prince, whose heart had been touched by the love of God so that He loved Him in return? Or like some of those girls, well-educated as to the things of this world, but ignorant of the love of God.

One of those girls never forgot what the young prince said. She was struck with her own selfishness and sin, and found no rest till she knew and believed the love of God in Christ Jesus, the Saviour of sinners.

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

ML-12/10/1978

How Al the Indian Was Saved

Memory Verse: “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51:7

Al was a young full-blooded Apache Indian. In his teens he was continually in trouble with the law, and it seemed he spent more time in jail than out of it. Time after time he escaped, but the last time seven mounted police caught him, handcuffed him, and put him in a solitary cell under maximum security.

His ankles were chained tether, everything was taken from him, and he was forced to sleep on the cold cement floor, without even a blanket. They put his food in through a small hole in the door, and for over seven months he lived in this solitary confinement. Seral times he tried to commit suicide, feeling he had nothing to live for.

But God had his eye on poor ruined, rebellious Al, and in wonderful grace He was working for his salvation and blessing, though he knew it not.

One day a native Indian missionary, who had himself been saved by the grace of God, came to the jail and preached the gospel to the prisoners. Al couldn’t see him, but he could hear what he said. At the time Al was on a hunger strike, hoping to end his life that way. The missionary sang,

Jesus paid it all!

All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain

He washed it white as snow.

The missionary told of how he, too, had been in a California jail, awaiting trial for armed robbery, but Jesus Christ had met him there in the prison and he had found Him as his Saviour. He had changed his life completely; for we read, “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us unto Himself by Jesus Christ.” 2 Cor. 5:17,18.

That was the best news Al the Indian had ever heard. Now he, too, wanted to know Jesus. As he listened to the message, the Spirit of God began to work in his soul, convicting him of sin. His past life with all its sin and shame passed before him, and he was broken and humbled before God. “God is light” but He is also “love", and Al could see that Jesus had taken his place in the judgment he deserved and had died for him on Calvary’s Cross.

Down the hall the missionary was encouraging the prisoners to pray, and Al got down on his knees and prayed also. He could hear the words, “Lord Jesus, wash me in Thy precious blood, come into my heart, and change my life so that I might serve Thee.”

Sweet and wonderful was the experience Al had that day with the Lord—too wonderful for words! He felt the great burden of his sins lifted from his soul, and he was truly saved.

He still had to continue in solitary confinement for many days, however. The police captain would visit him from time to time, and Al told him he had received Christ as his personal Saviour. Then one day, perhaps to test the reality of his conversion, the police captain told Al they needed a man to guard the prisoners during the night watch, and he wanted Al to be the jailer.

Al made no attempt to escape this time. In the morning when the ladies’ matron came into the jail, she saw that he was a changed person. She went to the judge and soon after returned saying the judge wanted to see him.

“Al,” said the judge, looking at the prisoner’s records before him, “your records are in such confusion that I’m going to throw them into the waste basket. I don’t want to see you again in this court. You are free to leave.”

Six months before that Al’s record had been washed clean before God above by the blood of Jesus. Now his record below was cleared by the judge, and he was a free man.

Since then Al has traveled about preaching the gospel of the grace of God, especially to his own people, pointing others like himself to the Saviour whose love sets guilty sinners free, and brings them out of darkness into His marvelous light.

“Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Psa. 51:7.

ML-12/17/1978

Saved by the Man in the Tree

It was a beautiful summer day in southwest Nebraska. The farmers were at work in the harvest fields, while in town men and women were busy in their various businesses and other pursuits of life.

In the afternoon a big black cloud came up from the southwest, and the rain poured down in torrents. Before long the valleys near Benkleman were small rivers pouring water into the Republican River, and it became a roaring flood. Farm homes and livestock were washed away and a number of lives were lost.

How this reminds us of the words of the Lord Jesus in the gospels: “For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage"—they were going about their business and other affairs of life just like people are today—“and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away.” Matt. 24:38,39.

People were not ignorant of the coming judgment then, for Noah had preached to them for 120 years. And people today have heard the gospel and been warned of “judgment to come.” But how many are too occupied with the things of this life—working, building, eating, drinking, playing, marriage—too busy to give heed to the Word of God.

As the flood roared down the Republican River, people were warned of the coming danger. A Christian man tells of how he had a dear friend living in McCook, Nebraska. This man’s brother was farming southwest of McCook. His brother had a family, a nice home, cattle and everything that goes with a good farm. He, too, had been warned of the coming flood.

At night this friend had gone to his brother’s farm to see if he could get him to move to a place of safety, but he would not leave his livestock. Just as they talked tether, a ten foot wall of water came around the bend of the river not far from where they were. Grabbing his little niece in his arms, this friend hastily climbed up a tree to safety. Even as they watched, his brother and everything that he had was washed away and perished in the awful flood.

Only the little girl in the arms of the man in the tree was saved!

Dear friends, just before He went to the cross the Lord Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world.” John 12:31. The sentence has been passed, the Judge has been appointed, and the judgment day set. For God “hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.” Acts 17:31.

Most of those who perished in the Republican River flood could have escaped; and God has made a way of escape from coming judgment for you and me. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

Saved by the Man on the Tree

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

Like the little girl who was saved by the man in the tree, all who trust in Jesus are saved from judgment forever. He suffered and died on the tree that you might be saved and live with Him who is risen and “alive forevermore” (Rev. 1:18).

“Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.” 1 Pet. 2:24.

“Flee from the wrath to come.” Luke 3:7.

ML-12/17/1978

Rebekah at the Well

Abraham sent his trusted servant, Eliezar, to the country where he was born, to find a wife for his son, Isaac. With ten camels loaded with his master’s goods, the servant started out across the desert for Mesopotamia.

Finally he arrived at the city one evening and stopped beside a well. The daughters of the men of the city came out to draw water. Here the faithful servant knelt down and prayed asking God to direct him to the right maiden who would become Isaac’s bride.

“Let it come to pass,” he prayed, “that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also; let the same be that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac.”

Before he had done praying, Rebekah came down to the well. She was a very beautiful young lady, and the servant asked her for a drink. Gladly and hastily she let down her pitcher for him to drink, and then she said, “I will draw water for thy camels also.”

Wonderingly, the servant took some of the beautiful and costly jewels he had brought and put them upon the hands and head of Rebekah, who also stood in wonder and surprise, not knowing what this was all for. The servant asked her who she was and she told him she was “the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor,” Abraham’s brother. Then the servant bowed and worshipped God for he believed He had answered his prayer.

Rebekah ran into the house and told these things to her family. They invited the servant to come in and dine, but he would not go eat until he had told them of his mission. After telling them many wonderful things about his master, Abraham, and his son Isaac, they asked Rebekah, “Wilt thou go with this man?” She said, “I will go.”

In the morning they blessed Rebekah and saying good-bye, they sent her away in the care of the servant. She rode upon the camels all across the desert. No doubt the servant would tell her much more about Abraham and his wealth, and of what a wonderful son Isaac was.

At last they drew near the end of the journey. Isaac had gone out to meditate in the field at eventide, and saw the camels coming. Would they bare his long hoped-for bride?

Rebekah had asked the servant who was this man coming to meet them, and he told her. When she saw Isaac, she lighted off her camel, took a veil and covered herself. The long desert journey was ended. The bride was home at last in the presence of Isaac who loved her.

God the Father purposed in that past eternity, that His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus, should have a bride —the Church for whom He died. “Christ loved the church, and gave Himself for it.” Ephesians 5:25. That bride is composed of all those who in answer to the question put to Rebekah, “Wilt thou go with this Man?” answer, “I will go.” Dear reader, “Wilt thou go with this Man?”

Soon the long weary journey across this desert world will be over, and we shall be at rest forever in the arms of our heavenly Bridegroom.

Yet onward we are speeding,

Though often let and tried;

The Holy Ghost is leading

Home to the Lamb His bride.

ML-12/17/1978

Good News From Argentina

Dear Brethren, Thank you again for the copies of the paper you send to the children. We enjoy them too, and many times we read them to the smaller ones.

We would like you to know that one in particular was used of the Lord one night in November. S——, our third, nine years old, had been touched when his Dad spoke in Sunday school about the coming of the Lord. Later I was helping him to read the Sunday school paper and the story of the soldier who accepted the Lord before dying. He again was touched, without our knowing it. That night he took the paper and put it under his pillow. He asked the Lord to save him, too, that night. He told us about it two days later. From the change in his life, we believe he is truly saved. R— and A——are saved also. English is a foreign language to them, as you know, and they study it apart from school at a private academy.

Accept our thanks for the dear little papers.

Yours in Him, J—and J— T. and family

ML-12/17/1978

Wotan and the Leopard

Memory Verse: “Now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by sacrifice of Himself.” Hebrews 9:26

When Mr. Sandys went to the Belgian Congo as a missionary, he took with him his two big German police dogs, Wotan and Juno, to guard his house from marauding wild beasts and native thieves. The two dogs did their job well, but they were not too popular with the natives, some of whom suffered for their curiosity at night as they prowled around the missionary’s bungalow.

To keep peace with the villagers Mr. Sandys bought two stout muzzles which he put on the dogs at night. This had the effect of reducing Wotan’s and Juno’s harm to their terrified victims.

Sometime later Juno presented her mate with six healthy little police dog pups which she watched over with jealous care in an outer room of the house. Wotan would stretch himself out near the swinging door and guard the house and all inside.

One hot night a leopard came prowling about the mission and caught the scent of the puppies.

Circling around the house he came to the swinging door, where the muzzled Wotan waited quietly inside.

Hurling itself against the door, which immediately swung inward, the leopard found himself inside the house. Though helpless with his jaws strapped, the faithful Wotan went into action in defense of Juno and her pups. Handicapped as he was, he sprang upon the leopard, who grappled with him, while Juno filled the night with her barking. The din was deafening as the two great beasts battled furiously tether on the floor.

The missionary came running to the scene with his nightlight and could see the two fighters tangled in a death grip. They were between him and his gun, hanging on the wall, but he made his way cautiously and as hastily as he could around the roaring beasts. Just as he reached for his gun he saw the leopard sink its teeth into Wotan’s back. Then he fired both barrels into the spotted monster.

One of the pellets ricocheted from the floor and broke the lamp, putting out the light. Sandys was in total darkness with a leopard whom he did not know whether he had hit or not.

The din subsided, and Sandys, finding a matchbox, struck a light. There in the middle of the room lay the leopard quite dead, and across its body was sprawled Wotan, his back broken by the bite of the powerful jaws of his great enemy. Brave Wotan! The gallant dog died two days later. But he had gone into a hopeless death battle muzzled, to save his mate and babies.

This pathetic incident is but a faint shadow compared with the far more wonderful story of the love and sacrifice of Jesus the Son of God, who stood in the breach and laid down His life for poor helpless, hopeless sinners like us.

Though all His own may forsake and flee as danger drew near that dark night of His betrayal, nevertheless He went forth to meet His captors saying, “If therefore ye seek Me, let these go their way: that the saying might be fulfilled, which He spake, Of them which Thou gavest Me I have lost none.” John 18:8,9.

Then on the cross He took the sinner’s place and bore the judgment and wrath of a holy God against the sins of all who trust Him as their Saviour. Might He not have saved Himself? He had no sins of His own.

Himself He could not save,

Love’s stream too deeply flowed.

“He saved others; Himself He cannot save.” Matthew 27:42. Can you say, dear reader, “The Son of God who loved me, and gave Himself for me"? Galatians 2:20.

ML-12/24/1978

The Sicilian Bandit

The sun was setting over the wide plains of Sicily, and a solitary traveler, with a pack on his back, trudged wearily along the dirt road.

A horse came cantering along behind him. The rider was a tall dark man with fierce eyes, upturned black moustache and a black beard. He wore a wide felt hat and long boots with spurs. A big black cloak shrouded his figure.

“Buona sera, signore. (Good evening, sir),” said the man on foot.

Without responding, the horseman leaped to the ground and demanded, “What is your business? What have you in that bag?”

“Books, signore!”

“Ah, then I’ve caught you at last. You are the man that goes about selling these bad books which corrupt the morals of simple people. I have got you now. See, I am going first of all to burn your books and then shoot you.” And throwing open his coat he displayed two ugly pistols in his belt.

“Put down your bag here and then go and gather sticks to light a fire. Don’t try to run away or I’ll shoot you.”

The packman, or colporteur, knew he had fallen into the hands of a bandit, and wisely making no reply, he went off and presently returned with a big armful of brushwood. Night came on and the stars shone brightly overhead.

“Sir,” said the packman, as they sat before the fire, “before you burn my books and shoot me, allow me to read you some passages from them.”

“Yes, that is fair,” said the bandit.

Selecting a little Gospel of Luke, the packman began to read: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves....”

This was bringing it home rather closely to the bandit, but he showed no resentment, and the packman went on. The Italian language is extremely musical, and the story of the Good Samaritan sounded very beautiful under the stars that evening.

“I like that story,” said the bandit. “We won’t burn that book. Read another.”

The packman took up the Gospel of Matthew and read in chapter 5 “Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, thou shalt not kill....” As he read on, the bandit interrupted him. “That is good. There is nothing bad about that book. Read another.”

Next came First Corinthians, chapter 13—that great hymn of Christian love. Here the bandit went into raptures.

“What beauty!” he exclaimed. “What truth! Love is kind... love envieth not... Excellentissimo (very, very fine). We cannot burn that book. Read another.”

The packman went on reading from one book after another and then finally said, “That is the end.”

“Nonsense!” exclaimed the bait sharply. “Fetch out the bad books which you sell to the simple village folks!”

“But, sir, I have no others.”

“Do not lie to me, my friend!” said the bandit. “It is dangerous.” And getting up he came and felt in all the packman’s pockets; but he found no books.

“Bravo!” he said. “You can go, but remember, if I ever catch you selling evil books, I’ll shoot you like a dog.”

So saying he mounted his horse and rode off. The packman took his bag, and thanking God for his escape he went on his way.

Arriving at the next village he stayed overnight at the inn. The next morning he walked quietly up to a group of men who were standing around a donkey.

“Good morning, gentlemen! Let me read to you about our Lord Jesus Christ.”

“With great pleasure!” they replied, and he read to them of how Jesus had sent two of His disciples to fetch an ass and how He rode on it into Jerusalem. The men were interested and one of them bought a gospel for a penny.

But before he could get the money out of his pocket a voice shouted: “Take care, friends. This man is a rogue. His books are not fit to read.”

Then a tumult began. Some took the packman’s part, but most were against him. “Down with the heretic!” they shouted. "Death to the blasphemer! Stone him!” Men and women crowded around, yelling and threatening. Things began to look ugly.

Just at that moment a horseman came galloping across the marketplace and pushed his way into the mob. He was tall and dark, with upturned moustache and black beard. He wore a big cloak, long boots and spurs. Everyone knew him—and most were afraid of him.

“Let that man alone!” he cried, and sitting there on his horse in the middle of the crowd he told them what had happened the night before. “His books are good, leave him alone. Anyone who hurts him will have to deal with me.”

Years afterward the packman was surprised to receive a letter from America. It read like this: “My dear friend, You remember the bandit who stopped you one night on the road. I am he, but a bandit no longer. I have never forgotten you nor the words you read to me. They saved me from an evil life, thank God.”

The colporteur had good reason to believe from his letter that the former bandit had been saved by the grace of God.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

ML-12/24/1978

Henry's Testimony

Henry was a boy who lived in the little town of Pine River, Minnesota. His father owned a grocery store there. Henry liked to play ball, but he was also an industrious boy.

One summer when he was about fifteen, during the haying season, he went to work for Mr. Doty, a Christian farmer. Mr. Doty liked Henry because he did his work so faithfully.

Mr. Doty liked nothing better than to speak about the Lord Jesus, and he found in Henry a ready and attentive listener. At noon, while eating their lunch together, they talked about the Holy Scriptures.

From Romans, chapter 3, Henry learned that he was a sinner, and like every other boy in the world (except the Lord Jesus Himself) he too, had “sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (vs. 23).

Then he learned that he could be justified (or cleared of all guilt and made righteous), as verse 24 says, “Being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Mr. Doty told Henry that we are saved by faith in Christ, and not by our works, and that eternal life was God’s gift to us when we accepted Christ as our Saviour.

Furthermore, when anyone was saved, he was not to live any more in sin, because those who believed in Christ should reckon themselves as dead to sin, but alive unto God. Now they must live for Him in that new life. (See Rom. 4-8).

The expression on Henry’s face and from his interested manner showed that he was taking into his heart the truth of God’s Word. His ways and life from that time on gave every evidence that he had become a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

When the haying was over, Henry went to work for another farmer who was not a Christian. He would poke fun at Henry and say, “You’ve got Doty’s religion.” But Henry was not ashamed by now to own the Lord as his Saviour.

“Mr. Doty is all right,” he replied, “and I have got the same faith in Christ that he has.”

Henry’s parents, who were unsaved, were astonished at their son’s words and asked him where he had learned these things. He related how Mr. Doty had helped him to understand the way of salvation and to know the Lord.

Two months after that Henry and some of his young friends were playing on top of a box car. Some feet above their heads was an electric wire. “Boys,” said Henry, “watch me jump and grab this wire.” He did so and the wire dropped with his weight until his feet touched the box car. The electric current passed through his body and he was killed instantly. The Lord had taken dear Henry home to be with Himself.

In the Pine River cemetery is a beautiful monument marking Henry’s grave and bearing these words: “Be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh.” Matthew 24:44.

“Be ready! O be ready!”

His words of warning clear;

Salvation through Christ’s death is offered;

Perfect love will cast out fear.

ML-12/24/1978

The Best Robe of Heaven

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

When Ed was just a little fellow, he had fallen down a stone stairway and became a cripple for life. He could not run and jump like other boys, and it was sad to see the pale-faced boy sitting by the door or window, unable to move unless someone helped him. Hover, the children passing on their way to and from school often stopped and spoke a cheering word.

Next to Ed’s home was a building where Sunday school was held every Sunday afternoon. Sitting in his chair by the door, Ed could hear children singing, and on summer afternoons when the windows were open, he could hear the words spoken and the hymns sung. Ed had a good ear for music and learned to sing several of the hymns. When the teachers learned that Ed was a listener, they would leave a window open, and he was given a hymn book for his own. Now he could sing with the others. His favorite hymn was: There is life in a look At the crucified One.

Through what he heard and perhaps through the words he sang, Ed learned his need of the Saviour, and he became most anxious to be saved. Some of the teachers visited him and spoke to Him about Jesus and of His love and power to save. But Ed still thought he must do something and feel different before he could know that Jesus was his Saviour.

One Sunday afternoon Ed’s favorite hymn was given out, and before the children began to sing the teacher said:

We are healed by His stripes;

Would you add to the Word?

And He is our righteousness made;

The best robe of heaven He bids you put on;

Oh could you be better arrayed?

The teacher went on to explain that the best robe of heaven was put on every one who trusts in Jesus, for God counts as righteous every one who believes in Him. He explained how that Adam and Eve were clothed in those garments prided for them by God. They had no part in making them.

So it was the prodigal found when he came back in his rags. The father ran and put his arms around the boy and kissed him. But he couldn’t bring him into the house with those filthy rags on him, so he called for the best robe which he had kept all that time and told them to put it on his son, together with the ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. The best robe speaks of Christ. God’s own righteousness is unto all and upon every believing sinner and makes him fit for His presence in that home above.

Ed heard these words and trusted the Lord Jesus as his own Saviour that day. He could hardly sleep that night because he was so happy. When all was quiet he sang:

The best robe of heaven

He bids me put on—

O could I be better arrayed?

The next morning he said, “Mother, I have on the best robe of heaven.” When one of the teachers called to see Ed, he told him the same story, and if you had seen the happy smile on his pale face, you would know that his heart was happy.

Ed grew stronger and soon with the help of crutches he was able to go to Sunday school. Before long he became a teacher there, telling others of the “best robe of heaven” which he had put on.

And have you got that best robe on too, dear reader? It is yours if you will have it, and there is no other which will fit you for heaven. But you must receive it as God’s free gift.

“The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 6:23.

He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation.” Isa. 61:10.

Childhood Days

ML-12/31/1978

Saved By Whales

Years ago an earnest servant of God, named Daniel Wheeler, was deeply impressed with the thought that the Lord would have him carry the gospel of His grace out to the islands of the South Pacific. Accordingly he gave up a good position, and after much prayer and looking to God, money was found to purchase a small ship that would enable him to set forth on his long-cherished mission.

The little vessel proved herself to be very seaworthy. For several years she bore the earnest missionary across the vast stretches of the ocean, among the islands and coral reefs, riding through many a mighty storm which threatened to swallow her up and the brave hearts on board.

It was during one of these terrible tempests, when the sea ran mountains high, and the great waves poured over the decks of the little ship, that even Mr. Wheeler himself feared she couldn’t withstand their fury much longer. Still his trust was in God and he remained calm, so much so that he even went below to get some much-needed breakfast, after the buffetings of the night of storm.

He had not been down below long when he heard the voice of one of the sailors calling him to come up and look at a sight worth seeing.

Arriving on deck he saw a hundred or more whales, each about twelve feet in length, close to the side of the ship. Daniel went below again to finish his breakfast, and when he came back on deck again, the whales were still there around the ship. Some of them could easily have been harpooned, but swimming so gently and steadily in regular order, Mr. Wheeler said not to do anything that would frighten them away. It was clear to all by this time that they were serving as a most wonderful breakwater, themselves taking the violence of the waves which had threatened to engulf the boat. From the time of their coming they prevented the great billows from reaching the vessel so that not one sea broke over her decks all the while they remained.

After a time their service ended, the whales disappeared, but not before God had caused the raging of the tempest to subside, and this His other servant, Daniel, was still spared to witness for Him.

Mr. Wheeler wrote: “I give this wonderful circumstance just as it occurred, and if any should view it merely as a thing of chance, I do not. I believe it to be one of the great and marvelous works of the Lord God Almighty.”

“They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.” Psa. 107:23,24.

“Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.” Psa. 50:15.

ML-12/31/1978

It's All Right, Daddy!

Tommy was just three years old during the terrible bombings in World War II. One night he was awakened by loud explosions and knew the enemy planes were overhead and that an air raid was on. He began to cry.

His father rushed into the room. It was all dark but no lights were allowed to be turned on. The little fellow could not see his father but he felt his presence and heard his voice.

It’s all right, Daddy!” he said. “You’re here, and I am not afraid!”

How this reminds us of the words of David in the 23rd Psalm: “I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me.”

ML-12/31/1978

A Friend of God

Robert Morrison, who went to China as a missionary, was once spending the night in the home of a friend in Philadelphia. He arrived there late at night and was given a bed in the room of his friend’s little daughter. She was in her own little bed sleeping soundly.

Early in the morning when the little girl woke up she saw the strange man in the big bed and became frightened. She asked him, “Are you my friend?”

“I want to be,” Mr. Morrison replied.

“Do you pray to God?” she asked him further.

“Oh, yes,” he answered. I pray to Him every day. He is my best Friend.”

The little girl was satisfied. She was not afraid of a man who was a friend of God.

James in his epistle tells us, “Abraham believed God,... and he was called the friend of God.” James 2:23.

ML-12/31/1978

The Tramp's Friend

Poor old Joe was well known on Skid Row and often was seen on the side of the highway just out of town thumbing a ride to some distant city. Now he was sick, and a police officer had taken him to the city hospital. He was just a tramp, and sin had ruined his life.

He had no friends and no one knew his name. So the nurse had put a tag on the foot of his bed. The tag read, “Without a friend.” The tags on the other beds gave names of friends and loved ones, but Old Joe had no friends.

One day a Christian man came to the hospital to visit the patients. As he went through the large ward, he came to the bed of the friendless old tramp. Lovingly and kindly he told the poor old fellow about the Lord Jesus, the Saviour and never-failing Friend.

Joe’s heart was touched. The Christian visitor came again and the old man was glad to hear more about Jesus, the wonderful Friend of sinners. His heart was opened and he received Him as his Saviour. Now he had “a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” Prov. 18:24.

Old Joe asked the nurse to write on the tag at the foot of his bed the words—“Jesus is my Friend.”

ML-12/31/1978

The Power of Jesus' Name

A missionary was traveling up the Congo River in Africa, and as evening drew on, he looked for a safe place to camp for the night. He had heard that there were cannibals in the area, and as the shadows of evening lengthened he was not a little concerned. “What will they do with me if they find me?” he thought.

Suddenly he heard voices of men and women singing, and as he listened closely, he made out the words of the grand old hymn of praise which he had sung in his homeland years before.

All hail the power of Jesus’ name!

Let angels prostrate fall;

Bring forth the royal diadem

And crown Him Lord of all.

All his fear disappeared. He knew he was safe with friends. Rowing his boat to shore he walked over to where the natives were singing and joined them in their song of praise.

“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Rev. 1:5,6.

ML-12/31/1978

The Burden Gone

Sam was walking home from the market in an African town one day with a sack of potatoes on his back. On the way he met’ a friend.

“I hear you have become a Christian, Sam,” said his friend. “How do you know Jesus has saved you?”

Sam walked on a few steps and then dropped the sack of potatoes on the ground. “How do I know I have dropped these potatoes?” he asked. “I haven’t looked around.”

“You know you have dropped them because you no longer feel their weight on your back,” replied his friend.

“That’s how I know I am a Christian,” explained Sam. “I believed what God said, how that He sent His Son Jesus to die for my sins. Now I no longer have the heavy burden of my sins on my heart. Jesus died in my place and has taken them all away. He has given me peace and joy instead!”

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

ML-12/31/1978

Messages of God's Love: 1978

Table of Contents

A Hard Nut to Crack

Harry's Prayer

Little Things

Confessing Christ

Not Afraid

The Sunshine of His Face

Name the Place

To Save An Enemy

A Little Chinese Martyr

An Indian's Refuge

Thank God for Reason

"Me Too!"

Little Cho

Who Was Ha?

A Prisoner Set Free

Under Pacific Skies

Peggy's New Testament

Bible Searching in Genesis 22

"I Am the Door"

"May I Address the Meeting?"

A Prodigal's Surprise

All Wiped Out

He's Mine!

Whiter Than Snow

Jesus and Zacchaeus

Jesus Loves the Little Mexicans

Find the Words

Charlie the Moonshiner

Who Am I?

A Fight with a Shark

Tempted - Deceived!

The Low Knocker

Bible Acrostic

The Brazen Serpent

Harden Not Your Heart

Ellen's Faith

Water in the Ship

Fulor's New Weapon

Sambo's Friend

The Samaritan

Safe in Jesus' Fold

Don't Delay

His Goodness Will Find A Way

When to Trust Christ

God's Patience With Hans

"He Died for Me!"

Tim, the Pick-Pocket

The Lion and the Conies

"The Bible Tells Me so!"

Saved to Serve

Little Sherry

James Gant

How the Oatmeal Came

George's Protector

Nothing to Pay

Forsaken

He Is Mine

Just In Time

Africaner

Moses

Faithful Sam

A Story From Kashmir

A Prayer-Answering God

Danger

An Easy Acrostic

Free At Last

Help Rejected

Little Eagle Eye

Can You Wash a Piece of Coal White?

Musings on the Seashore

A Little Blind Girl

Give Thanks

Streams in the Desert

Drink!

A Bear Story

The Goldfish Bowl

David Livingstone

A Bible Lion