Messenger of Peace: Volume 1 (1882)

DEAR reader, if you will kindly read the first eleven verses of the eighth of John, you will find recorded a touchingly beautiful story of the sin of the sinner and the grace of the Saviour. No doubt she was a bad woman, taken in the act of adultery, and brought into the presence of Jesus for judgment. She was like the man without the "wedding garment" in Matt. 22:11, 12—" speechless," her" mouth stopped," and” guilty" before God (Rom. 3:19).

Well, dear reader, if you, are not "born again," if you are not saved by God's grace, such is your present condition, for it is written, " There is no difference: for all have sinned " (Rom. 3:22, 23). One little hole would sink a ship to the bottom of the sea; and so one sin, if not washed away by the blood of Jesus, would sink your soul to hell forever.

Jesus in dealing with this poor sinful woman used four powers, —the power of silence, conscience, holiness, and love. Her accusers said, " Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him." But the God that wrote with the finger of "Law” on the tables of stone (Ex. 31:18), is the same God, manifest in flesh, who now writes with the finger of "Grace" on the dust of the ground. “O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord!" The "Law" reached the conscience, but to condemn; "Grace" reaches the conscience, but to forgive. There is nothing like a sense of God's grace for breaking the poor sinner down and raising him up.

The Lord's answer to their wicked query is matchless: —" He that is without sin among you, let him first cast the stone at her." And please notice, “Again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.” The law" was written to condemn, and Jesus stooped down, to write on the ground to forgive. “And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out." The conscience was God's deputy in the soul to convict. Jesus was the only one "without sin." He only could lift the stone to cast at her. "And Jesus was left alone.” There was the power of holiness. Jesus was left alone with the sinner.

Reader, have you ever been alone with Jesus? If not, you will have to be alone without Him forever. He was alone with Nicodemus, the best man (John 3.), and he was "born again;" and with the worst woman (John iv.), and she got saved. A sight of Jesus gives conviction of sin. Isaiah, when he saw Him, said,” Woe is me I for I am undone: for mine eyes have seen the King" (Isa. 6.). "When Simon Peter saw, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5:8). If you want to get a look at your heart, look at Jesus. He is the standard by which God measures sin. Yes, if you want to know where sin is, look at Christ on the Cross-forsaken of God, and there you will get God's estimate of it.

Dear reader, if not saved, hear what God says about you. He says in Eph. 2:12, that you are "without Christ," "without hope," and "without God;" in 1 Tim. 6:5," without the truth;" in Jude 19, "without the Spirit;" in Rom. 5:6, “without strength;" in Rom. 1:20, "without excuse; "in 1 Thess. 5:3," without escape." Yes, beloved reader, this is God's description of the sinner: Without God,—without Christ,— with—out hope,—without the truth, —without the Spirit, —without strength,— without excuse,— without escape,—"lost," "condemned already," and " the wrath of God abideth on him.”

“When Jesus had lifted up himself" (to forgive, not to cast the stone at her), " and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” Beautiful grace! To condemn was not His mission (John 3:17); that was "strange work" to Him. He comes as it were with a blessing in each hand, —the forgiveness of sins in one, and holiness in the other; and He gives neither to any who will not take both. “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid." “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." We are dead to law, dead to sin, alive to God.

Oh, dear reader, are you saved? If not, Jesus says, "Come and rest" (Matt. 11.), that you may have peace; "Come clown" (Luke 19.), that you may be exalted; "Come and dine" (John 21.), that you may be satisfied; "Come and drink" (John 7:37), that you may be full; and let me add another, “Come and see" (John 1:29), that you may believe. If you come to Christ, you will lose one thing—your sins; and you will gain the One who put them away. Then you will be free from the condemning power of the law (Rom. 8:1), the controlling power of sin (Rom. vi. 14), and the conquering power of death (1 Cor. 15:55-57).

D. M.

Anathema Maranatha.

A COURSED, The Lord cometh," is the meaning of the two words which the translators of our New Testament saw fit to leave in the original.

I will quote the verse in which they occur: —" If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha” (1 Cor. 16:22).

The meaning is as solemn as it is clear. At the coming of the Lord in judgment, he who loves Him not is accursed. And so it is elsewhere written, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him "(Jude 14, 15.)

“Ungodly deeds "and" hard speeches " are the outcome of a heart that does not love. Woe to such Judgment, swift and unsparing, will fall upon him who thus acts and speaks against the Lord.

Now, notice that love to the Lord Jesus is the touchstone. It is a fact, that where there is true love to Christ, there is also a manner of life that is pleasing to God. Love for Christ is, at the same time, love for the truth; and this, I need hardly say, is productive of a life according to God.

Notice further, it is not mere belief about Christ. A person may have his mind stored with correct doctrine, and illumined by clear views, but that will not suffice. Many a one at heart hates the Lord Jesus, who in his head carries the most lucid apprehension of His history, His words, and His work. This may startle. Yet how frequently, alas, does one meet with those who are intimately acquainted with the scriptures, able to quote them to the letter; and yet, when the simple, but all-important question, "Do you love Jesus?" is put, they become uneasy, vexed, and angry. But this simple question is, nevertheless, the crucible. Hence we do not read, " if any man be ignorant of scriptures, fail in clear theological conceptions, or such like;” but, " if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed, the Lord cometh.”

Now, reader, you are either amongst the Christ-lovers, or the Christ-haters. There is no neutral ground. What an awful thing to hate the blessed Lord Jesus!

Ah when here, "they hated" Him, but it was "without a cause." No crime could they lay to His charge,—not one act of unkindness, not one untruthful word. He healed their sick, fed their hungry, gave sight to their blind, raised their dead, and—fearful moral contradiction—they hated Him. And why? Because the light He diffused discovered their sins. The silent witness of His pure and perfect life declared, only too forcibly, the guilt of a godless world. It left them “no cloak for their sins." And so they took Him, and with wicked hands they crucified and slew Him. This consummated their hatred. It could not have gone further. Well, wondrous to say, God found in this climax of human guilt the ground of pardon. Guilt and goodness meet at the cross. What guilt! what goodness t Ah! the love of Christ, how it answers to the hatred of man! "Christ died for us." “If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." Nothing makes me ashamed of myself like the cross. Hatred buries her head at the sight. “He loved me, and gave Himself for me." And what is the consequence?

“We love Him, because He first loved us"; or again,

“Whom, having not seen, ye love." How divinely intelligible! The believer loves Him; the unbeliever hates Him.

Reader, which are you?

Ah! remember that if you love not the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be accursed at His coming.

Do you love Jesus? J. W. S.

Any Man; or, It Means Me.

GOD'S ways of reaching the soul are wondrous and manifold; but as it is by His word that it is quickened into life, so also by that same word ever is it that liberty and peace are known. When He begins a work, He always finishes it; though many a year may roll by between the moment when He awakens, and the hour of full deliverance.

I do not mean that this must always necessarily be the case, though, as a fact, it often is so; but it is a sweet thought, that His gracious eye is never for one moment taken off the soul that is the object of His love, and about to be the subject of His saving grace.

As to Moses of old He said, " I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey;" so now, blessed be His name, does He "see," "know," and "hear" all the groans, sorrows, and tears of an awakened, exercised sinner, and, in His own time and way, does He love to "deliver.” Oftentimes the way of His deliverance is very striking, as perhaps my reader knows.

Some years ago I received one evening a letter from a lady, begging me to call next day to see her servant, who, she stated, was very deaf. The next morning I was wending my way to the house, when I met, in the street, a dear Christian man—a greengrocer. We stopped and had a little talk about the Lord, and then he said, “Oh, Doctor, I should so like you to see a young woman I have just parted from. I had gone to her mistress' house with some vegetables, and finding she came from my part of the country, I was led to speak to her about her soul. She is in an awful state of distress, and has been so for over two years. At that time she lived in Berwickshire. God's Spirit was working mightily in her neighborhood, and many were being converted. One night she attended the preaching of one of the Lord's servants you well know—Mr. J. W. S. That evening she was deeply convicted of her sin, and of her lost condition as a sinner before God. Though invited to remain and be spoken with, she left the meeting, and went towards her own house. As she neared it the thought presented itself, that just then was the moment when she might be saved, but that if she missed it she might never be. Acting on this she retraced her steps to the preaching-room, but hung about outside the door, fearing to go in and be spoken to. Eventually she went back to her house, without pardon or peace. No sooner had she reached it, than Satan whispered in her ear, that as she had thus acted, all hope of salvation was, for her, forever gone,—she had missed the day of grace, and the Lord would henceforth have nothing to do with her. This foul lie she believed, and from that moment settled gloom filled her soul, and anguish has been her constant portion, as she regards herself, hopelessly and irretrievably lost.”

Much interested in this sad case, I said, “Where does she live?”

“With Mrs.—, in No. 23 Street.”

“Is she deaf?”

“Yes, very. Why do you ask that?”

“Well," I said," it is very remarkable; she must be the very person I am just going to visit professionally, as I got a note from her mistress last night.”

“The Lord go with you, and give you a word for her anxious troubled heart; " and so saying, my friend passed on his way, and I made for the person in question.

The bodily ailment having received due attention, Jane (for such was her name) was leaving the room to follow my instructions, when I recalled her and said, " You are certainly very deaf, Jane, but I fancy not so deaf but that you can hear the voice of Jesus. Have you heard His voice yet?”

She instantly dropped her head on her bosom, and the sad pained look—which almost all the deaf have—deepened into utter gloom as she remained quite speechless.

“You surely do not mean to say that you have come to this time of life, and that the Lord has never yet spoken to you of His love, or called to you to come to Him?”

“My doom is fixed," was now her sad reply.

“Your doom is fixed! What do you mean by that? Do you mean that your case is too bad for Christ? that He will not save you?”

“I fear so, sir.”

“But why will He not save you? If what you say be true, you are the first sinner I ever met that Jesus would not save. Tell me, did. He never call you to come to Him?”

To these queries Jane gave no answer; so after waiting a little I said, "I expect the truth is just this: in days gone by He did call you, and you were almost converted, but the devil got you to defer your soul's salvation, and as you did this, he has told you since that your day of grace is over, and that Christ would have nothing more to say to such a wretched good-for-nothing sinner. Now is not that your case?”

Quite amazed at this unfolding of her history, she exclaimed, "Yes, that's just it; but how could you know that, sir?”

Without telling her the way in which I had thus got to know her history, I merely said, "The blessed Lord often lets His servants know the state of people's souls, that, through them, He may meet their need! John 2:9 is not recorded without a divine purpose: When the governor of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, he knew not whence it was (but the servants which drew the water knew).' The Lord tells His servants wondrous secrets for His own glory oftentimes.”

Thus saying, I went on:—" How I got to know your state is not the point, Jane, but this—Do you really want to be saved?”

“Indeed I do, sir; I would give everything to be saved, and know it.”

“Well, can you save yourself”

“No.”

“Do you believe that Jesus is able to save you?”

“Yes, I believe He is.”

“But is He willing? that's the question.”

As to this, all was darkness; so, assuring her of His willingness, yea His fervent desire, to save all who come to Him simply, and trust Him only, I at length said, " Now, if He said in His word He would receive and bless you, would you believe Him?”

“If I saw it in His word, I would believe Him,” was her answer.

Looking to the Lord for guidance in His word to help this poor trembling soul, I took out my little pocket Testament and read to her, "( In the last day, that great day of the feast, 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 belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.'— (John 7:37-39.) Now Jane, that is plain enough. The only question is, are you really thirsting? Are you really desirous of having Christ as your Saviour and Lord, and of having the thirst of your needy heart met by Him?”

“Indeed, sir, I am thirsting. Oh! if only I could be sure that it meant me.”

“Well, look at it yourself;" and I turned the page round that she might see it. “He says, ' If any man thirst' Who does any man' mean?”

There was a moment's pause, and then faith won the day, as she exclaimed, "It means me!”

From that moment she knew she was saved. The troubled look departed from her face, and instead thereof it was lit up with the joy of God's salvation.

Some years after this I was preaching the gospel in a town in Berwickshire. After the meeting, a young person came and spoke with me, whom at first I did not recognize as my friend Jane. Recalling the foregoing incident, I said playfully, “Well, Jane, is your doom fixed?" “Oh yes, sir, my doom is fixed; ' but fixed with Christ," was her happy answer.

And now, my dear reader, what about your soul? Is your doom fixed? How do you stand in relation to Christ? If you are still a careless unconcerned sinner, what an awful doom is yours! “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Psa. 9:17).

I pray you let not this doom be yours. If the Spirit of God has awakened you to a sense of you): sin, be thankful for it, but do not rest there Salvation is not in anxiety, but in Christ. Let nothing keep you back from Him. You may have Satan laying to your charge every conceivable sin, but this need not keep you from Christ. Recollect He came “to seek, and to save, that which was lost." As such, you may claim Him as your Saviour this very moment.

How sweetly fall His blessed words on the ear of a wearied, miserable, self-condemned sinner,— “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." Thirsty, all you have to do is simply come to Him, trust Him, believe Him, give Him credit for His love, and then drink and live forever. He gives you eternal life; but more, He gives you also the Holy Spirit, to dwell in you, and lead you unto all truth. When you have received from Him what His love supplies, then “rivers of living water" will flow out. Coming to Him and drinking, they flow in, as you believe. Afterward they flow out in testimony and service for Him. How simple, and how sweet!

In John 3:5, the Lord speaks of a man being “born of water, and of the Spirit." That is the new birth, and the water comes down. In John 4:14, He says—" The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." This is worship; the new life, in the power of the Holy Ghost, rising to its source God. The water springs up. Here in John 7. the water flows out in every variety of service to Christ.

Dear reader, Who does "any man" mean?

W. T. P. W.

An Arrow Shot at a Venture

PARTY of gay young officers were walking up and down the Newbridge platform, waiting the arrival of the up train to Dublin, where they were going to a ball.

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

Soon after leaving the station, they began to smoke; the one sitting next the gentleman saying, “I hope you don't object to smoking?”

“Indeed I do,”

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

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

“Shut your mouth," was the ready rejoinder.

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

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

“My not annoying you will not alter the fact; if you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll be damned.”

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

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

“Let us sit on him.”

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

“Shove him out of the window.”

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

It was getting too hot for the young fellows, and the train coming to a station, they cried, “Let us get out of this into another carriage, and leave the old hypocrite to himself." He followed them to the door, and spoke aloud after them, "Your leaving the carriage does not alter the fact; if you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll all be damned.”

Some years passed; and this gentleman was traveling in England by the L. & N. W. It. At Chester he went into the refreshment-room, and while there a military-looking man came in. He looked at our friend once or twice, as if to make sure he was right, then stepping over to where he stood, said, “Pardon me! if I don't greatly err, we have met before. Do you recollect traveling in Ireland by the G. S. & W. R., and a party of young fellows getting into your compartment at Newbridge?”

“Perfectly.”

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

Little have you thought, reader, that simple and easy as is the way of salvation, so also is the way of damnation,—" He that believeth not, shall be damned " (Mark 16:16). "Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee" (Job 36:18).

J. C. R.

Assurance; or, the Certainty of Eternal Salvation

SOME time ago a lady moving in the higher ranks of life said to the writer," I am a believer, but I have not assurance, " and he sometimes meets an old gentleman upwards of ninety years of age, who says with much feeling, " My dear sir, I want assurance." Now these cases are by no means singular. There are thousands in the same state.

Why is it? Are they not believers? Are they not looking to the Saviour to save them? Have they not sincerely come to Him for salvation? We believe that many of them are truly looking to the Lord Jesus Christ to save them, and though they have not peace, yet they have life. Then why have they not assurance? We doubt not there are many reasons why they have not:—

1st. Some are looking wholly to their feelings, imagining that some particular experience must be gone through before they should speak with certainty of having forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

It is astonishing how many are crippled, by being thus entangled with their feelings; though it be quite true that a soul does feel happy when he knows he is saved. But we have joy and peace, not by feeling, but in believing. Happy feelings therefore follow assurance, and do not precede it.

2nd. Others are hindered by listening to unsound ministry, and reading religious books which deny the precious truths of the present possession of eternal life, present peace with God, &c.

3rd. Many who are truly believers live so much in association with what is contrary to the Lord's mind, that His Holy Spirit is grieved, and hindered from leading them into the simplicity of the only way of true joy and peace.

4th. Not a few are so mixing up law and grace, and adding ordinances, sacraments, the observance of days, and all kinds of religiousness to the work of Christ, in order to make their salvation more secure, as to undermine the value of Christ's work, so that they never can in these ways find assurance.

5th. There are others so systematically instructed in false doctrines, as to imagine there is no such thing to be known as present assurance of salvation except on a deathbed.

Nothing is more clearly taught in Scripture, than that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners that He died for sinners; that He is the only Saviour; and that, by Him, all that believe are justified from all things. s It is also clear that no one can be lost that comes to God by Him; so that the vilest sinner who approaches God by Jesus and His blood is safe. The Israelites who were under the shelter of the blood of the lamb in Egypt were safe. Though the judgment of the destroying angel came upon every house in Egypt where the blood was not, yet God fulfilled His own gracious words, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt." Thus all who believed God and put themselves under the shelter of the blood were perfectly safe, whatever fears or lack of assurance there might be.

We can imagine some of the Israelites, when they heard the shrieks in the next house at the first-born being struck dead in their midst by the destroying angel, fearing, trembling, and troubled about their own safety. Like many believers now, they might have so looked at their own unworthiness, sinfulness, weakness, and the like, until they have cried out, "Oh that I were certain of my safety!" Now what would be the proper reply to such? Would not a faithful Israelite have said, "You are perfectly safe; the destroying angel will not come here, because the blood is on the lintel and doorposts of the house?”

But the fearing one might then say, “How can I be certain, so certain as not to have another fear or doubt about it?” He would then reply, that God hath said, “When I see the blood I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt" (Ex. 12:13).

Thus we see that assurance is founded on two immovable and unalterable realities, —the work of Christ, and the word of God. The death of Christ as a sacrifice for sin has satisfied God about the just judgment of our sins, and therefore it should perfectly satisfy us. In virtue of the blood of Christ, God can pronounce us cleansed, and give us the Holy Ghost as the seal and earnest of our inheritance; and it is by that blood alone that guilt is removed, and we have a purged conscience. Besides, the word of God assures us of shelter and safety from judgment, present forgiveness of sins, and much more, by the precious blood of Christ. It is when a soul can be before God wholly on the ground of the blood of His Son, and receive God's own assurance by His word of forgiveness of sins, justification from all things, being now a child of God, &c., that then he has assurance. He is so fully assured by the unalterable word of God, by the Spirit, that he doubts no more. He says—

"My doubts and fears forever gone,

For Christ is on the Father's throne.”

Happy is the soul who is thus looking to Christ and His blood, and has received God's testimony in His own word to his everlasting safety!

Sometimes we find a person under gospel preaching become exceedingly happy in receiving Christ as his Saviour. But we see him again after a few days, or weeks, and find that his happiness has fled and he fears he has been deceiving himself in imagining that he was converted; so that his distress is great. If asked if he could give up his hope of Christ entirely, he replies at once, "Not for ten thousand worlds: still I fear I shall not be saved;" and then speaks of his sins, feelings, unworthiness, &c. The fact is, that he has become self-occupied, and is looking within for evidence of his security, instead of looking only to the word of God as authority for the assurance of salvation. If we ask him, "Are your sins forgiven?" he replies, "I once thought they were, but I am afraid they are not.”

Now what does God say about it? That is the point. Hearken then to His word. God says, that "To him (Christ) give all the prophets witness, that, through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." Now, don't you look to the Lord Jesus Christ as your only Saviour? "Yes I do; I could not look to any one else." Then what does God say to you? He says, "You shall receive remission of sins." And more, He says, "By him (Christ) all that believe are justified from all things;" "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more" (Acts 10:43, 13:39; Heb. 10:17).

Can you then wish anything more to assure you of your perfect safety?—forgiven justified from all things; and God remembers your sins no more! It is God who gave His Son to die for sinners; it is God who delivered Him up for our offenses; it is God who declares that the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth from all sin; it is God who raised Him up from the dead for our justification; and it is God who declares that "by him all that believe are justified from all things." Oh, the unutterable blessedness of this way of perfect peace with God May every reader of these pages have assurance of salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the unalterable word of God!

H. H. S.

At the Cross

AT the Cross we see the whole moral nature of God unfolded,—His righteousness against sin; His love to the sinner; His truth vindicated; His majesty displayed. There a sin-hating God hides His face from His Son when made sin. Thence also the sweet savor of the sacrifice of Christ rises to God; and His satisfaction in the atonement for sin, made by His Son, is expressed in rending the veil which theretofore concealed Him from the sinner. W. T. P. W

Belshazzar's Banquet

(Read Daniel 5)

THERE is no doubt at all, my reader, why God has been pleased to record the scene that we have in this chapter. He has put it down, as a New Testament Scripture tells us, " For whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, " that men and women, you and I, whoever and whatever we may be, may learn first to what a length in impiety, idolatry, and wickedness a man may go. I am not going to charge you, my unconverted reader, with Belshazzar's sins in particular, but I shall ask you presently whether there is not a strong similarity between that king and you. The strong point of this chapter is, that we have a most distinct and solemn warning in it from God to Belshazzar, but he paid not the slightest heed to it.

Now let me take you back to that scene. There was a huge banquet prepared, and one thousand lords were there. Would not you have been proud to have had an invitation? I can imagine the brilliancy of that scene, the luxury and wealth, lit up with all the splendor of an Eastern court; and they feasted and drank wine, and God was not a bit in their thoughts. I ask you, Is He in yours? Well, the feast goes on, and the impiety and idolatry. Belshazzar all the time knew what had happened to his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar; and you know, sinner, how judgment has been executed, and how the earth was covered by the flood; but the devil delights to make men forget these things. But see, the feast goes on, and Belshazzar, to crown his impious audacity, commands the sacred vessels which had been dedicated to the service of the Lord God to be brought in, and they drink out of them to their idols.

But God looks on,—and on you too, sinner. I do not charge you with impiety or sacrilege, but what are your relations with God? Have you lived for Him? Do you ever think of Him? Your conscience tells you, Nor Now, I say, God looked on as they feasted, and drank, and praised the idols of gold, silver, and wood. But you say, Belshazzar was an idolater. I know very well that he was; but do not forget that God knows, and God hears, and God sees your heart as well as his. You are not a drunkard, I grant you; nor immoral, I grant you; but ah! sinner, is there no idol before you? Are you quite sure you have not got a golden idol? Let me hear what the world says of you. "He is the sharpest man I know; he is one of the cutest men about town; drives a hard bargain; and is making money fast, and keeps it.”

Come now, be honest; has it not been the one great desire of your life to make money, to get rich? You have got an idol, my friend, not stuck up in your house, —it has not taken that form, — but a golden idol you have. Is not covetousness an idol? You have one pound and would like to make it five pounds, and when you have got a ten-pound note you would like to make it twenty pounds; so you scrape, and struggle, and strive, that you may get it. Oh, you say, one must earn one's bread. Quite so; but earning your bread day by day is not having a golden god; but your god is a golden god. You may deny it, but nevertheless is it true, and what is the end? It governs you; and the thing that governs you is your God.

Possibly you may not have gold for an idol, perhaps pleasure is your object, you want to enjoy life. Everything else gives way to that. Pleasure is your goddess. And where, in your thoughts, is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? Left out entirely. But He will not always be left out. He does not forget that you are a responsible creature, and some time or other He will deal with you.

So in this scene, at the very climax of their impiety, in the same hour, came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote on the wall. In plain language, God steps in. I know a thing that would spoil the brightest banquet in the world, or the sweetest strains of music, or the ball, or racecourse, or any other worldly scenes of merriment. All enjoyment there is destroyed at once, if God steps in.

At the banquet only the hand of God is seen, the fingers of a hand; and the king saw it. God arrests that idolater; and is not His desire to arrest you, my reader? Yes, most truly. Mark His grace. He warns, He arrests that man; He does not strike him dead. Would not you have supposed that, as he raised his cup to drink to the senseless idol, God would have struck him dead? But no; God gives a warning word, that the sinner may have time to repent. And if you feel just now that God is dealing with you, let us see what will be the next thing.

“The king's countenance was changed." The face gets serious, the eye droops, the heart beats, —what is the matter? Why, something marvelous has happened! God has drawn near to you, and your countenance may well be changed, as Belshazzar's countenance was changed. Why, you say, he is a thorough coward. Well, what are you? Have you confessed Christ? have you owned His name? have you taken a stand for Him? You see He is a Saviour, but have you confessed Him? have you let the world know that you are a Christian man or woman? Have you done that? If not, then you are a coward.

Who heads the list, in Rev. 21., of those who go down to the lake of fire? "The fearful," the cowards; those who know the truth intellectually, but who have never seen what they are really before God, and have never confessed Christ as being far more precious, and of far more worth, than all that this world can give. They are cowards. But the king was frightened; his thoughts troubled him so, that "the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another"; for the man was conscious that it was God speaking to him. And who is speaking to you? Is not God? You say, I would like to know what He has got to say to me. Are you seeking salvation? have you decided to flee from the wrath to come? are you in earnest? The king was anxious; he sent for the astrologers and wise men, but they could tell him nothing. Then the queen comes in and tells of Daniel; he is able to interpret dreams, and “show hard sentences," and "dissolve doubts” and that is just what the Gospel does.

There are some sentences very hard indeed. Here is one, —"All have sinned." Another, —" The wages of sin is death." Another,—"He that believeth not shall be damned." But the Gospel explains all these, and dissolves all doubts. My beloved friend, if you get simply to Christ, all will be clear. Jesus died for you. The way into the presence of God is free, and opened and made clear, through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, do not let the “hard sentences" keep you back, but listen to the sweet words of Christ. It is perfectly plain that you are a lost man until you come to Jesus, and equally plain that you are a saved one if you do come to Him.

Belshazzar knew how God had dealt with Nebuchadnezzar (see chapter 5., verse 2), and yet he had not humbled his heart. Now, I ask you, beloved friend, has your heart been humbled before God? You know what God has done with others before you, and how He has dealt in judgment with men before you. Have you humbled your heart? I will not charge you with Belshazzar's impiety; but he forgot God, and so have you.

And you think you can go on carelessly to the end of your days; but the day will come when God will deal with you, and that quickly. Christ was humbled, and God exalted Him. You say, Why should I humble myself? I do not go into the details of your life. God knows them all; and you have not humbled yourself; and “the God in whose hand thy breath is, thou hast not glorified." Ah! sinner, have you a lease of your life? You have of your house, very likely, but not of your life.

Again, no honest soul can say he has glorified God. Only the Lord Jesus could say, “I have glorified Thee." Have you glorified God to-day? Let us go over to-day. Where was God in your thoughts? Did you think of the Lord? My dear friend, you and the Lord are total strangers,—that is the truth; and the God in whose hand thy breath is, you have not glorified. What a solemn charge is this! If Belshazzar had been wise, he would have fallen on his face before God and owned his guilt. You too, sinner, have lived without God,— heedless of God, careless of Him, regardless of Him. Oh that you may be led to repentance.

The handwriting was sent as a warning to the king, and he neglected it. Belshazzar, it is all over with your Sinner, do I speak prophetic words? I know not. Will it be this night that your soul is called? for God has surely "numbered thy days.”

Christian, what do you say? If I go to-night, I go to meet Jesus, my blessed Saviour! But where would you go, sinner? Oh, arouse thee! The hour is drawing near when the last bit of Gospel shall sound in your ear; and what then? eternal condemnation You will recollect the warnings and entreaties which you put off with, " It cannot mean me; I feel well, perfectly well." Do you ever take up the newspaper? What do you see? So-and-so died suddenly.

“Oh," you say, "I hope I shall not die suddenly.” Your hope makes no difference, my friend. Do you think Belshazzar believed his warning? No, not a bit; he was as unconcerned as you are; his after-conduct shows it. He was " weighed in the balances and found wanting; " and so are you and I. Who is fit for God, but His own blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ? He has been put in the balances, and He only is fit for God; but you and I are found wanting.

“But," say you, "I am religious." Your righteousness is only as filthy rags. Have you a heart like Christ? or is your life like His—your ways, your righteousness? No. But it must be. How can it be? How can I stand like that? Paul says in Philippians, that he counts all things but loss, that he may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having his own righteousness. Christ shall be my life, my righteousness, my wisdom, redemption, everything!

In the 29th verse Belshazzar commands that Daniel should be decked out and honored, and I suppose he went on with his banquet, but he was slain that night, and the city was taken, as history tells us now; and half-drunk, in the midst of their feasting, this impious king was judged.

Ah! beloved friend, God's word came to him that night. I charge you, sinner, to come to Jesus— come to the Saviour now. Do not do what Belshazzar did. Go down on your bended knees this moment, and say, “God be merciful to me, a sinner!" Belshazzar is dead, but could he speak, I feel sure, he would say, “Do not do as I did, and despise the warning of God. When you are warned as I was, do not do as I did, and not believe it.”

Young says, “All men think all men mortal but themselves." Do not do this. Your sin is deep, but deeper is the blessed river of God's grace. The Lord loves you and waits to save and bless you. Oh, come as you are! Come this very moment, and you will get salvation and mercy. He will whisper peace to your troubled soul. Do not drop this paper before coining to Christ. Decide for the Lord just now. Thy days are surely numbered. I beseech you to halt, tarry, pause, consider, turn round and own your guilt seek the Lord, and you will find Him, and He will bless you with an everlasting salvation. Come now, I do entreat you, repent and turn to God, and receive “the gift of God, eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." W. T. P. W.

By His Grace

"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. 3:23, 24.

IN these two verses we get man's fallen state and God's remedy; the whole gospel in a few words. Ruin and redemption. No words could be plainer.

All have sinned.

Here we are at once brought face to face with a rule without an exception. None is exempt. All means all. Whoever you are, my reader, and whatever your course of life, this plain sweeping statement of the Word of God takes you in. You may try to shirk the fact, but fact it is. You may think lightly of sin, but sin is sin. You may have sinned but little in comparison with some. But ONE SIN, the smallest sin you have ever committed, in deed, word, or thought, would suffice, unpardoned, to shut you out from God. The way to blessing is to take your place as a sinner before Him, owning your guilt. For all have sinned, and therefore You.

And come short of the glory of God.

Take heed, too, to these searching words. Maybe you own you have sinned in the past. But, having discovered what the consequence would be, you have turned over a new leaf, as people say, and become a little religious. And now, bolstered up with your own reformation, the devil's salve for a guilty conscience, you seek to persuade yourself that all is well, and cry, Peace, peace. But there is NO PEACE (Jer. 8:11). For what avails this before God? God, who knows every secret of your heart, sinner, reads you through and through. Has your reformation fitted you for His glory? Have your fleshly efforts to be good come up to that standard? Does your heart so deceive you that you venture to say, Yes? Terrible delusion

Dear reader, I must be plain with you; I seek your eternal good. If this is your ground, you have enlisted in the ranks of the full-blown Pharisees. You are ranged on the shelf for cups and platters, clean on the outside only; or, like unto a whited sepulcher, beautiful indeed outward, but within...—ah! I say no more; read the scripture for yourself. Jesus said it, the Son of God (Matt. 23). Look and see.

It is no good, sinner, you must face the truth. You come short. Note the words well. Not came short, as though in the past. But all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Come short this day. All. Not some. Nor all but you. All means all, every one. God means what He says.

Bow then to Him. Own the truth of His Word.

All have come short, as well as all have sinned. It is impossible to escape its plain meaning. Does it convict you? Do you own your utter unfitness for God's glory? and your deceived heart-reformation scheme a gigantic mistake? a delusion of the devil? Then away with your self-righteous crutches for ever. Are they gone? Yes. Praise God. Listen now to His remedy; God's own plan to save a sinner lost. What is it? The next verse tells.

Being justified.

Think of that. God's remedy right alongside of man's ruin. Not shall be justified, but being. It is a present blessing. Being cleared. Not simply pardoned, forgiven; but perfectly and forever acquitted, and that now. Not at some future time, nor depending upon our future conduct. There is no if in the case. I think I hear some reader saying, "But..." Ah, and there is no "but" either. “But..." No, no; it is without any ifs or buts whatever. It is the sinner brought to the bar of God, and sent out of court, so to speak, without a stain upon his character; just as though he had never sinned at all. Guilty, and yet treated as guiltless. How can this be? Read to the close, and you will see. But what comes next?

Freely.

Precious word for the sin-burdened conscience. Freely. Being justified freely. Freely, freely, FREELY! These are God's own gospel terms. Nothing to do. Nothing to pay. Without money, and without price (Isa. 4:1). FREELY! Any other terms would render our case hopeless. Why? Simple answer. Because we have nothing to pay with. But how the heart rebels against this. Why? Because it makes nothing of you and me, and none of us like that. You don't like it now, my reader, do you? Be honest. Don't we love to do something for ourselves, if it be only a very little bit? But God will have none of it. No, not a single thread will He let you add to His best robe. And freely are His terms. Terms worthy of Himself. And on these terms alone can you be justified.

By His grace.

Not by our works. By God's act of free favor only, apart from works. If it were of works, then is it no more grace, and we could boast. But it is not of works, lest any man should boast (Eph. 2:9). By His grace is it, the abounding grace of God. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Rom. 5:20) Grace reigns through righteousness (Rom. 5:21) You, a sinner, come short of the glory; but the grace of God comes in, and fits you for it then and there. Have you apprehended this, that we are justified entirely by the grace of God, apart from our own wretched doings altogether. It is by the pure, unmingled, free grace of the God of all grace.

Through the redemption.

Note this especially. The work of Christ. This is the only channel through which grace can flow to a sinner, "redemption." What redemption? The redemption wrought at Calvary by blood-shedding and death. The guiltless died for the guilty, and guilty ones are justified. All sacrifice of old pointed on to this, the redemption wrought nearly nineteen centuries ago. Eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12). Gold and silver could never redeem a single sinner, or ransom a single soul. We are not redeemed by silver and gold, but by precious blood (1 Peter 1:18, 19). Whose? The precious blood of Christ. Where then, and how, can you obtain this redemption? Hear the answer.

That is in Christ Jesus.

Yes, in Christ, and Christ alone. Faith appropriates it. It is in Christ Jesus, risen from the dead, the Saviour seated in the glory of God. Thus we have both the work and Person of God's beloved Son in this precious verse. Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It is impossible o obtaint it elsewhere. Christ finished the work, glorifying God (John 17:4). God glorified Christ in Himself (John 13:32). Is not that enough?

God is satisfied with Jesus;

Are you satisfied as well?

“All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." But, adds the blessed God," Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." And this is true now for every one that believeth (Rom. 3:26). Post thou believe? Redemption is found in the risen Christ. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7). Have you found it? Can you Join in the strain of that precious little verse?

"I want no other argument,

I need no other plea;

It is enough, that Jesus died,

And rose again for me.”

Do a single thing to please God you cannot, until you believe. Works are the fruit of faith. We work from salvation, not for it. We are saved, henceforth to worship and to work; but neither trying to worship nor working will save you. Then take it all home to your own soul now, for not a word of it can possibly fail; and go in peace. “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. 3:23, 24). E. H. C.

Chester Races; or, How I Was Converted.

I WAS passionately fond of horse-racing. Of all places, I thought a racecourse the most enjoyable. The bustle and excitement of the crowd, the betting-ring, the saddling paddock, with the horses led round and round waiting to be saddled, each having a pedigree carefully recorded in the “stud book," and each with a history of its own, giving the age, performances, the number of races it ran, and won, or was defeated in, the places it ran at, and the weights it carried. These were matters in which I took the deepest interest, and so for some years, contrary to the advice and earnest entreaties of two loving brothers, who were older than I,—whose eyes the Lord had opened to the worthlessness of these things, and who had been converted some years before, and had over and over again put before me the importance of eternity and the salvation of my immortal soul,—I went to every race meeting in England and Ireland that I could possibly get to.

At last, in May 1875, coming off the Chester Racecourse, I saw, in the midst of thousands of people, a man holding up a placard, on which was written—

“YOUR RACE IS RUN;

PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD.'

Yes, in the midst of thousands of people returning from the races, there stood a poor man holding up above their heads these solemn words, printed in large letters that all might see, and trying to impress upon them, thoughtless and indifferent as they may have been at the time, the terrible reality that they would have to meet God. The words caught my eyes, and there and then, for the first time in my life, I realized the fact that sooner or later I should have to meet God.

Pleasure-seeker as I was at the time, the words went home to my conscience, and awakened me to a sense of my condition before God as a sinner. But it soon passed off. The impression, solemn as it was, soon wore away; and joining my boon companions in the town, God was again shut out from my thoughts, and I returned by rail to where I then lived.

Next day, however, the impressions of the previous day returned. The appalling words came vividly before me; the announcement made to me by the Spirit of God was not to be so readily disposed of; and so every day for about a month, with increasing terribleness, came the same dreaded fact, that I must some day meet God. I was really miserable. It haunted me night and day; I could not get rid of it. To meet God I was totally unfit. The sins of my whole life had to be accounted for. I had been living for the world and its pleasures. Instead of living for God, I had lived for myself.

What was I to do? My case seemed really hopeless. Who was I to go to? There were Christians in the neighborhood who could have told me, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," but I did not know them. The people of God were not the ones I preferred to associate with; but now the Spirit of God had begun His work, I would gladly have sought a Christian, to whom I might tell my case, and ask his advice; but God saw differently, and kept me in His own hands, not choosing to employ a human instrument just yet.

I was truly miserable. At times the terrible feeling wore away, but only to return with increased awe and terror. When I thought of meeting God, it was but to remember that He was holy, that He would by no means clear the guilty, which I assuredly was, having lived without God and without Christ all my life.

About two months before seeing the placard at Chester, I received by post a little book. Opening it, and finding that it was a gospel magazine, I threw it on a bookshelf, where it remained, until, in my distress, I took it up to try and find a word of comfort for my sin-stricken conscience; and in this little incident I can now trace God's tender dealings with me. It was sent me by my brother, who had often spoken to me of the things of God. Oh I how I longed to be near him then, that he might speak to me once more. I would not treat with scorn and contempt then, as I had often done before, the things relating to my eternal salvation. I knew both my brothers had found the Saviour, and I longed to be able to say that I had found Him too, for God had brought me to see myself as a lost, ruined, hell-deserving sinner, and as such needing a Saviour.

Oh! miserable condition that I was in. It was quite clear that meet God I must; I knew not how soon; but I could only see my own total unfitness to meet Him. How I longed to be assured there was salvation for even me; that Christ's blood could save me; that the blessed Lord Jesus was then saying, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." How gladly I would have come had I heard these precious words! But no; there was no one to speak to; but God was speaking to me. The little book contained a short narrative, " The Chasm and the Bridge," with a verse of Scripture from the first Epistle of Peter, 3rd chapter and 18th verse, " For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.”

Blessed words indeed they are, but they seemed not to give me any relief, so filled was I with my own wretchedness and misery. Mentally and aloud I repeated them, without being able to grasp their blessed meaning.

Towards the end of the month I went to stay a few days with one of my brothers, and hearing that he was to preach on the Sunday evening, I asked if I might go and hear him,—a very unexpected request, and one that was gladly complied with. Instead of accepting God's offer of salvation, instead of receiving with joy and thankfulness the Saviour provided for sinners, I left the little chapel, if possible, more miserable than ever. It seemed as if there was to be no mercy for me. Still I had got one step. I read in God's own word, "Christ once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." Blessed words! I read them, and read them, and read them again. I repeated them, and repeated them, again and again.

As I went through the fields, as I went along the lanes, I repeated the wondrous words, " Christ once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." Again and again I repeated the amazing words. Indoors and out of doors they came to my lips. Why could I not close with God's offer of mercy? Why did I not at once accept the salvation of God? In holy contrast to tie unwelcome words, "Prepare to meet thy God," came that blessed verse in the first Epistle of Peter.

After about a month of intense fear, when my anguish had reached its highest point, when almost filled with despair, when I had nearly given way to the fear that there was no salvation for me, when I had seen myself as a lost, ruined, hell-deserving sinner, without God and without hope in the world, then, on the road side, on Sunday evening the 6th June 1875, about a mile from where I lived, the blessed Lord Jesus Christ spoke to my heart and conscience, telling me that He once "suffered for sins," He "the just "for me" the unjust," quieting every fear and dispelling every doubt, enabling me to say with absolute certainty, that my sins were forgiven through His precious blood, which cleanseth from all sin.

Oh what words! Flow unspeakably blessed! What joy, what peace, they brought to the sin burdened conscience when applied by the Holy Ghost! “CHRIST ONCE SUFFERED FOR SINS, THE JUST FOR THE UNJUST, THAT HE MIGHT BRING US TO GOD." Had I not often read them before? Yes; but until that moment I had never learned their real value.

“Praise the Saviour,

Magnify the sinner's friend!”

Coming of the racecourse (when to have met God would have been banishment from His presence for ever), God spoke to me by that placard. Now, on the road side, He spoke to me by His Son, and enabled me to receive with unquestioning confidence a Father's love. The one I most dreaded to meet I was actually brought to, in all the preciousness and in all the value of the work of Christ on the cross.

To Him be all the praise! Not only were my sins forgiven through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, but I was brought to God, and brought to Him by His own beloved Son. Well do I remember that Sunday evening, when the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, was made known to me. By nature my distance from God was immeasurable; now I was brought to Him; yea, by His own beloved Son.

But I must run home and write to the loved brother just come to live in North Wales, who sent me the little gospel book. I knew it would delight him to hear of God's grace and goodness to me; to hear that his Saviour was my Saviour too. It was about 8:30 P.M., and the mail cart passed at 9 o'clock. There was just time to write him a line, which was received, as you may suppose, with heartfelt praise and thankfulness to God for His wondrous love.

Reader, this is how I was converted this is how God saved my soul. How is it with you? Have you been awakened to a sense of your sins? Have you discovered that to meet God in your sins will be to spend eternity in hell? Think of it. Has the “still small voice 's reached your conscience, reminding you of God's claims upon you? Has God's love no attraction for you? Oh, yes. Surely you will no longer turn away from His love. Will you? He cares for you, and watches over you, and wants you now to come to Him and be saved. He says in His word, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Come, then, with this one plea, that you are a sinner, and Christ came to save sinners. Look at 1St Timothy 1:15. Read it, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." God's word says so; says it is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation too. Then, surely, it is worth your acceptance. God's salvation is without money and without price. It is a gift; “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord;” "not of works, lest any man should boast."

H. M. S.

Christ in Glory

His Son,.. when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."—Heb. 1:3.

SUPPOSING, my friend, that I asked you the question, "Where is Christ to-day?” I should, of course, be told that He is not on earth. Quite so, but where is He? He is in heaven. Well, as professing Christians, we all accept that fact as part of our creed. But I fear that the full value of it is little known. True, the Lord Jesus Christ is not now here, He is now sitting as man in glory. The body prepared for Him, and in which he toiled, hungered, wept, suffered, and died, is now glorified in heaven. He is there as man, — more than man, for He is also “over all, God blessed forever." But yet that body now seated on the Father's throne in glory, was once marred, bruised, and crucified on earth. Lay hold of this blessed fact!

Do you not remember that, after His resurrection, when the disciples saw Him standing in their midst, they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed they had seen a spirit; but Jesus bade them behold His hands and feet; handle Him and see, for a spirit, said He, had not flesh and bones as He had. His body was material; He did eat before them; a mere spirit could never have done this. The thought of the actual resurrection of His body was beyond their credibility, until they beheld Him; just as, to this very day, the fact of it being glorified in heaven—not a spirit, but a body— is not really accredited. Yet what an immense comfort to the believer, and how many important truths attach to the fact of a glorified Man in heaven!

Well, then, He is seated there; and what is the significance of this? When a man comes home from his work in the field at the close of the day, and flings himself into his arm—chair, he implies, by that very act, that his toil is over. And so, when this blessed Workman had completed the work of redemption, He too sat down on high. Thus reads our text, “When he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down.”

Reader, the work is done! The Workman is seated; another touch need not, cannot, be added.

Expiation, full and complete, was effected by the work of the cross, and a foundation laid for eternal blessing.

Now, there are two words I want to press on your attention, and these are—"by himself" Do you notice that it was by Himself He made expiation for sin? It is not merely that He was the divine Instrument for the accomplishment of this work. He was indeed the Lamb appointed for the work of sacrifice, but these two words convey much more than this. They signify that so all-sufficient was the sacrifice of Himself, that nothing more need be added. No, my friends, there is not the necessity for the addition of one prayer, one tear, one act of merit; the glorious work stands absolutely complete, and the Workman is seated. "It is finished," was His shout of victory.

“But must I not weep and pray?” says some anxious soul. No, dear friend, Believe. All the tears you could shed, and all the prayers you could offer, could never alone for your sins; and that is the point before us now, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." Its sufficiency is ample.

So witnesses the whole company of saints, from Abel to Saul of Tarsus.

"I stand upon His merit,

I know no other stand,

Not e'en where glory dwelleth

In Immanuel's land.”

"But must I not repent?" Well, “except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish,"—only repentance is not penance. I mean the idea is different. Penance is a work of merit, by virtue of which I deem myself more favorable to God, and possess myself of a claim upon Him. Repentance is a genuine acknowledgment of my total demerit, my desert of nothing but judgment, and my hope in nothing—in heaven or earth—but His sovereign mercy. Then, again, no one repents before he believes,—at least the two go together. When you begin to believe, you begin to repent. When did Paul repent? After he had seen Christ in heaven. What possible merit is there in the tears, prayers, or repentance of a poor sinner like you or me? But who can tell the infinite merit of “the precious blood of Christ "? There is not one sin it cannot cleanse, nor one sinner on earth it cannot save; “of whom I am chief," said the apostle Paul. The Spirit of God delights to magnify, and bear testimony to, the virtues of that blood; and never can a guilty soul trust therein without receiving forgiveness, peace, and glory.

“I ask no other argument,

I ask no other plea,

It is enough that Jesus died,

And that He died for me.”

Yes, quite enough! I appropriate, by faith, without works, the blessed results of His work for me. He died for me; all is settled. His death appears before God in all its eternal excellence, and I derive the fruit. Blessed Substitute " He once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.”

Oh, let the deep and blessed truth conveyed in these two words be grasped by your souls, —by Himself—BY HIMSELF! "When he had, by himself, made expiation for sin” (such is the more correct rendering), “he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." And how worthy of that exalted place! How worthy of the crowns that sparkle on His brow!

Now, my friend, I am not preaching Christ incarnate, nor the Messiah of Israel, nor merely the dead Son of man, but I speak of a once dead, now risen, glorified Saviour. True, He was once incarnate,—He will yet claim and rule over Israel,— but we know Him as the despised and rejected Jesus, welcomed to highest heavenly glory. We know Him there, and all the associations of the Christian are with Him there. It was there He was seen by Saul of Tarsus; it was there He was seen by Stephen; it was there He was seen as the once slain Lamb by John. It is thence He will come again to call the church to meet Him in the air. What a Saviour!

But, though heaven has thus enthroned Him, what of earth? Is He honored here? Does every knee bow, and every tongue confess to His name? Is He enthroned in every heart? Ah, no! and hence the solemn question, " How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? " Depend upon it, escape is utterly impossible; the neglecter will certainly be judged, and his judgment will be just as great as the salvation he has neglected. Sin, being infinite in demerit, demanded a sacrifice of infinite value. This was furnished by the death of the Son of God,—the holy, eternal, Son of the Father; and, seeing that nothing short of such a sacrifice could meet and expiate the guilt of sin, it follows that the punishment of sin is eternal. A limited debt may be met by a limited sum; but when the debt is unlimited, beyond creature-payment, the sacrifice, the atonement, must also be unlimited. God cannot look on sin. Absolute holiness holds it at infinite distance, and in everlasting abhorrence. Nothing can bridge the gulf but a sacrifice of perfect and absolute excellence. This is found, through grace, at the cross. God's love supplied what His justice demanded, and Jesus willingly laid down His life, took it again, rose, ascended, and still presents Himself as the sinner's Saviour.

Friend, will you cross by this wonderful Bridge? It has borne millions already, and it can bear millions more. None need fear “Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. "It is a" great salvation;" its neglect will involve a great damnation. May not one neglect. May all accept.

J. W. S.

“WHEN a strong man armed (Satan) keepeth his palace (this world), his goods (sinners) are in peace: but when a stronger than he (Jesus) shall come upon him, and overcome him (in the wilderness and on the cross), he taketh away from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils " (Luke 11:21, 22). How solemn to be Satan's goods!

The Coming One

(Mel.—"Spring is Passing."—CLARIBEL.)

THOU art coming, mighty Saviour!

“King of kings" Thy written name;

Thou art coming, royal Saviour

Coming for Thy promised reign.

O the joy, when sin's confusion

Ends beneath Thy righteous sway!

O the peace, when all delusion

At Thy presence dies away!

Thou art coming, loving Saviour!

Coming first to claim Thine own;

Thou art coming, faithful Saviour

Thou would'st not abide alone.

In Thy Father's house in glory,

Sinners sav'd shall dwell with Thee;

O the sweetness of the story,

Love's own record we shall be!

Thou art coming, gracious Saviour I

Ah, to see thy face we long!

Thou art coming, blessed Saviour!

Righting all creation's wrong.

Nation rises against nation,

Trouble spreads from shore to shore;

Thou art God's supreme "Salvation!”

Come! and chaos shall be o'er.

Once thy coming, holy Saviour!

Expiation made for sin;

Wondrous coming, lowly Saviour!

Thou the babe at Bethlehem.

Thine the wisdom, in the manger;

Thine the power, upon the cross;

Thine the glory, as the stranger;

Riches, though in utter loss!

Thou art coming, crowned Saviour!

Not "the second time" for sin;

Thou art coming, throned Saviour!

Bringing all the glory in.

All the Father's house, its glory,

Hangs by sure behest on Thee;

O the sweetness of the story,

Saviour, come, we wait for Thee!

H. K. B.

Counsel to an Anxious Soul

IT is needless for me to assure you of my deep interest in your spiritual state; you know it. Your letter of the 4th interests me much. What you really want, is to take your true place, as utterly lost and undone,-a "sinner," "an enemy," “ungodly, without strength," according to Rom. 5. I believe your baptism and self-dedication were a complete mistake, an attempt to ascend by steps to the altar of God, a thing strictly prohibited (see the close of Ex. 20). Of what possible use would it be for a man who owes ten thousand talents, to go through a ceremony and profess to dedicate himself to his creditor? Would this pay his debt? Assuredly not. What does he want? Full forgiveness, the complete blotting out of his heavy score.

Well, dear friend, this is what is proclaimed in the Gospel to every creature under heaven, and therefore proclaimed to you. "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Does not this apply to you? How can you refuse the application, in the face of that far-reaching word "whosoever?" “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ." It is not a promise. There is no such thing as a promise to the unconverted. There is a proclamation. God is now preaching—not promising—peace by Jesus Christ. There are exceeding great and precious promises to the believer, to the child of God. “All the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus, to the glory of God by us,"—that is, by all believers.

It is an utter mistake to speak of God as having forsaken you. It is a scheme of the devil, to cast dust in your eyes and keep you from Christ. God is seeking you. He is beseeching you to be reconciled to Him. To talk of baptism and dedication before you have gotten eternal life, divine righteousness, and peace with God, is a most complete delusion. Isaiah did not, and could not, say, " Here am I; send me," until he had heard the blessed words, “This hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." Till then, all he could say was, " Woe is me I am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips." What could baptism and self-dedication do for a poor undone man with unclean lips? How could one undone and unclean dedicate himself to God? Impossible But the very moment he knew himself pardoned and purged, he could say, with a full heart, a free conscience, and an enlightened understanding, "Here am I; send me”

Thus it must be in every case, and therefore in your case, my dear friend. You want to get to the end of yourself, and find your all in Christ, “Who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption." Then all your difficulties will be solved, all your questions answered, all your clouds and mists removed. The very moment a sinner takes his true place, he finds a full Christ, and all is divinely settled. The fullness of God ever waits on an empty vessel; and when the vessel is filled into all the fullness of God, then verily there can be dedication, but not till then.

It is marvelous to see how the enemy seeks to blind and bewilder souls, in order to prevent their seeing the salvation of God. Only reflect for a moment, dear friend, on the utter absurdity involved in the idea of any poor anxious soul being disturbed by “the unsolved mystery of where Cain's wife came from." Surely it was not the object of the inspired writer of Genesis to enter into such details. Hundreds of births are passed over in silence, as having no link with the inspired narrative. You say, “Even now the mystery is unsolved as to where Cain's wife came from also to whom Cain alluded when he complained that every one who found him would slay him." It is not difficult to trace such questions to their real source. You must fling them behind your back, as suggestions of the father of lies, and rest, like a little child, in the grand truth of the divine inspiration of Moses and all the scriptures. May the blessed Spirit, by His powerful and indispensable ministry, enable you so to do. I shall not cease to cry to God on your behalf; and when your precious soul is brought into full peace and joy in believing, let me know, that I may praise Him with you. C. H. M.

“FAITH is not what we see or feel,

It is a simple trust

In what the God of love has said

Of Jesus as the Just.”

Death and Judgment: How to Escape Them

Read 2 Cor. 5:1-15.

IT is a matter of the deepest moment for all of us to be quite sure as to the future. No doubt some will say, It is impossible; no one can be sure as to the future. You will be more right if you say, No one can be sure of the present. You do not know what to-morrow will bring forth; but, thank God, what is unseen and eternal, is defined for us with the utmost clearness. The simplest believer knows without a shadow of a doubt.

It is charming how this chapter opens, "We know.” What a comfort in a day of doubt, and of infidelity on all hands! What does the Christian know? That if he passes from this scene he goes to be with the Lord. My reader, do you know this?

In this chapter two most solemn things are spoken of-death and judgment, yet the apostle can say, "We know, that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”

This is a beautiful possession,—the privilege of the veriest babe in Christ,—"we know," not "we hope.” This is the present portion of the believer; it is Christian knowledge, the common property of every child of God, not the possession of some exclusive class. It is that which Christ has secured by His death, bought with His blood, and which He gives to every one of His own.

On the other hand, what is the future of the unconverted man? It is a leap in the dark. What a fool a man must be so to leap when he can get light! Look at the thief on the cross. His face, amid all the agonies of death, is radiant with heavenly light. What makes him happy? He says, I know I am going to be with Christ; He told me Himself— “This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.”

Do you know that, reader? Do not say people cannot know it; be honest, and say, I do not. The world says, You may hope; how are you to know? The Lord tells you in His Word. Would it be presumption to believe Christ? No; presumption lies with the one who says he cannot know, when God's Word says "Ye may know.”

I can look into eternity and say, All is perfectly clear before me. You get the basis and ground on which this knowledge rests in the end of this chapter; it is what Christ has done on the cross. He was made sin, He who knew no sin, that sinners, believing in Him, might be forever with Him without their sins.

But if we are to be with Him, we must be suitably clad; and this we get in vv. 3-5, “Earnestly desiring to be clothed upon," &c. This clothing upon is what we call the resurrection body, spoken of fully in 1 Cor. 15. It is that which will suit the Lord's presence forever.

“If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked "(v. 3). That sounds strange, you think; “clothed," and yet" naked." That was Adam's case. He forgets his own wretched fig-leaf covering in God's presence, and is compelled to say, "I was afraid, because I was naked." So you will find, unsaved soul. You may wrap yourself tightly in a garment of religiousness, but you will be found naked when standing at the great white throne, for religion is not Christ. Your true state will be then made manifest before God.

God will have reality. It is a real thing that we are downright lost sinners before God. You may deny it now, but remember sin is real, and God's judgment of it, and the work of Christ is real by which sin is put away, and the sinner clothed for God's presence. Better acknowledge your true state now, for God meets the returning prodigal, and puts on him a robe, and then brings him in robed, suited to the Father's house. What kind of a garment does he get? Some say it is Righteousness. It is more than that,—that is a cold thing. I want Christ, nothing less than Christ; and God gives me Christ, and says," Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 13:14). Reader, whereabouts are you? Have you on Christ?

"For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life" (v. 4). Life here is a perpetual battle against death. Paul was happy in the Lord, but he groaned, being burdened. He says, I don't want to be "unclothed," i.e. to die, but to be "clothed upon;" that is, to receive the resurrection—the spiritual—body. It is what the Lord Jesus Christ will do when he comes; we shall be changed to His image.

What a wonderful comfort to know, that though I am a sinner, yet, believing in Jesus, there is no, need for me to die. Not that there is no possibility of it, for we are still mortal, and mortality is the possibility of death. But Christ has gone through death for me, plucked out its sting, and saved me from the necessity of the common lot of man, viz., death and judgment. (See Heb. 9:27, 28.)

In 1 Cor. 15:54, it is said, "Death is swallowed up in victory." There the Spirit of God is talking of the dead in Christ. When the Lord comes, death will be swallowed up, for Christ will lift out of their graves all the dead in Him. In the chapter before us, "mortality is swallowed up of life;" that is, those who are alive when He comes, He will change in a moment, and take to glory without dying. He has gone into death, and He has completely annulled it. The one I have loved, and buried in the faith of Christ now, I shall see again in His likeness, and I shall be like Christ too. How this meets our hearts in a scene of death and ruin! It will be the power of life in Christ coming down, and transforming in a moment all who have believed in Him.

Well, in all this there is not a bit of credit due to us. “He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit" (v. 5). It is not a little bit of the Spirit, and more to come by and bye. No, no. It is the Spirit Himself, the earnest of future glory. It is like the grapes of Eshcol, which the spies brought back from Canaan, they revealed and made known what sort of country it was. So the Holy Ghost reveals Christ, and makes Him known.

Then we labor, that we may be acceptable to Him. Practically, we seek to please God, like Enoch, for “We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ." What will He judge? It does not say we appear there to be judged. He cannot judge the believer, because the Judge has already been judged in his place, and we shall be like Him then. He was made sin for us, as the end of the chapter says.

When I come before that judgment-seat, I shall see that the Judge is the One who died for me, and who bore my sins. I shall see Him, and be like Him. Then what is the good of being manifested there? I shall get a good look all along my history, and see how His grace has borne with me in it all. When the saint stands there, it may be to hear Jesus commend some little service clone for Him.

But when the sinner stands before God, it is not in and like Christ; the unsaved soul must stand there in his sins. Sinner, if you and your sins do not part company in time, you never will in eternity. The believer has parted with his sins, and they will never meet him again. But you, unbeliever, who live, die, and are buried in your sins, will rise in your sins, and stand before the great white throne in your sins, and be bound to them for eternity. Will you slight Christ's word to you now? His grace has lingered long; His voice has called you oft in tender mercy; but the day will come, when the word will go forth, "Cut it down," and” as the tree falls, so must it lie;” and then an awful hell!

Oh, I pray you, be persuaded! “We persuade men." Christ is in earnest; the Holy Ghost is in earnest for your blessing; and the devil is in earnest to hinder; but, solemn fact, the only one who is calm, quiet, and indifferent, is the sinner on the road to judgment. As the shipmaster said to Jonah, so I would say to you, " What meanest thou, O sleeper?" What meanest thou, O sinner? Calm, cold, unconscious, immovable, and yet your eternal soul is at stake! And Christ has died, and the door of heaven is open, and death and judgment are before you, and you are unmoved! You must be in earnest. O soul, be persuaded. “Almost persuaded "will not do; the other side of that is, “altogether lost.”

“Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (v. 11). There will be no relief in the clay of the Lord; but, thank God, that day is yet in the future. Now, it is not "the terror of the Lord,” but "the love of Christ," we preach. Do you not know His love? He gave himself a willing victim; He suffered all the indignities that man could put upon Him. They chose the robber instead of Jesus, and put Him on a cross. And from that cross of shame He would not deliver Himself. They said, “He saved others, himself he cannot save;" but it was—Himself He would not save. He would not come down from that cross, that you and I might live. Blessed Saviour! whose love many waters could not quench. He knew what it was that awaited the unsaved soul, and He went and stood in that place of judgment for the sinner, the Just for the unjust.

The terror of the Lord might well persuade you, and the love of Christ constrain you. Christ has died. For whom? for sinners. Who may not come in there? We were all on one common level before God, —"then were all dead." And now what has taken place? Christ has gone down into death, that “they which live"—those who trust Him—" should not henceforth live to themselves, but to him who died for them and rose again." The Christian says, I must live for Him. If you have got your heart full of His love,—the love that made Him die your death, that you might live,—what can you say but, “Lord, I must henceforth live for Thee?”

Dear reader, is not the way to escape death and judgment simple and beauteous, because divine? I pray thee accept of it, and from this moment live devotedly to Him whose wondrous death thus sets thee free from both. W. T. P. W.

The Debtors and the Gracious Creditor

NEVER man spake like this man," was the testimony of the enemies of the Blessed Lord. Although disappointed, and their dark designs frustrated, they were forced to confess that God had poured grace into His lips, that there was a mighty power in His words, combined with wisdom, which they could not resist. And this being the case, who would not be a learner at the feet of this heavenly man—Jesus, Wisdom personified, from whose lips flowed one unbroken stream of wisdom that mortals never heard before! Wisdom, which proved that he was God as well as man, upon whom the inhabitants of heaven gazed with wonder and amazement. Yea, the mightiest archangel, as he would fly from the throne of Jehovah to perform His will, would stay in his course to gaze. At whom? Jesus the Nazarene God manifest in the flesh! Let us, like Mary of old, sit at His feet a little while, and be learners there; truth and wisdom we shall get in abundance, which will gladden the heart and cheer the soul. What is He saying? Oh listen, how sweet the strain! Power, wisdom, and love find an expression in His words,—" There was a certain creditor which had two debtors; the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both" (Luke 7:41). Cannot we say now, like and with those of old, "Never man spake like this man "? The words which fall from His stainless lips lodge in our souls, and become life and food to the same.

Ah, but methinks I hear my reader say, “But what does He mean? I need an interpreter." Listen awhile then, and I will tell you. Jesus ever sought in His wisdom and love, when down here, to illustrate for our blessing the way of the sinner's salvation. He would often draw a beautiful picture, in order to make the gospel clear and simple to His hearers, to the end that they might embrace it. He did so in Luke 10 by the sweet story of the good Samaritan.

So also here in Luke 7, and by the words He utters we may say He illustrates four facts, First, the creditor, and who he is; secondly, the debtors, and who they are; thirdly, the inability of the debtors to pay their debts; fourthly, the goodness of the creditor in frankly forgiving the debtors. Since Christ was illustrating the way of salvation, it is not very difficult to decide who the creditor is. God undoubtedly is the creditor— that infinitely holy Being whose very nature is light and love; "God is light, and God is love.” He cannot fail in His accounts—He is the God of everlasting truth!

And it is just as easy to determine Who the debtors are. Guilty man unquestionably is meant here by our Blessed Lord, when speaking of the debtors. There is on high, in the account books there, a tremendous score against him. Is he a Jew? he is a debtor! Is he a Gentile? he is a debtor! Is he moral or immoral, rich or poor, high or low, noble or ignoble, learned or unlearned, black or white, refined or unrefined? he stands before God an absolute debtor, charged with sin and guilt, ungodly, a perfect spiritual bankrupt.

But, moreover, Christ said that “they had nothing to pay." This is humbling in the extreme. Human nature cannot for a moment bear this, if not subdued by the grace of God. What, says the good, moral, conscientious church-goer, do you mean to say that I cannot do anything to settle the account between me and God? Have not I been moral and religious all the days of my life; and do I not try to keep the commandments of God? I pay my way; and am a good citizen; I also do as I would be done by; I keep family worship; I support the gospel, and pay my minister; and then, again, I am a great advocate for temperance. In fact I visit the poor, sometimes lead a prayer meeting, sometimes preach, and I always make it a practice to give away tracts whenever I can. Do you not think that this will lessen the score, and give me acceptance with God?

Oh, listen to me, dear deceived friend, your eyes are verily blinded by Satan, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine into your poor deluded soul. Are not the words of Christ positive and conclusive, "there is none good but God;” “they had nothing to pay"? Wilt thou bow to this, O man? All your boasted goodness and doings, are but the expression of your pride, and rejection of the truth of God which informs you of your state before Him! It informs you that you are an absolutely bankrupt sinner. Will you condescend to own that Christ has shown more wisdom than you, poor self-righteous sinner? He there illustrates in this verse what you are exactly before the God of truth; moreover, He states that you have not a single fraction to pay off the mighty score; or in other words, that your sins and guilt rise up like a mighty mountain between you and God, and that all your goodness cannot remove one particle of it.

Are you persistently saying still, in that heart of yours, that you are able to pay the debt? Then you are verily disputing with the Son of God! He tells you that you are verily a bankrupt sinner, with nothing to meet the claims of your creditor—God, and you say that you have. Miserable mistake consummate folly! blinding obstinacy! on the part of any poor sinner thus to act!

But what does the creditor do? Let us read, “And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both." Here we see God acting in the sovereignty of His own grace and love—frankly and eternally forgiving. The poor debtors are the subjects of His own abundant mercy, and the recipients of His goodness. The extremity and absolute ruin of marl as a sinner, is the grand opportunity for God to display what is in His heart—viz., to save sinners.

Ah, but stay, is not God righteous and just in all His ways? How then can He so freely pardon, and at the same time maintain that righteousness? Let us gaze at the Cross of Calvary, and we shall get a divine answer, and the difficulty be solved. God's priceless and spotless Lamb was slain there as the sinner's substitute; God's righteous judgment against sin was poured out upon Him. Forsaken of God, and brought down to the dust of death, the death of the Cross, Jesus laid the imperishable ground of the sinner's pardon and salvation. God has raised Him up, and set Him in brightest majesty at His own right hand; now declaring His righteousness, in freely, fully, and eternally pardoning and justifying those who put their trust in His Son.

Dear reader, are you trusting in the Son of God? If not, the facts of eternity, of having to meet God, urge you to put your trust in Him without delay. Delay may launch your priceless soul into the flames of an ever-burning and yet unconsuming hell. Remember God frankly, fully, and eternally pardons those who simply trust in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. "To him give all the prophets witness, that, through his name, whosoever believeth in him SHALL receive remission of sins" (Acts 10:43). E. A.

Different Effects of the Same Truth

THERE is something very remarkable in the way in which the same truth, listened to in the same place and at the same time, affects different individuals.

A number of years ago it was my privilege to preach the gospel of God's grace to a congregation twelve times larger than the one the Lord Jesus preached to at the well of Sychar. Of these five-twelfths had already become recipients of that grace, and the remainder as yet were in nature's darkness. The address ended, my little congregation began to speak one to another, after the manner usual at such cottage meetings, when suddenly one of them, a girl about eighteen years old, with whom I had had a good deal of previous conversation, came up to where I was standing, and holding out her hand, asked me with much animation to thank God for her, for He had that night saved her soul. She had with much simplicity believed the glad tidings to which she had just listened, and so had turned to God.

After talking a little to her, my attention was directed to a young man, with whom I had also had much previous conversation, and who was standing near us, apparently wrapped in deep thought, and so walking up to him I said, “Now, L—, how is it with you? Have you too accepted Christ? “He bowed his head, and gravely gave me to understand he had. Two souls out of seven brought to the Lord! I felt very happy.

But the tale was not yet complete. Next morning I was on my way to visit the girl, when I saw her father plowing, and he, leaving his plow in the furrow, came to the fence and told me, that having stayed at home to look after the little ones, so that his wife might be able to go to the meeting, he had gone early to bed and fallen asleep, when his wife came into the room, and awakening him out of his sleep, told him—what she had not had the courage to tell to me—that she also was saved. There was great joy in that house, and far greater joy in heaven, for there they could more thoroughly appreciate the value of the truth, that in one night three souls had passed from death unto life.

But what of the remaining four unconverted ones? The youngest sister was present also at the meeting where her mother and sister were brought to God. How did the truth to which they had all listened affect her? So far as I could learn, just as much as it might have affected her had she been a marble statue instead of a being of flesh and blood. And the other three, what of them? Two of them went away mocking at the solemn truths to which they had just listened, while as for the other I learned nothing.

Now why is this? How does it happen that the same truth spoken by the same preacher, listened to in the same place and at the same time, should produce such different results? Why should it become the savor of life unto life unto one, and of death unto death unto another, and that too in the same family? Had God anything to do with this? Of course He had. "Salvation is of the Lord.” Had Satan anything to do with it? Certainly. “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost; in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." Then it was God who opened the eyes of the three, and the god of this world who blinded the minds of the four. But what of these seven persons? Are we to understand that they were mere puppets, to be acted upon by a power outside themselves, whether for good or evil? Surely not. They were intelligent and responsible beings, to whom a message from God had that evening been delivered by one of His servants, and that message was nothing more than "the old old story of Jesus and His love," and amounted simply to this, that Christ had died for sinners, that all who believed on Him would be saved, while none but He could save them. The whole of them ought to have believed that message, but only three of them did, consequently the three were saved then find there, and the four left the place unsaved, and will remain unsaved until they accept the message.

But how did the god of this world manage to blind the minds of these four people? Very simply. God in His gospel pointed them to Christ, and said, Look unto Him, and be saved; look unto Him, and eternal life is yours; look unto Him, and heaven is your home. What particular object Satan set before them on that eventful night, I know not; but this I feel assured of, he got them to look elsewhere. What he ever aims at—and alas! with fearful success—is to prevent the light of the glorious gospel of Christ from shining into the heart. Only keep out that, and his end is accomplished, for there is none other name given among men whereby we can be saved but the name of Jesus. Satan is not afraid of religion; it is Christ he fears. Religion without Christ is one of his favorite and most successful instrumentalities for ruining souls. I scarcely think, however, that it was religion that he made use of on the occasion now referred. I rather think it must have been the world pure and simple, because three-fourths of the unsaved ones were young. And this is his favorite wile. When Christ is preached he sets the world, with all its glare and glitter, before the heart, and thus draws it away. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, prays that the eyes of their heart might be enlightened (chap. 1:18, Revised Version); but what the god of this age aims at, is to darken the eyes of the heart. A penny put close to the eye will hide the sun, although a penny is a very small object, and the sun a very large one; so the world put before the heart prevents the sinner seeing Christ.

And now comes the question, Which of the two should men listen to, God or the devil? God says that true and permanent happiness is not to be found apart from Christ; the devil teaches that it may be found in the world. Reader, which do you believe? The God who cannot lie, or he who was a liar and a murderer from the beginning? H. M.

Do You Know the Lord Jesus Christ?

BELOVED reader, how will you answer the above question? Your heart answers it, if your lips do not. No question ever came up before you of so great importance. The deep, the infinite importance, the solemn necessity of your knowing the Lord Jesus Christ, cannot be measured by any human mind. O may you consider this weighty question now—this moment, till it begins to take root in your soul.

Just ponder this,—"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou halt sent" (John 17:3).

Say, beloved reader, do you know Him? To know Him, is to have eternal life; not to know Him, is eternal death. In Him is life, and in no other. And to know Him, is to have Him; and to have Him, is to have eternal life. "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" (1 John 5:12). So you see here is His own word for it. I do not ask, Do you know about Him? but, Do you know Him? Do you know Him? You may know a great deal about a person, and yet not be at all acquainted with the person. No amount of knowledge about Christ will give life; it is /mowing Him. Praying will not give life. Doing the best you can will not give life. Nothing short of the knowledge of the Son of God will.

Beloved reader, the sentence of death is passed upon all men. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Do you bow to this—that death is your portion because you are a sinner, and because God says so? There is no life in man, for he has forfeited that, and God has pronounced His sentence in the cross of Christ. The cross, dear reader, answers every question. There you find what God thinks of man's goodness, and his badness too. His own beloved Son became the substitute for sinful man; and God could not spare Him, but must forsake Him while our sins were upon Him, for He is a Holy God, and cannot look upon sin.

O will you bow to the truth of your condition before God? Be honest to yourself. Hear the earnest appeal of one who loves your soul, yet not as He loves, who loved unto death, who commands you to come to Himself; who beseeches you to come; yea, seeks you to come, and receive His gift of living water.

Yes, dear reader, if you bow in heart and conscience to God's declaration against yourself, He has glorious news for you. You shall be one of the happy favored ones of His mercy. Taking it for granted, beloved, that you do, may the sweet news of that finished work of love on the cross be a healing balm to your wounded soul. Just hear! “When he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high "(Heb. 1:3)." Through this man (Jesus) is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by him all that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:38, 39). “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

God raised Him again from the dead, for He had perfectly satisfied the justice of God against sin; so God can now be just, and the justifier of every one who takes refuge under the atoning blood of Jesus. I am not fit for heaven, but the Lord Jesus is; and I have got Him, because God gives Him to me; and He offers Him to every one who will have Him, for He says in His word, He "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). Yea, He commands you, for He says, "Look unto me and be ye saved.”

O do not throw this down lightly, as a matter of little worth, for upon the reception or rejection of Christ hangs your future destiny. If you reject Him, God will reject you. But tell me, has He not a right to all the affection of your heart? He loved you when you cared nothing about Him, and took all your sins and suffered the judgment due to them, that you might go free and be with Himself forever. Say, does not such love warm your heart? Do you not feel like looking up and saying, Blessed Lord Jesus, Thou art worthy of all my heart? Then praise Him,-thank Him. Open your heart, and let Him fill it. Live for Him, and let Him live in you. Let your whole business be to learn of the fullness of His love. It is the knowledge of that love alone that will keep the heart faithful to Himself. M. A. T.

To know that God has spoken is quite enough for the simple heart. Rahab's faith was founded on God's word, and showed itself in this language, "According unto your words, so be it." Would that every reader of these pages could say the same! W. T. P. W.

The Dying Pharisee

SOME years ago I was asked to call and see a dying man. He was one whom I had known for a long time, and my previous knowledge of his character made me shrink exceedingly from the task. I can only describe his condition as that of a Pharisee, self-righteousness being the prominent feature in his creed. To have to deal with such an one about the salvation of his soul was what I would willingly have avoided. It seemed indeed a hopeless case; but being so urgently entreated to visit W—, I felt it a positive duty, and as such only could I regard it, not feeling any confidence as to the result. But I had to prove that "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." And truly the Lord had His own purpose of grace even for this Pharisee.

First day.—I had been told that the most convenient time to see poor W— was early in the day, so I repaired to his house the next morning. He was suffering from acute bronchitis, and I found him propped up in bed with pillows. His difficulty in breathing was so great, that he could not speak for some minutes after I entered the room. I merely said, "You are very suffering;" but he could not reply, and I sat in silence, feeling my need of guidance as to how I should break it. Here was a soul before me whose days, if not hours, were numbered; I had not the slightest shadow of hope that he was aware of his real condition before God. This was a most solemn consideration, as I felt I must seek to bring it home to him; and the intensity of his bodily suffering, which drew out my sympathy, only made the task more difficult. I could only look up for suited words in which to bring the truth before him.

Whilst I was thus occupied, he looked at me, and at length gasped out, “I can't think why God has so heavily afflicted me.”

He paused, and I still sat silent, having no words in which to answer him. Again he repeated the sentence, adding, “I am no worse than others, and not so bad as many.”

Then I felt that my conviction as to the real state of his soul was confirmed. The Pharisee had declared himself; he was still standing on the soul-destroying ground of his own merits. Fatal delusion, with which Satan lulls the conscience of in any a sinner! But the opportunity I sought was given. He had taken his ground, and I could meet him from God's Word. Drawing my Bible from my pocket, and opening it at the 18th chapter of St Luke's Gospel, I said, “My friend, God drew a moral portrait of you eighteen hundred years ago. I will read it to you." And I began at verse 10. “' Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.' You see God has brought out the very thoughts of your heart. As to your not being as bad as others, what advantage is that to you? It is only the negative side after all. ' Not so bad,' allows that you are bad; and if you have committed but one sin, that is enough to shut you out from God's presence; and if you die as you are, you will surely sink into hell forever.”

Still he maintained his ground; said he had never injured anyone, had been a good husband, a kind father, and much in the same strain. All I could reply was, that this was of no avail; it had nothing to do with what he was in the sight of God. I then sought to show him the contrast between the Pharisee and the publican, urging upon him the necessity of his taking the place of the latter, owning himself a sinner, and casting himself upon the mercy of God. To this he made no reply. His countenance fell, and I saw the enmity of his natural heart fast rising against the truth of God, and the one who was seeking to press it upon him. There was but one thing to do; and turning to him, I said, "Before I leave you, I will kneel down and ask the Lord to remove the scales from your eyes, and give you to see yourself as you really are, that you may be willing to cry, 'God be merciful to me a sinner! ' “After doing this I left, promising to call again the next morning.

Second day.—This was but a repetition of the first. W was in the same condition, both as to body and soul; and feeling that God had given me that Scripture in Luke 18., I again pressed it upon him, but apparently with the same result. I left him again, after praying for him, feeling how helpless is man in such a scene, and how entirely of God is the work of conviction.

Third day.—On paying my visit on the morning of this day, I was struck with horror at hearing that W was insensible. I stood at his bedside, but he was perfectly unconscious, at least to all outward things. He neither saw nor heard me, and I came away, having but one resource,—in God; but how unfailing is that resource! To all appearance, hope was at an end; there had been no change in him the previous day, and now there was no prospect, humanly speaking, of his regaining consciousness. But with God all things are possible, and in this conviction I committed poor W— to Him. Again and again, during that day, did I beseech Him to let His light shine in upon that dark soul, and give him to cry for mercy ere He took him hence. How that prayer was answered, the sequel will unfold.

Fourth day.—The moment I entered W—'s room on the fourth morning, a ray of hope darted through my mind. He was evidently waiting for me, and greeted me with the words, “I did not see you yesterday.”

“No, “I replied," you were not conscious of my presence; though I stood by your bedside you did not see me. But I have been crying to the Lord for you.”

He fixed his eyes upon me, and with tears streaming down his cheeks, he cried in agony of soul, literally smiting upon his breast, " God be merciful to me a sinner "This he repeated twice.

“Thank God,” was my response," that you have taken your true place; now God can meet you, and will assuredly save your soul.”

I then brought before him how the publican, after uttering that cry once, went down to his house justified; referred to the one cry of the thief on the cross, also that of the jailer at Philippi; and how God answered each and all,—showing how the finished work of Christ was the ground upon which He could and did meet them. We looked at Romans 3:20, " Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight." W— had abundantly proved the truth of that scripture, his doings had utterly failed.

And now the glad tidings contained in the following verses were most welcome to his ear, as I dwelt upon " being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,... that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

Still he could not then grasp the fact that he was justified; the Spirit of God was deepening the work of conviction, and giving him a fuller sense of what he was by nature; striking contrast to his previous self-vindication!

And thus I left him, after asking that the God of all grace would speak peace through His own word to this troubled conscience.

Fifth day.—When I arrived at W—'s, and was shown into his room on the morning of the fifth day, I at once saw the change that had taken place in him; the anguished look of the previous day was replaced by one of rest and peace. He held out his hand to welcome me, and grasped mine with a fervor which I could not help contrasting with the reception I had met with during the first two days I visited him, especially on the second clay, when he had actually scowled at me as I broached the subject then so distasteful to his ear; now it seemed as if he could not welcome me warmly enough. He pointed at once to the foot of his bed, where a large sheet of paper was hanging; on it were printed in large typo, the words of that beautiful hymn:

“There is life in a. look at the Crucified One,

There is life at this moment for thee;

Then look, sinner, look unto Him and be saved;

Unto Him who was nailed to the tree.”

With a smile he said, "Isn't that beautiful?” And added, as I was reading it, "And I have got it.”

"How have you been since I left you yesterday morning?”

“Happier and happier!”

“Then you are now like the publican who went down to his house justified." "Yes," he replied, and then told me that during the hours he was lying in a state of unconsciousness as to all around, not even recognizing his own wife, all the sins of his past life were brought before him; deeds and words that he had long forgotten passed in review before his mind. These facts were evidently brought to his mind by the Spirit of God, whose work alone it is to convict man of being a sinner; and this He had been doing with W—. It was when consciousness again returned to him, during the night of the third day, that the terrible fact that he was a lost sinner, beyond the reach of self-recovery, dawned upon his soul, and from that moment was more and more deeply impressed upon his heart. And it was this conviction which had drawn forth that agonized cry with which he had greeted me on the previous day, but which had changed ere I left him into a ray of hope, dim indeed, and scarcely able at times to rise above the despair that he had at first manifested, but struggling with it, and showing the first budding of that God-given faith which sees there is mercy for the sinner with Him. How wonderfully it had grown and ripened, during the hours which had elapsed since I had parted from him, will have been already seen.

The scriptures we had gone over the day before, had been applied by the Holy Ghost with great power to his soul, and, as he expressed it, had been an immense comfort to him. “Last night was the happiest I ever spent in my life 1" was his testimony. He got brighter and brighter, and that in spite of still continued suffering. Then I asked him if he had any hope of recovery. He replied, “No; and I have only one regret—that my life has been a blank; “adding that he had no desire to live, save to make known to others the love of God, which he had so abundantly proved. We spent some time in thanksgiving to Him who had so manifested His love to this ransomed soul, rejoicing together in the sure prospect of meeting in the Father's house, should he have departed ere I could see him again. We were not to meet again on earth. But this brings me to the

Sixth day.—As I neared the house on the following morning and looked up at the window, I saw that the blind was lowered, and that prepared me in some measure for the tidings which greeted me on the threshold: "He is just gone." On inquiring how W— had passed the night, I was told he had spent the greater part of it in prayer for his wife and family, none of whom as yet knew the Lord. Then as the moment of his departure drew near, with eyes fixed upwards, he uttered three words—JESUS— PARDON—PEACE"—and was gone. He had found in the One who bears that blessed name this twofold blessing.

Reader, have you? J. S. L.

Eternal Realities

(Read Rev. 20:11-21:8.)

THIS Scene opens at once with the "great white throne.” Time is no longer, man's day is over your day, my day. Eternity has begun. What is the first thing that meets our gaze here? Blessedness? No. The sweet and blessed portion of one who has believed on the name of Jesus? No. It is the darkness which is the result of slighted grace!

“I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it." Who fills that throne? John tells us, “The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son," and" hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man” (John 5:22, 27).

Will it be any terror to the Christian to be called out of the grave by the voice of the Lord? Oh no; His voice has long been known to him, and it will be joy to him to hear it then, calling him up to glory.

But this scene is the last of Christ's session, the last action of the judgment-seat. The Christian will have been long since manifested there to get his reward: not a cup of cold water given in Christ's name will be forgotten. But the great white throne is different entirely from that, and that is why, my beloved unsaved reader, I wish you never to be there. God is beseeching you, pleading with you, but your heart is pre-occupied with the vanities and frivolities of the world. 'Alas you have only turned a deaf ear to Him. It is Jesus, who hung upon Calvary's tree in agonies and blood, who will then righteously judge those who refuse to let Him save them now. Mark this, you will be judged by Him if you do not let Him save you. The believer's sins were all borne by Jesus, they are put away, and that is why he will never come into judgment. There will be no sins to talk about then.

That throne is of dazzling purity, spewing that no sin can be allowed there, no sinner spared, and only sinners will be there in their sins. The day of mercy is gone by, the silvery voice of grace is silent. Alas! for every soul who is there, his doom is surely fixed.

Ah, sinner, it is time you were roused, time you waked up. Not one prayer will break from your lips in that day, you will have nothing to say. You will remember then that you have despised God's grace, abused his mercy, refused His salvation, and then you must taste his judgment. God “has appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained." So said the Apostle in old Athens, and so says the Holy Ghost in this day. There is before you, sinner, a day of judgment. I want you to escape it.

“I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face heaven and earth fled away; and there was found no place for them." Is Christ then so terrible? Ah no; I, a poor vile sinner, fled to Him, and He saved me. But there all things are brought out in their true colors, and they flee. This poor sin-stained earth, defiled by Satan, and polluted by man, shall pass away. Peter tells us it is" reserved unto fire." It is the Holy Ghost's verdict; and these three words faith sees indelibly carved on all that man has erected and boasts in.

“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God." Who are they? God's children? No, none of God's children will be there. His children have part in the first resurrection." Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power." There are two resurrections; the first is after the pattern of Christ's, and includes every one who has been redeemed by Him, and it takes place before the millennium. After the 1000 years are ended comes the resurrection of the dead, when the throne is filled by Christ—God and man; not less God, because He is man. The answer to those who call on His name now is, that they get linked with Him who was judged for them on the Cross, and they, therefore, will never come into judgment.

If you do not know Christ as your Saviour now, you must stand before Him then, and sustain the judgment of your sins. Called by His voice, you must rise; body and soul are brought together again, God knows how. When you have passed from this scene, sinner, you must face Him in the body (changed though it will be), and own all the sins you have committed in it, that you are ashamed now your fellow-creatures should know of. Do not think, my young friends, that you will escape in that day; you are not too young to die, nor too young to believe.

Next, we find "the books were opened." There will be no mistake; there may be ten thousand John Browns, but you, the particular John Brown, will be found out. The book of life will be searched in vain for your name; but there is no believer whose name will not be found in it. Oh, you say, I have had my name on the communion-roll. That is not the book of life. The books are opened and searched in vain; there is nothing to prove that you have eternal life, and everything to prove, by your deeds, that you have not; so you are judged according to your works. You were born in sin, you lived in sin, you died in sin. There will be the record of many deeds; of many times listening to the gospel, very likely, but you slighted it, thought the preacher a fool, went on in your unbelief, died, were buried, and then, raised, you will be judged, and condemned to everlasting punishment. You will find then that you were the fool, and not Christ's Evangelist who sought to turn you to the Lord.

Young man, wake up; believe the gospel and you shall be saved. The simple soul says, I will make it impossible that I shall ever stand there and be judged, because I will turn to Jesus now, and His will receive me, and forgive my sins.

But more, "The sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hades delivered up the dead which were in them." The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. How is it destroyed? By the resurrection of the wicked. It is annulled now for the believer by the death of Christ, but then it is destroyed. Not one shall be left in the grave. The murderer and his victim will meet there, the father and his godless son shall face each other, the swindler and his dupe stand side by side. Oh what a meeting that will be, as they stand together, and the secrets of every heart are unfolded!

Not a soul that stands there can be saved, for "whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Whosoever: you have heard often that word before. "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely," has often fallen on your ears. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life," is familiar to you. "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved," makes it clear that any one who hears and believes the Gospel, shall have present and eternal blessing. Let not this world-wide grace lead you to delay, for it is also written, "whosoever was not found ' written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Oh, "make your calling and election sure.

Something brighter is seen now, "a new heaven and a new earth," and "wherein dwelleth righteousness," as Peter says. This is their new state before God. The former are “passed away, and there was no more sea." The sea has broken more hearts than anything else, I suppose, and made countless widows and orphans. What a thought is conveyed to the heart, of eternal stability and rest, by the words, "there was no more sea”

But next, John sees the Bride, the Lamb's wife. The Bride is the Church of God, composed of every believer who has been washed in the Saviour's blood, and sealed by the Holy Ghost. It is presented here under the figure of a city. She has gone up into heaven a thousand years before, but there is not a gray hair nor a wrinkle on her, i.e., there is neither age nor decay. Oh bright and blessed portion for every believer's heart! Sorrow, trial, and pressure change the earthly brides, but there is none here. We shall be like Jesus, and shall never lose our likeness. " Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word; that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy, and without blemish " (Eph. 5:25-27). How does He take out the spots? By His own blood. It is a figure of the perfection of the work of Christ, applied to all who believe in His name.

Oh, do not you want to read your title clear to this scene of joy? Every believer will be there. Some whom we tenderly loved have passed away from us, but we shall see them again in the beauty and radiance of Christ. Never shall a tear roll down the cheek any more, neither shall there be any more pain. Tell me, would you not like to be there? Look at this beautiful city; it has no need of the sun to lighten it, for the Lamb is the light thereof. The hymn says, —

"All taint of sin shall be removed,

All evil done away,

And I shall dwell with God's Beloved

Through God's eternal day.”

The tabernacle of God, this Bride is called also. It is the place where God dwells, and it is formed by the Holy Ghost. Men are afraid of God now; they do not like to hear His name. Just mention it in a railway carriage,—people look up from their novels to stare at you. Speak more closely, tell of the value of Christ's blood, of His name; they do not like it, they get uneasy. And when you get out at your station, they are relieved; the restraint is gone, and they say, “How entirely out of place all that was; this is not the time nor the place for these subjects." Is this not true? Of course it is; I have seen it many times. But here God dwells with men, and they shall be His people.

When Jesus was born in this world, there was a plot made to destroy Him; and the first time that He preached in His own city, Nazareth, they led Him to the brow of the hill, to cast Him down. Often did they lay plots to take His life, till at last they got Pilate to condemn Him, though he knew He was innocent. But here heaven and earth are in perfect unison. God dwells with men, and men rejoice to have Him dwelling with them.

Where will you spend eternity, my reader? You do not know? Well, thank God, I do. I shall be in the midst of that scene where there will be no more tears. This world began with tears, we may say, when Adam and Eve were turned out of Eden. In hell tears roll plentifully, for " there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth." Oh sinner, who will dry your eyes in hell? There will be no hand stretched out to comfort you there. You are beyond even the reach of God then.

“There shall be no more death," we also find. Death, that has so severely robbed and smitten us here, is no more. Life, eternal life, is in perennial force. Everything is after the pattern of God's own mind, and "the former things are passed away.” Jesus said on the cross, "It is done;" and He says it again here, “It is done; I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end." Everything that marked our history down here is gone forever.

Then God adds a precious word for a thirsty soul: “I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." To "give," and "freely” also, is just God's character.

The Holy Ghost then turns for a moment to show the final terrible fate of the unbeliever. Have you ever studied that list in the eighth verse of Rev. 21.? Who are "the fearful and the unbelieving"? They are, I believe, by far the largest class of that doomed list. The "fearful" person is a timid one not a dreadful person. A young man says, "If I confess Christ, I may lose my situation, and I shall get laughed at." Surely he is a "fearful" person. A girl reasons thus, "I may lose much that I prize now, and must turn my back on the world that so charms me, if I decide for Christ." She too, alas, is of the company of the "fearful.”

“The fearful and the unbelieving" are around us on all hands. How many sit and hear the gospel hundreds of times, and are unconverted yet! My reader, if yet "fearful" or "unbelieving," see your fate for eternity. Do you like it? Oh no, you say, I do not. Then hear this, "I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." What are you to do? If you are wise, you will "take" freely what God "gives" in the same way; and that is salvation. Jesus gives, and you take; that is all. "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Oh beloved reader, Jesus gives; do you take? Will you not take Him for your Saviour? Take this living water now, I beseech you, and escape from the doomed company of "the fearful and the unbelieving.”

What a wonderful thing to know God's salvation now! Dear reader, do not rest till you are in the full enjoyment thereof. May your soul be settled, and able to say, Thank God, I shall never stand at the great white throne to be judged, for Jesus is my Saviour. W. T. P. W.

The Fit Man

"And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness."—LEV. 16:21.

THE passage of God's word here quoted, tells us of the gracious way in which He met the needs of the people in their wanderings through the wilderness.

There was, on the one hand, the Holy God in all His Divine purity, and, on the other, men and women like ourselves, sinful and sinners, and although God had made abundant provision for His people, and appointed the offerings they were to bring when they knew and owned their sin, there must still have been many sins committed which had been forgotten, and consequently no offering had been brought for them.

But in His eyes, with whom we have to do, these were sins as much as any others, and must be put out of His sight; accordingly He provides for them in the verse at the head of this paper Three distinct words are used, so as to take in every sin committed by Israel during the year, "All the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins.”

God directs that all these shall be confessed over the head of the scapegoat, and then it is to be sent away, by the hand of a fit man, into the wilderness, bearing away on its head all these iniquities, transgressions, and sins, to a land not inhabited, out of the sight of God and of the people too. This striking type we find wonderfully answered to in the New Testament by Christ Himself, of whom it is written, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many" (Heb. 9:27, 28). And again! "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).

And we know from the narrative of the Gospel, that God turned His face away from the Sin-bearer; for although He was Himself absolutely sinless, He was made sin, and God could not look upon sin, even if it were His own Son who bore it.

But there is no divine tranquility for the Israelite as long as that goat walks about in the camp with all these sins on its head; they must be put out of God's sight and Israel's too.

So now we get the "fit man," or as the margin gives, it, the "man of opportunity." Any man picked out at random would not do; it must be one who could be trusted not to lose sight of the goat until it was in a place "not inhabited," and from whence it could not return into the camp of Israel with the people's sins on its head.

The Lord Jesus Christ is God's "fit Man," God’s “Man of opportunity," for in Gal. 4:4 we read, “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.” “Made of a woman," to meet your need and mine, dear reader, as children of Adam; " made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons; " " fit," because He alone, as the sinless One, could bear my sins; and the "Man of opportunity," because He came in "the fullness of time.”

Do you thus know the Lord, dear friend? Can you say, He bore my sins in His own body on the tree? They must all be put out of God's sight before you can receive the adoption of a son.

Yes, all your iniquities and all your transgressions in all your sins must go, and God in His grace has provided One who is "fit" to take them away into a place not inhabited, and return without them.

He too is the "Man of opportunity;" and how blessed for us, for however "fit" He might have been, He would have been of no avail for us if the “opportunity" had passed before He came; so too He might have presented Himself with the opportunity, but unless He had been the "fit Man" He would have been no use.

Take, for example, the Israelites when face to face with the Philistines (1St Sam. 17.). There are many men of valor amongst them,—a Saul, an Eliab, an Abner,—all mighty men, and here was the opportunity; but they lacked the fitness to meet the giant on his own ground; only God's "fit man” could do that; but God does provide the "fit man,” the "man of opportunity," in the person of David.

Dear reader, let me ask you now, Has the One of whom David is only a figure—David's Son and David's Lord—been the "Man of opportunity" for you? He is God's "it Man," and unless He had come when He did as God's "Man of opportunity,” we should not be here to tell the tale.

But has He been the "Man of opportunity" for you? You, personally and individually, my friend, are your sins gone out of God's sight, borne away by Him, or are they still on you? The Lord Himself said of those who should die in their sins. “Whither I go, ye cannot come" (John 8:21).

The Lord is "fit" for two things—to be a Saviour for those who receive Him (John 1:12), and also to be the Judge of those who do not (Acts 17:31). May you, dear reader, know Him as God's "fit Man” for salvation, not as God's "ordained Man" for judgment. Beware too lest you let the opportunity pass; for if you refuse the "fit Man" provided by God, there is no other that can deliver. J. R. B.

The Flash of Lightning; or, One Taken and the Other Left

A REMARKABLE example of the abundant grace of God is found in the case of J— D— of W—, a poor illiterate man, who had sunk, under the captivity of the devil and the awful dominion of sin, into most degrading ways, and become the sport and entertainment of other revelers in evil. A constant attendant at the public-houses in the village where he lived, he was in the habit of doing all kinds of out-of-the-way feats for the sake of drink. Amongst other attainments, he excelled in the biting off of beer mug handles, and the smashing of a glass between his teeth, until the blood flowed from his cut lips. Roars of laughter, and wicked and foolish jests accompanied these performances, and J— D—would return to his miserable home, drunk and penniless, often to fall out with his wife; sometimes, when worse than usual, to strike or fight with her.

This course of life continued for a long time, and doubtless Satan thought to lead his victim on, with thousands more, till death should come, and the lake of fire be his awful doom forever (Rev. 21:8). But God, who is rich in mercy (Eph. 2:4), had set His heart of love upon this poor slave of the wicked one, to make him a monument of His mighty power and grace, for the glory of His own great name.

One day in harvest time, J— D—was sent by his master, a farmer, with a number of other men, to gather in a field of barley. The weather was unsettled, with occasional storms. In the course of his work, D— was in the act of stooping over some stalks of barley, when suddenly, from a small dark cloud that had gathered above their heads, there came a vivid flash of lightning, followed by a violent peal of thunder. D— was knocked down to the ground, as though by a blow on the back of the neck, partly stunned, but not hurt. As he fell, he was conscious that a young fellow-laborer, some six yards or so off, was also pitched forward over the sheaves. The other men ran to the spot to lift him up, but found to their horror and dismay that he was a lifeless corpse. The lightning had struck him on the upper part of his body, finishing its deadly work in his foot, upon which there was a large burnt wound. In an instant, without the slightest warning, his course on earth was closed, and his soul launched from time into eternity.

D—, recovering himself slightly, and finding his companion dead, was filled with terror. Falling upon his knees, then and there, he began earnestly to implore God for mercy. He thought that his end as to this world had come too, and that He was about to strike him dead also. The men led him away, in a very scared state, his body unhurt, but his soul greatly distressed. God had come in, in this deeply solemn manner, to arouse him to a sense of his sinful and lost state (Rom. 3:19, Luke 15.). Death, sin's wages, had overtaken the one; but, in His infinite mercy, He had spared the other. D—was conscious of this, and that God might also righteously have cut him off in his sins, and cast him into hell. But space was given him to repent.

Blinded, however, by Satan, as yet he was completely ignorant of God's plan of saving sinners, and for the moment only followed the thoughts and devices of his own deceived heart. The clergyman of the parish invited him to come to his church, and he would return thanks to God for sparing his life. D— did so, and continued to go, on and off, for several months, in the hope that his good and religious behavior of the present would make up, at least in some measure, for the misdeeds of the past. But all in vain. The fears of a guilty and awakened conscience are not to be allayed by religious doings. The mere external form of godliness is no solace for an anxious sinner. Reformation will neither put our sins away, nor bring us to God (1 Pet. 3:18). It is "not by works of righteousness which we have done" (Titus 3:5). "Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:9). So found poor D—.

But the same God of all grace, who had aroused this guilty culprit, as related above, was still following him in His wondrous love, and in His own time and way brought him to the knowledge of Himself.

One day some evangelists arrived in the village where D— lived, and commenced preaching the glad tidings of God's grace to sinners, in a large room. Numbers flocked to hear the Word; amongst them D—'s wife. Pleased with what she had heard, she returned home, and when the time came for the next meeting, pressed her husband to go too. He went, and listened with rapt attention to the address. The subject was the conversion of the Philippian jailor. The preacher described in earnest tones the scene in Acts 16., the state of the godless jailor, hardened in sin, and how God sent a great earthquake to awaken this great sinner, leading to his anxious cry, " Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" He also referred to the terrible earthquake at Lisbon, when thousands were engulfed by the earth and sea, and cut off in their sins. D— was fairly broken down before God, deeply convicted of his sins, until his distress of soul became almost unbearable.

At the close of the meeting, a Christian in the room spoke to him, and perceiving the anxiety under which he labored, called the attention of the preacher. For some time they pressed upon him, from the Word, God's own way of saving sinners, through faith in His beloved Son, and then together knelt down before Him, asking His blessing. D— rose from His knees, resting on Christ and His finished work, proving the truth of the apostle's words to the jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," &c. (Acts 16:31).

This was a bright moment indeed for poor D—. God had not only awakened, but saved him. In a moment, all his guilt was blotted out by the precious blood of God's dear Son, and his soul filled with joy and peace in believing (Rom. 15:13). D— returned home that night, not merely an altered man, but a saved man; a sinner saved by grace (Eph. 2:5-8). The charm of the public-house was gone, and not a meeting was held for the spread of the Word but what D—, if possible, was present. And his whole course of life and ways are now a proverbial witness amongst his fellow-villagers, to the mighty change wrought in him by the Spirit of God.

And now, my reader, having told you the story of God's grace to this poor guilty one, let me ask you a plain question. How is it with you? Do not, I pray you, put this paper down without replying. Many read with interest and avidity the story about others, but avoid the application to themselves, like the elder son in the story of the prodigal, who asked what those things meant, but himself turned away, and refused the joys that were as free to him as to the guilty prodigal.

My reader, this same blessing of which you have read, is offered freely to you, also. Whatever your character—good, bad, or indifferent—according to men's thoughts, or whatever your religious creed, you need Christ as your Saviour. Have you received Him? Are you still at a distance from God, reveling in sin, or propping yourself up with a false religious profession; or have you come back to Him? He waits to welcome, pardon, save, all who come by Christ alone. Whoever you are, wherever you are, and whatever you have been or done, you need to be cleansed by the precious blood of Christ, to enable you to stand before Him. "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). This was proved by J— D—

"There is a stream of precious blood,

Which flowed from Jesus' veins;

And sinners plunged beneath that flood

Lose all their guilty stains.”

Then, will you trust therein?

God has spared you, unconverted reader, and still pleads with you, inviting you to come to the Saviour to-day. But beware how you trifle with His grace. Death may overtake you, as it over-took the companion of poor D—, suddenly and unexpectedly. “Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee "(Job 36:18)." It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:31). But, praise be to His name, it is not yet too late. God offers you now a full and free salvation. Believe, and it is yours. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:31). Then will you be found saying, just as poor D— has often been heard to say since his conversion, “I’ve had many a happy hour since that night." Then,—

Come to the Saviour, make no delay,

Here in our midst He’s standing to-day;

Hear His own accents tenderly say,

Will you, poor sinner, come?”

E. H. C.

THE love of a young convert to Christ is apt to be exuberant, and this is a very refreshing thing.

As the soul deepens in the sense of Divine grace, the joy and love are quieter, but they need not be less real and true. W. T. P. W.

Forgiveness of Sins

GOD never forgives sin, He must judge it; then how can He forgive you your sins?

There is but one answer to this question: there was but the one way in which God could be just, and the justifier of poor guilty sinners who believe in Jesus, and that was through the Cross,—through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

It was at the Cross God judged sin, in making His own Son who knew no sin to be sin for us, that not only He might be able to forgive the sinner, but that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ.

It is a blessed thing to see that God has thus a righteous ground to act on, in His dealings with poor sinners who believe in Jesus.

Now, have you any sins to be forgiven? Are you not guilty, by your own acts of disobedience and lawlessness? For sin is just doing your own will, and every one of us has a will which " is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Rom. 8:7); and so it is certain that everyone has sinned, indeed it says so in Rom. 3:23, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” You may attempt to justify yourself, and say you have not sinned, but God knows you, and says you have sinned.

Guilty, lost sinner, how are you to have your sins forgiven? How can you be quite sure they are forgiven? Come with me to the Cross. Look at the One who hangs there between two thieves. Listen to His cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46.) Surely when Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the only perfect Man who ever lived, and who perfectly glorified God in all His ways and acts here, is thus forsaken of God, He may well ask why?

If God forsook you or me, we could not ask why He had done so, our consciences would soon tell us. But Jesus to be forsaken of God! we may well ask why it is so.

Can you answer His question? Can you tell why God has thus forsaken His Son Jesus? He had no sins of His own to be forsaken for, He could not sin; then whose sins was He bearing, that God thus hid His face from Him? Can you tell? Can you point to a needy guilty sinner, whose sins have thus brought Jesus to the Cross? Can you point to anyone who can say, “He was wounded for my transgressions, he was bruised for my iniquities, the chastisement of my peace was upon him, and with his stripes I am healed"? For in this way faith takes hold of the verse quoted (Isaiah 53:5), and applies it to oneself.

“Yes," you say,” it must have been my sins He died for, for I know no one more needy, or guilty, than I am myself. I need search no further to find whose sin it is, that has brought Him to the Cross. The Word says, He died for the ungodly,' for 'sinners,' for those `without strength' (Rom. 5.), and that is just my description.”

It is blessed thus to see that Jesus bore your sins in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24); for now you know why He was forsaken of God, and now you see how God has punished Him in your stead, that He might forgive you all your sins, and never punish you for them.

Just look again at the Cross; there Jesus hangs, forsaken of God, because He is bearing your sins, because He has them all on Him.

Next He dies; His precious blood is shed, which cleanseth us from all sin, and He is laid in the grave; but the third day dawns, and the stone is rolled back to show that the grave is empty. God has raised Him from the dead, and now He has gone into Heaven, entered in “by his own blood “(Heb. 9:12). He might have gone in at any time, in virtue of His own perfectness, but he would have been alone (see John 12: 24), so He chose to enter in "by his own blood," that He might take us with Him; and He has done so, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For where are the sins now that were on Him on the Cross? Why, they must all be blotted out, or else He could not be in Heaven. “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins" (1 Cor. 15:17). But Christ is raised, and so the believer has divinely-given certainty that his sins are gone forever. Read what God says in Heb. 10:11-17.

Well, you say, “But what about my daily sins? I sin every day, and I find my heart as bad as ever." That is because the flesh is not changed. In the sight of God you have no sins on you, but you have sin (the evil nature of the flesh) in you. This God has condemned in the Cross, “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh" (Rom. 8:3). Note, it is sin, not sins, that is spoken of; sin is the nature, sins are the acts of that nature. God has thus made an end of us in the Cross. All we were in the flesh has come to an end judicially there, being judged, condemned, and crucified with Christ. He who is our life has died, and we are accounted before God to have died with Him. Hence we are no longer in the flesh, but our new place and standing before God is in Christ risen from the dead, where there is no condemnation (Romans 8:1). We are entitled to reckon ourselves “to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Thus we are free, that sin should no more reign in our mortal body to obey its lusts, but that we may yield ourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead. (See Rom. 6:6-13.) But the sorrow is, that in doing this, we all fail daily.

Now, if I fail, if I sin, my standing before God is not altered in the slightest. It is in Christ, and hence it never changes. Another thing, I have been brought into the relationship of a child with God; so if I sin,—which I should not do (there is no excuse for doing it),—God deals with me as an erring child, and I come under the Father's discipline, till I judge myself and confess my sin, and communion is restored. And in His unspeakable grace, to bring about this restoration, or rather the self-judgment that leads to it, "we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). It does not say an advocate with God, but an advocate with the Father, bringing out that, although I have sinned, my relationship with God is unaltered. And note, it says, “if any man sin; "not," if any man confess." In other words, the advocacy of Christ, which is in effect the word brought home to my conscience to make me judge myself, is, when I sin, to bring me to confess it according to what 1 John 1:9 says, " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Confession involves that I take the Father's side against myself, and unsparingly condemn myself for the careless unwatchful walk that led to my sinning; for not having lived to God in the first instance, then for having sinned in the second. See what Gal. 5:16 says, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." Thus the saint that is careful to walk in the Spirit—living to God in the common things of daily life—will find his happy liberty in doing the will of God in obedience, instead of fulfilling the lust of the flesh.

If Christ bore our sins on the Cross, they are all gone now, or else He could not be in heaven. If God made an end of us in the Cross, and condemned sin in the flesh there, He has given us a new place before Him in the risen Christ, and brought us into a new relationship with Himself, which we enjoy by the Holy Ghost given to dwell in us. The Holy Ghost in us is our power to live to God, according to this new place and relationship. Hence there is no excuse for us to sin. We should not sin, but if any man sin, blessed be His name, we have an Advocate with the Father.

Reader, are your sins forgiven? M.

Four Consequences of Divine Love

(Read 1 John 4:7-19.)

HERE are many exceedingly beautiful points in this passage; but I will only touch on four of them. There is little of ourselves here; all is about God,— what He is, and what He does.

Naturally, neither you nor I have any confidence in God, It was want of confidence in God that led Eve to parley with Satan. The moment there is any parley with the devil, he gets bolder. All the family of Eve have got their father's and mother's likeness stamped in their hearts,—want of confidence in God. And that is where the gospel comes in. What does it open up to us? I know a poet has written of "Paradise Regained,” but it is false. The gospel opens up to us God's paradise, not man's. He displays what He is in Himself, in the life and ways of His Son. What begets confidence in our hearts is this, — the discovery of what is in God's heart.

In this epistle, God does not say, He loves us; He proves it. You may slight the love of God, you may scorn it, you may trample it underfoot, but you can't deny it; God is love!

Whence comes love? from the heart of man No from the heart of God. Is there any true genuine love in your heart to any of God's people? It comes from God. If there be love in your heart to any of God's people, it will come out. “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren" (chap. 3:14). Not because we say we are converted, but because we love. We cannot know God, and be born of Him, without these blessed characteristics coming out in us. Can you say you love? Then I will tell you something better,—you are a child of the Father. Is there anything better in this world than to know God? He is revealed in the person and life of His Son. “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." “He that loveth not, knoweth not God." You cannot get in contact with Him without loving Him. It is the first mark of a converted soul.

What an awful thing not to know God! Do you know Him? Don't say what you know about Him; what you have learned in the Sunday school. You may teach a parrot to say things. God has come near to you in the person of His Son. He comes near to you this hour by this paper in your hands; but there is something in your heart that turns away from Him. "He that loved?, not, knoweth, not God.”

Look how the apostle, in this passage, unfolds four things. In the ninth verse, there is the love of God manifested in sending His Son that we might live through Him. You cannot say God does not love you; you dare not say it. You ask, Why? I answer, Because you are part of the world.

1. Life

In the ninth verse there is something God wants you to get which you have not got—life; and in the tenth verse, He wants you to get rid of something which you have got—sins. Had I written this, I am sure I should have put the tenth verse before the ninth, i.e., put the question of my sins first. But no, there is a deeper thing, the fact that I have not life,—eternal life. “In him was life." No one else had life; life was found alone in Jesus.

What is the state that Scripture describes as true of us? In death! “dead in trespasses and sins." I grant you you have natural life, but you cannot be sure of it for twenty-four hours. I press this, that you have an eternal existence. You will last as long as God lasts; but that is not eternal life. Eternal life is being with Christ—knowing Him; not merely eternal existence.

Think of it, sinner; God saw us in our ruined state, loved us notwithstanding all, and sent His Son to bring us out of it. Eternal life is association with Christ. What does the gospel present? There is a dead man, and God sends His Son to give him life. He might have left us alone. What an awful thing to be left alone! But, ah! blessed be His name, He brought in a remedy. “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” What we have not got, He sends His Son to communicate; we get all through Christ; we are shut up to Christ.

But you say, What about the law? Could the law give life? Not Christ gives life; having gone into death, He has brought life and incorruptibility to light. A living Jesus will not do. We hear a great deal of a living Jesus, and very beautiful it is to trace His life and ways on earth; but He must die, for “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God," hence we get:—

2. Propitiation

Not only does God propose to give me that which will fit me for His presence, but he says, Sinner, you have something about you that will keep you out of my presence. So He sends His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us." When did He give Him? When we were sinners. I have got the positive and the negative side in the gospel; the positive, in what God gives,—the moment you believe, you have it; the negative is, my sins are all taken away. He sent His Son, a propitiation for our sins. Do you believe that? The ninth verse gives us His life; the tenth gives us His death. On the cross Jesus makes propitiation for sin. He was made sin who knew no sin. He was there, pouring out His soul unto death, meeting all God's claims against sin. Look at it; the Son of the very God you have sinned against, has made propitiation for the very sin that would have brought you into eternal damnation. Now He is exalted and gone on high; the veil is rent; He is gone back as man; the work is all done for which He came to die. Atonement has been effected by Christ, accepted by God, and the fruit—peace—is to be enjoyed by the believing sinner.

What about your sins? you may say. They were borne by Christ. There is the proof of the love of God to me—of the love of Christ, “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." Sin was condemned and sins were blotted out when Christ made propitiation for sin. "Herein is love." Do you want a greater or a better proof of love? The heart that believes can say— I have now got what I had not, and I have lost what I had; I have got life, and lost my sins.

Dear reader, have you been scraping your poor heart to make it fit for God? Oh! but you say It is so simple this way. Yes, it is so simple, so true, because it is so divine. Will you refuse it therefore? There is near to you peace, pardon, salvation—fruit of the Saviour's love.

3. Power

There is another thing God does (v. 13). He gives us of His Spirit, and that is power. The moment you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you cease to be a lost sinner; your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Look at Ephesians 1:13: "In whom, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." In the Acts also:" While Peter spike these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word" (chap. 10:44). On whom? On believers. It is the sinner, who hears and who believes. He says, I need this salvation. His heart gets plowed up. I would like it, he says; I believe it; and God seals that one with the Holy Ghost. If I bought a flock of sheep at the fair, should I drive them home at once? No; I should put a mark on them—my mark—before driving them home. Do you know how God knows His sheep? They have all got the Holy Ghost, and the price He paid for them was the precious blood of Christ. The devil's children have their mark they are spotted with sin. God's children have a lovely mark.

4. Boldness

All this is the fruit of love; God's perfect love. It is love "toward us" (v. 9), love "in us" (v. 12), love "to us" (v. 16), and love "with us" (v. 17); and this gives us our fourth point, boldness. We get another "herein" in the seventeenth verse, “Herein is love with us" (as the margin rightly puts it) "made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment." There are thus four things we get, —life, peace, power (by the Holy Spirit), and boldness in the Day of Judgment. There is no fear in love. God's perfect love casts out all fear, because fear hath torment. There is a saying we all know, “When poverty comes in at the door, love flies out at the window;" but we can say, When love comes in at the door, fear goes out at the window.

God's perfect love casts out fear, for "As he is so are we in this world." Look at these nine monosyllables. Exactly as Christ is, so is the Christian. When he dies? No. When he has attained to a state of perfection? No, "In this world." I know nothing sweeter to the heart, than to see you peerless Man, who was in death, but is gone back to heaven, at the right hand of God; and God says, “As he is, so are we in this world." There is a saying people think very precious, “For every look you give at self, give ten looks at Christ." But I say, Give Him the eleventh. See Him the Father's delight from all eternity. How is He? Is He on the other side of death? So are we. Is He where no sin can touch Him? So are we. Is He the Father's delight? So are we. If you believe this, you will have life, peace, power, and boldness in the Day of Judgment. I shall be at His side in that day. He is the One who took my judgment on the cross.

“Bold shall I stand in that great day,

For who aught to my charge shall lay?”

If the devil begin in that day to lay any charges against me, I think Christ will hold out His hand with the marks of the nails on it, and say, Look, there is the mark of what I did for him. I died for him; I suffered for him; and I have taken all that belonged to him. That is what the gospel is. He has given us His place, “As he is, so are we in this world." The Lord lead you to rest in Himself, my beloved reader, and thus to walk in the enjoyment of His love till you see Him face to face. W. T. P. W.

General Unbelief As to John 3:16

THERE is no verse in the Bible better known and less believed than this. Every Sunday school scholar almost can repeat it; from our earliest infancy we were taught it, and there is hardly anyone who ever looks at a Bible, but could say it without a mistake.

Yet commonly as it is known, there are no less than three statements in this blessed little verse that most people disbelieve.

God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son." So far people give a nominal assent; they do not question God's love in a general way to the world, or that He expressed it by the gift of His only begotten Son; but it is in what follows, as the effect of this wondrous gift, that infidelity so abounds even amongst professors of religion. There are three points I would notice.

Firstly,—The persons contemplated, "That WHOSOEVER." Here difficulties are immediately raised. "WHOSOEVER" seems too wide a circle. People do not credit this they think salvation is for some favored few, some select number of exceptionally good people, or for the elect. But mark what Jesus says, "That WHOSOEVER." Surely that means anyone under the canopy of heaven, every inhabitant of this globe; the richest or the poorest, the highest or the lowest, the most learned or the most ignorant; the religionist or the profane person; the moral, amiable, and respectable, or the immoral, the vicious, and the profligate; anybody and everybody in "the world" that "God so loved" are here considered, and life eternal offered to ALL. Reader, whoever you are, it includes YOU.

Secondly,—The terms, “That whosoever BELIEVETH IN Him" Here, again, all is doubted, if not emphatically denied. Only to believe! oh, that's too simple! That would be making heaven easily obtained indeed! "No," says the world by general consent, "we must work, and pray, and fast, and attend the means of grace, and keep the commandments, and then perhaps God may have mercy on us.”

But, reader, what will you do then with John 3:16? Why keep this verse in your Bible if you don't believe it? God puts His terms before you, "that whosoever BELIEVETH in Him." "Oh, but," you say, "everyone believes in Him." Stop a little. Does every one believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her own personal Saviour? Is it a real, heartfelt, individual belief in His work and blood-shedding, as having met all God's claims on account of sin; or is it, that people merely assent to the general facts, and go on perfectly indifferent as to their soul's salvation? Remember that believing in JESUS, if it be real, must necessarily shut out any belief in yourself or your own works. It must be Christ ALONE, not Christ and your doings combined.

Reader, God's terms are, that "WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH in Him." Don't try to alter or improve upon them.

Thirdly,—The result, "Should not perish, but HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE' Once more man's notions, or prejudices, or theology, set themselves up against God's infallible word, and unbelief thus argues:—" You don't mean to say that I get everlasting life the moment I believe in the Lord Jesus as my Saviour? "Yes, that is precisely what Jesus DOES say." Oh but what a dangerous doctrine, to tell people that they have everlasting life! What carelessness and sin it would lead to "But is the word of God to be credited or not?

“Well," you say," tell people they WILL have everlasting life if and so long as they go on well and live consistently." But that won't do, for it would make everlasting life not God's gift—which Rom. 6:23 says it is—but a thing to be earned by us, and therefore a thing never to be obtained, for where is the man that lives perfectly for even twenty-four hours? God gives us" everlasting life," and it does not lead to carelessness; but it is God's way of leading people to love Him and serve Him as their greatest joy. GRATITUDE for benefits conferred, and LOVE to the blessed Person who conferred them, is the principle of Christian life and service. Reader, EVERLASTING LIFE is what God gives.

Let us then believe the Lord Jesus Christ as to

(1st) The universality of the love of God in of salvation to ALL;

(2nd) The simplicity of the terms it is to be had upon; and,

(3rd) The blessed fact that it is nothing less than EVERLASTING LIFE that He confers, 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).

J. C. T.

Go to Joseph.

JOSEPH is the most beautiful and complete type of the Lord Jesus, in the days of His humiliation and in the days of His exaltation. The day is not come yet, when God will compel men to give Jesus His due; because God has, what Pharaoh had not, long patience, and the long suffering of the Lord is salvation.

Joseph, you will remember, went out in the guilelessness and love of his heart to meet his brethren (Gen. 37.). They plotted against him to slay him, and at length he was sold to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver, the price of the meanest slave. And I need not remind you of Another, who came from His Father's house to see how His brethren fared, and met with precisely the same treatment,—“His own received him not,"—and at length for thirty pieces of silver He was betrayed, and sold, and then cast out of this world; not into a dungeon, but a grave.

It is true loving hands took Him down from the cross, and placed Him in a sepulcher; but wicked hands sealed Him there, and the world hoped never to see Him again; “but God raised Him from the dead." The One whom men slew, God raised up.

He came in all the love of His heart; but man had no love for Him. I ask you, my reader, Have you any love in your heart for Him? Does He look in and see in your heart affection for Himself? If not, do not you be the one to judge those who cast Him out in the day of His lowliness and humiliation.

As Pharaoh placed Joseph by his own side in his day, and they cried, "Bow the knee" before him (Gen. 41:40-43), so God has placed Jesus at His right hand to-day, and commands men everywhere to bow to Him. Every knee shall bow to Jesus; but God would have you bow your knee—and more, bow your heart—to Jesus now. Have you gone down in His presence, delighted to own His value now, delighted to call Him Lord? If not, the sooner you do, the better will it be for you.

The humiliation of Jesus gave Him a moral claim on God for exaltation, and He has exalted Him, and “given Him a name which is above every name.” There is no name like the name of Jesus. God has declared that all shall own Him Lord,—angels, men, and demons,—and you may be sure all includes you. The demons never owned Him Lord when He was on earth, but the day will come when God will compel them to own Him Lord. And for you, my reader, when is to be your day of owning Him Lord? now, when He is waiting on you in longsuffering grace, or in the day of His power, when you mast bow? "Bow the knee" is God's word to you now.

Doubtless to many a proud Egyptian noble there was great humiliation in having to bow to this Hebrew servant; but the day of famine came, and neither their pride nor their parentage would meet the pangs of famine. Then they cried to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh's word was, “Go to Joseph." And many a soul in trouble cries to God. What is God's answer, as it were? "Go to Jesus.”

Have you, my reader, the sense of soul hunger? God's word is, "Go to Jesus." Do you say, I know what soul hunger is; I would like to be saved, if I knew how to go to Jesus? Look at this interesting narrative, how they came to Joseph.

He was, according to the meaning of his name, Zaphnath-Paaneah, "a revealer of secrets," and “the saviour of the age." And is not this what Jesus is?

Look at Him in the 4th of John, when that poor woman meets Him at the well. Does He not chew Himself to her as the revealer of secrets, when He said to her, "Thou hast had five husbands." Ah Christ knows all about you; Christ knows every sin, and for those who believe in Him he has pardoned every one. Knowing all about us, He loved us; and loving us, He came down to save us.

When the woman found He knew all about her, does she fly? No, she stays and talks with Him, and she is one moment a convicted sinner, and the next Christ reveals Himself to her, and she leaves her waterpot and goes into the city, and says, “Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did; is not this the Christ? " Instead of being afraid of Him, she calls to all to come and know Him too; and they come and find He is not only the revealer of secrets, but the Saviour of the age,—the true Joseph.

Have you come to this Revealer of secrets, this Saviour of the age, yet? Does your conscience answer, No; I have not come to him yet? Why not, my reader? Perhaps you say in your heart, I do not know how He would receive me if I came.

Let us look at how Joseph received his brethren when they came to him in their need.

“Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt" (Gen. 42:1-3). They heard that there was corn in Egypt. They heard that there was deliverance to be had if they could only get it, and they were perishing. They heard there was salvation, and they felt their need, and felt they would like to be saved, but they could not get salvation without going to the saviour. They could not get deliverance apart from the deliverer; they could not get food in their hunger save from Joseph,—Joseph the despised one, the one they had hated, the one they had cast out and sold, but the one whom God had raised up to have every resource in his power, everything that could meet their need.

And you, my reader, do you feel you are in need of salvation? Have you heard of a deliverance which you would like to be yours? Is your soul hungry, and have you heard of "bread enough and to spare?” Have you heard of salvation that others have known, and would you know it too? Then you must come into living contact with the Saviour. It is from the Saviour only you can get salvation. Jesus is that Saviour, and He waits and longs to save you.

Joseph's brethren are in need 'now, and they come to Joseph; and you must do just the same.

“And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth" (v. 6).

They come and bow themselves down to Joseph; and it is a blessed thing when you are compelled, even by your need, to bow to Jesus, for He is the only one who can meet that need.

And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.... And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies. Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.... And he put them all together into ward three days" (vv. 7-17).

His brethren did not know Joseph, but he knew them. He spake roughly to them. They thought he was a hard man. Do you think Christ is an "austere man"? He will tell you what you are; tell you that you are a sinner full of enmity to God, that there is no good thing in you. People do not like that. They do not like to be shown what is in their hearts.

Joseph deals with his brethren as God does with the sinner, for God must get at our consciences, and must make us feel and know what we have been and are. So Joseph's dealings with his brethren arouse conscience, for they say, "We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us" (v. 21).

It is a wonderful thing when the soul is brought to this point, to own itself a guilty sinner before God. God must have reality. Have you, my reader, ever seen yourself thus in the light of God's presence? Has your conscience ever been awakened to cry, I am undone; I am verily guilty?

“And Joseph turned himself about from them and wept." And did not Another greater than Joseph weep over guilty Jerusalem; and not only weep, but shed His precious blood because of the love of His heart?

“Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack" (v. 25). What is the lesson of the money in the sack? That if you are to get salvation, you cannot buy it. You are too poor to buy it, and God is too rich to sell it. Salvation must be God's free gift, and you must have it as a gift, or not have it at all.

Joseph's brethren come back, and tell their father all that Joseph had said; and Jacob refuses to let Benjamin go down with them, for he says, " His brother is dead, and he is left alone; if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.”

But the famine increases. Their need increases; food they must have, or die. Judah offers to be surety for his brother, and Jacob is constrained to let the lad go; but he says, " Do this: take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present.... And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight. Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: And God Almighty give you mercy before the man" (43:11-14).

This is man's way of getting salvation. People think they are going to be saved by propitiating God. They will work, and give alms, and what not. But it will not do. No money will buy salvation, and God does not want appeasing. He is waiting to be gracious, waiting for the moment when He can display what is in His heart, which is only love.

Joseph's brethren came down again to him, and when he saw Benjamin he gave commandment that they should be brought into his house. "And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house." Yes, the soul wakes up to learn it is guilty, and then it fears the presence of God. But Joseph spake comfortably to them to win their hearts, and they sat at meat with him. "And the men marveled one at another. And he took and sent messes unto them from before him; but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.”

Then in chapter 44. they have to confess their sins. Judah says, "God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants" (v. 16). This is the point God would bring us to. Not only conscience making us see our state, but also there is the owning of that state. "I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." So said David in Psalm 32., and so must every soul that really turns to God.

In chapter 45. the wonderful climax is reached. Joseph reveals himself to them. "I am Joseph." The Joseph they had sold as a slave stood before them, as ruler over all the land, but meeting them in all the grace of his heart. He caused everyone else to go out, and the guilty were left alone in the presence of the saviour. What a lovely picture of divine grace follows! “And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt" (45:4).

When the work in the conscience is done, then the Lord can come near and reveal Himself. He never comes and reveals Himself till the sinner takes his true place—is angry with himself.

“Be not grieved nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither," he says;" for God did send me before you to preserve life." You have been guilty, Joseph says, but God had a purpose in it.

And man was guilty of nailing the Saviour to the cross; but God had His own thoughts, His own meaning in it all, and that very death, on the cross, of the Saviour, becomes the basis and groundwork, through atonement, of the great deliverance Christ accomplishes for the sinner; salvation for him is the fruit of the sufferings of the Saviour there.

But after all this display of the heart of Joseph to his brethren, and after seventeen years of caring for them, and giving them the best of everything, and rewarding them only love for their hatred, the last chapter of Genesis shows they still did not fully know Joseph.

“When Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him" (1: 15-17).

All this is like some doubting, fearing, unhappy Christians, who tell me they believe on the Lord, and yet they have not peace. They are full of fears; they are not sure He has received them and forgiven them; they do not know His heart; and another thing, they have never had all out with Him. Have no reserves, my reader. Have it all out with Jesus, and do not you be the one to make our Joseph weep; for the heart of the Lord Jesus feels to-day your lack of trust in Him, after all He has done for you, all the kindness and the love He has shown to you. Wound not then His loving heart by any lack of confidence in Him.

"And Joseph said unto them, Fear not." That is just the way the Lord Jesus loves to comfort the soul. To get the confidence of the heart, He says to the trembling one, "Fear not: I am Jesus.” Joseph says again, "Fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.”

And that is what Jesus says for we are not only sheltered by His blood, but saved by His life. He will nourish and care for each one all the way along. Oh, my reader, believe Him simply, and never wound His heart again by one single doubt.

W. P. T. W.

God As Just in Saving As in Judging

THAT it should be a righteous thing for God to judge the guilty, none can deny. Did He allow sin to pass unpunished, there would be an end to His moral government. But His throne ever maintains its authority and holiness; and, therefore, every violation of this is brought into judgment. “Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man) God forbid: for how then shall God judge the world?" (Romans 3:5, 6.) But the wonderful thing is, that God is as righteous in saving as in judging. He is "just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).

Now this is a marvelous fact, and demands our deepest consideration. Granted that I am guilty, that I have "sinned and come short of His glory,” I have, by this means, justly incurred His wrath. How then can God, with equal justice, exempt me from that judgment, acquit me of my guilt, and give me to stand before Him justified?

This profoundly important question, one that is of vital and eternal moment to each,—to you, my reader, and to myself,—is fully answered in the chapter referred to, viz., Romans 3. Let me quote, at length, the three blessed verses that contain the answer,—" Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission (passing over, margin) of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare at this time his righteousness; that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

"At this time." What time? Well, the time subsequent to the cross. Before that point, the saints of the Old Testament enjoyed the passing over of their sins by God's forbearance, in view, doubtless, of the cross, but not the conscious forgiveness of them; but now, at the cross, full satisfaction to the throne of God was made by the death of His blessed Son and the judgment He bore on the tree, so that believers, in these New Testament times, are not "passed over" as to their sins, but are justified from them. The cross, therefore, furnished that which enabled God, in righteousness, to "justify the ungodly." The redemption that is in Christ Jesus is the divine answer to our question. Leave out that redemption, and the God who can in justice save must then in justice damn, as, indeed, the soul that refuses this redemption shuts itself up to judgment. But the cross makes all the difference. The death of Him, the eternal Son of God, sent by Him, yet voluntarily coming, has met all the claims of justice. The sword is sheathed. The way is made, in the blood of Christ, whereby the greatest sinner can be saved, a dying thief go to Paradise, and a holy God declare that He is just in justifying such.

True, it is "by His grace," for that is source of all. It is the spring and fount of all the rest. But it is not merely grace. It is “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Hence, the ground is certain. I have not a mere vague hope in God's mercy, now that, by His grace, I am a believer. He is not only merciful, but just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. His justice seals my security. The whole moral character of God enlists itself on the behalf of the weakest believer in Jesus. What comfort what strength I what a source of song! How gladly the heart, thus divinely set free, seeks that, as justified by faith before God, it may, at the same time, be justified by works before men.

But it is a wonderful thing that God should be just in justifying! That He is just in judging, all can see; but think how wondrous must that redemption be, that maintains His holiness whilst it makes us who believe " the righteousness of God " in Christ I It is all God's work.

J. W. S.

FAITH always looks at Christ: unbelief at feelings and experiences; reason at circumstances and difficulties—and these always leave God out.

W. T. P. W.

God Cares

“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting (John 3:16.)

AND did you come six miles that day on purpose to see me, a poor fellow that you had never seen, and knew nothing about, except that he was sick and in trouble?”

“Yes, I came on purpose to see you, and was very glad to come. You know I was asked to come by Mr. S., who thought perhaps you would listen to God's word if a lady came and read it to you.”

“And do you really tell me you know no one else in all this big place, and came six miles for me alone, a poor man, who can never do anything for you in return, and who never has done anything to win such kindness?”

“It is true; I know no one here but you. But you make fax too much of my kindness, as you call it. I am glad to come, and bring you God's message out of His own word; and the greatest joy I could have, would be to see you receiving His message of pardon and love, and showing to Him the gratitude you so freely show to me, whose interest is so small compared with His.”

A moment or two of silence followed; then in a low trembling voice the sick man said, “Perhaps I have been a fool all my life.... Perhaps my thoughts have been all wrong together.... Perhaps after all God cares.... If you could care, maybe He cares.”

“' God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' Is not that caring”

“Will you come and see me—not on a visiting day—when I am alone, and can listen without the distraction of so many round?” Gladly I promised to try and get permission to go and see him quietly, and left him for that day, feeling sure that the Spirit of God had begun to work, by opening his heart to take in the possibility even of God's love, and that He who had begun would carry on His work.

The subject of these few pages was a man about thirty-five years of age, who was lying very ill in one of our large hospitals. Though a bookbinder by trade, and in good work, and though belonging to a respectable family, and himself a very intelligent man, yet, strange to say, he could not read, which surprised me very much. A few of the capital letters he knew, perhaps nearly all of them, but he could not read sufficiently to make out a verse of Scripture even.

I had been asked to go and see him by a perfect stranger, who found out in a remarkable way that I was in the habit of going to one of the hospitals, though I had never before been to this one. Thus the strangeness of the way in which I was sent, made me feel as though the Lord had a purpose of blessing in store for this man's soul, and was going to let me be to him a "messenger of peace.”

It was this assurance which kept me from being altogether dismayed, when, at my first visit, I found round his bed his wife, a quiet respectable woman, two young children and a baby in arms, and also a fellow-workman. How can I speak before all these? I thought: it seemed so like intrusion; and then the word came to me, "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong, and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee," and I went forward.

I had heard of him as believing, that if there were a God, He was too mighty, and lived too far off, to take any thought about the sufferings, or sorrows, or sins either, of His creatures down here; that chance was pretty much the God of this world; and every one must just do the best he could for himself during his life; and the end was "a leap in the dark." Of there being any hereafter he had considerable doubt.

I introduced myself as best I could, probably very clumsily, for I felt anything but at home.

The beds each side of his had several visitors round them, and a great many were in the ward, and the place was altogether strange, but I remember I said I had been asked to come and see him by Mr. S., whom he knew, and that as I had come from a distance, though I saw he had other friends with him, I thought I would not like to go away again without having a few words with him.

His fellow-workman had risen to give me his chair, and Robert R, the sick man, said, “Take it, Ma'am, my mate is going away in a few minutes back to his work.”

“Then," I said, "I will not disturb his talk with you," for I saw they were speaking in a low tone together. "I will go round to the other side and wait, and your wife will show me her babies," for indeed all three were little more than babies.

A little talk about her children, and a few words of sympathy, soon made the woman open her heart to me as to an old friend. From her I learned that her husband had been already many weeks in the hospital, a neglected cold having settled on his lungs before he had any advice, and now she feared he was "pretty far gone in consumption.”

From her too I found out that she was the daughter of Christian parents, and though she had not given God a thought during her married life, and was herself unconverted, yet now that she feared her husband might be going to die, the pious teaching of her godly parents came back to her.

She knew her husband was all wrong; knew there was a God by whom actions are weighed knew too that there was a hereafter, when each soul must give an account of itself to God,—to the God slighted and forgotten, and kept at a distance down here, when He had given His Son to bridge over that distance, and to bring the soul to Himself.

“I know he is not prepared to die," she said, “but I am not fit to speak to him myself. He could not listen to me, for he knows I have lived just as he has lived, though I knew better. Perhaps if I had been different he would have been different; but, oh! if I only knew his soul was safe, I could bear my trouble better. I am thankful to God, and to you, Ma'am, if you have come to speak to him about his soul.”

By this time Robert's friend had left him, and I took his place by his side. I wondered if he could be so very ill, to me he seemed to have so much life and energy about him. I told him again who had asked me to come, and asked him one or two questions about his illness. He answered me very frankly; told me he did not fret about himself, “for," he said, " I am nursed, and tended, and cared for in every way here, but I do fret over my poor wife and the children. It's a sore job when the breadwinner is cut down. There's one thing comes specially hard upon us, —my wife could get plenty of good work, but she cannot leave the babies. If only she could keep our eldest girl at home from school to take care of them, she could earn enough to fill all their mouths, but she has already been fined by the School board for keeping her at home while she went out to work, though she had to get food for them.”

Finding out the parish, and all about it, I told them I had a friend through whom I thought I could get the case taken up, and the girl allowed to remain at home while her father was in the hospital.

His gratitude was touching; tears stood in his eyes; he "thought shame," he said, to be such a trouble. "If only I were not lying here, I could take care of them all.”

“Robert," I said, " there is One who can take care of the little ones though you cannot; the One who, when on earth, took them up in His arms and blessed them; but I am afraid you do not know Him,—Jesus the Son of God, the blessed Lord.” “I do not wish to say anything rude to you, Ma'am," he said," but I do not believe there is a God who troubles Himself about what goes on down here. I was lucky the first part of my life, and my wife and children had plenty; and now I am unlucky, and the worst of it is the trouble falls on them; but if God knows, I do not believe He cares.

“That is because you do not know Him; but I know Him, and I know His Word is true, and that Word says, 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. 10:29-31). And again, in another place, He says, Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?' (Matt. 6:26.) If God says that a sparrow does not fall to the ground without His knowledge, and that He takes care of the fowls of the air, and feeds them, can you say that He neither knows nor cares about man—man who has a soul that can never die? I believe He is thinking about you, caring about you now, and that He has sent me to you to-day to tell you so. Oh, He cares—cares about your sins too, for He hates sin, and cannot have it in His presence; cares that you have slighted Him, and disbelieved Him all your life, are unbelieving still. Let me read to you from His Word now the story of how He has proved that He cares." I read to him Luke 23., asking the Lord in a very few words to open his heart to receive the tale of His Divine unutterable love.

The wife sat and listened, her eyes fixed on her husband's face, as though she would gather some hope and consolation from the expression of it. I made no comment as I closed the book. Something of the feeling of awe, I think, stole over us all. The majesty yet the lowliness, the awfulness yet the inexpressible touching sweetness of that death scene, which had brought life to me and to thousands, seemed to stand out before me with such vividness, as though almost I could hear the rabble shout their bloodthirsty wild Satanic shouts, "Away with Him," "Crucify Him,"—hear, too, that patient loving cry of the God-man, "Father, forgive them"; hear His promise to share the Paradise of God that day with the dying robber by His side; above all, hear the awful cry of that holy spotless Sufferer, out of the darkness, when all God's billows and His waves went over Him, and when the work of our salvation was completely finished.

It seemed as though that day human words would mar the majesty of His words, and I rose to leave. Robert said nothing, but when I asked, " May I come back and read to you again next visiting day? " he wrung my hand and said, " I could not have asked you, for I don't know how you ever took the trouble to come once; but, indeed, I'll be glad to see you, you seem to have brought my wife a bit of comfort already.”

At my next visit I found two men with him, besides his wife and the children; but he saw me as soon as I entered the ward, and seemed expecting me.

His wife said at once to the men, “The lady is coming to read to Robert." She seemed to be in earnest that nothing should hinder his hearing the Word of Life. They also were fellow-workmen. The sick man seemed to be popular among them. The men did not go away, but sat listening while I read John 3. I could see that Robert listened intently, and when I left he asked me if I would come back again; but I had no quiet time with him that day.

It was at my third visit to him that the conversation with which this little paper commenced took place. He had been deeply interested in the reading, and greatly distressed at the talking all round, which was distracting.

At his own request I had read to him over again John 3., dwelling a little on the love of God, and the necessity of the death of Christ, to meet the claims of God's holiness, to vindicate His throne, and to meet the need of the poor sinner. At the close of our reading he suddenly asked me where I lived. I told him, and he answered, “Why, that is six miles from here," and though I always assured him it was not as much, he continued to call it six miles.

I left the hospital that day deeply thankful, for I felt that God had overthrown the greatest barrier, when Robert took in the possibility that Satan and his own heart had been deceiving him all along as to the character of God, and as to his own character too, for I saw with the thought of God being altogether different from what he had believed, there was also raised the question of sin in himself, as he exclaimed—" If God has been taking any notice of me all these years, and looking at me, what has He seen? Nothing for Him to look at; only sin and folly, and utter disregard of Him.”

This was what I found him much occupied with when I next went. This time he was all alone, and the ward was quiet. Through the kindness of the chaplain I was allowed to visit him at any time when the presence of a visitor did not interfere with the hospital routine.

I did not wish to lessen his sense of sin, and unfitness to meet the eye of God; for I knew that the more thoroughly he saw his own utter ruin and wretchedness, the more would he value the work of Christ, and the love of God, who could give His own Son to meet the need of such as he.

“You have taught me," he said, "that God takes notice of everything, even the smallest thing down here, that He cares whether we do right or do wrong but now I think I am more miserable than ever, for He has nothing to look at in me but wrong-doing all my life; and if, as you say, He gave His Son to put sin forever out of His presence, why He must put me out of His presence, for I am all sin; and yet... and yet... I like to think He cares.”

“But the Lord Jesus died for two things: to clear God's character, meet His claims, and put sin out of His sight; and also to meet the need of the guilty sinner, to wash and cleanse him and fit him for His holy presence. ' The blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin!'”

“Yes, but how can that undo what I have done? I have done these wicked things, and they are done, and cannot be undone. I cannot begin my life over again, and if I live to be seventy I cannot blot out the past.” “Hear what God says, Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.' You cannot blot out your past life, but the blood of Christ can;... God looks at the blood of Christ wherever that rests. The blood of Christ blots out from the sight of God all sin, for the guiltiest sinner who trusts it. It is the value of that precious blood does it all, Robert.”

His eyes were riveted on me. I opened the Bible again, at Exodus 12., and asked him had he ever heard of the Passover and the children of Israel's deliverance from Egypt. He said, "No." I read Exodus 11. and 12., explaining as simply to him as I could as I read on. When I came to ver. 13 of chap. 12., "When I see the blood I will pass over,” and tried to explain to him, how it was not the goodness of the Israelites, but the blood outside their houses, which made them safe; and how that was a figure of what the blood of Christ does for us first of all, makes us safe from the judgment of God, for God looks on and sees where the blood rests;—he started, fixed his eyes on the opposite wall as though watching something, and to my amazement said—

“Yes, I see—I see it all! And was that the Passover, and that the type of how God can pass over us, sinners though we are? Yes, I see the houses, and the blood, and the destroying angel in flames of fire in the darkness. I begin to understand,—that scene makes it all clear!”

Then, seeing my surprise, he said “I beg your pardon, Ma'am; but I saw that acted some years ago in a theater in Paris, during Lent. All the devil did not think that night that the wickedness of man would be turned round by God to make one poor sinner see clearly the way of salvation. I have not thought of that night at the theater for years. I did not know they were acting something out of the Bible till you read those chapters; and as you explained to me, I saw the whole scene again, and it seemed to make it quite plain—all—the judgment—the way of escape—the blood the only security—everywhere else death. I suppose a poor Egyptian would have been safe if he had been in a house with the blood on it?”

“Quite safe; for God does not say, When I see the Israelites,' but When I see the blood, I will pass over.”

“I see it; I see it. The blood of a lamb was enough to secure the Israelites, though in all that big nation there must have been wicked people; the blood of God's Son must be enough to secure me, though I myself am all bad. When I get well, I must go to a night school and learn to read. I should so like to be able to read to myself, —I think of so many things in the night when I cannot sleep, —and if I could only read the Bible for myself, it would help me so. But, thank God, I see the way, and I do trust His blood.”

As I passed out that day, I asked the "sister" of the ward what hopes were entertained of Robert's recovery. To my sorrow and surprise she said, “None whatever. The doctors think that not only is there no hope, but that his time is very short indeed; they would not be surprised at his going any day.”

“Is it possible?” I said." He does not give me the impression a bit of being so ill, and I am sure he does not think so himself.” “No, I know he does not; nor does his wife, though she thinks more gravely of it than he. I know he ought to be told, for he may not be prepared to die. I have tried to tell him several times, but cannot. We are all so interested in him; he is so patient and grateful, and no trouble at all, and puts such a good face on things, that, as you say, no one who did not know would think he was so ill. I wish you would break the truth to him.”

I promised to do so, but felt it need not be that day. It seemed better to leave him in quietness then, to meditate on the greatness of God's salvation, and on the mighty sacrifice by which it had been secured to him. I had no doubts of his being “prepared to die," for I knew he was resting on the blood of Christ, and on the love of God. When next I went to see Robert, I found him very peaceful, and very eager for what was to him like the bread of life, the Word of God. I had taken him a verse printed all in capital letters, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.” With this he was greatly delighted. I read it over a great many times slowly to him, till he could make out the words for himself. He kept it on the bed by his side from that clay.

"He suffered to bring me to God," he said, "and God was the last person I wanted to meet; I thought all my life that He did not care, but left the world to its fate,... and yet His Son suffered that I might know Him; it is wonderful.” He asked me to read to him again the history of the Passover, and I did, connecting it with 1 Cor. 5:7, "For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.”

To him almost every word of the Bible was new. He said, when he first knew his wife, her parents had objected to their marriage because He had no fear of God before his eyes, and had spoken to him about his soul. But he put it from him as old wives' fables. But the day I had first come to the hospital, it had flashed over him, —Why should an utter stranger care about his soul, and come miles to speak to him about it? and day after day the thought would not be put away, that it must be God's doing. Then he had been deeply touched by the wondrous story of the Cross, and sufferings of the Son of God. In the long quiet nights he had pondered, pondered over these things, feeling ever more strongly his own sin and folly, till at last the whole plan of God's redemption was made plain to him as completely meeting his ruin and his need.

“And now," he said,” I am longing to go and tell all my mates how God has blessed me. I often think what a different home ours will be, for my wife will not rest now till she has got for herself what God has given me. Our eldest girl and boy are quite scholars, and will read to us till I can read for myself.”

I was quiet for a minute or two, and then I said, “Robert, what would you think if the Lord wanted you to come very soon to His home?”

He looked startled, then presently he said, “Do you think I am not going to get better?”

“Yes, I think the Lord wants you up there with Himself before long. Should you like to go?”

He waited a moment or two, then said, “He knows best, and I will not doubt Him again. I had thought He would let me go back where I have dishonored Him, and seek to live for Him for a time. For myself all is secure—the blood is on my house—and I want to be with Him too; but I think of the wife and the little ones. Who will care for them?”

“There is a verse in the Bible that says, 'Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive, and let thy widows trust in me ' "(Jer. 49:11).

“Does God say that?” he said." Then He will do it, and I will trust Him with them. Do the doctors think I am really dying?”

“Yes, Robert, they think so; and 'Sister' thought you ought to know, lest you might not be prepared to die; but you are ready, are you not?”

“Yes, thank God, ready; safe, through the blood of God's Lamb. You will come back still and read to me; I would like to know more. I know nothing but that God cares for me, and that He has saved me.

I need not say I promised to go as often as possible, and many more times I saw him ere the Lord called him to Himself. No doubts again disturbed his soul; “God looks on the blood," he would tell his wife so often.

He it was who broke to her the tidings that he was never to be again in their earthly home, and besought her to meet him with the Lord Jesus by and bye, and to bring their children with her. “Not one must be left behind, Martha; not one," he used to say. “Bring them up for God; He will take care of them and you.”

He lived for five weeks longer, during which time he had the joy of seeing his wife also resting for time and eternity on God's word and Christ's work; and then a day came, when he was " absent from the body, and present with the Lord.”

At the last it was quite sudden. I had left him that day no worse than usual, saying, "The Lord may come and take us all up together now, Robert." And his answer was with a smile, "That would be good.” Next morning I had a note that told me that he was waiting with the Lord, for the day of which we had last spoken together, when " the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:16, 17).

Reader, how does that day affect you? Will that day be to you a day of joy and gladness, or a day of woe unceasing? Ask yourself this solemn question, and rest not, till you can answer like my sick friend, "That would be good.”

God — Light and Love!

HOW differently we would preach the gospel had we been ten thousand years in heaven, and were then sent to a world of sin like this to tell the love of God to sinners," said I to one with whom I was returning home from a gospel meeting.

Our thoughts had been carried up to heaven, and to the joy of seeing the blessed face of the Lord Jesus, as the prospect awaiting all His people,— “They shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads.”

Seeing His face, being with, and like Him, in that place of purity and everlasting love, was at that moment our theme of sweet communion, and hence the statement.

“Would you preach about b ell at all?" was the answer.

“Certainly, with more intense earnestness than ever," I replied.

“But would not your heart be so lifted with thoughts of the glory and love of God, that you could not speak of His judgment?”

“Doubtless the experience of a bliss that cannot be described would give greater fullness, depth, unction, and tenderness to my preaching, but that is no gospel—or a terrible perversion of it—that omits God's judgment of sin.”

“Well, but does not love win and having then so much of the spirit of heaven, would you not seek to win souls by love?”

“Assuredly but that is only half of the story. Love affects the heart, and so far so good, but the conscience must first be reached, and the soul thus placed before the holiness of God. In heaven there is not only love, there is light as well, and the gospel that speaks of love only is a false witness of God. For we read that ' God is light,' as well as God is love.'

“Take," I said,” as an illustration of conscience-work, the well-known story of The Woman at Sychar's Well. In His dealings with her, the Lord, in order to awaken an interest in her mind, speaks of the gift of God.' If thou knewest the gift of God,' and what was that? He does not say; for His desire was to occupy her, not so much with the gift as the Giver, —not so much with the activities of God's love, as with the love itself which thus acted. His first subject was the wondrous love of God that led Him to give (not now to demand, as under the law), —to be a giving God!”

Ah, my reader, how unspeakably blessed to know God thus! Have you ever stopped for a moment, on life's busy race-course, and said to yourself, “God loves me?” Perhaps you reply that trials, bereavements, and sorrows all combine to disprove the words. Well, so said Job, after the loss of his earthly all, "He counteth me for his enemy." He could not but think that God must hate him. But Job did not see behind the clouds, nor dream of what depths of blessing God had in store for him; nor do you know what is behind these dark mysterious clouds of Providence. Could you but see, you would discover "a smiling face;" that is, behind all, there is a heart yearning, with deepest solicitude, for your good. The trials, &c., are all needed, and the heart of faith can say through them that “God is love." The favors of His Providence are one thing, the love of His heart is another; and he who serves because of the favors, will become an enemy without them.

But to return; having won the attention of the poor Samaritan woman by this precious revelation of God, and having elicited from her the prayer, "Give me this water," the Lord, in perfect wisdom, raises the conscience-question. "Go, call thy husband," said He; and, further still, He details seriatim the whole of her career, and specially the sin of which, at that very time, she was guilty. Awful disclosure, and wholly unexpected! Yet such is necessary.

Conscience must be reached. It is not enough that the mind be instructed or the heart affected. All that may take place, and the man remain really ignorant of the truth.

Conscience, acquired at the Fall, is the inner tribunal, the court of justice, on which the truth acts. As the light shines upon the seething mass of indwelling sin,—the pride, lust, unbelief, hatred of God, and desperate wickedness of the heart,— the conscience, thus enlightened, owns the guilt, accepts the judgment, and expresses itself in repentance, till the blessedness of pardon through faith in Christ is enjoyed.

This is the effect of light. Love is for the heart, light for the conscience.

Until the conscience has been brought into the light,—until sin has been confessed, in its deep malignity, in the searching presence of a holy God, there is no true conversion at all.

My reader, let me linger on this point. I am intensely desirous that, in this day of much and clear gospel preaching, when the way of salvation is known, theoretically, so much better than formerly, you should understand distinctly, that if there never was, during your whole spiritual history, a moment of face-to-face dealing with God in the matter of your sins,—if you have never passed through a period of conviction because of your personal guilt,—if you have never cried, " God be merciful to me a sinner,"— if, whilst you have listened gladly to such words as " He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life," you did not at the same time feel your deep need of that life,—be sure your profession is merely nominal. I do not, of course, specify what should be the depth of your self-judgment; all I say is, that without true repentance there is no salvation. Therefore, I beseech you, see to it how you stand in the light of this truth.

Now, what was the result in the case of this woman? She said, “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet;" perception is a work of the conscience, and, in her case, Christ had caused the light to shine. She apprehended something of what He was. How different to her former utterance, “Give me this water," an expression which merely declared her own selfishness!

Now, her eyes are opened,—she perceives. She is, so far, turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God.

The fitted moment comes in which Christ reveals. Himself to her; the effect is, that she leaves her water-pot, empty as it is of the water of Jacob's well, and quickly retires to the city, possessed of “a well of living water" within; satisfied evermore to tell of the wonderful Man—the Chief Evangelist— who had shown both her sins and God's salvation to her.

She returns to the place of her infamy,—but under how different a character? You may tell me that Christ did not mention "hell" to her. True; for the simple reason, that the fact of sin's punishment is involved in the truth that exposes it. If I can convict my child of disobedience, his guilty conscience anticipates the just consequences.

It is not, therefore, in the preaching of hell, important as that is, as the place of eternal punishment, both of fallen angels, and of impenitent sinners, that the secret lies, but in leading souls to a true judgment of themselves and their ways, that will, through grace, avert God's otherwise inevitable condemnation.

Christ came from heaven and preached the gospel. How full were His warnings of the future punishment in hell of the sinner!

Nay! the intense purity of heaven would only make me the more clear-sighted as to sin and its punishment.

Reader, "God is light,"—do not trifle with sin; “God is love,"—learn at the Cross how "God commends his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Oh, what a commendation of love! Stand by the Cross and look. That sight won a dying thief, and that day was he found in paradise. What grace for him, and for us, too, who believe! We, too, shall be with Christ in glory, and—

“When we've been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun,

We'll have no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we first begun.”

Reader, will you be there? J. W. S.

God's Elect

A GREAT many people are troubled about Election, and are occupied in trying to discover whether they are elect or not.

Now God never puts Election before unsaved souls; He never says a word to them about it; on the contrary, when He speaks to a sinner He says, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17). And again, “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). Could anything be freer than that? It is a strait gate that leadeth unto life, but if it be, it is set wide open, wide enough to admit " whosoever will," without the question of Election being raised.

God has never yet met a needy sinner that wanted Jesus, with the reply, “He is not for you, because you are not one of the elect;" and, blessed lie His name, He never will. He cannot deny himself, and when He says "Whosoever will," He means it.

It is quite certain, however, that God has an elect people in this world. I read in Eph. 1:1-4, where the apostle Paul writes "to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus," that they (the saints) had been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. But observe they are saints, not un-saved sinners, who are told this. These people to whom Paul was writing had already got "Redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace " (see verse 7). And to such only, in Scripture, God ever says a word about Election.

The truth is, Election is a family secret, only known to the family of God; and so instead of wasting time in trying to find out if you are elect or not, far better would it be to seek to know how you, a poor guilty sinner, can become one of the children of God.

In Romans 3:23 I read, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God;" so you may be quite certain you have sinned, for this verse says all have sinned. Now in Romans I read of God as the JUSTIFIER; of whom, do you think? I suppose you would say the righteous, but the 10th verse of Romans 3. says, " There is none righteous, no not one." How then can God be the justifier of any one? I get the divine answer to this question in verses 24 to 26 of this same 3rd of Romans: "Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood; to declare his righteousness ... That he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.” And so I find it is because Jesus has died, because God's righteousness and holiness in dealing with sin have been shown at the Cross, and God has been glorified there, that he is now just, in being the JUSTIFIER of the one that believes in Jesus.

Thus the Cross of Christ has changed the righteousness of God from being against the poor sinner, to being on his side, the moment he believes on Jesus.

It is not that God has become indifferent to sin. That could not be; but having dealt with it at the cross,—a spotless victim having suffered in the sinner's stead,—the moment the sinner takes his true ground, and justifies God in condemning him, God is just in justifying him, and would not be just if He did not.

Now we will compare three verses in this epistle, which I think will show clearly who are the elect. “To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Romans 4:5).

"That he might be just, and the JUSTIFIER of him which believeth, in Jesus" (Romans 3:26).

“Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that JUSTIFIETH" (Romans 8:33).

I find from these verses that God JUSTIFIES the ungodly sinner who believes in Jesus, and that those whom God JUSTIFIES are called "God's elect.”

Now, are you an ungodly sinner? Do you believe in Jesus? Is God your justifier? If so, you belong to the family of God. “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:26). And you are one of the elect. Nothing more is needed, you have only to begin at the right end. None ever knew—or ever will know—his election of God, before coming to find out in the presence of God that he is a sinner, and receiving Jesus as his Saviour. It is the mere folly of utter indifference to say, “If I am elect, I shall be sure to get to Heaven." It is but a cheat of Satan, that has made many a one careless about his soul, only to find out his mistake when too late.

Suppose a man drowning in the water, and a rope thrown to him, but instead of grasping it he says, “If it is ordered that I shall be saved, I will be,” and then refuses the rope although within his reach. Surely he deserves to drown.

So now, when God has come down with salvation to men, and has brought it to them where they are; when one look of faith at Jesus, crucified for sinners; saves the soul, and men won't look, because they do not know if they are elect or not,—surely they deserve to perish in the lake of fire. Oh sinner, trifle not with God's salvation. Come to Jesus now, while you may. He does not say, "If you are elect, come;" but He says, "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). And when you have come, and have been met like the prodigal in Luke 15. by the Father, and have been forgiven, and have got on the best robe, then He will put on your finger the ring, that tells of His eternal purpose for your blessing,—that tells He has had His eye on you from all eternity, that banishes the thought forever from your breast that you chose Him, but opens your lips in praise and thanksgiving, forever and ever, for the boundless sovereign grace of which you have been the object.

One more illustration, and I close. If a letter comes addressed to you, and you want to know what is inside, it is clear you must open it.

Well, God's salvation is like that, it comes addressed to you on the envelope,

To "Whosoever believeth in him” (see John. 3:16);

or to

"Whosoever will" (see Rev. 22:17).

Now you say, "If I only knew if I were elect or not, I would open the envelope." Well then, you will never know; the secret is inside, and you must open the envelope to find it out. I never heard of any one who opened it—that is, who came to Jesus—who failed to find his own name inside, chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.

Reader, I don't ask you, "Are you one of the elect?" but, "Are you a poor sinner who believes in Jesus, and whom God has justified?" If so, you are one of "God's elect," and will sing with joy: —

"Why was I made to hear Thy voice,

To enter while there's room,

While thousands make the wretched choice,

And rather starve than come?

'Twas the same love that spread the feast,

That sweetly forced me in;

Else I had still refused to taste,

And perished in my sin.”

W. M.

God's Salvation

"The grace of God that bringeth salvation to all men hath appeared, 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.

THIS is the right rendering, as the margin gives it, of this lovely passage. It is not true that salvation has appeared to all; some have not heard it. But grace brings it for all. It is unlimited in its aspect.

Here the first thing is salvation, and how we get it, —by "the grace of God." Then next we have the effect of it, the lessons it affords, —" teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." Then lastly, we get the hope that grace presents, —" looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”

It is most important to bear in mind that you cannot learn the lessons that grace would teach, nor look for its hope, unless you know and have received the salvation which it brings. Are you a saved person? Do not say that you cannot know; it is not true. Either you are saved, or you are not.

But, you say, do you mean to tell me I can know I am saved? Certainly! Look here, “the grace of God that bringeth salvation unto all men hath appeared." It is not sold, —it is given. There is a similar passage in Acts 28:28 that will help you to understand it. The Holy Ghost says, —" Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.”

Now mark, my friend, the grand part of this passage is, that the sinner is to "hear" of this salvation which God sends. Have you heard it? If not, listen to it now; and if you are wise, you will embrace it on the spot. What is sent? Salvation. Who sends it? God. To whom is it sent? To the Gentiles. If you are a Jew, there is salvation for you; but if you are a Gentile, then thank God there is grace for you, "for there is no difference "(Rom. 3:22).

“The salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and they will hear it." Paul does not say how it is sent in Acts; but in Titus he does, for he tells us that it is “the grace of God that bringeth salvation." Ponder it well, my friend; contrast it with what is due to you and me by nature, — only damnation, if we come into judgment, as the due reward of our deeds. Can you stand in the judgment clay? Certainly not. Even the sweet psalmist of Israel says to the Lord, —" Enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified "(Psa. 143:2)." With thy servant," too, he could say. Are you that?" No," the devil says," not he; he is my servant, he is mine.”

Do not forget that "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment;" and the latter is eternal damnation. If the question of your sins be raised, what then? Job says, "If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand" (9:2). Sin is a terrible thing, because it makes God a judge. But judgment is His strange work; and to avoid the necessity of judging us in righteousness, God, in grace, sent His Son to bear sins and sustain the judgment due to them, and thus He provided a righteous basis on which to show forth His salvation. Ponder it; it is God's salvation.

Well, you say, who is it for? It is for Gentiles, for ruined man, for every sinner who will accept it. You have sinned, and have not deserved clemency; you have neither righteousness, nor a bit of title to mercy, but grace brings you salvation. Yes, grace brings it, and Christ personifies it. Moses and the law could tell you what you, ought to do, and to be, —you should be this, and do that,—but grace tells you what Jesus is, and what He did. His love is so real, so perfect to you, that He died on the cross for your sins, and has broken the power of Satan. Jesus brings salvation, this eternal salvation, to you; and He likewise brings the sinner to God. It is the grace of God that brings salvation; and this word, salvation, takes in all the goodness God can show to ruined man.

Christ is God's salvation, for you will see that Acts 13:47 was spoken of Jesus. It is a quotation from Isaiah 49., —"that thou mayest he my salvation unto the ends of the earth." God is telling us here about Jesus, and of what He is to make Him; not telling us what we should do, —that day is gone by. The law tested man for a long time; but let the claims of God be what they might, man never answered to them. You kick against them, though I daresay you think you have a polite mind, or a good mind; yet God says of you, the "carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Romans 8:7). The carnal mind cannot be subject to God's law. That is very solemn, and very plain. You cannot keep the law; no, not for five minutes! Suppose I say I saw a most extraordinary thing to-day, and you must neither know what it is, nor want to know,—you immediately say in your heart, if not with your lips, "I wonder what it can be." The flesh is so bad, that the very thing which the law prohibits, is just that which the flesh of man wants to do.

The law says, "Thou shalt not covet." Oh! you say, there is no harm in looking at this,—something you see, perhaps, in a shop window; then you wish to have it. No harm, do you say? You have coveted, that is all; for you have wished to have what is not yours; and it is written, “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" (James 2:10). It takes a very small spark to kindle a fire, and that just illustrates what the flesh is. The simple inference is, that I am lost. Man is ruined by sin, unable to keep the law, and is treated and addressed as utterly lost. How does the Gospel address us? As lost; not as man thinks of himself, but as God sees him to be.

People make a great difference in the way they think of their bodies and of their souls. Nine people out of ten think their bodies much worse than they are; but they do not like to face the solemn reality as to their souls, that they are lost. The grace of God "bringeth salvation to all men," so it is clear that all are lost. That is a sweeping sentence, you say. It is a large enough net, and the mesh sufficiently small to catch you, my friend. I daresay that you are a member of some religious denomination; that you judged that you were in a fit state to be thus received simply because you belonged to a respectable family. Your parents are respectable and religious, and you wished to be like them; or you wanted your child baptized, so you became a member of some church in order to this. All this is not salvation, my friend; and it is salvation you need, as a poor, lost, guilty sinner.

The Gospel net acts in this way: God comes down and says to men, “You are lost in sin, and I bring you my salvation." Oh, grace is a charming thing! You and I do not in any wise deserve its actings; but that is just how grace shines in its true character. Grace is God acting from His own heart, and doing what is worthy of Himself, and a credit to His Son,—viz., saving worthless sinners by the blood and finished work of Jesus.

There are four lovely characters in which the salvation of God is presented in the New Testament.

1. a Great Salvation

The first of these wonderful characteristics we find in Hebrews. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him" (Heb. 2:3). The Lord Himself was the One who first unfolded the Gospel. He said, —" God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved "(John 3:16, 17). “I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved" (John 10:9). Jesus began to witness of this salvation, now the Holy Ghost is the witness; and I tell you, as Christ's ambassador, that you can know it.

But first, there is this question: How shall you escape if you neglect it? What is the characteristic here? It is a great salvation; a little salvation never could have saved me. Yes, friend, it needs a great salvation to save either you or me. It is a great salvation to lift a sinner up from the depths of sin into the highest heights of glory. You may have thought little of it for many a long day. Have you not neglected it? “Well, I can-not say I am saved." Then you are not saved. But salvation is at your door,—salvation from hell, and which would bring you into God's presence, cleansed and justified; and you have neglected it, if you have not taken it.

If I were go to your house one day and see a letter lying in the letter-boy, and say, " See, there is a letter for you from a great friend of yours," would you say, " Oh, I know it is there, I shall read it by-and-by "? Should I go again, weeks after, and see it still there, all covered with dust now, would you still say, "Oh, I know, I mean to read it some day"? You know well that you would not treat your friend like that, yet that is how you treat God's salvation. How will you escape, sinner? God sent this salvation, my dear reader, and you have never thought of it. "Oh," you say, "I go to church regularly.” But that is not salvation; if there were no churches to go to, what would you do then? “Then I should not go." Ah you see you do not care a bit about it. Better bow down before God now, and own that you have neglected the salvation of your precious soul up till this present moment.

Though it was the wondrous love of Christ that led Him to the cross, and though you have known it long, it has never led you to His feet, nor broken your heart till now. You cannot deny that it is a great salvation to be saved from the blackness of darkness, and from hell, where your conscience will lash you forever. Is it not a great salvation to be brought back to God, washed, cleansed, and accepted in the Man at His right hand? Oh it is a great salvation less there is not. You either stand in Christ, in all His acceptance, or you do not.

But all this great salvation you speak of, who may have it? you ask. Turn to Jude 3 and you will get your question answered: "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation," &c. There you see it is

2. a Common Salvation

What is meant by a common salvation? Is it poor, or meager? No, it is free to all who are born into this world. The Holy Ghost is proclaiming it on every hand. To use an illustration, suppose a land where rain is much wanted, the ground is parched and dry, vegetation is dying, a hot sun is blazing week after week; at last a cloud appears, the wind rises, it looks as if rain were coining, people hope and pray that it may come. The cloud bursts and the rain comes down in torrents, soaking the dry earth, and giving new life to all. Who gets it; the prince alone? No; the peasant equally. The man of five hundred acres? No; the one with only five also; all get it; it is a common blessing for everybody. You might see the child come running out with its patty-pan to catch some that it may drink, and you see the mother comes too. You see all are suffering, and it is a common rain, it is a common salvation. Jude says, “I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation." There is salvation for all who will have it; it is a common salvation. I know you do not believe it, but it is true. You may have led a careless life, but you are brought face to face with eternal realities, face to face with Christ, and salvation is brought to you now. "Oh," but you say, "I have been an awful sinner." Yes, I know, but it is a common salvation, and it has saved a Mary Magdalene, and the thief on the cross; it has saved Saul the chief of sinners, and I suppose saved Manasseh, who made Jerusalem to run with blood; it has saved countless sinners in ages past, and I can say it has saved me. So the question is, Who will not be saved? Who will neglect it?

Let me implore you, dear reader, to receive salvation now; do not neglect it. Do not be like some shipwrecked men. Their ship was dashed on our coast; they were seen by those on shore, but no life-boat could be put to sea; so the rocket apparatus was got out, the gun was trained and fired, and the rocket carried a line through the air and over the bulwarks of the ship, which would have saved every soul on board,—all they needed to do was to secure the line, and by it draw a larger rope on board. As those on shore watched and saw the line landed safely on board, hearty cheers went up, Hurray! they will be saved. But what did they see? A knife! Then the line was cut. Oh fools oh fools! said they on shore. What do they do now? Again the gun is fired; again the rocket carries the line to the ship—the rocket of salvation; surely they will learn the lesson this time. But no. Again they take a knife and cut the line. They were foreigners, and (just as you think God is against you) they thought the men on shore were enemies and wanted to murder them. Their unbelief and folly they paid dearly for. Soon their ship broke up, all were drowned, and their corpses drifted ashore, witnessing to their madness in refusing salvation when they might have been saved. You do not believe, and they did not, and you are like them. Take care lest the end be similar!

3. a Present Salvation

But you say, "When am I to get it?" Turn to 2 Corinthians 6:2. There we have another beautiful characteristic, " I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." God wants to save you, and the Holy Ghost says, Now. It is a present salvation. What did Zaccheus do that day when Jesus saw him up in the sycamore tree, and said, “Zaccheus, make haste and come down, for to-day I must abide at thy house "? Zaccheus “made haste "; do you the same. He was lost when he was up in the tree, and he was a saved man when he came down to Jesus; and when he got inside the house he knew he was a saved man, for the Lord said, " This day is salvation come to this house " (Luke 19:9). You were a lost man when you began to read this paper, perhaps; but you say, I believe in the Lord, I receive by faith His salvation, I now give my heart to Jesus. If this be so, you may thank God now that you are a saved man.

There was once a religious building, and a babe was brought there in infant clothing; a man stood there, who took up the babe in his arms and said, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." He had never seen this babe before, and never saw Him that we know of again; but he did what you ought to do, he took the first opportunity he had of receiving Him (Luke 2: 28-30). Oh, sinner, believe it; now is the day of salvation; now, this moment, you may have salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; and more than this, if you once get it you will never lose it. Why? Turn to Heb. 5:9, there you will find another beautiful characteristic of this salvation.

4. Eternal Salvation

“He became the author of eternal salvation to all that obey him." He says," Come unto me;" and if any poor soul says, "Lord, I come," that soul obeys Him. See, my friend, He will never give you up, never let you slip; it is an eternal salvation. The day will come when you will be called from this world, but He will be with you, cheering you, sustaining you. Should your eyes close here, who will be the first they will open on? Jesus, the One you have known here all along.

Unsaved reader, your life hitherto has been a great mistake, but now you have just got to take Christ, simply to receive Him; you have nothing to do but receive Christ as your Saviour, and God's salvation is yours. The sinner wants to buy salvation, but God gives it. If anybody gives you a present, say a basket of grapes, what do you do? “Oh, I say, Thank you." No; there is something you do before that, it is to take it, and then say Thank you. What did Simeon do when he saw the infant Jesus? Why, he took Him.

Thus you see God's salvation is a great salvation, a common salvation, a present salvation, and an eternal salvation. Hallelujah! You are saved if you believe in Jesus, and He will never give you up.

Now, just a few words on the lessons grace teaches us; we must go to school first before we learn lessons. The door is salvation; you come in by the door, and you see written up, No unsaved person comes in here. Christ says, “I am the door, by me if any man enter in he shall be saved." How long does it take to be saved? Less time than entering a door. If you only look to the blessed Saviour, as you look you are saved. Yes, you are saved. But having saved us, grace then gives us some most precious lessons. “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." You cannot do the things now that you used to do. You are just like poor Joe with his banjo. He got converted one day, and went home and took down his banjo from the wall, broke it in pieces and put it in the fire. His wife said," What are you doing, Joe?" “Oh," he said," I am saved, and the banjo suited me before, but I cannot keep it now." Quite right, Joe.

If you, my dear fellow-believer, are saying, "What is the harm in this thing or in that," you have got to burn the banjo. When a man is converted, he leads quite a different life from what he did before. He governs himself now. He might have been very imperious and impetuous once, but all that is changed. You scarcely know him now. I see some men converted whom I used to know long ago; I could scarcely tell they were the same men, except their faces are the same, but the expression is altered.

“Live soberly,"—that is the life within. Self-restraint, —that is a very good thing. "Righteously,"—that is life without. There must be uprightness. "There he is preaching," says the world, "but he is owing me a lot of money." There must be none of that sort of thing. Live "righteously." None of the sharp tricks of the world in your business. You may have to suffer for it. "They that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." Better suffer for doing what is right than for what is wrong. A girl said to me one day, "I am afraid I am not up to that, sir." "How so?" I asked. Well," said she," I am in a shop where I have got to sell gloves at 3s. 6d. per pair, that I know are only 2S. 6d. gloves." The Christian may have to suffer for righteousness sake; but let him keep a good conscience, and then he will walk godly—that is a walk for God.

You say, "Do not expect too much." Well, begin at home; there what we are comes out. Live soberly; keep in order the temper; keep in order the tongue. Live like Jesus did in this world. His life should be reproduced in the Christian. But are these lessons learned quickly? I have been learning them for twenty-one years, and find I have to learn them yet; but grace goes on teaching and teaching.

“Looking for that blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ." Have you suffered for His sake? Oh, what a reward you will get then. I daresay you will know what the last day of the term means. Well, Paul says, you must keep your eye on the last day of the term, when the prizes will be given away. Everything done for Jesus will get a prize in that day,—even a cup of cold water will not be forgotten. The Lord says, “Well clone, good and faithful servant." It is not "Well done, successful servant.”

The first thing grace does is to save me; then it teaches me how to walk, and to keep my eye fixed on Christ's coming, " looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Dear reader, may you be saved by, walk with, and wait for, the Lord Jesus.

W. T. P. W.

Going to Glory.

ONE balmy morning in spring, a gentleman drove through grounds, fragrant with early flowers, to a house, large and handsome, denoting comfort of every kind that money or taste could supply; but a visitor had been before him, a visitor that none could keep out, that no bribe could delay, against whom money, and place, and position, and power availed as nothing,-and that visitor was death. Was he welcome? was he expected? Expected he might have been, for the life of the proprietor of that fair domain had for a long time been uncertain. And now of what avail all the wealth? it could not procure one short hour's life; of what use the sweet flowers? the senses that once enjoyed them lay still in death, never again to gaze on that beautiful scene, but, cold and silent, soon to return to the dust from whence she came.

From this house of sadness the writer drove to his next call. At the door of the humble house, a weeping woman meets him with the words, “He’s gone, sir; but I'm quite happy about him, he's gone to heaven.”

“Why think you so?”

“Well, sir, just before he died he seemed uneasy, and I said to him, ' John, is there anything you want?” Well, Mary,' he said, ' there are many things I want, but I've found the Lord Jesus Christ, and I'm going to glory.' And very shortly after that he died.”

Poor down here, wanting many things; but rich, how rich with the true riches of the One "who was rich, and yet for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich." Not that he had known his Saviour long, only a day or two; but one who knew the Lord for himself had read to him the third chapter of John's Gospel, and the Spirit of God had used this Word of God to show the man his need of a Saviour, and to give him confidence in the Saviour God had provided.

Which of these two was the richer? Oh, dear reader, all Dives' wealth on earth could not procure him one drop of water in hell. Is it earthly things that occupy your gaze—that fill your heart? Put yourself for one moment on your deathbed, dear friend. Face the question,—Have you anything beyond the grave? is the future a blank? are your possessions outside this scene? are they where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal? Or are you content to sell your eternity for a few fleeting years of earthly pleasures, and to spend that eternity in the place where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched? E. C.

The Gospel, God's Power to Save

SELDOM, if ever, have I witnessed the gospel to be more distinctly “the power of God unto salvation," than I did the other day.

The case in point was, in its shades and sunshine, its sorrow and joy, full of interest.

It was that of a young woman, tenderly and carefully brought up by God-fearing parents, who, two years previously, had been awakened to a sense of her sinful condition by the conversion of a brother. He had "passed from death unto life” quickly,—a deep conviction of sin, followed by a soul-liberating apprehension of a dead, risen, and glorified Saviour, gave him the knowledge of his acceptance before God, and of the new and blessed relationship which he now possessed as a child of God. The clouds thus dispersed, he became bright and joyful. But not so his sister! Like Mary, who stooped down at the empty sepulcher and wept, so did she weep. "Oh that I could find him!" was the sad plaint of her heavy heart for two long years and as time passed the burden only increased, the shadows were dark and the waters deep; but all was the work of the Spirit of God, giving her such experience of her guilty and powerless state as a child of Adam, that, in due time, the gospel, in its perfect suitability and power, might lead her into rest and blessing. During that period the truth had been presented to her, both in public addresses and private conversations, but yet without avail.

On the occasion in question, after prayer to God, I called upon her at home, and thus had ample opportunity of saying all that I could.

She wanted salvation from the judgment of God. Yes, she wanted it; and, my reader, do you? Have you ever been brought, by the Spirit of God, to an intolerable thirst for salvation from conscious guilt, misery, and judgment to come? Well did I know what could meet her want, and make her the happy possessor of salvation and of a Saviour too. It was the gospel; that sweet and perfect remedy for all such spiritual diseases that heaven-sent story of love that "power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth.”

I therefore drew her attention to the tenth chapter of Romans, and after a brief explanation of "the righteousness which is of faith, "as contrasted with “the righteousness which is of the law," therein so beautifully unfolded, I pressed on her acceptance the 9th verse,—" That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath, raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Oh how plain! Notice, there is no demand for feeling; all lies in "confessing" and "believing," and then God appends salvation. Observe the three "shalts"—" If thou shalt confess... and shalt believe... thou shalt be saved.”

However, plain as this divine statement is, it failed to produce the result I desired.

Next I turned to Rev. 22:17, —" Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." What is the meaning of "will”? I asked. "Wishes," she briefly replied. "Does that describe your state?" "Yes,” said she. But still there was no apprehension; the word was not "mixed with faith.”

Next I referred her to Rom. 4:25, v. 1, in order to spew that the work whereby peace is found is apart from our feelings altogether, and that it is effected by the death and resurrection of Christ,—" Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification; therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." “Having made peace by the blood of the cross," the soul must rest on that precious blood by faith, apart from feeling. God demands that His word, and the work of His blessed Son, be accredited by faith first then the Holy Ghost will bear witness, and feelings of gratitude will follow.

Again I was disappointed. Oh the blinding effects of unbelief!

Lastly I turned to Matt. 11:28,—"Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." “Heavy laden! Does not that describe your condition?" I asked. "It does," said she.

“Then you are invited by Jesus to come to Him, with the assurance that He will give you rest;" and in this strain I pleaded. But, alas, all these passages, and many such, had been repeatedly brought before her, and equally without avail. The hold of Giant Despair's Castle still contained this poor troubled soul. Such despair! What was to be done? I felt that such unbelief deserved rebuke, and I spoke sharply. Unbelief is reckoned amongst the sins that merit "a place in the lake of fire" (see Rev. 21:8). "He that believeth not is condemned already.” Not that there is any merit in our faith, only there is positive sin in our unbelief; it must be punished. “Oh! why do you remain," said I, "in your cell, when the door to liberty is thrown wide open for you?" No reply.

I reclined on my chair, utterly at a loss what more to say. Almost three minutes had thus passed in silence, when suddenly she exclaimed, "I COME” and the long-pent heart found relief in a flood of thankful tears. Yes, quick as lightning did the clouds depart, whenever she accredited the word of God! At that instant, and forever, was she liberated. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free “(John 8:32). "After that ye believed ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph. 1:13).

Precious gospel! Oh what peace, what joy, what light, is thereby carried to the soul that simply believes! No marvel that Paul should say, "I am not ashamed of the gospel;" he loved it; he desired to die in the testimony of it (Acts 20:24). He knew that it was “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." And what system of philosophy, how elaborate soever; what man-made religion, however specious; what device of priestly brains, ever so learned—could presume to save? It might reform, amend, ameliorate, but never could wash from sin, or put the believing soul in possession of peace with God, and a title, blood-bought and Spirit-given, to eternal glory! Never! This is the grand and exclusive prerogative of" the gospel of the grace of God." This gospel has no rival. It springs from the heart of God the Father; it flows to guilty sinners through the blood of God the Son; and is applied, in living power, by God the Holy Ghost. Matchless gospel!

My reader;—

"Art thou weary, art thou languid,

Art thou sore distressed?

`Come to Me,' saith One, and coming,

Be at rest.”

J. W. S.

Is it not a wonderful thing that God should care to have us with Himself forever? To express His desire, and effect His purpose, He has given the Son of His love—the best thing in heaven—for us, the worst things on earth. Nor is love alone displayed in this. His righteousness is manifested in putting us along with Christ in glory. Really the righteousness of God is this,—What is due to Christ? His due, clearly, is to have with Him those for whom He suffered, bled, and died.

Hath Everlasting Life

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.— John 6:47

MOMENTOUS words I Dear reader, there is sufficient in this one short sentence to give you present and eternal happiness They are the words of the Son of the Living God, who said. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall never pass away." Have you received them?

When the Son of God speaks, He speaks with authority. And knowing the proneness of our hearts to doubt His word, how gracious to preface them again and again with "Verily, verily (or truly, truly), I say unto you." Every question as to their force, every doubt as to their reality, is thus effectually silenced. Nothing but truth could come from His blessed lips, and yet He takes pains, if I may so speak, to impress the truth of His words upon our unbelieving hearts.

Ponder now, I entreat you, the precious sentence which follows; "He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

It is a message for all. None can say they are kit out or forgotten. "He that believeth" It matters not who you are, or what you have done; the moment you believe, it refers to you. It is not, he that believeth about me, but in me. You might believe all about Christ, and probably you do, and yet be lost. Thousands believe about Him, as they believe about the Duke of Wellington, or Napoleon Buonaparte, or any other great man, but what does that benefit them? There is no virtue in that. Tens of thousands are brought up from infancy to believe the facts of Scripture concerning the Lord Jesus, and His work upon the cross, but believing on Him is a totally different matter. Dost thou believe on the Son of God?

Do you reply, Yes? Then you have everlasting life. The Lord Jesus Christ says so. "He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." Christ Himself is the object of faith; a living Saviour in the glory. He it is who perfectly glorified God, and obtained eternal redemption by dying upon the cross, and rising again. "Once in the end of the world hath he appeared, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Heb. 9:26) And now He says to every one that believeth, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." Then let me repeat the question again, Dost thou believe on Him?

Do you unhesitatingly reply, Yes, I do? Then everlasting life is yours. There it is in plain black and white in the Word of God. Jesus says so. Have you it? I think I hear someone reply, as thousands do, "I hope I have." Hope you have? Does it say a word about hope? No, there is no thought of such a thing in the passage. Take it just as it stands, if you want the blessing. Ah! I know your thought. It seems too good to be true. Yes, it does; but it is true for all that. God's thoughts and yours widely differ. That you do not deserve it is perfectly true. But God is not blessing sinners according; to their thoughts, or their deserts, but according to His own love, and His thoughts of Jesus and His finished work. Then take Him, dear reader, at His word, "He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

Again, I think I hear you saying, "But I shouldn't like to say I have everlasting life; it seems so presumptuous." What! presumptuous to believe the word of the Lord. Does He not speak the truth, saying what He means, and meaning what Ile says? And it is He who says it, not you. It is for you to believe what He says. If you believe, you have everlasting life. If you have not everlasting life, clearly you do not believe. The two go together. Believing is having. They are inseparable. The Lord put them together. Satan and men would rend them asunder. But let God be true, and every man a liar, saith the scripture (Rom. 3:4). And Satan is a liar and murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). It is Satan who suggests the doubt. Read the words again. Think over them. Weigh them. Give every word its full force. And may God in His infinite grace lead you to rest upon it. It is a wonderful little verse, and so simple, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life" (John 6:47).

There is no vestige of, and no room for, an if, a but, a fear, or a doubt. It is hath, not hopes. Hath, H-A-T-H. Hath, everlasting life. You cannot get away from its plain meaning. Now, how is it to be? Will you go on raising a thousand and one questions, and be miserable; or, will you put your Amen, so to speak, to the Lord's own words, and be happy? Close the book, and go on for the next fifty years in unbelief, and it will not alter the fact. You will go on without the blessing, whilst thousands of others are enjoying it. Rest upon the Word in childlike faith and simplicity, and that precious hath is yours. He that believeth hath. Not hopes, but hath. Hath, hath, HATH. "He that believeth on me HATH everlasting life.”

Everlasting life! “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). Precious, priceless, inestimable gift. Money cannot purchase it. Works cannot win it. Unbelief lives and dies without it. But God gives it now as a free gift to every one that believeth. “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). Without it there is nothing but wrath, wrath for ever abiding on you, everlasting punishment (Rev. 20:15). But to have it now, is present joy and happiness, and the certain prospect of eternal glory. “He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 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 5:12, 13).

And then henceforth it will be your blessed privilege to say with the apostle, "I am (or have been) crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me " (Gal. 2:20).

Once again, ere I close, I would press upon you, beloved reader, in the light of eternity, the momentous importance of receiving these precious words of Jesus now, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

E. H. C.

“UNDER the law, God was in the holy place, and the unclean must be removed, and the priest and the Levite attend that sanctuary. But in the gospel, God is in the unclean place, seeking the ruined ones.

Jesus is going about doing good; the Stranger from heaven has come where man lay in his blood, and has looked on him and had compassion; has gone and meddled with all that pollution, untouched by it, washed the wounded sinner from his blood, and anointed him with oil (Ezek. 16.). All this He has done, and changed places with the wounded sinner also. For though rich, he has become poor, that we, through His poverty, might be made rich.”

J. G. B.

I Am Lost, and This Is a Warning to You.

THE "man of the world," who has his portion in this life (Psa. 17:14), can boast and glory in the world's productions and greatest sights; he rises not above them.

How unlike the man who by grace has turned to Christ and left the world's fellowship behind, who can truthfully say, “The Lord is my portion, saith my soul” (Lam. 3:24). To such, what sights on earth yield greatest joy? Not in the things that perish are they found, but in those alone in which the Lord is interested.

The Word of God gives a double proof of this interest. Nearly 1850 years ago, in the “City of Damascus," the Lord's eye rested on an awakened sinner. Such a sight, doubtless, yielded joy to the heart of Jesus; yet in such He would have deeper joy, and for this purpose He spake in a vision to a disciple named Ananias, saying, " Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire 'in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus: for behold, he PRAYETH, and hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might 'receive his sight" (Acts 9:11,12).

The street, the house, and position of the man in earnest about his soul, are described. What a sight for the ONE that, in patient grace, had followed the PERSECUTOR hitherto; and how fully it shows He desires others, dear to Him on earth, to share with Him the joy such a sight yields.

Ananias knew him as "Saul of Tarsus," the persecutor of the "Church of God," not as the humbled penitent crying for deliverance. Yet, believing the Lord's Word, he " went his way and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou, earnest, hath, sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales; and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized" (Acts 9 17, 18).

And now faith in Ananias is changed to sight; he not only shares with Christ the joy of seeing the persecutor bowed in agony of soul under ills power, but the joy too of deliverance, through the conscious knowledge of sins forgiven,-that very joy which finds its source in the Father's heart, flowing down to the hearts of others on earth.

It matters not who the sinner may be, whether like Saul of Tarsus, the noted persecutor, or like Nicodemus, the quiet going prominent professor. Christ's loving heart, bending over all, is still expressed in these words, "Not willing that any should perish;" “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." How graciously He follows such in the POWER Of UNWEARIED LOVE! Unconverted Saul, He knows where you dwell. Does He find you now, a poor despiser of that love, or bowed under a sense of such grace? Are you in earnest about your soul? To magnify that grace, I will tell you of one who, a short time ago, owned his lost condition before God.

In a cottage meeting where many were gathered to hear the gospel, some awoke to their present need of a Saviour. While JESUS was being preached as such for lost sinners, a man of middle age fell clown on his knees crying out in agony of soul, “I'm lost! I'm lost!" and looking up through his tears, he said to some near him, “This is a warning to you." He came down where God could and did bless him; "For the Son of Inn is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).

Thus Jesus and the lost sinner are put together. For such He came to Calvary's Cross, and "offered Himself without spot to God." And when a sinner truly owns his lost condition, he is thus closed in to Christ; so with this man, in a few minutes he rejoiced, believing in Jesus as a Saviour for him.

What of you, dear reader? Have you believed God's word about yourself, a sinner by nature and practice? (Rom. 5:12.) Thus spiritually ruined, and bad enough to be lost forever, unless cleansed from your sins in the BLOOD OF JESUS, what will a mere outward profession avail, when you know that underneath it there is nothing real for eternity? Perhaps your religious belief does not embrace the word "LOST." The fashionable believer of today leaves it behind; but remember, there is no word better known in HELL, and none will be better known in the "LAKE OF FIRE" forever; its deepest meaning will be fathomed there, when no Saviour for the lost can be found.

Thank God, to-day Christ is near, pressed home on you as a love-gift. Sin-burdened, and helpless in yourself, by faith look outside, and behold the question of sin and sins settled ONCE FOR ALL on the CROSS. And know this, that the MAN charged by God on that "CROSS OF CALVARY" with the whole question of sin, is NOW on the "FATHER'S THRONE" as the "lamb newly slain," "able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25).

Surely such a SAVIOUR is worthy of your acceptance NOW. Will you have Him? P. D. O.

I'm Too Bad to Be Saved.

SUCH were the words that fell from the lips of an. aged lady, who had spent full threescore years without Christ. I relate the story, trusting the Lord will bless it to some such soul.

While in Cumberland staying for a few days with a friend of mine, one evening we had occasion to pass the dwelling of this old lady. On our way back again, my friend told me that she was nearing the end of life's journey, and was also in a peculiar state. Asking me to go with him to inquire for her, we were invited in, and were soon seated near the old lady, who was able to sit up a little by the fire. But her looks told a doleful tale; they told of a guilty conscience, a sin-burdened soul, fear of a sin-hating God, and a long dark night.

After we had made inquiries as to her bodily ailments, she told us of someone who had called on her, offering her a tract, and at the same time asking her if she was saved. She replied, “I hope so, sir." "Hope so only," the man added, "that won't do, that won't shelter you from coming wrath.” The woman did not like to have her only prop removed, and so got him to leave her to hope on.

Having an opportunity to say a few words, I remarked, “I believe the man was right; but let us look and see where hope ' occurs in Scripture." So I showed her from the Word, “hope" was not once mentioned concerning the soul's salvation, as implying uncertainty, as she thought; and further, that to hope for mercy and for pardon beyond the grave, is one way Satan seeks to deprive souls of eternal happiness. “But I do find in the word of God," I said," that we may know our sins forgiven, and still more, that we have eternal life.”

She seemed still more troubled, to find the hope she claimed was not for her after all. For some time she thought she was not so bad as many, but I sought to let her see that would not fit her in the least to appear before God. But as the time was clue for my friend to go, we were preparing to do so, when her husband asked us to pray with them. We turned to the Lord, asking His blessing on the word that had been read to them, and that their souls might be saved.

As I was leaving, the old lady got me by the hand, saying, “You must not leave yet, but talk a little longer of these things." I sat down again, and told them what the Lord had done for my soul, and that He was able to do the same for them. Then we read Romans 3 to find what we were by nature, " There is none righteous, no, not one. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God "(vv. 10, 23). Then I read, “All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6). To this the woman, with tears streaming clown her cheeks, replied, “I’m too bad to be saved." I told her, "Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

We then read John 3., Christ showing Nicodemus the necessity of a new birth. We then went on to the illustration,—" And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up,"—showing that sinners, like the bitten Israelites, are dying from the poisonous bite of the enemy of souls, and that the poison, which is sin, is doing its terrible work in the system, and with the soul; but there was a serpent of brass raised in their midst, and Christ, in our midst, has been raised on the cross; sinners lie suffering and dying around, the cry is made loudly and distinctly, "Look and live.”

After much anxiety, and expressing many longing desires to be saved, the Lord was pleased to reveal Himself in His all-sufficiency to the old lady, and she cried out, “Oh, I see it, as I never saw it before!" I saw her several times after, always rejoicing in the Lord.

Dear reader, have you simply believed in Him, and can you rejoice in Him also? J. P.

“WHAT is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Reader! answer this before you sleep.

Isn't That Good?

A SERVANT of Christ, while traveling in the lumber district of Michigan a short time ago, was waiting in a station house for a train, and while there, fell into conversation with a man who was sick, and had come in to the settlement to consult a physician. The doctor had told him he could do nothing for him, and that he could live but a few months. The one to whom he told this, asked him how he felt about dying; had he thought of what was coming after death? "Oh,” said the sick man, "I do not fear death." And in reply to the question, "Why?" told the following touching story of the simplicity of faith in believing God's word.

He had lived all his life among the pines; neither he nor his wife could read, they had seldom heard a sermon, and though they knew what the Bible was, did not own one. Their little boy had gone to school one winter and learned to read, and one day had met a man on the road who had spoken to him and given him a Testament, and at night, while they all sat round the fire when the day's work was done, the boy read to his father and mother.

One night he read from 1 Tim. 1.; until he came to the fifteenth verse, "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.”

“Stop," said the father; "wife, listen to that! we are sinners, and Christ Jesus came into the world to save us. Isn't that good?" "Yes," said the wife, "that is good. Let us thank God for it." And in their humble cabin, on their knees before God, they thanked Him for His great gift, which in simple faith they had just accepted. "And," said he, in telling the story, "why should I be afraid to die, when Christ Jesus has saved me?”

Oh that precious souls out in the darkness of unbelief might so accept this "faithful saying I" c.

“IF the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?" This is a most important question. How do you answer it, unsaved reader?

Jesus All in All

JESUS IS LIFE! when all within the heart

Is cold and desolate and prone to die;

Jesus is Light! when clouds obscure the Sun,

And mists of sin and doubt hang heavily;

Jesus is Love! when we have none to give;

And Pity measureless to those who fall;

Jesus is Heaven! to the longing soul;

Jesus is ' First and Last,' and All in All.'

Jesus, the Shepherd

THE Lord will give grace and glory;" and never more so is this seen than in the divine character He bears as Shepherd.

" They (the sheep) have all gone out of the way: they have together become unprofitable; and yet, notwithstanding their unprofitableness, He, as "The Good Shepherd,” “leaves the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and goeth after that which is lost UNTIL HE FIND IT; and when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing." This is grace.

"Not of works." What works could be done by an unprofitable and helpless sheep, "without strength,” on the shoulders of "The Good Shepherd"? All it could do was to be quiet and lie still, content that it was at last secure and safe.

“Jesus... saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd." Such was the unwearied love and compassion of " The Good Shepherd," that although He" had no leisure so much as to eat," " began to teach them many things;” and then, bidding them " to sit down upon the green grass," gave them to eat;" and they did all eat and were filled "(Mark 6.).

“I am the good shepherd.... As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.... Therefore cloth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again." As "The Good Shepherd,” then, He died, thus fully meeting all the claims of divine justice in regard to sin, and expressing to believing sinners not only His own unbounded love, but the unfathomable love and one of the deep secrets of His Father's heart concerning them. As such also He went down into the very " dust of death," that by rising therefrom the lost, unprofitable, and helpless sheep might be " brought up out of the horrible pit, and out of the miry clay; " and that, as "The GREAT Shepherd," He might watch over and care for them, for whose transgressions He was wounded, whose iniquities He bore, and for which He was so sorely bruised.

“He is risen indeed" (for Redemption's toil is finished), and “shall feed his flock like a shepherd, and gather the lambs with his arms, and carry them 'in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. All is rest and peace,—must be so where Jesus is. The shoulder and the breast of the peace offering—the divine strength and affections—are now enjoyed for, " you were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls; "and" the God of peace, which brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that GREAT Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant," will" make you perfect to do his will." Well may the joyful faith of the redeemed one, brought back, “made nigh by the blood of Christ," exultingly exclaim, —

THE LORD is MY Shepherd, I shall not want (perfect satisfaction).

HE maketh me to lie down in green pastures (perfect rest).

HE leadeth me beside the waters of quietness (perfect peace).

HE restoreth my soul (full communion).

HE leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake (perfect walk).

HE anointeth my head with oil (fully consecrated).

My cup runneth over (" in his presence is fulness of joy").

How tenderly too did the Lord Jesus, "that Great Shepherd of the sheep," think of His own before taking His departure from this wilderness world, when, in restoring the soul of His erring disciple Peter, He commanded him, "Feed my lambs," “Shepherd my sheep," "Feed my sheep." His precious grace thinks of the weakest (the lambs), giving to them the first consideration. And this “feeding the flock of God," over which Peter was thus constituted an overseer, is to characterize the path, "Follow Me,” “Follow thou Me," "till I come." All this is grace, wondrous grace; but He will “give grace AND GLORY." For," Yet a little while, He that shall come will come, and will not tarry; “as He Himself has said, "Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be.”

So if, as "The GOOD Shepherd," He died for the sheep, and, as "The GREAT Shepherd," He rose again to watch over them, He will, as " The CHIEF Shepherd," come again, and upon His under-shepherds—those who truly pastor His sheep in this day of their humiliation—shall He bestow " THE CROWN OF GLORY, that fadeth not away," as the answer of the deep deep love of His heart for their faithful service thus rendered to Him in His absence. And every act—every wish—which has been towards Him by any of His own, He will duly recompense in that clay; for not "a cup of cold water" shall in any wise lose its reward.

“How shall. I meet those eyes?

Myself on Him I cast,

And own myself the Saviour's prize,

MERCY FROM FIRST TO LAST!”

Dear reader, do you know Jesus as the Good, Great, and Chief Shepherd? He says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27). N. L. N.

Look Unto Me, and Be Ye Saved.

(Read Isa. 14:9-25.)

IT is as a just God and a Saviour that the Lord presents Himself to us in this chapter. If He were not just, He could not be a Saviour; and it is the knowledge that He is just, that makes salvation so sweet. It is not salvation at the expense of justice, since it is perfectly righteous in all its details; for while it picks up sinners like you or me, and sets us in glory, it does it in perfect righteousness.

This passage opens with a word of counsel to one who is opposed to his Maker. I feel it is a beautiful answer to all the spinnings of man's mind as to how man was formed on the earth. God tells me His own story here.

"Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!” Are you striving with Him? You will 'get the worst of it if you do. You cannot get out of it. There never was a man yet that did not get the worst of it, and you will find it out sometime. If you want to strive, strive with the potsherds of the earth. “Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?”

Some men say that God did not make us right; and others, He did not make us at all; that we are only developed monkeys, and so forth. O how God's Word meets all these sayings of to-day in His Word. We do not need to go out of it to answer them all.

“Woe to him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth? Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons; and concerning the work of my hands command ye me." How beautiful is the patience of God, thus to answer all these questions that rise in men's minds I They are all skeptical; and what does skepticism do? It leads men to doubt everything, and believe nothing. Beloved friend, I beseech you, if you have got tinctured by any of the infidelity of the present day, submit your mind to God's word. I like this saying,—I think it is Lord Bacon's,—" Never let what you do not understand upset what you do; for what you do not understand is connected with ignorance, and what you do understand is based on knowledge.”

You ask me, Then you believe what you do not understand? I say, Yes for when I do not understand I believe what God tells me. I see there is love in His heart to poor sinners, and that, through the cross of Christ, He can save and bless us; so I trust Him for all the rest.

The first thing you have got to learn is, that God is in downright earnest; He will even expostulate with you. "Ask of me," He says. I am the person to whom to come; I will explain it all to you. And the more a soul goes to God about a thing, the clearer it becomes, People have written many books about how the earth was created; but one line from God is enough. “I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts have I commanded.” He speaks in a way that might win all hearts. Where science runs counter to Scripture, I prefer Scripture; for science is sometimes wrong, but Scripture never.

The heart says, " Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself." Man's thoughts still! Does He hide Himself? O no! The Light has come into the world, and shone in the darkness, as the first chapter of John's Gospel tells us. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." As long as the day of law went eon, God was hidden; but He has come out, in the person of His Son, into your world, that He might be able in righteousness to take you into His world. “No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." He has been declared in the person of His Son.

“They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end." The application of this Scripture is primarily to Israel, but it is also general, as the end of the chapter shows. If you are groping for truth, and seeking after God, how this Scripture meets your need Do you ask, How can salvation be for the sinner? It comes from the hand of a just God. How beautiful is the prophetic promise here, "Ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end." If you turn to Him and believe, then you will be able to say,—

“Bold shall I stand in that great day,

For who aught to my charge shall lay?”

The soul that has turned to Jesus, looked to Him, and lived, will stand calm, in the day when worlds will crash together. There is no fear in that heart in the Day of Judgment, but the deepest thankfulness to the Son of Man who has saved.

The Lord says that He has never spoken in secret, nor said, Seek ye Me in vain. No, Jesus came "to seek and to save the lost." When any one, at the end of a gospel meeting, says, Thank God I have found the Lord, I am not surprised; because the Lord has been looking for that one. It is when one is first converted that he says so; afterward he says, when looking back to that time, “the Lord found me then." He thinks more of what Christ has done than of himself now.

This is not only spoken of the heathen, for there are plenty of people here who are in the deepest darkness as to how they are to be saved. They think they must go regularly to church, say their prayers, and trust Christ too. Oh yes, they must trust Him too. Ah I but the trusting Christ comes last with them. If you had ever turned to Him in earnest, you would have been saved long ago, but you have been going on in a wrong way.

“There is no God else besides me; a just God, and a Saviour: there is none besides me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else." How sweet! how simple Will He make light of sin? Impossible I Will He pass one over? Impossible' "The wages of sin is death." Who will pay them? If I pay them I shall never get out of death; but if Christ pays them for me, then I am saved.

I want you to notice most carefully that God is a just God, absolutely holy. The gospel truth is this, that Christ suffered for sins, He came to bear the wages of sin due to me. The result is, the deliverance of the soul that looks to Him. Adam heard this, "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Had God reprieved his life, His words would not have been true. But every claim of divine justice has been perfectly met by Christ. Death might come to me and say, "You are a sinner." "Yes." "Then you are mine, I claim you." "No,” I say, "you cannot claim me, for Christ has come in and paid all my debt." Look at him He is dead, but who for? For me, I know; I cannot speak for you. But faith says, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ." The sting has been planted in the very bosom of Christ.

Again remark, there was the broken law, and the penalty was death; but there was something deeper than that still,—there was sin, and that was met in the cross. But I look up and see Him,— Christ, in glory now,—the One who was made sin, who at that moment was taking up all the question of sin, when He was forsaken of God, that we might never be. He is on the throne of God now, the witness of accomplished redemption, in the triumph of life over death. It is like letting poor prisoners out of their prison, on showing them the receipts for debts all paid. How many, do you think, would believe it? Would you?

Was it just in God, who ever acts holily, to forsake the Lord when He was bearing sin on the cross? It was. In Psa. 22, Jesus justifies God in forsaking Him, saying, "But Thou art holy.” He knew that the sinner and God could only meet in judgment. Then, the work of salvation done, God hastened to raise His Son from the dead; and on the third day you see an empty tomb, the clothes all lying in order. No baste, no hurry, but divine calm and power. The clothes lie untenanted, and the napkin that was about His head wrapped in a place by itself. Jesus is risen. Now, He says, "Because I live, ye shall live also." What do you say? Blessed Saviour, I am thine for evermore?

God was just in raising His Son, and the same righteousness saves every sinner that looks to Him. I am "a just God and a Saviour." "Look unto me, and be ye saved." How am I to be saved? He tells you, look to Him. I look up to Jesus, and am saved. O, you say, it is too simple. Well, read it again.

“LOOK UNTO ME, AND BE YE SAVED.”

To whom is it spoken? To all the ends of the earth. Does that take you in? Are you conscious of your need and danger? Will you not look up at the glorified One? Look, that is all; trembling sinner, look; anxious one, look up. "Be ye saved." When? His word answers it. "Be ye saved." It is so simple; there is not a word about prayer. You look, and He saves; you cannot look and not be saved.

Well, I should like to feel saved. Ah I there is not a word about that. I remember visiting a dying girl; she was anxious about her soul, and wept profusely, as she believed she was lost. I asked her if she was looking to Jesus. "Yes." Are you saved then? "No, I do not feel it." I said, " But it does not say, Look, and feel saved; but "Look, and be saved." She saw it on the spot. O, my friend, take Him at His word. "Be ye saved," is the word that comes from heaven.

“I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return., That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." How blessed to bow to Him now? The experimental thing will come after you believe. O do not forget, that every knee shall bow to Him. This scripture is applied to Jesus in Phil. 2, a striking proof that, though man, yet He is God. You will have to render this homage to a man, but, thank God, more than man, God, a Saviour God. Whosoever looks to Him is saved. W. T. P. W.

The Loving Hand of God

A FEW months ago a lady in England wrote to a friend in New York, concerning a son of hers who had gone to America and was then in one of the Western States. News about him had made her long to have him with her again, and she now wrote to this friend to help her in getting him back. She apprehended for him the passage through New York, and greatly desired that some one might receive him there upon his arrival by train, take care of him till a certain vessel sailed and see him safe on board this vessel for London.

The lady's friend was, himself, about to sail for England: his time was already set, and barely allowed the youth to reach New York from the distant place where he was. He arrived however a few hours before the time of sailing, and both, with other friends, were soon plowing through the angry waves of the disturbed Atlantic.

It did not take long to see that the young man had been, during his residence in the West, taking lessons at a sad school. His protector and friend felt deeply grieved, and thought to himself,—What an end for the poor young man unless the goodness of God lead him to repentance. Also, what a sorrow for his Christian mother when she discovers all this. It reminded him, with pain, of another mother's saying: “When my children were small they trod on my dress, now they tread on my heart.”

Under these feelings he spoke to the young man, telling him what weighed on his heart. The youth freely confessed that his life in the West had been very wild and wicked, but when he was in bad company he could not help doing as they did. He once tried to be a Christian, but he had been unable to walk as one, and now he thought it was useless for him to make any more attempt at it. Evidently to be a Christian was, in his mind, as it is, alas! in many more, to do something nice for God. Oh! how long it takes often, and how much humbling, to bring a soul to know that it is not so, but just the other way, i.e., that it is God who has done, something wonderful for us.

A few clays later, the young man was conversing with a lady passenger, and as she spoke to him of his soul he said, “Oh yes! this is all very well, but I am young, and I want to enjoy myself; I want to see life.”

“And what if you should see death?" was the lady's prompt reply.

This smote him, and with a troubled look he said, “I don't want to think about that.”

Shortly after this he was taken ill, and, to the end of the voyage, moved only with pain from his bed to a lounge in the saloon. There he would lie, evidently sad at heart, and from time to time opening his mind to his friends. All he could say was about his wickedness, and how justly God might have cut him off in the midst of it. "And I believe His hand is upon me now," he said once.

The last day of the voyage had come, and it was Sunday. The captain had requested a servant of Christ on board to preach, and as many as could or would, at the hour, assembled in the saloon. The sick young man was there too.

The preacher read for his text a part of the tenth chapter of Luke,—the "Good Samaritan." In his discourse he showed how that the Lord is there, in a wonderful manner, teaching the lawyer what he really is: a poor sinner, who has left Jerusalem— the place of God's abode—to go to Jericho—the place of God's judgment: that the Priest and the Levite—the representatives of law—did the man no good; and so trying and trying, doing, doing, doing, could bring no sinner one step nearer God. After all his efforts, he was still there in the same place as the devil, that great thief, had left him, naked, wounded, bleeding, half dead.

But it is just then the Saviour meets him. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. The sinner is guilty—Jesus died for him. The sinner is away from God—Jesus came to reconcile him to God. The knowledge of this is the binding up of his wounds, with oil and wine poured in, i.e., peace in his soul, —peace with God.

The preacher said much more about that blessed scripture, but what is now related took hold of the young man's soul.

“I never heard anything like it," he said to someone after the meeting. “Why, if the preacher had known everything about me, he couldn’t have told it out more fully. I never saw the gospel like this before. I always thought I must try very hard, and do a great deal, but here it is plain it is not so. It is because Jesus died for our sins a sinner is saved when he believes, and not because he does some great thing for Jesus.”

Scarcely had the young man reached his mother's house, when it became plain his illness was very dangerous. Week after week he lay upon his bed between life and death. His friend and fellow voyager saw him twice, and all seemed peace in that chamber, where the next visitor might be he who, a short time since, was to him the king of terrors. They spoke as freely as the sick one's strength allowed about the things unseen. The king of terrors had become to him only a servant, to let him "out of the body" where he was suffering, to be "present with the Lord" where perfect bliss flows on without a break.

Oh, the power of the grace of Gods! It "bringeth salvation "first of all; then sets to work," 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.”

The young man still lives at the time of penning these lines; and should it please God to restore him to health again, He will, no doubt, teach him, as He has already saved him. The "Good Samaritan” was not content with merely binding up the wounds, and pouring in oil and wine, but also “set him on his own beast," i.e., Christ gives power for a holy walk as freely as He saves.

Reader, may you know the grace of which WE speak.

“Great God of wonders! all Thy ways

Are wondrous, matchless, and divine;

But the blest triumphs of Thy grace

Most marvelous, unrivall'd shine

Who is a pardoning God like Thee?

Or who has grace so rich and free?”

P. J. L.

The Miser; or, I Can't See It, Sir.

A PREACHER of the Gospel was preaching at a certain place. What he was seeking to enforce from the Word of God, was man's utter ruin in the first Adam, his alienation from God by wicked works; that he was dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2), lost (Luke 19:10), guilty (Rom. 3:19); and in contrast with all this, the finished work of Christ, the fullness of which is alone sufficient for the emptiness of every sinner, and is the only work which God could accept as the ground of the poor sinner's approach to Him in righteousness.

During the singing of the last hymn, a friend came up, and said to him, “Do you see that old man in the corner” “Yes." “Well, he is a miser, and a well-known one, and he has been induced to come to hear the Gospel; would you not speak to him personally?” “All right." So, as the people were going out the preacher went up to where the miser was, and seating himself alongside, began conversation as

follows: —

“Well, my old friend, I am glad to see you here to-night, and hope you are saved.”

“Can't say that, sir.”

“Well then, are you lost?”

“I hope not, sir.”

“But if you are not saved, you must be lost; ek?”

The miser made no reply.

“It is quite clear from scripture that you are either lost or saved; there is no intermediate state, you know, my friend. You are either inside or outside. You can't be inside and outside at the same time; and Jesus says, 'Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.' So, if you have accepted the invitation, you must be in, for He says He won't cast out.'”

“Can't see it, sir," said the miser.

“Well, the words I have quoted are in John 6:37, and you can see them there. And if you look at verse 47 you will find it is written, ` He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.' So you can see, and believe for yourself. Look," said the preacher, putting his finger on the verse, "there it is.”

“O yes," said the miser, " it's there, sure enough, but I can't see it, sir.”

“You mean you can't understand it, eh?”

“Yes, I can't see it, sir.”

The preacher caught the situation at once, saw where the old miser was, and putting his hand into his pocket, and pulling out a piece of paper and pencil, wrote down the words "GOD IS LOVE.”

“My friend, do you see that?" pointing to the words.

“O yes," said the miser, reading the words, “God is love." The preacher again put his hand in his pocket, and pulling out half-a-crown, put it above the words "God is love." "Now," he said," do you see it?”

"No, of course not," said the miser.

“Why not?”

“Because the money, sir—the half-crown, hides it.”

“So, my friend, your money stands between you and God is love;' hides it, in short, to use your own words. Yes, your money is standing between you and God's free salvation, for it is evident you think you have something to give up. But, my friend, God is a giver; He takes nothing, but gives everything; and, in consequence, does not want you to give up anything, but to take His gift, ' Eternal life,' Christ Himself. Yes, my friend, when Christ gets in, self gets out. Oil and water won't mix; light and darkness can't stay in the same room at the same time. The best way to get the darkness out, is to let the light in. Christ is a light to them that sit in darkness. And is it not true in your case, that the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not?”

And, reader, is it not true as regards yourself, if you are still unsaved?

Do you think God wants anything from you, dear soul? “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever—[that means me or you, or anybody]—believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life " (John 3:16). When you have taken Christ as your Saviour, you will be able in some measure to value in His presence, as worthless, what you may now think you have to give up.

Dear soul, beware of "I can't see it, sir." Remember the poor old miser, whose God, whose salvation, was evidently his gold; like the rich man of Luke 12, who said, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?" And observe, dear reader, the Holy Ghost's answer to this question, and exposition of the passage, as given in Jer. 17:11, "As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a FOOL.”

Dear soul, do you seek to be justified? If so, God is the author of justification; "the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26). Grace is the spring of justification; "being justified freely by his grace" (Rom. 3:24). Blood is the ground of justification; "much more then, being now justified by his blood" (Rom. 5:9). Resurrection is the acknowledgment of justification; "Delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification" (Rom. 4:25). Faith is the principle of justification; "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God" (Rom. 5:1). And works the evidence of justification (after believing); "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only" (James 2:24). “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:10). “Whosoever believeth in him shall not be ashamed.”

Dear reader, here is the truth. “Believe and be saved” (Luke 8:12).

D. N.

The Notice on the Wall

PASSING through a village a short time ago, my attention was taken by the following notice printed on one of the houses, "ALL PERSONS FOUND BEGGING IN THIS PARISH WILL BE PROSECUTED.”

While reading it, I thought of the wonderful contrast between God's ways and man's. This notice is tantamount to saying, —I will not give you anything, and if you ask you will be prosecuted. Doubtless it is addressed to the very poor, it applies to them—to those in need—beggars. In fact, it is man saying to his fellow, Go away, I have nothing for you.

Now listen to what God says. Does He tell you to go away? that He has nothing for you? that He will not be entreated of? No. The blessed Lord Jesus Christ when clown here on this earth said, “I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." Blessed words! Very different to man's. Yes, from the depth and fullness of the love of God, He is now proclaiming those glorious words, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37).

Instead of saying He has nothing to give, and telling you to go away, God is now inviting you to come to Him. He is sending forth in this the day of His grace, that blessed gospel concerning His Son; for, mind you, the gospel of God is " Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord " (Romans 1:3). And what is it that God has to say concerning His Son? It is this, He has a gift to impart to you; “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). Eternal life is a gift,—the gift of God,—and it is through Jesus Christ His Son. Do not forget that it is a gift. You cannot merit it; you cannot earn it; it is a gift. However good, or however bad, in the eyes of men, your life has been, if you are to have eternal life, it is to be a gift. “Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:9).

Now let us look at the grounds on which God in His grace gives this gift. On the ground of the person and work of His own beloved Son; on the ground of the work accomplished by Him on the cross; on the ground of His blood which cleanseth from all sin. This is the ground on which God and the sinner can meet. On the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary, not only have the sins of the believer been put away, but God has been glorified about them. “Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him." On that cross “Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other." Blessed facts Instead of driving you away, and threatening you with punishment for asking, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, is now inviting poor sinners to come to Him and be saved. His invitation is, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28).

Reader, have you got this rest? are you saved? The work necessary to be clone for your salvation, and for mine, has been done by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross will you now have a share in that work and be saved? God has had His share, and been glorified by it, and is now offering you a full and a free salvation on the ground of that work. The blood of the Saviour has been shed, and God offers to bless you. It was necessary that the blood should be shed,—

“Save by the blood He could not bless,

So great so pure His holiness;

But He it is who gave the Lamb,

And by His blood saved I am.”

Bless God for it! He provided the sacrifice. His own spotless Son He did not spare. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

Just think, dear reader, of God giving His Son for you. Think of Him saying to a poor sinner, " I want you to be saved I want you to learn the value of the work accomplished by my Son on the cross.”

Come then, dear reader, accept God's offer of mercy, now before it be too late. Think of the long eternity that awaits you. Where will you spend it? Oh, think of it. Whatever your position in this world is, How do you stand before God? That is the solemn question, one which will have to be answered sooner or later.

Look at Philippians 2., verses 9 and 10, where it says, " God also hath highly exalted him (Jesus), and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth." Do you bow at the name of Jesus? It does not mean to bow physically, but in heart. Has your heart yet bowed to His name, and owned His authority? In these verses it says every knee should bow; in Isaiah 45:23 it says, "I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." That is to say the day is coming when every knee shall bow to Him.

Through grace some have learned to bow to Him now, in this the day of His rejection. God in His grace has opened the eyes of many to see beauty now in the once despised Nazarene. He who was once on this earth, the man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; who looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but found none; He could say,—" I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat." But when He looked for pity for Himself, there was none; when He looked for comforters, He found none I And who was He all this time, as He trod this earth, seeking hearts to whom He might unfold the Father's love? He was the One of whom it was said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Yes, all the time He was in this world, even as now, He was the one of whom the 8th of Proverbs tells us, "Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old: I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was." The little babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and placed in a manger at Bethlehem because there was no room for Him in the inn, was the same who said, "When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled; before the hills was I brought forth.”

He it was of whom the angel said to Joseph, "She shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.”

Dear reader, once more I ask you,—How does this affect you? Has this blessed Jesus saved you from your sins? Can you say, "The blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanseth me from all sin?" Have you accepted God's salvation? Is it a message of peace to your soul? Or have you never heard it before? Oh, thank God you hear it now. Then how do you receive it? "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" Is it a great salvation to you? Is the work wrought out and accomplished by the blessed Son of God on the cross a great work to you? Has your soul ever grasped the magnitude of that work as He alone on that cross settled the question forever with His God and Father, of the sins of those who put their trust in Him? It is not only that the sins of the believer are put away,—great and glorious as that fact is,—but God is glorified too.

On the cross God has been glorified about sin, and is now saying, "And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." God says, "Come." What do you say?

Read John 5:24. God offers you everlasting life; and if you accept it, He wants you to know that you have it.

H. M. S.

Old Andrew, or a Great Sinner, Sir.

I HAD been laboring in the gospel at M—, near Linlithgow, and while I was preaching I noticed among the people an old man, over seventy years of age, who was evidently much interested in the good news of God's free grace. What I was seeking to enforce was the complete ruin of man, and his utter alienation from God according to Romans 3:9-19, where the unconverted are described by God Himself as—"ALL under sin"—"ALL gone out of the way"—"Unprofitable"— “Throat an open sepulcher"" Tongues using deceit "—" Poison of asps under lips"—" Mouth full of cursing and bitterness"—" Feet swift to shed blood"—" No fear of God before their eyes"—and all" GUILTY before God.”

At the same time, I did not neglect to point out God's love in sending His only begotten Son into the world, to die for the sins of others; and that all God's just claims had been fully met by Jesus, so that He could now come out to justify the ungodly in RIGHTEOUSNESS; and that WHOSOEVER accepted the character God gave him,—as above,—and the Saviour which He, in His love, had provided, had EVERLASTING LIFE.

Being deeply concerned about the soul of the old man, I called on him at his home, and found that, after more than seventy years of a life of sin, he was anxious to know about the "Salvation of God," for he was assured he needed it. In the course of our conversation I found he had been a noted sinner, indeed at one time a confirmed drunkard, and identified with a gang of smugglers.

I had prayed God to make me a "Messenger of Peace" to his precious soul, and knowing that He was much more interested in him than I could be, I began to speak with him.

“I have been a great sinner, sir, and would like to be saved; but I've been a great sinner—a great sinner," said the old man.

“And a lost sinner, Andrew?" I said.

“Yes, a lost sinner; and I deserve to be," he replied.

I pulled out my Bible, and said to him, "Do you believe this book to be GOD'S WORD?”

“Yes.”

“Well, listen to it," I said, as I turned to Luke 19:10 and read, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Looking at the verse he said, "There it is, sure enough, I wish I could believe it.”

“But did you not say a minute ago that the Bible was God's word?”

"Yes, yes; I mean, I wish I could feel it.”

“That would not be faith, Andrew," I answered.

“You are nowhere told in God's word to feel and be saved, but to believe and be saved (Acts 16:31).

‘Christ died for sinners' (Rom. 5:8), and the chief of sinners, Paul himself (1 Tim. 1:15), has been in the Lord's presence for more than eighteen hundred years. Salvation now is just a question of giving and taking; giving on God's part, taking on man's. Hence it is Jesus says in Rev. 21:6, will GIVE unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life FREELY.' But in Rev. 22:17, the latest news from heaven, it is not give this time, but, `WHOSOEVER will, let him TAKE of the water of life freely.' Now your difficulty is feeling, and not taking. There need be no difficulty in taking a gift. ‘The gift of God is eternal life "(Rom. 6:23).

“And what have I to take?” the old man asked.

“You have to take God at his word; and the moment you do that, you have what God gives,— everlasting life.”

"But then I ought to feel it.”

“Yes, when you have taken, you will feel happy; but you want to feel happy before you have taken. Eternal life is not a thing, or an influence, but a PERSON— Christ Himself. I want to let you understand what believing is, Andrew," and with that I put my hand into my pocket, and pulling it out again closed, said, " Look here, I've got my pocket knife in my shut hand; do you believe it is there?”

“O yes.”

“But you have not seen it, Andrew." “No.

“Nor felt it." "No.”

“Then how do you know it is there?”

“Because you say it is there, and a preacher wouldn't tell a lie surely.”

“Well," I said," Andrew, you can take the poor preacher at his word, but you can't take God at His. He says (John 3:36), He that believeth on the Son HATH everlasting life.”

The old man felt this rebuke, and it bowed his head in shame. The arrow, drawn at a venture, pierced his soul, as he said most feelingly, “And that's faith is it? O Mr. M—, you have made it clear.”

“God has, Andrew; God has. Faith is saying Amen to what God says; taking Him at his word, and asking no questions. And He says (1 John 5:13), ( These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know (KNOW) that ye have eternal life.'”

“Well, then, I must have eternal life, for I believe on the Son. Yes, yes, I do believe; and I must, I must have eternal life, for God says it-God says it," was now the aged believer's response.

We praised God, and as we rose from our knees, his dear wife—a Christian woman—said, as the big tears stood in her eyes, " This is one of the happiest days in my life, for God has answered my forty years' prayers.”

I often used to visit old Andrew, and he never once lost confidence in the word of God. "I'm no scholar," he used to say," but I want to know more about Jesus.”

To talk of Him was his delight. "I've been a great sinner," he used to say, "but Jesus has saved me, and it's through the blood”

But old Andrew was daily becoming more frail, seventy-four years had passed over his head, he had led a fast life in his younger days, and now he was learning that "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7). He lived for eight months after his conversion, during which time he gave evident testimony of his having been born again.

I was preaching at B— when he died, but a brother in Christ visited him, and declared that his testimony to the end was beautiful, in the confession of what God's free grace had done. “I'll soon see Jesus—I want to get away—He is precious—very precious to me—I'm going home." Then a heavy fit of coughing.

A little before he fell asleep in Jesus, as some friends stood by his cot, he lifted up his eyes, as if looking at something above seen only by himself, his body at the same time shaking, as if his soul was anxious to escape from its tenement of clay, and with firm, though broken accents, he repeated the words of Simeon, "Lord, now latest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation" (Luke 2:29-30).

Reader, there is less sand in your glass to-day than yesterday. You are going to exist as long as God is, but where? In heaven, or in hell? Which?

You are going on, on, ON,—where to?

The precise moment will come, when you will have been three minutes—no more, no less—in ETERNITY. Will it be with Christ, or with the damned?

“What has the debtor-man to bring

As tribute to the Eternal King?

Nothing,

Still let him come to God, and trove

His riches, his abounding love.

What has the sinner-man to bring

As a sufficient offering?

Nothing!

Still let him come to God, whose grace

Has bruised a Saviour in his place.

Come then, poor sinner, come, and sing;

Come, in thy poverty, and bring—

Nothing!

God bids thee in His grace believe;

God bids thee from his grace receive—

Everything!”

D. M.

THERE are three parties to my justification: God, Christ, and myself. On God's part there is grace, -" Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24); on Christ's part there is His blood,—" being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Rom. 5:9); on my part there is faith,—" being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ " (Rom. 5:1). Grace is the source, blood the basis, and faith the principle of my justification. This being so, what credit and glory God and His blessed Son get, and what full blessing is the portion of the wort-working but believing sinner!

on a Par.

ON my way down one of the streets of the busy town of —, I was met by a Christian doctor, who hurriedly said to me, “Oh do come and see a poor man who suffered from a bad stroke ' about two years ago, and who will not own that he is a sinner.”

I was only too glad to follow this praiseworthy doctor, inwardly desiring that all medical men had as much the welfare of their patients' souls at heart as he; and eager, too, to see a man who disclaimed the charge of personal guilt. Such a man, in such a world, must indeed be a wonder!

Presently we entered a clean and tidy little house. There sat the paralyzed husband—a man rather under middle age—in an arm-chair near the fire. His wife and two or three young children completed the group, whilst the general appearance of the room gave the idea of a fair measure of intellectual energy on the part of both the husband and wife.

I could not but feel for the poor fellow thus crippled for life, and for the young family dependent on him. I spoke sympathetically on the painful subject of his ailment, but was glad to find that, spite of all, he seemed cheerful and in measure contented.

Next I spoke to him about his sins, only it seemed to me more advisable to approach that subject from an unexpected quarter. To have charged him with the sins common to others would have been, I felt, useless, for the double reason of his probable immunity from them, and also from his having, according to the doctor's statement, successfully parried that thrust hitherto. I therefore said, “Well, Mr.— do you think that you have been born again? has this affliction led you to consider seriously your condition as a child of fallen parents, so that whatever your past life may have been, moral or otherwise, you need this radical change to be experienced before you are fit to enter the kingdom of God?”

He paused a moment, and then frankly said, “No, I cannot say that I have been born again.”

For this honest acknowledgment of his state I was thankful; albeit I deeply grieved, as I thought of the man's terrible danger. Alas! it matters not what a person may be morally or religiously; if he be not born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Now this is very sweeping, but divinely true. By this fact all are placed on a common platform before God, neither is there one iota of moral superiority in one over another. In this case Nicodemus in John 3, and the Samaritan adulteress in the chapter that follows, are identical in their natural condition before God. In fact it was to the better of the two (morally speaking) that Christ said, "Ye mast be born again." And why so? Just because the nature, the heart, was the same. Lay hold of this truth, my reader. Of course Nicodemus and the adulteress cannot be classed in the same category by man to do so would be absurd. It would ignore relative right and wrong; and put darkness for light, and light for darkness. But it is not here a question of human rules, or of the propriety of human discrimination, but of the root, the springs of life, as seen by the holy eye of God in fallen man. Before such a tribunal, the two appear equally at fault. And hence we read that "there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God," Rom. 3:22, 23. Not one particle of difference is there, as to the common nature, between Nicodemus and the adulteress, between Saul of Tarsus and the impenitent thief, between the apostle John and Judas Iscariot, between the chief priests of Jerusalem and the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices, between the reader and the writer of these lines.

"No difference!" Oh, how leveling! It is so, and it is equally universal. Not a soul but has come short of the glory of God! No, not one. Mark, my reader, it does not speak of the glory of man, his standards of worth or merit, but of God's standard. Now, in view of this, all have failed. Select whom you please; pick and choose out of all the lists of human worthies. Take such as Joseph, Job, Daniel, from pages sacred; or Socrates, as perhaps the best model from pages profane, and you will find this truth abundantly established.

Place yourself under the eye of absolute holiness, and in the rays of God's glory, and you must own that you are defiled. Of outward sins you may be comparatively clear, and assuredly so much the better; but of inward impurity—an evil, deceitful, wicked heart—you must plead guilty. Hence, over and over again, the absolute necessity of the new birth is established.

Having received this honest acknowledgment, I said to our poor friend, by way of a further test, “Whether do you think a man who had lived a blameless life, or a notorious profligate, would have the better chance before the bar of God?” Again he paused a moment, and then said, “I think the first.”

Quite so—I think. But here thought is all out.

God must decide the question.

Again I said, " Suppose I laid two corpses on your floor, one a mere skeleton, the other the newly deceased form of some lovely young lady, which of the two could more readily exhibit the activities of life?”

“Ah!" said he," they would be on a par.”

“Yes," I replied, "the comparative beauty of the bodies could not assist in expressing life, if death placed this on the same platform as that. Both are equally helpless.”

Now that is just the case in point. Man is dead, spiritually dead, "dead in trespasses and sins," and there cannot therefore be degrees of spiritual life, if all are dead! To talk of some being better than others, in this view of the truth, is folly. A beautiful corpse is at best a dead body; and a man, Nicodemus or other, who has not been born again, is a spiritual corpse. Can a truth be found going more deeply into the root of man's state before God? Other scriptures may speak of his guilt, and his consequent responsibility; but this unfolds the really sinful nature inherent in all because of the Fall.

Not only do the branches bear bad fruit, but the roots are poisonous, and the whole tree is therefore useless.

How plainly does this show the necessity of the "new birth," and the reason why the Lord said,

“Ye must be born again.”

But then, what is the new birth?

Well, first, it is not baptism, as is sometimes and falsely taught. "Born of water" has no allusion to baptism; otherwise, seeing that baptism is accepted by the vast majority of professing Christians, who when grown up give no sign of being fit for the kingdom of God,—the holiness becoming that kingdom being completely absent,—all such would be born again.

No, it is a new nature, given by the Spirit of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." And so, in speaking of believers, Jesus says of them, “which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." This is divine life in the soul; and as Christians, believers in the blessed Son of God, we get eternal life; not merely a divine life on earth, but life in Christ glorified; a life that enjoys, even now, that which is of God, and that will swallow up mortality, so that our bodies, now subject to the effects of sin, may share in that eternal life possessed already by our souls. “The end is everlasting life," as surely as “we know that we have passed from death unto life,"— present for our souls, future for our bodies.

“Mortality" always and only applies, in time, to the body; "Eternal life" always and only, in time, to the soul. The body of the believer (although he possess eternal life) is just as mortal as ever. Thus mortality and eternal life are distinct in time; but bye-and-bye, body and soul will alike possess immortality and eternal life; “this mortal shall put on immortality,"—the” end everlasting life.”

Oh, happy thought! How the heart thrills beneath its living power! Life from the dead; life out of death; life divine; life eternal!

My reader, do you know this life? Do you consciously possess it? Is Christ your life? “He that hath the Son hath life, he that hath not the Son of God hath, not life" (1 John 5:12). No matter what else you have, be it never so meritorious in the eye of man, if you have not the Son of God you have not life. J. W. S.

on Which Side of You Is the Judgment?

A FEW days ago a man opened the door of a book store, in the windows of which were many copies of the scriptures and books relating to them. He walked to the end where the bookseller sat at his desk, and said, "I am from —, and was told that there is in this city a place where poor people can obtain a Bible free. Is this it?”

"What do you want to do with a Bible?" asked the bookseller.

"I want to read it," quietly replied the man; "I have never owned anything but a New Testament, and now I want the whole Bible.”

"And do you pray over it?" continued the book-seller, " do you realize it is the Word of God, and that you need the Holy Spirit to lead you to the right understanding of it?" The man felt at once the bookseller was interested in his soul, and in order to explain and assure him that he had not read his New Testament in vain, he said, “I am a Baptist, sir, and have now been a professor of religion for some time.”

" Ah, but being a Baptist is not necessarily being a child of God," pressed the bookseller," and I am anxious to know if you are a child of God.”

"Well, I hope so," was the hesitating reply, "but you know none of us can be sure of that.”

"Are you sure of the judgment?”

"Oh yes, I am sure of that," and the man began to look very earnest.

“Well, sit down here," continued the bookseller, "and tell me on which, side of you is the judgment —before or behind?”

"Oh," he replied, "it is before me, of course, for the judgment is only at the end of the world, and that hasn’t come yet.”

“How do you expect to escape it?”

"Well, I am trying earnestly to live a Christian life, I am trying to do what good I can in my poor way, and I do hope in that day to be found worthy to escape and to have eternal life.”

“Now, let me tell you my story," said the bookseller; “I, too, also believe that the judgment is at the end of the world, and though this has not come yet, I can tell you that the judgment is behind me. Being sure of its coming, I anticipated it in my mind, and found then that being a sinner I was `condemned already.' As my sins came out there in the light of the ' great white throne,' I could not but see that all hope was over,—I was lost, and so, instead of trying to escape, I pleaded guilty. At the same time, however, I saw that it was for these very sins Jesus had suffered judgment upon the cross. He, the just,' was there suffering `for the unjust.' Besides, I knew He was no more on the cross, but up there in the glory, and I said, ' Thank God, the judgment is past for me, since Jesus has passed through it in my stead!' Therefore is it written in John 5:24, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth in him that sent me, Lath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life.'”

Instantly the man's eyes glittered like diamonds, and taking hold of the bookseller's arm in both his hands, he said, with intense earnestness, "I see it! I see it! I catch the idea!" and off he went, as one who has found a new treasure.

Reader, if you too are able to say, through grace, that the judgment is behind you, there will be no difficulty in your appropriating the blessed message of 1 John 3:2, " Beloved, now are we the sons of God." P. J. L.

One Sin

WHEN in London last, I was asked to go with another Christian to visit an old man, who was nearly blind, unconverted, and hardened in a course of unbelief, while at the same time boasting in his almost sinless morality. He believed in God and His word, when it suited him to do so; but when God's claims were pressed, and the question of his own creature responsibility raised, he ignored them altogether, He was a fair sample of that class who judge God, instead of allowing Him to judge them; and who sit in judgment upon the scriptures, instead of submitting to their divine statements, and bowing to their divine authority.

Everything we stated from God's word was either rejected or treated with indifference. In fact, the old man was an object of pity from first to last; everything he said but indicated a man totally in the dark, with a heart as alien from God as possible, and desiring to remain so. The most beautiful truths of the gospel were treated like a sow would treat pearls.

But one point in our long conversation struck me very much. When speaking of his blameless life, he boasted that he could not remember ever having sinned. I said, " Mr. R— don't you remember in your long life of ever having sinned? God says, the thought of foolishness is sin.' Have you had no foolish thoughts? He also says, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment ' (Matt. 12:36). Have you never spoken idle words? “Though blinded by unbelief, and willingly ignorant of his many sins, the old man's memory served him this once. “Yes," said he, “I do remember when I was a boy, with other boys, getting into a neighbor's orchard and stealing his apples.”

Though he would ignore the sins of old age, his conscience made him testify to the sins of his youth. And yet he did not cry, as did another, “Lord, remember not against me the sins of my youth.”

In reply to the old man, I said, “Then, by the law of God, you are under the curse; for if you had but committed this one sin, it curses you. The law of God, says, Thou shalt not steal,' and you have stolen, and therefore you remain under the awful weight of its divine curse." I then turned to Gal. 3, and read, " As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in ALL things written in the book of the law to do them.”

I then proceeded to show, that the redemption of Christ was the only way of deliverance from the curse of the broken law, and that the believer was redeemed and delivered. “Christ hath delivered us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree "(Gal. 3:13).

But the old man put it from him, and said, that he was willing to stand as he was; that he was not afraid to meet God; and that there were many more like him; and, if lost, he would have plenty of company.

We in turn besought him to believe God's word, to own himself a sinner, accept the Saviour by faith, and meet us in glory. And so we parted. Whether to meet in glory, or for the old man to hear the awful sentence, “Depart from me ye cursed," “that day “only will declare.

I must confess that I never felt the awful power of unbelief, and the deadening and blinding effect of sin, more than I did that afternoon, while seeking to lead that poor, blind, tottering, God-hating sinner to Christ. Ere it be too late for him, may the God of all grace save him; and in that day may he be found amongst the number of the redeemed.

But notice, beloved reader, the old man remembered one sin. If he had let the light of God's word fall upon his life, he would have seen thousands of sins, in thought, in word, in deed. His very conversation with us was full of sin; for he was justifying himself, and condemning God. Unbelief came forth at every breath, and the old man scorned the thought of judgment. But he remembered one sin, it was a sin of his youth. He remembered that one; throughout his long life it stuck to him; his conscience charged him with it, and the law of God condemns him for it.

That one sin is registered against him, and many more besides and if, after a life of Christ-rejecting, he finds his abode in hell, his memory, no longer impaired or forgetful, will discover to him, not one sin merely, but a life of guilt and rebellion, and multitudes of sins aggravated by ever-increasing light. Like the rich man in hell, to whom Abraham said, "Son, remember," his memory will fling itself back over the past, and his conscience charge upon him his many sins, while he will be fully aroused to the awful fact that his portion is endless woe, banishment from the presence of God forever.

Dear reader, let your memory do you service now. Let the light of the word of God fall upon your whole path now, and you will exclaim, “My sins are countless I who can save me from the judgment they deserve?”

The answer is, "Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God "(1 Peter 3:18)." Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). BUT NOW! E. A.

WHEN the Lord Jesus died, God rent the veil of the temple in twain from top to bottom. Atonement for sin having been effected by Christ, and accepted by God, no barrier to immediate access to God remained. To bring in anything now between the believing soul and God is, in effect, to stitch up the veil again.

P — 'S Conversion; or, I Must Turn to My God.

HOW fast the time flies It is now nearly ten years since the Lord showed mercy to dear P. It is ever a memorable moment when God brings a soul out of darkness into light, from death to life, from the condition of a condemned sinner to that of a justified saint.

“This month shall be unto you the beginning of months" (Ex. 12:2), said God to Moses, when on that terrible night He sheltered Israel by the blood of the paschal lamb, but swept the first-born of Egypt into eternity.

In the history of every redeemed sinner there is a time that will never be forgotten, when God, by some means or another, brought him to know himself as guilty and lost, and to see the precious blood of Jesus to be the only remedy to meet his need; not only sheltering him from judgment, but also becoming the ground of his present and eternal acceptance with God, and his righteous and indisputable title to the eternal glory of God. He will never forget that hour; but more especially will he never forget the hour when Jesus, the Lord of life and glory, hung a sacrifice for sin on the accursed tree; when God forsook Him, and all that was due to sin came upon Him, the holy Substitute. Our everlasting blessedness is the fruit of that hour, and how can we forget it?

I had known the Lord some years, and had tasted a little of the infinite reality of that peace with God made by the blood of Jesus on the cross, and had known too a little of the deep joy and blessedness of leading others to the feet of Jesus, to find salvation there, when one day I received a letter from one I did not know, but who knew me, and who was a friend of P.'s. The contents of the letter were to the effect that God had taken away P.'s wife, who as yet was ignorant of it, and asking me to break the sad intelligence to him, praying that God would bless it to the saving of his soul.

At this time P. was some miles distant from where I was staying. I immediately felt the solemnity of my position; it was entirely new work for me; I had never been on such a mission before. I realized what a blow it would be, for P. and his wife had not been married many months when they were separated by circumstances they had no control over.

After seeking grace and wisdom from God, I went and called on P., and never shall I forget that time. Conscious of my own weakness, of what I carried in my hand, of the blow it would be to the dear man, of a half fear that it might serve to harden his heart, I almost wished that I had not been singled out to break the sad news. But we met, comparatively strangers; we shook hands, and with some suspicion he looked at me, for I found out afterward that God, in mercy, had prepared him by a presentiment, so that the blow should not be too heavy.

At last I gained courage enough to say, "Well, P., supposing God thought fit to take from you some precious thing, or some one dear to you, would you be willing to submit to Him?”

With intense earnestness he looked at me, and said, “Is there anything the matter with my dear wife?”

“Yes," I replied; " God has been pleased to take away your beloved wife, and a Christian sister has written to me asking me to break the sad intelligence to you, praying that God may bless this sorrow to the saving of your soul; also saying, that before He took her away lie saved her precious soul, and that now she is in heaven with Him.”

Poor P., the stroke was overwhelming. He loved his wife intensely; she was the idol of his heart, and while that idol was there, there was no room for God, so that He took her away in order to reach him. He trembled like an aspen leaf, and became like a man convulsed from head to foot. The blow was heavy, the grief was great, the poor heart was rent in twain, and a sad sad aching void was there. His treasure was gone, the pleasure and joy of his heart torn by the hand of death from his embrace; and ignorant of the consolations of the Gospel, and the sympathy of the heart of Christ, what had he left? Poor dear man, nothing!

After recovering from the terrible blow, and as a man who felt that the only thing he cared for on earth was taken from him, with deep earnestness of soul he said, "I must turn, to my God!”

I immediately seized the opportunity to present to him the faithful goodness of God in all this, and that God's object was to save his never-dying soul, removing the only hindrance that stood in the way. I told him that he was a sinner, that God had given His Son to die for him, and that if as a lost and needy sinner he believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, God would save him; yea, that if he did believe on Him, he was saved. "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).

Having placed the Gospel before him, and cast him upon the God of all grace, who only wounds that He may heal, I wished him for the time good day.

Shortly afterward we met again. His pale face, the solitary downcast look of the man, but told to one the depths of the sorrow within, and how severe the stroke had been. We took a long walk of many miles together, conversing all the way on the love of God, the need of man, the death of Christ, the various ways God had in bringing sinners to Himself, and of a present and eternal salvation, the fruit of the all-atoning sacrifice of Christ, the present portion of all true believers.

Many Scriptures were referred to, especially Luke 15. Never was a Scripture more precious. The prodigal's sins, his beginning to be in want, his coming to himself, his sense of need and sin, his repentance and return to the father,—all picturing out to us the conviction, repentance, and return of a sinner to God. Then the father's gracious and wonderful reception of him, his confession as he lay upon the father's bosom, encircled by the father's arms, close to his beating heart,—telling of how God receives the repentant returning sinner. Then, how the father clothed him with the best robe, put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and brought hit) into the house to sit in company with himself, and yeast with him upon the fatted calf,—beautifully setting forth that the believer stands accepted with God's righteousness upon him, not his own, and that God's love to him is a changeless, deathless love. And then the joy of the father, yea, of the whole house, over the return of the prodigal son,—showing the divine joy of the heart of God, and the infinite eternal pleasure He has in saving a lost sinner, and bringing him into the relationship, not of a servant, but a son, and to have a place in His house, and communion with Himself forever.

Sweetly and blessedly did God do His work in dear P.'s soul. He wounded, that He might heal; He cast down, that He might lift up; He wrought conviction, that He might speak peace; He gave the sense of sin, that He might give the knowledge of pardon through the blood of Jesus; He made him to feel what it was to be lost, that he might know what it was to be saved; He took his earthly treasure away from him to Himself in heaven, that He might fill his heart with an eternal treasure,—the knowledge of Himself as a blessed Saviour-God. P. turned to his God, and proved the blessedness of those words, “Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). He knew, and confessed himself saved by the grace of God, and accepted in the Beloved. What an infinite mercy!

Beloved reader, have you ever been broken down before God about your sins? have you, like dear P., turned to your God? or, in other words, have you been converted? The Son of God says, "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be CONVERTED, and become as a little child, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven " (Matt. 18:3).

Make haste, dear soul, for the time is short!

E. A.

Peace False and True

FACE with God is a priceless boon; peace apart from God a Satanic delusion. That the latter exists is clear from the Lord's own words, “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace" (Luke 11:21).

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

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

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

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

W. T. P. W.

The Power of the Word

SOME time since I was seized with a strong desire to visit a village a few miles distant from my house, to distribute tracts. Before I went I called upon a friend, and mentioned to him what I was about to do; he wished me "God speed," and said, " Call upon J. H. while you are there, you will find him terribly dark, and possessed with the firm belief that his soul is already in Satan's power, past recovery, and that eternal damnation is his doom.”

Arriving at the village, I commenced distributing my tracts. They met with the usual reception at the hands of the recipients; many were grateful, others indifferent, while some seemed to consider it an insult,—strange that the offer of eternal life should be so received. On the completion of my labors, I called at the house of J. H. Inquiring for him, I found that he was in bed and very ill. For fourteen years he had been an invalid, and his sufferings during that period had been very great. Proceeding upstairs, I found him suffering from a terrible paroxysm of coughing. When he had somewhat recovered, I began conversing with him about his health, and then changing the subject, asked him if he were happy as to the future. He replied in the negative, his face assuming a gloomy expression.

Opening my Bible at the fifth chapter of John, I read the 24th verse, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life; " and then turning to the sixth chapter of the same gospel, I read a portion of the 37th verse, " Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." It was enough. In a moment the man's hands were clasped together, the tears coursed down his face, and he broke out into such exclamations of praise as I have rarely heard. No words from me were required, the Spirit of God applied the Word of God to his soul with marvelous power, the man's joy was unbounded.

“Blessed Jesus," said he, “and He to die for me! Oh, I can see Him on the Cross, bleeding for me, and I never to know this before! Why was I not told of it? I always though I had to do so much." Almost bewildered at witnessing so instantaneous a conversion, I sat while J. H. poured out his gratitude to the Saviour, and, when I had opportunity, putting in a word to unfold the tale of God's wonderful love. Each word struck home; he took in everything with a marvelous intelligence, never questioning it, but appropriating to himself every word I spoke. Falling on my knees, I thanked God for this instance of His power and love, J. H. meanwhile giving audible expression to his thankfulness. "Sir," he repeated, time after time, "the Lord sent you here to-night, I am sure.”

A week afterward J. H. was again visited. He was very bright and happy. "Satan," he said, has been troubling me a little, but I tell him, the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin,' and he then ceases his attacks." He spoke with grief of the long life he had spent in alienation from God, and dwelt with deep gratitude upon the love that had plucked him from the brink of hell, and blessed him with an everlasting salvation.

His disease was now exhibiting acute symptoms, and he rapidly approached his end; but the pain he suffered seemed forgotten in the joy he experienced in the One who had died for him.

Just before the end, he was asked if he felt any fear, "Oh no," he said, “I am just waiting for Jesus to come and fetch me." And he had not long to wait; about six weeks after my first visit to him he went home, exchanging the suffering of this life for the bright presence of his Redeemer. W. H. S.

Profession and Reality

WOULD you advise my joining Mr. M.'s church? “said a lady to me one clay.

“May I ask you, first, do you belong to Christ?”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you been saved by the work finished by the Lord Jesus Christ upon Calvary's Cross?”

“I really do not understand you; pray be more explicit.”

“I will quote a verse from God's word, which explains my meaning, ' God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have ever-lasting life ' (John 3:16). If you have taken your true place, as one ready to perish, and have believed that God gave His Son to save you, you have everlasting life, you belong to Christ.”

“You puzzle me extremely. You know I am in the musical profession, and my father had me carefully trained, that I might perform at concerts, private theatricals, &c.; but I have grieved him much by refusing such a public life. I prefer something quieter, and more select. Now I play the harmonium at Mr. M.'s, and I really feel it my duty to join his community; do you not think I am right in so doing?”

“Miss W., I dare not answer for you; but let me ask you this, do you believe you are a sinner?”

“I suppose so; we are all sinners.”

“But do you believe that your sins helped to nail Jesus to the cross?”

“I really could not say.”

“Where will you go, do you think, if called to die?”

“To heaven, I hope.”

“On what grounds do you hope this?”

“Well, I am sure, I have given up a great deal of gay society, and many advantages.”

“And yet you have not learned your lost estate, and taken the Lord Jesus as your only Saviour?”

“Well, I can assure you that I have done my best. I have been for eight years trying to find out the difference between hoping and believing; have studied many theological works, and sought in many ways, to do what is right; and yet I seem to be ever learning, and never coming to the knowledge of the truth.”

Ah, Miss W., if you would only let go your own doings entirely, and simply trust God's word, you would find your difficulties cease. Your hopes of salvation are in works of yours, and God says, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us' (Titus 3:5). Nothing but Christ will do for the judgment day. The One who offers you salvation to-day, will then say to the despiser of His mercy, `Depart from me, I never knew you.' I beseech you not to rest till you know you belong to Christ," and so we parted.

When next I saw Miss W. she had "joined Mr. M.'s community;" was more full of her works than ever, and quite satisfied in the step she had taken. Unless God has since aroused her from her false security, and quickened her from dead works to serve Himself, she is still going on, a professor merely, without oil in her vessel with her lamp.

How cheering to be able to turn away from cold formality and dead works, to an instance of life from among the dead, and to hear from the lips of one saved by grace praises to the Lord.

Arthur K. was but twenty-two years of age, yet his life had been a wild and thoughtless one, when a fatal disease laid hold of him, and its course could not be arrested. Truly gloomy were his prospects, for he was poor as to this world's goods (a husband and father too), death was staring him in the face, and as to eternity all was dark uncertainty with him.

But the Lord looked with pitying eye upon him, and put into his heart the cry which now for the first time fell from his lips, " What must I do to be saved?”

Only a few days before, Arthur's mother had been led to believe on the Lord Jesus, to her soul's rest and joy. Now she said to her son, “My Arthur, Jesus will save you, if you will only trust Him.”

"But, mother, I have been such a bad fellow, will He have me now my life is wasted? For all chance is gone, and I must die.”

“Yes, my boy, only try Him; I am sure He will not cast you out.”

“Oh mother, I wish I could believe it; fetch someone else to tell me of Jesus.”

A servant of the Lord went to see him, who read to him from Romans 10:8-10, " The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy 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.”

Arthur's heart was opened, and he received the truth with grateful joy.

Lord Jesus," said he," thou hast saved my soul! I do thank Thee. So bad, so undeserving, as I am; yet Thou lovedst me, and didst give Thyself for me; How I love the name of Jesus; it is the sweetest name there is.”

During the few weeks he lived, his joy never abated. Often when I went to see him he would say, “Now you have come to tell me more about Him whom my soul loveth. What feasts we have together. Others come to me," he would say," and talk of the world and its doings. I say,—Ah my life has been spent according to the course of this world, but Jesus is my all now; I am going to spend eternity with Him. I shall be so glad to see Him—to be with Him—to be like Him—never to grieve Him by my sins any more.”

When some little delicacies were brought to him one day, to tempt his poor appetite, " Thank you so much," said he," for bringing the Lord's gifts, but I seem to want nothing but Himself—He is so precious. Oh that I could tell you of the preciousness of my Jesus!”

“Would you not like to remain down here a little while, Arthur, just to serve Him?”

“If I were left here long I might grieve Him; no, I could not bear that. But He is going to take me away, I know.”

“Do you suffer much pain?”

“Yes, at times very much, especially at night; but I tell you what I do, I just think of what my Jesus suffered for me. Ah! I say to myself, my pain is light after that.”

“O Christ, what burdens bowed Thy head,

Our load was laid on Thee;

Thou stoodest in the sinner's stead—

Bear'st all my ill for me

A victim led, Thy blood was shed;

Now there's no load for me.”

"An old work-mate came in to-day," said ne on one occasion, “he began by talking about races and betting. I said, 'Stop, mate, I can hear no more; I, by God's grace, am running a race, looking off unto Jesus,—a race begun here that will lead me to glory. I'm very glad to see you, but you must not talk to me of such things as we used to speak of, for they will not help me to think of Jesus. You know what a dreadful chap I was, but God has had mercy on me, and forgiven me all my sins,—because Jesus died instead of me. Mate, won't you trust Him too? ‘He wept, and told me he would sign the pledge, and try to be better.

“No, no,' said I, ' that will not do, God cannot have turning over new leaves, you must come as an out and out sinner to Christ Jesus the Saviour; the price He paid for sinners was His own blood,—believe it, and eternal life is your happy portion.”

Another time a gentleman went to see him, “who," said Arthur, " tried to fill my mind with doubts and fears; but I felt it was Satan's work, so I said, ' 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. 8:39). Mr.— could not say much more after that, and soon took his leave, and I was left alone with Jesus. Oh my Jesus, how He comforts me”

Arthur's joy increased as his body grew weaker. Of him it could be truly said, ' Though our outward man perish, yet the inward is renewed day by day' (2 Cor. 4:16).

Hearing that he was dying, we went for the last time to see him. He was in bed, his poor wasted countenance beamed with heavenly rapture. He smiled at us, and said, “I shall soon see Him, it will not be long now. We have had good times together down here, but

‘What will it be to dwell above,

And with the Lord of glory reign!'

Then he asked us to pray for his young wife and child, who, with his mother, stood by the bed weeping bitterly. He then said "Farewell," and went off in a sort of doze.

Next morning his mother came to tell us he was "absent from the body, and present with the Lord.”

He had slept for some time after we left, then awaking, he exclaimed, "Where am I?" "In your own home, my dear boy," said his mother.

Then, as if recollecting, he said, while a shade of disappointment passed over his face, "Ah, yes, in `the Stowage,' not yet with Jesus. Oh mother, I've been so happy, I thought I was with Jesus; I will go to sleep again, then it will be to be with Jesus; I shall close my eyes here, and awake there 1”

He turned round, closed his eyes, and fell asleep! Devout men carried him to his burial, and ere we left his grave we sang together,—

“Christ the Lord will come again,

None shall wait for Him in vain;

I shall then His glory see:

Christ will come and call for me.

Then, when the Archangel's voice

Calls the sleeping saints to rise,

Rising millions shall proclaim

Blessings on the Saviour's name.

This is our redeeming God!'

Ransomed hosts will shout aloud:

Praise, eternal praise be given,

To the Lord of earth and heaven!'”

Which is my reader's state, mere profession of Christ, or real possession of Christ?

E. E. S.

A Question You Must Answer

"What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?"—Matt. 27:22.

READER, have you answered this query in a way glorifying to God, and perfectly satisfactory to your own soul, by accepting Him as God's love-gift to you, giving thanks to God the Father for such a Saviour?

If still this question, so important, stands before your soul unanswered, I ask you to stop and think, as the Spirit of God presses it in upon your conscience now: "What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?" Receive Him, or reject Him, WHICH? You and Jesus, the Christ, are put together in the verse, and as the words rise up before your soul, oh, by faith, receive Him as yours, and have a foretaste here of what the saved will enjoy very soon in the glory of His presence face to face.

Why not now weigh the question in the balances of your immortal spirit? It reveals the fact that none are able to get quit of personal dealing with Christ, now in grace, or soon in judgment. “For every eye shall see him." As you read these lines, a crisis in your history is reached; it was so with Pilate, he sat on the judgment-seat, while the chief priests, the elders, and the multitude stood around it, with ONE in their midst, " Who was oppressed, and afflicted; yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth " (Isa. 53:7). On Him every eye was fixed, against Him every tongue was let loose, revealing the dark hatred of Christ-rejecting hearts.

How solemn the moment, how solemn the question, to Pilate and all around him, “What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?” They decide at once, “Away with him, let him be crucified.”

What of Pilate, who could say, “I find no fault in him "? He halted between two opinions, till one sentence reached his ear, “If thou let this man go, thou art not Cæsar's friend;" when he heard that saying, he made choice of Cæsar's friendship, and his choice sealed his doom.

What of yours, dear friend? Unlike Pilate, a crowd may not press around you waiting your decision yet in the quiet of your home, in the workshop, in the railway carriage, on the river, or on the sea, in the field, or by the way, this question, raised in your soul by the Holy Ghost, must be answered by you, " What shall I do then with Jesus which, is called Christ?" God waits your reply. You may NOW accept of HIM as your PERSONAL SAVIOUR, and know the forgiveness of sins, peace with God, and the fellowship of His heart; or you may NOW REJECT Him, and choose the world's friendship, with the pleasures of sin for a season; and your CHOICE may SEAL your DOOM.

Do you halt between two opinions? listen to the UNANSWERED QUESTION of SCRIPTURE —" How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?”

JESUS is GOD'S SALVATION for YOU; trust Him as you are, for “He receiveth sinners and eateth with them." P. D. O.

A Railway Incident

GETTING into the train one evening on my way home from a meeting, the only other occupant of the compartment, a young man, accosted me, making some remark about the unusually mild winter we were experiencing.

Gathering from this that the Lord might have me respond, by speaking to him of matters of eternal importance, I was soon led to say, that the great thing for any of us was to be all right for the next world whilst we were journeying on through this; to be ready to leave this, at any moment we might be called away; and as this life was uncertain, how important it was to see to it at once.

He acknowledged the force of this, and seemed very open to hear more, saying he would try to be ready.

We were on our way to London, which he hoped to reach very soon.

“Now," I answered, “if you have to be in London by such a time, would all your trying ever get you there?”

“No," he replied.

“Well, then, how do you get to London?”

“By the train," said he.

“And what did you do?”

“I got into it, and sat down, trusting it to take me there," was the substance of his reply.

“And what readiness did you require”

“I got in, just as I am.”

“Well, now," I said, "listen to me. You want to get to heaven when you leave this world. Christ is like the train; He can take you there, and He is the only One who can. You are welcome to Him, just as you are, only trust Him; salvation is by faith that is in him ' (Acts 26:18). Your trying will not help you or fit you,—

`No hard works He bids thee do;

All the fitness He requireth,

Is to feel your need of Him.'

And why? Because He did all the necessary work once for all; finishing it upon the cross, and dying there for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3). Rising again from the dead, He has thrown open the door wide to all.

And, just as you entered the train, Christ stands and says, ' I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.'

“Now," I added," do you hope you are in the train?”

“No," he replied," I know I am.”

“And," I answered," I know I am in Christ, and so may you. Only trust Him, as simply as you do the train, and without delay.”

“Well," he still answered again, but earnestly," I will try.”

“That will not do," I said.

“Well," he said," I do hope to be right.”

“That will not do.”

“Well," said he," what is it then?”

The answer was, "Believe in Christ, only believe.”

“Well," he replied, "I will believe, I will believe;” and he shook my hand warmly.

My parting word was, "Then, do believe.”

God knows whether this was a decisive moment for that young man. He said, “I wish you were going further with me.”

However, dear reader, think over this little incident. May it lead you to take your place before God, just as you are, trusting Christ, the only way to heaven, to find out the efficacy of His shed blood as that which cleanseth you from all sin. He says, "I am the way;" "I am the door." Do you enter in; only believe.

J. S. C.

The Skeptic and the Jew

SOME years since, in the place known as the London Fields, in London,—a place where the Gospel was often preached by some of the Lord's people to the crowds that gathered there,—on Lord's Day afternoon, after several had proclaimed the good news of salvation through the Lord Jesus, there stood up a young man, a skeptic, and made light of the Word of God, and especially of conversion, saying he had had a Christian mother, and at her death he was exercised, and prayed to God, if there was a God, to convert him, and make him know that his prayer was heard but all in vain, God did not hear,— and now he knew there was no God.

And so he went on, with considerable force, for a half-hour, and closed scoffing at God, at Christ, and at conversion, to the seeming dismay of the witnesses for Christ that had preceded him, when, quietly and with much feeling, an old Hungarian Jew, that knew the Lord, took his place on the stone from which the skeptic had spoken, and said,—

“Friends, the young man that has been speaking seems very strong in his infidelity,—quite a giant, a Goliath,—but I think that from my satchel I can take two little pebbles with which I can slay him, and overthrow all his testimony. The first pebble,” he said, as he drew out his Bible,” you will find in first Kings, eighteenth chapter, where the priests of Baal cry to their god so long in vain. Not so Elijah, for Elijah's God heard him. But," he said, turning to the young man, “your god was away; you did not cry loud enough, or he was asleep, or had gone hunting. Your god probably was asleep. And then, young man, you did not show the zeal that the priests of Baal did, for they cut themselves with knives. And now the second pebble is found in John 10:27. My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me.' It is clear you were not one of His sheep, or you would have heard His voice. You were an unbeliever, in darkness. It is plain why you had no answer. ‘Without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.' So," he said, again addressing the young man, “your case is clear. No wonder you had no answer. Oh hear His voice now. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”

Thus ended the converted Jew's testimony, so faithfully and so powerfully given. May the day show that his words were an arrow from God, even to the young skeptic FAITH is the soul's outward, not its inward look; and repentance is the tear-drop in the eye of faith.

Something Better Still

HOW few comparatively know anything of the grace of God! Even those who do, how feeble their apprehension of its fullness! My reader, what do you know about it?

We are living in a day of grace. The word of God tells us that grace is reigning through righteousness (Rom. 5:21). Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17). God tried man for some forty centuries, from Adam onwards, and he proved a complete failure. The law given by Moses, a perfect expression of what was due from man to God and his neighbor, only served to make his case worse, as he utterly lacked power to keep it. He was thus manifested both as a sinner and as a transgressor.

But God is love; and though man richly deserved judgment, He 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 Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us... full of grace and truth (John 1:14). But if God is to be glorified as to the question of sin, man's deep need met, and creation delivered, the Son of man must be lifted up upon the cross (John 3:14). Christ went into death, offering Himself through the eternal Spirit without spot to God, and by the grace of God tasted death for every man (or thing) (Heb. 2:9).

And God raised Him from the dead! The man Christ Jesus in the glory is God's testimony to accomplished redemption. The Man who might have come down from the cross, gave up the ghost, was buried, rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and sat down triumphant in glory, His work done. And now God sends forth the gospel of His grace to a lost and guilty world (Acts 20:24). Grace comes clown from the glory of God. God says to man now, Jew and Gentile alike, there is no difference (Rom. 3:22), for “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). But side by side with this solemn statement we read the precious words, "Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).

Wondrous declaration I May God write it upon the table of your heart with the point of a diamond. All have come short of the glory of God. But grace—the absolute, perfect grace of God—comes in, and makes you fit then and there. God alone could conceive so blessed a thing. You are a sinner, lost and guilty, and God presents to you a Saviour in glory, His well-beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ Do you believe on Him? Yes. Then God says you are justified, cleared. Who by? God Himself It is God that justifieth (Rom. 8:33). When? Now. How? Freely. Yes, without a single good work, fleshly effort, experience, or prayer. Freely, without money and without price, the moment you believe. What by? By His grace. Mark, God's grace; the undeserved, unmerited, free favor of God. Through what? Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

A perfect man, Jesus, the Son of the living God, wrought a perfect work. God is perfectly satisfied, yea, glorified; and if you believe, you are perfectly justified, —perfectly, eternally saved.

Read the verse again. Ponder on each word. Remember it is the word of God, who cannot lie (Titus 1:2). It is written, that sinners might believe and be saved. “Being—justified—freely—by his grace— through the redemption—that is in Christ Jesus." Is not that enough? Rest there and be happy.

Perhaps you look in at yourself, bewailing your sinful state. Maybe you say inwardly (if not with your lips), “But I am such a sinner, I feel I must do something. Surely it cannot be quite so easy as you say." Ah! there it is. Self, instead of Christ. Your righteousness, instead of God's. Your thoughts, instead of the Word. Let me be plain with you. Now, don't shrink. All that you are, all that you have done, all you are trying to do, and all that you ever may do of yourself, is so mixed with sin, that if your salvation in any form or shape whatever depends upon you, to hell you certainly must go. God has given us all up, given you up, and the sooner you own it the better. When you give yourself up, then God will take you up. When you find out you are not only a lost sinner, but your case utterly hopeless as regards what you can do or be, then you are a fit subject for the grace of God, and not before.

Man is a sinner. The law made sin to abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 5:20, 21). Now, give up self at once, and believe God. Grace is reigning through righteousness—not at the expense of righteousness. If God dispenses grace, He is righteous in so doing. You are a sinner, without righteousness; but God has raised Christ to glory, and now righteously proclaims grace. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you can take to yourself that blessed scripture, " He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21). How wondrous the grace of God Yet is there something better still.

Better still? Yes, better still. Supposing you were penniless, and I gave you a sovereign, it would be cause for thankfulness on your part, would it not? But suppose that I gave you a heap of sovereigns, would not that be better still? Surely. And this is the manner of God's dealings with sinners. I read in Rom. 5:17 of those who believe receiving not only grace, but abundance of grace, and the gift of righteousness. Think of that. Abundance of grace. May God give you to know it and enjoy it. But even this is not all. In 1 Tim. 1:13, 14, I read of something better still.

Paul is there describing his conversion to God, and speaking of the blessing of which he had become partaker, which is true of every one that believeth. Says he, “And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." Yes, indeed. Well may he call it exceeding abundant grace, when we look at the awful depths of sin to which man has sunk, and the wondrous fullness of the blessing which God bestows. But even this is exceeded in the thoughts of God, for in Eph. 1:7 the apostle speaks of something better still.

Addressing believers in Jesus, he writes, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). Who can estimate these? The unsearchable riches of the grace of our God. No figures known to man can compute them. A million lifetimes would never exhaust them. The riches of this world soon melt away. Death comes, and the wealthiest are laid low, leaving their treasures behind for others, who in their turn are called to give them up and meet God. But the riches of His grace are our eternal provision, that stretches infinitely beyond this scene. And the possessor of this heavenly wealth will find, when he arrives in glory, that the blessing, notwithstanding all his anticipations, is something better still.

In the ages to come, God is going to show to poor sinners who believe on the name of His Son, the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:7). Thus our God heaps up the blessing-piles up the grace, if I may so speak-until the soul is lost in wonder at its measure, and even then discovers wider, fuller, richer promises, yea, even something better still.

The destined blessing of the heirs of God shall be to the praise of the glory of His grace. Well may God say, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa. 55:8, 9). Will you then, poor sinner, forfeit such infinite and eternal blessing for the paltry pleasures of sin for a season? Accept Christ now, and the perfect grace of God will hand it all over to you. And yet there is something better still.

In Eph. 3:18, the Spirit of God tells of blessing so marvelous that language fails to describe. “That ye may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height.” Of what? We are not told. Breadth, length, depth, height, alone express it. My reader, can you explore the breadth? can you search the length? can you fathom the depth? can you scale the height? No, it is all beyond your loftiest thought. When finite can grasp infinite, then can you grasp the fullness of the blessing brought to believing sinners by the grace of God. But Paul, His chosen instrument to bring out these precious things, himself was cognizant of something better still.

Caught up into Paradise, he heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Beloved reader, ponder this, I beseech you. A man like ourselves, caught up into the third heaven (whether in or out of the body he could not tell God knoweth, said he), and there hears things said that are not allowed to be spoken by the lips of men. Marvelous communications fell upon the ear of that honored servant of the Lord in that glorious scene beyond all human thought. Ali! dear reader, Christ is there. What inconceivable joy and bliss must His blest presence give! What must it be to be there with Him!

In conclusion, I plead with you once again. Will you have Christ? As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them which believe on His name. Grace has mounted the throne, and reigns through righteousness. Grace brings salvation—present, full, and free—to every one that believeth. Despise or neglect it at your peril (Acts 13:41; Heb. 2:3). Christ is coming quickly (Rev. 22:12). The believer rejoices at the thought. To him it is a good hope through grace. The sinner trembles at the thought. Why? Because that solemn moment will close the day of grace. The doom of the Christless shall then be sealed. Sinner, have you felt your need of a Saviour? Believe now, ere it be too late. Then by faith shall you have access into the grace of God. There is much that is false and deceptive in this world. But the Christian can say, this is the true grace of God in which we stand (1 Peter 5:12).

And do you think for a moment that such grace as this gives license, and leads to sin? What, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. Nay, nay, my reader; but the grace of God, which brings salvation, teaches us to deny ungodliness, and wait for glory (Titus 2:12). May you partake of this marvelous grace, and learn its lessons. E. H. C.

Substitution; or, Very Strange and Very True.

THESE words were uttered by a man fast dying of consumption. He was a watch-maker, living in the town of N—.

I found him lying in bed, and could see at the first glance his clays were numbered. He knew himself to be a sinner, but thought he could be saved by praying. Of God's holiness and hatred of sin he seemed to know nothing. I pressed this much on him, viz., the absolute need of Christ's death on the cross to enable God to save any one.

I then went on to speak of the sins he had committed, and asked how he was going to escape the punishment he deserved? As he could not tell, I proceeded to tell him the glad tidings of the grace of God.

To illustrate my meaning, I said, "Suppose a child deserved a whipping, and another child took the whipping instead of the guilty one, would it be fair to punish the one afterward who deserved the whipping?” “No," he said," it would not.”

"Well, now," I said, "listen to this," and turning to Isaiah 53:5, I read, " 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.' And now, since God has punished Jesus for your sins, would it be fair of Him to punish you?”

An emphatic No was his reply, and then he burst out, “That is very strange, I never heard that before.”

He then asked me to read the passage again, and to mark it and others in his Bible, constantly saying while I did so, "It is very strange." Just then his sister came into the room, and he immediately began to tell her the blessed gospel he had just learned for himself.

After speaking to him of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and of how God had thus set His seal of approval on His work, I left him, promising to call on the morrow. Next day I found him bright; he said he had been reading the texts, and that my way of it was very strange; he had never heard it like that before, but that it was very true.

As I expected soon to leave the town, I said good-bye to him forever on earth, for in less than a month after he fell asleep in Jesus, rejoicing that Jesus had borne his sins, as his substitute, on the cross, and seeking to press the glad tidings of the substitute he had found on all who came near him.

Dear reader, do you know anything of Jesus as your substitute? Can you say he bore your sins on His own body on the tree, and that He was wounded for your transgressions? If you can, you are free; for God is just, and it would be unjust of Him to punish you for your sins, after having punished the Lord Jesus for them. On the other hand, if Christ has not borne your sins on the cross, you cannot be saved; for He will never die again, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. Again I ask you, Was He your substitute? M.

Sudden Destruction Cometh.

"For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them,... and they shall not escape" (1 Thess. 5:3).

ALAS! the worldlings turn a deaf ear to all God's warnings, and rush onward to meet a sudden and awful doom.

History repeats itself. "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man "(Luke 17:26). In Noah's day" God was not in all their thoughts." They had place for their various occupations, and time to listen to the sweet sounds of Jubal's harp and organ (Gen. 4), but no place for God, and no time to listen to His warnings through Noah, "the preacher of righteousness." At last the moment arrives when the preacher's voice is hushed. The last message has fallen upon deaf ears, and unbelief has sealed their doom. God shuts Noah and his family in the ark for salvation; then the sweet sounds cease, and terror seizes upon the guilty and depraved sinners, as they find themselves pursued and engulphed in the surging waters of judgment from an insulted and angry God. May God deliver you, my reader, if unsaved, from "the wrath to come.”

Surely we might expect that the descendants of these witnesses of the doom of the ungodly would never turn aside after vanity again, or lend a deaf ear to the voice of the Lords But, alas! “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9).

Allow me for a moment to press this solemn fact upon the reader of these lines. Your heart is bad. Speak not of your acts, or the amount of your guilt. Do not mention your standing reputation or character. It is your heart. The very spring of your moral being is all wrong. “God desires truth in the inward parts" (Psa. 51:6); but your "heart is deceitful, and desperately wicked." Nothing will do for you but a new birth. "Ye must be born again" (John 3:7). You must have the new birth, or the second death.

No sooner does man come out of the ark and multiply (though the rainbow spans the heavens, reminding him of the past, and God's covenant for the future), than we find him turning away from God again, and sinning with a high hand, till at last he is found in the foulest sink of corruption. The sun rises in the heavens as usual, and all seems fair, when suddenly the fiery deluge descends on Sodom and Gomorrah, and tells its awful tale, that men were again saying "Peace and safety," when "sudden destruction" came upon them, and they did not escape. Christless soul, let the awful doom of Sodom and Gomorrah remind thee that "God is not mocked.”

Shall we multiply passages to prove it? Need we remind you how the destroying angel, in the darkness and gloom of that terrible midnight in Egypt, found his way into every house where there was no blood sprinkled, to slay the first-born? Then a great cry arose from the midst of that hardened and guilty people, once more teaching both them and us, that “when men shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh,... and they shall not escape.”

And yet men turn a deaf ear to all God's pleadings and warnings. Whether he pipes or mourns, it is all the same; there is no response from man. The past examples of His swift judgments, and the present warnings of impending wrath about to engulf the guilty and Christless souls in everlasting ruin, — all seem unheeded by the multitude of men, women, and children, carried on by the whirl of business or pleasure at break-neck speed; without time to think about anything, except how they are to outstrip each other—yea, time itself—in their haste to get rich, or gratify their passions and lusts. And lest their consciences should prick them, and clamor to be heard, reminding them of their sins and neglect of God, they seek to themselves prophets to their own liking, to whom they say, “Prophesy to us smooth things" (Isa. 30:9-13). And thus their consciences are quieted, and their fears calmed, as they swallow greedily hell's opiates, administered by Satan through his ministers, who preach “Peace, peace; when there is none "(Jer. 6:14), till at last “sudden destruction cometh," and their guilty sin-stained souls are launched into eternity, into the quenchless fires of an everlasting hell.

O ye men of the world, to whom a few minutes is a great consideration in these go-ahead times, to you I call! I lift up my voice to warn you Stop and think! If only for a moment or two, stop! “Sudden destruction cometh." He who has given you so many examples of it, now warns you, and desires that you might repent and be saved.

O the deep joy of being delivered from that whirlpool, in whose vortex this poor world will soon be engulphed forever! Who can describe it? Saved with an everlasting salvation Fitted and ready for the return of the One who gives this great deliverance. Then, just as the world before the flood, seething in its corruption, missed the godly man (Enoch) from their midst, so will this world some day soon awake to the fact that the saints are gone to be "forever with the Lord." Then they will settle down to their occupations and pleasures, blinded by the strong delusion (2 Thess. 2:11, 12), saying, "Peace and safety," till “sudden destruction cometh, and they shall not escape.”

O worldling, give ear while the saints are near!

Soon must the tie be riven,

And men, side by side, God's hand will divide,

As far as hell's depths from heaven.

Thank God, there is a place of safety, divine safety. "A refuge from the storm, and a covert from the tempest " (Isa. 32:2); a way to be delivered from "the wrath to come;" a way invented by God to bring you to Himself in righteousness, and save you from all the just consequences of your guilt and departure from Him. Yes, “God can be just, and justify you" (Rom. 3:26).

Do you ask how? “Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24). Marvelous transaction, accomplished at Calvary's cross. The just suffered for the unjust; the righteous for the guilty. Justice sternly demanded the death of the guilty. Love provided the substitute in the person of the Saviour. Glory to that matchless name! Jesus meets the requirements of the throne, and the needs of the believing sinner. Mighty, stupendous work!—a work that upholds the throne in righteousness, and purges the conscience of the poor, guilty, but believing sinner, putting him at ease with the throne, so that he can be before it in peace,— peace founded on righteousness,—immovable, imperishable, and eternal!

The work is completely done, so perfectly accomplished, that Christ is enthroned in the glory as the living and eternal witness of God's own satisfaction and delight in it. Surely such a work needs nothing put to it by any poor sinner. It stands in its own grand solitary dignity, available for any repentant, believing soul. Jesus and His work, in all its eternal and infinite efficacy and worth, can be had by any anxious soul on the principle of faith. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31), is all God asks for.

The moment your faith takes hold of Christ, salvation is yours. Both peace and safety are your everlasting portion. Do not dishonor Him by a doubt, and do not disgrace yourself by a fear. His word is surely enough. "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall never pass away” (Matt. 24:35). W. E.

Taken.

IN a village which lay at the outskirts of a Canadian city, an aged Christian was dying. I was asked to visit her. Having reached the house, I inquired of a woman of middle age, who happened to be in the garden, if Mrs.— lived inside.

“Yes, my mother is within; but she is very ill,” was the reply.

“May I come in and see her?" And so I followed into the clean little bed-room, where lay the dying saint. Her face was toward the wall, and she her-self was either sleeping, or else sweetly anticipating the bright future before her.

Her daughter touched her gently on the shoulder, and said, "Mother, a gentleman wants to see you,” and then took her place at the foot of the bed.

“I do not know you, sir," said the old woman.

“No," said I; “but I heard you were a dying Christian woman, and that perhaps you would like me to read or speak to you, and so I came.”

Well, I was made welcome. We enjoyed together some happy thoughts in common,—thoughts of a Saviour's dying love, and of present all-sustaining grace. I found that she had, long since, been converted to God, and had spent her days amongst the Wesleyans. There did not seem a shade of fear in her soul as to her being soon with the Lord.

After about half-an-hour's conversation, I said, “Would you like me to pray beside you? Have you any special request that I may lay before the Lord?”

“No, thank you," said she.

Now, you know, my reader, that dying people are, as a rule, exceedingly fond of being prayed for. They do not feel easy the future is dark, uncertain the waters of the dreaded Jordan are deep. The clergyman must come, must go through some religious form, in order to satisfy God for the faults of his dying parishioner or church-member; and such an one could not die happy without this religious exercise. What a mad thing to trust to the prayers, &c., of a fellow-mortal by your deathbed side I "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Oh! to think of meeting Him unprepared!

However, our dear old friend cared for none of such forms. She was saved, and ready to depart.

Hence the appropriate, "No, thank you.”

“Oh yes! there is one thing," she abruptly said, “a heavy burden on my heart. I have four children, all grown up, and only one of them is converted. My daughter there, at the foot of my bed, is one of the three. Now," said the dear old tender-hearted mother, “will you pray God to save my unsaved children?”

I turned to the daughter and said, “Is it true that you are unsaved?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Not ready for death?”

“No, sir.”

“Would not meet your dear mother if you died as you are?”

A silence like death, and then, with tears, “No, sir.”

“Through grace your mother is going to heaven, and you, alas, are at present on your way to hell Ah there is no prospect of your seeing her again if you remain as you are. Look into your mother's face. The eyes that have watched over your infancy, childhood, girlhood, and early womanhood, as only a mother's eyes can watch, will soon be closed in death. Tell me," I said earnestly," have you no wish to meet those eyes, to see that face, in heaven?”

I need hardly say the question was answered by a muffled "Yes.”

Who can stand unmoved beside his mother's deathbed? What heart so callous as to shed no tear at such a moment? How many a resolution has there been made, that, alas, was afterward broken? How many a prodigal, when all else is squandered, retains the imperishable memory of his mother's last and tenderest appeal? And what an appeal was spoken by the beseeching eyes of this dying mother!

I explained the way of salvation, through the death and resurrection of Christ, and faith therein, to the weeping daughter, and, believing that this might be the moment of her blessing, I said, “Let me give you two texts. First, `I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.' And second, Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.' In the first, Jesus says, ' I will give;' in the second, Whosoever will, let him take.' See how the two truths dove-tail, I will give,' Let him take.' Come, said I, shall it be take, or taken, with you; a thing of the future, or a thing of the past?”

A silence, then in a whisper, "T-a-k-e-n." “A little louder please." And so," TAKEN," said she.

“Louder still please." “TAKEN," clear and distinct, fell from her lips, to the unbounded joy of her dear dying mother. What a moment of gladness and of praise!

The mother just dying, the daughter just beginning to live.

Then a moment of prayer and farewell.

A while after, a young Christian man corroborated the good news to me. She had, through grace, taken the water of life. Dear reader, have you?

J. W. S.

CHRIST bore my sorrows in His life, that He might sympathize; He bore my sins in His death, that He might save. I thus find Him first to be my Saviour, and then my succorer in all the sorrows of the way. W. T. P. W.

The Taxman's Receipt

SOME time ago I had occasion to pay the sum of four pounds to a tax collector, and as he was handing me the receipt, I said, “It is a good thing not to owe anything to any one." “It is indeed,” said he; "but very few have that to say." “Well," I replied," I can say it. I do not owe a single farthing on the face of the earth; and, what is far better than all, I do not owe anything to the throne of God on the score of guilt. I owe an eternity of worship on the ground of pardon; but not a fraction on the ground of my sins. I have a receipt in full for all my heavy debt to Eternal Justice. May I ask if you can say the same?”

Well, I think I can," said he.

"And, pray, what is the receipt?" I inquired.

“I have the inward experience and conviction that my sins are forgiven.”

"Oh!" said I, “that will never do. It is all very well to have ' the inward experience and conviction,' but, as a receipt, it is not worth a feather. I have 'the inward experience and conviction' that I have paid you these four sovereigns; but, were I to leave your office without a receipt, and then in the providence of God anything were to happen you, your successor might call upon me to pay the money over again; and if I refused to pay, he might bring me into the county court. I might say to the judge, ' My Lord, I have the inward experience and conviction that I paid this tax to the late collector.' Would his lordship or the jury accept such a plea? Most assuredly not. They would demand the receipt. Without this, all my inward experience and conviction would not be worth a rush.”

My friend the collector saw the force of this, and said, "Well, I suppose the receipt is the atoning death of Christ.”

“No," I replied, " it is not. Do you not see the difference between these four sovereigns which I have handed to you, and the receipt which you have handed to me? Those satisfy you; this satisfies me. I can walk out of your office with a most comfortable inward experience and conviction, because I have your receipt, which perfectly secures me from all possibility of any further demand for this tax!'

This, too, seemed plain to the collector's mind; but he seemed at a loss for an answer to my question, and was really interested to know about this wonderful receipt. I said, “The blood of Christ has paid the dreadful score, the ransom due for us. He, blessed be His peerless Name, has perfectly satisfied the claims of the Throne of God on our behalf. He took our place, He stood in our stead, He bore all our guilt, all our sins, in His own blessed body on the tree. He perfectly met our whole case, and glorified God about our sins. He was made sin for us. He got what we deserved, that we might get what He deserves. He was condemned and punished in our stead, that we might be justified and accepted in Him. In a word, His most precious death perfectly satisfied God on our behalf.

“And now, as to the receipt. What is it? It is a risen and glorified Christ at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens. This satisfies us, and forms the solid and impregnable basis of our inward experience and conviction that all our sins are forgiven, all our guilt canceled, all condemnation removed. ‘He was delivered for our offenses, 'here is the payment of the debt. ‘He was raised again for our justification; ' here is the precious receipt. The Man who bore our sins on the tree is now on the throne. How did He get there? Eternal Justice placed Him there. On what ground? On the ground of the complete putting away of all our offenses, all our sins, all our guilt. The crown that adorns His blessed brow,—and not our poor inward feelings, or our frames or our evidences,—is God's receipt in full for all we ever owed Him.

“Hence, then, if the devil, or any other accuser, comes to challenge us, what shall we say to him? Shall we refer him to our inward experience and conviction? Surely not. What then? Show our receipt. Point to the Man in the glory, —the glorious Victor, with the diadem of glory on His brow. This is our one grand and all-sufficient answer to every accusing voice, come from whom or whence it may. We must never attempt to reply to an adversary by appealing to aught in or of ourselves,— our repentance, our exercises, our conversion, our frames, our feelings, our evidences, our altered habits, our new tastes, our changed opinions, our good works. Our one appeal, our only reference, must be to God's receipt in glorified Man on the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. This, and this alone, silences every accuser, satisfies conscience, tranquillizes the heart, and glorifies the Divine Three in One, throughout the everlasting ages.”

C. H. M.

the Gospel.

(1 Sam. 17.—18: 4; 1 John 4:17.)

THE first question for every unconverted soul is, In what way do you view the gospel? Is it something required of you, or what God proposes to do for you? There is a great difference.

The prodigal son said, " I will arise, and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned... make me as one of thy hired servants." That was a good beginning, but grace was lost. He was converted, I doubt not, but he had not the sense of grace. Grace is this, blessing originating in the mind of Him who confers it. You see I have no claim on it; it is not what you propose, but what God offers. The prodigal had not the sense of grace when he said, “Make me as one of thy hired servants." Thank God, He did not listen to him.

I cannot explain what grace is, I can only believe it. Look how the prodigal was surprised. He said, Cover my need, make me a servant. Does God's gospel cover your need? Yes, and immensely beyond it too. Man has no conception of what God is.

Grace is unmerited favor, without any claim. What shall I do then? Tell God everything. He has got grace, so I will leave it to Him. He will do exceeding abundantly above all I ask or think. I am not proposing to Him what to do, but I leave it to Himself. He will not only relieve the prodigal in his sin, but will reconstitute him in the place of his misery.

When God comes to act, He acts for Himself; and the great thing is this, that He will reconstitute man in the very spot where He found him in his misery. When man failed in Eden, God said the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. There was a remarkable thing besides, He made coats of skins for Adam and Eve, and clothed them. I put great emphasis on clothed them. He did not turn them out till they had got a sample of His grace on their backs; He put them on them. We get the antitype in the prodigal; the father does not say "Give him a coat," but, "Put it on him." This is grace. There is a great mistake made by many, they judge whether they have a thing or not by their experience of it. You must have it first; the coat must be on, before you can feel it; God must show a palpable evidence of His grace.

In the Old Testament, the faithful servants were types of Christ; in the New, they are His followers. David was pre-eminently a type of Christ. The tale is this,— his father sent him to see how his brethren fared. God sent Christ. I am a ruined sinner, and never could make reparation; get hold of that, it was man created the distance from God. You can do nothing, not even give the fruit of your body for the sin of your soul; but God says, "Look to Me.” He said to Cain, " If thou doest not well, a sin-offering lieth at the door.”

David, when he comes, finds them all in a state of despair from the giant— death. Death was there, and is everywhere. I do not believe you are sufficiently aware of it. What do you know about death? You will have to, one day. Man is the only creature on the face of the earth who has the fear of death; even the little child says, “Me not going to die." The horse has none; it will go up to the cannon's mouth, and may die, but it has no fear of dying. Death is the wages of sin. All the people were in dreadful, deplorable distress, through fear of death. Christ came to “deliver them, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

Now I turn from what Christ has done, to the sinner, to Jonathan. How do you get rid of fear? You cannot get rid of it till you have it; you must have it first. "Knowing the terror of the Lord,” Paul said. The Philippian jailer was in abject fear, he was brought into the reality of it. Do not think I am going to cut off all your pleasures; wait, and I will show you that God places you in a condition, on this earth, surpassing all you can think of.

What is Jonathan thinking of? He thinks, Who is, this stranger? Then someone has come,—Christ is come. Jonathan is in the anxious state; he looks, he does nothing else; I daresay he did not move a muscle. He sees the stranger come forth, he sees the stone thrown, and Goliath fall. What a great relief. He is hopeful now, not happy yet, but hopeful; he sees the giant down. What have you to do? You have to do the same; keep looking. You have all seen a telescope? the longer you look the clearer it becomes, though it was hazy at first. You keep looking, it is the secret of the gospel.

Jonathan was intently gazing on David, and he saw him take Goliath's sword from its scabbard and cut off his head. He is in the assured stage now, and he turns from Goliath to David; he says, “I'm clear of the foe now, judgment, and everything; "therefore," the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David." What footing is he on now? on the same as David; they are one in the matter. This is the simple history of a converted soul, you will exchange the fear of Goliath for the love of David. Jonathan is in David's position now, his victory is Jonathan's. “Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Let us now apply this from the New Testament, —"As he is so are we in this world."—" Boldness in the day of judgment." Love is thus perfected in us; it is hardly comprehensible, you do not understand it, the magnitude of it is immense, but you could not shrink from saying that Jonathan was on the same footing as David. The believer is God's Son. If you could only have the sense of what satisfies God,-His love in us! no fear! Fear hath torment. Do you never fear? I could not say that. But fear is not a question of your being saved; but he that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Remark, Christ has come to satisfy the heart of God, not only to satisfy my conscience. People do not understand the difference between love and benevolence. Let me try and explain. Benevolence is doing the best for its object according to its ability; Love delights in its object, and is never satisfied until it gets its ideal. God has no delight in me; no, but He has in Christ. It is His purpose that we "should be conformed to the image of his Son.” He says,—I can come to the poor sinner, and my heart can go out towards him. He says,—I love that man, that poor prodigal; my heart can go out and take him in my arms; how surprised he was when I kissed him! Christ not only knew the nature of the offense before God, because He bore it, but He knew the heart of God for the sinner. He proved Himself to be the Son of God, because He knew it; He was His equal.

God commends His love toward us; He does not insist, but commend. To illustrate the difference between benevolence and love-You see a sick child, and its mother, and the doctor. The doctor attends it, he is a most benevolent man, and the child recovers. He says, “I am delighted to see you recover; good morning." That is benevolence. The mother is full of emotion, she clasps the child in her arms, —that is love.

Nothing can satisfy the heart of God but to see you in Christ. How would you represent a converted man on earth? What would you recommend him to think of? Think of God's love to you, what is in His heart; and not of self, nothing that is in you at all. Eve turned her back on God to see her advantages; she was different from the prodigal, he turned to God. She was a first-rate housekeeper, —she saw that the fruit was good for food; she was an artistic person,—it was pleasant to the eyes; and she was intellectual,—it was to be desired to make one wise, it was highly esteemed among men. She turned her back on God. Her son, what did he do? He said, " I have gone that way long enough; looked art my advantages long enough; no man gave unto me." He turns the opposite way from his mother, and goes to God. You will find out, when too late, that there is goodness in God; the prodigal found that there was goodness there.

There are two things that Christ has done, — He went into death to get me out of it; He went up to the Father and sent down the Holy Ghost, and sets me in a new place. Take as an example the lame man who sat begging at the beautiful gate of the temple. What a wonderful change in him! You do not get better perhaps, but you get grace to be superior to your circumstances. He is walking, leaping, and praising God; he is in a new position outwardly and inwardly; 1st, he is no longer lame; 2nd, he is praising God.

He is a pattern man.

The Lord says in John 7, “If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink," &c. There are two things I want to rest in your souls. Christ went into death to get me out of it, and went into heaven and sent down the Holy Ghost to unite me to Himself, so that, "as He is, so are we in this world,” —a new man like the lame man. It is a marvelous change—alteration; it was not in Eden, —never found before; it is superior to the grandest festival in Israel. “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water," You are made a contributor to this poor earth now. The grace of God sets you in divine contrast to the misery in which it found you. “As He is, so are we." Oh, if we could conceive the magnificence of divine grace!

Turn to Mark 5, it will help to elucidate the subject. When the Lord begins, in the gospel of Mark, He comes in contact with all kinds of misery that afflict the human state,—fever, sickness, leprosy; but, except the palsied man, He does not alter the condition. Most of the gospel that is preached is relief, not a new state. Christians follow the fashions. But I'm a new man, and it must come out in the smallest detail. It is the greatest man who can do the smallest things. There are three cases in this 5th chapter. The Lord says, "I'll show you what I want to relieve,—man." Where? In the spot of his misery. The first is the man whose name is Legion; the Lord sends him home to show what great things had been done. Then the woman who had spent all her living on physicians. Well, how do you feel? “My body is well, and I am in peace." The third is the dead girl raised to life. Where? In the same place. He will not only deliver you, but reconstitute you.

In John 4 Christ says, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst." If I get to heaven, say you, I shall be perfectly happy. Jesus replies, You shall be perfectly happy here if you take my Spirit, you will never get to the end of it. What, never thirst? Yes, in the old things you may; I may see a fine house, or estate, or something that I should like. What then? The Spirit shows me something infinitely better in Christ, and I am perfectly happy without it. I ask everyone to turn the eye up; look at what is the goodness of God, look not in your own heart but in God's, you will see good there; then you are converted. He delights to bless His creatures where He is Himself. The heart that learns His love can only say, "I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving, This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs." God values thanksgiving more than all else you could give Him. J. B. S.

THE conscience of the believer, and the value of the sacrifice, are the reflection one of the other. If the sacrifice be imperfect, the conscience cannot be purged; but if perfect, as Christ's was, how perfectly purged is the conscience of him who draws near to God by that sacrifice!

Things Eternal

(Read Heb. 5:7, 8; 6:1, 2; 9:11-15; 13:20, 21.)

IN all these scriptures you cannot but notice the frequent and emphatic use of the word eternal. We shall look a little at some of these eternal realities. There are many of them, and whatever be their power or force, they are nearly all for the believer. There is only one for the unbeliever, viz.:

1. Eternal Judgment

Oh, sinner, it is high time to wake up. All is summed up in this word, "eternal judgment." You say that is a very dark and gloomy subject. Well, but it is true; and if wise, you will be warned, will believe the gospel, and then gladly turn round to the heavenly realities that belong to the believer.

I want you to carefully notice, that one thing which the epistle to the Hebrews presents is, that the positive inalienable portion of every one who does not believe is judgment. Oh, you say, do not bring that subject ever before us; we do not like it. Ah, you will like it less when you are enduring it. You will remember then how you scoffed at the preacher, saying you did not believe it, and that God was love.

God speaks here (Heb. 6:2) of "eternal judgment," and He means what He says. The words are terrible, but true. Alas for the man who through sin and unbelief tastes it Reader, ponder it,—"Eternal judgment." Do you not shrink from it? You well may; but will you escape it, and how?

This is no figure, nor is the language figurative which describes the portion of the believer. He can say, " I have got eternal salvation,' eternal redemption,' which I enjoy, and an eternal inheritance' into which I am going." Oh, you say, when you talk of that side it is very different, and quite true and delightful to listen to. Ah, then it is only when we talk of your side, sinner, that it does not mean what it says? Vain man, know that "eternal" means "eternal," and the “judgment" of the infatuated unbeliever is as enduring as the "salvation" of the believer.

Man is an immortal being, sprung from God, with an eternal existence. Where will you, spend eternity? Oh, beloved friend, think of it. When one thinks of spending it with Christ, every Christian's heart swells with delight. But I cannot describe the eternity of a lost sinner; it is too awful, too terrible; you should flee from it. The poor ostrich when pursued by the hunter hides its head in a thicket, thinking itself safe because it does not see the danger, but the ball pierces it all the same. Because you do not feel the pangs of “eternal judgment," do not, I beseech you, suffer your eyes to be blinded to their reality; while there is time and a way of escape, seize it.

If once you are in judgment, you can never get out of it. The believer will never be in it. Christ Jesus went into it to deliver us from it. Then you will never come into condemnation? No, thank God, I am delivered from it by substitution. " As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall be appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation.”

Well, if death be the common lot of men, how are we to escape from it? You cannot, unless by Christ. "Eternal judgment" is as much the portion of one man as another. “It is appointed unto men," &c. The Psalmist said," Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man be justified." He knew he could not stand before God. In John 5:24 Christ says, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation " (or judgment; it is the same Greek word rendered judgment elsewhere). The due of man has been borne by Christ, and consequently the believer in Jesus will not come into judgment, just because Christ has for him, and therefore he in righteousness escapes.

Judgment is God dealing with man about sin, dealing out the proper and due reward for his sins. The Christian, the believer, parted company with his sins when he believed the gospel. He learned then, that Christ on the cross took his sins on Himself, and blotted them out; and I can say, It is true for me. Can they not? Two people may be sitting side by side, they were both born in sin, and shapen in iniquity, positive enemies to God; but one, through grace, has been convicted by God, and led to repentance; he has condemned himself, and said,” if I am condemned and damned, I deserve it.” That soul has been led to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The other man has not, and perhaps that is your case, dear reader. What has made the difference between them? Faith. It is only unbelief that prevents your coming to God. The one man has through faith in Christ parted company with everything that would bring him into judgment—his sins, while the other goes on in the thing that must bring him into judgment, out of which he can never rise.

Peter says, “Judgment must begin at the house of God, and if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”

That means, there is difficulty, even for the righteous. The difficulty lies in the scene through which he has to pass, because the devil is trying his best to trip up the godly. But if the godly are saved with difficulty, what about the sinner? Oh, careless, unsaved soul heed this, perhaps the last, warning that God shall give thee; awake, see thy danger, and flee from the wrath to come. God has delayed that day, He is keeping back the wheels of judgment, as it were, to give thee time to repent and be saved. Despise not His long-suffering, lest sudden destruction overtake thee!

To judge, however, is God's "strange work." He loves to bless and save, and therefore He puts before us, in this epistle,

2. Eternal Salvation

Do you honestly ask, How can I escape judgment? In Heb. 5:8, 9, we read: " Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." It was a new thing for Christ to obey. He had always commanded hitherto, but now He learned what obedience was; and, to do His Father's will and bidding, He went forward unflinchingly, even to death. He who had never sinned, died for sin. He was made perfect, and became the author of "eternal salvation" to all who obey Him. How am I to be saved, then? You have to bow down to Christ. God is preaching "eternal salvation,” and it is His free gift through Jesus. You can never lose it, you can never forfeit it. The gift of God is eternal life. It is a great salvation, a present salvation, a common and an eternal salvation. These are its chief characteristics. Whom Jesus saves, He saves to the uttermost. Men in this world take up people for a time, but it is only to drop them in a little, like a hot coal. There is so much selfishness in the world. Jesus takes you up in the unlimited grace of His own heart, and saves you by virtue of the work which He did on the cross. You can never forfeit salvation, because you never deserved it. If our salvation depended on anything in us, we must leave out the word "eternal." But the blessed truth is this, that what God gives He does not take away. His gifts and calling are without repentance. The "Eternal salvation," of the believer rests not on what he is, or feels, or does, but on what Christ is and has done, and God's appreciation of His Son and His work for sinners.

Jesus is the Author of this salvation, and it is a common blessing,—as the rain falls freely all over the land. Must we not pray for it? I shall put it this way. You ask me to your house, and when I go I see the table laden with food then I begin to ask and beg you to give me some,—" Oh, do give me some food." Why, you would think me out of my mind. But it is the folly of man's mind to think he must bring something to God, or ask for the thing God is pressing on him. God is now beseeching you; God is giving; God is inviting souls to come to His Son, whom He sent to be the author of eternal salvation. You must obey Him. He says, “Come unto me, and I will give you rest." Looking to Him is obeying Him. The blind man in John 9 said, "Lord, I believe." That was obeying Him; and in Acts 9 we get Saul saying, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” There is an obedient soul.

Oh, let me entreat you to bow down to Him now. Which side are you on? the Lord's, or the world's? I hope I am on the Lord's side. You hope! Then I have a strong suspicion that you are not. There is no mere hoping, if it is a question of anything in this world. “Who is on the Lord's side?" rang out in force and power in days gone by. All who have obeyed Him are on His side; we cannot be, unless there is the principle of subjection of heart to Him, If there be in our hearts this subjection of faith, we shall rejoice in having.

3. Eternal Redemption

In chap. 9. we get the basis of faith and groundwork of the gospel. These Hebrews were inclined to drop back into their gorgeous ritual, and the apostle tells them it was only a shadow of the good things; they, the realities, had now come. Every-thing was wrapped up in Christ. According to the instructions of Lev. 16,—a type of better things,—a bullock was slain, and its blood sprinkled on and before the altar, and atonement was made for twelve months. Then it required to be repeated. Christ “by his own blood entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." It is not an annual atonement. Once for all the work has been done. Nor is Christ like Aaron, who came out again; but, in virtue of that finished work, He sat down, and He will never rise up to do a single thing again for the purgation of sins. It is all done. If you are convicted and self-condemned, turn round and believe in Christ. What is then your place? It is Christ's place; a totally new one. The gospel knocks off our shackles and sets us free. "In whom we have redemption, through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins." What kind of redemption is it? It is an “eternal redemption." Can we never lapse back? No, never! Then what about the dog returning to his vomit, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire? Simply this, that the dog returned because it was a clog, nothing else; and the sow because she was a sow. When she was washed she was a clean sow, before that she was a dirty one, but she was never anything else than a sow. People may say they are Christians. Ah but actions speak louder than words.

Nothing will meet your case, my friend, but divine grace. The works of the flesh are vain. A man told me the other day that he had signed the pledge. I said, you may bind and fetter yourself as you like, and have the blue ribbons of pledges too, but that can never save you. You are still like the man in Mark's gospel, who had been often bound in fetters and chains, yet had broken them all, neither could any man tame him.

In chap. 9:14, we see that the blood of Christ purges the conscience from dead works to serve the living God. You are a worshipper now, in living association with Christ. You have a clean conscience, and you become a worshipper; you become attached to Him, who has delivered you, through the blood of the covenant. The old one had an “if" in it. The first thing the people did was to break it. The law said, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image," &c., and they were worshipping one within forty days The new covenant is pure, sovereign, absolute grace. I have got an eternal salvation, and now.

4. Eternal Inheritance

is reserved in Haven for me (9:15). God puts one hand on the inheritance and the other on the heir. Is there any doubt as to my getting it? Oh, no. All that is Christ's is mine. He is the rightful "heir of all things," and we are "joint-heirs with Christ" by grace. What an inheritance is ours!

Then in chap. 13. we get the "God of peace" (not judgment), acting on the basis and ground of the.

5. Eternal Covenant

God takes a new title, and preaches peace through Christ. The blood of the everlasting covenant can never fail in its value, and all rests on it. The Lord Jesus, raised from the dead through the blood of the eternal covenant, is the incontestable witness of the value of the work He has effected. How sure then is the blessing, when we see that God binds Himself to bless and save eternally, on account of the accomplished work of His Son! May the Lord give you, my reader, to rest on Christ simply, and know now the joy of these eternal realities, for His own name's sake. W. T. P. W.

Three Miles to Heaven

NOT long ago, in a quiet little village in the far west of Cornwall, a respectable young woman was reading the Scriptures, and became deeply and solemnly impressed with what she found there about "the pure in heart." She was at once convicted. Then and there she was thoroughly convinced that her heart was anything but "pure.” The more she pondered the all-important matter, the more she became assured that those only who are without sin can stand in the all-searching light of God's glory, and seriously feared that her position would be banishment from Him forever.

Aware that she must give an account of herself to God, and that He was perfectly holy, and of purer eyes than to behold evil, her heart was sorely troubled. She truly felt herself to be a sinner in His sight. Her anguish became intense. Death and judgment and the wrath of God stared her in the face. So great did her dread of the future become, that her health gave way, and her mind threatened to be overbalanced by the desponding misery she felt. But God had a purpose of mercy toward her, which she then little knew. Days, and weeks, and even months, of bitter anguish this dear soul passed through. She conversed with many, but no one could give her one ray of hope.

On one occasion, a curate of the neighborhood called on her. After hearing from her own lips her solemn estimate of her own evil heart and ways, as justly exposing her to the wrath of God, he replied,—" You need not fear. You are all right. There are three miles to heaven, and you have gone over all of them, The first mile is Baptism; this has been done in your case. The next mile is Confirmation; this you have properly attended to. The third mile is Holy Communion; and this, also, you have received. Why then be distressed?”

The curate's counsel, however, was totally ineffectual in giving her any relief. She felt that her heart was not pure; that her conscience must be cleansed, or she could never be made fit for the presence of God, or enter into the kingdom of God.

On another occasion, the much respected vicar of the parish sent her some pamphlets to read, with a view, no doubt, of ministering consolation to her troubled soul; but on looking into them, she found they consisted chiefly of advising the reader to observe Lent, keep holy days, and they, therefore, gave her no relief. How could such things make her heart pure? How could they relieve her of the burden of her sins? Impossible. She did not yet know God's way of salvation; but she knew that such books were so bad and misleading, that she says she put them into the fire, lest anyone should be injured by them. Still her distress of soul continued. She had no rest, and was almost in despair. Her conscience continually accused her of being unfit for God. On being asked one day by a neighbor why she was so unhappy, she answered, "I am a sinner, and I am afraid I shall be banished to the lake of fire forever." The neighbor left her by saying, “Well, if you do go there, you will have plenty of company." This so distressed her already deeply troubled soul, that she almost resolved never to ask another person bow she could be saved.

One day, however, she thought of a working man not far off, whom she judged must be a saved man, and she made up her mind to call upon him. She did so, and it gave her some relief to find one who could speak of his own assurance of salvation, and he introduced her to another person, who had also the certainty of her salvation. She now resolved to read the scriptures, and to cry to God to show unto her His own way of saving a sinner.

One day, when reading, her deeply anxious soul came to the following words,—" 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. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this, bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me: and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:32-37).

These precious words of Jesus, brought home by the Holy Spirit, were enough. Hope began to animate her desponding heart. The more she pondered them, the more she felt they exactly met her case. She came to Jesus as she was. Then and there she took her place as a sinner before a Saviour. His assurance to the coming one, " I will in no wise cast out," and "He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst," and such like words of divine grace, were the very truth of God to her soul, a balm to her troubled spirit. Sinner as she was, she believed God, and found in Jesus Christ His Son—the true bread from heaven —all she needed. She soon learned also from another scripture, that the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin, and knew what it was to have her heart and conscience purged with His precious blood. Now she knew what it was to be pure in heart, and at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Her intolerable burden of sin was gone. She could delight in the Saviour's love, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

The story of three miles to heaven was now seen in its horrible falseness, as well as the delusion of keeping days and such like as a means of salvation. In Jesus and His blood the guilty conscience finds that which alone can cleanse it. Now she goes on her way rejoicing, and singing,—" 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 “Precious resting-place for a soul that has deeply felt the need of an all sufficient Saviour!

It is very lamentable to consider what multitudes of people are trusting in ordinances, religious duties, keeping days, and such things, instead of simply believing God's own word, and casting themselves as sinners in their sins into the opened arms of a sinner-loving Saviour, whose blood cleanseth from all sin, and who still says, " Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." May God mercifully attract many to the Saviour, who read these pages!

H. H. S.

Two Night Scenes

IN the first of these scenes we are introduced to the house of a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor (1 Sam. 28:7). She is a true emissary of Satan; one who has for long carried on her diabolical deceptions by means of witchcraft, and has by some means or other escaped the raid which had been made upon such persons by Saul in his religious zeal (v. 3).

Through the darkness and gloom of that eventful night, might be seen three figures moving on with hurried step towards her abode. Silently they speed onward, lest the darkness should pass away and the morning dawn ere they had accomplished their miserable and wicked purpose. How true, "He that doeth evil hateth the light,” &c. (John 3:20).

The figures too are worthy of notice. One at least of the three is remarkable. Though no kingly robes adorn him, and no train of followers mark out his position, yet in that tall figure, head and shoulders above the others, disguised though he be, we perceive unmistakably Saul, the King of Israel. A look of despair is settled on his countenance. Darkness and gloom have taken up their abode in his breast. His state within answers to the state of nature around. He is on his way to consult with the witch, in the consciousness that he is given up of God.

Awful discovery! the heart sickens at the thought I Saul given up of God? Yes The man who had been anointed king; whose hand had slain thousands of the Lord's enemies; who had seen the wonderful intervention of Jehovah on behalf of His people in so many ways, and was so familiar with His power; who in his religious zeal had put away all the wizards and witches out of the land, —was now given up of God, and coming out in his true colors.

In spite of all God's tender and gracious dealings with him, in tracing his history we find he disobeys His word (chap. 15.), hates and seeks to kill God's anointed (chap. 19:10), destroys God's priests (chap. 22:18), and finally, when he finds that God does not answer him, instead of falling down on his face and repenting of his wickedness, he fills up his cup of iniquity by turning from God and appealing to Satan. He turns to what he had professed to give up, like “the dog to its vomit, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire" (2 Peter 2:22). Consummate wickedness! which meets its fearful but well deserved doom.

Arrived at the woman's house, he finds a difficulty in getting her to act, through his own previous conduct; but after giving her his oath that no punishment shall happen to her, she goes as usual to bring up the familiar spirit, when God interferes and, to her utter amazement, Samuel appears. This opens her eyes to the fact that she is in the presence of the poor God-deserted king.

“Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up?” said Samuel. Listen to the despairing answer of him who was the greatest and most favored man in Israel,—" I am sore distressed— and God is departed from me— and I have called thee to make known to me what I shall do" (v. 15).

Then from the lips of the disquieted Samuel he hears his doom. The loss of his kingdom, as the fruit of his disobedience (v. 17, 18). Besides, “Tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me" (v. 19); the loss of his life for inquiring of the witch of Endor (1 Chron. 10:13, 14)!

The poor terror-stricken king no sooner hears his doom pronounced by Samuel, than he falls to the earth in a swoon; strength departs from him. As soon as he is restored and refreshed, he and his servants rise up and go their way. It is still night. Pale, haggard, and weary, the doomed king returns to his army. Next day they go to the battle, when the word of the Lord by Samuel is fulfilled. Saul is wounded by a Philistine, falls upon his sword to put an end to his miserable existence, and finally is slain by an Amalekite, one of the cursed race whom he spared when he disobeyed the word of the Lord (chap. 21., and 1 Kings 1.). That memorable night his sentence was pronounced, the next day it was executed; and Saul passed from time into eternity, numbered with the dead, according to the word of Samuel.

Reader, is Saul's history yours? An empty professor, disobedient to the word of the Lord?

Repenting not of your sins? turning again to the things you professed to give up? Beware! lest Saul's doom be yours, and your mask drop off— your hypocrisy come to an end—your true condition be discovered, when it is too late; and unrepentant, Christless, and empty, you pass from time into eternity—from earth into hell. Beware! for " except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

The next scene, though a night scene, has a freshness and charm about it which the former entirely lacks. It is not the greatest man politically, but one of the greatest men ecclesiastically, "Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews” (John 3:1). Not the king on his way to consult with Satan, but the ruler on his way to consult with Jesus. He "came to Jesus by night." Not terror-stricken and forsaken of God, but conscience -smitten and desiring to know God.

Timid, and unable to rise above the thoughts of others, yet feeling the need in his soul; fearing to come by day, he steals to Jesus by night; ready to acknowledge Him as a teacher, but failing to see Him as the Saviour.

No sooner does he reach Jesus and inform Him of what he does know, than Jesus begins by telling him what he does not know. “Ye must be born again." He lays the ax at the root of the tree, and levels all the pride and pretension of this ruler with one blow, "Ye must be born again.”

Standing, reputation, character, are of no avail here. A new life is needed, or eternal banishment from God into the lake of fire. Reader, mark it well, the 'new birth is indispensable, or the second death is unavoidable.

Darkness reigns around, but equal darkness reigns within the mind of the religious but inquiring Pharisee. Patiently the blessed Saviour follows him in all his foolish questions, hemming him in at every point, until at last the conscience smitten, needy, and inquiring ruler is brought to the very heart of God. Blessed terminus! glorious station, at which to alight after such a journey! From distance to nearness! From the depths of ignorance in his own heart, to the spring of love, the source of blessing, in God's heart! From the midnight darkness of nature, to the marvelous light in the Lord!

Reader, have you traveled that road? “Christ also hath suffered for sins once, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18).

How marvelous the ignorance and unbelief displayed by Nicodemus (v. 10-12). If earthly things were disbelieved, what use was it to speak of heavenly things? Moreover, who could speak of what was in heaven, but He who had come from heaven?

Then the mind of that great man was taken to the simplicity of the gospel, in the picture of the serpent on the pole to heal the bitten Israelite in the wilderness, there to learn the truth of “life in a look." And as the serpent was lifted up, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that the bitten dying sinner might not perish, but have everlasting life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:14-16). It is all of God, and from God, and goes back to God in praise and worship. God loved—God gave—we believe—and we have!

Reader, is Nicodemus's condition yours? Awakened to feel your need, and longing to receive blessing? Turn your eyes away from yourself and from all around you, to Him who was God's love-gift to this world, and was lifted up on the cross that you might believe in Him and never perish, but possess eternal life. The Lord grant that your history may end in such blessed results as the second night scene presents, and not have its counterpart in the first. W. E.

THE position of the believer is most blessed. Peace, grace, and glory, present his standing and his hope. Peace as regards the past, for all his sins are gone; grace as regards the present, for he is "accepted in the beloved"; glory as regards the future, which is to be the same as Christ.

W. T. P. W.

Two Sides of the Truth

FOR these eighteen hundred years, “The faith in Christ" has commanded the attention of the learned and the learned, the great and small alike.

True, it has received different treatment at their hands; the wicked heart of man may have seen fit to look at it only to neglect, refuse, and despise it; or, on the other hand, by grace to believe, and thus to become the happy possessor of its manifold blessings. The results are wide apart, yet such are the claims, the promises, the revelations of this faith in Christ, that, at least, curiosity is awakened, and people are forced to listen to the voice it carries.

Thus Felix—a Roman governor of Judea—sent for Paul, for the purpose of hearing, from his lips, concerning the faith in Christ.

Now Paul had been sent to Felix as a prisoner, and had been accused before him as a pestilent fellow, a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He had declared that the things laid to his charge could not be proved; but he confessed that, after the way that they called heresy, so he worshipped God, exercising himself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and men.

Now a religion that leads to the worship of God, and a conscience void of offense, cannot be, after all, very heretical. No doubt it may be stigmatized as heresy by those whose consciences are not tender, as, most clearly, in the case of Paul's accusers, who were, like himself in earlier days, kicking against the pricks. Such a moral triumph on the part of the accused, led Felix to desire further information, and for this cause, as we have seen, he sent for him.

Perhaps he expected to hear some clever theory, to be initiated into some strange mystery, or to listen to some recondite system of philosophy.

He little thought that the faith in Christ would prove itself to be anything so plain, so homely, so personal; and withal, that it would place himself— the unjust, intemperate sinner—face to face with "judgment to come," or that he should tremble at the truth he could not deny.

"Felix trembled!" And why? Because Paul reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. The governor was anything but righteous or sober. He was partial in his administration, and voluptuous in his life. These home thrusts must have cut deeply; supplemented, as they were, by the stern fact of judgment to come.

This Christianity, or the faith in Christ, is no mere pleasant tale, no fable to charm the fancy. It may, and does, most fully lift the veil, and unfold the truth. It speaks of the love of God,—of His Eternal Son becoming a man,—of His death, resurrection, and exaltation to the right hand of the Majesty on high; of the blessed consequences of this, viz., the forgiveness of sins,—peace with God, eternal life; as the present portion of the believer, —of the presence of the Holy Spirit on earth, to indwell the believer,—baptizing all such into one body,—convincing the world, too, of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. But while all this is true, it also deals with the ways of men. All sin is condemned; Christianity is intolerant of evil. It preaches the forgiveness of sins, but it denounces the practice of them. It tells of grace to the sinner, but it wages war with his sins. Sin must be punished; hence the sinless One was judged on the cross, for all who believe in Him; hence, too, on the other hand, judgment to come, and "the lake of fire," for those who continue in sin and unbelief.

Christianity is essentially holy; and so are its doctrines. This is the first fact that the sinner must face. He must allow himself to be measured and humbled by the holiness of God; that is, he must repent. There is no salvation where there is no repentance. To preach otherwise is to "daub with untempered mortar." Yet, the moment the soul has passed judgment on itself (and, reader, have you?), then salvation follows. The publican went down to his house justified, whenever he smote on his breast, and said, “God be merciful to me a sinner,"—then, but not till then.

Alas, how different to this was the trembling of Felix. He quailed in view of judgment, yet only said, "Go thy way for this time." Solemn prayer indeed! but how often repeated.

The jailor of Philippi trembled but, thank God, he said, "What must I do to be saved?" It was not "Go thy way" with him. He felt his condition —he owned his guilt—the answer came, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”

And shall not your case, dear reader, be like his? Judgment must come! Oh! take warning in time, and escape the sinner's condemnation, by having recourse, at once, to the sinner's Saviour.

J. W. S.

IT is most blessed to see,' that in the Cross the moral nature of God, outraged by man's sin, has been perfectly glorified. Christ would rather die than let sin subsist unatoned for. He has wrought atonement, and sin has been perfectly judged, according to God's estimate of its sinfulness before Him. God, having been thus glorified by the Son of Man, has shown His estimate of that Man and of His work by putting Him into glory at His own right hand. Faith perceives this, and immediately reckons—and rightly too— that every question of sin must have been divinely settled to the entire satisfaction of God. The result for the soul is solid peace, in the sense of acceptance in Christ in divine righteousness.

W. T. P. W

The Twofold Rest

LOOK at the sinner unsaved wherever you will, you find him in a state of unrest-perfect unrest; and why? because his conscience is unpurged, his sins are unpardoned, his precious soul is not saved, he is not at peace with the God against whom he has sinned, and with whom he has to do. No marvel then that he has no rest of conscience, no rest of heart. All the while the great sin-question remains unsettled, how can he have rest? Death and hell are not calculated to give rest, as he thinks of them. Eternity has no charm for such; it can only speak of woe. The place of outer darkness has no healing salve, no balm to apply to the conscience; it can only speak of what must terrify the heart of the one who is unsaved.

But is there no balm in Gilead, no rest for the guilty sinner? Blessed be God there is. Where? Listen: Jesus says, " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest " (Matt. 11:28). Now, it is the laboring one that needs rest; it is the heavy laden that needs to be relieved of his burden. Dear reader, are you laboring beneath the intolerable burden of sin and guilt? If so, you need rest,—rest for that heart and conscience of yours, rest from the burden of sin that lies there. It is your sins that have caused the laboring, and that has made you a heavy laden soul, and nothing but the removing of them will give you perfect rest. Ah, then, mark how your need is met in the sweet words of Jesus, “Come unto me, and I will give you rest.”

You can trust Him, can you not? He is worthy of your trust. Mark His object: He wants to give you rest, to relieve your conscience of the burden of guilt, beneath which you totter. How gracious and loving is His desire But not without a righteous ground does He thus act and invite. He died for sins; His life's blood has flowed forth; He has risen again. On that ground He invites you to come to Him and find rest,-rest from the burden of your sins and guilt. How inexpressibly sweet is the word "Come." It tells of a loving desire on the part of Jesus, the One who invites, and of the need of the one who is invited. Reader, you are that needy one. Jesus is the willing and able One. Come then to Him, and rest of conscience is yours at once.

Shall I speak of His love? It is an ocean without a bottom, and without a shore. Shall I speak of His willingness? He says, "Come." Shall I speak of His ability? He is the "Risen One;" the vanquisher of Satan; the atoner of sin; the spoiler of the grave; the accomplisher of redemption; the Prince of life, that death could not bold; the One who has chained to His chariot wheels all His foes; yea, He has, blessed be His name, led captivity captive. And now, behold Him, surrounded with brightest majesty at God's right hand, the object of eternal worship, and the resting place of countless precious souls! Oh, dear reader, I long for thy precious soul; I thirst for thy salvation. Will you not come to Jesus, and get relieved of the burden of your sins, and be at peace with God?

Ah, yes, dear friend, there stands Jesus in all His worthiness, love, willingness, and ability to save you, to lift of the burden, to give you perfect rest. Will you not come? Oh yes, you must come, and be saved from hell. Again he says, " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

And having got that rest,—that is, rest of conscience with respect to sin and guilt,—we are at liberty to inquire, What is the next rest? Jesus says, " Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt. 11:29, 30).

Before the sinner finds the first rest—the rest of conscience—he is found bearing a yoke, but it is the yoke of sin and disobedience. When he comes to Christ, and gets rest of conscience, that yoke is broken. He now knows the meaning of the blessed Lord's words, "Take my yoke upon you;" that is not, of course, the yoke of sin, but the yoke of implicit obedience to God. Jesus, when down here, ever wore that yoke. He did always those things which pleased the Father. The heavens could open upon that perfectly obedient One, and God could give expression to His appreciation of Him, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Those whose sins are pardoned are called upon to wear this yoke of obedience, which Jesus calls "my yoke." And what is the consequence? They find rest unto their souls. They enjoy a blessed and continual rest of soul, which carries them superior to every circumstance through which they may be called to pass. But let it be observed, that the yoke of Jesus cannot be taken unless the conscience is at perfect rest with respect to sin. No unpardoned sinner can wear the yoke of Jesus, that of obedience to God.

How blessed it is then, as a poor burdened sinner, to come to Jesus, and find rest from my sins; and having got that rest, to be yoked with Jesus in obeying God in everything. He says, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." So it is.

E. A.

A Warning Voice

"He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."—Prov. 29:1.

GOD alone who searches the hearts, knows whether these words apply to the subject of the incident I am about to narrate, or whether the warning given, apparently unheeded at the time, returned as the voice of God to the soul of him who heard it, ere it was too late. The day will declare.

But a few short months ago a servant of God who was passenger on board a fine vessel homeward bound, felt much pressed with the thought of the many precious undying souls on that floating world, so much so, that setting aside the fear that naturally rose in the heart at the thought of laying such a request before a godless man, he, looking to God for strength, summoned up courage to accost the captain and ask of him the needed permission to speak of Christ to the crew.

The request was met with scorn, and the question, "What do you want to tell them?" “Of Christ's way of saving sinners," was the reply. “Oh! nonsense; tell them rather to do their duty, that will be of more use." In vain did this servant of God plead that the knowledge of Christ as their Saviour must lead to a more faithful fulfillment of their duty; that to serve man best, we must serve God first. The request was denied.

Unable to press this further, and occupied now with the need of this one soul, living without God, without Christ, without hope in the world, he sought to awaken in the captain some sense of his need, some confession of his lost condition, but all in vain. God was "an unknown God," His word a fable, and his own conscience seared "as with a hot iron.” Failing to draw forth any response, at length the one who would so fain have awakened some sense of danger and fear of God, went on to say: " But are you not afraid to die,—within a few minutes we might all be in a watery grave; what then?”

“Why, I would die like a man.”

Ah! dear reader, only God knows whether these words, soon forgotten, it may be, in the bustle and hurry of life, arose again in his soul, when three months after, on the next voyage home, near that same spot where they were uttered, those very waters were engulphing him in death. Summoned from his sleep by the awful shock of a collision, to find that it had done its deadly work, he had less than one short half-hour to save the lives of his passengers. And his own? Ere he had time to leave the vessel she sank with him on board. Surely God foresaw this moment when in grace He sent that warning voice.

And among you, my readers, is there one to whom God in His grace has often spoken,—in whose ear His words of tender warning have been heard? Have you lent your ear? or have you sought to drown that voice in the pleasures or the business of this world? Oh! if so, remember this warning given; let it be to you as God's words: " Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth "(Prov. 27:1).

“We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also, that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:1, 2).

" Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved,"(Acts 16:31)." 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). J. M.

What a Stupid I've Been

AN evangelist one day visiting around the small village of E— came upon the cottage of a poor old woman, over seventy, when, having entered in and sat down, he asked her whether her soul was saved.

“No; that's just what I want to know," replied she, in tones of deep earnestness.

“How's that?”

“I don't know.”

“How are you going to be saved?”

“That's just what I want to know.”

“Well, let us look then at what God says in His Word.”

Immediately she reached her large Bible off the table, and putting on her spectacles, sat down with her back near the window to get the light.

Her visitor opened the book, and asked her to read three passages of Scripture. “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). “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, had? everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life " (John 5:24). And, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath, everlasting life" (John 6:47).

The old woman read them slowly over to herself, one after the other, gazing at them intently for some moments after, when all at once she looked up in her visitor's face and said, “Well, that is strange. Here I've been a-going and a-coming, and a-hoping and a-striving, and sometimes thinking myself a castaway, and it's all as plain as that.

Well, that is strange. What a stupid I've been!”

“Well," replied he," that's God's Word; the words of the Son of God.”

“Yes, I can see that." “And they are in your own Bible.”

“Yes, there it is. What a stupid I've been!”

“Have you eternal life, then?”

“Well, yes; I must have; it says so there.”

“What does it say?”

She read the Word again, and said, “Well, I believe, and of course there it is in my own Bible; that's plain.”

Finding she was joyfully resting upon the truth in these precious verses, after making a few more remarks, and having knelt down and together praised the Lord for His goodness, he left.

At a subsequent visit a few days later, he found her calmly rejoicing in the truth the Lord had made known to her the week before. After speaking with her a few moments upon its simplicity, she said, " Here I'd been a-arg'ing and a-arg'ing over it, me and my daughter, many a time, and we couldn't make head or tail of it, and nobody to help us; and now it's all as plain as that. I sat up till midnight after you'd been, sir, going over and over those Scriptures; they were so plain and so precious. Here I've been living in this place fifty years, groping in the dark. What a stupid I've been! But I can see it all plain now, thank God!”

The poor old woman lives on, happy and bright, rejoicing in Christ her Saviour and her Lord, in whom she now knows that she has eternal life. Stupid indeed she had been, like thousands more, but now wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Long long had she been groping in the dark; but now brought out of darkness into His marvelous light. Following Christ in simplicity, she looks with joy for the moment when He shall claim her as His own,—the purchase of His own life's blood,—to be forever with Himself in glory.

Dear reader, how is it with you? Are you still groping in the dark? or can you see it all plain? If the latter, readily I am sure will you own with this poor old soul, what a stupid you have been. Ah! worse than stupid. What height of folly, to live on without Christ! A free and full salvation to be received and enjoyed now, in your own Bible, and very likely its pages neglected and unread. Or if you have given a few sober thoughts to your eternal future, maybe you think you are as good as most people. You have never done any harm; you attend a place of worship,—what more can be required?

What more? Why, not so much. Nay, your goodness and your religiousness are only in the way. Salvation is not of works. Here the stupidity of thousands comes out. They see that wickedness will shut them out from God; so they turn over a new leaf, reform, and turn religious. Verily, they think that the reformation of the present will make up for the shortcomings of the past. Ah, delusive wile of the enemy, how many are ensnared therein! Sinner, it is too late to be doing to get to God; nearly nineteen centuries too late. God gave up man, and his doings in the flesh long, long ago. The flesh profiteth nothing. You must get to God first, before doing begins.

And how are you to get to Him? The answer is simple: the same way as this poor old woman, —by faith; BELIEVING. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John 3:36). Do you believe? Like her, it may be, you have been going and coming, hoping and striving, long enough. Ah, what a stupid you have been! When then will ye be wise? Now? Be wise in time. All is done; the work of Christ is a finished work. Christ, victorious on the throne of God, is a present and perfect Saviour now for every one that believeth. Have you believed on Him? "Verily, verily," saith the Son of God, "he that believeth on me hath, everlasting life" (John 6:47). Take heed lest you let the day of grace slip by, and wake up in hell, when it is too late, to discover what a stupid you have been.

Thousands, tens of thousands, live on, groping in the dark. The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine into their hearts, and they should be saved (2 Cor. 4:4). But believe on Him, poor sinner, now,—just as you are, guilty and lost,—and the light will shine into your heart. Then will you exclaim, like this one of whom you have read, “What a stupid I have been! But I can see it all plain 'ow. E. H. C.

What Think Ye of Christ?

"WHAT think ye of Christ?" is the question I ask

Of all who my verses may read;

This question He put, when He stript off the mask

From those who would others mislead;

“What think ye of Christ?" now, consider it well,

It bears on Eternity, Heaven, and Hell.

Oh, ponder it much, it is pregnant with fate,

And life on its issue depends;

Delay not; the terrible sentence, "Too late!”

May pass on you ere the day ends:

Remember that Christ is the Father's delight;

Who thinks with the Father alone thinketh right.

I ask not, What think you of works, or of faith,

Of churches, religion, or hope?

Nor do I now ask, What you think the Word saith

Of presbyter, bishop, or pope?

The question I put, more important by far,

By the blessing of God, may reveal what you are.

As man ever thinks in his heart so is he,

Is what we are told in the Word;

'Tis not by profession, or bending the knee,

That we shall be judg'd by the Lord;

'Tis the state of the heart which determines our fate;

We are saved if we love, we are lost if we hate.

God says of the Christ, He's my well-belov'd Son,

In whom I do ever delight;

For glory to God in the highest He won,

And precious is He in His sight

Dost think thou couldst dwell in His bless'd abode,

If regarding His Son thou shouldst differ with God?

Suppose you attained to the glory above

(A thing which you never can do),

Without thinking rightly of Christ and His love,

Say, Would it be heaven to you?

His praises in glory forever will swell;

To saints it is heaven, to you 'twould be hell.

But there is a truth I would fain have you know,

'Tis plainly reveal'd in the Word,

Of saints 'tis not said that to heaven they go,

They go to be with the bless'd Lord:

Who knows not the Person will ne'er see the place;

Who knows Him, will joy in His fullness of grace.

Oh, Christ is the Life, and the Truth, and the Way!

Our Ransom, our Rock, and our Food

Our Redeemer, Example, our Comfort, and Stay!

Of whom we should only think good;

Then, think thou with God, cast away every doubt,

With Christ you are safe, but you perish without!

H. M.

yet There Is Room.

"And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou halt commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel to come in, that my house may be filled."—Luke 14:22, 23.

YET there is room!" To an anxious seeker of salvation, what comfort is in these words! They tell that the door is yet open, that the voice of grace yet sounds, and that whoever comes will be made welcome! But where is it that "yet there is room"? In the Father's house, the Saviour's home, at the “great supper” which God has spread, and to which He has invited you, my reader.

God wants you to be His guest. He has spread His table with every bounty love could furnish, much less that our poor needy hearts could desire, and sent out His servants with the word, " Come; for all things are now ready.”

And what is the result of this loving call? All invited have "made excuse." Man does not want to be God's guest. God wants man's company, but man does not want God's, in such close proximity as a feast suggests, so he politely says, " I pray thee have me excused.”

Alas "a piece of ground," "five yoke of oxen,” or, strangest of all, "a wife," sufficed to prevent the acceptance of God's call. There was no heart. Had there been, the one just married would have said, " Where I am wanted, my wife will be welcome too will take her with me.”

It is a sad picture, dear unsaved reader, of your heart, is it not? But listen to me. God is in earnest. He will certainly have His house filled. If you will not fill a seat in His house, someone else will. Do not miss your chance, I beseech you.

To you I now say again, "Yet there is room.” Oh, heed the call of God. Where will you spend eternity? It must be with him whose “guests are in the depths of hell;" or with God, who now again invites you to be His guest in heavenly glory. Again He calls; will you again refuse? This year 1882 is wearing to a close. You began it a stranger to Jesus and His blessed salvation. Will you end it in the same dreadful state? God forbid! “Yet there is room." Come now to Jesus. All you have to do is to cast yourself simply on Him. He has died, and risen again. The work of atonement is accomplished. God's claims are all met. The question of sin has been forever settled on the Cross. There He "who knew no sin, was made sin for us;" and the sins of all who trust in Jesus have been borne forever away. Will you not trust Him?

Had you anything to do, you might delay; but when all is "finished," and all "ready," the only thing left for you to do is to come, and appropriate in faith what love provides for your present and eternal blessing.

I assure you God is waiting to bless and save you, Nay, more, He is most anxious about you being His guest. He says, "Compel to come in." Are not these strange words? They show the reluctance on your side to come, and the earnestness on God's side to get you to come.

Oh, let me "compel" you to come ere you drop this paper. God loves you; why do you refuse Him? Christ has died for sinners; why do you not believe Him? You are going straight to hell; why do not you turn to the Lord?

Have you no shrinking from the "wrath to come"? Do you not see the awful folly of your present path? Blinded by Satan, sin, and the delusions of this present world, you are hurrying on to a scene of endless despair. Oh, sinner, you must wake up to your state. You are unwashed, unpardoned, unclean, and unjustified, and you will soon stand a self-condemned criminal at the bar of God. Countless are your sins indeed; but the crowning, damning one of all will be this, that you refused grace, despised mercy, rejected Christ, and "excused" yourself from being saved; and, consequently, ensured your eternal damnation.

Oh, my fellow-sinner, I call on thee. Awake, awake! arouse thee to thy danger; see thine impending doom. "Escape for thy life," I beseech thee. "Compel to come in," warrants me in calling on thee, with all the earnestness and affection I possess, to turn to the Lord. "Yet there is room,” may assure thee that, if thou lost but come, thy salvation is certain.

But thou must no longer delay. God's house is nearly full, I am sure. “Some guest will be the last," has been well said; and then the shut door will solemnly thunder to lazy, half-awakened sinners—No room, no room, NO ROOM!

What crushing conviction will then possess the soul that finds itself too late! It will be willing, but too late; wishing, but too late; wanting, but too late; weeping, but too late praying, but too late; pleading, but too late. Oh, how dreadful!

Reader, fancy yourself going down to hell with “yet there is room" resting on your memory, and “too late" ringing in your ears, and stamped in living characters of fire before your guilty, godless soul forever. This must be the fate of a gospel neglecting, a Christ-rejecting soul. Shall it be your fate? With you now lies the opportunity and the responsibility of accepting God's call.

Once more, "Yet there is room." Oh, my friend, be persuaded. Yield yourself just now to the Saviour. His words are sweet and true. “Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." Again, “He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

Then just come to, believe on, and henceforth follow Him, till He come to take all His own to be forever with Himself.

Reader, farewell. May 1882 not pass away without your being able to say to the Lord—

“Thy precious name it is I bear;

In Thee I am to God brought near,

And all the Father's love I share,

O Lamb of God, in Thee.”

W. T. P. W.

Ziba the Hypocrite

WE read in Rom. 15:4, “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning;" and in 1 Cor. 10:11. “All these things happened unto them for ensamples (or types); and they are written for our admonition.” Thus in reading the histories of individuals in the Old Testament, we see more than mere histories; and would do well to be admonished and warned by the contemptible and hypocritical course of such wretched and shameless men as Ziba.

To the honest and upright mind, there is no class of people so thoroughly detested and despised as hypocrites. And if it be so with men, what must it be with God? Reader! Are you one?

The meaning of the word Ziba, I understand to be "a statue." How very significant. How his name discovers his true character. A splendid representation of the real thing, but lifeless, a statue.

Let us look at this scripture statue, and be warned.

“There was of the house of Saul a servant, whose name was Ziba" (2 Sam. 9:2); and I am sure our introduction to him does not predict much good. He is servant to the wrong man. We know how highly favored Saul was, and yet his whole course was one of fleshly energy and miserable failure till at last he is rejected by God, and finally loses his life under the judgment of God. And thus we are introduced to Ziba as a servant of the rejected house of Saul.

Surely we may say he was educated in a wrong school. But when asked for information by David, he can give it quite correctly, for he knows the family history well. But he has no love for David, and no fellowship with David; or no sympathy for those who were marked out to be blessed by David. Yea, though his deportment is most respectful towards David, it was only cloaking his covetous, malicious, and hypocritical desires. What a hypocrite was Ziba!

How sad that he should have so many near relatives. There are many in this day who are regular attenders at their places of worship, whose creed is quite orthodox, who, when it suits their own ends, give frequently and liberally to the cause. Yet every one in the house, street, and town knows who and what they are. Their name and character is Ziba. They try to be God-deceivers on the Sunday, and men-deceivers all the week. And through their wretched hypocrisy they do not go in for blessing themselves, and hinder those who would. May God have mercy on them!

I speak not of those who are earnestly working away at their religious duties, deceived by Satan, and thinking they are doing God service, I respect such, and would gladly help them if opportunity afforded, by showing them that all their efforts are what scripture terms "dead works," and point them to the finished work of Christ as a resting-place for their poor weary hearts.

But I speak of those who are real hypocrites. Not deceived, but deceivers. Professing godliness to further their own miserable and selfish ends.

Thousands there are of such in this sin-blighted, sin-cursed world. They know they are not real Christians, yet they try to persuade others they are. Ah, there is a day coming when the "statues" shall be unveiled, and they will stand before an assembled world in their true characters, detected and manifested hypocrites, to be hurled down under the everlasting judgments of the Eternal God.

When David was returning to his kingdom after having been driven out by the usurper, Ziba's true character is seen. He cheats his poor lamed master, jumps into the saddle, and goes off to meet David with the refreshment that Mephibosheth, his master, had provided. Then he slanders his master, and receives credit from David for what was really the outflow of his master's heart (see 2 Sam. 16:1-4).

Oh! what daring and deliberate wickedness! What a hardened and desperate sinner was Ziba! To stand with unblushing face and defame the character of the man whose very life was bound up with the welfare of David, by telling David he was staying at home to try and get the kingdom!

But thus it is with all false professors. They write bitter things against every one but themselves, forgetting that their "sin will find them out," and insensible to the terrible judgment about to engulf them. But “the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment” (Job 20:4).

Ziba's conduct seemed all right, and his account of things quite true, but the day came when the truth came out. David returned and met Mephibosheth, and heard from his own lips the true state of things, and the true character of Ziba is unfolded. Ziba was a hypocrite to get the land. Mephibosheth was true-hearted, and wanted the Person.

And let me say, my reader, if you are a hypocrite, and go on undetected now, remember when the true David comes back again, and all His loved ones welcome His return, you will not be able to slip away, like Ziba, to deceive Jesus, and slander His people. Ah, no! You yourself will be left behind. And when that great white throne is set, you will stand before it in all your terrible guilt, a detected hypocrite.

Ah, there will be a fearful exposure of thousands who are mere imitation-Christians in that day May God save you now, dear reader, lest you find yourself among that number, whose very look then will bespeak the bitter sorrow and terrible remorse begun in their souls, to continue uninterruptedly forever.

There are only these three scriptures about Ziba,— first, he is "a servant of the house of Saul;" secondly, lie acts the hypocrite, and deceives David; thirdly, at the return of David his true character comes out. Then Scripture draws the curtain, and we hear no more of him. But we know the doom of such revealed in God's word, “The heavens shall reveal their iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against them." Then the judgment of God will burst upon their guilty souls in all its fearful, terrible, and eternal reality.

O, my reader, before the judgment reaches you, find your way to the feet of Jesus, a humble, broken-hearted, penitent sinner, and tell Him all. Keep nothing back. He will receive you graciously, and love you freely. “His blood cleanseth us from all sin." Not a few sins, but all sin. It has cleansed thousands, and it can cleanse you. God estimates and values it rightly, and will accept you according to His value and estimate of it the moment you trust Jesus.

Wait not for any feelings, but look out to Jesus. He is a Saviour, and you are a sinner. Now do let those two come together this very moment. A sinner needs a Saviour, and a Saviour wants a sinner. Now just fall at His blessed feet, and let your long night of ignorance of Him close at once and forever, and begin that blessed morning that knows no evening; and instead of being a Ziba—a wretched, miserable hypocrite—be a Mephibosheth, content to be slandered till Jesus comes; then all will be brought to light, and the mourning of the saints shall end, and their everlasting joy will be uninterrupted.

W. E.

Messenger of Peace: Volume 1 (1882)

Table of Contents

Alone With Jesus

Anathema Maranatha.

Any Man; or, It Means Me.

An Arrow Shot at a Venture

Assurance; or, the Certainty of Eternal Salvation

At the Cross

Belshazzar's Banquet

By His Grace

Chester Races; or, How I Was Converted.

Christ in Glory

The Coming One

Counsel to an Anxious Soul

Death and Judgment: How to Escape Them

The Debtors and the Gracious Creditor

Different Effects of the Same Truth

Do You Know the Lord Jesus Christ?

The Dying Pharisee

Eternal Realities

The Fit Man

The Flash of Lightning; or, One Taken and the Other Left

Forgiveness of Sins

Four Consequences of Divine Love

General Unbelief As to John 3:16

Go to Joseph.

God As Just in Saving As in Judging

God Cares

God — Light and Love!

God's Elect

God's Salvation

Going to Glory.

The Gospel, God's Power to Save

Hath Everlasting Life

I Am Lost, and This Is a Warning to You.

I'm Too Bad to Be Saved.

Isn't That Good?

Jesus All in All

Jesus, the Shepherd

Look Unto Me, and Be Ye Saved.

The Loving Hand of God

The Miser; or, I Can't See It, Sir.

The Notice on the Wall

Old Andrew, or a Great Sinner, Sir.

on a Par.

on Which Side of You Is the Judgment?

One Sin

P — 'S Conversion; or, I Must Turn to My God.

Peace False and True

The Power of the Word

Profession and Reality

A Question You Must Answer

A Railway Incident

The Skeptic and the Jew

Something Better Still

Substitution; or, Very Strange and Very True.

Sudden Destruction Cometh.

Taken.

The Taxman's Receipt

the Gospel.

Things Eternal

Three Miles to Heaven

Two Night Scenes

Two Sides of the Truth

The Twofold Rest

A Warning Voice

What a Stupid I've Been

What Think Ye of Christ?

yet There Is Room.

Ziba the Hypocrite