lL^

THE MISTAKES OF MOSES

AND OTHER SERMONS.

WILLIAM PATTERSON.

The Mistakes of Moses

AND other sermons,

BY

REV. WILLIAM PATTEBSON,

Pastor of Cooke's Presbyterian Church. Toronto.

TORONTO :

THE POOLE PRINTING COMPANY, LIMITED,

PUBLISHERS,

8

^^.^.5-4

Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine by The Poole Pkinting Company, Limited, at the Department of Agriculture.

TO MY MOTHEK,

TO WHOSE LOVE I OWE SO MUCH.

PREFACE.

This book contains the substance of sermons preached in

Cooke's Presbyterian Church, Toronto. These sermons, when

delivered from the pulpit, were instrumental in helping

Christians and in leading many of the unsaved to put their

trust in Christ. They are now sent forth with the earnest

hope that they may be of some service to those who may

read them.

W. P.

Toronto, Dec. 18tli, 1S99.

CONTENTS.

I. Page.

THE MISTAKES OF MOSES , H

THE ABUNDANT LIFE

PETER

II.

III.

34

IV.

JESUS AND NIOODEMUS 43

V.

THE LOGICAL LEPERS . 54

VI.

JONAH- 65

VII.

THE CHURCH'S GOOD 74

VIII. SALVATION ILLUSTRATED 84

IX. -

SAMSON 94

X.

THE WATER OF LIFE lOt

X CONTENT?.

XI. Page.

THE VISION OF DRY BOXES 116

XII.

THE TWO t^ONS 127

XIII. THE UNFORTUNATE MAN 137

XIV.

MANASSEH 148

XV.

THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS ... 156

XVI.

THE GREAT FEAST 166

XVII. I'RAYER 176

XVIII.

THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR . . l,ss

XIX.

JESUS ONLY ........ UOO

XX.

SOWING AND REAPING, A Sermon to Y'ouug Men JU

THE MISTAKES OF MOSES.

" And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens ; and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.

"And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian."— Exodus 2 : 11, 12.

" And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egj-pt? "—Exodus 3:11.

"And Moses answered and said ; But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice."— Exodus 4 : 1.

"And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent."— Exodus 4 : 10.

" And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray Thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt send."— Exodus 4 : 13.

"And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them. Hear now, ye rebels ; must we fetch you water out of this rock ?

"And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice."- Numbers 20 : 10, 11.

Witliout any exception Moses was the greatest man in tlie Old Testatment dispensation, and of no man is more honorable mention made in tlie ISTew Testament. In Revelation, when the celestial city is spoken of, we read of the song of Moses and the Lamb. Yet this man, who holds a position second to none, made a number of mistakes. I pni-pose referring to three of these mistakes, and the subject will be practical as they are mistakes which Christians are likely to make.

The first mistake was after he had turned his back upon the house of Pharaoh, with all its pleasures and

12 Till-: MISTAKES OF MOSES.

l)rospects, and had identified himself with the despised slaves, who were being crushed under the Egyptian power. He believed that in some way, through him, these people were to be delivered, but he made a mis- take by entering upon the work before he was called to it or qualified for it. His indignation at oppression and his compassion for the oppressed no doubt led him to make the mistake of slaying the Egyptian who was contending with the Hebrew. It is a mistake which Christians are likely to make when they are full of the enthusiasm of the new life. When they see iniquity abounding and the cause of God suffering, the ten- dency is to rush into service before they are sure that they have been called to that particular work or quali- fied for it. How often, for example, the student at college when reading about the multitudes in foreign lands who have never heard of the Christ, and sees around him the ravages of sin, feels like throwing his books aside and rushing into active ser\nce, forgetting that the time spent in preparation is not time wasted. John the Baptist was about thirty years old before he was called into active sen-ice, and Jesus was about the same age when He laid down the plane and left the caiT^enter's bench in N'azareth to preach to men con- cerning the kingdom of God. Tt is a great mistake for us to go before we are sent, or to enter upon any work before we are qualified for it, ,\s a result of his mis-

THE MISTAKES OF MOSES. 13

take, Moses fled into the wilderness. The life there was very different from that which he spent in Phar- aoh's court, but he had an opportunity not only of holding fellowship with God but of becoming ac- quainted Avith himself, and no doubt it was during these years of loneliness and of meditation that he came to realize how weak and helpless he was. There is nothing which will enable us so to realize the majes- ty and power of God and our own insigiiificance as the beholding of God's works in nature. The psalmist said, When I look up into the heavens which Thine own fingers framed, to the moon and the stars, then say I, What is man that Thou are mindful of him, or the son of man that Thou dost visit him?

After forty years of life in Midian the Lord ap- peared to Moses at Horeb, informing him that he was the chosen one to deliver Israel from the power and slavery of Egypt. Moses now makes the second mis- take, to wdiich we purpose referring, by refusing to go. First of all he realized, as no other man did, the greatness and the power and the cruelty of Egypt; and on the other hand he realized then as never before how^ weak and helpless he was in contrast to that mighty nation. Xot only so, but he had tried to help these people in the past and had miserably failed. Putting these things together he said, " Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?"

14 TIIK MISTAKES OF MOSES.

llnw (ificii ( 'liristiaii people fail to enter upon work for tlio same reasons. They think of the great- ness of the work to be done, they think of their past failures and of their insufficiency for these things, and like ]\Ioses they say, " Who are we that we should undertake such a work?" For example, when Chris- tians think of the power of the liquor traffic, its power in the world of politics, and its power over those who have become enslaved by it; when they think of how efforts to overthrow it have failed in the past, how little they have been able to accomplish, they become discouraged and say, ^' What can we do?" The same is true in regard to may other evils that have lifted up their heads in the high places, and we are liable to make the same mistake that Moses made when, look- ing at the greatness of Pharaoh and his own weakness, he said, "Who am I that I should go?" Yet this estimate of the power of the enemy and of his own weakness was the best qualification for the work to which he w^as called. If a man has a high opinion of his own ability and under-estimates the strength of the foe, he will not accomplish very much; but when he realizes the gi*eatness of the w'ork and his own in- ability to accomplish it he will fall back upon the source of all power and seek for reinforcements. The Lord met the difficulties which presented themselves to Moses in connection with this aspect of the case.

THE MISTAKES OF MOSES. 15

but then a new difficulty comes up, and that is witJi reference to the people to whom God wishes to send him. He says, " This people will not believe me." He knew how they treated him forty years before this, when he slew the Egyptian and interfered in the quarrel between the two Hebrews; now he says, " There is no use, the very people I go to deliver will not believe me, will turn against me." What a know- ledge of human nature he had and how tnie his estim- ate of these people was we see from the after history. Does not the same difficulty present itself to us when entering into Christian service? The very people that we are trying to help and seeking to deliver are the people who will probably give us the most abuse. It was so in the case of our Lord — the men He came to save despised, imprisoned and crucified Him ; and it has ever been the same. But what G od said to Moses He said to Jeremiah, and He says to His servants in all ages, " Surely I will be with thee." Then Moses looks at it from another point of view and he says, " I am not eloquent," as if all success depended upon his eloquence. The Lord answers him by asking the question, " Who is it that made man's mouth?" Fre- quently, when we are called to service, we raise the same objection. It may be we have not money, or we have not talents like other people, we have little time at our disposal; and so we present these things as ex-

;|n THE MISTAKES OF MOSES. .

cuses, or, in our estimation, roasous why wc should not Ko where wc are being sent, or do what we arc commanded to do. The Lord would no donbt answer us as He answered Moses, that the success of our work does not depend upon ourselves or our abilities. Not satisfied with all the promises and assurances that God had given to him, however, Moses now ssljs, " Send, I pray Thee, by the hand of another;" and the anger of the Lord was kindled against him. It is true he went afterwards, and the success which attended his efforts was certainly marvellous, but because of the mistake which he made in not going when he was sent, Aaron, his brother, was sent with him as the spokesman, and we know from events which followed that Aaron was not a source of strength, but a soiu'ce of weakness to Moses. He it was who yielded to the people and made for them the golden calf, when ]\[oses Avas receiving the law in the mount. We have seen from the nar- rative that while it is a gTeat mistake to enter upon service before we are qualified and have been commis- sioned by God, it is as great a mistake, if not greater, to refuse to go when we have been qualified and called of God. And this is applicable not only to ministers and missionaries but to every Christian, because God has a work for every man to do. "We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works, and there is a sphere whicli He intends every Christian to occupy, and a

THE MISTAKES OF MOSES, 17

work He wishes every Christian to do. The practical question for us then is, " Have we entered upon some work for which we are not qualified, and to which we have not been called, or are we refusing to enter into service for which the Lord has qualified us, and to which He has called us?"

The third mistake to which we shall refer was made at the waters of Meribah, where Moses lost his patience, spoke imadvisedly to Israel and failed to give to God the glory that was due to His name. This was a great mistake, and for this sin and mistake he was severely punished. It was because of this that he was not permitted to lead Israel into the land of prom- ise. Men tell us, of course, that if he did not enter the earthly Canaan he entered the heavenly Canaan. That is all very true ; yet no greater punishment could have been inflicted upon Moses than his exclusion from the land of Canaan. Because of sin every man who left Egypt over twenty years of age died in the wilderness, save Joshua and Caleb, and now we have the great leader prohibited from entering because of what he did on this particular occasion. The question may be asked, Why was he punished so severely ? We must remember that this nation was beginning its history, and it was necessary for them to realize in the clearest manner possible God's hatred of sin, and that He would not give His glory to another. The

18 THE MISTAKES OF MOSES.

same was true in the case of Achan at the beginning of the great campaign after they crossed the river Jordan. Also at the beginnmg of the GospQl dispensation we have in the case of Ananias and Sapphira a terrible judgment, but it caused fear to come upon all who heard it, and enabled them to realize how God viewed such acts. The Lord could have easily removed the consequences of Moses' sin, but for the sake of the nation Moses had to suffer for his folly. This also is a sin and mistake which Christians are liable to make. Think of all that Moses had sacrificed for that people ; think of all that he had endured from them and done for them during the many years that he was with them, and still they mur- mured ; and no doubt it seemed to him that they were getting no better, and he may have said to himself, AVhat is the use, they are a lot of rebels? So his indig- nation was kindled against them and he gave expres- sion to his thoughts. How often, when we are mak- ing sacrifices for people, and are doing all that we pos- sibly can do in their interests, they are continually finding fault and sometimes, we think, becoming worse instead of better. There is a danger of us losing patience and looking upon them as hopelessly ungrate- ful rebels against God and those who are labouring for them. In Christian work there is great need for the exhortation, "Add to your virtue, patience;" and

THE MISTAKES OF MOSES. 19

when we see that the meekest of men became im- patient and sinned so grievously along this line, there is reason for us to fear. Do we not frequently fail to give God the glory that is due unto Him? Do we al- ways exalt the Lord in the midst of the people, and by our actions and words sanctify Him as we ought? These mistakes of Moses are recorded, not in order to lower him in our estimation, but to warn us so that we may not fall into the same errors.

Now for a moment let us glance at the one like unto Moses who came in after years, and we will see that as far as the mistakes of Moses were concerned He was unlike the great statesman. In the book of Hebrews, where the superiority of the New Testa- ment dispensation over the Old is so clearly shown, the greatness of Christ is contrasted with that of Moses — Moses as a servant, Christ as a son — ^Moses the man who made mistakes, Jesus the one who never erred. He did not enter upon His special work until He was endued with the Spirit and until the hour had come. How His heart must have gone out to the multitudes tliat were as sheep without a shepherd, but He did not enter upon that divine work until the fullness of the time; and He commanded His disciples, when He was leaving them, to remain in Jerusalem until they Avould be thoroughly qualified for service. It is often far harder for the soldiers to stand by without taking

20 THE MISTAKES OF MOSES.

any part in the conflict while the battle is raging than it would be for them to rush into the fight. But to obey is better than sacrifice in the sight of God, and Christ^ was obedient even unto the death of the cross. He did not go until He was sent, but when He did receive the commission He went forth regardless of the consequences, and could say in sincerity and in truth, " My meat and My drink is to do the will of Him that sent Me." Again, we find Him continually glorifying the Father and saying, " Glorify Thyself in Thy Son." When it comes to the people, no matter how they treat Him He never becomes impatient. The disciples forsake Him, one of them denies Him, another betrays Him; He is arrested, false charges brought against Him, He is condemned, and nailed to the cross; men wag their heads at Him as they pass and spit in His face; but in all this He never becomes impatient, but cries from the cross, " Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." Putting to- gether the life of Moses and the life of the One con- cerning whom Moses spake when he said, " A Prophet like unto me shall the Lord your God raise up unto you," we see the marvellous contrast between them. Jesus was perfect in Himself and in all that He did. The imperfections of Moses were manifest, and his mistakes glaring. Yet Moses was the greatest of mere men, and notwithstanding his many imperfections,

THE MISTAKES OF MOSES. 21

and his great mistakes, he was used by the Lord in a most wonderful manner. From this subject we can surely draw the conclusion that God can use us, not- withstanding our imperfections and faults. It is the line of argument that James follows in the fifth chap- ter of his Epistle, when speaking about the power of prayer. Lest anyone should think that absolute per- fection was necessary before prayer would prevail with God, he takes as an illustration Elijah, and after stat- ing that the prophet was a man of like passions with us he goes on to show that by his prayers he closed the heavens for three years and six months, and then by prayer he brought rain upon the thirsty earth, for though his judgment may have erred, his heart was right with God, and he was in earnest. So it was with Moses. His sincere desire was to do the will of God, and when he fell, through his mistakes and imperfec- tions, the Lord lifted, sustained, and used him. So it will be with us, if we submit ourselves to God, and are willing to be in Hi» hand, what the rod was in the hand of Moses, and what Moses was in the hand of God, for God is able to use the earthen vessel — even those that are marred in the making — for His own glorjf, and for the good of humanity.

IT.

THE ABUNDANT LIFE.

"I am come that they might have life, anrl that they might have it more abundantly."— John 10: in.

It is implied in this statement that the people to whom He spoke were without life, for He did not come to give men that %vhich they were already in pos- session of. There are two kinds of life that He did not come to give, namely, physical life and intellect- ual life, though He had power to give such life. He manifested His power to give physical life by raising from the dead the widow's son at Nain, the daughter of Jairus, and Lazaraus,who had been four days in the grave, and He also showed His power to restore in- tellectual life by healing those in whom reason had been dethroned, and restoring them to their right mind.

But the men to whom He was speaking had physi- cal and intellectual life, for many in those days were great thinkers and scholars, — men such as Gamaliel under whom Saul studied. But His mission was to give spiritual life; and this life man was at one time in possession of, for when Adam came from the hand of his Maker, and when God walked with him in the

THE ABUNDANT LIFE. 23

garden in the cool of the day he had spiritual life and fellowship with God. That fellowship was broken, and that spiritual life destroyed when the adversary came between Adam and God. On that day our first parents died spiritually, and all the race descended from them were separated from God through the fall. It was to restore this union that Christ came, to make God and man one, and the very word atonement means at-one-ment. The divine Son of God, equal with the Father, taking upon Himself not the form of angels, but the seed of Abraham, becoming bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, coming to unite God and man, and that union which He came to effect*ds spoken of as life, — spiritual life.

Now this life is the gift of God, to be received by the hand of faith, as a physical gift is to be received by the physical hand. But what does He mean when He says that He is come to give them life and to give it more abundantly? Is there a distinction between life and abundant life ? Does He give the life to some, and in addition to that the abundant life? We see from this text that there are degrees of life just as there are different kinds, and in order to understand the spiritual better, we may adopt our Lord's plan, in His teaching, and find out more about the spiritual through analogy with that which is natural or physi- cal. A man may have physical life and have so little

24 THE ABUNDANT LIFE.

of it that lie will be unconscious that he possesses this life; and in the spiritual world are there not those pos- sessing spiritual life in such a small degree, that they are unconscious of the possession? Some, of course, tell us that a man, if he is saved, must know it ; but on this point there is room for difference of opinion. However, we are all agreed that if a man has so little physical life that he is unconscious he is in a critical state, causing anxiety to his friends, and of no use as far as advancing the interests of the world is con- cerned. So, if a man is unconscious of his spiritual existence he is certainly in a critical state, and those who are interested in his spiritual well-being will necessarily be anxious about him while he himself will be absolutely useless as far as advancing the cause of Christ is concerned.

There is another stage of life, however, when a man is conscious of his existence, and w^hen all his friends know that he is alive, he may be in what we call a convalescent state, so weak that he is not able to do any work, having others wait upon him. In the church also there is a great multitude who have spirit- ual life, and who can say honestly that they know in whom they have believed and are persuaded that He is able to keep that which they have committed to His trust; their friends know, or believe, that they are Christians, and yet these people have so little of the

THE ABUNDANT LIFE. 25

divine life tliat they are unable to accomplish any- thing in the spiritual world. To such the apostle spoke when he said they were Aveak and sickly and fainting, requiring to be fed on milk when they should be nourishing themselves with the strong meat.

We come now to the highest stage of life, — the abundant life. We see it in the physical world where all that has been accomplished in the past has been brought about by men who not only possessed physical life but an abundance of it. Our cities have been builded, our railways made, and all the advancement in the physical world has been accomplished by those men who had life enough and to spare. It is so in the intellectual world. Men who have had an abundance of intellectual life have brought about all the achieve- ments that have been accomplished in the intellectual world. And is it not so in the church? All the mis- sionary enterprises at home and abroad, works of phil- anthropy, everything that has been done to lift up fallen humanity and to advance the cause of Christ, has it not been accomplished not only by those who have had spiritual life, but by those who have had an abundance of it ? It is not the water in the well which makes the grass gTow all around it, but the water which flows out of the well. It is not the strength which we have in ourselves, but that which we are able

20 THE ABUNDANT LIFE.

to give out, that accomplishes work in the physical or spiritual world.

We have these degrees of life. Does the Lord then give to one life and to another an abundance of life, or haA^e we anything to do with the developing of this life? Take an illustration. To Israel, God gave the land of Canaan as a free gift. It was theirs on the day they crossed the Jordan, yet He told them after giving them the land that they would have every foot which they conquered. He gave them the power to conquer that land and as much of it as they con- quered they possessed, but all that was left uncon- quered was not possessed by them. So when He gives men salvation as a free gift He tells them to work it out with fear and trembling, since it is God that work- eth in them to will and to do His good pleasure; and the amount of spiritual life Avhich we ]30ssess will depend largely upon ourselves. Take the child, for example. The child has physical life — the same kind of life that the strong man has, but not as much of it. Look at the intellectual life of the little one, it is tak- ing notice of everything, and the parents are rejoiced because they see that it has reasoning faculiios, it has the intellectual life. But what a difference between the quantity of intellectual life which the child has, and that which is possessed by a professor in a univer- sity. And in the spiritual world, when men are born

THE ABUNDANT LIFE. 27

again they are spoken of as babes in Christ, who are expected to grow until they become strong men in Christ Jesus. They are also spoken of sometimes un- der the figure of the blade that works its way through the clods, and keeps growing and developing imtil it becomes the full ear with the com in it. They are spoken of as the light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day, or as those who are going on from strength to strength until they appear before him in Zion. All this indicates development.

In order to develop physical life there are three essentials, — food, fresh air and exercise, and the same three are essential in the developing of the spiritual life. If a child is to grow and become a strong man the child must get food, and not only food but the right kind of food, food that will nourish and streng- then. So in the spiritual life the Christian must be fed. Christ has spoken of Himself as the Bread of Life, and His word is spoken of in that sense. We are exhorted to desire the sincere milk of the word that we may grow thereby. Spiritual food is as necessary to spiritual growth as physical food is to physical gTowtli, and one reason why so many Christians have so little of this divine life is because they arc starving them- selves spiritually or feeding upon that which does not sufficiently nourish the divine life within them. Tliere is such a thing in the physical world as living

28 THE ABUNDANT LIFE.

skeletons, — men who have been starved for a time, and there are mnltitudes of spiritual skeletons in the church. A man cannot become physically strong on angel cake and mince pie, though there is nothing wrong 'in these things as dessert; and a Christian can- not become spiritually strong on a great deal of the light literature that is read in these days, though that literature may be harmless in itself. It has not the nourishment that is necessary to the developing of the divine life. The Word of God, biographies of the good and the great, and the best literature is essential to the spiritual and intellectual development of the Christian.

iSTow with regard to the air. We know in the physical world that a great deal depends upon the kind of atmosphere in which a man breathes. If it is a malarial atmosphere it is dangerous. There is a won- derful difference between a mountaineer and a man who lives in a coal-mine, or a poorly ventilated fac- tory. In like manner there is, in the spiritual world, such a thing as a spiritual atmosphere that is created by communion with God and fellowship with Chris- tians. Men were commanded to enter into the closet and to shut the door and hold communion with God, they were also commanded not to neglect assembling

themselves together, — for as iron sharpeneth iron.

so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

THE ABUNDANT LIFE. 29

And thus people coming together, having fellowship one with another, create a spiritual atmosphere that goes far toward developing the divine life. Looking at the matter from this point of view we may ba helped

in the settling of some of the vexed questions which Christians often ask concerning places of question- able amusement. For example, the question is often asked. Can I go to this place or to that and be a Chris- tian ? You might just as well ask the question. Can a man work and live in a place where the air is impure ? We know they can and do, but the question really is, Can a man become physically strong if he is contin- ually or almost continually breathing in a polluted at- mosphere? And then, applying this, Can a Christian become spiritually strong if he is frequently breathing in the polluted atmosphere of the ball-room and the theatre or the gambling-house? Lot was a man of God and is at the present time in heaven, yet he breathed in the polluted atmosphere of Sodom, and no one can say of him that he had an abundance of life, for he was weak and useless. And in like man- ner if a Christian wants to get to heaven by the skin of his teeth and is willing that the rest of the world should go down to destruction, he may do a gi-eat many things and go to a great many places and at last be saved as by fire. But if a man is anxious to carry- out the will of his Master and to bring others with him

;;<) Tllli ABUNDANT LIFE.

into the kingdom, it will be necessary for such a one to breathe in a more holy atmosphere than he will find in any of the places to which reference has been made. The third essential is exercise. A man must take exercise in addition to the food and the air, if he is to become strong. And a Christian, in addition to study- ing the Word of God and holding communion with Him and fellowship with Cliristians, must exercise himself unto godliness if he is to become strong spirit- ually. And in taking this exercise, while the man is being strengthened by it he can at the same time be accomplishing work. In the physical world we have people who take their exercise in the gymnasium ; this is all right, but nothing is accomplished by it. Others again are doing work and taking exercise at the same time, accomplishing something for humanit3^ Per- haps there is such a thing as spiritual gymnastics. Men may lake spiritual exercise in that way, but there is a more excellent way, and it is by performing work in tlie taking of the exercise and thereby blessing liumanity. When there is a big head of steam on in an engine, she may blow off that Avhich she does not require, and make a considerable noise, but there is another way of blowing off that steam, by which she can at the same time carry the freight or the passen- gers along the line. In taking exercise the more we give the more we receive. The blacksmith, for ex-

THE ABUNDANT LIFE. 31

ample, is giving out energy when he is at his work, hut at the same time he is receiving strength, and the more he gives out the stronger he becomes. And so in the spiritual world, there is that which withholdeth more than is meet and tendeth to poverty, but those who give receive in return, for the more spiritual exercise we take and the more spiritual work we per- fonn the stronger we become spiritually.

This, then, is the way in which He gives the abun- dance of life. He gives us the means by which we can increase the life which at first is given to us as a free gift. Without Him we can no more increase that life, than Israel could conquer Canaan without the divine help and presence. There is no use in a man praying to God for physical strength if at the same time he is violating the laws of health, or refusing to use the means by which physical strength is attained. ^fTeither is there any use in a man asking God for abundance of spiritual life if he is violating the very laws by

which this is to be attained, or neglecting the things which are essential to the development of this life.

Again, if we have this abundant life, then work becomes a pleasure. In the physical world if those who are weak and sickly try to do work it becomes a toil and a drudgery, while if there is an abundance of physical life work is a pleasure. In like manner, in the spiritual world, those who have very little of the divine life, when the Sabbath comes are heard to say.

32 THE ABUNDANT LIFE.

"We ought to go to cliurcli." Those who have an abundance of this life will say, as did the psalmist, "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord." They do work because it is their duty, but when the life is abundant His yoke will be very easy. His burden exceedingly light, and His commands will not be grievous; their meat and their drink will be to do His will if they have an abundance of His life.

Now if we have not this spiritual life why is it, since He came to give it to us? Could He say of us as He said of some of the people in the days of His flesh, " Ye will not come to me that ye might have life?" How is it to be obtained? He that belie veth on the Son hath everlasting life. It is through faith. Then if there are those of us who have the divine life, but cannot say that we have abundance of it, who is to blame? There are multitudes who have very little physical life, but it is not their fault. They would do anything or go anywhere to increase their health that the}' might become strong. But in the spiritual world if we have not the abundant life is it (^hrist's fault or is it ours? "Will we do like Adam, blame Him, or will we acknowledge that it is because wo have not used the means, and from this hour for- ward make His word the man of our counsel, hold sweet fellowship with Him and try to carry out His

THE ABUNDANT LIFE. 33

command showing to the worhl that, ''pure religion and nndefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself nnspotted from the world."

ni.

PETER.

••Then began he to our.se and to swca-, sayinj?, I know not the man."— -Matthew 26: 71.

It is a question if any man, save Judas Iscariot, ever fell so low or committed so great a sin as Peter did, and in order to see the enormity of his sin several things have to be taken into consideration, Eirst of all, the wonderful way in which he was privileged. He was one of the three who beheld Christ's glory in the mount, and in some way he recognized Moses and Elias and wished to build for them tabernacles. The scene must have made a gTeat impression on him, for in after years he refers to it in one of his epistles. Then he was in the house of Jairus when the maiden was raised from the dead, and he was among the three who were nearest the Lord during His anguish in the garden of Gethsemane. Again, he made a great con- fession acting as the spokesman of the twelve when he declared that Christ was the son of the living God, and Jesus informed him that he had that revelation from the Father in heaven. He made a wonderful pro- fession of loyalty to Christ, stating that he would never forsake him. Peter was warned concerning the

PETER. 35

dangers which lay ahead of hiin, and it is said that if a man is forewarned he is haK-anned. Still further, he failed Christ in the hour when his presence and his help were most needed. 'We cannot think of that night scene, without contrasting the conduct of Peter with that of John, who was the youngest of the dis- ciples, and who displayed the greatest courage and heroism. He was the only one to stand by his Master, when all men had forsaken Ilim, and when the powers of hell were against Him. On the other hand it is probable that Peter was the oldest of the apostles, the one who had braved many a storm on the Sea of Galilee and displayed great courage on many occa- sions; the one who should have been closest to the Master in the hour of His need, but at that time we find him in the courtyard, first denying that he knew Him, then emphasizing his denial, and finally cursing and swearing that he knew not the man. When one listens to these oaths of his and then thinks of his words in Caesarea Phiiippi we cannot help exclaim- ing, "How the mighty have fallen." Could lie h:)\-^ fallen any lower or committed a more gre\'ious sin against his Lord than he did on that eventful night? But what led to this terrible fall? Pirst of all we might look at his self-confidence, for he had un- bounded confidence in himself, declaring that though all men should for«,ake Christ vet he would never do

:;,; pirn-u.

Mich a Ihing. This pride and coiitidenoo in one's f-oU as a general thing goes bel'ore a fall, bnt wlicn we arc thinking of this in the case of Peter do we not se(> traces erf it sometimes in ourselves? We hear of miMi who have fallen and have sinned, and we are liable to say to ourselves, if not to others, we could never be guilty of such things. This pride and confidence in one's self leads to the despising of others and in the case of Peter, while he did not say it, he inferred th;it the others might deny Christ. The more one thinks of himself the less he will think of others, and the more confidence he has in himself the less he will have in others. Still further, this led to his rashness in the garden, for when the men came out to arrest Jesus, Peter drew the sword and rushed at them without first consulting Christ. It is the part of a soldier to wait for the command of his superior ofliccr. It i> the part of a true disciple to receive his commands from his Lord and Master. Peter did not say to Jesus, " What wilt Thou have me to do, or wherein does my duty lie?" But without asking any advice or counsel, he drew the sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest, and for this act he was rebukcnl by Jesus and told to put the sword up again.

How often we do that which is similar. AVe ael without taking counsel with the One whom we profess to serve, without finding ont what His will is in tl;c

PETER. 3

1^

matter, and wliat part He would have us take. The cause of Christ has always suffered from the rashness of His followers and this rashness is due in a large measure to our confidence in ourselves, in our own wisdom and in our own powers. We are frequently told that one of the causes of Peter's fall was the fact that he slept in the garden, when he should have been awake. There is no two ways, but that it was wrong on his part, but we must remember that the other disciples also slept. Then he followed afar off, but some of the others did not follow at all. They fled. Certainly it is a dangerous thing to follow afar oft" when in the land of the enem3\ Those who are in a border land in a time of war, as a general thing, suffer more than those who are in the heart of the country, and the nearer a person is to Christ the safer he is, and the further awav, the sreater the dan-

ger.

Then w'e iind him with the enemies of his Lord when he should have been with the Lord Himself. He was where he should not have been, hence he was in a place of danger. If a messenger had come from heaven he might have asked him the question that was asked of Elijah, "What doest thou here?" In after years he was often among the enemies of the Lord, but lie was there for the purpose of turning them from the error of their ways, but now he is try-

n

8 PETER.

ing to save his life nnd is in great danger of losing it, bj tlie very efforts that he is Dutting forth to save it. Peter is not alone in this matter. Even in tliis age multitudes of Christ's professed followers are often among the enemies of the Lord when they should be with His friends, and they are there, not for the sake of turning the enemies into friends, but for the sake of gratifying their own desires, or of being amused. Xo doubt all these things to which we have referred had a great deal to do with Peter's fall, but we must remember that the devil played a very important part in connection with his sin. "When Christ was looking forward to this night he said to Peter, " Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat." It would seem that all the powers of hell were let loose against Peter and that the great desire of the Evil One was to overthrow him, and perhaps the most important point in this whole history is the fact that Peter did not realize the greatness of the enemy with which he had to contend. Had he real- ized this he would not have had so much confidence in himself, he would not have slept in the garden, he would not have acted rashly without consulting his Master nor followed Him afar off, neither would he have remained vnth his lord's enemies. And what was true of Peter is true of multitudes since then and now. It is because men do not reali;^e the

PETER. 3>

strengtli of the forces which are mustered against them, that they so often fall. It is this thona'ht which Paul wished to bring before the church when he said, " "We ^^Tcstle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." And then he exhorts them to put on the Avhole armour of God that*they ■max be able to withstand in the evil day.

It is the same thought that Christ brou2:ht before the disciples when He told thorn that their advor- sarr. the devil, was goins: about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he might devour. And perhaps the weakest point in the church to-day is the fact that she does not realize the strens'th of the forces which are against her, for th.e devil is fulfilling prophecy and coming to us as an angel of light, and making m.nny believe that there is no devil. Tt is because of this we go on in our own strene-th, and the result. is we fall. "WTien we condemn Peter for his shameful conduct on the night of the betrayal, let us not forget tlie tremendous powers which were a^rainst him, and the great desire on the part of the devil to have him, aud also that as Satan desired to have Peter so he desires to have us, and there is no power which can save us excent the power which rescued and saved Peter. To us it should be a comforting thought that

40 PETER.

our Lord not only knows the weakness of the flesh, hnt lie also knows the power of the adversary. He is not only able to make us strong in our weakness, but He is able also to make us more tliau conquerors over tlie enemy. This He did in the case of His apostle.

It Avas the prayer of Christ wliich saved this man Avhen he was on the very brink of destruction. " I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not,'' and his faith did not fail in the critical hour. The ful- filment of his Lord's prophecy concerning the thrice denial and the look of pity and of love which he re- ceived from Jesus, sent him out into the garden to remember his sin, to loathe himself and to cry might- ily for forgiveness. Jesus saw the tears, heard the cries of anguish, cleansed his soul from the terrible strains, and not only restored him back to disciple- ship but made him one of the greatest powers for good that the world has seen.

Perha])s we have no greater illustration of what the forgiveness of Christ means than that which is exhibited in the case of Peter. In Isaiah the wicked are commanded to forsake their ways, and the un- godly their thoughts, and to turn unto the Lord with tlie promise that lie will abundantly pardon; bi\t it is impossible to comprehend the length and the breadth, the heighth, and the depth of the pardon-

PETER. 41

iiig love of Christ. ISTot only does He blot out all the past but He places the transgressor in the fore- front of His triumphant army and makes him an honoured instrument in opening the door to the Gen- tile world, and in bringing multitudes of the Jews into the kingdom of God.

In looking at this whole scene we have brought before us man's weakness, the deAal's power over man when his confidence is placed in himself, and then the power of Christ to overthrow the plans of the enemy, for by this fall Peter became a grander and greater disciple, always looking to the Lord for guid- ance, leaning upon the strong arm of his ]\[aster. He did more to pull do^vn the strongholds of evil and to destroy the works of the devil than any other of the disciples, saving, perhaps, the apostle Paul. And in the last place we see the matchless compassion and tenderness of Jesus Christ in His dealing with this apostle, how He remembers him on the morning of His resurrection and tells those to whom He appeared to tell the disciples and Peter, how He appears to him and has a private interview when none of the others are present, how He commits to his care the sheep and lambs of the flock, entrusting to this dis- ciple those wlio are dearest to His heart. What a warning the fall of Peter is to those who have con- fidence in themselves; Avhat encouragement cnne^

42 PETER.

from his restoration to those who have fallen. For the Christ who prayed that Peter's faith might not fail is now at the right hand of the Father making interces- sion for 113.

'i IV.

JESUS AND NICODEMUS. *

'• Niecdemus. a ruler of the Jews."— John 3 : 1.

Night had fallen on the city, and at last the streets were stilled. The dwellers in Jerusalem had gone to their homes, and the strangers had retired to the tents which filled every vacant space in the great city dur- ing Passover week. A knock was heard at the outer gate of a humble dwelling, and a few minutes later JesuB, a young prophet of Nazareth, stood face to face with Nicodemus, a niler of the Jews. The in- terview which followed is one of the most important given in the sacred writings. The name, the position occupied, and the religious sect to which the night visitor belonged are all given by the inspired histor- ian: and the necessitv of the new birth, the work of the Spirit, the love of the Father, the mission of the Son. the responsibility resting upon those who have heard the gospel, are all set forth by Jesus. Many blame Nicodemus for coming at night, and tliink it was a sign of cowardice on his part; but there is not a sentence in Scripture to justify such a theory. There was no reason why he should not have come during the day. He may have been among the depu-

1 ^ JESLS AXn XICODEMUS.

tation Avho went down to the Jordan to inquire of John concerning his mission, or if he was not he must have heard the report which they brought back. Be- sides, owing to the position Avhich he held in the great council, he had perfect liberty to ask any teacher whatever questions might suggest themselves to him, and at this time .Tesus was not unpopular with the great council; the period of opposition had not set in, and no one would have thought it strange, neither would they have cast reflections upon Nicodemus if he had been seen talking with Jesus during the day. It is true John speaks of him as the one who came to Jesus by night, hut that is for the sake of identify- ing the man; just as he speaks of himself as the dis- ciple whom Jesus loAed, or the one "who leaned on His bojom at supper, and as, in the eleventh chapter, he s})eaks of ]\[;!rv wlio anointed the Lord, althoua-h the story of the anointing does not come until we reach the 12th chapter, but he wishes us to under- stand that it is the same Mary. So when he speaks of iSTicodemus in this manner we understand that nothing further is meant than that men should re- cognize him as the same one who had the interview with Jesus, which interview is recorded in this third chapter of John. And, from the way in which Jesus received and treated iiini, we must conclude that his motives in coming to Jesus were all riiiht. hut his

JESUS AND NICODEMUS. 45

conceptions of the work wliicli Jesus came to do, and of the need of Israel were all wrong. He thought tiiat Jesus was a great teacher, come from God, and that what the nation required was such a teacher, liut Jesus wished to banish from his mind this erron- eous idea, and that led Him to answer Xicodcmus in a waj which might seem to us somewhat rude. It is true, Jesus was a teacher, and the greatest of all teachers, for He taught as never man taught, and it is also true that wherever His gospel is published men are not only blessed spiritually, but they are de- veloped intellectually, for Christianity and education go hand in hand, but His mission to this -world was not to teach them but to save them. In Israel there had been great teachers before His time — men who had come from God, men like the heroic Elijah or the seraphic Isaiah — and yet the nation kept going- down step after step, until they sat as captives by the river in Babylon, where their harps hung upon the willows. But these very teachers all looked for- ward to a Redeemer, and Jesus wished to impress upon the mind of Nicodemus at the very outset, that what Israel required was redemption, and that He had come as their Saviour. When the angel an- nounced His birth he said that His name was to be called Jesus, for He was to save His people ivom their sins. He Himself said that He had come to

46 JESUS AND NICODEMUS.

seek and to save the lost, and the greatest of His apostles said that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.

In the interview He goes on to show Nicodemus what this salvation means, that it is being bom again and that the new birth is brought about through the power of the spirit; that while men can no more trace the spirit in His workings than they can tell from whence the wind cometh. or whither it goeth, yet they can see the results. He assures Nicodemus that this change is absolutely essential, that without it men cannot see, understand or enter into the kingdom of heaven. This change cannot be brought about by mere education; for while A\-e have sin in the hovels of the ignorant we also have it in the palatial homes of the refined and cultured. A man must be born of water and the Spirit, said Jesus, before he can enter into the enjoyment of the new life. Then he goes on to speak of the Father's love, how that He looked down upon the race vdth such pity and com- passion that He was willing to give His only Son that they might be saved from their sins, and be- come the possessors of everlasting life. He reminds Nicodemus of a scene in the wilderness, when the brazen seipent was lifted up to save the bitten Israel- ites, in order that He m.ay show this ruler the part, that He was to have in this work. For. as Mose:«»

JESUS AND NICODEMUS. 47

lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

He then speaks of the responsibility resting upon those who hear the story. He says men shall be con- demned, and are condemned, because they have not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God.

We cannot tell what impression this discourse made upon IS'icodemus at the time. He went out into the night, and we hear no more of him until we reach the seventh chapter of tlie same gospel. Then a meeting of the council is being held, men have been sent out to arrest Jesus, they have returned without Him, they are asked why they did not bring Him, and answer, " Xevcr man spake like this Man." The councillors become furious, but Nicodemus asks the question, " Does our law judge any man before it hear him?" no doubt thinking that if they could hear Jesus as he heard Him, instead of desiring to arrest Him, they would fall at His feet in adoration, and become His followers.

Once more he passes from the scene, and does not appear again until the day of the crucifixion. "Wliere he was during the mock trials we cannot tell. It i^ probable that when the council were being gathered together they avoided the homes of Joseph and Nico-

48 Jl.SrS AND NICODEMUS.

demus, knoAviiig tliat they were friendly to -Tesii*:. But llie last gTcat day has come, He is nailed to tho cross, around it are gathered the soldiers M'ho have in charge the execution. Outside of that wo have the doctors of the law, the niemher? of the Sanhedrim, then come the great multitude who have been cry- ing ''Away with Him," and afar off we see the little band of followers and sympathizers, among whom is His another. The darkness has come down upon the earth, men smite their breasts in fear, the midtv- tude melts away, and when the sun a]i]")ears again wo see the little company of believers standing by the foot of the cross. He commends His mother to the lov- ing John, He cries, '*It is finished," and gives up the ghost. Tlien two men are seen talking together. They leave the cross in company with each other, pass through the gate into the city and then they separate. One goes toward the house of the governor and the other down into the business part of the city. In a little while they return, meeting again at the cross. One of them shows a document to the officer. who is in charge of the soldiers, and when he sees it he gives pennission to these men to take down the body and deal with it as they Avish. The other lays down a heavy burden — a hundred pounds weight of spices, which he has bought for the embalming of the body, — and in him we recognize the night visitor, for

JESUS AND NICODEMUS. 49

lie is none other than Mcodemns. With loving hands they take the body from the cross, wash it, wind it in fine linen and with spices, and then bear it away to the new sepulchre in the garden. JSTicodemiis hon- ored Jesus and truly Jesus honored him.

The last verses of the second chapter of John re- late that many believed in His name when they saw the miracles which He did, but Jesus did not commit Himself unto them, because He knew all men. But when we come to the third chapter we find that Jesus did commit Himself unto Nicodemus, and never did He give such a revelation of Himself to anyone as He did to this man, who came to Him in the night; and no greater honor could have been conferred upon any man than that which was conferred upon Nico- demus on the day of the crucifixion.

There are three wonderful funerals spoken of in the Bible. One was that of Jacob, when all his fol- lowers and descendants, accompanied by the chariots and horsemen of Egypt, bore his remains to the land that had been promised to Abraham and to Isaac. Perhaps it was the greatest funeral the earth has ever seen, Jacob was wonderfully honored. Then we come to another funeral on Mount Xebo, when the deliverer of Israel goes up, and after viewing the land, is buried, by the angels of God, in the presence of the Creator of the universe. No man was ever

50 JESUS AND NICODEMUS.

honored as Moses by having such a funeral. I^ut when we come to this funeral in the Xew Testament, it was not the dead to whom the honor was done, but \o the pall-bearers. They were privileged to can*y that tabernacle in which the God-head had dwelt, it was to them the honor came, and the names of Joseph and Nicodemus will be had in reverence so long as the world stands, because of the part they took at that hour when hope was crushed out of the hearts of the disciples. K^icodemus made a noble confession of his Lord and Master, and he was honored by the men of his generation who believed in the Christ, and also by the Father who loved the Son. We can imagine, in after years, when the disciples have met together, an old man coming into the room and the people ris- ing as a token of respect. We can hear the children ask, " Who is he?" and we can hear the answer, that it is Nicodemus, who bore the body of our Lord to the sepulchre; and when the end comes, we can see the devout men of Israel gather around the home in which his body lies. They think it an honor to be privileged to bear him to the last resting-place, be- cause of the part he took in connection with their Lord and Master. And then our thoughts rise till we think we can see the everlasting gates lifted up, and the eternal doors thrown open, and we see Jesus introducine; Nicodemus to the Father, and saying,

JESUS AND NICODEMUS. . 51

" This is the one who helped to bear My body to the tomb." Some will say that this is a stretch of imagin- ation, but if Jesus stood at the right hand of the Father to receive His first martyr Stephen, have we not reason to believe that as great if not greater honor was conferred upon Nicodemus, and did He not say, ' ' Whosoever, therefore, shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven."

^^'e often speak of trusting Jesus and being able to trust Him, but have we ever thought of Christ trust- ing us or being able to trust us? He did not, as we have seen, commit Himself to many of those who believed on His name, but He did trust ISTicodemus. We all like to be trusted by our fellow-men, and the higher these men stand in the walks of life the more we like to have their confidence, and to know that they ti-ust us. How much greater to be trusted by One, who is King of kings, and Lord of lords. To some He has entrusted families, to some He has en- trusted classes in the Sabbath School or the Mission, to some He has entrusted different departments of His work, and the question is, Will we be faithful to the trust? If we honor Him here we have the as- surance that at the last He will honor us, and give to us an abundant entrance into the house not made with hands. Paul could look forward with joy to

53 ' JESUS AND NICODEMUS.

that liappy day, for he said he knew that the Lord would place upon his head a crown of righteousness, and to him that day would be a day of rejoicing.

When Nicodemus first came to Jesus he was an honest doubter, a man who was groping in the dark seeking for the light. To him much of what Jesus said seemed very mysterious, but he was one of those who were willing to be taught and willing to do the •\^^ll of the Father; and so the promise of Jesus was fulfilled in his case when He said, " If any man will- eth to do My will he shall know of the doctrine." It may be that the light came to him gradually, but it increased like that of the shining light which sliin- eth more and more unto the perfect day. And at the hour when the disciples, v/ho had been in company with Christ for more than three years, were dejected and despairing, the faith of Nicodemus was getting stronger and clearer. As Christ was lifted on the cross he could see the fulfilment of that which he heard during his first interview with Christ, when he spoke of the Son of Man being lifted as Moses lifted the serpent.

And looking back upon this scene we think of Xicodemus as being wonderfully privileged, by be- ing allowed to do, what he did for the body of Christ, and to speak in His defence in ihe council. But we forget that all of those privileges are ours. "We can

JESUS AND NICODEMUS. 53

speak on His behalf as Kicodemus did, we can honor Him and help Him, by honoring and helping those who have pnt their confidence in Him, for has He not said, " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me." He has so identified Himself with all His followers that whatsoever we do to them is looked upon as done to Him. We have the assurance that if even a cup of cold water is given in His name it shall receive its reward. We cannot see Him with the bodily eye as ]S[icodemus did. He is absent from us, yet His Spirit is present with us. He has given to us great privi- leges, committed to many of us sacred trusts, let us so live and so act that when our eyes shall see Him we may hear from His lips the words, " Well done, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

Y.

■•■\Vliy sit \vc here iiiilil wcdic ? ' — 11. KlNfjs 7 : ;l.

AVhat had they to live for? We can understand young men who see visions and success aliead of them desiring to live, but these men, through their leprosy, had become unclean, and were cast out of their homes and out of the synagogues, out of society and out of the city; they knew that they were dying by inches and every day becoming more loathsome to them- selves. Yet these are the men who said, Why sit we here until we die?

Deatli is unnatural, and all cling to life. There are oidy two powers which will make men desire death, either the fear of others, or of disgrace, which will lead them to end their lives, or a vision of the risen Christ, which will lead them to say as Paul said, To die is gain. For I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. To these men, however, life was desirable, and nothing so much dreaded as death. They liad come to realize tliat if they remained as tliey were death was certain. If they went into the city they would also die, if they

THE LOGICAL LEPERS. 55

went to the camp of the Syrians there was a probabil- ity that they would be killed, but there was a chance of their lives being spared. Just as a man who has been seized by a terrible disease when the physicians tell him that if tlie disease is left alone death is cer- tain, but if an operation is perfonned the probability is that he will die, but that there is a chance for his life, he will willingly grasp at this ray of hope and submit to the operation. In like manner these men determined to go in the direction where they saw a chance of escape from that which they dreaded.

While this story is history, it also contains a par- able from which we can learn spiritual lessons. When men come to realize that they are sinners and to know that if they remain as they are eternal death will be the result ; and to know that they can no more escape that which they fear by going to others than the lepers could be saved by going to the besieged city, then their eyes are turned toward Christ. They may think, as the lepers did, that for them there is little hope, they have spoken against Him, they have sinned against Him, they have fought against His cause and they may fear to come, but, like the woman who spent all that she had on physicians, and was becoming worse instead of better, decided to go to Christ, and when she touched the hem of His gar- ment she was healed, so it often is that when every

56 THE LOGICAL LEPERS.

other door is shut against the sinner he seeks Christ ;!s a last resort, and like these lepers he finds jnore than he even dreamed of. Yor they discovered an abundant snj^pl}' for all their Avants.

We will leave the lepers in the tents and go for a little while to the beseiged city. There we find the people standing, they have become cannibals, many are dead and others are dying, and yet outside the city there is an abundance of food. They are ignor- ant of this, but why are they ignorant? On the day previous to this night the prophet told them that on the morrow two measures of fine flour or two mea- sures of barley could be had for a shekel. Instead of believing him and looking hopefully to the fulfilment of the promise, they mock at his words, and a lord on whose arm the king leaned, said, If God would open windows in heaven might this thing be. "VYe tind history continually repeating itself, and in the days of Isaiah that prophet was led to cry out, " Who hath believed our report?" And when we come down to the time of our Lord we find that there were people nmong whom He could do no mighty works, because of their unbelief. When He went into the house of .r.iirus to raise the maiden from the dead they laughed Ilim to scorn. In all ages, and at the present time multitudes are starving for lack of spiritual food while He who is the Bread of Life is not far frpm

THE LOGICAL LEPERS. 6Y

tliem. They have been told this, but, like the men of Samaria, they have refused to believe it, hence the message has not benefited them.

iSTow let us turn from the city and look again at these four men. They have gone into the first tent, found an abundant supply of food, eaten until they were satisfied. They have carried away quantities and concealed it, also gold and silver. They have gone into another tent and found great plentiness there. Then when they have taken all that they de- sire or can use, they say one to another, Are we do- ing right, while the m^en in the city are starving and plenty outside, not to take to them the glad tidings? If we tell them they may refuse to believe us, but then we have done our part; if they do believe us and come out and eat and live, they will always be grateful to us; on the other hand, if we refuse to tell them, they may make the discovery for themselves and then they will blame us. They will say, " If you had only told us when you first made the discovery, some of those who are now dead through the famine might have been still alive." And we will be con- demned, and evil will come upon us. "What a lesson we have in this for those who have come to Christ and have had all their longings and their wants satisfied. We know that in Him is a sufficiency for all, we know that multitudes are starving and perishing for

58 THE LOGICAL LEPERS.

that wliicli lie can supply. If we tell them of Him they may not believe us, but then we have done our part. If they do belie\e us and come and receive of His, fullness, then we shall receive of their grati- tude for brinjnp^ng; them the message. On the other hand, if we fail to tell them, and if, in after years, they find Him out for themselves, they will no doubt say, " If you had told us when you first made the discovery, some of our loved ones, who have since then gone out into the darkness, might have passed from the earthly tabernacles to the house not made with, hands," and for our neglect they mil con- demn us.

AVe can see the lepers, after they have made up their minds to deliver the message, going to the city. They tell their story to the porter, and to him it must have seemed wonderful. For on the day previous the enemy were surrounding the city, the porters were at the gates, the watchmen on the walls, and noAV for these men to come with a message that there were no enemies, but great quantities of food, of gold and silver and large numbers of horses outside the w^alls, was a story so strange that it was hard to believe, and the porter might have said. Hunger has turned their heads or disarranged their brains and they have be- come insane. Yet, this story is not so wonderful as the storv of salvation which the Christian can carrv to

THE LOGICAL LEPERS. 59

the sinner. A\'lien we go to a man who is in the mire of sin, who, because of his iniquity, has been driven from his home and from society and perhaps cast out of the saloon where he has spent his money, and tell him that the blood of Christ will cleanse him from all sin, that he can be saved from all his iniquities and that the evil habits, which have enslaved him for years can be removed and he made more than a con- queror over sin, when we tell him that if he accepts the message and acts upon it not only will all of this take place but he will become heir to a glorious in- heritance, receive a title to a mansion in the skies, some day have placed upon his head a cro^vn of right- eousness and at last become like unto the Son of Man who also is King of kings and Lord of lords. Such a message may seem very strange and improbable and no doubt it was listening to a message of this kind Avhich led men to say of the apostles that they were beside themselves, that they were mad. But the people of Samaria found out that the story was not exaggerated; and so, when men come to Christ and receive from Him the blessings they ha\'e heard of, they can then say, as did the Queen of Sheba when she beheld the glory of Solomon, that the half had not been told.

The message of the lepers was told to the king- but he was one of those wise men who think they

60 THE LOGICAL LEPERS.

know everything. He said, "I know what the Syrians haA'c done, they have gone out and hid themselves in the fields expecting- us to go to their tents and then they will slay us." A serv'ant of the king, who had less dignity but more common-sense than his majesty, suggested that tliey prove the storj'- of the lepers by sending men out on some of the few horses which still remained in the city. These messengers went out and returned informing the king and the citizens that there Avere no enemies between the city and the river Jordan, that the Avay was stre^ATi with garments, that the horses and the tents and the provisions of the Syr- ians were all at their disposal. Then the people rushed out to feast upon the spoils of the enemy.

It was faith which saved these starving people. The story of the lepers proved the fulfilment of the words of the prophet, and the story of the king's mes- sengers corroborated that of the lepers. Acting on the testimony of others, these men went out and found the food which saved them from death. Look- ing thus from a spiritual point of view we have the prophets who spoke of the Messiah who was to come; we have the apostles who tell us of the fulfilment of that promise; we have the multitudes who have exper- ienced the salvation and the forgiveness of God, the testimony of the Christians of all ages. If we act up- on this, as did the men of Samaria, we will be saved

THE LOGICAL LEPERS. 61

from spiritual deatli as they were saved from physical death. After they had gone out and seen for them- selves and eaten of the food they could then say, "JSTow we believe, not because of what the prophet said, not because of what the lepers told the porter, not because of the report brought back by the king's messengers but because we have seen and partaken for ourselves." So, when we hear the story of salva- tion, acting upon the testimony of others our faith ventures out, we cast ourselves upon Christ, then, when His peace is come into our hearts, when we know that He has saved us from our sins, we can say we believe not because we have read the story in His word, not because we have heard the message from others, but becaiise we have come to Him ourselves, we have tasted and we know that He is gracious and we can speak of Him as our Lord and our Saviour. This might be called faith venturing and faith verified.

Does it not seem strange that the people, to whom the prophet came telling of the provision which God was going to make for them, should be starving, while lepers, to whom no prophet came, were feasting? For that was the case on the night when the Syrians fled from their tents. And yet, in this respect, his- tory has been repeating itself. To the Jews came the prophets, speaking of the Messiah; to these same

r>2 THE LOGICAL LEPERS.

people came the Messiah Himself, and yet they re- mained outside the kingdom, while the Romans, to whom no prophet was sent, sought Christ, and of one of them He said, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." The Syrophoenicians, to whom no messenger had gone, were represented in the woman wlio sought help for her daughter, to wliom Christ said, "Oh, woman, great is thy faith." From the east and from the west, from the north and from the soutli they came to Him, while the children of the kingdom and those to whom messengers had been sent n^ mained in their unbelief. And to-day we have men in heathen nations groping in the dark yet seeking that same ray of light while multitudes in Christian lands, who have heard the story from their childhood, are still starving for lack of the bread of life because of their unbelief.

Suppose these people in the city of Samaria had re- fused to believe the message because of the position occupied by the messengers, what would have befallen the city? These men were lepers, despised and out- cast, but the people barkened to their voice and the city was saved. Suppose that ISTaaman had refused to listen to the message concerning the great healer because it came from a little slave, or afterwards had refused to listen to the coimsel of a servant who ex- lii'i'tcd hini to obey tlic voire of the prophet by dip-

THE LOGICAL LEPERS. 63

ping' himself in the Jordan, he would still have retained his leprosy. And yet, in all ages we find men refusing to listen to the message because the messenger does not come up to their ideal. For ex- ample, many refused to listen to Christ because of His origin or because of the village in which He was brought up, and they said, "Can any good thing come out of IsTazareth?" Some rejected Him because He was a carpenter and because they knew His brothel's and sisters and mother to belong to what would now be styled the common people. Others rejected His message because He was not a graduate of one of their colleges, nor a doctor of the law. In tlie ordinary af- fairs of life men do not act in this way. If a tele- gram comes to any of us which may bring news that will gladden our hearts or bring anguish to our souls, we do not refuse to accept it because of the messenger. He may be dressed in uniform or he may come to us bare-footed and in rags, in fact, we never think of the messenger, it is the message. So when men come to us with a message from God, if that message takes hold of us, if we realize that it is for us and that it may mean to us eternal life or eternal misery, we will cease to think so much about the messenger. If these people in Samaria had refused the message be- cause of the messenger they would have peiished. So it is to-day, it is not the messengers who save men

64 THE LOGICAL LEPERS.

but the message which they bring. The message to the standing men in the city of Samaria was that there was an abundant supply of food within reach if they would only accept of it; and the message to the sinner is that in Christ all fullness dwells, that if tliey come to Him they will not be cast out under any condition, that if they refuse to come there is no hope since there is no other Name under heaven given among men by which we can be saved but the name of Jesus.

YI.

JONAH.

■• The men of Nineveh shall rise in jiidgTOent w ilh this generation, and shall condemn it; because they repented at the preaching of Jonah."— Matthew 12 : 41.

It is reported that some men liave spent consider- able time measuring the mouths of whales to ascertain ii it would be possible for a whale to swallow a man, and from their investigations they have come to the conclusion that the thing would be impossible and that the book of Jonah on that account is only a myth. It would have been wiser on the part of these men to have found out what the Bible did say about the fish, before they commenced their investigation; for the Bible no where associates Jonah with "whales. In the book bearing his name Ave are simply informed that the Lord prepared a great fish to sv/allow up Jonah; and the word which our Lord uses for the fish in the ISTew Testament simply means a sea-monster or great fish. But the translators of the Xew Testa- ment, who had probably never seen whales and knew nothing about their swallowing capacity, translated the word whale. However, if the Lord made all the fish in the sea and made Jonah, He could surely pre- pare a fish large enough to accommodate the prophet,

66 JONAH.

and who knows but Jonah was a small man something like Bilclad, the Slinhite, or Zacclieiif, wlio Avas little of stature. Tliere are great lessons, however, which we can leani from the story of this prophet. He is the only one among the prophets who disobeyed the command of God. Other prophets, it is tnie, hesitat- ed frequently when they received great commissions, because they felt tbeir own insufficiency and realized the magnitude of the work they were called to do; but all obeyed even when they knew that they were risk- ing their lives and incurring the \vi'ath and displeasure of those who v/ere in authority. But Jonali disobeyed God and fled toward Tarsliish. He told his story to the proprietors, or seamen, of the little vessel, and they promised to carry him across the sea. He paid the fare but never reached the desired haven.

In the first place, we learn from this story that when a man refuses to go where God wants him to go, and to do what God wants him to do, he brings misery and unhappiness to himself; and, since no man liveth to himself, he brings unhappiness and often dis- aster to others How this is illustrated in the case be- fore us. I am sure we are all agreed tbat Jonali was not a happy man when on board that little vessel. It is true he slept, but it was not the sleep of the just. Then as far as the vessel is concerned, she suffered, her timbers strained under the pressui-e of the angiy

JONAH. 67

sea; tlie cargo suffered for it was thrown OTerboard; and the merchants who owned it met with a loss, as it is probable there were no insurance companies in those days; and the fish or sea-monster which swal- lowed the disobedient prophet no doubt suffered con- siderably, at least, we would suppose so. This is al- ways the result of disobedience. We read about the stars singing together and about the music of the spheres, but we know that in this earth of ours there is a great deal of discord and suffering. It has all come through disobedience; for through the disobedi- ence of one man many have been made to suffer. Our first parents disobeyed. They lost the joy of the Lord, they lost the Paradise in which they were placed, they suffered, and all their descendants have suffered since that time. Not only has the disobedi- ence affected the human race, but we read that all creation groaneth and travaileth in pain; the earth it- self has been cursed and weeds and thorns grow where flowers and fiaiits might have been, had man barkened to the voice of his Maker. No matter where v^e go v/e see the results of disobedience, and let no one think that he can disobey God, refusing to go where the Lord wants him to go and do what the Lord wants him to do, without bringing into his own life unhap- piness, and without being the means of bringing misery and unhappiness into the lives of others.

68 JONAH.

On the other hand, we see what comes from obedience. Jonah at last cries to the Lord, his voice is heard, he is delivered out of the prison-house, or whatever we may call it, and then he goes where he is wanted to go and does what he is told to do; for he enters the great city of Nineveh to deliver the mes- sage the Lord has given him. To him no doubt, it was a strange city; but his appearance and message were still stranger to the inhabitants of that city. At first they may have laughed at the man and made a mock of his message. The children would go home and tell their parents about the strange looking man they had seen and what they had heard him say. In the evening when the factories and shops closed, the employees, when coming home from work, would stop to look at him and listen to him, while many may have gone from their homes to see for themselves the man they had been hearing about. But after a time his message seemed to take hold of the people; feai- took the place of mockery; his words were carried into the prison cell and they also reached the palace of the king. A gi-eat fear came over the inliabitants of Nineveh and a fast was proclaimed ; sackcloth cov- ered all the people and also the cattle; the king him- self was seen sitting in sackcloth with ashes upon his head, fasting and crying to the God of Heaven to have mercy upon him and his city. Not only did they

JONAH. 69

fast and humble themselves in the sight of God, but they turned away from their iniquity; and the pity- ing God beheld the penitent people and had compas- sion upon the inhabitants of the city. Was ever a message delivered which proved more effective? Was ever a preacher more successful than Jonah when he hearkened to the voice of God and delivered the mes- sage given to him?

It is to this our Lord refers when He says, The men of Nineveh shall rise in the judgment against this generation; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And now, in order to see all that is in- volved in this sentence, and to see where the emphasis should be, it will be well for us for a few moments to take another look at this man, under whose preach- ing the inhabitants of this city repented. First of all he was, as we have seen, a disobedient, and the only disobedient prophet; and we know how God views dis- obedience, for He tells us that to obey is better than sacrifice. Then let us look at the man after he has delivered the message, and we will see the spirit he displayed. He is sorrowing, not because the people turned a deaf ear to his words, but because they re- pented and are being spared or saved. Some tell us, of course, that the reason why he was so annoyed was because he feared that if Nineveh w^as spared she would injure his own country, and it was patriotisui

70 JONAH.

which led him to act as he did. Others, a^ain, think that he was afraid lie would lose liis standing: or dig- nity as a pronhet, since their renentance would make it appear that his predictions did not come trne; for he had cried throns'h the streets, " Yet forty days and yineveh shall he overthrov.Ti," Some of these con- jectiires may be true or they may not, at best they are only conjectures. There is one thins^ we are sure of, the man was not sjlad when he saw the inhab- itants of the grreat city being spared by the God against whom they had sinned. It seems a terrible thing to think that a m.an vrould be satisfied to see 120,000 little children perish, perhaps 600,000 of a population altogether. Yet, if we come down through the ages we will find the descendants of Jonah. The elder brother of whom our Lord speaks was closely related to Jonah. What was the cau?e of his anger? Was it not because the father had re- ceived back into the home the wayward and prodi- gal son? And did he not find fault with the father for what he did. as Jonah found fault with God for sparing the people of Xineveh? Again, if we look at the Pharisees we can easilv see that they rlso have come down from the davs of the prophet; for they were anpTv and said in deri'^iori concernina' Jc^u=i, " Th'« r>-ap rereivrth sinners and eateth with them." Jonah displayed the same spirit that these men di?.-

JONAH. 71

played in our Saviour's time. And there are Jonahs in the world to-day, and sometimes they are found in the visible church.

ISTow, if the men of Nineveh repented at the preachiner of such a man, how could the men escape, who renented not at the -preachins: of Jesus, who was so much o^reatcr than Jonah, who was obedient even unto death, who hnd compassion for the multitudes, and who was willing to sacrifice TTimself, and did sacrifice Himself in order that thev mis-ht be saved? The contrast between Jonah and Jesus is somethins; man^ellous. and it skives emphasis to the text, " The men of Nineveh shall ini^e in the iudg-ment against this e'en oration ; for thev repented at the preachins: of Jonfih: and behold, a rreater than Jonah is here." Sometimes we hnve men who refuse to attend church or refuse to accept of the 8:ospel, becaiise they do not care verx'' much for the messensrers : in their estima- tion these messenpers are not iderl m.en. But it would be hard to f^'et a messenger worse than Jonah, to fret one more disobedient or io set one with a worse spirit: and if the Ninevites repented nt his preachinsr, these men will rise in judtrmient s gainst those who are refusing the messao-e to-dav.

A<?ain, look at Jonah's preachine-, or rather at the message he had to deliver. There was not a ray of hope in that message, it was simply the doom of the

72 JONAH.

great city he was proclaiming, " Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown." But look at the mes- sage of Christ. It is full of promise, of invitation, of the assurance of salvation if men would only repent. Yet these men in Mneveh, having no encouragement in the message, cast themselves at the throne of God's grace, sought for mercy and found it. Surely they, repenting under such preaching, ^v\\\ rise in judgmcut against those who have listened to the gospel promises and invitations of the new Testament. For in that we have line upon line and precept upon precept, pro- mise after promise, and invitation after invitation, and woe unto those who have turned away from the gospel message; for against them the men of Nine- veh will rise in judgment.

Looking at the whole narrative we see brought out with wonderful clearness the great love and compas- sion of God. How He follows the disobedient pro- phet. Instead of letting him go and perish in his re- bellion He follows him and provides a means of es- cape. Then we see His compassion toward the people of the great and cruel city — for it was a cruel city; His love for the little children who could not tell the right hand from the left; His love for those who had been going on blindly and in sin, ruining them- selves. Tnily there is a wideness in God's mercy like the wideness of the sea, We nl^o see that love

JONAH. 73

brouglit out in His raising tlie gourd to protect Jonali and taking it away in order to teach him a lesson. He reasons with that prophet. How this reminds us of the scene to which we have referred when the father goes out and entreats the angry elder brother, plead- ing with him to come in. The Old Testament picture of God pleading with Jonah and the father pleading with the elder brotlier are very much alike. And we have every reason to believe that it was the gentleness and the love of the Lord that at last lifted this pro- phet out of himself and made him cry for mercy; for I think Jonah was led to see things very differently before the Lord was through with him.

And this God is our God. How often He comes to us and says, " Come now and let us reason to- gether." He deals with us as He dealt with the pro- phet in the day of his disobedience; as He dealt with the great city when they repented of their sins; as He dealt with that prophet when he was displajdng such a selfish and cruel spirit. How shall we escape if we sin against such love and reject Christ and His gospel? Truly it will be more tolerable for the men of Sodom in the day of judgment than for us; and the men of iS^ineveh shall rise in judgment against us.

vn.

THE CHURCH'S GOOD.

"I -nnll seek thy poocl."— Psalm 122 : 9.

Thin refers to Jerusalem whidi was everything: to the Jew. It was not only the canitnl and seat of government bnt the centre of then' rclisrion, and when the psalmist said " I will seek thy irood," or the p:ood of Jemsalem, it was equivalent to sayino: " I will se^k the g^ood of the nation and the isrood of the chnrch." As a peonle the Jews were natriotic. Thev wonld rather that the cnnnino; shonld depart from their ri^-ht hand or the tonqne cleave to the roof of the month than that they shonld forget Jerusalem or the land of their fathers, and they were also zealous and devoted. Even in Paul's tim.e he said he could bear them testimony that they had the zeal of God, hut not accordino- to knowledsre. IsTo doubt this patriot- ism and devotion led to the narrowness which we find characteristic of them as a people, for they looked up- on the people of oth.cr nations as beneath them and even went so far as to call them Gentile do2:s. It was onlv when the crrace of God took possession of their horrts that tbev could sav, with the apostle of the Gentiles, of one blood God hath made all nations

THE church's good. , jJ

that dwell upon the face of the earth, and grace be with all them that love the Lord Jesiis Christ in sin- cerity and in truth.

But Jerusalem was to the Jews, in the days of the psalmist, what the church of Jesus Christ is to the believers. They loved, prayed for, and sought the good of Jerusalem because of the associations of the past, because of all that it was to them in the present, and because of the glory which they looked forward to in the future. There is no institution around which there are so many sacred memories to the Chris- tian as the church. Even when men have gone far away into lands where tliere are no Christian organ- izations they remember the days that are gone, when with the multitude, they went up to the house of God; and all that we have in the world that is at all desirable and valuable has come to us through the church. "We talk about the comforts and the conven- iences, the marvellous advancement, the wonderful discoveries of this century. But all these things that seem so wonderful in themselves and that have so lifted the race, cannot be found in lands where there is no church of Jesus Christ. It is only where the power of His gospel has touched men and taken pos- session of them that science, and literature, and true civilization have made such rapid strides. Contrast- ing the Christian nations with the non -Christian, and

T6 THE church's good.

qountries after a missionary arrived and the cliurch was organized, with the same countries before the gospel was preached, in them, we see clearly that all these advantages and blessings have come to us through the church. She began her work in Jeru- salem, where were the thrones of David, and like the river which Ezekiel saw, kept getting wider, broader, and deeper until the influence and power of that church has touched almost every tribe and nation. She has preseiwed to us the Word of God, through her it has been translated, and from that Book has come forth the best and richest of our litej-ature. At the present time the church of Christ is causing the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose, and is making glad the solitary place. And before her there is a great and glorious future. The prophet saw her clear as the moon, bright as the sun, going forward from con- quest to conquest; and we know that some day she shall encompass the earth and take possession of the kingdoms of the v/orld for her Lord and only Head; for the uttermost parts of the earth shall become His possession. The church with her sacraments is the only divine institution we have founded by Christ, and carrymg with her His promise that the gates of hell should not prevail against her. Surely then the Christian should be able to say v/ith all his soul, " I will seek thy good."

THE church's good. 77

There are two tilings whicb. constitute the good of the church, namely, peace and prosperity so that when we are seeking the peace of the church we are seeking her good. In order to do this it is not necessary for a man to sacrifice his convictions or what he believes to be the truth. Among the apostles we find they had convictions, and for these they stood. Paul would not yield a principle to any man even for the sake of peace; but when it came to questions which were non- essential and of little importance, he was willing to become all things to all men in order that his work might be more effective in saving others. And in looking over the history of the church we find that a great many of what we might call church quarrels have been over things that were not essential in them- selves,— that men have been striving often for pre- judice instead of for conscience. " Prove all things and hold fast that which is good," is a maxim given to us by one of the inspired A\Titers.

Neither does peace mean inactivity. There are two kinds of peace, the peace of the graveyard and the peace of the factory. In some churches, where the people are frozen together, we have the peace of the arctic regions, but Christ's cause should be like streams in the south where there is motion and move- ment. And when the prophet was speaking to Israel

78 THE church's good.

he said to her, that if she had hearkened to the Lord's commandments she would have been as a river, not a placid lake, but a river where there is movement.

Pro^rress and harmony constitute the peace that is desirable. How often the peace of the church has been disturbed by her professed friends and admirers. You go into a factory where the machinery is run- ning smoothly and you see a man take a file and begin to work at one of the pistons or pieces of machinery, and when he has kept rasping for a time friction is caused, the machinerv becomes heated and the peace and usefulness is destroyed until the trouble he has caused is undone. How often in a church; men and women, with their tongues, cause friction and dis- cord, destroy the peace and mar the usefulness of that organization. An enormous amount of evil is done by the tongue which James speaks of as a little mem- ber. Imagine, if you can, Jesus having an interview with Peter and saying to him, " You are a great ad- mirer of John, but if you only knew what John has been saying about you, you wouldn't think as much of him as you do now." You cannot imagine such a thing; and yet there are people calling themselves by the name of Christ, professing to be His followers, who in that very way are causing friction and destroy- ing the peace of the church.

Let us return to the factory. Some of the machin-

THE church's good. 79

ery is not working as it sLiould, but you see a man pouring in some oil; then everything runs smoothly, the friction has been removed and peace restored. The Spirit of God is spoken of under the figure of oil, not only to give light, but no doubt, in this sense, to bring harmony. And with the birth of the Mes- siah it was said that He was to bring peace upon earth and good-will among men; and in His seraion on the mount He said, " Blessed are the peacemakers," and one of His followers has exhorted us to live peaceably with all men, as far as it is possible. Therefore, the man who is seeking the peace of the church is carry- ing out the spirit of Christ and furthering His cause. Again, we are to seek the prosperity of the church. But the question may be asked, " What is prosperity ?" The answer to this question will be determined by the goal for which the man is striving. If, for ex- ample, a man is striving to regain his health, that is the sole purpose for which he is travelling, to him prosperity means that he is nearing the goal and mak- ing progress. Another man is seeking an education, — learning, scholarship is his goal, and to him prosper- ity means that he is advancing in his studies. With another it may be wealth, and as he adds dollar to dollar and house to house he looks upon himself as prospering. When we come to the church we find that she was established for a two-fold purpose, — for

80 THE church's good.

tliG building up and edifying of the body of Christ, the developing of the faith and Christian character of His followers, and for the saving of the lost. To the church, then, prosperity means that she is accom- plishing the work for which she was instituted, and every man who is trying to turn the church away from this work is trying, consciously or unconsciously, to hinder her prosperity. Jesus came into this world to accomplish a definite work, to atone for the race by His death at Jerusalem, When Peter tried to turn Him away from that work Christ said, " Thou savor- est not the things that be of God but of men," and said, " Get thee behind Me, Satan."

Everyone who is trying to help the church to ful- fil her great mission and to carry out Christ's last command is seeking the good x)f Zion. To seek means to put forth effort. AVhen Christ came to seek and to save the lost it meant to Him self-denial, sacrifice, and terrible effort. When men go to seek for gold or for hidden treasure^ they have to deny themselves many of the comforts of life, and they have to put forth a good deal of energy. So, when the psalmist say3 he will seek the good of Jerusalem, it surely means that for her sake he is willing to deny himself and to make sacrifices. When one of the New Testa- ment writers was speaking about the church and the cause of Christ, he said he was willing to spend and

THE church's good. 81

be spent, wdlling to endure bonds and imprisonment, that tbe cause niigbt be extended and bis Lord glori- fied. It is not enougb to go into a Christian assembly and listen to sermons and sing hymns and criticize the choir. If a man says that he is seeking the good of the church while he refuses to put his hand in his pocket and contribute as God has prospered him, or refuses to give his time and his talents to the cause, his profession is a vain thing in the sight of God, for by their fruits ye shall know them.

In the seeking of the church's good all can take part. There are those in the world who, through sickness, old age, or poverty, are not able to contri- bute anything to the well-being of the state; but there are none in the church who cannot help on the work of God. Christians are spoken of as bearing fruit in old age when others faint and fail. In this psalm men are exhorted to pray for the peace and prosperity of Jerusalem, and in this is something that every Chris- tian can do though aged, sick or poor. And while the church owes much to those who have given of their means, contributed time and talents, she owes, perhaps, more to those who have wrestled with God in prayer for her peace and prosperity. When we pray we acknowledge the superiority of the one to whom we offer our petitions, and also our dependence upon him, and when the church recognizes Christ as

S2 THE church's good.

her living head, worthy of her adoration and praise, and realizes that without Him she can do nothing, then, in her conscious weakness, she becomes strong, and in His name and through His power accomplishes great things. But if we have money and time which we can contribute, prayer will not take their place. We are accepted and approved in His sight according to what we have, and not according to what we have not. If we refuse to seek the good of Zion by giving the first-fruits of our increase and lionouring Him with our substance, our prayers will be an abomin- ation in His sight. But if we are poor and penniless and have His cause on our hearts, our prayers for the peace and prosperity of the church will rise like sweet incense to His throne.

When we seek the good of the church there is also a reflex influence, for we are told in the psalm that they who love Jerusalem shall prosper. And prosper- ity to the Christian means growth in grace and in likeness to his Lord and Master. It isi impossible to seek in the right way the advancement of Christ's cause without being benefited. Seek first the king- dom of God and His righteousness, and, then rest as- sured that, according to Christ's promise, the neces- saiy things shall be added. For no one has forsaken the pleasures and the profits of earth for His sake, but he shall receive an hundred-fold in this life and glory

THE church's good. 83

incomprehensible in tlie life to come. If every Chris- tian would make the resolution " I mil seek the good of the church," and would carry out that resolution, in a short time the knowledge of the Lord would cover the earth as the waters do the sea, and no one would need to say to his brother, " Know the Lord," for they would know Him, from the least to the greatest.

VIII. ' SALVATION ILLUSTRATED.

" And Moses made a serpent of bras?, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that If a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serjjcnt of brass, he lived."— Numbees 21 : 9.

It was the Lord who sent the fiery serpents amon^ the Israelites and not the de^dL If the devil had been consulted he would have said, Let them alone, thej will soon stone Moses and 2:0 into rebellion. But God, who had been making His goodness to pass before Israel every morning and renewing the tokens of His love every evening, brings upon them this judgment on account of their sin that He may bring them back to Himself; and so the rebellious multitudes became a praying people and ask Moses to intercede with G od on their behalf. They request him to pray that the serpents be taken from them, but instead of doing that the Lord provides a remedy.

Men have often wondered why God did not take sin out of the world, but instead of taking away sin He sent a Saviour to make men more than conquer- ors over the sins that beset them. This remedy, which the Lord provided for the bitten Israelites, was re- ferred to by our Saviour, and from His reference to it we learn that He is to the sin-poisoned world what

SALVATION ILLUSTRATED. 85

tliat seriDent was to tlie Ijitten Israelites. In their lielplessness they could do nothing for themselves nor for one another. No man can save himself, mucii less his brother. But when we were without strength, in due time Clirist died for the ungodly. While the remedy in Israel was provided by the Lord it had to be used by the people in order to benefit them, and while salvation is of the Lord, and Christ is the gift of the Father, men must trust in Llim and look to Him with a look of faith if they are to benefit by His atone- ment.

Before an Israelite would think of looking to the serpent of brass it v.^ould be necessary to convince him that he was bitten and required the remedy. Just as a man who is in perfect health would not think of seeking for a physician or of taking medicine, for they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. And unless a man is convinced that he is a sinner hei will not think of seeking the Saviour, and Jesus came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. It might have been an easy matter to convince an Israelite that he Vv^as bitten and in dan- ger, but it is often A^ery difficult to convince men of their sins, because sin is deceitful and the devil tries to make men believe that they are better than they are, and better than those who make a profession. Conviction of sin is the first step tov/ards salvation.

86 SALVATION ILLUSTRATED.

and that can only be broiioht about through the }K>wer of the Holy Spirit, who works through the Word of God. When Christ promised the Spirit He said that. He would convince the world of sin, and it is only when He enlightens the consciences of men that they come to see themselves as lost, and then they are led to ask the questix>n, " What must we do to be saved?"

The second thing necessary, as far as the Israel- ites were concerned, was to look away from them- selves to the remedy provided. If, when an Israelite discovered that he w^as bitten and in danger, he had kept looking at the wound and bemoaning his misfor- tune, he would never have been healed. If, wlien a sinner is convinced of his sin, he keeps looking at himself he is likely to be run into the castle of Giant Despair, and to believe that there is no help for him. He must look away from himself to the Lamb of God who w^as lifted up on the cross, as Moses lifted the ser- pent in the wilderness. Now, when an Israelite dis- covered that he was bitten and looked away from him- self to the remedy, how long did it take to heal hun? It came to pass that when he looked he lived. It may have taken some time to convince him that he re- quired the remedy, it may have taken some time to convince him that this remedy would be effective, but when he was convinced and looked, that moment

SALVATION ILLUSTRATED. 87

life and health was restored to him. How long does it take to save a sinner when he has come to realize that he is a sinner, and looks from himself to the Saviour? It may take some time to convince him of his need of salvation and to convince him that Jesus is the Christ, the Saviour of men, but when he is con- vinced and looks to Christ, how long does it take to save him? The Holy Ghost says, " Behold, now is the accepted time," and the Phillipian jailor, who sought to take away his own life, when the apostles cried out, " Do thyseif no harm," believed and was baptized the same hour of the night. The three thou- sand were brought in on the day of Pentecost and we have numerous instances in the New Testament of those who at one moment are outside the kingdom and the next moment rejoicing in the truth.

There must be a turning-point, and in a certain sense all conversion is sudden, though in some cases men may be thinking on their ways, making up their minds to turn their feet toward His testimonies for long, while in other cases the truth flashes upon men while they are hurn'ing aV)ng the broadway, and instantly they are turned. It is true that at last, when Christ shall come again, the dead shall hear His voice and in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, men shall be changed; and so in a moment He can lift men

88 SALVATION ILLUSTRATED.

out of tlio death of sin into the light and the liberty of His salvation.

It is said that on one occasion Dr. Chalmers asked a man to go home and think over the matter, with reference to his salvation, and the old man turned and said to the doctor, " Suppose I would die when I was going home to think over this matter, what then?" And Dr. Chahners remembered that the Spirit of God said, not To-morrow, but, Behold, Kow.

But were all those who realized that they were bitten and heard about the remedy healed? Xot un- less human nature was very different then from what it is now. We can imagine one man who was told about the remedy, and he says that he cannot under- stand the philosophy of it, he cannot see how looking at a brazen serpent would head the wounds inflicted by a fiery serpent, and so because he cannot under- stand he refuses to look. How often men talk in this way concea-ning Christ. While the cross was a stumb- ling-block to the Jew it was foolishness to the Greek, and to-day to those who cannot understand, as they say, the philosophy of the plan of salvation, the cross is still foolishness, but to all who believe, the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Again, we can imagine another man in Israel, when he is told about the brazen serpent, turning his eyes toward the pole and informing Moses that

SALVATION ILLUSTRATED. 89

the pole does not come up to his ideal of what a pole ought to be; it is crooked and there is nothing artistic about it. If it suited him he might be induced to look to the serpent. He is informed that it is not the pole that Avill heal him, it is that which the pole is bearing up, but still he persists in talking about the pole. JSTow, v/hat is the pole as far as we are con- cerned? The Christians or the church holding up Jesus Christ. And what do we find men doing in our age instead of looking to Christ? They are finding fault with the pole. The Christians are not consis- tent, do not live up to their profession ; the church is lukewarm in what she professes to be, and because of this they have never identified themselves with Christ. They are hiding themselves behind the faults of others, but the inconsistency of church members Avill not save sinners. Far be it from us to say a word in favor of inconsistency or lukewarmness on the part of Christians in the church, for we are often stumb- ling-blocks when we should be lights. But God has nowhere asked men to look at the church and be saved or to look at the ministers and be saved, but he has said, " Look unto Me, all the ends of the earth, and be ye saved." Men make many excuses for not trusting Christ, but one of the meanest and most cowardly is the inconsistency of others.

In Israel every man who was bitten had to look for

90 SALVATION ILLUSTRATED.

himself, one could not look for another. So with iis. Salvation does not come by proxy, every man must believe for himself. Wldlo we are bound together in society by many ties, yet we all have to stand out as indi\dduals; and as in the physical world each one has to breathe for himself, so when it comes to the spiritual world each man must stand or fall to his own master. But wliile we cannot believe for others, is there not something that we can do to help others? While in Israel every man had to look for himself, we can easily imagine those bitten Israelites who had looked and obtained the healing remedy carrying the glad tidings to others who were bitten, but had not heard of the remedy. In fact, we cannot imagine a healed Israelite looking at one who was dying be- cause he was ignorant of the brazen serpent without telling him the story and exhorting liim to look.

When we apply this, while everv' man has to trust Christ for his own salvation, those who are saved can tell the imsaved about God's remedy for sin. John the Baptist could not save the people Init he said to liis followers, " Behold the Lamb of God." Andrew could not save Peter but he brought him to Christ. And when Jesus gave His last commission it was not conmianding the disciples to go out and save men, but commanding them to go out and to preach the

SALVATION ILLUSTRATED. 91

gospel, to tell men that God liad provided a way of escape, a means by which they could be saved.

Can we picture to ourselves a caravan in the de- sert? The people are dying for want of water, a few who are stronger than the rest have gone on ahead; they have come to an oasis where there is an abun- dance of water, they throw themselves down in the green grass and drink till they are satisfied, they know that their brethren are perishing for lack of w^ater in the desert. What are these men likely to do? Will they remain where they are while they know their brethren are dying for lack of that which has satisfied them? Will they not make the desert ring with the cry, '' Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters?" And one can hardly understand Christians, who say that they have found in Christ a remedy for their sin. One who has satisfied their longings and given rest to their troubled hearts, with- out a desire to bring others to a knowledge of this same Saviour. If we are doing notliing toward the salvation of others we have good reason to question our own salvation, for if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His, and Christ pleased not Himself but gave Himself a ransom for others.

Those in Israel who knew of the remedy, and re- fused to look, perished; but why did they perish? Was it because they were bitten or because they re-

92 SALVATION ILLUSTRATED.

fused the remedy? Sometimes you will hear men say tliat it }S not fair for them to be punished on account of what Adam did. There are certain consequences of Adam's sin that we cannot get rid of, no matter how we object to them. We have sickness and death and all the misery that is in the world through tiie disobedience of our first parents. But God has pro- vided a remedy. He sent His Son, who was spoken of as the second Adam, to imdo, through his obed- ience, the evil that the first Adam brought on the race through his disobedience. And as the bitten Is- raelites could be restored to health through looking to the brazen serpent so sinners can have Paradise restored through trusting in Christ. Through faith in Him they can be created anew and counted right- eous in the sight of God and become joint heii"s with Jesus Christ. In the third of John, Jesus Him- self says that men are condemned because they have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. It is not Adam's sins that will keep us out of, the kingdom, but it is the rejection of Jesus Christ. He has come to open up a new and living way to the Father, and all w^ho come unto God through Him are healed of their diseases and freed from their sins and admitted into the divine favor and fellowship.

In Israel there was only one brazen serpent, but it was within the reach of all. There is only one Media-

SALVATION ILLUSTRATED. 93

tor between God and men, but His salvation is witliin the reach of every creature, for whosoever calleth upon Him shall be saved, and they who come to Him vdll in no wise be cast out. For those in Israel who rejected the remedy there was nothing but death, for those who reject Jesus Christ there is nothing but a fearful looking forward to the judgment to come, for there is no other name under heaven or given among men whereby we can be saved.

"There is Life for a look at the cruicified 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."

IX.

SAMSON.

" And called his name Samson."— Judges 13 : 24.

Samson's name lias found a place on the New Tes- tament roll of honor, \nth those who tliroug'h faith subdued kingdoms, wTOught righteouness and stopped the mouths of the lions. Unless he had been great in some sense of the word, his name would never have been, associated with Abraham and Moses and Samuel ; yet there are many who know something about the jawbone of the ass with which the Philistines were slain, who know very little about the man who melded that weapon. It may be profitable for us to look at his life to see if we can gather some helpful lessons from it.

There are three children of promise spoken of in the Bible who were born when their parents were old, and Samson is one of them. To Abraham the Angel of the Covenant came and announced the birth of Isaac, to Zacharias Gabriel appeared and spoke of John, who was to be boni to be a forerunner of the Lord, to prepare His way and to make the crooked places straight, and to Manoah the angel came to an- noimce the birth of Samson and to speak of the work

SAMSON. 95

he should accomplish during his life, no strong drink was to cross his Hps, no razor was to touch his skin, for he was to be a ISTazarite, separated unto the Lord. Those who know their Bibles are familiar with his exploits, how the spirit of the Lord came down upon him, how he battled with the Philistines and wrought deliverance for his people in Israel. That which he accomplished was through the divine power resting upon him, but we must remember that if a man is devoted to a cause, having a single aim and a definite goal for which he is striving, whether that be good or evil, he is likely to accomplish a good deal in the world. We see that in the case of some of the an- cient nations, tl:e Spartans and the Komans, whose devotion to their country and whose determination to overthrow the enemy enabled them to accomplish wonderful things. It is also seen in great movements such as Mormonism and Mohammedanism, and if we go back to the early days of Christianity we see the youthful Saul who has set himself apart for the ex- termination of the Christians. He accomplished so much, that the sacred historian tells us that he made havoc of the church, and men treanbled when they heard that he was on his way to Damascus.

N^ow, if men give themselves to a cause which is doubtful or evil, and by their devotion to it accom- plish so much, how much more is a man likely to

96 SAMSON.

accomplish if the object is good, and if the power of God is rcstino; upon him? But let it be remembered that this divine power will not be given to half- hearted Christians. If Christ said that he would spue out of- His mouth the lukewarm, it is not likely that He will communicate to them His supernatural power. If we look back over the history of the church we find that the men who have accomplished great things were men of energy, those who went into the work vnth their whole soul, like the disciples whose devotion to the Master, whose desire to save men lifted them above the fear of the enemy, and enabled them to gain marv^ellous victories in the name of the Lord. Look at the reformers, men such as Luther, who feared not all the devils in Worms, men like Knox, w^hose prayers were more dreaded by the enemy than the armies of Scotland. So it has alwavs been. But it follows that if men are accomplishing a Christian work in pulling down the strongholds of evil, the enemy against whom they are fighting will lay all kinds of plans, and resort to all kinds of de- vices to overthrow those who are so injuring them. This was true in the case of Samson, the Philistines resorted to every method to find out the secret of his power, and to overthrow the one who was bringing such disaster into their ranks. It is so in the spiritual world, the more we are doing to pull do^\'n the strong-

SAMSON. 97

holds of evil the greater will be the desire on the part

of the Evil One to disable us in the work. I know

that there are some people who tell us they have risen

to such a height that the devil never troubles them

and they have no temptations. If this be so there

must be a reason for it. We can imagine a man in

Israel in the days of Samson, dressing liis vineyard,

planting the seed in the fields, caring for it, and in

time of harvest the Philistines coming to reap the

fruit of his toil. If this man falls back, lets them

have their OAvn way, there is no reason why they

should molest him, he has not interfered with them,

tliey liavc got all they want. But it Avas different

with Samson, he was beating them back, rescuing

from thciu what they v/ere trying to carry away,

hence their efforts are turned against him.

So in our age, when the devil, through his agen- cies, is trying to take away the Sabbath, to drag down through strong drink, gambling, and pernicious literature, the ver}' best and bravest of the land, if men are so good that they will not lift up their voice against these evils, will not molest the devil or inter- fere with him in his work of destruction, w^hy shoTild he bother himself wnth them? He hasn't time to attend to such people, it is only those who are wag- ing war against him. It is contrary to the Old Tes- tament, contrary to the teaching of the New Test-a-

98 SAMSON.

ment, and contrary to common sense, that the devil should not bother tliose who are bothering him. Take the case of our Saviour when lie ^\•as bom into the world, why have we the slaughter of the children in llama? AVhy have wo that descriptive scene in Ileve- lation concerning the dragon, wdiere he is trying to destroy the child and the woman? Why have we these teiTible temptations in the wilderness? Is it not because He came to crush tlie head of the ser- pent and destroy the works of the devil? And do we not hear the devils say to Him, " We know Thee who Thou art, art Thou come to torment us before the time?" It is said that at the close of the tempta- tion in the wilderness the devil left Him for a season, but it was only for a season. He even entered into His apostle Peter to try to turn Christ from going up to Jerusalem to accomplish the great work for which He was bora, and for Vvdiich He came into the world. All through Christ's ministry the devil dogged His footsteps and the powers of darkness were round and about Him. And surely the disciple is not above His Master, or tlie servant above His Lord. The more we are doing to overthrow tlie evil that is en- slaving our fellow-men tlie greater will the desire be on the part of the devil to shear us of our power, and to disable us in tlie work.

This is w^onderfullv illustrated in the case of Sam-

SAMSON. 99

son. A rewai'd was offered for tlie secret of Tiis power, and lie was betrayed, not by a Judas, but by a Delilah, wlio got almost tliirty-seven times as mucli for lier treachery as Judas got for his. They have gained tlieir point at last, the vow^ of his consecration is broken, the Lord has departed from him, the strength with which he accomplished so much in the past is now gone, and he is carried captive by the enemy to the house of their god; liis eyes are put out with hot irons, he is made to grind at the mill and make spoil for those who hate both him and his nation. It is a pitiable sight. When one looks at him one can see a picture of the nation to which he belonged, a pictm'e of the Christian church, and a picture of individual Christians. For, like Samson, that nation was in a certain sense a ISTazarite, called out from among the nations of the earth, consecrated to God, set apart to glorify His name and to do His bidding. While the nation remained true to her vows, she was able to defy the enemy, for no weapon formed against her prospered ; but when she was led away, and broke her vows, then she became helpless in the hand of the enemy, like Samson in the hands of the PhiKstines, and, like him, she knew not when her strength was gone. She allowed the enemy to come up around the holy city, thinking she could shake herself loose from the foe as on former occasions, not knowing that the

] 00 SAMSON.

Lord had departed from her. But she is carried away to Babylon, aiid when we see the people sitting by the rivers, their hai-ps lumging upon the willows while the Babylonians are mocking and asking for songs of Zion, do we not see a picture of Samson sitting in the house of Dagon while he is being mocked by the enemy? Or take the church established by Christ, called out from the world, having His vows resting upon her; she goes forth against the enemy as Sam- son went against the Philistines, there is nothing too hard for her; kingdom after kingdom crumbles be- fore her till she even ascends the throne of the Caes- ers, but when she is led away she is shorn of her strength and then mocked at by men.

How often the church has become as helpless to accomplish the work for which she was instituted, as Samson was helpless to deliver Israel when he was in the power of the enemy. How often the world has laughed at the church and said, you tell us of the ex- ploits and the victories of the past, but what are you accomplishing now? How often this has happened with individual Christians. Here is a man who in the strength and poAver of God has done great things. !^fultitudes have been roused up and brought out of darkness into light through the supernatural power resting upon him, but he has been led away by tlic

SAMSON. 101

enemy, shorn of his strength, and then he becomes the sport of those who at one time feared him.

It is a dark picture, but we hare to bless God that the history does not stop here. We have seen the power of a sacred life in Samson, we have seen in him also a picture of the nation in her consecration, and of the church when she had a single eye and a definite aim in view; then we have seen the poAver of the enemy brought against this judge of Israel, against the nation, against the church; we have seen how evil has apparently trimnphed, and how he who at one time was so feared is now being mocked. Now we are going to see a picture of the love of God, that love which will not let His people go. Samson is punished for his sin, but when he is alone and has time to think, God sees the tears that fall from the sightless eyes and hears the cry of penitence that arises from the crushed and broken spirit. He causes the streng-th to come back to that man, who is now willing to redeem the time and sacrifice himself for the cause he has betrayed. It was through his own sin that he fell, and now he wishes to dedicate him- self again to the God in whose strength he went for-' ward in former days.

A great opportunity has come. From, all parts of the land the Philistines have gathered together to give thanks to their god whom they credit vnih. do-

102 SAMSON. '

livering Samson into their hands. They have come to the temple, three thonsand of them are on tlie liouse-top and the inside is filled. They are to Wmfr out this man so that he may make sport for them. It may be that it wns a captive TTebrew youth who was Samson's caretaker. The lad leads him into the temple, perhaps Samson informs him as to what will follow, and tells him to take the news to his brethren. Then he asks liberty to lean and put his arms against the pillars npon which the temple rests, and when the mnltitndes are mocking he cries mightily to God for strength. We hear the laughter and joy of this mul- titnde who are mocking the man of God, then we hear the crash, and the cry of angnish going wj) from those who nre falling and being crnshed with the building that has tumbled down over them. In i few minntes the silence of death reisrns. iN'ews of this event is carried to the brethren of Samson, thev come down, clear away the debris, pick ont the bodv, tal^e it awav and bnrv it in the sennlchre of his fathers, and the sacred historians toll ns that he wr.'? one of those who thronjrh friith snbdned kinfrdoms.

Ts this not trne also of the nation? "We have seen her beincr mocked in Babvlon. but have we not seen her bron<rht baok a^-ain to the land of promise and to the citv of David? Have we not seen tho temple rising once more in its glory, and the wall^

SAMSON. 10

bein^ builded around that city tliat had been de- stroyed by the enemy in the days of Israel's weak- ness? Have we not seen the same thing as far as the church is concerned? Snrelv it was her time of weakness during the dark ages when men mocked at things sacred, and when faith required the ligi:ht of a candle at noon-day. Bnt did we not see in the days of the reformation the wonderful restoration of that power? So, in the fives of men who have be- come backsliders, who have sold themselves and broken their vows, they have heard the voice of God sayinfr, " I will heal thy backsliding^, and I will love thee freely."

Lookirg fit the life of this man we not only see the power of consecration to God but we see the dan- rov m ^^Av.ch his servfi-nts stand, the necessitv of the e\'hortation of the apostle to put on the whole ar- monr of God, that v/e mav he able to stand in the evil day. And then for tho<^.e who have fallen through fV.e power of teinptation there is surelv mnch en- ponrsp-omont, for the God of Samson is our God, the One who restored his strength and enabled him to ar'pomplish move for Tsrnel in the last dav of his life, th.nn he vpr o"h]p f^ accom.r)li=;h dnrincr all the pre- v]OT"j, vpfirti! thqf, snme God is nhV -not 07t1v to r°?+ore +7^0 h".'»Vcl-'r:ir'o\ but to CH'ant power, so that in His v.pT'iri t^-ip-rT lY-r.T' fc<-'oini">liRh irifirT''o.llous tlun^s, lor the ,T»':n that is stron.T to smite, is also stronG" to savo.

X.

THE WATER OF LIFE.

•' If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it i» that saith to thee. Give lue to drink ; thou would'st have asked of Him, and He Mould have given thee living water."— John 4 : 10.

Our Lord, in His teaching, had a wonderful faculty of lifting the thoughts of His hearers from the physical to the spiritual, from the seen to the unseen. This is beautifully illustrated throughout the gospel by John, where He so frequently speaks of the bread of life, and of the water of life. Some time ago I read a letter T\Titten by a man who had very little use for the church, and in it he said that he could not afford the luxury of religion or Christianity. It is worthy of note, h.owevcr, that our Lord never speaks of His salvation as a luxury, but as a neces- sity, and when He is usino- earthly things by way 'of comparison or contrast. He never uses those thiiii^'s which are spoken of as t1io luxuries of life, but the things which are essential to life. We can do with or without luxuries, but we cannot do with(Mit the tliiuirs Avhich are e.^'sential; and in tbo ])hysical Avorld, bread and water are essential to physical life — without them life cannot be sustained. And these are the

THE WATER OF LIFE. 105

things He uses in order to convey to the mind spirit- ual truths. He speaks of Himself as the bread of life and as the water of life, indicating very clearly that what these things are in the physical world He is in the spiritual world, and that it is as impossible for the soul to have life without Him as it is for the body to be sustained without these essentials.

There are many things that water does, and per- haps, looking at them will enable us to realize more clearly what is accomplished by Christ's salvation. For example, water has in it a cleansing power. Look at those who are coming out of the coal mine — cov- ered with coal dust — after they have gone to the bath and been cleansed a wonderful change has come over them. What water does in the cleansing of our <gar- ments and our persons, the salvation of Clmst mil do for our souls. By it we are cleansed from the defilement of sin, and the heart is purified. Our thoughts are changed and our whole nature is trans- formed.

Again, when applied to the earth, water has the power of making it fruitful, it causes the earth to bring forth that which sustains the life upon it. The valley or plains around Salt Lake City were at one time ban-en and unfruitful, but the Mormons used tlie mountain streams to imgate the country, an I through that v/ater. the plains have 1-)ecome wonder-

lOG THE WATER OE LIFE.

fully fruitful, and the desert has rejoiced and is blos- soming as the rose. In like manner the salvation of Christ makes lives, which have heretofore been use- less and unprofitable, useful and beautiful. There are multitudes in the world who nro ondov.-ed wdth talents and faculties, but all their powers are being; wasted, and as far as helpino- humanitv is concerned, they are as nseless as the American dessert. But so soon as the tmth of Christ touches such hearts, the lives are chanired, and they become a blessing to humanity. The m.an who stole provides tilings hon- est in the sight of all men, and the one who was a mere parasite becomes a blessing to others. How fre- qnently v:e see this illustrat-ed in the lives of men and women in everv communitv.

Then there is nothing more plentiful and more free than Avater, there is an abundant supply in the earth for all the inhabitants. It is true that in our cities we have to pay for the water, l)ut after all it is not the v^ater we are paying for, it is the bringing of it from certain localities to the homes v/here it is used. Any oue can go out to tlic grer.t hikes, to tlie brosd rivers or to the numerous little streams and get all the Avater he wishes free of charge. Thus it is with the salvation of Christ, tliere is an abundance for all. Tf the spiritual wants of every individual upon tho earth were supplied there wonld not only be

THE WATER OF LIFE. 107

enough but to spare, and it is free. Of course, it costs money to build places of worship, to translate the scriptures, and to carry the missionaries across the sea to the re^on beyond, but as far as salvation it- self is concerned, it is as free as the water in our rivers or our lakes, and it is as abundant.

But of these thin,2-s this woman was ignorant, hence our Lord says, " If thou hadst known the gift of God and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water." Nevertheless, while she was ignorant concerning this, we must ad- mit that she was a woman of considerable ability, no matter what her moral life may have been. jVIen frequentlv tell us that when she asked the question as to where the true place of worship was she was trving to turn Christ's thoughts from her past life. We have no authority for m.aking this statement. It may be that she had done a great deal of thinking prow'nns to this, concerning the two nlaces of wor- ship. She knew that the Jews went to Jerusalem and thpt her ottd people worshipped on Mount Gerizim, phf^ knew that there was so littln in common between fh'^ two ihf\t if one was riQ'ht. the olher ir^ust be ^\Tong. This great problem It ad boon thought out by her and lay heavy on her mind, and the moiuent that Jesus revealed to her her past life it da^vned upon her

108 THE WATER OF LIFE.

that He was a propliet, and she asks the question, " Ought men to worship in Jerusalem, or in Geri- zim?" He docs not take lier to task and say, " You are trying to turn my thoughts from your life," but instead of that He reveals to her the great truths con- cerning true worship. He sho^vs to her that while salvation is of the Jews, yet the time is coming, yea, is come, when ti*ue worship will not depend on the locality or the attitude of the worshipper, and that it docs not matter whether men assemble imder the blue canopy of heaven, in the mag- nificent cathedral, or in the humble cottage, if their hearts are right their worship will be acceptable, for while man looketh upon the outward appearance God looketh upon the heart. He in- forms her that God is a spirit, and they Avho wor- ship must worship Hin\ in spirit and in truth. Then she tells Him that when Messias com.eth He ^vill make known all things to them. Jesus then reveals Him- self to her, that He is the ^fessiah, concerning whom she had thoujrht so much, and for whom she so often longed. A new joy fills her ponl, she forgets her watentot and rushes awnv to tell the men of the vil- lage, and at this point His flipcir»les arrive.

IN'ow in the text ov.y Lord informed her that it v.'fis her ignorance Avhioh kept her from asking that which He had to ijive — her icinorance of the gift and

THE WATER OF LIFE. 109

also of the giver, and it is ignorance wliich keeps very many poor in this world, and reduces many from wealth to poverty. It is ignorance that keeps mul- titudes out of the kingdom of God, and yet men do not like to be told that they are ignorant, there is nothing they will resent more quickly, still we see how it works. Here is a man, for example, in poor circumstances, living in a great city, he tells us that when he came to the city he could have bought land for about as much per acre as it is now sold per foot; if he had only known that the city was to grow at such a rate he could have been a millionaire by buy- ing the land when it was so cheap and selling at such an enormous advance. But he did not know, he was ignorant of that which was going to happen, and so his ignorance has kept him in poverty. Here is an- other man who at one time had enormous wealth, but now he is poor. He is tliinking of the past, and the thoughts are bitter, he is struggling to make ends meet, and he infonns us that had he known that the bank or the company, in which he was investing his mone}', was going to fail, he would not have made the investments, henoe he would not have lost his wealth. But he did not know, he Avas ignorant of what was going to happen, and we see the results. Lifting this from the physical into the spiritual world we see a man going along a way which seems to him right.

110 THE WATER OF LIFE.

If he only ha&w that it would end in death, he would cease to travel in the direction in which he is going. We see men being led into sin, — if they only knew that they were being led as oxen to the slaughter, or as fools to the correction of the stocks, how different things would be with them; but they do not know, they are ignorant of the devices of the evil one for he hath blinded their minds. Take Jerusalem, Christ said, " Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, if thou hadst known," but Jerusalem was ignorant of the fact that her King was within her walls, and that His rejec- tion meant her final doom. "We might go on in tliis way, getting illustration after illustration, but the question will be asked. Is there no v/ay of getting information that will save men from going down to destruction?

There is. In the ph^-sical world man cannot tell what turn affairs may take in the future. They can- not tell very far aliead whether prices will go up or down, but when it comes to the spiritual world the whole Bible has been given to us in order that the fu- ture may be revealed, that men may cease to go m the dark, that they may walk in the light. Christ came to reveal to us the Father, and this Word of His reveals to us the way that is safe, and throws a lurid light upon the path that leads to death; it is full of warnings and full of promises. And men are

THE WATER OF LIFE. Ill

anxious to know concerning the future. It is be- cause of this anxiety that such fads and deceptions as spiritualism exist. Many are rushing to these broken cisterns, these false guides, while they are turning theii" backs upon the only book that can re- veal to man that which lies ahead of him. If I go to a man and inform him that I have received some messages, through wliich I can put him in the way of making ten thousand dollars, or of becoming very wealthy, provided, he will follow my advice, how he will listen, and how^ interested he will become. But if I go to the same man and inform him that through information, which I have received from reliable documents, I can put liini in the way of becoming- heir to an inheritance that is incorruptible, of receiv- ing a title to a mansion in the heavens, of becoming a joint heir with the King of kings, and an heir of the God of heaven, he will turn away from me and say, " I want something that is practical." The god of this world so blinding m.en's minds that they stop their ears to the truth and close their eyes to the light, lest they should hear with their ears, see with their eyes, understand with their hearts, and be con- verted. God has given to us a revelation, and wishes to remove from us all ignorance concerning the des- tination which lies ahead of us; but because men love darkness rather than light, they turn away from this

112 THE WATER OF LIFE.

iufomiationj whicli woiilfl rdiinvc tlio ijjriioranco tlmr. is ruining such numbei*s.

It was not so, however, with this woman. She was one whose mind was open to conviction, she was an honest doubter it ma^^ be, but one who was seek- ing after truth and light, and so wlicn she found this One whom she perceived to be a propliet, she was will- ing to listen to His teachings, she opened her heart to receive His message, she came to know Him as the true o-iver, and His as the onl}- gift. AVe must believe that she received from Him that which He was fil- ing to give. And this gift is to be had for the ask- ing. " Thou wouldest have asked of Him and He would have given thee the living water." Free, with- out money and without price, as every gift must be; for a gift is something which we receive mthout giving an}' compensation, else it ceases to be a gift. We have it on His o^vn authority that if we ask we shall receive, and if we seek we shall find; and if wo go through the New Testament from the beginning to the end we cannot find a single request made by any of His people which He refused to grant. They come to Him asking for blessings for their cliildrcn and the blessings are granted; they come asking for healing for their servants, and the healing is given; they come asking for themselves, and they get more than they asked; but there is not a single instance

THE WATER OF LIFE. 113

on record where He refused to give a blessing when it was asked of Him. Therefore He can say to this woman, " Thou wouldest have asked and He would have given thee." Ask and ye shall receive this liv- ing water.

And in addition to all that we have said concern- ing what this salvation will do for us there is still another point. It will not only quench the thirst but it will give abiding satisfaction. This is the point of contrast which He drew between the living water and the water which the woman was drawing. Of it He said, " Whosoever drinketh he shall thu-st again, but if a man drinketh the water that I shall give; him he shall never thirst, for it shall be a well of wateo- springing up into everlasting life." In other words, the man who receives from Christ and becomes a Christian is independent of his environment. A man of the world may be compared to a city dependent upon outside supply, say, of bread and water. While the supply is abundant the people in the city are all right and can enjoy themselves, but if the supply is cut off by an enemy they must either perish or sur- render. But the Christian is like a city fortified, hav- ing within itself that which will supply all the needs of the people, independent of the outside world. Here is a man without Christ. He has joy and glad- ness in his life because of his good health, because of

114 THE WATER OF LIFE.

hi3 prosperity, and all the pleasures that come to him from life. But his health fails, his riches make wings for themselves and leave him, and he is helpless, the thoughts of the past fill him with bitterness, he has no hope as far as the future is concerned. On the other hand, the Christian has the joy within, and like Habbakuk he can say, " Though my flock be cut off; though famine pine in empty stalls where herds were wont to be, yet will I rejoice in the Lord and in the Lord will I be glad." The Christian is not de- pending on the outside world for his joy, because the salvation of Christ is like a well of water within him, springing up into everlasting life. If he is in prison and his feet made fast in stocks, he can even sing there, for liis God gives to him songs in the night. Therefore, the figure which our Lord uses should bring wonderful comfort and consolation to believ- ers,— ^knowing that when they have Christ tlioy have everything and aboTiiul. But the man without Christ is like those who are drinking of the water which only gives temporary satisfaction, for the fashion and the pleasures of this world are shortlived and are passing away.

As soon as this woman realized who He was and what the gift meant, she made it her own, and her spirit rejoiced in that joy that is past comprehension; and a great desire took hold of her to bring to others

THE WATER OF LIFE. 115

the news of. tliat which Had made her own heart glad. So we find her forgetting or leaving the water-pot, rusliing to the village and exhorting the inliahitants to come and see the man who told her all things, the One whom she believed to be the Messiah. This is another characteristic of His salvation — when we re- ceive it in its fullness we cannot keep it to ourselves, like the well of water it is springing up and flowing- over, toucliing other lives and blessing other com- munities.

XL

, THE VISIOA^ OF THE DKY BOiS^ES.

"But there was no breath in them."— Ezekiel 37 : 8.

A wonderful change had come over them, bone had come to his bone, the sinews, the flesh, and the skin covered them and they lay like an army of war- riors taking their rest. But there was no life in them. Some tell us that this vision of Ezekiel was brought about through natural causes, that the prophet, on his way to Babylon, passed one of those valleys where a great battle had been fought. The bones of the slain were lying in the valley — very many and very dry. When he looked at them he began to think — and one must think when he is in a graveyard — that at one time they had formed bodies in which men dwelt. Wlien he went to sleep these waking thoughts wove themselves into the vision which we have re- corded here.

Taking it for granted that this was the case, it does not in any way interfere with the divine lesson which the Lord wished to teach the prophet, and through him to teach succeeding ages. Peter went home hungry, and while they were preparing his food he went up and lay down on the house-top, fell

THE VISION OF DRY BONES. 117

asleep, saw a sheet let down, from heaven containing all manner of living things, was commanded to kill and eat. It was natural for a hungry man to dream about food, but in that way God taught him the great lesson, that the Gentiles were to be received into the church as well as the Jews, and that what God had ac- cepted and cleansed was not to be rejected or looked upon as unclean. It may be that the first purpose of the vision was to encourage the prophet, for prophets, like other men, became discouraged, and in such seasons God did not cast them off but encouraged them. This we see illustrated in the case of Elijah, when he lay under the juniper tree, wishing to die. It may seem a strange way of encouraging a man to show him such a vision, but we are to remember that God's ways are not our ways. When we wish to en- courage people we generally minimize and make light of the difficulties which lie before them, but when God wishes to encourage men. He shows them the rivers they must cross at their broadest, and the mountains they have to scale at their highest, and then He tells them to go on in His strength, and the mountains shall become plains, and the difficulties shall disappear. When the Lord Jesus was sending out the disciples. He told them that they were going out as sheep among wolves, that the wolves would come in sheep's clothing, that men would cast them

118 THE VISION OF DRY BONES.

(Hit. of tliG synago^aios and think tlifv were doinp (i(xl"s service, wlieu they were killing his followers, :iih1 tl'.en Tie added, '' Vc-dY not, it is voiir Father's good pleasure to give von the kingdom, ami im won- ix>u formed against 3'ou shall prosper."

These bones represent the whole house of Israel. The nation, at one time, was the body politic, but i.i the days of Ezekiel the people were scattered abroad. God told the prophet that as these bones came to- gether and became a great army, so the people would come together and be restored to their owti land. The prophecy may have had its fulfilment in the restora- tion from Babylon, or there may be a larger fulfil- ment yet in store for th© dispersed of that nation. And some tell us that we have no right to use this vision in a spiritual sense, that it referred to Israel as a nation, and to her restoration to her native land. But we must remember that a great deal of prophecy has a two-fold meaning. It is intended for the people to whom it was given, but it has also a meaning for the generations to follow. This was intended to teach Ezekiel concerning Israel as a nation, but surely it is also intended to teach us great spiritual lessons since men, who are separated from God, both Jews and Gentiles, are represented as dead; and since the saving of these men is spoken of as life from the de^d

THE VISION OF DRY BONES. 119

and as the resun-ection, we can see in this, great and encouraging lessons.

The same methods and means were used to save the Gentiles, in the days of the Lord, and in the days otf the apostles, as were used to save the Jews. Peter preached the same truth in the house of Cornelius that he preached in the city of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, and the Holy Ghost came down upon the Gentiles as He did upon the Jews.

'Now, in this vision we have three essentials in order that life might be brought to the dead. First of all, we have the man Ezekiel; second, we have the Word of God, the message he delivered; third, we have the Spirit of God, who breathed upon the slain and then they became alive. ITow these three are es- sentials in the salvation of Jews or Gentiles. God uses human instrumentality. Even in the conversion of Saul the scales did not fall from his eyes until the old Christian laid his hands upon his head and said, " Brother Saul, receive thy sight." We have the treasure in earthen vessels, and God has decreed that by the foolishness of preaching, men are to be saved. But what kind of men does God use in this work?

The first thing that he does with Ezekiel is to test his faith. After showing him the dry bones he said to him, " Can these bones live?" If Ezekiel had said, No, it is impossible, God would probably have used

120 THE VISION OF DRY BONES.

auotlier to accomplish His work, but while it seemed impossible aud improbable to Ezekiel, yet he knew that nothing was impossible with God, and he ans- wered, " Lord God, Thon knowest." In order to be instrumental in saving others, we must have faith, not in humanity, but in the God of himaanity. AVe must realize, like the apostle, that God is able to save to the uttermo^, and that there is nothing too hard for Him. Sucli faith is honoring to God, and such faith will keep us from giving up the hardest char- acters as beyond the power of God.

Second, the Word of God is essential. The Lord told him to prophesy and to say. Thus saith the Lord. In this work our illustrations, our stories and anecdotes may be of great ser^dce in arresting the attention and preparing men to receive the truth of God. They are, in this respect, what ploughs and harrows and such like are in the physical world. They do not produce a harv^est, but they prepare the ground for the seed which alone can produce the har- vest. And so the "Word of God is spoken of as seed that liveth and abideth, and bringeth forth from tliirty to an hundred fold. And it is concerning this Word that God has said, " It shall not return unto Me void." In reading the history of the church, we discover that all those who have been instrumental in winning men to Christ have been loyal to the Word

THE VISION OF DRY BONES. 121

of God, and have declared its truths faitlifuUy. But we may have men of God declaring the truth of God, making a wonderful impression upon those who hear, and yet those hearers may not be saved. When John the Baptist preached before Herod he made a great impression upon the monarch, and no doubt in- fluenced his life, yet Herod never entered the king- dom. After Ezekiel had spoken to these bones as he was commanded, there was a wonderful change, there was even a semblance of life, but there was no life; and if he had stopped there they would have gone back to tlieir former state, and would have become bones again. So, when men are brought under the power of the truth, convicted of sin, their outward lives may he changed, a great reformation may have taken place, but if they are without the divine life they will go back to their former state, and the last state will be as the first. If, however, Ezekiel can get life into these men they cannot go back to bones so long as that life is there, and if spiritual life enters into those men who have heard the truth they will not go back to their former state so long as that spiritual life is thei'e. It is true, they may sleep and sometimes become indifferent, but there is a great difference between a man who is asleep and a man who is dead. You can wake the one, but the other responds not to your call.

122 THE VISION OF DRY BONES.

That brings us to the tliird essential — the Spirit of God. Ezekiel cried to the winds, and the breath breathed into the slain, and thej' lived, and stood on their feet, an exceeding- great amiy. So, the Holy Spirit 'is the third essential in this work of bringing men to Chiist. Jesus put great emphasis upon this when He commanded the disciples not to leave Jeru- salem until they would be endued with the Spirit. It is very necessary that we should distinguish be- tween reformation and regeneration. We cannot have regeneration without reformation, but we may have reformation without regeneration. The reason why so many, in times of revival, who have made a fail' start go back to their former lives, is because they have only been refonned and not been regenerated. A great need of the church to-day is the power of the Holy Spirit to accompany the AYord as it is taught in the homes, in the Sabbath School, or preached from the pulpit.

But, some one may say, if we have these three, it would then follow that all who hear would be saved. That would seem to follow Mhat we have said were it not for the fact that men have the power, though they are dead in sin, to resist the Holy Spirit. The apostle said, " Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did." The Lord Jesus had unbounded faith in the power of God. He preached the Word

THE VISION OF DRY BONES. 123

of God in all its piiritj, Ho had the Spirit without measure, and yet many of those to whom He preached were not saved, and He rolls the blame over upon themselves, represents them as stopping their ears, shutting their eyes, hardening their hearts, and stiffen- ing their necks against the truth, lest they might be converted and be healed. God has given this power to men, since He has made them free agents, and with power there always comes great responsi- bility. You have heard the story of the Irishman who was looking at Niagara Falls and some one said to him, "Isn't that w^onderful?" but he replied, " There is nothing wonderful about it, the water goes over because there is nothing to hinder it." Well, that was true, but if you follow the stream down to what is called the wliirl-pool you will there see that the rocks stand out and resist the current, and then when the river is resisted it turns and flows in an- other direction into the lake. So, the Spirit of God and the Gospel went out from Jerusalem as a river — God intending that it should flow through Judea and Samaria, and on to the uttennost parts of the earth, but the Jewish people resisted the truth, and tlie apostle said, "Lo, we turn to the Gentiles." And while that land is in darkness to-day, many of the nations that were then in darkness are now rejoicing in the truth and power of God. All through the

124 THE VISION OF DRY BONES.

Scripture we have exhortation after exhortation not to grieve or quench the Spirit of God.

Without the three essentials we have been speak- ing of, Christian work cannot be accomplished. That is a great truth for Christians to ponder. In this land where we have men and women teaching tlie Word of God, accompanied bj the power of the Spirit, it is a solemn thought for those who are unsaved, that if they are out of the Kingdom it is because they have resisted the Holy Spirit, who has been striv- ing with them at different times and in many ways. With great power come the words from the Old Tes- tament, " My Spirit shall not always strive with man."

We read, that when the spirit breathed upon these slain they stood on their feet an exceeding great anny. Trequently, in Scripture, Christians are spoken of as soldiers, and the church as an army — clear as the moon, bright as the sun, ten-ible as an arni}'^ with bannei*s. There is no sight grander upon earth than the review of &, great army, when they are all in step, obeying the commands of the superior officer; and an army is organized for the pui'pose of retaining terri- tory already gained, and for the purpose of taking new ten-itory. The church of Christ has been organ- ized for the puropso of retaining that which she is in possession of — the Sabbath, the sanctuai-y and the

THE VISION OF DRY BONES. 125

Bible, but also for tbe purpose of conquering all the earth in the name of Christ. To the disciples and to the church through the disciples, He gave the great commision to go into all the world and to preach the Gospel to every creature, to make disciples in all na- tions, and so long as there is a soul without a know- ledge of the truth the church has not accomplished her great mission. ISTothing is more to be feared in an army than mutiny or disobedience. If one regi- ment begins to fire into another regiment, or one regi- ment tries to make recruits from another regim^ent, the army is made weak instead of strong. This is what the church has often done. One denomina- tion firing into another denomination, and one sect trying to get recruits from another. The jealousies and the bickerings have often made the church power- less. That is the reason why so much of the world to-day lies under the Evil One, destitute of the Gos- pel, never having heard the name of Clirist. It is not necessary to have organic union among Christians any more than it is necessary to have all the army in one regiment, but it is essential to have unity of purpose and unity in spirit, and this can only be had when Christians come to realize that no matter what de- nomination they belong to they are fighting a com- mon foe, and they are under a common flag. In the late war between the United States and Spain, we

126 THE VISION OF DRY BONES.

frequently heard it said that in the States there was no ISTorth and no South, that all were united together in a common cause against a common foe.

The last prayer that our Saviour offere<l up on behalf of His church was that they might be one, that the world might know that the Father had sent Him. And if the church of Jesus Christ was united together as a great army, having her different regi- ments and different companies, but having one aim, obeying one sovereign, in a short time the strongholds of evil would bo overthrown and the banner of tlic cross unfurled in every land. But this can only be accomplished by a regenerate church, having in her the life of God.

XII.

THE TWO SONS.

'• A certain inun liad two Sons."— Luke 15 : 11.

These two sons represent all liumanity — the proud sinners and the penitent sinners, for all have sinned, and come short of the gloiy of God. Primarily, when the parable was uttered, they may have represented the publicans and the self-righteous Pharisees, but wherever we have those who have come to see their sins and are turning from them to God, we have a class represented by the younger son, and where we find those who pride themselves on their negative righteousness and despise others, we have the class represented by the elder brother. Let us follow the young man in his wanderings. Fii*st of all he wishes to get rid of the restraints of home, and to enjoy that which he calls, or looks upon, as liberty. There are many to-day, who refuse to become Christians, be- cause they think that by so doing they would sacri- fice what they consider freedom, and enter into a life of restraint, and, in a certain sense, bondage. There is one great fact, however, which is overlooked by some people, and v/as certainly overlooked by the young man — that one cannot have tme liberty Avith-

128 THE TWO SONS.

out a certain amount of restraint. Look at the kite, for example, it is high up in the air, if it could speak to us it would no doubt make the statement that the cord was resti'aining it and keeping it from ascend- ing heavenward, while we know that it is the cord which keeps it up, for as soon as it is able to break the cord, or get away from what it may consider the restraining power^ instead of soaring like the eagle toward the sun, it comes down head first to the earth. So it was with this young man. He got free from the restraints of home, but we next see him in the swine- herd. In the father's house he had the liberty of a son, in the swineherd he has to take the place of the humblest servant, and he is deprived of all liberty.

Tluis it is with the sinner. Sin enslaves. When this young man manifested the desire to get away from home the father did not compel him to remain, because his house was a home and not a prison. There were no iron doors or brass fetters to retain the child- ren, because they had liberty since they were sons. It is so in the household of faith — there arc no slaves there, they are spoken of as sons, enjo\'ing liberty, for the Lord deals witli men as a father deals ^^^th liis children. The devil is the great slave-driver, k'ading men captive at his will; but Christ is the emancipator and his followers have liberty.

After the younger son left home he probably had

THE TWO SONS. - 129

what lie considered a good time. So long as the money lasted his companions remained with him to drink his health, and sing his praises, but so soon as the money was gone they were not to be found. When the famine arose and he began to be in want he found himself alone. What a picture this is of life. Let no one say that there are no pleasures in sin. This is not the teaching of scripture. Moses, we are told, refused the pleasures of sin for a season, indicating that there were pleasures, but that they were short-lived. IsTo doubt to many of us there is pleasure in the "wine-cup, when it giveth its colour and moveth itself aright, but then there is the bite of the serpent, and the sting of the adder, the wounds without cause, and the misery which follows. While men are in the enjoyment of health they may have much pleasure in sin, but as soon as desire begins to fail, and disease lays hold of the body, then the plea- sure is gone. The past is like a nightmare, the future is dark, and there are cravings that cannot be satisfied, like the fire that cannot be quenched.

He joined himself to a citizen, but he did not be- come a citizen; he was sent out into the fields to do that which every Jew hated, to care for and feed the animals that were not clean. He felt the pangs of hunger and the disgrace of the position — ^he was not only in want, but in misery. Imagine if you can

130 THE TWO SONS.

a man coming to him when he is in that condition, and the young man informing the stranger that bis father has a beautiful home, that all of his servants have enough and to spare, and there is an abundance in that house. The stranger would look at him and would no doubt say, " If your statements are tnie, then I must come to one of two conclusions, eitlier that your father is a hard-hearted and a cruel man, since he has an abundance and you starving in this miserable place, or else, if your father is large-hearted, loving and generous, and it is not his fault that you are here, then you must be beside yourself, and are playing the part of a fool." And to such a state- ment the young man would make answer, " The lat- ter conclusion is the true one." Then he came to his senses, thought of his father's house, looked at the present state of affairs, and made the resolution that he would go home. When men continue in sin and in misery, for the way of the transgressor is hard, after they are told about the love of God and the grace of Christ, what conclusion can we come to but that they are insane, or blinded by the god of this world, when they are suffering and in misery, while God is as anxious to receive and satisfy all their wants as was the father of that wayward son , who was suf- fering in the far country ? We have him now making the resolution, — and a resolution is all right if it is a

THE TWO SONS. 131

good one and if it is carried out — that he will return. The devil would not object to such a resolution on the part of any one so long as it was only a resolu- tion. I can imagine the devil coming to this young man or to the sinner, of whom he is a type, and say- ing, " You have made up your mind that you will get out of this miserable place and return to your father's house, that is all right, but there is no 'need of being in a hurry, you haven't settled upon any definite time as to the carrying out of this resolution, be sure to go but not now — some future time." That is the way the Evil One talks to men in these days. There are thousands of people who have made up their minds that they will become Christians, but they have not settled upon the time that they will make a start. They will say, " Yes, but not to-night." The important thing is the fixing of the date, and this young man never would have left the swineherd had he not fixed upon a definite time, in which to carry out the resolution he made. There are people in Ireland who have been coming out to America ever since I was a boy, and they are in Ireland yet and are likely to die there. They are always talking about America and saying that they are coming out, but they have never fixed a date, they have never made a start, and as long as their feet remain on Irish soil, they can never set them on American soil. So it is with

332 THE TWO SONS.

sinnci-s. There are men who have been talking about deciding for Christ for the last ten or twenty years, and they are as far away from IIi:n to-day as when they began to talk about the matter, because they have never fixed upon a definite time. There is one thing about the de^dl— he is very indefinite. But the Holy Spirit is very definite, for He says, " To-day," " now is the accepted time, now is the day of salva- tion."

This young man did not wait for any change of raiment, but having made the resolution he started. He said " I Avill arise and go to my father," and he arose and went. That was the turning point. With fear and trembling, it may be, he started toward home, but the father was watching for his retm-n and saw him afar off. Then comes the beautiful picture of their meeting, the father throwing his arms around the neck of the son, the son acknowledging his sins, the rags removed, the ring put upon the hand and the shoes upon the feet, and there is great joy and dadness in the home on that day. Two things the young man brings with him,— his rags, which are a picture of our sins, and the words, with which he confesses the sins of the past. Hosoa said, " Return unto the Lord and take A\ath you words." The only two things we can take to God are our sins and the words confe.ssing the past, entreating His forgiveness.

THE TWO SONS. 133

and casting ourselves upon His mercy. If this parable means anything, it means that God mil receive the returning prodigal, with joy and with gladness; giving us not the servant's humble place, but all the rights and privileges of a son as we see it in this narrative. What joy thrilled the heart of every servant in the great household, when they saw the gladness in the fathers face, because the long-lost son was found and restored to the home. And in like manner we are told that there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth, and joy in the Father's heart.

Then we have another picture brought before us. A servant who is full of gladness, rushes out towards the fields and he meets the elder brother. This brother has heard the music and the shouts of glad- ness and his countenance is like a thunder-cloud, for he is full of anger. He asks what all this means. When informed that his brother has returned he says, " I have no brother, I don't ovm or acknowledge that one who has wasted his substance in riotous living as my brother at all," and he was angry. And then the father went out and entreated him, reasoned with him, pleaded mth him to come in to the feast of rejoicing, but he would not, and found fault with the father for what he has done in recei^dng this younger son. ^^'^lat a picture this is of the treatment which Christ

134 THE TWO SONS.

received from the Pharisees. At the very beginning of this chapter tliey murmured saying, "This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them," just as the elder brother murmured because his father had re- ceived back the penitent brother. While this young man was far away from the father in a foreign land, the heart of the elder brother was still further away, for his was a heart of stone, void of love. And are there not in the church, the visible church, to-day, many like the elder brother? As he performed his duties mechanically and without a particle of love, so there are those who observe all the outward forms and ceremonies, who have just as much love for the outcast and the sinful, as this man had for his brother when he had wasted his substance in riotous living; and they have just as much love for God as this man had for his father. The apostle tells us that no mat- ter what we have if we are without love we are as sounding brass and a tinkling cjonbal. Christ uttered this and the other parables to justify His conduct in receiving sinners, and tried to show to those who •were listening to Him that it was just as natural and as reasonable, that He should receive the penitent publicans as that the shepherd should go for the lost sheep, or the woman seek for the lost coin, or the father receive back the lost son. It also explains to us the reason w^hy the publicans and sinners were

THE TWO SONS. i 135

to enter the kingdom before those men who were morallj and outwardly righteous, for this younger brother who had squandered his father's substance was rejoicing in the father's house, while the elder brother who had lived a respectable life was outside Off that banqueting hall. Christ said that they should come from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God, while the children of the kingdom would be cast out. But whose fault was it? "Was it the fault of the father? He merely received the returning prodigal, but he entreated the elder brother to come in. Jesus Christ came not onlv to save the publicans and sinners, but also to save the self-righteous Pharisees, for He was the Saviour of all, just as the man in the parable was the father of these two sons.

There is no class so hard to reach and so hopeless as those who are priding themselves on their respec- tability, and on the fact that they have complied with all the outward forms and ceremonies. Thev have a negative righteousness, not havinp* done the thiufi's for which they condemn othei*s. This is brought out clearly in the case of the older brother, and of the Pharisees, of which he is a type. Perhaps there is no other place in all scripture, in which the love of God is more manifest than in this fifteenth chapter

136 THE TWO SONS.

of Luke, for here we get an idea of wliat abundaut forgiveness means. The father says nothing to the younger son about the past, it is all blotted out, and God says He will remember our iniquities no more, and our sins He will cast behind His back. "What an emphasis this gives to the exhortation of the prophet, " Return unto the Lord and He will abundantly pardon."

Come let us to the Lord our God,

With contrite hearts return, Our God is gracious nor mil leave

The desolate to moum.

XIII. THE UNFOKTUNATE MAN.

" Who is my ueighbor?"— Luke 10 : 29.

'• WTiich now of these tliree, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? "—Lvke 10 : 36.

We have here two questions. The first is put by the young ruler to Jesus, and the second is put to the young ruler by Jesus. When Jesus was only twelve years of age He astonished the doctors of the law by the questions which He asked, and by the answers which He gave to the questions they asked, and all througli His ministry Vv'e find that He ans- wered questions according to the motiA'es which prompted them. If men questioned Him in order to entrap Him He answered them accordingly. If their questions came from mere curiosity, He tried to turn their thoughts to practical subjects. But if the questions were put for the sake of gaining inform- ation concerning the kingdom, He opened its trea- sure-house to those who were true seekers. In the case before us the young man asked the question in order to justify himself, and Jesus, by His answer and by His question, condemned the young lawyer, and showed him that his life had not been what he thouffht it was.

J-S TllK UNFORTUNATE MAN.

Let us look at the characters represented in this parable. First of all we have the young ruler who was trj'ing to justify himself, — and he has had many successors during the centuries since he lived. Me7i are coiltinually asking questions about different things, different kinds otf amusement which may be ques- tionable, but their questions very frequently are asked not for the sake of gaining information, but for the sake of justifying themselves concerning the things of which they speak. It is so much better when God justifies a man, for then there are none who can condemn since there is no higher authority.

Second, we have the robbers who come before us. They represent men who wish to ,get money without giving a fair equivalent either in time or value. It is probable they would not have waylaid this poor man had he Avillingly delivered to them all his pos- sessions, but their hearts were so set upon getting what he had, that they were willing to wound, and would have gone so far as to kill, in order that they might obtain his money. Gambling is one kind of robbery, because no equivalent is given for the money obtained. Extortioners are robbers, and also men who take advantage of their fello^^^nen, and in times of difficulty obtain from them their property at a fraction of its value. But there are other kinds of robbery. Money may be restored and physical

THE UNFORTUNATE MAN. 139

wounds healed, but when a man is robbed of his character that is something which is hard to get back; and how often this is done. Men will blacken and slander others at election times in order tO) help themselves or their own party. You may call it blackmail or libel or whatever you like, but the men who practice it are descendants of the robbers, who waylaid the poor fellow between Jerusalem and Jericho.

The next one who comes on the scene is what we call the unfortunate man. He is not to blame for falling among the thieves or for being robbed, this was something that happened to him that he could not help. It may be that he did not take proper pre- cautions when starting out on his journey, but noth- ing is said about that in the narrative, l^o doubt many men went from one city to the other without being molested, but he was waylaid; they are not to be praised for escaping, and he is not to be blamed for what happened to him. He represents a great many in the world to-day. Two young men come from the same village into the same city. One of them is met at the station by a man who takes him to a boarding-house, where he is surrounded by the ungodly and the sinners. He is taken or persuaded to go to some place of questionable am.usement, is induced to do a little gambling just for pastime, to

140 THE UNFORTUNATE MAN.

take a little wine in order to be social, and so goes on from step to step until he becomes degraded, and is robbed of his manhood. The other young man finds his way into a Christian boarding-house, is sur- rounded from the first by a healthy influence, taken, it may be, to the Young Men's Christian Association, or to the young people's meeting in a church, becomes interested in spiritual things, becomes a leader among men, respected and looked up to by those who come in contact with him. Such things are happening in our cities every day, and there is no two ways, but many of those who are now outcasts of society are there because they fell among the robbers — those who stole from them their manhood or womanhood. How are we to treat such? There are only two ways in which we can treat them w^hen they are down and helpless. ,

And that bring-s before us the representatives of another class of people, namely, the priest and the Levite. They were not robbers, they would not hurt or molest anybody, they were respectable, priding themselves on their moral characters and on the high positions which they held. They are not blamed for doing any wrong, but when they saw this poor un- fortunate they looked at him, it may be they despised him, because of that which happened to him, or it may be they had a kind of pity for him; but vre are

THE UNFORTUNATE MAN. 141

tokl ill the narrative that they looked at him and passed by on the other side. He was neither better or worse, because they lived. ISToav, while there are not a great many robbers in the world there is a tremendous multitude even of professing Christians, who are the descendants of the Priest and the Levite. They pride themselves on their negative righteous- ness, and forget that men are condemned for lack of positive righteouness. When the Lord said to Israel throuerh Moses, " Be sure your sin will find you out," it had reference to the part the two and a half tribes were to take in helping their brethren to conquer the land of Canaan. Moses told them that they were to go up and help their brethren, and said that if they failed to do so they might be sure that their sin would find them out. And in after years when the angel of the Lord said, " Curse ye, curse ye Meroz," it was not because of the iniquity these people had committed, but because they refused to come to the help of the Lord against the mighty. And when the Lord Jesus, in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, represents Himself as sitting on the judgment throne. He con- demns the nations for what they have not done, — " Inasmuch as ye did it not unto them ye did it not unto Me." Also one of the 'Nerw Testament writers tells us that to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. There are so many in

142 THE UNFORTUNATE MAN.

the world to-day like this poor fellow who fell among the thieves, and thousands of those who call them- selves by the name of Christ, are passing by and leav- ing them in their misery. The sin of doing nothing, or comparatively nothing, is the great sin of the church.

In bold relief to this dark background there comes upon the scene the good Samaritan. He sees the man, has compassion upon him and goes to work in the most practical manner to render all the assistance within his power, regardless of consequences. It is not a hard matter for us to find out to which of these classes we belong, for they all have their representa- tives in this nineteenth century.

I wish now to give the story another turn, and to see in the Samaritan a picture of Christ, and in this wounded man a picture of suffering humanity. It is surely legitimate to look at the parable from this point of view, since all will admit that Christ has done more for humanity, than the Samaritan did for the unfortunate man whom he helped. ^Ve are all agreed that the race has suffered more from the great rob- ber, the father of all robbers, who took from them their original righteousness, and left them spiritually dead, and in a deplorable condition in the garden of Eden, than did this man from those who injured him. This wounded man in the parable could not

THE UNFORTUNATE MAN. 143

seek aid or help himself, but the Samaritan came to him. And when we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly, He came to us. We have not to descend to the heavens to bring Him down, or to the depths to bring Him again from the dead, for He is nigh unto us. He left His throne of glory and came down to sojourn upon earth in such a way that He is not far from any man. The Samar- itan not only came to where the poor unfortunate man was, but he took hold of him just as he was, and Christ has not only come to us but He takes, us just as we are. As the Samaritan did not ask this man to wash his wounds and to partially heal himself, so Christ does not ask us to try to cleanse ourselves from sin, and become good, and then He will re- ceive us. Even His enemies said, " This man re- ceiveth sinners and eateth with them." A patient never thinks of trying to become better before he will send for the -ohysician, but he will send for the doc- tor in order that he may be restored to health. Yet men are continually talking about turning over a new leaf, and trying to reform their lives, and then coming to Christ, — trying to sew the old cloth toi the new garment, — but Christ wants to take us just as we are in our sins, and to do for us spiritually what the Samaritan did for this man physically. There is an institution in old London where the workers go out

144 THE UNFORTUNATE MAN.

into the lanes and by-ways of the city, and get hold of the little Avaifs, with their tattered garments, dirty faces, and matted hair; they bring them to their I'.omo, and take their picture; then they go to work to cleanse, clothe, educate, and give them a trade, and when they are leaving they take their picture again, and present them with the first and last, say- ing. This is what you were when w^e found you, this what you are when you are leaving us." Some thought such as this may have been in the mind of the apostle when he said, in speaking of the iniquity in which men were steeped, " And such were some of you, but now ye are cleansed, ye are justified."

Again, this poor wounded man had no claim upon the Samaritan. The probability is he was a Jew and the Jews hated and despised the Samaritans, hence, he had no claim upon his benefactor. In like manner the sinner has no claim upon Christ. It may be that he has blasphemed that holy name, and done and said many things against Jesus. The apostle Paul realized this, and he was continually speaking about the grace of the Lord Jesus, the unmerited favor of the One who saved the persecutor. Still further, the Samaritan did not expect to receive a rev.'ard for what he was doing, neither did Jesus save us on account of anytliing He expected to receive from us. T?y the word of His power He could call into exis-

THE UNFORTUNATE MAN. 145

tence multitudes of beings superior to us. But while the Samaritan did not perform this act of kindness and self-denial for the sake of reward, yet he was re- warded in the satisfaction which came to him, and in the gratitude which he received from the one he helped. So it is with our blessed Master, He sees of the travail of His soul and is satisfied, and to Him there is a joy which comes from bring-ing sons into glorv. "We can understand this because it is impos- sible for us to injure a person without suffering our- selves; and it is just as impossible to help others with- out being blessed ourselves; and we read that there is jov in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth — joy like that which was in the shepherd's heart when he found the sheep that was lost.

IMTow what did this wounded man do in order to be saved ? He simply did nothing but let the Samar- itan do it all. What have we to do in order to be saved from our wounds and sins? Simply to sub- mit ourselves to Christ, to stand still and see His sal- vation, to let Him do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. In Paul's day, when he was praying for Israel, he said that the reason why they were not saved was because they were trying to save them- selves by working out a righteousness, and they had not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of

146 THE UNFORTUNATE MAN.

God. One reason why so many who have heard the gospel story arc at the present time unsaved is be- cause they are trying to do the Lord's work, — for sal- vation is of the Lord. !N'ot by our efforts, lest we should boast, but by grace are we saved, througli faith. The wounded man showed faith in the Samar- itan when he submitted himself to him, and if we have enough faith in Christ to submit ourselves to Him we shall be saved. Suppose this wounded man had said to his benefactor, " There is no use in you trying to help me* because the robbers may find me again," he would have answered, " Wliy, I will stand between you and all danger if you trust me." Com- monly we hear men say, " Christ may save us, but we are* afraid that we will go back again, that we will not be able to hold out afterwards, that the devil will take possession otf us once more." Paul never had any such thoughts, for he said, " T am persuaded that He is able to keep that Avhich T have committed to His trust ae-ainst that dav." Let us remember that when we commit ourselves to Christ He takes charc-e of us, comes between us and all danger, for He is not only able to save to the uttermost, but He is able to keep us from fallino-, and at last to present us fault- less. Then the Samaritan made provision for the wounded man. not only so, but became responsible for the man's Avants; he gave two pence and said,

THE UNFORTUNATE MAN. 147

" Whatever more is necessary I will pay thee when I come again." Have we not the promise in scripture that God will supply all our wants out of His riches inj glory, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord? He saves us from the sins of the past, His grace is suffi- cient for us in the present, as our days so will cur strength be. He has also made the future sure, neither death nor life, things present nor things to come, 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.

XIV. MANASSEH.

" Manasseh his son reigned in liis stead."— II. Chronicles 32 : 33.

Manasseh was the son of his grandfather. Old Ahaz was one of the worst of kings, and his mantle of iniquity seemed to skip a generation to fall upon the head of young Manasseh. Hezekiah, his father ac- cording to the flesh, was one of the best kings, and after he had been requested to put his house in order, as he was to die, he had fifteen years added to his life. Three years after that Manasseh v^as born. For twelve years he had the loving care of the godly Hezekiah and the healthful influence of that home where God was reverenced and feared. It is a great advantage for a boy to grow up surrounded by such a spiritual and healthful atmosphere. We cannot over- estimate the influence and power of a Christian home. But in the case of Manasseh, as in the case of so many others, there must have been an outside influence counteracting the influence of the home. When he was twelve years of age he was left alone, and began to rule in Jerusalem. At that age, when a boy thinks he knows everything, and could even teach his father, no doubt he was surrounded by many who would flat-

MANASSEH. 149

ter him and exhort him not to follow the antiquated ideas of his fathers, but to strike out for himself, and so we have him entering uoon a course the very op- posite of that which his father pursued. He breaks down the altars which his father built, and he builds up the high places and the altars to Baal, which his father pulled down.

How often since then this history has repeated it- self. How frequently we find young men undoing what their fathers did, squandering the money that their fathers gathered, blaspheming the God that their fathers worshipped, running riot and making shipwreck of their souls. The prophets spoke to him but he hearkened not. He looked with disdain upon the messengers of the Lord, and refused to hearken to their voice, turned his feet away from the sanctuary, and not only mocked but persecuted those who op- posed his views or reproved him for his actions. How many there are to-day following in his footsteps. First, they have been among the ungodly desecrating the Sabbath and forsaking the sanctuary, then we find them standing in the way of sinners, and when they have reached the last stage we see them sitting in the seat of the scornful and mocking at everything that is sacred.

But while he is an unbeliever in the established truths of the religion of his country, he is one of the

150 MANASSEH.

most credulous of men for he believes in -vvdzards and A\dtclicraft, and all the enchantments of his day. We so frequently find men who cannot believe, or say they cannot believe, in facts that have been estab- lished by many infallible proofs, believing at the same time in the greatest absurdities.

Not only was Manasseh bad himself and opposed to all righteousness, but he led others astray. The higher the position is which a man occupies the great- er his influence either for good or evil. When he is going down in sin he is like a groat vessel when she is sinking, drawing after her the smaller boats which may surround her. There is a woe pronounced upon the sinner, but a greater woe on those who lead others astray. And this Manasseh did on an exten- sive scale. When he would not hearken to the mes- sengers of the Lord he was compelled to listen to the voice of His judgments. For the captains and the host of the king of Assyria came against him. He fled and hid himself in the thorns, but he was fer- reted out, bound with fetters, carried as a captive* to Babylon, and put into one of their prisons or dun- geons. We can imagine his feelings the first night he spent in that prison-house, when we remember the kind of those prisons, their gloominess and the miserable condition in which they were kept, and re- member also that he was not only a king but had been

MANASSEH. 151

brought up from his childhood in a royal palace, hav- ing everything which his heart desired, and never knowing what it was to have his liberty curtailed. When he is left alone in the silence of the night he cannot help thinking about scenes of the past ; he will be back again to the days of childhood, feel;,upon his head the pressure of a loving hand and hear a voice saying, " The Lord bless thee and keep thee." Then his sins and his iniquities will rise before him as great mountains, he will see the innocent blood that he had shed, he will hear its cry from the ground calling for vengeance, his whole past comes before him, and from it he cannot escape.

Memory is an awful thing, or it is a glorious thing. It is either the worm that never dies and the fire that cannot be quenched, or that which brings salvation. If we remember, when it is too late, we are like the one to whom Abraham said, " Son, remember in thy life-time thou hadst thy good things." If memory comes to us in time it is like that which saved the psalmist when he said, " I thought upon my ways and turned my feet unto Thy testimonies." Memory was the salvation of Manasseh, for out of the black darkness of his past ten-ible life he heard a voice saying, " Come now, and let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson they shall

152 MANASSEH.

be as wool." " Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrigliteoiis man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God for He will abundantly pardon." There is no doubt but he heard such a voice, and it was that which gave hira courage to call upon the Lord in the night of his trouble and from the dungeon in which he was imprisoned; and that God, whose mercy has in it a wideness like the widcness of the sea, heard the cry of this sinful and suffering king and came to his rescue.

How many there are in the world to-day with whom God has been dealing in this manner. They have refused to listen to His word, have turned aside from His commandments; but sickness or difficulty or distress of some kind has taken hold of them and then in the hour of their distress they have cried unto the Lord, and He has barkened to their voice and come to their deliverance. And then they can say, as one of old. It was well for us that we Avere afflicted, for before affliction we went astray.

"No doubt a great light came into the soul of Manasseh on that never-to-be-forgotten night. In the morning he heard the footsteps of the guard a]v proaching his cell, and to his amazement he was in- formed that he was set at liberty. God gave to him abundantly above all that he had either asked or ex-

MANASSEH. 153

pected to receive. He returned to Jerusalem freed from the bondage of the sins of his past life, freed from the bondage of the Assyrians, his heart full of gratitude to the God of his fathers, and at the same time full of sorrow for the sins he had committed. Like Paul, when he thought of the grace of God that saved him, he was lifted into the third heavens, but when he remembered that at one time he had perse- cuted the church of Christ and consented to the death of the first martyr, he was filled with sorrow and looked upon himself as the chief of sinners. Such feelings must have been in the heart of Manasseh as he returned to his citv and his throne.

When men repent they may pull out the nails which they have driven in during the days of sin, but they cannot get rid of the nail-holes. How often he would say to himself, " If I had only hearkened to the voice of the Lord and obeyed the counsel of my father, how different the kingdom would have been." He cannot undo the evil he had done, but he is determined that he will redeem the time as far as it lies within his power; and so he brings forth fruits meet for repentance by pulling down the high places and the altars of Baal, which he had builded up, and by building up the altars to Jehovah which he had pulled down.

The prophets and men of God, who had come out

154 MANASSEH.

of their hiding-places when the king was taken cap- tive at Babylon, now hear with dismay and terror that he is coming back again to Jerusalem, and they are escaping for their lives when a messenger comes to them and says, " I have seen strange things to-day, I have seen Manassch pulling down an altar that he erected to Baal, I have seen him build an altar to Jehovah, I have heard him cry to the God of Abra- ham and of Isaac and of Jacob," and those who listen to the messenger shout " Hallelujah, the king has re- pented." What a thrill of joy must have gone through their hearts, what a change came over the city and the community.

How often scenes similar to that are ^^^tnessed even in our own time. For the God who saved Manasseh is our God. Perhaps this king was the greatest sinner in the Old Testament dispensation. It is said that by his orders Isaiah was sa^vrL asimder, and the inspired writer informs us that he made the people otf Jerusalem do worse than the heathen. JSTow, if God saved that man, made him a worker of righteousness and a worshipper of the living God, is there anything too hard for Him? It is this line of argument that the apostle Paul uses in the !N"ew Tes- tament, informing us that Christ saved him, the chief, the greatest of sinners, saved him as an example of the power of His grace and the greatness of His

MANASSEH. 155

love. He is able to save to tlie "uttermost all wlio come unto Him; but he is also able to bring the ^most hardened sinner to a sense of his guilt and of hisJdan- ger. ISTo doubt there were many in Jerusalem who knew that thej could not influence Manasseh, but they poured out their hearts in prayer to the God who can turn the hearts of kings as He turns the rivers of water. And so in our midst there may be sin- ners— high-handed, proud, cruel, and scornful as this king of Jerusalem; but the God of heaven is able to bring them to their knees, to bring their sins before them so that they will shudder at the sight, and then to reveal unto them the Lamb of God who taketh

away the sins of the world. The story of Manasseh should keep the greatest sinner from despairing, and should encourage Christians to pray for the conver- sion of those who are far from God and out of the way, for He is able to make the most hardened be- come the most truly penitent and His most devoted servants.

XV. THREE NEAV TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS.

" This day is salvation come to this house." — Luke 19 : 9. "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ? "—Acts 9 : 6. " What must I do to be saved ? "—Acts 16 : 30.

First, Zaccheus. The account of liis conversion is given in the gospel by Luke, chapter 19: 1-11. He was not only a publican but a chief among them, con- sequently he would be one of the most despised men in Israel, for the publicans were looked down upon on account of the positions they held as tax-gatherers, under the Roman government. He became inter- ested in Christ because he had heard that Jesus was not only friendly to the class to which he belonged but that He had received them, had eaten with them, and had called one of them to the rank of disciple- ship. He was very anxious to see this new teacher, but there were two difficulties in the way — he was little of stature and could not see over a crowd, and then he knew he was thoroughly hated by the multi- tudes, who would gather around Jesus, on His way to Jerusalem; and a small man has a very poor chance in an unfriendly crowd. But Zaccheus was one of those men who is not easily turned from the goal

THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS. 157

he desires to reach. When he made up his mind to do a thing he generally did it. The same energy and perseverance that made him chief of the publicans is now brought into play in order to accomplish his object. The Lord likes to meet such men, men who put their whole heart and soul into whatever they are doing or trying to do, for they are among the violent who take the kingdom of heaven by force. It is said that necessity is the mother of invention, and seieing Jesus had become to Zaccheus a necessity, he devised a means by which he would have his desires gratified. He climbed up into a tree thinking, it may be, that he would see Jesus without attracting any attention from those who were passing by. But what must his thoughts have been when Jesus looked up, and when the eyes of the two men for the first time met; what a thrill of joy and fear must have rushed through liis heart, when he heard his own name spoken by this One whom he was so desirous of seeing; and then amazement reached its climax when Jesus told him to make haste and come down as He was to abide at his house that day. He did not invite Jesus to his home, but Jesus invited Himself. As a general thing He went where He was asked, even to their feasts, but here He is inviting Himself. In one of the parables which our Lord uttered we have the servants going out to one cla^ of the community and inviting

158 THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS.

tliem; we have them sent out to another class and they are commanded to compel these to come in. Zaccheiis, in a certain sense, belonged to the latter class; he would never have invited Jesus, not because he was unwilling to have Ilim, but because he felt himself unworthy of such an honour. Jesus, who could read the thoughts and search the hearts of men, knew this, and He knew that He would be more than welcome in the home of this publican. What a night that was to Zaccheus. Can we not imagine Jesus put- ting His hands on the heads of the little children and blessing them, and talking with them about the things of the kingdom? It was a night never to be forgotten by this publican and his family. And afterwards, when the news came from Jerusalem that the Jews with ^vicked hands had slain the Prophet of ISTazareth, there was no home in which there was greater grief than this hom.e of the publican; but how their hearts Avould rejoice when thev heard the news that was almost too crood to be true, that the crucified One had risen again from the dead. Zac- cheus may have been among those who watched Christ ascend from the !Mount of Olives; be that as it may, the impressions which were left upon his heart, on that memorable occasion when he first met with Jesus, were never effaced.

"We come now to the second conversion — that of

THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS. 159

Saul, which is recorded in the ninth chapter of the Acts. He is so different from Zaccheus. There is no desire on his part to see Jesus, but all his powers are being put forth to exterminate those who believe in Christ. !N^o man was doing more against the cause of Christianity than this man of Tarsus. i!^o doubt the Christian people prayed for his conversion; but how was it to be brought about? They could not speak to him or reason with him, there was no human instrumentality that could be brought to bear upon this persecutor, and his conversion, from a hu- man point of view at least, seemed impossible. But when ordinary means are not sufficient to reach the sinner God is able to use extraordinary means, and so in the case of this man we find Christ Himself ap- pearing to Saul when he was on his way to Damas- cus. The light that shone around him was brighter than the sun at mid-day, and the voice that he heard brought terror to his heart and he fell as dead upon the ground. And this is the man who subsequently speaks so much about the sovereignity of God and the grace of God. Perhaps in no case God's sovereignity and God's grace were more marvellously displayed than in the conversion of this man. Saul the perse- cutor, by the sovereign power of Christ, turned to be the earnest apostle; the one who was the chief of sin- ners saved by the grace of God. In aft^r years he

160 THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS.

thmks of this scene witli amazement, and could see in it tlie gTcat truth that God can make the wrath of man to praise Him. In a statement which he makes afterwards he wishes to correct the great mistake which he, himself, made. lie heard all that could be said against Christ and Christianity, but he listened not to the testimony in favor of Christ and Chris- tianity. Therefore he gives the exhortation, " Prove all things, hold fast that which is good." There is one point in connection with his conversion, how- ever, that is worthy of special note, — the very mo- ment that he was convinced of the divinity of Jesus Christ that moment he became His servant and cried out, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" and from that hour he loved to call himself the slave of Jesus Christ. How many there are in the world to- day who tell us that they believe the scriptures, they believe that Jesus Christ is divine, able and willing to save them, believe that they ought to be Christians and yet they have not taken the first step. AVill these facts not rise in judgment against them? for the one who knows his Lord's will and does it not shall be beaten with many stripes. The moment that Saul came to know the Lord that moment he suiTendercd himself, body, soul, and spirit to Jesus Christ, and in after years he could say, " I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me,"

THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS. 161

Now we come to a man who is very different from either Zaccheiis or Saul — one who occupies a very different position. He is a Koman soldier, turnkey in the prison in Phillippi, and the account of his con- version is given in the sixteenth chapter of the Acts. How is he to be reached — he and his companions and the prisoners? They do not know very much about this sect that is spoken against, they have not an op- portunity, and perhaps if they had they would have no desire to go to the meetings where Paul and Silas were preaching, yet it is God's will that the gospel should come into the prison-house. How does He bring it about? We have the story of the conveirsion of Lydia and then the account of Paul's arrest be- cause he had healed the maiden who was bringing in money to her proprietors, who, when they saw that their gain was gone, caused the apostle to be thrown into the prison-house. After he had been flogged the jailer received a charge to keep him safely, and so he made his feet fast in the stocks, and put him in the inner prison. Paul knew that for some purpose God permitted all this; he knew that it was the Lord's will that he should come to Macedonia, and that in soma way God was working out his own plans; that is what enabled him to sing, he and his companion, in the prison; for, as he tells us afterwards, he was "wdlling that the cause of his Master might be advanced by

162 THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS.

liis bouds; if beiug in prison was to further the cause then he wished to he in prison, for the sole desire of liis life was to advance the cause of tlio One to whom he had given himself. The other prisoners hear the singing — to them it is a strange sound, then the pri- son is shaken, the jailer wakes up thinking the prison- ers are gone, and tries to take away his own life to save himself from the disgrace which would come upon him on the morrow, when he would be brought before the Roman governor and i:)erliaps put to death for allowing the prisoners to escape. But the hand that is drawing the sword is stayed by Paul. Convic- tion comes to the heart of the trembling jailer, who asks the great question, " What must I do to be saved?" He receives the memorable answer, " Be- lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved," and the same hour of the night we find him rejoicing in the faith and ministering to these pris- oners.

Looking at these three men who were brought into the kingdom we see how different were the posi- tions which they occupied, and how different were the means used in bringing them to a knowledge of the truth, yet they are all brought into the fold through the one Mediator. It was Jesus who changed the heart of Zaccheus, it was Jesus who appeared to Saul, it Avas Jesus who was preached to the jailer.

Three new testament conversions. 163

and tlirough faith in tliis Saviour these three men were saved and broug-ht into the kingdom of God. "While there are many points of contrast there are also points in which they resemble each other. In the case of the whole three their lives and their dis- positions are completely changed by coming in con- tact with Christ Zaccheus was an extortioner and no doubt a miser, for when a man is covetous he will often exact more than he should when an opportunity presents itself, and he mil retain that which he should give to others. We have every reason to believe that before Zaccheus was converted he took the advantage of men and was also miserly, hoarding up that which he gathered; but as soon as he meets Christ, as soon as salvation comes to his house, and into his heart, the m.an is completely changed; he wishes now to restore four-fold to those he has robbed, and he is mlling to give half his goods to feed the poor; he be- comes just and righteous, he becomes generous and large-hearted; he is now in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature; old things have passed away and all things have become new. In the case of Saul the change is also marvellous. The persecutor becomes the apostle, the man who desired to have everyone slain because they would not think as he thought, and do as he wished them to do, is now willing to suffer im- prisonment or death itself in order that his enemies

164 THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS.

mav be saA'ed, for he tells us that his heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved, and that he could wish himself accursed for his brethren's sake; ^villing to endure the perils by land and sea; willing to fight with the beasts at Ephesus, or to die a martyr's death in order that the men who hate him might be saved from their sins and brought to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ. The cruel perse<iutor becomes the loving and gentle disciple, saying from his heart, " Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." Then look at the jailer before his conversion. Pie was cruel, thrusting these men into the inner pri- son and putting their bleeding limbs into the stocks — heartless we would say. Not only so but he was cowardly, seeking to take away his o\vn life rather than bear the consequences on the following day; for there is no man who will take away his life but is either insane or the greatest of cowards; for it is done for fear of the disgrace or the suffering which may come from his fellow-men. Xow we have this com- bination of cnielty and cowardice, but after his con- version ever\' thing is reversed; he has become the kindest of men ; with his own hands he is washing the stripes of the prisoners, ministering to their wants, and displaying gTcat heroism for he is now caring for the men that he was told to keep fast. What

THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS. 165

does lie care now for the Roman court or the magis- trate? The love of God has lifted him above the fear of man, and now, regardless of consequences, he is doing to these prisoners what his heart and his con- science tell him he should do. It is the grace of God and the love of God that make heroes of men — en- ables one to chase a thousand, and two to put ten thousand to flight. It was tliis grace and love that enabled Luther to say that he would go to "Worms if there were as many devils there as there were tiles on the houses ; and it was this orace that enabled John Knox to so live and act that it is said that he never feared the face of man.

In the three cases brought before us we have the fruits meet for repentance — we have lives manifest- ing the change that had taken place in the heart. And on do^vn through the centuries wherever there has been a true conversion there has been a change of heart and consequently a change of life; for you cannot change the fountain without changing the stream; and if a man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His. But if his heart be changed it will be seen in the man's life and in his action, as it was seen in the life and the actions of Zaccheus, of Saul, and of the Phillippian jailer.

XYI. THE GREAT FEAST.

" Come ; for all things are now reswiy."— Luke It : 17.

We are all familiar witli the circumstances wbicli led Christ to speak this parable. He was at a feast in the house of one of the chief Pharisees, and He noticed that the guests did the very opposite to what people do when they go to prayer-meeting — they chose the front or chief seats. He advised them to take lower seats lest they might have to move when those for whom the chief places were reserved would arrive, and Ihat it would look better to be taken up from a lower to a higher place than to be taken down from a higher to a lower. He then turned His atten- tion to the host, for He noticed that all the people who were present were well to do, and from the best fam- ilies, .and He knew that this chief Pharisee expected to be invited to their homes when they would have feasts; so He advised the man when he would be mak- ing a feast again to invite the poor, and those who could not recompense him, so that he might gain the reward of heaven. Someone who had been watch- ing all that was going on and listening to the conver- sation said, " Blessed is he that shall eat bread in th^

THE GREAT FEAST. 167

kingdom of God." To show tliis one that men do not appreciate the kingdom of God as much as his remark would seem to indicate, our Lord spoke this parable of the great supper, and from it there are several important lessons which we can learn.

A feast is a place where we are expected to enjoy ourselves, to lay aside all care and anxiety and enter into the full enjoyment of the evening. So it is witih Christianity; it is compared to a feast, not intended to bring soiTow and sadness into the homes and lives of those who embrace it, but to bring joy and glad- ness; and this is the idea that is so clearly brought out not only in the teachings of Christ, but in the teachings of His apostles in the ISTew Testament. The early Christians were full of gladness and joy, and were the happiest neople in every comm.unity where they dwelt.

Again, in this feast that is spoken of the host bore all expenses; those invited were not expectecl to con- tribute anything, simply to accept of the invitations and partake of his bounty which was so freely pro- vided. So it is with salvation, all the cost has been borne by God. "Wliat must it have cost Him to give up the only begotten and well-beloved Son, for we read that He spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all? "What roust it have cost Christ to lav aside His glory, to endure the contradiction of

168 THE GREAT FEAST.

sinners, the suft'erings of tins life and the accursed death of the cross? All has been provided,, for sal- vation is of the Lord, and all the sinner has to do is to accept of the invitation and take freely this that is offered to him. One would naturally think that men would be anxious to go to such a feast as is de- scribed in this chapter; but we learn to the contrary, when we see how the invitations were treated, for they all with one consent began to make excuse. They had no reasons to advance for not being pre- sent, but they manufactured excuses which they pre- sented to the messengers, who brought the invita- tions. The first had a piece of land which he wished to see, another had some oxen he wished to prove, and the third had man*ied a wife and therefore could not come. Looking at these we see they were merely excuses, the land was not rolling stock to have moved away, and the oxen could have been proven on an- other occasion as well as on that evening, and the Avife of the man who was married was certainly in- cited, for a man and his wife arc one except when travelling by rail or on steamboats, and these inno- vations were not knowu in those days. But the fact of the matter was they did not want to come, and the host saw through their excuses and then, being angered, he declared that they would not taste ocf his supper. This seems natural. If, for example, any

THE GREAT FEAST. 169

of ua go to great expense providing for a banquet, tell our friends what we are doing, at the same time requesting them to keep certain dates open, and when everything is ready send them formal invita- tions, if they, knowing their presence was desired, instead of accepting the invitations, send us trifling excuses, not thinking it worth their while to come, after we have gone to the exDense, we would natur- ally say, " They will come the next time they are in- vited." Therefore this host that is spoken of, when he knew that his invitations were made ligh.t of, and that these people did not appreciate and would not accept of his kindness, simply said that they would not taste of his supper. Now if ^ve apply this as our Lord intended to apply it, we see that men make the same kind of excuses for not accepting the gos- pel invitations. And let it be borne in mind that the things wliich kept these people from that banquet were not wrong in themselves, and many of the things which keep people out of the kingdom are tilings that are not sinful in themselves. For exa.mple, it is not v\^rong for a man to OAvn land or to buy it; it is not wrong for a man to buy oxen, for eveu in the Old Testament dispensation they were not among the unclean animals; it is not wrong for a man to get rnamed, for we are told that it is not good for, a man to be alone. All these things are lawful m theni-

170 THE GREAT FEAST.

selves. And we see that in one case it may be the farm, in another the merchandise, in another the pleasure that is lawful; and these things are to-day keeping multitudes out of the kingdom of God. The man would not have had to part with his land, or his neighbor with the oxen, neither would the newly married couple have had to get a divorce in order to attend this banquet. And men to-day can have all these things and at the same time accept of the invi- tations of the gospel; if they will only let their light shine and bring their Christianity into their buBine?-s and their pleasure. Multitudes have done this. Some of the most successful merchants in all aeres have been the m.ost devoted Christians, and many who are enjoying life to its fullest extent are also rejoicing in the assurance of the lo^'o of God and! in fellowship with His people.

ISTow we have been invited; and when the Lord gives an invitation He means it. We can imagine people, in what is called society, sending invitations to those whose presence they do not desire, and the people who receive the invitations may know tliat their absence will be more acceptable than their pres- ence at the party or ball to wliicli they have been invited. But we cannot think of God acting in this way, for He does not mock men or use deception. When He invites people He invites them because Ho

THE GREAT FEAST. lYl

wants them to come. These people to whom the Lord makes reference, knew that they were invited and that they were wanted, and the host knew that, hence, they are not nr£:ed, they have made their choice fully imderstanding the situation, and he de- cides accordingly. How true this was in the case of Israel at Kadesh-barnea. The Lord invited them to enter into the land of promise but they refused, and then He said: "Ye shall not enter." He closed the door against them. Do we not learn from that inci- dent and from this parable, that when the Lord invites us we may refuse the invitation once too often? And He may say to us as He said to those men, "Thou shalt not taste of My supper or enter into My kingdom." And you mil notice that they treated the messengers with courtesy and respect but refused very politely to accept of the invitation. How tnie that is of many to-day; how courteous and respectful they are to those who bring the message; but they fail to accept of it, present their miserable excuses and shut them- selves out of the kingdom. But notice that Avhilo these men refused to go when asked, they did not defeat the plans of the host. He had made a feast and he was determined that it would be furnished with guests. In like manner, when men refuse the invita- tions of the gospel they shut themselves out, but they do not defeat the plans of God. Chrlpt said to the

172 THE GREAT FEAST.

yery men who were refusing His invitations that thej would be shut out while men would come from the east and west, from the north and from the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God, for Christ shall yet see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied, no matter how we treat His message or His invitation. We see in the parable how this is to be brought about. The servants are now told to go out into the cities, to the streets and to the lanes; then they are sent to the highways and to the hedges and commanded to compel men to come in. While they only invited one class, they are to compel this other class, and it is not hard to see the reason for this change in the orders to tlie messengers. The first class knew they were invited and were wanted and felt themselves, perhaps, worthy of the invitation; the latter class Avould look at it from a very different point of view because of their past lives. For example, suppose the Lord Mayor of some of our great cities would make a banquet inviting the nobility, if they would refuse to come and then he sent his messengers out into the slums of the great city inviting the poor and the despised to the feast, wc can easily understand how they would look upon such an invitation. They would say to the messengers, " There must be a mist.ake somewhere, we have broken the very laws that the chief magistrate is supposed to enforce, we have de-

THE GREAT FEAST. 173

spised him and the government of his city, we are poor and miserable, it cannot be possible that he wants ns at his banquet." What an amount of persuasion and reasoning would be necessary in order to compel such people to accept of such an invitation. Thus v/hen we go to the sinners who have fallen and gone down, it may be, into the mire of iniquity, we pre- sent to them an invitation from the Lord of Hosts informing them that He is desirous that they should be His, that they should sit do^vn in His banqueting- house, become sharers of His glory and heirs to a wonderful inheritance. They immediately respond by saying that the invitation cannot be for them since they have taken His name in vain, broken His laws, and sinned against Him in so many ways — they are imworthy. And what persuasion and entreaty and reasoning is necessary in order to show to them that they are the invited ones, and that He really wants them to share in His bounty. That is what the com- pelling means — the persuading of those who are un- Avilling to come because they realize their unworthi- ncss and their unfitness, and cannot believe that the invitation is for them.

The work of the messengers then was to obey the command of their master, and compel these men from the streets and lanes, the highways and hedges, to come to the feast that it might be furnished with

iU

THE GREAT FEAST.

guests. Tliis is the work which Christ has entrusted to His church, and the question conies, Is the church doing this work — compelli)ig these multitudes to come into the kingdom? Are we not sometimes re- pelling them bj our magnificent buildings so gor- geously furnished, our classical music and philosophic essays? The Christianity of many of us consists in faring sumptuously every day, wearing fine apparel, taking in the best entertainments, attending divine service once a Sabbath, sitting in a beautlfull}^ cush- ioned pew and criticising the choir or quartette, making some wise remark about the sennon, and thanking God we are not like the masses, many of whom possess more brains than we do, but they have never had a chance of developing them, because tliey were born poor and have had to struggle all their life trying to make ends meet. How many of us could honestly say that we are among the messengei's sent out to compel sinful men to come into tlie king- dom of God? Oh, church of the living God, wake up to your responsibilitiy, for your duty is to take the gospel to every creature and in Christ's stead to persuade men to come into His kingdom.

Am I talking to any who feel that because of their past lives the invitation does not include them? If so. I plead with you, by the love of th.e Father Who gave His onlv begotten Son to redeem you. by

THE GREAT FEAST. 175

the love of tlie Son Who emptied Himself of His divine glovy, took upon Himself our nature, bearing- our sins in His own body on the tree, and dying for us that we might have life through Him, by the love of the Holy Spirit who has been showing you your sins and striving with your heart, respond to the Lord's invitation and say, " I come."

Just as I am — without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee, Oh Lamb of God, I come, I come.

XVII. PRAYER

•■ Lord, teach iis to i>r;ty, as .IchTi also taii;jht h's discijiles."— T.ikk 11 : 1. ■• After this manner, therefore, y)r»y ye."— Matthew G : 9.

Xo man was so highly spoken of by our Lord as John the Baptist, and in reading the iSTew Testament we are somewhat surprised that the ^vriters give to him so little space. But enough is said to indicate his character and the line along which his preaching ran. And this question which the disciple asked our Lord reveals John to us not only as a man of prayer, but as one who tauglit his disciples to pray; and the disciples of Jesus are amxious that they might be taught by Him, as John's disciples were taught by their master. They do not wish to be taught con- cerning the necessity of prayer, for they had come to realize that prayer is as necessary to the life of the soul, as breathing is to the life of the body. Neither do they ask concerning the One to whom prayer should be offered, for all through their history they prayed to the God of heaven and their beloved Dan- iel recfused to pray to any God save the God of his fathers, though he knew what the consequences

PRAYER. 1Y7

would be; and the Old Testament is full of prayers which went from the hearts of the people to the throne of God. But thej wished to be taught to pray in such a manner that blessings and power might come down upon them and our Lord gave to them, and, through them, has given to us the model prayer which we sometimes speak of as the Lord's prayer.

If we were sending a petition to the Queen, about the first question which would present itself is. How shall we address her? what title shall we give her? And when we are sending our petitions to the Lord of all the earth, how shall we address Him? It is this question rising in our hearts that our Lord answers when He says. Say, Our Father. In the Old Testa- ment God is frequently spoken of as a father, but al- ways in the sense of the Creator or the Preserver or the Redeemer of His people; but in the ISTew Testa- ment the word has a different and a deeper m.eaning, a new relationship has been established; God the Son has taken upon Himself our nature. Forasmuch then as we are partakers of flesh and blood. He also Him- self took part of the same, taking not the form of angels but the seed of Abraham, becoming bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh; and through faith we have received His divine nature, for to as many as received Him gave He power to become the sons of God, so that now we have received the adoption and

178 PRAYER.

can cry, Abba Father. Since we are joint heirs with Jesus and He has become the elder brother, we can now speak of God as our Father in a different way from that in which the ancients understood the terra, coming not as foreigners to a king and potentate, but coming as children to a living Father.

The second question Avhich would present itself with reference to the petition of which we have been speaking is, Where shall we send it? And this ques- tion with reference to our Father is answered by Christ when he Says, " Which art in Heaven." When Solomon was dedicating the temple he said that the heaven and the heaven of heavens could not contain God, and we know from the scripture that God is in every place, and that it is impossible to get away from His Spirit or from His all-seeing eye; yet He has a d^^'elling-place, the place of His throne, the city that Abraham saw afar off, a house o^f many mansions to which our Saviour referred on the last night He was with the disciples, a house not made with hands, to which Paul makes reference when writing to the Corinthians — the dwelling-place of our God; and from all parts of the universe God the Father can be reached by the prayers of His children. A petition, if sent to royalty, will be to the point, with veiy few su- perfluous words, and on that account it will necessarily be brief. Prayer ought to be to the point, as we learn

PRAYER. 179

from this model given to us, and it sliould be brief. This is certainly true in regard to public prayer, and there is no lesson which the church has taken so long to learn. How many meetings have been killed by long- prayers; how many congregations have been wearied and put out of a devotional frame of mind because the minister seemed to think that he had to take in everything from the day that the morning stars sang together, until the angel with one foot on the land and the other upon the sea shall cry, " that there should be time no longer." We have no authority for these long prayers. The prayer at the dedica- tion of the temple that was supposed to be an event in the history of the nation will take only five or six minutes to read, and in the 'New Testament long prayers are condemned, and we are told that men are not heard for their much speaking. Brevity then is one of the lessons which Christ teaches by this model which he has given to us. This does not apply, of course, to private devotion; men may spend the whole night in communion Avith Him as He frequently spent the whole night in communion with his Father. The next question presenting itself is, T\niat shall we ask? Here we have the answer, — ^Pray for the hallowdng of the Father's name. IN'ames in scripture were always significant, and the name of God stands for His attributes. We are to pray tlsat that name,

180 PRAYER.

which is so frequently blasphemed and taken in vain by His creatures may be hallowed and had in rever- ence, and then that His kiup:dom may come. If that kinfcdom had come there would be no need to offer up this prayer, but it has not. The kingdom referred to is not the kingdom of God which is A\'ithin us, but the kingdom that shall stretch from shore to shore and from the river to the ends of the earth; the time when all nations shall become His inheritance and all the kingdoms of the world the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ; the time when all shall know Him and when there shall be nothing to hurt or to destroy in all His holy mountain, when He shall reign in. righteousness ; and when that kingdom comes His name will be truly hallowed. Pray that His will may be done upon the earth. Our world is full of jarrings and discord because men are out of touch vnth God and consequently out of touch with one another. But when His kingdom shall come and His will be done upon earth as it is in heaven, there will be noth- ing but the sweetest harmony; and it is for this that the Christian is to pray. Our thoughts are now turned to ourselves — our physical necessities, our daily bread. Our Saviour, in speaking of the Gentiles, said that they were always thinking and talking about what they would eat and drink and wherewithal they would be clothed. He requested His disciples to seek first the

PRAYER. 181

kingdom of God, stating that these necessary things would be added, since the Father knoweth that the children have need of them; therefore in this prayer He teaches to pray first for the kingdom of God and then to ask for the things which the Lord knoweth we need. It is right for us then to pray for our daily bread — for food and raiment, for the God who feeds the sparrows and clothes the lilies will surely care for, and supply the wants of those, who are his chil- dren.

The next petition has reference to oiir sins — for there is no man that sinneth not, and as John tells us, if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, or, as Christ taught Peter, he that is washed requires to have his feet washed. In other words, the ransomed of the Lord coming in contact with sin require daily cleansing of the soul as the body requires its daily food. Therefore He exhorts to pray for the forgiveness of sin, and it is implied that what we ask Him to do for us we will be willing to do for others, — "Forgive us our sins as we for- give those who sin against us." We have no right to ask God to blot out our iniquities unless we are willing to forgive those who are indebted to us. In addition to that, we are to pray for guidance, " Load us not into temptation." It is true God cannot lead men into temptation in the bad sense of the word, as

182 PRAYER.

He caiirot ho tempted of evil, neither tempteth He any man; I'lil loniiitation in this sense means the testing or the ti;\iii£i', jis tlie Spirit led Christ into the wilder- ness to he tempted, whieh means that He was taken there to ho trie :1 or \n he tested, and He stood the test and came from the wilderness as p;old purified in the furnace. The thought here is that we are not to have so much confidence in our own strength, as Ui desii-e that we be led into places where we would be sorely tried or put to a severe test. Peter had unbounded confidence in himself, for when he heard how the disciples were to be tested he thought that though all men fall yet he could stand; but in after years he could see the necessity of this petition. Lead us not into places where we shall be sorely tried.

Deliver us from the evil, or the Evil One. No matter wdiat men's theories are in these days with reference to the power of evil and a personal devil, no one can read the Xew Testament without coming to the conclusion that Jesus Christ believed in a per- sonal devil; and He is here teaching His disciples to pray that they may be delivered from this Evil One — this one, who so desired to have one of these same disciples, that he might sift him as wheat. And surely, if those disciples who had such wonderful power imparted to them required to pray this prayer, how much more do we need to offer it up from our

PRAYER. 183

hearts that we may be delivered from him, from his wiles and from his power.

In lookin;^ at this model in-ayer we see that it is wonderfully comprehensive. It takes in everythinp:; — the name of God. the kinj^dom of God, the wall of God, our physical necessities — food and raiment im- plied— the pardon of our sins, our relation to others in the forgiving of those who trespass against us, our guidance through the difficult places and places of trial, and our deliverance from the Evil One. Like the law Avritten on the tables of stone referring to God and refen*ing to humanity, the foundation of all laws, so this prayer, the two tables you may say, referring to God, His kingdom, His will; referring to our needs, physical and spiritual, and our relation to others, is the foundation and the model for all prayer, — leaving out nothing and taking in everything that is necessary.

But this was not the only occasion on which Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. He taught them by example. When they would see Him rising a great while before day and getting alone with His Father, holding communion with God, a voice would say to them, "After this manner prav ye." When they heard that most wonderful of prayers which is re- corded in tlie seventeenth of John, in which He was pleading for the union of His followers, that they

184 PRAYER.

might bo one, this same voice would say to the dis- ciples, " After this mamier therefore Dray ye." Pray that My followers may be one in heart, that the world may see the "union and believe that the Father hath sent -Me. Then they go with him to Gethsemane. It may be that the very one who said, " Teach us to pray," was among the three who were nearest to Him on that wonderful occasion. They saw Him fall on the earth, they heard His cry, repeating the same words and requesting God to let the cup pass if it were possible, adding, " ISTevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done." That voice would again say to them, "After this manner therefore pray ye;" pray that the Father's will may be done though you may have to drink the cup to its bitter dregs. As they follow Him to the cross, see the men who pass by wagging their heads and spitting in His face, as they see the parched lips opened and hear the prayer, " Father forgive them," the voice comes again, "After this manner therefore pray ye;" pray for those who despitefully use you; pray for your enemies; pray for those who revile you, for I have set you an example. He also teaches them from parables which He uttered, how they are to be in earnest and persevere in prayer. To illustrate this He takes the story of the unjust judge and the poor widow. This man has no regard for God, consequently he has no regard for his

PRAYER. 186

fellowmen, he is one of tlie corrupt judges of whom there were so many in the eastern lands in those days. Here is the poor -widow, helpless and defenceless; the adversaries, it may he, are trying to take away her children and sell them into captivity. She comes seeking for justice but this uniust man will not hearken to her voice. She cries in the court-room, " Avenge me of my adversary," she is repulsed and put out, but as he is going home he hears her cry again. He may get away from her then, but the first thing he hears in the early morning is the cry of this same woman; she follows him wherever he goes and at last he says, " Though I regard not God or man, yet lest she trouble me by her continual coming I will grant her request." And Christ virtually says " If an unjust judge will grant such a request because of the persistent way in which it is presented, how much more will your loving Father in heaven grant unto you the things He is only too willing to give if He sees you are in earnest in asking for them." " After this manner therefore pray ye." Following the example of this woman, come with your requests expecting an answer and keep on asking until you receive that which your soul desires. The reason why so many of our prayers are not answered is because they are not pra^^ers, they are simply requests, and we would be surprised if they were answered. Suppose that

186 PRAYER.

woman Lad gone to tho unjust judge and said, " I am going to try to get justice, if I get it well and good, but if I do not get it, well T cannot help it." she would not have obtained that wliich she sought for. But ,she was so much in earnest that she said, " If there is justice in the land I am going to have it, ho -will either grant my request or I MnW perish in the effort to obtain what I want." Have we not children or friends in as great danger as her family were? Are we as anxious concerning them as she was? Do we come to God saying, " This is absolutely essential and I am going to seek until I find and knock until itj is opened?"

Then take an example from His own life. A poor woman comes from the despised race of the Canaan- ites; she is a Syrophenician and an evil spirit has taken possession of her daughter; she has heard about Jesus; she believes He is able to do what she wants and to save to her the daughter that is so dear to her heart, so she comes to him. The disciples ask Him to send her away because she is troubling them. Still she persists in presenting her requests. He turns His back upon her and utters not a word, but she is not discouraged, she comes still closer. Then He acts in a strange way, speaks to her as perhaps He never spoke to another and says, " It is not meet to take the chil- dren's bread and srive it to the dogs." In other words

PRAYER. 187

He tells lier she is only one of tlie Gentile dogs, one of tliose wlio are looked down upon by the Jews and spoken of in those disparaging terms; but she throws herself at His feet stating that she is willing; to be called anything, and that as the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the master's table, she is willing to take that place, but she will not go away until she gets that for which she came. She realizes that the case is desperate, that the life and the future of her daughter depends upon His actions, and she is willing to be anything or do anything so long as she gets her re- quest answered. Then He looks at her and says, " Oh woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt." Was He ever more pleased with anyone than He was with that woman because of her importunity, and I fancy I can hear Him say to the disciples as He points to this woman, " After this manner therefore pray ye." " Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find;" for the Lord is found by those who seek Him with all their hearts.

XVIII.

THE YOUNG KULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR.

" And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved ; for he had great possessions." — Mxkk 10 : 22.

" And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way." —Mark 10: 52.

It would be difficult to imagine a greater contrast than that which exists between these two men. Look- ing at them from the physical point of view we think of the young man as strong and healthy in the full en- joyment of all his faculties: We think of Bartimeus being blind, and a greater calamity can hardly befall a man as far as the physical is concerned. Then the one is a ruler and tlie other a beggar, the young man has great possessions and enjoys all the comforts and luxuries which wealth can provide, while the other is depending upon charity for his existence, often, no doubt, deprived of the necessaries of life. But there is a point in which they resemble each other — for they are both unhappy. We read of the young man being sorrowful, there is something for which his soul craves that he is not in possession of, for material things cannot satisfy the hunger of the spiritual na- ture. We would not be surprised to find Bartimeus

THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR. 189

unliappy, and no doubt some looking at him in his miserable condition would say, If he had his sight and plenty of money he would lack nothing and enjoy happiness. But the young man was in possession of all this and still he was miserable, for a man's happi- ness consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth ; happiness in humble homes, and discontent in palatial dwellings.

There is another point of resemblance — both of these men come in contact with Christ. The one runs to Him as He passes and falls at His feet hail- ing Him as Good Master, the other cries after Him. as He is passing by and pleads for mercy from the Son of David. Then we come to a point of contrast. The young man goes away sorrowful, as one writer puts it, or grieved, as we read in another gospel — goes away more imhappy than he was when he came, while Bartimeus gets all he wanted, all he sought for, and follows Jesus in the way. Wliy this contrast? Is it because Jesus loved one more than the other? We do read that He looked upon the young ruler and loved him, we do not read any such statement concern- ing Bartimeus, and yet the latter was happy after his interview with Christ, while the former was made more miserable.

Let us now look at these men individually and we will find out the cause of all this. In the life of Bar-

IDO THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR.

timeus another morning has come and he is led out as usual by someone, takes his seat under the shadow of a friendly tree as he had done on many fonner occasions, expects that this day will be long and mono- tonous like those wliicli have gone before it, but as the day advances, his ear, which is so sensitive, detects the sound of an unusual multitude of people who are passing by, he cannot see them, but he asks what it means, and the answer comes, "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by." A thrill of joy goes through his whole being. Can it be possible that this is the One concern- ing whom he has thought so much? Quick as a flash we hear his cry, "Jesus of JsTazareth, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me." Those who are near him try to keep him quiet, but it is no use, for above the noisy crowd the beggar's voice is slirill and loud, "Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy upon me." Christ hears the cry, stops the procession, commands them to bring him, opens to the blind man the trea- suries of heaven and says, "What wilt thou that T should do unto thee?" The answer comes, "Lord that I might receive my sight," and Jesus resT)onds, " Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole," and the historian tells us, that he received his sight im- mediately and followed Jesus in the way.

We are informed then that it was by faith he was healed, nnd yet we look upon Josu"? ns the liealer.

THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR. 191

Sometimes faith is spoken of as that which saves. At others times Jesus is spoken of as the Saviour. It amounts to the same in the end. For example, sup- pose we are at a railway station, there is an engine and a long train of cars there all moving out, one man looking at them says, " That engine is drawing a train." Another man says " The couplings are draw- ing the train," and they are both right. The coup- lings would be of no use without the engine, but the engine must be imited to the cars if they are to bene- fit by her power and be dra^vn along by her strength. The cars cannot go without the engine, neither can men be saved without Christ, but, as in the case of the train there must be a union, and we are informed that without faith it is impossible to please God, and by faith we are saved; for it is faith that links the helpless sinner to the powerful Saviour, and in this case Jesus said to Bartimeus, " Thy faith hath made thee whole." But how did he get this faith ? We read that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Xo doubt he had often listened to those who were reading the Old Testament and how intensely interested he would be in that thirty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, where the Messiah is spoken of as the One who would open the eyes of the blind. Then men told him about this preacher from Xazareth, re- lated to him the ^vonderful things that they had seen

192 THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR.

Him do. He put tlie two together, and said, Such things were predicted concerning the Messiah, the Son of David, such things are being fulfilled by thi^ prophet of ISTazareth, therefore he is none other than the One who was to come. In this way he mu=t have obtained his faith, the faith which looked upon Jesus not only as a man sent from God, but a.i the Son of David — another name for the long looted for ]\Ies- siah.

But then men t<ilk to us concerning a saving faith and a faith that is dead, j^ow we can get an illus- tration of these kinds of faith in the case that is be- fore us. Bartimeus might have believed that he wa.s blind, might have believed that this was the Son of Da^dd, able and willing tO' do more than he could think or ask, and still have remained in his blindness. Sometim.es we have teachers, or m.en who call them- selves teachers, and they will say to the sinner, " You believe that you are a sinner?" The response comes, " Yes, I know it." " You believe that Jesus Christ is the Saviour able and willing to save?" They are ans- wered in the affirmative, and then they say, 'ni\^ell that ii^ faith, vou are saved." Go to Bartimeus and sav t/) him, "You believe you are blind?" He will answer, " I know it." " You believe that tlie one concerning whom you have heard is the Son of David, able and willing to save you?" He answers, "T believe it,"

THE VOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR. 193

And then we say to liim, " Therefore you have re- ceived your sight." But he will answer, " I cannot see." There must be in addition to all of this — con- tact between the blind man, and the One who is the light of the world. There must be contact between the sinner and the Saviour, as there must be a union between the cars and the engine, if the power of the one is to be imparted to the other; and this contact we see brought about by Bartimeus calling to Jesus and being brought to Him. In the Old Testament we are informed that whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. We cannot call on Him of whom we have not heard, but as soon as this blind man had heard and come to realize that this was the Lord he called upon Him. And so soon as he called difficul- ties came in the way, for the multitude tried to quiet him.

History has been repeating itself in all ages, and to-day, just as soon as a sinner, realizing that he is a sinner and that there is salvation in Christ, desires to come to the Saviour or to call upon Him, so soon will obstacles come in the way and the devil, through some agency, mil try to come between the seeking sinner and the pardoning Saviour. But Bartimeus is in earnest, and when a man is in earnest there is noth- ing which can keep him from being saved. Fre- quently we meet with those who are not Christiana

194 THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR.

jiiul WO talk to tliein about their salvation. They say to us that tliey wouldn't mind if they were Christians, but they talk about it in a half-hearted way. Such men are not likely to be saved, for we read that men find- the Lord when they seek llim with all their hearts, in other words, when they become in earnest; and as soon as a man sees his sin in the light of God's revealed truth, so soon will he desire to get away from it and cry as Bartimeus did to the Son of David. Jesus heard that cry, and let us remember that at that time lie was going up to Jerusahnn after being rejected by His brethren. His disciples were quarreling as to wIkj should be the gi'eatest in the kingdom, which they thought He was about to establish. Before Him were the agonies of Gethsemane and the shame of Calvary, and yet He could hear the cry of a poor beggar and take time to grant his request. To-day the sufferings are over. He is exalted a prince and a Saviour, but He still bends on earth a brother's eye, and IBs ear is still open to the cry of the needy. There is not a single soul on the face of the earth but can get a hearing from this Son of God, if they will only cry to Him in their sorrow as did this blind beggar near to the citv of Jericho. Then Jesus opened to him, as it Avere, the storehouse of heaven and asked him what he wanted. He was a beggar and might have asked for alms, but what would all the gifts that could be given

THE YOUNG RULER AND tHE BLIND BEGGAR. 195

be in comparison witli his sight, and bo he asked for that which was essential to his happiness.

The Lord often asks men the same question to-daj, and sajs to them, " What wilt thou that I should do for thee." Some ask for wealth and some for power, others again that they may stand high in the estim- ation of their fellow-men, " But what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" And what gain would it be to Bartimeus to re- ceive as a gift the Jordan valley, so long as he was without his sight? Then Jesus informed him that his faith had healed liim, his eyes were opened to be- hold the glories of nature, he saw the multitudes that thronged his Master, but to him Jesus was the chief among thousands and the one altogether lovely. With a glad heart he followed Him in the way, to rejoice in the blessings he had received, and to wor- ship and adore his benefactor.

How different in the case of the young ruler. He comes sorrowful, but he goes away a thousand times more sorrowful. Jesus, who was spoken of as a physi- cian, diagnosed his case, saw at a srlance the secret of all the trouble, and told him that he was lacking one thing, to sell his possessions, to give to the poor, to take up the cross, to follow in the way, and then he would have treasures in heaven, !^^ow why did Christ make such a demand of this young ruler? He asked

196 THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BECGAR.

iiothiiig of Bartimeus, simply granted his request, but He never deals with any two in exactly the same way. He deals with men according to their individual need, and no doubt He saw that in the case of this young man,- covetousness was the besetting sin, and that which was standing between him and the eternal life he sought. AVe can imagine a man going to a physi- cian and informing the doctor that he is miserable and that he is anxious to be in good health. After an examination the physician infonns him that one of his limbs is diseased and will have to be amputated, that if that is done he ^^dll enjoy health and live pro- bably for many years, but if the operation i> not per- formed he will never enjoy a dav free from pain, and in a short time all will end in death. The man says, " I am A''ery anxious to live and t-o be free from pain, but I cannot submit to the operation." And then the physician informs him that he can do nothing further for him, it is either the parting with the limb and the having the life, or retaining the limb and going down with it to death; and so the man goes away from tho physician exceeding soiTowful, wanting to have the life, but refusing to part wnth that which is essential in the retaining of this life. It was something simi- lar in the case of this young man. He wanted eter- nal life but could not have it, and at the same time retain his possessions, but he would not think of giv-

THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR. 197

ing up the possessions, so he went away to be sorrow- ful all the days of his life, and then to go out, as far as we know, into the darkness.

Christ has told us that if the right eye or the right hand or the right foot offends they must be separated from the body, for it is better to enter into life maimed than to be cast out having all the members. We know Avhen He is speaking in this way He is using figurative language, for it is not the physical eye or the physi- cal hand or foot that can endanger the life of the soul, but it meaus there are things right in themselves, not only so but they may be sometimes as useful as the i-ight eye or the right hand or foot, and yet these very things may threaten the life of the soul, and the only course then to be pursued is to be sepai-ated from them. With some, wealth is a power with which they can make friends who will receive them into ever- lasting habitations, with others, wealth may be like the right eye or the right hand endangering the life of the soul. And perhaps there is no sin greater or more frequently committed than the sin of covetous- ness. The love of money is still the root of all evil. Were it not for the desire to have wealth we would have no difficulty with the liquor traffic or the opium traffic, and a great many of the other e^dls which are ruining multitudes of our fellow-men. For men do. not manufacture and sell liquor because they love to

198 THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR.

see their fellow-beings intoxicated, but because there is money in it. They do not ctow and dispose of opium for the love of seeinjr millions of Chinamen sent down to premature graves, but because there is money in it. Tn every walk of life we see how sin is eatincr like a canker, blastinsr the hopes and ruinin^x the souls of multitudes. "With some it may be sin of a different kind. But in everv case, whatever the sin may be, the man mustTae separated from it before he can be saved, for Jesus came not to save men in their sins but to save them from their sins. He loved this young ruler, Tie was anxious to save him and the young man was anxious to be saved himself, but when it came to the ouestion of partiner with the possessions in order to obtain the life, he chose the possessions, and with a sorro-^^^ul heart went away lacking the one thin?? which was needful.

TTow many there are to-dav in the same -nosition in which this youno- man was. Thev would like to be saved and to be sure of a home in the house not made with hands, hvf there is some darling sin from which thev do not M-ish to bo parted, and so it is between the sin and the Saviour — His loving; and compassion- ate eve r^stinsr upon them, and thev going awav sor- rowful. "Neyer did this vounsr man eni'ov a dav of real happiness durinn- the rest of hi<5 li-^^e. Thp t"''-^!- cries of the past followed him, and the fear of tt^

THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR. 199

future haunted liiia. So it is with those who come in contact with Christ, and have offered to them the treasures of heaven; they barter off these for some of tlie things of earth, for the sins or the possessions that are so dear to them.

The one man followed Jesus rejoicing, the other went away sorrowful. How often this happens in the house of God. Two men come in, sit down it may be in the same pew, both conscious that there is a something essential to the happiness they are not in posF^ssion of. The one opens his heart, receives the truth, takes up his cross to follow the blaster and goes out of the sanctuary rejoicing. The other man refuses to comply with the conditions and goes out more sor- rowful than he came in, having before him all tlie years the fear of death, and the dread of the judgment to come. How different would this young man's life have been had he complied mth the conditions laid down by Jesus. He would have had that fullness of joy of which one of Christ's followers speaks, his name might have stood high in the list of the worthies, and he at last have received an abundant entrnu':'e into the everlasting kingdom, where there is joy and plea- sures and everlasting treasures at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

J?

XIX. JESUS ONLY.

'• They saw no man, save Jesus only."— Matthew 17 : 8.

These words, Jesus only, are tlie key to tlie scene described iu tins chapter. Vie are not going to dis- cuss the question as to what mountain He was trans- figiu-ed upon, whether Tabor or ITennon, for while the discussion might be interesting it would be of little practical importance. The cross upon which He was crucified is of very little importance compared %vith the Christ; the sepulchre in which He lay is of very little value com])ared with the risen Christ, who left it on the resun-ection morning. In like manner we are more interested in that which transpired upon the mountain, and it is to this scene that our atten- tion for some time shall be turned.

On the evening of the day we see four men going up the mountain-side. When they have reached the place Avhere they intend to tarry, Ave see three of them sitting down upon the grass while the fourth is a little way from them in the attitude of pvayei-, ;ind while He prays a wonderful change comes over Him, His face shines like the sun and His garments become bright as the light. Tn Exodns wo read of Moses' face

' JESUS ONLY. 201

sliming with sucli a brightness that the people could not look upon it, but that glory came to Moses from Avithout, it Avas the glorv of God, shining upon his face during the days he was upon the mount, that gave it such brilliancy. We also read that the face of Stephen, when he Avas being stoned, shone like the face of an angel, but that glory also may have come from Avithout, it may liaA^e come from the One Avho was standing at the right hand of the Father to re- ceive His first martyr. Eut this glory Avhich caused the face and the gannents of Christ to shine and glis- ten Avas a gloiy from Avithin, for while He Avas God manifest in the flesh, Ave might also speak of Him as God concealed by the flesh. As the A^eil in the an- cient temple concealed the Shekinah from the gaze of the people, so His flesh, Avhicli Avas spoken of as a veil or a tent, concealed the diAdne glory so that He ap- peared to the multitudes like an ordinary man; but for the time beine: this glory shone through the flesh and the disciples beheld it. It may have been some- thing like this Avhich happened in the Garden of Gethsemane, Avhen thoee A\dio came to arrest Him fell to the ground as dead men. We knoAv also that Avhen He appeared to Saul on the Avay to Damascus His presence Avas brighter than the sun at noon-day: and Ave have a description of Him in Revelation as He appeared to John, and Ave know from the sacred

202 JESUS ONLY.

%mtings that He is the lig;ht of the celestial city, where they need no candle, neither lio;ht of the sun nor the moon, for the Lamb is the light thereof. And in after years when Peter is referring to this scene he says, '^ We saw His glory in the Mount,'' not the glory of God resting upon Him, hut His own glory being made manifest.

In reading this we sometimes wonder if the people on the plains beheld the Avonderful sight on the moun- tain-side; the cloud out of which the voice of God was heard, and this One, whose face shone with such bril- liancy. Did the mothers carry out their little chil- dren to behold the wonderful sight? Did the shep- herds talk of it on the following day, and did it bring to their remembrance stories they had heard of a strange sight the shepherds beheld on the plains of Bethlehem, when the glory of God shone around them and the heavenly choir sang " Gloiw to God in the highest?" We cannot tell; it may be that none save the three disciples beheld this wonderful scene.

Then Moses and Elias appear. They are recog- nized by these three disciples. They come as repre- sentatiA'e men — one representing the law and the other the prophets. How often, when Christ was teaching, n)on said to Him, " We be Moses' disciples," and others again referred to the prophecies concern- ing the Messiah. These two come to shoAV or rather to

' JESUS ONLY. 208

verify what Christ had so often said, that He came not to destroy but to fulfil the law and the prophets, that He and Moses and the prophets are iii perfect harmony, that they spoke of Him and He came to fulfil their predictions. They cam.e also to represent those who have and who shall pass throug;h the Jor- dan of death, and those who shall never struggle with the last enemy; for Moses died in the Mount of Moah and was buried there, while Elijah ascended to the heavens in the chariot of fire. Moses representing all who have gone down to the srave or have been buried in the sea; Elijah representing that vast mul- tituda, who at His anpearina' shall not taste of death, but shall be translated and rise to meet the Lord i^i the air. Thev come also to represent the church triumr)hant, Avhile the disciples represent the church militant, showing that thev are one, as we have it so cTearlv broucht out in the eleventh and twelfth char>- fers of Hebrews, where the ^vrit-er sneaks of the illus- trious dead who, without us. are not made perfect, showing the connection between those who have run the race and finished the cour!=e. vnth those who are still engasred in the contest. The discinlcs beloner to the church that has still to fiorht with the evils within and the foes without, s+me'.frling on from vic- tory to victory, while Moses and Elias r6pr(^ent those

204 JESUS ONLY.

who have entered into rest, who have reached tlio goal.

How little the people at the foot of the mountain knew of what was going on, snch a little way from them.' They never dreamt that the gTeat Law-giver and the greatest of the prophets was so near to them. May it not sometimes be so in our lives? AVe do read that there is a gTcat gulf between the ]3lace of the lost and the place of the saved, but we do not read of any gulf between the ransomed in heaven and the ran- somed on earth. "We often speak of the hand that is vanished and the voice that is still, but perhaps the glorified dead are nearer to us than we imagine. "We are sure that there are guardian angels, yet our physi- cal eyes cannot see them. It is only a theory, of course, that we cannot prove, and 3^et cannot deny, for if Moses and Elias were so near to these disciples is it not possible that some of the sainted dead may be near to those who are still running the race and fight- ing the battles on earth? There is one thing, how- ever, that we are sure of, there is now unbroken con- nection between heaven and earth. Jacob saw the ladder on which angels were ascending and descend- iug. and iu the last verses of the first chapter of John wo have it on the best authoritv that tliat ladder un- iting heaven and earth is the Ron of ^Fan, who was transfigured on this mountain, in the ]U'esence of His disciples and of Moses and Elias.

JESUS ONLY. 205

Xot only is there much to be seen on the mount, but there is also much to be heard. We listen to the conversation of Moses and Elias, and we would naturally think that they would be talking about the glorious place from which they came, or about the scene which they witnessed. There were wonderful things happened in the days of Moses while he was upon earth; he might have talked about the Red Sea and about Iloreb, while Elijah might have spoken of Mount Carmel and the scenes in the da^^s of Ahab, or of the chariot of fire in which he ascended. But their conversation is not about the things of the past, or the glory of the redeeoned, but about an event that is to take place at Jerusalem. Luke tells, us that they spoke of the decease which He, Christ, was to accom- plish. In other words, the atonement was the sub- ject of their conversation, and we find that that event is the centre of all history. To it all the sacrifices pointed, to it all the prophets looked forward; and about this decease at Jerusalem the evangelists speak at great length, while the epistles are full of it; and in Revelation John sees in the midst of the Throne a Lamb as it had been slain and hears the song of the multitude, " Thou art worthy, for Thou hast redeemed us with Thy blood." Then, as we listen we hear a voice, it comes from the excellent heaven, or out of the great and glorious cloud that overshadows them, it is the voice of the Father concerning the Son, for

206 JESirS ONLY.

the sake of the disciples no doubt it came, to con- firm tlieir faith in the divinity of their Master, for the voice said : " This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." It would be impossible for these disciples ever to doubt His divinity after what they beheld, after what they heard, and one of these men, John, devotes his whole gospel to show that Jesus was the Christ, the One who was with the Father before the world Avas, the one who was equal with, the Father, and who became flesh and dwelt among us, whose glory men beheld. When they hear this voice the disciples are full of fear and fall to the earth. Then they feel a gentle touch and they hear the voice that is so familiar to them, saying, " Fear not." It is the voice of the One who was not to break the bruised reed or quench the smoking flax; the voice that they heard when they were out on the troubled waters saying to them, " It is I, be not afraid;" the \'oice that spoke to tlieir troubled hearts on the last night when He was with them, saying, " Let not your hearts be troubled."

We notice for a moment the impression which the scene made upon the disciples. Peter said, " It is good for us to be here;" and then he suggested mak- ing tabernacles for Moses and Elias and Jesus. It certainly was good to be there, to see what they saw and hear what they heard, but it would not have been

JESUS ONLY. 20T

good to liave remained even on that glorious Mount. It is true, tliey would have been away from the strife of tongues and from the tumults of the people, from the bickerings of the Sadducees and the enmity of the Pharisees, but it would have been a poor change for Moses and Elias; they had had enough of earth and its difficulties in the days of their fiesh. And it would have been a sad thing for the world if they had re- mained on the mountain. There was work to be done on the plains. The son'owing v/ere to be comforted, the sick were to be healed, the destitute were to be looked after, the world was to be redeemed, and if all this is to ])e dope they must leave this place that is forever hallowed by the scenes of the night, and come down among men. But the impression wliicb they received will be always with them, strengthen- ing their hearts and making them strong for the diffi- culties and temptations that lie ahead of them. It is a great thing and a necessary thing for us to have our mounts of transfiguration, our seasons when we can see Christ, the glorified, and have fellowship with Him, and be brought as it were into the very heavens. These times are essential, but it is not well to remain on the mount while there is so much work to be done on the plain or in the cities. For example, you tee a Christian reading, say the best of books, he is in a comfortable room, his thoughts are on high things, he

208 ' JESUS ONLY.

is having f&llowsliij) witli Clirist, to him the very walls of that room may l)ccome glorious with the assurance of Christ's presence, it is a mount of trans- figuration. How pleasant it is to be there. Without the wind is blowing and the snow is drifting; the thought comes to him that away in a distant part of the city ^here is a poor family, they liaA'e not enough coal to keep the house warm, they have not enough food to sustain them ; his duty, nay, his privilege is to leave that room or that mount of transfiguration and to go to the help of the needv. That is what Christ did on tills occasion to which we are referring. He "was required at the foot of the mountain and He came down to do the work that no other could do. It is those who show their Christianity by deeds that are Christ-like, who shall stand highest at the last.

When the cloud disappeared we read that they saw no man save Jesus only. Moses had gone and Elias had gone, but Jesus remained. He was the only one who coidd do for them what they required; He alone could redeem them from sin; for there is only one Mediator, and there is no other name through which men can be saved. Then He could give them all the help and strength that was required, because, as He informed them on a future occasion, to Him was committed all power in heaven and in earth, hence Ho was able to supply all their wants, since in Him

( JESUS ONLY. ' 209

all fullness dwelt. What is true of tlie disciples is true of iLs, iu Him is our sufficiency, our redeemer and our strength. jSTot only so, but He is the only One who can be always with the Christian, for we have His promise that He will never leave nor for- sake those who trust Him. He and He alone can ac- company us when we are passing through the waters, for our dearest friends must part with us at the mar- gin of the river, but we have His assurance that those who trust in Him shall be presented faultless on the other shore. He can give grace and wisdom, and at last glorify those whom He has redeemed and sus- tained. So when we read that Jesus only was left to the disciples, we are not to imagine that they met with any loss by the departure of Moses and Elias. Christ allowed those men to return to their glory and their rest, but He remained with His followers until He finished the work which He came to do, and the Christian has this assurance, that if he should lose everything upon earth, if even father and motlior should forsake him, Jesus is still left, and will be with him as He was with those disciples, who beheld His glory on the Mount.

I suppose those who saw the disciples ascend the Mount in the evening, and saw them come down from it on the following morning, would have said that these disciples were the same men who ascended on

210 JESUS ONLY.

the previous night, and yet they were not the same men, because what they saw and what they heard made such an impression on them that they were diff- erent men from that hour until they entered into glory. Sometimes we see men go into a religious service, and in an hour or an hour and a half we may see them come out from the service, and we may say to ourselves they are the same men but they may be very different, they may have heard in that meeting things which have chang;ed their whole lives. They may have gone in captives bound by Satan, they may come out free men, having l)een made free by the Son, having received impressions and undergone a change that will be seen and felt all through the years of their lives. We know it was so in the case of these disciples, because Peter refers to it many yeare after- wards. One of these three was the first of the dis- ciples to seal his testimony with his blood; another was the man whom Satan desired to have that he might sift him as wheat; the third and youngest was the one who was to live so many years, to be ban- ished as a prisoner to Patmos and there to behold the glorious scenes recorded to us in the book of Revela- tion. For ever after this memorable night to these men Jesus was the chief among the thousands, the altogether lovely, the source of their comfort and of their future hope.

XX.

SOWING AKD REAPING.

A SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.

■• Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." — Galatians 6 : 7.

From one point of view this is one of the most encouraging texts in the New Testament. Frequently those who are sowing tlie seeds of self-denial, of in- dustry, and sobriety, become discouraged as they see so few signs of a hai-vest; while they behold others, who are sowing seeds of selfishness, self-indulgence and such like, getting along splendidly. They are like the psalmist who beheld the wicked flourishing as the green bay tree, having no afflictions, frequentlv no bands in their death, while the righteous — many of them — have troubles and difficulties accompanied mth adversity.

But we must bear in mind that the period between seed-time and harvest varies in length. Sometimes the sowing and reaping are in the same day. For ex- ample, our Saviour scattered seeds of Gospel truth by Jacob's well at noon-day, and before the sun had gone down He and His disciples had gathered many sheaves of the harvest, for many Samaritans believed on Him, not only because of the saying of the wmnau,

212 SOWING AND REAPING.

but because they saw and heard Him for themselves. On the day of Pentecost Peter began to scatter die seed at nine o'clock in the morning, and b«ifore tnc twelfth hour three thousand were gathered into the fold. - At midnight Paul and Silas began to sow in tlie prison-house in Pliillippi, and before an hour passed they were reaping; for the jailer and his family believed and were baptized the same hour of the night. On the other hand we have had missionaries who were somng ten, fifteen or twenty years before they saw any signs of haiwest. The Lone Star Mis- sion is an illustration of this. Some men have been sowing the seeds of self-denial for the sake of others all through their lives, and have passed away from earth without reaping the fruits of their labors.

A harvest delaj'ed is not a harvest denied, and this is true of those who are sowing the seeds of right- eousness, as well as of those who are sowing the seeds of iniquity. Sometimes the reaping, or part of the reaping, is done by men wliilc they are upon earth, sometimes a great deal of it, or almost all of it, is done in eternity. The greatest of all teachers and the great- est of all artists has given to us a parable and a pic- ture which illustrates this. He shows us a poor man named Lazarus who evidently was sowing the seeds of righteousness, but as far as he was concerned there was no reaping in this life; he jeceived very little pity from men and longed for the crumbs that were not

SOWING AND REAPING. 213

given to him. He died, and tlie authorities g:ave him a lot in the Potter's Field. The funeral was hurried, they would say to the undertaker,

" Rattle his bones over the stones, He is a poor pauper whom nobody owns." The other man kept sowing the seeds of self-indul- gence and selfishness, lived in luxury, clothed in fine linen and puiple, faring sumptuously every day, dwelling in a magnificent mansion, having a retinue of servants to wait upon him, and a beautiful carriage in which to drive. At last he died. There was a great funeral, eulogies were pronounced over the dead, and a monument of stone, as cold and as hard as the heart of the man while he was alive, erected to him. Then our Lord draws aside the curtain and lets us see these men reaping — for all their life-time they were both sowing — the rich man is seen lifting up his eyes, being in torment, and craving for that which cannot be sup- plied, while Lazarus is beheld in Abraham's bosom enjoying the blessings and the glory of the Paradise of God.

In the natural world the harvest always follows the seed-time, and so shall it be and so it is in the spiritual world. A cup of cold water given in a dis- ciple's name shall receive a disciple's reward, " for whatsoever a man sov/eth, that shall he also reap." And as every "eed bringeth forth according to its kind

214 SOWING AND REAPING.

in the natural world, so it is in the spiritual world, " For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting."

Not only shall men reap the same kind as they sow, but they shall reap in proportion as they sow. For example, a man does not expect to reap as great a han'est from a hundred bushels of seed as he would from a thousand bushels of seed. In like manner in the spiritual world they who sow sparingly shall reap sparingly, and they who sow boimtifully shall reap bountifully. A great many Christian people are do- ing very little sowing in the spiritual world and they vnll consequently reap a small harv^est. It would be well if this truth could be enforced upon many pro- fessing Christians who are sowing so sparingly, for there will also be degrees of glory, or, to put it in another way, some vnll have a greater harvest in glory and some a greater har^^est in misery than others, aC' cording as they sow.

It must also be borne in mind that every man shall do his own reaping, for wliatsoevcr a man soweth, that shall he also reap. It is tnie that no man liveth to himself, and that by a man's righteousness othci-s are benefited, while by a man's sins others suffer and have to do part of the reaping; yet it is also tnie that every man shall bear his own sin, or, in other words, do his

SOWING AND REAPING. 215

own reaping. This has a dark and a bright side to it, — one of warning and one of encouragement.

I wish now to refer to some kinds of seed which men are sowing from which there will come a terrible har\'est, and first of all I shall refer to the seeds of in- temperance. This has to do Avith the body. Our bodies have been spoken of as temples which are not to be defiled by sin; they are spoken of also as taber- nacles or tents, indicating that they are frail and may easily be injured, and anything which will in any way injure our bodies or unfit them for filling the place and doing the work which God intended them to do is an evil seed from which a bad harvest shall come. A large percentage of the men who "vvdshed to volunteer for service in the Spanish- American war were refused because of their physical unfitness, and it is asserted that ninety per cent, of those who were vejected were physically disqualified through the smoking of cigarettes. Multitudes of our boys and young men on this continent are at the present time somng seeds througli cigars and cigarettes, that can- not help bearing evil fruit as far as their bodies are concerned. AVhile there are many things we might refer to which are injuring the bodies, especially of young people, perhaps there is no one thing, that is doing more injur)^ to young men than strong drink. If we go to our asylums, to our hospitals, to our poor-

216 SOWING AND REAPING.

lioiiscs, to our jails and prisons, we will see multitudes who are now reaping from the seeds which they sowed in youth or in early manhood. The world is full of physical and mental and moral wrecks, and these men are simply reaping that which they sowed. But it is only the first-fruits of the harvest they reap here, for we are distinctly told that a drunkard shall not in- herit the kingdom of heaven. And I might say that the saloons and taverns are not the only places where these seeds of intemperance are sown. I am fre- quently down in the heart of the city between twelve and two o'clock in the morning, and I often see young men going to their homes reeling under the influence of strong driidv, which they obtained, not in the taverns, but in the club-rooms, and these club-rooms wdiere liquor is sold are only gilded gateways leading to hell. Multitudes of our young men make the down- ward start here, and then, when they become slaves to drink, they will seek it in any hovel or den where it can be procured. It is a question if all clubs whether liquor is sold there or not, are not injurious. At first, the Lord placed the inliabitants of the earth in families, but in this age we are placing them in clubs and in societies, and these things ai'e interfer- ing with the home, and whatever interferes with the home interferes with the nation; for the State is founded on the home life of the people, and if the

SOWING AND REAPING. 217

home is destro3"ed tlie State cannot exist. But if those who become intemperate and become drunkards shall reap a harvest, what about those who manufac- ture and sell? Are thej not sowing and shall thej not reap? Is there not a woe pronounced upon the man who puts the bottle to his neighbor's lips and maketh him drunk? Whether he does this to get the man's money or treats him in order to get his custom it is all the same ; the whole business is iniquitous and the seeds of intemperance shall bring forth in time or eternity a fearful harvest.

I shall now refer to gambling, for while many are perishing through intemperance a multitude is also perishing through gambling, and in this country men seem to have a mania for it. We know the fight that they are having in Vancouver at the present time with reference to this subject. iSTow what is gamb- ling? It is a man either losing his money without get- ting an equivalent for it, or gaining money without giving an equivalent either in the sweat of his brain or the sweat of his brow. The winner is one who has obtained money without giving any value for it. Those who gamble are frequently spoken of as sports, but the right name for them is thieves. Let me illus- trate. Here is a man who has, say, ten or fifteen dol- lars a week of a salary, he has a wife and family to support. The law of the State, apart from the law of

218 SOWING AND REAPING.

God, would compel that man to support his family when he is able to do it; but instead of takin^r the money home to them he goes to a pool-room, begins to gamble, and the money is squandered. Some of those -who are more expert in the business than he is, gain the money, and he loses it. What is the result? His wife and family are denied many of the necessar- ies of life, the children may often be hungr}' and not have sufficient clothing, while the young men who have gained that money arc holding high heads, squandering the m.oney, and calling themselves sports. They have in their pockets the money that belongs to those children and that woman, and if that is not dishonesty I don't know what it is. Xot only so but those young men become so fascinated with the gamb- ling that it becomes a kind of mania, and as the bird becomes fascinated with the hawk and flies into the very claws of the enemy, so these men go on from bad to worse until they perish through this vice. 1 know tliat many young men in our city are being ruined through gambling, and that sin leads on to others, for the beginning of sin is like the letting in of wators. But what about the men who keep these places, and are ruining these young men? Are they not soAvine; and shall they not reap ? If our Lord were talking to some of those men would He not say to them, as He did say to such in the days of his flesh, "Ye

SOWING AND REAPING. 219

vipers and serpents, how shall j^ou escape the dam- nation of hell? " There is a reaping time ahead for [such men as surely as they have soAvn.

We come now to another kind of seed which men are sowing — the seeds of covetousness, and covetous- nes3 shows itself in two ways — ^in witholding more than is meet, and in striving to get in an unla^vful way that which we cannot obtain in a lawful manner. Here is a man, for example, and he informs us that he does not know the taste of liquor, he does not smoke, he has never gambled nor squandered his money fool- ishly, he has denied himself many of the luxuries of life, he has sown the seeds of industry and of economy, he has amassed a considerable amount of wealth and he congratulates himself upon it all and glories in his self-righteonsness, or his negative righteousness. But at the same time he is sowing the seeds of self- ishness and pennrioiisness, he is like the man in the parable whose fields brought forth plentifully until he had not room enough to store his goods, and then he resolved that he would build new bams in which to store them, saying to his soul, "There is much goods laid up for many years," but never giving a thought to the many who were hungry and destitute in his own city or in other parts of the world. We have such men in the world to-day, and the great weed of selfishness or stinginess destroys all the other excel-

220 SOWING AND REAPING.

lent qualities of industry and sobriety. Such men are looked upon as misers, despised by their fellow-men, rich as far as the things of the world are concerned, but poor and miserable and destitute in the sight of God. It is because of covetousness and because so many people are sowing these seeds that there arc such mul- titudes in the world to-day who are in poverty and in misery. Covetousness accounts for most of the grinding done to-day by many of the great corpora- tions and monopolies by which the poor are kept on starv^ation wages, while the monopolists are amassing untold wealth. But covetousness shows itself not only in witholding what we should give, but in trying to get that Avhich we cannot lawfully obtain. In this age there is a desire on the part of young men to make haste in getting wealth. They are not willing to be- gin at the foot of the ladder where there fathei*s com- menced, they W'ant a quicker way. It used to be in our stores that people climbed the stairs but now they go up in elevators, and so these people want to be- come Avealthy but they don't want to wait, taking a step at a time, they want to begin where their fathers left off. In order to do this they begin to speculate A young man who is say cashier in a bank will take

some money that does not belong to him -uathout tel- ling his employers, thinking he can speculate, make a lot of money and put it back before it is missed. In

SOWING AND REAPING. 221

that way many young men get into difficulty, get thrown out of their situations and often sent to the prison-house. Every day we see such cases reported in our newspapers. Men become swindlers and become dishonest in order to get Avealth, and the root of it all is the love of money. This desire or craving for money without waiting to earn it honestly leads to robbery and from that to murder. You have all read the story of the terrible tragedy in our OAvn city and ton this very street, a few days ago. It was the desire to get the man's money, which led those men to enter his store as they did, and to commit that foul murder. I shall only refer to the scene I witnessed on that night in the emergency ward of the General Hospital. There was Varcoe. He knew that in a few hours he would pass away, he felt the cold sweat of death even then upon his brow. He was making aiTangements for the guardianship and care of his two little mother- less children. He was praying to the God of heaven to forgive the sins of the past and to have mercy upon him for the sake of Christ the Saviour. There were brought into the ward the two murderers, one of them with his head terribly battered and bandaged, the other carried in on a stretcher, bleeding from the

wound he had received from the policeman's bullet. A crown attorney and officers of the law were taking evidence, the doctors were doing all they could to sus-

222 SOWING AND REAPING.

tain the lives of those who were wounded, the nurses, so attentive and so kind, were ministering to the wants of the suffering, with as much gentleness and feeling as if these men had been their brothers. While this is going on one of the murderers is having his wounds dressed, and at the same time the oaths are coming from him like the foulness from an open sepulchre. The one man praying to be forgiven for Christ's sake, while the other was blaspheming that sacred name, and as you saw, by the papers a few days afterwards he went down to the grave wath the oaths upon his lips. These three men Avere young, strong and in the pinmo of life, and might have accom- plished great things for God and humanitv. Vrnf through the covetousness which was the sin leading to this tragedy, two of them are dead, and the other will doubtless be executed. Then see the largo circle af- fected; the families from which these murderers come, the family from which Varcoe was taken. As I looked at the little girl of seven, whose hair was singed by one of the bullets that killed her father, and saw hor weeping. T thought T could hear the voice of Jesus savinjT, 'TBetter for a man that a mill-stone were hanjr- ed about his neck and he drowned in the denths of the sea than that he should offend one of these little ones." This is the result of ?in and of the sin of cov- etousness. All of us are sowine: and all of us shall

SOWING AND REAPING. 223

reap in time or eternity. "For God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man sowetli, that shall he also reap." Some one may say, " N^ow the door is closed, I have been sowing, sowing seeds of iniquity, and now there is no hope, I mnst reap the terrible harvest from that which I have sown." To such I can say that there is one door of hope. More than twenty-six hundred years ago a prophet who had a very clear vision looked down through the centuries and he saw one coming as a Lamb to the slaughter, bearing upon Himself the sins of men, their iniquities and their stripes, coming to make an atonement for their sins and to reap for them the harvest of their iniquity. Jesus Cmrist, who, in the fullness of time, became manifest in the flesh, taking upon Himself our nature and bearing our sins in His o-wq body on the tree, can do our reaplnp; for us and vnll do it if we ask Him and trust Him. "With Him on the cross there were two malefactors, one on the rio-ht hand and the other on the left. Both these men had been sowina; the seeds of iniquity, one of them asked Christ to reap for Him the han-est. to remember Him when He would come into His kino-- dom, and to this man Jesus made answer, "To-flav shalt thou be \vith Me in paradise." The other man went do-wn to the ^rnve in his sin, to reap in eternitv the harvest from the seed which he had sown. The scene on the cross is repeating itself, and has been

224 SOWING AND REAPING.

repeating itself during all the centuries which have intervened. There is one of two things every one of us must do — either get Christ to bear our sins and reap for us the harvest, or else take those sins with us to the judgment and reap throughout eternity. Behind every one of us there is a history and ahead of every one of us there is a destiny. They that sow to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everylasting, they that sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap conaiption, for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanseth from all sin, and if we have come to see ourselves to-night as sinners in God's sight we can get this cleansing, but apart from Christ there is nothing for us, but to reap the consequences of the sins we have committed.

CO H O

to

Si -p o

Q)

CO

o

n o

eg

•H to

H 0)

H ^ ,

> -P I

ui I

*^ *H i

o .|

Vi 9 CO

Ah m

p:^ IX,

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRAi^y

DO NOT

REMOVE

THE

CARD

FROM

THIS

POCKET

^ ...'#..

^'i :i^^^^?i:,i,y^>:!-^,M

^^^r^:

.,- ---^-^--^ '-^

■.^^-.

.4 if

nZ'M

■fi^. »C

#..:'i...:l

ii	^#	'1
;f'	--:i*'	€

jf: "^v-Ag

^:^:^. .- v..

*>-^t^

^^-.^

U^ *!

'M. . ,-, -^

'^' .';^..^.^=^<

' "''7*	■n
,••€
	W
S:
	■1-

if ■■ •.

1 ::«

■siTi

iSV^!.

mr

■^,^^^^.

■^^ -■ '^'-^*-- -m

*