Full text of "A quest for souls, comprising all the sermons preached and prayers offered in a series of gospel meetings held in Fort Worth, Texas, June 11-24, 1917"

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A guest for soufs ^^^^"1944

A QUEST FOR SOULS

A QUEST F
SOULS

Comprising all the Sermons Preached and
Offered in a Series of Gospel Meetings^
Held in Fort Worth, Texas,
June 11-24, igiy

GEORGE W/TRUETT, D.D

PASTOR, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, DALLAS, TEXAS

NEW XBI^ YORK
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY

^o'-^

Compiled and Edited by
J. B. CRANFILL, M.D., LL.D.

A QUEST FOR SOULS. XIII

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

FOREWORD.

Ever since the appearance of the first book of sermons by
Dr. Geo. W. Truett I have been urging him to permit the
publication of other volumes, with the result that I am now
able to present to the public this new and much larger book.
His first book with the title, ''We Would See Jesus, and Other
Sermons," has passed into its twelfth edition, and is selling
now very rapidly. That volume contained sermons he had
preached in his own pulpit in Dallas, and a brief sketch of
his life and labors. The present volume is unique in that it
is made up of a series of revival sermons preached in Fort
Worth, Texas, to which are added the prayers offered by the
author of the sermons during the meeting. The setting of
each sermon shows forth in the sermon itself. These meetings
were held under the auspices of the Broadway and College
Avenue Baptist Churches, of which Drs. Forrest Smith and
C. V. Edwards are the respective and nobly useful pastors.

It is proper to say that these sermons were stenographically
reported by Mr. J. A. Lord, and that they appear practically
without revision. I have gone carefully over them every
one, but I was not willing that any substantial changes should
be made in any of them. While I have not been privileged to
examine all the sermon books extant that have been printed in
the English language, I can truthfully say that there has never
to my knowledge been a book of sermons published that carried
messages more vital and winsome than are herein found. In
their strength, their earnestness, their eloquence, their pathos,
and their compelling heart appeals, they carry a pungency and
power far beyond any other sermonic classics it has been my
privilege to read. These sermons do truly justify the title of
this book— "A Quest For Souls."

vi A QUEST FOR SOULS

The great preacher whose sermons here appear is so shrink-
ing in his modesty, which ofttimes reaches the point of timidity
concerning any work of his own, that it has been a Herculean
task to secure his consent to the publication of the sermons
that are here given. The reader will rejoice, I know, when
I say that I have in hand sufficient material for several other
books of sermons by Dr. Truett, but I am having trouble all
along to secure his consent and co-operation in their publica-
tion. It is only when I have pressed upon his great heart the
insistent appeal that he allow his sermons to be published for
the good they will accomplish In "A Quest For Souls'* that my
pleadings have been crowned with success.

And now it is with joy unspeakable that these sermons are
sent out to the world. That they will accomplish untold good
I have not the slightest doubt; that they will be a guide and
help to many a preacher as he projects his revival services I
am absolutely sure ; that they will lead countless souls to Christ
throughout the coming years I confidently hope. As I have
perus*ed them one by one I have been more deepl}'- impressed
than I have ever been impressed by the reading of any sermonic
literature. It seems to me that no soul can resist the power
and tenderness of their touching appeal. May God bless these
sermons as He blessed the great preacher In their delivery,
and may His enduring grace abound to everyone who shall
read them throughout all the coming years !

J. B. Cranfill.

Dallas, Texas.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Chapter Page

Foreword V

I vUnoffered and Unanswered Prayer _ „ 1

II What To Do With Life's Burdens 15

III Where Is Your Faith ? 27

IV wThe Secret of a Great Life—. 45

V 'A Quest For Souls — 55

VI Why Do Souls Go Away From Jesus ? 75

VII Preparation for Meeting God__ — __ 87

VIII ^"A Religion That is Divine 105

IX The Tragedy of Neglect — 117

X The Cure For a Troubled Heart 138

XI The Peril of Resisting God.-. — 150

XII The Deadly Danger of Drifting — 170

XIII What Should We Do With Jesus? ^ 181

XIV The Supreme Offering to Christ..™ — 194

XV The Doom of Delay>.^ — — . 206

XVI A Conquering Faith - — 226

XVII The Confession of Sin — 239

XVIII The Ministry of Suffering — 260

XIX How To Be Saved .-. - - 273

XX How May We Know Jesus Better ? __ 289

XXI Why Are You Not a Christian ? — 303

XXn A Promise For Every Day _.» 324

XXIII The One Sufficient Refuge — — 338

XXIV The Passing of Religious Opportunity— 359

vii

A QUEST FOR SOULS

OPENING SERVICE, MONDAY EVENING,

JUNE 11, 1917.*

UNOFFERED AND UNANSWERED PRAYER.

Text: "Ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because
ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." — James 4:2, 3.

Before the reading of the Scriptures, I would be allowed
a moment in which to express my grateful joy for the
privilege of spending several days, the Lord willing, in
daily special meetings in this city. I am glad thus to be
the guest of the two noble churches, the Broadway and
College Avenue Churches, and to be associated with their
cherished and nobly capable pastors, Drs. Smith and Ed-
wards. Their generous words of w^elcome very deeply
touch my heart.

Just one concern have I in coming for this brief visit —
if I know my own heart — and that is to help the people,
if I may and as I may, and so to witness for our great,
good Master as shall be pleasing in His sight. I am not
an evangelist, as these honored fellow-pastors have already
explained to you, but a busy pastor, in a modern city like
yours, dealing with the same problems as those with which
your pastors and churches are constantly dealing. Right
at the beginning of these services, I would cast myself
upon your most prayerful sympathy. I would appeal to

• All of the evening services of this series of meetings were held in a tent
provided by the Broadway and College Avenue Baptist Churches, and all of the
noon services were held in the Auditorium of the Chamber of Commerce.

2 A QUEST FOR SOULS

you in the beseeching words of the apostle: "I beseech
you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for
the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me, in
your prayers to God for me." Together, let us continually
look to God for His guidance and blessing, in everything
that is to be said and done in these proposed meetings.
What do we here without God's light and leading? Oh,
may the Divine Spirit teach us and empower us, at every
step, as we address ourselves to these services ! And He
will, if only our hearts, our motives, our attitude shall
be right in God's sight — if we shall be humble before
Him, and shall eschew every evil way, and shall desire
above all else to know and to do Christ's holy will.

Assembled here with one accord.

Calmly we wait thy promised grace.
The purchased of our dying Lord,

Come, Holy Ghost, and fill this place.

Let us deeply ponder these sayings: "Ye shall receive
power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and
ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of
the earth." "Not by might, nor by power, but by my
Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." "If ye then, being evil,^
know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much
more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask Him." Above all else, and without ceasing,
let us seek the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit,
both in the public services and in the private efforts that
are to be had, in everything pertaining to these meetings.

You are now ready, I trust, to give reverent heed to
the reading of two passages from the Holy Scriptures.
The first is from the eleventh chapter of Luke. I read
from the first to the fourteenth verse :

And it came to pass, that, as He was praying in a certain place, when He
ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John
also taught his disciples. And He said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our
Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted^ to us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And He said unto
them, Which of you shall have a. friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and
say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves ; for a friend of mine in his journey
is come to me and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall
answer and say. Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with
me in bed ; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, though he will not rise
and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he
will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and

A SERMON ON PRAYER 3

it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto
you ; for every one that asketh receiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth, and to him
that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is
a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him
a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye, then,
being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children : how much more shall
your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?

The second passage is from the fifth chapter of James,
from the sixteenth verse to the end of the chapter:

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may
be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias
was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it
might not rain : and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six
months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought
forth her fruit. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one convert
him ; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his
way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

In casting about for a suitable word to speak at the
beginning of these meetings, it has seemed to me that I^-
could bring no more appropriate and important word than
to direct your attention to the vital suhject of prayer. The
text for the message this evening is in the fourth chapter
of James, and these are its two statements : "Ye have not,
because ye ask not. Ye ask and receive not, because ye
ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." The
text says two things very pungently. The first is that we
do not pray enough: "Ye have not, because ye ask not."
The second is an explanation for unanswered prayer:
"Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye
may consume it upon your lusts." The two sentences
challenge our attention to unoffered prayer and unan-
swered prayer. Let us for a little while consider the teach-
ing of the two sentences.

And first, we do not pray enough : "Ye have not, because
ye ask not." There is no mistaking the meaning of this
sentence. It plainly tells us: "Ye have not, because ye
ask not." We talk much about "unanswered" prayer. This
sentence reminds us of unoflfered prayer. It tells us that
blessings are denied us, just because we do not ask for
them.

Let me ask you the pointed, personal question: How
much do you pray? What must your answer be? How
much have you prayed to-day? How much time and
thought do you give to prayer? How real and vital is I
prayer in your daily life? Do you know what it is, like '
Daniel, to have fixed times and places for prayer? Do '^

4 A QUEST FOR SOULS

you know what it is to live in the atmosphere of prayer,
that is, to carry out the Bible injunction to us, to "pray
without ceasing?" Is it not just at this point that we fail,
and fail more hurtfully than at any other point? I make
bold to say that just at this point, preachers are prone to
fail, as perhaps at no other point. A little while ago, I
was with a group of preachers one day, as they discussed
the perils and problems of the preacher. This man and
that suggested this peril and that, concerning which the
preacher needs ever to be on his guard. When it came
my time to question the group of fellow-preachers, this
was my question: "How much do you pray?" I may add
that every man of us in that group felt conscience-stricken,
as we searched our hearts on that question. We saw that
we were busy here and there, finding texts, making ser-
mons, arranging for funerals, for committees, for visits, for
interviews, for exacting and endless tasks, but not a man
of us had made enough of prayer. What is your answer,
oh, fellow-Christian, to the question : "How much do you
pray?" Think again and deeply of these words of Jesus:
"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and
when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which
is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall
reward thee openly." Do you have the daily habit of secret
prayer? You cannot afford to neglect such habit. Such
neglect cannot be atoned for, whatever else you may say
or do. I press the question upon every Christian before
me — has "the closet with the closed door" been neglected?
That closet with the closed door is the trysting place of
power. The men and women who go in there come out
with faces that shine, with visions that inspire, and with
power that shakes the world. Keep the path worn to that
closet with the closed door, I pray you. It will give you
to know that you are not alone, but that a Divine Presence
goes before you and with you.

Tn view of the mighty significance of prayer, every-
where set out in the Bible, is it not indeed amazing that
we do not pray more ? Like a golden thread, the efficacy of
prayer may be seen all through God^s blessed Book. God's
cry to mankind is for them to call unto Him, and He will

A SERMON ON PRAYER 5

answer them, and He will show them great and mighty^
things which they do not know. Listen to this exhortation
from the Apostle James: "If any of you lack wisdom" — ■
surely that is what we all do sorely lack — *'let him ask of
God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not,
and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, noth-
ing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the
sea, driven with the wind and tossed." And listen to this
exhortation from Jesus: "And I say unto you. Ask, and
it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and
it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh,
receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that
knocketh, it shall be opened." Then, Jesus goes on to
make an argument for prayer that is irresistibly appealing.
Note His words : "If a son shall ask bread of any of you
that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a
fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall
ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how
much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy
Spirit to them that ask Him?"

It is needful for us to remember that prayer is far more
than a privilege. To be sure, it is that — a privilege price-
less, a privilege incomparable, one of the highest privi-
leges that shall ever be allowed us. But it is far more than
a privilege — it is a bounden obligation, it is an inescapable
duty. See how Jesus puts it : "Men ought always to pray,
and not to faint." Mark that word "ought." That means
duty, that means obligation. Neglect of prayer is neglect
of duty — a duty of measureless importance. Prayer brings ;
results. Prayer wins victories. Prayer achieves. Thus j
does Paul put it: "Ye also helping together by pray_er ^
for us." A way whereby we may help everybody, and
perhaps the best way, is to pray for them. Thus may we
help people at any time and at all times. It is no wonder
therefore that Paul said: "I exhort therefore, that, first of
all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of
thanks, be made for all men." It is, indeed, a culpable
matter if we neglect to pray for the people, for all of them,
for any of them. And therefore, are the words of the old

6 A QUEST FOR SOULS

prophet Samuel always pertinent: "Moreover, as for me,
God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing
to pray for you." Do not, I pray you, deal with this great
question of prayer as wicked men dealt with it in Job's
day. They asked contemptuously: "What profit should
we have if we pray unto Him?" If such question is yours,
face it frankly, probe it deeply; stop not your questioning
until you are assured as to the efficacy that there is in
prayer. There is profit in prayer. It is worth while to
call on God. If some one suggests to you that prayer is
irrational, in that it suggests interference with law, it is
enough to know that God is above law, that law is His
tool, that God's reserves of wisdom and power and mercy
and love are utterly beyond our measuring. Prayer is
not only to the last degree reasonable, but our very nature
demands it. It was not strange that a very wicked man

\J said to me, when his child lay ill at death's door: "Oh,

^ man, if you know how to pray, for God's sake, pray for my

child!" Yes, prayer is reasonable and necessary, and it

is both a privilege and a duty of measureless moment in

the earthly life.

^ Much is heard these days on the subject of conserva-

'» tion. The doctrine of waste is being everywhere repro-
bated. The doctrine of conservation is being everywhere
emphasized. We are being told, and properly so, that our
waters must be preserved against the times of drouth. We
are properly exhorted to remember that not one tree or
bush should be cut down without a good reason. It is
urged that even the by-products everywhere shall be saved.
And just now the whole land rings with the doctrine of
/ the conservation of all foods, that the world crisis through
which we are passing may be worthily met by all the peo-
ple. Let this doctrine of conservation be applied in the
realm of prayer. "Ye have not, because ye ask not." How
different things might have been if we had prayed more!
Take this incident: A young man in a certain city com-
mitted a crime that broke his parents' hearts and will give
them sorrow to their grave. A pastor in that community
went at once to see the parents, when he knew of their
poignant sorrow. As best he could, he counselled and

A SERMON ON PRAYER 7

comforted them. At last the sorrowing mother said : "Oh,
sir, if I had prayed as I ought, this tragedy would not
have been!" The pastor begged her not thus to upbraid
herself, for her sorrow was deep enough without such
added self-reproaches. But the mother protested : "I used
to pray every morning, noon and night, for this boy, but
that was in the other years. In recent years, my feet
have been caught in the meshes of worldliness, and
the things of religion have been given no practical place
in my life. I have forsaken the church and neglected
to pray. Oh, sir, I am to blame for my boy's down-
fall! It would not have come if I had remembered to be
faithful in prayer." Will you say that she did not speak
the truth? Oh, how different things might have been if
we had prayed as we ought! "One of my keenest re-
grets," said one of our noblest preachers as he lay dying,
"is that I have not prayed more." And when another of
our mightiest preachers was told that he had but one
remaining hour on earth to live, he said: "Let me spend
that hour in prayer." Oh, let us pray more ! Let us pray
more! "The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man
availeth much." Trace that truth in the case of Elijah.
Prayer is probably the highest, creative function in a hu-
man life. Tennyson was right when he said that more
things are wrought by prayer than this world ever dreams.
Let us pray more! Prayer is the first agency we are to
employ for the promotion of any spiritual undertaking.
Prayer links us with God. "Without me, ye can do noth-
ing." "I can do all things through Christ who strengthen-
eth me." Prayer breaks down difficulties. It opens fast-
closed doors. It calls forth workers : "Pray ye, therefore,
the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers
into His harvest." It releases energies for the spread of
Christ's kingdom and truth, beyond anything any of us
can ever measure. It brings victory in hours of crisis. It
gives power to the preached gospel. All this was illus-
trated in the lives of Abraham, and Elijah, and Hezekiah,
and Samuel, and David, and Paul, and Livingstone, and
Luther, and a host of other heroes of faith, all of them
overcoming by believing prayer. Oh, let us pray more!

8 A QUEST FOR SOULS

The world is in supreme need of intercessory prayer.
Surely, that is awfully true in this hour of world crisis.
Every hour now is big with destiny. On every side the
people are trembling as they think of what shall be on
the morrow, and their hearts are failing and ready to
faint. Let us pray more! There is no voice to satisfy
but the voice of God. That noble prophet of God, Dr.
Charles E. Jefferson, spoke faithfully, a little while ago,
when he called attention to the fact that in America, "we
have suffered a heart-breaking disillusionment. We ex-
pected great things from liberty and education, and have
found they are broken reeds. Neither our wealth nor our
science has given us either peace or joy. The four wiz-
ards— liberty and education and wealth and science — have
performed their mightiest miracles under our flag; but
they cannot do the one thing essential; they cannot keep
the conscience quick, or the soul alive to God. Our sins
are as scarlet and our vices are red like crimson, and we
need prophets to turn the nation to the God who will
abundantly pardon." Oh, let us pray more ! Let us seek
to-day, and every day, to help all the people by prayer.
"Ye have not, because ye ask not."

Your earnest attention is now directed to the second
sentence in the text: "Ye ask and do not receive, because
ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts,"
or pleasures. In that one sentence is one clear explanation
why prayer is often unanswered. It proceeds from a wrong
motive. "Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss,
that ye may consume it upon your pleasures." The point
is plain — the motive is wrong. God looks ever for the
motive, in all our thoughts and prayers and deeds. He
does not see as man sees. Man looks on the outward ap-
pearance. God looks on the heart. The motive ox^^n-
izes everything in life. If the motive in prayer be wrong,
*t!Ten the reason why the prayer is not answered is at once
explained. What is your motive when you ask God for
this or that? I press that question upon every life before
me.

A A\Tong spirit toward others is also an explanation for
unanswered prayer. I pause a moment, to press this point

A SERMON ON PRAYER 9

upon your every conscience. I have come to the end of
twenty-four years as a pastor, and through all these years
I have increasingly seen how men and women are hin-
dered in their religious lives, in their praying, in every
good way, by a wrong spirit toward others. In that model
prayer which Jesus gives for the guidance of His disciples,
that same point of our relations toward our fellows is mag-
nified : 'Torgive us our sins, as we forgive — as we have "
already forgiven — those who have sinned against us." Are,
you wrong in your spirit toward others? Do you have
malice, ill will, resentment, unforgiveness in your heart
toward others? If so, your unanswered prayers are at
once explained. One said to me, after an extended conver-
sation : "Why cannot I get right with God ?" He had once
been a joyful, victorious Christian, but now he was un-
happy, and shorn of his spiritual power, and prayer was
no longer a blessed experience with him. *'Why cannot
I get right v/ith God?" he plaintively asked. Before the
conversation was ended, he dropped one sentence that in-
dicated the depth of his ill will toward another. The
reason why he was not right with God was at once made
plain. Our lives are most intimately bound up with the
lives of our fellows. Our relations to our fellows cannot
be escaped, cannot be ignored. When we pray for our
daily bread, we are to include our fellows: *'Give us this
day our daily bread." If we are wrong in our hearts to-
vv'ard our fellows, we need not expect an answer to our
prayers. How searching are these words of Jesus : "And j
when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against
any: that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive
you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will
your Father who is in heaven forgive your trespasses/*

Still again, unanswered prayer may be explained by a
wrong life. The psalmist said: "If I regard iniquity in ,
my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Indeed, He cannot
afford to answer our prayers if we willingly harbor sin
in our lives, if we regard it, if we coddle and pamper it.
That would be to compromise God. The one thing that
separates between God and us is sin. He himself so tells
us. The one thing which God hates is sin. Our attitude

la A QUEST FOR SOULS

toward sin must be in harmony with His attitude. It is
'.the prayer of a righteous man — not an unrighteous man —
that avails much. The Bible teaches us that we may ex-
pect Him to hear and answer our prayers when we keep
His commandments and do those things that are pleasing
in His sight. Is your life right in God's sight? Are you
right before Him in the secrecy of your own heart? If
you are pampering some wrong thing in your life, although
others may not know of it, yet in such fact you have the
explanation for your unanswered prayers. Listen to these
words of the psalmist : ''Delight thyself also in the Lord ;
and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." You
will not miss the point — your delight is to be in the Lord.
Listen to these words from Jesus: "If ye abide in me,
and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will,
and it shall be done unto you." Face faithfully the ques-
tion asked in the simple song, "Is thy heart right with
God ?" and know, if it is not, you have af hand an explana-
tion for unanswered prayer.

Lack of earnestness may be the explanation for unan-
swered prayer. If we dawdle and sleep and dream over
our prayers, certainly we may not hope that they shall be
answered. The men of the Bible who prayed acceptably
and victoriously were earnest men. Listen to Moses, the
valiant leader of Israel, as he prayed for that neglecting,
backslidden, disobedient people: "Oh, this people have
sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet
now, if thou wilt forgive their sin — ; and if not, blot me,
I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written." Oh,
how terribly in earnest was Moses, as thus he prayed. He
was, indeed, a very Hercules in prayer. And take the case
of Paul. Listen to his pleadings: "I say the truth in
Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness
in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and con-
tinual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that myself
were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen
according to the flesh." When a man feels like that, is
willing to be accursed from Christ, that the people about
him may be saved, is it any wonder that such man scaled
the heavenlies when he prayed? Listen to Jacob at the

A SERMON ON PRAYER 11

brook Jabbok, as he pleads: "I will not let thee go, ex-
cept thou bless me." It is not at all surprising that a little
later, Jacob is told ; *Thy name shall be called no more
Jacob, but Israel : for as a prince hast thou power with
God and with men, and hast prevailed." Listen to John
Knox, as he prays for Scotland : "Oh, God, give me Scot-
land, or I die !" Is it any wonder that hapless Queen Mary
said: "I fear the prayers of John Knox more than I fear
an army of ten thousand men." Oh, my fellow-Christians,
let us be deeply in earnest when we come to the throne
of grace to make known our requests unto God.

Once again, our prayers are often not answered, be-
cause we do not expect them to be — because of a lack of
faith. Faith is just taking God at His word. Often we
do not take Him at His word. We halt and higgle over
His word, and we refuse to accept it and to act upon it.
Jesus pointedly says to us: "According to your faith, so
be it unto you." And again: "If thou canst believe, all
things are possible to him that believeth." And again : "If
two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that
they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father
who is in heaven." What a marvelous statement that is!
How it challenges us to be united in prayer! Do we be-
lieve this great promise? Will we plead it in prayer, and
claim it?

Years ago, when I was preaching for several days in
a Southern city, I preached one morning on the text: "But
without faith, it is impossible to please Him: for he that
cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." At the close
of the service, an elderly woman — I should say she was
three score and ten years of age — rose up and said:
"Preacher, do you believe what you have preached to-
day?" And I replied: "Indeed, I do, for I have proclaimed
God's Word, which Word I surely believe." "Very well,"
she said, "I am so glad that you believe it. I am looking
for some one who believes it. You quoted in your sermon,
just now, that glorious promise from Jesus: 'If two of
you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they
shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is

12 A QUEST FOR SOULS

in heaven' — do you believe that promise, and will you
plead it -with me?'' Before I answered, she spoke again:
"It is like this: My husband is, and has long been, a
captain on the boat that sails the river. He never goes
to church, and is exceedingly wicked, and now he is grow-
ing old. If you will join me in pleading that promise about
two agreeing, we will claim him for God and salvation and
heaven — will you join me?" And there I stood, thinking,
wondering, searching my heart. Did I really believe that
promise? AVas I willing to plead it then and there, in the
case just named? And while I stood thus thinking and
hesitating, a plainly dressed man, a blacksmith, rose up
and said: ''Auntie, I will join you in pleading that prom-
ise." And there, before us all, he walked over to her and
humbly said: **Let us plead it now." They knelt in pray-
er, and he began to pray. It was as simple as a little child
talking to its mother. He reminded the good Savior of
the promise He had made, and insisted that they twain,
there kneeling, accepted that promise, claimed it, pleaded
it as they asked Him to save the aged, sinful sailor. It
was all over in a few moments. The simplicity and the
pathos of it were indescribable. The people were dis-
missed. The day passed and the people gathered for the
evening service. The preacher stood up to preach, and
there before him came the old lady just described, and
with her came a white-haired old man. At the close of
the sermon, the preacher asked those who desired to be
Christians to come to the front pews for counsel and
prayer, while the people sang. The old man was on his
feet immediately, and was coming toward the front. He
was talked with and prayed for that night, but all seemed
utter darkness to him. Over there, to the right and the
left, sat the aged wife and the middle-aged blacksmith,
with faces shining like the morning. They had a secret
the rest of us did not have. They had pleaded and were
claiming the promise of Jesus, and their hearts knew that
all was well. The night service was ended, and the people
went their ways. The old man shambled out into the dark-
ness of the night, his soul darker even than the night. The
next morning came, and the people were gathering for the

A SERMON ON PRAYER 13

service. The preacher was alone in the study, behind the
pulpit, trying to make ready for the service. There was
a knock on the outer door of the study. The door was
opened, and there stood the old man. And thus he began :
"Sir, I can't wait for your sermon this morning. Tell me
now, if you know, how I can be saved." And there in that
study, before the service, he accepted the Lord Jesus
Christ as his Savior, and at the morning service, an hour
later, gave a testimony for Christ, the sweetness and glory
of which will outlast the stars. What is there remarkable
about this? Nothing at all, when you remember that two
friends of Jesus, honestly and actually pleaded and claimed
the promise of Jesus.

Oh, why is that we halt in the acceptance of the sure
promises of our dear Savior? Why are we so fearful and
the possessors of such feeble faith? May God forgive us,
even to-night and now, for our pitiful, miserable unbelief !

This other word, I would briefly say, in explantion of
unanswered prayer — and that is, our prayers are often un-
answered because they lack submission to the will of God.
"Thy will be done," must be in every acceptable, victo-
rious prayer. His will is always righteous and best, and
we are to be in harmony with that will. Above all else,
let us seek to know God's will, and ever let us pray : "Nev-
ertheless, not my will, but thine be done."

Long enough have I spoken to you. Let us take the
two thoughts of the text, and hide them in our hearts.
Let us pray more, oh, let us pray more! To the last de-
gree possible, let us be worthy intercessors, seeking thus
to help continually our needy, sinning, suffering world.
Let us pray more ! "Ye have not, because ye ask not." And
let us seek ever to pray in that way, and with that motive
and spirit, that shall be well pleasing in God's sight. Lord,
teach us to pray! And may all the services of this pro-
posed series of meetings be enveloped in humble, consist-
ent, believing, victorious prayer. Let me give you a prom-
ise that tells us how this meeting may be made glorious.
It is from the seventh chapter of II Chronicles: "If my
people, who are called by my name, shall humble them-
selves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their

14 A QUEST FOR SOULS

wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will for-
give their sin, and will heal their land." Again and again,
let us cry, "Lord, teach us to pray!"

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

Our holy, Heavenly Father, teach us to pray. Little do we know of thig
blessed, glorious privilege and duty, and poor has been our behavior with refer-
ence to prayer. Forgive us, we pray thee, for our neglect, our ignorance, and
our disobedience. Summon us to prayer, O our God, and let us refuse to be dis-
mayed, whatever our difficulties and experiences, since God delights to hear and
answer prayer. Give us much of thy grace and light, that we may know how
to pray as we should. And in all the services of these proposed meetings, go
thou with us, we humbly pray thee, and so give us thy counsel and power, that
we shall wholly do thy will in all the important days that are just before us.
We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

NOON SERVICE, JUNE 12, 1917.
WHAT TO DO WITH LIFE'S BURDENS.

Text: "For every man shall bear his own burden." » * * "Bear ye one
another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." * * * "Cast thy burden upon
the Lord, and He shall sustain thee."-— GaL 6:5; 6:2; Psa. 55:22.

Distinct pleasure is in my heart that I am allowed to
greet the busy men and women before me for this brief
midday service. As has already been announced, these
midday services are to be begun exactly at twelve o'clock,
and are to be closed at ten minutes before one o'clock. The
one design of these services is to help the busy men and
women in the heart of the city at the noonday hour by
calling their attention daily to those simple, vital things
which make for our highest good.

In coming to speak at this first midday service, it has
seemed to me that I could bring no more practical word
than to talk to you about Life's Burdens. It is the lot of
men and women everywhere to have burdens. There is an
old Spanish proverb which points a familiar lesson: "No
home is there anywhere that does not sooner or later have
its hush." The proverb points its own lesson. You cannot
mistake it. Sooner or later all men and women have their
burdens.

Many of the burdens of men and women may be seen.
The deepest and most poignant burdens are not seen. If
we knew what fierce battles some men and women were
fighting, and what weighty burdens they were carrying, it
v^ould teach us lessons of restraint and charity and content-

16 A QUEST FOR SOULS

ment beyond any that we have ever known. That very
fact should give us pause and caution, even to a marked
degree.

The Bible has three words to say about our burdens.
Notice them: "Every man shall bear his own burden."
"Bear ye one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of
Christ." "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall
sustain thee." That is all that the Bible says about our
burdens, but those three sentences say all that is to be said.

Now, for a little while, let us glance at what the Bible
says in its threefold message about our burdens. First,
our burdens are non-transferable: "Every man shall bear
his own burden." Every life is isolated and separated and
segregated from every other life. To a remarkable degree
every life is lived alone. You were born into the world
alone, and when you shall leave it, no matter where or how,
you shall go into the valley of the shadow alone, and be-
tween your birth and your death, the cradle and the grave,
life is very largely lived alone. No man can perform your
duty for you. "To every man his work," the Master teaches
us. Not "to every man a work," nor "to every man some
work," but "to every man his work." There is a program
for you to carry out. There is a niche for you to fill. There
is a task for you to face. There is a life for you to live,
separated from every other in all the world. Nobody can
repent of sin for you, nor can anybody believe on Christ
for you, nor can any one make answer at the judgment bar
of God for you. We must every one give an account of
himself to God.

And that means that nobody is to get lost in the crowd.
There is to be no hiding behind others, or behind organi-
zations. Is there any danger more outstanding, in these
modern times, than the danger that the individual shall get
lost in the crowd? God sees the individual, and the indi-
vidual must never get lost in the crowd. His eye is upon
the one, and the one is to see to it, whatever others may
or may not do, that he or she walks that path before the
face of God that shall have the favor of God. Whether
anybody else does right or not, you must. Whether any-

WHAT TO DO WITH LIFE'S BURDENS 17

body else is true or not, you must be. Did you ever read
the diary of Jonathan Edwards? If so, you must have been
greatly impressed with his words — I do not attempt to
quote them verbally — where he penned these two resolu-
tions: "Resolved, first, that every man should do right,
whatever it costs. Resolved, secondly, whether any other
man does right or not, I will, so help me God." That is
the supreme business of every human being, for "every one
shall bear his own burden."

And then the Bible points a second great word for us
concerning our burdens : "Bear ye one another's burdens,
and so fulfill the law of Christ," which means that our bur-
dens are ofttimes community burdens, social burdens, bur-
dens to be shared with others. Others are to share their
burdens with us. "Bear ye one another's burdens, and thus
fulfill the law of Christ." It is always interesting andl
proper to note words of Scripture in their setting. Many
of the fads and fancies and hurtful heresies in the world
have come because the Scriptures have been wrested from
their proper setting. We need always to look at the Scrip-
tures in their setting, and let the Scriptures say what theyl
meant to say, and mean what they are designed to mean/)
Here in this Scripture, where we are told to bear one an-
other's burdens, immediately preceding it, a great verse
stands out for our best consideration. Note it : "Brethren,
if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye who are spiritual restore
such a one, in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself,
lest thou also be tempted." Bear ye, in this way, one an-
other's burdens, the apostle is saying, and so fulfill the law
of Christ.

The primary reference there to this great matter of
mutual burden bearing is to the fact that we should seek
to help those about us who have gone astray. And just
here is the most neglected task of all. Here are we plainly
summoned to go out and give ourselves, without stint or
reserve, to recover men and women who are going wrong.
"If any man be overtaken in a fault," help him. Criticise
him? Denounce him? Throw stones at him? Talk about
him? Nay, verily. "If any man be overtaken in a fault.

IB A QUEST FOR SOULS

ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of
meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted/*

Even as I call your attention to this point of mutual
burden bearing, especially with regard to those that have
got out of the right path and are going the wrong path,
your minds are now alertly busy, and you call to your re-
membrance certain men and women who once began well,
but who have been bewitched away by some infli^ence from
the right path and are going the wrong path^Go after
those, to help them. That is what our Scripture says.
Just there, my fellow-men, is the most neglected task of
all. When men go astray and keep going astray, we are
all too willing, too content, to allow them to go on, whereas
we are summoned here, by this Scripture, and by the whole
message of the gospel of grace, to go out and seek to re-
claim, to recover, to restore, everybody that is going wrong.

I am thinking now of a young fellow gloriously con-
verted in my city some time ago, who beforehand had had
the miserable habit of swearing — an inexcusable habit,
without any defense at all for any man — and yet that habit
had such a hold upon him that it seemed second nature to
him to swear. By and by he was graciously converted
under the call of Christ, and then he talked with the minis-
ter, and said: "I think I had better wait for six months
or twelve, until I can prove to myself clearly whether I
can keep from swearing, before I shall join the church."
But the minister said to him : "Not at all. The church is
not an aggregation of perfect people. No one is perfect.
We are all sinners, saved by grace. You come right on,
if you have put your trust in Christ as your personal
Savior, and take your place in the army of God, with the
rest of the soldiers, and help them, and let them help you."
And so he did, and for months there was a devotion about
him to Christ's cause that, to the last degree, cheered all
our hearts. But after some months the minister missed
him from the midweeic prayer-meeting, and even from the
Sunday services, and he said to his men: "Where is
Charles?" And they said: "Haven't you heard?" The
minister said: "Not at all. What has happened?" And
they said: "Charles was provoked a little while ago to

WHAT TO DO WITH LIFE'S BURDENS 19

anger in a controversy with one of our citizens, and the
hot words came, and the blasphemous sentences fell from
his lips, and he is all filled with shame and humiliation,
and he has not come to church any more since." "Now,"
said the minister to the men, "find him. He must be re-
covered, nor must you cease until he is recovered." But
the weeks went by, and he was not recovered, and one day,
as the minister went down a certain street, right there
before him he saw Charles coming, and Charles saw the
minister, and turned quickly down an alley, but the
minister said: "Wait a minute, Charles; wait a min-
ute!" And he waited, quite hesitatingly, and the minister
said: "Why are you dodging me, Charles?" And with
face averted, and by this time covered with tears, he
said: "You know. They have told you. Nor is that all.
I told you I had better wait a few months before I joined
the church. I told you of my frailty, of my weakness.
But now I am in the church, and the other day the old
anger came back, and I used hot, blasphemous words. I
did not sleep at all that night. My pillow was wet with
my tears. All through the night I talked with God, and
God spoke forgiveness to me, and I went back the next
morning and asked the man to forgive me, and he cried
with me, though he is not a church man, and he forgave
me." "Now," I said, "Charles, would you come down to
the prayer-meeting and say about that much to us?" And
he said : "If you think I ought, I will." So he was at the
prayer-meeting Wednesday night, and when the place was
made for him, he was on his feet, and timidly told about
what I have just described. You should have seen the men
and women gather around him. You should have seen
them as they greeted him, and as they sobbed with him,
and as they said: "Charles, we will help you. We will
forgive you, and you will help us." And he was on the
right road again ! That is what this Scripture talks about.
Whenever anybody goes astray, "you who are spiritual
restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering
thyself, lest thou also be tempted. In this way bear ye
one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.*'

20 A QUEST FOR SOULS

But this Scripture has a broader meaning than that.
We are not only to make it a point to do our best to recover
people who have gone wrong and are going wrong, but we
are to share burdens with people all about us, whatever
their burdens are. There are the burdens of the sorrowing.
Even as I speak, your mind is busy, and you call up some
family wrapped about this very midday with great sorrow,
or you call up some man or woman about whom the shad-
ows hang with fearful weight this very hour. Go and
share such one's sorrow, without delay. Nor is that all.
All about us are people with their weighty burdens, bur-
dens terrific, heavy burdens. Go to them and share with
them these weighty burdens. There is the teacher. There
is the preacher. There is the ruler in the affairs of civil gov-
ernment. Weighty burdens are on their heads and hearts.
Do not make it hard for those in places of public trust and
responsibility to serve and to lead. Make it easy, with the
right sort of co-operation and the right sort of burden
bearing.

How may we all help people? "Bear ye one another's
burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." The most beau-
tiful portrait we have of Jesus is given here in the gospels,
in five little words : "He went about doing good." There
is the most beautiful portrait ever drawn of Jesus. How
may we all help people all about us? First of all, we may
help them by living the right kind of lives ourselves. The
highest contribution you will ever offer this community
and this world is to offer it the right kind of a life. Glad-
stone never tired of saying: "One example is worth a thou-
sand arguments." One Savonarola turned the tides of
wicked Florence. One Aristides, the just man, perceptibly
lifted Athens higher. Ten righteous men would have saved
Sodom. The people of Constantinople said about John
Chrysostom, the golden-mouthed: "It were better for the
sun to cease his shining than for John Chrysostom to cease
his preaching." T]ie b^^t contribution that you can ever
offer to this weary, needy world is to offer it the right kind
of a life.

How may we all help people? We are to make it a
point constantly — constantly — to believe in people. Every

WHAT TO DO WITH LIFE'S BURDENS 21

one of us needs the enthusiasm of Jesus, our great Master,
for humanity. He came to a man hated by his own race,
Matthew, the tax-gatherer, sitting there at the poll tax
booth, and He said to him: "Matthew, follow me, and I
will make a good man out of you," and from that hour
Matthew followed Him. He came to another hated tax-
gatherer, Zaccheus, the little man who climbed up in the
tree, and pausing under that tree, the Master said : "Come
down out of the tree. I will go home w4th you to-day/'
And from that hour Zaccheus followed Jesus, a faithful
friend of that great Master. Like Jesus, we are to believe
in people. I think nothing of that system of espionage
which is forever spying out people, to catch up with their
weaknesses and their faults. We are to have, like Jesus,
great passion and compassion and brotherliness and sym-
pathy for a needy world, and we are to believe in people.
A little girl who waited upon her semi-invalid mother, day
by day going across the street to get a pail of milk, was
crossing the street one day, and the passing car frightened
her, and she tripped and fell, and the milk was gone, and
a big man laughed cruelly — oh, how could he have done
it! — and then he said to the little child, in her dismay:
"What a great beating mother will give you when you get
home!" And that brought the little girl to self-control,
and she said: "Nothing of the sort, sir! My mamma
always believes in giving me another chance." So our
Master believes in giving men another chance, and we
are to have His temper and walk in His footsteps, always.

Nor is that all. We are to make it a point constantly
to encourage people. Oh, my brother men, it is a sin for any
man on the earth to be a miserable discourager! Discour-
agement is a sin. Men and women are fighting a big battle,
and they do not need weights put on them by discourage-
ment. They need wings put on them, that they may rise
and fly, as they grapple with the big tasks that daily con-
front them. Bobbie Burns, in the heyday of his great
power as a writer, saw a little boy following him around
in a certain community, and turning to the little boy,
Bobbie Burns said to him: "Walter, what do you wish?"
And little Walter timidly said : "Oh, I wish that some day

22 A QUEST FOR SOULS

I might be a great writer like you, and have people talking
about me like they talk about you." And Bobbie Burns,
that great-hearted man, stopped and put his hand on the
I head of little Walter, and spoke words of inspiration and
cheer, and said : "You can be a great writer some day,
Walter, and you will be/' That little boy was Sir Walter
Scott, and to the day of Sir Walter's death, he could never
speak of Bobbie Burns except with a sob of gratitude, for
Burns spoke the word in season to the weary heart of a
little boy.

Yonder was a fire in the big city, and the firemen flung
their ladders together, and went up in their brave fashion
to the topmost story to rescue the people in such peril, and
one after another was rescued by the brave fire laddies.
All had been rescued, it seemed. No! Yonder is a white
face at that upper window, and they wrapped something
about one of the fire laddies, and breasting the fierce flames,
he went again to that window, and put the robe around
the little woman and started down, but they saw him
tremble as the fire raged around him, and it seemed that
he would fall with his precious burden, but the fire chief
cried to his men : *'Cheer him, boys ! Cheer him, boys !"
And they cheered him, cheer after cheer, and heart came
back, and he came down, with the precious life saved. Oh,
you and I are to give our lives to cheering a needy world !
Ponder this beautiful sentence from Isaiah : "They helped
every one his neighbor ; and every one said to his brother,
Be of good courage."

Now there is one more word to say, and it is the best
of all : "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sus-
tain thee." If you will read this 55th Psalm, from which
that great promise is taken, you will find that the utterer
of such promise wanted to flee away. "Oh, that I had
wings like a dove," he cried, "for then would I fly away,
and be at rest." The burdens were so weighty, the awful
conflict was so fiery: "I will just leave it all. I will just
throw this thing down, and I will get away. I will flee.
I will run. I will give it up. I will not stay with it."
Who has not felt that? Who has not felt — "I have had
as much of this as I can bear. I will get out of it. I

WHAT TO DO WITH LIFE'S BURDENS 23

will run. I will fly. I will gtt away." But that would
not win, for when you got away out there in the wilderness,
you would have your burden yet, for you have your mem-
ory, you have your personality, you have yourself. You
cannot thus get away from life's burdens. There is the
burden of perplexity for you, no matter where you go;
and there is the burden of the consciousness of neglected
duty, no matter where you go ; and there is the burden of
some sin athwart your conscience, like some ghastly can-
cer, no matter where you go. What are you to do with
these burdens of perplexity and neglected duty and sins?
What are you to do? Where are you to go? There is
only one place. "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He
shall sustain thee."

How will He sustain you? He will do it in one of two
ways. He may take the burden away. Sometimes He
does, blessed be His name ! You have come sometimes, as
have I, into that deep garden of Gethsemane, when that
black Friday broke all our plans, and in our dire despera-
tion we have prayed, with the Master: "If it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. If it be possible, forbid that I
should drink this bitter cup that is being put to my lips."
And the cup was taken away, and we did not have to drink
it at all. Time and again you have prayed, as you faced
a certain great burden, that God would remove it, and He
heard, and the burden was taken away. But suppose it is
not? And sometimes it is not. Ofttimes it is not We
pray, but there is the burden yet. Now, what if God shall
not take the burden away? Then He has promised to
come in with divine re-enforcement and help us to bear that
burden and be victor, no matter how weighty it is, nor how
fiery in its biting power in our life. Paul had re-enforce-
ment. He had a thorn in the flesh. I do not know what
it was, nor do you, but it was something very trying. If
ever there was a genuine man in the world, it was the
Apostle Paul. He was the highest product that Christian-
ity has ever produced. This same man said : "There was
given to me a thorn in the flesh." He called it the "mes-
senger of Satan," sent to buffet him, and he said : "I went
like the Master in the garden, and thrice did I beseech the

24 A QUEST FOR SOULS

Lord that He would take that thorn away, but He did
not take it away at all. He left it, to goad me and harass
me and burn me and pain me. But He said to me : Taul,
Paul, my grace is sufficient for you' " — not "shall be/' but
"is." "My grace is sufficient for you," here and now, ever-
present and never-failing. No matter where you go, nor
what shall come, "my grace is sufficient for you." And
from that time on you have no more record of Paul's
praying that that thorn might be taken away. From that
timxC Paul said : "Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory
in my thorn, glory in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me." Said Paul : "I had rather have
my thorn in the flesh, which is ever present with me, and
have God's added grace, than to be without that thorn and
miss that added grace and light and love from God." Now,
doesn't that explain much? He will give you increased
grace, grace upon grace, if He does not take the burden
away when you call to Him to take such burden away.

Oh, my men and women, with your burdens, whatever
they are, here is the way out: "Cast thy burden upon the
Lord, and He shall sustain thee." Seek not to bear it
alone. Seek not to fight out your battle alone. Seek not
to solve that perplexity alone. Seek not to stem that flood
alone. Seek not to go through that long and bitter night
alone. Take the Master into your counsels and into your
plans, and turn yourself over to Him, with your burden,
whatever it is, and He shall sustain you. One of the great
words in the Bible is that fine word "sustain." He shall
sustain you. No matter what your burden is — I dare to
say it — no matter what your burden is, you shall get sus-
taining strength from God, and your heart shall surely
know it, if you will only cast yourself honestly upon Him.

Have you learned the secret of peace? In a world of
burden and battle and perplexity and clouds and shadows
and night and death, have you learned the secret of peace ?
You will never know it until you learn how to cast your
burden upon the Lord. I am thinking now of a strong
man yonder in the city, whose beautiful wife was taken
from him after an illness of just a few hours, and the man
was left with a little flaxen-haired girl, of some four or five

WHAT TO DO WITH LIFE'S BURDENS 25

summers. The body was carried out to the cemetery,
where was a simple service, and every heart was broken,
the grief was so appalling. And then when the service was
over, neighbors gathered around the big man and said to
him : "You must come, with this little baby girl, and stay
with us for several days. You must not go back to that
home now." And the broken-hearted man said: "Yes,
I must go right back to the same place where she was, to
the room from which she went away, and I must fight it
out wnth this baby right there," and back they went. He
told about it all the next day. The baby was late and long
going to sleep. Oh, was there ever anything more pathetic
than the cry of a bairn for the little mother that will never
come back again? Long and late the little one, in the
crib there by the bed, sobbed, because she could not go to
sleep, and the big man reached his hand over to the crib
and petted her and mothered her, as best he could, and I
after awhile the little girl, out of sorrow for her father, ]
stopped her crying— just out of sorrow for him. And in '
the darkness of that quiet time the big man looked through -
the darkness to God, and said: "I trust you, but, oh, it I
is as dark as midnight." And then the little girl started ■
up her sobbing again, and the father said: "Why, papa
thought you were asleep, baby." And she said: "Papa,
I did tr3^ I was sorry for you. I did try, but I could not
go to sleep, papa." And then she said: "Papa, did you
ever know it to be so dark? Why, papa, I cannot even
see you, it is so dark." And then, sobbing, the little thing
said: "But, papa, you love me, if it is dark, don't you?
You love me, if I don't see you, don't you, papa?" You
know what he did. He reached across with those big
hands and took the little girl out of her crib, and brought
her over on his big heart, and mothered her, until at last, )
sobbing, the little thing fell to sleep, and then when she '
was asleep, he took his baby's cry to him, and passed it
up to God, and said: "Father, it is as dark as midnight. \
I cannot see at all. But you love me, if it is dark, don't j
you? I will trust you, though you slay me. With my'
baby, and my grief, and my utter desolation, I will turn my
case over to God." And then the darkness was like unto

26 A QUEST FOR SOULS

the morning! God always comes to people who trust
Him. Have you learned the secret of peace? Henry Van
Dyke points the secret in his poem on "Peace." Mark the
words :

With eager heart, and will on fire,
I sought to win my great desire.
"Peace shall be mine," I said. But life
Grew bitter in the endless strife.

My soul was weary, and my pride
Was wounded deep. To heaven I cried:
"God give me peace, or I must die."
The dumb stars glittered no reply.

Broken at last, I bowed my _ head.
Forgetting all myself, and said:
"Wliatever comes, His will be done."
And in that moment, peace was won.

Whatever your burdens — of sin, or grief, or doubt, or
disappointment, or regret, or remorse, or conscious fear
and failure — dare to cast your burden, yourself, your all,
to-day and forever upon the Lord. Do it now while we
pray.

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

O thou Divine Savior and Burden Bearer, speak the word in season to
these busy, battling, sinning, burdened men and women, gathered for this brief
midday service. Let every man and woman of us, personally and faithfully face
our daily task just like it ought to be faced. And let us all consecrate ourselves
today and in all coming days, to the last noble limit of ministry, as we seek to
help other people to bear their burdens. Forbid, O God, that we shall add to
people's burdens. And then let us all com.e with our burdens, and they are many,
and let us cast them, with ourselves, utterly upon that great Savior, who is
pledged to turn the very distemperatures of life into triumphs for us, if we will
only consent that His will may be done in our lives. Give us grace and help
that we may all yield ourselves to thy will, now and forever. And as you_ go
now, may the blessing of the Triune God, even of Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
be granted you, all and each, to abide with you through today, and through to-
morrow, and throughout God's vast beyond, forever. Amen.

Ill

NIGHT SERVICE, JUNE 12, 1917.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Before reading the Scriptures, I should like to make two
remarks — first, a general remark, and then one quite particular
with reference to these services. The general remark is, that
Christians ought to be the very best of citizens, and in this time
of national, and international, and even world testing, Chris-
tians should be on the alert constantly to see how they can
best serve humanity's interests. I trust that daily the Chris-
tians listening to me to-night are giving themselves to prayer
about the World War. Oh, what need for constant and fervent
intercession respecting this war! My belief is that we have
entered into this war under the highest moral compulsion.
We have not entered into it, I must believe, with any lust
for revenge, or for gain, but purely, and simply, and solely,
in the interest of humanity, at home and the world round,
for today and for every after day. Therefore, it behooves
every Christian, and every right-thinking citizen as well, who
may not be a Christian, to give the most worthy consideration
to the personal part that each of us should have with respect
to this great conflict. Without ceasing, we should make our
appeal to God that He may lead us to do His will. And with-
out ceasing, we should seek in every high possible way, to
help our sons and brothers, who are going out from every
community to the camps to be trained for the great conflict.
And in every way we can, every one of us, as our noble
President has said, "should do his bit/* in this testing hour,

28 A QUEST FOR SOULS

when every human being in this country is involved, and
vitally involved, because of the war. I will venture to add
this other word, a word which I said to my own people in
Dallas a short time ago, that every man and woman in our
land, who can do so, should come with noble response to the
appeal that is daily heard, touching the Liberty Bonds. Every
man and woman who can do so should re-enforce the Govern-
ment at this practical point. It is a matter reasonable, it is a
matter righteous, and I believe that it is a matter profoundly
and urgently necessary. It is indeed a high privilege to be
the right kind of a citizen. Patriotism is a word of tremendous
significance.

Now, a very particular word touching the interests of the
meeting. I raise the question with every Christian under the
sound of my voice this night : Won't you make it a point, from
day to day, to do some definite religious visiting? All about us
there are people who are needing, more than words can say,
to be spoken to in the right way, concerning personal religion.
Won't you thus dedicate yourself for an hour to-morrow? And
if it could not be an hour, for half an hour? And if it could
not be half an hour, for ten minutes? And if it could not be
ten minutes, for as much as one minute, to speak to some
human soul about personal religion? I do not think much of
a meeting where its activities are limited to the public services.
I think very much of any meeting, if the people come to it,
and humbly and earnestly seek to have their spiritual strength
renewed, and light their torches, and then go out to find some-
body in need of God's guidance and help, and speak to that
somebody, and seek to guide that somebody into the right way.
That is a meeting worth while. Oh, I press it upon you!
Won't you do some of the right kind of religious visiting every
day of these special days set apart for public services? There
is a drifting Christian that you ought to see. He began well
back yonder, and something came to bewitch him away from
the right path. Oh, how he needs the right kind of a talk!
There is somebody whose church membership is not in Fort
Worth, but his life or her life is here. The church member-
ship is back yonder in the village church or city church or
country church, but the life is here, and the church member-
ship ought to be here, and the activity ought to be here, and

PRELIMINARY REMARKS 29

the service ought to be here, and the alignment, open and
public, for Christ, ought to be here. Do you know such people ?
Say the right word to them at once. And then, above all that,
there are men and women and children all about you, who
are going their way without God, to whom you ought to
speak. My fellow-men, if the religion of Jesus Christ is worth
a straw, it is worth dying for, and, certainly, it is worth
living for. The one without Christ is not ready to die, and —
what is of probably larger consequence — ^that one is not ready
to live — no, not for a day, nor for an hour. Won't you do
the right kind of religious visiting between this and the service
to-morrow night? God speed you and help you, I pray.

You are ready to listen for a moment, with reverence, I
trust, to two passages of Scripture, the first from the ninth
chapter of Mark :

And when He came to His disciples, He saw a great multitude about them,
and the scribes questioning with them.

Arguing with them.

And straightway all the people, when they beheld Him, were greatly amazed,
and running to Him saluted Him. And He asked the scribes. What question ye
with them? And one of the multitude answered and said. Master, I have brought
unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit ; And wheresoever he taketh him,
he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away:
and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.

That is what the uproar is about. Your men have failed.

Jesus answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be
with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. And they brought
him unto Him : and when He saw him, straightway the spirit tare him ; and he
fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. And Jesus asked his father. How long
is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it
hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst
do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.

Miserable prayer, wasn't it? About like many of mine, I
am afraid. Think of saying that to God, to the Almighty
Savior: "If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us
and help us!" Jesus said, "You have the *if' in the wrong
place." Mark just what He said:

Jesus said unto him. If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him
that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with
tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

That is a glorious prayer. You do not wonder that Daniel
Webster wanted it carved on his gravestone : "Lord, I believe ; /
help thou mine unbelief." I

When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the
foul spirit, saying unto him. Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out
of him, and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and
came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said. He is dead.
But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up ; and he arose. And when
Jesus was come into the house His disciples asked Him privately. Why could not
we cast him out?

80 A^ QUEST FOR SOULS

Well, sure enough, why couldn't they? When Jesus sent
forth the twelve, one of the powers He gave them was power
to cast out unclean spirits, and they succeeded. And later,
when He sent forth the seventy, one of the powers He gave
them was power against unclean spirits, and they succeeded.
When they came back from one of their tours, one of their
reports was: "Lord, even the devils are subject unto us,
through thy name." But they failed this time, utterly. So
they asked Him, when alone: "Why could not we cast him
out?*' Mark His answer ! Oh, what an answer it is !

And He said unto them. This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer.

You observe that the word "fasting" is omitted in the
Revised Version.

Now you are ready to hear a briefer Scripture, from the
eighth chapter of Luke:

Now it came to pass on a certain day, that He went into a ship with His
disciples : ajid He said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake.
And they launched forth. But as they sailed He fell asleep: and there came
down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in

^rfJ^ffTTf^'-n, V^^^ ^^""^ i"" ^^"?' f "^ ^"^9^^ ^^"^' s^y^nST, Master, Master, we
perish! Then He arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and
they ceased, and there was a calm. And He said unto them. Where is your faith?

WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?

Text: "And He said unto them. Where is your faith?"--Luke 8 :25.

Jesus said unto His disciples, some 1900 years ago, on the
storm-swept water, when they were all affrighted and filled
with dismay, "Where is your faith?" [And Jesus says to a
great audience of men and women assembled in Fort Worth,
Tuesday evening, June 12, 1917, "Where is your faith?" This
is a question that needs to be asked very often, and it needs
to be faithfully answered when we ask it, for it is about the
most vital matter of all, even our faith.

The conquering weapon is faith. "Without faith it is
impossible to please God." His Book so tells us. "This is the
victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." We shall
not have victory without faith. Of old, God's plaintive ques-
tion to His Israel was: "Hov/ long will it be ere ye believe
me?" And that is His question to His Israel this very hour.
"O my people, how long will it be ere ye believe me?" The
The undoing sin of Christians is their unfaith. We are all
along saying, and correctly, that the undoing sin of the un-
believer is his unfaith. "He that believeth not is condemned

WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? 31

already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-
begotten Son of God," and while he remains in that unbelief
must continue to be condemned. Rejection of Christ, unbelief
toward Christ, that is the undoing sin. Even so, the undoing
sin for Christians is their un faith. Of old Israel could not
enter the Promised Land because of unbelief, and even to-day,
and every day, God's people are kept out of many a promised
land because of unbelief. We doubt God's ability, or we
doubt His willingness, or both His ability and willingness, to
help us, and we go our way, groping, and floundering, and fail-
ing. It is not only a pity, but it is a sin, deep and tragical, if
we are not steadily growing in faith. That was a beautiful
tribute Paul paid the church at Thessalonica, when he said:
"We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is
meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly." It will
not only be a misfortune, but it will be a sin, if with you and
me our faith is not steadily strengthening and growing.

But now the fact confronts us, as pointed by the text, that
our faith may be misplaced. The faith of the disciples on that
storm-swept water was evidently misplaced. They were dis-
ciples of Christ. They were His friends and followers. But
their hearts failed, and their faith went down, and they fainted
in spirit. Their faith was misplaced. When is faith mis-
placed? I shall answer that it is misplaced when it is put in
human appearances ; and we are all along tempted to put our
faith in mere human appearances. How we are influenced,
how we are swayed, hov/ we are lifted up or cast down, by
mere appearances! If the weather be fair, if no lowering
clouds come to menace, if all goes merry as a wedding bell,
our hearts seem hopeful and our faith buoyant. But that is
not the test. How is it when the heavens are darkened with
clouds? How is it when the loved one gasps, and the sands
of life seem running to the end? How is it when crepe is on
the door? How is it when the granary seems scant and the
crops have no promise? How is it when appearances are all
against us ? Our faith is misplaced, if our faith is put in mere
human appearances. That was a great saying given by a
valiant leader, when he said: "Never take counsel of your
fears, or of appearances."

32 A QUEST FOR SOULS

Our faith is misplaced, I go on to say, when we put it in
human agency. And certainly, we are greatly tempted, and
constantly, to put our faith in human agency. But all along,
the Scriptures, by telling illustrations and by pungent pre-
cepts, would turn us away from putting our faith in mere
human agency. The Bible tells us why God makes choice,
as He does, of such remarkable instrumentalities. He has
chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty,
and the reason is given us there in His Book: "That your
faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power
of God." A generation or two removed from us, God startled
the world by finding a lad yonder in the country placei in
England, not yet out of his teens, and God brought him up to
the world's greatest city, to great London, and set him right
there in its heart to preach His wonderful gospel. Before
this young man was thirty, royalty was at his feet, and the
British Parliament marvelled at his power, and the lines of his
testimony and power had gone out to the ends of the earth —
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the most victorious gospel preacher
of all his century, and perhaps of any century since the apos-
tolic times. He was a man uncolleged, and yet God said
through him to the world about us: "I want you to look at
this man and listen to him that your faith may not stand in the
wisdom of men, but in the power of God." Our God is sur-
prising us all along by His strange choice of human instru-
mentalities. There is the humble country boy. He has never
been to the city at all. He is following his plow. He goes
to the little country church house, in the quiet midsummer
meeting. His heart is moved, his conscience probed, his judg-
ment convinced, his will aroused, and he bows down in hum-
ble penitence before Christ, and he is saved. And then he
follows his plow still again and strange impulses stir in his
heart, and great thoughts bum in his brain. He is thinking
about preaching the gospel. He is thinking about going out
and telling the world what a dear Savior he has found, and
how he would have every man know the same blessed Savior.
The years pass on, several of them, half a dozen, a dozen, and
yonder is that country lad in a surging city, rallying the
tempted thousands of sinning, beaten and wandering humanity,
rallying them around the flag of Christ Jesus, the Lord. Who
is he? A plain plowboy, clothed upon with the grace and

WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? 33

might of the Spirit of God, and in him and through him God
is saying to the world: "See him now, and listen to him, and
remember, your faith is not to stand in the wisdom of men,
but in the power of God." Oh, how it gladdens my heart
this Tuesday night, to have the faith to believe that some-
where in this broad country, out on the prairies, or out yonder
nestling amid the trees, in some little cottage, a mother folds
to her heart a tiny baby boy, and when you and I shall be
sleeping beneath the roses, and shall be perhaps forgotten,
that boy will be going up and down this country, rallying the
wavering, sinning thousands around the flag of Christ, a child
out from some home of poverty and need, and God will be
saying through him to the world: "See him, now, and listen,
that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in
the power of God."

But I think that most of all our faith is misplaced because
we limit God. That L a striking expression used in one of the
Psalms, where the Psalmist said, concerning Israel of old:
"They limited the Holy One of Israel." They "limited God."
Mankind can limit God, and does limit Him. At first thought,
that seems impossible. The infinite God, filling all immensity,
without beginning of days or ending of years, omnipotent,
omniscient, omnipresent, eternal — at first thought it seems im-
possible that He could be limited, and yet He can be, and is,
limited. Man limits God, else man is a mere machine, without
any more volition than a tree or a stone. Man can say "No"
to God, or man can say "Yes" to God. Man can seek God's
face, and by Divine Grace become God's friend, and go God's
road, and glorify God's great name ; or man can be rebellious,
and offer his protest against God, and turn his back upon God,
and miss the right way, and come to defeat and failure. Man
limits God. How does he limit Him? The ways are many.
We can limit God even in our very prayers. You have proba-
bly heard prayers which had in them a limitation upon God.
Full many a time when we pray that prayer "not my will, but
thine, be done," our hearts really mean: "Not thy will, O
God, but mine, be done." Ofttimes we are found trying to
persuade God to come to our notion of things, and accept our
view of things, without regard to His wisdom and will. All
the while He tells us : "You leave your case to me, and trust

34 A QUEST FOR SOULS

»
your case to me, and submit your case to me, and I will do
the wisest and best thing possible for you," and yet full many
a time our prayers really mean : "Nevertheless, O Lord, not
thy will be done at all, but mine be done," and in that way we
limit Him.

And then we limit God by our poor lives. Every life is
either a channel or a clog, a channel through which God sends
His blessing, or a clog to hinder and obstruct such blessing. A
human life can be a non-conductor, failing to transmit to others
what God would send through that life unto others. That is
indeed a pathetic picture, where Paul writes one of the New
Testament churches, saying: "For many walk, of whom I have
told you often, and now tell you, even weeping, that they are
the enemies of the cross of Christ." Paul was writing to a
church, and he was saying to that church: "Some of you
church members so walk as to become the enemies of the cross
of Christ." Your attention has been called to that solemn
picture in the last book of the Bible, where Jesus stands outside
a church, begging to be admitted. Listen to Him: "Behold,
I stand at the door, and knock : if any man hear my voice, and
open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with me." Jesus is there, outside a church — outside!
His own people have the door closed, and have Him outside,
and there He stands on the outside, knocking, and saying:
"Won't you let me enter? for I come to do you good, and not
evil at all." "O Jesus, thou art standing, outside the fast-
closed door !" Can you think of anything more heartbreaking
this night than to imagine yourselves keeping Jesus out, keep-
ing Jesus away from some other life, yourself a clog, obstruct-
ing, yourself a non-conductor? He wishes to send through
you a message of life and grace and hope to others, and you
are a non-conductor. Can you imagine anything more serious
than that ? We limit God by our lives. Every Christian whose
life is wrong with God positively hinders God and limits God
by that much.

But most of all, we limit God, T dare say, by our unbelief,
our unfaith. Israel could not enter the Promised Land because
of unbelief; and you and I are kept out of many a promised
land because of unbelief, because of unfaith. Jesus wishes us
to believe in Him. The right sort of a man delights to be

WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? 35

believed in. You cannot grieve the right sort of a man in any
other way quite so deeply as to indicate to him that you do not
take him at full face value, as he represents himself to you.
The right sort of a man wishes to be believed in, to be taken at
his word. God delights to be believed in, and the deepest grief
to Him is given Him by our unfaith, our unbelief. We are
told here in the gospels that in one certain community Jesus
could do no mighty works because of the unbelief of the peo-
ple. Unbelief hindered Him. Unbelief fettered Him, even
Christ Jesus, the Lord. And so He comes to us to-night, say-
ing: "According to your faith, so be it unto you. Where is
your faith?" He comes to us to-night saying: "If thou canst
believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Where
is your faith ?"

We are all along talking about "hard cases." Now, how
foolish and unwise and wrong is such talk, when we think of
God. He asks us : "Is anything too hard for the Lord ?" That
was a mighty question Paul asked when he asked: "Why
should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God
should raise the dead?" Granted a God who has all power in
heaven and earth, and who formed the worlds by the word of
His power, granted a Being like that, and where is there any
difficulty or mystery in such a God raising people from death
and the grave? So that our talk about "hard cases" in God's
sight, is all out of place and grievous in His holy presence.

I wonder, my fellow Christians, if in these latter days, our
faith gets much higher for mankind than for the salvation of
the children in the Sunday-school, and the plastic, responsive
young people that are all about us. Where is the faith now
that claims the hardened sinner for Christ? Where is the
faith that claims the old man with the gray about his temples,
far down in the afternoon of life — where is the faith that
claims that man for God? Where is the faith that claims
the man abandoned to sinful and consuming habits? Where
is the faith that claims him for God? Where is the faith
that claims the big business man, great and strengthful,
masterful and powerful, but preoccupied, living as though this
world were all, forgetting that out there a few steps ahead is
the judgment and eternity? Where is the faith that claims
him, from all that preoccupation, for Christ Jesus and His

36 A QUEST FOR SOULS

great salvation ? Where is the faith that claims the very dif-
ficult case for the Lord Christ? Oh, how we limit God, that
we do not go out and claim men, no matter what their hin-
drances and their limitations and their sins ! How we grieve
God, if we do not go out and claim them in the name of Christ,
even the most difficult cases, for the wonders of His grace
and His great forgiveness !

May I tell you the most wonderful conversion that I ever
witnessed in all my life? Out in the Middle West, where it
has been my delight to go many a time, in the out door camp-
meetings, some years ago I went and found in that particular
community some very difficult religious conditions. There
were more aged people in that community, unsaved, than I
have ever witnessed anywhere in all my life, before or since.
The religious conditions of the community were hard and dif-
ficult. There had been all sorts of pesky religious debates —
how miserable they all are, and how inexcusable! — and the
people were set and gritty and hard in their relations toward
one another. What a tragedy when that is so! I was there
some two or three days, and more and more it dawned upon
me how difficult all the conditions were. They told me daily
about those white-haired men and wom.en, who went groping
life's way, without God and without hope. After some days,
they told me about Big Jim, the most difficult sinner, they
said, west of Fort Worth, even as far west as El Paso. They
so described him physically that I could not miss him if he
came to the meeting, and they said : "'He will come one time
to hear you, and then he will swear at you, and rail at you,
and curse out the whole meeting, and the preachers and the
churches and everybody, and then he will wait a year and come
back a year from now to go over the same performance again."
That was their report of him. I stood up to preach one even-
ing and in came Big Jim. I could not miss him, from their
description. Yonder he sat, far down the aisle before me, at the
rear of the great arbor, nor did he take his eye, it seemed, one
time from the minister, while his message was being given. At
the close of the message, I made the call for men and women
who would then and there humbly and honestly make surrender
of their poor, undone and sinful lives to the forgiving mercy and
hdp of the Divine Savior, and down every aisle white-haired

WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? 37

men and women came. It was one of those memorable nights,
never to be forgotten. Big Jim kept his seat, nor did he seem
to move. After awhile, the meeting ended, and the people gath-
ered about me, or gathered in little groups to discuss the won-
ders that their eyes had witnessed that night. One after
another was named who had "come over the line" and made
the great surrender that night to Jesus. And then, ever and
anon, these talkers would make a passing remark about the
presence of Big Jim, and they speculated about his presence,
and about the possibility of his coming any more. (Dne said :
*'No ; he will not be back. He will swear at our preacher, and
at all the Christian people, nor will he return until next year."
But another said : "Yes ; he had a different look on him to-night
from what I have ever seen before. I look for him to come
again. Never did I see him look as he looked to-night." And
so they talked pro and con. Presently the preacher slipped
away from the crowd, for it was late, and wended his way
around the hillside to the little cottage, far removed from
the camping throngs, where he might have quiet and rest,
and as he went around that little mountain side he heard
somebody talking. Oh, it was so earnest! The preacher did
not mean to be an eavesdropper, and yet he seemed chained
in his very tracks. And when he stopped and listened to that
strange talk, he discovered in a moment what it was, and that
there were two of them, and that they were praying, for one,
who spoke for the two, said: "We two, O Christ, agree we
want Big Jim saved, that the mouths of gainsayers may be
stopped in this country. They are saying, O Christ, that Big
Jim is too much for God, that even God cannot stop him. They
are saying that, and we want the mouths of gainsayers stopped,
and the whole land to know that Christ is able to save even the
chief of sinners ; and we two, here on the mountain side, late in
the night, give thee Big Jim, believing thy great promise:
*If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that
they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is
in heaven.* For the glory of Christ, simply and only, we pray
you, save Big Jim/'

I went quietly on my way. I do not know who they were,
who thus were praying. I never knew. I found my cottage.

38 A QUEST FOR SOULS

and the night passed, and the next day came and wore to night-
fall, and I was again under the arbor, facing the mass of
people. I stood up to preach and looked everywhere, but Big
Jim was not present. But just as I began to speak, in he came,
at the same place as on the previous night, and then my mes-
sage seemed to fly away, and I said: *'We will pause and
ask God to give the preacher what he ought to say. He does
not laiow. He would speak God's message, whatever it is,
to-night, and this man will lead us in prayer that the preacher
may speak what, and as, Christ would have His preacher to-
night to speak." And the prayer was finished, and then the
preacher began again, and told simply and only that story of
the prodigal son, the easily influenced, impulsive youth, restless,
dissatisfied, who went away from home against the protests of
wisdom and love, and took his part of the inheritance, and
went down the toboggan slide at a rapid pace, and wasted all
his substance in riotous living. And when his substance was
gone, his friends were gone. The hail-fellows-well-met of the
other days had fled, and he was down yonder in the swine
fields, this lad, feeding the swine, himself eating of the husks
wherewith he fed the swine. One day, as the Scriptures tell
the story, the young fellow "came to himself." He saw himself
as he was. Memory w^as alert, and the months and the years
of his separation from home, came trooping back to his recol-
lection, and the young man said : "I have sinned. I have missed
it. This is the way of defeat and death. I will go back to
father, and I will confess in his sight and in God's sight how
I have missed it, and how I have sinned." And then he put
that kindling desire into effect, that sublime resolution into
action, and he betook himself back the homeward way, and as
he came toward the old home, the father saw him, even from
afar ; the father was waiting, longing to see him ; and down the
road the father came, and put his arms about the boy, as the
boy began his confession, and the father called to a servant:
"Bring the best robe for this boy," and to another : "Kill the
fatted calf," and to another: "Bring the ring to put on this
boy's finger," emblem of the love that never dies. And there
was music, and there was rejoicing, and there was victory.
That was all I said, except that I added : "This story of the
prodigal son is simply a picture of the love of God, going out
after any soul on earth that has wandered away from God,

WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? 39

which soul God wishes to forgive and recover and save, and
will so save, if such soul will come to Him." And then I said :
"Will the audience remain seated ? Without any singing at all,
is there some man here tonight, a prodigal, far from heaven and
God, who says : *I want God's mercy, and I will honestly yield
myself to God to get it,' let him come and take my hand."

Would you believe it ? Big Jim started. Oh, the sight, the
sight, the sight ! And presently the men saw him coming, and
hundreds of sobbing men stood to their feet, and sobbed aloud,
and as he came down the aisle slowly, for it was with difficulty
he walked, hundreds of men joined him, and came down with
him. And when at last he got to me and took my hand, he said :
**Sir, I put you on your sacred honor, will the Great Master
save me, if I will give up to Him?" And I said: "Sir, on my
sacred honor, I declare that He will, if you will just honestly
surrender your case to Him." And the men put in v^^ith voices,
scores and scores : "It is so, Jim. We made the surrender and
He saved us. You make it, and you will find out for yourself."'
And then again, waiting a moment, he looked at me, still hold-
ing my hand, and said : "I want you to remember, sir, that you
are speaking to the worst man out of perdition. Would the
IMaster save a man like that, if he would give up to Him?" I
said: "Sir, on my Master's own statement, I declare to you
that He will save you, even if you are the chief sinner out of
perdition, if you will honestly surrender to Him." And they
punctuated my remark with a chorus : "It is so, Jim. Try it
and you will find out." Once again he looked at me and then
he said, finally: "Sir, when would the Great Master save me,
if I should give up to Him right now?" And I said: "Sir, on
His own word, which many of us have proved, our Great
Master will save you, and your heart shall know that your
sins are forgiven, right now, if right now you will honestly
surrender to Him." And then he turned that big bronzed face
upward, as if looking for the Master himself, and he gasped
out his prayer, just this: "Lord Jesus, the worst man in the
world gives up to you right now."

OH, I cannot tell the rest! I do not think the angds could
tell the rest. I think if the archangel himsdf should come down
from those starry heights, that the words of that angel would
be inadequate to tell you the rest. God unloosed Big Jim's

40 A' QUEST FOR SOULS

tongue, and he began to talk, and then the old men kissed him,
and the old women kissed him, and the young men kissed him,
and the young women kissed him, for the chief of sinners had
been saved.

What is there wonderful about such a story? Not a thing
on the face of the earth, if you will grant that Jesus Christ is
divine, and that He came in the flesh to save sinners, and that
His divine grace is mightier than any human sin, however
long-continued and however heinous. O men and women, you
and I limit God because of our unfaith with respect to aged
and hardened and difficult and preoccupied cases that are all
around us.

But there is another word for me to bring you. How may
we strengthen our faith ? That is what you and I wish to know.
How may you and I strengthen our faith ? I have two or three
simple suggestions. First, if we would strengthen our faith,
we need to make it a matter of prayer. I read you the passage
of Scripture telling of a group of men who failed in their faith,
and when they got Jesus alone they said: "Why was it we
failed?" Mark His answer: "This kind can come forth by
nothing, but by prayer." If you are not a man of prayer, you
are not a man of faith. If you are not a woman of prayer, you
are not a woman of faith. The men and women who do not
tread the secret path of prayer aie men and women spiritless
and broken and without faith. If you and I would have
conquering faith, then you and I must make it a matter of
constant prayer. Once "vvhen Jesus gave His disciples a
great task to accomplish, they cried back unto Him : "Lord,
if you expect that of us, increase our faith." And so you and
I are to come to Him, saying : "If you expect this, or that,
or the other great achievement, even the achievement of
winning some poor soul, bedarkened and blinded by sin,
away from such dreadful path, to God, then increase our
faith."

How may our faith be increased? If it is to be increased,
then let us plead the promises of God. Oh, how great a
privilege to plead the promises of God ! Of old, one had a way
of talking to God like this: "Do as thou hast said." And
when you and I come to pray, we need to fill our mouths
with arguments to God, and those arguments are His own

WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? 41

promises. "Lord Jesus, here is what thou hast said, and we
plead that. We fill our mouth with thine own argument,
and we plead that before thy face. Do as thou hast said.
Do as thou hast said." What if hundreds and hundreds of
these men and women before me, should go apart in groups
of two, and should say: "Lord Jesus, here is a case, O,
so difficult, speaking after the fashion of men, so difficult,
so hopeless, but not at all difficult and hopeless if God will
take charge of the case, and, therefore, we two take up thy
promise, where thou sayest: If two of you shall agree on
earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done
for them of my Father in heaven.' Do as thou hast said. We
plead this promise, and rest on it. Do as thou hast said."

How are we to strengthen our faith? I have still another
word. If we are to strengthen our faith, then we are to seek
the guidance and power of God's Divine Spirit. In this divinest
work of all, the work of winning souls to Christ, all along we
are to seek the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit. Oh,
how wonderful is His guidance, and how marvelous is His
power! He does guide His people. There is such a thing as
being led of the Spirit of God, and in this divinest work of all,
the work of winning souls, we shall miss it utterly and be
marplots, if we are not guided and empowered by the Spirit
of God. The Spirit of God does teach, guide and empower the
servants of Jesus, in this holiest task of all, this work of win-
ning souls to Christ. "When He is come," Jesus has promised
it, "He will guide you into all truth." "Ye shall receive power,
after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you : and ye shall be
witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." O brothers
mine, you and I, with all humility and earnestness, want to ask
God to guide us in this work we are in, and to give us His
own wisdom and power at every step that we take.

Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove.

With all thy quickening powers;
Come, shed abroad a Savior's love.

And that shall kindle ours.

You and I want the guidance and the power of the Divme
Spirit in this heavenly task to which we are these days, please
God. to put our hands.

*2 A QUEST FOR SOULS

V/onderful, how wonderful, is God's leadership by His
Spirit and His power, when we yield ourselves to Him ! How
wonderful it is ! A few years ago, I was in Minneapolis, that
beautiful city of the Northwest, at one of the Bible conferences
for the Northwestern states, speaking there daily for some
two weeks, and it was my privilege, while there, to have daily
fellowship with that nobly gifted preacher, Wayland Hoyt,
one of the first preachers of his generation. I had heard of
an incident in his life, and I asked him about it, and he
confirmed it. This was the incident: Dr. Hoyt had prepared
with unusual care in the other years a special sermon, hoping
to reach one of the first citizens in his city on a certain Sunday
night, with that same sermon. This citizen was an outstand-
ing citizen, but not a Christian, and rarely came to church. The
wife was a devoted Christian and church member. So at the
Sunday morning service Mr. Hoyt signalled quietly to the wife,
and sent by her a message to the distinguished husband : "Tell
him that I ask specially that he will come to-night. I have pre-
pared a sermon, hoping earnestly to help him. Tell him I ask
him to come, I wish him to come." The wife gave the mes-
sage when she reached home, and the husband went to the tele-
phone—he was a gentleman in every instinct and habit of his
life— and took down the receiver and called the minister and
gave the minister his grateful thanks for his cordial invitation,
saying: 'Certainly, I will be there to-night How kindly,
how considerate of you to be so Interested In me. Certainly, I
will be there to hear you." But before the nightfall came a
blinding storm filled the heavens, and the floods poured out of
the clouds, and the people could not gather. Only a little hand-
ful hard by the church could gather at all. The minister made
his way to the church and spoke to the little handful, but the
one citizen he had thought about and specially prepared for
was not there. The minister went home with his heart heavy,
and he sat there late and long in his library that Sunday night,
and he fell to musing like this : "What a poor out I am making
reaching that man !" And then something said to him: "Why
don't you Imitate your Master and go to the man and preach
your sermon to just one man, as Jesus after nightfall preached
His sermon on the new birth to Nicodemus, that fine citizen of
old? Why don't you walk in the steps of your Master and
preach your best sermon to one man?" And that suggestion

WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? 43

fairly boomed like a cannon in his ears and heart. He looked
at his watch. It was midnight. He said : "Why, I could not
f o this late at night." And he sat, still thinking further, and
something seemed to say to him, did say to him : "If you knew
that that man's house was in danger, or that his family were in
danger, you would brave any sort of weather, to help them.
Though the storm beat down the avenue, you would breast it,
to go and apprise him of the danger. Why won't you be con-
sistent about the biggest, most important thing of all?" And
then Dr. Hoyt said he found himself putting on his raincoat.
He opened the door and breasted the great storm that still
swept down the avenue. Block after block he trudged his way
through the blinding storm. He said he found himself talking
to himself, saying to himself: "Maybe, the man will say I am
crazy. Maybe I am, but God knows I am trying to do the
consistent thing." Presently he came to the right house, and
as he came toward it there was a light in one of the lower
rooms, and he came up softly to the door, and knocked gently,
not caring to disturb the household at one o'clock in the morn-
ing, and in a moment the door opened, and there standing
was the citizen, who had not been in bed at all, and out into the
storm and the night the big citizen thrust his arms and drew
Wayland Hoyt out of the night and out of the storm, and drew
him to his heart, and sobbed over him as a mother would sob
over her children, saying to him : "Thank God, Mr. Hoyt, He
sent you here to teach me how to be saved. I have been there
in my library, reading the Bible and trying to pray. That word
you sent me waked me up and stirred my heart. The storm
kept me from going to church, but I could not sleep. I have
been there reading the Bible and trying to pray, but it is all
dark to me. Jesus sent you to teach me." And Wayland
Hoyt told me that in five minutes his interested citizen was
rejoicing in Christ Jesus the Lord. What if Wayland Hoyt
had not gone ? God pity me and you maybe, as time and again
your heart ached with a longing inexpressible for some lost
soul, but you said : "I am unworthy. I am incompetent. I am
unfit." And you deadened your impression, and you went your
way, and such soul went his way, and maybe has gone into
eternity ere this Tuesday night. Oh, seek the guidance of
God's Spirit for this task, and then follow Him !

44 A QUEST FOR SOULS

We are going in a moment, for my message is done. I
have a question to ask you, and you will answer it candidly.
This is the question: Is there somebody in Fort Worth that
you wish to be saved ? Is there somebody in Fort Worth that
you wish to be saved during these meetings, in which our appeal
shall be made to men's judgments and men's consciences? I
have no respect for any other kind of appeal in the name of
Christ's holy religion. Bethink you now — is there somebody
that you wish to see saved during these midsummer days,
set aside for some special meetings to help the people in the
highest matters of all? Every Christian present who says:
"Yes ; there is one, or there are some, that I wish to see saved,
and by my standing I voice my wish, and ask you and ask
others present who pray, to join me in prayer for these name-
less ones that my heart thinks about, in these closing moments
of this service," stand to your feet. Is there some person or
persons whom you would see saved during these meetings, for
whom you would have us to unite our prayers this night, and
from day to day, that light and leading from God may be
vouchsafed unto them that they may be saved? Does my call
apply to others? Every man and woman who says: "That
represents my heart's earnest desire," stand to your feet. Many
have risen. Many persons are evidently now in your thoughts.
The Lord teach us to pray for them as we ought !

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

We go now, our Father, at the close of this service, appealing to thee that
thy truth, by the power of thy Spirit, may be written in our deepest con-
sciences. O, forgive us for our little faith, for our miserable unfaith.^ This night
we would draw nigh to God. We would pay the price for power with God and
for Him, wherever that would lead us, and whatever that would cost us. Whether
by death or by life, we would do God's will. Behold the men and women who
have risen to their feet to say that tHey are thinking of one, or thinking of more
than one, whom they long to see saved during these midsummer days, in the
special daily meetings. O God, fit us to speak as we ought to the people all
about us concerning Jesus. Would it please thee for those now praying to pour
forth their personal appeal to some soul thought about and prayed for right now?
Then let the right person go to such soul and speak God's Word, however tim-
idly. And even though with confession, first of 'all, for waywardness personal,
and inconsistency of life, and incongruity of temper, yet may the soul who loves
Christ and loves the soul of the one thought about and prayed for right now, go
te such soul and speak as Christ would have the word spoken, to guide such
soul out of the darkness and into the light. Holy Spirit Divine, thou Great
Revealer of Jesus, come thou and teach us and lead us, and enable us hour by
hour, in our talk, in our visits, by the use of the 'phone, by the letter, and in
the secret places, when we bare our very souls before God in prayer, to behave
ourselves in such a fashion that Christ with smiling face shall look on us, and
with blessed lips shall say to us: "I am well pleased."

And now, as the people go, may the blessing of God, even of Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, whom we worship as one God, be granted you all and each, to
abide with you forevermore. Amen.

NOON SERVICE, JUNE 13, 1917.
THE THREEFOLD SECRET OF A GREAT LIFE.

Text: "Brethren, I count not myself to liave apprehended: but this one thing
I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus."— Phil. 3; 13, 14.

Somebody has well said that "the proper study of mankind
is man." The study of biography, therefore, is always a most
fascinating and helpful study. Everybody who is normal is
interested keenly in the lives of people who have succeeded.
We would know all that we may about them, about their
beginnings, their struggles, their habits, about their viewpoint
in life. This morning I would direct your attention for a little
while to the most remarkable Christian of the centuries, namely,
the Apostle Paul. He was, and is, the greatest single credential
that Christ's gospel has ever produced. One day, in writing to
his favorite church, the Philippian church, in a burst of confi-
dence, it would seem, he lets us into the secret of his marvelous
life, and we are to study that threefold secret for a little while
this morning. Mark his words :

This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching
forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

In those words, this greatest of all Christians states the
three-fold secret of his incomparable life, and we will do well
to look at that threefold secret today. The first element in it
is the element of whole-hearted concentration. "This one
thing I do" — not a dozen things, not even two things, but "this
one thing I do." No life can be very great, or very happy, or
very useful, without this element of concentration. Every one

46 A QUEST FOR SOULS

should have a work to do, and know what it is, and do it with
all his might. Decision is energy, and energy is power, and
power is confidence, and confidence to a remarkable degree
contributes to success. Many a man in life has failed, not
from lack of ability, but from lack of this element of con-
centration. The whole world is witness to its power. Turn to
any realm that you will, and the vital meaning of concentration
stands out in all human life, after the most striking fashion.

Take the business world, and the element of concentration
there is of prime importance, if success is to be achieved. The
very watchwords in the business world magnify this element of
concentration. They talk to us about specialization and con-
solidation, and incorporation, and on and on, giving emphasis
in all such words to the meaningful quality of concentration.
A short time ago one of the world's most successful business
men was waited upon by a group of young men, who sought
his counsel about how to succeed, and he gave them this laconic
advice : "Young gentlemen, get all your eggs into one basket,
and then watch that basket." It was his way of giving emphasis
to the tremendous value of concentration. The day for the
jack-of-all-trades has passed. A man must do one thing and
do it with all his might. The professional man understands
that. The lawyer who is minded to reach the topmost rung of
his high calling sets himself with all diligence and devotedness
to that calling, and does not dissipate his energies on a half
dozen other callings, as in the other days men sometimes did.
The physician understands that. The day of the specialist has
come. The teacher understands that. In all the world about
us men understand that this winning element, stated by Paul
as the first element, humanly speaking, of his marvelous career,
is indispensable to success, namely, the power of concentration
— "this one thing I do."

And when we turn to the world of science, and look at the
notable scientists, that truth of concentration seems to be
written in their lives as with letters of living fire. Edison with
all devotedness concentrates his energies in the realm of elec-
tricity, and is constantly surprising the world by his marvelous
discoveries. And the Wright brothers, with all their devoted-
ness, gave themselves to the mastery of the secrets of the air,
and constantly surprised us by their revelations.

THE SECRET OF A GREAT LIFE 47

When we come to the highest realm of all — the realm relig-
ious— ^this element of concentration there holds sway just as in
these other realms. No man can serve two masters. One must
be our Master, and Jesus stands above all mankind and says :
*'If you would be my disciple, then I tell you I must come first.
I must come before father or mother, or the dearest loved one
of your life. I must come before your own business, or your
own property. I must come before your own life. I must be
Lord of all, or I will not be Lord at all."

Now, you would not trust your soul's eternal welfare to a
proffered Savior who would ask or allow an3rthing less than
that He should be first. "Ye shall seek me and find me, when
ye search for me with your whole heart." I care not what may
be a man's difficulties or doubts in the world religious, if only
such man, with definiteness of purpose, with whole-heartedness
of aim, shall set himself to seek God's light and leading, I know
that he will find Him. "In the day that thou seekest me with
thy whole heart, I will be found of thee." Many a Christian
man follows Christ afar off, and limps and grovels in the
Christian life, because he is seeking to adjust himself in life
to giving Christ some secondary place, and Christ will not have
it. Concentration is a prime requisite in the victorious life
anywhere.

In the second place the great Christian leads us to the con-
sideration of a second secret explanatory of his marvelous
career, and that is that he cultivated a wise forgetfulness of the
past. It rings like a trumpet blast in this Bible that we are to
remember certain things that we ought to remember. That word
"remember" rings out like a bugle blast, again and again in the
Bible. But along with the factor of wisely remembering there
is to go that other important factor of wisely forgetting. Many
a man goes hobbled and crippled through life and never does
come to the highest and best, because he cannot forget certain
things that ought to be forgotten by him.

And what are some of the things that we ought every one
to forget ? Let me run over a brief list. We ought every one
to learn how practically to forget our blunders. What blun-
derers we all are, and how many blunders we all make ! Every
man must learn how to forget his own blunders, or he will go
manacled and crippled to his grave. The old saying comes in

48 A QUEST FOR SOULS

point right clearly, that "the best of men are but men at the
best." We are to learn, therefore, how to forget our blunders.
Ebenezer was a field of defeat before it rang with the songs of
victory. We are to learn how to take our very blunders and
make them bridges over which we shall span the chasms and
go to better days.

And what else are we to learn how to forget? We are to
learn how to forget our losses. In human life losses of all
kinds come more or less in our experiences. We are to learn
how to get past them, and practically to forget them. I have
observed no more painfully tragical sight than a strong, alert
man, down in spirit, singing his dirges and chanting his jere-
miads because he had lost some property. I am thinking now
of a man whose property burned up a day or two after the
insurance had expired, and all was a total loss, and there he
was without property at all, in the gray of that early morning,
and with his face in his hands he kept chanting the pitiful cry:
"I have lost all !" Presently his tiny little girl, of four or five
summers, came to him, all puzzled, and said : "Why, no, papa,
you have not lost all. You have me and mamma left !" And
it took that to summon him and to hearten him and to bring
him back to sobriety and to right-thinking. No man is to
whine and mope and go down because losses come here and
there and yonder. But, he is to learn how to get past them and
to forget them.

What else are we to forget? We are to learn how to forget
life's injuries. It would seem that in this world of ours with
its rivalries and competitions and frictions and alienations, it is
difficult to get past the injuries that come in human life. And
yet I tell you, my brother men, if for any cause you are cherish-
ing hate in your heart, then 3^ou have lost the highest perspec-
tive of life, and cannot have the highest perspective of life as
long as the poison of hate is allowed in your heart and in your
life. A man is terribly hindered and has around him a ball and
a chain, if in his heart he cherishes something that says: "I
will lie awake at nights, and I will turn many a corner, and I
will await my day, to get even with some man for some cruel
dart that he throws at me." Big men do not hate. Big men
do not cherish resentments. Big men put them down and out,
and go their way, and refuse to harbor them. They refuse to

THE SECRET OF A GREAT LIFE 49

let them rankle like poisons in the heart, thus to vitiate every
high thing that the spirit should hold most dear.

What else are we to forget? We are to learn how to
forget our successes. More men have been spoiled by suc-
cess than you and I can begin to measure. There is danger in
success, anywhere, for any man. If a man can bear success,
he can bear anything. Easier far can the human spirit bear
adversity than it can bear prosperity. It is better any day
to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting,
for in the house of feasting the human spirit is lifted up, and
pride always goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit
always goes before a fall. When Uzziah of old came to his
day of remarkable prosperity, then it was that the Bible tells
us his heart was lifted up to destruction. The history of the
rich American family stands out like a mountain range, that
every third generation of such family goes to defeat and failure
and poverty. The first generation wins success, the second
generation spends it, and the third generation goes the down-
ward way to poverty and failure. We are to learn how to
forget our successes. If a man does not learn what success is
for — any kind of success, financial success, political success,
social success, intellectual success, any kind of success — if he
does not learn what it is for, the day comes for his undoing and
his downfall and his defeat.

What else are we to forget ? We are to learn how to forget
our sorrows — and sooner or later these sorrows come to us,
each and all. We are to learn how to forget them. When the
sorrows come, we are to learn how to take these sorrows to the
great, refining, overruling Master, and ask Him so to dispose,
so to rule and overrule in them and with them that we may
come out of them all refined and disciplined, the better educated
and more useful, because of such sorrows. They tell us that
when you break the oyster's shell at a certain place it will go
somewhere into the deep and find a pearl and mend that broken
place in its shell with a beautiful pearl. Even so, when your
sorrow in life comes, you are to learn how to take that sorrow,
and so have it woven into the warp and woof of your life that
you shall not be weaker and worse for the sorrow, but shall
be richer and stronger and better, because of such sorrow.
Read every now and then the polished essay of Emerson on

50 A QUEST FOR SOULS

"Compensation." Running all through this world is that clear
principle of compensation. The Bible recognizes it : "For our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." We are to
lay to heart that sublimest truth that "all things work together
for good to them that love God." Yonder in the asylum for
the deaf and dumb a visitor went one day, and the superin-
tendent of the asylum said: "Let me show you how bright
these little children are, even though they are deaf and dumb.
Ask any question you will," said the superintendent . to the
visitor. "Write your question there on the board, and see the
answers that these little mutes will give to your question." He
asked question after question, did this visitor. After awhile
he asked a cruel question. I wonder how he could have done
k. He wrote this cruel question there on the board: "If
God loved you, why did He make you deaf and dumb?" Then
the little things bowed their shoulders and sobbed for a mo-
ment with almost uncontrollable emotion, and presently a little
tiny girl came from out her seat there, and went to the black-
board, and wrote under that question these wonderful words
of Jesus: "Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy
sight." Wasn't it glorious? You and I are to take our sor-
rows, our black Fridays, our lone and long nights, and we are
to come to Him and say: "Manage thou these, thou won-
drous Friend, who canst turn the very night into morning;
manage these for me." And we are to sing with Whittier,
when he sang:

*'I know not where Hts islands lift

Their fronded palms in air;
But this I know, I cannot drift

Beyond His love and care."

What else are we to forget ? We are to learn how to forget
our sins. If Paul had not learned how to forget his sins he
would have been crippled utterly clear to his death. Paul con-
sented to the death of Stephen. Paul persecuted the church.
Paul was a ring-leader in sin. Paul seemed to run the whole
gamut of sin. He called himself "the chief of sinners," and
perhaps he was. If Paul had not learned how to forget those
awful sins that mastered him back yonder, if he had not learned
how to get past them, then he would have gone with accusing
conscience and broken spirit clear to his grave. We shall have
about us a ball and a chain, and shall go groveling and despair-

THE SECRET OF A GREAT LIFE 51

ing and defeated, if we do not learn how to forget our sins.
When we look at the debit side of our life, do our hearts faint
within us? Mine faints within me. But then the Master of
life summons me and says : "Come over here and look at the
credit side, and the credit side will outfigure all that debit
side." And when I come over there I say to Him: "What
dost thou mean, oh, thou gracious Friend?" Listen to Him,
and He tells us : "Where sin abounded, grace did much more
abound." Listen to Him again : "As far as the east is from
the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us."
And listen to Him yet again: "I have put your sins behind
my back. I have drowned them in the depths of the sea. I
will remember them against you no more forever." Oh, isn't
that wonderful? Listen to Him again and He tells us: "The
blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin."-
When Satan comes with his accusing cry, reminding me 6£
my weakness and my frailty and my transgressions and my
proneness to sin and all that, he can make out his case, I grant
it, but I come back and say to him: "But, sir, where sin
abounded, grace has much more abounded, and in Christ,
whose name is Jesus, I have victory, even over my sins."
"Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people
from their sins." We have a real Savior from sin in Christ
Jesus, and when we trust Him, no more are we to go hobbled>
with ball and chain, because of sin, because Christ becomes our
personal Savior from both the penalty and power of sin.

Years ago, in South Texas, there was a little home in the
country burned down, and before the neighbors could rescue
the family all were burned to death save one little girl, some
nine or ten years of age, and she was badly burned on one
side of her face and little body. The rest were all burned to
death. The neighbors, after a few days, when they had con-
sulted, sent little Mary to the far-famed Buckner Orphans
Home. They advised the noble head of that home when little
Mary would come, on what train, and there good Dr. Buckner
was waiting for her, of course. When she got off the train,
her little eyes were red from weeping, and she seemed intuitive-
ly to know that he was her protector henceforth, and she
started toward him saying: "Is this Mr. Buckner?" He said:
"Yes, and is this little Mary?" And then she came and laid

52 A QUEST FOR SOULS

her littk head up against his knee, and sobbed with indiscriba-
ble emotion, and looked up at last with that little burned face
and said: "You will have to be my papa and mamma both."
He said : "I will, the best I can, Mary." And then she went into
the Home, and was looked after along with those hundreds of
children. I have been there time and again and preached to
them, and I have seen them come out to greet him when he
would return to them, after an absence. The little tots come
down the avenue, and vie with one another as they swing
around him, each wishing to kiss him first. Along in that group
one day came the little burned-faced Mary, and the little chil-
dren kissed him as was their wont, but little Mary stood off,
several feet away, and looked across her shoulder, watching
the whole affair, sobbing like her heart would break. And
when these little ones had kissed the good man, he looked
across to her and said : *'Mary, why don't you come and kiss
me?" That was entirely too much for her and she sobbed
aloud, and then he went over and touched her little chin and
lifted it up and said: I do not quite understand you, Mary.
Why didn't you come to kiss me?" And the little thing had
difficulty in speaking, and when she did speak she said: "O
Papa Buckner, I could not ask you to kiss me, I am so ugly.
After I got burned I am so ugly I could not ask you to kiss
me, but if you will just love me like you love the other chil-
dren and tell me you love me, then you need not kiss me at all."
You know what he did. He pushed all those beautiful children
away, and took up little Mary in his arms, and kissed the little
burned cheek again and again and said : *'Mary, you are just
as beautiful to Papa Buckner as are any of the rest."

Ah, me ! I was that burned child once, and sin did it all ! I
came to Jesus and said : "I am sorry. My heart is sick about it.
Oh, I have repented of it all." And He said : "1 will receive
you, and I will give you the kiss of reconciliation, the kiss of
pardon, the kiss of forgiveness," and I was saved when I came
like that. Now no more will I go fettered and bound because
of sin, because Christ has made me free by His mighty grace.

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe,
Sin had left its crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow.

Let me detain you for the third word. Paul had a right
anticipation. "Forgetting those things which are behind and

THE SECRET OF A GREAT LIFE 53

^caching forth unto those things which are before, I press
toward the mark for the prize of the high calHng of God in
Christ Jesus." Paul had a right forward look. My men and
women, at this busy noonday hour, I come to ask you, one by
one, have you the right aim in your life? What are you living
for ? What is that hand for ? What is the eye for ? What is
human life for? What is your life for? How are you using
your life? How are you investing your life? What is the aim
of your life ? Does somebody say : "Why, I am taking it one
world at a time ?" That is not bright. That is not clever. If
a man does not include two worlds at a time, then he commits
suicide for both. A man is to be a citizen of two worlds, and a
man who lives simply for this world, no matter how success-
fully, how victoriously, how notoriously, if a man lives simply
for this present world, he commits suicide in it and suicide for
the world endless that awaits us just out there. Oh, include
two worlds in your plan !

Let me tell you about three men. One said : "One world
at a time for me," and from early morning until dewy eve, he
invested all his powers to win success, and he won it, but he
died without hope, and without God, taking a leap into the
dark with a wail, the memory of which must forever give
agony to the hearts that heard it. The second one made pro-
fession of religion, but he followed Christ afar off. He put
his religion into a little tiny corner of his life. He gave Jesus
the small places, and when he came to the last end, with his
family and minister around him, the minister was saddened by
his awful story: "Sir, I trust I shall get to heaven, but my
works are burned up, because I have done little or nothing for
Christ. Oh, if I could retrace my life and be the right kind
of a man !" And then there was the third man. From life's
young morning he dedicated his life to Jesus. He went his
way a great business man, but with it all he was the faithful
friend of Jesus. He chose Christ as his chief partner, his
guide in all things. And when he came down to die, there was
a halo of light about his face, and there was victory in his heart,
and in his words, and all the men that knew him said : "If ever
a Christian has lived, this man is he." Which one of these
three men would you rather be? Listen to the words of a
modem poet :

54 A QUEST FOR SOULS

I had walked life's way with an easy tread.
Had followed where comforts and pleasures led.
Until one day in a quiet place
I met the Master face to face.

With station and rank and wealth for my goal.
Much thought for my body, but none for my soul,
I had entered to win in life's mad race.
When I met the Master face to face.

I had built my castles and reared them high.
With their towers had pierced the blue of the sky,
I had sworn to rule with an iron mace.
When I met the Master face to face.

I met Him and knew Him and blushed to see
That His eyes, full of sorrow, were fixed on me;
And I faltered and fell at His feet that day.
While my castles melted and vanished away.

Melted and vanished and in their place
Naught else did I see but the Master's face.
And I cried aloud, "Oh, make me meet
To follow the steps of Thy wounded feet."

My thought is now for the souls of men,
I have lost my life to find it again,
E'er since one day in a quiet place
I met the Master face to face.

O my men and women, you are not ready to die, you are
not ready to live, you are not ready for any duty, even for five
seconds, if you are putting the wisdom and love and power of
Christ out of your life. Be wise, I summon you, and give
heed to the supreme things, even in the day when you ought.
That day is to-day.

THE BENEDICTION.

And now, as we go, may God vouchsafe unto us every one, His own search-
ing truth, applied by its Divine Author, even by the Holy Spirit Himself, so that
we shall from this day forward, put first things first, in the remaining life allowed
us in the flesh. Oh, we beseech thee, our Father, that these busy men and
women at this noontide hour, may go away with the heart inflexibly fixed to
give Christ, the one Savior, the rightful Master of mankind, absolute supremacy
in our every heart, and in every life, and in every life plan that we are to have
from this day forward.

And as you go now, may the blessing of God, bright like the light when the
morning dawneth, and gracious as the dew when the eventide cometh, be granted
you all and each, to abide with you today and tomorrow, and throughout God's
vast beyond, forever. Amen.

[Vi

NIGHT SERVICE, JUNE 13, 1917.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

At the beginning of the service last evening I raised
the question with the Christians w^ho were present if they
would not set themselves apart definitely to do some
earnest personal religious visiting every day during these
meetings. Now, I am wondering how many of those
Christians who heard that request have to-day heeded it,
and to-day have sought to help somebody touching per-
sonal religion. All about us there are people who are
neglecting the highest things, and yet these peoole have
their heart-hungers and their longings, because eternity
hath been set in every heart, and therefore nothing other
than the eternal can satisfy the human heart. Oh, I am
so anxious, my fellow Christians, that we shall give our-
selves during these midsummer days, in this brief meeting,
like we ought, to the right kind of religious visiting. I
believe — I wonder if you people believe it with me — that
every night we come here every Christian listening to me
now, can by the right sort of effort bring at least one with
you to every night service, who is not a Christian. What
if you were to do that? Remember: "Faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God." What if every
Christian listening to me now highly resolved in his or
her heart : "As for me, I will do my best to bring at least
one with me, every night, who is not a Christian!" Oh,
I pray you, pass nobody by. Go after the tallest man in

56 A QUEST FOR SOULS

this fair city. Jesus needs him, and surely that man's
supreme need is Jesus. Go after the most gifted woman
socially in all the city. How the Master needs her, and
how she needs Him ! Go after the poorest and wretchedest.
Jesus would have you pass nobody by. Now, I raise the
question with you again, my fellow Christian. Will you
not give yourself for an hour to-morrow, to the right kind
of religious visiting? There is some duty-neglecting
Christian you ought to see. There is some back-slidden
Christian that you ought to confer with. And, above all,
there is somebody that you ought to talk with who is not
a Christian at all. Oh, what an incongruity for a Christian
to go his way dumb in the presence of those not Chris-
tians! Couldn't you give an hour to-morrow, to this
greatest quest of all? And if it could not be an hour,
couldn't it be half an hour? And if it could not be half
an hour, couldn't it be five minutes? And if it could not
be five minutes, couldn't you take one minute to ask some
person face to face: "Is it well with your soul?" Be not
afraid. Do your best, and God will be vnth you.

You are ready now, I trust, quietly and reverently, to
listen for some moments to the reading of the Holy Scrip-
tures. I am reading from John's Gospel, in the first chap-
ter:

Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking
upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of Godl And the two
disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

Just one sentence, and that led them to follow Jesus,
and you can speak that sentence.

Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What
seek ye.'*

What are you men up to ? Oh, how candid is the good
Master, Jesus ! He never misleads. He never deceives.
How candid is Jesus ! What seek ye ? What are you men
up to? Why do you follow me?

They said unto Him, Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted. Master),
where dwdlest thou? He saith unto them. Come and see.

That is what He always says. That is Christ's standing
challenge to mankind— come and see!

They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day: for it
was about the tenth hour. One of the two which heard John speak, and followed
Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother,
Simon, and saith unto him. We have found the Messias, which is, being inter
prated, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus.

A QUEST FOR SOULS 57

A QUEST FOR SOULS.

Text: "And he brought him to Jesus."— John 1:42.

The bringing of a soul to Jesus is the highest achieve-
ment possible to a human life. Some one asked Lyman
Beecher, probably the greatest of all the Beechers, this ques-
tion : "Mr. Beecher, you know a great many things. What
do you count the greatest thing that a human being can
be or do?" And without any hesitation the famous pul-
piteer replied : "The greatest thing is, not that one shall
be a scientist, important as that is; nor that one shall be
a statesman, vastly important as that is; nor even that
one shall be a theologian, immeasurabl}^ important as that
is ; but the greatest thing of all," he said, "is for one human
being to bring another to Christ Jesus the Savior."

Surely, he spoke wisely, and well. The supreme ambi-
tion for every church and for every individual Christian
should be to bring somebody to Christ. The supreme
method for bringing people to Christ is indicated here in
the story of Andrew, who brought his brother Simon to
Jesus. The supreme method for winning the world to
Christ is the personal method, the bringing of people to
Christ one by one. That is Christ's plan. When you turn
to the Holy Scriptures, they are as clear as light, that God
expects every friend He has to go out and see if he cannot
win other friends to the same great side and service of
Jesus.

"Ye shall be witnesses unto me," said Jesus, "both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the
uttermost parts of the earth." The early church went out
and in one short generation shook the Roman empire to
its very foundation. It was a pagan, selfish, sodden, rotten
empire, and yet in one short generation, that early church
had shaken that Roman empire from center to circumfer-
ence, and kindled a gospel light in every part of the vast
domain. And they did it by the personal method. The
men and the women and the children who loved Christ,
went out everywhere, and talked for Christ, in the hearing
of those who knew Him not, and the hearers became inter-
ested, and followed on, and found out for themselves the

m A QUEST FOR SOULS

saving truth that there is in Christ's gospel. Every Chris-
tian, no matter how humble, can win somebody else to
Christ. You would not challenge that, would you? Let
me say it again. Every Christian, however humble, can
win somebody to Christ.

That is a most interesting and instructive story told
of the nobly gifted Boston preacher. Dr. O. P. GifTord,
who preached one morning to his congregation, making
the insistence that it is the business, primary and funda-
mental, of Christ's people to go out constantly and win
others to the knowledge of the Savior. And as he brought
to bear his message upon his waiting auditors, with words
that breathed and thoughts that burned, the minister came
on to say : "Every Christian can win somebody to Christ."
When the sermon was done and the people were sent away,
there tarried behind one of his humblest auditors — prob-
ably the humblest, with reference to this world's goods,
for she was a poor seamstress. She tarried behind to make
her plea to the preacher that his sermon was over-stressed.
Greatly moved she was, the preacher stated, as looking him
in the face she said: "Pastor, this is the first time that I
ever heard you when you seemed to be unfair." "Pray,
wherein was I unfair?" he asked. Then she said: "You
kept crowding the truth down upon us that every Christian
could win somebody to Christ. Now, you did not make
any exceptions, and surely I am an exception. Pray, tell
me what could I do? I am but a poor seamstress, and I
sew early and late to get enough to keep the wolf from
the door for my fatherless children, and I have no educa-
tion and no opportunity, and yet your statement was so
sweeping that even I was included, and in that," she said,
"I think you were unfair — the first time I ever knew yoit
to be so." And then, when she had finished her vehement
protest, he looked down at her in all her agitation, and
said to her: "Does anybody ever come to your house?"
She said: "Why, certainly, a few people come there."
And then, waiting a moment, he said: "Does the milk*
man ever come?" "To be sure," she said; "every morning
he comes." "Does the bread-man come?" "Every day he
comes." "Does the meat-man come?" "Every day he

A QUEST FOR SOULS SB

comes to my cottage." Then, waiting a moment for his
questions to have their due effect, looking down earnestly
at her, he said: "A word to the wise is sufficient," and
he turned upon his heel, abruptly leaving her. She went
her way, and the nightfall came and she went to her bed
to ponder late and long the searching message she had
heard that morning. Why, she had not even tried to win
anybody to Christ. She had never made the effort. She
claimed to be Christ's friend, and yet had never opened
her lips for Him at all. She will try, and she will
begin with her first opportunity to-morrow, even with the
coming of the milk-man. Accordingly she was up before
the daylight came, there waiting, if haply she might speak
to him some word concerning personal religion. When he
greeted her, he made the remark that he had never seen
her up quite so early before, and she stammered out some
embarrassing reply, not saying what she came to say, and
now he had left her, and the gate clicked behind him as he
left. Then she summoned her strength and called him
back. *'Wait a minute," she pleaded, "I did have some-
thing to say to you." And when he tarried to hear it, she
poured out her heart to him in the query : "Do you know
Christ? Are you a Christian? Are 3^ou the friend and
follower of that glorious Savior who came down from
heaven and died, that you might not forever die?" And
fairly dropping his milk pails, he looked into her face with
anguish in his own, as he said to her: "Little w^oman,
what on earth provoked you to talk to me like this? Here
for two nights, madam, I have been unable to sleep, and
the burden of it all is that I am not a Christian, and I am
in the darkness. If you know how to find the light, you
are the one that I need, and you should tell me." And there,
in a few brief minutes of conversation, she told him hov/
she had found the light, and he walked in that simple path
that she indicated for him. And Dr. Gifford goes on to
tell us that before that year was out, that same little seam-
stress had won seven adults to Christ, not only to the open
confession of Christ as their Savior, but to take their places
promptly in His church. You can win somebody to Christ.

60 A QUEST FOR SOULS

Have you tried? Will you try? Won't you try, looking
to God to guide and help you?

The text tells of a man who won somebody to Christ.
The case of an ordinary man is this, and therefore he is
chosen, for we are just ordinary people. This man Andrew
is not Paul, the outstanding Christian of the centuries. He
is not Apollos, that eloquent, winsome man, who could
compel people to listen to him, his words were so en-
trancing. He is just an ordinary, every-day, commonplace
man. The Bible makes only three or four passing refer-
ences to him. This man is the illustration we are to have
tonight of the one person going out to win some other
person to Christ. Let us fix our eyes upon him to-night,
and learn from the story something to help us.

Andrew here stands forth as one who has just found
the Savior. How will he act? Two things stand out in
response to that question — how will he act? First of all,
Andrew is immediately interested that somebody else may
be saved. Don't you like that? Isn't that a wonderful
example for us? Immediately, this man Andrew is con-
cerned that somebody else may be saved. Oh, there are
different evidences, my friends, indicated in these Holy
Scriptures, whereby we may pass upon this eternally con-
sequential question, whether or not we have been born
again. It may be that at one of these services we will
group these Scriptural evidences, and focus them upon
this question : "Have I been born again, and what are the
Scriptural evidences that I have been born again?" Cer-
tainly we might not be able to have a more interesting or
profitable study. But whether we shall give ourselves or
not to such service, here stands out for us one shining fact,
like a mountain peak: If one is born again, that one is
concerned that somebody else may be saved. "If any man
have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of His." And the
spirit of Christ is the spirit of compassionate anxiety that
lost people may be saved. Now, Andrew evinces his con-
cern, straighway after he finds the Messiah, that somebody
else may find that same blessed, forgiving Savior. Years
agone, I was preaching in a series of 'daily meetings like
these, and one Sunday morning, when I made the call for

A QUEST FOR SOULS 61

those who would confess Christ to come forward and
remain, there came a group down the aisles, and a number
waited to be received into the church. When I came to
question them about their coming into the church, I came
presently to an humble German girl, a servant in one of
the families. She was not long from the old country, and
her English was barely intelligible, as we listened to it,
and I said to her: "My child, why do you wish to join the
church?" In her broken English, she made her reply to
my question, and her English was so bad that it was well-
nigh impossible for us to understand just what she was
saying. Then I said to her: ''My child, if you won't mind,
I will ask you to wait a week, and let us talk with you
quietly and carefully, as is the custom with all the young
people that come into the church. We would be careful
about this great step. The church is for those who have
found Christ as their Savior, who know the way, and too
much care can hardly be exercised at that point, and I will
just ask, if you don't mind, that you will wait and let us
talk it over, that no mistake may be made." She readily
assented to my proposal, and I passed to the next case,
and when I was questioning him presently the child broke
out in a sob audible to those in the rear of the large audito-
rium. All of us were immediately embarrassed. Evident-
ly I had grieved her, and I turned back to her frankly, and
said: "Why, my child, I did not mean to grieve you by
asking that you wait. That is not anything unusual. The
church is doing that sort of thing here constantly. We
are asking that the young people talk with the pastor, and
talk with the parents carefully, before they come into the
church. Coming into the church is one of the greatest
steps for a human soul, and it ought to be taken with much
deliberation and wisdom. It was for your good, my child,
and it is not anything unusual that you are asked to wait."
She said, with better English now: "Oh, sir, it is not that
that makes me cry ! I forgot. I cried because my brother
here in this city is such a wild boy, and he is lost, and
my heart is breaking. I am so concerned that he shall
be saved. Won't you ask everybody here to-day to join
me in one prayer that my poor, lost, sinful brother may be

62 A' QUEST FOR SOULS

saved? That is what made me cry/' And the dear old
senior deacon spoke up, and said: "Pastor, we had better
take her into the church now. She knows the way, and we
need not wait another week/' She did know the way, and
there was the outflashing in that conversation, in that last
moment, of her deep knowledge of a forgiving Savior, and
all that audience was swept with her tremulous appeal.
They knew, every Christian there, that this woman knew
the Lord, because of her heart's longing for others to be
saved.

There was another point about this man Andrew, strik-
ingly suggested, when he found the Savior, and that point
is that he went straight home to get his first work in for
his Savior. Now, don't you like that? He went straight-
way to get in his first work for the great Savior whom he
had just found, in his own home. He went after a difficult
case, let me tell you. He went after his own brother
Simon. Rash and headstrong and impulsive was that man
Simon, and yet plain Andrew, a weakling compared with
Simon, went after that big, strong brother, nor did he
cease until he had brought him to Christ.

Oh, if the limits of this hour allowed, I should like,
my brothers, to poui out my heart in a plea for home
religion. There is an old saying that comiCS to mind
just here: "The shoemaker's wife is the worst shod
person in the village." Oh, if I might pour out my
heart for a moment in a plea that our homes be or-
dered like they ought to be in the realm of religion! If
there be one place, let me say it to the parents, where you
should put your best foot forward for Christ, it should be
in your families. I tell you, that is an indictment against
a father if his own boy does not believe in his religion. I
tell you that is an indictment against a mother if her own
girl does not believe: "My mother is the best Christian
in all the world." Oh, that our religion in our homes shall
be outshining and congruous and consistent, even after the
highest and most heavenly fashion! The accent, in my
humble judgment, that most of all needs to be pronounced
this night, throughout this whole country, from border to
border, is an accent on the religion of our homes. As goes

A QUEST FOR SOULS 63

the home, so shall go everything in the social order. The
citadel, both for church and for state, is the home. If we
shall have the right kind of homes, then shall everything
in the social order be conserved and saved, but if our homes
shall be beaten down and unraveled and frazzled out by
every superficial and foolish thing — God save the mark! —
the nation is doomed and the land shall be lost. I wonder
what your answer would be, as I look into the faces of
Christian parents now, and ask you this simple question:
Do you have family prayer at your house? Why don't
you have it? You might have measured off to you one
round thousand years in which to get up your reasons
why a Christian parent should not have family prayer in
his house, and when the thousand years had passed, you
would come back without the semblance of even one rea-
son. Oh, men and women who love Christ, with your chil-
dren growing about you, or already fairly grown, is it
possible that human life, invested as it is with such sacred
meanings and opportunities and responsibilities, shall go
passing away, and the chiefest j.lace of all to get in ycur
witness for Christ, even under your own roof, shall be
overlooked and lost ! One of the most menacing signs that
you can find in any community, if you are able to find it
there, is the decay of family prayer in such community.

I am thinking now of two homes. To the first was I
summoned one morning to the burial of their only child.
She was a beautiful girl of some fifteen summers. They
were not members of my congregation, but of another;
but their minister was absent, and, therefore, was I sum-
moned to conduct the funeral. I came to the splendid-
looking home, and a vast concourse of people were in and
about the house. I asked that I might see the family, and
I was taken down the long hall and into the quiet room
where the broken-hearted parents sat, and as tactfully as
I could, I began to find my way to an apprehension of the
situation, that I might the better speak in the funeral serv-
ice to be had a few moments later. I found in response
to questioning, presently, that both of these parents were
professed Christians, and then I ventured to tell them that
earth had no sorrow that heaven cannot heal, and that they

64 A QUEST FOR SOULS

must refuse to turn aside into the abyss of despair and
broken-heartedness, because they had a Savior, and they
were His friends. By this time the mother was on her
feet, and said : "Sir, I have something to tell you that has
utterly broken our hearts." I waited to hear what it was,
and then she said: "That beautiful girl yonder in her
casket, our only child, has been here in our home these
fifteen years, and yet in all these years, though her mother
is a Christian, and her father is a Christian — in all these
years that child never heard either one of us pray one
time, sir." And then she waited a moment more, and said :
"Sir, our horrible fear is that it was not well with the child,
and that her blood will be on our garments." Will you
say that it was not? Oh, cruelty of cruelties, inconsistency
of inconsistencies, that a child should be in a Christian
home fifteen years, and never hear the voice of a parent
one time lifted in prayer !

There was another home of which I would speak. I
pleaded with the people one morning in the other years,
begging them that they put first things first, and that the
men who were Christians would pause at the breakfast table
for a little season of prayer with the loved ones around
them, or in the evening time, when the day was done, that
they would gather the circle about them, and speak with
the great King and Savior in grateful acknowledgment and
in continual plea for His m.ercies to be granted them. Num-
bers that morning said that they would change their ways.
One outstanding business man, whose voice was often
heard in the city, searched me out and said: "Oh, I have
lived miserably far from what is consistent and right. I
will turn over a new leaf tonight. Family prayer shall be
at my house to-night, and every night henceforth." I fol-
low it just a moment more. The next morning, as I crossed
the city, I saw his only son about fifteen or sixteen years
of age, and as I was traveling rapidly along, the son sum-
moned me, and when he reached me, I saw in his face that
there was a deep battle of some sort going on, and I said:
"What is it, my boy, that I can do for you?" And then he
looked down with face averted, and then looked up with his
face covered with tears, and said: "You ought to have

A QUEST FOR SOULS 65

been at our house last night." "What happened at your
house, my boy? I should like to know." He said: "Oh,
you should have been there. Papa prayed last night!
Papa had sister and me called into the room, and papa
sobbed as he told us he had not lived like a Christian
father ought, and papa asked sister and me to forgive him.
Neither of us could talk. We did not know what to say.
Both of us cried. Papa asked mother to open the Bible
for him, and he tried to read it, but he could not, and then
papa knelt down and prayed, mostly about himself, and
then he said when he got up : 'Children, papa is going to
live a different life from this time on/ " And the boy said :
"I went to my room and I could not sleep." I said : "Why
couldn't you sleep, my boy?" And then, as he leaned over
on my shoulder, he said: "I found out last night that I
am a sinner, and that I am lost. You do not know how
I wanted to see you, that you might tell me what to do."
We turned into a little store house, vacant, and there, in
a few words, I told the lad how it is that Jesus saves a
sinner, and the lad made his simple, honest surrender, and
was saved that very Monday morning. You should have
heard him the next Sunday morning, when the pastor said :
"Tell us, my boy, what started you in this upward way?"
He looked across at his father, on the other side of the
house, and said : "Papa's prayer last Sunday night started
me in the upward way."

Oh, I know it is difficult to have family prayers, my
men and women ! I know it is difficult, but listen to this :
Everything on this earth worth while costs, and you and
I must not, dare not, thrust back into some little inconse-
quential corner in our lives the thing chiefest and com-
manding that God has appointed for the winning of the
world to God.

There is another point for our consideration in the case
of this man Andrew. Andrew's act magnifies the place and
the power of personal work in the winning of lost people
to Christ — the place and power of personal work — and just
there are several suggestions for our consideration. There
can be no substitutes for personal work. Jesus is depend-
ing on His friends to get His gospel made known to a gain-

66 A QUEST FOR SOULS

saying and unbelieving world. He is dependent on His
friends. That is His own divinely appointed method.
There can be no substitutes for personal work ! Life must
make its impact upon life. Now, everybody seems to un-
derstand that, I have sometimes thought, better than the
church of God understands it. The business men under-
stand the power of personal work. They send out their
drummers up and down the land, to look into the faces of
their customers, real or prospective, and explain their
wares. And certainly the politicians understand the power
of personal work. You let a great issue be on, city or state
or national, with two virile parties each contending for
supremacy, and you will observe that the champions of
these parties send their spokesmen, their representatives,
to look their fellovv''-men in the face and argue and plead
and explain, if haply they may win their votes. Oh, will
the church of God fail to lay to heart that the chief instru-
mentality human for the winning of the world to Christ is
the power of personal work? There can be no substitute
for personal work, none at all. Elisha may send his serv-
ant Gehazi, with the prophet's own staff back yonder to the
chamber where the dead boy lies, saying to his servant:
"Put my staff on that boy and see if it won't bring him to
life," and the instructions may be carried out, but the boy
will remain in the cold grip of death. Elisha, the prophet,
himself must go, and stretch his own body, v/arm and puls-
ing, on the cold body of that dead boy. Elisha himself
must make the impact of life upon that dead body. The
Divine Master of life himself gave an emphasis to personal
work beyond anything that I can describe in my simple
discourse this evening. Jesus preached His chlefest sermon
on the new birth to just one man. My fellow-men, if Jesus
thought it worth while to have just one for His congrega-
tion, and there do His best work, surely the servant shall
not be greater than his Master. And when Jesus came
to preach His sermon on eternal life, He preached it yonder
to a woman at the well of Samaria — a poor drab of a
woman, about whose character the less said the better, and
yet she had a soul that was to live forever, and when she
came to that well to draw water therefrom, Jesus had His

A QUEST FOR SOULS 67

opportunity, and with words tactful and honest and faith-
ful, He found His way to that woman's conscience, and
at the right time revealed himself the forgiving Savior
to her. Jesus gave His best service for one soul.

Listen to Him yonder as He tells the story of the shep-
herd leaving his ninety and nine sheep safely housed in
the sheep-cote. Ninety and nine of them were safe, but
one was missing, and he left the ninety and nine safely
housed in the sheep-cote, and went out after that missing
sheep, over the hills and mountains, with his feet pi.erced
by stones and thorns, searching, looking for that one miss-
ing sheep. Nor did he give up his quest, until that sheep
was found, and the shepherd brought it back and put it in
the sheep-cote with the others. What is Jesus saying in
this pungent parable? "Oh, my church," the compassion-
ate Savior says, ''go out and seek earnestly until that lost
sheep is found !" He is saying just that.

Now, all experience and all observation confirm the
point that I am seeking to make, that there can be no sub-
stitutes for personal work. How shall we save our
churches? My fellow Christians, there is one sure way,
and that is that our churches be great life-saving stations
to point lost sinners to Christ. The supreme indictmei;it
that you can bring against a church, if you are able in
truth to bring it, is that such church lacks in passion and
compassion for human souls. A church is nothing better
than an ethical club if its sympathies for lost souls do not
overflow, and if it does not go out to seek to point lost
souls to the knowledge of Jesus.

But now I come to a practical question. How may you
and I win sinners to Christ, as did Andrew of old? That
is entirely practical, and this Wednesday evening let us
focus our thoughts for a moment on the practical question,
how may you and I, like Andrew, win people to Christ?
There are several suggestions to be given in response to
that question. First of all, let us magnify the Word of
God and its Author, the Divine Spirit himself. We are to
magnify both the Word of God and the Author of such
Word, namely the Holy Spirit himself. The one is our
sword, and the other is our power. We are to take this

68 A QUEST FOR SOULS

Word of God and we are to deliver to the lost world about
us the message of this Word of God concerning Jesus and
the relation of humanity to Him. Our message is made
out for us, fortunately: "Preach the preaching that I bid
thee." "Preach the Word." The Word of God is to be
proclaimed. The Word of God is to be avowed. The
Word of God is to be declared. The Word of God is not
bound. The Word of God will take care of itself, if only
it be faithfully proclaimed. You and I are to come with
this Word of God, and without mincing or reservation, are
to tell men everywhere that outside of Jesus Christ they
are lost, and shall never meet God in peace, if they are not
forgiven by this Divine Savior. We are to declare that,
and the Lord, in the power of His Spirit, shall apply and
shall bring to pass such results as in His wisdom and mercy
He deemeth best.

Nor is that all. As we give ourselves to the task of
winning souls to Christ, we are with all diligence and
devotedness to seek the guidance and power of the Divine
Spirit himself at every step. He would guide and help us.
You do not have to see the man to-morrow by yourself —
that difficult man. The talk you are to have with him is
not to be in your own strength alone. Beside you shall
stand the omnific Savior, and going with you shall be the
counsel and power of His Spirit. You do not have to see
that woman in your own poor, unaided wisdom. You are
to do the best you can, leaning on the Arm Everlasting,
and God's wisdom and God's power clothed upon from His
Spirit shall accompany your simple, honest effort.

Again, if you and I are to win people to Christ, then
we are to use, like Andrew did, the power of personal testi-
mony. When Andrew found his Savior, he said: "Broth-
er, listen ! I have found the Messiah. Let me tell you
about Him." And then, with words that thrilled and
burned, Andrew told his brother what he had tasted and
seen and felt of — Jesus, the long looked for Messiah. My
fellow Christians, there Is nothing else human quite so
powerful as the power of an earnest personal testimony
concerning Jesus' experience in your own life, as you tell
somebody else what Jesus has been and consciously is to

A QUEST FOR SOULS 69

you yourself. You let some man in this audience come
down this aisle and stand up and tell us: "This very day
I have had definite dealings with God, and know it," and
every ear is alert to catch what he says. There is no
power like the power of personal testimony. You can tell
that neighbor or friend how you heard Christ's voice, and
how you responded, and what He said to you, and what
He did, and what you have seen and experienced of His
grace and love in your own little life. Tell that experience
to somebody without delay.

But that is not all. There is no power human like the
power of personal love, as we go out to win people to Christ.
Oh, do we care for the people round us who are lost? Do
we really care? Of old there issued from the lips of one
sorely pressed, this plaintive cry: ''No man cared for my
soul." Are there men and women in Fort Worth who, if
we could get at what they think, would say this to us:
"They have their churches and their preachers and their
Christians numbering many, but nobody ever cared for my
soul ?" Is there somebody in this community, lost and grop-
ing like a blind man for the wall, not ready to die, not
ready to live, who in truth could say to us : "I have lived
these long years, but nobody ever said that he cared for
my soul?" Make that impossible as these days pass. Go
with your word of witnessing and pleading and love, and
go without delay. There is nothing so powerful in all this
world as the power of love. Everybody ought to know
the thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians by heart, and in
its gracious spirit every one of us ought to live every day:
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and
have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling
cymbal." Do we love lost sinners? Do we care for the
young men about us who are coasting the downward road?
Do we care for the people whose toil is rigorous and whose
lot in life is hard? Do we care for business men and pro-
fessional men, who are side-stepping with reference to the
supreme things, namely, the things of God and the soul
and eternity? Do we love these people well enough to go
to them and earnestly and alone say to them : "Is it well
with your soul?" There is no power in human life like

70 A QUEST FOR SOULS

the power of love. The prayer that the psalmist of old
prayed is the prayer that you and I ought to pray; "En-
large my heart." He did not pray that his head might be
enlarged. "Enlarge my heart," for out of the heart are the
issues of life.

One of the most heart-moving conversions that I have
ever known, I witnessed years ago in my city, during the
holiday period in mid-winter. There reached me the mes-
sage that a little Sunday school boy in one of our mission
Sunday schools had been accidentally shot by his little
neighbor friend, and I hurried to the humble home as fast
as I could go, an-d I found the unconscious little fellow in
the hands of two skillful doctors, as they sought to diagnose
the case. After awhile, when they had finished their diag-
nosis and treatment, I asked them what of the case, and they
said : "He will not live. The shot is unto death." I asked
them if he would recover consciousness, and they answered
that he might — that he might live two or three days, or he
might not live until morning. I went back the next day,
for this first day the boy's father was in the stupor of a
terrible drunk. A great-hearted and kindly father he was,
too, when he was sober. Oh, the tragedy that many of
these big-hearted, capable men allow their lives thus to be
cajoled and cheated and destro3^ed by some evil habit! I
went back the next day, and the father was sobering up.
He was a fine workman in a harness and saddlery estab-
lishment. He was sobering up, and the agony of his case
v/as something pitiful to behold. He would walk the floor,
and then he v/ould pause, as the tears fell from his face,
while he looked on that little suffering boy, nine or ten
years of age. I sat down beside the boy and waited for
awhile, and presently the child opened his eyes, and the
little fellow was conscious. His eyes were intelligent. His
lips moved as he spoke my name, for he had frequently
heard me speak in the mission where he went to the Sun-
day school. I bent over him, and the father came and
sobbed and laughed as he observed the consciousness that
had come to his little boy. And the father stroked the
little fellow's face, and kissed him with all the affection of
a mother, and said, as he laughed and cried: "My little

A QUEST FOR SOULS 71

man is better, and he will soon be well." The little face
was clouded as he feebly whispered, saying: "No, papa;
I will not get well/' And then the father protested, as
he said: "You will get well, and I will be a good man,
and I will change my ways." The little fellow's face was
clouded, and he kept trying to say something, and I reached
for the man to bend over to catch it, and this is what we
did catch, after *awhile : "When I am gone, papa, I want
you to remember that I loved you, even if you did get
drunk." That sentence broke the father's heart. He left
the room, unable to tarry any longer. A few minutes later,
I found him lying prone upon his face, there u-pon the
ground, behind the little cottage, sobbing with brokenness
of heart. I got down by him and sought to comfort and
help him. And he said : "Sir, after my child loves me like
that, oughtn't I to straighten up and be the right kind of
a man?" I said : "I have a story ten thousand times sweet-
er than that to tell you. God's only begotten Son loved
you well enough to come down from heaven and die for
you, himself the just, for you the unjust, that He might
bring you to God. Won't you yield your wasting, sinful
life to Him, utterly and honestly, and let Him save you
His own divine way?" And then and there he made the
great surrender. You should slip into one of our prayer-
meetings some night, when the men and women talk about
what Christ has done for them, and one of the most ap-
pealing and powerful testimonies you would ever hear is
the testimony of this harness workman, as he stands up,
always with tears on his face, to tell you that love brought
him home when everything else had failed. They criti-
cised him because he drank. They scolded him because
he drank. They railed at him because he drank. They
pelted him with harsh words because he drank. But a little
boy said: "Papa, I love you even if you do get drunk,"
and love won the day when everything else had failed. Oh,
my fellow-men, when everything else shall fail, "love never
faileth." Do you love these lost men and women of Fort
Worth? Then, I pray you, in the great Master's name, go
and tell them that you care for them, and tell it before an-
other sun shall sink' to rest in the far west to-morrow
evening.

72 A QUEST FOR SOULS

Long enough have I talked, but I gather up as best I
can all I should say for a final moment of appeal. Here it
is: Oh, my fellow Christians, let us see to it that you
and I, like Andrew, do our best to win people to Christ*
What argument shall I marshal to get us to do that thing
right now, and to get us to do that thing as we never did
it before, and to get us to do that thing these passing days,
linking our lives with God with a devotion, and giving our-
selves with a humility and a personal appeal, such as we
never knew before? What arguments shall I marshal to
get us to do that right now ? Shall I talk about duty ? Then
this is our first duty. And what a great word that word
duty is! Robert E. Lee was right, that matchless man of
the South, when he wrote to his son, saying: "Son, the
great word is duty." Shall I talk about duty? My fellow
Christians, your duty and mine, primal, fundamental, pre-
eminent, supreme, tremendously urgent, is that we shall
tell these around us that we want them saved.

' Shall I talk about happiness? Oh, was there ever an-
other happiness on this earth comparable to this — the hear-
ing from the lips of some soul the glad confession that you
had said the word to win such soul to Christ? There is
no happiness on this earth comparable to that.

^ Shall I talk about responsibility? What shall I say
about responsibility? Your responsibility and mine for
these souls about us lost, is a responsibility big enough to
stagger God's archangel. You are your brother's keeper.
What if you neglect him, and he shall die in his sins? If
you shall neglect him, and he shall die in his sins, when
you might have won him, then it shall turn out that you
are your brother's spiritual murderer. Men can be killed
by neglect. Women can be killed by neglect. A while ago
there was condemned to death in England a notorious
criminal, one of the hardest in all the records of crime.
Minister after minister sought to get into his cell before
the man's execution, to talk to such man about God and
the hereafter, but he steadfastly refused to see any minister.
Presently one somehow got into the cell, and began to talk
with him, and the poor m.an, condemned to be executed
to-morrow, realized that he was talking at last with a miri-

A QUEST FOR SOULS 73

ister of the gospel, and the minister brought to bear his
mightiest appeal to that man to turn to God, even in those
last waiting hours. The man was stolid and was utterly
indifferent, and presently the minister said to the man:
"Don't you realize that in a few hours more your life shall
be taken and you shall be in another world?" He said:
"Quite well, sir, do I realize that my life will be taken, but
whether there is another world or not, I do not know, and
I have not any concern about that." And then the minister
urged and remonstrated and pleaded, and at last the con-
demned man rose up and said to him: "Sir, if I believed
like you say, that a man dying without Christ is lost, and
shall be lost forever— if I believed that and had your chance,
I would crawl on my knees to tell the men of England,
before it is too late, to repent of their sins and turn to God."

Oh, do we believe it, that these men and women about
us, and the dear young people under our own roofs, and
the devoted husbands, beside whom walk gentle. Christian
wives — do we believe that these men are lost, and that these
young people are lost? Do we believe it? Then, I pray
you, even as I summon myself, let us go to them in the
right spirit, pleading with God to teach us, to empower
us, to enable us to plead that now, before the day is gone,
they may repent of sin and be saved forever.

My message is done when I shall have asked one ques-
tion. Mark it : Do these Christian men and women listen-
ing to me to-night, down in their hearts really wish t^iat
sinners shall be saved during these days of special meetings?
Probably hundreds here present answer me back : "Sir, that
is our deep wish, that sinners may be saved?" But I am
going to make it stronger than that. Do these Christian
men and women listening to me this Wednesday night say :
"Sir, I promise you, yea, sir, I promise God, and in the pres-
ence of God and of angels and men, I declare my promise,
not only do I desire to see sinners saved in these special
meetings, but I will try myself, frail as I am and weak as
I am — I will try myself, like Andrew, to win somebody to
Christ?" Do you say: "That is my wish, sir, and that

74 A QUEST FOR SOULS

is my purpose, God helping me ?'' Everyone who says that,
stand to your feet.

^A great number stood.)

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

Give us thy counsel and comfort, our Father, this hour, when our hearts have
been searched by thy Word of truth, and in these last moments, ere we separate,
we make our appeal to thee, that we may translate into life, into power, into ac-
tion, this message from thy Book this night. How we rejoice that many in this
presence stand, quietly and humbly, but courageously, to say that they not only
desire to see sinners saved, but, what is of far more meaning, they purpose, look-
ing to thee, O God, to help them, to strive personally to win others to Christ, in
the hours and days just before us. O Divine Spirit, rest thou upon every head
and heart, and be on every tongue, and send us to the right persons, and give us
to speak what and as we ovight to speak to them concerning their personal salva-
tion. Go thou before us, and prepare the heart, that we shall speak to, and open
the understanding, and make the soul to be concerned by thine own life-giv-
ing touch, thine own spiritual illumination. Our gracious Father, let these
days be days when preachers and laymen, when parents and children, when
Christians of every age and name, shall personally dedicate their very best to
win the people to Christ. Let this be the time when the people all about us,
of all conditions and classes and needs shall have brought home to them the all
important truth that to live without God is to live vainly, is to miss the true
end of being. Let the truth, terrible and sure, be written like fire in every
conscience, that to live contrary to the will _ of God is to come to defeat and
death. And let this be a time when, on the right hand and on the left, men and
women and children shall come with honest, earnest and complete surrender of
their lives to Christ.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

NOON SERVICE, JUNE 14, 1917.
WHY DO SOULS GO AWAY FROM JESUS?

Text: "Then said Jesus unto the twelve: Will ye also go away? Then
Simon Peter answered Him, Lord to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life."— John 6:67, 68.

In a very frank way, and with a deep desire to help you, I
should like to ask you, one by one, the personal question, What
are your relations to Jesus, the Savior and Master ? Every one
must have personal relations with Him. We must be His
friends or His foes. We must be for Him or against Him.
What are your ^personal relations to the Lord Jesus Christ?
Are you for Him or against Him ?

Once when He was here among men in the flesh, and the
multitudes were following Him, and He was teaching them
pungently what following Him meant, the crowds were deplet-
ed, and grew less and less before His searching teaching, and
finally He turned to the twelve apostles, who were following
Him, and put to them this plaintive question : "Will ye also go
away?" Then Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life."

Our text this morning is that searching question Jesus asked
the twelve: "Will ye also go away?" The text suggests two
burning questions for us this morning. Why do people go
away from Jesus? Where do they go? God give us to face
faithfully for a little while at this midday service these two
weighty questions.

Why do people go away from Jesus? The fundamental
reason is want of grace in the heart, the lack of true faith,
the absence of vital Godliness. The Apostle John tells us:

76 A QUEST FOR SOULS

"They went out from us, but they were not of us ; for if they
had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us :
but they went out from us that they might be made manifest
that they were not all of us." But we are back to that search-
ing question, Why do people go away from Jesus ? Many do
go away from Him. Why? Now, the outward reasons for
their going reveal what is in their hearts, and we may glance
this morning at some of these outward reasons why people go
away from Jesus.

Here, on the occasion of our text, they went away from
Him because they objected to His teaching. Through the long
centuries, again and again, many have manifestly gone away
from Jesus because they objected to His teaching. Read the
context here in the sixth chapter of John's Gospel, and you
will hear the multitudes as they cry out under His teaching:
''This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" And so they turned
away from Him because they objected to His teaching. The
gospel of Jesus Christ, my friends, is very humbling to poor
human nature. Pride revolts at the gospel of Christ. And yet
such gospel is not designed to please m.an, but rather to save
him. Jesus comes in His appeal to men, and puts before them
the clear demand : "If you would have me for your Savior, I
must come first, before father or mother or children or dearest
loved ones, or your own property or your own life. I must
come first." That is not easy. That is death to self. That is
self -crucifixion. And yet you would not have it any other way.
Let us make religion easy and we will play it out. Let us make
religion hard, even with the hardness of the terms of disciple-
ship laid down by Jesus, and it will be triumphant anywhere
in the world.

Why do people go away from Jesus? Full many a time
they go away from Him because of the fear of man. That is
indeed a biting saying in the Bible, where it is declared : "The
fear of man bringeth a snare." Pilate was not the only man
who betrayed Jesus, and in that same act betrayed himself
through the fear of man. All about us the fear of man plays
the most desperate havoc in human life. All through the social
order, in the world intellectual, and the world of business, and
the world political, and the world social, the highest interests
are betrayed, and the supreme call of Christ set aside, through

WHY DO SOULS GO AWAY FROM JESUS? 77

the fear of men. There comes in the tragic power and peril of
influence. What can some men mean, and women, by the
tragical misuse, the desperate waste, of their highest influence?
One waits for another, and one acts because of another, or one
does not act because another does not, and all through the
social order the fear of man is one of the ravaging wastes of
the highest influence that comes to human life. They tell us
that in the capital city of one of the older States, in the long
ago, a marvelous meeting was led by that eminent American
evangelist, Charles G. Finney, probably the ablest evangelist
that America ever saw. He preached there some three months,
and thousands came to Christ. When he was preaching there
one night, the story goes that there slipped into the great audi-
ence to hear him the Chief Justice of the highest court of
New York State. The learned Justice came out of sheer
curiosity to hear a plain, pungent, powerful speaker. It was
not his custom to go to church. Not for years had he been
at any public service religious, and yet this evening the preach-
er brought his message to bear on the conscience of this man,
taking for his text: ''No man liveth to himself,'* and when
the minister had finished his message, he said: "Now, I ask,
appealing to your judgment and your conscience" — ^that is
Christ's appeal always — to men's judgments and to men's con-
sciences — His religion does not need any other kind of
appeal — when the minister had finished his appeal, he said:
**Now, is some man's judgment convinced, and is his con-
science searched by the truth spoken to-night, and will he, for
his own sake, and for the sake of everybody else whom he
may influence, make his public surrender to Christ?" And
down the long aisle came the Chief Justice, to make his con-
fession of Christ. When he took the m^inister's hand, the
Justice said: "If you will allow me, I should like even now
to turn and speak some w^ords to this waiting audience." And
facing them, the dignified Justice said: "If I have any in-
fluence over anybody, I beg him to do as I have done, to yield
life and all, utterly and now, to Christ." And he called for
God's forgiving mercy, that he himself had so long delayed
to make that greaJ: surrender. It is said that many lawyers at
the bar, there assembled in that vast audience, came down
every aisle, and stood around the great minister and Chief
Justice, and said to the Judge: "O sir, because you have

78 A QUEST FOR SOULS

come, and because of your appeal, we, too, will make our
surrender to Christ." What if the great Judge had not come ?
O my soul, I know the man, and you know him, who has not
come, and yet, because he has not, there shelter behind him
others, who perhaps will continue thus to hide behind him
as long as he shall stay away from Christ.

Why do people go away from Jesus? Full many a time
they go away from Him, through captious doubts and ques-
tions concerning religion. Many people ask. What if this and
that be not so ? What if the Bible be not trustworthy ? What
if Christ be not divine? What if there be no immortality for
the soul? What if there be no heaven for Christ's friend,
and no hell for those who will not have Christ? What if
those things be not so? And with question marks, like that,
they turn away from the vital verities of faith, and miss
the way of life. Do I speak this midday hour to some man
or woman who is in the grip of some serious religious doubt?
Then I call to you, do not trifle with that doubt. Probe that
doubt, I pray you, to its very depth. Superficial dealing with
doubts in the realm of religion is utterly inexcusable. Well
has some one said that "doubt is the agony of some earnest
soul, or the trifling of some superficial fool." Do not trifle
with your doubts. You have too much at stake, if you have
doubts, in this lofty realm of religion, to go along carelessly
with such doubts. Doubt is caused in various ways and
comes from various sources. There is the doubt of the head.
Nathanael had such doubt. "Can there any good thing come
out of Nazareth?" he asked, and the answer was given him:
"Come and see," and he came and saw.

There is the doubt of the heart. Some disappointment
comes, beating us into the dust. Some poignant sorrow comes
to blind us and to smite us and to check us. John the Bap-
tist had such doubt. Those fine plans and hopes that swept
through his mind and heart seemed all crushed as he lay there
in the jail, and he sent some of his men to ask the pitiful
question of Jesus : "Art thou He that should come, or do we
look for another?" Be patient with somebody in doubt, when
the dark and cloudy day is on, when the black Friday presses
down upon the spirit with its fearful pressure. But I have
come to believe, my fellow-men, that doubt is caused by a

WHY DO SOULS GO AWAY FROM JESUS? 79

wrong life more than by anything else in all the world. Time
and again when I have come into close quarters with the man
who spoke out his doubts and paraded them and defended
them, I have found on careful inquiry, full many a time, that
underneath and behind that doubt, and evidently occasioning
that doubt, was some wrong life. If a man will come with
right attitude in the sight of God, he shall be delivered from
every doubt, which leads me to call your attention to that
great challenge Jesus has given. Notice it: *'If any man
willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether
it is of God." That is as broad as the race. That is as com-
prehensive as humanity. ^*If any man willeth to do the will
of God, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God."
Let any human being, no matter what the question, what the
fear, what the doubt, what the difficulty, assume a perfectly
honest attitude tov/ard God, saying: "I want light, and if thou
wilt give it, no matter how, I will follow it," such person
surely shall be brought into the light. Tim^e and again you
have seen, as I have seen, that challenge of Jesus frankly ac-
cepted and frankly proved, and men have been brought out
of the darkness into the glorious liberty and light of the chil-
dren of God.

I was in an Eastern city, some years ago, for some two
weeks in a daily mission, and every evening when I would
finish my message, I said, as was their custom: "If there are
interested men and women, who would tarry behind for per-
sonal dealings touching personal religion, they will pass
through this door into the smaller auditorium, and the rest
may go while we are singing the last hymn." I stood there
at the door, to greet the people as they passed into the
smaller auditorium for more careful and for closer personal
dealings, and along with the men who came this particular
evening, there came an attractive looking man some thirty-six
or thirty-eight years of age, and he tarried at the door to
speak with me, fairly trembling as he did so, and yet putting
on a brave face. He said to me as he tarried there at the
door: "Well, sir, I do not believe a word you said to-night."
I replied: "Then, pray, why do you tarry? My invitation
was for serious people. My invitation was for men and wo-
men in earnest, for those with a desire deep and true to find

80 A QUEST FOR SOULS

light ami to get help. Why do you tarry?" "Oh," he said,
"I thought I would like to see you at close range, and to hear
what you said to these men in this room, and therefore I
have come along." I felt that I could see underneath all
that brave exterior an interest deeper than he was willing at
all for me to know, and I said: "You tarry, and when the
others are gone, then I should like to have some words with
you alone." And so he did, and when the other service was
finished, I had him alone, and as I sat beside him I asked him :
"What brought you into this place? What gave you these
doubts? Whence came all this uncertainty in your spirit
concerning religion ?" He told me a story that I have neither
the time nor the inclination here to repeat. He was the son
of a minister in old Virginia. He was reared like a boy ought
to be reared, and yet he had got far away from all that
rearing, having been absent from home some fifteen years.
Then I said to him : "If these things I preach to you tonight
are true, wouldn't you like to know the truth of it all?" He
made quick response: "Certainly, I should like to know the
truth of it all." Then I said: "You can know it. Here is
the challenge of Jesus: Tf any man willeth to do His will,
he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God.' " I said :
"Now as I bow my head, I will speak to your father's God
and to my God, and I will ask Him just to lead you on, and
to fill you with desire and purpose to follow His leading."
And when I had finished the prayer I said, as we were bowed
there at our chairs : "Let us remain bowed, and you try for a
moment to pray." He started back and said: "Why, man,
I would not know how to begin. I have not tried even in a
dozen years." Think of a man's going a dozen years without
calling on God! It seems impossible. "I would not know
how to begin," he said. I answered: "Then I will frame a
sentence for you, like I would frame it for my little child,
and you say it after me." And so I did, and he repeated
it, and I framed a second sentence, and he repeated that, and
a third sentence, and he repeated that, and then I paused and
said: "Prayer, sir, is the sanest thing in the world. Prayer is
the outcry of a little, needy, finite, mortal being, to a great in-
finite, omniscient, omnipotent, all powerful, all merciful Being.
Tell Him what you would like. Tell Him like you would tell 2.
man something you should hasten to tell him, without any

WHY DO SOULS GO AWAY FROM JESUS? 81

reserve." And then, timidly and tremblingly and haltingly he
began his prayer. In a moment or two his words came faster.
In a moment or two his sentences rushed like a torrent. He
was confessing his sins. He was bewailing his dreadful de-
cline, and memory was burning like fire, and it blazed and
burned, as he recalled the old home, with the family prayer,
and the father as a preacher, and the mother singing the sim-
ple songs of faith. And then he went on and said: **I re-
member. Lord, the last sermon I heard good father preach.
He preached from that text, the cry of the publican : 'God, be
merciful to me, a sinner.'" He said: "That is my prayer.
Be merciful to me, a sinner. I give up to thee. Help thou
a helpless sinner!" And then he was still, and then in a
moment more he was on his feet, and I looked up at him
and waited for him to make his pronouncement, and then he
looked down earnestly at me, with his outstretched hand, and
said: "I have found the light!" Of course he had found the
light. Any man on the earth who will assume the right atti-
tude toward Jesus shall be brought into the light.

My indictment against the skeptic who prates against the
things of God is that he will not be candid about it and go
deep enough. Any man in the world, doubter, skeptic, atheist,
materialist, whoever he is, who will assume a perfectly candid
and obedient attitude toward God, shall surely be brought into
the light.

Why do people go away from Jesus? Full many a time
they go away from Him through the power of sensual enjoy-
ments. There are two Scriptures that set forth that truth.
Here they are : "The pleasures of sin for a season," and this
other : "Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." Through
the power of sensual enjoyment, full many a time men and
women miss the upward way and go the downward way to
doom and death. And yet this world has in it nothing that
can really satisfy the ache of the human heart. That bril-
liant Frenchman, Sabatier, was right, when he said: "Man is
incurably religious." And then the Bible comes on, with its
revealing statement, telling us that God hath set eternity in the
human heart, and therefore nothing less than the eternal can
satisfy the human heart. Temporal things, no matter how
many, cannot satisfy the human heart.

82 A QUEST FOR SOULS

This world can never give

The bliss for which men sigh.
'Tis not the whole of life to live,

Nor all of death to die.

Beyond this vale of tears

There is a life above.
Unmeasured by the flight of years,

And all that life is love.

Nothing short of the infinite and the eternal can satisfy
any human heart.

Why do people go away from Christ? Full many a time
they go away from Him through the simple, fearful, fateful
power of procrastination. They tell us that procrastination
is the thief of time, and so it is, but, oh, it is so much more
than that. Procrastination is the thief of souls ! All about us
are men and women who intend somewhere, sometime, to
focus their thoughts on the things of God, and to say "yes"
to the call of Christ, and yet through the power of procrasti-
nation they are hurried on and daily lulled the more deeply to
sleep, and the conscience is deadened, and the days go by and
the highest things are lost. All about us there are men and
women who, when we approach them concerning personal
religion, will tell us that they intend to say yes to Christ, that
they desire to be saved, that they fully expect this important
matter of personal salvation to be settled a little later. But
it is a little later that they say. It is to-morrow. It is by and
by. Down yonder on the Mexican border, where I have often
and joyfully preached to the cattlemen through the passing
years, I have heard one cry escape the Mexicans' lips which is
revelatory to a remarkable degree of the Mexican character.
It would explain why Mexico is so belated in the development
of her civilization. That little word that the Mexican uses
so frequently is this: "Mananal" "To-morrow!" You may
crowd upon him this duty, or that, or the other, and he will
consent to what you are saying, but in an undertone he will
say: ^'Manana! Manana! Manana!" To-morrow To-morrow!
To-morrow ! And so it is Satan's supreme cry to the human
soul concerning religion — ''Manana ! Mariana !" To-morrow !
To-morrow ! And as he cries it, men and women are beguiled
and cajoled and deceived, and thus the battle is forever lost
for the human soul. May God now arouse this audience from
the awful peril of procrastination, that you may turn to God
and be saved!

WHY DO SOULS GO AWAY FROM JESUS? 83

I am coming to our second question briefly. I have asked
you, Why do people go away from Jesus ? Now to the second
question more briefly, Where do they go? Echo answers,
Where? Where do they go ? Well, if they are Christians and
go away from Jesus, as many of them, alas, do, they go into
backslidings. Oh, what stories could be told in this fair city
about us, and in any other, of drifting Christians, if only hearts
were revealed, and we could read all that in them is. Back-
slidden Christians! David went away from his Lord, and,
oh, the hurt of it! Samson went away from his Lord. Oh,
the hurt of it ! Simon Peter denied the Lord. Oh, the shame
of it and the hurt of it! And through the long years the
friends of Jesus have listened to siren voices and have gone
away from the right path into backsliding. How they have
harmed religion! How they have harmed souls for whom
the Savior died! How they have harmed themselves! How
they have grieved Jesus ! Do I speak to somebody here today
who is a backslidden Christian? Oh, I exhort you, I summon
you, I beseech you, for your own sake and for the sake of
everybody else, hasten back to Christ !

I ask you this other question: Where do people go when
they go away from Jesus, those that are not saved at all, those
that are not born again, where do they go when they go away
from Jesus? Jesus tells us in language unmistakable. "Ye
shall die in your sins," He said to some who cavilled at His
teachings, "and whither I go ye cannot come." You ask me
if I believe in the fact of hell. I believe in the fact of hell as
much as I believe in the fact of heaven, and I believe in the
fact of the one for the same reason that I believe in the fact
of the other. The one clear teacher concerning destiny, con-
cerning the hereafter, was Christ Jesus the Lord, and He
teaches that every man dying "shall go to his ov/n place."
Moral gravity is as real in the world of morals as physical
gravity is real in the world natural and physical about us.
Every man shall go to his own place when he leaves this world.
If a man says to Jesus: "I will go on without you," where
Jesus is, such man shall not come. If a man says to Jesus:
"I disdain all else, frail as I am and sinful, and I believe on
Christ, I can do nothing else, God help me," when such man
goes hence, he will go to be with Christ.

84 A QUEST FOR SOULS

Now, if you go away from Christ, pray look at what you
give up. If you go away from Jesus you must give up this
Book. Christ and the Bible are indissolubly linked together.
If you can get rid of the Bible, you can get rid of Christ.
If you can get rid of Christ, you can get rid of the Bible. The
one is the complement and counterpart of the other. Christ
and the Bible are the binomial word of God. If you get rid
of Christ you get rid of the Bible, and if you propose to get
rid of the Bible, sing no more by the open grave that shep-
herd's psalm, the twenty-third. Sing no more by the open
grave, when you hide your loved ones from your sight, the
glorious fourteenth chapter of John: "Let not your heart be
troubled.'* You are done with Christ, if you are done with
the Bible, and if done with Christ, you are done with the Bible.

What else do you get rid of when you get rid of Christ?
You discredit the testimony of every friend that Jesus has
ever had in all the world, and He has had friends many, both
great and small. Many of the world's most capable minds
have been the devoutest friends and followers of Jesus. Glad-
stone said he knew sixty of the greatest minds of his century,
and that fifty-four of them — scientists, statesmen, mighty men
in all callings — were the devoutest friends of Jesus that he
ever saw. Oh, this gospel that we preach, my men and women,
is not a collection of cunningly devised fables for people silly
and thoughtless. The sanest thing on the face of the earth
this Thursday morning is for a man or woman to be pro-
nouncedly the friend of Christ — that is the sanest thing of all.
Jesus is the needed Savior for the great as well as the weak.
Will you look over the world's great names? In the list you
will find many friends and followers of Jesus. Look yonder
at the list of scientists, and in that list you will see Miller
and Agassiz and Proctor, bowing obediently at the feet of
Jesus. Look at the world's astronomers, and you will see
Copernicus and Kepler and Newton showing their devotion to
Jesus. Look at the world's first statesmen, and you will see
Washington and Gladstone and others like them, showing their
devotion to Jesus. And so through the centuries you will see
the earth's first minds devotedly following Christ.

But T would bring the truth nearer you than that. There
in the little circles where you and I live, are some whose names

WHY DO SOULS GO AWAY FROM JESUS? 85

never get into the newspapers at all, but you and I believe
in them as we believe in nobody else in the world, and they
tell us that they have tried Jesus and found Him true. Yonder
in the United States Senate some time ago, when a group of
senators were at a dinner, as the story was told me by one
who knew, one senator looked across to the chiefest senator
at that time in the Senate, and said to him: "Senator, do you
believe in that old doctrine that a man must be born again to
get to heaven?" The senator after a moment's pause made
serious reply: "I certainly do. I am grieved to have to tell
you that I am not a Christian myself, but I believe in the
doctrine of the new birth as preached by Christ." Then the
first senator, wincing under the remarkable answer, said to
the second, after a moment more: "Pray tell me why you
believe in that old exploded doctrine of the new birth?" The
senator waited a moment, and his face was serious and a tear
was in his eye, as he said : "My mother and my wife have both
told me that they surrendered to Christ, and have been born
again, and they both live like it is so." You cannot answer
that!

I detain you for a final word. If you go away from Jesus
you are left baffled and broken in the presence of the three
greatest mysteries of all, and I name them, and then we will
go. If you go away from Jesus you are left broken and baffled
in the presence of sin. You have no Savior if you reject Jesus.
He is the only Savior. And the most terrible and obtruding
fact on the earth this Thursday morning is the fact of sin in
human life. If you get rid of Jesus you have no Savior from
sin.

And if you get rid of Jesus you are left beaten and broken,
with all the sorrow that is regnant in human life. Pause
anywhere and you will hear the undertone of sorrow — any-
where. If you get rid of Jesus you have no delivering friend
from the thralldom of sorrow.

And still more, and most of all, if you get rid of Jesus
you are left in the presence of death, without light and without
hope and without life, broken in the presence of death. When
you come to the grave you will need a Savior. Plato and
Socrates merely speculated as they looked into the open grave.
So did Caesar when he stood up in the Roman Senate. Job

SQ A QUEST FOR SOULS

asked the question: "If a man die, shall he live again?'* Only
one person has answered that question. Only one can answer
it, and His name is Jesus. He came and bowed His head to
death, and went into the dark chambers of the grave, and on
the third day after they laid Him in Joseph's tomb, He pushed
the grave door open and came out, saying: "Because I live
all who trust me shall live forever." Oh, you must not dare to
live or die without Jesus !

'Tis religion that can give
Sweetest pleasures while we live.
'Tis religion must supply-
Solid comfort when we die.

After death its joys will be
Lasting as eternity.
Be the living God my friend.
Then my joys will never end.

Tell me, are you for Jesus ? I would be for Him, were I
in your place today, if I had to go through flame and flood
to follow Him. Be for Him before it is too late! Does He
call you today? Follow Him, trust Him, yield yourself to
Him whatever your condition or case may be, and His word
for you is sure: "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise
cast out."

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

How deep is our joy, O, our Father, that we have such a Savior, even the
Lord Jesus Christ, to forgive us and guide us and keep us forever, As_we stand
here to-day may we promise one another, and above all may we promise Christ
to cleave to Him and to cleave to Him forever. And if one is here to-day in the
grip of doubt or sin or difficulty of any kind, lead such to be candid and whole-
hearted, as such one seeks the way of life, and may such one soon tell us that
he or she has found that blessed way and is going with us as we follow Christ.

And as you go now, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of
God the Father, and the communion and blessing of the Holy Spirit, be granted
you all and each, to abide with you to-day and forever. Amen.

VII

NIGHT SERVICE, JUNE 14, 1917.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.

It would be very interesting if we might know the ex-
periences that God's people have had to-day in this com-
munity, as here and there they have had conversations with
others about personal religion. I am constrained to ask
how many Christians gathered in this large assemblage
to-night have made it a point to speak an earnest word
with somebody to-day about personal religion? Did you
do your best? Were you faithful? Then you may gladly
leave the result with God.

And now I come to ask if every Christian listening to
me will not make it a point — a point of conscience — will
not put it upon high principle, to speak to somebody, even
to as many as you may and ought, about personal religion,
before we come here to this tent again to-morrow night?
Can't you give an hour to that weightiest of all matters,
the effort to help others in the right care of the soul ? And
if it could not be an hour, couldn't it be half an hour? And
if it could not be half an hour, couldn't it be half a dozen
minutes? Tell me, is there any Christian here who, for
any cause, should allow to-morrow to pass without speak-
ing to some soul about being right with God? I beseech
you, my fellow-Christians, do your hest now to help those
who need you in the realm of religion. The Lord be your
constant inspiration and help in this heavenly work of
shepherding souls!

88 A QUEST FOR SOULS

PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD.

Text: "Prepare to meet thy God." — Amos 4:12.

For quite awhile now there has been a word thrust into
prominence, through the press and from the platform, all
over this land and in other lands. That word is ''prepar-
edness." Its meaning is at once evident. In recent times
its meaning has been associated with the realm military,
and in such realm its meaning is entirely plain. The word
is an equally suggestive one in the realm of education. Oh,
what a summons there is to-day to the young people all
over the land to get ready for life's work — to be worthily
prepared. And this word "preparedness" is an equally
worthy word in the important realm of business. And cer-
tainly, in the highest realm of all, the realm of religion,
this w^ord "preparedness" has an immeasurably important
meaning. Our text points the lesson for us in five little
words, quite familiar, but to the last degree suggestive:
"Prepare to meet thy God."

I shall not now stop to discuss these five words in their
setting, but shall begin my message by asking you, one
by one, this all-important question: Are you prepared for
your meeting with God? Meet Him you must. Your re-
lations to Him are inescapable: "We must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ." It is more serious
than that: "So then every one of us shall give account of
himself to God." Are you prepared for your inevitable
meeting with God?

These five little words suggest for us three infinitely
important questions. Let us together ask them and an-
swer them as faithfully as we may this Thursday evening.
"Prepare to meet thy God" — why? "Prepare to meet thy
God"-— how? "Prepare to meet thy God"— when? I have
asked these questions as simply as it is possible for me to
ask them, so that these boys and girls about me, of young
and tender years, may know the points that I am seeking
to enforce, for it behooves Christ's preacher ever so to
preach, not simply that the people may understand him,
but so that they must — ^^so that as they go their ways and
speak one to another about what they have heard, or pon-

PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD 89

der it in their hearts, their hearts shall say: "One thing
is certain, and that is, we know what the man was driving
at." God help us to-night to speak and to hear like we
ought. Above all else, we now would pray for the leading
of the Holy Spirit throughout this responsible hour!

Let us consider the first question suggested by the text :
"Prepare to meet thy God'' — why? It would be enough to
say that God commands it. Running like an unbroken
thread all through His Book is His command to the chil-
dren of men to make preparation for their meeting with
Him. We could rest our case right there. God commands
it. When we know the mind of God about anything, it
is the part of the highest wisdom for us to relate ourselves
obediently to that command. This is God's command. And
shall the poor little creature turn in defiance away from
the great and holy Creator? Shall the human, whose life
is utterly contingent upon the divine will, turn away from
such will and seek to ignore Him? This is God's com-
mand : "Oh, ye children of men, prepare ye to meet me !"
And when we have His command about anything, then it
is the part of the highest wisdom for us to follow that com-
mand without reserve and with all devotion.

But the reason for such preparation is revealed to us
still further by the revelation God makes in His Book to
us. Our condition demands that we shall make such prep-
aration. And what of our conditon? There has come to
us in our very natures a moral sickness, the name of which
is sin, which has turned us all away from God. Sin is a
moral sickness in human life, as real as the hand or the
eye is a part of our physical life, and because of that moral
sickness, calling for a helper, and because a helper has been
vouchsafed, we are to turn to that helper and seek to have
healing and recovery from our moral sickness. One little
word describes it all, and that word trembled on the lips of
Jesus when He was here: "The Son of man is come to
seek and to save that which was lost." Oh, what a world
of meaning, of horrible meaning, is condensed into that one
little w^ord, "lost!" And outside of Christ, that is the con-
dition of mankind. If that could only be realized, how
different would be our attitude towards sin and towards

90 A QUEST FOR SOULS

God, v^o would deliver us from sin's enthralling power.
Oh, if that could be realized! One prayer, my fellow
Christians, I adjure you to pray, as we gather here from
evening to evening, and yonder at noonday in the Chamber
of Commerce auditorium — one prayer: "Lord, open the
eyes of men and women, that they may see, touch their
hearts, that they may feel, their absolute need of God !"

When I was a child — with awful vividness do I remember
it — there went throughout the land a shuddering story that
a little boy had been kidnaped away from his parents, had
been stolen away from his home, had been lost to his loved
ones. Not to my dying day can I forget the thrill of hor-
ror that day by day went through my childish heart as I
heard them discuss it in our home, and heard the neighbors
discuss it when they would gather, that a little boy had
been lost to his parents. Somebody had stolen him away,
and parents were resorting to every possible means to find
out about that little fellow, that he might be recovered and
restored to his loved ones. When the older people in the
country home where I lived would come in from the farms,
they would look for the latest paper, if haply they might
find some word about that lost little boy — Charlie Ross.
And mothers drew their little fellows nearer to them and
watched them more closely, as they pondered the direful
meaning of the losing from the home of a precious child.

Oh, if that truth could only be passed on and up, like
it ought to be, to the realm of religion, and we could lay
to heart like we ought what it means for the soul, for the
self, for the personality, for the life, to be lost in the sight
of God ! When we turn to the Scriptures, they are as clear
as the light on this momentous point. I quote them now:
"God looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek
God. Every one of them is gone back ; they are altogether
become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.'*
I quote again : "There is not a just man upon earth, that
doeth good, and sinneth not." I quote again: "All we
like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned every one to
his own way." I am quoting again: "Marvel not that I
said unto thee" — moral man though Nicodemus may have

PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD 91

been, splendid in his position, cultured in his life — "marvel
not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again — except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
I am quoting again: "Except ye repent, ye shall all like-
wise perish." I am quoting again: "There is no differ-
ence, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God." I am quoting again: "He that believeth the Son
hath everlasting life ; and he that believeth not the Son" —
he may have joined the church, he may have been baptized,
he may sit with others at the Lord's table, to partake of the
emblems of Jesus' broken body and poured out blood — never
mind, nevertheless, "he that believeth not the Son shall not
see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

Salvation is by a person. It is not by a church. It is
not Sy an ordinance, nor by a sacrament, nor by a creed,
nor by a ceremony, nor by a form, however beautiful ; nor
by a man, however clever and pretentious. Salvation is
by a person, and that person is none other than the Divine
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Whoever receives Him to
be His Savior is saved by Him. Whoever turns away from
Him does not have spiritual life, but spiritual death.

Note further what is lost. What does it mean to be
lost? When Jesus was here in the flesh. He asked the
question, one of the most pungent that ever fell from His
lips, indeed, if not the most pungent, and this was His
question: "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the
whole world and lose his own soul?" Whom was He talk-
ing about? He was talking about you, "What shall it
profit a man if he shall gain the whole world" — not simply
this prosperous Tarrant county, not simply this progressive,
fast-growing city of Fort Worth, not simply this imperial
and powerful commomvealth, so dear to all our hearts ; not
simply this nation, first of all in the galaxy of nations ; not
simply this wide-spreading continent, with its measureless
resources — "what shall it profit a man" — any man — "if he
shall gain the Whole World and lose his own soul, or
what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

What did Jesus mean when He talked about losing the
soul? Well, I will tell you, first of all, one thing He did
not mean. He did not mean, as is sometimes falsely al-

92 A QUEST FOR SOULS

legecl, that the soul of the wicked at death would go down
into darkness and annihilation, to be heard of no more. He
did not mean that. Jesus as thoroughly taught the immor-
tality of the soul of the wicked as He taught the immor-
tality of the soul of the believer in Christ. Immortality is
never conditioned on character — never. If you shall die
in your sins, going down into the grave and to eternity,
without Christ, you shall consciously exist in the realm
of waste and loss in another world forever, as really as
the soul that trusts Christ and stakes all on Him shall go
to live at His right hand, and be like Him and with Him
forevermore. That man who teaches the doctrine of the
annihilation of the wicked is an enemy both to God and
to men. Jesus as distinctly teaches the conscious immor-
tality of the soul of the wicked in another world after this,
as He teaches the conscious and blissful immortality of
the righteous in the heavenl}^ land, which He has gone to
prepare for His friends. Oh, if death ends all, it is not
such a serious thing to die! If death ends all, then this
little life of ours is an awful bundle of contradictions.
Would you say that the game is worth the candle, if we
must suffer and be pained and have the soul swept with
ten thousand vexations and disappointments and horrors,
and then drop into the grave at the end of fifty or sixty or
seventy years, or more or less, to be heard of no more for-
ever? If that be all, is life's game worth the candle? Oh,
my fellow-men, that is not all !

There Is a death whose pangr

Outlasts this fleeting breath.
Oh, what eternal horrors hang

Around one's second death!

One of the old Confederate soldiers told me of a young
lad who went out from his community to the war of the
'60's. The lad was barely grown. He would go to the
war, and the mother pressed into his hands a copy of the
New Testament, as on his forehead she pressed her lips,
and tears and prayers were mingled as she bade him good-
bye, urging him as he went to war, to read that little book
every day, and follow its precepts, and whether he should
come back or fall on the field of battle, ii he would follow
the light of that little book, all would be well. And the old

PREPARATION FOR MSSTING GOD 93

soldier told how the lad went into the war, and went into
battle after battle, never reading the little book at all.
They were getting ready to go into one of the most awful
battles of that fearful struggle, and the commanding of-
ficer was advising his men how to behave, and was saying :
"You will play the men now. Many of you will not come
back, but you will stand with your faces to duty/' And
this young fellow was seen with face pale like death, while
some of the older men twitted him about his being afraid.
They said : "They will about get you, this time, lad, and
you are afraid to die, are you? You are chicken-hearted,
are you? You are afraid now, are you?" And drawing
the little Testament from his pocket where he had carried
it, from the inner pocket, he said: "When I went away
from home, mother urged me to read this, and I meant to
do iti and promised her I would, but I have never opened
it. She said if I would follow its light and counsel all
would be well, but I do not know what its light and coun-
sel are, for I have not read it. Now I am going into this
battle with the awful apprehension that I may not come
back again. No, men, I am not specially afraid to die,"
but then he added, with an awful ejaculation, "My God, I
am afraid of what is coming after death, for I have made
no preparation for it!" Well might he fear. Well might
he start back. There can be no sanity at all, there can
be no reasonableness at all, in our coming to the end of
the earthly life, and taking a leap into the dark all neg-
lectful and unready and unprepared.

What did Jesus mean when He talked about the soul
being lost? He meant the soul's separation from God —
just that. "Every man shall go to his own place" when
he leaves this world. The law of moral gravity is just as
inexorable as the law of physical gravity. Every law of
science and philosophy would utterly be disannulled if a
man should not reap as he sowed. And if a man turns
indifferently and neglectfully away from the claims and
calls of God and goes the downward way, his portion must
be of the kind of his own sowing. Jesus taught it. You
are not willing to defy Him, are you? I am not. Where
will you spend eternity? You will spend it just as is your

U A QUEST FOR SOULS

relation to Christ Jesus while you are here in the flesh,
on earth, in time. Surely, preparation for meeting God is
a matter of transcendent concern. Teach us, oh, teach us,
thou Friend Divine, the infinite importance of such prepa-
ration to-day!

But I pass to the second question suggested by the text;
''Prepare to meet thy God" — how? In answer to that
question, I may say that I know the day when you will
be saved, if, indeed, you ever are to be saved. I know the
day, because God reveals it here in His Holy Word. Listen
to Him : *Tn the day that thou seekest me with thy whole
heart, I will be found of thee." Listen to Him again : "Ye
shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me
with all your heart." Oh, if this Thursday night the man,
the woman, the child, is here who is wrong with God, who
rises up with high hopes, saying: "This very Thursday
night with my whole heart I will seek God," then this
Thursday night you shall meet Him and be saved.

There were two plain truths sounded out by Jesus and
His apostles, the record of which is kept here for us in His
Holy Word, and those two truths are set forth in the two
pithy sayings: "Repentance toward God," and "Faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ." Here we are, with our moral sick-
ness, with our lapse and defeat and loss and moral failure.
Here we are, hostile and disobedient in the sight of God.
Here we are, having violated God's law and transgressed
His precepts. And He calls to us, saying: "Will you not
repent of that evil way? Will you not turn from it? Will
you not forsake it? Will you not renounce that evil way
and leave it utterly behind? Not only will you be sor-
rowful for such evil course, but will you not translate that
sorrow into action, and forsake the evil way and leave it
behind?" That is, by repentance, to turn to God. And
then, will you not by faith lean wholly and only upon
Christ, the atoning Savior for those who have sinned in the
sight of God? Will you not commit yourself to that di-
vinely given Friend, who came, himself the just, to make
atonement for us, the unjust, that by His own atoning
sacrifice He might make us right with God? Will you not
thus definitely by faith take Christ as your Savior? Who-

PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD Q5

ever comes, turning definitely away from the wrong course
— and he may make such turning in one moment — and
turning with absolute surrender to Jesus, the Divine Savior
— whoever comes like that to Christ, shall in that selfsame
hour be forgiven and saved. Oh, that it might be to-night,
for every soul here present who is wrong with God ! You
set your heart to seek other things, and properly so. You
set your heart to seek success in business, and properly so.
You set your heart to mount the rung of the ladder of
achievement, and properly so. You set your heart to reach
a certain goal out there, noble and worthy, and properly
so. Oh, I summon you, set your heart, by high resolve,
that the greatest matter of all shall not be ignored and
passed by and forfeited by you! Set your heart to seek
God before it is too late.

But we have another question suggested by this simple
text: "Prepare to meet thy God" — when? I have asked
you two questions : Why prepare to meet thy God ? And
then, next: How prepare to meet Him? And now I am
coming with this third question: "Prepare to meet thy
God" — when? Oh, solemn truth, there are limits that you
must not pass, for if you pass them you do it to your own
deadly and eternal undoing. "Prepare to meet thy God" —
when? There are limits beyond which if you go, the
battle for the soul is lost forever. The Bible is clear at
that point. The Bible is all along reminding us of the
eternal value of this probationary period called time, in
the which period the highest things of the soul are to be
seen to and to be determined upon forevermore. Oh, the
tragedy of being lost just by waiting too long to make
proper preparation for meeting God !

Were you ever yonder above Niagara? If you have
been, some hundreds of yards above that roaring, plung-
ing Niagara, you have seen a strange sign, flung out on
either side of the river, as the river rushes to take that
last awful plunge. You recall it as I speak of it. A plank
with three ominous words is flung out on either side of
the river, and you are arrested as your eye sees those
words — just three: "PAST REDEMPTION POINT."
The meaning of the words is ominous and evident. Oh,

96 A QUEST FOR SOULS

boatman, plying your little boat on the surface of that
river, do not get below that sign! Oh, canoeman, floating
idly and leisurely on the bosom of that river, do not get
below that sign! For a little below the sign the river-bed
falls, and the river rushes with the speed almost of the
arrow let fly from the bow to take its fearful plunge over
the awful precipice. Do not get below that sign. Some-
where in the journeying of a human soul there is that
awful sign flung out: "Past Redemption Point." Soul,
do not get below that sign! Do not get into that current
below that sign!

When ought you to prepare to meet God? What does
your best judgment say about it? When ought you to
make this preparation for meeting with God? What does
He, who was and is the incarnation of infinite wisdom,
say to us in response to that question. When ought this
preparation for meeting God to be made? He has just
one message in answer to that question: "Boast not thy-
self of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may
bring forth." Since I came to this platform this evening,
one passed up to me a tragic note saying: "Have a prayer
for stricken parents, whose son was torn into shreds by
a passing train, on the outskirts of this city, a few minutes
ago." We breathe our most earnest prayer up into the
ears of our gracious Lord, that He will comfort and heal
the parental hearts torn by such a sorrow. The tragedy
itself points simply the truth that I am now emphasizing —
that in the unexpected hour, the blow falls; in the unex-
pected hour, the end comes. Therefore, God tells us:
"Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not
what a day may bring forth."

When ought this preparation to be made? I come to
affirm, on the authority of God's teaching, confirmed by
all human experience, that to-day and now, every man and
woman and boy and girl under the sound of my voice, who
is wrong with God ought to see about preparation for
meeting God to-day and now. And why so? Let me
give you two or three reasons. Judge ye yourselves wheth-
er these reasons are worthy the consideration of your best
judgment.

PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD 97

You should make your preparations for meeting God
to-day and now because you need that your life here and
now should be saved. Did you think that I would say, in
order that you might be prepared to die? I will say that,
but not yet, for that does not come yet. That does not
come first. Oh, men and women, there is not a human
being before me or anywhere else competent to live life
like it ought to be lived for one short second, if such being
is in hostile array against God. You are not ready for
any duty or any day or any experience, to meet it like you
ought, if you are in wrong relations to God, if you are not
positionized openly and honestly as the friend of God. So
I am coming to say that you should prepare to meet God
now, in order that your life, your busy, responsible life,
here and now may be saved — your life saved. If I knew
that twenty-five years from this Thursday night, I would
come back to this growing city, and be right on this same
spot, and under a tent like unto this, and this vast con-
course of people would be back, and nobody would be
missing, and we would all have our wits about us and be
in our right minds on that far-off night, twenty-five years
from to-night; if I knew that on that night, far-off, when
I made the call for you to decide for Jesus and surrender
to Him, everyone of you would come then and surrender
to Christ and be saved, yet would I pour out my heart
to you this Thursday night, and say, come now, that these
twenty-five years may not be lost ! Come now, that these
twenty-five years may not be given to Satan. Come now,
that your influence may not be positionized against heaven
and Christ and all that is dearest and highest and best.
Come now, that your life may be saved to the right side.
Come now, that your influence may be positionized where
it ought to be. You can no more be separated from your
influence over others than you can separate yourself from
your shadow as you walk in the glowing sun. Come now,
that your influence may be saved ! Oh, what do some men
and women mean, whose influence is all against heaven
and God and the highest life? What do they mean?
Years agone, a man was converted under my ministry in
my city, after he had reached the age of some sixty-eight

98 A QUEST FOR SOULS

years, and then for the year or two afterward that he was
spared, his devotion to Jesus was something to the last
degree inspiring. Some months after his conversion, I
noticed him at a morning service, profoundly agitated, and
when I dismissed the people he tarried at his pew, and
continued to sob like a heart-broken child, and I went
around quietly to him, when the people had gone, and
asked him to explain his strange and seemingly uncon-
trollable emotion, and he said: "Why, man, it was your
sermon, your sermon !" And then I remembered my text :
"No man liveth to himself." No man can live to him-
self. We are taking people up or down with us every
day. We are making it easier or harder for people to
get to heaven every day we live. "It was your sermon,
sir," he said, and then he said: "I am the sad proof of
the tragedy of a wasted influence. I came at sixty-eight
to Christ, and as I came to this church house this morn-
ing, I came by the home of my three sons, and I begged
each one of these sons to come to church with me, and
they all shrugged their shoulders and faintly essayed to
smile, and said: 'We guess, father, that we will start to
going to church when we get to be about sixty-eight.'
Then I tried their sons, some of them coming into young
manhood, my dear grandchildren, and they looked at one
another with a wink, and said: 'Grandpa, we guess we
will start to going to church when we are about sixty-
eight or seventy.'" The old man said: "I came on with-
out child or grandchild. I am myself, sir, the awful proof
of the tragedy of a wasted influence." Then he rose up
and looked at me with a pathos I can never forget, and
stretched out his strong arm and said: "I would have
that arm severed from my shoulder if I could turn time
backward and live my life over again — if I could undo my
wasted influence." And then, with a sob never to be for-
gotten, he said : "Sir, I would be willing to have my head
severed from my body, if I could go back and teach my
little boys by example how a Christian father ought to
live." Oh, the tragedy of wasted influence!

A little boy slept with his father after the mother had
died, and one night the little fellow awakened his father

PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD 99

by his pitiful sobbing — this little six-year-old son — and the
father said : "Why, my boy, why do you sob ?" And the
little fellow did not wish to tell him, but the father urged
him to tell him, and presently the little fellow said: 'Tt
was a bad dream, papa." And then the father said: *'Tell
me what it was/' And the little boy said : "I would rather
not, papa. It is about you." The father, of course, was
curious now, and said : 'Tell me, my boy, what it was."
The little fellow said: "It is about what you have done
to me. I do not think I can tell you." Then the father
coaxed him and mothered him, and said : "Tell papa about
it." And the little fellow said: "Papa, I dreamed that
you, my own papa, had your hand to my throat, and were
choking me to death." God pity us, that is not a dream !
I know parents who are doing that with the souls of their
children. Sometimes it is a strong father, and he would
lay down his life for the welfare of his child, and yet he has
the grip of his parent's influence around the throat of that
child's soul, and the child is missing the upward way.
Sometimes it is a mother. Oh, God, and can it be? The
highest dignity allowed to a human being is the dignity
of motherhood, and can it be that a mother, on whose heart
God lays a precious child for the mother to love and to
guide— can it be that the mother goes her way, forgetful
of the highest, and in those plastic days influences her
children so that they go the downward road rather than
the upward? I am pleading to you to-night for your life.
You will not face life like you ought to face it; you will
spoil it, you will mar it, you will debauch it, you will
prostitute it, you will defile it, if you dare to go your way
without God.

Now I am going to say that second word. You should
make your preparation for meeting God now in order that
you may be ready for life's end, when such end shall come.
And when shall that end come? No angel above us knows
when that end shall come. It may come before midnight
to-night. It may come before the Lord's day shall dawn.
It may come with the gladsome ringing of the Christmas
bells at the next holiday time. When shall I take that
journey down into the valley of the shadow? Only God

100 A QUEST FOR SOULS

knows. Not all of us will be here when the chimes of the
Christmastide shall sound so sweetly in expectant ears. I
am coming to say, my fellow-men, that there is no wisdom
in our going our way to that inevitable end, and then taking
a leap into the dark without preparedness, without readi-
ness. There is no wisdom in that. Be ready for the time
of your departure from earth. Be ready.

Give heed, I pray you, to this other word : Every day
you delay making your return to God, by that much do
you add to your difficulty about ever coming. Therefore,
should our interest be keyed to the highest for the young
people. Oh, how I covet these boys and girls in their teens,
and just beginning their teens ! How I covet every one
of them for God! Wisdom has fled from God's people if
they do not put forth their best efforts to save the people
while they are young. It is God's time. Listen to Him:
^'Remember now thy Creator, in the days of thy youth,
while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh,
when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.'' The
voice of God's Book, confirmed by all experience, is that
in the morning of life, this biggest question of all — right
adjustment to God — should have proper settlement — in the
morning of life. Remember it, my fellow-men ; remember
it, my 3^oung people — every day that you delay your coming
to God do you add to your difficulties about ever coming
at all. Every day that you delay, you increase and strength-
en your diffixculties. If a man will not do a thing for awhile,
then by a law psychological, and physiological as well, after
awhile he cannot do it. If through some freakish fancy I
should have this arm tied to my body for a dozen years,
refusing to use it, and at the end of those years I should
say: "Cut the cord and watch me lift the ax and bring
down the trees in the forest, as I used to do when a boy,"
it would be found that I could not lift the ax at all. I would
be helpless and impotent to lift that ax at all. I would
not lift it — I refused to use it, now I cannot. If through
some fancy I should have my eyes bandaged and keep them
in the dark for a dozen years, and then say to my friends :
"Remove the bandages now, and watch me read as once
I read from the book or the paper," you might give me

PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD 101

the book or the paper, but I could not read at all. So long
was I determinedly and positively in the darkness that
light fled away. Every day that a human soul trifles with
God's light and turns the back on God, does such soul add
to its danger and difficulty and make its probability of sal-
vation less and less and less.

In my city, years ago, as I rode to a funeral with one
of our well-known citizens, not a Christian, a man for
whose salvation I had yearned, God knows, with a yearning
inexpressible, he said to me, as we came back from the
funeral, for he was quite reminiscent — we had buried his
dear friend — he said: "A strange thing has happened to
me, and I do not know hov/ to explain it." Then he added :
"When you came to Dallas years ago, I heard you often
on Sunday morning, and many a time I went away so
stirred that I did not enjoy a mouthful of my midday meal
Sunday. But I went my way, saying: 'This matter of
religion will get my attention by and by, but I am pre-
occupied; I am too busy now.' And I have heard you
on and on, but less and less, as the years passed. I heard
your words awhile ago," he said, "as you stood by the bier
of my dear friend, and there was no emotion at all, that
I could find in my heart. I have reached a strange place,
and that place is that I have no feeling at all, none at all.
I do not know what has happened."

I did not tell him what had happened to him, and yet
I think I know. The Scriptures are clear as the light that
a human soul can trifle with light, and can resist God, and
can refuse, and can protest, and can defer, and can wait,
until after awhile the human conscience is seared as with
a hot iron, and no more is there feeling for such duty-
neglecting and light-forgetting soul — no more. There
comes in a solemn song that our parents used to sing, when
some of us were little tots about their knees. Maybe I can
quote that solemn song. Oh, the depth of its meaning!

There is a time, I know not when,

A place, I know not where,
Which marks the destiny of men.

To glory or despair.

There is a line by us unseen.

Which crosses every path.
The hidden boiuidary between ;

God's patience and God's wrath.

102 A QUEST FOR SOULS

To cross that limit is to die.

To die as if by stealth.
It may not pale the beaming eye.

Nor quench the glowing health.

The conscience may be still at ease.

The spirits light and gay.
That which is pleasing still may please.

And care be thrust away.

But on that forehead God hath set

Indelibly a mark
By man unseen, for man as yet

Is blind and in the dark.

And still that doomed man's path below

May bloom like Eden bloomed.
He did not, does not, will not, know.

Nor feel that he is doomed.

He feels, he says, that all is well.

His every fear is calmed.
He lives, he dies, he wakes in hell.

Not only doomed, but damned.

Oh, where is that mysterious bourn,

By which each path is crossed.
Beyond which God himself hath sworn.

That he who goes is lost?

How long may men go on in sin?

How long will God forbear?
Where does hope end, and where begin.

The confines of despair?

One answer from those skies is sent:

"Ye who from God depart.
While it is called. To-day, repent.

And harden not your heart."

My message is done. I have a question to ask you
before I go. How many of you men and women have made
preparation for meeting God? And by that I mean simply
this, that turning away from yourself you have turned to
Christ, and are trusting in Him only and utterly as your
Savior. How many of this large throng of people can
personally say : ''Sir, I have made that preparation. I have
heard Christ's call. I have yielded myself to Him. I am
trusting alone in Him as my Savior." Every man and
woman and child in this press of people that can say: "I
have made that preparation, sir, already," lift high your
hand just now. [A sea of hands went up.] Oh, isn't it
a sight to move our hearts ! It looked to me as if almost
every hand was lifted. Blessed be God ! And yet I must
ask another question. Are there men and women in this
gathering to-night who could not in conscience lift their
hands, thus witnessing that they are on Christ's side? Are
there men and women listening to me who say: "Oh, sir,
I am wrong with God and know it. I could not lift my

PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD 103

hand. I am wrong with God and know it/' In- the church
maybe, or out — a professor of religion once, or maybe never
such — but your heart says this: "I am wrong with God
and know it. I could not lift my hand a minute ago, but I
would lift it on this, that I am wrong with God and know
it, and I wish to be right with God, in His own time and
way." We will offer our most fervent prayer for you in
a moment, ere we go. Do you say: 'T lift my hand on
that. I am wrong with God and know it, and I wish to
be right with Him, and I wish you and all these who pray
to ofifer a prayer for me that I may be right with God, in
His own time and way. I would lift my hand on that."
As I look this audience over for a minute, do you lift your
hand? There where I am pointing, I see you, my brother,
and you, dear lady. As I am pointing there to the left,
does the hand lift, saying: "That includes me?" Where
I am looking yonder, does the hand lift, saying: *'That
includes me?" I see you, sir. Oh, sirs, breathe a prayer
to God to bless these men and women. I see you, lady,
and still another, and still another over there. Back to
the rear, does the hand lift there, clear to my right? I see
you, gentlemen, numbers of your hands.

Oh, that to-night you would end your delay! Listen
to Jesus : "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast
out." Listen again : "Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for
thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." And
again: "To-day, if ye hear His voice, harden not your
heart."

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

Take the sennce, we pray thee, our Heavenly Father, into thine own gracious
keeping, and turn it even as thou wilt. Oh, we cry unto thee, our Father, in the
dear Savior's name, in behalf of these interested men and women and children,
who this night have said to us : "We are consciously wrong with God, but wish to
be right." How we covet them and long for them, that without delay they shall
just surrender, simply and honestly, to Christ, that He may be their* Savior and
Master. Teach them by thy Spirit that waiting has in it nothing but peril. Teach
them that by every worthy motive that can move serious people to a great step,
now, without delay, they should decide for Christ. May thy Word be bound upon
their hearts, where thou sayest : "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast
out;" and where thou sayest: "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life
freely;" and where thou sayest: "Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in
Him, and He shall bring it to pass." Oh, may these men and women and children,
wrong with God, but wishing to be right, know, because God shall teach them, -that
it is Christ's business to save, but it is theirs to surrender to Him, entirely to Him,
that He may save in His own way. May they make that surrender even this very
night, before they sleep. And if in this throng there were others, who did not
witness to their interest about being saved, and yet who are interested, we pray
that their interest may be deepened, until speedily they shall find Christ. And if
in this place there is one whose heart is not touched with any sense of interest

104 A' QUEST FOR SOULS

touching personal religion, oh, may the Divine Spirit take of the things of Christ
and convict such soul of the supreme and urgent need of Christ's forgiving grace.
Take the whole audience now into thine own gracious care, and lead us as thou
wilt. How we bless thee that such a vast number of the people present are able
to make the great confession that Christ is their Savior even now. May each one
go who loves Christ, and speak the word to whom and as Christ would have the
word spoken, that others may be helped by us in the hours and days just before us,
and helped in the highest and best way. Take this family, stricken with sorrow
this very evening, and bind up their hearts with God's own healing comfort and
grace.

And now, as you go, may the blessed Holy Spirit brood over you all, and may
the love of the Father, and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be granted you all
and each, to abide with you forever. Amen,

VIII

NOON SERVICE, JUNE 15, 1917.

THE OPENING PRAYER.

Holy Father, deep is our gratitude to thee for thy goodness to us and ours.
How wonderful it all seems ! Yea, how wonderful it really is ! We bless thee
for it. And now as we come apart at this midday hour for a brief service, we
pray that we may have the touch of thy hand upon us, all and each. We would
wait here in thy presence now just like we ought. We would be humble before
thee. We v.'ould be repentant on account of every evil way, and we would be
cleansed from all unrighteousness. We would put our trust unreservedly in
God. We would turn absolutely from every wrong course. We would have
thee speak to us what thou wouldst have us to hear. We would know thy
will, and then we would do it, by thy guidance and help, whatever it costs,
wherever it leads. Let there be in the service something that shall help us
every one, and that shall make for the glory of thy name. And to-day, and in the
days just before us, may we make it our concern, as never before, to put first
things first, to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, before all else.
We ask this in the Master's name. Amen.

A RELIGION THAT IS DIVINE.

Text: "Christ the power of God."— I Cor. 1:24.

A religion without a Divine Savior is a religion incom-
petent and insufficient for a needy, sinning, suffering, dying
humanity. No man has moral sources within himself suf-
ficient to live the life that he ought to live. Systems of
ethics and of morals, however beautiful and worthy, will
not, and cannot, transform men and women who have
the sense of sin in their lives — the sense of moral loss and
lapse and failure. A little while ago it was my privilege
to speak some ten days to the students of one of the coun-
try's largest universities. One day I was waited upon by
a group of Japanese students, who desired an interview
concerning the relative claims of their country's religion
and of our religion. I shall never forget the interview.
These Japanese were upper class men in the university.
They ranged themselves, some thirty men, in a semi-circle

105

106 A QUEST FOR SOULS

about me, and then they began their questions. How
bright, how sharp, how searching, were their questions!
And presently they reached the question that they came to
ask. They said: "We follow Buddha, and you follow
Christ. Wherein does Christ excel Buddha? Buddha
teaches this and that,'* they said, ''and Christ, whom you
preach, teaches this and that. Wherein do the teachings
of Christ excel the teachings of Buddha?" Now, you can
see that the issue was sharply joined. You know what I
said, I take it. I said: "My fellow-men, Buddha does
teach so and so, and standards that he sets up in many
cases are beautiful. Christ teaches so and so. But Christ
does more. Christ proposes to put a power divine into the
life that will yield itself to Him. For illustration: Here
are two trains of cars, and at the head of each is an engine.
Christ puts His power into that Christian engine, so that
it can pull any train of cars, no matter how weighty.
Buddha does not talk about putting power into human life.
Buddha does not talk about a strength superhuman and
unrivaled and divine, which he will put into his followers.
He simply holds up a standard out there. Christ holds up
a standard and says: 'Come to me, with all your weak-
ness and ignorance and sin; let me save and guide you,
and I will help you in your life to realize that standard,'
Christianity is the religion of a person, and that person
is Christ, and Christ not only points us the way wherein
v/e ought to walk, but He comes to us in our moral weak-
ness and lapse and failure, and says to us: Tf you will
honestly commit yourself to me, that I may guide you and
master you, I will help you to live the life you ought to i,
live/ And, therefore, Christianity outdistances all systems
of human religion, by as much as God outdistances a man."
It was good to see the response made by the students from
afar to such appeal.

Five little words this morning make our text : "Christ
the power of God." They are found in the first chapter of
Paul's first letter to the Corinthians.

Let me come at once to the heart of what I wish to
say, by asking the question : How is Christ the power of
God? I answer, first of all. He is the power of God in His

A RELIGION THAT IS DIVINE 107

own person. Christianity stands or falls with the person
of Christ. What Hougoumont was to Waterloo, Christ's
person is to Christianity. There have been only three
views about the person of Christ — one that He was bad,
another that He was mad, and the other that He was what
He everywhere represented himself to be, namely, that
He was God come in the flesh. When He was here there
were those who affirmed that He was bad. They affirmed
that He was in league with Beelzebub, the prince of de-
mons. They said: "He hath an evil spirit, and is not to
be trusted." And then there were those who affirmed that
He was mad«. They said.: "He is beside himself." They
said: "He is crazy." And then there stands out the third
estimate of Him — that He was not bad, and that He was
not mad, but that He was and is what He everywhere rep-
resented himself to be — God come in the flesh.

When Jesus became a man, He said in effect to men,
wherever He went: "I am God manifest in the flesh. I
am God uncovered ; I am God foreshortened, so that a
man with all his limitations by reason of ignorance and
weakness and sin can find God." The cry of the race
through the ages has been: "We would see Jesus. Show
us the Father, and it sufficeth us." Jesus came among
men and everywhere represented himself as the possessor
of the attributes and the perfections of Deity. That Jesus
was and is in His own person the power of God is attested
by what He said, and by what He did, and by what He
was and is. I am compelled intellectually to believe that
Christ was more than any mere man, no matter from what
angle I look at Him.

Will you look at His words? They attest His deity,
"Never m.an spake like this man." I do not wonder that
when Daniel Webster had finished the reading of the Ser-
mon on the Mount, he rose up with pale face and trembling
words, and said: "More than any mere man has spoken
these words." Never man spake like this man. Christ's
teachings concerning the great matters that pertain to life
and conduct and man and sin and character and destiny
are utterly revolutionary and transforming.

108 A QUEST FOR SOULS

I am also compelled to believe that Jesus is more than
any mere man when I look at His works, and one of His
appeals to men is: "Believe me, that I am in the Father,
and the Father in me; or else believe me for the works'
sake." From the cradle to the grave there was in the life
of Jesus the outflashings of His divine nature and power.
When a little child yonder on His mother's heart the shep-
herds came to worship Him, and the magi came with their
rich gifts to lay before Him. When He was a child of a
dozen years, yonder He was in the temple, and the ques-
tions that He both asked and answered broke to pieces the
superlative wisdom of those learned doctors and teachers
assembled in that temple. And when He began His public
ministry, the winds and the waves obeyed Him, and sick-
nesses obeyed Him, and demons obeyed Him, and death
obeyed Him. Jean Paul Richter was right when He said
that Jesus with His pierced hand had lifted empires off
their hinges, and had turned the stream of centuries back-
wards in its channel. And Lecky, the astute philosopher,
was right when he said that the three short years of Jesus'
public ministry had done more to soften and regenerate
mankind than all the disquisitions of all the philosophers,
and all the exhortations of all the moralists since the world
began.

I am also compelled to believe in Christ, that His own
nature was divine, and that in Him was the infinite power
of God, when I look at His character. The standing chal-
lenge of Jesus to mankind is: "Which of you convicteth
me of sin?" And the universal response to that challenge
is stated in the language of Pilate: "I find no fault in
Him." Horace Bushnell was right when he said that the
character of Jesus forbids all possible classification of Him
with any and all other men.

Behold Jesus, this Friday morning, not a Son of man,
but the Son of man, for all humanity was summed up in
Him. In all other men, goodness is but fragmentary and
pitifully imperfect. In the character of Jesus, goodness is
perfect and complete, and wanting nothing. If you would
look for the highest example of meekness, you would not
look to Moses, but to Jesus, who was unapproachably meek

A RELIGION THAT IS DIVINE 109

and lowly in heart. If you would look for the highest
example of patience, you would not look to Job, but to
Jesus, who when He was reviled, reviled not again. If
you would look for the highest example of wisdom, you
would not look to Solomon, but to Jesus, who spake as
never man spake. If you would look for the highest ex-
ample of zeal, you would not look to Paul, but to Jesus,
about whom it has been written : "The zeal of thine house
hath eaten me up." If you would look for the highest
example of love, you would not look to John, who leaned
on Jesus' bosom, but you would look to Jesus, who while
we were yet sinners so loved us as to die for us. Goodness
in men, however wise and pure their character, is frag-
mentary and imperfect and incomplete. Goodness and
perfection stand out in their entirety in the person of Jesus.
Men sometimes say to me that they cannot believe in
miracles, and in every such case I ask them: "What will
you do with Jesus of Nazareth?'' He is the miracle of the
ages. Jesus of Nazareth — what will you do with Him?
He is the outstanding miracle of all the centuries. Whs^t
will you do with Jesus?

Forever God, forever man.

My Jesus shall endure,
And fixed on Him my hope remains

Eternally secure.

It was said of Mozart that he brought angels down<
and of Beethoven that he lifted mortals up. Jesus of Naza-
reth does both, and more. Jesus is God's way to man.
Jesus is man's way to God. Jesus is the only true Jacob's
ladder, by which a sinning man or woman, if he or she will
leave sin behind, m^y mount up to be with God and to be
like Him foreve'r. Yes, Christ is the power of God in His
own person. I marvel that intellectually every man in the
world is not compelled to bow before the person of Christ.

Nor is that all. Christ is the power of God in history.
The standing marvel of the ages is Christ himself, the Rock
of Ages. An humble prophet of Nazareth has gone up and
down the earth, and has more influence, more sway, than
all the teachers that earth ever saw combined.

Hushed be the noise and the strife of the schools,

Volume and pamphlet, sermon and speech,
The lips of the wise and the prattle of fools.

Let the Son of man teach.

110 A QUEST FOR SOULS

Who has the key to the future but He?

Who can unravel the knots of the skein?
We have groaned and have travailed and sought to be free.

We have travailed in vain.

Bewildered, dejected and prone to despair,

To Him, as at first, do we turn and beseech.
Our ears are all open, give heed to our prayer,

O Son of man, teach.

He is the incomparable teacher of all the ages, and be-
side Him earth's greatest teachers are as a tapering candle
beside a great sun. Christ is the miracle of the centuries,
and the church is His monument. The most glorious in-
stitution in all the earth is Christ's monument — His church.
It is the fairest among ten thousand, and an institution su-
premely lovely and worthy. And Christ's gospel is the su-
preme instrument of human civilization. There is not and can-
not be any lasting civilization which excludes the teaching
of Christ. You may have your systems of government, no
matter how compact and militaristic and colossal ; you may
have your schemes of education, no matter how subtle and
clever and adroit and scientific ; but all systems human are
doomed ultimately to go into the ditch, if the standards
and teachings of Christ are flouted and disregarded. The
Pan-European war is the demonstration of what I am say-
ing on the most colossal scale in all human history.

And now I am coming to say the most important word
of all to you, my brother men, my gentle sisters. Christ
is the power of God in human experience. That is the vital
word of all. Christianity employs always the scientific
method of demonstration, that is, the method by experi-
ment. Somebody once asked Mr. Coleridge if a man could
prove the truth of Christianity, and Mr. Coleridge made
the simple but complete reply: "Why, certainly. Let him
try it." Christ comes to mankind and confidently says
to them: "Come and see. Come and try me. Come and
test me. Put me to the extremest test. Come and test
me and see for yourself, if I do net give you to know that
I am the power of God in human life. Come and test me,
and you shall sing thereafter, when your fellows ask you
what has happened: 'Whereas I was blind, now I see/
Come and try me."

I am thinking now of a young woman, unusually trained
and cultured, bedarkened in her spiritual nature by the

A RELIGION THAT IS DIVINE 111

direst kind of skepticism. She sought interview after in-
terview with the preacher, and one day she said to him:
''Sir, intellectually, I just cannot accept your preaching that
Christ rose from the dead on the third day, as your Scrip-
tures allege." Presently, the preacher said to her: "Well,
what do you think about Christ — waiving for a moment
the fact of His resurrection — what do you think of Him?"
She said: "He is the fairest among ten thousand. He is
the one altogether lovely. I cannot find any fault with
Him. Everything about His words and about His works
and about His character to the last degree appeals to me."
Then the minister went on to say: "If He be the Son
of God himself, the power of God in His own personality,
if that be so, do you wish to know it?" After a moment's
pause, she said : "Assuredly, I do." Then the minister
said: "You go alone and tell_JIim that you are vexed by
doubt and held back by questions, but that you wish light,
and that you will yield yourself to Him, who has already
won your most admiring appreciation ; that you will yield
yourself to Him, that He may teach you and help you and
lead you in any way that He would have you go — ^just
honestly yield yourself to Him. Try Him in that experi-
mental way." She came back the next day with her face
radiant like the morning, and said to the preacher: "I
cannot prove by outside proof, that Jesus rose from the
dead, but my heart knows He is alive, for He has made me
alive."

He is to be experimentally tested, my fellow-men. He
is to be tested. Let me tell you, I see enough in one week,
as do these honored brother ministers of mine about me, to
shut us up to the conviction that Christ is the power of
God. We see enough in one week in our dealings with
men to be shut up to that unhesitating conviction. To
illustrate: One day there came to me the news that one
of my fellow-workers had gone down in the awful mael-
strom of business failure. Fine fellow, rising, battling
nobly, but the tides had turned, and down he went, and
I went out to his home with my heart in my throat, dread-
ing to see him and his wife. As he met me at the door,
he looked years older, but there was no trace of bitterness

112 A QUEST FOR SOULS

on his face or in his eye. He said: "We are glad to see
you. You have heard about it?" I said; "Yes, I have
heard, and I have come out to kneel beside you, and to-
gether we will talk to Him who is able to turn the very
shadow of death into morning. No man is to despair or to
worry or to mope because all his property is swept away
in a brief day.'' He said, speaking quickly : "Oh, no ; we
are not bitter about it at all. We did not sleep any last
night. We got up several times in the night, and like two
little children we knelt beside our bed, and we promised
new devotion to the service of Christ. Oh, no, we have not
a bitter thought at all." And from that day to this, and
that was years ago, never have I heard a note of bitterness
or reproach escape their lips, and time and again they have
said to me: "But for Christ consciously in our hearts we
should have been submerged when that black Friday came."

/' And then, on another day, I was summoned when one
of our citizens lay a-dying, one of the most gifted scientists
I have known, and also one of the noblest Christians. The
sun sank to the west, an^jthejands of his life were gallop-
ing to thejclose, and I sat there by him, in response to his
invitation that I come for a final conference, and he said
various and sundry things to me, as I held his hand. I
never shall forget one thing he said. It was this: "Oh,
pastor, go on and preach Christ to men, and nothing else,
for nothing else, sir, will suffice men who are in the grip
of moral loss and failure and defeat. Men do not have
moral resources within themselves to rise and climb. Sir,
preach a divine Savior to a lost world. Preach that only
till the day of your death." That last conversation we
had I can never forget. And then, when he quit talking
like that to me, he said: "I should like to speak to the
children," and the children were brought in, and he had
his word, beautiful and blessed, for every child. And then,
as his wife held that thin hand and bent over him and kissed
the noble forehead, he said to her, with his whispers, as
life's sands hastened to the end: "Mary, dear, you will
know where to look for comfort and strength when I am
gone." She said: "Indeed, I will." Then he said: "Mary,
dear, four different times you and I have marched behind

"" A RELIGION THAT IS DIVINE 113

the hearse to the cemetery, to put away out there, under
the flowers, one child, two children, three children, four
children, and we came back, and every turn of the carriage
wheels whispered to us that the grace of God was suffi-
cient. Now, Mary, dear, when I shall go away, as I shall
to-night,- you will remember the Shepherd Psalm, and you
will remember the fourteenth chapter of John, and you will
remember always to call on Christ and be not afraid." And
she kissed him, and said : "I will remember. I know whom
I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep
that which I have committed unto Him against that day."
And then he quietly began the recitation of that Twenty-
third Psalm, and when he reached that heavenly sentence:
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me," he whis-
pered, and we caught it : "See, Mary, He is with me now,"
and then he was gone to the yonderland. You should
have seen her and the children bear their grief without .^
any murmur. God's grace was sufficient for them, and dX\J^
the people knew it. ^

And then, on still another morning, my phone rang and
one of our young business men said to me: "Be ready. I
will be at the door for you with a cab in a dozen minutes.
I need you much just now." I was there at the door wait-
ing when the cab drove up, and he jumped out of the cab,
his face covered with tears and his agitation something
pitiful, and I took his hand and said: "What on earth is
it?" He said to me, with a plaintive sob, even with gasps
of sobbing: "If you know how to pray, you must pray
now, for our flaxen-haired little girl is at death's door, and
the doctors give us no hope at all. Sir, if you know how
to pray, you will ask God to spare her now." I said : "My
friend, I will pray for her, but not the way you suggest.
I would not pray the way you suggest even about my own
little children. I will ask God, if it can comport with His
will, to spare your little girl, but if that be not His will,
that He will fortify you and the little mother, and give
you grace and strength to face it all." And then he turned
upon me wildly and said : "I suppose I could bear it if the
little girl shall be taken, but the little girl's mother is an

114 A QUEST FOR SOULS

invalid, and it v/ill kill her if the little girl is taken." I
said: "No, no, my friend; your wife is a joyful Christian.
She has a secret you do not know anything about. She
has a secret that will bear her up and fortify her in the
cloudiest day that ever comes." By this time we had
reached the home, and we went in. The gentle wife was
beside the crib, stroking the little forehead with its flaxen
curls about it, talking to the child asj:he sands oj it^Jife
hurriedjto J;h£ close, and then talking to God. And as we
stood by her, the young father looked at me with a gasp
and said: "Isn't my baby dying right now?" I said:
"Yes, my friend; she is dying right now." And then he
left the room, unable to face the rest. In a few moments
more the little life was gone, and then after a few moments
more the wife said to me: "Where is my husband?" I
said: "I will find him,'' and I went out behind the cot-
tage, and found him wild in his grief, and when he heard
my footfall he turned to me and said : "It is all over, isn't
it?" I -said: "It is all over." And then, with a wail never
to be forgotten, he said: "You will see it will finish my
poor little invalid wife." I said: "Not at all, my friend.
She has a secret you do not know anything about. She
has a power within her above the flesh, superhuman, God's
own power. You come now and see." And we came on
back, and at the door we paused, because she wa.s kneeling
by that baby again, and it seemed sacrilege to enter, as
we heard her praying. She was thanking God for the
little girl, even though she had had her only three or four
years. She was telling the Master that she would always
be a better woman, because He had given her the child.
She v/as saying that it was "better to have loved and lost
than never to have loved at all." And then she paused,
and I said: "We will go in now, my friend," And as we
entered, she came, the invalid that she was, toward us, and
her face was radiant. There were tears upon it, but there
were smiles deeper than the tears. She put her frail arms
about the big shoulders of her husband, and said: "Poor,
broken-hearted husband, mother is so sorry for you ! Moth-
er knows it is all right. Mother's heart is swept with
peace. Little bits of heaven have come down, my husband,

A RELIGION THAT IS DIVINE 115

to me. Mother is so sorry for you." Then the big fellow
turned to me with the cry: "If Jesus Christ can do that
for my frail wife, let me kneel beside my dead baby, and
you tell Christ for me that I will give up to Him right
now." Of course, Christ saved him then and there. '-^

Jesus Christ can do that. He docs do it. Hundreds
here will so testify. He is the power of God in human life.
Is He your power? God help you, if He is not! Oh,
men, my brothers; oh, gentle women, m.y sisters, is Jesus
Christ the power of your life? Is He your personal Savior?
Is He your Master, by your own glad assent and consent?
Let Him be ! I speak to you the sober truth this Friday
morning, when I tell you that you may go and drink from
every spring on the face of the earth, and you may try
the aroma of every flower that earth can give, and you
will come back desolate and dispirited and broken, without
Christ. Earth cannot heal 3^our malady. Earth cannot
cure your hurt. Byron tried it, that brilliant, gifted Byron,
and he penned this as the result:

My days are in the yellow leaf;

The flowers and fruits of love are gone ;
The worm, the canker, and the grief

Are mine alone I

I read the confession the other day of one of the most
prominent actresses to-day on the world's stage. Admir-
ers found her after a brilliant performance, after her ap-
pearances had been often encored, and roars of applause
had shaken the building — after it was all over, they found
her sobbing like a broken-hearted child, and they said to
her: "Why woman, you ought to be happy, unspeakably
happy, even the happiest of women, because of such ap-
plause as your every appearance calls forth." But she
answered : "Oh, my heart is broken. My heart longs for
something better and surer than this." And it does, be-
cause God hath set eternity in the human heart, and the
things temporal, therefore, cannot meet the cry of the
eternal.

Oh, where shall rest be found,

Rest for a weary soul?
'Twere vain the ocean's depths to sound.

Or pierce to either pole.
Beyond this vale of tears

There is a life above.
Unmeasured by the flight of years,

And all that life is love.

116 A QUEST FOR SOULS

There is a death whose pang

Outlasts this fleeting breath.
Oh, what eternal horrors hang

Around one's second death I

Lord God of truth and grace.

Teach us that death to shun,
Lest we be banished from God's face

And evermore undone 1

Are you willing for Christ to teach you? Are you will-
ing for Him to be your Savior? Are you willing for Christ
to be your Savior His way? He will never be otherwise.
Are you willing for Him to be yonr Savior His way, and
that He may master your life according to His will, which
is infinite in wisdom and goodness? If you are, and will
thus yield your life to Him, you shall know that Christ is
the power of God in your own experience. Do you say,
**Yes, to-day and now, I answer to Christ's call, yielding
myself without reserve to Him, that He may have His way
with me from this hour forward forever?" How we re-
joice with you in your destiny-determ.ining decision, and
we leave you with Him, who will never leave nor forsake
the soul that trusts Him.

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

And now, as the people go, O Divine Savior, let us every one go, songful in
praises, definitely fixed in heart, inflexibly resolved in purpose, that we v/ill cleave
to Christ anci cleave to Him only and forever. Let us see that we shall feed
our souls on ashes if we feed on any other food in this universe apart from Christ.
He is the bread which comes down from heaven, which if a soul shall eat, such
soul shall live, and live victoriously forevermore. Lord, at this noonday ser\'ice
we would gather up every life here present in our prayers, and by humble, united
and submissive prayer, we would bind one another, and by grace divine be bound,
about the feet of Christ forever. The Lord keep you all and each, until the day
is done, and beyond, forever. Amen.

NIGHT SERVICE, JUNE 15, 1917.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.

Before coming to the message of the evening, I would
take a moment to urge again, with all my heart, upon the
Christians who hear me, all and each, to give yourselves
as faithfully as possible, during these passing days, to the
right kind of religious visiting. Remember, I pray you,
my fellow Christians, that there can be no substitutes for
the right kind of personal conversation concerning the
Christian religion. All about us people are dying from the
lack of personal attention. In sight of our church houses
there are such people, and they cross our paths from day
to day, and numbers of them, it may be, live under the
very same roof with us. Oh, I beseech you, give yourselves
these passing days to the right kind of religious visiting.
If need be, I beseech you, do the unusual thing to help
somebody who needs you religiously.

Some years ago I was preaching in an outdoor meeting
in the black lands belt, to multitudes of farmers, and one
evening one of those honest, earnest, Christian farmers
paused after the service was done to say to me: "If I
am not here in the morning and to-morrow afternoon, then
you may know that I have gone to my next-door neighbor,
who is not a Christian, and have proffered to plow for him,
that he may come. He is behind with his work. He has
had sickness in his family, and if I go to ask him to come
to the services, I know the excuses he will give; so I am

117

118 A QUEST FOR SOULS

going in the morning to offer to plow for him, to do that
neighborly act for him. I am going to urge it upon him,
and if I am not present, you may know that he is present."
And the next day I looked for my Christian farmer, and he
was not present, and I preached that day to the man he
had sent, for whom he plowed, that such man might come
to the Savior, and when the service was done down the
aisle came the second farmer, with his face covered with
tears, to make his public confession of personal surrender
to Christ. A simple thing it was for the first man to do,
but wasn't the outcome glorious?

A mother said to me : "If you miss me to-morrow, then
you may know that* I am sending another little mother,
who is not a Christian, for I shall proffer to stay at home
and mind her baby, and insist that she come, and if you
miss me, know that you have one woman there who needs
to hear about Christ." And sure enough, at the close of
that service down the aisle came the second little mother,
and she said: "When that Christian mother proffered to
stay to mind my baby, that I might go to God's house to
hear about Christ, my heart went out, and I can no longer
hold out against Christ." These are simple things, but
see to what tremendous results they lead.

If necessary, I pray you, do the unusual thing, the
sacrificial thing-, to win somebody to Christ. Make it
impossible, I pray you, my fellow Christians — make it im-
possible for anybody around you to say : "They have their
churches, and they have their preachers, and now and then
they have their special meetings, but nobody really cares
for my soul." Make that impossible. Some time ago a
stranger came down the aisle in the church where I am
glad to minister, to make his public confession of Christ
as his Savior, and to take his place that Sunday morning
in the church. He is the most widely traveled man that
I have personally known with any intimacy. For some
twenty years he has gone around the world writing articles
and gathering important information for one of the fore-
most journals of the East. Twelve different times he has
been around the globe. He is a man who knows how to
talk as well as write, and I said to him: "Mr. So-and-so,

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT 119

won't you stand up and give your testimony about Christ
to the people, without my asking you any questions?" And
he gave a testimony that morning that we will never for-
get. But there was one thing in it that probed our very
hearts, and made us stand aghast, almost with horror,
and it was this: He said to us that morning: "Though I
have been around the world these twelve times in these
twenty years, and have touched tens of thousands of lives
at close range, in all realms and in all lands, only two
people in all these twenty years have asked me if it was
well with my soul!" Why the very thought is staggering!
And when he had followed Christ that night in beautiful
baptism, he said to me, as we came out of the baptismal
waters: *T am going to my hotel now to write the most
grateful word that I can write to those two men who
thought enough of my soul to ask m.e if I was right with
God."

Oh, my fellow Christians, with an earnestness v/hlch
God would have 3^ou feel, and with a faithfulness and
with a humility and with a sanity, and Avith that blessed
reasonableness that goes along with the religion of Christ,
I pray you now, day by day, on the right hand and on the
left, give yourselves like you ought, to the right kind of
religious visiting. We will pause now for a moment and
pray God to help us.

THE OPENING PRAYER.

We make our appeal to thee, O thou Friend Divine, thou Gracious Father I
Forgive us, that, though we have been Christians, many of us, for many years, we
have been timid, and worse than that, we have been recreant to duty with respect
to this most vital matter of all, the matter of speaking the right word to people,
concerning Jesus and His great salvation. We beseech thee that every Christian
in this large throng this Friday evening may be personally dedicated from this
moment for the days just before us, even as never before, to that highest, holiest
business of all, the effort personal to point people in the heavenward way. Go
thou with us, ro teach and help us in every effort, O thou Spirit Divine. Clothe
us with wisdom and patience and let our work be such as Christ will honor, and
whatever the result may be, give us to do our best and gladly leave the result
with Christ.

We pray for this goodly city, which by leaps and bounds is making its material
expansion and progress. Let its spiritual progress be the city's crowning pros-

f>erity. Lord, hear our prayer for every house in all this city. Hear our praver
or the great army of laboring mtn and business men and professional men, who
from early m.orn till dewy eve give themselves earnestly and diligently to the
demands^ of the big battle of life. Hear our fervent prayer for^ those who rule
and minister in the city's affairs. Clothe them with heavenly wisdom and grace
that they may rule for the highest good of the people and for the glory of God.
Hear our prayer for parents, charged with the solemn trust of rearing their chil-
dren for present and eternal blessedness. Hear our prayer for every friend Christ
has in this city, of every name. May the mercy of God and His grace be abun*
dantly^ meted out to CTery such friend of God, and, oh, may we be better friend*
for Him and better workers for Him with every passing hour.

120 A QUEST FOR SOULS

Hear our prayer for this Friday evening's service. May our hearts be divinely
opened by the good Spirit Divine to attend unto that wliich Christ would have
us heed and hear. May the right word be said. Thou knowest, Lord, what such
word should be. None of us know, but thou knowest. Guide us, that the right
word shall be said, and said in the right temper, and wing it home, we pray thee,
to every waiting heart. And may we do to-night with Christ's truth just what
we ought to do, and what we will wish we had done when we stand in that day
of days to give our personal account to Christ. And we pray it all in His all
prevailing name. Amen!

THE TRAGEDY OF NEGLECT.

Text: "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" — Heb. 2:3.

The Bible calls our attention always to the big ques-
tions of life, to the immense questions, to the eternally
important questions. For example: "If a man die, shall
he live again?" Millions are asking that question afresh
in this time of world war and world crisis. Or take this
question: "Is thine heart right?" Or take this question:
"What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world
and lose his own soul?" Or take this question : "What is
your life?" The Bible asks the big questions, the tran-
scendently momentous questions. Let us take one of these
big questions out of the Bible to-night for our text, a ques-
tion intensely personal for us all and each: "How shall
we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" There is
one word in the text that points the reason why men and
women are finally lost, and you have guessed that word,
as I quoted the text, or you will guess it now, when I
quote it again: "How shall we escape, if we neglect so
great salvation?" Now you know the word that points
the reason why men and women are finally lost. In this
Christian land of ours men and women are finally lost, not
because they intend it. Do you suppose anybody really
intends, deliberately intends, to be lost, deliberately in-
tends to miss heaven, with all that it has and shall ever
be? Do you suppose that any human being deliberately
plans, definitely plans, to miss the upward way? Why,
then, do they miss it? One little word in our text points
the answer : "Neglect." "How shall we escape, if we neg-
lect so great salvation?"

The whole world is a battle-field covered over with the
v/recks occasioned by neglect. You may behold such
wrecks constantly in the world temporal all about you.

THE TRAGEDY OF NEGLECT 121

How many a time is the sight vouchsafed unto us of
young people, with prospect and promise, who in life's
morning neglect proper habits, proper training, proper dis-
cipline, and go out unprepared for the big battle of life.
Oh, if in life's mtDrning, the time for preparation, the time
for discipline and the forming of right habits, they would
only study and give themselves to those habits that belong
so properly and so vitally to youth, how different their
life story and battle would be! Often when it is too late,
the remorseful memory of neglect burns like some coal of
fire!

Or look into the realm of health. The kindly doctor
is summoned some day to the loved one under our roof,
and he makes his careful diagnosis, and his face is serious,
and he makes the suggestion, tactfully but earnestly : "This
case calls for a complete change, a change in climate. Con-
ditions here are alarming. Make the change without de-
lay." The skillful scientist advises, but we presume, and
the suffering patient presumes. We hope against hope.
We wonder if the doctor is not mistaken. And the weeks
drag on, and the case suddenly plunges downward for the
worse, and the doctor is summoned again, and again makes
his careful diagnosis, and his face is now terribly be-
clouded. Full-fledged tuberculosis holds the patient in its
grasp! Oh, neglect, neglect, what mischiefs thou dost
work in the realm of health!

And now, when we pass the subject up to the higher
realm, the supreme realm, the realm of religion, how trag-
ically and how terribly true it is that neglect there, in that
highest realm, gets in its most undoing work. Even we
Christians must all along bewail ourselves that our neglect
has been so serious. I daresay there is not a Christian lis-
tening to me, certainly not one of any extended experi-
ence, but whose heart is touched with a twinge of deepest
sorrow as you give yourself for a little while to memory,
to recollection, and have come trooping back to you the
memories of duties neglected, of opportunities forfeited,
of privileges that have been allowed to slip away unim-
proved, which privileges are gone now and shall be re
turnless forever. Even we Christians must all along*

122 A QUEST FOR SOULS

wail ourselves that in this manner and that and the other
we have so sadly neglected in the great matters of religion.
We have neglected people. We have forgotten people. We
have overlooked people. We have passed by people. We
have given attention to the smaller things, the slighter
things, the less consequential things; and the vast things,
the supremely worthful things, have often gotten by us,
and through neglect they have gone, and gone to come
back no more.

Have you ever had a religious census taken of this city?
I daresay you have had such from time to time, even as I
have seen such from time to time in my own city. Dur-
ing the last one had in my city there came back into my
hands some six thousand cards. Oh, what revelations
were on those cards! Hundreds of names were on those
cards of men and women who elsewhere had been mem.bers
of the church, but who had turned away from their home
back yonder in some other community, the city or the
village or the countr}^ place ; who had come up to the city
and had got caught in the currents and had drifted with
the tide, and through neglect they had not positionized
themselves with the church at all. Just through neglect
they had gone with the tide and were far away from the
church and religious habits. Here was one who was once
a Sunday school worker, devoted back yonder, but now
that a change of residence is made, he has drifted with
the tide, and no deep religious habits hold him at all. Here
v/as one who was an officer yonder in the church in an-
other place, but he came to the city, and he was not known,
and others did not specially take hold of him, and he sadly
wandered, anr! ^*s religious habits were broken. Oh, the
■f-r- - ' ^.ome to many a man just in that way !

r if this Friday evening I am speaking

ad women who in the other days walked

great Master, who came up gladly and

he house of God at the time appointed

who followed the Christian habits de-

ntiously; and yet you have come to

langes have been marked from what

re you lived, and your habits religious

THE TRAGEDY OF NEGLECT 123

have been broken, and your duties religious have been
neglected. Oh, I would lift up my voice, and I would send
out to you the most brotherly pleading I can — change that
course, and change it without delay! Take your place, I
pray you, with God's people. Come back again, I pray
you, to the church, v/hich since you have resided here you
may have neglected. Take up again, I pray you, the habits
that go along with the vital Christian life, and let those
habits be again regnant in your life. See to it that in
your own house and in your own life such ideals and prece-
dents and standards are lifted up as shall give increasing
gladness to your own heart, and as shall be a blessing to
all about you. And if you Christian men and women who
listen to me, who are positionized in the church with
Christ's people, know of such people who are drifting with
the tide, duty-neglecting Christians, with their church
membership elsewhere, with their church letters in their
trunks, with their memberships lapsed, oh, I pray you, give
yourselves at that point, in the hours before you, to helping
such men and women, who need your counsel and good
cheer, and who need your re-enforcement. Every Chris-
tian in this community, not positively identified with the
people of God, every secret disciple of Jesus in this com-
munity, or going his way with his light hidden under a
bushel, makes it harder for Christ's people to do Christ's
work in this city, and makes it more difficult for sinners
about you to be saved. Oh, friend of Jesus, whoever and
wherever you are, friend of Jesus, come now and cease
your neglect, I pray you, and take your place positively;
be positionized conscientiously and consistently, I pray
you, with the people of God.

But now I turn away from the appeal to duty-neglect-
ing Christians to address my word to the one here v/ho is
not a Christian at all. The tragedy of neglect in your
case is a tragedy indeed appalling. How shall you escape,
if you just neglect, if you simply neglect, if you merely
neglect, so great salvation? Men do not have to blaspheme
God to be finally lost. Men do not have to lift up their
little fists clinched in the face of the holy and omnipotent
Almighty, to be lost. Men have only to go on down the

124 A QUEST FOR SOULS

tide, floating, drifting, neglecting, to be finally lost. Neg-
lect is the tragedy of all tragedies in the deadly lujdoing
of human souls.

And now note, I pray you, what is involved in this
matter of your neglect. Your salvation is involved. "How
shall we escape," our text asks us, "if we neglect so great
salvation?" Your salvation is involved. Your salvation!
Oh, what can compare vnth that? Christ Jesus came down
from heaven, and He comes yet, in the power of His gos-
pel, to give us His great salvation. Christ comes to save
us in our totality. He would save not only our souls, our
spirits — Christ would save our lives. Christ would save
our bodies. He would save our brains. He would save
our influence. He would save our personality. He would
save us completely, entirely, leaving nothing out. Christ
came to save us from sin unto righteousness, from selfish-
ness unto magnanimity and largeness and nobleness. Christ
came to save us from littleness unto greatness. Christ
came to save us from the small to the large. Christ came
to save us from defeat to triumph. Christ came to save
us from night unto day. Christ came to save us from hell
unto heaven. Christ came to save us in our whole life,
in our service, in our business, in our daily task, completely.
Christ came thus to save us. Surely, His is a great sal-
vation.

Oh, my friend, getting to heaven is a very, very impor-
tant matter, but Christ means a great deal more than that,
by His great salvation.'^ Christ comes to fit you to live
here and now, to fit you for your task, whatever your task
is. Are you a toiler at this or that, a man of business,
in the professional world — a man of leadership? Christ
comes and proffers you His own grace and forgiveness
and mercy and divine re-enforcement, that, whatever your
sphere, your lot, your post, your task, life may be con-
served and saved. Tell me, what is a human life for?
What is that hand for? What is the eye for? What is
human life for? Christ would save your life to all that
is highest and truest and noblest and best. Christ comes
to give a completed life. Christ does not come to crib and
<:offin and confine you in some little, ignoble, superficial,

THE TRAGEDY OF NEGLECT 125

unworthy life. Christ conies proffering to take out of your
life not a solitary thing except that which poisons and
maims and kills. The sanest thing on the face of this
earth is to be a friend of Jesus Christ. He came to give
His great salvation ; and no matter how much a man may
rise, how high he may climb, how great may be his achieve-
ments, man's life is vitiated and the true end of life is
defeated and lost, if a man lives counter to the will of
Christ Jesus, the one rightful Master of mankind.

Napoleon came with his soldiers to cross the desert on
one of his long marches, and in that early morning v/hen
they started across the desert, the historian tells us that
the hot sun came down on the white sands, and the light
and heat reflected made the men pant for water, as they
marched across that terrible desert. In their fierce thirst,
they looked everywhere for water, but the wells were dry,
and no water could be found. Then they looked out there
a little distance ahead and saw a beautiful lake of water,
right out in the desert before them, and they lifted up a
shout of joy, and started in a run toward the water, but
as they ran toward that lake, the lake ran. As they got
nearer, the lake receded and got farther away. It was not
a lake of water at all. It was a mirage of the desert, such
as you and I have seen many a time in this great West.
It was a cheat. It was a delusion. It was a snare. Oh,
my fellow-man, traveling with me through time to an eter-^
nity endless, that picture of the mirage in the desert is
the picture of human life at its best, without God. With-
out God, life is defeated, and its true aim vitiated and
missed and lost — without God. Awful expression is that
in the Bible: "Having no hope, and without God in the
world." -^

Jesus comes with His great salvation to save us from
our past. Oh, that would be wonderful, wonderful, won-
derful ! If some power could come into my life and take my
life, with its chapters that I regret to think about, with its
remorseful memories, with its evil hours, with its mistaken
words and deeds, wonderful would be that power, to come
into my life and say : "I will forgive it all, and I will blot
out every evil thing in your past, every one. so that the

126 A QUEST FOR SOULS

record shall be white like the snow." What a wonderful
power that would be! Christ is that power. This is His
promise: "I will blot out your sins, and put them as far
from you as the East is from the West, oh, sinner, if you
will come and honestly surrender to me."

But that is not all. Christ saves us in our stressful,
eventful, important present. Christ saves us and would
save us in the big battle that we are fighting here and now,
at the daily task, with the responsibilities thick and many
that come to confront us. Christ is man's supreme need
now.'*' More than he needs human support, more than he
needs bread and meat, more than he needs good health,
more than he needs fame, more than he needs money, a
human being needs Christ to be the guide and re-enforce-
ment of his daily earthly life. Christ offers to be that for
those that will be His friends.

Nor is that all. Christ comes to the one who will hon-
estly be His friend and says to Him: ''You need not be
afraid of what is coming next. You need not be afraid
of the evil tidings that you shall hear. You need not be
afraid of some black Friday in the future. You need not
be afraid of that grim sarcasm of human life, which you
shall face at the close, the name of which is Death. You
need not be afraid of what is coming after death. You
need not be afraid to face Christ at His judgment bar.
You need not be afraid of what is coming during God's
great beyond forever. You need not be afraid of anything
at all, now or hereafter, if you will only be the friend of
Christ. Oh, my brother men, isn't that a salvation worth
having? Can you afrord for any consideration to leave it
out, and pass it by, and do without it?

Now I am coming, in view of all that is involved, to
ask you who are neglecting your ow^n highest welfare, your
soul's welfare, if you won't cease your neglect, and cease
it from this hour? V/hat arguments shall I marshal to
help you, to persuade you, to encourage you, if I may, to
cease your neglect of your own highest v/elfare? What
arguments shall I suaimon?

Let me name three. There are m?ny to be named,
but at this time let me briefly name three, with a passing

THE TRAGEDY OF NEGLECT 12T

word of amplification in each case. First of all, I am com-
ing to say that you should give up your neglect of your
own salvation because such neglect is unreasonable. Now,
when the preacher comes and make his appeal to reason,
what a great appeal it is! That is Christ's first appeal to
the children of men. He makes the appeal to reason.
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord."
Come now, oh, men and women, and let us reason together.
Sharpen your wits now and enter into a controvers}^ with
God. Come now and let us reason together. So, then, the
first appeal to you to cease your neglect is that your neg-
lect of your spiritual welfare is utterly unreasonable. When
the preacher makes the appeal to reason, every sentient,
reasonable man ought to open wide the avenue to his mind
and say: "I will listen to that appeal." Your neglect of
your soul is unreasonable. Can it be reasonable for a
human being to neglect God, who made him? Can that
be reasonable? Can it be reasonable for me, the creature
of a day, with my life utterly contingent on the will of
God — can it be reasonable for me to turn my back and
turn my heart away from God? Can that be reasonable?
Do I not owe to my Maker certain inescapable obligations,
and can it be reasonable for me to ignore them and forget
them?

And more, can it be reasonable for me, a creature who
must face the future, to ignore that future, and fail to make
provision for that inescapable future — can that be reason-
able? Why, that little squirrel there in the autumn time
would teach us. You can see it gathering the nuts and
gathering the corn, and storing them away in the hollow
tree, so that it shall have provision when the winter day
comes and the day of need shall call. The little squirrel
teaches us. And the little ant, which we trample all un-
knowingly beneath our feet, if we would pause and look
carefully, we should see it carrying its provisions out there
to a common storehouse, that it may have supplies when
the day of need and rigorous demand shall call for supplies.
And shall a creature made in the image of G<xi — shall a
human being, upon whom God hath set the eternal stamp,
shall a creature made to live when those stars by night,

128 A QUEST FOR SOULS

and the sun by day shall be blotted out forever, and when
we live on in a world to come, eternal in its duration — ■
can there be any reason for such a being failing to provide
for that great and endless future?

Then I ask your consideration to another argument
why you should cease your neglect of yourself, and cease
it now, and that is that your neglect of your soul's wel-
fare is not right. Now, when the preacher makes the
appeal to right, what a challenging appeal he makes ! Oh,
what a great word is that word ''right!" "Right" is the
word that makes history. "Right" is the word that thrills
through the ages. This is ever the big question of all:
Is this thing right? When the preacher comes and makes
the appeal to right, what a commanding appeal he makes
to the children of men! I am coming, then, to say that
your neglect of your soul's salvation is not right to any
creature in God's vast universe. It is not right toward
anybody. First of all, I have already hinted at it, it is
not right toward God. Surely, you will not contend that
it can be right for the creature to ignore and to neglect
his Creator. You will not say that that can be right.
Some obligations to God are inexorable and inescapable.
You will not say that they may be mocked, and that to
mock them would be right. Surely, gratitude — what a
praiseworthy quality that is in human life! — gratitude
should spur every right-thinking man in the world to turn
to God, from whom comes every blessing, and say to God :
"What wouldst thou have at my hands? After thy mercy
and grace and benediction and goodness, gratitude inspires
me to respond to whatever thou askest."

There is another argument. Your neglect is not right
to yourself. Men owe some duties to themselves. Men
owe it to themselves to make the most and the best of them-
selves. No human being should fling life away, and de-
bauch it, and prostitute it, and trifle with it. Every human
being owes an inescapable obligation to himself to make
the most and the best of himself. Then would you tell me
that a man has the right to-night, while we are worshiping
here quietly, such man yonder in the city somewhere,
wearied out by sin, or disappointed, no matter what the

THE TRAGEDY OF NEGLECT 129

occasion, to put the deadly gun to his temple and end his
mortal life? No, no! It cannot be right. Suicide cannot
be justified, and by as much as the human soul outranks
the human body in worth, is suicide of soul utterly inde-
fensible and unjustifiable. Every soul rational that shall
miss the upward way and go the downward way shall be
a spiritual suicide. God is never at fault and never will
be, that a rational soul misses the upward way.

But that is not all the argument about being and doing
right. I have said that your neglect of your soul is not
right toward God, and that it is not right toward yourself.
Now I am coming to add this other word: Your neglect
of your soul is not right toward anybody else on the face
of this earth. We have inescapable relations to one an-
other, and these relations should not be broken and ig-
nored. Our lives are bound up with one another, and we
will help or hurt one another every day we live. I tell you,
gentlemen, that is an argument to take deep hold upon
every normal man and upon every sensitive conscience.
You and I are daily helping people upward by our personal
influence, or daily we are dragging them downward by our
same personal influence. And I speak to you the sober
truth when I declare that no human being has the moral
right to occupy a position anywhere, in the occupancy of
which position he may hurt somebody else. No human
being has that right.

In a city where I preached in other years, two young
lawyers often were seen in the congregation. They had
come from some smaller community to the larger city,
there to build their business and to live their lives. Inter-
esting young men they were, partners in the high realm
of law. One of earth's most honorable callings is that of
the worthy lawyer ! I became interested in the young men
profoundly. They came time and again to the series of
meetings such as these. Night after night I spoke to the
people, and those two young lawyers, inseparable young
fellows, came night after night to the services. One morn-
ing I called upon them at their office to confer with them
about personal religion. Happily, I found them alone, and
as carefully as I could I felt my way into their lives, and

130 A QUEST FOR SOULS

they were talking after a moment or two rather freely, and
when at last I asked them : ''Why are you not openly and
positively on the side of Christ?" they said: '^We will give
you a reason. Perhaps you won't think it a good one." I
said: "I should certainly like to know it, whatever it is,
because I am deeply interested in you." Then they pointed
me to Judge So-and-so, one of the most successful lawyers
of the community, and they said : "He is not a Christian.
He is not a church man, and we have taken him for our
model." I said : "You have indeed chosen a splendid man,
but no man in the world should be any man's model. He
is one of the most interesting men I know. I delight to
call him my personal friend. They said : "Well, he rarely
goes to church, he is a first-class lawyer and a very useful
citizen, and we have concluded that if he can afford to
pass personal religion by, with his intellectuality and suc-
cess and standing, so can we pass it by. That," they
said, "is about all the plea we can give for not being pub-
licly for Christ." I told them other things which were in my
mind, which I need not relate here, but my own mind was
made up as to what I should do, as I left them, and I went
straight to the Judge's office, and fortunately found him
alone. He greeted me cordially, for he was everything
that goes to make the superb gentleman. I said : "I need
not sit down, Judge. You are busy, and so am I. I have
come to ask you a question in ethics." His eyes twinkled
with merriment, as he said: "This is a question for you
preachers and teachers — this question in ethics." I said:
"Yes, and a question it is for the lawyer and the doctor
and the farmer and the merchant and the banker and the
editor, and everybody else." "All right," he said, "what
is your question in ethics?" I said: "Would you say
that a man had the moral right to occupy some position,
in the occupancy of which position he will hurt somebody
else? Does he have that moral right?" And he turned
upon me, with his strong, clear eyes and manly face, and
with conviction surpassing in his voice, said: "No, no!
No man has the moral right to occupy any position in the
occupancy of which he will hurt somebody else. What
is the application of your question in ethics?" And then

THE TRAGEDY OF NEGLECT 131

I told my story to him of my visit to the two young men,
and what they said to me, and how they were even then
sheltering behind him. I can never forget his agitation.
He went over to the window in the large building, and
lifted it on that wintry day, and looked out on the crowds
that surged in the streets below. Then he came back, and
said: "I cannot answer that question, can I?" I said:
"Only in one way, sir. You might be given a thousand
years to find the way to answer that question, but there
is just one right way to answer it." After a moment or
two more of conversation, he said : "I will be at the services
to-night," and I bade him good-morning without another
word. Day wore to nightfall, and I stood up to preach. I
looked everywhere, and yonder were the two young men.
I looked carefully again, and there was the Judge coming
in, and the young usher gave him a chair to my left. That
evening I preached to one man, for if I may win him
there is no telling what may be the result upon others.
When the sermon was ended, I asked : "Who, for his own
sake, first of all, and then for the sake of somebody else
who may be sheltering behind him, perhaps all unknown
to himself, will make his surrender to Christ? Who will
come down the aisle and say: *That is my case, and that
is my decision?'" Down the long aisle came the noble
Judge and took my hand, with a seriousness one would
never forget, and as he held my hand and talked for a
moment, he said: "That question in ethics got me this
morning. You had not reached the street, this morning,
until I shut the door and locked it, and fell on my knees,
and said: *Great God, has it come to this, that I am
staying out of the kingdom of God myself, and by the
power of my personal influence, taking others in the down-
ward way? Help me, that m}?- influence may be saved,
as well as my soul/ " He had just finished saying all
this when I said: "Look, Judge, behind you," and turn-
ing, he saw behind him the two young lawyers, waiting
until he had finished, to take my hand and to take his,
and with a sob in each one of their throats they said:
"When we saw you start. Judge, the thing was decided
with us."

132 A QUEST FOR SOULS

Oh, my men, my brother men! My brother men! You
for your own sake should take the step supreme for your
soul. But the issue is infinitely bigger than that. You should
take the step for the sake of everybody else. A man's uncon-
scious influence has the largest power of all — a man's un-
conscious influence — the influence he does not know any-
thing about. It goes out from every man like the fra-
grance from the flower, and it goes wider and deeper and
farther than any human being can even comprehend. It
is that unconscious influence that often gets in its deadliest
and most undoing work over others. You are position-
ized. The measure of every one of us is taken in our
community. People discuss us, and they think about us.
And in that deepest, highest realm of all, in the realm of
religion, they take our measure, all of us, in the communi-
ties where we live. Our unconscious influence is the most
serious of all.

The papers told us awhile ago of a brave little wife
who waited through the weeks on her sick husband. She
would be awakened by the clock in the night, to get up and
give him his medicine. At last she was worn almost to des-
peration, and scarcely knew what she did, as she got up,
hour after hour to give him the medicine. At last, the hour
came when, half-awake, she reached up for the vial and
poured out the medicine, and put it to his mouth, and no
sooner had he swallowed it than he made an outcry to her:
"Oh, Mary, dear, you have killed your John! You have
given the wrong medicine." And then, as he saw her agony,
he said: "Oh, I know, dear, that you did not mean to
do it, but this is all. I am finished." And he was fin-
ished, before another hour had passed.

My men and women, I am pleading to-night iiot sim-
ply for your soul. I am pleading that that life, that
influence, that personality, that manhood, that woman-
NX. hood, that example, that self, your whole earthly lifetime —
forty or sixty or seventy years, or more or less — that your
all shall be put on the side where you will not hurt your
fellow-men, but where you will help them every day.

THE TRAGEDY OF NEGLECT 133

But I have still another argument to which I would
summon your attention, to constrain you thereby to give
up your neglect. I have already said two things. I have
said your neglect is not reasonable, from any viewpoint,
and I have said your neglect is not right — not right toward
God, nor toward yourself, nor toward anybody else. I
would now say, from my deepest heart, this other word :
Your neglect is not safe. Oh, my heart is heavy here —
your neglect is not safe! And why is your neglect not
safe? I have already said that you cannot live like life
ought to be lived, if you live it neglecting God. It is im-
possible. Life is maimed and crippled, no matter whose
the life, if you presume to live it without God. Your neg-
lect, therefore, is not safe. Moreover, your neglect is not I
safe because this life is not all. Your neglect is not safe \^
because this little earthly life must have an end. Your <
neglect is not safe because you must die. Oh, if I could
say that so that you would believe it! YOU must die!
You MUST die! You must DIE! Will you believe it?
And will you address yourself to proper preparation for
that solemn event? There are a thousand gates to death,
and the easiest thing on this earth is for death to snap the
cord of life and send us into the great beyond.

May I tell you the saddest memory out of my young
manhood? It comes to me now, on the wings of recollec-
tion. It has come to me a thousand times. I had just
found Christ, as I was turning into young manhood. I
knew very little about Him. About all that I knew was
that I had decided for Him. I did not know how to talk
to anybody else. The earnest, faithful preacher, genuine
to the depths of his heart, sincere as the sunlight, true as
truth itself, as every preacher ought to be, spoke to the
boys in the school, and groups of them made their decision
for Christ. Next to the last night of the meeting had
come. I sat beside my desk-mate. He had not yet decided
for Christ. I could not any longer be silent, and so I bent
over beside Jim and said : "Ji^» you go. All is at stake,
Jim. You make your surrender. I don't know how to talk
to you, Jim, only I would have you go." He looked earn-
estly into my face and said : "Let me off to-night, George,

134 A QUEST FOR SOULS

and if you will let me off to-night, I promise you that, if
I feel like this to-morrow night, I will certainly go. Let
me off for to-night/' I said : "Ji^» yo^^ issue is not with
me, nor is your issue with that preacher who is preaching.
Your issue is with Christ, who died for you. He has
spoken to you. He has made you serious. He calls you.
Make your surrender to Him, and make it now, while you
can.'' He put his face down in his hands, and was moved
with deepest emotion, and I bent over him again, and made
a second effort. I said : "Ji^^* if you will make your sur-
render to Christ, and go down the aisle to that minister,
I will walk with you. I will take your arm, if you like,
or you can take mine. Won't you do it to-night?" And
then resolutely he summoned himself and looked into my
face, with purpose in his eye and in his words, and said:
"Not to-night. If I feel like this to-morrow night, I will
go, but I will not go to-night."

Oh, I wish I could leave the rest untold, but the story
would not be done. When the next night came he was
not there. The next day in school he was not there. We
asked about him, but nobody seemed to know where he
was. And then the meeting ended, and the second day
came, and the school, but he was not there. Nobody knew
why. And the third day, and nobody knew why, and the
fourth day; and I said: "I will go by his home to find
out why." The mother met me at the door and said:
"Why, didn't you know? He came home from the meeting
the other night, and before the night was gone, he
was stricken with dreadful pneumonia. Oh, he is sick,
sir; too sick to see you. He cannot see anybody but the
doctor and the nurse and his mother and father." I went
around the fifth day, and he was worse. I went around the
sixth day, and the mother's eyes were red from weeping, and
she said : "We have little hope, sir." I went around the sev-
enth day, and I said : "Let me stay. Maybe T have not done
my duty. I have just been a Christian myself a few weeks.
Maybe I have not done my duty. Let me stay with him.
Maybe he will know me. Let me be near him. Maybe he
will be conscious and know me." She let m.e stay, and the
doctors stayed, and the nurse stayed, and the parents stayed,

THE TRAGEDY OF NEGLEGTi 135

and I stayed. Oh, that long drawn out and never to be for-
gotten night! Midnight came, and he stirred uneasily
there in his bed, and pulled nervously at the coverings
that wrapped his bed. Then he began to talk, and we all
bent our ears to catch what he said. With his hoarse
whispers, and staring wildly, this is what he said: ''Not
to-night, George! Let me off to-night. I promise if you
will let me off to-night I will settle this to-morrow night.
I will settle it to-morrow night, if you will let me off to-
night, but not to-night. I am not going to-night. I am
not going to-night, and you needn't talk further. I will
settle it to-morrow night, if I feel like this, but I am not
going to-night.'* In another hour or two the spirit took
its flight. Oh, the tragedy, the tragedy, of a man's dying
like that! My brother men, I tell you, men ought not to
die like that!

What is the issue to which I am summoning your im-
mediate and best consideration? It is a choice between
two masters. One is your friend, and the other is your
foe. Which should it be? It is a choice between one of
two lives. One is a life of ever-increasing usefulness, and
the other is a life of ever-increasing waste and hurt. It
is a choice between two deaths, the one unafraid and in
peace, and the other without preparation and without God.
It is a choice between one of two worlds in the great
beyond — the world of peace and bliss and hope and life j
forever, or the world of waste and loss and defeat forever.
Which should your choice be? Oh, I beg you to remem-
ber, it is your soul that is at stake, and it is your soul that
I am pleading for. If, as I came to-night to the tent, I
had passed on the outskirts of this fair city some little
woman driving a vegetable wagon, and she had driven it
off into some deep ravine, and could not extricate her team
there in the deep ditch below, if I had come and stood on
this platform and said: "Out yonder at a certain place
a little helpless woman, selling her vegetables to support
her fatherless children, has had trouble with her team, and
the team is at the bottom of the ditch, and she cannot get
the team up ;" and if I had said : "Aren't there men here
who will hurry to that little woman, and give her re-

136 A QUEST FOR SOULS

lief?" — men, chivalrous and many, would have been on
their feet as soon as I had stated the case. And yet to-
night I am talking about your soul, your soul, that will
soon be in an eternal world — ^your soul. Give it a chance !
Give it a chance, before it is forever too late !

We are going to pray in a moment, but before we pray
I would ask: Are there men and women here who say:
"Sir, we are wrong with God and know it and confess it
to-night, and wish you to pray for us?'' In the church or
out, once in the church, or never, once professing re-
ligion and drifting, or never having made any profession
of religion at all, are there those who say : "We are wrong
with God to-night and know it? We would have you and
these men and women who pray, to pray that we may be
right with God before it is too late?" Do you say: "Yes,
I would lift my hand on such call ?" Quietly and without
any singing now, you will let us see, by your uplifted
hands, if you are interested, if God has spoken to you to-
night, if you wish to be saved. I am looking now and see-
ing, and so are these hundreds of Christians around you.
Gladly now will we pray for you.

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

We make our appeal, O God, to thee. Great is our Joy that so many in this
place are for Christ. We would serve Him better henceforth, far better, than we
have served Him heretofore. But now we join in one prayer. It is for the men
and women about us, who say to us: "We wish you to pray for us, that we may
be saved." Lord, as best we can we bring them right now to thee. Oh, teach thou
each seeking one that Christ does the forgiving, that He does the saving, but that
the soul is to give up to Him, that He may save in His own divine and
gracious way. Let that blessed invitation, when thou sayest: "Him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out," now take deep hold of every one, and let each
one say: "I will not wait^ I will not presume, I will not del-ay, I will not
further neglect to yield myself to Christ." Whatever the doubts, _ whatever the
difficulties, whatever the sins, whatever the fears, whatever the questions, whatever
the temptations in the life, teach thou each interested soul, O Christ, that thou
wilt surely forgive and save, if only such soul will surrender to Thee. We pray
that that surrender may be made now, because now is God's time, the wise time,
the safe time, and because now might be the only time. Grant, O gracious Lord,
that those whom thou hast called to-night, saying "Come unto me," may now by
thy grace be given to say : "We will come to-day, even as God bids us come to-day
and accept Christ as our Savior forever." We pray it in the great Master's name.
Amen.

THE EXHORTATION CONTINUED.

Now we are going to sing that simple invitation hymn,
two or three stanzas of it. No. 175:

Why do you wait, dear brother.
Oh, why do you tarry so long?

Before we sing, I have a question to ask. Here it is:

THE TRAGEDY OF NEGLECT 137

Does some man or woman or child here to-night say: "I
am a duty-neglecting, backslidden Christian, but God help
me, I am definitely resolved right now to end such neglect
and to renew my vows with Christ?" Come forward, then,
before all the people, as we sing. Do you say: "That is
not my case, but it is this — my case is that I am not and
have never been a Christian at all. But to-night, seeing
my need, realizing my duty, and wishing that this greatest
question of all shall be settled, I take my stand for Christ.
I yield myself to Him, that He may save me as He wills.
I give my surrender to Christ. I have given it. I gave
it last night, or before, but I have not made it known, or
I will now give it and make it known. Come then and take
my hand, as we wait these two or three moments and sing
this simple song. Who comes as we sing it?

(Three stanzas were sung, during which several men
and women made public confession of Christ, and others
came as backsliders to declare the renewal of their vows
with Christ.)

THE BENEDICTION.

And now, as we go, our Father, deepen thou the work of grace in our every
heart. Deepen it by the searching might of thy truth, applied by thy Divine
Spirit. Deepen it hour by hour, so that we, all and each, may now and
always give heed as we ought to the highest and the best, even to thy counsels
and calls. Strengthen thou all these who came forward to confess their acceptance
of Christ as their Savior and Lord. Add unto the company many. And grant
that all through this city, during the days just before us, such appeals may be
made by the friends of Christ to those who are not now His friends, that before
many days shall have passed, many not now His friends may be gladly singing
with us the praises of His saving grace. Oh, how we bless thee for thy saving
grace ! Guide thou and keep all these who put their trust in thee.

A.nd now as the people go, may the blessing of the triune God be granted you
all and each, to abide with you forever. Amen,

NOON SERVICE, June 16, 1917.

THE OPENING PRAYER.

Because we need thee, O thou gracious Friend Divine, we would again call
upon thee for thy guidance and favor. Without any hesitation we make con-
fession of our weaknesses, of our faults, of our sins and sinfulness, of our ig-
norance, of the many limitations that are upon us, and we plead for thy strength,
and for thy forgiveness, and for thy righteousness. O thou Divine Savior, speak
to us, we pray thee, at this midday service, life by life, and heart by heart. May
we have the word in season, each one of us, this hour, from thyself. Give us,
O Father, the consolation and counsel of thy Spirit. Whatever the hurts in our
poor little lives, whatever the blunders, whatever the sad chapters, whatever our
frailties, whatever our sins, whatever our needs, whatever eur burdens, whatever
the experiences that are to be for us in the future, certain it is that in them
all we need a help above ourselves, and, therefore, do we make our appeal to God.
Speak to us this marning, O Holy Father, and may we hear what thou wouldst
speak, and may we lay faithfully to heart thine own truth, and may we follow
gladly, even from this hour forward, the Lord Jesus Christ, whithersoever He
would lead us, knowing that all shall be v/ell, now and forever, for those who
trust and follow Him. And we make these requests in the blessed Redeemer's
name. Amen.

THE CURE FOR A TROUBLED HEART.

Text: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in
me."— John 14 :L

If you were asked this morning to name the most com-
forting passage in the Bible, what would you say? It would
be interesting to know what ^our answer would be. Many
in this presence, perhaps, would name the Twenty-third
Psalm, the great Shepherd Psalm, as the most comfort-
ing passage in the Bible. Others would mention that oft-
quoted verse in the eighth chapter of Romans : "We know
that all things work together for good to them that love
God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."
But probably more of you would select the fourteenth
chapter of John as the most comforting passage to be

188

THE CURE FOR A TROUBLED HEART 139

found in all the Bible. Every one of us ought to know that
chapter by heart, even as we ought to know many other
Scriptures by heart, because some day we may be blind
and be unable to read at all, and then if we had hidden
away in our hearts many Scriptures, we could read them
even though our sight should be gone.

Listen to the opening sentences of this heavenly chap-
ter:

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In
my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
And wiuther I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him. Lord,
we know not whither thou goest ; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith
unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,
but by me.

Memorize that fourteenth chapter of John's gospel, all
of it. You will need it.

Probably our deepest troubles in this world are occa-
sioned by separation from our loved ones. Jesus had just
said to that little group of men about Him: "I am going
away. Presently we are to be separated. I am going to
die." And the announcement stupefied them, dazed them,
horrified them. "Isn't there some mistake? He has just
said He is going away, and, more. He has just said that
He must die. Isn't there some mistake?" They are stupe-
fied. They are horrified. The separations from our loved
ones wring our hearts to the deepest depths.

Just a few days ago, I was called to say some words
at the grave of a dear, faithful mother, and the grief of
her children was so terrible that it seems to me I can never
forget it. The oldest daughter did her best to quiet and
comfort the several younger children, with no success, and
presently «he tried a new turn on them. She went up and
down the line of children, all bewildered and heart-broken,
and said: *'Stop your crying, children. Maybe it is all
a dream. Maybe we are all at home. Maybe we are in
our beds asleep, and will wake up in the morning and
find it is just a bad dream, and mother will be with us."
And for a moment she thus quieted them.

Oh, the deep wrenchings of heart when our loved ones
go away! Jesus had just spoken some words that pierced
like arrows the hearts of the twelve men, when He told

140 A QUEST FOR SOULS

them: "I am going away." Then He proceeded to com-
fort them, to point them to the way of light and life, and
then it was He spoke this fourteenth chapter of John,
Its opening sentence is the text for this morning: "Let
not your heart be troubled."

Jesus proceeded in these words to point the cure for a
troubled heart. How may a troubled heart be cured? That
is an old question. It is as old as the human heart. How
may a troubled heart be cured? It is the question of all
humanity, of all the ages, of all conditions and classes:
How may a troubled heart be cured ?

All along there have been given various answers to
that question. There is the answer of despair. When
trouble came upon Job, wave upon wave, and all was swept
from him — first his property, and later his children, and
later his health, and later his friends — finally his wife said
to the husband: "Curse God and die." That is the an-
swer of despair, and the answer of despair is not a cure
for a broken, troubled heart. The poor suicide takes that
course — the course of despair.

Different causes make for the despair of the human
spirit. Sometimes it is business reverses, and the man's
spirit is broken, and down he goes, and he cannot recover
himself any more, and despair grips at the throat of his
soul. Sometimes despair is occasioned by a shattered con-
fidence. Oh, how terrible a thing it is to have our confi-
dence in somebody fundamentally shattered! Sometimes
one's despair comes because of ill health. What weakness
men's poor spirits feel when their bodies are in the grip
of disease! What allowances we ought to make for those
who are sick! What pity and patience and forbearance
we ought to exercise towards people rackea with pain!
Just here is an exhortation every one of us should earnestly
heed.

But full many a time the answer of despair follows the
course of sin. I was in a Southern city a little while ago,
speaking for a half-dozen days, and my host drove me by
two beautiful residences — two of the fairest in the city— ^
and told me that in one home had been a mother and in
the other had been a father, and these two, because of

THE CURE FOR A TROUBLED HEART 141

sin which had made itself known, and was making itself
known throughout the city, to the shame of both homes,
had entered into a death pact, that they would each at a
certain hour take the suicide's course. And they carried
out such death pact. Oh, how terrible is the course of
despair for a human heart when such heart has grievously
sinned !

There is another answer proposed as the cure for a
troubled heart, and that is the answer of stoicism. And
what is the doctrine of the stoic ? The doctrine of the stoic
is, to steel your heart against all feeling. The doctrine
of the stoic is to put your tears all away and refuse to cry.
The doctrine of the stoic is to deaden your feelings, and
make your heart like a rock. The doctrine of the stoic is
to be sublimely indifferent, no matter what comes. With
rigid face, like a stone, go on, steeled against it, indifferent
to it, with your heart shutting it all out. That is the doc-
trine of the stoic, but that doctrine won't cure a broken
heart.

If you have read carefully the stories of Darwin and
Huxley, those world-famed scientists, you will find the
confession, in the latter end of the life of both those notable
men, of sorrow that they had so steadfastly steeled their
hearts against that which was tender, against that which
was gentle, against that which warms the heart, against
that which provokes tears, against that which kindles the
flames on the altars of emotion and sentiment and the finer
feelings. Both of them bewailed the fact that they had
pursued that course. The doctrine of the stoic is not the
doctrine to cure a troubled heart. Sooner or later the
heart will find it out, sometimes in the gathering shadows
of old age.

Then, again, Epicureanism is proposed as the cure for
a troubled heart, and the doctrine of Epicureanism is:
"Forget all your trouble. Plunge into the realm of pleas-
ure. Sound all the depths of pleasure. Go the whole
gamut of pleasure. Forget, forget all your troubles. Leap
out into the deepest depths of pleasure, and there revel
and swim in those depths, and put out of your sight and
out of your mind all thought of sorrow. Drown it all in

142 A QUEST FOR SOULS

the realm of pleasure." But that won't cure a broken
heart.

When I was preaching awhile ago in another community
one day there came to the service a young widow, robed
in black, and the minister whispered to me: "That is an
unusually sorrowful case. Her husband was assassinated
here a few months ago, all unexpectedly and wickedly,
and she carries a broken heart. She is a woman of culture
and of a n®ble family, and much appreciation is cherished
for her here in this city, but she gropes in the darkness with
her broken heart." And then he went on to tell me that
her friends took her, when the awful tragedy fell and smote
her heart into the dust, and carried her away to Florida,
in that midwinter time, and they said to her: "We will
take you down there to one of the beautiful hotels, in the
midst of the orange groves. We will take you there where
music shall be heard, and where all that is gay and beau-
tiful shall echo and re-echo in your ears, and you will forget
all this sorrow in a little while. Come with us and you
will forget it all." And the poor, bruised, broken-hearted
woman went with them, but she came back months later
with that same broken heart. You cannot cure the heart
in any such fashion.

There has been proposeci still another answer as a cure
for a troubled heart, and that is the answer of denial.
There is a fundamentally false philosophy abroad in the
land, which proposes to cure a broken heart by denying
that there is any brokenness of heart — that there is
any trouble at all. Now, that busy, noisy and funda-
mentally false philosophy simply denies the facts, and
proposes to get past the difficulty by denying the facts.
It denies the fact of sorrow, the fact of suffering, the fact
of sin, the fact of death. It denies them all. But you
cannot cure a troubled heart b}^ simply denying that there
is any trouble. The facts are here. All about us is the
solemn fact of sin, and the fact of suffering, and the fact
of tears, and the fact that a black Friday comes ever and
anon, and the fact of the long and lonely and sleepless
nights, and the fact of bewilderrtient and confusion, and
the fact that all unexpectedly we are again and again

THE CURE FOR A TROUBLED HEART 143

beaten down into the dust by the flail of disappointment.
yVe cannot cure the trouble by denying the facts.

Where can we g&t our trouble cured? Just one way,
at just one place, from just one source, and it is stated for
us here in the glorious fourteenth chapter of John: "Let
not your heart be troubled : ye believe in God, believe also
in me." Jesus here states the cure for a troubled heart.
Jesus is himself the physician for a troubled heart. Nor
is there any other anchorage and re-enforcement and heal-
ing and recovery and peace sufficient for any troubled
heart, if you reject Jesus and put His counsel and comfort
far aside. "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man
Cometh unto the Father but by me." "Put your case in
my hands," says Jesus. "Come, with your sorrows and
your vexation and your disappointment and your surprise,
and your reverses, and your consuming grief, and the pain
of your spirit which never ceases ; come to me, and I will
cure your troubled heart, and I will unfailingly re-enforce
you, if you will come to me." Christ is humanity's cure
for a troubled heart.

Have you a troubled heart? Is there in your life one
experience and another and another, every thought of
which brings a stab to your heart, or the deathly pallor
to your cheeks? Have you a troubled heart? No matter
what the occasion, there is one source to get it healed,
and that source is Jesus. He is the one mediator between
God and us. He is the daysman unto whom we may come,
and unto whom we may confide our all, without any hesi-
tation or reserve. Christ is the cure for a troubled heart.

Now, my fellow-men, why should you and I thus stake
our all on Christ? If you ask me if I have, I answer you
modestly: "I have staked my all on Christ." Living and
dying, and in God's vast beyond forever, God help me, I
can do no other. I have staked my all on Christ. Now,
why? "Why should we stake our all on Christ? He tells
us: "1 am the way, the truth and the life. No man com-
eth unto the Father but by me." Why should we come
to the Father by Christ? Why should we accept Christ
as our daysman, our umpire, our arbitrator, our mediator?

144 A QUEST FOR SOULS

Why should we take Christ as our physician, our leader,
to be our friend supreme, and stake our all upon Him?

First, because Christ in His own personality is entirely
worthy. Christ has vindicated His claims to our absolute
confidence. Christ in Himself attests His own worthiness
to our absolute confidence. Can you find any fault in any-
thing which Jesus ever said? Pray, tell me what it is.
Did there ever fall from His lips any word that you can
gainsay and condemn? You can condemn the sayings of
any other from whose lips words have ever fallen. Can
you gainsay any word that ever fell from those gracious
lips ? Can you gainsay any work that Jesus ever did ? Did
He do anything when He was here in the flesh, and in
these nineteen centuries since He went back to His Father
has He done anything for the world that you can gainsay
and complain of and condemn? Is there anything in the
person of Jesus, in the character of Jesus, in the life of
Jesus, that you can gainsay and condemn and set aside?
Jesus in His own personality is the attestation, the au-
thorization, the corroboration, the demonstration of His
claim to human trust and human confidence, without any
hesitation or reserve. Christ in His own personality au-
thenticates His absolute right to human trust, without any
reserve, from every human life.

And, more. If Jesus shall go away, and we shall set
aside His counsel and leading, we are left bewildered
utterly and broken in the world in which we live. What
that sun is to the vast physical world this midday hour,
lighting up the world's darkness everywhere, Jesus is that,
and more, in our world of morals, in the needy world of
humanity. When He says for himself: "I am the light
of the world," He makes no pretentious and vainglorious
claim. Jesus is the light of the world. Will you take the
world's big questions and answer them? You are utterly
bewildered and in the darkness if you take Jesus away, and
if you fail to take His answer. Take the three questions
that this hour most baffle and perplex poor humanity, and
Jesus gives the only satisfying answer for each of them and
all three of them. There is the question of sin, and the
question of sorrow, and the question of death. If you take

THE CURE FOR A TROUBLED HEART 145

Jesus Christ away and disregard Him, you are left utterly
bewildered and baffled and broken in the presence of those
blinding and burdensome mysteries — sin, sorrow and
death.

What will you do about sin, if Jesus be disregarded
and taken away? What will you do about sin? Oh, my
fellow-men, the one tragedy in all the world this hour is
the tragedy of sin. The one unbearable yoke that is on
humanity everywhere is the yoke of sin. The most terrible
and obtruding fact this Saturday morning in all the world
is the fact of sin. Now, what will you and I do with the
fact of sin, if Jesus be disregarded and taken away? No
man within himself has moral resources sufficient to meet
life like it ought to be met, to live life like it ought to be
lived, and to die at last like one ought to die, and to make
personal answer to God as each must make such answer
in the after world. No man has moral resources within
himself sufficient to overcome and be the master of sin.
Jesus comes in, the great physician, saying: "I did not
come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. If
you will commit yourself to me, I will make you a new
man." Jesus alone can save us from sin.

Speaking awhile ago in one of our larger American
cities, one day friends brought to the service where I was
speaking at midday to the busy citizens, an ex-registrar
of one of America's largest universities. He had gone into
the depths of poverty and failure and shame because of
drink. Oh, how I pitied him, and how my heart yearned
after him! You do not throw stones at such men, do you?
That is not the way to win them. That is not the >vay
to win anybody. Oh, go down to them, and with a broth-
er's hand, and a brother's heart, and a brother's pity, and
a brother's patience, and a brother's re-enforcement, seek
to win them, not by driving, but by the winning con-
straints of love. So they brought this man to the service,
and when the service was done they tarried behind in a
little room, and I was introduced to him, and I could see
in a moment how wretchedly he had fallen, and though
he was terribly shattered by the down-dragging power of
drink, I could see yet the traces of the strong man that

146 A QUEST FOR SOULS

he bad been, and glimpses of the wonderful man that he
could be. There we sat conversing, and he said to me:
"Sir, I seem done for. I seem to have lost the battle. I
seem unable to extricate myself from the dominant passion
of drink in my life." Does it surprise you to hear that he
was the son of the chief justice of one of our highest courts
in one of our American states? Superb had been his op-
portunities. Quite honorable was his record in the uni-
versity from which he had been graduated. But now he
had fallen to the depths. I will tell you what I told him
at last. I told him the story that Henry Drummond tells,
who won the same sort of a man once, from the depths
to the heights, to Christ Jesus. Drummond was resting in
a quiet home in the hills of Scotland, after an extended
meeting that he had been holding in one of the Scotch uni-
versities. When he had been some three or four days in
the quiet of that home in the hills, he said to his host
and hostess: "I must go now and get the next train for
my next engagement." They said: "We are not going
with you to the station" — a journey of three or four miles
from the house — 'Ve are going to let you go alone with
our driver. Drink has brought our driver to the depths.
He is an unusual scholar," they told Mr. Drummond. "He
is a rare gentleman," they told Mr. Drummond, "and we
are going to leave him with you. He is in the clutches of
helplessness because of drink, so he tells us. He is in the^
grip of despair about himself, so he will avow to you.
Maybe you can help him, and so we will leave you with
him." Drummond climbed out of the carriage, up on the
seat with the driver, just like he should have done, and
then, in his own winsome, gentle, gracious way, Drum-
mond made his way to that defeated fellow's conscience
and heart. Presently that driver was confessing his weak-
ness, and failure, and lapse, and sin, and downfall, and de-
feat, and when Drumm.ond had heard it, all Drummond
said to him was this: "What if I, who drive beside you,
were the finest horseman that ever drove a team of horses ;
what if I could control the wildest span of horses that ever
pulled a carriage, no matter hov/ strong, no matter how
restive; what if these horses driven by you were such a

THE CURE FOR A TROUBLED HEART 147

span, and they rushed around this mountain road, and you
could not restrain them, you could not control them, you
were helpless, and I said to you: 'Man, give me the reins
and I will control them,' what would you do?" The man
saw the point in one moment, and turning to his new-
found friend, he said: "Oh, Mr. Drummond, is that what
Jesus Christ proposes to do for a man defeated and down?
Does He just wish me to give Him the reins to my life?"
"That is it," said Drummond. "Let Christ have the reins;
though your sins be as scarlet. He will make them as
white as snow. Though your heart and its weakness be
poured out like water. He will fortify you with a power
which is above men, and you will go your way, clad with
a strength which is superhuman." From that hour that
defeated fellow walked in the conscious strength of his
Savior, and a little later was at the head of one of the chief
places of trust and usefulness in all fair Scotland's borders.
Christ was his deliverer from sin. "Thou shalt call His
name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins."

If you are without Jesus, you are left baffled and helpless
in the presence of sorrow. You can hear the undertone
of sorrow everywhere. You can feel and see the awful
reign of sorrow on every side. The other day, one of our
young carpenters in my city had me go with him to Oak-
land, where we put away our dead. He had lived just a
little while with his beautiful wife, and they had recently
brought to completion a lovely little home, and prospects
like some rosy morning gleamed before them, because they
were well and industrious, and their hearts were filled with
love and hope. In one brief night she sickened and died.
He said to me, as we turned away from the freshly-made
mound: "Oh, man, I had just got ready to live, and all
this has come!" What was I to say to him? What would
you have said to him.? V/hat should I say to you, if that
were your position this morning, and I stood beside you
as your friend? "There is one who can turn the very
shadow of death into morning. There is one who can take
life's tears and attune them to the sweetest music, and
His name is Jesus."

148 A QUEST FOR SOULS

At another time, there in the big hospital, a dear mother
died, and I was with the husband and several children.
Oh, the grief was heart-breaking! It seems always to be
so when a mother dies. And then that little oldest one,
twelve years old, mothered all the rest, and went to her
utterly broken-hearted father, and put her arms around
him and said: "Papa, I will help you. Papa, we must
do better than this. Papa, you and I love Jesus. Papa, I
will help you take care of these children." The family
was taken home, and the next morning we got ready for
the funeral, and that little twelve-year-old girl, the most
motherly child for her years I ever saw, mothered all those
five little ones through it all. Then we went to Oakland,
and the funeral service was had, and the kindly men came
to let down the body gently into the grave, and I felt
somebody pulling at my coat. I looked, and there was
the little motherless twelve-year-old girl, and she said to
me, with an agony that would break your heart: "Oh,
Mr. Truett, if Jesus loves us, how could He have allowed
this?" What could I say? I said: "Little woman, I can-
not explain it, but let me tell you, my child, some day
Yvhen you get to the Father's House above, and you shall
sit down by Jesus, He will explain it all to you, and when
He explains it, you will know it is all for the best, for He
tells you, 'What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt
know hereafter.' " You take Jesus away and we are help-
less to comfort or be comforted in the day of broken hearts.

There is one more mystery to baffle you, and it is the
chiefest mystery of all. What shall you and I do when
we walk down into the valley of the shadow of death, if
Christ be taken away? Caesar stood up in the Roman
Senate and said: "If there be anything beyond death, I
do not know. If there be anything beyond the grave, I
cannot tell." Jesus went down into the grave and ex-
plored its every chamber, and then on the third day He
came back from the grave with the keys of death and
the world invisible swinging at His girdle, and He says
to you and to me: "You cleave to me, and you need not
be afraid of death and what death can do to you." The
other day I saw a man, not a believer in Christ, bid his

THE CURE FOR A TROUBLED HEART 149

little curly-haired girl of six years good-bye, and as he
kissed her little face and fingered the curls about her
ears for a moment, he turned away with seemingly utter
desperation, saying: "Good-bye, little tot, forever!" And
then, in a moment more, came the frail little mother, and
she stroked the forehead and kissed the little girl's face
again and again, and blessed God for the little girl, even
though for only a few years. Life was richer and sweeter
and better every way because of that child, she kept grate-
fully declaring. Then she kissed her, and said : "Good-
bye, for just a little while, little tot. Mother will see you
right soon, and be with you beyond the sunset and the
night." She could say it because of Jesus.

Men and women, Christ is the Light of the world. Let
us follow Him! Oh, let us follow Him! Let us follow
to-day and forever ! Let us sing with the poet :

So, T go on not knowing,

I would not know if I might.
I would rather walk with Christ in the dark

Than to walk alone in the light.
I would rather walk with Him by faith

Than to walk by myself with sight.

Settle it now as we pray that Christ shall be your light,
your Savior and Master, from this hour until death, and
beyond forever.

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

And now. Holy Father, as the busy men and women go, may every one be
definitely fixed in purpose: "As for me, Christ shall be my Savior and Master."
All about us are weighty questions. It is not easy to live, and the journey of
the earthly life is soon ended, and then we pass into a land that shall never end.
O Jesus, we would follow thee faithfully all the days, and then when we conve to
the valley of the shadow, we would have thee with us, and thy rod and thy staff
to comfort us, and when the mists from off the sea of death come up into otir
faces, and we hear the echo of the breakers of that sea, O thou loving Savior, be
thou the Pilot for us all, and bring us safely to the Father's house above, to the
home of many mansions, where we shall be with Jesus, and be like Him forever.
How we blcps thee for ansv/ering prayer, and for saving souls, and for keeping
us in the love of God!

And as you go now, may the blessing of the triune God go with you to be
your defense and inspiration, now and forever. Amen.

NIGHT SERVICE, SUNDAY, JUNE 17, 1917.
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.

Just one design is in my mind concerning these serv-
ices, and that is to help the people, if and as I may, and to
glorify the matchless name of Christ. We would do the
people good, and not evil at all, in these services, and to
such end, we ask that God's people shall not only seek
to make the public services what they ought to be by
their attendance, and by bringing others here, and by
prayer for the preacher and for the people, but also that
they will seek, personally, all through this fair city, every
day during the week, and in every way that they can, to
help the people religiously. There are people whom you
know, to whom you ought to talk concerning personal re-
ligion. There are drifting Christians, going down with
the currents, and they need your earnest, brotherly en-
treaty, that they may stop before their further loss and
waste of happiness and usefulness. And there are people
who know nothing at all, experimentally, of the forgiving
grace of God in the human heart. Jesus came to save
them, and you and I need now to speak to them the best
we can, as lovingly as we can, as faithfully as we can,
that we may help them now. Very grateful, indeed, is the
preacher that the large audiences, these several evenings,
have co-operated so heartily. We have had well-nigh per-
fect order, in this large outdoor meeting. When a mother

150

THE PERIL OF RESISTING GOD 151

needs to withdraw with the child that frets and disturbs,
or if some one is ill and needs to withdraw, by just a little
thoughtfulness upon the part of those going, and espe-
cially upon the part of the rest of us who tarry, all of us
making it a point not to be diverted, not to look about —
by just a little thoughtfulness even in a large outdoor
throng like this, we can have well-nigh perfect order.

And now as I come to speak to you for the evening, I «>
should like to direct your undivided attention to the text :

THE PERIL OF RESISTING GOD.

Text: "Who hath hardened himself against Him, and hath prospered?" — ^Job 9:4.

That is a question from the book of Job, in the ninth
chapter. If you shall forget all else that I say this Sab-
bath evening, I pray God that you may not forget this
text. Mark it again : "Who hath hardened himself against
Him, and hath prospered?" The very suggestion in the
text is surprising, startling, even amazing. The suggestion
is that human beings may harden themselves against God,
and do so to their present and eternal hurt. The very sug-
gestion, I say, is exceedingly startling. "Who hath hard-
ened himself against God?" Against God! He is our
Maker. Can there be any wisdom in one's hardening him-
self against his Maker? Does one need any other proof
of the deadening and undoing power of sin than that sin
could come into a human life and harden such life against
its Maker? He is our best friend, and yet men and women,
through the power of sin, through its deceitfulness, are
hardened against God, their best friend.

The wonder grows when we remember that we whose
lives are utterly contingent on God's holy will, are hard-
ening ourselves against a Being of infinite power. If
God should v/ithdraw His moral support for just one min-
ute from the strongest man that listens now to my voice,
such man, sitting or standing, would gasp and in one mo-
ment be in the embrace of death. And yet men and women
harden themselves against that Being of infinite power.

He is a Being of infinite wisdom. He knows us alto-
gether. There is not a secret in a single heart in all this
vast throng this Sunday night, but that such secret is

152 A^ QUEST FOR SOULS

thoroughly known to the omniscient God. Oh, if such
fact could only be real to us for just a moment, surely it
would give us pause, and give us as best we may to cease
from our every evil way.

In the war of the 60's, one of the officers of the South-
ern armies was taken a prisoner, and kept for quite awhile
in a federal prison. In his memoirs he recounts his prison
experiences. He tells us that he was guarded day and
night, and that he could not look up, neither to the right,
nor to the left, night or day, but that eyes were watching
his every movement. He tells us that if he started in his
dreams and was rudely awakened from his sleep, standing
over him and watching him were eyes that never ceased
to observe his every movement. He tells us that of all
the experiences, torturing and terrible, through which he
passed in that fearful, fratricidal war, that one experience
of eyes watching him all the time was the most torturing
experience of all.

Oh, my brother men, if the truth could only come home
to us properly, this very hour, that God sees us and knows
us altogether, and that for everything in our life, whether
public or secret, He will bring us into judgment at last,
what a difference such fact would make in our conduct
before Him!

And how the wonder grows yet more, when we remem-
ber that men and women harden their hearts against a
Being of infinite goodness! I could understand how men
would make a straight fight with Satan, seeking to resist
him and put his devices all away, when they remember
that Satan is man's persistent and never-ceasing enemy,
and that Satan means mischief, and mischief only, and not
good at all to any and every human being. When men
and women find out the awful power of Satan to hurt a
human life, for to-day and for to-morrow and for the eter-
nal beyond, I could understand how men and women would
rise up with a fixed resolve, and say: "Satan shall not
have our service. He shall not have our allegiance. He
shall not have us. We will break with him and put him
away.'' And yet, wonder of wonders, men do not break
like that with Satan, but men break with God, that Being

THE PERIL OF RESISTING GOD 153

of infimte goodness. He holds our lives in the hollow of
His hand. Every mercy that comes to us in life, from
the largest down to the very smallest, He is its giver and
sender. He means good, and good only, and not evil at
all, to us every one. Oh, how can men and women harden
themselves against a Being like that, infinite in kindness
and patience and goodness and forbearance toward us?

That is, indeed, a pathetic picture in the earthly life of
Jesus. One day He had preached to the people His won-
drous words of light and hope and wisdom and love, and
as the day wore towards evening, they gnashed upon Him
in their rage, and they took up stones wherewith to stone
Him, and Jesus turned to the crowd that sought to stone
Him, and spoke to them these plaintive words: "Many
good works have I shewed you from my Father ; for which
of these works do ye stone me?" That is to say: "Do
you stone me because I am telling you the right way to
live? Do you stone me because I am counselling you to
break with every wrong thing, because wrong brings
nothing but hurt, and cannot do good at all? Do you
stone me because I point the way of hope and love and
life to people groping in the dark? Do you stone me be-
cause I speak the words of cheer to people downhearted
and fearful? Do you stone me because I open the gates
of promise and of hope to people who need a constant and
all-helpful friend? For which of the works that I have
done do you stone me?" That is the question that the
Master asks to-night of this vast concourse of people, as-
sembled in Fort Worth. "Oh, man or woman, not on
my side, but on Satan's side, what have I done that pro-
vokes you to be against me, your best friend ?" What does
your heart answer to such question?

How do people harden themselves against God? The
ways are many. I may indicate just a few of those ways
that are commonest, and you will think of others that I
may not, because of the limits of this hour, mention at
all. How do men harden themselves against God? Full
many a time do they do so, because of the power of sin
that strengthens in the life the longer that such sin is in-
dulged. Human life is not stationary. Men go up or down.

154 A QUEST FOR SOULS

Men are constantly climbing or descending in human life.
Therefore, God's admonition is given that people shall be
saved while they are yet young: ^'Remember now thy
Creator, in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come
not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have
no pleasure in them." The longer that sin is indulged,
the mightier, the more strengthful, the more binding does
it become in a human life. You may take any sin, no
matter what, and the longer that sin is given rein and al-
lowed to run riot like it wishes, the more that sin grows
and strengthens. Take the sin of drink, and I do not men-
tion that because I think it is the worst. Heaven knows
that it is bad enough, and yet there may be other sins far
worse. But take the sin of drink, for illustration. Do I
speak to some man here who drinks, perhaps to excess?
Let him not be afraid that I shall speak one cruel word
concerning him. I shall not. The rather would I come
to him, and stretch out to him a brother's hand, and say
to him: "May I not help you?" I would help him if I
could. But do I speak to some man here who drinks to
excess? Let him retrace his past days, even back to the
first day when he began that ill-fated habit. He was
probably well-reared. He was warned against the subtle
power of the habit of drink. A dear mother, when he went
away, pressed her kisses through her tears upon his face,
and besought him to steer clear of that undoing habit —
drink. And other voices, father's and teacher's, and still
other voices, warned him against the deadly peril that
there is in the habit of drink. Doesn't he recall it all?
And then there came a time when he was away from home,
and when he was urged to take his first drink. He re-
members even now, as I speak of it, how his hand trembled
as he put that cup to his lips, and he thrust his eye to the
right and to the left, if haply some face out of the past
would come forth to forbid his taking that ill-fated step.
And then he had taken his first drink. Oh, that was thei
beginning of the down-dragging of his life! The first
drink is the drink that makes the 'drunkard — not the last.
And the years came on and the habit strengthened. Do
I speak to such one here to-night?

THE PERIL OF RESISTING GOD 155

There came to my home, a little while ago, one of our
citizens for whom I have long felt the deepest religious
interest. It was two o'clock in the morning when my door-
bell rang, and when I answered, I said to the man: "What
on earth brings you here at this hour of the night?" He
came into the hall at my invitation, and said: "You can
see, can't you?" And I could see. I did see. He was
then in the clutches of drink. His fearful habit had its
terrible hold upon him at that same hour. Then he said
to me: 'T have come because I want to hold your hands,
and get down at your knees, and have you swear me in
the sight of God that I will break such habit, for I must
break it ere it shall utterly break me." Then he said: "I
have just come from home. I went home a little while
ago, late in the night, and my little wife had one talk with
me that broke my heart, and breaks it when I call it to
mind. She said to me: 'Husband, you have broken my
heart. If you do not desist soon, I shall be gone, for I am
completely crushed, even in health, by your course.' And
while she was talking," he said, '*my old mother heard
us, and came from her room across the hall, frail and aged,
and put her arms about my shoulders, and sobbed her
broken heart out on my neck, and said: 'Son, if you do
not quit soon, mother will go to her grave believing that
her son is doomed for a drunkard's death.' And no sooner
had she talked like that than my little daughter came, in
the grip of typhoid fever, where she had been for weeks
unable to sit up, and yet she had heard the conversation,
and was so moved that the child, just beginning her teens,
somehow got to me, ere I knew it, and was clutching at
my coat, a little skeleton from her sickness, and she said:
Tapa, you are breaking the hearts of us all, and killing us
all. If you do not quit soon, we will all be dead." And
the big fellow sobbed aloud and said: "1 cannot quit. I
am helpless. I am so driven and beaten and weak, I can-
not quit." Now, sin does that. You let it loose, you give
it the reins, and it will vitiate, it will pull down, and it
will deaden and destroy. I repeat again, I do not name
that sin because I think it is the worst. There are others,
perhaps more deadly, more undoing than that. I take that

156 A QUEST FOR SOULS

to illustrate the point that the longer sin is indulged, the
more terrible does it become in its power to deaden and
harden the heart.

How do men and women harden themselves against
God? Full many a time they do it through the power of
public opinion. The longer I live and study men and
women, and see their conduct, the more am I convinced
of the truth of that solemn saying in the Bible: "The fear
of man bringeth a snare." Oh, what power there is in
public opinion ! One waits for another. One acts because
of another. One is silent because another is silent. Just
there comes in the awful peril and power of influence. The
man who does not care about his influence over somebody
else surely must be a fool or a monster, or both. We must
be forever careful about our influence over others, for by
our silent influence, day in and out, we are taking people
up v/ith us or we are taking them down. We are making
it easier or making it harder every day we live for other
people to live, as is our influence over them. You do not
wonder that when George Whitfield was converted, he
prayed as his first prayer: "Oh, God, forgive me for my
wasted influence over other people!" George Whitfield
had been a ring-leader in sin. He had led many people
astray, but when he had found Christ for himself, he fell
down before Him and cried out: "Oh, God, forgive me
for my misused influence over other men!" Surely, he
could not have prayed a saner prayer than that. And you
do not wonder that still another man, a little while ago,
when they told him that he was dying, that his last hour
had come, gathered the covering about him and sought to
hide his face, and said to the people, out of the pitiable-
ness of his condition : "Yes, and when I am gone, as the
doctor says I soon shall be, be certain to gather up my in-
fluence and bury it in the grave with me." But that is the
very thing that cannot be done. Your influence is going
on now, and will go on and on, when you shall sleep be-
neath the flowers. Oh, the power of influence! That
ought to give pause to every serious man and woman in
the world.

I would rather be nailed up in my coffin, strong and

THE PERIL OF RESISTING GOD 157

well as I am this Sunday night, and buried alive, than to
live a life that would damn somebody else. Human influ-
ence is that serious and that terrible.

I was preaching in a series of meetings in one of our
cities some time ago, and I noticed a young fellow, for
three of four consecutive evenings, far down the hall be-
fore me, a lad, I should say, of some sixteen years. When
I asked: "Are there people to-night interested in being
saved? Will they lift the hand or stand?" This lad for
three or four evenings made response without any delay.
Then another evening came, and there he was, but he made
no response, and indeed seemed indifferent. Then the
next meeting came, and I looked for him, and I found him
at last, but far to the rear of the hall — evidently indifferent,
deliberately indifferent. I could read it in his face. And
when the service was concluded that night I hurried
around, if haply I might find the young fellow, to have a
word with him, and fortunately I found him, and took him
aside, so that I could have a word alone. I said to him:
"I have seen you in the audience, and my heart has been
strangely drawn to you. For two or three evenings, you
indicated that you wished to be a Christian, and now for
these past two evenings you have said by your face and
conduct that you are indifferent to such matter. Pray
tell me what has happened." Then he looked up into
my face, and plaintively said: "I think I had rather not
tell you. I was interested," he went on to say. "I was
deeply concerned by what you said. I did tell you that I
desired to be a Christian, and I meant it, but I have reached
a different conclusion. I think I had rather not tell you
why." I said : "My lad, I should not like to take any advan-
tage of you at all. I would not for my right arm wittingly
take an advantage of any man or woman who comes to
hear me preach. I would not like to be impertinent, but
I should like to know what has come to turn you away
from facing that open gate to the heavenly world and to
the better life. Something has come. I should like to
know what it is, that T may help you." Then he said:
"Very well, I will tell you. My father is Dr. So-and-so.
My father never goes to church. I never knew of his being

158 A QUEST FOR SOULS

at church in all my life. I have decided to follow my father,
and not follow you at all. My father is to me the most
splendid man in the world" — ^just what a boy ought to
think about his father, if possible. "My father,'' said the
boy, "is my model man. He is the cleverest man I know,
and the strongest man I know, and I have made my choice,
and I am going to follow my father, and I am not going
to follow you. Father says by his example that the Chris-
tian religion is not worth while. I am going to say it, too,
as long as my father says it. That has changed my course,"
said the handsome lad.

Oh, wasn't it pitiable, even heart-breaking? I said some
other things to him, and among them I said: "Come on
to the services, and I will do my best to help you yet,
and I will do my best to help your honored father, and I
want to think about it through the night." My sleep was
troubled, the whole night through, about that unusual case,
but when the morning came my mind was made up: "I
shall go to see the father and introduce myself to him, and
cast myself upon God for wisdom to have some words
with that father, about what is involved." And when the
morning came I made my way to his office, and fortunately
found him alone. I was the first to arrive. When I in-
troduced myself to him and found that he was the man I
was seeking, he turned upon me with beaming, searching
face, and said: "Certainly, you have not come for your-
self. You are evidently not a sick man." I said : "I have
not come for myself at all. I have come to have a word
with you about your own boy." And then he was all
alert in his attention, and he said: "Do you know my
boy?" I said: "Slightly." Then he said: "Isn't he a fine
boy?" I said: "I should say that I never saw a finer one.
My heart is drawn out to him profoundly, and I have come
just to have a frank word with you about your boy." He
said: "In what way? To what end?" Then I said: "I
am preaching for a few days in your city." "Oh," he said,
"I see. I have noticed something of it in the daily papers."
I said: "Your boy has been hearing me, Doctor, for sev-
eral nights, and your boy seem.ed deeply serious for three
or four nights, and indicated his seriousness, and then he

THE PERIL OF RESISTING GOD 159

deliberately put such matter away. His deliberate purpose
was written in his very face and voiced in his conduct,
and I sought him out last night and had a word with him.
He was exceedingly reticent, and he was grandly loyal
to 3^ou, but when I asked him why he had deliberately
determined to turn away from the call of Christ and the
Christian religion, he made answer that you, his father,
were his model, his beau ideal, his pattern, and he had
decided to follow you, and not follow me, nor follow
anybody else. I have come just to tell you that, and
to ask if you do not have too much involved to let the
matter stand like it is?" His face was colorless almost in
a moment, and then he walked the room under terrific
pressure for another moment, and then he turned to me
and said : *'That is the heaviest blow, sir, I ever received."
And then I said to him: ''Doctor, what do you think you
ought to say about it?" He waited a moment, and said:
"When is your next service?" I said: "At ten o'clock,
this morning." He said: "I cannot go at ten, because of
an engagement for a needed operation at the hospital.
When is your next service?" "This evening, at eight
o'clock." Then he looked at me with strength of purpose,
and said: "I will be in your service to-night, and I will
give this matter immediate attention. I think I know
what to do, sir. I will see you to-night." I bade him
good-morning without another word. I had said all I
ought to have said, it seemed, on that first visit. The day
wore to nightfall, and I stood up to preach, and my eyes
searched the press of people everywhere. Is that father
present? Yonder he is. He is just coming in now, and
the usher is giving him a chair, far to the rear. That even-
ing I preached to one man. Oh, if we can get him, we are
likely to get his fine boy, and we may get many because
of the two! When I had finished my sermon, I simply
raised this question: "Is the man here who, on high prin-
ciple, for his own sake first, and then for the sake of some-
body sheltering behind him, will now and here take his
step Christward, and give his heart's surrender to the call
of Christ? Is he here? Let him come down the aisle and
take mv hand in token of such surrender to Christ." And

160 A QUEST FOR SOULS

the father was on his feet, and down the aisle he came,
and there went through the audience something like an
electric thrill, for everybody there seemed to know him and
profoundly respect him. Now he had reached me here at
the front, and he took my hand ,and the first word he said
was : "My boy got me. What you told me about my boy
this morning got me." And then he went on and said:
"When you left me, I shut the door and locked it, and I
knelt down in my room and I tried to pray, as I have not
done in years, and I said : "Oh, God, forgive me, for not
only am I staying out of the kingdom of God myself, but
I am keeping my own boy out. Has it come to that? For-
give me, and not another hour will I wait to make my
surrender, to turn my case over to Christ, the Great Physi-
cian, that He may forgive me and save me His own way."
I said to him: "Look, Doctor, behind you!" And there,
standing behind him, following him down the long aisle,
was that handsome boy, and the boy put his arm around
his father's neck, as a little child fondles its mother, and,
sobbing, said : "Oh, papa, I am glad you came, and I have
come, too. I wanted to come, and I waited for you."

What if that father had not come ? God save the mark I
I know fathers who have not come, and the boys have not
come, either, and now and then I know a mother — oh,
can it be? A mother! Sweetest name of all, next to the
name of Jesus! A mother! A mother! — now and then I
know a mother who does not come, and her best friend,
Jesus, is set aside. By the power of her influence, how-
ever silent, she says to the children of her own being:
"This great matter of personal religion is not great at all !''

Oh, influence, how many thou art destroying! How
many thou art turning away from God ! If I am speaking
to-night to parents, father or mother, who are not Chris-
tians; if I speak to-night to citizens, whoever they may
be, not Christians; if I speak to-night to young men or
middle-aged, or to one with the gray about his temples,
not Christians, oh, my friends, my friends, my friends, I
send my voice out after you, do not misuse your influence,
and cause it to hurt with eternal hurt the lives of people
around you!

THE PERIL OF RESISTING GOD 161

How do people harden themselves against God? Full
many a time they do it by raising captious doubts and
speculative questions about religion. They do it by asking
questions about religion, and asking them superficially,
and then not staying to answer them. They say, for ex-
ample, What if this be not so? And then they do not
delve into the matter, to probe it to see if it is so. They
say, What if there be no God? They say, What if Jesus
Christ be not trustworthy? They say, What if the Bible
be not God's guide-book for men, to lead them homeward
and heavenward? They say, What if there be no heaven
for the people who will not have Jesus? They say, What
if these much talked of matters be not so at all ? And then,
like an ostrich, they hide their heads down in the sand, and
they do not see, and will not face the facts. I wonder if
I speak to-night to some skeptic, no matter how dark and
deep his skepticism; to some doubter, to some disbeliever,
concerning the things of Christ's holy religion? If I do,
I call to him as his brother man, oh, my friend, you can
know the facts about Christianity — ^you can know the facts.
If a man be a doubter, a skeptic, an atheist, a materialist,
an agnostic, who flings all religious belief to the winds —
if his case be that darksome and that terrible, I come to
him to-night to say that he can get light and will get it,
if he will just be candid with God. Professor Bushnell got
it — that famous teacher in Yale. In the days when he was
a most popular teacher there, and also an outstanding dis-
believer concerning religion, a young preacher went to
Yale, to preach two weeks. For days and days there seemed
to be no response to his preaching. The young fellows
heard him, but there was no response heavenward, so far
as the minister could tell. A little later he had diagnosed
the situation. The young men were hiding behind Pro-
fessor Bushnell, the most popular teacher in Yale, and
the minister sought out Professor Bushnell and said:
"Professor Bushnell, if these things that I am preaching
are so, wouldn't you like to know it? If Christ be praise-
worthy, wouldn't you like to know it? If Christ does
change men who trust Him, and forgive them, and put a
power super-human in their lives, wouldn't you like to

162 A QUEST FOR SOULS

know it?" And Bushnell, after a thoughtful pause, said:
''Certainly, I would like to know it, if the thing be reliable
and praiseworthy." Then said the minister: "You can
know it, if you will just be candid." "How?" said Pro-
fessor Bushnell. "Take Christ's own challenge," said the
minister, "and here is that challenge : If any man willeth
to do the will of God, he shall know of the teaching, wheth-
er it is of God.' " "But," said Bushnell, "I do not know
how to start. I do not know that there is any God at all.
How could I start?" Said the minister: "Start like this:
'Oh, God, if there be such a Being, give me light on this
matter of religion. If thou hast any interest in my getting
light, and if thou wilt give me light, no matter how it
comes, I will follow such light wherever it leads!' Take
that clue, and you will find God." Professor Bushnell said :
"I will take it." Three days afterwards, Bushnell came
back and stood on the rostrum of the old chapel and said
to his students: "My men, I have a wonderful thing to
tell you. I laughed to scorn all that this man preached,
and all the rest of them, and the churches. I have found
out that I was in the darkness and they were in the light.
Oh," said Bushnell to his students, "I have put God to the
test, and I know that He is the Savior, and I am henceforth
His disciple and friend forever."

Men can know, my fellow-men, whether Christ and His
gospel are true. I see this challenge of Jesus put to the
test and gloriously found out, week after week. It was
my privilege a few weeks ago to speak for five days to the
students of our State University at Austin — a really great
university, which should have the loyal support of every
citizen in our State. While there, I was not only speaking
publicly — I was dealing privately with those scores and
hundreds of young men and women. There sought me
out one day one of the seniors in the law class, and he
said to me: "All that you are preaching and all that re-
ligion proclaims is as dark to me as the darkest midnight."
I said to him : "If there be reality and truth in the religion
of Christ, wouldn't you like to know it?" He said: "In-
deed, I would. I would like to know the truth, whatever
it is." Then I said: "I will give you a clue. Tell God,

THE PERIL OF RESISTING GOD 163

if there be one, that you want light, if He has any concern
for you to have it, and tell Him that if He will give it,
no matter what it costs, nor where it leads, you will follo\^
that light, and you will find it/' It was not long until he
came back from his quest, his face shining like the morn-
ing, with this public confession : "I have found out in my
heart that God is, and what is better, I have found out
that God has forgiven me and saved me." Yes, yes, men
can find the way of light if they will only be candid. If
you are in trouble about questions religious, come with
absolute candor, and say: "Lord God, here I am, an eter-
nity-bound being, and I want light from God, in God's way,
and if He will give it, I will walk in it," and you will get
light.

How do people harden themselves against God? They
do it through the theory that they will save themselves.
The thought of their own self-salvation leads many, it is
to be feared, to harden their hearts. And what shall I say
at that point? Can any man save himself? Can any woman
save herself? Can a soul wrong with God save himself?
Such soul can cross the storm-swept ocean from one shore
to the other on a straw for a boat as easily as you can
save yourself without the grace and mercy of God. Oh,
soul, if a sinner could have saved himself, then Jesus, the
Son of God, would not have come down from heaven and
died on a cross, the most horrible death that earth hath
ever known. If a sinner could have saved himself, that
cross is a work of supererogation, that cross is a mistake
and a crime. Because sinners cannot save themselves,
therefore did Jesus come. And when He comes He tells
us : "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh
unto the Father but by me." He tells us: "Marvel not
that I tell you, unless you are born again, you cannot even
see the kingdom of God." He tells us: "Except you re-
pent, you shall all likewise perish." He tells us: "Neither
is there salvation in any other: for there is none other
name under heaven given among men, whereby we must
be saved." Oh, soul, never, never, can you save yourself!
Do not be hardened in heart at that vital point.

How do men and women harden themselves against

164 A QUEST FOR SOULS

God ? Full many a time they do it on this wise : They do
it by looking around them, and pointing their finger at
alleged poor Christians and hypocrites, that they can find
all about them, on the right hand and on the left, and
in that way they harden themselves against God. And
what shall I say at that point? Are these who are unbe-
lievers able to put their finger down on poor Christians
all about them? Are these who are unbelievers able to
put their finger down now and then on some hypocrite in
the church? Are they able to do it? God pity us, yes, they
are! And are there poor Christians in the churches, and
is there now and then some pretender in the churches?
God save the mark, yes, yes! But what of that? Oh,
come now, I pray you, be consistent. Will you throw all
the money away, because there are counterfeiters in the
land molding false money? Will you throw the good
money away, because counterfeit money is sometimes in
circulation? Come now, will you throw all the fruit away
because you discover some decaying fruit there in the
basket or the barrel of fruit that you purchase? Pass it
on up higher. Come now, will you fling your soul out
into the night which will never have any morning, because
somebody around you is not living the Christian life like
that Christian life ought to be lived? I call your attention
yet a moment more to this serious point. God calls your
attention to it in this solemn language. Listen to Him.
I quote it now: "Therefore thou art inexcusable, oh, man,
whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest
another, thou condemnest thyself." Are you able to put
your finger down on some faulty, defective Christian, or
some arrant pretender? What of that? Jesus looks down
upon you and says: "After I died for you, and offer to
save you with mine everlasting salvation, will you discard
me and destroy yourself, because somebody around you
does not live up to the proper standard of the Christian
life?" Oh, soul, be done with such trifling!

How do people harden themselves against God? Most
of all, I think, just at this point, namely, at the point of
procrastination. They tell us truly that procrastination is
the thief of time. Ah, me ! it is so much worse than that.

THE PERIL OF RESISTING GOD 165

Procrastination is the thief of human souls. Procrastination
steals human souls away from hope and life and eternal
peace. All about us there are men and women wrong with
God, and when they are approached, they will confess it;
they will grant their duty and their need; they will ex-
press their desire; they will confess frankly that they
desire to be saved ; they will tell you promptly : "I mean
some day, and not far oif, to give my soul its proper atten-
tion." But they drift with the tide, and through the power
of procrastination not only is time stolen, but their souls
are stolen, and thus are they finally lost. Oh, the tragedy
of it — the tragedy unspeakable of such procrastination !

When that ill-fated ship went down long years ago,
the Royal Charter — a ship in its time corresponding to the
Titanic, that was wrecked a little while ago in mid-ocean —
when the Royal Charter was burned, that strong ship had
toured the waters of the world, and had on board a dis-
tinguished company of passengers, and they were to land
finally on their return voyage at Liverpool, and great prep-
arations were being made in Liverpool to welcome them
home. Many of the passengers were Liverpool citizens,
and homes were being put in order, and, indeed, the whole
city was being put in order to welcome the returning and
cherished passengers. And yet on that last night, just a
few hours before they reached Liverpool, the ship caught
fire, and despite all the efforts to save it, the ship sank to
the depths of the sea, nearly all of the passengers drowning
with the sinking ship. Only a few escaped to tell the
terrible story. The morning came, and all Liverpool was
agog with interest to welcome the people, not knowing
of the sinking of the ship, and then the few survivors came
ashore, and told the awful story to the people. Then the
story had to be carried to the homes in Liverpool. Dr.
W. M. Taylor, one of the first ministers of his generation,
tells us that he was commissioned to carry the story of
the sinking ship to one of his families, and to tell the
little wife that her devoted husband and the father of her
children would come back to his earthly home never again.
The minister said he went on such journey with his heart
in his throat, and when he reached the home and rang the

166 A QUEST FOR SOULS

bell, a little flaxen-haired girl came and welcomed him
laughingly, and merrily said: "Dr. Taylor, papa is to be
h-ere, and mamma is getting him a fine breakfast, and you
will stay, and I will run and tell mamma/' And she
scampered away to tell her mother, and then the mother
came in and gladly bade him welcome, and said: "Oh,
you have come at the right time ! Husband is to be here
in a few minutes." And then she started back. She said:
"What on earth is it. Dr. Taylor? What has happened?
Do not keep me in suspense. Why do you look like you
look?" And he took her hand in his and said: "Little
woman, I am the bearer of evil tidings. The ship has gone
down, just a little distance from the shore, down to the
depths of the sea, and your husband is drowned there
with the rest." She looked at him a moment, he said, and
her face turned pale with the whiteness almost of the
snow, and rigid like a stone, and then she uttered one
piercing cry and fell unconscious at his feet. This was
her cry: "Oh, God, he got so near home, and yet will
never come!"

That is the parable, and that is the picture of men and
women in this gospel land of ours, who hear, and who feel,
and who know, and yet who, through procrastination, will
miss the upward way. Oh, soul, do not longer procrasti-
nate! Do not longer delay, with this eternally important
matter of your personal salvation.

I have a moment more to ask your attention before we
shall go, and you will give it the best attention you can,
despite the passing, ringing fire bells — a moment more,
and you will give your earnest attention, for the text is
not quite done. What shall I say? Listen to the text
again: "Who hath hardened himself against God, and
hath ever prospered?" Do you know one who hath hard-
ened himself against God and hath ever prospered? Do
you know one? Oh, that word "prosperity" is a charmed
word! That word "prosperity" is a hypnotic word. For
prosperity men rise early and toil late. For prosperity men
sail the rolling seas, men tunnel the mountains, men seek
to m.ake every sort of discovery, in order that they may win
prosperity. What is prosperity? What a charmed word

THE PERIL OF RESISTING GOD 167

it is! There can be no real and abiding prosperity if we
set ourselves to neglect God and His proffered salvation
of our needy souls. ''Who hath hardened himself against
God, and hath ever prospered?" Do you know one? Do
you know one who hath set himself against God and stayed
so set, and yet has really prospered? Do you know one?
Did Cain prosper, who took his brother's life? See him
as he went a pariah into the forests! Did King Saul of
old prosper? Did Balaam prosper? Did Ananias and
Sapphira prosper? Did Judas, who sold Jesus for thirty
pieces of silver? Do you know one of your acquaintances
who has hardened himself utterly against God, and has
really prospered?

Let me tell you how one of the chiefest business men
of the West died a little while ago. He had his son to
sit beside him, and said to the rest: "I have some words
with my son," and holding that son's hand in his own
frail, dying hand, he said to his son: "Son, you are hold-
ing the hand of the greatest failure of any man of the
West." And the son said: "No, no, father; your name on
the wires would make the business world quiver through-
out the great West." He said: "Very true, my son, but
I have lived as though time and the world were all, and
I am dying now with unpreparedness, and all is dark. I
am the greatest failure of all, for I have lived simply for
earth and for time."

One of the best known citizens of Texas, who gave his
heart to Christ when he was nearly eighty years old, said
to me the last time I saw him, just before his departure —
and his name is a household word in Texas: "Oh, sir,
my life was almost totally lost. I did not come to Christ
till right in the fag end of life. I did not come until the
sun was going down in the west. Yes," he said "Christ
has saved me, but, oh, to think, sir, that I have given
nearly all my life to the wrong side !" Doesn't the picture
make your heart shudder?

What is the conclusion o'f this whole matter? I sum it
up in some final sentences. There can be no real and abid-
ing prosperity for a human soul that is set against God, no
matter how much he claims, no matter how wide his swath

168 A QUEST FOR SOULS

of power may seem to be, no matter who he is. There
can be no real and abiding prosperity, if the human heart
be set with disobedience against God. At last it comes
down to ashes, and it cries with one of old: "My soul
feedeth on ashes." And mark you this, my men and wom-
en ; mark you this : When the battle of the soul is finally
lost, all is lost. There are some battles that can be re-
gained, but not the battle of the soul finally lost. There-
fore Jesus' arresting question: "What shall it profit a
man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own
soul?" Some losses have compensations, but the loss final
of the soul has no compensation. When Francis the First
lost the battle of Pavia, he got his broken, scattered men
together, and sobbed like a child with them, and said:
"Men, we have lost all but honor;" but having honor left,
they could go to the battle again. Some losses have com-
pensations, but not the final loss of the soul. Some losses
can be repaired, but not this loss. If you shall take your
way down into death and into eternity, without making a
surrender true and honest to Christ, the battle is lost.
Christ himself so tells us: "Ye shall die in your sins:
whither I go, ye cannot come."

^ What arguments shall I marshal this night to summon
this^ audience to give the right attention to the call of
Christ for the salvation of the human soul? What argu-
ments shall I marshal? Shall I talk about duty? Here
is your first duty—to see after the safety and welfare of
your soul. Shall I talk about need? He is your chief est
need. More than you need money and position and friends
and health, and even physical life, do you need to be a
Christian. Shall I talk about influence? Your position
for Christ shall help others upward, and your position
against Him shall take others downward. Shall I talk
about happiness? Here is your supreme happiness. Shall
I talk about usefulness? Oh, what can compare with
living a life so as to be useful in the broadest and deepest
and most constructive way?

Oh, my friends, my friends, harden not your hearts
against Christ ! Before I let you -to away very soon I am
coming now to ask: Has this vast audience made peace

THE PERIL OF RESISTING GOD 169

with Christ? Have the men and women before me, who
have heard with such patience and attention to-night, for
which I thank you so gratefully, made their peace with
God? Are the men and women under the sound of my
voice at peace with God, through Christ?

Now this night, before you sleep, even here and now,
as you stand to manifest your desire to be saved, as the
Lord liveth, if you will honestly surrender your case to
Christ, you shall here and now be born again. No matter
what your fears, your sins, your weaknesses, your doubts,
your temptations — no matter what was your yesterday,
no matter what your to-day, no matter what shall be your
to-morrow, you shall be saved, forgiven, born again, as the
Lord liveth, if you will honestly surnender your case to
Christ. End once and forever the great matter by your
personal acceptance of Christ as your Savior, just now,
while we pray.

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

And now, O Lord, ere the crowd disperses, we would gather up every life,
and as best we can present it to God, and pray Him in Christ's name to put His
hand of mercy and forgiveness and salvation on every needy life in this vast
throng. Here, all about us, are men and women who say to us: "We are wrong
with God and know it, and we wish to be right with Him." O God, teach them
now that it is Christ who makes the case right. Teach them that no man can
work the great change which a sinner in God's sight must have, in order to meet
God in safety and peace. Teach them now that salvation is of the Lord- Grant
that now all these interested men and women may turn to Christ, and before
they put their heads upon their pillows to sleep to-night, say simply: "Here, Lord,
we give ourselves to thee, 'tis all that we can do." Thank God, it is all Christ
asks, but He asks that. He asks for honest, absolute surrender. May every seek-
ing soul answer Him back: "Then I give it. With my doubts and fears and
sins and difficulties all, I will surrender to Him. Living or dying, no matter
what may come, I will surrender my case forever to Christ, the appointed
righteousness and Savior for needy, helpless sinners." Lord, let these men and
women, a multitude about us, thus surrender to thee to-night. And if in this
presence there were those too hesitant and timid to express their desire to be
saved, but whose hearts do wish to be right with God, O, draw them, too, and
save them, too. And if in this presence there is one man or woman or child in-
different to Christ's call, indifferent to Christ's death, indifferent to the inevitable
day of personal death, indifferent to human influence, indifferent to the testing
that is coming at God's iudgment bar, indifferent to the life to be lived here and
to the death that shall follow such life, indifferent to eternity— O, our Father, if
there be one to-night in the great press about us who is indifferent to these high
calls of heaven and of God, by the power of thy Spirit teach and lead such one
to-night to be profoundlv concerned to find the true way to live and to serve
God. And may this mighty throng be bound as one life about the heart of God,
so that it shall be well with every one, living, dying, and beyond forever. Deepen
this work in all our hearts. Time flies. Sin is Idusv, and death works all about
us. Remind us profoundly, O Lord God, that to-day is the day of salvation, that
to-day is the day of grace, that to-dav is the day of spiritual opportunity. God
give us to seize to-day, and to use it like we ought, to use it even while we can.

And now, as the people go, may the blessing of God, even of Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, be granted you all and each, to abide with you forever. Amen.

XII

NOON SERVICE, JUNE 18, 1917.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.

My heart has been warmed and cheered from day to day,
by the large number of busy men and women who have felt
inclined to come to this midday service. It is deeply signifi-
cant that such throngs have it in their hearts to come to this
noonday meeting. I would daily propose to the Christian
men and women before me that we give ourselves unstintedly
to helping the people religiously, throughout all the week before
us. I pray you to forget it not that there can be no substitutes
for personal work in behalf of people who need God. I pray"
you to remember it, that all about us are men and women who
are drifting away from the right, because of the lack of the
right kind of personal appeal from the friends of God. The
highest title that Jesus gives His people is the title of "Friend."
I am speaking to many friends of God at this Monday meeting.
O ye friends of God, do your best to win other friends for
Him these passing days ! Bring them to the midday meetings.
Bring them to the night meetings. Have the right kind of
conversations with them. And above all, beseech God for the
light and leading of His Holy Spirit in this work that we are
all trying to do, both publicly and privately.

THE DEADLY DANGER OF DRIFTING.

Text: "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that
were heard, lest haply we drift av/ay from them." — Heb. 2:1. (R. V.)

And now to the morning message. If you were asked the
chief danger to us all, what would your answer be? It would
be interesting to know your answer. What is , the chief danger

170

THE DEADLY DANGER OF DRIFTING 171

to us all? The Bible tells us. It is the danger of drifting
"away'from the path of duty and of right and of safety. That
is the chief danger for us all, and there is a Scripture which
points that for us, which I quote you:

"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the
things which we have heard, lest haply we drift away from
them."

There is your revealing word, that word "drift." "There-
fore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things
which we have heard, lest haply we drift away from them."
The chief danger for us every one is indicated there in that
little word "drift." It is the danger of drifting away from
the path of duty and of right and of safety — simply the danger
of drifting. That is the chief danger of us all. There are
many expressive figures in the Bible touching human life. In
one place we are asked the question: "What is your life?"
and the answer is given us in the very next sentence: "It is
even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then van-
isheth away." It is like a morning cloud dissolved in the
sun. In another place the Bible compares life to the swift
ships of the sea. In another place human life is represented
as the grass that groweth up in the morning, but on the even-
ing of that same day the grass is cut down and withereth.
Again, it compares life to the eagle that hasteth to its prey.
There is no more impressive and expressive figure for us, for
human life, than this figure here of drifting. You can see it.
The life boat goes down the stream. The current bears it on,
and that is the faithful picture of human life. And because
of the ease and the dangei* of drifting, therefore we are warned
here by the Word of God to take heed to the things we have
heard, lest haply we drift away from them.

This warning is for us all. Not one of us may be absolved
from it. Not one of us but that urgently needs this warning
concerning the peril of drifting. It is a warning for Christian
people, I should say, first of all. Every Christian needs to
heed this warning here given against the awful peril of drift-
ing. The Bible is filled with admonitions to us right at that
point. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation."
How often the Bible rings with that bugle call ! "Wherefore,
let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." How

172 A QUEST FOR SOULS

that truth is emphasized in the Bible! How we are warned
against the snare of pride, and how the fearful consequences
of pride are set out before us in the Bible! What foes we
are reminded of in the Bible that lie in wait to entrap us, and
to deceive us, and to sidetrack us from the right path ! There
is our own flesh, and we are never to lose sight of the fact
that though the spirit is born again, when we believe on Christ
as our Savior, yet the flesh is unregenerated and will be un-
regenerated until it shall be raised from the dead. These
redeemed spirits live in houses that are not yet regenerated,
and we are never to lose sight of the fact that we must reckon
with our flesh as we go along in the Christian life. And then
there is the world about us, with its amusements and its spirit
against God. And then in addition to that there is a great
evil personality in the world, whose name is Satan, bedark-
ening and deceiving and misleading, and seeking in every way
he can to seduce us from the right path. Here is this great
triple alliance, the flesh and the v/orld and Satan, and we are
to watch all the time, or we shall, by these influences which
this triple alliance shall suggest, drift away from the right
path. We are exhorted to war a good warfare. We are
exhorted in the Bible to fight the good fight of faith. We are
exhorted in the Bible to put on the whole armor of God that
we may be able to stand, and, having done all, to stand.

Now, we are not to lose sight of the fact, my fellow Chris-
tians, that the Christian life can be lived shabbily or it can be
lived gloriously. We are not to lose sight of that fact. We
can follow Christ afar off, or we can walk beside Him, and be
His conscious friends and comrades and fellow-workers. We
are not to lose sight of that solemn truth — the Christian life
can be lived shabbily or it can be lived gloriously. Oh, the
supremest tragedy, I think, in all the world is that so often
saved people, people born again, people who shall at last reach
heaven — ^the tragedy is untellable and incomparable, I think,
that even saved people live the Christian life shabbily. All
about us, what revelations there would be if men's hearts were
uncovered, and we were to trace the stories of their declen-
sions, their departures from Christ, even after He saves them !
All about us there are pictures of men and women who began
the Christian life well^— oh, how hopeful was their promise!

THE DEADLY DANGER OF DRIFTING 173

— ^and yet they were bewitched away from that blessed course,
and they have gone drifting and floating. They have floated
with the tide, and have neglected to stem it. And the great
apostle here summons us, challenges us, to watch, that we do
not go down the currents with that easy flowing tide.

Why do Christians go away from Christ? The reasons
are all about us. If a Christian neglects the vital duties and
habits that go along with the Christian life, then he will go
drifting down that stream. Let a Christian neglect church
attendance, and he will soon be into trouble. "Not forsaking
jthe assembling of ourselves together," is an injunction ringing
in the Bible like some mighty trumpet. Let any Christian be
careless on that point of constant, habitual, high-principled
church attendance, and he will soon be in trouble. Let any\
Christian neglect the vital matter of secret prayer, and he will
soon be in trouble. There can be no substitutes for secret
prayer. Let a Christian neglect the vital habit of daily turn-
ing to the Word of God to get therefrom God's counsel and
comfort, and such Christian will soon be in trouble. The
Christian life has its reasonable and vital habits, just as the
physical life. Let the physical life be ignored and maltreated,
and the physical life shall be preyed upon, and shall be vic-
timized with declining health. And the Christian life in just
the same fashion shall be beaten upon and undermined, if the
habits that go with it are ignored and forgotten.

How do Christians get away from the right path and go
drifting down the stream? Sometimes it is because of busi-
ness reverses. I have lived long enough in a modern city —
twenty years in one pastorate — to see how men are often
crippled and thrown into the deep currents because of busi-
ness reverses. Full many a time men's hands hang down and
their hearts faint when business reverses come, and they seem
shattered and broken and oftentimes fearfully crippled in
their faith, when business reverses come. Business men need
God's wisdom and help, every day and hour, in their daily
business.

And then sometimes it is a sorrow that comes into life, a
blinding, bedarkening sorrow, a crushing sorrow, that causes
people to drift away from Christ. Sorrow has one of two
effects in a life. Sorrow embitters, sorrow sours, sorrow takes

174 A QUEST FOR SOULS

life's sweetness ©ut; or sorrow makes the beaten one draw
nearer to the Lord and ding the more closely to Him. Full
many a time when a sorrow comes — ^this or that or the other
sorrow — the soul turns away from the source of healing and
comfort, and goes drifting down the stream, missing God's
proffered help for any soul that will wait upon Him.

And then full many a time drifting away from God comes
on because the soul is wrong in its relations toward some other
human being. I have lived long enough to find out that the
wounds and the hurts and the frictions that come to the
human heart, out of wrong relations between man and man,
make up one of the saddest chapters in human life. Let a
man be wrong in his heart toward another human being, and
such man is crippled dreadfully in the sight of God. There
is no place in the human heart for hate, if a man is going to
get on well with God. A man loses the sense of perspective,
a man's vision is blurred, a man's life is all poisoned, if he
gives place in his heart for hate toward any human being.
I have lived long enough to see that life's frictions and rival-
ries and competitions and contacts and collisions often turn
human beings away from God. I know two brothers who
have not spoken to each other in years and years. Both of
them are nominally church members. I asked each of them,
at separate times, just a little while ago : "How are you getting
along in the Christian life?" and each one answered in effect:
"Oh, sir, bad enough. It has been years since I have had any
peace or power as I have tried to pray and tried to serve God."
It could not be otherwise. The brothers quarreled over their
father's will, and they parted asunder, with anger each toward
the other, and they have gone on in such fearful course
through the passing years. Oh, my brother men, human life
is too big for that, too worthiul for that, too important for
that. God's favor is too valuable for that. Our holy religion
is too precious for that. We are to come like old Abraham
came and spoke to his nephew. Lot, when the herdmen of
Lot and the herdmen of Abraham were quarreling and were
divided, and Abraham said to his nephew: "Lot, my boy,
there must be none of this. Let there be no strife between
your herdmen and mine, between you and me. We be breth-
ren. You go your way and I will go mine. You take your

THE DEADLY DANGER OF DRIFTING 175

pastures and I will take mine. We will not have any strife."
The human heart that would serve God must come to the place
where it will not be sidetracked from the path of happiness
and duty in the Christian life by collision with or animosities
toward some other human life. Full many a time drifting
comes just at that point. There come some experiences into
the human life which shatter confidence, and which make the
soul stand back aghast, and which raise a score of questions
about religion, and down the stream the life goes, and church
attendance is given up, and church habits are broken, and on
and on and on with the tide such poor life goes floating down.
Oh, it is pitiable and it is terrible !

And sometimes the Christian life gets all wrong with God
and goes drifting down the stream because of admission into
it of some wrong thing — of some secret sin. I am thinking
now of a well known man whose case puzzled numbers of us,
and when we looked into it at last v/e found he had accus-
tomed himself in the secret place, without even the knowledge
of his wife, to an ill-fated drug, that bedarkened and dead-
ened and turned him away from the right path. Let a man
admit into his life any evil thing, and coddle it, and pamper
it, and keep it there, and he is all sidetracked from the right
course, and down that stream he will go drifting. Some
secret sin will shrivel and wither his peace in the sight of God.
"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me."'
Oh, how pitiable and how terrible it all is! At last such
Christian, all broken and drifting, and to the largest degree
useless, shall come up empty-handed in the sight of God. It
is an awful thing to be saved just by the skin of one's teeth.
It is an awful thing to think of meeting Christ empty-handed,
with the works of our life all burned up, but they shall be,
if they are not in harmony with the will of God.

Do I speak today to drifting Christians? I pass my eye
and hand down every pew before me, and would pause at the
door of every heart. Do I speak to drifting Christians? Turn
your boat up-stream, whatever it costs, whatever the price.
Oh, my drifting fellow Christians, turn your boat up-stream !
You have too much at stake to go on like that. Whatever the
price, whatever the cost, turn that boat up-stream. Set your-
self with a resolution deathless: "I am going td recover my

176 A QUEST FOR SOULS

feet. I am going to retrace my wrong steps. I am coming
home. I am coming back to my Father's house. I will burn
the bridges." Turn your boat up-stream, oh, drifting Chris-
tian!

But I have a word more for the one who is not a Chris-
tian. There, is to be sure, a great peril to the Christian that
he shall drift, but I have a serious word to the one not a
Christian. There are currents to make you drift, and they are
terrible. There are currents in this stream on which your
boat floats to beat you down and to keep you away from
heaven and away from God. What are those currents?

There is the daily atmosphere that is about you, the atmos-
phere impregnated with worldliness and with materialism,
with all their down-dragging pressure and tendency. There
is the subtle atmosphere about you to keep you away from
God. How difficult in some atmospheres it is to pray! How
difficult in some atmospheres to think seriously! All about
us is the down-dragging atmosphere, to make us forget sin
and death and the judgment and the world to come, and our
personal accountability to God. The atmosphere about you
may easily cause you to drift. Such atmosphere tells us:
"When in Rome do as the Roman does." The very atmos-
phere about you constantly inclines your boat to go down
the stream.

What other current is there to cause your boat to go down
the stream? There is the daily task. We are preoccupied.
We have our hands full, our heads full, our hearts full, our
lives full. There is the daily task. Over there in Luke's gos-
pel Jesus gives a faithful picture of human life. He spoke a
parable to them, saying: *The ground of a certain rich man
brought forth plentifully, and he thought within himself, say-
ing, What shall I do, because I have no room where to be-
stow my fruits and my goods ? And he said, This will I do ;
I will pull down my bams and build greater, and there will I
bestow all my fruits and my goods, and I will say to my soul.
Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take
thine ease. Eat, drink and be merry." Wasn't it fine? Oh,
no, it was not fine. This man forgot that his soul could not be
fed on com. This man forgot that he was doomed to die.
This man forgot that he must answer God. This man said:

THE DEADLY DANGER OF DRIFTING 177

**I will say to my soul, Thou hast much goods laid up for many
years. Take thine ease. Eat, drink and be merry. No mat-
ter if the drouth comes, no matter if no crops are made, I
have enough for years. I will not worry. Take thine ease.
Eat, drink and be merry." But God, who is the unseen but
real factor in every human life, said to him: "Thou fool,
thou fool, this night shall thy life be required of thee. Then
whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So
is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich to-
ward God." A man's daily business, profitable and proper
business, a man's daily tasks, profitable and proper, if he does
not watch, shall make him lock God and light and heaven out
of his life and miss all that is highest and best, and bring
him to doom and death.

What other current is there to make you drift? There is
the deadening that comes from familiarity with religious
things, to make men drift. I said to a sexton in one of our
cemeteries: "Doesn't this daily digging of graves depress
you?" And he said: "Not now, sir, not now. When I first
began to dig these graves out here, I was blue from night uhtil
morning and from morning till night. I went to my bed at
the end of the day's work, to dream through the night about
digging graves, and I dreamed about seeing the big caskets,
and the tiny caskets, and all, but now, sir, I have got past all
that. I could lie down in the midst of these graves now and
sleep without any disturbance. I have been in it so long, I
have touched it so much, I have become so familiar with it,
it makes no impression upon me at all."

Oh, that deadening power, if we resist light from God!
That is a fearful Scripture which says that the gospel is the
savor of life unto life, or of death unto death. A man
hears the gospel and resists it. He is weaker and worse off
than ever before. The gospel is the savor of life unto life,
or of death unto death. There is the undoing power, the
deadening power, the corroding power, the wasting power of
familiarity with religious things.

And along with that is the deadening power that comes
with time. A business man, who has made good in the world's
big affairs, a splendid man in many ways, said to me a little
while back, when I talked to him about religion and the higher

178 A' QUEST FOR SOULS

call, after we had talked perhaps two hours : "Sir, you think
I have won in life." I said: "Yes, in a way, you have."
"Well," he said, "the world would say I have won in life, with
all this business success," and then he turned upon me with
his care-worn face and said: "I would give every dollar I
have if I could cry about personal religion like I used to
when I was a sixteen year old boy. But," he said, "I have
given myself, I have given my life, I have given my hands, I
have given my brain, I have given my blood, I have given my
manhood, I have neglected my family, I have given my all,
to win, and I do not seem to have any feeling any more at
all." And he is not yet quite fifty years of age. Yes, yes,
the currents are all about you to beat you down.

There is another serious word to be said, and that is that
we can go drifting down the stream and not know it. Many
a Christian is terribly backslidden in his heart and does not
realize it. You remember the story about Samson. Samson
wist not that his strength had departed from him, and when
he went out to grapple with his task he was utterly paralyzed.
His strength was gone, and he v/ist it not. You remember
that description of Israel of old — gray hairs were upon his
head, but he did not know that he had gray hairs. A man
can drift and be far down the stream, almost to the rapids,
almost to the frightful plunge over the precipice, and not
know it at all.

Oh, soul, wrong with God, I am coming in this last moment
to beg you to turn your boat up-stream. Is there anything in
your life wTong in the sight of God? Do you wince when you
think of bringing your life to the gaze of Heaven — ^to the in-
spection of God ? Do you wince ? Then I pray you, be candid,
and I pray you, be serious, and I pray you, be purposeful, and
I pray you, be determined, and I pray you, be highly resolved.
I pray you, turn that boat up-stream. You have too much at
stake to go longer and further down the stream. Act up to the
light you have. A noted woman, in the darkness, terrible dark-
ness religious, said to one : "What on earth shall I do ? Every-
thing about religion is dark as night to me? What shall I
do?" And that one whom she questioned gave her back this
wise answer: "Oh, lady, act as if God were, and you shall
iy come to know that He is." And in just a few hours she came

THE DEADLY DANGER OF DRIFTING 179

back, His surrendered, trusting child. My fellow-men, my
gentle women, act up to the light you have.

Have you drifted? Are you drifting? Is there some-
thing in your life wrong in the sight of God. Is your boat
going down the stream? I pray you, I challenge you, I be-
seech you, I summon you, I call to you — turn your boat up-
stream and turn it without delay, and turn it before it is too
late.

A young fellow heard a preacher in the other days, and
was greatly moved, and the preacher said : "When you have a
religious impression, the time to act upon it is right then.
The time when you hear God's call, in the which you ought to
respond is right then." And the young fellow walked down
the aisle and publicly made his surrender to Christ, saying:
"It shall be right now that I take Christ as my Savior," and
he went back to the saw-mill in the mountains where he work-
ed, and the boys said that next morning he sang all the morn-
ing. Religion in the heart makes men sing. The boys said
that he sang all the morning, as they moved the great logs to
the saw-mill, and as he went singing all that morning — ^the
first morning that he had ever known what it was to be
Christ's trusting disciple and follower — about noon his body
was caught somehow in the machinery and crushed and man-
gled, so that a little while thereafter he went away into dusty
death. When they got him out he faintly said : "Send for the
preacher, that preacher in the church house at the foot of the
mountains last night." The preacher fortunately was soon
found and hurried up the mountain to the mill, and he bent
down by the side of the dying fellow, and took his hand and
said: "Charley, I have come. What would you like to say?"
And with a smile on his face that was never on land or sea,
he faintly pressed the minister's hand and said : "Wasn't it a
glorious thing that I settled it in time?" Oh, my men and
women, my men and women, I beseech you, in the great
Savior's name, turn your boat up-stream before it is too late !
"Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation."
Let it be your time — your day. Lord, save thou the people
and they shall be saved !

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

And now, Holy Fatlier, as the people go out from this midday service, may
they go to practice the truth they have heard. May they go to put Into life

180 A QUEST FOR SOULS

the summons, the challenge, the exhortation, the entreaty of God's Boole, which
has been brought us this hour. May the drifting Christian say: "As for me,
whatever others may or may not do, God help nie, I am going to turn my steps
in the right way to-day." May such one say with Joshua: "As for me and my
house, we will serve the Lord." O, we pray that the drifting Christian, no mat-
ter what caused the drifting, nor how and where it began, may such Christian
this day come back and walk humbly with Christ, and be saved from those
burning memories, and those accusations of conscience, which ever follow waste
and drifting in the Christian life. And still more do we pray. Lord Jesus, that
the soul in this place that is going down life's stream, without hope and without
God, not saved, not ready to live, not ready to die, not ready for any world, all
wrong with God, wrong with the moral universe, wrong with time, wrong with
eternity, wrong with earth, wrong with heaven, wrong in every right respect, be-
cause wrong in the chiefest way — may such man or woman now be helped of God's
gprace to say: "As for me, this day, God help me, my life is going to be linked
with the will of Christ." May every soul in this presence wrong with God, now
say: _*'As for me, this day I will seek the Lord, and I will follow Him wherever
His light and leading shall point the way." Deepen this work of grace profoundly
in the hearts of this multitude this midday hour, O thou life-giving Lord, and all
through this fair city, may God, by His Divine Spirit, make many a visit to-day,
summoning the people in the upward way.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all and each as now you go,
to abide with you forever. Amen.

XIII

NIGHT SERVICE, JUNE 18, 1917.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Again and again does the duty and the privilege need
to be urged upon all of the great Master's friends that we
shall give ourselves, one by one and from day to day, the
best we can, to the right kind of religious visiting. 'Tis
a glorious thing. 'Tis nobly constructive. 'Tis the right
kind of thing in a meeting, when God's people not only
make it a point to come to the public services, but make
it a point to go away from the public services and as best
they can speak to the people about Christ and His great
salvation. You recall that cordial and beautiful invitation
that Moses gave to Hobab, his kinsman : ''Come thou with
us, and we will do thee good." That invitation ought
to be given by Christians day by day: "Come thou with
us, and we will do thee good." They are all about us,
those who need such personal appeal. They are our neigh-
bors. Some of them are our own loved ones, living under
our own roofs. They are our fellow-citizens. They are
our friends. They are strangers within our gates. They
are the poor and the rich, the high and the low. Day in
and out, the right kind of religious visiting, by which is
meant the right kind of conversation concerning personal
religion, ought to be had by Christ's friends. Do it, I pray
you, my fellow Christians, to the last limit of your power.
Speak the word in season to others, from day to day, who
need to hear from your lips the right appeal concerning
personal religion.

181

;^g2 A QUEST FOR SOULS

It is a deeply interesting study to glance at the faces
of people assembled in an audience like this, from evemng
to evening. I have found myself searchmg the audience,
as I do every audience, and my heart is moved by tiie di-
versity of faces, for what is quite so interesting as a human
face? It has been specially interesting to note that all
aees are coming to the services ; the older people, with their
white hairs and their stooped shoulders, and the strong,
middle-aged men and women, now grappling with the big
battle of life, and the young men and women, beginning
to know something of the seriousness of life, and then the
happy boys and girls. How blessed it has been to see the
boys and girls in these several evening services, and still
more blessed to mark how they listen! I look about me
and note in the audience this evening many boys and girls,
and find my heart lifting up a prayer for every boy and
every eirl, and find my heart lifting up a prayer for every
young man and woman. Oh, how I covet the young people
for Christ' It is God's time for them to come, while they
are young, for Jesus not only wishes to receive us into
heaven when we shall die and leave this world, but He
wishes us also to live like we ought while we are in this
world He desires not only to save our souls, but He
would save our lives here and now. And, therefore, how
reasonable, how wise, that we should be inexpressibly con-
cerned for the boys and girls, for the young men and
women.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH JESUS?

Text: *'What shaU I do then with Jesus which is called Christy-Matt. 27:22.

I would take a text this evening that I would have
every boy carefully to hear, and every girl, and every
young man, and every young woman, and the older men
and women, because the text is a personal question, from
which there is no getting away, an old ^^^^tion a question
asked by Pilate. This is that old question: What shall
I do then with Jesus?" ^ ^ ^ |

Pilate had to face that question, and he trifled vdtK it,,
and he made shipwreck of himself because he trifled with
that question. And everybody that trifles with that ques-

WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH JESUS? 183

tion shall make shipwreck of himself or herself for time
and for eternity. "What shall I do then with Jesus?" That
question is yours and mine, just the same as it was Pilate's,
and we must answer that question, just as surely as he
was called upon to answer it long ago. Now I am coming
to ask these young people and these older people, to-night,
and all of us, and each one of us, how shall we answer
this question: "What shall I do then with Jesus?" How
shall we answer it?

Sometimes the best way to answer a question is to ask
other questions, and that is the way I am going to do
to-night with this question. I am going to ask you some
other questions, so that by asking these other questions
we will be led up to see what we ought to do with this
question we have to-night for our text: "What shall I
do then with Jesus?"

And this is the first question I would ask: What can
I do with Jesus? Do something with Him I must. I can-
not evade that question. I cannot avoid it. I cannot es-
cape it. Do something with Jesus I must. Neutrality
respecting that question is impossible. Now, what can
I do with Jesus? I can accept Him as my Savior, or I
can reject Him and turn away from Him, just as this man
Pilate did. I can crown Him as my Savior, or I can cru-
cify Him morally in my heart. I can put Him away and
have nothing to do with Him. I must do one of those
two things. There are not three things to be done about
Jesus, but one of two things. I shall either be His friend
or His foe. I shall either accept Him as my Savior or
reject Him. I shall either follow after Him or turn away
from Him. I shall either say "Yes" to Him, or "No" to
Him. I shall either be for Him or against Him. Now, I
must do one of those two things.

That brings us to the second question I would ask:
Who is to decide the question for me — "What shall I do
then with Jesus?" Who is to decide that question for me?
There is but one somebody in all the world to decide that
question for me. Who is that somebody? Certainly not
my foes, if I have any, are to decide that question for me —
and I. trust that I have none. Certainly not my friends —

184 A QUEST FOR SOULS

and I trust I have friends — but however many, or how-
ever few, or however true they may be, no friend that I
have in this world can decide that question for me, but
I m3^self must decide it. Nor will I be forced to decide
it. I will not be coerced to decide it. I will not be com-
pelled by force to decide this question. Jesus comes and
stands before us and asks: "What will you do with me?
Do something with me you must. What is it going to
be?" Nobody will compel me. Nobody will coerce me.
Nobody will drive me. Nobody will force me. I myself
must face that question, and I must answer it. Now there
comes in the highest dignity of human life, and there comes
in the greatest danger to human life. The highest dignity
of human life is that a human being can say "Yes" or say
"No" to God. A little human being, fashioned by the
great Maker, can say "Yes" or say "No" to God, and will
say one of those two things when God makes His call.
That is the highest dignity allowed a human being and at
the same time that is the greatest danger that ever comes
to a human life. No danger can compare with that. I can
take this awful power of choice that God has given me —
and the highest prerogative of human life is the preroga-
tive of choice — I can take that and I can ruin myself with
it. I can ruin my life ; I can ruin my soul ; I can ruin all
pertaining to me, by flinging choice down into the ditch
and making the wrong use of choice. Certainly, God is
never at fault that a soul makes the wrong choice. God
is never at fault that a soul misses the upward way.

Listen to God as He talks about it. He takes a great
oath by himself, saying: "As I live, saith the Lord God,
I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that
the wicked turn from his way and live;" "Turn ye, turn
ye, from your evil ways; for why will ye die, oh, house
of Israel?" Certainly Jesus is never at fault that a soul
misses the upward way. Look at Jesus yonder, weeping
over the city of Jerusalem, and as He weeps. He utters
that plaintive cry: "Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often
would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen
gathereth her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." JesuS is

WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH JESUS? 185

never at fault that a soul misses the upward way. If I
shall miss the heavenly way, if this boy shall, or that girl,
or that young man or woman, or the middle-aged man or
woman, or the oldest man or woman here to-night ; if any
of us shall miss that upward way, which I pray God to
forbid— yet if any of us shall miss the upward way, the
fault will not be God's fault, but it will be our fault.

And now that brings me to another question: What
does it matter what I do with Jesus? Does it matter at
all? I have already said: Do something with Him I must.
Do something with Him I will. I will be for Him or
against Him. As certainly as I live and breathe, do some-
thing with Jesus I must, I must. Now, what does it matter
what I do with Him? Does it matter at all? And if it
matters, how does it matter? Wherein does it matter
what I do with Jesus? I am coming to say that it matters
vitally in three great respects. Let us see what they are.
First of all, it matters vitally to you personally, in
your own life, what you do with Jesus. Jesus comes offer-
ing to' forgive your sins, if you will surely trust Him.
Jesus comes offering to give you a new heart, if you will
trust Him as your Savior. Jesus comes offering to change
you with a change that must be within you, if you would
meet God in peace. Jesus does all that. If you come and
give yourself up to Jesus as your Savior, then m His own
way. He will change you and forgive your sins, and put
His'power within you, and give you His great salvation.
Surely, that is a matter of unspeakable concern to you.
What you do with Jesus determines whether you shall be
saved. If you do the right thing with Jesus, you will be
saved. If you do the wrong thing with Jesus, you will
miss the upward way and be forever lost. Surely, that
is a matter of supreme moment for you, what you shall
do with Jesus for your own self.

But that is not all. What you do with Jesus vitally
matters about your relations to everybody else. What
you do with Jesus vitally affects the life you are to live
and the influence you are to wield down here in this world.
Jesus came, as I said a moment ago, not only to save our
§ouls and to bring us home to heaven when this hfe. down

186 A QUEST FOR SOULS

here is done, but Jesus wants to save our lives, wants to
save our influence, wants to save us, and have us on the
right side here in this world — here and now. And what
you do with Jesus not only matters for yourself, but it
matters in your influence over everybody else. If I should
ask these young people to-night this question: "Do you
desire to be useful? Do you wish to live the life most
useful?" your answer would be given without a moment's
hesitation, and with uplifted hand you would say: "Sir,
I desire to live the useful life, to live the most useful life
that it is possible for me to live while I live in this
world." Well, the most useful life is utterly impossible if
you do not do the right thing with Jesus. If you do not
take Jesus to be your Savior and Master, the most useful
life is utterly impossible. Jesus comes wanting to save
our life, our influence, have us on the right side, so that
our powers may not be misplaced, and be misused, and be
wasted. Jesus wants to save us in the life that we live
here and now, in its relations towards other people.

An old man was saved when he was just eighty years
old. Not many people live to be that old. Perhaps very few
of us in this company will live to be eighty. Three score
and ten is man's allotted life. But this old man that I am
thinking of lived to be eighty, and at eighty he was glo-
riously converted to Christ. Like a little child, he said
"Yes" to Jesus when Jesus called him, and then he lived
four years more. He lived to be eighty-four years old, and
you might ask him when he was eighty-four years old how
old he was, and he would tell you that he was "four years
old." His great-grandchildren would sometimes get around
him, and they would say: "Grandpa, how old are you?"
And the dear old man, with his voice trembling, would
say: "My children, grandpa is four years old." And they
v/ould laugh and nudge one another, and would say : "Why,
grandpa, you are eighty-four." "No," he would say, "I am
four years old." And they would laugh again and say:
"Why, grandpa, you are eighty-four." And then he would
stop and explain to them, every time: "No. my children,
grandpa lived eighty years without God. Grandpa lived
eighty years without being the friend of Jesus. Grandpa

WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH JESUS? 187

lived eighty years going the wrong road, putting his life
on the wrong side, on the side of sin and Satan, and he has
lived just four years on the right side, just four years on
Jesus* side, and, therefore, grandpa insists that he is just
four years old." Now, there was deep truth in what he
said. He was making the point that I am making to-
night— that Jesus wants to save our lives, and our lives
are not saved to the highest if they are against Jesus, if
they refuse Jesus, if they reject Jesus, if they turn away
and fail to follow Jesus.

But more is yet to be said. What does it matter what
we do with Jesus? It matters something else, very im-
portant. I have said it matters for our own salvation what
we do with Jesus. And then I have said it matters for
the life that we live in this world what we do with Jesus.
Now I make bold to say this other word: Where we are
going to spend eternity is dependent upon what we do
with Jesus. Now, isn't that a momentous matter? Where
shall I spend eternity? Eternity, oh, thou great eternity!
Where shall I spend eternity? I will spend eternity ac-
cording to what I do with Christ, and according to what I
do with Christ here in this world, before I go into eternity
at all. Now, isn't that a stupendous matter? And isn't
that a matter to take hold of the hearts of these young
people, and these middle-aged, older people? Where shall
I spend eternity? I will spend eternity according to what
I do with Christ here in the world, here in time, here in
the flesh, here on this earth.

If you have ever been to the Jerry McCauley Mission,
yonder in New York City, you will recall that as you en-
tered it, your attention was arrested by a striking motto,
there in plain view before you, and this is the question of
that motto: "If I should die to-night, where would I go?"
Every man and woman that comes in sees the placard
there on the wall : "If I should die to-night, where would
I go?" I ask this audience, this Monday night, to ask
themselves, one by one: "If I should die to-night, where
would I go?"

You would go into eternity according to your relations
here to Christ. Christ said to some people who caviled

188 A QUEST FOR SOULS

at His teaching when He was here : "Ye shall die in your
sins; whither I go, ye cannot come." Christ distinctly
teaches us that our relation in eternity will be determined
by our relation here in time to Christ. How serious, how
momentous, how tremendous, is that thought! If I am
to spend eternity in blessedness and peace, then that mat-
ter will be determined here in time by what I do with
Christ. And if here in time, I reject Christ, forget Christ,
leave Him alone, do not come to Him, do not say "Yes"
to Him, do not surrender to Him, and die in that state of
mind and heart, where He goes I cannot come. It is the
clear and unspeakably solemn pronouncement of the Scrip-
tures, whenever the question of destiny is touched upon
in the Scriptures. "As the tree falls, so shall it lie." "He
that is unjust," says the Bible, "let him be unjust still."
"He that is filthy, let him be filthy still." "He that is right-
eous, let him be righteous still." "He that is holy, let him
be holy still." What I do with Christ here in time, on
earth, this side of the grave, will determine where shall
be my eternity.

I have asked you three questions, and I have just one
more to ask. I have asked you three questions, trying to
help you answer this question of our text: "What shall
I do then with Jesus?" First, what can you do with Je-
sus? You can accept Him or reject Him. You can say
"Yes" to Him or "No" to Him. Second, what does it
matter what you do with Jesus? It matters vitally for
yourself. It matters vitally for the life you are to live in
this world. And it determines where you will spend your
eternity in the world after this. Who is to answer this
question for us ? We have looked at that question also. No-
body in the world can answer that question for us, but
each one for himself, for herself, must answer it. Now,
I am coming to ask one more question in the discussion
of this pungent question. Here it is : When should I de-
cide this question, "What shall I do with Jesus?" Your
question and my question, the inescapable question, the
inexorable question — when should this question, "What
shall I do with Jesus?" be decided? Shall it be decided yes-
day? It cannot be now. Yesterday is gone, and shall

WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH JESUS? 189

never come back again. Shall it be decided to-morrow?
We do not know anything about to-morrow. We have
no promise of to-morrow. The Bible distinctly prohibits
our building on to-morrow. "Boast not thyself of to-mor-
row; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."
When, then, should this question be decided? There is
only one time. The Bible tells us that time. "To-day is
the day of salvation." "Now is the accepted time." "To-
day, if ye hear His voice, harden not your heart." The
time wherein this question of what I am to do with Jesus
is to be settled, the time for its right settlement is to-day,
is here and now, because that is God's time. When we
know what is God's time, we should address ourselves to
it without any delay.

Why should we settle this question of what we are to
do with Jesus to-day — to-day and now? I have already
said because it is God's time. Whenever we know God's
time, we should adjust ourselves to it, obediently and
promptly. This is God's time. He knows the best. He
tells us: "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in
his youth." He tells us: "Remember now thy Creator
in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor
the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleas-
ure in them." This is God's time, and, therefore, my con-
cern grows deeper every hour that the young people all
over the land may come to Jesus while yet they are young.
Oh, as surely as we live, wisdom has fled from our
churches, if we do not sound out, as we sound out no other
note in the world, that the time in which people are to be
saved is in life's morning, and not in life's evening, and not
in life's middle time. The time is in life's morning. "Re-
member now thy Creator, in the days of thy youth." Why?
He tells us : "While the evil days come not, nor the years
draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in
them." The time for us to come to Christ, oh, my young
people, happy boys and girls, happy, hopeful young men
and v/omen, the time for us to come is in life's morning,
because that it is the habit-forming time in life. Our habits
shall be crystallized soon. I have seen many people when
they were converted to Christ and confessed Him publicly

190 A QUEST FOR SOULS

before the people, and yet just a few have I ever seen
who came to Christ when the white hair was about their
temples — ^just a few. I spoke a little Avhile ago to some
1200 Christian men, a few over 1200 by actual count —
just Christian men — a special message I was asked to give
for Christian m_en — and I asked that group of a little over
1200 Christian men: "How many of you came to Christ
after you were forty-five years of age?" How many do
you suppose stood up? Only three after they were forty-
five. "How many of you came after you were forty?"
Thirteen. "How many of you came after you were thirty
years of age?" Less than fifty. "How many of you came
to Christ before you were twenty-one?" And over 1100
stood to their feet, saying: "We came to Christ before
we were twenty-one."

Oh, it is God's counsel for us to gather into His fold
the happy young people in the morning of life ! It is God's
time. It is the habit-forming time. They are forming their
habits quickly now. Life is plastic now. Life is renascent
now, responsive now, malleable now. After awhile it will
be set in its ways. The adage comes in just there which
says: "As the twig is bent the tree is inclined." You can
go and bend down the little bushes and swing them this
way and that, but in after years you may go back, and
there are the strong, stalwart trees, which will bend neith-
er this way nor that. They are set at last, fixed at last,
by the fearful power of habit and growth. That is the
parable and picture of human life. Oh, ye parents! Oh,
ye teachers ! God's time is for us to win the young people
to Him while yet they are young.

The story goes that a certain king once ordered one of
his subjects to make him a chain, and the blacksmith went
and made the chain a certain length, according to the
order of the king. And when the blacksmith brought the
chain to him, the king ordered him to go back and make
the chain twice as long, and the blacksmith obeyed him
and brought back the chain twice as long. Once again
the king bade the workman to take the chain and make it
still twice as long. And the blacksmith obeyed him, and
brought the chain to the king, and the king said to an-

WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH JESUS? 191

other subject, or other subjects: "Take this man and wrap
him in this chain, and bind him and destroy him." Now,
that is the parable and picture of habit. Satan does his
best to keep these boys and girls, and young men and
women, from coming to Christ in life's early morning. He
is forging that chain of habit longer and heavier, tighter
and stronger, every day, and the years pass on, and habit
tightens, and its ceils grow closer about the people, until
at last they seem set and fixed in their ways, and little is
the probability, far out in life, that they will ever come to
Christ at all. God's time is while they are young. I have
already said it is the useful time — and we want to be useful.
One little life we have down here — forty years or fifty years,
or more or less. Why live it at all, if we are not going to
live it in the right way? We will be cumberers of the
grourxi; we will not only hurt ourselves, but we will hurt
everybody else, if we live this life in the wrong way. One
little life to live! Oh, the glory of living it in the most
useful fashion, which cannot be unless we are honestly
for Jesus Christ.

There is yet another word to be urged upon you : You
should come to Jesus now, and rightly settle this question
of what you will do with Jesus now, because now is the
safe time. Now might be the only time. I think I had
better stress that for a moment, and stress it even for the
young people who sit in this audience, looking up into my
face, and listening so attentively, along with the older peo-
ple. The matter of coming to Christ should be settled
now because now is the safe time, and now might be the
only time.

May I tell you about preaching to my own young peo-
ple a special sermon some time ago, one morning, to the
Sunday school? The doors were shut, so that the Sunday
school would not be disturbed, and I preached a sermon
of some twenty-five minutes to the younger people there,
and when I had finished I asked who was ready then and
there to decide for Christ? When I asked that, I said: 'T
want all such to come and take my hand, those of you
who are ready now to say 'Yes' to Jesus, who will trust
Him, that from this morning He may be your Savior."

192 A QUEST FOR SOULS

And numbers and numbers of the young people came, and
along with that group came one of our girls, some twelve
or thirteen years of age, a serious and beautiful child.
Soon the service was concluded, and the day went by, and
the week went by, and I stood in my pulpit the following
Sunday morning, and when I had concluded the sermon
at the regular eleven o'clock service, a man came from
the outer door through my study, and touched me, and
said : "Before you go to your luncheon, you are wanted to
go to Nellie's home. They are going to take her to the
hospital. She is desperately ill, and she wants to see you
before she goes to the hospital." "Certainly," I said, "I
will go with you right now." I went with him speedily
to the home where Nellie lived, and there she was waiting
to see me before they carried her in the ambulance to the
hospital for the serious surgical operation. When I sat
down beside her I said : "What do you want to say to me,
Nellie?" She drew her handkerchief over her face, as if
to conceal the soft tears that bedewed her cheeks, and I
waited so that she could take her time and say what she
wanted to say to me in her own way. "What have you
got to say to me, my child?" I said again. And then she
said: "I don't know that I will come back from the hos-
pital. I am very sick." I said: "Well, Nellie, what if
you should not come back?" And she said: "That is just
what I want to talk with you about. If I do not come
back — and something tells me that perhaps I won't — if I
do not come back, I want you to know that it is all right,
and I want you to tell my Sunday school class of girls, if
I do not come back, that I was not afraid. I want you to
tell them that on last Sunday, when you preached to the
girls and boys, I decided for Christ, and I am following
Him; I am trusting Him. I said 'Yes' to Him last Sun-
day, and meant it, and if I do not come back, I want you
to tell the girls in my class that I went away and was not
afraid, because I had decided for Christ." I said : "I hope
you will come back all right, Nellie, but I am glad to hear
you say all that, my child, and Vv^e will be praying for
you. I will pray for you now, and then I will be thinking
of you this afternoon and to-night." The day wore away

WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH JESUS? 193

and the night came on, and I preached in the evening and
went back to my home, and at midnight word came from
the hospital, saying: "Nellie desires to see you very
much." I said : "Certainly ; I will be there very soon," and
very soon I was there. Things had all gone to the bad
with her, and her pulse galloped like some runaway horse.
I sat beside her, and said: "What have you to say now,
Nellie?" And she said: "I cannot go back home, and I
caanot get back to the Sunday school and to church any
more, and I want to ask you again to tell the girls in my
class that I was not afraid, that I was ready, because when
you preached a week ago, saying: 'Now is the accepted
time to decide for Christ,' I said : 'It shall be my time.' "
Wasn't it a glorious thing that I could tell the people that
a little girl of a dozen years, when she heard Jesus saying:
"Now is my time for you to come to me, now is the best
time, now is the safe time, now might be the only time,"
a little timid girl said: "It shall be my time. I will sur-
render to Jesus, and trust Him now and forever to be my
Savior?"

I am coming in a moment to the close of the sermon,
but I have a question to ask you, before you leave the
tent to-night. What have you done with Jesus? What
will you do with Him? Do you say: "I am ready to-
night to trust Christ; I am ready to-night to do the right
thing with Christ; I am ready to-night to answer that
question properly, *What shall I do then with Jesus?' I
will take Him for my Savior ; I will be for Him from this
hour, and no longer will I be against Him?" Then come
and tell us of that great decision, as now we sing.

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

And now as we go, we pray thee, our Father, to put thy gracious favor upon
these who publicly confess their acceptance of Christ as their personal Savior,
and let them go to live for Christ like the Christian life ought always and every-
where to be lived. And, O, put thy Spirit profoundly upon those who desired
thus to come but have held back. Show them how great a matter this is, how
eternally and urgently important a matter this is, of doing the right thiug with
Christ, and for Him. And may these young people — how we covet them every
one for Christ, from the morning of their lives — may tiaey all and each from this
night forward faithfully trust Christ, and follow Him in all His appointed ways
for His friends. And all through this city, deepen thou, we beseech thee, the
interest in all our hearts to be and to do in thy sight accprding to the counsel
of thy holy will. How we bless thee for thy goodness and mercy to us 1 Let
such goodness cause us daily to be more zealous for our Lord.

And now as the people firp, may the blessing- of the triune God be granted
you, all and each, to abide with you forever. Amen.

XIV

NOON SERVICE, JUNE 19, 1917.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.

A series of daily, special meetings, such as these now
in progress, are vitally important for God's people — for
those who are already Christians. Such meetings are pre-
eminently worth while, indeed, are altogether necessary
now and then, for God's own people, for it is easy for Chris-
tians to drift, and to have their habits in the Christian life
broken, and to go down life's stream, failing to give worthy
testimony for Christ, and at the same time missing the
peace and the power which ought to be in the Christian
life. Meetings like these are often necessary for Chris-
tians, to summon us, to challenge us, to bring us back
where we shall have our spiritual strength renewed and
made deeper and larger. But we should not be content,
as Christians, that the meetings shall be limited to that.
We should look about ourselves daily, and give ourselves
to serious thought and service for others. We should put
forth our efforts in the most thoughtful and diligent way
to help those about us w^ho are not Christians. What oppor-
tunities we have in a modern city like this — what opportun-
ities to help daily those who are not Christians! Most of
the men and women before me this Tuesday noon, I take
it, are Christian men and women. My heart would be pro-
foundly warmed, if I could believe and be assured that
every Christian here to-day would do his or her best to-day
and to-morrow, and from day to day to help those about

194

THE SUPREME OFFERING TO CHRIST 195

you who are not Christians. You should not neglect any-
body. The humblest, the poorest, the lowest, the tallest
man in town should each be spoken to, in the proper fash-
ion, concerning his personal relations to God. The woman
most needy, the most neglected, the most capable, the most
devoted to the social world, should each be appealed to, and
every such life sought for the side and service of Jesus.
Do I raise an unreasonable question when I raise the ques-
tion if every Christian before me cannot and will not make
it a point to bring with you to-night to the big tent, a
group of people who are not Christians? And if it could
not be a group, couldn't you find one person, and when
you find that person, and bring that person with you, prob-
ably sitting beside him or her — that can be determined in
each case, as may be deemed best — pray as you bring such
person, that the preacher may speak what and as he ought
to speak to help that person? We are not to get away
from that scriptural truth that "faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing, by the Word of God." I ask it most earnestly,
my fellow Christians, if you will not, all and each, make
it a point to bring with you to-night a group of people, or,
if not a group, then one person not a Christian, to the
daily services? How delighted we are to see these great
throngs of Christians at the public services, the largest
proportion of Christians, I think, that I ever saw in public
services ! But how deeply desirous we are that the Chris-
tians shall bring with them from service to service those
that are not Christians ! How we long to help them ! We
would do them good, and not evil at all. "And they that
be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;
and they that turn' many to righteousness, as the stars for-
ever and forever." Pay the price, I pray you, to be per-
sonal soul winners.

THE SUPREME OFFERING TO CHRIST.

Text: "Amasiah who willingly oflFered himself unto the Lord."— II Chron. 17: 16.

And now, as I come to speak this morning, I wonder,
as I look over this throng, just how much every life here
means to the world. Would you have your life to count
for the highest and the best? Then such life cannot count

196 A QUEST FOR SOULS

for the highest and best if it be not yielded to the guidance
and mastership of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a sen-
tence in the Bible that points this truth for us, to which
our attention is to be directed to-day: "Amasiah, who
willingly offered himself unto the Lord."

You ask. Who was Amasiah ? If you will read the con-
text, you will see that he was the chief officer in the reign
of good King Jehoshaphat. Next to the king himself, this
man Amasiah was the first man of the kingdom. So im-
portant was he that 200,000 picked men were put under
his command, and Amasiah stood next to the king in posi-
tion. Now, this important man, situated in this eminent
place, "willingly offered himself unto the Lord."

It is a glorious thing when men and women of leader-
ship are pronounced and positive friends of the Lord. It
is a glorious thing when the outstanding lawyer is the
modest, faithful friend of Christ; and the skillful doctor,
who has such an opportunity to bless the world; and the
patient teacher, who occupies such an eminent place of
responsibility and opportunity; and the alert editor, like-
wise strategicall}^ situated for wielding the most tremen-
dous and commanding influence; and the aggressive busi-
ness man, with people under him, whom he directs; and
on and on and on, in all realms. What a glorious thing
when people in position of leadership, as was this man
Amasiah, make it a point to be pronounced friends of God !
For the most serious thing in all the world, my men and
women, is this matter of personal influence. The most
significant thing about life is for life to be positionized
properly, and the most tragical thing about life is for life
to be positionized wrongly. Day in and day out, by the
quiet emanation of our influence, we are taking people up,
or we are dragging people down. Glorious then is it, be-
yond words, when a man or a woman is the known, posi-
tive, faithful friend of Christ!

Let the example of this man Amasiah teach us to-day.
There are two or three simple, but greatly important les-
sons in his story, that we may well study this morning.
First, Amasiah put God's cause as the first thing in his
life. Surely, that was right. Where should he have put

THE SUPREME OFFERING TO CHRIST 197

it? Where should the men and women before me this
Tuesday noon put God's cause? We must put it some-
where. We must give it some place. We do give it some
place. Where should we put God's cause, in our personal,
every-day life? Now, we take often the most superficial
view, as we face that question.

I saw a symposium a little while ago in one of the
clever magazines, where answers were given to the ques-
tion: "What is the great need for the church to-day?"
The answers given to that question were ludicrous, for
the most part, if the matters talked about had not been
so serious. One gave as his answer: "The great need for
the church, to-day, is that it shall have larger numbers."
Surely, he missed it widely. Never one time does God
put the emphasis on numbers. Indeed, we are distinctly
warned in the Bible, both by direct statement and by im-
plication, concerning the snare that there is in numbers.
David of old took the census of the kingdoms of Israel
and Judea, and plunged the nations into the direst disas-
ter, because while taking his census, he and his people
took their eyes away from God, and down the people went
into the ditch of disaster. It is not how many we count
that tells, but how much do we weigh? It is not quantity
that tells, but quality. It is not duration that tells, but in-
tensity. Once when Henry Drummond was holding an
institute for a group of Christian men, following his ad-
dress he gave a quiz for the men, and presently one of them
asked: "Mr. Drummond, isn't the first need of Christian-
ity to-day that it shall have more men behind it?" And
quick as a flash the keen man made answer: "No, not
more men, but a better brand." Jesus cannot command
big situations with little people. I dare to affirm to-day
that Jesus is most of all hindered by little people, and,
therefore, there comes the ringing challenge of the Bible :
"Quit you like men" — not like fops, not like dandies, not
like prigs — "quit you like men." Jesus waits for the
strength, the robustness, the masculinity, the power, the
personality of men laid on His altar, to win victories that
shall shake the world.

Then, in that same symposium to which T have re-

198 A QUEST FOR SOULS

ferred, one made answer that the great need for Christ's
cause is that it should have more money. That answer is
as wide of the mark as is the first. Nowhere in the Bible
does the emphasis fall upon money as the chief requisite
for the triumph of God's cause. Money is a powerful fac-
tor everywhere, in religion as well as in the daily affairs
of men. I have no sympathy at all with that outcry that
is sometimes heard against money, against men who make
money, against men who have money. It is the cry of the
thoughtless, and sometimes of the anarchist, and for it I
have no sympathy. A man who can make money ought to
make it, legitimately, to be sure, honestly, rising early in
the morning and toiling late at night. But as men make
money, they are to remember that challenging word spoken
by Moses, when he said: "But thou shalt remember the
Lord thy God; for it is He that giveth thee power to get
wealth." We are to remember that money is to be a serv-
ant, and not to be our master at all. I can quite well un-
derstand how a certain rich woman in the country felt
awhile ago, when she lay a-dying, and at last piteously
appealed to the physician to know if that were death that
she was then facing, and had his answer that it was. Then,
seeking to draw the covering about her face, some who
were present said that over and over again the rich, self-
centered woman wailed out her cry: "Oh, how I dread
to meet God when I remember how I have trifled with
my money !" And well she might, for she must answer at
God's judgment bar for every dime that she has had. Do
not be deceived— money is not the first thing in the king-
dom of God! It is often an unmitigated curse, the lust
for which turns many from the better way, and pierces
them through with many sorrows.

What is the first thing for the triumph of the kingdom
of God? It is pointed here in the case of this man Ama-
siah. He put God's cause as the first thing in his life. He
crowned his life by putting God's cause therein as su-
preme. It was tlie same kingly word said by Jesus long
afterward, when He preached His great sermon, saying:
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteous-
ness; and all these things" — bread and meat and sufficient

THE SUPREME OFFERING TO CHRIST 199

to wear — "shall be added unto you." "Seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and His righteousness." "Seek ye first" —
not secondly, not thirdly, not incidentally, not partially,
not optionally, not in subordinate fashion. Put "first" the
kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and then you can
go afield anywhere, absolutely assured that the best thing
is going to come to you.

Later along, that incomparable Paul illustrated the
same truth, when he said : "To me to live is Christ." Or,
freely translated, he said: "For me to live is for Christ
to live over again." "That is to say," said Paul, "in my
own little life, the best I can, I am to reincarnate the spirit
and teachings and purposes of Christ, and to live literally
for Him." "I am not my own at all," said Paul. "I am
Christ's. I belong to Him by a threefold claim. He cre-
ated me, and then He died for me, and then He preserves
me, and I belong to Him by that threefold claim." "My
brain is not mine," said Paul; "it is Christ's. Let me
mind what I do with Christ's brain. My hands are not
mine; they are Christ's. My feet are not mine; Christ
bought them with His blood. Let me mind where I take
Christ's feet. My heart is not mine, but Christ's. Let
me mind what I love with Christ's heart. My life is not
mine, but Christ's. Let me see to it that I take Christ's
life and put it where, and live it as Christ's life ought to
be lived,"

Now this man Amasiah points that grandly telling les-
son for us, and he did it in what we call a secular calling.
He did it yonder in the army, and if there is a difficult
place, I should judge, for men to stand up and be four-
square for God, it would be in the army. And yet there,
this strong man put God's cause first — there in the army —
which leads me to say that the distinction that we some-
times seek to make between what we call the "sacred and
the secular" is an improper distinction. There can be no
secularities in the right kind of a Christian life. You are
just as much called to be the right kind of a Christian here
on Tuesday, as you are yonder, Sunday morning, in the
house of God, with the hymn book in your hand, lustily
singing praises to His name. And I will dare to affirm

200 A QUEST FOR SOULS

that if Christian men and women are going to be more
careful and conscientious at one place than another, then
out in the market place, in the shops and factories and
stores, in the court house, in the busy marts of trade, in
the circles where men constantly touch elbows with the
world, let them there see to it that they are the right kind
of Christians. If they are going to make a difference any-
where, let the better way have pre-eminence out there, as
they touch elbows with the world.

I see glimpses, I think, of that glorious day coming
when God's men and women will, out in the big world,
shine there for Christ and witness there for Christ, so that
daily their lives shall have increasingly winning power
over the world about them. Some years ago it was my
privilege to speak for ten days in another state, in one
of the largest and noblest of our American churches. In
such congregation was the leading shoe man of the world,
who was also a devout Christian. Morning by morning,
and night by night, he was faithfully in his place in the
meetings. One day as we v/ere going away I asked him:
"If you should put your life passion in one sentence, what
would that sentence be?" He smiled and said: "If you
had come to my office, like I have asked you, you would
know, for I have it there in my office on a cardboard. You
had better come over and find out." I went on with him,
and presently we were there in his office. There was his
life passion, on the cardboard, in six little words. Some
of these business men have, perhaps, been in his office and
have seen them. Six little words voiced his life passion.
If you have been there, you will recall them. Here they
are: "God first. Family second. Shoes third." That is
exactly right. You put it any other way, and you v/ill
make trouble. That arrangement is exactly right: "God
first. Family second. Business third." God first, before
father and mother and dearest loved ones. God first, be-
fore man's business, certainly. Making a living is a mere
incident. Making a life is v\^hat we are in the world for.
God first, our family second, and then our daily task third.

An interesting story is told of one of the great pork
packers of the Northwest. One was introduced to him

THE SUPREME OFFERING TO CHRIST 201

one day and did not quite understand who he was, and
asked him at once: "What is your business?" The big
packer made answer, with modest face: "I am a Chris-
tian, sir. That is my business." The man questioning
him' reddened a little in the face and said: "You did not
understand. What is your daily work? What is your
main concern?" And the packer made answer, with his
own face reddening, because he was modest, and said:
"My business, sir, is to be a Christian, but I pack pork,
sir to pay the expenses." Oh, men and women before me,
our business in this world and life of ours is to be the
right kind of friends for Christ. That is our one, supreme
business. Amasiah points that lesson for us.

Amasiah points a second lesson, to which your atten-
tion is briefly directed. Our text says: "Amasiah will-
ingly offered himself unto the Lord." Note that carefully.
See what this man Amasiah offered his Lord: "Amasiah
willingly offered himself" — himself — to the Lord. And
that is the supreme gift. The highest contribution that
any man or woman can make to this needy world is to
live in it the right kind of a life. One Savonarola turned
the tides of wicked Florence. The people said of John
Chrysostom, that glorious preacher in Constantinople: * It
were better for the sun to cease his shining than for John
Chrysostom to cease his preaching." This man Amasiah
gave his life to the Lord. Now, there is the crux of the
whole matter of living the Christian life.

I go every year to the cattlemen of the West, to their
annual camp meeting, and have been thus going to them,
for a week every year, for fifteen years. The most inter-
esting week I ever live, in some respects, is that week;
and among the most interesting men — the biggest, the
finest, in manv respects, that I have ever touched are
those stalwart men. Sometime ago, when I was out there^
I preached to those men, some 1200, hidden away m a clitt
of the mountains, one morning, on the text : "Ye are not
your own. Ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify
God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
One of those big fellows who heard that day had not been
a Christian long. When the service was over he locked

202 A QUEST FOR SOULS

his arm in mine and said: "Let's go for a walk. I have
something serious to say to you." We went up the canyon,
about a mile and a quarter away from the camp. After
we started, he did not say another word for quite awhile.
His great chest rose and fell, as if some seething furnace
were beneath it, as, indeed there was. I waited for him
to speak; I did not venture to question him at all. When
we were a mile and a quarter away from the camp, behind
a large ledge of rock, he turned and faced me, and said:
"I want you to pray a dedicatory prayer for me." "What
do you wish to dedicate?" I asked. Slowly he began to
talk, and the tears began to stream from his eyes, and he
said: "I did not know until this morning that all these
thousands of cattle that I have called mine are not mine
at all, but every one belongs to Christ. I did not know
until this morning that all these miles and miles of lands
over which my cattle have browsed are not mine at all,
but that every acre belongs to Christ. You see, I have
not been a Christian long, and I do not know much about
the Christian life. I have learned to-day, as never before,
what the Christian life means. Now I see that every hoof
of all these thousands of cattle belongs to Christ, and every
acre of all these lands over which they browse belongs to
Christ, and I want to take my true place in God's cause.
I want you to tell God for me that I will be His trustee
from this day on. I will be His administrator on His es-
tate. I will try to live from now on like such an adminis-
trator ought to live. And when you finish telling Him
that for me, you wait. I have got something to tell Him
myself." We knelt there behind the rock, like two chil-
dren, and I said: "Master, this man bids me tell thee
thus and so, thus and so." And he assented and consented,
while I spoke the sentences to God. When T had finished
I waited, and he put his face down to the ground and
sobbed. I waited and waited, and on and on he sobbed,
and presently he gasped out his prayer. It was this : "And
now. Master," he said, "am I not in a position to give you
my bad boy? His mother and T seem to have no influence
at all over him, but I have given you my property to-day,
and I will henceforth be your administrator on your estate,

THE SUPREME OFFERING TO CHRIST 20a

and now won't you take my boy in the same way, and save
him, and save him soon, for your glory ?" We went back to
the camp, and the day wore to evening, and I stood up
again to preach to the men. Nor had I spoken fifteen
minutes until that wild son, on the outskirts of that crowd,
stood up before us all, came toward his father sitting there
at the front, and as he came and as we looked, he said:
"Papa, I cannot wait until that man is done his sermon.
I have decided for Christ!" And this Scripture, that hour,
was plain to our hearts : "Delight thyself also in the Lord ;
and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Oh,
what power a man has with God, when such man comes
to Christ and says to Him: "You can get me for any
field, for any journey, for any task, for any duty that you
wish. Master, I am yours — to go and to say and to be
and to do, just as thou wilt." What a power he has in
the world!

Notice the text again: "Amasiah offered himself will-
ingly." There was no coercion, no conscription, no draft-
ing. He offered himself willingly to the Lord. Oh, men,
my brothers! Oh, women, my sisters! What a glorious
thing for men and women to rise up and say, without being
coaxed and coerced and compelled and drafted and con-
scripted: "Christ can get my best, and I am going to
give Him my best!" What a power that man or that
woman is ! What a power ! One of two factors dominates
every life. Either self is the dominating factor in life, or
God. Mark it ! The self-centered life is doomed. No mat-
ter how brilliant, how clever, how powerful, hov/ achiev-
ing, the self-centered life is doomed. That is true of a
nation. The self-centered nation is going on the rocks.
That is true of an organization. The self-centered organi-
zation will finally collapse and be doomed. That is true
of a family. No matter how clever and brilliant and in-
fluential, if such family be self-centered, the day of its
doom comes on. Even as doom came to Lot's family, the
self-centered home is doomed, no matter how brilliant.
The imperial Gladstone was probably right when he said:
"Napoleon had the keenest brain that was ever packed into
a human skull." And yet Napoleon died like a dog in the

204 A QUEST FOR SOULS

ditch, after he had made Europe cower and cringe and
tremble before him. Why? He was self-centered in life
from first to last. What did he care to walk with cruel
foot over the heart of his beautiful Josephine? What did
he care to sacrifice a hundred thousand soldiers, if only
he could carry out his self-centered and fiendish ambition?
The self-centered life is doomed. No matter what the call-
ing, the position, the power, the self-centered life is
doomed. But the life linked with Christ, the life that says
*'Yes" to Christ, the life that says: "Thou, oh, Christ,
canst have thy way with me. Thy plan I wish. Thy
program I accept. The road thou wouldst have me travel,
make it plain to me and I will take it" — that is the life
victorious. That is the life that wins. That is the life
of glorious conquest on any field.

Before you leave this hall to-day, let me ask you, my
men and women, if you have fully settled it that you want
Christ's will brought to pass in your life? Any other
course has in it regret and ever-increasing distress. Is
it fully settled with you that you want Christ's will brought
to pass in your life? George MacDonald, that sturdy
Scotchman, phrased it in his simple poem: "What I Said
and What Christ Said." Maybe I can quote his lines:

I said: "Let me walk in the field."

He said: "No, walk in the town."
I said : "There are no flowers there."

He said: "No flowers, but a crown."

I said: "But the skies are black,

There is nothins? but noise and din."
And He wept as He sent me back :

"There is more," He said, "there is sin."

I said: "But the air is thick

And fogs are veiling the sun."
He said: "But hearts are sick,

And souls in the dark undone."

I said : "I shall miss the light.

And friends will miss me, they say."

And He answered: "Choose to-night
If I am to miss you, or they."

I pleaded for time to be giveij.^

He said: "Is it hard to decid«?
It will not seem hard in heaven

To have followed the steps of your Guid«l'*

Then I turned one look at the field.

And set my face to the town.
He said: "My child, do you yield?

Will you leave the flowers for the crown?"

THE SUPREME OFFERING TO CHRIST 205

Then into His hand went mine.

And into my heart came He,
And I walk in a light divine

That path I had feared to see.

Oh, my brother men, you will miss it unspeakably,
you will miss it irrevocably, you will miss it so that memo-
ries will burn and conscience will bite like some devour-
ing serpent, if you are not for Christ. Wouldn't you like
publicly to-day to say: "God help me, I would be for
Him, I will be for Him, and to-day I yield myself to Him
to be for Him till life's day is done?" Every soul that
says : "I say that," come tell us now, as we sing the hymn.

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

How we thank thee, O, our Father, for thy marvelous goodness to us I We
go now with a prayer deep and fervent to God, that He will give these men and
women who confess Christ to-day to live for Him simply, honestly, straightfor-
wardly, conscientiously, consistently, till the earthly day is done. Some here
to-day have wandered far from God. Yea, Lord, who in this presence has not
wandered? But we want to return, we would now leave ourselves in Christ's
hands, like a little child rests on its mother's heart. Forgive our every evil way,
O Lord, and fr-om this hour take us by thy hand and guide us by the counsel
of thy Spiri-t, so that we shall go where, and speak what, and live as the great,
good Savior would ever have us to do. And may the soul in this house all
wrong with God, bedarkened and troubled, who has missed the right way, has
wasted life, has wasted influence, be taught of thee that it is not too late yet
to be reconciled to God. Speak to such now and say to that one that God will
forgive him, and will put his feet in a sure place, and God will help him to be
strong and true, and right, and safe, if only he will surrender his life to Jesus,
the welcoming Savior and Lord.

And now may this whole multitude go to-day to speak as they ought for
Christ, to-day and every day, and to give His cause their best love and loyalty
and strength as long as they shall live in the flesh.

Keep us, O thon covenant-keeping God, in the love of Christ, and faithful
to His holy will, till the day is done. Wc pray in His all-prevaiHng name. Amen.

NIGHT SERVICE, JUNE 19, 1917_.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

A letter has just been handed me from a mother, who
says she has been attending these services, and has re-
ceived a large blessing from them. She says in the letter
that her son is away in the training camp, getting ready
to respond to the country's call to war, and she greatly
desires the prayers of the Christian people here assembled,
for the salvation of that son. I can well believe from
what she says about him in the letter that he is, indeed,
a noble son, the pride and joy of his mother's heart. It
will surely be a proper thing for us now to pray for him,
and for all the other sons who have gone out from this
community, like him, in response to the country's call. I
would pause just here to ask if there are other parents
present, whose sons have gone away to the training camps
to make ready to serve the nation in this world crisis?
We will unite our prayers in just a moment for those sons.

I wonder if there are not parents all through this
great throng, who have sons and daughters who are not
saved. I should like to ask every parent present, father
and mother, for whose unsaved child or children you
would like to ask for prayer, along with these that have
just been mentioned, the soldier boys that are away from
home; every parent in this midst, who has a child not a
Christian, whom you would see saved in God's time and
way, to stand quietly this moment. Many are standing.

206

THE DOOM OF DELAY 207

One eye sees and knows all that is represented by this
standing multitude. The Lord teach us to pray I May
we pray now, with heads bowed.

THE OPENING PRAYER.

Just because we need thee, O thou great and gracious Father, we would call
upon thee yet again, before the message of the hour is to be brought to the
people. We would be in thy presence here, waiting upon thee, just as thou
wouldst have us. We would turn from every evil way. We would follow the
Lord just as He points the way and from this very moment.

And now we would unite our prayers for all our soldier boys, who have
gone from us in response to the nation's call. Lord, shield them from evil and
so teach them concerning the things of God that they shall be God's men, the
soldiers and friends of the great Savior, living for Him, loving Him, and following
Him where'er they may be called in response to His will. May those who are
now Christ's friends be better friends to Him every day, and in thus serving Him
may they bless their comrades with eternal blessing. And may all thoee who
are not Christ's friends — those represented by parents here to-night and similar
sons throughout our great country — we pray that upon them all may be brought
to bear such worthy Christian influences that every one of them shall be speedily
won to Christ, and then go to live for Him with all the fulness and usefulness
of the Christian life. In these unusually anxious and responsible days, may all
these young men be taught of the Lord and find their strength in His control.

We beseech thee to look with favor upon all these parents to-night, who have
witnessed to the fact that they have some chiki dear to their hearts who is out
of the ark of safety. O, first of all we pray thee to bless these parents I In their
own hearts, give them all and each to be right with God. If any parent has
come short of duty in the training of the child, may such parent set about from
this very minute to redeem the time, to pursue the wisest possible course in the
immediate future, so that the best shall come to the child. Oh, we pray that
the immeasurably solemn responsibility of parenthood may be borne in upon us
all, so that all parents in this presence shall address themselves, with all sincerity
and diligence and devotion, to advise and to lead and to pray for and help their
children in the highest way, even in that way which shall have God's approvaL

Speak, we pray thee. Lord, to the waiting multitude. Search our hearts.
Deepen within us the sense of eternal things. Oh, deepen within us the sense
of the value of time, and the mighty meaning of personal influence, of personal
responsibility. Write the lesson deeply in our every heart that each man is his
brother's keeper, and that if we neglect, and evil comes to such brother, God
shall require his blood at our hands. Oh, let us see what a great thing it is to
live — to live in that high way, in that sublimely faithful way, that God com-
mands and that the interests of humanity about us so imperiously demand.

God be gracious to us now! Without thee we can do nothing. It is not by
might, nor by power, but by thy Spirit, O Lord, that these blessed things are
done for the children of men. We would not put our confidence for one moment
in arms of flesh. We would put it altogether in the living God. May He take
us by the hand, and wield the service to-night as He wishes. May He give the
preacher to speak what and as Christ would have him speak. May the people's
hearts be opened divinely, so that they shall hear and respond just as Christ
would have this multitude to hear and respond. Find us to-night, O Lord, every
one of us who has come to these pews. Oh, find us, heart by heart, and life by
life, and incline us to the upper and better way. If duty has been sadly neglected,
may we be unwilling from to-night to continue in such neglect. If backslidings
hold Christians here, may they now rise up with a high resolve and come back
to Christ. If men and women have long halted between two opinions, whether
to come to Christ or wait longer, may they put away the matter of waiting and
come now. May the boys and girls of tender years — how we love them and
would commend every one of them to Jesus — may they to-night be unwilling
longer to wait to say yes to Christ. And may God's will, whatever that is,
wherever that leads, whatever that costs, be done by us all, throughout the
entire servic* to-night. For Christ's sake. Amen.

THE DOOM OF DELAY

Text: "He lingered."— Gen. 19:16.

Deeper than any words I can say may indicate is the

208 A QUEST FOR SOULS

desire of my heart so to speak that I may help the people.
No other concern have I, in speaking in Fort Worth, or
speaking anywhere else, if I am able to read my heart.
I would do the people good, and not evil at all. The long-
ing is ever present with me, and inexpressible, that the
people may have the crown and climax of life, which is
true religion. That was a pungent thing a little boy said
to his father: "Papa, is your soul insured?" "Why do
you ask, my boy?" "Because I heard Uncle George say
that you had your life insured, and your house insured,
but he was afraid that you would lose your soul, because
you seemed to have no thought for your soul. Papa, won't
you get it insured right away?" The little fellow fired a
center shot when he asked that question. How true it is
that men and women do insure their lives, and insure their
houses, as they ought, and sometimes insure autos, and
yet the eternal claims of the soul are passed recklessly
by. That question asked needs ever to ring in our ears:
"What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole
world and lose his own soul?" What does it count, if a
man shall rise high in the world of business, or in the
world of statecraft, or in the word social and intellectual,
if such man forgets to give heed to the highest claim of
all, and lives and dies without the favor of God, and with-
out conserving the welfare of the soul? What does it all
matter? How solemn is the thought that men and women
come to public worship like this, and hear and feel and
think and desire, and yet through the power of delay miss
the upward way, and lose that which is of eternal value.
The text points such a case as that. You need not forget
the text. It may be easily remembered, because there are
just two words in it: "He lingered."

It describes the conduct of a man whose name was
Lot, who occupied wrong relations, and God sent angels
to warn him to cease from such wrong relations, and pur-
sue the right path — the path of importance and wisdom
and safety for himself and others. And yet, though he
was warned faithfully by God's messengers, there stands
out the ominous signboard in his life, on which are writ-
ten two little words: "He lingered."

THE DOOM OF DELAY 209

Evidently, this man Lot is the exact counterpart of
men and women in every community where the gospel is
preached. Faithfully are they told of their danger and
their duty. They are warned concerning the peril that
there is in lingering. And yet they wait and presume and
float down the current, until at last all that is highest and
safest and best has been forfeited and lost. I wonder, as
I begin to speak on this admonitory theme, if in this large
press of people this evening I am speaking to men and
women, to parents, to middle-aged men and women, to
older ones with the gray about their temples, to young
men and women, to happy-hearted boys and girls, who
are lingering concerning the highest things, when duty and
safety and need and right and happiness and usefulness
would urge them to cease such lingering. If I speak to
some who are lingering to-night with regard to the highest
and all-important matters, oh, for you would I send out
my most earnest entreaty, and to God would I lift up my
heart, that your lingering may cease, and cease before
too much has been lost — ^yea, before all has been lost.

This case of Lot has in it many lessons, but two or
three emerge from the story, to which I would now call
your attention. May the Divine Spirit help me, and may
He help you, that speaker and people alike may do God's
will in this service ! You will notice, first of all, what this
man Lot did. One little word describes it. He "lingered."
After he knew his duty and had been told of his danger,
yet he "lingered." That is Satan's supreme masterpiece
with which to deceive and to destroy mankind. It lurks
in the little word "linger." Satan's supreme scheme to
blind men and women and mislead them, and seduce them
from the right path, and utterly defeat them and destroy
them, is stated in that one little word, "linger."

One who had fearful melancholia dreamed that he died
and went away to that world of waste and loss and night,
the name of which is hell, and that down there he saw
and heard the conclave of evil spirits in that world of
waste, as these evil spirits counselled and plotted how
they might best destroy the world of surging people, who
had not yet died. And in his dream, he said, one pro-

210 A QUEST FOR SOULS

posed : "Let us go back to the world and say everywhere :
'There is no God/ And if we can get that fixed in the
minds and hearts of the people, that there is no God, we
will have them utterly unanchored and at sea, and we
shall destroy them." But the other evil spirits answered
in a chorus: "We cannot win with that." The fool hath
said in his heart, "No God." And, oh, what a foolish per-
son he is! It would be far more reasonable for you to
say that this watch, with its machinery, all regular and
orderly, just happened, than for you to say that this
great world, with its order and symmetry and harmony,
peopled with living, rational, human beings, just happened,
and that no God was behind all and the Creator of all.
So the evil spirit said : "We cannot win with that theory."

And then another one proposed: "Let us go back
to the world, and everywhere sow down the subtle sug-
gestion that the Bible is an untrustworthy book, and if
we can dislodge the confidence of the people in the Bible
as God's Book, His God-breathed revelation to men, they
will be at sea, and we can win them and destroy them."
But the evil spirits answered in a chorus, so the dreamer
tells us, that they could not win with any such plea as
that. Every effort has been made to destroy the Bible,
but in vain. Men have bound it. Men have burned
it. Men have chained it. Men have done all that they
could to get rid of the Bible, but its leaves are scattered
to the four winds of the earth. Above all, it is hidden
in human hearts. So the evil spirits said: "We cannot
win with that. We cannot thus get rid of the Bible."

Then another one said: "This is my suggestion. Let
us go back to e^rth, and say to mankind everywhere that
there is no such world as hell, the world of waste, the
world of loss, the world of soul defeat, no such place as
that. Let us say it everywhere. Let us say that God is
too merciful and good to allow anybody to be destroyed
and lost, and let us teach that everywhere, and then with
that subtle doctrine of deception we will mislead and de-
stroy the world." But the evil spirits answered in a chorus :
"We cannot win with that." Down in the human con-
science is written the consciousness that as men sow, so

THE DOOM OF DELAY 211

shall they reap. Men know that. Men know that vice and
virtue cannot have the same harvest. Men know that a
praying, God-fearing, God-serving man must have a dif-
ferent harvest from a man who neglects God, and is pray-
erless, and flagrantly disobeys God, and puts Him out of
his life. There is a difference in the harvest, and men
know it. So they said : "We cannot win with that. Down
in the human consciousness there is a little monitor called
conscience, that makes its painful insistence that as men
sow, so shall they reap. We cannot win with that doc-
trine."

And then one of the evil spirits, so the dreamer tells
us, rose up after a moment and said: "Eureka! Eureka!
I have it! I have it! Let us go back to the world and
say everywhere that there is a God, and that men are
responsible to Him, and that the. Bible is His Book, the
revelation of His will, the signboard to point men in the
upward way ; and let us say that there is a world of waste
and defeat, the name of which is hell, which responsible
human beings shall have for their home, if they turn away
from God's proffered mercy, and refuse to accept Him as
He stretches out His hand with forgiveness and salvation;
say that men shall die, and shall be their own destroyers.
But when you have said all that, say one more word, and
say it everywhere. Say to sinners everywhere just this
word: *Time enough yet!'" And then the dreamer said
that all hell applauded, for that was the masterpiece con-
cocted by Satan to destroy the world. That is Satan's
masterpiece to destroy the world. He comes with his
subtle suggestion, saying: "Be not in any haste about
religion. Don't be anxious about that really important
matter just yet. Linger about it. Take time about it. De-
lay about it. Procrastinate. Time enough yet!" And
with that fearful, specious teaching, Satan is destroying
men and women about us as nothing else can and does
destroy the needy children of men.

Oh, may I come this evening and pause by the heart
of every life in all this great press, and as a personal
friend — for I would be that to every human being on this
earth, to help him if I might — may I pause there and ask

212 A QUEST FOR SOULS

you: "Is not this matter about which you linger entirely
too important for you to continue such lingering? Isn't
the matter of your soul's duty and safety and need and
welfare a matter too important for you to keep on linger-
ingr

Suppose that you were involved in some important busi-
ness transaction, and I should come to you and propose
that we go to the sea, or to the mountains, for two weeks
of recreation and rest, and that you leave all that and
come with me, you would look at me and say: "I should
like to go, and under ordinary conditions, perhaps I might
go, but I am just now passing the papers for an important
trade. Both sides are ready to sign them up, and I cannot
leave until all this is closed." And suppose I come back
and urge you: "You can put that away. That can wait.
It can wait a week or ten days, and when you come back
you can sign the papers and pass them and have it all con-
cluded." You would stare at me as you wondered if I
were not utterly abnormal, in the face of all that you had
told me about the readiness to close the transactions that
had been having your attention. Suppose that there were
illness in your body, serious in its encroachments, and the
doctor came and looked you over and said: "You must
immediately give your case attention. I find serious, even
ominous signs in your body. You must immediately give
your case attention." How unreasonable for you to laugh
in his face, and put his warning away, and go as of yore!
You say: "Certainly, either would be unreasonable, of
the illustrations you have named." And yet I come to-
night to talk to you about the lingering of your soul with
reference to its highest claims and duties and needs. Tell
me, can it be reasonable for you to linger over that? Was
not Jesus right when He said : "Seek ye first the kingdom
of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall
be added unto you?" Was not Jesus pre-eminently right?

Years ago, in some special meetings, I became deeply
interested in a young law student, who was going away
presently to the law school at Austin. I sought him out
for a quiet interview and said to him: "What are you
going to do about this first question, the call of Jesus to

THE DOOM OF DELAY 213

be your Savior and the master of your life?" He said:
"I have definitely decided, in these meetings, that it is the
sanest thing in the world to be the friend and follower of
Jesus; and I have gone on further and decided that just
as soon as I get my diploma from the law school at Austin,
straightway I am going to seek the Savior and begin serv-
ing Him." You know what I said to him: "What if you
do not come back from the law school at all? What if
you never complete your law preparation at all? What
if those three years are not to be allowed you ? Hadn't you
better make sure now of the supreme matter? With your
wits about you, calm and clear, hadn't you better make
the supremest decision ever allowed a human soul to make,
namely, to say: 'Yes, Lord Jesus, who died for sinners,
I yield to thee. Save me, and from this hour guide me in
thine own way.' Hadn't you better take that first step
now, and let these smaller matters be properly related to
such pivotal decision?" And then, after he had waited a
moment or two, he looked up into my face and said: "I
will take that first step right now. Right now I surrender
to Christ. I will confess Him in the public service this
evening." And he did so confess Him that very evening,
and a few days later went away to the State University
law school at Austin. It was less than three months until
his body came back to North Texas in a casket. Only one
short week of pneumonia had hurried him from time into
death and the grave. He had chosen the better part be-
fore it was too late. Oh, m.en and women, oughn't you
to put first things first?

And tell me again, isn't this matter of lingering a mat-
ter that vexes you the more it is crowded upon you? What
pleasure is there in indecision? How terrible a thing for
us to be continually agitated with a big question that must
be decided, and yet we are not decided! This man Lot
did not find lingering pleasant, for the Bible tells us that
"he vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their
unlawful deeds," as he went drifting with the tide. Tell
me, can there be any pleasure in lingering with reference
to the most important question that you will ever face?
Here is a question that is inescapable. Do something

214 A QUEST FOR SOULS

with Jesus you must, you will. Now, can it be pleasant
to you to say: "I will keep putting Him off, and saying
no, and lingering with respect to His call, and putting it
indefinitely away?" Can that be a thing to please your
mind? How terrible a thing is the spirit of indecision
with reference to any question!

Oh, I would pause at every lingering heart here to-night,
and look up into your faces, as a friend, and probe you
with questions as to why you linger about the most urgent-
ly important matter of all! Do you tell me: "Sir, I am
lingering because I have no interest in religion at all?"
Oh, no ! Not one in this place, I think, makes answer like
that. Not one in this place looks me now in the face say-
ing: "That matter of Christ's call has in it no appeal for
me, and that matter of my soul's welfare does not interest
me a jot." Nobody here makes a suicidal answer like that.
Time and again you have thought about being saved,
about having your sins forgiven, about being right with
God, about being ready if the summons should come to go
hence, ready for whatever should come. Time and again
you have thought of all that. Time and again your heart
has had its deep and serious hours of reflection and high
purpose. Time and again you have said: "I must give
this matter of personal religion the right attention." Time
and again you have written down the resolve: *T must
by and by look after this first question of all, even the
salvation of my soul." Oh, it is not that you do not care
that you linger — it is not that.

Is it this — does somebody say: "I am lingering be-
cause I cannot see how it is that one is born again ; I can-
not understand the philosophy of how a soul is saved by
a crucified and risen Savior?" Do you say that is why
you linger, because you cannot understand how it is that
one is saved? Neither do I understand it. Neither does
anybody else. The wisest Christian philosopher on the
face of the earth cannot explain to you how it is that one
is born again. The how of everything is veiled with mys-
tery. The lowest form of life is utterly impossible of an-
alysis and explanation by the greatest thinker and philoso-
pher of all. And here the highest form of life — spiritual

THE DOOM OF DELAY 215

life — life which God gives the soul that accepts Christ as
a Savior — that highest form of life is utterly impossible,
in the way that it is imparted to man, of human compre-
hension or understanding. That scholarly man who came
to Jesus, when Jesus was here in the flesh, one evening
.when the twilight had gone and nightfall had come — that
fine man, Nicodemus, who came to Jesus to talk with Him
about these spiritual matters, when Jesus told him, "You
must be born again, or you cannot even see the kingdom
of God," said just what you and I have said — *'how can
one be born again?" Mark Jesus' answer: "The wind
bloweth where it listeth" — that is, where it pleaseth — "and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence
it Cometh, and whither it goeth ; so is every one that is
born of the Spirit." You and I are to come confessing our
sins, and turning from them by repentance — forsaking
them, renouncing them, and to make honest, absolute sur-
render of our poor, sinful lives to Christ, saying to Him:
"Savior, I give up to thee. Save me thy way." And He
will grant His forgiveness, and He will by His own divine
power give us that new birth, without which one must
ever remain blind concerning Christ's great salvation.

That nobly gifted editor of Atlanta, Georgia, Henry
Grady, a great publicist, a thrilling orator, a humanity-
serving citizen, one of the South's most honored sons, got
far away, right in the zenith of his power and popularity,
from Christ. Like many others similarly situated, he neg-
lected the things of Christ and drifted with the tide. Far
back yonder when he was a boy, he made a profession of
religion, and for awhile observed the religious habits, but
when his remarkable fame and career came on, he neg-
lected the Christian life, and went drifting with the tide.
They told me, when I was speaking in Atlanta some years
ago, this beautiful chapter out of his great life. When he
had made one of his loftiest speeches, on one occasion, and
plaudits from North, South, East and West were coming
to him on every wire, he slipped out of the office of "The
Constitution," his daily paper in Atlanta, saying to his
associates as he left: "You need not know where I am,
but I am going to find mother to-night in the little home.

216 A QUEST FOR SOULS

I have something to say to her. I will be back in the
morning. You need not know where I am." And he took
an out-of-the-way road to his mother's cottage, and when
he reached it, he said to his mother: "Mother, all these
plaudits, all this fame, all this notoriety, all this popularity,
all this applause — that does not satisfy my heart. Mother,
I once thought that I was a Christian, but if I was, I have
got far away from God, and I have come back, mother, to
ask you if I may not kneel down at your knee, and be a
little boy again, like I was when I was at home with you,
and say my simple prayer, like I used to say it every day
when the day was done. And then, when I have said my
prayer like that, I wonder if you won't take me to my bed,
and tuck the cover around me, just like you used to do
when I was a little boy, and then, when you have tucked
the cover around me, if you won't bend down over me and
pray for your little boy, for God to teach him and guide
him and help him, just like you used to pray for me when
I was a little boy." And that is exactly what happened
in that little home that night. Great Henry Grady knelt
at his mother's knee, like he used to do as a little boy, and
said his simple, boyish prayer, like he used to say it long
years before, and then his dear old mother escorted him
to his room and bed, and she tucked the cover about him,
and bent over him, with tears and prayers, commending
her boy to the great Savior. And then she kissed him,
like she used to do, and left him alone. And in the gray
of the early morning, Henry Grady came from his room,
and found his mother, and there was a light on his face fair
like the morning light, and he said : "Mother, I was a little
child last night, and felt out after Jesus, and He met me
and has spoken peace to my poor, wandering heart."

Oh, souls not right with God, come as little children
to Him, this evening! Be a little child and come to Jesus.
Oh, lawyer, over there, or doctor, or carpenter, or mer-
chant! Oh, wandering man or woman, with your mind
all puzzled and perplexed and shot through with the ques-
tions, be a little child to-night, and say: "Lord Jesus, I
know that I have moral lapse and loss and sin in my life,
and that I do not have moral resources within myself suf-

THE DOOM OF DELAY 217

ficient to be the man or woman I ought to be. Lord Jesus,
I will surrender to thee. Save me thy way." And, as the
Lord lives. He will save you this very night. Oh, do not
linger, but come to Him! "Except ye be converted, and
become as little children, ye shall not enter into the king-
dom of heaven."

The chief reason, I summon you to remember, why
souls are lost is wrapped up in that word "lingering," that
word "delay," that word "to-morrow," that word "pro-
crastination." "He lingered." He just lingered, and the
ill-fated results followed. And while you and I linger,
convictions within us get feebler and fainter, even every
hour we linger. And while we linger, our desires and im-
pressions, kindled within us by the truth and Spirit of
God, yet resisted by us, wane and get less and less. And
while we linger, the difficulties strengthen about us and
multiply. While we linger, habit hardens and character
crystallizes — while we linger. Oh, the tragedy of it!

The naturalists tell us about a little plant called the
"sensitive plant," the most sensitive plant, they tell us,
that grows in all the vegetable world. You may touch that
little plant, and it will vibrate in every limb and leaf, as
with the vibrations of some fine-stringed violin. You may
keep on touching it, and it will vibrate every time you
touch it, but less and less and less, every time you give it
a touch. Keep on touching it, and there it vibrates, per-
ceptibly, but the vibrations are less, they are fewer, they
are slower, with every touch. After awhile that sensitive
plant, under the repeated touches, refuses to vibrate any
more. The plant has at last been touched to death, and
there it hangs, in every limb and leaf and tendril, all flabby
and unresponsive. It has at last been touched to death.
Oh, human soul, that soul of yours is more sensitive than
the finest stringed violin! More sensitive is that soul than
the vegetable plant that I have just described. And that
soul is touched, that soul is called, that soul is played upon,
that soul feels, that soul vibrates, that soul responds, that
soul argues, that soul trembles, but that soul lingers. Now,
Satan does not care how much you tremble, nor how much
you feel, if you will only linger, for lingering is the way

218 A QUEST FOR SOULS

of doom and failure and death. God give you to cease
your lingering, God give you to stop your lingering, this
very hour ! Oh, Breath Divine, bestir these lingering souls,
that their lingering now may cease !

There is another thought in the text, to which we now
advance, far more serious than this first thought, to which
your earnest attention has just been called: Lot's linger-
ing doomed other lives, even those of his own heart and
home. Oh, that is to my mind the most awful thought
to be contemplated by the human mind. Lot's lingering
doomed his family. You read there the story in all its
contextual relations, and you will see how Lot's lingering
dragged that family of his down into the deepest ditch of
ruin and defeat. Lot went to his sons-in-law, when at
last he was awakened to get out of the city, called thereto
by the warning of the angels, and he said to those sons-in-
law that they must hasten, for danger was imminent and
overwhelming for the city. And those sons-in-law laughed
him to scorn. They mocked him to his face. They called
him an old dotard. He had lingered too late, he had waited
too long, and his influence was contemptible with those
sons-in-law, when at last he sought to recover and save
them. And even Lot's wife, warned solemnly not to look
back as they made their haste from the city, looked back
and met her ill-fated doom. Oh, Lot, head of the house,
if thou hadst been the man thou oughtest to have been,
that woman would not have looked back, and that fate
would not have come! Thy lingering hast wrought her
doom!

And then Lot went on with only two of his children,
two daughters, and the after-story of those two daughters
is the most shocking story in all this Holy Bible. Lot's
house went down, wrecked and doomed and lost, because
Lot lingered. That is the most terrible picture in all the
Holy Bible. It brings you and me face to face again with
the awful power of human influence. One person helps
another or hurts another, just by human influence. Glad-
stone never wearied of saying: "One example is worth
a thousand arguments." Your example and mine every
day takes people up or takes them down. Oh, influence.

THE DOOM OF DELAY 219

influence! Is there any other question quite so serious in
the world for human minds to contemplate? Jesus gives
the picture of one who causes through his influence some-
body else to stumble and miss the right way: "It were
better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck,
and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one
of these little ones." Oh, parent, is your child going the
broad way because of you? Oh, friend, is your friend or
acquaintance going the broad way because of your posi-
tion, your influence, your example? Oh, soul, for your
own sake, first, personal religion is the supreme claim,
and then for the sake of others, whom you must hurt or
help, whom you must take up or drag down, you must not,
dare not, be careless about your influence. And the su-
preme influence is the influence of example.

I was speaking awhile ago in one of our Southern
cities, and one of the members of the National Congress
was in the audience, one evening, a man of much weight
and worth, but not a Christian, and that evening I was
preaching on the text: "No man liveth to himself." When
I gave the call for public confession of Christ, that con-
gressman's conscience was probed to the depths. He
acted up to the light he had, and walked down the aisle
and said to me: "God forgive me that I did not do this
when I was a young fellow, but I do it at last!" And no
sooner had he done that than it looked as if half the con-
gregation would follow him down the aisles — young men,
and middle-aged men, and boys — as they saw that con-
spicuous citizen come like a little child and make his sur-
render to Christ. Oh, soul, you intend to come. Hasten,
I pray you, not simply for your own sake. For the sake
of somebody sheltering behind you, waiting on you, not
acting because you have not acted, hasten, I pray you, to
make your return to God.

Now I call your attention a moment more to the in-
strumentalities that were used to cause Lot to give up his
lingering. God sent His angels to Lot to warn him, to
beseech him, to counsel him to give up his lingering, to
leave that place of wrong relations, where his feet were
fast in the mire. God sent angels to help Lot. Whom

220 A QUEST FOR SOULS

has He sent to help you and me? His messengers are
many. Angels, I doubt not, for the Bible teaches it, play
a significant part in human lives. But there are other
messengers that God sends, and they are near at hand,
and you and I may perceive them and know them. There
is the Holy Bible. Oh, what an influence the Bible has,
with its pungent calls to men! Sometimes just one sen-
tence grips the human conscience and turns it away from
darkness to light, from the wrong road to the right. Call
to mind some of its pungent words : "Prepare to meet thy
God." "Seek ye the Lord, while He may be found. Call
ye upon Him while He is near." "For the great day of
His wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand?" "How
wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?" "So then every
one of us shall give account of himself to God." With
Scriptures like these, the human conscience often is probed,
and turned by even one sentence of Scripture, from the
wrong to the right way.

And then how often God sends us His messenger of
preaching. Oh, what strange effects has preaching ! Many
a time the preacher is thought by the hearer to be per-
sonal, to be acquainted with all that is in the hearer's life,
and to be actually describing the life of the hearer, and
the hearer winces under such personal description. Time
and again men have sought me out as I have left my pul-
pit, and have said to me alone : "Who told you about my
condition, that you laid it bare here to-day?" And I have
said: "Why, I never heard of your condition. No living
soul has ever breathed a word to me about your condition."
They said: "What then does it all mean?" And I have
answered: "It means that God knows about it, and God
has guided His preacher, who said: 'Lord, the preacher
does not know what to preach, but thou knowest. Give
him the message which thou wilt take and apply to the
human conscience,' and God took the message and with
it found the human conscience." What strange effects
preaching has! One wrote me this from Birmingham,
Alabama, the other night: "I heard you when you laid
bare my case in that sermon. Somebody had told 3^ou all.
I went back to the hotel, in your city, but could not sleep.

THE DOOM OF DELAY 221

and I took the train and I have reached Birmingham, and
here in the hotel in Birmingham, at midnight, I have found
Christ, and I am writing to tell you that your sermon was
not in vain. I wonder who told you about me." Nobody
told me about him. I had never before heard of him. I
did not know he was in the audience. But the omniscient
God knew he was in the audience, and sent the message
and fitted it home to his heart by the Divine Spirit, who
shows the soul the way from darkness to light.

Sometimes, ofttimes, God's messenger is home influ-
ence. Did you ever hear Mr. Torrey, the far-famed evan-
gelist, tell what an awful unbeliever he was when he was
a young man, how he went to the deepest depths of in-
fidelity and scouted everything — the Bible, Christ, God,
heaven, hell, immortality — everything like that? And his
dear mother yearned after him, and loved him, and pleaded
with him, and prayed for him, and after awhile he said
to his mother: "I am tired of it all, and I am going to
leave and not bother you any more, and you will not see
me any more. I am tired of it all." She followed him to
the door, and followed him to the gate, pleading and pray-
ing and loving and weeping, and then at last she said, as
her final word : "Son, when you come to the darkest hour
of all, and everything seems lost and gone, if you will
honestly call on your mother's God, you will get help."
He went his way in his darksome and terrible infidelity.
Deeper down he went, day in and out, and month in and
out. And he said the months went by, and he was 427
miles from his mother's home, in a hotel in a certain town,
unable to sleep, wearied with his sins and wearied with
life, and he at last rose up in the early morning, and said :
"I will get out of this bed, and I will take the gun there
from my valise, and I will put it to my temple, and I will
end this farce called human life." And as he got out of
bed to do that dreadful thing, the last word that his mother
had said came back to him: "Son, when your darkest
hour of all comes, and everything seems lost, call in sin-
cerity on your mother's God, and you will get help." And
Torrey said he fell beside his bed and said: "Oh, God
of my mother, if there is such a Being, I want light, and

222 A QUEST FOR SOULS

if thou wilt give it, no matter how, I will follow it." He
had light within a few moments, and hastened back home.
And, to follow the story just a moment more, he said that
when he got back home, thinking he would surprise his
mother and come upon her unexpectedly, she came down
the walk to the gate, laughing and crying with uncontrolla-
ble joy, and said: "Oh, my boy, I know why you are
coming back, and I know what you have to tell. You have
found the Lord. God has told me so." Oh, the power of
a mother's prayer! Oh, the power of a father's prayer,
the power of a brother's prayer, a sister's prayer! Oh,
the power of a wife's prayer, when she links herself with
God! And full many a time God's good angel to bring
one back from the darksome and downward way is some-
body's prayer, who says: "Lord, spare this soul a little
longer. Give this soul a little more respite, a little more
time." Prayer, how mighty it is before God when it is
sincerely offered!

Sometimes it is a providence that calls you. Sometimes
God's blessings come robed in black. Sometimes sickness
terrible is at the gate, at the door, within the house. Some-
times a loved one's life hangs on a thread. Sometimes
your own life has been hanging on a thread. And through
all these providences, God is saying: "Set your house in
order, and do it in time. Do it before it is too late. Do
it while you may. Cease your lingering, and come to God."

And over it all, and through it all, and above it all,
God's good Spirit is the chief agent of all to woo men and
win them to come to Christ. Every desire in your heart
to be right with God was put there by His good Spirit.
Oh, do not resist that light-bringing, life-giving Spirit, I
beseech you !

Now I am coming to ask you, won't you refuse to go
on with your lingering? Won't you cease from your lin-
gering and come the upward way? Won't you this hour
rise up with a grand decision? How grand decision is!
In one great hour Esau lost all by a wrong decision, and
in one great hour beautiful Esther gained all by a right
decision. How grand decision is! Won't you summon
yourself with a fixed decision and say: "My lingering in

THE DOOM OF DELAY 223

the .wrong road, exposing and imperiling my soul and my
influence over others, stops to-night, and I make my re-
turn to God?" Won't you thus cease your lingering?
Won't you end your delay! Won't you stop that cry
about "to-morrow," about "by and by," and say : "It shall
be to-night for me that I make my return to God?" Oh,
I pray you, linger not too late !

I was in Galveston preaching, before that first horrible
storm came years ago, the awfulness of which made the
whole world stand aghast. I was there just a little while
before that storm, preaching in a series of meetings, and
when I came to the last night service that I could attend,
I pleaded longer than usual that night, thus hoping to
reach five men who had heard me several nights. Other
men came forward, confessing Christ, but none of those
five. When the people had stood up at my summons for
the benediction, I turned to them to plead again, remem-
bering it was my last service: "Won't those men who
have waited come now?" And one of them started, and
came down the aisle, announcing his decision for Christ.
And then I said: "Won't others come?" And a second
one came and stood by me, at my invitation. And then I
said again: "Won't others come?" And a third one of
those men came and stood beside me. Then I waited and
said : "Won't other men, who know they ought to sur-
render to Christ, ought for every high motive that can
move a thinking man to take a great step, won't you take
that step and come?" And the other two men stepped out
into the aisle and came forward, and we had all five of
them. In a moment or two I dismissed the audience, and
soon was hurrying on an outbound train for my home.
And then, in a few weeks, came that fearful storm that
swept thousands of people into the engulfing waters. Later,
when I got in touch with a friend over the long distance
phone, to ask what I could do for him and his, he said:
"Do you remember how you pleaded in your meeting that
last night?" I said: "Surely, I can never forget it." "Do
you remember how you lifted up your voice and sent it
out for the five waiting men?" I said: "Yes: tell me
what has happened to them." And then I heard the sob

224 A QUEST FOR SOULS

in his throat, as he said; "All five of them, sir, have gone
down in the whelming flood and are drowned/* And then,
as I waited a moment more, he said, with a sob distinctly
audible: "Oh, sir, what if you had not pleaded a little
longer? What if they had not come?" And I ask again:
What if they had not come?

What if you do not come before it is too late? What
if you linger one second too long? Lingering one second
too long to come to Christ is as ruinous as lingering an
eternity too long. Oh, this Tuesday night, won't you cease
your lingering and say: "My decision is given?" Do you
remember the description given of Cortez's invasion into
Mexico, long ago, when there was such destruction wrought
by such invasion that ill-fated night? Do you remember
the description given of that awful night by the historian
who sets out the story? Three little words stand out to
tell the fearful story : "The sad night !"

Oh, Savior, is this to be that sad night about which
some soul here shall have to say: "I heard. I felt. I
knew. I was taught. I ought to have acted. I knew it
well. I said, T will linger.' I said, *I will wait.' I said,
'Not yet.' " Shall it be written down concerning you : "The
sad night!" God forbid! Be not afraid to surrender to
Christ. Be not afraid to decide it. Be not afraid, little
girl; be not afraid, my boy, to say "Yes" to Christ. He
saves. If you trust Him, He will take you and save you.
Be not afraid, oh, man or woman, young or older, or even
aged ; be not afraid to make your surrender to Christ. Be
not afraid, oh, duty-neglecting Christian, to rise up with
a fixed resolve and retrace your steps and say: "I will
redeem the time. I will renew my vows with Jesus." Be
not afraid, oh, backslidden Christian, far out in the cold
and in the night; be not afraid to return now to the for-
giving Savior. Jesus' invitation to the wanderer is sweeter
than the strains of an aeolian harp. Whosoever to-night,
in all this place, wrong with God, in the church or out,
who wishes to be right with Him may be absolutely as-
sured that Jesus waits to be gracious unto all such persons,
and to bless and to save them.

If your heart has given its acceptance of Christ as

THE DOOM OF DELAY 225

your personal Savior, and you have not yet made it known,
or if your heart now makes such acceptance of Him, come
before all the people, while now we sing, to tell us of your
decision that He shall be yours and you shall be His, to-
day and forever.

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

And now, Holy Father, as the people go, take thou these who come confessing
their rettirn to Christ, their surrender to Him, and make life glorious for them
from to-night. Let every saved soul grow stronger and stronger, because it rests
utterly on Christ to save, and follow obediently all the light He gives. And
may the soul be so fortified with Christ's own conscious grace and help that
from to-night each of these shall go to live in the most victorious way for Christ.
And the Lord grant, as now we separate, that there may be bound upon every
heart in this place, all through this throng, the worth and weight of eternal
matters, in such an impressive way, that every one in this place who is wrong
with Christ, may to-night, with whole-heartedness, seek to be right with Him.
Set before every heart here the assuring promise: "In the day thou seekest me
with thy whole heart, I will be found of thee." May this be that day for all
this throng! Deepen this work of saving grace in all our hearts, our great Savior
— mightily deepen it in all our hearts — so that we shall have hearts burning with
passion and compassion for souls about us, even as Christ would have us think
aad feel and act toward them and for them. And give us to speak the word in
season to them, and to pray the prayer acceptable before thee in their behalf, as
the hours come and go.

And now, as the people go, may the blessing of the triune God be granted
you all and each, to abide with you forever. Ainen.

XVI

NOON SERVICE, JUNE 20, 1917,

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

That is a very suggestive sentence in the Bible, which
says: "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go
into the house of the Lord." That same word is the word,
I trust, that is being daily passed on by the Christian men
and women before me, to others about them, Christians
and non-Christians. Very thoughtfully, and as we can
find the opportunity, the invitation needs to be passed to
those about us: "Come with us." It should be a fixed
habit in every Christian life to find out people who do not
go to church, and thoughtfully and earnestly ask them to
go to church. 'Taith cometh by hearing, and hearing by
the Word of God." "How shall they hear without a
preacher?" "It pleased God by the foolishness of preach-
ing to save them that believe." There can be no substi-
tutes for preaching. Daily, one of the reigning habits in
every Christian life should be to ask people about them to
come with them to hear the preaching of the gospel of
the grace of God. But we should do more than that. That
is consistent and blessed and important, but that is not
enough. We should, in the right way, ask the people about
us, if it is well with their souls, if their sins have been for-
given of God, if they have been saved, if they have been born
again, if their hearts know what it is to rejoice consciously
in Jesus as their personal Savior. That kind of conversation
ought to be had by Christian people, men and women, day

226

A CONQUERING FAITH 227

in and out, even with every opportunity. There is a right
way to talk with people about their souls. Such talk
means humility and carefulness and prayerfulness and a
deferential consideration for the one with whom you are
talking. How Jesus respected personality and honored it,
^hen He stood before it, divine as He was, making His
calls and claims to be allowed to be Savior and Master!
You will bring with you a group to-night to the big tent,
won't you, who ought to be brought to the meeting? And
if it cannot be a group, cannot each of you Christians bring
one person that you ought to bring? And all along won't
you be in prayer that the preacher may speak just what
he ought to speak, and in that temper in which Christ's
gospel ought always to be spoken? And, more, won't you
be in prayer unceasing that the good Spirit Divine will
open the heart of the one you bring to attend to the word
that may be heard? God lead you and help you, as you
give yourselves to the divinest quest of all — the winning
of the lost to Him!

A CONQUERING FAITH.

Text; Luke 5: 16-27.

I should like this morning to direct your attention to
a very suggestive incident about this first matter of all —
the winning of souls to Christ. Will you not give reverent
heed to it as I shall read it? I read you from the fifth
chapter of Luke's gospel:

And He withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed. And it came
to pass on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and
doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and
Judea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and
they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before Jesus. And when
they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multi-
tude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with
his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when Jesus saw their faith. He said
unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. And the scribes and the Pharisees
began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can
forgive sins, but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He
answering said unto them. What reason ye in your hearts? Whether it is easier,
to say. Thy sins be forgiven thee: or to say. Rise up and walk? But that ye
may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins (He said
unto the sick of the palsy), I say unto thee. Arise, and take up thy couch, and
go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that
whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were
all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have
seen strange things to-day.

The whole incident is taken for our brief study this
morning.

228 A QUEST FOR SOULS

We have in this incident, first of all, a picture of Jesus
in prayer. Before He went to do any great work He gave
himself always to a season of prayer; and after He had
wrought a work and had withdrawn from the publicity of
it, He betook himself again to the quiet place to pray.
Oh, the master example for us in prayer is Christ Jesus,
our Savior and Lord ! The locust that eats up our power
as Christians full many a time is the locust of neglected
prayer. If the Master had need to pray, how much more
the need for His disciples!

And we have in the record of the incident an expression
quite striking: "The power of the Lord was present to
heal them." Jesus was in a certain building teaching, and
it was thronged to its utmost capacity, and there were
Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, who were
come out of every town of Galilee, and Judea and Jerusa-
lem. The striking expression you will note again: "And
the power of the Lord was present to heal them." It does
not say that the power of the Lord did heal them. It says :
"The power of the Lord was present to heal them." They
did not wish to be healed. As a matter of fact, those Phari-
sees and doctors of the law, sitting around, were there to
cavil, to criticise, to carp, to complain, to deride; were
there to find fault. And yet God was there in His power
to grant healing and forgiveness and grace, if only their
attitude to Him had been of the right sort.

Oh, It is a solemn thought, my friends, that when we
gather for worship anywhere, in the name of Christ, the
power of the Lord is right there to heal the people. If
only such case shall assume the right attitude to God,
then shall healing surely come. How it ought to touch
our hearts! H®w it ought to solemnize them! How it
ought to humble us! How it ought to move us to prayer,
that every time we meet and offer any prayer, God is there
to heal and Avill heal, if only the right attitude shall be
assumed by the hearer toward Him!

Here we have the arresting incident, that four people
combined to bring one person to Christ, for Christ's mercy
and help, and the whole occasion is rich in lessons. Two
or three will suffice for us this midday meeting. The first

A CONQUERING FAITH 229

is that some cases require extra effort to get them to
Christ. There are some cases in. this fair city that will
never be won to Christ unless extra effort if put forth to
win them. The ordinary effort will not reach them. The
passing, commonplace effort of one person will not reach
such cases. There are cases here and there and yonder
that require extra effort, if they shall ever be won to Christ,
and this incident points this pungent lesson and we need
earnestly to study that lesson to-day.

Now, to be sure, many cases — I think, most cases — are
brought to Christ by individual, personal effort. One per-
son goes out after another and brings that other to Christ.
Andrew went after his brother Simon, much stronger than
Andrew, self-willed and impulsive and strengthful ; and
yet modest Andrew brought his strong and aggressive
brother to the Messiah. Time and again is the lesson writ-
ten large for us, in human experience, that one person
may go out and bring another person to Christ. Some of
us in our pastorates see that truth illustrated week by
week.

I am thinking this moment of a timid mother, who
came to my study, with her little eleven-year-old girl, just
a few weeks ago, to say to me, in modest but earnest sen-
tences: "I have brought my little girl to talk with you
about coming into the church next Sunday morning." And
then I turned to the child, and sought as tactfully as I
could, to elicit from her what she knew about Jesus, and
she told me her straightforward story. Her mother, the
Saturday night before, had taken her aside, and with care-
ful, prayerful words had explained to the little daughter
what being saved meant, and how a sinner is saved alone
by Christ, and the little girl said: "Mother, I will take
Him right now for my Savior," and her decision was given,
and with her eyes moist with tears the beautiful child,
looking at her mother, said: "Mother won me to Christ
Saturday night. When they were all away from home
except mother and me, mother brought me to Christ."
Oh, I imagine that a legion of angels watched around that
home, as the mother did the sublimest thing possible for
a mother to do, when she pointed her child in the way of

230 A QUEST FOR SOULS

life. And the company of angels, I doubt not, hurried
back to the starry heights above, to tell the hosts up there :
"The kingdom is coming, because we saw and heard a
mother teaching her child the way of life/'

On another morning, just before I went into my pulpit to
preach at the eleven o'clock hour, there was a knock on my
church study door, and I opened it, and there stood a faith-
ful Sunday school teacher, and she had two of her boys,
each about twelve or thirteen years of age, and she said:
'Tastor, I should like for you to talk with these two boys.
They think they would like to join the church this morn-
ing, and I should like for you to question them, to see if
they are ready for that great step." And then I questioned
them, and they were soon earnestly telling me, in answer
to my questions, how this Sunday school teacher had
hunted them out, and had talked with them personally and
alone during the past week, and how she had so explained
the necessity and the happiness and usefulness of being
a Christian, that they could not say no, and had said yes
to Jesus. They knew that He was the Savior, and not
somebody else, and not something else, and they were trust-
ing alone in Him. Their way was clear, their confession
beautiful, their knowledge of Jesus evident, and they came
into the church that day. How glorious that a Sunday
school teacher understands: "I am a shepherd of souls,
and I must watch as one who must give account, and I
cannot, must not, dare not, ignore the highest claims of
these in my class, namely, their spiritual needs."

And then sometimes a friend goes out and wins his
friend to Christ. Oh, what proof of friendship is compar-
able to that, where one person goes to another, and in
humble, careful, winsome, prayerful words, seeks to win
that other to Christ, and succeeds! What finer proof of
friendship than that!

And how glorious when the Christian wife seeks ways,
with all humility and diligence and prayerfulness, to win
her unbelieving husband to Christ ! One of those unbeliev-
ing husbands, who held out long and late against Jesus,
said to me recently, when he came to talk to me about
coming into the church : "Oh, sir, the tears, the very tears

A CONQUERING FAITH 231

of my Christian wife haunted me, as she would say just
a little to me about how she yearned for me to be a Chris-
tion, about how she prayed for me. She said just a little,
but her very tears haunted me." .

Most people, I take it, are brought to Christ by one f
person. But there are cases that require more than one.
There are cases that require extra effort. There are cases
that require combination, consolidation, co-operation, even
of the noblest sort. Our Bible study to-day presents such
a case. Here was a paralyzed man. He could not get to
Jesus at all. He was unable to betake himself there. One
man could not get him there. It was a task too difficult
for two men, and so it came about that four men combined
to carry that man, on his bed, sick man, bed and all, into
the house where Jesus was teaching, that the great and
gracious Healer, as well as Teacher and Lord, might cure
this man. When they came to the house where Jesus was
teaching, it was so thronged that they could not get in.
Oh, the pathos of the whole scene! The house was
crowded with people, who did not care to heed the Christ
themselves — who carped and caviled and criticised, if haply
they might find fault with something Jesus should say or
do. They were not willing to go into the kingdom them-
selves, and worse than that, they crowded the doorway
and blocked the entrance, so that others, who did wish to
reach the Master,, should be kept out. So these four came
and could not enter. No place was allowed them to enter.
But, not to be deterred, they took that man, bed and all,
to the housetop and removed the tiling, and let him down
through the roof, bed, sick man and all, right at the feet
of Jesus. And when Jesus saw their faith. He said unto
the sick man: *'Thy sins are forgiven thee." He did the
first thing first. He put forth His power for the cure of
his soul first, and then the cure of the body came after-
ward, and we are never to lose sight of this divine order.
The supreme thing is for men's sins to be forgiven. The
supreme thing is that men's souls may be made right in
the sight of God. Jesus first of all cured this man's sick
soul, and then later cured his body.

Will you think earnestly on this record of how this

232 A QUEST FOR SOULS

man was brought to Jesus? Four men combined to bring
him, and, I repeat, there are cases about us that will never
be brought to Jesus, except by combined and extraordinary
effort. And we need to see them and find them and com-
bine to help them. These four were necessary to get this
dreadfully difficult case to Christ. It was a task too much
for one, too much for two. It was a task requiring the
four, and such cases are about us, and this morning I am
seeking to give emphasis to the doctrine that such cases,
though difficult and pre-occupied, and far away from God's
favor and forgiveness, ought to have our most conscien-
tious, most co-operative, most capable attention. There is
not the case of a single man or woman in Fort Worth,
no matter how pre-occupied, or absorbed, or old, or wicked,
or sinful, no matter what the case, or who the case may
be — there is not one that God's people ought to pass by,
arguing; "Their cases are too hard, too difficult, too hope-
less." There is not one such case.

One morning I preached in another city, and said: "I
wish you would do the unusual thing to win souls ; I wish
you would do the extraordinary thing. I wish you would
go to cases maybe that nobody has spoken to about Jesus
for a whole generation." And four men tarried behind
and said: "The most difficult case in this community is
a half-paralyzed man. With extreme effort, he drags along,
with his crutches and a man supporting him, and he is
the most blasphemous sinner in all this city." I said:
"Gentlemen, I would have you go after him. You bring
him to the outskirts of this meeting, and put him in a
comfortable chair, and God help me, I will do my best to
help him." And so they went, four of them, and at first
he mocked them. He derided them. He laughed at them.
He jeered at them. He swore at them. And then at last
he listened a little more seriously, and then he pleaded his
inability, he pleaded his pitiful impotency, and then at last,
the men said: "We will come and carry you. We love
you that much. We will put you on the outskirts of the
congregation so you shall not have anybody to run over
you or to take advantage of you." And so they brought
him, and they whispered to me that he was there, and told

A CONQUERING FAITH 233

me where he sat, and I observed him in a moment, and that
day I preached to one man — impotent, paralyzed, broken
and helpless — about the wonderful mercy of God, to make
a man over, to transform him, to reconstruct him, to re-
deem him, to recover him, to forgive him, to fit him to live,
to fit him to die, to fit him for earth, to fit him for heaven.
Jesus does all that, if only a man will come to Him in the
right way. And then I said: "Is there some man here,
all broken and beaten and defeated, who would like to be
right with God. Maybe he has waited long. Maybe the
sun of his life is far in the afternoon. Maybe the sun is
now sinking low toward the w^estern hills. Now, if such
man is here and he wants to be right with God, God waits
to be gracious to him. Does he wish to be right with God?
Will he lift up his hand and let me see?" And the first
hand to go up was the hand of the half-paralyzed man.
Then I dismissed the people a few minutes later, and sought
him out, and before the men carried him away, the man
had humbly made his surrender to Christ. Oh, it was
well, for the days were just a few until the second stroke
came and carried him into eternity. The extraordinary
thing ought to be done for such people, all about us, and
done speedily and unceasingly.

I am thinking now of a noble lawyer in Waco. I shall
mention his name. If he were living, he would not object.
He is now in God's house above. His family, I doubt not,
would not object to such mention of his name. This noble
lawyer and outstanding citizen was Judge Waller Baker.
These lawyers present all knew him. Some years ago,
when a preacher preached in Waco, he said to his audience :
"Oh, men, do not go on in the ordinary, commonplace way,
in the winning of souls. Go after a case difficult. Go after
a case long neglecting, pre-occupied, too busy to come to
God ; go after him, and if you do not do the extraordinary
thing, and put forth the unusual efl^ort, you will not even
arrest his attention. Go after him." And when the ser-
mon was done, another lawyer in the audience, himself a
distinguished jurist and Christian citizen, gathered some
men around him and said : "If three of you men will join
me, we will go after this great lawyer." They combined,

234 A QUEST FOR SOULS

the four of them, and they went that afternoon. The law-
yer was preparing a difficult case, and he had left word
with his stenographer, in the outer room: "Do not admit
anybody to my inner room at all. I must not be disturbed.
A serious case is on me now." But the stenographer had
left the room a minute before they came, and she was
not there to forbid their going in, and into the room they
went, and then they knocked on that inner door, and it
opened, and there was the lawyer, with his coat off, deep
in the preparation of that serious case, and he said : "How
did you men get past my stenographer?" They said: "We
did not see any stenographer." And so they were in the
office, and the door was shut, and he said to them : "Gen-
tlemen, there must be something very serious that can
bring you four men here." The great Christian lawyer
made answer: "There is, Mr. Baker; the most serious
matter in the world, and I will speak first, and I want first
of all to ask you to forgive me, that I have been such a
poor Christian, that I have not talked with you more earn-
estly about Christ and His supreme claims, and your need
of Him. But we have come, we four men, to ask if you
won't cease all your procrastination, and if you won't, for
your own sake, and for Waco's sake, and for the world's
sake, and for Christ's sake, to-day yield yourself to Christ."
And then the second man made his plea, and the third
man said his say, and the fourth man made his appeal, and
then the first man said: "If you won't mind, let us kneel
down and all of us be little children, and we will ask God
to help you to burn all the bridges, give up indecision and
delay, and do the extraordinary thing — yield yourself right
now to Christ." And down they went on their knees, and
all four of them prayed, each for a moment, and when they
rose up Mr. Baker said: "Gentlemen, I cannot, will not,
hold out against this. I do surrender to Christ. May God
forgive me that I did not do it long ago. I do surrender to
Christ. Oh, it is so unselfish for you four men, my friends,
my neighbors, to come after me like this! I do surrender
to Christ, now and forever." Wasn't it glorious? Now,
just a little while after that, I was in Los Angeles, speak-
ing there in the Temple Auditorium, and one morning,

A CONQUERING FAITH 235

when I had finished my sermon, I saw before me a sympa-
thetic face in the press of people, and when I had said the
benediction at the close, quickly he came to me. It was
the same Waller Baker, out there on the Pacific coast, get-
ting some needed rest, and he said : "They have told you
about what I did?" I said: "Oh, I know all about it, Mr.
Baker. Thank God !" He said : "At last I am on the right
road — at last!" He went on to San Francisco, perhaps
that night, or a day or two later, and I returned to my Texas
home, and before I reached my home, when I reached El
Paso, the daily papers had chronicled the news that the
evening before, as Mr. Baker was leisurely walking down
the streets of San Francisco, he sank down from heart
failure, and a few moments later was dead. When I read
it, this was my first thought: What if four men had not
gone to him as they did, a few weeks before, to win him
to Christ? Oh, I am pleading that you, citizens and neigh-
bors and friends, shall, in the right spirit, link yourselves,
with God to guide you, and empower you, and go after
these long neglected cases. Pass not one of them by. Some
of them are rich, but their money won't suffice their souls.
Some of them are having a feverish time in the world so-
cial, but society will not ease the ache of a sinful, suffering
heart. Some of them are in office, are pre-occupied, and
every minute is crowded as they clutch after the prizes
that lure them on, but these prizes, each and all, cannot
ease the hurt of the sinning soul.

I am summoning you this morning to do both the dif-
ficult and consistent thing — to go after such cases all about
you. And now as you bethink yourselves, case after case
will stand before you. I am beseeching you that you will
combine with the other man, and you twain shall plead
that promise of Jesus : "If two of you shall agree on earth
as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done
for them of my Father which is in heaven." If you need
two, let there be two to go, all unadvertised, but in the
quietness and patience of Christ. Oh, how the grotesque,
and the absurd, and the spectacular in religion cheapens and
harms ! Our Master's cause does not need any of that. In
the beautiful spirit of humility, with quietness, without

236 A QUEST FOR SOULS

ostentation, without parade, but patiently, prayerfully and
faithfully, we should give ourselves to this Christly task.
I summon you to it to-day, even as I summon myself, that
our conduct in the days to be may be far more consistent
than it has been in the days that are gone.

Now, the lessons in this incident are many, and they
are written large for us. Let us do the unusual thing, if
that be necessary to get the attention and win the heart
of some soul that has missed the upward way. Let us
combine and co-operate. Let us pray together and go to-
gether, if haply by such earnest effort we may win that
difficult case. Pass no case by. Leave no case unap-
proached, unhelped. Take them as you can see them, and
bethink you concerning them, and do your best to win them
to Christ. Oh, my brother men and my gentle sisters, let
^us care for human souls these passing summer days like
we ought!

How is it that we are often keenly sensible to physical
distress, to the cry of the body, and yet of the deeper dis-
tress of the soul we are often unmindful and insensible?
Why is it that we do not care like we ought for human
souls? For one reason, I say we do not care because we
do not sufficiently realize their condition. Oh, if we real-
ized that outside of Christ the battle is lost for a human
soul, surely that realization would bestir us to make the
best effort for them possible. Many a time we are quiet
and uncommunicative touching human souls, because we
realize so keenly our own unworthiness. Let me be per-
sonal for a moment to say that if I had waited until I felt
worthy to approach a human soul — worthy in myself — I
would have been dumb as death on such subject all these
years I have been a Christian. I never saw the day that
I felt worthy, for one second, to speak to anybody about
his soul. I must say, with the apostle of old: "I know
that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.'*
If I had waited until I felt personally worthy to Join the
church, I should never have joined any church. If I had
waited until I felt personally worthy to preach the gospel
of the grace of God, I should never have preached one
jtime. Oh, we are not to preach ourselves at all, but to

A CONQUERING FAITH 237

preach Christ Jesus the Lord. Many a time we ought to
begin our conversation with an humble confession of our
own pitiful frailties and weaknesses, and then go on to
say to the friend whom we approach: "I do not preach
myself — ^you must understand that. I preach Christ Jesus
the Lord." All our worthiness comes from Christ Jesus,
"who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption, that, according as it
is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

Two business men on the outskirts of the city lived
side by side. One was a church man, and had been for
long years, and the other a non-church man. The church
man went to church every Sunday morning, and the non-
church man went never at all. But they came into the
city from its suburbs every week day morning, on the
trolley, to perform their tasks in the city, and through the
long years they went back and forth on the train together
every week day. It came about, in the strange providence
of God, that both were sick unto death at the same time.
Each lay upon the dying bed the same day, and the non-
church man's wife, herself a Christian, was in such an
agony about him that she was constrained to say: "Hus-
band, wouldn't you like for a good Christian man to come
and talk with you about religion — ^you are very sick." And
he slowly shook his head and said : "Not at all. My neigh-
bor, Mr. So-and-so, is a church man, and in all these long
years we have ridden thousands of miles together, and
we have talked about every subject upon which men con-
verse, but he has never said a word to me about religion.
Why, there could not be anything in it, if a church man,
who has been with me hundreds of days and has traveled
with me thousands of miles, has never essayed to speak
to me one word about religion. If he could pass such sub-
ject by through these long years, and be silent about it, I
will go away just like I am." And so he died. Oh, if we
would realize as we ought the peril and the worth of souls !
The hour will be gone in two minutes more. Oh, if we
would realize as we ought the peril and worth of souls!
Won't you parents realize before it is too late?

I went to a dying son in Dallas, and did my best to

238 :a: quest for souls

win him, and finally I said to him: *'0h, my boy, how
much your father is interested in you !" And then search-
ingly he looked at me out of his deep, sad eyes, and he
said: *'What is that?" I said: "Your father is so inter-
ested in you. He sobbed about your religious condition
to-day as we talked. I have come to you at his request."
And then he looked at me long and hungrily, and said:
"Isn't that strange ? Father never said a word to me about
religion in all his life." Strange? Why, it is horrible!
Strange ? Why, it is atrocious ! Strange ? Why, it is mon-
strous ! Strange ? Why, it is criminal ! Why, that kind of
conduct feeds hell on hope, and is enough to put crepe on
the door to God's heaven above! Parents, speak the all-
important word now to your children. Oh, my fellow-men,
citizens, toilers at all life's tasks, professional men, business
men, speak the right word now to your friends! Oh, ye
who love the Lord, get you to-day at this task, like you
ought — this task of winning souls !

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

And now we appeal to thee, O God, who heareth prayer, to lodge thy truth
in our every heart. O, make us to be right in thy sight, concerning this greatest
of all causes — that of winning lost people to Christ. We would repent of every
evil way ourselves. We would bow our hearts to the very dust, because we have
been so inconsistent, so frail, our lives so incongruous as Christians, saved and
called to win souls. We have been so often neglectful of duty. We have allowed
little things to turn us from the plain course of right. We have allowed people
to hurt our testimony for Christ. We have allowed checkered experiences thus
to hurl; us. O Jesus, Master, blessed Savior, make these thy people to be right
in thy sight this day, and fit them for their matchless task of pointing people to
the heavenly way. And we pray thee for thy saving favor upon all this city.
O, grant that during these midsummer days the people may hear in the right
way, from lips which God will anoint, the right sort of appeals concerning per-
sonal religion. And may the difficult cases — the hardened, the aged, the sinful,
the duty-neglecting, the deeply backslidden, the God-forgetting, whoever and
wherever such people may be — may they all and each be properly approached by
these friends of God, to the end that every such case may^ be won to Christ.
And may there be no vain confidence in arms of flesh for this superhuman task.
May our confidence all be stayed on God, and may He guide us and empower us
at every step by His own omnific Spirit, so that, night and day, we shall do His
will these passing days.

And as you go now, may the blessing of the triune God, even of Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, be granted you all and each, to abide with you forever. Amen.

XVII

NIGHT SERVICE, JUNE 20, 1917,

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Through these several days of the meeting, many touch-
ing requests have reached us, by letter and otherwise,
asking specially for prayer for certain specified objects. I
wish I had time to read you these many requests. Time
and again, parents have requested that groups of Chris-
tians in these meetings, would join the parents in prayer
for their sons and daughters. Time and again, modest,
shrinking, but devoted wives, have asked certain praying
ones quietly — and that is the better way for it to be asked—
that they would join them in special prayer for their hus-
bands. And friend after friend, a large group of friends,
have presented their friends, saying to men and women here
and there in the meeting: "Won't you join us in special
prayer for these friends?" Now I indicate these requests in
this way, that you may be much in prayer for them all. Note
after note has reached me, in which the request has been
made that the whole multitude be asked to join in special
prayer for definite persons. The limits of the hour would
not allow for such notes to be read, even if it were proper
to read them, but the fact is a most challenging call to
us to be much in prayer. 1 should like for us in a moment
to make mention of these requests, every one, to Him who
knoweth all about each case, in a special prayer. And yet
before we offer that prayer, I should like to give others
the privilege of voicing, in just one moment, when I shall

239

240 A QUEST FOR SOULS

indicate, their special requests for prayer. I shall put it
by groups, by sections of people, as I ask that question.
I should like, if there are parents here, whose children are
not yet saved, and you would have all these who pray
to join you in prayer for them, to witness to such desire
by lifting the hand for a moment, as my eye shall glance
over the audience. I see — there are many hands that are
lifted. That is, indeed, an appealing sight. I should like
again to see every person here whose heart has some per-
son or persons for whose spiritual welfare you yearn, for
whose salvation you pray, and you would like for us to
join you in such prayer, manifest it by lifting your hand
as my eye shall again glance over the audience. Oh, there
are many! And in this choir, let me see. I trust every
member of this choir loves Christ. How indebted we are
to them for their devotion ! Very helpful is the part that
they render in a meeting like this, and we are profoundly
grateful to them. Your every hand was lifted. There were
many, many, many wishes voiced by the uplifted hands,
just now. God saw and knows about every case that was
indicated by such uplifted hands. Let us pause a moment
to speak to Him now, in their behalf.

THE OPENING PRAYER.

We would wait upon thee, O God, yet a moment longer, at the throne of
grace. We bring thee all these requests for prayer, and pray thee to visit each
one with light and love, with mercy and grace, in thine own time and way.
Regard, we beseech thee, these parents, whose uplifted hands witnessed te the
alarming fact that they have children who are out of the ark of safety. O, may
parental interest for the salvation of such children be so quickened and deepened
by the Spirit of God, that all these parents will, by precept and example, go to
the utmost of devotion to win their children to Christ.

And we unite our prayers with those of these wives, who ill one way or
another have indicated their deep concern that their lost husbands might be saved.
O, strengthen thou the faith of every Christian wife whose husband is an unbe-
liever, and speak to such unbelieving husband through the wife, or in any way
thou wilt, thou sovereign Savior, so that he shall be saved._ O, grant that these
Christian wives may not always have to go life's way alone in the deepest, highest
things, but may they have their husbands with them, that wife and husband, the
mother and father, together may journey on in the heavenly way, and there bring
with them tliose whom thou hast given them.

And we pray with every friend here to-night, whose uplifted hand witnessed
to the fact that he or she had some person or persons for whose salvation they
would pray. We would unite our prayers with them, for every person repre-
sented. And if it would please thee, O Lord, for these men and women to^ go
in person and speak to such lost ones concerning Christ and His great salvation,
whatever their modesty, whatever their timidity, whatever their sense of un-
worthiness and of unfitness, yet let them go, clinging to Christ to guide and help
them. May there be such worthy personal attention to souls, such right approach
to souls, by these all about us who care for souls, that God will come with
divine reinforcement, and make their witnessing triumphantly efiFective in winning
manv to Christ. Lord, help every one, here and there and everywhere who is
engaged in this great work. Quicken our consciences until they shall bum with
personal concern for the salvation of the people. May every one of us utterly

THE CONFESSION OF SIN 241

refuse to allow tbe painful consciousness of our unworthlness and our unfitness
to deter us from the holiest work of all — the converting of sinners from the
error of their ways. Give us ever to remember that we watch for souls as they
who must give account to God. May we so watch that when we give our accoimt
to God we shall give such account with joy, and not with grief. And may the
Divine Spirit guide us in all these visits, in all these conversations, in all these
approaches to human souls. We would utterly yield ourselves to Him for His
light and leading. We would be led, literally and utterly and only, of God. We
would have divine wisdom to guide us at every step, so that we may do that only
which will please Christ our Lord.

May the service to-night be altogether under the divine direction. May the
preacher speak just as Christ would have him speak. May he have the temper
that will have Christ's approval. May these hearts all be opened by the great,
good Spirit Divine, so that they shall heed the word that shall be spoken. In
all this throng of people, may the men and women, and even the boys and girls,
now open their hearts and minds, that they may respond just as God would have
them respond, to the call of His own truth. May His will, whatever it is, be
accomplished through us and with us this night. We pray in Christ's conquering
name. Amen.

THE CONFESSION OF SIN.

Text: "If we confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins." — I John 1; 9.

This is the text: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins." It is from the first chap-
ter of John's first epistle. Its primary application is mani-
festly for Christians, as the context indicates, but its gra-
cious truth may be applied to all who sin, and are there-
fore in need of God's forgiving mercy.

Somebody has well said that the three hardest words
to say like they ought to be said are these: ''I have
sinned." You will grant the truth of that saying upon a
brief moment's reflection. The three most difficult words
to say like they ought to be said are these three: "I have
sinned." And yet confession of sin lies right at the founda-
tion of our coming to Christ. If one be not a sinner, then
for him there is no Savior. For him, Christ's gospel does
not have any appeal, if one be not a sinner. Jesus tells us :
"They that are whole (or well) do not need a physician,
but they that are sick." And again Jesus tells us : "I did
not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
And again He tells us: "The Son of man is come to seek
and to save that which was lost."

Oh, are you a sinner? Then I preach to you a Savior,
for Jesus came to seek and to save sinners. Forgiveness of
sins is a real experience. Sin is as real as your hand or eye.
Sin obtains with every rational soul. The forgiveness of sins
is as real as the sin itself. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
grant forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness of sins is a personal

242 A QUEST FOR SOULS

experience — a real personal experience. There can be no
forgiveness except between persons. That chair could not
forgive you. That tree could not forgive you. That beast of
the field could not forgive you. Forgiveness is always be-
tween persons. Now God, the Great Person, comes to you
and me, the little, finite, human, mortal, dependent, sinning
persons, and says to us : "If you will turn to me with right
attitude, I will forgive your sins." Oh, I ask you, one by one,
as my eye sweeps the audience : "Have your sins been for-
given of God?" Could you lay your hand upon your heart
and say: "I have the consciousness within me, that God
has forgiven my sins?" I would press that upon you, one
by one — have your sins been forgiven of God? And I
would pray you, do not stop until you can give a complete,
satisfactory answer to that great question — have your sins
been forgiven of God?

Our text tells us, "If we confess our sins. He is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins." Be not deceived, I pray
you, my men and women, on this crucial point, the reality
of sin, and the inescapable fact that sin must be confessed
in the right way, if we are ever to get forgiveness for our
sins. Be not deceived at such crucial point, the fact of
sin in your life and mine — the awful fact of sin. There are
two chief causes that conspire to deceive us at this point,
and the one is the ignorance that we have of our own
hearts. Who has ever sounded the depths of his own
heart? Who knows every secret expression and bias and
motive of his own heart? No one but God has ever sounded
the depths of a rational, responsible, human heart. So the
proneness is constant with us not to know our own hearts.
God tells us in His Word, pointblank, that "the heart is
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who
can know it?" That is the solemn asseveration of God's
Word. "The heart is deceitful in all things and desper-
ately wicked." That is God's own indictment of the hu-
man heart.

And now, if we will pause to consider how the human
heart treats God, we will see how wretchedly sin has played
havoc with the human heart. Look at the attitude of the
human heart toward God, in two ways. LoxDk at the in-

THE CONFESSION OF SIN 245

gratitude of the human heart toward God. That sin, the
sin of ingratitude, is one of our commonest sins, and surely
one of our wretchedest, one of our most heinous sins. Oh,
the sin of ingratitude, anywhere, how base, how bad it is!
How terrible is the sin of ingratitude of a child toward its
parent. "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have
a thankless child!" said the great dramatist. Ingratitude
anywhere is a terrible, most represensible fault. Ingrati-
tude even among men is despicable, and when we relate
it to our chiefest, our supremest benefactor, even to God,
how base, how terrible, is ingratitude seen to be in His
sight God gives our lives, and crowns us with every
mercy and blessing, from the largest to the least, and yet
we are forgetful and indifferent and ungrateful toward
that infinitely benevolent Being. If there were no other
motive to bring every rational person to the feet of Christ,
this motive ought to bring us all — the motive of gratitude.
With such a Friend and such friendship, such mercy, such
patience, such kindness, such forbearance, such a Friend
ought to have from us our best devotion and love. The
human heart is deceived by sin, and that drowns the ex-
pression of gratitude to God.

And then the human heart, in its deception, may be seen
in our disobedience toward God. Obedience is a mighty
principle, that everywhere must work its mighty sway.
You let obedience be trifled with in the home, and the home
will go to rack and confusion and ruin. You let obedience
be trifled with in the school, or trifled with in the army,
and chaos will follow such trifling. Now when we think
of obedience in the highest realm of all, even obedience
to God, which is the chiefest and first duty of every human
life, and when we remember that God, the holy Lawgiver,
with His laws and precepts for human guidance and gov-
ernment, is trifled with and disobeyed, how terrible is the
fact of sin, that it could make us to be both ungrateful
and disobedient in the sight of God !

And then our lack of recognition of the undoing power
of sin in human life comes from another cause, and that
is, ignorance of God's Word, which Word reveals God'g
will for the children of men. The one supreme standard

244 A QUEST FOR SOULS

by which all conduct and character and creeds shall be
tried is by God's Holy Word. God's Holy Word is the
guide-book to point men and women in the right way for-
ever. And yet ofttimes we do not know what that Word
says, where that guide-book points. But when we open
its pages to see what God says about mankind, there it is,
luminous as the sun in the heavens at noontime. When
we open the Scriptures, there stands out the solemn word
of God: "God looked down from heaven, to see if there
were any that did good, and there was not one, no, not
one." We open the Scriptures and read again: "There
is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good and sin-
neth not." And we open the Scriptures again and read
them: "There is no difference. For all have sinned, and
come short of the glory of God." And again we open the
Scriptures: "Marvel not that I say unto you, except you
are bom again, born from above, you cannot even see the
kingdom of God." And we open the Scriptures and quote
them again: "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish."

Now, we are often ignorant of what the Word of God
says about human conditions and human character and
human need and human destiny, which ignorance does not
excuse us; and because of such ignorance of God's Word
and of our own heart, we do not realize as we ought the
undoing and destructive power of sin in human life. Oh,
my fellow-men and women, I pray you, let us all take our
proper place at God's feet, and realize as He would have
us, the awful fact that sin has come with its crippling
power into our every life, and we must have deliverance
from such sin, we must have absolution from it, we must
have forgiveness for it, we must turn from it to be saved
from its fearful penalty and power.

And now, our text points the way for our forgiveness
and recovery: "If we confess our sins. He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins." Here we are face to face with
the solemn matter of confessing our sins. How shall we
confess our sins ? Solemn matter that ! If we will confess
our sins in the proper way, we shall have forgiveness for
them, and we shall be saved out of them and in. spite of

THE CONFESSION OF SIN 243

them, and peace here and forever shall be our portion. How
then shall we confess our sins? The Bible points the way
for us, and we will look at that way to-night. The Bible
indicates the wrong way, that we may be warned concern-
ing such way and refuse to walk in it. The Bible gives us
case after case of men who confessed their sins, but in the
wrong way, to their own hurt and undoing and destruc-
tion. Let us look at such wrong way, pointed in the Bible
for us that we may be warned and not take such way. I
call your attention to two or three cases that the Bible
holds up for our warning and counsel.

Pharaoh confessed his sins, but in the wrong way. Pha-
raoh was the king, as you recall, down in Egypt, and the
time came when, under heavy pressure, Pharaoh made con-
fession of his sins. You remember the circumstances, do
you not? God had sent Moses a little while before this
occasion, to tell Pharaoh, the king, that he must let the
children of Israel go out of Egyptian bondage to their
appointed land yonder, which God had promised His chosen
Israel. Moses stood before Pharaoh, the king, and gave
the king the message from God, and Pharaoh scouted it
all. Pharaoh scornfully mocked it all. Pharaoh said : "Who
is God, that I should obey Him?" Pharaoh said: "I am
a king myself. Leave my presence," said Pharaoh to
Moses; "I will do as I please with these slaves. They
shall yet grind at my mills, and they shall yet do obeisance
to the bidding of my people." And Moses went his way.
But God has His own ways of making His authority and
righteousness effective. You recall that there came plague
aftef plague, until ten plagues fell upon Egypt in swift
succession. You remember that the water was everywhere
turned into blood. You remembef that the cattle on the
hills ^nd in the valleys were stricken with murrain, so that
presently they lay (lea3 everywhere. And on and on the
terrible plagues fell over Egypt, until the last and culmi-
nating plague came, namely, the first-bom in every Egyp-
tian family, whether of man or beast, lay dead in one night.
And when the morning came there was wailing throughout
Egypt, from one border to the other, for the first-born,
both of man and beast, lay dead in every Egyptian family.

246 A QUEST FOR SOULS

At last Pharaoh was serious, and he sent for God's man,
Moses, and when Moses confronted him, Pharaoh said:
*'I have sinned. Go tell your God to stay these clouds of
wrath and trouble that are falling upon my people. I have
sinned. I relent. I change my way. I yield to God's great
call. Tell your God that, and I change my way." And
Moses prayed, and the clouds lifted and the sunlight came
again throughout Egypt. And then Moses started with the
children of Israel to the land of Canaan, which God had
promised them. Yonder Moses goes, with that nation of
spiritless slaves following at that valiant leader's heels.
Yonder they go. Would you believe it? Pharaoh took it
all back. Pharaoh summoned his men and sent them in
swift haste after Moses and the retreating Israelites, and
said to his men : "Re-capture, recover them all, and bring
them back, that they may yet grind at our mills." And
you remember how they pursued the retreating hosts led
by Moses, until they came to the Red Sea, and God by a
miracle opened that sea, and Moses with the hosts crossed
swiftly, and then the reckless, presumptuous champions
of Pharaoh plunged into the opened sea, and the standing
mountains of water came down to submerge them, and
they were destroyed. Now, this case is typical of the hard-
ened sinner, and such are to be found, I fear, in every
community in this gospel country — the hardened sinner;
one who under pressure feels and hears God's call, and
relents and concedes, and makes his promises, and yet
puts them all away and goes deeper into sin and darkness
than ever before — the type of the hardened sinner.

Oh, I wonder if I speak to such ! How difficult such case
is! Years ago I was ready to close the midweek prayer-
meeting where I was pastor, and I had lifted my hands for
the benediction, and the people were standing, and just
then there came rapidly to the church door one of our phy-
sicians— a noble. Christian physician. Oh, how great a thing
for a physician to be a devout Christian, and how impor-
tant! He came in and waved his hand and said: "Pastor,
have the people to be seated. I have a statement to make."
And we were seated, and then he told us of one of our well-
known citizens, whose wife was a devoted Christian and

THE CONFESSION OF SIN 247

member of the church. He told us how ill such man was,
and how he, the doctor, had just left his bedside, where
five doctors had had an extended consultation, and the de-
cision of those five doctors was that, speaking after the
fashion of men, the great citizen had already passed be-
yond the reach of materia medica, and would die before
morning. **But," said this doctor who came to the prayer-
meeting, "I believe in God, and that He can turn the battle
back from the gate when all hands human are helpless."
Don't you prize a doctor who talks like that? Then said
the doctor: *'We told this citizen just what his case was
and is, and he was utterly horrified, for he is not prepared
to die. For a moment, he grasped after something, and
finally he said: 'Isn't this the night, Wednesday night,
when the people meet at the church to pray?' The doctor
said: *Yes, it is.' Then the sick man said: 'Doctor, you
hasten down there and tell those people where my wife
goes to church — tell those people who pray — that I sol-
emnly promise that if God will spare me, and raise me up
from this sick bed, when the tide is turned and I am well,
I will go to God's house, and I will seek His face, and I
will follow the light He gives.' " The doctor told the story,
and I said: "Every head will be bowed. We will pray
for him." And I led the people in that prayer, and we
commended him to God, and we begged that he might live,
on the one ground, that when recovered he might make
good his pledge, he might redeem his promise, and live
thereafter in harmony with God. The next morning early,
the doctor phoned me that the tide had turned, and that
the man was incomparably better, and would undoubtedly
live; and day by day that was the word that came from
his sick bed, where no one was allowed to enter, save the
doctor and the nurse and the v/ife. At that time, I visited
another community, to aid in some gospel meetings, and
was gone some two or three weeks. When I came back,
and made inquiry, they said: "He is out on the streets,
and practically well," and a few minutes after my inquiry,
I met him on the street, face to face, and I hurried to him,
and took his hand, and rejoiced with him with most grate-
ful joy. And then I said to him, for it was Saturday: "You

248 A QUEST FOR SOULS

will be at God's house with us to-morrow." I yet held his
hand, and he winced and said: "Oh, no! I am behind
with my mail. I have a large number of letters unan-
swered. I have lost so much time, I must put in to-morrow
looking over that mail." And I still held his hand and
searched his heart, as I looked through his eyes, and said:
"Oh, no, my man ! You will, of course, be at God's house
to-morrow, I take it." He winced yet more, and his face
colored crimson, and he said : "I know what you are think-
ing about." I said: "Indeed, you do." He said: "I was
in a close place. I had to do something, and do it quickly,
and I did as I did. But I cannot be at church to-morrow.
I am behind with my work. I will be there later, when
I get up with my work. I cannot be there to-morrow." I
still held his hand, and I said: "Man, man! You have
come back from the very gates of the grave. You have
been spared, evidently, in answer to prayer, on your high
pledge that when God recovered you. He should have your
best. Come to God's house to-morrow, and give heed ac-
cording to your serious pledge to Him." He fairly rushed
away from me, as he said: "Oh, I cannot! By and by I
v/ill. I cannot now. Business engrosses me now." And
he was gone, and the wrecks went by, and he never came,
and a group of citizens were making ready to go on a trip
to the East, a group of business men, and they stood there
in the depot, waiting for the train, all chatting happily,
when suddenly this man trembled, and put his hands to
his face, and before the others could realize v/hat was hap-
pening, he fell with heavy fall there on the depot floor.
The ambulance was summoned, and the doctor, and they
carried him away to his home. But the hours were just a
few, until apoplexy had done its work, and all unconscious,
the man went out into the other world to reap the harvest
of his own sowing. The physican called me and told me
the tragical ending a little later, and for days and days
there was only one Scripture that swept through my soul —
this Scripture: "He that being often reproved hardeneth
his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without
remedy 1"

Such man is the type of the hardened sinner, the sinner,

THE CONFESSION OF SIN 249

who, under pressure, makes his high pledge to God, and
than puts it all away. Such sinner, one day, finds a black
Friday enshrouding the whole home. A loved one is ill
almost unto death. The black shadow^s throw themselves
everywhere about the place, and the man's heart is in his
throat, and he goes out alone and utters one cry, over and
over again. He walks alone, saying two little words, and
those words a cry: *'0h, God! Oh, God!" And on and
on he says just that: ''Oh, God! Oh, God!" And then,
later along, he gives his high pledge that, if God will turn
the battle back from the gate, he will repent, he will turn
to God. And that vow is heard, and God's mercy is shown,
and the battle is turned back from the gate, and the black
Friday passes, and the man, with his pledge, goes his way
and forgets it all. Oh, do I speak to somebody in this vast
throng to-night who has forgotten his vows, who has mur-
dered his covenant, who has strangled his good resolution?
I pray you, summon yourself again to the right consider-
ation of that serious promise made in the other days.

There was another man who confessed his sins, but to
no good purpose. That man was Balaam, the false prophet,
whose story is told for us in the Old Testament. You re-
call the circumstances under which Balaam confessed his
sins. He was in the presence, one day, it would seem, of
a good man on his death-bed, and that scene made an
impression upon Balaam that provoked his cry of the con-
fession of sin. He saw a good man there in the death
chamber, passing away, and it moved Balaam to his heart's
depths — a sight that is never to be forgotten, to see a good
man die, or to see a bad man die. It is a sight from which
there is no getting away. When I see how my people can
die, I come back to my pulpit brave as a lion to preach
Christ's gospel to the world — when I see how Christ's
friends can die. So it would seem that Balaam saw a good
man die, and he came out of that death chamber with the
cry: "I have sinned. Let me die th« death of the right-
eous, an^ let my last end be like his !" That was his prom-
ise; that was his prayer; that was his wish. Would you
believe it? The very next day Balaam took it all back.
The very next day Balaam summoned about him a group

250 A QUEST FOR SOULS

of men whose avowed purpose was to exterminate from
the face of the earth all of God's prophets and people, and
get rid of them every one — the very next day.

What about this man Balaam? He is the type of the
undecided man, the type of the vacillating, hesitating, ir-
resolute, wavering man ; and that is the most difficult type
of all, I have thought, to reach with the gospel — the man
one day serious, and the next day putting it all away ; one
hour saying: "I have sinned. Let me die like a good man
ought to die," and the next day mocking it all. He is the
type of the wavering soul. How difficult to reach such
soul with the gospel of grace! For convictions not fol-
lowed get fainter and die. Impressions not followed blow
away like the blossoms are blown from the trees in the
orchards in the springtime. Every time a conviction to
do a duty is felt and not followed, the life-blood is let out
and the soul is weaker. Every time one's duty on any
subject is clear and plain, and the man hesitates, through
policy, through fear, for any cause, he is weaker thereafter
in his deepest manhood. Oh, soul, wavering, irresolute, un-
decided soul, how difficult to reach your soul with the
gospel ! The alarm clock you set to wake you in the morn-
ing will wake you, if when you hear it you will obey it
and rise from the bed promptly in response to the sum-
mons. But you let that alarm be sounded, and you turn
over and say: 'T will sleep a little more; I will take a
dozen minutes, or half an hour," and trifle with the cloclc
like that, and keep that up a little while, aiiH you may put
that clock under your pillow at last, and it will give its
alarm as usual, but you will sleep the sound slumber, and
will not respond at all. Oh, like that there comes in the
awful power that undoes the soul, when one hears and feels
and knows that duty calls, and yet puts it all away, as did
this man Balaam.

There was another man I woulii name, who confessed
his sins to no good purpose, but made his case worse, and
that was that man Achan, a soldier in Joshua's army. You
recall the circumstances, do you not, under which he made
his confession of sin? A soldier he was in Joshua's army,
and specific directions had been given for the guidance

THE CONFESSION OF SIN 251

and government of such army, and there was a fixed pen-
alty, severe and terrible, if such directions should be trifled
with by the soldiers. Away they went to the conflict, led
by Joshua, and yet, strange to say, Joshua's army, brave
and mighty, was completely routed, and the hearts of hio
men were poured out like v/ater, and they fled like the wild
beasts of the hills, and Joshua was on his face, ashamed
and broken-hearted because of the shameful defeat. And
God said to him: "Get thee up, Joshua, and search the
army, and thou wilt find the reason for the fearful fail-
ure." And you recall that the whole army was searched,
company by company, regiment by regiment, man by man,
the whole army, and at last the searchers came to the last
company, came to the right man, and put their finger on
the right man, who was the culprit, who had made the
mischief, who had wrought the awful defeat, and this man
was led away to meet his awful penalty in death. And as
he was thus led away, poor, doomed Achan blurted out
his confession, "I have sinned," as they led him away to
the awful penalty of death. Oh, I do not need to follow
Achan further, to ask what became of him ! I do not know.
But I do need to say, with all the emphasis with which I
can marshal words to say it, that I personally have little
confidence in death-bed confessions, when the soul is leav-
ing the suffering body and going out into eternity. I will
not be understood as saying that a dying man may not truly
repent of his sins and be saved. He may. The Bible gives
us one case where a dying man did truly repent — the thief
on the cross — and Jesus made answer to him: "To-day
thou shalt be with me in Paradise," He did repent, but
the Bible gives only one example of one in the last hour
who repented of sin. The Bible gives only one example —
one, that people may not utterly despair, and only one, that
people may not recklessly presume.

Oh, men and women, with your wits about you, with
your judgments clear, with your consciences sensitive and
responsive, I pray you, in such a time as this, calmly and
deliberately and thoughtfully, face the question of what
you will do with God. I follow Achan just a moment more,
for Achan could not die to himself. I have been saying.

252 A QUEST FOR SOULS

according to the Scriptures, that no man can live to hims'Sf,
nor can any one die to himself, and Achan is an awful illus-
tration and demonstration of that momentous truth. Read
the story of Achan and you will come across this awful
sentence: "That man Achan perished not alone in his in-
iquity ;" and read the story a little further, and a little more
closely, and you will find that thirty-six men went down
with Achan to his awful fate. Oh, influence! When will
we be done with influence? We will be done with it not
at all. We will be done with it nowhere. You can no more
be separated from your influence than you can be separated
from your shadow as you walk in the sun. Achan did not
die alone, but took thirty-six men down with him to dusty
death. Oh, influence ! How serious, how momentous, how
terrible, is the fact of influence ! I wonder if a parent could
have another hell quite so horrible as for a child to look
the parent in the face, father or mother, and say to such
parent: "You brought me here by your own example!"
Could there be another hell quite so terrible as that? I
wonder if there could be another remorse quite so consum-
ing for any man or woman, as for some soul in the world
hereafter to say to such man or woman: "I imitated you,
and you brought me the downward way !" I pray you, oh,
I pray you, save your influence to the right side !

I have one more case to present, telling how sin is con-
fessed, but that is the right case. I could present a num-
ber, but one will do. There is a right way whereby to con-
fess sin, and if we confess our sins in that right way, we
shall have forgiveness. What is the right way? One case
will illustrate. I take the story of the prodigal son, the most
familiar story, perhaps, in all the Bible. You remember
how he went away from home, and wasted his substance
rapidly in riotous living, and went down, and down, and
down, and was at last yonder in the swine field, feeding
the swine and eating of the food wherewith he fed the swine.
But one day he came to himself, and he followed such self-
awakening with thought, with resolution, and with action,
and he brought himself back the homeward way.

Look at his case just a moment. First of all, the Bible
tells us that he came to himself. He came to himself at

THE CONFESSION OF SIN 253

last, far from home, down yonder in the world, in the field
of waste and failure. He came to himself. How significant
that expression: "When he came to himself." Oh, Spirit
of God, give the people to come to themselves, religiously
and spiritually 1 He came to himself, and he bethought
himself: "Back yonder at home, they have plenty and to
spare, and here I am starving among the swine. What
wretched waste is my portion !" said the prodigal. But he
did not stop with that. He was filled with sorrow over
his course, and said: "I will go back and tell father, and
in the sight of God make my confession that I have
sinned against father and against heaven, and no more
am worthy to be called my father's son. I will take
a place unknown as one of the hired servants, and I will
go back and make that confession of my wrong, my waste,
my sin." Right there are the beginnings of repentance.
He sees his wrong course. He acknowledges his wrong
course. He sorrows over his wrong course. Right there
are the beginnings of repentance. But then he rises up,
for that is not enough, and he makes a great resolve, and
the resolve was this: "I will arise and go back to my
father, and make my confession full and complete." What
wonders are wrought by resolution ! Mountains are trans-
formed into molehills by resolution. What wonders are
wrought by resolution! He rises up and says: "I will!
I will! I will decide. I will choose. I will make up my
mind. I will I" Oh, how grand a thing is resolution !
Alexander was asked how he conquered the world, and he
said that he conquered it by making up his mind, and then
by not delaying to act when his mind was made up. And
Lowell magnifies this truth when he sings:

Once to every man and nation

Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife 'twixt truth and falsehood,

For the good or evil side.

This prodigal son made up his mind. But that was not
enough. The Bible tells us in the next sentence that he
acted. In the next sentence, the Bible tells us that he arose
and came to his father. Now, that is vital. That is the
gist of the whole matter. He arose and came. It is not
enough to wish. It is not enough to desire. It is not

254 A QUEST FOR SOULS

enough to feel. It is not enough to long. It is not enough
to purpose. It is not enough to resolve. The very gist
of it is to rise up, as did this prodigal, and act. He arose
and came. You know the rest. You know how he was
welcomed. You know what he received. The old father
was waiting for him and looking for him down the long
road, which road the boy had traveled when he went away.
And one day, the old father saw the son coming; when
the son was yet a great way off, that father's eye of con-
stancy and love discerned him, and down that road the
father went hastily to meet that returning son. Down the
road the father went, and up the road there came the son,
and when the son was yet a great way off, the father saw
him, and ran toward him, and had compassion on him. The
father took that son, now all rags and shame, to his fath-
erly heart, and the son began his confession: "I have
sinned, father, against you and in the sight of heaven. I
have made shipwreck of my life." And the father said to
his servants : "Bring the best robe for this our son." And
to others : "Kill the fatted calf and provide for this son."
And to another servant: "Bring the ring to put on his
finger"— the ring, emblem of the love that never ends. And
the welcome given to the returning son was unspeakable,
and the sweetness and power of it all is such as to melt
all our hearts.

What is that story? What does it picture? Just this:
It is a picture of how much God wishes to forgive any
person anywhere, who would come to Him and have His
forgiveness. As I come to the last moments of this mes-
sage, I am coming to ask, are there men and women here
^ho say: "We are wrong with God, but we wish to be
eight with God?" Do they say, whether members of the
church or not: "We are wrong with God, but we wish to
be right with God; we wish our sins forgiven; we wish
to be recovered from the wrong road and the wrong life?"
In the church or out, professing religion or not, do they
say: "We are wrong with God, but in God's own time
and way, we would be right with God?" A little while ago
I asked those who had special objects for whose forgive-
ness and salvation they would have us unitedly pray, to

THE CONFESSION OF SIN 255

witness to such fact, and many were the uplifted hands
which gave such witness. Now, I would ask, are there souls
here who lift their hands to say: "I am wrong with God
and know it, but I wish you to pray for me, for I wish to
be right with God, in God's own time and way?" Before
we have a moment of prayer my eye sweeps the audience
to see if souls are here to-night who say: "Yes, I lift my
hand, that you and others may speak to God for me, for
I am wrong with Him, but wish to be right." My eye will
search the audience for just a moment, to ascertain, if can-
didly and earnestly, hands are lifted to witness to the fact:
"I am wrong with God, but I wish you to pray for me that
I may be right with God in God's own time and way."

This is, indeed, a solemn moment. There were many
uplifted hands. God be merciful to you, and forgive you !
He surely will, if you will only turn to Him now in the
right way.

Now, listen ! You wish to be right with God. Oh, He
wishes it for you a thousand-fold more than you can wish
it. God wishes your life to be made right a thousand-fold
more than you wish it. God wishes it enough to give His
Son to die for you! Be not afraid just now to surrender
your all to Him, oh, man, or woman, or child here to-night,
saying in heart: "I am wrong with God." Be not afraid
just there to surrender your case to Christ He does the
forgiving, but you are to give up to Him. He does the sav-
ing, but you are to decide that He may. He does the
changing within you that is necessary, but you are to yield
to Him that He may. Be not afraid to make that surrender
to Him now, to be His from this hour, forever.

Outside of one of our cities, some time ago, a train was
wrecked, and a crowded Pullman of people were killed in
that frightful wreck, and every man on such Pullman train
was a citizen of the city, except one man. He was a
stranger, and they did not know him, and they carried those
bodies back to the city and had a funeral service for them
all, there in a large hall. Women and men came, and took
their last look at that row of caskets, their last look on
the faces of their beloved. And wives and sisters and
daughters came, and bent over the caskets here and there,

256 A QUEST FOR SOULS

and imprinted the last kiss—the kiss of love upon the faces
of the loved ones. But nobody kissed that stranger's face.
Nobody knevir him. But presently there came a little
woman, aged and poor. She had looked at the other faces,
and had watched their loved ones kiss them, and seeing
everybody pass by this stranger's face, she bent over that
face a moment, and looked intently, and then she sobbed
as she said : "I will kiss him once for his mother's sake I"
And she gave her kiss. Oh, soul, far more quickly than
that does the Lord wait to give you His forgiving kiss —
the kiss of reconciliation, the kiss of pardon, the kiss of
peace, the kiss of salvation, if you will only yield yourself
to Him! Be not afraid to do it now!

Yonder in London, an aged woman heard that glorious
preacher, William Dawson, say one night, that Christ
wanted to save the worst man in London, and would save
him, if such man would just give up to Christ. And the
little, aged, kindly woman, who was always trying to do
good, went out to see a man whom she knew, dying on his
pallet of straw, dying from consumption, and she told him
what the preacher said — that Christ wanted to save the
worst man in London. The man v/ould not accept it, but
shook his head. The man was very sinful in life and hard in
heart. The man said : "It could not be so. I am that worst
man, but Christ has no love or interest in me." Then the
gentle woman went back after the preacher and said : "You
must come to help him. I cannot. I am unable." And
presently, William Dawson v/as there bending beside him,
and Dawson said: "How is it, friend?" The poor fellow,
there in his place of squalor and wretchedness, answered:
"I am not your friend, and you are not mine. I do not have
any friends, and I am not entitled to any." But Dawson
went on with gentle words, and said: "Yes, I am your
friend, and therefore have I come;" and he talked on and
on, and said presently : "That is not the best of it. Jesus,
the great Savior, is your friend, and loved you enough to
die for you, and if you are just willing, He will take you
and save you, even in this awful plight to which you have
come." And the man listened, and the man's heart softened
and responded, and he said : "Oh, if it could just be so ! I

THE CONFESSION OF SIN 257

would like to be forgiven. I would like to be saved, if He
would just do it!'' Then Dawson quoted some of the great
promises: *'Come now, and let us reason together, saith
the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be
as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they
shall be as wool." And again : "Whosoever will, let him
take the water of life freely." And on and on Dawson
talked, and then he said : "My friend, I will pray for you,
and while I pray, you just tell the Savior what a poor sin-
ner you are, but that you will just give yourself up to
Him, that He may be your Savior." The poor fellow made
his surrender, and deep was his joy and peace, while they
talked afterward. But presently, he said to Dawson: "I
could die in absolute peace, if just one thing were granted
me." "What is it?" asked Dawson. The man replied:
"I am the black sheep of my father's family. I committed
an awful crime when I was a young fellow, and broke my
parents' hearts, and disgraced my home, and when at last
I went home, father was stern. He met me and said:
'Joseph, if that is the best that you can do, there is the gate,
and you need not embarrass us by your presence.' " And
said Joseph: "I took him at his word, and I did not go
about them any more. I went into the deepest sin. I have
come to the depths of sin. But now at last I have turned
to Christ, and in His marvelous mercy He has forgiven
me. If I could just hear father say: 'Joseph, I will forgive
you, too,' I could go away without one cloud." William
Dawson said: "Where does your father live, and who is
he?" The dying man told him, and William Dawson said:
"I will try to find him." And across great London, William
Dawson went, street after street, over long distances, and
at last he reached the right street, the right home, and he
rang the bell, and the door opened, and a white-haired old
man, venerable and dignified, stood in the door, and William
Dawson asked his name. He was the right man. Then
William Dawson began: "I have come to tell you about
your son Joseph," and the man's hand was up, like that,
repellant and quieting. "I once had such a son," said the
old man, with his face white from bitter memories, "but
he shamed us all, and I showed him the door and the gate,

258 A QUEST FOR SOULS

If you have anything, sir, to say about him, there is the
door and the gate for you!" William Dawson paused.
What could he say ? He waited a moment more and said :
"Well, I will go, sir. I am sorry. Your son Joseph is
dying, and will soon be dead, and God has forgiven him,
and he longs for you to tell him that you forgive him,
too." And then the proud head of that father came down,
and he cried out as with a great pain: "Oh, man, is my
Joseph dying? My little Joseph? My boy, who used to
sit on father's knee? My boy is dying and wanting me to
forgive him? Oh, man take me to him as quickly as you
can!" William Dawson said they hurried over that city
as fast as cab and car could take them, and after awhile
they had reached the place, and the old man was beside
his dying Joseph, and took up that skeleton in his arms,
and embraced him as a mother presses her child to her
heart, and sobbed out his own broken heart. And the dying
Joseph said: *Tather, God has forgiven me. I know it.
Poor sinner that I am, I have surrendered to Him, and
He has forgiven me. Oh, father, I just wanted you to
forgive me, too!" The father said: "My boy, my pre-
cious boy, if I had only known that you wanted me to for-
give you, never did I see the day that I could have held
out against your wish that I should forgive you !"

Tell me, will a man forgive, and God be hard-hearted
and unresponsive? The one thing the great pitying Father
in heaven wants to do this hour is to forgive every man
and woman in this press of people who wants to be right
with God. Just give up to Him. He will forgive in His
own way. Just pray this simple prayer and follow it:
"Here, Lord, I give myself to thee ; it is all that I can do."
It is all He asks. It is all He wishes. Do that, I pray
you. Do that while you may. Do that while you wish to
do it. Do that here, in this place of prayer, even this very
hour.

Two voices are here to-night, two voices, and I can
hear them now. The first voice makes its cry : "Not yet !"
You know where that voice comes from. It is Satan's
voice: "Not yet! Not yet!" It is the way of death. "Not
yet!" Oh, listen not to it ! Put it away. There is another

THE CONFESSION OF SIN 259

voice that can be heard, if you will only listen: "I will!
I will ! I will, God help me I I will, and I will now I" We
are going to sing that gospel song : "Jesus is tenderly call-
ing thee home, calling to-day, calling to-day." As they
sing, I stand here to greet you. Is the man here, or woman
or child, that says : "I am that person who has been wrong
with God?" In the church or out, does one say: "I have
neglected duty. I have broken vows. I have sinned. I
have wandered. I have drifted. I have gone into back-
sliding. I am that person in the church. I want to renew
my vows. I want Christ to make my case right, and I will
surrender to Him, and renew my vows with Him, publicly
to-night?" Come and take my hand.

But does somebody say: "No, that is not my case?"
Does somebody say: "This is my case: I have already
surrendered to Christ, but I never did make it known. Here
to-night I will make it known?" Does somebody say:
"That is not my case yet. This is my case: I want to
surrender to Him. I want His forgiveness. I want Him
to save me, and to-night He offers to save me, if I will just
come to Him, just decide for Him, just surrender to Him ;
I will gladly surrender to Him now." Do you say: "That
is my case?" Then come and take my hand. Is the case
here that says: "One of those three cases includes me?"
Come, take my hand, as they earnestly sing this gospel
song, before our final prayer.

THE CLOSING PRAYER,

We go now, O gracious Father, with hearts profoundly grateful to thee, for
thou art good and ready to forgive, and thou art plenteous in mercy unto all who
call upon thee. We commend these who seek thee and yield to thee, one by one,
and every one, to thy mercy, praying thee that from this night their surrender
to thee may be a complete and an eternal surrender. We pray also for men and
women who have said they want to be right with God, but are hesitating to
come to Him. They are in life's middle time, numbers of them, strong and
mature in mind and body, and there are others, young men and women, who are
seeking the Lord. O, we commend every one to thy mercy — to thy leading.
Give that to-night they shall come utterly and finally and decisively to the end of
their waiting, and that each one shall say: "As for me, to-night and forever,
from this hour, I give myself to Christ, that He may be my Savior and Master
forever." Day by day, and hour by hour, give thy people. Lord, to speak and
to do and to pray according to thy righteous will.

And now as we go, may the blessing of the triune God be granted us aQ
and each, even as He deemetii btft for ui. For Christ's sake. Ameo.

XVIII
NOON SERVICE, JUNE 21, 1917.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.

The word spoken a moment ago by the honored pastor
touching the wisdom and necessity that we Christians, one
by one, shall to-day give ourselves to thought and to effort
and to prayer, to help others about us, who are in wrong
relations religiously, is a word that ought to sink deeply
into our every heart. How great a thing it is to help people
in this highest and best way, even in the upward way!
God takes our efforts, frail as they are, and infirm, and if
we give them earnestly to Him and for Him, His blessing
upon them is sure. "He that goeth forth and weepeth,
bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with
rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."

THE MINISTRY OF SUFFERING.

Text: "Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of
His servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the
name of the Lord, and stay upon his God."~Isa. 50: 10.

The Bible has a message for every life, no matter what
its duty or test or need. The vitality of the Bible is inde-
structible. No condition nor exigency of human life comes,
but that the Bible has a word to meet it exactly. In every
congregation such as this, there come always to such serv-
ices some who have been called to walk the vale of suffering
and sorrow and tears. Numbers and numbers have paused
at the close of these midday services, to tell me of certain

260

THE MINISTRY OF SUFFERING 261

deep burdens they were bearing, or certain sore griefs that
they were suffering, of certain deep perplexities that con-
fronted them. I am to bring you a promise this morning —
one of the most comforting and precious in the Bible. It
is in the fiftieth chapter of Isaiah, the tenth verse, and
you will keep it, because you will need this promise : "Who
is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice
of His servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his
God."

May I tell you how I came to find that promise? We
are all along coming upon promises that we did not know
were in the Bible. What a living book it is! And how
increasingly wonderful it becomes, the more we read it and
study it ! I was in one of the Texas cities some years ago,
preaching in some daily meetings, and my attention was
called to the devotion to Christ of a noble mother in that
congregation. I had rarely seen anything to rank with her
devotion, and in many ways my attention was called to it.
Some months went by, and there came from that city to
my city, another mother from that church, and presently
I asked her about the first mother. She said: *T came
especially to see you about the first mother. Her case is
unspeakably pitiful. It is this : She has come to the place,
because of trouble, sorrow and suffering, where her spirit
seems all beaten into the dust, and she is without light. If
you ask her the question if she trusts Christ, she will an-
swer without hesitation, in the words of Job : 'Though He
slay me, yet will I trust Him.' But," said the second
mother, "this first mother Is In deep darkness, and is with-
out light. I have come to you to ask If there is some sug-
gestion you can give her out of God's Word." That is
how I came to find this text. Now you are ready to hear
it quoted again. Mark It, for you will need it: "Who is
among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice
of His servant, that walketh In darkness, and hath no light?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his
God." "Who is among you that feareth the Lord,"— the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom — "that obeyeth
the voice of His servant, that walketh in darkness, and

262 A QUEST FOR SOULS

hath no light?'' That was her case, exactly. What is to
be done? The rest of the verse tells us: "Let him trust in
the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God."

You will be glad to know, to trace the story just a
moment further, that this promise was the message God
used to recover this bedarkened, sorrowing mother, and
to thrill her heart again with glorious peace.

Let us look at that promise a little while this morning,
because sooner or later all our feet must go down that vale
of sorrow and suffering and darkness and tears, and this
text describes a condition that will sometime come to us
all. What is the condition? Here is one that fears the
Lord, and obeys the voice of His servant, and yet walk-
eth in darkness, and hath no light. That is the condition
that sometimes comes to us in our earthly experience, and
that condition is sometimes the severest test that ever
comes to us. Darkness is always trying to us. Darkness
is trying to us physically, especially when we are ill, and
agitated, and disturbed. Oh, how sick people dread the
night and long for the morning ! Surely, they will be better
when the light comes ! And when we come into the realm
of darkness religious, how terrible such darkness becomes,
and how glorious is light when it streams down on our
darkness !

It raises an old question, as old as Job, and it may be
older: Why do tears and sufferings and darkness come
to those who are the friends of God? We can understand
why trouble would come to the man who is not God's
friend and refuses to be, for as a man sows, so shall he
reap. If he sows to unbelief, the reaping must be of a
character with the sowing. We can understand why the
godless man, the man who will not be God's friend at all,
would come to the harvest of distress. We can understand
that. But that is not the difficult question. The question
is: Why do sufferings, and darkness, and tears come to
those who are the friends of God?

Now, sometimes there is an off-han3, superficial an-
swer given at that point. Sometimes when a Christian is
seen to be in darkness and trouble and tears, the superficial

THE MINISTRY OF SUFFERING 263

critic pounces upon him and says: "This trouble comes
as the result of some sin/' The Word of God is not that
cruel. The Word of God does not teach that doctrine.
That doctrine is as false as it is cruel, and as cruel as it is
false. When you turn to the Word of God, it is perfectly
clear. Listen :

"Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom He receiveth. * * * If ye be without chas-
tisement, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore,
we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we
gave them reverence : shall we not much rather be in sub-
jection unto the Father of spirits, and live?" And then
the beautiful words of Jesus are in point just here, where
He says : "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." So
you see, a part of the program and plan and experience of
human life is chastisement, is trial. "In the world." said
Jesus, "ye shall have tribulation." It is one of the most
expressive words in the Bible. But He goes on to say:
"But be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

But now we are raising the question: Why do the
friends of God pass down the vale of suffering and darkness
and tears? There are some partial answers, to which our
attention may be called briefly this morning. I say par-
tial answers. They must be partial. The full-orbed and
complete answer we must wait for until we shall read it
yonder in the golden glow of the land and life above. But
there are partial answers, why trouble and trials and tears
and darkness and suffering come again and again to the
friends of God here in this world. Let us glance at some
of these partial answers.

For one thing, trouble, if rightly used, enables us to
honor God. Trouble, then, is a trust, and we are so to re-
ceive it. We understand about other things being trusts.
There is the man of education ; he must answer for those
superior attainments. There is the one who can sing so
that hearts are enchanted by the music ; that singer must
answer for that gift. There is the man of money, and the
man of money must answer for it. The men who make
money must answer for that capacity. Whatever our gifts
or capacities, all of them are to be received as trusts from

264 A QUEST FOR SOULS

God, to be used in His name, to help humanity. Now,
along with other trusts comes trouble. Trouble is to be
received, however it comes, as a trust, and we are to bear
it, we are to meet it, we are to go through it, we are to
face it like we ought, as a trust from God, to be used for
the glory of His great name.

You recall Job's manifold and fiery trials, that patriarch
in the land of Uz, that conquering business man, and that
faithful friend of God — ^Job, the man whom God so ap-
proved and applauded. One day Satan impiously said to
God: "If you will give me a chance at your man Job, I
will shake his religion out of him, and I will make him
deny you." Said Satan impiously to God: "Your man
Job is serving you because of sheer selfishness. He knows,
in the crude saying of the world, Vhich side of his bread
is buttered,' and therefore is he proposing to serve you.
Give me a chance," said Satan, "and I v/ill make him
deny you." And God said to Satan : "I will give you carte
blanche at Job. You may do anything you please to him
except to kill him." And then the awful testing began.
There was Job, all unacquainted with the colloquy between
Satan and God, happy and prosperous in all his surround-
ings. And then there came a dark-robed messenger, which
took from him all his property; and I tell you, when you
strike a man in his property you have dealt him a staggering
blow, and some men seem never to recover from such blow.
What a pity that 'tis so! Then there came another mes-
senger, saying that this trouble had come to Job — his serv-
ants were all taken away, and then there came another
messenger, telling him the awful tidings that his children,
all and each, had gone down into dusty death. But stricken
and beaten to the very dust though that father was, he
simply made answer through the darkness: "The Lord
gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name
of the Lord." And then there came another black-robed
messenger, and Job was stricken in his health, so that from
the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, his body was
one festering mass of affliction and suffering. And when
his erstwhile friends in the days of his prosperity came to

THE MINISTRY OF SUFFERING 265

see him, so grievous were Job's sufferings, that those men
sat around him for seven days and did not deign to open
their lips, so terrible was Job's plight, and when at last
they did speak, they said, in effect : "Job, you are the worst
man out of perdition, or this never would have come to
you." Miserable comforters were they all! Job said to
them: "Gentlemen, your diagnosis is incorrect. I do not
know why this awful aggregation of troubles has come
down to swallow me up, but let come upon me what will,
though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." And God
brought Job out of all those troubles, and made the latter
days of his life incomparably more glorious than the former,
and you and I are to-day strengthened by the very recita-
tion of how God sustained Job in the black Friday that
long ago came to his life.

There was a time in my life, when for days and days,
the only book I wanted to read was the book of Job, and
I read it through and through and through, that book of
Job, that tells how the human heart is swept in its deepest
depths of suffering and darkness, and yet how God blesses
it and brings it up and out and sets the soul again in the
high place of safety and peace. Trouble rightly borne
honors God. Mind, when trouble comes, how you behave.
No matter what the trouble is, mind how you behave.
Many a man has dishonored God when trouble came. No
matter what the trouble is, no matter what brought it, no
matter who brought it, no matter how it came about, God
is dishonored if a Christian does not bear his fiery trial
like he ought to bear it. You are being tested for God, and
you will dishonor Him egregiously, or you will honor Him
gloriously, according to your behavior when trouble is on.
Remember that.

I am thinking now of a Giristiah girl who married a
noisy, disputatious unbeliever. Serious matter that! Oh,
when will the people as seriously view this destiny-shaping
question of marriage as it ought to be viewed ? When will
parents be as careful in their teaching about it, and young
people as careful in their decisions about it, as they ought
to be? This dear girl, a glorious Christian, was wooed and
won by a handsome young fellow, but he was a scorner of

266 A QUEST FOR SOULS

the things of God, and she went into that atmosphere. His
father and mother and his grandparents were likewise stout
unbelievers, and all of them lived in the same big home.
And then there began a daily trial of that girl's faith. The
most insidious attacks were made on her faith, from this
angle and that, but she held calm and steadfast and true
to Jesus during all of that first year of their wedded life.
She had to make her way to the house of God alone, but she
went, and that went on for about a year, when one day,
as she moved about the duties of the kitchen, her clothing
caught fire, and before they could reach her and put out the
fire, she had received burns from which she died, a few
hours later. But while she lived, she was conscious to the
last, and she bore her sufferings with all the glorious de-
votion of some mighty martyr for God. Never a word of
reproach or bitterness escaped her lips — never one word.
She went on quoting God's great and precious promises
to the last, and when it was evident to her that she was
going, she stretched out those charred, blackened, once
beautiful hands and arms, and tried to put them around
her husband's neck, and said: "Poor Charlie, the thing
that tries me, and the only thing, about going away, is
that I have not lived long enough to teach you and your
dear parents and the dear old grandparents, that Jesus is
real and sure, that He is a Savior, and that He does help
us, and that He is our refuge in every time of trouble and
need." And then she went away, and the funeral was had,
and the body was left to rest yonder in the cemetery. The
family returned to the home, and the day died down to
nightfall, and there by the open fire sat the bereaved ones,
when presently the young husband stirred and said to his
father and to his grandfather: ''Mary had what the rest
of us do not have, and I am going to seek her Savior."
And the father said: "My boy, you are right. I know it.
I feel it. She has taught me that, and I will seek Him,
too." And the old grandfather stirred, and put his staff
out, and came over to the son and grandson, and laid his
hand on the head of each, and said: "My sons, you are
right. Mary did have what the rest of us do not have, and
I am going to seek her Savior, too." And in three days

THE MINISTRY OF SUFFERING 267

those men had found Christ, and numbers of their loved
ones around them. A little woman, called to pass through
the vale of deepest darkness and suffering, honored God
through it all, and her testimony was irresistible. Mind
how you behave when trouble is on you ! If you carp, and
cavil, and criticise, and murmur, and are evil in your
speech, oh, how you will dishonor God! Trouble rightly
borne will surely honor God.

Why do darkness and sufferings and tears come to
God's people? There is another partial answer. They
furnish an occasion for God to bestow His grace. If I may
so put it, they give God a platform on which to stand and
work His great work. For example, there is a lawyer,
well trained in the schools, and he has received his diplo-
ma and is ready for his noble calling. Now, if he is to
evince his skill in legal learning, he must have his case.
Yonder is a doctor who has been graduated after years of
painstaking study. If that doctor is to demonstrate his
skill in materia medica, he must have his case. Even so,
the Lord Jesus Christ, if He is to show men what He can
do for them, in the black Fridays, in the darkest vale, in
the most dreadful hour, then the hour of trouble and dark-
ness must come, that He may come and extricate us there-
from.

How often is that truth illustrated ! Paul had his thorn
in the flesh. I do not know what it was, but it was some-
thing serious, you may be sure. He called it the messenger
of Satan, sent to buffet him, and thrice Paul besought the
Lord to take away that thorn in the flesh, but it was not
taken away, and after that, Paul said : *T am glad I have
it. I glory in it, because God has given me more of His
grace than I ever would have had, but for the thorn, and
so I will take the thorn and the added grace, and be en-
larged in my knowledge and experience of God."

Why does trouble come to the child of God? Many a
time it is the strange way of preparing such friend of God
to be a helper of others, as such person otherwise never
could have been. There is no teacher like experience. I won-
der if we really and deeply learn anything at all, except
as we learn it in the realm of experience. And so trouble

268 A QUEST FOR SOULS

often comes and we pass through it, and we are fitted as
we pass through it to be helpers as we never could have
been but for such trouble. Paul discusses that particular
doctrine when he says : "God comforteth, in all our tribu-
lations, that we may be able to comfort them who are in
any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are
comforted of God."

I am thinking now of two young mothers. The baby of
the first one died after a brief illness, maybe a day and
night, and I was summoned to the funeral. She and the
husband were not Christians. They were quite worldly
and quite godless, so I had a difficult time, indeed, in reach-
ing them and speaking to them. I went with them, in their
brokenness and desolation, to the cemetery, and came back
with them. I said to them: "You will come to God's
house, and you will get comfort there." And so they came,
and in a few Sundays both of them came into the light and
were saved, and they took their place in the church and
made faithful followers of Jesus. Months went by, and
one day I was summoned to another funeral. The second
little mother was called to put away her flaxen-haired little
girl. She was utterly despairing and desolate in her grief.
She, too, was an unbeliever. I read the sweetest Scriptures
I could find to help her, but she did not seem to hear a
word I said. At last, as the quartette began to sing, the
first young mother I have described, came quietly from
the place where she was, and took her place beside the
second mother, and put her arms about her and gently
said : "Oh, Jennie, dear, it is going to be all right !" And
Jennie answered back : "Why, Mary, it cannot be all right !
Everything about it is bad and dark and wrong ! It cannot
be all right!" "But," said the first mother, "I passed
through this, and I know what you are passing through,
and God called me, and through the darkness I came to
Him, and He has comforted me, and He will comfort you,
Jennie, dear. You cling to Him and He will bring you
out." And the first mother did more for the second mother
than I could have done, maybe in days and months, for
the first little mother had traveled that road of suflFering
herself. Oh, it is often that way, my friends ! The world's

THE MINISTRY OF SUFFERING 269

highest blessings often come out of its deepest sorrows and
trials and tears. Heaven itself can be entered only by way
of the cross. There is no way to get there except by the
cross of Christ.

Did you ever read J. M. Barriers charming little book,
"Margaret Ogilvy?" Everyone should read it. There is
one chapter in it on "How My Mother Got Her Soft Face."
The author is really talking about his own mother. The
story is that the oldest son in the family went away from
home, when he reached his majority — went out to the big
world to fight the battle of life for himself. Letters came
and went, through the months of separation, between the
son and mother, and one day a wire came to her that the
son was desperately ill, and she had better come at once.
She hurriedly packed her valise, and started to the railroad
station, some miles away, committing the tasks of the home
to the younger children, to do the best they could with
them; but before she reached the station, there came a
second messenger boy with the telegram, telling her that
her boy w^as dead, and they were sending his body home
on the next train. The body came and the funeral was
had, and the mother moved about the house, her face be-
tokening a sorrow too deep for human speech. But after
some weeks, they saw that her face shone with a light
that was never on land or sea. Not a murmur escaped her,
no bitterness, no complaints, no harsh words; hers was
a patience like unto Christ's patience. And when some
neighboring woman lost her boy or her girl, when sorrow
came to a neighboring home, Mr. Barrie said, five miles
away, ten miles away, twenty miles away, forty miles
away, the sufifering and sorrowing one said: "Send for
that woman who has the soft face. She will know what
to say to us, for she has passed down the vale of suffering
herself." Oh, my friends, suffering is often the way where-
by we are fitted to help a broken, bruised, sinning, suffer-
ing world, as we never otherwise could help it !

Why do sufferings and tears come to us? There is an-
other word. Many a time, it is a necessary discipline for
us in the building of our own character. Mark you, God's
great concern is for our character — for what we are, not

270 A QUEST FOR SOULS

what we seem to be. God's great concern is for our inner,
deeper selves. Over and again, trouble is God's disciplina-
ry teacher to give us that experience that shall refine us
and teach us and cleanse us and fit us, that we may be
and do in God's sight what He would have at our hands.
The highest conception of life here is that it is a school,
and you and I are the pupils at school, and God has many
teachers, and one of His teachers that comes robed in black
is suffering, is trial, is deepest, darkest testing. David said :
"It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might
learn thy statutes." Oh, we need, my fellow-men, to be
disenchanted ! Ease is the bane of everything that is good.
We need to be disenchanted, so that our trust shall not
be in the flesh, nor in the world, but stayed on the living
God.

I am thinking now of a little woman who was happily
married, and two children were given her, and she lost both
of those children, and they were buried in the same grave,
and then she went down with complete nervous collapse,
and for long months, even for some years, she was helpless
as a little child, and had to be fed by loved ones, who min-
istered to her. One day, as her little auntie, who was a
joyful Christian, was feeding this little helpless woman,
who was unusually despondent on that particular morning,
the little woman said : "Oh, auntie, you say that God loves
us. You say it, and you keep saying it. Oh, auntie, I used
to think He did, but, auntie, if He loves us, why, why did
He make me as I am?" And the little auntie, after kissing
her gently, waited a moment and said : "He has not made
you yet, my child. He is making you now !"

When through the deep waters I call thee to go.
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow,
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless.
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply,
The flame shall not hurt thee — I only design,
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

There is one word more. What are we to do when the
trouble is on ? The next tells us. "Who is among you that
feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of His servant,
that walketh in darkness, and hath no light?" What is

THE MINISTRY OF SUFFERING 271

that one to do? Here it is: "Let him trust in the name of
the Lord, and stay upon his God." There is your anchor-
age. It is not anywhere else. You will grope and flounder
and be in the ditch anywhere else, my friends. Some of
you have been called to pass through deep troubles — fiery
troubles. You will fatally err if you go anywhere else but
to God. There is the anchorage. If you have an anchor
for a ship, you do not keep the anchor in the ship,
when you need to anchor the ship. You take the anchor
and put it down out yonder. So our anchor is not within
us at all. We are anchored to Christ. Listen to His prom-
ises : "Because I live, ye shall live also." And again : *T
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." And again : "And,
lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
That anchor will hold. And if you do not stay upon God
in the dark and trying day, you have serious cause to sus-
pect whether you have ever really trusted Him at all. Trust
Him in the dark day, because God's grace and promises
are designed for dark days, just as those great ships are
built yonder to withstand the stoutest storm that ever
drives the seas. Why should you trust God on the dark
and cloudy day? Because such a faith will glorify God.
With your submission to God's will, patient, meek and un-
complaining, with your clinging trust, like Job, saying, "I
will trust Him, though He slay me;" saying, "Whatever
comes, I will follow Him the best I can, whatever the vale
through which I walk" — if you will trust Him like that,
you shall be a blessed witness for God.

Why are you to trust Him on the dark and cloudy day?
Because it won't always stay dark and cloudy, thank God!
Sure are His promises that "the day will break and the
shadows flee away." "Weeping may endure for a night,
but joy Cometh in the morning." "For our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more ex-
ceeding and eternal weight of glory." It won't stay dark.
There comes a sweet, fair morning, tinted and glinted with
all the favor of God, and you are to look forward to that
morning, and cling to Him, and go your way, knowing that
all shall be well.

The hour passes in two minutes more. Tell me, was

272 A QUEST FOR SOULS

this message for somebody here to-day? Oh, receive it
and follow it! Is some heart here to-day perplexed and
bedarkened? Take the text, I pray you, and go with it,
making it your own. Take one step at a time, and then take
another step, and then take another step, and He will bring
you into the fair day, and you will sing with the poet :

So I go on, not knowing;

I would not know if I might.
I would rather walk with Christ in the dark

Than to walk alone in the light.
I would rather walk with Him by faith

Than to walk by myself with sight.

Stay yourself upon Him to-day, and from this day for-
ward cleave ever to Him with unhesitating trust, and then
may you sing with the psalmist that the Lord will perfect
that which concerneth us, because His mercy endureth for-
ever.

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

Our blessed Heavenly Father, bind the word that each of us needs to hear
and heed upon our deepest heart. May we walk like we ought, in our day and
generation, for the glory of God. May our tempers and deeds be always such
as shall cause the people to take knowledge of us that we are Christ's, and that
we delight above all else to do His holy will. May we always have that mind
which was in Christ. And, O, by example as well as by word, let us glorify
Christ continually, each of us, till life's day is done. Bring the one that is in
the darkness here to-day just to stay all on God, and everything shall be well.
Teach us that no matter what the darkness that may come — the trial, the tears,
the disappointments to beat us into the dust — no matter what the fearful sur-
prise, the sore wrenching of the heart, the awful bitterness of spirit — no matter
what — God's grace is and shall ever be sufficient for us. And let all these
men and women say: "We will trust Him, though He slay us, and to-day we
will cling to Him with new trust and new hope and new passion and purpose
in obeying His will."

And now as you go, may His grace fill your every heart and His wisdom
guide your every step, foreverraore. Amen.

XIX
NIGHT SERVICE, JUNE 21, 1917.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Before I read the Scriptures, in a moment, I would pause
to say that a shadow lies across my heart, because my visit
here cannot be much longer at this time, with these two
cherished pastors and churches, and with the people of this
community. If it were possible for me to do so, I should
tarry here for several weeks, in daily services, but an ex-
acting engagement, that I cannot in conscience put aside,
makes it impossible for me to tarry, save tor two or three
days more. The Lord willing, I shall be here to-morrow,
speaking at noon in the Chamber of Commerce auditorium,
and to-morrow night here, and again at noon in the Cham-
ber of Commerce auditorium, and I shall be back again for
two Sunday services, the Lord willing. Quite wxU do I
understand that in a city like this, or in my city, or in any
other city, it is altogether desirable that special meetings be
continued daily for weeks. One of the very significant things
about Mr. Sunday's meetings, as I have seen them at close
range, is that he tarries for weeks and weeks and weeks,
making his daily appeal. I shall be here these two or three
days, as I have indicated, the Lord willing. I cannot tell
you how deep is my wish, my prayerful wish, to help the
people who come to these services at noonday and at night.
And I cannot tell you how deep is my prayerful wish, that
every Christian may be a fellow helper to those who are
not Christians. There are many you can see and bring

273

274 A QUEST FOR SOULS

with you to these remaining services. The parent can
prayerfully see what can be done for the child; and the
teacher can prayerfully see what can be done for the class,
or for the single pupil ; and the neighbor can see, and the
friend can see how you can help friend and neighbor. Oh,
I beseech you to put your best into these two or three days'
expectant that God will send still larger blessings upon us!

HOW TO BE SAVED.

«7u "^^u** u'^"? there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum
When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he wenrunto
Him, and besought Him that He would come down, and heal his son : for he
was at the point of death. Then Jesus said unto him. Except ye see signs and
wonders, ye will not believe The nobleman saith unto Him, Sir. come down
ere niy child die. Jesus saith unto him. Go thy way; thy son liveth And th^
man believed the word that Jesus, had spoken unto him, ^and he went his way
^.,^1^ .u was now going down his servants met him, and told him, saying. Thy
son liveth. rhen enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And
?flf.r'l'n.^"J^ ^'^' Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him So^2
£^h A^^^te^ '} 1^^ ^u- ^^^/^'"f- ^°"'" ^" ^^^^^ J^^^s said unto him. Thy son
hveth. And the father himself beheved, and his whole house."— John 4:46-54.

This evening I should like to speak the simplest word
within my power on the all-important theme, "How to Be
Saved." I take it that the overwhelming majority of this
audience are saved people, for which I give devoutest
thanks to God. Maybe there will be something in the mes-
sage for them to-night. They will prayerfully heed it, I
trust. But especially do I desire so to speak that the one
here who is not saved, or who is puzzled about it, who does
not quite understand, but wonders if he or she is saved,
will receive help.

A little while ago, one of the great English preachers
was asked this question: "If you were to put in one sen-
tence a message of counsel to your brother preachers in
England and around the world, what would that sentence
be?" I was wonderfully impressed with his reply. This was
his answer: "Oh, brother preachers, make it plain to the
people how they are saved." It was a vital message, wasn't
It. Suppose, oh. Christian friend, that some unsaved friend
should meet you to-night or to-morrow, and should ask
you to tell him how to be saved, what it is to be saved,
what would you say? Could you "make it plain to the
people how to be saved?"

I am to read you a brief statement of how a man came
to Jesus, when Jesus was here in the flesh, and stated his

HOW TO BE SAVED 275

case, and received the needed blessing from Jesus. Let us
all look at that case right carefully ; let that little child listen
carefully, as well as the grown person. Faith is illustrated
here in this story that I am to read. I do not know a sim-
pler illustration in the Bible, of faith in its several degrees,
in its several expressions. The children will notice it —
and I have been so grateful that the boys and girls have
listened just like the grown people. God bless them, all
and each, the boys and girls, as well as the young men
and women, and the older people. Now you are ready to
listen carefully to this Bible story :

And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.
When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto
Him, and besought Him that He would come down, and heal his son: for he
was at the point of death. Then Jesus said unto him, Except ye see signs and
wonders, ye will not believe. The nobleman saith unto Him, Sir, come down
ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way ; thy son liveth. And the
man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.
And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy
son liveth. Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And
they said unto him. Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the
father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said unto him. Thy son
liveth. And the father himself believed, and his whole house.

Surely, that is one of the simplest stories about faith,
to be found in all this blessed Book of God, one of the
simplest explanations of what it means to come to Christ,
and get what we need from Christ. Faith is here illus-
trated.

Let us look to see how this man came to Jesus. You
are to note the steps, and you and I are to come in exactly
the same way. There are three steps here in this story.
They are so simple that a child of just a few years can
understand them. God grant that the child, and the strong
man, and all of us may see the truth to-night in this simple
story !

This man sought Jesus' help. This man took Jesus at
His word. And this man found out that Jesus had done
what He said He would do. Now, it could not be any sim-
pler than that, could it? This man sought the help of
Jesus, and when Jesus told him what to do, he took Jesus
at His word, and then later along he found out that what
Jesus said was so. Now, there is faith from the first to the
last. There it is, from the tiniest beginning to its victo-
rious culmination. Oh, that the Divine Spirit may make

276 A QUEST FOR SOULS

It so plain to-night that never again after this Thursday
night shall we stumble and pause on the great matter of
what it means, and how it is, to be saved !

First of all, this man sought Jesus' help. He was a
day's journey away, in another community, and he heard
that Jesus was in this given community, and the man
came the day's journey to the place where Jesus was, seek-
ing Jesus' help. Isn't that intelligent and reasonable? This
man needed Jesus' help, and he sought it. He came a day's
journey, and stood before Jesus to seek the help that he
thought Jesus could give him. How reasonable that is!
How intelligent that is ! Now, we act upon that principle
every day. Business men seek success. There is some
object you desire. You seek it. You do not fold your
hands and sit there stolidly and say: ''Oh, well, if it is to
come it will come," and let it go at that. The farmer does
not pursue any such course. The merchant does not pur-
sue any such course. The carpenter does not pursue that
course. Nobody who has a given object to reach pursues
any such course. This man sought Jesus Christ. How in-
telligent! How reasonable! If you had sickness in your
family, you would not sit with folded hands and say^: "Oh,
well, if this loved one is to get well, he will, anyway/* or
"she will/* You do not deal with it that way. You seek
help for that loved one. You find a physician. You search
for medicines. You seek help, that the sick one may be
cured, may be recovered. How intelligent that is! So
here is a man who wants Jesus* blessing, and he seeks for
it. That is the very quintessence of reason and intelligence.
That is what the Bible bids us do about this supreme mat-
ter of being saved. Seek after it. The Bible has great
sentences bearing upon that point. "Seek ye the Lord,
while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is
near." And take this sentence: "In the day that thou
seekest me with thy whole heart, I will be found of thee."
Oh, if this Thursday night, the girl or boy, the young man
or woman, the older man or woman, in this place, with
the whole heart seeks the Lord, then this night you shall
be saved. If with the whole heart you seek the Lord for
one second, you will be saved. Couldn't you do that? This

HOW TO BE SAVED 277

man came to Jesus, seeking Jesus' help. You see this man's
mind was made up. His purpose was fixed. This man
said: "Ad!y boy down yonder is ill, and if there is help
to be had for him, I must seek such help. I must get it.
All the remedies used for my boy have proved futile and
unavailing, but I have heard that one whose name is Jesus
can cure the sick, and my boy, my blessed boy, is hard by
the gates of death, and if Jesus can cure him, I must seek
Jesus and state the case and beg for His help." You see,
this man's mind was made up. "I am going to try Jesus
out," said this man. "I am going to go to the limit in my
effort to get His help." His mind was made up. His pur-
pose was fixed.

And then, when he came to Jesus, this man prayed.
Prayer is just talking to God. Anybody can pray. The
sanest and most reasonable thing in the world is prayer.
Prayer is the cry of the little, finite, mortal, dependent
human to the great God, able, and willing, and merciful
and mighty. Prayer is the cry of a little one whom God
made, to that great God who can help, and wants to help,
and offers to help. Prayer is coming to Him, saying: "I
would come and have thy help. I would come in the
right way, and I would receive thy help, for the right pur-
pose." That is prayer. Anybody can pray. Oh, do you
pray, my friend? How long since you prayed? To-night,
the man or woman or child here, who is wrong with God,
can cry from the heart, even while I am speaking: "Lord,
help me! Lord, forgive me! Lord, save me! Do for
me what needs to be done, I humbly pray." Anybody can
come to God like that, and that is prayer. That poor pub-
lican that the Bible tells about, put his prayer into one
sentence, but, oh, how pleasing to Jesus was that prayer —
that one sentence: *'God be merciful to me, a sinner."
And Jesus said : "This man went down to his house justi-
fied, rather than the Pharisee who stood and prayed with
himself," but made a long and meaningless and formal
prayer. Anybody here can pray the publican's prayer.
Suppose you pray it right now. Suppose you let your
heart pray it. Suppose every one of us right now lets our
heart pray it, as the preacher would let his heart pray it:

278 A QUEST FOR SOULS

"God be merciful to me, a sinner!*' Did everybody join
in that? Won't you let your hearts join in that prayer,
so suitable, so important for us every one? Now let us
join in it as jthe preacher voices it again, and leads it:
''God be merciful to me, a sinner!" Will you come to
Jesus like that?

And this man wsls very earnest, very serious, in his
appeal to Jesus. He said to Jesus: "Sir, come down ere
my child die. Let us not talk. Let us not parley. Let
us not cavil. Let us not delay. Hasten with me. Come
down ere my child die." How earnest he was ! And that
is the way for us to pray. We are to be earnest, with our
minds and hearts made up about the thing we need and
would have from the gracious and merciful Savior. We
should be earnest. But now, mark it, there was a weak-
ness in this man's prayer, in this man's appeal, and I am
going to call your careful attention to it right now. What
was the weakness? This man dictated to Jesus how He
should help him. He said to Jesus: "Sir, come down
ere my child die." He said in effect : "Come and go home
with me. Come where you may see the boy. Come where
you can touch his beating pulse and look into his suffering
face. Come down. Come, go home with me." And Jesus
said : "Why, man, won't it take signs and wonders before
you will believe?" Said Jesus to the father: "Why, you are
dictating to me how to help you. You are even putting
limits and boundaries about the method of my help."
Jesus said to him in effect : "Oh, nobleman, if I will heal
your boy, won't you consent that I may heal him my
way?" Now, isn't that reasonable? Let us call that no-
bleman. "Nobleman, if Jesus will show mercy to your boy,
won't you let Jesus show mercy in His own way, without
any advice or counsel or direction at all from you?"

The nobleman saw the point. The nobleman saw that
if Jesus was going to take that case, then the father must
relinquish the case to Him, must turn the case over to Him,
must commit the case to Him, and there it is. Call to the
man: "Oh, nobleman, if Jesus will heal your suflFering
and terribly sick son, won't you let Jesus do it His own
way?" And so I pass the word to every one here, whQ

HOW TO BE SAVED 279

wants the help of Jesus, to every one here who wants to
be forgiven and saved: If Jesus will save you, won't you
let Him save you His way? He will never save you any
other way. You must come to the point viihere you will
say: "Yes, Jesus, I yield. I give up. I trust. I surren-
der. Save me your way." He will never save you any
other way, and you must come to that point.

May I take a little leaf out of my own poor life? When
I was a young fellow, seeking Jesus, the way was all dark
to me. I could not understand how to be saved. Oh, if
somebody had sat down beside me when I was a lad, and
had told me the simple way to be saved, I think I would
have walked in it! I remember one day I was alone, and
for hours and hours this was my prayer: "Lord, deepen
my feeling. Lord, make my eyes to be fountains of tears.
Lord, fill me with remorse and misery and condemnation."
I prayed like that, supposing that if I reached a certain point
of awful, deplorable remorse and regret and wretchedness
of spirit, surely Jesus would then take pity on me. Why,
that was not the way for me to come to Jesus. The way
for me to come to Jesus was to come to Him and say:
"Lord Jesus, here I am, a sinner, and I cannot save my-
self. Thou hast taught it, and surely thou knowest. I
have found out in myself and of myself and by myself how
weak and frail I am, how insufficient I am to save myself.
Lord Jesus, thou doest the saving, thou sayest it, and thou
sayest: *Come to me without delay, and I will come to
you, and I will save you.' Lord, I turn the best I can from
every evil way, and I give up to Jesus, that He may save
me His way, and I give up right now. Dark or bright,
no matter what comes, I will give up to Jesus." Oh, if I
had come like that, when an interested boy, I would have
found Christ, as I did find Him when my feet were turning
into young manhood's morning. I did find Him, when
quietly one night, sitting in an audience like this, an earn-
est preacher pleaded that Christ might be given His own
way to save the soul, that the soul, needy and helpless
and unable to save itself, would make honest surrender
to Christ — utter surrender. I sat back there as you sit
back there before me now, and I said: "Lord Jesus, it is

280 A QUEST FOR SOULS

all as dark as it can be. I do not see through it. I cannot
understand it. I am making no progress. I am getting
nowhere. I am drifting with the current. Dark or bright,
live or die, come what may, I surrender right now to
Christ.*' Right there is the place to be saved, and no-
where else. Right there! Won't you let Him save you
His way? Won't you, oh, husband and father; won't you,
oh, mother and wife; won't you, young man or woman;
won't you, my boy or girl, let Jesus save you His way, by
your own consent? Won't you tell Him: "Yes, Lord
Jesus, I say 'Yes' to your call?"

Now, you see the second point. When the man saw
the issue, when it was joined, when the man saw that he
must turn the case over to Jesus, Jesus said to him in
effect : "If you will turn that case over to me, that I may
save that boy my way, then that boy shall surely be
healed." Now comes the beautiful point of the story. The
Scriptures here tell us, as I read them to you: "And the
man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him,
and went his way." Right there a soul is saved, and no-
where else — right there. The man took Jesus at His word.
The man closed the matter with Jesus. Jesus said: "If
you will commit that boy to me, I will save him. Will you
doit?" He said: "I will do it." And Jesus said: "Go
your way; your boy lives." And the man took Jesus at
His word and went his way. Right there a soul is saved.

Won't you take Jesus at His word ? What word? Any
word that He speaks to you, calling you to Him. His
promises are countless almost as the stars in the skies
above us — His glorious promises. If you will take any one
and follow that to Jesus, and say: "I will take you at
your word. It is 'Yes' to your word. I will give up to
you" — whoever does that, Christ will take that person,
then and there and forever, and be your Savior. What
word? Oh, there are many! Take this one — I dare say
that uncounted tens of thousands of people have come to
Jesus on this plain promise which now I quote: "Him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." There is
enough gospel in that one promise to bring every rational
human being to Jesus for salvation. "Him that cometh to

HOW TO BE SAVED 281

me I will in no wise cast out/' That is for you, and you,
and me, and all the rest. "Him that cometh to mel" "If
anybody will come to me, and just give up to me, I won't
cast that person out," the great Savior declares. Or take
this promise: "Whosoever will" — how simple that is —
"whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
"Whosoever is willing," says Jesus, "for me to be your
Savior, and yon will just give up, if you are just willing,
I will take you that very moment, and you will be mine,
and I will be yours." Or take this sentence : "The blood
of Jesus Christ, His Sen, cleanseth us from all sin." One
is in this audience who was brought by that verse to
Jesus. A man with the gray about his temples has told
me about it. That verse brought him. "The blood of
Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." The
man heard it and said: "Well, if it is Christ's blood that
cleanses me, then I will give up to Christ, and let Him
save me in His own way," and Christ saved him then and
there.

Or take this beautiful sentence: "Come unto me, all
ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest." I wonder if millions have not come in response to
that invitation. Or take this promise : "Commit thy way
unto the Lord" — oh, but it is a sinful way, you say, a
marred way, a bad way, a wrong and improper way —
never mind, whatever your way is, "Commit thy way unto
the Lord, trust also in Him, and He" — not you, not the
church, not the preacher — "He shall bring it to pass."
What does He say? He says: "Come and commit your
case, whatever your sin, or doubt, or fear, or temptation,
or need, or weakness, or difficulty, or evil memory, or ac-
cusing conscience — no matter what, commit your case to
the Lord, and He will take you and forgive you and save
you. He says just that. Could language be plainer?

Oh, soul, don't you see it? Isn't it plain? Do you
answer me back: "Oh, sir, but this is my difficulty?"
State it. What is your difficulty? Why are you not to-
night Christ's friend and follower? Name your difficulty.
Whatever your difficulty is, I do not care what it is — it
may be exceedingly trying — whatever your sin, your

2^ A QUEST FOR SOULS

doubt, your fear, your anxiety, your temptation, your weak-
ness, your past, your present, your future, if you will hon-
estly surrender your case to Christ, He will manage you,
the difficulty, the sin, and everything about it. He does
the saving, but you are to surrender. He never saved one
that did not give up to Him. He never saved one rational
soul that did not say: "Yes, Lord, I will surrender. I
will decide.'* He never saved one that held back and re-
fused to surrender to Him. And He never failed to save
any soul in this world, no matter how bedarkened, how
troubled, how sinful, how difficult, if such soul just said,
and meant it: "Here, Lord, I will surrender to you that
you may save me.'* Oh, isn't it simple — the way to be
saved? The little girl there knows when I quote that sen-
tence: "Commit thy way unto the Lord," what it means.
The little girl would know what I meant if I said : "Child,
take this letter and commit it to the postoffice." She would
understand that. That child would understand it. That
boy would understand. "Commit this letter to the post-
office," and the child would take it there and commit it
to the postoffice. The man there would understand about
taking his baggage yonder to the train, and having the
baggage checked, and he would get his little check there
for it, and behind that baggage that he checked would be
the weight, the authority, the responsibility of that whole
railway company. Jesus comes saying: "Here is the
check. I will give it to you, if you will commit your way
to me. I will take your case and save you, and you may
keep this check and look at it, and quote it every hour
in the day. I will never forget you, and never fail you."
Isn't it simple, and isn't it glorious?

There is one more word about the story. The last word
is that the man went on back home, after Jesus said : "Go
your way, now. You trust your boy to me, and I will take
care of you, and you will find out that I have not misled
you." The man went on back, and before he got back
home, even as he was going along the homeward road, his
servants came gladly to meet him, and when they met him
they said : "Master, the boy is well." And then the father
asked them when the change came, and they made an-

HOW TO BE SAVED 283

swer: "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.'*
So the father remembered that it was at that identical hour
in the which Jesus said to him: "Now that you have
trusted your boy to me, you may go back without any
anxiety, and you will find him all safe and well." The
father remembered that it was at that very hour, when he
turned his boy over to Christ and said : *T will trust you
with my boy." And then the father saw that it was true.
The father had the demonstration. There was the climax
of proof. There was the boy, living and well. And the
father, and the mother, and the bo}^, and the whole house
rejoiced, for they all found that Jesus did just what He
promised to do.

Let us give earnest heed as we apply this truth to our
own hearts. Isn't our trouble often that we want this last
part first? We want to see it all, and know it all, before
we will trust Christ and let Him later reveal to us His
mercy and blessing. Don't we want this last part first?
We want all this light, this knowledge, this assurance,
before we take this first plain step, and surrender, turn
over, commit, say "Yes" to Christ, when He says: "If
you will trust me, I will forgive and save." We want to
see it all, before we take this first great step of surrender
to Christ.

Oh, this first step must be taken, before we will ever
find out that Jesus surely keeps His word* If you had a
candle there in the house to be lighted, you would not
stand before the candle, with your match in your hand,
and say to the candle: "Burn now, so that we can see,"
before you struck the match. You would strike that match
and apply it to the candle, and then the light would be
kindled for all who are in the house. That is the way the
light comes. If you had a sickness, and the doctor should
be summoned and leave his medicine^, with careful direc-
tions, you would not content yourself with saying: "Oh,
well, the medicine is in the house, and the doctor has told
me what to do with it, but I will pass it ty ; "I will not take
it." You would not do like that at all, for when he came
back he would find you with the raging fever, and when

284 A QUEST FOR SOULS

he questioned you, he would find out that you had not
carried out his orders at all.

So when Jesus comes to you and says : "I will forgive
you, I will save you, I will prepare you for heaven, I will
kt you for earth, I will fit you for death, I will fit you for
life, I will save you, I will write your name in God's own
book of life above, if you will just surrender to me," you
are not to say : "Well, I will wait and see the how about
it." You are to say : "I will do that. I will take Him at
His word. I will give up to Him. I will make that sur-
render." How simple it is, and how glorious it is!

The very essence of faith is taking Christ at His word.
The very essence of faith is giving up to Christ. Do you
say: "Lord, I cannot see through it?" Certainly, you
cannot. I cannot. There is not a man in the world wio
can see how it is that one is born again. You cannot ex-
plain how one is born the first time, born of the flesh,
and certainly, you cannot explain how one is born of the
Spirit, that higher, more wonderful birth. But Jesus said:
"That is my part. Mine it is to look after the birth. The
mystery, the wonderful work — that is mine. Yours it is
to turn your case over to me, that I may take you and
save you my way. Will you turn that case over to me ?"

Oh, soul, aren't you ready to say : "That is exactly what
I will do?" It is as simple as daylight. Here it is. Christ
does the saving, and does it all. But the sini^er has to
give up to Christ, and then when the sinner does that,
Christ takes such sinner, forgives and guides and keeps
such sinner for all the afterwhile. How simple and how
glorious! Come, now. Haven't you waited long enough
to take this eternally important step? He has spared you,
this great Savior. He has been so gracious and so merci-
ful. He has shown you such patience and forbearance. He
has waited late and long for you, that He might do for
you what needs to be done, which if left undone for you,
He himself says: "Better for that person that he or she
had never been born." Aren't you ready to-night to say:
"I am read}'- that Christ shall save me His own way, with-
out any dictation on my part?" Oh, haven't you waited
iong enough? God be thanked that He has been paticiit

HOW. TO BE SAVED 285

with you, that He has waited, that He has borne and for-
borne toward you!

But now haven't you waited long enough? Somewhere
there is an end to that waiting. I heard that faithful, Bib-
lical preacher, George C. Needham, who held one of his
last meetings with our church in Dallas, a wonderful gos-
pel preacher, tell of three brothers yonder in Scotland, who
got a boat and went out on one of the lakes of Scotland one
day, rowing in the little boat. But those lakes are often
swept by storms and winds that come down upon them
all unexpectedly, and when those three brothers were far
out yonder in the lake, a storm suddenly swept down on
the lake and turned over the boat, and the middle brother
was caught in the rigging and drowned outright, but the
oldest and youngest brothers somehow got out from under
the boat, and they swam towards a rock, hundreds of yards
out yonder, jutting up in the lake. That was their only
chance to be saved, and with extreme difficulty they made
their way toward that rock. At last the older brother
reached it, all worn out, and all exhausted in strength. He
just did reach it, and he looked back, and there, some yards
away, came the younger brother, barely able to move his
hands in those battling, climbing waves, his strength all
gone. This older boy called to him, with what little
strength he had left, trying to cheer him to hold out a little
farther, that he might reach the rock. But he came a little
farther and then went down. He could not make the rock.
His strength was gone. The people on the shore yonder
saw the distressing scene, and they got another boat and
came to this oldest boy, and they found him wild al-
most in his grief. And over and over again, he told the
story of how it all happened, of how quickly the boat
turned over, and how the middle brother drowned out-
right, and how he and the little brother got out and swam
the best they could, and how he reached the rock, but was
all given out, and how the little brother could not quite
reach it. And the great preacher said the boy would wind
up his story with the plaintive cry, over and over and over
again: "Oh, lads, little brother was nearly saved! Little
brother was nearly saved! Little brother was nearly

286 A QUEST FOR SOULS

saved!" Sobbing his heart out, he would finish his story
every time with the plaintive cry: "Oh, I tell you, little
brother was nearly saved, nearly saved!"

God pity us, that is a picture of many who come to our
gospel services. They hear, they think, they desire, they
know, they feel, they are nearly saved. But nearly saved
is not enough ! Almost is but to fail ! Satan does not care
if people are serious, if they are interested, if they desire,
if they tremble, if their faces are white, and their hearts
beat faster from emotion concerning Christ's call to them;
Satan does not care, if they will just halt, if they will just
hesitate, if they will just wait.

Come now, haven't you, oh, man or woman; oh, hus-
band or wife ; oh, father or mother, young man or maiden,
boy or girl, haven't you waited long enough to make an
end of this waiting, and to say : "As for me, dark or bright,
whatever comes, God help me, I cast the die. I cross the
Rubicon. I cut the cables. I burn the bridges. I can do
nothing else. I surrender to Christ, that He may save
me His own way." I tell you, if you will, He will be
your Savior from that very minute. Aren't you willing,
and aren't you ready, for that great step to be taken on
your part?

I am going to ask every soul that has taken it to tell
us about it. Every soul that says : "Sir, I have heard this
simple message, and I am able to lay my hand on my heart
and say to you: T have already surrendered myself to
Christ, and have taken Christ to be my personal Savior.
I am able with uplifted hand to declare that I have made
that surrender, that I have made the choice of Jesus Christ
as my Savior.' " Every soul in this place that can say : "I
have done that," lift high the hand. It is a thrilling sight,
dear brothers. I greet you, and bid you Godspeed. We
are traveling to the better world, and a little later we will
strike hands in that better world, because of the saving
grace of Christ.

But now I ask: Aren't there those here who say: "I
could not lift my hand. I am in doubt and darkness about
it. But I do want to be saved, and I want you to pause.

HOW TO BE SAVED 287

and all these hundreds and hundreds of Christians to pause,
and pray one prayer for me, that I may not miss the way,
that I may not be finally lost. I want you to pray one
prayer for me, that I may be saved. I want that." Do
you say: "I do want that, sir?" Every soul that says : "I
am wrong with Christ, and a minute ago I could not lift
my hand" — ^you did right not to if you could not. Sin-
cerity, how vital that always is ! — but do you say : "I lift
my hand on your last call. I want to be saved by Christ.
I want to be saved in Christ's own way and time. Pray a
prayer for me that I may be saved, for I am wrong with
God. I would lift my hand on that," then lift it, while I
am looking now. I see your uplifted hands — they are
many. Oh, my heart goes out to you all. In a moment
we are going to pray. What are we going to pray for?
We are going to pray that right now, these men and women
and boys and girls saying: "We want to be saved Christ's
way," may now settle it. We are going to pray that right
now you may settle it, that right now the matter may be
concluded — right now. Now, with every head bowed for
a moment, let us pray.

THE PRAYER

Blessed Savior, we bring these interested ones, all and each, the best we
can, right now in our prayers, and commit them to thy mercy and grace. O
blessed Savior, may the truth be clear to them right now, that they can never
save themselves; that waiting, no matter how long, will not suffice; that no
matter where they go nor what they do, that will not suffice. Give them to
realize that Christ must save, and Christ alone, and that their waiting cannot
improve, but will make worse their condition. Let them now say: "Lord, thou
hast waited for me, but I will not ask thee to wait longer — not another week, nor
another day, nor another hour, nor another service. I want to be saved, and I
will give up to Christ right now, that He may save me His way. I will take
Him through the darkness. ^ I will come to Him, though unable to understand
how He saves. I will be a little child, just as He tells me to be. Here, Lord, I
give myself to thee — sins, doubts, and all, difficulties and temptations, weaknesses
and fears, yesterday, to-day and to-morrow — I give myself to thee right now. I
wiH say yes to thee now and forever." God help them by thy Spirit that this may
be their decision, and made known before we go. For Jesus' precious sake. Amen.

We will sing this invitation song before we go :

Jesus is tenderly calling thee home —

Calling to-day, calling to-day.
Why from the sunshine of love wilt thou roam.

Farther and farther away?

Aren't you ready to say : "Sir, I am ready to announce
my decision for Christ. Waiting cannot help me. Wait-
ing might ruin me. I want it settled, and settled Christ's
way, and His way is for me to yield myself to Him." Come,
then, before all the people, and let me greet you as yoti

288 A QUEST FOR SOULS

make your public confession of Christ as. your Savior.

(Numbers came forward, confessing Christ, while the
song was being sung.)

We are going to offer a prayer of thanksgiving, in a
moment, for these men and women and children who have
come, but I implore you, before we pray, oh, Christian men
and women, dedicate your best to this special work these
three days remaining. I believe they are to be of the right
hand of God. Dedicate your utmost to the incomparable
quest of winning souls. The mother, the father, the wife,
the husband, the friend, the neighbor, the acquaintance — oh,
you ought to bring to the services hundreds and hundreds
of people who are without Christ. And you will pray
much I beseech you, that the preacher may bring such
faithful, vital messages, that every soul that shall attend
may be left without excuse, if such soul shall be finally
lost. We will pray about the midday service to-morrow,
and the midday service Saturday, and about the services
that are to be had, God willing, on Friday night, and on
Sunday. Let us dedicate our very lives to this work, that
the people all about us may be turned unto the Lord.

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

And now. Lord, deep is our thanksgiving for the coming of these men and
women and children to confess their acceptance of Christ as their personal
Savior. The glory is all thine own.

May all these men and women and children who came, go now to live
gloriously for Christ. Let them see the truth, clear as the light, that Christ does
the saving, and does it all, and that any soul that surrenders to Him, henceforth
has Christ for his Savior and Master. Let such souls, through the darkness, cling
to Christ, no matter what comes.

Some did not come, and our heart ached with an agony about them. Lord,
may they yet come to Christ to-night, before they close their eyes in sleep. O
God, may these interested ones now say to Jesus: "We will end this battle, and
this very night v/e will make our surrender to Christ," and may they come back
to tell us to-morrow night, "We are going with you to God's gracious land." O
God, have compassion on the lost all about us. We are thinking of many as we
are coming to the close of the services — of men and women driven hard in life's
daily battle; of business men preoccupied; toiling men, whose lot in life is hard;
of men with burdens and sorest difficulties. O, for every such man and woman.
Lord, toiling, and struggling, may there go such appeals from these men and
women, in the hours just ahead, that all through this city, they shall know, by
the hundreds and thousands, how much Christ's people care for their salvation.
And then may the people in all ranks and conditions — the men who are poor, and
the men with their money, supposing that that suffices, but which has in it awful
peril, because it can make the soul to be filled with pride and self-sufficiency and
forgetfulness of God — may they all be told this by lips of love and blessed appeal,
which God shall direct in the hours just before us._ May the spirit^ of prayer
mightily rest on the hearts and heads and lives of this army of Christians. May
there be many anointed of God to go here and there, to speak to son, or daugh-
ter, or husband, cr wife, or mother, or father, or neighbor or acquaintance, and
so to speak to God in prayer, that the Divine Spirit may give guidance, yea, give
conviction to hundreds in these days before us, that they may be turned by
grace divine unto the forgiving Savior.

And as we go now, may the blessing of Christ Jesus the Lord come like a
balm *o our every heart, and keep us in the right way, forever. Amen.

NOON SERVICE, JUNE 22, 1917.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

In a moment I am to read a brief passage from the
Scriptures, but before reading I would take time to follow
up the earnest word said by the brother pastor, about
our turning to the best possible account these two or
three remaining days appointed for the special meeting.
There are some occasions far more favorable than others
for helping people religiously. Such an occasion is a se-
ries of meetings in which the way is made easy and nat-
ural for you to ask people to come with you to the public
services; and then when you have gone that far, the way
is easy and natural, more than it ordinarily is, for you
to follow up your invitation with the right kind of con-
versation and questioning and testimony about personal
religion. We must never get avv'ay from the immeasur-
ably important truth that the personal element is indis-
pensable in our witnessing and working for Christ. There
are lives all about us that would be changed, if a conver-
sation of a half hour or less, of the right sort were had
with them. There are Christians in the darkness — they
scarcely know why, or they may know why — who would
be immediately changed for the better, if a conversation
were had with them, by the right person, in the right
way, at the right time. And there are people all about us,
pre-occupied, and the things eternal have little place in
their thoughts. Oh, if they could be spoken with, if they

289

290 A QUEST FOR SOULS

could be approached, if they could be appealed to, if they
could be conversed with in the right way ! I pray you, my
fellow Christians, all of you and each of you, one by one,
turn to the best account these days for helping the people.
A meeting like this — indeed, every meeting — ought to be
constructive; and what an inspiring thing it is, when
scores and hundreds of Christians, coming to the midday
service, and the vaster number to the evening service, go
out through the day, and as best they can, speak for
Christ personally to the people.

In this midday service, the preacher has desired earn-
estly each day to bring some simple but vital word, that
would help us as we face the battle of daily life. He has
desired to call us all back to the simplicities and vitalities
of life. This morning, I am to speak to you on an old,
but remarkably important theme, namely : "How May We
Know Jesus Better?" That theme is suggested by the
Scripture which I now read to you. You are ready to hear
with reverence, as I read from the third chapter of the
Epistle to the Philippians :

But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea,
doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but refuse, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, laut that which is through the faith
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know Him,
and the power c3 His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being
made conformable unto His death; if by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were
already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also
I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

HOW MAY WE KNOW JESUS BETTER?

Text: "That I may know Him." — Philippians 3:10.

One little sentence in the midst of those several sen-
tences, points the message for us to-day: "That I may
know Him."

Paul's deepest and most fervent longing evidently was
to know Jesus better, just as it should be our deepest long-
ing to know Jesus better every day we live, because the
knowledge most of all desirable and necessary is the
knowledge of God in Christ. Christ came down to the
world to show us the Father. "He that hath seen me hath
seen the Father." Jesus stood among men and said in

HOW MAY WE KNOW JESUS BETTER? 291

effect to them: "I am God uncovered. When you see
me, you see the Father — you see God." Now, the knowl-
edge most of all desirable and necessary is the knowledge
of God revealed in Christ Jesus the Savior. Such knowl-
edge gives us a grip on the great spiritual realities, and
we need to have such knowledge, even above all other
knowledge.

How much, then, do we know about Jesus now? To
begin with, how much does each man and woman, listen-
ing to me here know about Jesus now? Just what is your
conception of Christ Jesus? Is Christ real to you, as some
other person is real to you — real to you like mother, or
father, or dearest earthly loved one? How real is Christ
to you? We are never to lose sight of the fact that Christ
is a person. He is not a principle — He is a person. He
thinks. He lives. He commands. He feels. He is a person.
The theory that God is a principle is fundamentally incor-
rect. God is not a principle at all. God announces princi-
ples. He teaches principles. A great person, He is behind
them. Now, how real is Christ to us, to begin with ? How
much do we know about Him to-day? He is not some in-
spiring memory. He is not some vague dream. He is not
some empty abstraction. He is a person, to be trusted and
loved and followed forever — real as mother, real as teacher,
real as physician, real as the most gracious, devoted earthly
friend — a person. Christ is that to men. How real is He
to us? How real is Christ to you? How much do you
know about Him right now? How much does your inner
nature know about Christ?

Some years ago, I was preaching to one of the universi-
ties of several hundred men, for several days, and the
next to the last morning had come, when the senior class
of thirty, with one exception, waited on me in a body. One
of the men was not there, but the twenty-nine said: *'We
have come to ask how long you will be here?" I said:
''This morning and in the morning, and then I must be
away for my home." They said: "We have come to ask
you to pray specially for one of our seniors. We are to
be graduated in a few weeks. Our class of thirty men are
all Christians, save this one man." And they were gener-

292 A QUEST FOR SOULS

ous in their tributes to him. They said: "He has the
brightest mind in all the class, the keenest intellect in all
the group, but he is an unbeliever outright. He does not
accept what you are saying. He does not accept what we
profess. Oh," said they, "do your best for him. He insists
that he must have facts, if he ever is to become a Chris-
tian; he must have facts. He insists that he is a scientist
and must have facts." They said : "Do your best for him."
I went up the stairway to the chapel auditorium, and
changed my subject as I came up those steps. "This man
must have facts. Very well, I will give him a great fact,
and let him reckon with that." And so I came, a few min-
utes later, with the text: "He that believeth on the Son
of God hath the witness in himself." And I asked the
men: "What will you do with the fact of Christian ex-
perience? Once I did not know anytlii|ig about Christ, and
once the less I heard of Him the better it suited me. But
He crossed my path in the preaching of His gospel, and
I was arrested. I was m.ade serious. I prayed. I surren-
dered to Him, though it was as dark as midnight, and my
conscience knows that He has spoken peace to me. Now,
what will you do with that fact? What will you do with
the fact of Christian experience? Here is the fact. What
will you do with it?"

You remember that incident, do you not, of Dr. James
Simpson, the eminent scientist? He had been waited upon,
one day, by a group of fellow scientists, who would pay
the distinguished scientist their respects and honor, and
one spoke for the rest, telling him of the tribute in which
the world held him as a scientist, and then presently said
to him : "Sir James, if you should name your greatest dis-
covery of all that you have ever made, what would that
discovery be?" And in one moment Sir James Simpson's
eyes were filled with tears, and he said : "My greatest dis-
covery, gentlemen, is that Jesus Christ has forgiven my
sins and saved me." What will you do now with the fact
of Christian experience?

So those students followed me down to the president's
office, from day to day, where for two hours each day I
conversed privately with the students. I had not reached

HOW MAY WE KNOW JESUS BETTER? 293

the president's office more than a moment, until there was
a knock on the outer door, and I opened it, and there stood
the skeptic. I offered him a chair, and he said: "No, I
needn't sit down. I will be through in just a moment."
And then he was generous enough to say to me : 'T believe
in you, or I would not be here at all. I think you are en-
tirely candid and sincere, or I would not be here at all.
Now," he said, "you will forget that you are a preacher, and
forget that I am a senior to be graduated in a few weeks,
and answer a question I am going to put to you." "Very
well, young man; I will answer it if I can," I said, "and
I will be entirely frank. If I can, I will answer your ques-
tion, and if I cannot, I will tell you so." "All right," he
said, "here is my question : Mr. Truett, is Jesus Christ ,
real to you, by which I mean, does your heart know, your ^
life know, your brain know, your inner self know, that He
helps you? Yes or tio, is He real to you like that?" Now,
that was challenging me with a proposition very real and
candid and searching. It was the acid test. What would
you have said? Well, I will tell you what I said, if you
will not look on it as offensively personal. I laid my hand
on his shoulder, and I said: "Young man, if the truth is
in me, if I know what the truth is, if I am not utterly be-
darkened and deceived about the truth and about life and
about all things, then I declare to you that Jesus is more
real in His help to me than is any other being in the world.
When every other being has failed me, He has not failed
me. When I have been on the storm-swept sea, and there
was no chart, nor guide, nor rudder, nor compass for my
little boat, and when the wild winds and waves beat over me
and drove that boat, I called to Him, and said, *Thou alone
canst help.' And He answered back : 'I will help. Put your
trust in me and be unafraid.' The one thing, young mxan,
that my heart does know is that Jesus helps me." And
then he turned on his heel, his face serious, and he said:
"I will seek Him," and he left my room. The next morning
came on, and I stood to make the last address to the college
men, and I finished and said: "Now the cab waits at the
door for me. I must hurry to the train to get back to my
home, but before I go, has another man tried Jesus, just

294 A QUEST FOR SOULS

honestly surrendered his case, doubts, darknesses, fears,
sins, difficulties, questions — all of it? Has he surrendered
his case to Christ? Does another man say: *I have done
that?' Before I go I wish he would walk down the aisle
and take my hand." And the clever skeptic back yonder
started toward me, and the men saw him, and they threw
their hats to the ceiling, they were so moved, and then
hundreds of them bowed at their pews and sobbed, for the
carping skeptic was coming out of the darkness into the
light. He just tried Christ. He just gave up to Christ.

Is Christ real to you? This morning I am to give you
several suggestions about how we may make Him more
real, and you will amplify them in your thought and heart
as you go your ways. If we are to know Jesus better, then
I come to say we must make much of His Book. God's
first gift to the world is His Son Jesus Christ. His second
best gift to the world is the Bible. The Bible reveals Jesus.
Nature does not say a word about Jesus. Nature speaks
the fact of the great God. The heavens declare His glory ;
the firmament showeth His handiwork ; but nature nowhere
says a word about His mercy and His forgiveness in Christ,
the appointed Savior. The Bible tells about Jesus. If you
and I are to know about Jesus, the one mediator between
God and us, then we must come to the Bible and search.
Oh, my friends, I pause a moment to make an appeal that
we will treat right this Holy Book of God. It is appalling
how little very many strong and clever people know about
the Bible. Chinese Gordon said, when he went down into
the Sudan, taking with him his splendid library, that it was
not long until he found out that he did not really need his
library at all. He said he needed really only two books — •
first, the Bible, and then, next, the Bible concordance, that
would enable him to find quickly any passage in the Bible
that he needed to find. We want more and more to mag-
nify this Bible. Of old, God said: "My people are de-
stroyed for lack of knowledge." We might say that to-day.
If men are rooted and grounded in their knowledge of the
Bible, they will go out against any sin, against any foe,
against any difficulty, and they will overcome, for the Bible
is a signboard pointing us to Christ.

HOW MAY WE KNOW JESUS BETTER? 295

And again, I say if we are to know Jesus better, then
we need to have a time in our lives for meditation. I won-
der now if meditation is not practically a lost art in our
lives. Who of us stops now to go into the quiet place,
where, all alone, we will just meditate on the things of
supreme worth? This injunction that we shall have a place
and habit in our daily life to be alone for some minutes
for meditation on the deep, high things, is a matter of pro-
foundest concern, in these days of stress and hurry and
rush and extravagance. Oh, how important that every man
and woman should find a quiet place in some nook to have
daily meditation on the high things for the help of the
soul! The psalmist said: "My meditation of Him shall
be sweet." You remember how Ezekiel pictured those
mystic creatures, with their mystic wings and mystic faces,
and then the prophet went on to say: "When they stood,
they let down their wings." And all along every one of
us needs to let down the wings, and just wait on God. He
himself says : "Wait on the Lord, and He shall strengthen
thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord."

And I am coming to say next, if we are to know Jesus
better, then we must magnify the habit daily of secret pray-
er. Mind you, I said, secret prayer. Now, isn't it just at
that point that all of us are tempted sadly to fail ? What if
I pass the question to this crowded auditorium floor this
morning, life by life, person by person, and pause there at
your heart and ask: "How much do you pray in secret,
day by day?" What would your answer be? Isn't it just
at that point that most sadly we fail? The Bible says:
"AVhen thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou
hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret ;
and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee
openly." I believe that Arnold of Rugby, that master teach-
er of boys, was entirely right when he said that, no matter
what a man's or woman's difficulty, or what the sin, or
what the doubt, or what the struggle, or what the tempta-
tion, or what the barrier, if such man or woman would go
into the secret place, and there bare the soul honestly in
secret prayer to God, such man or woman would be brought
out of the darkness and be given victory over the trial. I

296 A QUEST FOR SOULS

believe he is right. It was when Moses was alone with
God, that God gave him the sight of that bush that burned,
but was not consumed. It was when Isaiah was alone with
God, that God gave him that three-fold vision of God, and
of himself, and of his fellow humanity, that completely
changed the young prophet's life. It was when Jacob was
alone with God, yonder at Jabbok on a lonely night, that
God made that man over, made him a prince, so that ever
afterward Jacob prevailed with men, because he had power
with God. It was when Paul was alone with God, that he
was caught up into the third heaven, and heard and saw
what he could never tell. It was when John was alone
with God, on the Isle of Patmos, that there were vouch-
safed to him visions and revelations of the other world,
some glimpses of which John gives us here in the book of
Revelation. It was when Luther was alone with God, that
he got visions of God and truth that he w^ent out to speak,
and so spoke them and wrote them, that he set tyrants to
trembling and thrones to tottering, and brought in the
mental and moral reformation of Germany and Europe
and the world. It was when Bunyan was alone with God,
that God gave him visions which he penned in a book —
which book is an allegory unmatched, and forever, perhaps,
to be matchless; a book probably next in importance to
the Holy Word of God.

But I will come closer to you than to call your attention
to these great worthies of whom I have spoken. Oh, it is
when you and I, with our burden and battle, with our
stress and difficulty, with our sin and temptation, make it
a point to be alone with God, and bare ourselves before
Him, telling Him : "I cannot let thee go except thou bless
me" — it is then we are given victory and made princes in
His sight.

May I speak a word about my mother, now in that
yonder land these last few years, the best Christian I
ever saw? May I speak a word about her faith? I
was reared in a large family, far out on the farm, and I
remember that when father and the older boys used to go
to the farm, the least little fellow, about four, and myself,
about six, too little to work, stayed behind, and many are

HOW MAY WE KNOW JESUS BETTER? 297

the times I have seen my mother in the morning sobbing,
and I have gone and said : ''Mother, what makes you cry?''
And she would say : "You are too little, my boy, to under-
stand. Never mind. Don't worry about mother." And
when the breakfast was over, and all the little things were
done about the house in the morning, mother has said to
the two little boys: ''Now, you stay here while mother
goes aside to be alone a little while." And she would go
away with face suffused with tears, and she would come
back in a little while, and every time she would come back
singing, with a smile on her face fairer than the morning.
And one morning I said to the little brother: "What do
you guess happens to mother? She goes away crying, and
she comes back singing. Let us see what it is." We fol-
lowed along quietly behind her, and she went there into
the orchard, near the little country home, and we saw her
and heard her. She was down on her face before God. I
can remember until yet the surpassing pathos of her pray-
ers. She said : "Lord Jesus, I never can rear this houseful
of boys like they ought to be reared, without thy help. I
will make shipwreck with them, without thy help. I cannot
guide them, I cannot counsel them, I cannot be the mother
that a woman ought to be to her children, without God's
help. I will cleave to thee. Teach me and help me, every
hour." I heard her like that, and then she came back, sing-
ing, every morning. And when I grew older, and when
manhood was reached, and when I learned in my heart
what it is to know Jesus, I knew the secret into which my
mother entered. She was the greatest Christian I ever
saw. It is when you and I tread the path of secret prayer
that we find out about Jesus, and are given to enter into
the secret of His presence.

And, again, if you and I are to know Jesus better, we
must watch with uncompromising watchfulness against
sin. The only thing that will hide the face of God from
us is sin. He says: "Your sins have separated between
you and me." Sin is a veil through which Jesus cannot
be seen. Sin is an insulator that cuts off the currents be-
tween God and us. I say it reverently, God cannot aflford
to answer some people when they pray, because they keep

298 A QUEST FOR SOULS

hidden back in their hearts some wrong thing, some wedge
of gold, some Babylonish garment, some evil thing. Recall
what David said: "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the
Lord will not hear me." If you and I are to know Jesus
better and better, then we must put away every evil thing.
We must refuse to let any kind of sin have a dominant
place anywhere in our lives.

I go on to say that if we are to know Jesus better, then
we are to make much of companionship with the right
kind of Christians. How much there is in that! The
longer I live, the more I am finding out the truth that life's
companionships very largely make us or mar us in our
earthly way. The Bible tells us : "He that walketh with
wise men shall be wise," and it adds : "But the companion
of fools shall be destroyed." It tells us: "Evil communi-
cations corrupt good manners." There came a time in
my life when doubt, deep, dark and terrible, settled down
on me, as if it would clutch my throat to my utter doom.
I need not now recite the why. Doubt and darkness and
trouble come from a thousand sources. I came to the place
where all was dark as midnight, and a man several years
my senior, both physically and religiously, seemed intui-
tively to know that I had come to a crisis in my spiritual
life. And so one day he said to me: "If you have the
time, I should like for us to go for a walk in the woods.
I have something to say to you." We went for a two
hours' walk in the woods, and it marked an epoch in my
life. He told me how, years before, darkness and doubt
had come to him, and his faith was well-nigh shattered,
and then he told me what he did, and where he went, and
he described my own case as he talked about his. He de-
scribed my case better than I could describe it, and after
that two hours' walk in the woods, wherein he did most
of the talking, I came back, having passed an epoch in
my life. Oh, tell somebody your Christian experience!
And if you are in the darkness and must say : "I do not
know whether I have one to tell," then go to somebody in
whom you have confidence, and say to him or her : "What
is Christ to you? Tell me what He is to you."

There was once an old shoemaker in my city, one of

HOW MAY WE KNOW JESUS BETTER? 299

the most victorious saints I ever knew; and often, when
darkness came to me, and when questions arose, I have
closed my study door and gone down to his shoe-shop and
said to him: "Tell me once again, I pray you, your Chris-
tian experience." And before he was through, sermons
flew through my mind like a covey of birds. He knew
God ! He led me into the secret places, as he told me what
God had done for him.

There is another very practical word to be said. If we
are to know Jesus better, then we are to be busy for Him.
Will you heed that? Idleness explains a thousand doubts.
The idle Christian is always in trouble. Satan always
finds mischief for the idle hand. The idle brain is his
workshop. The biggest sociological problem in this coun-
try, in the entire social order, is the problem of idleness.
Out there in the realm of government, in the realm of busi-
ness, the idler is the menacing problem. And when you
come to religion, idleness is a terrible menace. If you are
idle, and darkness has come to you, and you cannot see
your way religiously, just remember that your idleness
may explain it all. Even John the Baptist, who stood be-
fore Herod, the purple-robed ruler, and unquailingly called
Herod to time for his wickedness and sin — even that brave
spirit, when he was put in jail, and had a season of en-
forced inactivity, plaintively sent some of his men out
yonder, where Jesus was, to ask Jesus the question : "Art
thou He that should come, or do we look for another?"
John the Baptist's heart became faint and fearful when
he was inactive.

I am thinking now of a fine young fellow, a leader in
both the world of business and the social world, who came
for six Sunday nights in succession where I was preaching,
and on the sixth Sunday night, confessed Christ, and took
his place in the church. I never knew a more devoted,
more valiant young man for Christ for a year, and then
after a year, he began to drift. I missed him out of the
prayer-meeting — and every Christian ought to go to pray-
er-meeting— and I missed him out of the Sunday school —
and every Christian ought to go to the Sunday school —
and I missed him out of the Sunday service, and I said to

300 A QUEST FOR SOULS

some of the young men : "What about him ?" They said :
"We fear he is drifting." I said: "Do your best to help
him." One Sunday morning, a little after that, I saw him
in the audience, and he was much moved under the service
we had, and I dismissed the people and went back into
my study, and immediately there was a knock on my door,
and in came this young man, and he said: "When is the
next business meeting of our church?" "Why," I said,
"next Wednesday night." He said : "Have my name taken
off the church roll next Wednesday night." I said: "Why?
You must give a reason. That sort of thing must be done
carefully and wisely. The Scriptures so teach. What rea-
son shall we give when we say your name is to be ex-
punged from the church roll ?" And he said : "Oh, I think
I am not a Christian. I guess I am not, and the sermon
this morning went like an arrow through me. I cannot
be inconsistent, and stay in the church if I am not a Chris-
tian." I said: "No, if a man is not a Christian, he ought
not to be enrolled as a member in the church. It is a trag-
edy for an unsaved man to be a member in the church,
just as it is a tragedy for a saved man not to be a church
member." He said: "Well, I guess you had better have
my name taken off." I said: "Listen a minute," and I
reviewed those six Sunday nights when he came to the
services, and then recalled that sixth Sunday night, when
he came down the aisle confessing Christ, and then the
next Sunday morning, when he took his place in the
church, and that night, when with folded hands across
his breast, he was buried with Christ in beautiful bap-
tism, and then, as we left that baptismal stream, how he
said to me, with his face moist with tears: "Oh, sir, I
am going to live for Christ!" And how, for a year there-
after, he was as regular at the church house as was the
preacher, and then something bewitched him and caused
him to drift away. He was softly sobbing, as I reviewed
all this. He slowly said: "I have heard you, but I guess
you had better have my name taken off." I said : "Come
back at seven o'clock, thirty minutes before the church
service, this evening, and we will talk again about how
to proceed; but won't you do me a favor this afternoon?"

HOW MAY WE KNOW JESUS BETTER? 301

He said: "Certainly; what is it?" I said: "Take my
Bible, or yours, and go across the city to old man So-and-
so's room, and read the Bible to him." "What? Read the
Bible after what I have said to you?" "Certainly." "What
shall I read?" "Read the twenty-third Psalm; read the
eighth chapter of Romans; read the fourteenth chapter
of John, and then if he has not had enough, read any of
the Psalms, any of the one hundred and fifty, and come back
at seven o'clock, and we will talk about your getting out
of the church." He went his way with a serious face, and
I Vw'^ent my way to pray for him much. And in the evening
I was in my study, and five minutes before seven, there
was a knock on the door, and in he came, laughing and
crying, both at the same time, and he said: "Don't sa}^
a word to anybody about having my name taken from
the church roll — not a word." I said: "What has hap-
pened?" "Oh," he said, "I went out to the old man's house,
and I read the Bible to him, several chapters, and we
laughed and cried, and he said to me, presently: *Young
man, v/on't you kneel down and pray for me, that I may
be patient and trustful clear on to the end? I never get
to hear anybody pray,' he said, 'but the pastor, and he is
so busy he does not come often. Won't you pray for
me ?' " And the young man said : "I got down and prayed,
and the old man shouted." And the young man said : "I
think I shouted, too. Don't say a word to anybody about
my leaving the church." You see the lesson: Get busy!
Keep busy for Jesus!

One more word, an3 we will go. If we are to know
Jesus better, let us pay the price to know Him. Every-
thing worth while costs. These business men and these
professional men pay the price for their success. Paul
said: "I paid the price." "What did you pay, Paul?" "I
have suffered the loss of all things for Christ, and I count
them but refuse, that I may win Christ."

Men and women, no matter what your experience, your
battles, your doubts, your sins, your difficulties — no mat-
ter what, in the church or out — put Christ first, and days
of the right hand of God and of heaven on earth will come

302 A QUEST OF SOULS

to you, and will grow brighter and happier and better,
even unto the perfect and eternal day.

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

f. AS'^j^^y: ^L y® ^^' L°'"<J Jesus, let every man and woman here feel out
after God with aU honesty, that thy will may be revealed to us and followed by
us. And let every man and woman in this crowded throng, this midday hour,
speak fram the heart this high decision: "Jesus shall now be my Savior and
Master, by my choice, my quiet, intelligent and final choice. Other refuge there
IS none. Other helpers are all incompetent and insufficient. Here I am, a dying
man or woman, fast passing through time into a land eternal, in which land I am
forever to be conscious, for Christ there and with Him, or against Him and away
from Him. O Spirit Divine, bind thou thus every man and woman here to
Jesus to-day and forever!

And now, as you go, may you go to follow Him until the day is done, and
forever to do His wUl. For His great name's sake. Amen. « , ana

XXI

NIGHT SERVICE, JUNE 22, 1917.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

The regret in my heart is very deep, as was indicated
last night, that I cannot at this time tarry beyond the com-
ing Sunday night, in these special daily meetings. I beg
you to know that I should gladly tarry for several weeks,
as per the greatly appreciated invitation of the two cher-
ished pastors, Drs. Smith and Edwards, and their noble
churches, the Broadway and College Avenue, whose guest
I am. I would gladly tarry for these weeks, if I could.
The meetings in our cities are all too brief. We must
come more and more to plan in all our cities for extended
meetings, for this holiest and most important business of
all — that of winning humanity to our Lord. These greatly
honored pastors — and, if they and you will forgive me for
saying it in their presence, I do not know two more faithful
and trustworthy men of God within all my acquaintance
of His servants — these two men and their noble congrega-
tions have been good enough to want me to come again for
an extended visit, and at the earliest possible date I shall
be most happy, God willing, to come for such visit. It
would be right now, as I have said, but for an engagement
next week in a distant state, that I cannot in conscience
put aside.

How grateful I am for the fellowship and blessings
that my own heart has experienced, these brief days cf

303

304 A QUEST FOR SOULS

this visit! The memories of these days, with all this fel-
lowship with these men of God and these two churches,
and with other men and women of God who have come
from the several churches throughout the city, shall come
to me again and again, like some sweet dream of the morn-
ing. What a high and blessed thing is the fellowship of
God's people! One of the evidences that I have that I
am a Christian is the daily deepening interest my heart
feels for every person in this world v^^ho accepts Christ as
his personal Savior, and thz longing in my heart that
everybody else may receive Him as Savior and Lord before
it is too late.

I beg to be indulged one other introductory word, and
that is a word of deep personal appreciation, and, indeed,
of deep indebtedness upon the part of us all, to The Record
and Star-Telegram, these two great daily newspapers,
that have so generously kept the meetings before the peo-
ple, inside the city and far beyond. Letters many have
come to us, during these days, from the city and far be-
yond, that these extended and splendidly written reports
of the meetings have carried a gracious blessing to those
who could not come here. We are all deeply indebted
to those who have written the reports, and to the forces
that have seen to their setting up, and from my deepest
heart I breathe a fervent prayer to God that He will bless
these papers yet more and more, and crown them with
constantly increasing usefulness.

WHY ARE YOU NOT A CHRISTIAN?

Text: "And now. Lord, what wdt I for? My hope is in thee." — Psa. 39:7.

As I come to speak this evening, there are two emotions
in my heart, as there always are, when I approach the
closing hours of some special meetings. The first emotion
is the emotion of gratitude. How grateful, surely, we all
are, for any and every blessing God has sent the people.
To His name be every dust of the glory ! It is all by Him,
if any blessing has come, and w^e trust that many have
been blessed. The mails to-day have told of blessings
that we had not dreamed of at all, of citizens for whom
you have prayed who mean to take their places with the

WHY ARE YOU NOT A CHRISTIAN? 305

people of God. How grateful we are for the blessings
which God has sent! How grateful for the inspiring fel-
lowship ! How grateful we are for every Christian who
has been renewed in spiritual strength, for every drifting
Christian who has been arrested from such course and
turned back to the right course, and for every soul that
has been saved! And I pause just there for a sentence:
Let the saved man and woman and child hasten to take
their places in the church, with the people of God. And
let the older, maturer Christians, who knov/ about these
babes in Christ, be certain now to speak the word of coun-
sel and comfort to these timid Christians. I was so re-
joiced to hear that quite a group thus took their place,
when the opportunity was given them last Sunday morn-
ing. Oh, I trust that many will take their places the com-
ing Sunday with the people of God, and on and on for
weeks and months and years, may they so come because
of these meetings.

There is another deep emotion in my heart as we ap-
proach the closing hour of the meetings. That is the
emotion of distinct sorrow. Not all who come to a meet-
ing are saved. I think I never saw a meeting come to its
close where all the people who came, who were not Chris-
tians, were saved, and because of such fact sorrow pungent
comes into one's heart. That is, indeed, a solemn Scripture
where the refrain is given : 'The harvest is past, the sum-
mer is ended, and we are not saved." And especially
are those two last words painfully ominous and suggest-
ive— "not saved," "not saved." That means not ready to
die, and even so, it means not ready to live, for one who
is not a Christian is not ready for any world, to meet it
like it ought to be met — not ready for time, not ready for
eternity, not ready for death or life, not ready really to
meet any experience properly, if one is not in right rela-
tions with God.

I wonder why the one before me, who has held out
against Christ's mercy and call, has done so. I should
like to ask you a question, which question shall be the
theme of this evening's message: Why are you not a
Christian? If I should ask if all in this presence are Chris-

306 A QUEST FOR SOULS

tians, probably nearly all would stand or lift their hands
to answer yes. Thank God ! But not all would either lift
their hand or stand. There are in this large presence
men and women and boys and girls who are not Chris-
tians, and, therefore, not saved. Now I should like to ask
you the pointed question: Why are you not a Christian?
That is the theme, and it is suggested by this statement
in the thirty-ninth Psalm: "And now. Lord, what wait
I for? My hope is in thee."

Here was a man who evidently had been waiting to do
his full duty for quite awhile. He was meditating, when
he uttered this sentence, which is our text. He looked
around him and saw how brief the earthly life is, and then
how unsatisfying it is, and he commented on those two
arresting facts about the earthly life. He said the earthly
life was like an handbreadth, it was so brief, it went away
so quickly, it was so uncertain. And we see that illustrated
every day. How suddenly life is terminated! A prayer
was offered from my deepest heart to-day when I noticed
that one of your city to-day went away suddenly into the
unseen land, and my prayer was for all his loved ones, that
God's grace might be sufficient for them all, and that we
might remember that in such an hour as we think not,
the messenger of death may come for us. How brief life
is ! That is what this man mused and meditated upon, and
then penned it here for us in this Psalm. How brief life
is ! How transitory ! How fast passing ! How uncertain !
Let us wisely lay such fact to heart.

A little while ago a business man in one of our cities
got up early to read the Dallas News, as was his wont,
and as he was reading it, before he had yet pulled on his
shoes, he said to his wife, who had not yet risen: "Wife,
listen to this," and he read the account of a business friend
in another community, who had the day before, while pull-
ing on his shoes, gasped and gone away into eternity, and
the man called his wife's attention, as he read, and said:
"I do not expect to go like that." And in a few moments
more, as she noticed him, he gasped, and though she sum-
moned the physician, who was near by, life had fled when
he came. A judge stood up in one of our communities,

WHY ARE YOU NOT A CHRISTIAN? 307

some time ago, to give his charge to the jury, in an im-
portant case, and the people saw him tremble, and then
sink down, and in a moment more his life had fled. A
noble preacher stood in one of our Texas pulpits, a little
while ago, preaching on the text: "W^atch, for in such an
hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh," and as he
was speaking upon that solemn text, summoning the peo-
ple to remember it, he gasped before his audience, and
life left him as he was there in his pulpit. Human life,
how illusory! How transient! How fast passing! How
uncertain ! This man said all that in our text.

And then he said the things of human life cannot satisfy
the human spirit. Whatever human life may achieve, what-
ever it brings, whatever it is, whatever it gives, it cannot
satisfy the human spirit. Jesus told us that with the most
striking illustration that was ever given. He stated a ques-
tion in profit and loss, never equalled. Here it is: "What
shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and
lose his own soul ?" It is the greatest question in profit and
loss ever stated for a human being. "Go," said Jesus to
the man, "and get the whole world, all that it has of wealth,
all that it has of honor, all that it is and has of pleasure,
go get the whole world, and let it all be yours — ^what shall
it profit you if you get it at the loss of your soul?"

Supreme things are often lost by inattention. When I
was spealcing in an Eastern city a little while ago, in a
mission, for some days, they told me of the going away
of one of the city's mighty financiers. His name is a
household word in this country. He sent for one of the
ministers, and when the minister went into his room and
sat beside him and took his hand, the minister said to
him: "What would you say to me?" And he said: "Oh,
man of God, sing to me, and then pray for me!" "What
shall I sing?" inquired the minister. "Sing that old song:

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy.

Weak and wretched, sick and sore,
Jesus ready stands to save you,

Full of pity, love and power.

Sing me that." Mighty financier though he was, his money
could not avail him in that testing hour.

308 A QUEST FOR SOULS

There is a little plant that grows in a certain section
of the world, which plant is called the Nardoo plant. The
naturalist tells us that the plant is delicious to the taste.
Men and women may eat it and delight in it. It is exceed-
ingly palatable to the taste. And yet, though they may eat
and eat and eat of that plant, and rejoice in it like they
would rejoice in the eating of some delicious berry, it is
utterly impotent to suffice for hunger, for they tell us that
it possesses no nutriment at all for the blood, and they tell
us that we can eat of it, and eat of it, and yet die from
starvation, even while we enjoy the eating of that delicious
plant. That is a parable and picture of human life. Go,
if you will, and drink from every spring, go and sip the
aroma from every flower, go and run the whole gamut of
human experience, and still will it be true:

This world can never give

The bliss for which we sigh.
*Tis not the whole of life to live,

Nor all of death to die.

Just because God hath set eternity in the human heart,
nothing temporal, therefore, can satisfy and fortify the
human spirit.

Now, this man of our text found all this out, and then
he turned away from it all, saying, in the language of our
text: "And now. Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in
thee." And that suggests for us the personal theme that
I am to press upon you these passing minutes: Why do
you wait to be for the Lord? Why are you not a Chris-
tian? I wish I knew. If I knew why that man there, or
that woman, or that child, was not a Christian, I should
come right to that excuse, and seek to bring to bear the
Word of God right at that point, to counsel you and help
you.

Let me surmise the different things that keep people
waiting and away from Christ. Let me give several con-
jectures, and if I do not give the right conjecture in your
case, yet I pray you to face the truth, the principle that
shall be discussed, and put to your heart the piercing ques-
tion: Why am I not a Christian? Let me ask you, first,
is it this: Do you say: "I am not a Christian because I
do not need to be ?" Is there one in all this vast concourse

WHY ARE YOU NOT A CHRISTIAN? 309

of people to-night who would say: "I am not a Christian
because I do not need to be?" Is there one that would
make such claim as that? I do not think so. I think I
need not pause at that point. I think not one in all this
place would make such plea, in the face of the Bible, which
says that every rational being needs God, needs His guid-
ance and forgiveness and help. This Book tells us that
no human being has moral resources within himself or
herself sufficient to live the life he or she ought to live,
and to meet the destiny out yonder that awaits us. And
then you would not fly in the face of Christ, the Light
of the world, who came among men and told us all ; "You
must be born again — every rational human being — you
must be born again, born of the Spirit of God, born from
above, or you cannot even see the kingdom of God." I
do not believe, therefore, that I have a single man or
woman here to-night, who would say: "I scout the teach-
ing of the Bible and the teaching of Jesus, and I say I do
not need to be a Christian at all." Oh, no, not one in this
presence will say that. And so I leave that to pass to
another conjecture.

Why are you not a Christian? Do you answer: "Sir,
I am not one because I cannot believe?" Now, let us
pause right there, and let me ask you, when you say you
cannot believe: What is it you cannot believe? Who is
it that you cannot believe? There are two pungent ques-
tions, that all rational men and women must confront.
Here they are: "What think ye of Christ?" That is the
first one. And then the other one is: "What shall I do
with Jesus, who is called Christ?" We are every one
called to think upon Christ. Who is He? Where did He
come from? What did He come for? What did He do
for men? What does He propose to do? What can He
do? "What think ye of Christ?" And then that other big
question — inescapable, inexorable, inevitable question:
"What shall I do with Christ?" Now, we must face those
questions. So I ask you, what is there about Christ that
troubles you? Here is a great personality that crosses
every one of your paths. You must vote for Him or vote
against Him. You must accept Him or reject Him. You

310 A QUEST FOR SOULS

must crown Him morally in your heart, or you must mor-
ally crucify Him. You must be for Him or against Him.
You must be His friend or foe. Now, which ought it to
be? Which is sane and reasonable, as you face that in-
escapable alternative? And I beg you to remember, as
you face it, that the wisest and best of earth have followed
Christ. The most remarkable testimony that I have heard
given to Christ Jesus in a long time was given by our na-
tion's chief executive, Woodrow Wilson, to-night the first
citizen in the whole civilized world. The greatest tribute
that I have heard paid to simple faith in Christ, in years
and years, I heard him give a little while ago, as he stood
before a group of some two thousand of the nation's
thoughtful men. "Oh, men, my brothers," the greatly-
gifted President said, in effect, "long ago I stayed my ail
on Christ, and I could not get on without Him and His
Book, and I would not be willing to try." The wisest and
the keenest and the strongest of earth have tried Jesus,
and they have found out that He helps. They have found
out that He saves. They have found out that He re-
enforces. And not only the great and strong and intel-
lectual and keen-minded have thus tried Jesus and found
Him true, but those modest ones who are near and dear
to you and me. A little mother, who prays, never heard
of outside of her village or community, maybe, but to
you the sweetest and dearest life that earth ever had, tells
her child, or the little wife tells her husband, how dear
Christ is to those who receive Him as a personal Savior.

I was summoned to a dinner in a beautiful home some
time ago, when the home was just opened, one of the
most beautiful I have seen, and I said to the wife and
mother in that home: "How happy you must be in such
a home!" And she said: "Quite true, sir," and then she
went on to say: "But, oh, sir, I would be gladly willing
to live on bread and water, if only my husband would
come with me and be for Christ, and walk beside me, and
help me by his example and precept to bring the children
in the heavenly way." Those that are nearest and dearest
of all to you, come to you and tell you that Christ helps
them, and we know it is true. So you will not be afraid

WHY ARE YOU NOT A CHRISTIAN? 311

to venture your all on Christ. He is tested, experimental-
ly; He is tried, experimentally, and we find Him true.

I have heard Booth Tucker give his testimony to the
power of God's grace. He was and is a mighty man of
God, as was his heroic father-in-law. General Booth, both
working with the people down in the trenches of life, with
the people who are down to hard pan. I have been glad
to stand beside them both, for the saving of the very poor
in one of onr cities. I think nothing of that spirit that
seeks to make class distinctions, either in the realm o|
church or of state. I think nothing of that cheap and
demagogic cry that would make such class distinctions.
It is a piece of cheap and wicked demagogism for which
right-thinking men will have no respect. The right-think-
ing man is as much concerned for the best welfare of the
man in the deepest depths of sin and poverty and squalor
and wretchedness, as he is for the President of our whole,
vast country. I heard Booth Tucker say that he preached
in Chicago, one day, and out from the throng a burdened
toiler came and said to him, before all the audience : "Booth
Tucker, you can talk like that about how Christ is dear
to you, and helps you; but if your wife was dead, as is
my wife, and you had some babies crying for their mother
who would never come back, you could not say what you
are saying,'* I was with Booth Tucker, as I have indi-
cated to you, and just a few days after our separation, he
lost his beautiful and nobly-gifted wife in a railway wreck,
and the body was brought to Chicago, where Booth Tucker
had thus preached, and where the toiling man had stood
up and said: "You could not say that, if you were in my
condition." The body was brought to Chicago and carried
to the Salvation Army barracks. I pause to say that when
I think of such valiant workers, I want to stand with my
head uncovered, when I see how bravely they are toiling
to make better the world. And great old General Booth!
I always wanted to stand in his presence with my head
uncovered, because he so nobly served humanity. The
body of Booth Tucker's wife, as I have just said, was
brought to Chicago, and was carried to the Salvation Army
barracks, for the funeral service. That same toiling man

312 A QUEST FOR SOULS

was present, who some days before had said what I have
told you. And there was the casket in the chapel of the
Salvation Army people of Chicago, and Booth Tucker at
last stood up, after others had conducted the funeral serv-
ice, and he stood there by the casket, and looked down
into the face of the silent wife and mother, and said : "The
other day when I was here, a man said I could not say
Garist was sufficient, if my wife were dead, and my chil-
dren were crying for their mother. If that man is here,
I tell him that Christ is sufficient My heart is all crushed.
My heart is all bleeding. My heart is all broken. But
there is a song in my heart, and Christ put it there, and
if that man is here, I tell him that, though my wife is gone
and my children are motherless, Christ speaks comfort to
me to-day." That man was there, and down the aisle he
came, and fell down beside the casket, and said: "Verily,
if Christ can help us like that, I will surrender to Him,"
and he was saved.

Oh, my brother men, Jesus can be tested ! If you ask
me if I have tested Him, God help me, I tell you yes.
Better than I know anything in the wide world do I know
that Christ helps men^ for when I was on life's wild sea,
without chart or compass or guide or rudder, and no hu-
man voice could suffice me, and the storm drove hither
and thither my little bark, Christ said: "Come to me,
man, and give your case to me, and I will help you, and
you shall know it." I found it was so. You can try Him
and prove Him, for yourself. Oh, try Him to-day !

Why are you not a Christian? Do you say: "I am not
a Christian because I have too much to give up?" Pray,
tell me now, what have you to give up? Jesus, my Savior,
and your offered Savior, does not want you to give up
anything except that which is wrong, except that which
hurts you, except that which poisons you, except that
which, if you do not repent of it, shall kill you. Jesus
wants you to give up only that which is wrong and blight-
ing and deadly — Just that. Suppose a man had two stores,
and one of those stores was a tiny confectionery store,
worth one hundred dollars, and the other store was a vast
department store, worth a million dollars ; and suppose the

WHY ARE YOU NOT A CHRISTIAN? 313

man devoted nearly all of his time and thought to that little
one-hundred-dollar store, and gave practically no time nor
thought to that million-dollar store. You would say : "Why,
that is unspeakable." And yet, oh, soul, Jesus comes to you
down here in this little space called time — thirty years, may-
be, or twenty-five, or forty, or sixty, or mayhap seventy,
but not many of us will live that long — ^very few of us will
reach that period — ^Jesus comes to us, saying: "Don't put
all your thought on that little tiny store. Give the great
store the best attention. You are made to live forever.
Out yonder, beyond time and the grave, is a conscious
world forever. Build for that, as well as think wisely for
this brief space here and now."

Why are you not a Christian? Do you say: "I am not
a Christian because I am waiting until I get good enough
to become one ?" Where, pray, v>/^ill you get your goodness ?
If you may get your goodness by your own doings, then
Jesus need not have come, nor would He have come.
Where, pray, will you get your goodness? Jesus did not
come to save good people. He himself tells us: "I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." Thank
God! If you are a sinner, you are eligible to be saved.
They are now daily asking who is eligible for our country's
arms. If you are a sinner, thank God, you are eligible to
be saved, for Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. You
cannot save yourself. You cannot work up your own good-
ness. You must be born again, and by the power of God,
and so your waiting, pleading that you are waiting until
you get good enough to come, is utterly specious and futile
and ruinous.

Do you say : "Well, that is not it," as I ask you, Why
are you not a Christian? But do you say: "I am waiting
until I get strength to live the Christian life ?" Then I will
pass the question to you and ask you, Where will you get
that strength? Jesus not only saves us, but He helps us
after He does save us. Paul, that chief apostle, said: "I
know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He ia
able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against
that day." Paul did not say that he himself was able to
keep himself — never once. Paul said : "By the grace of God

314 A QUEST FOR SOULS

I am what I am." He said: "By grace are ye saved,
through faith, and that not of yourselves — it is the gift of
God; not of works, lest any man should boast." Jesus
himself says : "You surrender to me and I will forgive and
save you. And then I will company with you. I will teach
you. I will guide you. I will fortify you. I will empower
you. I will strengthen and keep you." That is living the
Christian life. Jesus not only starts with us, but He com-
panies with us also as we go on the journey. Oh, I would
not risk my getting to heaven on the best five minutes or
five seconds that I ever lived in my own goodness and
strength. No, no. My hope is in a surer place than that.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame.
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ the Solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

I do not risk my salvation in the church, or in beautiful
baptism, or in the Lord's Supper, or in all the impressive
forms of religion. They all cannot save one soul. Christ
must save. Oh, you must give up to Him ! Won't you do
that before it is too late?

I come to ask you again. Why are you not a Christian?
Do you answer me: "I am not a Christian because I look
around me and see professed Christians, and their lives are
faulty and ragged and defective, and I will therefore pass
it by?" What shall I say about that? Is it true that our
lives are ragged and defective and faulty? God forgive us,
yes. I do not know any perfect people. O man, we do
not plead ourselves. We plead Christ Jesus the Lord. He
is the world's hope, and He is its righteousness. And now,
come. When you have pleaded weakness in the Christians
round you, and faultiness and defects and raggedness, Jesus
looks at you, saying: "What has that got to do with your
soul, and what has that got to do with your personal
responsibility tome?" Jesus says to you : "Therefore, thou
art inexcusable, oh, man, whosoever thou art that judgest ;
for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thy-
self." You have made your case worse. Come away, I pray
you, from that faulty excuse.

WHY ARE YOU NOT A CHRISTIAN? 315

Why are you not a Christian? Do you answer me:
"Sir, I am not a Christian because I am waiting for the
right kind of feeling?" Pray tell me, what do you know
about the right kind of feeling in the matter of the Chris-
tian life? Can't you leave that with Christ? May I tell you
that I prayed for feeling for many a long day, and at last,
calm as I am right now, and calm as you are now, as you
listen to the preacher to-night with such interest and defer-
ence, I said: "Lord, with or without feeling, come what
may, I will surrender myself, for time and eternity, this
very minute, to Christ." He took care of the feeling after-
ward. That is His part. Never one time does He say to
you: "If you feel so and so, you shall be saved." Never
once. But He says : "If you will believe on Christ, He will
save you." He will save you whatever your feelings. He
will save you in spite of your feelings. He will save you
and give you the feelings you ought to have — the feelings
He wants you to have. You are to trust Him, and He is to
save you. Isn't it plain?

Why are you not a Christian? Do you say: "I have
waited because I could not see through it, I could not under-
stand it?" I pray you, come away from that, for you never
can understand it — never. No man is wise enough to phi-
losophize through the mystery of what it is to be born again..
Why, you cannot even understand a great human life. A
great human life has about him mystery, and the more you
see him the more mysterious and wonderful he is. You
cannot understand the mystery of a little, laughing baby's
life. There is mystery in all life, clear above your compre-
hension. That strong man, Nicodemus, came to Jesus, and
Jesus told him: "You must be born again." He said:
"How can I be born again?" And Jesus said: "The how
belongs to God. Yours it is to trust Christ." Jesus said:
"The wind bloweth where it pleaseth, and thou hearest the
sound thereof, but thou canst not tell whence it cometh, nor
whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit
of God." Yours it is to trust, and His it is to save. There
are mysteries in coming to Christ, but ten thousand times
greater if we reject Him and go into the darkness. When

316 A QUEST l^OR SOULS

Frohman was going down with the Titanic he called it "the
Great Adventure."

Why are you not a Christian? Do you say: "Well, I
am waiting for somebody else to go first?" Oh, we are back
again to daily, human, personal, responsible influence. Wife,
art thou here this evening without Christ? If I were in your
place, I would come, if necessary, through flame and flood.
I would not wait for that strong man who holds back. Who
knows but that thou must by thine own example win Him
to Christ ? I would come, oh, friend, I would come ! Who
knows but that sheltering behind you is somebody that
will act when you act?

I was preaching in a distant city some time ago, and one
night I made a call like this, at the close of the sermon : "I
wish all the men and women and boys and girls who wish
to be Christians, would walk down to these three front
pews, while the people sing, and then when they have thus
come forward, I have two or three things to say to them in
two or three or four minutes, before w^e pray." Numbers
came to those pews, quietly and thoughtfully. Our appeal
should always be to men's judgment and conscience.
Christ's religion does not need any other kind of an appeal.
They came, and I noticed in the group, a girl of some
fourteen or fifteen yeai^, beautiful, and deeply serious. She
kept looking back, oh, so pitifully she kept looking back.
She had come away from the side of a man, who, as we
learned later, was her father. She kept looking back, and I
said: "I think now that we are ready in one moment to
pray. I will wait just one moment, to see if somebody
else won't come, before we pray, and sit on these pews
with us, thereby saying: 'I want to be a Christian/" And
this girl could wait no longer, and she went back down
the aisle and sat down beside him, where she left him some
minutes ago. I waited. It was all rather striking. I waited
to see the outcome, not knowing what it meant, but they
told me later what it meant. She put her arms about her
father's neck, and one sitting just behind them, heard hei
say: "Papa, you and I told mother we would meet her in
the better world, when she left us last year, and I want to
keep the promise. I want us to settle it, papa. I went

WHY ARE YOU NOT A CHRISTIAN? 317

forward that they might pray for me. I thought you would
come. I want us to settle it to-night. Oh, papa, I want us
to keep our promise to mother, but I could not stay down
there without you. I have stayed with you since mother
died, and we have been together. I have never left you
except when I had to, papa. I cannot now go without you.
I want to surrender to Christ to-night, but I cannot go
without you, and I have come back to ask you if you won't
go with me, and kneel down with me, and with me sur-
render to Christ?'' And the strong, big, trembling man —
and it turned out that he was one of the judges of one of
the high courts of his state — said: "Little girl, papa will
go with you. You are right." And together they came, and
knelt together, and when the prayer was over, and I said:
"Who has said yes to Christ?" he stretched out his hand
and said : "I have." And the little girl said : "So have I,
papa!" and she kissed him again and again. What if he
had not come? Oh, soul, wait not for somebody else, be-
cause somebody else may be influenced by you!

Why are you not a Christian? I think you sum it up,
some of you — ofttimes men sum it up and say: "Well, I
am not a Christian, but I tell you, sir, I expect to be by and
by. I intend to be to-morrow. I will be a little later." I
suppose that is the excuse oftenest given by the human
heart for not being on Christ's side. Men will grant their
duty, and their need, and their danger, and men will confess
their interest and their desire. Men will go on and declare
their purpose some time to stop and surrender to Christ,
but then they wait. They listen to a subtle voice : "A little
later, by and by, to-morrow, not yet," and Satan's work is
done, and the soul is enamored of the deceitful way and
goes down to destruction and doom and loss.

That old-time ruler of Thebes, whose name was Archias,
jbne night was going to a house of feasting and revelry, and
one of his trusted servants intercepted him on the road,
and thrust into his hands a note, and said to him: "Oh,
Prince, do not go to that place — do not go." The servant
said: "Serious matters await you, if you go. That note
explains it. Read it. Do not go." And the prince said, as

318 A QUEST FOR SOULS

he thrust the note into his pocket: "Serious matters to-
morrow, but none to-night. Feasting to-night, revelry
to-night, music to-night, laughter to-night, a good time
to-night. Serious matters to-morrow !" And he refused to
read the note. Oh, if he had only read the note ! The note,
penned by the faithful servant, told him of a plot that very
night to take his life, but because he ignored the warning
he went right into the trap, and that night his life was
taken away.

My fellow sinner — and you are such, for I am a sinner
saved by grace — my fellow sinner, let not Satan cheat you
and beguile you and trick you at that point, that you have
time enough. When all is at stake, your soul at stake, your
life at stake, your influence at stake, your happiness at
stake, your usefulness at stake, your deep joy at stake,
surely you have not time enough.

Now, this man of our text faced it, an3 turned away
and said: *1 have not time enough." And then what did
he say? He said what I am coming to ask you to say. He
said: "Lord, what do I keep up this waiting for?" And
then he turned face about and said : "Lord, my hope from
this hour shall forever be in thee." That is the prayer I
pray for you. That is the exhortation I press upon you.
"Lord, what do I wait for? I desist from it. My hope
from this Friday night shall be in the Lord." Mark now
his hope ; mark where it was : "My hope shall be, oh. Lord,
in thee." Oh, I pray you, my fellow-men, do not be be-
guiled at this vital point. Salvation is by a person, and
that person is the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is not by a
church, not by an ordinance, not by a sacrament, not by a
ceremony, not by a creed, not even by the Bible. The Bible
is just the signboard saying to us: "This is the way." Sal-
vation is by Christ, and by none other. "Neither is there
salvation in any other : for there is none other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
Jesus himself calls to us, saying : "I am the way, the truth
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me."
Jesus calls to us, saying: "I am the door. By me if any
man enter in, he shall be saved, but he that climbeth up
some other way is a thief and a robber." Salvation is by

WHY ARE YOU NOT A CHRISTIAN? 319

Christ, the person, and you are to just surrender to Him,
that He may, by your choice, become your Savior.

Oh, I come to ask if you won't, like this man of our
text, put away your waiting, and say : "I am coming right
now to Him. Parent as I am, God help me, I am coming
now, for my own sake and my family's." Business men,
or toiling men, or professional men, whoever the man or
woman or child may be, not a Christian, I am coming to
press upon you the appeal: Won't you do as did this
man in the text? Won't you say: "Lord, I stop my wait-
ing; I am coming to thee?" What if you should not come?
What if you should wait one day, one hour, one second, too
long, too late, to come? What if you should refuse and
defer one second too much to come? Oh, I am asking if
you won't be done with your waiting now and come?

What arguments shall I marshal to help you? What
motives shall I summon for you to consider? I pray you,
think of your duty, and think of your need, and think of your
danger, and think of your influence, and think of your hap-
piness, and think of your usefulness. Great arguments,
mighty motives, ought to have a large place in human
thought and action, and by them all I am praying you to
end your waiting. Many come up to this point and take
all but this last step. They feel. They see. They hear.
They know. They concede. They desire. They say:
"Yes, that is right. A little later I will yield." They wait
a little later. They come right up to heaven's gate^ and
they turn away unsaved.

Yonder in the Northwest a young couple went to build
their fortune, and they went out several miles from the
village and took up land, and there had their little cottage,
and began their work. One morning the young husband
went away to the village to get supplies for the little home.
He was to return that evening, but after he had been gone
some time, the snow began to fall, and it fell thick and
fast and piled up deeper and deeper. The day died down to
night, and he had not returned, and the little wife's heart
was in her throat, so anxious was she; and all night long
she stood there in the cabin door, and swung the lantern,
if haplv he came within its radius of light he might be

320 A QUEST FOR SOULS

pointed the way home. Several feet of snow had fallen,
and the morning came. The night was past, and he had
not come, and with a very agony of anxiety she started
toward the village. Though the snow was some three or
four feet deep, she started through it, and down yonder,
just a few hundred yards from the little cottage, she stum-
bled on his body, the body of her own husband, frozen and
told. Back he had come, in sight of his own cabin — ^and
was dead in sight of home !

Oh soul, that is a picture of what sometimes happens in
gospel meetings. Men and women and children come and
hear and feel and desire, but wait, through Satan's entice-
ment. They come within sight of home and heaven and
eternal life, and wait too long. End your waiting, I pray
you, and come this night, and make your surrender to
Christ, this very night and this very hour. He does the
saving, but you are to consent, you are to decide. Your dif-
ficulties, your sins, your doubts, your temptations, do you
say they are terrible? Make them a million times worse in
fancy, than they really are, and yet I tell you that Christ
will save you in one second, if you will honestly surrender
your case to Him.

To-night will you make that surrender? These hun-
dreds of Christian men and women want you to make that
surrender to Christ, and they will join me in prayer for
God to guide and help you. I will show you that they wish
it. Every Christian in this presence who takes up the
preacher's appeal, and would bind it on the hearts of all
these that are wrong with God; and, further, every Chris-
tian that will join the preacher in a prayer for these that
are waiting and staying away from God, in a prayer that
they will stop their waiting and come in time ; every Chris-
tian that says : *'That is my wish. That is my heart. That
shall be my prayer," will lift high the hand. Do you not
see? I think it is a sight to stir the angels' hearts. That
is sufficient. Come, now, tell me, every soul that says : 'T
want to be right with God, in God's own time and way."
I will not ask you to lift your hand, for many did last night
I will ask you, if you are ready right now, to come to me.

WHY ARE YOU NOT A CHRISTIAN? 321

and say : "My waiting is done." Let every head b* bow«a,
while we pray God to guide us.

THE CLOSING PRAYBR.

Great is our joy, O thou great Savior, that so many in this great press are
friends of Christ and His followers. We would come now to thee with just one
nr^ver It is that every one who is improperly waiting, who is away from God,
away from right, away from duty, away from safety, away from the right use of
frTfluence and the right expenditure of life, man, woman or child, may now end
Jhe waiting, and come to Christ; that the duty-neglecting Christian may say:
'•I have neglected duty long enough. I will renew my vows this mght with
Christ-" that the backslidden Christian may say: "I will renew my vows. I will
come back to the Lord. I will come back before the people. I have wandered
before them, and they may know about it, but whether they kno%v or not. God
knows it all, and I will come back, and renew my vows to-night with Him. to-
night I will re-surrender my poor self to the forgiving Savior. >>". ^e pray
for such And we pray for the men and for the women, the parents, the young
men or women, the boys or girls, who are waiting, and the soul is more endan-
gered every minute, and Satan gets in his work more terribly every minute. Oh,
we pray that the one here waiting to-night shall say: "I stop now. Since Jesus
saves, since He does it all, and since He bids me not wait until to-morrow since
He tells me, *To-day is the day of salvation,' since He tells me if I will just
commit my case to Him, no matter what the case is, no matter how bad, how
perplexing, no matter how doubting, how fearing, how puzzled, how sinful, how
tempted, if I will just turn my case over to Him, He, the great Soul Physician,
will do for me what He knows needs to be done, I will trust Him now I will
make my surrender to Him now. I will end my waiting. Lord Jesus, and 1 wHI
surrender to thee right now." God grant it by the power of His grace and
Spirit. For Christ's sake. Amen.

The people will sing that simple song: "J^sus Is Call-
ing." "Jesus is tenderly calling thee home, calling to-day,
calling to-day." Sing that song, and while we sing it, let
every one tarry these closing moments. Now, here is my
hand, and with it goes my heart's Godspeed to you who wish
to be right with God. I implore you to end your waiting.
Does the backslidden Christian here, and the duty-neglect-
ing Christian, say : "I have had enough of my waiting, and I
will renew my vows with Christ right now, this Friday
night." Does another say: "No, that is not my case. I
am a disciple of Jesus secretly, and never made it known."
Aren't you ready now to say : "To-night, I will stop my
waiting, and be openly for Christ. I will to-night announce
that I have already surrendered to the Savior." Does the
man or woman or child say, "Not yet have you stated my
case, but this is my case: To-night, I am ready, I am will-
ing, that Christ shall be my Savior. To-night, I decide for
Him. To-night, I cease my delay, to-night I end my wait-
ing, to-night I surrender to Christ, that He may ^take me
and do for me what He knows needs to be done." Come,
take my hand. The chord is given us, and we will sing.

(The first and second stanzas were sung— while numbers
came forward.)

322 A QUEST FOR SOULS

Did you ever before see the sight we have just seen?
I never saw it before, where a son brought his own mother
to Christ. Never have I seen that sight before — and I have
seen many confess Christ — where a young man came with
his mother, and like a little child she tells us : "I will sur-
render to Christ, and I am going with you" — brought by
her own son! Oh, you mothers who are not on Christ's
side, end your waiting to-night, and come with the boy or
without him. The probability is that you will have to
bring the boy and the girl. Was there ever another next
to the Lord so helpful to a human soul, as is a mother?
Oh, ye mothers, wandering, waiting, in wrong positions,
come to-night and settle it with your surrender to Christ.
And ye fathers and brothers, men of affairs, men of toil
and work, what you need above all else is Christ, and if
you should have all else, you would yet be utterly poverty-
stricken without Him. And the boys ought to come, and
the girls, even others who are here to-night. God's breath
from heaven is over you, as it was last night so sensibly.
Oh, men and women and boys and girls, as they continue to
sing, I pray you to say : "I am altogether persuaded to be
for Christ." Jesus said to one who once came near Him:
''Thou art not far from the kingdom of God" — not far from
the kingdom of God, but that is not enough. You want to
be in His kingdom. To be near is not enough. Almost is
not enough. To be in sight is not enough. Hard by the
gate is not enough. To be interested and serious and
trembling, and desirous is not enough. Satan does not
care if you tremble and are tearful and are serious, if only
3^ou will say: "I will wait." That is his masterpiece to
destroy you. Do you say : "I will not linger and listen to
him. I will not farther follow Satan. God help me, I will
come to-night, and I will stop my waiting, and I will give
up to Jesus Christ." Come then, and take my hand.

(The third and fourth stanzas were sung and others
came forward.)

You may go in a few moments. I Have a very earnest
word to say to these Christians. It is this: Put your
utmost of prayer and personal effort into these two waiting
days, to the end that God may save multitudes about you.

WHY ARE YOU NOT A CHRISTIAN? 323

Put your utmost into the noonday service to-morrow at
the Chamber of Commerce auditorium, the mass meeting
at three-thirty Sunday afternoon in the same place, and the
meeting again here Sunday night. Oh, what need for pray-
er ! You will pray much, I trust, by groups and alone. And
then what need that you shall speak to the people who are
without God, trying to help them. We have only one con-
cern in these meetings, and that is to do the people good —
eternal good.

And I have this earnest word again to say to these men
and women who have decided for Jesus through these days
and nights: Take your place promptly with God's people.
Talk with some experienced Christian, if you are puzzled
about any spiritual matter. Above all, talk with God, and
set your heart to live that beautiful, obedient, Christian life,
so glorious for us to live.

THE BENEDICTION.

And now, we go, with gratitude on our lips, welling up from our hearts, O
God, for thy manifest blessing upon the people here. How we bless thee for the
influence of thy Spirit upon the people, and for the decisions. of these who corn^
saying: "Our waiting stops. Our surrender is given to Christ Jesus^. ^'.."^^^
they all go to take their places promptly m Christ's army, to be His soldiers,
living the Christian life in the noblest way possible. May they be cheered and
counseled from thyself and from their fellow Christians, even according to their
need O Lord Jesus, send out with thine own passion in their hearts, the whole
multitude of Christians, to speak to the children and to sons and daughters, to
speak to friends, to loved ones, to neighbors, to all the people, passing nobodv
bv to speak the right word, the God-directed word., about personal religion, an^
to speak it in the hours just before us. May we wait upon God as never betore,
and call down by prayer and worthy eflFort God's gracious mercies upon this fair

^^ ^ And as the people go now, may the blessing of the triune God be granted to
all and each, to abide with you forever. Amen.

XXII

NOON SERVICE, JUNE 23, 1917.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Far just a moment, I would follow up the announcement
made concerning the men's meeting in this auditorium at
3:30 o'clock, Sunday afternoon. Concerning it, I would
make these two or three suggestions : Let every Christian
man take this occasion to speak to his neighbor and friend
and acquaintance, wherever he is in the community, and
ask such man to come w^ith him to the services. Oh, how
the world waits for personal attention. There can be no
substitutes for personal attention. The world is dying from
tht lack of that personal touch. These Christian men will
bethink themselves, and call to mind now and through the
day, certain men throughout the city who, they have rea-
son to think, are not Christians, because they are not
aligned publicly with God's people. These all should be
approached in the right way. Not one should be passed
by. You think about them now. There are men in the
stores, in the banks, in the shops, in the mills, and in the
factories, everywhere. Take this occasion to help them.
My fellow-men, if the religion of Jesus Christ be worth
a button, it is worth dying for, and surely it is worth living
for. You will now see about helping your brother men
to the last limit of your power. And then these women,
who will not meet with us in that afternoon meeting for
men, will singly, or in little groups, I trust, see how by
prayer they can help the meeting. Is there any other way

324

A PROMISE FOR EVERY DAY 325

whereby we may more powerfully help the world than
by prayer? What a suggestive expression that is in the
Bible: "Ye also helping together by prayer!" What a
marvelous force is prayer! Now, these women can help
in that way, yonder in their homes, and all of us can help
as we get ready for such service.

Very deeply has my heart been touched from day to
day, in these brief noonday services, that large throngs
of men and women have been minded to come at such
hour, for such services. And as I have seen you come in,
and have searched your faces, and have read therein the
lines of burden and struggle and questioning and wistful
yearning, as best I could, I have cast myself upon God,
and besought Him to help me to help you. That longing
is in my heart this Saturday noon, as you come to this
last midday service.

Life is so stressful, so crowded with work and battle
and burden that we need all along to fortify ourselves with
the promises from God's Book. One does not even know
how to pray like he ought, if he cannot take these prom-
ises, and fill his mouth with them, and plead them before
God, saying, as did one of old: "Do as thou hast said."
These promises are designed to inspirit us, and rest us,
and fortify us. We do not make enough of these promises
from God's Book. They fit every condition in human
life. If we will only find it, there is no condition that is not
met by a promise out of God's Book, and these promises
give us a grip on spiritual realities. I summon you to-day,
my busy men and women, to search out these promises
from God's Book constantly, and appropriate them, and
make them your own, and plead them before Him. One
promise from God's Book has, times without count, an-
chored a human soul and kept it going in the right way.

A PROMISE FOR EVERY DAY.

Text: "As thy days, so shall thy strength be."— Deut. 33:25.

I wonder if there is any other promise in the Bible that
has more frequently proved itself a balm to men and
women than this promise that now I read to you, as the
text for to-day: "As thy days, so shall thy strength be."

This morning, for a little while, let us ponder that

326 A QUEST FOR SOULS

promise. How heartening it is, in view of our weakness!
Over against our weakness, there in that promise is the
promise of strength. "As thy days, so shall thy strength
be." How heartening that promise is, in the face of our
weakness! And our weakness will be discovered to us,
in any one of many directions that we may take. Take
our own duty, whatever it is — and who has not cried out
time and again, as he faced his duty and grappled with
it — be he preacher, or parent, or professional man, or other
toiler, whoever he is — who has not cried out, saying, "Who
is sufficient for these things? How can I get through this
task?" Now, over against our sense of weakness and
weariness and faintness, here is this promise of strength.

This promise comes to hearten us as we look at the
progress that we are making in the better life. Whenever
we turn the glasses within, and search ourselves thorough-
ly, how pained we always are at the meager progress that
we are making in the better life. We look around us, and
see certain personalities who are growing and expanding
and triumphing in a remarkable way in the Christian life,
as it seems to us, and then we look at ourselves and be-
hold how little the progress, how meager the growth, how
few the attainments that we have made and are making
in the Christian life.

But especially does this promise come to hearten us
and re-enforce us, when we look at our besetting sin or
sins in life's daily battle. Every man has his besetment,
and every woman hers. The Bible speaks of the sin which
"doth so easily beset us." Every one has his besetment,
to enslave him, to handicap him, to hinder him. Now, a
promise like this is of great worth to us, as we grapple
with our besetment, whatever it is. With one person it
is one thing, and with another it is another thing, but
every one has his besetment, every one his handicap, his
weakness, and we need strength to set over against it, and
here it is promised us in this heartening promise. One
man's besetment is the tendency all along in human life
to be discouraged. Oh, what a pitiful thing in human life
to feel keenly the pressure and the weight of depressing
discouragement? Every man should set himself against

A PROMISE FOR EVERY DAY 327

it, and every man should be an encourager. A discourager
hurts human life. Every man is to be an encourager,
positive and constructive in his daily battle and message.

And then here is another, whose culpable weakness, it
may be, is envy. Oh, what a terrible besetment that is!
The Bible asks the question: "Who can stand before
envy?" It is as rottenness in one's bones. Envy is incip-
ient murder. Envy eats up every noble thing. If a man
finds envy anywhere in his life, he should pluck it out
and fling it away, as he would fling away the deadly cobra,
seeking to coil about his heart.

Another man's handicap is the temptation to uncharita-
bleness. What a serious handicap that is! In His funda-
mentally revolutionary Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uses
the searching words: "Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and
with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you
again." And then He asks a biting question: "Why be-
holdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye" — a
mote is a tiny splinter — "Why beholdest thou the tiny
little splinter in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the
beam" — that is, the big log — "considerest not the big log
that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite," said Jesus,
"first cast out the beam" — the big log — "out of thine own
eye ; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote" —
the splinter — "out of thy brother's eye." Oh, if you have
the tendency to harshness, to censoriousness, to uncharita-
bleness, put it utterly away, it is so disastrous in its bJind-
ing and blighting eflFect on life !

But does some one say: "No, that is not my trouble?"
Does he or she say: "My trouble is the trouble of anxie-
ty— eating, consuming, apprehensive, corroding anxiety?"
I suppose that comes to us all more or less — the trouble
of anxiety. So Jesus speaks in His Sermon on the Mount :
"Be not anxious about what you shall eat, or what you
shall drink, or what you shall wear." Be not anxious!
Jesus there teaches us to put anxiety away, and He gives
us the reasons why we should put it away, why we should
refuse to be enslaved and dispirited by corroding, consum-
ing anxiety. He tells us, in the first place, that anxiety is

328 A QUEST FOR SOULS

utterljr needless. "Which of you by being anxious can
add one cubit to his stature?" Anxiety won't help us at
all, says Jesus. And He goes on and tells us that God
cares for us, and therefore we are to refuse to be swept
with anxiety. "If He clothes the grass of the field, which
to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall He
not much more clothe you, oh, ye of little faith?" If He
feeds the birds, if He paints the lilies, will He not care
for you? And so He bids us, by His own fatherly care,
not to let anxiety eat like a destroying microbe into our
life. And then He goes on to tell us that such anxiety is
heathenish. "After all these things" — something to eat,
and something to wear, the temporalities — "after all these
things," says Jesus, "do the Gentiles seek," and you are
to do better than they. And then He goes on to tell us
that anxiety only adds to what is coming to-morrow. "Suf-
ficient unto the day is the evil thereof." For all these rea-
sons He bids us to put anxiety utterly out of our lives. Well
did the immortal B. H. Carroll, our incomparable Texas
preacher, say that there are two things that nobody should
worry about. First, he said we should not worry about
what we can help. Let us help it, if it can be helped. And
next, we should not worry about what we cannot help. If
we cannot help it, worry will not improve it at all. Those
two things, what we can help and what we cannot help,
cover the whole case. Now, if we can help it, let us help
it, and if we cannot help it, let us cast it all on God, and
say : "Lord, lead thou me on, and I will follow where thou
leadest," and leave it just there.

Let me ask you to look a little more closely at this
gracious promise, with which I would fain fortify your
heart and mine this day. "As thy days, so shall be thy
strength." Whose is the promise? It is the promise, in
essence, which God makes to His friends, times without
number, here in this Holy Book, by 'direct statement, and
by implication. That is the unending promise of God all
through His Book. Now, since that is God's promise. His
pledge, that pledge is well-grounded. There are promises
human. They are often frail ; they often come short ; they
often break. But this is God's promise, and when we

A PROMISE FOR EVERY DAY 329

know it is God's promise we can rest upon it with all
the tranquility and peace with which a child lies back upon
its mother's heart. Yes, it is God's promise. He comes
to MS, saying: "You cling to me, and follow as I point
the way, and your strength shall be meted out to you.
Whatever your doubt or duty or difficulty, whatever your
sin or sorrow or suffering, so shall be your strength, if
you will only cling to me."

But I beg you to notice that there is a limitation in
that promise. Many of God's promises have limitations,
and all this is to be looked at carefully. This promise
here has a limitation. Notice it: "As thy days, so shall
be thy strength." "As thy days" — ^you see the limitation.
"As thy days, so shall be thy strength." Nowhere does
God say: "As thy desires," because many a time our de-
sires are improper. Many a time our desires are selfish.
Many a time, if our desires were granted us, we would be
far worse off. There is such a thing as withheld answers
to prayers, just because God loves us too much to send
an answer to some prayers we offer. If your little child
comes into the room in the morning, before the tasks of
the day begin, perhaps as the father is at the mirror shav-
ing, and the little thing reaches up and clutches for the
razor, and insists that the father shall give it the razor,
the father holds it back and will not let the child have
that deadly thing in its little hands. The father knows that
the child will harm itself with that instrument, and he
loves the child too well to grant the child its desire. And
many a time you and I cry in our hearts for something
which we so much wish, and God sometimes withholds the
answer, for if we got the thing that we pant for and yearn
for, it would be a razor with which we would cut ourselves,
and so God knows best.

That is a remarkable picture of Paul, with his thorn in
the flesh. No one knows what Paul's thorn in the flesh was,
but it was something very serious. Paul was not a cry-baby.
If ever there was a manly preacher, who left his impress
in the sands of earth, it was the Apostle Paul. Sincere
was he as the sunlight : genuine to the very depths of his
heart, as every man of God ought ever to be. The funda-

330 A QUEST FOR SOULS

mental virtue in life is truth and integrity and sincerity.
If a man be not sincere, his life is a ghastly lie. This man
Paul was the incarnation of sincerity and integrity and
truth. But he said: "There was given me a thorn in the
flesh, the messenger of Satan, sent to buffet me." He said :
"I imitated my Lord in the garden, who poured out His
prayer to His Father three times. So did I pour out my
prayer," said Paul, "beseeching the Lord thrice that He
would take that thorn out of my flesh." And the Lord
answered him : "I will do nothing of the sort, Paul. I am
going to leave that thorn right there in your life." Mark
you, it was a "messenger of Satan, sent to buffet him."
Oh, how it goaded him, and harassed him, and tortured
him, and burned him! But God left it there, even though
Paul prayed three times that God would take it away.
And wouldn't you have rejoiced to have heard Paul pray?
Evidently Paul was at his best when he was on his knees.
Wouldn't you have been glad to have heard Paul pray that
prayer to God three times: "Take this thorn away?" God
did not take it away, but He gave His gracious re-enforce-
ment: "Paul, my grace is sufficient for thee." And after
that, Paul went his way singing: "Most gladly, therefore,
will I rather glory in my infirmity, for v/hen I am weak,
then I am strong. The power of Christ," said Paul, "rests
upon me because of this thorn, as I never would have had
it if the thorn had not come." Now, doesn't that explain
very much? God comes with His fortifying power to help
his child, whatever the need, whatever the day.

Let us look into this promise a moment further: "As
thy days, so shall be thy strength." It does not say: "As
thy fears." Wasn't it Spurgeon who said that everybody
has a trouble factory at his house, and if the trouble does
not come along easily and quickly, we put the factory to
work to see that it comes? Oh, what fearful folk we are!
Everywhere God's message to us is: "Fear not." One
of the most wonderful things said by Jesus is in the last
book of the Holy Bible. It is His ringing word: "Fear
not." "Fear not to live," said Jesus, "for I am alive."
"Fear not to die," said Jesus, "for I died. I have explored
every chamber of the grave, and you need not be afraid."

A PROMISE FOR EVERY DAY 331

"And then you need not be afraid of what is coming after
death," said Jesus, "for I hold in my hands the keys of
death and of the invisible world." "Fear not," Jesus said,
"because I am alive, you need not to be afraid to live,
whatever comes to you. And you need not be afraid to
die, no matter where nor when. And you need not be
afraid of what is coming after death, for I have the keys
of death and the invisible world in my hands. You trust
me and be without fear." That is His wonderful word.
Let us hide it in our every heart.

In a certain pastorate, there was one woman who had
a good deal of property — only one. The rest were very
poor. This woman was far along in years, indeed, around
seventy, I should say, and all her children were married
and gone; and yet every time the young pastor went to
see her, how fearful she was lest her bank stock should
somehow be lost, lest her property somehow should take
wings and fly away, or be burned up; lest she should at
last die in the poor house. She said that to the young
preacher, again and again, until at last, he turned and
said to her, as tenderly and faithfully as he could: "What
does it really matter, dear sister, at last, if you trust your
all to Christ, if you should die in the poorhouse? God
will send His chariot to carry you home, whether you are
in a hovel or a mansion, if you really trust Him as your
Savior. Put your fears away."

I am thinking now of an old farmer, and his case es-
sentially describes us all, I judge. He had to make a train
at a certain hour in the early morning. He lived some
three or four miles out there in the country away from
the railway station. And so he set his alarm clock to
rouse him, that he might reach the station at a certain
hour; and then, wonder of wonders, he sat up and watched
the alarm clock, to see* if it went off at the time he set it !
Now, we smile at that, but isn't it true that we are smiling
at ourselves? Oh, how our fears harass us, and corrode
us, and appall us and enslave us, and dispirit us ! The great
promise to-day would teach us to put our fears away, once
and forever.

332 A QUEST FOR SOULS

Let us look at this promise yet a moment further. What
is it ? "As thy days" — not as thy weeks, not as thy months,
not as thy years, not as thy seasons — "as thy days." God
comes to us saying: "Live one day at a time. Cling to
me, and do my will, and stand faithfuly at your post,
one day at a time, and all shall be well." You say: "We
want to see long stretches at once." You say : "We want
to see years, with all their hidden secrets and undisclosed
meanings, in one little day." But that is not God's way.
You say: "We demand that the long future shall tell us
its secrets," and it refuses to do it. Jesus comes, saying:
"Take it one day at a time. And from morning until noon-
tide, and from noontide until the nightfall, and when earth
is wrapped in the shadows of the night, just one day at a
time, take it, and cling ever to me, and even the seeming
defeats of life shall be turned into triumphs."

Note well the limitation to the promise. It says: "As
thy days" — you see how comprehensive that is; that in-
cludes all the days, whatever they are, however they
come — "so shall be thy strength." Some days are dark,
and other days are bright. Some days, we feel more and
drink deeper of the awful draught of human pain and ex-
perience and wounding and surprise and wonderment, than
in thirty whole years beside. Ah, me! Some of us know
about it. Some of us know what it is, in one short day,
to have had more pain and battle and wonderment and
agony and surprise — in one short day when the heavens
were all darkened, when neither sun, nor moon, nor star
would shine at all — some of us have known more of suf-
fering in one dark day like that than in thirty years beside.
But this promise covers a day like that. Job had his black
Friday, when everything was swept from him — servants
and property and children and health and friends-=r-and
even his own wife — God save the mark! — said to her hus-
band : "Curse God and die !" And Job simply said : "Let
come on me what will, though He slay me, yet will I trust
in Him." And out of the deepest depths he came again to
higher heights than ever before. That is God's promise.

Some (lays are little, an9 some Hays are large, and in
all those 3ays, commonplace and ordinary and routine

A PROMISE FOR EVERY DAY 333

days, Jesus says: "I will be with you." And then when
come life's testing days — days big with meaning, with
terror, with pain, with duty, with trial — ^Jesus stands there
to fortify us as we go on clinging to Him.

And then there comes a last earthly day — ^the day of
death. Somebody asked Dwight L. Moody if he had dying
grace, and he said: "Why, no. I have living grace, but
when I come to die I shall have dying grace." And when
they carried him home from a meeting he was conducting
in Kansas City, where a fatal sickness had seized him, there
propped up on his pillows, with his loved ones around him,
he looked at them, and then looked up into the open heav-
ens, and said : "The world is receding. Heaven is opening.
God is calling me, and I must be away." He had dying
grace when death came.

I recall very vividly the recent going away of the wife
of one of our most honored Texas judges. She had said
to me again and again, that she greatly feared she was
not a Christian, and her fear came because all her lifetime
she was in bondage through fear of death. She never went
to a funeral, or into a death chamber, if she could avoid
it. She had that unspeakable fear of death which is de-
scribed in that Scripture which says: "Who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."
I said to her again and again: "Mrs. So-and-so, if you
are trusting Christ" — and she would say : "If I am trusting
Him? Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him," And
then I said : "If you are trusting Him, when the day comes
for you to go. His grace will be sufficient, and if you are
conscious that day, you will know that it is sufficient."
And the day did come a little while ago, and the nurse
and the doctor were there, and she turned her lustrous eyes
to the doctor, and said: "Doctor, what is this?" And he
did not reply. He was a very dear friend of the family.
And she said again: "Tell me frankly, doctor, is this
death ?" He said : "Yes, Mrs. So-and-so, it is death." And
then she turned to her husband, and she said : "Oh, dear
husband, you know this is the hour that for thirty years
I have dreaded. This is the hour of all hours I have
shrunk from." And then she said: "Husband, don't ymi

334 A QUEST FOR SOULS

see that face? Don't you hear that music? Christ is here.
I have never known such rapture of light and peace and
joy." And in a very flood of celestial glory the timid wife
went out into the night, and through the night into the
land Elysian. She found that God's grace was sufficient.

Will you take this promise to-day and make it yours?
Will you take this promise and incarnate it in your life?
Oh, if you will cling to Jesus as your Savior and the Mas-
ter of your life, if you will let Him come into your life
and save you His own way — and He will never save you
any other way but His way — and then let Him guide you
His way, and let His will be the law of your life, and let
His program be fully accepted by you as your program,
you will turn the battle back from the gate, no matter
what it is, and you will have days of heaven upon the
earth, no matter what else you have. He will verify to
you this promise through all the days, and He will love,
and He will guide, and hold, and help, and lead you, till
the day is done.

There is just one concern for every one of us to have,
and that concern is to be faithful to Jesus Christ. There
is one thing I want to hear from Him at last, when I shall
see Him face to face — one thing I long to hear — and that
is that blessed plaudit: "Well done, good and faithful
servant." His challenging word is: "Be thou faithful
unto death." He does not say "until death." He does
not mean that. He says : "Be thou faithful unto death" —
faithful to the dying point. Die any time, and die any-
where, before you will be unfaithful. The one supreme
canon of human conduct is: "Is this right? Then I will
do the right, though the heavens fall." "Be thou faithful
unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."

Out of my boyhooH there comes a memory — you will
allow me to speak of it — one of the tenderest memories oi
all my life. Many have been the days that, far back in the
mountains, hard by the little country schoolhouse, I have
sat beside another boy, 14, 15 or 16 years of age, and we
have builded our air castles, as boys will, and as they
ought to do. We dreamed our dreams. He was going to
be a victorious business man, and delight the world with

A PROMISE FOR EVERY DAY 335

his philanthropy and service, and he has already made
^ood. And I was going in another direction. I was going
to be a lawyer, and give my life to that noble calling. The
flying years came on, with their many changes and deeper
questions. This young fellow came to the great West
earlier than I, and afterward, God met me one day in a
quiet country church house, and from that hour I have
traveled another road. The years have passed since we
used to have those dreams together, beside the modest,
country school house. A little while ago I was this big
man's guest, in his own fair home. His community had
arranged a notable public occasion, and had me as their
invited guest, to speak to them. I was a guest, of course,
in Jim's fair home while I was there. And after the ad-
dress, and when we had had our meal, and after the hours
had galloped away like minutes, I said: "Now, Jim, I
must make ready to go to the train." He said: "Well,
we will walk, if you don't mind it, that we may talk like
we used to talk in the far-off hills." And out of the years
we talked, and talked, and then he said: "Would you
like for me to tell you the sweetest memory out of all my
life?" Of course, I wanted to hear it, and he reminded
me that his father was an invalid for years, and that he
who was conversing with me was the only boy, in a house-
ful of sisters, and that the burdens of the family fell on
him, while sometimes he would chafe under the burdens,
they were so trying and so heavy. One day the invalid
father sat on the porch in his deep chair, as was his wont,
and Jim said to him: "Father, couldn't you attend to
certain little chores at the barn to-day?" He answered:
"Why, certainly, son." Jim said: "I will be until after
dark, plowing in the lower field, and if you can attend to
those little chores, it will help me." The father said : "Cer-
tainly, my boy, I will be so glad to do it." Jim came in
after nightfall, and came to the porch, where sat his father,
and they commenced talking, when Jim remembered and
asked his father: "Did you look after the little chores at
the barn?" And, with a pitiful sigh, the father said: "My
boy, T am ashamed to tell you, T forgot all about it.'* And
then Jim said that the hot words of impatience, for he was

336 A QUEST FOR SOULS

tired, were ready to fly from his lips, but he swallowed
them back — God forgive you and me, when we do not
swallow them back ! — and Jim said : "Never mind, father ;
I can fix it in a few minutes, and then I will come back
and tell you some splendid news about the lower farm. I
will soon fix it. Don't you worry, father." And the old
man said, with surpassing pathos in his voice: "Come
back now, Jim. Come back now — right now." Jim came
back, and the old man said: "Come where I can feel you.
I can barely see you in the day time, and cannot see you
at all after night." And Jim came nearer, and the father
put his hands upon Jim's head, and then the old man
sobbed for a minute or two, unable to speak. And when
he could speak at last, he said: "Oh, my boy, God bless
you, just because you are always so faithful to duty ! You
will never know what a comfort you are to me, you are
so faithful, my son, to duty." Jim could not speak after
that ; of course not. What boy could speak after a speech
like that from his father? And Jim turned away, and at-
tended to the chores, and came back singing a few minutes
later. A boy who lives like that has a right to sing. And
as he approached the high porch, where his father sat in
his deep chair, he began talking. "Father," he said, but
there was no response. And again he said : "Father," but
there was no answer. And he was beside his father im-
mediately, touching his pulse, but it was still, and the
hand of the son was thrust above the old man's heart,
but it had ceased to beat. Out of the weariness an4 pain
of life, the tired old man had gone to that land where
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying;
neither shall there be any more pain. And then this great
citizen of the West, one of the worthiest the great West
has ever had, and one of the most useful, said to me, with
a sob : "Oh, sir, the sweetest memory of all is father's
word, 'God bless you, my boy! You are such a comfort
to me, because you are always so faithful to duty.' " You
want to hear that at last, and so do I, when we stand face
to face before Him whose we are and whom we live to
serve.

Let us cling utterly and only and always to Christ.

A PROMISE FOR EVERY DAY 337

Let us trust Him till the day is done, and then go to be
with Him and to be like Him forever.

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

And now, as the people go, O Lord Jesus, speak thou the word in season to
our every heart. From to-day, let us go to live the life which is life indeed. Let
parents here set themselves, with a devotion that sin and Satan cannot break, to
put Christ first forever, whatever His way and wherever He leads, and they shall
walk in a path crowned with the days of heaven upon the earth. May thy mercy
come upon all the people of this vast expanding city, charged as it is with such re-
sponsibilities,^ and freighted as it is with such destinies. O, touch thou this
whole city with the touch of God to-day. And to-morrow, when the people meet
in their every place of worship, may they worship thee in the beauty of holiness,
with the favor of God upon every preacher, and upon every church, and even
upon those who may not go to church and may have no care for the things of
God and their own souls. Save the people, O God, and they shall be saved, and
the glory shall all be thine.

And as you go now, may the blessing of the triune God be granted to each
and all, to abide with you forever. Amen.

XXIII

SERVICE FOR MEN, SUNDAY AFTERNOON,

JUNE 24, 1917.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Very gladly, my brother men and gentlemen, do I wel-
come the privilege of speaking at this hour to the men of
this goodly city. I know about men's battles, their tempta-
tions, their questions, their heart hungers, and I find in
my own heart a longing inexpressible to help them. That
is the feeling now in my heart, as I look you in the face,
and stretch out to you a brother's hand, and offer you a
brother's heart. I have counted it a very rare privilege
for these past few days to be the guest of the two hon-
ored pastors who sit behind me, Dr. Smith and Dr. Ed-
wards, and to be refreshed by fellowship with them — men
modest and valiant and true; men whose ministry is so
nobly constructive, and men whose words and examples
point always toward the morning. I have counted it a
rare privilege to be their guest, and the guest of their two
noble congregations. And, more, I have counted it a very
refreshing privilege to meet many of God's men of other
congregations than these two, to meet many of the noble
ministers of these various flocks, and their people, whose
courtesies to the visiting preacher have been so constant
and gracious. And still more, I have counted it a privilege
to meet face to face, and to know at close range, many
of your citizens who are not yet church men at all, but
who are giving their splendid, capable energy to aki in

338

THE ONE SUFFICIENT REFUGE 339

bringing in a larger and better civilization for the world.
These men, I pray, may soon come with us to the side and
service of Christ.

I covet every man of you for Christ. I have a passion-
ate longing for the spiritual welfare of this whole great
state of ours, and though I live in one of its cities, and have
for a long time therein lived, I have the most earnest in-
terest in all our cities and in all our people. I have said,
from one coast of America to the other, that nowhere in
all this world, in my humble judgment, was there a greater-
hearted, cleaner-minded, more forward-looking type of men
than we have here in this vast, renascent, responsive state.
The men of this state incarnate as do no other men I know,
that little poem :

WHERE DOES THE WEST BEGIN?

Out where the handclasp is a h'ttle bit stronger.
Out where the smile lasts a trifle longer —

That's where the West begins.
Out where the sun shines a trifle brighter,
Where the snows that fall are a trifle whiter,
And the bonds of home are a wee bit tighter

That's where the West begins.

Out where the sky is a trifle bluer.

Where friendships formed are somewhat truer —

That's where the West begins.
Out where a fresher breeze is blowing,
Where there's laughter in every stream that's flowing.
Where there is more of reaping and less of sowing —

That's where the West begins.

Out where the world is in the making,

Where fewer hearts with despair are breaking —

That's where the West begins.
Where there's more of singing and less of sighing,
Where there's more of giving and less of buying.
And a man makes friends without half trying —

That's where the West begins.

Oh, how T covet this great West, every man in it, for
Christ, my Savior and Lord!

THE ONE SUFFICIENT REFUGE.

Text: "Refuge failed me. • ♦ • T cried unto thee, O Lord, I said, Thou
art my refuge."— Psa. 142:4, 5.

What shall I say to you, my brothers, as I come for
an afternoon service, for a little while just with the men?
I would say to you that all is well, whatever comes,
whether in life or death, or in God's great beyond, for-
ever, if It is well with the soul. And I would say that
nothing IS well, nothing really and abidingly succeeds, if
it IS not well with a man's soul. In the old worW there

340 A QUEST FOR SOULS

is a painting, which has been copied, and the copy hangs
in every noble art gallery in the world-— a painting of a
storm, before which terrible storm, men and beasts are
fleeing, if haply they may find a refuge. That is a picture
of every rational human life. This, then, is the text upon
which I would speak to you: "Refuge failed me" (or as
the marginal reading has it, "fled away from me"), "then
I cried unto the Lord, and said, 'Thou art my refuge.' "

A refuge means protection against danger. It means
a source of safety. I wonder, as I search this audience
now, and glance at every face before me, if you have a
refuge, each one of you, for your soul, and what is that
refuge, and does that refuge suffice you, and is that refuge
safe, and will that refuge meet all the tests?

You will agree with me, I doubt not, that the funda-
mental need of every man is a refuge for his soul. That
need takes precedence of every other need, and that need
is fundamental. That every man needs a refuge for his
soul will be indicated by a glance in any one of many
directions. For one thing, a man needs a refuge against
the accusing cry of his own conscience. Oh, what pain
there is, at times, in the human conscience! 'Tis the
acutest and most terrible pain of all, and every man needs
a refuge against the accusing cry of his own conscience,
Conscience may be dulled; conscience may be seared;
conscience may be mistaught ; and yet conscience will hav
its hours when it will make its serious and terrible cry.

I talked a little while ago with a man well reared. His
position has been lofty, but he has missed the right road|
terribly, and has fallen more terribly. He said to me
after our interview, and as we were separating: "Oh,
man, God Almighty alone knows how I have suffered in
my conscience!" Every man needs a refuge from the ac-
cusing cry of his own conscience, for every man must
live with himself.

When we turn to the Bible, it makes that insistence,
by precept and by illustration, after the most impressive
fashion. Take the case of John the Baptist, that intrepid
preacher who stood before purple-robed Herod and spoke
to him concerning righteousness and temperance and the

THE ONE SUFFICIENT REFUGE 341

judgment to come, and at last paid for it with his life.
You remember the outcome of it to that man Herod. Her-
od had John killed, and you remember the later outcome.
Months afterward, as Herod with his courtiers feasted,
suddenly the topic of conversation with him and his men
changed, and they began to speculate as to who that won-
derful man was out yonder in the country, who was so
speaking that the very cities were emptied of their people,
to go out by the riverside to hear what He said. And
Herod rose up, trembling like an aspen leaf, and blurted
out his cry: "I suspect you are talking about John the
Baptist, whom I beheaded months ago, but who has risen
from the dead." Conscience was not dead!

You recall the tragic case of Judas, who sold Jesus
for thirty pieces of silver — about fifteen dollars of our
money — and then came back a few hours later, and threw
down the thirty pieces of silver to the men with whom
he traded, and said: "Let's rue the bargain. I have be-
trayed the innocent blood. Take this money back. It
burns my brain. It burns my pockets. It burns my hand.
It burns my conscience." And the men with whom he
traded, mocked him and scorned him, and then, goaded
by conscience, Judas went out and took his own life. Oh,
my brother men, there is no pain so terrible as the ac-
cusing cry of the human conscience !

Take human life, temporal and secular, and it is crowd-
ed with illustrations bearing upon this same point. I recall
that realistic story of a man in another land, years ago,
a Judge, who had there in his court a young man charged
with murdering his master, and who, to conceal his crime,
had burned down the house over the master's head. The
trial was stubbornly fought, and was at last drawing to
a conclusion, and the judge had to give his charge in the
matter. He stood up to give the charge, and they saw
his exceeding agitation, and then he sat down without
speaking. And then, with still deeper agitation, he left
the Judge's bench, atiH went down into the prisoner's dock,
an3 sat Sown beside the prisoner, aiid put his face in his
hands and groaned aloud. There was a sensation, of
course, in the court room. Lawyers on either side looked

342 A QUEST FOR SOULS

aghast at one another and wondered what it all meant.
And presently, when they got up and went to him, and
said: "What on earth is it. Judge?" with choking diffi-
culty he said to them : "I have tried my own case. Thirty
years ago I murdered my master, and to hide my crime
I burned down the house over his head, and if any person
ever suspected me, I do not know it. I cannot go on with
this trial. I have tried my own case. I cannot continue
further with this case." Thirty years had elapsed, but
conscience had made its cry.

The writings of the great dramatists, Shakespeare and
George Eliot and Victor Hugo, and men and women of
their class, are going to live, while ten thousand piles of
trashy literature die, because they have recognized the vi-
tality of the human conscience. Take Macbeth; see the
effort made there to get the blood off the hands, and hear
the pitiful cry as the hands are lifted up, with the ex-
clamation: "Oh, the blood, the blood! Though I lav<^
here in this basin, I cannot get it off!"

Take the story by George Eliot, where she tells of the
fatal going astray of a young girl. Earth's saddest sight
is that. Let angels veil their faces, and let crepe be put
on the door of heaven, when a young girl thus falls into
shame. George Eliot tells it in her own inimitable fash-
ion, and then she describes the young girl putting to death
the little child to which she had given birth, seeking thus
to hide the shame and crime. She slew the little child out
there in the hedge, and later she was apprehended and
brought to justice and judgment, and kindly women got
around the wretched and fallen girl, and sought to coun-
sel and help her. She listened to them — listened as if
in a trance — and when they would finish saying to her
every kindly and helpful thing they could think to say,
she would answer them with the wailing chant : "Yes, yes,
I hear all that you say, but will I always hear the cry of j
the little child that I put to death in the hedge?" What is
the great dramatist saying? She is saying that conscience]
lives, and that men must reckon with conscience. Now,
every man needs a refuge from the accusing cry of his
own conscience.

THE ONE SUFFICIENT REFUGE 343

Nor is that all. Every man needs a refuge from the
slumbering power of sin in his own life. I grieve for any
man who boasts of his strength. No man knows how weak
he is, and every man needs a refuge against the slumbering
power of sin in his own life. Many of the finest, most
splendid, most gifted, most generous, most lovable men,
go down to doom and death because of the slumbering
power of sin in their own lives.

Every man needs a refuge when he comes to that last
hour that aAvaits us every one, to that grim sarcasm of
human life called death. Every man needs a refuge when
he comes to that hour — an hour we cannot escape, an hour
we cannot evade or miss. Oh, there are times when we
wonder if there is not some way past it!

I told a group the other day of the recent funeral of a
mother in my city, who left a houseful of children, and
the oldest girl mothered all those younger children. It
was pitiful, and it was wonderful, how she mothered those
little girls and boys, who cried in vain for the mother, the
child's best friend, who would never come back. And when
we got to the cemetery, and they lowered the body into
the grave, the children seemed wild with grief; and the
oldest girl went up and down the line, saying to this one
and that one: "Do not cry. Maybe it is not so. Maybe
it is all a dream. Maybe we are at home in bed. Maybe
we will wake up in the morning and mother will be with
us and kiss us, like she always did. Maybe it is not so.
Maybe it is all a dream!" Oh, how we would get away
from death ! How we wish we might ! Every man needs
a refuge against death.

And every man needs a refuge out yonder beyond death,
where the issues of conduct and character are going to
come into judgment before Christ. Every man needs a
refuge when he comes to that day of days, called the judg-
ment day of God. Now, that there is such a day is insisted
upon even by human reason. Human reason makes its
cry that somewhere there ought to be a place for explana-
tion, for revelation. Somewhere there ought to be a place
where the tangled threads shall be disentangled, where the
irregularities shall be straightened out, where the mys-

344 A QUEST FOR SOULS

teries shall be interpreted and explained. Every man
needs a refuge at that great day. When we turn to the
Word of God, the Holy Book, the guide-book for men, it
is clear as the light about the reality of a judgment day.
Listen to it: "God hath appointed a day in the which
He will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ."
Listen to it: "We must all appear before the judgment
seat of Christ." Listen to it: "We must every one give
account of himself to God." Surely, my brother men, when
we stand at that great assize, at that day of judgment,
every man of us will need a refuge.

Every man has a refuge of some sort. There went
through this country some years ago an almost matchless
orator, who was also an aggressive opponent of the Chris-
tian religion. I need not speak his name. No man should
carelessly speak the name of either the living or the dead.
This brilliant orator, an infidel, went up and down the land,
caricaturing Christians and their faith, but he had his ref-
uge. He began one of his most caustic addresses with the
remark: "So-and-so and so-and-so is my religion." He
had his refuge. Every man, my brother men, has a refuge
of some sort for himself, something that he falls back on,
something that he hopes in, something in which he trusts.
Alas, alas, my brothers, full many a time the peril is that
the man's refuge is untrustworthy, that it is vain, that it
is false! The Bible warns us at that point. The Bible
tells us that we can cry peace, peace, when there is no
peace. Jesus himself tells us: "Not every one that saith
unto me. Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father who is
in heaven." Jesus tells us that, and then He goes on to
tell us a sentence that is enough to make every man of
us pause and search our hearts and shudder. Listen to it.
Jesus says: "Many will say unto me in that day" — the
day of judgment — "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name?" Were we not preachers? "Have we not
prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils,
and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then
will I profess unto them" — Jesus is speaking — "I never
knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Oh,

THE ONE SUFFICIENT REFUGE 345

bow serious is this matter of our meeting that final test
like we ought to meet it, and of our having a refuge suf-
ficient in that hour of hours!

And now, gentlemen, it is an all-important matter that
we be able to detect the false refuges behind which Satan
would have us hide, and lure us, to deceive us and destroy
us. May we detect these false refuges for the soul? We
may. There are certain inexorable tests whereby we may
detect the false refuge for the soul. What are these tests?
For the moment, I will lay aside the Word of God, the
guide-book, the divine revelation for human conduct and
character and opinion, and I will come to certain other in-
exorable human tests that we must grapple with. If our
refuge for our soul be trustworthy, if it be reliable, if it
be dependable, if it will suffice us, then such refuge will
meet every test, no matter what the test may be. If the
refuge for a man's soul will do to trust, then I say that
such refuge will meet these four tests. Look at these tests.
First of all, it will satisfy the conscience. I have al-
ready indicated what an exacting test the conscience makes.
It must satisfy the man's conscience, if a man's religious
refuge, whatever it is, be trustworthy and reliable. Nor
is that all. If a man's refuge for his soul be trustworthy,
then it must make his life better. Mark that. A tree is
known by its fruits, and if a man's religious refuge does not
make his life better, then such refuge is vain and false.
Life must be made better if one's religious refuge be de-
pendable. And, again, if a man's religious refuge be de-
pendable, it will fortify such man and uphold him in the
solemn hour when he comes to die, when all the masks
are off, v/hen all the guises and disguises must be laid
aside, when his feet dip into the stream separating time
and eternity. If a man's refuge for his soul be trust-
worthy, it must be one that will suffice him when his feet
touch the river of death, and the mists from that river
come up into his face.

Moreover, if a man's refuge for his soul will do to tie
to, will do to rely upon, then such refuge must completely
fortify a man out vonder at the judgment, when he makes

846 A QUEST FOR SOULS

personal answer to Christ, as every man of us must make
such answer.

What are some of the false refuges? I will tell you
four. There are many more, but I will briefly tell you
four, and these four are representative — four false refuges
that lure men to deception and darkness and death. I dealt
with four men recently, in another place, and they gave
these four different false refuges, behind which men are
lured, and by which men are deceived and lost. The first
one said : "I am trusting in my own goodness. Therefore,
I am good enough in myself without God's help at all."
His refuge for himself, for his soul, was his own goodness.
Do you think that refuge is sufficient? Will that refuge
meet the tests? Mind you, we are considering four great
tests, not naming the fifth, which is the Book of God,
which I leave aside for the present. There are four inex-
orable tests for these refuges for our souls. Now, will this
false refuge I have just named, the man's own personal
goodness, as his dependence for safety and salvation, meet
these four tests I have just named? First, will it satisfy
his own conscience? Is your conscience satisfied, and is
mine, for us to say: *T am good enough without God's
help at all ?" Is our conscience satisfied to say : "No mat-
ter what this Bible teaches, and no matter what Jesus
taught, no matter though He died, I am good enough?"
Does that satisfy your conscience and mine? It does not
satisfy mine.

I pass you to the next test. Does it make your life
better to say: "I am trusting to my own goodness, and
I will discard Christ and His religion, and all that?" Does
that make your life better? And, mind you, if a man's
refuge for his soul does not make his life better, he is miss-
ing the road. But I pass you to the next test. Will it
suffice you in the solemn hour when you shall be dying
upon your couch, and let us fancy that I shall be beside
you, and take your hand, and say: "My friend, do you
know that this is the last hour?" Will you answer me:
"Yes, I know it well. The doctor has told me, and I am
conscious that he speaks correctly." And I shall ask you:
"What is your hope?" Do you think you will be able to

THE ONE SUFFICIENT REFUGE 347

look me smilingly in the face, and say to me : "Why, man,
I am good enough ! You need not pray, nor take the Bible,
nor talk of Christ. I am good enough?" Do you think
that will make the pillow soft when a man comes to die,
to wave Christ's religion away with his hand, and say : *T
am good enough without it?"

I pass you to the other great test, out beyond death.
When you shall answer to Jesus, as He sits upon His
judgment throne, as every man of us must personally there
answer by and by, do you think it will suffice you to say
to Him : "I am here, but I am good enough without you,
or your gospel, or your blood, or your grace?" Do you
suppose that any sinner of all the earth will at last make
such a presumptuous plea as that at the judgment bar
of Christ? No man will say it. That is not your refuge,
is it?

Then, here was the second man's false refuge. It was
just the opposite of this first man's refuge. The second
man said: "Oh, well, I am not very good; I am quite
frail, and know it, and grant it, but I am as good as a great
many around me, in the churches and out of them, and
therefore I will just let it go at that." His refuge was this :
Not his own goodness, but the fact of other people's
badness. Come, gentlemen, will that meet these four great
tests I have named? Does it satisfy a man's conscience
to say: "I will put these challenging claims of Christ
away, because a great many other men have done the same
thing?" Should it satisfy a man's conscience, and can it,
to say: "I will not pay my debts to the doctor or the
grocery man or the merchant or the bank, because a good
many other people evade theirs, and won't pay theirs?"
Does it satisfy to say: "I will ignore Jesus and put Him
away, because a great many other people are doing the
same thing?"

But I pass you to the next test. Does it make your
life better to say: "I am as good as a great many other
people, and I am going to let it go at that, and pass it
all by?"

And then T pass you to the next great test. Does i€
satisfy you, and will it, when you come to the solemn

348 A QUEST FOR SOULS

hour of death, to say: "I am dying without Christ and
His religion and His comfort and strength, because
other men have essayed to go the same dark way, and
I am going just as they have gone?"

And then that other test that awaits you beyond death
and the grave, when you shall answer at the judgment
seat of Christ, will it suffice you then to say to Christ: "I
rejected you. Lord Jesus, and put you away, and would
not have you, because a great many other men did the
same thing?" That refuge is not yours, is it?

The third man stated this as his refuge: "I do not
believe any of it. I am an outright and downright disbe-
liever. I reject it all." Now, come, is that the refuge of any
man here — unbelief? No matter what its form, infidelity^
atheism, agnosticism, materialism, no matter what its
form — unbelief — does that meet the tests? Let us see.
Does it satisfy your conscience to say: "I reject the Bible
and reject Jesus both, as untrustworthy, in the face of all
that the Bible has done, and in the face of Christ's influ-
ence over men, great and small, big and little. I reject it
all as untrustworthy?" Does that satisfy your conscience?
Then I pass you to the next test. Does it make your life
better to say: "Unbelief is the refuge for my soul?" Does
it help your life to be better? And to the next test I bring
you quickly, to the time when you shall depart from time
into death. Are you able to contemplate that hour with
complacency and felicity, saying: "I reject Christ and
the Bible, and all that they offer to man, because I do not
believe any of it?" And then I pass you out to the final
test, when you shall answer personally to Christ himself
at His judgment bar. How will you answer to Him, as
each man of us must personally answer by and by?
When you answer there to Him, saying: "My theory, my
pilot, my defense, my refuge was unbelief. I rejected all
the claims and teachings of Christ, because of unbelief" —
do you think that will suffice you? When you stand be-
fore Him, He will say to you what He says to you now,
while you are in life, in the flesh, this side of the grave,
here in earth's battle : "Whatever your unbelief, you may
know the truth about Christ's religion." Do I speak to

THE ONE SUFFICIENT REFUGE 349

some man in this audience who is a doubter? Oh, I stretch
out to him a friendly hand! I know something of the
darkness and withering power of doubt. Do I speak to
some man who doubts? Let me pray him not to trifle
with his doubts. Somebody has well said that doubt is
the agony of some earnest soul, or it is the trifling of some
superficial fool. If I speak to some man who doubts, let
me pray him to probe his doubts clear to the bottom, and
make his doubts give him re-enforcement, or throw them
every one away. Jesus comes to you, saying: "No mat-
ter what your doubt, no matter what your unbelief, no
matter what your question, no matter what your skepti-
cism, if you will just be candid and honest, I will bring
you into the light, and you shall be the judge." Listen
to His clear challenge, which now I quote to you. What
a challenge it is ! Listen to it : *Tf any man" — that is as
broad as the world, as comprehensive as humanity — "if
any man willeth to do the will of God," says Jesus, "he
shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God."

Oh, my brother, if any man will come to God like this :
"Oh, God, if there be one, on the premise, on the hypothe-
sis that there is one — I don't know — I want light. If thou
hast any interest in my getting it, and if thou wilt give
light, no matter how it comes, I will follow it, no matter
where it leads," any skeptic on the earth will be brought
to God, if he will follow the light like that.

Some time ago, two of the world's most prominent
skeptics were Gilbert West and Lord Littleton, and they
were two of the most brilliant intellects of their own or
any age. They made fun of Christianity, whenever they
met. By and by, they said: "There are two things we
must e::plode, and then we will have the Christian religion
all tumbled into the ditch, and nothing will be left" And
these were the two things they said they would have to
explode: They said they would have to explain away the
doctrine that Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third
day, as the Scriptures teach, and they would have to ex-
plain that wonderful m.an, the Apostle Paul, whose influ-
ence was so powerful in the world eighteen centuries even
after he had died. Gilbert West said : "I will explode the

350 A QUEST FOR SOULS

resurrection of Christ and blow it all up," and Lord Lit-
tleton said : "I will explain Paul." They went their way,
and after weeks and weeks, by appointment they came
together again, and Littleton said: "West, what have
you to say?" Gilbert West replied: *'Oh, Littleton, I
have something wonderful to tell you. When I came to
explode the doctrine that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the
dead on the third day, I had to be candid, I had to be
sincere, I had to be honest, I had to search for my evi-
dence. You may laugh at me, Littleton, if you will, but
when I looked into it honestly, my mind and my deepest
soul were convinced that Jesus did rise from the dead,
and I prayed to Him, and He saved me, and I am His
friend." And then Lord Littleton answered: "Thank
God, West! I have something just as wonderful to tell
you. When I came to explain that man Paul, and get rid
of him, I, too, had to be thorough and candid. I had to
search. I had to be true. And you will rejoice with me.
West, when I tell you that after I had searched and studied
about Paul, by and by I found myself down on my knees,
just as Paul got down on his knees on that Damascus road,
and my cry was his : *Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?'
And I am a Christian, also. West." And these two out-
standing skeptics became two of the world's most noted
Christians, and have written two of the noblest apologies
of the Christian religion that have ever been penned.

Gentlemen, the Christian religion submits to the scien-
tific method always, and that is the method of personal
experience. My brother men, you will not think I am
boasting — I speak it to the praise of my Savior: One
thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see. Once I
went my way reading law, wanting to give my life to that
high calling. One of earth's noblest callings it is. And
the Master crossed my path, and I was reminded of my
sins, and I went to Him and said : "Have mercy on me,"
and He did. That is the thing, gentlemen, that I know
better than I know anything else in the world. Oh, men,
unbelief can find the way out! Obedience is the solvent
of every doubt in the world. If a man will turn to Jesus
and say: "Show me the way, and I will walk in it.

THE ONE SUFFICIENT REFUGE 351

wherever it leads, and whatever it costs," he will be
brought in the right way safely home at last.

And now the fourth man, the last man, said: "Well,
here is my refuge. I do not expect any man to be lost.
I expect every man to be saved in God's fair heaven above,
not one of them missing, no matter what his crimes, no
matter what his sins, no matter what the wretchedness
of his conduct and character." That was his refuge —
universal salvation. Now, will that meet the tests? I
waive the Bible, for the present. The Bible speaks plainly
on all these points, but I waive that for the moment, and
I come to other grounds for the present moment. Will
that meet the tests, that no matter how a man lives and
sows and dies, yet all is well out there beyond? First,
does it satisfy a man's conscience to say that vice and
virtue shall have the same reward? Is a man's conscience
at rest to say that this good man, who serves God and
follows Him, shall have no more, and nothing different,
from the man who does not serve Him, and wastes his
life? Is the man's conscience at rest to say that they shall
have the same harvest? I pass to the next test. Does it
make a man's life better here and now to say: "No mat-
ter how a man lives, all will be well a little later, beyond
the sunset and the night?" I pass you to the third test.
Is a man made ready for the solemn hour of death who
says: "I can sow to the flesh, and give absolute license
to the sins of my life, and no matter, for all is well for
me?" Do you think that will qualify a man to die in
peace, when the hour comes for him to go? And then
beyond death, do you think a man can stand up yonder,
before the face of Jesus, who said : "I came to the earth
to die for sinners, that they might not die and shall not
die, if they will repent of sin and turn to me" — do you
think a man will be fortified in the judgment at last to
say to Jesus: "I am here because I said, I taught, and I
believed that no matter how a man sowed, the harvest
would come out all right?"

Oh, gentlemen, you vAW not talce that theory, either.
A man does violence to all law and to all philosophy, un-
less he knows that as a man sows, so must he reap. If a

352 A QUEST FOR SOULS

man sows wheat, he will reap wheat. A man will not sow
one thing and reap another. If one man comes humbly,
despite all his weaknesses, and gives his case to Christ,
Christ will be his friend and helper. If a second man
'says: "None of it for me; I will put it away," the two
men cannot have the same result. They cannot have the
same harvest. And your own conscience, your own judg-
ment, and all law, and all philosophy, rise up with the cry
that as men sow, so shall they reap.

There is a law of physical gravity in the physical world,
but it is no more real than the law of moral gravity in
the moral world. Every man, gentlemen, when he comes
to die, "shall go to his own place." If he continues in the
wrong road here, the wrong road there will be his portion.
If he chooses the right road here, the right, there, will be
his portion.

Now, this man who speaks our text, tried the false
refuges, and this is his cry when he tried them: "Refuge
failed me. Refuge fled away from me. Refuge broke
down. Refuge could not suffice me. The bridge went
down. The physician could not help."

What are we to do? Nowhere, gentlemen, in all this
vast world, is there a human refuge ample for a human
soul. Nowhere, human and earthly, is there a refuge suf-
ficient for the human soul. What shall we do about it?
Is there any door of hope in the valley of Achor? Is there
any gate through which a man may pass, and have deliv-
erance and safety?

Oh, where shall rest be found.

Rest for a weary soul?
'Twere vain the ocean's depths to sound,

Or pierce to either pole.
Beyond this vale of tears

There is a life above,
Unmeasured by the flight of years.

And all that life is love.
There is a death verbose pang

Outlasts this fleeting breath.
Oh, what eternal horrors hang

Around man's second death J
Lord God of truth and grace,

Teach us that death to shun.
Lest we be banished from thy face

And evermore undone.

Come, my brother men, is there any refuge sufficient
for you and for me? Is there any balm in Gilead ample

THE ONE SUFFICIENT REFUGE 353

for us? Is there any physician anywhere that can take
me and take care of me, a sinful, eternity-bound man? Is
there any door of hope in the valley of Achor for you and
for me ? Thank God, there is ! There is a refuge sufficient
for us, and here it is, and I bring you to it. This man
said: "Refuge failed me, fled away from me, broke down,
could not suffice me." Now listen to him : "Then I turned
to the Lord, and I said to the Lord, Thou shalt be my
refuge."

Oh, he is on terra firma now! He is on sure founda-
tions now. I turned away from these refuges that misled
me, false and illusory and deceiving and insufficient, and
I turned to the Lord, and I said: "Lord, I will surrender
to you, that you may be my refuge forever." Gentlemen,
the Lord meets all the tests. Of course. He meets the
test of the Bible, for He gave the Bible to us, and is in-
separably linked with it, but He meets all these other
tests. Every test you can think of for a human soul, no
matter how bedarkened and sinful, the Lord Jesus Christ
meets it.

I will show you that He meets these four inexorable
tests that I have just described. First, the Lord Jesus
satisfies the human conscience. We sowed to the flesh.
We went to the bad. We sinned. We went the wrong
road. Every man of us has come short of God's glory.
Not a perfect man is there in all this group, or in all the
world, and our consciences know it. Jesus comes to us,
saying: "You submit your case to me. I died, the just,
for you, the unjust. If you will submit your case to me,
if you will give up to me, if you will be for me, if you will
say yes to me, and mean it; if you will surrender to me,
I will take care of your conscience." And though we have
sinned and come short of God's glory, we can be at peace,
because Jesus, to whom we yield, speaks peace to our con-
science. Paul would have gone with a ball and chain
about him, but for the fact that he gave up to Jesus, and
Jesus said: "My blood forgives and sets you free. Let
Satan clamor and let him accuse. I do the saving, and I
will take care of you."

354 A QUEST FOR SOULS

Jesus meets the next test. He helps a man to live. I
would be found a false witness to-day, if I did not declare
to you men that He is helping our Christian men to live.
I can prove it by these hundreds of men before me. A
big fellow lost his property the other day, and he was a
pauper, whereas twenty-four hours before he was counted
a rich man. I went to him and said: "What have you
now to say?" He bowed his head and said: "Wife and
I did not sleep last night, but, oh, sir, we have Christ left,
and why should we grumble? Christ is our Savior." I
saw a toiling carpenter the other day put away his wife's
body in the grave, and she left six children, and they cried
from morning till night, after the mother that could not
come back. What so wrings the heart as the cry of a
bairn for its mother, who will never come back to the
child? I laid my arm in this carpenter's hand, and we
went away into the other room, and the babies gathered
around us, and when I had quieted them the best I could,
I said : "I am going to pray that God will help us." And
I prayed, and when I had finished, he turned to the chil-
dren and said: "Children, we are going to be brave and
strong. Papa has peace in his heart. Jesus is going to
help us ; papa is trusting Jesus, and ^ou children are going
to follow papa as he trusts Christ and serves Him." And
the oldest little boy said : "Papa, I am going to trust Him
now." And then it seemed that the night was turned into
day, and the shadow of death was turned into morning.
Oh, men, Christ fortifies us when the black Friday comes !

And He will help us to die. You recall the recent let-
ter from one of the chaplains on the far field of battle, tell-
ing how one of the fine Christian boys died there a few
weeks ago. He was torn by shot and shell, his head
frightfully torn, and yet for hours he was conscious, but
he grew steadily worse, as he lay there dying on his cot.
Presently his mind wandered, and he imagined that the
chaplain, who was comforting him, was his mother, and
the dying boy said so tenderly: "Mother, put your dear,
soft hands under my head. It hurts me so, and your soft
hands will make it better." The chaplain did just like the
mother would have done, the best he could, and then the

THE ONE SUFFICIENT REFUGE 355

dying boy said: "Mother, bend over me. You taught
me the way to live, and I am ready to die. Bend over
me and kiss me once more, mother, and then I will pray
my last prayer and leave all to Christ, for I am not afraid
to die." And the chaplain did just what you or I would
have done. He bent over the boy and kissed him as nearly
like a mother as he could. And the boy faintly said:
"Thank you, mother. Now let me tell Jesus as I am dying
that I will just lean on Him, for I leaned on Him back
yonder, months and years ago, and now I am not afraid."
Yes, my brother men, Jesus helps us to die.

There is more yet to be said. He is going to help us
yonder at the judgment. Let us imagine that this audience
of men is now assembled at the judgment bar of God.
What are you going to plead there? What am I going
to plead? I will tell you what I shall say when I get
there: "Lord, I am not good in myself. I did not plead
myself, Lord Jesus, on earth. In Fort Worth I said:
'Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on
thee.' Lord Jesus, on earth I said that I trusted my case
wholly to thee, and here at the judgment thou art my
refuge." And I shall pass to Christ's right hand, and all
will be well forever.

Come, my brother men, I would take the hand of every
one of you, and look up into your faces and say: "My
brothers, come now to Christ, before we leave this build-
ing." Oh, my brother men, do you say to me: "Sir, I
can lay my hand on my heart and tell you that Christ is
now my refuge; that fact is settled?" Every man here
that says : "I can lay my hand on my heart and truthfully
say to you and to these comrades about me that I am rely-
ing on Christ as my refuge, I have already received Him
for my Savior," will please lift his right hand, this mo-
ment. I see you. That is a sight to move us profoundly.

But before I let you go, I come to ask: Are there men
here who personally say: "I am wrong v/ith God?" It
may be that you are in some church, or never were in a
church, a professor of religion, or never a professor of
religion, but now you say: "I am wrong with God. To-
day I tell you, and these men about me, that I want Christ

356 A QUEST FOR SOULS

for my refuge. I want it to be well with my soul here
and hereafter. I want Christ to be my refuge in His own
way and time." Every man here who says: *'I want
Christ for my refuge, for I am wrong with God," will
please tell us so, just now. I want you to be candid, like
these Christians were, and tell us so. I will now look
slowly over this audience, from the right to the left, to
see the uplifted hand of the man who says: "I lift my
hand to tell you I want you to pray for me, for I want
Christ for my refuge, before it is too late. I am wrong
with Him, but I want you to pray for me, that I may be
right with God, in His own time and way."

(In tense silence many men lifted their hands.)
My heart is deeply moved, my brother men, that so
many of you candidly tell us of your desire to be right
with God. Settle the matter to-day. Oh, the grandeur of
decision! Interested men, purposeful men, living men,
dying men, eternity-bound men, needy men, sinful and sin-
ning men, my brother men, knowing what I know, if I
were in your place, I would end the battle to-day and stop
my delay. This day I would take the supreme step and
say: "I surrender my life to Christ." Remember that
waiting does not do any good. Waiting cannot help. Wait-
ing is the very thing that Satan wants you to do. Say
it : "I surrender my life to Christ. I am a duty-neglecting,
wandering, backslidden Christian. Something turned me
away. Something set me drifting." No matter what it
was, nor when, you find yourself now drifting, and neg-
lecting duty, but your conscience is alert this hour, and
you say: "I do not want to keep this evil course. I do
not want to continue in this wrong and hurtful way. To-
day I want to take a great step forward and upward and
surrender my life to Christ." Do you say: "That is my
case?" Then I pray you, just surrender yourself, 3''our all,
this hour, to Christ. I am going to ask if every interested
man here will not settle the matter to-day. Here are
scores of men who tell us : "We are wrong with God, but
wish to be right." Some of them are duty-neglecting,
backslidden Christians. Many others have never been for
Christ at all. I am going to ask all thes€, my brother

THE ONE SUFFICIENT REFUGE 357

men— you will now act just as you think you ought, and
you are not to feel at all embarrassed by the proposition
I am going to make. I would have you follow your own
judgment and conscience, as I ask you, if every interested
man in this room is not willing to stand before us all to-
day and say : "God help me, because it is my duty, because
it is my need, because of my danger, because of happi-
ness, because of influence, because of time, because of
eternity, because of life and death and the judgment and
the issues of eternity, I am both willing and ready to-day
and now to stand to say, I do now surrender my life to
Christ, that He, in His own way, may forgive me and be
my refuge and strength forever." Every man in this room
who can stand on that proposition will do so now.

(The vast audience was profoundly moved, as many
men rose to their feet.)

Just a moment do I wait, for nearly all the men are on
their feet. My brother, I call to you yet again for just a
moment, not to embarrass you — God forbid! — but to help
you. I would come and kneel at your feet if that would
help you, and if that were proper. I want to ask you if
there are not other men who can stand in this decisive
hour? My appeal is to your judgment and conscience. I
have no respect for any other kind of appeal in my Mas-
ter's name. Does still another man rise to his feet to say:
*T will surrender?" There stands another. Does yet an-
other stand, saying: "I am ready to-day to make my sur-
render to Christ, and leave the case with Him?" I search
the balcony. I wait a moment. Does another in the bal-
cony stand, saying: "That is my case?" I see you, my
brother. Does another? There stands another man. Does
another man stand, saying: "That is my case?" God be
praised !

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

And now, Lord, 'before we go our ways, O, we pray thee that this army of
men who have heretofore followed Christ may be better Christians from to-day
than ever — far better. But here are numbers and numbers who stand with us
to-day to say that from this day they will follow Christ. O God, forgive and
guide, and keep them all. They may be, some of them — thou knowest — duty-
neglecting Christians, lapsed church members. This or that or something else
has turned them from the right path. They have gone away from thee and the
darkness came, and doubts came. They have drifted from thee, and have gone
away as they should not have done. But to-day they wish to be right with thee,
and return to thee, and to do their duty. Grant that from this hour they may
go and do aad say and be in thy sight just as thou wouldst have at their hands.

358 —A QUEST FOR SOULS

And then, here are men who to-day stand with us to say : "To-day we take
our places with Christ's people. To-day we surrender to Clirist. To-day we see
the truth of the glorious gospel of Christ, that salvation is by grace, that it can-
not be by what we will do, or by what any human instrumentality shall do for
us, but Christ alone can save, He alone must be our refuge, and to-day we sur-
render to Christ. From to-day we will follow Him." Lord, from to-day, may
they humbly follow Christ forever.

And then there are some who are not ready yet to follow thee. Lord, we
breathe our most fervent prayer for them. Speak to their minds, speak to their
judgments. Speak to their wills, the initial springs of human action. Speak to
their consciences. Oh, bring to bear upon them such mighty motives as move
serious men to make mighty decisions. Oh, grant that these men, all and each,
who do not find themselves ready to take the great step right now, grant that
the hours may be just a few, that even this very day, before they sleep, that
every man will be gladly ready to say from his heart: "To-day is my crisis day,
my epochal day. To-day I make the surrender of my life to Christ, consenting
that He may be my refuge to-day and to-morrow and forever."

Oh, bless with God's own gracious blessing this vast group of men, and their
brother men throughout Fort Worth, every man in the city, in every place, how-
ever high, however low. Bless all and each, and through these men may the
kingdom of God be brought in in Fort Worth, and in the great West and around
the world.

And as you go now, may the blessing of God, bright like the light when the
morning dawneth, and gracious as the dew when the eventide cometb, be granted
you all and each, to abide with you forever. Amen.

XXIV

NIGHT SERVICE, JUNE 24, 1917.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

This vast press of people will co-operate, I am glad
to believe, to the utmost of your power, to turn this last
service to the best profit. And since it is the last service
of these brief meetings, I should like to be indulged to
make two or three general remarks. The first is an ex-
pression of very keen regret that I cannot at this time,
midsummer though it is, tarry for several weeks in daily
special meetings, with these two beloved pastors and their
noble congregations, whose guest I have been these sev-
eral days. Duty that I cannot in conscience put aside
makes it impossible for me to tarry longer than this eve-
ning service. I shall cherish the very gracious invitations
pressed upon me to come again for an extended meeting,
and shall most gladly avail myself of that invitation at
the earliest time that duty will allow. Meetings in a
modern city like this should be continued for weeks and
weeks, that the attention of the pressing throngs of people
may be awakened and called to the highest things.

I would also be indulged in the expression of profound-
est gratitude again to the two churches and their pastors,
who have been so considerate of the visiting preacher, and
to the many others outside of these two congregations,
who have been so courteous and beautiful in their co-
operation. How it has touched all our hearts that the

859

360 PRELIMINARY REMARKS

great daily papers of Fort Worth have, without stint,
given themselves to setting forth the great things of re-
ligion during these passing days. God bless them, I pray,
and crown them with constantly increasing usefulness!

I would earnestly add this further word: Though the
public meetings close this evening, yet I pray, and am
very glad to believe, that the work and influence of these
meetings shall go graciously and powerfully on, in lives
all about you, with the days and weeks and months and
years before you. The most earnest word that I can speak
would I speak to these mature and older Christians. Take
this occasion, as parents, and as teachers, and as neighbors,
and as friends and acquaintances, to help the people all
about you in the higher and better way. There are many
during these days who have become Christians, through
God's grace. They need to take their places with the peo-
ple of God in His church. You are to counsel, cheer and
help them now. I beg you to remember it. It is a tragedy
for a Christian not to be in the church with the people of
God. All about you there are timid, untaught, young Chris-
tians, young people who have recently made their decision
for Christ. Very glad, indeed, was I to hear that numbers, a
week ago to-day, took their places in the churches, and still
others again this morning. So I pray that it may continue
to be in the immediate future, after a noble fashion. Help
the young Christian now, timid and shrinking, and greatly
in need of counsel. Help that Christian, who, for one cause
or another, has been bewitched away from the right path.
Something came to trouble him. Something came to turn
his feet away from the right road. Something came, may-
be, to make his heart bitter. Something came to raise ques-
tions that have perplexed and hurt the heart. Oh, now, I
pray you, my fellow Christians, help that Christian !

And then, there are all about you undecided men and
women, and young people, who have come near the king-
dom these days. That expression of Christ, I have no doubt,
applies to many of them: "Notwithstanding, be sure of
this, that the kingdom of God has come nigh unto you."
These hesitating ones need your best help — the boy, the
giH, the young man or woman, the father, the mother, the

PASSING OF RELIGIOUS OPPORTUNITY 361

citizen, the neighbor, all about you. The right word needs
to be said now, and said in the right temper, that these
may see how sane it is, how wise it is, how glorious it is,
to be friends and followers of Christ.

THE PASSING OF RELIGIOUS OPPORTUNITY.

Text: "And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it,
saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which
belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes." — Luke 19:41, 42.

And now, as I come to the message of this evening,
and look over this vast throng, I find my heart touched with
the most compassionate interest for the people. There is
nothing in the world that so appeals to me as a human
face. And what a vast press of faces look up into my
face in this gathering of thousands of people. Oh, how I
covet you every one for Christ Jesus! What tragedy is
comparable to the tragedy of a wasted life ! Jesus not only
would save the soul, bringing you home to heaven at last —
Jesus vv^ould save your life here and now, in the flesh, in
the earth, and have you positionized properly now. I lift
up my voice to beg you, for your own sake, oh, soul, not
yet openly positionized for Christ, and then for the sake
of lives you shall daily touch, to give heed and face faith-
fully this biggest question of all — ^your own right relation
to Christ Jesus. I would speak this evening on this ex-
ceedingly solemn theme: "The Passing of Religious Op-
portunity." It is suggested by this solemn text, from the
nineteenth chapter of Luke: "And when He was come
near, He beheld the city" — the city of Jerusalem — "and
wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known" — or if thou
hadst recognized — "the things which belong unto thy
peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes."

The text suggests the solemn word that I am to leave
with you — the passing of religious opportunity. Tears are
always touching — genuine and sincere tears. You are of
a strange make-up if you should see the genuine tears of
a little child, and not be moved by that sight. And how
moving is the sight of the tears of a strong man, no matter
what the emotion that grips the heart! Here in our text
we have a picture of the Savior, our Divine Lord, sobbing
out His great heart, as He looks over the city, His own

362 A QUEST FOR SOULS

country's fair city, the city of Jerusalem. There must have
been a compelling reason why Jesus thus wept, as He
looked over the city. There was such a reason, and the
text, with its context, faithfully indicates what that reason
was! The reason was that many of the people in that
city of Jerusalem had allowed their religious opportunity ]
to go by unimproved. They had neglected it. The things
of light and leading and love from God had all been over-
looked. Jesus had taught and had called, but they had
gone on unheeding, and so His compassionate heart over-
flowed through His eyes, and we have here the picture
of Him sobbing over the fact of the passing of religious
opportunity. Isn't that a fearful possibility in a human
life, that religious opportunity, gracious and precious, may
come and may go by, and may be returnless forevermore?
Satan does not care if men and women come to the house
of God, and to public services such as these, and are at-
tentive and serious and deeply moved, if only they will
let the religious opportunity pass, and be unimproved. Oh,
dreadful possibility, that religious opportunity may come
and pass by, and the highest things of the soul be lost
and forfeited forever !

Jesus, who visited the earth once in the flesh, visits
men and women yet, not in His flesh, as of old, but in the
person and by the power of His own Divine Spirit. He
himself told us that when He went away He would send
that Spirit, to teach of the things that He said and says,
and show them to the children of men. Jesus says: "It
is expedient for you that I go away ; for if I go not away,
the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I
will send Him unto you. And when He is come, He will
reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and ofl
judgment." The great work of God the Holy Spirit ini
the world is to comfort and counsel God's people, and to
bring to bear conviction upon the human judgment and
conscience, that by such light and conviction sinners mavr
be turned into the upper and better way. ^

Mark you this, my men and women ? Every inclination
that the soul has to come to God, every longing in your
spirit to be right with God, and to be forgiven of Him, and

PASSING OF RELIGIOUS OPPORTUNITY 363

to be saved by Him, is the direct drawing, the direct work,
of God's good Spirit on the human heart. The desire to
be right with God does not come from the human flesh.
The desire to be right with God, to have one's sins for-
given, to be saved, is the direct drawing of the good Spirit
of God himself. And remember this, I pray you, that no
rational soul shall ever come to God unless the Divine
Spirit shall draw him, shall counsel him, shall convict him
of need, and shall himself work that desire to come in the
human heart. Jesus yet visits men in the person and
power of His Spirit. How does He visit them? He comes
in early life probably to most people, with the call of
heaven, the call of grace, the call of salvation. One of
the serious questions for parents and teachers is. How
early do our children reach the age of personal accounta-
bility, and when do they reach the line of accountability,
so that they must personally pass on these questions of
right and wrong, of God's light and counsel? Where and
when do they reach that line? Blessed is the teaching
that our little ones, dying before they reach that line of
personal accountability to God, are taken to His home
above, through the riches of His own mercy and grace.
We are not anxious about our little ones who die before
they can personally pass on these big questions of re-
pentance and faith and coming to God. All is well with
them. Ye parents, be not disturbed at that point. Our
concern is, How old are children when they reach the
line of personal accountability, where, if they die unre-
pentant and unbelieving, they shall die like the adult who
dies unrepentant and unbelieving? Very early in life, evi-
dently, God's Spirit comes to many of our children, coun-
seling and calling them in the better and upper way.

And then very many are the ways which God employs
to counsel and call men and women into the upward way.
One of God's mightiest ways is to call the people by the
right kind of preaching. There can be no substitutes for
the right kind of preaching. The Bible tells us so. "Faith
Cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. How
shall the people hear without a preacher?" The Bible
tells us that "it pleased God by the foolishness of preach-

364 A QUEST FOR SOULS

ing to save them that believe/* He did not say '^by fool-
ish preaching." There is untold harm done by foolish
preaching. He said: "It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching" — by as simple a thing as preaching, by the
method of preaching, by a man saved by grace as I am
saved, and as these honored men about me are saved, and
called by God*s Spirit thus to witness for Christ. It pleased
God by as simple a thing as this, for a man saved by God's
grace and set apart by His Spirit to be a preacher, to stand
up and call to his fellow-men : "Ho, every one that thirst-
eth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money;
come ye, buy and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk with-
out money and without price." How marvelous is God's
way of turning men and women into the upward way, by
preaching !

But preaching is not His only method. God has many
methods to call the people into the upward way! How
great is the message and the blessing of the right kind
of a teacher, and the right kind of a writer! How much
God employs such to bless the world! And how marvel-
ous is God's employment of the modest mother, shrinking
and timid, but who puts the serious things of God and
His truth into the deepest hearts of her little ones who
rest on her breast, and who kneel beside her, as she teaches
them to lisp the name of Jesus ! How marvelous that in-
strumentality, the instrumentality of the parent, to bring
people in the right way! How marvelous the instru-
mentality of the friend, who goes out in the right spirit
and seeks to turn his friend into the upward way! How
God blesses a simple thing like that! How marvelous are
God's providences, some of them white-robed, and some
of them veiled in black, to turn us and bestir us, and give
us to think, and, thinking, to turn to the upward way ! And
above all and through all, how wonderful is the work of
Christ's great witness in the world, namely, the Holy
Spirit, as this Holy Spirit takes of the things of Christ,
and brings them to bear on men's minds, and consciences.
Many are God's messengers for the calling of the people
unto himself.

Now, our text points for us, to-night, the exceedingly

PASSING OF RELIGIOUS OPPORTUNITY 365

solemn truth that the visits of God, in the person of the
Divine Spirit, may be resisted. In the case of these men
and women of old, in the city of Jerusalem, where Jesus
lived and loved, where He preached and prayed, where
He wept and died, there many resisted His heavenly in-
fluences, and put them all away, and went the downward
way. So we are confronted to-night with that awful pos-
sibility in human life, that a rational, responsible, human
being can say yes or say no to the call of God. The
highest dignity of human life is that human life must
choose whether you will be for God or against Him.
Along with that highest dignity of human life, in which
you are allowed to say yes or no to God, and consequent
upon it at the same time is the very gravest danger. While
you and I may say yes or say no to Jesus, the awful peril
is that, though He brings to bear in His own multiform
and wonderful way His light and love. His counsel and
goodness, summoning us to come the right road — ^the fear-
ful possibility is that we will rise up and resist it all, and
miss the upward way. One thing is sure: God the lov-
ing Father is never at fault that a sinner is lost. Listen
to His solemn appeal: "As I live"— and He swears by
himself, for He can swear by no higher— "as I live, saith
the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of^ the
wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live."
And then God himself exhorts : "Turn ye ! Turn ye ! Why
will ye die?"

It is, indeed, inflexibly certain that Jesus is never at
fault that a sinner is lost. See Him here in our text, as
He stands weeping over the city of Jerusalem, in which
were many people who had turned aside His counsel and
missed the road to heaven, and listen to Him as He says :
"Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gath-
ered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her
brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your
house is left unto you desolate." Jesus is never at fault
that a soul rational and responsible misses the way of
light and life and salvation.

But our text brings us on to a still more serious truth,
and that truth is that there is an end to God's visits to

366 A QUEST FOR SOULS

rational, accountable human beings. When does such end
come ? I shall make answer to that in two remarks. Mark
it, I pray you, oh, my fellow-men and my gentle sisters,
listening so deferentially to what the minister says — mark
it well. If you should go down into your grave, unrepent-
ant and unbelieving, the battle for your soul is forever lost.
Destiny eternal is settled this side of death. "As the tree
falls, so shall it lie." Jesus finally turned upon some men
who carped and caviled at His words, and said : "Ye shall
die in your sins." That will be the outcome of it all. And
then He added : "Whither I go, ye cannot come." Destiny
for the soul is determined this side the grave. Christ's
words have no meaning, if that is not correct, and the man
is a trifler, a trickster with words, if he should essay to
offer a rational human soul hope beyond the grave, if such
man shall die in his sins. This side the grave is determined
the big question of whether heaven is to be your home,
or whether it is to be the dark world of waste and night,
the name of which is hell. Your destiny for the one or
the other place will be decided before you reach death and
are laid in the grave. Oh, how serious is that ! And since
death comes with unexpectedness, times without count,
and since there are ten thousand gates to death, and since
the easiest thing in all the world is just to die, and since
the coming of death is more uncertain than the morning
cloud, and since death is transitory and illusory, and the
time of its coming is known only to God, how speedily
should every rational human being say: "While I have
my wits about me, while my mind is clear, while duty
comes knocking at the door of my heart, while need is
urgent, while danger is consciously imminent and appar-
ent, now I will decide the biggest question of all, calmly
and gloriously, by making my surrender to Christ."

I was preaching in a 3istant community some months
ago, to a throng of thousands, like these thousands here
to-night, and one man was seen to be greatly interested,
and an earnest Christian standing near him went over to
him, and ventured to whisper a word to him, while the
last song was being sung. Men and women and children
came down the aisles, saying: "The battle is decided. We

PASSING OF RECIGIOUS OPPORTUNITY 367

will surrender to Christ." This Christian man said to
the interested man: "You are interested and serious now;
you should now end all delay, and publicly make known
your surrender to Christ." He said : "No, I will see that
man to-morrow. I will talk with him to-morrow. I will
find him at his room in the hotel to-morrow, and I will
have it out with him. I will not settle it to-night." But
when the morning came, in one sharp stroke, with a strange
turning that often comes to human life, he was plunged
into unconsciousness, and before noonday went away into
eternity. Oh, rational, responsible human beings, I sum-
mon you, I charge you, I pray you, settle first things
first, the supreme things, the one supreme thing, in the
day of your health, with your wits about you, calmly,
quietly, thoughtfully, grandly, settle this supreme matter
while you may.

There is the other answer to be given to the fact that
there is an end to God's visits to men. Jesus was looking
over a city which He had sought to help, but many had
failed of His help, and Jesus was sobbing out Plis heart,
as in effect He said: "Light is gone and opportunity has
passed." They were yet alive, and were yet in health.
They went about their tasks. But Jesus said : "Religious
opportunity, that came, and was clear and strong, has been
refused, and now it passes." Opportunity of any sort
pauses at one's door, but if that opportunity be not taken
hold of, it passes and is returnless. "The mill will never
grind again with water that has passed." These men and
women had heard and had seen and had felt and had
known, and they put away the great claims and counsels
of Jesus; which leads me to say that my judgment is
fixed deeply from an experience of twenty-odd years in
dealing with men and in studying the Word of God, that
there is no peril comparable to the peril of resisting re-
ligious light and opportunity when they come to the human
soul.

AnH when opportunity passes, how fearful is the fate
of such soul! And when it does pass, how is that fearful
tragedy brought about? The trouble about dealing lightly
with religious opportunity and religious light and religious

368 A QUEST FOR SOULS

privilege is that men and women in thus dealing lightly,
sin against knowledge. If the religion of Jesus Christ be
worth a straw, it is worth more than the material world.
One soul outranks in value the material universe. Now,
to deal lightly with the call of Jesus and the death of Jesus
for such soul, is to sin after a most terrible fashion. Men
hear and feel and intend and know, and yet put religious
calls away, and consequently go the downward v/ay.

Nor is that all. Men who resist God's call and counsel,
sin presumptuously. When they are spoken with candidly
and faithfully about the great claims of Christ, they make
answer: "Yes, I grant it all, but I will risk it. I will pre-
sume. I will wait. I will defer. I will delay." And they
loiter on until the little boat takes the fateful plunge over
the rapids, and opportunity is forfeited forever.

Moreover, when men thus sin against light, they sin
with the will. The human will is the initial spring of ac-
tion. Men hear and know and feel and intend and desire,
and yet they delay. They sin against the will, and that
involves premeditation and decision. Men hear Christ's
call, and their judgments and consciences and moral na-
tures say yes. But they go on and say: "Not yet. I will
not have Christ to reign over me yet." They go on and
say, like one of old said : "Go thy way for this time. When
I have a convenient season I will call for thee." And in
that way light darkens, and convictions fade, and religious
opportunity passes.

Still again, when men sin against God's clear call to
repentance and faith, they sin against God's Spirit, who
takes of these great truths and binds them on men's judg-
ments and consciences. When men rise up and say:
"Though I know it is right, and though I feel its weight
and power, yet I will put it all away," men are sinning
against God's great messenger, even God's Holy Spirit,
who is wooing and counseling and convicting and drawing,
that the people may come to Christ and be saved. And
this Divine Spirit, in His wooing power, is God's first, last
and supreme messenger to turn the world to Christ Jesus.
If men sin against God the loving Father, as they do,
there is Jesus, the offered Savior, who is men's proffered

PASSING OF RELIGIOUS OPPORTUNITY 369

helper, if they will only have Him. If men put Jesus away,
the Holy Spirit patiently calls and counsels and woos, and
they feel it and know it, that God is striving with them.
If men put this Holy Spirit away and say: "I put light
and duty and God's call out of my thoughts/' by such defi-
nite resolve and effort, they are sinning against God's last
great court, His Holy Spirit, who would turn sinful men
and women toward the Father's house of light and love
and life. And just there is the peril of all perils. Oh,
there is no peril like the peril of the human soul which
feels and says: "I ought to follow Christ, but I will not
now!" There is no peril so serious as that.

Years ago I was preaching in one of our cities on that
solemn text: "Ye do always resist the Holy Spirit," and
I was making the point that a man may so resist light
and counsel from God, that light will at last turn to dark-
ness ; that a man may so trifle with conviction of a course
that he ought to take, until the conviction gets fainter and
feebler, and at last he seems to have no conviction at all.
I was making the point that somewhere in its fight against
God, the human soul may put away these highest matters,
until at last they seem to have no weight, no meaning, no
appeal at all. And no sooner had I said that, than a man
in the audience, perhaps forty-five years of age, with the
gray beginning to tinge his hair, stood in the audience and
said : "Preacher man, you are describing my case." I said :
"Not consciously ; I do not even know you ; I am discussing
the Word of God." "Very well," he said, "but that is my
case ; you are describing my case, and if you do not mind,"
he said, "I will tell you a little about it." I said : "I will be
pleased to let you tell us. Maybe we can help you. I want
to, if I can." He said: "Years ago, when I was a young
man, I had often heard and felt, concerning religion ; I had
often been counseled and called, I had often trembled and
resolved, but I kept putting the matter off. I kept saying:
To-morrow.' I kept saying: 'By and by.' And at last,
there came a powerful appeal from God's man one day,
where all of my mind and conscience and heart and will
were aroused beyond words, and I felt: *This is the su-
preme crisis. This is the hour epochal for my soul.' Other

370 A QUEST FOR SOULS

men went down the aisles to make known their surrender
to Christ, but I held out against it all, and by and by I
summoned myself and said, down in my soul: *I will not
follow God until it suits me. It does not suit me at all
just now, and I will put it off,' though I trembled through
it all, like the aspen leaf." And then he looked at me
sadly a moment or two and said: "Preacher man, that
day I went over the line. That day I passed the day of
grace. That day my soul died, and your teaching as to
the peril there is in resisting God's Spirit applies, sir, to
my own poor case." Quickly did I adjourn the service,
and then I sought him out, and for two long hours I
brought to bear, as best I could, the glorious invitations
of Jesus to sinful men, no matter what their sin or doubt
or fear or difficulty. For two hours, I brought to bear
these promises and calls of Jesus on this man, and yet he
heard me through it all, and said: "Sir, I have had no
response at all for years. I have crossed the line, and I
know that I have crossed it."

I cannot discuss the philosophy, the psychology, the
deep meaning of this case. I do not know it. I am simply
making the point that somewhere the human soul may
resist God and His love and light and heavenly leading,
so late, so far, so long, that light turns into darkness, and
convictions fade, and the highest things are missed and
lost. There comes again the old-time hymn, emphasizing
this same point of the danger of putting away religious
light, religious calls for the human soul, the danger of
putting them off until to-morrow. Let us ponder again
the solemn lines:

There is a time, T know not when,

A place, I know not where.
Which marks the destiny of men

To heaven or despair.

There is a line by us not seen.

Which crosses every path;
The hidden boundary between

God's patience and His wrath.

To cross that limit is to die.

To die, as if by stealth.
It may not pale the beaming eye,

Nor quench the glowing health.

The conscience may be still at case,
The spirits light and gay.

PASSING OF RELIGIOUS OPPORTUNITY 371

That which is pleasing still may please,
And care be thrust away.

But on that forehead God hath set

Indelibly a mark.
By man unseen, for man as yet

Is blind and in the dark.

And still the doomed man's path below

May bloom like Eden bloomed.
He did not, does not, will not know,

Nor feel that he is doomed.

He feels, he sees, that all is well.

His every fear is calmed.
He lives, he dies, he wakes in hell,

Not only doomed, but damned.

Oh, where is that mysterious bourn,

By which each path is crossed,
Beyond which God himself hath sworn

That he who goes is lost?

How long may men go on in sin.

How long will God forbear?
Where does hope end, and where begin

The confines of despair?

One answer from those skies is sent.

"Ye who from God depart.
While it is called to-day, repent.

And harden not your heart."

My fellow-men, if there be interest, if there be an awak-
ening, if there be concern, if there be a wish, however faint,
if there be a longing, however feeble and fluttering, it
makes its cry in your heart, if it be there, to be right with
God, to have your sins forgiven, to be saved, if I were in
your place I would to-night make my surrender to Christ,
if I had to go through fire and through flame to make that
surrender; for if a man passes his day of grace, and when
the battle for the soul is finally lost, then spiritual things,
this text tells us, are hidden from the eyes of such soul
and life. Jesus said: *'Oh, men of Jerusalem, who have
let your religious opportunity be forfeited and lost, now
these religious truths and matters are hidden from your
eyes." Hidden! No light now!

Have you ever been through Mammoth Cave, that won-
derful, subterranean cavern yonder in Kentucky? If you
have been through there, the guide has shown you fish
in those subterranean waters whose eyes look like other
eyes in other fish, and yet the guide goes on to tell you
that these fish have been so long in the darkness of those
underground waters that they cannot see at all. One awful
truth stands out from the teaching of this text and many

372 A QUEST FOR SOULS

other teachings of Jesus elsewhere in the Bible -^ that a
man can put away religious light so long, so late, so far,
so terribly, that at last he may not see at all.

As men fight the call and counsels and pleadings of
God for their souls, they come to the place where feeling
grows less and less with every appeal that is made. Less
and less does the heart respond, if truth is heard and felt
and granted, and yet set aside and put away. It is an
awful sentence, there in the Bible, about the conscience
being seared as with a hot iron, so that at last the human
soul reaches the place, in its conscience, where it is past
feeling. If the doctor is summoned to his patient, and
the family and the patient explain to the doctor when he
comes that the patient has no feeling in part of the body,
that part of the body being utterly unresponsive, the doc-
tor shakes his head ominously, for that sign — no feeling —
is the precursor of serious trouble. I have been many a
time with the great-hearted cattlemen in the West — glo-
rious, mighty men ! For years I have rejoiced to be with
them in their camp-meetings, and many of them have I
seen as they yielded their lives to Jesus. No true, nobler
men have I ever met in the world than these. I have been
out there and have seen them, after the meetings a:_I be-
fore, as they would have the cattle rounded up for brand-
ing, and I have seen them put the hot branding-iron on the
cattle, and I have heard the cattle moan and low and have
seen them flinch under that hot branding-iron. And then
the cattle are released, v/hen the hot iron has burned the
brand, and you may go back a few weeks later, and take
that same branded place, and pick such branded place with
knife or pin, and yet the beast cares little for it now\ That
branded place is now past feeling. Oh, the peril that the
human soul shall be desensitized, if a man hears and knows
and feels the call of God, but says: "I will put it all away
until some indefinite future."

It follows, ray fellow-men, that the most serious thing
in this world is the resistance of the religious light that
comes to you. The most serious thing in the w^orld is the
putting away of light and feeling when God's gospel is
preached, and the soul is sought after, and the soul hears

PASSING OF RELIGIOUS OPPORTUNITY 373

and trembles and feels, and yet puts it all away. That is
the most serious and presumptuous risk ever taken by
the human soul. I am coming to say a most serious closing
word, namely: There comes a last visit from God for the
human soul. When is that visit? Certainly, no man is
wise enough to know. But there comes a last visit from
God, seeking for a rational human soul. When is that
visit? Will it be this year? Will it be this month? Will
it be this week? Will God's last visit for an intelligent,
an awakened, responsive soul to come to Him, be to-night?
God alone knows. No man can tell. But when we consider
the possibilities of such startling fact, then we may well
long for our every face to be in the dust of prayer to God,
that no rational human soul in this place to-night shall be
willing to go on, when everything is at stake, and put God's
call away into some vague, indefinite hour of the indeter-
minate future!

Oh, man or woman or child, in this vast assemblage
to-night, wrong with God, I summon you, if you have any
degree of desire to be saved, I summon you, act on that de-
sire, act on that light, and make your surrender to Christ.
Mark it! Mark it! The great issue confronts you, and
what is that issue? You have to make a choice between
Jesus and Satan. One or the other is the master of every
rational human soul. Which shall your choice be? You
must make a choice between two lives — a life on the right
side, or a life on the wrong side. Which should be your
choice? You must make a choice between two deaths —
the death of peace and triumph, because of Jesus, or the
death of waste and fearful terror, because you have put
Jesus away. Which death would you die? You must make
a choice between one of two positions, when you stand at
the judgment bar of Christ. One of two positions there
shall be yours. He will have us to pass to His right hand,
because we trusted Him here, or we will turn away to His
left hand, because we let the day of opportunity go by un-
improved. Which shall your choice be? It is a choice
between one of two worlds after this world. Out yonder
is the world of love and life and peace and hope and knowl-
edge and holiness and ever-increasing blessedness, the

374 A QUEST FOR SOULS

name of which is heaven; and out yonder is the world
of sin and waste and failure and defeat and remorse, the
name of which is hell. We must here, with our wits about
us, make our choice. Oh, soul, since there is so much at
stake — ^j'our soul, your life, your all — ought not this most
important of all matters, this Sunday night, to have your
wisest choice?

And, remember, whatever may be your difficulties,
Jesus is master of any case. Do you tell me: "Sir, my
difficulties are terrible, beyond human speech?" I do not
mind that. I am not given pause by that. Though your sins
be as scarlet, if you will surrender to Christ, He will save
you. Though your doubts are like the stars for number,
if you will surrender to Christ, He will save you. Though
your temptations are fiery with the hot breath from the
pit below, if you will surrender to Christ, He will save you.
Though you tell me: "Sir, I cannot see through it, I can-
not understand it, I cannot reason it out, yet, sir, I want
to be saved," I answer you back in a moment, that if you
will surrender to Christ, saying: "Lord Jesus, I cannot
see through it. I am frail, I am weak, I am unworthy, I
am sinful, I am tempted and temptable, yet I will wholly
give up to Christ, who died for sinners," Christ will take
you and save you this very hour.

What do you say, then, about the incomparable issue?
Oh, the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Christian
men and w^omen here, who want to join the preacher in
prayer for those that are not right with God, that such
may hasten to be right with God, without further risk
or presumption, to be right with God — the vast army of
Christians that want to join the preacher in prayer for you !
I will show you that they do. Every one here, who has
made definite surrender of himself to Jesus to be his Savior,
and now takes up the preacher's sermon, and would pass
it on to all the people who have not decided for Christ,
and v/ho also would unite with the preacher in the prayer
to God that He may now be merciful to the people, every
Christian that says : "That is my case, sir," lift your hand
high, that the people may see you thus witness for Christ

PASSING OF RELIGIOUS OPPORTUNITY 375

I thanK you! I believe the angels look upon it, moved in
spirit, as they see it,

I have a moment more to detain you before we sing
our closing hymn and go our way. I am here to ask — in
this last m.oment, when I would give my heart's blood to
help you, and God knows I speak the truth — I would give
my heart's blood to help you, and am giving it right now —
in this last moment, I am coming to ask every man, v/oman
and child, a professor of religion once, a church member
once, and maybe yet, but all wrong with God, and sadly
drifting and backslidden, and neglecting duty, and also to
ask every person not in the church, not decided, not for-
given, not saved, not a Christian, every person here who
says: "I am wrong with God, and I know it; but, sir,
I tell you truly that I want to be right with God before
it is too late ; I want to be right with God before my soul's
opportunity goes by and is lost, and I want you who pray
to pray that I may be right writh God before it is too late ;"
every soul that says, *That is my desire," will now lift
your hand, and we will offer our most fervent prayer for
you. Oh, it is an appealing sight to see so many hands!

My brother men and gentle women, and boys and girls,
settle the great matter right now, I pray you, and settle
it right by being for Christ forever. I am not willing to
part from you, never to meet you all again until we meet
at the judgment bar of God — I am not willing to part from
you without pleading, yea, beseeching that here and now
every soul that says : "I have sadly drifted as a Christian ;
my life is marred and miserable from backslidings, but I
will renew my vows to-night with God ; I will come back
and surrender afresh to Christ" — I am not willing to go
without asking you to come and take my hand, in this
public pledge of your honest surrender to Jesus.

Nor am I willing to let these men and women and chil-
dren go, who are not saved, not ready to die, not ready
to live, not ready for any world — I am not ready to let
you go, without begging that right now you will stop and
say: "I will this hour make my surrender to Christ. Here,
with my heart's highest resolve, in Fort Worth, I publicly
register my verdict. It is yes for Christ. Lord Jesus,

376 A QUEST FOR SOULS

to-night, through the darkness, and with all my limitations,
and sins, and doubts, and hesitation, I will surrender my;
case to Christ. I will now register my verdict." If that
is your heart's decision, come and take my hand. Oh, God
of all grace, give the people to act like they ought, and as
they will wish they had, when they stand before Christ at
last! For His great name's sake!

They are going to sing that simple song, "J^sus is ten-
derly calling thee home, calling to-day, calling to-day,"
and the great press of people will stand in a minute, as
quietly as you can stand, until we finish this singing, with-
out any one leaving, unless you must, so that we may help
in these last moments, every interested person here, to
the limit of our power to help. And I am asking anew, as
we sing this simple gospel song: Where is the backslid-
den Christian, who says: "I will register publicly my
verdict; I am going to renew my vows right now with
Christ, and surrender myself afresh to Him?" And where
is the man, or the woman, the boy or the girl, that an-
swers : "No ; that is not my case. I never have given my
verdict, never have made my surrender, but I will make
it right now?" It is difficult for you to come, but I am
going to ask you to do a difficult thing, and that is, to
come, as difficult as it is, through this vast press of people.
I am asking you to come and take my hand, and then pass
back to your pew, as they sing these stanzas. Everybody
will rise to sing. You will begin with that stanza, "Jesus
is pleading." Isn^t that true? You have heard Him to-
day. "To-day, if ye vnll hear His voice, harden not your
heart." You have heard Him. You said so, with your
uplifted hand, a moment ago. Satan does not care that
you now are interested, if you will only delay. He does
not care, if you will just postpone your decision until some
other time.

(The first and second stanzas were sung, while numbers
came forward.)

Yonder, to the great Northwest, a young civil engineer
went to construct a bridge across a mountain chasm, and
after weeks and months, with his group of helpers, he
had almost finished the bridge at the close of a certain day.

PASSING OF RELIGIOUS OPPORTUNITY 377

He said to his men: "Come back men, after supper, and
we will finish it in about an hour, and I will pay you a
day's wages for the extra hour." "No," they said, "we
have made other arrangements." He said: "Come back,
and I will give you two days' wages." They said: "No;
but why do you urge it?" He said: "If a great storm
should come down to-night on the mountains, it would
sweep this unfinished bridge away. We have not quite
secured the bridge." But they went their way, saying: "It
won't rain in months." But the clouds were filled with
rain that very night and emptied their floods upon the
mountains, and the floods came down, resistless in their
power, and swept the unfinished bridge utterly away. Oh,
men and women, that is a parable and picture of the soul
that knows and wishes, and yet presumes and delays and
waits.

As I was leaving Washington City, some time ago, I
stood in one of the depots there, and saw a strange mark
on the wall, and I asked a policeman what it meant, and he
said at once: "You are a stranger?" "Yes." "That is
the death mark for President Garfield, who was standing
right here when he received the bullet from the man who
took his life, and this singular mark is put here on the
wall to indicate the place where he met his death." Oh,
to-night, I wonder if, standing there, or there, or sitting
here, or somewhere under the sound of my voice — I
wonder if some soul, hearing and feeling and interested,
says: "Not to-day; by and by; not yet," and shall go
away, and this shall be the place and the time of the death
mark for your human spirit. God forbid, and I pray it
from my deepest heart!

Does the man and woman say, and the child: "I am
ready to burn the bridges, to cast the die, to cross the
Rubicon. I am ready to cut the cables. I am ready to-
night to register publicly my surrender to Christ?" Come
then, as they sing earnestly this third stanza now.

These men and women who have come have done as
they ought, when they pressed forward here, with the

878 A QUEST FOR SOULS

aisles thronged, even from the outskirts of the great press,
and some from beyond the tent. Great sight, these numbers
that have come. But not all have come. Listen!

Why do you wait, dear brother,

Oh, why do you tarry so long?
Your Savior is waiting to give yott

A place in His sanctified throng.

Listen again:

What do you hope, dear brother (or sister)»

To gain by a further delay?
There's no one to save you but Jesus,

There's no other way but His way.

Listen yet once again:

Do you not feel, dear brother, _

His Spirit now striving within?
Oh, why not accept His salvation

And throw off thy bixrden of sin?

Oh, my friends, a multitude have come — strong men,
gentle women, and two or three of these blessed children —
a multitude ! Have all the men come who ought to come ?
And the women? Have all the boys and girls come who
ought to come? Do others say: "I am coming. I shall
not simply stop with ^almost;' I will be altogether per-
suaded. I will act up to the light I have, to the last limit
of all I know to-night? Jesus tells me, whatever my case
is, my need, my doubt, my sin, my wandering, my waste,
my difficulty, my temptation, if I will surrender to Him
honestly. He will forgive me and save me. I will make that
surrender."

(The last stanza was sung, during which still others
came forward.)

You see, my Christian friends, all these people who
have come forward, and you saw those who came in the
Chamber of Commerce auditorium to-day, and the others
who came from day to day. I beseech you to do your duty by
them all. And you who have come to Christ to-night, num-
bers and numbers of you, go now and live for Christ. Take
your place with Christ's people promptly, and be faithful
members in His church. And you who have not yet come
to Christ, but are almost persuaded, oh, before you give
yourselves to sleep to-night, I beseech you to make the
surrender of yourselves for time and eternity to the great
good Savior!

PASSING OF RELIGIOUS OPPORTUNITY 379

Yonder on the battlefield at Gettysburg, when the awful
conflict had passed, an army surgeon came back, looking
for the wounded and suffering, if haply he might help
them, and he saw the dead on every side. As he rode along
he saw a poor fellow lying in a trench. The surgeon reined
up his horse, but thought: "I need not dismount; this
poor fellow is gone." And then he saw a smile play about
the man's face as he lay there in the trench. The surgeon
then dismounted and got down in the trench beside the
dying man, and every minute or two, he said that smile
v^ould play about the dying soldier's face, and he would
whisper one little word. The word was, "Here !" Present-
ly, the army surgeon shook the man and rallied him back
from the gates of death for a minute, and said : "Comrade,
what do you mean by saying, 'Here?'" And the dying
fellow answered: "Oh, Doctor, they are calling the roll
up in heaven, and I was just answering to my name,
'Here !' "

Oh, men and women and children, with my last sen-
tence, I beseech you, as this call comes to-night from the
great Savior to you, answer Him, and say: "Lord Jesus,
I decide, and receive thee as my personal Savior and Mas-
ter, and by thy grace I am going from this Sunday night
with thee, forever!"

THE CLOSING PRAYER.

And now, as the people go, we give God our devoutest thanks for His irrar*.
and favor upon us his hour, and on the afternoon hour, and on theVe rSnt
rnT^M^f^!- ^^^' ^V^^ mercies and blessings of these glorious days, we gt^e
God all the praise. Every dust of the glory shall be His Mantr io,,^ < ^5
Christ these days, and have confessed Him. To God be a 1 the pS.e f Q hers
we hope, are already trusting Him in secret, and, if so. may they soVedilv r ' '
fess Him! May all those who have found Him be led of^ thee to take the^I
places in thy church, with God's own people, to live as they ought fo? H^m from
this June month, even until God calls them to the Father's hfuse above An?
oh, may Qiristians drifting, whatever the cause, and lapsed church r^'^r^K'
whatever the cause, be rallied now all through thisVast exS^ng d f to Chri^^^^^
cause and church and holy service. Oh, may there be a gracious iisitaLn from
Jesus to every house in all this city May Jesus this ve'v Sund.v ^ X Jfc^
every house, from the fairest mansion to the'^humblest ho^eHn all the ci^ Yea
may Jesus kriock at the door of every heart in the city, bringing the briath of Gnd'^
goodness and mercy to every life. And may we all be trSe f o Hir^ at the nos
where He would have us live and labor, even until the earfhly da- is done and
ibove."fTreve'r:^o°re!° '^ ''^ ^•"'' ^"^ *° ^^ ^'^^ «-' >" "^^ Faiher?^hou"se

T^^^;^ ^/y^i^^^ "^?nt^d%^J^^i7aS^ '^:..'!'r,f-\T.'\.1

Princeton

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Full text of "A quest for souls, comprising all the sermons preached and prayers offered in a series of gospel meetings held in Fort Worth, Texas, June 11-24, 1917"

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