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HOVEY, 48 KING STREET EAST. 1877. ..'ji -g;^ TP MOODY'S LE STORIES AND OF CHRISTIAN THOUGHT. EDITED BY Ji£K W.H. DANIEL^A.M. Kawnfa, (Jut.; • * Published by A. H. HOVEY, 48 KING STREET EAST. 1877- '^fe'^'' .,1 I ..:'" xl-MXin^ ■ ."^tft--' M * ■ Th R.R. 1. CONTENTS: Ir' "J. fAOT . Biographies of Moody and Sankey •••'•• ^ Training and Mftthods of Mr. Moody ^ Chap. T.— Now Stories from an Old Book ^ *» 10 Story of a Blind Man. ........ ^ *•.•••• ' ' ' " * The Story of Mephibosheth •"* . . . , • 13 The Story of Barabbas - - 17 Elijah and the Priests of Baal. .....•• ' ^^ The Leper. ' ' The Widow's Son 23 The Story of Nflaman • 25 Prayer Meeting Talks. • ^^ Suggestions to Church Members • • ^"^ Address to Christians *..... • • • Christ the Good Samaritan. •' ^' Create a Clean Heart in Me, O God • • 38 God's Power to Save the Drunkard ^9 A Eainy Day Prayer Meeting . • ^^ The Prophet Daniel in Mr. Moody's Version .......... 41 How to Study and Mark Your Bible 58 Hints on Bible Marking. ........ ^. • : ^^ Signs used in Bible Marking. , • ®3 Moody's Gems of Christian Thought /....%... 64-72 ■ * ■ ■ BIOGRAPHY OF MOODY AND SAN KEY. R. MOODY is a native of Now EnRland, thirty- nine years old, and a CongregationallHt by ndigious profession. In 1854 ho obtained a situation in a Jiopton filioe-storo, and it was during his short so- journ there that he became a reguhir atttaidant at church. Leaving Boston, ho went to Chicago, en- gaged in business,, and began his work as a min- sionary. He collected from the |^»ots a largo congregation of children, organised an efficient cSps of teachers, and soon had under his control the most impprtant mission enterprise in the West. His succesi was so tt^id, that, in order t(» ac- commodate the )^|||feds that flocked to receive his instruction he was obliged t»iPgage a large hall, which was soon filled to overflowing. His stylo of teaching was luost attractive. He was persuasive, sympathetic, and unusually considerate in . the choice of his subjects, and tlie method of dealing with them. Cheerful music, bright pictures, simple and appro- priate stories, and intense personal earnestness, wore the chief elements of his success. . Finding this enterprise firmly established, he turned his attention to the condition of Oermaii, Swedish, Norwegiau, Italian, and other childre^ of foreign birth or descent, and in a short time had gathered together an immense number of them.' The field of his , particular usefulness appeared so broad, and the necessity for his labor so utgent, that he was ^ — obliged to abandon his mercantile business and devote him- self wholly to his mission work. In 1861, when lai^e military camps were established at Chicago, he began .to work among the recruits, and as the war expanded his field was correspondingly enlarged. He si3:&s^^!S^:^i. ii' ft: 1} ■ - \ ■f BIOCRAPIIY f)F MOODY AND SANKKY orBani*io. L. Moody, Dublin December, 1872. ' God is love.' W. Fay." It ^ J>^8vo• Bagster, with flexible black morocco covers and turned edges. Thia volume has been Mr. Moody's constant companion, it Moody's tkaining and methods. appears ju if it had seen ten yejirs' service. Some of the leaves are worn through with usage, while nearly nil the margins have become yellow with many finger marks. In the Old Testament nearly every page is annotated freely. Especially is this true of ' hose parts treating of the history of the Israelites, the chosen people of God. But in the New Testament the pages are annotated in blaCk,- red, and blue ink to a wonderful extent. On many pages thirty marks may be counted. Sometime a few words are underscored or encircled with ink, while ^^stei-ious numbers or letters ap- pear on nearly every page. Around the margins and at the heads of chapters a few words may often be found comment- ing upon a neighboring vei'se or referring to some other passage. There is scarcely a page in the New Testament where a dozen such annotations could not be counted, while in some places the whole margin is filled with them, and scarcely a verse has escaped Mr. Moody's pen. In the Bible readings which Mr. Moody gave in Chicago^ the thorough acquaintance he had gained with the Bible was' very evident. When reading a chapter he would nam^ kindred verses and give their places with the utmost facility. In the noon meetings held at the Tabernacle in Boston he also manifested this wide study of the Bible, though in a loss marked degree. His two schools — missionary experience and Bible study— have formed him what he is, and constitute the reservoirs from which the material of his sermons is drawn. His limited general education was obtained from a country school. A business experience and the large acquaint- ance he has made with men of the world and learned clergy- men have furnished him the remainder of his education. Of bis imperfect school learning he is painfully aware, and has suffered much from the annoyance which it gives him. In his-prayers and sermons he accasionally mentions " this poor stammering tongue." About the time he began his Bible- readings in this country^n which he has met with a success that leads a writer to call him "one of the most successful Bible teachers in America "—he had serious misgivings about the future of his work. Even now he often expresses his grief over some mistake he has made through his impulsive- ness in speech or manner. ; But he has changed immensely^ ■!i 1. I ■|ji ■ . 1 g NEW STORIES FROM AN OLD BOOK. within a few years. His early addresses some one called "hailstorm harangues," and a gentleman who know him many Years ago says the contrast between what he was then and is^now i.^« «imply ama.ing." When ho was 17 years of ace he left his Massachusetts home and went to Boston. A person who saw him then says : " there wa. far more of the mountain than of the schools in his conversation and maii- nor " He went away with no other piety than a love for hia widowed mother and a sturdy determination to be an honest man Among the boys in school he was a leading spirit, and, but for the entreaties of his mother, would have been dis- missed by the teacher. ,;.-.! -11 To any one who studies Mr. Moody's belief it will very soon appear that God's love for the world is a large and con- trolling element. "Wo work because we are saved: we don't work to be saved. We work from the cross but not Tn the preaching of this Gospel, Mr. Moody finds an in- tense pleasure, which few other men seem to have in an equal degree in their work. He is one of the most cheerful ^nd contented of men. His face is the picture of health. Des- pite hia great exertions, he never grows weary. J? or two years he preached in England, two, three, and four times a day, without a vacation. Here in America he has labored for many months, and is unceasingly active, and he scents as strong and earnest and in as good spirits as when he began his work. ^ CHAPTER I. NEW STORIES FROM AN OLD BOOK. ^N£ peculiar charm of Mr. Moody's preaching is the fresh and life-like style in which he tells Bible stories. To him those Scripture characters are real men and women ; and he miikes them seem as real to his audience as to himself. It is a little surprising at first to see those ancient worthies behaving themtolvQs like citizens of London or Chicago : wearing modem costumes, speaking English in Mr. Moody's own vernacular, and permitting him to turn their heads and hearts inside out, in order to show his hearers what is going on in there. But when the effect of the shock has passed away, the force and moral of their story begins to be appreciated as it scarcely could be, if set forth with Oriental stateliness of language, and covered with the dust of remote antiquity. Irreverent people sometimes laugh at the idea of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abeg-nego, tumbling into Nebush.i|dnezzar's fiery furnace, in broadcloth coats and trousers, stove-pipe hats, and Wellington boots ; or to hear King David telling his experience, like a man in a Methodist class-meeting, and not always in grammatical style. But there is no small advan- tage in having these men modernized ; for thereby their trials and their triumphs come home to men's own 'hearts, making them feel that the Scriptures are not out of date, but were written for the learniug and encouragement of all ages and all 10 NEW STORIES FROM AN OLD BOOK. people ; and leading them to say; What God did for these old-tirae believers, He w just as willing to do for me. In this chapter it is proposed to give some of those old stories in their new dress, as Mr. Moody tells them. It must be borne in tiaind that he* never tells a story merely because it is interesting, or to help fill up the time, but always to illustrate and enforce the Gospel. STORY OF A BLIND MAN. In the 18th chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, you will find Christ was going into Jericho ; and as He drew near the gates of the city, there was a poor blind man who sat by the wayside, begging people to give him a farthing, and crying out, " Have mercy on a poor, blind man!" This blind beggaj met a man who said to him, ** Bartimeus, I have good news to tell you.'; " What is it ? " said the beggar. . "There is a man of Israel who can. give you sight." " Oh nb !" said the blJhd beggar ; " there is no chance of my ever receiving my sight. I never shall see. In fact, I never saw the mother who gave me birth ; I never saw the wife of my bosom ; I never saw my own children. I never saw in this jvorld ; but I expect to see in the world to come." " Let me tell you, I have just come down from Jerusalem, and I saw that village carpenter, Jesus ^of Nazareth ; and I saw ti man who wag bom blind, who had received his sight ; and I never saw a man with better sight. He doesn't even have to use glasses." Then hope rises for the first time in this poor man's heart, and he says, "Tell me Uow the man got his sight." , " Oh," says the other, " Jesus first spat on the ground and made cky, and put it on his eyes "—why, that is enough . to put a man's sight out, to fill his eyes with clay !— " and then He told him to wash- his eyes in the Pool of Siloam, and he would receive his sight. More than that, Bartimeus, He doesn't charge you anything ; you have no fee to pay ; you just t6ll Him what you want, and you get it, without ■^ STORY OF A BLIND MAN. 1l money and without price. It does not need dukes, or lords, or influence ; you just call upon Him yourself; and if He ever comes this way, don't let Him go back wjthout your going to see Jesus." And Bartiraeus said, " I will try it ; there's no harm in trying it." I can imajgine him being led by a child to his seat as usual, and that he is crying out, " Please give a blind beggar a farthing." He hears the footsteps of the com- ing multitude, and inquires, Who is it passing? What does the multitude mean ? They tell him it is Jesus of Nazareth passing by. The moment he hears that he says, " Why, that is the Man that gave sight to the blind\' " The moment it reached his ear that it was Jesus of N cry out at the top of his voice, " Jesus,' tl have merdy upon me ! " Some of those perhaps Peter was one them — rebuked Master was going up to Jerusalem to be cro did not want to be distracted. They never reth, he began to [ou Son of David, lo went before — thinking the King, and ew the Son of him med God' when He was here. He would hush Wery harp in heaven to hear a sinner pray ; no music would\ delight Him so much. But the blind man still lifted up hte voice, and cried louder, "Thou Son of David, have mercy o5 me ! " and the prayer reached the ears of the Son of God, a8\ prayer al- ways will ; and they led the poor blind man to HiriL Well, when Jesus heaiil the blind beggar, He commanded him to be brought. So they ran to him, and said, '*Be\{ gooi cheer; the Master calls you; He has a blessing for\you." When Jesus saw him He said, " What can I do for y^ul" " Lord, that I may receive my sight." " You shall have ^t ; " and the Lord gave it to him. And now the beggar follbws fdth the crowd, glorifying God. I can imagine he sang as 8wee% as Mr. Sarikey ; no one sang sweeter thanhe when he shouted, " Hosanna to the Son of David !"— n^ne sang louder than this^ne who had received his sight ^ Then he follo\^s On with the crowd, which we see pressing into the gates of the city. I can imagine when he gets into the 6ity he says to himself, " I will go down and see Mrs. Bartimeus," ^having, of course, after all those years of blindness, a curi- .osity to see what his wife looked like. As he is passing down the street, a man meets him, and tuniB round and says, " Bartimeus, is that you T \' \ .\ NEW STORIES FROM AN OLD BOOK. *.' "Yes jit's mo." " Well, I thought it was, and yet I thought ray eyes toust leive me. How did you get your sight 1" " I just met Jesus of' Nazareth outsido the walls of the cit^, and I asked Him to have morcy on nie ; and He gave meiWy sight." 'Jesus of Nazareth ! is he in this part of the country 1" 1' Yes ; He is on His way to Jerusalem. He is now going donJlp to the eastern gato." ' I should like to see Him," says the man, and away he down the street ; hut he cannot get a glimpse of Him, little of stature, on account of the great throng round He runs to a sycamore tree, and says to himself, " If I gellup there and hidej^ without any one seeing me. He can- not Met hy without my having a good look at Him." A great manjT rich men do not like to be seen coming to Jesus. Well, there he is in the sycamore tree, on a branch hanging right over ! the highway ; and he says to himself, "He cannot get by wlithout my having a good look at Him." All at once the crow:, comes in sight. He looks at John—" Tffat's not Him;" he Id^ks at Peter— " That's not Him." Then he sees One who] J fairer than the sons of men. " That's Him ! " And Zac- chreuln, just peeping out from amongst the branches, looks dowl upon that wonderful— yes, that migfety God-Man, in am^tment. At last the crowd comes to the^ree, and it looks as if [phrist is going by ; but He stops right ^nder the tree. All all once He looks up and sees Zacchseus, and Says to him, "Zaoshfleus, make haste find come down." I can imagine ZacchWs says to himself, — "I wonder who told Him my nameir I was never introduced to Him."' But Christ knew all alibut him. Sinner! Christ knbws all about you ; He knowo^your name and your house. Do not think God does not know you. If you would try to hidVfrom Him, bear in mind tnat you cannot do so. He knows -^here each one of you is I He knows all about your sins. Well, he said to ZacchA, " Make haste and come down." ^e may huve added, ^This is the last time I shall pass this way^acchfieus." That is the way He speaks to sinners,—" This ^lW be the last time I shall pass. this way ; this may be your last^chance of eternity." He may be passing away from some sdal to- ^ THE STORY OF MEPHIBOSHETH. t3 my eyes tnust night. Oh sinner ! make haste and come down and receive Him. There arc some people in this nineteenth century who do no> believe in sudden conversions. I should like them to tell me where 'Zacchasus was. ounvcrted. He certainly was not converted when he went up into the tree j he certainly was converted when he came down. He must have been con- verted somewhere between the branches and the ground. The Lord converted him just right there. People say they do not believe in sudden conversions ; and that if a man is •converted suddenly he won't hold out — he won't be genuine. I wish we had a few men converted like .^acchajus in London ; it would make no small stir; When a man' begins to Imake re«ltitution, it is a pretty good sign of conversion. Let men give back money dishonestly obtained in London, and sep how quick people will believe in convereion. Zacchseus gave half his goods to the poor. What would be said if some of the rich\men of London did that? ZacchoBus gave half hi& goods ali\ at once ; and he says, " If I have taken anything from any hian falsely, I restore him fourfold." I think that is the othe^WHlf. But to get Christ is worth more than all his wealth. \ I imagine the next morning one of the servants of ZacchsBUs going with a cheque for XI 00, and saying, " My master a few years ago took from you wrongfully about £25, and this is restitution money." That would give confidence in Zaccheeus's cofiversion. I Wish a few cases like that would happen in London, and then people wpuld not go on talking against sudden coti^.^rsions. "^ ' '■ '■ ^ ' THE STORY OF MEPHIBOSHETH. 1 Samuel XX. 14, 16 ; and 2 Samuel ix. There is a story, my fiends, in the books of Samuel—- away back as far as the jbim^ of the kings of Israel — which will help us to understand the Gospel. It is about a man of the name of Mophibo^heth. You remember what a hard time David had when Saul was hunting him to kiU him, jus^ as vrsn hunt game. Well : 'one day David and his gooa friend Jonathan were 14 NEW STORiES FROM AN OLD ftOOK, taking a walk together in the fields. Saul was very angry, and was bent on killing David ; but hie son Jonathan waa looking out for a chance to save him. It had been revealed to him that David was to be king after his father, instead of / himself ; but this did not hinder his lovo for David. It must have been real, true friendship, that 6ould stand such sort of thing ! After they had agreed upon a sign by which David was tn know whether it was safe for him to 'stay around the court of the king, where he could see his friend once in a while j or whether he must leave, and go off into the cave of Adullam, Jonathan says to him, ^- " David, it has been i^evealed to mo that you are to be king after my father. Now, I want you to promise me one thing : when you come to the throne, if any of the house of Saul are alive,.! want you to be good to them, for my sake." "I'll do that, of course," said David. So he made a solemn covenant to that effect, and then he went off to the cave of Adullam, to get out of the way of Saul, who was bound to kill him if he could. V But God took care of David. You never can kill or harm a man, if God is taking care of him. About four years after that, David heard that there had been a great battle over by Mount Gilboa, and that the Phil- istines had beaten the Israelites with great slaughter, and that Saul and Jonathan were both dead. So he got his men together, and went out after the enemies of the Lord and of Israel ; and it was not a great while before he \\ad turned the tables on them, and set up his kingdom at Heliron. It must have been pretty near fourteen years after that before David TOmembernd his promise to his old friend Jona- than. It is a great deal easier to make promises than to keep them. How many broken vows has God written down against you to-night 1 But one day the king was walking in his palace at Jerusalem, where h^ had removed his capital; and all at once he happened to think of that promise. It is a good thing God does not forget His promise that way. •'That's too bad !" said David. " I forgot all about that promise. I have been so busy fighting these Philistines, and fixing tilings up, that I have not had time to think of any- .■■*, kill or harm THE STORY Ot MKPHIBOSHETH. |^ thiii({ vUe." Ho ho callud \m HervuntH in gruut huiito, and said, " 1 )o any of you know whethur there ia any of Saul'H family living]" Olio of them said there wm an old servant of Saul's by the uuiiio ui' Ziba, and maybe ho could tell. " Go and toll him I want him, right away." I'rotty 80on Zibu came ; and David said, " Ziba, do you know whether there m anybody of the house of Saul in my kiu^'dtjiii ]" Ziba said there was one he knew of — a ^on of JunathHn, by the name of Muphibosheth. Oh how that name, Jonathan, must have smitten the heart of David ! One of tho sons of his old friend living in his kingdom for as much as fourtveu years, and he had never known it ! What would Jonathan think of him for forgetting his promise that way ! "Go, fetch him 1" said David; go quick. Tell him I want him. I want to show him the kindness of God." Now, my friends, where do you suppose Mepbibosheth was all this time ! Why, he was down at Lo-debar. Did you ever hoar of that place 1 There may be some saiWrs here : did you ever come across that port ? When you have travelled on the railway, did any of you ever stop at that station 1 Ah ! yes; that is where the whole human race are until thoy come to Christ for salvation ; away down at Lo-debar,— whi(;h means, a place of no imsture. The king is in haste to keep his promise now. I seem to see them hurrying off ; maybe they take the king's own char- iot, and rattle away to find this Hon of Jonathan. When they reached the little out-of-the-way place, I fancy there was a great commotion. v*/ "Where's Mephiboshethi The king wants him." Poor fellow! when he heard that he hung down his head. Ho was afraid the king^wanted to kill him, because he was of the house of Saul, his old enemy. H Ah ! ray friends ; that's just the way sinners receive Christ's offer of salvltion Th|||think God hates them, and wants to cut their heads ofl^^Rt that is a ^(Wi, mistake. God loves them for Christ's sake, a great deal more than David loved Mephibosheth for Jonathan's sake. I never know a i6 NEW STORIES FROM AN 6LD BOOK. Ct 'V * M ' •inner to Uke the OoiiH right. They alwa^rn think, at flnt, that it is too good to be truu. " Don't bo afrai«l," said the «ervanU. " The king Hays he wantfl to show you the kindness of Qod. He is in a groat hurry to see you ; to get reariy, and jump right into tho char- iot. Don't you see the kiug has swut his own churiot to fetch youf" It did begin to look as if the king meant no htffm to him. But poor Mephibosheth had another difticulty. Ho woh lame in both feet. He wan a little fellow when David came to the throne ; and an old servant, who was afraid that all the house of Saul were going to be killed, took him up and ran away ta hide him. Somehow he managed to drop the lad, and lamed him in both feet.- And now I can see poor Mephibosheth looking down at his feet. Maybe tlie toes turned in— or, he was club-footed. And he nays to himself, " I am not flt U) go to the king. I am a poor cripple. I am not tit to bo seen among the tall, handsome servantR of the palace in JeruHaloni." That's just the way wi».h a convicted Hiuner. He is all the time thinking of his own an worthiness, and saying to himself that he isn't fit to be saved. " Never mind your lame feet, Mephibosheth ; so long as the kiiig sends for you, it'» all right." So they take him up, and put him into the chariot, and start for Jerusalem on a run. As soon as the kmg sees him, he takes hii^in his arms^ and cries out,T— " Oh Mephiboshelh, the son of my dear old friend, Jona- than ! you sbidU»ave all that belonged to the house of Saul ; and you shrfTlive with me here in mv palace ! " « ' What a happy man he must ^ave been to hear that ! Sinner, that is just what God says to tho soul that comes to' him in Jesus Christ. He takes us in His a^ms ; He gives us a great fortune of love and grace ; and He promises that we •hidl live with Him in His heavenly palace for ever. ; Some people think that Mephibosheth, like certain low- spirited Christiana, after he went to live with the kiug, must liAve been all the time worrying over his lame feel. But I don't think 80. He couldn't help it; and if Pavid didn't t ^ind it^ it was aU right. So I think that when he dined IV • THE STORY OF BARABBAS. i; with him in ntatf!, with the grnat lordii and Indit^ii all nround htm, fie ju8t atuck hiit cliilhfeot under the table, anunUinM, to whom Ouo find Ahab, and tells him he has seen the prophet. "What! Elijah r* "Yes." " Why didn't you bring him along V "He wouldn't come. He says he wants you to come to him." Ahab wasn't used to have people talk that way to him ; but he was anxious to see the prophet, so he went. And when he sees him he is very^uigry, and cries, " Art thou he that troubleth Israel 1 " " Not at all," says Elijah. " You are the man who is troubling Israel— going off after Baal, and leading ever so many of the people with you. Now, we have had enough of this sort of thing. Some peof)le are praying to God, and some are praying to Baal, and we must have this question settled. You just bring all your prophets and all the priests of Baal up to Mount Carmel, and I also will come. We will make us each an altar, and offer sacrifice on it; and the God that answereth by fire, let Him be God." ; " Agreed," says Ahab ; and off he goes to tell his priests, and get ready for the trial. I fancy that was a great day when that question was decided. All the places of business were closed, and everybody was going up to Mount Carmel. There must have been more people on Mount Carmel than there are to-day at the races.* A better class of people, too ! There were eight hundred and fifty ofe the prophets and priests of Baal altogether. I fancy 1 can see them going up in a grand procession, with the king in his chariot at their head. " Fine-looking men, ain't they 1 " says one man to another as they go by. " They'll be able to do great things up there on the mountaki." But there' Elijah marched, all alone; a rough man/clad in the skins of beiasts, with a. staff in his hand. No banners, * * This was given on Derby Day, at the Opera House, Haymarket, London. L to come to ■^i^[i; ELIJAH AND THE PRIESTS OF BAAL. 3| no procession, no great men in his train ! But the man who „ could hold the keys of heaven for three years and six months was not afraid to be alone. ^ Now says Elijah to the people, '•How long halt ye between two opinions? Let the priests of Baal build them an altar and ofler sacrifice, but put no ^fire under ; and I will do the same : and the God that answereth by fire, let Him be God " Soothe priests of Baal build their altar. r am sure if God hadn't held him back, Satan would have brought up a little spark out of hell to set that sacrifice on fire. But God wouldn't let him. Then they begin to pray : "Oh Baal, hear us ! Oh Baal hear us ! " * ' Elijah might have said, "Why haven't you prayed to Baal for water this dry weather? You might just as well have asked him for water as for fire." After a long time they begin to get hoarse. "You must prayJouder than that, if you expect Baal to hear you/' siys the old prophet. " Maybe he is asleep ; pray louder, so as to wake him up." r f tr j Poor fellows ! they haven!t any voice left ; so they begin to to pray in blood. They cut themselves with knives,and lift their streaming hands and arms to Baal. But no fire comes down. It is getting towards sundown. The prophet of the Lord builds an altar. Mind * he doesn't have anything to do with the altar of Baal, but he bmlds an entirely diflferent one,, on the ruins of the altar of the Lord which had been broken down. ^u- "xJ^® !^®°'* ^*^® a«y Wy saying there is any trick about this thing, says the prophet. So they bring twelve barrels ot water and pour over the altar. 1 don't know how they manageJi to get so much wAter ; but they did it. ^Then Elijah prays: "Oh God of Abraham and of Isaac and df Jacob, let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel. ^He didn't have to pray very loud. God heard him at once, and^oiOTi came the fire I / It burnt up the sacrifice, burnt up the wood, burnt up the water, and burnt up the very stones ot the altar. Jehovah is God : nobody can halt any longer Ah ! but somg of you say, " I too would have decided for ftsf 22 NEW STORIES FROM AN OLD BOOK. God if I had been on Mount Carmel that day." My friends, Calvary is a great deal more wonderful than Carmel. The sacrifice dl Christ on the cross is more wonderful than the sacrifice which was burned on that altar. Decide for Christ now, with Calvary in sight. Choose ye this day whom ye will serve. ■►'^ ".r. THE LEPER. See that poor leper ! Do you know what an^^^|BU thing the leprosy is ? A disease so terrible that it separatt* its vic- tim from all the world, and makes him an outcast, even frbni his home. Every one is afraid of him. His disease is so con- tagious, that to touch him, or evetf to breathe the air near him, is dangerous; and so these poor afflicted wretches have to go away and live in caves and deserts by themselves. They sit by the wayside afar oflf, calling to the passers-by for charity, — who sometimes throw them a piece of money, and hurry away lest they also come into that terrible plight. Here is a poor man who finds the marks of what he thinks is this ter- rible disease upon his body. Accordiag.to the law, he must go to the priest and be examined. Alas ! the priest says it is the leprosy— nothing else. Now the poor man. with broken heart, turns away from the Temple, and goes to his house to say good-bye to his wife, and to take his children to his arms once mojre, before he goes away to spend the long years in the wilderness alone, or with other lepers like himself, until death shall come to deliver him from his sufferings. What a sorry house is that ! Surely this is worse than death itself. He goes out of his door with no hope of ever entering it again. He walks the street by himself, and if any one comes near him, he lifts up his voice in that mournful cry, "Unclean! Unclean!" Out of the gates of the city he goes, away from all his friends and ac- quaintances, carrying with him the sorrow Qf separation and the seeds of death. One day he sees a crowd passing along' the road, but he dares not go near enough to inquire what it -IS; — All at once he happ e ns to think it may be that Proph e t »N THE widow's son. 23 of Nazareth whom he haa heard of— thait same man that peo- ple said, could open the eyes of the blind, make lame' men walk, and who had even raised the son of the widow from death, over there at Nain. » If.only it were He ! At any rate he will take the chances, and cry out aftpr Him ; and so he shouts, at the top of his voice, " Have mejcy upon me !" All the rest of the crowd ^ afraid of him ; but Jesus, who is in the midst, hears some one calling • and, juntas He always did when anybody wanted anything of Him, He stopped to find out what it was. He is not afraid of the leper ; and so, while the rest of the crowd stand away by themselves, He calls the poor fellow to Him and asks him what he wants; and the leper, with his heart full of anxious hope, replies, " Lord if Thou wilt, Thou can'st make me clean." " I will," pays Jesus : "be thou clean !" A strange sense of health and strength comes over the man. He looks at his hands, and finds the leprosy is all gone. He begins to pour out his heart in thanks to Jesus, who sends him away to the priests, saying, " 60 show .thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses com- muided. Now I seem to see that cleansed leper hurrying away to show himself to the priest, to be pronounced cured, accoiding to the law ; and then hastening to his little home, to see his wife and chUdren once more. He bursts into the house, weep- mg for joy. He stretches out his arms to his wife and little ones, saying, " I am clean !' I am clean ! Jesus did it— Jesus of Nazareth." Sinner, how glad you would be if Jesus hid made you clean from the leprosy of sin !— and He is Just as willing to cleanse you as He was to cleanse this poor loper. Come to Him just now. Ask Him to cleanse you, and hear Him sav "IwiU: be thou clean !" . ^* THE WIDOW'S SON. Think of that poor widow at Nain ! She is an old woman now ; and her only son, the staff of her life, is sick. How •he watches him ; sits up all night to see that he has his med- ". J 24 NEW STORIES FROM AN OLD BOOK. r |i : icine at the right time ; sits by his bedside all day, fanning him, keeping away the flies, moistening his parched lips with water ! Everything he asks for, she brings. The very best doctor is sent for ; and when he comes and feels the pulse of Ihe young man, and looks at his tongue, he shakes his head ; and then the poor woman knows there is no,hope for her boy. What an awful thought! My son, my only son must die; what will become of me theni Sure enough, the doctor is right i and in a little while the fever comes to its crisis, and the poor boy dies, with hid head upon his mother's bosom. The people come in to try to uomtbrt the poor woman ; but it is of no use. Her heart is broken. She wishes she were , dead too. Some of , you know what it is to look your last upon the faces of those you love. Some of you mothers have wept hot tears upon the cold faces of your sons. ^v. Well: they make him ready.for burial j\ and when the time comes, they celebrat» the funeral service, and put him on the bier to carry him aWay to the grave. What a sad pro- cession ! Just as they come out of the city gates, they see a little company of thirteen dusty -looking travellers, coming up the road. There is One among them, tall and far fairer than the sons of men. Who can He be 1 He is moved with com- passion when He sees this little funeral procession ; and it does not take Him long to find out that that woman who walks next the bier is a poor widow, whose only son shei is following to his grave, fie tells the bearers to put down the bier ; and while the mother wonders what is to be done. He bends tenderly over the dead man, and speaks to him in a low, sweet voice, " Arise !" And the dead man hears Him. His body begins to move : the man who was dead is struggling with his graveclothes ; tliey unbind him, and now he sits up. He leaps off the Mer, catches a sight of his mother, Temembers that he was dead and is now ^ive again j takes her in his arms, kisses her again and again, and then turns to look at the Stranger who has wrought this miracle upon him. ' He is ready to do anything for that Man-^ready to follow Him to the death. But Jesus does not ask that of him. He knows his mother needs him ; and so He does not take him away to be one of His disciples, but gives him back to his old mother. w THE STORV OF NAAMAN. 25 I would have hked to see that young man re^nterinc the city of Nam, arm-in-arm with his mother. What do you suppose he said to the people, who looked at him with won- der 1 Would he nat confess that Jesus of Nazareth had raised him from the dead ? Would he not go everywhere, declarinff what the Lord had done for his dead body ? Oh how I love to preach Christ, who can stand over all the graves, and say # to all the dead bodies "Arise !" How I pity the poor infidel, who has no Christ j but who goes down to his death without any hope of resurrection ! Is there a poor widow here to- night 1 Chnst will have compassion on you. Your son is dead, maybe. Well, He will raise him up also at the last day and you along with him; and give him back to you, and you ' to him, if you both have believed in Jesus, and given Him ^ your hearts. ** THE STORY OF NAAMAN. . I have been reading to you about a person who was a great man in his own country--a very honorable man. one whoni the king delighted to honor. He stood high in posi- tion, he was captain of the hosts of the king of Syria • hut lie was a leper; and that threw a blight over his whole life There was no physician to help him in aU S^ia. None of the eminent doctors, in Damascus could do.him any irood Neither^could any in Jerusalem. But I will teU you whatW had in Syna : they had one of God's children there— and she was a little girl. Naaman knew nothing about her. thouch she was one of his household. I can imagine this little Isra- elite, one day. as she said to Mrs. Naaman, her mistress, that there was a prophet in her country that could cure her master ^ ^^leprosy « Why ! » says the mistress, « what are you talking about? Did you ever hear of anybody heintt ciied of leprosy 1 " « Ah ! " said the little girl. « it's^f i^ assure you : we have got physicians down there that can cure anything So at last some one told the king what the little maid of Israel had said. Now Naaman st^ h igh in t he •'•mg's favor, for he had just won a ^eat victory; He waa .fef "1^ '■■• ^b~ / 26 NEW STORIES ^RO^J! AN OLD BOOK. called a lord j perhaps he was a prince— a sort of Syrian Prince Bisraark, who stood near the throne. So the king said, " You had better go down to Samaria, and see if there is anything in it, and I will give you, letters of introduction to the king of Israel." ^ Y0prhe would give Naaman letters of introduction to the king. That's just man's idea. Of course, if anybody could help him it was a king. Of course the king had power both with 0«d and man. Oh, my friends, it's a good deal better to know a man that knows Goc^.! A jnan acquainted with God has more power than aiiy earthly king. Away goes Naaman down to Samaria with his letter of. introduction, and he takes with him a bag of gold and silver. That man's idea again : he is going to pay the great doctor. And he took about XI 00,000 sterling, as far as I can make it out, to pay this doctor's bill. There are a good many men who would willingly pay that sum, ii\with it they could buy the favor of God, and get rid of the curse of sin. Yes, if money could do it, how many would buy salvation ! But, thank God, it is not in the market^ for sal^ You must buy it on God's terms, and that is "♦ without money and without price." Naaman found that out. My dear friends, did you ever ask youreelves which is the worst — the leprosy of the body or the leprosy of sin 1 Why, for my own part I would a thousand times sooner have the leprosy eating my eyes out, and eating q|l^ feet and arms ; I would rather be loathsome in the sight of my fellow-men than die with the leprosy of sin in my soul, and be banished from God for ever.*^ The leprosy of the body is bi^, but the leprosy of sin is a thousand times worse. It has thrown the angels out of heaven ; it has ruined the best and strongest men that ever lived fn the world. There is one thing about Naaman that I lik©-^ and that is, hifl earko^ness of purpose. He was thoroughly in earnest. A good many pepple say, " Oh, I don't like such and such a minister; I should like to know where he conies from, and what he has done, and whether any bishop has ever laid his hands on his head." My dear friends, never mind the minis- ter ; it's tiie message you want. Why, if some one were to s en d n ift a ii^wHSftga, and the news were important, I shouldn't .'"?"' ¥*ed down with contempron the Israehtea; and yet this gr^at man was willing to take the good news from the lips of this poor little slave: Why if I got lost in London I should be willing to ask anybody whch way to go-~even if it were on\y a poor shoeblack. It is the way I want not the person «.. i!-ii i^ , alive r- But at last the kiig'SirUi'o Sia «: prophet; and he say,, « There is a man in my Wn^om who may be able to help you and cure your leprosy' " Xwl^^ imagine Naai|lan's pride reasoning thus • <'Si.»l„ til ?S will feel very inuch exalted ani flalred ^ht^Ve^' Syrian General, should come and call upon him " *^ He dnvee up.in grand style to the prophet's house and «fte» awhile, a. nobody seems to be comS.g'^out to Z°' Wm Na^ma^„f"svlh"'"^^:'"'!J*''''P«'l'''«' Majo^GeneS iiaamMi ol byria has amvei and wishes to see him » Fi;.h. takes It very coolly. He does not come out to see'hi^tt oi^^ma&SAXh^tH^^^^^^ 2d NEW STORIES FROM AN OLD BOOK. Jordan ! Why, we call the river Jordan a ditch in ouf country ! " But the only answer he got was, " My lord says Go and dip seven tinie» in Jordan.". I can fancy his indig- nation as he asks, " Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel 1 May I not wash in them and be clean 1 " So ho turned and went away in a rage. The fact was, Jordan never had any great reputa- tion as a river; it flowed into the Dead Sea, ami that sea never had a harbour to it. And its banks were not half so beautiful as those of the rivers of Damascus. Yes, it was a dreadful blow to his pride. The truth was, that Damascus was one of the most beautiful cities in the world ; and it is said that" when Mahomet first saw it he turned his head away, for fear it should lead his thoughts away from heaven. Naanian went off in a rage ; he got very angry. But I don't thipk much of that ; for if you notice when a man turns away in anger, he genft-ally cools down anU comes back again. He thought the prophet would have come out to him very humble and very solemn, and bid him do some great thing. Instead of that, Elish^t, who was very likely busy writing, didn't even come tp ''the door or the window ; he merely pent out the message, " Tell him to dip seven times in the. Jordan." . ^ ' And away he went, saying. " / thought , / thought ; I thought." I have heard that tale so often, and I am tired of it I will tell you just what I think about it, and what I advise you to do — " Give it up. Take God's words, God's thoughts, God's ways. A man to be converted has to give up his will, his ways, and his thoughts. I have often noticed that -when a man says, " If ever, I am converted, it will be this way or that," Godjeads him in quite a contrary direction. Whilst Naaman was turning the matter over in his mWi, and thinking what was best to ]^ done, one of his servants came and said— and a very sensible remark it was : " My lord, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, would'st thou not have done it 1 how much rather, then, when lie saith to thee, Wash and be clean ! " Yes, and there's a deal of truth in that. Why, if Elisha had said to him, " Go THE STpRY OF NAAMAN. ig back to Syria on your hands and kneeB," he would moat likely f have done it. If he, had said, " Go hack all the way on one 1 foot," he would have tried to do it." Or if he had said, "Giv« me a hundred thousand pounds for the me|id if you obey the voice of God, even iK^ile I am "speaking to you, the burden of your sins will fful from off you, and you shall be^cleansed. It is all done/by the power of faith. >-,.j,-- *„ y^ CHAPTER II. PRAYER^MEETING TALKS. low TO CoNDUOT pRAYBR-MEBTiNas.— I havo notioed, in travelling up and down the country, and after mingling with a great many ministers that it ia not the man* that can preach the best that is the most successful, but the man who knows how to get his people together to pray. He«hati more freedom. It is so much eacrier to prctoch to an audience that is in Aill sympathy with you than to khose who are criticising all the time. It chills your heart thfjough and through. Now, if we could oiUy have our prayer-itt<^tingfl what they ought to be, and people go, not out of any sense of duty but because they delight to go, it would be a groat help to a minister in his Sunday services. Now, I find it a great help in prayer-meet- ings to get the people right up close together, and then get myself right down amon({ them, I believe many a meeting is lost by the people being scattered. Another important thiqg is to see that the ventilation is all right. Sometimes I have been in rooms where I think the air must have been in there five or six years. You cannot always trust the janitor to take care of it. The people get sleepy, and you think it your fault. Very often such a thing is the fault of bad ventilation. See that you get freiah air not too hot, and not too cold, but pure. Then it is a good thing to havo a subject. Let all the people know a week beforehand what the subject is going to be. You take the subject of " Faith," say, aud ask a brother or two privately to say a littR on the* subject. If they say, " I cannot get my thoughts together;" or, " I a m, s o frightened wh e n 1 g e t np that i tremble all over," then tell him just to get up arid wad a verse, it won't be long before they will add a feW ■1 'fl ■. I ■"l-tll .'#♦; sa PRAYER-MEETING TALKS. wordi to that vorMi, and after u while they will want to talk too much, and the muotingH thu« Wconio very profitable in thoae men. What we want ii variety. Instead of hnvinK Deacon Jones and Deacon Smith and Deacon Urown to do all the praying and all the talking, havMHom«bo who do nothing to actively help along the work, and I believe that dilKcuIty could be removed if tho minister would take a little pains. Let the father whose son has been converted get up and give thanks. Have onc^ in a .while a thanksgiving meeting. It wakes up a church wonder- folly, once in a while to let the young converts relate their ex- periences. Then you say, what are you going to do with these men that talk so longi I would talk to them pri- vately, and tell them they must try to bo shorter. And it ii a good thing sometimes for ministers themselves not to be , too long. Sometimee they read a good deal of Scripture, and talk until perhaps only fifteen minutes is left, and then they Complain because Deacon Smith or Jones or some one else talks tpo long. Just let the minister strike the key note of the meeting, and if he can't do that in ten minutes he can't at all. Very often a minister takes up a chapter and exhausts it, and says everything he can think of in the chapter, and then .can you wonder a layman cannot say more who has had no study of the subject? Give out the subject a week ahead, let the minister take five or ten minutes in opening, and then let the different ones take part. That wonld be a greater yariet^. When <^ man takes part he gets greatly interested / •f PRAYER-MEETING TALKS. 33 kitniAlf. Tt WW pmtty ira« whnt tli« nM ilnacon mid, thtt when ho took part in thn ni. 34 PRAYER-MEETING TALKS. up the meeting, "Who are these menl" He said, "They are a band of workers." They were all scattered through the hall, and preaching and watching for souls. Out of the fifty of them, forty-one of their numiber had got a soul each and were talking and preaching withf them. We have been asleep kng enough. When the laity wake up and try and help the minister, the minister will preach better. If the minister finds he has not been drawing the net right, if a good man in his church go to work and help him he will do better ; he will prepare the sermons with that one thing in view. Will this draw men to Christ 1 I don't see how men can preach without inquiry meetings. I like to see the converts. One minister in Scotland said he did not believe in disturbing the impression. If he had made afi impression he did not want any one to say anything. He said, "After you sow the seed you don't want to go and dig it up to see whether it has sprouted." But I told him, "The farmers all harrow it after, it is sowed." [Applause.] Address to CHRiSTiANs.—Qne thing has been laid upon my mind in the last hour, and that is, that we should pray to God fo fill us with the Spirit. We have had a good many questions asked us by the young converts about how they should go to work. ^There is a great deal of work done by people who have not the power of the Spirit ; and to worlc without the power is like beating against the air. I would call your attention fo one thought; the gift of the Spirit for service. We may be sons and daughters of God ; but we may be sons and daughters without power. God has a great many children that, have not^ got any power. Their words are idle words; they might just as well speak in an unknown tongue ; their speech is "as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal."^ I.suppose mauj of us have felt what it is to be preaching as though we were preaching to the air, our own hearts not moved, nor any one else's. When you go home, take your Bible an hour or two, studying up this one subject, the gift of the Holy Ghost for service. In the 4th chapter of Luke, the 1 8th v^rse, we read : " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel," It was aftey the Spirit came upon Him that He PRAYER-MEETING TALKS. 35 commenced His ministry. Then He went back to Nazareth, and His work was blessed. We find in the 20th chapter of John, these words: "And when He said this He breathed on them and said unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost." Of course His disciples had been converted before this. Back in tlie 7th chapter of John we find Him saying on that great day of the feast, " If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that be- lieveth on Me, as the Scripture hath said— out of his belly shall flpw rivers of living water. Greater works than I have done you shall do, because I come of the Father, an^ the Holy Ghost shall be upon you which also comes of Hirai" If we are only imbued with power from on High, it will then be ours to work for God. You cannot get water oUt of a dry well. You may pump, and pump, and pump, and the old machine will squeak, but there won't any water coine. Sometimes pumps are dry, and you can't make any water come until you pour a little in at the top. So we have got to have water poured on lis, or wa cannot get any more power than a dry pump. What we want is this water of the Spirit poured upon ourselves. Oh,* may He pour it upon us this afternoon. * ■ ■ \ . In the 20th chapter of Luke and the 22nd verse, it sayi, " When He had said this He breathed on them and saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost." Of course the diaciplej received the Spirit there. ', Some persons think because they have had the Holy \ Ghost resting upon them at one time in power, it is going to remain. But 1 tell you that many a man that got converted and received the Holy Ghost, and was used ten years ago for the service of the Lord, has not got the power that he once had. He may be a good Chriatian, but he has lost the power. The people in his church know it. They say to each other, " What ha& come^over our pastor 1" He has not got the unction, he has not got the Holy, Ghost. Oh, shall we not seek and pray for it here to-day 1 May the God of heaven breathe upon us one breath from the upper world before we go hence ! To see that we are not to be satisfied with being filled once, turn over into the 2nd. chapter of Acts. He told His disciples to go back to J^rusftlem and tarry there un^ I ;;J' •1 36 PRAYER^MEETING TALKS. they were imbued from on High. Those men had already been converted before. My friends, I think we do not tarry at Jerusalem until we get the power. We forget about the Holy Ghost, and about the necessity of our being anointed for service. These very men that He breathed upon then were afterwards filled with the Holy Ghostj as we read in the 4th chapter of Acts. Peter and James and John had not remained full. We are greatly mistaken in thinking that we may re- main satisfied With past mercies of grace that God gave us away" back these ten years ago. We do not love the fresh manna. In the 3rd chapter of John comes Nicodemus. In the 4th chapter of John He holds out the cup of salvation, and it becomes a well of water. The water always runs to one level as it comes down. The 4th chapter of John is a better Christian than the 3rd chapter. The best glories of a Chris- tian are mentioned in the 7th chapter,, where it says : " Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." In Luke we find it mentioned as a well, in John, a river. You know there are two ways of digging wells now. In one process, they do not stop as soon as they have come to water ; but they dig on down carefully through the rock and sand, until they come to a lower strata, and a stream of the clearest crystal water starts and gushes to the top, like a fountain. You do not have to pump the water up from such a well. It comes of itself. While in England I met a minister whose health had be- come so poor tlmt he had to get an assistM^) to help him preach. He could only preach once a week, md not always that. One day, in meeting, the Spirit of God came upon him anew,- and he got freshly anointed. He came down to London a year afterwards, and he told me that during the past year he had preached eight sermons a week. He said he had never been so well in all his life. I believe it is not work that breaks down our health; it is pumping without the water! What we want to do is just to wait on God until He gives it to US. I know a minister who told me he felt thkt he was preach- ing without this anointing, and he felt that his sermons had not b%a blessed for a long, long time. I know it was iny own experience. I never like to talk about myself; it al\|j|iy8 makes me feel like a fool, but this may do some of you some good. ^bout four years ago X got into a cold state. It did not !>RAYER-KiEETIN(i tALkS. 3? seem as if there was any ttnction resting upon my ministry.* For four long months God seemed to be just showing me my- self. I found I was ambitious ; I wa» not preaching for Christ ; I was preaching for ambition. T found everything in my heart that ought not to be there. For four months a wrestling went on within ma, and -I was a miserable man. Bat after four months the anointing came. It came upon me as I was walking in the streets of New York. Many a time I have thought of it since I have been here. At last I had i-eturned to God again, and I was wretched no longer. T al- most prayed, in my joy, " 0, stay thy hand !" I thought this earthen vessel would break. He tilled me so full of the Spirit If I have not beett a different man since, I do not know my- self. I think I have accomplished more in the last four years than in all the rest of my life. But oh, it was preceded by a wrestling and a hard struggle ! I think I have never got out of this miserable selfishness. There was a time when I want-' ed to see my little vtneyard blessed, and I could not get out of it ; but I could work for the whole world now. I would like to go round the world and tell the perishing millions ot a Saviour's love. If in these closing months here we could get baptized by the Holy Ghost, would it not be blessed 1 Is there not a hungering and a thirsting to be filled to-day 1 " Blessed are they that Iwinger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." There is the word of the Lord Jesus. la He not here to-day t Is not He able to fill ual If He would imbue us aU, and expel all jealousy and sectarianism, would i! not he blessed 1 He can conquer this earthly will and fill us with the Holy Ghost as were the early Christians, Your congre- gations will find your new anointing out, if you take the grace and the anointing away with you. They will say to each other directly, " What does it mean 1 What has come over our minister 1 " O, God gran£ that self may lose its interest for us to-day, and that Jesus may burst upon us with a new view J that we may behold Him to-day as we never yet be- held Him I and may He give us fresh anointing ! ~^-. Christ the -Good Samaritan. — Luke x. 26. — In this p icture w e get the wl^ole Gospel. Jerusal e m w as the city of m 3« PRAYER-MfiEtING tALKS. peace. Jericho was a cifcy condemned, and from one to the other was all the way down hill — an easy road to go, as the unfortunate mail thought when he started on his journey. But he foil among thieves, who stripped him and left hinv half dead, and the priest and the Levite passed him by. These two men represent a large class of people. We can imagine ' the priest asking himself, " Am I my brother's keeper 1" and' complaining, " What did he want to go down there for, any way 1 Why didn't he stay at home 1 ' I|e was a great deal better pff in Jerusalem- — ^^he might >have known aomethiug would happen to him." Some people think they have doiite their duty when tl\ey blame the poor for their po- verty, and the unfortunate for the accidents which, happen to them. There' is another class -vj^ho always begin to philosophize the minute they see any suffering., "Why does God have these things? Why does He hav§ sin and poverty in the world, I would like to know ? He needn't haVe it ; He could just as well have made a world without it." Biit here conies the good Samaritan ; he does more than pity and phildso- phize; he helps^ gives oil, and lifts the poor fellow pn his beast. He is not afraid to touch him. He don't stop to ask-.'^| whether he is Jew or Gentile, or Just what he is going tq do Virith the man if he gets him away from there. Now a great many people ask us, " What are you going to do with these young converts when you get themi Where will you put tbem-rrinto what church— Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal?" " Well, we don't knaw ; we have not thought of. that ; we are trying to get them out of the ditch first." "Oh, well then, we don't want to have anything to do with it ; we want it to be done decently and in order, if we are going to have a hand in it." . i These people are no Samaritans ^ they won't have any- thing to do with the poor fellows by the wayside if they cannot dispose of them ever afterwards to suit tUeniselves. Let us not condemn .those wha- have fallen itito the ditch. Cfa^t is ourGo6(i Samfiritan ; He has done for lis, and tells us to do for others. 1 - » Gbbatb a Clban Heart *in me, U' God !— I's. li. lU.— .-■p^' -/, ■ * .. J'Mk*%-i..t^- ;j J ''^.^^^m PRAYER-MEET* NG TALKS. 39 It Beems as if hejiB is where we might well stop and say a word. Is our heart clean in/ the -sight of Ood 1 Has He renewed a right spirit within us 1 IDo we show that in our home, in our" daily life, in our business, and in our contact witli others t If we do not, it seems to me it is better to be p^-aying for ourselves than for others, that the wQrld may see that we have been with God's Spirit. If we are a great way . from Christ in ail our ways, our words will be cold and empty, and we cannot reach the world. There is power enough in this room to move all New York, if we had the right spirit and^ clean hearts. A friend of mine told iiie Ii& had been preaching some time without seeing any results in fiis church, and he began to crjr to God that he might have a blessing on his church: He said weeks went on and the answer didn't come, and he felt that he must either have a blessing or give up the ministry. He must have souls or die, and he said that on one Sunday he threw himself on^ his knees in his. study and dried to God, "Oh, God ! break this heart of mine and give me a contrite spirit." Just at this moment he heard a faint rap at the door, and opening it, his little child, four .years old, entered. She had h^ard her father's prayer, and she said, "Father, I wish you would pray for ine ; I want a clean heart.''- " And," said he, " Qpd broke my heart, and at the next meeting, there were forty inquirers, after that one sermon." " Oh, that; our hearts may be tender, and may we know what it is to have broken hearts and contrite spirits." ^ GoD'e Power TO Save The Drunkard. ~Jer. xxxii. 17.— '* Oh, Lord God ! behold. Thou hnst made the heaven and the" earth hij Thy great jKnocr and styetched-out arm, and there it* nothing too hard fqr Thee.^\ Mr. Moody said he had taken* that chapter to every place where he had been. He had tried to find a substitute, but had never succeeded. He then said : #- , It's just what' we want" to give the keynote to our meet- ings. Many of us look about and see so. many wretched and wieked people that we become disheartened. But it's as easy for God lo 8a,ve every drunkard and infidel in New York as itfis for Pirn .to turn His hand over. Think of this earth God has made, with its mountains and rivers ! Some , - : ^' ; 40 PRAYER-MEETING TALItS. oti« h£ said it is only a baU thrown from the hand of God, and another that the stars and the modn are only the fringe ■ of His garments. If God can do these great things, think you He can't save drunkards 1 If He could speak worlds into existence, can't He save dead souls ! I have more hope of ■ these prayer-meetings than of any othei-s. But if we don't get a hold of God here we won't anywhere.-' I believe t^hat God answers prayers. If we ask a tish, He won't give us a , stone. Some have said these meetings will pass away and do no good. But It won't be so if God is with us. The late war taught men how to pray. It seems to me that soifte of the best work I ever saw was amcfhg the soldiers. Those * boys away from their mothers, how many, prayers were uttered for them, and how many were converted ! I well remember a young lieutenant from Indiana. , In one of our meetings, when we had vbeen speaking of mothers' prayers, he got up' ^nd said, the remarks reminded hinl of letters he had re(3eived from his mother, expressing great anxiety about his soul. He had ^Id her that he would come to Christ after the war • but she reminded him he might never see that time. Another letter came from his home, and that mother was dead. And with the tears trickling down his chefeks, that noble young man told his tale, and qame to know his/l^viour. Now we come to-day to call upon theXord for a great blessing to rest upon this mi|^hty city. A -Rainy Day Prayer mbetino.—Ps. ciii.-s-There are four preKjious clauses in this Psalm, viz. : " He forgiveth all thine iniquities-" "He healeth all thy diseases;" "He redeemeth thy life from destruction," and " Ho crqwneth thee ' with loving kindness." Christianity is better than anything that the World can give. It satisfies us. That is what wealth cannot do. The crowns of Europe cannot give the peace and contentment that come from the Crown of Life. I like these rainy day prayer-meetings. It costs us something to get here. ■m- Vrf*^ "^ ■■'* '''(^f,^^'^''^''fi!Wf'^^^lSS^fg'''~SW ' 1- CHAPTER III. J / THE PROPHET DANIFX, IN MR. MOODY'S VfeRSION. rO those who have heard the stately and brilliant ore- tion or Dr. Punahon on "Daniel in Babylon" by which this line of address was first suggested ti Mr • Moody, t.his rendering of the story in homely lau- gtfage will be especially interesting. The contrast ^ M «*yJ« will be striking, but the power and effect of the two discourses will be found almost identical. A diversity of gifts; but the same spirit. ' / When we come to the life of such a man as Daniel, the first thmg we ask 18-: What was the secret of his succesS WeU my friends. I'll tell m what I think was the secret of thii man's success :— He kiiew his God. «*-«!, oi tnis t«rmt SSt* Sf '^^ P~]«««i°g ChVistians never get on intimate " ff i?T * ^""^ ^i" W^' knew and trusted in the Qod ^L S""^' "^nd the God of Isaac, and the God of Jwob- and that was what put such coufti^e into himT *'«'«'», There 18 another very importSi thing about Daniel he was able to say no /at the right time\ »» ^^aniei ., ne £ toU you,^my friends, it would be\ great thing for aui iCTii^^ f^*' *" "^l '^^ ' ^»^»» thfTeviSelV^ fiJ^^rli^'^r t"^ ^""^ ""^^ ^« ^«« when w^iear of him' S? '2 ^^ *^'? seventeen. The king NebS^adne^ - had giv e n or ders to take some of th^ be at gnd briglest Wg ^"i«^ 'l?'"'' captives and biinlthem up^SLSJ * wise iij|i. They were to be taught the langi^e anTiih« r 42 MOODY'S SERMON ON PROPHET DANIEL. learning of the Chaldeana, and to Ims fed with meat and wine from the king's table. iV i j "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not de- file himself with the portion ftf the kind's meat, nor with th« wine which he drank," There was something m the law of his God forbidding him to eat meat or drink wine which had been offered to idols ; and Daniel knefw that the king's meat and the king's wine had been ottered to idols, «)*he deter- mined not to touch it. . . vn,. .♦.. If he had been like a good many of our modern Ghriatvi^ns, -- he would have said something like this : " Well, it can't be helped. I don't like to defile myself this way ; the law of GodfbrbidB it ; and if I were only home in Jerusalem I never wouldfdo it in the world. But I really don't see how we are J Koind to help it We are slaves. Besides, it is the kings ^| specSil order; and if he should hear of our disobedience, our headq would come oil' in no time. Really, we can't be expect- ed to ran such a risk as that." , . ^/, ^u* That^s it ; the devil told him to do m Babylon as thfe peo- ple^f Babylon do. But Daniel "had the courage to stand up to the UiwofhiB God, and say no/ _ Gonsequencea 1 Never mind the consequences, ^ihere ^ wasn't any such word in his dictionary when it came to obeying the law of his God. He was bound to do it, let the consequences be what they might. • Do you hear what it says here m this eighth verse of the first chapter 1 " Daniel purposed in his heart." That's the trouble vith a great many people : they purpose to do right, but they only purpose in their heads, and that doesn't amount to much. K you are going to be Christians, you mnst purpose to serve God away down in your hearts. " With the heurt man believeth unto righteousness." , So when the servant who had charge of them came to bring them^ their dinner, Daniel and his three young friends told him they couldn't eat that meat and drink that wine, be- cause it was against the law of their God. Look atttart^! Daniel doesn't try to dodge the question at all ; h e give s lhe true re a son right out at once. I am afraid some of you, if you had been in his phice, would have tried to hide behind some excuse. You would r ^T^ ^ ;tk^ ^a'*Tej'^!B ' mt and wine MOODY'S SERMON ON PROPHET DANIEL. 43 _ toy yoa_ weren't vety well : or that meat ai^d wine ,ll,ln't agwe with y "tim,dant to help you on this iSg m'^T'? ' rf hltmUt^Sl^!:^""''' "*' •"" " "P •>«*- ">« face II This is all the Stimulant I want." . " Just so with Daniel. He toot Oa/I'o ii:j« :« *v tion and held te God's tertn^an^dT^^Llfhrst^^^^^^ ^^^U «T ^^ ^'*^**' ^^*^ ^^ who saHis hSTv^ and above all, peace in his own soul. ms^nM^ty The next we hear of him is about two years after ^8fem to see the officer coming in .andlavinffhiahftiidnn Danier^shoulder, and arresting him in tSekiS^sZ^r "^ S?** 8 *^« matter r says Daniel. 1.,^ y^y^^^°'<'yo"heat t li"8ays the officer. ^^Theting ^adream last night and when hewoke up hecoul^^^ ' membtw It; 80 h» called aU his wi«) men togSher, Td^ 44 MOODY'S SERMON ON PROPHET DANIEL. them to tell him hju dream, antl then interpret it for him. Nobody could tell it. The kiuK was ho an^ry that he com- manded that all the wise men Bhouhl lie put to death. You belong to tliat achiiol ; bo you will liavo to «lie." " It leemH to me the king is rather hasty ," saya Daniel- cool and calm a« a suminer morning. "Just let him give us a little time, and I'll ahrtw him his dream and the interpreta- tion also. He knew his God and\trugted in Him. All secreta belong to God. \ - ^ , ,. , That night Daniel and his three friends had a little prayer- meeting together. I have no doubt they read the story of Joseph ; how the dreams of old l*haraoh were revealed to him ; and how he came to be a ^afc man in Egypt afterwards. And then they went to Bleep.\ I don't think many of you\ would have gone to sleep with such danger as that hanging ^ver your heads. But Daniel slept ; and in hia sleep the king's dream was revealed to hiiBt ^ The next morning there was a great stir all about the palace. It had gone oiit that a young Hebrew captive was going to tell the king his dream, and save the lives of all the wise men of Babylon ; and every bpdy was anxious to know JT about it " I can see the young man brouj^ht into the presence of the mighty monarch. He stands there without the slightest fear. His God, in whom he trusted, has Baade hini master of the situation. The King looks at him, and says, " Young, man, can you tell me my dream and the interpretation of iti" " My God can !" answers Daniel ; and he begins.^ "In your dream, O king you saw a^ image-^" " Thaea it / '* says Nebuchadnezzar, his fiuje lighting up all at once j " You've, got it I I remember it all now." "Yea." says Daniel; "my God revealed it to me last night in a .dream." You see he doesn't take any credit to himself for it, but gives the glory to his God, "The head of this great image was gold, his breast and bis a n na w e r elsil v e r , his belly and hia thighs of br ass , hi s leg s of iron, and bis feet piurt of iron and part of clay. And Ihft tf, O tifig , yoa aaw a atone cut ont without hands, which V-" MOODY'S SERMON ON PROPHET DANIEL. 45 Btlpuck the image upon iU feot, and cninhed it to piecea till it bffamo likfl tlm liiiHt of the aummer thitwhing-floor." " That'M all right/' Haya the king. " Now can you tell me the inter[)retation of it r Now I imagine aowi^ of you wbuld have tried to soften down the interrjjreUtion a little. It waa a pretty hard thing for Daniel fo Htanc«!(Mion of hin loniH and Iadi(w, Roming acrofM the plain with hannorM flying and inuHic playing ; rmlly, it niU8t have heon a trying time for thoHo three men, who were m much out of fashion as not to 1k)w down to the great idol when everybody elno wan s knew it very well. The hour has arrived ; everything is ready ; the king makes a sign wish his hand, and the cornets and gackbuts, and all the other instruments, give a great blast, and the whole multitude fall down on their faces before the great image which Ncbucliatl- nezzar the king has set up. No ; not all ! There are three pairs of stitt' knees in that kingdom — three men who will not bow to the false god. Their enemies have taken care to put them in the. front rank, near to themselves, where they can watch them, and so find occasion to accuse them to. the kinc. I seem to see these fellows looking out of the corners of their eyes, when, by the king's command, they ought to have been worshipping the idol : and I hear them saying to them- selves, " Aha ! wo have got you now ! " and~so they go to tell the king. ** O king ! live for ever. Do you know that there are three men in your kingdom who will not obey youl '* ' %. «No: who are they?" " Three of those Hebrew captives;; they don't bow down along with the rest of us ; and we thought you would like to know it";, ■.;. V ■■ ^ -:..-■■ ::--m'-, " Bring the# to me," says the king, in a great rage J " 1 will 8 wheth e r th o s e fallows are going to disob e y my ord oi like this." If is quite likely he would have ordered their heads to be ■; : hMdsto be MOf>DY'.S KKRMON ON I'ROFHtT DANIEL. 4; taken ntf at once, if ho ha^l not roin«nib€re«l that they were (Mrtiriilnr friendH of Daniel. Now th«y utantl f'iu!« to l'a«;« with the great kinR. "What ia'this I hoar of you 1" HuyH Nohuchadneuar. '• rh«y nay you diHolxiy my onU^rn, ami lio not bow down and wotHhip my golden iniaK". Now, I will try you once more; and then, if you don't Ikmv down, into the furnace you go." We do not know who th« s|M«ik«)r waH on that occasion ; perhaps it waH Hhadmcli, Ho Htanda there with his two friends, Kioking calmly at the king, and thinking of the fiery furnace without trembling in the least, or feeling the slightest • fear And this is what ho says, — ' " We are not careful to anawor thee in this niatter, O king. The (JckI whom wo servo is able to deliver us from the burn- ing fiery furnace, and Ho will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But whetliftir He deliver us or not, we will not boi^ down." "Who is tills God of yours, that is able to deliver you out of my hands r' ways the king, in a towering rage. " Go and heat that fumac« seven times hotter than ever, and taket^hese fellows U|>, and thrust them into it. Be quick about it, \ I will not have such rebels in my kingdom." So «omo of the king's servants hurry away to the fumactix to stir u[) the fire, and others seize Shadrach, Aleshach, and Abed-nego, and take thorn away ; and when the fumacB doors are opened, they come near to cast them into the fire, — which is so hot that it burns the servants to d«ath, but does nofc^ harm the men who' are cast down headlong into it. Then the king goes and looks into the funifice ; and what is his aston- ishment at seeing four men, instead of three, walking in the midst of the fire, as safely as if they were in the king's garden, ! I "Bid I not tell]^ou to cast in three men?— and lo ! I see four walking about in the fire ; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." ^ The Lord Himself warf with His three faithful servants; The great Palestine Shepherd looked down from heaven, and saw those three sheep of His flock about to be cast into the fire ; and He made haste, and came down Himself, to see that they suffeAd no harm. Ah ! Jesus is always with His people. Though they pass through water^ they shall not be drowne^^ \ ■ '4 1^ 43 Moody's SERMON on prophet daniel. though they pasa throHrjh fire, they shall not be burned. The fire burned ott" only the devil's bands : it did not singe a hair of their heads. Does not Christ say that the hairs of our heads are all numSlBred 1 There is wonderful care and love in that. Did you ever know a mother who loved her little child so well that she would c<»unt th« hairs on its curly head ? But the Lord loves His children so well that He counts their hairs —every one ; and not one of them comes to any harm, so long as His child is faithful to Him. There was not even the smell of fire upon their garments; and the king's coun- sellors, and princes, and governors, ami captains, and all together, saw those men upon whose bodies the fire had no power. My friends, let us remember that it is always safe to do what God wants us to do. If our way to heaven leads through fire and water, it is all the same : it is all right. , That is the proper way for us to go. V . And now King NebUchadnezssar orders these men to come out ; and he restoretl them to their places again. He has found out who was the Go«l that was able to deliver His ser- vants out of the hands of the king ; and T am quil« sure that, from this time, neither the king nor anybody else in Babylon ventured to say anything against those men, or against the God whom they worshipped, and who had delivered them out of the fiery furnace. The king himself makes a decree, "that every people, nation, and language, which shall sjwak anything amiss against the God of Shatlrach, Me8hach,and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill, because there is no other God that can deliver after thid sort." So the king promoted these men;- and, instead of being burned to death in the furnace, they came to be more honor- able than ever. The next thing that we hear of the king is, that he has had another dream. He seems to have been a great man for dreams. This time he saw a great tree which " reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth ♦ . . and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven, and cried aloud ; ' Hew down this tree, and cut dpwn MOODY*S SERMON OM PROPHET ^DANIEi. 49 hie branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit • let the beasts Ret away from under it, and the fowls from its branches. Nevertheless, leave the stump of his rpota in the earth. ^ Let his heart be thanged from man's, and let a beasts heart be given unto him,and let seven times pass over hira : to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ryjeth m the kingdom of jmen, and giveth it to whom- soever He will.'" . , " ■ The king seems to have been as much puzzled by this dream as by the other; and nobody could tell him what it meant until he sent for Daniel. Even he was troubled about It at farst; but presently the Lord showed it to him; and then he preached such a sermon to the king about his iride and the necessity of repentance, that the king's face turned |ale and his knees began to shake, and it was not long before he lost his reason, and wandered away from his palace, out into the woods and the deserts, and became more like a beast than a man. But at last the Lord had mercy on bim. His counsollore and princes gathered about him again, and brought him back to^is palace. But the king's heart was softened. 1 think he became truly converted to God ; and from this time we don t*ear him saying any more : " Is not thit great fi^llZ «-u ^T ^"^^^^ '" «»<^ ^« h«a' hi«n bluing the Most High, and praising and honoring Him whose domin- ion is everlasting, and whose kingdom is from generation to generation. . And now Jibe king makes one more proclamation, differ- ' ent from aH the others. Up to this time he has been telling other people what to do ; now he begins to spe«ik of his own duty and he says " I, Nebuchadnezzar, will d^ this— I will do that. I will praise and. extol and honor the King gfw Heaven, all of whose works art truth." . He has found oST his own duty His heart is softened : and although we do not hear anything more of him, I have no doubt that Daniel and he used to walk the streets of Babylon, arm-in-arm, and talk over their experiences together ; and when the king died, I feel quite sure that he went safely to heaven, to be wel- comed Vy the God of Daniel J and through the long eternity King Nebuchadnezzar will rejoice that that young man. D an iel, took his stand for God w hen he came down to Baby- — «£ 50 MOODY'S SERMON ON PROPHET DANIEL Ion, and did not follow the fashion of that wicked capital thongh It might have cost him his life '^ ' nf iJ^l** TV*'*'*"^ "^^ ^'^^ ^*" ^^^'^'^^n »«' ^»»afc the grandson of Mebuchadnemr, a wild young prince called Belshamr has come to the throne. On a certain occasion he makTa great feast^to a thousand of his lords. They come ZeLl in agreat banquet-chamber, and they drink and caZe all nightlong. They do not care for the armies of Cyirwhich are besieging the city. They trust in its high walls and ?f. gf« ol brass and feel themselves perfect^rJe At taif when the head of the young king 1 Jbeen q^iiS turnfe^ wTth wine, he orders the golden vessels, which hi^ mnXTilr V captjin^d from GcuFs temple at Jerusalem, to b^l^^^to the banqiket-hall that they may drink wine out of them i^ honor of the god's ^Babylon. But while they ard^ing this impious thing, behold, a hand appears, writL^iThTts fingeis upon the wall-the doom of the kingdom of Babylon I)nudc as he IS, the misei^le king is fr^hten^."^'^'""' con.^^:^^ rs^-l,,-^^ b^JtjTtC ':i:^XZ^^r^ it. No uncircumcised t:*::^ lh« ^T^^Z T""*^^' ^^^ "^^« of this strange affair reaches the ears of the king's mother ; and she sends a servant to him ml,;';? «";; L*'*' ? **^^^"y« ^^ ^« grandfather there jTa man m Babylon who could interpret dreams,and ^ve^8eZts fiftJnTelS^ *t\i'w^^^^^^^ it '^^^''' ^"' *he last aX tWfinA^ therein special work for him to do: ^The w4?,L IV'^^^ ?/ ^"«S ^^™ ^" *"d ask him to read the writing. « Mene, Mene, Tekel, Uvhardn ■ " anri f h« meaning ofit was clear as daylight to him? * *°^ **"' ^ Now ITiave no doubt that a good mwiy courtiers if thev had seen such writing as that upon the LTof tl^'e kS palace, would have softened the meanini? of if « ^ii^^. E MOODY'S SERMON ON PROPHET DANIEL. 51 18 balances, and art tound waiting. P.m.- Thy kingdom divided, and given to the Medea and Persians " ^ Ah ! poor miserable Belshazzar ! Even notv the soldi«« of Cyrus have turned away the watere of the Euphi^^ a^ are connng into the city along the empty banks. The ^Idie,^ are battering away at the doora of your palace, and beC morning your blood shall be spilled upon the sCes Tn« with the wine whidh you have L„ driSk^^nrout of^h^ts^ m God s balance, and found wanting « w«ignea vmiW^^""^"' ""PPf^^^ «h«»W begin to weigh some of don'dflfcin?^'''' ^"" Jr ^ '^^ ^"^ ^^^ balances now st^iBPf you would bo found wanting 1 Get into the jcaleHl^along with you your education, and your wealth and your dignity, and your fashion, and your tine cToThea' and everything you have that is 8plendid,~and tErLold wlu put ^helen commandments, in the other and up you S hke feathers-" weighed in the balances and found w Jtinc ^ Only they who have Christ in their souls can sten dthe t£t Some one will asl? me, "Mr. Moody, dare. you step into the balances to-day, and be weighed? Do you knoVthTt vou would be saved, if the Lord should bring you to julmenf ^^^ Yes ; thanks be to God, Christ is able to save L-Xh me " tl' Chf t^i^ad^^ ^' ^^" ^'^^ ^^^ -^ «^ yourr,rd Babfh!r*w*'"'' Vr"''^*'' Mede, comes to the throne of Babylon. He must have met Daniel somewhere in his trav- mm into a place of great power. He chooses a hundred and twenty princes whom^he places over the kingdomTa^over tb^se princes he appoints three presidents, and he mS Daniel the president of the presidente; so that he reX^ It to CeTthVth 'r'^"'/^; *^«^^"^ His buZe^ was to see that the king suflTered juo damage • " that is h« the king. This must have been a very difficult nlace «m* ?rrrLlTnd^'%'^"'^^''"1f^"^^- H'ehadtrwiffth^ h undred and twenty rascals, who were all the while trying to ' M somemmg off the reveiue ; and to go over t£e^ Site •c?»- ^ ' , ■»>« rj,*A« 1 ^ "V S||f MOODY'S SERMON O^ PflOPitET DANIEL. . ; again and again, so a&* to be certain that they were correct to • penny,. . \ , . / ,, I*r'»»°n*'"'^ ^^^"^ Daniel became very unpopular with MhSwr -i '^^" **^' ***^"*' ****'*''^ an'ongst themselves "There is that miserable old Je^,i)imM .Wm out of the way, we could make no end of money. We wouW ve^ speedily b^ rich; we would have 5ur country - «J?/i!iri*'"^^ ^^''' *"?.T ^"* horses and chariote, Sir^^ ff '"^ w 'u^ "^r? **^?^~* "^y*®' ^ff *»»« revenues of ^.kingdom; butthatold fellow watches tis ^narrowly ' ^•^•^^•{fhesaniDuse. We <»n't cheat him-even to a aSt;€ " Why/Vsays one/«I never saw sucli a mah in au my life. I gave in an account:the other day that was onl^ • few pouwl« abort ;anct did ^ot he send it back to me,Zd S?« "^K^^K^' differenced I wish he were back in Jeru- salem, where he came from." / V y. . , However; tte kynj trusted Dani^; and he was such a . ■^^^f^^^^ "^u h^^fVman that they really could find . ZraTJL^''*'*^?***^"'''^^^"'^'^*^^'"- They tilked it over cS!^^H^*"1•"^"'";*;^'*^*^8"«* that there was no chance df getting him put of. the way, unless they could find wmething m his religion byAvhich they could bring him ilito ^ !!. k ."^wl .*'"*^ con(ieming the lawof his God." What Shi'TJ • ^?^^'''^ wrong with him-even in the eyes oj thes^bad men^cept that fie was too faithful to his God » accouJ? ""^"^^^ 'i^^«Jy to be complained of on that . ^Finally, they hit upon a plan which they thoucht might ^ibly 8ucceed.^0ne night they are cloited Cth^J^in secret; and one of the pnnces says to the rest : " I think I vrS^^.P'*" :S\"^ -^"^ ^"*- You know King DaS^ is very popular and he is v^ry preud of iC The peSple praise J^^A a great deal, and he likes it. Now suppoeeSre ask h m rf a^^ * "^^"^ Ir^!?. ' *hat whosoever shdl ask a pe^iS^ t Z Sl^LT ^«' l^^'^^d^y** «»ve of the king, he shall ,pe cast into the den of lions.' That will be putting the king in th e place of the uods. ami ha j, ^^»t \ x\.A.. !.^° ^ ..^ . . .. th. phc .f fe B^d., ,nd he-;. ,«Tl£l7to'£Za -4iE^ 1P~ m-' -^ *> ■••V \./v. s ■ ' MOQDV'S .SERMON ON PROPHET DANIeL. tS3 more by that tMhy apythieg I can think oU th«n if Z^^^ti^"' old Hebrew intdthe HoXfn w^sLte a good ddal more money than we havfi b*^„ -ki * ^ "*T.* him watching ug^l the time"' ^® *** do wfth drew^ S^*? '^'"*? ?^ Pl«»8e the princes very'^U' Th^^ I of the Medes and Pewians cfaanira not ' w •* ' *"'• *•*• P^iu. to, tamp thtadieteh hi."S„:'1S'?'{ IS done for sure encmgh.", T ^if^^mgyVimiel ',. _ So themmittee go down to the palioe next mn«^i« * ^obtain, his s gnature. Thev Uain K^^ -^^ morning to wants anpthefJo da; n^lSfej^Sw^^ pbuling to his vanity. ! "'"'»%'»« f^*?* b^ns Vap-' o.erinllmihaandpreJntiyJ^*'"^ He.tumed t,. ']* That seems sensible." ' ; > " All right," said the princ6i *'W« fi«w««v* "^ JAe it.; and in oMer th.t^SS^migh7Lf r^^^ have the docutaent heie abeady SSm ud Nn^^f ^' '^t plaaseto stamp this with yoitf S^wL 5^*{/?° "^ published rigS away.™ ^^^^ ^^^^^t^n^Wt we duOl liave it . .Tlie Mng tdra^ iw docuinent, wads it <^ sfam,^ k- A » « J W* 54 MOODY ■$ SERMON orf PROPHET DANIEL. the king. I can imagine some one of Daniel's friends who had seen the document, going up to his office in great haste to give hito warning that there was some trouble brewing ' " Hive you heard the news, Daniel 1 Those hundred 'and twenty princes have gone and got Darius to publish a decree that Bobody shall pray to any other god, ex«ept him, for thirty days. That is a conspiracy against you. Now I want to give you a little*advice ; an^ t)iat is/ to get out of this townin a hurry." But Daniel says he can't leave his business. He is afraid these hundred and twenty pjinces will cheat the revenues while he IS away. His duty is right there, and he is deter- mined to stay there and attend to it. ^ " Well, then, had you not better pray more secretly \ You have a habit, that is'all well enough in ordinary times of going up to your chamber, where the windows opened toward* Jerusalem,and saying your prayers there three tim^s a day And sometimes you pray pretty loud, and people, out of doors can hear you. ^ Now just shut your windows while you pray for the next thirty days ; for these princes are sure to haveVome spieai watching you at your pttiyefs. You had better stop up the keyhole of your door also, for these meap felloes are not above peeping in to Watch you. It would be still >tter Daniel, if you would not kneel down at all, but sav vour prayers after you get into bed." r' ^ " ■ _Ah ! how many young men have gone to Oxford, or Cam bndge, and lost their peace of mind and their hope in Christ becai^^they were afraid to pray before their room-mate^ » ' And what does Dmiel say to such adyice as this? He spouts it. He trampels it under his feet. No man shaU hinder him fcomjraymg No king shall frighten him out of his duty. He attends to his morning's work ; looks over the accounts as usual ; and when twelve o'clock comes, he goes to his chamber puts the windows wide open, kneels down and prays, not to Danus, but to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Mw windows are opened towaids Jerusalem, and his face 18 turned^that way; for Jerusalem is dearer to him than hi8 life, and the God of his fathers is his sure defence. I can ■eem to see^him kneeling there-thatHd m an, with his white locka wd beard, praying at the probaible cost W to mX^\, t. \..^- . MOODY'S SERMON ON PROPHET DANIEL. 55 he doM not nesun to bo troubfid bT^e daiiB., .„>:.i. • u •ngry at,the command of tHe kine or th. ?S' f"*" '« ••« of thoM hundred and twentv nnW^ h"''^"'', "'''''''''""*" «me thoughtle,»'moment "fte'S,.™ f„*l'i '"'''"^."''" '" prinoe., who are wickedly ^.e^'J^tytr™""- '^ and^rth"^r :^iwT.t*tht 'r ""r»^ "-«» •« H.b»:;*?''' ""' """" ■• •'^ " P»y'"« to the Q«, of the the kiVr«er^T'ci»:s:^''i»« "»» « -^-^ -* th»n to the kingr . '"*''' ^ »■>? »ther fitt- .; but I nnto Hin..elf. r«^biS,i;^:^S7i;Z^ Z.fe.~?^^ ~* H» lift ««<. dei ■v.- "*'**^ $6 MOODY'S SERMON ^N PROPHET nANIKLl * At sundown the klng'a oflfifeera ro for the old man. to take him away to the lionH. They bi,?d hie hande behind hia back, and lead hiin along the streets of Babylon towanla the den. The whole city goea out to see the ^ proceaaion. The princes look out of their windows.'and rub their hands, and kugh over the succ^ of their wiokea plot; and the piople look on 111 wonder, to seer 9uoh a sweet-faced old man led away to die like a cmninal^; and poor Darius walks the chamber jfhts palace, wringing his hands in agony, saying, "Ah ma I I have destroyed ray friend." «•'»■'**• " """ Butt)aniel walks with a firm step, ffis old knees don't shake a bit The wind of the evening plays with bis white locks, and with a smile upon his face he go<« to meet the lions He has served his God now -for seventy long years, and he feels sure that God will not deserts him in this greai hour of triiJ I can imagine him saying, ", My God can bring me out of the jaws of the lions just as easily as He has saved my three friends from the furnace of fire. But even if thev eat me I fha" only die for my God." And when they put mTi^ZnL^:^^'^ ""* ^"^ ^' «^« *"««^ ^ «»>"*- ^« A ^^* *^®?u"' ^^ *^® T*^'"* P'^y®^ I^aniel kneels in the den ; and if he can get the point* of the compass down there, olWl.-r ^'J ^«9f>^8 Jerusalem ; and then, taking one of the lions for his i)iUow, he lies down and sleeps, as sweet y as any man ,n Babylon. The king sits up all night, thinking^ what his folly had cost him~even the life of his most filithful servwt. But he remembers that the God of wTl J;*«J.S^,;yZ ^ : Q J^^^^Jel, servant of the living^J^ ; CSLi^eto'?'"" servest continuaUy. abie t<^eliW MOObVs SERMO,, ON PRoPlIEt DANIEL 57 home to the VC tTh^Tt^t^T'-"'^ «™y they g,^ wonderful delivorance" "' '»8v« n, . . ence il Daniel hijl thoroughly cWverWl h^' IS/f "^P^" decUres-that, iniveiy dominion ,.7Kri.-"'V "*f "o" he tremble and fear before tTe God Ln •T''"!' ""■' -^ Hie *rvant from the power of the Tm- ' '* '*'"^"«' ' ,t«-go.through "h^fire fnd lo^^tTltr-^ "•." ^'^ the eake of hie truth • and at 3. « TV^ ""*•»• <■<>' life ar^-over, may we be" W '^^' f^"" "als of thia »d -Ithe incieilt woS.reefrtlel.J^gt^To:^^^^^^^ in i. .■WF CHAPTER IV. # •f~,' ■J4- HOWTb STUDY AND RfARK YOUR BIBLE. HAVE been wonderfully cheere»ifji •» ^ • ConcoiHiance ami i^^ihL^^^TyA ,* ™""*»» »P«n it. Take ject.and then r^^.^^'tClto^'^^^^^ . ;^*a«h ;" i i« better to go to Z WoM f n"f ' ^H '^'^^ "P than to pray for it Then Uke Z^^m ^^^ ?"^««' «»itfc way to heavei,. Now teke u d « R*^ ".?^ ' »* "*»«*»« the upon it, Then « P^^er." ^ ?:*!!?' ^ '^"^ T"^ "^»*hi M we ouffht to VJhL* 4u ^. "®' *n«w how to ni«» eaae our Tna^J' "^ou S'o ll" T.l ''^^ «'b7e ^u.?**^ fading it in that way. In fLX ^"^ u-' ^''«''' B»We by amarkin their Bible to toTXl'^^t^ f7^^' ''^'^ P^^ ^ corn when a boy, and I u««;fT. * i**"*^ ^«'' off' I hoed where I left off bo it ia ti l*"?' ^T" " ^^^^ to kn^w Wfor us to Btudrthe Bil ^r^''"« f « «We. The on^ try to master that'subjet a ^n^^**^ "f «"« subject «nd recommend the best Life of clrSt ?" ?^«^!. T ' "^'^^ y«» mend four-Miatthew, Mark, Luke ild l?"* ^^"""^^ '^o™' 4 wrote a very good account, but I S« TnJ": u*^*'** °^ *»>•»» had better apy,«I « year over thL ? ??° ' *»^*- A man over the whole Bible I?X«nT i?°''i^««P«J« than to run to the whole Bible It i! fc ''"*^^~ <^«"««'« ho has a key then the other pa'Ss of tatel 1^^^^^^^^ ^^ I^t us take the Bjble up with inml l^""!^ theniselvea to ua, «ome truth. In CaIi?o*^^nTi the b^^^^^^ 9r«ite8t depth ; and so with the W^rH^oi n!!i ^T^ »* «»»e ^ deepest. Here is some law doeum^n. ^^ **^" ^^ P«rt J^ow suppose it is the will nf ^^""*®»t ; it 13 uninterestinir inheritaL'^^ of this mherigince. What can Vh! 1 ^.^'* ^<^^ t^Us me the Rock of Ages ? He can ^H «^?^««»«*« tell you about world. What doe.^i^ltZtmJZ'^f *?!J^*^« «f *h^ mornmgstar? He^ teTZ afcf^^^^^ not tell Joshua how to n«« ff^ ^ **'^"®'' «**«• CJod did "IjH J«nd, but he toWh?m ton?^^^^^ '^SJ!* ^» the P«^ «i3it, anrf no one could sten^w^ T'" '^*' '*^ day knd at^t^y to every o ne l^r^ T^ 'l^^ ^Z^'"}'^. ^^^ ^< ^^' ^.A man fiUed with the Spirit dwells.^ \ 'W' 60 STUDYING AKD MARKING THE BIBLE. ture. Peter quoted Scripture at tlie day of Pentecu«t, when he WM full of the Holy OhoHt. This in the oword of the Spirit VVhttt Im a man good for if hu hat< no weapon 1 We don't know how to use thiH tiword ; we nhould gut into the habit of using it. David Mys, '♦ Thy Word have I hid in my heart." A good thing in a good place for a good purpoHe. If you lofle your health, you lie upon your bed and feed upo n th a Word of Gmi. When you ni^et together to dine it ia better to bring out the Bible than to bring on wine. I was glad in England at Boeing that done in a great many oT the houHee of the upper classoH. An Englishman Haid to mo, " Moody, did you ever observe thii), that .lob ia the key to the whole Bible 1" I Raid, " No, I never did." He said, ** If you get a key to Job you get a key to the whole Bible." *' What hau Job to do with the Bible 1" Ho said, " I will toll you. I will divide the subject into seven heads. FirHt, Job, before he was tried, waH a perfect n)an untried. Ho was like Adam in Kden until Satan came in. Second, he was tried by adversity. Third, ' the wisdom of the world ia represented by Job's friends try- ing to restore him. Sue what language they used, They were wonderfully wise men, but they could not help Job out of his difficulties. Men are miserable comforters when they do not understand the grace of God. Job could stand his scolding wife and his boils better than these men's arguments ; they made him worse insteoil of better. Fifth, (jrod speaks, and Job humbles himself in the dust. God, before He saves a man, brings him down into the dust. Ho does not talk about how he has fed the hungry and clothed .the naked, but he says, ' I am vile.' Seventh, God restoi-es him, and the last end of Job was better than the first. So the last state of man is better than the first. It is better than the state of Adam, because Adam might have lived ten thousand years and then fallen ; therefore it is better for us to be out- side of Eden with Christ than that we should be in Eden without Him. God gave flob double as much wealth as he hod before, but He only gave him ten children. He had ten 1^ fore his calamity came upon him. That is worthy of notice. God would not admit that Job had lost any children, gaycrhini ten here wd ton in heaven." He STUUyiNU AND MArIinO the BfBt.K. tf| W« wtiit th« Word of Ocxl •» hidden in our hetrto th>t ltis:::7. r.r:':i'; "'?,,r«''«"- •'-' i^- "^y"t they havy [nmn con picked up a nuwMp^ ing», the linit linoi WM atruck with it; place," and hift and is now leading t<> Ood, A man while in n Huloon Miung a report of one of the meet- ]^«8, " Where art thou V The m 1 himwlf, ♦' I am not in the ri the nin«ting and w«fl conveit. «,itKn.,r •1'"" - ";^"^t''»n ^»fe- We niuHt take the HiWe wihout prejud.ce, and j«it a. Methodi«t«. Bapti«t« Fi^l byterianH. or Ep.Hcopalian.. I « * r S ■ X ^>:4»iA:^'' •^*# ■'^WS-^^I^IE^- CHAPTER V. MOODY'S gems' OF CHRISTIAN THOUGHT. R. MOODY'S peculiar aptness and power in some of his running comments on texts of Scripture will appear in the following selections : — Poor drunkard! Come to Christ; Christ is stronger than strong drink ! Judas got near enough to went down to 'damnation. r kiss Him, and yet ^ We have three great enemies : the world, the flesh, and tii^ devO. But we have also three groat friends : the Father the Son, and the Holy Ghost. ' ■ ,, -"^ . ■ ■ ■ ' .> ■ You should be in earnest about seeking God. He was in earnest when he gave His Son to die fpr sinners. Christ was m eamt^y^en he hung upon the cross. A good many people are compkining all the time about themselves, and crying out :— " My leanness ! my leanness ' " when they ought rather to say, " My laziness ! my hiziness ! " A man once wanted to sell me a " Book of Wonders." I took It and lookedlit over, and could not find anything in it about Calvary. What a mistake ! A book of wonders— and the greatest won<^r of all left out ! * • -; .. _ ■■■;_.., \ ■ _ « What shaU I jthen do witfc Jesus which is caUed Christ ?" FUate has •Christ on hi s h a nd s , a nd now h o wants to know how to get- nd of Him. So it is with every convicted soul "ivs- >• % whic in hi " for Pet€fi Pai has goi devil n vation, « <) GEMS OF CHRISTIAN THOUGHT. 65 who wnotwady to be saved ndw. Poor PUatei i>nn.w \, . Poor Agnppa ! How near they got totlll^Lr^?^^ ' and yet never got in. ? kingdom of heaven, ■ to become Chriatiana tJii,\«w ^''" "'"' «■* «f>U>ing ^ Many of the Bible dharactere fell iust in tbi^fM. . > ^ which ttieyw^re thought to be the atC^i^ Uol^f^^ m his humility, Abraham in his faitb F\i^ ;^ u • - for one woman scared- himav^av if tw"'- ^ ^'^^^''^^^ hin,, .nd then let Wgrlfc", m J'tTk?"'' '** leflilJ^S^"* ^I>avid'8 mi^ty men that they wer^ right and fTth" S'S rf ■ ""S »" "Sht-h Jded and JThl™ Paul said he was the "chief of sinnATo •'» o».^ .* *i. u- 1. ration, tf he can; and if he cannot ndtruaUliew that, ha' « / ■} 66 •tA GEMS OF CHRISTIAN THOUGltT. saya, " You are so bad the Lord won't have you j'^and ad he tries to make people believe tKey are either too good oi too bad to be convert(*4/ ■ ' ' One reason why we don't have more answers 4o our piayers ia because we are not thankful enough. Tbe»divine inju'nc* tion is, " Be careful for nothing ; but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thankagiviny, let your requests be made known unto God." ^onie one has well said there are th^ee things in this ve^e : tarefulfoi^ nothing — prayerful for every- thing—thankful for anything. ^, ■ • Naaman left only one thing in Samaria, and that wa^ hia sin — hia leproay : and the only thing God wishes you to leave ia your sin. And yet it is the only thing you seem not to care about giving up. "Oh," you aay,", Hove leprosy j itiaao delightful, I can't give it iip. I know God wants it, that He may make me dean. But I can't give it up." Why, what downright madness it is to love lepfrosy ! ^ i "N' GElMS OP CHRISTIAN. THOUGHT. 67 ister, seud the church officers, the chu^h wardens, the eldert • ' Z k f !^ 1 ^'Tl^^y.^y y«« h?ve not got the hUrt : forif the heart is oyal, Go«neshaU receive a hundredfold more in this prwZi^ and m the world fo cdme life everlasting." But Pete^an*- wenng said, « ^. we have left all, and tollow«i W So p- t always^. We^make much of our sacrifidl|| What Aarf m^'Stt ^'^^^Z °*^ t«>»^en«ete,Msome^ Whfit ad they g^in exchange? The kingdom of God ! < ^ ^tJrrlh^ ^''''?* '^^^^ *^«« dictionaries more ^id ?»^w ^ i?T*"« «f ««F°^ these Bible words. There w that word "repentance." Slome peoiSpre sayii^, *Wl^fc .dont Mr..|foody tell us mor^ about ^ntanief^mW f^^si^-TufJtll Some one says it is a "godly sorroT for sin.^ But I teU you a man can't have a godly sorrow- er a godly anything-else till after he tepente. Eepentance' means right-kboutfa^! Some one says, ?J^Mair>SnwiS : hi?>|ck towards Go^. and repentance, ^i^ turning square h«i«^^K '"""/"^"^u^P '? • ******^° have ascett^d a litfle , height, things down here begin to look very sS indeed. ;.^-.-| ^t*- :jy::«. ..■4m- OF CHRISTIA 'f-.;!! ere nofchitigs; ai MngW earth 'apj %e, till th^ ri^i s j^e a tnri^ and titwiffttf. nd piles of buildiiigs we g^ti' 4|,ear h^aivefl :• now BQ^Ul'' l(erinallfl(f every^^lf fainter ah<^£&inter aa tlii jlt| " « u u evi^r go* do Wirt in iaiid feet, right down i^ ye|don\you know that ly ;^ fil^qib tip the steep sides o *eoalpit, fifteen htJk the bowels of the ^ould be sheer mad- w - as - - • Ut shaft and so get |fe «pfttafp^j?4ti: OftjQur!8e,yottcouJdBt'tliloiitof it; in lact, /5«i|^vi c()|l4p'|getoutof:itat all by yotoelM But I'll tell you ' mi^,-^yatf cquld iget out of a coalpit 6ft|Seop|indred feet deep ^^good deal qij%m than you can get out of: Che pit that Adam . ti)0k you i|pto. > y^ went doWn iiii^ it, he ttfok the :wrhole human Pfit0f witli . him . ' Bufc- tl»e^ ^fiird can take us, "out. ■>- : • ■■.(■'■: •'; .y ..-■■■'. f .:■.]. '■:.!- A fi^iend of in^ne was ivalking along the streets one dark i4ght, wl«Glii^1ie $aw ii wan coming alonj^ iitith a lantern. As he^eatne up clos^ to*him, he noticed by the bright light that .tfee man had no eyes: He went p^st hjiai j i)ut the thought struck; him, " Surely l^at tnan is blind \^-\ sHe turned round .and stfid, *\My friend, are you not blind r *• Yes," was the answer.. " Then what have you got., the lantern forf "I eaia^th© lantern," said the blihd n^an, " that people ^ay not fiitttiuble oyer me," Ley^t take a lesson ^jtot that bliriS man,' /arid hold up our ligh% buming^ with a^^lar raditince of. faeay^n, that men may'^ot stuipble overj I on^^Bard of two men wlii ^ liquor, dmi^own one night to ' ' they wanted to return home, so the^ ^ They pulled away hard' all night, w got tojbhe other side of the bay. ' 1g b r oke, behold, they had^ne ^ttcar ^ the influence of eir'boat was tied; nd began 46 row. yfhj they never e gray -dawn of edL the mooring JF m ,e or i:Ai80d \,h^ onphor ! Aijd that's just t^ way. with 1^ .#■ \. , •; ir Vi\ GEMS OF CHRISTIAN THOUGHT. • -x 69 many who are striving to enter the kingdom of heaven They canpot believe, because they are tied to this world. Cut the cord ! cut the cor.1 ! Set yourselves free from the clOtfffinff weight of earthly things, and you will soon go on towards llBftVOIf* p ■ ■ \ - ,,Kead the 103rd Psalm, and mark how the Psalmist bids u^,." forget not all His benefits." Some one has said we can^ not remember them all, but we must not forget them all— they are too numerous too keep them all in mind, but let us keep soipe of them in mind. Observe five things in the 3rd 4th, Ind 5th verses of this psalm :— (I) "He fonriveth lOi thine iniquities.'^ (2) " He healeth all thy diseases." (3) " He redeemeth thy life from destruction." (4) " He- crown- eth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies " But there are very many crowned heads that are still not satisfied. God, therefore, does more,— (5) "He satistieth thy soul" What more can we have tharf that ? When Jesus, along with His little band of disciples, came to the grave wherein Lazarus was laid, they found it covered by a stone Jfl|ii8 could have removed the stone Himself; but, notice. He bide His followers to remove the stone. And we find that after th^ Master had restored the dead man to life IJe also said to them: *' Loose him and let him go" The Master could have loosed him ; but He said to His disciples • "You loose Him." What lesson does the Master mean to **f?jL^d?^ *^Mr#? '"^^^s to teach His foUowws that. '^'*MSWrli*^^^^ **»« word of life to deaa soiUs, He ^9W^ tommm^ne, and to loose the poor souls and m them go. He would have u^to be co-workers with Him > §ome people tell ^ WAM not V^^*^^ 4i«ei«ice what a man befleves if he is onjy sincere.^ One Church is just as good as another if you m only Bimeie^ idomt believe anjc jreater delusion ever calne out (tTTihe pit of hell than thai It IS ruining more e-ouls at th«)p^reseut4han anything eke. I .yhi, , . never of any men m ore Bijfoflre bnnt Oarmel — ^.thoee lest. Yoa do not r^ of f'i!?'*it^^°^'°^^^. Vera ten getting so in ,^' •* !i \ ..^rp W 70 GEMS OF CHRISTIAN tHODGHt. earnest now that they take knivee and ciit thenwelves. Look at them leaping upon their altars; hear their cry—" Oh Baal ' oh Baal ! '• We never heard thai kind of prayer on this plaU form. They acted like madmen. They were terribly in earaeet: yet did not God hear their cry? They were aU ■'■'*'• ~ ■ - i . « . - t. X ^°^ ***^® ^^ **°°*"^ *"^ ^"0 8*»or* of the glory of God but God comes and say^, " I will pardon you. Come now, ^nd R-w " TT ^^'*^''- '• " ■^'>^ " " «"« of the words of the Bible the devil is afraid ofr-. He says, " Do not be in a hurry • there is plenty of time : do not be good now." He knows the' influence of that word « now." " To-raorro>^ " is thS devil's word. The Lord's word is "now." God says, " Come now J£i in If'T-.*''^*'**''- • ^*^^"8^* y°"' «»"« are as scarlet they shall be white as snow. Though they be red as crimsonl I will make them as wool." Scarlet anif crimson are two fast colors; you would not get the color out without destroyinc the garment. God says, « Though your sins are as scarlet arid crimson, I wiU make them as wool and snowM will do it now. „v^ I have anidea that there are thousands of c^wnless saints m heaven. They- just barely get in at the doors, -feiey have, indeed, boen redeemed by the blood of the Lamb ; but ther^ 18 no reward for them. They have sought their own ease in thw world; they have not sought to work for Christ here below; therefore, though admitted to heaven, , they enjoy no diatonguished reward. " They that be wise sh^l shine af the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to ngbtoousness as the stars for ever and ever." But none of Jbabw here,_^wiU shineas the stars, or receive the^t reward Hereafter; For those carel^ ones there is no bmht rionr -&i3lT **"* *''"*°' ' *^*y ^""^ j"«* KO*^ in|^ tie gate^ hfaiS?*" '^ !" ^^- y^ ^^"°y '^^^^ «^"^ ^ ^Sfl higher and ^n W.nwfwfe'^i' and^ you Will find iV air calm Uiew. Jf on loiow that ^is the highest mountain podcs thatci|tcli the -f ■ ». . geKts of christian tnouoHT. , 71 * ^rst rays of the 8un. 80 those who rise highert catch the' first newsfrom heaven. It is those sunny Chrirans who ao through the world^with smiles on theit fj^es, tha win soufr And. on the other hand, it is those Christians who grthZah the worid han|;nng their heads like bulrushes, that »care neo pie away from religion. Why. it^, a libel orCMstrnUy^r " a j^l,g,ous nian to go about with such a downer bok ' What does the Master say W My joy I leave with vou mv ^«^ I give iinto you." Depend Von it. if our min^^^^^^^ ; stayed upon H.rn. we should have pertect peace Jnd wHh perfect pe"a" who was a pinner. If He had womi^lJ^riLP'^P^" would have 6aid.^^' Oh. that poor Inl f hVJ , *? ^^r^"!^- liegeneration will do for har- niS t' Cl'^'^H^^^^^^ we who are moral do not nI^SLiiL ^[I^"" did Christ say this tof He said it to I^MT' .!!?^ r';^"' "« """^ «»« ^*' the chUK^h di^ n ^rid% l» e^ « tood y high as aii:»»»an in J[er«sHlem. except the fsV- .y-"^* %. GEMS or CHRISTIAN THOUO»§. ^t i». % hot one wopJof ftcripturo against him ; ho was a roan that ^ud out before the whdpg-^ ^^^, andTpotiTchar S^ ho«, ""t*' d6#eB?Sr35r tc^hm (•'-'' Except a man be born again, he cannot |ee m kingdom of God " ^ Look at Poor oM Pharoah down there in**K«vpt when Uie pJague of frogs waB on him. What an awful t fe he mTt irflLw' ^'^^K' '^*»'«fi-^d«.«"dfn,gs in the houses; ?ro^ n the bedrooms, and frogs in the kneading- troughs. WhS the king wen to bed. a frog would jump on to his face • wh^ it. Wothing but frogs everywhere ! Frogs, frogs, frogs • He ^I^IV*^ long as he coild; and then he'SntIr AW anl Uave m^do it 1 says Moses. Now just listen ti what he hlw fcL'^^iT'^^'^ ^'"^'^^ *^' r"'^ ««y' N«^ • this minute ! f ^ve y them long enwgh ! But he 8ays.--7W/^«rrL'. wyea , but yoik«e WHlmg to koiip your hateful, hideous sins till fo-morr^w, iWad of .beinij ?( of them noic. hnt^Hnl '^Ii''^'!™ *'''""*'y ^" ***« *"*"'°n» When men go mjs pe^l^o " lib t^i l^or^e cai^pe^om that fire. They Just take a ^atch^and ligHt the g^ around them, and let the fire sween U^and then they get into the burnt district and sU^d ^i^ n/!J^w ^b^ flames roar; they see death cominTtow^s theij ; but they do not fear, the/do not tr«mbr bL^ae tte danger. There is nothing for the fire to burn ' rhere is one mountain peak thiCt the wrath, of God h^ yt over; that is fcunt Calory, and that fi re op^t ito 2^ upon the bosom of thfe Son oT G^d 4e voHlid Jre by the cross, and you wiU be.safe for time andTJil?y ?^ dU, '.M 'Ai an that «8 ehar- t a man t, when liemuflt i; froga When ; when ddle of 8 ! He 68, Aia^^ like to hat he ute ! f trrtno." »fthem it to be lis sins len go some- up a Y feet « y dot Not take a sweep safe, wards se the is no 7^' " ■i I i it 1$ .;i' vi r-.t •* . t (ll« ItlTIII.) I.QI0O (MlUmMW BOOK AGENTS WANTED ♦■ THE LIVES AND LABORS ov MOODY & SANKEY; nKINO A , 4UI.I, HISTORY ol these men, and of (;o Bible Anecdotes and llU»stration» used by him in the revival work ; Mr. Sankey's Addresses and HymnS. and ever interest connected with their wonderful career of conquest. It also contains a Memoir of the late V. W liliss, th of the most popular and effective Hymns and Tunes the Moody and Sankey mcetin^is. By REV. ROBERT EOYD. D.D., WITH AH niTBODnOnON BY REV. JOHB POTIB, OP TOBOHia IUi»tr»t«d with Fortraits of Meinra. Moody, Bankey and BUu, and Vievi of the Tabenucles in which the ReviTal Meetlnge wer* heJd- " 'rhi» work givca the fullesl accoiini, that we h.-ive seen, of the great reliRiouii awnkeiiing, both ill the (na World and New." -il/.-Mtvi'ix/ MngnsiH* for March, «877- ^ __^ _^ j_ __ ■ _. , ■ FuMlahad In one crown Ovo. volun* of vfmt BQO PSffCis, ^^^ betosd in iiMkt nnd ■ubaUntlal EnffUsh Mualin, wXttrnptA Id black and gold, md fUrnlahad to autMoHlwr* at only'f f.75 p«r oopjr very chaap. (It wUl b* ••nt tojr mall, poat-pald, on Receipt of price). Addraaa, for olrculaxa and fuU parUcuIafH, No. 48 KINO 8TIUWT ^ TORONTO Bux & Co., Printer*, City Steam I'reiM, ID Adelaide 8t. East, lev :mm- Mf^ .^-\ '^ '■'■■■ ■■■ 'r 1 ■ ■'. , ■ ' 1 ' -■■■•■'■ -■'%'■'■'■.■ £■.: ^ 'M'.. ■\ ' ..A .. , .'.I -. y. . < * r^^:-i\.#>.. ■>> -^■v. Uv , 'K' T^^^r -^. / 1