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THE MISTAKES OF MOSES

AND OTHER SERMONS.

>Virj.I.\M PATTKRfSOX.

HE Mistakes of Moses

AND OTHER SERMONS,

REV. WILLIAM PATTERSON,

Pastor of Cooke's Presbyterian Church. Toronto.

TORONTO:

THE POOLE PRINTING COMPANY, LIMITED,

PUBLISHERS.

Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, In
the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine by The
Pools Printing Company, Limitko, at the Department of
Agriculture.

TO MY MOTHER,

T<) WHOSE LOVE I OWE SO MUCH.

PREFACE.

This book contains the substance of sermons preached in
Cooke's Presbyterian Church, Toronto. These sermons, when
delivered from the pulpit, were instrumental in helping
Christians and in leading many of the unsaved to put their
trust in Christ. They are now sent forth with the earnest
hope that they may be of some service to those who may
read them.

W. P.

Toronto, Dec. 18th, 1899.

CONTENTS.

THE MISTAKES OF MOSES

Pack.
11

THE ABUNDANT LIFE

II.

'J2

PETER

• ••'■■,.,• »■'

JESUS AND NICODEMUS

IV.

THE LOGICAL LEPERS .

JONAH

VI.

THE CHURCH'S GOOD

VII.

SALVATION ILLUSTRATED

VTII.

IX. *;

SAMSON

• .

• . •

THE WATER OF LIFE

♦ I

101

CONTENTS.

i) '

XI.

THE VISION OF DRY BONES

THE TWO SONS

THE UNFORTUNATE MAN

• t

XII.

XIII.

XIV.

MANASSEH

■ • *

: > XV.

THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS

THE GREAT FEAST

PRAYER

XVI.

XVII.

XVIII.

THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR

JESUS ONLY

XIX.

XX.

Page.
116

127

SOWING AND REAPING, A Sermon to Young Men

137

156

166

176

188

200

'ill

THE MISTAKES OF MOSES.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Without any exception Moses was the greatest man
in the Old Testatment dispensation, and of no man is
more honorable mention made in the New Testament.
In Revelation, when the celestial city is spoken of, we
read of the song of Moses and the Lamb. Yet this
man, who holds a position second to none, made a
number of mistakes. I purpose referring to three of
these mistakes, and the subject will be practical as they
are mistakes which Christians are likely to make.

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

THE MISTAKES OF MOSES.

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

THK MISTAKES OF MOSES.

i:i

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

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

14 THE MISTAKES OF MOSES.

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

THE MISTAKES OF MOSES.

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

THE MISTAKES OF MOSES.

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

THE MISTAKES OF MOSES.

should

we arr
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38. Not

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

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

THE MISTAKES Ol'* MOSES.

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

THE MISTAKES OF MOSES.

inning
id the
)f the
ise of
but it
jnabletl
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Moses'
suffer
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3e;" and

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

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

■mn

99 THE MISTAKES OF MOSES.

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

THE MISTAKES OF MOSES.

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

IT.

THE ABUNDANT LIFE.

"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it
more abundantly."— John 10; 10.

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

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

THE ABUNDANT LIFE.

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

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

THE ABUNDANT LIFE.

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

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

-if-

•ffx

THE ABUNDANT LIFE.

)irit-
Nv in
He
His
are
the

divine life that thoy nre unable to accomplish any-
thing in the spiritual world. To such the apostle
spoke when he said they were weak and sickly and
fn in ting, requiring to be fed on milk when they should
be nourishing themselves with the strong meat.

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

THE ABUNDANT LIFE.

fti<l

to give out, that acconiplislics ^vork in the ])liy.sic{il or
sj^iritual world.

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

THE AP.TiNDANT LIFE.

•al or

[ then
e life,
.f this
re the
in the
after
every
power
y con-
Lincon-
e gives
vork it
: work-
e; «nd
3S will
kl, for
le kind

of it.
is tak-
e] OK- 0(1

it has
etween
Id has,
univer-

e born

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

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

THE ABUNDANT LIFE.

skeletons, — ^men who have been starved for a time,
and there are multitudes of spiritual skeletons in the
church. A man cannot become physically strong on
angel cake and mince pie, thou8;h there is nothing
wrong in these things as dessert; and a Christian can-
not become spiritually strong on a great deal of the
light literature that is read in these days, though that
literature may be harmless in itself. It has not the
nourishment that is necessary to the developing of the
divine life. The Word of God, biographies of the
good and the great, and the best literature is essential
to the spiritual and intellectual development of the
Christian.

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

THE ABUNDANT LIFE.

And thus people coming together, having fellowship
one with another, create a spiritual atmosphere that
goes far toward developing the divine life. Looking
at the matter from this point of view we may b3 helped

in the settling of some of the vexed questions which
Christians often ask concerning places of question-
able amusement. For example, the question is often
asked, Can I go to this place or to that and be a Chris-
tian? You might just as well ask the question. Can a
man work and live in a place where the air is impure?
We know they can and do, but the question really is.
Can a man become physically strong if he is contin-

ually or almost continually breathing in a polluted at-
mosphere? And then, applying this. Can a Christian
become spiritually strong if he is frequently breathing
in the polluted atmosphere of the ball-room and the
theatre or the gambling-house? Lot was a man of
God and is at the present time in heaven, yet he
breathed in the polluted atmosphere of Sodom, and
no one can say of him that he had an abundance of
life, for he was weak and useless. And in like man-
ner if a Christian wants to get to heaven by the skin
of his teeth and is willing that the rest of the world
should go down to destruction, he may do a great
many things and go to a great many places and at last
be saved as by fire. But if a man is anxious to carry
out the will of his Master and to bring othei*s with him

I "W '

TUli AIJUNDANT lAVE.

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

a one
ill find
mack',
st take
le is to
study-
n with
ixercise
r spirit-
man i^
time be
ve have
im; this
Others
le same
Per-
nastic^^.
it there
y work
)lessinj;-
a on in
oes not
;here is
ich she
passen-
lore we
for ex-

THE ABUNDANT LIFE.

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

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

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

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

THE ABUNDANT HFE.

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

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

have an
psalmist,
! go into
luse it is
[lis yoke
ght, and
neat and
have an

THK ABrN'DAXT fJFK.

comumui] >hoMi„^- to fhc worM thaf, -pm-p religion
and undofilod hoforo (iod and rlio Father is this, to
visit tl.o fatl.orloss and wi,l.>ws in their affliction, Ind
to Ivoop himself nimpoitod from tlie world."

hy is it,
;ay of us
8 of His
r\ii have
jelievetli
^h faith,
srine life,

it, who
ive very
,. They
ase their
it in the
life is it
3 Adam,
1 because
lour for-
3el, hohl

out His

i f
1 i

i '

III.

PETER.

"Then began he to rur.;(> hitI in s\vc<!r. h.-muu'. I know nol the man."—
Matthkw 26: 71.

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

I'KTKK.

• >>>

e man. —

'scariot,
s Peter

several
First of
vileged.
2,lory in

ses and
. The
lira, for

pistles.

maiden
lie three
iu the

(at con-

rhcn he

Ig God,
-elation

|f ul pro-
would

ling the

•i

dangers which lav ahead of hiin, and it is said that ii
a man is forewarned he is half-armed. Still further,
he failed Christ in tue hour when his presence and
hie help were most needed. Wo cannot think of that
night scene, without contrnptir.g the conduct of Peter
with that of John, who vras the youngest of the dis-
ciples, and who displayed the greatest courage and
heroism. lie was the only one to stand by his Master,
when all men had forsaken Him, and when the powers
of liell were against Ilim. On the other hand it U
probable that Peter was the oldest of the apostles,
the one who had braved many a storm on the Sea ci
(lalilee and displayed great courage on many occa-
jiions; the one who should luive horu closest to the
}\faster in the hour of Iii> need, hut at th.at time we
find him in the coui'tyard, fir.-t denying that he knew
Him, then emphasizing his denial, and finally cur;-iug
and swearing that he knew not the man. AVhen one
listens to these oaths of his and then thinks of his
words in Caesarea Philippi vre cannot help exclaim-

iriir

i( TT

IIow tho mighty have falh-'U.'' C'>ui'{ he h.iV(^
fallen any lower or committed a more grevious fi.i
Against his Lord than he did on that eventful night ■
But what led to this terrible fall? First of all
we might look at his self-confidence, for he had un-
bounded confidence in himself, deelarlng that though
all men should forsake Ohrist vet he would never do

IM-.'fKR.

siicli a tiling-. This pride an.l coiiiidoiico in ono's sHf
ns a general tbing" goes befovo a fall, but when we are
thinking of this in the case of Teter do we not se(>
traces of it sometimes in ourselves^ We hear of men
who have fallen and have sinned, and we are liable to
sav to ourselves, if not to others, we could never hv
guilty of such things. This pride and confidence in
one's self leads to the despising of others and in the
case of Peter, while he did not say it, he inferred that
the others might den^^ Christ. The more one tliinks
of himself the lc8s he will think of others, and tlie
more confidence he has in himself the less he will have
in others. Still further, this led to his rashness in the
garden, for when the men came out to arrest Jesus,
J*eter drew the sword and rushed at them without
first consulting Christ. It is the part of a soldier to
wait for the command of his superior officer. It is
the part of a true disciple to receive his commands
from his Lord and Master. Peter did not say to Jesus,
'' What wilt Thou have me to do, or wherein does my
duty lie?" But without asking any advice or counsel,
he drew the sword and cut oif the ear of the servant of
the high priest, and for this act he was rebuked by
.Tesus and told to put the sword up again.

How often we do that which is similar. We act
without taking counsel with the One whom we profess
to serve, without finding out what Ilis will is in the

I'KTKR.

•> t

I we av(^
not so(^

of llUMl

liable t<»
lever Ix'
lence in
d in tlu^
■red that
thinks
and \\\r
,vill have
ss in the
5t Jesus,
without
oldier to
It is
nnnands
Jesus,
loes my
counsel,
rvant of
uked by

We act
]irofe>^s

s in the

niatter, and what i)art He would have us take. The
cause of Christ has always sutfered from the rashness
of His followei-s and this rashness is due in a large
measure to our confidence in ourselves, in our own
wisdom and in our own powers. AVe are freciuently
told that one of the causes of Peter's fall was the
fact that he slept in the garden, when hv should have
been awake. There is no two ways, but that it was
wrong on his part, but we must remend)er that the
other discii)les also sle}»t. Then he followed afar (►IT,
but some of the others did not follow at all. They
lied. Certainly it is a dangerous thing to follow afar
*>f! when in the land of the enemy. Those who are
in a border land in a time of war, as a general thing,
suffer more than those who are in the heart of the
country, and the nearer a person is to Christ the
safer he is, and the further away, the greater the dan-
ger.

Then Ave find him with the enemies of his Lord
whon he should have been with the Lord Himself.
He was where he should not have been, hence he was
in a place of danger. If a messenger had come from
heaven he might have a^ked him the question that
was asked of Elijah, '* What doest thou heref In
after years he was ofVni among the enemies of the
Lord, but he was there for the purpose of turning
them from the en*or of their wavs, but now he is trv-

'I i

PETER.

ing to save his life and is in great danger of losing it,
by the very efforts that he is Dutting forth to save it.
Peter is not alone in this matter. Even in tliis age
multitudes of Ch.rist's professed followers are often
among the enemies of the Lord vrhen they should be
with His friends, and they are there, not for the sake
of turning the enemies into friends, but for the sake
of gratifying their own desires, or of being amused.
Xo doubt all these things to which we have referred
had a great deal to do with Peter's fall, but we must
remember that the devil played a very important
part in connection with his sin. When Christ was
looking forward to this night he said to Peter, " Satan
hath desired to have you that he may sift you as
wheat." It would seem that all the powei*s of hell
were let loose against Peter and that the great desire
of the Evil One was to overthrow him, and perhaps
the most important point in this whole history is the
fact that Peter did not realize the greatness of the
enemy with which he had to contend. Had he real-
ized this he would not have had so much confidence
in himself, he would not have slept in the garden, he
would not have acted rashlv Avithout consulting his
Master nor followed Him afar off, neither would be
have remained with his Lord's enemies. And what
was true of Peter is true of multitudes since then
and now. It is because men do not realize th^

PETER.

strength of the forces which are mustered against
them, that tlicy so often fall. It is this thought which
Pniil wished to briii*^' before the church when he
paid, " "W^e wrestle r.ot a.rrainst flesh and blood but
ajrainst principMlities, against powei's, ajiainst the
rulers of the darkiir?s of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in liic:h places." And then he exhorts
tliem to put on the whole armour of God that .they
ni.nv be able to withstand in the evW day.

Tt is tlie same thoua'ht that Christ brouirht before
tbe disciples v.dien He told them tliat their adver-
snry. the devil, was croinc: about as a roarinc: lion,
soolsiiiiT whom ho miirht devour. And perhaps tbe
wppjvPst point in the church to-day is the fact tlint
sbe dors not r'^nli^e the 'S+renotb of the forces M'hich
.<Mo n<j.'iinst hor. for tb.e d^vil is fulfillinG^ propbecv
;rid comJTijr to ii>^ ;is jin nncrel of lio-bt. and makincr
many believe tb.at there is no devil. Tt is ber-nuse of
this Ave p:o on in our own stroirtb. and the result is
we fall. TThen we condemn Peter for lii-- ebamefnl
conduct on the nip-ht of the betrnyal. h^t us not forji^et
the tremendous powers which vovo n'Ntinst him, and
tlie crent desire on the pnrt of tbe devil to have bim,
and also that as Satan desired to bnve Peter so be
desires to have us, and there i"^ no power which can
save us except the power wbi'di resoued and saved
Petf'r. To us it should bo n comfortiuc; thought that

nil

PETER.

on** Lord not only knows the weakness of the flesh,
hut He also knows the power of the adversary. lie
is not only able to make ^1^ strong- in our weakness,
hut He is able also to make us more than eoncjuerors
over the enemy. This He did in the case of His
apostle.

It was the prayer of Christ which saved this man
Avlien he was on the very brink of destruction. '' I
have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not," an<l
his faith did not fail in the critical hour. The ful-
fiimenr, of his Lord's prophecy concerninji; the thrice
d..mal and +he look of pity and of love which he re-
ceived from Jesus, sent him out into the garden to
remember his sin, to loathe himself and to cry might-
ily for forgiveness. fFesus saw the tears, heard the
cries of anguish, cleansed his soid from the terrible
strains, and not only restored him back to disciple-
ship but made him one of tlu^ gTeatest powers for
good that the world has seen.

l*erha})s we have no greater illustration of what
the forgiveness of Christ means than that which is
exhibited in the case of Peter. In Isaiah the wicked
;:re commanded to forsake their ways, and the un-
j'Otlly their thoughts, and to turn unto the Lord with
the promise that He will abundantly pardon; but it
is impossible ttt comprehend the length and the
breadth, the heighth, and the r-epth of the pardon-

11 I

! .

PETER.

and

inii luvv of Christ. 'Not only docs lie blot out all
the past but He places the transgressor in the fore-
fi'ont of His triumphail^ army and makes him an
honoured instrument in opening the door to the Gen-
tile world, and in bringing multitudes of tlie Jews
into the kingdom of God.

In looking at this whole scene we liave brought
before \is man's weakness, the devil's powtu* over man
when his confidence is placed in himself, and then
the power of Christ to overthrow the ))lans of the
cnemv, for bv this fall Peter became a grander ami
greater disci})le, always looking to the l.ord for guid-
ance, leaning upon the strong arm of his Master.
ITe did more to pull down the strongholds oi evil and
to destroy the works of the devil than any other of
the disciples, saving, perhaps, the apostle Paid. And
in the last place we see the matchless compassion and
tenderness of Jesus Christ in His dealing with this
apostle, how He remembers him on the morning of
His resurrection and tells those to v.diom He appeared
lo tell the disciples and Peter, how He appears to
him and has a pri^'ate interview when none of the
others are present, how lie commits to his care the
sheep and lambs of the tlock, entrusting to this dis-
ciple those who an- dearest to His heart. What a
v.arning the fall of Peter is tt» those who have con
lidence in themselves; what encourniicment eome-

ii i ;■!

PETER.

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

!i!

'11
II

IV.
JESUS AXD NIOODEMUS.

Niglit had fallen on the city, and at last the streets
wore stilled. The dwellers in Jerusalem had gone to
llioir Lonos, and the strangers had retired to the tents
which filled every vacant space in the great city dur-
ing Passover week. A knock was heard at the outer
jrate of a humble dwelling, and a few minutes later
Jesxis, n young prophet of Xazareth, stood face to
liice with Xieodennis, a ruler of the Jews. The in-
icrvicw which followed is one of the most important
.even m the sacred writings. The name, the position
"ocupicd, and the religious sect to which the night
visitor belonged are ail given by the inspired hist"or-
">n; and the necessity of the new birth, the work of
tbe Spirit, the love of the Father, the mission nf the
Son, the responsibility resting upon those who have
heard the gospel, are all set forth by Jesus. Many
blame Ai.odemns for coming at night, and think i't
-OS a sign of cowardice on his part; but there is not
a sentence in Scripture to justify such a theoiy.
here was no reason why he should not have come
J"rmg the day. He may have been among the depu-

' fl <

■^r

'It

IKSrS AM) MCODKMUS.

tation wlio wont down to the Jordan to iiuinirc of
Jolni concerning' liia mission, or if he was not he must
have lieard the report wliich they brought back. Be-
sides, owing to the position whieli he held in tlie
great council, he had perfect liberty to ask any teacher
whatever questions might suggest themselves to him.
and at this time .Tesns was not iinjiopnlar with tlu?
great council; tlie ^xriod of opposition had not set in,
and no one would have thought it strange, neither
would they have cast reilections upon Nicodemus if
he had been seen talking with Jesus during the day.
It is true John speaks of him as the one who came
to Jt^sus by night, but that is for the sake of identify-
ing the man; just as he speaks of himself as the dis-
ciple whom Jesiis loved, or the one who leaned on
liis bosom at supper, and as, in the eleventh chapter,
he s}>o;iks of Miiry wiio t!m;inlcd the Lord, altlK>ugh
the story of the anointing does not come luitil we
reach the 12th chapter, but he wishes us to under-
stand that it is the same ]\larv. So when he speaks
of Nicodemus in this manner we understand that
nothing further is meant than that men should re-
cognize him as the same one who had the interview
with Jesus, which interview i.-> recorded in this third
chapter of John. And, from the way in which Jesus
received ami treated him. v.-e must conclude that his
motives in coming to ffcf^us were all right, but his

IK.SrS AN'l) X Iff") II I'M IS.

ir.

concrptions ol" the work wliich -Irsus onnio to do, ainl
nf the nood of Israel wcro all wron^'. lie tlioufi'lit
iliMt JoRis was a groat tcatdicr, conu^ Frt»in (lod, and
lliat wliat tlio nation required was siudi a teacdier.
15nt Jesus wished to lianisli from his mind this erron-
< ons idea, and that led Him to answer Nioodoinus in
i! way whieh niifjlit seem to ns somewhat rude. It
is true, Jesus was a teaeher, and the greatest of all
teachers, for Uc tan^ht as never man taught, and it
is also true that wherever His gospel is puhlislu d
men are not only blessed spiritually, but they are do-
veloped intellectually, for Christianity and education
go hand in liand, but His mission to this world was
not to teach them ])ut to save them. In Israel there
had been great teachers before 1 1 is time — men who
had come from God, men like the heroic Elijah or
the seraphic Isaiah — and yet tlie nation kept going-
down step after step, until they sat as ca])tives by
the river in Babylon, where their harps hung upon
the willows. But these very teachers all looked for-
ward to a Redeemer, and Jesus wished to impress
upon the mind of Xicodemiis at the ^ ; w out«et, that
what Israel required was redemption, and tlr.it lb-
had come as their Saviour. AVlien the angel an-
nounced His birth he said that His name was to be
called Jesus, for He was to save His people from
their sins. He Himself said that He had come to

IFSfS AND NICODEMUS.

i^eek and to save the lost, and the greatest of His
apostles said that Josiis Christ came into the world
to save sinners.

In the interview He goes on to show Nicode?
what this salvation means, that it is being borri again
and that tlie new birth is brought about through tUe
power of the spirit; tliiit while men can no more trace
the spirit in His vv-orkings than they can toll from
whence the v.'ind cometh or whither it goeth, yet
they can sec the results. He assures Kicoileraus that
this change is absolutely essential, that without it
men cannot see, understand or enter into the kingdom
of heaven. This change cannot be brought about
mere education; for while we have sin in the ho.
of the ignorant we also have it in the palatial homes
of the refined and cultured. A man must be born
of water and the Spirit, said Jesus, before he can
enter into the enjoyment of the new life. Then ho
goes on to speak of the Father's love, how that He
looked down upon the race with such pity and com-
passion that He was willing to give His only Son
that they might be saved from their sins, and be-
come the possessors of everlasting life. He reminds
Nicodemus of a scene in the wilderness, when the
brazen serpent was lifted up to save the bitten Israel-
ites, in order that He may show tbis ruler the part
that He was to have in this work. For, as Ikfoses

Jfi:SUS AND NICODEMUS.

lifted up the serpent, in the u-ildcrness, even so muf>i
the Son of ^[an be lifterl up, that whosoever believetn
on ITini shouhl not perish, but have everlasting life.

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

AVe cannot tell what impression this discourse
made upon Xicodemus at the time. He went out into
the night, and we hear no more of him until we reach
the seventh chn})tcr of t\u) same gospel. Then a
meeting of the council is being held, men have been
pent out to arrest Jesus, they have returned without
llim, they aro asked why they did not bring Ilim,
<!i,(l an.'^wor, '' Xvxcv man spake like tliis ^lan." The
councillors become furious, but Nicodemus asks the
question, " Does our law judge any man before it
liear himi" no doubt thinking that if tliey could hear
Jesus as he heard Him, instead of desiring to arrest
Him, they would fall at His feet in adoration, and
become His followers.

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

4ft

iKSrs AND XI^n^)K^f^'S.

rleiims, kiiowiiio; flmt tliov wovo friViidlv to Trsus.
Rut the Inst ^'Oi\t day has come, He is nailed to tlie
cross, around it are gathered the soldiers wlio have in
charge the execution. Outside of that we have the
doctors of the law, the menihers of the Sanhedrim,
then come the great multitude who have been cry-
ing - Away with Ilim," and afar oil' we see the little
band of followers and sympathizers, among whom
is TTis mother. 11ie darkness has come down upon
llie eartli, men smite their breasts in fear, the multi-
lude melts away, and wlien tlie sun appears again we
see the little ('(.mpany of believers standing by tin*
foot of the cros-!. I [e commends Tlis mother to the lov-
ing fJohn, He cries, ''It is finished," and gives up the
ghost. Tlien two men are seen talkirig together.
They leave the cross in company with each other,
)")ass through tlie gate into the city and then they
separate. One goes toward the house of the governor
and the other down into the business part of the city.
Tn a little Avhile they return, meeting again at the
cross. One of them shows a documr^nt to the officer,
who is in charge of the soldiers, and when he sees it
lie gives permission to these men to take down the
body and deal with it as they wish. The other lays
<lown a heavy burden — a hundred pounds weight of
spices, which he has bought for the embalming of the
body, — and in him we recognize the night visitor, for

JESUS AND NiCODEMUS.

to \W

ave ill

vo tb('

edrim,

n crv-

e littlo

whom

1 upon
niwlti

i-ain we

bv tli<^

tlic lov-
up the

oT'thov,
otbov,
I tlioy
voruor
le city,
at the
offioin'.
soo:^ it
,vii tho
or lavs
ight of
of the
tor, for

he is none other than Mcodemu8. With loving hands
they take the body from the cross, wash it, wind it in
fine linen and with spices, and then bear it away to
the new sepulchre in the garden. Xicodemus hon-
ored Jesus and truly Jesus honored him.

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

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

JESUS AND NICODEMUS.

»ii

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

JESUS AND XICODKMLS.

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

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

JESUS AND NICODSMUS.

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

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

And looking back upon this scene we think of
Nicodemus as being v,'onderfuliy privileged, by be-
ing allowed to do, what he did for the body of Christ,
and to speak in His defence in the council. But we
for'X't that hU of those privileges are ours. We can

}}

JESUS AND NICODEMUS. KO

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

TllK J.OGiCAL JjaM^:KS.

••\Miy sit we Ihtc until wodio V— II. Kixiis 7 : :!.

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

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

THE LOGICAL LEPERS.

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

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

THE LOGICAL LEPERS.

other (loov is shut against the sinner he seeks Christ
as a last resort, and like these lepers he finds inoro
than he even dreamed of. For they discovered an
abnndant snpply for all their want«.

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

THE LOGICAL LEPERS.

thoni. Tlicy have been told this, but, like the men of
Samaria, tlicy have refused to believe it, hence the
message has not benefited them.

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

THE LOGICAL LEPERS.

I on

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

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

THE LOr.ICAT. T.KPERS.

the

the sinner. AVlicn wo ^o to a man who is in the niirc
of sin, wlio, hccaiisc of liis iniquity, has been driven
iVoni his homo and from society and perhaps east out
of the saloon where he lias spent his money, and tell
him that the blood of Christ will eleanse him from all
sin, that he can be saved from all his ini<iulties and
that the evil habits, which iiave enslaved him for
years can be removed and he made move than a <<>ii-
qneror over sin, when we tell him that if he aecej)ts
the message and acts upon it not only will all of thi.^
take place but he will become heir to a glonons in-
heritance, receive a title to a mansion in the skies,
some day have placed upon his head a crown of right-
eonsness and at last become like imto the Son of Mi\u
who also is King- aH king-s and J^ord of lords. Such
a message may seem very strange and improbal)le and
no doubt it was listening to a message of this kind
which led men to say of the apostles that they werc^
l)eside themselves, that they were mad. But the
])eople of Samaria found out that the story was not
exaggerated; and so, when men come to Christ and
receive from Him the blessings they hnxo heard of,
they can then say, as did the Queen of Sheba when
she beheld the glory of Solomon, that the half had
not been told.

The message of the lepers was told to the king
1)ut he was one of those wise men who think they

THE LOGICAL LEPERS.

'liilj 1

I ! I

know everything. He said, "I know what the Syrians
have (lone, they have gone out and hid themselves
in tlie fields expecting ua to go to their tentvS and then
they will slay iis." A servant of the king, who ha<l
less dignity but more common-sense than his majesty,
suggested that they prove the story of the lepers by
sending men out on some of the few horses which still
remained in the city. These messengers went out
nnd returned informing the king and the citizens that
there were no enemies between the city and the river
Jordan, that the way was strewn with garments, that
the horses and the tents and the provisions of the Syr-
ians were all at their disposal. Then the people rushed
out to feast upon the spoils of the enemy.

It was faith which saved these starving people.
The story of the lepers proved the fulfilment of the
words of the prophet, and the story of the king's mes-
sengers corroborated that of th^ lepers. Acting on
the testimony of others, these men went out and
found the food whicli saved them from death. Look-
ing thus from a spiritual point of A'iew we have the
prophets who spoke of the Messiah who was to come;
we have tlio apostles who tell us of the fulf'lm- at ot
that promise; we have the multitudes wIk exper-

ienced the salvation and the forgiveness * Ood. tlie
testimony of the Christians of all ages. If we act up-
on this, as did the men of Samaria, we will be saved

THK LOGICAL LEPERS.

on
and
look-

tlie
me:
t of
per-

the

up-
ved

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

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

THE LOGICAL LEPKRS.

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

Suppose these people in the city of Samaria had re-
fused to believe the message because of the position
occupied by the messengers, what would have befallen
the city? These men were lepers, despised and out-
cast, but the people barkened to their voice and the
city was saved. Sup]K)ge that Naaman had refused
to listen to the message concerning the great healer
because it came from a little slave, or afterwards had
refused to listen to the counsel of a servant who ex-
horted him to obey the voice of the prophet by dip-

THE LOGICAL LLPERS.

ping- himself in the Jordan, he would still have
retained his leprosy. And yet, in all ages we find
men refusing to listen to the message because the
messenger does not come up to their ideal. For ex-
ample, many refused to listen to Christ because of
Tlis origin or because of the village in which lie was
brought up, and they said, "Can any good thing come
out of N^azareth?" Some rejected Him because He
Avas a carpenter and because they knew His brothel's
iind sisters and mother to belong to what would now
be styled the common people. Others rejected His
message because He was not a graduate of one of their
colleges, nor a doctor of the law. In the ordinary af-
fairs of life men do not act in this way. If a tele-
gram comes to any of us which may bring news that
will gladden our hearts or bring aiiguish to our souls,
we do not refuse to accept it because of tlie messenger.
He mav be dressed in uniform or he may come to us

C I.

b{'. re-footed and in rags, in fact, we never think of the
messenger, it is the message. So when men come to
us with a message from God, if that message takes
liold of us, if we realize that it is for us and that it
may mean to us eternal life or eternal misery, we will
cease to think so much about the messenger. If
these people in Samaria had refused the message be-
cause of the messenger they would have perished.
So it is to-day, it is not the messengers who save men

THE LOGICAL LEPERS.

ill

but the message which they bring. The message to
the starving men in the city of Samaria was tluit there
was an abundant supply of food within rcacli if they
would only accept of it; and the message to the sinner
is that in Christ all fullness dwells, that if th(\y conu^
to Him they will not be cast out under any condition,
that if they refuse to come there is no ho]H' since there
is no other Name under heaven given among men by
which we can be saved but the name of Jesus.

si '

i •

f! !

li!

i! I

1 1 '

VI.

JONAH.

•"lliemcnotNincvuli hhall ri«e in jinlgmont with this generation, and
Btiall condemn It; txKMMiue thoy rufieutwi at (h« preachunj of Jonah."—
Matthew 12 : 41.

It is reportt>d that some men liavc spent consldcr-
ji])lo time mensurijjg tlie luouths of wliales lo asc.;rtiun
il" il wuiilcl be jx-ssil^le for a whale to .'^wallow a man,
M)(l from tlieir investigations they have come to the
concinsion that the thing wonhl he impo£siI»h.' and
that the book of Jonah on tluit account is only a myth.
It would have l)een wiser on the part of these men
to have found ont what the iiible did say about the
(isli, before they commenced tlieir investigation; for
ttie Bible no v/here as.sociates Jonah with whales, in
lli{> book bearing his name wv arc simj)ly informed
that the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up
-fonah; and the word which our Lord uses for the li'^h
in the Xew Testa, cnt simply means a soa-mon^tt-r
or great h'sh. But the translators of the Xew Testa-
ment, who had probably never seen whales and knew
uotliing about their swallowing capacity, translated
the word whale. However, if the Lord made all the
fish in the sea and made Jonah, He could surely prc^
pare a fish large enough to accommodate the prophet,

TON AH.

and who knows hut Jonah was a small man somethins:
like Bildad, llic Shnhite, or Zaccheus, who was little
of stature. There are great lessons, however, which
we can learn from the storv of this prophet. He is
the only one among the prophets who disoheyed the
command of God. Other pro])hets, it is true, hesitat-
ed frequently when they received great commissions,
because they felt their own insufficiency and realized
the magnitude of the work they were called to do; b\it
all obeyed even when the^^ knew that they were risk-
ing their lives and incurring the wrath and disjdeasure
of those who were in authority. But Jonah disobeyed
(lod and fled toward Tarshish. He told his story to
the proprietors, or seamen, of the little vessel, and
they promised to carry him across the sea. He paid
the fare but never reached the desired haven.

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

■•■1.

to Si AH.

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

JONAH.

1 1) Ti

i 1^

j :l,

I :

; I

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

JONAH.

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

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

! I

JONAH.

I 1)

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which led him to act aa he did. OthCTS, again, think
that he was afndd ho woidd lose his standing or dig-
nity as a prophet, since their reT)entance would make
it appear that his predictions di<l not come true; for
ho had cried through the streets, " Yet forty days and
Kineveh shall be overthrown." Some of these con-
jectures nuiy be true or they may not, at best they
aro only conjectures. There is one thing we are
sure of, the man was not glad when he saw the inliab-
itants of the great city being spared by the (jlod
against whom they had sinned. It seems a terrible
tiling to think that a man would be stitisfied to see
120,000 little children perish, periiaps G00,000 of a
population altogether. Yet, if we come down
through the ages we will find the descendants of
Jonah. The elder brother of whom our Lord speaks
was closely related to Jonah. What was the causae
of his anger? Was it not because the father had re-
ceived back into the home the wayward and prodi-
gal son? And did he not find fault with the father
for what he did, as Jonah found fault with Cuxl for
sparing the people of Xineveh? Again, if we look at
the Pharisees we can easily see that they also have
come down from the days of the prophet; for they
w^ero angry and said in derision concerning Jesus,
" This man receiveth sinners and eatetli with them."
Jonah displayed the same spirit that these lueu di^-

M k

JONAH.

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

Now, if the men of Nineveh re])ented at the
IM'eaehin^ of such a man, how could the men escape,
who repented not at the preacliin^ of Jesus, who was
80 much j;reater than Jonali, who wan obedient even
unto death, who had compassion for the multitudes,
and who was willing- to sacrifice Jlimself, and did
sacrifice Himself in order that they mi^ht be saved (
The contrast between Jonali and .lesus is something
marvellous, and it gives emphasis to the text, " The
me?) of Nineveh shall rise in the judgment against this
generation; for thev repented i\t the preaching of
Jonah; and behold, a great<'r than Jonah is here."
Sometimes we have men who refuse? to attend church
or refuse to a('cei)t of the gospel, because^ they do not
care very much for the messengei-s ; in their estima-
tion these messengers are not idetil men. But it
would be hard to get a messenger worse than Jonan,
to get one more disol)edient or. to get one with a worse
spirit; and if the Ninevites repented at his preacliing,
these men will rise in judgment ;Tgaiiist those who are
refusing the message to-day.

Again, look at Jonsih's preacliing. or rather at the
message he had to deliver. There was not a ray of
hope in that message, it was simy)ly the doom of the

I 1^

■

JONAH.

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

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

JONAH.

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

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

VII.
THE CHURCH'S GOOD.

"" I will seek thy good."— Psalm 122 : y.

Tliia refers to Jerusalem whieli was everything
to the Jew. It was not only the capital and seat of
government bnt the centre of their religion, and when
the psalmist said " I will seek thy pjood," or the good
of Jerusalem, it was equivalent to saying " I will seek
the good of the nation and the good of the church."
As a people the Jews were patriotic. They would
rather that the cunning should depart from their
right hand or the tongue cleave to the roof of the
mouth than that they should forget Jerusalem or the
land of their fathers, and they were also zealous and
devoted. Even in Paul's time he said he could bear
them testunony that they had tlie zeal of God, but
not accfording to knowledge. No doubt this patriot-
ism and devotion led to the narrowness which we find
characteristic of them as a people, for they looked up-
on the people of other nations as beneath them and
even went so far as to call them Gentile dogs. It
was only when the gi'ace of God took possession pf
their hearts that they could say, with the apostle of
the Gentiles, of one bl<x)d God hath made all nations

THE CHURCH S GOOD.

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

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

THE CHURCH S GOOD.

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

»_

THE CHURCH S GOOD.

I t

.IS

:he

ist,

Ihe

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

Xeither does peace mean inactivity. There are
two kinds of peace, the peace of the graveyard and
the peace of the factory. In some churches, where
the people aro frozen together, we have the peace
of the arctic regions, but Christ's cause should be like
streams in the south where there is motion and move-
ment. And when the prophet was speaking to Isrr.el

mmmm

THE church's good.

ill

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

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

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

THE CHURCH S GOOD.

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

:ii

i^i

THE CHURCH ? GOOD.

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

Everyone v>'ho is trying to help the church to ful-
fil her great mission and to c;iny <nit Christ's last
command is sreking the good of Zion. To seek moaiiH
to ]nit forth eiiort. When Christ came to '0(']r aiul 1o
save the lost it meant to Him self-denial, sacriiioo,
and terrible effort. When men go to seek tor gold
or for hidden treasure, thej have to deny themselvos
many of the comforts of life, and they have to put
forth a good deal of energy. So, when the psalmist
says he will seek the good of Jerusalem, it surely
means that for her sake he is willing to deny himself
and to make sacrifices. When one of the Xew Testa-
ment writers was speaking about the church and the
cause of Christ, he said he wiis willing to spend and

THE church's good.

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

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

fill

THE church's good.

J i

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

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

THE church's good. yg

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

;;

'il

i ■

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§ rl

YIII.
SAI.VATIOX ILLUSTRATED.

" Aiul Moses made a ?erper' of hvAsa, and put it uixju a polo, and it cairi'.'
to pas^, thai if a s-L'rpent had l>itten any man, when he leliwld the serpent of
bras^ he lived.'"— Numbers 21 : 9.

It was the Lord wlio sent the fiery serpents among*
the Israelites and not tlie devil. If the devil had been
consnltcd he wonld have said, Let them alone, thev
will soon stone Moses and ^o into rebellion. But God,
wlio bad been making" His goodness to pass before
Israel every mondiig and renewing tb tokens of His
lovo every evening, brings upon them this judgment
on account of their sin that He may bring them back
to Himself; and so the rebellious multitudes became
a praying people and ask Moses to intercede with God
on their behalf. They request him to pray that the
serpents be taken from them, but instead of doing
that the Lord provides a remedy.

Men have often wondered why God did not take
sin out of the world, but instead of taking away sin
He sent a Sa\iour to make men more than conquer-
ors o\'cr the sins that beset them. This remedy, which
t.-e i-crd pro\ided for the bitten Israelites, was re-
..'tiT-.d to by our Sa\iour, and from His reference to it
we learn that He is to tlie sin-poisoned world what

SALVATION ILLUSTRATED.

tlift serpent m'qs to tlin l>itten Israelites. In lliiir
lielpkssness they could do nothing for iheniselvcr- nor
for one another, iso man can save Idnisclf, niueii
less his brother. But vhen ve were without strength,
in duo tune Christ died for the ungodly. While the
remedy in Israel was provided by the Lord it had to
be used by the people in order to benefit tliem, and
while salvation is of the Lord, and Chriet is the gift of
the Father, men must trust in llini and look to llini
with a hx)k of faith if they are to benefit by His atone-
ment.

Before an Israelite would think of lookina' to the
serpent of brass it would bo neces.vcry to convince him
that he was bitten and required the remedy. Jutt
as a man who is in perfect health would not thiiik
of seeking for a physician or of taking medicin(% iov
they that be wdiole need not a physician, but tliey
that are sick. And unless a man is convinced that he
is a sinner het will not think of seeking the Savionr,
and Jesus came not to call the righteous but sinner.^
to repentance. It might have been an easy ma.t'er t(-i
convince an Israelite that he was bitten and in dan-
ger, but ^'t is often very dilficult to convince men of
tlie-r sins, beoa.u&e sin is deceitful and the devil tnef^
to make men believe tliat they are better than they
are, and better than thoie w^ho make a profession.
Conviction of sin is the fia-st step towards calvation.

Ill'

■;

SALVATION ILLUSTRATED.

and that con only be brought about through the
power of the Holy Spirit, who works through the
Word of God. When Christ promised the Spirit He
said that Ho would convince the world of sin, and it
is only when He enlightens the consciences of men
that they corae to see themselves as lost, and then
they are led to ask the question, " What must we do
to bo saved?"

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

SALVATION ILLUSTRATED.

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

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

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WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(716) 872-4503

SALVATION ILLUSTRATED.

!i 9

out of the death of sin into the li^ht and the liberty
of His salvation.

■ It is said that on one occasion Dr. Chalmers asked
a man to ^o home and think over the matter, with
reference to his salvation, and the old man turned
and said to the doctor, '^ Suppose I would die when
I was going home to think over this matter, what
then?" And Dr. Chalmers remembered that the
Spirit of God said, not To-morrow, but. Behold, IS'ow.
But were all those who realized that they were
bitten and hoard about the remedy healed? Not un-
less human nature was very different then from what
it is now. We can imagine one man who was told
about the remedy, and he says that he cannot under-
stand the philosophy of it, he cannot see how looking
at a brazen serpent would head the wounds inflicted
by a fiery serpent, and so because he cannot under-
stand he refuses to look. How often men talk in this
way concerning Christ. While the cross was a stumb-
ling-block to the Jew it was foolishness to the Greek,
and to-day to those who cannot understand, as they
say, the philosophy of the plan of salvation, the cross
is still foolishness, but to all who believe, the power
of God and the wisdom of God.

Again, we can imagine another man in Israel,
when he is told about the brazen serpent, turning
hie e^ towaid the pole and infofrmios Modes that

SALVATION ILLUSTRATED.

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

In Israel every man who was bitten had to look for

SALVATION ILLUSTRATED.

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

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

SALVATION ILLUSTRATED. $%

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

Can we picture to ourselves a caravan in the de-
sert? The people are dying for want of water, a few
.who are stronger tlian the rest have gone on ahead;
they have come to an oasis where there is an abun-
dance of water, they throw themselves down in the
green grass and drink till they are satisfied, they know
that their brethren are perishing for lack of water
in the desert. What are these men likely to do?
Will they remain where they are while they know
their brethren are dying for lack of that which has
satisfied them? Will they not make the desert ring
with the cry, " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye
to the waters?" And one can hardly understand
Christians, who say that they have found in Christ
a remedy for their sin. One who has satisfied their
longings and given rest to their troubled hearts, witli-
out a desire to bring others to a knowledge of this
same Saviour. If we are doing nothing toward the
salvation of others we have good reason to. question
our own salvation, for if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ he is none of His, and Christ pleased not
Himself but gave Himself a ransom for others.

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

SALVATION ILLUSTRATED.

■';'{

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

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

SALVATION ILLUSTRATED.

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

"There is Life for a look at the cruicified One,
There is life at this moment for thee;
Then look, sinner, look unto Him and be saved,
Unto Him who was nailed to the tree."

IX.

SAMSON.

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

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

There are three children of promise spoken of in
the Bible who were born when their parents were old,
and Samson is one of them. To Abraham the Angel
of the Covenant came and announced the birth of
Isaac, to Zacharias Gabriel appeared and spoke of
John, who was to 1^ bom to be a forerunner of the
Lord, to prepare His way and to make the crooked
places straight, and to Manoah the angel came to an-
nounce the birth of Samson and to speak of the work

SAMSON.

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

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

SAMSON.

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

SAMSON.

Imlds of evil (he p^rater will be the desire on ihe part
of the Evil One to disable us in tiio work. I know
that there are some people who tell us they have risen
to such a height that the devil never troubles them
and they have vo temptations. If this be so there
must bo a reason for it. AVe can imagine a miin in
Israel in the days of Samson, dressing his vinevurd,
plr.ulino- the seed in i\ie fields, caring for it, and in
tiiu(> of harvest the Philistines coming to reap the
iVnit of liis toil. If tliis man falls back, lots tliem
l>avo ihdr own way, thoro is no reason why they
--honid iiiolcst him, lie has not inforfored wil]i thorn,
Ihoy juao got all thoy want, iJnt it was diftonmt
wirli Samson, ho was boating thom back, rescuing
from thom what thoy were trying to carry awa.^^
honcc their eil'orts are turned against him.

So in our ago, when tlio devil, through his agen-
cies, is trying to take away the Sabbath, to drag
down tlirough strong drink, gambling, and perniciou'^s
literature, the voiy best and bravest of the land, if
men are so good that thoy will not lift up their voice
against these evils, will not molest the devil or inter-
fere with him in his work of destruction, why should
he bother himself with them? He hasn't time to
attend to such people, it is only those who are wag-
ing war against him. It is contrary to the Old Tes-
tament, contrary to the teaching of the New Testa-

SAMSON.

iiK'nt, and contrary to common .scn>^«', that tlie devil
slionM not botluT those who jirc liotlierin^' luni. Take
the case of onr Saviour wlicn JIc was l)orn into the
world, why liave wo the slaiij^htcr of the children in
Jiania? AVliy have we that descriptive scene in lleve-
lation concerning the drap;on, wlierc; he is trying to
destroy the child and the woman? Why have we
these terrible temptations in the wilderness? Is it
not because lie came to crusli the head of the ser-
pent and destroy t\w works of the devil? And do we
not hear the de^'ils say to Him, " We know Thee who
Thou art, art Thou come to torment us before the
time?" It is said that at the close of the tempta-
tion in the wilderness the devil left Him for a season,
but it was only for a season. He even entered into
His apostle Peter to try to turn Christ from going up
to Jerusalem to accomplish the great work for which
He was born, and for which He came into the world.
All through Christ's ministiy the devil dogged His
footsteps and tlie powers of darkness were round
and about Him. And surely the disciple is not above
His Master, or the servant above His Lord. The
more we are doing to overthrow the evil that is en-
slaving our fellow-men the greater will the desire
be on the part of the devil to shear us of our power,
and to disable us in the work.

This is wonderfully illustrated in the case of Sam-

SAMSON.

f;on. A reward was offered for the secret of liis power,
and he was betrayed, not by a Judas, but by a Delilah,
who got almost thirty-seven times as much for her
treachery as Judas got for his. They have gained
their point at last, the vow of his consecration is
broken, the Lord has departed from him, the strength
with which he accomplished so much in the past is
now gone, and he is carried captive bv the ei- :ny to
the house of their god; his eyes are put out witU hot
irons, he is made to grind at the mill and t i ike sport
for those yrho hato both him and his nation. T* is a
pitial V^ sight. When one looks at him one can see a
picture of the nation to which he belonged, a picuire
of the Christian church, and a picture of individual
Christians. For, like Samson, that nation was in a
certain sense a Kazarite, called out from among the
nations of the earth, consecrated to God, set apart
to glorify His name and to do His bidding. Wliile
the nation remained true to her vows, she was able to
defy the enemy, for no weapon formed against her
prospered ; but when she was led away, and broke her
vows, then she became helpless in the hand of the
enemy, like Samson in the hands of the Philistines,
and, like him, she knew not when her strength was
gone. She allowed the enemy to come up around the
holy city, thinking she oould shake herself loose from
the foe as on former occasions, not knowing that the

100

SA^JSOX.

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

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

SAMSOX.

101

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

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

A great opportunity has come. From all ])arts of
the land the Philistines have gathered together to
give thanks to their £>od whom thev credit with de-

102

SAMSON.

livering Samson into their hands. They have come
to the temple, three thousand of them are on the
house-top and the inside is filled. They are to bring
out this man so that he may make sport for them.
It may be that it was a captive Hebrew youth who
was Samson's caretaker. Tlio lad leads him into the
tx^mple, perhaps Samson informs him as to what will
follow, and tells him to take the news to his brethren.
Then he asks liberty to lean and put his arms against
the pillars upon which the temple rests, and when the
multitudes are mocking he cries mightily to God for
strength. "We hear the laughter and joy of this mul-
titude who are mocking the man of God, then we
hear the crash, and the cry of anguish going up from
those who are falling and being crushed with the
building that has tumbled do^vn over them. In a
few minutes the silence of death reigns. !N"ews of
this event is carried to the brethren of Samson, they
come down, clear avray the debris, pickfout the body,
take it away and bury it in the sepulchre of his
fathers, and the sacred histonans tell us that he was
one of those who through faith subdued kingdoms.

Is this not true also of the nation? "We have
seen her being mocked in Babylon, but have we not
seen her brought back asrain to the land of promise
and to the city of David? Have we not seen, the
temple rising once more in its glory, and the walla

SAMSON.

103

bein^ builded around that city that had been de-
stroyed by the enemy in the days of Israel's weak-
ness? Have we not seen the same thing as far as
the church is concerned? Snrelv it was her time of
weakness dnring the dark ap:es when men mocked
at things sacred, and when faith recinircd the light
of a candle at noon-day. Bnt did we not see in the
days of the refonnation the wonderful restoration of
that power? So, in the lives of men who havei be-
come backsliders, who have sold themsolves and
broken their vows, they have heard the voice of Gorl
snyinff, "I will heal thy backslidings, and T will love
thee freely."

Looking at the life of this man we not only see
tlie power of consecration to God bnt we see the dan-
rer in which his sen^nnts stand, the necessity of the
exhortation of the apostle to pnt on the whole ar-
mour of God, that we mav bo able to stand in the
evil day. And then for thoso who have fallen through
the power of temptation there is surely much en-
couragement, for the God of Samson is our God, the
One who restored his strenii:th and ennblod him to

accomplish more for Israel in the last dav of his life.

lave

than he Avas able to accomplish during all tho pre-

;

not

•

vious vofPN! thnt same God i« ablo uot onlv fo restore

nise

fl.f. bppVsli("Iii^'»-. but to ornnt power, so that ir. ITis

the

7iop.o i]'ov r"iv a^crnnplish man'ellous tliinc;'?^, for

^allSi

the ann that is strong to «mito. is also strong to savo.

•\

THE WATER OF LIFE.

■• Jf thou knewest the gift of (iod. and who it is that saitli to thee, (Jive
niu to drink ; thou would'st liave asked of Him. and He would liave given
tliee living water."— JqhiN 4 : 10.

Our Lord, in His teacliing, had a wonderful
faculty of lifting the thoughts of His hearers from
the physical to the spiritual, from the seen to the
unseen. This is beautifully illustrated throughout
the gospel by John, whore Pie so frequently speaks of
the bread of life, and of the water of life. Some
time ago I read a letter written by a man who had
very little use for tlie church, and in it he said that he
could not afford the luxury of religion or Christianity.
It is worthy of note, however, that our Lord never
speaks of TTis salvation as a luxury, but as a neces.-
Ki'ty, and v,'hoii He is u'^iria- earthly things by way of
comparison or contract. Ho never uses those tiiiuL-!*
which are spol en of as the luxiivies of life, but the
thin£rs which are ep«eiitial to life. We can do with or
without luxuries, but we cannot do without the thini^s
which are esFcntinl; and in the i)hysical world bread
and water are essential to physical life — without
them life cannot be sustained. And these are the

THE WATER OF LIFE.

105

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

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

Again, when applied to the earth, water has th(>
power of making it fruitful it causes the earth to
bring forth that which sustains the life upon it. The
valley or plains around Salt Lake City were at one
tuuo barren and unfniitful, but tlie ]\rornions used
the mountain streams to in-igate tlie country, and
tlirongh thv.f water, the ])lains have become wonder-

106

THE WATER OF LIFE.

fully fruitful, and the desert has rejoiced and is blos-
soming as the rose. In like manner the salvation of
Christ makes lives, which have heretofore been use-
less and unprofitable, useful and beautiful. There
are multitudes in the world who are endowed with
talents and faculties, but all their powers are being
wasted, and as far as lielping humanity is concerned,
they are as useless as the American desert. But so
soon as the truth of Christ touches such hearts, the
lives are chanjjed, and they become a blessing to
humanity. The man who stole provides things hon-
est in the sight of all men, and the one who was a
mere parasite becomes a blessing to others. How fre-
quently we see this illustrated iu the lives of men
and women in every community.

Then there is nothing more plentiful and more
free than water, there is an abundant supply in the
earth for all the inhabitants. It is true that in our
cities we have to pay for the watea*, but after all it
is not the water v.-e are paying for, it is the bnnging
of it from cei"tain localities to the homes where it is
used. Any one can go out to the great lakes, to the
broad rivers or to the numerous little streams and
get all the water he wislies free of charge. Thus it
is with the salvation of Christ, there is an abundance
for all. If the spintual wants of every individual
upon the earth were supplied there would not only be

THE WATER OF LIFE.

lor

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

But of these things this woman was ignorant,
hence our Lord says, " If thou hadst known the gift
of God and who it is that saith unto thee. Give me to
drink, thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He
Avould have given thee living water." Nevertheless,
while she was ignorant concerning this, we must ad-
mit that she was a woman of considerable ability,
no matter what her moral life may have been. Men
frequently tell us that when she asked the question
as to where the true place of worship was she was
trying to turn Christ's thoughts from her past life.
We have no authority for making this statement.
It may be that she had done a great deal of thinking
previous to this, concerning the two places of wor-
ship. She knew that the Jews went to Jerusalem and
that her own people worshipped on jSfount Gorizim,
she knew that there was so little in common between
the two that if on© was right, the other must be
wrong. This great problem had been thought out by
her and lay heavy on her mind, and the moment that
Jesus revealed to her her past life it dawned upon her

108

THE WATER OF LIFE.

that He was a prophet, and she asks the question,
"Ought men to worship in Jerusalem, or in Geri-
zim?" He does not take her to task and say, "You
are trying to turn my thoughts from your life," but
instead of that He reveals to her the great truths con-
cerning true worship. He shows to her that while
salvation is of the Tews, yet the time is coming, yea,
is come, when true worship -svill not depend on the
locality or the attitude of the worshipper, and
that it does not matter whether men assemble
under the blue canopy of heaven, in the mag-
nificent cathedral, or in the humble cottage,
if their hearts are right their worship will be
acceptable, for Avhile man looketh upon the outward
appearance God looketh upon the heart. He in-
forms her that God is a spirit, and they who wor-
ship jTiust worship Him in spirit and in truth. Then
she tells Him that when Messias cometh He will make
known all things to them. Jesus then rcA'^eals Him-
self to her, that He is the lyrpssinh, concerning whom
she had thoujrht so much, and for whom she so often
longed. A new jov fills her ponl, she forgets her
waterpot and rushes awav to tell the men of the vil-
lage, and at this point His disciples arrive.

T^ow in the teyt ovv Jord informed her that it
was her iarnorance wh.ich kept her from asking that
which He had to rrive — her isTnorance of the gift and

THE WATER OF LIFE.

10!)

.'l

also of the giver, and it is ignorance which keeps
very many poor in this workl, and reduces many from
wealth to poverty. It is ignorance that keeps mul-
titudes out of the kingdom of (}od, and yet men do
not like to be told Uiat thej^ are ignorant, there is
notliing they will resent more quickly, still we see
how it works. Here is a man, for example, in poor
circumstances, living in a great city, he tells us that
when he came to the city he could have bought land
for about as much per acre as it is now sold per foot;
if he had only known that the city was to grow at
such a rate he could have been a millionaire by buy-
ing the land when it was so cheap and selling at such
an enormous advance. But he did not know, he rras
ignorant of tliat which was going to ha])pen, and so
his ignorance has kept him in poverty. Here is an-
other man who at one time had enormous wealth, but
now he is poor. He is thinking of the past, and the
thoughts are bitter, he is struggling to make ends
meet, and he informs us that had he known that the
bank or the company, in which he was investing his
money, was going to fail, he would not have made the
investments, hence he would not have lost his wealth.
But he did not know, he was ignorant of what was
going to happen, and we see the results. Lifting
this from the physical into the spiritual world we see
a man going along a way which seems to him right.

110

THE WATER. OF LIFE.

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

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

TMK WATER OF LIFE.

Ill

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

1J2

THE WATER OF LIFE.

iiiforjuutioii, wln'fli would rcimnr I lie i;;nori«iuM' tluit
is niiiiing- sucli numbers.

It was not so, however, with this woman. Sho
was one wlioso mind was open to conviction, she was
an honest doubter it may be, but one who was seck-
inff after trntli an<l Iif»lit, and so when slie found tliis
One whom she perceived to be a prophet, she was will-
ing to listen to His teacliinj^s, she opened her heart
to receive His message, she came to know Him as the
true "iver, and His as the only gift. AVe must believe
that she received from Him that which He was will-
ing to give. And this gift is to be had for tlio ask-
ing. " Thou wonkiest have asked of Him and He
would have given thee the living water." Free, with-
out money and without price, as every gift must
be; for a gift is something which we receive without
giving any compensation, else it ceases to be a gift.
We have it on His own authority that if w^e ask we
shall receive, and if wo seek we shall find; and if wo
go through the Kew Testament from the beginning
to the end we cannot find a single request made by
any of His people which He refused to grant. They
come to Him asking for blessings for their children
and the blessings are granted; they come asking for
healing for their servants, and the healing is given;
they come asking for themselves, and they get more
than they asked; but there is m^t a single instance

THE WATER OF LIFE.

iia

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

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

If!

114

THE WATER OF LIFE.

lii'

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

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

THE WATER OF LIFE.

115

bo Kim
I wings
)ss, the
he has
Dn the
n, and
:be cut
B herds
[ and in
not do-
luse the
lin him,
n prison
^en sing
e night.
5 should
3 believ-
bey have
ut Christ
3T which
! fashion
i and are

', was and
, and her
•ehension;
• to others

the news of that which had made her own heart glad.
So we find her forgetting or leaving the water-pot,
rushing to the village and exhorting the inliabitants
to come and see tho man who told her aU things, the
One whom she believed to be the Messiah. This is
another characteristic of His salvation— when we re-
ceive it in its fullness we cannot keep it to ourselves,
like the well of water it is springing up and flowing-
over,^ touching other lives and blessing other com-
munitiea.

XI.

THE VISION OF THE DRY BONES.

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

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

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

'll

THE VISION OF DRY BONES.

117

, bono

nd the

)f war-

i them.

>rought ^

het, on

s where

of the

id very

think —

•d — that

ch. men
houghts

ave re-
case, it
le lesson
let, and
Iter went
Iring his
Itop, fell

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

h '

11 S

THE VISION OF DRY BONES.

out of tlie synnfiogucs and think tliey were doin^
(fod's service, when they were killing his followers,
niid then He ji<l<ifd, " FeMr not, it [a your Father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom, aiu! no woa-
ix)n formed against you shall prosper."

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

THE VISION OF DRY BONES.

119

(ioing

thcr'n
> \vo.^-

Israel,
but in
ibroad.
ine to-
i would
i. Tho
restora-

r f ulfil-
nation.
use this
Israel
Iv^e land,
ropliecy
e people
ling for
nded to
it surely
lessons
th Jews
ince the
he dead

and as the resurrection, we can see in this, great and
encouraging lessons.

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

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

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

■

120

THE VISION OF DRY BONES.

iiH

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

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

;

THE VISION OF DRY BONES.

121

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

-v

■ \

122

THE VISION OF DRY BONES.

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

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

THE VISION OF DRY BONES.

123

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

!!l i

li I

f\ '

124

THE VISION OF DRV BONES.

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

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

man

We read, that when the spirit breathed upon these
slain they stood on their feet an exceeding great army.
Frequently, in Scripture, Christians are spoken of as
soldiers, and the church as an army — clear as the
moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army with
bannei*s. There is no sight grander upon earth than
the review of h great army, when they are all in step,
obeying the commands of the superior officer; and an
army is organized for the purpose of retaining terri-
tory already gained, and for the purpose of taking
new temtory. The church of Christ has been organ-
ized for the puropse of retaining that which she is in
possession of — the Sabbath, the sanctuary and the

THE VISION OF DRY BONES.

125

;ion not

Q speak-
i. That
this land
Word of
It, it is a
, that if
because
een striv-
ny ways.
Old Tes-
rive with

pon these
•eat army.
>ken of as
jar as the
rmy with
?ai-th than
ill in step,
er; and an
ning terri-
of taking
.een. organ-
-h she is in
py and the

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

J 26

THE VISION OF DRY BONES.

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

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

XJI.

THE TWO SONS.

A fortain man ImU two !^)iis."— Llk i; 1.) : 1 1.

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

lii

;■ I

iii

!illl(

128

THE TWO SONS.

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

Thus it is with the sinner. Sin enslaves. AVhen
this young man manifested the desiro to get away
from home the father did not compel him to remain,
because his liouEe was a home and not a prison. There
were no iron doors or brass fetters to retain the child-
ren, because they had liberty since they were sons.
It is so in the household of faith — there are no skives
there, they are spoken of as sons, enjoj'ing liberty,
for the Lord deals with men as a father deals ^vith
his children. The devil is the gi'cat slave-drivei-,
leading men captive at his will; but Christ is the
emancipator and his followers have liberty.

After the younger son loft home he probably had

THE TWO SONS.

129

Lte, for

>eak to

lat the

ascend-

le cord

3 break

ider tlie

le eagle

le earth.

'rom the

10 swine-

n-ty of a

26 of the

berty.

When
et away
remain,

Li. Thexe
,lie chUd-
ere sons,
no sVavcs
liberty,
als -with
e-drivea',
1st is the

ibly had

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

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

"I! :%=

t! "

•I .'

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III! I

! i

130

THE TWO SONS.

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

THE TWO SONS.

131

litioii,

rvants
idance
m and
3 true,
either
j1 man,
in this
learted,
lat you
and are
a state-
liie lat-
16 to his
I at the
Lon that
sin and
lis hard,
land the
to but
of this
J while
|ir wants
as Buf -
making
If it is a

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

'!'] -^

1 ;
i I

In ij
■ i

' 'iji

ill I
■\\t '

I i ilh

! i !

132

THE TWO SONS.

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

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

THE TWO SONS.

lua

; about
years,
3 when
\e they
', is one
But the
0-day,"
f salva-

ange of
started,
and he
. With
•d home,
and saw
ture of
around
his sins,
and and
oy and
Lngs the
3h are a
hich he
Return
he only
and the
Tiveness,

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

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

It lli

134

THE TWO SONS.

received from tlio Pharisees. At the very bepnning
of this chapter they murmured payinp^, "This man
receiveth sinners and eateth \Wth them," just as the
elder brother murmured because his father had re-
ceived back the penitent brother. Wliile this young
man was far away from the father in a foreign land,
the heart of the elder brotlier was still further away,
for his was a heart of stone, void of love. And are
there not in the church, the visible church, to-day,
many like the elder brother? As he perfonned his
duties mechanically and vn'+hout a particle of love,
so there are those who observe all the outward forms

and ceremonies, who have just as much love for the
outcast and the sinful, as this man had for his brother
when he had wasted his substance in riotous living;
and they have just as much love for God as this man
had for his father. The apostle tells us that no mat-
ter what we have if we are without love we are as
sounding brass and a tinkling cvmbal. Christ uttered
this and the other parables to iustify His conduct
in receiving sinners, and tried to show to those who
were listenin or to TTim that it was just as natural and
as reasonable, that He should receive tho penitent
publicans as that the shepherd should go for the lost
sheep, or the woman seek for the lost coin, or the
father receive back the lost son. It also expliins
to us the reason why the publicans and sinners wer^

THE TWO SONS.

135

i^nning
is man
as the
bad re-
, young
n land,
r away,
Lnd are
to-day,
ned liis
)f love,
i forms
for the
brother
iving:;
lis man
10 mat-
are as
nttered
mid not
so who
ral and
pnitent
10 lost
or the
<pl.iiiis
■s wer<i

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

There is no class so hard to roach and so hopeh'ss
as thOvSe who are priding tliomsclves on their rospoc-
tability, and on the fact that they have conipliod with
fdl the outward forms and ccromonics. They have a
■neG:ative righteousness, not haviTi<T done the thiiin^s
for which they condemn others. This is brought out
clearly in the case of the oldor brother, and of the
Pharisees, of which he is a tvpe. Perliaps there is
no other place in all scripture, in which the love of
Crod is more manifest than in this fifteenth chapter

^?f^

I ifii

i H

1 1*

i li

186

THE TWO SONS.

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

Come let us to the Lord our God,

With contrite hearts return.
Our God is gracious nor will leave

The desolate to mourn.

XIII.

THE UNFORTUNATE MAN.

•• Who is my noighlx)r?"— Luke 10 ; 29.

'• Which now of these three, thinkest tliou, was neighbor unto liiui tliut
fell among tlie thieves?"— Luke 10: 36.

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

1.'^8

THE UNFORTUNATE MAN.

I ■ i

Ml I

Let U9 look at the characters represented in this
parable. First of all we have the young ruler who
was trying to justify himself, — and he has had many
Buceessors during the conturiofl sinre he lived, ^l^n
are continually asking questions ahont difforoiit things,
different kinds of amusement wdiich may bo ques-
tionable, but their questions very frequently are
asked not for the snke of gaining inform atiou, but for
the sake of justifying themselves concerning the
things of which they speak. It is so nuich better
when God iustifies a man, for then there are none
who can condemn since there is no higher authority.

Second, we have the robbers who come before us.
They represent men who wish to get money without
giving a fair equivalent either in time or value. It
is probable they would not have waylaid this poor
man had lie "\\'illingly delivered to them all his pos-
sessions, but their hearts were so set upon gottimr
what he had, that they were willing to wound, and
would have gone so far as to kill, in order that they
miglit obtain his money. Gambling is one kind of
robboiy, because no equivalent is given for the money
obtained. Extortioners are robbers, and also men
who take advantage of their fellowmen, and in times
of difficulty obtain from them their proprrtv at a
fraction of its value. But there are other kinds of
robber^'. "Monev mav be restored and phvsical

THE UNFORTUNATE MAN.

130

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

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

i ; i

140

THE UNFUKTUNATE MAN.

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

And that brings before us the representatives of
another class of people, namely, the priest and the
Levite. They were not robbers, they would not hurt
or molest anybody, they were respectable, priding
themselves on their moral characters and on the high
positions which they held. They are not blamed for
doing any wrong, but when they saw this poor un-
fortunate they looked at him, it may be they despised
him, because of that which happened to him, or it
may be they had a kind of pity for him 5 but we are

THK FNKORTUNATE \rAN.

141

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

'I! IIW"

142

THE UNFORTUNATE MAN.

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

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

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

THE UNFORTUNATE MAN.

J 4.'^

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

ill

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144

THE UNFORTUNATE MAN.

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

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

THE UNFORTUNATE MAN.

145

upon
iV and
e, lie
nner
that
and
Paul
bont
or of
tlicr,
ward
IS on
US.
exis-

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

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

HI II;

1 1:

146

THE UNFORTUNATE MAN.

God. One reason why so many who have heard the
gospel story are at the present time unsaved is be-
cause they are trying to do the Lord's work, — for sal-
vation is of the Lord. Kot by our efforts, lest we
should boast, but by grace are we saved, through
faith. The wounded man showed faith in the Samar-
itan when he submitted himself to him, and if we
have enough faith in Christ to submit ourselves to
Him we shall be saved. Suppose this wounded man
had said to his benefactor, " There is no use in you
trying to help me because the robbers may find me
again," he would have answered, " Why, I will stand
between you and all danger if you trust me." Com-
monly we hear men sav, " Christ may save us, but
we are afraid that we will ffo back again, tbat we ^vill
not be able to hold out afterwards, that the devil will
take possession ocf us once more." Paul never had
any such thoughts, for he said, " I am persuaded that
He is able to keep that which I have committed to
His tr\ist airainst that dav." Let us remember that
when we commit ourselves to Christ He takes charjye
of us, comes b< tween us and all danser, for He is not
only able to save to the uttermost, but He is able to
keep us from fallinsr, and at last to present us fault-
less. Then the Samaritan made provision for the
wounded man. i.ot only so, but became responsible
for the man's wants; he gave two pence and said.

THE UNFORTUNATE MAN. ^47

" Whatever more is necessary I will pay thee when I

that God ,vill supply all our wants out of His riche,
« glo.7, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord^ He

I" T '~"" *'' '"^ °' ''•^ "-'' H'^ g-e iB suffi-
cient for us m the present, as our days so will cur

strength be He has also made tZ future sure

ne:ther d.«th nor life, things present nor things t^

come heaght nor depth, nor any other creature shall

as'in r/^T'*' " '~™ ""^ '"'' °f O-'-l -hich
IS m Chnst Jesus our lord.

■"nB?

■■■i

XIV.

ma:n^asseh.

! I

" Manasseh his son reigned in his stead."— IT. CiinoNici-KS 32 : zr,.

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

MANASSEH.

149

Old

tie of
n the
3r ac-
3, and
order,
IS life.
For

godly
liome
great
uch a
over-
home,
many
uenc.e

Len

began

Itliinks

father,

d flat-

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

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

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

150

MANASSEH.

11: !

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

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

MANASSEH.

161

the
the
He
fer-

e« to
iun-
ight
ber
the
re-
)een

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

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

'^fF^

152

MAHASSEH.

I!!!

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

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

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

MANASSEH.

153

1 of
the

ap-

■s in-

"hira

ex-

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

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

The prophets and men of God, who had come out

154

MANASSEH.

I!! 1

|h:I!

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

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

MANASSEH.

155

love. He is able to save to the uttermost all who
come unto Him; but he is also able to bring the ,'most
hardened sinner to a sense of his guilt and of hisxlan-
ger. ]^o doubt there were many in Jerusalem who
knew that they could not influence Manassoh, but
they poured out their hearts in prayer to the God
who can turn the hearts of kings as He turns the rivers
of water. And so in our midst there may be sin-
ners—high-handed, proud, cniel, and scornful as this
king of Jenisalem; but the God of heaven is able to
bring them to their knees, to bring their sins before
them so that they will shudder at the sight, and then
to reveal unto them the Lamb of God who taketh
away the sins of the world. The story of Manasseh
should keep the greatest sinner from despairing, and
should encourage Christians to pray for the conver-
sion of those who are far from God and out of the
way, for He is able to make the most hardened be-
come the most truly penitent and His most devoted
servants.

^WW^I^flHMHWBa

XV.

11^

r %

if ■'!

THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS.

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

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

THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS. 157

lem,
iple-
lier,

was

and
lulti-

way

aiice

He of

goal

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

158

THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS.

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

We come now to the second conversion — that of

THRHE .,(EW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS. 159

Saul, whiol, is recorded in the ninth chapter of the
Acts. He is so different from Zaeeheus. There is
no desire on his part to see Jesus, but all his powers
are bemg put forth to exterminate those who believe
in Christ. No man was doing more against the cause
of Christianity than this man of Tai^us. No doubt
the Christian people prayed for his conversion; but
how was it to be brought about? They could not
speak to him or reason mth him, there was no
human instrumentality that could be brought to bear
i.pon this persecutor, and his conversion, from a hu-
man point of Wew at least, seemed impossible. But
when ordinary means are not sufficient to i^ach the
smner ,od is able to use extraordinary means, and
^ in the ease of this man we find Christ Himself ap-

cus. The light that shone m-ound him was brighter

than the sun at mid.day..-d the voice that he heard
brought terror to his heart and he fell as dead upon

the ground. And this is the man who subsec„ontly
speaks so much about the sovereignity of God and the
grace of God. Perhaps in no case God's sovereignity
and God's grace were more man-ellously displayed
than in the conversion of this man. Saul the perse-
cutor, by the sovereign power of Christ, turned to be
the earnest apostle; the one who was the chief of sin-
ners saved by the grace of God. In after years he

160 THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS.

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

THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS. Ifit

Now we come to a man who is very different from
either Zaccheus or Saul-one who occupies a verv
different position. He is a Roman soldier, turnkey
w the prison in PhiUippi, and the account of Lis con-
ver.,on is given in the sixteenth chapter of the Acts
How IS he to be reached-he and his companions and
the prisoners? They do not know very much abon,
this sect that is spoken against, they have not an op-
portunity, and perhaps if they had they would have
no desire to go to the meetings where Paul and Sihis
were preaching, yet it is God's will that the gospel
should come into the prison-house. How does He
bnng it about? We have the story of the conversion
of Lydia and then the account of Paul's arrest be
cause he had healed the maiden who was bringing
m money to hor proprietors, who, when they saw that
their gain was gone, caused the apostle to be thrown
into the prison-house. After he had been flogged the
jailer received a charge to keep him safely, and so ho
made his feet fast in the stocks, and put him in the
■nner prison. Paul knew that for some purpose God
pormitted all this; he knew that it was the Lord's will
that he should come to Macedonia, and that in soma
way God was Working out his own plans; that is what
enabled hun to sing, he and his companion, in the
prison; for, as he MU us afterwards, he was ,villing
that the cause of his Master might be advanced h^

fir

■"A
I

1 ;

1fii3

THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS.

liis bonds; if being in prison was to furtlier the cansp
then lie wished to be in prison, for the sole desire oF
his life was to advance the cause of the One to whom
he had given himself. The other prisoners hear the
singing — to them it is a strange sound, then the pri-
son is shaker, the jailer wakes up thinking the prison-
ers are gone, and tries to take away his own life to
save himself from the disgrace which wouk come
upon him on the morrow, when he would be b- >ught
before the Roman govenior and perhaps put to death
for allowing the prisoners to escape. I5ut the hand
that is drawing the sword is stayed by Paul. Convic-
tion comes to the heart of the trembling jailer, who
asks the great question, " What must I do to be
saved?" He receives the memorable answer, "Be-
lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved," and the same hour of the night we find him
rejoicing in the faith and ministering to these pris-
oners.

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

tllREE NEW TKSTAMENT CONVERSIONS. 163

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

$. <'f

i !

i! !

'I'

1fi4

THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS.

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

THREE NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS. 165

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

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

lif

XVI.
THE GKEAT FEAST.

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

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

|i:l!r:i

THE GREAT FEAST.

167

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

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

Again, in this feast that is spoken of the host bore
all expenses; those invited Avere not expectecl to con-
tribute anything, simply to accept of the invitations
and partake of his bounty w^hich was so freely pro-
vided. So it is with salvation, all the cost has been
borne by God. "What must it have cost TTim to giA^e
up the onlv begotten and woll-beloved Son, for we
read that He spared not His cwn Son but delivered
Him up for us all? "What must it have cost Christ
to lav aside His glory, to endure the contrndiction of

168

THE GREAT FEAST.

sinnere, the sufferings of this life and the accursed
death of the cross? All has been provided, /for sal-
vation is of the Lord, and all the sinner has to do is
to accept of the invitation and take freely this that
is offered to him. One would naturally think that
men would be anxious to p^o to such a feast as is de-
scribed in this chapter; but we learn to the contrary,
when we see how the invitations were treated, for
they all with one consent bcpan to make excuse.
They had no reasons to advance for not being pre-
sent, but they manufactured excuses which they pre-
sented to the messengers, who brought the invita-
tions. The first had a piece of land which he wished
to see, another had some oxen he wished to prove,
and the third had manied a wife and therefore could
not come. Looking at these we see they were merely
excuses, the land was not rolling stock to have moved
away, and the oxen could have been proven on an-
other occasion as well as on that evening, and the
■wife of the man who was married was certainly in-
vited, for a man and his wife are one except when
travelling by rail or on steamboats, and these inno-
valions were not known in those days. But the fact
of the matter was they did not want to come, and
the host saw through their excuses and then, being
angered, he declared that they would not taste 0(f his
supper. This seems natural. If, for example, any

:iLli

THE GREAT FEAST.

169

linno-
fact
and

his
I, any

of ua go to great expense providing for ti banquet,
tell our friends what we are doing, at the same time
requesting them to keep certain datOB open, and
when everything is ready send them formal invita-
tions, if they, knowing their presenco was desu*ed,
instead of accepting the invitations, send us trifling
excuses, not thinking it worth their while to come,
after we have gone to the exnenso, we would natur-
ally say, " They will come the next lime they are in-
vited." Therefore tliia host that is spoken of, when
he knew that his invitations were made light of, and
that these people did not appreciate and wo:dd not
accept of his kindness, simply said that they would
not taste of his supper. Now if we apply this as
our Lord intended to apply it, we see that men make
the same kind of excuses for not accepting the gos-
pel invitations. And let it be borne in mind that the
things which kept these people from that banquet
were not wrong in themselves, and many of the things
which keep people out of the kingdom are things
that are not sinful in themselves. For example, it is
not wrong for a man to own land or to buy it; it is
not \\Tong for a man to buy oxen, for even in the
Old Testament dispensation tlioy were not among
the unclean animals; it is not wrong for a man to
gc;t married, for we are told that it is not good for; a
man to bo alone. All these thincrs are lawful in thom-

ITO

THE GREAT FEAST.

selves. And we see that in one case it may be the
farm, in another the merchandise, in another the
pleasure that is lawful; and these things are to-day
keeping multitudes oat of the kingdom of God. Tlio
man woidd not have had to part with his land, or his
neighbor with the oxen, neither would the newly
married couple have had to get a divorce in order to
attend this banquet. And ^ricn to-day can have all
these things and at the sanr.e time accept of the invi-
tations of the gospel; if they will only let their light
shine and bring their Christianity into their business
and their pleasure. Multitudes have done this.
Some of the most successful merchants in all ages
have been the most devoted Christians, and many
w^ho are enjoying life to its fullest extent are also
rejoicing in the assurance of the love of God and! in
fellowship with His people.

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

W 1 !

THE GREAT FEAST.

171

the
the

)-clay

The
31' his
icwly
ler to
ve all
3 invi-
r light
asiness
« thi^.
11 ages

many
re al?>

ancti in

lie Lord
liniag-ine

itations

and the

low that

eir pres-

,ve been

in this

ception.

anse Ho

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

||,;^ r

t^BBESSSSBO^^^^^M

172

THE GREAT FEAST.

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

THE GREAT FEAST.

173

that

from

south.,

t shall

ed, no

tation.

b about.

) cities,

sent to

ided to

invited

, u^d it

} in the

L'W tliei>'

mselves,

;er class
of view

ipose the

dd make
Id refuse
into the
and the
and how
ey would
mistake
that the
have de-

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

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

•(■"-^^-^

if ■Mi

THE GREAT FEAST.

ill !

! i

! I

•

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

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

THE GKEAT FEAST,

175

Ltnisted
cliurcli
ides to
mes re-
so gor-
losopliic

isists in.
apparel,

i; divine

ly cush-

lartette,

on, and

uauy of

Ley liave

use tliey

lieir life

' of 119

jssengers

lie king-

)d, wake

to take

stead to

the love of the Sou AVho emptied Himself of His
divine gloiy, took upon Himself our nature, bearing
our sins in His own body on the tree, and dying for
us that we might have life through Him, by tho love
of the Holy Spirit who has been showing you your
sins and striving mth your heart, respond to the
lord's invitation and say, " I come."

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

cause of ®
:le them?
c Father
YOU, by

«s

•

XYII.

PKAYER

• Lord, toaoli r.s to pray, iis .Tcihn also taught his ilisciyilop."— Fakk U ; 1.
" After this manner, therefore, pray ye."— Matihkw 6: it.

No man was so liift'lily spoken of by our Lord as
John the Baptist, and in reading the New Testament
Ave are somewliat surprised that the writers fi^ve to
him so little space. But enough is said to indicate
his character and the line along whicH his preacliing
ran. And this question which the disciple asked our
Lord reveals John to us not only as a man of prayer,
but as one who taught his disciples to pray; and the
disciples of Jesus are amiious that they might be
taught by Him, as John's disciples were taught by
their master. They do not wish to be taught con-
cerning the necessity of prayer, for they had come to
realize that prayer is as necessary to the life of the
soul, as breathing is to the life of the body. Neither
do they ask concerning the One to Avhom prayer
should be offered, for all through their history they
prayed to the God of heaven and their beloved Dan-
iel retfused to pray to any God save the God of his
fathers, though he knew what the conaequences

1 i h ,

PRAYER.

li 1

IKK 11:1-

Lord as
stament

g^ye to
indicate
reacHng;
;ked our
prayer,
and tbe
ight be
njvlit by
[gilt con-
come to
:e of tbe
Keitber
prayer
:ory tbey
ed Ban-
lod of bis
(e<\uences

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

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

fr^

178

PRAYER.

f.<4% j

i '!'

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

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

3 with
re can
it way
I term,
te, but

: itself
e been
s ques-
red by

liat the
contain
)d is in
ly from
'e has a
ity that
sions to
He was
ands, to
to the
od; and
r can be
tition, if
Y few su-
jcessarily
we learn

PRAYER. j/jrij

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

f«W'

180

PRAYER.

Uid,?

f:^;|

Mi I 'I

»■ i

I 1

f'l

lllli

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

I! >

PftAYER.

181

vain
3ver-
tbat
offer
erred

s, but

sliore

J time

nd all

p Lord

7 Him

lestroy

les His

ill may

arrings

DhGod

notlier.

[will be
•e notb-
Ins tbat
turned
bread,
dd tbat
lat tbey
Tould be
Ifirst tbe

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

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

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182

PRAYfiR.

He cannot be tempted of evil, neither tempteth He any
man; hut temptation in this sense means the testing
or the tn'ing, as the Spirit led Christ into the wilder-
ness to be tempted, which means that He was taken
there* to be tried or to be tested, and He stood the test
and came from the wilderness as gold purified in tho
furnace. The thought here is that we are not to hav(^
so much confidence in our o^vn strength, as id desire
that we be led into places where we would be sorely
tried or put to a severe test Peter had unbounded
confidence in himself, for when he heard how the
disciples were to be tested he thought that though all
men fall yet he could stand; but in after years he
could see the necessity of this petition. Lead us not
into places where we shall be sorely tried.

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

PRAYER.

183

paiiy
sting
ilder-
taken
,e test
in tlie
) have
desire
soreb'
(Unded
>w the
ugh all
»« be
us not

with
devil,
coining
I aper-
iples to
vil One
se same
And

nderful
prayer,
om onr

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

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

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

1^ it

w~'fr'

184

PRAYER.

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

PRAYER.

185

tie dis-
Pray
! world
ir hath
ne. It
L us to
to Him
fall on
e same
ss if it
:y will,
L say to
;" pray
[)U may
is they
pass by
as they
prayer,
"After
)se who
)ray for
sample,
ioh He
jrsevere
Y of the
has no
for hifl

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

'T^m

■OHHI

I I

i i

;i i

186

PRAYER.

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

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

PRAYER.

187

I, " I am
ad good,
it," she
ight for.
jaid, " If
ive it, he
3h in the
t children
ere? Are
? Do we
ential and
until itj is

s. A poor
I Canaan-
spirit has
Bard about
she wants
ear to her
ask Him
lem. Still
turns His
she is not
He acts in
lever spoke
:e the chil-
►ther words

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

xvin.

THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND

BEGGAR.

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

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

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

THK YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR. 189

for he had
in the way."

contrast

L Look-

ive think

3 full en-

artimeiis

ly befall

'hen the

ing man

orts and

other is

'ten, no

t there

er — for

:g man

ich his

aterial

iial na-

timens

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

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

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

II ':

I •

IN
li I
1 1 i

lUO THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR.

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

"We are informed then that it was by faith he was
healed, and yet wc look upon Jesus as the healer.

<¥..

THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR. 101

led out
sliadow
fonner
id mono-
, but as
), detects
who are
1 what it
N^azareth
lis whole
concern -
as a flash
u Son of
[near him
ihove tho
ind loud,
[)on me."
[ommands
the trea-
u that T
IS, "Lord
resT>onds,
lie," and
|sight im-

th he was
|e healer.

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

iil;
Iil!

192 THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR.

Him do. He put the two togetlier, and said, Such
thinpfs were predicted concerning the Messiah, the
Son of David, such things are heing fulfilled by this
prophet of I^azareth, therefore he is none other than
the One who was to come. In this way he must
have obtained his faith, the faith which loolced upon
Jesus not only as a man sent from God, but a3 the Son
of David — another name for the long looked for Mes-
siah.

But then men talk to us concerning a saving faith
and a faith that is dead. IN'ow we can got an illus-
tration of these kinds of faith in the case that is be-
fore us. Bartimeus might have believed that he was
blind, might have believed that this was the Son of
David, able and willing to do more than he could
think or ask, and still have remained in his blindnes«.
Sometimes wo have teachers, or men who call them-
selves teachers, and they will say to the sinner, " You
belieive that you are a sinner?" The response comes,
" Ye8, T know it." " You believe that Jesus Christ is
the Saviour able and willing to save?" Thev are ans-
wered in the affirmative, and then they say, "Well that
i=5 faith, you are saved." Go to Bartimeus and say to
him, "You believe you are blind?" He will answer,
" I know it." " You believe that the one concerning
whom vou have heard is the Son of David, able and
willing to save you?" He answers, "I believe it."

THE YOl'Nr. RULER AND THE nLlXD nEGHAR. lOo

Such
h, the
ay this
»r than
3 miiat
d upon
the Son
or "NTei^-

ip faith
m ilUis-
at is be-
: he was
Son of
e could
indnesa.
1 thoni-
., « You
coiner,
hrist is
lare ans-
ell that
say to
janswer,
eminp
Ae and
ke it."

And then wo say to him, '' TluMvforo you have re-
ceived vour sight. " Ihit lie will answer, " I cannot
see." There must he in addition to all of this — con-
tact between the blind man, and the One who is the
light of the world. There must be contact botwiK'n
the sinner and the Savionr, as there must be a union
between the cars and the engine, if the power of the
one is to be imparted to tlie othev; mul tlii- contact we
see brought about by Bartimeus calling to ilesus and
being brought to Tlim. In the Old T • tament wt are
infonned that whosoever calleth upon the njune of the
Lord sliaii be saved. We cannot call on 1 f im of whom
wo have not heard, but as soon as this blind man ho 1
heard and come to realize that this was the Lord he
called upon Ilim. And so soon as he called difficul-
ties came in the way, for the multitude tried to quiet
liim.

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

194 THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR.

II 'i i

imd we talk to theiu about their salvation. They say
to U8 that they wouldn't mind if they were Christians,
but they talk about it in a half-hearted way. Such
men are not likely to be saved, for we read that men
find the Lord when they seek llim with all their
hearts, in other words, when they become in earnest;
and as soon as a man sees his sin in the light of God's
revealed truth, so soon will he desire to get away from
it and cry as Bartimeus did to the Son of David. Je«us
heard that cry, and let us remember that at that time
He wa? going up to Jenisalcvin after being rejected by
His brethren. His disciples were quarreling as to who
should be the greatest in the kingdom, which they
thought He w^as about to establish. Before Him were
the agonies of Gethsemane and the shame of Calvary,
and yet He could hear the cry of a poor beggar and
take time to gTant his request. To-day the sufferings
are over, He is exalted a prince and a Saviour, but He
still bends on earth a brother's eye, and His ear is still
open to the cry of the needy. There is not a single
soul on the face of the earth but can get a hearing
from, this Son of God, if they will only cry to Him in
their sorrow as did this blind beggar near to the city
of Jericho. Then Jesus opened to him, as it were,
the storehouse of heaven and asked him w^hat he
wanted. He Avas a beggar and might have asked for
alms, but what would all the gifts that could be given

AR.

THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR. 195

[hey say
iristiaiift,
(. Such
that men
all their
. earnest;
, of God's
way from
id. Jesus
that time
ejected by
as to who
hich they
Ilim Averc
Calvary,
eggar aiid
sufferings
r, but He
ear is still
►t a single
a hearing
to Him in
;o the city
it, were,
what he
asked for
be given

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

The Lord often asks men the same question to-day,
and says to them, " What wilt thou that 1 should do
for thee." Some ask for wealth and some for power,
others again that they may stand high in the estim-
ation of their fellow-men, " But what shall it profit
a man. if he gain the whole world and lose his own
soul?" And what gain would it be to Bartimeus to re-
ceive as a gift the Jordan valley, so long as he was
without his sight? Then Jesus informed him that
his faith had healed him, his eyes were opened to be-
hold the glories of nature, he saw the multitudes that
thronged his Master, but to him Jesus was the chief
among thousands and the one altogether lovely.
With a glad heart he followed Him in the way, to
rejoice in the blessings he had received, and to wor-
ship and adore his benefactor.

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

\m ■

196 THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR.

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

THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR. 197

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

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

■Si
111 s

; I

.if

iriliHJi

198 THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR.

see their fellow-beings intoxicated, but because there
is money in it. They do not p^row and dispose of
opium for the love of seeing millions of Chinamen
sent down to premature graves, but because there is
money in it. In every walk of life we see how sin
is eating like a canker, blasting the hopes and ruining
the souls of multitudes. "With some it may be sin of
a different kind. But in every case, whatever the sin
may be, the man mustHbe separated from it before he
can be saved, for Jesus came not to save men in their
sins but to save them from their sins. He loved this
young ruler, He was anxious to save him and the
young man was anxious to be saved himself, but when
it came to the question of parting with the possessions
in order to obtain the life, he chose the possessions,
and with a sorrowful heart went away lacking the one
thing which was needful.

How many there are to-day in the same position in
which this young man was. They would like to be
saved and to be sure of a home in the house not made
with hands, but there is some darling sin from which
they do not wish to be parted, and so it is between
the sin and the Saviour — ^His loving and compassion-
ate eye resting upon them, and they going away sor-
rowful. Never did this young man enjoy a day of
real happiness during the rest of his life. The mem-
ories of the past followed him, and the fear of the

III I

THE YOUNG RULER AND THE BLIND BEGGAR. 190

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

The one man followed Jesus rejoicing, the other
went away sorrowful. How often this happens in the
house of God. Two men come in, sit down it may
be in the same pew, both conscious that there is a
something' essential to the happiness they are not in
possession of. The one opens his heart, receives the
truth, takes up his cross to follow the ]\rnster and goes
out of the sanctuary rejoicing. Tlie other man refuses
to comply with the conditions and goes out more sor-
rowful than he came in, liavini>' before him all the
years the fear of death, and the dread of the judgment
to come. IIow^ different would this young man's life
have been had he complied with the conditions laid
down by Jesus. He would have had that fullness of
J03'' of which one of Christ's followers speaks, his name
might have stood high in the list of the worthies, and
he at last have received an abundant entrance into the
everlasting kingdom, where there is joy and plea-
sures and everlasting treasures at the right hand of the
Majesty on high. i.

XIX.

JESUS ONLY.

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

These words, Jesiis only, are the key to the scene
described in this chapter. AVe are not going to dis-
cuss the question as to what niountain lie was trans-
fiirured upon, whether Tabor or Ilcrnion, for while
the discussion might be interesting it would be of
little practical importance. The cross upon which ITe
was cnicified is of xevy little importance compared
with the Christ; the st^pulchre in which He lay is of
very little value compared with the risen Christ, who
left it on the resurrection moniinir. In like manner
we are more interested in that which transpired upon
tl»e mountain, and it is to this scene that our atten-
tion for some time shall be turned.

On the evening of the day we see four men going
up the moim tain-side. When they have reached the
place where they intend to tarry, v.'e see three of them
sitting down upon the grass while the fourth is a little
way from them in the attitude of prayer, and while
Tie prays a wonderful change comes over Him, His
face shines like the sun and His garments become
bright as the light. In Exodus we read of Closes' face

JESUS ONLY.

201

le scene
; to dis-
Li3 trans-
3r while '
d be of
^hicli He
omparvHl
lay is of
ist, who
nianiiev
■cd upon
ur attcii-

,en ^'ohip:
died the
of them
IS a little
nd while
flim, His
become
toscs' face

shilling with such a brightness that the people could
not look upon it, but that ^lory came to Moses from
without, it was the glory of God, shining upon his face
during the days he was upon the mount, that gave it
such brilliancy. We also read that the face of
Stephen, when he was being stoned, shone like the
face of an angel, but that glory also may have como
from without, it may have come from the One who
was standing at the right hand of the Father to re-
ceive His first martyr. But this glory which caused
the face and the garments of Christ to shine and glis-
ten was a glory from within, for while He was God
manifest in the flesh, we might also speak of Him as
God concealed by the flesh. As the veil in the an-
cient temple concealed the Shekinah from the gaze of
the people, so His flesh, which was spoken of as a veil
or a tent, concealed the divine glory so that He ap-
peared to the multitudes like an ordinary man; bnt
for the time beinc; this glory shone through the flesh
pud the disciples beheld it. It may have been some-
thing like this which happened in the Garden of
Gethsemane, when those who came to arrest Him
fell to the ground as dead men. "We know also that
wdien He appeared to Saul on the w^ay to Damascns
His presence was brighter than the sun at noon-day;
and we have a description of Him in Hevelation as
He appeare<l to John, and we know fvoiii th.e sacred

202

JESUS ONLY.

ilN:

ii^;":,

writings that He is the liglit of the celestial city,
where they need no candle, neither light of the sun
nor the moon, for the Lamb is the light thereof. And
in after years when Peter is referring to this scene
he says, " "VVc saw His glory in the Mount," not the
glory of God resting upon Him, but His own glory
being made manifest.

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

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

JESUS ONLY.

203

al city,
the sun
i. And
lis scene
not the
vn glory

le people
be moun-
God was
such hril-
ittle chil-
the shep-
d it bring
^ard of a
f)lains of
he around
o God in
:hat none
il scene,
are recog-
as repre-
and the
Jhrist was
disciples,"
s concem-
»r rather to

verify what Christ had so often said, that He came not
to destroy but to fulfil the law and the prophets,
that He and Moses and the prophets are in perfect
harmony, that they spoke of Him and He came to
fulfil their predictions. They came also to represent
those who have and who shall pass through the Jor-
dan of death, and those who shall never struggle with
the last enemy; for Moses died in the Mount of Moab
and waa buried there, while Elijah ascended to the
heavens in the chariot of fire. Moses representing
all who have gone down to the grave or have been
buried in the sea; Elijali representing that vast mul-
tituda, who at His appearing shall not taste of death,
but shall be translated and rise to meet the Lord in
the air. They come also to represent the church
triumphant, while the disciples represent the church
militant, showing that they are one, as we have it so
clearly brought out in the eleventh and twelfth chap-
ters of Hebrews, where the writer speaks of the illus-
trious dead who, without us, are not made perfect,
showing the connection between those who have run
the race and finished the course, with those who are
still engaged in the contest. The disciples belong
to the church that has still to fight with the evils
within and the foes without, struggling on from vic-
tory to victory, while Moses and Elias represent those

204

JESUS ONLY.

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

How little the people at the foot of the mountain
knew of what was going on, 8ucli a little way from
them. They never dreamt that the great Law-giver
and the greatest of the prophets was so near to them.
May it not sometimes be so in onr lives? We do read
that there is a great gnlf between the place of the lost
and the place of the saved, but we do not read of cny
gulf between the ransomed in heaven and the ran-
somed on earth. "We often speak of the hand that is
vanished and the voice that is still, but perhaps tlie
glorified dead are nearer to us than we imagine. We
are sure that there are guardian angels, yet our physi-
cal eyes cannot see them. It is only a theory, of
course, that we cannot prove, and yet cannot deny, for
if Moses and Elias were so near to these disciples is
it not possible that some of the sainted dead may be
near to those who are still mnniug the race and fight-
ing the battles on earth? There is one thing, how-
ever, that we are sure of, there is now unbroken con-
nection between heaven and earth. Jacob saw the
ladder on which angels were nscendintr and descRU'l-
ing, and in the last verses of the first chapter of John
we have it on the best authoritv that that larldor sm-
iting heaven and earth is the Son of Man, who was
transfigured on this mountain, in the presence of His
disciples and of Moses ajid Elias. ,

JESUS ONLY.

205

;hed tlio

nountaiii
my fi'otu
.aw-giver
to them,
e do read
[)f the lost
jad of ony
1 the ran-
md that is
erhaps the
prine. We
OTir physi-
theory, of
)t deny, for
disciples is
ad may he
le and fight-
thing, how-
broken con-
oh saw the
r»d dosomid-
)ter of Jolm
t ladflor nn-
n, who was
ience of Hi«

Not only is there nmch to be soon on tlie mount,
hut there is also much to he lioard. We listen to
the conversation of Moses and Eli as, and we would
naturally think that thoy would he talking about the
glorious place from which they came, or about the
scene which they witnessed. There were wonderful
things happened in the days of Moses while he was
upon earth; he n?ight have talked about the Ked Sea
and about Horeh, while Elijah might have spoken of
Mount Carmel and the scenes in the days of Ahab,
or of the chariot of fire in which he ascended. But
their conversation is not about the things of the past,
or the glory of the redeemed, but about an event that
is to take place at Jerusalem. Luke tells, us that the}'
spoke of the decease which He, Christ, was to accom-
plish. In other words, the atonement was the sub-
ject of their conversation, and we find that that event
is the centre of all history. To it all the sacrifices
pointed, to it all the prophets looked forward; and
alwut this decease at Jerusalem the evangelists speak
at great length, while the epistles are full of it; and

m Kevelation John sees in the midst of the Throne
a Lamb ac it had been slain and hears the song of the
multitude, " Thou art worthy, for Thou hast redeemed
us with Thy blood." Then, as we listen we hear a
voice, it comes from the excellent heaven, or out of
the great and glorious cloud that overshadows them,
it is the voice of the Eather concerning the Son, for

I
i

20«

JESUS ONLY.

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

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

I I

JESUS ONLY.

207

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

llf tf

»lll

." I

■'f

i f 1 '

208

JESUS ONLY.

is having fellowsliip witli Christ, to him the very
Avails of that room may become glorious with the
assurance of Christ's presence, it is a mount of trans-
figuration. How pleasant it is to be there. AVithout
the wind is blowing and the snow is drifting; the
thought comes to him that away in a distant part of
the city there is a poor family, they have not enough
coal to keep the house warm, they have not enough
food to sustain them; his duty, nay, his privilege is to
leave that room or that mount of transfiguration and
to go to the help of the need v. That is what Christ
did on this occasion to which we are referring. He
was required at the foot of the mountain and Ho
came down to do the work that no other could do. It
is thope who show taeir Christianity by deeds that are
Christ-like, who shall stand liighest at the last.

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

JESUS ONLY.

209

the very
with the
of trans-
Withont
ting; the
it part of
3t enough
ot enough
ileg© is to
ration and
hat Christ
Ting. 1I<'
n and Ho
uld do. It
Ids that are
last.

that they
gone and
the only
uired; He
|ere is only
e through
give them
, because,
n, to HiuL
,rth, hence
ce in Him

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

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

210

JESUS ONLY.

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

XX.
SOWING AOT) BEAPING.

A SERMON TO YOUNG MEN.

From one point of view this is one of the most
encouragmg texts in the New Testament. Frequently
those who are sowing the seeds of self-denial, of in-
dustry, and sobriety, become discouraged as thev see
so few signs of a harvest; while they behold oAers
who are sowing seeds of selfishness, self-indulgence
and such hke, getting along splendidly. They ai^e
hke the psalmist who beheld the wicked flourishing
as the green bay tree, having no afflictions, frequentlV
no bands in their death, while the righteous-many of
them-have troubles and difficulties accompanied
With adversity.

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

212

SOWING AND REAPING.

!|!

I 'W

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

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

SOWING AND REAPING.

213

given to him. He died, and the authorities gave him
a lot in the Potter's FieM. The funeral was hurried
they would say to the undertaker,

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

In the natural world the har^-est always follows
the seed-time, and so shall it be aud so it is in the
spiritual world. A cup of cold water given in a dis-
ciple s name shall receive a disciple's reward, "for
what«,ever a man soweth, that shall he also reap "
And as every 5eed bringeth forth according to ite kind

214

SOWING AND REAPING.

^ba '.

''' 4}l

ii;

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

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

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

SOWING AND REAPING.

215

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

I wish now to refer to some kinds of seed which
men are sowing from which there will come a terrible
harvest, and first of all I shall refer to the seeds of in-
temperance. This has to do with the body. Our
bodies have been spoken of as temples which are not
to be defiled by sin; they are spoken of also as taber-
nacles or tents, indicating tliat they are frail and may
easily be injured, and anything which will in any
way injure our bodies or unfit them for filling the
place and doing the work which God intended them
to do is an evil seed from which a bad harvest shall
come. A large percentage of the men who mshed to
volunteer for service in the Spanish-American war
were refused because of their physical unfitness, and
it is asserted that ninety per cent, of those who were
rejected were physically disqualified through the
smoking of cigarettes. iMultitudes of our boys and
..young men on this continent are at the present time
sowing seeds through cigars and cigarettes, that can-
not help bearing evil fruit as far as their bodits are
concerned. While there are many things we might
refer to which are injuring the bodies, espe<5ially of
young people, perhaps there is no one thing, that is
doing more injury to young men than strong drink.
If we go to our asylums, to our hospitals, to our pofjr-

Ml.

I ]

1 ? t 'ill '' :

il'lij

210

SOWING AND REAPING.

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

SOWING AND REAPINn.

217

lultitudes

ley sowed

is full of

;hese men

But it is

here, for

11 not iii-

b say that

3es where

am fre-

en twelve

see young

influence

>t in the

[ub-rooms

's leading

the down-

me slaves

en where

all clubs

njurious.

the earth

them in

interfer-

with the

State is

nd if the

lionie is destroyed the State cannot exist. ]^ut if
those who become intemperate and become drmikards
sliall reap a harvest, what about those who manufac-
ture and sell? Are they not sowing and shall they
not reap? Is there not a woe pronounced upon the
man who puts the bottle to his neighbor's lips and
inaketh him drunk? Whether he docs this to get the
man's money or treats him in order to get his custom
It is all the same; the whole business is iniquitous and
the seeds of intemperance shall bring forth in time
or eternity a fearful harvest.

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

f -.1.1

n Of!

1 w

I ;

218

SOWING AND REAPTNr,.

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

SOWING AND REAPING.

219

vipers and serpents, how shall /you escape the dam-
nation of hell? • There is a reaping time ahead for
.'such men as surely as they have sown.

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

S20

SOWING AND REAPING.

i.;--v

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

some money that does not belong to him "without tel-
ling his employers, t^^inking he can speculate, make a
lot of money and put it back before it is missed. In

SOWING AND REAPING.

221

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

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

222

SOWING AND REAPING.

iM '

)>\\',

S: i
• 1

I ;

tain the lives of those who were wounded, the nurses,
so attentive and so kind, were ministering to the
wants of the suffering, with as much gentleness and
feeling as if these men had been their brothers.
Wliile this is going on one of the murderers is having
his wounds dressed, and at the same time the oaths
are coming from him like the foulness from an open
sepulchre. The one man praying to be forgiven for
Christ's sake, while the other was blaspheming that
sacred name, and as you saw, by the papers a few
days afterwards he went down to the grave with the
oaths upon his lips. These three men were young,
strong and in the prime of life, and might have accom-
plished great things for God and humanity. But
through the covetousnes§ which was the sin leading to
this tragedy, two of them are dead, and the other will
doubtless be executed. Then see the large circle af-
fected; the families from which these murderers come,
the family from which Varcoe was taken. As I
looked at the little girl of seven, whose hair was singed
by one of the bullets that killed her father, and saw
her weeping, I thought I could hear the voice of Jesus
saying, ^'Better for a man that a mill-stone were hang-
ed about his neck and he drowxied in the depths of the
sea than that he should offend one of these little
ones.'* This is the result of sin and of the sin of cov-
etousness. All of us are sowing and all of us stall

SOWING AND REAPING.

223

reap in time or eternity. " For God is not mocked ;
for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
Some one may say, " Now the door is closed, I have
been sowing, sowing seeds of iniquity, and now there
is no hoj)e, I must reap the terrible harvest from that
which I have sown." To such I can say that there is
one door of hope. More than twenty-six hundred years
ago a prophet who had a very clear vision looked
down through the centuries and he saw one coming as
a Lamb to the slaughter, bearing upon Himself the
sins of men, their iniquities and their stripes, coming
to make an atonement for their sins and to reap for
them the harvest of their iniquity. Jesus Cmrist,
who, in the fullness of time, became manifest in the
flesh, taking upon Himself our nature and beanng our
sins in His own body on the tree, can do our reaping
for us and ^vill do it if we ask Him and trust Him.
With Him on the cross there were two malefactors,
one on the right hand and the other on the left.
Both these men had been sowing the seeds of iniquity,
one of them asked Christ to reap for Him the harvest,
to remember Him wlien He would come into His king-
dom, and to this man Jesus made answer, "To-day
shalt thou be \vith IVIe in paradise." The other man
went down to the gi'ave in his sin, to reap in eternity

the harvest from tie seed which he had sown. The
scene on the cross is repeating itself, and has been

i>\. r

§ i!

iHi

224

SOWING AND REAPING.

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

lich have
very one

our 8in>?
hose sins

eternity.

ahead of
at sow to
ing, they
>miption,
ilso reap,
ieth from
J to-night
ising, but
Lt to reap
ted.