,transcriber's ,notes ,here are the definitions of some unfamiliar 7to me7 terms4 antediluvian ,person who lived before the ,biblical ,flood4 ,very old or old-fashioned4 cavil ,raise irritating and trivial objections2 find fault unnecessarily4 conies ,rabbits ,chromo 7chromolithograph7 ,colored print livery 7clothing7 ,distinctive uniform4 tares ,weedy plants of the genus ,vicia1 especially the common vetch4 ,several weedy plants that grow in grain fields4 ,end ,transcriber's ,notes ,,moody',s ,,anecdotes ,,and ,,illustrations4 ,,related ,,in ,,his ,,revival ,,work ,,by ,,the ,,great ,,evangelist ,,dwight ,l4 ,,moody4 ,,fully ,,illustrated ,,from ,,gustave ,,dore ,,revised ,,edition4 ,,edited ,,by ,,rev4 ,j4 ,b4 ,mc,clure4 ,,chicago3 ,rhodes ,mc,clure ,publishing ,co4 #ahii ,entered according to act of ,congress1 in the year #ahif by the ,rhodes ,mc,clure ,publishing ,company1 in the ,office of the ,librarian of ,congress1 ,washington1 ,d4 ,c4 ,all ,rights ,reserved4 ,,preface4 ,the breathless interest given to ,mr4 ,moody's anecdotes while being related by him before his immense audiences1 and their wonderful power upon the human heart1 suggested to the compiler this volume1 and led him to believe and trust that1 properly classified and arranged in book form1 they would still carry to the general reader a measure of their original potency for good4 ,the best anecdotes have been selected and carefully compiled under appropriate headings1 alphabetically arranged1 making the many stories easily available for the private reader and public teacher4 ,mr4 ,moody's idiom has been strictly preserved4 ,he tells the story4 ,gold will be found scattered through the volume1 which includes ,mr4 ,moody's terse declarations of many precious and timely truths4 ,the compiler acknowledges the benefit received from the extended reports of the ,tabernacle meetings given in the ,daily press of ,chicago1 also the ,hippodrome services reported in the ,new ,york papers1 and the volume of ,addresses revised by ,mr4 ,moody4 ,with the earnest prayer that ,god's blessing may accompany the reading of these stories that have blessed so many thousands as they fell from the lips of the great ,evangelist1 this volume is dedicated to the public by the compiler1 ,j4 ,b4 ,mc,clure ,chicago1 ,ill4 ,,revised ,,edition4 ,we retain in this1 all that was in former editions and give forty pages additional of new anecdotes1 properly classified1 taken from the revival work in ,boston and elsewhere4 ,we also give engravings of ,messrs4 ,moody1 ,sankey1 ,whittle1 and the late lamented ,p4 ,p4 ,bliss1 the four evangelists who have so long and industriously labored together1 and whose names conjoined1 are household words throughout the land4 ,the hearty reception already given by the public to this book justifies these improvements1 which are gladly made1 and which lead the compiler to hope that in this form the volume may prove yet more interesting and effective for good4 ,the engraving of ,mr4 ,moody is from a copyrighted photograph by ,gentile1 used by permission4 ,that of ,mr4 ,whittle is by the same artist4 ,j4 ,b4 ,mc4 ,,revised ,,edition #ahif ,this edition includes additional anecdotes and many handsome and appropriate illustrations4 ,over one million copies of this book have been sold since the first issue4 ,no single volume in the history of literature on the ,american continent has met with such a sale1 and probably the only approximate comparison in the world is that of ,pilgrim's ,progress4 ,both of these volumes1 it should be noted1 derive their merited power and success from the vital truths of the ,holy ,scriptures which they so aptly illustrate4 ,may ,heaven's blessing follow4 ,j4 ,b4 ,mc,clure ,chicago1 ,ill4 ,illustration3 ,portrait of ,d4 ,l4 ,moody ,,dwight ,l4 ,,moody ,self-made1 and conscious of the absolute truthfulness of every ,bible declaration1 ,dwight ,lyman ,moody is today1 perhaps1 the most independent and powerful of living evangelists4 ,man1 rather than books1 and ,god1 rather than man1 have been his study1 and made his life intensely individual1 and one which has constantly increased in good works4 ,in his thirty-five years labor for ,christ1 from his mission class of fourteen scholars in a ,chicago saloon1 down to the ten thousand listening souls in the ,halls of ,europe and ,tabernacles of ,america1 he has been the same faithful1 persevering1 original1 and pungent ,d4 ,l4 ,moody1 with an unshaken faith in ,god1 and a burning desire for the conversion of souls4 ,at home ,mr4 ,moody is cheerful and happy2 in the social circle he is genial and companionable2 in the pulpit he is ,truth on fire4 ,his native town is ,northfield1 ,mass41 where he was born ,february #eth1 #ahcg4 ,he is therefore now1 7#ahif71 fifty-nine years old4 ,,ira ,d4 ,,sankey4 ,ira ,david ,sankey1 known throughout the world as the companion of ,mr4 ,moody1 was born in ,edenburg1 ,pa41 ,august #bh1 #ahdj4 ,his musical talents were early developed4 ,political glee clubs at first monopolized his genius1 but after his conversion in #aheg1 the ,sunday ,school and ,church opened wider fields1 in which he has since labored with increasing usefulness4 ,in ,june1 #ahgj1 at a ,christian ,convention in ,indianapolis1 after a morning service1 where ,mr4 ,sankey led the singing1 he met1 for the first time1 ,mr4 ,moody4 ,where do you live6 ,are you married8 ,what business are you in8 at once inquired the ,evangelist2 ,i want you4 ,what for8 ,to help me in my work in ,chicago4 ,i cannot leave my business1 replied the now astonished singer4 ,you must1 said ,moody4 ,i have been looking for you for the last eight years4 ,and thus was ,mr4 ,sankey called to be the companion and helper of the great ,evangelist4 ,they have been laboring together1 for about a score of years4 ,illustration3 ,portrait of ,,ira ,d4 ,,sankey ,d4 ,w4 ,,whittle4 ,for many years ,d4 ,w4 ,whittle has been engaged in evangelistic work1 giving it all his time1 talents and energy4 ,his first effort in connection with ,mr4 ,bliss1 who afterwards became his companion in the cause1 was made over twenty years ago in a small town near ,chicago4 ,it was on this occasion that he told the story1 ,hold the ,fort1 which the ,singing ,evangelist has rendered immortal4 ,he is in the prime of life1 and earnestly devoted to the ,master's cause4 ,his discourses are concise and clear1 abounding with ,scripture quotations1 and1 like those of ,mr4 ,moody1 interspersed with pointed anecdotes and illustrations4 ,his preaching has been signally blessed wherever he has been called to labor4 ,illustration3 ,portrait of ,d4 ,w4 ,,whittle ,p4 ,p4 ,,bliss ,philip ,paul ,bliss1 the ,sweet ,singer1 was born in ,clearfield ,county1 ,pa41 in #ahcg4 ,it was not until after he had reached the period of manhood that he felt the stirrings of his musical gift4 ,and then1 under the inspiration of his wife1 he entered upon the study of musical science1 and laid the basis of his immortal hymns1 now sung around the world4 ,in #ahfd he removed to ,chicago1 where his musical talent and ,christian character soon placed him in charge of the choir and ,sunday ,school of the ,first ,congregational ,church1 and where he made the acquaintance of ,d4 ,w4 ,whittle1 with whom1 for the last five years of his life he labored in the great ,gospel work4 ,deep spirituality and persuasiveness pervade all of ,mr4 ,bliss' musical compositions4 ,it is doubtful if the world ever heard sweeter hymns4 ,had he lived longer we should have heard more1 but ,god1 who raised him up for the work1 called him3 ,for those who sleep1 ,and those who weep1 ,above the portals narrow ,the mansions rise ,beyond the skies-- ,we're going home to-morrow4 ,illustration3 ,portrait of ,p4 ,p4 ,,bliss ,,contents4 ,a ,a ,blind ,man ,preaches to #c1jjj1jjj ,people ,a ,boy's ,mistake--,a ,sad ,reconciliation ,a ,business ,man ,confessing ,christ ,a ,child at ,its ,mother's ,grave ,a ,child ,looking for its ,lost ,mother ,a ,child's ,prayer ,answered ,a ,child ,visits ,abraham ,lincoln and ,saves the ,life of a ,condemned ,soldier ,a ,commercial ,traveler ,a ,day of ,decision ,a ,defaulter's ,confession ,a ,distiller ,interrogates ,moody ,a ,dream ,a ,dying ,infidel's ,confession ,a ,father's ,love for his ,boy ,a ,father's ,love ,trampled under ,foot ,a ,father's ,mistake ,affection ,affliction ,a ,good ,excuse ,a ,heavy ,draw on ,alexander the ,great ,a ,little ,boy ,converts his ,mother ,a ,little ,boy's ,experience ,a ,little ,child ,converts an ,infidel ,all ,right or ,all ,wrong ,a ,london ,doctor ,saved after ,fifty ,years of ,prayer ,a ,long ,ladder ,tumbles to the ,ground ,always ,happy ,a ,man ,drinks up a ,farm ,a ,man who ,would not ,speak to his ,wife ,a ,mother ,dies that her ,boy ,may ,live ,a ,mother's ,mistake ,an ,emperor ,sets ,forty ,million ,slaves ,free ,angry at ,first--,saved at ,last ,an ,infidel who would not ,talk ,infidelity before his ,daughter ,an ,irishman ,leaps into the ,life-boat ,a ,remarkable ,case ,a ,rich ,father ,visits his ,dying ,prodigal ,son in a ,garret and ,forgives him ,arthur ,p4 ,oxley6 ,your ,mother ,wishes to ,see ,you ,a ,rumseller's ,son ,blows his ,brains ,out ,a ,sad and ,singular ,story ,assurance ,a ,story ,moody ,never ,will ,forget ,a ,voice from the ,tomb ,a ,wife's ,faith ,a ,zealous ,young ,lady ,b ,believe ,bible ,study ,black-,balled by ,man--,saved by ,christ ,blind ,broken ,hearts ,by the ,wayside ,c ,calling the ,roll of ,heaven ,cast ,out but ,rescued ,child ,stories ,christian ,work ,christian ,zeal ,christ ,saves ,condemned to be ,shot ,confessing ,christ ,conversion ,d ,decision ,deliverance ,deluged ,with ,blood ,dr4 ,arnott's ,dog ,rover ,e ,emma4 ,this is ,papa's ,friend ,engaging ,rooms ,ahead ,excused at ,last ,excuses ,f ,faith ,faith ,more ,powerful than ,gunpowder ,father1 ,father1 ,come ,this ,way ,five ,million ,dollars ,forgiveness ,forty-one ,little ,sermons ,four-score and ,five ,free ,g ,george ,h4 ,stewart ,visits a ,doomed ,criminal ,get the ,key to ,job ,gold 7,appears in many pages7 ,governor ,pollock and the ,condemned ,criminal ,grace ,h ,heaven ,he ,will ,not ,rest ,hold the ,fort1 for ,i am ,coming ,how a ,citizen ,became a ,soldier ,how a ,little ,study ,upset the ,plans of a few ,prominent ,infidels ,how a ,young ,irishman ,opened ,moody's ,eyes ,how ,christ ,expounded ,it ,how ,funny ,you ,talk ,how ,moody's ,faith ,saved an ,infidel ,how ,moody's ,mother ,forgave her ,prodigal ,son ,how ,moody ,treated the ,committees ,how ,moody was ,blessed--,mark your ,bible ,how ,moody was ,encouraged ,how ,three ,sunday-,school ,children ,met their ,fate ,i ,i ,am not ,all ,right ,i ,am not ,one of the ,elect ,i ,am ,trusting ,jesus--,a ,young ,lady's ,trust4 ,i ,can't ,feel ,i ,don't ,know ,if ,i ,knew ,i ,have ,intellectual ,difficulties ,i ,know ,infidel ,books ,infidelity ,intemperance ,it's ,better ,higher ,up ,it ,will ,kill ,her ,j ,jesus ,wants them ,all to ,come ,johnny1 ,cling ,close to the ,rock ,jumping into ,father's ,arms ,l ,lady ,ann ,erkskine and ,rowland ,hill ,let the ,lower ,lights be ,burning ,liberty ,liberty ,now and ,forever ,little ,folks ,little ,jimmy ,little ,moody ,love ,love1 not the ,rattan1 ,conquers ,little ,moody ,love's ,triumph in ,john ,wannamaker's ,sunday-,school ,m ,madness and ,death ,money ,blind ,moody and his ,little ,willie ,moody and the ,dying ,soldier ,moody and the ,infidel ,moody and the ,judge ,moody ,asks a ,few ,questions ,moody a ,young ,convert ,moody in a ,billiard ,hall--,a ,remarkable ,story ,moody in a ,california ,sunday-,school ,moody in ,prison ,moody on ,duty--,how he ,loves his ,mother ,moody ,puts a ,man in his ,prophets ,room ,moody ,visits ,prang's ,chromo ,establishment ,moody with ,gen4 ,grant's ,army ,in ,richmond ,moody's ,declaration ,moody's ,first ,impulse in ,converting ,souls ,moody's ,first ,sermon on ,grace ,moody's ,little ,emma ,moody's ,mistake ,mothers ,are ,looking down from ,heaven ,more to ,follow ,mr4 ,morehouse's ,illustration ,mrs4 ,moody ,teaching her ,child ,n ,napoleon and the ,conscript ,napoleon and the ,private ,never to see its ,mother ,note ,what ,jesus ,says ,o ,obedience ,o1 ,edward ,old ,sambo and his ,massa ,one ,book at a ,time ,one ,word ,out of ,libby ,prison ,p ,parental ,peter's ,confession ,praise ,prayer ,prayer ,answered ,pull for the ,shore ,pull for the ,shore1 ,sailor ,r ,rational ,belief ,reaping ,reaping the ,whirlwind ,removing the ,difficulties ,reuben ,johnson ,pardoned ,s ,sad ,ending of a ,life that ,might ,have ,been ,otherwise ,sad ,lack of ,zeal ,safe ,in the ,ark ,sambo and the ,infidel ,judge ,satan's ,match ,saved ,saved ,saved and ,saving ,snapping the ,chains ,song ,stories ,sowing the ,tares ,spurgeon and the ,little ,orphan ,spurgeon's ,parable ,stubborn ,little ,sammy ,sudden ,conversion 7,see ,conversion7 ,t ,taking the ,prince at his ,word ,ten ,years in a ,sick ,bed--yet ,praising ,god ,terribly in ,earnest ,that is the ,price of my ,soul ,that is ,your ,fault ,the ,arrows of ,conviction ,the ,artist and the ,beggar ,the ,bible ,the ,blind ,beggar ,the ,blood ,the ,cross and ,crown ,the ,cruel ,mother--,hypothetical ,the ,czar and the ,soldier ,the ,demoniac ,the ,drunken ,father and his ,praying ,child ,the ,dying ,boy ,the ,dying ,child ,the ,eleventh ,commandment ,the ,faithful ,aged ,woman ,the ,faithful ,london ,lady ,the ,faithful ,missionary ,the ,family that ,hooted at ,moody ,the ,fettered ,bird ,freed ,the ,finest ,looking ,little ,boy ,mr4 ,moody ,ever ,saw ,the ,horse that was ,established ,the ,i am's1 ,i will's1 ,etc4 ,the ,invitation ,the ,king's ,pardon ,the ,little ,child and the ,big ,book ,the ,little ,tow-headed ,norwegian ,the ,loving ,father ,the ,missing ,stone ,the ,moody and ,sankey ,humbug ,the ,most ,hopeless ,man in ,new ,york now a ,sunday-school ,superintendent ,the ,orphan's ,prayer ,the ,place of ,safety ,the ,praying ,cripple ,the ,praying ,mother ,the ,prodigal ,son ,the ,repentent ,father ,the ,reporter's ,story ,the ,rich ,man ,poor ,the ,scotch ,draw the ,bible on ,false ,doctrine ,the ,scotch ,lassie ,the ,scotch ,lassie and ,dr4 ,chalmers ,the ,sinner's ,prayer ,heard ,the ,skeptical ,lady 8 ,the ,sleep of ,death ,the ,stolen ,boy--,a ,mother's ,love ,the ,two ,fathers ,the ,way of the ,transgressor is ,hard ,the ,young ,convert ,the ,young ,french ,nobleman and the ,doctor ,those ,hypocrites ,three ,cheers ,true ,love ,trust ,two ,young ,men ,v ,very ,hard1 yet ,very ,easy ,very ,orthodox ,w ,we ,will ,never ,surrender ,what a ,woman ,did ,what ,moody saw in a ,chamber of ,horror ,wisdom ,word ,pictures ,why ,did he not ,take his ,wife along8 ,won by a ,smile ,y ,you ,know me1 ,moody ,young ,moody1 ,penniless in ,boston1 is ,warned by his ,sister to ,beware of ,pick-pockets ,d4 ,l4 ,,moody',s ,anecdotes and ,illustrations4 ,,affection ,love1 not the ,rattan1 ,conquers ,little ,moody4 ,i remember when a boy1 ,i used to go to a certain school in ,new ,england1 where we had a quick-tempered master1 who always kept a rattan4 ,it was1 ,if you don't do this1 and don't do that1 ,i'll punish you4 ,i remember many a time of this rattan being laid upon my back4 ,i think ,i can almost feel it now4 ,he used to rule that school by the law4 ,but after a while there was somebody who began to get up a movement in favor of controlling the school by love4 ,a great many said you can never do that with those unruly boys1 but after some talk it was at last decided to try it4 ,i remember how we thought of the good time we would have that winter when the rattan would be out of the school4 ,we thought we would then have all the fun we wanted4 ,i remember who the teacher was--it was a lady--and she opened the school with prayer4 ,we hadn't seen it done before and we were impressed1 especially when she prayed that she might have grace and strength to rule the school with love4 ,well1 the school went on for several weeks and we saw no rattan1 but at last the rules were broken1 and ,i think ,i was the first boy to break them4 ,she told me to wait till after school and then she would see me4 ,i thought the rattan was coming out sure1 and stretched myself up in warlike attitude4 ,after school1 however1 ,i didn't see the rattan1 but she sat down by me and told me how she loved me1 and how she had prayed to be able to rule that school by love1 and concluded by saying1 ,i want to ask you one favor--that is2 if you love me1 try and be a good boy2 and ,i never gave her trouble again4 ,she just put me under grace4 ,and that is what the ,lord does4 ,god is love1 and ,he wants us all to love ,him4 ,true ,love4 ,one day when ,i was in ,brooklyn1 ,i saw a young man going along the street without any arms4 ,a friend who was with me1 pointed him out1 and told me his story4 ,when the war broke out he felt it to be his duty to enlist and go to the front4 ,he was engaged to be married1 and while in the army letters passed frequently between him and his intended wife4 ,after the battle of the ,wilderness the young lady looked anxiously for the accustomed letter4 ,for a little while no letter was received4 ,at last one came in a strange hand4 ,she opened it with trembling fingers1 and read these words3 ,we have fought a terrible battle4 ,i have been wounded so awfully that ,i shall never be able to support you4 ,a friend writes this for me4 ,i love you more tenderly than ever1 but ,i release you from your promise4 ,i will not ask you to join your life with the maimed life of mine3 ,that letter was never answered4 ,the next train that left1 the young lady was on it4 ,she went to the hospital4 ,she found out the number of his cot1 and she went down the aisle1 between the long rows of the wounded men4 ,at last she saw the number1 and1 hurrying to his side1 she threw her arms around his neck and said3 ,i'll not desert you4 ,i'll take care of you4 ,he did not resist her love4 ,they were married1 and there is no happier couple than this one4 ,we are dependent on one another4 ,christ says1 ,i'll take care of you4 ,i'll take you to this bosom of mine4 ,that young man could have spurned her love2 he could1 but he didn't4 ,surely you can be saved if you will accept the ,saviour's love4 ,if ,god loves us1 my friends1 ,he loves us unto the end4 ,for ,god so loved the world1 that ,he gave ,his only begotten ,son1 that whosoever believeth in ,him should not perish1 but have everlasting life4 ,how a ,young ,irishman ,opened ,moody's ,eyes4 ,i want to tell you how ,i got my eyes open to the truth that ,god loves the sinner4 ,when ,i went over to ,europe ,i was preaching in ,dublin1 when a young fellow came up to the platform and said to me that he wanted to come to ,america and preach4 ,he had a boyish appearance2 did not seem to be over seventeen years old4 ,i measured him all over1 and he repeated his request1 and asked me when ,i was going back4 ,i told him ,i didn't know2 probably ,i should not have told him if ,i had known4 ,i thought he was too young and inexperienced to be able to preach4 ,in course of time ,i sailed for ,america1 and hadn't been here long before ,i got a letter from him1 dated ,new ,york1 saying that he had arrived there4 ,i wrote him a note and thought ,i would hear no more about him1 but soon ,i got another letter from him1 saying that he was coming soon to ,chicago1 and would like to preach4 ,i sent him another letter1 telling him if he came to call upon me1 and closed with a few common-place remarks4 ,i thought that would settle him1 and ,i would hear no more from him4 ,but in a very few days after he made his appearance4 ,i didn't know what to do with him4 ,i was just going off to ,iowa1 and ,i went to a friend and said3 ,i have got a young ,irishman--,i thought he was an ,irishman1 because ,i met him in ,ireland--and he wants to preach4 ,let him preach at the meetings--try him1 and if he fails1 ,i will take him off your hands when ,i come home4 ,when ,i got home--,i remember it was on ,saturday morning--,i said to my wife3 ,did that young man preach at the meetings8 ,yes4 ,how did they like him8 ,they liked him very much1 she replied3 ,he preaches a little different from you2 he preaches that ,god loves sinners4 ,i had been preaching that ,god hated sinners2 that he had been standing behind the sinners with a double-bladed sword1 ready to cut the heads of the sinners off4 ,so ,i concluded if he preached different from me1 ,i would not like him4 ,my prejudice was up4 ,well1 ,i went down to the meeting that night1 and saw them coming in with their ,bibles with them4 ,i thought it was curious4 ,it was something strange to see the people coming in with ,bibles1 and listen to the flutter of the leaves4 ,the young man gave out his text1 saying3 ,let us turn to the third chapter of ,john1 and sixteenth verse3 ',for ,god so loved the world that ,he gave ,his only begotten ,son that whosoever believeth in ,him should not perish1 but have everlasting life4' ,he didn't divide up the text at all4 ,he1 went from ,genesis to ,revelation1 giving proof that ,god loved the sinner1 and before he got through two or three of my sermons were spoiled4 ,i have never preached them since4 ,the following day--,sunday--there was an immense crowd flocking into the hall1 and he said1 ,let us turn to the third chapter of ,john1 sixteenth verse3 ',for ,god so loved the world that ,he gave ,his only begotten ,son1 that whosoever believeth in ,him shall not perish1 but have everlasting life2' and he preached the fourth sermon from this verse4 ,he just seemed to take the whole text and throw it at them1 to prove that ,god loved the sinner1 and that for six thousand years he had been trying to convince the world of this4 ,i thought ,i had never heard a better sermon in my life4 ,it seemed to be new revelation to all4 ,ah1 ,i notice there are some of you here who remember those times2 remember those nights4 ,i got a new idea of the blessed ,bible4 ,on ,monday night ,i went down and the young man said1 ,turn to the third chapter of ,john1 sixteenth verse2 and he seemed to preach better than ever4 ,proof after proof was quoted from ,scripture to show how ,god loved us4 ,i thought sure he had exhausted that text1 but on ,tuesday he took his ,bible in his hand and said3 ,turn to the third chapter of ,john1 sixteenth verse1' and he preached the sixth sermon from that verse4 ,he just seemed to climb over his subject1 while he proved that there was nothing on earth like the love of ,christ1 and he said ,if ,i can only convince men of ,his love1 if ,i can but bring them to believe this text2 the whole world will be saved4 ,on ,thursday he selected the same text1 ,john iii41 #af1 and at the conclusion of the sermon he said3 ,i have been trying to tell you for seven nights now1 how ,christ loves you1 but ,i cannot do it4 ,if ,i could borrow ,jacob's ladder and climb up to heaven1 and could see ,gabriel there and ask him to tell me how much ,god loves me1 he would only say1 ,god so loved the world that ,he gave ,his only begotten ,son1 that whosoever believeth in ,him should not perish2 but have everlasting life4 ,how a man can go out of this tabernacle after hearing this text1 saying1 ,god does not love me1 is a mystery to me4 ,love's ,triumph in ,john ,wannamaker's ,sunday ,school4 ,mr4 ,john ,wannamaker1 superintendent of probably one of the largest ,sunday schools in the world1 had a theory that he would never put a boy out of his school for bad conduct4 ,he argued if a boy misbehaved himself1 it was through bad training at home1 and that if he put him out of the school no one would take care of him4 ,well1 this theory was put to the test one day4 ,a teacher came to him and said1 ,i've got a boy in my class that must be taken out2 he breaks the rules continually1 he swears and uses obscene language1 and ,i cannot do anything with him4 ,mr4 ,wannamaker did not care about putting the boy out1 so he sent the teacher back to his class4 ,but he came again and said that unless the boy was taken from his class1 he must leave it4 ,well1 he left1 and a second teacher was appointed4 ,the second teacher came with the same story1 and met with the same reply from ,mr4 ,wannamaker4 ,and he resigned4 ,a third teacher was appointed1 and he came with the same story as the others4 ,mr4 ,wannamaker then thought he would be compelled to turn the boy out at last4 ,one day a few teachers were standing about1 and ,mr4 ,wannamaker said3 ,i will bring this boy up and read his name out in the school1 and publicly excommunicate him4 ,well1 a young lady came up and said to him3 ,i am not doing what ,i might for ,christ1 let me have the boy2 ,i will try and save him4 ,but ,mr4 ,wannamaker said3 ,if these young men cannot do it1 you will not4 ,but she begged to have him1 and ,mr4 ,wannamaker consented4 ,she was a wealthy young lady1 surrounded with all the luxuries of life4 ,the boy went to her class1 and for several ,sundays he behaved himself and broke no rule4 ,but one ,sunday he broke one2 and1 in reply to something she said1 spit in her face4 ,she took out her pocket- handkerchief and wiped her face1 but she said nothing4 ,well1 she thought upon a plan1 and she said to him2 ,john1--we will call him ,john1--,john1 come home with me4 ,no1 says he1 ,i won't2 ,i won't be seen on the streets with you4 ,she was fearful of losing him altogether if he went out of the school that day1 and she said to him1 ,will you let me walk home with you8 ,no2 ,i won't1 said he1 ,i won't be seen on the street with you4 ,then she thought upon another plan4 ,she thought on the ,old ,curiosity ,shop1 and she said1 ,i won't be at home tomorrow or ,tuesday1 but if you will come round to the front door on ,wednesday morning there will be a little bundle for you4 ,i don't want it2 you may keep your own bundle4 ,she went home1 but made the bundle up4 ,she thought that curiosity might make him come4 ,wednesday morning arrived and he had got over his mad fit1 and thought he would just like to see what was in that bundle4 ,the little fellow knocked at the door1 which was opened1 and he told his story4 ,she said3 ,yes2 here is the bundle4 ,the boy opened it and found a vest and a coat and other clothing1 and a little note written by the young lady1 which read something like this3 ,,dear ,,johnnie3--,ever since you have been in my class ,i have prayed for you every morning and evening1 that you might be a good boy and ,i want you to stop in my class4 ,do not leave me4 ,the next morning1 before she was up1 the servant came to her and said there was a little boy below who wished to see her4 ,she dressed hastily1 and went downstairs1 and found ,johnnie on the sofa weeping4 ,she put her arms around his neck1 and he said to her1 ,my dear teacher1 ,i have not had any peace since ,i got this note from you4 ,i want you to forgive me4 ,won't you let me pray for you to come to ,jesus8 replied the teacher4 ,and she went down on her knees and prayed4 ,and now ,mr4 ,wananamaker says that boy is the best boy in his ,sunday-school4 ,and so it was love that broke that boy's heart4 ,,affliction4 ,a ,child ,visits ,abraham ,lincoln1 and ,saves the ,life of a ,condemned ,soldier4 ,during the war ,i remember a young man1 not twenty1 who was court-martialed down in the front and sentenced to be shot2 ,the story was this3 ,the young fellow had enlisted4 ,he was not obliged to1 but he went off with another young man4 ,they were what we would1 call chums4 ,one night this companion was ordered out on picket duty1 and he asked the young man to go for him4 ,the next night he was ordered out himself2 and having been awake two nights1 and not being used to it1 fell asleep at his post1 and for the offense he was tried and sentenced to death4 ,it was right after the order issued by the ,president that no interference would be allowed in cases of this kind4 ,this sort of thing had become too frequent1 and it must be stopped4 ,when the news reached the father and mother in ,vermont it nearly broke their hearts4 ,the thought that their son should be shot was too great for them4 ,they had no hope that he would be saved by anything they could do4 ,but they had a little daughter who had read the life of ,abraham ,lincoln1 and knew how he had loved his own children1 and she said3 ,if ,abraham ,lincoln knew how my father and mother loved my brother he wouldn't let mm he shot4 ,that little girl thought this matter over and made up her mind to see the ,president4 ,she went to the ,white ,house1 and the sentinel1 when he saw her imploring looks1 passed her in1 and when she came to the door and told the private secretary that she wanted to see the ,president1 he could not refuse her4 ,she came into the chamber and found ,abraham ,lincoln surrounded by his generals and counselors1 and when he saw the little country girl he asked her what she wanted4 ,the little maid told her plain1 simple story--how her brother1 whom her father and mother loved very dearly1 had been sentenced to be shot2 how they were mourning for him1 and if he was to die in that way it would break their hearts4 ,the ,president's heart was touched with compassion1 and he immediately sent a dispatch canceling the sentence and giving the boy a parole so that he could come home and see that father and mother4 ,i just tell you this to show you how ,abraham ,lincoln's heart was moved by compassion for the sorrow of that father and mother1 and if he showed so much do you think the ,son of ,god will not have compassion upon you1 sinner1 if you only take that crushed1 bruised heart to him8 ,broken ,hearts4 ,there is no class of people exempt from broken hearts4 ,the rich and the poor suffer alike4 ,there was a time when ,i used to visit the poor that ,i thought all the broken hearts were to be found among them1 but within the last few years ,i have found there are as many broken hearts among the learned as the unlearned1 the cultured as the uncultured1 the rich as the poor4 ,if you could but go up one of our avenues and down another and reach the hearts of the people2 and get them to tell their whole story1 you would be astonished at the wonderful history of every family4 ,i remember a few years ago ,i had been out of the city for some weeks4 ,when ,i returned ,i started out to make some calls4 ,the first place ,i went to ,i found a mother2 her eyes were red with weeping4 ,i tried to find out what was troubling her1 and she reluctantly opened her heart and told me all4 ,she said3 ,last night my only boy came home about midnight1 drunk4 ,i didn't know that he was addicted to drunkenness1 but this morning ,i found out that he had been drinking for weeks1 and1 she continued1 ,i would rather have seen him laid in the grave than have have had him brought home in the condition ,i saw him in last night4 ,i tried to comfort her as best ,i could when she told me her sad story4 ,when ,i went away from that house ,i didn't want to go into any other house where there was family trouble4 ,the very next house ,i went to1 however1 where some of the children who attended my ,sunday school resided1 ,i found that death had been there and laid his hand on one of them4 ,the mother spoke to me of her afflictions1 and brought to me the playthings and the little shoes of the child1 and the tears trickled down that mother's cheeks as she related to me her sorrow4 ,i got out as soon as possible1 and hoped ,i would see no more family trouble that day4 ,the next visit ,i made was to a home where ,i found a wife with a bitter story4 ,her husband had been neglecting her for a long time2 and now1 she said1 he has left me1 and ,i don't know where he has gone4 ,winter is coming on1 and ,i don't know what is going to become of my family4 ,i tried to comfort her1 and prayed with her1 and endeavored to get her to lay all her sorrows on ,christ4 ,the next home ,i entered ,i found a woman crushed and broken-hearted4 ,she told me her boy had forsaken her1 and she had no idea where he had gone4 ,that afternoon ,i made five calls1 and in every home ,i found a broken heart4 ,everyone had a sad tale to tell1 and if you visited every house in ,chicago you would find the truth in the saying that there is a skeleton in every house4 ,i suppose while ,i am talking you are thinking of the great sorrow in your own bosom4 ,i do not know anything about you1 but if ,i were to come around to everyone of you1 and you were to tell me the truth ,i would hear a tale of sorrow4 ,the very last man ,i spoke to last night was a young mercantile man who told me his load of sorrow had been so great that many times during the last few weeks he had gone down to the lake and had been tempted to plunge in and end his existence4 ,his burden seemed too much for him4 ,think of the broken hearts in ,chicago tonight6 ,they could be numbered by hundreds--yea1 thousands4 ,all over this city are broken hearts4 ,if all the sorrow represented in this great city were written in a book1 this building couldn't hold that book1 and you couldn't read it in a long lifetime4 ,this earth is not a stranger to tears1 neither is the present the only time when they could be found in abundance4 ,from ,adam's days to ours tears have been shed1 and a wail has been going up to heaven from the broken-hearted4 ,and ,i say it again1 it is a mystery to me how all those broken hearts can keep away from ,him who has come to heal them4 ,that is ,your ,fault4 ,i remember a mother coming to me and saying1 ,it is easy enough for you to speak in that way2 if you had the burden that ,i've got1 you couldn't cast it on the ,lord4 ,why1 is your burden so great that ,christ can't carry it8 ,i asked4 ,no2 it isn't too great for ,him to carry2 but ,i can't put it on ,him4 ,that is your fault1 ,i replied2 and ,i find a great many people with burdens who1 rather than just come to ,him with them1 strap them tighter on their backs and go away struggling under their load4 ,i asked her the nature of her trouble1 and she told me4 ,i have an only boy who is a wanderer on the face of the earth4 ,i don't know where he is4 ,if ,i only knew where he was ,i would go around the world to find him4 ,you don't know how ,i love that boy4 ,this sorrow is killing me4 ,why can't you take him to ,christ8 ,you can reach ,him at the throne1 even though he be at the uttermost part of the world4 ,go tell ,god all about your trouble1 and he will take away his sin1 and not only that1 but if you never see him on earth1 ,god can give you faith that you will see your boy in heaven4 ,and then ,i told her of a mother who lived down in the southern part of ,indiana4 ,some years ago her boy came up to this city4 ,he was a moralist4 ,my friends1 a man has to have more than morality to lean upon in this great city4 ,he hadn't been here long before he was led astray4 ,a neighbor happened to come up here and found him one night in the streets drunk4 ,when that neighbor went home1 at first he thought he wouldn't say anything about it to the boy's father1 but afterward he thought it was his duty to tell him4 ,so in a crowd in the street of their little town he just took the father aside1 and told him what he had seen in ,chicago4 ,it was a terrible blow4 ,when the children had been put to bed that night he said to his wife1 ,wife1 ,i have bad news4 ,i have heard from ,chicago today4 ,the mother dropped her work in an instant and said3 ,tell me what it is4 ,well1 our son has been seen on the streets of ,chicago1 drunk4 ,neither of them slept that night1 but they took their burden to ,christ1 and about daylight the mother said3 ,i don't know how1 ,i don't know when or where1 but ,god has given me faith to believe that our son will be saved and will never come to a drunkard's grave4 ,one week after1 that boy left ,chicago4 ,he couldn't tell why--an unseen power seemed to lead him to his mother's home1 and the first thing he said on coming over the threshold was1 ,mother1 ,i have come home to ask you to pray for me2 and soon after he came back to ,chicago a bright and shining light4 ,if you have a burden like this1 fathers1 mothers1 bring it to ,him and cast it on ,him1 and ,he1 the ,great ,physician1 will heal your broken hearts4 ,it will ,kill ,her4 ,i was thinking to-day of the difference between those who knew ,christ when trouble comes upon them and those who knew ,him not4 ,i know several members of families who are just stumbling into their graves over trouble4 ,i know two widows in ,chicago who are weeping and mourning over the death of their husbands1 and their grief is just taking them to their graves4 ,instead of bringing their burdens to ,christ1 they mourn day and night1 and the result will be that in a few weeks or years at most their sorrow will take them to their graves when they ought to take it all to the ,great ,physician4 ,three years ago a father took his wife and family on board that ill-fated ,french steamer4 ,they were going to ,europe1 and when out on the ocean another vessel ran into her and she went down4 ,that mother when ,i was preaching in ,chicago used to bring her two children to the meetings every night4 ,it was one of the most beautiful sights ,i ever looked on1 to see how those little children used to sit and listen1 and to see the tears trickling down their cheeks when the ,saviour was preached4 ,it seemed as if nobody else in that meeting drank in the truth as eagerly as those little ones4 ,one-night when an invitation had been extended to all to go into the inquiry room1 one of these little children said3 ,mamma1 why can't ,i go in too8 ,the mother allowed them to come into the room1 and some friend spoke to them1 and to all appearances they seemed to understand the plan of salvation as well as their elders4 ,when that memorable night came that mother went down and came up without her two children4 ,upon reading the news ,i said3 ,it will kill her1 and ,i quitted my post in ,edinburgh--the only time ,i left my post on the other side--and went down to ,liverpool to try and comfort her4 ,but when ,i got there ,i found that the ,son of ,god had been there before me1 and instead of me comforting her1 she comforted me4 ,she told me she could not think of those children as being in the sea2 it seemed as if ,christ had permitted her to take those children on that vessel only that they might be wafted to ,him1 and had saved her life only that she might come back and work a little longer for ,him4 ,when she got up the other day at a mothers' meeting in ,farwell ,hall1 and told her story1 ,i thought ,i would tell the mothers of it the first chance ,i got4 ,so if any of you have had some great affliction1 if any of you have lost a loving father1 mother1 brother1 husband1 or wife1 come to ,christ1 because ,god has sent ,him to heal the broken-hearted4 ,father1 ,father1 ,come ,this ,way4 ,i remember a number of years ago ,i went out of ,chicago to try to preach4 ,i went down to a little town where was being held a ,sunday-school convention4 ,i was a perfect stranger in the place1 and when ,i arrived a man stepped up to me and asked me if my name was ,moody4 ,i told him it was1 and he invited me to his house4 ,when ,i got there he said he had to go to the convention1 and asked me to excuse his wife1 as she1 not having a servant1 had to attend to her household duties4 ,he put me into the parlor1 and told me to amuse myself as best ,i could till he came back4 ,i sat there1 but the room was dark and ,i could not read1 and ,i got tired4 ,so ,i thought ,i would try and get the children and play with them4 ,i listened for some sound of childhood in the house1 but could not hear a single evidence of the presence of little ones4 ,when my friend came back ,i said3 ,haven't you any children8 ,yes1 he replied1 ',i have one1 but she's in ,heaven1 and ,i am glad she is there1 ,moody4 ,are you glad that your child's dead8 ,i inquired4 ,he went on to tell me how he had worshiped that child2 how his whole life had been bound up in her to the neglect of his ,saviour4 ,one day he had come home and found her dying4 ,upon her death he accused ,god of being unjust4 ,he saw some of his neighbors with their children around them4 ,why hadn't ,he taken some of them away8 ,he was rebellious4 ,after he came home from her funeral he said3 ,all at once ,i thought ,i heard1 her little voice calling me1 but the truth came to my heart that she was gone4 ,then ,i thought ,i heard her feet upon the stairs2 but ,i knew she was lying in the grave4 ,the thought of her loss almost made me mad4 ,i threw myself on my bed and wept bitterly4 ,i fell asleep1 and while ,i slept ,i had a dream1 but it almost seemed to me like a vision4 ,i thought ,i was going over a barren field1 and ,i came to a river so dark and chill-looking that1 ,i was going to turn away1 when all at once ,i saw on the opposite bank the most beautiful sight ,i ever looked at4 ,i thought death and sorrow could never enter into that lovely region4 ,then ,i began to see beings all so happy looking1 and among them ,i saw my little child4 ,she waved her little angel hand to me and cried1 ',father1 ,father1 come this way4' ,i thought1 her voice sounded much sweeter than it did on earth4 ,in my dream ,i thought ,i went to the water and tried to cross it1 but found it deep and the current so rapid that ,i thought if ,i entered it would carry me away from her forever4 ,i tried to find a boatman to take me over1 but couldn't1 and ,i walked up and down the river trying to find a crossing1 and still she cried3 ',come this way4' ,all at once ,i heard a voice come rolling down1 ',i am the way1 the truth1 and the life2 no man cometh unto the ,father but by ,me4' ,the voice awoke me from my sleep1' and ,i knew it was my ,saviour calling me1 and pointing the way for me to reach my darling child4 ,i am now superintendent of a ,sunday-school2 ,i have made many converts2 my wife has been converted1 and we will1 through ,jesus as the way1 see one day our child4 ,the ,place of ,safety4 ,my friends1 there is one spot on earth where the fear or ,death1 of ,sin1 and of ,judgment1 need never trouble us1 the only safe spot on earth where the sinner can stand--,calvary4 ,out in our western country1 in the autumn1 when men go hunting1 and there has not been rain for many months1 sometimes the prairie grass catches fire4 ,sometimes1 when the wind is strong1 the flames maybe seen rolling along1 twenty feet high1 destroying man and beast in their onward rush4 ,when the frontiersmen see what is coming1 what do they do to escape8 ,they know they cannot run as fast as that fire can run4 ,not the fleetest horse can escape it4 ,they just take a match and light the grass around them4 ,the flames sweep onwards2 they take their stand in the burnt district and are safe4 ,they hear the flames roar as they come along2 they see death bearing down upon them with resistless fury1 but they do not fear4 ,they do not even tremble as the ocean of flame surges around them1 for over the place where they stand the fire has already past and there is no danger4 ,there is nothing for fire to burn4 ,and there is one spot all earth that ,god has swept over4 ,eighteen hundred years ago the storm burst on ,calvary2 the ,son of ,god took it into his own bosom1 and now1 if we take our stand by the ,cross1 we are safe for time and eternity4 ,,gold4 -- ,christ never preached any funeral sermons4 -- ,his is a loving1 tender hand1 full of sympathy and compassion4 -- ,take your stand on the ,rock of ,ages4 ,let death1 let the judgment come3 the victory is ,christ's and yours through ,him4 -- ,the only man who ever suffered before ,christ was that servant who had his ear cut off4 ,but most likely in a moment afterward he had it on1 and very likely it was a better ear than ever1 because whatever the ,lord does ,he does it well ,no man ever lost his life with ,him4 -- ,a great many people wonder why it was that ,christ did not come at once to ,martha and ,mary1 whom ,he loved1 whenever ,he heard of their affliction4 ,it was to try them1 and it is the same with ,his dealings toward us4 ,if ,he seems not to come to us in our afflictions1 it is only to test us4 -- ,when the ,spirit came to ,moses1 the plagues came upon ,egypt1 and he had power to destroy men's lives2 when the ,spirit came upon ,elijah1 fire came down from heaven2 when the ,spirit came upon ,gideon1 no man could stand before him2 and when it came upon ,joshua1 he moved around the city of ,jericho and the whole city fell into his1 hands2 but when the ,spirit came upon the ,son of ,man1 ,he gave ,his life2 ,he healed the broken-hearted4 -- ,no matter how low down you are2 no matter what your disposition has been2 you may be low in your thoughts1 words1 and actions2 you may be selfish2 your heart may be overflowing with corruption and wickedness2 yet ,jesus will have compassion upon you4 ,he will speak comforting words to you2 not treat you coldly or spurn you1 as perhaps those of earth would1 but will speak tender words1 and words of love and affection and kindness4 ,just come at once4 ,he is a faithful friend--a friend that sticketh closer than a brother4 ,,assurance4 ,napoleon and the ,private4 ,it is said of ,napoleon that while he was reviewing his army one day1 his horse became frightened at something1 and the ,emperor lost his rein1 and the horse went away at full speed1 and the ,emperor's life was in danger4 ,he could not get hold of the rein1 and a private in the ranks saw it1 and sprang out of the ranks towards the horse1 and was successful in getting hold of the horse's head at the peril of his own life4 ,the ,emperor was very much pleased4 ,touching his hat1 he said to him1 ,i make you ,captain of my ,guard4 ,the soldier didn't take his gun1 and walk up there4 ,he threw it away1 stepped out of the ranks of the soldiers1 and went up to where the body-guard stood4 ,the captain of the body-guard ordered him back into the ranks1 but he said ,no6 ,i won't go6 ,why not8 ,because ,i am ,captain of the ,guard4 ,you ,captain of the ,guard8 ,yes2 replied the soldier4 ,who said it8 and the man1 pointing to the ,emperor2 said1 ,he said it4 ,that was enough4 ,nothing more could be said4 ,he took the ,emperor at his word4 ,my friends1 if ,god says anything1 let us take ,him at ,his word4 ,he that believeth on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ shall not perish1 but have everlasting life4 ,don't you believe it8 ,don't you believe you have got everlasting life8 ,it can be the privilege of every child of ,god to believe and then know that you have got it4 ,five ,million ,dollars4 ,one thing ,i know--,i cannot speak for others1 but can speak for myself2 ,i cannot read other minds and other hearts2 ,i cannot read the ,bible and lay hold for others2 but ,i can read for myself1 and take ,god at his word4 ,the great trouble is that people take everything in general1 and do not take it to themselves4 ,suppose a man should say to me1 ,moody1 there was a man in ,europe who died last week1 and left five million dollars to a certain individual4 ,well1 ,i say1 ,i don't doubt that2 it's rather a common thing to happen1 and ,i don't think anything more about it4 ,but suppose he says1 ,but he left the money to you4 ,then ,i pay attention2 ,i say1 ,to me8 ,yes1 he left it to you4 ,i become suddenly interested4 ,i want to know all about it4 ,so we are apt to think ,christ died for sinners2 ,he died for everybody1 and for nobody in particular4 ,but when the truth comes to me that eternal life is mine1 and all the glories of ,heaven are mine1 ,i begin to be interested4 ,i say1 ,where is the chapter and verse where it says ,i can be saved8 ,if ,i put myself among sinners1 ,i take the place of the sinner1 then it is that salvation is mine and ,i am sure of it for time and eternity4 ,engaging ,rooms ,ahead4 ,mr4 ,sankey and myself--going about and preaching the gospel1 is nothing new4 ,you will find them away back eighteen hundred years ago1 going off two by two1 like ,brothers ,bliss and ,whittle1 and ,brothers ,needham and ,stebbins1 to different towns and villages4 ,they had gone out1 and there had been great revivals in all the cities1 towns1 and villages they had entered4 ,everywhere they had met with the greatest success4 ,even the very devils were subject to them4 ,disease had fled before them4 ,when they met a lame man they said to him1 ,you don't want to be lame any longer1 and he walked4 ,when they met a blind man they but told him to open his eyes1 and behold1 he could see4 ,and they came to ,christ and rejoiced over their great success1 and ,he just said to them1 ,i will give you something to rejoice over4 ,rejoice that your names are written in heaven4 ,now there are a great many people who do not believe in such an assurance as this1 ,rejoice1 because your names are written in heaven4 ,how are you going to rejoice if your names are not written there8 ,while speaking about this some time ago1 a man told me we were preaching a very ridiculous doctrine when we preached this doctrine of assurance4 ,i ask you in all candor what are you going to do with this assurance if we don't preach it8 ,it is stated that our names are written there2 blotted out of the ,book of ,death and transferred to the ,book of ,life4 ,i remember while in ,europe ,i was traveling with a friend--she is in this hall to-night4 ,on one occasion we were journeying from ,london to ,liverpool1 and the question was put as to where we would stop4 ,we said we would go to the ,northwestern1 at ,lime street1 as that was the ,hotel where ,americans generally stopped at4 ,when we got there the house was full and they could not let us in4 ,every room was engaged4 ,but this friend said1 ,i am going to stay here4 ,i engaged a room ahead4 ,i sent a telegram on4 ,my friends1 that is just what the ,christians are doing--sending their names in ahead4 ,they are sending a message up saying3 ,lord ,jesus1 ,i want one of those mansions ,you are preparing2 ,i want to be there4 ,that's what they are doing4 ,every man and woman who wants one1 if you have not already got one1 had better make up your mind4 ,send your names up now4 ,i would rather a thousand times have my name written in the ,lamb's ,book than have all the wealth of the world rolling at my feet4 ,he ,will ,not ,rest4 ,suppose a man is going to ,cincinnati1 and he gets on the cars1 but he feels uneasy lest1 the train will take him to ,st4 ,louis instead of his destination4 ,he will not rest till he knows he is on the right road1 and the idea that we are on the road to eternity as fast as time can take us1 and do not know our destination1 is contrary to ,scripture4 ,if we want peace we must know it1 and we can know it2 it is the ,word of ,god4 ,look ,what ,peter says3 ,we know we have an incorruptible dwelling4 ,then in ,paul's epistle to the ,colossians1 i41 #ab1 ,giving thanks unto the ,father which hath made us meet--hath made us1 not going to--to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light4 ,who hath delivered us--not going to deliver us1 but ,he hath delivered us3 this is an assurance--from the power of darkness1 and hath translated us into the kingdom of ,his dear ,son4 ,very ,orthodox4 ,a person came to me some time ago and said3 ,mr4 ,moody1 ,i wish you would give me a book that preaches assurance1 and that tells the children of ,god it is their privilege to know they are accepted4 ,i said1 ,here is a book2 it is very orthodox4 ,it was written by ,john1 the most intimate friend of ,jesus while ,he was on earth4 ,the man who laid his head upon ,his bosom4 ,turn to ,john and see what he says in the #eth chapter1 ,for in them ye think ye have eternal life4 ,i ,don't ,know4 ,there is no doubt about assurance in the ,word of ,god4 ,a person said to me some time ago3 ,i think it is great presumption for a person to say she is saved4 ,i asked her if she was saved4 ,i belong to a church1 she sobbed4 ,but are you saved8 ,i believe it would be presumption in me to say that ,i was saved4 ,well ,i think it is a greater presumption for anyone to say3 ',i don't know if ,i believe in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ because it is written1 ,he that believeth on me hath everlasting life4' ,it is clearly stated that we have assurance4 ,if ,i ,knew4 ,many think that assurance is not to be had while traveling through this world--they must wait till they get before the terrible judgment seat to know whether they are accepted or not4 ,and ,i find some ministers preach this precious doctrine from their pulpits4 ,i heard of a minister who1 while on his way to the burial of a man1 began to talk upon the subject of assurance4 ,why1 said he1 if ,i knew for a certainty that ,i was saved the carriage couldn't hold me4 ,i would have to jump out with joy4 ,a man should be convinced that he has the gospel1 before he preaches it to anyone else4 ,why1 a man need not try to pull a man out of the river if he is in it himself4 ,a man need not try to lift a man out of a pit if he is there too4 ,no man can preach salvation till he knows he is saved4 ,i ,know6 ,the man of ,god who has fixed his feet on the rock of salvation can say with certainty1 ,i know4 ,if you have not got assurance and want it1 just believe ,god's ,word4 ,if you go down ,south and ask those three million colored people how they think they are free1 they won't talk about their feelings2 they just believe that ,abraham ,lincoln made them free4 ,they believe the proclamation1 and so we must believe the proclamation ,god has made in the ,bible4 ,one thing thou teachest1 that is salvation4 ,illustration3 ,the ,journey ,to ,emmaus2 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,luke xxiv1 #ac-cb ,illustration3 ,jesus ,questioning ,the ,doctors2 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,luke ii1 #da-ea ,moody's ,declaration4 ,a great many people say1 ,mr4 ,moody1 ,i would like to know whether ,i am a ,christian or not4 ,i would like to know if ,i am saved4 ,the longer ,i live the more ,i am convinced that it is one of the greatest privileges of a child of ,god to know--to be able to say1 ,i am saved4 ,the idea of walking through life without knowing this until we get to the great white throne is exploded4 ,if the ,bible don't teach assurance it don't teach justification by faith2 if it don't teach assurance it don't teach redemption4 ,the doctrine of assurance is as clear as any doctrine in the ,bible4 ,how many people in the ,tabernacle when ,i ask them if they are ,christians1 say1 ,well1 ,i hope so1--in a sort of a hesitating way4 ,another class say1 ,i am trying to be4 ,this is a queer kind of testimony1 my friends4 ,i notice no man is willing to go into the inquiry room till he has got a step beyond that4 ,that class of ,christians don't amount to much4 ,the real ,christian puts it1 ,i believe2 ,i believe that my ,redeemer liveth2 ,i believe that if this building of flesh were destroyed1 ,i have a building not made with hands1 eternal in the heavens4 ,no hoping and trusting with them4 ,it is1 ,i know4 ,hope is assured to the ,christian4 ,it is a sure hope2 it isn't a doubting hope4 ,suppose a man asked me if my name was ,moody1 and ,i said1 ,well1 ,i hope so1 wouldn't it sound rather strange8 ,i hope it is2 or1 ,i'm trying to be ,moody4 ,now1 if a man asks you if you are a ,christian1 you ought to be able to give a reason4 ,,gold4 -- ,there cannot be any peace where there is uncertainty4 -- ,there is no knowledge like that of a man who knows he is saved1 who can look up and see his title clear to mansions in the skies4 -- ,i believe hundreds of ,christian people are being deceived by ,satan1 now on this point1 that they have not got the assurance of salvation just because they are not willing to take ,god at ,his word4 -- ,but1 a man said to me1 no one has come back1 and we don't know what is in the future4 ,it is all dark1 and how can we be sure8 ,thank ,god6 ,christ came down from heaven1 and ,i would rather have ,him coming as he does right from the bosom of the ,father1 than anyone else4 ,we can rely on what ,christ says1 and ,he says1 ,he that believeth on ,me shall not perish1 but have everlasting life4 ,not that we are going to have it when we die1 but right here to-day4 -- ,now1 ,i find a great many people who want some evidence that they have accepted the ,son of ,god4 ,my friends1 if you want any evidence1 take ,god's word for it4 ,you can't find better evidence than that4 ,you know that when the ,angel ,gabriel came down and told ,zachariah he should have a son he wanted a further token than the angel's word4 ,he asked ,gabriel for it and he answered1 ,i am ,gabriel1 who stands in the presence of the ,lord4 ,he had never been doubted1 and he thundered out this to ,zachariah4 ,but he wanted a further token1 and ,gabriel said1 ,you shall have a token3 you shall be dumb till your son shall be given you4 ,,believe4 ,moody and the ,dying ,soldier4 ,after the battle of ,pittsburgh ,landing and ,murfreesboro' ,i was in a hospital at ,murfreesboro'4 ,and one night after midnight1 ,i was woke up and told that there was a man in one of the wards who wanted to see me4 ,i went to him and he called me chaplain6--,i wasn't a chaplain--and he said he wanted me to help him die4 ,and ,i said1 ,i'd take you right up in my arms and carry you into the kingdom of ,god if ,i could2 but1 ,i can't do it2 ,i can't help you to die4 ,and he said1 ,who can8 ,i said3 ,the ,lord ,jesus ,christ can--,he came for that purpose4 ,he shook his head and said1 ,he can't save me2 ,i have sinned all my life4 ,and ,i said1 ,but ,he came to save sinners4 ,i thought of his mother in the ,north1 and ,i knew that she was anxious that he should die right1 and ,i thought ,i'd stay with him4 ,i prayed two or three times1 and repeated all the promises ,i could1 and ,i knew that in a few hours he would be gone4 ,i said ,i wanted to read him a conversation that ,christ had with a man who was anxious about his soul4 ,i turned to the third chapter of ,john4 ,his eyes were riveted on me1 and when ,i came to the #adth and #aeth verses1 he caught up the words1 ,as ,moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness1 even so must the ,son of ,man be lifted up2 that whosoever believeth on ,him should not perish1 but have eternal life4 ,he stopped me and said1 ,is that there8 ,i said ,yes1 and he asked me to read it again1 and ,i did so4 ,he leaned his elbows on the cot and clasped his hands together and said1 ,that's good2 won't you read it again4 ,i read it the third time1 and then went on with the rest of the chapter4 ,when ,i finished1 his eyes were closed1 his hands were folded1 and there was a smile on his face4 ,oh6 how it was lit up6 ,what a change had come over it6 ,i saw hits lips quivering1 and ,i leaned over him and heard1 in a faint whisper2 ,as ,moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness1 so must the ,son of ,man be lifted up1 that whosoever believeth on ,him should not perish1 but have eternal life4 ,he opened his eyes and said1 ,that's enough2 don't read any more4 ,he lingered a few hours and then pillowed his head on those two verses1 and then went up in one of ,christ's chariots and took his seat in the ,kingdom of ,god4 ,you may spurn ,god's remedy and perish2 but ,i tell you ,god don't want you to perish4 ,he says1 ,as ,i live ,i have no pleasure in the death of the wicked4 ,turn ye1 turn ye1 for why will ye die8 ,a ,child at its ,mother's ,grave4 ,i remember seeing a story some time ago in print4 ,it has been in the papers1 but it will not hurt us to hear it again4 ,a family in a ,southern city were stricken down with yellow fever4 ,it was raging there1 and there were very stringent sanitary rules4 ,the moment anybody died1 a cart went around and took the coffin away4 ,the father was taken sick and died and was buried1 and the mother was at last stricken down4 ,the neighbors were afraid of the plague1 and none dared go into the house4 ,the mother had a little son and was anxious about her boy1 and afraid he would be neglected when she was called away1 so she called the little fellow to her bedside1 and said1 ,my boy1 ,i am going to leave you1 but ,jesus will come to you when ,i am gone4 ,the mother died1 the cart came along and she was laid in the grave4 ,the neighbors would have liked to take the boy1 but were afraid of the pestilence4 ,he wandered about and finally started up to the place where they had laid his mother and sat down on the grave1 and wept himself to sleep4 ,next morning he awoke and realized his position--alone and hungry4 ,a stranger came along and seeing the little fellow sitting on the ground1 asked him what he was waiting for4 ,the boy remembered what his mother had told him1 and answered1 ,i am waiting for ,jesus1 and told him the whole story4 ,the man's heart was touched1 tears trickled down his cheeks and he said1 ,jesus has sent me1 to which the boy replied1 ,you have been a good while coming1 sir4 ,he was provided for4 ,so it is with us4 ,to wait for results1 we must have courage and patience and ,god will help us4 ,you ,know ,me1 ,moody4 ,well1 let me illustrate it then1 and perhaps you will be able to understand it4 ,suppose ,i am dying with consumption2 which ,i inherited from my father or mother4 ,i did not get it by any fault of my own1 by any neglect of my health2 ,i inherited it1 let us suppose4 ,well1 ,i go to my physician1 and to the best physicians1 and they all give me up4 ,they say ,i am incurable2 ,i must die2 ,i have not thirty days to live4 ,well1 a friend happens to come along and looks at me and says3 ,moody1 you have got the consumption4 ,i know it very well2 ,i don't want any one to tell me that4 ,but1 he says1 ,there is a remedy--a remedy1 ,i tell you4 ,let me have your attention4 ,i want to call your attention to it4 ,i tell you there is a remedy4 ,but sir1 ,i don't believe it4 ,i have tried the leading physicians in this country and in ,europe1 and they tell me there is no hope4 ,but you know me1 ,moody2 you have known me for years4 ,yes1 sir4 ,do you think1 then1 ,i would tell you a falsehood8 ,no4 ,well1 ten years ago ,i was far gone4 ,i was given up by the physicians to die1 but ,i took this medicine and it cured me1 ,i am perfectly well--look at me2 ,i say that it is a very strange case4 ,yes1 it may be strange1 but it is a fact4 ,that medicine cured me2 take this medicine and it will cure you4 ,although it has cost me a great deal1 it shall not cost you anything4 ,although the salvation of ,jesus ,christ is as free as the air1 it cost ,god the richest jewel of heaven4 ,he had to give his only ,son2 give all ,he had2 ,he had only one ,son1 and ,he gave ,him4 ,do not make light of it1 then1 ,i beg of you4 ,well ,i say1 ,i would like to believe you1 but this is contrary to my reason4 ,hearing this1 my friend goes away and brings another friend to me and he testifies to the same thing4 ,he again goes away when ,i do not yet believe1 and brings in another1 and another2 and another1 and they all testify to the same thing4 ,they say they were as bad as myself2 and they took the same medicine that has been offered to me1 and it cured them4 ,he then hands me the medicine4 ,i dash it to the ground2 ,i do not believe in its saving power3 ,i die4 ,the reason is1 then1 that ,i spurned the remedy4 ,so it will not be because ,adam fell1 but that you spurn the remedy offered to you to save you4 ,you will have darkness rather than light4 ,how1 then1 shall ye escape if ye neglect so great salvation8 ,there is no hope for you if you neglect the remedy4 ,rational ,belief4 ,once there were a couple of men arranging a balloon ascension4 ,they thought they had two ropes fastened to the car1 but one of them only was fastened1 and they unfastened that one rope1 and the balloon started to go up4 ,one of the men seized hold of the car1 and the other seized hold of the rope4 ,up went the balloon1 and the man who seized hold of the car went up with it1 and was lost4 ,the man who laid hold of the rope was just as sincere as the man who laid hold of the car4 ,there was just as much reason to say that the man who laid hold of that would be saved because he was sincere as the man who believed in a lie because he is sincere in his belief4 ,i like a man to be able to give a reason for the faith that is in him4 ,once ,i asked a man what he believed1 and he said he believed what his church believed4 ,i asked him what his church believed1 and he said he supposed his church believed what he did2 and that was all ,i could get out of him4 ,and so men believe what other people believe and what their church believes1 without really knowing what their church and other people do believe4 ,,gold4 -- ,god is truth4 -- ,what grounds have we for not believing ,god8 ,,the ,,bible4 ,how ,funny ,you ,talk4 ,no book in the world has been so misjudged as the ,bible4 ,men judge it without reading it4 ,or perhaps they read a bit here and a bit there1 and then close it saying1 ,it is so dark and mysterious6 ,you take a book1 now-a-days1 and read it4 ,some one asks you what you think about it4 ,well1 you say1 ,i have only read it through once1 not very carefully1 and ,i should not like to give an opinion4 ,yet people take up ,god's book1 read a few pages1 and condemn the whole of it4 ,of all the skeptics and infidels ,i have ever met speaking against the ,bible1 ,i have never met one who read it through4 ,there may be such men1 but ,i have never met them4 ,it is simply an excuse4 ,there is no man living who will stand up before ,god and say that kept him out of the kingdom4 ,it is the devil's work trying to make us believe it is not true1 and that it is dark and mysterious4 ,the only way to overcome the great enemy of souls is by the written ,word of ,god4 ,he knows that1 and so tries to make men disbelieve it4 ,as soon as a man is a true believer in the ,word of ,god1 he is a conqueror over ,satan4 ,young man6 the ,bible is true4 ,what have these infidels to give you in its place8 ,what has made ,england but the open ,bible8 ,every nation that exalteth the ,word of ,god is exalted1 and every nation that casteth it down is cast down4 ,oh1 let us cling close to the ,bible4 ,of course1 we shall not understand it all at once4 ,but men are not to condemn it on that account4 ,suppose ,i should send my little boy1 five years old1 to school tomorrow morning1 and when he came home in the afternoon1 say to him1 ,willie1 can you read8 can you write8 can you spell8 ,do you understand all about ,algebra1 ,geometry2 ,hebrew1 ,latin1 and ,greek8 ,why1 papa1 the little fellow would say1 hew funny you talk4 ,i have been all day trying to learn the ,a ,b ,c6 ,well2 suppose ,i should reply1 ,if you have not finished your education1 you need not go any more4 ,what would you say8 ,why1 you would say1 ,i had gone mad4 ,there would he just as much reason in that1 as in the way that people talk about the ,bible4 ,my friends1 the men who have studied the ,bible for fifty years--the wise men and the scholars1 the great theologians--have never got down to the depths of it yet4 ,there are truths there that the ,church of ,god has been searching out for the last eighteen hundred years1 but no man has fathomed the depths of that ever-living stream4 ,how ,christ ,expounded ,it4 ,you will find ,christ1 after ,he had risen1 again speaking about the ,old ,testament prophets3 ,and beginning at ,moses1 and all the prophets1 he expounded unto them in all the ,scripture the things concerning ,himself4 ,concerning ,himself4 ,don't that settle the question8 ,i tell you ,i am convinced in my mind that the ,old ,testament is as true as the ,new4 ,and ,he began at ,moses and all the prophets4 ,mark that1 all the prophets4 ,then in the forty-fourth verse3 ,and ,he said unto them1 these are the words which ,i spake unto you1 while ,i was yet with you1 that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of ,moses and in the prophets and in the psalms concerning ,me4 ,then opened ,he their understanding that they might understand the ,scripture4 ,the ,scotch ,draw the ,bible on ,false ,doctrine4 ,there is no place ,i have ever been in where people so thoroughly understand their ,bibles as in ,scotland4 ,why1 little boys could quote ,scripture and take me up on a text4 ,they have the whole nation just educated1 as it were1 with the ,word of ,god4 ,infidelity cannot come there4 ,a man got up in ,glasgow1 at a corner1 and began to preach universal salvation4 ,oh1 sir1 said an old woman1 that will never save the like of me4 ,she had heard enough preaching to know that it would never save her4 ,if a man comes among them with any false doctrine1 these ,scotchmen instantly draw their ,bibles on him4 ,i had to keep my eyes open and be careful what ,i said there4 ,they knew their ,bibles a good deal better than ,i did4 ,and so if the preachers could get the people to read the ,word of ,god more carefully1 and note what they heard1 there would not be so much infidelity among us4 ,moody and the ,infidel4 ,an infidel had come the other day1 to one of our meetings1 and when ,i talked with him1 he replied that he didn't believe one-twelfth part of the ,bible1 but ,i kept on quoting ,scripture1 feeling that if the man didn't believe1 ,god could do what ,he chose with ,his word1 and make it quick and powerful1 and sharper than a two-edged sword4 ,the man kept saying that he did not believe what the ,bible said1 and ,i kept on quoting passage after passage of ,scripture1 and the man1 who1 two hours before1 had entered the hall an infidel1 went out of it a converted man1 and a short time after his conversion he left the ,city for ,boston1 a ,christian1 to join his family in ,europe4 ,before this gentleman went away1 ,i asked him if he believed the ,bible1 and his reply was3 ,from back to back1 every word of it4 ,deluged with ,blood4 ,a good many years ago there was a convention held in ,france1 and those who held it wanted to get the country to deny a ,god1 to burn the ,bible1 wanted to say that men passed away like a dog and a dumb animal4 ,what was the result6 ,not long since1 that country was filled with blood4 ,did you ever think what would take place if we could vote the ,bible and the ministers of the gospel and ,god out from among the people8 ,my friends1 the country would be deluged with blood4 ,your life and mine would not be safe in this ,city to-night4 ,we could not walk through these streets with safety4 ,we don't know how much we owe ,god and the influence of ,his gospel among even ungodly men4 ,illustration3 ,the ,dumb ,man ,possessed2 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,matthew1 ix1 #cb4 ,illustration3 ,the ,burial ,of ,jesus2 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,john1 xix1 #ch-db4 ,,gold4 -- ,there are over two hundred passages in the ,old ,testament which prophesied about ,christ1 and every one of them has come true4 -- ,god didn't give the world two different ,bibles2 they are one1 and must be believed from back to back1 from ,genesis to ,revelations1 or not at all4 -- ,i haven't found the first man who ever read the ,bible from back to back carefully who remained an infidel4 ,my friends1 the ,bible of our mothers and fathers is true4 -- ,the ,word of ,god may be darkened to the natural man1 but the way of ,salvation is written so plain1 that the little child six years old can understand it if she will4 -- ,set more and more store by the ,bible4 ,then troubles in your ,christian life will pass away like a morning cloud4 ,you will feed and live on the ,word of ,god1 and it will become the joy of your soul4 -- ,there are dark and mysterious things in the ,bible now1 but when you begin to trust ,christ your eyes will be opened and the ,bible will be a new book to you4 ,it will become the ,book of books to you4 -- ,i notice if a man goes to cut up the ,bible and comes to you with one truth and says1 ,i don't believe this1 and ,i don't believe that1--,i notice when he begins to doubt portions of the ,word ,of ,god he soon doubts it all4 -- ,if you will show me a ,bible ,christian living on the ,word of ,god1 ,i will show you a joyful man4 ,he is mounting up all the time4 ,he has got new truths that lift him up over every obstacle1 and he mounts over difficulties higher and higher1 like a man ,i once heard of who had a bag of gas fastened on either side1 and if he just touched the ground with his foot1 over a wall or a hedge he would go2 and so these truths make us so light that we bound over every obstacle4 ,,bible ,,study4 ,how ,moody was ,blessed--,mark ,your ,bible4 ,i want to tell you how ,i was blessed a few years ago1 upon hearing a discourse upon the thirtieth chapter of ,proverbs4 ,the speaker said the children of ,god were like four things4 ,the first thing was3 ,the ants are a people not strong1 and he went on to compare the children of ,god to ants4 ,he said the people of ,god were like1 ants4 ,they pay no attention to the things of the present1 but go on steadily preparing for the future4 ,the next thing he compared them to was the conies4 ,the conies are but a feeble folk4 ,it is a very weak little thing4 ,well1 said ,i1 ,i wouldn't like to be as a coney4 ,but he went on to say that it built upon a rock4 ,the children of ,god were very weak1 but they laid their foundation upon a rock4 ,well1 said ,i1 ,i will be like a coney and build my hopes upon a rock4 ,like the ,irishman who said he trembled himself1 but the rock upon which his house was built never did4 ,the next thing the speaker compared them to was a locust4 ,i didn't think much of locusts2 and ,i thought ,i wouldn't care about being like one4 ,but he went on to read1 ,they have no king1 yet they go forth all of them by bands4 ,there were the ,congregationalist1 the ,presbyterian1 the ,methodist bands going forth without a king1 but by and by our ,king will come back again1 and these bands will fly to ,him4 ,well1 ,i will be like a locust2 my ,king is away1 ,i thought4 ,the next comparison was a spider4 ,i didn't like this at all1 but he said if we went into a gilded palace filled with luxury1 we might see a spider holding on to something1 oblivious to all the luxury below4 ,it was laying hold of the things above4 ,well1 said ,i1 ,i would like to be a spider4 ,i heard this a good many years ago1 and ,i just put the speaker's name to it1 and it makes a sermon4 ,but take your ,bibles and mark them4 ,don't think of wearing them out4 ,it is a rare thing to find a man wearing his ,bible out now-a-days--and ,bibles are cheap1 too4 ,you are living in a land where they are plenty4 ,study them and mark them1 and don't be afraid of wearing them4 ,moody ,visits ,prang's ,chromo ,establishment4 ,when ,i went to ,boston1 ,i went into ,mr4 ,prang's chromo establishment4 ,i wanted to know how the work was done4 ,he took me to a stone several feet square1 where he took the first impression1 but when he took the paper off the stone ,i could see no sign of a man's face there4 ,wait a little1 he said4 ,he took me to another stone1 but when the paper was lifted ,i couldn't see any impression yet4 ,he took me up1 up to eight1 nine1 ten stones1 and then ,i could see just the faintest outlines of a man's face4 ,he went on till he got up to about the twentieth stone1 and ,i could see the impression of a face1 but he said it was not very correct yet4 ,well1 he went on till he got up1 ,i think1 to the twenty-eighth stone1 and a perfect face appeared1 and it looked as if all it had to do was to speak and it would be human4 ,if you read a chapter of the ,bible and don't see anything in it1 read it a second time1 and if you cannot see anything in it read it a third time4 ,dig deep4 ,read it again and again1 and even if you have to read it twenty-eight times do so1 and you will see the ,man ,christ ,jesus1 for ,he is in every page of the ,word4 ,get the ,key to ,job4 ,an ,englishman asked me some time ago1 ,do you know much about ,job8 ,well1 ,i know a little1 ,i replied4 ,if you've got the key of ,job1 you've got the key to the whole ,bible4 ,what8 ,i replied1 ,i thought it was a poetical book4 ,well1 said he1 ,i will just divide ,job into seven heads4 ,the first is the perfect man--untried2 and that is ,adam and ,eve before they fell4 ,the second head is tried by adversity--,adam after the fall4 ,the third is the wisdom of the world--the three friends who came to try to help ,job out of his difficulties4 ,they had no power to help him at all4 ,he could stand his scolding wife1 but he could not stand them4 ,the fourth head takes the form of the ,mediator1 and in the fifth head ,god speaks at last4 ,he heard him before by the ear1 but he hears ,him now by the soul1 and he fell down flat upon his face4 ,a good many men in ,chicago are like ,job4 ,they think they are mighty good men1 but the moment they hear the voice of ,god they know they are sinners1 they are in the dust4 ,there isn't much talk about their goodness then4 ,here he was with his face down4 ,job learned his lesson4 ,that was the sixth head1 and in these heads were the burdens of ,adam's sin4 ,the seventh head was when ,god showed him ,his face4 ,well1 ,i learned the key to the ,bible4 ,i cannot tell how this helped me4 ,i told it to another man1 and he asked me if ,i ever thought how he got his property back and his sheep back4 ,he gave ,job double what he had and gave him ten children besides1 so that he should have ten in heaven besides his ten on earth4 ,illustration3 ,jesus ,blessing ,children2 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,mark1 x1 #ac-af ,one ,book at a time4 ,i have found it a good plan to take up one book at a time4 ,it is a good deal better to study one book at a time than to run through the ,bible4 ,if we study one book and get its key1 it will1 perhaps1 open up others4 ,take up the book of ,genesis1 and you will find eight beginnings2 or1 in other words1 you pick up the key of several books4 ,the gospel was written that man might believe on ,jesus ,christ1 and every chapter speaks of ,him4 ,now1 take the book of ,genesis2 it says it is the book of beginnings4 ,that is the key2 then the book of ,exodus--it is the book of redemption2 that is the key word of the whole4 ,take up the book of ,leviticus1 and we find that it is the book of sacrifices4 ,and so on through all the different books2 you will find each one with a key4 ,another thing3 ,we must study it unbiased4 ,a great many people believe certain things4 ,they believe in certain creeds and doctrines1 and they run through the book to get ,scripture in accordance with them4 ,if a man is a ,calvinistic man he wants to find something in accordance with his doctrine4 ,but if we go to seek truth the ,spirit of ,god will come4 ,don't seek it in the blue light of ,presbyterianism1 in the red light of ,methodism2 or in the light of ,episcopalianism1 but study it in the light of ,calvary4 ,note what ,jesus ,says4 ,some people say to me1 ,moody1 you don't believe in the flood4 ,all the scientific men tell us it is absurd4 ,let them tell us4 ,jesus tells us of it1 and ,i would rather take the word of ,jesus than that of any other one4 ,i haven't got much respect for those men who dig down for stones with shovels1 in order to take away the word of ,god4 ,men don't believe in the story of ,sodom and ,gomorrah1 but we have it sealed in the ,new ,testament4 ,as1 it was in the days of ,sodom and ,gomorrah4 ,they don't believe in ,lot's wife1 but ,he says1 ,remember ,lot's wife4 ,so there is not a thing that men to-day cavil at but the ,son of ,god indorses4 ,they don't believe1 in the swallowing of ,jonah4 ,they say it is impossible that a whale could swallow ,jonah--its throat is too small4 ,they forget that the whale was prepared for ,jonah2 as the colored woman said1 ,why1 ,god could prepare a man to swallow a whale1 let alone a whale to swallow a man4 ,one ,word4 ,i remember ,i took up the word love1 and turned to the ,scriptures and studied it1 and got so that ,i felt ,i loved everybody1 ,i got full of it4 ,when ,i went on the street1 ,i felt as if ,i loved everybody ,i saw4 ,it ran out of my fingers4 ,suppose you take up the subject of love and study it up4 ,you will get so full of it that all you have got to do is to open your lips and a flood of the love of ,god flows upon the meeting4 ,if you go into a court you will find a lawyer pleading a case4 ,he gets everything bearing upon one point1 heaped up so as to carry his argument with all the force he can1 in order to convince the jury4 ,now it seems to me a man should do the same in talking to an audience2 just think that he has a jury before him1 and he wants to convict a sinner4 ,if it is love1 get all you can upon the subject and talk love1 love4 ,the ,i ,ams1 ,i ,wills1 ,etc4 ,a favorite way to study the ,bible with me1 is first to take up one expression1 and run through the different places where they are found4 ,take the ,i ams of ,john2 ,i am the bread of life2 ,i am the water of life2 ,i am the way1 the truth1 and the life2 ,i am the resurrection2 ,i am all1 and in all4 ,god gives to ,his children a blank2 and on it they can write whatever they most want and ,he will fill the bill4 ,and then the promises4 ,a ,scotchman found out thirty one thousand distinct promises in the ,word of ,god4 ,there is not a despondent soul but ,god has a promise just to suit him4 ,,gold4 -- ,the best truths are got by digging deep for them4 -- ,when we know our ,bible1 then it is that ,god can use us4 -- ,when we find a man meditating on the words of ,god1 my friends1 that man is full of boldness and is successful4 -- ,when a man is filled with the ,word of ,god you cannot keep him still4 ,if man has got the ,word1 he must speak or die4 -- ,let us have one day exclusively to study and read the ,word of ,god4 ,if we can't take time during the week1 we will have ,sunday uninterrupted4 -- ,now1 as old ,dr4 ,bonner1 of ,glasgow1 said1 ,the ,lord didn't tell ,joshua how to use the sword1 but ,he told him how he should meditate on the ,lord day and night1 and then he would have good success4 -- ,one thing ,i have noticed in studying the ,word of ,god1 and that is1 when a man is filled with the ,spirit he deals largely with the ,word of ,god1 whereas the man who is filled with his own ideas refers rarely to the ,word of ,god4 ,he gets along without it1 and you seldom see it mentioned in his discourses4 ,,blind4 ,a ,mother's ,mistake4 ,while ,i was attending a meeting in a certain city sometime ago a lady came to me and said3 ,i want you to go home with me2 ,i have something to say to you4 ,when we reached her home1 there were some friends there2 ,after they had retired1 she put her arms on the table1 and tears began to come into her eyes1 but with an effort she repressed her emotion4 ,after a struggle she went on to say that she was going to tell me something which she had never told any other living person4 ,i should not tell it now2 but she has gone to another world4 ,she said she had a son in ,chicago1 and she was very anxious about him4 ,when he was young he got interested in religion at the rooms of the young ,men's ,christian ,association4 ,he used to go out in the street and circulate tracts4 ,he was her only son1 and she was very ambitious that he should make a name in the world1 and wanted him to get into the very highest circles4 ,oh1 what a mistake people make about these highest circles4 ,society is false2 it is a sham4 ,she was deceived like a good many more votaries of fashion and hunters after wealth at the present time4 ,she thought it was beneath her son to go down and associate with those young men who hadn't much money4 ,she tried to get him away from them1 but they had more influence than she had1 and1 finally1 to break his whole association1 she packed him off to a boarding-school4 ,he went soon to ,yale ,college1 and she supposed he got into one of those miserable secret societies there that have ruined so many young men2 and the next thing she heard was that the boy had gone astray4 ,she began to write letters urging him to come into the ,kingdom of ,god1 but she heard that he tore the letters up without reading them4 ,she went to him to try and regain whatever influence she possessed over him1 but her efforts were useless1 and she came home with a broken heart4 ,he left ,new ,haven1 and for two years they heard nothing of him4 ,at last they heard he was in ,chicago1 and his father found him and gave him #cj1jjj to start in business4 ,they thought it would change him1 but it didn't4 ,they asked me when ,i went back to ,chicago to try and use my influence with him4 ,i got a friend to invite him to his house one night1 where ,i intended to meet him1 but he heard ,i was to be there1 and did not come near1 like a good many other young men1 who seem to be afraid of me4 ,i tried many times to reach him1 but could not4 ,while ,i was traveling one day on the ,new ,haven ,railroad1 ,i bought a ,new ,york paper1 and in it ,i saw a dispatch saying he had been drowned in ,lake ,michigan4 ,his father came on to find his body1 and1 after considerable searching1 they discovered it4 ,all his clothes and his body were covered with sand4 ,the body was taken home to that broken-hearted mother4 ,she said ,if ,i thought he was in heaven ,i would have peace4 ,her disobedience of ,god's law came back upon her4 ,so1 my friends1 if you have a boy impressed with the gospel1 help him to come to ,christ4 ,bring him in the arms of your faith1 and ,he will unite you closer to him4 ,pull for the ,shore4 ,look at that man in a boat on ,niagara ,river4 ,he is only about a mile from the rapids4 ,a man on the bank shouts to him1 ,young man1 young man1 the rapids are not far away2 you'd better pull for the shore4 ,you attend to your own business2 ,i will take care of myself1 he replies4 ,like a great many people here1 and ministers1 too1 they don't want any evangelist here--don't want any help1 however great the danger ahead4 ,on he goes2 sitting coolly in his boat4 ,now he has got a little nearer1 and a man from the bank of the river sees his danger1 and shouts3 ,stranger1 you'd better pull for the shore2 if you go further1 you'll be lost4 ,you can be saved now if you pull in4 ,mind your business1 and you'll have enough to do2 ,i'll take care of myself4 ,like a good many men1 they are asleep to the danger that's hanging over them while they are in the current4 ,and ,i say1 drinking young man1 don't you think you are standing still4 ,you are in the current1 and if you don't pull for a rock of safety you will go over the precipice4 ,on he goes4 ,i can see him in the boat laughing at the danger4 ,a man on the bank is looking at him1 and he lifts up his voice and cries1 ,stranger1 stranger1 pull for the shore2 if you don't you'll lose your life2 and the young man laughs at him--mocks him4 ,that is the way with hundreds in ,chicago4 ,if you go to them and point out their danger1 they will jest and joke at you4 ,by and by he says3 ,i think ,i hear the rapids--yes1 ,i hear them roar2 and he seizes his oars and pulls with all his strength1 but the current is too great1 and nearer and nearer he is drawn on to that abyss1 until he gives one unearthly scream1 and over he goes4 ,ah1 my friends1 this is the case with hundreds in this city4 ,they are in the current of riches of pleasure1 of drink1 that will take them to the whirlpool4 ,a ,blind ,man ,preaches to #c1jjj1jjj ,people4 ,i was at a meeting in ,london1 when ,i was there1 and ,i heard a man speaking with wonderful power and earnestness4 ,who is that man8 ,i asked1 my curiosity being excited4 ,why1 that is ,dr4 ----4 ,he is blind4 ,i felt some interest in this man and at the close of the meeting1 ,i sought an interview1 and he told me that he had been stricken blind when very young4 ,his mother took him to a doctor1 and asked him about his sight4 ,you must give up all hope1 the doctor said4 ,your boy is blind1 and will be forever4 ,what1 do you think my boy will never see8 asked his mother4 ,never again4 ,the mother took her boy to her bosom and cried1 ,oh1 my boy1 '',who will take care of you when ,i am gone8 ,who will look to you8--forgetting the faithfulness of that ,god she had taught him to love4 ,he became a servant of the ,lord and was permitted to print the ,bible in twelve different languages1 printed in the raised letters1 so that all the blind people could read the ,scriptures themselves4 ,he had a congregation1 my friends1 of three millions of people1 and ,i think that blind man was one of the happiest beings in all ,london4 ,he was naturally blind1 but he had eyes to his soul1 and could see a bright eternity in the future4 ,he had built his foundation upon the living ,god4 ,we pity those who have not their natural sight2 but how you should pity yourself if you are spiritually blind4 ,money ,blind4 ,i heard of a man who had accumulated great wealth1 and death came upon him suddenly1 and he realized1 as the saying is1 that there was no bank in the shroud1 that he couldn't take anything away with him2 we may have all the money on earth1 but we must leave it behind us4 ,he called a lawyer in and commenced to will away his property before he went away4 ,his little girl couldn't understand exactly where he was going1 and she said3 ,father1 have you got a home in that land you are going to8 ,the arrow went down to his soul4 ,got a home there8 ,the rich man had hurled away ,god and neglected to secure a home there for the sake of his money1 and he found it was now too late4 ,he was money mad1 he was money blind4 ,,gold4 -- ,now ,i am no prophet1 nor the son of a prophet1 but one thing ,i can predict2 that every one of our new converts that goes to studying his ,bible1 and loves this book above every other book1 is sure to hold out4 ,the world will have no charm for him2 he will get the world under his feet1 because in this book he will find something better than the world can give him4 -- ,what can botanists tell you of the lily of the valley8 ,you must study this book for that4 ,what can geologists tell you of the ,rock of ,ages1 or mere astronomers about the ,bright ,morning ,star8 ,in those pages we find all knowledge unto salvation2 here we read of the ruin of man by nature1 redemption by the blood1 and regeneration by the ,holy ,ghost4 ,these three things run all through and through them4 ,,the ,,blood4 ,a ,mother ,dies that her ,boy may ,live4 ,when the ,california gold fever broke out1 a man went there1 leaving his wife in ,new ,england with his boy4 ,as soon as he got on and was successful he was to send for them4 ,it was a long time before he succeeded1 but at last he got money enough to send for them4 ,the wife's heart leaped for joy4 ,she took her boy to ,new ,york1 got on board a ,pacific steamer1 and sailed away to ,san ,francisco4 ,they had not been long at sea before the cry of ,fire6 fire6 rang through the ship1 and rapidly it gained on them4 ,there was a powder magazine on board1 and the captain knew the moment the fire reached the powder1 every man1 woman1 and child must perish4 ,they got out the life-boats1 but they were too small6 ,in a minute they were overcrowded4 ,the last one was just pushing away1 when the mother pled with them to take her and her boy4 ,no1 they said1 we have got as many as we can hold4 ,she entreated them so earnestly1 that at last they said they would take one more4 ,do you think she leaped into that boat and left her boy to die8 ,no6 ,she seized her boy1 gave him one last hug1 kissed him1 and dropped him over into the boat4 ,my boy1 she said1 if you live to see your father1 tell him that ,i died in your place4 ,that is a faint type of what ,christ has done for us4 ,he laid down his life for us4 ,he died that we might live4 ,now will you not love ,him8 ,what would you say of that young man if he should speak contemptuously of such a mother6 ,she went down to a watery grave to save her son4 ,well1 shall we speak contemptuously of such a ,saviour8 ,may ,god make us loyal to ,christ6 ,my friends1 you will need ,him one day4 ,you will need ,him when you come to cross the swellings of ,jordan4 ,you will need ,him when you stand at the bar of ,god4 ,may ,god forbid that when death draws nigh it should find you making light of the precious blood of ,christ6 ,a ,man ,drinks up a ,farm4 ,a few years ago1 ,i was going away to preach one ,sunday morning1 when a young man drove up in front of us4 ,he had an aged woman with him4 ,who is that young man8 ,i asked4 ,do you see that beautiful meadow8 said my friend1 and that land there with the house upon it8 ,yes ,his father drank that all up1 said he4 ,then he went on to tell me all about him4 ,his father was a great drunkard1 squandered his property1 died1 and left his wife in the poor-house4 ,and that young man1 he said1 is one of the finest young men ,i ever knew4 ,he has toiled hard and earned money1 and bought back the land2 he has taken his mother out of the poor-house1 and now he is taking her to church4 ,i thought1 that is an illustration for me4 ,the first ,adam in ,eden sold us for naught1 but the ,messiah1 the second ,adam1 came and bought us back again4 ,the first ,adam brought us to the poor-house1 as it were2 the second ,adam makes us kings and priests unto ,god4 ,that is redemption4 ,we get in ,christ all that ,adam lost1 and more4 ,men look on the blood of ,christ with scorn and contempt1 but the time is coming when the blood of ,christ will be worth more than all the kingdoms of the world4 ,all ,right or all ,wrong4 ,i remember when in the old country a young man came to me--a minister--and said he wanted to talk with me4 ,he said to me3 ,mr4 ,moody1 you are either all right and ,i am all wrong1 or else ,i am right1 and you are all wrong4 ,well1 sir1 said ,i1 ,you have the advantage of me4 ,you have heard me preach1 and you know what doctrines ,i hold1 whereas ,i have not heard you1 and don't know what you preach4 ,well1 said he1 the difference between your preaching and mine is that you make out that salvation is got by ,christ's death1 and ,i make out that it is attained by ,his life4 ,now1 what do you do with the passages bearing upon the death8 and ,i quoted the passages1 ,without the shedding of blood there is no remission1 and ,he ,himself bore our own sins by ,his own body on the tree1 and asked him what he did with them1 for instance4 ,never preach them at all4 ,i quoted a number of passages more1 and he gave me the same answer4 ,well1 what do you preach8 ,i finally asked4 ,moral essays1 he replied4 ,said ,i1 ,did you ever know anybody to be saved by that kind of thing1 did you ever convert anybody by them8 ,i never aimed at that kind of conversion2 ,i meant to get men to heaven by culture--by refinement4 ,well1 said ,i1 ,if ,i didn't preach those texts1 and only preached culture1 the whole thing would be a sham4 ,and it is a sham to me1 was his reply4 ,i tell you the moment a man breaks away from this doctrine of blood1 religion becomes a sham1 because the whole teaching of this book is of one story1 and this is1 that ,christ came into the world and died for our sins4 ,the ,fettered ,bird ,freed4 ,a friend in ,ireland once met a little ,irish boy who had caught a sparrow4 ,the poor little bird was trembling in his hand1 and seemed very anxious to escape4 ,the gentleman begged the boy to let it go1 as the bird could not do him any good2 but the boy said he would not2 for he had chased it three hours before he could catch it4 ,he tried to reason it out with the boy1 but in vain4 ,at last he offered to buy the bird2 the boy agreed to the price1 and it was paid4 ,then the gentleman took the poor little thing and held it out on his hand4 ,the boy had been holding it very fast1 for the boy was stronger than the bird1 just as ,satan is stronger than we1 and there it sat for a time1 scarcely able to realize the fact that it had got liberty2 but in a little while it flew away1 chirping1 as if to say to the gentleman1 ,thank you6 thank you6 you have redeemed me4 ,that is what redemption is--buying back and setting free4 ,so ,christ came back to break the fetters of sin1 to open the prison doors and set the sinner free4 ,this is the good news1 the gospel of ,christ--,ye are not redeemed with corruptible things1 as silver and gold1 but with the precious blood of ,christ4 ,,gold4 -- ,the most solemn truth in the gospel is that the only thing ,christ left down here is ,his blood4 -- ,a man who covers up the cross1 though he may be an intellectual man1 and draw large crowds1 will have no life there1 and his church will be but a gilded sepulcher4 -- ,there is either of two things we must do4 ,one is to send back the message to heaven that we don't want the blood of ,christ to cleanse us of our sin1 or else accept it4 -- ,into every house where the blood was not sprinkled1 the destroying angel came4 ,but wherever the blood was on door-post and lintel1 whether they had worked much1 or whether they had worked none1 ,god passed them over4 -- ,a man who has not realized what the blood has done for him has not the token of salvation4 ,it is told of ,julian1 the apostate1 that while he was fighting he received an arrow in his side4 ,he pulled it out1 and1 taking a handful of blood threw it into the air and cried1 ,galilean1 ,galilean1 thou hast conquered4 -- ,look at that ,roman soldier as he pushed his spear into the very heart of the ,god-man4 ,what a hellish deed6 ,but what was the next thing that took place8 ,blood covered the spear6 ,oh6 thank ,god1 the blood covers sin4 ,there was the blood covering that spear--the very point of it4 ,the very crowning act of sin brought out the crowning act of love2 the crowning act of wickedness was the crowning act of grace4 -- ,it ,is said that old ,dr4 ,alexander1 of ,princeton ,college1 when a young student used to start out to preach1 always gave them a piece of advice4 ,the old man would stand with his gray locks and his venerable face and say3 ,young man1 make much of the blood in your ministry4 ,now1 ,i have traveled considerable during the past few years1 and never met a minister who made much of the blood and much of the atonement but ,god had blessed his ministry1 and souls were born into the light by it4 ,,child ,,stories4 ,little ,moody4 ,i remember when ,i was a boy ,i went several miles from home with an older brother4 ,that seemed to me the longest visit of my life4 ,it seemed that ,i was then further away from home than ,i had ever been before1 or have ever been since4 ,while we were walking down the street we saw an old man coming toward us1 and my brother said1 ,there is a man that will give you a cent4 ,he gives every new boy that comes into this town a cent4 ,that was my first visit to the town1 and when the old man got opposite to us he looked around1 and my brother not wishing me to lose the cent1 and to remind the old man that ,i had not received it1 told him that ,i was a new boy in the town4 ,the old man1 taking off my hat1 placed his trembling hand on my head1 and told me ,i had a ,father in heaven4 ,it was a kind1 simple act1 but ,i feel the pressure of the old man's hand upon my head to-day4 ,you don't know how much you may do by just speaking kindly4 ,won by a ,smile4 ,in ,london1 in #ahgb1 one ,sunday morning a minister said to me1 ,i want you to notice that family there in one of the front seats1 and when we go home ,i want to tell you their story4 ,when we got home ,i asked him for the story1 and he said1 ,all that family were won by a smile4 ,why1 said ,i1 how's that8 ,well1 said he1 as ,i was walking down a street one day ,i saw a child at a window2 it smiled1 and ,i smiled1 and we bowed4 ,so it was the second time2 ,i bowed1 she bowed4 ,it was not long before there was another child1 and ,i had got in a habit of looking and bowing1 and pretty soon the group grew1 and at last1 as ,i went by1 a lady was with them4 ,i didn't know what to do4 ,i didn't want to bow to her1 but ,i knew the children expected it1 and so ,i bowed to them all4 ,and the mother saw ,i was a minister1 because ,i carried a ,bible every ,sunday morning4 ,so the children followed me the next ,sunday and found ,i was a minister4 ,and they thought ,i was the greatest preacher1 and their parents must hear me4 ,a minister who is kind to a child and gives him a pat on the head1 why the children will think he is the greatest preacher in the world4 ,kindness goes a great way4 ,and to make a long story short1 the father and mother and five children were converted1 and they are going to join our church next ,sunday4 ,won to ,christ by a smile6 ,we must get the wrinkles out of our brows1 and we must have smiling faces4 ,a ,little ,boy's ,experience4 ,one day as a young lady was walking up the street1 she saw a little boy running out of a shoemaker's shop1 and behind him was the old shoemaker chasing him with a wooden last in his hand4 ,he had not run far until the last was thrown at him1 and he was struck in the back4 ,the boy stopped and began to cry4 ,the ,spirit of the ,lord touched that young lady's heart1 and she went to where he was4 ,she stepped up to him1 and asked him if he was hurt4 ,he told her it was none of her business4 ,she went to work then to win that boy's confidence4 ,she asked him if he went to school4 ,he said1 ,no4 ,well1 why don't you go to school8 ,don't want to4 ,she asked him if he would not like to go to ,sunday school4 ,if you will come1 she said1 ,i will tell you beautiful stories and read nice books4 ,she coaxed and pleaded with him1 and at last said that if he would consent to go1 she would meet him on the corner of a street which they should agree upon4 ,he at last consented1 and the next ,sunday1 true to his promise1 he waited for her at the place designated4 ,she took him by the hand and led him into the ,sabbath-school ,can you give me a place to teach this little boy8 she asked of the superintendent4 ,he looked at the boy1 but they didn't have any such looking little ones in the school4 ,a place was found1 however1 and she sat down in the corner and tried to win that soul for ,christ4 ,many would look upon that with contempt1 but she had got something to do for the ,master4 ,the little boy had never heard anybody sing so sweetly before4 ,when he went home he was asked where he had been4 ,been among the angels1 he told his mother4 ,he said he had been to the ,protestant ,sabbath-school1 but his father and mother told him he must not go there any more or he would get a flogging4 ,the next ,sunday he went1 and when he came home he got the promised flogging4 ,he went the second time and got a flogging1 and also a third time with the same result4 ,at last he said to his father1 ,i wish you would flog me before ,i go1 and then ,i won't have to think of it when ,i am there4 ,the father said1 ,if you go to that ,sabbath-school again ,i will kill you4 ,it was the father's custom to send his son out on the street to sell articles to the passers-by1 and he told the boy that he might have the profits of what he sold on ,saturday4 ,the little fellow hastened to the young lady's house and said to her1 ,father said that he would give me every ,saturday to myself1 and if you will just teach me1 then ,i will come to your house every ,saturday afternoon4 ,i wonder how many young ladies there are that would give up their ,saturday afternoons just to lead one boy into the kingdom of ,god4 ,every ,saturday afternoon that little boy was there at her house1 and she tried to tell him the way to ,christ4 ,she labored with him1 and at last the light of ,god's spirit broke upon his heart4 ,one day while he was selling his wares at the railroad station1 a train of cars approached unnoticed and passed over both his legs4 ,a physician was summoned1 and the first thing after he arrived1 the little sufferer looked up into his face and said1 ,doctor1 will ,i live to get home8 ,no1 said the doctor1 you are dying4 ,will you tell my mother and father that ,i died a ,christian8 ,they bore home the boy's corpse and with it the last message that he died a ,christian4 ,oh1 what a noble work was that young lady's in saving that little wanderer6 ,how precious the remembrance to her6 ,when she goes to heaven she will not be a stranger there4 ,he will take her by the hand and lead her to the throne of ,christ4 ,she did the work cheerfully4 ,oh1 may ,god teach us what our work is that we may do it for ,his glory4 ,love4 ,in our city a few years ago there was a little boy who went to one of the mission ,sunday-schools4 ,his father moved to another part of the city about five miles away1 and every ,sunday that boy came past thirty or forty ,sunday-schools to the one he attended4 ,and one ,sunday a lady who was out collecting scholars for a ,sunday-school met him and asked why he went so far1 past so many schools4 ,there are plenty of others1 said she1 just as good4 ,he said1 ,they may be as good but they are not so good for me4 ,why not8 she asked ,because they love a fellow over there1 he answered4 ,ah6 love won him4 ,because they love a fellow over there6 ,how easy it is to reach people through love6 ,sunday-school teachers should win the affections of their scholars if they wish to lead them to ,christ4 ,a ,little ,boy ,converts his ,mother4 ,i remember when on the ,north ,side ,i tried to reach a family time and again and failed4 ,one night in the meeting1 ,i noticed one of the little boys of that family4 ,he hadn't come for any good1 however2 he was sticking pins in the backs of the other boys4 ,i thought if ,i could get hold of him it would do good4 ,i used always to go to the door and shake hands with the boys1 and when ,i got to the door and saw this little boy coming out1 ,i shook hands with him1 and patted him on the head1 and said ,i was glad to see him1 and hoped he would come again4 ,he hung his head and went away4 ,the next night1 however1 he came back1 and he behaved better than he did the previous night4 ,he came two or three times after1 and then asked us to pray for him that he might become a ,christian4 ,that was a happy night for me4 ,he became a ,christian and a good one4 ,one night ,i saw him weeping4 ,i wondered if his old temper had got hold or him again1 and when he got up ,i wondered what he was going to say4 ,i wish you would pray for my mother1 he said4 ,when the meeting was over ,i went to him and asked1 ,have you ever spoken to your mother or tried to pray with her8 ,well1 you know1 ,mr4 ,moody1 he replied1 ,i never had an opportunity2 she don't believe1 and won't hear me4 ,now1 ,i said1 ,i want you to talk to your mother to-night4 ,for years ,i had been trying to reach her and couldn't do it4 ,so ,i urged him to talk to her that night1 and ,i said ,i will pray for you both4 ,when he got to the sitting-room he found some people there1 and he sat waiting for an opportunity1 when his mother said it was time for him to go to bed4 ,he went to the door undecided4 ,he took a step1 stopped1 and turned around1 and hesitated for a minute1 then ran to his mother and threw his arms around her neck1 and buried his face in her bosom4 ,what is the matter8 she asked--she thought he was sick4 ,between his sobs he told his mother how for five weeks he had wanted to be a ,christian2 how he had stopped swearing2 how he was trying to be obedient to her1 and how happy he would be if she would be a ,christian1 and then went off to bed4 ,she sat for a few minutes1 but couldn't stand it1 and went up to his room4 ,when she got to the door she heard him weeping and praying1 ,oh1 ,god1 convert my dear mother4 ,she came down again1 but couldn't sleep that night4 ,next day she told the boy to go and ask ,mr4 ,moody to come over and see her4 ,he called at my place of business--,i was in business then--and ,i went over as quick as ,i could4 ,i found her sitting in a rocking chair weeping4 ,mr4 ,moody1 she said1 ,i want to become a ,christian4 ,what has brought that change over you4 ,i thought you didn't believe in it8 ,then she told me how her boy had come to her1 and how she hadn't slept any all night1 and how her sin rose up before her like a dark mountain4 ,the next ,sunday that boy came and led that mother into the ,sabbath-school1 and she became a ,christian worker4 ,oh1 little children1 if you find ,christ tell it to your fathers and mothers4 ,throw your arms around their necks and lead them to ,jesus4 ,a ,father's ,mistake4 ,there is a little story that has gone the round of the ,american press that made a great impression upon me as a father4 ,a father took his little child out into the field one ,sabbath1 and1 it being a hot day1 he lay down under a beautiful shady tree4 ,the little child ran about gathering wild flowers and little blades of grass1 and coming to its father and saying1 ,pretty6 pretty6 ,at last the father fell asleep1 and while he was sleeping the little child wandered away4 ,when he awoke1 his first thought was1 ,where is my child8 ,he looked all around1 but he could not see him4 ,he shouted at the top of his voice1 but all he heard was the echo of his own voice4 ,running to a little hill1 he looked around and shouted again4 ,no response6 ,then going to a precipice at some distance1 he looked down1 and there1 upon the rocks and briars1 he saw the mangled form of his loved child4 ,he rushed to the spot1 took up the lifeless corpse1 and hugged it to his bosom1 and accused himself of being the murderer of his child4 ,while he was sleeping his child had wandered over the precipice4 ,i thought as ,i heard that1 what a picture of the church of ,god6 ,how many fathers and mothers1 how many ,christian men1 are sleeping now while their children wander over the terrible precipice right into the bottomless pit4 ,father1 where is your boy to-night8 ,a ,boy's ,mistake--,a ,sad ,reconciliation4 ,there was an ,englishman who had an only son2 and only sons are often petted1 and humored1 and ruined4 ,this boy became very headstrong1 and very often he and his father had trouble4 ,one day they had a quarrel and the father was very angry1 and so was the son2 and the father said he wished the boy would leave home and never come back4 ,the boy said he would go1 and would not come into his father's house again till he sent for him4 ,the father said he would never send for him4 ,well1 away went the boy4 ,but when a father gives up a boy1 a mother does not4 ,you mothers will understand that1 but the fathers may not4 ,you know there is no love on earth so strong as a mother's love4 ,a great many things may separate a man and his wife2 a great many things may separate a father from his son2 but there is nothing in the wide world that can ever separate a true mother from her child4 ,to be sure1 there are some mothers that have drank so much liquor that they have drunk up all their affection4 ,but ,i am talking about a true mother2 and she would never cast off her boy4 ,well1 the mother began to write and plead with the boy to write to his father first1 and he would forgive him2 but the boy said1 ,i will never go home till father asks me4 ,then she pled with the father1 but the father said1 ,no1 ,i will never ask him4 ,at last the mother came down to her sick-bed1 broken-hearted1 and when she was given up by the physicians to die1 the husband1 anxious to gratify her last wish1 wanted to know if there was nothing he could do for her before she died4 ,the mother gave him a look2 he well knew what it meant4 ,then she said1 ,yes1 there is one thing you can do4 ,you can send for my boy4 ,that is the only wish on earth you can gratify4 ,if you do not pity him and love him when ,i am dead and gone1 who will8 ,well1 said the father1 ,i will send word to him that you want to see him4 ,no1 she says1 you know he will not come for me4 ,if ever ,i see him you must send for him4 ,at last the father went to his office and wrote a dispatch in his own name1 asking the boy to come home4 ,as soon as he got the invitation from his father he started off to see his dying mother4 ,when he opened the door to go in he found his mother dying1 and his father by the bedside4 ,the father heard the door open1 and saw the boy1 but instead of going to meet him1 he went to another part of the room1 and refused to speak to him4 ,his mother seized his hand--how she had longed to press it6 ,she kissed him1 and then said1 ,now1 my son1 just speak to your father4 ,you speak first1 and it will all be over4 ,but the boy said1 ,no1 mother1 ,i will not speak to him until he speaks to me4 ,she took her husband's hand in one hand and the boy's in the other1 and spent her dying moments in trying to bring about a reconciliation4 ,then just as she was expiring--she could not speak--so she put the hand of the wayward boy into the hand of the father1 and passed away6 ,the boy looked at the mother1 and the father at the wife1 and at last the father's heart broke1 and he opened his arms1 and took that boy to his bosom1 and by that body they were reconciled4 ,sinner1 that is only a faint type1 a poor illustration1 because ,god is not angry with you4 ,i bring you to-night to the dead body of ,christ4 ,i ask you to look at the wounds in his hands and feet1 and the wound in his side4 ,and ,i ask you1 ,will you not be reconciled8 ,moody and his ,little ,willie4 ,i said to my little family1 one morning1 a few weeks before the ,chicago fire1 ,i am coming home this afternoon to give you a ride4 ,my little boy clapped his hands4 ,oh1 papa1 will you take me to see the bears in ,lincoln ,park8 ,yes4 ,you know boys are very fond of seeing bears4 ,i had not been gone long when my little boy said1 ,mamma1 ,i wish you would get me ready4 ,oh1 she said1 it will be a long time before papa comes4 ,but ,i want to get ready1 mamma4 ,at last he was ready to have the ride1 face washed1 and clothes all nice and clean4 ,now1 you must take good care and not get yourself dirty again1 said mamma4 ,oh1 of course he was going to take care2 he wasn't going to get dirty4 ,so off he ran to watch for me4 ,however1 it was a long time yet until the afternoon1 and after a little he began to play4 ,when ,i got home1 ,i found him outside1 with his face all covered with dirt4 ,i can't take you to the ,park that way1 ,willie4 ,why1 papa8 you said you would take me4 ,ah1 but ,i can't2 you're all over mud4 ,i couldn't be seen with such a dirty little boy4 ,why1 ,i'se clean1 papa2 mamma washed me4 ,well1 you've got dirty since4 ,but he began to cry1 and ,i could not convince him that he was dirty4 ,i'se clean2 mamma washed me6 he cried4 ,do you think ,i argued with him8 ,no4 ,i just took him up in my arms1 and carried him into the house1 and showed him his face in the looking-glass4 ,he had not a word to say4 ,he could not take my word for it2 but one look at the glass was enough2 he saw it for himself4 ,he didn't say he wasn't dirty after that6 ,now the looking-glass showed him that his face was dirty--but ,i did not take the looking-glass to wash it2 of course not4 ,yet that is just what thousands of people do4 ,the law is the looking-glass to see ourselves in1 to show us how vile and worthless we are in the sight of ,god2 but they take the law and try to wash themselves with it4 ,jesus ,wants them ,all to ,come4 ,i heard of a ,sunday-school concert at which a little child of eight was going to recite4 ,her mother had taught her1 and when the night came the little thing was trembling so she could scarcely speak4 ,she commenced1 ,jesus said1 and completely broke down4 ,again she tried it3 ,jesus said suffer1 but she stopped once more4 ,a third attempt was made by her1 ,suffer little children--and don't anybody stop them1 for ,he wants them all to come1 and that is the truth4 ,there is not a child who has a parent in the ,tabernacle but ,he wants1 and if you but bring them in the arms of your faith and ask the ,son of ,god to bless them and train them in the knowledge of ,god1 and teach them as you walk your way1 as you lie down at night1 as you rise up in the morning1 they will be blessed4 ,never to ,see its ,mother4 ,i was in an infirmary not long since1 and a mother brought a little child in4 ,she said1 ,doctor1 my little child's eyes have not been opened for several days1 and ,i would just like you to do something for them4 ,the doctor got some ointment and put it first on one and then on the other1 and just pulled them open4 ,your child is blind1 said the doctor2 perfectly blind2 it will never see again4 ,at first the mother couldn't take it in1 but after a little she cast an appealing look upon that physician1 and in a voice full of emotion1 said1 ,doctor1 you don't mean to say that my child will never see again8 ,yes1 replied the doctor1 your child has lost its sight1 and will never see again4 ,and that mother just gave a scream1 and drew that child to her bosom4 ,o my darling child1 sobbed the woman1 are you never to see the mother that gave you birth8 never to see the world again8 ,i could not keep back the tears when ,i saw the terrible agony of that woman when she realized the misfortune that had come upon her child4 ,that was a terrible calamity1 to grope in total darkness through this world2 never to look upon the bright sky1 the green fields2 never to see the faces of loved ones2 but what was it in comparison to the loss of a soul8 ,i would rather have my eyes plucked out of my head and go down to my grave in total blindness than lose my soul4 ,a ,little ,child ,converts an ,infidel4 ,i remember hearing of a ,sabbath-school teacher who had led every one of her children to ,christ4 ,she was a faithful teacher4 ,then she tried to get her children to go out and bring other children into the school4 ,one day one of them came and said she had been trying to get the children of a family to come to the school1 but the father was an infidel1 and he wouldn't allow it4 ,what is an infidel8 asked the child4 ,she had never heard of an infidel before4 ,the teacher went on to tell her what an infidel man was1 and she was perfectly shocked4 ,a few mornings after the girl happened to be going past the post-office on her way to school1 and she saw the infidel father coming out4 ,she went up to him and said1 ,why don't you love ,jesus8 ,if it had been a man who had said that to him probably he would have knocked him down4 ,he looked at her and walked on4 ,a second time she put the question1 ,why don't you love ,jesus8 ,he put out his hand to put her gently away from him1 when1 on looking down1 he saw her tears4 ,please1 sir1 tell me why you don't love ,jesus8 ,he pushed her aside and away he went4 ,when he got to his office he couldn't get this question out of his mind4 ,all the letters seemed to read1 ,why don't you love ,jesus8 ,all men in his place of business seemed to say1 ,why don't you love ,jesus8 ,when he tried to write his pen seemed to shape the words1 ,why don't you love ,jesus8 ,he couldn't rest1 and on the street he went to mingle with the business men1 but he seemed to hear a voice continually asking him1 ,why don't you love ,jesus8 ,he thought when night came and he got home with his family1 he would forget it2 but he couldn't4 ,he complained that he wasn't well1 and went to bed4 ,but when he laid his head on the pillow that voice kept whispering1 ,why don't you love ,jesus8 ,he couldn't sleep4 ,by and by1 about midnight1 he got up and said1 ,i will get a ,bible and find where ,christ contradicts himself1 and then ,i'll have a reason1 and he turned to the book of ,john4 ,my friends1 if you want a reason for not loving ,christ1 don't turn to ,john4 ,he knew ,him too long4 ,i don't believe a man can read the gospel of ,john without being turned to ,christ4 ,well1 he read through1 and found no reason why he shouldn't love ,him1 but he found many reasons why he should4 ,he read this book1 and before morning he was on his knees1 and that question put by that little child led to his conversion4 ,the ,dying ,child4 ,a lady had a little child that was dying4 ,she thought it was resting sweetly in the arms of ,jesus4 ,she went into the room and the child asked her3 ,what are those clouds and mountains that ,i see so dark8 ,why1 ,eddy1 said his mother1 there are no clouds or mountains1 you must be mistaken4 ,why1 yes1 ,i see great mountains and dark clouds1 and ,i want you to take me in your arms and carry me over the mountains4 ,ah1 said the mother1 you must pray to ,jesus1 ,he will carry you safely1 and1 my friends1 the sainted mother1 the praying wife1 may come to your bedside and wipe the damp sweat from your brow1 but they cannot carry you over the ,jordan when the hour comes4 ,this mother said to her little boy1 ,i am afraid that it is unbelief that is coming upon you1 my child1 and you must pray that the ,lord will be with you in your dying moments4 ,and the two prayed1 but the boy turned to her and said3 ,don't you hear the angels1 mother1 over the mountains1 and calling for me1 and ,i cannot go8 ,my dear boy1 pray to ,jesus1 and ,he will come2 ,he only can take you4 ,and the boy closed his eyes and prayed1 and when he opened them a heavenly smile overspread his face as he said1 ,jesus has come to carry me over the mountains4 ,dear sinner1 ,jesus is ready and willing to carry you over the mountains of sin1 and over your mountains of unbelief4 ,give yourself to ,him4 ,the ,finest ,looking ,little ,boy ,mr4 ,moody ever ,saw4 ,a few years ago ,i was in a town down in our state1 the guest of a family that had a little boy about thirteen years1 who did not bear the family name1 yet was treated like the rest4 ,every night when he retired1 the lady of the home kissed him and treated him in every respect like all the other children4 ,i said to the lady of the house1 ,i don't understand it4 ,i think he was the finest looking boy ,i have ever seen4 ,i said to her1 ,i don't understand it4 ,she says1 ,i want to tell you about that boy4 ,that boy is the son of a missionary4 ,his father and mother were missionaries in ,india1 but they found they had got to bring their children back to this country to educate them4 ,so they gave up their mission field and came back to educate their children and to find some missionary work to do in this country4 ,but they were not prospered here as they had been in ,india1 and the father said1 ,i will go back to ,india2 and the mother said1 ,if ,god has called you to go ,i am sure it will be my duty to go and my privilege to go1 and ,i will go with you4 ,the father said1 you have never been separated from the children1 and it will be hard for you to be separated from them2 perhaps you had better stay and take care of them4 ,but after prayer they decided to leave their children to be educated1 and they left for ,india4 ,this lady heard of it and sent a letter to the parents1 in which she stated if they left one child at her house she would treat it like one of her own children4 ,she said the mother came and spent a few days at her house1 and being satisfied that her boy would receive proper care1 consented to leave him1 and the night before she was to leave him1 the missionary said to the ,western lady3 ,i want to leave my boy tomorrow morning without a tear2 said she1 ,i may never see him again4 ,but she didn't want him to think she was weeping for anything she was doing for the ,master4 ,the lady said to herself1 ,she won't leave that boy without a tear4 ,but the next day when the carriage drove up to the door1 the lady went up stairs and she heard the mother in prayer1 crying1 ,oh ,god1 give me strength for this hour4 ,help me to go away from my boy without a tear4 ,when she came down there was a smile upon her face4 ,she hugged him and she kissed him1 but she smiled as she did it4 ,she gave up all her five or six children without shedding a tear1 went back to ,india and in about a year there came a voice1 ,come up hither4 ,do you think she would be a stranger in the ,lord's world8 ,don't you think she will be known there as a mother that loved her child8 ,emma1 this is ,papa's ,friend4 ,a gentleman one day came to my office for the purpose of getting me interested in a young man who had just got out of the penitentiary4 ,he says1 said the gentleman1 he don't want to go to the office1 but ,i want your permission to bring him in and introduce him4 ,i said1 ,bring him in4 ,the gentleman brought him in and introduced him1 and ,i took him by the hand and told him ,i was glad to see him4 ,i invited him up to my house1 and when ,i took him into my family ,i introduced him as a friend4 ,when my little daughter came into the room1 ,i said1 ,emma1 this is papa's friend4 ,and she went up and kissed him1 and the man sobbed aloud4 ,after the child left the room1 ,i said1 ,what is the matter8 ,o sir1 he said1 ,i have not had a kiss for years4 ,the last kiss ,i had was from my mother1 and she was dying4 ,i thought ,i would never have another one again4 ,his heart was broken4 ,moody's ,little ,emma4 ,i remember one time my little girl was teasing her mother to get her a muff1 and so one day her mother brought a muff home1 and1 although it was storming1 she very naturally wanted to go out in order to try her new muff4 ,so she tried to get me to go out with her4 ,i went out with her1 and ,i said1 ,emma1 better let me take your hand4 ,she wanted to keep her hands in her muff1 and so she refused to take my hand4 ,well1 by and by she came to an icy place1 her little feet slipped1 and down she went4 ,when ,i helped her up she said1 ,papa1 you may give me your little finger4 ,no1 my daughter1 just take my hand4 ,no1 no1 papa1 give me your little finger4 ,well1 ,i gave my finger to her1 and for a little way she got along nicely1 but pretty soon we came to another icy place1 and again she fell4 ,this time she hurt herself a little1 and she said1 ,papa1 give me your hand1 and ,i gave her my hand1 and closed my fingers about her wrist1 and held her up so that she could not fall4 ,just so ,god is our keeper4 ,he is wiser than we4 ,little ,jimmy4 ,a friend of mine in ,chicago took his ,sabbath-school out on the cars once4 ,a little boy was allowed to sit on the platform of the car1 when by some mischance he fell1 and the whole train passed over him4 ,they had to go on a half a mile before they could stop4 ,they went back to him and found that the poor little fellow had been cut and mangled all to pieces4 ,two of the teachers went back with the remains to ,chicago4 ,then came the terrible task of telling the parents about it4 ,when they got to the house they dared not go in4 ,they were waiting there for five minutes before anyone had the courage to tell the story4 ,but at last they ventured in4 ,they found the family at dinner4 ,the father was called out--they thought they would tell the father first4 ,he came out with the napkin in his hand4 ,my friend said to him3 ,i have got very bad news to tell you4 ,your little ,jimmy has got run over by the cars4 ,the poor man turned deathly pale and rushed into the room crying out1 ,dead1 dead4 ,the mother sprang to her feet and came out of the sitting-room where the teachers were4 ,when she heard the sad story she fainted dead away at their feet4 ,moody1 said my friend1 ,i wouldn't be the messenger of such tidings again if you would give me the whole of ,chicago4 ,i never suffered so much4 ,i have got a son dearer to me than my life1 and yet ,i would rather have a train a mile long run over him than that he should die without ,god and without hope4 ,what is the loss of a child to the loss of a soul8 ,stubborn ,little ,sammy4 ,at one time my sister had trouble with her little boy1 and the father said1 ',why1 ,sammy1 you must go now and ask your mothers forgiveness4 ,the little fellow said he wouldn't4 ,the father says1 ,you must4 ,if you don't go and ask your mothers forgiveness ,i shall have to undress you and put you to bed4 ,he was a bright1 nervous little fellow1 never still a moment1 and the father thought he would have such a dread of being undressed and put to bed4 ,but the little fellow wouldn't1 so they undressed him and put him to bed4 ,the father went to his business1 and when he came home at noon he said to his wife3 ,has ,sammy asked your forgiveness8 ,no1 she said1 he hasn't4 ,so the father went to him and said1 ,why1 ,sammy1 why don't you ask your mother's forgiveness8 ,the little fellow shook his head1 ,won't do it4 ,but1 ,sammy1 you have got to4 ,couldn't4 ,the father went down to his office1 and stayed all the afternoon1 and when he came home he asked his wife1 ,has ,sammy asked your forgiveness8 ,no1 ,i took something up to him and tried to have him eat1 but he wouldn't4 ,so the father went up to see him1 and said1 ,now1 ,sammy1 just ask your mother's forgiveness1 and you may be dressed and come down to supper with us4 ,couldn't do it1 ,the father coaxed1 but the little fellow couldn't do it4 ,that was all they could get out of him4 ,you know very well he could1 but he didn't want to4 ,now1 the hardest thing a man has to do is to become a ,christian1 and it is the easiest4 ,that may seem a contradiction1 but it isn't4 ,the hard point is because he don't want to4 ,the hardest thing for a man to do is to give up his will4 ,that night they retired1 and they thought surely early in the morning1 he will be ready to ask his mothers forgiveness4 ,the father went to him--that was ,friday morning--to see if he was ready to ask his mother's forgiveness1 but he couldn't4 ,the father and mother felt so bad about it they couldn't eat2 they thought it was to darken their whole life4 ,perhaps that boy thought that father and mother didn't love him4 ,just what many sinners think because ,god won't let them have their own way4 ,the father went to his business1 and when he came home he said to his wife1 ,has ,sammy asked your forgiveness8 ,no4 ,so he went to the little fellow and said1 ',now1 ,sammy1 are you not going to ask your mother's forgiveness8 ,can't1 and that was all they could get out of him4 ,the father couldn't eat any dinner2 it was like death in the house4 ,it seemed as if the boy was going to conquer his father and mother4 ,instead of his little will being broken1 it looked very much as if he was going to break theirs4 ,late ,friday afternoon1 ,mother1 mother1 forgive1 says ,sammy--me4 ,and the little fellow said me1 and he sprang to his feet and said3 ,i have said it1 ,i have said it4 ,now dress me1 and take me down to see father4 ,he will be so glad to know ,i have said it4 ,and she took him down1 and when the little fellow came in he said1 ,i've said it1 ,i've said it4 ,oh1 my friends1 it is so easy to say1 ,i will arise and go to my ,god4 ,it is the most reasonable thing you can do4 ,isn't an unreasonable thing to hold out8 ,come right to ,god just this very hour4 ,believe on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ and thou shalt be saved4 ,spurgeon and the ,little ,orphan4 ,while we were in ,london1 ,mr4 ,spurgeon one day took ,mr4 ,sankey and myself to his orphan asylum1 and he was telling about them--that some of them had aunts and some cousins1 and that every boy had some friend that took an interest in him1 and came to see him and gave him a little pocket money1 and one day he said while he stood there1 a little boy came up to him and said1 ,mr4 ,spurgeon1 let me speak to you1 and the boy sat down between ,mr4 ,spurgeon and the elder1 who was with the clergyman1 and said1 ,mr4 ,spurgeon1 suppose your father and mother were dead1 and you didn't have any cousins1 or aunts1 or uncles1 or friends to come and give you pocket money1 and give you presents1 don't you think you would feel bad--because that's me8 ,said ,mr4 ,spurgeon1 the minute he asked that1 ,i put my right hand down into my pocket and took out the money4 ,because that's me6 ,and so with the ,gospel2 we must say to those who have sinned1 the ,gospel is offered to them4 ,a ,child ,looking for its ,lost ,mother4 ,a little child1 whose mother was dying1 was taken away to live with some friends because it was thought she did not understand what death is4 ,all the while the child wanted to go home and see her mother4 ,at last1 when the funeral was over1 and she was taken home1 she ran all over the house1 searching the sitting room1 the parlor1 the library1 and the bedrooms4 ,she went from one end of the house to the other1 and when she could not find her mother1 she wished to be taken back to where they brought her from4 ,home had lost its attractions for the child when her mother was not there4 ,my friends1 the great attraction in heaven will not be its pearly gates1 its golden streets1 nor its choir of angels1 but it will be ,christ4 ,heaven would be no heaven if ,christ were not there4 ,but we know that ,he is at the right hand of the ,father1 and these eyes shall gaze on ,him by-and-by2 and we shall be satisfied when we awake with his likeness4 ,,christ ,,saves4 ,moody in ,prison4 ,i have good news to tell you--,christ is come after you4 ,i was at the ,fulton-street prayer-meeting1 a good many years ago1 one ,saturday night1 and when the meeting was over1 a man came to me and said1 ,i would like to have you go down to the city prison to-morrow1 and preach to the prisoners4 ,i said ,i would be very glad to go4 ,there was no chapel in connection with that prison1 and ,i was to preach to them in their cells4 ,i had to stand at a little iron railing and talk down a great1 long narrow passageway1 to some three or four hundred of them1 ,i suppose1 all out of sight4 ,it was pretty difficult work2 ,i never preached to the bare walls before4 ,when it was over ,i thought ,i would like to see to whom ,i had been preaching1 and how they had received the gospel4 ,i went to the first door1 where the inmates could have heard me best1 and looked in at a little window1 and there were some men playing cards4 ,i suppose they had been playing all the while4 ,how is it with you here8 ,i said4 ,well1 stranger1 we don't want you to get a bad idea of us4 ,false witnesses swore a lie1 and that is how we are here4 ,oh1 ,i said1 ,christ cannot save anybody here2 there is nobody lost4 ,i went to the next cell4 ,well1 friend1 how is it with you8 ,oh1 said the prisoner1 the man that did the deed looked very much like me1 so they caught me and ,i am here4 ,he was innocent1 too6 ,i passed along to the next cell4 ,how is it with you8' ,well1 we got into bad company1 and the man that did it got clear1 and we got taken up1 but we never did anything4 ,i went along to the next cell ,how is it with you8 ,our trial comes on next week1 but they have nothing against us1 and we'll get free4 ,i went round to nearly every cell but the answer was always the same--they had never done anything4 ,why1 ,i never saw so many innocent men together in my life4 ,there was nobody to blame but the magistrates1 according to their way of it4 ,these men were wrapping their filthy rags of self-righteousness about them4 ,and that has been the story for six thousand years4 ,i got discouraged as ,i went through the prison1 on1 and on1 and on1 cell after cell1 and every man had an excuse4 ,if he hadn't one1 the devil helped him to make one4 ,i had got almost through the prison1 when ,i came to a cell and found a man with his elbows on his knees1 and his head in his hands4 ,two little streams of tears were running down his cheeks2 they did not come by drops that time4 ,what's the trouble8 ,i said4 ,he looked up1 the picture of remorse and despair4 ,oh1 my sins are more than ,i can bear4 ,thank ,god for that1 ,i replied4 ,what1 said he1 you are the man that has been preaching to us1 ain't you8 ,yes4 ,i think you said you were a friend8 ,i am4 ,and yet you are glad that my sins are more than ,i can bear6 ,i will explain1 ,i said ,if your sins are more than you can bear1 won't you cast them on ,one who will bear them for you8 ,who's that8 ,the ,lord ,jesus4 ,he won't bear my sins4 ,why not8 ,i have sinned against ,him all my life4 ,i don't care if you have2 the blood of ,jesus ,christ1 ,god's ,son1 cleanses from all sin4 ,then ,i told him how ,christ had come to seek and save that which was lost2 to open the prison doors and set the captives free4 ,it was like a cup of refreshment to find a man who believed he was lost1 so ,i stood there1 and held up a crucified ,saviour to him4 ,christ was delivered for our offenses1 died for our sins1 rose again for our justification4 ,for a long time the man could not believe that such a miserable wretch could be saved4 ,he went on to enumerate his sins1 and ,i told him that the blood of ,christ could cover them all4 ,after ,i had talked with him ,i said1 ,now let us pray4 ,he got down on his knees inside the cell1 and ,i got down outside1 and ,i said1 ,you pray4 ,why1 he said1 it would be blasphemy for me to call on ,god4 ,you call on ,god1 ,i said4 ,he knelt down1 and1 like the poor publican1 he lifted up his voice and said1 ,god be merciful to me1 a vile wretch6 ,i put my hand through the window1 and as ,i shook hands with him a tear fell on my hand that burned down into my soul4 ,it was a tear of repentance4 ,he believed he was lost4 ,then ,i tried to get him to believe that ,christ had come to save him4 ,i left him still in darkness4 ,i will be at the hotel1 ,i said1 between nine and ten o'clock1 and ,i will pray for you4 ,next morning1 ,i felt so much interested1 that ,i thought ,i must see him before ,i went back to ,chicago4 ,no sooner had my eye lighted on his face1 than ,i saw that remorse and despair had fled away1 and his countenance was beaming with celestial light2 the tears of joy had come into his eyes1 and the tears of despair were gone4 ,the sun of ,righteousness had broken out across his path2 his soul was leaping within him for joy2 he had received ,christ as ,zaccheus did--joyfully4 ,tell me about it1 ,i said4 ,well1 ,i do not know what time it was2 ,i think it was about midnight4 ,i had been in distress a long time1 when all at once my great burden fell off1 and now1 ,i believe ,i am the happiest man in ,new ,york4 ,i think he was the happiest man ,i saw from the time ,i left ,chicago till ,i got back again4 ,his face was lighted up with the light that comes from the celestial hills4 ,i bade him good-by1 and ,i expect to meet him in another world4 ,can you tell me why the ,son of ,god came down to that prison that night1 and1 passing cell after cell1 went to that one1 and set the captive free8 ,it was because the man believed he was lost4 ,a ,father's ,love for his ,boy4 ,a number of years ago1 before any railway came into ,chicago1 they used to bring in the grain from the ,western prairies in wagons for hundreds of miles1 so as to have it shipped off by the lakes4 ,there was a father who had a large farm out there1 and who used to preach the gospel as well as to attend to his farm4 ,one day1 when church business engaged him1 he sent his son to ,chicago with grain4 ,he waited and waited for his boy to return1 but he did not come home4 ,at last he could wait no longer1 so he saddled his horse and rode to the place where his son had sold the grain4 ,he found that he had been there and got the money for his grain2 then he began to fear that his boy had been murdered and robbed4 ,at last1 with the aid of a detective1 they tracked him to a gambling den1 where they found that he had gambled away the whole of his money4 ,in hopes of winning it back again1 he then had sold his team1 and lost that money too4 ,he had fallen among thieves1 and like the man who was going to ,jericho1 they stripped him1 and then they cared no more about him4 ,what could he do8 ,he was ashamed to go home to meet his father1 and he fled4 ,the father knew what it all meant4 ,he knew the boy thought he would be very angry with him4 ,he was grieved to think that his boy should have such feelings toward him4 ,that is just exactly like the sinner4 ,he thinks because he has sinned1 ,god will have nothing to do with him4 ,but what did that father do8 ,did he say1 ,let the boy go8 ,no2 he went after him4 ,he arranged his business1 and started after the boy4 ,that man went from town to town1 from city to city4 ,he would get the ministers to let him preach1 and at the close he would tell his story4 ,i have got a boy who is a wanderer on the face of the earth somewhere4 ,he would describe his boy1 and say1 ,if you ever hear of him or see him1 will you not write to me8 ,at last he found that he had gone to ,california1 thousands of miles away4 ,did that father say1 ,let him go8 ,no2 off he went to the ,pacific coast1 seeking the boy4 ,he went to ,san ,francisco1 and advertised in the newspapers that he would preach at such a church on such a day4 ,when he had preached he told his story1 in hopes that the boy might have seen the advertisement and come to the church4 ,when he had done1 away under the gallery1 there was a young man who waited until the audience had gone out2 then he came toward the pulpit4 ,the father looked and saw it was that boy1 and he ran to him1 and pressed him to his bosom4 ,the boy wanted to confess what he had done1 but not a word would the father hear4 ,he forgave him freely1 and took him to his home once more4 ,i tell you ,christ will welcome you this minute if you will come4 ,say1 ,i will arise and go to my ,father4 ,may ,god incline you to take this step4 ,there is not one whom ,jesus has not sought far longer than that father4 ,there has not been a day since you left ,him but ,he has followed you4 ,illustration3 ,mary ,magdalene4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,mark1 xvi1 #i4 ,lady ,ann ,erskine and ,rowland ,hill4 ,there is a very good story told of ,rowland ,hill and ,lady ,ann ,erskine4 ,you have seen it1 perhaps1 in print1 but ,i would like to tell it to you4 ,while he was preaching in a park in ,london to a large assemblage1 she was passing in her carriage4 ,she said to her footman when she saw ,rowland ,hill in the midst of the people1 ,why1 who is that man8 ,that is ,rowland ,hill1 my lady4 ,she had heard a good deal about the man1 and she thought she would like to see him1 so she directed her coachman to drive her near the platform4 ,when the carriage came near he saw the insignia of nobility1 and he asked who that noble lady was4 ,upon being told1 he said1 ,stop1 my friends1 ,i have got something to sell4 ,the idea of a preacher becoming suddenly an auctioneer made the people wonder1 and in the midst of a dead silence he said3 ,i have more than a title to sell--,i have more than a crown of ,europe to sell2 it is the soul of ,lady ,ann ,erskine4 ,is there anyone here who bids for it8 ,yes1 ,i hear a bid4 ,satan1 ,satan1 what will you give8 ',i will give pleasure1 honor1 riches--yea1 ,i will give the whole world for her soul4' ,do you hear another bid8 ,is there any other one8 ,do ,i hear another bid8 ,ah1 ,i thought so2 ,i hear another bid4 ,the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 what will ,you give for this soul8 ',i will give peace1 joy1 comfort1 that the world knows not of--yea1 ,i will give eternal life4' ,lady ,ann ,erskine1 you have heard the two bidders for your soul1 which will you accept8 ,and she ordered the door of her carriage to be opened1 and came weeping from it1 and accepted the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,he1 the great and mighty ,saviour1 is a bidder for your soul to-night4 ,he offers you riches and comfort1 and joy1 peace here1 and eternal life hereafter1 while ,satan offers you what he cannot give4 ,poor lost soul1 which will you have8 ,he will ransom your soul if you but put your burden upon ,him4 ,twenty-one years ago ,i made up my mind that ,jesus would have my soul1 and ,i have never regretted the step1 and no man has ever felt sorry for coming to ,him4 ,when we accept ,him we must like ,him4 ,your sins may rise up as a mountain1 but the ,son of ,man can purge you of all evil1 and take you right into the palaces of ,heaven1 if you will only allow ,him to ,save you4 ,the ,czar and the ,soldier4 ,i remember hearing a few years ago a story about a young man away off in ,russia4 ,he was a wild1 reckless dissipated youth4 ,his father1 thinking that if he could get him away from his associates1 a reform would be worked1 procured a commission in the army for him4 ,and this is a mistake a great many ,christian people fall into in dealing with their sons4 ,it is not a change of place they require1 it is a change of heart1 ,a change of place will not take them away from the tempter4 ,well1 off to the army this young man went1 and1 instead of reforming1 he gambled and borrowed1 and took to drinking as vigorously as ever4 ,at length he had borrowed all the money he could1 and1 as we say he had come to the end of his rope4 ,a certain sum of money had to be paid the next day1 and he did not see how it could be done without selling his commission1 and if he did that he would be compelled to leave the army and go home to his father disgraced4 ,the laws were very rigid in ,russia upon the matter of debt1 and if he couldn't pay he knew he would have to go to prison4 ,that night as he sat in his barracks1 heart-broken at the prospect before him1 he thought he would take up a paper and figure up his debts1 and see how he stood4 ,and here1 let me say1 it would be well if the sinner would pause occasionally1 and try and figure up his sins1 and see where he stood with ,god4 ,well1 this young man put down one debt after another1 until they made a long column4 ,the total completely disheartened him2 and he just put at the bottom of his figures1 ,who is to pay this8 ,he laid his head upon his desk wearied1 and fell asleep4 ,that night the ,czar1 according to his custom1 was walking through the barracks while the soldiers slept1 and happened to come to that spot where the young soldier slept4 ,he saw upon the desk the column of debts1 and when he came to the bottom saw the question3 ,who's to pay them8 and wrote underneath the name ,nicholas4 ,when the young man awoke he took up the paper and found written at the bottom the signature of the ,czar of all the ,russias4 ,what did it mean8 ,had an angel dropped down and canceled the debt8 ,it was too good to be true4 ,he couldn't believe it4 ,but by and by the money came from the ,emperor himself4 ,this story may be true or not4 ,i don't care whether it is or not2 but there is one thing ,i do know is true1 and that is that the great ,emperor of heaven is here1 and if you put down all your sins and multiply them by ten thousand1 ,he will pay it and shelter you underneath the blood of ,jesus ,christ1 which cleanseth us from all sin4 ,the ,artist and the ,beggar4 ,i have read of an artist who wanted to paint a picture of the ,prodigal ,son4 ,he searched through the madhouse1 and the poor houses1 and the prisons1 to find a man wretched enough to represent the prodigal1 but he could not find one4 ,one day he was walking down the streets and met a man whom he thought would do4 ,he told the poor beggar he would pay him well if he came to his room and sat for the portrait4 ,the beggar agreed1 and the day was appointed for him to come4 ,the day came1 and a man put in his appearance at the artist's room4 ,you made an appointment with me1 he said1 when he was shown into the studio4 ,the artist looked at him1 ,i never saw you before1 he said2 you cannot have an appointment with me4 ,yes1 he said1 ,i agreed to meet you to-day at ten o'clock4 ,you must be mistaken2 it must have been some other artist2 ,i was to see a beggar here at this hour4 ,well1 says the beggar1 ,i am he4 ,you8 ,yes4 ,why1 what have you been doing8 ,well1 ,i thought ,i would dress myself up a bit before ,i got painted4 ,then1 said the artist1 ,i do not want you2 ,i wanted you as you were2 now1 you are no use to me4 ,that is the way ,christ wants every poor sinner1 just as he is4 ,it is only the ragged sinners that open ,god's wardrobe4 ,i remember a boy to whom ,i gave a pair of boots1 and ,i found him shortly after in his bare feet again4 ,i asked him what he had done with them1 and he replied that when he was dressed up it spoiled his business2 when he was dressed up no one would give anything4 ,by keeping his feet naked he got as many as five pairs of boots a day4 ,so if you want to come to ,god don't dress yourself up4 ,it is the naked sinner ,god wants to save4 ,commercial ,traveler4 ,i remember when preaching in ,new ,york ,city1 at the ,hippodrome1 a man coming up to me and telling me a story that thrilled my soul4 ,one night1 he said he had been gambling2 had gambled all the money away he had4 ,when he went home to the hotel that night he did not sleep much4 ,the next morning happened to be ,sunday4 ,he got up1 felt bad1 couldn't eat anything1 didn't touch his breakfast1 was miserable1 and thought about putting an end to his existence4 ,that afternoon he took a walk up ,broadway1 and when he came to the ,hippodrome he saw great crowds going in and thought of entering too4 ,but a policeman at the door told him he couldn't come in as it was a woman's meeting4 ,he turned from it and strolled on2 came back to his hotel and had dinner4 ,at night he walked up the street until he reached the ,hippodrome again1 and this time he saw a lot of men going in4 ,when inside he listened to the singing and heard the text1 ,where art thou8 and he thought he would go out4 ,he rose to go1 and the text came upon his ears again1 ,where art thou8 ,this was too personal1 he thought1 it was disagreeable1 and he made for the door1 but as he got to the third row from the entrance1 the words came to him again4 ,where art thou8 ,he stood still1 for the question had come to him with irresistible force1 and ,god had found him right there4 ,he went to his hotel and prayed all that night1 and now he is a bright and shining light4 ,and this young man1 who was a commercial traveler1 went back to the village in which he had been reared1 and in which he had been one of the fastest young men--went back there1 and went around among his friends and acquaintances and testified for ,christ1 as earnestly and beneficially for him as his conduct had been against ,him4 ,governor ,pollock and the ,condemned ,criminal4 ,when ,i was ,east a few years ago1 ,mr4 ,geo4 ,h4 ,stewart told me of a scene that occurred in a ,pennsylvania prison1 when ,governor ,pollock1 a ,christian man1 was ,governor of the ,state4 ,a man was tried for murder1 and the judge had pronounced sentence upon him4 ,his friends had tried every means in their power to procure his pardon4 ,they had sent deputation after deputation to the ,governor1 but he had told them all that the law must take its course4 ,when they began to give up hope1 the ,governor went down to the prison and asked the sheriff to take him to the cell of the condemned man4 ,the ,governor was conducted into the presence of the criminal1 and he sat down by the side of his bed and began to talk to him kindly--spoke to him of ,christ and heaven1 and showed him that although he was condemned to die on the morrow by earthly judges1 he would receive eternal life from the ,divine ,judge if he would accept salvation4 ,he explained the plan of salvation1 and when he left him he committed him to ,god4 ,when he was gone the sheriff was called to the cell by the condemned man4 ,who was that man8 asked the criminal1 who was in here and talked so kind to me8 ,why1 said the sheriff1 that was ,governor ,pollock4 ,was that ,governor ,pollock8 ,o ,sheriff1 why didn't you tell me who it was8 ,if ,i had known that was him1 ,i wouldn't have let him go out till he had given me pardon4 ,the ,governor has been here--in my cell--and ,i didn't know it1 and the man wrung his hands and wept bitterly4 ,my friends1 there is one greater than a ,governor here to-night4 ,he sent ,his ,son to redeem you--to bring you out of the prison home of sin4 ,i come to-night to tell you ,he is here4 ,a ,man who would not ,speak to his ,wife4 ,i remember while in ,philadelphia1 a man with his wife came to our meetings4 ,when he went out he wouldn't speak to his wife4 ,she thought it was very queer1 but said nothing1 and went to bed thinking that in the morning he would be all right4 ,at breakfast1 however1 he would not speak a word4 ,well1 she thought this strange1 but she was sure he would have got all over whatever was wrong with him by dinner4 ,the dinner hour arrived1 and it passed away without his saying a word4 ,at supper not a word escaped him1 and he would not go with her to the meeting4 ,every day for a whole week the same thing went on4 ,but at the end of the week he could not stand it any longer1 and he said to his wife3 ,why did you go and write to ,mr4 ,moody and tell him all about me8 ,i never wrote to ,mr4 ,moody in my life1 said the wife4 ,you did1 he answered4 ,you're mistaken2 why do you think that8 ,well1 then1 ,i wronged you2 but when ,i saw ,mr4 ,moody picking me out among all those people1 and telling all about me1 ,i was sure you must have written to him4 ,it was the ,son of ,man seeking for him1 my friends1 and ,i hope there will be a man here to-night--that man in the gallery yonder1 that one before me--who will feel that ,i am talking personally to him4 ,may you feel that you are lost1 and that the ,lord is seeking for you1 and when you feel this there is some chance of your being saved4 ,,gold4 -- ,there was never a sermon which you have listened to but in it ,christ was seeking for you4 ,i contend that a man cannot but find in every page of this book that ,jesus ,christ is seeking him through ,his blessed ,word4 ,this is what the ,bible is for--to seek out the lost4 -- ,no man in the world should be so happy as a man of ,god4 ,it is one continual source of gladness4 ,he can look up and say1 ,god is my ,father1 ,christ is my ,saviour1 and the ,church is my mother4 -- ,there is no other way to the ,kingdom of ,god but by the way of the cross1 and it will be easier for you to take it now than it will be afterward4 -- ,everything has to be tried by the sinner before he will come to ,christ4 ,he has to feel that there is nothing that can save him but ,christ1 then he will come4 -- ,have not some of you heard a sermon in which you were offered as a sinner to the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and your conscience was troubled8 ,you went away1 but you came back again1 and the ,spirit of ,god came upon you again and again1 and you were troubled4 ,haven't you passed through that experience8 ,don't you remember something like that happening to you8 ,that was the ,son of ,god seeking for your soul4 -- ,the ,son of ,god has come into the world to bless us4 ,look at that ,sermon on the ,mount4 ,it is filled with the word blessed1 blessed1 blessed4 ,i think it occurs nine times4 ,his heart was full of blessings for the people4 ,he had to get it out before ,he gave ,his sermon4 -- ,a rule ,i have had for years is to treat the ,lord ,jesus ,christ as a personal friend4 ,his is not a creed1 a mere empty doctrine1 but it is ,he himself we have4 ,the moment we have received ,christ we should receive ,him as a friend4 ,when ,i go away from home ,i bid my wife and children good-by1 ,i bid my friends and acquaintances good-by1 but ,i never heard of a poor backslider going down on his knees and saying3 ,i have been near ,you for ten years2 ,your service has become tedious and monotonous2 ,i have come to bid ,you farewell2 good-by1 ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,i never heard of one doing this4 ,i will tell you how they go away2 they just run away4 ,,christian ,,work4 ,how ,moody was ,encouraged4 ,i remember a few years ago ,i got discouraged1 and could not see much fruit of my work2 and one morning1 as ,i was in my study1 cast down1 one of my ,sabbath-school teachers came in and wanted to know what ,i was discouraged about1 and ,i told him because ,i could see no result from my work2 and speaking about ,noah1 he said3 ,by the way1 did you ever study up the character of ,noah8 ,i felt that ,i knew all about that1 and told him that ,i was familiar with it1 and he said1 ,now1 if you never studied that carefully1 you ought to do it1 for ,i cannot tell you what a blessing it has been to me4 ,when he went out ,i took down my ,bible and commenced to read about ,noah1 and the thought came stealing over me1 ,here is a man that toiled and worked a hundred years and didn't get discouraged2 if he did1 the ,holy ,ghost didn't put it on record1 and the clouds lifted1 and ,i got up and said1 if the ,lord wants me to work without any fruit ,i will work on4 ,i went down to the noon prayer-meeting1 and when ,i saw the people coming to pray ,i said to myself1 ,noah worked a hundred years and he never saw a prayer-meeting outside of his own family4 ,pretty soon a man got up right across the aisle where ,i was sitting1 and said he had come from a little town where there had been a hundred uniting with the ,church of ,god the year before4 ,and ,i thought to myself1 ,what if ,noah had heard that6 ,he preached so many1 many years1 and didn't get a convert1 yet he was not discouraged4 ,then a man got up right behind me1 and he trembled as he said1 ,i am lost4 ,i want you to pray for my soul4 ,and ,i said1 ,what if ,noah had heard that6 ,he worked a hundred and twenty years1 and never had a man come to him and say that2 and yet he didn't get discouraged4 ,and ,i made up my mind then1 that1 ,god helping me1 ,i would never get discouraged4 ,i would do the best ,i could1 and leave the result with ,god1 and it has been a wonderful help to me4 ,we ,will ,never ,surrender4 ,there's a story told in history in the ninth century1 ,i believe1 of a young man that came up with a little handful of men to attack a king who had a great army of three thousand men4 ,the young man had only five hundred1 and the king sent a messenger to the young man1 saying that he need not fear to surrender1 for he would treat him mercifully4 ,the young man called up one of his soldiers and said3 ,take this dagger and drive it to your heart2 and the soldier took the dagger and drove it to his heart4 ,and calling up another1 he said to him1 ,leap into yonder chasm1 and the man leaped into the chasm4 ,the young man then said to the messenger1 ,go back and tell your ,king ,i have got five hundred men like these4 ,we will die1 but we will never surrender4 ,and tell your ,king another thing2 that ,i will have him chained with my dog inside of half an hour4 ,and when the ,king heard that he did not dare to meet them1 and his army fled before them like chaff before the wind1 and within twenty-four hours he had that ,king chained with his dog4 ,that is the kind of zeal we want4 ,we will die1 but we will never surrender4 ,we will work until ,jesus comes1 and then we will rise with ,him4 ,the ,faithful ,aged ,woman4 ,an old woman who was seventy-five years old had a ,sabbath-school two miles away among the mountains4 ,one ,sunday there came a terrible storm of rain1 and she thought at first she would not go that day1 but then she thought1 ,what if some one should go and not find me there8 ,then she put on her waterproof1 and took her umbrella and overshoes1 and away she went through the storm1 two miles away1 to the ,sabbath-school in the mountains4 ,when she got there she found one solitary young man1 and taught him the best she knew how all the afternoon4 ,she never saw him again1 and ,i don't know but the old woman thought her ,sabbath-school had been a failure4 ,that week the young man enlisted in the army1 and in a year or two after the old woman got a letter from the soldier thanking her for going through the storm that ,sunday4 ,this young man thought that stormy day he would just go and see if the old woman was in earnest1 and if she cared enough about souls to go through the rain4 ,he found she came and taught him as carefully as if she was teaching the whole school1 and ,god made that the occasion of winning the young man to ,christ4 ,when he lay dying in a hospital he sent the message to the old woman that he would meet her in heaven4 ,was it not a glorious thing that she did not get discouraged because she had but one ,sunday-school scholar8 ,be willing to work with one4 ,a ,dream4 ,i heard of a ,christian who did not succeed in his work so well as he used to1 and he got homesick and wished himself dead4 ,one night he dreamed that he had died1 and was carried by the angels to the ,eternal ,city4 ,as he went along the crystal pavement of heaven1 he met a man he used to know1 and they went walking down the golden streets together4 ,all at once he noticed everyone looking in the same direction1 and saw ,one coming up who was fairer than the sons of men4 ,it was his blessed ,redeemer4 ,as the chariot came opposite1 ,he came forth1 and beckoning the one friend1 placed him in ,his own chariot-seat1 but himself ,he led aside1 and pointing over the battlements of heaven1 ,look over yonder1 ,he said1 ,what do you see8 ,it seems as if ,i see the dark earth ,i have come from4 ,what else8 ,i see men as if they were blindfolded1 going over a terrible precipice into a bottomless pit4 ,well1 said ,he1 ,will you remain up here1 and enjoy these mansions that ,i have prepared1 or go back to yon dark earth1 and warn these men1 and tell them about ,me and my kingdom1 and the rest that remaineth for the people of ,god8 ,that man never wished himself dead again4 ,he yearned to live as long as ever he could1 to tell men of heaven and of ,christ4 ,the ,faithful ,missionary4 ,when ,i was going to ,europe in #ahfg1 my friend ,mr4 ,stuart1 of ,philadelphia1 said1 ,be sure to be at the ,general ,assembly in ,edinburgh1 in ,june4 ,i was there last year1 said he1 and it did me a world of good4 ,he said that a returned missionary from ,india was invited to speak to the ,general ,assembly1 on the wants of ,india4 ,this old missionary1 after a brief address1 told the pastors who were present1 to go home and stir up their churches and send young men to ,india to preach the gospel4 ,he spoke with such earnestness1 that after a while he fainted1 and they carried him from the hall4 ,when he recovered he asked where he was1 and they told him the circumstances under which he had been brought there4 ,yes1 he said1 ,i was making a plea for ,india1 and ,i didn't quite finish my speech1 did ,i8 ,after being told that he did not1 he said1 ,take me back and let me finish it4 ,but they said1 ,no1 you will die in the attempt4 ,well1 said he1 ,i will die if ,i don't1 and the old man asked again that they would allow him to finish his plea4 ,when he was taken back the whole congregation stood as one man1 and as they brought him on the platform1 with a trembling voice he said3 ,fathers and mothers of ,scotland1 is it true that you will not let your sons go to ,india8 ,i spent twenty-five years of my life there4 ,i lost my health and ,i have come back with sickness and shattered health4 ,if it is true that we have no strong grandsons to go to ,india1 ,i will pack up what ,i have and be off to-morrow1 and ,i will let those heathens know that if ,i cannot live for them ,i will die for them4 ,the world will say that old man was enthusiastic4 ,well1 that is just what we want4 ,forty-,one ,little ,sermons4 ,a man was preaching about ,christians recognizing each other in heaven1 and some one said1 ,i wish he would preach about recognizing each other on earth4 ,in one place where ,i preached1 ,i looked over the great hall of the old circus building where it was held1 and saw men talking to other men here and there4 ,i said to the ,secretary of the ,young ,men's ,christian ,association who got up the meeting1 ,who are these men8 ,he said1 ,they are a band of workers4 ,they were all scattered through the hall1 and preaching and watching for souls4 ,out of the fifty of them1 forty-one of their number had got a soul each and were talking and preaching with them4 ,we have been asleep long enough4 ,when the laity wake up and try and help the minister the minister will preach better4 ,,gold4 -- ,it is the greatest pleasure of living to win souls to ,christ4 -- ,i believe in what ,john ,wesley used to say1 ,all at it1 and always at it1 and that is what the ,church wants to-day4 -- ,if we were all of us doing the work that ,god has got for us to do1 don't you see how the work of the ,lord would advance8 -- ,there is no man living that can do the work that ,god has got for me to do4 ,no one can do it but myself4 ,and if the work ain't done we will have to answer for it when we stand before ,god's bar4 -- ,what makes the ,dead ,sea dead8 ,because it is all the time receiving1 never giving out anything4 ,why is it that many ,christians are cold8 ,because they are all the time receiving1 never giving out an anything4 ,,christian ,,zeal4 ,satan's ,match4 ,if you will allow me an expression1 ,satan got a match when he got ,paul4 ,he tried to get him away from ,god1 but he never switched off4 ,look how they tortured him4 ,look how they stripped and beat him4 ,not only did the ,romans do this1 but the ,jews also4 ,how the ,jews tried to drag him from his high calling4 ,how they stripped him and laid upon the back of the apostle blow after blow4 ,and you know that the scourge in those days was no light thing4 ,sometimes men died under that punishment4 ,if one of us got one of the stripes that ,paul got1 how the papers would talk about it4 ,but it was nothing to ,paul4 ,he just looked at it as if it were a trivial thing--as if it were a light affliction4 ,when he was stripped and scourged by his persecutors you might have gone and asked him3 ,well1 ,paul1 what are you going to do now8 ,why1 press toward the mark of the high calling of ,god in ,christ ,jesus2 ,take your stand before ,him and ask him as they bring the rod down upon his head1 ,what are you going to do now1 ,paul8 ,do8 ,i am going to press toward the mark of the high calling of ,god in ,christ ,jesus4 ,he had one idea1 and that was it4 ,look at him as they stoned him4 ,the ,jews took up great stones to throw upon the great apostle4 ,they left him for dead1 and ,i suppose he was dead1 but ,god raised him up4 ,come up and look at him all bruised and bleeding as he lies4 ,well1 ,paul1 you've had a narrow escape this time4 ,don't you think you had better give up8 ,go off into ,arabia and rest for six weeks4 ,what will you do if you remain here8 ,they mean to kill you4 ,do6 he cries as he raises himself like a mighty giant1 ,i am going to press toward the mark of the high calling of ,god4 ,and he goes forth and preaches the gospel4 ,i am ashamed of ,christianity in the nineteenth century when ,i think of those early ,christians4 ,why1 it would take all the ,christians in the ,northwest to make one ,paul4 ,look at his heroism everywhere he went4 ,talk about your ,alexanders2 why1 the mighty power of ,god rested upon ,paul4 ,why1 said he1 thrice was ,i shipwrecked while going off to preach the gospel4 ,what did he care about that8 ,cold churches wouldn't trouble him1 although they trouble us4 ,what would lying elders and false deacons be to him8 ,that wouldn't stop him4 ,he had but one idea1 and over all obstacles he triumphed for that one idea4 ,look at him as he comes back from his punishment4 ,he goes up some side street and gets lodgings4 ,he works during the day and preaches at night on the street4 ,he had no building like this1 no committee to wait on him1 no carriage to carry him from the meeting1 no one to be waiting to pay his board bills4 ,there he was toiling and preaching1 and1 after preaching for eighteen months1 they say1 ,we'll have to pay you for all this preaching1 ,paul1 and they take him to the corner of the street and pay him with thirty-nine stripes6 ,that is the way they paid him4 ,oh1 my friends1 when you look at the lives of such men don't it make you feel ashamed of yourselves4 ,i confess ,i feel like hanging my head4 ,go to him in the ,philippian jail and ask him what he is going to do now4 ,do8 press forward for the mark of my high calling4 ,and so he went on looking toward one point1 and no man could stand before him4 ,saved and ,saving4 ,one day ,i saw a steel engraving that ,i liked very much4 ,i thought it was the finest thing ,i ever had seen1 at the time1 and ,i bought it4 ,it was a picture of a woman coming out of the water1 and clinging with both arms to the cross4 ,there she came out of the drowning waves with both arms around the cross perfectly safe4 ,afterwards1 ,i saw another picture that spoiled this one for me entirely1 it was so much more lovely4 ,it was a picture of a person coming out of the dark waters1 with one arm clinging to the cross and with the other she was lifting some one else out of the waves4 ,that is what ,i like4 ,keep a firm hold upon the cross1 but always try to rescue another from the drowning4 ,a ,story ,moody ,never will ,forget4 ,a few years ago1 in a town somewhere in this state1 a merchant died1 and while he was lying a corpse ,i was told a story ,i will never forget4 ,when the physician that attended him saw there was no chance for him here1 he thought it would be time to talk about ,christ to the dying man4 ,and there are a great many ,christians just like this physician4 ,they wait till a man is just entering the other world1 just till he is about nearing the throne1 till the sands of life are about run out1 till the death rattle is in his throat1 before they commence to speak of ,christ4 ,the physician stepped up to the dying merchant and began to speak of ,jesus1 the beauties of ,christianity1 and the salvation he had offered to all the world4 ,the merchant listened quietly to him1 and then asked him1 ,how long have you known of these things8 ,i have been a ,christian since ,i came from the ,east1 he replied4 ,you have been a ,christian so long and have known all this1 and have been in my store every day4 ,you have been in my house2 have associated with me2 you knew all these things1 and why didn't you tell me before8 ,the doctor went home and retired to rest1 but could not sleep4 ,the question of the dying man rang in his ears4 ,he could not explain why he had not spoken before1 but he saw he had neglected his duty to his principles4 ,he went back to his dying friend1 intending to urge upon him the acceptance of ,christ's salvation1 but when he began to speak to him the merchant only replied in a sad whisper1 ,oh1 why didn't you tell me before8 ,oh1 my friends1 how many of us act like this physician8 ,if we don't practice in every particular the professions we make1 and try to influence the lives of others1 and lead the lives of ,christians according to ,christian precept1 the world will go on stumbling over us4 ,the ,missing ,stone4 ,i remember hearing of a man's dream1 in which he imagined that when he died he was taken by the angels to a beautiful temple4 ,after admiring it for a time1 he discovered that one stone was missing4 ,all finished but just one little stone2 that was left out4 ,he said to the angel1 ,what is this stone left out for8 ,the angel replied1 ,that was left out for you1 but you wanted to do great things1 and so there was no room left for you4 ,he was startled and awoke1 and resolved that he would become a worker for ,god1 and that man always worked faithfully after that4 ,sad ,lack of ,zeal4 ,two young men came into our inquiry room here the other night1 and after a convert had talked with them1 and showed them the way1 the light broke in upon them4 ,they were asked1 ,where do you go to church8 ,they gave the name of the church where they had been going4 ,said one1 ,i advise you to go and see the minister of that church4 ,they said1 ,we don't want to go there any more2 we have gone there for six years and no one has spoken to us4 ,a ,zealous ,young ,lady4 ,i was very much interested some time ago in a young lady that lived in the city4 ,i don't know her name1 or ,i have forgotten it4 ,she was about to go to ,china as the wife of a missionary on his way to some heathen field4 ,she had a large ,sabbath-school class in the city and succeeded in getting a blessing upon many of her scholars through her efforts4 ,she was very anxious to get some one who would look after her little flock and take care of them while she was gone4 ,she had a brother who was not a ,christian1 and her heart was set on his being converted and taking her place as leader of the class4 ,the young man--perhaps he is in the audience to-day--refused to accept of ,christ1 but away in her closet alone she pleaded with ,god that her brother might be converted and take her place4 ,she wanted to reproduce herself and that is what every ,christian ought to do--get somebody else converted to take up your work4 ,well1 the last morning came1 and around the family altar as the moment drew near for the lady's departure1 and they did not know when they should see her again1 the father broke down1 and the boy went up stairs4 ,just before she left for the train the boy came down1 and putting his arms around his sister's neck1 said to her1 ,my dear sister1 ,i will take your ,saviour for mine1 and ,i will take care of your class for you1 and the young man took her class1 and the last ,i heard of him he was filling her place4 ,there was a young lady established in good work4 ,how ,moody ,treated the ,committees4 ,i remember when ,i was in ,chicago before the fire1 ,i was on some ten or twelve committees4 ,my hands were full4 ,if a man came to me to talk about his soul ,i would say ,i haven't time2 got a committee to attend to4 ,but now ,i have turned my hack on everything--turned my attention to saving souls1 and ,god has blessed me and made me an instrument to save more souls during the last four or five years than during all my previous life4 ,and so if a minister will devote himself to this undivided work1 ,god will bless him4 ,take that motto of ,paul's3 ,one thing ,i do1 forgetting those things which are behind1 and reaching forth unto those things which are before1 ,i press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of ,god in ,christ ,jesus4 ,fourscore and ,five4 ,when we went to ,london there was an old woman eighty-five years old1 who came to the meetings and said she wanted a hand in that work4 ,she was appointed to a district1 and called on all classes of people4 ,she went to places where we would probably have been put out1 and told the people of ,christ4 ,there were none that could resist her4 ,when the old woman1 eighty-five years old1 came to them and offered to pray for them1 they all received her kindly--,catholics1 ,jews1 ,gentiles--all4 ,that is enthusiasm4 ,that is what we want4 ,illustration3 ,saul's ,conversion4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,acts1 ix4 ,,confessing ,,christ4 ,what a ,woman ,did4 ,one place we were in1 in ,england1 ,i recollect a ,quakeress came in4 ,the meeting was held in a ,methodist ,church1 and the ,spirit of ,god was there--souls were being saved3 multitudes were pressing into the kingdom4 ,she had a brother who was a drinker and a nephew who had just come to the city1 and he was in a critical state1 too4 ,they came to the meeting with her4 ,everything appeared strange to her1 and when she went home she did not know really what to say4 ,she and her brother and nephew went up stairs1 and coming down she thought1 it may be that the destiny of their souls depends on what ,i say now4 ,when she entered the parlor she found them laughing and joking about the meeting4 ,she put on a serious face and said1 ,i don't think we should laugh at it4 ,suppose ,mr4 ,moody had come to you and asked you if you were converted1 what would you have told him8 ,i would have told him to mind his own business1 replied one of them4 ,i think it is a very important question1 and a question a ,christian ought to put to any one2 ,mr4 ,moody1 as a ,christian1 has a right to ask any one4 ,she talked with them1 and when that brother went to bed1 he began thinking and thinking4 ,he had tickets for the theater next night1 but when next night came he said he would go to the meeting with his sister1 and1 to make a long story short1 he came and was converted4 ,he came to me--he was a mechanic--and asked me to talk to the laborers and have them come to the meetings4 ,he had got such a blessing himself that he wanted them to share it4 ,that man brought me a list of the names of the mechanics about half as long as this room1 and we got up a meeting in the theater1 and we had that theater packed4 ,that was the first meeting of working men ,i ever had1 and the work of grace broke out among them4 ,this was but the result of the woman taking her stand4 ,she went into the inquiry-room and became an earnest worker4 ,i get letters from her frequently now1 and ,i do not believe there is a happier woman in all ,england4 ,if she had taken another course she might have been the means of ruining these young men4 ,there is one thing that ,christians ought to ask themselves4 ,ask your heart1 ,is this the work of the devil8 ,that is the plain question4 ,if it's the work of the devil turn your back against it4 ,i would if ,i thought it was4 ,if it is the work of ,god1 be careful what you do4 ,my friends1 it is a terrible thing to fight against ,god4 ,if it is the ,lord's wish1 come out and take your stand1 and let there be one united column of people coming up to heaven4 ,let every man1 woman and child1 be not afraid to confess the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,a ,business ,man ,confessing ,christ4 ,when ,i was in ,ireland ,i heard of a man who got great blessings from ,god4 ,he was a business man--a landed proprietor4 ,he had a large family1 and a great many men to work for him taking care of his home4 ,he came up to ,dublin and there he found ,christ4 ,and he came boldly out and thought he would go home and confess ,him4 ,he thought that if ,christ had redeemed him with his precious blood1 the least he could do would be to confess ,him1 and tell about it sometimes4 ,so he called his family together and his servants1 and with tears running down his cheeks he poured out his soul to them1 and told them what ,christ had done for him4 ,he took the ,bible down from its resting-place and read a few verses of gospel4 ,then he went down on his knees to pray1 and so greatly was the little gathering blessed that four or five out of that family were convicted of sin2 they forsook the ways of the world1 and accepted ,christ and eternal life4 ,it was like unto the household of ,cornelius1 which experienced the working of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,and that man and his family were not afraid to follow out their profession4 ,two ,young ,men4 ,i heard a story about two young men who came to ,new ,york ,city from the country on a visit4 ,they went to the same boarding-house to stay and took a room together4 ,well1 when they came to go to bed each felt ashamed to go down on his knees before his companion first4 ,so they sat watching each other4 ,in fact1 to express the situation in one word1 they were both cowards--yes1 cowards6 ,but at last one of them mustered up a little courage1 and with burning blushes1 as if he was about to do something wrong and wicked1 he sunk down on his knees to say his prayers4 ,as soon as the second saw that1 he also knelt4 ,and then1 after they had said their prayers1 each waited for the other to get up4 ,when they did manage to get up one said to the other3 ,i really am glad to see that you knelt2 ,i was afraid of you4 ,well1 said the other1 and ,i was afraid of you4 ,so it turned out that both were ,christians1 and yet they were afraid of each other4 ,you smile at that1 but how many times have you done the same thing--perhaps not in that way1 but the same thing in effect4 ,henceforth1 then1 be not ashamed1 but let everyone know you are ,his4 ,the ,little ,tow-,headed ,norwegian4 ,i remember while in ,boston ,i attended one of the daily prayer meetings4 ,the meetings we had been holding had been almost always addressed by young men4 ,well1 in that meeting a little tow-headed ,norwegian boy stood up4 ,he could hardly speak a word of ,english plain1 but he got up and came to the front4 ,he trembled all over and the tears were all trickling down his cheeks1 but he spoke out as well as he could and said3 ,if ,i tell the world about ,jesus1 then will ,he tell the ,father about me4 ,he then took his seat2 that was all he said1 but ,i tell you that in those few words he said more than all of them1 old and young together4 ,those few words went straight down into the heart of everyone present4 ,if ,i tell the world--yes1 that's what it means to confess ,christ4 ,illustration3 ,esther ,confounding ,haman4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,esther1 viii4 ,illustration3 ,the ,angel at the ,sepulcher4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,matthew1 xxviii1 #a-g4 ,the ,family that ,hooted at ,moody4 ,i remember a family in ,chicago that used to hoot at me and my scholars as we passed their house sometimes4 ,one day one of the boys came into the ,sunday-school and made light of it1 ,as he went away1 ,i told him ,i was glad to see him there and hoped he would come again4 ,he came and still made a noise1 but ,i urged him to come the next time1 and finally one day he said3 ,i wish you would pray for me1 boys4 ,that boy came to ,christ4 ,he went home and confessed his faith1 and it wasn't long before that whole family had found the way into the ,kingdom of ,god4 ,peter's ,confession4 ,one day ,he said1 ,whom do men say that ,i am8 ,he wanted them to confess ,him4 ,but one said1 ,they say thou art ,elias1 and another that thou art ,jeremiah2 and another ,thou art ,st4 ,john the ,baptist4 ,but ,he asked1 ,whom do you say that ,i am8--turning to ,his disciples4 ,and ,peter answers1 ,thou art the ,son of the living ,god4 ,then our ,lord exclaimed1 ,blessed art thou1 ,simon ,barjonas4 ,yes1 ,he blessed him right there because he confessed ,him to be the ,son of ,god4 ,he was hungry to get some one to confess him4 ,let everyone take his stand on the side of the ,lord4 ,the ,blind ,beggar4 ,here is a whole chapter in ,john 7ix7 of forty-one verses1 just to tell how the ,lord blessed that blind beggar4 ,it was put in this book1 ,i think1 just to bring out the confession of that man4 ,the neighbors1 therefore1 and they which before had seen him which was blind1 said1 ,is not this he that sat and begged8 ,some said1 ,this is he2 others said1 ,he is like him2 but he said1 ,i am he4 ,if it had been our case ,i think we would have kept still2 we would have said1 ,there is a storm brewing among the ,pharisees1 and they have said1 ',if any man acknowledges ,christ we will put him out of the ,synagogue4' ,now ,i don't want to be put out of the ,synagogue4 ,i am afraid we would have said that2 that is the way with a good many of the young converts4 ,what did the young convert here8 ,he said1 ,i am he4 ,and bear in mind he only told what he knew2 he knew the ,man had given him his eyes4 ,some said1 ,he is like him2 but he said1 ,i am he4 ,so1 young converts1 open your lips and tell what ,christ has done for you4 ,if you can't do more than that1 open your lips and do that4 ,therefore1 said they unto him1 ,how were thine eyes opened8 ,he answered and said1 ,a man that is called ,jesus made clay1 and anointed mine eyes1 and said unto me1 ,go to the pool of ,siloam1 and wash2 and ,i went and washed1 and ,i received sight4 ,he said1 ,he anointed my eyes with clay1 and ,i went to the pool and washed1 and whereas ,i had no eyes1 ,i have now got two good eyes4 ,some skeptic might ask1 ,what is the philosophy of it8 ,but he couldn't tell that4 ,then said they unto him1 ,where is he8 ,he said1 ,i know not4 ,they brought to the ,pharisees him that aforetime was blind4 ,and it was the ,sabbath day when ,jesus made the clay and opened his eyes4 ,then again the ,pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight4 ,he said unto them1 ,he put clay upon mine eyes and ,i washed and do see4 ,he wasn't afraid to tell his experience twice2 he had just told it once4 ,therefore1 said some of the ,pharisees1 ,this man is not of ,god1 because he keepeth not the ,sabbath day4 ,others said1 ,how can a man that is a sinner do such miracles8 and there was a division among them4 ,now ,i am afraid if it had been us1 we would have kept still and said1 ,there is a storm brewing4 ,they say unto the blind man again1 ,what sayest thou of ,him1 that ,he hath opened thine eyes8 ,he said1 ,he is a prophet4 ,now you see he has got to talking of the ,master1 and that is a grand good thing4 ,the ,young ,convert4 ,a young convert got up in one of our meetings and tried to preach2 he could not preach very well either1 but he did the best he could--but some one stood up and said1 ,young man1 you cannot preach2 you ought to be ashamed of yourself4 ,said the young man1 ,so ,i am1 but ,i am not ashamed of my ,lord4 ,that is right4 ,do not be ashamed of ,christ--of the man that bought us with ,his own blood4 ,,gold4 -- ,if ,christ comes into our hearts we are not ashamed4 -- ,i wish we had a few more women like the woman of ,samaria1 willing to confess what the ,lord ,jesus ,christ had done for their souls4 -- ,believing and confessing go together2 and you cannot be saved without you take them both4 ,with the mouth confession is made unto salvation4 ,if you ever see the kingdom of heaven you have to take this way4 -- ,satan puts straws across our path and magnifies it and makes us believe it is a mountain1 but all the devil's mountains are mountains of smoke2 when you come up to them they are not there4 -- ,i do not know anything that would wake up ,chicago better than for every man and woman here who loves ,him to begin to talk about ,him to their friends1 and just to tell them what ,he has done for you4 ,you have got a circle of friends4 ,go and tell them of ,him4 -- ,i can't help thinking of the old woman who started out when the war commenced with a poker in her hand4 ,when asked what she was going to do with it she said3 ,i can't do much with it1 but ,i can show what side ,i'm on4 ,my friends1 even if you can't do much1 show to which side you belong4 -- ,i may say with truth that there is only about one in ten who professes ,christianity who will turn round and glorify ,god with a loud voice4 ,nine out of ten are still born ,christians4 ,you never hear of them4 ,if you press them hard with the question whether they are ,christians they might say1 ,well1 ,i hope so4 ,we never see it in their actions2 we never see it in their lives4 ,they might belong to the church you go to1 but you never see them at the prayer-meetings or taking any interest in the church affairs4 ,they don't profess it among their fellows or in their business1 and the result is that there are hundreds going on with a half hope1 not sure whether their religion will stand them or not4 ,,conversion4 ,mr4 ,moody's ,first ,impulse in ,converting ,souls4 ,i want to tell you how ,i got the first impulse to work solely for the conversion of men4 ,for a long time after my conversion ,i didn't accomplish anything4 ,i hadn't got into my right place2 that was it4 ,i hadn't thought enough of this personal work4 ,i'd get up in prayer meeting1 and ,i'd pray with the others1 but just to go up to a man and take hold of his coat and get him down on his knees1 ,i hadn't yet got round to that4 ,it was in #ahfj the change came4 ,in the ,sunday school ,i had a pale1 delicate young man as one of the teachers4 ,i knew his burning piety1 and assigned him to the worst class in the school4 ,they were all girls1 and it was an awful class4 ,they kept gadding around in the school-room1 and were laughing and carrying on all the while4 ,and this young man had better success than anyone else4 ,one ,sunday he was absent1 and ,i tried myself to teach the class1 but couldn't do anything with them2 they seemed farther off than ever from any concern about their souls4 ,well1 the day after his absence1 early ,monday morning1 the young man came into the store where ,i worked1 and1 tottering and bloodless1 threw himself down on some boxes4 ,what's the matter8 ,i asked1 ,i have been bleeding at the lungs1 and they have given me up to die1 he said4 ,but you are not afraid to die8 ,i questioned1 ,no1 said he1 ,i am not afraid to die1 but ,i have got to stand before ,god and give an account of my stewardship1 and not one of my ,sabbath-school scholars has been brought to ,jesus4 ,i have failed to bring one1 and haven't any strength to do it now4 ,he was so weighed down that ,i got a carriage and took that dying man in it1 and we called at the homes of everyone of his scholars1 and to each one he said1 as best his faint voice would let him1 ,i have come to just ask you to come to the ,saviour1 and then he prayed as ,i never heard before4 ,and for ten days he labored in that way1 sometimes walking to the nearest houses4 ,and at the end of that ten days everyone of that large class had yielded to the ,saviour4 ,full well ,i remember the night before he went away 7for the doctors said he must hurry to the ,south71 how we held a true love-feast4 ,it was the very gate of heaven1 that meeting4 ,he prayed1 and they prayed2 he didn't ask them1 he didn't think they could pray2 and then we sung1 ,blest be the tie that binds4 ,it was a beautiful night in ,june that he left on the ,michigan ,southern1 and ,i was down to the train to help him off4 ,and those girls everyone gathered there again1 all unknown to each other2 and the depot seemed a second gate to heaven1 in the joyful1 yet tearful1 communion and farewells between these newly redeemed souls and him whose crown of rejoicing it will be that he led them to ,jesus4 ,at last the gong sounded1 and1 supported on the platform1 the dying man shook hands with each one1 and whispered1 ,i will meet you yonder4 ,very ,hard1 yet ,very ,easy4 ,the hardest thing1 ,i will admit1 ever a man had to do is to become a ,christian1 and yet it is the easiest4 ,this seems to many to be a paradox1 but ,i will repeat it1 it is the most difficult thing to become a ,christian1 and yet it is the easiest4 ,i have a little nephew in this city4 ,when he was about three or four years of age1 he threw that ,bible on the floor4 ,i think a good deal of that ,bible1 and ,i don't like to see this4 ,his mother said to him1 ,go pick up uncle's ,bible from the floor4 ,i won't1 he replied4 ,go and pick up that ,bible directly4 ,i won't4 ,what did you say8 asked his mother4 ,she thought he didn't understand4 ,but he understood well enough1 and had made up his mind that he wouldn't4 ,she told the boy she would have to punish him if he didn't1 and then he said he couldn't1 and by and by he said he didn't want to4 ,and that is the way with the people in coming to ,christ4 ,at first they say they won't1 then they can't1 and then they don't want to4 ,the mother insisted upon the boy picking up the ,bible1 and he got down and put his arms around it and pretended he couldn't lift it4 ,he was a great1 healthy boy1 and he could have picked it up easily enough4 ,i was very anxious to see the fight carried on because she was a young mother1 and if she didn't break that boy's will he was going to break her heart by and by4 ,so she told him again if he didn't pick it up she would punish him1 and the child just picked it up4 ,it was very easy to do it when he made up his mind4 ,so it is perfectly easy for men to accept the gospel4 ,the trouble is they don't want to give up their will4 ,if you want to be saved you must just accept that gospel--that ,christ is your ,saviour1 that he is your ,redeemer1 and that he has rescued you from the curse of the law4 ,just say ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 ,i trust you from this hour to save me1 and the moment you take that stand he will put his loving arms around you and wrap about you the robe of righteousness4 ,the ,arrows of ,conviction4 ,i remember while preaching in ,glasgow1 an incident occurred which ,i will relate4 ,i had been preaching there several weeks1 and the night was my last one1 and ,i pleaded with them as ,i had never pleaded there before4 ,i urged the people to meet me in that land4 ,it is a very solemn thing to stand before a vast audience for the last time and think you may never have another chance of asking them to come to ,christ4 ,i told them ,i would not have another opportunity1 and urged them to accept1 and just asked them to meet me at that marriage supper4 ,at the conclusion ,i soon saw a tall young lady coming into the inquiry room4 ,she had scarcely come in when another tall young lady came in1 and she went up to the first and put her arms around her and wept4 ,pretty soon another young lady came and went up to the first two and just put her arms around both of them4 ,they were three sisters and ,i found that although they had been sitting in different parts of the building1 the sure arrow of conviction went down to their souls1 and brought them to the inquiry room4 ,another young lady came down from the gallery and said3 ,mr4 ,moody1 ,i want to become a ,christian4 ,i asked a young ,christian to talk to her1 and when she went home that night about #aj o'clock--her mother was sitting up for her--she said3 ,mother1 ,i have accepted the invitation to be present at the marriage supper of the ,lamb4 ,her mother and father laid awake that night talking about the salvation of their child4 ,that was ,friday night1 and next day 7,saturday7 she was unwell1 and before long her sickness developed into scarlet fever1 and a few days after ,i got this letter3 ,mr4 ,moody--,dear ,sir3 ,it is now my painful duty to intimate to you that the dear girl concerning whom ,i wrote to you on ,monday1 has been taken away from us by death4 ,her departure1 however1 has been signally softened to us1 for she told us yesterday she was going home to be with ,jesus1 and after giving messages to many1 told us to let ,mr4 ,moody and ,mr4 ,sankey know that she died a happy ,christian4 ,how a ,citizen ,became a ,soldier4 ,one day ,i was walking through the streets of ,york1 in ,england4 ,i saw a little way ahead a soldier coming toward me4 ,he had the red uniform on of the infantry--the dress of the army4 ,i knew at once when ,i saw him that he was a soldier4 ,when he came near me ,i stopped him4 ,i said1 ,my good man1 if you have no objection ,i would like to ask you a few questions4 ,certainly1 sir1 said he4 ,well1 then1 ,i would like to know how you first became a soldier4 ,yes1 sir1 ,i will tell you4 ,you see1 sir1 ,i wanted to become a soldier1 and the recruiting officer was in our town1 and ,i went up to him and told him ,i wanted to enlist4 ,well1 sir1 he said1 ',all right1' and the first thing he did1 sir1 he took an ,english shilling out of his pocket1 sir1 and put it into my hand4 ,the very moment1 sir1 a recruiting-sergeant puts a shilling into your hand1 sir1 you are a soldier4 ,i said to myself1 ,that is the very illustration ,i want4 ,that man was a free man at one time--he could go here and there2 do just what he liked2 but the moment the shilling was put into his hand he was subject to the rules of war1 and ,queen ,victoria could send him anywhere and make him obey the rules and regulations of the army4 ,he is a soldier the very minute he takes the shilling4 ,he has not got to wait to put on the uniform4 ,and when you ask me how a man may be converted at once1 ,i answer1 just the same as that man became a soldier4 ,the citizen becomes a soldier in a minute1 and from being a free man becomes subject to the command of others4 ,the moment you take ,christ into your heart1 that moment your name is written in the roll of ,heaven4 ,moody a ,young ,convert4 ,i remember soon after ,i got converted a pantheist got hold of me1 and just tried to draw me back to the world4 ,those men who try to get hold of a young convert are the worst set of men4 ,i don't know a worse man than he who tries to pull young ,christians down4 ,he is nearer the borders of hell than any man ,i know4 ,when this man knew ,i had found ,jesus he just tried to pull me down4 ,he tried to argue with me1 and ,i did not know the ,bible very well then1 and he got the best of me4 ,the only way to get the best of those atheists1 pantheists1 or infidels1 is to have a good knowledge of the ,bible4 ,well1 this pantheist told me ,god was everywhere--in the air1 in the sun1 in the moon1 in the earth1 in the stars1 but really he meant nowhere4 ,and the next time ,i went to pray1 it seemed as if ,i was not praying anywhere or to anyone4 ,we have ample evidence in the ,bible that there is such a place as heaven1 and we have abundant manifestations that ,his influence from heaven is felt among us4 ,free4 ,you will remember when we had slavery we used to have men come up from ,kentucky1 ,tennessee1 and other slave states in order to escape from slavery4 ,i hope if there are any ,southern people here they will not think in this allusion ,i am trying to wound their feelings4 ,we all remember when these colored men came here how they used to be afraid lest some one should come and take them back4 ,why1 ,i remember in the store we had a poor fugitive1 and he used to be quaking all the time4 ,sometimes a customer would come in1 and he would be uneasy all the time4 ,he was afraid it was some one to take him back to slavery4 ,but somebody tells him if he was in ,canada he would be perfectly safe1 and he says3 ,if ,i could only get into ,canada2 if ,i could only get under the ,union ,jack ,i would be free4 ,there are no slaves under the ,union ,jack he has been told--that is the flag of freedom2 the moment he gets under it he is a free man4 ,so he starts4 ,we'll say there are no railways1 and the poor fellow has got ten miles ahead when his master comes up1 and he hears that his slave has fled for ,canada and sets off in pursuit4 ,some one tells the poor fugitive that his master is after him4 ,what does the poor fugitive do8 ,what does he do8 ,he redoubles his exertions and presses on1 on1 on1 on4 ,he is a slave born1 and he knows a slave belongs to his master4 ,faster he goes6 ,he knows his master is after him and he will be taken if he comes up with him before he reaches the lines4 ,he says1 ,if ,i can only hold out and get under the ,english flag1 the ,english government will protect me4 ,the whole ,english army will come to protect me if need be4 ,on he presses4 ,he is now nearing the boundary line4 ,one minute he is a slave1 and in an instant he is a free man4 ,my friends1 don't mistake4 ,these men can be saved tonight if they cross the line4 ,an ,irishman ,leaps ,into the ,life-,boat4 ,while ,i was in ,new ,york1 an ,irishman stood up in a young converts' meeting and told how he had been saved4 ,he said in his broken ,irish brogue that ,i used an illustration1 and that illustration saved him4 ,and ,i declare that that is the only man ,i ever knew who was converted without being spoken to4 ,he said ,i used an illustration of a wrecked vessel1 and said that all would perish unless some assistance came4 ,presently a life-boat came alongside and the captain shouted1 ,leap into the life-boat--leap for your lives1 or you will perish1 and when ,i came to the point ,i said1 ,leap into the life-boat2 ,christ is your life-boat of salvation1 and he leaped and was saved4 ,illustration3 ,the ,expulsion from the ,garden4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,genesis1 iii1 #bd ,illustration3 ,the ,trial ,of ,the ,faith ,of ,abraham4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,genesis1 xxii4 ,safe in the ,ark4 ,when the voice came down from heaven to ,noah1 ,come thou and all thy house into the ark1 for thee have ,i seen righteous before me in this generation1 now2 there was a minute when ,noah was outside the ark1 and another when he was inside1 and by being inside he was saved4 ,as long as he was outside of the ark he was exposed to the wrath of ,god just like the rest of those antediluvians4 ,if he stayed out1 and remained with those antediluvians1 he would have been swept away1 as they were4 ,it was not his righteousness2 it was not his faith nor his works that saved him2 it was the ark4 ,and1 my friends1 we have not1 like ,noah1 to be one hundred and twenty years making an ark for our safety4 ,god has provided an ark for us1 and the question is3 ,are you inside or outside this ark8 ,if you are inside you are safe2 if you are outside you are not safe4 ,,gold4 -- ,it is our privilege to know that we are saved4 -- ,we shall draw the world to ,christ when we are filled with religion4 -- ,he that overcometh shall inherit all things4 ,god has no poor children4 -- ,i hold to the doctrine of sudden conversion as ,i do to my life1 and ,i would as quickly give up my life as give up this doctrine1 unless it can be proved that it is not according to the word of ,god4 ,now1 ,i will admit that light is one thing and birth is another4 ,a soul must be born before it can see light4 ,a child must be born before it can be taught2 it must be born before it can walk2 it must be born before it can be educated4 ,,decision4 ,moody's ,mistake4 ,the last time ,i preached upon this question was in old ,farwell ,hall4 ,i had been for five nights preaching upon the life of ,christ4 ,i took him from the cradle and followed ,him up to the judgment hall1 and on that occasion ,i consider ,i made as great a blunder as ever ,i made in my life4 ,if ,i could recall my act ,i would give this right hand4 ,it was upon that memorable night in ,october1 and the ,court ,house bell was sounding an alarm of fire1 but ,i paid no attention to it4 ,you know we were accustomed to hear the fire bell often1 and it didn't disturb us much when it sounded4 ,i finished the sermon upon ,what shall ,i do with ,jesus8 ,and ,i said to the audience1 ,now1 ,i want you to take the question with you and think over it1 and next ,sunday ,i want you to come back and tell me what you are going to do with it4 ,what a mistake6 ,it seems now as if ,satan was in my mind when ,i said this4 ,since then ,i never have dared give an audience a week to think of their salvation4 ,if they were lost they might rise up in judgment against me4 ,now is the accepted time4 ,we went down stairs to the other meeting1 and ,i remember when ,mr4 ,sankey was singing1 and how his voice rang when he came to that pleading verse3 ,to-day the ,saviour calls2 ,for refuge fly4 ,the storm of justice falls1 ,and death is nigh4 ,after the meeting we went home4 ,i remember going down ,la ,salle street with a young man who is probably in the hall to-night1 and saw the glare of flames4 ,i said to the young man3 ,this means ruin to ,chicago4 ,about one o'clock1 ,farwell ,hall went2 soon the church in which ,i had preached went down1 and everything was scattered4 ,i never saw that audience again4 ,my friends1 we don't know what may happen to-morrow1 but there is one thing ,i do know1 and that is1 if you take the gift you are saved4 ,if you have eternal life you need not fear fire1 death1 or sickness4 ,let disease or death come1 you can shout triumphantly over the grave if you have ,christ4 ,my friends1 what are you going to do with ,him to-night8 ,will you decide now8 ,a ,day of ,decision4 ,i believe there is a day of decision in our lives--a day upon which the crisis of our lives occurs4 ,there is a day when the ,son of ,man comes and stands at our heart and knocks and knocks for the last time and leaves us forever4 ,i can imagine when ,pilate was banished how this recollection troubled him day and night4 ,he remembered how that ,saviour had looked on him--how innocent ,he was2 he remembered how1 when the ,jews were clamoring for ,his death1 and the cry echoed through the streets of ,jerusalem1 ,crucify ,him6 crucify ,him6 ,it seemed as if ,he had nothing but love for them4 ,probably some one told him the story of the crucifixion1 and how when nailed to the cross and the howling mob around ,him1 ,he cried1 ,father1 forgive them2 they know not what they do2 he remembered how they clamored for his life1 and how he hadn't the moral courage to stand up for the despised ,nazarene1 and that preyed upon his mind1 and he put an end to his miserable existence4 ,moody ,puts a ,man in his ,prophet's ,room4 ,a few years ago as ,i stood at the door of a church giving out invitations to a meeting to take place that evening1 a young man to whom ,i offered one said1 ,i want something more than that4 ,i want something to do6 ,i urged him to come into the meeting1 and after some remonstrance he consented4 ,after the meeting ,i took him home1 and after dinner ,i told him there was a room which ,i called the ,prophet's ,room1 and up stairs was another which ,i called the ,unbeliever's ,room1 and ,i would give him till night to decide which he would take4 ,he was able by night to take the first1 and the next day was at work urging young men to attend the noonday prayer-meeting4 ,when ,i was burned out in the great fire and was left perfectly destitute1 ,i received a letter with some money from this young man in ,boston1 who said3 ,you helped me and took me in your home1 keeping me six weeks and refused to take anything for it1 and ,i have never forgotten your kindness4 ,i had lost sight of him1 but he had remembered that as a turning-point in his existence4 ,,gold4 -- ,if you receive ,him it will be well2 if you reject ,him and are lost it will be terrible4 -- ,thanks be to ,god1 there is hope to-day2 this very hour you can choose ,him and serve ,him4 -- ,now just think a moment and answer the question1 ',what shall ,i do with ,jesus who is called ,christ8 -- ,i believe in my soul that there are more at this day being lost for want of decision than for any other thing4 -- ,one of two things you must do2 you must either receive ,him or reject ,him4 ,you receive ,him here and ,he will receive you there2 you reject ,him here and ,he will reject you there4 ,illustration3 ,jesus ,and ,the ,woman ,taken ,in ,adultery4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,john1 viii1 #c-aa ,,deliverance4 ,the ,scotch ,lassie4 ,there is a story told of an incident that occurred during the last ,indian mutiny4 ,the ,english were besieged in the city of ,lucknow1 and were in momentary expectation of perishing at the hands of the fiends that surrounded them4 ,there was a little ,scotch lassie in this fort1 and1 while lying on the ground1 she suddenly shouted1 her face aglow with joy1 ,dinna ye hear them comin'2 dinna ye hear them comin'8 ,hear what8 they asked1 ,dinna ye hear them comin8 ,and she sprang to her feet4 ,it was the bagpipes of her native ,scotland she heard4 ,it was a native air she heard that was being played by a regiment of her countrymen marching to the relief of those captives1 and these deliverers made them free4 ,oh1 my friends1 don't you hear ,jesus ,christ crying to you to-night8 ,geo4 ,h4 ,stewart ,visits a ,doomed ,criminal4 ,i remember hearing a story of ,mr4 ,george ,stewart4 ,one day the ,governor of ,pennsylvania came to him and said1 ,mr4 ,stewart1 ,i want you to go to such a prison and tell that man for whose execution ,i signed the warrant the other day1 that there is not a ray of hope for him4 ,when the day and hour comes he must be executed4 ,his mother has been tormenting the life out of me2 and all his friends have been running after me day and night1 and they are giving the poor fellow a false hope4 ,that is a very disagreeable thing to do1 ,governor1 answered ,mr4 ,stewart4 ,well1 ,i want you to go and tell him1 so that he can be settled in his mind4 ,the story goes that when the doors of the cell were opened1 that prisoner seized ,mr4 ,stewart's hands1 and in his joy cried1 ,you are a good man4 ,i know you have come with a pardon from the ,governor4 ,but when ,mr4 ,stewart told him the ,governor had sent him to say there was not a ray of hope for him1 that upon the day and hour he must be executed1 the man completely broke down and fainted away4 ,the thought that at such a day and such an hour he was going to be ushered into eternity1 was too much for the poor fellow4 ,suppose ,i come to you to-night and tell you there is not a ray of hope--that you have broken the law of pardon4 ,how many would say1 ,i know a great deal better4 ,the blackest sinner on earth ,christ can save4 ,he says so4 ,but1 my friends1 there is no hope without the deliverance to be free from the bondage of sin4 ,the ,demoniac4 ,when this man found himself delivered he wanted to go with the ,saviour4 ,that was gratitude2 ,christ had saved him1 had redeemed him4 ,he had delivered him from the hand of the enemy4 ,and this man cried3 ,let me follow ,you around the world2 where ,you go ,i will go4 ,but the ,lord said1 ,you go home and tell your friends what good things the ,lord has done for you4 ,and he started home4 ,i would like to have been in that house when he came there4 ,i can imagine how the children would look when they saw him1 and say1 ,father is coming4 ,shut the door1 the mother would cry2 look out6 fasten the window2 bolt every door in the house4 ,many times he very likely had come and abused his family and broken the chairs and tables and turned the mother into the street and alarmed all the neighbors4 ,they see him now coming down the street4 ,down he comes till he gets to the door1 and then gently knocks4 ,you don't hear a sound as he stands there4 ,at last he sees his wife at the window and he says1 ,mary6 ,why1 she says1 why he speaks as he did when ,i first married him2 ,i wonder if he has got well8 ,so she looks out and asks3 ,john1 is that you8 ,yes1 ,mary1 he replies1 it's me1 don't be afraid any mare1 ,i'm well now4 ,i see that mother1 how she pulls back the bolts of that door1 and looks at him4 ,the first look is sufficient1 and she springs into his arms and clings about his neck4 ,she takes him in and asks him a hundred questions--how it all happened--all about it4 ,well1 just take a chair and ,i'll tell you how ,i got cured4 ,the children hang back and look amazed4 ,he says3 ,i was there in the tombs1 you know1 cutting myself with stones1 and running about in my nakedness1 when ,jesus of ,nazareth came that way4 ,mary1 did you ever hear of ,him8 ,he is the most wonderful man2 ,i've never seen a man like ,him4 ,he just ran in and told those devils to leave me1 and they left me4 ,when ,he had cured me ,i wanted to follow ,him1 but ,he told me to come home and tell you all about it4 ,the children by and by gather about his knee1 and the elder ones run to tell their playmates what wonderful things ,jesus has done for their father4 ,ah1 my friends1 we have got a mighty deliverer1 ,i don't care what affliction you have1 ,he will deliver you from it4 ,the ,son of ,god who cast out those devils can deliver you from your besetting sin4 ,spurgeon's ,parable4 ,mr4 ,spurgeon1 a number of years ago1 made a parable4 ,he thought he had a right to make one1 and he did it4 ,he said3 ,there was once a tyrant who ordered one of his subjects into his presence1 and ordered him to make a chain4 ,the poor blacksmith--that was his occupation--had to go to work and forge the chain4 ,when it was done he brought it into the presence of the tyrant1 and he was ordered to take it away and make it twice the length4 ,he brought it again to the tyrant1 and again he was ordered to double it4 ,back he came when he had obeyed the order1 and the tyrant looked at it1 and then commanded the servants to bind the man hand and foot with the chain he had made and cast him into prison4 ,and1 ,mr4 ,spurgeon said1 that is what the devil does with man4 ,he makes them forge their own chain1 and then binds them hand and foot with it1 and casts them into outer darkness4 ,my friends1 that is just what these drunkards1 these gamblers1 these blasphemers--that is just what every sinner is doing4 ,but1 thank ,god1 we can tell you of a deliverer4 ,the ,son of ,god has power to break everyone of these fetters if you will only come to ,him4 ,,gold4 -- ,the mightiest man that ever lived could not deliver himself from his sins4 ,if a man could have saved himself1 ,christ would never have come into the world4 -- ,he came to deliver us from our sinful dispositions1 and create in us pure hearts1 and when we have ,him with us it will not be hard for us4 ,then the service of ,christ will be delightful4 -- ,if you are under the power of evil1 and you want to get under the power of ,god1 cry to ,him to bring you over to ,his service2 cry to ,him to take you into ,his army4 ,he will hear you2 ,he will come to you1 and1 if need be1 ,he will send a legion of angels to help you to fight your way up to heaven4 ,god will take you by the right hand and lead you through this wilderness1 over death1 and take you right into ,his kingdom4 ,that's what the ,son of ,man came to do4 ,he has never deceived us2 just say here3 ,christ is my deliverer4 ,,excuses4 ,i ,have ,intellectual ,difficulties4 ,there is another voice coming down from the gallery yonder3 ,i have intellectual difficulties2 ,i cannot believe4 ,a man came to me sometime ago and said1 ,i cannot4 ,cannot what8 ,i asked4 ,well1 said he1 ,i cannot believe4 ,who8 ,well1 he repeated1 ,i cannot believe4 ,who8 ,i asked4 ,well--,i--can't--believe--myself4 ,well1 you don't want to4 ,laughter4 ,make yourself out false every time1 but believe in the truth of ,christ4 ,if a man says to me1 ,mr4 ,moody1 you have lied to me2 you have dealt falsely with me1 it may be so1 but no man on the face of the earth can say that ,god ever dealt unfairly1 or that ,he lied to him4 ,if ,god says a thing it is true4 ,we don't ask you to believe in any man on the face of the earth1 but we ask you to believe in ,jesus ,christ1 who never lied--who never deceived any one4 ,if a man says he cannot believe ,him1 he says what is untrue4 ,i ,am ,not ,all ,right4 ,i had to notice during the war1 when enlisting was going on1 sometimes a man would come up with a nice silk hat on1 patent-leather boots1 nice kid gloves1 and a fine suit of clothes1 which1 probably1 cost him #ajj2 perhaps the next man who came along would be a hod-carrier1 dressed in the poorest kind of clothes4 ,both had to strip alike and put on the regimental uniform4 ,so when you come and say you ain't fit1 haven't got good clothes1 haven't got righteousness enough1 remember that ,he will furnish you with the uniform of ,heaven1 and you will be set down at the marriage feast of the ,lamb4 ,i don't care how black and vile your heart may be1 only accept the invitation of ,jesus ,christ and ,he will make you fit to sit down with the rest at that feast4 ,those ,hypocrites4 ,i won't accept this invitation because of those hypocrites in the churches4 ,my friend1 you will find very few there if you get to heaven4 ,there won't be a hypocrite in the next world1 and if you don't want to be associated with hypocrites in the next world1 you will take this invitation4 ,why1 you will find hypocrites everywhere4 ,one of the apostles was himself the very prince of hypocrites1 but he didn't get to heaven4 ,you will find plenty of hypocrites in the church4 ,they have been there for the last one thousand eight hundred years1 and will probably remain there4 ,but what is that to you8 ,this is an individual matter between you and your ,god4 ,i ,can't ,feel4 ,i can't feel1 says one4 ,that is the very last excuse4 ,when a man comes with that excuse he is getting pretty near the ,lord4 ,we are having a body of men in ,england giving a new translation of the ,scriptures4 ,i think we should get them to put in a passage relating to feeling4 ,with some people it is feel1 feel1 feel all the time4 ,what kind of feeling have you got8 ,have you got a desire to be saved1 have you got a desire to be present at the marriage supper8 ,suppose a gentleman asked me to dinner1 ,i say1 ,i will see how ,i feel4 ,sick8 he might ask4 ,no2 it depends on how ,i feel4 ,that is not the question--it is whether ,i will accept the invitation or not4 ,the question with us is1 will we accept salvation--will you believe8 ,there is not a word about feelings in the ,scriptures4 ,when you come to your end1 and you know that in a few days you will be in the presence of the ,judge of all the earth1 you will remember this excuse about feelings4 ,you will be saying1 ,i went up to the ,tabernacle1 ,i remember1 and ,i felt very good1 and before the meeting was over ,i felt very bad1 and ,i didn't feel ,i had the right kind of feeling to accept the invitation4 ,satan will then say1 ,i made you feel so4 ,suppose you build your hopes and fix yourself upon the ,rock of ,ages1 the devil cannot come to you4 ,stand upon the ,word of ,god and the waves of unbelief cannot touch you1 the waves of persecution cannot assail you2 the devil and all the fiends of hell cannot approach you if you only build your hopes upon ,god's ,word4 ,say1 ,i will trust ,him1 though ,he slay me--,i will take ,god at ,his word4 ,i ,am ,not ,one of the ,elect4 ,i can imagine some men saying1 ,mr4 ,moody has not touched my case at all4 ,that is not the reason why ,i won't accept ,christ4 ,i don't know as ,i am one of the elect4 ,how often ,i am met with this excuse--how often do ,i hear it in the inquiry room6 ,how many men fold their arms and say1 ,if ,i am one of the elect ,i will be saved1 and if ,i ain't ,i won't4 ,no use of your bothering about it4 ,why don't some of those merchants say1 ,if ,god is going to make me a successful merchant in ,chicago ,i will be one whether ,i like it or not1 and if he isn't ,i won't4 ,if you are sick1 and a4 doctor prescribes for you1 don't take the medicine1 throw it out the door1 it don't matter1 for if ,god has decreed you are going to die1 you will3 if he hasn't1 you will get better4 ,if you use that argument you may as well not walk home from this tabernacle4 ,if ,god has said you'll get home1 you'll get home--you'll fly through the air2 if you have been elected to go home4 ,i have an idea that the ,lord ,jesus saw how men were going to stumble over this doctrine1 so after ,he had been thirty or forty years in heaven1 ,he came down and spoke to ,john4 ,one ,lord's day in ,patmos1 ,he said to him1 ,write these things to the churches4 ,john kept on writing4 ,his pen flew very fast4 ,and then the ,lord1 when it was nearly finished said1 ,john1 before you close the book1 put in this3 ',the ,spirit and the ,bride say1 ,come2 and let him that heareth say2 ,come4' ,but there will be some that are deaf1 and they cannot hear1 so add1 ',let him that is athirst1 ,come2' and in case there should be any that do not thirst1 put it still broader1 ',whosoever will1 let him take of the water of life freely4' '' ,what more can you have than that8 ,and the ,book is sealed1 as it were1 with that4 ,it is the last invitation in the ,bible4 ,whosoever will1 let him take of the water of life freely4 ,you are thirsty4 ,you want water4 ,i hold out this glass to you1 and say1 ,take it4 ,you say1 ,if ,i am decreed to have it1 ,i am not going to put myself to the trouble of taking it4 ,well1 you will never get it4 ,and if you are ever to have salvation1 you must reach out the hand and take it4 ,i will take the cup of salvation1 and call upon the name1 of the ,lord4 ,why did he not take his ,wife along8 ,take the excuses4 ,there wasn't one that wasn't a lie4 ,the devil made them all2 and if the sinner hadn't one already the devil was there at his elbow to suggest one1 about the truth of the ,bible1 or something of that sort4 ,one of the excuses mentioned was that the man invited had bought a piece of ground1 and had to look at it4 ,real estate and corner lots are keeping a good many men out of ,god's kingdom4 ,it was a lie to say that he had to go and see it then1 for he ought to have looked at it before he bought it4 ,then the next man said he'd bought some oxen1 and must prove them4 ,that was another lie2 for if he hadn't proved them before he bought them he ought to have done so1 and could have done it after supper just as well as before it4 ,but the third man's excuse was the most ridiculous of them all4 ,i have married a wife and therefore cannot come4 ,why did he not take his wife along with him8 ,who likes to go to a feast better than a young bride8 ,he might have asked her to go too2 and if she were not willing1 then let her stay at home4 ,the fact was1 he did not want to go4 ,a ,good ,excuse4 ,if you have got a good excuse don't give it up for anything ,i have said2 don't give it up for anything your mother may have said2 don't give it up for anything your friend may have said4 ,take it up to the bar of ,god and state it to ,him2 but if you have not got a good excuse--an excuse that will stand in eternity--let it go to-night1 and flee to the arms of a loving ,saviour4 ,excused at ,last4 ,it is a very solemn thought that ,god will excuse you if you want to be excused4 ,he does not wish to do it1 but ,he will do it4 ,as ,i live1 saith the ,lord1 ,i have no pleasure in the death of the wicked2 but that the wicked turn from his way and live4 ,turn ye1 turn ye from your evil ways2 for why will ye die1 ,o house of ,israel4 ,look at the ,jewish nation4 ,they wanted to be excused from the feast4 ,they despised the grace of ,god and trampled it under foot1 and look at them to-day6 ,yes1 it is easy enough to say1 ,i pray ,thee have me excused2 but by and by ,god may take you at your word1 and say1 ,yes1 ,i will excuse you4 ,and in that lost world1 while others who have accepted the invitation sit down to the marriage supper of the ,lamb1 amid shouts and hallelujahs in heaven1 you will be crying in the company of the lost1 ,the harvest is past2 the summer is ended1 and ,i am not saved4 ,the ,invitation4 ,suppose we should write out here to-night this excuse1 how would it sound8 ,to the ,king of ,heaven3--,while sitting in the ,tabernacle in the ,city of ,chicago1 ,january--1 #ahgg1 ,i received a very pressing invitation from one of your servants to be present at the marriage supper of your only-begotten ,son4 ,i ,,pray ,,thee ,,have ,,me ,,excused4 ,would you sign that1 young man8 ,would you1 mother8 ,would you come up to the reporters' table1 take up a pen and put your name down to such an excuse8 ,you would say1 ,let my right hand forget its cunning1 and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth1 if ,i sign that4 ,just let me write out another answer3 ,to the ,king of ,heaven2--,while sitting in the ,tabernacle1 ,january---1 #ahgg1 ,i received a pressing invitation from one of your messengers to be present at the marriage supper of your only-begotten ,son4 ,i hasten to reply3 ,,by ,,the ,,grace ,,of ,,god ,i ,,will ,,be ,,present4 ,who will sign that8 ,is there one who will put his name to it8 ,is there no one who will say1 ,by the grace of ,god ,i will accept the invitation now8 ,,gold4 -- ,there is not an excuse but is a lie4 -- ,god's service a hard one6 ,how will that sound in the judgment8 -- ,it is easy enough to excuse yourself to hell1 but you cannot excuse yourself to heaven4 -- ,when a man prepares a feast1 men rush in1 but when ,god prepares one they all begin to make excuses1 and don't want to go4 -- ,my friends1 to accept this invitation is more important than anything else in this world4 ,there is nothing in the world that is so important as the question of accepting the invitation4 -- ,if everybody could understand everything the ,bible said it wouldn't be ,god's book2 if ,christians1 if theologians1 had studied it for forty1 fifty1 sixty years1 and then only began to understand it1 how could a man expect to understand it by one reading8 -- ,if ,god were to take men at their word about these excuses1 and swept everyone into his grave who had an excuse1 there would be a very small congregation in the ,tabernacle next ,sunday2 there would be little business in ,chicago1 and in a few weeks the grass would be growing on these busy streets4 ,,faith4 ,how ,moody's ,faith ,saved an ,infidel4 ,when ,i was in ,edinburgh1 at the inquiry meeting in ,assembly ,hall1 one of the ushers came around and said1 ,mr4 ,moody1 ,i'd like to put that man out2 he's one of the greatest infidels in ,edinburgh4 ,he had been the chairman of an infidel club for years1 ,i went around to where he was and sat down by him4 ,how is it with you1 my friend8 ,i asked1 and then he laughed and said1 ,you say ,god answers prayer2 ,i tell you ,he doesn't4 ,i don't believe in a ,god4 ,try it on me4 ,will you get down with me and pray8 ,i asked him2 but he wouldn't4 ,so ,i got down on my knees beside him and prayed4 ,next night he was there again4 ,i prayed1 and quite a number of others prayed for him4 ,a few months after that1 away up in the north of ,scotland1 at ,wick1 ,i was preaching in the open air1 and while ,i stood there ,i saw the infidel standing on the outskirts of the crowd4 ,i went up to him at the close of the meeting and said3 ,how is it with you1 my friend8 ,he laughed and said1 ,i told you your praying is all false2 ,god hasn't answered your prayers2 go and talk to these deluded people4 ,he had just the same spirit as before1 but ,i relied on faith4 ,shortly after ,i got a letter from a barrister--a ,christian4 ,he was preaching one night in ,edinburgh1 when this infidel went up to him and said3 ,i want you to pray for me2 ,i am troubled4 ,the barrister asked1 ,what is the trouble8 and he replied3 ,i don't know what's the matter1 but ,i don't have any peace1 and ,i want you to pray for me4 ,next day he went around to that lawyer's office and he said that he had found ,christ4 ,this man now is doing good work1 and ,i heard that out of thirty inquirers there1 ten or twelve of his old associates and friends were among them4 ,so1 if you have ,god with you1 and you go to work for ,him1 and you meet infidels and skeptics1 just bear in mind that you can win through faith4 ,when ,christ saw the faith of those four men1 ,he said to the man3 ,thy sins are forgiven you4 ,my friends1 if you have faith all things are possible4 ,taking the ,prince at his ,word4 ,some time ago ,i remember reading of an incident that occurred between a prince in a foreign land and one of his subjects4 ,this man for rebellion against the government was going to be executed4 ,he was taken to the guilotine block4 ,when the poor fellow reached the place of execution he was trembling with fear4 ,the prince was present and asked him if he wished anything before judgment was carded out4 ,the culprit replied3 ,a glass of water4 ,it was brought to him1 but he was so nervous he couldn't drink it4 ,do not fear1 said the prince to him1 judgment will not be carried out till you drink that water1 and in an instant the glass was dashed to the ground and broken into a thousand pieces4 ,he took that prince at his word4 ,a ,wife's ,faith4 ,in one of the towns in ,england there is a beautiful little chapel1 and a very touching story is told in connection with it4 ,it was built by an infidel4 ,he had a praying wife1 but he would not listen to her1 would not allow her pastor even to take dinner with them2 would not look at the ,bible1 would not allow religion even to be talked of4 ,she made up her mind1 seeing she could not influence him by her voice1 that every day she would pray to ,god at twelve o'clock for his salvation4 ,she said nothing to him2 but every day at that hour she told the ,lord about her husband4 ,at the end of twelve months there was no change in him4 ,but she did not give up4 ,six months more went past4 ,her faith began to waver1 and she said1 ,will ,i have to give him up at last8 ,perhaps when ,i am dead ,he will answer my prayers4 ,when she had got to that point1 it seemed just as if ,god had got her where he wanted her4 ,the man came home to dinner one day4 ,his wife was in the dining-room waiting for him1 but he didn't come in4 ,she waited some time1 and finally looked for him1 all through the house4 ,at last she thought of going into the little room where she had prayed so often4 ,there he was1 praying at the same bed with agony1 where she had prayed for so many months1 asking forgiveness for his sins4 ,and1 this is a lesson to you wives who have infidel husbands4 ,the ,lord saw that woman's faith and answered her prayers4 ,mr4 ,morehouse's ,illustration4 ,i remember ,mr4 ,morehouse1 while here four years ago1 used an illustration which has fastened itself on my mind4 ,he said1 suppose you go up the street and meet a man whom you have known for the last ten years to be a beggar1 and you notice a change in his appearance1 and you say1 ,halloo1 beggar1 what's come over you8 ,i ain't no beggar4 ,don't call me beggar4 ,why1 you say1 ,i saw you the other day begging in the street4 ,ah1 but a change has taken place1 he replies4 ,is that so8 how did it come about8 you inquire4 ,well1 he says1 ,i came out this morning and got down here intending to catch the business men and get all the money out of them1 when one of them came up to me and said there was #aj1jjj deposited for me4 ,how do you know this is true8 you say4 ,i went to the bank and they put the money in my hand4 ,are you sure of that8 you ask2 how do you know it was the right kind of a hand8 ,but he says2 ,i don't care whether it was the right kind of a hand or not2 ,i got the money1 and that's all ,i wanted4 ,and so people are looking to see if they've got the right kind of a hand before they accept ,god by it4 ,they have but to accept his testimony and they are saved1 for1 as ,john says1 ,he that hath received ,his testimony hath set his seal that ,god is true4 ,is there a man in this assemblage who will receive ,his testimony and set his seal that ,god is true8 ,proclaim that ,god speaks the truth4 ,make yourself a liar1 but make ,god's testimony truthful4 ,take ,him at ,his word4 ,faith ,more ,powerful than ,gunpowder4 ,i remember at one of the meetings at ,nashville1 during the war1 a young man came to me1 trembling from head to foot4 ,what is the trouble8 ,i asked4 ,there is a letter ,i got from my sister1 and she tells me every night as the sun goes down she goes down on her knees and prays for me4 ,this man was brave1 had been in a number of battles2 he could stand before the cannon's mouth1 but yet this letter completely upset him4 ,i have been trembling ever since ,i received it4 ,six hundred miles away the faith of this girl went to work1 and its influence was felt by the brother4 ,he did not believe in prayer2 he did not believe in ,christianity2 he did not believe in his mother's ,bible4 ,this mother was a praying woman1 and when she died she left on earth a praying daughter4 ,and when ,god saw her faith and heard that prayer1 he answered her4 ,how many sons and daughters could be saved if their mothers and fathers had but faith4 ,,gold4 -- ,god will honor our faith4 -- ,there is nothing on this earth that pleases ,christ so much as faith4 -- ,faith is the foundation of all society4 ,we have only to look around and see this4 -- ,i believe there is no man in the world so constituted but he can believe in ,god's word4 ,he simply tells you to believe in ,him1 and ,he will save you4 -- ,when ,i was converted twenty years ago ,i felt a faith in ,god2 but five years after ,i had a hundred times more faith1 and five years ago ,i had more than ever1 because ,i became better acquainted with ,him4 ,i have read up the ,word1 and ,i see that the ,lord has done so and so1 and then ,i have turned to where ,he has promised to perform it1 and when ,i see this ,i have reason to believe in ,him4 ,,forgiveness4 ,how ,moody's ,mother ,forgave her ,prodigal ,son4 ,i can give you a little experience of my own family4 ,before ,i was fourteen years old the first thing ,i remember was the death of my father4 ,he had been unfortunate in business1 and failed4 ,soon after his death the creditors came in and took everything4 ,my mother was left with a large family of children4 ,one calamity after another swept over the entire household4 ,twins were added to the family1 and my mother was taken sick4 ,the eldest boy was fifteen years of age1 and to him my mother looked as a stay in her calamity1 but all at once that boy became a wanderer4 ,he had been reading some of the trashy novels1 and the belief had seized him that he had only to go away to make a fortune4 ,away he went4 ,i can remember how eagerly she used to look for tidings of that boy2 how she used to send us to the post office to see if there was a letter from him1 and recollect how we used to come back with the sad news1 ,no letter4 ,i remember how in the evenings we used to sit beside her in that ,new ,england home1 and we would talk about our father2 but the moment the name of that boy was mentioned she would hush us into silence4 ,some nights when the wind was very high1 and the house1 which was upon a hill1 would tremble at every gust1 the voice of my mother was raised in prayer for that wanderer who had treated her so unkindly4 ,i used to think she loved him more than all the rest of us put together1 and ,i believe she did4 ,on a ,thanksgiving day--you know that is a family day in ,new ,england--she used to set a chair for him1 thinking he would return home4 ,her family grew up and her boys left home4 ,when ,i got so that ,i could write1 ,i sent letters all over the country1 but could find no trace of him4 ,one day while in ,boston the news reached me that he had returned4 ,while in that city1 ,i remember how ,i used to look for him in every store--he had a mark on his face--but ,i never got any trace4 ,one day while my mother was sitting at the door1 a stranger was seen coming toward the house1 and when he came to the door he stopped4 ,my mother didn't know her boy4 ,he stood there with folded arms and great beard flowing down his breast1 his tears trickling down his face4 ,when my mother saw those tears she cried1 ,oh1 it's my lost son1 and entreated him to come in4 ,but he stood still4 ,no1 mother1 he said1 ,i will not come in till ,i hear first you forgive me4 ,do you believe she was not willing to forgive him8 ,do you think she was likely to keep him long standing there8 ,she rushed to the threshold and threw her arms around him1 and breathed forgiveness4 ,ah1 sinner1 if you but ask ,god to be merciful to you a sinner1 ask ,him for forgiveness1 although your life has been bad--ask ,him for mercy1 and ,he will not keep you long waiting for an answer4 ,illustration3 ,the ,star ,in ,the ,east4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,matthew1 ii1 #a-ab4 ,illustration3 ,elijah's ,ascent ,in ,a ,chariot ,of ,fire4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,,ii ,kings1 ii4 ,a ,rich ,father visits his ,dying ,prodigal ,son in a ,garret and ,forgives him4 ,there is a story told of ,mr4 ,william ,dawson1 which ,i would like to relate4 ,while preaching in ,london1 one night at the close of his sermon1 he said that there was not one in all ,london whom ,christ could not save4 ,in the morning a young lady called upon him and said3 ,mr4 ,dawson1 in your sermon last night you said that 'there was no man in all ,london whom ,christ could not save4' ,i find a young man in my district who says he cannot be saved1 and who will not listen to me4 ,won't you go and see him8 ,i am sure you can do more with him than ,i can4 ,mr4 ,dawson readily assented1 and went with the young lady to the ,east ,end--up one of those narrow streets there1 and at the top of a rickety staircase found a garret1 in which a man was stretched upon straw4 ,he bent over him and said1 ,friend4 ,friend6 said the young man1 turning upon him1 you must take me for some other person4 ,i have no friends4 ,ah1 replied the ,christian1 you are mistaken4 ,christ is the sinner's friend4 ,the man thought this too good2 ,why1 said he1 my whole family have cast me off2 every friend ,i had has left me1 and no one cares for me4 ,mr4 ,dawson spoke to him kindly1 and quoted promise after promise--told him what ,christ had suffered to give him eternal life4 ,at first his efforts were fruitless1 but finally the light of the gospel began to break in on the young man1 and the first sign was his heart went out to those he had injured4 ,and1 my friends1 this is one of the first indications of the acceptance of ,christ with the sinner4 ,he said3 ,i could die in peace now if my father would but forgive me4 ,well1 replied the man of ,god1 ,i will go and see your father and ask him for his forgiveness4 ,no1 no1 was the sad answer of the young man1 you cannot go near him4 ,my father has disinherited me2 he has taken my name from the family records2 he has forbidden the mention of my name in his house by any of the family or servants in his presence1 and you needn't go4 ,however1 ,mr4 ,dawson obtained the address1 and went away to the ,west ,end of ,london2 ascended the steps of a beautiful villa1 and rang the bell4 ,a servant in livery came to the door and conducted him to the drawing-room4 ,there was everything in that house for comfort and luxury that money could purchase4 ,he could not help contrasting the scene of poverty in that garret with the scene of luxuriant elegance everywhere around him4 ,presently a proud1 haughty-looking merchant came in1 and as he stepped forward to shake hands with ,mr4 ,dawson that gentleman said3 ,i believe you have a son named ,joseph8 and the merchant threw back his hand and drew himself up4 ,if you come to speak of him--that reprobate--,i want you to go away4 ,i have no son of that name4 ,i disown him4 ,if he has been talking to you he has been only deceiving you4 ,well1 replied ,mr4 ,dawson1 he is your boy now1 but he won't be long4 ,the father stood for a minute looking at the ,christian1 and then asked3 ,is ,joseph sick8 ,yes1 was the reply1 he is at the point of death4 ,i only came to ask your forgiveness for him1 that he may die in peace4 ,i don't ask any favor2 when he dies we will bury him4 ,the father put his hands to his face and great tears rolled down his cheeks1 as he said1 ,can you take me to him8 ,in a very short time he was in that narrow street where his son was dying1 and as he mounted the filthy stairs it hardly seemed possible that the boy could be in such a place4 ,when he entered the garret he could hardly recognize his son1 and when he bent over him the boy opened his eyes and said3 ,o1 father1 can you--will you forgive me8 and the father answered3 ,o ,joseph1 ,i would have forgiven you long ago if you had wanted me to4 ,that haughty man laid his boy's head on his bosom and the son told him what ,christ had done for him2 how ,he had forgiven his sins1 brought peace to his soul2 how that ,son of ,god had found him in that poor garret1 and had done all for him4 ,the father wanted the servant to take him home4 ,no1 father1 said the boy1 ,i have but a short time to live1 and ,i would rather die here4 ,he lingered a few hours1 and passed from that garret in the ,east ,end to the everlasting hills4 ,moody in a ,billiard ,hall4--,a ,remarkable ,story4 ,in a meeting recently a man got up4 ,i didn't know him at first4 ,when ,i was here he was a rumseller1 and broke up his business and went to the mountains4 ,this is how it happened4 ,when ,i was here before1 he opened a saloon and a grand billiard hall4 ,it was one of the most magnificent billiard halls in ,chicago1 all elegantly gilded and frescoed4 ,for the opening he sent me an invitation to be present1 which ,i accepted1 and went around before he opened it4 ,i saw the partners and asked them if they would allow me to bring a friend4 ,they said certainly1 but asked me who it was4 ,well1 ,i said it wasn't necessary to tell who it was1 but said ,i1 ,i never go without him4 ,they began to mistrust me4 ,who is it8 they again inquired4 ,well1 ,i'll come with him and if ,i see anything wrong ,i'll ask him to forgive you4 ,come1 said they1 we don't want any praying4 ,you've given me an invitation1 and ,i am going to come4 ,but if you do come you needn't pray4 ,well1 said ,i1 ,i'll tell you what we'll do1 we'll compromise the matter1 and if you don't want me to come and pray for you when you open1 let me pray for both of you now1 which they agreed to4 ,it turned out that one of them had a praying mother1 and the prayer touched his heart1 and the other had a sister in heaven4 ,i asked ,god to bless their souls1 and just to break their business to pieces4 ,in a few months their business did go all to pieces4 ,the man who got up in the prayer meeting told me a story that touched my soul4 ,he said with his business he hadn't prospered--he failed1 and went away to the ,rocky ,mountains4 ,life became a burden to him and he made up his mind that he would go to some part of the mountains and put an end to his days4 ,he took a sharp knife with him which he proposed driving into his heart4 ,he sought a part of the mountains to kill himself4 ,he had the knife ready to plunge into his heart1 when he heard a voice--it was the voice of his mother4 ,he remembered her words when she was dying1 even though he was a boy4 ,he heard her say1 ,johnny1 if you get into trouble1 pray4 ,that knife dropped from his hand1 and he asked ,god to be merciful to him4 ,he was accepted1 and he came back to ,chicago and lifted up his voice for ,him4 ,he may be in this ,tabernacle to-night4 ,just the moment he cried for mercy he got it4 ,if you only cry1 ,god1 be merciful to me a sinner1 ,he will hear you4 ,moody and the ,judge4 ,a number of years ago as ,i was coming out of a daily prayer meeting in one of our ,western cities1 a lady came up to me and said3 ,i want to have you see my husband and ask him to come to ,christ4 ,she says1 ,i want to have you go and see him4 ,she told me his name1 and it was a man ,i had heard of before4 ,why1 said ,i1 ,i can't go and see your husband4 ,he is a booked infidel4 ,i can't argue with him4 ,he is a good deal older than ,i am1 and it would be out of place4 ,then ,i am not much for infidel argument4 ,well1 ,mr4 ,moody1 she says1 that ain't what he wants4 ,he's got enough of that4 ,just ask him to come to the ,saviour4 ,she urged me so hard and so strong1 that ,i consented to go4 ,i went to the office where the judge was doing business1 and told him what ,i had come for4 ,he laughed at me4 ,you are very foolish1 he said1 and began to argue with me4 ,i said1 ,i don't think it will be profitable for me to hold an argument with you4 ,i have just one favor ,i want to ask of you1 and that is1 that when you are converted you will let me know4 ,yes1 said he1 ,i will do that4 ,when ,i am converted ,i will let you know--with a good deal of sarcasm4 ,i went off1 and requests for prayer were sent here and to ,fulton street1 ,new ,york1 and ,i thought the prayers there and of that wife would be answered if mine were not4 ,a year and a half after1 ,i was in that city1 and a servant came to the door and said3 ,there is a man in the front parlor who wishes to see you4 ,i found the ,judge there2 he said3 ,i promised ,i would let you know when ,i was converted4 ,well1 said ,i1 tell me all about it4 ,i had heard it from other lips1 but ,i wanted to hear it from his own4 ,he said his wife had gone out to a meeting one night and he was home alone1 and while he was sitting there by the fire he thought3 ,supposing my wife is right1 and my children are right2 suppose there is a heaven and a hell1 and ,i shall be separated from them4 ,his first thought was1 ,i don't believe a word of it4 ,the second thought came1 ,you believe in the ,god that created you1 and that the ,god that created you is able to teach you4 ,you believe that ,god can give you life4 ,yes1 the ,god that created me can give me life4 ,i was too proud to get down on my knees by the fire1 and said1 ',o ,god1 teach me4' ,and as ,i prayed1 ,i don't understand it1 but it began to get very dark1 and my heart got very heavy4 ,i was afraid to tell my wife1 and ,i pretended to be asleep4 ,she kneeled down beside that bed1 and ,i knew she was praying for me4 ,i kept crying1 ',o ,god1 teach me4' ,i had to change my prayer1 ',o ,god save me2 ,o ,god1 take away this burden4' ,but it grew darker and darker1 and the load grew heavier and heavier4 ,all the way to my office ,i kept crying1 ',o ,god1 take away this load of guilt2 ,i gave my clerks a holiday1 and just closed my office and locked the door4 ,i fell down on my face2 ,i cried in agony to my ,lord1 ',o ,lord1 for ,christ's sake take away this guilt4' ,i don't know how it was1 but it began to grow very light4 ,i said1 ,i wonder if this isn't what they call conversion4 ,i think ,i will go and ask the minister if ,i am not converted4 ,i met my wife at the door and said1 ',my dear1 ,i've been converted4' ,she looked in amazement4 ',oh it's a fact2 ,i've been converted6 ,we went into that drawing-room and knelt down by the sofa and prayed to ,god to bless us4 ,the old ,judge said to me1 the tears trickling down his cheeks1 ,mr4 ,moody1 ,i've enjoyed life more in the last three months than in all the years of my life put together4 ,if there is an infidel here--if there is a skeptical one here1 ask ,god to give you wisdom to come now4 ,let us reason together1 and if you become acquainted with ,god the day will not go before you receive light from ,him4 ,illustration3 ,the ,tower of ,bable4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,genesis1 xi4 ,illustration3 ,the ,destruction of ,sodom4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,genesis1 xix4 ,reuben ,johnson ,pardoned4 ,i want to tell you a scene that occurred some time ago4 ,our ,commissioner went to the ,governor of the ,state and asked him if he wouldn't pardon out five men at the end of six months who stood highest on the list for good behavior4 ,the ,governor consented1 and the record was to be kept secret2 the men were not to know anything about it4 ,the six months rolled away and the prisoners were brought up--#a1ajj of them--and the ,president of the commission came up and said3 ,i hold in my hand pardons for five men4 ,i never witnessed anything like it4 ,every man held his breath1 and you could almost hear the throbbing of every man's heart4 ,pardon for five men1 and the ,commissioner went on to tell the men how they had got these pardons--how the ,governor had given them1 but the ,chaplain said the surprise was so great that he told the ,commissioner to read the names first and tell the reason afterward4 ,the first name was called--',reuben ,johnson'--and he held out the pardon1 but not a man moved4 ,he looked all around1 expecting to see a man spring to his feet at once2 but no one moved4 ,the ,commissioner turned to the officer of the prison and inquired3 ,are all the convicts here8 ,yes1 was the reply1 ,reuben ,johnson1 come forward and get your pardon2 you are no longer a criminal4 ,still no one moved4 ,the real ,reuben ,johnson was looking all the time behind him1 and around him to see where ,reuben was4 ,the ,chaplain saw him standing right in front of the ,commissioner1 and beckoned to him2 but he only turned and looked around him1 thinking that the ,chaplain might mean some other ,reuben4 ,a second time he beckoned to ,reuben and called to him1 and a second time the man looked around4 ,at last the ,chaplain said to him3 ,you are the ,reuben4 ,he had been there for nineteen years1 having been placed there for life1 and he could not conceive it would be for him4 ,at last it began to dawn upon him1 and he took the pardon from the ,commissioner's hand1 saw his name attached to it1 and wept like a child4 ,this is the way that men make out pardons for men2 but1 thank ,god1 we have not to come to-night and say we have pardons for only five men--for those who have behaved themselves4 ,we have assurance of pardon for every man4 ,whosoever will1 let him take the water of life freely4 ,,gold4 -- ,all you have got to do is to prove that you are a sinner1 and ,i will prove that you have got a ,saviour4 -- ,do you believe the ,lord will call a poor sinner1 and then cast him out8 ,no6 his word stands forever1 ,him that cometh unto ,me ,i will in no wise cast out4 -- ,if ,god put ,adam out of this earthly ,eden on account of one sin1 do you think ,he will let us into the ,paradise above with our tens of thousands sins upon us4 -- ,the only charge they could bring against ,christ down here was1 that ,he was receiving bad men4 ,they are the very kind of men ,he is willing to receive4 -- ,lord1 you don't really mean that we shall preach the ,gospel to those men that murdered you1 to those men that took your life8 ,yes1 says the ,lord1 go and preach the ,gospel to those ,jerusalem sinners4 ,i can imagine ,him saying3 ,go and hunt up that man that put the cruel crown of thorns upon ,my brow1 and preach the ,gospel to him4 ,tell him he shall have a crown in ,my kingdom without a thorn in it4 ,,grace4 ,moody's ,first ,sermon on ,grace4 ,i remember preaching one night in winter--one of the coldest winters we had--the winter after the ,chicago fire4 ,i had been studying up grace1 and it was the first time ,i had spoken of it1 and ,i was just full of it4 ,i started out of the house1 ,i remember1 and the first man ,i met ,i asked him if he knew anything about the grace of ,god1 and ,i tried to preach to him4 ,this man thought ,i was crazy4 ,i ran on and met another1 and finally got up to the meeting4 ,that night ,i thought ,i was speaking to a lot of people who felt as ,i did about grace1 and when ,i got through ,i asked anyone who would like to hear about grace--who had any interest in it1 to stay4 ,i expected some would have stayed1 but what was my mortification to see the whole audience rise up and go away4 ,they hadn't any interest in grace2 they didn't want to learn anything about grace4 ,i put my coat and hat on and was going out of the hall1 when ,i saw a poor fellow at the back of the furnace crying4 ,i want to hear about the grace of ,god1 said he4 ,you're the man ,i want1 then1 said ,i4 ,yes1 the poor fellow said1 you said in your sermon that it was free1 and ,i want you to tell me something about it4 ,well1 ,i got to talking to him1 and he told me a pitiful story4 ,he had drank away twenty thousand dollars1 his home had been broken up1 and his wife and children had left him4 ,i spoke to him1 and it was not long before we were down together praying4 ,that night ,i got him a night's lodging in the ,bethel1 and next day we got him on his feet1 and when ,i went to ,europe he was one of the most earnest workers we had4 ,he was just a partaker of grace--believed that the peace of ,god was sufficient for him1 and he took ,god at his word and he was a saved man4 ,dr4 ,arnott's ,dog ,rover4 ,i remember when ,dr4 ,arnott1 who has gone to ,god1 was delivering a sermon1 he used this illustration4 ,the sermon and text have all gone1 but that illustration is fresh upon my mind to-night and brings home the truth4 ,he said3 ,you have been sometimes out at dinner with a friend1 and you have seen the faithful household dog standing watching every mouthful his master takes4 ,all the crumbs that fall on the floor he picks up1 and seems eager for them1 but when his master takes a plate of beef and puts it on the floor and says1 ',rover1 here's something for you1' he comes up and smells of it1 looks at his master1 and goes away to a corner of the room4 ,he was willing to eat the crumbs1 but he wouldn't touch the roast beef--thought it was too good for him4 ,that is the way with a good many ,christians4 ,they are willing to eat the crumbs1 but not willing to take all ,god wants4 ,come boldly to the throne of grace and get the help we need2 there is an abundance for every man1 woman and child in the assemblage4 ,young ,moody ,penniless in ,boston is ,warned by his ,sister to ,beware of ,pickpockets4 ,i remember when ,i was a boy and went to ,boston1 ,i went to the postoffice two or three times a day to see if there was a letter for me4 ,i knew there was not1 as there was but one mail a day4 ,i had not had any employment and was very homesick1 and so went constantly to the postoffice1 thinking perhaps when the mail did come in my letter had been mislaid4 ,at last1 however1 ,i got a letter4 ,it was from my youngest sister1 the first letter she ever wrote to me4 ,i opened it with a light heart thinking there was some good news from home1 but the burden of the whole letter was that she had heard there were pickpockets in ,boston1 and warned me to take care of them4 ,i thought ,i had better get some money in hand first1 and then ,i might take care of pickpockets4 ,and so you must take care to remember salvation is a gift4 ,you don't work for salvation2 but work day and night after you have got it4 ,get it first before you do anything1 but don't try to get it yourself4 ,look at what ,paul says in ,ephesians3 ,for by grace are ye saved through faith1 and that not of yourself1 it is the gift of ,god--it is the gift of ,god--,not of works1 lest any man should boast4 ,there is one thing we know3 ,we have all got to get into heaven the same way4 ,we cannot work our way there2 we have to take our salvation from ,god4 ,a ,heavy ,draw on ,alexander the ,great4 ,there is a story told of ,alexander the ,great4 ,a general in his army was a great favorite with him1 and he told him to draw anything from his treasury that he wanted4 ,well1 he presented a bill to the treasurer1 and the treasurer wouldn't honor it4 ,it was for such an enormous amount that the treasurer was astonished4 ,the ,general went rushing to the ,emperor and told him1 and he called the treasurer and said1 ,didn't ,i tell you to honor the draft of the ,general4 ,but1 replied the treasurer1 do you understand its amount8 ,never mind what it is1 replied the ,emperor1 he honors me and my kingdom by making a great draft4 ,and so we honor ,god by asking for grace in abundance4 ,i tell you1 my friends1 it is a pity there are so many half-starved1 mean ,christians around when ,god says1 ,come and get all you want4 ,a ,long ,ladder ,tumbles to the ,ground4 ,i remember hearing of a man who dreamt that he built a ladder from earth to heaven1 and when he did a good deed up went his ladder a few feet4 ,when he did a very good deed his ladder went higher1 and when he gave away large sums of money to the poor up it went further still4 ,by and by it went out of sight1 and years rolled on1 and it went up1 he thought1 past the clouds1 clear into heaven4 ,when he died he thought he would step off his ladder into heaven1 but he heard a voice roll out from paradise1 ,he that climbeth up another way1 the same is a thief and a robber4 and down he came1 ladder and all1 and he awoke4 ,he said if he wanted to get salvation he must get it another way than by good deeds1 and he took the other way4 ,,gold4 -- ,we must not limit the mighty grace of ,god4 -- ,grace means undeserved kindness4 ,it is the gift of ,god to man the moment he sees he is unworthy of ,god's favor4 -- ,a man does not get grace till he comes down to the ground1 till he sees he needs grace4 ,when a man stoops to the dust and acknowledges that he needs mercy1 then it is that the ,lord will give him grace4 -- ,if you are ready to partake of grace you have not to atone for your sins--you have merely to accept of the atonement4 ,all that you want to do is to cry1 ,god have mercy upon me1 and you will receive the blessing4 -- ,the grace of ,god hath power to bring salvation to all men1 and if a man is unsaved it is because he wants to work it out2 he wants to receive salvation in some other way than ,god's way2 but we are told that he that climbeth up another way1 the same is a thief and a robber4 -- ,when we get full of this grace we want to see everyone blessed--we want to see all the churches blessed1 not only all the churches here1 but in the whole country4 ,that was the trouble with ,christ's disciples4 ,he had hard work to make them understand that ,his gospel was for everyone1 that it was a stream to flow out to all nations of the earth4 ,they wanted to confine it to the ,jews1 and ,he had to convince them that it was for every living being4 ,,heaven4 ,moody in a ,california ,sunday ,school4 ,i remember when ,i went to ,california just to try and get a few souls saved on the ,pacific coast1 ,i went into a school there and asked1 ,have you got some one who can write a plain hand8 ,yes4 ,well1 we got up the blackboard1 and the lesson upon it proved to be the very text we have to-night4 ,lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven4 ,and ,i said1 ,suppose we write upon that board some of the earthly treasures8 ,and we will begin with 'gold4' ,the teacher readily put down gold1 and they all comprehended it1 for all had run to that country in the hope of finding it4 ,well1 we will put down 'houses' next1 and then 'land4' ,next we will put down 'fast horses4' ,they all understood what fast horses were--they knew a good deal more about fast horses than they knew about the kingdom of ,god4 ,some of them1 ,i think1 actually made fast horses serve as ,gods4 ,next we will put down 'tobacco4' ,the teacher seemed to shrink at this4 ,put it down1 said ,i1 many a man thinks more of tobacco than he does of ,god4 ,well1 then1 we will put down 'rum4' ,he objected to this--didn't like to put it down at all4 ,down with it4 ,many a man will sell his reputation1 will sell his home1 his wife1 his children1 everything he has1 for rum4 ,it is the ,god of some men4 ,many here in ,chicago will sell their present and then eternal welfare for it4 ,put it down1 and down it went4 ,now1 said ,i1 suppose we put down some of the heavenly treasures4 ,put down ',jesus' to head the list1 then 'heaven1' then ',river of ,life1' then ',crown of ,glory1' and went on till the column was filled1 and then just drew a line and showed the heavenly and the earthly things in contrast4 ,my friends1 they could not stand comparison4 ,if a man just does that1 he cannot but see the superiority of the heavenly over the earthly treasures4 ,well1 it turned out that the teacher was not a ,christian4 ,he had gone to ,california on the usual hunt--gold2 and when he saw the two columns placed side by side1 the excellence of the one over the other was irresistible1 and he was the first soul ,god gave me on that ,pacific coast4 ,he accepted ,christ1 and that man came to the station when ,i was coming away and blessed me for coming to that place4 ,mothers are ,looking ,down from ,heaven4 ,i remember in the ,exposition building in ,dublin1 while ,i was speaking about ,heaven1 ,i said something to the effect that at this moment a mother is looking down from ,heaven expecting the salvation of her daughter here to-night1 and ,i pointed down to a young lady in the audience4 ,next morning ,i received this letter3 ,on ,wednesday1 when you were speaking of heaven1 you said1 ',it may be this moment there is a mother looking down from heaven expecting the salvation of her child who is here4' ,you were apparently looking at the very spot where my child was sitting4 ,my heart said1 ',that is my child4 ,that is her mother4' ,tears sprang to my eyes4 ,i bowed my head and prayed1 ',lord1 direct that word to my darling child's heart2 ,lord save my child4' ,i was then anxious till the close of the meeting1 when ,i went to her4 ,she was bathed in tears4 ,she rose1 put her arms around me1 and kissed me4 ,when walking down to you she told me it was that same remark--about the mother looking down from heaven--that found the way home to her1 and asked me1 ',papa1 what can ,i do for ,jesus8' ,illustration3 ,the ,destruction ,of ,sennacherib's ,host4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,,ii ,kings xix4 ,the ,rich ,man ,poor4 ,i heard of a farmer who1 when a friend of mine called upon him to give something for the ,christian ,commission1 promptly drew a check for ten thousand dollars4 ,he wanted the agent to have dinner with him1 and after they had dined the farmer took the man out on the verandah and pointed to the rich lands sweeping far away1 laden with rich products4 ,look over these lands1 said the farmer1 ,they are all mine4 ,he took him to the pasture and showed the agent the choice stock1 the fine horses he had1 and then pointed to a little town1 and then to a large hall where he lived2 he drew himself up1 and his face lit up with pride as he said1 ,they are all mine4 ,i came here when a poor boy and ,i have earned all that you see4 ,when he got through1 my friend asked 'him1 ,well1 what have you got up yonder8 ,where8 replied the farmer1 who evidently knew where my friend meant4 ,what have you got in heaven8 ,well1 said the farmer1 ,i haven't anything there4 ,what6 replied my friend1 ,you1 a man of your discretion1 wisdom1 business ability1 have made no provision for your future8 ,he hadn't1 and in a few weeks he died--a rich man here and a beggar in eternity4 ,a man may be wise in the eyes of the world to pursue this course1 but he is a fool in the sight of ,god4 ,wealth to most men proves nothing more or less than a great rock upon which their eternity is wrecked4 ,the ,dying ,boy4 ,but ,i have another anecdote to tell4 ,it was ,ralph ,wallace who told me of this one4 ,a certain gentleman was a member of the ,presbyterian ,church4 ,his little boy was sick4 ,when he went home his wife was weeping1 and she said1 ,our boy is dying2 he has had a change for the worse4 ,i wish you would go in and see him4 ,the father went into the room and placed his hand upon the brow of his dying boy1 and could feel that the cold1 damp sweat was gathering there2 that the cold1 icy hand of death was feeling for the chords of life4 ,do you know1 my boy1 that you are dying8 asked the father4 ,am ,i8 ,is this death8 ,do you really think ,i am dying8 ,yes1 my son1 your end on earth is near4 ,and will ,i be with ,jesus to-night1 father8 ,yes1 you will be with the ,saviour4 ,father1 don't you weep1 for when ,i get there ,i will go right straight to ,jesus and tell ,him that you have been trying all my life to lead me to ,him4 ,god has given me two little children1 and ever since ,i can remember ,i have directed them to ,christ1 and ,i would rather they carried this message to ,jesus--that ,i had tried all my life to lead them to ,him--than have all the crowns of the earth2 and ,i would rather lead them to ,jesus than give them the wealth of the world4 ,if you have got a child go and point the way4 ,i challenge any man to speak of heaven without speaking of children4 ,for of such is the kingdom of heaven4 ,a ,sad and ,singular ,story4 ,when ,i was a young boy--before ,i was a ,christian--,i was in a field one day with a man who was hoeing4 ,he was weeping1 and he told me a strange story1 which ,i have never forgotten4 ,when he left home his mother gave him this text3 ,seek first the kingdom of ,god4 ,but he paid no heed to it4 ,he said when he got settled in life1 and his ambition to get money was gratified1 it would be time enough then to seek the kingdom of ,god4 ,he went from one village to another and got nothing to do4 ,when ,sunday came he went into a village church1 and what was his great surprise to hear the minister give out the text1 ,seek first the kingdom of ,god4 ,he said the text went down to the bottom of his heart4 ,he thought that it was but his mother's prayer following him1 and that some one must have written to that minister about him4 ,he felt very uncomfortable1 and when the meeting was over he could not get that sermon out of his mind4 ,he went away from that town1 and at the end of a week went into another church and he heard the minister give out the same text1 ,seek first the kingdom of ,god4 ,he felt sure this time that it was the prayers of his mother1 but he said calmly and deliberately1 ,no1 ,i will first get wealthy4 ,he said he went on and did not go into a church for a few months1 but the first place of worship he went into he heard a third minister preaching a sermon from the same text4 ,he tried to drown--to stifle his feelings2 tried to get the sermon out of his mind1 and resolved that he would keep away from church altogether1 and for a few years did keep out of ,god's house4 ,my mother died1 he said1 and the text kept coming up in my mind1 and ,i said ,i will try and become a ,christian4 ,the tears rolled down his checks as he said1 ,i could not2 no sermon ever touches me2 my heart is as hard as that stone1 pointing to one in the field4 ,i couldn't understand what it was all about--it was fresh to me then4 ,i went to ,boston and got converted1 and the first thought that came to me was about this man4 ,when ,i got back ,i asked my mother1 ,is ,mr4 ,l-- living in such a place8 ,didn't ,i write to you about him8 she asked4 ,they have taken him to an insane asylum1 and to everyone who goes there he points with his finger up there and tells him to seek first the ,kingdom of ,god4 ,there was that man with his eyes dull with the loss of reason1 but the text had sunk into his soul--it had burned down deep4 ,oh1 may the ,spirit of ,god burn the text into your hearts to-night4 ,when ,i got home again my mother told me he was in her house1 and ,i went to see him4 ,i found him in a rocking chair1 with that vacant1 idiotic look upon him4 ,whenever he saw me he pointed at me and said3 ,young man1 seek first the kingdom of ,god4 ,reason was gone1 but the text was there4 ,last month when ,i was laying my brother down in his grave ,i could not help thinking of that poor man who was lying so near him1 and wishing that the prayer of his mother had been heard1 and that he had found the kingdom of ,god4 ,the ,eleventh ,commandment4 ,there are a great many people who forget that there are eleven commandments4 ,they think there are only ten4 ,the eleventh commandment is3 ,lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven4 ,how many of us remember--ah6 how many people in ,chicago forget the words of the ,lord now in his wonderful sermon on the mount3 ,lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth1 where moth and rust doth corrupt1 and where thieves break through and steal2 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven1 where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt1 and where thieves do not break through and steal4 ,how few of our people pay any heed to these words4 ,that's why there are so many broken hearts among us2 that's why so many men and women are disappointed and going through the streets with shattered hopes2 it's because they have not been laying up treasures in heaven4 ,it's ,better ,higher ,up4 ,not long ago there lived an old bed-ridden saint1 and a ,christian lady who visited her found her always very cheerful4 ,this visitor had a lady friend of wealth who constantly looked on the dark side of things1 and was always cast down although she was a professed ,christian4 ,she thought it would do this lady good to see the bed-ridden saint1 so she took her down to the house4 ,she lived up in the garret1 five stories up1 and when they had got to the first story the lady drew up her dress and said1 ,how dark and filthy it is6 ,it's better higher up1 said her friend4 ,they got to the next story1 and it was no better2 the lady complained again1 but her friend replied1 ,it's better higher up1 ,at the third floor it seemed still worse1 and the lady kept complaining1 but her friend kept saying1 ,it's better higher up4 ,at last they got to the fifth story1 and when they went into the sick-room1 there was a nice carpet on the floor1 there were flowering plants in the window1 and little birds singing4 ,and there they found this bedridden saint--one of those saints whom ,god is polishing for his own temple--just beaming with joy4 ,the lady said to her1 ,it must be very hard for you to lie here4 ,she smiled1 and said1 ,it's better higher up4 ,yes6 ,and if things go against us1 my friends1 let us remember that it's better higher up4 ,calling the ,roll of ,heaven4 ,a soldier1 wounded during our last war1 lay dying in his cot4 ,suddenly the deathlike stillness of the room was broken by the cry1 ,here6 ,here6 which burst from the lips of the dying man4 ,friends rushed to the spot and asked what he wanted4 ,hark1 he said1 they are calling the roll of heaven1 and ,i am answering to my name4 ,in a few moments once more he whispered1 ,here6 and passed into the presence or the ,king4 ,,gold4 -- ,the way to heaven is straight as an arrow4 -- ,heaven is just as much a place as ,chicago4 ,it is a destination4 ,illustration3 ,joseph ,makes ,himself ,known to ,his ,brethern4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,genesis1 xiv4 ,,infidelity ,the ,young ,french ,nobleman and the ,doctor4 ,in ,london1 when ,i was there in #ahfg1 ,i was told a story which made a very deep impression upon me4 ,a young ,french nobleman came there to see a doctor1 bringing letters from the ,french ,emperor4 ,the ,emperor ,napoleon ,,iii4 had a great regard for this young man1 and the doctor wanted to save him4 ,he examined the young man1 and saw there was something on his mind4 ,have you lost any property8 ,what is troubling you8 ,you have something weighing upon your mind1 said the doctor4 ,oh1 there is nothing particular4 ,i know better2 have you lost any relations8 asked the doctor4 ,no1 none within the last three years4 ,have you lost any reputation in your country8 ,no4 ,the doctor studied for a few minutes1 and then said1 ,i must know what is on your mind2 ,i must know what is troubling you4 ,and the young man said1 ,my father was an infidel2 my grandfather was an infidel1 and ,i was brought up an infidel1 and for the last three years these words have haunted me1 ',eternity1 and where shall it find me8' ,ah1 said the doctor1 you have come to the wrong physician4 ,is there no hope for me8 cried the young man4 ,i walk about in the day time2 ,i lie down at night1 and it comes upon me continually3 ',eternity1 and where shall ,i spend it8' ,tell me1 is there any hope for me8 ,the doctor said3 ,now just sit down and be quiet4 ,a few years ago ,i was an infidel4 ,i did not believe in ,god1 and was in the same condition in which you are in4 ,the doctor took down his ,bible and turned to the fifty-third chapter of ,isaiah and read3 ,he was wounded for our transgressions2 ,he was bruised for our iniquities2 the chastisement of our peace was upon ,him1 and with ,his stripes we are healed4 ,and he read on through this chapter4 ,when he had finished1 the young man said3 ,do you believe this1 that ,he voluntarily left heaven1 came down to this earth1 and suffered and died that we might be saved8 ,yes1 ,i believe it4 ,that brought me out of infidelity1 out of darkness into light4 ,and he preached ,christ and ,his salvation and told him of heaven and then suggested that they get down on their knees and pray4 ,and when ,i went there in #ahfg a letter had been received from that young nobleman1 who wrote to ,dr4 ,whinston in ,london1 telling him that the question of eternity1 and where he should spend it was settled1 and troubled him no more4 ,my friends1 the question of eternity1 and where we are going to spend it1 forces itself upon everyone of us4 ,we are staying here for a little day4 ,our life is but a fibre and it will soon be snapped4 ,i may be preaching my last sermon4 ,to-night may find me in eternity4 ,by the grace of ,god say that you will spend it in heaven4 ,sambo and the ,infidel ,judge4 ,once there was a ,judge who had a colored man4 ,the colored man was very godly1 and the ,judge used to have him to drive him around in his circuit4 ,the ,judge used often to talk with him1 and the colored man would tell the ,judge about his religious experience1 and about his battles and conflicts4 ,one day the ,judge said to him1 ,sambo1 how is it that you ,christians are always talking about the conflicts you have with ,satan4 ,i am better off than you are4 ,i don't have any conflicts or trouble1 and yet ,i am an infidel and you are a ,christian--always in a muss-how's that1 ,sambo8 ,this floored the colored man for a while4 ,he didn't know how to meet the old infidel's argument4 ,so he shook his head sorrowfully and said3 ,i dunno4 ,massa1 ,i dunno4 ,the ,judge always carried a gun along with him for hunting4 ,pretty soon they came to a lot of ducks4 ,the ,judge took his gun and blazed away at them1 and wounded one and killed another4 ,the ,judge said quickly1 ,you jump in1 ,sambo1 and get that wounded duck before he gets off1 and did not pay any attention to the dead one4 ,in went ,sambo for the wounded duck and came out reflecting4 ,the colored man then thought he had an illustration4 ,he said to the ,judge3 ,i hab 'im now1 ,massa1 ,i'se able to show you how de ,christian hab greater conflict den de infidel4 ,don't you know de moment you wounded dat ar duck1 how anxious you was to get 'im out1 and you didn't care for de dead duck1 but just lef 'im alone6 ,yes1 said the ,judge4 ,well1 said ,sambo1 ye see as how dat ar dead duck's a sure thing4 ,i'se wounded1 and ,i tries to get away from de debbil4 ,it takes trouble to catch me4 ,but1 massa1 you are a dead duck--dar is no squabble for you4 ,the debbil have you sure6 ,so the devil has no conflict with the infidel4 ,an ,infidel who would not ,talk ,infidelity before his ,daughter4 ,not long ago ,i went into a man's house1 and when ,i commenced to talk about religion he turned to his daughter and said3 ,you had better go out of the room2 ,i want to say a few words to ,mr4 ,moody4 ,when she had gone he opened a perfect torrent of infidelity upon me4 ,why1 said ,i1 did you send your daughter out of the room before you said this8 ,well1 he replied1 did not think it would do her any good to hear what ,i said4 ,my friends1 his rock is not as our rock ,why did he send his daughter out of the room if he believed what he said8 ,when these infidels are in trouble why do not they get some of their infidel friends to administer consolation8 ,when they make a will why do they call in some follower of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ to carry it out8 ,why1 it is because they cannot trust their infidel friends4 ,a ,dying ,infidel's ,confession4 ,i want to read to you a letter which ,i received some time ago4 ,i read this to you because ,i am getting letters from infidels who say that not an infidel has repented during our meetings4 ,only about ten days ago ,i got a letter from an infidel1 who accused me of being a liar4 ,he said there had not been an infidel converted during our meetings4 ,my friends1 go up to the young converts' meeting any ,monday night1 and you will see there ten or twelve every night who have accepted ,christ4 ,why1 nearly every night we meet with a poor infidel who accepts ,christ1 ,but let me read this letter4 ,we get many letters every day for prayer1 and1 my friends1 you don't know the stories that lie behind those letters4 ,the letter ,i am about to read was not received here1 but while we were in ,philadelphia4 ,when ,i received it ,i put it away1 intending to use it at a future day3 ,,dear ,,sir3 ,allow me the privilege of addressing you with a few words4 ,the cause of writing is indeed a serious one4 ,i am the son of an aristocratic family of ,germany--was expensively educated1 and at college at ,leipsic was ruined by drinking1 etc42 was expelled for gambling and dishonesty4 ,my parents were greatly grieved at my conduct1 and ,i did not dare return home1 but sailed for ,america4 ,i went to ,st4 ,louis and remained there for want of money to get away4 ,i finally obtained a situation as bookkeeper in a dry goods house2 heard from home and the death of my parents4 ,this made me more sinful than ever before4 ,i heard one of your sermons1 which made a deep impression on me4 ,i was taken sick1 and the words of your text came to me and troubled me4 ,i have tried to find peace of ,god1 but have not succeeded4 ,my friends1 by reasoning with me that there was no ,god1 endeavored to comfort me4 ,the thought of my sinfulness and approaching the grave1 my blasphemy1 my bad example1 caused me to mourn and weep4 ,i think ,god is too just to forgive me my sins4 ,my life is drawing to a close4 ,i have not yet received ,god's favor4 ,will you not remember me in your prayers1 and beseech ,god to save my soul from eternal destruction8 ,excuse me for writing this1 but it will be the last ,i shall write this side of the grave4 ,infidel ,books4 ,if you stop to ask yourself why you don't believe in ,christ1 is there really any reason8 ,people read infidel books and wonder1 why they are unbelievers1 ,i ask why they read such books4 ,they think they must read both sides4 ,i say that book is a lie1 how can it be one side when it is a lie8 ,it is not one side at all4 ,suppose a man tells right down lies about my family1 and ,i read them so as to hear both sides2 it would not be long before some suspicion would creep into my mind4 ,i said to a man once1 ,have you got a wife8 ,yes1 and a good one4 ,i asked3 ,now what if ,i should come to you and cast out insinuations against her8 ,and he said1 ,well your life would not be safe long if you did4 ,i told him just to treat the devil as he would treat a man who went around with such stories4 ,we are not to blame for having doubts flitting through our minds1 but for harboring them4 ,let us go out trusting the ,lord with heart and soul to-day4 ,how a ,little ,study ,upset the ,plans of a few ,prominent ,infidels4 ,it is said of ,west1 an eminent man1 that he was going to take up the doctrine of the resurrection1 and just show the world what a fraud it was1 while ,lord ,lyttleton was going to take up the conversion of ,saul1 and just show the folly of it4 ,these men were going to annihilate that doctrine and that incident of the gospel4 ,a ,frenchman said it took twelve fishermen to build up ,christ's religion1 but one ,frenchman pulled it down4 ,from ,calvary this doctrine rolled along the stream of time1 through the eighteen hundred years1 down to us1 and ,west got at it and began to look at the evidence2 but instead of his being able to cope with it he found it perfectly overwhelming--the proof that ,christ had risen1 that ,he had come out of the sepulcher and ascended to heaven and led captivity captive4 ,the light dawned upon him1 and he became an expounder of the word of ,god and a champion of ,christianity2 ,and ,lord ,lyttleton1 that infidel and skeptic hadn't been long at the conversion of ,saul before the ,god of ,saul broke upon his sight1 and he too1 began to preach4 ,,gold4 -- ,what reason have ,i for doubting ,god's own word8 -- ,i just as much believe that ,god sent ,christ into the world to be the ,saviour of the world1 as ,i believe that ,i exist4 ,,intemperance4 ,cast ,out ,but ,rescued4 ,i met a man in ,new ,york who was an earnest worker1 and ,i asked him to tell me his experience4 ,he said he had been a drunkard for over twenty years4 ,his parents had forsaken him1 and his wife had cast him off and married some one else4 ,he went into a lawyer's office in ,poughkeepsie1 mad with drink4 ,this lawyer proved a good ,samaritan1 and reasoned with him1 and told him he could be saved4 ,the man scouted the idea4 ,he said3 ,i must be pretty low when my father and mother1 my wife and kindred1 have cast me off1 and there is no hope for me here or hereafter4 ,but this good ,samaritan showed him how it was possible to secure salvation1 got him on his feet1 got him on his beast1 like the good ,samaritan of old1 and guided his face toward ,zion4 ,and this man said to me3 ,i have not drank a glass of liquor since4 ,he is now leader of a young men's meeting in ,new ,york4 ,i asked him to come last ,saturday night to ,northfield1 my native town1 where there are a good many drunkards1 thinking he might encourage them to seek salvation4 ,he came and brought a young man with him4 ,they held a meeting1 and it seemed as if the power of ,god rested upon that meeting when these two men went on telling what ,god had done for them--how ,he had destroyed the works of the devil in their hearts1 and brought peace and unalloyed happiness to their souls4 ,these grog shops here are the works of the devil--they are ruining men's souls every hour4 ,let us fight against them1 and let our prayers go up in our battles4 ,it may seem a very difficult thing for us1 but it is a very easy thing for ,god to convert rumsellers4 ,the ,way of the ,transgressor is ,hard4 ,there was a man whom ,i knew who was an inveterate drinker4 ,he had a wife and children4 ,he thought he could stop whenever he felt inclined1 but he went the ways of most moderate drinkers4 ,i had not been gone more than three years1 and when ,i returned ,i found that that mother had gone down to her grave with a broken heart1 and that man was the murderer of the wife of his bosom4 ,those children have all been taken away from him1 and he is now walking up and down those streets homeless4 ,but four years ago he had a beautiful and a happy home with his wife and children around him4 ,they are gone2 probably he will never see them again4 ,perhaps he has come in here to-night4 ,if he has1 ,i ask him3 ,is not the way of the transgressor hard8 ,a ,rum-,seller's ,son ,blows his ,brains ,out4 ,look at that rum-seller4 ,when we talk to him he laughs at us4 ,he tells you there is no hell1 no future--there is no retribution4 ,i've got one man in my mind now who ruined nearly all the sons in his neighborhood4 ,mothers and fathers went to him and begged him not to sell their children liquor4 ,he told them it was his business to sell liquor1 and he was going to sell liquor to everyone who came4 ,the saloon was a blot upon the place as dark as hell4 ,but the man had a father's heart4 ,he had a son4 ,he didn't worship ,god1 but he worshiped that boy4 ,he didn't remember that whatsoever a man soweth so shall he reap4 ,my friends1 they generally reap what they sow4 ,it may not come soon1 but the retribution will come4 ,if you ruin other men's sons some other man will ruin yours4 ,bear in mind ,god is a ,god of equity2 ,god is a ,god of justice4 ,he is not going to allow you to ruin men and then escape yourself4 ,if we go against his laws we suffer4 ,time rolled on and that young man became a slave to drink1 and his life became such a burden to him that he put a revolver to his head and blew his brains out4 ,the father lived a few years1 but his life was as bitter as gall1 and then went down to his grave in sorrow4 ,ah1 my friends1 it is hard to kick against the pricks4 ,a ,distiller ,interrogates ,moody4 ,in ,europe in a place where there was a good deal of whisky distilled1 one of the men in the business was a church member1 and got a little anxious in his conscience about his business4 ,he came and asked me if ,i thought that a man could not be an honest distiller4 ,i said1 ,you should do whatever you do for the glory of ,god4 ,if you can get down and pray about a barrel of whisky1 and say1 for instance1 when you sell it1 ,o ,lord ,god1 let this whisky be blessed to the world1 it is probably honest4 ,the ,most ,hopeless ,man in ,new ,york now a ,sunday-,school ,superintendent4 ,a young man in one of our meetings in ,new ,york got up and thrilled the audience with his experience4 ,i want to tell you1 he said1 that nine months ago a ,christian came to my house and said he wanted me to become a ,christian4 ,he talked to me kindly and encouragingly1 pointing out the error of my ways1 and ,i become converted4 ,i had been a hard drinker1 but since that time ,i have not touched a drop of liquor4 ,if anyone had asked who the most hopeless man in town was they would have pointed to me4 ,to-day this man is the superintendent of a ,sabbath-school4 ,eleven years ago1 when ,i went to ,boston1 ,i had a cousin who wanted a little of my experience4 ,i gave him all the help ,i could1 and he became a ,christian4 ,he did not know how near death was to him3 ,he wrote to his brother and said3 ,i am very anxious to get your soul to ,jesus4 ,the letter somehow went to another city1 and lay from the #bhth of ,february till the #bhth of ,march--just one month4 ,he saw it was in his brother's handwriting1 and tore it open and read the above words4 ,it struck a chord in his heart1 and was the means of converting him4 ,and this was the ,christian who led this drunken man to ,christ4 ,this young man had a neighbor who had drank for forty years1 and he went to that neighbor and told him what ,god had done for him1 and the result was another conversion4 ,i tell you these things to encourage you to believe that the drunkard can be saved4 ,a ,remarkable ,case4 ,i may relate a little experience4 ,in ,philadelphia1 at one of our meetings1 a drunken man rose up4 ,till that time ,i had no faith that a drunken man could be converted4 ,when any one approached he was generally taken out4 ,this man got up and shouted1 ,i want to be prayed for4 ,the friends who were with him tried to draw him away1 but he shouted only louder1 and for three times he repeated the request4 ,his call was attended to and he was converted4 ,god has power to convert a man even if he is drunk4 ,o ,edward4 ,i remember going into a young converts' meeting in ,philadelphia1 where ,i heard a story that thrilled my soul4 ,a young man said he had been a great drunkard4 ,he had lost one situation after another2 till finally he came to the very dregs4 ,he left ,philadelphia1 and went first to ,washington1 and then to ,baltimore4 ,one night he came back to ,philadelphia4 ,he had lost his key and could not get into his home4 ,he was afraid to go into the house while the people were stirring1 so he staid outside watching till all had retired4 ,he knew that after that there would be at least one who would hear him and come to the door4 ,he went to the door2 he knocked2 when he heard the footsteps of his mother4 ,o ,edward1 said she1 ,i am so glad to see you4 ,she did not reprove him2 did not rebuke him4 ,he went up stairs and did not come down for two days4 ,when he came to1 the servants were walking about the house very softly--everything was quiet4 ,they told him that his mother was at the point of death4 ,his brother was a physician1 and he went to him and asked him if it was so4 ,yes1 ,ned1 said he1 mother can't live4 ,he immediately went up stairs1 and asked his mother's forgiveness1 and prayed to his mother's ,god to have mercy upon him4 ,and ,god1 said he1 my mother's ,god1 heard my prayers1 and the tears trickled down his face and he said3 ,god has kept me straight these four years in the face of all trials4 ,o sinner1 ask for ,his grace and might2 do not turn ,him away4 ,moody ,asks a ,few ,questions4 ,let me ask you a question4 ,do you think that those gamblers1 thieves1 harlots1 and drunkards who are trampling the ten commandments under their feet1 they who have never given any respect to ,god's ,word or to ,his instructions--do you think they will be swept into the kingdom of heaven1 against their will8 ,do you think those antedeluvians who were so sinful that ,god could not let them live on the earth would be swept into ,paradise and ,noah left to wade through the deluge8 ,do you think that these people1 too corrupt for earth1 would go there8 ,as ,i have said before1 an unregenerated man in heaven would make a hell of it4 ,an unregenerated man couldn't stay there4 ,why1 some of you cannot wait an hour here to listen to the ,word of ,god4 ,before the hour expires you want to go out4 ,some of you just wish it was over so that you could go and get a drink in some of those saloons4 ,i tell you1 from the very depths of my heart1 ,i believe heaven would be a hell to an unregenerated man4 ,i don't want to be here1 he would say4 ,my friends1 heaven is a prepared place for prepared people1 and no one will ever see the kingdom of ,god without being born of ,god4 ,the ,drunken ,father and his ,praying ,child4 ,i remember when out in ,kansas1 while holding a meeting1 ,i saw a little boy who came up to the window crying4 ,i went to him and said3 ,my little boy1 what is your trouble8 ,why1 ,mr4 ,moody1 my mother's dead1 and my father drinks1 and they don't love me1 and the ,lord won't have anything to do with me because ,i am a poor drunkard's boy4 ,you have got a wrong idea1 my boy1 ,jesus will love you and save you and your father too1 and ,i told him a story of a little boy in an ,eastern city4 ,the boy said his father would never allow the canting hypocrites of ,christians to come into his house1 and would never allow his child to go to ,sunday-school4 ,a kind-hearted man got his little boy and brought him to ,christ4 ,when ,christ gets into a man's heart he cannot help but pray4 ,this father had been drinking one day and coming home he heard that boy praying4 ,he went to him and said3 ,i don't want you to pray any more4 ,you've been along with some of those ,christians4 ,if ,i catch you praying again ,i'll flog you4 ,but the boy was filled with ,god and he couldn't help praying4 ,the door of communication was opened between him and ,christ1 and his father caught him praying again4 ,he went to him4 ,didn't ,i tell you never to pray again8 ,if ,i catch you at it once more you leave my house4 ,he thought he would stop him4 ,one day the old tempter came upon the boy1 and he did something wrong and got flogged4 ,when he got over his mad fit he forgot the threats of his father and went to pray4 ,his father had been drinking more than usual1 and coming in found the boy offering a prayer4 ,he caught the boy with a push and said1 ,didn't ,i tell you never to pray again8 ,leave this house4 ,get your things packed up and go4 ,the little fellow hadn't many things to get together--a drunkard's boy never has1 and went up to his mothers room4 ,good-by1 mother4 ,where are you going8 ,i don't know where ,i'll go1 but father says ,i cannot stay here any longer2 ,i've been praying again1 he said4 ,the mother knew it wouldn't do to try to keep the boy when her husband had ordered him away1 so she drew him to her bosom and kissed him1 and bid him good-by4 ,he went to his brothers and sisters and kissed them good-by4 ,when he came to the door his father was there and the little fellow reached out his hand--,good-by1 father2 as long as ,i live ,i will pray for you1 and left the house4 ,he hadn't been gone many minutes when the father rushed after him4 ,my boy1 if that is religion1 if it can drive you away from father and mother and home2 ,i want it4 ,yes1 may be some little boy here to-night has got a drinking father and mother4 ,lift your voice to heaven1 and the news will be carried up to heaven1 ,he prays4 ,,gold4 -- ,the drunkard1 the open blasphemer1 the worst sinners1 are precisely the ones that need ,jesus most4 ,the well don't need ,him at all4 -- ,there is many a gem in these billiard halls that only needs the way pointed out to fill their souls with the love of ,christ4 ,,liberty4 ,old ,samba and ,massa4 ,a friend of mine said he was down in ,natchez before the war1 and he and a friend of his went out riding one ,saturday--they were teaching school through the week--and they drove out back from ,natchez4 ,it was a beautiful day1 and they saw an old slave coming up1 and they thought they would have a little fun4 ,they had just come to a place where there was a fork in the road1 and there was a sign-post which read1 #dj miles to ,liberty4 ,one of the young men said to the old darkey driver1 ,samba1 how old are you8 ,i don't know1 massa4 ,i guess ,i'se about eighty4 ,can you read8 ,no1 sah2 we don't read in dis country4 ,it's agin the law4 ,can you tell what is on that sign-post8 ,yes1 sah2 it says #dj miles to ,liberty4 ,well1 now1 said my friend1 why don't you follow that road and get your liberty4 ,it says there1 'only #dj miles to ,liberty4' ,now1 why don't you take that road and go there8 ,the old man's countenance changed1 and he said1 ,oh1 young massa1 that is all a sham4 ,if the post pointed out the road to the liberty that ,god gives1 we might try it4 ,there could be no sham in that4 ,my friend said he had never heard anything more eloquent from the lips of a preacher4 ,god wants all his sons to have liberty4 ,liberty ,now and ,forever4 ,when ,miss ,smiley went down ,south to teach1 she went to a hotel and found everything covered with dirt4 ,the tables were dirty1 dishes dirty1 beds were dirty4 ,so she called an old colored woman who was in the house1 and said1 ,now you know that the ,northern people set you at liberty4 ,i came from the ,north and ,i don't like dirt1 so ,i want you to clean the house4 ,the old colored woman set to work1 and it seemed as if she did more work in that half day than she had done in a month before4 ,when the lady got back the colored woman came to her and said1 ,now1 is ,i free or ben't ,i not8 ,when ,i go to my old massa he says ,i ain't free1 and when ,i go to my own people they say ,i is1 and ,i don't know whether ,i'm free or not4 ,some people told me ,abraham ,lincoln signed a proclamation1 but massa says he didn't2 he hadn't any right to4 ,so ,christian people go along1 not knowing whether they are free or not4 ,why1 when they have the ,spirit they are as free as air4 ,christ came for that4 ,he didn't come to set us free and then leave us in servitude4 ,he came to give us liberty now and forever4 ,out of ,libby ,prison4 ,there was a story told me while ,i was in ,philadelphia1 by ,capt4 ,trumbull4 ,he said when he was in ,libby prison the news came that his wife was in ,washington1 and his little child was dying3 and the next news that came was that his child was dead1 and the mother remained in ,washington in hopes that her husband could come with her and take that child off to ,new ,england and bury it2 but that was the last he heard4 ,one day the news came into the prison that there was a boat up from ,city ,point1 and there were over nine hundred men in the prison rejoicing at once4 ,they expected to get good news4 ,then came the news that there was only one man in that whole number that was to be let go1 and they all began to say1 ,who is it8 ,it was some one who had some influential friend at ,washington that had persuaded the government to take an interest in him and get him out4 ,the whole prison was excited4 ,at last an officer came and shouted at the top of his voice1 ,henry ,clay ,trumbull6 ,the chaplain told me his name never sounded so sweet to him as it did that day4 ,that was election1 but you can't find any ,henry ,clay ,trumbull in the ,bible4 ,there is no special case in the ,bible4 ,god's proclamations are to all sinners4 ,everybody can get out of prison that wants to4 ,the trouble is1 they don't want to go4 ,they had rather be captives to some darling sin4 ,an ,emperor ,sets ,forty ,million ,slaves ,free4 ,once the ,emperor of ,russia had a plan by which he was to liberate the serfs of that country4 ,there were forty millions of them4 ,of some of them1 their whole time was sold1 of others1 only a part4 ,the ,emperor called around him his council1 and wanted to have them devise some way to set the slaves at liberty4 ,after they had conferred about it for six months1 one night the council sent in their decision1 sealed1 that they thought it was not expedient4 ,the ,emperor went down to the ,greek ,church that night and partook of the ,lord's ,supper1 and he set his house in order1 and the next morning you could hear the tramp of soldiers in the streets of ,st4 ,petersburgh4 ,the ,emperor summoned his guard1 and before noon sixty-five thousand men were surrounding that palace4 ,just at midnight there came out a proclamation that every slave in ,russia was forever set free4 ,the proclamation had gone forth1 and all the slaves of the realm believed it4 ,they have been free ever since4 ,suppose they had not believed it8 ,they never then would have got the benefit of it4 ,if one man can liberate forty millions1 has not ,god got the power to liberate every captive8 ,moody on ,duty--,how ,he ,loves ,his ,mother4 ,i have an old mother away down in the ,connecticut mountains1 and ,i have been in the habit of going to see her every year for twenty years4 ,suppose ,i go there and say1 ,mother1 you were very kind to me when ,i was young--you were very good to me2 when father died you worked hard for us all to keep us together1 and so ,i have come to see you because it is my duty4 ,i went then only because it was my duty4 ,then she would say to me1 ,well1 my son1 if you only come to see me because it is your duty1 you need not come again4 ,and that is the way with a great many of the servants of ,god4 ,they work for ,him because it is their duty--not for love4 ,let us abolish this word duty1 and feel that it is only a privilege to work for ,god1 and let us try to remember that what is done merely from a sense of duty is not acceptable to ,god4 ,moody with ,gen4 ,grant's ,army in ,richmond4 ,it was my privilege to go to ,richmond with ,gen4 ,grant's army4 ,now just let us picture a scene4 ,there are a thousand poor captives1 and they are lawful captives1 prisoners in ,libby ,prison4 ,talk to some of them that have been there for months and hear them tell their story4 ,i have wept for hours to hear them tell how they suffered1 how they could not hear from their homes and their loved ones for long intervals1 and how sometimes they would get messages that their loved ones were dying and they could not get home to be with them in their dying hours4 ,let us1 for illustration1 picture a scene4 ,one beautiful day in the ,spring they are there in the prison4 ,all news has been kept from them4 ,they have not heard what has been going on around ,richmond1 and ,i can imagine one says one day1 ,ah1 boys1 listen6 ,i hear a band of music1 and it sounds as if they were playing the old battle cry of the ,republic4 ,it sounds as if they were playing ,the star spangled banner6 long may it wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave6 ,and the hearts of the poor fellows begin to leap for joy4 ,i believe ,richmond is taken4 ,i believe they are coming to deliver us1 and every man in that prison1 is full of joy1 and by and by the sound comes nearer and they see it is so4 ,it is the ,union army6 ,next the doors of the prison are unlocked2 they fly wide open1 and those thousand men are set free4 ,wasn't that good news to them8 ,could there have been any better news8 ,they are out of prison1 out of bondage1 delivered4 ,christ came to proclaim liberty to the captive4 ,condemned to be ,shot4 ,there was a man came from ,europe to this country a year or two ago1 and he became dissatisfied and went to ,cuba in #ahfg when they had that great civil war there4 ,finally he was arrested for a spy1 court-martialed1 and condemned to be shot4 ,he sent for the ,american ,consul and the ,english ,consul1 and went on to prove to them that he was no spy4 ,these two men were thoroughly convinced that the man was no spy1 and they went to one of the ,spanish officers and said1 ,this man you have condemned to be shot is an innocent man4 ,well1 the ,spanish officer says1 the man has been legally tried by our laws and condemned1 and the law must take its course and the man must die4 ,and the next morning the man was led out2 the grave was already dug for him1 and the black cap was put on him1 and the soldiers were there ready to receive the order1 ,fire1 and in a few moments the man would be shot and put in that grave and covered up1 when who should rise up but the ,american ,consul1 who took the ,american flag and wrapped it around him1 and the ,english ,consul took the ,english flag and wrapped it around him2 and they said to those soldiers1 ,fire on those flags if you dare6 ,not a man dared2 there were two great governments behind those flags4 ,and so ,god says1 ,come under my banner1 come under the banner of love1 come under the banner of heaven4 ,god will take care of all that will come under ,his banner4 ,snapping the ,chains4 ,in the ,north there was a minister talking to a man in the inquiry-room4 ,the man says1 ,my heart is so hard1 it seems as if it was chained1 and ,i cannot come4 ,ah1 says the minister1 come along1 chain and all1 and he just came to ,christ hard-hearted1 chain and all1 and ,christ snapped the fetters1 and set him free right there4 ,so come along4 ,if you are bound hand and foot by ,satan1 it is the work of ,god to break the fetters2 you cannot break them4 ,napoleon and the ,conscript4 ,there is a well-known story told of ,napoleon the ,first's time4 ,in one of the conscriptions1 during one of his many wars1 a man was balloted as a conscript who did not want to go1 but he had a friend who offered to go in his place4 ,his friend joined the regiment in his name1 and was sent off to the war4 ,by and by a battle came on1 in which he was killed1 and they buried him on the battle-field4 ,some time after the ,emperor wanted more men1 and by some mistake the first man was balloted a second time4 ,they went to take him but he remonstrated4 ,you cannot take me4 ,why not8 ,i am dead1 was the reply4 ,you are not dead2 you are alive and well4 ,but ,i am dead1 he said ,why1 man1 you must be mad4 ,where did you die8 ,at such a battle1 and you left me buried on such a battlefield4 ,you talk like a mad man1 they cried2 but the man stuck to his point that he had been dead and buried some months4 ,you look up your books1 he said1 and see if it is not so4 ,they looked1 and found that he was right4 ,they found the man's name entered as drafted1 sent to the war1 and marked off as killed4 ,look here1 they said1 you didn't die2 you must have got some one to go for you2 it must have been your substitute4 ,i know that1 he said2 he died in my stead4 ,you cannot touch me3 ,i died in that man1 and ,i go free4 ,the law has no claim against me4 ,they would not recognize the doctrine of substitution1 and the case was carried to the ,emperor4 ,but he said that the man was right1 that he was dead and buried in the eyes of the law1 and that ,france had no claim against him4 ,this story may or may not be true but one thing ,i know is true2 ,jesus ,christ suffered death for the sinner1 and those who accept ,him are free from the law4 ,the ,king's ,pardon4 ,a man was once being tried for a crime1 the punishment of which was death4 ,the witnesses came in one by one and testified to his guilt2 but there he stood1 quite calm and unmoved4 ,the judge and the jury were quite surprised at his indifference2 they could not understand how he could take such a serious matter so calmly4 ,when the jury retired1 it did not take them many minutes to decide on a verdict ,guilty2 and when the judge was passing the sentence of death upon the criminal he told him how surprised he was that he could be so unmoved in the prospect of death4 ,when the judge had finished1 the man put his hand in his bosom1 pulled out a document1 and walked out of the dock a free man4 ,ah1 that was how he could be so calm2 it was a free pardon from his king1 which he had in his pocket all the time4 ,the king had instructed him to allow the trial to proceed1 and to produce the pardon only when he was condemned4 ,no wonder1 then1 that he was indifferent as to the result of the trial4 ,now that is just what will make us joyful in the great day of judgment3 we have got a pardon from the ,great ,king1 and it is sealed with the blood of ,his ,son4 ,illustration3 ,the ,judgement of ,solomon4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 #a ,kings1 iii4 ,,gold4 -- ,if you believe on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ you are free4 -- ,there is no sin in the whole catalogue of sins you can name but ,christ will deliver you from it perfectly4 -- ,we are led on by an unseen power that we have not got strength to resist1 or else we are led on by the loving ,son of ,god4 -- ,the trouble is1 people do not know that ,christ is a ,deliverer4 ,they forget that the ,son of ,god came to keep them from sin as well as to forgive it4 -- ,you say ,i am afraid ,i cannot hold out4 ,well1 ,christ will hold out for you4 ,there is no mountain that ,he will not climb with you if you will2 ,he will deliver you from your besetting sin4 -- ,satan rules all men that are in his kingdom4 ,some he rules through lust4 ,some he rules through covetousness4 ,some he rules through appetite4 ,some he rules by their temper1 but he rules them4 ,and none will ever seek to be delivered until they get their eyes open and see that they have been taken captive4 -- ,when ,christ was on the earth there was a woman in the temple who was bowed almost to the ground with sin4 ,satan had bound her for eighteen years2 but after all these years of bondage ,christ delivered her4 ,he spoke one word and she was free4 ,she got up and walked home4 ,how astonished those at home must have been to see her walking in4 ,,little ,,folks4 ,the ,little ,child and the ,big ,book4 ,i like to think of ,christ as a burden bearer4 ,a minister was one day moving his library up stairs4 ,as the minister was going up stairs with his load of books his little boy came in and was very anxious to help his father4 ,so his father just told him to go and get an armful and take them up stairs4 ,when the father came back he met the little fellow about half way up the stairs tugging away with the biggest in the library4 ,he couldn't manage to carry it up4 ,the book was too big4 ,so he sat down and cried4 ,his father found him1 and just took him in his arms1 book and all1 and carried him up stairs4 ,so ,christ will carry you and all your burdens4 ,the ,horse that was ,established4 ,there was a little boy converted and he was full of praise4 ,when ,god converts boy or man his heart is full of joy--can't help praising4 ,his father was a professed ,christian4 ,the boy wondered why he didn't talk about ,christ1 and didn't go down to the special meetings4 ,one day1 as the father was reading the papers1 the boy came to him and put his hand on his shoulder and said3 ,why don't you praise ,god8 ,why don't you sing about ,christ8 ,why don't you go down to these meetings that are being held8 ,the father opened his eyes1 and looked at him and said1 gruffly3 ,i am not carried away with any of these doctrines4 ,i am established4 ,a few days after they were getting out a load of wood4 ,they put it on the cart4 ,the father and the boy got on lop of the load1 and tried to get the horse to go4 ,they used the whip1 but the horse wouldn't move4 ,they got off and tried to roll the wagon along1 but they could move neither the wagon nor the horse4 ,i wonder what's the matter8 said the father4 ,he's established1 replied the boy4 ,you may laugh at that1 but this is the way with good many ,christians4 ,the ,scotch ,lassie and ,dr4 ,chalmers4 ,there is a story of ,dr4 ,chalmers4 ,a lady came to him and said3 ,doctor1 ,i cannot bring my child to ,christ4 ,i've talked1 and talked1 but it's of no use4 ,the ,doctor thought she had not much skill1 and said1 ,now you be quiet and ,i will talk to her alone4 ,when the ,doctor got the ,scotch lassie alone he said to her1 ,they are bothering you a good deal about this question2 now suppose ,i just tell your mother you don't want to be talked to any more upon this subject for a year4 ,how will that do8 ,well1 the ,scotch lassie hesitated a little1 and then said she didn't think it would be safe to wait for a year4 ,something might turn up4 ,she might die before then4 ,well1 that's so1 replied the doctor1 but suppose we say six months4 ,she didn't think even this would be safe4 ,that's so1 was the doctors reply2 well1 let us say three months4 ,after a little hesitation1 the girl finally said1 ,i don't think it would be safe to put it off for three months--don't think it would be safe to put it off at all1 and they went down on their knees and found ,christ4 ,illustration3 ,the ,sermon on the ,mount4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,matthew1 v4 ,johnny1 ,cling ,close to the ,rock ,little ,johnny and his sister were one day going through a long1 narrow railroad tunnel4 ,the railroad company had built small clefts here and there through the tunnel1 so that if any one got caught in the tunnel when the train was passing1 they could save themselves4 ,after this little boy and girl had gone some distance in the tunnel they heard a train coming4 ,they were frightened at first1 but the sister just put her little brother in one cleft and she hurried and hid in another4 ,the train came thundering along1 and as it passed1 the sister cried out3 ,johnny1 cling close to the rock6 ,johnny1 cling close to the rock6 and they were safe4 ,the ,rock of ,ages may be beaten by the storms and waves of adversity1 but cling close to the rock1 ,christians1 and all will be well4 ,the waves don't touch the ,christian2 he is sheltered by the ,rock that is higher than ,i1 by the ,one who is the strong arm1 and the ,saviour who is mighty and willing to save4 ,obedience4 ,suppose ,i say to my boy1 ,willie1 ,i want you to go out and bring me a glass of water4 ,he says he doesn't want to go4 ,i didn't ask you whether you wanted to go or not1 ,willie2 ,i told you to go4 ,but ,i don't want to go1 he says4 ,i tell you1 you must go and get me a glass of water4 ,he does not like to go4 ,but he knows ,i am very fond of grapes1 and he is very fond of them himself1 so he goes out1 and some one gives him a beautiful cluster of grapes4 ,he comes in and says1 ,here1 papa1 here is beautiful cluster of grapes for you4 ,but what about the water8 ,won't the grapes be acceptable1 papa8 ,no1 my boy1 the grapes are not acceptable2 ,i won't take them2 ,i want you to get me a glass or water4 ,the little fellow doesn't want to get the water1 but he goes out1 and this time some one gives him an orange4 ,he brings it in and places it before me4 ,is that acceptable8 he asks4 ,no1 no1 no6 ,i say2 ,i want nothing but water2 you cannot do anything to please me until you get the water4 ,and so1 my friends1 to please ,god you must first obey ,him4 ,jumping into ,father's ,arms4 ,i remember1 while in ,mobile attending meetings1 a little incident occurred which ,i will relate4 ,it was a beautiful evening1 and just before the meeting some neighbors and myself were sitting on the front piazza enjoying the evening4 ,one of the neighbors put one of his children upon a ledge eight feet high1 and put out his hands and told him to jump4 ,without the slightest hesitation he sprang into his father's arms4 ,another child was lifted up1 and he1 too1 readily sprang into the arms of his father4 ,he picked up another boy1 larger than the others1 and held out his arms1 but he wouldn't jump4 ,he cried and screamed to be taken down4 ,the man begged the boy to jump1 but it was of no use2 he couldn't be induced to jump4 ,the incident made me curious1 and ,i stepped up to him and asked1 ,how was it that those two little fellows jumped so readily into your arms and the other boy wouldn't8 ,why1 said the man1 those two boys are my children and the other boy isn't1 he don't know me4 ,how ,three ,sunday ,school ,children ,met ,their ,fate4 ,when the ,lawrence ,mills were on fire a number or years ago--,i don't mean on fire1 but when the mill fell in--the great mill fell in1 and after it had fallen in1 the ruins caught fire4 ,there was only one room left entire1 and in it were three ,mission ,sunday-school children imprisoned4 ,the neighbors and all hands got their shovels and picks and crowbars1 and were working to set the children free4 ,it came on night and they had not yet reached the children4 ,when they were near them1 by some mischance a lantern broke1 and the ruins caught fire4 ,they tried to put it out1 but could not succeed4 ,they could talk with the children1 and even pass to them some coffee and some refreshments1 and encourage them to keep up4 ,but1 alas1 the flames drew nearer and nearer to this prison4 ,superhuman were the efforts made to rescue the children2 the men bravely fought back the flames2 but the fire gained fresh strength and returned to claim its victims4 ,then piercing shrieks arose when the spectators saw that the efforts of the firemen were hopeless4 ,the children saw their fate4 ,they then knelt down and commenced to sing the little hymn we have all been taught in our ,sunday-school days1 ,oh6 how sweet--3 ,let others seek a home below which flames devour and waves overflow4 ,the flames had now reached them2 the stifling smoke began to pour into their little room1 and they began to sink1 one by one1 upon the floor4 ,a few moments more and the fire circled around them and their souls were taken into the bosom of ,christ4 ,yes1 let others seek a home below if they will1 but seek ye the ,kingdom of ,god with all your hearts4 ,,parental4 ,a ,father's ,love ,trampled ,under ,foot4 ,i once heard of a father who had a prodigal boy1 and the boy had sent his mother down to the grave with a broken heart1 and one evening the boy started out as usual to spend the night in drinking and gambling1 and his old father1 as he was leaving1 said3 ,my son1 ,i want to ask a favor of you to-night4 ,you have not spent an evening with me since your mother died4 ,now won't you gratify your old father by staying at home with him8 ,no1 said the young man1 it is lonely here1 and there is nothing to interest me1 and ,i am going out4 ,and the old man prayed and wept1 and at last said3 ,my boy1 you are just killing me as you have killed your mother4 ,these hairs are growing white1 and you are sending me1 too1 to the grave4 ,still the boy would not stay1 and the old man said3 ,if you are determined to go to ruin1 you must go over this old body to-night4 ,i can not resist you4 ,you are stronger than ,i1 but if you go out you must go over this body4 ,and he laid himself down before the door1 and that son walked over the form of his father1 trampled the love of his father under foot1 and went out4 ,that is the ,price of ,my ,soul ,i heard a story of a young lady who was deeply concerned about her soul4 ,her father and mother1 however1 were worldly people4 ,they thought lightly of her serious wishes2 they did not sympathize with her state of mind4 ,they made up their minds that she should not become a ,christian1 and tried every way they could to discourage her notions about religion4 ,at last they thought they would get up a large party--thus with gayety and pleasure win her back to the world4 ,so they made every preparation for a gay time2 they even sent to neighboring towns and got all her most worldly companions to come to the house2 they bought her a magnificent silk dress and jewelry1 and decked her out in all the finery of such an occasion4 ,the young lady thought there would be no harm in attending the party2 that it would be a trifling affair1 a simple thing1 and she could1 after it was over1 think again of the welfare of her soul4 ,she went decked out in all her adornments1 and was the belle of the ball ,three weeks from that night she was on her dying bed4 ,she asked her mother to bring her ball dress in4 ,she pointed her finger at it1 and1 bursting into tears1 said1 ,that is the price of my soul4 ,she died before dawn4 ,oh1 my friends1 if you are anxious about your soul1 let everything else go2 let parties and festivals pass4 ,the ,two ,fathers4 ,whenever ,i think about this subject1 two fathers come before me4 ,one lived on the ,mississippi river4 ,he was a man of great wealth4 ,yet he would have freely given it all could he have brought back his eldest boy from his early grave4 ,one day that boy had been borne home unconscious4 ,they did everything that man could do to restore him1 but in vain4 ,he must die1 said the doctor4 ,but1 doctor1 said the agonized father1 can you do nothing to bring him to consciousness1 even for a moment8 ,that may be1 said the doctor2 'but he can never live4 ,time passed1 and after a terrible suspense1 the fathers wish was gratified4 ,my son1 he whispered1 the doctor tells me you are dying4 ,well1 said the boy1 you never prayed for me1 father2 won't you pray for my lost soul now8 ,the father wept4 ,it was true he had never prayed4 ,he was a stranger to ,god4 ,and in a little while that soul1 unprayed for1 passed into its dark eternity4 ,oh1 father6 if your boy was dying1 and he called on you to pray1 could you lift your burdened heart to heaven8 ,have you learned this sweetest lesson of heaven on earth1 to know and hold communion with your ,god8 ,and before this evil world has marked your dearest treasures for its prey1 have you learned to lead your little ones to a children's ,christ8 ,what a contrast is the other father8 ,he1 too1 had a lovely boy1 and one day he came home to find him at the gates of death4 ,a great change has come over our boy1 said the weeping mother2 he has only been a little ill before1 but it seems now as if he were dying fast4 ,the father went into the room1 and placed his hand on the forehead of the little boy4 ,he could see the boy was dying4 ,he could feel the cold damp of death4 ,my son1 do you know you are dying8 ,no1 am ,i8 ,yes2 you are dying4 ,and shall ,i die to-day8 ,yes1 my boy1 you cannot live till night4 ,well1 then1 ,i shall be with ,jesus to-night1 won't ,i1 father8 ,yes1 my son1 you will spend to-night with the ,saviour4 ,mothers and fathers1 the little ones may begin early2 be in earnest with them now4 ,you know not how soon you may be taken from them1 or they may be taken from you4 ,therefore let this impression be made upon their minds--that you care for their souls--a million times more than for their worldly prospects4 ,the ,stolen ,boy--,a ,mother's ,love4 ,there was a boy a great many years ago1 stolen in ,london1 the same as ,charley ,ross was stolen here4 ,long months and years passed away1 and the mother had prayed and prayed1 as the mother of ,charley ,ross prayed1 ,i suppose1 and all her efforts had failed and they had given up all hope2 but the mother did not quite give up her hope4 ,one day a little boy was sent up to the neighboring house to sweep the chimney1 and by some mistake he got down again through the wrong chimney4 ,when he came down1 he came in by the sitting-room chimney4 ,his memory began at once to travel back through the years that had passed4 ,he thought that things looked strangely familiar4 ,the scenes of the early days of youth were dawning upon him2 and as he stood there surveying the place1 his mother came into the room4 ,he stood there covered with rags and soot4 ,did she wait until she sent him to be washed before she rushed and took him in her arms8 ,no1 indeed2 it was her own boy4 ,she took him to her arms all black and smoke1 and hugged him to her bosom1 and shed tears of joy upon his head4 ,the ,repentant ,father4 ,not long ago a young man went home late4 ,he had been in the habit of going home late1 and the father began to mistrust that he had gone astray4 ,he told his wife to go to bed1 and dismissed the servants1 and said he would sit up till his son came home4 ,the boy came home drunk1 and the father in his anger gave him a push into the street and told him never to enter his house again1 and shut the door4 ,he went into the parlor and sat down1 and began to think3 ,well1 ,i may be to blame for that boy's conduct1 after all4 ,i have never prayed with him4 ,i have never warned him of the dangers of the world4 ,and the result of his reflections was that he put on his overcoat and hat1 and started out to find his boy4 ,the first policeman he met he asked eagerly1 ,have you seen my boy8 ,no4 ,on he went till he met another4 ,have you seen anything of my son8 ,he ran from one to another all that night1 but not until the morning did he find him4 ,he took him by the arm and led him home1 and kept him till he was sober4 ,then he said3 ,my dear boy1 ,i want you to forgive me2 ,i've never prayed for you2 ,i've never lifted up my heart to ,god for you2 ,i've been the means of leading you astray1 and ,i want your forgiveness4 ,the boy was touched1 and what was the result8 ,within twenty-four hours that son became a convert1 and gave up that cup4 ,it may be that some father here has a wayward son4 ,go to ,god1 and on your knees confess it4 ,let the voice of ,jesus sink down in your heart2 ,bring him unto ,me4 ,the ,sleep of ,death4 ,i read some time ago of a vessel that had been off on a whaling voyage and had been gone about three years4 ,i saw the account in print somewhere lately1 but it happened a long time ago4 ,the father of one of those sailors had charge of the lighthouse1 and he was expecting his boy to come home4 ,it was time for the whaling vessel to return4 ,one night there came up a terrible gale1 and this father fell asleep1 and while he slept his light went out4 ,when he awoke he looked toward the shore and saw there had been a vessel wrecked4 ,he at once went to see if he could not yet save some one who might be still alive4 ,the first body that came floating toward the shore was1 to his great grief and surprise1 the body of his own boy6 ,he had been watching for that boy for many days1 and he had been gone for three years4 ,now the boy had at last come in sight of home and had perished because his father had let his light go out6 ,i thought1 what an illustration of fathers and mothers to-day that have let their lights go out6 ,you are not training your children for ,god and eternity4 ,you do not live as though there were anything beyond this life at all4 ,you keep your affections set upon things on the earth instead of on things above1 and the result is that the children do not believe there is anything in it4 ,perhaps the very next step they take may take them into eternity3 the next day they may die without ,god and without hope4 ,a ,defaulter's ,confession4 ,one week ago ,i preached on the text1 ,christ came to heal the broken-hearted4 ,i told you just before ,i came down that ,i had received a letter from a broken-hearted wife4 ,her husband one night came in1 to her surprise1 and said he was a defaulter and must flee1 and he went1 she knew not where4 ,he forsook her and two children4 ,it was a pitiful letter1 and the wail of that poor woman seems to ring in my ears yet4 ,that night up in that gallery was a man whose heart began to beat when ,i told the story1 thinking it was him ,i meant1 till ,i came to the two children4 ,when ,i got through ,i found that he had taken money which did not belong to him1 intending to replace it1 but he failed to do so1 and fled4 ,he said3 ,i have a beautiful wife and three children1 but ,i had to leave her and come to ,chicago1 where ,i have been hiding4 ,the ,governor of the ,state has offered a reward for me4 ,my friends1 a week ago this poor fellow found out the truth of this text4 ,he was in great agony4 ,he felt as if he could not carry the burden1 and he said1 ,mr4 ,moody1 ,i want you to pray with me4 ,ask ,god for mercy for me4 ,and down we went on our knees4 ,i don't know as ,i ever felt so bad for a man in my life4 ,he asked me if ,i thought he should go back4 ,i told him to ask the ,lord1 and we prayed over it4 ,that was ,sunday evening1 and ,i asked him to meet me on the ,monday evening4 ,he told how hard it was to go back to that town and give himself up and disgrace his wife and children4 ,they would give him ten years4 ,monday came and he met me and said1 ,mr4 ,moody1 ,i have prayed over this matter1 and ,i think that ,christ has forgiven me1 but ,i don't belong to myself4 ,i must go back and give myself up4 ,i expect to be sent to the penitentiary2 but ,i must go4 ,he asked me to pray for his wife and children1 and he went off4 ,he will be there to-day in the hands of justice4 ,my friends1 don't say the way of the transgressor is not hard4 ,divided ,we ,fall4 ,i remember one mother who heard that her boy was impressed at our meeting4 ,she said her son was a good enough boy1 and he didn't need to be converted4 ,i pleaded with that mother1 but all my pleading was of no account4 ,i tried my influence1 with the boy2 but while ,i was pulling one way she was pulling the other1 and of course her influence prevailed4 ,naturally it would4 ,well1 to make a long story short1 some time after ,i happened to be in the ,county ,jail1 and ,i saw him there4 ,how did you come here8 ,i asked2 does your mother know where you are8 ,no1 don't tell her2 ,i came in under an assumed name1 and ,i am going to ,joliet for four years4 ,do not let my mother know of this1 he pleaded2 she thinks ,i am in the army4 ,i used to call on that mother1 but ,i had promised her boy ,i would not tell her1 and for four years she mourned over that boy1 ,she thought he had died on the battlefield or in a ,southern hospital4 ,what a blessing he might have been to that mother1 if she had only helped us to bring him to ,christ4 ,but that mother is only a specimen of hundreds and thousands of parents4 ,if we would have more family altars in our homes1 and train them to follow ,christ1 the ,son of ,god would lead them into green pastures1 and instead of having sons who curse the mothers who gave them birth1 they would bless their fathers and mothers4 ,illustration3 ,prayer of ,jesus in the ,garden of ,olives4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,matthew1 xxvi1 #cf-de ,the ,faithful ,london ,lady4 ,when ,i was in ,london1 there was one lady dressed in black up in the gallery4 ,all the rest were ministers4 ,i wondered who that lady could be4 ,at the close of the meeting ,i stepped up to her1 and she asked me if ,i did not remember her4 ,i did not1 but she told me who she was1 and her story came to my mind4 ,when we were preaching in ,dundee1 ,scotland1 a mother came up with her two sons1 #af and #ag years old4 ,she said to me1 ,will you talk to my boys8 ,i asked her if she would talk to the inquirers1 as there were more inquirers than workers4 ,she said she was not a good enough ,christian--was not prepared enough4 ,i told her ,i could not talk to her then4 ,next night she came to me and asked me again1 and the following night she repeated her request4 ,five hundred miles she journeyed to get ,god's blessing for her boys1 ,would to ,god we had more mothers like her4 ,she came to ,london1 and the first night ,i was there ,i saw her in the ,agricultural ,hall4 ,she was accompanied by only one of her boys--the other had died4 ,toward the close of the meeting ,i received this letter from her3 ,,dear ,,mr4 ,,moody3 ,for months ,i have never considered the day's work ended unless you and your work had been specially prayed for4 ,now it appears before us more and more4 ,what in our little measure we have found has no doubt been the happy experience of many others in ,london4 ,my husband and ,i have sought as our greatest privilege to take unconverted friends one by one to the ,agricultural hall1 and ,i thank ,god that1 with a single exception1 those brought under the preaching from your lips have accepted ,christ as their ,savior1 and are rejoicing in his love4 ,that lady was a lady of wealth and position4 ,she lived a little way out of ,london2 gave up her beautiful home and took lodgings near ,agricultural ,hall1 so as to be useful in the inquiry room4 ,when we went down to the ,opera ,house she was there2 when we went down to the east end1 there she was again1 and when ,i left ,london she had the names of #aej who had accepted ,christ from her4 ,some have said that our work in ,london was a failure4 ,ask her if the work was a failure1 and she will tell you4 ,if we had a thousand such mothers in ,chicago we would lift it4 ,go and bring your friends here to the meetings4 ,think of the privilege1 my friends1 of saving a soul4 ,if we are going to work for good1 we must be up and about it4 ,arthur ,p4 ,oxley6 ,your ,mother ,wishes to ,see ,you4 ,there was a lady that came down to ,liverpool to see us privately2 it was just before we were about to leave that city to go to ,london to preach4 ,with tears and sobs she told a very pitiful story4 ,it was this3 ,she said she had a boy nineteen years of age who had left her4 ,she showed me his photograph1 and asked me to put it in my pocket4 ,you stand before many and large assemblies1 ,mr4 ,moody4 ,my boy may be in ,london1 now4 ,oh1 look at the audience to whom you will preach2 look earnestly4 ,you may see my dear boy before you4 ,if you see him1 tell him to come back to me4 ,oh1 implore him to come to his sorrowing mother1 to his deserted home4 ,he may be in trouble2 he may be suffering2 tell him for his loving mother that all is forgiven and forgotten1 and he will find comfort and peace at home4 ,on the back of this photograph she had written his full name and address2 she had noted his complexion1 the color of his eyes and hair2 why he had left home1 and the cause of his so doing4 ,when you preach1 ,mr4 ,moody1 look for my poor boy1 were the parting words of that mother4 ,that young man may be in this hall to-night4 ,if he is1 ,i want to tell him that his mother loves him still4 ,i will read out his name1 and if any of you ever hear of that young man1 just tell him that his mother is waiting with a loving heart and a tender embrace for him4 ,his name is ,arthur ,p4 ,oxley1 of ,manchester1 ,england4 ,the ,cruel ,mother--,hypothetical4 ,suppose a mother should come in here with a little child1 and after she has been here a while the child begins to cry1 and she says1 ,keep still1 but the child keeps on crying1 and so she turns him over to the police and says1 ,take that child1 ,i don't want him4 ,what would you say of such a mother as that8 ,teach a child that ,god loves him only so long as he is good1 and that when he is bad the ,lord does not love him1 and you will find that when he grows up1 if he has a bad temper he will have the idea that ,god hates him because he thinks ,god don't love him when he has got a bad temper1 and as he has a bad temper all the time1 of course ,god does not love him at all1 but hates him all the time4 ,now ,god hates sin1 but ,he loves the sinner1 and there is a great difference between the love of ,god and our love4 ,the ,loving ,father4 ,i remember my little girl had a habit of getting up in the morning very cross4 ,i don't know whether your children are like that4 ,she used to get up in the morning speaking cross1 and made the family very uncomfortable4 ,so ,i took her aside one morning and said to her1 ,emma1 if you go on that way ,i shall have to correct you2 ,i don't want to do it1 but ,i will have to4 ,she looked at me for a few moments--,i had never spoken to her that way before--and she went away4 ,she behaved herself for a few weeks all right1 but one morning she was as cross as ever1 and when she came to me to be kissed before going to school1 ,i wouldn't do it4 ,off she went to her mother1 and said3 ,mamma1 ,papa refused to kiss me3 ,i cannot go to school because he won't kiss me4 ,her mother came in1 but she didn't say much4 ,she knew the child had been doing wrong4 ,the little one went off and as she was going down stairs ,i heard her weeping1 and it seemed to me as if that child was dearer to me than ever she had been before4 ,i went to the window and saw her going down the street crying1 and as ,i looked on her ,i couldn't repress my tears4 ,that seemed to be the longest day ,i ever spent in ,chicago4 ,before the closing of the school ,i was at home1 and when she came in her first words were3 ,papa1 won't you forgive me8 and ,i kissed her and she went away singing4 ,it was because ,i loved her that ,i punished her4 ,my friends1 don't let ,satan make you believe when you have any trouble1 that ,god does not love you4 ,,praise4 ,three ,cheers4 ,once1 when a great fire broke out at midnight and people thought that all the inmates had been taken out1 way up there in the fifth story1 was seen a little child1 crying for help4 ,up1 went a ladder1 and soon a fireman was seen ascending to the spot4 ,as he neared the second story the flames burst in fury from the windows1 and the multitude almost despaired of the rescue of the child4 ,the brave man faltered1 and a comrade at the bottom cried out1 ,cheer him6 and cheer upon cheer arose from the crowd4 ,up the ladder he went and saved the child1 because they cheered him4 ,if you cannot go into the heat of the battle yourself1 if you cannot go into the harvest field and work day after day1 you can cheer those that are working for the ,master4 ,i see many old people in their old days1 get crusty and sour1 and they discourage everyone they meet by their fault finding4 ,that is not what we want4 ,if we make a mistake1 come and tell us of it1 and we will thank you4 ,you don't know how much you may do by just speaking kindly to those that are willing to work4 ,always ,happy4 ,there was a man converted here some years ago1 and he was just full of praise4 ,he was living in the light all the time4 ,we might be in the darkness1 but he was always in the light4 ,he used to preface everything he said in the meeting with praise ,god4 ,one night he came to the meeting with his finger all bound up4 ,he had cut it1 and cut it pretty bad1 too4 ,well1 ,i wondered how he would praise ,god for this2 but he got up and said1 ,i have cut my finger1 but1 praise ,god1 ,i didn't cut it off4 ,and so1 if things go against you1 just think they might be a good deal worse4 ,illustration3 ,ruth and ,boaz4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,ruth1 ii4 ,ten ,years in a ,sick ,bed1 yet ,praising ,god4 ,i have found people who were poor in this world's goods1 in bad health1 and yet continually praising ,god4 ,i can take you to a poor1 burdened one who has not been off her bed for ten years1 and yet she praising ,him more than hundreds of thousands of ,christians4 ,her chamber seems to be just the ante-room of heaven4 ,it seems as if that woman had just all the secrets of heaven4 ,her soul is full of the love of ,god1 full of gladness1 and she is poor4 ,like ,elijah at the brook of ,cherith1 she is just fed by the ,almighty2 ,god provides for all her wants4 ,any man that knows ,god can trust ,him and praise ,him4 ,he knows that the word of ,god is true1 and he knows that ,he will care for him4 ,he who cares for the lilies of the field1 ,he1 without whose knowledge not a sparrow can fall to the ground1 ,he who knows every hair of our heads1 any man that knows this1 cannot he rejoice8 ,is there anyone here1 who1 although he is poor1 can find no reason to praise ,god8 ,some of those ,christians who are so poor1 but who have the love of ,god1 would not give up their place for that of princes4 ,,gold4 -- ,praise is not only speaking to the ,lord on our own account1 but it is praising ,him for what ,he has done for others4 -- ,if we have a praise church we will have people converted4 ,i don't care where it is1 what part of the world it's in1 if we have a praise church we'll have successful ,christianity4 -- ,every good gift that we have had from the cradle up has come from ,god4 ,if a man just stops to think what he has to praise ,god for1 he will find there is enough to keep him singing praises for a week4 -- ,we have in our churches a great deal of prayer1 but ,i think it would be a good thing if we had a praise meeting occasionally4 ,if we could only get people to praise ,god for what ,he has done1 it would be a good deal better than asking ,him continually for something4 ,,prayer4 ,a ,voice from the ,tomb4 ,the other day ,i read of a mother who died1 leaving her child alone and very poor4 ,she used to pray earnestly for her boy1 and left an impression upon his mind that she cared more for his soul than she cared for anything else in the world4 ,he grew up to be a successful man in business1 and became very well off4 ,one day not long ago1 after his mother had been dead for twenty years1 he thought he would remove her remains and put her into his own lot in the cemetery1 and put up a little monument to her memory4 ,as he came to remove them and to lay her away the thought came to him1 that while his mother was alive she had prayed for him1 and he wondered why her prayers were not answered4 ,that very night that man was saved4 ,after his mother had been buried so long a time1 the act of removing her body to another resting place1 brought up all the recollections of his childhood1 and he became a ,christian4 ,o1 you mothers6 ,prayer ,answered4 ,only a few years ago in the ,city of ,philadelphia there was a mother that had two sons4 ,they were just going as fast as they could to ruin4 ,they were breaking her heart1 and she went into a little prayer-meeting and got up and presented them for prayer4 ,they had been on a drunken spree or had just got started in that way1 and she knew that their end would be a drunkard's grave1 and she went among these ,christians and said1 ,won't you just cry to ,god for my two boys8 ,the next morning those two boys had made an appointment to meet each other on the corner of ,market and ,thirteenth streets--though not that they knew anything about our meeting--and while one of them was there at the corner1 waiting for his brother to come1 he followed the people who were flooding into the depot building1 and the spirit of the ,lord met him1 and he was wounded and found his way to ,christ4 ,after his brother came he found the place too crowded to enter1 so he too went curiously into another meeting and found ,christ1 and went home happy2 and when he got home he told his mother what the ,lord had done for him1 and the second son came with the same tidings4 ,i heard one of them get up afterwards to tell his experience in the young converts' meeting1 and he had no sooner told the story than the other got up and said3 ,i am that brother1 and there is not a happier home in ,philadelphia than we have got4 ,the ,praying ,mother4 ,i remember being in the camp and a man came to me and said1 ,mr4 ,moody1 when the ,mexican war began ,i wanted to enlist4 ,my mother1 seeing ,i was resolved1 said if ,i became a ,christian ,i might go4 ,she pleaded and prayed that ,i might become a ,christian1 but ,i wouldn't4 ,i said when the war was over ,i would become a ,christian1 but not till then4 ,all her pleading was in vain1 and at last1 when ,i was going away1 she took out a watch and said3 ',my son1 your father left this to me when he died4 ,take it1 and ,i want you to remember that every day at #ab o'clock your mother will be praying for you4' ,then she gave me her ,bible1 and marked out passages1 and put a few different references in the fly-leaf4 ,i took the watch and the ,bible just because my mother gave them4 ,i never intended to read the ,bible4 ,i went off to ,mexico1 and one day while on a long1 weary march1 ,i took out my watch1 and it was #ab o'clock4 ,i had been gone four months1 but ,i remembered that my mother at that hour was praying for me4 ,something prompted me to ask the officer to relieve me for a little while1 and ,i stepped behind a tree away out on those plains of ,mexico1 and cried to the ,god of my mother to save me4 ,my friends1 ,god saved him1 and he went through the ,mexican war1 and now1 he said1 ,i have enlisted again to see if ,i can do any good for my ,master's cause4 ,the ,sinner's ,prayer ,heard4 ,there was a man at one of our meetings in ,new ,york ,city who was moved by the ,spirit of ,god4 ,he said1 ,i am going home1 and ,i am not going to sleep to-night till ,christ takes away my sins1 if ,i have to stay up all night and pray4 ,i'll do it4 ,he had a good distance to walk1 and as he went along he thought1 ,why can't ,i pray now as ,i go along1 instead of waiting to go home8 ,but he did not know a prayer4 ,his mother had taught him to pray1 but it was so long since he had uttered a prayer that he had forgotten4 ,however1 the publican's prayer came to his mind4 ,everybody can say this prayer4 ,that man in the gallery yonder1 that young lady over there3 ,god be merciful to me a sinner4 ,may ,god write it on your hearts to-night4 ,if you forget the sermon1 don't forget that prayer4 ,it is a very short prayer1 and it has brought joy--salvation--to many a soul4 ,well1 this prayer came to the man1 and he began1 ,god be merciful to me a--1 but before he got to sinner ,god blessed him4 ,black-balled by ,man1 ,saved by ,christ4 ,at the ,fulton street prayer-meeting a man came in1 and this was his story4 ,he said he had a mother who prayed for him2 he was a wild1 reckless prodigal4 ,some time after his mother's death he began to be troubled4 ,he thought he ought to get into new company1 and leave his old companions4 ,so he said he would go and join a secret society2 he thought he would join the ,odd ,fellows4 ,they went and made inquiry about him1 and they found he was a drunken sailor1 so they black-balled him4 ,they would not have him4 ,he then went to the ,freemasons2 he had nobody to recommend him1 so they inquired and found there was no good in his character1 and they1 too1 black-balled him4 ,they didn't want him4 ,one day1 some one handed him a little notice in the street about the prayer-meeting1 and he went in4 ,he heard that ,christ had come to save sinners4 ,he believed ,him2 he took ,him at his word2 and1 in reporting the matter1 he said he came to ,christ without a character1 and ,christ hadn't black-balled him4 ,my friends1 that is ,christ's way4 ,the ,praying ,cripple4 ,i once knew a little cripple who lay upon her death-bed4 ,she had given herself to ,god1 and was distressed only because she could not labor for ,him actively among the lost4 ,her clergyman visited her1 and hearing her complaint1 told her that there from her sick-bed she could offer prayers for those whom she wished to see turning to ,god4 ,he advised her to write the names down1 and then to pray earnestly2 and then he went away and thought of the subject no more4 ,soon a feeling of great religious interest sprang up in the village1 and the churches were crowded nightly4 ,the little cripple heard of the progress of the revival1 and inquired anxiously for the names of the saved4 ,a few weeks later she died1 and among a roll of papers that was found under her little pillow1 was one bearing the names of fifty-six persons1 every one of whom had in the revival been converted4 ,by each name was a little cross1 by which the poor crippled saint had checked off the names of the converts as they had been reported to her4 ,a ,child's ,prayer ,answered4 ,i remember a child that lived with her parents in a small village4 ,one day the news came that her father had joined the army 7it was at the beginning of our war71 and a few days after the landlord came to demand the rent4 ,the mother told him she hadn't got it1 and that her husband had gone into the army4 ,he was a hard hearted wretch1 and he stormed and said that they must leave the home2 he wasn't going to have people who couldn't pay the rent4 ,after he was gone1 the mother threw herself into the arm-chair1 and began to weep bitterly4 ,her little girl whom she had taught to pray in faith 7but it is more difficult to practice than to preach71 came up to her1 and said1 ,what makes you cry1 mamma8 ,i will pray to ,god to give us a little house1 and won't ,he8 ,what could the mother say8 ,so the little child went into the next room and began to pray4 ,the door was open1 and the mother could hear every word4 ,o ,god1 you have come and taken away father1 and mamma has got no money1 and the landlord will turn us out because we can't pay1 and we will have to sit on the doorstep1 and mamma will catch cold4 ,give us a little home4 ,then she waited1 as if for an answer1 and then added1 ,won't you1 please1 ,god8 ,she came out of that room quite happy1 expecting a house to be given them4 ,the mother felt reproved4 ,i can tell you1 however1 she has never paid any rent since1 for ,god heard the prayer of that little one1 and touched the heart of the cruel landlord4 ,god give us the faith of that little child1 that we may likewise expect an answer1 nothing wavering4 ,the ,orphan's ,prayer4 ,a little child whose father and mother had died1 was taken into another family4 ,the first night she asked if she could pray1 as she used to do4 ,they said ,oh yes4 ,so she knelt down1 and prayed as her mother taught her2 and when that was ended she added a little prayer of her own3 ,oh ,god1 make these people as kind to me as father and mother were4 ,then she paused and looked up1 as if expecting the answer1 and added3 ,of course ,he will4 ,how sweetly simple was that little one's faith2 she expected ,god to do1 and1 of course1 she got her request4 ,,gold4 -- ,all should work and ask ,god's guidance4 -- ,the world knows little of the works wrought by prayer4 -- ,let us pray1 and as we pray1 let us make room for ,jesus in our hearts4 -- ,unless the ,spirit of ,god is with us1 we cannot expect that our prayers will be answered4 -- ,david was the last one we would have chosen to fight the giant1 but he was chosen of ,god4 -- ,every one of our children will be brought into the ark1 it we pray and work earnestly for them4 -- ,the impression that a praying mother leaves upon her children is life-long4 ,perhaps when you are dead and gone your prayer will be answered ,,reaping4 ,sad ,ending of a ,life that ,might have been ,otherwise4 ,i remember a few years ago ,i felt very anxious for a man who was present at a meeting like this4 ,at the close of the meeting ,i asked all to rise1 and he rose among the others4 ,i took him aside and said1 ,now you are going to become a ,christian--you will come out for the ,lord now8 ,he said he was wanting to very much4 ,the man was trembling from head to foot1 and ,i thought surely he was going to accept ,him4 ,i spoke to him in his hesitating condition1 and found out what was standing between him and ,christ4 ,he was afraid of his companions4 ,nearly every day and night news came to me that some of these employers and clerks make light of these meetings1 and make fun of all who attend them1 and so many give the same reason that this man did4 ,i said to him3 ,if heaven is what we are led to believe it is1 ,i would be willing to accept it and bear their fun4 ,i talked with him1 but he wouldn't accept it4 ,he went off1 but for weeks he came every night1 and went away as he came1 without accepting it4 ,one day ,i received a message to come and see him4 ,he was sick1 and ,i went to his chamber4 ,he wanted to know if there was hope for him in the eleventh hour8 ,i spoke to him1 and gave him every hope ,i could4 ,day after day ,i visited him1 and1 contrary to all expectation1 ,i saw him gradually recovering4 ,when he got pretty well he was sitting on the front porch1 and ,i sat down by him and said3 ,you will be going now to confess ,christ2 you'll be going to take your stand for him now8 ,well1 said he1 ,mr4 ,moody1 ,i promised ,god on my sick bed that ,i would2 but ,i will wait a little4 ,i am going over to ,michigan1 where ,i am going to buy a farm and settle down1 and then ,i'll become a ,christian4 ,if ,god cannot make you a ,christian here he cannot do it there1 ,i replied4 ,i tried to get him to make an unconditional surrender1 but he wouldn't2 he would put it off till the next spring4 ,why1 ,i said1 you may not live till next spring4 ,don't you see ,i am getting quite well8 ,but are you willing to take the risk till next spring8 ,oh1 yes1 ,i'll take it2 ,mr4 ,moody1 you needn't trouble yourself any more about my soul2 ,i'll risk it2 you can just attend to your business1 and ,i will to mine1 and if ,i lose my soul1 no one will be to blame but myself--certainly not you1 for you've done all you could4 ,i went away from that house then with a heavy heart4 ,i well remember the day of the week1 ,thursday1 about noon1 just one week from that very day1 when his wife sent for me4 ,when ,i went to their home ,i found her in great trouble1 and learned that he had had a relapse4 ,i asked if he had expressed a desire to see me4 ,she said ,no2 he is always saying 'there is no hope1' and ,i cannot bear to have him die in that condition4 ,i went into the room4 ,he did not speak to me1 but ,i went around to the foot of the bed and looked in his face and said1 ,won't you speak to me8 and at last he fixed that terrible deathly look upon me and said1 ,mr4 ,moody1 you need not talk to me any more4 ,it is too late2 there is no hope for me now4 ,go talk to my wife and children2 pray for them2 but my heart is as hard as the iron in that stove there4 ,when ,i was sick ,he came to the door of my heart1 and ,i promised to serve ,him1 but ,i broke that promise1 and now ,i must die without ,him4 ,i got down to pray4 ,you needn't pray for me1 he said4 ,i prayed1 but it seemed as if my prayer went no higher than my head4 ,he lingered till that night1 repeating1 ,the harvest is past1 the summer is ended1 and ,i am not saved4 ,there he lay in agony1 every few minutes this lamentation breaking from him4 ,just as the sun was going down behind those ,western prairies1 his wife leaned over him1 and in an almost inaudible voice1 he whispered1 ,the harvest is past1 the summer is ended1 and ,i am not saved1 and he died4 ,he had lived a ,christless life1 he died a ,christless death1 he was wrapped in a ,christless shroud1 and he was buried in a ,christless grave4 ,oh1 how dark and sad6 ,dear friends1 the harvest is passing2 the summer will soon be ended2 won't you let ,him redeem you8 ,by the ,wayside4 ,i went down past the corner of ,clark and ,lake streets one day1 and1 fulfilling my vow1 on seeing a man leaning up against a lamp-post1 ,i went up to him and said3 ,are you a ,christian8 ,he damned me and cursed me1 and told me to mind my own business4 ,he knew me1 but ,i didn't know him4 ,he said to a friend of his that afternoon that he had never been so insulted in his life1 and told him to say to me that ,i was damning the cause ,i pretended to represent4 ,well1 the friend came and delivered his message4 ,may be ,i am doing more hurt than good1 ,i said2 may be ,i'm mistaken1 and ,god hasn't shown me the right way4 ,that was the time ,i was sleeping and living in the ,young ,men's ,christian ,association rooms1 where ,i was then ,president1 ,secretary1 janitor1 and everything else4 ,well one night1 after midnight ,i heard a knock at the door4 ,and there on the step leading into the street stood this stranger ,i had made so mad at the lamp-post1 and said he wanted to talk to me about his soul's salvation4 ,he said3 ,do you remember the man you met about three months ago at the lamp-post1 and how he cursed you8 ,i have had no peace since that night2 ,i couldn't sleep4 ,oh1 tell me what to do to be saved4 ,and we just fell down on our knees1 and prayed1 and that day he went to the noon prayer meeting and openly confessed the ,saviour1 and soon after went to the war a ,christian man4 ,i do not know but he died on some ,southern battle-field or in a hospital1 but ,i expect to see him in the kingdom of ,god4 ,sowing the ,tares4 ,i was at the ,paris ,exhibition in #ahfg1 and ,i noticed there a little oil painting1 only about a foot square1 and the face was the most hideous ,i have ever seen4 ,on the paper attached to the painting were the words ,sowing the tares1 and the face looked more like a demon's than a man's4 ,as he sowed these tares1 up came serpents and reptiles1 and they were crawling up his body1 and all around were woods with wolves and animals prowling in them4 ,i have seen that picture many times since4 ,ah6 the reaping time is coming4 ,if you sow to the flesh you must reap the flesh4 ,what ,moody ,saw in the ,chamber of ,horror4 ,when ,i was in ,london ,i went into a wax work there--,tassands--and ,i went into the chamber of ,horror4 ,there were wax figures of all kinds of murderers in that room4 ,there was ,booth who killed ,lincoln1 and many of that class3 but there was one figure ,i got interested in1 who killed his wife because he loved another woman1 and the law didn't find him out4 ,he married this woman and had a family of seven children4 ,and twenty years passed away4 ,then his conscience began to trouble him4 ,he had no rest2 he would hear his murdered wife pleading continually for her life4 ,his friends began to think that that he was going out of his mind2 he became haggard and his conscience haunted him till1 at last he went to the officers of the law and told them that he was guilty of murder4 ,he wanted to die1 life was so much of an agony to him4 ,his conscience turned against him4 ,my friends if you have done wrong1 may your conscience be woke up1 and may you testify against yourself4 ,it is a great deal better to judge our own acts and confess them1 than go through this world with the curse upon you4 ,reaping the ,whirlwind4 ,i remember in the north of ,england a prominent citizen told a sad case that happened there in the city of ,newcastle-on-,tyne4 ,it was about a young boy4 ,he was very young4 ,he was an only child4 ,the father and mother thought everything of him and did all they could for him4 ,but he fell into bad ways4 ,he took up with evil characters1 and finally got to running with thieves4 ,he didn't let his parents know about it4 ,by and by the gang he was with broke into the house1 and he with them4 ,yes1 he had to do it all4 ,they stopped outside of the building1 while he crept in and started to rob the till4 ,he was caught in the act1 taken into court1 tried1 convicted1 and sent to the penitentiary for ten years4 ,he worked on and on in the convict's cell1 till at last his term was out4 ,and at once he started for home4 ,and when he came back to the town he started down the street where his father and mother used to live4 ,he went to the house and rapped4 ,a stranger came to the door and stared him in the face4 ,no1 there's no such person lives here1 and where your parents are ,i don't know1 was the only welcome he received4 ,then he turned through the gate1 and went down the street1 asking even the children that he met about his folks1 where they were living1 and if they were well4 ,but everybody looked blank4 ,ten years rolled by and though that seemed perhaps a short time1 how many changes had taken place6 ,there where he was born and brought up he was now an alien1 and unknown even in the old haunts4 ,but at last he found a couple of townsmen that remembered his father and mother1 but they told him the old house had been deserted long years ago1 that he had been gone but a few months before his father was confined to his house2 and very soon after died broken-hearted1 and that his mother had gone out of her mind4 ,he went to the mad-house where his mother was1 and went up to her and said1 ,mother1 mother1 don't you know me8 ,i am your son4 ,but she raved and slapped him on the face and shrieked1 ,you're not my son1 and then raved again and tore her hair4 ,he left the asylum more dead than alive1 so completely broken-hearted that he died in a few months4 ,yes the fruit was long growing1 but at the last it ripened to the harvest like a whirlwind4 ,madness and ,death4 ,i was coming along north ,clark street one evening when a man shot past me like an arrow4 ,but he had seen me1 and turned and seized me by the arm4 ,saying eagerly1 ,can ,i be saved to-night4 ,the devil is coming to take me to hell at #a o'clock tonight4 ,my friend1 you are mistaken4 ,i thought the man was sick4 ,but he persisted that the devil had come and laid his hand upon him1 and told him he might have till #a o'clock1 and said he3 ,won't you go up to my room and sit with me4 ,i got some men up to his room to see to him4 ,at #a o'clock the devils came into that room1 and all the men in that room could not hold him4 ,he was reaping what he had sown4 ,when the ,angel of ,death came and laid his cold hand on him1 oh how he cried for mercy4 ,,saved4 ,a ,london ,doctor ,saved after ,fifty ,years of ,prayer4 ,when ,i was in ,london there was a leading doctor in that city1 upwards of seventy years of age1 wrote me a note to come and see him privately about his soul4 ,he was living at a country seat a little way out of ,london1 and he came into town only two or three times a week4 ,he was wealthy and was nearly retired4 ,i received the note right in the midst of the ,london work1 and told him ,i could not see him4 ,i received a note a day or two after from a member of his family1 urging me to come4 ,the letter said his wife had been praying for him for fifty years1 and all the children had become ,christians by her prayers4 ,she had prayed for him all those years1 but no impression had been made upon him4 ,upon his desk they had found the letter from me1 and they came up to ,london to see what it meant1 and ,i said ,i would see him4 ,when we met ,i asked him if he wanted to become a ,christian1 and he seemed every way willing1 but when it came to confession to his family1 he halted4 ,i tell you1 said he1 ,i cannot do that2 my life has been such that ,i would not like to confess before my family4 ,now there is the point2 if you are not willing to confess ,christ1 ,he will not confess you2 you cannot be ,his disciple4 ,we talked for some time1 and he accepted4 ,i found while ,i had been in one room his daughter and some friends1 anxious for the salvation of that aged father1 were in the other room praying to ,god1 and when he started out willing to go home and confess ,christ1 ,i opened the door of the other room1 not knowing the daughter was there1 and the first words she said were3 ,is my father saved8 ,yes1 ,i think he is1 ,i answered1 and ran down to the front door and called him back4 ,your daughter is here1 ,i said2 this is the time to commence your confession4 ,the father1 with tears trickling down his cheeks1 embraced his child1 ,my dear daughter1 ,i have accepted ,christ1 and a great flood of light broke upon him at that confession4 ,angry at ,first1 ,saved at ,last4 ,in ,dublin ,i was speaking to a lady in the inquiry-room1 when ,i noticed a gentlemen walking up and down before the door4 ,i went forward1 and said3 ,are you a ,christian8 ,he was very angry1 and turned on his heel and left me4 ,the following ,sunday night ,i was preaching about receiving4 and ,i put the question3 ,who'll receive ,him now8 ,that young man was present1 and the question sank into his heart4 ,the next day he called upon me--he was a merchant in that city--and said3 ,do you remember me8 ,no1 ,i don't4 ,do you remember the young man who answered you so roughly the other night8 ,yes1 ,i do4 ,well1 ,i've come to tell you that ,i am saved4 ,how did it happen8 ,why1 ,i was listening to your sermon last night1 and when you asked1 ',who'll receive ,him now8' ,god put it into my heart to say3 ',i will2' and ,he has opened my eyes to see ,his ,son now4 ,removing the ,difficulties4 ,i was speaking to a young lady in the inquiry-room some time ago1 and she was in great distress of mind4 ,she seemed really anxious to be saved1 and ,i could not find out what was the trouble between ,god and her4 ,i saw there was something that was keeping her back4 ,i quoted promise after promise1 but she didn't seem to take hold on any of them4 ,then we got down on our knees1 but still there was no light4 ,finally ,i said3 ,is there anyone against whom you have bitter feelings8 ,yes2 there's a young lady on the other side of the room1 talking to your wife1 whom ,i can't forgive4 ,ah ,i've got it now2 that's why the blessing won't come to you4 ,do you mean to tell me1 said the young lady1 looking up in my face1 that ,i can't be saved until ,i forgive her8 ,no you can't6 and1 if there are any others whom you hate1 you must forgive them also4 ,she paused a moment1 and then she said3 ,i will go4 ,it seems that my wife and the other young lady had been going over the same ground1 and just at that time the other young lady had resolved to come to ask this one's forgiveness4 ,so they met in the middle of the room1 both saying at once3 ,will you forgive me8 ,oh1 what a meeting it was6 ,they knelt together1 and joy beamed on their souls1 and their difficulties vanished4 ,in a little while they went out of the room with their arms around each other1 and their faces lit up with a heavenly glow4 ,saved4 ,i remember while in a town ,east at the time of the loss of the ,atlantic on the banks of ,newfoundland1 there was a business man in the town who was reported lost4 ,his store was closed1 and all his friends mourned him as among those who went down on that vessel4 ,but a telegram was received from him by his partner with the word saved1 and that partner was filled with joy4 ,the store was opened and the telegram was framed1 and if you go into that store to-day you will see that little bit of paper hanging on the wall1 with the word saved upon it4 ,let the news go over the wires to heaven to-night from you4 ,let the word ,saved go from everyone of you1 and there will be joy in heaven4 ,you can be saved--the ,son of man wants to save you4 ,terribly in ,earnest4 ,i read a number of years ago of a vessel that was wrecked4 ,the life-boats were not enough to take all the passengers4 ,a man who was swimming in the water swam up to one of the life-boats that was full and seized it with his hand4 ,they tried to prevent him1 but the man was terribly in earnest about saving his life1 and one of the men in the boat just drew a sword and cut off his hand4 ,but the man didn't give up3 he reached out the other hand4 ,he was terribly in earnest4 ,he wanted to save his life4 ,but the man in the boat took the sword and cut off his other hand4 ,but the man did not give up4 ,he swam up to the boat and seized it with his teeth4 ,some of them said1 ,let us not cut his head off1 and they drew him in4 ,that man was terribly in earnest1 and1 my friends1 if you want to get into the kingdom of ,god1 be in earnest4 ,the ,moody and ,sankey ,humbug4 ,there was a man1 while we were in ,london1 who got out a little paper called ,the ,moody and ,sankey ,humbug4 ,he used to have it to sell to the people coming into the meeting4 ,after he had sold a great many thousand copies of that number1 he wanted to get out another number2 so he came to the meeting to get something to put into the paper2 but the power of the ,lord was present4 ,it says here in this chapter 7,luke #e7 that the ,pharisees1 scribes1 and doctors1 were watching the words of ,christ in that house in ,capernaum1 and that the power of the ,lord was present to heal4 ,it don't say they were healed4 ,they did not come to be healed4 ,if they had1 they would have been healed4 ,but sometimes there is a prayer of faith going up to ,god from some one1 that brings down blessings4 ,and so this man came into that meeting4 ,the power of the ,lord was present1 and the arrow of conviction went down deep into his heart4 ,he went out1 not to write a paper1 but to destroy his paper that he had written1 and so to tell what the ,holy ,ghost had done for him4 ,the ,reporter's ,story4 ,one of the most conspicuous persons at the ,brooklyn ,rink was a man of over fifty years1 a reporter1 apparently of a sensational sort4 ,one of my friends entered into conversation with him the second evening1 and found him partially intoxicated1 ribald1 sneering1 and an infidel4 ,inquiring further concerning him1 we found that he had been several times in the city jail for drunken brawls1 although originally a man of culture and polish4 ,time passed1 and on our last day at ,brooklyn the same man1 conspicuous by his commanding figure1 sat in a back seat in the ,simpson ,church4 ,my friend accosted him once more1 and this was the answer3 ,i am waiting to thank ,mr4 ,moody1 who1 under ,god1 has been the greatest blessing of my life to me4 ,i have given up my engagement1 the temptations of which are such as no ,christian can face4 ,and ,i am a ,christian--a new creature2 not reformed2 you cannot reform a drunkard2 ,i have tried that a hundred times2 but ,i am regenerated1 born again by the grace and power of ,god4 ,i have reported sermons many a time1 simply to ridicule them1 but never had the least idea what true religion meant till ,i heard ,mr4 ,moody's address on ',love and ,sympathy1' ten days ago1 and ,i would not have believed there could be so much sweetness in a lifetime as has been condensed into those ten days4 ,my children knew the change2 my wife knew it2 ,i have set up the family altar1 and the appetite for liquor has been utterly taken away1 that ,i only loathe what ,i used to love4 ,let him that standeth take heed lest he fall1 suggested my friend4 ,no1 not while ,i stand so close to the cross as ,i do to-day2 and he opened a small hymn-book1 on the fly-leaf of which was written3 ,i have set my face like a flint1 and ,i know that ,i shall not be ashamed4 ,the ,skeptical ,lady4 ,when ,mr4 ,sankey and ,i were in the north of ,england1 ,i was preaching one evening1 and before me sat a lady who was a skeptic4 ,when ,i had finished1 ,i asked all who were anxious1 to remain4 ,nearly all remained1 herself among the number4 ,i asked her if she was a ,christian1 and she said she was not1 nor did she care to be4 ,i prayed for her there4 ,on inquiry1 ,i learned that she was a lady of good social position1 but very worldly4 ,she continued to attend the meetings1 and in a week after ,i saw her in tears4 ,after the sermon1 ,i went to her and asked if she was of the same mind as before4 ,she replied that ,christ had come to her and she was happy4 ,last ,autumn ,i had a note from her husband saying she was dead1 that her love for the ,master had continually increased4 ,when ,i read that note1 ,i felt paid for crossing the ,atlantic4 ,she worked sweetly after her conversion1 and was the means of winning many of her fashionable friends to ,christ4 ,o1 may you seek the ,lord while ,he may be found1 and may you call upon ,him while ,he is near4 ,,gold4 -- ,i would rather go into the kingdom of heaven through the poor house than go down to hell in a golden chariot4 -- ,i believe there are more young men who come to ,boston who are lost because they cannot say no1 than for any other reason4 -- ,it ain't necessary to leave the things of this life when you follow ,him4 ,it is not necessary to give up your business1 if it's a legitimate one1 in order to accept ,christ4 ,but you mustn't set your heart on the old nets by a good deal4 -- ,a great many people want to bring their faith1 their works1 their good deeds to ,him for salvation4 ,bring your sins1 and ,he will bear them away into the wilderness of forgetfulness1 and you will never see them again4 -- ,do you believe that ,he would send those men out to preach the gospel to every creature unless he wanted every creature to be saved8 ,do you believe ,he would tell them to preach it to people without giving people the power to accept it8 ,do you believe the ,god of heaven is mocking men by offering them his gospel and not giving them the power to take hold of it8 ,do you believe ,he will not give men power to accept this salvation as a gift8 ,man might do that1 but ,god never mocks men4 ,and when he says ,preach the gospel to every creature1 every creature can be saved if he will4 -- ,lift your eyes from off these puny ,christians--from off these human ministers1 and look to ,christ4 ,he is the ,saviour of the world4 ,he came from the throne to this earth3 ,he came from the very bosom of the ,father4 ,god gave ,him up freely for us1 and all we have to do is to accept him as our ,saviour4 ,look at ,him at ,gethsemane1 sweating as it were great drops of blood2 look at ,him on the cross1 crucified between two thieves2 hear that piercing cry1 ,father1 ,father1 forgive them1 they know not what they do4 ,and as you look into that face1 as you look into those wounds on ,his feet or ,his hands1 will you say ,he has not the power to save you8 ,will you say ,he has not the power to redeem you8 ,illustration3 ,the ,pharisee ,and ,the ,publican4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,luke1 xviii1 #i-ad4 ,illustration3 ,deborah's ,song of ,triumph4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,judges4 ,,song ,,stories4 ,hold the fort1 ,for ,i am ,coming4 ,i am told that when ,general ,sherman went through ,atlanta towards the sea--through the ,southern ,states--he left in the fort in the ,kennesaw ,mountains a little handful of men to guard some rations that he brought there4 ,and ,general ,hood got into the outer rear and attacked the fort1 drove the men in from the outer works into the inner works1 and for a long time the battle raged fearfully4 ,half of the men were either killed or wounded2 the general who was in command was wounded seven different times2 and when they were about ready to run up the white flag and surrender the fort1 ,sherman got within fifteen miles1 and through the signal corps on the mountain he sent the message3 ,hold the fort2 ,i am coming4 ,w4 ,t4 ,sherman4 ,that message fired up their hearts1 and they held the fort till reinforcements came1 and the fort did not go into the hands of their enemies4 ,our friend1 ,mr4 ,bliss1 has written a hymn entitled ,hold the fort for ,i am coming1 and ,i'm going to ask ,mr4 ,sankey to sing that hymn4 ,i hope there will be a thousand young converts coming into our ranks to help hold the fort4 ,our ,saviour is in command1 and ,he is coming4 ,let us take up the chorus4 ,ho6 my comrades1 see the signal ,waving in the sky6 ,reinforcements now appearing1 ,victory is nigh6 ,,cho4-- ,hold the fort1 for ,i am coming1 ,jesus signals still4 ,wave the answer back to heaven1 ,by ,thy grace we will4 ,see the mighty hosts advancing1 ,satan leading on2 ,mighty men around us falling1 ,courage almost gone4--,cho ,see the glorious banner waving ,hear the bugle blow4 ,in our ,leader's name we'll triumph ,over every foe4--,cho4 ,fierce and long the battle rages1 ,but our ,help is near2 ,onward comes our ,great ,commander1 ,cheer1 my comrades1 cheer6--,cho4 ,p4 ,p4 ,bliss4 ,let the ,lower ,lights be ,burning4 ,a few years ago at the mouth of ,cleveland harbor there were two lights1 one at each side of the bay1 called the upper and lower lights2 and to enter the harbor safely by night1 vessels must sight both of the lights4 ,these western lakes are more dangerous sometimes than the great ocean4 ,one wild1 stormy night1 a steamer was trying to make her way into the harbor4 ,the ,captain and pilot were anxiously watching for the lights4 ,by and by the pilot was heard to say1 ,do you see the lower lights8 ,no1 was the reply2 ,i fear we have passed them4 ,ah1 there are the lights1 said the pilot2 and they must be from the bluff on which they stand1 the upper lights4 ,we have passed the lower lights2 and have lost our chance of getting into the harbor2 ,what was to be done8 ,they looked back1 and saw the dim outline of the lower lighthouse against the sky4 ,the lights had gone out4 ,can't you turn your head around8 ,no2 the night is too wild for that4 ,she won't answer to her helm4 ,the storm was so fearful that they could do nothing4 ,they tried again to make for the harbor1 but they went crash against the rocks1 and sank to the bottom4 ,very few escaped2 the great majority found a watery grave4 ,why8 ,simply because the lower lights had gone out4 ,now with us the upper lights are all right4 ,christ himself is the upper light1 and we are the lower lights1 and the cry to us is1 ,keep the lower lights burning2 that is what we have to do4 ,he will lead us safe to the sunlit shore of ,canaan1 where there is no more night4 ,brightly beams our ,father's mercy ,from ,his lighthouse ever more4 ,but to us ,he gives the keeping ,of the lights along the shore4 ,,cho4-- ,let the lower lights be burning6 ,send a gleam across the wave6 ,some poor fainting struggling seaman ,you may rescue1 you may save4 ,dark the night of sin has settled1 ,loud and angry billows roar2 ,eager eye's are watching1 longing1 ,for the lights along the shore4--,cho4 ,trim your feeble lamp1 my brother2 ,some poor seaman tempest-tost1 ,trying now to make the harbor1 ,in the darkness may be lost4--,cho4 ,p4 ,p4 ,,bliss4 ,more to ,follow4 ,rowland ,hill tells a good story of a rich man and a poor man in his congregation4 ,the rich man desired to do an act of benevolence1 and so he sent a sum of money to a friend to be given to this poor man as he thought best4 ,the friend1 just sent him five pounds1 and said in the note3 ,this is thine2 use it wisely2 there is more to follow4 ,after a while he sent another five pounds and said1 more to follow4 ,again and again1 he sent the money to the poor man1 always with the cheering words1 more to follow4 ,so it is with the wonderful grace of ,god4 ,there is always more to follow4 ,have you on the ,lord believed8 ,still there's more to follow2 ,of ,his grace have you received8 ,still there's more to follow2 ,oh1 the grace the ,father shows6 ,still there's more to follow1 ,freely ,he ,his grace bestows1 ,still there's more to follow4 ,,cho4-- ,more and more1 more and more1 ,always more to follow1 ,oh1 his boundless matchless love6 ,still there's more to follow4 ,have you felt the ,saviour near8 ,still there's more to follow2 ,does ,his blessed presence1 cheer8 ,still there's more to follow2 ,oh1 the love that ,jesus shows6 ,still there's more to follow1 ,freely ,he ,his love bestows1 ,still there's more to follow4--,cho4 ,have you felt the spirit's power8 ,still there's more to follow2 ,falling like the gentle shower8 ,still there's more to follow2 ,oh1 the power the spirit shows6 ,still there's more to follow1 ,freely ,he ,his power bestows1 ,still there's more to follow4--,cho4 ,p4 ,p4 ,bliss4 ,illustration3 ,daniel4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,daniel1 x4 ,illustration3 ,solomon4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,pull for the ,shore1 ,sailor4 ,a vessel was wrecked off the shore4 ,eager eyes were watching and strong arms manned the life-boat4 ,for hours they tried to reach that vessel through the great breakers that raged and foamed on the sand-bank but it seemed impossible4 ,the boat appeared to be leaving the crew to perish4 ,but after a while the ,captain and sixteen men were taken off1 and the vessel went down4 ,when the life-boat came to you1 said a friend1 did you expect it had brought some tools to repair your old ship8 ,oh1 no1 was the response2 she was a total wreck4 ,two of her masts were gone1 and if we had stayed mending her1 only a few minutes1 we must have gone down1 sir4 ,when once off the old wreck and safe in the life-boat1 what remained for you to do8 ,nothing1 sir1 but just to pull for the shore4 ,light in the darkness1 sailor1 day is at hand6 ,see o'er the foaming billows fair ,haven's land1 ,drear was the voyage1 sailor1 now almost o'er ,safe within the life-boat1 sailor1 pull for the shore4 ,,cho4-- ,pull for the shore1 sailor1 pull for the shore6 ,heed not the rolling waves1 but bend to the oar2 ,safe in the life-boat1 sailor1 cling to self no more6 ,leave the poor old stranded wreck1 and pull for the shore4 ,trust in the life-boat1 sailor1 all else will fail1 ,stronger the surges dash and fiercer the gale1 ,heed not the stormy winds1 though loudly they roar2 ,watch the bright morning star1 and pull for the shore4-,cho4 ,bright gleams the morning1 sailor1 lift up thy eye2 ,clouds and darkness disappearing1 glory is nigh6 ,safe in the life-boat1 sailor1 sing evermore2 ,glory1 glory1 hallelujah6 pull for the shore4--,cho4 ,p4 ,p4 ,,bliss4 ,,trust4 ,i ,am ,trusting ,jesus--,a ,young ,lady's ,trust4 ,the other ,sunday1 when ,i was speaking on ,trust1 a person came to me next day and said1 ,i want to tell you how ,i was saved4 ,you remember you told about that lady who sought ,christ three years and could not find ,him1 and when you told that1 it was ,i4 ,i was in that same condition and through your story ,i got light4 ,i don't think ,i have ever told it but what somebody got light and life4 ,i will tell it again1 for ,i would go up and down the world telling it if ,i could get a convert4 ,one night ,i was preaching1 and happening to cast my eyes down during the sermon1 ,i saw two eyes just riveted upon me4 ,every word that fell from my lips she just seemed to catch with her own lips1 and ,i was very anxious to go down where she was4 ,after the ,sermon ,i went to the pew and said1 ,my friend1 are you a ,christian8 ,oh1 no1 said she1 ,i wish ,i was4 ,i have been seeking ,christ three years and ,i cannot find ,him4 ,said ,i2 ,oh1 there is a great mistake about that4 ,says she1 ',do you think ,i am not in earnest8 ,do you think1 sir1 ,i have not been seeking ,christ8 ,said ,i1 ,i suppose you think you have1 but ,christ has been seeking you these twenty years1 and it would not take an anxious sinner and an anxious ,saviour three years to meet1 and if you had been really seeking ,him you would have found ,him long before this4 ,what would you do1 then8 ,said ,i1 ,do nothing1 only believe on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ and thou shalt be saved4 ,oh1 said she1 ,i have heard that till my head swims4 ,everybody says1 believe6 believe6 believe6 and ,i am none the wiser4 ,i don't know what you mean by it4 ,very well1 said ,i1 ,i will drop the word2 but just trust the ,lord ,jesus ,christ to save4 ,if ,i say ,i trust ,him1 will ,he save me8 ,no1 you may do a thousand things2 but if you really trust ,him1 ,he will save you4 ,well1 said she1 ,i trust ,him1 but ,i don't feel any different4 ,ah1 said ,i1 ,i have found your difficulty4 ,you have been hunting for feeling all these three years4 ,you have not been looking for ,christ4 ,says she1 ,christians tell how much joy they have got4 ,but1 said ,i1 you want ,christian experience before you get one4 ,instead of trusting ,god1 you are looking for ,christian experience4 ,then ,i said3 ,right here in this pew1 just commit yourself to the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and trust ,him1 and you will be saved1 and ,i held her right to that word trust1 which is the same as the word believe in the ,old ,testament4 ,you know what it is to trust a friend4 ,cannot you trust ,god as a friend8 ,she looked at me for five minutes1 it seemed1 and then said slowly3 ,mr4 ,moody1 ,i trust the ,lord ,jesus ,christ this night to save my soul4 ,turning to the pastor of the church she took him by the hand and repeated the declaration4 ,turning to an elder in the church she said again the solemn words1 and near the door1 meeting another officer of the church1 she repeated for the fourth time1 ,i am trusting ,jesus1 and went off home4 ,the next night when ,i was preaching ,i saw her right in front of me1 ,eternity written in her eyes1 her face lighted up1 and when ,i asked inquirers to go into the other room she was the first to go in4 ,i wondered at it1 for ,i could see by her face that she was in the joy of the ,lord4 ,but when ,i got in ,i found her with her arms around a young lady's neck1 and ,i heard her say1 ,it is only just trusting4 ,i stumbled over it three years and found it all in trusting2 and the three weeks ,i was there she led more souls to ,christ than anybody else4 ,if ,i got a difficult case ,i would send it to her4 ,oh1 my friends1 won't you trust ,him8 ,let us put our trust in ,him4 ,mrs4 ,moody ,teaching her ,child4 ,there was a time when our little boy did not like to go to church1 and would get up in the morning and say to his mother1 ,what day is to-morrow8 ,tuesday4 ,next day8 ,wednesday4 ,next day8 ,thursday2 and so on1 till he came to the answer1 ,sunday4 ,dear me1 he said4 ,i said to the mother1 ,we cannot have our boy grow up to hate ,sunday in this way2 that will never do4 ,that is the way ,i used to feel when ,i was a boy4 ,i used to look upon ,sunday with a certain amount of dread4 ,very few kind words were associated with the day4 ,i don't know that the minister ever put his hand on my head4 ,i don't know that the minister even noticed me1 unless it was when ,i was asleep in the gallery1 and he woke me up4 ,this kind of thing won't do2 we must make the ,sunday the most attractive day of the week2 not a day to be dreaded2 but a day of pleasure4 ,well the mother took the work up with this boy4 ,bless those mothers in their work with the children4 ,sometimes ,i feel as if ,i would rather be the mother of ,john ,wesley or ,martin ,luther or ,john ,knox than have all the glories in the world4 ,those mothers who are faithful with the children ,god has given them will not go unrewarded4 ,my wife went to work and took those ,bible stories and put those blessed truths in a light that the child could comprehend1 and soon the feeling of dread for the ,sabbath with the boy was the other way1 ,what day's to-morrow8 he would ask1 ,sunday4 ,i am glad4 ,and if we make those ,bible truths interesting--break them up in some shape so that these children can get at them1 then they will begin to enjoy them4 ,,wisdom4 -- ,i remember a gentleman of ,boston1 a man high in life1 a ,congressman1 who was accustomed to carry with him little cards and distribute them wherever he went1 and on some of these cards were words like these3 ,i expect to pass through this world but once1 and therefore if there be any kindness ,i can show1 if there is anything ,i can do to make men happy1 ,i shall do it1 for ,i may not pass this way again4 -- ,a man was asked what his persuasion was4 ,he said it was the same as ,paul's4 ,i don't know what ,paul's persuasion was4 ,all persuasions claim him4 ,sankey says he is a ,methodist4 ,listen3 ,i am not ashamed1 for ,i know whom ,i believe1 and am persuaded that ,he is able to keep that which ,i have committed to ,him4 ,that is ,paul's persuasion4 ,you may call it what you have a mind to1 it is a good persuasion4 -- ,if we are going to be successful1 we have got to take our stand for ,god1 and let the world and everyone know we are on the ,lord's side4 ,i have great respect for the woman that started out during the war with a poker4 ,she heard the enemy were coming and went to resist them4 ,when some one asked her what she could do with the poker1 she said she would at least let them know what side she was on4 ,and that is what we want4 -- ,let us do all the work we can4 ,if we can't be a lighthouse1 let us be a tallow candle4 ,there used to be a period when people came to meeting bringing their candles with them4 ,the first one1 perhaps1 wouldn't make a great illumination1 but when two or three got there1 there would be more light4 ,if the people of ,boston should do that now1 if each one should come here in this ,tabernacle1 with a candle1 don't you think there would be a little light4 -- ,when ,i was a little boy ,i used to try and catch my own shadow4 ,i don't know whether any of you have ever been so foolish as that or not4 ,i could not see why the shadow always kept ahead of me4 ,once ,i happened to be racing with my face to the sun and ,i looked over my head and saw my shadow coming back of me1 and it kept behind me all the way4 ,it is the same with the ,sun of ,righteousness4 ,peace and joy will go with you while you go with your face toward ,him4 -- ,there are nine different qualities--peace1 gentleness1 long-suffering1 hope1 patience1 charity1 etc41 but you can sum them all into one1 and you have love4 ,i saw something in writing the other day bearing upon the subject which ,i just took a copy of3 ,the fruit of the ,spirit is in just one word--love4 ,joy is love exalted2 peace is love in repose1 long-suffering is love enduring1 gentleness is love in society1 goodness is love in action1 faith is love on the battle field1 meekness is love in school1 and temperance is love in training4 ,and so you can say that the fruit is all expressed by one word--love4 -- ,i believe there is a great deal more hope for a drunkard or a murderer or a gambler than there is for a lazy man4 ,i never heard of a lazy man being converted yet1 though ,i remember talking once with a minister in the back woods of ,iowa about lazy men4 ,he was all discouraged in his efforts to convert lazy men1 and ,i said to him1 ,did you ever know of a lazy man being converted8 ,yes1 said he2 ,i knew of one1 but he was so lazy that he didn't stay converted but about six weeks4 ,and that is as near as ,i ever heard of a lazy man being converted4 -- ,i remember1 ,i was talking with a man one day and an acquaintance of his came in1 and he jumped up at once and shook him by the hand--why ,i thought he was going to shake his hand out of joint1 he shook so hard--and he seemed to be so glad to see him and wanted him to stay1 but the man was in a great hurry and could not stay1 and he coaxed and urged him to stay1 but the man said no1 he would come another time2 and after that man went out my companion turned to me and said1 ,well1 he is an awful bore1 and ,i am glad he's gone4 ,well ,i began to feel that ,i was a bore too1 and ,i got out as quickly as ,i could4 ,that is not real love4 ,,word ,,pictures4 ,the ,prodigal ,son4 ,the boy got his money1 and away he went4 ,he feels very independent2 he can take care of himself2 he can work his own way4 ,i don't know where he went to4 ,perhaps he went away down to ,memphis1 and perhaps he went to ,egypt--got as far away from home as he could4 ,when he went away he soon commenced to go down to ruin4 ,when he gets down to that part of the country he suddenly becomes very popular with a certain class of men4 ,perhaps he was very popular with the men who hung around the opera house1 or the theatre1 or the billiard halls4 ,a great many courted his company4 ,perhaps he was a good talker1 perhaps he was a good singer and could sing a comic song2 perhaps he was a literary man1 and entertained them with his wit1 and all were delighted with him4 ,but as we would say1 he got to the end of his rope1 and when his money went his friends disappeared3 ,the poor fellow was in a blaze of glory while his money lasted1 but when it had gone he woke up to find himself without friends4 ,a man in ,new ,england said while his money lasted he had friends1 but when he was ruined and in prison he found out who his real friends were4 ,not one of his old friends came near him1 but the ,christian people came and spoke to him words of kindness and comfort1 and it was then he made the discovery who his true friends were4 ,so this young prodigal didn't get his eyes open till his money was all gone4 ,no one in that foreign country loved him then1 no one in that land cared for him2 but away off over those green hills there was one who loved him still4 ,it was his father1 and that father received him back4 ,the ,cross and ,crown4 ,at last ,he cried1 with a loud voice3 ,it is finished6 ,perhaps not many on earth heard it1 or cared about it when they did hear it2 but ,i can imagine there were not many in heaven who did not hear it1 and if they have bells in heaven how they must have rung out that day2 ,it is finished6 ,it is finished6 ,the ,son of ,god had died that poor sinful man might have life eternal4 ,i can imagine the angels walking through the streets of heaven crying3 ,it is finished6 and the mansions of that world ringing with the glad tidings3 ,it is finished6 ,it was the shout of victory4 ,all you have got to do is to look and be saved4 ,you have seen the waves of the sea come dashing up against a rocky shore4 ,they come up and beat against the rock1 and1 breaking into pieces1 go back to gather fresh strength1 and again they come up and beat against the rock only to be again broken into pieces4 ,and so it would seem as if the dark waves of hell had gathered all their strength together and had come beating up against the bosom of the ,son of ,god2 but he drives them all back again with that shout of a conqueror3 ,it is finished4 ,and with that shout ,he snapped the fetters of sin1 and broke the power of ,satan4 ,while ,i was at a convention in ,illinois an old man past #gj years1 got up1 and said he remembered but one thing about his father1 and that one thing followed him all through life4 ,he could not remember his death1 he had no recollection of his funeral1 but he recollected his father one winter night1 taking a little chip1 and with his pocket knife whittling out a little cross1 and with the tears in his eyes he held up that cross telling how ,god in ,his infinite love sent ,his ,son down here to redeem us1 how ,he had died on the cross for us4 ,the story of the cross followed him through life4 ,illustration3 ,the ,prodigal ,son4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,luke1 xv #aa-cb4 ,illustration3 ,christ ,stilling ,the ,tempest4 ,,gustave ,,dore4 ,matthew4 viii1 #bc-bg ,,affecting ,,incident ,,at ,,sea4 ,moody's ,love and ,prayer for #gjj ,quaking ,souls4 ,i remember clearly lying in my berth early that ,saturday morning 7,nov4 #bfth1 #ahib1 on the steamer ,spree when she was one thousand miles out from ,southampton on her way to ,new ,york71 congratulating myself that ,i had gotten passage in so swift a ship1 when my thoughts were stopped by a great crash that shook the vessel from stem to stern4 ,my son1 ,william ,revell ,moody1 jumped from his berth and rushed on deck4 ,he was back again in an instant1 crying that the shaft was broken and the ship sinking4 ,then ensued a scene the like of which ,i hope never to witness again4 ,there was no panic1 but the passengers1 who had scrambled on deck at the first warning1 looked at each other in an appealing way that was1 if anything1 more terrible than demonstrative fear4 ,the captain told us there was no danger1 and some of the second cabin passengers returned to their berths only to tumble back pellmell a moment later4 ,the rising water had driven them out4 ,some of them lost all their clothes and valuables4 ,at this point the officers buckled on their revolvers1 but there was no need to use them4 ,the people1 though terribly frightened1 did not seem to realize what had happened4 ,the women didn't scream1 but stood around trembling and with blanched faces4 ,nobody said a word1 but each waited for his neighbor to speak4 ,we felt that we might be looking on our graves4 ,the captain told us at noon that he thought he had the water under control and was in hopes of drifting in the way of some passing vessel4 ,the ship's bow was now high in the air1 while the stern seemed to settle more and more4 ,there was no storm1 but the sea1 was very rough1 and the ship rolled from side to side with fearful lurches4 ,i think that if she had pitched at all the overstrained1 bulkheads would have burst and we should have gone to the bottom4 ,the captain cheered us by telling us that he thought we should run in with a ship by #c o'clock that ,saturday afternoon1 but the night drew on and no sail appeared to lighten our gloom4 ,we knew the ship was sinking when we came on deck1 but there was no panic4 ,the big engines of the ship were all working at the pumps1 but the water was steadily gaining in spite of them4 ,with each roll of the ship it could be heard like the roar of the surf4 ,all the day was passed in anxiously watching for a sail4 ,we could not talk of religion1 for the first word brought forth a hundred exclamations1 ',are we sinking8' ,then in that first night one woman went insane4 ,it seemed an age until the ,sabbath morning came1 ,when the vigil on the deck was resumed4 ,i think that was the darkest night in all our lives4 ,none of us thought to live to see the light of another day4 ,nobody slept4 ,we were all huddled in the saloon of the first cabin--,americans and ,germans1 ,jews1 ,protestants1 ,catholics and skeptics--although at that time ,i doubt if there were many skeptics among us4 ,for forty-eight hours we were in this mortal fear4 ,sabbath morning dawned upon as wretched a ship's company as ever sailed the sea4 ,there was at that time no talk of religious services4 ,i think that if this had been suggested then there would have been a panic4 ,to talk of religion to those poor people would have been to suggest the most terrible things to them4 ,everybody was waiting for his neighbor to say3 ',are we1 then1 doomed to die8' ,but as night approached ,i gathered those #gjj quaking souls together and we held a prayer meeting4 ,i think everybody prayed4 ,there were no skeptics present4 ,i have been under fire in the war1 ,i have stood by deathbeds during the cholera epidemic in ,chicago1 but ,i never was so sorely tried4 ,i could with difficulty command my voice as ,i read the ninety-first ,psalm4 ,i read without comment1 and then ,i prayed that ,god would still the anger of the deep and bring us safely to our desired heaven4 ,the people were weeping all around me4 ,i also read from the #ajgth ,psalm4 ,we tried to sing4 ,i gave out the first verse of ',jesus1 ,lover of ,my ,soul1' and ,general ,howard started the tune4 ,he sang the hymn through in a strong voice1 but very few joined him4 ,instead1 the melody was punctuated by broken sobs and exclamation of grief4 ,that night ,i went to bed and slept1 ,i felt that everything would be all right4 ,never was a more earnest meeting held than this4 ,all prayed together1 and ,i did not hear much talk of skepticism1 ,i can tell you4 ,at #b3cj o'clock in the morning a ship's light was sighted1 and in a few hours we were comparatively safe1 although our danger was not over4 ,the strain on our minds was almost as great1 and minds gave way under it4 ,two women became violently insane and it was necessary to confine them4 ,a young man from ,vienna threw himself overboard and was drowned4 ,when we were finally safe in port we had a thanksgiving service1 and then such singing as there was--such praises that went up4 ,we prayed that the ship be brought to a haven1 and relief came on the night after our prayer meeting4 ,i am a firm believer in prayer4 ,i always have been4 ,i believe and ,i know that ,god saved the ,spree in response to our prayers4 ,,published ,,by ,,rhodes ,mc,c,l,u,r,e ,,publishing ,,co41 ,,chicago4 ,all handsomely bound in the best ,english and ,american cloths1 with full ,silver embossed side and back stamp2 uniform1 in style and binding4 ,together making a handsome library1 or1 separately1 making handsome center-table volumes4 ,,price1 #a4jj ,,each4 ,,sent ,,post-,,paid4 ,illustration3 ,portrait of ,lincoln4 ,,abraham ,,lincoln',s ,,stories ,,and ,,speeches2 in one volume1 complete ,new 7#ahig7 edition1 handsomely illustrated2 containing the many witty1 pointed and unequaled stories as told by ,mr4 ,lincoln1 including ,early life stories1 ,professional life stories1 ,white ,house and ,war stories2 also presenting the full text of the popular ,speeches of ,mr4 ,lincoln on the great questions of the age1 including his ,first ,political ,speech1 ,rail-,splitting ,speech1 ,great ,debate with ,douglas1 and his ,wonderful ,speech at ,gettysburg1 etc41 etc42 and including his two great ,inaugurals1 with many grand illustrations4 ,an instructive and valuable book2 #dgg pages4 ,illustration3 ,portrait of ,moody4 ,,moody',s ,,anecdotes2 #baj pages exclusive of engravings4 ,containing several hundred interesting stories1 told by the great evangelist1 ,d4 ,l4 ,moody1 in his wonderful work in ,europe and ,america4 ,hundreds of thousands of copies have been sold4 ,illustrated with excellent engravings of ,messrs4 ,moody1 ,sankey1 ,whittle and ,bliss1 and thirty-two full-page engravings from ,gustave ,dore1 making and artistic and handsome volume4 ,a book of anecdotes which have thrilled hundreds of thousands1--,pittsburg ,banner4 ,,moody',s ,,gospel ,,sermons4 ,as delivered by the great ,evangelist1 ,dwight ,lyman ,moody1 in his revival work in ,great ,britain and ,america1 ,together with a biography of ,mr4 ,moody and his co-laborer1 ,ira ,david ,sanke4 ,including1 also1 a short history of the ,great ,revival4 ,each sermon is illustrated with a handsome1 full page engraving from ,gustave ,dore4 ,the book also contains an engraving of ,d4 ,l4 ,moody1 ,ira ,d4 ,sankey1 ,mr4 ,moody preaching in the ,royal ,opera ,house1 ,haymarket1 ,london1 ,chicago ,tabernacle 7erected for ,mr4 ,moody's ,services7 and ,i ,am the ,way4 ,a handsome and attractive volume of #ddc pages4 ,,moody',s ,,latest ,,sermons4 ,as delivered by the great ,evangelist1 ,dwight ,lyman ,moody4 ,handsomely illustrated with twenty-four full-page engravings from ,gustave ,dore4 #cce pages4 ,,moody',s ,,child ,,stories4 ,as related by ,dwight ,lyman ,moody in his revival work4 ,handsomely illustrated with sixteen full-page engravings from ,gustave ,dore and #ajf illustrations from ,j4 ,stuart ,littlejohn4 ,a book adapted to children1 but interesting to adults4 ,a handsome volume4 ,should be in every family #bcg pages4