,,to ,,the ,,work  ,,to ,,the ,,work    
,exhortations to ,christians   ,,by  ,d4
 ,l4 ,,moody   ,fleming ,h4 ,revell     
,company  ,chicago1 ,new ,york  ,toronto
  ,publishers of ,evangelical           
,literature   ,entered according to act 
of ,congress1 in the year #ahhd  ,,by   
,f4 ,h4 ,,revell1  ,in the office of the
 ,librarian of ,congress at ,washington4
  ,,all ,,rights ,,reserved4            
,,contents4   ,,chapter ,i4  ,,take ,,ye
 ,,away ,,the ,,stone  ,,chapter ,,ii4  
,,love1 ,,the ,,motive ,,power ,,for    
,,service   ,,chapter ,,iii4  ,,faith   
,,and ,,courage   ,,chapter ,,iv4       
,,faith ,,rewarded   ,,chapter ,v4      
,,enthusiasm   ,,chapter ,,vi4  ,,the   
,,power ,,of ,,little ,,things          
,,chapter ,,vii4  ,,she ,,hath ,,done   
,,what ,,she ,,could   ,,chapter ,,viii4
  ,,who ,,is ,,my ,,neighbor8           
,,chapter ,,ix4  ,,ye ,,are ,,the       
,,light ,,of ,,the ,,world    ,,to ,,the
 ,,work6 ,,to ,,the ,,work6   ,,chapter 
,i4   ,,take ,,ye ,,away ,,the ,,stone4 

,in the gospel by ,john we read that at 
the tomb of ,lazarus our ,lord said to  
,his disciples1 ,take ye away the stone4
 ,before the act of raising ,lazarus    
could be performed1 the disciples had   
their part to do4 ,christ could have    
removed the stone with a word4 ,it would
 have been very easy for ,him to have   
commanded it to roll away1 and it would 
have obeyed ,his voice1 as the dead     
,lazarus did when ,he called him back to
 life4 ,but the ,lord would have ,his   
children learn this lesson3 that they   
have something to do towards raising the
 spiritually dead4 ,the disciples had   
not only to take away the stone1 but    
after ,christ had raised ,lazarus they  
had to loose and let him go4  ,it is a  
question if any man on the face of the  
earth has ever been converted1 without  
,god using some human instrument1 in    
some way4 ,god could easily convert men 
without us2 but that is not ,his way4   
,the stone ,i want to speak about       
to-day1 that must be rolled away before 

any great work of ,god can be brought   
about1 is the miserable stone of        
prejudice4 ,many people have a great    
prejudice against revivals2 they hate   
the very word4 ,i am sorry to say that  
this feeling is not confined to ungodly 
or careless people2 there are not a few 
,christians who seem to cherish a strong
 dislike both to the word ,revival and  
to the thing itself4  ,what does        
,revival mean8 ,it simply means a       
recalling from obscurity--a finding some
 hidden treasure and bringing it back to
 the light4 ,i think every one of us    
must acknowledge that we are living in a
 time of need4 ,i doubt if there is a   
family in the world that has not some   
relative whom they would like to see    
brought into the fold of ,god1 and who  
needs salvation4  ,men are anxious for a
 revival in business4 ,i am told that   
there is a widespread and general       
stagnation in business4 ,people are very
 anxious that there should be a revival 
of trade this winter4 ,there a great    

revival in politics just now4 ,in all   
departments of life you find that men   
are very anxious for a revival in the   
things that concern them most4  ,if this
 is legitimate--and ,i do not say but it
 is perfectly right in its place--should
 not every child of ,god be praying for 
and desiring a revival of godliness in  
the world at the present time4 ,do we   
not need a revival of downright honesty1
 of truthfulness1 of uprightness1 and of
 temperance8 ,are there not many who    
have become alienated from the ,church  
of ,god and from the house of the ,lord1
 who are forming an attachment to the   
saloon8 ,are not our sons being drawn   
away by hundreds and thousands1 so that 
while you often find the churches empty1
 the liquor shops are crowded every     
,sabbath afternoon and evening4 ,i am   
sure the saloon-keepers are glad if they
 can have a revival in their business2  
they do not object to sell more whisky  
and beer4 ,then surely every true       
,christian ought to desire that men who 

are in danger of perishing eternally    
should be saved and rescued4  ,some     
people seem to think that ,revivals are 
a modern invention--that they have only 
been known within the last few years4   
,but they are nothing new4 ,if there is 
not ,scriptural authority for revivals1 
then ,i cannot understand my ,bible4    
,for the first #b1jjj years of the      
world's history they had no revival that
 we know of2 probably1 if they had1     
there would have been no ,flood4 ,the   
first real awakening1 of which we read  
in the ,old ,testament1 was when ,moses 
was sent down to ,egypt to bring his    
brethren out of the house of bondage4   
,when ,moses went down to ,goshen1 there
 must have been a great commotion there2
 many things were done out of the usual 
order4 ,when three millions of ,hebrews 
were put behind the ,blood of the ,slain
 ,lamb1 that was nothing but ,god       
reviving ,his work among them4  ,under  
,joshua there was a great revival2 and  
again under the ,judges4 ,god was       

constantly reviving the ,jewish nation  
in those olden times4 ,samuel brought   
the people to ,mizpah1 and told them to 
put away their strange gods4 ,then the  
,israelites went out and defeated the   
,philistines1 so that they never came   
back in his day4 ,dr4 ,bonar says it may
 be that ,david and ,jonathan were      
converted under that revival in the time
 of ,samuel4  ,what was it but a great  
revival in the days of ,elijah8 ,the    
people had turned away to idolatry1 and 
the prophet summoned them to ,mount     
,carmel4 ,as the multitude stood there  
on the mountain1 ,god answered by fire2 
the people fell on their faces and      
cried1 ,the ,lord1 ,he is the ,god4     
,that was the nation turning back to    
,god4 ,no doubt there were men talking  
against the work1 and saying it would   
not last4 ,that is the cry of many      
to-day1 and has been the cry for #d1jjj 
years4 ,some old ,carmelite very        
probably said in the days of ,elijah3   
,this will not be permanent4 ,so there  

are not a few in these days shaking     
their wise heads and saying the work    
will not last4  ,when we come to ,new   
,testament times1 we have the wonderful 
revival under ,john the ,baptist4 ,was  
there ever a man who accomplished so    
much in a few months1 except the ,master
 ,himself8 ,the preaching of ,john was  
like the breath of spring after a long  
and dreary winter4 ,for #djj long years 
there had been no prophet1 and darkness 
had settled down on the nation4 ,john's 
advent was like the flashing of a       
brilliant meteor that heralded the      
coming day4 ,it was not in the temple or
 in any synagogue that he preached1 but 
on the banks of the ,jordan4 ,men1      
women1 and children flocked to hear him4
 ,almost any one can get an audience in 
a crowded city1 but this was away out in
 the desert4 ,no doubt there was great  
excitement4 ,i suppose the towns and    
villages were nearly depopulated1 as    
they flocked out to hear the preaching  
of ,john4  ,people are so afraid of     

excitement4 ,when ,i went over to       
,england in #ahfg1 ,i was asked to go   
and preach at the ,derby race-course4 ,i
 saw more excitement there in one day   
than ,i have seen at all the religious  
meetings ,i ever attended in my life put
 together4 ,and yet ,i heard no one     
complaining of too much excitement4 ,i  
heard of a minister1 not long ago1 who  
was present at a public dance till after
 five o'clock in the morning4 ,the next 
,sabbath he preached against the        
excitement of revivals--the late hours1 
and so on4 ,very consistent kind of     
reasoning1 was it not8  ,then look at   
,pentecost4 ,the apostles preached1 and 
you know what the result was4 ,i suppose
 the worldly men of that day said it    
would all die away4 ,although they      
brought about the martyrdom of ,stephen 
and of ,james1 other men rose up to take
 possession of the field4 ,from the very
 place where ,stephen was slain1 ,saul  
took up the work1 and it has been going 
on ever since4  ,there are many         

professed ,christians who are all the   
time finding fault and criticising4     
,they criticise the preaching1 or the   
singing4 ,the prayers will be either too
 long or too short1 too loud1 or not    
loud enough4 ,they will find fault with 
the reading of the ,word of ,god1 or    
will say it was not the right portion4  
,they will criticise the preacher4 ,i do
 not like his style1 they say4 ,if you  
doubt what ,i say1 listen to the people 
as they go out of a revival meeting1 or 
any other religious gathering4  ,what   
did you think of the preacher8 says one4
 ,well1 ,i must confess ,i was          
disappointed4 ,i did not like his       
manner4 ,he was not graceful in his     
actions4 ,another will say3 ,he was not 
logical2 ,i like logic4 ,or another3 ,he
 did not preach enough about repentance4
 ,if a preacher does not go over every  
doctrine in every sermon people begin to
 find fault4 ,they say3 ,there was too  
much repentance1 and no ,gospel2 or1 it 
was all ,gospel1 and no repentance4 ,he 

spoke a great deal abort justification1 
but he said nothing about               
sanctification4 ,so if a man does not go
 right through the ,bible1 from ,genesis
 to ,revelation1 in one sermon1 they at 
once proceed to criticise and find      
fault4  ,the fact is1 says some one of  
this class1 the man did not touch my    
heart at all4 ,some one else will say1  
,he was all heart and no head4 ,i like a
 man to preach to my intellect4 ,or1 ,he
 appeals too much to the will2 he does  
not give enough prominence to the       
doctrine of election4 ,or1 again1 ,there
 is no backbone in his preaching2 he    
does not lay sufficient stress on       
doctrine4 ,or1 ,he is not eloquent2 and 
so on1 and so on4  ,you may find        
hundreds of such fault-finders among    
professed ,christians2 but all their    
criticism will not lead one solitary    
soul to ,christ4 ,i never preached a    
sermon yet that ,i could not pick to    
pieces and find fault with4 ,i feel that
 ,jesus ,christ ought to have a far     

better representative than ,i am4 ,but  
,i have lived long enough to discover   
that there is nothing perfect in this   
world4 ,if you are to wait until you can
 find a perfect preacher1 or perfect    
meetings1 ,i am afraid you will have to 
wait till the millennium arrives4 ,what 
we want is to be looking right up to    
,him4 ,let us get done with             
fault-finding4 ,when ,i hear people talk
 in the way ,i have described1 ,i say to
 them1 ,come and do better yourself4    
,step up here and try what you can do4  
,my friends1 it is so easy to find      
fault2 it takes neither brains nor      
heart4  ,some years ago1 a pastor of a  
little ,church in a small town became   
exceedingly discouraged1 and brooded    
over his trials to such an extent that  
he became an inveterate grumbler4 ,he   
found fault with his brethren because he
 imagined they did not treat him well4  
,a brother minister was invited to      
assist him a few days in a special      
service4 ,at the close of the ,sabbath  

morning service our unhappy brother     
invited the minister to his house to    
dinner4 ,while they were waiting alone  
in the parlor1 he began his doleful     
story by saying3 ,my brother1 you have  
no idea of my troubles2 and one of the  
greatest is1 my brethren in the ,church 
treat me very badly4 ,the other         
propounded the following questions3     
,did they ever spit in your face8  ,no2 
they haven't come to that4  ,did they   
ever smite you8 ,no4  ,did they ever    
crown you with thorns8  ,this last      
question he could not answer1 but bowed 
his head thoughtfully4 ,his brother     
replied3 ,your ,master and mine was thus
 treated1 and all ,his disciples fled   
and left ,him in the hands of the       
wicked4 ,yet ,he opened not ,his mouth4 
,the effect of this conversation was    
wonderful4 ,both ministers bowed in     
prayer and earnestly sought to possess  
the mind which was in ,christ ,jesus4   
,during the ten days' meetings the      
discontented pastor became wonderfully  

changed4 ,he labored and prayed with his
 friend1 and many souls were brought to 
,christ4 ,some weeks after1 a deacon of 
the church wrote and said3 ,your late   
visit and conversation with our pastor  
have had a wonderful influence for good4
 ,we never hear him complain now1 and he
 labors more prayerfully and zealously4 
,another charge brought against revivals
 is that they are out of the regular    
order of things4 ,well1 there is no     
doubt about that4 ,but that does not    
prove that they are wrong4 ,eldad and   
,medad were out of the regular          
succession4 ,joshua wanted ,moses to    
rebuke them4 ,instead of that he said3  
,would ,god that all the ,lord's people 
were prophets4 ,elijah and ,elisha did  
not belong to the regular school of     
prophets1 yet they exercised a mighty   
influence for good in their day4 ,john  
the ,baptist was not in the regular     
line4 ,he got his theological training  
out in the desert4 ,jesus ,christ       
,himself was out of the recognized      

order4 ,when ,philip told ,nathaniel    
that he had found the ,messiah1 he said 
to him3 ,can there any good thing come  
out of ,nazareth8  ,as we read the      
history of the past few centuries we    
find that ,god has frequently taken up  
those who were1 so to speak1 out of the 
regular line4 ,martin ,luther had to    
break through the regular order of      
things in his day before he brought     
about the mighty ,reformation4 ,there   
are now some sixty millions of people   
who adhere to the ,lutheran ,church4    
,wesley and ,whitefield were not exactly
 in the regular line1 but see what a    
mighty work they accomplished6  ,my     
friends1 when ,god works many things    
will be done out of the regular order4  
,it seems to me that will be a good     
thing4 ,there are a few who cannot be   
reached1 apparently1 through the regular
 channels1 who will come to meetings    
like these out of the usual routine4 ,we
 have got our churches1 it is true1 but 
we want to make an effort to reach the  

outlying masses who will not go to them4
 ,many will come in to these meetings   
simply because they are to be held only 
for a few days4 ,and so1 if they are to 
come at all1 they must come to a        
decision about it quickly4 ,others come 
out of idle curiosity1 or a desire to   
know what is going on4 ,and often at the
 first meeting something that is spoken 
or that is sung will touch them4 ,they  
have come under the sound of the        
,gospel2 probably they will become real 
,christians and useful members of       
society4 ,you will sometimes hear people
 say1 ,we have our churches2 if men will
 not come to them1 let them keep out4   
,that was not the spirit of the ,master4
 ,when our ,civil ,war broke out we had 
a very small standing army4 ,government 
asked for volunteers to enlist4 ,several
 hundreds of thousands of men came      
forward and joined the ranks of the     
regular army4 ,there was plenty for     
every man to do4 ,these volunteers were 
not so well trained and drilled as the  

older solders1 but we could use the     
irregulars as well as the regulars4     
,many of the former soon became         
efficient soldiers1 and these volunteers
 did great service in the cause of the  
nation4 ,if the outlying masses of the  
people are to be reached we must have   
the regulars and the irregulars both4   
,i remember hearing of a ,sunday-school 
in our country where the teacher had got
 into ruts4 ,a young man was placed in  
charge as ,superintendent1 and he wanted
 to re-arrange the seats4 ,some of the  
older members said the seats had been in
 their present position for so many     
years1 that they could not be moved6    
,there is a good deal of that kind of   
spirit nowadays4 ,it seems to me that if
 one method is not successful we ought  
to give it up and try some other plan   
that may be more likely to succeed4 ,if 
the people will not come to the regular 
means of grace1 let us adopt some means 
that will reach them and win them4  ,do 
not let us be finding fault because     

things are not done exactly as they have
 been done in the past1 and as we think 
they ought to be done4 ,i am sick and   
tired of those who are constantly       
complaining4 ,let us pay no heed to     
them1 but let us go forward with the    
work that ,god has given us to do4      
,another very serious charge is brought 
against revivals4 ,they say the work    
will not last4 ,as ,i have said there   
were doubtless many at the day of       
,pentecost who said that4 ,and when     
,stephen was stoned to death1 ,james    
beheaded1 and finally all the apostles  
put to death1 no doubt they said that   
,pentecost was a stupendous failure4    
,but was it a failure8 ,are not the     
fruits of that revival at ,pentecost to 
be seen even in our time8  ,in the sight
 of the world the mission of ,john the  
,baptist may have been thought to be a  
failure when he was beheaded by the     
command of ,herod4 ,but it was not a    
failure in the sight of heaven4 ,the    
influence of this wilderness prophet is 

felt in the ,church of ,god to-day4 ,the
 world thought ,christ's life was a     
failure as ,he hung on the ,cross and   
expired4 ,but in the sight of ,god it   
was altogether different4 ,god made the 
wrath of men to praise ,him4  ,i have   
little sympathy with those pastors who1 
when ,god is reviving the ,churches1    
begin to preach against revivals4 ,there
 is not a denomination in ,christendom  
to-day that has not sprung out of a     
revival4 ,the ,roman ,catholics and the 
,episcopalians both claim to be         
apostolic in their origin2 if they are1 
they sprang out of the revival at       
,pentecost4 ,the ,methodist body rose   
out of revivals under ,john ,wesley and 
,george ,whitefield4 ,did not the       
,lutheran ,church come from the great   
awakening that swept through ,germany in
 the days of ,luther8 ,was not ,scotland
 stirred up through the preaching of    
,john ,knox8 ,where did the ,quakers    
come from if not from the work of ,god  
under ,george ,fox8 ,yet people are so  

afraid if the regular routine of things 
is going to be disturbed4 ,let us pray  
that ,god may raise up many who will be 
used by ,him for the reviving of ,his   
,church in our day4 ,i think the time   
has come when we need it4  ,i remember  
we went into one place where one of the 
ministers found that his ,church was    
opposed to his taking part in the       
meetings4 ,he was told that if he       
identified himself with the movement he 
would alienate some of his congregation4
 ,he took the ,church record and found  
that four-fifths of the members of the  
,church had been converted in times of  
revival1 among others the               
,superintendent of the ,sabbath-school1 
all the officers of the ,church1 and    
nearly every active member4 ,the        
minister went into the ,church the      
following ,sabbath and preached a sermon
 on revivals1 reminding them of what had
 taken place in the history of the      
congregation4 ,you will find that many  
who talk against revivals have          

themselves been converted in such a     
time4  ,not long ago a very able        
minister preached a sermon against these
 awakenings2 he did not believe in them4
 ,some of his people searched the       
,church records to see how many during  
the previous twelve years had been added
 to the membership on profession of     
their faith2 they found that not a      
single soul had joined the ,church all  
these years on profession of faith4 ,no 
wonder the minister of a ,church like   
that preached against revivals6  ,my    
experience has been that those who are  
converted in a time of special religious
 interest make even stronger ,christians
 than those who were brought into the   
,church at ordinary times4 ,one young   
convert helps another1 and they get a   
better start in the ,christian life when
 there are a good many together4        
,people say the converts sill not hold  
out4 ,well1 they did not all hold out   
under the preaching of ,jesus ,christ4  
,many of ,his disciples went back and   

walked no more with ,him4 ,paul mourned 
over the fact that some of those who    
made profession were walking as the     
enemies of the ,cross of ,christ4 ,the  
,master taught in ,his wonderful parable
 that there are various kinds of        
hearers--those represented by the       
wayside hearers1 the stony ground       
hearers1 the thorny ground hearers1 and 
the good ground hearers2 they will      
remain to the end of time4 ,i have a    
fruit tree at my home1 and every year it
 has so many blossoms that if they      
should all produce apples the tree would
 break down4 ,nine-tenths1 perhaps1 of  
the blossoms will fall off1 and yet ,i  
have a large number of apples4  ,so     
there are many who make a profession of 
,christianity who fall away4 ,it may be 
that those who seemed to promise the    
fairest turn out the worst1 and those   
who did not promise so well turn out    
best in the end4 ,god must prepare the  
ground and ,he must give the increase4  
,i have often said that if ,i had to    

convict men of sin ,i would have given  
up the work long ago4 ,that is the work 
of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,what we have to do
 is to scatter the good seed of the     
,word1 and expect that ,god will bless  
it to the saving of men's souls4  ,of   
course we cannot expect much help from  
those who are all the time talking      
against revivals4 ,i believe many young 
disciples are chilled through by those  
who condemn these special efforts4 ,if  
the professed converts sometimes do not 
hold out1 it is not always their own    
fault4  ,i was preaching in a certain   
city some time ago1 and a minister said 
to me3 ,i hope this work will not turn  
out like the revival here five years    
ago4 ,i took one hundred converts into  
the ,church1 and1 with the exception of 
one or two1 ,i do not know where they   
are today4 ,this was discouraging4 ,i   
mentioned it to another minister in the 
same city1 and ,i said ,i would rather  
give up the work1 and go back to        
business1 if the work was not going to  

last4 ,he said to me3 ,i took in one    
hundred converts at the same time1 and  
,i can lay my hand on ninety-eight out  
of the hundred4 ,for five years ,i have 
watched them1 and only two have fallen  
away4 ,then he asked me if his brother  
minister had told me what took place in 
his ,church after they brought in those 
young converts4 ,some of them thought   
they ought to have a better ,church1 and
 they got divided among themselves2 so  
nearly all the members left the ,church4
 ,if anyone will but engage heartily in 
this work they will have enough to      
encourage them4  ,it is very easy for   
men to talk against a work like this4   
,but we generally find that such people 
not only do nothing at all themselves1  
but they know nothing about that which  
they are criticising4 ,surely it is     
hardly fair to condemn a work that we   
have not been at the trouble to become  
personally acquainted with4 ,if1 instead
 of sitting on the platform and simply  
looking on or criticising1 such persons 

would get down among the people and talk
 to them about their souls1 they would  
soon find out whether the work was real 
or not4  ,i remember hearing of a man   
who returned from a residence in ,india4
 ,he was out at dinner one day with some
 friends1 and he was asked about        
,missions2 he said he had never seen a  
native convert all the time he was in   
,india4 ,a missionary who was present   
did not reply directly to the statement1
 but he quietly asked the sceptical     
,englishman if he had seen any tigers in
 ,india4 ,the man rubbed his hands1 as  
if the recollection gave him a good deal
 of pleasure1 and said3 ,tigers6 ,yes1  
,i should think so4 ,i have shot a good 
many of them4 ,said the missionary1     
,well1 ,i was in ,india for a number of 
years and never saw a tiger4 ,the fact  
was that the one had been looking for   
converts and the other for tigers1 and  
they both found what they looked for4   
,if we look for converts we shall find  
them2 there is no doubt about that4 ,but

 the truth is that in almost every case 
those who talk against revivals know    
nothing whatever about it from personal 
contact and experience4 ,do you suppose 
that the young converts are going round 
to your house and knock at the door to  
tell you they have been converted8 ,if  
you wish to find out the truth you must 
go among them in their homes and talk to
 them4  ,i hope no one will be afraid of
 the ,inquiry ,room4 ,at one of the     
places where ,i worked once ,i found a  
good many people who hated the very word
 ,inquiry ,room4 ,but ,i contend that it
 is a perfectly reasonable thing4 ,when 
a boy is at school and cannot solve some
 problem in algebra1 he asks help of    
some one who knows it4 ,here is the     
great problem of eternal life that has  
to be solved by each of us4 ,why should 
we not ask those who are more           
experienced than ourselves to help us if
 they can4 ,if we have any difficulty we
 cannot overcome1 probably we shall find
 some ,godly man or woman who had the   

same difficulty twenty years ago2 they  
will be glad to help us1 and tell us how
 they were enabled to surmount it4 ,do  
not be afraid therefore to let them help
 you4  ,i believe there is not a living 
soul who has a spiritual difficulty but 
there is some promise in the ,word of   
,god to meet that difficulty4 ,but if   
you keep your feelings and your troubles
 all locked up1 how are you to be       
helped8 ,i might stand here and preach  
to you right on for thirty days and not 
touch your particular difficulty4 ,but  
twenty minutes' private conversation may
 clear away all your doubts and         
troubles4  ,there was a lady who worked 
in the ,inquiry ,room when we were in   
the south of ,london nine years ago4 ,i 
saw her again a short time ago1 and she 
told me that she had a list of          
thirty-five cases of those with whom she
 conversed1 and who she thought were    
truly converted4 ,she has written       
letters to them and sent them little    
gifts at ,christmas1 and she said to me 

that so far as she could judge not a    
single one of the thirty-five had       
wandered away4 ,she has placed her life 
alongside of theirs all these years1 and
 she has been able to be a blessing to  
them4  ,if we had a thousand such       
persons1 by the help of ,god we should  
see signs and wonders4 ,there is no     
class of people1 however hopeless or    
degraded1 but can be reached1 only we   
must lay ourselves out to reach them4   
,many ,christians are asleep2 we want to
 arouse them1 so that they shall take a 
personal interest in those who are      
living in carelessness and sin4 ,let us 
lay aside all our prejudices4 ,if ,god  
is working it matters little whether or 
not the work is done in the exact way   
that we would like to see it done1 or in
 the way we have seen it done in the    
past4  ,let there be one united cry     
going up to ,god1 that ,he will revive  
,his work in our midst4 ,let the work of
 revival begin with us who are          
,christians4 ,let us remove all the     

hindrances that come from ourselves4    
,then1 by the help of the ,spirit1 we   
shall be able to reach these non-church 
goers1 and multitudes will be brought   
into the kingdom of ,god4     ,,chapter 
,,ii4  ,,love1 ,,the ,,motive ,,power   
,,for ,,service4   ,let me call your    
attention to ,paul's first letter to the
 ,corinthians1 thirteenth chapter3 ,in  
reading this passage let us use the word
 love instead of charity3--,though ,i   
speak with the tongues of men and of    
angels1 and have not love1 ,i am become 
as sounding brass1 or a tinkling cymbal4
 ,and though ,i have the gift of        
prophecy1 and understand all mysteries1 
and all knowledge3 and though ,i have   
all faith1 so that ,i could remove      
mountains1 and have not love1 ,i am     
nothing4 ,and though ,i bestow all my   
goods to feed the poor1 and though ,i   
give my body to be burned1 and have not 
love1 it profiteth me nothing4  ,it is a
 great thing to be a prophet like       
,daniel1 or ,isaiah1 or ,elijah1 or     

,elisha2 but it is a greater thing1 we  
are told here1 to be full of love than  
to be filled with the spirit of         
prophecy4 ,mary of ,bethany1 who was so 
full of love1 held a higher position    
than these great prophets did4  ,love   
suffereth long1 and is kind2 love       
envieth not2 love vaunteth not itself1  
is not puffed up2 ,doth not behave      
itself unseemly1 seeketh not her own1 is
 not easily provoked1 thinketh no evil2 
rejoiceth not in iniquity1 but rejoiceth
 in the truth2 beareth all things1      
believeth all things1 hopeth all things1
 endureth all things4 ,love never       
faileth2 but whether there be           
prophecies1 they shall fail2 whether    
there be tongues1 they shall cease3     
whether there be knowledge1 it shall    
vanish away4 ,and now abideth faith1    
hope1 love1 these three2 but the        
greatest of these is love4  ,the enemy  
had got into that little ,church at     
,corinth established by ,paul1 and there
 was strife among the disciples4 ,one   

said1 ,i am of ,apollos2 another1 ,i am 
of ,cephas2 and another1 ,i am of ,paul4
 ,paul saw that this sectarian strife   
and want of love among ,god's dear      
people would be disastrous to the       
,church of ,god1 and so he wrote this   
letter4 ,i have often said that if every
 true believer could move into this     
chapter and live in the spirit of it for
 twelve months1 the ,church of ,god     
would double its numbers within that    
time4 ,one of the great obstacles in the
 way of ,god's work to-day is this want 
of love among those who are the         
disciples of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4  
,if we love a person we will not be     
pointing out his failings all the time4 
,it is said3 ,many rules of eloquence   
have been set forth1 but1 strange1 to   
say1 the first and most essential of all
 has been overlooked1 namely1 love4 ,to 
address men well they must be loved     
much4 ,whatever they may be1 be they    
ever so guilty1 or indifferent1 or      
ungrateful1 or however deeply sunk in   

crime1 before all1 and above all1 they  
must be loved4 ,love is the sap of the  
,gospel1 the secret of lively and       
effectual preaching1 the magic power of 
eloquence4 ,the end of preaching is to  
reclaim the hearts of men to ,god1 and  
nothing but love can find out the       
mysterious avenues which lead to the    
heart4 ,if then you do not feel a       
fervent love and profound pity for      
humanity1 be assured that the gift of   
,christian eloquence has been denied    
you4 ,you will not win souls1 neither   
will you acquire that most excellent of 
earthly sovereignties--sovereignty over 
human hearts4 ,an ,arab proverb runs    
thus--',the neck is bent by the sword1  
but heart is only bent by heart4' ,love 
is irresistible4  ,look at these words3 
,love suffereth long1 and is kind2 love 
envieth not4 ,how often it happens that 
if one outshines another there is apt to
 be envy in our hearts toward that one2 
we want a great deal of grace to keep it
 down4 ,love vaunteth not itself1 is not

 puffed up4 ,one of the worst enemies   
that ,christians have to contend with is
 this spirit of rivalry--this feeling1  
,who shall be the greatest8  ,some years
 ago ,i read a book that did me a great 
deal of good4 ,it was entitled1 ,the    
,training of the ,twelve4 ,the writer   
said that ,christ spent most of ,his    
time during the three years ,he was     
engaged publicly about ,his ,father's   
business in training twelve men4 ,the   
training ,he gave them was very         
different from the training of the      
schools at the present day4 ,the world  
teaches men that they must seek to be   
great2 ,christ taught that ,his         
disciples must be little2 that in honor 
they must prefer one another2 that they 
are not to be puffed up1 not to harbor  
feelings of envy1 but to be full of     
meekness and gentleness1 and lowliness  
of heart4  ,when an eminent painter was 
requested to paint ,alexander the ,great
 so as to give a perfect likeness of the
 ,macedonian conqueror1 he felt a       

difficulty4 ,alexander1 in his wars1 had
 been struck by a sword1 and across his 
forehead was an immense scar4 ,the      
painter said3 ,if ,i retain the scar1 it
 will be an offense to the admirers of  
the monarch1 and if ,i omit it it will  
fail to be a perfect likeness4 ,what    
shall ,i do8 ,he hit upon a happy       
expedient2 he represented the ,emperor  
leaning on his elbow1 with his          
forefinger upon his brow1 accidentally1 
as it seemed1 covering the scar upon his
 forehead4 ,might not we represent each 
other with the finger of charity upon   
the scar1 instead of representing the   
scar deeper and blacker than it really  
is8 ,christians may learn even from     
heathendom a lesson of charity1 of human
 kindness and of love4  ,this spirit of 
seeking to be the greatest has nearly   
ruined the ,church of ,god at different 
times in its history4 ,if the ,church   
had not been ,divine it would have gone 
to pieces long ago4 ,there is hardly any
 movement of reform to-day that has not 

been in danger of being thwarted and    
destroyed through this miserable spirit 
of ambition and self-seeking4 ,may ,god 
enable us to get above this1 to cast    
away our conceit and pride1 and take    
,christ as our teacher1 that ,he may    
show us in what spirit ,his work ought  
to be done4  ,one of the saddest things 
in the life of ,christ was the working  
of this spirit among ,his disciples even
 in the last hours of ,his intercourse  
with them1 and just before ,he was led  
away to be crucified4 ,we read in the   
gospel by ,luke3 ,but1 behold1 the hand 
of him that betrayeth ,me is with ,me on
 the table4 ,and truly the ,son of man  
goeth1 as it was determined3 but woe    
unto that man by whom ,he is betrayed6  
,and they began to inquire among        
themselves1 which of them it was that   
should do this thing4 ,and there was    
also a strife among them which of them  
should be accounted the greatest4 ,and  
,he said unto them1 ,the kings of the   
,gentiles exercise lordship over them2  

and they that exercise authority upon   
them are called benefactors4 ,but ye    
shall not be so3 but he that is greatest
 among you1 let him be as the younger2  
and he that is chief1 as he that doth   
serve4 ,for whether is greater1 he that 
sitteth at meat1 or he that serveth8 ,is
 not he that sitteth at meat8 ,but ,i am
 among you as ,he that serveth4  ,right 
there1 on that memorable night when ,he 
had instituted the ,last ,supper1 after 
they had been eating of the ,passover   
,lamb1 and the ,saviour was on ,his way 
to the ,cross1--even there this spirit  
arose among them3 ,who should be the    
greatest6  ,there is a charming         
tradition connected with the site on    
which the temple of ,solomon was        
erected4 ,it is said to have been       
occupied in common by two brothers1 one 
of whom had a family--the other had     
none4 ,on this spot was sown a field of 
wheat4 ,on the evening succeeding the   
harvest--the wheat having been gathered 
in separate shocks--the elder brother   

said to his wife3 ,my younger brother is
 unable to bear the burden and heat of  
the day1 ,i will arise1 take of my      
shocks1 and place with his without his  
knowledge4 ,the younger brother being   
actuated by the same benevolent motives1
 said within himself3 ,my elder brother 
has a family1 and ,i have none4 ,i will 
arise1 take of my shocks1 and place it  
with his4  ,judge of their mutual       
astonishment1 when1 on the following    
day1 they found their respective shocks 
undiminished4 ,this course of events    
transpired for several nights1 when each
 resolved in his own mind to stand guard
 and solve the mystery4 ,they did so2   
when1 on the following night1 they met  
each other half way between their       
respective shocks with their arms full4 
,upon ground hallowed by such           
associations as this was the temple of  
,solomon erected--so spacious and       
magnificent--the wonder and admiration  
of the world6 ,alas6 in these days1 how 
many would sooner steal their brother's 

whole shock than add to it a single     
sheaf6  ,if we want to be wise in       
winning souls and to be vessels meet for
 the ,master's use we must get rid of   
the accursed spirit of self-seeking4    
,that is the meaning of this chapter in 
,paul's letter4 ,he told these          
,corinthians that a man might be full of
 faith and zeal2 he might be very       
benevolent2 but if he had not love he   
was like sounding brass and a tinkling  
cymbal4 ,i believe many men might as    
well go into the pulpit and blow a tin  
horn ,sabbath after ,sabbath as go on   
preaching without love4 ,a man may      
preach the truth2 he may be perfectly   
sound in doctrine2 but if there is no   
love in his heart going out to those    
whom he addresses1 and if he is doing it
 professionally1 the ,apostle says he is
 only a sounding brass4  ,it is not     
always more work that we want so much as
 a better motive4 ,many of us do a good 
deal of work1 but we must remember that 
,god looks at the motive4 ,the only tree

 on this earth that can produce fruit   
which is pleasing to ,god is the tree of
 love4  ,paul in writing to ,titus says3
 ,speak thou the things which become    
sound doctrine3 that the aged men be    
sober1 grave1 temperate1 sound in faith1
 in charity1 7or love7 in patience4     
,what is the worth of a sermon1 however 
sound in doctrine it may be1 if it be   
not sound in love and in patience8 ,what
 are our prayers worth without the      
spirit of love8 ,people say3 ,why is it 
that there is no blessing8 ,our         
minister's sermons and prayers are very 
good4 ,most likely you will find it is  
because the whole thing is done         
professionally4 ,the words glisten like 
icicles in the sun1 and they are as     
cold4 ,there is not a spark of love in  
them4 ,if that is the case there will be
 very little power4 ,you may have your  
prayer-meetings1 your praise meetings1  
your faith and hope meetings2 you may   
talk about all these things2 but if     
there is no love mingled with them1 ,god

 says you are as sounding brass and a   
tinkling cymbal4  ,now a man may be a   
very good doctor and yet have no love   
for his patients4 ,he may be a very     
clever and successful lawyer and yet    
have no love for his clients4 ,a        
merchant may prosper greatly in business
 without caring at all about his        
customers4 ,a man may be able to explain
 the wonderful mysteries of science or  
theology without any love4 ,but no man  
can be a true worker for ,god1 and a    
successful winner of souls without love4
 ,he may be a great preacher in the eyes
 of the world and have crowds flocking  
to hear him1 but if love to ,god and to 
souls is not the motive power1 the      
effects will all pass away like the     
morning cloud and the early dew4  ,it is
 said when the men of ,athens went to   
hear ,demosthenes they were always      
moved1 and felt that they must go and   
fight ,philip of ,macedon4 ,there was   
another orator of that day who could    
carry them away by his eloquence at the 

time1 but when the oration was over1 all
 the influence had gone2 it was nothing 
but fine words4 ,so a man may be very   
eloquent and have a great flow of       
language2 he may sway the multitudes    
while they are under his influence2 but 
if there is no love at the back of what 
he says1 it will all go for nothing4 ,it
 was ,demosthenes' love for his country 
that stirred him1 and then he stirred   
the people4  ,when we get on to the     
higher plane of love it will not be hard
 for us to work for the ,lord4 ,we will 
be glad to do anything1 however small4  
,god hates the great things in which    
love is not the motive power2 but ,he   
delights in the little things that are  
prompted by a feeling of love4 ,a cup of
 cold water given to a disciple in the  
spirit of love1 is of far more value in 
,god's sight than the taking of a       
kingdom1 done out of ambition and vain  
glory4  ,i am getting sick and tired of 
hearing the word1 duty1 duty4 ,you hear 
so many talk about it being their duty  

to do this and do that4 ,my experience  
is that such ,christians have very      
little success4 ,is there not a much    
higher platform than that of mere duty8 
,can we not engage in the service of    
,christ because we love ,him8 ,when that
 is the constraining power it is so easy
 to work4 ,it is not hard for a mother  
to watch over a sick child4 ,she does   
not look upon it as any hardship4 ,you  
never hear ,paul talking about what a   
hard time he had in his ,master's       
service4 ,he was constrained by love to 
,christ1 and by the love of ,christ to  
him4 ,he counted it a joy to labor1 and 
even to suffer1 for his blessed ,master4
  ,perhaps you say ,i ought not to talk 
against duty2 because a good deal of    
work would not be done at all if it were
 not done from a sense of duty4 ,but ,i 
want you to see what a poor1 low motive 
that is1 and how you may reach a higher 
plane of service4  ,i am thinking of    
going back to my home soon4 ,i have in  
my mind an old1 white-haired mother     

living on the banks of the ,connecticut 
river1 in the same little town where she
 has been for the last eighty years4    
,suppose when ,i return ,i take her some
 present1 and when ,i give it to her ,i 
say3 ,you have been so very kind to me  
in the past that ,i thought it was my   
duty to bring you a present4 ,what would
 she think8 ,but how different it would 
be when ,i give it to her because of my 
strong love to her4 ,how much more she  
would value it4 ,so ,god wants ,his     
children to serve ,him for something    
else than mere duty4 ,he does not want  
us to feel that it is a hard thing to do
 ,his will4  ,take an army that fights  
because it is compelled to do so2 they  
will not gain many victories4 ,but how  
different when they are full of love for
 their country and for their commanders4
 ,then nothing can stand before them4   
,do not think you can do any work for   
,christ and hope to succeed if you are  
not impelled by love4  ,napoleon tried  
to establish a kingdom by the force of  

arms4 ,so did ,alexander the ,great1 and
 ,caesar1 and other great warriors2 but 
they utterly failed4 ,jesus founded ,his
 kingdom on love1 and it is going to    
stand4 ,when we get on to this plane of 
love1 then all selfish and unworthy     
motives will disappear1 and our work    
will stand the fire when ,god shall put 
it to the test4  ,another thing ,i want 
you to bear in mind4 ,love never looks  
to see what it is going to get in       
return4 ,in the ,gospel by ,matthew we  
read of the parable of the man who went 
out to hire laborers that he might send 
them to work in his vineyard4 ,after he 
had hired and sent out some in the      
morning1 we are told that he found      
others standing idle later in the day1  
and he sent them also4 ,it so happened  
that those who went out last got back   
first4 ,those that went out early in the
 morning supposed they would get more   
wages than those that went at the       
eleventh hour1 and when they found they 
were only to get the same1 they began to

 murmur and complain4 ,but what was the 
good man's answer3 ,friend1 ,i do thee  
no wrong2 didst not thou agree with me  
for a penny8 ,take that thine is1 and go
 thy way2 ,i will give unto this last1  
even as unto thee4 ,is it not lawful for
 me to do what ,i will with mine own8   
,is thine eye evil1 because ,i am good8 
,so the last shall be first1 and the    
first last4 ,i have generally found that
 those workers who are all the time     
looking to see how much they are going  
to get from the ,lord are never         
satisfied4 ,but love does its work and  
makes no bargain4 ,let us make no       
bargains with the ,lord1 but be ready to
 go out and do whatever ,he appoints4   
,i am sure if we go out cherishing love 
in our hearts for those we are going to 
try and reach1 every barrier will be    
swept out of the way4 ,love begets love1
 just as hatred begets hatred4 ,love is 
the key to the human heart4 ,some one   
has said3 ,light is for the mind1 and   
love is for the heart4 ,when you can    

reach men's hearts then you can turn    
them toward ,christ4 ,but we must first 
win them to ourselves4  ,you may have   
heard of the boy whose home was near a  
wood4 ,one day he was in the wood1 and  
he thought he heard the voice of another
 boy not far off4 ,he shouted1 ,hallo1  
there6 and the voice shouted back1      
,hallo1 there6 ,he did not know that it 
was the echo of his own voice1 and he   
shouted again3 ,you are a mean boy6     
,again the cry came back1 ,you are a    
mean boy6 ,after some more of the same  
kind of thing he went into the house and
 told his mother that there was a bad   
boy in the wood4 ,his mother1 who       
understood how it was1 said to him3 ,oh1
 no6 ,you speak kindly to him1 and see  
if he does not speak kindly to you4 ,he 
went to the wood again and shouted3     
,hallo1 there6 ,hallo1 there6 ,you are a
 good boy4 ,of course the reply came1   
,you are a good boy4 ,i love you4 ,i    
love you1 said the other voice4  ,you   
smile at that1 but this little story    

explains the secret of the whole thing4 
,some of you perhaps think you have bad 
and disagreable neighbors2 most likely  
the trouble is with yourself4 ,if you   
love your neighbors they will love you4 
,as ,i said before1 love is the key that
 will unlock every human heart4 ,there  
is no man or woman in all this land so  
low and so degraded but you can reach   
them with love1 gentleness and kindness4
 ,it may take years to do it1 but it can
 be done4  ,love must be active4 ,as    
some one has said3 ,a man may hoard up  
his money2 he may bury his talents in a 
napkin2 but there is one thing he cannot
 hoard up1 and that is love4 ,you cannot
 bury it4 ,it must flow out4 ,it cannot 
feed upon itself2 it must have an       
object4  ,i remember reading a few years
 ago of something that happened when we 
had the yellow fever in one of the      
,southern cities4 ,there was a family   
there who lived in a strange            
neighborhood where they had just moved4 
,the father was stricken down with the  

fever4 ,there were so many fatal cases  
happening that the authorities of the   
city did not stop to give them a decent 
burial4 ,the dead-cart used to go       
through the street where the poor lived1
 and the bodies were carried away for   
burial4  ,the neighbors of this family  
were afraid1 and no one would visit the 
house because of the fever4 ,it was not 
long before the mother was stricken     
down4 ,before she died she called her   
boy to her1 and said3 ,i will soon be   
gone1 but when ,i am dead ,jesus will   
come and take care of you4 ,she had no  
one on earth to whom she could commit   
him4 ,in a little while she1 too1 was   
gone1 and they carried her body away to 
the cemetery4 ,the little fellow        
followed her to the grave4 ,he saw where
 they laid her1 and then he came back to
 the house4  ,but he found it very      
lonely1 and when it grew dark he got    
afraid and could not stay in the house4 
,he went out and sat down on the step   
and began to weep4 ,finally he went back

 to the cemetery1 and finding the lot   
where his mother was buried1 he laid    
down and wept himself to sleep4  ,next  
morning a stranger passing that way     
found him on the grave1 still weeping4  
,what are you doing here1 my boy8       
,waiting for the ,savior4 ,the man      
wanted to know what he meant1 and the   
boy told the story of what his mother   
had said to him4 ,it touched the heart  
of the stranger1 and he said1 ,well1 my 
boy1 ,jesus has sent me to take care of 
you4 ,the boy looked up and replied3    
,you have been a long while coming4  ,if
 we had the love of our ,master do you  
tell me that these outlying masses would
 not be reached8 ,there is not a        
drunkard who would not be reached4      
,there is not a poor fallen one1 or a   
blasphemer1 or an atheist1 but would be 
influenced for good4 ,the atheists      
cannot get over the power of love4 ,it  
will upset atheism and every false      
system quicker than anything else4      
,nothing will break the stubborn heart  

so quickly as the love of ,christ4  ,i  
was in a certain home a few years ago2  
one of the household was a boy who1 ,i  
noticed1 was treated like one of the    
family1 and yet he did not bear their   
name4 ,one night ,i asked the lady of   
the house to explain to me what it      
meant4 ,i have noticed1 ,i said1 that   
you treat him exactly like your own     
children1 yet he is not your boy4 ,oh   
no1 she said1 he is not4 ,it is quite   
true ,i treat him as my own child4  ,she
 went on to tell me his story4 ,his     
father and mother were ,american        
missionaries in ,india2 they had five   
children4 ,the time came when the       
children had to be sent away from       
,india1 as they could not be educated   
there4 ,they were to be sent to ,america
 for that purpose4 ,the father and      
mother had been very much blessed in    
,india1 but they felt as though they    
could not give up their children4 ,they 
thought they would leave their work in  
the foreign field and go back to        

,america4  ,they were not blessed to the
 same extent in working at home as they 
had been in ,india4 ,the natives were   
writing to them to return1 and by and by
 they decided that the call was so loud 
the father must go back4 ,the mother    
said to him3 ,i cannot let you go alone2
 ,i must go with you4 ,but how can you  
leave the children8 ,you have never been
 separated from them4 ,she said3 ,i can 
do it for ,christ's sake4 ,thank ,god   
for such love as that4  ,when it was    
known they wanted to leave their        
children in good homes1 this lady with  
whom ,i was staying said to the mother  
if she left one of them with her she    
would treat the child as her own4 ,the  
mother came and stayed a week in the    
house to see that everything was right4 
,the last morning came4 ,when the       
carriage drove up to the door the mother
 said3 ,i want to leave my boy without  
shedding a tear2 ,i cannot bear to have 
him think that it costs me tears to do  
what ,god has for me to do4 ,my friend  

saw that there was a great struggle     
going on4 ,her room was adjoining this  
lady's1 who told me she heard the mother
 crying3 ,o ,god1 give me strength for  
the hour2 help me now4 ,she came        
downstairs with a beautiful smile on her
 face4 ,she took her boy to her bosom1  
kissed him1 and left him without a tear4
 ,she left all her children1 and went   
back to labor for ,christ in ,india2 and
 from the shores of ,india she went up1 
before very long1 to be with her        
,master4 ,that is what a weak woman can 
do when love to ,christ is the motive   
power4 ,some time after that dear boy   
passed away to be with the mother4  ,i  
was preaching in a certain city a few   
years ago1 and ,i found a young man very
 active in bringing in the boys from the
 street into the meetings4 ,if there was
 a hard case in the city he was sure to 
get hold of it4 ,you would find him in  
the ,inquiry ,room with a whole crowd   
round him4 ,i got to be very deeply     
interested in the young man and much    

attached to him4 ,i found out that he   
was another son of that grand and       
glorious missionary4 ,i found that all  
the sons were in training to go as      
foreign missionaries1 to take the place 
of the mother and father1 who had gone  
to their reward4 ,it made such an       
impression on me that ,i could not shake
 it off4 ,these boys have all gone to   
tell out among the heathen the story of 
,christ and ,his love4  ,i am convinced 
of this3 ,when these hard-hearted people
 who now reject the ,savior are         
thoroughly awake to the fact that love  
is prompting our efforts on their       
behalf1 the hardness will begin to      
soften1 and their stubborn wills will   
begin to bend4 ,this key of love will   
unlock their hearts4 ,we can turn them1 
by ,god's help1 from the darkness of    
this world to the light of the ,gospel4 
,christ gave his disciples a badge4     
,some of you wear a blue ribbon and     
others wear a red ribbon1 but the badge 
that ,christ gave to his disciples was  

,,love4 ,by this shall all men know that
 ye are ,my disciples1 if ye have love  
one toward another4 ,love not only for  
those who are ,christians1 but love for 
the fallen4 ,the ,good ,samaritan had   
love for the poor man who had fallen    
among thieves4 ,if we are filled with   
such love as that1 the world will soon  
find out that we are the followers of   
the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,it will do   
more to upset infidelity and rebellion  
against ,god than anything else4        
,speaking about hard cases being        
reached1 reminds me that while ,i was in
 a home in ,london a young lady in that 
home felt that she was not doing as much
 for ,christ as she would like1 and she 
decided she would take a class of boys4 
,she has now some fifteen or twenty of  
these lads1 from thirteen to sixteen    
years of age--a very difficult age to   
deal with4 ,this ,christian young lady  
made up her mind that she would first   
try and win for herself the affection of
 these boys1 and then seek to lead them 

to the ,savior4 ,it is a beautiful sight
 to see how she has won their young     
hearts for herself1 and ,i believe she  
will win them all to a pure and ,godly  
life4 ,if we are willing to take up our 
work among the young with that spirit1  
these boys will be saved2 and instead of
 helping to fill our prisons and        
poorhouses1 they will become useful     
members of the ,church of ,god1 and a   
blessing to society4  ,i have a friend  
who has a large ,sabbath-school4 ,he    
made up his mind when he began that if a
 boy did not have a good training in his
 own home1 he could not get it anywhere 
else except in the ,sabbath-school2 and 
he resolved that1 if possible1 when a   
boy was refractory he would not turn him
 adrift4  ,he had a boy come to the     
school whom no teacher seemed able to   
manage4 ,one after another would come to
 the ,superintendent and say3 ,you must 
take him out of my class2 he is         
demoralizing all the others2 he uses    
profane language1 and he is doing more  

harm than all the good ,i can do4 ,at   
last my friend made up his mind he would
 read the boy's name out and have him   
expelled publicly4  ,he told a few of   
the teachers what he was going to do1   
but a wealthy young lady said3 ,i wish  
you would let me try the boy2 ,i will do
 all ,i can to win him4 ,my friend said 
to himself he was sure she would not    
have patience with him very long1 but he
 put the boy in her class as she        
requested4 ,the little fellow very soon 
broke the rules in the class1 and she   
corrected him4 ,he got so angry that he 
lost his temper and spat in her face4   
,she quietly took a handkerchief and    
wiped her face4 ,at the close of the    
lesson she asked him if he would walk   
home with her when school was over4 ,no1
 he said1 he didn't want to speak to    
her4 ,he was not coming back to that old
 school any more4 ,she asked if he would
 let her walk along with him4 ,no1 he   
wouldn't4 ,well1 she said1 she was sorry
 he was going1 but if he would call at  

her house on ,tuesday morning and ring  
the front door bell1 there would be a   
little parcel waiting for him4 ,she     
would not be at home herself1 but if he 
asked the servant he would receive it4  
,he replied3 ,you can keep your old     
parcel2 ,i don't want it4 ,however she  
thought he would be there4  ,by ,tuesday
 morning the little fellow had got over 
his mad fit4 ,he came to the house and  
rang the door bell2 the servant handed  
him the parcel4 ,when he opened it he   
found it contained a little vest1 a     
necktie1 and1 best of all1 a note       
written by the teacher4 ,she told him   
how every night and every morning since 
he had been in her class she had been   
praying for him4 ,now that he was going 
to leave her she wanted him to remember 
that as long as she lived she would pray
 for him1 and she hoped he would grow up
 to be a good man4  ,next morning the   
little fellow was in the drawing-room   
waiting to see her before she came      
downstairs from her bedroom4 ,she found 

him there crying as if his heart would  
break4 ,she asked him kindly what was   
the trouble4 ,oh1 he said1 ,i have had  
no peace since ,i got your letter4 ,you 
have been so kind to me and ,i have been
 so unkind to you2 ,i wish you would    
forgive me4 ,said my friend1 the        
,superintendent1 ,there are about       
eighteen hundred children in the school1
 and there is not a better boy among the
 whole of them4  ,can we not do the same
 as that young lady did8 ,shall we not  
reconsecrate ourselves now to ,god and  
to his service8     ,had ,i the tongues 
of ,greeks and ,jews1    ,and nobler    
speech than angels use3    ,if love be  
absent1 ,i am found    ,like tinkling   
brass1 an empty sound4     ,were ,i     
inspired to preach and tell    ,all that
 is done in heaven and hell--    ,or    
could my faith the world remove3        
,still ,i am nothing without love4      
,should ,i distribute all my store      
,to feed the hungry1 clothe the poor    
,or give my body to the flame1    ,to   

gain a martyr's glorious name3     ,if  
love to ,god and love to men    ,be     
absent1 all my hopes are vain2    ,nor  
tongues1 nor gifts1 nor fiery zeal1     
,the work of love can e'er fulfill4     
,dr4 ,watts     ,,chapter ,,iii4        
,,faith ,,and ,,courage4   ,the key note
 of all our work for ,god should be     
,,faith4 ,in all my life ,i have never  
seen men or women disappointed in       
receiving answers to their prayers1 if  
those persons were full of faith1 and   
had good grounds for their faith4 ,of   
course we must have a warrant in        
,scripture for what we expect4 ,i am    
sure we have a good warrant in coming   
together to pray for a blessing on our  
friends and on our neighbors4  ,unbelief
 is as much an enemy to the ,christian  
as it is to the unconverted4 ,it will   
keep back the blessing now as much as it
 did in the days of ,christ4 ,we read   
that in one place ,christ could not do  
many mighty works because of their      
unbelief4 ,if ,christ could not do this1

 how can we expect to accomplish        
anything if the people of ,god are      
unbelieving8 ,i contend that ,god's     
children are alone able to hinder ,god's
 work4 ,infidels1 atheists1 and sceptics
 cannot do it4 ,where there is union1   
strong faith1 and expectation among     
,christians1 a mighty work is always    
done4  ,in ,hebrews we read that without
 faith it is impossible to please ,god4 
,for he that cometh to ,god must believe
 that ,he is1 and that ,he is a         
,rewarder of them that diligently seek  
,him4 ,that is addressed to us who are  
,christians as much as to those who are 
seeking ,god for the first time4 ,we are
 all of us seeking a blessing on our    
friends4 ,we want ,god to revive us1 and
 also that the outlying masses may be   
reached4 ,we read in this passage that  
,god blesses those who diligently seek  
,him4 ,let us diligently seek ,him      
to-day2 let us have great faith2 and let
 our expectation be from ,god4  ,i      
remember when ,i was a boy1 in the      

spring of the year1 when the snow had   
melted away on the ,new ,england hills  
where ,i lived1 ,i used to take a       
certain kind of glass and hold it up to 
the warm rays of the sun4 ,these would  
strike on it1 and ,i would set the woods
 on fire4 ,faith is the glass that      
brings the fire of ,god out of heaven4  
,it was faith that drew the fire down on
 ,carmel and burned up ,elijah's        
offering4 ,we have the same ,god to-day1
 and the same faith4 ,some people seem  
to think that faith is getting old1 and 
that the ,bible is wearing out4 ,but the
 ,lord will revive his work now2 and we 
shall be able to set the world on fire  
if each believer has a strong and simple
 faith4  ,in the eleventh chapter of the
 ,epistle to the ,hebrews the writer    
brings up one worthy after another1 and 
each of them was a man or a woman of    
faith2 they made the world better by    
living in it4 ,listen to this           
description of what was accomplished by 
these men and women of faith3 ,who      

through faith subdued kingdoms1 wrought 
righteousness1 obtained promises1       
stopped the mouths of lions1 quenched   
the violence of fire1 escaped the edge  
of the sword1 out of weakness were made 
strong1 waxed valiant in fight1 turned  
to flight the armies of the aliens4     
,women received their dead raised to    
life again2 and others were tortured1   
not accepting deliverance2 that they    
might obtain a better resurrection3 and 
others had trial of cruel mockings and  
scourgings1 yea1 moreover1 of bonds and 
imprisonment4 ,they were stoned1 they   
were sawn asunder1 were tempted1 were   
slain with the sword3 they wandered     
about in sheepskins and goatskins1 being
 destitute1 afflicted1 tormented 7of    
whom the world was not worthy73 they    
wandered in deserts1 and in mountains1  
and in dens and caves of the earth4 ,and
 these all1 having obtained a good      
report through faith1 received not the  
promise3 ,god having provided some      
better thing for us1 that they without  

us should not be made perfect4  ,surely 
no child of ,god can read these words   
without being stirred4 ,it is said that 
women received their dead raised to life
 again4 ,many of you have children who  
have gone far astray1 and have been     
taken captive by strong drink1 or led   
away by their lusts and passions2 and   
you have become greatly discouraged     
about them4 ,but if you have faith in   
,god they may be raised up as from the  
dead1 and brought back again4 ,the      
wanderers may be reclaimed2 the         
drunkards and the harlots may be reached
 and saved4 ,there is no man or woman1  
however low he or she may have sunk1 but
 can be reached4  ,we ought in these    
days to have far more faith than ,abel1 
or ,enoch1 or ,abraham had4 ,they lived 
away on the other side of the ,cross4   
,we talk about the faith of ,elijah1 and
 the ,patriarchs and ,prophets2 but they
 lived in the dim light of the past1    
while we are in the full blaze of       
,calvary1 and the ,resurrection4 ,when  

we look back and think of what ,christ  
did1 how ,he poured out ,his blood that 
men might be saved1 we ought to go forth
 in ,his strength and conquer the world4
 ,our ,god is able to do great and      
mighty things4  ,you remember that the  
,roman ,centurion sent for ,christ to   
heal his servant2 when the ,savior drew 
near1 the ,centurion sent to ,him to say
 that ,he need not take the trouble to  
come into his house2 all that was needed
 was that ,he should speak the word and 
his servant would live4 ,probably he    
thought that if ,christ had the power to
 create worlds1 to say ,let there be    
light1 and there was light1 to make the 
sea and the earth bring forth           
abundantly1 ,he could easily say the    
word and raise up his sick servant4 ,we 
are told that when ,christ received the 
,roman soldier's message ,he marvelled  
at his faith4 ,dear friends1 let us have
 faith at this moment that ,god will do 
great things in our midst4  ,caleb and  
,joshua were men of faith4 ,they were   

worth more to ,israel than all the camp 
of unbelievers and the other ten spies  
put together4 ,we read that ,moses sent 
out twelve men to spy out the land4 ,let
 me say that faith never sends out any  
spies4 ,you may perhaps reply that      
,moses was commanded by ,god to send    
them out2 but we read that it was       
because of the hardness of their hearts4
 ,if they had believed in ,god1 they    
would have taken possession of the land 
at ,kadesh ,barnea4 ,i suppose these    
twelve men were chosen because they were
 leading men and influential men in the 
twelve tribes4  ,after they had been    
gone some thirty days they came back    
with what we might call a minority and a
 majority report4 ,all the twelve       
admitted that the land was a good land1 
but the ten said1 ,we are not able to   
take it4 ,we saw giants there--the sons 
of ,anak4 ,you can see these ten spies  
in camp the night they returned2 great  
crowds are gathered around them         
listening to their reports4 ,probably   

there were very few gathered to hear    
,caleb and ,joshua4 ,it really seems    
sometimes that people are much more     
ready to believe a lie than to believe  
the truth4 ,so these unbelieving men    
gathered around the ten spies4 ,one of  
them is describing the giants in the    
land1 and he says3 ,why1 ,i had to look 
right up in order to see their faces2   
they made the earth tremble at their    
tread4 ,the mountains and valleys are   
full of them4 ,then we saw great walled 
cities4 ,we are not able to take the    
land4  ,but ,caleb and ,joshua had quite
 a different story to tell4 ,those      
mighty giants seemed to be as           
grasshoppers in their sight4 ,these men 
of faith remembered how ,god had        
delivered them out of the hand of       
,pharaoh and brought them through the   
,red ,sea2 how ,he had given them bread 
from heaven to eat1 and water to drink  
from the rock in the wilderness4 ,if ,he
 marched with them surely they could go 
right up and take possession of the     

land4 ,so they said3 ,let us go up at   
once and possess it2 we are well able to
 take it4  ,what do we see in the       
,church of ,god to-day8 ,about ten out  
of every twelve professed ,christians   
are looking at the giants1 at the walls1
 and at the difficulties in the way4    
,they say3 ,we are not able to          
accomplish this work4 ,we might do it if
 there were not so many drinking        
saloons1 and so much drunkenness1 and so
 many atheists and opposers4 ,let us not
 give head to these unbelieving         
professors4 ,if we have faith in ,god we
 are well able to go up and possess the 
land for ,christ4 ,god always delights  
to honor faith4  ,it may be some sainted
 weak woman1 some bed-ridden one who is 
not able to attend the meetings1 who    
will bring down the blessing4 ,in the   
day when every man's work is tested1 it 
may be seen that some hidden one who    
honored ,god by a simple faith was the  
one who caused such a blessing to       
descend upon our cities as shall shake  

the land from end to end4  ,again1 in   
these ,bible histories we find that     
faith is always followed by ,,courage4  
,caleb and ,joshua were full of courage1
 because they were men of faith4 ,those 
who have been greatly used of ,god in   
all ages have been men of courage4 ,if  
we are full of faith we shall not be    
full of fear1 distrusting ,god all the  
while4 ,that is the trouble with the    
,church of ,christ to-day--there are so 
many who are fearful1 because they do   
not believe that ,god is going to use   
them4 ,what we need is to have the      
courage that will compel us to move     
forward4 ,perhaps if we do this we may  
have to go against the advice of        
lukewarm ,christians4 ,there are some   
who never seem to do anything but       
object1 because the work is not always  
carried on exactly according to their   
ideas4 ,they will say3 ,i do not think  
that is the best way to do things4 ,they
 are very fruitful in raising objections
 to any plans that can be suggested4 ,if

 any onward step is taken they are ready
 to throw cold water on it2 they will   
suggest all kinds of difficulties4 ,we  
want to have such faith and courage as  
shall enable us to move forward without 
waiting for these timid unbelievers4    
,in the second book of ,chronicles we   
read that ,king ,asa had to go right    
against his father and mother2 it took a
 good deal of courage to do that4 ,he   
removed his mother from being queen1 and
 cut down the idols and burnt them4     
,there are times when we have to go     
against those who ought to be our best  
friends4 ,is it not time for us to      
launch out into the deep8 ,i have never 
seen people go out into the lanes and   
alleys1 into the hedges and highways1   
and try to bring the people in1 but the 
,lord gave ,his blessing4 ,if a man has 
the courage to go right to his neighbor 
and speak to him about his soul1 ,god is
 sure to smile upon the effort4 ,the    
person who is spoken to may wake up     
cross1 but that is not always a bad     

sign4 ,he may write a letter next day   
and apologize4 ,at any rate it is better
 to wake him up in this way than that he
 should continue to slumber on to death 
and ruin4  ,you notice when ,god was    
about to deliver ,israel out of the hand
 of the ,midianites1 how he taught this 
lesson to ,gideon4 ,gideon had gathered 
around him an army of thirty-two        
thousand men4 ,he may probably have     
counted them1 and when he knew that the 
,midianites had an army of a hundred and
 thirty-five thousand he said to        
himself3 ,my army is too small2 ,i am   
afraid ,i shall not succeed4 ,but the   
,lord's thoughts were different4 ,he    
said to ,gideon3 ,you have too many men4
 ,so ,he told him that all those among  
the thirty-two thousand who were fearful
 and afraid might go back to their own  
homes1 to their wives and their mothers2
 let them step to the rear4 ,no sooner  
had ,gideon given this command than     
twenty-two thousand men wheeled out of  
line4 ,it may be ,gideon thought the    

,lord had made a mistake as he saw his  
army melt away4 ,if two-thirds of a     
great audience were to rise and go out  
you would think they were all going4    
,the ,lord said3 ,gideon1 you have too  
many men yet4 ,take your men down to the
 brook and try them once more4 ,all     
those who take the water up in their    
hands and drink as they pass by can     
stay2 those who stoop down to drink can 
go back4 ,again he gave the word1 and   
nine thousand seven hundred wheeled out 
of line and went to the rear1 so that   
,gideon was left with three hundred men4
 ,but this handful of men whose hearts  
beat true to the ,god of heaven1 and who
 were ready to go forward in ,his name1 
were worth more than all the others who 
were all the time sowing seeds of       
discontent and predicting defeat4       
,nothing will discourage an army like   
that4 ,nothing is more discouraging in a
 ,church than to have a number of the   
people all the time expecting disaster  
and saying3 ,we do not think this effort

 will amount to anything2 it is not     
according to our ideas4  ,it would be a 
good thing for the ,church of ,god if   
all the fearful and faithless ones were 
to step to the rear1 and let those who  
are full of faith and courage take their
 empty pitchers and go forward against  
the enemy4 ,this little band of three   
hundred men who were left with ,gideon  
routed the ,midianites2 but it was not  
their own might that gave them the      
victory4 ,it was the sword of the ,lord 
and of ,gideon4 ,if we go on in the     
,name of the ,lord1 and trusting to ,his
 might1 we shall succeed4  ,before      
,moses went up to heaven he did all he  
could to encourage ,joshua1 to          
strengthen and cheer him4 ,there was no 
sign of jealousy in the heart of ,moses1
 although he was not permitted to go    
into the land4 ,he went up to the top of
 ,pisgah and saw that it was a good     
land2 and he tried to encourage ,joshua 
to go forward and take possession of it4
 ,after ,moses had gone1 we read that   

three times in one chapter ,god said to 
,joshua3 ,be of good courage4 ,god      
cheered his servant2 ,there shall not   
any man be able to stand before thee all
 the days of thy life4 ,soon after that 
,joshua took a walk around the walls of 
,jericho4 ,as he walked around he saw a 
man stand before him with a drawn sword 
in his hand4 ,joshua was not afraid1 but
 he said3 ,art thou for us or for our   
adversaries8 ,his courage was rewarded1 
for the man replied3 ,as ,captain of the
 host of the ,lord am ,i now come4 ,he  
had been sent to encourage him and to   
lead him on to victory4  ,so you will   
find all through the ,scriptures that   
,god uses those who have courage1 and   
not those who are looking for defeat4   
,another thought3 ,i never knew a case  
where ,god used a discouraged man or    
woman to accomplish any great thing for 
,him4 ,let a minister go into the pulpit
 in a discouraged frame of mind and it  
becomes contagious4 ,it will soon reach 
the pews1 and the whole church will     

become discouraged4 ,so with a          
,sabbath-school teacher2 ,i never knew a
 worker of any kind who was full of     
discouragement and who met with success 
in the ,lord's work4 ,it seems as if    
,god cannot make any use of such a man4 
,i remember a man telling me he preached
 for a number of years without any      
result4 ,he used to say to his wife as  
they went to church that he knew the    
people would not believe anything he    
said2 and there was no blessing4 ,at    
last he saw his error2 he asked ,god to 
help him1 and took courage1 and then the
 blessing came4 ,according to your faith
 it shall be unto you4 ,this man had    
expected nothing and he got just what he
 expected4 ,dear friends1 let us expect 
that ,god is going to use us4 ,let us   
have courage and go forward1 looking to 
,god to do great things4  ,elijah on    
,mount ,carmel was one man2 ,elijah     
under the juniper tree was quite another
 man4 ,in the one case he was a giant1  
and nothing could stand before him4     

,when he lost heart and got terrified at
 ,jezebel's message1 and wished himself 
dead1 ,god could not use him4 ,the ,lord
 had to go to him and say3 ,what doest  
thou here1 ,elijah8 ,i wish ,god would  
speak to many professing ,christians who
 have their harps on the willows1 and   
are out of communion with ,him1 so that 
they are of no use in ,his cause4  ,when
 ,peter denied his ,master he was a very
 different man from what he was on the  
day of ,pentecost4 ,he got out of       
communion with his ,lord1 and the word  
of a servant nearly frightened him out  
of his life4 ,he denied his ,master with
 oaths and cursing4 ,how terribly a man 
falls when he loses faith and courage4  
,but he was restored2 look at him on the
 day of ,pentecost4 ,if that maid whose 
question made him tremble had been      
present1 and heard him preach the       
marvellous sermon recorded in the ,acts1
 ,i can imagine she would be the most   
amazed person in all ,jerusalem1 ,why1  
she says1 ,i saw him a few days ago1 and

 he was terribly alarmed at being called
 a disciple of ,christ2 now he stands up
 boldly for this same ,christ2 he has no
 shame now4 ,god used him mightily on   
the day of ,pentecost1 as he preached to
 that vast congregation1 some of whom   
were the very murderers of his ,lord and
 ,master4 ,but he could not use ,peter  
till he had repented of his cowardice   
and had been restored to faith and      
courage4 ,so when any man who is working
 for ,christ loses heart and gets       
discouraged1 the ,lord has to lay him   
aside4  ,i remember a number of years   
ago ,i got cast down for a good many    
weeks4 ,one ,sunday in particular ,i had
 preached and there did not seem to be  
any result4 ,on the ,monday ,i was very 
much cast down4 ,i was sitting in my    
study and was looking at myself1        
brooding over my want of success4 ,a    
young man called upon me1 who had a     
,bible class of #ajj adults in the      
,sabbath-school which ,i conducted4 ,as 
he came in ,i could see he was away upon

 the mountain top1 while ,i was down in 
the valley4 ,said he to me1 ,what kind  
of a day did you have yesterday8 ,very  
poor2 ,i had no success1 and ,i feel    
quite cast down4 ,how did you get on8   
,oh1 grandly2 ,i never had a better day4
 ,what was your subject8 ,i had the life
 and character of ,noah4 ,did you ever  
preach on ,noah8 ,did you ever study up 
his life8 ,well1 no2 ,i do not know as  
ever ,i made it a special study4 ,i     
thought ,i knew pretty well all there   
was about him in the ,bible2 you know   
all that is told us about him is        
contained in a few verses4 ,if you never
 studied it before1 you had better do it
 now4 ,it will do you good4 ,noah was a 
wonderful character4  ,when the young   
man went out ,i got my ,bible and some  
other books1 and read all ,i could find 
about ,noah1 ,i had not been reading    
long before the thought came stealing   
over me3 ,here was a man who toiled on  
for a hundred and twenty years and never
 had a single convert outside of his own

 family4 ,yet he did not get            
discouraged4 ,i closed up my ,bible2 the
 cloud had gone2 ,i started out and went
 to the noon prayer-meeting4 ,i had not 
been there long when a man got up and   
said he had come from a little town in  
,illinois4 ,on the day before he had    
admitted a hundred young converts to    
,church membership4 ,as he was speaking 
,i said to myself3 ,i wonder what ,noah 
would have given if he could have heard 
that4 ,he never had any such result as  
that to his labors4  ,then in a little  
while a man who sat right behind me     
stood up4 ,his hand was on the seat1 and
 ,i felt it shake2 ,i could realise that
 the man was trembling4 ,he said3 ,i    
wish you would pray for me2 ,i would    
like to become a ,christian4 ,thought ,i
 to myself3 wonder what ,noah would have
 given if he had heard that4 ,he never  
heard a single soul asking ,god for     
mercy1 yet he did not get discouraged4  
,i have never hung my harp on the       
willows since that day4 ,let us ask ,god

 to take away the clouds of fear and    
unbelief2 let us get out of ,doubting   
,castle2 let us move forward            
courageously in the name of our ,god and
 expect to see results4  ,if you cannot 
engage in any active work yourselves you
 can do a good deal by cheering on      
others4 ,some people not only do        
nothing1 but they are all the time      
throwing discouragement on others1 in   
every forward step they take4 ,if you   
meet with them they seem to chill you   
through and through4 ,i think ,i would  
as soon face the east wind in ,edinburgh
 in the month of ,march1 as come in     
contact with some of these so-called    
,christians4 ,perhaps they are speaking 
about some effort that has been made1   
and they say3 ,well1 yes1 a good deal of
 work was done1 but then many were not  
reached at all4 ,such and such a thing  
ought to have been done in a different  
way1 and ,i know not what4 ,they are all
 the time looking at the dark side4     
,let us not give heed to these gloomy   

and discouraging remarks4 ,in the name  
of our great ,commander let us march on 
to battle and to victory4 ,there are    
some generals whose name alone is worth 
more than a whole army of ten thousand  
men4 ,in our army in the ,civil ,war    
there were some whose presence sent a   
cheer all along the line4 ,as they      
passed on cheer upon cheer went up4 ,the
 men knew who was going to lead them1   
and they were sure of having success4   
,the boys liked to fight under such     
generals as that4 ,let us encourage     
ourselves in the ,lord1 and encourage   
each other2 then we shall have good     
success4  ,we read in the book of ,first
 ,chronicles that ,joab cheered on those
 who were helping him in warfare4 ,be of
 good courage1 and let us behave        
ourselves valiantly for our people and  
for the cities of our ,god2 and let the 
,lord do that which is good in ,his     
sight4 ,let us go forward in this       
spirit1 and the ,lord will make us to   
triumph over our foes4 ,if we cannot be 

in the battle ourselves let us not seek 
to discourage others4 ,a ,highland chief
 of the ,m',gregor clan fell wounded at 
the battle of ,sheriff-,muir4 ,seeing   
their leader fall1 the clan wavered1 and
 gave the foe an advantage4 ,the old    
chieftain1 perceiving this1 raised      
himself on his elbow1 while the blood   
streamed from his wounds1 and cried out1
 ,i am not dead1 my children2 ,i am     
looking at you to see you do your duty4 
,this roused them to new energy and     
almost superhuman effort4 ,so1 when our 
strength fails and our hearts sink      
within us1 the ,captain of our salvation
 cries3 ,lo1 ,i am with you alway1 even 
to the end of the world4 ,i will never  
leave nor forsake thee4 ,be thou        
faithful unto death1 and ,i will give   
thee a crown of life4  ,a friend of mine
 was telling me that a worker came to   
him very much cast down4 ,everything was
 going wrong1 and he was greatly        
depressed4 ,my friend turned upon him   
and said3 ,do you have any doubt about  

the final result of things8 ,is ,jesus  
,christ going to set up ,his ,kingdom1  
and reign from the rivers to the ends of
 the earth8 ,is ,he going to succeed or 
not8 ,the man said that of course       
,christ was going to triumph2 he had    
never thought of it in that light4 ,if  
people would sometimes take a look into 
the future and remember the promises1   
they would not be cast down4 ,dear      
friends1 ,christ is going to reign4 ,let
 us go out and do the work ,he has given
 us to do4 ,if it happens to be dark    
round about us1 let us remember it is   
light somewhere else4 ,if we are not    
succeeding just as we would like1       
others1 it may be1 are succeeding       
better4  ,think of the opportunities we 
have1 compared with the early           
,christians4 ,look at the mighty        
obstacles they had to encounter--how    
they had often to seal their testimony  
with their blood4 ,see what ,peter had  
to fight against on the day of          
,pentecost1 when the people looked on   

him with scorn4 ,the disciples in those 
days had no committee to put up large   
buildings for their use1 in which they  
could preach4 ,they had no band of      
ministers sitting near by1 to pray for  
them1 and help them and cheer them on4  
,yet look at the wonderful results of   
,peter's preaching on the day of        
,pentecost4  ,look at the dense darkness
 that surrounded ,martin ,luther in     
,germany4 ,look at the difficulties that
 ,john ,knox had to meet with in        
,scotland4 ,yet these men did a mighty  
and a lasting work for ,god in their day
 and generation2 we are reaping the     
blessed fruits of their faithful labors 
even now4 ,look at the darkness that    
brooded over ,england in the days of    
,wesley and ,whitefield4 ,see how ,god  
blessed their efforts2 and yet they had 
a great many obstacles to contend with  
that we do not have in these days4 ,they
 went forward with strong and courageous
 hearts1 and the ,lord gave them        
success4  ,i believe if our forefathers 

who lived in the last century could come
 back to this world in the flesh1 they  
would be amazed to see the wonderful    
opportunities that we have4 ,we have a  
great many advantages they did not      
possess1 and probably did not dream of4 
,we live in a grand and glorious day4   
,it took ,john ,wesley months to cross  
the ,atlantic2 now we can do it a few   
days4 ,think of the power of the        
printing press in these days2 we can    
print and scatter sermons to all the    
corners of the earth4 ,look at the      
marvellous facilities that we have in   
the electric telegraph1 ,then we can    
take the railway train and go and preach
 at a distance of hundreds of miles in a
 few hours4 ,am ,i not right in saying  
that we live in a glorious day8 ,let us 
not be discouraged1 but let us use all  
these wonderful opportunities1 and honor
 ,god by expecting great things4 ,if we 
do we will not be disappointed4 ,god is 
ready and willing to work1 if we are    
ready and willing to let ,him1 and to be

 used by ,him4  ,it may be that some are
 old and feeble1 and are saying to      
themselves3 ,i wish ,i were young again2
 ,i would like to go out into the thick 
of the battle4 ,but any one1 young or   
old1 can go into the homes of the people
 and invite them to come out to the     
meetings4 ,there are large halls        
everywhere with plenty of room2 there   
are many who will help sing the ,gospel4
 ,the ,gospel will also be preached1 and
 there are many people who might be     
induced to come1 who will not go out to 
the regular places of worship4  ,if you 
are not able to go and invite the       
people1 as ,i have said1 you can give a 
word of cheer to others1 and wish them  
,godspeed4 ,many a time when ,i have    
come down from the pulpit1 some old man1
 trembling on the very verge of another 
world1 living perhaps on borrowed time1 
has caught hold of my hand1 and in a    
quavering voice said1 ,god bless you6   
,how the words have cheered and helped  
me4 ,many of you can speak a word of    

encouragement to the younger friends1 if
 you are too feeble to work yourselves4 
,then again1 you can pray that ,god will
 bless the words that are spoken and the
 efforts that are made4 ,it is very easy
 to preach when others are all the time 
praying for you and sympathizing with   
you1 instead of criticising and finding 
fault4  ,you have heard the story1 ,i   
suppose1 of the child who was rescued   
from the fire that was raging in a house
 away up in the fourth story4 ,the child
 came to the window1 and as the flames  
were shooting up higher and higher it   
cried out for help4 ,a fireman started  
up the ladder of the fire-escape to     
rescue the child from its dangerous     
position4 ,the wind swept the flames    
near him1 and it was getting so hot that
 he wavered1 and it looked as if he     
would have to return without the child4 
,thousands looked on1 and their hearts  
quaked at the thought of the child      
having to perish in the fire1 as it must
 do if the fireman did not reach it4    

,some one in the crowd cried1 ,give him 
a cheer6 ,cheer after cheer went up1 and
 as the man heard them he gathered fresh
 courage4 ,up he went into the midst of 
the smoke and the fire1 and brought down
 the child in safety4 ,if you cannot go 
and rescue the perishing yourselves1 you
 can at least pray for those who do1 and
 cheer them on4 ,if you do1 the ,lord   
will bless the effort4  ,they helped    
every one his neighbor2 and every one   
said to his brother1 ',be of good       
courage4'     ,we are living1 we are    
dwelling       ,in a grand and awful    
time1    ,in an age on ages telling--   
,to be living is sublime4     ,oh1 let  
all the soul within you       ,for the  
truth's sake go abroad6    ,strike6 let 
every nerve and sinew       ,tell on    
ages--tell for ,god6        ,coxe       
,,chapter ,,iv4  ,,faith ,,rewarded4    
,and it came to pass on a certain day1  
as ,he was teaching1 that there were    
,pharisees and doctors of the law       
sitting by1 which were come out of every

 town of ,galilee1 and ,judea and       
,jerusalem2 and the power of the ,lord  
was present to heal them4 ,and1 behold1 
men brought in a bed a man which was    
taken with a palsy2 and they sought     
means to bring him in1 and to lay him   
before ,him4 ,and when they could not   
find by what way they might bring him   
in1 because of the multitude1 they went 
upon the house-top1 and let him down    
through the tiling with his couch into  
the midst before ,jesus4 ,and when ,he  
saw their faith1 ,he said unto him1     
',man1 thy sins are forgiven thee4'     
,all the three evangelists1 ,matthew1   
,mark and ,luke1 record this miracle4 ,i
 have noticed that when any two or three
 of the ,gospel writers record a miracle
 it is to bring out some important      
truth4 ,it seems to me that the truth   
the ,lord would teach us here is this3  
,the honor ,he put upon the faith of    
these four men who brought the palsied  
man to him for healing4 ,whether the    
palsied man himself had any faith we are

 not told2 it was when ,he saw their    
faith that ,his power was put forth to  
cure the sick of the palsy4  ,i want to 
say to all ,christian workers1 that if  
the ,lord sees our faith for those whom 
we wish to be blessed1 ,he will honor   
it4 ,he has never disappointed the faith
 of any of ,his children yet4 ,you      
cannot find an instance in the ,bible1  
where any man or woman has exercised    
true faith in ,god1 where it has not    
been honored4 ,nothing that the ,savior 
found when ,he was on this sin-cursed   
earth pleased ,him so much as to see the
 faith of ,his disciples2 nothing       
refreshed ,his heart so much4  ,we read 
in the ,gospel narrative that there was 
a great stir in the town of ,capernaum  
at this time4 ,a few weeks before1 the  
,savior had been cast out of his native 
town of ,nazareth4 ,he had come down to 
,capernaum1 and the whole country was   
greatly moved4 ,his star was just       
rising1 and ,his fame was being spread  
abroad4 ,peter's wife's mother had been 

healed by a word4 ,the servant of an    
officer in the ,roman army had been     
raised up from a sick bed1 and the      
,savior had performed many other        
wonderful miracles4 ,men had come to    
,capernaum from every town in ,galilee1 
and ,judaea1 and from ,jerusalem4 ,they 
had gathered together to look into these
 wonderful events that were occurring4  
,the voice of ,john the ,baptist had    
been ringing through the land1          
proclaiming to the people that a        
,prophet would soon make ,his           
appearance1 whose shoe latchet he was   
not worthy to unloose4 ,while the       
,baptist was telling out this message   
the ,prophet ,himself made ,his         
appearance in the northern part of the  
country1 and all these wonderful things 
were transpiring4  ,the ,pharisees and  
doctors of the law had come to          
,capernaum to look into the reports that
 were spread abroad4 ,the house where   
they were gathered was filled to        
overflowing1 and these wise men were    

listening to the ,savior's teaching4    
,many of them hardly believed a word    
that ,he said4 ,it may be there were    
some believing ones among these wise    
men4 ,nicodemus and ,joseph of          
,arimathea may have been there3 if so1  
they were not yet known as disciples of 
,jesus4  ,the writer of the ,gospel     
says3 ,the power of the ,lord was       
present to heal them4 ,we are not told1 
however1 that one of them was healed4   
,so it is very often now4 ,the power of 
the ,lord may be present to heal in     
these gatherings2 yet many will come and
 go1 wondering what it all means1 and   
without being healed of their spiritual 
diseases4 ,what we need is to have the  
power of ,god in our midst4  ,a man came
 into one of our meetings in ,london4   
,he got into a part of the hall where he
 could not hear a word of what was      
spoken or sung2 he could not even hear  
the text or the portion of ,scripture   
that was read4 ,there he had to sit     
through the service1 so to speak1 shut  

up alone with himself4 ,a little while  
after he told some one that as he sat   
there ,god had revealed ,himself to him1
 and spoken peace to his soul4 ,there is
 such a thing as the power of ,god being
 present to heal1 though men may not    
hear the voice of their fellowman4      
,these four men were real workers4 ,they
 were worth more than a houseful of     
these ,pharisees and doctors of the law 
who came merely to criticise and look   
on4 ,i do not know who the four men     
were1 but ,i have always had a great    
admiration for them4 ,it may be one of  
them had been blind and the ,lord had   
given him his sight4 ,the other may have
 been lame from his birth2 when the     
,master restored him to strength1 he    
thought he would like to use it in      
bringing some one else to be healed4    
,the third man may have been a cured    
leper1 and he wished to help in getting 
some other afflicted one cured4 ,perhaps
 this palsied man was his next-door     
neighbor4 ,the fourth man1 it may be1   

had been deaf and dumb1 and he thought  
he would employ his hearing and his     
speech in helping some one else4 ,these 
four young converts said to themselves3 
,let us bring our sick neighbor to      
,christ4 ,the palsied man may have said 
he had no faith in ,christ4 ,but these  
four friends told him how they had been 
cured1 and if the ,master could heal    
them surely ,he could heal a palsied    
man4  ,now it seems to me nothing will  
wake up a man quicker than to have four 
persons after him in one day4 ,people   
are sometimes afraid that they will     
entrench on each other's ground if more 
than one worker happens to call at the  
same house4 ,for my part1 ,i wish that  
every family had about forty invitations
 to each meeting4  ,i lately heard of a 
man1 a non-churchgoer1 who did not      
believe in the ,bible or religious      
things4 ,some one who was distributing  
tickets asked him if he would go to the 
meetings4 ,he got quite angry4 ,no1 he  
would not go2 he did not believe in the 

thing at all2 he would not be seen in   
such a crowd4 ,a second man came along1 
not knowing that any one had been before
 him1 and asked if he would accept a    
ticket for the meetings4 ,the man was   
still angry1 and1 as we would sometimes 
say1 he gave him a piece of his mind4   
,he told him to keep his tickets4       
,by-and-by a third man called and said3 
,would you take a ticket for these      
meetings8 ,the man by this time had got 
thoroughly waked up1 but yet he declined
 to receive the ticket4 ,he went into a 
shop to buy something4 ,the man in the  
shop put a ticket for the meetings into 
the packet2 when the customer got home  
and opened it1 lo and behold there was a
 ticket6 ,he got so roused up that he   
went1 not to our meeting1 but to a      
neighboring church4 ,i do not know that 
he has come clean out1 but ,i believe he
 is1 at any rate1 in a hopeful          
condition4  ,if one visit does not wake 
up a man whom you want to reach1 send a 
second visitor after him2 if that has no

 effect1 send a third1 and a fourth1 and
 a fifth1 and a sixth1 and a seventh2 go
 on in that way day after day4 ,it is a 
great thing to save one man1 to get him 
out of the pit1 to have his feet set    
fast on a rock1 and a new song put in   
his mouth4 ,nothing will rouse an       
indifferent man quicker than to have a  
number of friends after him4 ,if you    
cannot bring him yourself1 get others to
 help you4  ,these four men found an    
obstacle in the way4 ,the door of the   
house was blocked1 and they could not   
get near the ,master4 ,they may have    
asked some of these philosophers to     
stand aside2 but no1 they would not do  
that4 ,they would not disturb themselves
 about a sick man4 ,many people will not
 go into the kingdom of ,god themselves1
 and they will throw obstacles in the   
way of others4 ,after trying probably   
for some time to get in1 these four men 
began to devise another plan4 ,if it had
 been some of us1 most likely we would  
have got quite discouraged1 and carried 

the man back to his home4  ,these men   
had faith1 and perseverance too4 ,they  
are going to get their friend to ,christ
 some way4 ,if they cannot get him      
through the door1 they will find a way  
through the roof6 ,zeal without         
knowledge1 people say4 ,i would a good  
deal rather have that than knowledge    
without zeal4 ,you can see them pulling 
and tugging away at the burden4 ,if you 
have ever tried to carry a wounded man  
up a flight of stairs you will know it  
is not an easy matter4 ,but these four  
men were not to be defeated1 and at last
 he is up there on the roof4  ,now1 the 
question was1 ,how can we get him down8 
,they began to tear up the tiling4 ,i   
can see those wise men looking up and   
saying to one another3 ,this is a       
strange performance2 we have never seen 
anything like this in the temple or in  
any synagogue we were ever in4 ,it is   
altogether out of the regular order4    
,these men must be carried away with    
fanaticism4 ,why1 they have made a hole 

large enough to let a man through4      
,suppose a sudden shower were to come1  
it would spoil the house4  ,but these   
four workers were terribly in earnest4  
,they let the bier1 on which the man was
 lying1 down into the room4 ,they laid  
their friend right at the feet of ,jesus
 ,christ2 a good place to lay him1 was  
it not8 ,perhaps some of you have a     
sceptical son or an unbelieving husband1
 or some other member of your family1   
that scoffs at the ,bible and sneers at 
,christianity4 ,lay them at the feet of 
,jesus1 and ,he will honor your faith4  
,when ,he saw their faith4 ,i suppose   
these men were looking down to see what 
was about to take place ,christ looked  
at them1 and when ,he saw their faith   
,he said to the palsied man3 ,son1 be of
 good cheer2 thy sins are forgiven thee4
 ,that was more than they expected2 they
 only thought of his body being made    
whole4 ,so let us bring our friends to  
,christ1 and we shall get more than we  
expect4 ,the ,lord met this man's       

deepest need first4 ,it may be his sins 
had brought on the palsy1 so the ,lord  
forgave the man's sin first of all4     
,the wise men began to reason within    
themselves3 ,who is this that forgiveth 
sins8 ,the ,master could read their     
thoughts as easily as we can read a     
book4 ,is it easier to say1 ',thy sins  
be forgiven thee1' or ',rise up and     
walk8' ,but that ye may know that the   
,son of ,man hath power on earth to     
forgive sins1 ,he said unto the sick of 
the palsy1 ',i say unto thee1 arise2    
take up thy bed and go into thine       
house4' ,the man leaped to his feet1    
made whole4 ,he rolled up the old bed1  
swung it across his shoulders1 and went 
to his house4 ,depend upon it1 these    
philosophers who would not make way in  
order to let him in stood aside pretty  
quick to let him go out4 ,no need for   
him to go out by way of the roof2 he    
went out by the door4  ,dear friends1   
let us have faith for those we bring to 
,christ4 ,let us believe for them if    

they will not believe for themselves4   
,it may be there are those here who do  
not believe in the ,bible1 or in the    
,gospel of the ,son of ,god4 ,let us    
bring them to ,christ in the arms of our
 faith4 ,he is unchangeable--the same   
yesterday1 today1 and for ever4 ,let us 
look for great things4 ,let us expect   
the dead to be raised1 the harlots      
reclaimed1 the drunkards saved1 and the 
devils cast out4 ,i believe men are     
possessed of evil spirits now1 just as  
much as when the ,son of ,god was on    
earth4 ,we want to bring them right to  
the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 that ,he may  
heal and save them4 ,let this cursed    
unbelief be swept out of the way1 and   
let us come to ,god as one man1 looking 
for and expecting signs and wonders to  
be done in the name of ,jesus4 ,he can  
perform miracles to-day1 and ,he will if
 we ask ,him to fulfill ,his promises4  
,he is able to save to the uttermost4   
,and let me say to any unsaved man that 
,god has the power to save you from your

 sins to-day4 ,if you want to be        
converted1 come right to the ,master as 
did the leper of old4 ,he said1 ,lord1  
if ,thou wilt ,thou canst make me clean4
 ,christ honored his faith1 and said1 ,i
 will2 be thou clean4 ,notice--the man  
put if in the right place4 ,if ,thou    
will4 ,he did not doubt the power of the
 ,son of ,god4 ,the father who brought  
his son to ,christ said1 ,if ,thou      
canst1 have compassion upon him4 ,the   
,lord straightened out his theology then
 and there2 ,if thou canst believe4     
,mother1 can you believe for your boy8  
,if you can1 the ,lord will speak the   
word1 and it shall be done4  ,it will be
 a good thing for us to get right down  
at the feet of the ,master1 like the    
poor woman who went to ,elisha and told 
him of her dead child4 ,he asked his    
servant to take his staff and lay it    
upon the dead child4 ,but the mother    
would not leave the prophet4 ,he wanted 
her to go with the servant1 but she     
would not be satisfied with the         

prophet's staff1 or even with his       
servant2 she wanted the master himself4 
,so ,elisha went with her2 it was a good
 thing he did1 for the servant could not
 raise the child4  ,we want to get      
beyond the staff and beyond the servant1
 right to the heart of the ,master      
,himself4 ,let us bring our palsied     
friends to ,him4 ,it is said of ,christ 
that in one place ,he could not do many 
mighty works there because of their     
unbelief4 ,let us ask ,him to take away 
from us this cursed unbelief1 that      
hinders the blessing from coming down1  
and prevents those who are sick of the  
palsy of sin from being saved4          
,the faith that works by love1          
,and purifies the heart1       ,a       
foretaste of the joys above          ,to
 mortals can impart2    ,it bears us    
through this earthly strife1    ,and    
triumphs in immortal life4     ,,chapter
 ,v4  ,,enthusiasm4   ,awake thou that  
sleepest1 and arise from the dead1 and  
,christ shall give thee light4 ,i want  

to apply these words to the children of 
,god4 ,if the lost are to be reached by 
the ,gospel of the ,son of ,god1        
,christianity must be more aggressive   
than it has been in the past4 ,we have  
been on the defensive long enough2 the  
time has come for us to enter on a war  
of aggression4 ,when we as children of  
,god wake up and go to work in the      
vineyard1 then those who are living in  
wickedness all about us will be reached2
 but not in any other way4 ,you may go  
to mass meetings and discuss the        
question of ,how to reach the masses1   
but when you have done with discussion  
you have to go back to personal effort4 
,every man and woman who loves the ,lord
 ,jesus ,christ must wake up to the fact
 that he or she has a mission in the    
world1 in this work of reaching the     
lost4  ,a man may talk in his sleep1 and
 it seems to me that there is a good    
deal of that kind of thing now in the   
,lord's work4 ,a man may even preach in 
his sleep4 ,a friend of mine sat up in  

his bed one night and preached a sermon 
right through4 ,he was sound asleep all 
the time4 ,next morning his wife told   
him all about it4 ,he preached the same 
sermon in his church the next ,sabbath  
morning2 ,i have it in print1 and a good
 sermon it is4 ,so a man may not only   
talk but actually preach in his sleep4  
,there are many preachers in these days 
who are fast asleep4  ,there is one     
thing1 however1 that we must remember2 a
 man cannot work in his sleep4 ,there is
 no better way to wake up a ,church than
 to set it to work4 ,one man will wake  
up another in waking himself up4 ,of    
course the moment we begin a work of    
aggression1 and declare war with the    
world1 the flesh1 and the devil1 some   
wise head will begin to shake1 and there
 will be the cry1 ,zeal without         
knowledge6 ,i think ,i have heard that  
objection ever since ,i commenced the   
,christian life4 ,i heard of some one   
who was speaking the other day of       
something that was to be done1 and who  

said he hoped zeal would be tempered    
with moderation4 ,another friend very   
wisely replied that he hoped moderation 
would be tempered with zeal4 ,if that   
were always the case1 ,christianity     
would be like a red hot ball rolling    
over the face of the earth4 ,there is no
 power on earth that can stand before   
the onward march of ,god's people when  
they are in dead earnest4  ,in all ages 
,god has used those who were in earnest4
 ,satan always calls idle men into his  
service4 ,god calls active and          
earnest--not indolent men4 ,when we are 
thoroughly aroused and ready for ,his   
work1 then ,he will take us up and use  
us4 ,you remember where ,elijah found   
,elisha2 he was ploughing in the        
field--he was at work4 ,gideon was at   
the threshing floor4 ,moses was away in 
,horeb looking after the sheep4 ,none of
 these eminent servants of ,god were    
indolent men2 what they did1 they did   
with all their might4 ,we want such men 
and women nowadays4 ,if we cannot do    

,god's work with all the knowledge we   
would like1 let us at any rate do it    
with all the zeal that ,god has given   
us4  ,mr4 ,taylor says3 ,the zeal of the
 ,apostles was seen in this--they       
preached publicly and privately2 they   
prayed for all men2 they wept to ,god   
for the hardness of men's hearts2 they  
became all things to all men1 that they 
might gain some2 they traveled through  
deeps and deserts2 they endured the heat
 of the ,syrian sun and the violence of 
,euroclydon1 winds and tempests1 seas   
and prisons1 mockings and scourgings1   
fastings and poverty1 labor and         
watching2 they endured of every man and 
wronged no man2 they would do any good1 
and suffer any evil1 if they could but  
hope to prevail upon a soul2 they       
persuaded men meekly1 they entreated    
them humbly1 they convinced them        
powerfully2 they watched for their good1
 but meddled not with their interest2   
and this is the ,christian zeal--the    
zeal of meekness1 the zeal of charity1  

the zeal of patience4  ,a good many     
people are afraid of the word           
,,enthusiasm4 ,do you know what the word
 means8 ,it means ,in ,god4 ,the person 
who is in ,god1 will surely be fired    
with enthusiasm4 ,when a man goes into  
business filled with fire and zeal1 he  
will generally carry all before him4 ,in
 the army a general who is full of      
enthusiasm will fire up his men1 and    
will accomplish a great deal more than  
one who is not stirred with the same    
spirit4 ,people say that if we go on in 
that way many mistakes will be made4    
,probably there will4 ,you never saw any
 boy learning a trade who did not make a
 good many mistakes4 ,if you do not go  
to work because you are afraid of making
 mistakes1 you will probably make one   
great mistake--the greatest mistake of  
your life--that of doing nothing4 ,if we
 all do what we can1 then a good deal   
will be accomplished4  ,how often do we 
find ,sabbath-school teachers going into
 their work without any enthusiasm4 ,i  

had just as soon have a lot of wooden   
teachers as some that ,i have known4 ,if
 ,i were a carpenter ,i could           
manufacture any quantity of them4 ,take 
one of those teachers who has no heart1 
no fire1 and no enthusiasm4 ,he comes   
into the school-room perhaps a few      
minutes after the appointed time4 ,he   
sits down1 without speaking a word to   
any of the scholars1 until the time     
comes for the lessons to begin4 ,when   
the ,superintendent says it is time to  
begin the teacher brings out a ,question
 ,book4 ,he has not been at the trouble 
to look up the subject himself1 so he   
gets what some one else has written     
about it4 ,he takes care not only to get
 a ,question ,book1 but an ,answer      
,book4  ,such a teacher will take up the
 first book and he says3 ,john1 who was 
the first man8 7looking at the          
book7--,yes1 that is the right question4
 ,john replies1 ,adam4 ,looking at the  
,answer ,book the teacher says3 ,yes1   
that is right4 ,he looks again at the   

,question ,book and he says3 ,charles1  
who was ,lot8 ,abraham's nephew4 ,yes1  
my boy1 that is right4 ,and so he goes  
on4 ,you may say that this is an        
exaggerated description1 and of course  
,i do not mean to say it is literally   
true2 but the picture is not so much    
overdrawn as you would suppose4 ,do you 
think a class of little boys full of    
life and fire is going to be reached in 
that way8  ,i like to see a teacher come
 into the class and shake hands with the
 scholars all round4 ,johnnie1 how do   
you do8 ,charlie1 ,i am glad to see you6
 ,how's the baby8 ,how's your mother8   
,how are all the folks at home8 ,that is
 the kind of a teacher ,i like to see4  
,when he begins to open up the lesson   
all the scholars are interested in what 
he is going to say4 ,he will be able to 
gain the attention of the whole class1  
and to train them for ,god and for      
eternity4 ,you cannot find me a person  
in the world who has been greatly used  
of ,god1 who has not been full of       

enthusiasm4 ,when we enter on the work  
in this spirit it will begin to prosper1
 and ,god will give us success4  ,as ,i 
was leaving ,new ,york to go to ,england
 in #ahfg1 a friend said to me3 ,i hope 
you will go to ,edinburgh and be at the 
,general ,assembly this year4 ,when ,i  
was there a year ago ,i heard such a    
speech as ,i shall never forget4 ,dr4   
,duff made a speech that set me all on  
fire4 ,i shall never forget the hour ,i 
spent in that meeting4 ,shortly after   
reaching ,england ,i went to ,edinburgh 
and spent a week there1 in hopes that ,i
 might hear that one man speak4 ,i went 
to work to find the report of the speech
 that my friend had referred to1 and it 
stirred me wonderfully4 ,dr4 ,duff had  
been out in ,india as a missionary4 ,he 
had spent twenty-five years there       
preaching the ,gospel and establishing  
schools4 ,he came back with a           
broken-down constitution4 ,he was       
permitted to address the ,general       
,assembly1 in order to make an appeal   

for men to go into the mission field4   
,after he had spoken for a considerable 
time1 he became exhausted and fainted   
away4 ,they carried him out of the hall 
into another room4 ,the doctors worked  
over him for some time1 and at last he  
began to recover4 ,when he realized     
where he was1 he roused himself and     
said3 ,i did not finish my speech2 carry
 me back and let me finish it4 ,they    
told him he could only do it at the     
peril of his life4 ,said he3 ,i will do 
it if ,i die4 ,so they took him back to 
the hall4 ,my friend said it was one of 
the most solemn scenes he ever witnessed
 in his life4  ,they brought the        
white-haired man into the ,assembly     
,hall1 and as he appeared at the door   
every person sprang to his feet2 the    
tears flowed freely as they looked upon 
the grand old veteran4 ,with a trembling
 voice1 he said3 ,fathers and mothers of
 ,scotland1 is it true that you have no 
more sons to send to ,india to work for 
the ,lord ,jesus ,christ8 ,the call for 

help is growing louder and louder1 but  
there are few coming forward to answer  
it4 ,you have the money put away in the 
bank1 but where are the laborers who    
shall go into the field8 ,when ,queen   
,victoria wants men to volunteer for her
 army in ,india1 you freely give your   
sons4 ,you do not talk about their      
losing their health1 and about the      
trying climate4 ,but when the ,lord     
,jesus is calling for laborers1         
,scotland is saying3 ',we have no more  
sons to give4'  ,turning to the         
,president of the ,assembly1 he said3   
,mr4 ,moderator1 if it is true that     
,scotland has no more sons to give to   
the service of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ 
in ,india2 although ,i have lost my     
health in that land1 if there are none  
who will go and tell those heathen of   
,christ1 then ,i will be off to-morrow1 
to let them know that there is one old  
,scotchman who is ready to die for them4
 ,i will go back to the shores of the   
,ganges1 and there lay down my life as a

 witness for the ,son of ,god4  ,thank  
,god for such a man as that6 ,we want   
men to-day who are willing1 if need be1 
to lay down their lives for the ,son of 
,god4 ,then we shall be able to make an 
impression upon the world4 ,when they   
see that we are in earnest1 their hearts
 will be touched1 and we shall be able  
to lead them to the ,lord ,jesus        
,christ4  ,i did not agree with         
,garibaldi's judgement in all things1   
but ,i must confess ,i did admire his   
enthusiasm4 ,i never saw his name in the
 papers1 or in a book1 but ,i read all  
,i could find about him4 ,there was     
something about him that fired me up4 ,i
 remember reading of the time when he   
was on the way to ,rome in #ahfg1 and   
when he was cast into prison4 ,i read   
the letter he sent to his comrades3 ,if 
fifty ,garibaldis are thrown into       
prison1 let ,rome be free6 ,he did not  
care for his own comfort1 so long as the
 cause of freedom in ,italy was         
advanced4 ,if we have such a love for   

our ,master and ,his cause that we are  
ready to go out and do ,his work        
whatever it may cost us personally1     
depend upon it the ,lord will use us in 
building up ,his kingdom4  ,i have read 
of a man in the ninth century who came  
up against a king4 ,the king had a force
 of thirty thousand men1 and when he    
heard that this general had only five   
hundred men1 he sent him a message that 
if he would surrender he would treat him
 and his followers mercifully4 ,turning 
to one of his followers1 the man said3  
,take that dagger and drive it to your  
heart4 ,the man at once pressed the     
weapon to his bosom1 and fell dead at   
the feet of his commander4 ,turning to  
another1 he said3 ,leap into yonder     
chasm4 ,into the jaws of death the man  
went2 they saw him dashed to pieces at  
the bottom4 ,then turning to the king's 
messenger1 the man said3 ,go back to    
your king1 and tell him that ,i have    
five hundred such men4 ,tell him that we
 may die but we never surrender4 ,tell  

him that ,i will have him chained with  
my dogs within forty-eight hours4 ,when 
the king heard that he had such men     
arrayed against him1 it struck terror to
 his heart4 ,his forces were so         
demoralized that they were scattered    
like chaff before the wind4 ,within     
forty-eight hours the king was taken    
captive and chained with the dogs of his
 conqueror4 ,when the people see that we
 are in earnest in all that we undertake
 for ,god1 they will begin to tremble2  
men and women will be enquiring the way 
to ,zion4  ,a fearful storm was raging1 
when the cry was heard1 ,man overboard6 
,a human form was seen manfully         
breasting the furious elements in the   
direction of the shore2 but the raging  
waves bore the struggler rapidly        
outward1 and1 ere the boats could be    
lowered1 a fearful space separated the  
victim from help4 ,above the shriek of  
the storm and roar of the waters rose   
his rending cry4 ,it was an agonizing   
moment4 ,with bated breath and blanched 

cheek1 every eye was strained to the    
struggling man4 ,manfully did the brave 
rowers strain every nerve in that race  
of mercy2 but all their efforts were in 
vain4 ,one wild shriek of despair1 and  
the victim went down4 ,a piercing cry1  
,save him1 save him6 rang through the   
hushed crowd2 and into their midst      
darted an agitated man1 throwing his    
arms wildly in the air1 shouting1 ,a    
thousand pounds for the man who saves   
his life6 but his starting eye rested   
only on the spot where the waves rolled 
remorselessly over the perished4 ,he    
whose strong cry broke the stillness of 
the crowd was ,captain of the ship from 
whence the drowned man fell1 and was his
 brother4 ,this is the feeling we want  
to have in the various ranks of those   
bearing commission under the great      
,captain of our salvation4 ,save him6 he
 is my brother4  ,the fact is1 men do   
not believe in ,christianity because    
they think we are not in earnest about  
it4 ,in this same ,epistle to the       

,ephesians the ,apostle says we are to  
be living epistles of ,christ1 known and
 read of all men4 ,i never knew a time  
when ,christian people were ready to go 
forth and put in the sickle1 but there  
was a great harvest4 ,wherever you put  
in the sickle you will find the fields  
white4 ,the trouble is there are so few 
to reap4  ,god wants men and women2 that
 is something far better than           
institutions4 ,if a man or a woman be   
really in earnest1 they will not wait to
 be put on some committee4 ,if ,i saw a 
man fall into the river1 and he was in  
danger of drowning1 ,i would not wait   
until ,i was placed on some committee   
before ,i tried to save him4 ,many      
people say they cannot work because they
 have not been formally appointed4 ,they
 say3 ,it is not my parish4 ,i asked a  
person one day1 during our last visit to
 ,london1 if he would go and work in the
 inquiry room4 ,the reply was3 ,i do not
 belong to this part of ,london4 ,let us
 look on the whole world as our parish1 

as a great harvest field4 ,if ,god puts 
any one within our influence1 let us    
tell them of ,christ and heaven4 ,the   
world may rise up and say that we are   
mad4 ,in my opinion no one is fit for   
,god's service until he is willing to be
 considered mad by the world4 ,they said
 ,paul was mad4 ,i wish we had many more
 who were bitten with the same kind of  
madness4 ,as some one has said3 ,if we  
are mad1 we have a good ,keeper on the  
way and a good ,asylum at the end of the
 road4  ,one great trouble is that      
people come to special revival meetings1
 and for two or three weeks1 perhaps1   
they will keep up the fire1 but by and  
by it dies out4 ,they are like a bundle 
of shavings with kerosene on the        
top--they blaze away for a little1 but  
soon there is nothing left4 ,we want to 
keep it all the time1 morning1 noon and 
night4 ,i heard of a well once that was 
said to be very good1 except that it had
 two faults4 ,it would freeze up in the 
winter1 and it would dry up in the      

summer4 ,a most extraordinary well1 but 
,i am afraid there are many wells like  
it4 ,there are many people who are good 
at certain times2 as some one has       
expressed it1 they seem to be good in   
spots4 ,what we want is to be red hot   
all the time4 ,do not wait till some one
 hunts you up4 ,people talk about       
striking while the iron is hot4 ,i      
believe it was ,cromwell who said that  
he would rather strike the iron and make
 it hot4 ,so let us keep at our post1   
and we will soon grow warm in the       
,lord's work4  ,let me say a few words  
specially to ,sabbath-school teachers4  
,let me urge upon you not to be         
satisfied with merely pointing the      
children away to the ,lord ,jesus       
,christ4 ,there are so many teachers who
 go on sowing the seed1 and who think   
they will reap the harvest by and by2   
but they do not look for the harvest    
now4 ,i began to work in that way1 and  
it was years before ,i saw any          
conversions4 ,i believe ,god's method is

 that we should sow with one hand and   
reap with the other4 ,the two should go 
on side by side4 ,the idea that children
 must grow into manhood and womanhood   
before they can be brought to ,jesus    
,christ is a false one4 ,they can be led
 to ,christ now in the days of their    
youth1 and they can be kept1 so that    
they may become useful members of       
society1 and be a blessing to their     
parents1 to the ,church of ,god1 and to 
the world4 ,if they are allowed to grow 
up to manhood and womanhood before they 
are led to ,christ1 many of them will be
 dragged into the dens of vice2 and     
instead of being a blessing they will be
 a curse to society4  ,what is the      
trouble throughout ,christendom to-day1 
in connection with the ,sabbath-school8 
,it is that so many when they grow up to
 the age of sixteen or so1 drop through 
the ,sabbath-school net1 and that is the
 last we see of them4 ,there are many   
young men now in our prisons who have   
been ,sabbath scholars4 ,the cause of   

that is that so few teachers believe the
 children can be converted when they are
 young4 ,they do not labor to bring them
 to a knowledge of ,christ1 but are     
content to go on sowing the seed4 ,let a
 teacher resolve that1 ,god helping him1
 he will not rest until he sees his     
whole class brought into the kingdom of 
,god2 if he thus resolves he will see   
signs and wonders inside of thirty days4
  ,i well remember how ,i got waked up  
on this point4 ,i had a large           
,sunday-school with a thousand children4
 ,i was very much pleased with the      
numbers4 ,if they only kept up or       
exceeded that number ,i was delighted2  
if the attendance fell below a thousand 
,i was very much troubled4 ,i was all   
the time aiming simply at numbers4      
,there was one class held in a corner of
 the large hall4 ,it was made up of     
young women1 and it was more trouble    
than any other in the school4 ,there was
 but one man who could ever manage it   
and keep it in order4 ,if he could      

manage to keep the class quiet ,i       
thought it was about as much as we could
 hope for4 ,the idea of any of them     
being converted never entered my mind4  
,one ,sabbath this teacher was missing1 
and it was with difficulty that his     
substitute could keep order in the      
class4 ,during the week the teacher came
 to my place of business4 ,i noticed    
that he looked very pale1 and ,i asked  
what was the trouble4 ,i have been      
bleeding at the lungs1 he said1 and the 
doctor tells me ,i cannot live4 ,i must 
give up my class and go back to my      
widowed mother in ,new ,york ,state4 ,he
 fully believed he was going home to    
die4 ,as he spoke to me his chin        
quivered1 and the tears began to flow4  
,i noticed this and said3 ,you are not  
afraid of death1 are you8 ,oh1 no1 ,i am
 not afraid to die1 but ,i will meet    
,god1 and not one of my ,sabbath-school 
scholars is converted4 ,what shall ,i   
say8 ,ah1 how different things looked   
when he felt he was going to render an  

account of his stewardship4  ,i was     
speechless4 ,it was something new to me 
to hear any one speak in that way4 ,i   
said3 ,suppose we go and see the        
scholars and tell them about ,christ4 ,i
 am very weak1 he said1 too weak to     
walk4 ,i said ,i would take him in a    
carriage4 ,we took a carriage and went  
round to the residence of every scholar4
 ,he would just be able to stagger      
across the sidewalk1 sometimes leaning  
on my arm4 ,calling the young lady by   
name1 he would pray with her and plead  
with her to come to ,christ4 ,it was a  
new experience for me4 ,i got a new view
 of things4 ,after he had used up all   
his strength ,i would take him home4    
,next day he would start again and visit
 others in the class4 ,sometimes he     
would go alone1 and sometimes ,i would  
go with him4 ,at the end of ten days he 
came to my place of business1 his face  
beaming with joy1 and said3 ,the last   
one has yielded her heart to ,christ4 ,i
 am going home now2 ,i have done all ,i 

can do2 my work is done4  ,i asked when 
he was going1 and he said3 ,to-morrow   
night4 ,i said3 ,suppose ,i ask these   
young friends to have a little          
gathering1 to meet you once more before 
you go4 ,he said he would be very glad4 
,i sent out the invitations and they all
 came together4 ,i had never spent such 
a night up to that time4 ,i had never   
met such a large number of young        
converts1 led to ,christ by his         
influence and mine4 ,we prayed for each 
member of the class1 for the            
,superintendent1 and for the teacher4   
,every one of them prayed2 what a change
 had come over them in a short space of 
time4 ,we tried to sing--but we did not 
get on very well--     ,blest be the tie
 that binds    ,our hearts in ,christian
 love4  ,we all bade him good-bye2 but  
,i felt as if ,i must go and see him    
once more4 ,next night1 before the train
 started1 ,i went to the station1 and   
found that1 without any concert of      
action1 one and another of the class had

 come to bid him good-bye4 ,they were   
all there on the platform4 ,a few       
gathered around us--the fireman1        
engineer1 brakesman1 and conductor of   
the train1 with the passengers4 ,it was 
a beautiful summer night1 and the sun   
was just going down behind the western  
prairies as we sang together--     ,here
 we meet to part again1    ,but when we 
meet on ,canaan's shore1    ,there'll be
 no parting there4  ,as the train moved 
out of the station1 he stood on the     
outside platform1 and1 with his finger  
pointing heavenward1 he said3 ,i will   
meet you yonder2 then he disappeared    
from our view4  ,what a work was        
accomplished in those ten days6 ,some of
 the members of that class were among   
the most active ,christians we had in   
the school for years after4 ,some of    
them are active workers to-day4 ,i met  
one of them at work away out on the     
,pacific ,coast1 a few years ago4 ,we   
had a blessed work of grace in the      
school that summer2 it took me out of my

 business and sent me into the ,lord's  
work4 ,if it had not been for the work  
of those ten days1 probably ,i should   
not have been an evangelist to-day4     
,let me again urge on ,sunday-school    
teachers to seek the salvation of your  
scholars4 ,make up your mind that within
 the next ten days you will do all you  
can to lead your class to ,christ4      
,fathers1 mothers1 let there be no rest 
till you see all your family brought    
into the kingdom of ,god4 ,do you say   
that ,he will not bless such consecrated
 effort8 ,what we want to-day is the    
spirit of consecration and              
concentration4 ,may ,god pour out ,his  
,spirit upon us1 and fill us with a holy
 enthusiasm4     ,,chapter ,,vi4  ,,the 
,,power ,,of ,,little ,,things4   ,in   
the twenty-fifth chapter of ,exodus we  
read3 ,and the ,lord spake unto ,moses1 
saying3 ',speak unto the children of    
,israel1 that they bring ,me an         
offering3 of every man that giveth it   
willingly with his heart ye shall take  

my offering4 ,and this is the offering  
which ye shall take of them3 gold1 and  
silver1 and brass1 and blue1 and purple1
 and scarlet1 and fine linen1 and goats'
 hair1 and rams' skins dyed red1 and    
badgers' skins1 and shittim wood1 oil   
for the light1 spices for anointing oil 
and for sweet incense1 onyx stones1 and 
stones to be set in the ephod and in the
 breastplate4 ,and let them make ,me a  
sanctuary2 that ,i may dwell among them4
 ,according to all that ,i show thee1   
after the pattern of the tabernacle1 and
 the pattern of all the instruments     
thereof1 even so shall ye make it4'  ,i 
am glad this has been recorded for our  
instruction4 ,how it ought to encourage 
us all to believe that we may each have 
a part in building up the walls of the  
heavenly ,zion4 ,in all ages ,god has   
delighted to use the weak things4 ,in   
his letter to the ,corinthians ,paul    
speaks of five things that ,god uses3   
,god hath chosen the foolish things of  
the world to confound the wise2 and ,god

 hath chosen the weak things of the     
world to confound the things which are  
mighty2 and base things of the world1   
and things which are despised1 hath ,god
 chosen1 yea1 and things which are not1 
to bring to nought things that are1 that
 no flesh should glory in ,his presence4
  ,you notice there are five things     
mentioned that ,god uses--foolish       
things1 weak things1 base things1       
despised things1 and things which are   
not4 ,what for8 ,that no flesh should   
glory in ,his presence4 ,when we are    
weak then we are strong4 ,people often  
think they have not strength enough2 the
 fact is we have too much strength4 ,it 
is when we feel that we have no strength
 of our own1 that we are willing ,god   
should use us1 and work through us4 ,if 
we are leaning on ,god's strength1 we   
have more than all the strength of the  
world4  ,this world is not going to be  
reached by mere human intellectual      
power4 ,when we realize that we have no 
strength1 then all the fulness of ,god  

will flow in upon us4 ,then we shall    
have power with ,god and with man4  ,in 
,revelation we read that ,john on one   
occasion wept much at a sight he beheld 
in heaven4 ,he saw a sealed book2 and no
 one was found that could break the seal
 and open the book4 ,abel1 that holy man
 of ,god1 was not worthy to open it4    
,enoch1 who had been translated to      
heaven without tasting death2 ,elijah1  
who had gone up in a chariot of fire2   
even ,moses1 that great law-giver2 or   
,isaiah1 or any of the prophets--none   
was found worthy to open the book4 ,as  
he saw this ,john wept much4 ,as he wept
 one touched him1 and said3 ,weep not2  
behold1 the ,lion of the tribe of       
,judah1 the root of ,david1 hath        
prevailed to open the ,book1 and to     
loose the seven seals thereof4 ,when he 
looked to see who was the ,lion of the  
tribe of ,judah1 whom did he see6 ,lo1  
the ,lion was a ,lamb6 ,god's ,lion is a
 ,lamb6 ,when we are like lambs ,god can
 use us1 and we are strong in ,his      

service4 ,we can all be weak can we not8
 ,then let us lean on the mighty power  
of ,god4  ,notice that all the men whom 
,christ called around ,him were weak men
 in a worldly sense4 ,they were all men 
without rank1 without title1 without    
position1 without wealth or culture4    
,nearly all of them were fishermen and  
unlettered men2 yet ,christ chose them  
to build up ,his kingdom4 ,when ,god    
wanted to bring the children of ,israel 
out of bondage1 ,he did not send an     
army2 ,he sent one solitary man4 ,so in 
all ages ,god has used the weak things  
of the world to accomplish ,his         
purposes4  ,i read an incident some time
 ago that illustrates the power of a    
simple tract4 ,a society was some years 
ago established to distribute tracts by 
mail in the higher circles4 ,one of     
these tracts1 entitled1 ,prepare to meet
 thy ,god1 was enclosed in an envelope1 
and sent by post to a gentleman well    
known for his ungodly life and his      
reckless impiety4 ,he was in his study  

when he read this letter among others4  
,what's that1 said he4 ',prepare to meet
 thy ,god4' ,who has had the impudence  
to send me this cant8 ,and1 with an     
imprecation on his unknown              
correspondent1 he arose to put the paper
 in the fire4  ,no2 ,i won't do that4 he
 said to himself2 ,on second thoughts1  
,i know what ,i will do4 ,i'll send it  
to my friend ,b--2 it will be a good    
joke to hear what he'll say about it4   
,so saying1 he enclosed the tract in a  
fresh envelope1 and1 in a feigned hand1 
directed it to his boon companion4  ,mr4
 ,b-- was a man of his own stamp1 and   
received the tract1 as his friend had   
done1 with an oath at the ,methodistical
 humbug1 which his first impulse was to 
tear in pieces4 ,i'll not tear it       
either1 said he to himself4 ,prepare to 
meet thy ,god at once arrested his      
attention1 and smote his conscience4    
,the arrow of conviction entered his    
heart as he read1 and he was converted4 
,almost his first thought was for his   

ungodly associates4 ,have ,i received   
such blessed light and truth1 and shall 
,i not strive to communicate it to      
others8 ,he again folded the tract1 and 
enclosed and directed it to one of his  
companions in sin4 ,wonderful to say1   
the little arrow hit the mark4 ,his     
friend read4 ,he also was converted2 and
 both are now walking as the ,lord's    
redeemed ones4  ,in ,matthew we read3   
,for the kingdom of heaven is as a man  
travelling into a far country1 who      
called his own servants1 and delivered  
unto them his goods4 ,and unto one he   
gave five talents1 to another two1 and  
to another one2 to every man according  
to his several ability2 and straightway 
took his journey4  ,observe1 he gave to 
every man according to his several      
ability4 ,he gave to each servant just  
the number of talents that he could take
 care of and use4 ,some people complain 
that they have not more talents2 but we 
have each the number of talents that we 
can properly employ4 ,if we take good   

care of what we have1 ,god will give us 
more4 ,there were eight talents to be   
distributed among three persons2 the    
master gave to one five2 to a second1   
two2 and to another1 one4 ,the man went 
away2 and the servants fully understood 
that he expected them to improve their  
talents and trade with them4 ,god is not
 unreasonable2 ,he does not ask us to do
 what we cannot do2 but ,he gives us    
according to our several ability1 and   
,he expects us to use the talents we    
have4  ,we read3 ,he that had received  
the five talents went and traded with   
the same1 and made them other five      
talents4 ,and likewise he that had      
received two1 he also gained other two4 
,but he that had received one went and  
digged in the earth1 and hid his lord's 
money4 ,notice that the man who had the 
two talents got exactly the same        
commendation as the man who had the     
five4 ,the one who got five doubled     
them1 and his lord said to him3 ,well   
done1 good and faithful servant4 ,the   

one who had two also doubled them1 and  
so had four talents2 to him also the    
lord said3 ,well done1 good and faithful
 servant1 enter thou into the joy of thy
 lord4  ,if the man who had the one     
talent had traded with it1 he would have
 received exactly the same approval as  
the others4 ,but what did he do8 ,he put
 it into a napkin and buried it4 ,he    
thought he would take care of it in that
 way4  ,after the lord of these servants
 had been gone a long while he returned 
to reckon with them4 ,what does he find 
in the case of the third servant8 ,he   
has the one talent2 but that is all4  ,i
 read of a man who had a thousand       
dollars4 ,he hid it away1 thinking he   
would in that way take care of it1 and  
that when he was an old man he would    
have something to fall back upon4 ,after
 keeping the money for twenty years he  
took it to a bank and got just one      
thousand dollars for it4 ,if he had put 
it at interest1 in the usual way1 he    
might have had three times the amount4  

,he made the mistake that a great many  
people are making to-day throughout     
,christendom1 of not trading with his   
talents4 ,my experience has been as ,i  
have gone about in the world and mingled
 with professing ,christians1 that those
 who find most fault with others are    
those who themselves have nothing to do4
 ,if a person is busy improving the     
talents that ,god has given him he will 
have too much to do to find fault and   
complain about others4  ,god has given  
us many opportunities of serving ,him1  
and ,he expects that we should use them4
 ,people think that their time and      
property are their own4 ,what saying is 
more frequent than this8 ,i have a right
 to do what ,i will with my own4  ,on   
one occasion a friend was beside the    
dying bed of a military man who had held
 an important command in successful     
,indian wars4 ,he asked if he were      
afraid to die4 ,he at once said3 ,i am  
not4  ,why8 ,he said3 ,i have never done
 any harm4  ,the other replied3 ,if you 

were going to be tried by a             
court-martial as an officer and a       
gentleman1 ,i suppose you would expect  
an honorable acquittal8 ,the dying old  
man lifted himself up1 and with an      
energy which his illness seemed to      
render impossible1 exclaimed1 ,that ,i  
should6  ,but you are not going to a    
court-martial2 you are going to ,christ2
 and when ,christ asks you1 ',what have 
you done for me8' what will you say8    
,his countenance changed1 and earnestly 
gazing on his friend1 with agonized     
feelings he answered3 ,nothing6--,i have
 never done anything for ,christ6  ,his 
friend pointed out the awful mistake of 
habitually living in the sense of our   
relations one with another1 and         
forgetting our relation to ,christ and  
to ,god2 therefore the error of         
supposing that doing no harm1 or even   
doing good to those around1 will serve  
as a substitute for living to ,god4     
,what have you done for ,christ8 is the 
great question4  ,after some days1 he   

called again on the old man1 who said3  
,well1 sir1 what do you think now8 ,he  
replied3 ,ah6 ,i am a poor sinner4 ,he  
pointed him to the ,savior of sinners2  
and not long afterward he departed this 
life as a repentant sinner1 resting in  
,christ4 ,what an awful end would have  
come to the false peace in which he was 
found6 ,and yet it is the peace of the  
multitudes1 only to be undeceived at the
 judgment seat of ,christ4  ,if this    
world is going to be reached1 ,i am     
convinced it must be done by men and    
women of average talent4 ,after all     
there are comparatively few people in   
the world who have great talents4 ,here 
is a man with one talent2 there is      
another with three2 perhaps ,i may have 
only half a talent4 ,but if we all go to
 work and trade with the gifts we have  
the ,lord will prosper us2 and we may   
double or treble our talents4 ,what we  
need is to be up and about our ,master's
 work1 every man building against his   
own house4 ,the more we use the means   

and opportunities we have1 the more will
 our ability and our opportunities be   
increased4  ,an ,eastern allegory runs  
thus3 ,a merchant1 going abroad for a   
time1 gave respectively to two of his   
friends two sacks of wheat each1 to take
 care of against his return4 ,years     
passed2 he came back1 and applied for   
them again4 ,the first took him into a  
storehouse1 and showed them his sacks2  
but they were mildewed and worthless4   
,the other led him out into the open    
country1 and pointed to field after     
field of waving corn1 the produce of the
 two sacks given him4 ,said the         
merchant3 ,you have been a faithful     
friend4 ,give me two sacks of that      
wheat2 the rest shall be thine4  ,i     
heard a person once say that she wanted 
assurance4 ,i asked how long she had    
been a ,christian2 and she replied she  
had been one for a number of years4 ,i  
said3 ,what are you doing for ,christ8  
,i do not know that ,i have the         
opportunity of doing anything1 she      

replied4 ,i pity the person who         
professes to be a ,christian in this    
day1 and who says he can find no        
opportunities of doing any work for     
,christ4 ,i cannot imagine where his lot
 must be cast4 ,the idea of any one     
knowing the ,lord ,jesus ,christ in this
 nineteenth century1 and saying he has  
no opportunities of testifying for ,him4
 ,surely no one need look far to find   
plenty of opportunities for speaking and
 working for the ,master1 if he only has
 the desire to do it4 ,lift up your     
eyes1 and look on the fields2 for they  
are white already to harvest4 ,if you   
cannot do some great thing1 you can do  
some little thing4  ,a man sent me a    
tract a little while ago1 entitled1     
,,what ,,is ,,that ,,in ,,thine ,,hand8 
and ,i am very thankful he sent it4     
,these words were spoken by ,god to     
,moses when ,he called him to go down to
 ,egypt1 and bring the children of      
,israel out of the house of bondage4    
,you remember how ,moses tried to excuse

 himself4 ,he said he was not eloquent2 
he was not this and that2 and he could  
not go4 ,like ,isaiah he wanted the     
,lord to send some one else4 ,at last   
the ,lord said to ,moses1 ,what is that 
in thine hand8 ,he had a rod in his     
hand4 ,it may be that a few days before 
he wanted something to drive the sheep  
with1 and he may have cut this wand for 
that purpose4 ,he could probably have   
got a hundred better rods any day4 ,yet 
with that he was to deliver the children
 of ,israel4 ,god was to link ,his      
almighty power with that rod2 and that  
was enough4  ,i can imagine that as     
,moses was on his way down to ,egypt he 
may have met one of the philosophers or 
free-thinkers of his day1 who might have
 asked him where he was going4 ,down to 
,egypt4 ,indeed6 are you going down     
there again to live8 ,no1 ,i am going to
 bring my people out of the house of    
bondage4 ,what6 you are going to deliver
 them from the hand of ,pharaoh1 the    
mightiest monarch now living8 ,you think

 you are going to free three millions of
 slaves from the power of the           
,egyptians8 ,yes4  ,how are you going to
 do it8 ,with this rod4  ,what a        
contemptible thing the rod must have    
been in the eyes of that ,egyptian      
freethinker2 the idea of delivering     
three millions of slaves with a rod6 ,we
 had three millions of slaves in this   
country1 and before they could be set   
free half a million of men had to lay   
down their lives4 ,the flower of the    
nation marched to its grave before our  
slaves gained their deliverance4  ,here 
was a weak and solitary man going down  
to ,egypt1 to meet a monarch who had the
 power of life and death4 ,and all he   
had with which to deliver the people    
from bondage was this rod6 ,yet see how 
famous that rod became4 ,when ,moses    
wanted to bring up the plagues on the   
people he had only to stretch out his   
rod1 and they covered the land4 ,he had 
but to stretch it out1 and the water of 
the country was turned into blood4 ,then

 when the people came to the ,red ,sea  
and they wanted to go across1 he had    
only to lift up the rod and the waters  
separated1 so that the people could pass
 through dry-shod4 ,when they were in   
the desert and wanted water to drink1   
again he lifted this rod and struck the 
flinty rock1 when the water burst forth1
 and they drank and were refreshed4     
,that contemptible rod became mighty    
indeed4 ,but it was not the rod2 it was 
the ,god of ,moses1 who condescended to 
use it4  ,let us learn a lesson from    
this history4 ,we are required to use   
what we have1 not what we have not4     
,whatever gifts or talents you have1    
take and lay them at the ,master's feet4
 ,moses took what he had2 and we see how
 much he accomplished4 ,if we are ready 
to say3 ,here am ,i1 ready and willing  
to be used1 the ,lord will use us2 ,he  
will link ,his mighty power with our    
weakness1 and we shall be able to do    
great things for ,him4  ,look again1 and
 see ,joshua as he goes up to the walls 

of ,jericho4 ,if you had asked what they
 had with which to bring down the walls 
of that city1 all you would have seen   
would have been a few rams' horns4 ,they
 must have looked very mean and         
contemptible in the eyes of the men of  
,jericho4 ,perhaps the city contained   
some men who were giants2 as they looked
 over the walls and saw the ,israelites 
marching around the city blowing these  
horns1 they must have appeared very     
insignificant4 ,but ,god can use the    
base things1 the despised things4       
,however contemptible an instrument a   
ram's horn may have appeared in the     
sight of man1 the people went on blowing
 them as they were commanded2 and at the
 appointed time down came the walls1 and
 the city was taken4 ,the ,israelites   
had no battering rams2 no great armor or
 mighty weapons of any kind4 ,they      
simply took what they had1 and ,god used
 it to do the work4  ,look at ,samson   
going out to meet a thousand            
,philistines4 ,what has he with him8    

,only the jawbone of an ass6 ,if ,god   
could use that1 surely ,he can use us1  
can he not8 ,do you tell me ,he cannot  
use this woman1 that little boy8 ,there 
is not one whom ,he cannot use1 if we   
are willing to be used4  ,i remember    
hearing a ,scotchman say1 when ,i was in
 ,great ,britain ten years ago1 that    
there was probably not a man in all     
,saul's army but believed that ,god     
could use him to go out and slay the    
giant of ,gath4 ,but there was only one 
solitary man who believed that ,god     
would use him4 ,david went out to meet  
,goliath and we know the result4 ,we all
 believe that ,god can use us2 we want  
to take a step further and believe that 
,he will use us4 ,if we are willing to  
be used1 ,he is willing to use us in    
,his service4 ,how contemptible these   
smooth stones that ,david took out of   
the brook would have appeared to        
,goliath6 ,even ,saul wanted ,david to  
take his armor1 and put it on4 ,he was  
on the point of yielding2 but he took   

his sling and the five smooth stones and
 went out4 ,the giant of ,gath fell     
before him4 ,let us go forth in the name
 of the ,god of hosts1 using what we    
have1 and ,he will give us the victory4 
,when ,i was in ,glasgow a few years    
ago1 a friend was telling me about an   
open-air preacher who died there some   
years before4 ,this man was preaching   
one ,sabbath morning on ,shamgar4 ,he   
said3 ,i can imagine that when he was   
ploughing in the field a man came       
running over the hill all out of breath1
 and shouted3 ',shamgar6 ,shamgar6      
,there are six hundred ,philistines     
coming toward you4' ,shamgar quietly    
said3 ',you pass on2 ,i can take care of
 them1 they are four hundred short4' ,so
 he took an ox goad and slew the whole  
of them4 ,he routed them hip and high4  
,and the ,israelites had again fulfilled
 before their eyes the words3 ',one     
shall chase a thousand and two shall put
 ten thousand to flight4' ,now-a-days it
 takes about a thousand to chase one1   

because we do not realize that we are   
weak in ourselves and that our strength 
is in ,god4  ,we want to remember that  
it is true to-day as ever it was that   
,one shall chase a thousand4 ,what we   
need is ,holy ,ghost power that can take
 up the weakest child here and make him 
mighty in ,god's hand4 ,there is a      
mountain to be threshed2 there lies a   
bar of iron1 and a little weak worm4    
,god puts aside the iron1 and takes up  
the worm to thresh the mountain4 ,that  
is ,god's way4 ,his thoughts are not our
 thoughts2 ,his plans are not ours4  ,we
 say3 ,if such and such a man were only 
converted--that rich man or that wealthy
 lady--how much good would be done6     
,very true2 but it may be that ,god will
 pass them by and take up some poor     
tramp1 and make him the greatest        
instrument for good in all the land4    
,john ,bunyan1 the poor ,bedford tinker1
 was worth more than all the nobility of
 his day4 ,god took him in hand1 and he 
became mighty4 ,he wrote that wonderful 

book that has gone marching through the 
nations1 lifting up many a weary heart1 
cheering many a discouraged and         
disheartened one4 ,let us remember that 
if we are willing to be used1 ,god is   
willing and waiting to use us4  ,i once 
heard an ,englishman speak about ,christ
 feeding the five thousand with the five
 barley loaves and the two small fishes4
 ,he said that ,christ may have taken   
one of the loaves and broken off a piece
 and given it to one of the disciples to
 divide4 ,when the disciple began to    
pass it round he only gave a very small 
piece to the first1 because he was      
afraid it would not hold out4 ,but after
 he had given the first piece it did not
 seem to grow any the less2 so the next 
time he gave a larger piece1 and still  
the bread was not exhausted4 ,the more  
he gave1 the more the bread increased1  
until all had plenty4  ,at the first all
 could be carried in one basket2 but    
when the whole multitude had been       
satisfied the disciples gathered up     

twelve baskets full of fragments4 ,they 
had a good deal more when they stopped  
than when they began4 ,let us bring our 
little barley loaves to the ,master that
 ,he may multiply them4  ,you say you   
have not got much2 well1 you can use    
what you have4 ,the longer ,i work in   
,christ's vineyard the more convinced ,i
 am that a good many are kept out of the
 service of ,christ1 deprived of the    
luxury of working for ,god1 because they
 are trying to do some great thing4 ,let
 us be willing to do little things4 ,and
 let us remember that nothing is small  
in which ,god is4 ,elijah's servant came
 to him and told him he saw a cloud not 
larger than a man's hand4 ,that was     
enough for ,elijah4 ,he said to his     
servant1 ,go1 tell ,ahab to make haste2 
there is the sound of abundance of rain4
 ,elijah knew that the small cloud would
 bring rain4 ,nothing that we do for    
,god is small4  ,i remember holding     
meetings some years ago at a certain    
place1 and ,i met a young lady at the   

house where ,i was staying4 ,she told me
 she had a ,sunday afternoon class in a 
mission-school4 ,at one of our afternoon
 meetings ,i saw this lady sitting right
 in front2 she must have been there     
early to get a good seat4 ,after the    
service ,i met her1 and ,i said3 ,i saw 
you at the meeting to-day2 ,i thought   
you had a class4 ,so ,i have4  ,did you 
get some one to take it for you8 ,no4   
,did you tell the ,superintendent you   
were not to be there8 ,no4  ,do you know
 who had the class8 ,no4  ,do you know  
if any one was there to take it8 ,i am  
afraid there was nobody2 for ,i saw a   
good many of the teachers of the school 
at your meeting4  ,is that the way you  
do the ,lord's work8 ,well1 you know1 ,i
 have only five little boys4 ,i thought 
it would not make any difference4  ,only
 five little boys6 ,why1 there might    
have been a ,john ,knox1 or a ,wesley1  
or a ,whitefield1 or a ,bunyan there4   
,you cannot tell what these boys might  
become4 ,one of them might become       

another ,martin ,luther2 there might be 
a second ,reformation slumbering in one 
of these five little boys4 ,it is a     
great thing for any one to take five    
little boys and train them for ,god and 
for eternity4 ,you may set a stream in  
motion that will flow on after you are  
dead and gone4  ,little did the mothers 
of the ,wesleys know what would be the  
result1 when she trained her boys for   
,god and for ,his kingdom4 ,see what    
mighty results have flowed from that one
 source4 ,it is estimated that there are
 to-day #be1jjj1jjj adherents of the    
,methodist faith1 and over #e1jjj1jjj   
communicants4 ,it is estimated there are
 #aaj1jjj regular and local preachers in
 the ,united ,states alone4 ,two new    
churches are being built every day in   
the year2 and the work of the ,methodist
 ,church is spreading over this great   
,republic4 ,and all this has been done  
in about a hundred and fifty years4 ,let
 not mothers think that their work of   
training children for ,god is a small   

one4 ,in the sight of ,god it is very   
great2 many may rise up in eternity to  
call them blessed4  ,i have now in my   
mind a mother who has had twelve boys4  
,they have all grown up to be active    
,christians4 ,a number of them are      
preachers of the ,gospel2 and all of    
them are true to the ,son of ,god4      
,there are very few women in our country
 who have done more for the nation than 
that mother4 ,it is a great thing to be 
permitted to touch ,god's work1 and to  
be a co-worker with ,him4  ,there is a  
bridge over the ,niagara ,river4 ,it is 
one of the great highways of the nation2
 trains pass over it every few minutes  
of the day4 ,when they began to make the
 bridge1 the first thing they did was to
 take a boy's kite and send a little    
thread across the stream4 ,it seemed a  
very small thing1 but it was the        
beginning of a great work4 ,so if we    
only lead one soul to ,christ1 eternity 
alone may tell what the result will be4 
,you may be the means of saving some one

 who may become one of the most eminent 
men in the service of ,god that the     
world has ever seen4  ,we may not be    
able to do any great thing2 but if each 
of us will do something1 however small  
it may be1 a goof deal will be          
accomplished for ,god4 ,for a good many 
years ,i have made it a rule not to let 
any day pass without speaking to some   
one about eternal things4 ,i commenced  
it away back years ago1 and if ,i live  
the life allotted to man1 there will be 
#ah1bej persons who will have been      
spoken to personally by me4 ,that of    
course does not take into account those 
to whom ,i speak publicly4 ,how often we
 as ,christians meet with people1 when  
we might turn the conversation into a   
channel that will lead them up to       
,christ4  ,there are many burdened      
hearts all around us2 can we not help to
 remove these burdens8 ,some one has    
represented this world as two great     
mountains--a mountain of sorrow and a   
mountain of joy4 ,if we can each day    

take something from the mountain of     
sorrow and add it to the mountain of    
joy1 a good deal will be accomplished in
 the course of a year4  ,i remember ,mr4
 ,spurgeon making this remark a few days
 ago3 ,when ,moses went to tell the king
 of ,egypt that he would call up the    
plague of frogs upon the land1 the king 
may have said3 ,your ,god is the ,god of
 frogs1 is ,he8 ,i am not afraid of     
them2 bring them on1 ,i do not care for 
the frogs6 ,says ,moses3 ,but there are 
a good many of them1 ,o king4 ,and he   
found that out4  ,so we may be weak and 
contemptible individually1 but there a  
good many ,christians scattered all over
 the land1 and we can accomplish a great
 deal between us4 ,supposing each one   
who loves the ,lord ,jesus were to      
resolve to-day1 by ,god's help1 to try  
and lead one soul to ,christ this week4 
,is there a professing ,christian who   
cannot lead some soul into the kingdom  
of ,god8 ,if you cannot ,i want to tell 
you that there is something wrong in    

your life2 you had better have it       
straightened out at once4 ,if you have  
not an influence for good over some one 
of your friends or neighbors1 there is  
something in your life that needs to be 
put right4 ,may ,god show it to you     
to-day6  ,i have little sympathy with   
the idea that a ,christian man or woman 
has to live for years before they can   
have the privilege of leading anyone out
 of the darkness of this world into the 
kingdom of ,god4 ,i do not believe1     
either1 that all ,god's work is going to
 be done by ministers1 and other        
officers in the ,churches4 ,this lost   
world will never be reached and brought 
back to loyalty to ,god1 until the      
children of ,god wake up to the fact    
that they have a mission in the world4  
,if we are true ,christians we should   
all be missionaries4 ,christ came down  
from heaven on a mission1 and if we have
 ,his ,spirit in us we will be          
missionaries too4 ,if we have no desire 
to see the world discipled1 to see man  

brought back to ,god1 there is something
 very far wrong in our religion4  ,if   
you cannot work among the elder people  
you can go to work among the children4  
,let ,christians speak kindly to these  
boys and girls about their souls2 they  
will remember it all their lives4 ,they 
may forget the sermon1 but if some one  
speaks to them personally1 they will    
say3 ,that man or woman must be greatly 
interested in me or they would not have 
been at the trouble to speak to me4     
,they may wake up to the fact that they 
have immortal souls1 and even if the    
preaching goes right over their heads1 a
 little personal effort may be a means  
of blessing to them4  ,this personal and
 individual dealing is perfectly        
,scriptural4 ,philip was called away    
from a great work in ,samaria to go and 
speak to one man in the desert4         
,christ's great sermon on ,regeneration 
was addressed to one man2 and that      
wonderful discourse by our ,lord on the 
,water of ,life was spoken to one poor  

sinful woman4 ,i pity those ,christians 
who are not willing to speak to one     
soul2 they are not fit for ,god's       
service4 ,we shall not accomplish much  
for ,god in the world1 if we are not    
willing to speak to the ones and twos4  
,another thing3 ,do not let ,satan make 
you believe that the children are too   
young to be saved4 ,of course you cannot
 put old heads on young shoulders4 ,you 
cannot make them into deacons and elders
 all at once4 ,but they can give their  
young hearts to ,christ4  ,a good many  
years ago ,i had a mission school in    
,chicago4 ,the children were mostly     
those of ungodly parents4 ,i only had   
them about an hour out of the week1 and 
it seemed as if any good they got was   
wiped out during the week4 ,i used to   
think that if ever ,i became a public   
speaker ,i would go up and down the     
world and beseech parents to consider   
the importance of training their        
children for ,god and eternity4 ,on one 
of the first ,sabbaths ,i went out of   

,chicago ,i impressed this on the       
congregation4  ,when ,i had finished my 
address an old white-haired man got up4 
,i was all in a tremble1 thinking he was
 going to criticise what ,i had said4   
,instead of that he said3 ,i want to    
indorse all that this young man has     
spoken4 ,sixteen years ago ,i was in a  
heathen country4 ,my wife died and left 
me with three motherless children4 ,the 
first ,sabbath after her death my eldest
 girl1 ten years old1 said3 ',papa1 may 
,i take the children into the bedroom   
and pray with them as mother used to do 
on the ,sabbath8' ,i said she might4    
,when they came out of the room after a 
time ,i saw that my eldest daughter had 
been weeping4 ,i called her to me1 and  
said3 ',nellie1 what is the trouble8'   
',oh1 father1' she said1 'after we went 
into the room ,i made the prayer that   
mother taught me to make4' ,then1 naming
 her little brother1 ,he made the prayer
 that mother taught him4 ,little ,susie 
didn't use to pray when mother took us  

in there because mother thought she was 
too young4 ,but when we got through she 
made a prayer of her own4 ,i could not  
but weep when ,i heard her pray4 ,she   
put her little hands together and closed
 her eyes and said3 ',o ,god1 you have  
taken away my dear mamma1 and ,i have no
 mamma now to pray for me4 ,won't you   
bless me and make me good just as mamma 
was1 for ,jesus ,christ's sake1 ,amen4' 
,little ,susie gave evidence of having  
given her young heart to ,god before she
 was four years old4 ,for sixteen years 
she has been at work as a missionary    
among the heathen4  ,let us remember    
that ,god can use these little children4
 ,dr4 ,milnor was brought up a ,quaker1 
became a distinguished lawyer in        
,philadelphia1 and was a member of      
,congress for three successive terms4   
,returning to his home on a visit during
 his last ,congressional session1 his   
little daughter rushed upon him         
exclaiming4 ,papa6 papa6 do you know ,i 
can read8 ,no8 he said1 let me hear you6

 ,she opened her little ,bible and read1
 ,thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god    
with all thy heart4 ,it was an arrow in 
her father's heart1 ,it came to him as a
 solemn admonition4 ,out of the mouth of
 babes1 ,god's ,spirit moved within him4
 ,he was driven to his closet1 and a    
friend calling upon him found he had    
been weeping over the ,dairyman's       
,daughter4 ,although only forty years of
 age1 he abandoned politics and law for 
the ministry of the ,gospel4 ,for thirty
 years he was the beloved rector of ,st4
 ,george's ,church1 in ,philadelphia1   
the predecessor of the venerated ,dr4   
,tyng4  ,dear mothers and fathers1 let  
us in simple faith bring our children to
 ,christ4 ,he is the same to-day as when
 ,he took them in ,his arms and said3   
,suffer the little children to come unto
 ,me and forbid them not2 for of such is
 the kingdom of heaven4     ,i may not  
do much with all my care1       ,but ,i 
surely may bless a few2    ,the loving  
,jesus will give to me1       ,some work

 of love to do2    ,i may wipe the tears
 from some weeping eyes1       ,i may   
bring the smile again    ,to a face that
 is weary and worn with care1       ,to 
a heart that is full of pain4     ,i may
 speak ,his name to the sorrowful1      
,as ,i journey by their side2    ,to the
 sinful and despairing ones       ,i may
 preach of the ,crucified4    ,i may    
drop some little gentle word       ,in  
the midst of some scene of strife2    ,i
 may comfort the sick and the dying     
,with a thought of eternal life4        
,marianne ,farningham     ,,chapter     
,,vii4  ,,she ,,hath ,,done ,,what ,,she
 ,,could4   ,in the gospel by ,mark we  
read3 ,after two days was the feast of  
the ,passover1 and of unleavened bread3 
and the ,chief ,priests and the ,scribes
 sought how they might take ,him by     
craft1 and put ,him to death4 ,but they 
said1 not on the feast day1 lest there  
be an uproar of the people4 ,and being  
in ,bethany in the house of ,simon the  
leper1 as ,he sat at meat1 there came a 

woman having an alabaster box of        
ointment of spikenard1 very precious2   
and she brake the box1 and poured it on 
,his head4 ,and there were some that had
 indignation within themselves1 and     
said1 ,why was this waste of the        
ointment made8 ,for it might have been  
sold for more than three hundred pence1 
and have been given to the poor4 ,and   
they murmured against her4 ,and ,jesus  
said1 ',let her alone2 why trouble ye   
her8 ,she hath wrought a good work for  
,me4 ,for ye have the poor with you     
always1 and whensoever ye will ye may do
 them good2 but ,me ye have not always4 
,she hath done what she could2 she is   
come aforehand to anoint ,my body to the
 burying4 ,verily ,i say unto you1      
wheresoever this ,gospel shall be       
preached throughout the whole world1    
this also that she hath done shall be   
spoken of for a memorial of her4'  ,john
 tells us in his ,gospel who this woman 
was4 ,then ,jesus six days before the   
,passover came to ,bethany1 where       

,lazarus was which had been dead1 whom  
,he raised from the dead4 ,there they   
made ,him a supper1 and ,martha served2 
but ,lazarus was one of them that sat at
 the table with him4 ,then took ,mary a 
pound of ointment of spikenard1 very    
costly1 and anointed the feet of ,jesus1
 and wiped his feet with her hair2 and  
the house was filled with the odor of   
the ointment4 ,then saith one of ,his   
disciples1 ,judas ,iscariot1 ,simon's   
son1 which should betray ,him3 ',why was
 not this ointment sold for three       
hundred pence1 and given to the poor8'  
,this he said1 not that he cared for the
 poor2 but because he was a thief1 and  
had the bag1 and bare what was put      
therein4 ,then said ,jesus1 ',let her   
alone3 against the day of ,my burying   
hath she kept this4 ,for the poor always
 ye have with you2 but ,me ye have not  
always4'  ,this is the last time we have
 a glimpse of the family at ,bethany4   
,it was ,christ's last week there1 and  
here we have the last recorded interview

 between ,christ and that lovely family4
  ,speaking of ,martha and ,mary some   
one has said3 ,they were both dear to   
,jesus and they both loved ,him1 but    
they were different4 ,the eye of one saw
 ,his weariness and would give to ,him2 
the faith of the other apprehended ,his 
fulness and would draw from ,him2       
,martha's service was acceptable to the 
,lord and was acknowledged by ,him1 but 
,he would not allow it to disturb       
,mary's communion4 ,mary knew his mind2 
she had deeper fellowship with ,him2 her
 heart clung to ,himself4  ,i want to   
call your attention specially to one    
clause from this fourteenth chapter of  
,mark1 ,she hath done what she could4   
,if some one had reported in ,jerusalem 
that something was going to happen at   
,bethany on that memorable day1 that    
should outlive the ,roman ,empire1 and  
all the monarchs that had ever existed  
or would exist1 there would have been   
great excitement in the city4 ,a good   
many people would have gone down to     

,bethany that day to see the thing that 
was going to happen1 and that was to    
live so long4 ,little did ,mary think   
that she was going to erect a monument  
which would outlive empires and         
kingdoms4 ,she never thought of herself4
 ,love does not think of itself4 ,what  
does ,christ say3 ,wheresoever this     
,gospel shall be preached throughout the
 whole world1 this also that she hath   
done shall be spoken of for a memorial  
of her4  ,this one story has already    
been put into three hundred and fifty   
different languages1 and it is now in   
circulation in every nation under       
heaven4 ,day by day this story is being 
printed and published4 ,one society in  
,london alone prints1 every working hour
 of the day1 five hundred records of    
this act that took place at ,bethany4   
,it is being spread abroad in all the   
corners of the earth4 ,it will be told  
out as long as the ,church of ,god      
exists4 ,matthew speaks of it2 so does  
,john2 and so does ,mark4  ,men seek to 

erect some monument that will live after
 they are dead and gone4 ,this woman    
never thought to erect a monument2 she  
simply wanted to lavish her love upon   
,christ4 ,but the act has lived and will
 continue to live while the ,church is  
on earth4 ,it is as fresh to-day as it  
was a hundred years ago3 it is fresher  
than it was five hundred years ago4 ,in 
fact there never was a time when it was 
so well known as to-day4 ,although ,mary
 was herself unknown outside of ,bethany
 when she performed the act1 now it is  
known over all the world4 ,kings have   
come and gone2 empires have risen and   
crumbled4 ,egypt1 with its ancient      
glories1 has passed away4 ,greece1 with 
its wise men and its mighty philosophers
 and its warriors1 has been almost      
forgotten4 ,the great ,roman empire has 
passed away4 ,we do not know the names  
of those who are buried in the          
,pyramids1 or of those who were embalmed
 in ,egypt1 with so much care and       
trouble1 but the record of this humble  

life continues to be an inspiration to  
others4  ,here is a woman whose memory  
has outlived ,caesar1 ,alexander1       
,cyrus1 and all the great warriors of   
the ancient world4 ,we do not know that 
she was wealthy1 or beautiful1 or       
gifted1 or great in the eye of the      
world4 ,what we do know is that she     
loved the ,savior4 ,she took this box of
 precious ointment and broke it over the
 body of ,christ4 ,some one has said it 
was the only thing ,he ever received    
that ,he did not give away4 ,it was a   
small thing in the sight of the world4  
,if there had been daily papers in those
 days1 and some ,jerusalem reporter had 
been looking out for items of news that 
would interest the inhabitants1 ,i      
suppose he would not have thought it    
worth putting into his paper4 ,yet it   
has outlived all that happened in that  
century1 except1 of course1 the sayings1
 and the other events connected with the
 life of ,christ4 ,mary had ,christ in  
her heart as well as in her creed4 ,she 

loved ,him and she showed her love in   
acts4  ,thank ,god1 everyone of us can  
love ,christ1 and we can all do         
something for ,him4 ,it may be a small  
thing2 but whatever it is it shall be   
lasting2 it will outlive all the        
monuments on earth4 ,the iron and the   
granite will rust and crumble and fade  
away1 but anything done for ,christ will
 never fade4 ,it will be more lasting   
than time itself4 ,christ says3 ,heaven 
and earth shall pass away1 but ,my word 
shall not pass away4  ,look again and   
see that woman in the temple4 ,christ   
stood there as the people passed by and 
cast their offerings into the treasury4 
,the widow had but two mites and she    
cast it all in4 ,the ,lord saw that her 
heart was in it1 and so ,he commended   
her4 ,if some nobleman had cast in a    
thousand dollars ,christ would probably 
not have noticed it1 unless his heart   
had gone with it4 ,gold is of little    
value in heaven4 ,it is so plentiful    
there that they use it to pave the      

streets with2 and it is transparent     
gold1 much better gold than we have in  
this world4 ,it is when the heart goes  
with the offering that it is accepted of
 ,christ4 ,so ,he said of this woman3   
,she hath cast in more than they all4   
,she had done all she could4  ,i think  
this is the lesson we are to learn from 
these ,scripture incidents4 ,the ,lord  
expects us to do what we can4 ,we can   
all do something4 ,in one of our        
,southern cities a few ,christian people
 gathered together at the beginning of  
the war to see what could be done about 
building a church in a part of the city 
where the poor were very much neglected4
 ,after they had discussed the matter   
they wanted to see how much could be    
raised out of the congregation4  ,one   
said he would give so much2 others said 
they would give so much4 ,they only got 
about half the amount that was needed1  
and it was thought they would have to   
abandon the project4 ,away back in the  
meeting there sat a washerwoman4 ,she   

rose and said her little boy had died a 
week before4 ,all he had was a gold     
dollar4 ,she said3 ,it is all ,i have1  
but ,i will give the dollar to the      
cause4 ,her words touched the hearts of 
many of those who heard them4 ,rich men 
were ashamed at what they had given4    
,the whole sum was raised within a very 
short time4 ,i have spoken in that      
church1 and ,i know it to be a centre of
 influence in one of our great cities4  
,this poor woman did what she could2    
perhaps she gave more in proportion than
 anyone in the city4  ,when we were in  
,london eight years ago1 we wanted the  
city to be canvassed2 we called for     
volunteers to go and visit the people in
 their own homes and invite them to come
 to the meetings4 ,among those who came 
forward was an old woman1 eighty-five   
years of age4 ,she said she wanted to do
 a little more for the ,master before   
she went home4 ,she took a district and 
went from house to house1 delivering the
 messages of invitation and the tracts  

to the people4 ,i suppose she has now   
gone to her reward1 but ,i shall never  
forget her4 ,she wanted to do what she  
could4 ,if every ,christian man and     
woman will do what ,mary did1 multitudes
 will be reached and blessed4  ,years   
ago1 when ,illinois was but a young     
,state1 there were only a few settlers  
here and there throughout a large       
portion4 ,one of these was a man who    
used to spend his ,sundays in hunting   
and fishing4 ,he was a profane and      
notoriously wicked man4 ,his little girl
 went to the ,sabbath-school at the log 
school-house4 ,there she was taught the 
way into the kingdom of ,god4 ,when she 
was converted the teacher tried to tell 
her how she might be used of ,god in    
doing good to others4 ,she thought she  
would begin with her father4 ,others had
 tried to reach him and had failed to do
 it1 but his own child had more         
influence with him4 ,it is written1 ,a  
little child shall lead them4 ,she got  
him to promise to go to the meeting4 ,he

 came to the door1 but at first he would
 not go in4 ,he had gone to the school  
when he was young1 but one day the boys 
laughed at him because he had a little  
impediment in his speech4 ,he would not 
go back1 and so he had never learned to 
read4  ,however he was at last induced  
to go to the ,sabbath-school4 ,there he 
heard of ,christ1 and he was converted  
to ,god4 ,his little child helped him   
and others helped him1 and he soon      
learned to read4 ,this man has since    
been called to his reward1 but about two
 years ago when ,i saw him last1 if ,i  
remember well1 that man had established 
on the ,western prairies between #a1ajj 
and #a1bjj ,sunday-schools4 ,in addition
 to all these school-houses1 scattered  
about over the country1 churches have   
sprung up4 ,there are now hundreds of   
flourishing churches that have grown out
 of these little mission schools that he
 planted4 ,he used to have a            
,sunday-school horse1 a ,robert ,raikes 
horse he called him1 on which he        

traveled up and down the country1 going 
into many outlying districts where      
nothing was being done for ,christ4 ,he 
used to gather the parents into the log 
school-houses and tell how his little   
girl led him to ,christ4 ,i have heard a
 great many orators1 but ,i never heard 
any who could move an audience as he    
could4 ,there was no impediment in his  
speech when he began to speak for       
,christ2 he seemed to have all the      
eloquence and fire of heaven4 ,that     
little girl did what she could4 ,she did
 a good day's work when she led her     
father to the ,savior4  ,every one of us
 may do something4 ,if we are only      
willing to do what we can1 the ,lord    
will condescend to use us2 and it will  
be a great thing to be instruments in   
,his hand that ,he may do with us what  
,he will4  ,i remember reading in the   
papers that when the theatre in ,vienna 
was on fire a few years ago1 a man in   
one of the corridors was hurrying out4  
,many others of the people were trying  

to find their way out so as to escape   
from the fire4 ,it was dark1 but this   
man had a single match in his pocket4   
,he struck it1 and by doing so he was   
able to save twenty lives4 ,he did what 
he could4  ,you think you cannot do     
much4 ,if you are the means of saving   
one soul1 he may be instrumental in     
saving a hundred more4 ,i remember when 
we were in ,england ten years ago1 there
 was a woman in the city where we       
labored who got stirred up4 ,i do not   
know but it was this very text that     
moved her1 ,she hath done what she      
could4 ,she had been a nominal          
,christian for a good many years1 but   
she had not thought that she had any    
particular mission in the world4 ,i am  
afraid that is the condition of many    
professedly ,christian men and women4   
,now she began to look about her to see 
what she could do4 ,she thought she     
would try and do something for her      
fallen sisters in that town4 ,she went  
out and began to talk kindly to those   

she met on the street4 ,she hired a     
house and invited them to come and meet 
her there4  ,when we went back to that  
city about a year or so ago1 she had    
rescued over three hundred of these     
fallen ones1 and had restored them to   
their parents and homes4 ,she is now    
corresponding with many of them4 ,think 
of more than three hundred of these     
sisters reclaimed from sin and death1   
through the efforts of one woman4 ,she  
did what she could4 ,what a grand       
harvest there will be1 and how she will 
rejoice when she hears the ,master say3 
,well done1 good and faithful servant4  
,i remember hearing of a man in one of  
the hospitals who received a bouquet of 
flowers from the ,flower ,mission4 ,he  
looked at the beautiful bouquet and     
said3 ,well1 if ,i had known that a     
bunch of flowers could do a fellow so   
much good1 ,i would have sent some      
myself when ,i was well4 ,if people only
 knew how they might cheer some lonely  
heart and lift up some drooping spirit1 

or speak some word that shall be lasting
 in its effects for all coming time1    
they would be up and about it4 ,if the  
,gospel is ever to be carried into the  
lanes and alleys1 up to the attics and  
down into the cellars1 we must all of us
 be about it4 ,as ,i have said1 if each 
of us will do what we can1 a great      
multitude will be gathered into the     
kingdom of ,god4  ,rev4 ,dr4 ,willets1  
of ,philadelphia1 in illustrating the   
blessedness of cultivating a liberal    
spirit1 uses this beautiful figure--    
,see that little fountain yonder--away  
yonder in the distant mountain1 shining 
like a thread of silver through the     
thick copse1 and sparkling like a       
diamond in its healthful activity4 ,it  
is hurrying on with tinkling feet to    
bear its tribute to the river4 ,see1 it 
passes a stagnant pool1 and the pool    
hails it3 ',whither away1 master        
streamlet8' ',i am going to the river to
 bear this cup of water ,god has given  
me4' ',ah1 you are very foolish for     

that3 you'll need it before the summer's
 over4 ,it has been a backward spring1  
and we shall have a hot summer to pay   
for it--you will dry up then4' ',well1' 
said the streamlet1 'if ,i am to die so 
soon1 ,i had better work while the day  
lasts4 ,if ,i am likely to lose this    
treasure from the heat1 ,i had better do
 good with it while ,i have it4' ,so on 
it went1 blessing and rejoicing in its  
course4 ,the pool smiled complacently at
 its own superior foresight1 and        
husbanded all its resources1 letting not
 a drop steal away4  ,soon the midsummer
 heat came down1 and it fell upon the   
little stream4 ,but the trees crowded to
 its brink1 and threw out their         
sheltering branches over it in the day  
of adversity1 for it brought refreshment
 and life to them1 and the sun peeped   
through the branches and smiled         
complacently upon its dimpled face1 and 
seemed to say1 ',it's not in my heart to
 harm you2' and the birds sipped the    
silver tide1 and sung its praises2 the  

flowers breathed their perfume upon its 
bosom2 the husbandman's eye always      
sparkled with joy1 as he looked upon the
 line of verdant beauty that marked its 
course through his fields and meadows2  
and so on it went1 blessing and blessed 
of all6  ,and where was the prudent     
pool8 ,alas6 in its glorious inactivity 
it grew sickly and pestilential4 ,the   
beasts of the field put their lips to   
it1 but turned away without drinking2   
the breeze stopped and kissed it by     
mistake1 but shrunk chilled away4 ,it   
caught the malaria in the contact1 and  
carried the ague through the region2 the
 inhabitants caught it and had to move  
away2 and at last1 the very frogs cast  
their venom upon the pool and deserted  
it1 and heaven1 in mercy to man1 smote  
it with a hotter breath and dried it up6
  ,but did not the little stream exhaust
 itself8 ,oh1 no8 ,god saw to that4 ,it 
emptied its full cup into the river1 and
 the river bore it on to the sea1 and   
the sea welcomed it1 and the sun smiled 

upon the sea1 and the sea sent up its   
incense to greet the sun1 and the clouds
 caught in their capacious bosoms the   
incense from the sea1 and the winds1    
like waiting steeds1 caught the chariots
 of the clouds and bore them away--away 
to the very mountain that gave the      
little fountain birth1 and there they   
tipped the brimming cup1 and poured the 
grateful baptism down2 and so ,god saw  
to it that the little fountain1 though  
it gave so fully and so freely1 never   
ran dry4 ,and if ,god so blessed the    
fountain1 will ,he not bless you1 my    
friends1 if1 as ye have freely received1
 ye also freely give8 ,be assured ,he   
will4  ,a young lady belonging to a     
wealthy family in our country was sent  
to a fashionable boarding-school4 ,in   
the school ,christ had a true witness in
 one of the teachers4 ,she was watching 
for an opportunity of reaching some of  
the pupils4 ,when this young lady of    
wealth and position came1 the teacher   
set her heart upon winning her to       

,christ4 ,the first thing she did was to
 gain her affections4 ,let me say right 
here that we shall not do much toward   
reaching the people until we make them  
love us4 ,this teacher1 having won the  
heart of her pupil1 began to talk to her
 about ,christ1 and she soon won her    
heart for the ,savior4 ,then instead of 
dropping her as so many do1 she began to
 show her the luxury of working for     
,god4 ,they worked together1 and were   
successful in winning a good many of the
 young ladies in the school to ,christ4 
,when the pupil got a taste of work1    
that spoiled the world for her4 ,let me 
say to any ,christian who is holding on 
to the world3 ,get into the ,lord's     
work1 and the world will soon leave you4
 ,you will not leave it1 you will have  
something better4 ,i pity those         
,christians who are all the time asking 
if they have to give up this thing and  
that thing4 ,you won't be asking that   
when you get a taste of the ,lord's     
work2 you will then have something that 

the world cannot give you4  ,when this  
young lady went back to her home the    
parents were anxious that she should go 
out into worldly society4 ,they gave a  
great many parties1 but1 to their great 
amazement1 they could not get her       
interested4 ,she was hungering for      
something else4 ,she went to the        
,sabbath-school in connection with the  
church she attended1 and asked the      
,superintendent to give her a class4 ,he
 said there were really more teachers   
than he needed4  ,she tried for weeks to
 find something to do for ,christ4 ,one 
day as she was walking down the street1 
she saw a little boy coming out of a    
shoemaker's shop4 ,the man had a wooden 
last in his hand1 and he was running as 
fast as he could after the boy4 ,when he
 found he could not overtake him1 he    
hurled the last at him and hit him in   
the back4 ,when the shoemaker had picked
 up his last and gone back to his shop1 
the boy stopped running and began to    
cry4 ,the scene touched the heart of    

this young lady4 ,when she got up to him
 she stopped and spoke to him kindly4   
,do you go to the ,sabbath-school8 ,no4 
,do you go to the day-school8 ,no4      
,what makes you cry8 ,he thought she was
 going to make sport of him1 so he said 
it was none of her business4 ,but ,i am 
your friend1 she said4 ,he was not in   
the habit of having a young lady like   
that speak to him2 at first he was      
afraid of her1 but at last she won his  
confidence4 ,finally1 she asked him to  
come to the ,sabbath-school1 and be in  
her class4 ,no1 he said1 he didn't like 
study2 he would not come4 ,she said she 
would not ask him to study2 she would   
tell him beautiful stories and there    
would be nice singing4 ,at last he      
promised that he would come4 ,he was to 
meet her on ,sabbath morning1 at the    
corner of a certain street4  ,she was   
not sure that he would keep his promise1
 but she was there at the appointed     
time1 and he was there too4 ,she took   
him to the school and said to the       

,superintendent3 ,can you give me a     
place where ,i can teach this boy8 ,he  
had not combed his hair1 and he was     
barefooted4 ,they did not have any of   
that kind of children in the school1 so 
the ,superintendent looked at him1 and  
said he did not know just where to put  
him4 ,finally he put him away in a      
corner1 as far as he could from the     
others4 ,there this young lady commenced
 her work--work that the angels would   
have been glad to do4  ,he went home and
 told his mother he thought he had been 
among the angels4 ,when the mother found
 he was going to a ,protestant school   
she told him he must not go again4 ,when
 the father got to know it1 he said he  
would flog him every time he went to the
 school4 ,however1 the boy went again   
the next ,sabbath1 and the father       
flogged him2 every time he went he gave 
the poor boy a flogging4 ,at last he    
said to his father3 ,i wish you would   
flog me before ,i go1 and then ,i won't 
be thinking about it all the time ,i am 

at the school4 ,you laugh at it1 but1   
dear friends1 let us remember that      
gentleness and love will break down the 
opposition in the hardest heart4 ,these 
little diamonds will sparkle in the     
,savior's crown1 if we will but search  
them out and polish them4 ,we cannot    
make diamonds1 but we can polish them if
 we will4  ,finding that the flogging   
did not stop the boy from going to the  
school1 the father said3 ,if you will   
give up the ,sabbath-school1 ,i will    
give you every ,saturday afternoon to   
play1 or you can have all you make by   
peddling4 ,the boy went to his teacher  
and said3 ,i have been thinking that if 
you could meet me on the ,saturday      
afternoon we would have longer time     
together than on the ,sabbath4 ,i wonder
 if there is a wealthy young lady       
reading this book who would give up her 
,saturday afternoons to teach a poor    
little boy the way into the kingdom of  
,god4 ,she said she would gladly do it2 
if any callers came she was always      

engaged on ,saturdays4 ,it was not long 
before the light broke into the darkened
 mind of the boy1 and a change came into
 his life4 ,she got him some good       
clothes and took an interest in him2 she
 was a guardian angel to him4 ,one day  
he was down at the railway station      
peddling4 ,he was standing on the       
platform of the carriage1 when the      
engine gave a sudden start2 the little  
fellow was leaning on the edge1 and his 
foot slipped so that he fell down and   
the train passed over his legs4 ,when   
the doctor came1 the first thing he said
 was3 ,doctor1 will ,i live to get home8
 ,no1 my boy1 you are dying4 ,will you  
tell my father and mother that ,i died a
 ,christian8 ,did not the teacher get   
well paid for her work8 ,she will be no 
stranger when she goes to the better    
land4 ,that little boy will be waiting  
to give her a welcome4  ,it is a great  
thing to lead one soul from the darkness
 of sin into the glorious light of the  
,gospel4 ,i believe if an angel were to 

wing his way from earth up to heaven1   
and were to say that there was one poor1
 ragged boy1 without father or mother1  
with no one to care for him and teach   
him the way of life2 and if ,god were to
 ask who among them was willing to come 
down to this earth and live here for    
fifty years and lead that one to ,jesus 
,christ1 every angel in heaven would    
volunteer to go4 ,even ,gabriel1 who    
stands in the presence of the ,almighty1
 would say3 ,let me leave my high and   
lofty position1 and let me have the     
luxury of leading one soul to ,jesus    
,christ4 ,there is no greater honor than
 to be the instrument in ,god's hand of 
leading one person out of the kingdom of
 ,satan into the glorious light of      
heaven4  ,i have this motto in my       
,bible1 and ,i commend it to you3 ,do   
all the good you can2 to all the people 
you can2 in all the ways you can2 and as
 long as ever you can4 ,if each of us   
will at once set about some work for    
,god1 and will keep at it #cfe days in  

the year1 then a good deal will be      
accomplished4 ,let us so live that it   
may be truthfully said of us3 ,we have  
done what we could4     ,,chapter       
,,viii4  ,,who ,,is ,,my ,,neighbor8    
,you have no doubt frequently read the  
story of the good ,samaritan4 ,in this  
parable ,christ brings before us four   
men4 ,he draws the picture so vividly   
that the world will never forget it4    
,too often when we read the ,scripture  
narratives they do not come home to our 
hearts1 and it is not long before we    
forget the lesson that the ,master would
 have us to learn and to remember4  ,we 
find that when ,christ was on the earth 
there was a class of people who gathered
 round ,him and were continually finding
 fault with everything ,he said and did4
 ,we read that on this occasion a lawyer
 came asking ,him what he could do to   
inherit eternal life4 ,our ,lord told   
him to keep the commandments--to love   
the ,lord with all his heart1 and his   
neighbor as himself4 ,the lawyer then   

wanted to know who was his neighbor4 ,in
 this narrative ,christ told him who his
 neighbor was1 and what it was to love  
him4  ,it seems to me that we have been 
a long while in finding out who is our  
neighbor4 ,i think in the parable of the
 good ,samaritan ,christ has taught us  
very clearly that any man or woman who  
is in need of our love and our          
help--whether temporal or spiritual--is 
our neighbor4 ,if we can render them any
 service we are to do it in the name of 
our ,master4  ,here we have brought     
before us two men1 each of whom passed  
by one who was in great need--one who   
had fallen among the thieves1 who had   
been stripped1 wounded1 and left there  
to die4 ,the first that came down that  
road from ,jerusalem to ,jericho was a  
priest4 ,as he went along the highway he
 heard a cry of distress1 and he looked 
to see who was the unfortunate man4 ,he 
could see that the poor sufferer was a  
,jew2 it may be that he had seen him in 
the temple on the ,sabbath day4 ,but    

then he was not in his own parish now4  
,his work was in the temple1 and it was 
over for the present4 ,he was a         
professional man1 and he had gone       
through all that was required of him4   
,he was in a great hurry to get down to 
,jericho4 ,it may be they were going to 
open a new synagogue there1 and he was  
to dedicate it4 ,a very important       
business1 and of course he could not    
stop to help this poor1 wounded1 fallen 
man4 ,so he passed on4 ,it may be1 as he
 went along1 he reasoned with himself   
somewhat in this way3 ,i wonder why ,god
 ever permitted sin to enter the world  
at all4 ,it is very strange that man    
should be in this fallen state4 ,or his 
thoughts may have taken another turn1   
and he said to himself that when he got 
down to ,jericho he would form a        
committee to look after these           
unfortunate brethren4 ,he would give    
something toward the expenses4 ,or he   
would try and get a policeman to go and 
look after those thieves who had        

stripped him4  ,he did not think that   
all the while this poor wounded man was 
dying4 ,most likely he was now crying   
for water1 and it might be that there   
was a brook running by1 within a few    
rods of the spot where he lay4 ,yet this
 priest never stopped to give him a     
drink4 ,all his religion was in his     
head3 it had never reached his heart4   
,the one thought in his mind was duty1  
duty2 and when he had got through that  
which he considered his duty1 he fancied
 his work was done4 ,god wants heart    
service2 if we do not give ,him that1 we
 can render to ,him no service at all4  
,we read that a ,levite next came along 
the highway where this wounded man was  
lying in his helplessness4 ,as he passed
 along he also heard the man's cry of   
distress4 ,he turned aside for a moment 
to look at the poor fellow1 and he could
 see that he was a son of ,abraham--a   
brother ,jew4 ,but he also must hasten  
on to ,jericho4 ,possibly he had to help
 in the ceremony of opening the new     

synagogue4 ,perhaps there was going to  
be a convention down there1 on ,how to  
reach the masses1 and he was going to   
help discuss the point4 ,i have noticed 
that many men now-a-days will go to a   
conference and talk for hours on that   
subject1 but they will not themselves   
lift a hand to reach the masses4  ,the  
,levite's thoughts probably took another
 turn1 and he said to himself3 ,i will  
see if ,i can't get a bill through the  
,legislature to prevent those thieves   
from robbing and wounding people4 ,there
 are some now who think they can        
legislate men back to ,god--that they   
can prevent sin by legislation4 ,like   
the priest1 this ,levite never stopped  
to give the poor fellow a drop of water 
to quench his thirst2 he never attempted
 to bind up his wounds or to help him in
 any way4 ,he passed along the highway1 
doubtless1 saying to himself1 ,i pity   
that poor fellow4 ,there is a good deal 
of that kind of pity now-a-days2 but it 
comes only from the lips1 not from the  

heart4  ,the next one to come along that
 road was a ,samaritan4 ,now it was     
notorious that in those days a ,jew     
would not speak to a ,samaritan2 the    
very presence of the latter was         
pollution to an orthodox ,jew4 ,no ,jew 
ever entered the habitation of the hated
 ,samaritan2 he would not eat at his    
table or drink from his well4 ,neither  
would he allow a ,samaritan to come     
under his roof4 ,no religious ,jew would
 even buy from a ,samaritan1 or sell to 
him4 ,you know a ,jew must have a very  
poor opinion of a man if he will not do 
business with him1 when there is a      
prospect of making something out of him4
  ,not only was this the case1 but the  
,jews considered that the ,samaritans   
had no souls2 that when they died they  
would be annihilated4 ,their graves     
would be so deep that not even the sound
 of ,gabriel's trump would wake them on 
the resurrection morning4 ,he was the   
only man under heaven who could not     
become a proselyte to the ,jewish faith1

 and become a member of the ,jewish     
family4 ,repentance was denied him in   
this life and the life to come4 ,he     
might profess the ,jewish religion2 they
 would have nothing to do with him4     
,that was the way in which they looked  
upon these men2 yet ,christ used the    
despised ,samaritan to teach these      
bitter ,jews the lesson of love to their
 neighbor4  ,the ,samaritan came that   
way4 ,it says in the narrative that the 
priest came down that way by chance2 but
 we are not told that the ,samaritan    
came by chance4 ,he represents our ,lord
 and ,master4 ,we are told that he came 
to where the poor wounded man was2 he   
got off the beast on which he was riding
 and stooped right down there by the    
side of the sick man4 ,he looked at him 
and saw that he was a ,jew4 ,if he had  
been like the ,jews themselves1 he would
 most likely have said1 ,serve you      
right4 ,i only wish the thieves had     
killed you outright4 ,i would not lift a
 finger to help you1 you poor wretched  

,samaritan4 ,but no6 not a word of      
condemnation or blame did he utter4     
,let us learn a lesson from this4 ,do   
you think these drunkards need anyone to
 condemn them8 ,there is no one in the  
wide world who can condemn them as they 
condemn themselves4 ,what they need is  
sympathy--tenderness1 gentleness and    
kindness4 ,this ,samaritan did not pull 
a manuscript out of his pocket1 and     
begin to read a long sermon to the      
wounded man4 ,some people seem to think 
that all the world needs is a lot of    
sermons4 ,why1 the people of this land  
have been almost preached to death4     
,what we want is to preach more sermons 
with our hands and feet--to carry the   
,gospel to the people by acts of        
kindness4  ,neither did he read this    
poor ,jew a long lecture1 endeavoring to
 prove that science was better than     
religion4 ,he did not give him a long   
address on geology2 what could that do  
for him8 ,what the poor man needed was  
sympathy and help4 ,so the first thing  

the good ,samaritan did was to pour oil 
into his wounds4 ,how many wounded men  
there are in our midst who have need of 
the oil of pity and sympathy4 ,a good   
many ,christians seem always to carry   
about with them a bottle of vinegar1    
which they bring out on all occasions4  
,the ,samaritan might have said to the  
man3 ,why did you not stay at           
,jerusalem8 ,what business had you to   
come down this road1 any way1 giving all
 this trouble8 ,so people will sometimes
 say to a young man who has come to the 
city and got into trouble3 ,why did you 
ever leave your home and come to this   
wicked city8 ,they begin to scold and   
upbraid4 ,you are never going to reach  
men and do them good in that way2 or by 
putting yourself on a high platform2 you
 have to come down to them and enter    
into their sorrows and troubles4 ,see   
how this ,samaritan came to where he    
was1 and instead of lecturing him1      
poured the healing oil into his wounds4 
,you observe there are twelve things    

mentioned in the narrative that the     
,samaritan did4 ,we can dismiss in a    
word all that the priest and the ,levite
 did--they did nothing4  7#a47 ,he came 
to where he was4  7#b47 ,he saw him2 he 
did not1 like the priest1 pass by on the
 other side4  7#c47 ,he had compassion  
on him4 ,if we would be successful      
winners of souls we1 too1 must be moved 
with compassion for the lost and the    
perishing4 ,we must sympathize with men 
in their sorrows and troubles1 if we    
would hope to gain their affections and 
to do them good4  7#d47 ,he went to him4
 ,the ,levite went toward him1 but we   
are told that he1 as well as the priest1
 passed by on the other side4  7#e47 ,he
 bound up his wounds4 ,perhaps he had to
 tear up his own garments in order to   
bind them up4  7#f47 ,he poured in oil  
and gave some wine to the fainting man4 
7#g47 ,he set him on his own beast4 ,do 
you not think that this poor ,jew must  
have looked with gratitude and          
tenderness on the ,samaritan1 as he was 

placed on the beast1 while his deliverer
 walked by his side8 ,all the prejudice 
in his heart must have disappeared long 
before they got to the end of their     
journey4  7#h47 ,he brought him to an   
inn4  7#i47 ,he took care of him4 ,i was
 greatly touched at hearing of a        
,christian worker in one of the         
districts in ,london where we were1 who 
met with a drinking man at the meeting4 
,he saw that the man was in drink1 so he
 took him home and stayed all night with
 him2 then1 when he got sober the next  
morning1 he talked with him4 ,many are  
willing enough to talk with drunkards   
when they are sober1 but how few there  
are who will go and hunt them up when   
they are in their fallen condition1 and 
stay with them till they can be reasoned
 with about their salvation4  7#aj47    
,when he departed on the morrow1 the    
good ,samaritan asked the host to care  
for him4  7#aa47 ,he gave him some money
 to pay the bill4  7#ab47 ,he said3     
,whatever thou spendest more1 when ,i   

come again ,i will repay thee4  ,there  
is nothing ,i think in all the teachings
 of ,christ that brings out the whole   
,gospel better than this parable4 ,it is
 a perfect picture of ,christ coming    
down to this world to seek and save the 
lost4  7#a47 ,he came to this world of  
sin and sorrow where we were1 laying by 
,his glory for the time1 that ,he might 
assume our human nature1 and put        
,himself on a level with those ,he came 
to save4  7#b47 ,he mingled with the    
poor and needy so that ,he might see    
their condition4  7#c47 ,he was moved   
with compassion for the multitudes2 how 
often this is recorded in the ,gospels4 
,we are told1 on more than one occasion1
 that ,he wept as ,he thought of all the
 woe and distress that sin had brought  
upon the human family4  7#d47 ,wherever 
,jesus ,christ heard of a case of sorrow
 or need ,he went at once4 ,no cry of   
distress ever reached ,his ears in vain4
  7#e47 ,on one occasion ,he read from  
the prophets concerning ,himself1 ,the  

,spirit of the ,lord is upon me 4 4 4 4 
because the ,lord hath 4 4 4 4 sent me  
to bind up the broken-hearted4 ,he      
,himself was wounded1 that the wounds   
which sin had made in us might be bound 
up and healed4  7#f47 ,he not only      
comforted the sorrowing1 but gave the   
promise of the ,holy ,spirit1 ,who was  
to bring comfort and strength to ,his   
redeemed people4  7#g47 ,as the good    
,samaritan set the wounded man on his   
own beast1 so the ,savior gives us the  
unfailing promise of ,his word on which 
we may rest during our pilgrim journey4 
,he ,himself has promised to be with us 
in spirit by the way4  7#h47 ,he brings 
us to the place of rest--rest in ,his   
love1 in ,his willingness to save1 in   
,his power to keep4 ,at the last ,he    
will bring us to the home of everlasting
 rest4  7#i47 ,when ,he was on the earth
 ,he took a personal interest in all    
that concerned ,his disciples1 and      
7#aj47 ,when ,he had gone up on high ,he
 sent another ,comforter who should     

abide with the ,church4  7#aa47 ,he has 
furnished the ,church with all that is  
needful for her support and growth in   
grace4  7#ab47 ,he will come again and  
reward ,his servants for all their      
faithful service4  ,do you want to know 
how you can reach the masses8 ,go to    
their homes and enter into sympathy with
 them2 tell them you have come to do    
them good1 and let them see that you    
have a heart to feel for them4 ,when    
they find out that you really love them1
 all those things that are in their     
hearts against ,god and against         
,christianity will be swept out of the  
way4 ,atheists may tell them that you   
only want to get their money1 and that  
you do not really care for their        
happiness4 ,we have to contradict that  
lie by our lives1 and send it back to   
the pit where it came from4  ,we are not
 going to do it unless we go personally 
to them and prove that we really love   
them4 ,there are hundreds and thousands 
of families that could easily be reached

 if we had thousands of ,christians     
going to them and entering into sympathy
 with their sorrows4 ,that is what they 
want4 ,this poor world is groaning and  
sighing for sympathy--human sympathy4 ,i
 am quite sure it was that in ,christ's 
life which touched the hearts of the    
common people4 ,he made ,himself one    
with them4 ,he who was rich for our     
sakes became poor4 ,he was born in the  
manger so that ,he might put himself on 
a level with the lowest of the low4  ,i 
think that in this matter ,he teaches   
,his disciples a lesson4 ,he wants us to
 convince the world that ,he is their   
friend4 ,they do not believe it4 ,if    
once the world were to grasp this       
thought1 that ,jesus ,christ is the     
,friend of the sinner1 they would soon  
flock to ,him4 ,i am sure that          
ninety-nine in every hundred of those   
out of ,christ think that1 instead of   
loving them1 ,god hates them4 ,how are  
they to find out their mistake8 ,they do
 not attend our churches2 and if they   

did there are many places where they    
would not hear it4 ,do you think that if
 those poor harlots walking the streets 
of our cities really believed that      
,jesus ,christ loved them and wanted to 
be their friend--that if ,he were here  
in person ,he would not condemn them1   
but would take sides with them1 and try 
to lift them up--they would go on in    
their sins8 ,do you think the poor      
drunkard who reels along the street     
really believes that ,christ is his     
friend and loves him8 ,the ,scripture   
plainly teaches that though ,christ     
hates sin ,he loves the sinner4 ,this   
story of the good ,samaritan is given to
 teach us this lesson4 ,let us publish  
abroad the good news that ,christ loves 
sinners1 and came into the world that   
,he might save them4  ,there was a man  
who lived in one of our large cities4   
,he died quite suddenly1 and it was not 
long before his wife followed him to the
 grave4 ,they left two boys1 and there  
was a wealthy citizen who took the more 

promising of the boys and adopted him4  
,the other boy was placed in the orphan 
asylum4 ,he had never been away from his
 father and mother during their lives1  
and he had not been separated from his  
brother before4 ,every night he would go
 to sleep crying for his brother4 ,one  
night they could not find him4 ,next    
morning he was found under the steps of 
the house of the wealthy banker who had 
adopted his little brother4 ,when they  
asked him why he had left a good        
comfortable bed at the orphan home and  
stayed out there all night in the cold1 
he said he wanted to get near ,charlie4 
,he knew that if he rang the bell and   
they found him at the door they would   
send him hack1 and it was a comfort to  
him to be near ,charlie1 even if he had 
to pass the night out there4 ,his young 
heart was craving for sympathy1 and he  
knew that ,charlie loved him as no one  
else in the world did4 ,if we can only  
convince these poor lost ones that some 
one loves them1 then their hearts will  

be moved4  ,during the war a little boy1
 ,frankie ,bragg1 was placed in one of  
the hospitals4 ,he said it was so hard  
to be there away from all those who     
loved him4 ,the nurse who was attending 
him1 bent down and kissed him1 and said 
she loved him4 ,do you love me8 he said2
 kiss me again2 that was like my        
sister's kiss8 ,the nurse kissed him    
again1 and he said with a smile3 ,it is 
not hard for me to die now1 when ,i know
 that some one loves me4 ,if we had more
 of this sympathy for the lost and the  
sorrowing1 the world would soon feel our
 influence4  ,shall we not learn a      
lesson from the good ,samaritan8 ,let us
 hear the voice of the ,master saying3  
,go thou and do likewise4 ,we can all do
 something4 ,if we cannot reach the     
older people1 let us try and win the    
young4 ,it is a blessed privilege to be 
used of ,god to bring one little lamb   
into the kingdom4 ,if we are only the   
means of saving one child our life will 
not be a failure2 we shall hear the     

,master's ,well done1 good and faithful 
servant4  ,a lady started a hospital for
 sick crippled children in ,edinburgh   
two years ago4 ,i was asking her if she 
had been blessed in the work4 ,i shall  
not forget how her face lit up4 ,she was
 in one of our recent meetings in       
,london1 and her face was beaming4 ,she 
was telling of some very interesting    
cases of conversion among the children4 
,what a privilege it is to lead these   
afflicted ones into the kingdom of ,god4
  ,a little boy was brought to          
,edinburgh from ,fife4 ,there was no    
room in the children's hospital1 and he 
was taken to the general hospital4 ,he  
was only six years old2 his father was  
dead2 his mother was sick1 so that she  
could not take care of him1 and he had  
to be brought to the hospital in        
,edinburgh4 ,my friend1 ,rev4 ,george   
,wilson1 went in one day and sat at the 
bedside of the little sufferer4 ,he was 
telling him that the doctor was coming  
on ,thursday to take off his little leg4

 ,you parents can imagine1 if one of    
your children1 six years old1 away from 
home1 and in a hospital1 were told that 
the doctor was coming on a certain day  
to take his leg off1 how he would suffer
 at the thought4 ,the little fellow1 of 
course1 was in great trouble about it4  
,the minister wanted to know about his  
mother2 she was sick and his father was 
dead4 ,the minister wished to comfort   
him1 and he said3 ,the nurse is such a  
good woman2 she will help you4 ,yes1    
said the boy1 and perhaps ,jesus will be
 with me4 ,do you have any doubt of it8 
,next ,friday the man of ,god went to   
the hospital1 but he found the cot was  
empty4 ,the poor boy was gone2 the      
,savior had come and taken him to ,his  
bosom4  ,in our great cities are there  
not hundreds and thousands who are in   
some need of human sympathy8 ,that will 
speak to their hearts a good deal louder
 than eloquent sermons4 ,many will not  
be moved by eloquent sermons1 who would 
yield to tenderness and gentleness and  

sympathy4  ,said the great ,dr4         
,chalmers3 ,the little that ,i have seen
 in the world1 and know of the history  
of mankind1 teaches me to look upon     
their errors in sorrow1 not in anger4   
,when ,i take the one poor heart that   
has sinned and suffered1 and represent  
to myself the struggles and temptations 
it has passed through2 the brief        
pulsation of joy2 the tears of regret2  
the feebleness of purpose2 the scorn of 
the world that has little charity2 the  
desolation of the soul's sanctuary and  
threatening voices within2 health       
gone--happiness gone--,i would fain     
leave the erring soul of my fellowman   
with ,him from whose hands it came4     
,some of you may say3 ,how am ,i to get 
into sympathy with those who are in     
sorrow8 ,that is a very important       
question4 ,many people go to work for   
,god1 but they seem to do it in such a  
professional way4 ,i will tell you how  
you can be brought into sympathy4 ,i    
have found this rule to be of great help

 to me4 ,put yourself in the place of   
the sorrowing and afflicted ones1 with  
whom you want to sympathize4 ,if you do 
that you will soon gain their affections
 and be able to help them4  ,god taught 
me a lesson a few years ago that ,i     
shall never forget4 ,i was              
,superintendent of a ,sunday-school in  
,chicago with over #a1ejj scholars4 ,in 
the months of ,july and ,august many    
deaths took place among the children1   
and as most of the ministers were out of
 the city ,i had to attend a great many 
funerals4 ,sometimes ,i had to be at    
four or five in one day4 ,i was so      
accustomed to it that ,i got to do it   
almost mechanically4 ,i could see the   
mother take her last look at the child1 
and see the coffin lid closed without   
being moved by it4  ,one day when ,i    
came home my wife told me that one of   
the ,sunday-school children had been    
drowned1 and the mother wanted to see   
me4 ,i took my little daughter with me  
and we went to the house4 ,i found the  

father in one corner of the room drunk4 
,the mother told me that she took in    
washing in order to get a living for    
herself and her children1 as her husband
 drank up all his wages4 ,little        
,adelaide used to go to the river and   
gather the floating wood for the fire4  
,that day she had gone as usual2 she saw
 a piece of wood out a little way from  
the bank2 in stretching out to reach it 
she slipped1 and fell into the water and
 was drowned4 ,the mother told me her   
sad story2 how she had no money to buy  
the shroud and the coffin1 and she      
wanted me to help her4 ,i took out my   
note-book and put down her name and     
address1 and took the measure of the    
coffin1 in order to send it to the      
undertakers4  ,the poor mother was much 
distressed1 but it did not seem to move 
me4 ,i told her ,i would be at the      
funeral1 and then ,i left4 ,as my little
 girl walked by my side she said to me3 
,papa1 suppose we were very poor1 and   
mamma had to wash for a living1 and ,i  

had to go to the river to get sticks to 
make a fire2 if ,i were to fall into the
 water and get drowned would you feel   
bad8 ,feel bad6 ,why1 my child1 ,i do   
not know what ,i should do4 ,you are my 
only daughter1 and if you were taken    
from me ,i think it would break my      
heart4 ,and ,i took her to my bosom and 
kissed her4 ,then did you feel bad for  
that mother8 ,how that question cut me  
to the heart4  ,i went back to the      
house1 and took out my ,bible and read  
to the mother the fourteenth chapter of 
,john4 ,then ,i prayed with her and     
endeavored to comfort her4 ,when the day
 for the funeral arrived ,i attended it4
 ,i had not been to the cemetery for a  
good many years2 ,i had thought my time 
was too precious1 as it was some miles  
away4 ,i found the father was still     
drunk4 ,i had got a lot in the          
strangers' field for little ,adelaide4  
,as we were laying the coffin in the    
grave another funeral procession came   
up1 and the corpse was going to be laid 

near by4 ,adelaide's mother said1 as we 
were covering up the coffin3 ,mr4       
,moody1 it is very hard to lay her away 
among strangers4 ,i have been moving    
about a good deal1 and have lived among 
strangers1 and ,i have never had a      
burying-lot4 ,it is very hard to place  
my firstborn among strangers4 ,i said to
 myself that it would be pretty hard to 
have to bury my child in the strangers' 
field4 ,i had got into full sympathy    
with the poor mother by this time4      
,next ,sabbath ,i told the children in  
the ,sunday-school what had taken place4
 ,i suggested that we should buy a      
,sunday-school lot1 and when any of the 
children attending the school died1 they
 would not be laid in the strangers'    
field1 but would be put in our own lot4 
,before we could get the title made out1
 a mother came and wanted to know if her
 little girl who had just died could be 
buried in the lot4 ,i told her ,i would 
give permission4 ,i went to the funeral1
 and as we were lowering the little     

coffin ,i asked what was the name4 ,she 
said it was ,emma4 ,that was the name of
 my own little girl1 and ,i could not   
help but weep as ,i thought of how ,i   
would feel if it were my own ,emma4 ,do 
you tell me ,i could not sympathize with
 that bereaved mother8 ,very soon       
afterward1 another mother came and      
wished to have her dead child buried in 
our lot4 ,she told me his name was      
,willie4 ,at that time that was the name
 of my only boy1 and ,i thought how it  
would be with me if it were my ,willie  
who was dead4 ,so the first children    
buried there bore the names of my two   
children4 ,i tried to put myself in the 
places of these sorrowing mothers1 and  
then it was easy for me to sympathize   
with them in their grief1 and point them
 to ,him who shall wipe away all tears  
from their eyes4  ,about the first thing
 ,i did when ,i returned to ,chicago    
nine years ago1 was to drive up to and  
see our children's lot4 ,i thought it   
would last a good many years1 but it was

 about full1 for many of my old         
,sabbath-school scholars had gone while 
,i had been away1 and their bodies were 
resting in this lot till the great day4 
,i understood1 however1 that the        
children of the ,sabbath-school were    
about to purchase another and a larger  
lot which would suffice for many years  
under ordinary circumstances4 ,many     
little ones are laid there1 waiting for 
the resurrection1 and ,i would like to  
be buried beside them1 it would be so   
sweet to be in their company when we    
rise and meet our ,lord4  ,dear friends1
 if you would get into full sympathy    
with others put yourself in their       
places4 ,may ,god fill our hearts with  
the spirit of the good ,samaritan1 so   
that we may be filled with tenderness   
and love and compassion4  ,i want to    
give you a motto that has been a great  
help to me4 ,it was a ,quaker's motto3  
,i expect to pass through this world but
 once4 ,if1 therefore1 if there be any  
kindness ,i can show or any good thing  

,i can do to any fellow human being let 
me do it now2 let me not defer nor      
neglect it1 for ,i will not pass this   
way again4     ,,chapter ,,ix4  ,,ye    
,,are ,,the ,,light ,,of ,,the ,,world4 
,they that be wise shall shine as the   
brightness of the firmament2 and they   
that turn many to righteousness as the  
stars for ever and ever4  ,that is the  
testimony of an old man1 and one who had
 the richest and deepest experience of  
any man living on the face of the earth 
at the time4 ,he was taken down to      
,babylon when a young man2 some ,bible  
students think he was not more than     
twenty years of age4 ,if any one had    
said1 when this young ,hebrew was       
carried away into captivity1 that he    
would outrank all the mighty men of that
 day--that all the generals who had been
 victorious in almost every nation at   
that time were going to be eclipsed by  
this young slave--probably no one would 
have believed it4 ,yet for five hundred 
years no man whose life is recorded in  

history shone as did this man4 ,he      
outshone ,nebuchadnezzar1 ,belshazzar1  
,cyrus1 ,darius1 and all the princes and
 mighty monarchs of his day4  ,we are   
not told when he was converted to a     
knowledge of the true ,god1 but ,i think
 we have good reason to believe that he 
had been brought under the influence of 
,jeremiah the prophet4 ,evidently some  
earnest1 ,godly man1 and no worldly     
professor1 had made a deep impression   
upon him4 ,some had at any rate taught  
him how he was to serve ,god4  ,we hear 
people nowadays talking about the       
hardness of the field where they labor2 
they say their position is a very       
peculiar one4 ,think of the field in    
which ,daniel had to work4 ,he was not  
only a slave1 but he was held captive by
 a nation that detested the ,hebrews4   
,the language was unknown to him4 ,there
 he was among idolaters2 yet he         
commenced at once to shine4 ,he took his
 stand for ,god from the very first1 and
 so he went on through his whole life4  

,he gave the dew of his youth to ,god1  
and he continued faithful right on till 
his pilgrimage was ended4  ,notice that 
all those who have made a deep          
impression on the world1 and have shone 
most brightly1 have been men who lived  
in a dark day4 ,look at ,joseph2 he was 
sold as a slave into ,egypt by the      
,ishmaelites2 yet he took his ,god with 
him into captivity1 as ,daniel afterward
 did4 ,and he remained true to the last2
 he did not give up his faith because he
 had been taken away from home and      
placed among idolaters4 ,he stood firm1 
and ,god stood by him4  ,look at ,moses1
 who turned his back upon the gilded    
palaces of ,egypt1 and identified       
himself with his despised and           
down-trodden nation4 ,if a man ever had 
a hard field it was ,moses2 yet he shone
 brightly1 and never proved unfaithful  
to his ,god4  ,elijah lived in a far    
darker day than we do4 ,the whole nation
 was going over to idolatry4 ,ahab1 and 
his queen1 and all the royal court were 

throwing their influence against the    
worship of the true ,god4 ,yet ,elijah  
stood firm1 and shone brightly in that  
dark and evil day4 ,how his name stands 
out on the page of history6  ,look at   
,john the ,baptist4 ,i used to think ,i 
would like to live in the days of the   
prophets2 but ,i have given up that     
idea4 ,you may be sure that when a      
prophet appears on the scene1 everything
 is dark1 and the professing ,church of 
,god has gone over to the service of the
 god of this world4 ,so it was when     
,john the ,baptist made his appearance4 
,see how his name shines out to-day6    
,eighteen centuries have rolled away1   
and yet the fame of that wilderness     
preacher shines brighter than ever4 ,he 
was looked down upon in his day and     
generation1 but he has outlived all his 
enemies2 his name will be reverenced and
 his work remembered as long as the     
,church is on the earth4  ,talk about   
your field being a hard one6 ,see how   
,paul shone for ,god as he went out1 the

 first missionary to the heathen1       
telling them of the ,god whom he served1
 and ,who had sent ,his ,son to die a   
cruel death in order to save the world4 
,men reviled him and his teachings2 they
 laughed him to scorn when he spoke of  
the ,crucified ,one4 ,but he went on    
preaching the ,gospel of the ,son of    
,god4 ,he was regarded as a poor        
tent-maker by the great and mighty ones 
of his day2 but no one can now tell the 
name of any of his persecutors1 or of   
those who lived at that time1 unless    
their names happen to be associated with
 his1 and they were brought into contact
 with him4  ,now the fact is1 all men   
like to shine4 ,we may as well          
acknowledge it at once4 ,you go into    
business circles and see how men        
struggle to get into the front rank4    
,every one wants to outshine his        
neighbor and to stand at the head of his
 profession4 ,go into the political     
world and see how there is a struggle   
going on as to who shall be the         

greatest4 ,if you go into a school you  
find that there is a rivalry among the  
boys and girls4 ,they all want to stand 
at the top of the class4 ,when a boy    
does reach this position and outranks   
all the rest the mother is very proud of
 it4 ,she will manage to tell all the   
neighbors how ,johnnie has got on1 and  
what a number of prizes he has gained4  
,you go into the army and you find the  
same thing--one trying to outstrip the  
other2 every one is very anxious to     
shine and rise above his comrades4 ,go  
among the young men in their games and  
see how anxious the one is to outdo the 
other4 ,so we have all that desire in   
us2 we like to shine above our fellows4 
,and yet there are very few who can     
really shine in the world4 ,once in a   
while one man will outstrip all his     
competitors4 ,every four years what a   
struggle goes on throughout our country 
as to who shall be the ,president of the
 ,united ,states1 the battle raging for 
six months or a year4 ,yet only one man 

can get the prize4 ,there a good many   
struggling to get the place1 but many   
are disappointed1 because only one can  
attain the coveted prize4 ,but in the   
kingdom of ,god the very least and the  
very weakest may shine if they will4    
,not only can one obtain the prize1 but 
all may have it if they will4  ,it does 
not say in this passage that the        
,statesmen are going to shine as the    
brightness of the firmament4 ,the       
,statesmen of ,babylon are gone2 their  
very names are forgotten4  ,it does not 
say that the nobility are going to      
shine4 ,earth's nobility are soon       
forgotten4 ,john ,bunyan1 the ,bedford  
tinker1 has outlived the whole crowd of 
those who were the nobility in his day4 
,they lived for self1 and their memory  
is blotted out4 ,he lived for ,god and  
for souls1 and his name is as fragrant  
as ever it was4  ,we are not told that  
the merchants are going to shine4 ,who  
can tell the name of any of the         
millionaires of ,daniel's day8 ,they    

were all buried in oblivion a few years 
after their death4 ,who were the mighty 
conquerors of that day8 ,but few can    
tell4 ,it is true that we hear of       
,nebuchadnezzar1 but probably we should 
not have known very much about him but  
for his relations to the prophet        
,daniel4  ,how different with this      
faithful prophet of the ,lord4          
,twenty-five centuries have passed away1
 and his name shines on1 and on1 and on1
 brighter and brighter4 ,and it is going
 to shine while the ,church of ,god     
exists4 ,they that be wise shall shine  
as the brightness of the firmament2 and 
they that turn many to righteousness as 
the stars for ever and ever4  ,how      
quickly the glory of this world fades   
away6 ,seventy-five years ago the great 
,napoleon almost made the earth to      
tremble4 ,how he blazed and shone as an 
earthly warrior for a little while6 ,a  
few years passed1 and a little island   
held that once proud and mighty         
conqueror2 he died as a poor            

broken-hearted prisoner4 ,where is he   
to-day8 ,almost forgotten4 ,who in all  
the world will say that ,napoleon lives 
in their heart's affections8  ,but look 
at this despised and hated ,hebrew      
prophet4 ,they wanted to put him into   
the lions' den because he was too       
sanctimonious and too religious4 ,yet   
see how green his memory is to-day6 ,how
 his name is loved and honored for his  
faithfulness to his ,god4  ,seventeen   
years ago ,i was in ,paris at the time  
of the ,great ,exhibition4 ,napoleon the
 ,third was then in his glory4 ,cheer   
after cheer would rise up as he drove   
along the streets of the city4 ,a few   
short years and he fell from his lofty  
estate4 ,he died an exile from his      
country and his throne1 and where is his
 name today8 ,very few think about him  
at all1 and if his name is mentioned it 
is not with love and esteem4 ,how empty 
and short-lived are the glory and the   
pride of this world6 if we are wise we  
will live for ,god and eternity2 we will

 get outside of ourselves1 and will care
 nothing for the honor and glory of this
 world4  ,in ,proverbs we read3 ,he that
 winneth souls is wise4 ,if any man1    
woman1 or child by a ,godly life and    
example can win one soul to ,god1 their 
life will not have been a failure4 ,they
 will have outshone all the mighty men  
of their day1 because they will have set
 a stream in motion that will flow on   
and on for ever and ever4 ,that little  
boy may shine in ,god's kingdom if he   
will4  ,god has left us down here to    
shine4 ,we are not here to buy and sell 
and get gain1 to accumulate wealth1 to  
acquire worldly position4 ,this earth1  
if we are ,christians1 is not our home2 
it is up yonder4 ,god has sent us into  
the world to shine for ,him--to light up
 this dark world4 ,christ came to be the
 ,light of the world1 but men put out   
that light4 ,they took it to ,calvary   
and blew it out4 ,before ,christ went up
 on high ,he said to ,his disciples3 ,ye
 are the light of the world4 ,ye are my 

witnesses4 ,go forth and carry the      
,gospel to the perishing nations of the 
earth4  ,so ,god has called us to shine1
 just as much as ,daniel was sent into  
,babylon to shine4 ,let no man of woman 
say that they cannot shine because they 
have not so much influence as some      
others may have4 ,what ,god wants you to
 do is to use the influence you have4   
,daniel probably did not have much      
influence down in ,babylon at first1 but
 ,god soon gave him more1 because he was
 faithful and used what he had4         
,remember a small light will do a good  
deal when it is in a very dark place4   
,you put one little tallow candle in the
 middle of a large hall1 and it will    
give a good deal of light4  ,away out in
 the prairie regions1 when meetings are 
held at night in the log school-houses1 
the announcement of the meeting is given
 out in this way3 ,a meeting will be    
held by early candle-light4 ,the first  
man who comes brings a tallow-dip with  
him4 ,it is perhaps all he has2 but he  

brings it and sets it on the desk4 ,it  
does not light the building much2 but it
 is better than none at all4 ,the next  
man brings his candle2 and the next     
family bring their candles4 ,by the time
 the house is full1 there is plenty of  
light4 ,so if we all shine a little1    
there will be a good deal of light4     
,that is what ,god wants us to do4 ,if  
we cannot all be lighthouses1 any one of
 us can at any rate be a tallow candle4 
,a little light will sometimes do a     
great deal4 ,the city of ,chicago was   
set on fire by a cow kicking over a     
lamp1 and a hundred thousand people were
 burnt out of house and home4 ,do not   
let ,satan get the advantage of you1 and
 make you think that because you cannot 
do any great thing you cannot do        
anything at all4  ,then we must remember
 that we are to let our light shine4 ,it
 does not say1 ,make your light shine4  
,you do not have to make light to shine2
 all you have to do is to let it shine4 
,i remember hearing of a man at sea who 

was very sea-sick4 ,if there is a time  
when a man feels that he cannot do any  
work for the ,lord it is then--in my    
opinion4 ,while this man was sick he    
heard that a man had fallen overboard4  
,he was wondering if he could do        
anything to help to save the man4 ,he   
laid hold of a light and held it up to  
the port-hole4 ,the drowning man was    
saved4 ,when this man got over his      
attack of sickness he got up on deck one
 day1 and was talking with the man who  
was rescued4 ,the saved man gave this   
testimony4 ,he said he had gone down the
 second time1 and was just going down   
again for the last time1 when he put out
 his hand4 ,just then1 he said1 some one
 held a light at the port-hole1 and the 
light fell on his hand4 ,a man caught   
him by the hand and pulled him into the 
lifeboat4  ,it seemed a small thing to  
do to hold up the light2 yet it saved   
the man's life4 ,if you cannot do some  
great thing you can hold the light for  
some poor1 perishing drunkard1 who may  

be won to ,christ and delivered from    
destruction4 ,let us take the torch of  
salvation and go into these dark homes1 
and hold up ,christ to the people as the
 ,savior of the world4 ,if these        
perishing masses are to be reached we   
must lay our lives right alongside      
theirs1 and pray with them and labor for
 them4 ,i would not give much for a     
man's ,christianity1 if he is saved     
himself and is not willing to try and   
save others4 ,it seems to me the basest 
ingratitude if we do not reach out the  
hand to others who are down in the same 
pit from which we were delivered4 ,who  
is able to reach and help these drinking
 men like those who have themselves been
 slaves to the intoxicating cup8 ,will  
you not go out this very day and seek to
 rescue these men8 ,if we were all to do
 what we can we should soon empty the   
drinking saloons4  ,i remember reading  
of a blind man who was found sitting at 
the corner of a street in a great city  
with a lantern beside him4 ,some one    

went up to him and asked what he had the
 lantern there for1 seeing that he was  
blind1 and the light was the same to him
 as the darkness4 ,the blind man        
replied3 ,i have it so that no one may  
stumble over me4  ,dear friends1 let us 
think of that4 ,where one man reads the 
,bible1 a hundred read you and me4 ,that
 is what ,paul meant when he said we    
were to be living epistles of ,christ1  
known and read of all men4 ,i would not 
give much for all that can be done by   
sermons1 if we do not preach ,christ by 
our lives4 ,if we do not commend the    
,gospel to people by our holy walk and  
conversation1 we shall not win them to  
,christ4 ,some little act of kindness   
will perhaps do more to influence them  
than any number of long sermons4  ,a    
vessel was caught in a storm on ,lake   
,erie1 and they were trying to make for 
the harbor of ,cleveland4 ,at the       
entrance of that port they had what are 
called the upper lights and the lower   
lights4 ,away back on the bluffs were   

the upper lights burning brightly       
enough2 but when they came near the     
harbor they could not see the lights    
showing the entrance to it4 ,the pilot  
said he thought they had better get back
 on the lake again4 ,the ,captain said  
he was sure they would go down if they  
went back1 and he urged the pilot to do 
what he could to gain the harbor4 ,the  
pilot said there was very little hope of
 making for the harbor1 as he had       
nothing to guide him as to how he should
 steer the ship4 ,they tried all they   
could to get her into the harbor4 ,she  
rode on the top of the waves1 and then  
into the trough of the sea1 and at last 
they found themselves stranded on the   
beach1 where the vessel was dashed to   
pieces4 ,some one had neglected the     
lower lights and they had gone out4     
,let us take warning4 ,god keeps the    
upper lights burning as brightly as     
ever1 but ,he has left us down here to  
keep the lower lights burning4 ,we are  
to represent ,him here1 as ,christ      

represents us up yonder4 ,i sometimes   
think if we had as poor a representative
 in the courts above as ,god has down   
here on earth1 we would have a pretty   
poor chance of heaven4 ,let us have our 
loins girt and our lights brightly      
burning1 so that others may see the way 
and not walk in darkness4  ,in the book 
of ,revelation we read3 ,blessed are the
 dead which die in the ,lord from       
henceforth3 yea1 saith the ,spirit1 that
 they may rest from their labors2 and   
their works do follow them4  ,there are 
many mentioned in the ,scriptures of    
whom we read that they lived so many    
years and then they died4 ,the cradle   
and the grave are brought close         
together3 they lived and they died1 and 
that is all we know about them4 ,so in  
these days you could write on the       
tombstone of a great many professing    
,christians that they were born on such 
a day and they died on such a day2 there
 is nothing whatever between4  ,but     
there is one thing you cannot bury with 

a good man2 his influence still lives4  
,they have not buried ,daniel yet2 his  
influence is as great to-day as ever it 
was4 ,do you tell me that ,joseph is    
dead8 ,his influence still lives and    
will continue to live on and on4 ,you   
may bury the frail tenement of clay that
 a good man lives in1 but you cannot get
 rid of his influence and example4 ,paul
 was never more powerful than he is     
to-day4  ,do you tell me that ,john     
,howard1 who went into so many of the   
dark prisons in ,europe1 is dead8 ,is   
,henry ,martyn1 or ,wilberforce1 or     
,john ,bunyan dead8 ,go into the        
,southern ,states and there you will    
find from three to four millions of men 
and women who once were slaves4 ,you    
mention to any of them the name of      
,wilberforce1 and see how quickly the   
eye will light up4 ,he lived for        
something else besides himself1 and his 
memory will never die out of the hearts 
of those for whom he lived and labored4 
,is ,wesley or ,whitefield dead8 ,the   

names of those great evangelists were   
never more honored than they are now4   
,is ,john ,knox dead8 ,you can go to any
 part of ,scotland to-day and you will  
feel the power of his influence4  ,i    
will not tell you who are dead4 ,the    
enemies of these servants of ,god--those
 who persecuted them and told lies about
 them4 ,but the men themselves have     
outlived all the lies that were uttered 
concerning them4 ,not only that2 they   
will shine in another world4 ,how true  
are the words of the old ,book3 ,they   
that be wise shall shine as the         
brightness of the firmament2 and they   
that turn many to righteousness as the  
stars for ever and ever4  ,let us go on 
turning as many as we can to            
righteousness4 ,let us be dead to the   
world1 to its lies1 its pleasures1 and  
its ambitions4 ,let us live for ,god1   
continually going forth to win souls for
 ,him4  ,let me quote a few words by    
,dr4 ,chalmers4 ,thousands of men       
breathe1 move and live1 pass off the    

stage of life1 and are heard of no      
more--,why8 ,they do not partake of good
 in the world1 and none were blessed by 
them2 none could point to them as the   
means of their redemption2 not a line   
they wrote1 not a word they spoke could 
be recalled2 and so they perished2 their
 light went out in darkness1 and they   
were not remembered more than insects of
 yesterday4 ,will you thus live and die1
 ,o man immortal8 ,live for something4  
,do good1 and leave behind you a        
monument of virtue that the storm of    
time can never destroy4 ,write your name
 in kindness1 love and mercy1 on the    
hearts of the thousands you come in     
contact with year by year2 you will     
never be forgotten4 ,no1 your name1 your
 deeds will be as legible on the hearts 
you leave behind as the stars on the    
brow of evening4 ,good deeds will shine 
as the stars of heaven4