Thursday, March 31, 2016

     This is his name:  "He shall be called, The Lord our righteousness." Jer. 23:6.  To this end he is given to us,
     1.  As our propitiatory sacrifice:  "The propitiation for our sins." 1 John 2:2.  "Christ our passover." 1 Cor. 5:7.  "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Rev. 13:8.  Our price, our ransom, to satisfy justice, pacify wrath, discharge from the curse; to blot out the handwriting, break down the wall of partition; to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, and so to bring us to God.  Whatever difficulties appear in thy way, whatever doubts arise in thy heart, from thy sins, from thy guilt, from thy poverty, from thy impotence—whatever objections thy fears may hence put in, the blood of the Lamb will answer all.  Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.
     2.  As a merciful and faithful High-priest, Heb. 2:17, who has made an atonement for us in the earth, and appears for us in heaven; who has made reconciliation for us, and makes intercession for us, "to appear in the presence of God for us." Heb. 9:24.  We read, Exodus 28:12, 29, that Aaron, as the type of Christ, was to bear the names of the children of Israel engraven in stones upon his shoulders and upon his breast-plate, when he went into the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually.  Our Lord is entered into the heavens, to appear in the presence of God with our names upon his shoulders and upon his heart, for a memorial before the Lord:  the least of saints has his name there engraven.
     "Here is my ransom, Lord," saith Christ, "and behold my ransomed ones.  Here is my price and my purchase, my redemption and my redeemed.  Whatever accusers there be, whatever charge be laid against them, whatever guilt lies upon them, here are the shoulders that have borne all that was their due, and paid all that they owe; and upon these shoulders and in this heart thou mayest read all their names; and when thou readest, remember what I have done for them, acquit and absolve them, and let them be accepted before thee for ever.  Remember the tears of these eyes, the stripes on this back, the shame of this face, the groans of this body, the anguish of this soul, the blood of this heart; and when thou rememberest, whatever name thou findest engraven upon this heart and upon these shoulders, they are the persons whose all these are; and whatever these are, whatever acceptance they have found with thee, whatever satisfaction thou hast found in them, put it upon their account; never let me be accounted thine Accepted, if they be rejected; never let me be accounted righteous if they lie under the imputation of wicked.  If they be not righteous in my righteousness, I must be guilty under their guilt.  Whatever I am, whatever my satisfaction is, all is theirs; for them I plead, for them I pray; my tears, stripes, wounds, groans, anguish, soul, blood, all cry and say, Father, forgive them; Father, accept them."
     Of all cries there are no such strong cries as the cry of blood, and that whether it be against or for the guilty; its voice shall be heard on high.  "Thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground." Gen. 4.   And what followed?  Woe to those persons against whom blood crieth.  But where blood, such blood cries for them, for pardon, for mercy, blessed are those souls.
     Christian, this blood is for thee:  it "speaketh better things than that of Abel." Heb. 12:24.  It pleads, sues, presses for thy discharge from all that is upon thee.  Thou hast many cries against thee:  Satan cries, thy sins cry, thine own heart and conscience cry against thee, and thou art amazed at the dreadful noise they make; but behold, the blood of the Lamb, who is God, cries for thee.  Thou hast an accuser, but thou hast an Acquitter; thou hast adversaries, but thou hast an Advocate:  "An Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 2:1, 2.  "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?  It is God that justifieth.  Who is he that condemneth?  It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Rom. 8:33, 34.
     He is a merciful and a faithful High-priest.  No dignity to which he is exalted above thee, no distance to which he is removed from thee, can make him forget his friends; he is gone into the heavens, and is there exalted far above all principalities and powers, and set down at the right hand of God.  He is gone, but he hath carried thy name with him as a perpetual memorial for thee.  Thou art unfaithful; shame to thee! thou forgettest thy Lord at every turn; every business that comes, every trouble that comes, every pleasure that comes, every companion that comes, makes thee forget thy Lord, forget his love, forget thy duty:  O, how small a matter will steal thy heart from him; yea, stir up tumults and rebellions against him.  Thy comforts, thy hopes, thy needs which thou hast daily from him, will not all prevail to hold him in remembrance with thee.  Thou forgettest thy Lord, but he will not forget thee; though thou hast been unfaithful in many things, yet he is in nothing.  "Yet he abideth faithful; he cannot deny himself." 2 Tim. 2:13.  He would not be true to himself, if he be not faithful to thee; his interest lies in thee; thou art his, his possession, a member of his body, fear not; if he should be unfaithful to thy soul, he is therein unfaithful to his own body.  If thy case be such that he can help thee, if there be any thing wherein he can stead thee—if all that he has, his blood, his righteousness, his interest with the Father, will be sufficient for thy help, he has undertaken to procure it for thee and secure it to thee.  Faithful is he that has called you, and will do it.
     This now is that Jesus who is given unto us, as our propitiatory Sacrifice, as our merciful and faithful High-priest, who suffered on the earth, and is gone into the heavens for us; standing in his red robes, garments rolled in blood—with the glorious white inscribed upon the red—pardon, peace, absolution, acceptance; with the names of his ransomed ones engraven upon his heart and upon his shoulders:  this is that Jesus, who is the Lord our righteousness.....
                                                                                                                                  Rev. Richard Alleine 

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

     In a Scottish village lived a doctor noted for his skill and piety.  After his death, when his books were examined, several accounts had written across them in red ink:  "Forgiven-too poor to pay."
     His wife, who was of a different disposition, said:  "These accounts must be paid."  She therefore sued for the money.
     The judge said:  "Is this your husband's handwriting in red?"
     She replied that it was.
     "Then," said the judge, "there is not a tribunal in the land that can obtain the money where he has written 'Forgiven.'"
     So when Christ says "Thy sins are forgiven," we are released from our spiritual debts.
                                                                                                                     The Sunday School Chronicle

Tuesday, March 29, 2016


       Immoveable our hope remains,
       Within the veil our anchor lies;
       Jesus, who wash'd us from our stains,
       Shall bear us safely to the skies.

       Strong in his strength, we boldly say,
       For us Immanuel shed his blood;
       Who then shall tear our shield away,
       Or part us from the love of God?

       Can tribulation or distress,
       Or persecution's fiery sword?
       Can Satan rob us of our peace,
       Or prove too mighty for the Lord?

       Founded on Christ, secure we stand,
       Sealed with his Spirit's inward seal;
       We soon shall gain the promis'd land,
       Triumphant o'er the pow'rs of hell.

       The winds may roar, the floods may beat;
       And rain impetuous descend;
       Yet will he not his own forget,
       But love and save them to the end.

       Jesus acquits, and who condemns?
       Cease, Satan, from thy fruitless strife:
       Thy malice cannot reach our names,
       To blot them from the book of life.

       This is eternal life to know,
       God and the Lamb for sinners giv'n,
       Nor will the Saviour let us go,
       His ransom'd citizens of heav'n.

       Us to redeem his life he paid,
       And will he not his purchase have?
       Who can behold Immanuel bleed,
       And doubt his willingness to save?

       Surely the son hath made us free,
       Who earth and heav'n and hell commands;
       Our cause of triumph this—that we
       Are graven on the Saviour's hands.

       To Him who washed us in his blood,
       And lifts apostate man to heav'n,
       Who reconciles his sheep to God,
       Be everlasting glory giv'n.
                                             Augustus Toplady

Monday, March 28, 2016

    The Bread of Life died on this earth;
    redeeming grace flowed from Christ's side;
    He offers now the second birth;
    how blest the soul where Christ abides!

    My soul was faint; my soul was weak;
    my soul did ask for living bread;
    His cleansing grace my soul did seek;
    how blest the soul if Christ's the Head!

    Unto His side, He led the way;
    my soul was fed by His dear self;
    my dreadful sins He's washed away;
    how blest my soul for Christ Himself!

    Since Christ, the Bread of Life, is mine,
    He gives not crumbs, but gives His whole
    and bids me daily on Him dine;
    how truly blessed is my soul!
                                                       M. Robbins


I am the living bread which came down from heaven.... John 6:51

.....A crumb that falleth from Christ's table, hath in it the nature of bread.  Some weak ones complain, Oh, I have not the heart of God, like David, nor the strong faith of Abraham, to offer my son to death for Christ; nor the burning fire of the zeal of Moses, to wish my name may be razed out of the book of life, that the Lord may be glorified; nor the high esteem of Christ, to judge all but loss and dung for Jesus Christ, as Paul did.  But what if Christ set the whole loaf before the children?  Is it not well, if thou lie but under Christ's feet, to have the crumbs of mercy that slip through the fingers of Christ?  The lowest room in heaven, even behind the door, is heaven.  1.  There is the lowest measure, or grain of saving grace, and it is saving grace; a drop of dew is water, no less than the great globe and sphere of the whole element of water, is water; a glimmering of morn-dawning light is light, and of the same nature with the noon-light that is in the great body of the sun:  the motion of a child newly formed in the belly, act of life, no less than the walking and breathing of a man of thirty years of age, in his flower and highest vigour of life; the first stirrings of the new birth, are the workings and operations of the Holy Spirit; and the love of God, even now shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, shall remain the same in nature with us in heaven, (1 Cor. 13:8-10).  2.  Christ doth own the bruised reed, and the smoking flax, so far forth, as not to crush the one, nor to quench the other; and can with tender cautiousness of compassion, stoop, and with his arm go between the lamb on the margin and brink of hell, as to save it from falling down headlong over the brow of the mountain.....
     We should have tender hearts toward weak ones; considering, 1.  That Christ cannot disinherit a son for weakness.  2.  Love is not broken with a straw, or a little infirmity.  3.  All the vessels of Christ's house are not of one size.  4.  Some men's infirmities are as transparent crystal, easily seen through; others have infirmities under their garments.  5.  We shall see many in heaven, whom we judged to be cast-aways, while they lived with us on earth.  6. Many go to heaven with you, and you hear not the sound of their feet in their journey.                             
                                                                                                                           Samuel Rutherford    

Sunday, March 27, 2016

  Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;
  Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.
  Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;
  Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load.

  Your voice alone, O Lord, can speak to me of grace;
  Your power alone, O Son of God, can all my sin erase.
  No other work but Yours, no other blood will do;
  No strength but that which is divine can bear me safely through.

  Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;
  Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.
  Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to Thee,
  Can rid me of this dark unrest, And set my spirit free.

  I bless the Christ of God; I rest on love divine;
  And with unfaltering lip and heart I call this Savior mine.
  His cross dispels each doubt; I bury in His tomb
  Each thought of unbelief and fear, each lingering shade of gloom.

  I praise the God of grace; I trust His truth and might;
  He calls me His, I call Him mine, My God, my joy and light.
  ’Tis He Who saveth me, and freely pardon gives;
  I love because He loveth me, I live because He lives.
                                                    Horatius Bonar


Looking unto Jesus.....Hebrews 12:2

It is ever the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan's work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, "Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of His children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus."  All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within.  But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self:  He tells us that we are nothing, but that "Christ is all in all."  Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument—it is Christ's blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith.  We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul.  If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by "looking unto Jesus."  Keep thine eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to Him; when thou liest down at night look to Him.  Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fail thee.
                                                                                                                                     C. H. Spurgeon

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Now to the Lord, that makes us know
The wonders of his dying love,
Be humble honours paid below,
And strains of nobler praise above.

'Twas he that cleans'd our foulest sins,
And wash'd us in his richest blood;
'Tis he that makes us priests and kings,
And brings us rebels near to God.

To Jesus our atoning Priest,
To Jesus our superior King,
Be everlasting power confessed,
And every tongue his glory sing.

Behold, on flying clouds he comes;
And every eye shall see him move;
Though with our sins we pierc'd him once,
Now he displays his pardoning love.

The unbelieving world shall wail
While we rejoice to see the day;
Come, Lord; nor let thy promise fail,
Nor let thy chariots long delay
                Isaac Watts


......Thus we see the vast importance of being rightly instructed as to the nature of our hope.  When we know what we are hoping for, we are able to give an answer; yea, our lives answer.  A man’s life is always influenced by his genuine hopes.  If a man be an heir to an estate, his life is influenced by the hope of inheriting it; and if we knew more of the power of the Spirit as “the earnest of our inheritance,” instead of disputing about the time or manner of our Master’s arrival, we should, as “prisoners of hope,” be anxiously looking forth from our prison windows, and saying, “Why is His chariot so long in coming?  Why tarry the wheels of His chariot?”
     Oh! that all who have found a stronghold in the cross of Jesus may say more earnestly, “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.”                                              
                                                                                                                                       C. H. Mackintosh



Friday, March 25, 2016

.....What good will it do a beggar that is ready to be starved, to be told that he is a prince, a brave fellow, worth some thousands by the year?  But would you know which is the ready way to true honour?  I tell you it consists not in the favour of them that must die like yourselves, and, before that few years be over, must stand but upon even ground with the meanest; it consists not in the sorry acclamations of them who measure a man's worth by his estate and their dependence upon him; it consists not in the praise of them whose commendations some wise men have counted a discredit.  But he hath showed thee, man, what is truly honourable; to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God, Micah 6:8.  To bear relation to God as a Father, and to carry themselves as His children, to be a servant and friend of God; this, this is honourable, truly honourable; this is the height, the top of the creature's preferment.  To converse with, and delight in his Maker; to love, admire, and rejoice in God, and to love God, to take complacency in the soul; this is something indeed, this is honour; a wise man would not grudge to venture his estate, his blood, his all for this.  And how few of the gallants of the world understand the nature of this honour?..... He will tell you that glory and honour are in His presence, 1 Chron 16:27.  Man's only honour and true dignity lie in his nearness and acquaintance with God.  A practical knowledge of his Maker is the creature's greatest preferment.  David was of the mind, that it was none of the lowest honours to be God's servant, Ps. 74.  It is upon the account of Israel's near relation to God, that Moses reckons them the happiest, the most honourable people in the world.  Because God had avouched them to be His peculiar people, therefore they might well be said to be high above all the nations which God had made, in praise, in name, and in honour, Deut. 26:18.  And upon this account might a wise man have his choice, whether he will wear a crown and be a stranger to God, or rags, and be one of His nearest servants.  He will not stand long, before he determine the case; he will soon answer with him, that he had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God, than dwell in the tabernacles of wickedness.  If men's actions may speak their judgments, most of the gallants of the world are of a far different opinion.  But, oh let me dwell for ever in His house, and stand always in His presence; happy are they that see His face, happy are they that behold His beauty.  This, this is man's crown, this is his highest honour and dignity; for God to be mindful of man, and for his Maker to visit him; might I but have more frequent and intimate converse with God, may I be but acquainted with Him.  Oh may I have but a heart more to admire, love, and delight in Him, and serve Him with the strength and intenseness of my soul while I am here, and stand for ever in His presence, and behold His glorious face with joy hereafter.  My soul, what meanest thou, that thou still speakest so faintly and coldly of such infinitely glorious things?  Why doth not a new life animate thee at the very mention of these things?  Hast thou not far more cause to raise up thy desponding spirits with cheerfulness, than old Jacob, when his son Joseph, who was lord of that land, sent for him into Egypt?  Thy Father, my soul, thy Brother is Lord, not of Egypt, not of Goshen, but of Eden, of Zion; He is the King of that glorious city, the new Jerusalem; heaven is His throne, and earth is His footstool, and yet behold the wagons that He hath sent for thee!  Behold the provision that He hath sent to maintain thee comfortably in thy journey from Egypt to Canaan!  Is not this enough?  My soul, awake, up and see Him before thou diest.  Behold, He is coming, the Bridegroom is coming, Joseph is coming, to meet thee with a gallant train, in a glorious equipage.  It is but yet a little while, and thy Husband will come and fetch thee in royal state, attended with a numberless retinue of saints and angels.  Oh, hadst thou but an eye to behold their chariots and horsemen coming upon the mountains.  He is coming, He is coming; He will be here quickly; He will not tarry; He is at the door.  Contemplate sometimes on these things, and a little antedate that glory by spiritual meditation.  Do but think what a brave sight that will be to see the mountains covered with chariots of fire and horses of fire, when the heavens shall bow before thy Friend, and the earth shall melt at His presence, and yet thy heart not faint within thee; when the King shall come in the clouds to fetch His friends to His own house, where they shall dwell for ever.  This honour have all the saints.                                                                                                                                                 James Janeway

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Children of the heavenly King,
As ye journey, sweetly sing;
Sing your Saviour’s worthy praise,
Glorious in his works and ways.

Ye are travelling home to God
In the way the fathers trod;
They are happy now, and ye
Soon their happiness shall see.

O ye banished seed, be glad!
Christ our advocate is made;
Us to save, our flesh assumes,—
Brother to our souls becomes.

Shout, ye little flock, and blest!
You on Jesus’ throne shall rest;
There your seat is now prepared—
There your kingdom and reward.

Fear not, brethren, joyful stand
On the borders of your land;
Christ, your Father’s darling son,
Bids you undismayed go on.

Lord! submissive make us go,
Gladly leaving all below;
Only thou our leader be,
And we still will follow thee!
                                      Cennick


......If we are led by the Holy Ghost into the understanding of the truth, that we are called with a heavenly calling, that our home, our portion, our hope, our inheritance, are all above, "where Christ sitteth at God's right hand," we could never be satisfied to maintain a standing, seek a name, or lay up an inheritance, on the earth.  The two things are incompatible:  this is the true way to look at the matter.  The heavenly calling is not an empty dogma, a powerless theory, nor a crude speculation.  It is either a divine reality, or it is absolutely nothing.....
.....The same cross which connects me with God, has separated me from the world.....If the cross has come between me and my sins, it has just as really come between me and the world.....              
                                                                                                                                   C. H. Mackintosh


Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Rejoice, all ye believers,
And let your lights appear!
The evening is advancing
And darker night is near.
The Bridegroom is arising,
And soon will He draw nigh.
Up! pray, and watch, and wrestle-
At midnight comes the cry!

The watchers on the mountain
Proclaim the Bridegroom near;
Go meet Him as He cometh,
With hallelujahs clear.
The marriage feast is waiting,
The gates wide open stand;
Up, up, ye heirs of glory;
The Bridegroom is at hand!

Ye saints, who here in patience
Your cross and sufferings bore,
Shall live and reign for ever,
When sorrow is no more.
Around the throne of glory
The Lamb ye shall behold,
In triumph cast before Him
Your diadems of gold!

Our Hope and Expectation,
O Jesus, now appear;
Arise, Thou Sun so longed for,
O’er this benighted sphere!
With hearts and hands uplifted,
We plead, O Lord, to see
The day of earth’s redemption,
That brings us unto Thee!
    Laurentius Laurenti
    Tr Sarah Borthwick Findlater


He which testifieth these things  saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.  Rev. 22:20

The rose is surest in being, in beauty, on its own stalk and root:  let life and sap be eternally in the stalk and root, and the rose keep its first union with the root, and it shall never wither, never cast its blossom nor greenness of beauty.  It is violence for a gracious soul to be out of his stalk and root; union here is life and happiness; therefore the Church's last prayer in canonic Scripture is for union, (Rev. 22:20) "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."  It shall not be well till the Father, and Christ the prime heir, and all the weeping children, be under one roof in the palace royal.  It is a sort of mystical lameness, that the head wanteth an arm or a finger; and it is a violent and forced condition, for arm and finger to be separated from the head.  The saints are little pieces of mystical Christ, sick of love for union.  The wife of youth, that wants her husband some years, and expects he shall return to her from over-sea lands, is often on the shore; every ship coming near shore is her new joy; her heart loves the wind that shall bring him home.  She asks at even passenger news:  "Oh! saw ye my husband?  What is he doing?  When shall he come?  Is he shipped for a return?"  Every ship that carrieth not her husband, is the breaking of her heart.  What desires hath the Spirit and Bride to hear, when the husband Christ shall say to the mighty angels, "Make you ready for the journey; let us go down and divide the skies, and bow the heaven:  I will gather my prisoners of hope unto me; I can want my Rachel and her weeping children no longer.  Behold, I come quickly to judge the nations.".....Yea, she loveth that quarter of the sky, that being rent asunder and cloven, shall yield to her Husband, when he shall put through his glorious hand, and shall come riding on the rainbow and clouds to receive her to himself.
                                                                                                                              Samuel Rutherford 



Tuesday, March 22, 2016

            Today the Saviour calls;
            Ye wand’rers, come;
            O ye benighted souls,
            Why longer roam?

            Today the Saviour calls;
            O hear Him now;
            Within these sacred walls
            To Jesus bow.

            Today the Saviour calls;
            For refuge fly;
            The storm of justice falls,
            And death is nigh.

            The Spirit calls today;
            Yield to His pow’r;
            O grieve Him not away,
            ‘Tis mercy’s hour.
                                             S. F. Smith, D.D.   

Monday, March 21, 2016

     A man said to me some time ago:
     "Moody, I don't like your style of preaching."
     "Why not?"
     "You always try to get the people to act at once.  Why don't you give them time to meditate and consider?"
     "Well, my friend," I said, "I once gave an audience a week to decide what they would do with Jesus Christ.  I would thrust my arm into the fire before I would do that again.  I would not dare to give an audience a week or even an hour.  I don't know what may happen in an hour."
     I remember preaching in Chicago on five consecutive Sunday nights on the life of Christ.  On the fifth night I had got Him into the hands of Pilate, and Pilate was like a good many people, perplexed, not knowing what to do with Christ.  I had taken the familiar text, "What shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?"  After I had preached as strong a sermon as I could I said to the audience, — and it was about as big a blunder as I ever made in all my life — "I want you to take this question home and consider it, and next Sunday night I want you to go to Calvary with me, and there, under the cross, we will settle what to do with Jesus Christ."
     Just then the great city bell, only a block away, rang out an alarm of fire.  That was nothing in those days, and I paid no attention to it.  But the alarm continued, and while the bell was ringing out a general alarm, Mr. Sankey closed the meeting by singing "To-day the Saviour calls."  The last verse rang through the hall,

        "To-day the Saviour calls,
        For refuge fly;
        The storm of vengeance falls,
        For death is nigh."

     It seemed afterwards as if that verse was prophetic.  We held an inquiry-meeting, but not many remained.  How could we expect it when I had given them a week to decide what to do with Jesus?  After the inquiry-meeting we started for home.  As soon as I started I found that the city was doomed; even the clapboards of the building we were in were falling, and the burning shingles were dropping down.  The fire was breaking out all around me.  It was a very serious question whether I could get home to my wife and children and get them to a place of safety.  When I got them out of bed, flames thirty feet high were following me, and before midnight the hall where I preached that sermon was in ashes; before two o'clock the church where I worshiped was in ashes; before three o'clock the house that I lived in was in ashes.  Before daybreak next morning one hundred thousand people were burned out of house and home.   It seemed to me that I had a glimpse in that fire of what the Day of Judgment will be, when I saw flames rolling down the streets, twenty and thirty feet high, consuming everything in its march that did not flee.  I saw there the millionaire and the beggar fleeing alike.  There was no difference.   That night great men, learned men, wise men, all fled alike.  There was no difference.  And when God comes to judge the world there will be no difference.
     No one knows exactly how many perished in the flames that awful night.  It was estimated that a thousand people were burned alive:  and right around that hall a good many perished.  I have reason to believe that some who heard me were in eternity before midnight.  That was in 1871.  I shall never meet that audience again, and I had given them a whole week to decide what to do with Jesus.
                                                                                                                                 D. L. Moody

Sunday, March 20, 2016

     A little while ago, in one of the mining districts of England a young man attended one of our meetings, and refused to go from the place till he had found the Saviour.  The next day he went down into the pit and the coal fell in upon him; and when they took him out he was bruised and mangled and had but a few moments to live.  His last words were, "It was a good thing I settled it last night."
                                                                                                                                           D. L. Moody

Saturday, March 19, 2016

     There is a story told of an incident that occurred during the last Indian mutiny.  The English were besieged in the city of Lucknow, and were in momentary expectation of perishing at the hands of the fiends that surrounded them.
     There was a little Scotch lassie in this fort, and, while lying on the ground, she suddenly shouted, her face aglow with joy, "Dinna ye hear them comin'; dinna ye hear them comin'?"
     "Hear what?" they asked, "Dinna ye hear them comin'?"
     And she sprang to her feet.  It was the bagpipes of her native Scotland she heard.  It was a native air she heard that was being played by a regiment of her countrymen marching to the relief of those captives, and these deliverers made them free.
     Oh, my friends, don't you hear Jesus Christ crying to you to-night?
                                                                                                                                  D. L. Moody  

Friday, March 18, 2016

     There was never a sermon which you have listened to but in it Christ was seeking for you.  I contend that a man cannot but find in every page of this book that Jesus Christ is seeking him through His blessed Word.  This is what the Bible is for—to seek but the lost.
                                                                                                                                            D. L. Moody

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     If I inherited consumption from my parents I would not be blame for it; but if I should have overwhelming proof that a sure remedy had been found for the disease, and I refuse to avail myself of it, then I must expect the consequences of my neglect. 
     We are all sinners, but, thanks be to God, he has provided a sure cure, and it is offered to the whole world for nothing.
                                                                                                                               D. L. Moody

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     You certainly know what it is to look. A mother will teach a child to look before it is a year old; and there is a passage in which we are told, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith."
     If a man wants to be miserable, let him look within; if he wants to be troubled, let him look around him; if he wants true peace, let him look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.     
     If you want to get saved, quit looking at that church or that man; for all the churches and ministers in Christendom cannot save you.  If you look unto Jesus, he will save you.  Will you look to-night? 
     You certainly can get hold of that illustration—saved by just looking.
     There was a man got up in one of our meetings, and said he had been forty-three years learning three things.      
     First, he couldn't do anything toward his own salvation.  You've all got to learn that lesson before you can be saved. 
     The next thing was that God didn't require him to do any-thing.  That was worth learning, wasn't it, if it did take him forty-three years to learn it?
     And the third was, that Christ had done it all himself. 
     That little child can learn those things if it will.  God doesn't require you to save yourself.  If it is a new birth, it must be the work of God and not the work of man; if it is a new birth, it must be created by God.  We cannot give life to a little insect; all the philosophers in Boston cannot give life to a little fly.  But God is the author of life; and it is a new life given when we are saved and born of God.  It is the work of God; and we get that by letting God save us.
                                                                                                                                         D. L. Moody 

Thursday, March 17, 2016

     Suppose Queen Victoria did not like any man to be deprived of his liberty, and threw all her prisons open, and was so merciful that she could not bear any one to suffer for guilt, how long would she hold the sceptre?
     How long would she rule?
     Not twenty-four hours.
     Those very men who cry out about God being merciful would say, "We don't want such a queen."
     Well, God is merciful, but He is not going to take an unpardoned sinner into heaven.
                                                                                                                                            D. L. Moody

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

     I remember when our war was going on I took up the morning paper and read of a terrible battle—ten thousand men killed, and I laid the paper down and forgot it.
     At last I went into the battle-field and helped to bear away the sick and wounded; after I had been over one or two battle-fields I began to realize what it meant.  I could hear the dying groans of the men and their cry for water, and when I heard of a battle the whole thing was stamped upon my mind.
     I can tell you how a little child suffered and it will bring tears to your eyes, but I tell you how the Son of God suffered and some of you will go out laughing.
                                                                                                                                       D. L. Moody

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

     Will there ever be a better time?
     Will there ever be a better time for that old man whose locks are growing gray, whose eyes are growing dim, and who is hastening to the grave?  Is not this the very best time for him?  "Seek the Lord while He may be found."
     There is a man in the middle of life.  Is this not the best time for him to seek the kingdom of God!  Will you ever have a better opportunity? 
     Will Christ ever be more willing to save than now?  He says, "Come, for all things are now ready."  Not, going to be, but are now ready. 
     There is a young man.  My friend, is it not the best time for you to seek the kingdom of God?  Seek the Lord, you can find Him here to-night.   
     Can you say that you will find Him here to-morrow?  Will any one rise up in this hall and say that?  Young man, you know not what to-morrow may bring forth.  Do you know that since we met here last night 48,000 souls have passed from time to eternity?  Do you know that every time the clock ticks a soul passes away? Is not this the best time for you to seek the kingdom of God?
                                                                                                                                          D. L. Moody

Monday, March 14, 2016

     We hear of a man who has lost his health, and we sympathize with him, and we say it is very sad.  Our hearts are drawn out in sympathy.
     Here is another man who has lost his wealth, and we say, "That is very sad."
     Here is another man who has lost his reputation, his standing among men.  "That is sadder still," you say.
     We know what it is to lose health, and wealth, and reputation, but what is the loss of all these things compared with the loss of the soul?     
                                                                                                                        D. L. Moody

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     As I said, if life is in danger, how terribly in earnest men become.  That is right; there is no doubt about that.  But why should not men be as much in earnest about their soul's salvation?  Why should not every man and woman here wake up and seek the Lord with all their heart?  Then, the Lord says, you shall find Him.
                                                                                                                                D. L. Moody    

Sunday, March 13, 2016



      "All things are ready," Come,
      Come to the supper spread;
      Come, rich and poor, come, old and young,
      Come, and be richly fed.

      "All things are ready," Come,
      The invitation's given,
      Through Him who now in glory sits
      At God's right hand in heaven.

      "All things are ready," Come,
      The door is open wide;
      Oh feast upon the love of God,
      For Christ, His Son, has died.

      "All things are ready," Come,
      All hindrance is removed;
      And God, in Christ, His precious love,
      To fallen man has proved.

      "All things are ready," Come,
      To-morrow may not be;
      O sinner, come, the Saviour waits,
      This hour to welcome thee!
                                         Albert Midlane

Saturday, March 12, 2016


     So thousands and thousands say they have no time to be religious.  What have you done with all the time that God has given you?  What have you been doing all these months and years that have rolled away since He gave you birth?  Is it true you have no time?  What did you do with the 365 days of last year?  Had you no time during all these twelve months to seek the kingdom of God?  You spend twenty years getting an education to enable you to earn a living for this poor frail body, so soon to be eaten up of worms.  You spend seven or eight years in learning a trade, that you may earn your daily bread; and yet you have not five minutes to accept of this invitation of Christ's!  My friend, bear in mind you have yet to find time to die; to stand in the presence of the Judge.  And when he calls you to stand before that bar, will you dare to tell Him that you had no time to prepare for the marriage supper of His Son?  You have no time?  Take time?  Let every thing else be laid aside until you have accepted of this invitation.  Do you not know that it is a lie?  If you have not time, take it.  "Seek first the kingdom of God."  Let the children sit up a little late to-night.  Let your business be suspended to-morrow.  Suppose you do not get so much money tomorrow.  What matter it if you get Christ?  Better for a man to be sure of salvation than to "gain the whole world and lose his own soul."
                                                                                                                                               D. L. Moody

Friday, March 11, 2016

     If I have an orchard, and two apple trees in it, which both bear some bitter apples, perfectly worthless, does it make any difference to me that the one tree has got perhaps five hundred apples, all bad, and the other only two, both bad?
     "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.'' 
     Suppose you were to hang up a man to the roof with a chain of ten links; if one were to break, does it matter that the other nine are all sound and whole?  Not the least.  One link breaks, and down comes the man.  But is it not rather hard that he should fall when the other nine are perfect, when only one is broken?  Why, of course not; if one is broken, it is just the same to the man as if all had been broken:  he falls.  So the man who breaks one commandment is guilty of all.  He is a criminal in God's sight.
                                                                                                                                       D. L. Moody

Thursday, March 10, 2016

     When we got our charter for the city of Chicago, there was one clause in the constitution that allowed the mayor to appoint all the police.  It worked well when it was a small city; but when it had three or four hundred thousand inhabitants, it put too much power in the hands of one man.  So our citizens got a new bill passed that put the power into the hands of commissioners appointed by government. 
     There was one clause in the new law that no man should be a policeman who was not a certain height—five feet six inches, let us say. 
     When the commissioners got into power, they advertised for men as candidates, and stated that no man need apply who could not bring good credentials to recommend him. 
     I remember going past the office one day, and there was a crowd of them waiting to get in.  They were comparing notes as to their chances of success. 
     One says, "I have got a good letter of recommendation from the mayor, and one from the supreme judge." 
     Another says, "And I have got a good letter from Senator So-and-so.  I'm sure to get in." 
     The two men come on together, and lay their letters down on the commissioners' desk.  "Well," say the officials, "you have certainly a good many letters, but we won't read them till we measure you." 
     Ah! they forgot all about that.  So the first man is measured, and he is only five feet. 
     "No chance for you, sir; the law says the men must be five feet six inches, and you don't come up to the standard." 
     The other says, "My chance is better than his, I am a good bit taller." 
     That is what people are always doing, measuring them-selves by others.  Measure yourself by the law of God, or by the Son of God Himself; and if you do that, you will find you have come short. 
     He goes up to the officers, and they measure him; he is five feet, five inches, and nine tenths of an inch. "No good," they tell him, "you're not up to the standard."
     "But I'm only one tenth of an inch short," he remonstrates. 
     "It's no matter," they say, "there is no difference." 
     He goes with the man who was five feet.  One comes short six inches, and the other only one tenth of an inch; but the law cannot be changed.  And the law of God is, that no man shall go into the kingdom of heaven with one sin on him.
                                                                                                                                      D. L. Moody

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

     I said to my family, one morning, a few weeks before the Chicago fire, "I am coming home this afternoon to give you a ride."
     My little boy clapped his hands.  "Oh, papa, will you take me to see the bears in Lincoln Park?"
     "Yes."
     I had not been gone long when my little boy said, "Mamma, I wish you would get me ready."  At last he was ready to have the ride, face washed, and clothes all nice and clean.
     "Now, you must take good care and not get yourself dirty again," said mamma. 
     It was a long time yet until the afternoon, and after a little he began to play.  When I got home, I found him outside, with his face all covered with dirt.
     "I can't take you to the Park that way, Willie."
     "Why, papa? you said you would take me."
     "Ah, but I can't; you're all over mud.  I couldn't be seen with such a dirty little boy."
     "Why, I'se clean, papa; mamma washed me."
     "Well, you've got dirty since."
     But he began to cry, and I could not convince him that he was dirty.
     "I'se clean; mamma washed me!" he cried.
     Do you think I argued with him?  No.  I just took him up in my arms, and carried him into the house, and showed him his face in the looking-glass.  He could not take my word for it; but one look at the glass was enough.  He didn't say he wasn't dirty after that!  The looking-glass showed him that his face was dirty—but I did not take the looking-glass to wash it; of course not.
     Yet that is just what thousands of people do.  The law is the looking-glass to see ourselves in, to show us how vile and worthless we are in the sight of God; but they take the law, and try to wash themselves with it!  Man has been trying that for six thousand years, and has miserably failed.  "By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight."  Only one Man ever lived on the earth who could say He had kept the law, and that was the Lord Jesus Christ.  But men have tried to do what He did, and have failed.  Instead of sheltering under his righteousness, they have offered God their own.
                                                                                                                                     D. L. Moody

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

     A number of young men were sitting together in a country store one evening, telling what they did not believe, and what they were not afraid to do.  Finally, the leader in the group remarked that so far as he was concerned, he would be willing at any time to sign away all his interest in Christ for a five dollar bill.
     "What did I understand you to say?" asked an old farmer, who happened to be in the store, and who had overheard the remark.
     "I said that for five dollars I would sign away all my interest in Christ, and so I will."
     The old farmer, who had learned to know the human heart pretty well, drew out his leathern wallet, took therefrom a five dollar bill, and put it in the storekeeper's hand.  Then calling for ink and paper, he said:  "My young friend, if you will just step to the desk now, and write as I dictate, the money is yours."
     The young man took the pen, and began:  "In the presence of these witnesses, I, A____B____ , for the sum of five dollars received, do now, once for all, and for ever, sign away all my interest"—then he dropped the pen, and with a forced smile said:  ''I take it back, I was only fooling."
     That young man did not dare to sign that paper.  Why?  He had an accusing conscience.  He knew that there was a God.  He believed in religion.  He meant to be a Christian some time.  And so do you, reader. Notwithstanding your apparent indifference, your trifling conduct, your boasting speech, you would not to-day for ten thousand dollars sign away, if such a thing were possible, your interest in Jesus Christ.  You do not desire or expect to lose heaven.
                                                                                                                The Congregationalist (American)

Monday, March 7, 2016

     There is a very good story told of Rowland Hill and Lady Ann Erskine.  You have seen it, perhaps, in print, but I would like to tell it to you.  While he was preaching in a park in London to a large assemblage, she was passing in her carriage.  She said to her footman when she saw Rowland Hill in the midst of the people, "Why, who is that man?"
     "That is Rowland Hill, my lady."
     She had heard a good deal about the man, and she thought she would like to see him, so she directed her coachman to drive her near the platform. 
     When the carriage came near he saw the insignia of nobility, and he asked who that noble lady was.  Upon being told, he said, "Stop, my friends, I have got something to sell." 
     The idea of a preacher becoming suddenly an auctioneer made the people wonder, and in the midst of a dead silence he said:  "I have more than a title to sell—I have more than a crown of Europe to sell; it is the soul of Lady Ann Erskine.  Is there any one here who bids for it?  Yes, I hear a bid.  Satan, Satan, what will you give?  'I will give pleasure, honor, riches:—yea, I will give the whole world for her soul.'  Do you hear another bid?  Is there any other one?  Do I hear another bid?  Ah, I thought so; I hear another bid.  The Lord Jesus Christ, what will You give for this soul?  'I will give peace, joy, comfort, that the world knows not of—yea, I will give eternal life.'  Lady Ann Erskine, you have heard the two bidders for your
soul, which will you accept?"
     And she ordered the door of her carriage to be opened, and came weeping from it, and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ. 
     He, the great and mighty Saviour, is a bidder for your soul to-night.  He offers you riches and comfort, and joy, peace here, and eternal life hereafter, while Satan offers you what he cannot give.  Poor lost soul, which will you have?  He will ransom your soul if you but put your burden upon Him.  
     Twenty-one years ago I made up my mind that Jesus would have my soul, and I have never regretted the step, and no man has ever felt sorry for coming to Him.  When we accept Him we must like Him.  Your sins may rise up as a mountain, but the Son of Man can purge you of all evil, and take you right into the palaces of Heaven, if you will only allow Him to save you.                     
                                                                                                                                            D. L. Moody

Sunday, March 6, 2016

     One thing I know—I cannot speak for others, but I can speak for myself; I cannot read other minds and other hearts; I cannot read the Bible and lay hold for others; but I can read for myself, and take God at his word.  The great trouble is that people take everything in general, and do not take it to themselves.  Suppose a man should say to me, "Moody, there was a man in Europe who died last week, and left five million dollars to a certain individual."
     "Well," I say, "I don't doubt that; it's rather a common thing to happen," and I don't think anything more about it. 
     But suppose he says, "But he left the money to you." 
     Then I pay attention; I say, "To me?" 
     "Yes, he left it to you."
     I become suddenly interested.  I want to know all about it.  So we are apt to think Christ died for sinners; He died for everybody, and for nobody in particular.  But when the truth comes to me that eternal life is mine, and all the glories of Heaven are mine, I begin to be interested.  I say, "Where is the chapter and verse where it says I can be saved?"  If I put myself among sinners, I take the place of the sinner, then it is that salvation is mine and I am sure of it for time and eternity.
                                                                                                                                         D. L. Moody

Saturday, March 5, 2016

     I want to tell you a scene that occurred some time ago.  Our Commissioner went to the Governor of the State and asked him if he wouldn't pardon out five men at the end of six months who stood highest on the list for good behavior.  The Governor consented, and the record was to be kept secret; the men were not to know anything about it. 
     The six months rolled away and the prisoners were brought up—1,100 of them—and the President of the commission came up and said:  "I hold in my hand pardons for five men."  I never witnessed anything like it.  Every man held his breath, and you could almost hear the throbbing of every man's heart.  "Pardon for five men," and the Commissioner went on to tell the men how they had got these pardons—how the Governor had given them, but the Chaplain said the surprise was so great that he told the Commissioner to read the names first and tell the reason afterward.  The first name was called—'Reuben Johnson'—and he held out the pardon, but not a man moved.  He looked all around, expecting to see a man spring to his feet at once; but no one moved.  The Commissioner turned to the officer of the prison and inquired:  "Are all the convicts here?"  'Yes,' was the reply, "Reuben Johnson, come forward and get your pardon; you are no longer a criminal."  Still no one moved.  The real Reuben Johnson was looking all the time behind him, and around him to see where Reuben was.  The Chaplain saw him standing right in front of the Commissioner, and beckoned to him; but he only turned and looked around him, thinking that the Chaplain might mean some other Reuben.  A second time he beckoned to Reuben and called to him, and a second time the man looked around.  At last the Chaplain said to him:  "You are the Reuben."  He had been there for nineteen years, having been placed there for life, and he could not conceive it would be for him.  At last it began to dawn upon him and he took the pardon from the Commissioner's hand, saw his name attached to it, and wept like a child. 
     This is the way that men make out pardons for men; but, thank God, we have not to come to-night and say we have pardons for only five men—for those who have behaved themselves.  We have assurance of pardon for every man.  "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
                                                                                                                                       D. L. Moody

Friday, March 4, 2016

     Suppose I was going over London Bridge and saw a poor, miserable beggar with no rags hardly to cover his nakedness, and right behind him was the Prince of Wales with a bag of gold, and the poor beggar was running away from him, and the Prince was hallooing, "Oh, beggar here is a bag of gold!"
     Sinner, that is your condition.  The Prince of Heaven wants to give you eternal life and you are running away from Him.
                                                                                                                                          D. L. Moody

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     One day I was walking through the streets of York, in England.  I saw a little way ahead a soldier coming toward me.  He had the red uniform on of the infantry—the dress of the army.  I knew at once when I saw him that he was a soldier. 
     When he came near me I stopped him.  I said, "My good man, if you have no objection I would like to ask you a few questions."
     "Certainly, sir," said he.
     "Well, then, I would like to know how you first became a soldier."
      "Yes, sir, I will tell you.  You see, sir, I wanted to become a soldier, and the recruiting officer was in our town, and I went up to him and told him I wanted to enlist.  Well, sir, he said, 'Ah right,' and the first thing he did, sir, he took an English shilling out of his pocket, sir, and put it into my hand.  The very moment, sir, a recruiting sergeant puts a shilling into your hand, sir, you are a soldier."
     I said to myself, "That is the very illustration I want."
     That man was a free man at one time—he could go here and there; do just what he liked; but the moment the shilling was put into his hand he was subject to the rules of war, and Queen Victoria could send him anywhere and make him obey the rules and regulations of the army.  He is a soldier the very minute he takes the shilling.  He has not got to wait to put on the uniform.  And when you ask me how a man may be converted at once, I answer, just the same as that man became a soldier.  The citizen becomes a soldier in a minute, and from being a free man becomes subject to the command of others.  The moment you take Christ into your heart, that moment your name is written in the roll of Heaven.         
                                                                                                                                       D. L. Moody


Thursday, March 3, 2016

from David Brainerd's Diary

Aug. 8, 1745

     "In the afternoon I preached to the Indians, their number was now about 65 persons; men, women and children.  I discoursed upon Luke 14:16-23, and was favoured with uncommon freedom in my discourse.  There was much visible concern among them, while I was discoursing publicly; but afterwards, when I spoke to one and another more particularly, whom I perceived under much concern, the power of God seemed to descend upon the assembly "like a mighty rushing wind,'' and with an astonishing energy bore down all before it.  I stood amazed at the influence, which seized the audience almost universally; and could compare it to nothing more aptly, than the irresistible force of a mighty torrent or swelling deluge, that with its insupportable weight and pressure bears down and sweeps before it whatever comes in its way.  Almost all persons of all ages were bowed down with concern together, and scarcely one was able to withstand the shock of this surprising operation.  Old men and women, who had been drunken wretches for many years, and some little children, not more than six or seven years of age, appeared in distress for their souls, as well as persons of middle age.  It was apparent that these children, some of them at least, were not merely frightened with seeing the general concern; but were made sensible of their danger, the badness of their hearts, and their misery without Christ, as some of them expressed it.  The most stubborn hearts were now obliged to bow.  A principal man among the Indians, who before was most secure and self-righteous, and thought his state good, because he knew more than the generality of the Indians had formerly done; and who with a great degree of confidence the day before told me "he had been a Christian more than ten years;" was now brought under solemn concern for his soul, and wept bitterly.  Another man advanced in years, who had been a murderer, a pawaw or conjurer, and a notorious drunkard, was likewise brought now to cry for mercy with many tears, and to complain much that he could be no more concerned when he saw his danger so very great.
     "They were almost universally praying and crying for mercy in every part of the house, and many out of doors; and numbers could neither go nor stand.  Their concern was so great, each one for himself, that none seemed to take any notice of those about them, but each prayed freely for himself.  I am led to think they were, to their own apprehensions, as much retired as if they had been individually by themselves, in the thickest desert; or I believe rather that they thought nothing about any thing but themselves, and their own state, and so were every one praying apart, although all together.....
     "This concern, in general, was most rational and just.  Those who had been awakened any considerable time, complained more especially of the badness of their hearts; and those who were newly awakened, of the badness of their lives and actions; and all were afraid of the anger of God, and of everlasting misery as the desert of their sins.  Some of the white people, who came out of curiosity to hear what "this babbler would say" to the poor ignorant Indians, were much awakened; and some appeared to be wounded with a view of their perishing state.  Those who had lately obtained relief, were filled with comfort at this season.  They appeared calm and composed, and seemed to rejoice in Christ Jesus.  Some of them took their distressed friends by the hand, telling them of the goodness of Christ, and the comfort that is to be enjoyed in him; and thence invited them to come and give up their hearts to him.  I could observe some of them, in the most honest and unaffected manner, without any design of being taken notice of, lifting up their eyes to heaven, as if crying for mercy, while they saw the distress of the poor souls around them.  There was one remarkable instance of awakening this day which I cannot fail to notice here.  A young Indian woman, who, I believe, never knew before that she had a soul, nor ever thought of any such thing, hearing that there was something strange among the Indians, came, it seems, to see what was the matter.  In her way to the Indians she called at my lodgings; and when I told her that I designed presently to preach to the Indians, laughed, and seemed to mock; but went however to them.  I had not proceeded far in my public course before she felt effectually that she had a soul; and, before I had concluded my discourse, was so convinced of her sin and misery, and so distressed with concern for her soul's salvation, that she seemed like one pierced through with a dart, and cried out incessantly.  She could neither go nor stand, nor sit on her seat without being held up.  After public service was over, she lay flat on the ground, praying earnestly, and would take no notice of, nor give any answer to, any who spoke to her.  I hearkened to hear what she said, and perceived the burden of her prayer to be......'Have mercy on me, and help me to give you my heart.'  ''Thus she continued praying incessantly for many hours together.  This was indeed a surprising day of God's power, and seemed enough to convince an Atheist of the truth, importance, and power of God's word."

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

         Scattering precious seed by the wayside,
         Scattering precious seed by the hillside;
         Scattering precious seed o’er the field wide,
         Scattering precious seed by the way.

         Scattering precious seed for the growing,
         Scattering precious seed freely sowing;
         Scattering precious seed, trusting, knowing,
         Surely the Lord will send it the rain.

         Scattering precious seed, doubting never,
         Scattering precious seed, trusting ever;
         Sowing the word with pray’r and endeavor,
         Trusting the Lord for growth and for yield.

         Refrain:
         Sowing in the morning,
         Sowing at the noontide;
         Sowing in the evening,
         Sowing the precious seed by the way.
                                                       W. A. Ogden

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

     Many years ago an infidel lived near my Mission School in Chicago.  He was very angry because I had started the school near his house.  An old proverb says, "Like Priest, like People," and you can say, "Like Parent, like Child."  His children knew their father didn't like me, and when I went by the house they called me "hypocrite" and pretty much everything else that was bad.  I worked months and months to get those children into my Sunday-school, but met nothing but curses from children and parents.  One night we were having a boys' meeting, and I noticed that one of his little boys, about thirteen years old, had come in.  At first I thought God had sent him, but after-wards I thought perhaps Satan had, for he was sticking pins into the other boys, and doing everything he could to break up the meeting.  I kept quiet, and when I went out I said:
     "Allie, I am glad you came to-night.  I hope you will come again."
     He felt ashamed when I spoke so kindly to him, after he had behaved so badly, but he promised to come again, and he came night after night.  One night he arose in the meeting and said:
     "Boys, you know all about my home, and you know all about me.  I wish you would pray God to convert me.  I would like to become a Christian."
     I said to myself, "That is the entering wedge into that infidel home."
     One day about five weeks after, I noticed that he was crying.  I thought perhaps something had gone wrong with him during the day, but he got up, weeping, and said:
     "Boys, I wish you would pray for my mother."
     "Thank God for that," I said.
     After prayer I took him aside and said:
     "Allie, have you ever told your mother what God has done for you?"
     "No," he said, "but I have tried to show it in my life.  I have been obedient and kind, and done everything I could to please her."
     "That is splendid," I said, "but perhaps the time has come for you to confess Christ.  And now, when you go home, won't you ask your mother to let you pray with her."  He said he couldn't.
     "You had better tell your mother what the Lord has done for you," I said.
     The next morning he came to my place of business and said his mother wanted to see me at her house.  I said:
     "I will go up this afternoon."
     He said she would like to see me right away.  So I went.  When I arrived at the house the mother wanted everyone to go out of the room but Allie, herself, and me; and when we were alone, she said:
     "Mr. Moody, I sent for you to tell me what to do to be saved."
     "Well, what has brought about this change?"
     "Well," she said, "how can I help believing in religion when I have seen such a change in Allie?  Last night he nearly broke my heart.  He came to me from the meeting and hung around as if he wanted to tell me something, but he said nothing.  At last I said, 'Allie, you had better go to bed.'  He still lingered, and finally I commanded him to go.  He has been a very obedient child lately.  He started, and went up one or two steps, and then suddenly came back and buried his head in my bosom and began to cry.  I said, 'Are you sick, Allie?'  'No, mother.'  'What is the trouble?  Has any one hurt your feelings?'  'Mother, I have been trying to be a Christian for the past five weeks, and the boys at school laugh at me, and brother Charlie laughs at me when I pray, and I have nobody to help me.  I wish you were a Christian, for if you were you would help me.'  When he went to his bedroom.  I thought I would go to his room and see if he felt as badly as he pretended to.  I heard him praying:  'Save my mother to-night.  Have mercy on my mother.'  I could not sleep.  All through the night I could hear my little boy's voice pleading for me.  I never spent such a wretched night in my life.  If you will show me how to become a Christian, I will become one.  I don't want to keep my boy back."
     She became a Christian.  She came to my school, took a class, and within a few weeks every member of that infidel family, but one, were Christians.                        
                                                                                                                                               D. L. Moody