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"THOU FOOL!' 
 
i i 
 
 THOU FOOL!" 
 
 AND ELEVEN OTHER SERMONS 
 NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED 
 
 BY THE LATE 
 
 D WIGHT L. MOODY 
 
 America s Greatest Evangelist 
 
 # 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN HERALD 
 
 Bible House, New York 
 

 THIS ISA SERIES OF TWELVE REMARK- 
 ABLE SERMONS BY D. L. MOODY, NEVER 
 BEFORE PUBLISHED, AND THE EXIST- 
 ENCE OF WHICH WAS DISCLOSED ONLY 
 A FEW MONTHS AGO. THEY ARE FROM 
 VERBATIM SHORTHAND REPORTS MADE 
 BY REV. WM. BRIDGE, MR. MOODY'S 
 STENOGRAPHER, AND THE ABSOLUTE 
 AUTHENTICITY OF THE SERMONS IS 
 VOUCHED FOR. THESE SERMONS ARE 
 THE EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OF THE 
 CHRISTIAN HERALD. 
 
 
 Copyright, 1911 
 By The Christian Herald 
 
 New York 
 
 ©CU295365 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 The Late Evangelist Moody and His Work for 
 
 The Master 3 
 
 Thou Fool! "Thou fool! This night thy soul shall be 
 
 required of thee." Luke xii. 20 11 
 
 Power for Service. "If any man thirst, let him come 
 
 unto me, and drink.' ' John vii. 37 31 
 
 How Backsliders May Return. "Go and proclaim 
 these words, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel." 
 Jeremiah iii. 12 51 
 
 How to Deal with Inquirers. "In the morning sow thy 
 seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand." 
 Ecclesiastes xi. 6 71 
 
 The Soul Winner. "And many of them that sleep 
 in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlast- 
 ing life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt; 
 and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of 
 the firmament, and they that turn many to righteous- 
 ness, as the stars forever and ever." Daniel xii. 2, 3. 92 
 
 Working for Christ. "Which of the prophets have not 
 your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them 
 which showed before of the coming of the Just One, of 
 whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers." 
 Acts vii. 52 106 
 
 Trust. "Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve 
 them alive: and let thy widows trust in me." 
 Jeremiah xlix. 11 127 
 
 M' 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 Instantaneous Salvation. "Who shall tell thee words, 
 whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved." 
 Acts xi. 14 143 
 
 Excuses. "And they all with one consent began to 
 
 make excuse." Luke xiv. 18 156 
 
 Invitation and Altar Service. "Go out into the high- 
 ways and hedges, and compel them to come in." 
 Luke xiv. 23 168 
 
 The Gospel. "I make known unto you the Gospel." 
 
 1 Corinthians xv. 1 184 
 
 God's Promises. Psalm xci. 14, 15, 16 200 
 
 M 
 
A CONSECRATED LIFE 
 
A CONSECRATED LIFE 
 
 THE LATE EVANGELIST MOODY AND HIS WORK 
 FOR THE MASTER 
 
 " O OME day you will be told that Moody is 
 kJ dead. Don't believe a word of it. At 
 that very moment I shall be more truly 
 alive than I am now. I shall then be beginning to 
 live. I was born of the flesh on February 5, 1837. 
 I was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which was 
 born of the flesh will die, of course; but that which 
 is born of the Spirit will live forever/' 
 
 These were the words of America's greatest 
 Evangelist, spoken at a meeting in 1898. He 
 passed away on December 22, 1899. 
 
 The man who was to address the largest 
 audiences ever gathered for religious teaching, 
 who was destined to win souls in numbers so 
 enormous, came out of a little New England 
 village, with no advantages of education and no 
 ecclesiastical or academic training for his work. 
 Almost within sight of the home at Northfield, 
 in which he died, was the humble cottage in 
 which he first saw the light. His father died 
 suddenly, leaving nine children for his widow 
 to support on a mortgaged farm. Mr. Moody 
 
 [3] 
 
A CONSECRATED LIFE 
 
 often spoke in later years of the splendid cour- 
 age his honored mother displayed in the emer- 
 gency. It must have been a hard struggle, but 
 her children stood by her loyally, "Dwight 
 used to think himself a man when he was 
 only a boy," his mother used to say in after 
 years. 
 
 When only six years old he went to a farmer 
 and engaged himself as a hired help, his duty 
 being to drive the cows to and from their pas- 
 ture morning and evening. The sturdy inde- 
 pendence of the lad was astonishing in one of 
 his age. He worked on the farm, getting such 
 educational help as the village school afforded 
 until he was seventeen, when he felt that the 
 time had come for him to enter a wider sphere. 
 His mother had a brother in Boston engaged in 
 the shoe business, and to him young Moody 
 went to get employment. The wise man ac- 
 cepted his nephew's offer, but made three 
 conditions. The boy must live in a boarding- 
 house of his uncle's selection; he must not 
 wander about the city in the evening, nor go 
 to places of amusement of which his uncle did 
 not approve; and he must regularly attend the 
 Mount Vernon church and Sunday School, The 
 boy agreed to all and honorably kept his bargain. 
 The third condition appears to have been a little 
 irksome at first, but before two years had passed 
 
 [4] 
 
A CONSECRATED LIFE 
 
 Dwight L. Moody was an applicant for member- 
 ship in the church, and was admitted. 
 
 In the fall of 1856 Mr. Moody removed to 
 Chicago, where he found employment as clerk 
 in a shoe store. He united with the Plymouth 
 Congregational Church and volunteered for 
 Sunday School work. He does not appear 
 to have met with much encouragement. He 
 surprised the trustees by hiring four pews, 
 which was an unusual thing for a bachelor to do. 
 But it was his habit to look up any young men 
 whom he could get acquainted with, and he 
 would invite them to occupy his pews. They 
 were filled at every service. He also found a 
 little mission church in North Wells street which 
 seemed to be in need of help, and he offered his 
 services as a teacher in the Sunday School. He 
 was told that there were already teachers for all 
 the classes, but if he would bring new pupils 
 he could form another class. The next Sunday 
 he marched in at the head of eighteen bare- 
 footed children, whom he had collected out of 
 the slums. Each one, he reminded the super- 
 intendent, had a soul to be saved, unpromising 
 as the material looked. The class grew so 
 rapidly and received additions of so many older 
 members, that Mr. Moody rented an empty 
 saloon for its accommodation. 
 
 In a short time he had a Sunday School of his 
 
 [5] 
 
A CONSECRATED LIFE 
 
 own, with seven hundred children and sixty 
 teachers. Larger quarters becoming necessary, 
 Mr. Moody obtained the use of a large room 
 over the old North Market, which was used on 
 Saturday nights for dancing. After the dances 
 were over, Mr. Moody took possession of the 
 room and with his own hands swept and cleaned 
 it and prepared it for the meeting of the Sunday 
 School. He also opened it for a week evening 
 service, to which, in some way known only to 
 himself, he brought a motley audience. Like his 
 Master he sought out the neglected and the lost, 
 and found his hearers among the heathen of the 
 city. So fascinated did he become in this work, 
 that he took the bold step of giving up his busi- 
 ness to devote all his time to it. "But how are 
 you going to live?" asked a practical friend, to 
 whom he announced the step he had taken. "I 
 don't know/ 5 Mr. Moody replied, "but I can 
 stand it for several weeks, and if at the end of that 
 time God wishes me to keep on, he will provide 
 the means. He can, you know." Mr. Moody's 
 faith was justified by results. In a short time 
 the work outgrew its quarters, and Mr. John V. 
 Farwell came to its relief by erecting Farwell 
 Hall, which had accommodations for the Y. M. 
 C . A. as well as for Mr. Moody's mission. 
 
 The outbreak of the Civil War turned Mr. 
 Moody's attention temporarily in another di- 
 
 [6] 
 
A CONSECRATED LIFE 
 
 rection. He visited the camps and made ad- 
 dresses to the soldiers. There he first realized 
 his power as a speaker and acquired that manly, 
 argumentative style of talk which characterized 
 all his subsequent addresses. After the war 
 he resumed his evangelizing of the slums of 
 Chicago. Farwell Hall was burned, but Mr. 
 Moody refused to regard the destruction as 
 an intimation that his work there was ended. 
 While the ruins were still smoking, he was 
 around among the business men of the city 
 with a subscription paper, and as soon as it 
 was possible to occupy the ground, he had 
 the funds in hand for the erection of a new 
 building, and the plans for it in the builders' 
 hands. 
 
 The mission grew with such rapidity that in 
 1863 it was necessary to erect a church building. 
 Mr. Moody married, and a career of increas- 
 ing usefulness and prosperity as a city pastor 
 appeared to be opening before him. The great 
 fire, however, changed that prospect. Mr. 
 Moody was called to serve in the great cities, 
 and to minister to the church universal. The 
 great meetings in the Hippodrome, New York, 
 convinced him, if he had needed conviction, 
 of the character of his future work. 
 
 It is unnecessary to tell here the story of his 
 campaigns, in which, accompanied by Mr. Ira D. 
 
 [7] 
 
A CONSECRATED LIFE 
 
 Sankey, he went to every city, from the Atlantic 
 to the Pacific, and from Canada to the Gulf. 
 On the other side the Atlantic the triumphs 
 were as great. No buildings were large enough 
 to hold the people who thronged to hear a plain 
 man, in strong, forcible Anglo-Saxon words, ex- 
 plain the way of salvation. Wherever he spoke, 
 either in his own land or across the Atlantic, 
 the common people heard him gladly; and men 
 like Drummond and Gladstone, highly educated 
 as they were, sat at his feet delighted. 
 
 Exhausting as such labors were, Mr. Moody's 
 energies were not satisfied. The enterprises at 
 Northfield testify to his boundless activity. 
 The Seminary for Girls, established in 1879, 
 was the beginning of an educational work which 
 has developed with phenomenal rapidity. The 
 Chicago Institute, the School for Boys at Mount 
 Hermon, and the numerous buildings at North- 
 field — which make up a town of themselves — 
 are all memorials of the devotion and conse- 
 cration with which he applied himself to the 
 Master's service. Nor did these alone exhaust 
 his energy. In later years his summer schools 
 — in which many a minister gained new inspi- 
 ration for his work — won for him the gratitude 
 of the churches. Besides these, his pen was 
 always busy, and his Colportage Library pene- 
 trated with its Gospel literature to every corner 
 
 [8] 
 
A CONSECRATED LIFE 
 
 of the English-speaking world. To the last 
 moment of his life he was devising new methods 
 of service, and was looking forward to labors 
 still more abundant. 
 
 In the course of a noble eulogy at the funeral 
 service, Bishop Mallalieu paid this glowing tri- 
 bute to the great Evangelist : — 
 
 "The heart of no disciple of the Master ever 
 beat with more genuine, sympathetic, and utterly 
 unselfish loyalty than did this great heart. 
 Because he held fast to the absolute truth of 
 the Bible, and unequivocally and intensely 
 believed it to be the inerrant Word of God; 
 because he preached the Gospel rather than 
 talked about the Gospel; because he used his 
 mother tongue, the terse, clear, ringing, straight- 
 forward Saxon; because he had the profoundest 
 sense of brotherhood with all poor, unfortu- 
 nate, and even outcast people; because he was 
 unaffectedly tender and patient with the weak 
 and sinful; because he hated evil as thoroughly 
 as he loved goodness; because he knew right 
 how to lead penitent souls to the Saviour; 
 because he had the rare and happy art of arous- 
 ing Christian people to the performance of their 
 duties; because he had in his own soul a con- 
 scious, joyous experience of personal salvation, 
 the people flocked to. his services, they heard 
 him gladly, they were led to Christ, and he came 
 
 ' [9] 
 
A CONSECRATED LIFE 
 
 to be prized and honored by all denominations, 
 so that Protestantism recognizes the fact that 
 he was God's servant, an ambassador of Christ, 
 and, indeed, a chosen vessel to bear the name of 
 Jesus to the nations." 
 
 [10] 
 
"THOU FOOL!"* 
 
 " Thou fool! This night thy soul shall be required of thee" 
 Luke xii. 20. 
 
 LET us all hear what the Saviour has to say. 
 It is recorded in the 12th Chapter of 
 Luke, 16th verse: "And he spake a para- 
 ble unto them, saying, The ground of a certain 
 rich man brought forth plentifully; and he 
 thought within himself, saying, What shall I 
 do, because I have no room where to bestow 
 my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I w T ill 
 pull down my barns and build greater; and 
 there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 
 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much 
 goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, 
 eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto 
 him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be 
 required of thee: then whose shall those things 
 be which thou hast provided? So is he that 
 layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich 
 toward God." 
 
 Some people think it harsh that the Saviour 
 should call a man a "fool." When a man is 
 called a fool in the Bible, it means that he lacks 
 
 * Preached at Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass., Feb. 25, 1897. 
 
 [ii] 
 
"THOU FOOL!" 
 
 spiritual discernment, or that he is living with- 
 out God, or that he is a man that makes a 
 mock at sin, or a man that says: "There is no 
 God." 
 
 Now, we find that this man, in the sight of 
 others, was what we would call "a very suc- 
 cessful man." You might call him "a noble 
 man." I haven't any doubt that he stood well 
 in the community where he lived. We locate 
 him in the valley of the Jordan. He, perhaps, 
 had one of the best farms there was in the 
 valley. He lived in the most wonderful day of 
 the world's history. There never were before 
 him just such days, and never have been since. 
 I can imagine that John the Baptist preached 
 in sight of his house. From his front door he 
 could see the great crowd flocking, day after 
 day, out into the desert place to hear this 
 wonderful preacher. Or, John came from the 
 wilderness of Judea day after day into that 
 valley, and it may have been that this man's 
 farm was so near that he could hear that voice 
 as it rang out from John's lips up and down the 
 valley, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven 
 is at hand !" It may have been that the Saviour, 
 after John was beheaded, preached there also, 
 within a quarter of a mile of that man's farm. 
 When he sent out the Seventy, two by two, 
 they may have come into that man's neighbor- 
 
 [12] 
 
"THOU FOOL!" 
 
 hood to preach; and I haven't any doubt but 
 that he said, like a great many business men 
 today: "I can't go to hear that preacher; 
 business must be attended to- I must look after 
 my farm. I'm piling up wealth for this life." 
 I don't know of any more honorable occupation 
 than that of the farmer. This man's business 
 was all right; you can't find any fault with it. 
 Now, there are some things that we're not 
 told. We aren't told he was a dishonest man, 
 or in trouble, or that he went into stocks and 
 speculated, and made his money in that way, 
 or that he cheated the widow, or that he failed 
 and paid "fifty cents on the dollar," or that he 
 rented his property for brothels or wine shops. 
 I'll venture to say that if you had lived near by, 
 you'd have found all his neighbors speaking 
 very highly of him, and calling him "a very 
 shrewd, long-headed, successful business man." 
 He had good stock from Egypt, and some from 
 Syria. No one found fault with his stock. He 
 had the best cattle in the valley — and no man 
 had better horses or mules. He had the very 
 best sheep in that region. The farm was "kept 
 up"; fences all right; beautiful shade trees; 
 beautiful lawn in front of the house — every- 
 thing very trim and orderly. Perhaps some 
 one — some of you — may say: "That man is 
 good enough; let him alone." I venture to 
 
 [13] 
 
"THOU FOOL! 5 ' 
 
 state that if he had been a Bostonian, they 
 would have made him an Elder or a Deacon. 
 As became a successful man, a prosperous man, 
 he had a good record! He didn't get drunk. 
 His character stood very, very high. His word 
 was as good as his bond. All the men he em- 
 ployed spoke well of him. They never thought 
 of a strike, for they liked him. 
 
 You can't really find anything against this 
 man's character, can you? And yet the Sa- 
 viour calls that man a FOOL. What's the 
 trouble? It strikes me that the trouble's right 
 here: That man worked, and owned, and 
 planned. From the cradle to the grave, just this 
 little, short, brief time marked all life held for 
 him! He knew nothing, or cared nothing, about 
 another life. He might have gone to church; 
 might have gone to Jerusalem to all the relig- 
 ious feasts; he might have paid his tithe; he 
 might have been an orthodox Jew. He ob- 
 served all the outward forms, because that 
 would give him respectability, and standing, and 
 position. And yet, with all that, the Saviour 
 says, he was a FOOL. 
 
 There's a" passage somewhere in the Bible 
 that says, "What is highly esteemed of man is 
 an abomination to God." God looks at things 
 differently from man. It seems to me better 
 that a man should never have been born than 
 
 [14] 
 
"THOU FOOL!" 
 
 to live and die for this world, and take no 
 thought of the life that's to come. 
 
 I picture this man in his drawing-room one 
 night. He had a master-builder come in with 
 some plans. He's going to take down his old 
 barns and build larger. Well, there's no harm 
 in that! A great deal better to build up new 
 barns than to drink up the old ones. If he had 
 been a drunkard, he would have drunk up all 
 the buildings. Oh, how he lights up! He talks 
 about the best farm in the valley. I have seen 
 such farmers as they planned for two years 
 ahead. They wanted to have better barns 
 than any in town. This man is going to have 
 the best barn in the whole valley of the Jordan. 
 His wife says, "I'll to bed; the children have 
 all gone." But he sits up till midnight, laying 
 plans, and he says to his soul: "Soul, take 
 thine ease. " The old clock strikes out the day's 
 last hour; and the builder says: "I must go; 
 my wife is awaiting me." He bids Squire 
 Simeon "Good night," and is off. But Simeon 
 has got so excited over the barn that he can't 
 sleep. He's going to sit up longer. It is one 
 o'clock — the doors are all closed, the blinds 
 fastened, everything quiet and silent. No 
 sound of a foot-fall, but a stranger makes his 
 appearance, and Simeon looks up, and says, 
 "O Death! You haven't come to call me 
 
 [15] 
 
"THOU FOOL!" 
 
 away thus suddenly, have you?" "Yes, this 
 night thy soul must be required of thee." "O 
 Death! Don't take me so suddenly; let me 
 have a little time to get ready, to set my house 
 in order, to prepare to meet my God!" "Oh, 
 but you've had all the years, all the time; 
 your time is up. You must go tonight!" "O 
 Death! Stay thine hand — give me a year!" 
 "No; you can't bribe me," says Death. "But 
 you never warned me." "Yes: your father is 
 gone, and he died younger than you. Your 
 mother is gone; your first-born — didn't I give 
 you warning when I took him? And last week 
 you attended the funeral of your neighbor, 
 your next-door neighbor; you've been in nearly 
 all the houses about here attending funerals for 
 the past twenty-five years. I ought not to be a 
 stranger to you. You knew I was coming, but 
 you didn't take me into your calculations." 
 "Oh, let me call my family, and let me bid them 
 adieu." "No! Now I must take you!" And 
 Death lays his hand on the farmer; and, lo! 
 his heart ceases to beat, and in a little while his 
 body turns cold. His head is bowed on his 
 breast, as he sits in his chair. His wife, nor any 
 of the family, hears a sound. Death has come 
 in so quietly that not one of the family heard 
 his step. 
 
 The morning breaks, and the servants begin 
 
 [16] 
 
"THOU FOOL!" 
 
 to move around. The servant whose business 
 it was to keep the house in order comes into 
 the drawing-room, and opens the door; she 
 sees her master is asleep, and says: "I'll not 
 wake him." But soon the wife awakes. 
 "Where is my husband? Perhaps he has had 
 some trouble with his heart." The wife is 
 alarmed. She dresses in haste and calls the 
 servants. "Have you seen the Master?" 
 "No!" She didn't call the right servant. She 
 calls another. While she's dressing, the servant 
 that had gone to the drawing-room comes in, 
 and says: ; 'Yes, the Master is asleep. He 
 fell asleep in his chair last night." The wife is 
 wild with trouble;, she's afraid it may be some- 
 thing other than sleep, and hastens to the room, 
 and puts her hand on his forehead — it is cold 
 as marble! He's been gone for hours! The 
 alarm soon passes through the house. The 
 children come in weeping. Soon the neighbors 
 hear of it. In that hot country they couldn't 
 long keep his body. That day he is buried! 
 They lay him away in his grave. There's a 
 funeral; perhaps an oration delivered. He's 
 held up as a sort of beacon to guide young men 
 in the ways of the man whose life had been so 
 successful. It may be that they built a great 
 monument to his memory. It may be there 
 was a great lawsuit and that the lawyers got 
 
 [17] 
 
"THOU FOOL!" 
 
 all he had "laid up." That's often the way of 
 it now-a-days. And the Angel comes down 
 and writes upon that monument: "FOOL!" 
 
 My friends, if you went into the cemeteries, 
 and looked upon the tombstones, and could see 
 what God has written on them, how many 
 times you'd see the word, " FOOL. " " FOOL. " 
 May God wake us up today, that we may be 
 wiser than that man was; that we may plan a 
 little further than just from the cradle to the 
 grave! It's too short a journey. It's soon 
 over. And I pity, down deep in my heart, any 
 man or woman that's just living for this little, 
 brief time, and making a wreck of it all. Now, 
 I want to call your attention to the mistake that 
 this man made. Let us say that he neglected 
 his soul's salvation. Do you know that the 
 greatest calamities of life come upon us by 
 neglect? A man cries out: "What have I 
 done?" Supposing you have done nothing but 
 neglect your soul's salvation? 
 
 A few weeks before the Chicago fire I went to 
 see a doctor about a little child that I was told 
 was going to lose its sight. The mother came 
 in with the beautiful baby, and said: "Doctor, 
 my child hasn't had its eyes open for days. 
 Will you see what's the trouble with it?" And 
 the doctor put a little salve upon the eyelids, 
 and presently he answered: "Your child is 
 
 [18] 
 
"THOU FOOL!" 
 
 blind! It has not seen for three days; it will 
 never see again." When that truth flashed 
 upon the mother, there came up a wail from her 
 heart that made the doctor and myself weep. 
 We could not help it. She pressed the child to 
 her bosom. "Oh, my darling! You can never 
 again see the mother that gave you birth!" 
 And the doctor told me that if the mother had 
 brought the child to him a few days before, it 
 could have been saved. The mother had ne- 
 glected the child until its sight was lost. There's 
 not a mother here today whose heart doesn't 
 go out towards that other mother. Each says: 
 "Oh, how I pity her!" But it is ten thousand 
 times worse to neglect the soul of your child — 
 the soul, the soul! And that's what this pros- 
 perous man did. He took good care of his 
 body, clothed it, laid up good store for it, and 
 said, "Soul, soul, take thine ease!" But he 
 neglected his eternal interests and made ship- 
 wreck of his life. And there are scores and 
 scores of such wrecked lives. You know we 
 lost some battles in the Civil War because 
 sentinels neglected to give warning. That was 
 all! A man may be tried and shot in the army 
 if he neglects his post — neglects his duty. It 
 seems to me, there's no greater neglect than this 
 neglect of our eternal welfare. Neglect your 
 health, and you'll soon come to decay. Ne- 
 
 [19] 
 
-THOU FOOL!" 
 
 gleet your business, and you are soon ruined. 
 Can you afford to neglect your soul — your 
 SOUL? And, you see, that's the sin of thou- 
 sands in Boston today. Isn't that the sin of 
 hundreds in this hall today? They are neglect- 
 ing their soul's salvation! 
 
 They tell a story of an Indian on the Niagara 
 River. The paddle lay at the bottom of his 
 canoe. He was asleep, perhaps dreaming of 
 beautiful hunting grounds, or of his wigwam, 
 when, all at once, he heard the waters thunder- 
 ing over Niagara; but this was in his dream. 
 They had tried to wake him from the shore, but 
 failed. Soon the mighty cataract awoke him. 
 He sprang up and in an instant took in the situ- 
 ation — the awful danger. He seized a paddle 
 and plied it with desperate energy against the 
 current. It was too late. There w T as a time 
 when he could have paddled against the current 
 and .so saved himself; but he slept till the on- 
 rushing waters had pulled him to the edge of 
 the cataract; then a second's pause on the edge, 
 and with a fearful cry the Indian went over 
 into the depths of death! Isn't that a picture 
 of many sleeping, slumbering, while the current 
 bears them on and on? Many in this audience 
 are spending their last days on earth. This is 
 the year 1897, and there are a good many in 
 this audience to whom it may be said ere many 
 
 [20] 
 
-THOU FOOL!" 
 
 days, "Thy soul is required of thee now!" 
 Some of us are spending our last month, some 
 the last year, and some the last five years upon 
 earth. I was thinking, as I was considering the 
 subject today, of my own town. I went back 
 there to live twenty years ago, and my mind 
 ran up along one street, and I found Death had 
 been in every house in the tw T enty years. And 
 there was no other street where Death had not 
 entered. My own house was entered, and so 
 were my neighbors' houses, up and down that 
 street. How many homes have been entered by 
 Death in the last five, ten, fifteen, twenty years? 
 Hardly a house represented by this congregation 
 that Death has not been visiting in twenty years. 
 Where will this audience be twenty years hence? 
 Now, hadn't we better get ready? What's going 
 to make a dying bed easy? 
 
 Two business men were discussing this question. 
 One of them was an infidel; the other turned to 
 him and said, "How is it with you; what is 
 going to make your dying bed easy; is Infidel- 
 ity?" "No," said the other, "that won't." 
 
 I had a talk with a man last night, an older 
 man than I, and I asked him if he was a Chris- 
 tian. He* replied: "I'm an infidel." I said, 
 " What does your infidelity give you? " " Noth- 
 ing." "What have you in the future to look 
 for?" "Nothing." "Living for nothing?" 
 
 [21] 
 
"THOU FOOL!" 
 
 Then I went from this hall, thanking God that 
 I am not an infidel. I thank God that I've 
 got something better than infidelity. I don't 
 believe that infidelity is going to make that dy- 
 ing hour sweet. Do you? Another man said: 
 "Culture! Culture will do it!" And that was 
 discussed, and I asked: "What is culture going 
 to do in the dying hour? Culture may be all 
 right in its place; but when you come down to 
 the swellings of Jordan, what is culture going 
 to do? What are art and education going to do? 
 What else is going to help in the dying hour?" 
 (A voice from the audience: "A good hope in 
 the Lord Jesus Christ!") There's nothing else. 
 And if you only stop to think, everybody will 
 say, " That's so." Infidelity takes everything 
 from me. My friend, I want to tell you that 
 you may be a successful business man, but if 
 that's all, you haven't much to cling to. You 
 must leave it all. To be at the head of the 
 commercial world in Boston or in any other 
 place won't help. 
 
 I remember the head merchants of Boston 
 when I came here as a boy, and how I used 
 to look up to them. I worshipped Success in 
 those days. One of them, I venture to say if 
 I mentioned his name, there'd be a hundred 
 in this hall who'd remember him. He won in 
 life; did he win for eternity? But they are all 
 
 [22] 
 
-THOU FOOL!" 
 
 gone — forty years and all have gone. Forty 
 years hence there'll come another audience, 
 and if a man has lived all his life for this world 
 alone, his name will have been forgotten, forty 
 years hence. Isn't that so? 
 
 Oh, how I w r ish we could get our eyes open 
 today to see something besides worldly success, 
 honor, and fame. I pity the man who has his 
 whole thought centered on this life. Would to 
 God that we could get a spiritual uplift. I 
 don't know who is the author of these w T ords, 
 but I want to read them to you: "The soul 
 said to the body, 'We must surely part, and 
 now let us reckon together.' 'Let us reckon, 
 sister,' said the body. 'You,' said the soul, 
 'have been active in labor and toil, early and 
 late, and gathered much gold. Will you keep it 
 with you or shall I take it with me? Who is going 
 to take it? Take it down to your grave, and 
 some thief w^ill dig it out before the snow falls.' 
 
 'Alas!' said the body, 'how can I take it 
 among the darkness and dust and corruption of 
 death? What will it profit me there?' 'No,' 
 said the soul, 'but how can I carry it w^here 
 earth and earthly things are not suffered to 
 enter? And, after all, it is but yellow earth.' 
 'And, shortly, it will be neither mine nor thine/ 
 said the body, sorrowfully. 
 
 'Our reckoning is not over,' said the soul. 
 [23] 
 
"THOU FOOL!" 
 
 'How are we to meet again, if we must meet 
 again? Will it be in sorrow or in joy? You 
 have never allowed me to look heavenward, but 
 robbed me of my freedom and used all my 
 powers to help you to get gold?' 
 
 " 'Alas!' said the body, 'you tempted me, 
 and now you reproach me/ 'What, and if we 
 should meet, as fellow-tormentors, bound to- 
 gether for eternal misery?' said the soul. 'I 
 am defiled as you are, and you have never 
 cared for our cleansing. I am without a right 
 to Heaven, as you are, and you have never 
 cared for entrance into it. So, then, this gold 
 will be our mocking accuser in eternity, and I 
 shall reproach you forever for having destroyed 
 me in getting it.' " 
 
 Now, let us turn these thoughts in upon 
 ourselves. What are you living for? What is 
 your aim? Is it to get gain? To buy and to 
 sell? To die a millionaire? I was sometime 
 ago with a man of some means, who married a 
 Christian woman. They had had a child that 
 died. He had been a hard laboring man. He 
 passed away. When he died, the widow looked 
 up all the money, and said, "My ambition is 
 now to have my only boy become a millionaire 
 when he is twenty-one." That's a pretty low 
 aim, isn't it? And that was a professed Chris- 
 tian woman! Wants her boy to be a million- 
 
 [24] 
 
-THOU FOOL!" 
 
 aire at twenty-one! That's the Rich Man 
 who, in the Saviour's day, was called, FOOL. 
 "This day thy soul shall be required of thee." 
 Now, turning from this subject, I want to 
 ask this congregation to do something that I 
 think is perfectly right. There's a place in 
 the Psalms where it says, "I'll pay my vows 
 in the presence of all the congregation." We 
 should have a grand time here this afternoon 
 if every man and woman in this house would 
 "pay his or her vows." I venture to say that 
 there's not a person in this place that's not 
 living under some broken vow. There's some 
 hour in your life when you made a vow that 
 you haven't kept. I can't tell you when; but 
 now, while I am speaking, your own conscience 
 tells you — your mind flies back to that hour 
 — when you made a promise. It might have 
 been at the midnight hour, when there came a 
 rap at your door, and you were awakened out 
 of a sound sleep and were told that your mother 
 was dying. You hastened to her; she was con- 
 scious, and she talked with you, and taking 
 her hand, you promised to meet her in heaven. 
 You shed a few tears at the grave. You told 
 the minister who officiated that you would be 
 a Christian. Am I now talking to a great 
 many in this house who have made some similar 
 vow? When your wife was taken from you, 
 
 [25] 
 
"THOU FOOL!" 
 
 didn't you say, "I can't call her back, but I'll 
 serve her God"? When your child was taken 
 away from you, didn't you make some vow of 
 that kind? 
 
 Do you know, Life seems now to me like 
 going up a hill and then coming down; you go 
 up the hill slow and down the hill fast. Days 
 pass now like hours. A week glides away like 
 a day. Months seem like weeks. It seems to 
 me but a little while since I came to Boston. 
 I would like to take this whole audience with 
 me now and have you just imagine that you are 
 going up this hill; some of you are on the top 
 of it, in the meridian of life, and stand on the 
 summit of the hill. Just pause with me, and 
 look to the cradle from whence you started. 
 Remember when you started out; it is only a 
 little while ago; and as you are looking down the 
 hill you see a tombstone. It marks the resting 
 place of some member of your family. You 
 stood once by that open grave and took vows. 
 And you promised yourself and friends that you 
 would lead a different life from that day on. 
 Why not pay your vows in the presence of this 
 congregation? Why not say now: "I will! God 
 helping me, I will keep that vow; I will make it 
 good today." 
 
 But you mark another grave. It is not 
 mother's nor father's, but a narrow, short grave. 
 
 [26] 
 
"THOU FOOL!" 
 
 A little child came into your life and was the 
 sun of your home, and like the ivy twining 
 around the oak, it twined itself about your 
 heart; and then death came and took the child. 
 Didn't you make promises? 
 
 I remember the first time I was called out of 
 Chicago to speak. I was invited to go to 
 Indiana. A gentleman met me at the station. 
 He took me to his house. It was a very hot 
 day in summer. The blinds were closed to 
 keep out the flies and the heat. He said his 
 wife was busy in preparing to entertain some 
 friends; and he would like to be excused. He 
 left me in that dark room. I could not read, 
 and I got very restless. I thought if he had any 
 children, I would go out under the trees, and 
 so I asked, "Have you any children? " He said, 
 ''Yes, I have one"; and then he hesitated, and 
 continued, "she is not here; my only child is 
 in heaven. I am glad she is there." 'You 
 are glad your only child is gone?" I exclaimed. 
 'Yes," he said; "but there was a time when I 
 could not say so." "Was there anything wrong 
 with your child? Was she healthy and well 
 while living?" "Yes." And he took up an 
 old-fashioned daguerreotype, and the girl looked 
 as beautiful as any child I had ever seen. Hand- 
 ing me the picture he said, "That's a correct 
 likeness of my child." "How old was she 
 
 [27] 
 
"THOU FOOL!" 
 
 when she was taken away? Could you tell 
 me?" He answered, "Mr. Moody, when that 
 child was living I worshipped her; she was the 
 idol of my heart. I never went to church. I 
 could not have had any serious thought about 
 the future state. Every night I could get away 
 from my business, I took to go riding with her, 
 or walking with her. My life centered in that 
 child; she was the idol of my heart. 
 
 "One day I came home and she was sick; I 
 paid no attention to it. Oh, sir, in a few days 
 she was gone. She melted away like a snow- 
 flake. And I accused God of being unjust. I 
 would have torn God from his throne. For 
 three days and nights I was awake. I refused 
 to eat, drink or sleep. I buried her. And 
 when I came home, my home and heart were 
 as dark as the grave. I had lost my child. 
 You know how desolate the house is when some 
 members of it have gone out?" 
 
 While walking up and down his room, he told 
 me, he had heard a voice, and thought it was his 
 child calling to him. "But no, that voice has 
 been hushed in death," he said, "and I could 
 never hear it." Then he thought he heard 
 footsteps coming; and he whispered, "No, I 
 shall never hear the sound of her footsteps 
 again." Up to that time, he told me, he hadn't 
 wept. 
 
 [28] 
 
-THOU FOOL!" 
 
 His agony had been so great he couldn't 
 weep. Then he gave way. And, he said: "I 
 suppose it was a dream, but it always seemed to 
 me like a vision that God had given me; a 
 vision of heaven. I lay on my bed asleep, and 
 I dreamed I was crossing a field, waste, barren 
 and cheerless. I came to a river. It looked so 
 dark, so cold and so cheerless that I drew back 
 from the bank. Just across the river I saw the 
 most beautiful land my eyes had ever rested on. 
 I stood there, gazing on that land, and I said, 
 'Oh, how beautiful and fair!' I thought sick- 
 ness and death never entered that land. I 
 would like to be in a land where Death cannot 
 come, where there would be no separation and 
 where parting was unknown. While I lay there, 
 gazing upon that dream land, I saw beings, all 
 looking so young and so happy. As I gazed at 
 them, what was my joy and delight to see 
 amongst the number my own darling child, 
 and she came running down and waved her 
 little hand, and said, 'Father! Come right this 
 way. It is beautiful here!' Then I went down 
 to the banks, and I thought I would plunge into 
 that river. I tried to find a bridge, but there 
 was none in sight. I walked up and down the 
 banks, but could find no boatman. At length 
 a voice came to me over the water, 'Father, 
 come right this way; it is beautiful here!' 
 
 [29] 
 
"THOU FOOL!" 
 
 While I was walking up and down the banks, I 
 heard another Voice saying: 'I am the Way, 
 the Truth and the Life; no man cometh unto 
 the Father but by me/ The Voice awoke me 
 from my sleep. I rose that night and made my 
 first prayer, and I cried to God to forgive and 
 save me. And God saved me that night. I 
 no longer look upon my child as lost, but as 
 living in glory, and every day I can see her 
 beckoning me and calling me heavenward. 
 My life has been very successful. I have been 
 Superintendent of the Sabbath School for eight 
 years. Hundreds have been converted in that 
 Sabbath School, and we have got you down 
 here and hope there'll be some fruit." 
 
 Am I speaking to mothers, here today, whose 
 children have gone? If those children could 
 call back from that world of light, it would be: 
 "Mother! Come this way!" Am I not speak- 
 ing to fathers, here today, whose children have 
 crossed the river? I don't believe there's a 
 man or woman in Tremont Temple but has 
 some one — it may be a sainted mother — 
 gone. Isn't she beckoning you away from this 
 world of sin, woe, wretchedness and misery? 
 We have got an Elder Brother. Nineteen hun- 
 dred years ago, the Son of God crossed the 
 river. May God help you to come to him 
 today ! 
 
 [30] 
 
POWER FOR SERVICE* 
 
 "7/ any man thirsty let him come unto me, and drink' 9 
 John vii. 37. 
 
 WE have been talking about the work of 
 the Holy Spirit. I will go rapidly 
 over the points we have made up to 
 the present time: His work is to convict of sin, 
 to shed abroad the love of God in our hearts, 
 to impart hope, to give liberty, to testify of 
 Christ, to guide us into all truth, to show things 
 to come, to bring remembrance of things that 
 Christ taught us, to comfort us. This morning 
 we were speaking about the three dwellings: 
 the tabernacle reared in the wilderness by Moses; 
 the temple built by Solomon, and these bodies 
 that have been cleansed by the blood of the Son 
 of God as the temples for the Holy Ghost to 
 dwell in. I was trying to show, when we closed 
 this morning, that the Spirit of God dwelling 
 in us, in you, the daughter of God, is one thing, 
 and the Spirit of God upon us for service is 
 another thing. Men have tried to straighten 
 me out on these points; but if there is one thing 
 
 * Delivered at Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass., January 
 14, 1897. 
 
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POWER FOR SERVICE 
 
 that I've got evidence for, it is this: that one 
 may be a son or a daughter of God, and still 
 not have power. I think I know hundreds and 
 thousands who cannot say they are not Chris- 
 tians; but they are Christians without power. 
 
 You may say they are disobedient, because 
 they might have it; but the fact is they haven't 
 got power. Samson had it, and lost it. I 
 meet a great many people who have had power 
 and lost it. Now, mark you, power is one 
 thing and influence is another thing. Lots of 
 men have influence, but not Holy Ghost power. 
 Ahab had influence; Elijah had power. A good 
 deal of difference. Saul had influence, but 
 David had power. I'd rather have power 
 than influence. David had power and went 
 out and slew Goliath. Strength is one thing 
 and power is another. The giant of Gath had 
 strength, but David had power. God is a super- 
 natural God, and you've got to have supernat- 
 ural power to do His work. 
 
 Now I believe that the weakness of multi- 
 tudes of Christians lies in the fact that they are 
 trying to do their work with money, with 
 influence, with intellectual and social power. 
 These things are all right in their place; but 
 they are not going to redeem this world. You'll 
 find such things spoken of in this Book. There 
 was Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night to 
 
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POWER FOR SERVICE 
 
 seek light, and he got it. But he barely got it. 
 He heard the grandest sermon ever preached in 
 this world. Nicodemus heard for the first time, 
 probably, that "God so loved the world that He 
 gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
 lieveth in Him might not perish, but have ever- 
 lasting life." I suppose all agree that this is 
 the sublimest sermon in the whole Bible. And 
 Nicodemus was the first man to hear it. Nico- 
 demus was exalted to Heaven on that sermon. 
 
 But he reasoned: "I belong to the highest 
 court in the world; but if I unite myself with 
 that despised Nazarene, I shall lose caste." 
 Oh, if he had been like Moses, and got out of 
 the Sanhedrin! It was a great sacrifice for 
 Moses to leave the gilded palaces of Egypt and 
 turn his back on the throne. If Nicodemus had 
 identified himself with the apostles of Christ, 
 he might, later on, have become one of the 
 apostles. But there he stood in the Sanhedrin. 
 And there are a lot of Christians, holding on to 
 their influence and dignity, who have influence, 
 but not power. And there's where we are 
 today. 
 
 The men who wielded an influence in Sodom 
 would have said Lot was one of the most influ- 
 ential men in the city; perhaps had the best 
 turn-out, owned some of the finest corner lots 
 there. If you had talked of taking your family 
 
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POWER FOR SERVICE 
 
 down there, they would have said and he would 
 have said : " We can give your cattle much better 
 attention than that Abraham." Many thought 
 that he was "long-headed," a "very long- 
 headed man." There's a man, the best busi- 
 ness man in all Boston, and perhaps all his 
 children are going to ruin. But "he's very long- 
 headed." The Lord pity him. I had a friend 
 once — in fact, his sister is in this audience 
 today — who said he could never understand 
 why his wife was always so eager about paintings. 
 There was no beauty in them to him. A few 
 years ago his eyesight failed him. He was 
 asked: "How have you got on all these years? 
 You've got a long eye and a short eye, and 
 never saw anything straight." He changed his 
 glasses. After that this man became more in- 
 terested in paintings than his wife, and he even 
 built an art-gallery. Why? Because he could 
 now see the beautiful. Many Christians in Bos- 
 ton have a long eye and a short eye. (Laugh- 
 ter.) You can never see clearly in that way. 
 Abraham was a long-sighted and Lot a short- 
 sighted man. Lot saw the well-watered plains 
 of Sodom; that was all. Now when God goes 
 at things, you will find your money will go like 
 a bonfire. If there had been a railroad run- 
 ning up from Sodom to Jerusalem, Lot would 
 have been its president, and he would have 
 
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POWER FOR SERVICE 
 
 been "The Hon. Mr. Lot, from Sodom." An 
 honorable name, but his family going to ruin 
 all the time. That's the trouble. But when 
 God came to investigate, He found a different 
 state of things. 
 
 I have no doubt that when Abraham plead 
 off on Sodom, Lot said: "It's all right now." 
 But we are told, in the New Testament, that his 
 righteous soul was vexed. He was the man of 
 God in Sodom; but I can find a thousand Lots 
 in Sodom today where you can find one Abra- 
 ham; fathers piling up their millions, and their 
 children going to ruin. May God open their 
 eyes ! 
 
 Don't become satisfied with being a Chris- 
 tian merely — barely a Christian. Now go over 
 into another chapter, and you will find a higher 
 type — that woman of Samaria going to get a 
 pot of water and she found a well full. " Come 
 and see a man that told me all things that ever 
 I did. Is not this the Christ?" If she had 
 been in Boston, they would have said, "Rebecca, 
 keep still. You don't know how long you'll 
 hold out. If you'll keep still, we'll take you 
 into the Church." But she drank deep of the 
 Water of Life. She got a better draught than 
 Nicodemus. O man, drink deep! Don't be 
 satisfied with barely getting water. If I have 
 a tumbler of water, I can say, "I've got water," 
 
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POWER FOR SERVICE 
 
 just as if I owned a whole reservoir. You can 
 see a lot of people having Christ; but you've 
 got to probe to find life. Jesus came that we 
 might have life, and that we might have it more 
 abundantly. And what we want is not to be 
 satisfied with getting water, or even with the 
 well; we want something better than that. A 
 man said he had a well with two features about 
 it — it froze up in the winter and dried up 
 in the summer. There are lots of just such 
 Christians. They are not the right kind. Peo- 
 ple talk about spasmodic effort; I am as much 
 opposed to it as any other man. I have been 
 studying it for thirty years. I don't believe in 
 spasmodic efforts; and when a man drinks as 
 God wants him to drink, he can't help working 
 summer and winter. 
 
 You know I am one of those old-fashioned 
 people that believe this fact: I believe that 
 any man or woman, filled with the Spirit, rivers 
 of spirit will flow from them. There'll be a 
 tree full of sap, with fruit; there'll be blossoms 
 and fruit. And if it is a shade tree, there'll be 
 leaves. And when a man is filled with the Spirit 
 of God, he will be filled with fruit. 
 
 Now, you haven't to go back four hundred 
 years to Martin Luther, or to Wesley or to 
 Whitefield. Go back a few years to London, 
 and there was a man that died — but I am 
 
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 thanking God he never died; he lives now. 
 This man had never been in Harvard or Yale. 
 The Lord said: "Now, Charles, you go up to 
 London and I will let rivers flow from you." 
 And he went up to London, and he stayed there 
 forty years, and tens of thousands listened; 
 and no man ever gathered such a great number 
 under one roof as that boy preacher. They 
 called him a Boy Preacher; they tried to laugh 
 him down and ridiculed him. He had a great 
 Book. He would shut himself up to read it. 
 And when he came out he didn't know much of 
 anything, he was not learned. But, look and 
 see! Where is his influence today; what power 
 has he had for forty years? Every Thursday a 
 sermon came out, I don't know in how many 
 languages, but it went into all the corners of 
 the earth. He preached to vast crowds, and 
 when he died there was an Orphan Asylum with 
 two hundred and fifty boys in it, and another 
 for girls, and one of the finest Theological Semi- 
 naries, and there were colporteurs going all 
 through the world's waste districts, where they 
 do not have the Gospel preached; and there 
 were almshouses. He wrote, but I don't know 
 how many books have come from his pen; I 
 don't know how many Baptist chapels have 
 sprung up, all from that man's influence. A 
 man in London told me that there were eighty 
 
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 Baptist chapels built through the influence of 
 C. H. Spurgeon. It is literally true — a man 
 filled with the Spirit of God, there'll be rivers 
 flowing forth from him. That's what we want. 
 Yes, we want men and women Spirit-filled. 
 I don't know of anything that will crowd the 
 world out but the Spirit. 
 
 A person said to me, "You made a great 
 mistake today. You told the people they 
 ought to be filled with the Spirit. You didn't 
 tell them to be emptied. They can be emptied 
 just as easily as they can be filled." Yes, and 
 no easier. Not a bit. I have known a lot of 
 people who have tried to pump themselves 
 empty, and they don't make any progress. A 
 child on a rocking horse — beautiful motion 
 — but making no progress. 
 
 Try and get selfishness out of your heart, and 
 see how you will succeed. Try to get those 
 mean, low things that mar your testimony 
 out of your life — and you can't do it. You 
 haven't the power. If there wasn't air in this 
 building, you couldn't hear my voice. You ve 
 got to have air to hear a sound. Go to San 
 Francisco at eleven o'clock in the morning, and 
 you'll find people out in their summer clothes; 
 and about ten o'clock p.m. ladies go out in 
 sealskin jackets. Why? Aw^ay out on the 
 alkaline plains the sun strikes the sand, and 
 
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 there's a vacuum, and the cold air rushes 
 through the Golden Gate and settles in the 
 streets of San Francisco, and it is colder weather 
 in July and August than in any other two 
 months of the year, because the air is rushing 
 in there to fill the vacuum. I fill that tumbler 
 with water, and I want to get the air in. I go 
 to work. I am going to put this book in there. 
 You laugh at it. Trying to get pride and jeal- 
 ousy and envy out. I will pump the water 
 upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the 
 dry ground. There's air there, is there? Put 
 some dust and chaff in there, and it sinks. Let 
 it stay and settle. When the human heart is 
 full of the love of God, you can't put air and 
 dirt into it. The trouble is that the Christian 
 has just about that much full, and when the 
 devil comes and puts dust in there, it sticks. 
 "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty 
 and floods upon the dry ground." Is it so in 
 Boston? Let us pray for floods ! Not for drops, 
 but to have God lift the flood-gate and let the 
 tide come in. 
 
 Hear this: "Blessed are they that hunger and 
 thirst after righteousness, for they shall be 
 filled." They shall be filled. And, I'll tell 
 you, God will fill every cup here today; every 
 one of you can be filled, if you will. I want to 
 say another thing: The more you get, the 
 
 [39] 
 
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 more you will want. And when you get filled, 
 you will pray God to give greater capacity, so 
 that you may have more. The trouble is that 
 a lot of people are satisfied with a little. I 
 believe God will fill every cup, but I believe 
 there are some awful small cups. It wouldn't 
 take a long while to fill some cups here, they are 
 so small. There's a little cup, a dainty one, 
 and it won't hold much. If you are very thirsty, 
 it will not satisfy you; it's too small. "My 
 cup runneth over," said one; and you are satis- 
 fied with a cup that won't run over. Be a man 
 and be thirsty! There are hundreds of small 
 cups in Boston. I would say to you: "Get the 
 biggest cup you can find in Boston." You can 
 have a good big cup, if you will. Pray God to 
 increase your capacity. Don't be satisfied with 
 small things. I honor God when I ask for great 
 and mighty things. Ask for great things here 
 today. 
 
 Mark now! Heaven's measure is good meas- 
 ure, shaken down and running over. How can 
 you keep free from the world? How can you 
 keep from progressive euchre? Keep filled. 
 You know, I've got something better. The 
 Lord does not say, " Come now and give up this, 
 and that, and the other "; but "Get filled with 
 my Spirit." Ministers say: "How can I keep 
 my Church out of the world?" My reply is: 
 
 [40] 
 
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 "Get them filled with the Spirit, and they are 
 out at once." 
 
 Now, when Christ was about to leave his dis- 
 ciples, he told them to dwell in Jerusalem until 
 they were endued. "Ye shall receive power, 
 after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." 
 Do you suppose that Peter, James and John 
 had troubles about the power? But I can 
 imagine Peter saying: "Lord, wait! Men are 
 dying! Shall we not go back and work? I 
 wouldn't have left my fishing smack for three 
 years but for the hope of power. Do you re- 
 member the first Sabbath Day you met us in 
 Jerusalem, and breathed on us, and said: 
 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost'? Then I felt the 
 power sweeping over my soul." Yes, Peter, 
 you had the power. If the disciples had not 
 had power, they would have had creeds, creeds 
 only. "When the Holy Ghost comes upon 
 you, ye shall receive power, and ye shall be 
 witnesses unto me, . . . and unto the uttermost 
 parts of the earth." 
 
 They were in Jerusalem. You talk about 
 the disciples in Boston. They are like the dust 
 in the balance compared with those in Jerusa- 
 lem. They had to preach right to the very men 
 whose hands were dripping with the blood of 
 the Son of God. 
 
 See the results when the disciples got the 
 
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 power ! See how He came on the Day of Pente- 
 cost. It is not carnal to pray that He may 
 come again, and that the place may be shaken. 
 I have thought, too, that Pentecost was not a 
 miracle that is not to be repeated. I believe 
 Pentecost was but a specimen day. I think the 
 Church has made this woful mistake that 
 Pentecost was a miracle never to be repeated. 
 I believe if we looked on Pentecost as a specimen 
 day, and began to pray, we should have the old 
 Pentecostal fire back in Boston. That's what 
 we want! May God open our eyes and reveal 
 it to us ! Let me show T you that I am on Scrip- 
 tural ground. In the Second Chapter of Acts, 
 He came, and they were all filled full and run- 
 ning over. My cup runs over like that cup 
 there (pointing). Go into the Fourth Chapter, 
 and you'll find Peter and John have been 
 brought before the Sanhedrin. That body said : 
 "Preach all you want to, but not in that man's 
 name." We think the wily old devil attended 
 to that. A man might come into this city and 
 preach like Demosthenes, and if there wasn't 
 anybody affected and not a convert, every 
 paper would come out, and every paper 
 would say: "There's nothing in it." They 
 would be delighted, you know. But let them 
 preach in the name of Jesus Christ, and let 
 drunkards and sinners be afraid, and there'd 
 
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 be a difference. If Gabriel should save a soul, 
 he would lose his character right off. It is 
 astonishing how bad a man becomes when God 
 sees him. Now they said: "Preach all you 
 please, but don't preach in that man's name." 
 Many ministers can preach science, and astron- 
 omy, and geology, and metaphysics, and theol- 
 ogy, and higher criticism, and lower criticism, 
 and broad Churchism and narrow Churchism, 
 and all these isms, and all get along very well 
 without Christ; but these unlettered fishermen 
 knew only that Christ lived and died, and 
 rose again, ascended on high, and is coming 
 back. That's the knowledge Boston needs to- 
 day. This cultured Boston needs it, and wants 
 men to preach it till they have results. 
 
 The disciples had another prayer, and the 
 place was shaken again. Think of it! These 
 men were filled again. They must have lost 
 some power; for only the men filled in the 
 Second Chapter of the Acts were filled again in 
 the Fourth. If Peter and John, filled in the 
 Second Chapter of the Acts, were filled again in 
 the Fourth, don't you think the Boston preach- 
 ers need to be filled? Yes! If I take that 
 empty pitcher, and with it an empty tumbler, 
 and walk down the aisle, I would never find 
 anybody thirsty. But let me have it filled, 
 I'd find out who is thirsty. The trouble is, 
 
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 you young Christian workers are carrying 
 around a lot of empty pitchers. But when you 
 see a man with a good pitcher of water, or a 
 good bucket full, and he has more than you've 
 got, you'll want it. Of course you will. Get 
 filled yourself! Get a good bucket of water, 
 and start out! These men got more and more, 
 and got filled again. 
 
 Listen! Years have passed away. There's 
 a meeting in heaven, up around the throne. 
 Words were sent down to tell Cornelius whereby 
 he and his house were to be saved. And in the 
 11th Chapter of the Acts, Peter is giving an 
 account of that meeting. He unlocked the 
 door; and lo, as he was speaking these words, 
 the Holy Ghost fell on them, as at the beginning. 
 
 Now if that coming of the Holy Ghost was in 
 Jerusalem and in Cesarea, why not in Boston? 
 And why should we not all be filled? Let the 
 light of heaven flash into our souls. "Blessed 
 are they that hunger and thirst after right- 
 eousness." O men and women, make up your 
 minds you are going to be filled. It will settle 
 all the Church quarrels; you can't have a Church 
 row where the Spirit of the Lord is. It would 
 sweep them all out of the way. One breath on 
 Jerusalem, and away went the troubles. Isn't 
 that so? I'll tell you, it's the only thing that's 
 going to fill us with satisfaction. If God doesn't 
 
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POWER FOR SERVICE 
 
 come and save in His infinite mercy, we are 
 gone. I don't believe these things can go on. 
 I believe we are going the way of Babylon and 
 Rome, the way the old cities went, unless God 
 revives His work. Every Church should be 
 praying, "O Lord, revive Thy work! Revive 
 me!" Why not every man go out of here as a 
 torch to light Boston? Is there any reason? 
 
 Some English people went to Africa, to colo- 
 nize and settle. They got into a certain place, 
 and it was very beautiful. The country was 
 delightful. They said to some of the natives: 
 "Do you have rain all the year round?" "Oh, 
 no!" they said. "There are a few months when 
 the rain doesn't fall." They went to another 
 place, and thought they would settle there. 
 First they asked the natives: "How is it: do 
 you have plenty of rain here?" "No; there 
 are certain months when we don't have rain 
 here." At the third place, they asked the na- 
 tives how it was there. "Oh, yes," was the 
 answer; "the clouds are with us all the year 
 round." They got under the pierced clouds. 
 O men and women, get under the pierced 
 clouds. Plenty of rain. Let us get under the 
 cloud! Why not? Why not now? Is the soil 
 barren? Are the trees fruitless? Have you 
 toiled all night and caught nothing? Let us 
 today get the net on the right side of the ship. 
 
 [45] 
 
POWER FOR SERVICE 
 
 We shall have a big haul. You will have it in 
 your churches. Somerville will have it. We 
 shall have it in Faneuil Hall. We shall have it 
 all around. Let us get full of the Spirit. I 
 am so tired and sick of the men who talk, talk, 
 talk; and they get up in the prayer meeting 
 and kill everything in the meeting. God doesn't 
 speak through them. There's no unction. Let 
 God re-commission every minister in this town 
 to preach the Gospel, and re-baptize every 
 worker. That's the prayer we want to make 
 today. Wouldn't you like to receive an anoint- 
 ing for your burial — you old man, about to 
 pass away? Some old men dry up and wither 
 up, and people are in a way glad when they are 
 gone. Others are like the clouds at sunset, and 
 leave light behind them, because they are full 
 of the dew of heaven, and the joy of the Spirit 
 of the Lord rests upon them. O man, get 
 anointed for your burial. Don't you want a 
 baptism for your last days? Make up your 
 mind to seek it. Don't be satisfied with your 
 present attainments, but reach out for some- 
 thing higher. 
 
 When Elijah was taken up, he was down at 
 Gilgal with Elisha. And Elijah said to Elisha, 
 "Let us go to Bethel and see them who are 
 there." We have a lot of students from Newton 
 here today, and from Boston University. Eli- 
 
 [46] 
 
POWER FOR SERVICE 
 
 jah thought he would like to see the students 
 at Bethel. When he got to Bethel, he said, 
 "Elisha, Elisha, do you know that your master 
 is to be taken away today?" "Hold your 
 peace; I know all about it." Presently he said: 
 "Elisha, you stay here, and I will go to Jericho 
 and see how the students are getting on there." 
 Elisha said: "As the Lord liveth, you shall not 
 go without me!" They started for Jericho, and 
 when they got there, the entire student body 
 came out, and one said, "Elisha, Elisha, do you 
 know that your master is taken aw r ay ? " " Sh — ! 
 Hold your peace. I know all about it. Don't 
 say anything." Elijah said, "Elisha, you stay 
 here, and I wiM go over Jordan and worship." 
 Elisha said, "As the Lord liveth, you'll not go 
 without me!" Man, be in dead earnest and 
 you'll get the power today. Hold right on! 
 Do you remember when the woman came and 
 said her child was dead? The man of God said: 
 "Go and put my staff upon the child." The 
 servant went, but failed. But Elisha did not 
 fail. Keep near the Master, for He never 
 failed yet. Do you tell me that Elijah was not 
 pleased that Elisha held on? 
 
 Talk about power! Talk about Alexander 
 making the world tremble with his army, and 
 Napoleon with his army! Why, all that man 
 Elijah had to do was to speak, and old Jordan 
 
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POWER FOR SERVICE 
 
 knew, and fled before him. And when he 
 wanted fire, he prayed, and fire came down. 
 When he wanted rain, he prayed, and the rain 
 came. The waters piled up, and fifty of the 
 prophets came out of the city to see what was 
 going on. I can see these students all eager 
 to watch, and the prophets passing through 
 the bed of the river and into the desert. All 
 at once Elijah said to Elisha, "What do you 
 want? I tried to leave you at Bethel, and you 
 wouldn't stay; and then again at Jericho, and 
 you wouldn't stay. Now, tell me what you 
 want, and you shall have anything you ask for." 
 I'd like to have some millionaire tell me that. 
 I'd tell what I want for my Schools at North- 
 field, and then I wouldn't get all. It would be 
 a bold request. 
 
 No man had the power that Elijah had; and 
 Elisha never stopped, but said, "I'll blurt it 
 out. I'd like a double portion of your spirit." 
 I see the fifty prophets crowding in, and hear 
 Elijah saying, "You've asked a hard thing; but 
 if you see me when I leave you, you shall have 
 it." Do you suppose Elisha took his eyes off 
 him? The two marched on arm in arm. I'd 
 like to have heard that conversation. There 
 came a whirlwind, and it took up one, and they 
 became separated. But Elisha, who was dead 
 in earnest — what did he care for that whirl- 
 
 [48] 
 
POWER FOR SERVICE 
 
 wind? He cried, "Where is my Master? Where 
 is my Master, Elijah?" He didn't want to 
 have him go away without leaving the power. 
 He said, "I'll get the power if I only see him." 
 Here in the choir, here in the organ loft, you 
 are bound to get the power, the flame of fire in 
 the heart, if you see the vision. He cried out, 
 "My Father, my Father; the chariots of Israel 
 and the horsemen thereof." He never said any- 
 thing about the blessing. He just reminded the 
 Lord of his promise, and that is all. O Lord, 
 you promised that. Elijah remembered his 
 promise, and he took his old mantle and threw 
 it back, and it came down into the dust. Don't 
 talk about your dignity; that you are the pastor 
 of the richest church in the United States, and 
 have got such an influential position. O man! 
 Get down in the dust. Get power! Get down! 
 Oh that we could just get into the dust today, 
 and get power. He rent the mantle. You've 
 got nothing. God will give you everything. 
 
 I am afraid if Elisha had been a Bostonian, 
 he would have said, "I don't feel I've got it. 
 Really, I look just as I did before Elijah was 
 taken. You know, I thought I would feel a 
 shaking, a sensation, like Samson, and that I 
 could do everything." That's the way he would 
 have talked. But Elijah simply said: "If you 
 see me when I am taken away, you shall have 
 
 [49] 
 
POWER FOR SERVICE 
 
 the double portion/' Elisha went up on that 
 promise, then started back on his life's work. 
 The fifty prophets saw him come out of the 
 wilderness, and they said, "Look, look, look, 
 Elisha is coming around. Elijah is gone, and 
 we shall never see his likes again." Man, don't 
 believe it! Don't think for a moment that the 
 Lord can't get on without you. When a man 
 gets that idea, he is good for nothing. God 
 can get along very well without any of us. 
 
 The fifty prophets saw the prophet come to 
 the brink of the river. Up to that time he had 
 power enough to walk, and that was all he 
 needed. But he got to the river. His Master 
 was gone. I can imagine him standing on the 
 bank of the river, and lifting up his voice, "O 
 God; the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and 
 of Jacob ; Thy prophet, Thy servant, told me if 
 I saw him when translated that I should have a 
 double portion of Thy Spirit. Let me have the 
 power of God." And he took up the mantle 
 of Elijah, and old Jordan knew and wasted 
 away. The water dried up; and he went 
 down to Jericho, and the fifty prophets cried: 
 "Elisha — the power of Elijah is upon Elisha!" 
 And it was so — a double portion. Read the 
 lives of both, and you'll find Elisha performed 
 more miracles than Elijah. Go for the big cup 
 full! 
 
 [50] 
 
HOW BACKSLIDERS MAY RETURN* 
 
 "Go and proclaim these words, and say: Return, thou backsliding 
 Israel." Jeremiah iii. 12. 
 
 I WANT to make an explanation. Some 
 people have said that I made the state- 
 ment that "nine-tenths of the Church mem- 
 bers haven't got power." I did not say that to 
 hurt any one's feelings; but I call up a good 
 many Christians who lack power to seek people. 
 Christ says: "Go and disciple the world!" 
 Am I uncharitable when I say that there's not 
 more than one out of ten who is doing that kind 
 of work? I don't want to slander the Church. 
 I would never preach again as long as I live if I 
 thought I was hurting the Church. I would 
 shed tears of blood if I thought I was hurting 
 the Church; and I pray God day and night to 
 help me to awake the Church. I don't say they 
 are not Christians, by a good deal. I never 
 dreamed such a thing. Many are good, con- 
 verted people, but they haven't got "convert- 
 ing power." There's the trouble. I hope you 
 won't misunderstand me. 
 
 * Delivered in Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass., January 
 20, 1897. (p.m.) 
 
 [51] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 Now, I want to come back to the subject of 
 this morning. I didn't get through with what 
 I want to say about backsliders. I wanted to 
 tell you how you backsliders may get back. I 
 was very much cheered by so many coming to 
 me after I got through. One man followed me, 
 and wanted to get back to the Lord. That's 
 what I want to tell — How you can get back. 
 
 There's one peculiarity about the pit into 
 which the backslider gets, and that is that while 
 there are many ways in, there's only one way 
 out. That's the way he got in. The same 
 road that led you away from Christ will take 
 you back. How did you get away? You all 
 know; every one who is a backslider knows. 
 You know how you went away. You left Him 
 without a cause. I will challenge a backslider 
 to give a reason for leaving the Lord. You 
 can't do it. Take that home, and stick it into 
 your mind! What took you away from the 
 Lord? You think you've got a good excuse; 
 but, have you? Have you an excuse that will 
 stand the light of eternity? Some woman says 
 her husband hasn't treated her right. Ought 
 not that to have driven you nearer to Christ? 
 Was it the Lord who gave you a bad husband? 
 Some man may say, "My wife hasn't treated 
 me right." Should that have changed him 
 from Christ? You've got some affliction. He 
 
 [52] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 has laid His hand upon you. God does not 
 afflict willingly. Did you ever punish a child? 
 If you did, didn't you do it for the child's good, 
 and not for the pleasure of doing it? I don't 
 see fathers and mothers who like to do that 
 kind of thing. If they do chasten, it is for the 
 child's good. If you are under the "chastening 
 rod" of God, don't rebel and think God a hard 
 Master. 
 
 Now, if you want to return, there's nothing 
 to hinder you but your own will. Your back- 
 slidings can't keep you, because He will blot 
 them all out if you'll let Him. I want to read 
 a little more out of Jeremiah, because I don't 
 know a better thing for the backslider than the 
 Word of God. Nothing but the Word of God. 
 In the Third Chapter of Jeremiah, the twelfth 
 verse, "Go and proclaim these words, and say, 
 Return, thou backsliding Israel, . . . and I will 
 not cause my anger to fall upon you. I will 
 not keep my anger forever." I want to ask you 
 this question: Do you believe that if Israel had 
 repented, God would have allowed Nebuchad- 
 nezzar to take them down to Babylon for 
 seventy years? "Go, proclaim these words. 
 Say, Return. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, 
 and thy transgressions against the Lord thy 
 God." ' 
 
 Of course, if we don't obey the command- 
 
 [53] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 ments of God, we have backslidden — every 
 one that's breaking the laws of God is back- 
 slidden. You may be in good standing in 
 the Church where you belong in the city, in the 
 sight of men, but not in the sight of God. The 
 heart has got away, and as long as we are liv- 
 ing in rebellion and disloyalty to God and his 
 commandments, we cannot expect the smile of 
 heaven and the blessing of God. 
 
 Again, in the twenty-second verse of the same: 
 "Return, ye backslidden children, and I will 
 heal your backslidings." A man said to me, 
 "Mr. Moody, I would come, but I have been so 
 mean, so contemptible, that the Lord wouldn't 
 receive me." I said: "That's your thought, 
 and not His. Did you ever see a father and 
 mother dealing with a boy who had gone astray? 
 If the boy comes home with a broken heart — 
 don't they receive him? " 
 
 When I was in London in 1875, there came 
 to us a request that we should pray for a boy 
 gone off into the far south, to Australia. The 
 father and mother seemed broken-hearted for 
 their boy. He had gone far away in his sins, 
 and they wanted united prayer offered for him. 
 I suppose that not less than 200 people offered 
 their prayer for that boy that night, one of the 
 largest meetings in Agricultural Hall. Away 
 off in the wilds of that country — he had to 
 
 [54] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 ride for one day to get at the post, so wild was 
 the land — he got a letter telling him about 
 how many had been praying for him. He 
 started back, and on the way he was so over- 
 come by the power of God that he could not 
 ride; and he got off, and waited in the bush, 
 and God converted him before he returned back 
 to his hut. He wrote home of what he had 
 done, what had happened. The parents cabled 
 him, as quickly as they could, to come home; 
 and the news came back that he was on his way 
 home. Those parents were so afraid that the 
 boat would get in, and he would come at night, 
 that they had a bell put up, so that he could 
 wake up the whole family, so anxious were 
 they to give him a welcome. That's the way 
 God receives backsliders. "Ring the bells of 
 heaven; there is joy today/' 
 
 The only Chapter that records joy in heaven 
 is the one that tells about the prodigal's coming 
 back to his father's house. If you are going to 
 have a genuine work of grace in Boston, it will 
 be the winning back the wanderers. So today, 
 make up your mind that you will return now. 
 Right here, now! This done, go right to the 
 church tonight, to the church which you pre- 
 fer, and if there's a social meeting going on, go 
 in and tell them that you've made up your mind 
 to come back. If the minister is here on the 
 
 [55] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 platform, take the first step and tell him that. 
 You will do it now. Don't wait until I get 
 through preaching. Why — the only place 
 where God is represented as running is the 
 Father to that prodigal. We read of God 
 walking; but he ran then. I see the boy com- 
 ing back, but I see the old man running towards 
 him with arms outstretched. And, my friend, 
 God will restore unto you the joy of His salva- 
 tion if you'll turn back. I will read Hosea 14: 1. 
 "O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God, for 
 thou hast fallen by thine own iniquity. Not 
 by mine." You very often hear people talking 
 about other people's failings and about the 
 Church. It is your own "iniquity." Don't 
 let any one give that as an excuse. It's the 
 devil's lie to keep you from coming back. It's 
 your own iniquity that has taken you away 
 from God. "Take with you words, and turn 
 unto the Lord. He will receive us graciously. 
 So we will render the praise of our lips." You 
 will be praising God if wanderers come back. 
 O friend, won't you come today? 
 
 Then in the fourth verse. "I will heal their 
 backslidings ; I will love them freely, for my 
 anger is turned away from him. I will be as 
 dew unto Israel. He shall grow as the lily and 
 cast forth his roots as Lebanon." Think of it — 
 "Heal their backslidings." And when God 
 
 [56] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 says "heal" he means every word he says. 
 That's what He'll do. Is there a man or wom- 
 an here today who will turn from backslid- 
 ing? If so God will heal you freely. Just 
 here, if you will turn from your old life, and 
 you may become a ruling elder in your home. 
 
 Do you want to come back to God? Com- 
 mence where you broke off! I will call your 
 attention to another fact. People, when they 
 come back to the Lord, expect that they are 
 going to have the same experience they had at 
 first. Revelations, Second, fifth verse, "Re- 
 member, therefore, and do the first works, or 
 else I will come unto thee quickly, except thou 
 repent." Now people expect they are going to 
 have the same experience that they had when 
 they first came to the Lord. God never repeats 
 himself. He will give you a fresh experience. 
 But you are to do the first works — repent of 
 your sins; and if there's anything in your life 
 that's wrong, make up your mind that you're 
 going to have that wrong righted, as far as is in 
 your power; but don't mock God, and ask God 
 to do anything for you that you can do yourself. 
 It's mockery for me to ask God to do some- 
 thing that I can do myself. If I've wronged 
 any one, and I can make that wrong right, let 
 me go and do it. If the backslider will do that, 
 and do all he can to restore where he has de- 
 
 [57] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 stroyed — consider what his influence for evil 
 has been; how he has led others astray; how 
 he has brought a reproach upon the cause of 
 God in all his backslidings — then he will be in a 
 position to turn to come back, and go to work 
 all the harder. I thank God I've seen many a 
 backslider restored who has proved a mighty 
 instrument in God's hands. They used to 
 tell me that God never used defeated men. 
 
 We should never have had that fifty-first 
 Psalm if men hadn't fallen. God, the Holy 
 Ghost, helped to write that Psalm, and it has 
 brought hundreds and thousands and millions 
 into the Kingdom of God. And the thirty- 
 second Psalm was written by a backslider. 
 Again, there was that restored Peter, he that 
 preached that marvellous sermon. I would 
 pray this prayer: Bring them up out of the pit, 
 and restore to them the joy of salvation. The 
 restored Psalmist was made to become a writer 
 of Psalms and Hymns. Did you ever take 
 notice, ever take any pains to see, how David 
 fell; to study how Peter fell? You know, they 
 didn't fall all at once. Men don't go up on a 
 building like this and jump off unless they want 
 to commit suicide. A man goes along down 
 the elevator or the stairs step by step, and 
 you'll find that every man who backslides 
 goes down gradually. You will see that some 
 
 [58] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 man has done an awful thing, and it comes to 
 the public as a great shock; and you think 
 the man has suddenly fallen. Not a bit of it. 
 The work has been going on for months, for 
 years; he stole slowly away from the Lord, 
 and was a backslider five or ten years ago, but 
 he kept it secret. By and by, he got so far 
 away that he could do outrageous things, and 
 down he went, and the world saw, knew his 
 fall. There's Peter. The first step of Peter's 
 downfall was his self-confidence. The Lord 
 warned him; but Peter said: If all the rest of 
 the disciples forsook the Lord, he wouldn't. 
 The Lord could count on him. He w T as not 
 a-going to fall. 
 
 A friend of mine, a minister, called his church 
 together some time ago, and wanted to know 
 how many would stand by him if he had some 
 special meetings. One man said, " I don't know 
 of many, but you can count on me." That man 
 got mad within three days, and wouldn't go 
 into the church. That's Peter. "Lord, you 
 can count on me." He reflected on John and 
 James and all the rest of them. He was going 
 to follow Jesus to the death. But you will 
 notice that he fell on the strongest point of his 
 character. The men in the Bible, the promi- 
 nent men, fell on the strongest point of their 
 characters. "Let him that thinketh he stand- 
 
 [59] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 eth take heed lest he fall." There's Abraham; 
 for his faith he was honored; but he got down 
 in the dumps, and wavered, and he denied his 
 wife. He lost faith and lied, though he was 
 called "The Father of the Faithful." 
 
 Where did Moses fall? Moses, who was com- 
 mended for his meekness, his humility. Why 
 was he kept out of the Promised Land? Be- 
 cause he lacked meekness. He smote the rock. 
 Do you tell me that Moses did not fall then; 
 did not backslide? Do you tell me that Abra- 
 ham did not lie? Every time you tell a lie, 
 you backslide. Every time you lose your 
 temper and are disagreeable in your family, 
 you are backsliding. Eh? You've never been 
 called a backslider before, have you? Now 
 ask the question: Don't you think Abraham 
 backslid when he said his wife was his sister? 
 What d'ye say? He was a backslider at one 
 time, wasn't he? What had he to do? Tell 
 me that he didn't confess that sin and take his 
 place before God in the dust, in order to have 
 his soul restored to fellowship with God. Do 
 you tell me that Moses didn't shed tears, day 
 by day, for that sin, that one act that kept him 
 out of the Promised Land? I've not any doubt 
 about it. 
 
 A foolish woman in the camp, like some we 
 have now, told Moses he was a most lovely 
 
 [60] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 man; and he tumbled right then. Now when 
 you remember either men or women, telling a 
 young convert that you'd rather hear him speak 
 than the minister, you'll spoil him. Many have 
 been spoiled in that way. And when he thinks 
 he is strong, down he goes — he backslides. A 
 man who hasn't humility is in a backslidden 
 state. If he wants to puff himself up, and he 
 says I, I, I, I, and the "I" goes forward, and 
 he thinks more of himself than of any one 
 else, he is in a backslidden state; I don't care 
 who he is. I got a letter from a man who had 
 his photograph on the outside of the envelope 
 — on the outside. He advertised himself as a 
 prominent worker, which I think he was. Then 
 the paper had another big photograph of him; 
 and he had two notices printed — notices of 
 his photograph — and I got four photographs. 
 Yes, I felt as if the man had backslidden. What 
 does the Bible say? It says something like 
 this: "Pride goeth before a fall." If a man or a 
 woman gets puffed up, isn't he or she in danger 
 of tumbling? Isn't that the first step to back- 
 sliding? Didn't the Lord see it in Peter? Did 
 you ever notice that everything these men did 
 before they were filled with the Holy Ghost, 
 they had to undo? There was nothing worth 
 recording until they were filled with the Spirit 
 of God. Elijah was noted for his boldness. He 
 
 [61] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 stood on Carmel and called on the four hundred 
 prophets of the Grove and four hundred and 
 fifty of Baal, and it looked as if every man was 
 keen against him. He stood there alone, the 
 boldest man on the face of the earth. But he 
 got his eyes off the Master, and when he received 
 a message from the queen, he fled and hid under 
 a juniper tree, and wished himself dead. That 
 bold man of Carmel tumbled. Perhaps he had 
 been elated with his successes. It was all to 
 prove to himself how weak he was away from 
 God. We are all as weak as water. "Let him 
 that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he 
 fall." The Lord knew that Peter was weak, 
 and he warned him, and told him he was 
 going to deny him. But Peter thought he knew 
 better than the Lord. Another case: take 
 James and John, both noted for meekness and 
 humility; yet these are the men who wanted to 
 call fire down from heaven. Christ said: "I 
 have not come to destroy but to give life." 
 Here is Peter; he falling on the strongest point 
 of his character; he, the very man who was 
 going to follow Christ right on to death; noth- 
 ing could separate them. 
 
 Now, note the next step in Peter's downfall. 
 He was self-confident, and the next thing was 
 he went to sleep when the Lord told him to 
 watch. The most dangerous thing that can 
 
 [62] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 happen to a child of God is to go to sleep. If 
 Satan can get the conscience to sleep, he can 
 do strange things with it. The Lord told Peter 
 to "watch with him one hour"; but Peter went 
 to sleep. If he had watched that hour, do you 
 think he would have got right up and denied 
 the Master? If he had obeyed the Lord he 
 could not have backslidden; but he went to 
 sleep. Some of the strangest things happen in 
 the Church of God today, unaccountable things, 
 unless you make up your mind that the doers 
 have gone to sleep. Fathers and mothers 
 spend all their time, or nearly all, accumulating 
 worldly things, and though their children all 
 around them are going to ruin, they don't seem 
 to realize it. Some of these are good people too; 
 you can't say they are not Christian people. 
 
 A lady brought a boy three thousand miles 
 across the continent that I might try to lead him 
 to Christ. She said I had some influence over 
 him. He was soon mixed up with the worst 
 company in the town. I said: "It is strange 
 to think that that boy has come from a beautiful 
 Christian home, and here he is going around 
 with the very worst scamps of the town." I 
 went to that Western home. I was invited to 
 spend a while there. I thought I would like 
 to see how it was that that woman had three 
 sons all gone to ruin. One night her husband 
 
 [63] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 opened my door and began to weep: "I don't 
 know why God has treated me in this way! I 
 have three sons, and every one is a disgrace to 
 my name ! " I said, "Let me ask a few questions. 
 Man, where do you spend your Monday nights, for 
 instance? " "Well," with hesitation, "I'm an 
 alderman and belong to the Common Council." 
 "Where do you go Tuesday nights?" "I am a 
 Senior Deacon in the lodge." " Where do you 
 go Wednesday night?" He didn't want to tell. 
 He belonged to the Masons, was a high Mason. 
 "But Thursday night I'm always at home." I 
 ask: "You are a popular man and trying to 
 be elected Mayor of the city, and if you don't 
 have political calls elsewhere, you have com- 
 pany?" "Yes." "How is it Friday night?" 
 " Friday night I always go to prayer meeting." 
 " How about Saturday night? " " Saturday night 
 I'm always at home." I said, "I was here Satur- 
 day night, but I noticed you locked yourself up 
 to get sleep. How about Sunday night? ' : I 
 said, "Good friend, listen: you get up in the 
 morning, and you are a business man and you 
 hurry through breakfast; and the boys, they 
 hurry through also and go off to play. Sometimes 
 you have family worship and sometimes you 
 don't. Sometimes you have it alone, and some- 
 times some of the children are there." He ad- 
 mitted that that was so. " You don't come home 
 
 [64] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 for lunch. You have a late dinner, and you see 
 your children at dinner time; and the fact is 
 you've been trying to be a good man, and you've 
 looked after other people's vineyards and ne- 
 glected your own. Satan is walking and you've 
 been asleep all the time. If a man were trying 
 to break into your house to steal your silver, it 
 would keep you home and awake. You've 
 been prominent in the Church and in the City 
 Council, and are now trying to run for Mayor. 
 I would let the Mayor's office go, and try to 
 save my boy." 
 
 It seems to me, if Satan can get the Church 
 to sleep, he can do almost anything with it. I 
 believe the family was established long before 
 the Church, and my duty is to my family first. 
 I am not to neglect my family. I don't believe 
 our children would go the way so many are 
 going, if we cared for them more. I don't 
 believe these gambling dens, these brothels and 
 whiskey shops would be crowded with young 
 men, night after night, if the Christian people 
 were up and wide awake. I think we have 
 gone to sleep. What d'ye say? How is it? 
 Some people say that God has not been true to 
 His promise, and has not treated them right. 
 My friend, let us look after our own vineyard 
 first. It seems to me that every man should 
 give one or two nights a week to his own family; 
 
 [65] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 at least it is not necessary to keep up with the 
 clubs, nor to keep them up. I heard this story: 
 A boy came in crying, and the mother wanted 
 to know what the matter was. "A man struck 
 me." "What man?" "That man that comes 
 here every Sunday." That was about as much 
 as the child knew about his own father. Now, 
 if we go to sleep, we can't expect anything else. 
 Peter went to sleep. What's the next thing? 
 He fought in the energy of the flesh. He cut 
 off the servant's ear. The Lord didn't come 
 down from heaven and cut off the ears; not by 
 a good deal. He wanted the servant to have 
 two ears. That's the only mortal that ever 
 lost anything personal from Christ or his dis- 
 ciples while they were on earth. And the Lord 
 healed that ear. The man wasn't around with 
 head tied up for six months. The Lord healed 
 it. Peter fought in the energy of the flesh. 
 Where do Church quarrels come from? In the 
 "energy of the flesh." A coldness has come in 
 and a midnight slumber has fallen on the 
 Church. Men will talk in their sleep, and what 
 talks we have. But men never work in their 
 sleep, and that's the trouble. Well, Peter 
 fought in the energy of the flesh, and the Lord 
 had to undo the evil. A great many crooked 
 things have to be straightened. 
 
 The next thing: Peter went far off. You see 
 
 [66] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 he is backsliding now. A minister told me that 
 if he wanted to get his Elders together, he would 
 have to go to the theater; the only time he 
 could get them together was at the theater. I 
 want to tell you something: An Elder, one of 
 those Elders, had a son who was as the apple of 
 his eye. That son drifted off, and lived a false 
 life. When he married a pure, virtuous woman, 
 a woman, a companion of the past, turned 
 'round and shot him dead, and the father's grey 
 hairs went down in sorrow to the grave. You 
 don't gain anything by following the Lord afar 
 off, I tell you. When a man follows the Lord 
 afar off, he cannot testify for Jesus Christ, can 
 he? If I wanted to introduce a man to another 
 man, and the man was away up at the upper 
 end of the gallery, I wouldn't say, "Dr. Schofield, 
 I want to introduce you to a gentleman away 
 up there." You've got to be near the Lord, 
 haven't you, to introduce others to Him? Now 
 Peter was afar off. That's where we are back- 
 sliding. People at a distance don't see any 
 resemblance between us and Christ. 
 
 A friend of mine was walking up the streets 
 of Philadelphia, when he saw a church-member 
 in one of the saloons, playing cards. He got 
 out a card and wrote on it, "Ye are my wit- 
 nesses." "Take that in," he said to a boy, "and 
 leave it with the man there." The man took it 
 
 [67] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 and read it, and said to the boy, "Who gave 
 you that card?" "A stranger going by." And 
 the man looked up and down the street, and 
 sneaked off home. That church-member was 
 following the Lord afar off, wasn't he? If a man 
 goes to a saloon and gets drunk, he is following 
 afar off, isn't he? What d'ye say? If a man 
 will go to the billiard halls, or go to "set up for 
 the drinks," is he a true professed Christian? 
 What d'ye say? Now, that's the point. Let 
 us see if we have got away from the Lord. If 
 we have, we can't expect to have the Lord 
 use us. 
 
 The next thing is that we find Peter with the 
 enemies of Christ, and one said to him, "You 
 were with his disciples. " "I don't know Him." 
 A girl came in, a little maid, and Peter got 
 roused up. And that bold man, that was 
 going to follow Christ, is frightened by the little 
 maid. When we get away from the Lord, we 
 are cowards. When a man is right with the 
 Lord, he has courage. That's what is going to 
 give him boldness; but when he is wrong, he is 
 a coward. Peter is a coward now. Another 
 came along, and said, "His speech betrays him." 
 No man can be with Christ for three years but 
 his speech will betray him. I've got a back- 
 slider on his knees, and I've said, "This man 
 knows the language of Zion; this man has been 
 
 [68] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 a Christian." I've said/' You've been a Christian 
 some day. How do I know? By the way you 
 pray." You can tell by Peter's language. "His 
 speech betray eth him." And Peter went further. 
 He began to swear and curse that he never knew 
 Christ. He got pretty low. You see how. He 
 was self-confident; then fell asleep; then fought 
 in the energy of the flesh; then followed afar off; 
 and now he turns and denies Him. 
 
 LISTEN! Did you ever notice how quickly 
 the Lord won him back? When he was cursing, 
 the Lord gave him one look. That's all! Satan 
 had been at work on Peter for some time, but 
 one look won him back. The Lord might have 
 said, "Peter, is it true that you've forgotten me 
 so soon? Do you remember when I gave you 
 that great haul of fish, and you wanted me to 
 depart from you, for you were a sinful man? 
 Do you remember when your wife's mother lay 
 sick of a fever, and I restored her to health? 
 Is it true, Peter, that you have forgotten me so 
 soon? Do you know that you were with me 
 when I raised Jairus' daughter? Do you re- 
 member how you were with me on the Holy 
 Mount, and you wanted to make three taber- 
 nacles, one for Moses, and one for Elias, and 
 one for me? Have you forgotten me so soon? 
 And do you remember you said you would never 
 forsake me?" 
 
 [69] 
 
BACKSLIDERS 
 
 The Lord turned and gave him one look of 
 love, and that broke Peter's heart, and he went 
 out to weep bitterly. My God loves you. Do 
 as Peter did. Come back to the Lord and He 
 will bless you and use you a thousand times 
 more than He ever did in the past! 
 
 [70] 
 
HOW TO DEAL WITH INQUIRERS* 
 
 " In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not 
 thine hand." Ecclesiastes xi. 6. 
 
 SOME one made the remark that our meet- 
 ings had put Boston ten years back. 
 Thank God if you've got back that far, 
 for I think you were in a better condition ten 
 years ago than you are now. We have made 
 progress if we have got back ten years. I hope 
 you will get back still further. Some one says 
 I've hurt the feelings of a good many by what 
 I said about the Church. My! My feelings 
 have been hurt terribly by the conditions I have 
 found here. I think the time has come to have 
 the feelings hurt all round — so hurt that we 
 shall get up and do something. 
 
 Last Friday I read an extract from an address 
 by one of the leading ministers of the country. 
 I will read it; it is by Dr. Withrow, Moderator 
 of the last General Assembly. 
 
 "The Rev. J. H. Withrow, Moderator of the 
 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, 
 preached last Sunday a sermon commemorative 
 of the tenth anniversary of the beginning of his 
 
 * Delivered at Tremont Temple, Boston, January 18, 1897. 
 
 [71] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 ministry as Pastor of the Third Presbyterian 
 Church of Chicago. (And that is the largest 
 Presbyterian church in the United States.) 
 His text was: 'Hitherto hath the Lord helped 
 us.' In his discourse, referring to the changes 
 in Chicago, he said: 'How is it? Is the city 
 better or worse than it was ten years ago? 
 Truly we cannot say/ (I think I can say. It 
 is ten times worse.) When telling of the fact 
 that where there were three thousand rum holes 
 when I came there, and the number has in- 
 creased now to seven thousand — (He didn't 
 know whether it had grown better or worse!) 
 'When we read in the daily papers of people 
 afraid to walk the best-lighted boulevards after 
 dark, lest they be sand-bagged; and when we 
 hear of the Departments of Justice administered 
 in such a way that the salaried officers can 
 arrange to get a fortune in a few years, with no 
 known resources but the evil ones to draw upon; 
 and when our City Council is openly and de- 
 fiantly charged by its own members with cor- 
 rupt legislation, and the leaders in wrong-doing 
 can find defenders among our most prominent, 
 and, we have thought, patriotic citizens; and 
 when the feeling is general that any rascal can 
 cheat the Law out of its penalty, if he has 
 money — then we think that the city is sinking 
 into the abyss that hurled Rome to ruin." 
 
 [72] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 That's the Moderator of the General Assem- 
 bly of the Presbyterians! His church is in the 
 Broadway district, where there are a hundred 
 thousand people; and, to my knowledge, there's 
 not a place, unless some Rescue Mission, where 
 there's a thing being done for the Master. This 
 is on one of the most public boulevards, and 
 what the papers said is true — people dare not 
 walk out there at night. And, right near that 
 church, in that district, there's been, on an 
 average, a murder right along month after 
 month. And yet, that church, and nearly 
 every church in Chicago, is opened only two 
 or three hours in the week. 
 
 Now there are theaters! Supposing that 
 Church hired a theater and had some one preach 
 in it every Sunday, in the heart of that district 
 where it is so dark; supposing that the theaters 
 were engaged — they open the churches only 
 once on the Sabbath; some of them are open 
 twice, but a good many of them only once, and 
 few attend. Why? On account of the "pew 
 system." 
 
 A gentleman said in New York: "Are you 
 going to fall into that idea of keeping the church 
 opened every night in the week? What do we 
 want of more members? Every pew is taken, 
 and we pay all of our expenses. We don't 
 believe in the second service, and one is enough." 
 
 [73] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 Said I: "Look at the state of things we are 
 having!" Here is something I cut from a 
 religious newspaper. I thought at first I would 
 never speak of it; it was so humiliating. "There 
 were thirteen hundred and ninety-five Congre- 
 gational churches that received no accessions 
 by confession of faith during the last year for 
 which the statistics have been collected. Many 
 of this number of Congregationalist churches, 
 or more than one-fourth of the total, gathered 
 no sheaves out of the field, which is the world. 
 There were seven hundred and fifty Presbyterian 
 churches that did not report any additions by 
 confession of faith." It is perhaps safe to say 
 that every fifth church among the great bodies 
 of believers in this "Mighty Religion" witnessed 
 no addition through faith-increase in twelve 
 months. Now, these are facts that you get 
 from statistics. Isn't it time that the Church 
 should be stirred? Isn't it time that something 
 should be done? 
 
 Now, I want to say — because there are a 
 good many ministers here, and Church offi- 
 cers — I want to say I believe that if these men 
 conducted their business in the way the Church 
 business is conducted at the present day, they 
 would be bankrupt in six months; and if the 
 newspapers did so, they'd close up their business 
 inside of the same period. 
 
 [74] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 I think it a calamity when a minister comes to 
 preaching only once a week, and then is so over- 
 worked as to need a vacation. He tires himself 
 out preaching about thirty sermons a year. 
 What do you say? Am I "hurting your feel- 
 ings"? It is hurting feelings all around. These 
 reporters ask something new and sensational! 
 I wish they would hunt up those statistics and 
 find out if Boston is better than ten years ago. 
 It may be, and may not be! You know. Let 
 a little light in! 
 
 Another thing, about working up our meet- 
 ings. They had a meeting in Carnegie Hall 
 last Friday night, and they were going to have 
 a "Mission Rally. " I forget how many de- 
 nominations assisted. They had Dr. Storrs 
 give one of his magnificent addresses; and 
 Bishop Fowler of the Methodist Church was 
 there. They were going to have a "Great 
 Rally " in Carnegie Hall. But they say it wasn't 
 one-half, or one-third, full. Why? Lack of 
 advertising. Suppose they had spent fifty dol- 
 lars in advertising? When we started out in 
 '93 — at the World's Fair in '93 — I got religious 
 notices into the Amusement columns, and some 
 of the religious papers said: "You are degrading 
 religion." I replied: "Let's get down where 
 the people are." We had five theaters run- 
 ning every Sunday, with at least a hundred and 
 
 [75] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 ten meetings right along. But we spent the 
 money advertising. You say: "We can't get the 
 money"? Pass the hat around when you meet 
 each other. Make one hand wash the other. 
 You can get it. There's no inspiration talking 
 to empty pews. Preachers must fill the pews 
 or move. I don't believe a man who has a call 
 from God to preach is called to preach to empty 
 pews. 
 
 I was invited to Brooklyn some time ago to 
 speak; and the man who drove me over left 
 me at the wrong church. I looked up, and all 
 the notice I could find was the undertaker's. 
 I went from church to church, to find out where 
 I was going to preach; I finally went into one 
 and saw the minister who had invited me, and 
 I knew I was at the right place. But that 
 church wasn't half full. I would have had three 
 or four churches, if they had taken the pains to 
 advertise. Now, the idea of no notices except 
 the undertaker's sign out! That's a nice way 
 for doing business. (Laughter.) You laugh 
 at it. You find church after church with no 
 notices, Jewish synagogue, Roman Catholic, 
 and Protestant. 
 
 When we were in London, we would have 
 forty or fifty churches in a district, and we had 
 notices on every one of those churches, and every 
 church had to advertise its meetings. Every 
 
 [76] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 one belonging to one of those churches was more 
 or less committed to the movement, and we 
 filled the buildings right along. We had ten 
 thousand people at every meeting, and for eight 
 months. Now, people are shocked if you dare 
 put notices out that you are going to have 
 meetings in that church. Put up a big bulletin 
 board, and don't be afraid. I had to get some 
 bulletin boards to carry around to the churches, 
 and they had to read them on Sunday. 
 
 We have got to have more "shocks"! Don't 
 be afraid of them. I heard a good thing in 
 New York this time. They'd got a man into 
 a Rescue Mission, who said, "It's a lie! It's a 
 lie! You say that Jesus will save sinners. It's 
 a lie! You're a sham! I sought him all last 
 night! I didn't see anything!" Another rose 
 up and said: "It isn't a lie. I was a thief and 
 he saved me, and I've been saved five years." 
 Another said: "I was a drunkard, and I've 
 been saved for four years." Every man was 
 ready to defend the cause. It isn't a bad thing 
 to have a shock once in a while. The idea that 
 there are four thousand churches that hadn't 
 had an addition in one year, by profession of 
 faith! How long will it take to reach this 
 world? Some people will say "you hurt our 
 feelings." Very well; let us hurt their feelings 
 until something is done. A good many of us 
 
 [77] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 have special meetings. Put a notice in the 
 papers that you are going to have meetings; 
 then have people go through all the district and 
 invite other people out; do this and I'll tell 
 you, if you keep at it, there will be no trouble 
 about filling your church. How did I get a 
 reputation? I had to go out and ask people to 
 come to hear me speak. I used to have a band 
 of men who would invite people to come and 
 hear Moody. Who's he? It's my business to 
 let it be known that I am going to preach. The 
 men who were asked would go down a block and 
 get another invitation; and so every block they 
 went, they were getting invitations. That's the 
 way I got my audiences. But, you say: "I 
 wouldn't like that. It's not dignified." 
 
 My friend, let dignity go! That's not one 
 of the "fruits of the Spirit"! Don't you know 
 we've got too much dignity? What we want is 
 to "get 'em" for the Master. I notice these 
 reporters don't care much for dignities! When 
 the Church gets as wide awake as the Press, we 
 shall have things done. 
 
 V I think you will find that almost every person 
 here whom God has used has had some other per- 
 son to help him into the light; and I believe that 
 is the secret of all Christian work. If the Church 
 of God should go into training today for that 
 work, we should have a different state of things. 
 
 [78] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 There are four kinds of meetings that, I think, 
 every church should have. First, there's the 
 building up — the feeding of the flock. That's 
 now done, as a general thing, all over Christen- 
 dom every Sunday morning. That seems to me 
 to be the proper time. Perhaps the minister 
 couldn't do better to build up his flock and 
 instruct them than in the morning. Then, 
 there's another service, in which we meet to- 
 gether to pray for one another and for the 
 Church. Then, there ought to be a praise 
 service, more suited to praise than to prayer, 
 and the really true Church will be a Praise 
 Church as much as a Prayer Church. Then, 
 there's a service when we come together to work, 
 not so much to hear from man as to hear from 
 God — where we meet around the Lord's Table, 
 and where we let God speak to us. I don't 
 believe that Christians are going to conquer 
 who don't have some time alone with God. 
 
 I was very much touched, a few years ago, 
 
 when my little boy, my youngest He is 
 
 quite small. I was in my study, and I told my 
 wife I didn't want to be disturbed; I wanted to 
 be uninterrupted. I got on a line of truth and 
 was tracing it, every word, through the Scrip- 
 tures, when I heard a gentle knock at the door. 
 I said: "I don't want to be interrupted now." 
 But the knocking kept on. I said, "Come in!" 
 
 [79] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 My little boy entered. I thought, "I can dis- 
 pose of him." "Paul," I said, "what do you 
 want?" He answered, "I don't want anything, 
 only to be with you." I couldn't put him out 
 then. Not by a good deal. I went to the closet 
 and got some toys and spread them out on the 
 floor before the little fellow, and I said, as he 
 looked up at me: "The dear little fellow wants 
 to be with me!" I think there are times when 
 the Lord wants us to be with Him, not only 
 when we come to ask for something, but when 
 He comes to ask for something. So there are 
 times when we ought to be alone and let God 
 talk with us. 
 
 Now the service that I want to speak of 
 ought to be followed by an after meeting, a 
 meeting where the Gospel is proclaimed. I 
 make a marked distinction between the build- 
 ing up of the Church, the flock, and the prayer 
 meeting, and the Christian Endeavor meeting; 
 the meeting of praise, the prayer meeting, and 
 the Gospel hand-work. I believe we ought to 
 have one service every week, and that Sabbath 
 evening, all over Christendom, is the best time 
 for a Gospel address, where the claims of Christ 
 are pressed upon the people and where Christ 
 is lifted up as the hope of this world. I believe 
 that, every Sabbath, we should have that in the 
 length and breadth of this land. Look at the 
 
 [80] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 multitudes we would have in most of our 
 churches, and they would be added to the 
 Church of God. And when there comes more 
 or less of an awakening, then there should be 
 important special meetings every night. 
 
 Listen! If a man gets awakened on Sunday 
 night — suppose he is a drinking man; sup- 
 pose the man has some besetting sin, and he 
 doesn't get any sympathy at home, and all his 
 associates are bad — he is impressed on Sabbath 
 evening, and you don't have another meet- 
 ing until the next Sabbath night, the seed is 
 sown, but the devil catches it away; but if you 
 had meetings Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 
 possibly he may be reached. He is wounded 
 deeper on Monday night, on Tuesday night, and 
 on Wednesday, and he comes to you asking, 
 "What shall I do to be saved?" That's the 
 advantage of special meetings. I think if we 
 could have meetings about a month in your 
 church, and let your progressive euchre go, and 
 all that sort of business go for a month, and 
 hold the church to that one thing, we should 
 have thousands and tens of thousands added to 
 the church membership, and there would not be 
 three or four thousand churches reporting no 
 accessions. 
 
 Now I come to the after meeting. I never 
 think of having an after meeting until the 
 
 [81] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 impression is made. You ought to have an 
 " atmosphere." And if you attempt to have 
 after meetings before the people are ready, it 
 does more harm than good. You may be hav- 
 ing a meeting to pray; but when you have an 
 after meeting, you ask inquirers to rise, to go 
 to the altar, or to go to another room. What 
 you want is to have people commit themselves, 
 if it is no more than to raise their hands. Nine- 
 tenths of the battle is won if I can get a man 
 to express interest; it gives a chance to get at 
 him and follow him up. That's the importance 
 of having some way of getting at the people, 
 and getting them to express their desire to be 
 Christians. 
 
 There's one thing you want to break up in 
 New England, and that's this awful "stiffness." 
 It is a calamity! Why, some men will kill a 
 meeting by their way of coming into it; slow as 
 a snail. Then, they drop into a seat, and when 
 they get up, they do it in such a stiff, formal 
 way, that there's a blanket thrown over all the 
 meeting. By and by the people take out their 
 watches to see what time has passed. You 
 never see such people back again. That's the 
 end of it. But that stiffness! Break it up! 
 How are you going to do it? If it is a social 
 meeting, or a prayer meeting, have it begin 
 when people don't know when it has begun. 
 
 [82] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 Instead of getting in behind the pulpit, get down 
 among the people, and say, "What shall we 
 sing tonight?" The meeting is going on before 
 they know it. It is very easy. If it is an after 
 meeting — there are two ways of having an 
 after meeting — one way is to "kill it," the 
 other way is to have it "go." 
 
 I was travelling with a Glasgow minister, 
 precise in his orthodoxy. We were on a train, 
 and he said, "Moody, we've been trying your 
 American way of having an inquiry meeting, 
 and it doesn't work in Scotland." "But," I 
 replied, "the best inquiry meetings I've had, 
 have been in Scotland." My words didn't 
 work with that pastor. He told me he had had 
 a minister come over from Edinburgh, and he 
 said: "We thought we would try it, but we 
 didn't get an inquirer." I'll tell you how he 
 did it. He had his Edinburgh friend, a mighty 
 speaker, preach a powerful sermon, and he made 
 a deep impression, and the whole audience was 
 moved. I've no doubt of it. When he had 
 finished the sermon, he got up and said: "Eh, 
 if there's anybody concerned about his soul, he'd 
 better," etc., etc., "your Edinburgh friend w T ill 
 meet you in the Session Room." He had a 
 great, big "IF" and fired it off before the 
 people, and he gave the audience the impres- 
 sion that he didn't expect anybody, and it 
 
 [83] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 would have taken an earthquake to have got 
 the cool-headed Scotchmen to walk up. I 
 said, "That's just what made the failure." 
 
 The Scotchman asked, "How would you have 
 done it?" "I'll tell you, " I replied; "I would 
 have sprung up and said: 'Now, if any of 
 you have got to go out, you can go quietly; 
 but I would have put the 'IF 5 in such a way 
 that would show I didn't expect anybody to 
 act on my permission. Perhaps there wouldn't 
 have been a soul that would have left. Then I 
 would say: 'All you who are not Christians, 
 just come in here, and we'll have a meeting by 
 ourselves, and all the Christians stay out here 
 and pray.'" "Well," said the Scotchman, "I 
 don't think that would work." It has worked 
 right along for twenty-five years, and it is 
 working. It worked very well in Scotland. It 
 makes all the difference in the world where you 
 put the "IF." 
 
 When Mr. Aitken was working among the 
 Episcopalians, the Presbyterians had a meeting 
 in their own church, and a very able man 
 preached as he had never preached before for 
 thirty years. The Spirit of the Lord came back 
 upon him, and there was a hush of attention 
 upon the audience, and one of the Elders said: 
 "Now look here, Doctor; instead of pronounc- 
 ing the benediction, why not do as the Episco- 
 
 [84] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 palians do — have an after meeting?" He said, 
 "We Presbyterians never liked that kind of a 
 meeting." "But they get hold of the people, 
 and why shouldn't we? They are as conserva- 
 tive as we Presbyterians, and they have inquiry 
 meetings down at Trinity and St. George's, and 
 if the Episcopalians do it, why shouldn't we?" 
 "I'll try it, but there won't any one come. 
 But, I'll try it." 
 
 The next time he said, "If there's any one 
 who is concerned about his soul and will meet 
 the Session in the Session Room, they will be 
 glad to see him." There wasn't a soul went in. 
 "I tried your plan," he said, "but you see it 
 didn't w r ork. I didn't expect anything. You 
 might just as well have asked them to go before 
 a Justice of the Peace." 
 
 I remember that I went before an Examining 
 Committee in Doctor Kirk's church. I was 
 scared out of my w 7 its at the thought of going 
 before that body of great men to be examined 
 — about theology! If I hadn't been awakened, 
 I wouldn't have gone. I had been converted, 
 and I got in. Though they kept me out as long 
 as they could, I'm still there. They haven't 
 got me out yet. If you want to get hold of 
 people, you must make it very easy, social like. 
 Break up this stiffness and get at the people. 
 
 A minister once said: "How shall we have an 
 
 [85] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 inquiry meeting in the same room where we 
 preach ?" It makes no difference. Have it in 
 the chapel, or downstairs, or right in the room. 
 It makes no difference. The minister should 
 know all his people. Then, if there are people 
 there who are not Christians, and he gets con- 
 verts, he is to "inquire" with them. The way 
 to manage an after meeting is like this: Make 
 the first service short, so that men w T ill not 
 look at their watches. If I get through sooner 
 than they expect, they will say, "Dear me, I 
 didn't believe he would be through in a half 
 hour," and they will stay. 
 
 Now, we are going to have a meeting of per- 
 haps twenty -five or thirty minutes. And if I 
 preached twenty -five minutes, I would say: "I'd 
 like to have you all stay." I'm going to put the 
 Word of Life plainly. I have tried Carnegie Hall 
 Sunday nights. I've been there since the first of 
 November, every Sunday night, and we get "the 
 Way" before them plainer than in the first ser- 
 mon, with the workers all around. They are 
 upstairs and downstairs, and they go to the 
 strange people and talk with them. I have quiet 
 singing, "Just as I am, without one plea," or, "I 
 hear Thy welcome voice." All over the house I 
 move about. I am in personal contact with those 
 I want. We get the names and follow the people 
 up; next you hear of conversions. 
 
 [86] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 I heard of eight who came forward and joined 
 one church. I believe that could be done all 
 over this city. I believe we shall find inquirers, 
 if we will make up our minds to try. I believe 
 there's a greater awakening among the uncon- 
 verted than among the church-members; that's 
 my honest opinion. I am amazed to learn how 
 the people search the newspapers for reports of 
 our meetings. I got a letter from San Francisco 
 recently, telling about the reading of the work 
 in the newspapers. Let them preach against 
 it, and preach against it! One man says I will 
 drive people away from the Bible, if I insist 
 upon the old doctrines. Well, I've never driven 
 a man aw T ay on account of that, for he was 
 driven away before. Some people talk about 
 "backsliding," but they were people who never 
 went upward. 
 
 Let us get back to the subject. What we 
 want is to get a personal interest. Here is an 
 incident of one of our young men in Chicago. 
 We went out, in Chicago, from house to house, 
 and from street to street, to get hold of people, 
 and I took one of the colporteur's books, a sort 
 of letter of introduction, that I might have an 
 excuse to speak to this man. He protested that 
 he didn't want the book. But I wanted to talk 
 with him about his soul. The man got inter- 
 ested and bought the book. He was five miles 
 
 [87] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 away from our meetings; but he came that five 
 miles to tell that he and his wife were converted, 
 and he wanted more books, that others might 
 enjoy his experience. There's no doubt about 
 reaching the people if the right way is taken. 
 
 Let us come down to personal work. I know 
 that there's a class of people who tell you that 
 these after meetings do harm. The minister 
 has made an impression; he has sowed the seed, 
 and you don't want to disturb it. My friends, 
 listen! When you sow your seed, if you know 
 about farming, you know the farmer must har- 
 row it in and brush it in. These are meetings 
 to "harrow it in." These solemn impressions 
 that the minister makes are weeded out in- 
 side of twenty-four hours, if you don't follow 
 them up. 
 
 Another thing: Ministers make a mistake if 
 they don't get to work. If personal work is not 
 used, the people will go away to whist parties, 
 dancing parties, progressive euchre, and to 
 things of that sort. Lord Overton was brought 
 up with wine on his table and Scotch whiskey, 
 brought right up with it, and he told me how he 
 gave it up. He said he was trying to lead a 
 young man, in his position in life, to Christ, 
 and he knew that the only hope for this young 
 man was his giving up the practice of liquor 
 drinking. He said: "I was so afraid he would 
 
 [88] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 talk with me and ask me if I didn't drink. He 
 did do that very thing, and I said: 'I won't 
 drink again." And now Lord Overton will not 
 touch drink. Why? Because he wanted to be 
 of use to God. Since I have been trying to lead 
 men to Christ, if I find anything in my life that 
 hinders my usefulness, I give it up. 
 
 I believe if you will only get the ministers to 
 stir the church-members to work, you will have 
 success in the work. If you don't, then Satan 
 will. If a minister has twenty, thirty or forty 
 Christian men and women scattered through 
 the audience, and they go to people they know, 
 who are not Christians, I tell you there'll be 
 accessions to the church every communion, 
 right along. 
 
 Now you will say: "Tell us how to do it." 
 I have had people ask me how to do it. You 
 take an infidel, or a man who doesn't believe 
 in the Divinity of Christ. Listen! You can't 
 lay down rules. Of all of the people that I have 
 talked to, I don't know that I have talked to 
 two in just the same way in my life. I never 
 tell a man my experience. Why? A man is 
 awakened, and if I tell a man my experience, 
 he will begin to look for my experience right 
 away, and he will never have it. A man will say: 
 "I was converted the same way St. Paul was." 
 I don't believe it- God never repeats himself. 
 
 [89] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 No two people were ever converted in the 
 same way in all the history of the world. No 
 two people look alike. Now, if we wanted to 
 make people look alike, and walk alike, we 
 would make moulds, and if they didn't fit 
 them, we would break their bones, every bone 
 in their bodies. It would be awfully monoto- 
 nous, wouldn't it, if all looked alike and 
 talked alike? 
 
 Men say if a man isn't converted suddenly, 
 "It is all nonsense." Sometimes men are con- 
 verted suddenly; but at other times it's as the 
 morning sunrise. You can't tell just when the 
 light began to dispel the darkness. There are 
 no two cases exactly alike. Suppose men asked 
 Bartimeus how he got his sight. Bartimeus 
 would say: "He didn't send me to any pool; 
 he filled my eyes with mud." "Why," they 
 say; "we never heard of such a thing." "Yes, 
 he just spoke and I was cured." No two were 
 converted alike. Take Nicodemus and the 
 woman at the well. It would have been a rank 
 poison to have given Nicodemus what Christ 
 gave that woman, or the woman what he gave 
 Nicodemus. What may be good medicine for 
 one may be poison for another. Nicodemus 
 needed a different treatment from the woman 
 at the well. Take Paul, the persecutor, and 
 take Matthew, the publican. You've got to 
 
 [90] 
 
DEAL WITH INQUIRERS 
 
 deal with those two men altogether differently. 
 Or, take the publican and the Pharisee. Take 
 the two sons in the Fifteenth of Luke, the elder 
 brother and the other brother, and you can't 
 deal with the two men alike. Take the two men 
 in the parable — the one who said he would go, 
 and didn't, and the other who repented and 
 went. Jacob and Esau were different. You 
 can't lay down rules. If a man is in the Spirit 
 of God, and knows God, and knows how to 
 "divide the Word," and is all right, God will 
 teach him in that hour what to say. 
 
 Now I want to say to the workers : You have 
 a good opportunity to work. I was at Faneuil 
 Hall, Friday, and I've not seen anything in 
 America for years that so cheered me. I be- 
 lieve there were a hundred men in that hall 
 who might have been led to the light. We are 
 praying for the Call of God. Go forward! 
 Now, if you want a jewel to sparkle in the 
 Saviour's crown, come down and work. The 
 time has come for personal work, and if you are 
 ready, God is ready. You talk about the "fa- 
 vored time to favor Zion. " God's time is NOW. 
 Let us take things at flood tide. Workers with 
 God! I thank God I'm in the fight and the 
 battle is on! 
 
 [91] 
 
THE S®UL WINNER* 
 
 ** And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, 
 some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting 
 contempt: and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of 
 the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the 
 stars forever and ever. 9 ' Daniel xii. 2, 3. 
 
 THE Twelfth Chapter of the Prophecy of 
 Daniel, the second and third verses. "And 
 many of them that sleep in the dust of the 
 earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and 
 some to shame and everlasting contempt: and 
 they that be wise shall shine as the brightness 
 of the firmament; and they that turn many to 
 righteousness, as the stars forever and ever." 
 Let me read that third verse again. 
 
 Now, mark you, these are not the words of 
 some hot-headed Evangelist, the words of some 
 young man in the flush of youth, but they are 
 the words of an old statesman who stood as 
 high in his day as Bismarck ever stood in Ger- 
 many, or Gladstone in England, or any states- 
 man that we have ever had in this country. 
 
 In the evening of his life this is the testimony 
 of that grand and noble character — Daniel. 
 Fifty years before, he had been taken as a cap- 
 
 * Delivered in Boston, January 28, 1897, in Tremont Temple. 
 
 [92] 
 
THE SOUL WINNER 
 
 tive in Jerusalem and led down by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar into Babylon. If some one had predicted 
 that this young man was going to outrank 
 Nebuchadnezzar and surpass Darius or Bel- 
 shazzar, he would have been considered a 
 lunatic. And yet, we find that was what 
 happened. This man outlived all the men of 
 his day. I don't know that we should have 
 known anything about Nebuchadnezzar, Bel- 
 shazzar, Darius, or Cyrus, if they hadn't been 
 connected with this man. 
 
 People talk about "hard roads." That man 
 had a harder road than any one in this day ever 
 thought of — taken as a captive into a nation 
 of idolaters whose language he didn't under- 
 stand, and whose people looked down on the 
 Jews with greater contempt than on any other 
 nation under the sun. Despite all the opposi- 
 tion and obstacles, the captive Daniel rose and 
 shone brighter than almost any other man on 
 the pages of history; outshone any man of the 
 five hundred years before him or of the five 
 hundred years after him; and he has been 
 growing for two thousand five hundred years, 
 and still he shines, and will shine on. If he 
 shines so brightly down here in this dark world, 
 how much brighter must he shine in that world 
 to which he has gone! "They that be wise 
 shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; 
 
 [93] 
 
THE SOUL WINNER 
 
 and they that turn many to righteousness, as 
 the stars forever and ever." 
 
 4/ Now, the fact is all men like to shine, and the 
 quicker you find that out, the better. Business 
 men — all the business men here in Boston are 
 struggling to get at the head. A man says: 
 "If I can stand at the head of the commercial 
 world, I shall be satisfied." There is a great 
 struggle going on. Go to Harvard, and you 
 will find the men there interested in their pro- 
 fessions, each wanting to stand at the head. 
 These reporters — every one of them — want 
 to excel, and every newspaper wants to beat 
 the other; every soldier wants to rise to the 
 head of the army, where he is going "to shine." 
 All our statesmen are anxious to be at the head; 
 they want to get to the White House. And the 
 mother, she has a boy at school, and if he gets 
 to the head of his class, she manages to let 
 everybody know it. If he is valedictorian, she 
 will let it be known. You all want to be known. 
 
 w You all want to shine. 
 
 Now, here Daniel tells us who are going to 
 shine; and you know there is no fiction about 
 it. There's nothing said about the millionaires 
 going to shine. I suppose they had millionaires 
 down there in Babylon; they had the great of 
 the nations of the earth, and the wealth of the 
 earth flowed into Babylon; and there were 
 
 [94] 
 
THE SOUL WINNER 
 
 many who built up families; but we don't 
 know. They don't shine. They may glitter 
 for a short time, but it doesn't last. 
 
 We are not told that the business men are 
 going to shine forever and ever. Daniel didn't 
 tell us that the politicians and statesmen are 
 going to shine forever, and I think he was a 
 statesman who stood as high as anybody of that 
 land. But he didn't shine as a statesman. 
 " They that be wise shall shine.' 99 That's what he 
 says. Oh, hear it! "They that turn many to 
 righteousness." "He that winneth souls is 
 wise." That's the teaching of Scripture. Very 
 few men can get at the head of an army. Very 
 few can stand very high in the navy or in busi- 
 ness. Nearly seventy per cent, of those going 
 into business fail. Look at the failures all around 
 you ! How few pull through ! " He that winneth 
 souls is wise." The fact is that the glory of this 
 world is transient. It passes away. 
 
 I was in Paris in '67. When Napoleon III 
 passed through the streets of that city the peo- 
 ple went wild. It was the Exposition year, and 
 everybody was stretching his neck to get a 
 sight of Napoleon III. Those were the days 
 in the history of Napoleon when he wanted to 
 shine. I remember, one day when I was at the 
 Exposition, there was the Prince Imperial, and 
 I thought the people had all gone mad. They 
 
 [95] 
 
THE SOUL WINNER 
 
 shouted — and the noise was terrific — because 
 the Prince Imperial had come in. Four years 
 after that, Napoleon was hurled from his throne, 
 and had to flee to England, where he died in 
 exile; and a little coffin, a small coffin, held all of 
 him who was once so great. They haven't been 
 willing to let his body go back to France; and 
 the Prince Imperial went to his death outside 
 of France. The glory of this world is transient; 
 and how soon it passed away! 
 
 My dear friends, let us be wise and live forever. 
 "He that winneth souls is wise." That is true 
 wisdom. The man who makes this world bet- 
 ter is going to live forever, and the man who 
 lives a mean, selfish life — he may shine for a 
 little while down here, but after all he is missing 
 that which is sweet and beautiful, and he will 
 soon be forgotten. The names of many men 
 are forgot about as soon as they are laid in the 
 grave. I would stir you up this day to go out 
 into this dark world and win some one else. Oh, 
 if you succeed in winning one soul, your life 
 won't be a vain one! I want a monument. 
 These monuments of brass and stone don't 
 amount to anything. They will crumble. But 
 if you win and save ten, a hundred, a thousand, 
 ten thousand, see how the stream goes on 
 deepening and widening forever! That is the 
 privilege of every soul here today. 
 
 [96] 
 
THE SOUL WINNER 
 
 I remember when I was a young man I saw 
 two pictures. One was of a person who was 
 drowning; the person had come out of the water 
 to a cross on a rock, to which the figure clung 
 with both arms. The other was the picture of 
 a person coming out of the water, out of the 
 jaws of death, and reaching the arm down 
 to get hold of some one else. The first picture 
 I didn't want: it told of self; the other I liked, 
 as it spoke of the rescue of a fellow being. 
 There's a lot of that kind of religion. "Let the 
 world go; I've got my arms around the Cross!" 
 O man! If you are saved, haste to the rescue! 
 
 I was up in Minnesota a few years ago, and 
 this blizzard today reminds me of it. There 
 was a man out there who got caught in one of 
 those blizzards, and a blizzard out there is a 
 blizzard! It rushes in from those great rolling 
 prairies, where the wind comes from the north 
 pole, and there's nothing to stop it. This man 
 got lost in the storm, and he was just ready to 
 sink down and die w^hen he saw a light in a log 
 cabin. Some one had thought: "There may 
 be one lost tonight who will need this"; and a 
 light was placed in the cabin window. He got 
 out of the storm, and since then he has become 
 a wealthy man, and has bought a farm where 
 that log cabin stood. He built another dwell- 
 ing and put a light-house up on the top. In 
 
 [97] 
 
THE SOUL WINNER 
 
 this a lamp is kept burning every night in the 
 hope that some lost one may see it and be guided 
 to safety. I like that; don't you? Well, go 
 and light up some wanderer in life's storm! If 
 some one has told you the Way into the Kingdom 
 of God, hasten to tell somebody else. Do you 
 know how this world is to be saved? If you 
 meet a man in trouble, take his hand and 
 tell him how you found peace. Be a preacher! 
 Instead of a few, we want a thousand. 
 
 I used to have a rule that proved a wonderful 
 help to me: it was never to let a day pass with- 
 out speaking to somebody about his eternal wel- 
 fare, and if I didn't do any good to anybody 
 else, it kept me warm. It was a great exercise 
 for me, and it kept my interest in others, my 
 sympathies alive. 
 
 I was living in Chicago. At ten o'clock one 
 night I recalled that that day I hadn't said 
 anything to anybody about the Kingdom of 
 God. I walked out and met a man standing by 
 a lamp-post. I said: "Are you a Christian?" 
 The man in his anger was going to strike me. 
 He told me it was none of my business. I 
 wasn't aware that the man knew me, so I passed 
 on. This man went to a friend of mine, a 
 mutual friend, and said: "Do you know, that 
 man Moody is doing more harm than any other 
 man in Chicago is doing good? I was standing 
 
 [98] 
 
THE SOUL WINNER 
 
 up against a lamp-post, and he talked to me 
 about my soul." My friend came to me and 
 said: "You are too zealous. You do more 
 harm than good. There's such a thing as 
 having too much zeal." 
 
 Have zeal, if it is good zeal. I would rather 
 have zeal without knowledge than knowledge 
 without zeal. Don't let these conservative men 
 scare you out of your wits. Zeal without knowl- 
 edge! I pity those men who have great knowl- 
 edge and no fire back of it. If you've got your 
 head full of knowledge, get up and go. Tell a 
 man in this storm that you are going to talk 
 to him about his soul. You couldn't have a 
 better day. I am not out of my head by a 
 good deal. I wasn't out of my head when I 
 spoke to that man at ten o'clock at night. My 
 friend labored with me; he thanked God he 
 never followed me. But if you are going to 
 take what this man says, or consider how that 
 man feels, you'll never be great for the cause of 
 Christ. Keep going ahead. Every day do a 
 little something for the cause of God. 
 
 Some one has described this world as being 
 made up of two great mountains, the one a 
 mountain of sorrow and wretchedness, and the 
 other one of delight. If you can take a little 
 off the mountain of sorrow and wretchedness, 
 it enlarges the other. 
 
 [99] 
 
THE SOUL WINNER 
 
 Well, about three months from the day I 
 have been telling you about — it was just before 
 I was married — I was sleeping in the rooms of 
 the Y. M. C. A. — I was sexton, janitor, su- 
 perintendent, president, and director, all there 
 was to it officially — one bleak winter morning 
 I heard someone knocking at the door. I 
 awoke and called out: "Who's there?" "A 
 stranger." "What do you want?" "I want 
 to talk with you about my soul." I opened the 
 door, and there stood a man shaking all over. 
 I imagined he had delirium tremens. I was 
 after these drinking men, as Murphy is now. 
 I didn't know but that he was drunk. He 
 asked: "Do you remember stopping a man 
 down on Lake street about ten o'clock one 
 stormy night, and he got angry and cursed you? ' ' 
 I told him I remembered that. "I am that 
 man," he said, "and for three months I haven't 
 had any peace. I have come to tell you that 
 I want to know what to do to become a Chris- 
 tian. Can't I do something for Christ?" He 
 wanted to know how he might work for Christ. 
 I asked him over to my own Sabbath School, 
 and he went to work with a class of rough boys. 
 That man as a Christian enlisted in the army 
 and was cut down in battle. 
 
 I believe there are hundreds of men who can 
 be saved in Boston, thousands of them, if we 
 
 [100] 
 
THE SOUL WINNER 
 
 could get right at them. Don't wait! Take 
 them in cold blood. I hear about my being 
 over-zealous. I will talk to men on the street, 
 nor wait to be introduced. People think you 
 must get them out to special meetings, and have 
 them rise up. I don't believe that many in 
 this audience will have a better chance to do 
 work in Boston than today. Why, everybody 
 is talking about the question of Salvation. 
 Some talking against the meetings, and some 
 talking for them! Never mind the meetings. 
 Go to them and tell them about seeking God. 
 "They that be wise shall shine as the stars for- 
 ever and ever." Would to God I could think 
 of something that will stir you up, set you all 
 on fire ! I like to see a man on fire, I must con- 
 fess. I am not afraid of it. I like this holy 
 fire. It is a good thing — do you know it — 
 to catch fire. You've got to have fire to set fire 
 with. You've got to have life to propagate life. 
 I want fire. May God set us on fire, that we 
 may illuminate this city. 
 
 When I first went West and got into those 
 log school houses, I was a drummer. I used to 
 speak, if I got a chance, for Christ. On one 
 occasion a man asked me: "Will you speak 
 again this evening?" Then he added: "My 
 young brother from Chicago is passing through 
 our town, and he has promised to speak here 
 
 [101] 
 
THE SOUL WINNER 
 
 tonight, at early candle-light." That's the way 
 he gave it out, you know. We always used to 
 go around a little ahead of time, and a man 
 would turn up with an old, dingy lantern he 
 had to feed his cattle with, and he would stick 
 it up on a bench to light the school house. I 
 hadn't a light, but they brought their light. 
 Then a woman would come with a lamp filled 
 with sperm oil, and she would bring it out from 
 under her shawl, and she would put it on a school 
 bench, and then another a tallow dip, a candle, 
 and how it would splutter! And by the time 
 we got the old school house filled, we had plenty 
 of light. If everybody had a little light, it 
 would light it. That man up in the gallery 
 says "Amen." I hope he has got his light lit. 
 If you can't be a light-house, you can light up 
 your tallow dip. They burned up Portland with 
 a fire-cracker. Do what you can! 
 
 I remember, speaking about "being on fire," 
 the first time I went to Europe in '67. They 
 said: "The Honorable G. H. Stuart is to be at 
 Edinburgh at the General Assembly; Dr. Duff 
 is to speak on foreign missions. If he makes 
 a speech you can't afford to miss it." I got that 
 speech. I went over from London to Edin- 
 burgh, four hundred miles, and I didn't have 
 much money either, but I spent one week there 
 — because at that time the city was warm for 
 
 [102] 
 
THE SOUL WINNER 
 
 God. I hoped to be fired up. If you have a 
 man that has fire, get near to him. In that 
 speech in '67, Dr. Duff stood for one hour and a 
 half and plead with the General Assembly of 
 the Free Church of Scotland, made up of the 
 leading ministers of that country, six or eight 
 hundred men and the finest men in the land. 
 For an hour and a half he plead for India, with 
 all the power God gave him. He was trying to 
 stir up Scotland, and at last he fainted away, 
 and they carried him out into the vestibule, and 
 they worked over him. When he came to he 
 said: "Where am I?" They said, "In the 
 Assembly Hall." : 'Yes, I remember. I was 
 making a plea for India. Yes. I didn't quite 
 finish my speech. Take me back, and let me 
 finish my speech!" One said, "Dr. Duff, if you 
 go back, you do it at the peril of your life. I 
 beg you, let me take you home in my carriage." 
 The Doctor said, "The General Assembly 
 breaks up tonight, and it is my last opportunity. 
 Take me back and let me finish my speech! 
 I'll die if I don't." 
 
 I like that kind of enthusiasm. I pray God 
 to let me keep my enthusiasm until He takes me 
 home. The Hon. George H. Stuart said, "Of 
 all scenes, I never saw anything like that." 
 Dr. Duff had a great, long beard and white hair, 
 and he was so weak that he had to have two 
 
 [103] 
 
THE SOUL WINNER 
 
 men help him up on the platform, and when the 
 Elders saw him, they rose and they raised a 
 long plaudit, and were in tears, and the old 
 veteran stood there and said: 
 
 "Mr. Moderator! Is it true that Scotland has 
 no more sons to give to India? When Queen 
 Victoria wants men to go there, there are hun- 
 dreds of men who want to go, are anxious to go, 
 and parents buy commissions, and give money 
 to get their sons into the army of India; and here 
 is the Lord Jesus calling for volunteers, money 
 in the bank and no men! Fathers and mothers 
 say they don't want their sons exposed to the 
 diseases of India, and are afraid they will lose 
 them. Now, Mr. Moderator, if it is true that 
 Scotland has no more sons to give to India, if 
 you will announce it here tonight, and though 
 I have come back in my old age to die with my 
 family, and with a shattered constitution — if 
 it is true that Scotland has no more sons, I will 
 pack up tomorrow and be off to the shores of 
 the Ganges and let the people of India know 
 that there is one poor old Scotchman who is 
 ready to die for them." 
 
 That's what I call fire and enthusiasm. My 
 friends, I would today that I could fire you up 
 to go out and win people to Christ. What an 
 opportunity you have! What a day this is for 
 Boston! It is not often the breath of God 
 
 [104] 
 
THE SOUL WINNER 
 
 comes upon a city like Boston. People are 
 thinking. Men in their bed-chambers are think- 
 ing; they lie down at night and think, and get 
 up in the morning and think; and now it is 
 the time to point them to Jesus Christ. 
 
 It is said of Napoleon I that after one of 
 his great battles, he had some medals struck 
 off giving an account of the battle on one side, 
 and on the other side these words: "I was 
 there." My friends, the battle of life will soon 
 be over. The conflict here with many of us 
 will soon be over, and it will be a great thing 
 w T hen the struggle is over to say: "I was there." 
 The old veterans would take out those medals 
 and show them, and say, "I was there." 
 Let us go into the holy battle; let us haste to 
 the rescue, and let every one of us remember 
 that "They that be wise shall shine as the sun 
 in the firmament; and they that win many to 
 righteousness, as the stars forever and ever." 
 You can shine forever, if you will. 
 
 [105] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST* 
 
 "Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they 
 have slain them which showed before the coming of the Just 
 One, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers.' 9 
 Acts vii. 52. 
 
 THERE are ten addresses in the Book of Acts. 
 First, Peter preached on the Day of Pente- 
 cost; then in the Temple, the time the man 
 was healed and five thousand converted. The 
 next, when Peter and John were arrested and 
 brought before the Sanhedrin, and Peter said, 
 "There's no other Name given under heaven 
 whereby ye must be saved." Fourth, when all 
 the apostles were arrested and brought before 
 the same Council. The Sanhedrin had given 
 them instructions not to preach any more in His 
 Name; but they have gone out and continued to 
 preach in His Name. They were brought before 
 the Council. See the twenty-eighth verse of the 
 Fifth Chapter. "Did not we strictly command 
 you that you should not teach in this name, and 
 behold ye have filled Jerusalem with your 
 doctrines." 
 
 Now it was but a few days since Christ had 
 ascended to glory, and these very men, men that 
 
 * Delivered in Tremont Temple, February 2, 1898. 
 
 [106] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 hadn't any reputation, men without note, and 
 without titles to their names, unlettered men, 
 had filled all Jerusalem with their doctrines. It 
 shows what can be brought about when men 
 begin to testify for God, and speak out. "Then 
 Peter and the other apostles answered and said, 
 We ought to obey God rather than you." Now, 
 there is a mighty principle told right there. 
 When the laws of man conflict with the law of 
 God, we have no choice; we are to go against the 
 laws of man. If these great corporations insist 
 upon making laws that we are to do unnecessary 
 work on the Sabbath, we are to oppose them, and 
 fight to the bitter end. What we want is men, 
 men that stem the current of an ungodly world. 
 
 Any man or any woman can go with the world. 
 We need men who can oppose the world if need 
 be. "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, 
 whom ye slew and hanged on a tree." It made 
 no difference where they went, or what their 
 opposition — they always brought in the fact 
 that Christ died. They were going to get the 
 Gospel before the Council, and her chief men in 
 Jerusalem were to hear the fact that Jesus Christ 
 was the God of Glory, "Him hath God exalted 
 with His right hand to be a Prince and a 
 Saviour." 
 
 LISTEN! "And we are his witnesses." There 
 it is again, and every time they are arrested 
 
 [107] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 they bring in the fact that they are witnesses for 
 Christ. They don't say, " We are his preachers/ 5 
 or orators, but "we are His witnesses, and stand 
 to testify that Christ died and rose again, and 
 has gone up on high." 
 
 Some one tells us that it is not the Death of 
 Christ — they preach his Death, Resurrection 
 and Ascension, and they lay emphasis upon the 
 latter. In the days of the Exodus, God didn't 
 say to Moses, "Tie a live lamb upon the door- 
 posts." He said, "When I see the blood, I will 
 pass over." It was Death that made the Israel- 
 ites safe away back there in Goshen. Every 
 man having the blood on his door lintels was as 
 safe as if he walked the heavenly streets. The 
 innocent suffer for the guilty. The lamb that 
 was slain, away back there in Abel's day, was to 
 atone for sin. That's the teaching of Scripture. 
 "We are witnesses of these things." 
 
 You very often hear people pray that they may 
 have power, Holy Ghost power, and keep on 
 praying. There are some people I have heard 
 who prayed and were not answered. Why? 
 It's because they were not willing to obey the 
 Holy Ghost. If a man is willing to confess his 
 sins and turn from them, and go right out and 
 set to work, God is willing to meet him. You 
 remember when Elijah was called up, Elisha 
 wanted to receive a double portion of the Spirit, 
 
 [108] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 and he got a double portion of the Spirit. He 
 didn't say, "I wish I had it. He promised it, 
 but I don't know if the promise is to be fulfilled." 
 When he got to Jordan he smote it. He went out 
 by faith on the promise, If we confess our sins, 
 God is faithful, just, to cleanse us from our sins. 
 Now if you have attained that blessing, go right 
 to work for God. You will be blessed in the 
 work. I don't believe you can go anywhere and 
 fold your arms and say, "I hope God will fill me 
 with His Spirit, and endue me with power." 
 You'll never get the power till you rise and work 
 for it. 
 
 I am back here to stir you up, and to get you 
 to go to work, and you'll be blest in the very 
 effort of doing something for others, for some- 
 body else. If you want your captivity turned 
 to freedom, go to work. Power is for service. 
 Then begin right off, and go to work. There's 
 work for all. There's no difficulty. I don't 
 care what your difference is in position. The 
 proud may look down on you, and sneer. Never 
 mind. 
 
 Another famous sermon. That's the longest 
 in the whole book and preached, not by a man 
 that had a title to his name, but just an ordinary 
 church-member, a deacon. There was much 
 time taken up looking after the temporal things 
 by the apostles, and they said, "We must have 
 
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WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 some deacons, full of faith and the Holy Ghost." 
 It would be a nice thing to pick out a man full 
 of faith and the Holy Ghost; not because he 
 has money, or political power, or because he's 
 got some influence that perhaps is not of the 
 very best kind, or has the very best kind of 
 influence, if he's put into office. Would to God 
 we could keep close to Him, and could elect men 
 full of faith and of the Holy Ghost! Get a 
 minister full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and 
 a Board of like character, and that church, 
 wherever it is, will be a great beacon light. 
 But if you have a minister full of faith and the 
 Holy Ghost, and a lot of elders playing cards, 
 and horse-racing, you haven't much power. 
 
 This world is in revolt against God, and you 
 must bring it back. And you could if men 
 were full of the Holy Ghost. Now, the apostles 
 selected some deacons of that kind. They found 
 a young man, and his name was Deacon Stephen. 
 He began to preach, and with so much power 
 that the whole city was moved by him. I wish 
 we could get back to that. There are those who 
 cannot be reached by the faith of the ministers. 
 
 When our War broke out, we had a little 
 handful of about twenty-five thousand regular 
 soldiers. What was that to put down the Con- 
 federacy? We had to call out volunteers, and 
 with the regulars they put down the Confed- 
 
 [110] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 eracy. And what we want today is the regular, 
 ordinary ministers and also the laymen working 
 together. Just now we want a thousand Steph- 
 ens. Do you know, I don't believe our cities are 
 going to be evangelized until we have laymen in 
 to work. Let them preach! Somebody will 
 complain because they haven't been ordained, 
 and haven't "Reverend" attached to their 
 names. "Reverend and Holy shall be called the 
 name of God." Let them go on without the 
 Reverend; go on without D.D. and LL.D., and 
 do the work. All we ask is that they shall 
 have the gift, the heart to reach the common 
 people. There are the masses, more than forty 
 million of people in this country who don't go 
 to church. How shall they be reached? Let 
 us get some more Stephens. 
 
 In the old country a man said he hadn't 
 "Orders." Orders from whom? I'm not going 
 to have a man lay hands on me who can't control 
 his temper. But when a man is full of faith 
 and of the Holy Ghost, let them lay hands on 
 him as they did on Stephen. How did this lay- 
 man preach? He began with, "Brethren and 
 Fathers." He then talked about Abraham and 
 about Moses, and he came along down the 
 straight, clear way; there's not a boy in Sunday 
 School but could have done as Stephen did. It 
 was like a Sunday School scholar to tell the 
 
 [in] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 history of Israel. The people listened. "The 
 God of our fathers." And Stephen talked of 
 Abraham and Moses and of the prophets; and 
 when he got along towards their own days, he 
 began to talk about their crucifying Christ; 
 then they began to squirm. You can stand up 
 before an audience like this, and talk about 
 Abraham and the failings of the patriarchs, and 
 they like it; and they like to have a man march- 
 ing up and down the country talking about "The 
 Mistakes of Moses, " but when you talk about 
 their mistakes, they get mad, and when you talk 
 about the sins of the present day, they don't 
 like it. 
 
 A young man took a church in Scotland, 
 where there had been an old minister for fifty 
 years. That church had gone to sleep. This 
 young man began to speak of modern sins and 
 the "old bottle." And they took him to one 
 side, and said: "If you expect to hold this posi- 
 tion, and please this congregation, you must be 
 very careful not to bear down upon their sins. 
 Don't go any nearer than the olden days." 
 They'll stand it pretty well if you hit somebody 
 else, as you stand it well if I hit somebody else; 
 but if I hit you, you want to go. Herod liked 
 John the Baptist's preaching first rate. If you 
 had met Herod in those days, you would have 
 heard him say : " I don't like the man any better 
 
 [112] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 than I did." And when John said to Herod, 
 "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's 
 wife/' he didn't like it. "I'll never go to hear 
 that man again. He's too personal." Well, 
 it wasn't long before he took John's head off. 
 It's true today as in Herod's time. I can get 
 people so mad they'll walk out. Last Sun- 
 day I was in Ohio, and I talked about men 
 renting their houses for vile uses. I said to a 
 man, about another, "What's the matter with 
 that man? Why is he in that business?" The 
 man I addressed got up and went out. If 
 some of you get up and go out, we shall know 
 what it means. These men didn't go out, but 
 Stephen got down to them, and when he talked 
 about murdering Christ, they began to gnash 
 their teeth. Stephen had a shining face, and 
 for eighteen hundred years he has been known as 
 "the man with the shining face." Don't go 
 about with a frown or a snarl, but with a face 
 illuminated with the light of Heaven. God's 
 service is not tedious or hard; it is a joy 
 and delight to do His bidding and to work for 
 Him. 
 
 Stephen had a shining face, standing there 
 and bearing down on the sins of the Sanhedrin. 
 It was a good sermon, that preached by Stephen, 
 it was perfectly Scriptural. It would be a good 
 thing, if a speaker is to preach a good sermon, 
 
 [113] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 to preach one of the sermons preached back in 
 that olden time. 
 
 The fifty-second verse. " Which of the proph- 
 ets have not your fathers persecuted? and they 
 have slain them which showed before of the 
 coming of the Just One, of whom ye have been 
 now the betrayers and murderers. " 
 
 If you asked who the great men were in the 
 days of Noah, the answer wouldn't be "Noah. 55 
 He wasn't anybody when he lived. You ask in 
 the days of Moses who the great men were; 
 the answer would be Abraham, Noah, and Enoch, 
 somebody in the past. Coming along down, 
 and asking who in the days of Elijah was great; 
 was it Elijah? Not at all, it would have been 
 Moses and Aaron. And in the days of John 
 the Baptist it would have been Elijah and Moses 
 and those that have passed. But after a man 
 has been dead awhile the world begins to appre- 
 ciate him. Tradition has it that Isaiah while 
 alive was sawed asunder. Some of the best 
 men were put to death because the light where 
 they stood was so strong that it blinded the men 
 in the world. "And they have slain them which 
 showed before of the coming of the Just One, of 
 whom ye have been now the betrayers and mur- 
 derers: who have received the law by the dis- 
 position of angels, and have not kept it. 
 When they heard these things, they were cut 
 
 [114] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 to the heart, and they gnashed on him with 
 their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy 
 Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and 
 saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on 
 the right hand of God. And said, Behold, I 
 see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man 
 standing at the right hand of God." 
 
 You remember wlien Christ went up, he took 
 his seat at the right hand of God, and here was 
 the first martyr laying down his life for the Son 
 of God, and he "saw Christ standing at the right 
 hand of God." We only get one glimpse of 
 him. He was elected deacon, and he went 
 right to work. And see how much he accom- 
 plished! It's not the length of life, but how 
 you spend it. Methuselah lived a thousand 
 years, and we don't know that he did anything 
 worth wiiile. Look at Stephen — one sermon, 
 and how it has been preached and talked about 
 for centuries, and will be talked about as long 
 as the Church is to be on earth. And how much 
 is it thought of in the years past; how much 
 will be thought of it in the centuries to come. 
 
 Do you know that I firmly believe that we 
 have in Boston a thousand men that can preach 
 as well as could Stephen? There are hundreds 
 in Tremont Temple today who, if filled with the 
 Holy Ghost, could go out and preach as well as 
 Stephen. As I said before, I don't believe 
 
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WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 these great cities will be evangelized until the 
 laymen take up the work of the ministry. Now, 
 here are the theaters, and the music halls, and 
 the larger halls, why should they not be opened 
 Sunday after Sunday, and filled by laymen 
 speakers? Look at a judge who sits on the bench 
 and charges a jury, and who pronounces sentence 
 on the prisoner. If that same judge would 
 preach now and then, and try to save men from 
 going astray, wouldn't it be a good thing? We 
 should have a lot of Christian judges in America, 
 if they were but filled with the Holy Ghost. 
 Did you ever go into court and hear the lawyer 
 carry the court with him? Many of them are 
 Christian men. Now, suppose they should 
 preach; how much would be accomplished, if 
 we could get a Christian lawyer to be a witness 
 for the Son of God. How many merchants 
 there are here in Boston who would have influ- 
 ence if they preached to the masses. Some of 
 you smile. I think it's the most practical thing 
 in the world. I don't see how we are going to 
 evangelize these cities unless this is done. 
 
 In Liverpool, I went to the largest hall, and 
 I found the speaker was an intellectual broker. 
 He preached twice every Sunday. Many were 
 under conviction and many were converted. 
 When that man died, he had one of the largest 
 churches in Liverpool, and thousands on thou- 
 
 [116] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 sands of the men in Great Britain were converted 
 under his ministry. He worked every Sabbath, 
 and one night in the week he devoted to that 
 kind of work. Then there was another great 
 building that seated five thousand people, and 
 a layman spoke to five thousand people, and 
 they were converted by hundreds all around him, 
 and an immense amount of good was done. I 
 went to Manchester, and the largest hall was 
 packed twice every Sabbath by another broker 
 preacher. In London, I found men of the 
 nobility preaching in the theaters, and men were 
 being convinced and converted. I believe that 
 the theaters will yet be opened on the Sabbath, 
 and in a way that will win the people. I want 
 some Stephens to step out now and press for- 
 ward. Let a judge speak, and some will say: 
 "I don't think that's professional." Thank 
 God, some are stirring men now, and they work 
 for us, and for those men who can't work for 
 themselves. There's one lady in New York 
 City who has thirteen missionaries working to 
 evangelize that city. It is not only the Stephens, 
 but you men, but you women, every one of you, 
 who can work if you will. The field is open now 
 to any man or woman who has a heart for the 
 work. God can use them. 
 
 There was a Quaker lady who came into our 
 meetings in 1873, in the north of England, and 
 
 [117] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 God touched her heart and opened her eyes, and 
 she hired a great big hall at her own expense, 
 and sent to London and Liverpool and Man- 
 chester for workers, and entertained them and 
 fed them. She has done it since 1873. I met 
 her son in Minneapolis, and I asked him if his 
 mother was keeping up that work. "Doubt- 
 less," said he. Three thousand working men 
 were reached by that Quaker lady, and hundreds 
 and thousands were rescued by that woman's 
 doing something for the Master. I remember 
 in Birmingham there was a meeting like this, 
 and a lady sat there, who said: "Well, now, I 
 don't see why I can't do something. I have 
 means and I've no family, nor family ties, so I 
 can't see why I shouldn't be worth something 
 to somebody." She took a house; then she 
 hunted up her fallen sisters, and told them if 
 they would come around to her house — she didn't 
 call it a Place of Refuge — she would be very glad 
 to help them in any way she could. When they 
 came, she made the place as cheerful and cozy 
 as possible. She had pleasant readings for them; 
 she had a sewing machine, everything indeed to 
 take their minds off of their past lives. That 
 woman rescued four hundred of these fallen 
 sisters who were going to ruin, and she made 
 such an impression upon that town that when 
 she died, the Mayor and the Council said, "This 
 
 [118] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 work must not stop"; and they've kept that 
 work up ever since. That's one woman ! 
 
 When we think of Stephen and what one man 
 accomplished, we come here and pray God for 
 the Holy Ghost. Let us go out for work. 
 There's not a man or woman here, not one, that 
 loves Jesus Christ, if the record is clean and the 
 heart's all right, but can do good work. If you 
 can't open a hall, go out on the streets. When 
 I was in Edinburgh, they told me that one of the 
 worst places was in Cow Court, one of the dark- 
 est streets of Edinburgh. But, rain or shine, 
 Sundays and cloudy days, every night right 
 along for twenty-nine years, there has been a 
 religious meeting there. One man took it on 
 Monday, and another on Tuesday, and another 
 on Wednesday, and so on through the week. 
 I like the Scotch grit; there's no cessation in 
 the meetings. Just at a quarter to eight a man 
 came and backed himself up against a lamp-post. 
 In a few minutes he had a crowd; and then they 
 marched up to the building — it was a miserable 
 looking building. I had the pleasure of trying 
 to get the people of Edinburgh to put him up a 
 good building; but without this they have had 
 a meeting right along every Sunday for between 
 thirty and forty years. Some of the finest men 
 today in Scotland who are standing for the Son 
 of God were converted at Cow Gate near to 
 
 [119] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 that lamp-post. There are many of these lay- 
 men, not only willing to go there nights, but at 
 other times. Lord Overton, of Scotland, is one 
 of the best lay-speakers, a man of position and 
 wealth, and there isn't a week passes that he is 
 not speaking in some part of the United King- 
 dom. Not only in Glasgow, but all through 
 Scotland and England that man's influence is 
 felt. And so it can be today if the Christian 
 men and women will rise up and say: "I'll not 
 wait any longer for any Christian committee to 
 put me to work!" Oh, the power that's in this 
 hall today! You can be a Stephen, if you will. 
 You can speak as well as Stephen did, if you have 
 the Spirit. That's what we want. Somebody 
 who can stand and testify for Christ. 
 
 You notice that Stephen had a shining face. 
 They accused him of blaspheming Moses. The 
 late Dr. Andrew Bonar, in Northfield, said, 
 "I've noticed that the moment they accused 
 Stephen of blasphemy, he had that same shining 
 face that Moses had." Another thing about 
 Moses and Stephen is this: Everything about 
 Moses — his birth and life — is put forth like 
 a panorama; but when it comes to his death, 
 no man was a witness to that. It is all covered 
 up. But Stephen — we don't know where he 
 was born, or who his parents were, or where they 
 lived, but we know he preached one sermon, 
 
 [120] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 and there is an accurate account of his falling 
 asleep and being borne away by the weeping 
 church, and that there were great lamentations 
 over him. There's no funeral recorded that has 
 been so much spoken of as that of this man — 
 the man who lived so near heaven that he looked 
 in, and saw the Son of Man standing by the seat 
 of God. 
 
 Now, I must go on to the next sermon. It 
 is the last Peter ever preached; it is to the 
 Gentiles. Peter was the instrument of unlock- 
 ing the door to let the Gentiles in. Ten years 
 have passed. There's a meeting at Cesarea; 
 a Roman soldier has been brought under 
 conviction, and they send off thirty miles to 
 Joppa, to get a man to tell him what to do. Do 
 you want to know how to preach? Go and 
 read that sermon carefully and see what Peter 
 preached to that Roman soldier. He preached 
 to that Gentile as he did to the Jews. Some 
 people have an idea that you must have a differ- 
 ent Gospel for different nations. It's the same 
 old Gospel and the same power. I'll read one 
 or two verses. "We are witnesses of all things 
 which he did both in the land of the Jews, and 
 in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a 
 tree. Him God raised up the third day, and 
 showed him openly: not to all the people but 
 unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, 
 
 [121] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 who did eat and drink with him after he rose 
 from the dead. And he commanded us to 
 preach unto the people, and to testify that it is 
 he which was ordained of God to be the Judge 
 of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets 
 witness, that through his name whosoever believ- 
 eth in him shall receive remission of sins." 
 
 And God, without one minute's delay, put 
 His seal to that testimony, and every one in 
 that house was convicted and converted, and 
 was baptized right then and there. Salvation 
 came and swept them all into the Kingdom of 
 God. "We are witnesses that Christ died, 
 and rose for our justification, and sits at the 
 right hand of God." They didn't change the 
 Gospel every time they changed the audience, 
 or because they were going to preach to the 
 Gentiles. They preached the simple Gospel, 
 and God put His seal to it and God blessed 
 it. "And," he says, "the Holy Ghost fell on 
 them as on us at the beginning" — the same 
 results in Cesarea when he preached to the 
 Gentiles as in Jerusalem when he preached to 
 the Jews. 
 
 Now, is there a man in this hall who can 
 speak, that cannot preach the same sermon that 
 Peter preached? Let us get a few women to- 
 gether, and have a service and a Bible reading, 
 and tell them this very truth, and see if God 
 
 [122] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 won't bless your testimony. I believe if we had 
 our homes, our little halls, and our churches open 
 every night, that we should see a wonderful 
 change in these cities; and I don't believe we 
 are going to see it until we do. It is an abomi- 
 nable thing to see our churches open but twice 
 in the week, and all the brothels open all the 
 time. Now it is one thing for you to say "Amen" 
 here, and another to get up and change it. 
 You know I believe in the one man power. A 
 committee is a good thing. A committee at 
 your back is a good thing, a mighty good thing; 
 but a committee behind your back is bad. 
 
 Now, we come to another sermon, the sermon 
 of Paul. Paul was another witness. How did 
 he preach? The Thirteenth Chapter of the Acts, 
 twenty-ninth verse. " And when they had fulfilled 
 all that was written of him, they took him down 
 from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. But 
 God raised him from the dead." The leaders 
 change, but we have the same old Gospel. 
 "And he was seen of them many days which 
 came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, 
 who are his witnesses unto the people." He 
 could not say "We," but "Who" are His wit- 
 nesses. But he took their testimony, "And we 
 declare unto you glad tidings, how that the 
 promise which was made unto the fathers, God 
 hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in 
 
 [123] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 that he hath raised up Jesus again, as it is 
 also written in the second psalm, Thou art my 
 Son, this day have I begotten thee." 
 
 Do you know what kind of effect that had? 
 "Be it known unto you, men and brethren, that 
 through this man is preached unto you the 
 forgiveness of sins; and by him all that believe 
 are justified from all things, from which ye could 
 not be justified by the law of Moses. " 
 
 Now go down to the forty -fourth verse. "And 
 the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city 
 together to hear the word of God." It stirred 
 that tow^n up, didn't it? What's the preaching? 
 The same old Gospel that Peter preached. He 
 didn't change one bit. That's a fact. I've 
 not seen a man in any part of Christendom who 
 doesn't have reserve power in his ministry. 
 Drunkards straightened, gamblers giving up 
 their accursed business, the depraved turning 
 from their bad lives and becoming pure. 
 
 Why, do you know, they are trying in this 
 day to do away with miracles; and one of the 
 German philosophers has made the statement 
 that if you can get rid of the resurrection of the 
 dead and the conversion of Paul, they can sweep 
 all the miracles out of the New Testament. 
 One of them has made a discovery — he has 
 got over the conversion of Paul. Paul had a 
 sunstroke. Dr. Schauffier says, if a sunstroke 
 
 [124] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 can do such a good thing as that, it would be a 
 good thing to put the theological speakers out 
 in the sun! Paul had a sunstroke! Would to 
 God all had one — reporters and all ! There'd 
 be a difference, I know, a difference in what 
 follows. 
 
 That man Paul was a persecutor; that man 
 hated Christ and Christians. But when the 
 Holy Ghost came upon him, he preached the 
 same truths Peter did. It would be the same 
 thing now. That's what we want — the Holy 
 Ghost. Men and women; you, young men, 
 you wouldn't be worth a snap, if you are not 
 filled with the Spirit. You won't be worth 
 as much as a piece of brown paper if you 
 are not filled with the Holy Ghost. Paul had 
 the very best training, but what was he good 
 for until the Holy Ghost came upon him? 
 When the Spirit came upon him, he turned 
 Antioch upside down. That's the kind of a 
 man we want now; a man to turn this city 
 rightside up tomorrow. 
 
 Now, friends, I am talking facts, and you know 
 they are facts. You know of men who have 
 fished all night and caught nothing, because 
 they didn't cast the net on the right side of the 
 ship. I know of men who preached against me 
 twenty-five years ago. Where are they now? 
 Go and hunt them up! I'd like to have you 
 
 [125] 
 
WORKING FOR CHRIST 
 
 find them. You don't get afraid when you 
 take the man — Jesus Christ. No man with 
 the Holy Ghost has ever failed; I'll challenge 
 you to find a Heaven-sent man that ever failed. 
 When God sends a man there's no failure. 
 
 [126] 
 
TRUST* 
 
 "Leave thy fatherless children, I will 'preserve them alive: and 
 let thy widows trust in me." Jeremiah xlix. 11. 
 
 YOU will find the word "Trust" is used in 
 the Old Testament as a general thing 
 where the word "Believe" is used in the 
 New Testament. In the Old Testament you 
 read about "turning to the Lord"; in the New 
 Testament it is "repent." In the Old Testa- 
 ment "distrust," in the New "disbelief." 
 
 I find a great many people who say: "Well, 
 I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; 
 and yet I don't think I am saved. I don't 
 have any assurance. I don't have any peace 
 in believing. I don't get victory over sin." 
 So, to them I want to use the word "trust." 
 And the six points to which I want to call 
 your attention are these: 1. Whom not to trust. 
 2. Whom to trust. 3. When to trust. 4. How 
 to trust. 5. Who will trust. 6. The fruit of 
 trust. 
 
 Now, take up the first point: Whom not to 
 trust. If we trust anything human, we are 
 going to be disappointed. Paul says, "We 
 
 ♦Delivered in Tremont Temple, Boston. Mass., Feb. 10, 1897, p.m. 
 
 [127] 
 
TRUST 
 
 have the sentence of death in ourselves." If 
 we trust in ourselves, the time is coming when 
 our own strength is going to fail us, and we shall 
 be disappointed. If we trust in friends, they 
 may die and leave us, or they may turn against 
 us. Many persons in this hall call to mind 
 friends who were very dear to them years ago, 
 whose friendship has ceased. You were dis- 
 appointed in them; they betrayed your confi- 
 dence. They were not what you thought them. 
 If we trust in wealth, it may take wings and 
 fly away. Many a man has been disappointed 
 who has put his confidence in his money. A 
 man told me some time ago that he had a good 
 bank account, and had rather have that than 
 faith in the Scriptures. I'd rather have it in 
 Jesus Christ than in any bank. If you trust 
 in fame and reputation, some slandering tongue 
 may blast them. In fact, you want to put 
 your trust in something beyond this world, 
 something beyond this life. Now put your 
 confidence in one who has never betrayed a con- 
 fidence in six thousand years; who has never 
 betrayed a trust in all these centuries, never has 
 and never will. He cannot break one of His 
 promises. He has said it. Shall He not make 
 it good? The God of that Book is an un- 
 changeable God, and if we put our trust in 
 Him, we shall not be confounded nor disap- 
 
 [128] 
 
TRUST 
 
 pointed. When Christ was on earth He said: 
 "Have faith in God." That is worth more 
 than a shipload of gold. Strong faith in the 
 mighty God who never has and never will and 
 never can disappoint any. 
 
 Some seem to think it is unreasonable. My 
 dear friend, I think it is the most reasonable 
 thing in this world that we should put our con- 
 fidence in the God of that Book. A man said 
 to me: "How can you promise that the promises 
 are good and valuable?" I answered: "They 
 are fulfilled every day, right along." Suppose 
 a man had said to me forty years ago that on 
 the first day of January he would give me a 
 thousand dollars each year for forty years, and 
 thirty years have passed away, and he has given 
 me a thousand dollars every year; would I not 
 have a pretty good reason to believe that the 
 man is fulfilling his promises, and that he will 
 continue so to do? As you go along day after 
 day, how long do you doubt? I think I can 
 doubt my existence about as easy as I can doubt 
 God. It's not a hard thing to put your trust 
 in Him. 
 
 Well, now, that's the starting — Whom Not 
 to Trust. Then, Whom to Trust. Then, 
 When to Trust. We are to trust Him at all 
 times. We are to trust at night as well as by 
 day. We are to trust when we cannot see how 
 
 [129] 
 
TRUST 
 
 it is coming out, as well as when we can. There's 
 a common saying, "I wouldn't trust that man 
 out of my sight." That's the way a great 
 many people treat the Almighty God. They 
 don't say that in words; but they trust God as 
 far as they can see, and no further. You have 
 heard of the woman whose horse ran away with 
 her. She was asked, "What did you do?" 
 She trusted in the harness until it broke: then 
 she trusted the wagon till it smashed. At 
 last she called to God, and was saved. 
 
 A person said to me: "Your doctrine is 
 unreasonable. How can a sensible and reason- 
 ing man believe when he can't see how it is 
 coming out?" He can't see the end, my dear 
 friend, but we are trusting all the time, and 
 constantly. You put confidence in the bank. 
 You don't know whether that bank will fail or 
 not. Yet you trust in the bank. Isn't that 
 trusting? What do you know about banking 
 business? I don't know anything about it. 
 Yet I would rather have my money there than 
 in my pocket; it's a great deal safer there 
 than with me. 
 
 A mother has a child very sick — her only 
 son — who has the scarlet fever; the mother 
 is greatly distressed and broken down at the 
 thought that her dear child is in a dangerous 
 condition. What did that mother do? She 
 
 [130] 
 
TRUST 
 
 put the child in the care of the nurse and the 
 doctor; then she left it and came down here to 
 get sympathy; to have us pray that God would 
 lengthen the life of that dear child. She didn't 
 know about medicine, but she trusts the life 
 of the child in the hands of the doctor. That's 
 trusting when we can't see, isn't it, even when 
 you can't reason the thing out? Or, here is a 
 man to whom you owe an amount, and he sues 
 you. You don't know about Blackstone or 
 law, but you put your case in the hands of a 
 lawyer. You commit the whole thing to him. 
 That's trusting in the dark, when you can't see 
 how it's coming out, and when you can't reason 
 the whole thing out. 
 
 Now trust. Put your soul in the hands of 
 God, and trust Him to keep it and to do what 
 He has promised to do. He has promised to 
 forgive you, if you turn from your sins. If 
 you are willing to turn, He forgives you now. 
 Believe that He means you, and trust Him to 
 do what He promises. Love begins right there. 
 I want to say that you'll never find a better 
 time, a better day, than now, this very hour. 
 Some of you challenge that statement, and say: 
 "If I can break up my bad habits, I can get 
 victory over a bad disposition and get a better 
 disposition." Everything is recorded against us. 
 If you could go on from this day and not add 
 
 [131] 
 
TRUST 
 
 another sin but the one sin of procrastina- 
 tion — that is the sin you are committing — you 
 would still be in sin. You can never trust God 
 better than now. Right here in Tremont Tem- 
 ple let everlasting life begin in your soul, and 
 put your trust in the Eternal God. 
 
 There's a story of a man in the current of a 
 river. He had been capsized and was being 
 swept on. There were three bridges across the 
 stream; if he passed the third bridge it was 
 sure death to him. They rushed to the first 
 bridge and threw over ropes; but he passed the 
 first bridge and didn't lay hold of the ropes; 
 then the second, and didn't lay hold of the rope. 
 He came to the third bridge, that was his last 
 opportunity. But just as he was passing the 
 last rope, he happened to seize it, and he was 
 pulled up out of the jaws of death. I am speak- 
 ing to some one who is passing the last bridge. 
 It may be that God is calling you the last time, 
 but now put your trust in Him. Lay hold 
 on eternal life while it's offered you. Make up 
 your mind that this day and hour you are going 
 to put your trust in God. 
 
 Take another illustration: a building is on 
 fire. The flames have got around the staircase, 
 and the only way of escape must be from out- 
 side. There's a person up there in the fifth 
 story. There's no escape unless God helps. 
 
 [132] 
 
TRUST 
 
 But there's the fire escape, and we put it up to 
 the window, and all that person has to do is to 
 commit himself to the fire escape, and trust, 
 and escape. Today, this hour, you must trust 
 Him. Now is the time. When? NOW! This 
 minute, and you can do it while I'm speaking, 
 if you will. 
 
 I come to the next point: How to Trust Him. 
 My friend, I have said before on this platform, 
 and you'll let me repeat, I believe we are in the 
 days of shams and half -hear tedness. How seek 
 Him? The Bible tells us to "seek Him with 
 all the heart." I never see a man or woman 
 seeking the Kingdom of God with all his or her 
 heart who doesn't get into it. You can trust. 
 Will you do it? When I was in Glasgow, one 
 of the physicians of that city who stood very 
 high, and who was at the head of the medical 
 profession of that country, and getting on in 
 years, came up to the platform one day, and said: 
 "I'm not used to speaking in public, but I'd 
 like to say a word." "Glad to have you." 
 That man was living on borrowed time. He 
 stood up, and there was a hush, and as it were 
 a voice coming from heaven, from another 
 world. He said: "I want to tell you of a great 
 mistake made in my life. If I had my life to 
 live over again, I wouldn't make it. I haven't 
 served God with all my heart." There weren't 
 
 [133] 
 
TRUST 
 
 any dry eyes there. I shall never forget that 
 speech. man, woman, trust Him with all 
 your heart! How miserable you wives feel if 
 you haven't full confidence in your husbands; 
 or if your husbands don't trust you with all 
 their hearts. And how the husband feels if the 
 wife don't trust him with all her heart. What 
 God wants is the whole heart. It is for us to 
 trust Him with all our hearts. 
 
 There's a story told that Alexander the Great 
 had a favorite doctor who always went with him 
 into all his battles. This doctor had another 
 doctor envious of him, who wanted to get his 
 position. One day he wrote to Alexander, and 
 told him that that physician was going to poison 
 him; that the next morning when he took his 
 wine, there would be death in the goblet. The 
 emperor read the communication to himself, 
 and the next morning, when the doctor handed 
 him the wine glass, he took it and held it in his 
 hand, and then read the letter, and before the 
 doctor could deny, he drank it down, to show 
 that he trusted him in all his heart, and there 
 was not a shadow of doubt. Is that the way 
 you treat God? If you trust God in that way, 
 you'll have no cloud, no dark days, no blue days, 
 but it'll be better and better every day. I hope 
 you do this all the time. I pity those people 
 who live in Doubting Castle. Man, woman, 
 
 [134] 
 
TRUST 
 
 get out of it! Don't say you'll try. TRUST! 
 I've heard people say, "Mr. Moody, I'm going 
 to try all I can." That means you are not 
 trying. If I say to my friend here that I will 
 meet you tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, 
 and he replied: "I'll try hard to believe you," 
 it would prove that he is not trusting me. When 
 a man says "I'm trying," or "I'll try," blot 
 that out. Say: "I'll trust Him with all my 
 heart, whether I feel like it or not." 
 
 There's a story told of Dr. Chalmers, that he 
 was up in the Highlands. Those people have 
 a peculiar kind of theology. Some one asked 
 a boy up there what Faith was, and he said, 
 "Inward fears and doubts." There was a 
 Highland woman who was "full of fears and 
 doubts." They wanted Dr. Chalmers to come 
 and help her. There was a brook, and a plank 
 across the brook. Dr. Chalmers was afraid 
 the plank was rotten and would let him into the 
 stream. He tried it to see how it would work; 
 still he was a little afraid tc commit himself to 
 the plank. The Highland woman saw it, and 
 coming out said, " Tilt it." That meant " trust " 
 it. The Doctor took her at her word, and reach- 
 ing her tried to talk with her. She couldn't 
 understand the Plan of Salvation. He went on 
 trying to clear up the way, but without success 
 till he happened to think of the plank, and he 
 
 [135] 
 
TRUST 
 
 found his way to her heart. I see some of the 
 Scotch people whispering, and I fear I've not 
 got the story just straight. But the Doctor 
 said "Trust! Just as I committed myself to 
 that plank, commit yourself to Christ, and trust 
 Him, and He will be your Saviour." Of course, 
 she could do that and so can you. That's the 
 question for you to settle. I can't trust for you; 
 I can't believe for you. But you can now trust 
 Him with your heart. Say, as Job did, " Though 
 he slay me, I'll perish trusting." There's not 
 a soul that cannot do that now. 
 
 The next Head. Who will Trust? When 
 to trust. Whom to trust. And now, Who will 
 trust. They that know Him. You ask me to 
 put my confidence in a man down there I've 
 never seen before. I can't do it. I must hear 
 about him, know something about him, I must 
 get witnesses concerning him. Why is it infidels 
 don't trust in God? They don't know Him. 
 That's the reason they don't trust Him. If 
 you'll find a man or woman that reads that 
 Bible, and studies the promises, you'll find a 
 man or woman that believes in God. They 
 can't help it. It is those men or women that 
 neglect their Bible and don't read about God 
 that don't trust Him. Job says, "Acquaint 
 now thyself with Him, and be at peace." Get 
 more acquainted with the God of Heaven and 
 
 [136] 
 
TRUST 
 
 you'll trust Him more. The more you know 
 of a true man, the more confidence you put in 
 him. The more you know of an untrue man, 
 the less faith you have in him. You understand 
 that, don't you? Now in the Ninth Psalm, 
 tenth verse, are these words: "And they that 
 know Thy name will put their trust in Thee: 
 for Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that 
 seek Thee." Never forsaken them that seek 
 Him. And now, will you put your confidence 
 in Him? Will you get acquainted with Him? 
 You can. Make it your life business to know 
 the God of that Book. 
 
 There's a story told of some men in Scotland 
 who made it a business to get a certain kind of 
 eggs, and they made considerable money. They 
 tried to get a man into a bag and lower over the 
 cliff. They would pay him a good deal of money, 
 and he needed the money. He declined to do 
 it. They told him, "We are strong, and we'll 
 hold the rope." The man replied, "If you'll 
 wait until I go and get my father, I'll let him 
 hold the rope, and I'll go down in the basket." 
 They said, "We are stronger than your father." 
 "Yes," he answered, "but I don't know you." 
 He knew that his father wouldn't let go of the 
 rope. He could trust his father, but these 
 strangers he could not trust. This is the trouble 
 with the people here in Boston. They don't 
 
 [137] 
 
TRUST 
 
 come to God and get acquainted with Him, and 
 so don't love and trust Him. 
 
 Now, I come to the last point. The Fruit 
 of Trust. It is luscious fruit. "Thou wilt keep 
 him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed 
 on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." You 
 know the world is after peace; that's the cry 
 of the world. That is what the world wants. 
 Probe the human heart, and you'll find down 
 in its depths a want, a cry for rest. Where can 
 rest be found? Here it is, right here. Put your 
 trust in the living God, with all your heart, 
 mind, soul, and strength, and you'll have peace. 
 Don't think to keep it; it keeps you. There 
 are lots of people trying to keep peace; it's 
 better to have peace keep you. There is a place 
 within reach where you may have perfect peace. 
 The world can't take it away. It cannot dis- 
 turb you. That's what He wants to give you. 
 And so, today, if you haven't got peace, my 
 dear friend, you can have it, and you can have 
 perfect peace. 
 
 There's a passage of Scripture that I had 
 never known was in the Bible until I accidentally 
 heard it. There was a prominent minister who 
 died, one of those ministers w^ho had had a large 
 salary and had given it all to the poor where he 
 lived. He was a man, a public man, struck down 
 in the prime of life. As he lay on his dying bed, 
 
 [138] 
 
TRUST 
 
 he thought of leaving his wife and children un- 
 provided for, and there came a cloud over his 
 mind. He was greatly depressed; he couldn't 
 get above it. While he lay there, thinking of 
 the sad lot of his loved ones, a little bird came 
 and lit near his window-sill, and with that a 
 warmness came into his heart, and the thought 
 came into his mouth, "If God can take care of 
 that bird, He can take care of my wife and chil- 
 dren." At once the trust of a child came into 
 his heart and the burden rolled away. After 
 that came light, and peace, and joy; all the 
 burden and sorrow gone; and he could trust 
 the wife and seven children to the God of that 
 Book. The text comes to me, Jeremiah 49: 11, 
 "Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve 
 them alive; and let thy widows trust in Me." 
 They said that, as they bore him away, as of 
 old Stephen was borne, the w^hole city was 
 moved; the rich and the poor were there, and 
 for miles up to the cemetery the streets were 
 lined with people weeping. This poor man was 
 hardly laid away in his grave before a friend 
 rose and proposed that £5000 Sterling ($25,000), 
 be raised for that widow and her children, and 
 it was done. God took care of that widow and 
 her orphans. My dear friends, I tell you today 
 that I would rather have faith, and put my trust 
 in God, the God of that Book, than have the 
 
 [139] 
 
TRUST 
 
 wealth of the whole earth. It is better than 
 wealth, better than gold and silver. Trust in 
 the God of that Book. I wish this whole audi- 
 ence could be brought to that rock, and have 
 both feet planted firmly on it. 
 
 I remember that, during the war, I was visit- 
 ing my Sabbath School Classes, and I got into 
 a home where the news had just come that the 
 father had been cut down in battle. The 
 woman was the first soldier's widow I had met. 
 She had two little children, both girls, one about 
 three, not quite three, and the other five. A 
 few days after this the landlord came around for 
 his rent. She told her pitiful story and said 
 she didn't know that she would be able to pay 
 it every month, because she didn't own a sewing 
 machine, and she must get her living with her 
 needle; nor did she know she would have work 
 during the winter. The landlord was unmoved 
 and told her that if the rent was not paid the 
 first of each month, he would turn her out. The 
 poor woman began to weep. The little ones 
 tried to comfort their mother. God bless the 
 little ones! How they light up our lives and 
 cheer us in our loneliness! To the mother, 
 feeling the loss of her husband and the dread of 
 the coming winter, faith seemed gone. Then the 
 oldest girl plucked the mother's sleeve and said, 
 "Don't cry! Isn't God able to take care of us? 
 
 [140] 
 
TRUST 
 
 Isn't God everywhere? Can't God take care 
 of us?" "Oh yes, my child!" "Well, what 
 makes you cry, Mama? Mayn't I go and ask 
 Him? " She got off the cot — I suppose she had 
 a cradle bed — and she went into her room, and 
 the mother left the door ajar. The child knelt 
 down by the cradle, and to the mother she never 
 looked so lovely. The little one prayed: "O 
 God, you've come and taken away my papa, and 
 mama hasn't money to pay the rent. We'll have 
 to sit on the doorsteps and take cold and die. 
 Won't you lend us a little house to live in? " The 
 prayer over, she came to her mother and said: 
 " Mama, just don't cry any more ! I'm sure God 
 will hear my prayer. He will provide for us." 
 
 I made that incident known among the busi- 
 ness men of Chicago. Soon a lot was bought 
 and a house put up for that widow; I believe 
 that was the first work of the kind done for a 
 soldier's widow in Chicago. 
 
 It was not long after that the mother brought 
 her children to me. They told me they had 
 a penny bank, and they said: "We have 
 something for the soldiers. Won't you take 
 this money and buy a Bible and take it to the 
 army, and find a soldier not a Christian, and give 
 him the Bible, and tell him we'll pray for him?" 
 Father and husband gone, the widow wanted to 
 pray for some one, and the children wanted some 
 
 [141] 
 
TRUST 
 
 one to pray for, not having a father. I went to 
 the Bible Society, and I got a well bound Bible, 
 and then I walked into the army room, down in 
 front of a regiment, and stood up and told the 
 story. I held up the Bible and said: "Now if 
 there's a soldier in this house not a Christian 
 that wants to come forward and kneel down and 
 take this Bible and have the prayers of that 
 widow and of those children, fatherless children, 
 in Chicago, will he come here?" It is pretty hard 
 to get a soldier to move. But they sprang for it 
 by scores. I only gave one Bible that night; but 
 I believe a good many were brought into the 
 Kingdom. The next night there was another 
 army meeting, and I told the story, and they 
 sprang forward to get another Bible and the 
 prayers of this widow and orphans. I believe 
 that God used that widow and her children to 
 bring a great many into the Kingdom of God. 
 And when the Chicago fire came and burned up 
 that house, and nearly all the houses in that great 
 city, another house was put up by friends. The 
 widow, since that day, has never felt the lack of 
 rent. That was at the beginning of the War. 
 
 My dear friends, put your trust in God today! 
 Isn't it the most reasonable thing that this whole 
 audience should do it? Let us bow our heads 
 in prayer, that we may have this day perfect 
 trust in God, 
 
 [142] 
 
INSTANTANEOUS SALVATION* 
 
 "Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall 
 be saved." Acts xi. 14. 
 
 " While Peter yet spake, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard 
 the word" Acts x. 44. 
 
 I ALWAYS like to close up a week's work by 
 making the Way of Life as plain as possible. 
 Now, while I am speaking, I want to ask 
 of you, who are Christians, that you will pray 
 to make the work, the Word, clear. It is a 
 matter of revelation, not of investigation. Paul 
 says, "It pleased God to reveal his Son in me. 55 
 And that's what we want, a revelation of 
 Christ, and that will come in answer to prayer. 
 By and by, we shall have an opportunity to go 
 out, and then we will have a prayer meeting 
 like the one we had yesterday. All are invited 
 to stay — stay to pray if you are a Christian, 
 and if you are not a Christian, stay to see if 
 we can help you. 
 
 There's a thought of sadness about the closing 
 up of this blessed Mission when so many, I 
 am sure, are "near the Kingdom." We want 
 if possible to get these people in before the 
 Mission closes, and so I hope there'll be much 
 
 * Preached in Tremont Temple, Boston, February 19, 1897. 
 
 [143] 
 
SALVATION 
 
 prayer, and many ready to use all their influence 
 to bring others into the Kingdom. Now, a 
 great deal will depend upon the course you take 
 in these last days. If you are selfish and come 
 to hear, and then put on your hat and slip off 
 home, and take no further interest in those 
 about you, there'll be a good many who'll not 
 be saved; but if you're in the spirit of prayer, 
 all through the meetings, and ready for service, 
 ready to help some one, we'll have a blessed 
 time I'm sure. But, bear in mind that when 
 God has anything good to give, He takes man 
 into fellowship with Him, and God and man 
 must be united. 
 
 I want to call your attention to a verse you 
 will find in the 11th Chapter of the Acts, — 
 fourteenth verse: "Who shall tell thee words, 
 whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved." 
 
 These are the words of Peter in the City of 
 Jerusalem. He had been down to Cesarea and 
 told Cornelius and his household words whereby 
 they might be saved, and the whole family had 
 entered into the Kingdom of God. But Gentiles 
 and Jews brought up various points. Now 
 that gives me authority, it seems to me, to call 
 attention to the Word of God; and I believe 
 that when any man or any woman wants to get 
 into the Kingdom of God, the best thing you 
 can do is to take him or her right to the Living 
 
 [144] 
 
SALVATION 
 
 God, and not to experience, because God never 
 repeats Himself, and no two men will ever have 
 the same "experience." And instead of look- 
 ing for some one else's experience, look away 
 to Christ, and let Christ work in you — do 
 His work in you. 
 
 This will be the grandest meeting ever held 
 in Boston if every man and woman is willing 
 to give himself or herself up fully. And I don't 
 know that I could tell you the Way of Life bet- 
 ter than to give some Bible illustrations. An 
 illustration is a sort of window to let light in. 
 I will call your attention to some Bible illustra- 
 tions that make the Way very, very plain. 
 
 You remember that Noah was called into 
 the ark, and all he had to do was to walk in. 
 People are trying to save themselves. They 
 never can. No one has ever done it. Give up 
 trying and, making Christ your ARK, step in! 
 
 I was preaching in Manchester, England, 
 some years ago. One Sabbath afternoon I was 
 short of workers, and there were a good many 
 inquiring the Way of Life. I took some into 
 the First Gallery, and after I had spoken five 
 or ten minutes, a gentleman came up, a business 
 man, and stood on the outskirts of the company. 
 I thought he was sceptical. I noticed that I 
 had misjudged and that he was interested. I 
 said, "My friend, are you not a Christian?" 
 
 [145] 
 
SALVATION 
 
 "No. I wish I was/ 5 he replied. "Then," I 
 said, "I'll speak to you and try to make the 
 Way plain to you, and if you can see it, perhaps 
 the others may see it." I addressed my remarks 
 to him. After I had used one or two illustra- 
 tions, I said, "Now, do you see it?" "No. It 
 is not clear. It doesn't help my case." I 
 gave a number of other passages. "Does that 
 make it plain?" "No. That doesn't help my 
 case." He was like most people who think 
 their case a peculiar one. 
 
 I gave another and another illustration. 
 Then he said, "The fact is that I can't feel that 
 I'm saved." I said, "Was it Noah's feelings 
 that saved him, or the ark?" "Good evening, 
 Mr. Moody. It's all settled." And away he 
 went. I believe in quick work, but that was 
 too quick for me. I wondered if the man did 
 really see it. The next day I was looking 
 for my "ark man." He wasn't around. One 
 afternoon I was going down the back stairs of 
 the Free Trade Hall of Manchester, and there 
 wasn't much light. A man tapped me on the 
 shoulder, and asked, "Do you remember me?" 
 "I remember that voice, but I can't locate it," 
 I said. " Do you remember the man in the ark? " 
 I answered, "I've been looking for you." He 
 said, "That settled it all at once. I've been 
 trying to save myself by my feelings, and trying 
 
 [146] 
 
SALVATION 
 
 to make an ark of my feelings, but the moment 
 you spoke of the ark, that settled it." He con- 
 tinued: "Moody, always tell of the ark." He 
 turned out to be one of the cleanest and best 
 men in that city. That business man gave me 
 a warm grip when I left, and said, "Always tell 
 about the ark." Don't you think that's clear? 
 
 It wasn't Noah's tears, or groans, or prayers, 
 or works that saved him. It was the ARK. 
 And it's the Ark that's going to save you. You 
 can't save yourself. Some one has said that 
 "the little fly in Noah's ark was just as safe as 
 the elephant." It wasn't the strength of the 
 elephant that saved the fly. People say, "I 
 wish I w T as as good as that man or that woman." 
 My dear friend, get into the Ark! The door 
 stands open. Come in out of the coming Judg- 
 ment; come along in; and now, while I'm speak- 
 ing, step in! Will you do it? There's only one 
 thing that can keep you out. Do you know what 
 that is? It is not your sins. This Ark takes 
 sinners. What would become of any one of us 
 if it didn't take in sinners ? " This man receiveth 
 sinners." 
 
 Now, I'll tell you what keeps you out — it is 
 your Will. "Ye will not come unto Me that 
 ye may have life." Come along in. The door 
 stands open, and God invites you in! Here is 
 a promise: "Whosoever cometh unto me, I 
 
 [147] 
 
SALVATION 
 
 will in no wise cast out." Will God say, "You 
 are not one of the Elect. I only meant to save 
 a select few" ? I don't believe a word of it. 
 The Lord wants every one of you now, wants 
 you this minute. 
 
 I'll give you another illustration. You re- 
 member when the Children of Israel were down 
 there in Goshen, the Lord told Moses to tell the 
 Children of Israel to take a lamb of ten days 
 and to keep that lamb until the fourteenth day, 
 and then kill the lamb and take the blood in a 
 basin and with it hyssop. Every man was to 
 take the hyssop to sprinkle with, and the edict 
 went forth: "When I see the blood, I will pass 
 over." Now notice: there was a moment when 
 the blood was not on the house and another 
 when the blood was upon the door. What was 
 it, when death went through the land and laid 
 his hand on the people — what was it that 
 made the people in Goshen safe? They be- 
 lieved in the word of God, the Eternal God, 
 and obeyed the word, and it was the "blood" 
 that saved them. Thank God, the "blood" 
 is on the mercy-seat now. If you'll believe the 
 word, there's nothing to hinder. It don't say 
 "feel," but "believe." Just believe that the 
 blood has been shed. "He was wounded for 
 our transgressions; He was bruised for our 
 iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was 
 
 [148] 
 
SALVATION 
 
 upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. 
 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have 
 turned every one to his own way; and the Lord 
 hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." 
 
 I don't know any other Gospel or anything 
 else to save us. "He bore our sins in His own 
 body on the tree." 
 
 Now, if I read the 10th Chapter of the Acts 
 aright, that's the character of the preaching 
 that brought the whole family of Cornelius, 
 servants and all, into the Kingdom of God. 
 And there's not a child ten years old that hasn't 
 had more spiritual light than had the family of 
 Cornelius, and they believed the Word of God 
 sent them by Peter. Won't you believe the 
 Word of the Living God, and be saved? 
 
 Another illustration: How to be saved all at 
 once! "I don't see how a man can come into 
 Tremont Temple a sinner and go out a saved 
 man!" you may say. I will show you how 
 you can. I don't believe there's a man or 
 woman that needs go out without salvation. 
 I believe you can "pass from death unto life" 
 now, and live forever. I believe eternity can 
 begin in that seat where you are sitting. 
 
 Let me give you an illustration. You remem- 
 ber when the Children of Israel got into the 
 Promised Land, God told Moses to tell the 
 Children of Israel to build six cities of refuge. 
 
 [149] 
 
SALVATION 
 
 In those days they had "the law of revenge/' 
 Instead of a man's being tried by a judge and 
 jury, if one killed my brother, I wouldn't be 
 considered a true brother if I didn't kill his 
 slayer. Two men are in the forest cutting wood. 
 The ax slips from one man's hands and kills 
 the other. His only safety is to get into the 
 City of Refuge. The nearest kinsman of the 
 one killed wouldn't be considered true if he didn't 
 have his revenge and kill that man. His only 
 safety is to get into a city of refuge. The man 
 starts at once. The magistrate's duty is to 
 keep the roads all clear; the valleys to be made 
 so smooth that a man could run without any 
 difficulty right to that city; there'd be sign posts, 
 so that he could run without stopping to figure 
 out the way to the City of Refuge, or a finger- 
 hand pointing in the right direction. 
 
 Now, I am the guilty man, and by the law I 
 am exposed to death. I hear that the relative 
 is on my track, bearing down upon me. I 
 spring into the highway. I don't stop to discuss 
 higher criticism, or theology, I don't stop to 
 discuss who wrote the Bible. My business is 
 to get into that City. I don't think about the 
 whale or Jonah now. I don't stop to hear 
 rhetoric; I don't care about the elegance of 
 flowers by the way. I may be stricken down, 
 and I go leaping on the highway. A watchman 
 
 [150] 
 
SALVATION 
 
 sees me coming, and he is ready to open the gates 
 for me. The revenger is corning also. The 
 revenger is gaining on me, down the valleys 
 and up the hills. At last I get near enough to 
 the City so that I can be heard, and I shout, 
 and the watchman shouts too, "Escape for thy 
 life ! The avenger is coming. Make haste, man ! " 
 If I get within that City, I am safe. I am within 
 a foot, and if I can gain that foot, I can keep the 
 avenger away, and I may have salvation. I 
 bound over the threshold. I am saved! 
 
 The Law is after me this minute, and the 
 next minute, and every minute. That's very 
 clear, isn't it? "The soul that sinneth, it shall 
 die." Death is on your track, but God has a 
 City of Refuge. You haven't got to get up 
 and go out of this hall. Salvation is within 
 your reach; you haven't got to lift your hand 
 for it. Take it, as you take the air into your 
 lungs. Salvation is yours. You are saved for 
 time and for eternity, if you will only take the 
 Lord God. 
 
 I was in this city in 1854, and some of you, 
 older citizens, will remember the excitement 
 about Anthony Burns, the escaped slave. I 
 remember the intense excitement, and I was 
 down here in forty-three Court street when 
 Anthony Burns was taken into the Court House. 
 In all my life I had never before been in a really 
 
 [151] 
 
SALVATION 
 
 exciting event. It was all new to me. A city 
 in great excitement! Papers teeming with the 
 accounts of a man fleeing for refuge to Massa- 
 chusetts from Virginia, to take his salvation 
 near the Cradle of Liberty! And the city rose 
 up and said, "They shan't take that man!" 
 Every train was loaded down with people, and 
 very many armed to the teeth. I went down to 
 Faneuil Hall, and heard some of the greatest 
 speakers I had ever listened to up to that time. 
 I was never so excited in my life. I felt that 
 Anthony Burns shouldn't go back. But the 
 LAW took him, and sent him back. The LAW 
 was maintained. But, do you know, if Anthony 
 Burns had gone a little farther, he would have 
 been a free man? No man could have had him. 
 Under the Fugitive Slave Act, if a fugitive got 
 into a free state, he could be carried back; but 
 if he succeeded in reaching Canada, he was a 
 slave no longer. England had passed a law 
 that no slave, none but free men could breathe 
 the air under the "Union Jack." So it was that 
 when a slave reached Canada, he was free. I 
 see a slave pushing his way to Canada; I see 
 his master bearing down upon him. The law 
 is going to hold him. Under the law of this 
 land he was not a free man but a slave. But 
 he has got on the road to Canada, and he says, 
 "One night more, then I'm forever free!" One 
 
 [152] 
 
SALVATION 
 
 minute a slave, the next minute he goes over 
 the line — and he is a free man. We can cross 
 the line and become Heaven's free men if we 
 will; every poor drunkard, every libertine, every 
 wrong-doer can get out of the devil's country, 
 if he wills to be free. My friend, you can do 
 it if you will. Make up your mind to do it; 
 make up your mind that you're going to have 
 done with sin and to serve God all your life. 
 
 I was one day walking down the streets of 
 York, England, and met an English soldier. 
 I stopped him and asked if I might put a few 
 questions. ''Yes, sir," said the soldier. "I 
 should like to ask you how long it took you to 
 become a soldier?" He laughed, and answered, 
 "It didn't take me any time at all." "How did 
 you become a soldier?" He replied, "I first 
 made up my mind to enlist." "So," I said; 
 "I'm trying to get recruits for my Master, and 
 I must get them to enlist." The soldier con- 
 tinued, "Then I went to the recruiting officer 
 and said I wanted to enlist in Queen Victoria's 
 army. And the officer brought out a shilling, 
 and the moment that shilling touched my hand 
 I was a soldier — before I got a uniform or 
 knew anything about the drill." One moment 
 he was a free man — could go to Australia or 
 anywhere else without question; but the next 
 moment he could go only where Queen Victoria 
 
 [153] 
 
SALVATION 
 
 told him. Tell me, if you can, will you take 
 Christ as that man took the shilling? 
 
 "He that hath the Son hath life, and he that 
 hath not the Son hath not life — power, au- 
 thority, privilege — to believe on His name." 
 What a difference between an unsaved and a 
 saved man! One day I rejected the Son of God, 
 and the next I received Him. I don't say that 
 it doesn't take some will power in rejecting Him 
 or in receiving Him; you are a free agent. I 
 reject Him; I spurn the grace of God. I might 
 have Him; there's nothing to hinder. Thank 
 God, there's something better, and that is to 
 receive Him, and live forever. Will you do it? 
 
 A man got up in one of our meetings and said 
 that he had been forty-two years learning three 
 things. I said: "If I can learn three things in 
 three minutes, I'll be glad to do it." First. 
 He couldn't do anything towards his own salva- 
 tion. Second. The Lord didn't require him to 
 do anything. I said, "That's so; I tried it; 
 I couldn't do anything." Third. Jesus Christ 
 had done it all. You haven't got to work out 
 salvation; it's all wrought out. When Christ 
 cried, "It is finished!" — all we have to do is 
 to accept. "The wages of sin is death, but the 
 gift of God is eternal life." 
 
 I once read of a woman exercised about her 
 soul. She dreamed she was in a dark, deep pit. 
 
 [154] 
 
SALVATION 
 
 She tried to get out. She would climb up and 
 fall back, and so on, and so on. At last she 
 cried out, "I am lost! It is no use!" She let 
 herself down into the pit to die. And that mo- 
 ment she looked up towards the mouth of the 
 pit and saw a beautiful star, flashing and radi- 
 ating in all its beauty and glory, and it seemed 
 to lift her up out. She got almost up, and was 
 rejoicing that she was getting out of the pit, 
 when she looked at herself, and she said, "I'm 
 the same old thing!" and she dropped back. 
 And then she dreamed the same. The next 
 time she fixed her eye on the Star, and rose 
 higher, and higher and higher, and got clear 
 out of the pit, and her feet struck the rocks 
 above, and she shouted, and awoke, and found 
 it a dream. But she had learned a lesson. 
 She thought that if she ever got out of the pit, 
 she must look at the Star of Bethlehem. The 
 Lord took her into the Kingdom of God sweetly. 
 O man! Look! LOOK! LOOK! "I am 
 God, and there is none else." My friends, all 
 the people on earth could never save a sinner; 
 all the popes, ministers and cardinals never 
 saved a church. LOOK! LOOK! LOOK 
 now! "Look unto Me, all the ends of the earth, 
 and be saved." Now will you do it? You don't 
 have to go to Harvard to learn how to look; you 
 can look now. Will you look? Will you? 
 
 [155] 
 
EXCUSES* 
 
 "And they all mth one consent began to make excuse, 9 * 
 Luke xiv. 18. 
 
 1 DON'T believe a man can be true to his 
 country who is not true to his God. I want 
 to come now to those three men we read 
 about in the Fourteenth Chapter of Luke. 
 These three men were invited to a feast. It 
 was not an ordinary feast, a common feast, but 
 a royal feast. Now, you, who have come from 
 all over the world, know that the common 
 people do not have an invitation to a royal 
 feast. I have been in England a good many 
 times, but I never got an invitation to a seat 
 in the House of Lords by one in a castle, or to a 
 royal feast. Common people don't get invita- 
 tions to royal feasts — but I have got one today, 
 a real, genuine invitation, and the King wants 
 you there, and he wants you ten thousand times 
 more than you want to go. 
 
 You will notice that these three men all, with 
 one accord, began to make excuses. Now, 
 notice that expression: "They began to make 
 excuse." They didn't have a good one, so they 
 
 * Tremont Temple, Boston, February 22, 1897. 
 [156] 
 
EXCUSES 
 
 manufacture one. Did you ever do that? Own 
 up now — you've done that lots of times. 
 You've been invited to places where you didn't 
 care to go, and you began to shift, and to conjure 
 up an excuse. You did it before you were five 
 years of age. You heard your mother tell of 
 a thing she didn't want to do, and she would 
 pile up excuses for not doing it. You know 
 the origin of that? It is as old as man. The 
 first thing Adam did after he had sinned was 
 to excuse himself. We generally give the poor- 
 est excuse we can make. Usually we have a 
 meaner excuse than Adam had at the beginning. 
 He said: "It was the woman." It's a mighty 
 mean man that hides behind his wife. "This 
 woman," he said. He wasn't to blame. He 
 excused himself. You've never seen a man 
 who didn't have some excuse for his sin: you 
 can't find a man in Boston who isn't ready 
 at excuses; he's got them right on the end of his 
 tongue. If I should stand here and talk till mid- 
 night, tearing excuses to pieces, and asking this 
 or that man why he don't become a Christian, 
 he would have an excuse made up that the world 
 never before heard of. It would roll off his 
 tongue like dry peas off a shovel. If he got over- 
 taxed, and could not make one, Satan would help 
 him. For six thousand years, making excuses has 
 been Satan's chief business. He is an expert. 
 
 [157] 
 
EXCUSES 
 
 The first man — what does he say? "I 
 have bought a piece of ground, and must needs 
 go and see it." I have no doubt he buys it 
 without knowing where it is. He bought it in 
 some real estate deal, and so he gave that as 
 his excuse, "I have bought a piece of ground, 
 and must needs go and see it." A very polite 
 gentleman. "You take my word back to the 
 King, ' Business before pleasure/ A man who 
 does not provide for his family is worse than 
 an infidel." 
 
 The next man had another very frivolous 
 excuse: "I have bought five yoke of oxen, 
 and must needs go and try them." Why not 
 prove his oxen before he bought them? It was 
 a strange time to prove his oxen. A proper 
 transaction. He had bought the oxen, — he'd 
 all the five yoke of oxen. Probably everybody 
 said: "There's not a man in all the country but 
 would not rather be at the feast." But he said, 
 "I must prove my oxen." 
 
 The third man had an excuse: "I have 
 married a wife, and therefore I cannot come." 
 Now I want to ask you: Did you ever see a 
 young bride that didn't love to go to a feast? 
 I never saw, in all my life, one who had good 
 health that wouldn't like to go to a feast. But 
 the husband and wife are not the only ones who 
 want to go; the whole family will be eager, if 
 
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EXCUSES 
 
 you have one. The Lord does not want to 
 leave the children out. He wants them at the 
 feast. This man framed an excuse: "I've got 
 married and I can't come." 
 
 Now, look at these three excuses! Don't 
 you think they look frivolous, and are very 
 flimsy? My friends, I w^ant to tell you they're 
 outright lies, every one of them. Those men 
 were lying, shamming — the whole thing was 
 a sham. In the Prophecy of Isaiah we are told : 
 "Hell shall sweep away your refuges of lies." 
 The time is coming when all miserable excuses 
 will be swept away. Look at those three men, 
 living eighteen hundred and more years ago, 
 and you will see how men can conjure up excuses ! 
 They tell us that we are living in a very great 
 epoch, and that the wisdom of the ages is ours, 
 and that there never has been such culture and 
 wisdom as at the present time. We have had 
 one man running up and down the country telling 
 us that men's skulls have been growing larger. 
 Can't the reporters hunt up for themselves 
 better excuses, and put them in the papers 
 tomorrow morning? I will challenge any one 
 of you to give a better excuse than each of those 
 men gave. 
 
 There's no sham about this invitation. Down 
 in the evening of this Dispensation there's going 
 to be a marriage. Blessed is he that is to come 
 
 [159] 
 
EXCUSES 
 
 to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. That's 
 one appointment I mean to fill. He sent his 
 messengers, and they probably were never go- 
 ing over the earth as they are today, climbing 
 mountains, swimming rivers, crossing deserts, 
 going to the islands of the sea and the corners 
 of the earth, calling for the world to come. 
 "Go and compel them to come in, that my house 
 may be filled. " The messengers are going forth. 
 What do you hear in return? "I pray you have 
 me excused." 
 
 Now, I suppose you would like to "speak out 
 in meeting." Please answer back, if there's 
 a man or woman in this house that has a better 
 excuse than those three men gave — up in the 
 balcony or any part of the hall, speak out now! 
 I would like to hear from you, in the choir, 
 anywhere, any better excuse. Can you hunt 
 up a man in the City of Boston who will give a 
 better excuse? This is a solemn subject. It is 
 a fearful thing for a man to say that he wants to 
 be excused from this Feast. Life is very dear 
 to me. God has piled up one blessing on top of 
 another, and I've never seen the time that I 
 wanted to die. I want to live as long as God 
 can use me. My work is sweet. And God has 
 given me a lovely family. I had rather preach 
 than be in a pulpit. But as sweet as life is, I 
 would rather have you spring on this platform 
 
 [160] 
 
EXCUSES 
 
 and tear my form to pieces than to let any man 
 say, "His excuse was 'I don't feel well.'" 
 Better be wise and come along. Can you give 
 a better excuse than those men have given here? 
 I know you will say: "I don't like to do it in 
 this large meeting; but if I had Mr. Moody 
 alone, I'd tell him." Yes, I'll come down here, 
 by and by, and some of you will tell me some of 
 your excuses. 
 
 I have travelled considerable in thirty years, 
 and I've tried to follow up my meetings with 
 what we call "after meetings," to get down 
 amongst the people. I was in Carnegie Hall, 
 and trying to find out why they didn't come to 
 Christ, and, after all the excuses I have heard, 
 I have never heard anything quite so sad as 
 that we heard now, "I don't feel well." 
 
 One of the popular excuses in Boston is "That 
 old Bible." They say : " Mr. Moody, the reason 
 I don't become a Christian is because there are 
 so many things in the Bible that I don't under- 
 stand." That's the man! I never could find 
 in all my life a doubter who claimed to have 
 read it through. Don't go off and say that I 
 said: "No sceptic or infidel has ever read it 
 through." I don't say that, but I have known 
 of none who has ever read it through. I have 
 known of one who couldn't quote a verse except 
 "Jesus wept." I contend that there is no book 
 
 [161] 
 
EXCUSES 
 
 in the world equal to that great Book. A modern 
 book comes out now, and you say, "Have you 
 read that book? What is your opinion of it?" 
 People are very free about giving their opinions. 
 There are things in the Bible I don't understand. 
 If I could read that Book as any other book, 
 I would have got through it forty years ago. 
 There are ideas I've never been able to master, 
 and depths I cannot fathom. If men wrote 
 that Book, then men could write another, and 
 we should have millions of Bibles. 
 
 Now, take lawyers. How they dig and study 
 at their text books; and after they have been 
 studying ten years, they say they don't know 
 much about them. You never see a man digging 
 ten years at the Bible, as they dig at law books. 
 Here is a Bible that not only teaches of things 
 in this life but also of things in the life to come; 
 and because they can't understand the Bible 
 as they do the alphabet, they say it is full of 
 contradictions, and "they don't understand it." 
 
 Supposing that little girl down there was 
 mine, and I had never sent her to school until 
 last week. She comes home, and I say: "Alice, 
 do you understand all about Latin and Greek?" 
 "Why, Papa, what are you talking about? 
 I've been trying all day, trying to get through 
 the list of A B C's." And I say: "You've 
 done. You've finished your education. You 
 
 [162] 
 
EXCUSES 
 
 needn't go to school any more!" People would 
 think I was a first-class lunatic. I want to say 
 to this audience: You'll never stand at the bar 
 of God and give this "old Book" as an excuse 
 for not becoming a Christian. It has cost God 
 too much to give it to the world. It has cost 
 the lives of the best men that ever lived. Mil- 
 lions of men have died to hand that book down. 
 I thank God I live in a Protestant country where 
 I can read the Bible; and every man in America 
 ought to thank God that he's got this Book, and 
 stand by it, and hold on to it, and not give up 
 an inch. I believe it is a master stroke of the 
 devil to get us to give up a portion. The infidel 
 says everything against that Book. When a 
 man becomes moral, he has no trouble with the 
 Bible, but when he becomes immoral, then he 
 begins to talk against the Bible. 
 
 Another man says: "It isn't the Bible; I 
 don't need the Bible, nor to go to church. I've 
 got to read the Sunday newspaper." Own up 
 now! Lots of you can't go to church, but can 
 go to your various organizations. Reporters, 
 take it down and go for them! I'm talking 
 facts now. It's going to be a dark day for this 
 world when the Bible is given up, and the Sunday 
 newspaper takes its place. Will any man stand 
 at the bar of God and give that as an excuse, 
 the Bible? Many men say they haven't time; 
 
 [163] 
 
EXCUSES 
 
 newspapers, pleasure, and the world, and busi- 
 ness crowd out the Word of God. 
 
 Another man says: "I haven't got time to go 
 to church, because I've got to have some recrea- 
 tion, and must spend my Sabbaths on the bicycle." 
 It is a new excuse. Lots of men are giving up 
 the Bible for exercise. They've got to have 
 some "bodily exercise." Put the bicycle down 
 as an excuse. That would sound rather strange 
 at the bar of God, wouldn't it? I'm getting 
 near home now. 
 
 Another very popular excuse for why I don't 
 propose to be a Christian, is that I don't propose 
 to give up all the pleasures of this life. If a 
 man becomes a Christian, he's got to put on a 
 long face, and walk straight up and down; he 
 has no pleasure until he gets to heaven! Why, 
 I don't know how many times I have had people 
 ask me, "Don't you think it's an awfully hard 
 thing to become a Christian?" I wish I could 
 say it in tones of thunder, "No! I don't!" 
 I tell you what I believe: I believe that old Book 
 from beginning to end, and when that Book 
 says "The way of the transgressor is hard," I 
 believe it. Go down to the accursed brothels, to 
 the gambling dens, and to the whiskey shops, 
 and see that man bound hand and foot; he's 
 a cursed sinner, he's a slave to some of the baseet, 
 some of the most unutterable sins that have 
 
 [164] 
 
EXCUSES 
 
 gained mastery of man. Go ask that man if 
 he has an easy time. His conscience wakes up, 
 and lashes him. Ask the defaulter, taken from 
 a beautiful wife and lovely children and put 
 into prison cell — ask him if the way of the 
 transgressor is easy or hard. Go into court 
 and see the man there sentenced to be hung. 
 Ask that young man if his sin is such a pleasant 
 friend. Sin always degrades, pulls down, and 
 don't let any man tell me that the way of the 
 transgressor is easy and the way of the righteous 
 hard. My God does not reap where He hasn't 
 sown. My God is not a hard Master. 
 
 I was preaching in the Tombs some years ago. 
 There's an iron bridge that runs from the court 
 to the jail. They call it "The Bridge of Sighs." 
 That's on one side; on the other, "The way of 
 the transgressor is hard." I asked: "Why did 
 you put that text on there?" They answered: 
 "Most of the young men go off that bridge 
 praying, and we call it 'The Bridge of Sighs." 
 Is there a man in this house that can deny it? 
 Does the drunkard have an easy time, as easy 
 a time as I have? Does that man, living an 
 impure life, a dual life, an hypocritical life — 
 does he have a better, an easier life than has 
 the man of God? What say you down there? 
 What does the Book say? "The path of the 
 just shall shine more and more until the perfect 
 
 [165] 
 
EXCUSES 
 
 day." The path of the unjust grows blacker 
 and blacker. Ask the drunkard if he has a 
 hard time? I met a man on the street yesterday 
 morning; he had just crept out of one of the 
 lodging houses, and he looked as if he had come 
 from the pit of hell. I said, "The devil works 
 you hard now, don't he?" He said, "That's 
 so." Of course that's so. I pity the man who 
 is the child of the devil, led captive by the 
 devil. I thank God the fetters may be broken 
 today. I want to say that my God isn't a hard 
 Master. I want to drive that lie back to the 
 pit of hell. "My yoke is easy and my burden 
 is light." 
 
 I would like to get a vote on this question. 
 I have served the god of this world and the God 
 of Heaven, and I think my testimony ought to 
 be worth something. If there's a man here 
 that hasn't served the God of Heaven, how can 
 he testify? Now, there are a good many here 
 who have served both masters. Christians! 
 Have you found God a hard Master? If you 
 haven't, say "No!" Bring it out! (A great 
 response, "No!") That's right. Let it ring. 
 I like to serve Him, and if I had ten thousand 
 lives He should have them all. I tell you, the 
 way of the transgressor is hard. These men 
 you heard speak this morning — what did they 
 say? And now, since they have turned away 
 
 [166] 
 
EXCUSES 
 
 from their old life, see how their faces begin to 
 light up with a new light and their hearts with 
 a new joy and peace. I thank God for the 
 Gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe the Gospel 
 of Jesus Christ is the best thing that ever came 
 from Heaven. We shall never hear better songs 
 from Heaven than that Christ came to blot 
 out our sins and put us among the children of 
 God. 
 
 Now, my time is up. I will go on with some 
 more excuses tonight. If you can, conjure up 
 better ones! If you reporters will write better 
 ones, we will read them and discuss them. 
 
 We will close by singing, 
 
 "I heard the voice of Jesus say." 
 
 [167] 
 
INVITATION AND ALTAR SERVICE* 
 
 " Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in." 
 Luke xiv. 23. 
 
 SOME of you may remember my speaking 
 on the Parable found in the Fourteenth 
 Chapter of Luke, where the three men were 
 invited to the feast, the marriage supper, and 
 where they all with one accord began to make 
 excuse; and I was trying to give some of the 
 popular excuses of the present day and was 
 trying to show some excuses made right here 
 in Tremont Temple. I don't think we have 
 to go back eighteen hundred years to find men 
 and women who want to be " excused." 
 
 Although salvation is free as the air we breathe, 
 yet it cost God the richest jewel He had; and 
 although this gift is perfectly free, and all are 
 invited without money and without price, it 
 cost God something to provide this feast. 
 
 I was trying to show that these men began to 
 make excuses. They didn't have good ones, so 
 they manufactured them, made them up. I 
 took up the Bible, and I closed the meeting 
 with the oft heard excuse that to be Christians 
 
 * Tremont Temple, Boston, February 22, 1897. 
 
 [168] 
 
ALTAR SERVICE 
 
 will make them gloomy. I was trying to fight 
 the idea that God is a hard Master. There's 
 no one thing that Satan has been more successful 
 in than in making the family believe that God 
 is a hard Master; and yet they will throw their 
 lives away in wretchedness and misery. How 
 many of mankind are deluded with the false 
 idea that God is a hard Master and Satan is an 
 easy one. I believe there are tens of thousands 
 who would become Christians, within ten miles 
 of Tremont Temple within the next twenty- 
 four hours, if they believed that God is an easy 
 Master and Satan a hard master. But men are 
 under the power of the awful delusion that it is 
 an easy thing to serve the god of this world and 
 hard to serve the God of Heaven. If I see a 
 man dying for the want of bread, and I give him 
 bread, is that making him gloomy? If I see a 
 man dying of thirst, and give him a glass of clear, 
 cold water, is that going to make him gloomy? 
 The Gospel is bread to the hungry, water to the 
 thirsty, and clothes to the famishing. 
 
 For many years I've been trying to get a 
 man out of prison. We tried on New Year's 
 Day to get the President to grant our request. 
 I can't tell you what delight came to me when 
 I heard of the joy of that father and husband 
 when he went back to the bosom of his family. 
 Did it make that man gloomy to get a pardon? 
 
 [169] 
 
ALTAR SERVICE 
 
 That's the Gospel, a pardon for all sins, going 
 out from under the service of Satan. If you 
 should take the most faithful follower that 
 Satan has in all Boston, the man that is serving 
 the devil most faithfully, and then take the one 
 who is serving Jesus Christ, and has served Him 
 for the last fifteen or twenty years, keeping 
 nearer to Christ than any one else in the City 
 of Boston, and let the two stand here: do you 
 think they would have to speak to show who 
 and what they were? Let that electric light 
 drop down so that it will reflect their bodies 
 and their faces. Wouldn't that light reveal the 
 story? 
 
 The man who has served Satan most faith- 
 fully should speak out: "I want to testify that 
 my master is an easy one." You would hear 
 a voice ringing out all over this hall: "He's 
 a liar!" Of course you wouldn't believe it, if a 
 man should say he'd served Satan forty years, 
 and he's a good master. There isn't a man 
 that would believe it. Not one; isn't that so? 
 
 Let a man come to this platform who has 
 been in sweet fellowship with Christ forty years, 
 and tell the joy in His service: wouldn't his 
 countenance show it? Is there any one here 
 to deny that statement? Instead of taking 
 two men, I'll take two women; for when a 
 woman falls, she falls lower than a man. Why? 
 
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ALTAR SERVICE 
 
 Because God elevated her above man. When 
 God created woman, it was His last, His highest 
 workmanship. She falls lower; and you take 
 the one who falls lowest in all Boston, and let 
 her stand here tonight, and then the purest 
 woman in all Boston, and let the two stand here. 
 Would you not say that the devil is a hard mas- 
 ter, and the Lord of Glory a good Master? 
 
 My dear .friends, don't let Satan bind you 
 any longer. I'm not talking fiction tonight 
 but God's truth. My Master is a good Master, 
 and I want no better one. I have served Him 
 forty years, and He has been ten thousand times 
 better to me than I've been to Him. But there's 
 joy to be able to look up, and say: "Heaven's 
 my home." I can look right into your faces 
 and tell you that He is the Friend, and Master, 
 if you want Him; and He will give you joy for 
 your sorrow, light for your darkness; He will 
 lift you up right out of your misery, and cause 
 you to walk in unclouded sunshine if you will 
 but let him. 
 
 My friend, it is a great thing to be right with 
 God. Now, I don't think that any man or any 
 woman in this audience would stand at the bar 
 of God and say, "I didn't serve you because 
 you were a hard master." You will not face 
 the Almighty with that excuse. It will look 
 different, and so give it up! Don't give that 
 
 [171] 
 
ALTAR SERVICE 
 
 excuse ! It is utterly false. The devil is trying 
 to make you believe that he. 
 
 Others excuse themselves by saying they are 
 "too bad." Oh, how many times I have spoken 
 to men about becoming Christians and they 
 are "too bad." A man might say, "I'm too 
 sick for a doctor." But because he's sick he 
 needs a doctor. Another man might say, "I'm 
 too hungry to eat," and another say, "I'm too 
 thirsty to drink." It is because he is thirsty 
 he needs water. 
 
 I remember during our War I used to go down 
 to help the doctors, not as a chaplain, but as a 
 delegate of the Christian Commission; and our 
 instruction was to "go for the worst cases first." 
 If a man was slightly wounded, we passed him 
 by; but if a man was seriously wounded, we 
 helped him first. And so I believe it is in the 
 battle of life — the man farthest away from 
 God needs him most. And it is our instruction 
 to go to those farthest away. He "saves to the 
 utmost." Don't let any man or woman in all 
 Boston sink into the delusion that you are "too 
 bad " ! If you can prove that you are a "sinner," 
 I can prove that you have a "Saviour." Christ 
 came to seek "sinners." I have "good news" 
 for you. Suppose that the prodigal son had 
 said: "When I get fixed up, I'll go home." 
 It was his poverty and wretchedness that 
 
 [172] 
 
ALTAR SERVICE 
 
 brought him home. So it is; it is our need that 
 brings us or that brought us. And the instruc- 
 tion was: "Go out into the highways and hedges 
 and compel them to come in/ 5 And the men — 
 those in the highways and hedges — we are to 
 go for. You will find that when Christ was 
 upon the earth, he was all the time hunting up 
 the "lost." 
 
 A man said: "There wasn't hardly any of the 
 'cultured' at Moody's meetings. They were 
 all common people." I said: "Thank you for 
 the compliment! My Master went after the 
 "common people." When a man gets above 
 the "common people" and wants to go with 
 the bon ton, he isn't much good. What we 
 want to remember is that Jesus Christ is the 
 friend of the common people like you and me, 
 a "friend of sinners." The greater the sin, the 
 greater need of a Saviour. You could never 
 have a better time to come. He wants sinners 
 to come. And so, tonight, if you are willing 
 to come, He is still ready to receive. LISTEN ! 
 If you come to God, He doesn't want to have 
 you "dress up." They are having a feast at 
 Lorimer Hall tonight, and they are dressed up. 
 On the Back Bay you would be expected to 
 "dress up." But it wouldn't do any good to 
 come to Him "dressed up." 
 
 During the War, I often went down to the 
 
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ALTAR SERVICE 
 
 recruiting station to see my friends enlist. 
 Once in a while a man would come with a stove 
 pipe hat and a fine suit, and the next man would 
 come with old clothes. Both had to strip and 
 put on the uniform of the United States Army. 
 Do you understand it? You can never come 
 to Christ in your life with so few sins as tonight. 
 Some challenge that statement. If I knock off 
 swearing, if I knock off gambling, and I get 
 drunk once in a while, will I be in a better state? 
 LISTEN! Every sin, unless God has for- 
 given it, from the cradle until tonight, stands 
 up against you. What do you theologians say? 
 Is it right? Suppose you go for six months 
 from tonight and not commit another sin, don't 
 you add the sin of procrastination? Then you 
 will be worse off six months from tonight than 
 you are tonight. Isn't that so? Then you 
 can never come in your life with so few sins as 
 tonight. Is that right? Am I sound? Then, 
 why don't you come? (Smiling and laughter.) 
 He wants you. Do you think that invitation 
 is a sham invitation? Do you think that Jesus 
 Christ would have been given us, and have sent 
 His messengers out to induce men to come to 
 Him, if He didn't mean it? What do you say? 
 Do you think He will stand at the bar and say: 
 "I said 'all,' but I didn't mean 'all.' You are 
 a big sinner, but I didn't think of you"? Man 
 
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 may do that, but my Master wouldn't do it. 
 Don't let any men say they're "too bad." It 
 is the "bad people" we want. I wish we could 
 have this hall filled with fallen women and bad 
 men, because we have a remedy. Jesus Christ 
 can get His arm, a very long arm, reaching down 
 into deep, dark pits, and bring them up. (Voices : 
 AMEN.) How do I know? Because I've seen 
 Him do it. No courtesan or infidel can beat 
 me on that ground. 
 
 A man said, "Don't you have any doubts?" 
 I don't have any time to doubt. I see my fail- 
 ings every day. I pity those people standing 
 on the outside and saying, "I have my doubts." 
 Get into the current and you'll have no doubts. 
 Go on the street and bring the sinner in here, 
 and get him converted, and your faith will rise, 
 and you'll declare there's power enough in the 
 blood for all. It is the man who doesn't do 
 any work that doubts. My friends, you can't 
 doubt when you have seen a man, a drunkard, 
 get away from his past, his adulterous and vicious 
 life, and become an honorable citizen, and an 
 upright husband, a pure father, — you must 
 believe. I would doubt my existence quicker 
 than this old Gospel. Don't you tell me that 
 any man is "too bad" in Boston. It is not 
 true. Come tonight with all your sins. Bring 
 your sins along with you. That's what you 
 
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 want to bring. There is one thing that God 
 wants — your sins. Bring your sins with you. 
 Don't hide them. Put them in a bundle and 
 bring them along, and God will blot them out 
 for time and eternity. Don't let anybody say 
 he is "too bad" to come. It is "bad" people 
 He is after. 
 
 There's a coachman up there in the gallery, 
 who says, "Moody hasn't hit my excuse. I 
 believe in foreordination, and if God has decreed 
 my salvation, I will be saved, and if he hasn't, 
 I won't. I've nothing to say about it." I 
 would like to talk with that man for a few min- 
 utes. If that's true, you know and you believe 
 that you have nothing to do with this question. 
 Well, you carry out that in temporal things and 
 see how you'll get on. When this meeting 
 closes, don't move toward home. If God has 
 decreed that you'll go to bed, you'll get there 
 sometime. God will put you to bed if He has 
 decreed it. Tomorrow don't go to business, 
 unless you feel like it, for if God has decreed it, 
 you'll succeed anyway. You don't need any 
 doctors if you are sick. 
 
 There's not a man in this audience who has 
 any more to do with Election than with the 
 government of Japan. Not a bit of it. There's 
 not one line in that Book where Election is 
 put before an unbeliever. Not one. Suppose I 
 
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 walk down the streets tonight and attempt to 
 go into a certain building. A man says, "Do 
 you belong to this Library? This is for the 
 elect. No one but members is allowed here. 
 This is for the elect, you see." "Do you belong 
 to this Club? No one but members belong here. 
 This is for the elect." I go up to Tremont 
 Temple, and I see a sign, " Whosoever will 
 come in, not one but all, old and young; all 
 invited." I say, "That means me." In I 
 come. And when I get in here, I look up and 
 see on the wall, "D. L. Moody was elected 
 from the foundations of the world to be 
 saved." We will talk about Election when you 
 go in, and not on the outside. It is a very 
 sweet doctrine to the Child of God and very 
 precious, but not to an unbeliever. There is 
 not a line written to the unbeliever about 
 Election. If Paul w r rites a letter to a Church, 
 that has nothing to do with an unbeliever. 
 But become a believer, and the Letter applies 
 to you. Then we will talk to you about it. 
 
 Do you know, I believe that "Come" occurs 
 nineteen hundred times in the Bible. It begins 
 and goes on through the Book. You will find 
 it in Job, and in the Psalms and the Prophets, 
 in the Minor Prophets, in the four Gospels, and 
 in the Epistles and clear over to Revelation, 
 and on to the last line. "And the Spirit and 
 
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 the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth 
 say, Come. And let him that is athirst say, 
 Come. And whosoever will, let him take the 
 water of life freely." You know, I am not sure 
 that I am right in my theory; but I can imagine 
 that the Lord had been in glory for some time. 
 He saw Paul had written letters about Election, 
 and He saw a man, in Tremont Temple, stum- 
 bling over the doctrine of Election, and He said 
 to John (John was on the Lord's side, and he 
 went on writing, writing, as the Master spoke) : 
 "Before you seal up the announcements, make 
 it a little more definite, and say it so that the 
 whole world shall know they are invited, and 
 no one left out, say, 'The Spirit and the Bride 
 say, Come." The Spirit and the Church. 
 "And let him that is thirsty come." But some 
 say they are not thirsty. Men have come to 
 me with tears rolling down their cheeks, and 
 anxious to be saved, but they didn't have feeling 
 enough. "Let him take the water of life freely." 
 That is, even if he is not anxious he ought to be. 
 The Psalmist says: "I will take the cup of 
 salvation and call upon the name of the Lord." 
 Come, it is freely offered you. Who will take it? 
 LISTEN ! Every man and woman in this house 
 is a free agent. You can take the cup of salva- 
 tion and drink forever, or dash it on the ground 
 and die in your sins. I pass the cup of salvation 
 
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 on to you. In this balcony who will say, 
 'Til take the cup of salvation"? Man! One 
 draught of that cup will satisfy your longing 
 thirst as this world never will. From the mo- 
 ment Adam turned his back on God, there came 
 a thirst in his soul that can never be quenched 
 until the man comes back to God. What held 
 the prodigal? He got away from his father, 
 and the father could not satisfy his thirst; but 
 when he came back, how quickly he satisfied his 
 hunger and thirst. 
 
 O man ! Come back to God and call upon the 
 name of God tonight. Wouldn't it be a good 
 night to do it, this twenty-second of February, 
 eighteen ninety-seven, right here in Tremont 
 Temple? Just take the cup of salvation, and 
 live forever. Will you come? That's where 
 the Will comes in play. You can will to do it 
 now. LISTEN! I think no less than twenty 
 people on this floor told me they would try. 
 One man said, "I'm going to try real hard." 
 Now what I tell these people is that that means 
 they will not. I'll explain it. Suppose I make 
 a statement to you, and you say you'll try really 
 hard to believe it, — to believe what I say. 
 Doesn't that imply that I have deceived you so 
 often that you are going to try real hard to 
 believe me again? Now say, "I will take the 
 cup of salvation, and trust Him to save me 
 
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 from this night." Now you can do it. Will 
 you do it? 
 
 Is there a man or woman in this house that 
 has the courage to say, "I will take the cup"? 
 Will you speak out and say, "I will"? (A 
 voice: "I will.") Who else? Come! Who 
 will take it? Is there any one else that will 
 take it? You can. (Another voice: "I will.") 
 The prodigal said, "I will arise and go to my 
 father," and the news echoed up to Heaven. 
 If a man says, "I will," it will be registered in 
 heaven. Any one else? I like these responses. 
 I like to have answers back. If God gets con- 
 sent and control of your will, you'll never get 
 back to your old life. Will you not let God 
 take possession of you tonight? You will live 
 forever, if you will to do so. Any one else who 
 has courage to speak out and say, "I will"? 
 I would just like to hear that once more. (A 
 woman's voice: "I will.") Who else will step 
 out and say, "I will"? 
 
 I was preaching in Knoxville, at one time, 
 and a gentleman got up in the meeting in the 
 large Opera House, filled with men, and said, 
 "Mr. Moody, I want to say right here, publicly, 
 I will accept Jesus right here tonight." I had 
 not thought of an expression, but "Thank God" 
 said I. "Is there any one else here?" Another 
 gentleman said, "Yes, I accept Jesus tonight." 
 
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 That was Thursday night. I went from Knox- 
 ville down to Chattanooga, and I was preaching 
 Sunday night, and when I got through, a gentle- 
 man came up to me and said, "Do you remem- 
 ber that man speaking out on Thursday night?" 
 'Yes." "We all thought he was in perfect 
 health, but he died last night." I believe I 
 shall meet first and last a great many who have 
 settled in my meetings this important question. 
 Speak out and say, "I will." Any one else who 
 has courage? That's right. There's a person 
 who was afraid I should not hear her voice, and 
 so she arose. Thank God! I know it takes 
 courage to speak out in a meeting like this, but 
 I like to hear you. Is there any one who has 
 wandered away who will come back tonight? 
 (Voices: "I will.") 
 
 Now I am going to pray for all those who have 
 spoken. Let us pray for every one who has 
 spoken here tonight. Let every head be bowed. 
 Let us all pray; and while the heads are bowed, 
 and we are praying, all you who would like to 
 have us pray for you please rise, all over the 
 house. There are seven, eight, nine, ten! Any 
 one else? Eleven! Any more here on the 
 floor? Thirteen! fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, 
 seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty! There 
 are two more. Any one else in this balcony? 
 There are two. Any one else in this other 
 
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 balcony? Clear around on this balcony? Any 
 one else? There's another. Still another here 
 on the floor. Let us keep on praying. Truly 
 God is with us tonight. Any in the upper 
 balcony? If there is, won't you just rise? 
 Two, three. Any one else in the upper balcony? 
 Four. There are five. There are ten. Any 
 one else? Now, let us all bow our heads and 
 let us pray; maybe there are others on the floor 
 who would like to have us pray for them? If 
 you are backslidden and want to come back, 
 put yourself in the way of being blest. There 
 are five or six more. Any one else here on the 
 floor? Any more here in the balcony? One 
 more. Is there another? There's another. 
 Still another. I'm always looking for some one 
 about seventeen. I like to see a young man 
 coming. If he lives a life allied to the Master, 
 think of the years possible in his life for God! 
 I think I have seen one about seventeen since 
 I asked. Is there still another? Is the man 
 calling for some one else here tonight? If so, 
 please rise now. That's right. Thank God. 
 Still others. There's another. Any one else? 
 
 Prayer 
 
 Our Heavenly Father, we want to thank 
 Thee for the Cup of Salvation tonight. Now 
 we pray that all who have spoken may drink 
 
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 freely tonight and live forever. God grant that 
 they may never turn back, but now forever put 
 their hands to the plow, and may they press 
 toward the mark for the high calling of God 
 in Christ Jesus. O God, bring these into the 
 Kingdom tonight. May every one of them just 
 now be born of the incorruptible seed, become 
 partakers of the Divine nature. God grant 
 that they may not leave this hall until all their 
 sins have been blotted out and their names 
 written in the Lamb's Book of Life. O Spirit 
 of God, take of the things of God and show them 
 unto us just now. And may the Spirit do Its 
 work. We are perfectly helpless. We can't 
 save this people; we can't bring them into the 
 Kingdom. O may the Spirit reveal unto them 
 the Way, the Truth and the Life, as it is in 
 Jesus Christ tonight. 
 
 And now we pray not only for those who have 
 spoken and those who have risen, but for those 
 who have not had the courage. O Spirit of 
 God, wilt Thou not strive with them tonight, 
 and may they find no peace until they find it at 
 the Cross. Make this the night of their salva- 
 tion. Go through this audience now and search 
 out the lost, and bring them to the knowledge 
 of the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, and Thy 
 name, Blessed Saviour, shall have the praise and 
 the glory. Amen. 
 
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THE GOSPEL* 
 
 "I make known unto you the Gospel." I Corinthians xv. 1. 
 
 1HAVE been preaching day and night for 
 thirty years, and I don't think I ever read 
 a Scripture in my life when there came 
 such a hush upon the audience as here tonight. 
 (Scripture read was I Cor., 15th Chapter.) I 
 could not but believe that God was speaking, 
 and if God speaks I hope you will listen. You 
 may turn a deaf ear to me, and perhaps not lose 
 anything; but I tell you if God speaks you want 
 to hear. I cannot conceive of a greater folly 
 than for man to give a deaf ear to God. I be- 
 lieve there are a great many praying that God 
 may speak to people here in these last hours 
 of these meetings. I believe there are a great 
 many people praying for this meeting tonight. 
 We have asked the people attending the meetings 
 regularly not to come this evening, and I suppose 
 many of them are praying tonight that God may 
 bless the word. While I am speaking, I hope 
 every man will forget all about the messenger 
 and pray that all may feel the Message. Really 
 
 * Preached at Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass., February 
 24, 1897. 
 
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 the messenger is of no account; let us get our 
 eyes off man tonight, and think of being here 
 with God. If God has a message for any one, 
 why, be ready to hear it. 
 
 I call your attention to one word, — one single 
 word. I want to get a text so short that you 
 will remember it to your dying day, and the 
 thought is just one word, — GOSPEL. GOS- 
 PEL. It means God's spell; it means that 
 God is speaking to man. It is not a time when 
 He is imputing to men their trespasses and their 
 sins, but a time when He is issuing a proclama- 
 tion of forgiveness, of salvation. It is called 
 "Good News." I believe it is the best news 
 that ever came from heaven to earth. I don't 
 believe that there has been better news, or ever 
 will come, than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
 
 When the angel came down on the plains of 
 Bethlehem to speak to those shepherds, he said, 
 "Behold, I bring good tidings of great joy which 
 shall be to all people. For unto you is born 
 this day in the city of David a Saviour." If 
 that angel did not know the black human nature, 
 if he did not know how vile and sinful man was, 
 I have no doubt he thought the whole world 
 would shout for joy, — to think that God had 
 sent His Son into the world to save it; that God 
 had provided a Saviour for a lost world. But, 
 you know that, for nineteen hundred years, 
 
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 men of God have gone up and down the earth 
 proclaiming "glad tidings" and telling "good 
 news," and yet there's only a few who will 
 believe it is "good news." I will venture to 
 say that more than half this audience doubt 
 that statement; you don't believe the Gospel 
 is "good news." Sometimes I look into the 
 audience to see the faces light up, and they 
 look as if I had brought a death warrant. 
 
 If a boy were to bring a despatch, and it bore 
 the best news we ever heard, he could only 
 deliver the "good news." If he brought the sad 
 word of the death of a mother, the death of the 
 wife or children, I could tell by his countenance 
 that it was bad news. I look over audiences, 
 and they look as though I had brought them 
 bad news. Well, it would be one of the grandest 
 days that Boston ever had if this whole audience 
 would believe that the Gospel is "good news." 
 And it is "good news." It is "glad tidings." 
 The angel did not tell a lie when he said, "Look 
 and see; I bring you good tidings of great joy." 
 I would to God you would believe, right here and 
 now, that it is "good news." 
 
 There was a man in Europe, converted some 
 years ago, and after he had been a Christian a 
 little while, he got so full of the good tidings that 
 he wanted to publish it, and tell everybody 
 about it. He read in the papers that the fac- 
 
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THE GOSPEL 
 
 tories had closed and the people were suffering. 
 He thought it would be a good time to go and 
 preach the "good news." He went down to 
 the place, and hired a theater for one Sunday. 
 He had the town covered with placards, telling 
 that he was going to preach the Gospel free to 
 all. He expected to have the theater packed, 
 but there wasn't a soul at the building. He 
 walked onto the stage, but there wasn't a soul 
 to hear him. The keeper came and looked at 
 him, and left. He thought it was a huge joke. 
 The man didn't want to be disappointed, 
 and thought he would go to the shore, to the 
 beach, and see if he could not get a hearing 
 there. There were a great many walking up 
 and down the beach. No one would listen. 
 They passed him by with scorn and contempt. 
 By and by he saw a man coming up the beach, 
 who had on his head a basket of fish, and was 
 crying, "Herrings! Two herrings for a penny! 
 Good fresh herrings for a penny!" The con- 
 verted man asked, "How much will you take 
 for all the herrings?" The huckster counted 
 and said he would take eight shillings (about 
 two dollars). The man said, "If you will cry 
 'Herrings for nothing/ and dispose of them, 
 I'll pay you your price." The huckster cried, 
 "Herrings, fresh herrings for nothing!" but he 
 couldn't get rid of one. (Laughter.) He went 
 
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THE GOSPEL 
 
 the whole length of the street, was angry, and 
 said, "I didn't know there were so many fools 
 in the world." His greatest disappointment 
 was that no one would believe him. Some were 
 hungry, starving, but they didn't believe that 
 those herrings for nothing were good ! And the 
 man said, "I will go with you, and there'll be 
 two witnesses." He saw a lady looking out of 
 a window and said, "Madam, these herrings 
 have been recently caught. You can have 
 them." Finally, the lady stole out of the house 
 and took a couple of the herrings; others were 
 watching, and in a few minutes they carried off 
 all the fish. 
 
 Now the trouble was that at first they didn't 
 believe; and that's the trouble where we are 
 preaching. A man doesn't believe that he can 
 get something for nothing. 
 
 I was preaching in Ireland, and an Irishman 
 said, "You can't make an Irishman believe 
 that you can get something for nothing." I 
 said, "You can get the best thing you ever got 
 in the world for nothing. It is free as the air you 
 breathe. Good tidings of great joy, the Gospel 
 of Glad Tidings." 
 
 You will notice that Christ, after he was 
 baptized by John, went back to his native town, 
 to Nazareth, and went into the synagogue on 
 the Sabbath, as was his custom. I don't know 
 
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THE GOSPEL 
 
 what night He went there. I don't know what 
 called Him back. But His fame had gone on 
 before Him. Probably some of the townspeople, 
 when He was baptized by John, were there and 
 they told of the wonderful things that took 
 place when John baptized their own townsman, 
 and that He performed certain miracles. His 
 fame was spreading over the country, and his 
 town was mightily stirred. He went into the 
 synagogue, as was his custom, and the minister 
 was reading the Prophecy of Isaiah. In this 
 synagogue they had women, — the women were 
 on one side and the teachers on the other. But 
 the women could not see the men nor the men 
 the women. Perhaps, among the women was the 
 Blessed Virgin and Christ's own sisters. The 
 minister handed Him the parchment of the 
 Prophecy of Isaiah. He had, perhaps, read in 
 that place many times before. He found where 
 it is written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon 
 me; because the Lord hath anointed me to 
 preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath 
 sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to pro- 
 claim liberty to the captives, and the opening of 
 the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim 
 the acceptable year of the Lord." And he closed 
 the book, and sat down. They had never heard 
 anything so beautiful in all their lives. 
 
 Never in the history of the world was a town 
 
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THE GOSPEL 
 
 so suddenly lifted up as that one. I can see 
 one man touching another and whispering, 
 "Isn't this the son of Joseph? Isn't this the 
 son of the carpenter? Where has he got all 
 this wisdom?" He had not been anointed; but 
 He had received the unction from on high to 
 preach the gospel. And He said, "This day is 
 this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." If they 
 had allowed him to finish that sermon it would 
 probably have been the grandest they ever 
 heard. But instead of believing it was good 
 news, they thought it bad news, and they took 
 Him to the brow of the hill and would have 
 hurled Him into the arms of death, but He 
 miraculously took Himself out of their hands, 
 and went down to Capernaum. We never hear 
 of his coming to Nazareth to live. They didn't 
 believe the "good news." That's the way He 
 began His ministry. All through the years He 
 was preaching that same thing, "to forgive 
 sin." After He had gone to the grave and come 
 out to the resurrection, the thing He said to His 
 disciples was, as His departing Commission, 
 "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel 
 to every creature." That's His last Commis- 
 sion: "Go into all the world." 
 
 Do you know, I believe He wants all the 
 world to be saved. I don't know, but I think 
 it is one of the men back there in the centuries 
 
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THE GOSPEL 
 
 who heard Peter preaching on the Day of Pente- 
 cost, and, as he went on preaching, the man 
 came, elbowed his way through the crowd, and 
 said, "Peter, is there any hope for me? I am 
 the man that drove the nails into His hands and 
 feet." "Yes," said Peter; "He told me to 
 preach the Gospel to every creature." Another 
 man came pushing his way up and said, "Peter, 
 I am the man that spit in His face. Do you 
 think there's hope for me?" "Yes," answered 
 Peter; "He told me as He was about to go back 
 to Heaven, He would return, and preach it to 
 every creature; and he wouldn't have done it 
 unless there was pardon for all who will believe." 
 And another man came, elbowing his way, and 
 he said, "Peter, is there hope for me? I am 
 the man who drove that spear into His side." 
 'Yes," replied Peter; "there's nothing in His 
 heart but love. He loves you. He died for 
 you. He tasted death for you." He preached 
 the Gospel to those Jerusalem sinners whose 
 hands were dripping with the blood of the Son 
 of God, and if these men in Jerusalem could 
 be saved, do you tell me that there is a man 
 on earth that can't be saved? That darkest, 
 deepest act of Hell was the putting of Christ 
 to death. That's the crowning act of Hell. If 
 God could forgive us that sin, God can forgive 
 every man in Boston. 
 
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 Why, a hush would come on this audience 
 tonight if I told you that before I left my hotel 
 Gabriel came down from the presence of God, 
 into my room, and commissioned me to come 
 to this audience and say that there is only one 
 man of this audience who could be saved to- 
 night, and that he had given me his name. 
 Ah, then there'd be intense excitement about 
 this time. If any are drowsy, you would wake 
 up and say, "I hope it is my name!" "I hope 
 the message has come that I am to be saved." 
 "Wouldn't it be a grand and glorious night if 
 I could be saved?" You would want to know 
 the name; you have it, it is your name. 
 
 Henry Clay Trumbull told me he was a 
 Chaplain and taken prisoner in our Civil War. 
 In the prison there were nine hundred commis- 
 sioned officers. A little while before he became 
 a prisoner he got news at Washington that his 
 child was lying at the point of death. He could 
 get no tidings from home, and didn't know 
 whether the child was dead or alive. One day 
 the news came, and it spread through the prison, 
 that one man was to be paroled. He thought, 
 "That isn't me. There are Brigadier Generals 
 here, and Colonels, and Lieutenant Colonels, 
 men that outrank me. I only rank as Captain. 
 There's many a man in this prison that has 
 more influence at Washington than I have." 
 
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THE GOSPEL 
 
 The Confederate officer appeared, "and," said 
 Trumbull, "there came silence as if every man 
 had been struck by death." One man was to 
 be paroled; one man was to be set free. One 
 man was to go back to his wife, to his children, 
 and only one. "And," he said, "at last that 
 officer cried out, 'Henry Clay Trumbull'; and 
 my own name never sounded so strange in the 
 world before." That sent a thrill through the 
 Chaplain's soul. 
 
 My friends, I've got better news than that. 
 I have not a commission to say that only one 
 man can be saved tonight. Oh, better. I've 
 got good news: "Whosoever will, let him take 
 of the water of life freely." Salvation for every 
 man within the hearing of my voice. Salvation 
 tonight for every man in this building. You 
 may be saved this very hour, if you will. 
 
 Now, I want to tell you why the Gospel is 
 very precious to me. Let everybody wake up 
 and listen. If any one is sleeping, wake him 
 up that he may hear. I see that a boy about 
 seventeen years has gone to sleep. Wake him 
 up. I was up in the Mount Vernon Church one 
 Sunday, and I went to sleep up in the gallery. 
 Some one waked me up. But, do you know, 
 that was the beginning of a new life for me. 
 I listened for the first time to what the preacher 
 had to say, and I thought the whole sermon was 
 
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THE GOSPEL 
 
 right for me; and I turned up my coat collar 
 and said, "I'll never go back there in the world/ 5 
 Everybody was looking toward me. It will 
 be a good thing to wake up at seventeen; he 
 may be preaching the gospel after I am gone. 
 
 Now, I am going to tell you why the Gospel 
 is so precious. It has taken out of my path 
 four of the bitterest enemies I ever had; that's 
 why I like the Gospel. I'll tell you, it's the 
 only thing in the world that'll take them out. 
 The bitterest enemy we have is SIN. The 
 Gospel tells me how Sin may be put away. 
 
 Jesus Christ died for my sins. Jesus Christ, 
 by his death and sacrifice, has forever provided 
 for the putting away of sin and made provision 
 for man's salvation. There's not a man here 
 tonight who may not have his sin blotted out. 
 "Blessed is he whose transgression is hid and 
 whose sin is covered." "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." If a 
 man has been forgiven, who can bring a charge 
 against him? This Gospel teaches that man's 
 sin has been forgiven and put away; and it is 
 a great blessing, my friends, to have your sins 
 forgiven and put away for time and eternity. 
 
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THE GOSPEL 
 
 If they are not put away, they'll meet you at 
 the bar of God. According to the Scripture, 
 "Christ died for our sins. He was wounded 
 for our transgressions. He was bruised for our 
 iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was 
 laid upon Him, and with His stripes we are 
 healed." Now if Christ has died for my sins, 
 I have not to die for my own sins. If Jesus 
 Christ has put away my sins, the enemy has 
 gone, and I can look up and claim Heaven as 
 my home, because Jesus has cleared the way 
 right up to the throne, and made it possible to 
 get into the Kingdom of God. 
 
 Another terrible enemy, oh what an enemy! 
 is Death. The penalty of sin. Up here in 
 these old New England towns, where I grew up, 
 it used to be the custom, — it has passed out, 
 I believe, — when people died and were borne 
 away to the grave, the sexton would toll out 
 the age. When I was a boy, I always counted 
 the strokes of the bell, and if they went past 
 eighty or ninety, I would say, "Death is a long 
 way off." But once in a while death would 
 come down into the town and take a boy of my 
 own age, and then it was serious. Death seemed 
 like a terrible enemy. No one ever told me that 
 a corpse was cold, and I remember the first time 
 I touched a schoolmate, and I drew my hand 
 back. Death was cold. 
 
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THE GOSPEL 
 
 Then they had the custom of saying, "Ashes 
 to ashes/' and it sounded like a "death knell/ 5 
 That's all gone, and I can say, "O Death, where 
 is thy sting?" and I hear a voice ringing down 
 from Calvary, "He tasted death for me." He 
 died for me. That's the Gospel. That's what 
 gave Paul the wondrous victory and made him 
 rejoice. Death had been met by victory. 
 
 I used to think that Death dragged Christ 
 right up to the cross and took his life. But, 
 no, my friends, He went there to conquer Death. 
 When he issued his "It is finished," it was the 
 shout of a conqueror. He triumped over the 
 last enemy, and that is Death. 
 
 Then, I want to tell you that Christ says, 
 "If ye keep my sayings, ye shall never see 
 death." Never. That's a wonderful enemy gone, 
 gone for time and eternity. 
 
 And then the Grave, — how dark it would 
 look. I used to say I never could put my 
 friends into the grave. It seemed as if it was 
 a mean business. When I was called to put one 
 very dear to me, my neighbor, into the grave, 
 I could hear the voice of the preacher, "Thy 
 brother shall rise again"; but now I can look 
 into the grave and shout, "O Grave, where is 
 thy victory?" And I hear a voice coming out of 
 the grave, "Because I live, ye shall live also." 
 Christ went down into the grave to measure 
 
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THE GOSPEL 
 
 its depths and conquer it. "He led captivity 
 captive," and went up on high and took his seat 
 at the right hand of God. The enemy has gone. 
 I do not fear Death nor the Grave. 
 
 Then, there's another thing that used to terrify 
 me. "After death comes the Judgment." Oh, 
 my friends, I used to be terrified; and I pity 
 those people who through all their lives are 
 under the bondage of death, and all the time 
 afraid of the Judgment. 
 
 Listen! Know ye not that ye shall judge 
 the world? I expect to be with Christ on his 
 throne. A true Child of God is never coming 
 into judgment for sin. We are coming into 
 judgment for stewardship and reward. One 
 may be ruler over five cities and another 
 over ten. He entered into judgment for us 
 and died for us, and went to the grave for us, 
 and is up on high for us. That is the Gospel. 
 I don't know any other Gospel, and never have 
 been preaching any other Gospel. I believe 
 the world wants the old gospel, — the gospel 
 that Jesus Christ died in the sinner's place, 
 died in his stead. 
 
 Now, my friends, I want to tell you that 
 Christ has made everything clear right from earth 
 up to heaven, if you will just take Him as your 
 Lord, as your Bishop, your Prophet, your 
 Priest, your King. Ye need not fear death, the 
 
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THE GOSPEL 
 
 grave or sin. He will deliver you from the power 
 of sin, if you will let him into your heart, there 
 to take up His abode. 
 
 When Governor Pollock was Governor of 
 Pennsylvania, there was a man whose death- 
 warrant he signed. There'd been a great man 
 who had gone to the Governor to see if they 
 could not get a pardon for the young criminal. 
 The young man had a lingering hope that the 
 Governor would pardon him. But the Governor 
 said No. The Governor was a Christian man, 
 and he thought he would go down to the prison 
 where the man was, and* talk with him, and tell 
 him that God was merciful and that God might 
 save his soul. He went to the sheriff and intro- 
 duced himself, and said, "I want you to take 
 me to that man's cell, but don't tell him who 
 I am till I have left town." He was taken into 
 the jail; the iron door opened to the Governor 
 and he passed in and sat down on the iron bed- 
 stead and told the prisoner that although he had 
 been condemned by the law of Pennsylvania, 
 there was a merciful God who could save him, 
 and he preached Christ, and read a portion of 
 Scripture, and explained to him the way of life, 
 and he got down and prayed with him. At 
 the appointed time the Governor passed out 
 and went back to Harrisburg. Some days 
 after the sheriff was in the jail, and the con- 
 
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SEP 2 Wtf 
 
One copy del. to Cat. Div. 
 SEP 2 1911 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS , 
 
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