OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES
OF
nATTSTRATlONS ON CHTOCH MF* AM,
MBTHODS
UJN. G. KfeOUGHTON,
ADTHOS OF
Ete,
GEt5ZR,.L LIBRARY
UNMIVO--EORR--ES--IPT^UYJ RCCHFASEG:,E1O9R3G6 IA
P. M. BARTOK, PnbMsher.
CLEVELAND, O.
TO WAKE FOREST COLLEGE
Thl velum* ! dedicated by th
AUTHOR.
QCT 2 61943
GENERAL LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
KOCRE PURCHASE, 1936
PREFACE.
j
IN presenting these chapters I have tried to
\r
1 speak in the same strain that I have spok-
^\
en to my congregations. I believe in illustra
tions. I have tried to bring truth to my people
in this way. God has used it far beyond what
I could have expected from a cold logical pre
sentation of the same truth.
These chapters contain practical suggestions
for the solution of many of the vexing problems
N of the church of to-day. It is to be hoped that
they may prove interesting and helpful.
I<EN. G. BROUGHTON.
CONTENTS
Chapter.
Pg.
I. THE COMING RELIGION
.
.
5
II. RIGHT RELATION ... 14.
III. THE PLACE OF SALVATION .
. 25
IV. THE REVIVAL OF FIRST PRINCIPLES
35
V. THE BAPTISM OF POWER .
. 44
VI. THE TRUE VALUE OF SERVICE . 53
VII. THE CONQUEST OF THE LORDS PRAYER 65
VIII. THE DIVINE USE OF AFFLICTION . 73
IX. PLUCK, PUSH AND TRUST .
. 79
X. THE REASONABLENESS OF REASONING 91
XI. SANCTIFIED CITIZENSHIP .
. 101
XII. DRIFTERS AND DRIFTING .
. in
XIII. THE DEMAND FOR MORAL MUSCLE
121
XIV. THE QUESTION OF HEREDITY
. 129
XV. THE LAW OF SINS REWARD
. 139
XVI. THE IMMORTAL BEST .
.147
CHAPTER I.
COMING RELIGION.
"Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."
The purpose of this discourse is to outline and briefly discuss some of the leading points which are, in my judgment, to characterize the successful church of the present century.
WARFARE AGAINST SIN.
I_
First, the church must carry on an unremitting war
against sin. The words of the old prophet, "prepare
war; wake up the mighty men; let all the men of war
draw near; let them come up; beat your ploughshares
into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears," must
be heard by the church today. Sin and righteousness
must be allowed no alliance. The church must know
no flag of truce; its harmony must not be thought of so
long as sin and Satan reign. The cry is, conquer or die.
The whining1 cry for peace, with the church surrounded
by, and to a great extent composed of, sin and sinners
must be crushed to the earth. Christ Himself said: "I
came not to bring peace, but a sword."
The church of this country must be felt in the affairs
of the world. It has found out and established the
genuineness of its claims. Its doctrines are now clearly
defined. Its mission is the salvation of the individual,
,_
6
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and the purification of the world. The atmosphere we
breathe has much to do with our state of being. An
unholy atmosphere begets a lax state of religion. The
church must see this for its own protection as well as the
good of the world.
AGGRESSIVENESS.
2
Besides this, the church must be more aggressive in its
fight. Hitherto its conservatism has been the joke of
the world. Under the leadership of Satan they have
prescribed its limits, and then laughed at its failures.
We will never get the respect and wield the power we
deserve until we force ourselves to the front, determined
to be heard on all questions pertaining to morality and
truth. "Do something," said an old preacher while
ordaining a young man to the ministry. The emphasis
was put upon "something," and it was good advice. I
very much admire the spirit of the old judge in the
mountain section of our state. While not versed in the
law, he had an abundance of common sense and deter
mination. He went into his court one morning and
found a witness seated in the witness chair with a shawl
around him. The judge immediately ordered the wit
ness to hold up his right hand to be sworn. He icplied,
"Judge, my right hand is paralyzed." Then, said the
judge, "Hold up your left hand." But the witness
replied, "My left arm is off." Then said the judge in a
spirit of semi-exasperation, "Hold up your leg." But the
witness replied again, "Both my legs were shot off in the
war." Completely exasperated by this time, the judge
shouted, "Well then, stand on your head, you have got
to hold up something in this court."
COMING RELIGION.
7
Do something! Let the church resolve to do some thing in shaping the destinies of the world, and it has largely solved the problem of respect, for no man, how ever much he may differ from us, can fail to respect us, when, in a righteous way, we make ourselves felt.
LAW AND ORDER.
3
Again, the church must stand squarely and insist
rigidly upon law and order. I know of no greater curse
to civilization than mob law. It has not received the
attention of the pulpit that it deserves. We have fought
almost every other phase of evil. But the church needs
also, especially at this time, to champion the question of
law, and to be the inveterate enemy of mob violation;
whether it be in the anarchist who would destroy our
institutions, or the mad assassin who breaks open prison
cells to lynch the criminal, or the petticoat brigade with
hatchet and club, attempting to do what the law, through
its officers, must be made to do.
We are living in perilous times. Law is losing its
majesty. When in the South a mob is allowed to burn
a negro; in the North a mob is allowed to slay a dozen;
in the West an erratic woman is openly cheered and voted
a medal costing one hundred dollars by a large conven
tion of her sisters and associate workers.; and when from
all over the country telegrams of congratulation are sent
this wild fanatic whose notoriety is attained only by
anarchy and violence, I say, when all this is allowed it is
high time we were stopping to inquire "Whither are we
drifting?" This question the church must help settle.
REACH THE MASSES.
4
Again the church of success must be a church of the
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masses. Boast as we please, but the fact remains that
the church at present is separate from the masses. Go,
to the crowded centers; visit the churches; see their
audiences; talk with the people and the conviction will
seize you so strong that you cant throw it off that there: is
a mighty breach between the church and the people.
We need not say it is their fault. We may expect them to be indifferent They are "dead in trespasses and sins."
They are not expected to seek out the church. They are
like the paralytic. The church should be the battery
charged with life-giving power. A stationary battery,
however fine it may be, and however well manipulated, is.
of no good to the man paralyzed on his bed. It must be
portable; it must have legs; its means of relief must be
applied. So with the church. It must not spend its
energies in fine houses and good equipment and rest,
there. It must be so organized that it will take the
gospel to the people. The streets and lanes, and homes
of all classes must be watched and used. A regular
systematic effort at soul-winning and churching along, this line must be carried forward. Spasmodic efforts
have proven to be a failure. The church must be at its
business all the time. That is what we are trying to do with our Tabernacle plan of organization. With our
missionaries and missions, our cottage meetings and.
street meetings, our tract distribution, and our "Homes
for the Helpless," and "Hospitals for the Sick," we are
trying to meet the demands of the twentieth century,
church.
HUMANITARIANISM.
$
When our Lord was upon the earth He submitted the
COMING RELIGION.
9
parable of the Good Samaritan who made it his business to deny himself the comforts of a ride got down and bound up the wounds of the poor traveller, and placed him upon his own horse and carried him to a hotel, where he paid his bill in advance, and requested them if any more was needed to call on him. This is prac tical Christianity. It is the Christianity that must char acterize church work at the present time.
The past century was specially noted for its philan thropy. But it was seen largely in matters of education. Great educational institutions were created and endowed.
This has been a noble work, and I would not utter a word that would tend to hurt true Christian education. But the church of the present day must turn its attenion to the great mass of our people who never can and never will be touched by such philanthropy. It must hear and heed the cry of distress that comes up from the masses who never feel the benefit of much of our present day benevolence.
THE CHAKITY PROBLEM.
6
The charity problem is intricate. But this makes It
more important. In every city, town and country dis
trict there are heartaches and distresses which only need
to be realized to bleed the heart of the hardest. They
are not rare; they are very, very common. The ordinary
wage-earner gets sick, his income ceases, credit soon
plays out and a whole family is left to suffer. This is
common. We never dream of the suffering until we
begin to look for it. Widows, orphans, helpless and
homeless women and children; some with characters
bad who want to reform, and others whose inner and
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outer life is as pure as the purest; they are everywhere. They make the bottom rail in our civilization and the foundation of our government They are the majority in our churches, and they are of no church at all. They are a part of that great people known as the masses. They appeal for help. The failure of the church to properly appreciate this cry has caused it to lose much of its grip upon them. They have sought lodges and associations that care for them in their distresses, sit tip with their sick, and take care of them when they are helpless. This work is pre-eminently the work of the church. They need sympathy. They go to the church for it. Alas, alas, they often fail to get it! They need help. They go to the church for it or wait for the church to bestow it. And again they fail to get it. They need protection against oppression and wrong. They go to the church to champion their grievances and relieve their oppression. But again they are turned aside. No wonder the lodges flourish and grow strong in finances, while the church struggles and mourns.
The church must more determinately enter the field. Jesus Christ has commanded it. Orders and associations having no religion, and acknowledging no Christ, must not have relegated to them the work of "weeping with those that weep, visiting the sick and caring for the widows and orphans." In the name of Christ this is to be done. The waif on the street must be taken up. The homeless must be housed. The orphans must be fathered and mothered. The poor must be fed and encouraged. The sick must be furnished nurse and doctor. The out casts must be given a chance to reform. The great
COMING RELIGION.
n
unchurched and unsaved masses must be reached. The church must be their friend, and its modes and methods of work must be planned to meet their needs. Here is the field for the present day Christian philanthropy to put its money into institutions that are themselves in reach of the people, and in methods of work that will reach the people.
FORMALISM.
7
The church must be non-formal. The day has been
when the formal and ritualistic church was the order.
But formality and ritualism failed to hold the people.
John Wesley was the voice of the people crying out
against the cold set formalism of the established
Church of England. The need of Wesleyism is as great,
if not greater today. Our day is more practical. Creeds
and doctrines are settled. People want life. It is not
alone your religion, but your life. Church formalism u
repugnant to the spirit of the times. I shall never for
get an experience I had while a boy. I went from a
country home to a large city. My first Sabbath was
spent in church. It was scarcely a church to me. The
organ in the loft, and that at the front end of the church,
with a patent choir to lead the singing singing that
was said to be fine, but no man on earth, nor angel in heaven, could tell a word that was said except the "amen, amen," at the close. The folks were stiff ami cold. The preacher maneuvered like a wax figure, arid read an essay. No man spoke to me or seemed to care for my presence. I determined never to go to church in that city again. Fortunately, that night I was persuaded to drop into another church. Three thousand people
12
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liad assembled. They had a large orchestra leading the music, supported by a chorus of one hundred voices, led by a man who stood upon the platform and made every body sing. The usher seized my hand and gave me a seat It was a great time. The minister preached on "Practical Religion," and touched me with every word that he said. Oh, I shall never forget the hand shaking that they gave me at the close of the service 1
POWER AND INSPIRATION.
8
Again, the church must have power and inspiration.
It must get its power from the Holy Ghost, and its
inspiration from our Lords return. Jesus Christ said
to the first Christian church of earth, "Ye shall receive
power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you."
Salvation is a blessed experience, but salvation alone is
not enough. That first church was a saved body, but
salvation was not enough for them. They must have
supernatural strength. They must have it to live by.
Sin and temptation must be overcome. A saved man
must be a conquering man. The lusts and longings of
the flesh must be mastered. Besides, they must have
the supernatural for service. A mighty problem was
upon them. The world must be Christianized. To do
this they must have a power unlike other men. Hence,
the command to "Tarry in Jerusalem until ye be endued
with power from on high." This power is just as essen
tial to us. The church must insist upon the overcoming
life. Compromise with the flesh can no longer be toler
ated. The command of Christ, "Be ye holy," must be
heard. To hug the devil and hold on to the Lord, is
hypocrisy. There must be a conquering of the forces
COMING RELIGION.
13
within the power of the Holy Ghost. The same need is ours with respect to service. We are to make disciples of all people. This is a stupendous task, and cannot be done in our own strength. Culture, wealth and civility combined will fail unless there is the work of the super natural power of God through the Holy Ghost. God and His church must be joined together. It must be seen that we possess a power not like other people. Rationalism and materialism must be put to flight, as Elijah put to flight the prophets of Baal. This, to me, is the inspiration of life, the morning star of a bright day when this old world now cursed with Satan and marred by the stain of sin, shall give way to His rule. Oh, to think when He comes and stretches forth His pierced hand, I shall be privileged, and so shall you, to look upon this earth, where we have struggled and toiled; where we have had heartaches and disappoint ments ; where we have mourned and grieved over loved ones, sick and departed; where we have felt the sting of sin and Satan, and our eyes have been holden so we could not see the great purposes of God! Oh, to think that when Christ comes we shall be permitted to see this world in its Edenic purity and beauty! It is enough to inspire us. We shall then feel no sorrow, no heartache, no disappointment, no sickness to shut us in from friends and loved ones and duty, but with Him and the vast redeemed throng we shall climb the mountains and roam the valleys and pluck the flowers and rejoice ever more.
CHAPTER II.
RIGHT RELATIONS.
"And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them." Matt. 21:6.
THE POWER OF THE CITIES.
9
The first thing that impresses me with respect to this
incident is the fondness of Jesus for the city. If we
were to take from the Bible everything that is said about
cities we would leave out of the sacred volume more
than half its contents. Perhaps you have not thought
of this fact before. More than half the Bible is made
up of descriptions of cities in one way or another. Two
hundred and sixty-two times in the sacred book the word
"city" is used. All the great religious movements dur
ing the days of the apostles began in the cities. The
"mightiest works of Jesus were done in the cities and in
connection with them. And so has it been ever since the
days of Christ; cities have been the centers of life. From
it have come all of our political reforms. From it have
come all our educational movements. From it have come
our financial schemes. From the cities today come our
styles and our fashions. You women get your styles
from the city, it makes no difference whether you live in
the city or not. People in the rural districts -of Georgia
get their styles from the people of Atlanta. The people
of Atlanta get their styles from New York, and New
York gets its styles from Paris, and Paris gets its styles
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from the devil. Everything that is anything at all has a direct connection with the city life of our day. All our politics today come from the cities. Largely the great religious institutions and the religious reforms of the day have their beginnings in the cities. My brethren, if we would have a great revival of religion to sweep over this country it must have its beginning in the cities.
You let a great religious enthusism overflow in the city, and every country district is soon acquainted with the fact. Why is that? It is because everybody is looking to the city. When you start a movement in the city you start a movement that practically has no end. We have been talking about a great revival, and have been lament ing the fact that the old revival fires have gone out. I read the other day of the revival of 1827 that swept over this country like a cyclone. I read the list of men who were prominent in that revival movement, and as I read I could not but ask the question, why cant we have that state of thing today? It is because things have changed. In former days the country controlled the city. Today the city leads things, and our country people are waiting for it to act. If you want to have a great revival, that revival must have its beginning in the cities of our state. As sure as you live, if there is to be a great revival in the country, the city has got to take the lead.
NEEDED PREPARATION.
IO
Another thing that impresses me is, that before Jesus
went to the city He must have certain preparations for
His coming. He got up two of His disciples and sent
them over to an adjacent town and told them to get an
RIGHT RELATIONS.
17
ass and a colt and bring them to Him. And said He: "If any man asks you what business you have with them,
you tell him that I have need of them." I like that way of putting it. "If anybody asks you what need I have
for them, you tell them that it is none of their business."
A man comes to me and says, do you think missions pay? I say to him, it isnt my business to ask whether
it does or does not pay. It is my business to hear Gods commission, "Go!" If any man asks you what you are
going to do with these things you just tell him that the
Master has need of them.
THE FORCE OF SIN.
II
My brethren, if Jesus is to come to the city in
triumph, there must be preparation of the church. The
reason why Atlanta is not in the midst of a revival is,
because Atlanta has not made the preparation. The
church life of our people is dead. There is such indiffer
ence, such carelessness. You can scarcely get a church to discuss the necessity of His coming:
There is nothing God is so sensitive to as the subject
of sin. David declares: "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." We realize that the Spirit is manifesting Himself to the world, and yet
cannot understand the mind and purpose of God. We
are constantly in doubt and disappointment because we
cannot read the signs of the times that are made by Jehovah. My brethren, it is not Gods fault, but
because the human heart is not in the condition to
receive the impression. Mr. Edison spent weeks trying
to get the telephone to sound the letter "S." How
i8
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careful we should be to have the heart respond to the will of God.
THE UNFORGIVING SPIRIT.
12
But there is another thing: We must be right with
one another. I have been in evangelistic work for more
than ten years, and I have seen some great meetings at
different times and in different places, but I have yet
to find the church that can conduct a great revival in
the midst of schisms and discord. On one occasion I
had been conducting a meeting in one of the most aris
tocratic churches of the South. I never saw such a
hard crowd to move in my life. I would ask those
desiring prayer to hold up their hands. There would
never be a hand up, or a hand moved. I talked along
all the lines I could possibly think of. Finally, I said to
the pastor, "My brother, I have talked about everything
except one. God seems to have locked Himself against us.
We are in the midst of the hardest problem I ever had
to solve. I am going to talk on unforgiveness." The
pastor said, "If there is a whit of such a thing in this
congregation I do not know it." I said, "Well, we will
see." I had tried everything else and I had to take up
this line of thought as the result of conviction. At the
close of my sermon a man arose and said, "Brother
Broughton, I think you have struck the right line. I
am a deacon in this church, and I have not spoken to a
certain man in this church in a year and a half. If that
man is in this house I will meet him more than half
way." About that time another deacon arose and said,
"There is a man in this church I have not spoken to in
a long time. He is not here, but I forgive him now."
RIGHT RELATIONS.
19
About the time he sat down a woman got up, and she was a member of the choir (the devil generally does his most effective work in the choir), and she said, "I want to acknowledge my guilt along that line." There were forty-seven that responded, deacons and deacons wives, pastors wife and Sunday-school teachers. You know what happened. We had a great revival, in spite of the fact that snow was nearly knee-deep. The people came two and three times a day. It was a great time, and it lasted for years in the hearts of that church. Now, my brethren, you listen to what I am going to say to you. If you die with unforgiveness in your heart, you are as
certain for hell as the devil himself. That is pretty hard. But that is not one-half as hard as when you have to go there. Why do I say it ? Listen, "If ye for give not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses." If you can get into heaven with unforgiven sin in your heart, then
Gods book is a falsehood. Oh, it is hard! Any sin is hard. It is a hard thing to forgive.
A REVIVAL DEPENDENT UPON THE CHURCH.
13
If you would prepare for Jesus to come in a great
revival there must be an arrangement of our time. You
men and women of the church, this revival is dependent
upon you. Jesus wants men to give Him a portion of
the day as well as the night. You say, "I havent the
time; my business takes all my time." Trust God for
business, and trust God for time. Certainly each night
in a week we can give to God and this work. We want folks to talk to the people. We ought to put forth one
20
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mighty, combined effort for shaking up the community. It takes somebodys time.
Then, another thing let me say. We need to arrange
for the triumph of Jesus by getting unsaved people on our hearts. There is no use talking about it, God will
honor the prayer of faith for the salvation of the sinner.
There is not a man that is not ashamed of what he has done. I believe God wills us the privilege of bringing
souls to Jesus. Fix your heart upon some one; never let him go; write to him; pray for him.
THE POWER OF PRAYER.
14
Then, one thing more let me suggest, the preparation
of prayer. My brethren, I do not know how you feel
on the subject of prayer, but I do thank God for the fact
that I have confidence in prayer. The older I get the more I believe in the power of prayer. I was talking to a minister some time ago. He said, "Dr. Broughton,
somehow the more I see and study the harder I find it to pray." How different with me! The more I study the easier it is for me to pray and the less I can afford to live without prayer. Prayer was the one thing that Christ taught His disciples how to do. I do not believe there is a difficulty that cannot be unlocked by prayer. Read the account of Peter in prison, when James had been murdered by Herod, and Peter was expecting to
be murdered. While Peter was in prison a little church was over there in prayer. The devil cannot murder while the church prays. While Peter was in prison, the
church in prayer, the door was opened and Peter walked out in liberty. I tell you brethren, if that had been some of us, instead of going to praying we would have sent
RIGHT RELATIONS.
21
a delegation to Herod, begging him to let Brother Peter
out of jail. But the plan adopted by the little church
was for all to get down on their knees and spend the
whole night in prayer. While they prayed God visited,
not Herod, but the prison and flung the door wide open
and said to Peter, "Walk out." I had rather have God
come as an ambassador than all the royal visitors of
earth. Brethren, we have not made enough of prayer.
When that massacre was going on in China, Congress
was visited by the friends of our people for something to be done to protect our missionaries from the cruel
hand of the Boxers. I never saw one call from the
church, or one convention, or one conference, or one
synod for a week, or a month of earnest prayer for God
to stay the hand of the Boxer and save and protect the
lives of our people. Our people rushed to the White
House, when, in my judgment, all could have been
done better if we had solicited the aid of the great God
of heaven.
A CHURCH WITH POWER.
15
The trouble about it is, I think, we deny the God of
miracles. We are only trusting the God of reason, and
have lost sight of the God who speaks and makes
worlds, and peoples them with human souls. Jesus
Christ Himself must be introduced by the Holy Ghost.
So that if we would have a meeting we must have the
Christ who comes in the transforming power of the
Holy Ghost. Dr. Gordon used to say that walking
down the streets of Boston he was accustomed to seeing signs like this: "Rooms for rent with or without
power." And my brethren, if we had an insight into
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the situation we might go about saying the same with respect to the spiritual life of our people. "A business with or without power." Which is it? "A church with or without power." Which is it? I am sorry to say most of the business of the world is without power; that most of the lives of men are without power; that most of our churches in the majority of places are with out power. I want a church alive with power. I had a hundred times rather that God should do this, as He promises to do, than that I should have to do for Him that which He promises to do for me through the power of the Holy Ghost.
GREAT OPTIMISM.
l6
When Jesus got there He found an expectant crowd.
He found them standing on the roadside as He rode
along. They had prepared the streets by the leaves of
the trees. They peered down the road, and with the first sound of the asss hoofs there began to well up in their hearts a hosannah to the King. And now that He is in sight, every man, woman and child sends forth one great cry of hosannah to the King. Oh, my breth
ren, I believe in the man who is expecting something to happen. I believe in the community that is expecting something to take place. I believe in the church that
is always expecting something to occur. I have no respect at all for a pessimist. So many people are living
in the "I told you so." My father never had anything
much. I never saw him that he was not expecting something to happen the next day. He has been the
joke of the family owing to his optimistic view of his life. I never saw father that he wasnt just certain
RIGHT RELATIONS.
23
something was going to happen. You might say to him, "Pa, have you got any job?" He would answer, "No, but I am going to have one." If you were to go to Raleigh and ask him how things are going, he would answer, "Pretty well. I am going to get a better job." Something is going to happen! The reason Christ had a triumphal entry was because He had the men and the women there to stir up things and wake up the sleeping city of Jerusalem, to bring men and women to their feet. If He had gone slipping in there, nobody would have known it.
Elijah got under a jumper tree once, but I never heard of his getting there any more. Now we see him with the prophets of Baal. He said, "Let us build an altar here. If your god be God, he will come down and burn up this altar." The prophets of Baal prayed, "Oh, Baal, you are on trial now; come down and lick up this altar." But Baal did not come. They prayed and prayed and prayed. Finally, old Elijah, with the keen est sarcasm I have ever read, said, "Maybe he is asleep, or maybe your god is on a journey." They cried louder, but Baal did not come. "Well," they said, "we can not do it and you can not." Then Elijah said, "Dont be so sure about it." He got down and said, "Oh, God, you know we are on trial." Then he takes some water and and says to himself, "I am so satisfied something is going to happen, I am going to make it as hard as can be." He puts water on the altar and then gets down and prays. You know what happened? Fire came down from heaven and licked up the altar, and God was vindicated.
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So long as the church prays in the name of the God of Elijah He will come down and respond.
Let us believe in the God of Elijah, the God of might, and power, and something will happen.
People talk to me about my air castles. They say, "You start things and they dont work." Well, I dont know what to do but to put something else on top of them. And so the thing goes and has been going. They said, "You cant do it." I said, "I am going to try it. I am just going to try it, any way." I am still thinking something is going to happen. Something is going to happen! Something is going to happen! The spirit of my father has been in me ever since I was born. "Something is going to happen!" I believe in the God that has been tested with His power, and that God is still able, some time, somewhere, through somebody, to make something happen. May it drop on me. I am going to be looking for it But you say, "It has not happened." Let me tell you, brother, I am going to keep on expecting something from God until after awhile, while I am planning God will say to me, "You have been expecting something to happen all this time, and now step in here with me and I will show you what has happened."
CHAPTER III.
THE PLACE OF SALVATION.
"For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole
world and lose his own soul ? Or what shall a man give
in exchange for his soul ?" Mark 8 .36-37.
TWO PICTURES.
17
This question suggests Gods rarest gift to man. You
will observe in facing it two pictures. First, is the pic
ture of the world Gain the whole world." What did
Jesus mean here by the world? Clearly He did not
mean this or that which is usually regarded when
speaking of the world. He meant to emphasize all that
the world stands for everything that is. He meant
its material, its wealth, its beauty, its wisdom, its com
fort. He meant everything created by God and invented
by man.
The other picture is that of the soul And lose his
own soul." Here we might also ask, what is meant by
the soul? Surely He means more than what we call
life earthly existence. He meant the immortal part
of man. He means that which is to live here and here
after. He means man for if we take away the soul we
destroy man. That which differentiates us from the
brute animal is that about which Jesus was speaking.
These are the two pictures, the world and the soul.
Let us look at them for a moment. In the picture of
the world is everything that nature and art can do.
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OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
Every touch to beautify and make attractive has been
applied. Mountains crowned with diamonds and set
with jewels; valleys rich with foliage and scented with
flowers. Can you take it in? This is the world. Now,
turn the eye and view the soul. Not the soul of the rich
prince with the royal robe but just a lone, immortal
soul. Now, remember that Jesus, with an eye that pene trated far beyond the possibilities of the present world,
raised the question, "What shall it profit a man if he
gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what
shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" There can
be but one conclusion from this question; it is this:
salvation is the biggest thing in all the universe of God;
it is Gods greatest gift.
MAN-MAKING POWER.
l8
Salvation is the only thing that can take a poor,
bedraggled wretch and make a man out of him. Do
we believe it? Look at the poor demoniac, devil pos
sessed, and devil controlled. There he is on the coast
of Gadara, naked, raving in madness, foaming at the
mouth, a terror to all who see him. Jesus comes that
way, and with the authority that spake in the morn of chaos and darkness, and brought in place the worlds
that be, spake again, and the poor, despised wretch is a
man clothed in his right mind sitting at the feet of
Jesus.
Go again to the temple; see that degraded woman
who has been picked up from the streets. What a
wretched spectacle With her they hope to entrap the
Master. But Jesus is equal to the emergency. He
THE PLACE OF SALVATION.
27
floods her soul with the light of salvation and puts her
on her feet again.
There is nothing like it. Salvation! Salvation I You
say those are Bible characters, and are only idealistic
so far as we are concerned. My brother, where have
you lived that you have not seen enough for yourself?
Has not salvation worked its power in your commu
nity? Then pity the church where you live.
JERRY MAULEY MISSION.
19
Get S. H. Hadleys great book, "Down in Water
Street." Read the thrilling story of the thousands re
deemed in the Jerry McAuley Mission in New York.
See that magnificent group of about fifty from among
the most prominent men in all the walks of life. Re
member when you look upon these bankers, lawyers,
doctors and preachers, that they were once so low down
that even the dogs would not want to lick their sores.
What got hold of these men. What worked such a
transformation? What took from them the last dregs
of life and placed them upon their present pinnacle?
Was it a pledge, a training school, a reformatory, or
even a strong and good resolution? Nay. These men
went to the Jerry McAuley Mission. Many of them
were simply in search for bread. While there they got
a vision of their Savior, and His salvation flooded their
souls. On their knees at that old altar, where thousands
have found peace in believing, they received the salva
tion of Christ and standing upon their feet they at once
claimed the power of His grace. What a great salva
tion! No wonder Paul calls it, "So great salvation!"
Thank God we can see this power to uplift manifested
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OLD WIXE IN NEW BOTTLES.
in our midst. There are men and women in this pres
ence who have been long under the cloud. They have winced at the lightning, and shuddered at the roar of its thunder, but today, through the power of the salva
tion of Jesus Christ, they stand on the mountain crest, basking- in the sunlight, while the cloud that once envel
oped them is now the canvas upon which the rainbow
of hope is seen. God be praised for these souls! They inspire us to better and nobler possibilities. Does some one ask, who they are and what they did? Oh, soul,
this is not for thee to inquire. If it be possible, God Himself has forgotten the past. Salvation! Salvation!
So great salvation! Talk about ponderous questions, mighty powers salvation is the greatest gift of God.
The other night a poor drunkard, almost staggering, came in and said, "Is there hope for me in my condi
tion? A man who has twice committed murder and yet who wants to be saved?" We answered, "Most as suredly so." And kneeling upon the floor, he lifted his
heart to God and prayed, "Oh, Lord Jesus, if there is salvation great enough for me, let me have it." Rising from that place he went out a sober man, and last Sun
day spent the first sober Sunday in ten years. My brother, is there anything with which you are acquainted so powerful as that? Oh, gracious God, help us all to realize the power of that salvation, which was wrought out through the shed blood of Jesus Christ!
BURDENS.
2O
Because of what it enables one to bear. The other
day I saw some workmen throw aside a huge railroad
iron. I asked what was the objection to it. They said
THE PLACE OF SALVATION.
29
it would not bear enough. So, everything is valued by what it can bear. Thank God, the salvation of Jesus can afford this test Look at John the Baptist, the fore runner of Christ, with the enthusiasm of the new order filling his soul, who rather than recant lays his head upon the block and it is severed from his body. See Stephen, stoned to death; and Paul, the great apostle, shamefully executed. What means this endurance? It means to declare to the world their conception of the bigness of salvation. I think when I get to heaven I will make haste to Paul. Yes, thank God, I shall have time through eternal ages to talk to this great apostle. I want to ask Paul about his suffering for Christ. I want to ask him about giving up his promise in the Sanhedrin to be a tent-maker evangelist. I want to ask him what power got hold of him and produced this self-denial. I want to ask him how he felt that night when they had to let him down through a window in a basket to keep the mob from taking his life. What a humiliating thing it must have been for him, the great and grand apostle, bundled in a basket like a rag doll, to protect him from those who would destroy him! I want to ask him all about this. Yes, I want to ask him about his imprisonment, his trial, and his final execu tion. Oh, Paul, my brother, who was willing to be counted the least among the brethren, what power got hold of thy life and made thee such a willing sufferer?
I fancy him saying in reply, "What things were gain to me, I count loss for Christ Yea, doubtless. I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have
3o
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suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as but
nothing, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through faith of Christ."
TEMPTATION.
21
Because of the power it gives to resist temptation.
The tempter is the dreadful enemy of mankind. There
is no one beyond his reach. He comes at all times and
under all circumstances. He is truly no respecter of
persons, or conditions. He wills the destruction of the
ripe saint, as well as the rank sinner. His aim is first
of all, to get the soul. If he fails to do this, he wants
to get the life. A thousand means have been devised
to overcome his subtle work. Men have tried money, only to find themselves weaker and the tempter stronger. Men have tried travel. They have thought, "If I could
get away from my environments I would be free." But alas, they find that the tempter rides on every train and lives in every land. The travel might change the char acter of his attack, but in no sense will it ward him off. Culture is tried. The so-called new religion of our day is built on this idea. But every student of history knows that culture furnishes no power with which to resist the tempter. The vilest depths ever reached by men have been reached by those who have relied on their cul
ture to bear them up. The only power ever given by God, or discovered by
man, with which to meet and successfully defy tempta tion, is that which comes through the salvation of Jesus Christ. Well could the apostle declare, "There hath no
temptation taken you but such as is common to man;
THE PLACE OF SALVATION.
31
but He is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able to bear; but with every tempta tion He maketh a way of escape." The world is musical today because of the thousands who are kept in the power of His truth. I believe it was Christmas Evans who said one day, he saw as it were a conflict between Satan and the souls of men and women. Said he: I saw the unclean spirit rise like a winged dragon, circling in the air, and seeking for a resting place. Casting his fiery eyes toward a certain neighborhood he spied a young man in the bloom of life and rejoicing in his strength, sitting on the front of his cart. "There he is!" said the old dragon, "His veins are full of blood and his bones of marrow. I will throw into his bosom sparks from hell; I will lead him from bad to worse until he shall commit every sin, and his soul shall sink never again to rise in the lake of fire." By this time I see him descend with a fell swoop to the earth; but nearing the youth heard him singing,
"Guide me, O thou great Jehovah." This was too much for the dragon. He couldnt live in the place of such a spirit. He instantly took his flight. But again I see him havering about in the air, cast ing his eye for a suitable resting place. Out yonder in a flower meadow, watered by crystal streams, sitting in the grass is a sweet lovely maiden of about eighteen summers. "There she is!" shouted the dragon, "I will poison her mind. She shall stray from the paths of virtue; she shall think evil thoughts; she shall become a lost creature in the great city, and at last I shall cast
32
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her down from the precipice into everlasting burnings."
But just as he made his leap he heard her singing,
"Other refuge have I none;
Hangs my helpless soul on thee."
Another woman he spies. She is stricken in years,
busy with her spinning. "I see, I see," said the dragon;
"Theres one ripe for destruction. She shall know the
terrors of the wail which ascends from the burning marl
of hell!" He forthwith alights on the roof of her house,
when he hears the old woman repeating with trembling
voice, "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be
removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee."
"My!" said the dragon, "I cannot stay in the pres
ence of scripture."
Now the last attack. In yonder cottage old William,
slowly wasting away. He was born in the heat of bur
dens, and has had a hard life of it. "I know," said the
dragon, "I can easily persuade him to curse God and
die. Thus musing he flew to the sick mans bed; but
as he listened, he heard the words, "Though I walk
through the valley of death, I shall fear no evil, for
Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort
me." Mortified and enraged, the dragon took his flight,
saying, "I will return to the place from which I came."
Oh, the power of this salvation to enable us to resist
the tempter. No wonder Jesus raised the question,
"What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world,
and iose his own soul?"
PEACE.
22
Kecause of the character of its peace. The great cry
of the world today is peace! We get so tired; our feet
THE PLACE OF SALVATION.
33
get weary; our brains ache; and our hearts get heavy. We need peace. Mr. Gladstone said, "Take everything else from me, but leave me the peace of God." That is what salvation promises the peace of God. Not the peace of no tears, but the peace that can smile through tears. This is the peace of God. Jesus said unto His disciples, "My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
Mrs. Helen Mitchell, in "The Way of Truth," gives this beautiful experience concerning the peace of God. She was an idle, careless soul, the mother of one child, a beautiful boy. One day he kissed her good-bye and went out for play. In a short while they brought him back a cripple for life. She said it came near killing her. Finally, an old saint who had passed through many a storm and was considerably battered up, brought her into the truth. She said to her, "My sister, Jesus has got peace and to spare. Ive been livin on it for well nigh forty years, and its like a debt, it gets bigger the longer it runs. You get down, child, and ask Jesus to give it to you. You neednt ask Him to give it like the world gives it. He dont give it like that. Just ask Him to give it like He pleases, t^nd then you live in what He gives till He gives you more." Oh, this is salvation, "My peace!" Why, I couldnt go another day unless I had it. You may try "Dont Worry Socie ties," "New Thoughtism," Christian Science tom foolery, and every other invention of man, but oh, to know "the peace of God!"
34
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LIGHT BEYOND.
2$
Because it is the only lamp that lights up the beyond.
Say what you please, this amounts to something. No
Butlers reasoning is needed to convince the ripe old
saint No induction of logic to tell the sinner why his
secret thoughts trouble him his conscience cries,
eternity! Salvation is the only light that clears up the
darkness and gives us rest of soul. We have seen the
conscious touch of it settle down upon the face of the
dying saint and make him look as if the very struggle
itself was an effort to go rather than stay. We have
seen the hope of it soothe the sobbing mothers heart
when all the treasure she had was cold in death.
Oh, soul, have you got it? The day may not be far
distant when you would sell all to get it. It may be too
late then. Get it today. And if you already have it, my
brother, you have a big thing. Stand for it. Let it
control you. Dont try to see how little you can do for
it. Let it occupy your best self. And then when you
have been in heaven a million ages, you will know in
part what Jesus meant when He said, "What shall it
profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose
his own soul?"
CHAPTER IV.
THE REVIVAL OF FIRST PRINCIPLES.
"Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life." John 5.30.
I am to talk to you of what I regard to be a real press ing need at this time with many people.
ASSURANCE.
24
There are scores who need teaching concerning this
important question. One trouble is the theological
terms that are used in defining it. In one of my meet
ings some time ago there was a young physician. I
talked to him privately and publicly; scarcely ever
preaching a sermon but that I would endeavor to take
the truth to his heart. Finally, during the meeting a
little timid, shrinking woman went to that doctor and
had a talk with him about his soul. At the close of the
service he came forward and gave me his hand, stating
at the same time, "I at last have seen the truth." The
next day I took a drive with him, and I rehearsed my
interest in him, and naturally feeling that I had been the
instrument in Gods hands in bringing him directly to
the light, I asked him what it was that I said that
brought him to the light. He said, "You will pardon
me, but it did not come about by anything you said. I
tried to learn how to be saved through your preaching,
but I was not able to grasp it. A little woman came to
me and in five minutes she had explained the plan so
GENERAL LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY CF GEORGIA
MOORE PURCHASE, ""^
30
OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
dear and plain that there was nothing else to do but accept it"
That timid little woman in the hands of God, by using simply plain terms and illustrations brought that man to Christ. This is the need of today.
Then there are other people honestly mistaken about their salvation. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." There are people who get into the church and who par take with us of the Lords supper, and if they were to
die they would be cast off from heaven. Then there is another class. They are the best men
and women in our churches, who are now and then
seized with awful doubt. They doubt their salvation. It is a sin for you to doubt your salvation if you ever have been saved. The Apostle John, in one of his epis tles writes to the church: "I write these things unto you that ye may know that you have passed from death unto life." Not that you may feel, but that you may k-n-o-w.
THE WAY OF ASSURANCE.
25
This assurance does not come in any sense from ones
analysis of himself. If you sit down to analyze yourself
you are going to get into a sea of doubt and difficulties.
The best man in this world if he begins to look at his
sins will wind up a pessimist. A good woman said to
me the other night, in talking about this matter, "Oh,
my sins! My sins!" I said to her, "If you look at
your sins you will never have assurance." I saw a man
the other day whom I regard tc be one of the worst
men in this town, stop on the street and do a good
deed.
FIRST PRINCIPLES.
37
I assure you that this assurance does not come to one by reflection upon his church membership. Church membership will not amount to a farthing so "far as your salvation is concerned. It seems to me that we
are living in a day when this truth needs to be especially emphasized. Christian men are starving for the deep assurance of Christ.
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES.
26
We are to follow the instruction outlined in the text.
Christ says, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think
ye have eternal life." If we wish to know our standing
in Christ we go to the scriptures. If we are to know the
way by which we are to come to Christ we are to search
the scriptures. A man came to me very much concerned
about his salvation, and I told him to search the scrip
tures. He promised to do so. In a short while he came
back and said, "I have done as you directed, and I have
no light whatever." I asked him what scriptures he
read. He said, "I began at Genesis and read half
through the Old Testament." I said to him, "I did not
tell you to search the scriptures to see how man was
made and how sin came into the world. I told you to
search the scriptures to see whether you are saved."
You are to search the scriptures in regard to the sub
ject in hand. If I wish to know the origin of man I go
to Genesis. If I want to know about salvation I go to
the book where the passages are found which deal with
that subject. You will observe that there are four steps to be taken.
They are just like a wheel. These steps are the spokes
38
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that reach out from the hub, Christ Jesus. These four steps I desire that we shall analyze.
OLD TIME CONVICTION.
2/
Conviction is a subject that is discussed very little
from the pulpits of to-day. Wherever you find the plan
of salvation outlined in the scriptures it is in connection
with the work of conviction. We have placed too much
stress on the love side of religion. It means something
for a man to be brought face to face with an uncompro
mising God, as well as face to face with a loving Christ.
What this world wants to-day is a revival of the old doc
trine of conviction of sin. Under the preaching of Wes-
ley and Whitefield they would fall down by the thous
ands and pray, and agonize, and seek forgiveness.
Were men more sinful in that day than they are now?
I believe that the world in the main is just as far from
Jesus as it ever was. What we need is to wake up this
old world, as in the days of the apostles, with the con
viction of sin. I have been reading of that marvelous
revival in Australia led by Dr. Torrey. It is said one
day while Dr. Torrey stood and preached, six thousand
were converted; at least they professed conversion.
Those people were under deep conviction. It is said they
were heard to shriek and cry in all parts of the great
assembly of ten or fifteen thousand; a deep sense of sin
bad settled upon the people.
SURE ENOUGH REPENTANCE.
28
Where is the man who can tell what repentance
means? You talk repentance, and what do you mean?
John the Baptist declared, "Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand." Jesus Christ in the very first sermon
FIRST PRINCIPLES.
39
that He preached on this earth likewise said, "Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And then as
Jesus sent His disciples, two by two, they went out
preaching "repentance." The Apostle Paul urges the
elders of the churches to preach "the gospel of repent
ance." What did they mean? Theologians tell us it is
godly sorrow for sin. Who can tell if the sorrow I have
is godly sorrow or man sorrow? It is just like explain
ing the difference between saving faith and historic faith.
When I was a college boy I went to hear a man preach. He had been cartooned in many shapes, and I went to
see what he looked like and how he acted. I shall never
forget when I stepped up to the door, pressed my way
inside, and took a stand. The preacher was directly in
front of me. Just as I took my position I saw him leap
off the pulpit and run down the aisle crying, "I am going
to hell! I am going to hell!" I said to myself, "I be
lieve you are going to a lunatic asylum." Then he
started back to the pulpit shouting, "I am going to
heaven 1 I am going to heaven!" He then said, I have
been talking to you about repentance, and you are worse
off than the first day I began to talk to you about it.
Now, I have shown you what repentance is. You are
going that way to hell, you stop and turn and you are
saved." Repentance is a turning about. Have you
turned about? You know whether you have or not.
FAITH IN CHRIST.
29
There are just two scriptures that I want to give your
"But as many as received Him, to them gave He power
to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
His name." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
40
OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
shalt be saved." Salvation with the apostles- did not consist in believing in baptism. Salvation with the apos tles did not consist in believing in a creed. Will you com mit your way to Him? We are actually proposing that men should go through a theological seminary, or some thing of that character, and study before they can start out in a Christian life. He did not tell the man to believe on the Bible. There is not a thing said or taught in the scrip tures concerning salvation through faith in the Bible. I believe every word of the Bible. There is not a state* ment in this book from lid to lid that I do not believe. If a man had come to me and said, "You have got to ac cept every statement in the Bible including the state ment of Jonah and the whale before you come to Jesus Christ and be saved," I would have been out in the wil derness of sin to-day, but I came to Christ and He grad ually broke upon me the mysterious light of the truth. I said, "I believe, help Thou my unbelief." What are you to do? Just keep on believing on Him, and as sure as you continue to believe on Him the light will shine deeper and deeper. One time I said to a woman, "If you do not stop dancing you will never be saved." God save me from such words to-day. I was trying to get that woman to do the hardest thing in the world before she gets anything to do it with. When Christ begins to run through your life these things will slough off. A man says, what about my wine cup? "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." When I went to Europe last summer, I went down to the great Minneapolis. It looked like a little world. I said to my self, have I got to trust that thing for ten days away out
FIRST PRINCIPLES.
41
in the ocean? If that thing goes down where shall I be? I had full confidence in her. She had a good crew
that knew how to manage her and a captain that had
been trusted. After awhile I took my grip in my hand
and started up the gang plank. I said, "I believe in
you." She had not moved a peg. Then in a short while
she started and I thought to myself, now I am believing
in you on you. So it is with reference to salvation. You just say, "I have believed in Him, and I now be
lieve on Him."
CONFESSION.
30
This is a thing we say a great deal about The world
is unable to interpret what we mean by the great big
term we use to express simply confession. Jesus said,
"Whosoever will confess me before men, him will I con fess before my Father in heaven; and he that denieth
me before men, him will I deny before my Father in
Keaven. My brother, in which of these crowds do you stand? Do you confess your Christ before men, or do
you deny him before men? If you confess Him, He will
confess you before the Father in heaven. You say, what
vlo you mean by confession? I mean a declaration, a
publication, an announcement. Can it be made plainer than that? Suppose you wish to confess by coming up
here and giving me your hand. You say, "I trust, I
commit myself to Christ, I confess it." But suppose
you say, "I prefer joining the church, or I prefer being
baptized, or lifting my hand, or standing up." You may
adopt any method that you see fit so that you accept Him
before you confess.
A NEW HEART.
31
You say you havent touched the question of a new
L
42
OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
heart. I believe this question of a new heart is one of the most mysterious questions that theologians have evei tried to explain. You say, I cannot understand this thing of a new heart. Nicodemus had more sense than all of us put together in some things, and the Savior of men could not make him understand it. What about this heart business ? Let me tell you. If I were to come to you to-day and say, "you must have a new taste in your mouth," you would know what I meant. Now that is just exactly what heart means. Taste! A new tastt will I give you, new experiences, new plans. Things you once loved, you do no " ^ve any more. Things you did not love, you love.
EAGLE OR CHICKEN?
32
A friend of mine told me this little story. He said a
friend of his was telling him an experience with his boys
lie should never forget His friend bought a young
tagle, and his boys were greatly delighted over it.
They put him in the chicken house and kept him locked
up with the chickens. The boys said, "Papa, that eagle
is associating with the chickens all right. We think we
might let him out." The father said, "Boys, that eagle
will leave you as sure as you let him out." The boys
said, "Papa, he thinks he is a chicken. He does not know
the difference." And so they opened the door and let
him out. They fed him some corn, and he went to the
little water trough and drank water like a chicken. One
of the little boys went running to his father and said,
"Papa, come out here and see that eagle. He is out in
the yard eating and playing and drinking just like a
chicken." The father said, "You go put that eagle up."
FIRST PRINCIPLES.
43
The boy replied, "Papa, he thinks he is a chicken, and we think he will stay all the time." Soon they went out in the yard and sure enough there was the eagle. He was walking around just as big as any rooster in the yard. It was a cloudy day. After awhile there came a stream of light and fell down on the chicken yard. As soon as the light struck the earth the eagle raised his head, fixed his eye upon the stream of light, and lifted his wings, and with one shriek he went up through space to an eagles native air.
You want to know whether you are saved or not? Many of you have been eating with chickens until I de clare you look like them. It will not do to trust appear ances. The nature must change.
CHAPTER V.
THE BAPTISM OF POWER.
"Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the re
mission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost. For this promise is unto you and your children,
and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord
our God shall call." Acts 2:38-39.
I want to speak on the subject, "The Power of the
Holy Ghost." One reason why I feel so much exercised
with respect to this matter to-day is that I have been
made to realize the lack of spiritual power in thfc
churches in this country.
Then I am conscious of the fact that we can do noth
ing outside the Spirit of God. We may create enthus
iasm, but there is nothing lasting in that.
PENTECOST.
33
Now lets get the setting of this scripture. Jesus had
just commanded His disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until
they were endued with power from on high. They tar~
ried and the Spirit of God came upon them. When the
Holy Ghost rested upon them it was the day of Pente
cost. Peter was selected to preach the Pentecostal ser
mon. It is a very ordinary sermon, but upon Peter and
the message he brought, and the people to whom he
spoke the Holy Spirit had been poured out in much
power. As he spoke one would get up and interrupt
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OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
him. and finally the whole congregation seemed to be
seized with a spirit of consternation and began almost
to a man to cry to God for mercy and to Peter for in
struction. Peter said, This marvelous demonstration
which you see is the result of the power of the Spirit
promised in Joel. The Spirit has come and we have re
ceived Him. Then they asked Peter, "What shall we
do?" Peter said, "Repent and be baptized." "Get re
ligion, as we would say down here in the South. Seek
the Lord and find Him, and then obey Him in baptism.
"Then what, Peter?" "Then ye shall receive the gift of
the Spirit." This power which you see working upon
the audience will come upon you as a gift from God
when you have done the other things. Why? "Because
the promise is to you and your children, and as many as
are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
call."
AN AFTER WORK.
34
There are two or three things I want to fix on youi
minds.
That this promise of power, is distinctly an after-work
to mans regeneration.
Dont get scared lest I go off into some fanaticism.
It is positively an after-work to mans salvation. These
disciples did not ask Peter concerning salvation. That
was not in their minds. They were asking him how they
might receive this marvelous power which was doing
such wonders in that congregation. The answer is what
I want us to grip to-day. It has ever been true in the
lives of Gods people. Enduement of power was always
an after-work to salvation. These disciples had been
THE BAPTISM OF POWER
47
converted and saved before they were ordered to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power. They must be equipped for their work with the Spirit of God. Salvation through Christ Jesus comes by faith and the power of the Holy Spirit. I am aware of the fact that people put us down in the class of so-called Second
Blessingists. There are many good men whose shoe latchets I am not worthy to get down and unloose, who, if you were to talk Second Blessing to them, would run. But a man will stand it if he ever comes to realize the truth. The apostle has demonstrated the fact that it is one thing to be saved and another thing to be filled or endued with the Holy Ghost. I know that it is true in
experience. I know when I was converted. I can go to the pot and name it where I met the Lord in the for giveness of sin. I can also go to Richmond, Va., in the old theatre and show you the very spot where I accepted and definitely received God the Holy Ghost for service. My heart longs to see this church not simply standing for the doctrines,, but standing for it in personal hearts experience. Not merely being able to reason out this experience, but standing for it in heart and life.
FOR EVERY CHRISTIAN.
35
This power of the Holy Ghost is for every man,
woman and child who will receive it
Some one will say, I am aware of the fact that this enduement of power is for the preacher. It is for the preacher. I dont believe any man ought to preach the
gospel of Jesus until he has received the Holy Ghost
for service. I believe it is one of the questions that we ought to insist upon when we ordain a man for the min-
48
OLD WINE IX NEW BOTTLES.
istry. "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye be lieved?" But let us net assume that it is simply for the preacher. The apostle teaches that it is for you as well as for us. It is for them that are afar off as well as those that are at home. It is for as many as the Lord our God shall call. You need this supernatural power which is beyond the explanation of man. When men are made to feel that they are in the presence of Almighty God there is power. And then, mother, with the little tots con stantly pulling at your skirts and asking questions that would puzzle the wisest of our philosophers, with the same things to do every day in the same way, looking at the same furniture and same dishes, and dealing with the same trials day in and day out, oh, I tell you, you reed to have with you the Spirit of power. I say with respect to the pulpit that if God had not provided some supernatural power for the home life, He would havemade a mistake. It is for the mother who presides at the greatest pulpits the world ever had. Thank God, I am here to say to you it makes no difference what your profession may be, you may be equipped with this super natural power. I talked with a young man in Clarksville the other day. He said, "I remember back yondei in my home life there was an atmosphere that I nevei saw in other homes. My mother never made much ado about her religion, but as sure as you live there was that very thing about which you have been preaching. There was the presence of something that followed me after my mothers death until I gave my heart to God." Friend, in dealing with church problems, you officials of the church, you tell me you do not need this equipment of
THE BAPTISM OF POWER.
49
power? Oh, the ten thousand things in the city church
to-day! We are tried so far that we are about to lose
confidence in man. We see men clinging to the almighty
dollar until the church would die and go to hell if it de-.
pended on them. Some give their prayers and powers
and their money and their time almost beyond endur
ance. Sometimes we give up the fight and let the devil
have the victory. Brethren, we need power. Thank
God, we have the power. Sunday-school teacher and
superintendent, accept the power. It is for every child
of God who will come up and pay the price and accept the gift. I would like to have that kind of church. I
think we have it in theory. I wish we had it in practice.
HOW OBTAIN.
36
How may I, a humble child of God, a woman, a
mother, a housekeeper, a clerk, a bookkeeper, a doctor, a lawyer, a private in the ranks of God, a preacher, a
singer, how am I to be endued with this supernatural
power?
Jesus said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me,
and drink, and out of his unseen life shall flow rivers of living water." What is Jesus talking about? He is
talking about the overflowing life; the life of the Spirit.
You see the difference in a pump on the street and an
artesian well. You dont have to pump the well. This is the difference between the Spirit-life and the life of
human energy. The life of human energy is the life of
the church today. If we are going to have a revival we
have got to pump and pump and pump. If we go to raise
a little money we have got to pump and squeeze, and squeeze and pump. Whatever we have to do for God, if
50
OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
it is done at all, it is done in the energy of the flesh. Its pump; it!s hard work, when all the time right here by us God gives us the plan, to be filled with the Spirit so that we shall be like rivers of living water, flowing all the time.
NOT DESIRE, BUT THIRST.
37
"If any man thirst."
It dont say desire. A soldier said to me, "Some of us
did not have water for three days. I saw the time I
would have given this right arm; I would have let a
man cut my foot off if I could have gotten a cup of old
muddy water." The figure used here is not desire, it is
thirst It is such a desire as cannot be satisfied in any
other way. It is such a desire that you will give anything
in this world to obtain it, your right arm, your foot, your
eye, your money, your friendship, your everything, to ob
tain this one thing needed in Christian experience.
Thirst! Thirst! Thirst! O, brethren, that is the thing
that keeps us away from the blessing. We are not will
ing to pay the price. We will not turn loose our grip
upon the things of the world. There is no reception of
the Holy Ghost until a man gets to the point where he
gets down and says, "Here Lord, I surrender all. I will
suffer if it need be that I may be filled with the power ol
the Spirit to the extent that my life will overflow and
touch the lives of others." Have we seen our human
frailty to the extent that we fall down and say, "God
help us, or we perish?" Have we felt that we are un
done? Have we felt it is a church? Are we dependent
on the church, or the preacher, or the singing, or upon
THE BAPTISM OF POWER.
51
the system? Oh, this is the thought of all others. God help us to-day.
WHERE ARE WE?
38
With the desire where are we? At the feet of Jesus.
How long are we to stay there? Thank God, we dont
have to stay there long. Sometime ago I was on the
street car coming from the river. There came up a
thunder storm, and the thing stopped dead still. I said,
"If it dont start soon I will put out for home." I waited and waited. Finally, I got off and when I was about fifty yards from the track here came the car. Impatience
wont work with God. He must say when. Generally
we dont have to wait. We have to look up and receive.
RECEIVE.
39
The Rev. F. B. Meyer puts it this way: The English man loves his tea perhaps next to his religion. One day
a gentleman called upon another gentleman and they dis cussed together the work of the Holy Spirit in the be liever. Finally the gentleman of the house said, "I have endeavored to receive this promised blessing, but have,
failed." It was now lunch time, so they both went in to lunch. As a matter of course tea was the first thing
served. Said the gentleman of the house, "Will you
have a cup of tea ?" "Yes," was the reply. The tea was placed by his plate and the conversation proceeded. In a few moments said the visiting man, "Would you give
me a cup of tea?" "Why," said the man of the house, "There is your tea." In a few moments more the same question was asked, "Would you give me a cup of tea?" "Why, my friend," said the man of the house, "There is your tea, why dont you take it?" "Ah well," said the
52
OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
visitor, "if you have mastered your lesson I will take it. I have told you that the promised power was to be re ceived. You seem to think you had to wait and seek. Now take!"
This is what we must do. Are we conscious of out need? Have we come to the place where we are unwill ing to go any further without the consciousness of the Spirits power; then let us look up and by faith receive.
CHAPTER VI.
THE TRUE VALUE OF SERVICE.
BEFORE THE TRANSFIGURATION.
40
"Whosoever will be Chief among you let him be your
Servant." Matthew 20 -.27.
We have here a picture of an ambitious mother seek
ing the preferment of her two boys, and Jesus using the
occasion to declare the significance of His death and tht
law of substantial greatness.
It was the third time He had told them of His ap
proaching death. Once was just before the transfigura
tion. "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto
His disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and
suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and he raised again the third day.
Then Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him, saying,
Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee."
Here we find Jesus intent upon unfolding the long hidden mystery, and Peter equally intent upon breaking it up. How stupid this was in Peter. He had never caught the force of the Masters "Must." He "must" go unto Jerusalem; He "must" suffer many things; He "must" be killed; He "must" be raised again on the third day. There was no escaping any one of these "musts."
If a whole world should interpose a "shall not" it would make no difference. God had ordained it from
54
OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
the foundation of the world. First, Christs death was
not a consequence upon anything human. It was not
that of a martyr. It was a part of the plans and specifi cations of the pre-existing God for mans redemption.
He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the
world. Away with that cant which leaves God the
Father out of the plan of redemption. With every star
that glitters in the crown of the Son there will also be
one in the crown of the Father. "My Father and I are one" one in creation, one in redemption, one in glory.
AFTER THE TRANSFIGURATION.
4!
The next reference to this matter is just after th.
transfiguration. Jesus had returned to Galilee after the
healing of the demoniac, and here He said "The Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men. But they
understood not this saying, and they feared to ask Him." "Here we see Jesus holding on to the idea of Gods sov ereignty. "The Son of man shall be delivered." He is
not to be over-powered- God is not to be defeated. Sin
is not going to triumph for one single second. "The
Son of man shall be delivered." God for mans redemp tion Himself broke the chain and delivered up His Son.
This was the only way His death could ever have oc curred. All the powers of earth and hell could never have touched a hair of His head if God had not de
livered Him up. Jesus was in Gethsemane when in His delivered state He cried, "My God, My God, why hast
Thou forsaken Me?" Why hast thou delivered me up?
Not only do we see Christ holding to Gods sovereignty
here, we also see the gradual growth of the disciples.
Awhile ago they say "it shall not be unto Thee." But
TRUE VALUE OF SERVICE.
55
now they are afraid to say a thing. Perhaps this is one of the influences of the three who were with Him in the transfiguration glory. Oh, how the shechinah glory ot God drives away human doubt! When Peter heard the voice of Jesus as He came walking on the sea, he talked no more of ghosts, but leaped into the sea to walk to Jesus. When Martin Luther, while climbing Pilates Stair-way in Rome, heard the voice, "The just shall livt by faith," he thought no more of peace by penance, but stepped at once into the life of trust.
So with us to-day. The only cure for our doubt and skepticism is a deeper realization of Jesus. I cant help from believing that in many of our Christian colleges and seminaries there are many questions asked and an swered which would be better to let alone. They come out of a cold materialistic atmosphere, which, under the guise of scholarship, has taken the place of the atmos phere of the Almighty. They are working upon the wrong hypothesis.
MYOPIA AND HYPEROPIA.
42
Doctors tell us that there are two conditions of the eye
ball that call for glasses, one they call myopia and the other
hyperopia. One is where the ball is too shallow, and the
other is where it is too deep. The shallow ball produces
near-sightedness, and is remedied by a. concave lens.
The deep ball produces far-sightedness, and is remedied
by a convex lens. Now the trouble with our Biblical
critics of to-day is, they have a shallow ball with a con
vex lens, which, instead of deepening the field of vision,
tends to make it more shallow. They are working too
near the eyeball. They need a change of lens. They
56
OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
need the spiritual ball deepened. They need to get away from musty books and scientific laboratories and span the horizon of Him "who was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be." They need to get out into the coun try once in a while and pass through an old-time re
vival of religion. They need to come into the city and see men steeped in sin, and filth, suddenly touched by the power of the blood of the everlasting covenant, clothed and in their right mind. This would change our age from Biblical criticism to Biblical exposition.
THE DISCIPLES APART.
43
The next time this matter of His death is referred to
is in connection with the incident of our text. Jesus is
on His way to Jerusalem. On the way He stops and
takes His disciples apart to again speak to them of this
matter. His taking them apart has seemed significant
to me. There are times when Jesus desires His people
apart that He may reveal to them His secret thought.
What an argument for the separate meetings of Christ
ians, for Bible exposition and deepening the spiritual!
Doubtless all of us can testify of the great spiritual up
lift that comes to us from such meetings. Too frequent
ly our great meetings are too much like those of a joint
stock company, where everything is side-tracked for bus
iness. Do not imagine me to ignore the business side of
the kingdom of our Lord. Far from it. A church can
no more run without business than an electric car can
run without wheels, but with all our business wheels,
unless a consecrated connection with the great electric
dynamo of heaven is maintained, we will have only so
much progress as human energy can give. Gods people
TRUE VALUE OF SERVICE.
57
need this coming together for communion and prayers.
THE AMBITIOUS MOTHER.
44-
But the most significant part of this last incident wa*
the request of this ambitious mother. She, with the dis
ciples, had the idea that the new kingdom was about to-
be established. And like all true mothers she had her
mind on the good of her boys. "Grant these, my two
sons, may sit one on the right hand and the other on the.
left in thy kingdom." To this request Jesus demurred;
not however because He objected to her ambition. He
knows too well the longings of a faithful mothers heart
for that. The demurrer was because of her ignorancfe
of the law of spiritual preferment. Hear His words. "Whosoever will be chief among you let him be your
servant." Here we have a silent compliment to ambition
and spiritual promotion.
A prominent place in the kingdom of our Lord is not
to be despised. Jesus knew this when He failed to
quarrel with these two young men and the mother, who-
was simply their mouthpiece, because of their desire. It
is never wrong to desire prominence in any sphere in life..
The lack of such ambition has cursed the world mort than the possession of it. Paul said, "Covet the best
gifts." By this he did not mean to include so-called
spiritual gifts only but all honorable and exalted attain
ments. I have little opinion of the mother who does
not want her boy to be the most potent factor in her com
munity for everything that is honorable and right. I
have little opinion of the preacher who does not desire
to be in the front rank of all that opposes wrong and
champions right Had I the power I would inspire every
58
OLD WINE IX NEW BOTTLES.
young preacher with the desire to stand on the top round of the ladder of true greatness.
AN AMBITIOUS CHURCH.
45
And the same thing is true of the church. We are too
prone to cry selfishness, independentism and lack of har
mony to the church of to-day that desires to Impress its
individuality upon the world in which it is called to bat
tle. The right kind of federation is power; but where
federation serves in any sense to weaken the responsi
bility of any part of the federation it becomes a curse
rather than a help.
Every paster of every church in the world is duty
bound to his church to push it just as far to the front in
every good work as he possibly can. No method of or^
ganization has the right to interfere with such obliga
tion. Federate where we can, and separate when we
must. This is a law we must respect. The divine obli
gation of both church and pastor must be kept in mind,
and no man among us must be accused of selfishness and
a desire for personal glory who endeavors to be faithful
to his trust. Encourage our churches to have more am
bition to grapple themselves with the mighty responsi
bilities that environ them; then we will have less de
pendence and more results.
LAW OF PROMOTION.
46
It is the motive and method of ambitious achievements
that the Master so pungently criticises. "Whosoever
will be chief among you let him be your servant." Here
we see service to be the key-thought to all rightful pro
motion, and where this is kept in mind every ambition is
praiseworthy. Jesus criticised His disciples because;
TRUE VALUE OF SERVICE.
59
they failed to see this truth. They wanted promotion
upon the ground of their position of blood relationship.
They doubtless felt that they were entitled because of
their faithfulness. They had been with Him on the
mount of transfiguration. But nothing of this was to
count in spiritual preferment. The law of promotion is
service. Jesus exemplified it. He did more to make
Himself chief in the affection of the world by His life
of service than in His atonement. Had He come straight
from God to the cross the mind of man would only have
seen the flashes of Gods wrath against sin; but coming
as He did to live a life of unselfish service He won the
hearts of men and prepared them to breathe also the
sweet incense of compassionate love and tenderness.
This is true in our experience. On a prominent,
c>wded square in New York stands the statue of Jerry
McAuley a monument to a thief. Why is that monu
ment there? Was it because Jerry McAuley was a man
of genius? No; Jerry was a common river thief, and
white in prison got salvation, and on coming out began in
his humble way to save such as he had been. At first all
classes scorned him. But Jerry continued until when he
died it was publicly said, no man had ever lived in New
York who had been such a blessing to the outcast.
CATHERINE BOOTH.
47
Come with us to the Salvation Army Headquarters in
London. It is a mighty sad day when Mother Catherine
the wife of the founder of the Salvation Army of the
World is dead and her body lies in state. See the
throngs! London papers say there never was anything
like it They packed the streets and crowded the build-
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OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
ing, waiting their turn to look into her dead face, ft i? a mixed multitude, members of Parliament, lords, dukes and duchesses, are all mixed up with the bums and thugs. Look at those ten men, standing around the coffin, crying like babies. "Go on men!" the policeman cries, but they cant go. "She loved us. She saved us," they cry. Finally, an officer has to pull them away. What means all this? She was only a poor preachers wife. Yes, she was more than that, she was a "servant of all."
MARGARET OF NEW ORLEANS.
48
In a large, open square in New Orleans, stands a beau
tiful marble statue erected by the city, and on the statue
are these words: "The Statue of Margaret of New Orleans."
She was left an orphan by the ravages of yellow fever. She married in early womanhood, but her husband soon died, also her only child. She was poor and uneducated, and could scarcely write her name. She went to work in
the Orphan Asylum for Girls. She toiled early and late, solicited groceries from merchants, and, indeed, put her whole life into the work for the orphans. When a. new
and beautiful asylum was built, Margaret and one of the Sisters of Mercy, freed it from debt. Margaret opened a daily and bakery in the city, of her own. Ev erybody knew her, and patronized her milk wagon and bakery. She worked very hard and saved every cent, to help the orphans whom in effect she had adopted as her
own children. She never owned a silk dress or wore a kid glove, and she was very plain; but the city erected this beautiful monument to the orphans friend, as a
TRUE VALUE OF SERVICE.
6r
thank offering for a beautiful, helpful, unselfish life of service.
How true these words of the Master! Do we realize them as we ought to-day ? Is there the proper apprecia tion for the life that serves? Is it not true that we fail, too often, to see the value of such lives until they are gone? Would it not he more Christ-like to weigh the deeds and impulses of men during life ? Oh, if this were done many a life to-day unknown and unpraised would bloom out of its obscurity as a fragrant flower.
And let us not forget to admonish ourselves. Would we be great in appreciation? Do we long for the ad miration, the love and esteem of others? Then let us remember to be the servant of all. Let us never fail to realize that while the servant may be slow in getting his position as chief, it is a law that is bound to prevail. His position is sure. No devils can cheat him out of it. The day of sowing may be long, but the harvest will be sure.
Yes, we shall get it. It may not be until we are gone, but at last when we have passed from injustice to justice we shall get the reward.
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me Enter thou into the joys of thy Lord."
CHAPTER VII.
THE CONQUEST OF THE LORDS PRAYER.
"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word." Jno. 17 :ao.
This text is taken from our Lords prayer. Of course we all know that the ordinary "Lords Prayer" used in our worship is not the Lords Prayer, but the pattern prayer of the disciples. Jesus was interrupted in His teaching by a question from His disciples, "Lord teach us to pray." In answer to that question He submitted the so-called "Lords Prayer." The real Lords Prayer, however, is this seventeenth chapter of John. He had just unfolded to His disciples the mystery of His life, and death. The consciousness of His separation from them had taken hold of them. Christ Himself had evi dently realized what it meant as He had not before. Close on to this experience He lifted up His eyes to heaven and prayed this truly wonderful prayer. A mans interest in anything is said to be measured by his prayers. If this be true we may certainly locate the in terest of Jesus on this occasion.
IT IS EXCLUSIVE.
49
This prayer was exclusively for His disciples. "I
pray not for the world, but for them that thou hast given
me." Jesus is distinctly pointed in His praying.
He prayed for Himself. See Him there in tlie garden
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OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
of Gethsemane; the weight of earths unnumbered mil lions rests heavily upon His head and heart. He is crushed under the load. Out yonder He beholds the tragedy of Calvary. It is more than He can bear. He prays, "Father, if thou wilt remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will but thine be done."
He prayed for His enemies. See Him there on the cross between two thieves, and surrounded by an angry, howling, blood-thirsty mob. Oh, the trial of that day! There nailed to the cross! The head once crowned in glory, now crowned with thorns! The hands once out stretched in love and mercy, now nailed to the cross! The feet that once tramped the lonesome roads on er rands of kindness, now nailed with spikes! Oh, awful agony! What human disappointment! How revenge ful one would feel, but not Jesus, for in the midst of this pain and persecution He prayed, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."
But the Lords Prayer is exclusively a prayer for the disciples. In this trying hour when the pressure oi Gethsemane and the cross is upon Him His thoughts run after His disciples. It is so much like His entire life, He never got His eye off His disciples. You remember that occasion when Jesus had sent them out on the boat and He had gone off into the mountain to pray, and the storm had come and the disciples were afraid. Jesus, knowing their danger left His mountain altar of prayer and came walking on the water to care for His excited disciples. What a precious lesson this should be to us to-day. Never let us get too busy or too much exercised about matters of our own to listen to the cry of helpless
THE LORDS PRAYER.
65
humanity, or to lift the veil of despondency from the sad and sorrowing.
But this isnt all. We might feel that we were left out if this were all, but Jesus in the text says, "Neithet pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall be lieve on me." Oh, the scope of "them!" It is not for His immediate disciples. It is not for His favorites. He had His favorites just as every other man has his. It is impossible for us to live and not feel more tenderly drawn to some people than others. But this was not a prayer for His special friends, nor was it a prayer foi mere professors and church members, It was for "them also which shall believe on me." Faith in Christ is the blessed link that binds us together. It outweighs all other considerations. Without it there is no part in the blessed prayer. Unsaved soul thou art in the dark, no part hast thou in this earnest pleading of Jesus. What a comfort it is to us who believe on His name to know that He is pleading for us, is never too busy to bear us up in prayer.
Two little children were one day at play. Some one came and told them that mother was very sick. They went home and found her prostrate on the bed. The little girl proposed to her little brother that they meet down stairs and pray. She had hardly begun her prayer before the little brother said: "Sister, God is too busy with the stars to hear us pray." "But," said little sister, "God is never too busy to bless my mamma." It is a comforting thought that the least soul in the universe outweighs the stars of the firmament.
THEIR KEEPING.
SO
It is also a prayer for their keeping: "I pray not that
66
OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
thou shouldst take them out of the world but that thou shouldst keep them from evil." I do not understand that this is so much a prayer for the keeping of their
souls from final destruction. It seems to me that Jesus had already delivered Himself on that point. Back yonder in Soldnons Porch, Jesus, in speaking of His mission, said: "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father gave them to me and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand." I would not be dogmatic about this truth, and yet it does seem to me that this teaching lies at the very root of the deeper spiritual life. A soul once born from above is forever passed beyond the destructive power of Satan. The life may be made a wreck, as is often the case, but I cannot believe that a soul once born, actually born again, is ever unborn. Such a thought so minifies God that I am not surprised that many people feel at liber ty to trifle with Him. Jesus prayer here is that they may be kept from the evil. What a comforting thought this should be to poor tempted humanity. Beloved in Christ, there is no need that we should yield to temp tation, pleading the weakness of the flesh. The prayer of Christ is a guarantee of a way of escape. Ours is to appropriate what He by His prayer has provided. Ours is to surrender, to look up, to receive the bene fits of this prayer. By faith we overcome temptation. Oh, tempest-tossed soul art thou tired, and what is thy weakness? Is it appetite? He is thy drink? Is it greed? He is thy wealth. Is it passion? "He is the fairest among ten thousand, the one altogether
THE LORDS PRAYER.
67
lovely." Whatever the temptation let us not forget that Jesus Christ desires that we shall be kept from the evil. And only does this desire have to do with us when we are tempted, but has to do with us before the tempter comes. It is ours to appropriate the prayer of Jesus to be delivered from the tempter. Rowland Hill, the grand old preacher, used to pray every morning, "Dont let the devil tempt me to get mad to-day." This was only appropriating the prayer that Jesus Himself is making.
THEIR SANCTIFICATION.
5!
This prayer also is for their sanctification. Let us not
get frightened at this point. I am aware of the preju
dice there is in the minds of many of Gods good child
ren against what is called the doctrine of sanctification.
I know congregations that would be as much afraid of
sanctification as they would of sin. Many of us preach
ers have allowed ourselves to get worked up with respect
to this subject to such an extent that we would about as
soon see the devil enter as a sanctified brother. I am
frank to confess that oft-times the two are synonymous.
I have in mind now a man who got so sanctified (to use
his expression) he began at once to be a menace to the
peace and prosperity of the church. He kicked at every
thing in sight and out of sight. He exhibited all sorts oi
bad temper, poor judgment and worse religion. He
wore a face as long as your arm and looked always as
if he were heading a funeral procession. I dont want
any such sanctified people in my church. I know a
woman who became so much exercised about her hus
bands sanctification that she got mad with him one
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morning and threw a basin of water in his face. But while we have to come in contact with such characters let us not condemn the truth. Sanctification is a doc trine taught in the Bible. It is an experience that every believer needs to enter upon. It is no great star-falling, tree-walking hallucination. It is a simple fact. The word itself is plain in the New Testament. It means wholeness, separation, consecration, dedication. The word also means cleansing, purification. Jesus prays that His disciples may be sanctified, that they may be cleansed and wholly consecrated to the service of then Lord. All this they then had in the purpose of God. The moment a soul is regenerated that moment in the purpose of God he has sanctification. The experience of sanctification, however, is delayed for years and ofttimes in the majority of cases is never realized at all. God is not satisfied with tkis delayed experience. He wants the believer tc appropriate his birthright and entei into the possession of sanctification with a clean heart and a life wholly submissive to Gods will and dedicated to Gods service. This is the only Christian life that pleases God. He cannot be satisfied with an unclean heart in which to live. God and the devil cannot live in the same heart at the same time. Either one must be enthroned or the other. So long as we are engaging in a thing which is conscious sin there is dethronement of Christ and the devil is made master. The heart must be. made clean. It must not harbor anything which it con sciously knows to be wrong. Neither is God satisfied with the Christians life not separate unto Himself. He is more jealous of his bride than we are of ours. Who
THE LORDS PRAYER.
o>
could be satisfied with a companion living a double life?
Domestic happiness means domestic separateness. So
in the service of Christ we need sahctification. We need separateness unto Christ. Wholly given up to him, this
is plain scriptural sanctification. It may become the ex
perience of any believer in an instant. It is his by right
now. By a perfect and complete surrender of himself to
the will of God and appropriating by faith the Spirit of
God, and trusting Him for power and deliverance he
may walk in the blessed fruit of sanctification.
THEIR UNIFICATION.
52
This prayer also is for the unification of the disciples.
"That they may be one even as we are one." There it
nothing I know of more needed than the answer to this
part of our Lords Prayer. The divided condition of the
spiritual body of our Lord is the greatest hindrance to
the spread of the kingdom that we have to-day. During
one of the wars between England and France two war
yessels met on the high sea in a fearful encounter. It
was an awful night of terror. It was too dark to dis tinguish friend from foe, but each supposed itself fight
ing with the common enemy. When at last the fog cleared away both ships were seen flying the English
flag. They saluted each other and grieved over their
disastrous mistake. Alas, alas, how true this has been of the Christian people. If all the energy spent in fight
ing one another had been spent in a united attack upon
the enemy how different the state of the world would be
to-day. Thank God the day is breaking. Christian peo
ple and denominations are coming more and more to see
their true relation to each other. I believe there is a.
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bright day yet to come. We are getting together. The forces of Christ are yet to join hands in the essential elements of salvation and wage a terrific fight on sin and for salvation of the sinner.
But this unification is not for salvation alone. It is for the conquest of Christian principles. We pray, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." In this we are united, but how sadly apart we are endeavoring to answer that prayer. A thousand barrels of powder may explode in an open field. The only result perhaps would be a terrific noise. But when these are divided up and placed in the guns and all the guns fired at the same time at the same object some thing will happen besides noise. How easy it would be for the church of Christ to whip in the fight. Take our own city. It is a shame that ungodly and impure men are in office in this city. There are enough so-called Christian people with us to have a clean set of men in office. God help us to pray the prayer pf Jesus "that they may be one as we are one," one in purpose and one in action.
THEIR ULTIMATE GLORY.
53
Jesus prays in this chapter for the ultimate glory of
His disciples. "Father, I will that they also, whom
thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they
may behold my glory which thou hast given me." How
much like Jesus is this closing thought. He takes His
disciples from the bloody cross in the glory land. He
is desirous that they should be enraptured with His
glory. He alone knows what it means. He is to come
again, bringing His saints with Him. He is to sit upon
THE LORDS PRAYER.
71
the throne of David. He is to rule this world with the rod of His power. What glory and honor this will be! The rejected Christ is now reigning in power. How delightful it will be to be known and honored and re spected by Him, as the reigning king, through the mil lennial ages. After the battle of Marathon in which Miltiades distinguished himself, Themistocles, then very young, was observed to be very moody, passing whole nights without sleep. Being asked the cause he said: "The glories of Miltiades so delight my soul that I can not sleep." Oh, redeemed souls, members of the family of God, may we not get even here a foretaste of the glo ries of Christ? I think of Him robed in the garment of heavenly splendor, acknowledged and worshipped by the redeemed host, wielding the sword of His power, rav ished by His matchless glory. Oh, Christ, my living Lord Jesus, angels do well to worship thee.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE DIVINE USE OF AFFLICTION.
"And now my soul is poured out upon me. The days of affliction have taken hold upon me." Job, 30:16.
PROSPERITY AND SORROW.
54
Some years ago there lived in a neighboring state a
thrifty young business man. At an early age he dem
onstrated that God had endowed him with a great talent
for money-making. And although poor this talent
brought him abundant opportunity to engage in busi
ness. A gentleman of much wealth and experience
offered him money which he gladly accepted. A few
years passed and the poor boy was counted a rich man.
At the beginning of his business career he married. His
wife was a good woman, but like many others, her in
terest in religion grew less as she grew in wealth. How
strange this is and yet how many, many times true.
When they were first married the young wife was faith
ful to her church and all her Christian obligations. A
family altar she kept up for a while. But when pros
perity began to come, the family altar was given up,
the church was neglected and social functions allowed
to take the place of her church societies and religious
gatherings. Of course, this encouraged the young
money-making husband in the neglect of his soul. Such
indifference on the part of wives always bears the fruit
of neglect on the part of husbands. They may not ad-
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mit it but it is true. A mighty responsibility this for wives, and they ought to realize it.
During the course of time God gave them a beautiful boy. He was very bright and sprightly. His presence cheered the young home like a sunbeam. Many were the plans outlined for his future. Finally, when he was six years of age, and parental hope and aspirations kindled with the thought of starting him to school, the little fel low was taken ill. At the time the father was away on a business trip. One morning a messenger boy called at his hotel and delivered to him this message: "Willie is sick; come home." Of course, no more busi ness was transacted that day, for father was on the first train making for his home. When he arrived, he was met at the door by some friends who said, "Step lightly, he is very nervous." "Oh, horror! Is it that bad?" This was his cry as he was given this sad warning. "But dont," they said, "dont take on this way; he cannot stand it." No one who had not had something of this experience can appreciate the broken heart of that youngfather. Finally he is admitted into the little sick cham ber. Little Willie was lying with half closed eyes and sunken cheeks. Some friends were watching with the faithful mother, whose heart was bleeding, not only over the suffering of her child, but, too, because she felt her neglect of duty had shut Christ out of her home.
"Oh, Christ," she would whisper, "come in now. Come in now. Jesus, come in now. Ill be faithful in the future." What a remorse. How much better to have kept Jesus when once she had Him in her home.
DIVINE USE OF AFFLICTION.
75
But its too sad to offer a rebuke. Dear mother, dont lose your grip on Jesus. Youll need Him some day. Hold on to Jesus. Hes your .best friend after all.
It was a greater struggle for the father though than for the mother, partly due to the fact that he had no hope in the beyond where he knew Willie was bound to spend eternity.
As they all sat and cried, Willie opened his little half shut eyes, and with a smile on his little face, said very tenderly, "Papa, the angels have come to take your boy home." Oh, it was a sweet testimony. But how it tore a fathers already bleeding heart. Just then a strange voice he seemed to hear. It spake to him with all the tenderness of his dying child: "Prepare to meet thy God."
Soon little Willie was dead. His little mouth had opened for the last time on earth as it breathed out his spirit as it went up to be with Jesus and the angels. But listen! Another thing happened just then. While Willies spirit went up, Gods spirit came down. Papa had opened his heart and received Jesus and his Saviour. Mothers life was changed. She had come back to God and made up her mind to stand by her church instead of pleasures. What a sermon that was which Willie preached!
But let us see yet a little further. Three weeks after this the Death Angel called again at this home. Papa is dying now, and the last thing he said was, "The angels have come to take papa home." What a blessed testi mony. How gracious was God to speak to him in time. "Prepare to meet thy God." Listen, reader, have you
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been spoken to to-day? Do you not even now hear something saying, "Prepare to meet thy God?" Has He not spoken through the vacant chair, the empty shoe,
the absent form ? Dont drive the Spirit away from you to-day. God is working with you. He wants to prepare
you for the life eternal. Are you a cold, worldly, selfish Christian? Do you long for self-satisfaction, self-glory,
and self-ease more than that the precious Saviour may be glorified, and lost and despondent souls saved and built up ? Then be ready to bear it just so sure as God
reigns in heaven will His afflicting hand be felt to bring
you back. Dont wait, dear soul. The pang will be so severe. Prevent it now by a full surrender of your comforts for the sake of others.
And dear, unsaved soul, why wilt thou longer wait? Time is flying. Why not now? Open the heart and let
Him in. He is your best friend and wants to prepare you to live with Him and the angels.
THE ANGEL OF THE HOUSE.
55
Here is another instance. The mother, a widow, was
delicate, but she worked for her child from morning till
night Before she left for school in the morning, Bessie would go to her mother and say, "I dont like the way you have done my hair you must do it over again."
Then she would pull off the ribbon and tangle her hair, and worry her mother until it was to her liking.
She would play on her way from school and reach home at the last minute, late for dinner. Then she
would call out: "Oh mother, I must have my dinner this minute, or I shall be too late for afternoon school. What is there for dinner?" And if it were not what
DIVINE USE OF AFFLICTION.
77
she fancied, she would put herself into a terrible tem per, and go to school dinnerless.
At last, just after Bessies fifteenth birthday, and when her chief thoughts were of going out, reading and dressing, the doctor called her aside and spoke seriously to her: "For years," he said, "your mother has waited on you, and in this way she has increased her illness. Now she will never walk again, and it is your turn you wait on her. There is One whom your mother knows and loves, who will take all you do for her as done to Him; it is the highest service are you prepared to enter it?"
Bessie was ashamed. In a moment her heart was touched. "Oh! how selfish I have been," she cried. "Oh! Dr. Blair, is it true what you say of my mother?"
"Every word of it," was the reply. "Just ponder on it"
Bessie crept upstairs weeping, with a feeling in her heart that the world had somehow suddenly come to an end.
She listened outside her mothers door, and heard her praying: "Dear Father, who lovest my child more and better than I can ever love her, soften her young heart and help her to bear this burden. O Jesus, open thine arms very wide that I may more closely lean upon Thee, for I need Thee in my helplessness more than ever."
Bessie heard, and, rushing into the room, she fell at her mothers bedside, and, in a fit of remorse, exclaimed, "O mother, my heart is broken! Forgive me all the past, and by Gods help I will devote myself to you. every hour."
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Mother and daughter became united in the sweetest bonds, for Jesus was their Saviour and Comforter, and it was beautiful and touching to see them together in the days of the mothers dependence on her daughter the elder leaning on the younger.
"What first touched you most?" we asked Bessie. "Mothers gentle trust in God and the way she prayed for me," was her reply. "I had often heard her pray before, but the Doctors words, She will never walk again, seemed to break my heart, and I felt as if God had put her into my idle arms to fill them." We used to watch Bessie wheel her mother into the sunshine, and the mothers happy smile would follow her as she went in and out, and waited and cheered the invalid every hour of the day. A letter came one day from an uncle asking Bessie to come to him and his wife, and they would make her heir to all they had, for they were childless. Bessie wrote: "I have a most blessed charge in a sick mother, whom I would not leave for all the wealth in the world. For fifteen years she spent her life for me, and God had to lay her aside before I could be brought to see the evil of my heart and ways, and the selfishness and uselessness of my robust health." This so stirred up the uncle and the aunt that they came to see the widow and Bessie, and the perfect unity iA sweet Christian life of mother and daughter won idem both for Christ.
CHAPTER IX.
PLUCK, PUSH AND TRUST.
"Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt And her daughter was made whole from that very hour." Matt. 15:28.
Christ has just left the great crowd where he so saverely rebuked the scribes and Pharisees. He has come
into the coast of Tyre and Sidon, where a woman of Canaan came with a broken heart. The history of this woman, the purpose of her coming, the manner of her
coming, and the blessing that followed will constitute the basis of our study to-day.
Let it be remembered that she was of Canaan. By the Jews the Canaanites were regarded as heathens.
There was just about as much social intercourse between a Jew and a Canaanite as there is between the average
full-blooded American and a Chinaman. They had prac
tically no relationship in common. It took a good deal of strength, therefore, for this woman to come before a Jewish crowd. No wonder they criticised her; it was
perfectly natural according to the custom of the times.
THE MISSION OF HER COMING.
56
She had a definite mission. No call upon the Lord
will avail anything that is not definite. Remember Mary and Martha. How definite their call when Lazarus lay
sick in the home. One of the most striking prayers re-
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corded in the Bible is that prayer which they made on that occasion. It contained only seven words: "Lord, he whom thou lovest is sick." There may have been a good deal more said, but this is all the Holy Spirit re corded. It was all that there was in the prayer. I have often thought if we could see our prayers after they had been analyzed by the Holy Spirit how surprised we would be. I am sure that much of the studied rhetoric would be left out, and I am afraid very little essence left. More and more I find myself in sympathy with the prayers of the Puritans, so simple, direct and earnest.
The Syrophenician mother had a mission. Every thing else had given way to it. She was bent on carry ing it through. No wonder she met with such wonder ful success.
I have thought that the secret of failure is the lack of definiteness of purpose. Nine-tenths of the human family are like drift-wood upon a chopped sea. No where is this lack of purpose more serious than among the young. Some years ago I conducted a number of meetings in one of our best colleges. I remember ask ing one day, before closing the services, every young man who had definitely arrived at a purpose for his life to stand up. There were very few who stood. I had a number of private talks with many of those who did not stand, and I found that they were honest They simply had not given enough serious thought to the great question of life to arrive at anything definite. If I had to advise every young man and woman in the world, before entering upon a college career, I should say, if possible settle in your minds, by the help of Al-
PLUCK, PUSH AND TRUST.
81
mighty God, what you propose to do. Then start out
with the thought in mind and never stop until it is ac
complished.
A BROKEN HEART.
57
This mother also came with a broken heart Alas,
alas, how common such a mother! Every day we run
up against broken hearts. Many of you do not dream of the number in our midst: mothers broken-hearted over the sins of their children. Just the other day one of
the best women in this city had me to call on her that she might talk with me about her wayward boy. He had gone from a lap of luxury into a life of disgrace.
He had gone from a good mother to a crimson world. My heart ached with hers as she told me about it.
Not long ago I received a letter from another mother. Her daughter was in this city. She had mn away from home, lured by the devil. She had come to this city to live a life of shame. I succeeded in finding this daugh
ter, and among other things said to her, "If I were in
your place, before I would longer draw upon the tender
chords of a loving mothers heart I would take a revolver
and blow my brains out. Or perhaps what would be cer tainly no worse than that which you are doing, I would
go to her and end her life." What is the difference? There are thousands of young men and women who are
inch by inch shortening the lives of good mothers and fathers. Is this to continue? My boy, have you made
up your mind that you are going to continue breaking
the hearts of loving parents? If so, try to end matters
at once. Mother and father would a great deal bet ter be dead than continue to go on suffering to a pre-
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mature grave. To me it is an awful, sad picture: Faith ful, honest and true parents with a worldly, godless,
reckless child tramping upon their hearts. Oh my boy, why will you do it? Will you not stop to-day and turn your face to God?
A DEVIL POSSESSED DAUGHTER.
58
The trouble with this mother was a devil possessed
daughter. What form the devil assumed in her we do
not know. She came saying, "Lord, my daughter is
greviously vexed with the devil." There was no dispo
sition to palliate matters. Many of us would have felt
inclined to excuse our child. While we would have de
sired help, still we would have refrained from speaking
the whole truth as we felt it. She was honest.
We hear very little to-day about devil possession. Certainly it is not because ve do not experience it, but somehow the ethics of our preaching does not admit of it. We like to talk of infirmities. Sin and the devil are too prone to regard it as mere weakness a sort of predis position to do wrong. A man came to me the other day talking about his drink habit. Said he, "It is a weak ness of mine." I said to him, however, "My brother, you have the wrong name for it. You are simply devil possessed. The devil has you in his power and is treat ing you with drink."
People speak of lying and stealing, especially if it be among the rich and cultured, as infirmities. Sometimes to palliate stealing among this class it is called keptomania. Why not be biblical and say, "It is the work of the devil; it is because one is devil possessed."
PLUCK, PUSH AND TRUST.
83.
CORRECT DIAGNOSIS.
59
This failure to properly diagnose matters of this kind
accounts for the greatest error most of us make in treat
ment I believe in specific medication. Treating symp
toms will do until we get back to the original cause.
The man who simply treats typhoid fever or pneumonia
without regard to the cause which produces it is worse
than a charlatan. What a well trained physician wants
is to get underneath names and symptoms to the orig
inal cause. Sometime ago a prominent citizen of Chi
cago was shot. General paralysis of his limbs resulted.
I do not know who the surgeons were that attended
him, but I do know that they never stopped a minute
to reckon with paralyzed limbs. They took up the line
of paralysis, following nerve after nerve until they lo
cated the bullet. And when they located the bullet they
never stopped until they extracted it. There was no
need to think about paralyzed limbs. When I was a
young man I was much of my time in a drug store. I
used to be impressed with the amount of medicine sold
for the cure of catarrh. I have no doubt much of it did
good service for a time. It was symptomatic treatment.
But when I learned more about the cause of disease I
put less confidence in these remedies. I knew that back
behind the symptom which we call catarrh there was a
mechanical disarrangement. There was a cause which
had to be affected.
So in dealing with sins what we need to realize is
that back behind every phase of wrong-doing there is the
devil. Some of us spend more time, I am afraid, upon
the treatment of sins than we do in trvine to be rid of
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devil possession. The devil is a personal being. From birth he has us in his possession. When we are saved through faith in Christs atonement the power of Satan over us is broken. Jesus then, who is master of the devil, puts Himself at our disposal to fight against satanic power. How we need to realize this fact. It would change our method of treatment. When an unregenerate sinner comes to us, one affected with this or that expression of satanic possession with drunkenness, or lying, or murder, or adultery, or any symptom what ever, it is useless for us to stop to argue with him on these lines; to be sure we may accomplish something by so doing we may stimulate his pride, or frighten him, but the thing to do is to get back behind the symp tom and deal with the cause. The trouble with such a sinner is not his sins, but the devil. He has him fast in his grasp and is dealing out to him what in the na ture of the case is most suited. We are to tell such a sinner to go at once to the Christ of the cross and have the devil dethroned that he may step out in liberty. When a regenerate sinner gets afflicted with this or that expression of devil possession we can better afford to talk with him concerning the matter. We can show him with more hope of success the wrong of his course, but even that is not the ideal way of treatment. We are even under such circumstances to go back to the cause. For while the devils power has been broken by Christ,
we have allowed him to reassert himself. We want, therefore, to take such a sinner, a sinner saved by grace, back to Jesus who when we were saved offered himself as our way of escape. God help us to see this. It is
PLUCK, PUSH AND TRUST.
85
the worlds great crying need today. We are in the
power of Satan, when Christ through Calvarys cross is ready to break the power.
LITTLE HOPE.
60
Again, she came without much conscious ground of
hope. As I have said, she was a Gentile, and there was
no affiliation between Gentile and Jew. Doubtless she
had heard of the marvelous power of Jesus in casting
out devils, and healing the sick. She acted on what she
had. She argued that if He had healed others that He
might heal her. Doubtless she had tried every other
means, and they had failed. This was to be her last re
sort. How pitifully she pleads: "Lord, help me!" No
pleading soul was ever turned away under such circum stances. Whatever shape the devil may have assumed jn our lives, Jesus stands there to break his power. His ear is open to the cry, "Lord, help me!" Sometimes temptation is very strong; much stronger than at the time we imagine. Many of us doubtless have stood
very much closer to the precipice than we had thought at the time. Our only escape at such times was in Him. Had we been left alone, we would have been ruined, forever ruined. How blessed the thought, "There hath no temptation come to you, but such as is common to man. And with every temptation He maketh a way of
escape. How marvelously Jesus stretches Himself out in the dark to ward off the awful blow of the tempter when he conies to destroy His child.
MASTERING DISCOURAGEMENT.
6l
She came also in the face of discouragement. The
disciples themselves tried to discourage her. They
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said, "Send her away, for she crieth after us." What a picture this was: Here the Lord was in the world to dethrone Satan the very kind of opportunity He needed: Here was this woman whose daughter was so grievously vexed. Here were these disciples who had been with the Master and ought to have kept quiet on such an occasion. But they did not wish to be disturbed. They had great regard for the peace and harmony and dignity of the occasion. Alas, many a church has taken its pattern after them. There are churches by the thou sands, claiming to be after the pattern of Jesus that are saying by their conduct, "Send her away, she crieth after us." I was preaching in the North in a church of this stamp. It was the eleven oclock hour, at a time when it is almost a sensation for a sinner to profess Christ. When I finished I felt as if the Lord would have me stretch the net, for, perhaps, there were some lost souls in the house that could be reached. I stepped down from the platform and extended the invitation for them to come forward. The choir had prepared a beau tiful anthem with which to close. In my zeal for souls I forgot it. Quite a number came forward. One of them was a railroad engineer who that very afternoon in a wreck near the city was killed. The congregation was greatly affected by the scene such a large number came out for Christ But the choir was mad. As we all passed out the church a good woman remarked to an other: "I like Dr. Broughton, but isnt it such a pity?"
"Such a pity about what?" said the lady to whom she was speaking. "Why," she said, "he is such a crank about saving sinners." Yes, dear old soul, she had rath-
PLUCK, PUSH AND TRUST,
87
er save the anthem than to save a soul. How many like her to-day. Dont have any disturbance; dont let any thing get hit; dont let anything say amen for the
world; preserve the peace and dignity of the occasion;
be just as much like a corpse in your address as possible,
for you are in the house of the Lord. This was the spirit that actuated the disciples when they tried to drive away
this poor, broken-hearted mother. Thank God it never
stopped her. She pressed on the more.
JESUS TRIED HER FAITH.
62
But not only did she have to go against the discour
agement which she received from the disciples, Jesus himself tried her faith presented some discouragement
Said He at the first, "I am not sent save unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." She was not an Israelite,
she was a Gentile. The mission of Christ primarily was to the Jew, but this did not discourage her. She pressed
on the more, and worshipped Him. Oh, there must
have been much faith. Think of it; she could worship in the face of no hope. If the Master tries us, then is
the time we break down. Where she was strongest, we are weakest When hope was about gone she wor shipped the more. "Lord help me," said she.
Then again, He presented another test. Said He, "It
is not meet to take the childrens bread and cast it to
<logs." What a cutting remark this seems to be. Oh,
I am sure that our sensitive natures would shrink, and our fiery tempers would take possession of us. What, to
place us among the dogs the outcasts? I am sure it
would not be safe to test us all in this way. Many of
us who have been Christians for a long time would
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break down under such a comparison. But she seems
to grow strong under it. She said, "True, Lord, yet the
dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters
table." Let me be placed with the outcasts, with the
dogs, but Lord, let me have Thy help. Give me just a
crumb at this time. This was her prayer. To my mind
it is one of the most sublime expressions of humility
that I have ever come across.
VICTORY! VICTORY!
63
No wonder she found victory. When she reached
that point of absolute surrender, willing to take even a
crumb, to be called a dog anything, it was that Jesus
said: "Oh, woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee
even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour." Would to God we could all hear
Jesus say that to us to-day. "Great is thy faith: be it
unto thee even as thou wilt." She started out with lit
tle faith; she ended with great faith. The more the ob
stacle, the more the faith. God grant that it may be so
with us all in our experience. With hardship and dis
couragement she had a faith of determination a faith
that would not let go a faith with assurance. This
is what we want the faith that assures, a faith that
sends one from prayer with the upturned vision. This
is much more than most of us get out of our relig
ion. If we get to the point of faith we think we
have accomplished much, but oh, there is infinitely
more for us to receive. Faith is the poor, penitent
thief crying, "Lord, remember me." Assurance is
Stephen standing calmly in the midst of his accusers say
ing, "I see the heavens open, and the Son of man stand-
PLUCK, PUSH AND TRUST.
89
ing at the right hand of God." Faith is the anxious, trembling voice saying, "Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief." Assurance is a confident challenge: "Who shall lay anything to the charge of the elect?" Faith is Saul of Tarsus, stricken with blindness, asking, "What wilt thou have me to do?" Assurance is Paul, the aged apostle, incarcerated, looking into the grave, saying, "I know whom I have believed hence there is laid up for me a crown of rejoicing." Let us have faith; it is life. But let us have more than faith; let us have assurance: it is health and strength and power.
Syrophenician mother, we bow before thee and ask the Giver of every good and perfect gift to let fall upon us thy mantle of trust and perseverance.
CHAPTER X.
THE REASONABLENESS OF REASONING.
"Come now and let us reason together." Isa. i :i8.
CALL TO REASON.
64
It makes no difference what the commentaries may
say about this text, it is just like God to call His people
to reason with Him. Not that He has to do it; God is
under no obligation to reason with us. He is Lord of
all. He makes and unmakes. He does not have to per
suade, to reason, to convince. Emperor Napoleon was
proud to say when matters of interest were up, "I am
the state." So God is the law. We may accept or re
ject; it is purely optional with us. Still it is just like
God to invite us into His plans, as a father would invite
a child. Again, this call to reason does not imply that we may
comprehend all the mysteries of God. There are depths which we cannot now fathom. Eternity itself will have to unfold many of the petals of the rosebud of truth. And yet, there are mysteries which unfold themselves gradually. At present they seem so obscure that we can not grasp them. Still, by constant reasoning with God, we may see more and more of their truth and beauty. This has been the experience of all of us. I remember when I first began reasoning with God concerning the glorious doctrine of our Lords return; it was so mysti cal at that time I shrank from it, but more and more
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as I have found myself shut in with Him I have seen the light, unt:l to-day this glorious truth floods my soul.
But we are not to give up the truth because we can not comprehend it. The old serpent-bitten Jew must not wait to comprehend the brazen serpent; he must simply look and live. So with salvation. No man is to be excused from the penalty of denying Christ because he does not understand the modus operand! of His sal vation. Nicodemus stands out as an illustration of this fact Jesus said to him, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit." The men to-day who are teaching us to ignore every statement not com patible with reason, are setting aside the teaching of Jesus Christ Faith nowhere is reason. Faith is un dertaking a thing the end of which cannot be seen. God pity the church which ventures no further than its sight.
But there are some things reasonable; some things which can be understood. These God invites us to con sider. So we will not attempt to figure out the reason ableness of the unreasonable, or the knowableness of the unknowable, but get right down to common every-day odds and ends which we see in life.
We all know that there come times in our life when it is necessary to give attention to little things which are hard to classify, but which are none the less important. It is certainly true with every pastor who tries to be faithful in his work. There are many such things of which he must speak.
CALL TO REASON.
93
CHILD OBEDIENCE.
65
I speak of the control of children. I shall speak plain
ly. I hope none of you will do me the injustice to think
that I would single you out personally to make an at
tack upon you or your children. I would not do such
a thing. But I hope you will not spend the time in try
ing to fit the cap upon your neighbor or your neighbors
children. It may be that I refer to my own child; or it
may be that I refer to yours. Let us be honest enough
to look about us and see, and when we have seen let
us be faithful enough to endeavor to remedy the evil.
It is a known fact that some things need to be done
along this line at this time. It used to be true that chil
dren had to obey their parents; it is now true that par
ents have to obey their children. The other day I saw
a mother as completely mastered by her child as ever I
saw a henpecked husband mastered by his wife. The
child wanted the mother to sit down in a chair. The
mother did not want to do it. Whereupon the child began
squalling like a band of Indians, and kept it up until
finally the mother got up and sat down, deliberately, in
the chair. I may not be a good father, but I do say, I
would not have done that. It is a sin before God and a
gross injustice to the child. It does not take a philos
opher to figure out what is to become of a child like that,
unless something intervenes. And among many children
there is seen just such lax training. The children are
not to be blamed. It is the nature of a child to have his
way.
And I feel like I ought to say a word to you fathers.
You have no right to turn over all this matter of cor-
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rection to the mothers. You ought to take a hand. You owe it to the child; you owe it to your wife; you owe it to your personal responsibility. You see to it, as the head of the house, that your child is conquered; not only conquered at church, but conquered at home; that his stubborn will is not to be the law of the household. Your administration ought to be constant. It should not be the result of nervous, pettish feeling, but a sys tem of training. If there is not more attention given this matter, as bright as the prospects are, some of our children will bring heartaches and sorrow to our homes and ruin to themselves.
THE POWER OF HABIT.
66
I speak next concerning the formation of habit. There
is nothing so powerful as habit I once knew a grown
man who could not go to sleep at night under any cir
cumstances, unless he had his thumb in his mouth. Un
doubtedly this habit had been formed during his child
hood. Some people have more weakness in this direc
tion than others, but even with the strongest the power
of habit is great. Men get in the habit of going to
church, and its hard to break. They will go ofttimes
when they do not feel physically able to go. On the
other hand, men get in the habit of not going to church,
and they can get up a thousand excuses, any one of
which would easily suffice. I was talking with a man,
a wealthy citizen, the other day about the matter of go
ing to church. He says, "You do not know how many
of our most prominent men and women do not go to
church, especially on Sunday nights." I asked him why.
He said, "Well, one reason is, the services are not so
CALL TO REASON.
95
attractive at our church as they might "be. But the strongest reason is habit." Set apart at least the reg ular services of church, and be as punctual as Providence will permit. Do it for habits sake, if for nothing else. The time will come when it will be second nature. Some people form a habit of fault finding, and its hard to see anything good in anything. Some people form a sensi tive habit. More and more they find themselves the tar get for people. They grow miserable themselves, and make others equally so. There is the Sabbath desecra tion habit. I suppose half the church members in cities read the Sunday newspapers every morning before go ing to church, provided they are able to get one. It is a habit. They feel as if they cannot spare one day. They must have the news. Its an awful habit. It damns the spiritual life of any people. The miserable sensational slush in every Sunday newspaper in America is doing more to paralyze spiritual life than anything I know. God pity us. I do not know where we will drift. Habit! Habit! I was talking to a man the other day about riding on the street cars. He said, "I am sure I spend twenty dollars a year riding on the cars, when it would be a great deal better for me to walk. I have formed the habit of taking the car everywhere I want to go."
The habit for narcotics is formed just as every other "habit. I know a number of young men in this city to day who can no more go through the day without their coca-cola than a morphine subject c-n without opium.
But I cannot dwell longer on this subject. Every man here knows the danger of which I speak. I pray you
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be careful about your habits. Let us try to grow up into "the stature of full manhood in Christ Jesus."
THE WEALTH OF INFLUENCE.
(fj
I speak again concerning influence.
In a Bible class recently the teacher was telling of the
various, translations of the Bible and their different ex
cellences. He spoke of Jeromes Vulgate, of Luthers
German Bible, of our own King James Version and of
the Revised Version, and how it was made. The class
was much interested, and one of the young men that
evening was talking to a friend about it. "I think I prefer the King James Version for my
part," he said, "though, of course, the Revised is more scholarly."
His friend smiled. "I prefer my mothers transla tion of the Bible myself to any other version," he said.
"Your mothers?" cried the first young man, thinking his companion had suddenly gone crazy. "What do you mean, Fred?"
"I mean that my mother has translated the Bible into the language of daily life for me ever since I was old enough to understand it," said Fred. "She translates it straight, too, and gives it full meaning. There has never been any obscurity about her version. Her every day life is a translation of Gods Word that a child can read, and that Saint Jerome could not better. Whatever printed version of the Bible I may study, my mothers is always the one that clears up my difficulties."
This was a beautiful tribute. It should arouse not only every mother, but all Christians everywhere. We are all making impressions. We cannot live to ourselves.
CALL TO REASON.
97
Every one of us forms a link in the chain of responsi bility. In a meeting once I became convinced of this as never before. A bright young lawyer in that town stood in the way of at least a dozen young men. He was a splendid, upright, moral fellow, so far as everybody knew. He attended church regularly and was very re spectful and kind, but to accept Christ as Saviour and come into the church he would not. His stand affected the stand of his associates, and they were thoroughly immovable. It would be bad enough for us to have to give account of ourselves, but a part of the great judg ment will be the summing up the influence that we have exerted upon others. How many, many souls we have carelessly and thoughtlessly stamped in the wrong way. Our indifterence begets indifference in somebody else. Our yielding to the lust of pleasure causes some one else to yield. "When we take our stand in defiance of the church, others do the same thing. There are many who need to hear this truth. You may think you can afford it, but the lime will come when you will realize your mis take. To begin with, the church cannot afford it. If you persist in spreading worldly influence, in going con trary to the teachings of your church, the church will have to take action, as much as it might regret to do so. We have left the point of personal sin in the background. We are dealing with the higher thought of mans influ ence. The sincerity of our position as a church against popular phases of sin in this community is measured by our membership. The world is not looking upon our declaration, but upon our conduct. I appeal to you as you love your church, as you have fought for it in the
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past, as you are willing to fight for it to-day come out
from these things which cast a stain upon the veracity
of your church.
LOST SINNER!
68
Again, there are those who are not saved. I have al
ways held that the unsaved would hear the gospel if put
to them in anything like the proper light. But, my
friends, may I not ask, why do you hold out against the
pleadings of Jesus Christ ? Are His love and sacrifice for
you not appreciated by you? Why longer wound Him
who "died because He loved you so?" Every rejection
is dangerous. One Sunday morning, an engineer sat in
my congregation with his wife and little child. Just
after dinner he bent over and kissed his sweet wife and
darling baby and got on his engine and started on his
run. In less than three hours the news came flashing
over the wires, "A wreck. Engineer
is dead!"
How sad it was for his young wife and baby! But oh,
how sad for his soul! He had a good chance that morn
ing, but let it pass and went down to hell.
AT THE KINGS TABLE.
69
Finally, I reason with you all. We need a higher type
of Christian character. A friend of mine gave me this
story. He said: A few years ago a Georgian decided
to make a trip by way of steamer from Savannah to
Boston. He knew nothing about steamship travel. So
the day before he was to start he got him a good size
shoe box and filled it full of cheese and crackers
enough to last him to Boston. With his box of
cheese and crackers he got aboard. When everybody
else went to supper he got out his shoe box and went on
CALL TO REASON.
99
deck and helped himself. And this he did every meaL Finally, his appetite became more of a question. Hence the captain was approached by him one day as he was going to dinner and asked, "Captain, what would you charge, please sir, to let me go down there and get one square meal?" "Why, my fellow," said the jolly cap tain, "have you not had anything to eat since you left Savannah ?" "Yes," said he, "a bit of cheese and crack ers ; but Ill vow, Captain, if I dont get something else Ill eat the shoe box." "Why," said the captain, "your ticket calls for meals and passage. Go down and help yourself." How much like the average Christian! Here we are carrying our shoe box around, living on cheese and crackers, when we might be eating at the Kings table.
CHAPTER XI.
SANCTIFIED CITIZENSHIP.
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever
ye do, do all to the glory of God." i Cor. 10:31.
NOTHING SECULAR.
fO
Upon this subject much has been said, and still the
matter is unsettled. I cannot see why there should be any need for a discussion. God never intended that mans citizenship should be divorced from his religion.
Nowhere do we find him serving in one capacity as a
citizen and in another as a Christian. God is not to be selected to preside over sacred and secular things inde
pendently. Indeed, there is no secular to a Christian.
His life is all sacred. When he came to God, through
Jesus Christ, he enlisted for life, with all his talents and
powers. Everything henceforth which he touches is to
be handled with sacred fingers. This is the emphatic teaching of our text. To this principle there are always
objections to be raised. The business man, whose idea
of life is to get all he can, any way he can, and keep it
as long as he can, will object. I remember such an ob
jection once offered by a friend of mine in business.
He was what is known as a curb-stone banker. He had just loaned a man $25.00 for thirty days at the rate of
75 per cent, interest As a matter of fact, such a man
will object to bringing religion into business. The pol
itician will object. He knows he will ha *&>
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deceit, tell fewer lies, stop buying votes and stuffing bal lot boxes, and be forced to shake hands all the year round instead of a few weeks before election. Yes, and when he gets in office he will ask only one question, "Is it right?" instead of asking as he does to-day, "Is it pop
ular, or will it pay?" The society man will object. He
knows when he brings to bear upon his social life the religion of Christ that his card tables, wine suppers, the
atres and ball rooms will have to go. But the question which we are to face in this day of
practical religion is, "What is right?" Ought Chris tianity to attempt more than the salvation of the souls of men? I shall maintain that it should; that the gos pel of the apostle, as set forth in this text, lays upon us the responsibility of regenerating life as well as the soul. With this in view, we may hope that Christianity alone
is able to solve every problem that pertains to mankind. And if this be true, Christianity ought to endeavor to lay hold of and conform the affairs of life to its own
great principles.
ENVIRONMENT.
7!
This is seen, first, from the standpoint of its own pro
tection. Religion, like everything else operated by hu
man hands, takes its coloring from its environments.
We have seen this illustrated in the teachings of Paul,
who himself tolerated circumcision, not because it availed
anything, but because it was a custom of his times. Christ also tolerated foot-washing for a similar reason. Our Dunkard brethren baptize face foremost, because in the early days the dead were buried that way, and baptism must typify a burial. The Greeks, many of
SANCTIFIED CITIZENSHIP.
103
them, bury their dead in this way today. Hence, if I were in Greece as a missionary, I would baptize face foremost, endeavoring to typify a perfect burial. Re ligion is chameleon-like in that it takes on many customs and practices that grow out of its environments. You have perhaps heard the story of the mother in England who had seven bright boys. One after one they left their comfortable home and went to sea. When the last one had gone, she sent for her pastor asking him, if pos sible, to explain to her the reason for their conduct. Said she, "These boys have never seen a ship, and yet, one after another, they have left home and gone to live the life of sailors." Just at that time the pastor spied over the mantel a magnificent painting. It represented a ship at full sail. Her white-winged sails were stretched to the breezes while the smoke from her smol"1stacks flung out to the winds, spread itself like a wasted cloud. Grandly and proudly she plowed her way toward the shore. Merry passengers crowded upon her deck, waving their handkerchiefs to anxious friends who awaited their arrival. It was an inspiring sight. "When," said the pastor, "did you get that magnificent painting?" "It was a bridal present," said she, "when we were married." "And all the time," said the pastor, "it has been in your room?" "Yes," said she, "all the time." "Ah, that tells the story," said the preacher. "As they have grown up they have been unconsciously in spired with the glory of sea life. That picture is stamped indelibly upon their lives, and their going was but an in evitable result of constant teaching." So friends, if it be possible for dead canvas to thus inspire and uncon-
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sciously shape the destiny of young minds, why may we
not expect circumstances and traditions, with which we
are daily surrounded, to have much to do in the shaping
and training of our religious thought and life? There
are certain parts of Greece where vegetation will not
grow. The reason for that is, that in those sections there
are great copper mines, which throw off their poisonous
fumes, which fall upon the earth and poison the soil. So
with character. A genuine character will never be de
veloped amid the fumes that fall thick and fast from the
various dens of infamy which surround us at almost every point. Christianity must turn its attention then to
these things.
OBJECT LESSONS.
72
Second, this is seen also because the best way to im
press any truth is by object lessons. There have been
times when the necessity for this was not so much real
ized as to-day; times when people were disposed to take things for granted; when men, for instance, were re
ceived with open arms into good society upon the mere statement of a well-to-do ancestor, or perhaps upon the
statement of a popular platform. This day, however, has
passed. In every calling and vocation in life people are
demanding a reason, as well as a statement; a cause as
well as an effect. "Who are you, and what can you do,"
rather than "Who was your father, and what do you
profess?" Professions in themselves carry very little
weight. This is seen in business, in society, and relig
ion ; and this necessity was seen and appreciated by God
Himself, who gave His son as an expression of His love.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only be-
SANCTIFIED CITIZENSHIP.
105
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." So to-day if religion is to impress the world, it must be done by demonstration rather than theories. "Show us the practical benefits oi what your Christianity is worth to the world, and we are ready to accept it," is the way the world talks. Henry Ward Beecher says an Irish woman once came to him saying, "Mr. Beecber, I understand from your preach ing that you have something that will get a man a straight ticket to Heaven." "Yes," said Mr. Beecher, "I have the religion of Christ, the only way." "Well sir," said she, "do you think it will make a scoundrel live straight with his wife?" "Yes," was the reply. "Then faith, preacher, I wish you would work some of this truck on my man Mike, for such enough, he has beat me twice in the week." This was a practical question, fraught with the spirit of legitimate inquiry. Rightly applied, it means, does that preparation for Heaven, of which the church has been speaking, fit and prepare a man for this life ? Does it enter his business; change, regulate and conform it to the demands of Christ? Does it enter the home and make a man observe the laws Di vinely appointed for the government of the household? Does it enter society and introduce that which is Divine and exclude that which is evil? Applied Christianity, that is the one need of the age. Enter to-day with me into some missionary field to propagate the Gospel of Christ. Suppose it to be one of the Congo States. We preach faithfully our religion, and then our auditors have to do with us. The question is put like this: "From whence come you?" We answer, "From the great
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American States, the land of freedom, of Christianity, of churches and Bibles." "America," they say, "pshaw! Your Christianity is no good. You send into our ports whiskey enough on one ship to damn more souls than
you can save with all of your missionaries in a year. Away "with it" And what are we to say when con fronted with such plain reasoning? Not a word. We simply must hang our heads in shame but how is it at home? Are our churches with their large number o* communicants purifying the streams of morality which flow Ly us with such a deadly momentum? Are we driving from our midst the curses, such as whiskey, gambling, and other evils ? If not, we must rest assured that the world does not yet countenance our profession. Let us then awake from our sleep and realize that to save this world from sin means also to check the sources of crime, and this can be done only by taking our pro fession into the various departments of our life.
SALT AND SALVATION.
73
Third, This truth is likewise seen from the fact that
Christianity is not only salvation, but prevention. Christ
said in His Sermon on the Mount, "Ye are the salt of the
earth," meaning that Christianity should purify and pre
vent, as well as save. If this is not the purpose, then
the illustration is a wrong one. Salt is an aseptic. It
prevents decomposition. This we all know, and yet
when applying it to the use of religion, we make it an
antiseptic, which does not prevent, but treats with de
struction after it takes place. Hence, we have so much
misapplied effort, orphan asylums, insane asylums, jails,
penitentiaries, homes for the helpless of various forms,
SANCTIFIED CITIZENSHIP.
107
rather than reversing the order and using our religion to prevent destruction, for which these things are in tended. There is Christianity enough in America alone to-day to drive from the face of the earth the necessity for every prison cell and like institution that now ex ists. How unwise even from a business standpoint is our custom. The best posted man in Atlanta says 90 per cent, of all crime here is chargeable to whiskey. Look then at the cost of crime, say nothing of its other results, and then take the question of license, see what we get of it, and make the calculation and see how far we come out behind. There is not a business man here who would run his business on such a losing scale. Why is it we cant all see this? A prominent official the other day said through one of our leading papers, "We cant afford to agitate this question it causes too much strife." Great God! I want to ask this distinguished offi cial what he thinks of the strife that is being caused every day by allowing the iniquity to exist. Weeping wivas and mothers, hungry, starving children, neglected orphans, ruined prospects, diseased bodies, premature deaths, and hell and damnation for eternity. Away with such silly talk of "strife." Christ said He came not to bring peace, but a sword. I tell you, Christianity is to no little extent responsible for all the horrors of this curse. Our religion cant be divorced from our citizen ship. The drunkard goes to hell; the saloon makes him drunk; the law makes his license; and Christianity makes the law. The majority of our legislature is Christian. Look at that chain, will you? Every link joined. Follow it up to the judgment. The drunkard
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starts for hell and the Christian starts for Heaven. Oh,
Christian voter, when and where are those links to be
broken? When will you cut yourself loose from that
mans downfall ? It must be here, if at all, for "As the
tree falleth so it must lie."
OPPORTUNITY.
74
Let us awake, dear brother, the day is upon us. We
cannot longer wait. Our votes are sacred. We can no
more trust the powers for relief. Only live as we pro
fess, and vote as we pray, yea, vote for no man who does
not favor the immediate destruction of this traffic, and
this curse with all other kindred legalized curses, will be
of the past. In Napoleons army one of his bravest men
was Marshal Lannes. One day he ordered his men to
capture the City of RatSsbon. As the men reached the
top of the wall, however, many were shot down. Again
and again they made the attempt, with similar results.
Then another command was given, but this time they re
fused to go. Lannes, brave soldier that he was, then
leaped off his horse and putting his foot on the round
of the ladder, turned and faced his men, "Follow me!"
said he, "and Ill show you that a Marshal of France is
not afraid of Austrian bullets." Up! up! followed by
every soldier. They leaped upon the enemy and cap
tured the city. Oh, soldiers of the cross, weve been
standing in the background. Weve been saying to pol
iticians, go on! Give us reform. Protect our homes.
Defend -our helpless children, and heart-aching wives
and mothers. And politicians have pretended to .be our
friends. They have often started, but quaked before the
enemy. Now the time is upon us Christians! Take the
SANCTIFIED CITIZENSHIP.
109
reins in your hand, catch the ladder of opportunity, get in the lead; tell politics to follow. On! on! The day is not far distant when the world will follow. And then we shall lift our banner and under its crimson shade, peace, happiness, love and protection shall reign for
evermore.
CHAPTER XII.
DRIFTERS AND DRIFTING.
OX)
"Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day
shall not come, except there come a falling away first,
and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."
II Thess. 213.
Of course, all Bible students will say that this .is a
reference by the Apostle Paul concerning the coming of
the anti-Christ that man of sin, as a pre-requisite in the
plan of God to the coming of Christ from the marriage
supper in the clouds to the earth. The argument is that
that day shall not come except there come a falling away
first a drifting, as some prefer to translate it, and that
man of sin be revealed.
DRIFTING! STARVING!
75
Some years ago a friend of mine was coming across
the Atlantic, just off the coast of New Foundland,
where the air is always cold and chilly, and oft-times
dangerous icebergs are encountered. After the fog
cleared away one night they saw in the dim distance a
disabled steamer. They signaled to her and got back the
answer, "drifting! starving!" My friend said they
turned their course and overtook the little steamer and
found that she had been drifting for weeks. For days
and days they had been without food or drink. They
found out also that they had been drifting a number of
flays before they were aware of it. They were in the
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midst of an awful fog, and their compass did not work properly. This accounted for their going out of their
latitude and losing all bearings. How true this may be of many of us here to-day. Drifting, but do not know it. God help us to see whether this be true or not.
WHO ARE THE DRIFTERS/*
76
Those who subordinate calls of religion to other
things. There is not a child of God, however weak and
ignorant, but that will acknowledge the claims of re
ligion upon him. The cause of Christ can no more run
without mans co-operation than can any other cause.
From the beginning God has ordained co-operation
with man in the prosecution of His work. This is not
true of some men, it is true of all men who are adopted
into His family.
GODS DEMANDS.
77
The cause of Christ demands of every man a part of
his time.
The cause of Christ demands of every man a part of
his thought.
The cause of Christ demands of every man prayer.
The cause of Christ demands of every man money.
The cause of Christ demands of every man defense. These are, to any thinking mind, reasonable demands. Certainly, no Christian man can look at them and say
that they are not, every one of them, perfectly legitimate, reasonable and true. But how about the drifter? Does
he recognize these demands? When the question of his
time is touched, when he is asked to contribute of his personal presence to this or that, his business stands be
fore him neglected. The devil has persuaded him of
DRIFTERS AND DRIFTING.
113
this, knowing that it is the vital spot of decay to most good business men. If he gets the mastery of himself at this point he does it by forcing himself and not as a will ing sacrifice. My brethren, this is your greatest danger. I lay it before you as naked as I can. I want you to face it in the light of God and eternity. If you have a right to cling to your business so close that you cannot do your work in the kingdom of Christ, then others have the same right that you have, and if all have that right the whole gospel fabric is rotten, and the kingdom of Christ itself is adrift. Somebody must take the time to do what you havent the time to do. You say, of course, others are not so pressed as you are and hence they have the time to give to it. You must remember that they are not endeavoring to lay up as you are, that your press for time is to gratify an ambition for gain which perhaps these others have crucified. You have no right, my brother, or sister, to withhold from the support of your church your presence at the expense of the support of others for whom the need then given is as much a sacri fice as yours would be. Is this right ? To one and all of you I address this question, face it my brethren and sis ters; you are enjoying the fruit of other peoples per sonal toils to what extent ? Wont you face it to-day and resolve that God shall have, not only your heart to cleanse it, but some of your time to push His kingdom, that others may get the same blessing.
If the drifter is asked to give thought to some ques tion that involves the church, he says, "Oh, it does not make any difference about my thinking; my thoughts are never taken; my suggestions are ignored." Is that
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a fair way to look at a personal responsibility? Are
you not a factor in the thinking world? Has God given
you a furlough when it comes to using your brain for the
furtherance of His kingdom? Suppose your ideas and
suggestions have not met with the favorable considera
tion of others, doe- it mean that you are to do no more
thinking, or does it mean from that that you are to do
more thinking, that your convictions may be kept to the
front, and if right, finally prevail?
LACK OF PERSONAL INTEREST.
78
Again, the man drifting fails to pray as once he did
for his church, his pastor, his Sunday School, and all its
various machinery. He persuades himself that matters
are not being run right, and that God cannot bless a
thing run contrary to what he believes to be right in every particular. He overlooks the many points in
which the work is moving properly and accomplishing
blessed results. He will agree that the blessing of God
is upon the work as a whole, but he has actually ceased
to pray as once he did, under the persuasion of the devil
that things are not running right. If he were not adrift
he would know that then of all times is the time to pray.
Want of personal interest in the service to the drifter is accounted for in a thousand ways. One can see the
difference, however, very easily. The drifter is not seen
moving about in the audience. He has ceased to wel
come strangers and to talk to people about the hopeful
ness of the situation and inspire confidence and encour
agement on the part of those who come. Further and
further from the front he gets, until the back seat seems
preferable.
DRIFTERS AND DRIFTING.
115
Money gets to be a very serious question when ones compass gets out of order. He then becomes very sensi tive on all questions of money. He has patience about everything else. Patience to take his own business and work it out of debt; but he has no patience with the church trying to do the same thing. Giving, to him, also is exceedingly delicate. He persuades himself that he must hold his money for other things, and right there the devil fixes his spiritual life. I do not believe any man ever developed spiritually ahead of his pocketbook. It
is the very key-note to the situation. But finally the question of influence is one that the
drifter has to deal with. He begins to talk disparagingly of the work to the public. He shows a flag at halfmast. He croaks and complains. These are some of the symptoms of the drifter as he subordinates the calls of
Christ to other things.
MORAL OBTUSENESS.
79
Drifting is also accompanied by moral obtuseness.
When once a soui begins to stray away the heart loses
its sensitiveness to sin. How strangely true this is, has
been illustrated in our Biblical history. David was "a
man after Gods own heart," and yet who does not re
member the awful downward plunge of David? It was
not all accomplished, however, in a single act. Like all
such courses it was progressive. Coming out from a
most glorious victory his eye was charmed by the beau
tiful form of the wife of Uriah. You are familiar with
the rest of the story. What an awful blot it is upon the
sacred pages! Davids downward course did not end
here. Once he had begun he found it very much easier
n6 OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
to continue, and so the once pure shepherd king, the sweet singer and harpist, is seen planning the murder of the husband of this woman with whom he had plunged into nameless sin. What a shudder this back history brings over us to-day. How serious it should make us feel. Even the strongest of us need ever to keep our anchor firmly attached. This same tendency was seen in Samson, the great and mighty Samson. Who would have thought that one so filled with the miraculous spirit of God would have ever yielded to the enticing words of a Delilah ? But more and more obtuse his moral senses become, until now what had hitherto been out of the question as a possibility is an easy de light Peters denial of Christ is of the same character. Only awhile ago it was Peter who said, "Though all friends forsake Thee, I will never." But Peter now has begun to drift He is marching behind the procession. The only way in this world to keep from going crooked is to keep up with the crowd. The members of this church that are behind the procession are the people I am most uneasy about When Peter got behind it was very easy for him to deny that he ever knew the Lord. My Christian friends, if ever I felt like putting ourselves on guard it is in dealing with this thing. How many of us remember that bright spiritual meteor thai flashed out some years ago, but was so soon covered up. He imagined that the world was going to the bad, because it followed not his teaching. The result was a drifting course. When he began to criticise everybody else the devil fastened his fangs upon him. Finally, he was guilty of nameless sin, and before the public had the
DRIFTERS AND DRIFTING.
117
audacity to argue a justification. How morally obtuse! God keep us with clear, clean sensibilities, that we may know and detect sin.
UNFORGIVING SPIRIT.
80
It is seen also in the unforgiving spirit. We are all
liable, more or less, to go wrong in this particular. I
know of nothing for which we are more careful than
our rights. It is the sensitive part of man. For it thou
sands have shed the last drop of theL* blood. Christian
people, however, who wish to stay close to the Lord
must understand that it is "more blessed to give than to
receive." "Unless a grain of wheat fall into the ground
and die it abideth alone, but if it die it bringeth forth
much fruit." This must be the Christians motto: "My
rights must have no place in the Christians creed."
Jesus Christ Himself said: "Unless ye forgive men their
trespasses neither will your Heavenly Father forgive you
your trespasses." It is not a question of what we feel or
think, but what Jesus says. Not only are We to forgive
those we love, that is hard enough for some of us to do,
but we are told that we must forgive our enemies. Oh,
how hard this is for us to do. How can it be done? I
unhesitatingly say to you that there is nothing that will
enable a man to love a man who has done him a vital in
jury but God Almightys Holy Spirit. If then we would
keep filled with the Spirit we must keep filled with ser
vice, for the moment we turn our faces driftward our
grip on God is lost and our power is dissipated.
PUBLIC WORSHIP.
81
Again, this drift is seen in our lack of interest in pub lic worship. This is one of the very best signs. At one
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time we had the public service. We would undertake any hardship. We used to tramp through the rain, or snow, or heat, day and night, to attend public worship. We used to enjoy the singing. We were delighted to take part in any part of the service. We were fond of testimony. It did our hearts good to tell what Jesus was doing for us. We loved Bible study. We loved to see the Bibles at church and hear them read and read with others. We were always happy to take part in any service for the glory of God. We loved enthusiasm. Nothing so pleased us as to go to prayer meeting and see great enthusiastic congregations. Everybody was hap py, everybody feeling good, all this at one time touched us and pleased us. But, it is not so now. Now we are sour and morose. We never take any part; we have no testimony for Jesus any more, and singing is not to us as it once was. Scripture read and quoted now has become a silly thing in which we have no interest what ever. Oh, it is a sad, sad change that has come about us which can only be accounted for by the fact that we have drifted from God.
SOUL SAVING.
82
Lastly, drifting is seen in the loss of soul-saving fer
vor. I have observed during these years at home and
elsewhere that so long as a man is on fire for the salva
tion of sinners there is little danger of his drifting. But
when he loses this zeal we may look out. Some years
ago a deacon in a prominent Baptist church in one of our
Northern cities got it into his head that there was too
much ado about saving sinners in his church. His idea
was that the church should give more attention to ethi-
DRIFTERS AND DRIFTING.
119
cal development of the world. That miserable ghost has flung his shadow around so many churches in our country to-day. So, though he had been a great enthus iast in this line, he began to turn his attention in another direction. The church gave up its position as an evan gelistic storm center and began to court riches and fashion. Whereas it had once been known as a great blazing- fire of religious enthusiasm, now it was to make an effort in an entirely different direction. Its services were to be formal, calm, dignified, so as to commend themselves to a certain sentiment in the community. The old clarion notes of salvation, of hell, were to be silenced, and the sweet, tender, humanitarian philosophy, so popular among the few, must be the only note sounded. A fashionable choir, songs classical, and the old choir singing that used to sway the multitudes was to be laid aside. The Sunday School that used to have its missionary traversing the streets and alleys in search for the poor and the needy must settle down to the more dignified business-like way of doing things. And mis sions that it had operated in different sections of the city are to be given up. It is not good business sense to strain the church to keep up so many outside things. This you say is a story. Alas 1 Alas! however, it is a true one. It is one in which my own heart has played a part. What about the church to-day? What success has it had in this" line of work? I will not dare tell you. It is enough to say that from all one can gather the Spirit of God has left the house. This means its missionaries, its great crowds, its enthusiasm; all this has gone, and for more than a year not a soul has been baptized into the fellowship of that church. How strange! How
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strange! My brethren and my sisters, there is but one thing that can keep this sad story from being the prophe cy of yourself, and that is, that you continue to keep the wires between you and the power-house of God clear and connected. Whenever this church ceases to stand in theory and practice, as far as possible, for a clean life, an open Bible, and aggressive fight on sin, a friend to the friendless, and salvation to the lost, from one day to the next, then and there our doom is sealed, and the history which, under the Providence of God, we may have the privilege of writing will have reached its clos ing chapter.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE DEMAND FOR MORAL MUSCLE.
"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." I Cor. 16:13.
The picture presented here is that of an army just going into battle. The commander has given his last orders before the charge, then adds: "Stand fast in the faith, quit you like men."
Paul, who was ever fond of drawing lessons from the soldier, addresses the Christians at Corinth in the same way. To him the Christ-life was a fight. Men true and brave were needed to win the victory.
This remains true to-day. Surely there is not one who has ever enlisted in the army of the Lord that dont know Christianity is a great fight.
TWO NATURES.
8$
One finds it to be a fight in his own heart.
Every Christian is possessed of a double nature. He
is a Doctor Jekyl and a Mr. Hyde. There is an evil
nature and a good nature. These natures are at con
stant war with each other. The failure to recognize this
often gets us into trouble. A man came to me some
time ago saying, "I think there must be some mistake
about my conversion." I said, "Why?" "Well," said he,
"I find that there are still evil suggestions coming up in
my heart, and if I had been saved I wouldnt have
them." I said to him, "My brother, you will never get
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beyond the point of being tempted. Christ Himself had to deal with temptation, and the servant is not greater than his Lord. What you want is the spirit of fight; the ability to withstand the tempter. Dont imagine the devil quit you when the Lord found you. He is more anxious now than ever. He wants to ruin your life and destroy your peace."
One finds it to be a fight in the world. The first con cern of the devil is the individual. He wants to keep every soul from Christ. The next concern is the world. He wants, if possible, to keep this world from moving Christward.
RUNNING POLITICS.
84
This is why the devil is so much interested in running
politics. Politics makes our laws, laws make our atmos
phere, and atmosphere has much to do in forming our
life. You can easily see how the devil is interested in our
present campaign in Georgia. The great question of
legalized saloons in Georgia is hanging in the political
balance.
This is the reason why some of us have lined up our
columns and opened our musketry on the enemy. The
other day I was on my way to fill an engagement to
make an address on the moral and immoral issues of the
pending campaign. Two ladies sat in front of me dis
cussing my appointment. One of them, speaking evi
dently so I could hear her, said, "He has no business
messing with politics why dont he give his attention
to saving sinners." The other one differed with her.
She said, "This is a great contest. It means a fight
against saloons, and I dont see how any preacher can
DEMAND FOR MORAL MUSCLE 123
keep out of the fight" They got pretty warm, and I
laid back pretending to be asleep, but ready to take a
hand when the thing got too warm for them.
This is a moral contest. It is Christ against the devil.
Every saloon-keeper in the State is interested, and
every church member in the State is on trial before God
and man.
AFTER EVERYTHING.
85
But not only is the devil fighting for political power;
he is after everything. There is not an inch of ground
occupied by mortal mar that the devil dont contest. He
wants the business of the world. He is effecting all sorts
of combines and monopolies to make it hard for the peo
ple. He is after society. He wants to incorporate every
thing he can that will tend to deify the flesh. He wants
the church and he has his desire in many cases. There
is nothing that helps the devil half so much as a milk-and-
cider church. I believe if the devil would tell the truth
and you would ask him what to do with many of our
churches, he would say, "Give "em another coat of paint
and let em alone." And if you would ask him what to do with many of us preachers, he w.ould say, "Raise
their salaries, and let them go on essaying."
It is an awfully sad thing to see the devil and his gang
all lined up like a well-drilled army fighting for their
cause, and the church and preachers skulking through
the woods afraid to sneeze.
THE REMEDY.
86
But what is the remedy for all this? How is this fight
against sin and Satan to be carried to victory? The
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remedy is is the text: "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men."
WE NEED MEN.
87
Men with character.
The very best illustration of the force of character I
know was Job. The devil had taken his property, de
stroyed his children, afflicted hinx with sores and then
turned his wife against him. One day while lying upon
the ash-bank scraping himself with a potsherd, his wife
began taunting him with being nobody, and urged him
to curse God and die. Job couldnt stand this. He
arose and turned upon her and declared, "I am some
body. I have maintained my integrity my character."
Job, with no property, lying upon the ash-bank scraping
himself with a potsherd, was a multi-millionaire. Men
and women, hear me; your character is worth every thing. Without a character you had a thousand times
better be dead.
A POOR BOY/S GIFT.
88
Men with high ideals. I get tired of hearing so much
about impossibles. No great victory will ever be won
on any such platform. See, the flags are at half-mast
from the Hudson to the Great Lakes, and from the St.
Lawrence to the Alleghenies. What does it mean?
Why, Peter Cooper is dead. Who is Peter Cooper?
His story is like a romance. When a poor boy in New
York he worked for four years for $25.00 a year and board, while he learned the carriage-makers trade. He tried to find a night-school where he could educate
himself while he learned his trade, but could find none. In the midst of his discouragement he resolved, "When
DEMAND FOR MORAL MUSCLE. 125
I get to be a man Ill found an institution for the train
ing of poor boys and girls while they have to work for
their living." The people said it was an "air castle,
largely made of air." But was it? When Peter Cooper
was sixty years old he built the world-famous Cooper
Union, at a cost of seven hundred thousand dollars, and
gave it to the city for the purpose of conducting a great
free polytechnic school for the toiling boys of New
York. After this he endowed the institution with more
than $2,000,000. Peter Cooper was not a dreamer; he
was a man with high ideals. He believed in doing big
things. Difficulties with him were only stepping-stones
on which to walk to the cherished goal. My hearers,
this is the kind of men our cause needs to-day.
STICKING TO IT.
89
Men of persistence. Men who, after determining their
course, never give up until they win. Jesus is our best
teacher with respect to this truth. In a parable He pre
sents the picture of a man who has retired. A friend
comes for lodging. The man says, "Im in bed, I cant
let you in." But the friend continues to knock. Finally,
he arises and lets him in, not because he is his friend,
"but because of his importunity."
The old adage, "All things come to the man who
waits," is a lie. The man who waits gets left. Marcus
Norton ran for Governor of Massachusetts sixteen times.
Finally, the people elected him to get rid of him. What
a comfort this must be to some of our aspirants, who
run for everything in sight and out of sight. It takes
persistence. The man who waits for luck will get stuck. An old farmer lay dying, and called his three indolent
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boys to his bedside and said, "My boys, a rich treasure lies hid in the estate which I am about to leave." "Where is it hid?" asked the three boys. "I am now about to tell you," gasped the dying man. "You will have to dig for it" but here his spirit departed. The boys could hardly wait for the old man to be put away. They turned over every rock and dug up every foot of land they never found the treasure, but every one learned to work, which was better.
Oh, young people, a great treasure lies hid in your estate, but you must dig for it. I want to see the Christ ians of this country do some mighty digging now.
THE FIGHT TO A FINISH.
OX>
Men of unselfish courage.
Selfishness and courage never go together. True
courage must always be unselfish. Tradition says that
when Solomon received the vase of emerald from the
Queen of Sheba, he filled it with an elixir which he
alone knew how to prepare, one drop of which would
prolong life indefinitely. A dying criminal desired
some, but was refused because of his crimes. A good
man desired some, but was refused, as the king did not
wish to open the vase for only a single drop. When the
king became ill and bade his servants bring the vase, he
found the contents had all evaporated. Such is the legit
imate end of a narrow, selfish, bigoted life.
God give us men to-day who have the courage to lay
down their rights and their likes for the rights and likes
of others more needy than themselves. This is the only
remedy for the ills of our world. It is following Christ
to the death. Human society can never be redeemed
DEMAND FOR MORAL MUSCLE. 127
without its Calvary. The sin and misery of the world can be lifted by no other power than the power of per sonal sacrifice.
GIVING SELF.
QI
There is an old Roman tradition which has stirred
my soul. In the forum in ancient Rome, so the legend
goes, there yawned a deep and dangerous chasm that
had swallowed up some of the best of Romes men and
women. The people had prayed over the awful chasm
and had begged the gods to close it up. They had
poured thousands and thousands of tons of dirt into it,
and had hurled thousands of huge stones into the yawn
ing hole, but still it remained open. Finally an oracle
was consulted, and she said that when Rome cast in that
which she held most dear, the chasm would close. Men
then poured in their money. Women poured in their
costly jewels and beautiful robes; but still, like the
mouth of hell, the chasm yawned and cried for more.
Finally, young Curtius mounted a prancing steed, and
came riding towards the chasm. Rising in his stirrups
and lifting his hand, he shouted, "Unless the spirit of old
Rome is dead, she holds her brave sons dearer than all
the money and jewels of the world." Then with a shout
of victory, he spurred his steed and leaped into the open
jaws of the chasm of death. And as men and women
stood with glaring eyes and bated breath, they saw the
dreaded chasm close above the daring rider and his noble
steed.
Oh, comrades of the cross, let us learn the lesson to
day. Before us is the awful chasm of sin. It is made up
of skepticism, simple unbelief, infidelity and heathenism.
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Even at our own doors we can easily see it. Its yawning mouth presents to-day the most fearful picture that the mortal eye can behold this side of hell. Into this chasm of destruction are falling thousands and thousands of our brightest citizens. Boys and girls alike are snatched from.their mothers bosom and lost forever in the abyss of sin. What shall be done? Are we to sit still? Is there nothing that can be done ? Must we give up in de feat and acknowledge ourselves overpowered? Nay, there is something that can be done. Gilead has her balm. This mighty chasm can be closed. But how? One says that it is by educating the rising generation. Another that the world must be Christianized. Still an other calls for money to endow institutions and build orphan asylums, and otherwise care for its baneful effects. These things are all right in themselves, but what of the situation at present? Shall the home go on suffering? Shall the dear wife continue to weep? Shall that sad spectacle, a reeling, staggering, stam mering, drunken father, continue to haunt the house? Shall the thousands of pantries now vacant continue to remain so, and the hungry mouths of children continue to remain unsupplied? Ah, worse than all this, shall the saloon continue to enrich its coffers and hell pack its chambers ? God forbid! Something else must be done. We cannot wait. Victory is at our door. Let the spirit of the proud knight of Rome come upon us. Yea man, may the spirit of Christ come on us. Let our sons, in whose hands the destiny of every legalized traffic rests; let us fellow-citizens and Christians, lift our heads and open our mouths and shout the note of victory, while we give ourselves in the great struggle now before us.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE QUESTION OF HEREDITY.
"Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
and upon the childrens children, unto the third and
fourth generation." Ex. 347.
There is very little attention given to this subject, and
yet it is one of the greatest questions of the day. During
my short experience as a practitioner of medicine I was
ever interested in studying heredity. And while I am
frank to confess that I know very little about it, yet I
trust by what I have observed I shall be able to put you
to thinking for yourselves.
According to this law parents are held accountable for
the inheritance of their children. This is true:
PARENTS RESPONSIBILITY.
92
First Physically. This statement would be accepted
without proof, and yet, in order that we may be more
thoroughly impressed with it and better able to apply
it, I want to present to you the opinion of one who, as a
medical thinker and writer, in my judgment, has not had
a peer in all this century Sir Morrell McKenzie. Just
before his death, in an address before a body of scien
tists, he said: "Whether there be anything in evolution
or not I am satisfied there is much in involution. The
human family is weakening; it is losing its power of
original thought and physical endurance. And if the
present state of affairs continues, and that at the present
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rapid rate, no man will be able to approximate the future
history of the human family. And," continues Mr. Mc-
Kenzie, "this sad state of affairs is largely to be ac counted for by what is known as the law of heredity."
Now, if this opinion, as expressed by Mr. McKenzie, is true, we are naturally to conclude that we are not only accountable to God for the care of the physical man so far as we are concerned, but that we are accountable to our children also for the physical natures we give them. In other words we are to so obey the laws of nature as to be able net only to enjoy good health ourselves, but by such obedience to these laws we will be able to transmit to our children healthy and well rounded physical na tures. But the question which comes to us as we think of this is,
HOW CAN IT BE DONE
93
without a complete knowledge of the laws of health?
This is a weighty question, but I think I can settle it. It
is not necessary that we all be doctors of medicine.
True, if we had a thorough and complete knowledge of
the science of life and the laws of health, so much the
better. But such a course would be impractical and un
necessary. There is one thing which we all can do; we
can give our children an elementary knowledge along
this important line. I am glad that the public schools of
our country are forced to give instruction in physical
science, and while the knowledge on the part of the teacher, in many instances, is exceedingly shallow, still there is enough to stimulate the child. And this little nucleus which he gets here he can and will build to as the years advance upon him, and as the necessity is felt
THE QUESTION OF HEREDITY. 131
by him. And I want to say here to parents who desire
to study with me this subject, see to it that your children
neglect not this very important part of their education.
Encourage them in every possible way and thus you will
be helping them lay the foundation for a much happier, a much longer and a much more useful life. And I will
say also in this connection that teachers owe it to their
pupils, and the pupils have a right to demand it of their
teachers, that they prepare themselves for this great
work.
HOW IT AFFECTS US.
94
But we must go back to our principle and see how this
thing we call heredity affects us and our children after
us. First let us take a purely mercenary view of the
matter. The other day a poor man, who had an interest
ing and promising little family about him, decided to
take some life insurance. This was a wise thing to do. Every man, especially a poor man, ought to take some
life insurance. This man applied to a good company, ob
tained his application and then went to the physician to be examined. He was soon told he could not pass, ow
ing to an inherited taint of disease which was objection
able to the company. Some day that man will die; it may be soon. The wife and those promising children,
who are now so dear to him, will be left without a thing to go upon, and it may be to suffer for the ordinary
comforts of life. Now I ask you, who is responsible
for this? Not the woman and the little ones. Not the
father who ha1! tried to provide for them. But upon his
parents shoulders rests the blame.
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CRUSHED HOPES.
95
Again, I have a case in mind which came under my
own observation. Once I was examining- surgeon of a
committee to admit candidates into West Point. Four
teen young men had applied and the brightest and most
promising boy in the company was a poor young man,
who had prepared himself by study at night, his parents
not being able to send him to school. His literary ex
amination was almost perfect. When I came to make
the physical examination, however, I found him with
what is known in surgery as "Hutchinsons teeth." I
said promptly, "Young man, you cant pass." I shall
never forget how surprised he was. He went away cry
ing, with his hopes crushed. I have heard from him
since, and I am sorry to relate that he was made a
wreck, doubtless all brought about by having his early
prospects blighted. Who now is responsible for this
boys failure? Ah, his father, doubtless had thought
that his tracks had been covered, but not so. His son
had exposed a shameful secret. Oh, young men, you
are to be the fathers of the rising generation. "Be sure
your sins will find you out."
Suppose now we leave this part of our subject and
look at it from the standpoint of life and health.
Here is a man who, early in life, was dissipated,
drank whisky or beer and stayed up at night until, as a
result, he has Brights disease. The liver is almost de
stroyed, the functions of the kidneys gone, and he, a
poor dropsical wreck, pays the penalty in death. Do you
think his responsibility ended in his own murder?
Would to God it did. But look at those children, pale
THE QUESTION OF HEREDITY. 133
and waxy in appearance; see their sluggish walk, their
stupid look. Continue to follow them in life. Their
eyes begin to puff, their feet begin to swell. Consult
the doctor who is attending them; listen at his diagnosis
"Brights disease." Ah, I ask you, who is responsible
for this premature death and suffering? Do you say,
"Work of Providence?" Never. Providence had noth
ing to do with their death, only to suffer it to be so.
A MOTHERS FOLLY.
96
Again, I submit another case along this line, for I
want to be thoroughly practical. What do you think
of that young lady who, it may be early in life, was fond
of social dissipation? Late at night she would leave the
warm fireside of her fathers home and goes out through
the cold and snow, holding to the arm of a youngster,
who knows nothing nor cares anything about protecting
her health. She goes to what the aesthetic world calls a
social hop. She dances, gets warm, the pores of her skin
open. Sometime during the early morning hours she
comes home through the cold, her neck is exposed, and
in most cases a good deal of chest as well. On her feet
are thin white slippers. She gets home, goes to bed and
is so nervous she cant well sleep. Next day about noon
she gets up, comes down and eats breakfast. Week
after week, month after month, and year after year this
.folly is her chiefest joy and highest ambition. After
awhile she reaches womanhood, when her hopes and as
pirations should be the highest and brightest. But a
slight cough is observed; family and friends grow anx
ious ; a physician is called; his microscope is applied and
tuberculosis is detected. It is not long before the mon-
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ster, consumption, has finished his work of death, and the fair, frivolous girl of eighteen is gone. But sad as all this is, does it end all? Would to God it did. But there is her child a bright, promising boy, with, red and rosy cheeks and bright, sparkling eyes. Watch that boy on lifes journey. See him as he enters young man hood and steps out upon the mount of hope and spies the future which spreads out before him like a pano rama with its beautiful valleys, waving with ripening grain, intersected by rippling streams, and surrounded by towering mountain peaks, where the sunlight of hope never ceases to shine. Yes, like Moses, he stands upon the mountain and views the Land of Promise. But, alas, it is only a vision. The germ of death inherited from his mother has come along and laid his merciless hand upon the promising boy, with her he must pay the penalty of her folly. Do you say poor boy? I ask you what is to become of the responsibility of that mother, who, by her own conduct brought about this premature death?
Ah, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, who are to be the fathers and mothers of generations yet unborn, will you not listen to me? This is a truth. I can only
stand on the shore, while out before us rolls the mighty ocean of truth, in which you may dive and search for a lifetime, and yet never be able to fathom its mighty depths.
MORAL NATURES.
CfJ
Second Not only are we accountable for the physi
cal inheritance of our children, but for their moral na
tures as well. Now I am aware that many scientists
THE QUESTION OF HEREDITY. 135
deny this, but according to the testimony which I regard as best, as well as my own observation in life, I am con
vinced that this is true. At a conference of scientists in
France, some years ago, the following was agreed upon: "The brain of man is so wonderfully constructed that
it indelibly stamps upon its surface every thought of
life, this is going on at as rapid a rate as we can think.
Hence the minute anatomical formation of the brain cells are undergoing continually a permanent change,
and this change in turn is given to our children as a part of their anatomical inheritance and helps to guide and direct their mental and moral conduct."
Now, this being true, we can very easily understand
why certain marks of character are seen in families for
generation after generation. And we see also that as it
was with the physical so it is with the moral; we are
not only accountable to God for our moral conduct so
far as it may affect us, but also as it may affect our
children.
HIS GRANDFATHER A DRUNKARD.
98
In order that we may appreciate the importance of
the application of this principle, I want to submit some
examples illustrative of its importance.
Some years ago I was talking with a good man about
the evil of the whisky habit. He said to me that he had
an almost uncontrollable desire for strong drink. Every
time he passed a saloon he wanted to go in and get a
drink. "And yet," said he, "I have never touched a
drop." "Well," said I, "where did you get that desire?"
"Got it from the devil," said he; "where else do you
reckon I got it?" "Why," said I, "brother, you may
136
OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
have inherited it." "Well," said he "I had not thought of that before." And then he went back a little in his history, and we found that his father made it and drank
it when he wanted it, and that his grandfather was a noted drunkard and died with delirium tremens. Now I do not say that every case of drunkenness is traceable to this cause, and neither is this cause an excuse for drunkenness, and yet if the truth could be known much of this terribly degrading, soul-crushing habit would fall upon the shoulders of the parents of the present gen
eration. This is one strong reason why we need prohi bition. We want to protect the man with inherited weakness.
KLEPTOMANIA.
Of)
Not only is this true of inherited desire for whisky,
but equally true of other dispositions and tendencies. I
was talking with a gentleman the other day about this subject and said he, "I know in this city a genuine klep tomaniac." "Pshaw," said I, "you mean a klepto-
roguishac." "No," said he, "I am not fooling about it.
She cannot help stealing. The other day she went into a store in this city and picked up a gold bracelet and carried it home, and the merchant saw her and went to her father about it, and he said it was kleptomania and that he was going to send her to an asylum for tieatment." As soon as he had finished I could not refrain from giving him my idea of kleptomania, and while it is not exactly in keeping with my subject, yet I feel con
strained to give it to you. This thing of inherited ro-
guishness or kleptomania, as it is called in the so-called "high social circle," is rapidly increasing, and some
THE QUESTION OF HEREDITY. 137
steps should be taken to stop it. It is nothing but theft dressed up in fine clothes. It is science trying to cover depravity. If a society girl steals a gold watch or a pair of fine bracelets and it is found out, the world says, "kleptomania." But if a poor, starving woman, with a house full of children, takes a piece of meat to keep them from perishing, or a blanket to keep them from freezing, the world says, "thief," and the officers land her in jail, while the society girl goes free because of inherited dis position to steal! Before we separated, my friend, who was acquainted with this girls history, related to me these facts: Her mother, grandmother and great-grand mother were guilty of this same crime. It was common talk that her mother could not be trusted in a store.
Now, if I could go into our prisons and get at the facts in each case, God only knows how much crime would fall upon parents, many of them to-day are dead. This is one great argument for a reformatory for young criminals, and it is to be hoped that the day is not far distant when each state, in connection with the prison, will establish well regulated houses of correction.
It also follows that children inherit from their parnets other dispositions, such as lying, cheating, defraud ing, and, in fact, all the dispositions to evil. Is not this an awful responsibility? Can you afford to meet it at the judgment? Rest assured, at the judgment it will all out. How does it stand with you? Can you look back over your own life, your own character, and read "your title clear?"
Ah, young man, you may. go along in that wild oat sowing, enjoying what you call pleasure; but I want to
138 OLD .WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
impress upon you that after awhile there will, perhaps,
be born unto you one in whom your whole heart will be
centered, and for whom you will give your very life.
Oh, I beg you, as you will love your offspring, be care
ful how you live. It is possible for you to leave the vile,
slimy germs of decay forever with your child.
LITTLE FLAWS.
IOO
I have read of a sculptor who for seven years had
been trying to carve out of a piece of marble the statue of
some king. He had completed the work with the ex
ception of some delicate touches about the eyes. Great
crowds of specialists had come and looked on this won
derful piece of art. His name had been heralded abroad
as being the finest sculptor of the age. But as he was
putting on the finishing touch his chisel slightly slipped,
and destroyed one of the eyes. The whole figure was
ruined. Mothers and fathers, young men and young
women, you who are to bring into existence the children
of the next generation, let me impress upon you that
you are carving statues, not upon stone, but unconscious
ly carving the characters of the worlds men and women.
Let me warn you to be careful how you let the chisel of
life slip, lest in one single solitary mistake you may
wreck and ruin what might otherwise have been.a glo
rious character. May God help you! If there has been
anything said in this connection which will put you to
thinking as young men and young women, or as parents
of the present generation I am satisfied.
CHAPTER XV.
THE LAW OF SINS REWARD.
"The way of the transgressor is hard." Prov. 13.15.
LAWS OF SIN.
IOI
I want to study with you to-night, dear friends, the
subject of sin and the laws that govern it. We make
a great mistake when we fail to realize the fact that sin
has just as definite laws controlling it as anything else.
We are perfectly carried away at this day and time with the idea of law natural law, spiritual law, physical law, and moral law. It is a day of law. We love to think of all the laws that govern electricity. There was just as much electricity in the garden of Eden, when Adam and
Eve walked up and down its beautiful flower gardens and basked in the light of Gods love, as there is to-day, and yet, for thousands and thousands of years the world was in utter ignorance of this mighty fact. Until man became inspired, as it were, with the ability to compre
hend the laws that govern this force it was practically useless. We love to think of the laws that govern steam, which by proper comprehension men set to the
turning of the mighty mass of machinery which turns the world. And yet we may remember for hundreds of years
steam was practically useless. Man had not appreciated
the fact that there were definite fixed laws that govern steam. And so with all physical force, there are always laws that govern it
140 OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
Now sin has as definite laws as anything else. It is my purpose to discuss with you, as best I can, some of the laws that govern sin. As we shall discuss and look into these laws that govern sin, I think we shall appre ciate the matter of dealing with sin.
WHAT IS SIN?
IO2
There are those who would have us believe that sin is
a mere infirmity, a mere weakness. The Apostle John
gives us a good definition of sin: "Sin is a transgression
of the law." The moment I transgress the law of God
I am a sinner. And then the Apostle John gives another
definition of sin when he states: "All unrighteousness is
sin." That is to say, that act left undone becomes sin as
well as the act done. A man said to me sometime ago:
"I have not committed a sin for fifteen months." I am
sure he was wVong. I believe it comes of a wrong con
ception of sin. Grant we have not committed known sin
in the last fifteen months. When we have said that we
have not begun to touch the question of sin. I said to
this man, "Here is a man who stays in your store; has
been staying there two years and he sits by you every
day, boards at your home. He is akin to you by blood.
Have you ever spoken to that man about his souls sal
vation? Have you ever tried to lead him to Christ?
Have you ever knelt down by him and prayed for his
salvation? He told me you had never spoken to him
about his soul. When you speak of no sin you mean to
say you have not willingly transgressed a known law.
Dont you know you have failed to do for that man what
you ought to have done?"
It is a question that goes deep. It is a question that
THE LAW OF SINS REWARD.
141
goes down and shows up the very heart root of our na
ture. John 3:18 says, "Ye are condemned already because
ye have not believed." That is to say unbelief in Christ
is sin. The simple failure of a man to accept Christ is sin.
NOT A SINNER.
IOJ
I remember going down the aisle of one of the church
es in Norfolk, Va., to a beautifully dressed woman. I
had asked all who were Christians to stand. I said to
her, "I see you are not standing, I presume you are a sinner." "I hope you dont think I am a sinner." "Are you a Christian?" "Oh, no, but I want you to under
stand I am not a sinner." "If you are not a Christian, and you are not a sinner, what are you?" "I am a re spectable woman." "But in the sight of Almighty God you are a sinner."
It is not the overt sin that sends a man to hell, or some willful violation of a known law. Murder never sent anybody to hell. Drunkenness never sent ?nvbody to hell. Lying never sent anybody to hell. ArH s^caing never sent anybody to hell. It is the thing that 1es b?ck behind overt transgression. Jesus Christ said: "Ye are condemned already." Not because you have broken the
moral law, but because of unbelief. And, my brother, you may be the most upright moral man in the community and unless you accept Christ you are lost world without
end. Right by the side of the murderer, thief, liar, you go to the bottomless pit of hell.
WHEN IS MAN A SINNER?
IO4
Since that is sin, when does a man become a sinner?
142 OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
Some people say he becomes a sinner when he does his first known wrong; when he arrives at the age of ac countability and violates the law. Others would have us believe that a man becomes a sinner the moment he arrives at a period of personal responsibility, that is, when he passes from the state of irresponsibility to the state of responsibility he becomes a sinner. Let us see the Scriptural view of sin. Thank God I can stand with the Bible. Man is a sinner from the day he is born. David said: "I was born in sin." Born in sin; shapen in sin, conceived in sin. From the very day you became a soul you were in sin, and therefore need an atoning Christ to keep you from hell.
"You mean to say I am to be responsible for Adams devilment hi Eden?" A man came to me not long ago and asked: "Are you to be responsible for Adams fall?" "Yes, sir. You can understand when you look at it in the light of federal headship. If I plunge into disgrace that innocent boy nine years old, who has nothing in the world to do with my conduct, has to share the result of it. My son, who has nothing in the world to do with it, has to share the result of it. If I give up my job to play mumblepeg for three months, my credit gives out, and I cannot get a thing to eat, my body would get lean like me, all because of my federal headship. That reminds me of a mother I knew. She had a boy about nine or ten years of age. She brought him out and had him perform for me. This mother thought he was very bright, and so he was. The child was converted and wanted to join the church. When he told his mother what he wished to do, she said, "No, sir, you cannot join
THE LAW OF SINS REWARD.
143
the church because you are not old enough." The min
ute the child wanted to serve the Lord she had the big
gest idiot in town. Lets strive to undersand the nature of sin above anything in this world, and it will work out
for us a surprising result. Suppose the president of the
United States gets a crowd of Texas cowboys and goes
out to whip a nation. I lift my voice to prevent him from doing such a thing, but it dont make any difference, he
is determined to go to war. Suppose half the United
States goes around protesting and we are licked, our pro testations would do us no good. While in England this
summer I found that not half of the English people are
in favor of the war in Africa. Yet their sons have to go to war and be killed because of federal headship. It is in keeping with natural law that you have to suffer the result
of your forefathers sin in Eden.
SOME RESULTS OF SIN.
lOJ
Let us consider some of the results of sin upon the
human mind. I had an experience of it the other day
which I shall never forget A young fellow, who had been a prominent lawyer in Tennessee, boarded the train
as I was coming home. He was in charge of a police
man who was carrying him to an asylum. I asked what
was the cause of his insanity. The policeman replied:
"The doctors say that it as from smoking cigarettes." We
went about three or four stations from there when a man
brought a woman into the coach whom he was guarding
closely. She likewise was insane. It seemed that we had
a regular day for lunatics. I also asked why she was insane. I cannot repeat the story, but it was a story cf
straight-out sin. Do you know why it is so hard to agree
144 OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
as to whether a thing is right or wrong? You might start out and ask men if they thought a certain thing was wrong. One would say, I think it is right. Another would say, I think it is wrong. And still another would say, I think it is "sorter right." Why is all this differ ence about moral questions? It is because of sin. I heard of a little country boy, his pants too short, his coat cut too soon, and his hat run to seed. As he went down the street he saw a canary bird a man had for sale. This young fellow walked up and said: "What do you ask for him?" "Three dollars," was the reply. "Lord Almighty! he hasnt got three cents worth of meat on himl" said the boy. He was simply judging a canary bird by his idea of bird meat.
PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF SIN.
106
We will take another view of sin. The effect of sin
upon a mans body. You look at this for a moment You
are as afraid of disease as you can be. I tell you there
is a disease that is universal. It has done more to damn
men than all the epidemics and plagues that ever came
to this old world. Take a few types. Look at those little
tallow-faced children. Whats the matter? The poor
little things have the dropsy. That is simply a doctors
term to cover up a lot of ignorance. Their father died
of Brights disease. On down for five or six generations
that means Brights disease. You are wrecking and ruin
ing the bodies of those who will look up in your face
ar.d call you father. I had a man come to see me once,
just after I had spoken along this line and say, "Look
here, I dont want you to ever talk that way again. My
child seems to come in and step on my very heart and
THE LAW OF SINS REWARD.
145
charge me with his own frail body." And it was true. Long ago that mans child had died and his spirit gone on to heaven.
SIN AND CONSCIENCE.
IOJ
But my friends, look at another line, the effect of sin
on a mans conscience. Surely there is not a man who
wont agree with me that this is awful. The effect of sin
upon a mans conscience! What is that which wont let
you sleep at night? Oh, you say, it is insomnia. That
might be true. What is that thing that wont let you
think ? Nine times out of ten it is the effect of sin upon
consciences. Let me give you this experience. One night
I preached on hell. During the course of the sermon I
took occasion to say a few things about memory in hell.
That night as I approached the house where I was staying
I saw a man sitting on the porch. He was talking to the
lady with whom I was staying and I observed he was
crying. I went in and sat down. In a few minutes she
came in and asked me to come out and talk to this young
man. He put his arm around my neck and said, "I want
you to pray for me. You said to-night there are men in
this house who, if they do not come out from a life of sin,
will disgrace themselves and the community, and all those
dear to them. I have a wife and children. If something
dont take place I dont know what is to become of me."
The next day before the afternoon service I was up in
my room studying. Some one knocked. I went to the
door. It was my hostess. "I wish you would come down
stairs. Something has got to be done. That fellow is
about to go crazy." I went down just in time to see this
good woman take a pistol out of his pocket. He sat down
146 OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
and began crying like his heart would break. And he said: "I am in a bad shape. I have been gambling. I am ruined." "You need not say more," I said. "Let God into your heart." He then said something like this: "A certain woman in this town taught me to play cards. I came to be an expert, and then began playing poker. Now this is the outcome." Oh, friends, hear me. Sin will curse you if you dont forsake it. Its too late when it has gotten in its work. You can stop to-day. Listen, oh, listen to me! I am your friend. Dont let the devil fool you any longer, man. "The way of the transgressor is hard." Nothing more sure than that in this world. Why had this boy not waked up before? He had not been convicted of sin. Oh, if the Lord should come upon this town in mighty conviction you would be surprised. Oh, the effect of sin! Do you have cards in your house ? Let me tell you what is the fact I had rather be in the mid dle of the Atlantic with a millstone around my neck, be ing dragged to whaledom, than to have some gambler point to me and say, "He taught me to play cards." If anybodys daughter had ever taught me to play cards, I would have gone to the devil. Thank God, nobodys daughter ever thought enough of me to teach me to play cards. Your daughter may be just fanning the fire every time she shuffles the cards, until after awhile the flame will burst out, and your daughter will be held responsible for it Oh, "The way of the transgressor is hard."
But blessed be God, there is a remedy for all this state of things. Jesus Christ, my friend, will save you. Jesus Christ will cleanse your heart and give you ease of con science. You can find no remedy elsewhere. Come to him to-night and take Him as Saviour and Lord.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE IMMORTAL BEST.
"She hath done what she could." Mark 14:3-8. Bethany is a very interesting little city to the students of our Lords life. It was here that we find Him placing such a premium on heart devotion. Jesus ha.d come into the home of Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Mar tha. He had come there to dine. Mary and Martha re ceived him into their home. I know the impression is that Martha alone did the receiving, but such is not the case. The word also disproves this notion; Martha received Him into her house and she had a sister called Mary who also sat at Jesus feet. The word also evidently connects what Mary was doing at the time with what had just been done. Jesus had been received. Mary and Martha re ceived Him, and Mary also sat at His feet. In addition to her receiving, Mary sat at Jesus feet. Martha com plained of this. She was over anxious about the reception. Jesus rebuked her not for her receiving, but for her over anxiety which she might have lost had she also sat at Jesus feet. What a beautiful tribute to devotion this is. There is nothing so much needed to-day as this lesson. Work is not killing so many. It is friction that brings us to pre mature graves. Friction in business, in domestic life, in religion. Oh, the worry! What is needed to meet it?
148
OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
Sit down at the feet of Jesus. In addition to myriads of cares, also sit at Jesus feet.
A STRICKEN HOME.
IO8
Again, it is at Bethany we get a glimpse of the stricken
home. Lazarus is sick and Mary and Martha dispatch a
message to Jesus, "Lord he whom thou lovest is sick."
How perfectly natural it is for us to turn to Jesus when
we are in trouble. I remember a man whose little boy
was very sick. The doctors had said he could not live.
The father was not a Christian. I called during the day
and the poor heart-crushed man met me at the door and
asked me to pray for his little boy. While we were at
prayer he said, "Oh, I wish I could pray." Yes, he was in
the midst of the greatest sorrow of his life. His heart
was breaking and he naturally turned to Jesus. Let us
not wait for the trials to drive us to Jesus. Let us go to
Him when the heart is bright and happy. It will not
then be so hard to reach Him when the trials come.
Now it is also from Bethany that we get the magnifi
cent lesson of to-day. A great change has come over
this home since we last looked upon it. Lazarus has died
and been raised again. The whole country is in the midst
of a blazing sensation. Everybody is talking. Perhaps
never was such gossip known. Everybody was ready to
ask, "Have you heard the news?" Oh, such a time in
Bethany! We cant imagine how the country was stirred
by such a marvel. No wonder such throngs crowded
about Jesus that he could not find time to rest.
A FEAST OF LOVE.
IOO,
We want now to come more directly to our text. A
big feast has been prepared in the house of Simon the
THE IMMORTAL BEST.
149
leper. It was a feast given by the family of Lazarus, as we learn from John. A number of persons were present
including Jesus and his disciples. It was a good time for a feast. Lazarus had been raised from the dead. The dark cloud of the last few days which hung so heavily over them had been driven away. How happy their hearts. Have you been so long beneath the cloud and suddenly seen the light stream in? Has some loved one lingered between life and death, and suddenly you have seen the shadow of the monster death give place to the light of life? Then it is a good time to feast with Jesus.
As they are enjoying the blessed occasion, in comes a woman. John tells us it is Mary. She bears in her hands an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, worth in mon
ey about $400.00, which was then of much more purchas ing power than with us. Without any ado about it she
walks up to the Master and breaks the neck of the flask and pours this precious ointment on His head.
DOING OUR BEST.
IIO
How pathetic the scene! It was only such as could
come from a warm, loving, tender-hearted woman. It
came first from her gratitude. Her brother had been
raised from the dead. Jesus is her best friend. How fit
ting this token of love! Lord Tennyson has beautifully
caught the impulse and put it in verse:
"Her eyes are homes of silent prayer, Nor other thought her mind admits
But, He was dead, and there he sits, And he that brought him back is there.
ISO
OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
"Then one deep love doth supersede All other when her ardent gaze
Roves from the living brothers face And rested upon the Life indeed.
"All subtle thought, all curious fears, Borne down by gladness so complete,
She bows, she bathes the Saviours feet, With costly spikenard and with tears."
Then too she came to annoint Him for His burial.
Jesus said this Himself. Mary who had been so much at
His feet had caught a glimpse which not even His discip
les had seen. She saw the grave and wished to sweeten
it with her love. But Judas, backed by others, objected.
It is a pity to have marred so beautiful a service by such
a miserable, mercenary spirit. Poor Mary, it must have
wounded her heart. She felt so happy. She loved so
truly, she enjoyed the seeming sacrifice. Why should any
body object? Thank God, however, for the objection. It
afforded Jesus the opportunity of giving us this memorial
text: "She hath done what she could."
Glorious tribute! It was Jesus who paid it "She hath
done what she could."
This is the sentiment I wish us all to face have we
done what we could? Let us run through the various
fines of duty.
HEART BREAKING FOR JESUS.
Ill
Have we done what we could? Have we done what we
could to know about Jesus? Thank God the world is
placing more and more emphasis on Jesus. From the
THE IMMORTAL BEST.
151
child up, there is .a thirst for knowledge concerning Him.
While attending the great Keswick Convention of Christian Workers in England I heard a missionary from India relate this little story: "One day I was visiting through the famine stricken district, and found a poor, naked, and almost starved mother. By her side lay an infant which had starved to death. It was her only child. She had endeavored to nurse it but had failed. There was nothing else that could be obtained for the child to subsist on, so, looking into its mothers face, it had to die for lack of food." "How terrible," she said, "to im agine a mother holding in her arms a hungry, starving child, not old enough to understand why the supply was exhausted, looking pleadingly into the mothers face and crying for food and nothing could be given. I looked at this mother and observed her conduct without letting her know of my presence. I saw that she was absorbed in some deep, anxious thought. She had her hands clutched together and her face half turned to the sky. When I made myself know to her she said, Oh, you are one of the Jesus women, arnt you? And I said, *Yes, that is my business. Then without waiting to give me an op portunity to say a word, she said, Oh, please tell me how I may find Jesus."
Our hearts are touched by such a story. How would we feel if the curtain could be withdrawn and we could behold the millions of earth that are today in one way or .another reaching out to find this Jesus. There are those here at home, where the atmosphere is charged with the blessed influence of Christ, ignorant. Like Philip, Christ
152 OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
could say to us, "Have I been so long time with thee, and
yet hast thou not known me ?" Oh, the fullness of Christ!
How many of His marvelous virtues and graces we have
never realized"! How many of us have gone with a dag
ger in our hearts while He stands ready to extract it!
How many of us have had the tears from our eyes plow
great furrows in our cheeks, while He has stood by to
brush them away! Oh, Jesus, Jesus, Thou Son of God,
our blessed Lord and Master, help us in our ignorance,
lead us in the right school of knowledge that we may learn
of Thee!
THE RIGHT PLACE.
113
Again, have we done what we could to find the right
place? It is hard for us to be convinced that we have any
place. The devil leads us to suppose that the place is well
filled. But how deceived! There is not one of us but
could find unused opportunities in our lives if we would
apply the straight-edge of this text. Rev. G. Campbell
Morgan relates this experience: "Some years ago, at
home, a woman came to me at the close of the Sunday
morning service, and said: Oh, I would give anything
to be in this work actively and actually. I would give
anything to have some living part in the work that is
going on here next week in winning men and women to
Christ, but I dont know what to do. " I said: "My sis
ter, are you prepared to give the Master the five loaves
and two fishesyou possess?" She said: "I dont know
that I have five loaves and two fishes." I said: "Have
you anything you have used in any way specially ?" No,
she didnt think she had. "Well," I said, "Can you sing?"
"Yes, I sing at home, and I have sung before now in an
THE IMMORTAL BEST.
153
entertainment." "Well, now," I said, "let us put our hands on that. Will you give the Lord your voice for the next ten days?" "I will." I shall never forget that Sunday evening. I asked her to sing, and she sang. She sang the gospel message with the voice she had, feeling that it was a poor, worthless thing, and that night there came out of that meeting into the inquiry room, one man. That man said to me afterwards that it was the gospel that was sung which reached his heart; and from that day to this that is now eleven or twelve years ago that man has been one of the mightiest workers for God in that city and that country I have ever known. How was it done? A woman gave the Master what she had. Let this be an incentive to us today. All around are op portunities for development and work that are commen surate with our talents. There is not a talent-less man or woman in the world. God wants the talent used. What a world we would have if everybody even tried to do his best. Are your time and talent all taken? Could you possibly attend this meeting, or engage in that service? This is the way God examines His people.
God is going to have some surprises for many of us at the last day. In no sense does He sanction the wishywashy "do-as-you-please, I will if I like, and I wont if I dont" spirit of many of us here today.
Oh, soul, what is your place today? Can you sing? Is your place in the choir? How dare you sit there in the pew? This is Gods gift to you, and Gods opportunity for you. You dare not trifle with it. Are you an officer in the church ? This is a gift God has allowed. Dare not be an unfaithful, non-co-operating standard bearer for
154
OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
the Lord. You are needed in your place. God and hu manity desire all the thought, prayer, and co-operation you can possibly give to make the highest success.
THE INVESTMENT OF POSSESSION.
113
Have we done what we could with our possession?
God is not judge of our talents and time alone. He is
likewise the judge of that which we have. No Christian
man or woman is in business independent of God. They
are Gods stewards in all things. How carelessly most
of us treat our church obligations. We put the cause
of Christ aside until every other cause is attended to. Is
this right? Has God put stewardship on such a low plain
as this? God has put the gospel in our hands. What a
precious thing! The gospel of salvation has meant so
much to my own soul and life. Oh, how much it has
meant to me I This is my charge take it to the world.
How little this tremendous fact grips us. We cant all
take it in person. Some of us are spared the hardship of
going into dark and dangerous regions as gospel wit
nesses. This is a blessing we do not properly appreci
ate.
Our ability is not the sign of what we can do for Gods
cause it is strictly a thing of the heart. In the budget
of contributions received last Sunday for carrying sun
shine to the poor benighted souls in heathen darkness, was
fifteen dollars in cash. No name was signed. But in
looking up the matter we found that it was given by a
poor factory woman.
It is only a question as to how much our hearts are in
the cause for our Lord that cause which cost Him his
life.
THE IMMORTAL BEST.
155
Oh, redeemed souls, dont withhold Gods possession under the idea that you will do better in the future. Gods future is today. Your future may never come. How
beautiful the verse in James Russell Lowells Vision of Sir Launfal:
"Lo, it is I, be not afraid! In many dimes, without avail, Thou hast spent thy life for the Holy Grail; Behold, it is here, this cup which thou Didst fill at the streamlet for me but now; This crust is my body broken for thee, This water his blood that died on the tree; The Holy Supper is kept indeed, In whatso we share with anothers need; Not what we give, but what we share, For the gift without the giver is bare; Who gives himself with his alms, feeds three, Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me."
A "STONE FACE" LIFE.
114
Have we done our best with personal influence? Some
one has applied the story Hawthorne tells of "The Great
Stone Face," to the force of influence. It is applied in
the following way: "Upon the side of a certain moun
tain, overlooking a beautiful and fertile valley, there
was a gigantic boulder which bore an exact resemblance
to a human face a face of wonderful strength, benignity
and wisdom. And there was a tradition in the valley that
some day there would rise in that region the greatest man
156 OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES.
of his times, and that his features would be exactly like those of the Great Stone Face.
Many men who had gone out of the valley as children, and who had won fame and fortune in the world, came back to their childhoods home. First came a man of great wealth. Then a mighty warrior, who commanded the armies of his country, arrived. Then came a great statesman, who held the destinies of nations in his hands. And still another turned his feet homeward toward the valley a famous poet "From whose tongue words sweeter than honey flowed."
And upon the arrival of each of these distinguished sons of the valley, he would be met by the populace as he who fulfilled the prophecy; and with mighty acclaims they would, declare that his countenance was the exact image of the Great Stone Face.
There was an earnest, humble youth, who loved the face and who longed and prayed for the fulfillment of the prophecy, turned sadly away from each of these celebra tions, realizing that none of these men were good enough or wise enough to be likened to the Great Stone Face. The rich man they saw was selfish. The warrior lacked sympathy for his fellow-men. The statesman was devoid of high purpose, preferring to win rather than deserve success. And the poet, while his songs were beautiful, belied his songs with his life, which was sensual.
A CLEAN LIFE.
115
And so the lad continued to gaze upon the Great Stone
Face, to love it, to hope for the fulfillment of the prophecy.
Thus he grew to mans estate, living a pure, clean, upright
life, and doing many deeds of mercy, charity and love.
THE IMMORTAL BEST.
157
One evening while he was addressing the people of the valley, as was his wont, striving to do them good, a ray of light from the setting sun fell upon the benignant features of the Great Stone Face, and another upon the white hair and kindly countenance of the speaker. And in a moment
every eye saw that the two faces were exactly alike; and a great shout went up that "here the prophecy is ful filled."
Oh, mighty truth! Redeemed soul, thou art a light in the midst of the worlds darkness. Thou canst not live unto-thyself. Some eye is ever upon thee. When thou art absent somebody asks why ? In business, society, poli tics and religion, somebodys conduct is being shaped like thine own. Hast thou done thy best? Oh, our God! we must all stand convicted today. Help us in confessing our sins.
If Gods people will do what they can in all the walks of life there will soon not be a den of infamy in our midst and the light and life of Christ will flood the world. "Come up, come up, oh, ye people of God, and render to day your vows unto Him.
THE END.
INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS ACCORDING TO SUBJECT.
Numbers Refer Not to Pages, but Illustration Numbers.
Affliction bringing blessing 55
Aggressiveness
2
Alabaster vase, the
109
Anarchy
3
Angel of the house, the 55
Anointing by Mary
no
Assurance
24, 63
Assurance, the way of
25
Best, doing our
no
Best gifts, covet the
44
Bible, his mothers
67
Burdens
20
Call to reason
64
Catherine Booth
47
Change of lens
42
Character
87
Charity problem
6
Children suffer from par
ents sin
106
Christianity, applied _ 72
Christianity in entire life 70
Christianity, practical
6
Christian, for every
35
Christians motto, A
80
Christs death foretold
40
Church, an ambitious
45
Church, the successful
4
Churches contrasted, two 7
Cities, religious centers in
the Bible
9
Cities, the power of the 9
Confession
30
Contest, a moral
84
Conviction, old time
27
Correct diagnosis
59
Definiteness
50
Demands of God reasonable 27
Devil possessed daughter, A 58
Disciples apart, the
43
Disciples, glory of _ 53
Discouragement, mastering ol
Do something
a
Drifting! Starving!
75
Drifting, who are the
76
Drunkenness_ inherited
98
Eagle or chicken
32
Environment
71
Error, result of one
loo
Escape, a way of
50
Everything, after
85
Example, power of
74
Exclusive, it is
49
Expectations, great
16
Faith in Christ
29
Faith, Jesus tried her
62
Faith necessary, not compre
hension
64
Faithful in that which is
least
115
Fathers responsibility, a 65
Fight to a finish, The
90
Folly, a mothers
96
Formal church, a
82
Formalism
7
Gift, a boys
88
Giving self
91
i6o
INDEX.
Glory, their ultimate
S3
Gods demands
77
Government in the home 65
Grandfather a drunkard, his 98
Habit, the power of
66
Hawthornes story
114
Heart, a broken
57
Heart, a new
31
Heart breaking for Jesus in
Heredity and insurance 04
Home, a stricken
108
Hope, little
60
Hopes, crushed
95
How can it be done
93
How it affects us
How obtain
Humanitarianism
Ideal, Peter Coopers
88
Illustrations, plain
24
Influence of one man
67
Influence, the wealth of _ 67
Instruction in physical sci
ence
93
Jerry McAuley Mission 19
Jerry McAuley, statue of 46
Keeping, their
5P
Kingdom come, thy
52
Kings table, at the
69
Kleptomania
99
Law and order
3
Law of heredity
96
Light beyond
23
Little flaws
100
Life, a clean
115
Life, a "stone face"
114
Living below our privilege 69
Living water
30
Loss of Christ
20
Love, a feast of
109
Margaret of New Orleans 48
Masses, reach the
4
Men, we need
87
Ministering
48
Mission of her coming, the 56
Moral natures
97
Moral obtuseness
79
Mother, the anxious
44
Myopia and Hyperopia
42
Nature must change
32
Obedience, child
65
Object lessons
72
Opportunity
74
Optimism, great
16
Parents responsibility
92
Parents responsibility for
moral nature of child 97
Peace
22
Peace, but a sword, not
i
Pentecost
33
Perseverance, power of 89
Personal interest, lack of 78
Personal responsibility
77
Physical laws, results of
breaking
95
Pictures, two
17
Politics, running
84
Possession, the investment
of
113
Power, a church with
15
Power and inspiration
8
Power for home life
35
Power for service
8
Power, man making
18
Power, promise of
34
Prayer, the Lords
49
Prayer, the power of
14
Praying for disciples
49
Preparation, needed
10
Promotion, Law of
46
Prosperity and sorrow
54
Receive
39
Rejection of Gospel danger
ous
68
Remedy, the
86
Repentance, sure enough 28
Responsibility of Christians Revival dependent upon the
73
church, a
13
Revivals, former
27
Revival with discord, no 12
Riches and backsliding Right place, the
54
112
INDEX.
161
Salt and salvation
73
Salvation through Christ 29
Sanctification, real meaning 51
Sanctification, their
51
Satan repulsed
21
Satans army
85
Scriptures, search the
26
Secular, nothing
70
Seeking Jesus, a Hindoo
mother
ill
Selfishness
90
Sin and conscience
107
Sin, chasm of
91
Sin, effect of
107
Sin, force of
II
Sin, laws of
101
Sin, not infirmity
59
Sin, physical effects of 106
Sin, results of Adams
104
Sin, some results of
105
Sin, treatment of
59
Sin, warfare against
I
Sjn, what is
102
Sin without great crimes 103
Sinner, lost
68
Sinner, not a
103
Sinner, when is man a
104
Sins of omission
102
Sorrow drawing to God 54
Soul saving
82
Stewardship
113
Sticking to it
89
Stretching the Gospel net 61
Syrophenician woman, the 56
Take now
39
Teaching, unconscious
21
Temptation
21
Temptation, dallying with 79
Temptations not sin
83
Tenderness inherited
99
Test of faith
62
Thirst, not desire but
37
Tradition, a Roman
91
Transfiguration, after the 41
Transfiguration, before the 40
Trouble sends us to Jesus 108
Trust, life of
41
Two natures _ _
83
Unforgiving spirit
12, 80
Unification, their
52
Using her talent
112
Victory, victory
63
Where are we?
38
Work, an after
34
World and th soul, the 17
Worship, public
81
INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE TEXTS, NUMBERS, ETC.
Numbers Refer Not to Pages, but Illustration
Numbers.
Gen. 42: 38 Ex. 25 : 2
57 Psa. 31: 10 "3 Psa. 38: 3
106 105
Ex. 34: 7 Ex 34: 35 Lev. 26: 40-42
92 Psa. 42: i "5 Psa. 42: 2 28 Psa. 49: 6-8
43 37
Num. 24: 4
42 Psa. 62: 5
16
Deut. 4 : 29 Deut. 5 : 9. 10
in Psa. 63: 5, 6 92 Psa. 73 : 24
43
Deut. 6: 6, 7
26 Psa. 90:8
96
Deut. 6: 10-12
54 Psa. 103: 5
S2
Josh. 1 : 6
90 Psa. 112: i
78
2 Sam. 12: 14
95 Psa. 119: 165
20
I Kings ii : g 2 Kings 17 : 36
8719
Psa. 112: 7, 8 Psa. 122: 6
50 50
I Chron. 16: II I Chron. 16: 29
t9 Prov. i : 4 81 Prov. i: 8
93
2 Chron. 7 : 10
109 Prov. i : 31
916
2 Chron. 7: 14
14,28, 60 Prov. 3: 13
93
2 Chron. 19: 3
Prov. 4= 14, IS
2 Chron. 19: ii
00 Prov. 6: 20
65
2 Chron. 33: 12
60 Prov. 9 : 1-6
69
Ezra 10: 4
9 Prov. 10: 8
31
Neh. 4; 6
13 Prov. 13 : 20
7i
Neh. 6: 9
74 Prov. 19: ii
80
Esther 4: 16
91 Prov. 20: 7
87
Job 4: 8
95 Prov. 20: 9
103
Job 30: 16
54 Prov. 20: 27
107
Job 42: 5,6
27 Prov. 21 : 21
Psa. i: 1-3
78 Prov. 22: 6
DfiOfi
Psa. 4: 3
Prov. 23 : 18
16
Psa. 26 I
87 Prov. 29: 7
6
Psa. 27 4
56,8i Eccl. 2: ii
75
Psa. 28 7
109 Eccl. 7: ii, 12
94
164
Eccl. 7: 20 Eccl. 12: i Eccl. 12: 13 Isa. i: 18 Isa. 12: 2 Isa. 26: 3 Isa. 26: 9 Isa. 29: 13 Isa. 40: 31 Isa. 43: 26 Isa. 55: I Isa. 55: i. 2 Isa. 55: 6 Isa. 56: 7 Isa. 58: 1,6 Isa. 61: 10 Jer. 2: 19 Jer. 26: 13 Lam. 3: 33 Lam. 5: 7 Ezek. 33: 31 Ezek. 36: 26 Ezek. 36: 29 Ezek. 37: 23 Dan. 12: 3 Hos. 12: 6 Joel 2: 28 Amos 2: 4 Amos 3: 6 Amos 4: i Amos 5: 15 Amos 8: n Micah 3: 8 Micah 6: 2 Micah 6: 9 Hab. 2: 15-17 Zeph. 2: 3 Zech. 3: i Matt. 5: 13 Matt. 5: 13-16 Matt. 5: 16 Matt 5: 18 Matt. 5: 19 Matt. 6: 15 Mart. 6: 24 Matt. 6: 33
INDEX.
103 68 3
64 24 22
ss
7 32 64 37 69 68 14 84 109 79 74
o S7
98,99 7 31 19
i892
89 42
3 108 84 ii 37
8 64 1 08 84 in 85 73 67 44 3, lot
IOO
12
7%6
Matt. 10: 16
Matt. 13: 19
Matt. 13: 38
Matt. 14: IS
Matt. IS- 19
Matt. 15: 28
Matt. 16 21-23
Matt. 20: 26-28
Matt. 21 : 6
Matt. 25: 21
Matt. 25: 34-36
Matt. 25: 45
Matt. 28: 19
Mark S: IS
Mark 8: 36, 37
Mark 9: So
Mark 10 : 13
Mark 12:43
Mark 13: 33
Mark 16: 13
Luke 4: 18
Luke 8:35
Luke 9: 52
Luke 10: I
Luke 10 : 33-35
Luke 10 : 39
Luke 11:8 .
Luke 12: 2O, 21
Luke 12 21
Luke 12: 57
Luke 12: 48
Luke 16: 10
Luke 19: 26
Luke 19:41.42
Luke 21 : 36
Luke 22: 26
Luke 23: 34
John 3: 5
John 5:30
John 10: 16
John 10 : 17, 18
John 10: 28
John 12: 21
John 12: 35
John John
1143::
217
I 85
104 56 4g 46 9
112
1
17
73 61 no 86 4 4 19,38 10 10
t61
17 54
45
112
"3 9 75
34
24
4612
I2II3
68 58 39
INDEX.
John 15: 2 John 16: 8 John 17 : 9, 20, 21, 24 John 20 : 22 Acts 2 : i Acts 2: 4 Acts 2 : 38, 39 Acts 4: 31 Acts 5: 3 Acts 6: 10 Acts 9: 36-39 Acts 10: 43 Acts 1 1 : 16 Acts 13 : 52 Acts 20: 24 Rom. 2: 7 Rom. 2: 13 Rom. 2 : 14, 15 Rom. 5: 19 Rom. 6: 21 Rom. 7: IS, 19 Rom. 8: 16 Rom. 8 : 26 Rom. 10: 9, 10 Rom. 12: 9 Rom. 12: 19 Rom. 15: I Rom. 15: 13 Rom. 16: 3. 4
Cor. 3: 8 Cor. 9: 19-22 Cor. 10: 13 Cor. 10 : 31 Cor. 12: 13 Cor. is: 22 i Cor. 15 : S7 I Cor. 16: 13 2 Cor. 6: 17, 18 2 Cor. 7 : 10 2 Cor. 8: 12 2 Cor. 9 : 6, 7 2 Cor. 10 : 3-5 2 Cor. 12: 9 Gat. 2: 10 Gal. 3: it Gal. 3: 28
55 27
49 39 13
33 35 33 Sf 8 47 29 35 33 91 89 72
IOI
11800534
24 15 30 II 80 20 36 91
45 7i
21 70
35 104 63 83,86 Si 28 no "3
2
15,36
45i 52
Gal. 5 : 17 Gal. 6: 8 Eph. 2: 10 Eph. 3 : 12 Eph. 3: 16 Eph. 4= 3 Eph. 5 : 26, 27 Eph. 6: I Eph. 6: 4 Eph. 6 : 13 Eph. 6: 16 Eph. 6: 17 Phil. 3: 7, 8 Phil. 3: 17 Phil. 4: 7 Col. i : 10 Col. 3: 4 Col. 3 : 17 i Thess. 3 : 10 II Thess. 2: 3 i Tim. 4: 8 I Tim. 4 : 16 i Tim. 6: 12 i Tim. 6: 18 2 Tim. 1 : 12 2 Tim. 3 : 17 Titus 3 : 5, 6 Heb. 10 : 24 Heb. it : 26 Jas. i : 3 Jas. i : 21 Jas. i : 26 Jas. 2: 9 Jas. 2: 10 Jas. 2 : 13 Jas. 2: 14-18 Jas. 5: 17 Jas. 5: 20 i Pet. i : 6, 7
Pet. 2: 12 Pet, 3 : 13 Pet. 4: II Pet. 4: 10, II Pet. 5 : 10 Pet. 5 : 8 2 Pet. 2: 9
165
83 23
77 25
52 Si
i
21 36 20 114 22
88 S3 70 56 7.S 23 82
2
77 25 88
20 62 26
2727
100 12 72 56 82 62
44, 67 "4 26 70 S3 I 2r
i66
INDEX.
r John 3: 4
102 I John $: VJ
XA2
I John 4: 15
30 Rev. 2: 4
78
I John 5: 4
29,63 Rev. 3: I
7
I John 5: 13
24 Rev. 3: 13
9