While I was in the penitentiary it seemed that everything turned around

the other way with me; it seemed like I had got enough of it. I saw so

many bad men there, I got disgusted. It seemed to me if ever I got out

and got my liberty any more, I would try to do right if it took my head

off.

During the time--two years--that I was in the penitentiary, I kept up a

correspondence all the time with Mr. Holcombe; and Mr. Holcombe's

Christian letters touched my heart, and I made up my mind by the grace

of God I would lead a Christian life in the future. At the expiration of

about two years, Mr. Holcombe, to my great surprise and delight, brought

me a pardon from Governor Knott.

Since I have been out of the penitentiary I have been leading a

Christian life, and have had no inclination to steal. I have been at

work for Hegan Brothers, as engineer and fireman, for some time, have

got married to a sweet girl, and am now living happily in the Lord; and

I shall never cease to be grateful to God and Mr. Holcombe. I never go

to sleep at night without thanking the Lord--and my wife joins me in

it.

[Illustration: MAC. PITTMAN.]

CAPTAIN MAC PITTMAN.

I was born in Baltimore in 1834. My ancestors were driven away from

Arcadia by the English, on account of their Roman Catholic proclivities.

I was educated at two Catholic colleges, St. Mary's, at Baltimore; and

St. Mary's at Wilmington, Delaware. At eighteen years of age, on account

of the tyranny of my father, I ran away from home, and shipped in the

United States Navy as a common sailor. I went around to San Francisco,

and there joined "the gray-eyed man of destiny," General Walker.

I joined his expedition in September, 1885, and arrived in Nicaragua in

October, the following month--the third day of October. There was a

civil war then in progress in Nicaragua; and the pretense of this

expedition was that we were hired by one of the parties to take part in

it. Walker was to furnish three hundred Americans, who were to get one

hundred dollars a month and five hundred acres of land, and their

clothes and rations, of course. When I first arrived there, we were to

escort specie trains across the isthmus--there are but twelve miles of

land from water to water--from San Juan del Sur to Virgin Bay. I was one

of the guard over the celebrated State prisoners, General Coral and the

Secretary of War, whose name I forget, who were both executed. I was

inside of the seventieth man who joined this expedition; when I joined

him, Walker had but sixty men. The re-enforcements that came over

made just one hundred men. He had sixty men, I think, and we numbered

forty. With this one hundred men we took the city of Grenada, which had

a population of twelve thousand, on the morning of October 13, 1855. A

small division of men was sent to the town of Leon on the Pacific coast.

The natives of that section of the country were all in favor of Walker;

that part--the western part--is the Democratic part of the country. On

our return to Grenada, on the 11th day of April, 1856, we went into the

Battle of Rivas, after marching sixty-five miles. We fought from eight

o'clock in the morning until two the next morning, by the flash of guns.

I lost my arm that morning; and was promoted from the rank of sergeant

to that of first lieutenant for taking a cannon in advance of the army.

I returned to Grenada, and lay there for several months, and then

returned to America. I went back with the re-enforcements from New York

in the following August. In October, 1856, I resigned, and came back to

America.

At the breaking out of the civil war, on the first call for troops, I

refused a commission in the Federal army, and joined the Confederate

forces.

In 1861 we formed the First Maryland regiment. The last six months of

the war I spent as a prisoner in Fort Delaware, charged with the murder

of the eleven men who were killed in Baltimore during the riot, on the

19th of April, 1861. I was court-martialed in Washington City, in the

latter part of 1864, and was sent in irons to Fort Delaware, and

remained there until May, 1865, when I was released.

From Fort Delaware I went to New York, and from there went to Virginia,

where I married the great granddaughter of the illustrious patriot,

Patrick Henry, at Danville. In January, 1866, I migrated to Texas, where

I spent the little patrimony my grandfather had given me. When I left

there, I took the position of commercial and marine editor of the

Savannah _News_.

I never had given a thought to religion or my hereafter before this

time. To illustrate this: When they amputated my arm, they asked me

distinctly if I had any religion. They told me afterward they expected

me to die. I said: "Yes, I have been raised a Catholic." They wanted to

send for a priest. I said: "No, I do not want you to send for a priest."

They asked me why? "Well," I said, "as I have lived, thus will I die; I

don't have much faith in the hereafter business." I did not have much

faith in hell, I meant.

I was interested, directly and indirectly, in several gambling

establishments, and my proclivities were in that direction. The passion

of gambling controlled me to such an extent that I was capable of all

sins and crimes to indulge in it. It was one day up, one day down; one

day with plenty, another day without a cent.

I continued in this wild, reckless career, until fate turned my

footsteps toward the city of Louisville. For it was fate, sure enough,

or I don't know what it was. I was sitting one Sunday in front of the

old Willard Hotel, Steve Holcombe was preaching that Sunday on the

courthouse steps. His remarks were such as to elicit my closest

attention; so impressive were they that he seemed to picture before me a

panorama of my whole life, in referring to his own career. When he got

through with his sermon, I walked up to him, and said: "Mr. Holcombe,

you are the first man that I ever heard in my life who impressed me with

the importance of preparing for death and meeting God." I then commenced

attending the Mission, on Jefferson street, near Fifth, daily. I was

there nearly every day.

I then went South, to New Orleans, and fell from grace again--commenced

going through the same old routine--gambling, drinking, spreeing. In

fact, I was a fearful periodical spreer; if I took one drink, I had to

keep drinking for a month. As long as I kept away from it I was all

right. I was very abusive when I was drinking; I would knock a man down

with a club. I have been arrested, I guess, fifty times for fighting and

drunken brawls.

From New Orleans I again came back to Louisville, the 6th of August a

year ago, still going on in the same reckless manner, getting drunk, and

being drunk, as usual, a week at a time--sometimes a month; in fact, I

lived in bar-rooms here. One night, while Mr. Murphy was here--I do not

recollect the night, but at one of Mr. Murphy's meetings--he appealed to

us all to try and reform and be sober men. I met Mr. Werne and Miles

Turpin there, and while there, Mr. Werne asked me if I did not intend to

reform, or something like that--that was the substance of the

conversation of himself and his wife with me--and he told me that Miles

Turpin had reformed. I said: "If Miles Turpin has reformed, I can, too.

From this day henceforth I will be a sober man." And I signed the Murphy

pledge a short time afterward, and I have not taken anything

intoxicating from that day to this.

Mr. Werne then asked me to come up to the Mission, and I have not missed

attending this Mission but three nights since, and the benefits that I

have derived--the satisfaction, the happiness of mind, the contentment

of spirit--I would not exchange for my old life for anything in the

world. I mean I would not exchange my present life for the old one for

any earthly consideration. I attribute this reformation to the strong

personal interest that Mr. Holcombe has taken in my welfare, and if he

does not save but one soul, as he says, it would pay him for all the

trouble he has gone through within the last ten years or more.

The two following letters, though in the nature of testimonies,

are from men of high standing in the community, who preferred,

on account of others, not to give their testimonies in the form

in which the foregoing are given:

LOUISVILLE, KY., July 24, 1888.

_Rev. Gross Alexander_:

MY DEAR BROTHER--Yours of 21st is just received. I can not see

how a sketch of my life can do "The Life of Brother Holcombe"

any good. As I understand it, you are writing the life and

conversion of Steve Holcombe and not of others. My past history

is sufficiently sad and regretful without having it paraded

before the public in book form. I am far from being proud of it.

I am exceedingly anxious it should sink into the shades of

forgetfulness. Having marked out a new and brighter life, I am

only too glad to let "the dead past bury its dead."

Most sincerely,

---- ----.

* * * * *

LOUISVILLE, KY., August 2, 1888.

_Dear Brother Alexander_:

Your kind letter was received several days ago, but I have

delayed answering, in the expectation of seeing you here in

person.

I am now anxious for the successful issue of the book, on

account of the great moral influence it will have upon all

classes of the community. But I can not consent to what you

propose. I am endeavoring every day to blot out and forget the

dark and cloudy past of my life, keeping always a bright future

in view. There are dark and painful episodes in the life of

every man and though _he_ may be willing to expose them to the

eyes of the public, there are those who are bound to him by the

ties of blood and relationship, who would blush at the recital.

This is the position I occupy. I hope to see you here soon.

Yours truly,

---- ----.

[Illustration: A NIGHT MEETING--MR. HOLCOMBE PREACHING.]

SERMONS.

MARK 1: 15.

"The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the Gospel."

Verse 14 says, the Lord Jesus came into Galilee preaching; and this was

the announcement which He made, namely, that the kingdom of God was at

hand and they were to enter it by repentance and faith. The kingdom was

brought to them; they did not have to go and search for it. It was

brought to them, opened for them and they were _urged_ to go in and

become members of it. And so it is now. God's messengers are sent

everywhere to find sinners, and when they are found, to say to them:

"Ho! everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters and drink, come buy

and eat without money and without price" (Isaiah 55), and to cry, "All

things are now ready; come ye, therefore, to the feast."

And so it is to-day, God sends the same message of good news, of glad

tidings to you--even to you. The kingdom of God is _here--here to-day

and now_; and if you _will_, you may enter it and be saved.

But what are men told to do in order that they may enter?

How are they to enter?

1. They are to _repent_.

And what is it to repent?

Some think that great sorrow of heart is a necessary part of repentance;

and that tears and groans of agony must be a part of every repentance

that is genuine, and they think that unless we feel deeply and keenly

the baseness of our ingratitude to God we are not truly penitent. Now,

it is true that some people have _all these_ marks of repentance, and it

is very well to have them, but some men can not have them and never can

get them. So that if all men are commanded to repent and can repent,

these things are not an essential part of true repentance. To repent,

then, is to turn unto God with the feeling that sin is wrong, and that,

if we do not get rid of it, it will ruin us; and with the resolution and

hope, by the help of God, to keep from sin and to live for Him during

the rest of our lives. And if our repentance is genuine, we _will_ leave

off sin and practice righteousness. It will show itself by its _fruits_.

Pretending or professing to repent without turning away from our sins

and abandoning them is, as some one has said, like trying to pump the

water out of a boat without stopping the leaks. If you have sorrow and

regrets and tears, they are all right; but the _main thing_ is to have

such a feeling concerning sin as to turn _forever_ away from it to God

and to a life of righteousness. And if your repentance is genuine, you

will not wait until you are converted before you begin to leave off all

sin and to do all the good of every kind in your power. No; you will

begin _at once and keep it up_, and the longer you keep at it the more

you will feel that you must go on with it.

2. But there is another thing to be done. The Lord says:

"Repent and _believe_ the Gospel."

So you are to _believe_. You are to believe that God _does_ accept you

now through Jesus Christ _just because He says_ He accepts and saves

those who believe in His Son. You may not receive the evidence of

acceptance _at once_ and so you are to hold on by faith till He does

give you the evidence of your acceptance, even the witness of His spirit

that your sins are forgiven and you made a child of God.

You must not let the difficulty of believing without feeling keep you

back from believing and you must not let the remembrance of your great

sins keep you from believing. Poor, unhappy men, you who are bruised and

sore on account of your sins, I beg you cease from your evil ways. Why

will you die? "What fearful thing is there in Heaven which makes you

flee from that world? What fascinating object in hell, that excites such

frenzied exertion to break every band, and overleap every bound, and

force your way downward to the chambers of death?" Stop, I beseech you,

and repent, and Jesus Christ shall blot out your sins, and remember your

transgressions no more. Stop, and the host who follow your steps shall

turn, and take hold on the path of life. Stop, and the wide waste of sin

shall cease, and the song of the angels shall be heard again, "glory to

God in the highest; on earth, peace, good will to men." Stop, and

instead of wailing with the lost, you shall join the multitude which no

man can number, in the ascription of blessing and honor, and glory, and

power, to Him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and

forever.

The kingdom of God is here to-night. Will you come in?

"Come humble sinner in whose breast," etc.

Come, angels invite you, we invite you, and, best of all, Christ invites

you. O, do not, by your own actions, bar this door forever against your

immortal soul. What a fearful thing it will be to wake up in eternity to

find this door, which to-day hangs wide open, barred against you and

hung with crape. O, how fearful will be those words, too late! too late!

All is lost.

"Just as I am, without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee,

O! Lamb of God I come.

"Just as I am, tho' tossed about,

With many a conflict, many a doubt,

Fightings and fears within, without,

O! Lamb of God I come."

JOHN III: 16

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son

that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have

everlasting life."

Many of the glorious truths of the Gospel are both above the conception

of man and altogether contrary to what his unrenewed nature would desire

to publish. Heathen writers could tell of the cruelty and vengeful wrath

of their imaginary gods. They could tell of deeds of daring, the

exploits of Hercules, Hector, AEneas and others; but it was foreign to

their nature to write: "God so loved the world as to give His only

begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but

have everlasting life."

1. The Gospel is glad tidings. It is the news that God is reconciled and

wants to be at peace with man. Is this not good news? Have you never

heard good news that made your heart leap for joy? Well, this is better

news than any you have ever heard. God, not angry with you, but loving

you, so as, at a great sacrifice, to make a way for the salvation of the

world.

2. What was that sacrifice? It was the gift of His own Son. Think of it,

oh sinner! God consenteth to give up His Son, to leave His glory and

come as a stranger into the world, and to be born in great poverty, and

with all the conditions of us poor mortals. Think of God looking down on

Jesus, His Son, living this poor earthly life, here among strangers who

did not recognize His divinity--nay, who became jealous of Him, and

persecuted Him trying to kill him; and at last, after unheard-of

tortures inflicted upon Him, did kill Him. Now, think of God giving up

His Son to endure all this, and watching all this lonely and

misunderstood and persecuted life of His only begotten Son, watching it

and enduring it for thirty-three years, and then ask yourself how much

God sacrificed to show His love for us sinners. Have you a son? If you

have, don't you know how it stings you deeper for a man to mistreat or

strike him than yourself? If a man should beat my little Pearl it would

be harder for me to bear than anything, and yet this is what God endured

for long years to show His love for you and me.

Think of the arrest of Jesus, His being tied, handcuffed, beaten more

than once with fearful lashes, knocked in the face, spit on, and then

nailed with spikes to a cross with thieves, and think of God looking at

all this while it was going on, and you have some idea of what it means

when it says God _gave_ His only begotten Son.

3. And the way to get this friendship of God and profit by this love is

merely to _believe_ with all your heart on Jesus. It is hard to believe

that God loves, really loves, such sinners as you are, and yet I am a

living witness that He does; for I was as bad as any of you, and if God

did not love me and take hold of me and save me, then I don't know what

has happened to me, certain. So you must _believe_ it, even if it is

hard to believe it.

4. But this glad tidings is for you and you and you--for _every one of

you_. It is for _whosoever_, and that means everybody--everybody. A

certain believing man in England said, "I rather it would _be

whosoever_ than to have my name there. For if my name was there, I

could say there might be another man of my name in the world, but when

it says _whosoever, I know it includes me_."

5. It is to save us from _perishing_.

Oh, what an awful word is that, and what an awful thing it must be to

perish. You have a taste of it now in your sins, and their saddening,

darkening, hardening effect on you. You once had tender consciences. You

once loved things and people that were pure and good and true, and you

loved a Christian mother, wife, father or sister; but sin has so

hardened you, that you care for none of these things now. Is it not so?

Well, this is a little taste of what it is to finally and forever

_perish_.

But Christ was given that you might _not perish_. What, can Christ save

me from my hardness of heart, from my black sins, from my uncleanness

and debauchery, and from my awful darkness of mind and conscience?

Yes; He can, glory to His name. I am a living witness. He has saved me.

He can save others like me from all these awful effects of sin, even

after they have lived in it for scores of years, as I did. Yes, and He

saves from that awful _perishing_ which comes after this little, short

life is over, whatever it is. Yes; Jesus can shut and bar the door of

hell, and no soul can enter there who believes in Him and lives for Him.

6. But He not only saves from perishing, He gives them eternal _life_,

What does that mean? Oh, I know not--only I know it means life forever

without death or decay or sickness or pain or sorrow or weakness or

tiredness or parting or fear or anxiety. But what else it means I know

not. This eternal life, this life forever in heaven, I expect--I fully

expect--to get, though I was a poor gambler and swearer and adulterer,

and all that I could be that was sinful, for forty years. Yes; I expect

to get it. I know I am on my way thither, though I am not perfect. Won't

you come and go with us? Oh, won't you come?

TITUS II: 14.

"Who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all

iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of

good works."

This verse contains a comprehensive statement of the Gospel in few

words. Let us ask God that His Holy Spirit may give us wisdom and

insight to understand and profit by what we are here told.

In the first place, we are told that the ground of our salvation is

through the self-surrender of Himself by Jesus, the Son of God.

We saw, in a passage of Scripture a week or two ago, how great the

condescension of Jesus Christ was. Though He was equal with God, yet He

took upon himself the form of a servant; and being found in fashion as a

man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death--the death of the

Cross. Our text now teaches us what this was for. "He gave Himself _for

us_."

Now, I will ask you, could God show His concern for us in a more

striking and convincing way than in the _giving_ of His Son to ignominy

and death? Could Jesus, the Son of God, show His love for men in any

more convincing way than in _giving Himself_ for their recovery and

salvation? Then, surely we ought to lay aside our habitual way of

thinking of God as our enemy, and think of Him as our best friend. For

no human friend ever did for us what God has done for us. And if we

judge of one's love for us by the sacrifices he makes for us, then must

we give the crown to Jesus, who was God manifest in the flesh. He bore

our sins; He would bear our burdens, if we would throw them on Him; He

would fill us with His spirit, and with power, if we would trust Him and

believe His promise.

But did He give Himself for us that we might remain _in sin_, and yet

not be punished? This is what the Universalists say. But no! He gave

Himself for us that He might redeem us _from_ iniquity, and from _all_

iniquity at that. He was manifested to deliver us from the _guilt_ of

our past sins; and, second, to deliver us from the dominion and power of

sin, that being free from sin, we might live unto God.

And that man who thinks he has been pardoned for past sins is mistaken,

unless he also has been saved from the _power_ of sin, so as no longer

to be led captive by the devil.

Let not what I say discourage anybody. If you have not been saved from

the power of evil and of evil habits, you may be saved, and that here

and now. The fact is, many of us are so selfish, we just want to be

delivered from the danger, but not from the practice, of sin. Some of us

enjoy sin.

If some who are here could have _all_ desire for liquor utterly taken

away by raising a hand, they would, perhaps, not raise a hand, because

they love liquor too well. If some could be utterly and forever freed

from lust by bowing their heads, they would not be willing to bow their

heads, because they find so much pleasure in lust and in lewd thoughts,

feelings and acts, that they do not _desire_ to be freed from that which

gives them this low, animal pleasure. And yet these same men will

profess to have great desires to be cleansed from their sins. But, if

you are willing, Christ is ready and able to deliver you from all these

base and beastly passions and habits. What do you say? Do you want to

be redeemed from all iniquity to-night?

And when thus delivered from all iniquity, your soul being pure will

desire nothing but to do good, and to bring other poor soiled and

enslaved souls into the same liberty and purity. Since my conversion I

have had no other desire and no other care but to do good and save

others. And that is what the text says: "Zealous of good works."

Now, you who have been saved here, I want to ask you: What are you doing

for others? If you do _not_ abound in good works, and do not try to save

others, it will be difficult or _impossible_ to keep yourself saved.

Jesus said: "Every branch that beareth not fruit He taketh away."--John

XV: 1. And you will find your supply of grace running short and your

faith growing weak and tottering, if you do not make it a point and

business to do good to others--to their bodies and their souls. What do

you say? Has anybody else heard from your lips of your great blessing

and salvation? Do you tell your family and your friends about it? Do you

tell others of their sins and their danger? Do you pray for others? Do

you give your time (part of it at least) and your money in doing good to

others? If you do, you will find your own cup gets fuller, your own

faith stronger, your own heart more joyful. It is God's law and God's

plan that you should give out to others. In so doing He will increase

your own supply. Do you feel your weakness? It is right you should do

so. But do the work, speak the word, and leave it to God who giveth the

increase, and it shall abound to the salvation of others, the joy of

your heart, and the glory of His blessed name.

ISAIAH LV: 6-7.

"Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while

He is near. Let the wicked man forsake his way and let him

return unto the Lord and He will abundantly pardon."

If a father were to write a letter to a dissipated and rebellious son,

far away from home, to persuade him to return, and to assure him of a

cordial welcome, he could hardly fill it fuller of expressions of

tenderness and love, expressions to inspire confidence, than the Bible

is of such expressions from the great God. This chapter contains an

invitation to seek God, and a precious promise of forgiveness to any who

will do so.

1. _Seek_ ye the Lord.

Now, you know what it means when it says _seek_. You know what it means

when a man says he is seeking employment. He goes from place to place,

from man to man, and he does this from day to day, and from week to week

if he does not succeed; and the reason is, there is a _necessity_ upon

him. He _must_ have employment, or himself and family are without bread,

without clothing, without shelter. So when we talk about a man seeking

the Lord, we mean that he searches diligently for Him, and from day to

day, and from week to week, because there is something worse than

starvation to suffer if he does not find God. I tell you when a man has

soul-hunger, it is worse than body-hunger if he does not find God. When

a man is sick of sin and feels his loneliness and orphanage, and that he

is without God and without hope in the world, and that he dare not go

into eternity in his condition of guilt and uncleanness, it is more

fearful than hunger of the body, and it will make him seek for God with

all his soul.

_How_ am I to seek God? you say. Well, seek Him by prayer. "Call upon

Him," as the text says. "Ask and it shall be given you." Go off to

yourself. Shut out everybody. Be entirely alone. Then get down upon your

knees and call upon God. Plead His promises. Tell Him you have heard

that He receives and saves sinners, and that you are a sinner, and that

you do not mean to let Him go until He blesses you.

Seek Him by reading good, religious books and papers, and especially the

Bible; and don't read any other sort of reading unless it is necessary

till you find Him. Keep your mind on God all the time.

Seek Him by going with good, Christian people, pious, godly men and

women who walk with God, no matter what their name or denomination may

be. If you say you don't know where to find such, come to our Mission

rooms, to the Walnut-street church, to all our meetings, preaching,

prayer-meeting, Sunday-school, class-meetings, ask us questions, use us

in any way we can help you to find God.

Seeking Him by putting out of the way those things which are

_hindrances_. The text refers to this. It says, "Let the wicked forsake

his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts and thus let him return

unto God."

The forsaking of sin is the main feature of what we call _repentance_.

You can not come to God unless you come giving up your sins entirely or

crying to God for help to give them up.

You can, by God's grace, give up all your sins and all your sinful and

slavish habits. A proof of this is my own deliverance from evil habits,

as whisky, tobacco and evil passions, as lewdness, licentiousness.

1. You must give up sin. You can not expect to retain it and please God

or serve God. Do not question this. You must give up sin. There is no

escape. Turn away from it with all your heart and soul.

2. You must give up _all_ sin, your besetting sin, the sin that has the

most power over you.

3. Give up all sin _now_.

Do not wait. God will help you. You know not that you will be living

to-morrow or next Sunday; and if you are, it will not be any easier then

than it is to-day. Now is the day of salvation.

4. Give up all sin, give it up _now_, and give it up _forever_. You can

not give it up for awhile and then turn to it again. That will do you no

good. You might as well not give it up at all as to turn back to it

again.

And look to God for help, for present help, for all-sufficient strength.

Tell Him by His help you mean to be His, no matter what it costs; and

believe on Jesus Christ, His Son, as the bearer of your past sins and

the giver of the Holy Spirit, and very soon you will be happier than the

men who own these hotels and business houses and Broadway palaces and

hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yes; you will. I know from my

experience and that of others.

My text says, God will have mercy on you and will _abundantly_ pardon

you.

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER.

LUKE VIII: 5-15.

Jesus may have seen a farmer sowing seed, and, directing the attention

of the people to him, uttered this parable. He took the commonest and

most familiar facts and occurrences and made them the means of

expressing the great truths of His kingdom. So His ministers should try

to do now--teach the truth of God in language easily understood by the

men addressed.

He divides the hearers of the word into four classes: be ready then to

decide in which class _you_ are, for you are certainly in one.

1. The seed which fell on the hard beaten path is the word preached to

men who do not receive any impression at all from hearing it.

They have forgotten it by the time the sound of the preacher's voice has

died away. It does not enter their minds and produce any _thought_; nor

their hearts, and produce any _feeling_.

Are there not thousands of people who go to church, who hear preaching

constantly, and yet it produces no effect? They are no better, and _they

do not try to be_.

But in the twelfth verse we find who is the cause of this astonishing

indifference and hardness--it is the _devil_ who causes them at once and

forever to forget all that is said "lest they should _believe_ and _be

saved_."

There is an unseen adversary, then, who keeps us from thinking about

religion all he can. If you do not think about it much, that is a proof

that you are under his influence.

2. The next class consists of those who from impulse become religious

without counting the cost.

They do not stop to reflect that to be godly requires self-denial,

humility, patience, crucifying the flesh with all its lusts. And so,

when temptation comes or trial, they give up in disgust. They are like

Pliable in Bunyan's Pilgrims' Progress--easily persuaded to start on the

way to heaven, but just as easily discouraged and disgusted. There are

lots of such people now. They lack stability.

3. The next class are those who hear, believe, receive and practice the

word of God--who run well for a season, maybe for a _long season_, but

are little by little, and in an unperceived way, drawn away from their

first love, and then on to perdition.

Three things are here mentioned as drawing them gradually away from

their devotion to Christ:

(_a_) _Cares._

They have so much to attend to, they do not _have_ time or _take_ time

for their religious duties, as prayer, going to meetings, etc., and

missing these, they soon grow cold, and they are so occupied and worried

with the multitude of things to be attended to, they have no

_disposition_ for religion. All this care may be about things that are

lawful, as making a living, for example.

(_b_) _Riches._

Oh, how deceitful riches are. We think we don't love them, but let us be

asked to part with them, as Christ asked the young man, and _we see_.

John Wesley said, "As wealth increases, religion decreases," and he was

right.

(_c._) _Pleasure._

The pleasure of fine, rich living, fashionable life, fine dress,

theater-going, balls, parties, flirtations, the admiration and praise of

others etc., etc.

4. The last class are those who _count the cost_, go in with their eyes

open, who _won't_ let cares, riches or pleasures draw them off, but who

work, and serve, and pray with _patience_ even unto the end.

II. CORINTHIANS, II: 11.

"Lest Satan should get an advantage of us; for we are not

ignorant of his devices."

The New Testament everywhere teaches that there is a personal evil

spirit of wonderful cunning and deep malignity toward God and the human

race. Hence, our conflict is not with flesh and blood; not against our

own inclinations to evil, nor against sin in the abstract, but it is

against the god of this world, the spirit that now worketh in the

children of disobedience.

Therefore, yielding to sin is no small matter, for it is yielding to an

enemy of unfathomable hatred toward us, and of the deepest cunning, who,

in everything, has for his purpose our ruin and God's disappointment,

and who, however lightly he may let his chains lie upon us while we are

led captive by him, at his will, always draws them so tight, when we

attempt to escape from him, that only Almighty God can break them off

and set us free.

It makes a vast difference whether sin is only the indulgence of a

passion which can have no intelligent design to damage and to ruin us,

and which passes away when it is gratified, to trouble us no more, or

whether it is the means adopted by an invisible but awfully real and

hellish foe to lure us to an unforeseen ruin.

Yes, sin is not a mere pleasure whose effects are ended when the

enjoyment is over, but it is the bait that hides the cruel hook thrown

out for us by the artful fisherman of hell. And he is all the more

dangerous because we can not see him and realize always his ultimate

purpose.

The skillful fisherman keeps himself out of sight and lets the fish see

only the tempting bait, and so the poor, deceived creature is lured by a

harmless looking pleasure on to agony and death.

And Satan not only controls the world, but he continually tempts

Christians; those who have just recently escaped out of his snares and

are on their way to heaven.

And now, what are some of his devices?

1. He makes a grand effort to persuade young Christians that they have

never been converted. He almost invariably attacks them with this

temptation. He sometimes pursues them for years with this fear, that

they have never really experienced a change of heart. And, if he

succeeds in persuading them of this, he has gained a grand point toward

their fall. For to find that one is mistaken in the belief that he has

passed from death unto life, is the most discouraging, disheartening

thing he could experience.

I have known old ministers of the Gospel say that the first thing Satan

ever tempted them with was this suggestion, that they were mistaken in

believing that they had passed through that wonderful change which makes

a sinner an heir of God, and fits him for heaven.

So, my brother, you are in the line of God's true servants if the enemy

has troubled you with this temptation. Don't, therefore, let it

discourage you. And do not, by any means, give up to it. Say to your

tempter that your Lord says he is a liar from the beginning, and that

you can not believe him, but you prefer to believe God.

And the very fact that you are strongly tempted to believe you are not

converted is one proof that you are. For if you were really _not_

converted, but still in the flesh, the devil would tempt you to believe

you _were_ converted, in order to make you rest satisfied and deceived

with your unsaved condition. As he _does_ tempt many worldly-minded

church members to believe they are changed enough to be safe, and so

they rest satisfied in their unsaved condition, and perish.

So, there are many church members who become irreconcilably offended if

you dare to suggest to them that you don't believe they are really

children of God. Their temptation then is to believe the falsehood, that

they are really converted and in a safe condition.

And if a man's temptation is to believe he is _not_ converted, it is one

proof that he _is_ converted.

Besides, if the devil tempts you to believe you are not converted, you

can cut the matter short by saying: "Well, then, I can be in a moment.

For whosoever believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ hath everlasting life,

and I do here and now believe on Him, and will hold on to Him by faith

in spite of earth and hell." Old Brother Bottomly, a preacher in the

Louisville Conference, was tempted to doubt his conversion the night

after it occurred, as he was lying on his bed. He recognized Satan at

once as the author of his temptation, and he said: "Well, Satan, if I

have not been converted, as you say, I will be." And he got out of his

bed, and down on his knees, and he gave himself to God, and he believed

on Jesus, and prayed, and soon he was rejoicing in full assurance, and

the devil fled away out of hearing with his harassing temptation.

2. He tries to make them believe and feel, after the glow of the first

love has subsided a little, that the service of God is hard and trying,

and that it has nothing in it to satisfy the heart and to compensate for

the pleasure of sin, which they have given up.

And if you begin to yield and to slacken your earnestness or zeal, he

gets a great advantage and you lose the joy of religion by letting

yourself lag away at a doubting distance from Christ, and then it does

seem like the devil is telling the truth, because you don't keep close

enough to Christ and put soul and will enough into His service to get

the joy of it. Christ says: "My yoke is easy and my burden is light."

And if your heart or your enemy says the contrary, tell them that they

are false.

But don't allow yourself to be tempted to try if you can not find an

easy way to heaven. It will get sweet and easy by a patient and

whole-souled perseverance in it, but _not_ by slackening your

carefulness and experimenting with worldly pleasure to see how far you

can go therein.

3. But his grand scheme for ruining young Christians, and the one he

generally succeeds with, is the suggestion that there is no need of

being so particular and so regular in everything and so rigid in the

performance of duty and in the avoiding of all appearances of evil.

In other words, a sort of reaction comes, and a dangerous thing it often

proves to be. Now, the temptation is to give up the regular and rigid

performance of duty because you don't _feel_ as much like doing it as

you did at first, or because some of your well-meaning, but unrenewed,

friends say they can't see the need of being so particular and strict.

There's no use of going to prayer-meeting every time, no use going to

church twice every Sunday, no use having prayer at home every day, etc.

But if you miss any duty once it will be much easier to miss it the

second time and you will be much more likely to neglect it again. And

you can't afford to take such a dangerous risk in so important a matter.

And then we begin to think that there is no use being so particular

about abstaining from the very beginnings of evil, or else we persuade

ourselves that we have grown so strong and have been so changed we can

be men now and enjoy things in moderation which formerly we could not

use without going to excess.

Ah, brother, you are walking right into one of Satan's unseen traps. O,

beware! For your happiness' sake, beware! for your family's sake,

beware! Satan says, "It's no harm to take a dram if you don't get drunk;

no harm to go to the race track if you don't bet; no harm to go to the

ball-room if you don't dance," etc.

But we know that even in case of a youth who has never been in the habit

of indulging in sins, they have a growing charm and power over him if he

yields once or twice; how much greater the danger for one who has been

the slave of these sins and has only recently broken off from them!

I heard a recently converted man say to a friend who was starting away

on a trip, "Dunc, don't let the devil say to you 'Now, just take one

drink and then stop.' For I tell you, if you take one drink you are

gone." Now, this man understood the case and the danger.

There is no possibility of compromise. No possible middle ground in

these things, especially for us who were once the slaves of our evil

passions.

I have heard of a man who _for years_ had abstained from drinking and

his father, thinking he was safe, invited him to drink toddies with him.

The son did so, and he went back to his old habit of drunkenness, had

delirium tremens, forced his wife to get a divorce and brought distress

and disgrace and anguish on his family as well as himself. That was a

Mr. D., who has several times been to our Mission.

So, my brother, though you may think you would be safe to trifle with

sin, and try to practice moderation, it is such an awful, awful risk you

had better not make the experiment. Remember, it is only the bait of

Satan to lure you to certain ruin.

For your sake, for your father's sake, for your mother's sake, for your

wife's sake, for your children's sake, for Christ's sake, don't do it.

COMPARISON OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND WICKED.

PSALM I: 1-2.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and hence it is profitable

for instruction and assistance to those who will attentively consider

it. This Psalm is a part of the Scripture, and we may expect to find it

instructive and helpful. It contains a description of the righteous man.

1. It tells what he does _not_ do. He does not walk in the counsel of

the ungodly. This is the beginning of an evil life--to go among those

who are ungodly and to listen to their opinions and views and counsels.

There is no sin, our evil hearts suggest to us, in merely going with

worldly people, if we do not pattern after their ways and do as they do.

We can go with them and yet not do as they do. But the history, the sad

history, of many a struggling soul, shows that this is a great mistake.

We can't go with bad associates and not be harmed by them. The very fact

that we want to go with wicked people shows that there is in us an

inclination toward sin which is dangerous, and which ought to be

severely watched and kept down rather than encouraged. More men have

been ruined by their associations than by any other one cause. And let

me say by way of warning that if any of you, my friends, are purposing

and trying to lead a new life, you will have to give up the associations

of your old life and choose new ones, as I had to do, and did do.

But did you observe the word _walk_ here in this verse? That word is

intended to show that in the first part of a sinful life there is

restlessness and uneasiness. The man who is just beginning to sin

against light and conscience and God is uneasy about it. He can not be

still. It is something new and strange, and his conscience rises up

against his conduct; and till he goes on to the deadening of his

conscience, it gives him distress and anxiety.

But it says, the good man does not "stand in the way of sinners." This

is the second stage. When a man passes through the first stage and gets

to this second one, then he not only listens to the conversation and

counsel of those who are ungodly--that is, who make no professions of

religion--but he goes now with open _sinners, in the way_ with evil

doers, violators of law, criminals against God and man. And now observe

he takes a "_stand_." It is no longer "walk," for the restlessness and

uneasiness have about passed away, and he takes a deliberate _stand_

among wicked men, who do not fear to commit any sort of crime. And, my

young friend, this is always the way with sin. It grows upon a man; and

before he is aware of it, he has grown fond of it, sees no evil or

danger in it, and deliberately chooses it as his course of life. Beware,

then, of _beginning_ in the way of evil.

But it says, in the third place, that he does not "sit in the seat of

the scornful." Ah, here we have the third stage of the downward course

of sin. First, there was a restlessness in even associating with ungodly

people; second, a deliberate stand among sinners, evil doers, as one of

their number; and now it is _sitting down_ in the seat of the

_scornful_. When men have silenced the voice of conscience, and spent

years in the practice of evil, they come at last to lose faith in

everything--in God, in man, in virtue, in goodness; and they become cold

and sneering scorners of everything that is called good. Have you not

known men who have gone through this downward road? Nay, do you not know

now some who are traveling this ruinous pathway? I have known young men

to go among gamblers just to _look on_. They would have _feared_ to

touch the implements of sin, but they became familiarized with the

sight, and then took part; and from bad to worse, have gone on and on,

till it makes me shudder to know what they are to-day. I tell you, my

friends, the course of sin is down, down, down. You may as soon expect

to get in a boat on the current of Niagara above the falls and stand

still, as to expect that you can launch yourself on the current of sin

and not go down toward swift and certain ruin. Beware then! Hear the

voice of warning before you have gone too far ever to return.

2. In the next place, this Psalm tells what a _good_ man does. His

delight is in the law of the Lord. He is satisfied that in sin there is

only ruin; and turning with fear and dread away from sin, he yearns to

find God, who alone can deliver him from sin and keep him from it and

furnish him a satisfying portion instead of it.

But where can we find God, and how? Not in nature; for there is nothing

clear enough in nature to teach anything about God or how to come to

His presence. But he can expect to find God in that revelation which God

has made of Himself in His word. So he goes to that, and he finds there

encouragement and instruction and tender invitations and promises of

mercy and help; and the more he seeks the more he finds to draw him on,

to satisfy his yearning heart and to charm his poor soul away from the

love of sin. As he practices what he finds in God's word, he realizes

the blessedness of it. It brings peace, purity, deliverance from

darkness, uncertainty and fear; and so he longs to know more and more of

it and he studies into it. Do you know that to one whose heart is

changed the word of God is like a whole California of gold mines? He is

_always_ finding treasures there. Every time he reads it there is

something new and rich and blessed. The deepest and most devout students

of God's word say that there is no end to its wealth of instruction and

consolation. If you want to know God and His salvation, you ought to set

apart a certain time _every day_ to prayerfully read and study into His

word, always asking His guidance and help.

And it will soon come to pass that, as the text says, you will

"_delight_ in the law of God." Do you ever deliberately, carefully,

studiously, humbly and prayerfully read the Bible? You say, "No." Then

how can you expect to know anything of God? How can a physician know

anything of the nature of the human body unless he studies into it? And

how can you know anything of God and His wonderful mercy unless you go

and search where God has revealed this for man? There are some men who

will not read the Bible because they can't understand it. Of course they

can't understand it all, but, if they can understand one verse in a

chapter, let them take that and study on it and believe it, and keep

reading, and soon more and more will open out to their understanding,

and it will be a constant surprise and delight to find the undreamed-of

beauties and comforts of the word of God. Promise God now that you will

_patiently_ read some every day. You will then find your desire for sin

and sinful associations leaving you.

PSALM I: 3-6.

We propose to-day a continuance of the study of the first Psalm, which

we begun Sunday last. Then we saw the downward course of sin and of the

sinner, and of the great transformation of the nature of men when they

are converted or become righteous.

And now the inspired writer goes on to speak of the fruitfulness of such

men. "He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that

bringeth forth its fruit in its season." You know a tree planted by a

river draws moisture from below, and does not depend on the uncertain

rains that may or may not come. And so in time of drought it shall bear

its fruit at its proper season.

So the man who is born of God, whose nature is transformed and made

holy, is fruitful in good deeds, in benevolent works. Having himself

been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the light, he has a

desire, a strong desire, an unquenchable desire, that all others should

know the same happiness, and he works by all means to persuade them, to

get their good will and their confidence. He will feed and clothe them,

take them up out of filth and rags and reclothe them and befriend them

(as we are trying to do at the Mission) in order to get their good will

and direct them to Christ.

Not only so, but when a man has truly the Spirit of God, he has an

inexpressible pity for his poor brother mortals, and a tender sympathy

for their sufferings and sorrows. His heart is a fountain of compassion

for those who are in distress; and this leads him to labor that he may

in some way, and in all possible ways, bring them relief and comfort.

And, as the tree on the river is supplied with moisture from an unseen

source, and without the showers, so the man whose heart is in communion

with God never suffers a drought. When the benevolence of worldly men

fails, his goes on and never fails. Men wonder that he does not get

tired or grow weary or disappointed and discouraged. But no! he never

does. His zeal not depending on changing influences from without, but

supplied from an unseen and never-failing source--that is, God--never

gives out. So he is always bearing fruit. Other men may be cold and

selfish, and panics and famines may shut up their feelings of sympathy,

but the man of God goes on working and bearing fruit in panics and

famines, in cold and hot, in wet and dry, in plenty or in poverty,

always and ever.

"_The ungodly are not so._" No; the ungodly greedily devour all they can

get, and crave all they can't get. They want selfish pleasure no matter

what sacrifice or pain it may cost others. They want the property of

other people, though it leave a widow in poverty and orphans in want.

They want honor and promotion and fame, if it be built on the downfall

of their neighbors and fellows. They want the passing animal pleasure of

licentiousness, if it blight the life and ruin the soul of an innocent

being and turn a happy home into a very hell of anguish. Self! Self!

Self! always and ever! and if there be some semblance of benevolence, it

is for the higher selfishness of getting the honor that men bestow on

charity, or to appease an angry and tormenting conscience, that lashes

them with fury for their misdeeds done in secret.

"The ungodly are like the chaff." They have no stability, no

steadfastness, no fixed purpose or plan in life--nothing to tie to; and

so they are the victims of circumstances and changes and moods and

tempers, and are driven hither and thither by every passing breeze.

How I do pity the poor man who does not know or care what he is living

for, and just pursues every day what _happens_ to take his mind for that

day.

And because the ungodly are not steadfast and fixed in their devotion to

God, neither shall they be able to _stand_ in the _judgment_.

Then, there is a judgment coming, is there? Oh, yes! All these things

that men are doing are not done and then put away forever and forgotten.

No! no! no! they are all to be brought into review again and exposed

before God and all men assembled in judgment. All the midnight meanness

you have done will then be brought to light. Where were you last night?

What were you doing?

How would you like for me to tell right here before all this crowd all

the mean and filthy things you have done in the last week and kept them

hidden from father, mother, wife, children and every other mortal except

the accomplices of your guilt and shame? Ah! you could not _stand_; no,

you could not _stand_.

Then, how do you expect to stand when God is reciting to you all the

misdoings of all the midnights of your whole lives before your father,

mother, sisters, wife, neighbors and all the world?

GOD'S LOVE FOR SINNERS.

ROMANS V: 8.

"But God commendeth His love for us in that while we were yet

sinners, Christ died for us."

There are many of us who _feel_ that we are _sinners_, who know it, and

who do not want any proof of it; but we can't be persuaded to believe

that God has any love for us or interest in us. We have gotten to be

such wicked sinners that maybe our friends have forsaken us, and we can

not believe that God has any feeling of tenderness for us. We are

willing to admit that God loves good people, those who are obedient, and

that if _we_ were good, He would _then_ love us; but as it is, He can

not love us, and there is no reason why He should love us. And then we

go back and try to call up all our sins; all the times when we rejected

Christ and the truth, and we find plenty of arguments to prove that God

does not love us.

But stop! You are judging the great God by yourself. You know you would

not love one who would have treated you as you have treated God, and so

you conclude He does not love you. You find it _exceedingly_ hard to

believe in the love of God. This is one of the sad effects of sin. It

darkens our hearts and separates us far, far from God, so that when we

come to feel our need of Him we have no confidence that He will accept

us or help us.

Besides, by your long service of sin, you have put yourself in the power

of an enemy who makes it as difficult as possible for you to _believe_

in God's love for you.

But I come to you to-day with a declaration and assurance from God's own

word, that though you have been a sinner all your life, and still feel

that you are the greatest of sinners, the great God loves you with a

true, deep, warm and yearning love.

The great proof of it is the life and death of Jesus Christ, His Son.

Have you read about it in the Gospel?

Ah, if you had, and had seen Him delighting to be with the poor and the

outcast, eating with them, choosing them for His friends, speaking words

of heavenly cheer to them, pronouncing their sins forgiven and promising

them heaven, then you would be moved and attracted and convinced. And

then if you had read the pathetic story of His awful sufferings and

death, and had reflected that "He was wounded for our transgressions; He

was bruised for our iniquities; all we like sheep have gone astray, and

the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us _all_," then hope would

begin to dawn in your breast, and faith in His love would not be so

difficult. But you have neglected to read and reflect about it, and so I

am come to bring the glad tidings to you where you are, and to beg you

to believe it for your own sake.

And now, here are some of the ways God has taken to tell you of His

love: Psalm ciii., 13; Isaiah xlix., 15; Luke xi., 13; Luke xviii., 13,

14; Luke xv., 7, 10; Prodigal Son; Luke vii., 36 to end.

"I came not to call the righteous but _sinners_ to repentance."

Why does God, in so many ways, express His love for sinners?

Because He wants to touch their hearts and melt them by tenderness.

A father whose son had gone away to California, and was a gambler in San

Francisco, sent him word by a friend: "Your father loves you still." And

it made him ashamed; it broke his heart; he repented, returned home and

was saved.

So God sends me to-day to say to you: "Your Father loves you still."

Will you not believe it and come to Him for safety? He will not abuse

you for your sins; He will save you from your sins, and make you as

happy as you were when you were little children at your mother's knee.

You know it is true that parents are more troubled about a wandering

boy, and take more pains with him than with the good boys, and think

more about him and pray more for him, because he is in danger and must

be rescued or perish. So it is with God. Because you are lost, away from

Him, on the road to ruin, He sends after you and He begs you to be

reconciled.

GODLINESS PROFITABLE FOR THIS LIFE.

I. TIMOTHY IV: 8.

"But godliness is profitable unto all things having the promise

of the life that now is and of that which is to come."

There are not many who think this. Nearly everybody admits that religion

is a good thing to have when he is about to die and to enter upon the

future life; and all men, however hardened in vice, wickedness and

crime, have a sure expectation and firm intention of making some

preparation for death and what may follow death. They fully intend to

make amends to conscience for the violations of it, of which they have

been guilty.

There are men here to-day who know that this is true of themselves, who

feel that the coffin and the grave and the unknown future beyond are the

most fearful of realities, and who are firmly persuaded that a day of

reckoning is coming, maybe slowly, but surely, and they do mean to make

peace in some way with conscience before that time draws near. And so I

say all men agree that religion is good for death and what is to follow;

but how it can be an advantage to one in _this life_, they can not see.

1. But godliness is a help to a man in making a living.

If a man is honest, industrious, faithful and conscientious, he will be

in demand. Such men are always in demand; and, when they are known, can

get employment and can keep employment; but a man who is a true

Christian, _is_ honest, industrious, careful, temperate, trustworthy and

conscientious, because he works and lives not to please men but God.

Hence, such a one is always wanted. Employers, rather than give up such

men, will increase their salaries and offer them extra inducements. A

Main-street merchant found he could not do without Willie Holcombe

conveniently, so he raised his salary twenty dollars a month rather than

lose him.

And, even if they are among strangers, and not known, yet God will turn

the hearts of strangers toward them, as he turned the heart of the

prison-keeper in Egypt toward Joseph. And when they have a chance to

_try_ and to show their value, their employers will not give them up.

But then if a man is in business for himself, he will get a large custom

if people find out that he does business as a Christian--that is, he

does not charge an unjust and exorbitant price, his goods are only what

he says they are, he gives full and honest measure, his word can be

trusted, he will correct mistakes and take back an article if it is

found not to be good. Show people such a man and they will all want to

patronize him. William Kendrick was such a man here in Louisville.

The Christian man has the _promise of God_ that he shall be provided

for--Matthew vi.: 32, 33--while the godless man has no such assurances

at all.

2. But religion keeps a man from those vices which destroy the

health--as dissipation, debauchery, intemperance, etc.--and health is

one of the chief elements in human happiness.

3. Religion keeps men also from those crimes which bring men into ruin

and disgrace and bitter remorse.

Many a man has come to the jail or penitentiary or gallows who would

have escaped it all if he had had religion to protect and shield and

restrain and assist him. And many a good and happy man there is who

might have been a guilty criminal and a wretched convict but for the

grace of God and the lessons and blessings of true religion. He might

gradually have been led off and on and on till he would have become

capable of committing any crime.

I might have been a drunkard or a murderer still, if God had not changed

my heart and helped me mightily and constantly by His grace.

4. But religion takes away the fear of death and the dread of the future

and gives inward and constant peace--a heart happiness which poverty and

disappointment and trials can not destroy. And nothing else can do this

but true religion.

5. Religion can release a man from the power of those evil habits which

make a man's life miserable--from acquired appetites, as drinking, opium

eating, debauchery, licentiousness, swearing, gambling and even from

tobacco.

6. Religion makes a good father, a good mother, a good husband, a good

wife, good children, it makes the family happy, and the home bright,

cheerful, joyous.

7. It makes a man a good citizen. So he can get along in peace with his

neighbors and even become a peace-maker among them when they quarrel.

Thus have I tried to show you that, regardless of the future, godliness

is profitable for this life. But if this were not so, if the life of a

Christian were an uninterrupted experience of pains and disappointments

and sorrows, yet, in view of the interests of the soul, and the

possibilities of the future, and the length of eternity, it would be the

highest wisdom to cheerfully accept all these and endure them to the

bitter end, in order to depart out of this world with a peaceful and

unaccusing conscience and a sure preparation for heaven.

O man, what will you do with eternity, _eternity_, if you go thither

unprepared? Did you ever try to think of eternity? As John Wesley says,

"If a bird were to come once in a million of years and take away one

grain of the earth, when it had taken the whole earth away, that would

not be eternity, nor the beginning of eternity." And it is certain that

eternity is the period of the desolation and confusion and remorse and

suffering of the lost.

8. But even if we had to live in misery all this life, it would be

better to do it and have religion; for it alone fits us for happiness in

the life to come.

Take away property, comforts, friends, family, reputation, health, but

give me religion, and I shall have a passport into the kingdom of heaven

and an eternity of rest and blessedness.

O then, come to Jesus Christ and have all these things and heaven

beside.

PROVERBS XII: 15.

"The way of transgressors is hard."

Our friend's career affords a striking example of the truth of the text.

Most people do not think the text is true. But the Bible reverses nearly

all of our notions about things, and when, in the light of experience

and honest thought, we come to examine the Bible, we find it contains

the truth on all subjects. The natural effects of a life of sin are

injurious and destructive in every particular.

1. In the first place, vice destroys health. If a man indulges in

gluttony, he brings on dyspepsia with its accompanying pains and

distress and torture. All this is increased by a life of idleness,

laziness and inactivity. If he indulges in intemperance, he soon becomes

a wretched slave, and is consumed by inward fires till delirium tremens

ends the miserable career. If he indulges in sensuality, he is likely to

contract loathsome and painful diseases--diseases which make life a

burden that can hardly be borne; diseases which poison the blood and can

not, by any art or remedy, be expelled from the system, but which are

transmitted to the innocent offspring, if there be any.

2. It brings disgrace and drives away friends who would otherwise rally

around and help. This poor man spent two terms in the penitentiary, lost

all his friends, and had to go to a _hospital_ to die!

3. In destroying one's good name and alienating one's friends, it

becomes the cause of poverty and want.

4. It destroys the happiness of families, and in this way adds to the

wretchedness of the one who does all this mischief and damage.

5. It often produces insanity.

6. It produces remorse, uneasiness of mind, shame, hatred of self.

7. It is what makes men shudder and shiver like convicts under the

gallows, when they think of death and come near death. My own fear of

death was something terrible.

"The sting of death is sin."

8. But this fear of death, this awful lashing of conscience on the verge

of the grave, is but the intimation and the beginning of those awful

experiences in the future world which the Bible describes in words of

such dark and fearful import.

But there is a remedy for sin, there is a fountain opened in the house

of King David for sin and uncleanness. Yes

"There is a fountain filled with blood

Drawn from Immanuel's veins,

And sinners plunged beneath that flood

Lose all their guilty stains.

"The dying thief rejoiced to see

That fountain in his day,

And there may _you_, though vile as he,

Wash all your sins away."

And beside that, when He gives salvation from the guilt of sin, He

sends, also, the power to keep you from sin in the future. It is a full

salvation and a _free_ salvation.

How much better to accept Christ while you are in health and let your

life of holiness and purity and devotion _prove_ that the work is a

genuine work and that you really have been saved. I have almost _no_

faith in death-bed repentances and conversions. Hardly one in a hundred

is genuine. And then there is no way of testing the genuineness of it;

but if you turn to Christ _now_ you can have time and opportunity to

exemplify and manifest the fruits of regeneration in your life. Christ

has power to forgive sins, to give peace and to keep from sin and sinful

habits. An experience of five years on my part enables me to speak

boldly and confidently on this point. God grant some of you may turn to

Him to-day.

NOTE.--This was delivered at the funeral of some man who died

unsaved in a hospital. Mr. Holcombe is frequently called on to

officiate at the funeral of such men, and of gamblers, and of

strangers and unknown persons.--ED.

ROMANS XIV: 17.

"The kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink, but righteousness

and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost."

We heard some time ago of the coming of the kingdom of heaven. Christ,

at His coming, brought it near and proclaimed it to the people. At the

time when our text was written, the kingdom had been set up, established

among men, and many, very many, had entered into it. And now, St. Paul,

finding that some of these had fallen into wrong notions as to what

constituted citizenship in that kingdom, corrects these wrong notions,

and sets before them the right and proper notions about the matter.

1. In the first place, he tells them that religion does _not_ consist in

certain things. They had gotten into the notion that they must, as a

matter of great importance, attend to certain outward things. But it is

not so. They thought, as the Jews, from whose nation Jesus, the founder

of the kingdom, arose, observed certain customs as to eating and

drinking and keeping certain seasons and days, they also had to do the

same; and gradually they allowed these outward things to become more

important to them than the inward spiritual life.

So now we (or some of us) have fallen into the notion that religion

consists in certain outward things.

There are those who believe that it consists in connecting one's self

with some certain church, and that the sanctity and virtue of that

church will be imparted to them as members, and they will be saved. But

this is not true.

Again, there are some who believe that some outward ceremony, and

especially that of baptism by the proper authorities and in the proper

mode, will procure salvation, and that it constitutes a man a member of

the kingdom of heaven.

Again, some think their own morality and effort to do and live justly

will give them a place among those who are in the pale of the kingdom,

forgetting that God, Himself, says that the righteousness of us

miserable sinners is but as filthy rags in His sight.

And there are many, very many, who think that if they are decent in

their outward lives and attend the services of the house of God and

contribute to the support of His church, they do all any man can require

of them, and that, therefore, they may claim that they are also

fellow-citizens of the saints and of the household of faith.

But no, none of these outward things can make a man a new creature. He

may comply with any one or all of these, and yet be really a bad man at

heart, a rebel against God and His government. And the fact that there

are many such in the church calling themselves Christians and performing

the outward duties of religion, while those who see them every day and

know their private walk see that they are not really better than many

outsiders, is a great stumbling-block to serious and honest inquirers

outside of the church. We admit it, and we are sorry for it, though, of

course, it is no valid excuse for them, and will not stand in the trying

hour of death or the ordeal of the judgment. But I want to say to you

to-day, no matter who it is, if they have no more than a performance of

outward duties, ceremonies and services, they _are not_ members of the

kingdom of God.

2. But, in the second place, the Apostle does tell us what true religion

consists in, in the latter part of the text. "It is righteousness and

joy and peace in the Holy Ghost."

And, first, it is _righteousness_.

In another place it is said that, "The wisdom that cometh from above is

first _pure_."

The object and aim of the Christian religion is to make men holy. That

is _first_. The righteousness mentioned in the text is put first--before

the joy and peace. And this is what the world demands of people who

profess to be Christians, no less than God's law demands it. The world

has no use or respect for Christians who are not righteous or for a

Christianity that does not make men righteous.

When God comes into a human heart, He comes with power, with the power

of God, and that is greater than all other power, and before it all

opposing forces fall. The sins of men, such as avarice, or love of

money; the lust of the flesh, such as gluttony, licentiousness, the

hatred of fellowmen and the hatred of God, all these are broken and

driven out when the spirit and power of God come in. There is not only

this demand of God, then, for righteousness, but also ample supply of

strength to meet it, and to meet it fully. Come, then, to God, you who

are in bondage to evil habits, and who have striven in vain to deliver

yourselves. You can not retain your evil practices and be a child of

God. His first demand, His imperative demand, is righteousness, and if

you have the _will_ He gives the _grace_ to attain it.

But this is not all. When you believe with your heart in Christ, the

Holy Ghost is given you, and He brings, with the righteousness and

holiness which God requires, also joy and peace. Yes, when you surrender

to Christ, He makes you happy.

MATTHEW XI: 28.

"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will

give you rest."

1. The cry of all hearts is for rest, for contentment. Not only does the

heart of humanity cry out for rest, rest, rest; their busy and tired

hands and feet _toil_ for it day and night, year in and year out.

It is for this that men labor through the days and weeks of summer's

heat and expose themselves to the severities of winter's cold.

It is for this that they plow and sow and reap and gather into barns.

It is for this that they blow the bellows and swing the heavy hammers

from morn until night.

It is for this they buy and sell and buy again to sell again.

It is for this that men will spend years of toil in schools and

colleges, burning the midnight lamp till the eye is heavy and the brain

is tired.

It is for this that they will leave wife and children to try their

fortunes in some distant California or Australia.

It is for this they will abandon their homes in time of war to brave the

dangers of the battle-field.

It is for this that they will worry away the hours of night in games to

get each other's money.

It is for this they will devise schemes and lay plans to entrap their

fellows, some times going to the length of committing murder.

It is for this that women will toil with the needle and bend over the

sewing machine.

It is for this they will stand for weary hours behind counters measuring

off goods or waiting for customers to buy.

It is for this that they work over the hot stove or wear out their hands

in the wash-tub.

Yes, it is for this that some of them, weary of work-life, will venture

on the slippery paths of pleasure, turn their thoughts toward the gilded

chambers of licentiousness, sell virtue and abandon home and family to

go in the ways that in the end take hold on death and hell.

We are a race of _toilers_. All over the world it is the same. We see it

here in Louisville, It is work, work, work, go, go, go.

And are we happy? Have we rest?

But not only are we toiling, some in one way, some in another; some by

innocent means, some by wicked means; some by what does no harm to

ourselves or our neighbor, and some by what does harm to both, in order

to obtain rest and happiness; it is also true that most of us are heavy

laden, oppressed and saddened beneath burdens that we can not shake off,

can not get rid of.

Some of us are bowed down under our poverty. No good house to live in,

no comfortable home to turn into after the battles and toils of outside

life, no comfortable shelter for our families. No assurance as to where

we are to get to-morrow's bread. No comfortable and respectable clothes

to wear, and, of course, no friends. For when a poor fellow gets poor

and shabby, his friends drop off and pass by on the other side. No

friends, none of that sympathy and communion of friendship which all

human hearts so crave and which they find to be the best part of what

this life can give.

Yes; some of us have this burden to bear. And then some of us are bowed

down beneath some great sorrow, which may be one thing in one case and

another in another. In some cases it is domestic trouble, continual jars

and broils in the family, no peace, no quiet, no love. Ah, if we could

see into all the homes in this city, I fear we should find in many of

them family trouble of some sort. Or it may be some dear one of yours is

given to drink or to gambling and is wearing out his life as fast as

vice can eat it away, with no hope beyond the grave.

Ah, yes; no doubt some of _you_ are yourselves the slaves of evil habits

which you hate and would do anything to break off. You have tried by

resolving and promising and all to no purpose; you have felt ashamed and

degraded because you had no power to do what you felt you ought to do

and what you knew would be infinitely better for you.

Do you not know men who would willingly give a right arm for deliverance

from some degrading and ruinous habit? But giving a right arm avails

nothing, nor any human effort or means.

Then, again, some of you are bowed down by the recollection of your past

life and its dissipation and crimes.

You may have mistreated father, mother, sister, and may have broken

hearts by your cruelty that would gladly have bled for you. You may have

crushed a loving and faithful wife by your selfishness and your

brutality and heartlessness. You may have driven your children to

desperation and crime by your coldness and hardness to them.

And may be some life, innocent until you came upon it with your hellish

art, has been corrupted and embittered and darkened by your base

passions and lusts.

May be your hands have gone to that last extreme of human crime and have

deprived a fellowman of life. And, oh, if any of these things be true,

what must be the burden of remorse, remorse, remorse, that weighs upon

your heart.

But you are the very ones whom Jesus addresses and invites in this

tender appeal. Do you believe it?

2. In the second place, consider who it is that offers you rest. It is

one who knows you and who knows what you need and one who has all power

in heaven and in earth to give what you need.

3. Lastly, consider what this rest means which Jesus offers to you

burdened and toiling ones.

1. It is rest from sin, both its guilt and power.

2. It is rest from all care. For He has said, we should cast all our

care upon Him because He cares for us.

MATTHEW V: 3.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of

heaven."

These words, as you know, are the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount

as it is called. This Sermon on the Mount is the full exposition of the

character of those who are members of Christ's kingdom. It is one of the

most important parts of the Bible. At the time of Christ there were in

the world many teachers and many schools of philosophy all trying to

find what was best for men; or, thinking they had found it, were

teaching their views to others. But, of course, none of them knew the

truth and nearly every one taught a different thing from the others.

There was no certainty. It all seemed like guess-work, and while the

philosophers were guessing at what was best for men or trying to prove

the views of each other to be false, the poor people were perishing in

uncertainty and ignorance. But into this age of uncertainty and darkness

and hunger, there came a Teacher from God Himself, who knew all things

and who could without arguing or guessing tell with authority the simple

and certain truth. What then does the Teacher say? He does not say that

blessedness consists in any certain kind or degree of _knowledge_ but in

the _disposition_ of the _mind and heart_.

Listen then and hear and be prepared to believe and accept with all your

heart what this Instructor from God says. Remember He makes no mistakes.

He knows the end from the beginning. He knows eternity as well as time.

He knows the future as well as the past and present. He knows God as

well as He knows man. He has been all through eternity and knows the

nature and purposes of God. He then is competent to say what is good for

man, what is best for man. Will you hear it? And, having heard it, will

you believe it? "Blessed"--ah, what a sweet word to begin with!

"Blessed." But who are blessed? It may be blessed are the great or the

powerful or the good and some of us are sadly conscious that we are not

great or good. But no, troubled heart, poor fearing heart, it is for

you. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." That is what the Divine Teacher

says. He brings it right down and home to your poor heart and leaves

blessedness at your very door.

And what is it to be poor in spirit? No doubt some of you poor sinners

are ready to say "I know what it is, for I am so wretchedly poor that I

feel unworthy to set my polluted foot down anywhere in God's universe."

Yes, that is it--you are dissatisfied with yourself, disgusted with

yourself, weary of yourself; and you know you can not make your

condition any better, for you have tried it and failed till you are

heart-sick and hopeless. You are satisfied that neither your education,

nor your wisdom, nor your shrewdness, nor your money, if you have any,

nor your family, nor your friends, nor your strength, nor your will, nor

all these put together and multiplied a thousand times can deliver you

from soul-bondage and soul-darkness and satisfy your aching and breaking

heart. Is that your feeling, my brother? Then you are the one I am

talking to; nay, you are the one my Divine Master is talking to. But

God said the same thing in other words away back yonder one thousand

years before Jesus came to earth. Read it in Psalm xxxiv: 18: "The Lord

is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a

contrite spirit." Have your sins broken your heart? Does the

recollection of them cast down your spirit? You are not far from the

kingdom of God then. Only believe on Jesus Christ who was not only

Divine Teacher but also sin-bearer, and see God's willingness to save

sinners, in the scene enacted on Calvary's trembling summit. What did

Jesus suffer for if not for you and your sins? Say, what for, if not for

you and all sinners? Answer that question. Do not turn it away or put it

off but _answer_ it.

Did I say you were not far from the kingdom of heaven? My text says, if

you have the spirit I have described that "yours is, _is now_, the

kingdom of heaven." Read it again. Will you believe it?

Oh, are you afraid to venture? Is it too good to be true? Well, I tell

you I ventured and that with forty-two years of sin and crime on my

heart to press me down and keep me back. Yes; I ventured and I found

_such a welcome_ that I was constrained in the joy of my heart to give

up all other employment and spend my whole time and energy in telling of

it to others who are in the condition I was in.

But if there are any here who are satisfied with themselves, who do not

feel their need of help and cleansing and deliverance, then this message

of comfort is not for you. If you think you know enough about eternity

to risk going into it as you are, if you think you know enough about

God to meet him as you are, then we have no message of consolation for

you. It is not because we do not want you to have a message of

consolation and salvation, but because _you_ do not want it.

It is said in one place that the "Word of God is a discerner of the

thoughts and intents of the heart." And now I am sure this text of ours

has to-night found you out and shown you to yourself. Where do you

stand? And even if you are persuaded, the suggestion to put it off till

to-morrow or next week will knock it all in the head.

MATTHEW V: 4-5.

"4. Blessed _are_ they that mourn; for they shall be

comforted."

"5. Blessed _are_ the meek; for they shall inherit the earth."

Our talk to-night follows right along in the line of the one preceding.

We shall continue to speak of that wonderful address of Jesus which is

called the Sermon on the Mount and which we began to speak of before. We

were speaking of those who are poor in spirit and tried to describe

such. Now we go on and we find the next words of Jesus, the Divine

Teacher, just suited to those who are poor in spirit, who are

dissatisfied with themselves and their condition, and who are wretched

because they have not the grace and favor of God, and who, as the Psalm

says, have a "broken heart and a contrite spirit." (Psalm xxxiv., 18.)

And what are these comforting words of Jesus? "Blessed are they that

_mourn_, for they shall be _comforted_." Of course, those who are poor

in spirit and broken in heart _will mourn_. They are comfortless and

they will mourn for comfort. They are in darkness and they will mourn

for light. They are in sin and under condemnation and they will mourn

till the power of sin is destroyed and they are set free and until the

voice of forgiving love assures them that there is henceforth nothing

against them. Ah, yes, when a man is under conviction for sin he is,

above all men, a mourner. There is hardly any sorrow that strikes deeper

or any suspense that is more intense or awful.

But is there no one here who knows all about this, not because they have

heard me describe it, but because they have felt it and groaned under it

or, may be, _are_ doing so now?

Well, let me assure you, on the authority of Jesus, there is comfort for

you as surely as Jesus will not lie. Does He say "Cursed are they who

mourn?" Or "To be pitied are they that mourn?" No, He says, "_Blessed_

are they."

There, now, you are already comforted a little bit, are you not?

But what is the rest of this sentence of Jesus? "For they _shall_ be

comforted." And, indeed, the fact that you _mourn_ for a better

condition and a better life and for God, is itself a ground for you to

surely expect comfort. For only God's spirit could make you dissatisfied

with yourself, tired of your sins and eager to find God.

And if He began the work He will carry it on to completion, assuredly,

if you do not hinder him by your turning back to sin or going with the

vicious or refusing to have faith in Jesus as Saviour.

And the next verse comes right along to fill out the one we are

considering. "Blessed are the _meek_."

If a man is truly poor in spirit, mourning because of his sins and his

ignorance of God and his insecurity in view of death, then he will not

be egotistic and ambitious and greedy of praise and pompous and

self-sufficient and disposed to stand on _his honor_ and his rights. But

he will have the opposite feelings exactly.

He feels his unworthiness so deeply and keenly that he is willing to

give up his own rights and to prefer others before himself. And Jesus

adds, "the meek shall inherit the earth."

A man who has this spirit of humility, deep consciousness of his

unworthiness and a disposition to bear all things rather than be

contentious, will win everybody and they will want to give up to him.

You have perhaps read of the man who went to his neighbor to claim a

piece of ground in his possession, and, contrary to his expectation,

that neighbor said, "Well, then, if it is yours, I will not have a

strife about it. I will move in my fence and let you have it." This

gentle answer and this meek spirit made the other man so ashamed and so

completely melted and won him that he said he would not take the land,

and he went back home leaving it as it was.

And so if you have this meek and yielding spirit, and this patient and

forgiving spirit, you will make even your enemies to be at peace with

you. But this meekness of spirit includes, also, cheerful submission to

all the hard and disappointing and trying experiences of life, and

perfect contentment with one's lot.

A man who is always sour and bitter because things don't go to suit him

is the opposite of a _meek_ man. And one of the loveliest and most

attractive and winning qualities of human character is this unfailing

resignation, this _cheerful_ acceptance of all that comes upon us. If

the church were full of people of this description, they would soon win

the world, and, as Jesus said, they would "inherit the earth."

Now, let me ask, have we all who profess to be Christians this meek

spirit and character? Are we gentle and cheerful at home and abroad,

when we are disappointed as well as when we are gratified, when we are

treated with ingratitude and injury as well as when we are treated with

kindness, consideration and honor? Or are we crabbed and cross and

discontented and complaining against those who cross our wills and

against the lot that God has given to us in life? If we are of this last

sort we shall not draw many to Jesus and to the acceptance of our

religion. You can't catch flies with vinegar.

How disposed are we to lay our crossness and roughness to the charge of

our health, our dyspepsia or neuralgia or nervousness. But it would be

all the _more convincing_ to men if, _in the midst_ of bad health and

nervousness, we should have a meek, quiet, patient, bright and cheerful

spirit.

And if you haven't it, the way to get it is to be filled with God's

spirit, and the way to do that is to pray, to commune with God in

secret, to patiently wait for Him, as David did (Psalms xl, 1), and to

be with Him so much that He shall become more real to you than the

objects of sight and sound and feeling that surround you.

MATTHEW V: 13.

"Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt hath lost its

savor wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for

nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of

men."

Jesus takes the most familiar facts and objects to convey the truths and

doctrines which He wished to communicate. Here he uses for illustration

an object, with the properties and uses of which everybody is

familiar--namely, salt. It is good to prevent corruption and to preserve

life. Without it life could not continue. I have heard of a party of

travelers whose supply of salt almost gave out; and not having enough

for themselves and their horses, the horses grew weak, would stagger,

and finally fall and die, though they had food for them. Yet the lack of

salt could not be supplied by any amount of food.

So it is with Christianity. It prevents corruption, moral corruption, in

the individual, and so prevents social corruption, political corruption,

national corruption, and is the means of purification in all these

respects. But it not only prevents corruption, it imparts spiritual life

and vigor and sends its possessors on their way filled with an energy

that goes out after others.

Christianity is suited to be the salt of the earth. It demands a perfect

morality, a perfect righteousness, and offers the highest motives to men

to attain this. It teaches, with assurance, that there is a righteous

God who demands holiness on our part, and, at the same time, it

encourages men and inspires them with hope because it declares that

this God loves men, as sinners, and so it gets hold of men by the heart.

If man will only compare those nations that are Christian with those

that are not, he will find out what a difference there is.

But the text refers to the holy lives of Christians as being the salt of

the earth.

The savor of Christians is an unction from the spirit of God that

produces purity, humility, patience, long-suffering, self-denial,

tenderness, sympathy and unselfish love.

And when men see a person whose daily life presents all these beauties,

they are forced to pause and regard it. It is such an unnatural and such

an unearthly thing that they can not help it. And it is far more

convincing and eloquent than all logic and rhetoric put together. There

is no way of getting around it. Men know that a gifted orator can dress

things up so as to make any cause seem a fair and plausible one, but men

know also that neither a gifted orator nor any one less than God can

make men humble, pure, patient, gentle, long-suffering, unselfish and

glad to spend and be spent for others than themselves.

When men see such a life, they seek to know how it is realized, and

finding that Christianity has done it, that faith in Jesus has done it,

they are constrained to say: "We know that Christianity is from God. For

nothing could do such wonderful miracles except God be in it," as

Nicodemus said to Jesus.

There are so many men who are anxiously inquiring about spiritual things

and about God and a future life. And they say: "Show us something that

Christianity can do." And if we are living such lives, they find what

they are seeking for and are satisfied. But there are many men who

_won't_ search the Bible to find out if it is true--and many who don't

do so for want of time and of opportunity--and some who _can't_ do so

because they can't read or reason, and we _force_ Christianity upon

their attention by the beauty and unearthliness of holy Christian lives.

Instead of waiting for them to come inquire and into Christianity, which

they might never do, we carry it before their eyes in its loveliest and

most attractive and powerful form when we live holy lives before them.

And when men see many people living thus, it turns the tide of their

feelings, reverses the current of their thoughts, and makes it easy

instead of difficult to believe. Oh, that we had more of these entirely

consecrated lives! They would do far more good than the preaching. When

people see these consecrated women doing the work they do for the poor

neglected children, they say: "Ah, now, that looks like something, sure

enough, and we believe in that sort of religion." John Wesley said:

"Give me one hundred men who love nothing but God, and who fear nothing

but sin, and we will soon lay England at Jesus' feet."

How can we get and keep this savour, this divine unction which produces

such a life? Only by much communion with God.

David knew no fear when he went to meet Goliath because he had communed

so much with God in the sheep pastures that God was more of a reality to

him than Goliath was. So it must be with us, my dear brothers, or we

_lose this savour_.

And that is what the text says. Let us read it again.

You may retain outward forms of religion and perform outward duties, but

the unction and zeal and power will be gone and men will find it out and

see it and say that you are no better than they are.

So the text says, "Good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under

foot of men." And sad it is that more harm is done to the cause of

Christianity by hypocritical or wicked or inconsistent professors of it

than by all the Ingersolls in the world. Men look at the church to see

what Christianity can do; and seeing it does nothing extraordinary in

the way of making men better, they say it must be false. So it is the

wicked and worldly professors of religion that make more infidels than

anything else. Oh, let us be sure that we are not the darkness of the

world. For if we are not its light, we become darkness.

The light in the lighthouse may be burning, but if the lights along the

shore are not burning, too, the poor sailors may be lost.

"Brightly beams our Father's mercy

From _His_ lighthouse evermore,

But to _us_ He gives the keeping

Of the lights along the shore."

THE PRODIGAL SON,

HIS SIN, HIS WRETCHEDNESS AND HIS RECOVERY.

LUKE XV: 11-24.

1. This younger son thought he was wiser than his father and wanted to

manage his own affairs. So it is with men who think they can manage

their own affairs without God. And as this young man wanted to get as

far from his father's presence as possible (see verse 13, "into a far

country") so the sinner, when he determines to give himself up to

pleasure and sin, wants to get as far from God as possible. He does not

want to hear about Him or even think about Him. Was not this so with

_you_?

2. The father did not _compel_ the son to stay at home. He allowed him

to choose what he preferred. So it is with God. He does not compel us to

obedience. For my part I wish He did. But he lets us go and pursue sin

with all our hearts, if we choose that above the innocence and joy of

dwelling with Him.

3. "He _wasted_ his substance with riotous living," verse 13, and so it

is with the sinner--in the service of sin and Satan he wastes and

destroys his property, his health, his reputation, his intellect, his

conscience--all.

"_And he began to be in want._"

That is what sin brings a man to--want, want, want and wretchedness,

wretchedness, wretchedness. Has not sin done this for _you_?

4. And it was this very wretchedness which brought him to his

senses--"he came to himself" (verse 17).

And when he does come to himself he can think of only one place where he

can hope to find relief and he bravely determines to go straight to the

very father he had so shamefully abandoned and to make a full confession

of his sin and throw himself on that father's mercy with the hope of

being taken back as a hired servant. He is willing to take the

_humblest_ and _meanest_ place, if he can only get back to that home he

was, a short time before, so eager to leave. Nor does he offer _any

excuse_, he calls his sin by the right name and confesses it without

trying to excuse it or justify it.

5. And how did his father receive him?

Why, he did not wait till his poor, ragged, worn and wasted boy got in

and made his confession but he saw him a great way off (verse 20) and he

knew what had passed in the poor boy's heart and life, and, moved with

compassion toward him, he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him a glad

welcome back to his heart and his home. But the son goes on to make his

confession and his offer to be a hired servant anyhow, and yet the

father says, "No! no! bring forth the _best_ robe and put it on him."

So, though we may go to God expecting to _work as servants_ for Him and

for His favor, He gives us far more than we ask and He makes us His own

_sons_. And, poor wretched sinners, I come now with this message for

_you_, bruised and sore and despairing and wretched as you are on

account of your sins. May God help you believe it.

II. PETER I: 5-6.

"5. And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith

virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;

"6. And to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience;

and to patience, godliness."

I want to say something to you to-night about how to _grow_ in the

Christian life, and how to secure yourself from falling. And now, let me

begin by saying what you, no doubt, have heard before, that there is no

such thing as standing still in the Christian life. If you are not going

forward, you are losing ground. See the Apostle here speaks of giving

all diligence, to be adding something all the time. And why not exercise

diligence in making sure of the salvation of your souls? Men use

astonishing diligence in the affairs and pursuits of this life. The men

of all professions and occupations use diligence and industry and toil

and self-denial in order to make a little money or to gain a little

honor. Why, you know there are thousands of men in this city who get up

early in wet weather or dry, in summer's heat or winter's cold, and go

hurrying up and down these streets to be at their places at the

prescribed hour for beginning their day's toil; and they work, work,

work, sometimes with tired hands and feet and weary hearts, till the sun

goes down, because they know they must do it in order to get bread and

meat and clothing for themselves and their families. They do not stop to

think how they _feel_. No, no; feelings and preferences and all must be

overlooked and forgotten; for they know that work must be done that

bread may be won. And we do not hear many complaining of this. They

accept it as a matter of course. Why, I know how the gamblers will sit

up late and do without sleep, and rack their brains, in order to devise

some means of finding a poor victim and getting his money. Then why

should not Christians, who are striving to avoid the danger and sorrow

of sin and to gain eternal rest and reward--why should not they exercise

diligence and self-denial and watchfulness also? And we are told in the

text how to succeed in this. We are to _make up our minds_ by God's

grace to live a life of consecration and activity.

You have begun with faith, have you not? If any man here has been truly

converted, he knows what faith is. He came to Christ as a hell-deserving

sinner, and believed in Christ's mercy for forgiveness and salvation. So

faith is the first step; faith is the foundation. And let me stop to say

to any one here who is not yet saved, that, if he wants to be, he must

throw himself as a sinner on the mercy of God in Christ; and God will

save him at once, if he will do so. But, having exercised faith and

received forgiveness and strength, you must add virtue, which means

courage or boldness. It is sometimes very hard for a man who has lived a

sinner and taken pride in it, to come out before the world, and

especially before his old companions, and let them know that henceforth

and forever he is a humble follower of Jesus Christ. But it is

necessary. No middle ground is safe at all. If you try to meet the world

as a reformed man, concealing the fact that you are a Christian, you

will weaken, and give the devil a great advantage, and probably fall. I

told gamblers in Denver I was a Christian, and they let me alone. But,

not only that, you must be bold enough to try to persuade others to

become Christians. There are some poor cowards who are not ashamed to

let their friends and the world know that they have _reformed_; but they

are too chicken-hearted to say that they have humbled themselves,

surrendered their pride and become _Christians_. I know more than one of

that sort. And, again, there are some men who are content to be saved

themselves, but are afraid of being called fanatics if they are bold

enough to go to talking and trying to persuade others to be so. Boldness

in going out after others strengthened me and kept me from many a

temptation.

But, having this godly boldness, you must go on striving to get

knowledge--knowledge of your own deceitful heart, knowledge of human

nature, knowledge of the fullness of the gospel way of salvation. When a

man is first converted, he is almost like a baby. Everything is new, and

he hardly knows anything. So it was with me, but I trust I have grown in

knowledge of myself and others and of the word of God and of the plan of

salvation. Your knowledge will increase of itself if you are in earnest

and if you will use all the means of growing better and stronger.

Conversation with older Christians, when you get into a tight place,

will help you. Earnest prayer to God will result in increase of

knowledge. Reading His precious word, and studying short portions of it

at a time, with prayer for guidance, will wonderfully enlighten you and

increase your knowledge. You will gain knowledge also by reading good

books--the lives of very pious people, and the sermons of such men as

Wesley, Spurgeon, etc. Why not have some good books to read? Could you

invest your money to better advantage? In this way, having your mind

always occupied with the subject of religion, you will have neither time

nor temptation for sin or thoughts of sin.

There are some selfish men who, when they find themselves delivered from

their evil appetites and raised up again to respectability and their

right mind, begin to think of reading all sorts of worldly and profane

literature, and want to cultivate their "literary taste" and prepare to

shine in society. Such men forget the pit from which they were taken,

and in their selfishness and worldliness and pride become blind to the

awful peril to which they expose themselves in neglecting to keep their

minds occupied with religious thoughts and subjects as far as is

practicable. Some of our converts have fallen in this way.

But what is the next thing, to be added? It is _temperance_. This means

entire self-control in things that are, in themselves, innocent and

lawful. Of course, men understand that in things that are wrong and

dangerous nothing is right or safe but an utter abstinence from them and

abhorrence of them, (Read Romans xii., 9, second clause: "Abhor that

which is evil.") Temperance means here what we spoke about when we

considered Paul's saying that he kept his body under, and brought it

into subjection, lest he should be a castaway (1 Corinthians, ix: 27).

And as you grow in experience and in knowledge of yourself you will

find it absolutely necessary to keep down your body by denying it, and

by asserting your entire mastery of it, through God's grace. Oh, be

careful and be prayerful, and be self-denying, or some day, when you

think all is secure, some sudden temptation will come and find you

self-indulgent and careless, and, like David, you will fall before you

are aware of it, and then, maybe, have not the heart and hope to ever

try to be a Christian again. Men who have been addicted to bad habits

before are especially in danger if they do not practice the strictest

self-control in all things. But, with all this, you will often be

provoked, and find your temper very troublesome. It troubled me long

after conversion and troubles me now more than anything else. So it is

necessary to bear all things, however unreasonable and provoking they

may be; and this is exactly the next thing the Apostle puts

down--namely, _patience_.