What a Woman Did.
One place we were in, in England, I recollect a Quakeress came in. The
meeting was held in a Methodist Church, and the Spirit of God was
there--souls were being saved: multitudes were pressing into the
kingdom. She had a brother who was a drinker and a nephew who had just
come to the city, and he was in a critical state, too. They came to the
meeting with her. Everything appeared strange to her, and when she went
home she did not know really what to say. She and her brother and nephew
went up stairs, and coming down she thought, it may be that the destiny
of their souls depends on what I say now. When she entered the parlor
she found them laughing and joking about the meeting. She put on a
serious face and said, "I don't think we should laugh at it. Suppose Mr.
Moody had come to you and asked you if you were converted, what would
you have told him?" "I would have told him to mind his own business,"
replied one of them. "I think it is a very important question, and a
question a Christian ought to put to any one; Mr. Moody, as a Christian,
has a right to ask any one." She talked with them, and when that brother
went to bed, he began thinking and thinking. He had tickets for the
theater next night, but when next night came he said he would go to the
meeting with his sister, and, to make a long story short, he came and
was converted. He came to me--he was a mechanic--and asked me to talk to
the laborers and have them come to the meetings. He had got such a
blessing himself that he wanted them to share it.
That man brought me a list of the names of the mechanics about half as
long as this room, and we got up a meeting in the theater, and we had
that theater packed. That was the first meeting of working men I ever
had, and the work of grace broke out among them. This was but the result
of the woman taking her stand. She went into the inquiry-room and became
an earnest worker. I get letters from her frequently now, and I do not
believe there is a happier woman in all England. If she had taken
another course she might have been the means of ruining these young men.
There is one thing that Christians ought to ask themselves. Ask your
heart, "Is this the work of the devil?" That is the plain question. If
it's the work of the devil turn your back against it. I would if I
thought it was. If it is the work of God, be careful what you do. My
friends, it is a terrible thing to fight against God. If it is the
Lord's wish, come out and take your stand, and let there be one united
column of people coming up to heaven. Let every man, woman and child, be
not afraid to confess the Lord Jesus Christ.
A Business Man Confessing Christ.
When I was in Ireland I heard of a man who got great blessings from God.
He was a business man--a landed proprietor. He had a large family, and a
great many men to work for him taking care of his home. He came up to
Dublin and there he found Christ. And he came boldly out and thought he
would go home and confess Him. He thought that if Christ had redeemed
him with his precious blood, the least he could do would be to confess
Him, and tell about it sometimes. So he called his family together and
his servants, and with tears running down his cheeks he poured out his
soul to them, and told them what Christ had done for him. He took the
Bible down from its resting-place and read a few verses of gospel. Then
he went down on his knees to pray, and so greatly was the little
gathering blessed that four or five out of that family were convicted of
sin; they forsook the ways of the world, and accepted Christ and eternal
life. It was like unto the household of Cornelius, which experienced the
working of the Holy Spirit. And that man and his family were not afraid
to follow out their profession.
Two Young Men.
I heard a story about two young men who came to New York City from the
country on a visit. They went to the same boarding-house to stay and
took a room together. Well, when they came to go to bed each felt
ashamed to go down on his knees before his companion first. So they sat
watching each other. In fact, to express the situation in one word, they
were both cowards--yes, cowards! But at last one of them mustered up a
little courage, and with burning blushes, as if he was about to do
something wrong and wicked, he sunk down on his knees to say his
prayers. As soon as the second saw that, he also knelt. And then, after
they had said their prayers, each waited for the other to get up. When
they did manage to get up one said to the other: "I really am glad to
see that you knelt; I was afraid of you." "Well," said the other, "and I
was afraid of you." So it turned out that both were Christians, and yet
they were afraid of each other. You smile at that, but how many times
have you done the same thing--perhaps not in that way, but the same
thing in effect. Henceforth, then, be not ashamed, but let everyone know
you are His.
The Little Tow-Headed Norwegian.
I remember while in Boston I attended one of the daily prayer meetings.
The meetings we had been holding had been almost always addressed by
young men. Well, in that meeting a little tow-headed Norwegian boy stood
up. He could hardly speak a word of English plain, but he got up and
came to the front. He trembled all over and the tears were all trickling
down his cheeks, but he spoke out as well as he could and said: "If I
tell the world about Jesus, then will He tell the Father about me." He
then took his seat; that was all he said, but I tell you that in those
few words he said more than all of them, old and young together. Those
few words went straight down into the heart of everyone present. "If I
tell the world"--yes, that's what it means to confess Christ.
[Illustration: Esther Confounding Haman. GUSTAVE DORE. Esther, viii.]
[Illustration: The Angel at the Sepulcher. GUSTAVE DORE. Matthew,
xxviii, 1-7.]
The Family that Hooted at Moody.
I remember a family in Chicago that used to hoot at me and my scholars
as we passed their house sometimes. One day one of the boys came into
the Sunday-school and made light of it, As he went away, I told him I
was glad to see him there and hoped he would come again. He came and
still made a noise, but I urged him to come the next time, and finally
one day he said: "I wish you would pray for me, boys." That boy came to
Christ. He went home and confessed his faith, and it wasn't long before
that whole family had found the way into the Kingdom of God.
Peter's Confession.
One day He said, "Whom do men say that I am?" He wanted them to confess
Him. But one said, "They say thou art Elias," and another "that thou art
Jeremiah;" and another "Thou art St. John the Baptist." But He asked,
"Whom do you say that I am?"--turning to His disciples. And Peter
answers, "Thou art the Son of the living God." Then our Lord exclaimed,
"Blessed art thou, Simon Barjonas." Yes, He blessed him right there
because he confessed Him to be the Son of God. He was hungry to get some
one to confess him. Let everyone take his stand on the side of the Lord.
The Blind Beggar.
Here is a whole chapter in John (ix) of forty-one verses, just to tell
how the Lord blessed that blind beggar. It was put in this book, I
think, just to bring out the confession of that man. "The neighbors,
therefore, and they which before had seen him which was blind, said, Is
not this he that sat and begged? Some said, This is he; others said, He
is like him; but he said, I am he." If it had been our case I think we
would have kept still; we would have said, "There is a storm brewing
among the Pharisees, and they have said, 'If any man acknowledges Christ
we will put him out of the Synagogue.' Now I don't want to be put out of
the Synagogue." I am afraid we would have said that; that is the way
with a good many of the young converts. What did the young convert here?
He said, "I am he." And bear in mind he only told what he knew; he knew
the Man had given him his eyes. "Some said, He is like him; but he said,
I am he." So, young converts, open your lips and tell what Christ has
done for you. If you can't do more than that, open your lips and do
that. "Therefore, said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He
answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed
mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash; and I
went and washed, and I received sight." He said, "He anointed my eyes
with clay, and I went to the pool and washed, and whereas I had no eyes,
I have now got two good eyes." Some skeptic might ask, "What is the
philosophy of it?" But he couldn't tell that. "Then said they unto him,
Where is he? He said, I know not. They brought to the Pharisees him that
aforetime was blind. And it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay
and opened his eyes. Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had
received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes and I
washed and do see." He wasn't afraid to tell his experience twice; he
had just told it once. "Therefore, said some of the Pharisees, This man
is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day. Others said, How
can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? and there was a division
among them." Now I am afraid if it had been us, we would have kept still
and said, "There is a storm brewing." "They say unto the blind man
again, What sayest thou of Him, that He hath opened thine eyes? He said,
He is a prophet." Now you see he has got to talking of the Master, and
that is a grand good thing.
The Young Convert.
A young convert got up in one of our meetings and tried to preach; he
could not preach very well either, but he did the best he could--but
some one stood up and said, "Young man, you cannot preach; you ought to
be ashamed of yourself." Said the young man, "So I am, but I am not
ashamed of my Lord." That is right. Do not be ashamed of Christ--of the
man that bought us with His own blood.