Moody's Stories Part 3

"I have been near You for ten years. Your service has become tedious and monotonous. I have come to bid You farewell. Good-bye, Lord Jesus Christ!"

I never heard of one doing this. I will tell you how they go away; they just run away.

Any One Can _Believe_

G.o.d has put the offer of salvation in such a way that the whole world can lay hold of it. All men can _believe_. A lame man might not perhaps be able to visit the sick; but he can _believe_. A blind man, by reason of his infirmity, cannot do many things; but he can _believe_. A deaf man can _believe_. A dying man can _believe_. G.o.d has put salvation so simply that young and old, wise and foolish, rich and poor, can all _believe_ if they will.

The Wrath of G.o.d Was on Him

I heard of a rich man who was asked to make a contribution on behalf of some charitable object. The text was quoted to him--"He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will He pay him again," He said that the security might be good enough, but the credit was too long. He was dead within two weeks.

The War was Ended

During the last days of the Civil War, when many men were deserting the Southern flag, Secretary Stanton sent out a notice from the war department that no more refugees should be taken into the Union army.

A Southern soldier who had not seen that order came into the Union lines, and they read it to him. He didn't know what to do. If he went back into the Southern army he would be shot as a deserter, and the Northern army wouldn't have him. So he went into the woods, and stayed there, living on roots and whatever else he could get, until finally he was starving.

One day he saw an officer riding by. He rushed out of the woods, caught the horse's bridle, and said he would kill the officer if he didn't help him. The officer asked what was the trouble, and he told him.

"But haven't you heard the news?" said the officer.

"No; what news?"

"Why, the war is over! Lee has surrendered, and peace has been declared. Go to the nearest town and get all the food you want."

The man waved his hat, and went off as fast as he could.

I want to say that peace has been declared between G.o.d and man. Be reconciled to G.o.d. The blood is on the mercy-seat, and the vilest sinner can be saved for time and eternity.

Nearer than he Thought

I was reading, some time ago, of a young man who had just come out of a saloon, and had mounted his horse. As a certain deacon pa.s.sed on his way to church, he followed and said:

"Deacon, can you tell me how far it is to h.e.l.l?"

The deacon's heart was pained to think that a young man like that should talk so lightly; but he pa.s.sed on and said nothing. When he came round the corner to the church, he found that the horse had thrown that young man, and he was dead. You, too, may be nearer the judgment than you think.

Its Strength was Underestimated

Some of the older people can remember when our Civil War broke out.

Secretary Seward, who was Lincoln's Secretary of State--a long-headed and shrewd politician--prophesied that the war would be over in ninety days; and young men in thousands and hundreds of thousands came forward and volunteered to go down to Dixie and whip the South. They thought they would be back in ninety days; but the war lasted four years, and cost about half a million of lives. What was the matter?

Why, the South was a good deal stronger than the North supposed. Its strength was underestimated.

Jesus Christ makes no mistake of that kind. When He enlists a man in His service, He shows him the dark side; He lets him know that he must live a life of self-denial. If a man is not willing to go to heaven by the way of Calvary, he cannot go at all. Many men want a religion in which there is no cross, but they cannot enter heaven that way. If we are to be disciples of Jesus Christ, we must deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him. So let us sit down and count the cost. Do not think that you will have no battles if you follow the Nazarene, because many battles are before you. Yet if I had ten thousand lives, Jesus Christ should have every one of them. Men do not object to a battle if they are confident that they will have victory, and, thank G.o.d, every one of us may have the victory if we will.

Seeing the Gospel

"Have you ever heard the Gospel?" asked a missionary of a Chinaman, whom he had not seen in his mission before.

"No," he replied, "but I have seen it. I know a man who used to be the terror of his neighborhood. He was a bad opium smoker and dangerous as a wild beast; but he became wholly changed. He is now gentle and good and has left off opium."

Illuminated Christians

We see very few illuminated Christians now. If every one of us was illuminated by the Spirit of G.o.d, how we could light up the churches!

But to have a lantern without any light, that would be a nuisance.

Many Christians carry along lanterns and say, "I wouldn't give up my religion for yours." They talk about religion. The religion that has no fire is like painted fire. They are artificial Christians. Do you belong to that cla.s.s? You can tell. If you can't, your friends can.

There is a fable of an old lantern in a shed, which began to boast because it had heard its master say he didn't know what he would ever do without it. But the little candle within spoke up and said: "Yes, you'd be a great comfort if it wasn't for me! You are nothing; I'm the one that gives the light." We are nothing, but Christ is everything, and what we want is to keep in communion with Him and let Christ dwell in us richly and s.h.i.+ne forth through us.

I have a match box with a phosph.o.r.escent front. It draws in the rays of the sun during the day and then throws them out in the dead hours of the night, so that I can always see it in the dark. Now, that is what we ought to be, constantly drawing in the rays of the Sun of Righteousness and then giving them out. Some one said to some young converts, "It is all moons.h.i.+ne being converted." They replied, "Thank you for the compliment. The moon borrows light from the sun, and so we borrow ours from the Sun of Righteousness." That is what takes place when we have this illumination.

Not Ashamed of his Lord

A young convert tried to preach in the open air; he could not preach very well either, but he did the best he could. Some one interrupted him 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.

He Silenced the Devil

If you find yourself getting very miserly, begin to scatter, like a wealthy farmer in New York state I heard of. He was a noted miser, but he was converted. Soon after, a poor man who had been burned out and had no provisions came to him for help. The farmer thought he would be liberal and give the man a ham from his smoke-house. On his way to get it, the tempter whispered to him:

"Give him the smallest one you have."

He had a struggle whether he would give a large or a small ham, but finally he took down the largest he could find.

"You are a fool," the devil said.

"If you don't keep still," the farmer replied, "I will give him every ham I have in the smoke-house."

Warm the Wax!

A gentleman in Ireland had a seal made for me. "D.L.M." is on one side, and on the other, "G.o.d is love." If I want to stamp "G.o.d is love" I would not make much headway if the wax was hard and cold.

Many people go to meetings, and it is as hard to make an impression on them as in pressing a seal on hard wax. But let the wax be warmed up and an impression is made. If we are willing, every one of us may be sealed for the day of redemption. "In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise."