Moody's Stories Part 5

"Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee."

An old Scotchman says: "It is a good thing in a good place for a good purpose." Many people have the Bible in their heads, or in their pockets; but we need to get it down into our hearts.

How the Miners were Saved

In the north of England they have been digging the coal for a century.

They have gone miles and miles away from the shaft, under the sea, and there is danger of men getting lost. I heard of two old miners who lost their way. Their lights went out, and they were in danger of losing their lives. After wandering around for a long time, they sat down, and one of them said:

"Let us sit perfectly quiet, and see if we cannot feel which way the air is moving, because it always moves toward the shaft."

There they sat for a long time, when all at once one of them felt a slight touch on his cheek, and he sprang to his feet and said:

"I felt it."

They went in the direction in which the air was moving, and reached the shaft.

Sometimes there comes a little breath from G.o.d that touches our souls.

It may be so gentle and faint that you barely recognize it; but if you do, do not disregard it. Thank G.o.d that He has spoken to you, and praise Him for it, and whatever may come do not go in the opposite direction. Give yourself up to be led by it, and you will come out of darkness, out of bondage, out of sorrow, into perpetual light and joy.

Receiving and Never Giving

What makes the Dead Sea dead? Because it is all the time receiving, never giving out anything. Why is it that many Christians are cold?

Because they are all the time receiving, never giving out anything.

Dumb Christians

It is a very sad thing that so many of G.o.d's children are dumb; yet it is true. Parents would think it a great calamity to have their children born dumb; they would mourn over it, and weep; and well they might; but did you ever think of the many dumb children G.o.d has? The churches are full of them; they never speak for Christ. They can talk about politics, art, and science; they can speak well enough and fast enough about the fas.h.i.+ons of the day; but they have no voice for the Son of G.o.d.

Like Siamese Twins

Covetousness and stealing are almost like Siamese twins--they go together so often. In fact we might add lying, and make them triplets, "The covetous person is a thief _in_ the sh.e.l.l. The thief is a covetous person _out_ of the sh.e.l.l. Let a covetous person see something that he desires very much; let an opportunity of taking it be offered; how very soon he will break through the sh.e.l.l and come out in his true character as a thief." The Greek word translated "covetousness" means--an inordinate desire of getting. When the Gauls tasted the sweet wines of Italy, they asked where they came from, and never rested until they had overrun Italy.

Not Troubled with Doubts

One of the happiest men I ever knew was a man in Dundee, Scotland, who had fallen and broken his back when he was a boy of fifteen. He had lain on his bed for about forty years, and could not be moved without a good deal of pain. Probably not a day had pa.s.sed in all those years without acute suffering. But day after day the grace of G.o.d had been granted to him, and when I was in his chamber it seemed as if I was as near heaven as I could get on earth. I can imagine that when the angels pa.s.sed over Dundee, they had to stop there to get refreshed.

When I saw him, I thought he must be beyond the reach of the tempter, and I asked him: "Doesn't Satan ever tempt you to doubt G.o.d, and to think that He is a hard Master?"

"Oh, yes," he said, "he does try to tempt me. I lie here and see my old schoolmates driving along in their carriages, and Satan says: 'If G.o.d is so good, why does He keep you here all these years? You might have been a rich man, riding in your own carriage.' Then I see a man who was young when I was walk by in perfect health, and Satan whispers: 'If G.o.d loved you, couldn't He have kept you from breaking your back?'"

"What do you do when Satan tempts you?"

"Ah, I just take him to Calvary, and I show him Christ, and I point out those wounds in His hands and feet and side, and say, 'Doesn't He love me?' and the fact is, he got such a scare there eighteen hundred years ago that he cannot stand it; he leaves me every time."

That bedridden saint had not much trouble with doubts; he was too full of the grace of G.o.d.

Honey-Dew

I have sometimes been in a place where the very air seemed to be charged with the breath of G.o.d, like the moisture in the air. I remember one time as I went through the woods near Mount Hermon school I heard bees, and asked what it meant.

"Oh," said one of the men, "they are after the _honey-dew_."

"What is that?" I asked.

He took a chestnut leaf and told me to put my tongue to it. I did so, and the taste was sweet as honey. Upon inquiry I found that all up and down the Connecticut valley what they call "honey-dew" had fallen, so that there must have been altogether hundreds of tons of honey-dew in this region. Where it comes from I don't know.

Do you suppose that this earth would be worth living on if it were not for the dew and the rain? So a church that hasn't any of the dew of heaven, any of the rain that comes down in showers, will be as barren as the earth would be without the dew and rain.

A Personal Matter

"The life of Christianity," says Luther, "consists of personal p.r.o.nouns. It is one thing to say, 'Christ is a Savior.' It is quite another to say, 'He is _my_ Savior.' The devil can say the first. Only the true Christian can say the second."

They Knew It

Let me tell you how I had my eyes opened about the theater question. I had an a.s.sistant superintendent of a Sabbath school, a very promising young man, who seemed to be very happy in the work. A star actor came to the city, and he went to see him. I knew nothing of it, but the next Sunday when he came into the Sunday-school all over the building the boys cried out:

"Hypocrite! Hypocrite!"

The perspiration started out of every pore of my body; I thought they were looking at me. I said to the little newsboys:

"Who are you calling a hypocrite?"

They mentioned the a.s.sistant's name. I asked the reason, and they said:

"We saw him going into the theater."

I had never said anything about the theater to those children, but they saw that man going in, and called him a hypocrite. They seemed to know it was no place for a Christian to go. He lost his influence entirely, withdrew from the school, and after a while gave up Christian work altogether. He was just swept along with the tide in Chicago and his influence was lost.

Pull for the Sh.o.r.e

A vessel was wrecked off the sh.o.r.e. Eager eyes were watching and strong arms manned the life-boat. For hours they tried to reach that vessel through the great breakers that raged and foamed on the sand-bank, but it seemed impossible. The boat appeared to be leaving the crew to perish. But after a while the captain and sixteen men were taken off, and the vessel went down.

"When the life-boat came to you," said a friend, "did you expect it had brought some tools to repair your old s.h.i.+p?"

"Oh, no," was the response; "she was a total wreck. Two of her masts were gone, and if we had stayed mending her only a few minutes, we must have gone down sir."

"When once off the old wreck and safe in the life-boat what remained for you to do?"

"Nothing, sir, but just to pull for the sh.o.r.e."