"Oh, I bought it."
Mark the point; when he gave the penny, it ceased to be a gift. So with salvation. If you were to pay ever so little, it would not be a gift.
What Seed Are You Sowing?
Suppose I meet a man who is sowing seed, and say, "h.e.l.lo, stranger, what are you sowing?"
"Seed."
"What kind of seed?"
"I don"t know."
"Don"t you know whether it is good or bad?"
"No; I can"t tell. But it is seed--that is all I want to know, and I am sowing it."
You would say that he was a first-cla.s.s lunatic, wouldn"t you? But he wouldn"t be half so mad as the man who goes on sowing for time and eternity, and never asks himself what he is sowing or what the harvest will be.
Father, what seed are you sowing in your family? Are you setting your children a good or a bad example? Do you spend your time at the saloon or the club, until you have become almost a stranger to them? or are you training them for G.o.d and righteousness?
Bound Hand and Foot
When I was speaking to five thousand children in Glasgow some years ago, I took a spool of thread and said to one of the largest boys:
"Do you believe I can bind you with that thread?"
He laughed at the idea. I wound the thread around him a few times, and he broke it with a single jerk. Then I wound the thread around and around, and by and by I said:
"Now get free if you can."
He couldn"t move head or foot. If you are slave to some vile habit, you must either slay that habit, or it will slay you.
Unity
There is one thing I have noticed as I have traveled in different countries; I never yet have known the Spirit of G.o.d to work where the Lord"s people were divided. Unity is one thing that we must have if we are to have the Holy Spirit of G.o.d to work in our midst.
If a church is divided, the members should immediately seek unity. Let the believers come together and get the difficulty out of the way. If the minister of a church cannot unite the people, if those that were dissatisfied will not fall in, it would be better for that minister to retire. I think there are a good many ministers in this country who are losing their time; they have lost, some of them, months and years; they have not seen any fruit, and they will not see any fruit, because they have a divided church. Such a church cannot grow in divine things. The Spirit of G.o.d doesn"t work where there is division, and what we want to-day is the spirit of unity amongst G.o.d"s children, so that the Lord may work.
Get Inside!
You have looked at the windows of a grand church erected at the cost of many thousands of dollars. From the outside they did not seem very beautiful; but get inside, when the rays of the sun are striking upon the stained gla.s.s, and you begin to understand what others have told you of their magnificence. So it is when you have come into personal contact with Christ. You find Him to be the very Savior and friend you need. You will see in Him what you have never seen before.
Hunt For Something
We must study the Bible thoroughly, and hunt it through, as it were, for some great truth.
If a friend were to see me searching about a building, and were to come up, and say, "Moody, what are you looking for? Have you lost something?" and I were to say, "No, I haven"t lost anything; I"m not looking for anything particular," I fancy he would just let me go on by myself, and think me very foolish. But if I were to say, "Yes, I have lost a dollar," why, then, I might expect him to help me to find it.
Read the Bible, my friends, as if you were seeking for something of value. It is a good deal better to take a single chapter, and spend a month on it, than to read the Bible at random for a month.
"When Ye Think Not"
McCheyne, the Scotch preacher, once said to some friends, "Do you think Christ will come to-night?"
One after another they said, "I think not."
When all had given this answer, he solemnly repeated this text, "The Son of Man cometh at an hour _when ye think not_."
Home Piety
If a Christian is unsound in patience or unsound in love, we take no notice of it; but let him be unsound in faith, and off goes his head.
I do hate to see a minister or professing Christian mean and peevish to his wife, and yet be as polite as a dancing-master to other women.
I tell you he is not fit to preach the Word of G.o.d. I don"t want to have anything to do with him. The home was established before the church, and he sadly needs more home piety.
Constant Watching
The Persians had an annual festival when they slew all the serpents and venomous creatures they could find; but they allowed them to swarm as fast and freely as ever until the festival came round once more. It was poor policy. Sins, like serpents, breed quickly, and need to be constantly watched.
The Wrong Physician
I heard once of a man who went to England from the Continent, and brought letters with him to eminent physicians from the Emperor. The letters said:
"This man is a personal friend of mine, and we are afraid he is going to lose his reason. Do all you can for him."
The doctor asked him if he had lost any dear friend in his own country, or any position of importance, or what it was that was weighing on his mind.
The young man said: "No; but my father and grandfather and myself were brought up infidels, and for the last two or three years this thought has been haunting me, "Where shall I spend eternity?" And the thought of it follows me day and night."
The doctor said, "You have come to the wrong physician, but I will tell you of One who can cure you"; and he told him of Christ, and read to him the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, "With His stripes we are healed."
The young man said, "Doctor, do you believe that?"
The doctor told him he did, and prayed and wrestled with him, and at last the clear light of Calvary shone on his soul. He had settled the question in his own mind at last, where he would spend eternity.
I ask you, sinner, to settle if now. It is for you to decide. Shall it be with the saints and martyrs and prophets, or in the dark caverns of h.e.l.l, amidst blackness and darkness forever? Make haste to be wise; for "how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?"
Seeking the Lost