Orpah turns back alone, and I can see her on the top of the hill; she stops, and turns round for a last look. And Naomi says to Ruth, "Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back to her people, and unto her G.o.ds; return thou after thy sister-in-law." What does Ruth say?
"Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy G.o.d my G.o.d." Her choice was made. Poverty here or suffering and want yonder, she would share Naomi"s lot.
A BLESSED DECISION.
Orpah loved Naomi, but not enough to leave all for her; while Ruth loved her mother so much, that the leaving of her people seemed nothing to her. Oh, may G.o.d draw out all your hearts, so that you may leave _all_ and follow Him! We never hear any more of Orpah; the curtain falls upon her life. Perhaps she died away up in the mountains of Moab, without G.o.d and without hope. But how different with Ruth!
She becomes famous in history; she is one of the few women whose names have come along down the roll of ages; and she is brought into the royal line of heaven. I have an idea that G.o.d blessed her for that decision. And He will bless you if you decide in a like manner. Who will say to-night, as Ruth did, "I will follow thee; and thy G.o.d shall be my G.o.d"? Will any one take up the language of Ruth? Is there not a Ruth here? If there is, the Master is calling.
I"ll take another word. I have been speaking of "receive"; the next word I want your attention to is,
TRUSTING.
Many get hold of that when they cannot get hold of "believe" or "receive." You all know what it is to trust. If it were not for trust, there would be a terrible commotion in this building to-night.
If you could not trust that the roof was firmly put up, you would get out pretty quick; and if you could not trust these chairs to support you, how long would you sit on them? Why, you wouldn"t have come here at all if you didn"t trust our word that there would be an address.
Now, it is just the same trust that G.o.d wants. It is no miraculous trust or faith, but just the same kind, only the object is different.
Instead of trusting in these earthly things, or in an arm of flesh, you are asked to trust in the Son of G.o.d.
THE DUBLIN MERCHANT.
In Dublin I was speaking to a lady in the inquiry-room, when I noticed a gentleman walking up and down before the door. I went forward and said, "Are you a Christian?" He was very angry, and turned on his heel and left me. The following Sunday night I was preaching about "receiving," and I put the question, "Who"ll receive Him now?" That young man was present, and the question sank into his heart. The next day he called upon me--he was a merchant in that city--and said, "Do you remember me?" "No, I don"t." "Do you remember the young man who answered you so roughly the other night?" "Yes, I do." "Well, I"ve come to tell you I am saved." "How did it happen?" "Why, I was listening to your sermon last night, and when you asked, "Who"ll receive Him now?" G.o.d put it into my heart to say, "I will"; and He has opened my eyes to see His Son now." I don"t know why thousands should not do that here to-night. If you are ever to be saved, why not now?
But another point you must remember--
SALVATION IS A FREE GIFT,
and it is a free gift _for us_. Can you buy it? It is a free gift, presented to "whosoever." Suppose I were to say, I will give this Bible to "whosoever"; what have you got to do? Why, nothing but take it. But a man comes forward, and says, "I"d like that Bible very much." "Well, didn"t I say "whosoever"?" "Yes; but I"d like to have you say my name." "Well, here it is." Still he keeps eyeing the Bible, and saying, "I"d like to have that Bible; but I"d like to give you something for it. I don"t like to take it for nothing." "Well, I am not here to sell Bibles; take it, if you want it." "Well, I want it; but I"d like to give you something for it. Let me give you a penny for it; though, to be sure, it"s worth twenty or thirty shillings." Well, suppose I took the penny; the man takes up the Bible, and marches away home with it. His wife says, "Where did you get that Bible?" "Oh, I bought it." Mark the point; when he gives the penny it ceases to be a gift. So with salvation. If you were to pay ever so little, it would not be a gift.
THE USELESSNESS OF TRYING.
Man is always trying to do something. This miserable word "try" is keeping thousands out of heaven. When I hear men speak of "trying," I generally tell them it is the way down to death and h.e.l.l. I believe more souls are lost through "trying" than any other way. You have often tried, and as often failed; and as long as you keep trying you will fail. Drop that word, then, and take as your sure foothold for eternity, "trust." "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" I that is the right kind of trust. Would to G.o.d that you would all say, "I will trust Him now, to-night." Did you ever hear of any one going down to h.e.l.l trusting in Jesus? I never did. This very night, if you commit yourself to Him, the battle will be over.
You are complaining you don"t _feel_ better. Well, remember, the child must be born before it can be taught. So we cannot learn of G.o.d until we receive Him. We must be born--born again--_i.e._ the new birth, ere we can feel. Christ must be in us the hope of glory. How can He be in us if we don"t receive Him and trust Him?
PRESENT SALVATION.
Another verse that has been used a great deal during the past two years, and I feel that I rest my own salvation on it, is John v. 24. I trust G.o.d will write it on your hearts, and burn it down into your souls. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, _hath_ everlasting life." Thank G.o.d for that "hath."
I had a few men in the inquiry-room the other night who could not find peace. I said, "Do you believe the Bible?" "Yes, sir." "I think I will prove you don"t. Turn up John v. 24." They turned it up. "Read the verse." ""He that heareth My Word--"" "You believe that?" "Yes, sir."
""And believeth on Him that sent me--"" "You believe G.o.d sent Jesus?"
"Yes." "Well, read on." ""Hath everlasting life."" "You believe you _have_ everlasting life?" "No, we don"t." "Oh, I thought you didn"t believe in the Bible!" What right have you to cut a verse in two, and say you believe the one half, but not the other? It plainly says, that he who believes "hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is pa.s.sed from death unto life." Why, if you believe G.o.d"s words, you can say, "I have pa.s.sed from darkness into light."
Just by resting on that one little word in the present tense we may have "a.s.surance" now. We don"t need to wait till we die, and till the great day of judgment, to find it out.
"TAKE, TAKE!"
A lady in Glasgow came to me, and said, "Mr. Moody, you are always saying "Take, take!" Is there any place in the Bible where it says "Take," or is it only a word you use? I have been looking in the Bible for it, but cannot see it." "Why," I said, "the Bible is sealed with it; it is almost the last word in the Bible. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him _take_ the water of life freely."" "Well," she said, "I never saw that before. Is that all I have to do?" "Yes, the Bible says so." And she took it, just there.
G.o.d says, "Let him take"; who can stop us if G.o.d says it? All the devils in h.e.l.l cannot hinder a poor soul from taking, if G.o.d says "Take." My friends, are you going to "Take" to-night? Are you going to let these precious meetings pa.s.s without getting Christ--without being able to look up and say, "Christ is my Saviour, G.o.d is my Father, heaven is my home"?
AN ANXIOUS INQUIRER.
A lady came to my house the other night, anxious about her soul; but after some conversation she left, without finding peace. She came again, and I asked, "What is the trouble?" "I haven"t got peace." I took her to this verse, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John iii. 36). I just held up that little word "hath" to her, and turned to John v. 24, and vi. 47. There these words were spoken by Jesus, and they are all linked on to believing on the Son. After we had talked for some time, she looked in my face earnestly, and said, "I have got it!" and went away rejoicing in the Saviour"s love.
If you seek life you can have it now, as you sit upon your seat. The word "hath" occurs again in Isa. liii. 6: "All we like sheep have gone astray;... and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Our iniquity has been laid upon Christ, and the Lord is not going to demand payment twice. "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree."
THE DEBT PAID.
Suppose I owed Mr. Wanamaker a thousand pounds, and I became a bankrupt; I would have nothing to pay, so he might send me to prison.
But suppose Mr. Stone heard of it, and says, "I don"t want to see Moody taken to prison." So he pays the debt for me, and gets the receipt. When I see the receipt, I know that I am free. But Mr.
Wanamaker finds out that I didn"t pay it, and gets me hauled off to court. He says he must have me pay it myself, or I must go to prison.
I show the receipt. "Why," says the judge, "the debt is paid."
Mr. Wanamaker says, "Moody didn"t pay it." Would any judge in the land support him? No; it is paid, and cannot be demanded again. Well, if man do not ask payment twice, will G.o.d? No, certainly not! The case is this: the debt has been paid, our sins have been atoned for. Christ Himself has redeemed us, not with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but with His precious blood; therefore we are free.
But remember, although salvation is so free for us, it cost G.o.d a great deal to redeem us. He had an only Son, and He gave Him up freely for us. What a wonderful gift! If you make light of so great a salvation, how can you escape the d.a.m.nation of h.e.l.l?
THE GREAT QUESTION.
Now, one question: What are you going to do with Christ? You have got to settle that question. You may get angry, like a man a short time ago, who marched out of a church, saying, "What right has that American to make such a statement?" But it is true; you must settle it. Pilate wanted to shirk the responsibility, and sent Jesus to Herod; but he was forced to a decision. When the Jews forced him to decide, he washed his hands, and said he "was innocent of this just man"s blood." But did that take away his guilt? No.
An angel may be here, hovering over this audience, and he is listening to what is said. Some one may say, "I will receive Him; I will delay no longer." Immediately the angel will wing his way right up to the pearly gates, and tell the news that another sinner has been saved.
There will be a new song ringing through the courts of heaven over sinners repenting. G.o.d will issue the command to write down their names in the book of life, and to get rooms ready for them in the new Jerusalem, where we all will soon be.
GUILTY, BUT SAFE.
A man was once being tried for a crime, the punishment of which was death. The witnesses came in one by one, and testified to his guilt; but there he stood, quite calm and unmoved. The judge and the jury were quite surprised at his indifference; they could not understand how he could take such a serious matter so calmly. When the jury retired, it did not take them many minutes to decide on the verdict "guilty"; and when the judge was pa.s.sing the sentence of death upon the criminal, he told him how surprised he was that he could be so unmoved in the prospect of death.
When the judge had finished, the man put his hand in his bosom, pulled out a doc.u.ment, and walked out of the dock a free man. Ah, that was how he could be so calm; it was a free pardon from his king, which he had in his pocket all the time. The king had instructed him to allow the trial to proceed, and to produce the pardon only when he was condemned. No wonder, then, that he was indifferent as to the result of the trial. Now, that is just what will make us joyful in the great day of judgment; we have got a pardon from the Great King, and it is sealed with the blood of His Son.
THE CHICAGO FIRE.
After the Chicago fire took place, a great many things were sent to us from all parts of the world. The boxes they came in were labelled "For the people who were burned out," and all a man had to do was to prove that he had been burned out, and he got a share. So here, you have but to prove that you are poor, miserable sinners, and there"s help for you. If every man who is ruined and lost will cling to "try," there is no hope; but if he give it all up as a bad job, then Christ will save him. The law condemns us, but Christ saves us.
THE LOST SCHOLAR.
The superintendent of a Sabbath school in Edinburgh was walking down the street one day, when he met a policeman leading a little boy by the hand, who was crying bitterly. He stopped, and asked the policeman what was the matter with the boy. "Oh," said the officer, "he has got lost." The superintendent asked to look at him. They went to a lamp, and held up the little fellow. Why, in a moment the boy knew his superintendent, and flew to his arms. The gentleman took him from the policeman, and the boy was comforted. The law has got us, but let us flee into Jesus" arms, and we are safe.
A friend of mine in the North told me of a poor Scottish la.s.sie, who was very anxious about her soul. He told her to read Isaiah liii. She replied, "I canna read, and I canna pray; Jesus, take me as I am!"
That was the true way; and Jesus just took her as she was. Let Him take you this night, just as you are, and He will receive you to His arms.
THREE YEARS SEEKING JESUS.
One night, when preaching in Philadelphia, right down by the side of the pulpit there was a young lady, whose eyes were riveted on me as if she were drinking in every word. It is precious to preach to people like that; they generally get good, even if the sermon be poor.
I got interested in her, and after I had done talking, I went and spoke to her. "Are you a Christian?" "No, I wish I was; I have been seeking Jesus for three years." I said, "There must be some mistake."
She looked strangely at me, and said, "Don"t you believe me?" "Well, no doubt you thought you were seeking Jesus; but it don"t take an anxious sinner three years to meet an anxious Saviour." "What am I to do, then?" "The matter is, you are trying to _do_ something; you must just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ."
"Oh, I am sick and tired of the word, "Believe, believe, believe!" I don"t know what it is." "Well," I said, "we"ll change the word; take "trust."" "If I say, I"ll trust Him, will He save me?" "No, I don"t say that; you may _say_ a thousand things, but if you _do_ trust Him."
"Well," she said, "I do trust Him; but," she added in the same breath, "I don"t feel any better." "Ah, I"ve got it now! You"ve been looking for feelings for three years, instead of for Jesus. Faith is up above, not down here."