Prayer Meeting Talks

PRAYER MEETING TALKS.

CHRIST THE GOOD SAMARITAN. LUKE X:25.

In this picture we get the whole gospel. Jerusalem was the city of peace. Jericho was a city condemned, and from one to the other was all the way down hill—an easy road to go, as the unfortunate man thought when he started on his journey. But he fell among thieves, who stripped him and left him half dead, and the priest and the Levite passed him by. These two men represent a large class of people. We can imagine the priest asking himself, "Am I my brother's keeper?" and complaining, "What did he want to go down there for, anyway? Why didn't he stay at home? He was a great deal better off in Jerusalem—he might have known something would happen to him." Some people think they have done their duty when they blame the poor for their poverty, and the unfortunate for the accidents which happen to them.

There is another class who always begin to philosophise the minute they see any suffering. "Why does God have these things? Why does he have sin and poverty in the world, I would like to know. He needn't have it. He could just as well have made a world without it." But here oomes the good Samaritan; he does more than pity and philosophise; he helps, gives oil, and lifts the poor fellow on his beast. He is not afraid to touch him. He don't stop to ask whether he is Jew or Gentile, or just what he is going to do with the man if he takes him away from there. Now a great many people ask us, "What are you going to do with these young converts when you get them? Where will you put them—into what church —Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal?" "Well, we don't know; we have not thought of that; we are trying to get them out of the ditch first." "Oh, well then, we don't want to have anything to do with it; we want it to be done decently and in order, if we are going to have a hand in it."

These people are no Samaritans; they won't have any thing to do with the poor fellows by the wayside if they cannot dispose of them ever afterwards to suit themselves. Let us not condemn those who have fallen into the ditch. Christ is our Good Samaritan; He has done for us, and tells us to do for others.

CREATE A CLEAN HEART IN ME, O GOD.—PS. Hi 10.

It seems as if here is where we might well stop and say a wordIs our heart clean in the sight of God? Has he renewed a right spirit within us? Do we show that in our home, in our daily life, in our business, and in our contact with others? If wo do not, it seems to me it is better to be praying for ourselves than for others, that the world may see that we have been with God's Spirit. If we are a great way from Christ in all our ways, our words will be cold and empty, and we cannot reach the world. There is power enough in this room to move all Now York if we had the right spirit and clean hearts. A friend of mine told me he had been preaching some time without seeing any results in his church, and he began to cry to God that he might have a blessing in his church. He said weeks went on and the answer didn't come, and he felt as if he must either have a blessing or give up the ministry. He must have souls or die, and he said that on one Sunday he threw himself on his knees in his study and cried to God: "Oh! God, break this heart of mine and give me a contrite spirit." Just at this moment he heard a faint rap at the door, and opening it, his little child, four years old, entered. She had heard her father's prayer, and she said, "Father, I wish you would pray for me, I want a clean heart." "And," said he, "God broke my heart, and at the next meeting there were forty inquirers, after that one sermon." Oh, that our hearts may be tender, and may we know what it is to havo broken hearts and contrite spirits.

GOD'S POWER TO SAVE THE DRUNKARD.—JER. XXxii: 17.

"Oh, Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched-out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee."

Mr. Moody said he had taken that chapter to every place where ho had been. He tried to find a substitute, but had never succeeded. He then said:

It's just what we want to give the key-note to our meetings. Many of us look about and see so many wretched and wicked people that we become disheartened. But it's as easy for God to save every drunkard and infidel in New York as it is for him to turn his hand over. Think of this earth that God has made, with its mountains and rivers! Some one has said it is only a ball thrown from the hand of God, and another that the stars and the moon are only the fringe of his garments. If God can do these great things, think you he can't save drunkards? If he could speak worlds into existenoe, can't he save dead souls? I have more hope of these prayer meetings than of any others. But if we don't get a hold of God here we won't anywhere. I believe that God answers prayers. If we ask a fish, he won't give us a stone. Some have said these meetings will pass away and do no good. But it won't be so if God is with us. The late war taught men how to pray. It seems to me that some of the best work I ever saw was among the soldiers. Those boys away from their mothers, how many prayers were uttered for them, and how many were converted! I well remember a young lieutenant from Indiana. In one of our meetings, when we had been speaking of mothers' prayers, he got up and said the remarks reminded him of letters he had received from his mother, expressing great anxiety about his soul. He had told her he would come to Christ after the war; but she reminded him he might never see that time. Another letter came from his home, and that mother was dead. And with the tears trickling down his cheeks, that noble young man told his tale, and came to know his Savior. Now we come to-day to call upon the Lord for a great blessing to rest upon this mighty city.

A RAINY DAY PRAYER MEETING.—PS. oiiL

There are five precious clauses in this Psalm, viz: "He forgiveth all thine iniquities;" "He healeth all thy diseases;" "Heredeemeth thy life from destruction," and "He crowneth thee with loving kindness." Christianity is better than anything that the world can give. It satisfies us. This is what wealth cannot do. The crowns of Europe cannot give the peace and contentment that come from the Crown of Life. I like these rainy-day prayer meetings. It costs us something to get here.

DISOBEDIENCE.

All the trouble in the world originates in this little word. It is the cause of all misery, and is the open door through which it comes. It was there that Adam fell; God told him that he shouldn't do a oertain thing, and he did it. In the 15th chapter of 1st Samuel we read of sacrifices and obedience, and that God prefers being obeyed to having any sacrifice offered that men may choose. The first thing that God wants is obedience. That's what we want in our families. If our children disobey us there comes an alternative. They must learn to obey, or they or we must leave the house. It is the same with the kingdom of God. If we enter it we must obey. To obey is better than making sacrifice. Saul lost his crown, his throne, his son, his friend Samuel, and the friendship of his son-in-law

David; he turned his back on them all because of his disobedience, and he finally lost his life. But just turn to that other Saul over in the New Testament. He was obedient unto death. He had no Jonathan, save at the right hand of God. He had no crown, no throne, but he won them both. A blessing is promised all who will obey. God deals with individuals as with nations. The punishment is the same. Punishment comes alike upon families and individuals if they will not obey. A crisis may come when we do not know whether to obey God or our employers or possibly our parents. The Word of God makes the way clear. When we come into God's kingdom, "whatsoever he saith to thee, do it." If the laws in the nation are in conflict with God's law, they must be broken. Christ alone of all men obeyed God fully. Obey him and then God may look down pleased with his children, and say, "This is my son, this is my daughter." Christ came to do God's will. When men disobey army orders they are court-martialed and shot . No one complains. Now, my friends, is there not as much reason why we should obey the orders of heaven, and, when we do not, should we not be punished? Sinners are willing to do anything but obey God. Coming to him as a poor beggar is what they don't like. If they could buy salvation they would gladly do it. Some men down in Wall street, I fancy, would pay great prices. Many people come to me and say, "Mr. Moody, is it right for me to go to the theatre; can I dance?" That ain't it. Can we glorify God by doing such things? It's a good deal better to be right with God, and then he will look down with pleasure and bless us.

HOPE.

If I should question every one here to-day I have no doubt eaoh would be found with a hope. But is it a true or a false hope! If it is false it is worse than none. Job speaks about the hypocrite, and says: "Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him." Solomon says in Proverbs that "the hope of the unjust man shall perish." If you have false hopes of heaven, the best thing you can do is to give them up. For what are they good for? Will they bear you over Jordan? Will they sustain you beyond the grave? But true hope is not in regard to eternal life. That is secured to us if we are born of God. Our hopes are of the resurrection of Christ, his second coming and our own resurrection. It is written, "He that believeth hath eternal life." The Lord himself shall descend from heaven, the dead shall be raised, and we shall meet him in the air. It is a glorious hope. All that believe shall rise. That is a hope sure and steadfast. Some one says that joy is like a lark that sings in the morning, but hope is like a nightingale that sings in the "<**,, We won't need hope after we get to heaven. But it tal

can have Christ and this hope to-day if you will. ^u He came to hit own and his own received him not, but as many as received him to them gave he power."

FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. GAI» T! 22.

Love is the first fruit. If we don't love our enemies we're not converted. We must be able to forgive others before God will forgive us. There is no grace in loving our friends and those who love us. The greatest heathen would do that. But joy is what we want to talk about to-day. No man is converted who hasn't it. The angels said, "I bring you good tidings of great joy." The world may give happiness, but it is fleeting. It may vanish in a day. But joy comes from heaven; it is a river, and flows on forever from the throne. Some people say they once had this joy, but have it not now. Let them turn over to the words, "Restore to me the joy of thy salvation." He will do it. But remember the words, "Study the Word and work." A man may work and still not have joy, and he may study the Bible and not have it. He must work and study both. Then it will come, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." .If you have joy in your heart you can't help but work. Your strength will not fail you.

There are three kinds of joy. First is the joy of our own salvation. How well we remember the day when we found the Lord! "Happy day"—how we liked to sing that hymn! Then there is the joy of seeing others converted. I pity those who keep out of the inquiry-room. We who are in there get the cream of this work; while you, if I may be allowed the expression, only get the skimmed milk. And a third kind of joy is that which comes from seeing others walk in God's ways. In John 15, 11th verse, Christ says, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may remain with you and your joy might be full." .That was better than if he had left us silver aim gold. That's his legacy, his will. Yes, " My joy I leave with you," and, thank God, the devil can't get hold of it; the world can't take it away. How easy it is to save souls when you have joy in your heart. The world sees it in your faces. Last night we had the most extraordinary meeting that has been held. It was the grandest impression 1 have had inNew York, to see these young men standing up. Ah, the joy of Christ was on their faces.

WHAT IS IT TO BELIEVE OK CHRIST?—JOHN iv: 11, 12.

If Christ was not divine, he was not a Savior, and we are manworshipers; all our hopes are gone, and our faith is vain. Matthew wrote to prove that Christ is the true Messiah, the Son of David. Mark begins with Malachi, where the Old Testament leaves off.

PRAYBB MEETING TALKS. 681

Luke begins with Zaohariah. But John^-sweeps over them all, and

foes back to the bosom cf God, and .brings Christ from the throne, 'he 11th and 12th verses of the 4tn chapter of John are to me two of the most precious in the Bible. They are about worn out in my Bible with use: "And he came unto his own, and his own received him not; but unto such as believed on him, to them gave he power." Mark the " Him." There is no creed, no denomination, no system required. There is not a soul here but can take him to-day if it will. "Whomsoever" has been said, and it means all mankind. We have the best reasons to believe that this religion is true. How could hundreds of thousands of Christians have found so much comfort in Christ if it were all a myth? See how many men have been elevated and lifted up. Let us only take God at his word and we will be saved.

Last night in the young men's meeting, a young man stood up and told how he had been saved three years ago; how his mother and sisters had all given him up, and the Lord reached down and lifted him into life. Isn't this proof of the Lord's power? All who find Christ tell the same story, be they Americans, English, German, Chinese, or of other nationality. What more proof do you want than this, and the ages that this religion has been a gospel of peace and joy to thousands of suffering souls. There is much discussion now-adays about miracles. But isn't a conversion a miracle? John's gospel is the great one. Believe, believe, believe, he says. That idea is ever before him. Every chapter but two in his writings mentions it. God don't tell you to feel; many say they don't feel right to come to Christ. God tells you to believe. You must trust him first. You must have faith in him before you can have Christian experience. "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him;" that's it. If he don't save us, who can? All the churches and priests in the world can't do it. Now let us pray that all the unbelief in this building may be swept away.

PRAISE.

We have a blessed subject to-day—" Praise." I think this is the first praise meeting we have had. We have been praying a great Heal, and now let us praise God. There is much more said in the Bible about praise than about prayer. The Psalms are nothing but praise, and as David got nearer the end of his journey he seems to have thought of little else. So it is with Christians—the nearer they get to heaven the more they praise God. The saints praise him in heaven, and men should learn how to praise him here be low. Everything that God has created except the heart of man, praises him. The sun, moon, and stars praise him, and oh, let us praise him!" "Praise the Lord, O my soul," says

the Psalmist. I knew a man who always used to praise God under any circumstances. One day he came in with a severe cut on his finger, and said, "I have cut my finger. Praise God! I didn't cut it off." Under all circumstances let us praise God that our misfortunes are no worse. Let us ask him to help us to praise him. If we only had more of these praise meetings, I think it wouldn't be long before a glorious revival would sweep through all the churches. Forget your troubles, and begin to praise God to-day.

CHRIST MIGHTY TO SAVE.

The key-note of this meeting is the sentiment of that hymn—"Christ mighty to save." I have had considerable experience with men enslaved by strong drink. They try often to reform, but seldom succeed alone. The reason is that they have too much confidence in their own strength. When they give that up, and learn to trast alone in Christ, they are saved. When they call on God for help, they always get it. If we could only save ourselves by our own strength there would be no need of a Savior. The worst enemy man has is himself. His pride and self-confidence often ruin him. They keep him from trusting to the arms of a loving Savior. We are wicked by our nature; there is nothing good in us; the Bible teaches us that all the way through. David in the Psalm said: "There is none that doeth good; no, not one." He was right. We are all evil in our nature. It is the old Adam. I tell you man without God is a failure, and a tremendous failure. There's nothing good in him. It is a great deal better to believe God than to hope for salvation through your own poor exertions. How many times have you resolved to break off from some habit, and failed! The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. What we want is a new creation. Don't try to patch up your old natures. We want to be regenerated. Last Friday we had some men here from Philadelphia, and they did muoh good. Some have said, "Oh, they won't hold out." But we have some other friends here to-day. Let them testify.

Peace.—Num. vi: 26.

The gospel is a gospel of peace, and our God is a God of peace, not of contention. The wicked know nothing of peace. There is no peace saith the Lord, for the wicked; they are like the troubled sea —but you don't need to go to the Bible to find that out; if you will look around you, you will see it. If you have not got peace, it is a sure sign you have not found the true God, for the peace of God will keep your hearts and minds if you have found him. Look in the 6th chapter of Numbers, 26th verse: "The Lord lift up his countenanoe upon thee, and give thee peace." The Lord will keep thee; the Lord will give thee peace; the Lord will bless thee—blessing at the foundation, blessing on the top, peace in the middle, solid, real peace such as the world cannot give or take away. When a man has left a will, how eagerly we read it! We don't care much for a dry law paper, but if it has got our name in it with a legacy we never find it dry. Now God says, 'My peace I leave with you.' Oh, child of God, have you got it? None of us have enough of it. I get angry and disturbed and make a fool of myself very often; I wish I had peace enough to keep me from it, but God gives good measure, shaken up, pressed down, full measure. Let our hearts be open to receive the peace of God."

AFFLICTIOW.

You will find in the 119th psalm, 67th verse, these words: "Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now have I kept thy word;" and again, in the 71st verse: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes." We can stand affliction better than we can prosperity, for in prosperity we forget God. When our work is light, our prospects good, and everything looks smooth and easy, we are more apt to give ourselves over to pleasure. Somebody said: "It is the dead level of affairs that makes us go to ruin." A great many have a wrong idea of God, and think he sends afflictions because he don't love them; they think that, because they don't know him. He sends afflictions to humble our hearts and make us look to him, and because he loves us, so he cannot let us leave him and forget him. Mr. Moody read a letter from a young lady in London, who would not go to the' meetings when he was there for fear she might be converted, but who, since then, had been brought to God through suffering.

HOPE FOB THE INEBRIATE.

There is no one day in the week when I feel my weakness so much as on Friday. We can do nothing. If these men get liberty, it is by the power of God. If you will turn to the third chapter of Aots, you will read the story of the lame man whom Peter restored, and who followed him into the temple. When the people saw it they ran together, greatly wondering, and probably when John saw this he said to Peter, "Now, Peter, would be agood time for you to preach." And Peter said, " Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we bad made this man to walk? It was faith in God's name which made this man strong, whom ye see and know." The man had been blind from his birth, but he walked around, crying and shaking himself in the temple. If we had seen him, we w"-'d have thought he was a shouting Methodist with his hallelujahs and amens. It was by Christ's power, not by his own, that Peter did this thing. So it is with us. Many ask: "Can these drunkards be saved?" I tell you, only by Christ; if God gives them power they will be saved. We are living in the days of miracles now. These intemperate men are only converted by a miracle. They may be overtaken by a fault, but if they are, let us go and help them up again; it is no sign they have not been converted because their faults overtake them afterward; it is so with all of us. What we do must be done in Christ's name. We might as well have an icicle in the pulpit as a maa who leaves Christ out. Tons of such mere intellectual sermons do no good. If these men will get Christ they can resist temptation; otherwise they cannot.

BELIEF IN GOD.—II KINGS, 7.

I have believed in God for thirty years. When first converted I did not believe in him very much, but ever since then I have believed in him, more and more every year. When people come to me, tell me they can't believe, and ask what they shall do, I tell them to do as I once knew a man to do. He went and knelt down and told God honestly he could not believe in him, and I advise them to go off alone and tell it right out to the Lord. But if you stop to ask yourself why you don't believe in him, is there really any reason? People read infidel books and wonder why they are unbelievers, I ask why they read such books. They think they must read both sides. I say that book is a lie; how can it be one side when it is a lie? It is not one side at all. Suppose a man tells right down lies about my family, and I read them so as to hear both sides; it would not be long before some suspicion would creep into my mind. I said to a man once, "Have you got a wife?" "Yes, and a good one." I asked: "Now what if I should come to you and cast out insinuations against her?" And he said, " Well your life would not be safe long if you did." I told him just to treat the devil as he would treat a man who went round with such stories. We are not to blame for having doubts flitting through our minds, but for harboring them. Let us go out trusting the Lord with heart and soul to-day.

HE CAME TO SAVE SINNER8.

They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are siok. "I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."

In his short address he said: Matthew, Mark, and Luke all give an account of this saying of Christ's, that he came to save sinners. Sin may keep us out of heaven, but cannot keep us from coming to Christ. Christ was a physician; he came to save sinners, and he never lost a case that was brought to him. If you should call a physician to see a friend and he should go and find that man was perfectly well, he would be indignant, wouldn't he? I remember when I was in Chicago, seeing the advertisement of a patent medicine stuck all round on houses and rocks and fences. "Pain Killer! Pain Killer! Pain Killer!" and I thought, "There is a man who is bound to make some money." I hadn't any pain I wanted oured, so I did not pay much attention to it. But one morning when spring came I had a headache, and when I saw that this Pain Killer would cure headache I bought a bottle. Men don't want a doctor until they are sick, and don't go to Christ until they feel their need of him. It is no use to offer bread to a man who is not hungry, or water to a man who is not thirsty. "They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." Paul said he was the chief of sinners, and if the chief is saved, there is hope for every sinner.

JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA.

What I want to call attention to this morning is how one aot done for Christ, with a pure motive, will live forever. All four of the disciples give an account of this deed. Joseph of Arimathea, was a rich man and a counselor, a good and just man, and John tells us he had long been a secret disciple of Christ. He had never come out boldly for fear of the Jews, but in that hour, when all had deserted him and one had betrayed him, the death of Christ brought Joseph out, and he alone came forward to care for the crucified body. It is the death of Christ which should enlist us all. The fact that he died for us should make us all come forward to advance his kingdom. Joseph had been opposed to the death of Jesus, but he had taken no part in his trial and crucifixion. Dr. Bonner says, "When you have a trial before a committee and one of its members will oppose the measure you want to carry, you don't send for him—you have the meeting without him if you can." So when this matter came up before the Sanhedrim, Joseph was not there and was not sent for. It is only when Christ is dead upon the cross that Joseph comes forward as a disciple and begs the body of Pilate—an act which has lived nearly one thousand nine hundred years, and which will continue to live throughout all time. Matthew, Mark, and Luke do not tell us where Joseph got the myrrh and aloes, but John tells us Nicodemus brought a hundred pounds weight, and that they put linen clothes upon the body of Jesus, with the spices, and laid it in a new sepulchre wherein was never man yet laid. It was a tomb Joseph had boilt for himself, expecting to lie there some day, but he Erobably thought the sepulchre would be all the sweeter if Christ ad laid there.

Wben we go away from here, let Ur see what we can do for the sake of Jesus, what acts that deserve to live.

LOSING SIGHT OF SELF.

Mr. Moody read the 9th chapter of Mark. He said: There is no doubt but hundreds of Christinas who have attended these meetings wonder how they can now go out and work for the Lord. There is one thing necessary first, and that is, we must lose ourselves and think only of duty. In this chapter which I have just read, we learn how the disciples had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest; but Christ said to them, "If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all and servant of all." If a man wants to become wise before God, he must be willing to appear a fool before the world. God don't want our wisdom: he wants our ignorance. "We read in the 10th chapter of Mark and 31st verse, "But many that are first shall be last, and the last first." Then Jesus tells us of seven things that are going to happen in reference to his death. "The Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and they shall oondemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles; and they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him, and the third day he shall rise again." This was a prophecy, and I have an idea that many things which we still think are visionary will literally take place at some remote time. Yet right after this prophecy the disciples said to him, « Master, we would that thou shouldst do for us whatsoever we shall desire." Here is self again, and always self. It was the dying request of Christ that we should eat of the bread and drink of the wine in remembrance of him; yet many young converts say to me, "I need not go to the communion table, need I?" I tell them they need not go unless they want to, but if that was the dying request of any friend they had they would be willing to do it all their lives; why, then, should they not desire to do it in remembrance of their Savior? They never thought of it in that way, they say. We want to be remembered in heaven, and Christ wants to be remembered here. We must pray to God to fill us with this spirit, and help us to get rid of self; and never let us stop and try to think who shall be greatest.

TRUE FRIENDSHIP.

We read in the 15th chapter of 11th Samuel that David was fleeing in exile from Jerusalem. Absalom had already undermined his power and superseded him on the throne. But as David went through the gate six hundred men passed on before him, and the king said to Ittai, the leader: "Wherefore goest thou also with us; return to thy place and abide with the king, for thou art a stranger and also an

exile." And Ittai answered the king and said, "As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be." There was another man, too, called Hushai, who went out to meet the king, but he returned again to the city. How it must have pleased David to have found Ittai outside the gate. Ittai is worth thousands of Hushais. David did not know who his friends were until trouble came. There was true fellowship, true love in that act. In time of distress Ittai would not desert his king, but followed him into exile. So it should be in the church. That is just what Christ looks for; the only thine which can please him is the true love that •will leave all to follow him. Some people do not know the meaning of the word fellowship—it means partnership. Our partnership is with Christ the Son, and when we come into it everything we have belongs to the firm; we can do nothing by ourselves without consulting Christ. We must be like Ittai, willing to leave the city and all we possess, if necessary, to follow him.

OUR REFUGE.

I want to caH your attention to the six cities of refuge appointed by Joshua for the children of Israel. These cities were set apart that all men who killed any person unawares or unwittingly, and without hatred, might flee to them and be safe within their gates. The magistrates had to see to it that guide-boards were put up, stones cleared away, and the roads kept clear for those who fled for their lives from the avengers of blood. These ancient cities of refuge are in our clay represented by Christ. He is our refuge in all times of trouble.

The names of the cities are Hebrew, and all have a meaning. Kedish means holiness. If we flee to this city of refuge we will be made holy. Had Christ committed sin we could have no hope, but since he is without sin, if we are in Christ we are made perfect. Shechem meant shoulder, which means strength and power. If a man needs strength he must flee there. Sins are in one of two places, on us or on Christ. If we are weak we must find strength in Shechem. Hebron means joined. If we can get there we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Beser means fortified; you are secured there if you want to get away from the world. Ramoth means heights and Golan means exile—exile in this world and citizenship in heaven. These six cities ought to be a help to you. Have we Christ for our refuge? If a man is away from God, what hope has he? It is folly for a man who has an appetite for drink to try and overcome it by himself; he can't overcome both his appetite and the devil alone. It is only through Christ that we can be secure.

THE HOLY SPIRIT.

If wo have the Spirit, we have the fruit of the Spirit. If the Spirit of God is in us, we will have these qualities of his Spirit. "He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love." Some one said to me the other day that he understood about belief, but could not understand what it was to be born again. I told him that he that believed had life eternal, and whoever received life through Christ was born again. A man cannot get that life by merely going to church and observing forms; he must get the Spirit of God, and then he will have light and peace. We have no peace so long as we have sin, but if we accept Christ, and salvation through him, our sins are blotted out, and we have peace in reviewing the past. Spiritual power is what we want next. As soon as the Holy Ghost comes we want boldness to go out and proclaim Jesus. There was once a man on trial for his life. The king of the country in which he lived said the law must take its course, but, after he was tried and condemned, he would pardon him. The man was cool all through his trial, and when they brought in a verdict of guilty, the man was perfectly unconcerned. So with the Christian. He will have boldness in his heart on the day of judgment, because he knows Christ became a propitiation for his sins and he has his pardon laid up in his heart.

THREE CLASSES.

I always notice many here at noon whom we have meet in the inquiry-rooms, and I want to speak a word to them. There are three classes of people who will not accept salvation—those who neglect it, those who refuse it, and those who despise it. Many think they are not so bad as the scoffer at religion because they only neglect it, but if they keep on they are lost just the same. Suppose there is a man in a boat going in a swift current down the stream; if he neglects to pull for the shore he is a doomed man. He will go over the rapids, won't he? If Noah had neglected to go into the ark after he had built it, he would have been lost with the other antediluvians. Nothing could have saved him. You let the cry be raised that this building is on fire, and see how many will keep their seats; they would be burned up as sure as they did.

Then again in the 12th chapter of Hebrews, 25th verse, "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh." The next step is to refuse salvation. A while ago they only neglected it, now they refuse it— that is the second round of the ladder. You can only do one of two things, take it or refuse it. You have all been in a house where the waiter passed ice-water to a number of people sitting together, and seen how some would take it and some would not; so the cup of sal-ration is passed among you to-day. How many of you will accept it? Are you almost persuaded? Remember a hair's breadth from heaven is not an inch from hell.

Again, in the 10th chapter of Hebrews, 28th verse, we re»d: "He that despised Moses's law died without mercy under twc or three witnesses." Many despise the whole thing, hate it, and will have none of it—give them a tract and they light their cigars with it. There are the three words—neglect, refuse, despise When there is but one engine and three cars attached, don't they i*!1 go the same way? If you do either of these three th^n^s, you must suffer the eternal consequences.

"seven Combs.'

The key-note for the services to-day ik found in the little word Come. I would like to speak to you of seven instances where we are invited to come to the Lord. In the 45th chapter of Isaiah and 1st verse we read, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters," and again in the 3d verse, "Irciine your ear and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live." 1 have great hopes that a man may be saved when he will stop and listen. People are so engrossed with the affairs of this world that but tew find time to stop. It is all rush and hurry, and they don't think about their souls. I was out to dinner yesterday, and they were trying there to teach a little child to walk. They would say to her, "Come," and she would try to go a few steps. So Christ is calling the world to come, but the trouble is they do not heed and won't go. After the Chicago fire, when such quantities of money, clothes, and provisions were sent there, the only question asked those who applied for assistance was: "Were you burned out?" If they could prove it, they got help. All you have to do is to show that you want help from God, and he will give it. In the 1st of Isaiah we find: "Come now, and let us reason together saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as show." Sin can keep us out of heaven, but not out of Christ. If you are out of Christ, decide now to come to him. As the old colored woman said, when she made up her mind, then she was there. Will you turn to the 6th chapter of Mark and 31st verse? Christ said to his disciples, "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile." It is a good thing to be alone with God. We lead two lives—one in the world and one apart with God. In the 11th chapter of Matthew is the invitation, "Come unto me all ye that labor." If any man or woman among you is carrying a burden, take it to Christ. In the last verse of the 4th chapter of Hebrews we are told to come boldly to the throne of grace. Those who are afraid to become Christians lest they can't hold out, should remember that at the throne we can find grace in time of need. The ne xt come is in the 22d chapter of Matthew and 4th verse: "Come unto the marriage"—the parable of the marriage of the king's son. The seventh and last invitation I want to call your attention to is, "Come and inherit eternal life." "Come up hither." These are blessed words, which will last forever.

THE RIGHT SPIRIT.

When Abraham came into God's presence, it was on his face; and in all the other instances where the patriarchs and prophets came to God they came to him in the same way. David was on his face in the psalm. He'd been away from God. Here he was getting back again; he had at first to get back to God, and then the blessing would come. Then the right spirit would come into them. They must have just a clean heart; then the blessing was theirs. Had they a right spirit? Had they got to where they could say, as the Psalmist did, that they had sinned against God and were waiting for forgiveness? They must be able to teach transgressors God's way. How could they teach the wicked God's way? They had to get the Holy Spirit, and then came the joy of God's salvation. If they would convert sinners, they must have this spirit. How should the world know God? The world wouldn't read the Bible; but what did the apostles say of Christians? They were "known and read of all men." This waf the way the world read God in them, read Christ in them. If he knew his own heart, its desire was to have God's Spirit. With it, they could do all things; without it, their work was as sounding brass and as a tinkling cymbal. Over in the book of Nehemiah, it was said that there was joy in the hearts and lives of God's children. There were, too many long-faced Christians. They always seemed to him to be under the lash; they'd never got away from the law. They wanted more joy; they needed greater gladness in their lives. "Then will I teach transgressors the way, and sinners shall be converted unto thee." "Then." This is when God had restored to them the joy of his salvation. They didn't place enough stress on the word "then." It was the turning point in their work. This was what Chicago wanted. A few hundred live Christians that had this spirit could do a mighty work. The king could have given a good many sheep, if God nad wanted them; but he didn't. The Lord didn't want his money. What does he say? Why, "to obey was better than sacrifice." This is what was wanted—obedience. The human heart didn't want to obey. They must have a broken and a contrite heart. An incident of an Illinois minister whose labors had been unblessed for a time was recited, and it was related how his heart had been broken by love, through a little three-year-olddaughter of his; and a revival in the church followed. So, nere u. Chicago, said Mr. Moody, before we can have any great blessing, or

any blessing at all, the hearts of the people have got to be broken; and then the blessings will come.

PRAYER.

We have for our subject, this afternoon, the wonderful prayer of the prophet Daniel. There is an impression abroad now that it has always been women and a few weak men who have prayed; but you can scarcely find a bolder or a wiser man than Daniel. He was prime minister of that great nation, for a long while. He was a wiser ruler and had more influence than any other man living on earth; and yet he was a man of prayer, and was not afraid to pray publicly. We are told that, when he was taken down to Babylon, the great king had a dream, and no man in his realm could interpret it. The king thought of his captive Daniel, and brought him and asked him what it meant. The young man, if he had not believed in God's power, might have turned away. But he didn't; he boldly told Nebuchadnezzar what God had written there.

Not only was Daniel a praying man, but he had faith that God would answer his prayers. Some people pray enough, but do not have faith that the Lord will hear them. They are lukewarm. There are a good many people of this sort here to-day. Daniel spoke to God with every confidence of being answered. Look at him when he went down into the den of lions, how he prayed. Prayer was with everything he did. I think we would have a good deal better government in this country, if our rulers prayed more. There would be a good many sneers at first; but the result would be a good government, and a wise one.

This man believed in prophecies, too; and I can fancy how the old man's eyes opened on turning away back to Jeremiah s writing, seventy years before, and reading: "I will punish them; the young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine;" and then looking around him, and seeing how all the words pronounced had been fulfilled. They disobeyed the Lord. When they were in Palestine, he said to his people that they must rest on the Sabbath day; but for 490 years they disobeyed God's command, and the Lord said, If they don't do what I want them, I will make them. So he sent Nebuchadnezzar out after them; and he captured them, and held them for seventy years. If they would not give the Lord this, he said he would take it; and so if we do not give up what God wants us to, he will not forgive us our sins, but keep us in bondage, and we will never hang our harps upon the willow, or sing the songs of Zion.

I will just read: "We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments. And now, O Lord our God, Thy hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown as at this day; we have sinned; we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee let thy anger and thy fury be turned awav from the city of Jerusalem, thy holy mountain, because for our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now, therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant and his supplications, and cause thv face to shine upon thy sanctuary, that is desolate for the Lord's sake."

He had not Christ to pray to like us. Daniel asks: ^u for the Lord's sake." He lived on the other side of Christ, and could not, like us, say " for Christ's sake. Oh what a power we have in prayer in Jesus. And he goes on: "Oh Lord, incline thine ear and hear; open thine eyes and behold our desolation, and the city which is called by thy name, for we do not present our supplication before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God; for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. And while 1 was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin—Mark that—"and confessing my sin"—and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God; yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding." Before he got off his knees, Daniel's message was answered. I don't know how far heaven is off; but the angel Gabriel, the messenger of God, came to him while he was praying. Think of that. Here was a man who could not look at God for the sins of his people, who only prayed earnestly; and before he was through, his prayer was answered, and Gabriel appeared. We know of only three visits that Gabriel ever made. This one, when he came to bring God's people to the promised land. Daniel was told that God was able to do everything; and the messenger not only told him that the children of Israel were going to the promised land, but he let Daniel into the secret of the Messiah's coming. The second time he came to Zacharias. At first Zacharias doubted him, but he said: "I am he who sits in the presence of God;" and then he came to the young maiden who bore the Christ, and that was the third visit.

There are a great many young Christians in Chicago who have got into the way of the world, who are falling into the way of thinking and believing that God has given over answering prayer. God answers prayers to-day, as readily as he did of old. Infidels and scoffers and scientists may tell us that the world must move along in a certain way, and a Divine answer to a prayer is absurd—the affairs of the world are and always have gone along in a regular way. There were infidels and scoffers, doubtless, in Babylon, who very likely laughed at this answer to the prayer of Daniel. But we have in this book a long list of promises to answer prayer; and let us unite in asking God's blessing on our meetings in Farwell Hall, and that the harvest of converts will be abundant. Ask it sincerely and earnestly; and you will see how quick the Lord will come and revive his work in this city. work can go oa. Let the prayer of David, *'Teach me, O Lord, and know my heart," sink deep into us. Let us pray that this hour may be a heart-searching time; and if our hope is a false one, let us be willing to give it up. I have heard of a lady who would not attend our meetings when everything was pleasant. If I was ill with an incurable disease, and called a doctor in, and he was to say: "Well, you are all right, you will soon be around again," although he knew I should die in thirty days, I shouldn't like him. But there are a great many people whom this would suit. Those people do not like to come here and listen to us telling them that their souls are sick and diseased, and prescribing just what will cure them. It is better to know the truth; that unless we search those hearts of ours and take out the disease, there is no hope for us. So let us pray, and let it be an honest prayer from us. "O God, search our hearts." And if, when you go homo, you feel troubled, don't say that you won't come back to the meetings, but ask God for more searching power, and then you will be ready to work.

ttEART-SBARCHINQ.

I want to speak to you about the two verses—23d and 24th—of the 109th Psalm. "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." "Search me;" not my neighbor, nor my brother, nor my sister, but " search me." You who have been here during the week will have seen that I have been trying to instill into all the system of heart-searching; that every one may go down to the bottom of his heart." Try to get all to say, "O Lord, know my heart." If God searches us through, he will make quick work of Chicago. The great trouble is that people search themselves, and do not ask God's aid. We want to ask God to come to us with his searching power, that our hearts may be bared. What is it that keeps away from us this searching of our hearts? It is not the world; it is not the devil, for he has not the power. The only thing that keeps it from us is our own will; and the only thing that keeps the blessing of God back from Chicago is the people. A great many of us wonder how it is that our prayers have done no good; how it is that they have gone no higher than our heads. The truth would be discovered if we examined,—that we are not living in communion with God. Some of us think we are in communion with God; but it is a false thought. A false hope is worse than no hope at all; because in it a man is at. rest and happy, and he cannot do any work. If we get that heart-searching truly, we will know just where we stand. We must not look at what people think of us, but what we look like in God's sight. Therefore we must beware lest we have only a false hope, and ask God to give us the true searching power. If we falsely believe that wo have it may God take it from us to-day, so that the work may be deep in Chicago. I have been praying all along that the work might be deeper here than anywhere else; but unless we get this searching power, we don't do much good.

I was out on my brother's farm, a short time ago, and he was plowing. He could not go very deep, owing to the roots in the ground. So it is in Chicago; the roots have got to be taken out before our

A doctor comes to a man who has broken his arm. The doctor feels around at first and he says, "Does that hurt you?" touching the arm. The man answers, "No." The physician goes a little higher, and says, "Does that hurt you?" "No, it don't." But by and by he touches the broken part, and the man cries out, "Oh, that hurts me!" And so with God. He touches our broken spot, and we don't like it.

Now, I have been thinking that there is a passage in Christ's sermon on the Mount that might point out our hindrances in Chicago: "Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hast taught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." Now, I don't want you to think me personal; but I hope the Spirit of God may be present to-day to carry the truth to every one who has a quarrel going on. I believe the difficulty with us is the trouble in the church; the strife, the dissension going on among the brethren. If you have come to the altar with a quarrel between you and your brother, leave there thy gift and go out and be reconciled to him. If you have any malice or hatred against any one, your prayers will go for nothing; they will go no higher than your head. I believe this is the reason there is so much work lost among us; that you have something against some one, or some one has something against you.

I knew of two brothers who had a quarrel; a regular Cain and Abel over again. The mother could not get them reconciled. She could not sleep; her prayers went up, night after night. One of the brothers saw how his mother felt, and was sorry for her. To please her, he bought a very costly gift and took it to her. "I don't want any gift," she said; "I want you to be reconciled to your brother." If he bad been reconciled first, and then brought the gift to hi^ mother, it would have been all right. So it is with God. You take your gifts to the altar, and keep in your heart hatred toward your brother. God don't want your gift until you are reconciled.

Now think for a moment. Think of anyone who believes you are a hypocrite; anyone who says you are blackhearted; and who does not believe in anything you say in the meetings. Go and seek him out, and be reconciled to him. That is the gospel of the New Testament. "Oh!" you say, '*he will not believe me; he with whom I have a quarrel will not forgive me." Go and speak kindly to him; show him a forgiving spirit yourself, and be reconciled to God. Tell him that you want his forgiveness; that you do not want him to stumble in the way of his salvation over you. I do not think of anything that would lift Chicago more than the fact of everyone here taking this truth to their hearts. We would make quick work with it.

There is a passage in the 11th chapter of Mark, if I know it oorrectly. I hear it quoted very often in the prayers at the meetings: *' Whatsoever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye shall receive them and ye shall have them." But they stop there, and do not go on to the next verse; and they say: "God has not answered my prayer," when nothing comes from their supplication. They should read the next verse for the reason: "When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any, that your Father which is in heaven may forgive your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses." When they pray, they want God to forgive them; but they are not willing to forgive others. Suppose I was a minister, and 1 had trouble with a brother; and some pretty hard words arose from the quarrel. Well, I get up and go to a man and pray with him. I find he has a great deal of trouble, and I say to him: "Won't you

i'ust cast your troubles on the Lord?" He says: "Well, the fact is, have had a quarrel with a man, and I feel bitter toward him." Then I say: "Go and forgive the man, and be reconciled toward him." But he asks me: "You had a quarrel with a man; did you go to him and forgive him?" So we cannot go to men and preach Christ, if we have hard feelings ourselves for anybody. If there is any worker here to-day who has a quarrel with his brother, let him go at once and seek a reconciliation.

Let us have a heart-searching here to-day. Let us ask God's and our own efforts, so that the car of salvation will rush along in the city. I tried to reconcile two men who stood very high in the community, who had a quarrel; and in their churches the wheels of the salvation car were clogged. I said to one of them: "Don't you know that God is not going to bless your church as long as this quarrel is going on? Now I would like you to go to that other man and say: 'If you think I have done you an injustice, I want you to forgive me.'" "Well," said he, "I don't know that I can put it in that way. I fear that I am a little to blame, and 1 don't think he would receive me." The other man said the same thing, but I just reasoned with them and got them together; and they were soon down on their knees, asking God to bless the church. It was pride that kept these two men separate, and hindered the work of their churches; and whenever that was reached and cut out, everything went on smoothly. There are a great many things that have to be rooted out in Chicago before the work goes on prosperously. If there is any secret sin clustering around our hearth, we must draw that sin out before our work will be blessed by fruit.

DANCING CHURCH MEMBERS.

Give them something better to do. Get them on the Lord's work, and they won't want dancing. Now, my little boy is very fond of getting hold of the scissors to play with; and his mother is frightened that he will dig his eyes out, or get hurt in some way. The other day he got them, and was playing around, when his sister saw him and tried to take them away; but he only grabbed the tighter. Then she ran, got an orange, and held it up, saying, "Willie, want an orange!" and he dropped those scissors in a minute. So with your dancing Christians; they will always go for the better thing. If there is a dancing Christian here, and he isn't quite sure whether it is right or wrong, just let him give Christ the benefit of the doubt. Let him pray over it: and if he has any doubt then, why give it up. You couldn't conceive Paul dancing. The idea of Noah dancing and playing cards in the ark, while the world was perishing! The world is perishing now, as much as it was then. It is your duty to try and save souls.

UNANIMITY

At a meeting in Glasgow where a man said to him: "I have been at work in the inquiry-room lately, but the work got into me last night, and there is a good deal of difference." So among those ministers who have come up here, in whom the work has entered. We will hear from them, whereas with those who are in the work only— well, we may never hear of them again. He rejoiced at the spirit of unanimity which he noticed during this session of the convention. He declared that he had not seen a Methodist, a Presbyterian, or an Episcopalian — they all seemed to be children of God. Oh, those miserable sectarian walls! May the great God knock them down.

PERSONAL EFFORT.

Most of you are aware that there has a praying alliance been formed of churches. Now there are about four hundred that have written requests asking us to pray that God may revive his work in their midst. Now, before we go hence, let us first have a few moments of prayer for those churches that there may be a blessed work of grace in all of them. And let me say one thing about personal effort. I think if we will first begin to talk with our friends, those that we come in contact with personally, quietly and gently about the Savior, although they may not previously be interested, I think that we will be greatly rewarded. I went out to Cambridge to spend Saturday, and the father and mother wanted to have me to speak to their oldest son, a young man who is preparing for Harvard College. I asked him if ne had any interest on the subject of religion; he said he hadn't. I talked with him on other subjects that he was interested in; and then I brought up again on the subject of religion. Finally we took a ride out to Mount Auburn, and I talked to him a little more about it, and said: "I wish you would come down to the meeting next Monday night, and hear the young converts speak." And he was there; and when I asked the inquirers to go up stairs, he started and went up. Yesterday that father came to me and said his dear boy went home Monday night and told his father and mother that the question of eternity was settled—that he had found a Savior; and I don't think you can find a happier mother and father perhaps in all Cambridge to-day than that father and mother. And yet there is a man that said he was not at all interested. And a great many think and tell you that they are not interested; but when the Spirit of God is working, you will find that those that are careless will soon become interested. Now let us pray that God will do his work and that each one of us may be watching for souls, and that he may revive his work in all these churches.

CONFESSION.

I will read from the 10th chapter of Romans:

"Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."

I think you will find a great many men stumble right there. Instead of submitting to the righteousness of God, they are all the time going about to establish their own righteousness. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

I called your attention to that truth yesterday. I want to call your attention back to it to-day, and I want to keep this right before all these men that are trying now to take their stand on the Lord's side, that there is one thing you must do, and that is to confess the Lord Jesus. You that heard General Swift yesterday will bear in mind that he said that he was going to be a secret disciple. I think there are a good many in Boston that are trying that very thing now. They are not willing to confess with the mouth and take their stand on the Lord's side; yet they are wondering they do not get the light that people talk about. The light will not come till they come out boldly, and let the world know who they are and whose side they are on. If they believe in God, they will not be ashamed of him. We may be ashamed of ourselves, but not be ashamed of the Lord Jesus. Let us not be ashamed of him who has redeemed us with his own precious blood. I do not believe that a man is worth much for Christ, unless he is willing to be anything and do anything for him. We have a great many people now that talk about their faith being very weak, and they are praying that God may strengthen their faith. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." The more a man knows God, the more faith he will have in him. Those that have no faith in him, it is because they do not know God. Faith cometh by reading the Word of God, and instead of looking all the time at our small faith and mourning about it, let us look a little more at the Word of God. Then if we have a little faith, let us thank God for that. We can do a good deal with a little faith. I would to God that every man and woman in this city that has been redeemed from the hand of the enemy would just say so, and speak out and let the world know whose side you are on. When these men testify, let them tell the truth; and that will be enough* It is not orators, but witnesses that we want,

CHILDREN INVITED.

I will read a few verses in the 19th chapter of the gospel according to Matthew, beginning at the 13th verse: "Then there were brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them and pray, and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hand on them, and departed thence."

I have just come from the house of mourning, and my heart was touched as I saw the mother lying in her coffin, and her oldest little girl, about twelve years old, that she has been trying to lead to Christ; and a few months ago, she wrote back from Chicago to her friends in this city that she thought she had found peace in the Savior. She was rejoicing in her children's salvation. Little, did she think, that to-day, she would soon be laid away in the grave. Do you think she regretted her faithfulness with those children? All this winter, while others were being blessed, she was anxious that her children should be; and every father and mother ought to be anxious for their little ones. We do not know how soon we may be taken away ourselves. As I looked at that oldest daughter, I said: "Well, she never will forget her mother's teaching; she has been faithful, and now she is gone."

I am glad that this word "^little" occurs in this passage. There are many of us who think our children are too little to be blessed; we do not bring them to Christ as we ought; we do not care for their salvation as we ought. To me there is no more beautiful sight than a father and mother coming into meeting with their children, and lifting up their hearts silently in prayer that the blessing may come on their children. For the promises are not only to us, but to our children; and it seems to me we ought to be faithful to them.

In one of our conventions in the West, several years ago (the man had come from the East formerly, but he had been out West a good many years), there was a man about seventy years of age got up and said he could not remember but one act of his father. He could not remember how he looked, or anything he said or did, except one cold winter night, a little while before he died, he took up a little chip and whittled out a little cross; and then, with tears streaming down the old man's face, he told the boy how God had a Son, how he sent that Son into the world, and how wicked men put him on the cross and crucified him; and the story of the cross made an impression which he never forgot. And I believe there is no story that will impress our children like that. While others are being blessed in this city, shall our children be left out? And if they have got to be brought, who can do it better than the mother who is with them all the while? And I am glad to see so many mothers here this noontide. I don't feel so much like talking as like praying that, if God takes us away from them, they will be gathered into the fold of the Great Shepherd, after we are gone; and if they are called away before us, that we will have no regrets that they will be in heaven awaiting our coming.

Let us pour out our hearts, that they may be in glory and that we may be an unbroken circle in heaven; that they may not be led away in these dark days of unbelief, when Satan is so persistently trying to lead so many away.

THE BOSTON MABKETMEN.

The first time that I ever came into this hall was about twentyone or twenty-two years ago this spring, I think; or it might have been in the month of June. Anthony Burns was then in the Court House; and there were a great many Bostonians going to try to set him free. I remember after Wendell Phillips had spoken, and quite a number of others had spoken on this platform, and when the meeting was just at white heat, General Swift, who spoke at Tremont Temple the other day, was up in the gallery; and he said he under* stood the people were already breaking into the Court House and taking out Anthony Burns. 1 went out of this hall as quick as I ever left a meeting, and there was a great crowd round the Court House; but all of us couldn't liberate that poor captive. But, thank God, the gospel can set hundreds free to-day. We haven't got to go out of this hall and to go up to the Court House; but in this old nail men who have been loaded down with sin, and who have been slaves to sin for twenty, thirty, and forty years, can be set free this very hour if they want freedom; and I don't know any better place than this hall, that is called the "Cradle of Liberty," for the captives to be set free. And I hope every Christian in this house will be lifting up their hearts to God in prayer, and there may be hundreds of them set free to-day. That is what wo have come for. We have not come here just to have a meeting in Faueuil Hall, but to proclaim the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, and tell men how they can be free.

I want to call your attention to a few verses in the 16th chapter of John: "These things have I spoken unto you that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, that, when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart I will send him Unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment, of sin because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the Prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye can not bear them now."

I want to call your attention particularly to the words, "And when he is come he will reprove the world of sin because they believe not on me." Of sin, because men lie and steal, and get drunk and murder? No. "Of sin, because they believe not upon me." That is the root of sin; that is the sin which brings forth all this bad fruit; this miserable unbelief. Would to God, it could be swept out of Faneuil Hall to-dayl If every particle of the unbelief that is represented by this assembly could all be laid aside, what a blessed hour we should spend together here. "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and judgment." Now that is the work of the Holy Ghost. There is no preacher that can convince men of sin; there is no amount of praying that can convince men of sin; that is the work of the Holy Ghost. And I cannot help but believe that there are hundreds and thousands of men now in Boston that are convicted of sin; but they are waiting for something and they don't know exactly what it is; but they think they have got to wait until they have a little more feeling; or that they have got to have some sudden shock come upon them; or some sudden sensation that shall come stealing over them, before they can get rid of their sins. If a man is convicted of sin, if a man is convinced that he is a sinner in the sight of God, that is the work of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost has already commenced his work; and to that class of men I want to speak to-day. I want to tell you how you can get rid of your sin and come to Christ, if you will. If men really want to get rid of their sins, all they have got to do is just to cast them on the Lord Jesus Christ—leave them with him. I3ut some of you may say, "How is it about repentance? Haven't I got to repent? Isn't there a certain amount of feeling I have got to have? Haven't I got to have some remorse; and haven't I got to pass through some amount of despair and gloom before I have this?" That is the trouble with men when they are convinced of sin; they begin to look around for some one else's experience. Of all the people who ever lived in the world, there have been no two alike, and God never repeats himself; and, although we are converted by the same power and by the same Holy Ghost, no two ever come up to the cross in the same way. Instead of looking to this and to that man's experience, let us look right to the Master, and come with our sins and repentance and faith, and all those things can come in their place; but you must be occupied by Christ. If a man really wants to go to Christ, he will not be thinking about his repentance and faith. Faith is only the hand that reaches out and takes the blessing, and it is Christ we want; and if we will come to him as a child should come to his mother, and confess our sins and ask him to forgive us, he will do it. There is nothing he desires to do as much as that; and he will blot them out as a cloud. When men are converted, they will turn right about face; and the moment a man is convinced that he is a sinner, if he will turn right to God, he will forgive his sins. People say, "I don't believe you can be saved that easy; I believe we have got to work a little for salvation. Faith and works I believe in." So do I; but I don't believe a man is going to work out his salvation.

Suppose for a moment that this platform is the wreck of a sinking ship. The vessel has sprung a-leak, and is going to the bottom. The captain says. "Jump into the life-boat! The vessel's going down! But I think I can keep the vessel afloat by pumping, and so 1 keep pumping, pumping; and I say to the captain, "I don't believe the vessel's going down." Now that would be working out my own salvation; and all the time the vessel would be sinking. But Mr. Sankey won't stay on the wreck. He just leaps into the life-boat, and takes an oar, and pulls with a will for the shore. That's working out your salvation after you're saved. Now isn't there some one here to-day, who will just leap into the life-boat and be saved? 1 want Mr. Sankey to sing "Pull for the Shore," and may every man join in the chorus. "Pull for the Shore" was then sung bv Mr. Moody's co-worker, in accordance with his suggestion, the assemblage joining in the refrain with the utmost heartiness.

THE BOSTON REVIVAL.

I have been a professed Christian for twenty-one years, and I have been in Boston and in other cities for most of that time; and I never saw such a day as this is. I stand in wonder and amazement at what is being done. It seems as if God were taking this work out of our hands. Prayer meetings are springing up in all parts of the city. There are things happening now that if you were asked three months ago if they were possible, you would say: "Yes; if God would open the windows of heaven and do them." The idea of these men that have been blaspheming turning aside to pray! We are living in the days that the prophets prophesied of. We are living in the days of the Son of man. Now is the time to begin the work. Now is the time for every child of God to lift up his voice and plead with men. Let me tell you how a woman was blessed here only last Thursday. Last Friday night a man came into the inquiry-room and said to me: "Last night I was cursing you, and I want you to forgive me." "How oameyou to curse me?" I asked. "My wife could not live with me, and we have been separated for some time. She came around last night, and wanted me to go to the Tabernacle. I cursed the Tabernacle and you, and said you was a fraud. But I was walking up Tremont street about eleven o'clock to-day, and I was drawn into the Tabernacle by some unseen power. How I got there, I don't know. God met me; and he has taken away my sin and has given me a new heart." This morning the man was here with his wife; and now they have as happy a home as you can find in Boston. He was saved by that woman going to him.

Mb. Sankey's Address.

Brethren, what is one of the dearest thoughts that come to you as you go about your work and business in the vicinity of this hall? What is one of the most precious and sacred thoughts that comes into your hearts, now and then, amidst the toil of business? Isn't it about spine little one of yours? Isn't it the thought of some Willie or Charlie you have around your home, your hearth; one that climbs upon your knee, or who may be lying out there in yonder cemetery? Isn't that a sacred thought, that you would not utter here to-day in this hall? You keep that to yourself; that is your own. Oh, it is a very precious thought that, by and by, you are

foing to meet that little child that clustered about your knee. Now, have a little song here that has just the utterance your little Willie would make. He is talking about the angels who will meet him. Now, while I am singing let us have it very still, if we can; and may the Lord bless it to every father here that is giving up all his thoughts to his business and none to heaven, none to the Lord, and not thinking of the hereafter very much. May this be the turning point of many a father's life; and may he say: "I will try to live for heaven—for that higher life; not all down here, but to the better life to which we hasten."