"THEY BROUGHT THEIR BOOKS TOGETHER, AND BURNED THEM BEFORE ALL MEN; AND THEY COUNTED THE PRICE OF THEM, AND FOUND IT FIFTY THOUSAND PIECES OF SILVER.

So mightily grew the word of G.o.d and prevailed!"

Has our religion been costly to us? Have we given up anything? These converts gave up their money-making sins publicly; and their public and costly repentance was made a great blessing. We wish every Christian who is engaged in any business that has made money for him at the expense of another's morals, would see it his duty to make a bonfire of it! We have no doubt there are numbers of Christians whose consciences now and then give them a goutlike twinge. We do not doubt their religion because they do not obey their consciences; but we do say the word of G.o.d cannot grow mightily, it is stunted, and in consequence they are religious dwarfs, when they might have been giants in righteousness and holy influence.

x.x.xV. THE WAY TO PREACH TO THOSE WHO SLEEP IN SIN.

"_Nathan said to David_, _Thou art the Man_!"

But this was not the first thing he said. He approached the subject very carefully. David would not have allowed anyone to bring that subject home to him without resenting it. It is more than likely that very few were in the secret. Crafty Joab was not the man to let that story get out. It gave him power over the king all the time it was his secret, so that he could put pressure on David whenever he liked. We read, "The Lord sent Nathan unto David." If we would know how to deal with our congregations, we must have the Lord's commission.

MEN MAY BE ON THE CIRCUIT PLAN, AND G.o.d LEAVE THEM WITHOUT APPOINTMENTS!

Let us never set off to preach without a message from G.o.d to the people, then we shall make folks say, what a plain Yorkshire Methodist said of Stoner, "Yon David's varry thick with the Almighty."

If the Lord send us, He will teach us how to talk, and most likely He will take us off the pulpit track. Some of us have given up the old "three-decker" style of preaching, feeling that it is as useless as last year's almanack. Our hearers often knew what was coming, they heard the heads of the discourse, and began to see the end before we got there, wrapping themselves in a habit of indifference which shielded them from the convictions we had hoped to produce. What "CALIFORNIAN TAYLOR" calls "Surprise Power," ought to be in every discourse. David had no idea what the prophet meant to do before he had ended his story, and we should wait upon G.o.d until He has given us, not only the subject of our sermons, but the skill we need to TAKE THE SINNER EITHER BY STORM OR HOLY SUBTILTY.

The charming story with which Nathan began his address is instructive to those who wish to succeed as preachers. How interested the King became as he heard of the rich man's greed and the poor man's loss, until he was so stirred that he threatened the death of the tyrant! May not we preachers learn something here, that is, to interest our hearers, in order that we may profit them? Do we sufficiently care for this matter?

Would it not be well, in the preparation of our addresses and sermons, to make sure that we are so interesting that our hearers cannot fail but listen? We should not be content with soundness of faith, or truthfulness of doctrine, but be so interesting as to command the attention of our audience. It is a question whether any man, who cannot make the people listen, should not be content to take his place in a pew.

It is better to be able to heat or light the chapel well, than to wear out the patience of a congregation by prosy preaching, and it will be more to our eternal advantage to have been AN INDUSTRIOUS CHAPEL-KEEPER THAN A DULL PREACHER!

Nathan brought David to a stand. The royal hearer fell before the faithful preacher. He confessed his sin and deeply repented. Well might the prophet rejoice over his ill.u.s.trious convert. It was indeed success to hear the king acknowledge his fault. We do not read that he praised the sermon, but he condemned himself. It is a small reward to hear it said that we have preached a beautiful sermon, but it is delightful to learn that a sinner has been convinced of his guilt and danger. Let all of us who preach, determine that we will not call that service a success which either allowed our hearers to be drowsy, or won their applause, without causing a saint to be cheered on his pilgrimage, or an enemy of G.o.d to lay down his weapons and sue for peace.

OLD FASHIONED DOCTRINE.

JEREMIAH, viii. 21 to ix. 16.

I.--He who is loyal to G.o.d is the truest patriot.--ch. viii., v. 21, ch.

ix., v. 10.

Jeremiah's distress disfigured him, and he felt that tears were not sufficient to mark his sorrow for his country. Sinners against G.o.d should never profess to be politicians; they are unworthy to be cla.s.sed on either side.

II.--Idolatry is the mother of all other sins.

Count up the different crimes these Jewish idol-worshippers were guilty of--as lying, slander, adultery, &c. He who breaks the first commandment has pulled down the fence, and can easily break the others. What an argument for Missions!

III.--If G.o.d acts consistently, He must punish sin.--ch. ix., v. 9, 10, 15, 16.

h.e.l.l is as necessary as Heaven to a perfect G.o.d. Queen Victoria could not be safe in her palace but for prisons, where felons are bound!

He who fears to preach future punishment is either an ignorant man or a coward.

x.x.xVI. SELFISHNESS AND PRAYER.

A CONTRAST.

"_So Ahab went up to eat and to drink_. _And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel_, _and he cast himself down upon the earth_, _and put his face between his knees_."--1 KINGS xviii. 42.

WHAT A CONTRAST!

And yet, both men were perfectly consistent. It is in each case what you would expect, and yet how differently it might have been. What a different story it would have been if only Ahab had listened to the teaching of G.o.d! How often we see men having chances of turning round and beginning a new life; failing to do this, they seem to become the worse for the lesson of Providence and the advice of those who warn them!

Has it ever been so with you? Can you remember a time when G.o.d stopped you, and made you think, thus giving you a chance of reformation?

Wretched Ahab! he had just seen which is Master. How contemptible Baal seemed now! The heavenly fire, which leaped in answer to Elijah's prayer, disdained to notice the victims on the altar of the idol, while the blood of the false priests dyed the waters of the brook Kishon, a sacrifice to their own wickedness and deception. One would have thought Ahab's good sense would have prevailed, and that he would have said, "Elijah, I will go with thee, and on Carmel's top will unite with thee in prayer." Alas for the history that might have been!

But some of you will say, "Did not Elijah say to Ahab, 'Get thee up, eat and drink?'" Yes, he did. A few hours before, he had said, "If Baal, follow him." Does not G.o.d allow us to be tempted continually? Did He not, in His wisdom and goodness, place the tree which bare forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden? Does He not say, by natural appet.i.tes and propensities, enjoy yourself? There was nothing wrong in eating, but if Ahab had but

DENIED HIMSELF AND GONE WITH ELIJAH TO PRAY,

the rest of his life would have been different, he might have been converted then. How often it happens that we hear a powerful sermon, perhaps on the first Sunday night of a Mission, but we have something to attend to on Monday, something that might be left without injury, or it may be a party or a concert, and so we do not go to the meeting next night. If we had done so, our whole life might have been changed!

Eat and drink! One wonders it did not choke him, for were not his subjects starving? The famine was sore in the land; men and women pined, children died of hunger, cattle and sheep perished in the fields, but all this, what had it to do with the king? He was hungry, and would eat and would be jolly, never mind about the poor people! Remember, my hearers, you cannot turn your back on G.o.d and be the same man you have been. Each time you say "No," to G.o.d's grace, you become less fit for His kingdom.

If men could but see their souls--

IF SOME OF YOU COULD HAVE A MIRROR THAT WOULD SHEW YOUR SOUL,

You would look as though you had seen a ghost! We have portraits of ourselves years ago, and we look at them and wonder at the change. Could you have a portrait of what you were, spiritually, ten years since, it would spoil your enjoyment. Beware, then, of eating and drinking when others are at prayer. It is better to be good than to be happy. Do right, though it may mean tears, for the smiles of selfishness are sores in the future.

Look at the other man now. He climbs the hill. There is nothing to be won from heaven by laziness. Climb to thy crown! Never mind the steepness and ruggedness of the way. G.o.d's kings toil and sweat before their coronation. How Elijah would laugh in his heart as he thought of the boon he was about to bring down on his country!

PAST VICTORIES ENCOURAGED HIM.

He had prayed that it might not rain, and for many months the heavens had been cloudless. Day by day the sun had scorched and burned on, as though there was to be no more verdure, the trees are but the skeletons of their former selves, and the ground is cracked, and gapes for drink. Ah! it is soon to alter! The G.o.d who has answered by fire is about to speak in the shower, and all nature is to put on a new suit of green at the bidding of prayer.

Why should not the church of G.o.d climb the hill to bring down on the earth a shower of blessing? G.o.d had said to Elijah, "I send rain upon the earth," and therefore the man of G.o.d said, "I will call upon the name of the Lord." Have we no promise? What do these words mean--

"WHATSOEVER YE ASK IN MY NAME, THAT WILL I DO?"

Find the reference to these words, and then look on them as a legacy. We may receive whenever we apply. Why, then, do we hang down our heads? Let us climb Carmel, shouting as we go, "Hallelujah! The Lord reigneth!"

Baal has not succeeded to the throne! Christ is there! But see, the man of G.o.d casts himself down on the ground.

PAST SUCCESS HAS HUMBLED HIM.

It is well when it is so. We always tremble when we see a church elated over its success. A year or two ago, we Methodists saw a great ingathering of souls, and because we had harvest we have let our plough rust. Is there any wonder that we fear a decrease? It is sure to follow elation, and then we shall be told, "There is always a reaction after so much excitement." That is a text from the devil's bible. On the same hill top where Elijah won the fight, he falls down, to pray, with his face between his knees, and so is most humbled when most triumphant.

And now his servant is sent to look for the sign of success. Mark you, he sends him to