The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1894-09-07

suppose look NJ Christ was Jusb 10
love him. How attractive his manner
Why, when they saw Christ coming
along the street. they ran into their
houses, and they wrapped up their in
valids as quick as they could and
brought them out that he might look at
them. Oh, there was something SO
pleasant. so inviting, so cheering In ev-
erything he did. in his very look When
these sick ones were brought out did he
say: "Do not bring before me these
sores. Do not trouble me with these
leprosies?" No, no; there was kind
look; there was gentle word; there
was healing touch. They could not
keep away from him.
think there are many under the ill.,
fiuence of the Spirit Of God who are
saying, ~ will trust him IL you will
only tell me how" And the great ques-
ton asked by many is, "How, how?"
And while ! answer your question l look
up and utter the prayer which Rowland
Hill so often uttered in the midst of his
sermons, master, help" How are you
to trust in Christi
Perfect Confidence.
Just as you trust any one. You trust
your partner in business with important
things. If commercial house gives you
a note payable three months hence, you
expect the payment Of that note at the
end of three months. You have perfect
confidence In their word and in their
ability. Or, again, you go home today,
You expect there will be food on the
table. You have confidence in that.
Now, / ask you to have the same conf
dence in the Lord Jesus Christ. He says,
You believe; take away your sins, '
and they are all taken away. What"
You say, before pray any more? Be-
fore read my Bible any more? Before
l cry over my sins any more3' Yes, this
moment. Believe with all your heart,
and you are saved Why. Christ is only
waiting to get from you what you give
to scores of people every day. What is
that? Confidence. If these people whom
you trust day by day are more worthy
than Christ, If they are more faithful
than Christ, If they have done mGe
than Christ ever did, then give them tho
preference, but If you really think that
Christ is as trustworthy as they are then
deal with him as fairly.
"Oh," says some one in a light way,
81 believe that Christ was born in Beth
lehem, and believe that he died on the
cross" Do you believe it with your
head or your heart? Twill illustrate the
difference. You are in your own house.
In the morning you open u ncwfparer,
and you read how Captain Eiavtlcart
ON the sea risl1od his life for the silva
ton of his passengers. You FAY: What
a grand fellow he must have been! lis
family deserves very well of the oo,!n-
try" You fold the newspaper and sit
down at the table and perhaps do rot
think of that incident again. That is
historical faith
Saved by Faith.
But now you are ON the sea, and it is
night, and you are asleep, and you are
awakened by the Shrek of ''FireH' You
rush out on the deck. You hear, amid
the wringins of the HANDS and the faint
ing, the cry: "No hope, no hope! We
are lost, we ire lostr' Tie sail pats out
its wing of fire, the ropes make a burn
ing ladder in the night heavens, the
spirit of wrecks Kisses in the wave, and
ON the hurricane deck shakes out its ban
her Of smoke and darkness. Down
with the lifeboats!" cries the captain.
Down with the lifeboats!" People rush
into them. The boats are about full.
Room only for one more man. You are
standing on the deck beside the captain.
Who shall it be? You or the captain?
The captain says, "You." You jump
and are saved. He stands there and dies.
Now, you believe that Captain Brave
heart sacrificed himself for his passen-
gers, but you believe it with love, with
tears, with hot and long continued ex-
clamations, with grief at his loss and
joy at your dcliverance That is saving
faith-in other words, what you believe
with all tho heart and believe in regard
to yourself. On this hinge turns my SER
mon-aye, the salvation of your i'm
mortal soul. You often 60 across
bridge you. know nothing about. You
do not know who built the bridge, you
do not know what material it is made
of, but you come to it and walk over it
and ask no questions. And here is an
arched bridge blasted from the Rock
of Ages and built by the Architect Of
the whole universe. spanning the dark
gulf between sin and righteousness, and
all God asks you is to walk across it,
Ind you start, and you come to it, and
you stop, and you go little way on,
and you stop, and you fall back, and
you experiment. You say, "How do l
know that bridge will hold me?" in
stead of marching ON with firm step,
asking no questions, but feeling that
the strength Of the eternal God is under
you
Oh, was there ever prize proffercd
so cheap as pardon and heaven are Of
fered to you? For how much? A million
dollars? 1t is certainly worth more than
that But cheaper than that you can
have it. Ten thousand dollars? Loss
than that. Five thousand dollars? Less
than that. One dollar? Less than that
One farthing? Less than that. "With-
out money and without price. No
money to pay. No journey to take. No
penance to suffer. Only just one decisive
action Of the soul, believe on the Locd
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved :"
Forgiven and Safe.
Shall l try to tell you what it is to fe
saved? I cannot tell you. No man, no
angel, can tell you. But can hint 81
it, for my text brings me up to this
point, ''Thou shalt be saved /" It means
happy life here, and a peaceful death,
and blissful eternity. It is a grand
thing to go to sleep at night, and to got
up in the morning, and to do business
all day feeling that all is right between
my heart and God No accident, 10
sickness, no persecution, no peril, 10
sword, can do me any permanent dam
age. am forgiven child of God, and
he is bound to see me through. He has
sworn he will see me through. The
mountains may depart, the earth may
huru tho Eobt IF tho tarc n, a =, no hlou,n