Whosoever Will May Come

You see, I get this text from the last page of this blessed hook. This is Gods last message to man. And for fear that something might be added to, or that something might be taken from, the Scripture, God puts this fearful admonition. He says: “For I testify unto every man that hearth the words of the prophecy of this hook. If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this hook. And if any man shall take away from the words of the hook of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the hook of life and from the things that are written in this book,”

I am glad that God winds up his revelation to man with this gracious verse: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hearth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.”

GOD’S LATEST WORD TO MAN

If I have been corresponding with a friend on any given subject, and he has written me a dozen or a hundred letters upon that subject-if I want to find his mind now concerning that, I will turn to the last letter received from him-the one bearing the most recent date. And now, if I would know Gods will concerning the race of man I wont run back over Genesis or Deuteronomy or the prophecies of Isaiah or the Epistle to the Romans by St. Paul. When I want to find out what were the concluding words, the last message of God to man, I run through the book, and I see Gods last message, and I see the fearful warning added: “Dont any man take away these work. If he does, I will take away his part out of the book of life. And if any man shall add any thing to this book which shall make it so that these are not my last words, then I will add unto him the plagues that are written in the book.” And after all the fearful warnings and judgments and denunciations of the Scripture, thanks be to God, this Is his last message to man:

“And the Spirit and the bride may Come. And let him that hearth say , Come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.”

SOME GRAND DAYS

s a grand day in the worlds history when the evening and the morning were the seventh day, and the Son of God and angels shouted over a finished world. It was a grand day in the worlds history when Adam and Eve, the first pair, stood before God, with their reason clear and perfect, unruffled by passion, unclouded by prejudice and unimpaired by disease. It was a grand conception to them as they looked out over a finished world and said that the flowers were Gods thought in bloom; that the rivers were Gods thought imbedded; that the mountains were Gods thought piled up, and that the dewdrops were his thoughts in pearl as they mingle in loving tenderness and join together on the leaf of the rose. And wherever man looked about him, all nature in its beauty and freshness whispered back, “The hand that made me is divine.” It was a grand day in the worlds history when It was announced through the moral universe of God that man had violated the law of God and had brought misery and woe upon himself and upon his progeny forever. It was a grand day in the worlds history when God met the fallen and degenerate pair and said to Eve: “The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpents head.” It was a grand day in the worlds history when the last strong swimmer sank beneath the flood and left Noah in the ark with his three sons and their wives and two of all sorts to perpetuate the race upon the face of the earth. It was a grand day in this worlds history when Pharaoh and his hosts and all of his chariots and men were swallowed up and engulfed by the Red Sea. It was a grand day in this worlds history when a burning hail fell on Sodom and Gomorrah and all the plains thereof, and destroyed the cities of the plain. It was a grand day in this worlds history when 185,000 soldiers under the blast of an archangels wing were wrapped in their winding sheets. It was a grand day in this worlds history when on Korah and Dathan and Abiram and their wicked com pany the earth burst open and swallowed them up out of the sight of men.

THE NEW SAVIOR

It was a grander day in the worlds history when the old prophet of God stood on the hills of Judea with his spark in hand and let its beneficent rays shine down through seven centuries, and his voice was heard through the seven centuries, saying: “Simon and Anna prepare the cradle to rock the babe of Bethlehem.” It was a grand day in this worlds history when the star poised itself over the manger of Bethlehem and when the wise men gathered about the babe of Bethlehem. There they looked upon an everlasting God lying asleep in Marys arms, and the King of Angels and God over all, blessed for evermore, as he was carried about in a virgins arms, as they looked upon the King of Angels, the carpenters despised boy. It was a grand day in this worlds history, when at twelve years of age, this God-man surprised all the wisdom of Jerusalem by his forethought and by his Intelligence. It was a grand day in this worlds history when the Son of God notified his disciples, to whin he had been sent from the Father: “I put you on notice that I must be crucified, dead, and that I will arise again in the third day.” It was a grand day in the worlds history when he hung there suspended between two thieves and cried out with aloud voice: “My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken me ! It was a grand day in the worlds history when they buried this sacrifice yonder in the grave of Joseph, and put the seal of the Roman government upon it, and put sturdy Roman soldiers around It to guard it.

THE SACRIFICE ACCEPTED

It was a grand day in the worlds history when on the morning of the third day God summoned an angel to his aide, because Christ himself had announced the fact, “I am the sacrifice. I go to die for the world.” And now the only question with his disciples and with all humanity is, “Will God accept the sacrifice !” He has suffered, bled, died. He is buried. Will he ever rise again! Will God accept the sacrifice?

It was on the morning of the third day that God summoned an angel to his side and told him to go to earth as swift as morning light and roll away the stone from the grave, and when he made his appearance there at the grave and rolled away the stone, and the Son of God stood up ii the sepulcher and took the napkins from his jaws and the grave clothes from his body, and folded them up and laid them to one side, and walked forth from the tomb, the first fruits of the resurrection, then God accepted the sacrifice, and grasped the stylus in his own hand and signed the magna charts of mans salvation. And ever since that God blessed moment it has been written: “Whosoever liveth and believeth shall never more die.”

It was a grand day in the worlds history when the Savior man stood yonder, surrounded by a company of five hundred, and chariot descended from the skies, and he stepped into the chariot and above star and moon he disappeared until it overvaulted the very throne of God itself. And as they stood gazing into heaven, an angel flew back to earth and shouted aloud to them:

“Why stand ye here gazing up into heaven? As ye have seen the son of man ‘ascending, so he shall descend at the last day to judge the world of righteousness.”

THE COMFORTER

That was a grand day in this worlds history when the one hundred and twenty gathered in that upper room, that upper chamber yonder, in Jerusalem. And they had prayed the first day and the second day and the third day and on until the tenth day. They were praying for the imbuement of power from on high. Christ had told them:

“Tarry ye here at Jerusalem until ye are imbued with power from am high. It is expedient for you that I go away. After I go away the Comforter will come, the Holy Ghost. He will come to the world.”

I have often thought that that expression: Jesus said it is expedient “The best thing I can do for you is to leave the world and go home to the Father and then the Spirit will come.

“Master, can there be anything better than thy presence? Thou art the bread of life to us. Thou art the water of life to us. Thou art the door by which if any man enter he shall go in and eat and find pasture. Thou art the truth and the way to life. Master, is it expedient, is it best that thou go away?”

He said: “It is expedient that I go to the Father.” And on the morning of the tenth day, as that company gathered and prayed in that upper chamber, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, the third person of the adorable Trinity, flew right through the wounded side of the Son of God and laved his wings in that precious blood, and flew down to earth and rushed in upon that company and filled the room like a rushing, mighty wind; and Peter opened the door and the company followed him down upon the streets of Jerusalem, and there, on the morning of the tenth day, he preached that memorable sermon in Jerusalem that worn 3,000 souls to Christ more conversions to Peter in that one sermon than Christ had in all his ministry. And Christ knew what he was talking about when he said:

“It expedient for you that should go way. If I go away the Comforter will come and the Spirit shall come.”

THE WOOING OF THE SPIRIT

That Spirit is the third person of the adorable Trinity. God gave the Son and the Son comes to suffer, die and to arise again. And now the Spirit comes to woo and beseech and implore and enlighten and convict and convert the world to God. It seemed like after God had loved the race and called them to him and they had wandered off, that they would have died without excuse, but God sent his Son to live among us and to die for us and to preach to us and to instruct us, and if he had stopped at that, man would have died without excuse. But he didnt stop there. And now the Holy Ghost comes into the world the third person of the adorable Trinity, and every good resolution we ever have and every good that ever inspired us, and every good deed ever done, we owe it all to the inspiration and blessed in. fluence of the Holy Spirit of God.

Oh, thank God! we have an even-present omniscient, omnipresent God with us to-night When I bid wife and children “good-by” at home, God boards the train with me, and he is with me all the weary miles of my road from home. And then I am conscious God is at home. with my family, and when I come into the Christian homes of St. Louis I find God present in every Christian home, and that God is with the missionary in China, and God is with thousands and millions of pulpits on earth. No wonder the blessed Christ said: “It is expedient for you that I go away. I wills send the Comforter.”

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

Oh, brother, sister, hear me to-night! Is there in your soul the desire to be good? Is there a purpose to be good? Is there a resolution to be good? It was born under the touch of the Divine Spirit upon these cold, dead hearts of ours. And the Spirit comes to woo. He comes to teach. He comes to implore. For when he shall come he will re prove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment to come.

Help us to walk close with God! Help us, Divine Spirit, ever to be tender and impressible! Help us ever to hear and heed the Gospel of the Son of God! The Divine Spirit broods over the congregation to-night. He touched your heart to-day. He touched your heart last night and day before yesterday. He has touched a thousand hearts or more, and called them to a better life in the last few days in this city. And the most fearful sin that you may commit is to wound the Spirit of God, to drive him out of your heart and to drive him away from your presence. The book says:

“Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

GRIEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT

You may laugh at me. You may deride me. You may scoff at the church. You may defy God, and you may crucify my Savior afresh, and put him to open shame, but I warn you to-night: Take heed how you trifle with the Spirit of all grace! I have seen men reject and insult the Divine Spirit, until I could almost hear the Spirit of God as he closed the gates of Heaven forever in an immortal spirits face. My friend, to-night, if there is in your soul the desire to be a Christian, nurse it, foster it, shield it Keep it there, and pray God to fan the spark into a living flame that shall burn on and on when the stars have gone and when the moon shall turn to blood. Lets you and I pray for this, and whatever others may do, God help us to be impressible and movable under the Divine Spirit of grace.

The Spirit says, “Come.”

The third person of the ever adorable Trinity is the active agency in the world to-day to teach men, to move men, to stir men and use men, and but for his divine presence with me as I preach the gospel, I declare to the fact that I would never have the heart to take another text in this world. Oh, how many struggles the earnest preacher may have in the world! God only knows the burdens that I have carried on my own poor head since I landed in your city. God only knows the wakeful hours, the tears and the prayers that have gone up from my poor heart, and I say:

“God save the city! God arouse the city! God save our young men! God save our young women God save the fathers and mothers in this city!” And I can almost hear God as he whispers back: “I’ll be with you. Ill stand by you. And when the din and smoke of the battle has blown away, you will find that I have been your friend through the thickest of the fight, and all God asks of the Christian people of St. Louis to-night is to come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty. God arouse you! And God help his church in St. Louis to heed the wooing of the Spirit, and come to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. The Spirit says, “Come.”

THE SPIRITS BESEECHING ENTREATY

Well, if God had stopped at the point given his Son, and sent his Spirit to woo men-we would have died without excuse. But God pushes his work on and on and on until he shall say to a guilty world: “What more could 1 have done to my vineyard that I have not already done 1” God will never leave a stone unturned, God will never leave an effort unput-forth as long as man is out of hell and out of the grave. And I tell you, my congregation, to-night, I know God is in earnest about the salvation of man, and I have felt thousands of times that the worst of sinners would rejoice if they were to see his face. God help men to look up to-night and see their Fathers face, with all the love of his heart as it beams forth, and hear his voice as he calls them to the better life. God loves you, and he has given you every manifestation of his love. He tells yon in his blessed book:

“When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.”

SPARKS OF DIVINE LOVE

I have seen a mother as she followed a wayward boy on, and on and on to the very brink of hell, and when the son made his final leap from his mothers arms she too his poor body and buried it, and would go to his grave and water It with her tears day after day. Oh, how that moth. ors heart clung to that wayward boy! I have seen the wife, when every friend in the world had forsaken her husband, and all mankind scoffed him away from their presence-when he would come home drunken and debauched and ruined, his precious wife would meet him at the front gate and help him up the steps, and help him into the room and carry him to the bed and pull off his muddy shoes and bathe his fevered face, and imprint the kiss of love and fidelity upon his dissipated cheek. Oh, why did wife do that? Why does mother do that? It is just a little of the nature of God poured into that mothers heart and that wifes heart that makes her love and cling to that son and to that husband as she does.

“When my father and my mother forsake me, then God will take me up.”

THE MOTHERHOOD OF GOD

The sweetest thought in Gods word to me is the place where we are taught the motherhood of God. God is not only my father, but God is my mother, too, in all his loving kindnesses and tender mercies to us. Oh, my Father! my Father! with the rod of correction, and with the stern words of advice, I look to thee in admiration and love; and oh, God, my precious mother, I run to thy arms I Thou art my mother, I love thee with all my heart.

And the Spirit, says “Came!”

Oh, God! Thou art interested for us and thou art interested in us.

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Came.”

God did not stop with that.

“The Spirit and the bride say, Come.”

The Church of God is the bride of the lamb. I wish we where wrapped in waiting for the bridegroom. Oh, how I wish we had always lived, and always been faithful to our bridegroom! He said:

“I go to prepare a place for you.”

THE UNFAITHFUL BRIDE.

You see that young man yonder. He has plighted his vows to a young lady, and he bids her good-by for a short time. “I am going West. I am going West to prepare our fortune and build our house and have everything ready.” Brethren, that young lady, instead of being faithful to that earnest, laborious young man preparing good things for her, is flirting with her betrothed husbands enemies and associating with those that despise her husband. God forgive the unfaithful girl. And while Christ is, by his divine power and infinite wisdom, exhausting all the riches and glories of heaven preparing for us, his bride, here we are consorting with his enemies and flirting with the gay and giddy godless ones of the world. Precious Savior, forgive us! Forgive us! We will not associate with the godless any longer.

“The bride says, Come!”

A GOOD WORD FOR THE CHURCH.

I wish we lived better. But there is one thing I have found out: We know we have been unfaithful; we know we have not been what we ought to have been. But one thing I can say and tell the truth: The Church of God Almighty has not lost her interest in sinners and in the world. For over one thousand years the church has been on her knees and praying for sinners, and the message of the Church of God is a God-given message.

“Come thou and go with us and we ‘ll do thee good, for the Lord has promised good concerning us.”

You have cursed the church and abused the church, and bemeaned the church and called them hypocrites, but do you want to see whether the church loves you or not! If the worst old sinner in St. Louis would come with streaming eyes and say to the Church of God, “Men and brethren, pray for me. I want to join your company and go with you to Heaven.” I see the church in a minute, as her tears come flowing down to the earth and she lifts her hand to God, and she says, “Blessed be God! Another sinner coming to repentance and coming to life.” The old Church of God does love the world, and she has been praying for the world in all its ages, and while we have forgotten a thousand things and neglected a thousand things, thanks be unto God, we have never neglected to pray for you, my fellow. citizens. There is not a day or night in St. Louis that in the Church of God her best men and women are not on their knees praying, “God save the wicked of the city and save the fallen of humanity;” and the cry of the church and the song of the church is, “Rescue the perishing and save the fallen.”

THANK GOD FOR THE CHURCH!

Thank God for the old church. She has been worth all the world to me. I know now I should have wandered a poor, motherless orphan if it had not been for the Church of Jesus Christ. She has been so good to me! Oh, she has been a mother in the best sense to me. I never joined the church because I thought I could help it along, but I joined the church that it might take me, a poor babe, in its arms, and nurture me and feed me and take care of me; and, whatever the church has been to others, I can say of Gods church to-night, they have given me my meat and my drink, and they have been friends and brothers to me.

Oh, friend, you will never know what you have missed staying out of the pale of the Church of God, and I beg you to hear the voice of the Church of God as it cries to-night.

“Come thou and go with us, and we’ll do thee good.”

Won’t you come? Won’t you come?

The Church of God, with her Bibles and missionaries and preachers and consecrated ministry and good women and men on earth, with her churches and Sabbath-schools, and her prayer-meetings and family altars-hey all cry aloud and say:

“Come thou and go with us, and well do thee good.”

HIM THAT HEARETH

“The Spirit and the bride say, Come.”

It looks like if God had stopped there wed have died without excuse. It goes further

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come, and let him that heareth say, Come.”

Oh, blessed thought! blessed thought! A man need not wait until he comes into the church before he says to those around him, “Come, thou, and go with us… Let him that heareth say, Come.”

We get this figure from the caravan crossing the desert.

When the water is all given out on the desert and man and beast are famishing for water, then they hold a counsel and they start one on ahead hurriedly, and in about five minutes they start another, just so as to keep him in sound of the front ones voice, and in five minutes more they start another, and on and on until they are stretched out on the plains for miles, and finally the head man finds the oasis, and he hallows back: “Water, I have found it!” to the next man, and the next man voices it on down the line, and on and on until the caravan hears the cry, “We have found it! Water! Water! We have found it!” And they hear the welcome news and press on with all their might, that they may slake their thirst and preserve their lives.

THE APPLICATION.

And all the way from Heaven to earth God has strung out a line, and he shouts it from his own lips in Heaven, and we catch it up and pass it on and on until we shout at the very gates of Hell, “Come! Come! Come! and let him that heareth Come!”

If you ever heard the gospel, preach it to somebody else and say, “Come on! Lets go and live right and do right and get to Heaven.”

“Let him that heareth say, Come!”

Let each man be a power that will echo the call, and on and on down the line.

Once one of our little boys ran up a stairway calling his little brother, and as he said, “Buddie Paul” something up stairs echoed it back, “Buddie Paul!” He ran down to his mother and said, “Mamma, what is that upstairs that said, ‘Buddie Paul every time I said ‘Buddie Paul! ” and his mother explained it by telling him it was the echo of his voice-the walls of the room above echoing his voice back. And, brother, when God shouts from Heaven, let every man be the sounding board that will pass it on and on until this whole universe shall hear the glad word:

Let “whosoever heareth say, Come,” and “whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

“Let him that heareth say, Come.”

OUTSIDE WORKERS

Why, I have often known men to go to work before the word got to them. They have gone around among their friends, saying, ” Boys, look a-here I we have not done right. Suppose we go to church and give our hearts to God and live religious!” -and how many men have been brought to Christ by men who were not religious?

When I was in Jackson, Tennessee, I was met by the mayor of the city and other gentlemen, and they said to me “We were going to your room to see you. We have a friend in this town that we want you to talk to. We want him to be saved.”

Said I, “Gentlemen, I am glad to find you interested: but,” said I,” gentlemen are you Christians? Members of the church?”

“No, Mr. Jones, we are sorry we are not. We are not Christians, but we feel an interest in our friend.”

“Well,” said I, “God says that when a kingdom is divided against itself it can not stand. And Satans kingdom is divided in this very town. His very servants are going to the ministers of God and asking them to go and see their friends.”

NEARING THE KINGDOM.

When a man is interested and says, “boys, lets do better,” that man is not very far from the Kingdom of God. He has just put his foot over the line, and all he has got to do is to put it down, and one other step and he is in the Kingdom of God.

“Let him that heareth say. Come.”

There are five hundred men and women here to-night that are just putting their foot over the dividing line, and all youve got to do is to put that foot down and bring the other foot even with it and you are in the Kingdom of God, a saved man, saved forever and forever. Will you put your foot down to-night and say, “God helping me, I will give myself to God, I wont stand here any longer?

“Let him that heareth say. Come.”

And then he said:

FOR THE THIRSTY SOUL.

“And let him that is athirst come.”

Whether you have heard anything or not, God bless you, the call is to you. If there is down in your soul a thirst, a hunger for a better life, God stood with one hand and touched your heart and made it hunger and made it thirst, and then he stood with the other hand loaded with the broad and with the water of life, and he quenched that thirsty souls thirst forever. Blessed be God! He stands ready to quench thirst and to appease hunger to-night, and he is going all over St. Louis with one hand laden with the bread of life, and the other with the water of life, and the hungriest man will be the first man to get it; and I tell you, hungry man, to-night, when God rings the dinner bell of grace throw down your hearts and come in, dinner is ready to eat, and satisfy your longing needs forever.

“Let him that is athirst come.”

If down in your soul there is a desire to be a good man, start to-night-start to-night. If there is a hungering for a better life, God says:

“Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness.”

Then he says again: Oh, how far down the line God brings this to us. He brings it right down to where he throws heaven and hell at every mans feet, and tells him to take his choice. Now he says:

WHOSOEVER WILL.

“Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.”

I like that grand “whosoever” there. I have read a heap. Oh, I have read a great deal about election, but I think I have found out from Gods word what you mean by election. The “elect” are the “whosoever-will,” and the ‘non-elect” are the “whosoever-wonts.” Now which side will you take-the elect or the whosoever-wills, or the nonelect or the whosoever-wonts? “Elect,” whosoever will. Thank God for that grand old word, and thank God that as the ages wear away men see God in nature, and see God in all his goodness, and see God in his books. Preachers are coming closer to that grand old word every day, and I verily believe that I shall live to see the day when every pulpit in this world will be bottomed on that grand old “whosoever will,” and there they will stand and preach the gospel of the Son of God.

“Whosoever will.”

ANOTHER STORY

That reminds me of the penitent down in Georgia at the altar. He was agonizing, praying. The preacher went up to him, trying to encourage him, and, “Well,” he said, “I am not one of the elect, I am one of the reprobates; I feel it all over “-and I dont reckon a poor soul ever did try to seek God that the devil didnt slip up with something of that sort-” You are one of the reprobates; God never died to save you”-and there he was in agony, and the preacher said to him:

“Well, my brother, listen to me a minute. Now,” said he, “if you could see your name, ‘James B. Green, written upon the Lambs book this minute, would you believe then Christ died for you and you were one of the elect?”

The poor fellow thought a moment and he said, “No, sir. There are other people in this world of my name.” (Laughter.)

“Well,” said the preacher, “if you could see it, ‘James B. Green, Sc riven County, Ga., would you believe it was you then?”

Well,” he says, “there may have been other people of ‘my name in this county before I was born. I dont know.”

“Well,” said he, “if you could see it, ‘James B. Green, Scriven County, Ga., and the year ‘1867, would you believe it was you?”

“Well,” he said, “it may be there is somebody in this county now of my name.”

“Well,” said he, “if you could see it, ‘James B. Green of Scriven County, and the Nineteenth District and the year ’67, would you believe it was you?”

“Well,” he says, “I could not know definitely.”

“Now,” said he, “my friend, God Almighty saw all that trouble and he just put it into one word and he said: ‘Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

And the poor fellow jumped up and clapped his hands and said, “Thank God! I know that means me.”

A UNIVERSAL SALVATION  And “whosoever will, let him take the water of Life freely.”

Blessed be God! It is for all of us. It is for all of us.

“Whosoever will.”

Listen, brother. It aint “Whosoever feels,” it aint “Whosoever is fit,” it aint “Whosoever has repented,” it aint “Whosoever has got faith,” it aint “Whosoever does this or that or the other,” but it is, “Whosoever will – will – will”

LEFT TO THE HUMAN WILL.

God throws it all on the will, and I am glad he does. I know God traverses my emotional nature, and runs through hope and fear and desire and anxiety and dread and affection. God runs all through my emotional nature and my sensibilities. God goes as he pleases through my sensibilities. When God reaches intellect he goes up through perception and conception and judgment and memory and reason and all the faculties of the mind. God goes through them all and asks me no questions. But when God goes to the door of the human will, he stands on tip toe and knocks, and says:

“Behold I stand at the door and knock, and if any man will open unto me I will come in and sup with him and he shall sup with me.”

Thank God, it is “whosoever will.” If you will, God will; and I say to-night God dont say “whosoever feels,” or whosoever says this or that or the other, but he throws it all on your will as a man, and says:

“Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

And I like the conclusion:

“Let him take the water of life freely.”

Blessed be God, ye thirsty men can drink, and there is enough for to-day, enough for all of us, enough forever and evermore. Come and drink freely.

LET HIM COME

And there is another little word in there I like, that little word “let”

“Let him take the water of life freely.”

Six thousand years ago God said: “Let there be light,” and there was light. It was a word of command, and God looks out upon a famishing race with the water of life in reach, and he says: “Let him come;” and when God says “Let him come,” he says, “Go behind him, powers and principalities, and clear the way. Let him take the water of life freely.” God has taken down the mountains and filled up the valleys, and made you a straight and even and smooth way, so that you can drink and live forever, and if you perish you perish because you will not live. God never suffered a soul to be captured and carried away by the enemy of souls and will never suffer you to die; as long as you leek to Christ or lean to Christ or pray to Christ, God will not suffer you to die. God never suffered the devil to take possession of an immortal soul and drag it down to Hell until that soul had walked up to the feet of the devil and stacked its arms, and said: “I surrender forever.” Then Gods own arm and power can never rescue you. God help you to-night to say: “Gods goodness leadeth me to repentance, and I intend to lead a better life.”

THE LAST APPEAL

Now, before we leave this audience room, how many men in the church or out of the church will stand up to-night and say: “I will get closer to God, and drink more of the water of life, God being my helper.” And I hope every man and woman in this house will long to-night for the bet- ter life, with the sweet assurance that God will reach down and give them that for which they seek. Now every man and woman here to-night that will stand on their feet and by standing up say: “I will drink more freely of that water, and eat more of that bread. I will get closer to God. I will get closer to God.” Now every man of you that feels that way stand up, and say, “Here is one! Here is one!” Now we will see how many here to-night, in the church or out of it, that will make this declaration.

To-morrow night I will preach in Centenary Church. I can not hold out to preach in this hall. Let us go to Centenary Church, and if you pack the upper room we will run services in both rooms. I do not say which one I will run. Now to-morrow night come out and let us bring souls to Christ. If any one wants to converse on religion to-night we will talk and sing and pray with you, and may God bless you and save your souls. Amen. Stay, friends, if you want to be saved. And now may the blessing of God abide with you forever and ever. Amen.