Christ All in All

Colossians
3:11- "Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

CHRIST
is all in all to every one who has truly found Him. He is our Savior, Redeemer,
Deliverer, Shepherd, Teacher, and also sustains toward us many more offices,
to which I desire to call your attention.

1. If
we turn to Luke 2:10, 11, we find Christ is there announced as our SAVIOR: "Behold,
I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ
the Lord."

We learn
to know Christ as our Savior, to meet Him on Mount Calvary, to look on Him
as the bleeding Lamb of God, before we know Him as our Redeemer, Deliverer,
and Shepherd. Now, looking round upon this vast assembly, I, who do not
know the hearts of the people, cannot know whether you can say that Christ
is your Savior. There are many, I trust, who can say this, and who rejoice
in His salvation; while, without being uncharitable, I am afraid there are
many who know nothing personally of Jesus as their Savior.

He is offered to every
one of you today as a Savior; "God gave Him up freely for us all," that we all
through Him might be saved. If you are belonging to this world, I can prove
that you have a Savior. If you belonged to some other planet, such as the moon
or any of the stars, then I could not say a Savior was offered to you; for it
is not revealed whether the people of these distant worlds, even if they are
inhabited, require salvation or not. But this I know, that every man on this
globe has a Savior offered him.

SALVATION FREE TO ALL

I have no sympathy with
those men who try to limit God's salvation to a certain few. I believe that
Christ died for all who will come. I have received many letters finding fault
with me, and saying I surely don't believe the doctrine of election. I do believe
in election; but I have no business to preach that doctrine to the world at
large. The world has nothing to do with election; it has only to do with the
invitation, "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." That is
the message for the sinner. I am sent to preach the gospel to all.

After you have received
salvation, we can talk about election. It's a doctrine for Christians, for the
Church, not for the unconverted world. Our message is "good tidings, which shall
be to all people; for unto you is born this day a Savior, which is Christ the
Lord." All people, this Savior is proffered to you. Accept Him, and God will
accept you; reject Him, and God will reject you. Your eternal destiny depends
on your refusal or otherwise to accept the proffered Savior. The case is simply
one of giving and taking. God gives; I receive. We must, then, first of all
know Christ as our Savior.

2. But
He is still more: He is our REDEEMER.

Supposing I saw a man
tumble into a river, and I were to jump in and rescue him, I should be a savior
to him - I should have saved him. But when I brought the man ashore, I should
probably leave him, and do nothing further.

But the Lord does more.
He not only saves us, but He redeems us - that is, buys us back. He ransoms
us from the power of sin, as if I should promise to watch over that rescued
man for ever, and see that he did not again fall into the water. The Lord not
only saves us from spiritual death, but He redeems us for ever that death can
never touch us.

LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES

When I was at Richmond,
U.S., the colored people were going to have a meeting. It was the first day
of their freedom. I went to the African church, and never before or since heard
such bursts of native eloquence.

"Mother," said one,
"rejoice today. Your little child has been sold from you for the last time;
your posterity are for ever free. Glory to God in the highest! Young men, you
have heard the driver's whip for the last time; you are free today! Young maidens,
you have been put up on the auction- block for the last time!" They spoke right
out, they shouted for joy; their prayers had been answered, it was the gospel
to them. In like manner Jesus Christ proclaims liberty to the captives. Some
have accepted it; some, like the poor negroes, scarcely believe the good tidings;
but it is none the less true. Christ has come to redeem us from the slavery
of sin.

Now, who will accept
of that redemption? There was one colored woman, a servant in an inn in the
Southern States, who could not believe she was free. "Be's I free, or be I not?"
she asked of a visitor. Her master told her she was not, her colored brethren
told her she was. For two years she had been free without knowing it. She represents
a great many in the Church of God today. They can have liberty, and yet they
don't know it.

3.
Again, Christ is our DELIVERER.

The children of Israel
were not only saved and redeemed from the bondage of the Egyptians, but they
were also delivered, that they should not be led back again into bondage. Many
are afraid; they think they are not able to hold on, and therefore shrink from
making a profession. But Christ is able to keep you from falling; He is able
to deliver you in the dark hour of trial and temptation, from every evil device
of Satan, and from the snare of the fowler.

In Isaiah 49:24, we
read: "Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him
that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children." I will save him; I
will deliver him. The children of Israel were saved from the cruel bondage of
Egypt, they were led out of the land of Goshen; but still they were not fully
delivered. The great host of the Egyptians was thundering behind them. It was
not till they had passed safely through the Red Sea, which closing behind, them,
swallowed up the host of the enemy - it was not till then that they were free,
that they were delivered. And similarly in our times of danger we shall find
it to be true of Christ, "He delivered my soul"; and again in Job 33:24, "Then
He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit:
I have found a ransom. His flesh shall be fresher than a child's: he shall return
to the days of his youth: he shall pray unto God, and He will be favorable unto
him: and he shall see His face with joy: for He will render unto man His righteousness.
He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the
light." Here we have the saving, the redeeming, the deliverance from the pit.
Man is fallen into the deep pit, he is kept there a lawful captive by one who
is mighty. If he is to be brought back from the darkness of the pit to see the
light, then we must have a ransom. Here God comes forward, and says, "I have
found a ransom." Christ is the ransom, and He will deliver us. Sound out the
cry, "Christ is our deliverer." He is mighty to save, He is able to deliver.

A LEADER

4.
But now we need something more. Look back again to the children of Israel; when
they had marched gloriously through the Red Sea, they had been saved, redeemed,
and delivered; but was that all they required? No; they had been brought into
the wilderness. What now do they need? They must have a way to go in the pathless
desert. They required a leader. Then Christ is the way and the leader. Are we
in difficulties, in doubt, or in perplexity? Christ is our way. "I am the way,
the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).

I have heard some say,
"Well, if I am converted, and become religious, I don't know what church I would
go to. There are so many different churches and denominations. I really don't
know which is the right one." Hence some people are bewildered, and do not know
which is the true way. Well, I would say to such, Look only to Him who says,
"I AM THE WAY." He is the only true way, and if you want to reach the kingdom
you have only to follow Him. We may be in darkness, but He is able to lead us
in the right path. He is the Shepherd of His flock. He will go before us and
lead us. He is calling upon us to arise and follow Him, and He will lead us
by a way we know not; He will guide us to the green pastures if we only look
to Him.

THE PILLAR OF CLOUD

All that the children
of Israel had to do was to follow the cloud. If the cloud rested, they rested;
if the cloud moved forward, then they moved. I can imagine that the first thing
Moses did, when the gray dawn of morning broke, was to look up and see if the
cloud was still over the camp. By night it was a pillar of fire, lighting up
the camp, and filling them with a sense of God's protecting care; by day it
was a cloud shielding them from the fierce heat of the sun's rays, and sheltering
them from the sight of their enemies.

Israel's Shepherd could
lead them through the pathless desert. Why? Because He made it. He knew every
grain of sand in it. They could not have a better leader through the wilderness
than its Creator.

And, sinner, can you,
in all your difficulties or doubts and fears, have a better leader than Jehovah?
Oh, I do like that good old hymn: "Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through
this barren land; I am weak, but Thou art mighty, Hold me with Thy powerful
hand.

Bread of heaven, Feed
me till I want no more." Yes, that is the true prayer of the bewildered sinner.
God is able, and still more, He is willing, to lead us, and to feed us.

"Thou gavest them bread
from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the
rock for their thirst" (Nehemiah 9:15).

He is still as able
to lead any of us as He was four thousand years ago to lead the children of
Israel, "For I am the Lord; I change not." To every one of us He says, "Fear
not, I will lead thee; I will help thee." Wonderful thing, is it not, to have
God to help us on our way? In our Western countries, when men go out hunting
into the dense backwoods, where there are no roads or paths of any kind, they
take their hatchet and cut a little chip out of the bark of the trees as they
go along, and then they easily find their way by these "blazes." They call it
"blazing the way." And so, if you will allow me the expression, Christ has "blazed
the way." He has traveled the road Himself, and knowing the way, He tells us
to follow Him, and He will lead us safe on high.

5. Now
we have seen Christ is our Savior, Redeemer, Deliverer, Leader, or Way. But
He is more than all that; HE IS OUR LIGHT.

"I am the light of the
world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light
of life." He shall have the very "light of life." Yes, it is the privilege of
every Christian to walk in an unclouded sky.

But do we walk thus
in an unclouded sky? No, most Christians are often in darkness. If I were to
ask this congregation if they were all walking in the light, I believe there
is scarcely one, if he spoke the true feeling of his heart, but would reply,
"No, I am often in darkness." Why is that? It is because we are not following
Christ, and keeping close to Him. We are much in darkness when we might be in
the light.

Suppose the windows
of this building were all closed, and we were complaining of the darkness, what
would any one say to us? Why, they would say, "Admit the light; open the windows
all round, and you'll soon have plenty of light." Similarly we must let in Christ,
who is the light, and open our minds to receive Him, and we shall soon walk
in light. There is a great deal of darkness at the present time, even in the
hearts of God's own people. But follow Him, and then you will have plenty of
light. Then Christ will show to each of us that He is "The Light"; and He will
do more, He will set us on fire with His light, that we also may shine as lights
in this dark world.

May God help His own
people to SHINE BRIGHTLY, to flash out of darkness, that men may take knowledge
of us that we have been with Jesus. But remember, the world hates the light.
Christ was the light of the world, and the world sought to extinguish it at
Calvary. Now He has left His people to shine. "Ye are the light of the world."
He has left us here to shine. He means us to be "living epistles, known and
read of all men." The world is certain to watch, and to read you and me. If
we are inconsistent, then you may be sure the world will take occasion to stumble
at us.

The world finds plenty
of difficulties on the way; let us see that we Christians do not add more stumbling-blocks
by our un-Christlike walk.

God help us to keep
our lights burning clear and brilliant! Out West a friend of mine was walking
along one of the streets one dark night, and saw approaching him a man with
a lantern. As he came up close to him he noticed by the bright light that the
man had got no eyes. He went past, but the thought struck him, "Surely that
man is blind." He turned round, and said, "My friend, are you not blind?" "Yes."
"Then what have you got the lantern for?" "I carry the lantern that people may
not stumble over me, of course," said the blind man. Let us take a lesson from
that blind man, and hold up our light, burning with the clear radiance of heaven,
that men may not stumble over us.

6. Objectors
have said that it's all moonshine about Christ's people being lights on the
way. Well, that's just what we believe; we reflect the light of Christ.

REFLECTED LIGHT

Just like the moonshine,
our light is borrowed light. When we are living in the light of our Savior we
shine with His light: somewhat like the face of Moses, which shone after he
had been in the mount with God. Let us live in an atmosphere of heaven, and
we cannot help shining. But whenever we get downcast and weak in faith, then
we are sure to lose our light.

I remember during the
American war I was in a prayer meeting. We were all very dark and gloomy. Things
had been going against us for some time.

At last an old man got
up, and said, "What is the matter with us, that we are downhearted and sad?
It is simply our lack of faith. Moses, Joshua, and David were men strong in
faith. They believed, and therefore God honored them. Whence comes our want
of faith? God is not dead. He is as powerful, as willing, to help today as ever
He was. Why, then, are we not full of faith in Him? It is God-dishonoring to
forget that He still has power, although our armies are defeated, and all seems
dark and gloomy."

GET ABOVE THE CLOUDS

I will tell you what
happened to me some time ago when I was out West. I wanted to reach the summit
of one of the Western mountains. I had been told that sunrise was very beautiful
when seen from the summit. We got up to the half-way house one afternoon, where
we were to rest till midnight, and then set out for the top. Soon a little party
of us started with a good guide. Before a great while it began to rain, and
then it became a regular storm of thunder and lightning. I thought there was
little use in going on, and said to the guide, "Guess we'd better turn back;
we won't see anything this morning, with all these clouds." "Oh," said the guide,
"I expect we'll soon get through these clouds, and get above them, and then
we'll have a glorious view." So we went on, whilst the thunders were rumbling
right about our ears. But soon we began to get above the thunder-cloud; the
air was quite clear, and when the sun rose we had a splendid view of his rays
as they tinged the hilltops; and then, as the glorious sunshine began to break
on where we stood, we could see the dark cloud far beneath our mountain height.
That's what God's people want - to get into the clear air above the stormy clouds,
and to CLIMB HIGHER away up to the mountain peak. There you'll catch the first
rays from the Sun of Righteousness far above the clouds and mists. Some of you
may be in great darkness and gloom; but fear not, climb higher, get nearer to
the Master, and soon you'll catch His bright rays on your own soul, and they
will sprinkle back upon others.

KEEP THE LOWER LIGHTS
BURNING

We must live as children
of the light, not as children of the darkness. If we are dark and sorrowful,
how is the world to know that we are children of peace, and joy, and gladness?
Our determination must be to keep our lights burning. A few years ago, at the
mouth of Cleveland harbor there were two lights, one at each side of the bay,
called the upper and lower lights; and, to enter the harbor safely by night,
vessels must sight both of these lights.

These Western lakes
are more dangerous sometimes than the great ocean.

One wild, stormy night
a steamer was trying to make her way into the harbor. The captain and the pilot
were anxiously watching for the lights.

By and by the pilot
was heard to say, "Do you see the lower lights?" "No," was the reply; "but I
fear we have passed them." "Ah, there are the lights," said the pilot; "and
they must be, from the bluff on which they stand, the upper lights. We have
passed the lower lights, and have lost our chance of getting into the harbor."
What was to be done? They looked back, and saw the dim outline of the lower
lighthouse against the sky. The lights had gone out. "Can't you turn her head
round?" "No; the night is too wild for that. She won't answer her helm." The
storm was so fearful that they could do nothing. They tried again to make for
the harbor, but they went crash against the rocks, and sank to the bottom. Very
few escaped; the great majority found a watery grave. Why? Simply because the
lower lights had gone out.

And with us the upper
lights are all right. Christ Himself is the upper light, and we are the lower
lights, and the cry to us is, keep the lower lights burning, that is what we
have to do. In the place God has put us He expects us to shine, to be living
witnesses, to be a bright and shining light.

While we are here our
work is to shine for Him, and He will lead us safe to the sunlit shore of Canaan,
where there is no more night.

7. But
Christ is more than our Light on the way; for He is OUR TEACHER.

What a wonderful thing
to have a teacher sent from heaven. "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of
God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given
him" (James 1:5).

"If any lack wisdom":
I am afraid there are a great many of us who lack wisdom, and even the best
of us at times will be in perplexity. There are moments in the life of us all
when we seem in a fix; we just stand still, and say, "What shall I do? I don't
know what is the best way." Oh, leave it with God, He will Himself be our teacher!
"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me." Here is a wonderful teacher. He has
had a school for many thousand years; He has had the best men in His school;
but still there's room for another scholar there. His college is not too full
yet, and the teacher is the One sent from heaven.

Any one, every one in
this assembly may join this school. Jesus will welcome you there. Are you in
doubt about anything? ask Jesus; He will tell you.

Anxious sinner, seek
the good teacher, as Nicodemus did: "Master, we know thou art a teacher sent
from God." If you seek Him thus He will direct you. He will keep you, and lead
you into green pastures and by the still waters. I met a woman the other day
who was full of infidel doubts and fancies. She could not believe. Reading for
some time infidel works had thrown a dark and gloomy pall over her mind. It
made me sad to see her in such a case. Some of you may be like her. I wish you
would take Christ as your teacher, and then all darkness would flee away.

Christ is able to teach
us. See how He taught the disciples. He never wearied of their learning from
Him. So He will teach us if we will only listen to Him.

THE OLD JUDGE CONVERTED

I remember, as I was
coming out of the daily prayer meeting in one of our American cities a few years
ago, a lady said she wished to speak to me; her voice trembled with emotion,
and I saw at once that she was heavily burdened by something or other. She said
she had long been praying for her husband, and she wanted to know if I would
go to see him; she thought it might do him some good. What is his name? "Judge
- ," and she mentioned one of the most eminent politicians in the State. "I
have heard of him," I said; "I am afraid I need not go, he is a booked infidel;
I cannot argue with him." "That is not what he wants," said the lady. "He has
had too much argument already. Go and speak to him about his soul." I said I
would, although I was not very hopeful. I went to his house, was admitted to
his room, and introduced myself as having come to speak to him about salvation.
"Then you have come on a very foolish errand," said he; "there's no use in attacking
me, I tell you that. I am proof against all these things, I don't believe in
them." Well, I saw it was no use arguing with him; so I said, "I'll pray for
you, and I want you to promise me that when you are converted you'll let me
know." "Oh, yes, I'll let you know," he said in a tone of sarcasm. "Oh, yes,
I'll let you know when I'm converted!" I left him, but I continued to pray for
him. Some time subsequently I heard that the old judge was converted. I was
again preaching in that city a while after that, and when I had done talking
the judge himself came to me, and said: "I promised I'd let you know when I
was converted; I have come to tell you of it. Have you not heard of it?" "Yes;
but I would like to hear from you how it happened." "Well," said the judge,
"one night, some time after you called on me, my wife had gone to the meeting;
there was no one in the house but the servants. I sat by the drawing-room fire,
and I began to think: Suppose my wife is right, that there is a heaven and a
hell; and suppose she is on the right way to heaven, where am I going? I just
dismissed the thought. But a second thought came: Surely He who created me is
able to teach me. Yes, I thought, that is so. Then why not ask Him? I struggled
against it, but at last, though I was too proud to get down on my knees, I just
said, 'Father, all is dark; Thou who created me canst teach me.' "Somehow, the
more I prayed the worse I felt. I was very sad. I did not wish my wife to come
home and find me thus, so I slipped away to bed, and when she came into the
room I pretended to be asleep. She got down on her knees and prayed. I knew
she was praying for me, and that for many long years she had been doing so.
I felt as if I could have jumped up and knelt beside her; but no, my proud heart
would not let me, so I lay still, pretending to be asleep. But I didn't sleep
that night. I soon changed my prayer; it was now, 'O God, save me; take away
this terrible burden.' "I didn't believe in Christ even yet. I thought I'd go
right straight to the Father Himself. But the more I prayed I only became the
more miserable; my burden grew heavier. The next morning I did not wish to see
my wife, so I said 'I was not well, and wouldn't wait for breakfast.' I went
to the office, and when the boy came I sent him home for a holiday. When the
clerks came I told them they might go for the day. I closed the office doors:
I wanted to be alone with God. I was almost frantic in my agony of heart. I
cried to God to take away this load of sin. At last I fell on my knees, and
cried, 'For Jesus Christ's sake take away this load of sin.' At length I went
to my wife's pastor, who had been praying with her for my conversion for years,
and the same minister who had prayed with my mother before she died. As I walked
down the street the verse that my mother had taught me came into my mind, 'Whatsoever
things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have
them.' Well, I thought, I have asked God, and here I am going to ask a man.
I won't go.

I believe I am a Christian.
I turned and went home. I met my wife in the hall as I entered. I caught her
hand, and said, 'I am a Christian now.' She turned quite pale; she had been
praying for twenty-one years for me, and yet she could not believe the answer
had come. We went into our room, and knelt down by the very bedside where she
had so often knelt to pray for her husband. There we erected our family altar;
and for the first time our voices mingled in prayer. And I can only say that
the last three months have been the happiest months ever I spent in my life."
Since then that judge has lived a consistent Christian life; and all because
he came to God, asking for guidance.

If there is one here
today whose mind is filled with such infidel thoughts, go honestly to God, and
He will teach you the right way through the dark wilderness of infidelity. He
won't leave you in darkness or doubt. It is the devil's own work to lead men
into such doubts; well he knows if he once gets them there he has them pretty
safe.

It is Satan's work to
keep you in ignorance or doubt. It is God's work to teach you. The teacher is
Christ; He is appointed by God for this work. God help us all to accept
Him as our teacher.

8. Now we have seen Christ as our Savior, Redeemer, Deliverer,
Leader, Light, and Teacher. But He is still more; He is also OUR SHEPHERD.

A very sweet thought
it is to me, "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want." There is not one here,
except the very babes, who does not understand the work of a shepherd. He watches
over his flock, protects them from danger, feeds them, leads them into the best
pastures. In fact, the 23rd Psalm is just a statement of the duties of a good
shepherd: "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want," etc.

You want to be fed;
are you going to wander about seeking something to satisfy the cravings of your
soul? Then, I tell you, you never will find anything to satisfy the longings
of your heart. The world cannot, and never could, satisfy a hungry soul. The
Lord Jesus can - He is the true Shepherd. He is seeking to restore your soul,
to lead you back to the paths of righteousness. Even to death will He lead you,
and safely through its shadow guide you to a better land. Mother, father, will
you claim Him as your Shepherd? Young man, young woman, will you have Him as
your Shepherd? My little child, will you have Jesus as your Shepherd? He will
lead safely and softly.

You can, all of you,
if you will. For "God gave Him up freely for us all," that He might have us
for His flock. He will lead us through life, down to the banks of the Jordan;
He will lead us across the dark river into His kingdom. He is a tender, loving
Shepherd.

I sometimes meet people
in the anxious inquiry-room who are nourishing hard, bitter feelings against
God, generally because they have been afflicted. A mother said to me the other
day, "Ah, Mr. Moody, God has been unjust to me; He has come and taken away my
child." Dear afflicted mothers, has God not removed your children to a pure
and happy life? You may not understand it now, but you will by and by. He wants
to lead you up there. THE EASTERN SHEPHERD.

A friend of mine, who
had been in eastern lands, told me he saw a shepherd who wanted his flock to
cross a river. He went into the water himself and called them; but no, they
would not follow him into the water.

What did he do? Why,
he girded up his loins and lifted a little lamb under each arm, and plunged
right into the stream, and crossed it without even looking back. Whenever he
lifted the lambs, the old sheep looked up into his face and began to bleat for
them; but when he plunged into the water the dams plunged after him, and then
the whole flock followed. When they got to the other side he put down the lambs,
and they were quickly joined by their mothers, and there was a happy meeting.

My friend says he noticed
the pastures on the other side were much better and the fields greener; and
on this account the shepherd was leading them across. Our great Palestine Shepherd
does that. That child which He has taken from the earth is but removed to green
pastures of Canaan, and the Shepherd means to draw your hearts after it, to
teach you to "set your affections on things above." When He has taken your little
Mary, Edith, or Julia, accept it as a call to look upward and beyond. You, mother,
are you weeping bitter tears for your little one? Do not weep! Your child has
gone to the place where there is neither weeping nor sorrow. Would you have
it return? Surely never.

Christ is our Shepherd
- faithful and loving. Though sickness, or trouble, or even death itself, should
come to our house, and claim our dearest ones, still they are not lost, but
only gone before. God help each one of us to have Him as our Shepherd.

If time permitted, I
should like to take up the subject of Christ as our Justification, our Wisdom,
our Righteousness, the Friend that sticketh closer than a brother; but it would
take a whole eternity to tell what Christ is to His people, and what He does
for them.

I remember when I was
preaching on this subject in Scotland, after I had done, I said to a man that
"I was sorry I could not finish the subject for want of time." "Finish the subject,"
said the Scotchman, "why, that would require all eternity, and even then it
would not be complete; it will be the occupation of heaven."

9. Once more, let
us look at Christ as OUR BURDEN-BEARER.

Oh, I love to think
of Him as the bearer of our burdens as well as our sin-bearer.

He carries our sins,
although they are more numerous than the hairs of our heads. Great and terrible
as these burdens are, God has laid them all on Jesus.

"O Christ, what burdens
bowed Thy head! Our load was laid on Thee." That aspect of His burden-bearing
we have already looked at in His work as Savior and Redeemer. I wish now to
take up the sweet thought, which has been a great comfort to me.

"Surely He hath borne
our griefs, and carried our sorrows." Glorious, is it not, to know we have such
a Savior? Can you feel that He has lifted your burden off your shoulders on
to His own shoulder? Then you will feel light in heart.

A LIGHT HEART

On one occasion, after
I had been talking this way, a woman came forward, and said, "Oh, Mr. Moody,
it's all very well for you to talk like that, about a light heart. But you are
a young man, and if you had a heavy burden like me you would talk differently.
I could not talk in that way, my burden is too great." I replied, "But it's
not too great for Jesus." "Oh," she said, "I cannot cast it on Him." "Why not?
surely it is not too great for Him. It is not that He is feeble. But it is because
you will not leave it to Him. You're like many others. They will not leave it
with Him. They go about hugging their burden, and yet crying out against it.
What the Lord wants is, you to leave it with Him, to let Him carry it for you.
Then you will have a light heart, sorrow will flee away, and there will be no
more sighing. What is your burden, my friend, that you cannot leave with Christ?"
She replied, "I have a son who is a wanderer on the face of the earth. None
but God knows where he is." "Cannot Christ find him, and bring him back?" "I
suppose He can." "Then go and tell Jesus, and ask Him to forgive you for doubting
His power and willingness; you have no right to mistrust Him." She went away
much comforted, and I believe she ultimately had her wandering boy restored
to her!

A MOTHER'S PRAYER ANSWERED

This circumstance reminds
me of a faithful father and mother in our country, whose eldest son had gone
to Chicago to a situation. A neighbor of theirs was in the city on some business,
and he met the young man reeling along the streets drunk. He thought, "How am
I to tell his parents?" When he returned to his village, he went and called
out the father, and told him. It was a terrible blow to that father, but he
said nothing to the mother till the little ones had all gone to rest; the servants
had retired, and all was quiet in that little farm on the Western prairies.
They drew up their chairs to the little drawing-room table, and then he told
her the sad news. "Our boy has been seen drunk on the streets of Chicago - drunk."
Ah, that mother was sorely hurt; they did not sleep much that night, but spent
the hours in fervent prayers for their boy. About daybreak the mother felt an
inward conviction that all would be well. She told the father "she had cast
it on the Lord, had left her son with Jesus, and she felt He would save him."

One week from that time
the young man left Chicago, took a journey of three hundred miles into the country;
and when he reached his home, he walked in, and said, "Mother, I've come home
to ask you to pray for me." Ah, her prayer had reached heaven; she had cast
her burden on Jesus, and He had borne it for her. He took the burden, presented
her prayer sprinkled with the atoning blood, and got it answered. In two days
that young man returned to Chicago rejoicing in the Savior. What a wonderful
thing it is to have Christ as our burden-bearer! How easy, how light do our
cares become when cast upon Him!

Do you say Christ is
nothing to you? If so, it is only because you won't have Him. He is to all who
will accept Him a Savior from death, a Redeemer from the power of sin, a Deliverer
from our enemies, a Leader through the wilderness; He is the way Himself, He
is Light in the darkness, He is a Teacher to His people, He is the Shepherd
of His flock, our Justification, Wisdom, Righteousness, Elder Brother, Burden-bearer.

He is in fact "Our all
in all." Then come to Christ; oh, come today, The Father, Son, and Spirit say,
The Bride repeats the call, For He will cleanse your guilty stains, His love
will soothe your weary pains, For Christ is All in All.