about it." I had heard it from other lips, but I wanted to hear it from his own. He said his wife had gone out to a meeting one night, and he was home alone; and while he was sitting there by the fire, he thought: "Suppose my wife is right, and my children are right; suppose there is a heaven and a hell, and I shall be separated from them." His first thought was, "I don't believe a word of it." The second thought came: "You believe in the God that created you, and the God that created you is able to teach you. You believe that God can give you life." "Yes, the God that created me can give me life. I was too proud to get down on my knees by the fire, and I said, 'O God, teach me.' And as I prayed, I don't understand it, but it began to get very dark, and my heart got very heavy. I was afraid to tell my wife when she came to bed, and I pretended to be asleep. She kneeled down beside that bed, I knew she was praying for me. I kept crying: 'O God, save me; O God, take away this burden;' but it grew darker, and the load grew heavier and heavier. All the way to my office I kept crying O God, take away this load of guilt;' I gave my clerks a holiday, and just closed my office and locked the door. I fell down on my face; I cried in agony to the Lord, 'O Lord, for Christ's sake, take away this guilt.'I don't know how it was, but it began to grow very light. I said: 'I wonder if this isn't what they call conversion. I think I will go and ask the minister if I am not converted.' I met my wife at the door and said, 'My dear, I've been converted.' She looked in amazement. 'Oh it's a fact; I've been converted!' We went into that drawing-room and knelt down by the sofa and prayed to God to bless us." The old Judge said to me, the tears trickling down his cheeks: "Mr. Moody, I've enjoyed life more in the last three months than in all the years of my life put together." If there is an infidel here-if there is a skeptical one here, ask God to give you wisdom to come now. Let us reason together; and if you become acquainted with God, the day will not go before you receive light from him. The next "Come" I want to call your attention to is a very sweet He says, "Come and reason,' "Come and see;" and now we have, "Come and rest.” What this world wants is rest. man, every woman, is in pursuit of it; and how many of us have found? How many are bearing burdens about our hearts always; how many have come into this hall to-day with a great burden on their hearts? What does he say: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Now a great many people have an idea that they get rid of their burdens themselves; but they must come to him, if they want to be relieved. That's what Christ came for. Come to him. "He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." There could not be a sweeter "Come" than this. How many mothers are bearing burdens for their children; how many because of their sons; or, perhaps, you have husbands who

one.

Every

have proved unfaithful; or may be you are widows, who have been without support. The future may look dark to you; but hear the loving voice of the Savior: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." There is not a soul here-I don't care what the burden may be-in this vast audience, but can lay their burden on the Lord Jesus Christ; and he will bear it for you. We can be released; we have found a resting place, and that is in the loving bosom of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a hymn written by Dr. Andrew Bonar, which can express this much better than I can. Let me read it:

I heard the voice of Jesus say:
"Come unto me and rest;

Lay down, thou weary one,
lay down
Thy head upon my breast.""

I came to Jesus as I was,

Weary and worn and sad;
I found in him a resting-place,
And he has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say:
"Behold freely give

The living water-thirsty one,
Stoop down and drink and live!"

I came to Jesus and I drank

Of that life-giving stream;

My thirst was quenched, my soul revived
And now I live in him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say:

"I am this dark world's light;

Look unto me, thy morn shall rise,
And all thy day be bright."

I looked at Jesus and I found

In him my Star, my Sun.

And in that light of Life I'll walk
Till traveling days are done.

O, my friends, if you want rest to-day, come to him. He stands with his arms outstretched and says: "Come to me and rest." Does the world satisfy you? Are not the griefs of this world crushing many a heart here? Hear the voice of Jesus, "Come and rest." The world cannot take it from you; the world's crosses and trials will not tear it from you; he will give you peace and comfort and rest, if you but come.

The next "Come" is "Come and drink and eat." You don't have to pay anything. You know it is hard for a man to get a tax on water unless when it has to be brought into the city. But this water

is always without price, and salvation is like a river, flowing at the feet of every one; and all you have to do is to stoop down and drink of this living water, and never die. The world cannot give you comfort cannot give you water to satisfy your thirst, and every man and woman in this world is thirsty. That's the way our places of amusement are filled. People are constantly thirsting for something. But how are they filled with those amusements? They are as thirsty as ever. But if they drink the waters that he offers, they will have a fountain in them springing up into everlasting life. I remember coming down a river with some wounded soldiers. The water was very muddy; and as we had no filters, they had to. drink the dirty water, which did not satisfy their thirst. I remember a soldier saying, “Oh that I had a draught of water from my father's well." If you drink of the living water, your soul will never thirst again. Not only does he say, "Come and drink of that living water," but he says, "Come and eat." In the 55th chapter of Isaiah you are invited to come and eat. You know all that the children of Israel had to do in the wilderness was just to pick up the manna and eat. They didn't have to make it. And people had just to stoop down and pick up the manna and eat, and drink from the flinty rock when the water flowed. And to-day the provision is brought to the door of our hearts. You haven't to go down to the earth for it, or to go up to the skies for it. It is here; and all you've got to do

is to eat.

You know almost the last words of Christ after his resurrection, when, having a little fish, he said to his disciples, "Come and dine." Oh, what a sweet invitation-the invitation of the Master to his disciples, "Come and dine." I invite you now to come and dine with him; he will quench that thirst; he will satisfy your hunger, and all youv'e got to do is to take him at his word.

Is there a poor thirsty one here to-day? I bid you come and drink of the fountain of living water; I bid you come and eat of the heavenly bread; yes, the bread made in heaven, the bread that angels feed on. Christ himself is the bread of life.

Now, a many people make a great mistake about accepting Christ. They think they've got something to do; they think they've got to do some work, or that they've got to pray and wrestle before taking him; they think it is a question of performance whether they are saved or not. Now, it is a question of simply taking what God offers you. I remember, when I was out on the Pacific coast, a man took me through his house, out on his lands, and showed me his orchards, and then said: "Mr. Moody, you are a guest of mine, and I want you to feel perfectly at home; do what you like." Well, after this man said this, you don't suppose if I wanted an orange I was going under the tree to pray that it would fall into my pocket? I just went up boldly and plucked what I wanted. And so the bread of

aeaven is offered to us; and all we've got to do is to go boldly up and take it. This is what God wants you to do. Everything is prepared for you.

There is a class, too, who say, "But I'm afraid I'll not hold out." How many people are stumbling over this! Now, if you come boldly up to the throne you'll get all the support you need: "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." There is a passage for you; that ought to be sufficient. And there is not a woman here to-day but can be kept, from this very day and this very hour, from evil. "For I the Lord thy God will keep you, without spot or wrinkle, and without blemish." Some of the vilest men who have ever trodden this earth have been saved by the grace of God. Some have been kept sixty or seventy years merely by the grace of God, and never wavered. "Come boldly to the throne of grace," and you will get power. That is sufficient. Won't you take him at his word? It seems to me that it is madness not to take the gift offered us by God.

Let me call attention to another "Come." My friends, the Bible is full of them, and you can't say, if you don't come, there have been no invitations. He says. "Come to the marriage." Now, you young ladies like marriages pretty well. Let a marriage come off in a church, and hundreds will be there; and probably next night, at the prayer meeting, there will scarcely be a dozen of you present. Now, here is a marriage; and there is not a lady here whom God does not want to be present at the marriage feast. There is an invitation. And here is another "Come":"Come and inherit the kingdom prepared for you, from the foundation of the world." God has got on inheritance for every one of you. The time will soon come, if you accept Christ and become as his bride, when you shall hear the voice of him saying to you: "Come and inherit the kingdom prepared for you, from the foundation of the world." What a mistake it will be, my friends, if you will not hear that invitation given to you! There is an inheritance incorruptible in the heavens, a building not made with hands, and he wants every one to enter into this inheritance; and so it is your privilege to be present at the marriage feast, and receive the inheritance, if you will.

You know the first "Come" in the Bible is in regard to salvation. It was given to Noah. God said, "Come thou, and all thy house, into the ark;" not a part of them, but "all thy house." That is the first "Come," in the Bible; and all through that blessed book it is repeated. And now we come to the last one. It seems as if the Bible was created by this word "Come.” "The Spirit and the bride say "Come; and let him that is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." There is our invitation, as broad as the world itself. And if God says you are to come in there,

no power in heaven, or earth, or hell can stop you! He bids you come. Now, bear in mind, it is your sins God wants, and not your faith. You have nothing about you that he wants except your sins. People are continually trying to come to him by their faith, by their feelings, by their tears, by their good deeds, by their works; but you have to come to him just as you are. There is not a woman present but can roll off every sin and leave them in this Tabernacle.

Now the question comes, What right have you to come? Why, because the King invites you. Suppose Queen Victoria had sent me an invitation to be present at Windsor, at a feast given in honor of the marriage of one of her sons to a princess of Russia! I take the cars to New York, then the boat to Liverpool; then I would run down to London, where I would get the train to Windsor Castle. There is a sentry walking up and down in front of the gate. If. I hadn't my invitation, he would refuse me admittance; but there is not a soldier in the British army can keep me out, because I've got the Queen's invitation. But suppose the man looks at me and says: "You can't go into the presence of the Queen with those clothes; you are not fit to stand before the Queen." That is none of his business; that's hers. So the invitation comes from him, and he wants you to come, and he will clothe you in garments fit for his presence. You will be stripped of every rag of self-righteousness, and a robe of spotlessness will be put upon you.

A great many people say, "I want to become clean before I come to Christ." Now, my friends, that is the devil's work. He tries to get people to believe that they can't come without getting rid of their sins; but, as I've said, all through the scriptures he bids you come as you are. We cannot take away our sins; come to him and he will blot them out. A few years ago, in London, there used to be a good many little children stolen to act as chimney-sweeps. A child was stolen from a wealthy family, and a great reward was offered; but it couldn't be found. This child had been kidnapped. One day he was sent up a chimney and came down on the other side, and into a beautiful room. The little fellow was bewildered. A lady was sitting there and recognized him as her son; and although the little fellow was covered with smut, she ran to him, and drew him to her bosom; and that is the way Christ will receive you. You needn't try to get rid of one particle of sin; he wants to save you as you are. "Whosoever will, let him come and drink of the waters of life freely." Will you come to-day? The spirit and the bride invite you this af

ternoon.

Now I want to ask you what are you going to do with these ten loving invitations to-day-"Come and hear;" "Come and see;" "Come and reason;" "Come and rest:" "Come and eat and drink;" "Come aud dine;" "Come and find grace;" "Come unto the mar riage;" "Come and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the