he can't save drunkards? If he could speak worlds into existence, can't he save dead souls? I have more hope of these prayer meetings than of any others. But if we don't get a hold of God here we won't anywhere. I believe that God answers prayers. If we ask a fish, he won't give us a stone. Some have said these meetings will pass away and do no good. But it won't be so if God is with us. The late war taught men how to pray. It seems to me that some of the best work I ever saw was among the soldiers. Those boys away from their mothers, how many prayers were uttered for them, and how many were converted! I well remember a young lieutenant from Indiana. In one of our meetings, when we had been speaking of mothers' prayers, he got up and said the remarks reminded him of letters he had received from his mother, expressing great anxiety about his soul. He had told her he would come to Christ after the war; but she reminded him he might never see that time. Another letter came from his home, and that mother was dead. And with the tears trickling down his cheeks, that noble young man told his tale, and came to know his Savior. Now we come to-day to call upon the Lord for a great blessing to rest upon this mighty city.

A RAINY DAY PRAYER MEETING.-PS. ciii.

There are five precious clauses in this Psalm, viz: "He forgiveth all thine iniquities;" "He healeth all thy diseases;" "He redeemeth thy life from destruction," and "He crowneth thee with loving kindness." Christianity is better than anything that the world can give. It satisfies us. This is what wealth cannot do. The crowns of Europe cannot give the peace and contentment that come from the Crown of Life. I like these rainy-day prayer meetings. It costs us something to get here.

DISOBEDIENCE.

All the trouble in the world originates in this little word. It is the cause of all misery, and is the open door through which it comes. It was there that Adam fell; God told him that he shouldn't do a certain thing, and he did it. In the 15th chapter of 1st Samuel we read of sacrifices and obedience, and that God prefers being obeyed to having any sacrifice offered that men may choose. The first thing that God wants is obedience. That's what we want in our families. If our children disobey us there comes an alternative. They must learn to obey, or they or we must leave the house. It is the same with the kingdom of God. If we enter it we must obey. To obey is better than making sacrifice. Saul lost his crown, his throne, his son, his friend Samuel, and the friendship of his son-in-law

David; he turned his back on them all because of his disobedience, and he finally lost his life, But just turn to that other Saul over in the New Testament. He was obedient unto death. He had no Jonathan, save at the right hand of God. He had no crown, no throne, but he won them both. A blessing is promised all who will obey. God deals with individuals as with nations. The punishment is the same. Punishment comes alike upon families and individuals if they will not obey. A crisis may come when we do not know whether to obey God or our employers or possibly our parents. The Word of. God makes the way clear. When we come into God's kingdom, "whatsoever he saith to thee, do it." If the laws in the nation are in conflict with God's law, they must be broken. Christ alone of all men obeyed God fully. Obey him and then God may look down pleased with his children, and say, "This is my son, this is my daughter." Christ came to do God's will. When men disobey army orders they are court-martialed and shot. No one complains. Now, my friends, is there not as much reason why we should obey the orders of heaven, and, when we do not, should we not be punished? Sinners are willing to do anything but obey God. Coming to him as a poor beggar is what they don't like. If they could buy salvation they would gladly do it. Some men down in Wall street, I fancy, would pay great prices. Many people come to me and say, "Mr. Moody, is it right for me to go to the theatre; can I dance?" That ain't it. Can we glorify God by doing such things? It's a good deal better to be right with God, and then he will look down with pleasure and bless us.

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HOPE.

If I should question every one here to-day I have no doubt each would be found with a hope. But is it a true or a false hope! If it is false it is worse than none. Job speaks about the hypocrite, and says: "Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him." Solomon says in Proverbs that "the hope of the unjust man shall perish." If you have false hopes of heaven, the best thing you can do is to give them up. For what are they good for? Will they bear you over Jordan? Will they sustain you beyond the grave? But true hope is not in regard to eternal life. That is secured to us if we are born of God. Our hopes are of the resurrection of Christ, his second coming and our own resurrection. It is written, "He that believeth hath eternal life." The Lord himself shall descend from heaven, the dead shall be raised, and we shall meet him in the air. It is a glorious hope. All that believe shall rise. That is a hope sure and steadfast. Some one says that joy is like a lark that sings in the morning, but hope is like a nightingale that sings in the night. We won't need hope after we get to heaven. But it takes us there. You

can have Christ and this hope to-day if you will. "He came to his own and his own received him not, but as many as received him to them gave he power."

us.

FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT.-GAL. v: 22.

Love is the first fruit. If we don't love our enemies we're not converted. We must be able to forgive others before God will forgive us. There is no grace in loving our friends and those who love The greatest heathen would do that. But joy is what we want to talk about to-day. No man is converted who hasn't it. The angels said, "I bring you good tidings of great joy." The world may give happiness, but it is fleeting. It may vanish in a day. But joy comes from heaven; it is a river, and flows on forever from the throne. Some people say they once had this joy, but have it not now. Let them turn over to the words, "Restore to me the joy of thy salvation." He will do it. But remember the words, "Study the Word and work." A man may work and still not have joy, and he may study the Bible and not have it. He must work and study both. Then it will come, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." If you have joy in your heart you can't help but work. Your strength will not fail you.

There are three kinds of joy. First is the joy of our own salvation. How well we remember the day when we found the Lord! "Happy day"-how we liked to sing that hymn! Then there is the joy of seeing others converted. I pity those who keep out of the inquiry-room. We who are in there get the cream of this work; while you, if I may be allowed the expression, only get the skimmed milk. And a third kind of joy is that which comes from seeing others walk in God's ways. In John 15, 11th verse, Christ says, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may remain with you and your joy might be full." That was better than if he had left us silver and gold. That's his legacy, his will. Yes, "My joy I leave with you," and, thank God, the devil can't get hold of it; the world can't take it away. How easy it is to save souls when you have joy in your heart. The world sees it in your faces. Last night we had the most extraordinary meeting that has been held. It was the grandest impression I have had in New York, to see these young men standing up. Ah, the joy of Christ was on their faces.

WHAT IS IT TO BELIEVE ON CHRIST?-JOHN iv: 11, 12.

If Christ was not divine, he was not a Savior, and we are manworshipers; all our hopes are gone, and our faith is vain. Matthew wrote to prove that Christ is the true Messiah, the Son of David. Mark begins with Malachi, where the Old Testament leaves off.

Luke begins with Zachariah. But John sweeps over them all, and goes back to the bosom of God, and brings Christ from the throne. The 11th and 12th verses of the 4th chapter of John are to me two of the most precious in the Bible. They are about worn out in my Bible with use: "And he came unto his own, and his own received him not; but unto such as believed on him, to them gave he power." Mark the "Him." There is no creed, no denomination, no system required. There is not a soul here but can take him to-day if it will. "Whomsoever" has been said, and it means all mankind. We have the best reasons to believe that this religion is true. How could hundreds of thousands of Christians have found so much comfort in Christ if it were all a myth? See how many men have been elevated and lifted up. Let us only take God at his word and we will be saved.

Last night in the young men's meeting, a young man stood up and told how he had been saved three years ago; how his mother and sisters had all given him up, and the Lord reached down and lifted him into life. Isn't this proof of the Lord's power? All who find Christ tell the same story, be they Americans, English, German, Chinese, or of other nationality. What more proof do you want than this, and the ages that this religion has been a gospel of peace and joy to thousands of suffering souls. There is much discussion now-adays about miracles. But isn't a conversion a miracle? John's gospel is the great one. Believe, believe, believe, he says. That idea is ever before him. Every chapter but two in his writings mentions it. God don't tell you to feel; many say they don't feel right to come to Christ. God tells you to believe. You must trust him first. You must have faith in him before you can have Christian experience. Though he slay me, yet will I trust him;" that's it. If he don't save us, who can? All the churches and priests in the world can't do it. Now let us pray that all the unbelief in this building may be swept away.

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PRAISE.

We have a blessed subject to-day-" Praise." I think this is the first praise meeting we have had. We have been praying a great deal, and now let us praise God. There is much more said in the Bible about praise than about prayer. The Psalms are nothing but praise, and as David got nearer the end of his journey he seems to have thought of little else. So it is with Christians-the nearer they get to heaven the more they praise God. The saints praise him in heaven, and men should learn how to praise him here be low. Everything that God has created except the heart of man, praises him. The sun, moon, and stars praise him, and oh, let us praise him!" "Praise the Lord, O my soul," says

the Psalmist. I knew a man who always used to praise God under any circumstances. One day he came in with a severe cut on his finger, and said, "I have cut my finger. Praise God! I didn't cut it off." Under all circumstances let us praise God that our misfortunes are no worse. Let us ask him to help us to praise him. If we only had more of these praise meetings, I think it wouldn't be long before a g'orious revival would sweep through all the churches. Forget your troubles, and begin to praise God to-day.

CHRIST MIGHTY TO SAVE.

The key-note of this meeting is the sentiment of that hymn-"Christ mighty to save." I have had considerable experience with meu enslaved by strong drink. They try often to reform, but seldom succeed alone. The reason is that they have too much confidence in their own strength. When they give that up, and learn to trust alone in Christ, they are saved. When they call on God for help, they always get it. If we could only save ourselves by our own strength there would be no need of a Savior. The worst enemy man has is himself. His pride and self-confidence often ruin him. They keep him from trusting to the arms of a loving Savior. We are wicked by our nature; there is nothing good in us; the Bible teaches us that all the way through. David in the Psalm said: "There is none that doeth good; no, not one." He was right. We are all evil in our nature. It is the old Adam. I tell you man without God is a failure, and a tremendous failure. There's nothing good in him. It is a great deal better to believe God than to hope for salvation through your own poor exertions. How many times have you resolved to break off from some habit, and failed! The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. What we want is a new creation. Don't try to patch up your old natures. We want to be regenerated. Last Friday we had some men here from Philadelphia, and they did much good. Some have said, "Oh, they won't hold out." But we have some other friends here to-day. Let them testify.

PEACE.-NUM. vi: 26.

The gospel is a gospel of peace, and our God is a God of peace, not of contention. The wicked know nothing of peace. There is no peace saith the Lord, for the wicked; they are like the troubled sea -but you don't need to go to the Bible to find that out; if you will look around you, you will see it. If you have not got peace, it is a sure sign you have not found the true God, for the peace of God will keep your hearts and minds if you have found him. Look in the 6th chapter of Numbers, 26th verse: "The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." The Lord will keep thee; the