taking Him with you. Run the flag up to the mast-head, and nail it there, never to come down again. What a great relief will come to our lives if all of us gathered here to-day, in the light of Christ's presence, in the light of Christ's Word, and yielding to the Spirit that worketh on us and in us, decided for Him. Those of us who have done it before, let us do it again. Grip Him, as I said on Wednesday, grip Him somewhat higher up; and those of us who have never decided, let us decide at last. Decide, decide; Christ first; everything after that. "No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Do not overtax yourself, my friend; you mean well, but if you go back home, there are influences even there, and you know them, which will hinder you. You mean to be brave, and you mean to bid them farewell, and you mean a great many things. Do not overtax your strength; there are things at home-alas, alas! that it should be so-there are things in all our homes that are telling against decision for Christ. There are subtle temptations at home, different from the temptations along those public streets of ours, or the temptations of business. There are subtle temptations at home, that whenever you step in under the door-way, begin to beat against you and to undermine your foundations. Before you go home be decided for Christ. "No man putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of Christ." “If a man forsake not father, mother, wife, life, all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple."

You cannot plough, and put your hands in your pockets. You cannot take ploughing easy; and yet you are taking religion easy, my friend. You are giving it one hand only, and you have lots of energy to spare for other things. You are "broad," you are "liberal," a great deal too liberal; the plough is dropping out of your too liberal hands. Take

care!

Now come "in between," all of us, and let us grip these stilts. Let both hands be so full and firm that we shall, as it were, grow into the plough, and the plough grow into us, till we cannot let go-as you do when you catch those electric handles; you catch them, yes, but you notice that they catch you, and there you are! Thank God for that electric throb that tingles through the stilts of the plough! Many a time, we are such ingrates, we would go back, we would drop it. It is cold work ploughing, in cold, sharp days—perishing work. Have you ever tried it? It needs skill; and it needs that you shall be all there. I have tried it; I was never any

thing great at it. I broke the plough; it was far too much. It is not nearly so easy as you think.

for me. But oh, do not go back! not seem to have done any and I am not going back. uttered, but if God spares me to the afternoon I will be at it again. So let it be with you. Many a poor day you have had in your Bible-class and in your Sunday school. Are you going to stop? Stop? Never! We are going at it better than ever. solemn warning.

Many a sermon of mine does good; but I stand here to-day, Many a poor discourse I have

We thank Thee, O Christ, for that

Thou hast told us to our faces that it is

possible we may be condemning ourselves; that we are too soft and flabby, and unfit for the kingdom of God. "Stick in, man; stick till't."

How like, or how unlike, we are to Him who could say, "It is My meat and drink to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work." Plough out your furrow, for Christ is at the far end to receive you, and to say, "Well done, well ploughed!" Amen.

Henderson & Spalding, General Printers, Marylebone Lane, London, W.

AWAKE! ARISE!

Evangelistic Address

DELIVERED IN REGENT SQUARE CHURCH ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 21ST, 1890, BY THE

REV. JOHN MCNEILL.

"Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."-EPH. v. 14.

""

"AWAKE thou that sleepest." We have this in substance and in different forms elsewhere, but in actual form here. Luther said, you remember, that certain texts were little Bibles. For instance, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Well, that is a little Bible. And another one is like unto it:

Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, let him open the door, and I will come in, and sup with him, and he with Me." And I think this is one, too, at any rate, this is a text which is a little sermon: Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." That is an evangelistic text; it is

As Mr. McNeill must attend the meetings of Synod in Liverpool, last Sabbath morning's discourse must be delayed. Would friends kindly read and circulate this Gospel message.

No. 25.

an evangelistic address; it is put in the very form that conveys it to the people to whom you are talking. So that if any of you are budding preachers—and whatever good or ill I have done, either in Scotland or England, I have always been charged with this, that I started people off to preach-if any of you are starting off to preach, take my text with you, and although what I say may have more of darkness than light in it, you will at any rate have a good text, and if the people remember the text, they have got a bit of God's Word. Now here is a text that is a sermon. You may forget what I say, but I want you to remember the text. I would put the trumpet to my lips and sound this text over and over again, "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." There is the sinner described; there is the sinner addressed; there is the sinner pointed to the Saviour. What more would you have? "Awake thou that sleepest." See how the sinner is described here, and the backslider, for the backslider has just gone back again into sin, and has lost communion with his Saviour, and needs to be called back by the Word by which he was brought at first out of darkness into light. He needs to be recovered. See how our life away from Christ, the life of unbelief, the life of worldliness, the life of sin that you are living, is described here as a life of sleep. Elsewhere the figure is changed, and it is described as death. The Bible often changes its figures. "Awake thou that sleepest." The man who is not converted, the soul here that is not walking in the light of Christ's grace, is asleep; you are like one who at twelve o'clock in the day is still soundly snoring on his bed. It is not a complimentary description, is it? The Bible never was complimentary to a sinner; the Bible always speaks the