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He liked home, and

He is homely; He home, and is able to

home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Lord, here am I.” He is there, he is all there; there is no doubt about that, and a capital fellow, a man who has, no doubt, a fine opinion of himself; he almost seems inclined to say, 'Lord, when you got me, you got somebody; I am not one of those halfand-half creatures. I am here, all here; only let me run down and bid them farewell at home." You are a social man; popular at home; the delight of the house-the light and spirit of all things at home. the Lord knows all about that feeling. is as human as we are. He liked understand how it tells upon us. He understands its sweet atmosphere, its music, its spell, its peace. He knew Himself what it was to open the door and to step out of His mother's home, never to go back. To open the door; to pause upon the threshold; to salute His mother; gently yet firmly to disengage Himself, and then to pass out to coldness, suspicion, and loneliness. None but Himself could have done it. He knows how "home" would have shut him in from His work, and therefore urges for decision now. Aye, He knows it all; He has been through it all. Man, He has tasted every cup that seems bitter to you and me. He has left the fragrance of His lips on the cup; and that gives it sweetness still to you and me, and enables us to drink it.

"Do not, then, think He is hard; do not think He does not understand; do not go back to the genial circle at home with this great claim undecided; but, before you go home, while I am speaking, trust Christ; give yourself to Him altogether, henceforth, for ever more. Go back home,

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 66 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 shall be all there. I have tried it; I was never anyyou 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! Many a sermon of mine does not seem to have done any good; but I stand here to-day, and I am not going back. Many a poor discourse I have 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. We thank Thee, O Christ, for that solemn warning. 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.