"I AM no scholar, sir," said an old man to me in a Hampshire workhouse: "I have taught myself the last fifteen years, and now I can read a good bit of the Bible; but I can't make out all the big words, you know, sir. Ah! sir, that word 'believe, that is a great word with me: it is every thing to me; and, as far as I can make out, there is no other way of getting to Jesus. He says, 'Come unto me;' and, thank God, I am very happy in coming to him, by believing that he died for me, and that he washed all my sins away." "In the end of the world, Christ was revealed to put away sin. He did not come into the world to palliate it merely, or to cover it up; but he came to put it away. Observe, he not only came to put away some of the attributes of sin, such as the filth of it, the guilt of it, the penalty of it, the degradation of it: he came to put away sin itself; for sin, you see, is the fountain of all the mischief. He did not come to empty out the streams, but to clear away the fatal source of the pollution. He appeared to put away sin itself, sin in its essence and being. Do not forget that he did take away the filth of sin, the guilt of sin, the punishment of sin, the power of sin, the dominion of sin, and that one day he will kill in us the very being and existence of sin; but do recollect that he aimed his stroke at sin itself. Master seemed to say, as the king of Syria did of old, 'Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king.' He aimed his shafts at the monster's head, smote his vital parts, and laid him low. He put hell itself to flight, and captivity was led captive. What a glorious word, our Lord put away sin!"-C. H. Spurgeon. My 56 Looking to Christ out of the Depths. THERE are depths of despair where silence reigns, and whence no cry ascends to God; but there are depths out of which the soul cries to God, and the Lord delivers. Out of the depths cried the publican to God, when he could see no other bridge than mercy between a righteous God and himself, whose name was sinner. Out of the depths cried the prodigal, when he resolved to return to his father, against whom he had sinned. Without any excuse to offer, without any palliation of his guilt, he could only say, "I have sinned, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." Out of the depths cried the woman, who was a sinner, though she had and sadness of a bruised reed. Out of the depths cried Saul, when his wisdom was suddenly shown to him to be folly, his righteousness fighting against God, his strength and boast his weakness and shame. Out of the depths cried the thief on the cross, when he beheld his sinful life behind him, death and eternity before him, and, without one plea, asked the holy and innocent Sufferer to remember him. These cried out of the depths of unforgiven sin. When the waters overwhelmed them, they had learned to distrust the sand of the surface; they had digged deep, till they came to depths of hopelessness; and, deeper than the depth of self-despair, they found the outstretched arms of divine mercy, to receive them into everlasting safety and peace. Out of the depths cried David, after his backsliding and grievous sin. He had been silent before God, and, though outwardly praying to him and singing his praises, he had not enjoyed real communion with his God and Father; and he confessed, and appealed to God's mercy. "Have mercy upon me according to thy loving-kindness; according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Nothing else have I to look to but thy mercy." Out of the depths cried Peter, when the look of Jesus smote the rocky heart, and he went out and wept bitterly. They cried out of the depths of the burdened conscience of backsliders; and the Lord restored their souls, and led them in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Out of the depths of indwelling sin cried Paul, when he felt, that, though he delighted in the law of God with the inner man, there was another law striving within his members. "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? In the subtle fowler's snare, in the heat of the world's turmoil, in the tumult of sinful thoughts, unhallowed desires, and worldly habits, the believer feels weak and helpless; and out of the depths he cries unto God, and the Lord delivers him, and takes his feet out |