was placed between the platform and the audience, and then, to the weird strains of an Oriental band, a man appeared from the left of the stage and a huge serpent from the right. Their eyes met, and the serpent quailed before the man. Man was master. At his bidding, the snake made various contortions, and then began to wind itself around the man's body. Serpent and man seemed one. Suddenly the serpent's tongue shot out, its eyes dilated, and the man gave a call. The audience thought it a part of the performance, until they heard bones crack and saw the man's body crushed before he could be rescued. The man had taken that snake when it was only four feet long; he had fed and watered and nursed it until it was thirty-five feet long. At first, he could have killed it; at last, it killed him. Jesus is the only one who can break your fetters. Walking up the bund in Hongkong one hot summer afternoon, I met some Chinese boys with a sparrow. They had it tied to a long joss stick. The poor little thing was panting from fright. I offered them five cents to let it go; but true to their native nature, they wanted ten. I passed over the ten cents, and took the sparrow. Nearing a green mountain side in the park, I gave it its liberty. That is the way God treated us. By the gift of Jesus, He bought us back when, fearful and trembling, we were in the hands of Satan. When we will be His, He grants us our liberty from the chains of sin. Redemption is buying back and making free. Do you not wish to be free? "If the Son . . . shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 8:36. Have you not seen enough of sin to loathe it? "Be sure your sin will find you out." You can not bury your sins so deep but that they will have a resurrection some day, unless you bury them in the blood of Jesus. You will never be truly happy until you do that. Are the wicked ever joyful? No. They have a feverish excitement, and call it joy. But it does not last. It vanishes before they are done quaffing the mere foam from their pleasure cups. Their joys are lighter than air; they are like the chaff that the wind drives away. You know there is nothing in them worthy the name of joy. You know they are transient and unsatisfactory. Beneath their fairest flowers is hidden the sting of disappointment, and you must either part with sin or part with joy eternal. Which will you do? Make your choice now. "To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." HERE are probably a very few honest agnostics in the world; but most avowed agnostics are not honest doubters. They are merely excuse makers; and could we look right down into their hearts, we should see that they really have some other excuse for not being Christians. Agnosticism is polite infidelity. Agnostics do not go so far as to say, "There is no God." They say: "There may be a God, but we do not know. We believe only in those things which we can comprehend with our five senses." "Agnostic" is a Greek word for the English "not know." In Latin, it is "ignoramus." One day, a quiet business man was crossing the Rocky Mountains. It was his first trip west. As he viewed the snow-capped peaks, the expansive valleys, and the noble trees, he said, "No man, it seems to me, could look at that scene without being brought nearer to his Creator." A young college lad, in the seat ahead, asked, "Are you sure there is a Creator?" "You are an atheist?" asked the man. "No, I am an agnostic. I am investigating the subject. I take nothing for granted. I see the mountains, I smell the rose, I hear the wind; therefore I believe that mountain, rose, and wind exist. But I can not hear, smell, or see God; therefore At that point, an old gentleman sitting across the aisle, looked over his spectacles at the young agnostic, and asked, "Did you every try to smell with your eyes?" "No!" "Or hear with your tongue? or taste with your ears?" "Certainly not!" "Then why do you try to apprehend God with faculties meant only for material things?" "Pray, with what should I apprehend Him?" asked the youth, with a giggle. "With your heart, your intellect, and your soul; but I beg your pardon' here he paused; “some men haven't a heart or sufficient breadth of intellect and soul to do this. That is probably the reason you are an agnostic." The youth had the good sense not to reply, and no more was heard of agnosticism that day. You say you do not know. My friend, it is possible for you to know. Many thousands of good people do know. Is their testimony worth nothing to you? Now, if you are an honest doubter, you can be cured. Will you do this very fair and reasonable thing? Go every day alone to some quiet spot and pray this simple prayer: "Father in heaven, You know my heart. You know my doubts. Reveal Yourself to me in such a manner that I shall know of Your existence. Speak to my heart. If You make certain to me that Jesus is Your Son, I promise You to accept Him as my Saviour and give my life to Your service. I desire to know the truth and to do right. Help me to understand Your Word." It Agnosticism has not made this world better. never made anyone better. There is no lifting power in it. Let me give you my opinion in two word-pictures. The first one, you will recognize, is drawn by a oncefamous agnostic. "A little while ago I stood at the grave of Napoleon - a magnificent tomb of gilt and gold, fit almost for a deity dead and gazed upon the sarcophagus of rare and nameless marble, where rest, at last, the ashes of that restless man. I leaned over the balustrade, and thought about the career of the greatest soldier of the modern world. I saw him walking upon the banks of the Seine, contemplating suicide; I saw him at Toulon; I saw him putting down the mob in the streets of Paris; I saw him at the head of the army of Italy; I saw him crossing the bridge at Lodi, with the tricolor in his hands; I saw him in Egypt, in the shadow of the pyramids; I saw him conquer the Alps and mingle the eagle of France with the eagle of the crags; I saw him |