Freedom for the Slave

or the Year of Jubilee

A. J. Pollock

“And thou shalt number seven Sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a Jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family” (Leviticus 25:8-10).

A great case has been made against anti-slavery people of the fact that slaves were permitted by God in connection with His ancient people, the Jews; but I would like to point out that those who have produced arguments in favour of slavery from the Old Testament Scriptures have done so with a very superficial knowledge

of what God does really say in His Word.

A great many people read the Scriptures to their own destruction. We find the apostle Peter, speaking of the deep things that his beloved brother Paul writes about, says, the “unlearned and unstable wrest (them), as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”

Some years ago, in England, the late Mr. Charles Bradlaugh, in the city in which I lived, had a public debate with a clergyman of the Church of England. Mr. Bradlaugh was a man of colossal size, great intellectual attainments, and very wonderful powers of speech. The clergyman was comparatively a small man, and, unfortunately, did not know his Bible as well as the infidel. Mr. Bradlaugh turned over the leaves of his Bible with the ease of familiarity, opened it at chapter and verse, and simply knocked the clergyman about just as he liked; whereas, if that clergyman had simply known the Scriptures he could have floored Mr. Bradlaugh, and a hundred others like him.

What the Scripture says about slavery simply means this: They allowed a man, who had come to misfortune,

to lease his services[1]

to his richer brother, and great pains are taken in the Scripture to make enactments by which the richer shall not oppress his poorer brother. “Thou shalt not rule over him with vigour; but shalt fear thy God.” If a Hebrew man or woman were sold and served for six years, in the seventh he or she were to go out free, and that not empty-handed, but furnished liberally out of the flock, and floor, and winepress. For want of time we recommend all cavillers to study Scripture on the point for themselves. Furthermore, once every fifty years, in the passage we are specially examining, God proclaimed liberty to every slave in the land of Israel, and they were all free men again, save slaves bought from neighbouring nations, or captives taken in war. In the ways of God it was often to a man’s eventual blessing to serve a Hebrew master. They were brought into an outward place of privilege, where they were treated kindly, where God was known, and where the awful practices of the heathen were sternly rebuked. Many a captive will thank God in eternity that ever he was taken captive. Slavery, such as is depicted in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” was unknown amongst the Jews. So much for the caviller. We now take the Scripture as an illustration of the gospel. We don’t know whether you think slavery is abolished in the United States yet, but it still exists. Perhaps you thought the year 1864 saw the last of it. No such thing. I am perfectly sure some slaves are sitting in these seats before me tonight. We could go out at the midnight hour, and in your streets point you out the slaves of drink. Bleared, blotched, bloated drunkards, going to a drunkard’s hell. Is there a secret drinker here tonight? Poor, miserable dupe of the devil. May God have mercy upon you. But some young lady may say, “I am no drunkard.” Very likely not, but you may nevertheless be a slave—a poor slave of fashion; you would not like to tell how many hours you spend gazing into the looking-glass, and what a burning there is in your heart when preparing for the ball, with

its fleeting triumphs.

God knows all about it. Said a young lady to a trained nurse the other day, “Nurse, I would die if I had to give up the theatre.” Yes, there are slaves of fashion, butterflies of this life, fluttering around the flame of pleasure, and, what is more questionable, of lust. No wonder their wings are singed at last, and too late they find out they have lost their souls for a few paltry pleasures.

Again, business has many slaves. In death they often keep the eyes closed by weighting the eyelids with pennies; the devil does it in life with dollars.

A large business man, a successful merchant, feeling not very well one day, went to his doctor, a very skilful physician, and asked him to look into the state of his health, and give him his advice. After a careful examination the doctor said, “You have had such a tremendous strain upon your system in the way of business for many years that you must take a prolonged holiday.”

Said the poor slave of business, “I can’t, the business could not go on without me,” and, with his shattered nerves and body, continued grovelling for the dollars. A few weeks rolled by, and he was laid on a bed of sickness. In a few short hours he had passed into eternity, a poor slave of business—rich in this world, a pauper in the next. Business had to go on without him.

Drink, pleasure, business, money, enslave multitudes, and in many instances a Christless religion—its professors enslaved by the music, mimicry, and millinery of ritualism. From the cushioned pew, such are slipping into hell. But who is the great slave-master?

It is the Devil himself, who has you bound hand and foot, and you dare not be a Christian—you are a poor slave, a miserable dupe of Satan. Now liberty is proclaimed to such, and, thank God, a Stronger than Satan has been in this world. The strong man had power to keep his goods in peace, until that Stronger One, the Lord Jesus Christ, came to despoil the strong. How did He do it?

“By weakness and defeat

    He won the meed and crown,

Trod all our foes beneath His feet

    By being trodden down.”

He won the mighty victory at Calvary’s cross. To the eyes of the world His life was blighted, His reputation gone. He died on that central cross a malefactor’s death in ignominy and shame; but this apparent defeat was in reality

the mightiest victory of God,

by which He can now proclaim liberty to the captives of sin and Satan, and offer them release.

Now there are several important points in connection with this subject, which I want to bring before you. When was this year of jubilee ushered in? Mark it well. On the day of atonement. There is a profoundly deep significance in that phrase. What does it mean? Says many a drunkard, “I will sign the pledge, don the blue ribbon, and be free from the power of drink.” Can he do it? Nay, friends, he cannot, and you know it right well. He may keep sober, and this is a question when once the drink gets hold of the system, but can he wipe out the sins of the past and be sinless in the future? We read in this scripture, the year of jubilee began on the day of atonement, which teaches us that there is no liberty for Satan’s captives apart from the precious blood of Jesus. Is the blue ribbon the precious blood? Nay! I like to see men sober, but sober men are not necessarily converted men, nor free from Satan’s captivity. Nowadays we are told that people can be refined, and educated, and reared up in such a way that their evil propensities are kept back, and their good ones brought to the front, and in the process of a few generations by means of evolution we will arrive at a sinless race. Nay, friends, that is a lie of the devil.

Flesh is flesh,

whether it be sober flesh or drunken flesh, educated flesh or vulgar flesh. Until you have made the acquaintance of Christ, and know the value of His precious blood, there is no liberty for you.

But you don’t think you are slaves! The following incident aptly illustrates your case. There was once a slave-ship crossing from the coast of Africa to the shores of this continent, America—a slave-dhow as it was called. As they were proceeding on their journey they noticed a British man-of-war in hot pursuit. The slave-dhow put all sails to the wind, but it was of no avail. The British man-of-war was overhauling her. When the captain felt that escape was impossible, he got out some kegs of brandy and gave these poor Negroes plentiful supplies of drink. He next brought out two or three large boxes of trinkets—rings, chains, ear-rings, ankle-rings, and the like, and began to adorn these poor, drunken slaves. After getting these poor children of nature into good humour, he called them to him, and said, “The captain of yonder vessel will offer you liberty, and try to get you on board his ship, but don’t go. He will shoot you from the cannon’s mouth; he only means to ruin you.”

The captain of the English man-of-war hove to, boarded the dhow, called the slaves around him, and said, “Yonder is an English man-of-war. The moment you step on board that vessel you are free men. The English flag only flies over free men.” They

laughed him to scorn,

they would not believe it.

That is like you, sinner; the devil has given you intoxicants, and you are drunk with pleasure, and nonsense, and folly, and sin, or it may be lulled to a false peace by a Christless religion. He has trinkets to please all kinds of people. The man of the world wants his dogs and guns, his clubs and newspapers; the man of sin wants lust and uncleanness; the man of brain wants intellectual treats, scientific hobbies, and what not; the frivolous young lady wants fine flowers, and splendid dresses, and nice cosmetics. He will try and suit you, and will do a great deal for you, but it is in order that your soul may be damned for ever in the flames of hell. What does God offer you tonight? Everlasting salvation, liberty, forgiveness of your sins, freedom from the power of sin and Satan.

Now, it is on the day of atonement liberty is offered, and there are two things in connection with it we read of in the 23rd chapter. “For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut oft from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people” (vv. 29-30). Now, we will imagine that it is six months from the year of jubilee. Think of how those slaves are looking forward to

the time of their release.

The time draws nearer—it is only six weeks off. They count the days. Now it is only six days; and, finally, at last the very night comes, and the morrow ushers in the year of jubilee, and, with it, the day of atonement. Very likely not one of those poor slaves would go to sleep that night for very joy; they would sit up and watch for the first streak of light tipping the eastern horizon, and hail it with delight, because it spelled to them that blessed word—liberty. But, before liberty is theirs, as we just now read, two things have to take place with them: they must afflict their souls, and they must do no manner of work. Now, friends, if you want liberty, if you want salvation, these two things must likewise be true of you. What are they?

Firstly, you must afflict your soul. To translate that sentence into one New Testament word is simple. It means repentance, for you will never get salvation until you repent. What is repentance? Does repentance earn salvation? Does it win it? Is it a work? It isn’t a work, because we read that they had to afflict their souls, and do no manner of work. To neglect to do the one, or essay to do the other brought death upon them. Repentance, therefore, is not a work. What is it, then? It is this. You find deep down in your soul that you are a guilty sinner, only fit for hell. Yet God, in His love, offers you salvation, and you get this wondrous thought, “God is good and I am bad,” and that is repentance. In short, you get right thoughts of God and yourself.

Repentance is something like sickness. For instance, I did not feel very well two or three days ago, and sent for the doctor. Now my feeling ill did not make me well, but my feeling ill made me send for a doctor. Now, if you repent, that is, if you get

a severe attack of soul-sickness,

it will make you anxious to see the great Physician. It won’t make you better, but you will want the services of the great Physician, and HE can cure you. What would you think of me if, when feeling ill and getting worse, I had said to my friends, I will not have a doctor until I feel better? They would think I was off my head. That is the way you do. You put off going to Christ until you turn over a new leaf, say your prayers, etc.—until you feel better. What nonsense! The worse the case, the greater need for the great Physician. You want to get better before you seek the services of Jesus, the great Healer of soul-diseases.

But repentance won’t save you, though you cannot be saved without it; and if you go on carelessly, easily, indifferently to eternity you will never be saved. No. You must find out your condition, you will find it out one day. I need not be a prophet to inform you of that fact. If you don’t discover it in this world, you will in the next. You may go along this life’s journey very easily, you may carry your increasing years easily and gracefully, you may at last die, quietly in your bed; but take my warning, when you wake up in eternity, you will be deeply concerned about your sins then. But it won’t be repentance, it will be remorse. The hot scorching, blinding tears of endless remorse will roll down your cheeks through the eternal ages. Take care.

Now is the time for repentance.

God “now commandeth all men everywhere to REPENT: because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.”

On the other hand, you must do no manner of work. You want to be saved; how should you set about it? Let me tell you. Sit still, put your hands down, and don’t try to work. If you try to move a single finger towards the work of your salvation, you are robbing God of His sovereign prerogative, and yourself of the blessing, until that finger is put down again. You must do no manner of work.

You have all heard of Martin Luther, that noble monk of Germany in the dark middle ages, and how he made a pilgrimage to Rome. When he saw that city with its magnificent ecclesiastical buildings, the place where the Holy Father had his seat, he thought he was near the very gate of heaven. When he arrived at St. Peter’s, he began as a penitent to crawl up the Vatican steps on his knees. He had crawled up about half way, when there came a message from God ringing down into his soul—

“Justification by faith.”

How was he seeking it? By works; but justification is by faith. There and then he got up, walked down those steps a justified man, and thundered away at the gates of Rome until the very Pope trembled in his shoes. See him bravely nailing up his theses on the door of the University of Wittenberg; see him undaunted before Charles V. of Germany and Spain—that cruel and crafty monarch; before the kings and potentates of the German States; before papal legate and popish prelates, ringing out the key-note of the Reformation—“JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.”

Yet, nowadays, we are told not to attack evil, because it is entrenched in high places. It might hurt the feelings of many. Forsooth! Shall souls perish whilst we hold our breath? Nay, we will proclaim the truth. Pope and priest may tell us today that justification is of works. It is a damnable lie. It is of faith, of God’s free, sovereign grace. Little wonder if Martin Luther should turn in his grave, as the universities of his native land are turning out men, trained in infidelity, to take charge of churches and the souls of men. The enemy is busy. Tares are being sown in the field of the world. Oh! what shall the harvest be? Yes, those who preach salvation by works are doing the devil’s work, and earning the most terrible condemnation on their own heads.

On the day of atonement two things were necessary—they must afflict their souls, and do no manner of work. Let us suppose the day has arrived. The ceremony of the day of atonement has been gone through. The people have been afflicting their souls in the way commanded, and they have refrained from doing any work, even the lighting of their fires. What next? The priests are commanded to take the silver trumpets, and blow a message of liberty from Dan to Beersheba, so that every poor captive may hear the grateful news that liberty is come to their very doors. What does the word jubilee mean? The margin of our Bibles says,

Loud of sound.

Some people think that preachers should be very quiet, that they ought to talk something like automatic talking machines, that they ought not to raise their voices, or lower them at all, but talk in a quiet, easy-going, take-it-or-leave-it manner. The trumpet of jubilee must be loud of sound. See! The priests fill their lungs with air, and blow a mighty blast that rings right across Jerusalem, that city of ceremonies. It is taken up. Blast after blast rings forth till, from Dan to Beersheba, from north to south, from east to west, over hill and valley, the glad news sound forth, aye, until every captive has heard the gladdening sound, that liberty is theirs, and they step forth free.

Now, let me tell you, we have a trumpet of jubilee to put to our lips tonight;

“Blow ye the trumpet, blow,

    The gladly solemn sound;

Let all the nations know

    To earth’s remotest bound,

The year of jubilee is come;

    Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.”

Thank God, it has been sounding for well-nigh nineteen centuries. God’s grace lingers still.

Why did the Lord when on earth take the book from the master of the synagogue, and open it at the prophecy of Isaiah, and read about the Spirit of the Lord God anointing Him “to Preach the gospel to the poor . . . to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord”? Then we read, “He closed the book.” Why at that particular point? Because in the Old Testament we find that after the expiration of the acceptable year of our Lord, it goes on to speak of

“the DAY of vengeance

of our God.” Think of God’s grace; He speaks of the acceptable year of grace. His love lingers, as it were, three hundred and sixty-five long days over this guilty world, but at last He takes up the ram’s horn of judgment, and blows one terrible blast, and compresses His strange work of judgment into one brief day of twenty-four hours. But now is the YEAR of Jubilee. Jesus closes the book at that point, and has not opened it yet. When He does, as we see in Revelation, it will be on the day of vengeance of our God.

The Lord Jesus Christ has been upon the cross. Those three mysterious hours of anguish, and suffering, unparalleled, have been endured by the Holy Saviour. God has forsaken Jesus. The storm of judgment has rolled over His blessed head. He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost, and died. But ere He died, He cried, “It is finished;” and as these three soul-thrilling words rang from His blessed lips, God’s finger rent that veil from the top to the bottom, from His side to our side, in order that He might come out in all His character as a Saviour-God.

We read in John’s first Epistle, “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth its from all sin.” That shed blood enables the blessed God to reveal Himself in all His attributes as a God of love and a God of light, blessing the vilest sinner who comes pleading the precious name of Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ—and the believer through grace is in the light of that revelation—was put into the borrowed grave. Now the Sabbath was ordained to be God’s resting day, yet His blessed Son lay dead in the tomb

all that passover-Sabbath.

But on the first day of the week Jesus arose from the dead. Before He ascended into glory He gathered His disciples around Him—they had been through no theological college, had received no tonsure, boasted no man-given credentials, nor had bishops hands been laid on their heads, they were but plain fishermen from Galilee’s shores. Listen! as He speaks to His chosen few. The risen Saviour puts the jubilee trumpet to His lips, and blows a mighty blast. “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be damned.” That is grand, is it not? “Go ye into all the world.” And the gospel spread from that little circle of disciples, gathered round the risen Lord that day, right through Judaea, to the learned Greeks and the martial Romans, winning its peaceful conquests in the palace of the Caesars themselves, reaching thence to the shores of Britain long centuries ago, and in more recent years carried across the Atlantic, in the “Mayflower,” to the shores of this great continent. Still the good news spreads till the glad tidings is carried to the heathen Chinese, the millions of India, the dusky native of Africa, and the far-off islands of the seas, encircling the whole globe. How many refuse the gospel; yet God offers salvation to all. He has no favourite tribe or nation. The gospel is to be proclaimed equally to every creature under the sun, to Jew and Gentile alike. “Go ye into ALL the world, and preach the gospel

to every creature.”

You may say, “I am too wicked to receive the gospel.” It is proclaimed to every creature, that includes you. “I have sinned away my day of grace,” says another. We can preach it to every creature. “I have been a hard-hearted, hoary-headed infidel,” cries a third, in tones of despair. We can preach it to every creature. Thank God, yes, to every creature. None are outside the pale of His Grace—His precious blood can cleanse the vilest.

What is the blast the blessed Saviour blows on the gospel trumpet? “He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved, but he that believeth not, shall be damned.” Mark you, my friend, though the jubilee trumpet sounds aloud its sweet, gracious note, yet at the same time there is an undertone of warning, of coming judgment—“He that believeth not, shall be damned.” Take heed to the warning note.

Let us take the verse in detail. “He that believeth.” The first thing is to believe on the blessed Lord Jesus Christ. “And is baptized.” That is equivalent to confession. What next? “Shall be saved.” Thank God, how simple! It was a most terrible ordeal for a Jew to be baptized, for thereby he cut himself off from all the privileges of Israel, and openly confessed that he took sides with an earth-rejected, but heaven-accepted Jesus. It is the old story of Romans 10:9—belief in the heart and confession with the lips. Baptism is a most radical confession, for it is with the whole body you acknowledge Jesus as Lord—baptized to His death.

“He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be damned.” People say, “I don’t like preachers to use that word ‘damned’; it is not loving, or gracious.” Let me ask you a question. From whose lips did that terrible word fall? From the lips of the Son of God. From Him, who travelled from those peerless heights of splendour. From Him, who laid aside all His glory, and came into this world as the carpenter’s son. From Him, who died on Calvary’s cross, and

who loves your soul

as none else beside. He could describe His portion in this world in these pathetic words, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.” There is not a person in Baltimore so poor, but that he has a pillow of some kind. It may be only stuffed with straw, but he has a pillow; whereas the blessed Saviour had not where to lay His head. The disciples could go to their homes, but “Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives.” He had in one sense a good place to lay His head upon—the Father’s bosom; but He loved your soul and mine, and travelled on to die upon the cross, to be

forsaken by God.

In the supreme moment of His agony God hid His face from that holy Sufferer, because sin was marked upon Him. “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.” To the very full, He proved His undying love for the souls of men. He died that you might never be damned in the eternal burnings. Whose lips used that word “damned”? The lips of Jesus. Love incarnate utters the truth, however terrible it may be. “He that believeth not, shall be damned.” You may have been baptized, but if you don’t believe in Christ you will be damned. You may be a sacrament-taker, but if you don’t believe in God’s Son you will be damned. That is God’s truth. You may quarrel with it. It does not alter the stern and awful fact, that hell and damnation form the portion of all who die in their sins. ’Tis not my words you quarrel with, but God’s.

Let us go on to another passage. After the Lord Jesus Christ had gone into heaven, the apostle Paul—the great apostle of the Gentiles, and we can call him our apostle, was one day speaking in the synagogue at Antioch. He put his lips to the jubilee trumpet, and what a lovely note he blew upon it “BE IT KNOWN unto you therefore,  men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.” Now you know many people begin this way—“If you will turn over a new leaf, do the best you can, say your prayers, put a good contribution upon the collection plate, do what the Church tells you to do, and trust in Christ of course, perhaps God will have mercy upon you at the last.” That does not sound so clear or distinct as the notes sounded forth by the apostle Paul. How does he begin? “Be it hoped?” No.

“Be it KNOWN unto you

that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.”

Allow me to use an illustration. In the year 1887 Her Gracious Majesty, Queen Victoria, celebrated her jubilee, and, in honour of that great event, she proclaimed free pardon to all deserters from the army. If they came to the colonel of their depot, and reported themselves, it didn’t matter how flagrant their desertion was, they were forgiven, receiving from Her Gracious Majesty a free pardon, signed and sealed. There were put on the walls of the police stations proclamations to this effect. How did they begin? “Be it known unto whomsoever it may concern.” That was a good start. If a poor deserter came to his colonel, and asked for a pardon, and it was not given him, but, instead, he was seized and thrown into prison, the character of the Queen of England would have been disgraced, and dragged in the dust.

So with God. Look at these three words from God’s word, “BE IT KNOWN.” When He says, “Be it known unto you that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins,” He means it. If you come in simple faith to Christ, and don’t receive the forgiveness of your sins, the very character of God would be disgraced. Tonight God offers you the forgiveness of your sins. Will you put out the hand of faith, and take it? Oh! it is a great thing to be simple in your faith.

More than fifty years ago the Government of England paid twenty million pounds—that is nearly one hundred million dollars—to obtain the emancipation of her slaves in the West Indies. The day of emancipation was fixed for the 31st of July, 1838. You may be sure it was a very memorable one in the history of the inhabitants of Jamaica. No less than fourteen thousand adult slaves and five thousand children were assembled together in one particular place waiting for the midnight hour to sound. That was the night which was to end their slavery, and begin their liberty. In anticipation of the event, some of the slaves, who were carpenters, had made

a large mahogany coffin,

into which they crowded whips, branding irons, torture irons, handcuffs, fragments of the treadmill, and other relics of their slavery. They dug a deep grave and placed the coffin alongside. When the midnight hour came, in the midst of intense excitement, they lowered the coffin, and William Knibb, one of their leaders, as twelve o’clock chimed, cried out, “The monster is dying! The monster is dying!” and, as the last stroke sounded, he exclaimed in triumph “He is dead, let us bury him out of our sight for ever,” and they lowered the coffin, and filled in the grave. Then this great throng of nearly twenty thousand souls lifted up their voices and sang the Doxology, with all their heart, and praised God aloud for their liberty.

Ah! God offers you emancipation from a bondage far more cruel than ever the Jamaican slaves experienced—a slavery that will land you in hell for ever. Liberty is proclaimed to Satan’s slaves. May the trumpet of jubilee tonight sound in your ear, and right down to the very depths of your soul, and you will go out of this meeting with the knowledge that you are freed for ever. Will you receive God’s love, and accept His proffered grace? Will that blessed invitation that comes pealing down through the ages—“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” fall on deaf ears to night, or will you with simplicity and faith trust that Saviour? The hymn says:—

“Faith is a simple thing;

But little understood.”

There was a rich Sunday school teacher in America. One day, wishing to teach his boys a lesson on faith, he took out his gold watch and chain, and offered it to the biggest boy in the class. The boy looked at it with surprise, and I suppose he said in his heart, “Teacher is not going to take me in like this; I don’t think he means it.” And so the watch and chain went by the biggest boy, and was offered to the next biggest lad in the class. He wanted to be as big a man as the first, and he acted just in the same way. The offer of the watch went round the class, but the boys would not believe it; they thought it too good to be true. At last it came to little five-year-old Harry, and the teacher said, “Harry, here is a gold watch and chain for you.” His eyes sparkled, and he put out his little chubby hand and took the watch and chain, and they were his. He was not old enough to be cynical as to the ways of the world; he had the simplicity of faith that we wish you anxious sinners had. When he got it the big boys exclaimed in a chorus, “Oh, teacher, we didn’t believe that you meant it.”

He replied, “You should have known that I meant it. You should be like little Harry. He believed me, and now he has got the watch and chain.”

Be simple; God offers you salvation tonight. Put out the hand of faith, lay hold of the blessing, and it is yours. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved.” Our illustration just hits you off. You think the gospel we have been preaching is too good to be true. You are just like those elder boys—one following the other like a flock of senseless sheep. May God give you faith in His word, and child-like simplicity, for His name’s sake. Amen.