N Arrows

N Nearness to Christ.

I have heard that in the old times, when they would attract doves to a certain pigeon-house, they took certain birds and smeared their wings with a costly perfume, and sent them forth. Other pigeons were so delighted with their sweetness that they followed them to the dove-cotes. Oh, that you and I may be so sweetened by dwelling near to Christ that others may come with us to see Jesus and His love!

Need, your strongest plea.

I once gave a man a pair of shoes because he said he was in need of them; but after he had put them on and gone a little way I overtook him in a gateway taking them off in order to go barefooted again. I think they were patent leather, and what should a beggar do in such attire. He was changing them for "old shoes and clouted"—those were suitable to his business. A sinner is never so well arrayed for pleading as when he comes in rags.

Neglected Grace. The old story tells of a monarch who gave to a favorite courtier a ring, which he might send to her in case he should be under her displeasure, promising that at the sight thereof he should be restored to favor. That ring was never shown, though long waited for; and it was little wonder that, concluding the offender to be stubbornly rebellious, the sentence of execution was carried out. He who never seeks for mercy, has certainly never found it.

New Creatures.

I remember reading a famous writer's description of a wretched cab horse which was old and worn out, and yet kept on its regular round of toil. They never took him out of harness for fear they should never be able to get his poor old carcass into it again.. He had been in the shafts for so many years that they feared if they took him out of them he would fall to pieces, and so they let him keep where he was accustomed to be. Some men are just like that. They have been in the shafts of sin so many years that they fancy that if they were once to alter they would drop to pieces. But it is not so, old friend. We are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation. The Lord will make a new creature of you. When He cuts the traces and brings you out from between those shafts which have so long held you, you will not know yourself.

New Year.

It is only in imagination that there is any close of one year and beginning of another: and yet it has most fitly all the force of a great fact. When men "cross the line," they find no visible mark: the sea bears no trace of an equatorial belt; and yet mariners know whereabouts they are, and they take notice thereof, so that a man can hardly cross the line for the first time without remembering it to the day of his death. We are crossing the line now. We have sailed into another year of grace; therefore let us keep a feast unto the Lord. If Jesus has not made us new already, let the new year cause us to think about the great and needful change of conversion.

"Nil Desperandum." A man was heard at a prayer-meeting pleading in louder tones than usual; he was a sailor, and his voice was pitched to the tune of the roaring billows. A lady whispered to her friend, "Is that Captain F-----?" "Yes," said the other, "why do you ask?" "Because," said she, "the last time I heard that voice, its swearing made my blood run cold; the man's oaths were beyond measure terrible. Can it be the same man?" Someone observed, "Go and ask him." The lady timidly said, "Are you the same Captain F-----that I heard swearing in the street, outside my house?" "Well," he said, "I am the same person, and yet, thank God, I am not the same!" O brethren, such were some of us; but we are washed, but we are sanctified! Wonders of grace to God belong. I was reading the other day a story of an old shepherd who had never attended a place of worship; but when he had grown grey, and was near to die, he was drawn by curiosity into the Methodist chapel, and all was new to him. Hard-hearted old fellow as he was, he was noticed to shed tears during the sermon. He had obtained a glimpse of hope. He saw that there was mercy even for him. He laid hold on eternal life at once. The surprise was great when he was seen at the chapel, and greater still when, on the Monday night, he was seen at the prayer-meeting; yes, and heard at the prayer meeting, for he fell down on his knees and praised God that he had found mercy. Do you wonder that the Methodists shouted, "Bless the Lord"? Wherever Christ is preached the most wicked of men and women are made to sit at the Savior's feet, "clothed and in their right minds." My hearer, why should it not be so with you? At any rate, we have full proof of the fact that sinnership is no reason for despair.

"No God's Land."

If a spot could be found wherein there would be no God, what a fine building speculation might be made there. Millions would emigrate to "No God's Land," and would feel at ease, as soon as they trod its Godless shores. No time for religion.

I remember hearing an old lady say to a man who said that he had no time, "Well, you have got all the time there is." I thought that was a very conclusive answer. You have had the time, and you still have all the time there is—why do you not use it? Nobody has more than twenty four hours in a day, and you have no less.

Now. No time like the present.

I take a religious newspaper from America, and the last copy I had of it bore on it these words at the end, in good large type, printed in a practical, business like, American way: "If you do not want to have this paper, discontinue it NOW. If you wish to have it for the year 1875, send your subscription NOW. If you have any complaint against it, send your complaint NOW. If you have removed, send a notice of your change of residence NOW." There was a big "NOW" at the end of every sentence. Well, thought I, that's right: and that is common sense. If you wish to forsake your sins, forsake them NOW. If you would have mercy from God through Jesus Christ, believe on Him NOW, Never be afraid of your Bibles. Never get an inch beyond the Cross. No man need stick in the mud because he becomes a Christian.

Nothing holds a man like the silken cord of gratitude.

Nothing shakes prison walls and breaks jailers hearts, like the praises of the Lord.