gallery clear up there saying, "I never have bothered my head about election, I don't believe men are gloomy when they become Christians. If I was alone I would tell you my reason, but I do not like to get up in this large assemblage and talk here. The fact is there are hypocrites in the churches. I know a man, a prominent man in the church, who cheated me out of twentyfive dollars. "I won't accept this invitation because of those hypocrites in the churches." My friend, you will find very few there if you get to heaven. There won't be a hypocrite in the next world, and if you don't want to be associated with hypocrites in the next world, you will take this invitation. Why, you will find hypocrites everywhere. One of the apostles was himself the very prince of hypocrites, but he didn't get to heaven. You will find plenty of hypocrites in the church. They have been there for the last eighteen hundred years, and will probably remain there. But what is that to you? This is an individual matter between you and your God. Is it because there are hypocrites that you are not going to accept the invitation ?

Ah, well, Mr. Moody, that is not my case. I am a business man, and I have no time. Since the Chicago fire I have had as much as I could attend to in recovering what I lost. I believe if I stood at the door and asked any one who went out to accept the invitation, I believe hundreds of you would say, "Mr. Moody, you will have to excuse me to-night; time is very precious with me, and you'll have to excuse me." What have you been doing the last twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years that you haven't had a moment to devote to the acceptance of the invitation? That is the cry of the world to-day: "Time is precious; business must be attended to, and we have no time to spare." Some of you will say, "I cannot wait; I have to go home and put the children to bed; this is more important." My friends, to accept this invitation is more important than anything else in this world. There is nothing in the world that is so important as the question of accepting the invitation. How many mechanics in this building have spent five years learning their trade, in order to support their families and support themselves a few years-forty or fifty years at the longest? How many professional men have toiled and worked hard for years to get such an education that they might go out to the world and cope with it, and during all these years have not had a minute to seek their salvation? Is that a legitimate excuse? Tell Him tonight that you haven't time or let this be the night-the hourcost you what it will, when you shall say, “By the grace of God, I will accept the invitation and press up to the marriage supper of the Lamb,"

"Oh, but that is not my case," says another, "I have time. If I thought I could become a Christian I would sit here all night and let business and everything else go, and press into the kingdom of God. I am not fit to become a Christian, that's the trouble with me." He says: "Go into the highways and hedges," and "bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind,”—just invite them all, without distinction of sect or creed, station or nationality; never mind whether they are rich or poor. If the Lord don't complain about your fitness, you shouldn't look to see if you have the right kind of clothes. I had to notice during the war, when enlisting was going on, sometimes a man would come up with a nice silk hat on, patent leather boots, nice kid gloves, and a fine suit of clothes, which, probably, cost him one hundred dollars; perhaps the next man who came along would be a hod-carrier, dressed in the poorest kind of clothes. Both had to strip alike and put on the regimental uniform. So when you come and say you ain't fit, haven't got good clothes, haven't got righteousness enough, remember that He will furnish you with the uniform of heaven, and you will be set down at the marriage feast of the Lamb. I don't care how black and vile your heart may be, only accept the invitation of Jesus Christ and He will make you fit to sit down with the rest at that feast. How many are continually crying out, "I am too bad; no use of me trying to become a Christian." This is the way the devil works. Sometimes he will say to a man, "You don't want to be saved; you're good enough already,” and he will point to some black-hearted hypocrite and say: Look at him and see how you appear in comparison; you are far better than he is." But by and by the man gets a glimpse of the blackness of his heart, and his conscience troubles him. Then says the devil, "You are too bad to be saved; the Lord won't save such as you ; you are too vile; you must get better before you try to get God to save you." And so men try to make themselves better, and instead get worse all the time. The gospel bids you come as you are. Seek first the kingdom of heaven—make no delay; come just as you are. I heard of an artist who wanted to get a man to sit for a painting of the prodigal son. He went down to the almshouses and the prisons, but couldn't get one. Going through the streets one day he found a poor wretched man, a beggar, coming along, and he asked him if he would sit for the study. He said he would. A bargain was made, and the artist gave him his address. The time for the appointment arrived, and the beggar duly appeared and said to the artist: "I have come to keep that appointment which I made with you." "An appointment with me?" replied the artist, "you are mistaken; I have an appoint

ment with a beggar to-day." "Well," said the man, "I am that beggar, but I thought I would put on a new suit of clothes before I came to see you." "I don't want you," was the artist's reply, "I want a beggar." And so a great many people come to God with their self righteousness, instead of coming in their raggedness. Why, some one has said, "It is only the ragged sinners that open God's wardrobe. If you want to start out to get a pair of shoes from a passer-by you would start out barefooted, wouldn't you? I remember a boy to whom I gave a pair of boots, and I found him shortly after in his bare feet again. I asked him what he had done with them, and he replied that when he was dressed up it spoiled his business; when he was dressed up no one would give him anything. By keeping his bare feet naked he got as many as five pairs of boots a day. (Laughter.) So if you want to come to God, don't dress yourself up. It is the naked sinners God wants to save. Come to Him after you have cast off your self-righteousness and the Son of God will receive you.

I remember some years ago of a man who had gone to sea. He led a wild, reckless life. When his mother was alive she was a praying mother. Ah, how many men have been saved by their mothers after they have gone up to heaven; and perhaps her influence made him think sometimes. When at sea a desire of leading a better life came over him, and when he got on shore he thought he would join the Free Masons. He made application, but, upon investigation, his character proved he was only a drunken sailor, and he was black-balled. He next thought of joining the Odd Fellows, and applied but his application met with a like result. While he was walking up Fulton street one day a little tract was given him-an invitation to the prayer meeting. He came and Christ received him. I remember him getting up in the meeting, and telling how the Free Masons had black-balled him, how the Odd Fellows had blackballed him, and how Christ had received him as he was. great many orders and societies will not receive you, but I tell you He will receive you, vile as you are-He, the Saviour of sinners-He, the redeemer of the lost world-He bids you come just as you are.

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Ah, but there is another voice coming down from the gallery yonder: "I have intellectual difficulties; I cannot believe." A man came to me some time ago, and said: "I cannot." "Cannot what?" "Well," said he, "I cannot believe." "Who ?" "Well," he repeated, "I cannot believe." "Who?" I asked. "Well I can't believe myself." "Well, you don't want to." [Laughter.] Make yourself out false every time, but believe in the truth of Christ. If a man says to me: "Mr. Moody, you

have lied to me; you have dealt falsely with me," it may be so, but no man on the face of the earth can ever say that God ever dealt unfairly, or that He lied to him. If God says a thing, it is true. We don't ask you to believe in any man on the face of the earth, but we ask you to believe in Jesus Christ, who never lied-who never deceived anyone. If a man says he cannot believe Him, he says what is untrue.

"Ah, well, all those excuses don't apply to me," says another; "I can't feel." That is the very last excuse. When a man comes with the excuse, he is getting pretty near to the Lord. We are having a body of men in England giving a new translation of the Scriptures. I think we should get them to put in a passage relating to feeling. With some people it is feel, feel all the time. What kind of feeling have you got? Have you got a desire to be saved-have you got a desire to be present at the marriage supper? Suppose a gentleman asked me to dinner. I say, "I will see how I feel." "Sick?" he might ask. "No; it depends on how I feel." That is not the question-it is whether I will accept the invitation or not. The question with us is, Will we accept salvation-will you believe? There is not a word about feelings in the Scriptures. When you come to your end, and you know that in a few days you will be in the presence of the Judge of all the earth, you will remember this excuse about feelings. You will be saying, "I went up to the tabernacle, I remember, and I felt very good, and before the meeting was over I felt very bad, and I didn't feel I had the right kind of feeling to accept the invitation." Satan will then say, "I made you feel so." Suppose you build your hopes and fix yourself upon the Rock of Ages, the devil cannot come to you. Stand upon the word of God, and the waves of unbelief cannot touch you; the waves of persecution cannot assail you; the devil and all the fiends of hell cannot approach you if you only build your hopes upon God's word. Say, "I will trust Him though he slay me-I will take God at His word."

I haven't exhausted all the excuses. If I had you would make more before to-morrow morning. What has to be done with all the excuses, is to bundle them all up and label them "Satan's lies." There is not an excuse but is a lie. When you stand at the throne of God no man can give an excuse. If you have got a good excuse, don't give it up for anything I have said; don't give it up for anything your friend may have said. Take it up to the bar of God and state it to Him; but if you have not got a good excuse-an excuse that will stand eternity -let it go to-night and flee to the arms of a loving Saviour. It is easy enough to excuse yourself to hell, but you cannot excuse yourself to heaven. If you want an excuse, Satan will always

find one ready for you. Accept the invitation now, my friends. Let your stores be closed till you accept this invitation; let your households go till you accept this invitation. Do not let the light come, do not eat, do not drink, till you accept the most important thing to you in this wide world. Will you stay tonight and accept this invitation? Don't make light of it. I can imagine some of you saying, "I never got so low as to make light of religion." Suppose I got an invitation to dinner from a citizen of Chicago for to-morrow, and I don't answer itI tear the invitation up. Would not that be making light of? Suppose you pay no attention to the invitation to-night--is not that making light of it? Would anyone here be willing to write out an excuse something like this: "The Tabernacle, Oct. 29. To the King of Heaven: While sitting in the Tabernacle today, I received a very pressing invitation from one of your servants to sit at the marriage ceremony of the Son of God. I pray you have me excused." Is there a man or a woman in this assembly would take their pen and write their name at the bottom of it? Is there a man or woman whose right hand would not forget its cunning, and whose tongue would not cleave to their mouth, if they were trying to do it? Well, you are doing this if you get up and go right out after you have heard the invitation. Who will write this: "To the Lord of lords and King of Glory: While sitting in the Tabernacle this beautiful Sabbath evening, Oct. 29, 1876, I received a pressing invitation from one of your servants to be present at the marriage supper. I hasten to accept." Will anyone sign this? Who will put their name to it? Is there not a man or woman saying, down deep in their soul, "By the grace of God I will sign it ;" "I will sign it by the grace of God, and will meet that sainted mother who has gone there;" "I will sign and accept that invitation, and meet that loving wife or child." Are there not some here to-night who will accept that invitation?

I remember, while preaching in Glasgow, an incident occurred which I will relate. I had been preaching there several weeks, and the night was my last one, and I pleaded with them as Í had never pleaded there before. I urged those people to meet me in that land. It is a very solemn thing to stand before a vast audience for the last time, and think you may never have another chance of asking them to come to Christ. I told them I would not have another opportunity, and urged them to accept, and just asked them to meet me at that marriage supper. At the conclusion, I soon saw a tall young lady coming into the inquiry room. She had scarcely come in when another tall young lady came in, and she went up to the first and put her arms round her and wept. Pretty soon another young lady