for them? Why, yes; that is, if it is the religion of Christ; for you remember our other text, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." One and the same Master, one and the same religion, suited for the leisure class who want more to do, and for the laboring class who are tired out and want a chance to rest. One religion for both. But have you noticed the strange word that Jesus puts into His invitation to those heavy-laden laborers-the word "yoke "? "Take my yoke upon you," He says. In other words, He rests them by putting a yoke upon them, a yoke that will make all their work easy and all their burdens light. And you know this means the yoke of kindly services toward others. Jesus will teach these weary victims of toil-and how many of them have learned the lesson and blessed Him for it!-that, by kindly helping others, they may find strength enough and to spare for their own heavy burdens; by cheering others in sorrow, they may find their own sorrowing hearts comforted; in the act of forgiving others, they find their own sins forgiven; in loving others, they themselves grow lovable to God and men. So the rest which Jesus promises to all who are weary and heavy laden is not at all a sluggish idleness and stupor; but He puts His own yoke upon them, they learn of Him, and then those heaviest burdens grow

easier to bear, and the weariest souls grow rested and strong. Dr. Lyman Abbott has said that “it is because the Christian religion professes to be able to satisfy these two passionate desires of the human soul—the desire for peace and the desire for achievement-that it possesses the attraction which the failures and the folly of its adherents may diminish, but cannot destroy." 1

So this same religion is well suited to both sorts of inquirers-all sorts of inquirers who are ready to be taught of God. This call summons them all. They may come up by different paths, but the same Master stands ready to welcome and satisfy them all. They may come from different quarters, but it is to the same Temple; the New Jerusalem opens its gates on every side, east, north, south, west, that whoever comes may, if he will, walk straight forward into the city; the strong, the weak, the hopeful, the discouraged, those at leisure looking for work, those worked out and looking for rest, the young, the old. The same Lord invites them all.

And when they accept the invitation, He brings them all into one and the same fellowship in himself. Underneath their manifold diversities He brings to light a deeper unity among them. Indeed, under His leadership we often see their several positions strangely interchanged; the young man 1 The Christian Ministry, p. 66.

boastful of his strength is set a task which makes him confess his weakness and cry for help; the old man, bewailing his weakness, is given a yoke which makes him strong to serve; the wise are shown hard lessons that someone must teach them; and babes are shown other lessons that they can teach. So the saying holds good, that "the first shall be last, and the last first "; but, first and last, they all alike find just what they need in Him; He is "the Saviour of all men," "able to save unto the uttermost all those that come unto God by Him."

Every Christian preacher must long for words fit to express the boundless hospitality of his message. "Come, each of you," that is his message, "Come, all of you. Ho, everyone that thirsteth. Whatever you are thirsting for, whatever the need of your soul. Is it for work, or for rest? for help, or for someone whom you can help? for forgiveness, or for grace to forgive? for someone to love, or for someone to love you? Whatever you are thirsting for, ho, everyone that thirsteth, come!"

"Everyone," "all"-those words must never be omitted, if you would do justice to the scriptural doctrine of God's election of men.

CHAPTER VI

BEGGING OFF

So far we have been searching the Scriptures to learn how God chooses and calls men; it is time now that we look at the question from the other side, and ask how men respond to the call.

The present chapter will give three scriptural instances of men who, hearing the call, were inclined at first to offer excuses for not obeying it; and the three excuses here offered may stand as samples of all the varying excuses ever offered for disobedience. The first is found in Jeremiah i, 6: "Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child." It is the excuse of immaturity. Let me say at the outset that this cry from the lips of the young prophet gives us a somewhat favorable opinion of him. How often one wishes that some of the noisy and precocious little people of modern times could keep still long enough to consider how young they really are, and how little they really know! As excuses go, this excuse was a good one. But the Lord would not admit it; for it happened that in this particular

case a modest, childlike soul was the very thing needed.

The excuse of immaturity might be offered either for one's self or for others. In the Gospel story we read how one day certain small children had been brought to our Lord, and His mature followers, supposing the immaturity of these children a barrier, would have excused them from meeting Him till they were older; but He was much displeased they were the very disciples He liked best, these teachable little children.

The Church of Christ must be careful never to fall under that displeasure. So soon as the children in our homes are old enough to learn about anything, they are old enough to learn about Him; and learning about Him, to love Him and trust Him and please Him. Their immaturity is not an excuse, but a qualification for promptly beginning the discipleship to which they are called.

And sometimes these little ones may be old enough to be called to speak for Him. We must not be too much scandalized if sometimes the Lord treats other children as He treated the child Jeremiah, giving them words to speak for Him in their childish way, just because they are children. How often some infantile prophet in your own home will preach a better sermon to his father than ever you, the father, had preached to the child. So much for