This was the case with Dr. Gordon. All who knew him can testify, that if ever the hope of eternal life could be based on the foundation of a blameless and benevolent life, it could be so by him. Yet most deeply was he sensible, that in all his actions, even the very best, he was "corrupt! corrupt !" Once, and only once, a transient cloud seemed to pass over him. He said, "I don't see Jesus as I wish. I don't see him vividly." But in less than an hour, his countenance brightening with joy, he said, "I seem to see Jesus now. He is vividly before me, waiting for me. He is here in all his love and mercy." The following hymn, which had long been familiar to him, and which at his request was often sung in his room, was repeated: "There is a happy land, Far, far away; Where saints in glory stand, Bright, bright as day. Hark, how they sweetly sing, Worthy is our Saviour king; Loud let his praises ring, Praise, praise for aye! "Come to this happy land, Come, come away! Why will ye doubting stand? Why still delay ? Oh! we shall happy be, When, from sin and sorrow free, Lord, we shall reign with thee, Blest, blest for aye! He said, "I think I see it as it were before me! I am going to Jesus. I have embraced him, and Our best actions are filthy he will receive me. rags. There is pride and selfishness mixed up with them all. I have thought and written and done a great deal, but it's nothing. I feel the need of a better righteousness. It is in Christ, and so easily obtained! I have found it!" The following hymn, which became a great favourite with him, was now repeated :— "Just as I am-without one plea, But that thy blood was shed for me, O Lamb of God, I come! "Just as I am-and waiting not To rid my soul of one dark blot, To thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot O Lamb of God, I come! "Just as I am-though toss'd about O Lamb of God, I come! "Just as I am-poor, wretched, blind; O Lamb of God, I come! "Just as I am-thou wilt receive, Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve, Because thy promise I believe O Lamb of God, I come! "Just as I am-thy love unknown Now, to be thine, yea, thine alone O Lamb of God, I come!" To this he responded with great feeling, “Oh, beautiful! that's the way I come." To the Rev. William Knight, who had recently been delivering a course of sermons to young men, on Infidelity, he said,— "There is a great deal of infidelity in young men. You have many of them about you. Tell them from me, I have read a great many sceptical books, ancient and modern, of all sorts. It is all very fine, but very fallacious. They are very plausible, but can give no consolation in a dying hour. The New Testament is the book. We must fall back on that. We can only obtain peace by casting ourselves on Jesus; putting reasoning aside, and asking him to "cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of His Holy Spirit.' He gave a similar message to the author, who said, "Such a testimony and such a scene as this ness. will, I trust, make me a better preacher." He replied, "I am glad of it. Preach with an earnestTell the people of the peace, and the joy, and the happiness, and the calm. It's no use reasoning." After a pause, he added, "Preachers should dwell on the mercies of God. He is not a severe God. He is love." Being asked if he could send a message to two young men, for whose spiritual welfare much anxiety was felt, he said, "Assure them of my warm affection. Tell them to seek Christ, that he may pardon their sins, change their hearts, and present them to God. Tell them that wealth, ambition, and fame, are all vanity. Nothing will do but Christ.” He had been for a considerable time deeply impressed with the conviction, that all warfare was anti-christian and inhuman, and often expressed his astonishment that any good men could fight, as the precepts of Christ seemed to him so decidedly to condemn the practice. The subject now presented itself to his mind with peculiar force. He said, "How wonderful that men can go to war! How could I die now, hoping God would forgive me, if I would not forgive them, but sought to kill them in battle? How different is dying in my circumstances, to death on a battle-field!" Striking indeed the contrast! In the one case, calm, quietness, the presence of dear friends, the voice of affection, the accents of prayer and praise; in the other, tumult, the roar of cannon, "the thunder of the captains," the fury of the combatants, the execrations and groans of the dying, rage, revenge, slaughter! Whatever may be said of the glory of dying on the field of battle, surely it is an awful thing for a man to be hurried from the excitement and din of conflict, into the presence of his Judge, fresh from the slaughter of his fellowmen, and accompanied perhaps by the souls of those whom he has just slain! Are the combatants Christians? Then they whose mutual relation to their common Lord binds them to a special love towards one another, appear before Him, their last act on earth having been one of hostility even to the death. But if they are not Christians, then the blow which sent them into eternity was one which for ever cut them off from the hope of salvation, which smote the soul as well as the body, and consigned it to eternal death. To slay a Christian is to smite Christ himself; to slay an unbeliever is to plunge a fellow-being into hell. Terrible alternative! Yet all who fight, not only strike such a blow, but expose themselves to the risk of dying in the very act of striking it. May all Christians soon acknowledge the universal obligation of the command, "Love your enemies, and do good to them that hate you." Without waiting for others, may they at least, by obeying the precepts, fulfil the predictions of the sacred book, |