Orpah loved Naomi, but not enough to leave all for her; while Ruth loved her mother so much, that the leaving of her people seemed nothing to her. Oh, may God draw out all your hearts, so that you may leave all and follow Him! We never hear any more of Orpah; the curtain falls upon her life. Perhaps she died away up in the mountains of Moab, without God and without hope. But how different with Ruth! She becomes famous in history; she is one of the few women whose names have come along down the roll of ages; and she is brought into the royal line of heaven. I have an idea that God blessed her for that decision. And He will bless you if you decide in a like manner. Who will say to-night, as Ruth did, “I will follow thee; and thy God shall be my God”? Will any one take up the language of Ruth? Is there not a Ruth here? If there is, the Master is calling.
I’ll take another word. I have been speaking of “receive”; the next word I want your attention to is,
TRUSTING.
Many get hold of that when they cannot get hold of “believe” or “receive.” You all know what it is to trust. If it were not for trust, there would be a terrible commotion in this building to-night.
If you could not trust that the roof was firmly put up, you would get out pretty quick; and if you could not trust these chairs to support you, how long would you sit on them? Why, you wouldn’t have come here at all if you didn’t trust our word that there would be an address. Now, it is just the same trust that God wants. It is no miraculous trust or faith, but just the same kind, only the object is different. Instead of trusting in these earthly things, or in an arm of flesh, you are asked to trust in the Son of God.
THE DUBLIN MERCHANT.
In Dublin I was speaking to a lady in the inquiry-room, when I noticed a gentleman walking up and down before the door. I went forward and said, “Are you a Christian?” He was very angry, and turned on his heel and left me. The following Sunday night I was preaching about “receiving,” and I put the question, “Who’ll receive Him now?” That young man was present, and the question sank into his heart. The next day he called upon me—he was a merchant in that city—and said, “Do you remember me?” “No, I don’t.” “Do you remember the young man who answered you so roughly the other night?” “Yes, I do.” “Well, I’ve come to tell you I am saved.” “How did it happen?” “Why, I was listening to your sermon last night, and when you asked, ‘Who’ll receive Him now?’ God put it into my heart to say, ‘I will’; and He has opened my eyes to see His Son now.” I don’t know why thousands should not do that here to-night. If you are ever to be saved, why not now?
But another point you must remember—
SALVATION IS A FREE GIFT,
and it is a free gift for us. Can you buy it? It is a free gift, presented to “whosoever.” Suppose I were to say, I will give this Bible to “whosoever”; what have you got to do? Why, nothing but take it. But a man comes forward, and says, “I’d like that Bible very much.” “Well, didn’t I say ‘whosoever’?” “Yes; but I’d like to have you say my name.” “Well, here it is.” Still he keeps eyeing the Bible, and saying, “I’d like to have that Bible; but I’d like to give you something for it. I don’t like to take it for nothing.” “Well, I am not here to sell Bibles; take it, if you want it.” “Well, I want it; but I’d like to give you something for it. Let me give you a penny for it; though, to be sure, it’s worth twenty or thirty shillings.” Well, suppose I took the penny; the man takes up the Bible, and marches away home with it. His wife says, “Where did you get that Bible?” “Oh, I bought it.” Mark the point; when he gives the penny it ceases to be a gift. So with salvation. If you were to pay ever so little, it would not be a gift.