near the kingdom of God now, take the advice of a friend
and step into it. Don't be satisfied with just getting near to it.
Christ said to the young ruler, "Thou art not far from the kingdom,"
but he failed to get there. Don't run any risks. Death may overtake
you before you have time to carry out your best intentions, if you
put off a decision.

It is sad to think that men heard Jesus and Paul, and were moved
under their preaching, but were not saved. Judas must many times
have come near the kingdom, but he never entered in. I saw it in the
army--men who had

ALMOST DECIDED

to become Christians cut down in battle without having taken the
step that would have made them sure of eternal life. I confess there
is something very sad about it.

In one of the tenement houses in New York city, a doctor was sent
for. He came, and found a young man very sick. When he got to the
bedside the young man said:

"Doctor, I don't want you to deceive me; I want to know the worst.
Is this illness to prove serious?"

After the doctor had made an examination, he said: "I am sorry to
tell you you cannot live out the night."

The young man looked up and said: "Well, then, I have missed it at
last!"

"Missed what?"

"I have missed eternal life. I always intended to become a Christian
some day, but I thought I had plenty of time, and put it off."

The doctor, who was himself a Christian man, said: "It is not too
late. Call on God for mercy."

"No; I have always had a great contempt for a man who repents when
he is dying; he is a miserable coward. If I were not sick I would
not have a thought about my soul, and I am not going to insult God
now."

The doctor spent the day with him, read to him out of the Bible, and
tried to get him to lay hold of the promises. The young man said he
would not call on God, and in that state of mind he passed away.
Just as he was dying the doctor saw his lips moving. He reached
down, and all he could hear was the faint whisper:

"_I have missed it at last!_"

Dear friend, make sure that you do not miss eternal life at last.
Will you go with Herod or with John? Bow your head now and say:

"Son of God, come into this heart of mine. I yield myself to Thee,
fully, wholly, unreservedly."

He will come to you, and will not only save you, but will keep you
to the end.

THE MAN BORN BLIND AND JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA

There were two extraordinary men living in the city of Jerusalem
when Christ