BV 3790 .S327 1919 Scarborough, Lee Rutland, 1870-1945. With Christ after the lost ^ WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST L. R. SCARBOROUGH, B.A., D.D. WITH CHR AFTER THE L A Search for Souls ■ / L. R. "^SCARBOROUGH, B.A., D.D. PRESIDENT AND PROFESSOR OF EVANGELISM IN THE SOUTHWESTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Author of ^^ Recruits for World Conquests ^^^ ^^ Marvels of Divine Grace^^'' ^^The Tears of Jesusy^ ^'■Prefare to Meet Gody^ etc. NEW ^tiy YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY SUNDAY SCHOOL BOARD OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST — B — PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA To B. H. CARROLL, D.D. Stainless soul, matchless preacher, immortal teacher, conquering kingdom leader, who was the founder of the chair of evangelism in theological educa- tion, and has entered into a deathless reward; and to the treasured students in my classes in evan- gelism and personal work who have gone and who will go out to win and build souls for Christ, this volume is cheerfully dedicated in the hope of a fadeless immortality, by the author. FOREWORD This book is wrought out of the author's soul in twenty-one years in pastoral, teaching and personal evan- gelism. For twelve years in two pastorates he sought in his own churches and hundreds of other churches to turn men to Christ. For many years as Professor of Evangehsm in the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, in classes in Personal Work and in Evan- gelism, he sought to impart the method, spirit, and doc- trines taught by the Master and His apostles in soul- winning; to inspire and to lead, in seeking and finding the compassion for souls and the power of the Spirit, hundreds of men and women under his tutelage. In these years of teaching each year he led in from eight to fourteen special evangelistic meetings and in many soul- winning conferences. He believes that every preacher, missionary, and every Christian should seek to win souls to Christ. The author herein acknowledges a debt of gratitude to the influence and inspiring example of the immortal B. H. Carroll under whose evangelistic ministry he was placed for many years ; to his devoted preacher- father under whose soulful sermons and inspiring life he learned to love lost men; to a sainted mother whose prayers were answered in his call to preach and by whose efforts he was led to see himself a sinner and to find Christ as Saviour; to a devoted, faithful and unselfish wife through whose prayers, love, faith, and sacrifice he has been able to give much of his time and powers to soul-winning; to Dr. George W. Truett, the compassionate and powerful pastor-evangelist, under whose example he has been led to value the soul- winning life; to Doc Pegues, now with viii FOREWORD the Saviour, whose tireless zeal in going after the lost as an untrained layman fanned into flames the holy fires of evangelism in his own soul; to the hundreds of pas- tors, laymen and women who have invited him to aid in soul-winning campaigns, especially to the cooperant and Christ-loving members of the Baptist churches at Cam- eron and Abilene, Texas, whose cooperation, prayers and patient efforts in his two pastorates enabled him to gain the passion for souls, build evangelistic churches, and go out in hundreds of evangelistic meetings. The debt he owes to the prayer-groups in these two churches he will never be able to pay in time or eternity. He is deeply indebted to Dr. R. A. Torrey, whose invaluable book, "How to Work for Christ," he has taught through many years. This book is meant for preachers to read and to teach to soul-winning bands in their churches, and in study courses in their Sunday schools, young people's organi- zations and mission bands, for classes in personal work and evangelism in Theological Seminaries, Missionary Training Schools, and Bible Departments in Christian Schools. It seeks to give Scriptural knowledge in win- ning lost souls to Christ, to give a knowledge of the best methods in evangelism, and to give inspiration, com- passion, and power to all whose hearts turn to a search for lost souls and the power of God in unselfish service for Christ Jesus. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION THE TASK UNIVERSAL . , , Part I: SOME SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES CHAPTER I THE winner's soul AND LIFE- II III IV V -SALVATION, CONSECRA- TION, ASPIRATION THE WINNER'S PRAYER-LIFE THE winner's faith AND CONVICTIONS THE winner's SPIRITUAL PASSION THE winner's HEAVENLY UNCTION PACK 13 21 26 31 39 45 I II III IV V VI VII I II III IV V VI VII VIII Part II: SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES CHRIST JESUS THE MATCHLESS WINNER JOHN THE BAPTIST THE APOSTLE OF HOLY FIRES . SIMON PETER THE PENTECOSTAL PREACHER PAUL THE TOPMOST EVANGELIST .... SOME EVANGELISTIC WORTHIES WHO FOLLOWED AND WON ......... A COMPASSIONATE LEADERSHIP A DIVINE NECESSITY . WORTH-WHILE REWARDS Part III: THE WAY TO WIN DOMESTIC EVANGELISM SOUL-WINNING IN THE HOME THE SOUL-WINNING SUNDAY SCHOOL THE YOUNG PEOPLE ORGANIZED TO WIN THE DEACONSHIP AND SOUL-WINNING . THE pastor's spiritual PRIESTHOOD . THE PLACE OF SONG IN SOUL-WINNING THE MARKS OF EVANGELISTIC PREACHING EDUCATIONAL EVANGELISM . ix 55 60 64 68 72 80 85 THE HOME 91 97 101 104 108 113 120 125 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE . IX THE SOUL-WINNING AND CONSTRUCTIVE VALUE OF RE- LIGIOUS LITERATURE , .129 X THE SPIRITUAL VALUE OF MONEY ETERNAL PREMI- UMS ON THE EVANGELISTIC INVESTMENT . . . 133 XI THE EVANGELISTIC CHURCH HOW TO BUILD ONE . 137 XII EVANGELISM IN THE "HIGHWAYS AND HEDGEs" . .142 XIII REVIVALS HOW TO PROMOTE THEM . . . .147 XIV CONSTRUCTIVE EVANGELISM SAVING SPIRITUAL WASTE 156 Part IV: PERSONAL WORK I SUGGESTIONS TO WINNERS . . . .• II HOW TO RECLAIM THE DRIFTING CHRISTIAN III HOW TO DEAL WITH CHILDREN IV HOW TO WIN THE UNCONCERNED . V HOW TO DEAL WITH THOSE UNDER CONVICTION VI HOW TO GROW AND SERVE .... VII HOW TO MEET THE LOST MAN's DIFFICULTIES VIII HOW TO REACH THE DECEIVED AND DELUDED IX SEEKING TO WIN SKEPTICS AND DOUBTERS . X HOW TO WIN THE MORALIST . . . .^ XI HOW TO WIN THE PLEASURE-LOVING 163 168 178 183 187 196 201 228 248 255 262 Part V: SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS I VITAL SCRIPTURES FOR THE HEART OF THE SOUL-WIN- NER II THE unbeliever's SPIRITUAL CONDITION BEFORE GOD III THE unbeliever's PERIL AND DESTINY IV god's attitude TOWARD THE LOST ... V god's PROVISION FOR THE SINNEr's REDEMPTION . VI THE SPIRITUAL STEPS TO GOD THE SOUl's SALVATION VII STEPS TO ACCEPTABLE SERVICE AND SPIRITUAL POWER THE SALVATION OF THE LIFE VIII god's MESSAGE IN COMFORT IX THE christian's HEAVENLY RAINBOW .... X THE CALL OF THE CROSS ...... 269 273 275 278 281 289 298 307 310 313 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that win- neth souls is wise." — Solomon. "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firma- ment; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." — Daniel. "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee." — David. "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Go into all the world and make disciples of every creature and lo 1 am with you always . ' ' — Jesus. "I have made myself servant unto all that I might gain the more. I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some." — Paul. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seeds, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." — God. "I pray thee therefore, father Abraham, that thou wouldst send him (Lazarus) to my father's house; for I have five brothers, that he may testify unto them lest they also come into this place of torment." — A Voice from Hell, WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Introduction THE TASK UNIVERSAL god's pungent words to his children \i Prov. II 130. "He that winneth souls is wise." Dan. 12: 2i- "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament : and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." Mark 15 : 15. "Go ye into all the world and make disciples of every creature." Matt. 4:19. "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." John 20:21. "As my Father hath sent me even so send I you." Acts 1 : 14. "These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication." Acts 2: I. "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." Acts 2: 4. "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 1:8. "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you : and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Enekiel 33 : 7-8. "So thou. O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man thou shalt surely die, if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; hut his blood will I require at thine hand." I Cor. 9 : 22-23. "I am made all things to all men that by all 13 14 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST means I might save some. And this I do for the gospel's sake that I might be partaker thereof with you." Rev. 22: 17. 'And the Spirit and the bride say, Come; and let him that heareth say, Come." Gal. 6:8, 9. "He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting and let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Matt. 22 : 9. "Go ye therefore into the highways and as many as ye shall find bid to the wedding." Jude 23. 'And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire." John 4:35. "Behold I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal." Matt. 9 : 37, 38. "Then saith he unto his disciples. The har- vest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." god's biggest task for men The most mammoth undertaking God has laid out for men is to lead lost souls to Jesus Christ. It cost God more and requires more from man than any other move- ment in human or divine history. To make a v^orld He had only to speak the word, to save the world He must crucify His Only Begotten Son (Heb. 11:3; Isa. 53: 10). In this saving program He has brought into requisition all the powers of His triune deity, and He calls into holy cooperation all the strength of life,- love and energy of every saved man. Christ emptied Himself in sacrificial libation on God's altar to redeem us and He requires that we offer to Him our best and our all in reaching other men with this redeeming grace (Phil. 2\y', Luke 10:27). The highest in heaven and the lowest in earth must combine in this imperial task. OBLIGATIONS WITHOUT EVASION OR EXEMPTION This divine obligation rests without exception upon the heart and conscience of every spirit-born child of God. THE TASK UNIVERSAL 15 The Christian receives the essence of this obligation and call in the same bundle with his salvation. Regeneration demands reproduction in kind. To testify a winning witness to Jesus Christ is a spontaneous and natural ex- pression of the newly saved child of God. Every new- born babe in Christ longs to see others saved as naturally and as voluntarily as an infant longs for mother-love. The world-wide mission principle is present in germ in every case of spiritual regeneration. The hope of evangelism on the human side is found in this new life principle. Some men are called by special divine calling to preach a saving evangel; some women are called to give life and powers in home and foreign fields to teach a redeeming Gospel; but every Christian is called in the hour of salvation to witness a winning testimony for Jesus Christ. Nothing in heaven or earth can excuse him from it. God gives no furloughs from this heaven-bom obligation. Neither ignorance, nor poverty, nor environ- ment, nor difficulties of any kind — nothing, can exempt or excuse any child of God from its pressing daily im- portance. Even the God-cured demoniac must go back and tell his people what great things God had done for him. The difference between the preacher's and the layman's call is one of extent and degree. They are both called to win men to Christ. THE DIMENSIONS AND DIRECTIONS OF THIS CALL AND DUTY 1. It comes from above, God calls with a big, fa- therly love, Christ pleads with a Redeemer's compassion, and the Holy Spirit urges with a constant, heavenly, intercessory insistence. The Bible in both Testaments repeatedly presses this universal duty upon us. To re- fuse to witness a saving Gospel to a lost world day by day is nothing short of high treason, spiritual rebellion, and inexcusable disobedience to His holy commands. 2. It'comes from without. Man's need, his perils, his i6 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST undone and ruined state of soul, his imminent and im- pending doom in a Christless eternity, press this call upon our hearts. The unconscious cry of a lost humanrity comes up to greet the listening ear of every saved man. To go along unheeding this cry is to court the death of the lost and to be guilty of a world's spiritual ruin. The unsaved in home, shop, school, store, or street, and every- where, every hour demand attention at our hands. 3. It comes from within. The saved soul itself longs to win some one. Soul-winning fires burn in the depths of every child of God. Andrew cannot long "abide with Christ" without thinking of and going after his brother Simon. These inner compassions and spiritual longings call us out to the ripening fields. Christ said to His dis- ciples as they offered Him bread after He had won the fallen woman at Jacob's well, "I have meat to eat that ye know not of" (John 4:31). He had an inner hunger which soul-winning alone would satisfy. 4. It comes from beneath. The doomed in eternity are anxious that their lost living ones and friends do not share their destiny. Have you heard in your deepest soul the tragic words of Dives as in hellish torment he beseeches Abraham to send Lazarus to his father's house, *'f or I have five brethren ; that he may testify unto them lest they also come into this place of torment" ? If you refuse the voice of God, the pleading of the churches and His Spirit, if you hear not the calls of the needs and perils of lost men about, if you drown all the loving longings of your own redeemed soul to win some one to Christ, for Heaven's sake do not turn away the inter- cessions of the rich man in hell. His brothers still live next door to you. Testify to them to-day. THY brother's BLOOD AT THE JUDGMENT Read Ezekiel 3:17, 18. God is speaking, ''Son of man, I have made thee a watchman, unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth and give THE TASK UNIVERSAL 17 them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked. Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his Hfe, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand/* Can any parent with unsaved children, wife with un- saved husband, teacher with unsaved pupil, preacher with unsaved all about him read this tragical message of lost men's blood on their hands and rest in peace without doing their utmost to win them to Christ? What is it to stand at God's judgment with the blood of the un- warned lost on our hands! Paul said, "I am free from the blood of all men," but he also said, 'T say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me wit- ness in the Holy Ghost that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen." To live as a Christian in a world filled with the unsaved and not try to win them to Christ; to be saved by God's free grace and go to heaven with no sheaves, nothing but leaves, a barren life, a crownless life, is an unspeak- ably horrible thing to do. You can do better. Go in to win some one. Begin to-day. Take the blood of the lost off your hands. THE APPEAL OF THE CROSS "And I if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all \\ men unto me." "All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." "They overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony." *T am determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified." "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Above all other motives as a spur to service and incentive to soul-winning to the truly saved man is the cross of Christ and its irrepressible compassion. He calls from the cross on i8 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Calvary for us to carry its saving efficacy to a lost world about us. Paul said, *'The love of Christ con- straineth me," His love for me expressed in His death for me, my love for Him expressed for Him in my life of winning service. The nail-torn hands and the thorn- bruised brow and His dying cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" sound their inexpressible appeal to the soul of every child of God to be fishers of men, winners of souls. We imperil every joy of heaven by neglecting to heed these calls to service. "Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave, Weep o'er the erring ones, Hft up the fallen, Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save. ^'Rescue the perishing, duty demands it. Strength for the labor, the Lord will provide. Back to the narrow way patiently win them. Tell the poor wanderer a Saviour has died." ''Throw out the life-line across the dark wave. There is a brother whom some one should save. Somebody's brother. Oh, who then will dare, To throw out the life-line, his peril to share. "Soon will the season of rescue be o'er, Soon will they drift to eternity's shore; Haste then, my brother, no time for delay. But throw out the life-line and save them to-day." Part I: SOME SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES Part I: SOME SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES Chapter I THE WINNER'S SOUL AND LIFE— SALVATION, CONSECRATION, ASPmATION SCRIPTURES Rom. 12:1, 2. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a hving sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." 2 Cor. 6:17. "Wherefore come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord." Aiatt. 5 : 8. "Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see God." 1 John 2: 15. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 2 Tim. 2:21, 22. "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. . . . Fol- low righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." Eph. 5:11. "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." Ps. 24:3, 4. "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart." Gal. 5 : 24. "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." Gal. 6: 14. "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world." Gal. 2 : 20. "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live ; yet not I but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now 21 22 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." John 17: 16. "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." Ps. 51 : 7-12. David's cry was, "Purge me, wash me, hide thy face from my sins, create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me, cast me not away from thy presence, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, uphold me with thy free spirit; then will I teach transgressors thy ways and sin- ners shall he converted unto thee." SALVATION AND ASSURANCE The primal and basal prerequisite in a soul-winner is that he must have in his deepest soul an experimental knowledge of Jesus Christ as his own personal Saviour. He must have looked at Christ through the eyes of re- pentance and faith and have accepted, received into the heart, Him as Lord and Master. He must know the way over which he leads others. Spiritual regeneration precedes acceptable service in God's plans. Assurance of salvation is a condition of constant and successful soul-winning. Doubt about your own salvation will limit your power in leading others in the way. Great confi- dence in God and conviction of the truth should char- acterize the testimony of the soul-winner. The blind cannot lead the blind without direful results to both. Especially is this true in eternal and spiritual matters. To know Christ in forgiving, redeeming, delivering, and keeping power is a necessary essential to successful evan- gelizing. Paul's spiritual powers were greatly reen forced by the fact that he could say, 'T know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Tim: i : 12). CONSECRATION AND SEPARATION All those who aspire to win in any extended way must be set apart by divine consecration. We need, not only a SOME SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES 23 saved soul, but also a redeemed life. Those who handle the vessels of the Lord must have pure hearts and clean hands. ''Holiness unto the Lord" must be on the skirts of God's spiritual priesthood to-day. ''Consecrate your- selves this day unto the Lord" is still God's command to those whose task is to build souls into His holy tem- ple. "As I am so must also ye be in the world," is Christ's ideal for His winning servants. Separation from the world's mind, method and way, is another prerequisite to victory in spiritual harvesting. "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed" (Rom. 12 : 2). "Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord" (2 Cor. 6: 17). "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (i John 2: 15). "In the world but not of the world" is Christ's standard for us. "Lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us" (Heb. 12: i). "If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke" (Isa. 58:9), any yoke of sin or worldliness, then we have the promises of blessing and power. Worldli- ness or secret sins clog the power-ducts from God to our souls. Indulgence in worldly pleasures is suicide to our influence in winning men to Christ and the harboring of secret sins is spiritual paralysis to our power with God. "Ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost" and God's tem- ple should be untainted from unclean things. OBEDIENCE AND RELIANCE "We are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him'' (Acts 5 : 32) . "Cast the net on the right side of the ship and ye shall find" (John 21 : 6). "To obey is better than sacrifice." "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." There is no salvation in obedience but there is much joy and power. To be a winner worth w^hile we must adopt Christ's map of the world and be willing to go anywhere with Him. "Master, at thy word 1 wdll let down the 24 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST net" (Luke 5:4, 5). ''Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker" (Isa. 45 : 9). We must be more than obedi- ent, we must be supple and pliant in His hands. *'As the clay is in the potter's hands" to be molded as pleases Him is the ideal (Jer. 18:6). Gideon won his victory over the Midianites because he was as a garment in the hands of the Holy Ghost. "The Spirit of the Lord clothed itself with Gideon" (Judges 6:34 R. V. marg.) We should be reliantly and pliantly willing to do His will anywhere, if we confidently claim His power in our Kingdom tasks. 'Tor one is your Master even Christ" (Matt. 2:^: 10). We should be subject to His orders. Spiritual reliance carries us far toward victory in evan- gelizing for Christ. ASPIRATION AND COMPASSION A spiritual hunger for righteousness and God, a long- ing for a deeper and richer fellowship with Jesus Christ, an aspiration for a higher comradeship, is a necessary part of the soul-winner's inner equipment. When Christ gave His soul-enriching beatitudes such as, "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness," He was preparing them to be "fishers of men" (Matt. 5:6; 4: 19). Andrew and John had not long "abode" with the Saviour until they thought of Simon and "brought him to Jesus" (John i : 39-42). Paul was gaining equip- ment for larger service when he said to forget the things behind, and reach forth for the things ahead and press toward the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3 : 14). Jesus was preparing Peter and the others for Pentecostal victories when he probed their anxious souls with the question, ''Lovest thou me more than these f''* and Pentecost was in promise when Peter an- swered, "Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee" (John 21 : 15, 16). Not only should our inner life reach up for God but our hearts should also reach out for the lost men. We must see with our inner eyes what Jesus SOME SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES 25 saw when from Olivet He looked upon and wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41). We should know something of what thrilled the Saviour's loving heart when in so many cases "He had compassion on the multitude.'* It was this holy, spiritual compulsion of soul which caused him to leave heaven's throne and take up Calvary's cross for our redemption. We should know something of Paul's longing and burden of heart when he said, "I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren" (Rom. 9:1-3). We should know something of Isaiah's meaning when he said, "If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise in obscurity, the Lord shall guide thee step by step, satisfy thy soul in drought, make fat thy bones, and make thee a watered garden ; make thee a builder of waste places, and foundation layer of many generations and a repairer of the breach and a restorer of the paths to dwell in" (Isa. 58: 10-12). Compassion for the lost brings heaven's power upon our efforts and equips us for ''taking men alive'' (Luke 5 : 10 R. V.). Chapter II THE WINNER'S PRAYER-LIFE SCRIPTURES Luke II : I. "As he was praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray/* Matt. 6 : 6, When thou prayest, enter into thy closet and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." Mark II : 24. "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Luke II : 13. "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" J^f- 33 • 3- "Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not." I Thess. 5 : 17. "Pray without ceasing." Isa. 38:5. "Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears." James 5:16. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." One of the most essential conditions of the soul-win- ner's career is the development of a prayer-life, the estab- lishment of a habit of prayer. Prayer is the Christian's most glorious privilege, most enlarging opportunity and the most essential obligation, for it opens the door to communication with God, makes easier our access to men, and gives us the surest way to bring them together in saving and keeping relationship. The prayers of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Nehemiah, Daniel, marked the turning point in the history of nations. The kingdom of heaven swings on the pivot of Christ's and Paul's prayers. Jesus, the Son of God, and Paul, His greatest apostle, had well-developed prayer habits. They allowed no intrusions into their prayer-life and no substitutions 26 SOME SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES 27 for their supplications. Prayer to them was as essential to their spiritual ongoing as was food to their physical well-being. JESUS AND PRAYER Christ's prayer-life is one of the most impressive parts of His earthly ministry. Almost all of His public deeds of any consequence were preceded by a season of prayer: in His baptism (Luke 3:21) before He called His dis- ciples He spent the whole night in prayer (Luke 6: 12) ; as He raised the dead (John 10:41), before His trial (John 17), before His betrayal (Luke 22:42), before His death (Luke 23 : 41 ), and in many other cases. The following things can be said about Jesus' prayers. 1. He prayed often. It filled His life. 2. He prayed almost always before any great task or trial faced Him. 3. He prayed in public. 4. He prayed in secret — often all night, sometimes alone and sometimes with His disciples. 5. He put a high premium on secret prayer (Matt. 6:6). 6. He practiced intercessory prayer and encouraged it (Luke II : 8-13). 7. He promised power of the Holy Spirit in answer to prayer (Luke 11 : 13). 8. He taught that a sinner could pray for his own salvation (Luke 18: 13). Soul-winners should not mis9 the power of Christ's example in the matter of growing a prayer-plan and a prayer-life. PAUL AND PRAYER Prayer was a mighty factor in th'e" life and ministry of the Apostle Paul. He prayed during the time of his 28 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST conversion (Acts 9:5-11) and started his Christian career by spending three years in Arabia praying unto God and getting from Him His message of the Gospel (Gal. 1 : 12, 16-17). The record of his prayers in jails (Acts 16:25), in temples and synagogues, on streets, in private homes, on river banks, seashores, everywhere, is a thrilling and inspiring part of his wonderful career. His recorded prayers are specimens of deepest devotion and communion with God and evidences of deepest re- ligious and spiritual convictions. Paul was preeminently a man of prayer. His ringing injunctions to all Chris- tians, "Pray without ceasing" (i Thess. 5:17), ''Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and sup- plication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6), come to us to-day as a mighty call to a worthy prayer-life. ''Praying always ^Nith. all prayer and supplication in the Spirit" was with him a large part of the Christian's armor (Eph. 6: 18). It was by prayer he received salvation, escaped dangers, foiled his enemies, preached the Gospel in power, built churches, sent out missionaries, opened cities, continents, and nations to the Gospel, broke out of jails and died a triumphant death. PRAYER CONQUERORS IN OTHER AGES Christian history in all ages is luminous with exam- ples of the prayer-life of spiritual heroes. Luther and Knox, reformers, prayed down the walls of caste and traditions and opened new empires to truth and right- eousness. Wesley and Finney, evangelists, started soul- saving movements and won men by the thousands. Their influence will last until the King comes again. They won by their prayers and faith. Spurgeon and Moody, mighty preachers and institution builders, by prayer wrought wonders in Christ's name. Broadus and Car- roll, teachers, preachers, and leaders of men, by prayer and faith wrought in Kingdom enterprises a work which SOME SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES 29 will outlast the stars. Livingstone, Carey, Judson, and many other missionary heroes, by prayer opened doors of opportunity to the Gospel in heathen lands, through which millions are coming to Christ. Prayer works won- ders. The prayer-life is the source of joy and power to winners incomparable to any other source. SUGGESTIONS 1. Every soul- winner should make much of secret prayer. Nothing should crowd it out. Nothing should be substituted for it. 2. Every soul-winner should have a special time for secret prayer. It should be made a habit and become as vital and as necessary as one's meals. 3. Every soul-winner should seek to be in prayer- groups with prayer-believing devoted Christians. ''If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father" (Matt. 18: 19). 4. We should put away from our hearts everything which is a foe to our prayer-life and power. "If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord wilt not hear me" (Ps. 66: 18). 'That your prayers be not hindered" is Peter's caution to winners (i Peter 3:7). We should put away from our lives (i) all compromise in conduct inconsistent with the high standards of Christian living set out by the New Testament; (2) all worldliness and the pleasures which feed the carnal and hinder the spiritual; (3) every personal habit in thought, appetite, passion, word or deed that slows up or bars the opera- tion of divine grace and sanctification in our lives. "Put off the old man" with all his ways (Eph, 4:20-32). Remember what God says about our bodies, "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you" (i Cor. 6: 19). God has a right to a clean and untarnished temple. He says, "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple 30 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST of God is holy, which temple ye are" (i Cor. 3: 16, 17). Do not grow in your life any of the ''works of the flesh" as seen in Gal 5: 19-21; (4) all spirit of unforgiveness. God will not hear us in unforgiveness (Matt. 6: 14, 15; Eph. 4:32). Read carefully Eph. 4:20-32. 5. We should encourage everything which will grow, strengthen and enrich the prayer-life: (i) Devotionally study God's Word, claiming the promises, feeding on the hidden manna. (2) Read spiritual books, study the biography of God's men who have won in His Kingdom. (3) Seek the companionship of men and women of faith and piety; those who live close to God, many of whom live in quiet places unknown to the headlines of our papers; many of them are shut in by sickness or other limitations. (4) Seek in every way possible to pro- duce in the inner life the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, longsujfering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek- ness, and temperance (Gal. 5:22, 2^^), and ''to crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts." "Put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness^' (Eph. 4:22-24). 6. As a stimulant to prayer every soul-winner should have a prayer list — the names of the unsaved of his ac- quaintance or loved ones. These should be carried, if not in a book, certainly in the memory, and a time given each day to special prayer for these. Some day God will say in your soul, "I have heard your prayers, I have seen your tears" (Isa. 38:5). Chapter III THE WINNER'S FAITH AND CONVICTIONS SCRIPTURES Luke 5:4, 5. "Master, at thy word I will let down the net," Gal. 2 : 20. "The life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God." Matt. 15:28. "O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour." Heh. 11:6. "But without faith it is impossible to please him : for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Mark 9 : 22,. "All things are possible to him that believeth." Matt. 13: 58. "And he did not many mighty works there be- cause of their unbelief." Isa. 45:11. "Concerning the work of my hands command ye me." 2 Tim. 1 : 12. "For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day." Gal. 1 : 8. "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed.'' Acts 4: 12. "Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Acts 4: 19, 20. "But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye, for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." Rom. 1 : 16. "For / am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that be- lieveth." Eph. 4:11-15. "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teach- ers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the min- istry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the full- 31 32 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST ness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about zvith every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ." 2 John 8-9. "Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth [whosoever taketh the lead], and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son." Col. 2 : 5. "For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ" [the solid front of your faith]. FAITH A FACTOR Faith in God through Jesus Christ is the primal virtue in Christianity. It is not only the initial factor in ob- taining hfe for the soul, but it is the mightiest lever of power for service; "Without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb. 11:6). It is the cup in which the begging lost soul receives life from God (John i: 12). It is the wire bearing to the soul the current of the heavenly fluids of grace (Eph. 2: 8). It is the key that unlocks God's treasures and granaries and the spiritual guide which leads us into God's ''green pastures and still waters." It leads into lands of peace and hidden foun- tains (Rom. 5:1). It is the outstretched hand of a world-wondering sinner w^hich the big hand of our heavenly Father takes to keep us from falling and faint- ing as we go the weary ways of the earthly life (Isa. 41 : 13). It is the delicate needle with which God vac- cinates and sanctifies our souls against the deadly sins and doubts. It is God's spiritual tonic for character. It puts iron in the blood and steels the soul for battle. It made a Moses laugh at the Pharaohs, at the barriers of sea and desert. For a Joshua it bridged swollen Jor- dans and demolished Jerichos and held back setting suns that victory might crown his day while fighting God's SOME SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES 33 battles. It takes the rage out of the hons' dens and makes them a safe place for a Daniel, and takes the de- stroying elements out of fire when the Hebrew children stood true to their God. It makes heroes like John the Baptist, Paul, Luther, Knox, and thousands of others. With it weaklings are conquerors and without it giants are pigmies. It is a divine necessity to all who would win for God. "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (i John 5:4). ''The people that do knozv their God shall be strong and do exploits" (Dan. II : 32). FAITH THAT WINS If our faith makes us conquerors it must possess cer- tain spiritual ingredients. 1. It must he reliant. ''Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass'' (Ps. 2i7 '- 5)- We must depend with a holy and trustful reliance on God's strength if we become great winners. An invalid spiritual motherhood will bear deformed or weak children. Paul's stronghold in evangelism was, "I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him" (2 Tim. i: 12). 2. It must be iinstaggering. Abraham ''staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in faith, giving glory to God" (Rom. 4:20). "With- out doubt" is the key to the inner secret to God's promises. 3. It persists in the face of God's denials and delays. The Gentile mother pressed her case and won her daugh- ter's deliverance from the devil by persistent faith. Christ and the disciples rebuked her time and time again but she worshiped and in remarkable humility trustfully pressed her suit until Christ said, "O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour" (Matt. 15:21-28). 34 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST 4. It looks above difficulties at God and knows that He is greater than their number, size, or combinations. Moses did this at the Red Sea, Elijah did it at Mt. Carmel with Ahab. Paul did it in facing a world of the devil's emissaries anywhere he went. You and I must do it if we win lost souls to Christ. 5. It remembers God's hidden resources and counts His promises at heaven's valuation of them. God has manna never yet distributed, quails never yet sent out of His poultry yard, and fountains never yet opened to His thirsty Israel. God has recruits for all His armies. Elisha showed God's other army to his servant at Dothan, His squadron of angel-aeroplanes at the orders of faith (2 Kings 6: 13-18). He never broke a prom- ise and there is no record where one ever failed in its fulfillment if faith gripped it. They are all yea and amen in Jesus Christ. 6. Faith that conquers must remember Its true and only source of supply. "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" (Heb. 12 : 2). Peter's miracu- lous walk on the water failed when he took his eyes off Jesus (Matt. 14:21-31). So will our faith if we do not constantly feed on Him. "They drank of that spiritual Rock which followed them and that Rock was Christ" (i Cor. 10:4). Christ is faith's manna and meat (John 6:48-58). ROCK-RIBBED CONVICTIONS In the work of winning men to Christ there are cer- tain fundamental doctrines which every winner should heartily subscribe to and which should become an essen- tial part of his or her spiritual machinery. We should become "rooted and grounded" in the basal principles of the Gospel. Some of these are as follows : I. The Deity of Christ. He is God's Son, who is the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person, very God of very God. We should accept His virgin SOME SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES 35 birth, His eternal existence, His divine authority, His heavenly Messiahship. A deep spiritual grasp of these doctrines is necessary to an effective evangelism (John 1:1-5; Luke 2:26; Luke 1:35, 42, 43; 2:11; Matt. 16: 16-17; Acts 8: 37; 9: 20; Heb. i : 2, 3; i John 4: 15, 2 John 9: 11; I John 5:5). 2. The Saving EMcacy of His Blood. We must con- fidently confide in His saving atonement as a means of our salvation and cleansing. ''He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chas- tisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (Isa. 53:5). ''Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should Hve unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed" (i Peter 2 : 24). "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemp- tion for us" (Heb. 9: 12). "In whom we have redemp- tion through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace" (Eph. 1:7). "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever" (Rev. 1:5). Paul's ringing testimony should be that of every world-winner: "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal. 6: 14), and "I am determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified" ( i Cor. 2:2). 3. That we are saved by the grace of God without works of any kind. This is basal. The winner needs to be bright on the plan of salvation. He must not, being blind himself, lead the blind into the ditch. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of your- selves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:8-10). "Being justified freely Z6 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24). "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5; Rom. 4:5, 6). Repentance and faith are the conditions of this grace (Acts 19:4; 3: 19; 17:30; 20:21; John 3: 16-36; i: 12; 5:24). 4. The winner should have a true conception of man's sinful nature, the peril of his lost condition and the im- pending doom awaiting his impenitence. Men are by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3) and of Satan (John 8:44; Acts 13: 10). They are conceived in sin and born in iniquity and have all gone astray from the womb (Ps. 51 : 5; 58: 3). They are lost to God, hope, and righteousness, without Christ and God until they repent and believe (Luke 19:10; Eph. 2:12); under wrath, condemned, alien enemies of God, and slaves of unrighteousness (John 3 : 18, 36; Rom. 5 : 10; 6: 17-20). They are imperiled by eternal death and hell every hour after they come to the years of accountability until they are saved or die. They ''stand on slippery glass in the darkness" (Jer. 23:12), with ''hell moving to meet them at their coming" (Isa. 14 : 9) ; and God says, "Their foot shall slide in due time : for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste" (Deut. 32:35). That there is an eternal punishment waiting the impenitent and unbelieving is as sure as anything can be sure. To deny this you will imperil and traduce all revealed truth, repudiate God's Word, and deny the deity of Christ Himself. Job (21:30) says, "The wicked is reserved to the day of destruction," the day of wrath. David says (Ps. 9: 17), "The wicked shall be turned intO' hell, and all the nations that forget God." Isaiah says (14:9), "Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming." Daniel says (12:2), "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Paul SOME SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES 37 says, in 2 Thess. i : 7-10, that the Lord Jesus is coming **in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord." Peter says, in 2 Peter 2 : 9, "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished." John says, Rev. 21:8, The fearful, unbelieving, etc., ''shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone : which is the second death." Jesus Christ on His divine authority says, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels." "These shall go away into everlasting punish- ment but the righteous into life eternal" (Matt 25:41, 46). "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3 : 36). Christ tells the story of destiny tragically in Luke 16: 19-31. These and many other scriptures teach most clearly man's condition, peril and destiny without Christ. The soul- winner should know% believe and teach these doctrines if he would be most efficient in winning men. 5. He should most heartily subscribe to the doctrine of the inspiration of the Bible, believing that it is God- breathed and is the infallible will of God concerning man and binding in its authority upon the conscience and con- duct of every man; that it will never fail, and on its truth alone the world is to be reconstructed. ''All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Tim. 3: 14-17). "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:20, 21; i Peter i:ii). The proofs of the divine authorship and binding authority of God's Word are overwhelming and should be accepted and believed by every one desirous of winning souls. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17) and if you wish to have the power of the Spirit you must accept His weapon. 6. The soul-winner must feel the binding obligation of 38 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Christ's commands to go into all the world to win men. He must feel in his deepest soul Christ's orders calling for time, talent, life and money (Matt. 28: 18-20; John 20 : 21 ; Acts 1:8). Lack of conviction or obedience here will limit power in winning men to Christ. 7. He should cherish in his expectant soul the glorious doctrine of the Lord's second advent. He need not worry over the times and seasons, for Christ says, no man nor angel, nor the Son Himself knows when He will come again (Mark 13 : 32; Acts i : 7; 2 Thess. 2:1, 2). But (Luke 21:34-36; Matt. 24:42-46; 2 Tim. 4:8) we should pray for, watch for, love His appearing and ever be ready ourselves and get everybody else we pos- sibly can ready for His coming. 8. The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, that in His power alone can we hope to win. These and many other pre- cious doctrines ought to be most heartily believed by every one wishing to be a winner of men. Chapter IV THE WINNER'S SPIRITUAL PASSION SCRIPTURES Ps. 126: 5, 6. 'They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and wccpcth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." Isa. 66 : 8. "As soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her children." Luke 19:41. "When he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it." Acts 20:31. "Remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears." Isa. 38 : 5. "Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears." Isa. 58: 10. "If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise" and only then. Rom. 9: 1-3. "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my con- science also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren." Matt. 14: 14. "Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick." Matt. 9 : 36. "But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scat- tered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd." Luke 15:20. "But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." lohn 3: 16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son." Isa. 38: 17. "Thou hast loved my soul from the pit of cor- ruption." Rom. 8:26. "But the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot he uttered." (R. V.) Ps. 106:23. "Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them." Ezek. 22:30. "I sought," says God, "for a man among them 39 40 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. Therefore have I poured out my indignation upon them, I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath," These scriptures tell us the heart of the Three in the Godhead. The Father loves us, and gives us His best, His only Son. The Saviour weeps with longing compas- sion and dies a cruel death on the cross for us. The Spirit intercedes with unutterable groanings for us. The Psalmist says we must weep if we win. The Prophet says we will rise out of obscurity and be watered gar- dens if we draw out our souls to the lost and needy. The Apostle, weeping over a lost city for three years, tells us he has great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart and is willing to be accursed that his brethren might be saved. The lawgiver and leader stood in the breach between the people and God's wrath and saved them from the consequences of their sins. In Ezekiel 22 : 30 God searches for some one to stand in the gap before Him lest He should destroy the land. But He fails to find any. So He pours out His indignation and the fires of His wrath. No prophet nor priest with com- passion! In Ezekiel 34: 1-19 God makes awful charges; against the shepherds of His people, "You feed your- selves with the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, but you do not feed the flock. The diseased you do not strengthen, the sick you do not heal, neither bind up the broken, nor bring back those who were drawn away, neither have you sought that which was lost." Then He says, "Behold / am against the shepherds, and I will re- quire my flock at their hand and cause them to cease from feeding the flock." He says with burning words, *T will seek that which is lost." This Fie did in the life, death and ministry of Jesus Christ, and by the persistent calls of the Holy Spirit and by the efforts of His people through the centuries. A compassionless Christianity drifts into ceremonialism and formalism and dries up the fountains of life and causes the world SOME SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES 41 to commit spiritual suicide. A compassionate leadership in the Christian movements of the world is now our greatest need. Every niche of this lost world needs the ministry of a fired soul, burning and shining, blood-hot with the zeal and conviction of a conquering Gospel. Spiritual dry rot is worse than the plagues of Egypt, the simoons of a thousand Saharas, to the churches of Jesus Christ throughout the world. Many a minister is in a treadmill, marking time, drying up, living a professional life, without power, not earning his salt because he has no passion for God or souls and no power for effective service. May our God kindle holy fires of evangelism in all churches and pulpits where such are needed. FOOD FOR SPIRITUAL PASSION How may our hearts be stirred, fed and aroused with a heavenly enthusiasm for God and souls? The answer is found in certain heart-foods. 1. A study and insight into the inner and spiritual meaning of the PVord of God — a certain delving into the riches of grace, the manna of the soul. You may use Hebrew and Greek or you may reach it through the best translation. Somehow you must go to the juicy roots of revelation. You must go in for the sweets and fats of the Word. 2. A constant contemplation of God and His mercies. Seek His face and favor in quiet hours. 3. A constant companionship with Christ and the Holy Spirit. Travel the "Emmaus road" with Christ, a continual heart-seeking of the power of the Holy Spirit. 4. Secret prayer, the development of a life-habit of prayer. Passion for souls grows in the heart in hours of communion with God. 5. A scriptural investigation and experimental test as to the lost, undone condition and impending perilous destiny of unsaved men. The sight of their doom ought to speed the flow of spiritual passion for them in our 42 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST hearts. Listen to Dives' hell-reverberating cry, "Send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers." 6. A persistent effort in soul-winning. Nothing grows spiritual muscle and consequent motive like win- ning-work. Winning one creates the hunger for more and on it goes till a consuming spiritual passion bums in every corpuscle of our being to win others to Jesus Christ. 7. Contact and association with great soul-winners will stimulate your own compassion of heart. Eternity alone will tell the full story of Spurgeon's, Moody's, Paul's personalities and touch with other men and women in creating the soul-winning hunger. 8. A constant realisation of the meaning and value of spiritual ambassadorship will greatly feed our strength in this winning task. We hold a trusteeship, are under a holy dehtorship, and carry from our God a spiritual guardianship for lost souls (Rom. i: 14; 2 Cor. 5:20; Ezek. 33 7-1 1 ). Realize that your neglect may lose heaven to some soul and bring you to judgment with his blood on your hands. Do not be recreant to such a re- sponsibility and duty. Does not the grace of God in your own heart now send out the inexpressible longing of soul to see others come to Christ? Cultivate this hunger. 9. A true valuation of the souls out of Christ. We must see them in the light in which Christ saw them when He died for them, worth more than worlds. "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul ?" "The saving of one soul is worth more than the making of a Magna Charta for a thousand worlds." Put Christ's value on men and we will long to see them right with God. SPIRITUAL RESULTANTS If there flow into our beings the tides of spiritual pas- sion we will soon and constantly see some meaningful results in our service: SOME SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES 43 1. Growth in the knowledge and grace of God. We will rapidly make for the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus, and more and more approach the stature of the perfect man. We will see and apprehend the boundless dimensions of the love of God and come more and more to possess the power of the resurrection life (Eph. 3: 16-20). 2. The incoming of this spiritual tonic will start to flowing in and out of the ducts of our redeemed beings the abundance of the "overflow life." We will no longer be "bottle Christians," but flowing-river Christians. From within us will flow rivers of living water (John 7:37-39). He came to give us life more abundantly (John 10: 10). 3. A restfiilness of spirit will characterize our service for Christ. The peace of God passeth all understanding, the "perfect peace" which comes from the "mind stayed on thee" will bring its joys and cast out all the fret, worry and fury (Isa. 26:3; Phil. 4:7). 4. Compassion will deepen the desire and appreciation for the happy sacrificial life. Calvarys and Gethsemanes will be wings instead of weights and we will joy to suffer with Him and to give our best and most priceless to His service — whether it be ourselves, our talents, our children or our money. 5. Compassion generates power. The soul that knows the passion of Calvary is sure to experience a Pentecost (Isa. 58:11-13). 6. This inner longing for the lost is sure to drive us out into fruitful service. The heart that yearns and burns to see men come to Christ will know no idleness in the ongoing Kingdom. He is sure to fruit his com- passion in successful soul-winning. A PRAYER I bow my knee before the Father and pray for myself and brothers in the ministry, in the deaconship, in the X 44 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Sunday school, in the mission fields and in all our churches that the Holy Spirit may come afresh upon us all, kindle holy, compassionate, evang-elistic fires in all our hearts, beat back the tides of worldliness and sin rushing into our churches, make us to see lost men in their peril and doom, set us after them with a holy enthusiasm and give us His power for this world-task. Chapter V THE WINNER'S HEAVENLY UNCTION SCRIPTURES I John 2 : 20. "But ye have an unction from the Holy One." Micah 3:8. "But truly / am full of power by the spirit of the Lord ... to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and unto Israel his sin." Zech. 4:6. "This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord." John 14:16, 17. "I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth." Luke 24: 49. "Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." John 20 : 22. "He breathed on them and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Acts 1:8. "But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you." Acts 2:38, 39. "And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Acts 5 : 32. "We are his witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to tJicm that obey him." John 7:38, 39. "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified." (R. V.) Judges 6: 34. "But the Spirit of the Lord clothed itself with Gideon." (R. V. marg.) Eph. 5: 18. "But be filled with the Spirit." Eph. 4 : 30. "Grieve not the holy Spirit." I Thess. 5 : 19. "Quench not the Spirit." Acts 6: 3. "Look ye out men full of the Holy Ghost." 45 >v 46 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Luke II : 13. "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" THE WINNER S UTTER DEPENDENCE Our dependence on the divine Spirit is absolute and complete. 1. He calls us to eternal life. "The Spirit and the bride say. Come" (Rev. 22:17). ''Even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts 2 : 39). 2. He convinces and conmcts of sin, righteousness, judgment and unbelief (John 16:8-11). 3. It is evidently He that draws us to the Father (John 6: 44). 4. He teaches and guides into truth (John 14:26). He will testify of Christ (John 15 : 26) and show us the things of Christ (John 16: 14). 5. He quickens through the grace of God the dead but penitent soul ( Eph. 2:1, 5 ) . 6. He is the divine agent and Christ the divine sub- stance of eternal life (John 3:5-7; Rom. 5: 10; Titus 3:5). 7. He sheds abroad in our hearts the love of God (Rom. 5:5). 8. He is God's agent in our justification (i Cor. 6:11) and sanctification (2 Thess. 2 : 13; i Peter 1:2). 9. He puts into the inner vitalities of our psychic na- ture the divine seal of our spiritual sonship (Eph. 4: 30) and gives the constant witness of our acceptance with God (Rom. 8 : 16). It is by the marks of His leadership we are to demonstrate to the world that we are Christ's (Rom. 8: 14). 10. Our daily victories over the flesh and the devil are to be won through His power (Rom. 8: 13) and to Him are we to look for strength in the inner man (Eph. 3:16). 11. He is the heavenly instrumentality through whom SOME SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES 47 our mortal bodies are to be quickened and brought back from the grave ( Rom. 8 : 11). 12. He it is who intercedes with us in our prayers and tasks (Rom. 8:26). 13. He is our Comforter in sorrow (John 14: 16-18). 14. He is our power in praying, testifying, preaching, teaching, and otherwise winning men to Christ (Eph. 6: 18; Luke 24:49; Matt. 28: 18-26; Acts 1:8; Zech. 4:6). Thus we see that in every move that we make toward and for Christ we are dependent on the operation of the Holy Spirit. If we are to- win men to Jesus we must get in with and keep up with the divine Paraclete. THE MANNER OF HIS MANIFESTATION He promises to go before us (Isa. 45 : 27), behind us (Isa 58:8), beneath us (Deut. 33:27), zmth us (Matt. 28: 20), within us (John 14: 17), upon us (Acts i :8), and all around us (Matt. 3:11). The Paraclete, our comforter or advocate, means one standing all around us. He promises to hold us with the right hand of His righteousness (Isa. 41 : 10) and never to let us fall (John 10:27, 28; Jude 24). THE PRICE OF POWER The Spirit's power is an absolute necessity in winning men to Christ in a large way. It is ''not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord" (Zech. 4:6). This law is written in large letters in all the history of evangelism. There are no substitutes for this power. Personality, stirring, attractive, winsome, is of much value in influencing men, but it is no substitute for the Spirit's power. Eloquence and charm of voice in song or speech may sweep men off their feet temporarily, but it takes the power of God to win them from their sins and regenerate them. Profound learning and great 48 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST scholarship in themselves are of great value in bringing men intelligently to Christ and building up His glo- rious Kingdom on earth. Yet these are not substitutes for the power of God. ''The Spirit of God has an af- finity for a trained mind." Culture and grace of manner can greatly aid us in our heavenly task of bringing men to a full knov\^ledge of life in Christ, but these must not be regarded as sufficient in themselves. These must be vitalized and breathed through and through with the dynamic of the Third Person in the Trinity. There are certain spiritual conditions necessary to be met in our souls if we are to be endued with this power. They constitute the soul-price we must pay for this divine in- filment. 1. A spiritual apprehension and an intellectual com- prehension and an inner psychic appropriation of the life and meaning of the Word of God. I mean more than a scholarly knowledge of the Word of God. One may know what it says, understand its original languages, be familiar with its history, philosophy, its prophecies, and may have a wide range of its interpretation and yet not have a spiritual concept of its life and its inner dynamic. We must feed on its vital factors and elements of life. We should know just what it says and means and possess a spiritual grip upon its glories. We should have our souls soaked in its spiritual juices. God's Word hums, hammers, penetrates, cuts, divides, quickens, lives (Jer. 23: 29; Hosea 6:5; Heb. 4: 12). We should be familiar with all this spiritual life in the truth of God if we would have the Spirit of God use this sword of the Spirit in our service for men. 2. We must be as nearly complete and perfect as pos- sible in our hfe's obedience to the whole will of God if we be filled with His Spirit. His redemptive program must be adopted by our souls, and our part in that plan should be cheerfully accepted (Acts 5:32). We must go further than an obedience to His will. We must know in our deepest spiritual nature a divine mastery. SOME SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES 49 The Spirit of God clothed himself with Gideon (Judges 6:39) precedent to and conditioning His great victory with the immortal three hundred. 3. An inner psychic enthronement of Jesus Christ as Lord and Master conditions the coming of power upon us for great service (John 7:37-39). He must sit on His rightful throne in our hearts and the self-life must be daily crucified on the cross of self-denial if we would see His power bring in Pentecost in our service. Christ delights to give power in the heart where He has been glorified. 4. Here is where spirittial compassion for men out of Christ shows its heavenly utility. The soul that longs for men's salvation by that very fact will be clothed upon with power from God with which to win them to Christ (Isa. 58: 10-12). In proportion as we care for men's souls we will cry for God's power to win them. 5. In the spiritual attainment of the power of God for winning-service we must never overlook nor under- value the necessity for earnest and persistent prayer and supplication for this power (Luke 11 : 13). We are not only to receive the Holy Ghost but we are to pray for His enduing power (Luke 24:49; Acts i : 14; 2: i, 42). Prayer opens our hearts, submits us to God's will and fixes our souls so that the Spirit can fill us with power. God's anxiety (Luke 11 : 13) to give us His Spirit does not do away with the necessity for our prayers for this power. God has definitely promised a Pentecost of soul- winning power to Christ's disciples. But the promise did not abolish nor make unnecessary the ten days of spiritual tarrying in prayer precedent to this Pentecost. They must pray in order to have the fulfillment of the Fa- ther's promise of power. And it is ever so. Pentecosts do not come to the prayerless Christians. 6. We must be willing to be partakers of the aiHic- tions or sacrifices of the Gospel. We must be willing to endure all the hardships and sacrifices incident to the will and way of God for our lives. 50 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST IT MAKES A GREAT DIFFERENCE When we possess this spiritual unction it makes such a difference in everything about us. It lubricates all the inner machinery of life. It removes much of the fric- tion, worry, fret, fear. It increases ten-fold our spiritual efficiency, our opportunity, the results of our labor. It multiplies our joy in service. Preaching, teaching, testi- fying, all the heavenly arts are easier and sweeter. Wait- ing crowds will fill the vacant pews, the lost will flock to our ministry and a thousand ministries will open to us. Unction is a necessity in Christ's cause. Let us pay Heaven's price for this great power. THE PROCESSES OF ATTAINMENT "Be filled with the Spirit" is the risen Saviour's com- mand, whose Father is far more willing to give Him to us than we are to give good gifts to our children (Luke 11:13). 1. It's a prayer to be offered (Luke 11:13; Acts 4:31). 2. It's a command to be obeyed (Eph. 5: 18). 3. It's a promise to be claimed (John 16:7; Acts 1:8). 4. It's a gift to be received (John 20:22; Acts 2:39). 5. It's a life to be volunteered (Ps. no: 3). 6. It's a Christ to be enthroned (John 7: 39). Pray, obey, claim, receive, volunteer, enthrone Christ and go forth to win in His power and Pentecost will mark your way. A PRAYER "Holy Father, through Thy Son our Saviour, Thou hast promised us the enduing power of Thy Spirit. We humbly claim that promise now. Cleanse us in our inner- SOME SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES 51 most souls in order that the temple of the Holy Spirit may be ready for its Heavenly Guest. Whatever of doubt, or sin, or fear, or selfishness, or worldliness, blocks Thy power in our souls, do Thou now take it out, root and branch. Shed abroad in our hearts that holy devotion and compassion we should have for Thee and lost men, and breathe upon our waiting hearts the very breath of Thy love and power. We would speak, testify, live, an irresistible testimony for Thee. Create in us now a winning evangel. Enable us to carry out effectively all Thy holy will in us. We would now enthrone Christ and be filled with Thy power in order to promote Thy cause more largely among men and bring to the brow of our Redeemer His rightful Crown and glory. With our deepest psychic nature we crave the infilHng of the Spirit. We ask it for Christ's sake." Part II: SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES Part II: SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES Chapter I CHRIST JESUS— THE MATCHLESS WINNER SCRIPTURES "The Son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost." — Jesus. "He was a burning and a shining light." — John the Baptist. "I am made all things to all men that by all means I might save some." — Paul. God packed into the personality of Jesus Christ all the charms of deity and humanity and made Him the chief among ten thousand — the one altogether lovely, the Rose of Sharon. He tops all winners in time and eternity. He is distinctly the world's chiefest soul-winner and evangelist. He came ''to seek and save that which was lost" (Luke 19: 10). He is the mode for all winners. His example in method, spirit, message, doctrine, for all time will be the standard for all who seek to bring men to God — ''Follow me and I will make you fishers of men" (Matt. 4: 19). Our guarantee of success is found in our approximation to His method. To all evangelists He sounds out "Follow me.'* A brief study of this Peerless Evangelist will be profitable. 1. Prophecy set Him out as one to win (Isa. 59: 20; 62 : 11; Isa. II : 10; Zech. 9:9; 13 : i ; Matt. 1:21). 2. An early group about the manger signaled Him as the Lord's Evangel. 55 56 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST ( 1 ) The angels and shepherds. (2) Anna and Simeon. (3) Mary, Elizabeth and the Wise Men of the East. 3. The forerunner introduced Him as the Evangelist of the New Day. 4. All hell put forth its utmost to prevent His suc- cessful entrance on a campaign. 5. His first public act — baptism at John's hands — an- nounced Him as one approving the Evangelist's sign of soul-winning victory — this new ordinance. 6. He began His role of evangelism by starting out Andrew as a soul-winner and by Himself winning Philip and sending him out to win Nathanael. 7. Then for three years in public sermon, quiet teaching, and in personal face-to-face dealing with men about their souls this Heavenly Evangelist set all the world an example in evangelism. Philip, Nicodemus, Zaccheus, Bartimeus, the Samaritan woman, Pharisees, scribes, priests, soldiers, publicans, men and women, children and young people, by the hundreds testified to His power to win and save. He sought and saved the lost everywhere day and night. He sought out men and women of all classes and conditions until a world's sin crucified Him. THE IDEAL MARKS OF EVANGELISM IN CHRIST It will be well for all redemption workers to model their lives, principles, messages and methods after Christ. 1. His knowledge of God and complete surrender to His will. 2. His limitless compassion for a ruined race, as shown by (i) His words of love and mercy. (2) His life of unselfish service. (3) His tireless and unremitting ministry in acts of redeeming grace. SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES 57 (4) His broken heart and tears for the sinning. (5) His sacrificial death. 3. His holy, sinless hfe before men, angels and God. 4. His intercessory and importunate life of prayer. 5. His heartful realization of man's condition, need, helplessness, and impending doom. 6. His artful, tactful method in reaching men. 7. His marvelous message of divine truth preached and pressed home to men's souls. 8. His wonderful teaching in parable, illuminating illustration, plain truth and overwhelming argument and appeal. 9. His enduement without measure by the Spirit of God. THE WINNING CHARACTERISTICS OF HIS PREACHING 1. Its simplicity, utilizing everyday illustrations, sim- ple but pungent words. 2. Its positiveness and divine authority. 3. Its heart-searching, bone-breaking, conviction- bringing power. 4. Its richness and abundance of fundamental doc- trine and principle. 5. Its supreme tenderness and love, often mingled with scathing, blistering denunciation. 6. Its direct and personal reach. 7. Its unfailing appeal to the highest in man and God. HIS METHOD IN PERSONAL APPROACH J 1. He used both the direct and indirect methoa of reaching men with the truth. 2. He was always tender with recognized sinners. His scathing denunciations were turned loose on hypo- crites. 3. He usually led the unsaved to confession of their ^^ 58 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST sins rather than to accuse them directly, as seen in the Samaritan harlot in John 4. 4. He always refused to be sidetracked from the main matters of the soul by discussion of difficult theological matters, as seen both with Nicodemus in John 3, and with the Samaritan woman in John 4. 5. His method of illustration and impartation of truth was from the natural to the spiritual, the simple to the complex. This is shown in His dealings with Nico- demus, the cultured moralist, and with the Samaritan woman, the fallen outcast. 6. Both to the wise, cultured and scholarly and to the ignorant and desperately wicked he taught the pro- foundest and most complex doctrine and principle, as shown in the cases of Nicodemus, where he first taught the doctrine of the New Birth, and of the Samaritan woman, where he revealed the deeper necessities of the spiritual conceptions of His Kingdom. 7. He was never vague nor indefinite about the na- ture, guilt and direful consequences of sin and the neces- sity of a divine regeneration, a deep work of grace in the heart. There was no veneer nor whitewash in his teachings on man's moral condition before God. He had one Gospel for all — repentance and faith — the sure and only way to eternal life. 8. He pressed baptism and church membership to their proper places immediately following regeneration and public profession as the simple duty of every dis- ciple (Matt. 28: 18-20). 9. He put teaching, instruction in spiritual and King- dom matters, in an important place in all evangelism as a necessity for growth in grace, development of char- acter and usefulness in His service. 10. His method was strongly emphasized in many illustrations in His earthly ministry where in great and small audiences He preached sweeping sermons and brought men into His Kingdom, and where in private and personal approach He faced men and women one by SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES 59 one with the holy truth of Hfe and death. Blind Bar- timeus by the roadside, curious Zaccheus up a tree, scholarly Nicodemus in the quietness of night in an upper room, the scarlet woman by the well-curb — these and many others can testify to Christ's marvelous tact as a personal soul-winner. He was a highway and a hedgeway preacher. He was a quiet seeker after souls. II. He was a tremendously sincere and compassion- ate evangelist. His tears and blood-sweats have come down to us, not His jokes and wit and humor. He rightly valued souls in all their eternal relations and went straight after them with Gethsemanes of agony and Cal- varys of blood. His soul ached to the dying for lost men. He spared not Himself — emptied Himself — and brought men to God by His own blood on the cross. His tears on Olivet and in the garden are the insignia of His broken heart for a ruined world. Here the ministry need to follow His example. 'They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." Chapter II JOHN THE BAPTIST— THE APOSTLE OF HOLY FIRES SCRIPTURES John 1:1-39; Luke 1:5-25, 57-80; Matt. 3:1-17; Mark :i-ii; Luke 3:1-22; John 3:22-36; Matt, 11:2-19; Luke I : i-ii; 7:18-35 A PICTURE 1. In these scriptures one can see a picture of a coun- try preacher of strange birth, a mountain giant raised in the Judean hills, fed on locusts and wild honey, poorly clad, with long hair, bare arms and legs. 2. He was a preacher, evangelist, prophet. His voice was the thunder of God's dynamics in de- nunciation of hypocrisy, as soft as the down on angels' wings in its love-calls to repentance and faith in the coming Christ to the sorrowing sinner. He was God- sent and Spirit-filled. His pulpit was the mountains of Judea, His auditorium was the valleys and vaulted sky, His audiences the crowds of all sorts, publicans, sinners, Pharisees, scribes, Sadducees, soldiers — all the people from city, plain and mountains. Kings and governors came to listen and went away to fear. He was great in tenderness, lion-like in boldness, simple, pungent, con- vincing, powerful like a storm from Lebanon's snowy summits. He was no sissy, no compromiser, no apolo- gist. He was God's big preacher and prophet of a new day and a coming Kingdom of heaven. 3. His was the voice of a strange and new message, sin, repentance, faith, confession, God's Messiah-Lamb 60 SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES 6i ready for the sacrifice, baptism a new ordinance carrying a new doctrine of redemption by death arched with resurrection hope, Holy Ghost power. He brought in a new day for dying men. It has grown brighter ever since. 4. His ministry was a short one, twenty-four or -six months, and, oh, how meaningful to the world's destiny 1 He overturned the traditions of centuries. He brought multitudes to the light of life and introduced the Light of the ages to men everywhere. One of the saddest tragedies in all spiritual history is his death at the hands of a drunken king to gratify the desires of an enraged, adulterous woman. HIS HEAVENLY COMMISSION Luke 1 : 15-17, 67-80. 1. A God-called, spirit-filled soul-winner. 2. To make ready a people to receive the Redeemer. 3. To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children's hearts to the fathers. 4. To introduce the world's Saviour. EVANGELISTIC CHARACTERISTICS 1. Simplicity in manner, life, method, thought, words, dress and work. 2. Honesty in life, truth to self, men and God. 3. Humility. He was willing to decrease that Christ might increase. He was in humility unworthy to un- latch Christ's shoes, but powerful enough in personality and ministry to empty the cities to hear him. 4. Spiritual courage. He feared only God's disap- proval. He told kings their sins and faced soldiers and high ecclesiastics with their wrongdoings. 5. His messages were burning and shining. They were hot with holy fires. 62 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST HIS DOCTRINES His preaching- bristled with the vital doctrines after- wards so wonderfully brought out in the Gospels. 1. Sin — deep-dyed sin, hell-deserving sin. 2. Repentance, genuine, soul-moving, heart-cleansing, life-purifying repentance, carrying with it fruit in Hfe and conduct. 3. Faith in Christ as the only hope — trustful, reliant, confident. 4. The deity of Jesus — He was God, with John. 5. Baptism in water as a public proclamation of re- pentance from sin and the initial step in a new life of service for God. 6. The atonement — He called Christ God's Lamb and he pictured the atonement in the new ordinance of bap- tism which he introduced by God's authority. 7. A holy infilment and enduement of the Spirit for world-conquering service. THINGS THAT MADE HIM A GREAT EVANGELIST 1. God's call and the Spirit's leadership. 2. A life of separation from sin, supplication and com- munion with God. 3. An unselfish humility and fearless courage. 4. A mighty spiritual grip upon the vital truth of God. 5. A faithful proclamation of a tragical Gospel. 6. An unchanging soulful yearning for lost men which made him face any peril and endure any sacrifice in order to win them to God. 7. The wonderful way in which the Spirit of God filled and used him. He had yielded to God's leadership in the earliest childhood and stayed in the Father's mas- tery until his head was carried to the sinning queen on a charger. Life in its eternal bearings and meaning does not con- sist in meat, drink, clothes, place, nor earthly honor, nor SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES 63 in space of years, as John teaches us. It consists in doing God's will in God's place and power. A life wholly given to God in soul-winning in the hills of Judea in a remote age has cast a golden glory and given a radiant hope to all subsequent history. God, says John, the simple, coun- try Baptist preacher, was the greatest born of woman. By God's assize a country preacher leads humanity's greatness. He introduced the Saviour to a ruined world and pointed men to Him. The first man among men, thank God, is the soul-winner. Introduce the same Sa- viour, point sinners to Him, preach the same Gospel, in the power of the divine Spirit, and you will walk the way of divine favor and glory. Chapter III SIMON PETER— THE PENTECOSTAL PREACHER Simon Peter is a world-famed evangelist. His fame was made eternal and secure by one sermon and one day's evangelism. Heaven initiated in his personality and ministry the vice-gerency of the Holy Spirit as Christ's successor in His churches and Kingdom. Peter was the head spokesman for the most wonderful group of men who ever lived — the apostles of Jesus Christ. He was the central human figure in the most momentous day in Christ's churches this side Christ's own resurrection. God chose him as His Pentecoster. The elements of character were mixed strangely in Peter. He was simple and yet complex in his make-up. No one ever knew when he would break out in a new place. He was eccentric yet bold, courageous, lion- hearted. He would cower before a Jewish lass in his denial of Christ, and yet would face without a tremor an angry mob of ecclesiastics when his soul was set in the power of the Holy Spirit. He would face an in- furiated gang of crucifiers with his single sword at one moment and a little later play the coward when facing his duty to the deserted Saviour. He was a commoner in Christian discipleship. His thinking and life were close to the common needs of men. He was an uncouth, untrained, untutored fisherman of the waters of Gennesaret when his brother Andrew showed him the Christ. He trusted and committed him- self to Jesus on the spot the first time he saw Him. He was called and yielded as one of the very first apostles. He was with Christ as a privileged disciple unto the end. 64 SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES 65 He was a witness to His miracles and auditor of His sermons, teachings and parables. He was present at Lazarus' resurrection, the transfiguration, Gethsemane tragedy, the crucifixion, one of the first witnesses of the resurrection. He was present at nearly all of Christ's after-resurrection appearances. He witnessed Christ's ascension and heard the Commission and got the last word of the angels in white after the Saviour had gone. Peter was at the election of Judas' successor as an apostle, at the ordination of the seven deacons. He led Cornelius to Christ and brought in a Gentile dispensa- tion. He was the friend and helper of the great Apostle to the Gentiles. But Peter's greatest distinction is that he was the evangelist of Pentecost. His voice intro- duced the age and ministry of the Holy Ghost. John the Baptist introduced Jesus, and Peter introduced the Holy Spirit to a lost world. He preached the first sermon in the world under the vice-gerency of the Divine Spirit after Christ's ascension. THE CRISES IN HIS LIFE 1. His conversion and call — the evangelist saved and sent. 2. His vision of Christ's Messiahsbip — the evangelist instructed and humbled. 3. His unsuccessful effort to walk on the sea — the evangelist tested. 4. Christ's transfiguration — the evangelist seeing the Redeemer's glory. 5. His fall and backsliding — the evangelist realizing his weakness. 6. Restored to Christ's favor — the evangelist appro- priating his only hope of usefulness. 7. Pentecost — the evangelist endued for service. 8. His persecutions — the evangelist strengthened for further battles. 9. At Joppa and with Cornelius — the evangelist get- 66 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST ting a vision of the world's need and Christ's Commis- sion. 10. Crossing swords with Paul — the evangelist indoc- trinated. 11. His death — the evangelist sent Home. THE MARKS OF PETER's WINNING POWER 1. His simple straightforwardness of character and manner. He was unconventional. He had no dignity to bother him. He was hampered by no sacred traditions. He struck straight. Dignities, ministerial stiffness, con- ventionalities and all such hinder Gospel evangelism and the true approach to souls. Peter went after lost men as he sought the finny tribe of stormy Galilee — cast his net in where the fish were and pulled them into his boat. 2. He preached plain, unvarnished truth right out without apology or compromise. He saw men as sinners and realized their need was Christ and knew that the Gospel revealed Christ to them. He threw a hot Gospel at the bared souls of men in great golden chunks. His sermon on the Day of Pentecost is packed with doctrine. The charge of the immortal Canadians over Vimy Ridge could not have been more destructive than was Peter's Gospel barrage on the crucifiers of Jesus, on the Day of Pentecost. Study that sermon (Acts 2) and you will find that he preached the deity of Christ ; the darkest sin, the rejection of Jesus Christ; the resurrection; the doctrine of hell; the enduement of the Holy Ghost; the final vic- tory of Christ's Gospel over sin ; Christ's second advent ; repentance; faith; JDaptism; and so on. He did not mince matters. He dodged nothing. Such preaching accompanies all Pentecosts. 3. He faced all dangers for Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit feared no man or group of men and was willing to die for the truth. Difficulties did not bother Peter. He went through them all to do duty. He did not have influence enough to keep out of jail, but had SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES (yj power enough to break out. He did not take his orders from man but from God alone. A Petrine boldness to-day- is needed in evangelism. 4. Peter was a master at organization for evangelism. He must have put every member of the Jerusalem church to doing personal work on the Day of Pentecost and afterward. Pentecost is a victory of personal evan- gelism. It took organization to carry through the divine program on the Day of Pentecost. 5. Peter did his work in the power of the Holy Spirit. God filled him. His Gospel was irresistible be- cause spoken in Heaven's power. Here lies the worth of Peter's example to the world. God was on him. His whole being was yielded to Heaven's will and way. Chapter IV PAUL— THE TOPMOST EVANGELIST SCRIPTURES Acts 22:12-15. Ananias said, ''Brother Saul, receive thy sight. The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shcKildest know his will, and see that Just One and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard." Rom. 1:1. ''Paul a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God." Rom. 9: 1-3. "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my con- science also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in 7ny heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." Acts 20:24, 26, 2y. "But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that / am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." Rom. 1 : 14-16. "I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, cts much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believ- eth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." The Apostle Paul is by universal consent recognized as the finest product of the Gospel and the greatest man yet made by the creative and recreative power of God. He tops all others in character, as a spiritual philosopher, Christian statesman, mission leader, church builder, re- ligious writer, doctrinaire, preacher of the Gospel, re- ligious teacher, soul-winning evangelist. He is Christ's 68 SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES 69 master soul-winner. His influence in the world to-day after twenty centuries is next to Christ's. He is God's most powerful human advocate and exponent. He is Christ's noblest witness. He ranks first in the world's long list of evangelists. He said he was the chief of sinners. The world says he is the chief of saints. THE FORCES WHICH WON HIM 1. First among the hidden forces which operated in his and all other men's salvation is God's predestinating love. He said (Gal. 1:15, i6)/'But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I con- ferred not with flesh and blood." The aggressive grace of God's election operated in him and thus fulfilled God's eternal purpose (Rom. 8:28, 29). 2. The convicting power of God's Spirit did His work in his soul and voiced God's call for his soul and service (Rom, 8:30; John 16:8-11). 3. Apostolic preaching and testimony. Stephen's ser- mon and dying testimony broke Paul's heart (Acts 7 : 58- 60). He was welcomed into the hospitable home of one Judas. Ananias, a devout Christian, came to remove the scales from the blind, convicted sinner. 4. His own supplications in the hour of godly sorrow for sin. ''And the Lord said unto him [Ananias], Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and en- quire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tar- sus, for: behold, he prayeth" (Acts 9: 11). 5. The personal impact of the Risen and Ascended Christ. Paul's redemption was a victory for and by the personal, present Christ. He appeared to the arch-per- secutor and overwhelmed him with His glorious redeem- ing love. He got a spiritual and soul vision of the Cru- cified and with a complete inward yielding of all he said, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" The Gos- 70 WITP CHRIST AFTER THE LOST pel embodied in the Redeemer won, recreated, mastered, took complete control of the greatest human personality yet found among men and filled him with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9: 17) and sent him forth to bear witness to all men. ELEMENTS IN HIM OF SOUL-WINNING SUCCESS 1. A four-fold vision. ( 1 ) He saw himself a lost, ruined sinner, dead in trespasses and sin, without God, hope and Christ in the world. (2) He saw Christ and His Gospel as God's dy- namic power to save to the uttermost (Rom. i : 16). (3) He realized the lordship and mastery of the conquering Christ, whose every order must be obeyed and every purpose fulfilled. (4) He saw the vision of a world ruined by sin and heard its inmost and deepest soul-cry for spiritual help. He yielded his life to such a service. He said, "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision" (Acts 26: 19). 2. His holy courage, fearing only God's disfavor. His courage ran in the following lines : ( 1 ) A courage to die to self and the world. (2) A courage to live for Christ only. (3) A courage to suffer for Christ's sake. (4) A courage to face any danger or to undertake any tasks for Christ. (5) An unfailing courage to persevere in perilous ways and against overwhelming difficulties. (6) A beautiful and steady courage to preach plain truth and stand for Christ's doctrines against all the world. 3. A victorious, reliant, restful faith. It made him to sing while bleeding in chains behind prison bars. SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES 71 4. A holy optimism based on predestination's securi- ties and Christ's unfaiHng promises. 5. A consuming love for Jesus Christ and a deathless compassion for lost men (2 Cor. 5: 14; Rom. 9: 1-3). 6. A mighty relentless heart-grip on the vitals of the truth. The inspiration and authority of God's Word; sin, deeply ingrained sin, in the human souls of all men; the deity of Christ; the saving efficacy of His blood; the reality of heaven and hell; the resurrection; the eternal keeping power of Christ; His second advent — all these and other vital truths were a part of his soul. They were the substance of his faith and they filled his preaching. 7. Versatility and adaptability of method. He never got in ruts. He was all things to all men that by all means he might win some. He believed in winning men by public preaching, by private teaching, by personal ap- peal at all times and everywhere. 8. One of his chief marks of success was his holy and consecrated life. He was a pure man. In Romans 12; 2 Cor. 6; Gal. 5; Eph. 4: 11-32; 5 : 5-1 1, he lays out the character and conduct of a Christian which he himself followed. 9. Above all he was a man fidl of the Holy Spirit, who built all his ministry around the crucified risen Christ. His preaching, teaching, life, were in the power of the Spirit. Chapter V SOME EVANGELISTIC WORTHIES WHO FOLLOWED AND WON History is luminous with records of noble and out- standing preachers of the Word but not many were great evangelists. They were great as pulpiteers, scholars, orators, reformers, but not as soul-winning evangelists. The evangelistic fires burned in many hearts and there were many winners in quiet places, but not many evan- gelists, as we know them to-day, stood out above the crowds. After the Apostle Paul was ''offered up," after Timothy, Titus and the other evangelists of the Pauline group, the next soul-winner we hear of is PATRICK, THE APOSTLE TO IRELAND He was born in Scotland about 372 A. D. His father was a priest. He early gave himself to mission work in Ireland, preaching in the open places wherever he could gather the people. His ministry was very fruitful in leading people to accept Christ. He established missions and with a wide circle of influence did a lasting work. His preaching was fervid and enthusiastic and judged by his "Confessions," the only record we have of him, he preached many of the vital principles of the Gospel. He seems to have been a devoted, unselfish, tireless worker for Christ. BROTHER BERTHOLD OF REGENSBURG is another of the popular evangelists. He lived and preached in Bavaria, Serbia, Alsace, Switzerland, Aus- 72 SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES 73 tria, Bohemia and Eastern Germany between 1220 and 1272. He was not a great scholar but a popular preacher to great crowds. No building was large enough to hold his audiences. He had true piety, sincerity and deep conviction, a vivid imagination. He was a giant in in- vective, denunciation of the hypocrisies and popular sins of the people. He preached strongly on repentance, a clean life and the higher standards of Christianity. Everywhere he went he secured many converts. His work was not permanent in that he had no organization and built no institutions. ANTHONY OF PADUA He was a Franciscan monk in 1195-1231. He had a rugged and varied career until within ten years of his death. He was appointed a traveling evangelist and for ten years he preached in Italy and France with won- derful power and effectiveness. He often preached to crowds of 25,000 to 30,000 and swept them by his elo- quence and fervid appeals. He spoke boldly against the sins of the people and won many converts to the Roman faith. JOHN HUSS He was bom in Bohemia in 1373. He was a scholarly preacher and theologian. He was one of the greatest of reformers. He was an advocate of Wickliffe's views. He was a forerunner of Luther in his masterful attacks on the sins and heresies of the papacy and the Roman Church. He was pronounced a heretic and was burned at the stake in 141 5, a century before Luther nailed his theses to the church door at Wittenburg. He was a man of imperial personal power. His logic and boldness of faith and utterance swept everything before him. The people delighted to hear him. In every part of the coun- try great crowds flocked to his services and multitudes were led to acknowledge Christ and turn away from 74 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Rome. His battle for the faith against the Roman hierarchy consumed so much of his time and energy that his evangeHstic effort was crippled. He was a great winner of souls and defender of the Word of God. His evangelism was of a constructive sort. JOHN KNOX He was born in Scotland in 1505, was educated at Glasgow University. His study of Jerome led him to the Scriptures and his study of Augustine led him to an evangelical view of the faith. He joined destinies with the reformers and soon became their leader in Scotland. He, more than any man probably, saved Scotland for all time to Protestantism. He was pastor in Edinburgh and other places, traveling preacher, lecturer, reformer, de- fender of the faith against the papacy. He hit heavy blows on the heads of sinning kings and queens and be- fore councils spoke fearlessly for God. His eloquence was cyclonic and masterful. His power to sway men was tremendous. He won thousands to Christ and from the errors of Rome. He died 1572. JACQUES BRIDOME He was the great French Jesuit evangelist. He was born in 1701 and died in 1767. He held revival mis- sions all over France, in Paris and other large cities. Two hundred and fifty-six meetings are attributed to him in which thousands of converts were added to CathoHc churches. He was rather sensational in his methods, using many of the methods of the evangelists of more modern times. He was to the Catholics of France in his day what Whitefield or Moody were to England and America in their day. His eloquence and power of ap- peal were great. He preached more of the Gospel than the ordinary Catholic and was pure and sincere in his Hfe and ministry. SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES 75 JOHN WESLEY Born 1703, died 1791. He was the founder of Method- ism and one of the greatest evangeHsts of all time. He had a great mother, a good education at Oxford, was a constant student, an omnivorous reader, a wise and pro- found organizer, almost without a peer in organizing ability. He was a tireless worker, a mighty preacher of the Gospel. He preached sometimes three times a day to 15,000 and 25,000 people and swept thousands of them into the Kingdom of God. It is thought he preached more times than any man in history. His power with an audience was irresistible and masterful. He was a voluminous writer. More than 300 volumes are attributed to him. He preached throughout Eng- land, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and in many places in America — in churches, private homes, on the streets, in the fields and commons. He was the greatest of outdoor preachers. He was a godly man in his life, simple in his method, direct and pungent in his appeal, compelling in argument, tremen- dous in power. God's mighty power rested on him. He awakened the conscience of English-speaking people probably more than any man who ever lived. His or- ganizing ability lives to-day and his evangelistic fervor influences millions in and out of Methodism. He faced great difficulties in the Church of England, which he never left; in his domestic relations; in travel, there being no railroads in his day, and in other ways, but he won a secure place in the affections of men and the favor of God. He loved lost men with a consuming passion and won them in numbers surpassed by no man this side of the Apostle Paul. GEORGE WHITEFIELD He was a contemporary and companion of John Wesley. He, like Wesley, was a traveling evangelist, 76 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST preaching to great crowds in the open, stirring them with his dynamic sermons, conquering appeals and powerful logic. His work was great but not so lasting as Wes- ley's. He was not an organizer. His power lay in his eloquence. He won thousands to Christ and turned them into lives of usefulness and service. Charles Wesley, a singing evangelist, a hymn writer, and Row- land Hill, a mighty preacher of the Gospel and a great soul-winner, were co-laborers with John Wesley and George Whitefield. CHARLES G. FINNEY Born at Warren, Conn., 1792, died 1875, was raised by unsaved parents, converted at the age of 29. He was a lawyer when he felt called to preach. He began his ministry in the Presbyterian Church. He was an evangelist of wide fame and usefulness, a pastor of great power and a college president, Oberlin College, for many years. His greatest work was in the field of evan- gelism. He held great meetings in many of the cities of America and England, winning thousands to Christ. His method was direct, plain, a powerful presentation of the Gospel directed mainly at the consciences of men rather than at the emotions. His sermons on the law, on sin, punishment and the grace of God were philippics in their effects on the communities where he went. He used the methods of modern evangelists, calling on men everywhere to seek God for salvation, inviting them to the front in his audiences, praying for them and giving the opportunity to confess Christ. His sermons, meth- ods and evangelistic victories have influenced a wide circle for more than a half century. His Holy Spirit power was very great. God used him in a marvelous fashion. He was great in prayer, spending much time in secret in communion with God. He was a great teacher and student. He was one of the greatest men of America, who combined the scholarly and evangelistic SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES ^y in a happy and dynamic way. His influence over his students was ahnost matchless. His lectures on Revivals and his Autobiography are yet largely used in shaping the thoughts and methods of evangelists. He stands in a class with Moody in American evangelism. DWIGHT L. MOODY He was born at Northfield, Mass., in 1837, and died in 1899. He stands out to-day as America's greatest evangelist, probably excepting Billy Sunday. He was greater than Sunday in his constructive evangelism. He founded and fostered some educational institutions on the evangelistic basis which will carry on for genera- tions the work for which he stood. The Bible Institute in Chicago which bears his name and received the mighty impress of his ministry, the schools he founded and largely built in Northfield, Mass., will hve on in winning souls and constructing Christian character and training Kingdom leadership doubtless until Christ re- turns. His evangelistic work in winning souls in many centers in America and England, Scotland and other places was far-reaching. He swept large communities into the evangelistic atmosphere and won hundreds of thousands to Christ. Probably his most lasting influence aside from his educational institutions lies in the direc- tion of his influence over preachers and laymen in creat- ing and stimulating the soul-winning spirit and method. He, like Wesley, turned formal and unspiritual preachers and churches into soul-winning agencies. Moody will live forever in a class with Spurgeon, Wesley, Finney, and W. A. Sunday, the world's greatest soul-winners. CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON He was born at Kelveton, Essex, in 1834, and died at Mentone, France, 1892. He was the greatest pastor- evangelist of the world. At the age of twenty he was 78 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST called to the New Park Street Baptist Chapel in London. He developed this church into the world-famed "Metro- politan Tabernacle," where he preached the Gospel of saving grace and wrought wonders in constructive King- dom work until he died in 1892, thirty-eight years. He made it in many respects the greatest church and preach- ing place in all the world. He was a constructive soul- winner. He built a great orphanage, a pastoral college, a sort of Moody Bible Institute, from which Moody ob- tained his ideas, a school for workers, preachers, mis- sionaries, etc. Thousands of God-called, Spirit-filled men have gone out from this place of Bible teaching and evangelistic inspiration to bless the world and win souls. He was a great preacher. For thirty-eight years multi- plied thousands hung on his words from Sunday to Sunday. His sermons have been more widely published and read than any other preacher save those of the Apostle Paul. His ministry was a pastoral one with the evangelistic spirit, power and method. He rarely ever preached that he did not seek to turn the Gospel to the salvation of the lost in his congregation, and rarely ever did he preach that some one or more was not saved. The strongest emphasis of his great ministry was on construc- tive evangelism. His crown at Christ's coronation day will shine with myriads of the diadems of glory because of the multitudes he led to Christ. WILLIAM A. SUNDAY "Billy" Sunday, as the world knows him, is the great- est living evangelist. He was born at Ames, Iowa, in 1862. He was led to Christ by street preaching in Chi- cago when in the height of his fame as a baseball player. He turned all of his powers to Christ in soul-winning. His record for many years in soul-winning and in carry- ing communities, cities and states for the abandonment of the saloon, is probably the most remarkable since John Wesley and probably far beyond Wesley as an SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES 79 evangelist. Plis city campaigns for souls have resulted in the turning of many thousands to Christ and back to a renewed Christian life. He has a great soul-winning organization. He is a great preacher, sound on the fun- damentals of the plan of salvation and mighty in his grip on the common heart of man, tremendous in faith and spiritual power. He adds to all of this a great or- ganization. He hits sin hard, direct blows. He com- promises with none, preaches Christ and Him crucified, exalts God's Word and depends mightily upon prayer and the power of God. He will likely go down in history as America's greatest single winner of men to Christ. His work is not constructive. He is a winner, not a builder. Chapter VI A COMPASSIONATE LEADERSHIP— A DIVINE NECESSITY SCRIPTURES Ps. 126: 5, 6. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." Isa. 58: 10. "And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in ob- scurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday." John 5 : 35. "He [John the Baptist] was a burning and a shining light; and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light." Luke 19:41. "And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it." Acts 20:31. "Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears." Rom. 9: 1-3. "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my con- science also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." E^ek. 34: 2, 4. "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds: Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken . . . neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them." Throughout all history, ever and anon, God has called out fiery leaders to arouse the people from spiritual in- difference, ceremonialism and death. Elijah, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Paul, Luther, Wesley, Moody, Sunday, are such prophets of God. How much better if all his 80 SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES 8i preachers were full of compassion, enthusiasm and holy fire. Spiritual leadership's greatest sin to-day is its apathy, loss of flowing zeal. It has too largely suc- cumbed to the professional, the dignity of so-called scholarship, and the drift into formality and ceremonial- ism. This explains somewhat the shortage in the min- istry, the falling ofiF in church attendance, the turning of men in large numbers from the churches, the growth of infidelity and unconsecrated scholarship. Where com- passion abounds and holy spiritual fires burn in the pulpit the pews are crowded, lost men seek light, a burdened world flocks for soul help and Christianity strengthens and enriches. Here, as in most other things, in the Kingdom of God, the preachers are the deciding and pivotal factors. The spirit and attitude of the preacher set standards and decide the tides of life and enthusiasm for the people. How we need an Elijah to-day to call God's holy fires down on the unacceptable sacrifices of our priestly offerings ! FACTORS IN MINISTERIAL DEATH There are certain things, deadly in their poisonous effect on the preacher's life which he needs to guard against. They produce professionalism, spiritual inertia, formality and death to his vital powers. 1. A Worldly Spirit. *Tove not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (i John 2:15), is especially true of the ministry. World-lust and love eat spiritual power out of the minister's heart. 2. Social familiarity. The preacher who flirts with women will break the heart of Christianity where he lives, ruin his influence and help destroy souls. The preacher's character is as delicate as a woman's and needs a safeguard about it. 3. Dishonesty, either in commercial or intellectual life. If he fails to pay his debts, or if he preaches 82 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST other men's sermons, he is on the road to the scrap heap. 4. The money-heart. The preacher whose heart runs after money-making and goes into speculations and into commercial life is on the toboggan slide. ''Ye cannot serve God and mammon" is God's message to a specu- lative ministry. 5. Ambition for place and promotion. "He that would be great among you let him be servant of all," Christ said to all ambition in the ministry. If your place is not great enough to suit you, make it so. The minister who is unable to make a place great is too weak to hold a great one. All higher position-seeking on the part of preachers is the effort of the devil to compass their ruin. 6. Ministerial jealousy is like the poisonous gases of modern battle fronts, it destroys life. The envious or jealous preacher can neither have favor with men nor power with God. 7. Unspiritual and irreverent scholarship. Great learning, high and profound scholarship, strong and charming intellectualism, in the ministry are prizes worth while and should be sought after by many. But if they are sought for as an end rather than as a means, if the warmth of the soul and the spiritual power of the min- istry are imperiled and neglected — unless God's holy fires smolder and burn in such a heart, then all these attain- ments in scholarship are a curse. "The Spirit of God has an affinity for a trained mind." But such a soul must keep in with the Spirit of God while securing its training. The need of a lost world should constantly beat in on the heart of every preacher seeking scholar- ship. ADVANTAGES OF COMPASSION IN SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP I. It creates for itself a great demand for service. ,The sanely compassionate preacher has more calls and SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES 83 opportunities for service than he could fill in a life a millennium long. 2. It gives constant and continuous popularity with the spiritually strong. It bottoms all long pastorates. 3. It grozvs great churches, in doctrine, character, fellowship, evangelism and wide Kingdom service. 4. It develops in places of service a perennial evan- gelism and results in bringing many souls to Christ and in the growing of virile, efficient, consecrated laymen. 5. It gives vision and outlook to God's people and grows in them a spirit to build institutions of education, benevolence and missions. 6. It creates forces to stem the tide of worldliness, infidelity and all sorts of heretical cults. These thrive only in communities where Christianity is dormant, un- compassionate and unevangelistic. THE SOURCES OF COMPASSION IN LEADERSHIP 1. Its beginning is formed in the consecrated Chris- tian home, where prayer, the Word of God, worship and Christ have their rightful places — central. 2. In the church life — prayer meeting, Sunday school, preaching services, this spiritual leadership is to find its wholesome and helpful food and atmosphere. 3. In the Christian school and seminary the leader- ship is set toward or away from spirituality, power and compassion. Teachers mold preachers to succeed or fail, in a large measure. 4. In the study life, in social life, in intellectual food, in the prayer life, the evangelistic services of the min- istry will find sources to encourage or defeat the fires of God in the heart. 5. His conceptions of the truth, his visions of God's Kingdom, his consciousness of the truth, his visions of God's presence in his ministry will decide much about his zeal and enthusiasm and power. 84 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Every phase of the Kingdom work, every Christly task in all the world, needs a compassionate leadership. All ministers should with every energy of life seek to meet this divine necessity. Chapter VII WORTH-WHILE REWARDS SCRIPTURES Prov. 11:30. "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise." Daniel 12 : 3. "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." 1 TJiess. 2 : 20. "For ye are our glory and joy." 2 Tim. 4: 8. "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of rigJiteonsness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." John 4 : 35-36. "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then Cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you. Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to har- vest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together." Evangelism has its shining rewards. Soul-winning has its spiritual compensations for the expenditure of blood, energy, time, talent and life. 'They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever and ever." "There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness and for all them that love his appearing," cheered the aged Paul as he faced the endless life beyond death. The soul-winning life is not an easy, toilless life. It is full of sacrifices, deprivations, separations, disappointments. Its spiritual burdens often weigh down and crush the sensitive soul. It means a singleness of purpose, a cease- lessness of toil, a devotedness to duty, which tax the finest qualities of the soul, put under requisition all the inner powers of being, and often shorten life. Many are the early graves because the life centers of the winner 85 S6 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST were overtaxed by evangelism's high calls. Yet It is a happy Hfe, a joyous service, which fills all the avenues of the soul with peace and joy in the Holy Ghost and sets all the joy bells of the heart to ringing. No other life in its far-reaching issues has a greater reward than has the soul-winner. SPIRITUAL COMPENSATIONS 1. The peace of soul in doing God's will is one of the richest rewards of the soul-winner. It quiets life's storms and faces with calmness the troubles and diffi- culties incident to a life of service. 2. Soul-winning zmdens the vision and lifts the spiritual horison for a larger look at God and His pro- gram. 3. It fattens the soul and makes it grow by leaps and bounds in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. It drives away back-sliding and doubts and gives glow to hope and quickens the forces of the soul as nothing else will do. 4. It enriches one's future and lays up heavenly treasures. The store-house above is filled with "angel's food" for the soul's other and larger day. 5. It brings joy to three worlds — the world of the sinner's heart, the world of his loved ones' souls and the hearts of the heavenly group. This joy in seeing others come to know Christ in saving grace is the fullest and richest joy known to the experiences of men. Money-making, crown-winning, honor-bearing, pleasure's indulgences, success-scoring in any line, power-securing — all these have their joys. But none is like the joy of the soul- winner. His joys are measured by the eternal values involved — a soul, deathless, immortal, has had imparted to it God and His nature, and endless life- streams flow anew and fresh from heaven's inexhaustible sources into the deepest currents. Eternal life is brought into the rich possession of a soul filled with the conse- SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES 87 quences of deathless sin. Participation and partnership in such a transaction are the chiefest sources of joy. To help change a destiny in the heavenly way, to turn an immortal life into the comradeship of God and change its abiding place to a blissful home with Christ and the angels, from one of an eternal hell's doom, is life's highest reward. This must have been in Christ's mean- ing when He said after He had won the Samaritan woman, "I have meat to eat ye know not of." 6. It assures a heavenly companionship. It brings one into closest touch and fellowship with the Father, the Saviour and the Divine Spirit, whose big business and eternal task is ''seeking and saving the lost." Christ said, *'Go, make disciples, baptize and teach, and I am with you always." Soul-w4nning always is blessed by Christ's enriching presence. 7. It is the surest way to the enduemcnt of the Holy ISpirifs power. It is the straightest road to Pentecost. 8. Its chiefest reward is the crown it brings to Christ, the glory it puts on His exalted head. The truest winner of men is not seeking a crown for himself, a diadem as fadeless as the stars for his own brow, but rather he seeks such a diadem to replace the crown of thorns on Christ's head. It is to make Him Lord of all and King of all kings that spurs us on to win men from sin. THE REWARDS EVER INCREASE AND ENLARGE Soul-winning is a deathless business. Its rewards ac- cumulate with the passing centuries. The fruit multi- plies. Think of the growing crown of Andrew as Peter, his convert, still preaches for the world's Pentecosts. Think of Stephen and Ananias as they doubtless shared in Paul's coming to Christ. Paul's victories have just begun. These winners share in his endless labors. Think of the increasing glory of the simple cobbler who won Spurgeon to Jesus, as Spurgeon's labors go march- ing on and reaping harvests for Christ. Think of the 88 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST man who won John Wesley and the woman who won Charles Wesley, the merchant who won Moody, the street preacher who won Sunday. Their crowns are growing as the labors of these winners multiply in the salvation of others. Think of the growing crowns of the mothers who won their sons and daughters who in every quarter of the globe and in every phase of life live to extend Christ's Kingdom, exalt the Name above every name and lead a lost world back to God's light. Surely all who love our Christ should enter the holy calling of winning souls. Evangelism's glories are as bright as the firma- ment and will shine as God's starry heavens for ever and ever. Part III: THE WAY TO WIN Part III: THE WAY TO WIN Chapter I DOMESTIC EVANGELISM— SOUL-WINNING IN THE HOME SCRIPTURES Luke 17:2. "It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones." Luke 18: 15-17. "And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them; but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you. Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein." Deut. II : 18-21. 'Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates; that your days may be multiplied and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth." Soul-winning should begin in the home. The parent is responsible to God for the spiritual welfare of the child. Especially is the father commanded to make known God's truth to the child. ''The father to the children shall make known thy truth" (Isa. 38: 19). *'Bring him to me" (Matt. 17: 17) is Christ's command to every father who has a child possessed of the devil. 91 92 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST "Have mercy on me, thou Son of David, my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil," should be the constant heart-cry of every mother whose child is out of Christ. ''Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not" (Luke i8:i6). Christ was not talking about bringing them into the Church primarily, as some in- terpret, but about their coming to Him early for light and salvation. Timothy's grandmother and mother taught him the Word of God from his childhood (2 Tim. 1-55 3* 15)- Moses commxanded the people to teach God's words unto their children, speaking of them when they sat in their homes (Deut. 11 : 19, 20), The parental obligation for the temporal well-being of the child is no stronger than the obligation for the child's eternal welfare. If we must clothe, feed, house, protect, educate our children for earthly citizenship we should also give them the preparation needed for a heavenly citizenship. Elisha's burning question to the Shunam- mite mother, *Ts it well with the child?" (2 Kings 4: 26) is a question which should constantly bear down on the conscience of every parent. "Is the young man Absalom safe?" (2 Sam. 18: 29) is a question which every parent should raise concerning his son long before he comes to the hour of his death. David's lament, ''O my son, my son Absalom! Would God I had died for thee" (2 Sam. iS- 33) would not have been his tragic experience if he had given attention to his boy earlier in life. Many a father has neglected his boy's eternal welfare while his son was young and as a consequence his boy brought sorrow on his father by his sinful life and hopeless death. The saddest of neglects is the soul's neglect. '^O SOME REASONS There are many strong arguments pressing parental duty in this vital matter: I. The parent should seek to win the child to Christ at an early age, because of the great inHuence exercised THE WAY TO WIN 93 by the parent over the child. The fihal confidence is sin- cere, simple and reliant. This makes fertile soil for Christian instruction. 2. Because of the ease with which the children can be turned toward Christ. Their hearts are responsive to tender religious truth and have not been hardened by sin's indulgences. They are sinners by nature but prac- tice in outstanding sin has not calloused their souls. They yield easily to God's call. 3. Because the parent has the best opportunity to know the children's disposition and needs and can most easily observe the rise of sin's consciousness and their coming to the hour of accountability to God. The parent has such abundant chance to plant saving truth in their little hearts. 4. Because of the prevalence of death and disease among children we should seek to win them to Christ before the hour when the grave prevents our leading them to Him. There are many short graves in our cemeteries, therefore there should be many converts among our children. It's an awful risk we run in our homes when we give death a chance to carry our chil- dren to hell. The parent has prayed a great prayer and worked toward a glorious purpose who prays, "O God, let me so live before my children, teach them the way of life so clearly and simply in their early years, so pray for them day by day that they may give their hearts to Christ the very hour they pass from under His atoning blood into accountability to God and thus may there never be a time when sin can claim them for hell. Help me to bring them out of atonement's shelterings into saving faith in Christ." 5. Because if we bring the souls of our children to Christ early for salvation we have then a noble chance to bring their lives and characters to Him for service. To save a life for Christ's service approaches in impor- tance the saving of a soul from eternal death. The parent has no moral right to be a party by neglect or 94 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST indifference to the unspeakable tragedy in the damnation of the soul and the eternal waste of the life of his child. LESSONS FROM SCRIPTURE 1. Take the Shunammite mother and her dead child (2 Kings 4: 8-33). The son came tO' bless the home in answer to prayer. He grew to strength, suddenly be- came ill and died in his mother's arms. The father, like many modern fathers, was too busy about the harvest to either bring the sick son home, saddle the ass, or go after Elisha. The mother had it all to do. But her anxiety was shown in her activity for the son in going after the man of God, in clinging to his feet and bringing him to her home. Her burdened heart, her persistence and tire- less effort in securing God's power in behalf of her child make up one of the most beautiful of mother-devotions in all history. She got her child back from death be- cause she brought God's power into requisition. The dead son in the Shunammite home is a picture of the spiritually dead children in our homes. Oh, that all mothers were as anxious to bring to life eternal their children ''dead in trespasses and sins" as was this great mother to bring her boy back to Hfe again! 2. Take the Syro-Phoenician mother and her demon- possessed daughter (Matt. 15:21-28). Notice how she realized her daughter's condition, how she went to Jesus in all humility, how she overcame His silence, the dis- ciples' rebuff, Christ's doctrinal difficulties because she was a Gentile dog refusing the children's bread to the outcasts, how with simple and unstaggering faith she pressed her suit until Christ said, "O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour." Here is a mother standing in the breach for a daughter in the devil's hands. She won over her difficulties. Her faith conquered Jesus and He did her bidding. If only all mothers would carry their daughters thus to Christ! THE WAY TO WIN 95 3. Look at the case of the impotent father for his sin-mastered boy (Luke 9 : 37-42). The father in despair at sin's ravages with his boy brought him to Jesus and said, "Look upon my son." He learned the lesson of fasting, prayer and faith and carried his son home in his right mind, delivered from the power of Satan. Prayer and faith will deliver the hardest cases if only parental love will do its duty. CAUTIONS AND DANGERS 1. We should be exceedingly careful in this vital mat- ter not to over-persuade nor excite our children. Teach them as earnestly and yet as sensibly and calmly as we do in other matters. Because they are young and can- not understand all of God's plan we should not therefore turn them over to the devil. Give them the '*milk of the Word." Accepting Christ is the simplest thing a soul can do. Be careful to teach them right but teach them. 2. We should distinguish between the commands of Christ and the parental obligations. Coming to Christ, joining the church, are duties to God and not to man. We must make this clear and let the child act on his own initiative and volition, after being plainly instructed in God's Word, concerning salvation, profession, church membership, baptism, etc. 3. The parent ought to exercise the most gracious care in encouraging the child in every good move toward Christ, His church and service. The tender plant can be easily bruised and set back. I know a mother who will carry a heart pain to her grave because she pre- vented her little nine-year-old daughter from joining the church after she had made an intelligent acceptance of Christ and public profession of Him on her own initia- tive. The child died in thirty days. The mother's con- science grieves still across many bitter years. The child's destiny was not altered by a failure to join the church. 96 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST But the mother can never get over her part in preventing the child from doing her duty to God. 4. The life and conduct of parents make mightily for or against their children's coming to Christ and living the upward way. We should live unblamably before our children that we may not hinder them. It is better, says Christ, to have a millstone about our necks and be cast into the sea than that we should offend one of these little ones (Luke 17: 2). J Chapter II THE SOUL-WINNING SUNDAY SCHOOL SCRIPTURES Matt. 28 : 18-20. "And Jesus came and spake unto them, say- ing, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and tcacJi all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Eph. 4:11, 12. "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers." I Cor. 12:28. "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that mira- cles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." i TWO KINDS OF TEACHING In Christ's commission He commanded two kinds of teaching — the teaching that wins men to Christ in sal- vation; evangelistic, soul-saving instruction. The other is soul-building, character-constructing teaching. The one wins the faith, the affections, the spiritual loyalty to Christ as Redeemer and Lord. The other wins the whole man to Christ's doctrines, program and world plans and builds the soul up into the stature of Christ Jesus. The task of the School of the Church is to perform this double duty to the entire community about. The instruc- . tion should be evangelistic and constructive. The spirit of the Gospel Evangel must be in all the teaching.' NjTHE OFFICERS AND TEACHERS ARE TO BE WINNERS The superintendent of the School of the Church ought to be chosen in part because of his ability to lead spiritual 97 98 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST forces in constructing a soul-winning agency. He must not only love lost men but must know something of the way to create evangelistic atmosphere and organization. Likewise, the teacher should be a winner, as one of the chief marks. Christ and Paul, the world's two greatest teachers, were winners of the highest type. Their exam- ple should call every teacher to highest endeavor in soul- winning. You cannot build an evangelistic Sunday school with uncompassionate, unspiritual officers and teachers. THE PASTOR S OVERSIGHT The pastor is the evangelist of the Sunday school in his church. He stands as one who ''watcheth for souls," and should realize that his Sunday school force is his best aid in soul-winning and that his school is his greatest and most constant and most fruitful field of opportunity in winning the lost to Christ. Hence, he should direct, lead, inspire, organize, for the winning spirit and method in the Sunday school. He should keep up with the un- saved in all the classes, constantly encourage the teachers and the Christian pupils to look out for and bring in other unsaved ones and ever be praying for and seeking to win them to Christ. Never should a month pass that he does not conduct an evangelistic service in the Sun- day school. He should teach his teachers the art and method of soul-winning and seek constantly to create in his school the atmosphere of evangelism. SUGGESTIONS I. All the teaching force should have a clear concep- tion of the scriptural teaching regarding the spiritual con- dition of the unsaved before God, the perils of postpon- ing salvation and the certain doom awaiting their im- penitence and unbelief. David said, "I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps. THE WAY TO WIN 99 51:5). 'The wicked are estranged from the womb ; they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking hes. Their poison is Hke the poison of a serpent" (Ps. 58:3, 4). Isaiah says that man was "called a transgressor from the womb" (48:8). Paul says (Rom. 3:9), "For we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin," ''and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1). Christ says (John 3: 3), ''Except a man be born from above he cannot see the Kingdom of God." "He that beheveth not is con- demned already" and "shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him" (3 : 18, 36). "The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God" (Ps. 9: 17). "These shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal" (Matt. 25:46). These sad and tragic truths should be known and pondered by the Sunday school forces in order that they may do their best to win the pupils to Christ. 2. The Sunday school leaders should have a deep-laid purpose and plan to make soul-winning one of the main matters in the life of the school. This tremendously im- portant matter should be primary and paramount in all their thinking and planning. As they value the Hfe of the immortal soul so should they give first place to this high calling. 3. The praying, the thinking, the teaching — all should be pitched to this soul-winning note and the leaders should be ever on the watch to win some one to Jesus. 4. At least once a month there should be an evan- gelistic service in the Sunday school, the pastor or some one who can do it well leading. The Gospel in a plain, earnest, spiritual fashion should be presented, the Gospel net should be drawn, each teacher and Christian pupil doing personal work, giving all the lost a pressing call to come to Christ. The definite decision day is good if you will have it often enough. 5. In the revival periods in the church all the Sunday school forces should rally to the meetings, doing their loo WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST best to win every unsaved one in the school. Great care should be exercised that none be allowed to come into the church without a genuine work of grace being done in their hearts. Every teacher in a Sunday school ought to be an active soul-winner in the church revival. 6. When the unsaved in the school have made a pro- fession of faith in Christ, the pastor, the teacher and the parent should calmly and carefully talk over the plan of salvation, the meaning of church membership, the ordi- nances of the church and the high requirements made by God's Word, with every one, especially those under six- teen years of age. Try to save their lives as well as their souls. Some one has said that eighty-five per cent of the converts to-day come into the churches from the Sunday schools and that forty-five per cent of the tmsaved in the Sunday schools are never saved at all. If this be true there is tremendous responsibility on the Sunday school leaders. 7. Every year or so all the officers, teachers and many of the Christian pupils in the Sunday school should be trained by the pastor or some other one competent to do it, in personal soul-winning. The Scriptures on this sub- ject should be studied and the methods of soul-winners should be gone over in class. It is doubted whether one who will not learn to be a winner ought to be allowed to teach in a Sunday school. If the pastor does not know how to lead his teaching forces in this primal mat- ter he ought to learn or resign. For nothing is more important or needed in the life of a church than a trained soul-winning force out of the Sunday school. Any pas- tor with the grace of God in his heart, the love of lost men in his soul, can learn to win men to Christ and teach others how to do it. If he does not do this, has he not missed the main thing in his ministry? Christ says to all preachers, ''Follow me and I will make you fishers of men" (Matt. 4: 19). Chapter III THE YOUNG PEOPLE ORGANIZED TO WIN John, the Beloved Apostle, said, "I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one" (i John 2: 14). Young men and women in our churches should be made strong by the indwelling Word and by the grace of God which overcomes the devil. If they are to do this in a worthy fashion they must be trained in soul-winning. God's promise of old as He saw the day of world- wide soul-winning said (Joel 2 : 28), '1 will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy . . . and your young men shall see vi- sions." God meant that the young people saved by His grace shall aid Him in bringing this world to Christ. The main great purpose of all young people's organiza- tions in the churches is to train them for service. What service is more important than winning lost souls to life eternal ? SOME OUTSTANDING FACTS 1. The young people of a church greatly need to be organized into lines of Christian activity in order to give expression to their young powers and exuberant life, to keep them from going into the world's ways and amuse- ments and thus becoming entangled in sin. They need to have spiritual exercise in order to grow up in the knowl- edge of God. To interest them in spiritual victories in bringing others to Christ is to do the best possible service for them. 2. The young people have a mighty influence with 102 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST each other. Their arm is one of great strength in all the social life of a community. When this strength of in- fluence is directed for winning the unsaved to Christ and His holy cause it will bring glorious results. Wise indeed are the religious leaders when they see and utilize this unspeakable young force for evangelism. 3. Often it is the only way a pastor and a church can ever get out of old ruts deep-laid by the older ones, into a new and aggressive life for Christ, to organize the young people into bands of winners and lead them out into the work of bringing to Christ their friends and comrades. It is the one sure way to build a great evan- gelistic church. It is often a long, difficult task but its rewards are great and sure if patience and persistence mark the leaders. HOW TO DO IT To initiate, inaugurate, promote and maintain an or- ganization among the young people for soul-winning is a worthy, meaningful, far-reaching and difficult task. 1. They must have a wise, persistent, patient, conse- crated leader who can lead the young. Many pastors can do it. Some teachers in the educational institutions in the community can do it. Some trained young business men or professional men, some cultured young lady who prefers Christ's cause to the world's ways can do it. A leader is necessary. In many cases the pastor and church will have to grozif and train the leader to start with. 2. The spiritual atmosphere must be generated in the young people's organization. If the social side, or the pleasure-loving side, or even the intellectual is over- stressed it will make it difficult to create the soul-winning atmosphere. It will take time and patience to grow a state of mind for evangeHsm in the organizations. But persistent effort will be rewarded. 3. There should be a Personal Workers or an evan- gelistic committee whose duty it should be to put evan- THE WAY TO WIN 103 gelism into the organization. Meetings for soul-winning decision for Christ should be arranged. Special prayer should be had for this meeting, a short, hot soul-talk should be made and the Gospel net drawn, personal work being done with the unsaved present. Care should be exercised to see that the unsaved are not driven away by unwise or improper approach. 4. Some of the meetings of the young people should be devoted to a study of methods in soul-minning. The pastor or some other one who knows how to do it should instruct the Christians in this finest of the fine arts, win- ning the lost to Christ. 5. Thus the young people would become great fac- tors in the regular evangelism of the church and in the revival seasons of the church. 6. The members of the young people^s organizations should have a prayer list of the unsaved for whom they constantly pray and to whom they can write letters and send tracts. When a person is saved the young people should follow him up, and bring him into the church and young people's organizations. 7. Thus from the Sunday school and young people's organizations the church should be constantly receiving new life with its stimulant to everything and also be training a new leadership and vital spiritual agency whose labors will make strong and mighty the evangel- istic forces in the community and will add to the church daily such as are being saved (Acts 2:47). Chapter IV THE DEACONSHIP AND SOUL-WINNING *'They that have ministered the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree and great bold- ness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus" (i Tim. 3:13). Every deacon ought to be a soul-winner and he can if he tries. Christ meant that the deacons should be the spiritual cabinet of the pastor and recruiting of- ficers of the church. Every deacon should be a prospec- tive evangelist. Out of the seven deacons of the First Church at Jerusalem two became great unordained evan- gelists. Stephen's dying testimony started conviction in the heart of Saul of Tarsus and doubtless led to his con- version. Philip held a great meeting at Samaria, led the treasurer of an African kingdom to Christ and won the lost in the coast cities of the Mediterranean Sea for twenty years. QUALIFICATIONS The qualifications laid down in the New Testament for deacons demand that they be winners of souls. 1. ''Honest report" (Acts 6:3). Here is the right sort of reputation which will enable their influence to be cashed in for winning men. 2. ''Full of the Holy Ghost." Here is the enduement of divine power for the winning task. 3. "Full of wisdom." The task of approach and sound judgment on drawing the net. 4. "Full of faith." The necessary inner heart atti- tude which enables the deacon to be a conqueror in the field of soul-winning. 104 THE WAY TO WIN 105 5. '^ Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure con- science" (i Tim. 3:9), showing the need of knowledge of God's doctrines and teachings so that he can be quali- fied to lead souls aright. 6. ''Grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre." In their domestic rela- tions their wives and children must show forth the Gos- pel life, thus giving the deacons the character-backing and home encouragement necessary for the best evan- gelism (i Tim. 3:8-12). All these spiritual qualifications made by the scriptures indicate that there is more required of deacons than the mere handling of the finances of the church. They are meant to be great aids to the pastor and church in their spiritual accomplishments. THE WAY TO MAKE THEM SO 1. Care should be exercised in the selection of dea- cons. The men chosen should be men of a spiritual turn of mind, loving the cause in a marked way and possess- ing a compassion for lost men. A deacon should know how to handle men as well as money for Christ. The unspiritual and unevangelistic should not be put in as deacons and such as are already there and refuse to at- tend to this vital matter should be wisely but firmly eliminated by electing others in their places. Prayerful wisdom should be shown in the selection of deacons. As far as possible follow the requirements of the Word of God in Acts 6 and i Tim. 3. 2. The life in the church, the ministrations of the Word of God from the pulpit should put high standards of living and character for the deacons. There should be a conscience against worldliness and compromise on the part of the church officers. A deaconship which makes no difference between their lives and those of the worldlings will never win the lost about them to Christ, but will be a positive hindrance to all evangelizing. They io6 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST must be good, pure, clean, consecrated men if they are to be winners. 3. The deacons should cultivate a heart for evan- gelism. They must put soul-winning in their prayers, plans, programs. It must become a passion with them. Here the pastor will be a mighty factor for the promo- tion of soul-winning psychology among the deacons. He is the spiritual pivot on which this whole matter turns. His leadership will count for much here. If he fails the deacons will fail. Peter and the apostles were mighty factors in determining the evangelistic fervor of the deacons of the early church. Philip and Stephen would hardly have come to their great evangelism had not they touched Peter's Pentecostal fires and leadership. 4. The pastor should lead the deacons in soul-winning study. Why should they not study God's Word, the methods of Christ, the apostles, the best modern soul- winners, looking to the end of being experts in their main task? Getting money, administering the affairs of a church, are only means to the great end of winning men from sin and death to life and Christ. Once in every one or two years the pastor should see that his deacons go over a careful study in the best methods of winning men to Christ. 5. The pastor should organize his deacons for soul- winning and actually lead them out into it in his own church and Sunday school and in near-by communities. Regular perennial evangelism in the church, meetings of a week or so in the downtown missions, neglected com- munities, soul-winning services on streets, in jails or parks, will furnish large opportunity for training and growing the deaconship in this fundamental matter. Keep before the deacons a list of the lost, encourage them to visit the unsaved in their places of business and homes. Have a committee on soul-winning, let them get infor- mation, direct in a still hunt for souls. In meetings for soul-winning use the deacons in song, prayer, testimony, THE WAY TO WIN 107 personal work. Help them to memorize pointed Scrip- tures for this purpose. There followed David a "band whose heart God had touched." Such a band of deacons should follow every pastor in city, town or country whose hearts God has touched with His soul-winning power. Thus the King- dom would come in a new and greater fashion in all the world. Chapter V THE PASTOR'S SPIRITUAL PRIESTHOOD SCRIPTURES Revelation 1:5, 6. "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion forever and ever." Matt. 4: 19. "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men/' Heh. 13:17. "For they watch for your souls as they that must give account." 1 Cor. 9 : 22. "I am made all things to all men that I might hy all means save some." 2 Cor. 5 : 20. "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us." Luke 5 : 10. "Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not, from hence- forth thou shalt catch men'' (take men alive). Esek. 33 : 7. "So thou, O Son of man, I have set thee a watch- man unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me." Ezek. 34:2, 4. "Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves ! Neither have ye sought that which was lost." Ps. 142: 4. "Refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul." Prov. II : 30. "He that winneth soids is wise." Daniel 12:3. "They that be wise [or teachers] shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." Luke 19: 10. "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 15:4, 8, 20. The shepherd doth leave the ninety and nine and go after that which is lost until he find it. The woman, if she lose her silver, doth light a candle, and sweep the house and seek diligently till she find it. The father with the lost son, when he saw him yet a great way off, had com- passion and ran, fell on his neck, kissed him, clothed him and gave him his best. The preacher in God's Word is described both in plain teaching and by example as a winner of souls, as a 108 THE WAY TO WIN 109 spiritual priest, representing God to men and men to God, seeking to bring them into saving relations. The spiritual functions of the priesthood in the Old Testa- ment are brought over into the preaching and teaching ministry of the New Testament preacher. He is a soul- winning daysman, a go-between for God and man, the human representative of Christ to man and the interces- sory priest with man to God. ^i THE PREACHER S MAIN TASK The first preachers Christ called in His earthly min- istry met the words, 'Tollow me and I will make you fishers of men," falling from Christ's lips, as their first ordination task. The last command of the ascending Saviour was "Go ye and make disciples of all nations." Between the holy call and the last commission Christ put the primary and ever present duty of His preachers to be winners of souls. Whatever else He calls them to He does not call them from this high duty. To this one end Christ came to seek and to save the lost and to this unchanging work Paul always pressed, 'T am become all things to all men that by all means I might save some." Christ said, "As my Father sent me, even so send I you," and His task was ever "to seek and to save that which was lost." FOUR TOPMOST EXAMPLES In searching Christian history you can find no nobler examples among preachers in soul-winning, exhibiting the proper spirit and attitude toward lost men than in John the Baptist, Simon Peter, the Apostle Paul and Jesus Christ. These spiritual leaders cannot be sur- passed as examples in this fundamental matter. John's ministry was short and tragical but moving and mean- ingful. He is after twenty centuries an example to all evangelists in his doctrines, method, power and sim- no WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST plicity. He was a flaming and shining light. Peter's example in soul-winning is the admiration of a world. He was hardly to be called an evangelist, nor a pastor, but more of a leader in spiritual forces. His ministry was a winning ministry after Pentecost until his death. The Apostle Paul is the world's outstanding leader, aside from and next to Jesus Christ, in spiritual priest- hood. His entire work before any crowd, under any circumstances, in teaching, writing, preaching, was mas- tered by the great ever dominant passion to lead men to Christ and set them out — trained in His service. When he was before kings or governors, in palaces or in jails, with the down and outs, or up and outs, he pressed the main matter of the salvation of the soul. And what can one say of Christ Jesus as an example to preachers in spiritual priesthood ? At the well with the fallen woman, in the room with the great rabbi, on the road with the blind Bartimeus, on the cross with the dying thief, it was ever the same. He longed and labored and died to see men saved. It was His life's dominant note. It drove Him from heaven's ease and glory to Calvary's death and shame. The preacher who wants to be most like Christ must constantly win men to life eternal. If the message of the lives and labors of these four New Testa- ment leaders misses the mark in our lives as a soul- winning message and example, then we have lost the main impact of these men on the Christian ministry. IT MUST SHOW ITSELF This care for souls in the preacher must show itself masterfully everywhere in his ministry. I. In his inmost soul there should ever be the longing for the lost. There in the center of his devotions the true Gospel minister will feel deeply for men in sin. No diversion nor distraction can long keep the heart from this holy tryst for souls. THE WAY TO WIN iii 2. In his doctrinal system will lie deeply the funda- mental involved in ministerial priesthood — **Men are lost, I am Christ's priest to them, I hold a holy trustee- ship, a spiritual debtorship to all lost men." He will build his theology and anthropology around this spiritual dogma. 3. It will frame his sermoiis and saturate his prayers. Preachers' sermons gauge the preacher's distance from God. Passion for lost men shows itself and decides sermons. The preacher will pray much or little in pro- portion as he longs for lost* men. 4. His conception of his soul-winning responsibility will make out the details of his world-mission program. If he tenderly shares Christ's cross-call the preacher will see his task in the light of his chance and ability to carry the Gospel to a ruined world. The institutions or or- ganizations he fosters in his ministry as a leader of the people will feel the power of his support in proportion and to the extent he loves and cares for men lost in sin. Missions, whether in evangelistic effort or educational institution, will mean to him his chance to get men to Christ and Christ to men. He will thus lead God's peo- ple in money offerings and in giving their sons and daughters to mission endeavor as their chance to win men to Christ. 5. It should fire his soul and direct his energies in every prayer meeting, conference, pastoral visit and in all his vital touch with men. He will ever remember that he is God's priest for soul-winning purposes and that Heaven has called and separated him to tlie task to be an intercessor for lost men and a saving Christ. HIS REWARDS The rewards in this holy endeavor are without number and are priceless. Properly exercised spiritual priest- hood fruits: 112 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST 1. In heurt growth. He feeds on God's sweetened manna. Eshcol grapes ripen for him on many vines. It will fatten his bones. 2. In an heavenly peace of soul. Soul-winning irons out a thousand frets in the soul and smoothes it for grace and glory. 3. In the opening of heaven's windows in the answer to prayers. It is the soul-winning preacher who tells of marvelous answers to prayer. 4. In endless and unspeakable joys. Pessimism dies an unwept death in the heart of the soul-winning preacher. Floods of joy fill his soul day by day as he sees men living in and for Jesus Christ by his effort and prayer. 5. In service in many directions. The great soul- winner has never to ask for a task nor a place to serve. His calls outnumber his days, overtax his strength. 6. In spiritual pozver. The unction of a holy priest- hood rests on and abides in him who lives and longs to see men saved. Peter's Pentecost was born in a com- passionate longing and praying for lost men on the part of Christ's Church. Precedent to our Pentecost we must experience spiritual travail for men out of Christ. A soul-winning ministry in all our churches will speedily bring in a millennium of evangelistic glory. Preachers are the keys to this world's salvation. If they are un- compassionate and unevangelistic the world will go on its way from God. Every preacher owes it to Christ, His Gospel and lost men to bend tireless energies ever- more in winning men from sin to Christ. "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.'* Chapter VI THE PLACE OF SONG IN SOUL-WINNING SCRIPTURES 1 Sam. 10:5. "After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tahret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them ; and they shall prophesy." 2 Kings 3: 15. "But now bring me a minstrel, and it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him." 2 Chron. 7 : 6. 'And the priests waited on their offices : the Levites also with instruments of music of the Lord, which David the king had made to praise tlie Lord, because his mercy endureth forever, when David praised by their ministry, and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood." Ps. 100: I, 2. "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness : come before his presence with singing. Ps. 98 : 4-9. "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth; make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the Lord with the harp ; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together be- fore the Lord ; for he cometh to judge the earth : with righteous- ness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity." Ps. 104:33. "I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being." Acts 16:25. ''And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God; and the prisoners heard them." Eph. 5:18, 19. "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making 7nelody in your heart to the Lord." Rev. 5:9-13. "And they sung a new song, saying. Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for 113 114 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests ; and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches . . . and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying. Bless- ing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." Songs are older than sermons. People sang before preachers preached. ''Even the stars sang together." Worship has ever been inseparably connected with music. All triumphant religions have made much of music. The ancient Jews were unique in the emphasis on and love of music. They had schools of music, instrumental and vocal. Some of their greatest leaders were professors of music. The Temple choirs are world famous. The longest and one of the most important books in God's inspired Word is a volume of spiritual hymns and songs — The Psalms. For nearly three thousand years it lives unsurpassed as the hymn book of the Jews and Chris- tians. The history of the Gospel songs since Christ's time is as thrilling as romance. The movement for twenty centuries has been upward, until to-day Gospel music in worship, in missionary inspiration, in the de- velopment of spiritual power, in the stimulation of evan- gelistic fervor, in the arousement of God's people to heroic deeds and sacrificial service, is unsurpassed by any other Gospel agencies. Gospel songs vie with Gospel ser- mons in their triumphs of redemption in world-missions. The missionaries often quiet the rage of heathendom and make open avenues to preaching and teaching by their Gospel songs. Only the records of heaven will be able to measure the value of songs in the lives, worship and spiritual work of God's people through the centuries as THE WAY TO WIN 115 they have wrought for Christ. Spiritual song has ever been the inspirational handmaiden of Gospel preaching and teaching. Sermons have been spoken to enraptured audiences, printed in tracts and books and have gone out to bless the world, but what sermon has gone further or reached as many souls and inspired and enabled as many lives as have many of the great songs of Zion? ''Amaz- ing Grace," ''How Firm a Foundation," "Rock of Ages," and many others sound out to-day their Gospel message to stir and inspire lives to noble deeds in a fashion never known by the sermons of any even of the world-famed preachers. Sermons after they are delivered move peo- ple one by one as they are read in books, but Gospel songs move and sweep their souls one by one and in great crowds up to God in worship and out to man in noble, helpful service. Hymnologists and singers and players on instruments have ever been as popular and as much loved as great preachers. David, the sweet singer and time-honored Psalmist, is loved and known as far as Moses the law- giver and leader. Sankey is loved as much as Moody, Alexander as much as Torrey, Rodeheaver as much as Sunday, Coleman as much as Truett, Reynolds as much as ^runer. Whose charm is felt further than Pade- . rewski, than Harry Lauder? Whose sermons move the ""■^'♦i^w world like the music of Caruso or Farrar, of Galli-Curci or John McCormack? Music of the right sort is the greatest aid to preaching. We sandwich our sermons in Gospel songs. They enrich the heart of the preacher and prepare the soil of the soul for the spiritual seed. SONG IN EVANGELISM The records of soul-winning movements show the power of Gospel music in its effects on the hearts of men in bringing them to God. There have been no great re- vivals where song has not been regnant. The Welsh Revival of recent years was especially marked by its ii6 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Gospel singing. They preached, prayed, testified in great fashion, but they sang till their songs searched out sin- ners in all of Wales and sent waves of singing redemp- tion throughout many lands. Not only is this true in great revival periods but it is also true in local revivals. A songless church is a powerless church. Protracted meetings find their first revival signs in the songs of the people. Charles Wesley's songs did almost as much as John Wesley's sermons to stir all of England and put Methodism on the religious map of the world. Songs bring God and God shows His coming in the way the people sing. A songless revival is unknown among soul- winners. If the people will not sing they will not hear or heed the Gospel. So in all soul-winning movements worthy arrangements should be made for Gospel singing. A competent and spiritual song leader should be secured. His place and importance should be recognized and his services properly rewarded. He should have song books for all members of the congregation. No economy should be allowed to limit his service in preparation of plat- form, musical instruments, lights and the time of singers should not be spared in choir preparation and practice. The singing is as important as the preaching in bringing evangelistic atmosphere. Good singing will do more for poor preaching than good preaching will do for poor singing. More care should be given to the training of Gospel singers. All denominational schools, especially theological seminaries, should give well-prepared courses in Gospel music. Classical music in college courses for women means far less in the extension of Christianity and the growth of Christ's Kingdom than will properly conducted instruction in Gospel music. The neglect of Gospel music both instrumental and vocal in Christian schools is greatly injurious to music in church worship and evangelistic effort This lack of emphasis in this important department of Christ's Kingdom has resulted in a great loss in educated leadership in Gospel song. Evangelistic song leadership is left to the untrained and THE WAY TO WIN 117 uncultured in a large way in song and piano accom- panists. Religious schools should give attention to Gos- pel music in their courses of study. EMPHASIS ON CONGREGATIONAL SINGING Congregational singing is necessary to a great soul- winning movement or regular church evangelism. For the best results in congregational singing there are cer- tain things which should be had : 1. A Gospel song leader — a consecrated Christian, trained in Gospel music. 2. A trained accompanist at the organ or piano. Much of the failure in good Gospel music is due to poor accompanists. One must be trained in Gospel hymn playing before she can accompany well. 3. A properly arranged choir platform — not one put as an ornament, nor placed in as an afterthought of the architect, but put in the proper place so as to be an aid to the worship of the church — not as in high church or Roman Catholic churches, behind and above the pulpit, but near and on a level with the pulpit, elevated and arranged to give proper emphasis to the music. It should be large enough for a great chorus. 4. A good quality and large quantity of sensible hymn and song books, enough for all the congregation and choir. Much in the life of the church will depend on the kind of song books used. 5. Much depends on the support and sympathy of the pastor and congregation in obtaining good results in con- gregational singing. Every cooperation possible in in- terest, time and money should be given to this important phase of the Lord's work. The results will justify a liberal and cooperant attitude and policy toward the building up of a great congregational spirit in the church. ii8 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST THE PURPOSE AND VALUE OF GOSPEL MUSIC The importance of the right kind of Gospel music in church and evangelistic work cannot be overvalued. Some points of value are seen as follow^s: 1. Spiritual songs in soul-winning effort create an evangelistic atmosphere, tune and temper the heart as nothing else can do. It kindles the revival fires. 2. It enriches the life of preacher and people and brings the power of God into the hearts of men. The Prophet Elisha valued music as the instrument which brought on him the hand of God in order that he might prophesy aright (2 Kings 3: 14, 15). 3. It gives the martial spirit to the people as they make their marches against sin. It stirs men to their best in the service of God. 4. It is a powerful evangel of the Gospel. It preaches and teaches mightily the truth of God. The basic doc- trines of grace are taught and applied to human hearts in a most effective way by Gospel song. 5. Its spiritual cultural effect is very great. It lifts and elevates the people and gives wings to their aspira- tions. 6. It wins souls. Conviction is carried by song into hearts never otherwise open to the Gospel. It melts and breaks down hard hearts. 7. It unites, cements and solidifies fellowship and mar- shals the forces of Christ's Kingdom. Gospel song will aid greatly in the unification of Christian people. WINNING QUALITIES IN THE GOSPEL SINGER 1. He ought to be deeply spiritual and consecrated in his Christian life — a man of power. 2. He should have a happy heart and optimistic spirit. 3. He should be abundantly supplied with patience, tact, common sense and adaptability. 4. He should have sufBcient Christian culture which THE WAY TO WIN 119 will cause him to guard his speech, dress, manners and personality. 5. His usefulness will be greatly enhanced by a thorough literary and seminary education. He should know much about the Word of God and how to win men to Christ. 6. He must knozv music. He should have a thorough knowledge of voice, piano, notation, sight reading, con- ducting, harmony and composition, history of music and the history of hymns and tunes and their proper use. 7. He should be a man full of the Holy Ghost and faith. SUGGESTIONS FOR MUSIC IN REVIVAL MEETINGS 1. Employ best Gospel singer to be had. Recognize his value in soul-winning and pay him well for his service. 2. Organize the best possible chorus, securing all the singers in the community. Have in connection as large an orchestra as possible. 3. A good piano or pianos should be secured and tuned and put in good condition. 4. Engage the very best accompanist to be had. The music will be a failure without a good Gospel accom- panist. 5. Procure good song hooks in large quantities. If you expect people to sing, give everybody a song book. 6. Provide a large, well arranged, elevated platform and fill it with singers. Make plenty of room for speaker and choir leader. 7. Be sure that all special songs, solos, duets, quartets, etc., are Gospel songs and are adapted to the ends of evangelism. 8. Pray for the success of the song service, the song leaders and singers, that the power of God may be brought through them on the people. Chapter VII THE MARKS OF EVANGELISTIC PREACHING SCRIPTURES 1 Cor. 1 : 17, 18, 21, 23. "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel : not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preach- ing of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews, a stumbling- block, and unto the Greeks foolishness." 2 Cor. 2:14-16. "Now thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish : To the one we are the savour of death unto death and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?" Col. 1 : 25-29. "Whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you the hope of glory; Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom ; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily." I Thess. 1 : 5. "For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake." I Thess. 2 : 4-6. "But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. For neither at any time 120 THE WAY TO WIN 121 used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetous- ness; God is witness: Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ." 1 Tim. 6:20, 21. "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings and opposi- tions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee." 2 Tim. 2: 15. "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." Preaching has a high place in the Word of God and in all the history of Christianity. The preacher and his Gospel message are the primal human factors in redemp- tion. Nothing in human civilization as a constructive force can compare with the Gospel ministry. The God- called, Holy Spirit-ordainedj consecrated preacher with a scriptural message and a burning zeal for lost men is God's big man. He occupies among civilization's makers and Kingdom builders a central place. His life and service are vital to all the fundamental verities in the world's upward making. Without him and his message the world would turn back to savagery and death. It is not only the sermons of the great world-famed preach- ers which have been powerful and constructive in King- dom making, but the sermons and ministry of the thou- sands of obscure but faithful preachers in small and out of the way places, the great crowd of unsung evangels of life, which have turned men to God and brought in an age of Christianity. Preaching a spiritual Gospel is a great science and the greatest art. Its secret is found in the heavenly call and enduing unction of the preacher. He is to get his authority from Christ, his message from the Word of God and his power from the Holy Spirit. If he speaks a positive and winning evangel it must be based on a divine conviction and delivered with an unction full of the presence of God. Great and imperial is the place of the Gospel preacher in Christ's program of world-saving. 122 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST " EVANGELISTIC PREACHING All preaching, whether didactic, apologetic, hortatory, expository or soul-saving, should be in the evangelistic spirit. The note of a heavenly evangel should be in it all. The objective, whether near or far, should be to bring men to Christ in salvation and service and to train them in the art of soul-saving and life-serving. Back of every sermon should be deep in the motive of the preacher a lost man to be saved, a saved man to be lifted, a noble service to be rendered, a broken heart to be healed or a heavenly mission to be accomplished. The Sermon on the Mount by God's Son, the Pentecostal message by Simon Peter, the doctrinal deliverance of the Apostle Paul in the eighth chapter of Romans, had the same objective, the saving of a soul, the construction of character, the building of Christ's Kingdom among men. All of these heavenly messages breathe with the very life of the saving Spirit of God. They are all evangeUstic. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF EVANGELISTIC PREACHING Consider some of the distinguishing features of the preaching called evangelistic and soul-winning. All of these marks can be found in the spiritual ministrations of John the Baptist, Simon Peter, the Apostle Paul and Jesus Christ, God's Holy Quartet and Prime Ministers in the History of Grace and Glory. 1. Soul-saving preaching must be with a positive note. Assurance and certainty of truth must live in the message that would carry life to the dead soul. Doubts block salvation's streams. The lost sinner wants cer-, tainty and the preacher must preach with an humble but heavenly conviction if he wins in his message. 2. It must be direct and pointed. 'Thou art the man" preaching brings sinners to their knees. Peters sermon at Pentecost brought personal conviction and made men feel then and there guilty before God. THE WAY TO WIN 123 3. It must be bold, plain and simple. It should speak in terms fearless, clear and uncompromising. It should shield not, give no covert for sinners, high nor low. It should bring to light the hidden secrets of the heart and be so clear in its light that the simplest could compre- hend. 4. It should be tender, fidl of love and tears. There is enough in the Gospel and human life and destiny to break the preacher's heart. His message if it wins must come with compassion. He must love men and show it in his tone, spirit and speech. He must himself know Cal- vary and Gethsemane, if he brings men to their knees. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." He that weepeth in his seed sowing is the one who returns joyful with his harvest (Ps. 126: 5, 6). 5. It should be scriptural. ''Preach the Word" is Heaven's command to every winner of men in sermon. Evangelistic preaching is saturated with God's Word. It sticks close to God's truth. 'The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation." The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. It is it which cuts, breaks, burns, cleanses, revives, inspires and gives life to souls astray from God. 6. It should be doctrinal, not always consciously so but always latently and potently so. The fundamentals of divine truth ought to be present in every sermon to point men to God. Christ's deity, His death, efficacious and life-giving, His resurrection for our justification, his power now to save; the doctrines of sin, grace, sanctifi- cation, the inspiration and authority of God's Word — all these and more should live and throb in the preaching of the soul-winner. These doctrines give bone, sinew, meat, vitality, to his message. Flabby, spineless preach- ing will produce a soft and effeminate convert. 7. It should be constructive. A newborn soul needs vital connections for his protection, sustenance, useful- ness and growth. Christ made His churches as a spir- itual mother for new babies in Christ. The evangelistic 124 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST preaching should turn this babe to the arms, love, mother-breast, protection, inspiration, of the Church. It should tie up the new-found life in the convert with life- fountains and foods — "God's dairy and meat and bread house" must be put in easy reach of His little children by the preaching which wins them. 8. It should be preeminently spiritual. Zeal, fervor, God's life, should pour through the arteries of evangel- istic preaching. It must be packed with the beating heart of the great Son of Man if it moves men. Dry, cold, lifeless preaching will get nowhere in soul-saving. It must be dynamic and in the power of God's Holy Spirit. This is one of its chief characteristics. The tragedies of Calvary, of hell and heaven, of eternal death, and a glorious resurrection and life beyond, the certainty of Christ's second advent, will mark this sort of preaching in the power of the Spirit of God. Pentecosts come only when God's Spirit comes. *'Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit, saith the Lord," is true of win- ning preaching. 10. It should be expectant. The preacher who largely and widely wins men to Christ will believe in a present Gospel. He will put God's dynamics in the present tense and confidently expect to ''bring his sheaves with him." The evangelist should believe in a *'to-day Gospel" as well as *'a to-morrow Gospel." He will thus cash in his preaching now and give the sinner a chance to trust, confess and obey Christ on the spot. 1 1 . Preeminently and emphatically evangelistic preach- ing should be Christo centric. It should gather around Christ's cross. The Crucified Lord should be central in all faith, prayer, sermon and song. He will preach only Christ crucified, glory only in the cross of Christ and faithfully trust that he will overcome Satan **by the blood of the Lamb." Christ will be the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, in his preaching if he would preach a heavenly evangel in a Christly dynamic. Chapter VIII ^ EDUCATIONAL EVANGELISM Christian education is inseparably connected with mis- sions and evangehzation. Christ put the two, education and evangelism, in the heart of His world-program. They constitute the two directions for the saving and constructive agencies of His Gospel and churches. Preach and teach so as to win men to discipleship and then preach and teach so as to build them up into spir- itual forces of power, is Christ's commission to His people. Preaching is not less important than teaching. The teacher is an evangelist in an important sense. His w^ork organizes, trains and utilizes the results of the evangelist's victories in soul-winning. The Christian school should keep up with the missionaries and evan- gelists if the highest purposes of Christ's Kingdom are conserved. The Christian people who do not educate will not be able long to evangelize. They will die for lack of trained leadership. So then denominational schools are a necessity of life to a militant Christianity. They should be supported by the prayers, money and children of Christian people. These schools should be made by endowment, libraries, laboratories and other equipment equal to the best anywhere. These Christian schools should be made great evan- gelizing centers. As such their supreme value lies in their training a worthy leadership in pulpit and pew, in church, society and state. They must give to the churches their militant leadership with loyalty to Christ, with a knowledge of His truth, with an equipment in method which will ifisure the triumph of Christianity throughout the world. For this to be done as it should 125 126 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST be there are certain imperative matters to be considered in the administration and promotion of Christian schools : 1. Great care should be exercised in the matter of ownership and control in their managing boards. The safest principle in a democracy is to keep all these insti- tutions in easy reach of the people. Trustees should be responsible to the people and not to a perpetual, close corporation. Self -perpetuity of trusteeships and inde- pendent endowments are dangerous to the best interest of denominational schools. The people can be trusted. Make plans to confide in them. 2. Great care should be exercised in the teaching forces, to see that all teachers are themselves loyal, de- voted, active Christians. The ideal is that all teachers in a denominational school should be faithful and loyal members of that denomination. Thus the best results v^ill be obtained to the churches and life of the people supporting the school. No teacher has a right to hold a position in a Christian school and be unfaithful to the fundamentals of Christianity. An un-Christian teacher is a blight to the faith and usefulness of youth in a Christian school. 3. The standards of scholarship in a Christian college should be kept high. There should be no cheapening of education because it is in a school of religion. Evan- gelism will be cheapened by low standards in scholarship in Christian schools. The church leaders in evangelism are entitled to the best in educational ideals. 4. The Bible should occupy its rightful place in the curriculum of a Christian school. Every student should be instructed in a comprehensive course in the Bible. A Christian school should seek to make trained Christians out of its students. It cannot do it without teaching the Bible. Practical courses in church activities should be placed in central places in the school program. Chris- tian mission history with its rich mines of biography and achievement should be taught to all students and a per- THE WAY TO WIN 127 sistent effort made to turn students to the service of missions in home and foreign fields. Sunday school methods should have a full and popular place in a Chris- tian school curriculum. All these courses make spiritual and intellectual backing for evangelism. 5. The spiritual life and atmosphere of Christian schools should be kept distinctly and continuously evan- gelistic. This can be accomplished by chapel addresses, school prayer meetings, Bible departments, group classes in missions, Bible courses, personal work bands, volun- teer bands, local church activities, and school revivals each session wherein all the school administration, teach- ing force and student bodies are called under the leader- ship of some competent evangelistic leadership to prayer and personal soul-winning. Effort should be made to win to Christ all the unsaved and to reenlist and revive all the saved in the school to the joys of salvation and service. High standards of evangelistic religion should be set up and the best effort of Christian educational forces should be exerted to bring into the Hfe of the school the spiritual tides of power. This soul-saving effort should not be blocked by any faculty or student force in the Christian school. Such a hindrance should be counted a foe to the best life of the institution and the people supporting the school. 6. The currents of the denominational life ought to be sent each year through the life of a Christian school. The students and teachers should be denominationalized. Representatives and movements from the people and churches should have easy access to the school life. 7. These schools should be recruiting stations for supplying leaders in all the lines of church and King- dom activity. Teachers and administrators should be on the lookout for the God-called, and frequent opportunity should be given for their encouragement to surrender to God's will and enlist in His service. Many a young man would answer to the call of God to preach and young woman to be a missionary if the atmosphere in the school 128 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST life was spiritual and evangelistic and the proper encour- agement came from their teachers. The Christian school should be in full sympathy and cooperation with the churches in this mammoth matter. The spiritual life and soul-saving fervor of the Christian school will de- cide the destiny of many lives whether for or against the ministry and mission fields. Not only in this line of service, furnishing preachers and missionaries, is the value of a Christian school found, but also in sending back to the churches leaders in the pew. The churches need laymen and women in all the professions, avocations and walks of life to be loyal to Christ in the use of their talents, influence and money. The denominational school is a mighty factor in setting ideals and standards in these men and women. Chapter IX THE SOUL-WINNING AND CONSTRUCTIVE VALUE OF RELIGIOUS LITERATURE The printing press is one of God's mightiest agencies in human uplift. 'The pen is mightier than the sword." Many Christian workers have not yet rightly valued and utilized the power of the printed page. In civilized lands now its power is next to omnipresence. The mails search out the corners in every land and go ladened with light and power. Every line of enlightened activity pays tribute to the printer. His art is indispensable to hope-carrying life. The preaching of the Gospel is in- dispensable and cannot be done away with without irrep- able loss to the world's salvation. Teaching and the teacher are necessities of life to the cause of righteous- ness and intelligence. The preacher and teacher alike are dependent on the printer and his art. The triumphs of printing fill the world in many lines, but the chief crown of the printer is his service in sending out God's Word. The Bible in the hands of the common people has done more for civilization and man's redemption than probably any other human agency. The brain of man owes its best renaissance to the accomplishments of the printing press. The heart of man can never pay its dues to the blessing of the ^'leaves of life" sent out from the printer's hands. If the printing press were destroyed and no substitute were found one generation would send mankind back to aboriginal darkness. This is strong but not too strong. The printing press is God's light-carrier and vehicle of intelligence. The devil is greatly advancing his cause by the wrong use of this hand-maiden of light. Heresy, the aggres- 129 I30 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST sive cults of error, every agent of sin, have utilized this w^onderful agency of powder. God's people should put the printed page in its proper place of transcendent pov^^er. Some of the v^ays of ac- complishing this are here suggested. 1. An increased circulation of the Holy Scriptures as a whole or in part in the homes of people of all lands where the Bible is not had. There are many homes in the best and most religious communities which have no Bible. What shall we say of the heathen and Catholic lands? 2. The publication and wise distribution of good books. God's preachers and missionaries should write more. The denominational boards and church organiza- tions should build, back and support book and publishing houses in the endeavor tO' furnish the people with books. Colporteurs should be sent out by religious organizations into every corner of the home-land and missionaries and their compounds should be centers for the distribution of good literature. 3. The religious and denominational paper should have by the mission and educational agencies a far better support and backing. Every church member should be made to feel that one of his duties tO' himself, his family, to his church, to the Kingdom of God and to Christ Himself, is to take and read his denominational paper. These papers should have their hearts throbbing with the soul and spirit of evangelism. They should know that they are to cherish, nourish, grow, inspire and carry God's enlightening grace and power into the hearts and homes and churches of God's great flock. Every pastor should feel, as in truth he really is, a helpful agency of his denominational paper. He should promote its in- terest in every home in his church. Nothing is more im- portant to the constructive life and spiritual conquests of God's churches than the denominational religious press. 4. There should be established in the Christian schools THE WAY TO WIN 131 and theological seminaries departments of journalism, where preachers and others of Kingdom and religious purposes would have opportunity to study the art of journalism. This could be done with small additional expense and with unspeakable consequences to the King- dom of Christ. 5. One of the effective uses of the printing press is found in the publication and circulation of tracts. They are valuable for soul-winning, soul-building, for indoc- trination, teaching the truths of God's Word. These brief and pointed and well printed statements will often attract the attention and carry the message home to the heart in a way nothing else will. Churches with their Sunday school and young people's forces could be made centers for the distribution of tracts. Pastors, mission- aries, evangelists, should keep a supply of well-selected tracts on hand all the time. They can be mailed out, handed out in making visits or to passersby on the streets or church doors, as congregations gather or disperse. These tracts should be well selected and distributed with discretion, seeking to suit the tract to the need of the one receiving it. They should be handed out with a prayer for God's blessings on its message. It is often good to follow the tract with a personal interview or another tract or personal letter. 6. Personal letter writing is a very effective way of reaching men and women for Christ. Paul, Peter, James, John and Jude set a noble example to us in this way. Their letters, inspired by the divine Spirit and pursued by a provident God, have thrilled, enriched and saved multitudes through twenty centuries. Mothers' letters to sons and daughters have wrought wonders in the Kingdom. Fathers' letters to sons, sisters', sweet- hearts' letters have brought many a brother and lover to Christ. A letter from a friend in esteem will often reach a person when a sermon will not be heard or heeded. A widowed mother, joined by pastor and friends, did her utmost to win her boy before he started to army 132 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST duty in the Philippine Islands. All efforts failed and he went away lost, with a marked Bible as mother's gift. Three years later a letter with mother's tears and prayers marking every line reached the soldier boy and the word came back, "After reading your letter, telling of your tears and prayers I read Rev. 3 : 20, and by some strange but holy presence I opened my heart and let Jesus come in and I am happy in his peace and love." These means of grace and salvation should not be withheld in the face of such large returns and so little expenditure of time and energy. Chapter X THE SPIRITUAL VALUE OF MONEY-. ETERNAL PREMIUMS ON THE EVANGELISTIC INVESTMENT SCRIPTURES Luke 16:9. "I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness : that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations." Prov. II : 24, 25. "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered also himself." 3 John 1-2. 'The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth/' 2 Cor. 9:6, 7. "He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. God loveth a cheerful [liberal] giver." Malachi 3 : 10. "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now here- with, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the win- dows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shalt not be room enough to receive it." AN INTERPRETATION Here are five meaningful scriptures on the Christian and his money. What do they mean? I. Luke 16:9. Christ is speaking. A rich man was called to give an account of the stewardship of his money. Because of the misuse of the money and his unfaithfulness in financial stewardship he was about to lose his money and his chance to use it at all. He re- solved to use his money so as to buy friends who would 133 134 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST receive him into their homes when his money failed. This wicked steward was commended for his wisdom. So here Christ commands His churches so to use our money in spiritual, soul-saving and Kingdom-building institutions that when our money fails us through mis- fortune or death the ones we have helped and won to Christ and who have gone on to glory may receive us into our eternal reward. Dr. Jesse Mercer, of Georgia, in 1838, gave $2,500 to the Home Mission Society of Northern Baptists to send two Baptist preachers to evangeHze Texas. As a result of this investment there were in 191 9 more than 500,000 Baptists, white and black, living in Texas, with 4,500 preachers, 5,000 Bap- tist churches, fifteen great schools, two great sanitaria, a theological seminary, the second largest in the world, the largest orphanage in the United States. Millions of souls won to Christ by Jesse Mercer's gift are con- stantly receiving him as they meet on the streets of glory. 2. Prov. 1 1 : 24. God says a man may scatter his money in helping the poor, caring for the orphanage, educating the young, winning people to Christ, and yet increase his own wealth, both of pocket and soul. He says men may withhold from others and save for them- selves and it will increase their poverty. Covetousness may fatten the purse, but it will starve the soul. 'The liberal soul shall be made fat." 3. 3 John 1-2. John is writing to a rich layman. Gains. He wishes him health of body and prosperity of purse, proportionately to his spiritual prosperity. John here sets up the true standard of prosperity, that which keeps the purse and the soul on the same level of pros- perity. If the pocket prospers and the soul remains in spiritual poverty the man has lost. Every Christian man needs a liberal heart to take care of a prosperous purse. 4. 2 Cor. 9 : 7. Here is God's harvest law in money and spiritual matters. The soul that sows to itself will gather a selfish, scanty harvest. He that sows bounti- THE WAY TO WIN 135 fully shall reap bountifully. Paul says, God loves a giver, a cheerful, liberal giver. Our attitude toward our money will either gain or lose the favor of God. If Mammon masters the man God refuses to live in him and love him. 5. Malachi 3:10. God owns all we have but asks us to recognize His right to the immediate use of one tenth of our earnings. He says in this scripture that heaven's windows swing open to us on the hinges of our liberality. Even a tithe rightly used for Christ will swing back God's granary windows and let fall from their bounteous storehouses His richest blessings, some- times financial, sometimes spiritual, so full and plentiful that our poor hearts cannot receive them all. The poor- est and most blessingless soul on earth is the penurious, stingy, covetous soul. A CASE OF BAD COMPANY Ps. 10:3. "The wicked boasteth of his heart's desire and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord ahhorreth." I Cor. 5: II. *'But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an ex- tortioner." I Cor. 6: 10. "Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God." Ep!^- 5 • 5. "For this ye know that no whoremonger, nor un- clean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." God puts the selfish lover of money down as an idolater and sets him in the heart of his companions, whore- mongers, drunkards, thieves, and such like, and shuts heaven's door on all who pretentiously claim Him as their Saviour and love money better than God. No man's money can bring him salvation, but his attitude toward his money proves whether or not he has salvation in his soul. 136 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST SOME INSPIRING EXAMPLES Thirteen dollars liberally given started an orphanage. In forty years that orphanage had grown to a plant worth $500,000, had housed, mothered, fed, clothed, educated more than 7,000 homeless children and sent them out as trained Christians to serve God and hu- manity. The orphanage grew one of the world's greatest benefactors while he made it. A little dying girl in Philadelphia gave a small sum to start a new meeting house for her church. The pastor took her dying testi- mony and her little sum of less than a dollar and with her inspiration built an auditorium seating 5,000, built a great college nearby, an orphanage, a hospital, a rescue home. The pastor of that church delivered one lecture more than 5,000 times and with the proceeds educated more than 1,600 young men and women. The little girl's money failed to buy her life back but dying she gave it to Christ and her investment is bringing in a measure- less harvest to Christ. A man of wealth was led to make possible the start of a theological seminary. Through the years he stood by its scant treasury and supplied its needs. When that seminary was fifty years old more than 6,000 trained men had gone out to bless the world, win souls, preach and teach a saving Gospel to a lost world. Its record of immortal service has just begun. His investment Is bringing eternal dividends and the souls which these trained preachers have and will win because of the train- ing received in this institution will receive this wealthy, liberal, fat soul into everlasting habitations. "The liberal soul shall be made fat." Make invest- ments of money, time, talent for Christ and God's granaries will fill your lap and heart with their riches in terms of more money and heart joys and heavenly rewards. V Chapter XI THE EVANGELISTIC CHURCH— HOW TO BUILD ONE ITS HISTORY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT Christ established His Church with evangelism as its primal and supreme motive as shown by its history. 1. Its genesis in John 1:35-51. He gave it its nucleus in taking John's baptized followers and leading in a soul-winning campaign. Peter, Philip and Na- thanael were the first fruits. 2. Its first preachers in Matt. 4: 19. He called its early leaders to be fishers of men, laying the foundation for all time to come for an evangelistic leadership for his churches. 3. Its law of life in Matt, chapters 5 to 7. The Ser- mon on the Mount is the very heart of militant, aggres- sive conquest in all the life of the people. 4. Its basic foundation in Matt. 16: 18. His Church is shown as a militant army outside the walled, en- trenched powers of evil, attacking, conquering even the gates of hell. 5. Its marching orders in Matt. 28: 18-20. This com- mission to churches, preachers and individual Christians is purely and simply a command to win men everywhere to Christ and eternal life. 6. Its first great reznvd in Acts 2. Here Christ puts His Church to work in prayer and soul-winning. Pente- cost is Christ's word of evangelism to every one of His churches. 7. Its lay officers in Acts 6. He puts the unmistakable qualifications of soul-winning in the deaconship in order 137 138 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST to help to make His churches evangelistic. Pure char- acter, good reputation, both faith and Holy Spirit endue- ment are the soul-winning qualities of every deacon. 8. Its other leaders and history in Peter, Paul, and the victories in the Acts of the Apostles and Epistles. For a hundred years these leaders went out every way to win souls and build soul-winning churches in all the earth. Christ's program for every church was an evan- gelistic program. The churches which do not constantly seek by organization, spirit and method to win men to a saving knowledge of the truth and enlist them in Christ's service have just that far missed the mark of the divine purpose and requirement. This is the main masterful task of every organization claiming to be a church of Jesus Christ. THE IMPORTANCE OF EVANGELISTIC CHURCHES Their need in every community where people live is very great and their value to the highest and best among men is beyond human computation. Their importance is seen by several considerations : 1. The world can never be won to Christ by revival periods only. The churches need to work at this heavenly task seven days in the week, every month and year until Jesus comes again. 2. It is in evangelistic churches where revivals are easiest to be held and most far-reaching in their results. They are ready for Pentecostal movements and can best conserve the results of such great movements. 3. It is in evangelistic churches where the ripest Chris- tian character grows and the richest spiritual leadership develops and comes to usefulness. Great laymen leaders cannot be enriched and led out into service in an un- evangelistic church. 4. It is in such churches where the fellowship of God's people finds its ripest fruitage. The devil cannot grow dissension and discord in a soul-winning church. \y THE WAY TO WIN 139 5. The soul-winning atmosphere is the best place for scriptural indoctrination. The sinew and bone of spir- itual life grow strong on God's basic truths in the heart of an evangelistic church. 6. Liberality abounds in such a church and men most easily part with their possessions for the extension of Christ's Kingdom. A man cannot keep his soul hot after lost men and be covetous. Evangelism opens hearts and purses. 7. It is in such a church where the young hear most easily the call of God to service and most easily sur- render to His way. Evangelistic churches are the main supply houses for leaders in the ministry and missions. 8. The permanent on-going of Christ's widening Kingdom depends more on the life, labors, leadership and liberality of evangelistic churches than upon any other group of forces in the world. They are the salt of the earth and the King needs them to carry out His will. All of these things are illustrated and exemplified in the First Church a^ Jerusalem from Pentecost on for years. The explanation is that they prayed until divine endue- ment filled them with power and they continued to win in that power and *'the Lord added unto them daily such as were being saved." SPIRITUAL ESSENTIALS There are certain factors necessarily essential to the construction of a perennially evangelistic church. With- out these such a church cannot be maintained. I. A soid-zvinning leadership. This in the modern church divides itself into four classes : (i) The pastor. He must be a soul-winner if the church is to be soul-winning. The passion for lost men must absolutely master his ministry if he leads his church out into continuous and constructive evangelism. This passion must manifest itself in his study, prayers, prcach- i'^9> pastoral visitation, persorial work, plans, and entire I40 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST church programs. He will carry a constant "heaviness and a great sorrow in his heart" for unsaved men going to hell about him. He ought to make soul-winning the master note of his life. He will preach at least one evan- gelistic sermon each Sunday, hold at least one revival period in his church each year, hold other evangelistic services in other churches and communities and con- stantly seek to win men to Christ in public and private. (2) The deacons or other church officers. The church officers were meant to be the pastor's spiritual cabinet in soul-winning. The qualifications of a deacon in Acts 6 demand that he be a soul-winner. The pastor should train the deacons in personal work. (3) Tht ohvLTzh-schooX teachers. Every Sunday-school teacher's main qualifications should be a passion and a purpose to win the pupils to life everlasting. (4) Other church leaders as officers in women's and young people's organizations. These should have the evangelistic spirit and seek its power. Thus these groups of church leaders, if evangelistic, give the soul-saving tone and temper to the life of the church. 2. An evangelistic backing in the church. The fires of soul-saving power must be fed and kindled in the life of the membership itself. In the homes of the people, in the prayer meetings, in all the religious gatherings and circles, there should burn the spiritual yearning for lost souls. Prayer groups should be formed, which meet constantly to plan and pray for souls and spiritual power. 3,. The music of the church should be turned to evan- gelism and spiritual results. The song leaders themselves should be soul-winners and know the value of the Gospel in song. The choir can create evangelistic atmosphere or blight the chances to win men to Christ in the church life. Giddy or worldly song leaders or classic and un- spiritual songs can prevent God's saving power in church services. A spiritual and soul-winning choir is a con- tribution of unmeasured value to an evangelistic church. THE WAY TO WIN 141 4. The entire life and program of the church should be aimed at winning souls to Christ in salvation and building souls up in Him for winning others to Him. Under the leadership of the pastor personal work bands will be organized, the membership will be led out in Gospel missions in crowded centers or neglected quarters, tent meetings, street corner Gospel services, parks, jails, hospitals — all these places will be udHzed as opportunities to win men to the Saviour. 5. In all this labor of love for men and Christ there should be an unfailing reliance on Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. The whole soul-saving movement must center on and gather about Jesus, the divine Lord, and be carried on in the strength and wisdom of the divine Spirit. Chapter XII EVANGELISM IN THE "HIGHWAYS AND HEDGES" SCRIPTURES Luke 14:21, 22,. The master of the house said to his serv- ants, "Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in hither the poor and the maimed and the halt and the blind. Go out in the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." Luke 15:4. "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go after that which was lost until he find itr Luke 15 is a great chapter on the Lost. The lost son and the seeking father, the lost coin and the searching woman, the lost sheep and the seeking shepherd all em- phasize the outside factors of the Gospel. Acts 20:20-31. Paul said to the Ephesian elders, "I have taught you publicly and from house to house. Remember that I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears." Matt. 28:18-20. Go, make disciples, teach, baptize every creature. Christ's churches were not meant to be indoor insti- tutions, but outdoor agencies. Christ's Kingdom was inaugurated in its earthly expression on the hills of Judea and the banks of the Jordan. John the Baptist, the first Gospel evangelist, never preached in a church house. The most of Christ's preaching and teaching was done out in the open. Pentecost was a big street meeting. Paul's evangeHsm was carried on in the main on the streets and in open places. The idea in most churches is, "Come to our meeting house and we will offer you the 142 THE WAY TO WIN 143 Gospel.'* In New Testament times the evangelizers worked on the theory of carrying the Gospel to the peo- ple. A housed religion is usually a cold unaggressive sort. Open air is good for the Gospel. The reason for the consumptive conditions of churches is that they have kept their religion within the walls of the meeting houses. This chapter is a plea for an outdoor Gospel, an urgency that God's servants will catch the spirit of the Saviour in His great parable, "Go out into the streets and lanes of the city, out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in." GOOD PLACES FOR EVANGELIZING 1. Summer tent and tabernacle meetings in the coun- try places and unchurched and neglected parts of cities. 2. In parks, watering places, jails, and on the streets in crowded centers in cities. 3. In rented hiiildings and theaters on the main streets in cities. Gospel missions carried on every night in the year and on Sunday afternoons have produced large re- sults in many cities. These should be carried on in every city by the down-town churches where there is a large transient and wicked population. 4. The churches in the towns and cities, where pos- sible, should secure near their buildings an open lot, either put up a tabernacle or secure a tent and seat it and light it and have Sunday evening services, advertising it well and by other means seek to enlist the people who do not go to churches. These meetings should be exceed- ingly evangelistic. NECESSARY FACTORS There are certain Gospel essentials in all this open air and outdoor effort to win people to Christ. I. Good music, with emphasis on the congregational part of it. A good song leader, sane, sensible, spiritual, 144 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST who knows God and loves lost souls; with plenty of popular song books, with a frequent use of the old Gospel songs. All this will add much to draw and hold and help the people. 2. The right sort of preaching is a very essential fac- tor for the success of such meetings. The preaching should be : (i) Spiritual and evangelistic. (2) Short, pointed, personal, positive. (3) Scriptural, hortatory, passionate, full of enthu- siasm, with a hot heart. (4) Plain, simple, with large use of illustrations. (5) Full of Christ, His love, grace, mercy, with strokes of His wrath. His hatred of sin. His cross should tower full length in all outdoor preaching. (6) Packed with the vital fundamentals of the Gos- pel : sin, its awful guilt, consequences, its eternal punish- ment; grace in regeneration; the crucified love of Christ; the judgment; the second advent of our Lord; resurrec- tion; hell and heaven; repentance and faith; obedience to the Word and confession of Christ; the duty to be baptized and join Christ's Church and the joy and power of a life of service. (7) Teaching-preaching, instruction in Christian duty, encouragement to prayer, to study of God's Word, to liberality; soul-winning, the surrender of life and talents to Christ's service. 3. Personal work and organization of bands of per- sonal winners are essential. Groups of workers should be organized, trained and sent out in each service. 4. Much attention should be given to prayer. There is no success in winning the lost anywhere without much prayer. Prayer groups should be organized before every service. Cottage prayer meetings for days before and each day in connection with tent, tabernacle or Gospel mission meetings will add largely to the results. 5. Special and wise attention should be given to the proper advertisement of such meetings. Newspapers, THE WAY TO WIN 145 bill boards, hand bills, personal invitations can all be used with advantage. 6. Care should be given to the following up of con- verts in such meetings. They should be visited, urged to join the church, enlisted in Sunday school, assigned some definite task for the Master. We should remember that liz'cs as well as souls are valuable in Christ's pro- gram. 7. The financing of such meetings should be cared for promptly and liberally. All bills should be paid promptly. ADVANTAGES The value of open air meetings is seen in the large results of such labor in the life of a church and com- munity. 1. They give a Gospel, soul-saving tone and temper to a church and prevent spiritual dry rot. They bring in the militant and martial spirit. 2. They deepen the evangelistic fervor and zeal of God's people and keep them ever after lost men. Thus their spiritual life, prayer-life, Bible study and evan- gelism are encouraged. 3. They add largely and constantly to the church membership, Sunday school and all of the life of the church. Fresh currents of new life constantly flow into the arteries of the church. 4. They stimulate the liberality of the people and open up their hearts and purses to the world cries for help. 5. They reach people who could never be reached by meeting-house services. Large results in this direction reward the efforts of the people in going out into ''lanes, streets, highways and hedges." 6. They call out, enlist and develop new workers as nothing else ever does. They afford new channels for service. Great Christian workers come out of this sort of evangelism. 146 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST 7. They take the chill, iciness, stiffness, out of the peo- ple, break down class walls and distinctions and democ- ratize the churches and cause them to have ''the favor of God and all the people." 8. They enrich in spiritual power, popularize and greatly grow the pastor who wisely leads his church thus to face out after the lost and up to God for power. Long and successful pastorates follow such a policy. Great preachers and laymen are developed in such a church program. 9. New and strong churches and spiritual centers will be developed and the "regions beyond and round about" will be taken care of by such a church policy. Christ will thus be glorified *'in the lanes, streets, highways and hedges" and His house will be filled. Chapter XIII REVIVALS— HOW TO PROMOTE THEM SCRIPTURES Ps. 85 : 6, 7. "Wilt thou not revive us again ; that thy people may rejoice in thee? Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation." Hah. 3:2. "O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known ; in wrath remem- ber mercy." Acts 1 : 8. "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall he witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in Judaea, and in Samaria and unto the utter- most part of the earth." Acts 2: 47. "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." REVIVALS IN THE BIBLE 1. A Revival by the Brook, Gen. 32:24-30. 2. A Revival by a Lawyer, Exodus 33. 3. A Revival by a Judge, i Sam. 7: 1-14. 4. A Revival by a King, 2 Kings 23: 1-27. 5. A Revival by a Prophet, i Kings 18:21-39. - 6. A Revival of Bible-reading, Neh. 8: 1-12. 7. A Revival of Sabbath-keeping, Neh. 13: 15-22. - 8. A Baptist's Revival, Matt. 3 : 1-12. 9. A Revival in the Streets, Matt. 21 : 1-17. 10. A Personal Work Revival, John 1:35-51. 11. A Woman's Revival, John 4:28-42. 12. A Revival in a Graveyard, John 11:30-45. 13. A Revival in a City, Acts j^: 1-4, 41-47- 14. A Revival in the Church, Acts 4 : 23-37. 15. A Revival Growing out of Fear, Acts 5 : 1-14. 147 148 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST 1 6. A Revival Growing out of Persecution, Atts 8:1-13. 17. A Revival in a Carriage, Acts 8:26-40. 18. An Unlawful Revival, Acts 10:28-48. ^ 19. A Layman's Revival, Acts 13 : 19-26. \\ * 20. A Sabbath Day Revival, Ac!s 13:44-52. 21. A Revival by the Riverside, Acts 16:9-15. 22. A Revival in a Jail, Acts 16:23-34. 23. A Holy Ghost Revival, Acts 19: 1-20. 24. A Revival in Rome, Acts 28:30, 31; Phil 1 : 12-14. THE VALUE OF REVIVALS The importance and spiritual value of revivals of re- ligion to the cause of Christ cannot possibly be set down in human language nor calculated by human mathe- matics. From the days of Pentecost when Christ's Httle church in Jerusalem won to eternal life and obedience to the Saviour three thousand souls in one day down to the great revivals of Billy Sunday in Philadelphia, Boston, New York and other places wherein hundreds of thou- sands of people professed Christ and their renewal of faith and restoration to the joys of salvation, revivals have blessed humanity, saved souls, inaugurated great movements for God's Kingdom, set forward the cause of Christ and brought glory unmeasured to His holy name. The value of these spiritual awakenings may be estimated in the following statements : 1. They lift churches and communities out of lethargy and spiritual dearth up to the higher table-lands of spir- itual power, quicken religious zeal, strengthen faith, brighten hopes, arouse energies, enlist forces, put new life into dead churches, call out new agencies for God and breathe into the souls of the people the breath of heaven and God. 2. They are fruitful in initiating new movements for God and humanity, organizing new agencies for the pro- THE WAY TO WIN 149 motion of Christ's Kingdom. Educational institutions and benevolent enterprises have found their inspiration and beginnings in revivals. 3. They open up the fountains of liberality in the hearts and purses of the people. Visions of Christ's Kingdom and the value of life, talent and money put into His cause have been found in revival times. 4. Lives have been volunteered and dedicated to God's v^orld-work in revivals in a way they would not other- wise. 5. The majority of the people who are to-day or have in the past been disciples of Christ were won to Christ in revivals. Millions of souls now in heaven and on earth in Christ's service would have been in hell or on their way there if it had not been for revivals of soul- saving power. 6. They are the richest means of church extension. Most churches in home lands or foreign fields were started as a result of a season of Gospel revival. 7. They have brought out and developed some of the world's greatest leaders. They grow preachers, singers, lay workers of all sorts for the widening Kingdom of Christ. The Wesley brothers, Dwight L. Moody, San- key, Sunday, are examples. John the Baptist, Apostle Peter, found their chance and way to fame through re- vivals. 8. They are the very breath and life of missions. The revival fires light up the mission fields and guide God's people to world-wide proclamation of the Gospel. Spiritual passion to save one's neighbor kindles the heart- longing to reach the lost beyond the seas. Thus revivals reach around the world. Pentecost sent out waves of spiritual power yet encircling the world and promoted enterprises that yet uplift humanity and will until Jesus comes again. All vital religion languishes in revivalless churches, souls go on in sin and to hell and God's glory- fades and His throne is dishonored. Thus revivals are most vital to the things we hold dear in the world. ISO WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Eternity hinges its glory on revivals among Christ's churches. FACTORS MOST NEEDED Revivals are effects resulting from the harmonious cooperation of two great forces, a redeeming Saviour and His compassionate, consecrated people. A rich cooperancy between these two agencies looking to the salvation of lost men will bring about a true revival of Gospel grace and power. The presence of God is an absolute necessity. His divine Spirit is the primal fac- tor. He is the true and only source of revival power. It is "not by might nor by power, but by my spirit," saith the Lord." Yet even God needs and must have men in promoting a revival. ''My people shall be volunteers in the day of my power," is God's way of showing His revival cooperancy. Then there are certain essential factors expressing the working cooperation of these two forces. The principal ones are as follows : I. Foremost among the human factors is prayer. Prayer in a revival is the soul of the saved man seeking the power of the Saviour. Prayer brings God's energy and wisdom to man's tasks. In all spiritual history prayer is vital and essential. Pentecost's soul-saving conquests found their immediate causes in the continuous prayers of the Jerusalem church. They prayed ten days. All of Christ's earthly movements were marked by prayer. The successful ministry of all evangelists has been immersed in soulful supplication. To promote a revival great emphasis must be put on prayer. The preacher must lead the people in much praying. It should be planned and organized. Cottage prayer meetings should be held, family and group prayers should be encouraged, individual and closet praying should be stimulated. Prayer generates power, creates spiritual atmosphere, makes preaching, singing and per- sonal work easy. It lubricates all the wheels of the THE WAY TO WIN 151 church machinery and guarantees evangelistic victory. 2. Co-equal in importance with prayer is the spiritual and scriptural preaching of the Gospel of Christ as laid down in God's inspired Book. There is no substitute for Gospel preaching in the promotion of Christ's King- dom. The heartful presentation of Christ crucified is yet God's imperial agency of enlightening the souls of lost men, turning them away from their sins, causing them to seek relief from the awful malady of sin and escape from its doom. The right sort of preaching in revivals of religion is essential, vital and tremendously important. It should bear some of the following marks : ( 1 ) Its primal factor and characteristic should be that it is filled with the real Gospel of Christ. It must present Christ, the Priest, Lord and King of the soul, His deity, death, vicarious atonement for sin. His unmistakable resurrection to life, His present reigning sovereignty and Lordship at God's right hand. The very rich life- giving meat of Christ's mission through the cross to the throne of God should be presented with soul-breaking passion in the power of the Spirit of God to the hearts of men if revivals do what they ought. There are no shams, substitutes, camouflages, spiritual narcotics, no philosophies of men, no ecclesiastic compounds, which can in God's sight be put in the place of the Gospel of a crucified Christ. Songs, homilies, testimonies, exhor- tations are good and helpful, but these cannot take the place of a virile Gospel. (2) This Gospel preaching should be spiritual, heart- ful, compassionate, enthusiastic, intelligent, sane, plain. (3) It should set out, not in a controversial spirit, the vital and fundamental doctrines of God's Word. Every lost soul is entitled to know just the truth and the true steps to God, and every saved man can justly claim his right to know all God commands him to do. A doctrineless preaching is a spineless and a powerless preaching. 152 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST (4) The great tragedies of the Gospel and sin should be proclaimed to men seeking Christ — sin, hell, the cross, the blood, repentance, faith, confession, obedience, bap- tism, service. Men should be told all these by the preacher, their spiritual leader. The preacher who stands as an ambassador for Christ between God's mercy, love and wrath and man's doomed, dying, sin- ning soul, and minces, dodges, dallies with, evades or fails to preach the Gospel is a traitor and sinner of the worst sort. If he plays with lost souls on the way to hell he joins the devil's Judases and deserves the frown of God and the execrations of outraged Christianity. Brother preacher, when you deal with dying, immortal souls, show them God's light, God's Son, God's truth and put it to them in blood earnestness. Your words will meet you at the judgment. Souls may hang on them and lose all that is dear in eternity. The engineer under his burning engine after the awful head-on col- lision, bleeding at mouth, nose and ear, with dying strength waved a little piece of yellow paper and said, "Somebody gave me the wrong orders." Some doomed man may stand at' God's last great day and point his finger at you and say, "You gave the wrong orders." If you give him anything but the Gospel you will not be guiltless in that awful hour. "Preach the Word," "the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation,'* "We preach Christ and him crucified," these are God's orders to preachers. 3. Advertisement and organization of the right kind are essential to a successful revival. The advertisements should be marked by sanity and judgment. Newspapers, billboards, handbills, large signs, personal letters, public announcement, personal approach — all these can be used. The people ought to be informed in an impressive way about the meetings. Thorough organization should be made, including place of meeting, time of services, proper ushers to handle and seat the crowds. Especial attention should be given to the organization of personal THE WAY TO WIN 153 workers. They should be instructed, inspired, given definite tasks, given opportunity for reporting results. Proper care should be taken to follow up converts, their enlistment in church membership and in the service of God. Revivals do not go off by spontaneous combustion. If they are properly conducted and their results con- served, they will be organized. Half of Billy Sunday's and Dwight L. Moody's success was due to their organi- zation. The revivals of smaller proportions should be organized to get larger results. 4. Compassion and enduement. Nothing is more im- portant than the spiritual attitude and personal Holy Ghost power on the part of the people of God in a re- vival. 'They that sow in tears shall reap in joy," is God's law of the harvest. **When Israel travails then will sons be born unto God," is as true to-day as ever in the history of the world. If God's people do not weep over sinners, sinners will not weep over their sins. The true atmosphere and psychology of a revival are a bur- dened and broken-hearted discipleship. Then there must be a scriptural enduement. God's power, filling the souls and energizing their powers, is heaven's primal factor in winning men to Christ. "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you," stands at the doorway of every evangelistic opportunity. The way to secure this power and com- passion has been discussed in former chapters of this volume. 5. Church cooperation. Pentecost teaches us the best revivals are those which come from a prepared church, a cooperant church membership. The one hundred and twenty in the Jerusalem church were "all together and of one accord," in prayer and personal work. The men of a church as well as the women should put their strength back of every revival movement. The four men in Mark 2, the miracle of healing the paralytic, prove what cooperation will do in evangelizing. They planned the paralyzed man's healing and salvation. They pushed 154 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST their plans with faith, effort, persistent over every diffi- culty, and won through Christ's power. Every evan- gelistic effort should be backed by a strong church co- operancy. 6. The song service is very important in revivals. ( 1 ) It should be led by a trained, consecrated, spirit- ually-minded, good man of God. (2) Its instrumental side should be in the hands of a Gospel accompanist. She should know Gospel music and have enthusiasm and fire in her touch. All sorts of instruments can be used to great effect in revivals. (3) The songs should be Gospel songs, true in their teaching, soul moving in their sentiment and power. (4) It should be largely congregational. All the peo- ple should be induced to sing. The choir is to lead, the people must sing for the best results. 7. The personal work is vital. Results will largely depend on the amount and character of the personal work done. (i) The pastor should lead his people in personal work. He should organize and train them for this im- portant service. He should do this before and during the meetings. (2) The church officers and Sunday school teachers and officers are the main ones in the church to go out in personal soul- winning. They are the pastor's cabinet in evangelism. (3) With some it can be done in the congregation at the close of the sermon, w^ith others it is better to see them quietly and by themselves in their homes or in some other private place. In both cases great wisdom and tact are needed in approaching and winning people. "They that be wise will win souls." (4) It is usually best for women to deal with women and men with men, though often splendid results are obtained otherwise. (5) Nothing is more powerful than the use of scrip- ture in personal work. The worker must know the THE WAY TO WIN 155 scriptures to use and be able to turn to them and quote them without looking at the Bible. (6) The worker should pray for the Spirit's power before and during the approach to the unsaved. (7) The worker should never be sidetracked by any argument on any doctrinal controversy. Keep on the main line of sin and the Saviour. 8. The after meeting is an instrument of great effec- tiveness in a revival. Great wisdom is needed in man- aging it. (i) It is best to have the personal workers arranged throughout the congregation before the dismission. (2) Cordial appeal should be made to all, who feel the need of help, to remain. (3) Much prayer and personal work should be used in the after meeting. (4) Propositions to the unsaved should be plain, clear and not mixed. (5) Opportunity for church membership should be given to all who profess faith in Christ at the close of every service. Obedience and church membership should be plainly pressed on all who trust the Saviour. 9. Following up the revival is an important matter, (i) The impressed who do not surrender to the Sa- viour should be seen and urged to settle the matter. (2) Those who have not joined the church should be brought and urged to join. Great meetings are often lost at this point. (3) The new members should be enlisted and trained and given a place of service. Here is the constructive side of a revival. The pastor and officers should put this constructive feature high in their program. (4) The called should be called out — volunteers for service interested and trained. Chapter XIV CONSTRUCTIVE EVANGELISM— SAVING SPIRITUAL WASTE SCRIPTURES Matt. 28 : 19, 20. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatso- ever I have commanded you, and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." John 15: 16. "I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit." (R. V.) Acts 2:42. 'And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." Acts g: 6. Paul's second question to Christ was, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to dof' A DOUBLE TASK True evangelism is more than winning souls to know and accept Christ as Saviour. This is one of its tasks, its first great one. But there follows an important and far-reaching task of conserving regeneration's victory and utilizing the newly saved soul in promoting Christ's Kingdom in effective service. Men are not saved to keep out of hell nor to gain heaven. They are saved to serve. The evangelism that stops at conversion and public profession is lopsided, wasteful and indeed hurt- ful. There is a cultural evangelism, constructive, char- acter-building; one which teaches, trains, develops and utilizes the talents and powers of the new convert in all kinds of Christian service and activity. This cultural task of evangelism is transcendently important and should receive the careful attention of all the forces engaged in the promotion of the life and progress of 156 THE WAY TO WIN 157 Christ^s churches and Kingdom. Modern evangeHsm finds here its greatest leakage and waste, its weakest place. Much of modern evangelism leaves its spiritual children orphans, homeless and motherless. The churches, not being organized for constant and constructive evan- gelism, let the new ''babes in Christ" go without a mother's protecting arms, warm heart and love and food, without culture in soul-strength until they drift and be- come backsliders and spiritual driftwood. Such neglect of spiritual children is unpardonable and positively sin- ful. Here lies the unspeakable weakness of great "union meetings." The evangelists usually do not stress some important duties to the new convert : his duty to be bap- tized and follow Christ in church membership, join up in Christ's service and go to work for Him. A' new convert is entitled to know from his spiritual parents all Christ tells him to do. Christ died for an institution, His Church, in order to put the Gospel in reach of every saved soul (Acts 20:28). The evangelism which does not carry with it heavy emphasis on this institution of Christ will be discounted by its waste and failures. Christ's New Testament program for souls is salva- tion, confession, baptism, church membership, instruc- tion, service. We cannot break nor disregard Christ's order and grow a permanent, constructive evangelism. Christ's and Paul's examples emphasize this program. They both gathered about them groups of men and trained them for service. The New Testament is largely made up of instruction in character, culture and aggres- sive service. WHAT IT INVOLVES In order rightly to care for and train the new con- verts there are several important matters which should 158 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST receive the constant attention of the leadership in church life. 1. A positive message of truth and conviction in the evangelistic atmosphere and at the times souls are being saved. A flabby, lopsided preaching will issue in spine- less and convictionless converts. There must be a vital food element of life in the milk children drink if they grow bone, muscle and strength. So it is in Christian life : there must be some indoctrination of vital truth. 2. Church organisation. A church is the home of a new convert. He should be shown the way to this home with its warmth, love, food and protection. The way in the New Testament is plain. This church should be organized to care for and culture and train its spiritual children. Leadership for every branch of the church activity should be ready to give training and work to every age and condition which comes from soul-winning. The local church in its Sunday school, young people's organizations, ladies' work, etc., can provide a place for every new convert; and the church sins against God and souls if it does not go vigorously and at once after these spiritual possibilities as soon as they come. 3. Active, alert, tactful leadership. It is the business of Christian preachers, churches, Sunday schools, col- leges, and seminaries to furnish this leadership ready to take hold of every new convert. The deadest thing on earth is a dead church with a dead pastor, a dead deacon- ship, a dead superintendent of the Sunday school. The greatest thing on earth is a live, spiritual, wide-awake, evangelistic church with an aggressive leadership. 4. Spirit, "pep'' spiritual aggressiveness, life and power from God are needed to care properly for the new currents of life coming into a church from evangelism. Ice houses, refrigerators, cold storages, are out of place in a church of Jesus Christ. A dry, stiff, cold, min- isterial refrigerator in the pulpit is *'an abomination of desolation standing where it ought not." An uninspira- tional, unevangelistic, unaggressive ministry is the curse THE WAY TO WIN 159 of humanity in the churches. Divine currents of power, God's dynamics in life streams, should flow through our churches if they are to draw, hold, develop a great con- stituency of the strong and virile and send them out to take this world for Christ's Gospel. 5. Persistent, steady, tireless effort. You will lose much in furlough times. Vacations will miss the mark in this work. The devil is never off the job in his task of damning men. Christ's people should be as constant and faithful in saving and conserving the souls of men. 6. Instruction in the Word and work of God and a training in that work and outlet for talents and energies. You cannot grow men strong in God's ways without in- struction. They must know and hence must be taught. Then they must be trained in that service. Then there must be a task assigned, something suited to the talent of the individual convert. This will involve varied ac- tivities in the church. Some will teach, some do charity work, some hospital work, some win souls. There are a thousand Christly opportunities waiting willing minds ajid ready hands. 7. Christian, stainless social life must be provided. A new convert must have a place to develop and care for his social and ethical life. He must have new com- panions to take the place of the old sinful ones. He must have joy and pleasure. The church should direct in much of the social life of its young people or the devil will. 8. A wide, denominational^ Kingdom vision should be put into the thinking and program of every new convert. The institutional life of the denomination to which the new convert belongs should constantly be put before him. Its benevolent, missionary and educational hfe should be brought to his attention so that he may love, give his money to and offer his talents to Christ in service. Great undertakings should be put before him to challenge his faith, gifts and powers of soul. You can never grow a great Christian character on little tasks. Part IV: PERSONAL WORK Part IV: PERSONAL WORK Chapter I SUGGESTIONS TO WINNERS There are certain vital matters of method, conduct and spirit to be constantly kept in mind by those who would successfully draw the Gospel net about the souls of lost men. These are briefly enumerated below : THINGS TO REMEMBER I. Your main chance to succeed in personal work is your touch and fellowship with God. "No man cometh unto me except the Father draw him." God holds the reins that guide souls Godward. It is absolutely neces- sary that you keep in and up with God. Prayer, con- stant, supplicating-, importuning, soulful prayer is God's key to His secret sources of power. Pray before, during and after your efforts to win men. You cannot other- wise find your way successfully. ( 1 ) Pray that your own heart will be right, your mo- tive heavenly, your words wise, your heart burdened, that you may use the right scripture, that God's will may be done in and through you. (2) Pray that you may be led to the right person, that your method of approach will be right. (3) Pray that God will go before you as He has promised (Isa. 45:2), that He will mellow the heart of the lost, do His convincing and convicting work. (4) Pray that you may easily find the key to the soul of the unsaved, and that an abundant entrance may be given the Gospel message. 163 i64 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST (5) Pray for human tact and divine power. God promises you the Holy Spirit in this task (Luke 11 : 13 and Acts 1:8). (6) Pray that God will go behind you as He prom- ises (Isa. 58: 8), that He will convert your mistakes into victories, override your errors, bring to full fruition the seed sown and the work sought to be accomplished. (7) Remember that the Lord has promised to be near and guide you step by step, if your soul is drawn out to the hungry (Isa. 58: 10, 11). 2. Know deep in your spiritual sources of life that all victory in evangelism depends on the power of the Holy Spirit manifested in and through you. ''Not by might nor by power but by my spirit, saith the Lord." ''Without me ye can do nothing." "Be ye filled with the Spirit," are Christ's imperial orders as you seek to raise the dead in the supernal endeavor of winning men. Heaven bends low and unspeakably longs to endue you with resistless power (Luke 11 : 13). Seek it, obtain it. It is the reasonable claim of your spiritual birthright. 3. Never let it pass out of your heart that the highest efficiency is found in the highest purity of life, motive and conduct. Never seek a heavenly end with an earthly motive, never try to accomplish God's will with the devil's tools. "They that handle the vessels of the Lord must have pure hearts and clean hands." Compromise with sin in your life will never bring you far on evan- gelism's road. 4. Keep it ever close to your redeemed spirit that "faith is the victory." "All things are possible to him that believeth." "This is the victory that overcome th the world, even our faith." "Concerning the work of my hands command ye me." "What things soever ye desire when ye pray believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them.'' Conquering faith raises the dead, removes barriers, unlocks doors, accomplishes the impossible (Dan. 11:32) and brings victory in personal soul-win- PERSONAL WORK 165 ning. "Ye believe in God believe also in me." "Have the faith of God." 5. Make much use of God's Word — it is the power of God unto salvation, the sword of the Spirit. It is the channel of life, powerful in its discernment, incisive- ness. It cuts, divides, separates, hammers, bums, enters into the secret thoughts and intents of the heart. Put its most trenchant passages in your own heart and give them out, trusting in the Spirit to apply them in power to lost men. ( 1 ) Use the scriptures on sin, its presence in the sin- ner's heart and life, its guilt, soiling and poisonous, per- vading the entire spiritual and moral nature; its power, its penalties and eternal punishment. (2) The scriptures on the way of life, repentance, con- fession of sin, faith, acknowledgment of Christ. Then after his salvation use the scriptures on obedience to the Saviour. (3) Point out Jesus Christ as the only Saviour; that He saves by His blood, by His grace. His wonderful risen life. "There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby w^e must be saved." 6. Remember you own heart attitude is pivotal and deciding. If you are formal, purely intellectual, unemo- tional, uncompassionate, not borne in upon by the press- ing love of the cross, you will fail. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." 7. The matter of approach, tact fulness in seeking an entrance for the Gospel message, is very important. Sometimes it is best to adopt indirect methods of ap- proach, come up on the "blind side": sometimes the direct method is best. "Are you a Christian?" "Have you been born again?" "Are you saved or lost?" "Is your heart right with God?" These are some of the questions used. Here tact, common sense, is of great value. 8. It is usually best to deal with your own sex. This i66 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST is not always true. Also deal with people as a rule of, or near, your age. 9. It is usually best to deal with people alone, in a quiet place, parlor or office, some place undisturbed, where without embarrassment or a show of righteous- ness you can pray and give the lost a chance to confess the Saviour. 10. Never allow yourself to be sidetracked nor di- verted from the main matter in hand. Controversy will always divert attention and lead away from salvation. 1 1. Always act in the most courteous and gentlemanly way, never losing your temper^ no matter how severely tempted. 12. Never worry the unsaved with long over-pressed appeals. When you see they are irritated or bored, or restless or angered, leave them and seek again to reach them. Sometimes a brief, pointed, soul-stirring message will do more than any other to reach them. Watch the face and words and tone of the sinner. 13. Avoid discouragement in case you do not succeed. Patience and persistence are high virtues in soul-winning. The game is worth many failing efforts. Christ seemed to fail in winning some. George Mueller of Bristol sought the soul of one man more than sixty years before he won him. The Lord of glory is ''for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate" (getting in place) (Isa. 28: 6) is one of God's early promises to those who seek to win against odds. 14. The wise use of personal experience with Christ, one's own saving testimony, is often of great value in leading the lost to Christ. Care must be exercised for fear extravagant and extreme experiences will produce wrong impressions. Not all conversions are like Paul's. Many are like Philip's and Levi's. 'They left all and followed him." 15. "Follow-up work" is important. Remember sin's darkness is dense and souls must be taught like babies, slowly, patiently and persistently. Spiritual motherhood PERSONAL WORK 167 can no more accomplish wonders in a day than physical motherhood can in the rearing of children. "Line on line, precept on precept" is fine advice to follow here. Enlist the saved. Babes need mother-arms, mother-food, mother-love and protection and direction. So do babes in Christ. The churches need to practice the art of motherhood in spiritual matters. 16. There are two kinds of evangelism — soul-winning and soul-building. The one is spiritual conquest, the other spiritual construction. The waste of the former is often due to the neglect in the latter. Constructive evangelism is of the first importance if soul-winning is conserved as it should be. Much waste and loss are caused by the Christian organizations neglecting to care for the social life of the young people. They are led to Christ and left to the devil to set their social standards and ideals. Here is a great sin on the part of the churches. This is a necessary part of soul-saving, the care of souls already saved. Chapter II HOW TO RECLAIM THE DRIFTING CHRISTIAN There are multitudes of Christians who for one reason or another are discouraged, down and out, backsHdden, spiritual castaways, hindering Christ's cause. They are really saved in their souls but unfed, unattended, neglect- ful, prayerless and "following afar off." Some of them joined some church and were not put to active service; some secretly trusted the Lord, never confessing Him publicly; some professed in public but did not unite with His Church. Their spiritual lives never grew in the grace of God. Some, after joining a church, ran well for a season, a time of tem.ptation came, trouble inter- vened, sin got the upper hand and they drifted away into indifference and sin — doubts about their acceptance with Christ crowded on the heels of sin. So discouragement came and they are backsliders away from God. They need the shepherding of God's people. COMMON CAUSES The causes of backsHding and spiritual drifting can usually be classified under one of the following heads : 1. Failure to publicly confess, obey and follow^ Christ at the beginning of their Christian life. 2. A failure to form a habit of prayer — neglecting the soul's richest source of strength. 3. Neglecting to form a habit of studying daily the Word of God. "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." 4. Yielding to some sinful temptation or pleasure. The dance has wrecked multitudes of young people, caus- ing them to lose their love for the spiritual and leading 168 PERSONAL WORK 169 them into other sins. The modern moving picture craze is carrying hundreds of thousands away from God and the churches, lowering moral standards, tearing down the tissues of moral character and creating the love of the carnal and the sensational. 5. Some real or supposed personal injury received from some other Christian or some sudden fit of anger. The devil tempts us in a thousand ways. 6. Some calamity, sorrozv, reverse in business, discon- certing of plans. Often sorrow will cause people to turn from God and drift far from Him. 7. Often secret sin, some hidden lust or forbidden love will eat like a cancer, causing a backslidden heart (Prov. 14: 14), and then a backslidden Hfe. 8. Domestic infelicity, family troubles, uncongeniality between husband and wife, wrong family government with children, will cause the most difficult cases of back- sliding. Sometimes it starts by difference in church re- lations on the part of husband and wife, '*a house divided against itself." HOW TO RECLAIM THEM I. Find out if possible the cause or causes which led them astray from God. As best you can use such scrip- ture as will heal the disease and meet the case. ( I ) If it is a failure to confess Christ show what God requires. Matt. 10:32, 33. "Whosoever therefore shall confess me be- fore men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." Ro7n. 10:9, 10. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness ; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Mark 8:38. "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of I70 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." (2) If they failed to obey Christ in baptism and church membership, show them their duty as laid down in Matt. 3: 15. "And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteous- This was at the baptism of Jesus. Matt. 28: 19, 20. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things what- soever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Acts 2:41, 42, 46, 47. "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued sted- fastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, prais- ing God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added unto the church daily such as should be saved." Acts 8:36-38. "And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch said, See, here is water: what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said. If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still; and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch: and he bap- tized him." Rom. 6:2,, 4. "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? There- fore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." John 14: 15. "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 15:14. "Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you." (3) If they are neglecting attendance on the worship of God, call their attention to Heb. 10 : 25, "Not for- PERSONAL WORK 171 saking the assembling of ourselves together." Tell them they owe it to God, themselves, and their associates to attend to the things of God's house. (4) If it is a praycrlcss life or neglect of the Bible, give them God's council about these matters in James 4: 2, ''Ye lust, and have not; ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain; ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not." Luke 11:9-13. *'And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or, if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an tgg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children : how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" James 5:13-18. 'Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord ; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit." Luke 22:46. "And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation." Isa. 40:31. "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint." Acts 20:32. "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." 2 Tim. 3 : 13-17. "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse 172 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruc- tion in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." Eph. 6:17. "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Ps. 119: 9, II, 130. ''Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple." Ps. 1:1, 2. "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." Josh. 1 : 8. "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein ; for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and then shalt thou have good success." (5) If it is the love of the world or growth in pros^ perity, put God's Word to them as given in Matt. 6 : 24. "No man can serve two masters : for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." I John 2:15-17. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." Luke 8:14. "And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection." Luke 21 : 34-36. "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunken- PERSONAL WORK 173 ness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." Rom. 12:1, 2. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." 2 Cor. 6: 14-17. "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with un- righteousness? and w^hat communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them ; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." (6) If it is neglect of God's service remind them of Eph. 4: 14-16. 'That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doc- trine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive ; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ; From whom the whole body fitly jointed together and com- pacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the ef- fectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." James 5 : 20. "Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." Dan. 12: 3. 'And they that be wise shall shine as the bright- ness of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." Eph. 6: 10-18. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against princi- palities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of 174 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Where- fore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watch- ing thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." (7) If it is neglecting the Sabbath, show them God's law in Ex. 20:8-11. "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work : But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man- servant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates : For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the sev- enth day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." Isa. 58:13-14. "If thou turn away thy foot from the sab- bath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words : then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord: and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father : for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Isa. 56 : 2. "Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil." (8) If it is sorrow, reverses, affliction, teach them God's word in Heb. 12:5-7, II- "And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chasten- PERSONAL WORK 175 ing, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless after- ward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby." Ps. 46: 1-3. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof." Ps. 2^ : 4. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Ps. 2y: 1-6, 13, 14. "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple, For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me : therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord. I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart : wait, I say, on the Lord." John 14:1-3. "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also." Rom. 8: 28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called accord- ing to his purpose." (9) If it is iinforgiveness in face of some personal injury or grievance, read to them Matt. 6:15. "But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." 176 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Eph. 4 : 32. "And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath for- given you." 2. Appeal to their love for Christ hidden away in their hearts; try to fan those coals into a live, burning flame. Rev. 2:4, 5. "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from w^hence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candle- stick out of his place, except thou repent." Jer. 3 : 12-14. "Co and proclaim these words toward the north, and say. Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you." Jer. 7 : 23. "But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you." 3. Show the consequences of their backsliding and drifting. (i) Bitterness to their own souls and sorrow of heart. (2) Ruin to their Christian testimony and influence. (3) Hindrances and stumblingblocks to others, send- ing the lost, sometimes their own loved ones, plunging into eternity unprepared to meet God, they themselves going with the blood of the unwarned on their hands. (4) Their backslidden lives block God's program and slow up His machinery in reaching a lost world. (5) They dishonor God and take a crown from Christ and grieve the Holy Spirit. (6) They go empty-handed, barren and rewardless into eternity to meet God, saved as it were by fire. 4. Give them something to do. Map out some active PERSONAL WORK 17;^ service, not too hard at first, which will interest them and which they can do. Put loving arms about them, bring them into Sunday school or other part of the church work. Seek to enlist them in the salvation of some one near and dear to them, lead them out and on into the work for Christ. 5. Assure them of God's love, mercy and forgiveness. Read to them the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. It is not necessarily the case of a backslider, yet it shows him how he must come back and how the Father will tenderly receive and restore him. Give him 2 Chron. 7:14. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways ; then will I hear from heaven,, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land " I Jolin 1 : 9. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteous- ness." Hosea 14: i, 4. "O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. I will heal their back- sliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him." Chapter III HOW TO DEAL WITH CHILDREN SCRIPTURES Matt. 19:13, 14. "Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me : for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 6:33. "But seek ye jfirst the kingdom of God, and, his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Prov. 8: 17. "I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me." No part of Christ's redeeming work needs more care- ful, sane, wise and earnest attention than soul-winning among children. ITS VALUE 1. The far reach of evangeUsm among the young is seen in the fact that children are everywhere. It is such a widespread and universal opportunity in soul-winning. In most every home there offers to Christ's people the call of a growing young life with all of its possibilities. 2. Children are susceptible to Gospel influences. Their hearts are tender and malleable, pliable to God's grace. They are easily reached and hence it requires less time and energy to win them and start them off in the Chris- tian service. 3. The saving of a child's soul offers a double oppor- tunity to the worker in that there is a chance to train and utilize the talents and powers for the service of God. 4. The prevalence of death among the young and the multiplied influences to lead them astray as they get older 178 PERSONAL WORK 179 should urge us to win them while *'the evil days come not." 5. Some of our most important and useful leaders and Christian workers come from those saved in youth. They give God a long life of delightful service and bring great glory to His name. SOME DOCTRINAL FACTS 1. What is the condition of a child spiritually when it comes into the world ? Let the Word of God answer. (i) Ps. 51:5. ''I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me." (2) Ps. 58:3. 'The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." (3) Rom. 3:23. "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." These scriptures and others clearly teach that men are born sinners and under God's wrath. 2. If a child dies then before he comes to the time of accountability to God, what becomes of his soul? It is covered by the atoning work of Christ and not being responsible for any conscious act of sin is saved by Christ's death. 3. When he voluntarily chooses sin and is conscious of his wrong, then he becomes an active transgressor and comes under God's law. "The soul that sinneth it shall die" (Ezek. 18:4). And if he is saved he must trust Christ for himself, forsaking by repentance his own sin- ful way. These facts seem to be justified by the case of David's child when he consoled himself that he could go to his child, and other scriptures, and their logical con- clusions (2 Sam. 12:15-23). 4. When does a child become accountable to God for his soul? How old are they when subject to the Gospel appeal? There is no certain age, some younger than others. Home and church training and religious envi- i8o WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST ronment have much to do with this matter. My own boy at five years of age said, 'T am lost, I want you to show me the way to Jesus." He was converted at seven. Most children have a sense of sin between seven and ten. I do not want one of mine to die under seven without giving Christ his heart. GREAT CARE EXERCISED 1. Parents and teachers should be very cautious and yet zealous in doing the right thing with children. They can discourage them for life or they can overpersuade them and get them into the church unsaved without un- derstanding the way of life. Teach, teach them. Make the way plain, pray for them, give them favorable oppor- tunity to find Christ. 2. Make a clear distinction between seeking Christ, being saved and joining the church. If they seek the Saviour encourage them, teach them. If they want to join the church teach them its meaning and responsibiU- ties and be careful as to their salvation first, but do it in such a way as not to discourage and turn them away. 3. Never allow the devil to deceive you, nor to pacify your soul, that the child conscious of sin is not lost and does not need the saving efficacy of Christ's Gospel as much as any rank and fully grown sinner. "Ye must be born again" is true of children in tender years. They are not saved by culture, Christian education and envi- ronment, nor by domestic consecration. Young Tim- othy, like Saul of Tarsus, had to come by the way of the cross when he found peace, pardon and power. 4. Children must not be led to join the church hoping it will help them to find Christ. Regeneration is a neces- sary prerequisite to church membership. The church will not save, help save, nor keep saved. It is the place for the saved to serve in helping to save others. Children should be taught and encouraged to join the church when PERSONAL WORK i8i they give evidence that they have fully and understand- ingly trusted Christ as their Saviour and Lord. WHERE AND HOW TO WIN THEM 1. The best place to win children is in their homes, where the parents, mainly the Christian mother, can teach the Word of God. Show them Christ by word and life, pray with and for them. The mother should not be alone in this heavenly task. God says, 'The father to the children shall make known thy truth" (Isa. 38: 19). He should reenforce the mother every step of the way. 2. The next most fruitful place of soul-winning among children is in the Sunday school, where teacher, superintendent and pastor can give them a winning Gos- pel and urge them individually and by classes to accept Christ. The teacher may have to do some of the work by visits and prayers in the home in conjunction with the mother's efforts. Every teacher ought to be a soul- winner and every Sunday school ought to have constantly evangelistic and soul-winning services. 3. Another place which offers glorious opportunities in child evangelism is the church services. The Sunday school should be moved into the preaching service and the pastor should preach so that the children would be interested and won. The teachers should give personal and careful aid to the pastor in this matter. 4. Special children s meetings in revival times offer a great chance for the evangelization of children. These can be held at a separate time and place, after school hours, or Sunday afternoons, having special attention given to their advertisement, singing, the sermon and so on. 5. The teacher in the public school can do much in a quiet way to win the lost to Christ. My first teacher in a little country school, a log house, with dirt floor i82 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST and log seats, had much to do with impressing me about Christ in my early years. She quoted Ps. 127: i, ''Ex- cept the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it." The pastor in his pastoral visits can win many children. 6. In children's meetings much care should be given to the singing. Songs they can sing should be used, and the sermon that it may teach, be clear, plain, short, being filled with the Gospel, sparkling with illustrations. The plan of salvation, Christ as the Saviour, repentance and faith, confession and obedience after salvation, should be clearly put to the children. 7. Children are easily led, especially if you move their emotions. This makes it important that in asking for confession of Christ the worker should give great care that they understand. Plain, private conversation should be had with them before they are urged to unite with any church. 8. God answers prayer for children. Prayers are important in winning them. Long prayers and long ser- mons in children's meetings are never best. Family prayer at the home altar is one of the finest places in this world to begin the work of evangelism among children. I will never get away from the power of father's prayers at our family altar. 9. When the children have been won to Christ then the church should bend every energy to utilize its best talent in training them for service. Sunday school class organizations, young people's societies, soul-winning bands, enlistment in Christian education, presentation of God's world-calls and needs to them as servants — all these things should be utilized in bringing them to the best service for Christ's coming Kingdom. 10. They should be trained in giving, in living, in praying, in soul-winning. They should be brought in touch with the larger movements of their church and denomination. They should be trained in Kingdom service. Chapter IV HOW TO WIiN THE UNCONCERNED Generally most people are without spiritual interest in their own salvation. This is true in communities where the churches are lifeless and unevangelistic, where re- vivals are scarce, where the tides of spiritual power run low in the churches. Vital, live, evangelistic churches, many revival waves, active soul-winning Christians pro- duce an abiding conviction in men's souls and keep the saving fires burning. Those who feel no convictjon of sin, no need of a Saviour, are difficult to reach. The main, first task in dealing with them is to bring convic- tion of sin to them. The agencies for bringing this about are : 1. Definite prayer for them, seeking the convicting power of God's Spirit on them (John i6:8-ii). 2. Bring them under the infliience of evangelistic and spiritual preaching or teaching. 3. Get them to study God's Word, in tracts, interest- ing books or from the Bible itself. 4. Seek to bring them under consecrated Christian associations. 5. By private appeals in some quiet place using the Word of God in showing them : (i) The work of their sins, their consequence, their eternal punishment, using: Rom. 6:23. ''For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." John 3: 18, 36. "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life : and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." 183 i84 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST John 5 : 24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." John 8 : 24. "I said therefore, unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." Amos 4: 12. "Therefore thus v^ill I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel." Jieb. 10:28, 29. "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer pun- ishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" 2 Thess. 1 : 7-10. "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ : Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power: When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be ad- mired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day." Rev. 21 : 8. "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abomi- nable, and murderers and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone : which is the second death." Read to them Luke 16: 19-31. (2) The love and mercy of God. John 3: 16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Isa. 38:17. "Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of cor- ruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back." Isa. 55 : 3. "Incline thine ear, and come unto me ; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." Rom. 2:4, 5. "Or despiseth thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsufifering : not knowing that the good- ness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against PERSONAL WORK 185 the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." (3) Show them that Christ died for them. Gal. 3: 13. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." I Peter 2:24. "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye are healed." Rom. 5 : 8. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (4) What they must do to be saved; repent of their sins and trust their souls to the keeping of Christ. Acts 3:19. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." Acts 4:12. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 17:30. "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." John 3 : 16, 36. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life : and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 5 : 24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." Acts 20:21. "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." (5) Show how perilous it is to neglect or postpone the matter of the soul's salvation: Heb. 2:3. "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him." i86 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Luke 13:3. "I tell you, Nay: but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Prov. 29:1. "He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." Prov. 1:23-31. "Turn thou at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer ; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me; For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord; They would none of my counsel: They despised all of my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices." Prov. 27: I. "Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou know- est not what a day may bring forth." You cannot do much with a sinner ahead of God. The Holy Spirit is the main agency in stirring up his soul. Your work will be in vain unless the Spirit comes to your aid. You should seek His power (Luke 11 : 13). When the sinner begins to realize his need of Christ, and becomes conscious of his sins and their pressure on his soul, then your task becomes rapidly easier. Chapter V HOW TO DEAL WITH THOSE UNDER CONVICTION The Holy Spirit works conviction in the hearts of men through the Word of God and Christian testimony (John i6:8-ii). When a man is under conviction of sin he feels that he is a sinner in God's sight; there is in his soul a deep sense of the weight of his sins. It is the beginning of the work of grace in his soul. Out of this sense of sin come godly sorrow, contrition, re- pentance, faith and confession. It affects men differently according to their temperament and environment. Some have their whole nature moved to its depths, great anxiety and agony flood their souls. Some go for days in this state of excitement before peace comes as a result of trust and surrender. Some are not so moved in the depths of their spiritual nature; there is a deep sense of sin without much outward manifestation. They feel the sense and weight of sin. When they turn to Christ joy floods their lives and peace sits regnant in their hearts. One of the great values and most glorious results of preaching in the Spirit's power is the convic- tion for sin which results. Evangelistic presentation of the Gospel will always bring conviction to the hearts of some. Private and personal appeal, prayer in the Spirit, reading of God's Word, consecrated testimony in a life devoted to God, are other vital agencies of conviction. HOW TO WIN THOSE UNDER CONVICTION I. Point them to the Lamb of God, who takes away their sins and is the Lord of their lives, (i) Christ as God's sacrifice and Priest. 187 i88 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST John 1 : 29. 'The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith : Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Isa. 53 : 5-7, 10-12. ''But he was wounded for our transgres- sions, he was bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he hath put him to grief : when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied : by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. There- fore, will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong ; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." Gal. 6: 14. "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Gal. 1 : 4. "Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father." Show them that Christ died in their place under God's broken law^, "The soul that sinneth it shall die," and that He paid the full penalty and price for their souls, that Christ replaces their (the sinners') sins with Christ's own righteousness and merit in God's sight (Gal. 2 : 16; Rom. 4:5- 6). (2) Christ is their risen, regnant Lord and Master, able to save and keep saved. Heh. 7:2$. "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Jude 24. "Now, unto him that is able to keep you from fall- ing, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." PERSONAL WORK 189 I Peter i : 5. "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." Rom. 1 : 16, 17. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." Acts 2:36. "Therefore let all the house of Israel know as- suredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." Rom. 10:9. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." John 6 : 37. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me : and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." John 14: 19. "Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more : but ye see me : because I live, ye shall live also." John 11:26. "And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" John 5 : 24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." John 10:28. "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." 2. Lead them to a personal acceptance of Christ as their own present Saviour. ( I ) Forsake, in their hearts' affection, sin in all forms known to them. Isa. 55 : 6, 7. "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near : Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Ezek. 33: II. "Say unto them. As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil way; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" Matt. 3:2. "And saying. Repent ye: for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand." Luke 13:3. "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." I90 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Acts 3 : 19. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." (2) Accept Christ in their inmost souls by faith, be- lieve in Him with their hearts. John 1 : 12. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Rev. 3 : 20. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Rom. 10:8-10. "But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth con- fession is made unto salvation." Johti 3:16, 18, 36. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned al- ready, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. He that believeth on the Son hath ever- lasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 5 : 24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." Acts 10:43. "To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive re- mission of sins." Acts 13: 39. "And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Rom. 5:1, 2. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Eph. 2:8, 9. "For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." PERSONAL WORK 191 Make it clear that it is not by works of rightness, moral fitness or merit, not by ordinance of any kind, not by church membership, not by subscribing to a creed or the performance of any patriotic, meritorious, or praise- worthy deed that they are to be saved, but only and alone and solely by the merit, righteousness, blood, life and power of Jesus Christ as God's crucified, risen and reign- ing Son that they are to be saved. Show them that they cannot merit it nor buy it with money, good deeds, nor by penance nor self-sacrifice of any sort. They obtain its grace only by prayer, repentance, faith in Jesus Christ. He is God's Saviour. 3. Show them the meaning of such salvation result- ing from their penitent trust in Christ. (i) It is spiritual and has to do with the soul and heart (John 3:3-13; Rom. 10:9, 10). (2) It is a new and heavenly regeneration, a quicken- ing, a re-creation from God, changing the heart-life, the psychic nature, an impartation of the divine nature re- sulting in a new creature. John 1 : 12, 13. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 3:3-7. "J^sus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old ? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." Gal. 6: 15. "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avail- eth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." Titus 3 : 4-7. "But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteous- ness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ 192 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Eph. 2:4, 5, 10. "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved), For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." James i : 18. "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." 1 Peter i : 22, 2^. "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fer- vently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incor- ruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." 2 Peter i : 4. "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." Eph. 4 : 22-24. ''That ye put off concerning the former con- versation the old man, which is corrupt according to the de- ceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Ro7n. 5 : 10. "For if, when we were enemies, we were recon- ciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being recon- ciled, we shall be saved by his life." Col. 2:13-15. "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the hand- writing of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (3) That they are possessors of an eternal life, never ending, even the sonship of God in Christ Jesus. John 3 : 36. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 5 : 24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." PERSONAL WORK 193 No power on earth or hell can take this life away from them: John 10: 27-29. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And 1 give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them to me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." Rom. 8:35-39. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 1 Peter i : 3-5. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath be- gotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and un- defiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto sal- vation ready to be revealed in the last time." Jude 24. "Now unto him that is able to keep you from fall- ing, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." (4) That this new life carries with it tremendous and meaningful privileges, opportunities and responsibilities. a. Sonship with God. 2 Cor. 6 : 18. "And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Rev. 21 : 7. "He that overcometh shall inherit all things ; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." John 1 : 12, 13. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name : Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Rom. 8:14-16. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit 194 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." b. Brothership and heirship with Jesus Christ. Rom. 8: 17, 32. "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things." Phil. 4: 19. "But my God shall supply all your need accord- ing to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." • John 17: 10. "And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them." c. Vital union and fellowship with God's people. John iy:2i-2^. "That they all may be one;' as thou. Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us : that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." Rom. 12:5. "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." Gal. 3 : 28. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female : for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." Eph. 5 : 30-32. "For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church." d. Access to the Father's heart and bounty. Col. 1 : 27. "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Col. 2:2, 3. "That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, PERSONAL WORK 195 and of the Father, and of Christ, in whom are hid all the treas- ures of wisdom and knowledge." Col. 3 : 24. "Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ." Rom. 8:23. "And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemp- tion of our body." Rom. 8:28. 'And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Show them after being saved what their duties are in Christ and how to obtain the joy of a life of power and service. Chapter VI HOW TO GROW AND SERVE A new convert, whether young or old in years, is a babe in Christ (i Peter 2:2) and needs spiritual nourish- ment, favorable environment, pure atmosphere, sanitary conditions for the soul, loving protection from sin's rav- ages and temptations, tender guidance and encourage- ment. Christ's churches should be alert to furnish all these for the new converts. Many act as if they feel their work is over when they lead lost souls to Christ and open confession of Him. This is an important step, but only the first step. When their souls are saved then the important work of saving, preserving and utilizing life begins. ''Grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour" (2 Peter 3:18) is God's spiritual order at the doorway of the new life. Wise leadership here will save a world of waste, and eternal loss. It is a long, patient, but exceedingly valuable service to lead out the newly saved into the strength and ripeness of Christian character and acceptable service in Christ's church and Kingdom. THE PROCESSES OF SANCTIFICATION AND SERVICE All that follows in this chapter is based on the fact of personal salvation, sonship with God. The unsaved may do all these things and be eternally lost. These things will not add one whit to salvation, but based on personal salvation they will give grace, character, stability, joy and power to the life. I. The first duty of the newly saved soul is public confession of Jesus Christ as Saviour. 196 PERSONAL WORK 197 Matt. 10:32. "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven." Rom. 10:9, 10. 'That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." God does not want nor bless secret discipleship. He wants His people to face the world confidently and boldly and stand for Him everywhere and at all times. Assure the trusting sinner that there is great joy in public con- fession. It gives access to the Father through Christ's intercession, "I will confess you before my Father." 2. Another step in spiritual enrichment of the life of a convert is follozmng Christ in baptism and obeying him in church membership. "If a man love me he will keep my words" (John 14:23). "Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you" (John 15 : 14). Jesus himself was baptized in the Jordan (Matt. 3: 13-17) and said, "Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." He commanded his people to "go into all the world, making disciples of every creature, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matt. 28: 18-20). It is first discipleship and then baptism. On the Day of Pentecost, the great day of God's power, three thousand gladly believed the word, repented of their sins, publicly confessed Christ as Sa- viour and were baptized (Acts 2:41-47). "The Lord added unto the church daily such as were being saved." Point out the eunuch's baptism (Acts 8:26-39), Paul's baptism (Acts 9: 1-18), the jailer's baptism (Acts 16: 25-33), Cornelius' baptism (Acts 10:34-48). In each of these cases there is evidence of repentance, faith, con- fession and then baptism. Baptism does not save, nor help save, but it proclaims Christ's death, burial and resurrection, the great act and doctrine by which men 198 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE L0ST are saved. It pictures the sinner's union with Christ's death and his entrance into the new Hfe of separation from the old Hfe and devotion to the new. He puts pub- Hcly a grave between him and his former hfe of sin. This is a vital step in one's progress in the upward way and no one confessing Christ as Saviour ought to put off this happy obedience to His blessed command. Thus with baptism and admission into Christ's Church the new convert is admitted into a noble fellowship of worship and service. He finds here: (i) A congenial place of worship with God's com- mand, "Neglect not the assembling of yourselves together as is the manner of some." He must remember that this church is Christ's bride and that we should love, cherish and honor the church as a man is expected to love, cherish and honor his wife (Eph. 5:21-33). (2) A place of prayer and the study of God's Word (Acts 2:41-43). (3) A place to observe the Lord's Supper (Acts 2 : 42; Luke 22 : 15-20). (4) A place to win souls and glorify Christ in giving time, talent and means for the extension of Christ's Kingdom (Matt. 28: 18-20, 4: 19). 3. He should establish the habit and begin the life of prayer (i Thess. 5: 17). Isa. 40:31. "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." 4. Establish and persistently keep up the habit of daily reading and studying God's Word. Ps. 119:11. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." I Peter 2 : 2. "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereb3\" Acts 20:32. "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up. PERSONAL WORK 199 and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." 1 Tim. 4:16. "Take heed unto thyself and unto the doc- trine ; continue in them : for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee," 2 Tim. 4: 1-4. "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuf- fering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears ; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." Heb. 4: 12. "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and mar- row, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." 5. Attend regularly and conscientiously the serznce and worship of Christ's Church in all of its teaching, prayer, worship, preaching services (Acts 2:1-4). 6. He should become a systematic, proportionate, cheerful, liberal giver of his means to the cause of Jesus Christ and His churches. 2 Cor. 9 : 6-8. "But this I say. He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you ; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." Mai. 3: 10. "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." 7. Surrender himself absolutely to the will of God and follow Him in all His leadership in a life of purity and separation from the world and its love, setting his affections on things above, and be ready for every good word and work. He should make spiritual preparation 200 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST to serve God in any capacity the church may call, as officer, teacher, or if God calls, preacher, missionary, Gospel singer. 8. For the larger and more useful life of service he should seek the power of the divine Spirit in a full enduement. Acts 1 : 8. "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you : and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts S'- 32. ''And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him." Luke II : 13. *'If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" Eph. 5:18. 'And be not drunk with wine, wherein is ex- cess; but be filled with the Spirit." See Chapter 5, Part I. 9. The finest and fastest way to grow and glow is to win souls constantly. 'ToUow me and I will make you fishers of men" (Matt. 4: 19). *'He that winneth souls is wise and they that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever and ever'' (Prov. 11 : 30 and Dan. 12:3). Chapter VII HOW TO MEET THE LOST MAN'S DIFFICULTIES In dealing with unsaved people of all ages and condi- tions soul-winners will find all kinds of difficulties which an active, aggressive devil constantly puts in their way. These difficulties should be squarely met and as far as possible answered and relieved and removed from the way of the sinner. Some of them are used as mere ex- cuses as was the case in Luke 14: 15-24, where ''They all with one consent began to make excuse." But in many cases honest seekers find a real hindrance and need help to overcome it. The following are some of the prevalent difficulties and suggested ways to meet them : I. "I am too great a sinner'' *'My heart is too hard." These are the words the devil often puts in the minds of seekers and makes a real barrier of them. (i) Tell them of PaiiVs case (i Tim. 1:15). He was the chief of sinners and yet God saved him. (2) Tell them of the thief on the cross who was a criminal and a condemned sinner, and yet Christ spoke words of life to him (Luke 22)'. 39-43). (3) Tell them of the harlot woman at Jacob's well, whom he saved and sent away as an evangel of light (John 4). (4) Tell them of the jailer at Philippi who cruelly treated Paul and how God saved him (Acts 16 : 22-2,2,) - (5) Tell them of the great crowd of crucifiers of Christ who in repentance were saved on the day of Pen- tecost (Acts 2:22, 23, 37-41). (6) Tell them of David's awfid double crime of mur- der and adultery and how on his repentance and confes- sion God forgave him (Ps. 51). 201 202 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST (7) Show God's promises of pardon and salvation cov- ering every case, it matters not how hard. Isa. 1:18. "Come, now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Rom. 1 : 16. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Luke 19: 10. "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Rom. 5:6-10. "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Matt. 9: 12, 13. "But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Ps. 32 : 5. "I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." Esek. 36 : 26, 27. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you : and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." Heh. 7 : 25. "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." John 6 : 37. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me ; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Rev. 22: 17. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say. Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Press on them Christ's words, "Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out," and ''Whosoever will let him take the water of life freely/' PERSONAL WORK 203 2. "I am not good enough to he a Christian." '7 can- not live the Christian life." (i) Show the man who wants to be good enough before he comes to Christ that Jesus died to provide a way for the ungodly and sinners. ''While we were yet sinners Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). ''When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly" (Rom. 5:6). "I am not come," says Jesus, "to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." Cite to them the Father's cordial reception and treat- ment of the unworthy and sinning prodigal when he re- turned penitent (Luke 15:20-24), and how God sent back home justified the penitent publican who claimed no merit but was only a sinner, and at the same time con- demned the self-righteous man claiming merit (Luke 18: 10-14). Christ offers to make us good enough by His imputed righteousness (Rom. 4:4-6, 15, 20-22). (2) The man who says he cannot stem the tide and live the Christian life, fearing he will fall, needs to have explained to him the plan of salvation, that he becomes by faith a child of God and possesses eternal Hfe and that God is able to keep His children. John 10:28, 29. "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." 1 Peter i : 5. "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." Jude 24. "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." 2 Tim. 1 : 12. "For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have be- lieved, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." Isa. 41 : 13. "For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not ; I will help thee." Heh. 7'. 2^. "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God By him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for tb^." 204 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST God's uttermost is greater than the devil's last limit of power. *'A11 power is given unto me in heaven and in earth . . . and lo, I am with you alway even unto the end of the world" (Matt. 28: 18, 20), and '1 will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Heb. 13: 5). 1 Cor. 10: 13. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation provide a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 2 Cor. 12: g, 10. "And he said unto me. My grace is suf- ficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleas- ure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake : for when I am weak, then I am strong." Isa. 40:29-31. "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall : But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount on wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." 3. ''7 cannot break with my sins.'' This is the cry of a soul often in the despairing grip of some great sin, as whisky drinking, gambling, adultery or swearing. He needs help from God and His truth. Tell him four things : ( I ) Giving up his sins is an absolute necessity or his soul will be forever lost in hell. Luke 13:3. "I tell you. Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Rom. 6 : 23. "For the wages of sin is death ; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Gal. 6 : 7, 8. "Be not deceived ; God is not mocked : for what- soever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Rev. 21 : 8. "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers. PERSONAL WORK 205 and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone : which is the second death." (2) He has been trying to give up his sins in his own strength, when he should do it in the power of Christ. Phil. 4: 13. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." JoJui 8:36. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." Heb. 7:2$. "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him." Phil. 4: 19. "But my God shall supply all your need accord- ing to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Heb. 12 : 2. "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (3) That Christ has put on record the cases where murderers and adulterers, thieves and all sorts, were saved and what Christ has done He can do again (John 6:37; Ps. 51; John 4). Jesus has never failed in a penitent, trusting soul. (4) That the chance to win over the worst sin lies in his own affections. If he will start to give up and break with them in his own desires and love, God's power will flood his soul in delivering and keeping strength. Rom. 6: 12-14. "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin : but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments unto righteousness unto God." 4. ''The Christian life is too hard." "There is too much to give up." "I know I have failed at it." The many seeming failures in Christian professions are due to two general causes. Either the party was not genuinely saved or he failed in his Christian duties after he was saved. 2o6 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST (i) Find out just where he stands — saved and neg- lectful or mistaken about salvation. (2) If saved, tell him to look to Christ for strength, pray, confess Christ, study the Bible, go to work for Him, and this failure will be turned into victory. (3) If unsaved, show him that Christ does not ask him to give up anything but that which if kept will injure and finally ruin him. All He asks us to surrender are the things for our good. Ps. 84: II. "For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory : no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." Tell him when he gives up his sins in his deepest soul then God's ways are easy and pleasant. Matt. 1 1 : 30. "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Prov. 3:17. "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." It is sin's ways that are hard. Prov. 13:15. "Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard." Isa. 57 : 21. "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Remind him that God offers good things as compen- sations for all he loses in giving up sin. Rom. 8 : 32. "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Phil. 3:7, 8. "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may win Christ." He will get Christ, eternal Hfe, joy in service and heaven. 5. '7 will lose my business, my friends and be ridi- culed and persecuted.'' PERSONAL WORK 207 This fear influences many uninformed, timid souls. Show them that (i) They put a poor vakie on their souls. Their eternal welfare is far more important than their tem- poral affairs. Matt. 16:26. "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (2) That if his business injures his soul's interests he ought to give it up and if his friends' friendships hang on such a basis they are not worth having. James 4 : 4. "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whoso- ever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." Prov. 13 : 20. "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." Ps. 1:1, 2. "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." Prov. 29: 25. "The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe." (3) That ridicule and persecution have their compen- sations. Mark 10:29, 30. "And Jesus answered and said. Verily, I say unto you. There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, but he shall receive an hundred- fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." Matt. 5: II, 12. "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven : for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." 2 Tim. 2: 12. "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us." 2oB WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Rom. 8: i8. "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." I Pet. 2:20, 21. "For what glory is it, if, when ye be buf- feted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps." 6. '7 do not feel like it.'' This is one of the devil's most skillful deceptions. Multitudes of lost souls have gone headlong into eternity- waiting for ''feeling." It never came and they plunged into hell. In dealing with such cases great care should be exercised. There is a feeHng the sinner must have. Salvation is an experimental matter in the deepest seat of the soul. The emotional nature, the heart-life, is reached by redemption. "Christ formed in you the hope of glory," 'T will come in to you and sup with you," are the heart's experiences. He ought to have feelings before and after he is saved, but he ought not to mix these feelings. One is the feeHng of sorrow for sin, the other the feeling of the joy of salvation. He will have the sense of sin before and the joy of being saved after he trusts Christ. If he has "feelings" enough to give up his sins that is all God requires. Let him seek till he has a sense of his own sins and feelings enough to forsake his sins, then let him trust the Saviour and Christ will "sup" with him. Rev. 3 : 20. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock : if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Use these scriptures and explain them to him: John 1 : 12. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." PERSONAL WORK 209 Johtt 3 : 36. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Eph. 1:13. "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise." I Peter i : 8. "Whom having not seen, ye love ; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." Isa. 55 : 7. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the un- righteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Do not undervalue the necessity for true repentance nor fail to distinguish between the feelings before and after conversion. Tell him there is feeling when he trusts Christ's saving power, when pardon and joy and Christ come in. 7. "There is so much inconsistency and hypocrisy among church members." This is one of the most common excuses among un- saved people. The charge is often sadly true. Careless- ness, godlessness, worldliness and often open sins of all kinds among professed Christians constitute one of the most serious hindrances to Christ's cause. *'What are these wounds in thine hands? Then shall he answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends'* (Zech. 13:6), and Judas "was guide to them that took Jesus" (Acts 1:16), are awful scriptural charges against professed Christians. Many of those inside the fold have denied Jesus and betrayed His cause, since Peter and Judas blackened the Bible records with their deeds of shame. It will not help any to deny the fact. You can only regret it and lead the sinner by its deadly influence the best you can. It will help to tell him as follows: (i) Do not look to men for standards of life but to Christ. 2IO WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Heh. 12:2. "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." He is our model in life and our standard of righteous- ness at the judgment. Acts 17:30, 31. "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." (2) Many church members are not genuinely saved. They failed to receive Christ in their hearts. Their lives show that they are counterfeits and we must not let their mistakes damn us. (3) We do not always know other men's difficulties and troubles. We probably could do no better if we had their loads and burdens. (4) Men though saved are not perfect. They still have their carnal minds, tempers and passions and if they do not keep up the fight, keep close to God in prayer, Bible study, worship and work for God their lives will not bear the proper testimony. ( 5 ) Many are saved and do not show it much, but in their soul-life they are saved. They do not grow in strength of Christian character. Their works will be burned up but their souls will be saved (i Cor. 3: 15). It is better to be a sorry, unfruitful Christian and be saved and go to heaven than for consistency's sake re- fuse Christ and die and go down to hell. One had better live with hypocrites a short time in the church than to live with them in hell forever. (6) Tell him that he must stand alone on his own record, not another's, at the judgment. Rom. 14:12. "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." PERSONAL WORK 211 (7) Show him what God says about those who judge others and do the same things. Ro7n. 2: 1-6. "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, who- soever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another^ thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering ; not knowing that the goodness of God lead- eth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds." Matt. 7:1-5. ''Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but con- siderest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." (8) Tell him there are inconsistencies and hypocrisies out of the church, in business, society, professional life, everywhere, and that his logic applied elsewhere in life would keep him out of business and society. (9) Tell him there are many fine, strong, consecrated, true-living Christians. Let them be his example if he will take some man as his example. Take the good dollar and let the counterfeit go. This is common sense. Think of John, not Peter, and not Judas. (10) Tell him he cannot be saved anyhow by the sins of other men. He is to be saved by the power of God in Christ Jesus. It is Christ's imputed righteousness which is the basis of our hope, not the unrighteousness of weak and frail men. 8. '7 have imforgiveness in my heart. I harue been wronged and cannot forgive." 212 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST This is one of the devil's big, hard stumps in the way of some souls. It steels and hardens the heart and makes grace difficult to get in. Deal with him as follows : (i) Tell him unforgiveness is one of the worst sins. It hardens the heart, brings unhappiness and carries with it a constant peril of something worse. It may lead to anger and often to killing, family and community tragedies. He ought to give it up because of its perils and dangers to his own life and happiness. (2) Tell him he must give it up or face God's wrath and the consequences of unforgiveness at the judgment. God will not forgive him unless he forgives. Matt. 6: 15, *'But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Matt. 18:21, 22. "Then came Peter to him, and said. Lord how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but. Until seventy times seven." Then read to him the parable of the Unjust Servant in Matt. 18:23-35. (3) Show what wrongs he has done to God in reject- ing, crucifying Christ, disobeying His law, putting His holy blood under his feet, doing despite to the Spirit and sinning constantly in the face of God's mercy, love and blessings. Eph. 4 : 32. "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath for- given you." (4) Tell him he can forgive in Christ's strength if he will only give up his stubborn will and way. Phil, 4: 13. "I can do all things through Christ v^hich strengtheneth me." Gal. 5 : 22, 2^. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance : against such there is no law." PERSONAL WORK 213 9. '7 have crossed the deadline and there is no hope for me/' Some discouraged people lose heart in being saved and think that they have ''sinned away their day of grace." It is a dreadful sin to continue to reject Christ and refuse offered mercy and continuously shut the door of their hearts in the face of God's Spirit seeking to save them. It does callous the soul and sear the conscience and harden the heart and constantly makes more difficult one's chance to be saved. Answer such a person : ( 1 ) That God's mercy is longsuffering. He is full of mercy. Isa. 55 : 6, 7. "Seek the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near : Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him : and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Ps. 130:7. "Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption." Ps. 86 : 5. "For thou. Lord, art good, and ready to forgive : and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee." 2 Peter 3 : 9. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." His love is an everlasting love and His endeavor will go to infinite limits to save a soul. (2) That God promises to receive all who come to Him, all who call on Him, and invites whosoever will. John 6 : 37. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Rom. 10:13. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Rev. 22: 17. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (3) That He saved at the last souls which put off long and were confirmed sinners: Nicodemus, the self- 214 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST righteous sinner; Paul, the rehgiously outrageous sinner; the woman with seven devils ; the Gadarene with a legion of devils; the thief on the cross who accepted his last chance; a"nd then He says He will save ''him that Cometh." (4) Tell him of God's love for him and its demon- stration In Christ's death and the Spirit's persistent call, His anxiety for him to come, in that He wllleth the death of none. His seeking for his soul as illustrated in the Prodigal Son's father (Luke 15) and in Christ's great mission; '*The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.'' As God took back to His bounty and love the sinning, ungrateful prodigal, so will He re- ceive any sinner who comes to himself, arises and goes to the Father's arms. Read to him Deut. 4: 30, 31. 10. '7 have committed the unpardonable sin." Here many weary souls are mistaken. They are worked with by Christian workers through many revivals and are not saved and they conclude that God has rejected them and they have committed the sin against the Holy Spirit. This sin is stated in Matt. 12: 31, 32. "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blas- phemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." I John 5: 16. ''If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it." It is very clear that this sin for which there is no pardon in this world nor the world to come is attributing to the devil the work known to be done by the Holy Spirit. Usually they have a mistaken view of what this sin is. If they have committed it then their case is PERSONAL WORK 215 settled and their doom is eternally fixed. How may one tell whether or not he has committed it and that God's Spirit has left him to his doom? ( 1 ) When one has sinned against the Spirit in this fashion he will have utterly no desire to be a Christian, no spiritual impression will ever again come to his soul. 'John 6:44. "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." As long as he has the faintest desire to be a Christian God has not left him. (2) In case he has committed the unpardonable sin he will be given over wholly to the devil and his heart will be as hard as adamant. Not all who have cold and hard hearts have committed this sin, but that is one of its marks. (3) Show him how God goes to the limit for souls. John 6 : 37. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me: and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Rom. 10: 13. "For whosoever shall call upon the name ot the Lord shall be saved." Heh. 7'. 2^. "Wherefore he is also able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." I Tim. I : 15, 16. "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I ob- tained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." Acts 13:38, 39. "Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the for- giveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Rev. 22: 17. "And the Spirit and the bride say. Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Warn him against that awful day and deed that seals 2l6 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST a sinner's doom forever by giving him Alexander's sad lines : There is a time we know not when, A place we know not where; Which marks the destiny of men To glory or despair. There is a line, by us unseen. Which crosses every path, Which marks the boundary between God's mercy and His wrath. To pass that limit is to die. To die as if by stealth; It does not dim the beaming eye, Nor pale the glow of health. The conscience may be still at ease. The spirit light and gay; And that which pleases still may please, And care be thrust away. But on the forehead God hath set Indelibly a mark; Unseen by man, for man as yet Is blind and in the dark. He feels perchance that all is well And every fear is calmed; He lives, he dies, he wakes in hell. Not only doomed but damned. O, where is that mysterious line That may by men be crossed, Beyond which God Himself hath sworn, That he who goes is lost ? An answer from the skies repeats, "Ye who from God depart To-day, O hear his voice, To-day repent and harden not your heart." II. repent.' 7 zvant to he saved hut can't helieve. I cannot PERSONAL WORK 217 Many souls will say when they are near the Saviour, "I can't believe." It is as difficult to teach one how to believe as it is to teach one how to love. In dealing with such an one find out just his trouble. It may be un- willingness to give up some sin or a confusion of mind about whom and what to believe. (i) Show him how worthy Christ is of his richest faith and confidence. His death for him, His continued love and mercy, the call of His Spirit, the blessings in life and many providences, all these call for trust. (2) Show him it is not belief in one's self, but in Christ as a personal Saviour. His strength is sufficient. His merit is all God asks. (3) Show him His command is to believe. His promises are based on personal trust and all his future is involved in his faith in Christ. John 1 : 12. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." John 3: 16. 'Tor God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 5:24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." Rom. 5:1. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (4) Show him that the willing spirit will have much to do with his faith and repentance. John 7: 17. "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, w^hether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." Ps. 110:3. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." 12. Those who find scriptural and doctrinal diiUcul- ties. 2i8 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST (i) 'The Bible is not divine and its authority is not binding on me." a. Ask them to explain the Bible's power over the world to-day — its marvelous history, its fulfillment of prophecy, its unity, its mighty saving message and the civilization it produces if it is not divinely inspired. b. Show what it says about its origin in 1 Thess. 2: 13. "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." 2 Pet. 1 : 20, 21. "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Tim. 3 : 16. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." (2) *'The Bible has inconsistencies and contradictions in it." Usually this is based on ignorance and an exami- nation of such an one will show his inability to point out these errors. Press him and you will embarrass him. Give him what God says about the critics and those who understand not. 1 Cor. 2 : 14. "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Isa. 55 : 8, 9. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Dan. 12 : 10. "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand ; but the wise shall understand." 2 Pet. 3 : 16-18. "As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be under- stood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware PERSONAL WORK 219 lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 2 Pet. 2: 12. "But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they under- stand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption." Use and press on him John 7: 17. ''If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or wli^ther I speak of my- self." Ps. 119: 18. "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold won- drous things out of thy law." James 1 : 5. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." I Cor. 1 : 18, 23, 24. "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." (3) "/ cannot understand the atonement or the neces- sity of Christ's death.'' Tell him he does not have to understand. God's ways are above his and the revealed things belong to us and the secret things to God (Isa. 55:8, 9). He does not have to understand the processes of di- gestion in order to eat, nor gravitation to walk, nor elec- tricity to enjoy its light or use its power. Trust God for His ways. God says that man sinned and thus fell, and that some one, who had not violated God's law, must intervene, pay the penalty, and redeem them. Show him God's question in P.om. 9 : 20-24. "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long- 220 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction : And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?" Go carefully through Romans 5 with him. Light may fall into his heart. (4) '7 do not believe in hell — the doctrine of eternal punishment/' This is a common difficulty with certain people who have been under the influences of "Russellism" and "Eddyism," and other strange and misleading cults. It is not of much avail to discuss this difficulty with one who does not believe in the deity of Christ and the bind- ing authority of the Scriptures. It is a doctrine of divine revelation. The arguments from sin, its punishments here in this world, have some weight but unless one be- lieves in God's Word, you can do very little with him on this or any other doctrine of pure revelation. God only knows the future and if men refuse His plain word on their destiny they will have to wait and see and take the consequences. The Holy Scriptures are perfectly explicit and very plain on this unspeakable meaningful doctrine. The Old Testament has many references in it to eternal punishment, such as Job 21 : 30. "That the wicked is reserved to the day of de- struction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath." Ps. 9: 17. 'The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." Isa. 14:9. "Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations." Dan. 12: 2. "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Prov. 15:11. "Hell and destruction are before the Lord: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?" Enek. 31 : 16. "I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend PERSONAL WORK 221 into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth." The New Testament is full of it, there being more than 225 verses bearing in one way or another on this doc- trine, such as Matt. 5 : 22. ''But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry ■with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judg- ment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council ; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." Matt. 10:28. "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul : but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matt. II : 23. 'And thou, Capernaum, which are exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell : for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day." Matt. 25:31-34, 46. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations : and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment : but the righteous into life eternal." John 3:36. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." 2 Thess. 1 : 7-10. "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ : Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to J3e glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day." 2 Peter 2 : 9. "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished." 222 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Rev. 20: 14, 15. "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Rev. 21 : 8. "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." Read to him Luke 16: 19-31. These and many other Scriptures, being the words of Job, David, Isaiah, Daniel, Matthew, John, Luke, Peter, Paul, and Jesus Christ — all with the imprint of God's Holy Spirit direction and inbreathing — make clear the following tragical facts about the future destiny of un- believing and sinning men and women : (i) That there is a spiritual state or place made and reserved by a merciful and just God for all who reject His love and mercy expressed in Jesus Christ and who persist in refusing His grace, and that condition when once entered intO' is endless and eternal. The terms describing its duration are the same as those describing the length of life of the souls of the redeemed. (2) That it was made for the devil and his angels and all who have the mark of ''the beast," all who follow Satan instead of Christ. (3) That the sin of unbehef is sufficient of itself to doom men forever in hell. John 3: 18, 36. "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not on the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Rev. 21 : 8. "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone : which is the second death." PERSONAL WORK 223 (4) That when once in hell, which is entered immedi- ately after death (Luke 16:22, 23; Heb. 9:27), there is no chance of change — their destiny is eternally fixed — '*a great gulf fixed" intervenes between the iamned and the redeemed (Luke 16:26). (5) That in this condition the soul is conscious and has its faculties — can see, cry, remember, reason, feel thirst and call for mercy, and shows an interest in the eternal welfare of loved ones left in the earth (Luke 16: 22-31). (6) That the bodies of the lost sinners will be raised from the dead unto damnation (Dan 12:2). (7) That Satan and his angels are doing their utmost to carry every possible soul down to hell. I Peter 5 : 8. "Be sober, be vigilant ; because your adver- sary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." Eph. 6:11, 12. "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Gal. 5: 17. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." Isa. 14 : 9. "Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth ; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations." Show him that men go to hell because they do not repent Luke 16:30. "And he said. Nay, Father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent." and believe, as seen in John 3: 18, 36 and Rev. 21:8. Thus make him face God's Word in the most earnest spirit, not in controversy but in love and the power of the Holy Spirit. 224 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST 13. ''Not to-night f' '7 will wait." These are they who postpone salvation for various reasons. Some put their salvation off because of their age, being too young, as they or their parents think; business, desiring to accumulate; pleasures, desiring to enjoy the world's ways and become Christians when they are older. To all such press God's teachings on the perils and risks involved in procrastination. (i) The peril of God's wrath. He is a God of wrath and it hangs in awful impending danger over every lost sinner every hour of hfe. John 3 : 36. ''He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Rev. 6:15-17. "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks. Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Job 21 : 20. "His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty." Ps. 58:9. "Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath." Isa. 13:9. "Behold the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it." Matt. 3 : 7. "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them. O genera- tion of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Rom. 1 : 18. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." Rev. 15 : I ; 16: 19. "And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell : and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath." PERSONAL WORK 225 Job 36:18. "Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke : then a great ransom cannot deliver thee." (2) The peril of the "withdrcnval of His Holy Spirit, who alone can bring salvation from Christ. Gen. 6 : 3. "And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man." He may leave him without hope. (3) The peril of a drifting mid hardened heart. Hch. 2:1. "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip." Hch. 3 : 7, 8. "Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith), To-day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness." (4) The peril of death. It may take him unawares and unprepared at any time. Amos 4: 12. "Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, Israel." Ezek. 33: II. "Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, 1 have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live : turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" Prov. 27:1. "Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." Prov. 29:1. "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." (5) The peril of feeling and desire. When the Spirit of God works a desire in the heart men should then yield to God. The desire may not last but may pass forever. Acts 24:24, 25; 26:28, 29. "And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to 226 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost and alto- gether such as I am, except these bonds." (6) Urge him to seek God now, for His promises to the sinner for his good are all in the present tense. 2 Cor. 6 : 2. "I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the day of salvation." Luke 12: 19, 20. 'And I will say to my soul. Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?" James 4: 13, 14. '*Go to now, ye that say. To-day or to-mor- row we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain : Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." JoJin 12:35. 'Then Jesus said unto them. Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest dark- ness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth." Matt. 6 : 33. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (7) Remind him of the suddenness of Christ's return for judgment. Every man should be ready for His coming. Matt. 25 : 10-12. "And while they went to buy, the bride- groom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage : and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying. Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not." Acts 17:30, 31. "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but nozv commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." PERSONAL WORK 227 Dent. 32:35. "To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste" Now is God's time to save, "All things are now ready, seek ye the Lord while he may be found." All these difficulties and any others which the personal soul-winner finds in his experiences with the lost can be met in a patient, persistent spirit of prayer, love and in the power of the Holy Spirit if he but turn the light of God's Word on their hearts, because it is the Sword of the Spirit and it is "quick and powerful and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the divid- ing asunder of soul and spirit, and of joints and mar- row, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. 4: 12). It is God's fire and hammer to burn and break hearts with. Chapter VIII HOW TO REACH THE DECEIVED AND DELUDED In seeking to win men we are everywhere confronted with certain people who have been led astray from God's truth as it is in Christ Jesus. They are themselves usually very enthusiastic propagandists or personal workers. They seek by all means to make disciples for their cults. These errorists are not unknown to God's Word. They are spoken of and we are warned against them. See God's charge to his preachers and teachers in 2 Tim. 4: 1-5. "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom: Preach the word; be instant, in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long- suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears ; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry." 2 Tim. 3: 1-15. "This know also, that in the last days peril- ous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce- breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but deny- ing the power thereof: from such turn away. For this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth; men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further : for their folly shall be mani- fest unto all men, as theirs also was. But thou hast fully 228 PERSONAL WORK 229 known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffer- ing, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured; but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiv- ing, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them : And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." We are not to share their error but do what we can to win them to Christ and His truth. Among these error- ists we find Jews, Roman Catholics, Unitarians, Univer- salists, Spiritualists, Followers of Russell, Seventh Day Adventists, Christian Scientists, so called. All of these claim the Bible as their holy book and profess to believe it and follow it. The Jew rejects the New Testament and the Catholic repudiates our Protestant version, and the Christian Scientist puts Mrs. Eddy's ''Science and Health" above the Bible. They will deny this charge in the main, but practice it in their devotion to Mrs. Eddy's book. All of these people are hard to reach because Satan has blinded their eyes by blind teachings and teachers and they are generally informed in their errors and set in their ways. It takes patience, kindness, gen- tleness, persistence, correct example, the Word of God and the power of God to reach, reclaim and instruct these errorists. Many of them are really saved people. The truth of Christ in its dimmer rays has penetrated, per- colated, pierced through their errors and found faith and repentance and has done its saving work. Many of them are good people, living sincere, beautiful Hves, honestly seeking the way to God. Our attitude should never be harsh, rarely controversial, always sincere and kindly, if we would win them. We should never allow an errorist to outstrip or surpass us in the Christian spirit and life. Their works of love and charity often put Christians to shame. Much prayer will aid in the task of winning" 230 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST these people who have gone astray from God and missed the way in sin's darkened paths. It takes consecrated tact, great spiritual power and an intimate and workable knowledge of God's Word and an enduement of the Holy Ghost to do the best work. I. JEWS Here is the hard knot of Christian evangelism. Jesus and Paul failed in the main to break through pride, traditions, self-righteousness and previous conceptions. Christian effort has sadly failed since. It's the out- standing national tragedy. ''Their blindness and hard- ness of heart" seem still to be on. The veil is yet over their eyes as a people. Thanks be to God, through the centuries some have come to know Him whom to know aright is life eternal. Surely the tide will turn and God's unfolding cycles will see them coming home to God and Christ. We will yet see God's redemptive plan work out its details for the Jews. Till then let every Christian do his best to pick up for Christ every son of Abraham he can. The Gospel can save him. 1. The fact that they accept the Old Testament and worship God as Father does not make them Christians, for Christ says plainly, *T am the way, the truth, and the life : no man cometh unto the Father but by me" (John 14: 6). "I am the door; by me if any man enter in he shall be saved. He that entereth not by the door the same is a thief and a robber" (John 10:9, i). 'T and my Father are one" (John 10:36, John 5:24; 14:1, 24). "Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:10-12; i John 2. Help them to see Christ as God's Messiah, revealed in Old Testament and fulfilled in New Testament (Ps. 22; Ps. 69; Isa. 53; Dan. 9:26; Zech. 12:10; Micah 5:2; Heb. 9th and loth chapters; 7 : 25-28). PERSONAL WORK 231 3. Show them the awful consequences of rejecting Christ. John 3: 18, 36. "He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Heh. 10:26-29. "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. But a certain fearful looking for of judg- ment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant where- with he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" Hcb. 6 : 4-6. "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come. If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance ; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." 4. If they fear persecution when they turn to Christ, console them with God's promises : 2 Tim. 2: 12. "H we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us." Acts 5: 40, 41. "And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name." Matt. 5:10-12. "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven : for so persecuted they the prophets which were be- fore you." 232 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST 5. Assure them that through Christ is their only way to get to God the Father : John 14:6. ''Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the Hfe: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." I John 2 : 23. ''Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [but] he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also." II. ROMAN CATHOLICS One who professes a false form of true religion is / very hard to reach with the truth. Approach the Ro- manist as follows : 1. Ask him if he is assured of his salvation. Use I John 5:13. "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God: that yc may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believ.e on the name of the Son of God." Rom. 8: 14. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." John 5 : 24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; hut is passed from death unto life." 2. Show him that to be really saved he must have a divine operation called a birth from above or a regenera- tion of soul John 3 : 1-5. "There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews : The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God : for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him. How can a man be born when he is old ? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered. Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." PERSONAL WORK 233 2 Cor. 5 : 17. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." JoJin 1 : 12. "But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name," Rom. 10:9, 10. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 'For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Eph. 1 : 7. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." 2 Peter i : 4. "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 3. Show him that it comes about by repentance and faith, not by doing penance. John 3 : 16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." Luke 13:3. "I tell you. Nay: but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Acts ^: 19. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out." Acts 10:43. "To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive re- mission of sins." 4. Show him that Christ is our only mediator. 'Tor there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (i Tim. 2:5). 5. Urge him to read the Bible, furnishing him with a good copy of the Scriptures. Pray with him and for him. III. UNITARIANS A Unitarian does not accept the deity of Christ or the personality of the Holy Spirit or the inspiration or bind- 234 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST ing authority of the Scriptures. Hence he has light no- tions of sin. 1. Show him that he cannot get to God, the Father, without faith in Jesus the Son. I John 2 : 22, 23. "Who is a Har but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ t He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father : [but] he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Fa- ther also." Matt. 11:27. "All things are delivered unto me of my Fa- ther: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomso- ever the Son will reveal him." John 14 : 6. "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life : no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 5 : 22, 23. "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son : That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him." 2. That there is no other way to be saved except through Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." John 10:1-9. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that en- tereth not by the door into the sheep fold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth ; and the sheep hear his voice : and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers ; but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door : by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." PERSONAL WORK 235 3. Show him that his rejection of Christ as God's divine son involves him in awful sin. John 16:8-10. "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me: Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more." I John 2 : 22, 23. "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jestts is the Christ^ He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [but] he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Fa- ther also." I John 5: 10-12. "He that belie veth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life: and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." Heb. 10:28, 29. "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer pun- ishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" IV. THE UNIVERSALISTS These are so-called Christians who believe that all men will be saved. They base their belief on i Tim. 2:3, 4, "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour : Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." I Cor. 15:22. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." They here mistake God's loving desire for all men to be saved for His determination to save them, and that man's death in Adam and life in Christ here clearly have reference to the resurrection of their bodies and not to life in the soul. I. Show that God's saving desires for men do not 236 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST keep men from having to seek Christ, repent of their sins, believe in Jesus as personal Saviour and confess, obey, follow Him, to have the joys of salvation and service. Luke 13:3. "I tell you, Nay : but except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish." John 3 : 36. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting Hfe: and he that beHeveth not the Son shall not see life: but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 5 : 40. *'And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." 2. Show them that some men are not saved because they refuse God's conditions of salvation. 2 Thess. 1 : 7-10. "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day." Matt. 25 : 41, 46. "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into Hfe eternal." Rev. 20: 15. "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Rom. 1 : 16. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." John 3 : 36. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." V. THE SPIRITUALISTS They believe that living men can and do communicate with the spirits of the dead through persons called "mediums." The best way to meet this cult is to face them with God's Word on their sin. PERSONAL WORK 237 I Tim. 4:1. "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." Dcut. 18:9-12. "When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a cJianner, or a co)i- sidtcr with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee." I Chron. 10: 13. "So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it: And inquired not of the Lord: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse." Isa. 8:19, 20. "And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is not light in them.'' Apply God's test of spirits to them. I John 4: 1-3. "Beloved believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come." Spiritualism repudiates and denies the humanity of Jesus; hence it is of the devil and is anti-Christ. VI. FOLLOWERS OF RUSSELL These followers of 'Tastor Russell" call themselves Millennial Dawnists. Their principal belief consists in denying the doctrines held dear to Christians. They 238 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST deny both the humanity and the deity of Christ, hence his resurrection, the Holy Spirit, and eternal punishment of the unbeliever. The way to meet them and win them is to prove from scriptures the truth of those doctrines which they deny. John 1:1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Col. 1 : 16, 17. "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers : all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." I Tim. 2 : 5. "For there is one God, and one mediator be- tween God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Luke 24 : 39. "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." Acts 7: 56. "And said. Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." John 20 : 24-29. "But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them. Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas was with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said. Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him. My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed," John 16:13-14. "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." Matt. 28: 19. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, bap- tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." All these bear on Christ and the Holy Spirit. Use the PERSONAL WORK 239 following to show them that God teaches that there is a hell. Job 21 : 30. "That the wicked is reserved to the day of de- struction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath." Matt. 25:41, 46. "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre- pared for the devil and his angels. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." John 3 : 36. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." 2 Tliess. 1 : 7-10. "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ : Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." 2 Peter 2 : 9. "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished." Rev. 20: 15. "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Rev. 21:8. "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abom- inable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone : which is the second death." Read to them Luke 16: 19-31. VII. THE SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISTS I. They teach that one must keep the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as the sabbath in order to be a Christian. Otherwise you cannot be saved. Wherever the word "commandment" in the New Testament is used they substitute "sabbath." Hence they make i John 2 : 4 to read, "He that saith I know him and keepeth not his sabbath is a liar and the truth is not in him." And so with I John 3 : 23 and Rev. 22 : 14. They interpret "commandment" to mean the Ten Commandments which includes the fourth on the Sabbath. Show them that 246 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST ( 1 ) The law as a legal set of rules binding on the con- sciences of men was done away in Christ's rule of grace. 2 Cor. 3:7-11. *'But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glori- ous." And that in Christ Jesus the child of God is dead to the law as a legal procedure. Rom. 7 : 4. ''Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be mar- ried to ano'^iher, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." (2) Show them that all the Ten Commandments ex- cept the Sabbath is reafifirmed in the New Testament. See Christ's example in Matt. 12 : 1-8. (3) That the Sabbath obligation is binding on the Christian as a legal observance is declared to be done away with. Col. 2: 16-17. "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect to an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." (4) Show them that the Sabbath was given as the sev- enth day, and that Christ by His resurrection transferred it to the Lord's Day of the New Testament, the day of rest and worship and religious service. As such it be- came the Christian's Lord's Day with spiritual freedom to do God's will and work in, and not the Jewish Sabbath PERSONAL WORK 241 of strict legalistic observance. Christ's disciples met after His resurrection on the first day of the week. JoJm 20:1, 19. ''The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." Matt. 28: I. "In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre." Mark 16: I. "And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magda- lene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him." Luke 24: I. "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them." I Cor. 16 : 2. "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come." Act 20:7. 'And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow ; and continued his speech until midnight." Rev. 1 : 10. "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet." These scriptures teach : (a) That Christ rose on the first day of the week, ''when the Sabbath was past" (Mark 16: i). (b) That the apostles had their meetings on the first day of the w-eek where Jesus appeared unto them and they worshiped Him (John 20: 19-26). (c) That after His ascension the apostles and disci- ples, Christ's Church, held their meetings, days for preaching, partaking of the Lord's Supper and raising money for His Kingdom, on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; I Cor. 16:2). (d) That this day was called "the Lord's Day" (Rev. 1 : 10), not the Sabbath. It was a new day to take the 242 WITH CHRIST AFTE^ THE LOST place of the old Sabbath and came the day after the old Sabbath, the Christian Sabbath or ''Lord's Day." 2. The Adventists teach also the doctrine of "soul- sleeping," that is, that the soul between death and the resurrection has no conscious existence. To meet this error cite to them 2 Cor. 5 : 1-9. "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven : If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened : not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him." Lnke 23 : 43, 46. ''And Jesus said unto him. Verily, I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost." Phil. 1 : 21-24. "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor : yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." 2 Cor. 12 : 2. "I knew a man in Chrisit above fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth) ; such an one caught up to the third heaven." Acts 7:59. 'And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying. Lord Jesus receive my spirit." Matt. 27 : 52. "And the graves were opened ; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose." The unmistakable case is that of Lazarus and the rich man. PERSONAL WORK 243 Luke 16:26-31. "And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." Dives "opened his eyes in hell, cried for mercy, remem- bered his good things — had a thirst, desired Lazarus to go to his father's house." If the Adventist answers that *'this is a parable," you can reply that he must prove that. The Bible does not intimate that it is a parable. Then if it is a parable, Christ will not teach an untruth even in a paraboHc form. Then refer him to Matt. 17: 1-13, "Behold there appeared unto him Moses and Elias talking with him." Moses had been buried by God's own hand many hundreds of years and yet he appeared and talked. His soul was not asleep. The scriptures referring to the "sleeping dead" John II : II, 14, 39. "These things said he: and after that he saith unto them. Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him. Lord by this time he stinketh : for he hath been dead four days." I Thcss. 4: 13, 15. "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep." are easily explained as referring to their bodies, not to their spirits. "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth" (Luke 15: 10) 244 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST shows that the departed Christians in heaven rejoice when men on earth are saved. If the Adventist's heart is not hardened and you can convince him of his error then seek by methods laid down in other chapters to bring him to Christ. John 3:16, 36. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever beheveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 5 : 24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." John 1 : 12, 13. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Rom. 5:1. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Eph. 2 : 8. "For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." And hundreds of other scriptures nowhere put Sabbath keeping as a condition of salvation. VIII. THE SO-CALLED CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS This is the arch delusion with the greatest amount of nonsense. We need not ridicule it, though that will help, nor fear it. We should squarely meet it in the light of God's Word and common sense. Their so-called signs and wonders are foretold in Matt. 7 : 22, 23. "Many will say to me in that day. Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.'' 2 Thess. 2:8, 9. "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and PERSONAL WORK 245 shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and sigtis and lying wonders." 2 Cor. 11:14, 15. "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness ; whose end shall be according to their works." Mark 13 : 22, 2^. "For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. But take ye heed: behold, I have fore- told you all things." Meet the Scientist with Isa. 8 : 20. "To the law and to the testimony : if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is not light in them." "Eddy ism" denies so many fundamentals taught in the Bible that to convince them one must go through the entire system of Christian faith in order to cover their heresies. 1. They deny God's personality. He is a great "in- fluence," they say. Almost any scripture referring to God in the Bible shows Him to be an intelligent spiritual personality. 2. They deny Christ's deity, humanity, and hence his atonement for sin. Answer them with I Cor. 15: 1-4. "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." John 19:30-35. "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the body should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was a high day), be- sought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they 246 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe." Rom. 6:4, 5, 8-10. ''Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God." John 1 : 18. "No man hath seen God at any time ; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." Matt. 3: 17. "And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 3. They deny the doctrine of sin. They say, ''Belief in sin is an error, there is no evil. Sin is not real, it is an illusion." Show them Rom. 5 : 12. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Esek. 18:4. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." 2 Cor. 5:21. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Gal. 3: 13. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us : for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." I Peter 2:24. "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." 4. They put "Science and Health," "the Bible of Eddyism," above the Holy Scriptures. They knov^ more about that than they do about the Bible; they quote it more, carry it with them more, study it more. PERSONAL WORK 247 5. Test them out on 1 John 4: 1-3. ''Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God : and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." 2 John 7. "For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist." I John 2:22. ''Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." After you run them out of their false refuges try to win them to Christ like you would any other sinner. Chapter IX SEEKING TO WIN SKEPTICS AND DOUBTERS An atheist is one who does not believe in the existence of a supreme being called God. An infidel is one who denies the deity of Jesus Christ. An agnostic is one who does not know, hence repudiates all idea of God and a supreme being by any name. A skeptic is a doubter on any phase of the fundamentals concerning God, Christ, and their work among men. There are not many of either of these classes of sinners in Christian lands to- day, who are outspoken in their profession of skepticism. There are many secret unbelievers of this sort, who for one reason or another have been raised or driven into infidelity in some of its forms. They are difficult to reach and in order to win them there is required the most tactful and skillful treatment from Christian workers. There are different degrees of skepticism. There is the insincere, trifling infidel, who usually professes infidelity to cover up a sinful and rotten life, thus seeking to ap- pease the goadings of conscience and give a covering and a defense to his sins. There are real, sincere doubters and disbelievers. Their minds are psychologically skeptical. Their rearing has encouraged it and they stand appalled at the "mysteries of reHgion." Both these cases must be met fairly and squarely by the soul-winner. I. THE LIGHT-HEADED, TRIFLING DISBELIEVER In dealing with these there are two methods which the worker may follow. He must seek the wisdom of God for guidance. 248 PERSONAL WORK 249 I. Shock him, strike him hard and fast with God's hammering Word, run a "fifth rib" thrust with the Sword of the Spirit, which cuts and divides, burns, breaks into pieces. Say to him, ''Your trouble is not your doubts but your sins. You are hving in secret and black sin and you are unwilling to give it up. You are trying to satisfy your conscience by professing to do away with religion in your heart." Put straight to his soul Rom. 1 : 25, 28. "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." 2 Cor. 4:3, 4. "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." Puncture his pride, shock him by revealing his sins. In my early ministry a young high-spirited professional man got a group around him and asked a lot of old infidel questions and in their confusion laughed at them. He saw me coming and said, "Let's try this young preacher and see if he can help us out." As I walked into the group he put his question to me. I did not answer his question but put my hand under the lapel of his coat and said, "Your trouble is not your infidelity; you are living a double life, untrue to your wife and de- ceiving her and your friends, but you are not deceiving God. Be sure your sins will find you out." I immedi- ately went my way. He got mad, swore and raged that the preacher had insulted him. I met him three days afterward. He had cooled off and was in his right mind and said, "I wanted to whip you and would if I had seen you. I was first mad at you, then at myself and then at the devil. I want you to pray for me. You have discov- ered me. I want to be a Christian." It was not long after that until he was saved and afterward he lived a 250 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST consistent life. This shock method is a dangerous method. It is easy to make a mistake and do it in a wrong spirit. 2. Another way is to convince them by the purity, genuineness, strength of your Christian Hfe. A mother, a wife, a child, a godly business man, a pure-lived doctor or lawyer, or farmer, a deeply spiritual preacher, by their walk with God and purity of life may win them to Christ. This is a fine method to try on all kinds of sinners. Hezekiah's prayer (Isa. 38:3) was, ''Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before thee." I Cor. 7: 16. "For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?" They cannot answer the logic of a great life for God. A young college senior said to me, "I can answer all the arguments you have made for Christ's deity, the in- spiration of the Bible, the efficacy of Christ's death, but I cannot answer my mother's hfe. I want you to pray that I may have what she has, that which made her what she is." Life won where logic failed. II. THE FAIR-MINDED HONEST SKEPTIC Their difficulties arise usually out of a failure or in- abihty to believe in certain Christian fundamentals. I. The Bible as the inspired and authoritative Word of God. This is a basic difficulty. The soul-winner leans heavily and depends tremendously on the Word of God and if this support is taken from him he is at a great disadvantage. It is well for the worker to inform him- self on the arguments for the inspiration of the Bible, its triumphant history, its fulfilled prophecy, its unity in variety of authorship, its wonderful results in the trans- formation of individual and national character. Show them what it professes concerning its divine authorship. PERSONAL WORK 251 2 Thess. 2: 13. "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctifica- tion of the Spirit and belief of the truth." 2 Peter 1:21. "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" 2 Tim. 3 : 15-17. "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salva- tion through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness : That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." Matt. 5:18. "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." John 10:35. "If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken." Isa. 40:8. "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever." Press on them John 7: 17. "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of my- self." 2. Those who do not or cannot believe in the existence of an intelligent, moral being called God. ( 1 ) Show them where God classifies them. Ps. 14: I. "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They that are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good." There must be something unnatural or abnormal about them. (2) Read to them Ps. 8: 1-3. "O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth ! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider thy heavens, the 252 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained." Ps. 19:1, 2. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge." Rom. 1 : 19-22. "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools" and show them that all of the world's wonders in crea- tion, progress, providence, show an intelligent creator and preserver. Your very hand or eye speak in their artful mechanism for God. (3) Press them with John 7: 17. "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of my- self." 3. Those who deny or doubt the deity of Jesus Christ. In trying to prove Christ's deity show them (i) The Bible ascribes to him names of God. Acts 10:36. "The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all :)** I Cor. 2: 8. "Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." (2) The worship due only to God. Heb. 1 : 6. "And again when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith. And let all the angels of God worship him." Phil. 2: 10. "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth." John 5:22, 23. "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath PERSONAL WORK 253 committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him." (3) The omces of God. Heh. 1 : 3, 10. "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth ; and the heavens are the works of thine hands." (4) The deeds of God. John 1 : 1-4. *Tn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and with- out him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men." (5) And God's words about Him. Matt. 3: 16, 17. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Isa. 7: 14. "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign ; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Isa. 9:6, 7. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given : and the government shall be upon his shoulder : and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever." His resurrection points to His deity. Rom. 1:3, 4. "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh ; and declared to be the Son of God with power accordmg to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." 254 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST (6) Press on them John 7: 17. "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." 4. Those who do not accept the doctrine of eternal punishment. ( 1 ) Make them face God's Word on this doctrine. See Part IV, Chapter 8, on ''Russellites." A man, a professed Christian, said to me, *T am think- ing of joining your church. Does a man have to believe in hell in order to be a Baptist ?" My answer v^^as, "Let me see, maybe your trouble is worse than that. You be- lieve in heaven, do you?" ''Yes," he said, 'T am sure my mother and my child whom you recently buried are in heaven. It is a precious doctrine to me." I said, *'0n whose authority do you believe in heaven?" He said, "On Christ's," and referred to John 14:2, 3, "In my Father's house are many mansions, I go to prepare a place for you," etc. "Well," I said, "the same Christ in the same Bible says 'Depart from me ye cursed into ever- lasting fire,' 'these shall go into everlasting punishment but the righteous into life eternal' " I said, "Do you believe Christ would tell you the truth about heaven and lie to you about hell? Your trouble, my friend," said I, "is that you do not beHeve in Christ. Your attitude is that of an infidel." He saw the direful reach of his position and withdrew from it. All the doctrines of the New Testament stand or fall with Christ. (2) Push far into their souls John 7: 17. "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of my- self." John 5 : 24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death into life." Chapter X HOW TO WIN THE MORALIST Under the influences of Christian civilization many men and women have been raised to Hve good moral lives free from many of the sins of the world, exemplary in their conduct, favoring Christianity, standing for high standards of morality. They have absorbed many of the principles of life taught by Jesus Christ. They have never given themselves by faith to Him and acknowl- edged Him as their Saviour. They claim to be moral. They are self-righteous. They depend on their good lives and good deeds to get them through this world and the world to come. This class was very prevalent in New Testament times and has left to history some shining marks. Nicodemus, Saul of Tarsus, Cornelius, the Rich Young Ruler, the self-righteous Pharisee in Luke 18:9- 12. They claim they are as good as or better than church members, and they do nothing very wrong. Soul-win- ners will find some such in every Christian community. Some of them are not boastful but go on silently trusting in their righteous Hves and good deeds and rejecting Christ and often go down to hell like any other sinner. In dealing with them there are several ways of ap- proach. I have followed somewhat the following: I. Face them with God's general statements in the Bible on the sin of self-righteousness and righteousness by works. Rom. 3:19, 20. "Now we know that what things soever the law saith it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may hecome guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no 255 256 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.'^ Prov. 16:2. "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits." Isa. 64 : 6. "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags: and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Luke 16:15. "And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God." Gal. 2:16. "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." Gal. 3 : 10. "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse : for it is written. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Isa. 53 : 5, 6. "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him : and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way: and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Titus 3 : 5. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." 2. Show them what God said to the self-righteous in the Bible. (i) Abraham. He did not claim to be self-righteous, but God explains that his righteousness did not avail in his salvation. Rom. 4:2-6. "For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteous- ness without works." PERSONAL WORK 257 (2) Nicodcmiis. John 3 : 1-7. 'There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him. How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the King- dom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." (3) The Pharisee and the Publican. Luke 18: 10-14. "Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other : for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased ; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." Matt. 5 : 20. ''For I say unto you, that except your righteous- ness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 3:3-8. "For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying. The voice of one crying in the wilder- ness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and the Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance." 258 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST (4) Cornelius. Acts 10: I, 2, 4, 43. "There was a certain man in Csesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it. Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of the quick and the dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.'* (5) Saul of Tarsus. Phil. 3 : 4-12. 'Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews ; as touching the law, a Pharisee ; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith : That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead," These all had to believe in Christ and receive His merit, righteousness, and turn away from their own as the basis for a hope of salvation. 3. Show them the terms of salvation laid down in the Scriptures. (i) Repentance toward God for their own personal sins. PERSONAL WORK 259 John 16:8-11. "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more: Of judgment, be- cause the prince of this world is judged." Acts 3:19. ''Repent ye therefore, and l)e converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." Acts 20:21. "Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." (2) Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. John I : 12, 13. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Johji 3: 16, 36. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Heb. 11:6. "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." John 6 : 29. "Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." All this looks away from self, and what it is or does, to Christ. 4. Show them that such a self-righteous claim for salvation nullifies Christ's meritorious death for us and makes Christ's atonement the unnecessary crime of the ages. Gal. 2:21. "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." Rom. 11:6. "And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace : otherwise work is no more work." Heh. 11:7. "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things 26o WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and be- came heir of the righteousness which is by faith." Heb. 10 : 28, 29. "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer pun- ishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" John 16:9. "Of sin, because ye believe not on me." 5. Press on them. John 3 : 3. "Jesus answered and said unto him. Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Eph. 2 : 8. "For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of God." John 1 : 12, 13. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." A charming young woman, reared in a Christian home, heard me preach on repentance as the first step every sin- ner must take toward God. I said no one could evade it, avoid it, escape it, nor could there be made any substitute for repentance; not morality, nor baptism, nor money, nor service, nothing. ''God commands all men every- where to repent." The pastor spoke to her as she stood in the congregation. She was angry and would not hear him. As I approached her I found that she was enraged at my message. She said, ''I am no sinner. I do not have to repent. I have been raised in the lap of a godly home, knowing nothing but church and Sunday school. I do not have to repent." I looked deep into her soul and said, ''Have you ever yielded yourself in faith to Jesus Christ and trusted Him and Him alone for salvation?" Her reply w^as prompt and spirited, "No, sir, I have not." "Then," I said, "you are a sinner deserving God's wrath and sin's eternal punishment," and quoted PERSONAL WORK 261 John 3 : 36. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 16:8, 9. "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me." The Spirit of God took the message and barbed the ar- row. She broke down in tears, followed me to the front and sat with face in her hands. I said, 'Trust Christ now." She said, "I am too great a sinner. I am the meanest woman in this city." Immediately the light su- pernal broke in on her repenting soul. The Saviour entered the open door of her heart by faith and supped with her in a joyful season of grace (Rev. 3:20). "Rock of Ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in Thee; Let the water and the blood. From thy wounded side which flow'd, Be of sin the double cure, Save from wTath and make me pure. "Could my tears forever flow, Could my zeal no languor know, These for sin could not atone. Thou must save, and Thou alone; In my hand no price I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling. "While I draw this fleeting breath, When my eyes shall close in death. When I rise to worlds unknown, And behold Thee on Thy throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee." Chapter XI HOW TO WIN THE PLEASURE-LOVING Many people, especially young men and women, are being kept out of the Kingdom of God because of their love of the pleasures of the world — they desire tO' have a good time. They do not wish to be put under the re- strictions and limitations of church rule and obligation until they have drunk deep at the fountain of the world's pleasures. The social dance, the theater, the race track, the card games, the social glass, the moving picture and with many men the ''social evil," the pool room, club life, keep them away from God and His churches. Many church members defend some of these social evils and many indulge and encourage the young people in them. ''Christ is wounded in the house of His friends." "He was guide to them that took Jesus and crucified Him." This pleasure-loving spirit is exceedingly difficult to handle for Christ. Multiplied thousands are passing from these pleasures into grosser sins and on out of the reach of the Gospel influences into eternity hopeless, Christless and Godless. The old devil has been cycles of centuries beautifying sin, putting gaudy colors on it, making it attractive, fitting it to our carnal nature, appeal- ing to our passions, tempers, appetites, veneering and whitewashing, "camouflaging," sugar-coating, mingling sweet music, putting up pretty pictures, baiting souls for perdition. In many places religious leaders are yielding, modifying, apologizing, compromising and thus making matters perilous for souls and more difficult for the faith- ful tO' stand. We should put on the whole armor of God, and having done all, stand immovably by the high standards of the Gospel. The flag bearer in the Cuban 262 PERSONAL WORK 263 War, climbing a hill under a terrific shell fire, got a hun- dred yards ahead of the men being thinned by the shot and shell. The officer said, "Bring the standard back to the men." Another officer countermanded and said, **No, for God's sake bring the men up to the standard." This should be the attitude of all Christ's leaders and churches as they face a world seeking to sap the very life out of Christ's Kingdom by sinful pleasures. Paul's standard was, ''Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them' (Eph. 5: 11). In dealing with the pleasure-mad the following method may be helpful : 1. Do not minimize the joy of sinful pleasure. There is great joy in the world's ways or men and women by the millions would not be going that way. 2. Show them there is also great joy, a richer joy, a safer joy in Christianity. Show them that all sinful pleasure is destructive to mind, body or soul, as the poi- sonous virus which penetrates the vitalities and breaks down tissues of life and moral standards, that on the other hand the pleasures in Christ's salvation and service are constructive, character-building, soul-strengthening. 3. Show them how God condemns the walk in the world's ways. Gal. 5: 17-21. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary the one to the other : so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, rcvcllings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Eph. 4: 17-31. 'This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past 264 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus : That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt ac- cording to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore put- ting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not : let not the sun go down upon your wrath : Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt com- munication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice." 2 Cor. 6: 14-18. **Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers : for what fellowship hath righteousness with un- righteousness ? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial ? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God ; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them : and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daugh- ters, saith the Lord Almighty." I John 2: 15-17. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of lite, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." 4. Show them that they must choose between Christ and these things. They cannot have Christ in their hearts and the world's ways too. "If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him" (i John 2: 15). Repent or perish (Luke 13:3), is Christ's law. PERSONAL WORK 265 "Choose you this day whom you will serve.'* "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him ; and to our God, for he will abun- dantly pardon" (Isa. 55:7). 5. Show them the better way of faith and service in Christ's Kingdom and seek to give them something in the church to do. Grow a righteous social life in the church and offer all pleasure you can, free from the sin and taint of the world's sins and standards. A young lady in a college revival held out against God and on to the love of the dance. Her many friends pleaded with her, using every possible argument and per- suasion. She was stubborn and obstinate. Finally in the last service I approached her and said, *'Miss Mary, you love the pleasures of the world, especially the social dance, don't you?" She answered, "Yes." ''Do you love your mother?" The question brought back her mother to her, her love, her consecrated life and high teachings, and her eyes filled with tears as she answered, "Yes, better than Hfe." "Now," I said, "suppose you had to choose be- tween your mother and the dance. Which would you give up?" As quick as thought, unhesitatingly, she said, "The dance." "Now," I said, "you must choose be- tween Christ and this love of a worldly pleasure." And as I held out my hand I said, "Which will you choose, Christ or sin?" She saw it plainly and with a whole- hearted surrender gave herself joyfully to Christ and though that was many years ago she is still following Christ and finds more pleasure in His service and com- panionship than in the "tents of wickedness." David said, "I would rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness" (Ps. 84: 10). We should patiently lead the young back from the soiling pleasures of the world to the joys of Christ's service. Part V: SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS Part V: SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS Chapter I VITAL SCRIPTURES FOR THE HEART OF THE SOUL-WINNER Matt. 4: 19. "And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." The secret of soul-winning power is found in follow- ing Christ. Prov. 11:30. "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise." The highest earthly and heavenly w'isdom is found in winning- souls to Christ. Phil. 4: 19. "But my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Our source of supply is inexhaustible, and it is in Christ's loving hands. Phil 4:13. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Our only chance to win is in Christ's strengthening. Matt. 28: 18-20. "And Jesus came and spake unto them, say- ing, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in tlie name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you : and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end. of the world." 269 V 270 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST These are Christ's marching orders to every child of God and to every church of Christ and the guarantee of His constant presence. Adark II : 24. "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." This is taking faith. Dan. 1 1 : 32, "The people that do know^ their God shall be strong, and do exploits." Limitless possibilities lie within easy reach of the people who know God. Jer. 33 : 3. "Call unto me, and I v^ill answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Prayer and faith bring and hitch God to every earthly task for His glory and make defeat impossible. In some respects this is the greatest promise in the range of Reve- lation. Isa. 64 : 5. "Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways." God is on the road to meet you if joyfully you work righteousness and keep God ever in mind. Isa. 30: 15. "For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel ; In returning and rest shall ye be saved ; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.'' A spiritual appropriation of this promise will save the nerves of humanity from all fret, worry and wasting anxiety. It has preserved the life of the author of this book for fifteen years. Try it. Isa. 28:5, 6. "In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people. And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 271 in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate." (To them that press the battle to the getting-in place.) Here is God's ground for persistence in soul-winning. Press the battle to the getting in place, lay siege to souls. ''Join yourself to their chariot." Luke II : 13. *Tf ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" Prayer brings power, unhmited power, to the soul-win- ning task. Ps. 126: 5, 6. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubt- less come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." The weepers win, the weepless won't. A burdened heart is an unfailing condition of successful evangelism. Acts 1 : 8. "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you : and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judasa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." This promise, when spiritually accepted, brings Pente- costs. Isa. 55: 10, II. "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater : So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the things whereto I sent it." Doubt not, the harvest is sure if God's Word is given out from a compassionate, reliant heart. Isa. 40:31. "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary: and they shall walk, and not faint." 2^2 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST The promise for upholding power to those who Hve a strenuous Hfe for Christ. Isa. 41 : 10. "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dis- mayed: for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." God holds your hand with His big right hand. Christ holds you by His right hand. Go on and fear not. With these great promises in the heart and claimed by faith no one need fail in "taking men alive" for Christ. Chapter II THE UNBELIEVER'S SPIRITUAL CONDITION BEFORE GOD Ps. 51:5. "Behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." Ps. 58 : 3. 'The wicked are estranged from the womb : they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." Sin operates in earliest childhood. Rom. 3 : 2;^. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." All humanity is in the same boat. Ecc. 7:20. "For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not." No perfectionists this side of heaven. Eph. 2:3. "Among whom also we all had our conversations in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." By nature we are children of the devil, by grace the children of God. Eph. 2:1. "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." The unbeliever is dead in sin when God's quickening power finds him. Eph. 2 : 12, "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." 273 274 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Unspeakably horrible is the sinner's plight, Godless, Christless, hopeless. John 3: 18. "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Condemnation rests on every unbelieving soul. John 3 : 36. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the v^rath of God abideth on him." God's frowning, impending, imminent wrath rests over every man out of Christ. Jer. 17:9. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and des- perately v^icked: vi^ho can know it?" God's version of the unbeliever's heart. Isa. 38:17. "Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of cor- ruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back." Matt. 15: 18-19. "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." The heart is the source and seat of all sin. God seeks to cleanse the heart-life. In the light of these scriptures it is clear that men are not born saints nor saved — that neither culture, educa- tion, good environment, reformation nor ordinance can save them. It takes regeneration to reach the seat of their sins and cleanse their souls. Chapter III THE UNBELIEVER'S PERIL AND DESTINY Jer. 23:12. "Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord." Every lost man stands on slippery glass in the dark- ness every hour he is out of Christ. Deut. 32 : 35. "Their foot shall slide in due time ; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste." God's destruction comes without warning and sud- denly. Isa. 14 : 9. "Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming." Prov. 29:1. "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly he destroyed, and that without remedy." Job 21 : 30. "That the wicked is reserved to the day of de- struction. They shall be brought forth to the day of wrath." The oldest book in human history warns the sinner. Ps. 9: 17. "The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God." David, the soul's sweetest singer, tells of doom ahead. Dan. 12: 2. "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Daniel, the great statesman, counsels men to get ready for waiting eternity. 275 2y6 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Matt. 25 : 41, 46. "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." Christ himself speaks with heaven's emphasis about eternal doom. John 3: 18, 36. "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." The Saviour warns of condemnation and wrath. 2 Thess. 1 : 7-10. "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ; Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be ad- mired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day." Paul, God's topmost man, records God's will concern- ing the unbeliever. 2 Peter 2 : 9. "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished." Peter, the great apostle, makes it plain. Rev. 14: 10. "The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brim- stone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb." The unmixed, undiluted wine of God's indignant wrath will be upon the soul of the unprepared sinner. SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 277 Rev. 20: 15. "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." God's records must have our names through faith in Christ or the second death will take us eternally. Rev. 21 : 8. "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abom- inable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burnetii with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." The tmbeliez'cr In earth's worst and most sinful crowd must take his place in hell. In the face of these scriptures from Job, the oldest inspired writer, to John on Patmos, the last voice from heaven in inspiration, including David, Isaiah, Daniel, Paul, John, Peter and Jesus Christ himself, plainly telling, warning, exhorting, how^ can any man disbelieve in hell or rest until his soul is safe from its awful doom? Chapter IV GOD'S ATTITUDE TOWARD THE LOST 2 Chron, 30:9. 'Tor if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land : for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him." He turns His face of grace and mercy to every lost man. Isa. 55 : 7. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the un- righteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him : and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon/' His mercy will abundantly pardon every returning sinner. Isa. 38 : 17. "Behold, for peace I had great bitterness : but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of cor- ruption : for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back." God's love reaches to the depths of spiritual corruption in men's souls. Jer. 31 :3. "The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love : therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." God loves the sinner's soul to the very gates of hell. Rom,. 5 : 8. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for %is." The climactic proof of Christ's love for sinners is found on Calvary. 278 SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 279 Rom. 8:35-39. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long: we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than con- querors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Nothing in the grave of the past, nothing in the womb of the future, can intervene between the saved soul and the saving Christ. Gal. 2:20. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." He loved one sinner enough to go through the Garden, over the cross and down into the tomb for his soul's life. Rev. 1 : 5. "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful wit- ness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood." The washing of His love's blood cleanses from every stain of sin in the beheving soul. John 3: 16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." God and Christ proved their love in what the Father gave up and what the Son took up on Calvary for us. Viewing these scriptures no sinner out of hell need halt at coming to Christ nor fear to find mercy when he comes. Love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee, 1 give Thee back the life I owe, That in Thine ocean depths its flow May richer, fuller be. 28o WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST O Light that followest all my way, I yield my flickering torch to Thee; My heart restores its borrowed ray, That in Thy sunshine's blaze its day May brighter, fairer be. Joy that seekest me thro' pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee ; 1 trace the rainbow through the rain, And feel the promise is not vain That morn shall tearless be. Cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from Thee; 1 lay in dust life's glory dead, And from the ground there blossoms red Life that shall endless be. Chapter V GOD'S PROVISION FOR THE SINNER'S REDEMPTION I. A BENEFICENT CREATION Eph. 3:9-11. "And to make all men see what is the fellow- ship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ : To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he pur- posed in Christ Jesus our Lord." God created all things by Jesus Christ in order to show forth His eternal purposes of redemption. Col. 1 : 16-20. 'Tor by him w^ere all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church : who is the beginning, the first born from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." His cross is to reconcile all creation to His divine Head- ship. Ps. 19: I. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." Here in God's heavens we see his handiwork making a perfect bow looking to man's salvation. 281 282 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Rom. 1 : 19, 20. "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without ex- cuse." God reveals himself as a redeeming God throughout creation. 2. AN ILLUMINATING REVELATION Ps. 119: 105. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." His Word gives the soul light to walk in. 2 Tim. 3: 15-17. "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto sal- vation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness : That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." Wisdom in salvation and instruction in righteousness are found in this lamp of the soul. Acts 20: 32. "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." The constructive agencies in character building are found in this revealed Word. 3. NATIONAL DISPENSATIONS ( I ) The Jews. Gal. 3:8, 9. "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying. In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 283 He called and separated and providentially blessed Abraham's seed that they might be the exempliiiers of His grace, establish His laws in the earth, and be the channel through which His Son may come to bring salvation. (2) The Gentiles. Gal. 3 : 13, 14. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us : for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." He offered His salvation prepared in the Jewish stock to the Gentiles, all men in all ages. Rom. 11: 18. ''Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee." Rom. 15: 12. 'And again, Esaias saith. There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust." 4. PERSONAL MANIFESTATION JoJin 1:1, 4, 9, 14. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Fa- ther,) full of grace and truth." Gal. 4:4, 5. "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Phil. 2: 6-8. "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputa- tion, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the Hkeness of men : And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Heb. 2 : 14. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the 284 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." John 1 : 29. "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." These scriptures show the personal manifestation of God's Son who by life and death gave Himself to save us from our sins. 5. A QUICKENING INSPIRATION John 16:8-10. "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more." John 1 : 13. "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 3 : 5, 6. "Jesus answered. Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is horn of the Spirit is spirit," Eph. 2:5. "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quick- ened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)." Col. 2: 13. "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncir- cumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses." Herein it is shown that His Divine power quickens and gives life's inspiring glow to the soul dead in trespasses and sins. 6. A SPIRITUAL ORGANIZATION Matt. 16: 18. "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Eph. 5 : 25. "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." Col. 1 : 24. "Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church." Eph. 3: 10. "To the intent that now unto the principalities SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 285 and powers in heavenly places might be known hy the church the manifold wisdom of God." I Thcss. 2:14. "For ye, brethren, became followers of tJie churches of God which in Judiea are in Christ Jesus; for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews." Acts 2:47. "Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." In His wonderful provision for the world's redemption and spiritual progress God gave His glorious churches for the growth of our souls and the exercise of our powers and as centers for worship, work and world-wide service. 7. A PROVIDENTIAL COMBINATION Rom. 2: 4. "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" Rom. 8:28. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called ac- cording to his purpose." Here he assures our troubled hearts that all provi- dences, expressed as the goodness of God, are calling us to Him and working together for our eternal good, if we are His called and show our calling by our love to Him. 8. A PRESERVING PREDESTINATION Eph. 1:5, II, 12. "Having predestinated us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. In whom also we have obtained an in- heritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Jiim who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will : That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ." Ro7n. 8:29-31, 35-39. "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he 286 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution^ or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake, we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor prin- cipalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." He here teaches us the watchful care of unchanging love and omnipotent power enabling us surely without any doubt to realize His age-long purpose for us. He guarantees a safe passage for all who believe, through life, death, resurrection, judgment and with Him forever. 9. A GLORIOUS RESURRECTION I Cor. 15:20, 22, 23, 42-44, 51-57. *'But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption : It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness ; it is raised in power : It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. Behold, I shew you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump : for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 287 Rofu. 8: 22, 23. "For we know that the whole creation groan- eth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adop- tion, to wit, the redemption of our body" Rom. 8:11. "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." I Tliess. 4: 16, 17. "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Here our Father assures us of the resurrection of our bodies to an incorruptible immortality and their adoption into an endless sonship. 10. A GUARANTEED DESTINATION John 14:2-4. "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." 1 Thess. 4: 17. "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 2 Pet. i: 10, II. "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give dili- gence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall : For so an entrance shall be minis- tered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." I Pet. 1 : 3-5. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the • power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." John 10: 27-29. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me : And I give unto them eternal life; and 288 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all ; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand/' Here is God's final and glorious work of housing His people in their eternal mansions with Him, where their light shall be the glorious face of the Lamb. Chapter VI THE SPIRITUAL STEPS TO GOD— THE SOUUS SALVATION I. WHAT GOD DOES BEFORE SALVATION ( I ) He foreknows, predestinates, elects. Rom. 8:29. "For whom he did forcknozv he also did pre- destinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." Eph. 1:5, II. "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. In whom also we have obtained an in- heritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." Isa. 46:9, 10. "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying. My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." John 6: 37. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Rom. 8: 33. "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth." 1 Peter i : 2. "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied." Rom. 9:11. "(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God accord- ing to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth.)" I Thess. 1 : 4. "Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God." Col. 3: 12. "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering." 2 Peter i : 10. "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give dili- 289 290 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST gence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall." (2) He calls. Rom. 8 : 30. "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Hcb. 9: 15. "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheri- tance." Heb. 3:1. "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus." Rev. 22: 17. "And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say. Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Matt. 9 : 13. "But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Acts 2:39. "For the promise is unto you, and to your chil- dren, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.'* This He does by His providences, His goodness, Christ, His people. His divine Word, His Holy Spirit. (3) He convinces and convicts of sin. John 16:8, 9. "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me." Acts 2'. 2)7- "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apos- tles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Acts 9: 8, 9. "And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was there three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink." Acts 16:29-31. "Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? SCRIPTUr.E PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 291 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Acts 24:25. "And as he reasoned of righteousness, temper- ance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee." (4) He quickens. Eph. 2:1, 5. "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Even when ye were dead in sins, hath quickened us together w'ith Christ (by grace ye are saved)." Rom. 4: 17. "(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." (5) He worketh godly sorrow. 2 Cor. 7:9, 10. "Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salva- tion not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." (6) He gives repentance. Acts 5 : 31. "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." 2 Tim. 2:25. "In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." Heh. 12:17. "For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears." 2. WHAT THE SINNER DOES IN PROCESS OF SALVATION ( I ) He hears the Word of truth. Rom. 10:8, 17. "But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart : that is the word of faith, 292 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST which we preach ; So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (2) He feels the sense and weight of his sins and re- pents. Acts 3 : 19. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." Acts 20:21. "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." ( 3 ) He prays for help. Rom. 10:12, 13. "For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek : for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Luke 18:13. "And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner." (4) He receives Christ by faith into his own soul. John 1 : 12. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on his name." John 3: 16. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3 : 36. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 5 : 24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." Acts ^\ 2i7- "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Rom. 5:1. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Eph. 2 : 8. "For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of God." SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 293 Rev. 3:20. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." (5) He confesses Christ as his Saviour. Rom. 10:9, 10. "That if thou shalt confess with thy moutli the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shait be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Matt. 10:32, 33. "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But w^hosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." 3. WHAT GOD DOES IN SALVATION (i) He pronounces the beheving sinner justified through Christ's atoning and meritorious death. Rom. 8:30. "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." I Cor. 6:11. "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." Luke 18: 14. "I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other : for every one that exalteth him- self shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be ex- alted." Acts 13:39. "And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Rom. 3 : 24, 26, 28. "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus : To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." Rom. 5:1. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (2) He pardons and forgives all of his sins. 294 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Isa. 55 : 7. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the un- righteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him: and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Jer. 33 : 8. "And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me." Eph. 1 : 7. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." Acts 26 : 18. "To open their eyes, and to turn them from dark- ness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." (3) He washes and cleanses the soul from all iniquity and makes it pure by the blood of Christ. Isa. 1:18. "Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord : though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall he as wool." Ps. 51:7. "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean : wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Rev. 1 : 5. "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful wit- ness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, Unto bim that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood." Rev. 7:14. "And he said unto me. These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Larnb." I John 1 : 7. "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (4) He puts away his sin. Jo'hn 1 : 29. "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Isa. 53:5, II. "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall hear their iniquities." SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 295 He casts them behind His back. Isa. 38:17. "Behold for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of cor- ruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back." Fs. 103 : 12. "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our trayisgressions from us." He remembers them against him no more. Jcr. 31 : 34. "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord ; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and / will remember their sin no more." Heb. 8: 12. "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins a-nd their iniquities will I remember no more." (5) He regenerates him by a spiritual birth and gives him a new nature, even the impartation of the divine na- ture and life. John 3 : 3. "Jesus answered and said unto him. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 1 : 12, 13. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." I Peter i : 27,. "'Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abid- eth forever." James i : 18. "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." 1 Cor. 4:15. "For though -ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." Eph. 4:24. '"And that }-e put on the new man. which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Gal. 6: 15. "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avail- eth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." 2 Cor. 5: 17. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a nczv creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things arc become new." 2 Peter i : 4. "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great 296 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." Col. 3 : 3-4. "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." This life is eternal and the saved man possesses it now and is passed out of death and from under condemnation and judgment. John 3 : 36. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life : and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but th^ wrath of God abideth on him." John 5 : 24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." Rom. 8:1. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." He is now a child of God by faith. Gal. 3 : 26. "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." (6) His soul is now sanctified and made holy possess- ing the holy life of God and imputed righteousness of Christ. Rom. 4 : 3-6. "For what saith the scripture ? Abraham be- lieved God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works." I Cor. 1 : 2. "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours." I Peter 1 : 2. "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through santification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied." SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 297 1 John 3:9. "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin : for his seed remaineth in him : and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." (7) God puts His seal, the image of Hi-s Son, on his soul. 2 Cor. 1 : 22. "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." Eph. I : 13, 14. "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the re- demption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." Eph. 4: 30. "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, w4iereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." (8) He puts in him the Holy Spirii who testifies to his sonship and guides, comforts and uses him. Rom. 8:14-17. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs: heirs. of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." Chapter VII STEPS TO ACCEPTABLE SERVICE AND SPIR- ITUAL POWER^THE SALVATION OF THE LIFE In the previous chapter we have seen how the sinner can come to God and find sonship, Hfe and salvation. He is in good standing in the family of God if he has taken the steps indicated in God's Word. Now Jesus tells us that He not only came to give life but to give life more abundantly (John lo: lo) and to start in the saved soul not only wells of everlasting water (John 4: 14), but that within him shall flo^v rivers of living water (John 7: 38), making him always to abound in the work of the Lord (i Cor. 15:58). He says we were foreordained and created unto good works (Eph. 2: 10) and that He has given us such spiritual supplies and equipment that we need not fail in any good work or tasks or battle for Him (2 Tim. 3: 16, 17; Eph. 6: 10-18; Phil. 4: 19). With this high expectation and call from God the saved man should follow on to know Him (Hosea 6:3), remembering that ''the people who do know their God shall be strong and do exploits" (Dan. 11 : 32). The steps to successful and faithful service are indi- cated from the scriptures as follows : I. Public confession of Christ. Matt. 10:32, 33. "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." Rom. 10:9, 10. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath 298 SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 299 raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man beheveth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." God does not honor secret discipleship. He wants His children not to be ashamed of their parentage. 2. Obedience in baptism and church membership. Matt. 3:5, 6, 15, 16. 'Then went out to him, Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were bap- tized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. And Jesus an- swering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now : for thus it be- cometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him." Matt. 28: 18-20. 'And Jesus came and spake unto them, say- ing, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teach- ing them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you ; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the eiid of the world. Amen." Acts 2:41, 47. "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized : and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." Acts 8:37, 38. 'And Philip said, H thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ i-s the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still : and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch ; and he baptized him." Ro7n. 6 : 4-6. "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together m the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified w^ith him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." Acts 20:28. "Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you 300 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood" Eph. 5 : 28-32. "So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and tlve church." The saved man owes it to Christ to follow Him in baptism and to serve Him in His church. *Tf ye love me," He says, ''keep my commandments" (John 14: 15). 3. Surrender of life and talent to the service of God. 2 Cor. 8 : 5. "They first gave their own selves to the Lord." Matt. 6:33. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." I Chron. 29 : 5. "Who then is willing to consecrate his service (fill his hand with the service), this day unto the Lord?" I Cor. 6 : 19, 20. "Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price." Rom. 12:1, 2. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Phil. 1 : 21. "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Gal. 2 : 20. "I am crucified with Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Ps. 110:3. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Neh. 4: 6. "So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work." By every right of ownership Christ is entitled to our best service. SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 301 4. A meditative study attd a spiritual insight into the Word of God. Dciit. 11: 18-21. "Therefore shall ye lay up these words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou riscst up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon earth." Ps. 1:1, 2. "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord: and in his law doth he meditate day and night." Joshua I : 8. "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein : for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." Rom. 8:6. "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." 1 Cor. 2 : 14. "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Ps. 119:97. "O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day." Ps. 119: 18. "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold won- drous things out of thy law." The Christian should every day soulfully study some part of God's Word. God says, "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). 2 Tim. 3:16, 17. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." Acts 20:32, "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." Col. 3: 16. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in 302 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." John 5 : 39. "Search the scriptures ; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." 5. The establishment and maintenance of a prayer-life. Phil. 4:6, 7. "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Eph. 6: 18. "Praying always with all prayer and supplica- tion in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." I Thess. 5 : 17, 18. "Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concern- ing you." Luke 18: 1. "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint." Luke 21 : 36. "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." Rom. 12: 12. "Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; con- tinuing instant in prayer." Col. 4 : 2. "Continue in prayer, and v/atch in the same with thanksgiving." Mark 11:24. "Therefore I say unto you. What things so- ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them," J^r. 33 : 3. "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Luke II : 13. "If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children : how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" Matt. 6 ; 6. "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall himself reward thee openly." Our spiritual power and joy in the service of God will be largely measured by our prayer life. 6. Attention to and attendance on the worship of God's house. SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 303 Hcb. 10:25. "Not forsakinc: the assembling of ourselves to- gether, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more as ye see the day ai)])roaching." Acts 2:42. "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowsliip, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." EpJi. 5 : 25. "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." Isa. 58: 13, 14. "If thou turn away thy foot from the sab- bath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou de- light thyself in the Lord; And I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father : for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Eph. 3:21. "Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." Worship in God's Prayer House in very essential to the healthy growth and spiritual power of a child of God. 7. Purity of life and separation from tJie world's ways. Ps. 24:3-4. "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully." 2 Cor. 6: 15-17. "And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God ; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." Rom. 12:1, 2. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonal)le service. And be not conformed to this world : but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Eph. 4:20-32. "But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the 304 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Where- fore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neigh- bour : for we are members one of another. Be ye angry and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more : but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Gal. 5 : 16-26. "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in the past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another." Phil. 3 : 13, 14. "Brethren, I count not myself to have appre- hended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." I Thess. 3:12, 13. "And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you : To the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the com- ing of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints." Eph. 5:7-11. "Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 305 Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowsliij) with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." I John 1 : 5-7. "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fel- lowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." I JoJiii 2: 15. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 8. Codperancy in God's world-nndc redemptive pro- gram. Matt. 28: 18-20. "And Jesus came and spake unto them, say- ing, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you : and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Matt. 4: 19. "And he saith unto them, Follozv me, and I will make you fishers of men." Acts 1 : 8. "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judsa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Matt. 6:33. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God. and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." John 4:34-36. "Jesus saith unto them, IMy meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not yc, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you. Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that rcapeth rc- ceiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together." Matt. 22: 9. "Go ye therefore into the highzvays and as wany as ye shall find, bid to the marriage." Mai. 3 : 10. "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of 3o6 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." With our lives, talents, possessions, we should co- operate in giving Christ's truth to ''every creature in all the world." 9. Seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit's power for soul-winning. Luke II : 13. "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" Acts 1 : 8. "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you : and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Eph. 5: 18. "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." Acts 5:32. "And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him." Luke 24:49. "And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." Acts 6:3. "Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wis- dom, whom we may appoint over this business." Acts 9:17. "And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house ; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost." Act. 2:39. "For the promise is unto you, and to your chil- dren, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." This fullness of power is for every disciple who will pay the price for it. See Chapter V, Part I. Chapter VIII GOD'S MESSAGE IN COMFORT Col. 3: 16. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." 1. To the Backsliding. Jer. 3 : 14, 22. "Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord : for I am married unto you: and 1 will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion. Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee: for thou art the Lord our God." 2. To the Faint and Weary, Isa. 42: 3. "A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smok- ing flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth." Isa. 40:29, 31. "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up W4th wings as eagles ; they shall run and not be weary ; and they shall walk and not faint." Isa. 41 : 10. "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dis- mayed ; for I am thy God ; I will strengthen thee : yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Matt. 1 1 : 28-30. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me : for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." 3. To the Sick and Suffering. I Peter 5 : 7. "Casting all your care upon him ; for he careth for you." 307 3o8 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST Ps. 37:4-7. "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who pros- pereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass." 2 Co7\ I : ^-y. "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all com- fort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the en- during of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And out hope of you is stedfast, knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation." Phil. 1 : 29. "For unto you it is given in behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake." Phil. 4:11. "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." 4. To the Persecuted. Matt. 5 : 10-12. "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven : for so persecuted they the prophets which were be- fore you." I Pet. 3:14, 15. "But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye : and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." 5. To the Tempted. I Pet. 1 : 6-9. "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 309 fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." I Pet. 4: 12-14, 16. "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings: that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. Yet if any man suffer as a Chris- tian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf." James i: 12. ''Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown ol life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." I Cor. 10: 13. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 6. To the Sorrozinng. John 14: I, 16. "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever." Matt. 5 : 4. "Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted." Isa. 61:2, 3. "To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn ; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion. to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." Heb. 13:5. "For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Jsa. 35: 10. "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Chapter IX THE CHRISTIAN'S HEAVENLY RAINBOW 1. His Presence in Death. Ps. 2^ : 4. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Isa. 43 : 2. "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee : when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." 2. An Abundant Entrance. 2 Peter i : 11. "For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 3. The Glorious Hope. Acts I : II. "Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." I Thess. 4:16. "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first." Matt. 24:44. "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." 4. Resurrection Body. I Cor. 15: 52-57. "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, 310 SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 311 then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 5. Judgment Passed, John 5 : 24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." Rom. 8:1. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." 6. Welcome Plaudit. Matt. 25 : 34. "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand. Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matt. 2^:21. "His lord said unto him. Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 7. Reunion. 1 Thess. 4: 17. "Then we which are alive and remain shall ])e caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Rev. 7: 14. "And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me. These are they which came out of great tribula- tion, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." 8. The Star-filled Crown. 2 Tim. 4:8. "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." Dan. 12: 3. "And they that be wise shall shine as the bright- ness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteous- ness as the stars for ever and ever." 312 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST 9. Eternal Companionship and Service. * I Thess. 4: 17. "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever he with the Lord/' John 14 : 3. "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may he also." Rev. 7: 15-17. "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple : and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them into living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." 10. A Holy Exhortation While We Wait for His Coming and Labor for His Glory. I John 3 : 1-3. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.'' Titus 2:11-15. "For the grace of God that bringeth salva- tion hath appeared to all men. Teaching us that, denying un- godliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, rigiiteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee." Rev. 22:20, 21. "He which testifieth these things, saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come. Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." Chapter X THE CALL OF THE CROSS John 12:32. "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." EpJi. 6:6. "As the bondservants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart" (R. V.) Acts 26: 16-19. "I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of the things in which I will appear unto thee, delivering thee from the people and the Gentiles unto whom I now send thee, To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of their sins and an inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Whereupon O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision'' Rom. 10:21. "All the day long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." John 5:30. "I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father, which hath sent me." John 4: 34. "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work." THE PURPOSE OF THIS CONCLUDING CHAPTER We have sought to find the Saviour's way of leading lost souls out of spiritual darkness and death into the joys of eternal life and into the power and rewards of a blessed service. The author wishes to probe the soul of the reader and student with the burning, pungent ques- tion, **Are you doing the will of God in your life? Have you given a full, heart ful response to Christ's call for your service ? Is He not calling you into a larger, more sacrificial life of surrender and service? Has He not appeared in the prayer hour, in some time of spiritual communion, in the impressive "small voice" of His Spirit, calling you to give up to His will and way? Have you 313 314 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST adopted a New Testament map of the world and heard Him calling you into His life-plans for you? Have you been obedient to the ''heavenly vision"? Are you the ''servant of God doing His will from the heart?" If you have learned to win one to Christ can't you now enter a life of s Old-winning? Are you willing to face God's will and give Him a complete answer? The true response to love is life, surrendered, mastered life. Have you shown Him the full power of your love and yet withheld from Him your life? Has He not the first claim on your time and talent ? Does He not need you in His widening and ripening harvest fields ? Where else than in His soul- winning service could you invest your life with larger returns to His glory and your joy? In view of Christ's death for you, His heavenly preparations for your eternal happiness, can you refuse Him His way with your powers in this brief earthly period? What are you going to do with your life? What are you going to do with God's will concerning you and your service ? A CATALOGUE OF GOD's SPECIAL NEEDS FOR LABORERS 1. One of the greatest needs of God's Kingdom to-day is more evangelistic, trained preachers; to pastor and build churches; to be home and foreign missionaries; to do sane. New Testament evangelism, to man our Chris- tian schools, religious papers and to do the other im- perial tasks in Christ's Kingdom. 2. A growing need is for trained laymen in Gospel song, in Sunday school, young people and laymen's work, men who will prepare themselves and give their time and talents to building and promoting the Kingdom of God through the churches. 3. The harv^est fields are wide and ripe for the service of trained women, in mission service, in educational insti- tutions, in Gospel song, in Sunday school leadership, in places of trust and responsibility, in all the activities of SCRIPTURE PASSAGES FOR WORKERS 315 Christ's Kingdom. The work of nursing the sick calls with all of its holy ministries to a high class of trained Christian womanhood. All sides of life touched by the Gospel's remedies call for men and women to give themselves wholly to do God's will in bringing a lost world to Christ and healing all the wounds made by sin. Do you not see some place in this wide catalogue for your life and service? Does He not call you to a place in this ripe harvest field ? An- swer Him according to His will, not according to your choice. THE PERILS OF DISOBEDIENCE If God is really calling you into some part of special service, you run a dangerous risk not to obey Him. Your refusal to do His will imperils everything you hold dear except your eternal salvation. 1. You endanger your peace of soul. You cannot have the ''peace which passeth all understanding" while you withhold your life and talents from God. 2. Your refusal to fully surrender to God menaces your joy of heart. 'The joy of the Holy Spirit" cannot come into your hfe while you refuse God His full way in your life. 3. You imperil your pozcer with God and men every day you fail in a full surrender to God. 4. Your disobedience threatens the destiny of lost men. Immortal souls hang on your decision. 5. Christ's glory is involved in this matter. He will not wear a full crown as far as you are concerned if you fail Him with your best and your all. 6. You run the terrible risk of being a ''spiritual cast- away'' so long as you go crosswise to God's will and plan for your life. 7. Every day of your disobedience you invite the chastising rod of God on you and yours. You may offend His longsuffering love. 3i6 WITH CHRIST AFTER THE LOST THE JOYS AND REWARDS OF SURRENDERED SERVICE The greatest joy in any life or sphere is found in a full surrender to God's will. 1. The heart and conscience will answer back to God's demands in peace when you are "doing His will from the heart." 2. There will follow surrender of life to Him a rest which will sweeten all life. 3. The joy of victory and power will rest upon us when we realize "Thy will" is being done. Power is promised those "who obey Him." 4. The best results in soul-winning are found in the lives of those who have their life-plan patterned after God's. BRAVE THE DIFFICULTIES AND SURRENDER You face difficulties to be sure. You will face more and worse in disobedience. If you do God's will you will face your difficulties with God, if you refuse, you face them alone. You say, "I am ignorant." That can be remedied. There are schools all about. You say, "I am poor." There are things worse than poverty or ig- norance. Disobedience to God's will is worse than either or both. You say, "It's too late, I have waited too long." If God thinks so, why does He not withhold your call and leave your heart alone? He knows best. Follow Him. His way is best and leads to final victory. Sur- render. 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