BX 6333 .T8 05 A guest for soufs ^^^^"1944 A QUEST FOR SOULS A QUEST F SOULS Comprising all the Sermons Preached and Offered in a Series of Gospel Meetings^ Held in Fort Worth, Texas, June 11-24, igiy BY GEORGE W/TRUETT, D.D PASTOR, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, DALLAS, TEXAS NEW XBI^ YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY ^o'-^ COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY J. B. CRANFILL Compiled and Edited by J. B. CRANFILL, M.D., LL.D. A QUEST FOR SOULS. XIII PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOREWORD. Ever since the appearance of the first book of sermons by Dr. Geo. W. Truett I have been urging him to permit the publication of other volumes, with the result that I am now able to present to the public this new and much larger book. His first book with the title, ''We Would See Jesus, and Other Sermons," has passed into its twelfth edition, and is selling now very rapidly. That volume contained sermons he had preached in his own pulpit in Dallas, and a brief sketch of his life and labors. The present volume is unique in that it is made up of a series of revival sermons preached in Fort Worth, Texas, to which are added the prayers offered by the author of the sermons during the meeting. The setting of each sermon shows forth in the sermon itself. These meetings were held under the auspices of the Broadway and College Avenue Baptist Churches, of which Drs. Forrest Smith and C. V. Edwards are the respective and nobly useful pastors. It is proper to say that these sermons were stenographically reported by Mr. J. A. Lord, and that they appear practically without revision. I have gone carefully over them every one, but I was not willing that any substantial changes should be made in any of them. While I have not been privileged to examine all the sermon books extant that have been printed in the English language, I can truthfully say that there has never to my knowledge been a book of sermons published that carried messages more vital and winsome than are herein found. In their strength, their earnestness, their eloquence, their pathos, and their compelling heart appeals, they carry a pungency and power far beyond any other sermonic classics it has been my privilege to read. These sermons do truly justify the title of this book— "A Quest For Souls." vi A QUEST FOR SOULS The great preacher whose sermons here appear is so shrink- ing in his modesty, which ofttimes reaches the point of timidity concerning any work of his own, that it has been a Herculean task to secure his consent to the publication of the sermons that are here given. The reader will rejoice, I know, when I say that I have in hand sufficient material for several other books of sermons by Dr. Truett, but I am having trouble all along to secure his consent and co-operation in their publica- tion. It is only when I have pressed upon his great heart the insistent appeal that he allow his sermons to be published for the good they will accomplish In "A Quest For Souls'* that my pleadings have been crowned with success. And now it is with joy unspeakable that these sermons are sent out to the world. That they will accomplish untold good I have not the slightest doubt; that they will be a guide and help to many a preacher as he projects his revival services I am absolutely sure ; that they will lead countless souls to Christ throughout the coming years I confidently hope. As I have perus*ed them one by one I have been more deepl}'- impressed than I have ever been impressed by the reading of any sermonic literature. It seems to me that no soul can resist the power and tenderness of their touching appeal. May God bless these sermons as He blessed the great preacher In their delivery, and may His enduring grace abound to everyone who shall read them throughout all the coming years ! J. B. Cranfill. Dallas, Texas. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Chapter Page Foreword V I vUnoffered and Unanswered Prayer _ „ 1 II What To Do With Life's Burdens 15 III Where Is Your Faith ? 27 IV wThe Secret of a Great Life—. 45 V 'A Quest For Souls — 55 VI Why Do Souls Go Away From Jesus ? 75 VII Preparation for Meeting God__ — __ 87 VIII ^"A Religion That is Divine 105 IX The Tragedy of Neglect — 117 X The Cure For a Troubled Heart 138 XI The Peril of Resisting God.-. — 150 XII The Deadly Danger of Drifting — 170 XIII What Should We Do With Jesus? ^ 181 XIV The Supreme Offering to Christ..™ — 194 XV The Doom of Delay>.^ — — . 206 XVI A Conquering Faith - — 226 XVII The Confession of Sin — 239 XVIII The Ministry of Suffering — 260 XIX How To Be Saved .-. - - 273 XX How May We Know Jesus Better ? __ 289 XXI Why Are You Not a Christian ? — 303 XXn A Promise For Every Day _.» 324 XXIII The One Sufficient Refuge — — 338 XXIV The Passing of Religious Opportunity— 359 vii A QUEST FOR SOULS OPENING SERVICE, MONDAY EVENING, JUNE 11, 1917.* UNOFFERED AND UNANSWERED PRAYER. Text: "Ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." — James 4:2, 3. Before the reading of the Scriptures, I would be allowed a moment in which to express my grateful joy for the privilege of spending several days, the Lord willing, in daily special meetings in this city. I am glad thus to be the guest of the two noble churches, the Broadway and College Avenue Churches, and to be associated with their cherished and nobly capable pastors, Drs. Smith and Ed- wards. Their generous words of w^elcome very deeply touch my heart. Just one concern have I in coming for this brief visit — if I know my own heart — and that is to help the people, if I may and as I may, and so to witness for our great, good Master as shall be pleasing in His sight. I am not an evangelist, as these honored fellow-pastors have already explained to you, but a busy pastor, in a modern city like yours, dealing with the same problems as those with which your pastors and churches are constantly dealing. Right at the beginning of these services, I would cast myself upon your most prayerful sympathy. I would appeal to • All of the evening services of this series of meetings were held in a tent provided by the Broadway and College Avenue Baptist Churches, and all of the noon services were held in the Auditorium of the Chamber of Commerce. 2 A QUEST FOR SOULS you in the beseeching words of the apostle: "I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me, in your prayers to God for me." Together, let us continually look to God for His guidance and blessing, in everything that is to be said and done in these proposed meetings. What do we here without God's light and leading? Oh, may the Divine Spirit teach us and empower us, at every step, as we address ourselves to these services ! And He will, if only our hearts, our motives, our attitude shall be right in God's sight — if we shall be humble before Him, and shall eschew every evil way, and shall desire above all else to know and to do Christ's holy will. Assembled here with one accord. Calmly we wait thy promised grace. The purchased of our dying Lord, Come, Holy Ghost, and fill this place. Let us deeply ponder these sayings: "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 Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." "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." Above all else, and without ceasing, let us seek the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, both in the public services and in the private efforts that are to be had, in everything pertaining to these meetings. You are now ready, I trust, to give reverent heed to the reading of two passages from the Holy Scriptures. The first is from the eleventh chapter of Luke. I read from the first to the fourteenth verse : And it came to pass, that, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And He said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted^ to us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And He said unto them, Which of you shall have a. friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves ; for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say. Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed ; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and A SERMON ON PRAYER 3 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 egg, 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? The second passage is from the fifth chapter of James, from the sixteenth verse to the end of the chapter: 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. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him ; 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. In casting about for a suitable word to speak at the beginning of these meetings, it has seemed to me that I^- could bring no more appropriate and important word than to direct your attention to the vital suhject of prayer. The text for the message this evening is in the fourth chapter of James, and these are its two statements : "Ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." The text says two things very pungently. The first is that we do not pray enough: "Ye have not, because ye ask not." The second is an explanation for unanswered prayer: "Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." The two sentences challenge our attention to unoffered prayer and unan- swered prayer. Let us for a little while consider the teach- ing of the two sentences. And first, we do not pray enough : "Ye have not, because ye ask not." There is no mistaking the meaning of this sentence. It plainly tells us: "Ye have not, because ye ask not." We talk much about "unanswered" prayer. This sentence reminds us of unoflfered prayer. It tells us that blessings are denied us, just because we do not ask for them. Let me ask you the pointed, personal question: How much do you pray? What must your answer be? How much have you prayed to-day? How much time and thought do you give to prayer? How real and vital is I prayer in your daily life? Do you know what it is, like ' Daniel, to have fixed times and places for prayer? Do '^ 4 A QUEST FOR SOULS you know what it is to live in the atmosphere of prayer, that is, to carry out the Bible injunction to us, to "pray without ceasing?" Is it not just at this point that we fail, and fail more hurtfully than at any other point? I make bold to say that just at this point, preachers are prone to fail, as perhaps at no other point. A little while ago, I was with a group of preachers one day, as they discussed the perils and problems of the preacher. This man and that suggested this peril and that, concerning which the preacher needs ever to be on his guard. When it came my time to question the group of fellow-preachers, this was my question: "How much do you pray?" I may add that every man of us in that group felt conscience-stricken, as we searched our hearts on that question. We saw that we were busy here and there, finding texts, making ser- mons, arranging for funerals, for committees, for visits, for interviews, for exacting and endless tasks, but not a man of us had made enough of prayer. What is your answer, oh, fellow-Christian, to the question : "How much do you pray?" Think again and deeply of these words of Jesus: "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 reward thee openly." Do you have the daily habit of secret prayer? You cannot afford to neglect such habit. Such neglect cannot be atoned for, whatever else you may say or do. I press the question upon every Christian before me — has "the closet with the closed door" been neglected? That closet with the closed door is the trysting place of power. The men and women who go in there come out with faces that shine, with visions that inspire, and with power that shakes the world. Keep the path worn to that closet with the closed door, I pray you. It will give you to know that you are not alone, but that a Divine Presence goes before you and with you. Tn view of the mighty significance of prayer, every- where set out in the Bible, is it not indeed amazing that we do not pray more ? Like a golden thread, the efficacy of prayer may be seen all through God^s blessed Book. God's cry to mankind is for them to call unto Him, and He will A SERMON ON PRAYER 5 answer them, and He will show them great and mighty^ things which they do not know. Listen to this exhortation from the Apostle James: "If any of you lack wisdom" — ■ surely that is what we all do sorely lack — *'let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, noth- ing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed." And listen to this exhortation from Jesus: "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." Then, Jesus goes on to make an argument for prayer that is irresistibly appealing. Note His words : "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 egg, 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?" It is needful for us to remember that prayer is far more than a privilege. To be sure, it is that — a privilege price- less, a privilege incomparable, one of the highest privi- leges that shall ever be allowed us. But it is far more than a privilege — it is a bounden obligation, it is an inescapable duty. See how Jesus puts it : "Men ought always to pray, and not to faint." Mark that word "ought." That means duty, that means obligation. Neglect of prayer is neglect of duty — a duty of measureless importance. Prayer brings ; results. Prayer wins victories. Prayer achieves. Thus j does Paul put it: "Ye also helping together by pray_er ^ for us." A way whereby we may help everybody, and perhaps the best way, is to pray for them. Thus may we help people at any time and at all times. It is no wonder therefore that Paul said: "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men." It is, indeed, a culpable matter if we neglect to pray for the people, for all of them, for any of them. And therefore, are the words of the old 6 A QUEST FOR SOULS prophet Samuel always pertinent: "Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you." Do not, I pray you, deal with this great question of prayer as wicked men dealt with it in Job's day. They asked contemptuously: "What profit should we have if we pray unto Him?" If such question is yours, face it frankly, probe it deeply; stop not your questioning until you are assured as to the efficacy that there is in prayer. There is profit in prayer. It is worth while to call on God. If some one suggests to you that prayer is irrational, in that it suggests interference with law, it is enough to know that God is above law, that law is His tool, that God's reserves of wisdom and power and mercy and love are utterly beyond our measuring. Prayer is not only to the last degree reasonable, but our very nature demands it. It was not strange that a very wicked man \J said to me, when his child lay ill at death's door: "Oh, ^ man, if you know how to pray, for God's sake, pray for my child!" Yes, prayer is reasonable and necessary, and it is both a privilege and a duty of measureless moment in the earthly life. ^ Much is heard these days on the subject of conserva- '» tion. The doctrine of waste is being everywhere repro- bated. The doctrine of conservation is being everywhere emphasized. We are being told, and properly so, that our waters must be preserved against the times of drouth. We are properly exhorted to remember that not one tree or bush should be cut down without a good reason. It is urged that even the by-products everywhere shall be saved. And just now the whole land rings with the doctrine of / the conservation of all foods, that the world crisis through which we are passing may be worthily met by all the peo- ple. Let this doctrine of conservation be applied in the realm of prayer. "Ye have not, because ye ask not." How different things might have been if we had prayed more! Take this incident: A young man in a certain city com- mitted a crime that broke his parents' hearts and will give them sorrow to their grave. A pastor in that community went at once to see the parents, when he knew of their poignant sorrow. As best he could, he counselled and A SERMON ON PRAYER 7 comforted them. At last the sorrowing mother said : "Oh, sir, if I had prayed as I ought, this tragedy would not have been!" The pastor begged her not thus to upbraid herself, for her sorrow was deep enough without such added self-reproaches. But the mother protested : "I used to pray every morning, noon and night, for this boy, but that was in the other years. In recent years, my feet have been caught in the meshes of worldliness, and the things of religion have been given no practical place in my life. I have forsaken the church and neglected to pray. Oh, sir, I am to blame for my boy's down- fall! It would not have come if I had remembered to be faithful in prayer." Will you say that she did not speak the truth? Oh, how different things might have been if we had prayed as we ought! "One of my keenest re- grets," said one of our noblest preachers as he lay dying, "is that I have not prayed more." And when another of our mightiest preachers was told that he had but one remaining hour on earth to live, he said: "Let me spend that hour in prayer." Oh, let us pray more ! Let us pray more! "The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Trace that truth in the case of Elijah. Prayer is probably the highest, creative function in a hu- man life. Tennyson was right when he said that more things are wrought by prayer than this world ever dreams. Let us pray more! Prayer is the first agency we are to employ for the promotion of any spiritual undertaking. Prayer links us with God. "Without me, ye can do noth- ing." "I can do all things through Christ who strengthen- eth me." Prayer breaks down difficulties. It opens fast- closed doors. It calls forth workers : "Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest." It releases energies for the spread of Christ's kingdom and truth, beyond anything any of us can ever measure. It brings victory in hours of crisis. It gives power to the preached gospel. All this was illus- trated in the lives of Abraham, and Elijah, and Hezekiah, and Samuel, and David, and Paul, and Livingstone, and Luther, and a host of other heroes of faith, all of them overcoming by believing prayer. Oh, let us pray more! 8 A QUEST FOR SOULS The world is in supreme need of intercessory prayer. Surely, that is awfully true in this hour of world crisis. Every hour now is big with destiny. On every side the people are trembling as they think of what shall be on the morrow, and their hearts are failing and ready to faint. Let us pray more! There is no voice to satisfy but the voice of God. That noble prophet of God, Dr. Charles E. Jefferson, spoke faithfully, a little while ago, when he called attention to the fact that in America, "we have suffered a heart-breaking disillusionment. We ex- pected great things from liberty and education, and have found they are broken reeds. Neither our wealth nor our science has given us either peace or joy. The four wiz- ards — liberty and education and wealth and science — have performed their mightiest miracles under our flag; but they cannot do the one thing essential; they cannot keep the conscience quick, or the soul alive to God. Our sins are as scarlet and our vices are red like crimson, and we need prophets to turn the nation to the God who will abundantly pardon." Oh, let us pray more ! Let us seek to-day, and every day, to help all the people by prayer. "Ye have not, because ye ask not." Your earnest attention is now directed to the second sentence in the text: "Ye ask and do not receive, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts," or pleasures. In that one sentence is one clear explanation why prayer is often unanswered. It proceeds from a wrong motive. "Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your pleasures." The point is plain — the motive is wrong. God looks ever for the motive, in all our thoughts and prayers and deeds. He does not see as man sees. Man looks on the outward ap- pearance. God looks on the heart. The motive ox^^n- izes everything in life. If the motive in prayer be wrong, *t!Ten the reason why the prayer is not answered is at once explained. What is your motive when you ask God for this or that? I press that question upon every life before me. A A\Tong spirit toward others is also an explanation for unanswered prayer. I pause a moment, to press this point A SERMON ON PRAYER 9 upon your every conscience. I have come to the end of twenty-four years as a pastor, and through all these years I have increasingly seen how men and women are hin- dered in their religious lives, in their praying, in every good way, by a wrong spirit toward others. In that model prayer which Jesus gives for the guidance of His disciples, that same point of our relations toward our fellows is mag- nified : 'Torgive us our sins, as we forgive — as we have " already forgiven — those who have sinned against us." Are, you wrong in your spirit toward others? Do you have malice, ill will, resentment, unforgiveness in your heart toward others? If so, your unanswered prayers are at once explained. One said to me, after an extended conver- sation : "Why cannot I get right with God ?" He had once been a joyful, victorious Christian, but now he was un- happy, and shorn of his spiritual power, and prayer was no longer a blessed experience with him. *'Why cannot I get right v/ith God?" he plaintively asked. Before the conversation was ended, he dropped one sentence that in- dicated the depth of his ill will toward another. The reason why he was not right with God was at once made plain. Our lives are most intimately bound up with the lives of our fellows. Our relations to our fellows cannot be escaped, cannot be ignored. When we pray for our daily bread, we are to include our fellows: *'Give us this day our daily bread." If we are wrong in our hearts to- vv'ard our fellows, we need not expect an answer to our prayers. How searching are these words of Jesus : "And j when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your trespasses/* Still again, unanswered prayer may be explained by a wrong life. The psalmist said: "If I regard iniquity in , my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Indeed, He cannot afford to answer our prayers if we willingly harbor sin in our lives, if we regard it, if we coddle and pamper it. That would be to compromise God. The one thing that separates between God and us is sin. He himself so tells us. The one thing which God hates is sin. Our attitude la A QUEST FOR SOULS toward sin must be in harmony with His attitude. It is '.the prayer of a righteous man — not an unrighteous man — that avails much. The Bible teaches us that we may ex- pect Him to hear and answer our prayers when we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. Is your life right in God's sight? Are you right before Him in the secrecy of your own heart? If you are pampering some wrong thing in your life, although others may not know of it, yet in such fact you have the explanation for your unanswered prayers. Listen to these words of the psalmist : ''Delight thyself also in the Lord ; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." You will not miss the point — your delight is to be in the Lord. Listen to these words from Jesus: "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." Face faithfully the ques- tion asked in the simple song, "Is thy heart right with God ?" and know, if it is not, you have af hand an explana- tion for unanswered prayer. Lack of earnestness may be the explanation for unan- swered prayer. If we dawdle and sleep and dream over our prayers, certainly we may not hope that they shall be answered. The men of the Bible who prayed acceptably and victoriously were earnest men. Listen to Moses, the valiant leader of Israel, as he prayed for that neglecting, backslidden, disobedient people: "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin — ; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written." Oh, how terribly in earnest was Moses, as thus he prayed. He was, indeed, a very Hercules in prayer. And take the case of Paul. Listen to his pleadings: "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and con- tinual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." When a man feels like that, is willing to be accursed from Christ, that the people about him may be saved, is it any wonder that such man scaled the heavenlies when he prayed? Listen to Jacob at the A SERMON ON PRAYER 11 brook Jabbok, as he pleads: "I will not let thee go, ex- cept thou bless me." It is not at all surprising that a little later, Jacob is told ; *Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel : for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." Listen to John Knox, as he prays for Scotland : "Oh, God, give me Scot- land, or I die !" Is it any wonder that hapless Queen Mary said: "I fear the prayers of John Knox more than I fear an army of ten thousand men." Oh, my fellow-Christians, let us be deeply in earnest when we come to the throne of grace to make known our requests unto God. Once again, our prayers are often not answered, be- cause we do not expect them to be — because of a lack of faith. Faith is just taking God at His word. Often we do not take Him at His word. We halt and higgle over His word, and we refuse to accept it and to act upon it. Jesus pointedly says to us: "According to your faith, so be it unto you." And again: "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." And again : "If two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven." What a marvelous statement that is! How it challenges us to be united in prayer! Do we be- lieve this great promise? Will we plead it in prayer, and claim it? Years ago, when I was preaching for several days in a Southern city, I preached one morning on the text: "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." At the close of the service, an elderly woman — I should say she was three score and ten years of age — rose up and said: "Preacher, do you believe what you have preached to- day?" And I replied: "Indeed, I do, for I have proclaimed God's Word, which Word I surely believe." "Very well," she said, "I am so glad that you believe it. I am looking for some one who believes it. You quoted in your sermon, just now, that glorious promise from Jesus: 'If two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is 12 A QUEST FOR SOULS in heaven' — do you believe that promise, and will you plead it -with me?'' Before I answered, she spoke again: "It is like this: My husband is, and has long been, a captain on the boat that sails the river. He never goes to church, and is exceedingly wicked, and now he is grow- ing old. If you will join me in pleading that promise about two agreeing, we will claim him for God and salvation and heaven — will you join me?" And there I stood, thinking, wondering, searching my heart. Did I really believe that promise? AVas I willing to plead it then and there, in the case just named? And while I stood thus thinking and hesitating, a plainly dressed man, a blacksmith, rose up and said: ''Auntie, I will join you in pleading that prom- ise." And there, before us all, he walked over to her and humbly said: **Let us plead it now." They knelt in pray- er, and he began to pray. It was as simple as a little child talking to its mother. He reminded the good Savior of the promise He had made, and insisted that they twain, there kneeling, accepted that promise, claimed it, pleaded it as they asked Him to save the aged, sinful sailor. It was all over in a few moments. The simplicity and the pathos of it were indescribable. The people were dis- missed. The day passed and the people gathered for the evening service. The preacher stood up to preach, and there before him came the old lady just described, and with her came a white-haired old man. At the close of the sermon, the preacher asked those who desired to be Christians to come to the front pews for counsel and prayer, while the people sang. The old man was on his feet immediately, and was coming toward the front. He was talked with and prayed for that night, but all seemed utter darkness to him. Over there, to the right and the left, sat the aged wife and the middle-aged blacksmith, with faces shining like the morning. They had a secret the rest of us did not have. They had pleaded and were claiming the promise of Jesus, and their hearts knew that all was well. The night service was ended, and the people went their ways. The old man shambled out into the dark- ness of the night, his soul darker even than the night. The next morning came, and the people were gathering for the A SERMON ON PRAYER 13 service. The preacher was alone in the study, behind the pulpit, trying to make ready for the service. There was a knock on the outer door of the study. The door was opened, and there stood the old man. And thus he began : "Sir, I can't wait for your sermon this morning. Tell me now, if you know, how I can be saved." And there in that study, before the service, he accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, and at the morning service, an hour later, gave a testimony for Christ, the sweetness and glory of which will outlast the stars. What is there remarkable about this? Nothing at all, when you remember that two friends of Jesus, honestly and actually pleaded and claimed the promise of Jesus. Oh, why is that we halt in the acceptance of the sure promises of our dear Savior? Why are we so fearful and the possessors of such feeble faith? May God forgive us, even to-night and now, for our pitiful, miserable unbelief ! This other word, I would briefly say, in explantion of unanswered prayer — and that is, our prayers are often un- answered because they lack submission to the will of God. "Thy will be done," must be in every acceptable, victo- rious prayer. His will is always righteous and best, and we are to be in harmony with that will. Above all else, let us seek to know God's will, and ever let us pray : "Nev- ertheless, not my will, but thine be done." Long enough have I spoken to you. Let us take the two thoughts of the text, and hide them in our hearts. Let us pray more, oh, let us pray more! To the last de- gree possible, let us be worthy intercessors, seeking thus to help continually our needy, sinning, suffering world. Let us pray more ! "Ye have not, because ye ask not." And let us seek ever to pray in that way, and with that motive and spirit, that shall be well pleasing in God's sight. Lord, teach us to pray! And may all the services of this pro- posed series of meetings be enveloped in humble, consist- ent, believing, victorious prayer. Let me give you a prom- ise that tells us how this meeting may be made glorious. It is from the seventh chapter of II Chronicles: "If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble them- selves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their 14 A QUEST FOR SOULS wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will for- give their sin, and will heal their land." Again and again, let us cry, "Lord, teach us to pray!" THE CLOSING PRAYER. Our holy, Heavenly Father, teach us to pray. Little do we know of thig blessed, glorious privilege and duty, and poor has been our behavior with refer- ence to prayer. Forgive us, we pray thee, for our neglect, our ignorance, and our disobedience. Summon us to prayer, O our God, and let us refuse to be dis- mayed, whatever our difficulties and experiences, since God delights to hear and answer prayer. Give us much of thy grace and light, that we may know how to pray as we should. And in all the services of these proposed meetings, go thou with us, we humbly pray thee, and so give us thy counsel and power, that we shall wholly do thy will in all the important days that are just before us. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. II NOON SERVICE, JUNE 12, 1917. WHAT TO DO WITH LIFE'S BURDENS. Text: "For every man shall bear his own burden." » * * "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." * * * "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee."-— GaL 6:5; 6:2; Psa. 55:22. Distinct pleasure is in my heart that I am allowed to greet the busy men and women before me for this brief midday service. As has already been announced, these midday services are to be begun exactly at twelve o'clock, and are to be closed at ten minutes before one o'clock. The one design of these services is to help the busy men and women in the heart of the city at the noonday hour by calling their attention daily to those simple, vital things which make for our highest good. In coming to speak at this first midday service, it has seemed to me that I could bring no more practical word than to talk to you about Life's Burdens. It is the lot of men and women everywhere to have burdens. There is an old Spanish proverb which points a familiar lesson: "No home is there anywhere that does not sooner or later have its hush." The proverb points its own lesson. You cannot mistake it. Sooner or later all men and women have their burdens. Many of the burdens of men and women may be seen. The deepest and most poignant burdens are not seen. If we knew what fierce battles some men and women were fighting, and what weighty burdens they were carrying, it v^ould teach us lessons of restraint and charity and content- 15 16 A QUEST FOR SOULS ment beyond any that we have ever known. That very fact should give us pause and caution, even to a marked degree. The Bible has three words to say about our burdens. Notice them: "Every man shall bear his own burden." "Bear ye one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ." "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee." That is all that the Bible says about our burdens, but those three sentences say all that is to be said. Now, for a little while, let us glance at what the Bible says in its threefold message about our burdens. First, our burdens are non-transferable: "Every man shall bear his own burden." Every life is isolated and separated and segregated from every other life. To a remarkable degree every life is lived alone. You were born into the world alone, and when you shall leave it, no matter where or how, you shall go into the valley of the shadow alone, and be- tween your birth and your death, the cradle and the grave, life is very largely lived alone. No man can perform your duty for you. "To every man his work," the Master teaches us. Not "to every man a work," nor "to every man some work," but "to every man his work." There is a program for you to carry out. There is a niche for you to fill. There is a task for you to face. There is a life for you to live, separated from every other in all the world. Nobody can repent of sin for you, nor can anybody believe on Christ for you, nor can any one make answer at the judgment bar of God for you. We must every one give an account of himself to God. And that means that nobody is to get lost in the crowd. There is to be no hiding behind others, or behind organi- zations. Is there any danger more outstanding, in these modern times, than the danger that the individual shall get lost in the crowd? God sees the individual, and the indi- vidual must never get lost in the crowd. His eye is upon the one, and the one is to see to it, whatever others may or may not do, that he or she walks that path before the face of God that shall have the favor of God. Whether anybody else does right or not, you must. Whether any- WHAT TO DO WITH LIFE'S BURDENS 17 body else is true or not, you must be. Did you ever read the diary of Jonathan Edwards? If so, you must have been greatly impressed with his words — I do not attempt to quote them verbally — where he penned these two resolu- tions: "Resolved, first, that every man should do right, whatever it costs. Resolved, secondly, whether any other man does right or not, I will, so help me God." That is the supreme business of every human being, for "every one shall bear his own burden." And then the Bible points a second great word for us concerning our burdens : "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ," which means that our bur- dens are ofttimes community burdens, social burdens, bur- dens to be shared with others. Others are to share their burdens with us. "Bear ye one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ." It is always interesting andl proper to note words of Scripture in their setting. Many of the fads and fancies and hurtful heresies in the world have come because the Scriptures have been wrested from their proper setting. We need always to look at the Scrip- tures in their setting, and let the Scriptures say what theyl meant to say, and mean what they are designed to mean/) Here in this Scripture, where we are told to bear one an- other's burdens, immediately preceding it, a great verse stands out for our best consideration. Note it : "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye who are spiritual restore such a one, in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." Bear ye, in this way, one an- other's burdens, the apostle is saying, and so fulfill the law of Christ. The primary reference there to this great matter of mutual burden bearing is to the fact that we should seek to help those about us who have gone astray. And just here is the most neglected task of all. Here are we plainly summoned to go out and give ourselves, without stint or reserve, to recover men and women who are going wrong. "If any man be overtaken in a fault," help him. Criticise him? Denounce him? Throw stones at him? Talk about him? Nay, verily. "If any man be overtaken in a fault. IB A QUEST FOR SOULS ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted/* Even as I call your attention to this point of mutual burden bearing, especially with regard to those that have got out of the right path and are going the wrong path, your minds are now alertly busy, and you call to your re- membrance certain men and women who once began well, but who have been bewitched away by some infli^ence from the right path and are going the wrong path^Go after those, to help them. That is what our Scripture says. Just there, my fellow-men, is the most neglected task of all. When men go astray and keep going astray, we are all too willing, too content, to allow them to go on, whereas we are summoned here, by this Scripture, and by the whole message of the gospel of grace, to go out and seek to re- claim, to recover, to restore, everybody that is going wrong. I am thinking now of a young fellow gloriously con- verted in my city some time ago, who beforehand had had the miserable habit of swearing — an inexcusable habit, without any defense at all for any man — and yet that habit had such a hold upon him that it seemed second nature to him to swear. By and by he was graciously converted under the call of Christ, and then he talked with the minis- ter, and said: "I think I had better wait for six months or twelve, until I can prove to myself clearly whether I can keep from swearing, before I shall join the church." But the minister said to him : "Not at all. The church is not an aggregation of perfect people. No one is perfect. We are all sinners, saved by grace. You come right on, if you have put your trust in Christ as your personal Savior, and take your place in the army of God, with the rest of the soldiers, and help them, and let them help you." And so he did, and for months there was a devotion about him to Christ's cause that, to the last degree, cheered all our hearts. But after some months the minister missed him from the midweeic prayer-meeting, and even from the Sunday services, and he said to his men: "Where is Charles?" And they said: "Haven't you heard?" The minister said: "Not at all. What has happened?" And they said: "Charles was provoked a little while ago to WHAT TO DO WITH LIFE'S BURDENS 19 anger in a controversy with one of our citizens, and the hot words came, and the blasphemous sentences fell from his lips, and he is all filled with shame and humiliation, and he has not come to church any more since." "Now," said the minister to the men, "find him. He must be re- covered, nor must you cease until he is recovered." But the weeks went by, and he was not recovered, and one day, as the minister went down a certain street, right there before him he saw Charles coming, and Charles saw the minister, and turned quickly down an alley, but the minister said: "Wait a minute, Charles; wait a min- ute!" And he waited, quite hesitatingly, and the minister said: "Why are you dodging me, Charles?" And with face averted, and by this time covered with tears, he said: "You know. They have told you. Nor is that all. I told you I had better wait a few months before I joined the church. I told you of my frailty, of my weakness. But now I am in the church, and the other day the old anger came back, and I used hot, blasphemous words. I did not sleep at all that night. My pillow was wet with my tears. All through the night I talked with God, and God spoke forgiveness to me, and I went back the next morning and asked the man to forgive me, and he cried with me, though he is not a church man, and he forgave me." "Now," I said, "Charles, would you come down to the prayer-meeting and say about that much to us?" And he said : "If you think I ought, I will." So he was at the prayer-meeting Wednesday night, and when the place was made for him, he was on his feet, and timidly told about what I have just described. You should have seen the men and women gather around him. You should have seen them as they greeted him, and as they sobbed with him, and as they said: "Charles, we will help you. We will forgive you, and you will help us." And he was on the right road again ! That is what this Scripture talks about. Whenever anybody goes astray, "you who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. In this way bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.*' 20 A QUEST FOR SOULS But this Scripture has a broader meaning than that. We are not only to make it a point to do our best to recover people who have gone wrong and are going wrong, but we are to share burdens with people all about us, whatever their burdens are. There are the burdens of the sorrowing. Even as I speak, your mind is busy, and you call up some family wrapped about this very midday with great sorrow, or you call up some man or woman about whom the shad- ows hang with fearful weight this very hour. Go and share such one's sorrow, without delay. Nor is that all. All about us are people with their weighty burdens, bur- dens terrific, heavy burdens. Go to them and share with them these weighty burdens. There is the teacher. There is the preacher. There is the ruler in the affairs of civil gov- ernment. Weighty burdens are on their heads and hearts. Do not make it hard for those in places of public trust and responsibility to serve and to lead. Make it easy, with the right sort of co-operation and the right sort of burden bearing. How may we all help people? "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." The most beau- tiful portrait we have of Jesus is given here in the gospels, in five little words : "He went about doing good." There is the most beautiful portrait ever drawn of Jesus. How may we all help people all about us? First of all, we may help them by living the right kind of lives ourselves. The highest contribution you will ever offer this community and this world is to offer it the right kind of a life. Glad- stone never tired of saying: "One example is worth a thou- sand arguments." One Savonarola turned the tides of wicked Florence. One Aristides, the just man, perceptibly lifted Athens higher. Ten righteous men would have saved Sodom. The people of Constantinople said about John Chrysostom, the golden-mouthed: "It were better for the sun to cease his shining than for John Chrysostom to cease his preaching." T]ie b^^t contribution that you can ever offer to this weary, needy world is to offer it the right kind of a life. How may we all help people? We are to make it a point constantly — constantly — to believe in people. Every WHAT TO DO WITH LIFE'S BURDENS 21 one of us needs the enthusiasm of Jesus, our great Master, for humanity. He came to a man hated by his own race, Matthew, the tax-gatherer, sitting there at the poll tax booth, and He said to him: "Matthew, follow me, and I will make a good man out of you," and from that hour Matthew followed Him. He came to another hated tax- gatherer, Zaccheus, the little man who climbed up in the tree, and pausing under that tree, the Master said : "Come down out of the tree. I will go home w4th you to-day/' And from that hour Zaccheus followed Jesus, a faithful friend of that great Master. Like Jesus, we are to believe in people. I think nothing of that system of espionage which is forever spying out people, to catch up with their weaknesses and their faults. We are to have, like Jesus, great passion and compassion and brotherliness and sym- pathy for a needy world, and we are to believe in people. A little girl who waited upon her semi-invalid mother, day by day going across the street to get a pail of milk, was crossing the street one day, and the passing car frightened her, and she tripped and fell, and the milk was gone, and a big man laughed cruelly — oh, how could he have done it! — and then he said to the little child, in her dismay: "What a great beating mother will give you when you get home!" And that brought the little girl to self-control, and she said: "Nothing of the sort, sir! My mamma always believes in giving me another chance." So our Master believes in giving men another chance, and we are to have His temper and walk in His footsteps, always. Nor is that all. We are to make it a point constantly to encourage people. Oh, my brother men, it is a sin for any man on the earth to be a miserable discourager! Discour- agement is a sin. Men and women are fighting a big battle, and they do not need weights put on them by discourage- ment. They need wings put on them, that they may rise and fly, as they grapple with the big tasks that daily con- front them. Bobbie Burns, in the heyday of his great power as a writer, saw a little boy following him around in a certain community, and turning to the little boy, Bobbie Burns said to him: "Walter, what do you wish?" And little Walter timidly said : "Oh, I wish that some day 22 A QUEST FOR SOULS I might be a great writer like you, and have people talking about me like they talk about you." And Bobbie Burns, that great-hearted man, stopped and put his hand on the I head of little Walter, and spoke words of inspiration and cheer, and said : "You can be a great writer some day, Walter, and you will be/' That little boy was Sir Walter Scott, and to the day of Sir Walter's death, he could never speak of Bobbie Burns except with a sob of gratitude, for Burns spoke the word in season to the weary heart of a little boy. Yonder was a fire in the big city, and the firemen flung their ladders together, and went up in their brave fashion to the topmost story to rescue the people in such peril, and one after another was rescued by the brave fire laddies. All had been rescued, it seemed. No! Yonder is a white face at that upper window, and they wrapped something about one of the fire laddies, and breasting the fierce flames, he went again to that window, and put the robe around the little woman and started down, but they saw him tremble as the fire raged around him, and it seemed that he would fall with his precious burden, but the fire chief cried to his men : *'Cheer him, boys ! Cheer him, boys !" And they cheered him, cheer after cheer, and heart came back, and he came down, with the precious life saved. Oh, you and I are to give our lives to cheering a needy world ! Ponder this beautiful sentence from Isaiah : "They helped every one his neighbor ; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage." Now there is one more word to say, and it is the best of all : "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sus- tain thee." If you will read this 55th Psalm, from which that great promise is taken, you will find that the utterer of such promise wanted to flee away. "Oh, that I had wings like a dove," he cried, "for then would I fly away, and be at rest." The burdens were so weighty, the awful conflict was so fiery: "I will just leave it all. I will just throw this thing down, and I will get away. I will flee. I will run. I will give it up. I will not stay with it." Who has not felt that? Who has not felt — "I have had as much of this as I can bear. I will get out of it. I WHAT TO DO WITH LIFE'S BURDENS 23 will run. I will fly. I will gtt away." But that would not win, for when you got away out there in the wilderness, you would have your burden yet, for you have your mem- ory, you have your personality, you have yourself. You cannot thus get away from life's burdens. There is the burden of perplexity for you, no matter where you go; and there is the burden of the consciousness of neglected duty, no matter where you go ; and there is the burden of some sin athwart your conscience, like some ghastly can- cer, no matter where you go. What are you to do with these burdens of perplexity and neglected duty and sins? What are you to do? Where are you to go? There is only one place. "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee." How will He sustain you? He will do it in one of two ways. He may take the burden away. Sometimes He does, blessed be His name ! You have come sometimes, as have I, into that deep garden of Gethsemane, when that black Friday broke all our plans, and in our dire despera- tion we have prayed, with the Master: "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me. If it be possible, forbid that I should drink this bitter cup that is being put to my lips." And the cup was taken away, and we did not have to drink it at all. Time and again you have prayed, as you faced a certain great burden, that God would remove it, and He heard, and the burden was taken away. But suppose it is not? And sometimes it is not. Ofttimes it is not We pray, but there is the burden yet. Now, what if God shall not take the burden away? Then He has promised to come in with divine re-enforcement and help us to bear that burden and be victor, no matter how weighty it is, nor how fiery in its biting power in our life. Paul had re-enforce- ment. He had a thorn in the flesh. I do not know what it was, nor do you, but it was something very trying. If ever there was a genuine man in the world, it was the Apostle Paul. He was the highest product that Christian- ity has ever produced. This same man said : "There was given to me a thorn in the flesh." He called it the "mes- senger of Satan," sent to buffet him, and he said : "I went like the Master in the garden, and thrice did I beseech the 24 A QUEST FOR SOULS Lord that He would take that thorn away, but He did not take it away at all. He left it, to goad me and harass me and burn me and pain me. But He said to me : Taul, Paul, my grace is sufficient for you' " — not "shall be/' but "is." "My grace is sufficient for you," here and now, ever- present and never-failing. No matter where you go, nor what shall come, "my grace is sufficient for you." And from that time on you have no more record of Paul's praying that that thorn might be taken away. From that timxC Paul said : "Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my thorn, glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." Said Paul : "I had rather have my thorn in the flesh, which is ever present with me, and have God's added grace, than to be without that thorn and miss that added grace and light and love from God." Now, doesn't that explain much? He will give you increased grace, grace upon grace, if He does not take the burden away when you call to Him to take such burden away. Oh, my men and women, with your burdens, whatever they are, here is the way out: "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee." Seek not to bear it alone. Seek not to fight out your battle alone. Seek not to solve that perplexity alone. Seek not to stem that flood alone. Seek not to go through that long and bitter night alone. Take the Master into your counsels and into your plans, and turn yourself over to Him, with your burden, whatever it is, and He shall sustain you. One of the great words in the Bible is that fine word "sustain." He shall sustain you. No matter what your burden is — I dare to say it — no matter what your burden is, you shall get sus- taining strength from God, and your heart shall surely know it, if you will only cast yourself honestly upon Him. Have you learned the secret of peace? In a world of burden and battle and perplexity and clouds and shadows and night and death, have you learned the secret of peace ? You will never know it until you learn how to cast your burden upon the Lord. I am thinking now of a strong man yonder in the city, whose beautiful wife was taken from him after an illness of just a few hours, and the man was left with a little flaxen-haired girl, of some four or five WHAT TO DO WITH LIFE'S BURDENS 25 summers. The body was carried out to the cemetery, where was a simple service, and every heart was broken, the grief was so appalling. And then when the service was over, neighbors gathered around the big man and said to him : "You must come, with this little baby girl, and stay with us for several days. You must not go back to that home now." And the broken-hearted man said: "Yes, I must go right back to the same place where she was, to the room from which she went away, and I must fight it out wnth this baby right there," and back they went. He told about it all the next day. The baby was late and long going to sleep. Oh, was there ever anything more pathetic than the cry of a bairn for the little mother that will never come back again? Long and late the little one, in the crib there by the bed, sobbed, because she could not go to sleep, and the big man reached his hand over to the crib and petted her and mothered her, as best he could, and I after awhile the little girl, out of sorrow for her father, ] stopped her crying— just out of sorrow for him. And in ' the darkness of that quiet time the big man looked through - the darkness to God, and said: "I trust you, but, oh, it I is as dark as midnight." And then the little girl started ■ up her sobbing again, and the father said: "Why, papa thought you were asleep, baby." And she said: "Papa, I did tr3^ I was sorry for you. I did try, but I could not go to sleep, papa." And then she said: "Papa, did you ever know it to be so dark? Why, papa, I cannot even see you, it is so dark." And then, sobbing, the little thing said: "But, papa, you love me, if it is dark, don't you? You love me, if I don't see you, don't you, papa?" You know what he did. He reached across with those big hands and took the little girl out of her crib, and brought her over on his big heart, and mothered her, until at last, ) sobbing, the little thing fell to sleep, and then when she ' was asleep, he took his baby's cry to him, and passed it up to God, and said: "Father, it is as dark as midnight. \ I cannot see at all. But you love me, if it is dark, don't j you? I will trust you, though you slay me. With my' baby, and my grief, and my utter desolation, I will turn my case over to God." And then the darkness was like unto 26 A QUEST FOR SOULS the morning! God always comes to people who trust Him. Have you learned the secret of peace? Henry Van Dyke points the secret in his poem on "Peace." Mark the words : With eager heart, and will on fire, I sought to win my great desire. "Peace shall be mine," I said. But life Grew bitter in the endless strife. My soul was weary, and my pride Was wounded deep. To heaven I cried: "God give me peace, or I must die." The dumb stars glittered no reply. Broken at last, I bowed my _ head. Forgetting all myself, and said: "Wliatever comes, His will be done." And in that moment, peace was won. Whatever your burdens — of sin, or grief, or doubt, or disappointment, or regret, or remorse, or conscious fear and failure — dare to cast your burden, yourself, your all, to-day and forever upon the Lord. Do it now while we pray. THE CLOSING PRAYER. O thou Divine Savior and Burden Bearer, speak the word in season to these busy, battling, sinning, burdened men and women, gathered for this brief midday service. Let every man and woman of us, personally and faithfully face our daily task just like it ought to be faced. And let us all consecrate ourselves today and in all coming days, to the last noble limit of ministry, as we seek to help other people to bear their burdens. Forbid, O God, that we shall add to people's burdens. And then let us all com.e with our burdens, and they are many, and let us cast them, with ourselves, utterly upon that great Savior, who is pledged to turn the very distemperatures of life into triumphs for us, if we will only consent that His will may be done in our lives. Give us grace and help that we may all yield ourselves to thy will, now and forever. And as you_ go now, may the blessing of the Triune God, even of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be granted you, all and each, to abide with you through today, and through to- morrow, and throughout God's vast beyond, forever. Amen. Ill NIGHT SERVICE, JUNE 12, 1917. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. Before reading the Scriptures, I should like to make two remarks — first, a general remark, and then one quite particular with reference to these services. The general remark is, that Christians ought to be the very best of citizens, and in this time of national, and international, and even world testing, Chris- tians should be on the alert constantly to see how they can best serve humanity's interests. I trust that daily the Chris- tians listening to me to-night are giving themselves to prayer about the World War. Oh, what need for constant and fervent intercession respecting this war! My belief is that we have entered into this war under the highest moral compulsion. We have not entered into it, I must believe, with any lust for revenge, or for gain, but purely, and simply, and solely, in the interest of humanity, at home and the world round, for today and for every after day. Therefore, it behooves every Christian, and every right-thinking citizen as well, who may not be a Christian, to give the most worthy consideration to the personal part that each of us should have with respect to this great conflict. Without ceasing, we should make our appeal to God that He may lead us to do His will. And with- out ceasing, we should seek in every high possible way, to help our sons and brothers, who are going out from every community to the camps to be trained for the great conflict. And in every way we can, every one of us, as our noble President has said, "should do his bit/* in this testing hour, 27 28 A QUEST FOR SOULS when every human being in this country is involved, and vitally involved, because of the war. I will venture to add this other word, a word which I said to my own people in Dallas a short time ago, that every man and woman in our land, who can do so, should come with noble response to the appeal that is daily heard, touching the Liberty Bonds. Every man and woman who can do so should re-enforce the Govern- ment at this practical point. It is a matter reasonable, it is a matter righteous, and I believe that it is a matter profoundly and urgently necessary. It is indeed a high privilege to be the right kind of a citizen. Patriotism is a word of tremendous significance. Now, a very particular word touching the interests of the meeting. I raise the question with every Christian under the sound of my voice this night : Won't you make it a point, from day to day, to do some definite religious visiting? All about us there are people who are needing, more than words can say, to be spoken to in the right way, concerning personal religion. Won't you thus dedicate yourself for an hour to-morrow? And if it could not be an hour, for half an hour? And if it could not be half an hour, for ten minutes? And if it could not be ten minutes, for as much as one minute, to speak to some human soul about personal religion? I do not think much of a meeting where its activities are limited to the public services. I think very much of any meeting, if the people come to it, and humbly and earnestly seek to have their spiritual strength renewed, and light their torches, and then go out to find some- body in need of God's guidance and help, and speak to that somebody, and seek to guide that somebody into the right way. That is a meeting worth while. Oh, I press it upon you! Won't you do some of the right kind of religious visiting every day of these special days set apart for public services? There is a drifting Christian that you ought to see. He began well back yonder, and something came to bewitch him away from the right path. Oh, how he needs the right kind of a talk! There is somebody whose church membership is not in Fort Worth, but his life or her life is here. The church member- ship is back yonder in the village church or city church or country church, but the life is here, and the church member- ship ought to be here, and the activity ought to be here, and PRELIMINARY REMARKS 29 the service ought to be here, and the alignment, open and public, for Christ, ought to be here. Do you know such people ? Say the right word to them at once. And then, above all that, there are men and women and children all about you, who are going their way without God, to whom you ought to speak. My fellow-men, if the religion of Jesus Christ is worth a straw, it is worth dying for, and, certainly, it is worth living for. The one without Christ is not ready to die, and — what is of probably larger consequence — ^that one is not ready to live — no, not for a day, nor for an hour. Won't you do the right kind of religious visiting between this and the service to-morrow night? God speed you and help you, I pray. You are ready to listen for a moment, with reverence, I trust, to two passages of Scripture, the first from the ninth chapter of Mark : And when He came to His disciples, He saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. Arguing with them. And straightway all the people, when they beheld Him, were greatly amazed, and running to Him saluted Him. And He asked the scribes. What question ye with them? And one of the multitude answered and said. Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit ; And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. That is what the uproar is about. Your men have failed. Jesus answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. And they brought him unto Him : and when He saw him, straightway the spirit tare him ; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. And Jesus asked his father. How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us. Miserable prayer, wasn't it? About like many of mine, I am afraid. Think of saying that to God, to the Almighty Savior: "If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us!" Jesus said, "You have the *if' in the wrong place." Mark just what He said: Jesus said unto him. If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. That is a glorious prayer. You do not wonder that Daniel Webster wanted it carved on his gravestone : "Lord, I believe ; / help thou mine unbelief." I When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him. Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said. He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up ; and he arose. And when Jesus was come into the house His disciples asked Him privately. Why could not we cast him out? 80 A^ QUEST FOR SOULS Well, sure enough, why couldn't they? When Jesus sent forth the twelve, one of the powers He gave them was power to cast out unclean spirits, and they succeeded. And later, when He sent forth the seventy, one of the powers He gave them was power against unclean spirits, and they succeeded. When they came back from one of their tours, one of their reports was: "Lord, even the devils are subject unto us, through thy name." But they failed this time, utterly. So they asked Him, when alone: "Why could not we cast him out?*' Mark His answer ! Oh, what an answer it is ! And He said unto them. This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer. You observe that the word "fasting" is omitted in the Revised Version. Now you are ready to hear a briefer Scripture, from the eighth chapter of Luke: Now it came to pass on a certain day, that He went into a ship with His disciples : ajid He said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. But as they sailed He fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in ^rfJ^ffTTf^'-n, V^^^ ^^""^ i"" ^^"?' f "^ ^"^9^^ ^^"^' s^y^nST, Master, Master, we perish! Then He arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. And He said unto them. Where is your faith? WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? Text: "And He said unto them. Where is your faith?"--Luke 8 :25. Jesus said unto His disciples, some 1900 years ago, on the storm-swept water, when they were all affrighted and filled with dismay, "Where is your faith?" [And Jesus says to a great audience of men and women assembled in Fort Worth, Tuesday evening, June 12, 1917, "Where is your faith?" This is a question that needs to be asked very often, and it needs to be faithfully answered when we ask it, for it is about the most vital matter of all, even our faith. The conquering weapon is faith. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." His Book so tells us. "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." We shall not have victory without faith. Of old, God's plaintive ques- tion to His Israel was: "Hov/ long will it be ere ye believe me?" And that is His question to His Israel this very hour. "O my people, how long will it be ere ye believe me?" The The undoing sin of Christians is their unfaith. We are all along saying, and correctly, that the undoing sin of the un- believer is his unfaith. "He that believeth not is condemned WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? 31 already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only- begotten Son of God," and while he remains in that unbelief must continue to be condemned. Rejection of Christ, unbelief toward Christ, that is the undoing sin. Even so, the undoing sin for Christians is their un faith. Of old Israel could not enter the Promised Land because of unbelief, and even to-day, and every day, God's people are kept out of many a promised land because of unbelief. We doubt God's ability, or we doubt His willingness, or both His ability and willingness, to help us, and we go our way, groping, and floundering, and fail- ing. It is not only a pity, but it is a sin, deep and tragical, if we are not steadily growing in faith. That was a beautiful tribute Paul paid the church at Thessalonica, when he said: "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly." It will not only be a misfortune, but it will be a sin, if with you and me our faith is not steadily strengthening and growing. But now the fact confronts us, as pointed by the text, that our faith may be misplaced. The faith of the disciples on that storm-swept water was evidently misplaced. They were dis- ciples of Christ. They were His friends and followers. But their hearts failed, and their faith went down, and they fainted in spirit. Their faith was misplaced. When is faith mis- placed? I shall answer that it is misplaced when it is put in human appearances ; and we are all along tempted to put our faith in mere human appearances. How we are influenced, how we are swayed, hov/ we are lifted up or cast down, by mere appearances! If the weather be fair, if no lowering clouds come to menace, if all goes merry as a wedding bell, our hearts seem hopeful and our faith buoyant. But that is not the test. How is it when the heavens are darkened with clouds? How is it when the loved one gasps, and the sands of life seem running to the end? How is it when crepe is on the door? How is it when the granary seems scant and the crops have no promise? How is it when appearances are all against us ? Our faith is misplaced, if our faith is put in mere human appearances. That was a great saying given by a valiant leader, when he said: "Never take counsel of your fears, or of appearances." 32 A QUEST FOR SOULS Our faith is misplaced, I go on to say, when we put it in human agency. And certainly, we are greatly tempted, and constantly, to put our faith in human agency. But all along, the Scriptures, by telling illustrations and by pungent pre- cepts, would turn us away from putting our faith in mere human agency. The Bible tells us why God makes choice, as He does, of such remarkable instrumentalities. He has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty, and the reason is given us there in His Book: "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." A generation or two removed from us, God startled the world by finding a lad yonder in the country placei in England, not yet out of his teens, and God brought him up to the world's greatest city, to great London, and set him right there in its heart to preach His wonderful gospel. Before this young man was thirty, royalty was at his feet, and the British Parliament marvelled at his power, and the lines of his testimony and power had gone out to the ends of the earth — Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the most victorious gospel preacher of all his century, and perhaps of any century since the apos- tolic times. He was a man uncolleged, and yet God said through him to the world about us: "I want you to look at this man and listen to him that your faith may not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." Our God is sur- prising us all along by His strange choice of human instru- mentalities. There is the humble country boy. He has never been to the city at all. He is following his plow. He goes to the little country church house, in the quiet midsummer meeting. His heart is moved, his conscience probed, his judg- ment convinced, his will aroused, and he bows down in hum- ble penitence before Christ, and he is saved. And then he follows his plow still again and strange impulses stir in his heart, and great thoughts bum in his brain. He is thinking about preaching the gospel. He is thinking about going out and telling the world what a dear Savior he has found, and how he would have every man know the same blessed Savior. The years pass on, several of them, half a dozen, a dozen, and yonder is that country lad in a surging city, rallying the tempted thousands of sinning, beaten and wandering humanity, rallying them around the flag of Christ Jesus, the Lord. Who is he? A plain plowboy, clothed upon with the grace and WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? 33 might of the Spirit of God, and in him and through him God is saying to the world: "See him now, and listen to him, and remember, your faith is not to stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." Oh, how it gladdens my heart this Tuesday night, to have the faith to believe that some- where in this broad country, out on the prairies, or out yonder nestling amid the trees, in some little cottage, a mother folds to her heart a tiny baby boy, and when you and I shall be sleeping beneath the roses, and shall be perhaps forgotten, that boy will be going up and down this country, rallying the wavering, sinning thousands around the flag of Christ, a child out from some home of poverty and need, and God will be saying through him to the world: "See him, now, and listen, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." But I think that most of all our faith is misplaced because we limit God. That L a striking expression used in one of the Psalms, where the Psalmist said, concerning Israel of old: "They limited the Holy One of Israel." They "limited God." Mankind can limit God, and does limit Him. At first thought, that seems impossible. The infinite God, filling all immensity, without beginning of days or ending of years, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal — at first thought it seems im- possible that He could be limited, and yet He can be, and is, limited. Man limits God, else man is a mere machine, without any more volition than a tree or a stone. Man can say "No" to God, or man can say "Yes" to God. Man can seek God's face, and by Divine Grace become God's friend, and go God's road, and glorify God's great name ; or man can be rebellious, and offer his protest against God, and turn his back upon God, and miss the right way, and come to defeat and failure. Man limits God. How does he limit Him? The ways are many. We can limit God even in our very prayers. You have proba- bly heard prayers which had in them a limitation upon God. Full many a time when we pray that prayer "not my will, but thine, be done," our hearts really mean: "Not thy will, O God, but mine, be done." Ofttimes we are found trying to persuade God to come to our notion of things, and accept our view of things, without regard to His wisdom and will. All the while He tells us : "You leave your case to me, and trust 34 A QUEST FOR SOULS » your case to me, and submit your case to me, and I will do the wisest and best thing possible for you," and yet full many a time our prayers really mean : "Nevertheless, O Lord, not thy will be done at all, but mine be done," and in that way we limit Him. And then we limit God by our poor lives. Every life is either a channel or a clog, a channel through which God sends His blessing, or a clog to hinder and obstruct such blessing. A human life can be a non-conductor, failing to transmit to others what God would send through that life unto others. That is indeed a pathetic picture, where Paul writes one of the New Testament churches, saying: "For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you, even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ." Paul was writing to a church, and he was saying to that church: "Some of you church members so walk as to become the enemies of the cross of Christ." Your attention has been called to that solemn picture in the last book of the Bible, where Jesus stands outside a church, begging to be admitted. Listen to Him: "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." Jesus is there, outside a church — outside! His own people have the door closed, and have Him outside, and there He stands on the outside, knocking, and saying: "Won't you let me enter? for I come to do you good, and not evil at all." "O Jesus, thou art standing, outside the fast- closed door !" Can you think of anything more heartbreaking this night than to imagine yourselves keeping Jesus out, keep- ing Jesus away from some other life, yourself a clog, obstruct- ing, yourself a non-conductor? He wishes to send through you a message of life and grace and hope to others, and you are a non-conductor. Can you imagine anything more serious than that ? We limit God by our lives. Every Christian whose life is wrong with God positively hinders God and limits God by that much. But most of all, we limit God, T dare say, by our unbelief, our unfaith. Israel could not enter the Promised Land because of unbelief; and you and I are kept out of many a promised land because of unbelief, because of unfaith. Jesus wishes us to believe in Him. The right sort of a man delights to be WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? 35 believed in. You cannot grieve the right sort of a man in any other way quite so deeply as to indicate to him that you do not take him at full face value, as he represents himself to you. The right sort of a man wishes to be believed in, to be taken at his word. God delights to be believed in, and the deepest grief to Him is given Him by our unfaith, our unbelief. We are told here in the gospels that in one certain community Jesus could do no mighty works because of the unbelief of the peo- ple. Unbelief hindered Him. Unbelief fettered Him, even Christ Jesus, the Lord. And so He comes to us to-night, say- ing: "According to your faith, so be it unto you. Where is your faith?" He comes to us to-night saying: "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Where is your faith ?" We are all along talking about "hard cases." Now, how foolish and unwise and wrong is such talk, when we think of God. He asks us : "Is anything too hard for the Lord ?" That was a mighty question Paul asked when he asked: "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?" Granted a God who has all power in heaven and earth, and who formed the worlds by the word of His power, granted a Being like that, and where is there any difficulty or mystery in such a God raising people from death and the grave? So that our talk about "hard cases" in God's sight, is all out of place and grievous in His holy presence. I wonder, my fellow Christians, if in these latter days, our faith gets much higher for mankind than for the salvation of the children in the Sunday-school, and the plastic, responsive young people that are all about us. Where is the faith now that claims the hardened sinner for Christ? Where is the faith that claims the old man with the gray about his temples, far down in the afternoon of life — where is the faith that claims that man for God? Where is the faith that claims the man abandoned to sinful and consuming habits? Where is the faith that claims him for God? Where is the faith that claims the big business man, great and strengthful, masterful and powerful, but preoccupied, living as though this world were all, forgetting that out there a few steps ahead is the judgment and eternity? Where is the faith that claims him, from all that preoccupation, for Christ Jesus and His 36 A QUEST FOR SOULS great salvation ? Where is the faith that claims the very dif- ficult case for the Lord Christ? Oh, how we limit God, that we do not go out and claim men, no matter what their hin- drances and their limitations and their sins ! How we grieve God, if we do not go out and claim them in the name of Christ, even the most difficult cases, for the wonders of His grace and His great forgiveness ! May I tell you the most wonderful conversion that I ever witnessed in all my life? Out in the Middle West, where it has been my delight to go many a time, in the out door camp- meetings, some years ago I went and found in that particular community some very difficult religious conditions. There were more aged people in that community, unsaved, than I have ever witnessed anywhere in all my life, before or since. The religious conditions of the community were hard and dif- ficult. There had been all sorts of pesky religious debates — how miserable they all are, and how inexcusable! — and the people were set and gritty and hard in their relations toward one another. What a tragedy when that is so! I was there some two or three days, and more and more it dawned upon me how difficult all the conditions were. They told me daily about those white-haired men and wom.en, who went groping life's way, without God and without hope. After some days, they told me about Big Jim, the most difficult sinner, they said, west of Fort Worth, even as far west as El Paso. They so described him physically that I could not miss him if he came to the meeting, and they said : "'He will come one time to hear you, and then he will swear at you, and rail at you, and curse out the whole meeting, and the preachers and the churches and everybody, and then he will wait a year and come back a year from now to go over the same performance again." That was their report of him. I stood up to preach one even- ing and in came Big Jim. I could not miss him, from their description. Yonder he sat, far down the aisle before me, at the rear of the great arbor, nor did he take his eye, it seemed, one time from the minister, while his message was being given. At the close of the message, I made the call for men and women who would then and there humbly and honestly make surrender of their poor, undone and sinful lives to the forgiving mercy and hdp of the Divine Savior, and down every aisle white-haired WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? 37 men and women came. It was one of those memorable nights, never to be forgotten. Big Jim kept his seat, nor did he seem to move. After awhile, the meeting ended, and the people gath- ered about me, or gathered in little groups to discuss the won- ders that their eyes had witnessed that night. One after another was named who had "come over the line" and made the great surrender that night to Jesus. And then, ever and anon, these talkers would make a passing remark about the presence of Big Jim, and they speculated about his presence, and about the possibility of his coming any more. (Dne said : *'No ; he will not be back. He will swear at our preacher, and at all the Christian people, nor will he return until next year." But another said : "Yes ; he had a different look on him to-night from what I have ever seen before. I look for him to come again. Never did I see him look as he looked to-night." And so they talked pro and con. Presently the preacher slipped away from the crowd, for it was late, and wended his way around the hillside to the little cottage, far removed from the camping throngs, where he might have quiet and rest, and as he went around that little mountain side he heard somebody talking. Oh, it was so earnest! The preacher did not mean to be an eavesdropper, and yet he seemed chained in his very tracks. And when he stopped and listened to that strange talk, he discovered in a moment what it was, and that there were two of them, and that they were praying, for one, who spoke for the two, said: "We two, O Christ, agree we want Big Jim saved, that the mouths of gainsayers may be stopped in this country. They are saying, O Christ, that Big Jim is too much for God, that even God cannot stop him. They are saying that, and we want the mouths of gainsayers stopped, and the whole land to know that Christ is able to save even the chief of sinners ; and we two, here on the mountain side, late in the night, give thee Big Jim, believing thy great promise: *If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.* For the glory of Christ, simply and only, we pray you, save Big Jim/' I went quietly on my way. I do not know who they were, who thus were praying. I never knew. I found my cottage. 38 A QUEST FOR SOULS and the night passed, and the next day came and wore to night- fall, and I was again under the arbor, facing the mass of people. I stood up to preach and looked everywhere, but Big Jim was not present. But just as I began to speak, in he came, at the same place as on the previous night, and then my mes- sage seemed to fly away, and I said: *'We will pause and ask God to give the preacher what he ought to say. He does not laiow. He would speak God's message, whatever it is, to-night, and this man will lead us in prayer that the preacher may speak what, and as, Christ would have His preacher to- night to speak." And the prayer was finished, and then the preacher began again, and told simply and only that story of the prodigal son, the easily influenced, impulsive youth, restless, dissatisfied, who went away from home against the protests of wisdom and love, and took his part of the inheritance, and went down the toboggan slide at a rapid pace, and wasted all his substance in riotous living. And when his substance was gone, his friends were gone. The hail-fellows-well-met of the other days had fled, and he was down yonder in the swine fields, this lad, feeding the swine, himself eating of the husks wherewith he fed the swine. One day, as the Scriptures tell the story, the young fellow "came to himself." He saw himself as he was. Memory w^as alert, and the months and the years of his separation from home, came trooping back to his recol- lection, and the young man said : "I have sinned. I have missed it. This is the way of defeat and death. I will go back to father, and I will confess in his sight and in God's sight how I have missed it, and how I have sinned." And then he put that kindling desire into effect, that sublime resolution into action, and he betook himself back the homeward way, and as he came toward the old home, the father saw him, even from afar ; the father was waiting, longing to see him ; and down the road the father came, and put his arms about the boy, as the boy began his confession, and the father called to a servant: "Bring the best robe for this boy," and to another : "Kill the fatted calf," and to another: "Bring the ring to put on this boy's finger," emblem of the love that never dies. And there was music, and there was rejoicing, and there was victory. That was all I said, except that I added : "This story of the prodigal son is simply a picture of the love of God, going out after any soul on earth that has wandered away from God, WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? 39 which soul God wishes to forgive and recover and save, and will so save, if such soul will come to Him." And then I said : "Will the audience remain seated ? Without any singing at all, is there some man here tonight, a prodigal, far from heaven and God, who says : *I want God's mercy, and I will honestly yield myself to God to get it,' let him come and take my hand." Would you believe it ? Big Jim started. Oh, the sight, the sight, the sight ! And presently the men saw him coming, and hundreds of sobbing men stood to their feet, and sobbed aloud, and as he came down the aisle slowly, for it was with difficulty he walked, hundreds of men joined him, and came down with him. And when at last he got to me and took my hand, he said : **Sir, I put you on your sacred honor, will the Great Master save me, if I will give up to Him?" And I said: "Sir, on my sacred honor, I declare that He will, if you will just honestly surrender your case to Him." And the men put in v^^ith voices, scores and scores : "It is so, Jim. We made the surrender and He saved us. You make it, and you will find out for yourself."' And then again, waiting a moment, he looked at me, still hold- ing my hand, and said : "I want you to remember, sir, that you are speaking to the worst man out of perdition. Would the IMaster save a man like that, if he would give up to Him?" I said: "Sir, on my Master's own statement, I declare to you that He will save you, even if you are the chief sinner out of perdition, if you will honestly surrender to Him." And they punctuated my remark with a chorus : "It is so, Jim. Try it and you will find out." Once again he looked at me and then he said, finally: "Sir, when would the Great Master save me, if I should give up to Him right now?" And I said: "Sir, on His own word, which many of us have proved, our Great Master will save you, and your heart shall know that your sins are forgiven, right now, if right now you will honestly surrender to Him." And then he turned that big bronzed face upward, as if looking for the Master himself, and he gasped out his prayer, just this: "Lord Jesus, the worst man in the world gives up to you right now." OH, I cannot tell the rest! I do not think the angds could tell the rest. I think if the archangel himsdf should come down from those starry heights, that the words of that angel would be inadequate to tell you the rest. God unloosed Big Jim's 40 A' QUEST FOR SOULS tongue, and he began to talk, and then the old men kissed him, and the old women kissed him, and the young men kissed him, and the young women kissed him, for the chief of sinners had been saved. What is there wonderful about such a story? Not a thing on the face of the earth, if you will grant that Jesus Christ is divine, and that He came in the flesh to save sinners, and that His divine grace is mightier than any human sin, however long-continued and however heinous. O men and women, you and I limit God because of our unfaith with respect to aged and hardened and difficult and preoccupied cases that are all around us. But there is another word for me to bring you. How may we strengthen our faith ? That is what you and I wish to know. How may you and I strengthen our faith ? I have two or three simple suggestions. First, if we would strengthen our faith, we need to make it a matter of prayer. I read you the passage of Scripture telling of a group of men who failed in their faith, and when they got Jesus alone they said: "Why was it we failed?" Mark His answer: "This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer." If you are not a man of prayer, you are not a man of faith. If you are not a woman of prayer, you are not a woman of faith. The men and women who do not tread the secret path of prayer aie men and women spiritless and broken and without faith. If you and I would have conquering faith, then you and I must make it a matter of constant prayer. Once "vvhen Jesus gave His disciples a great task to accomplish, they cried back unto Him : "Lord, if you expect that of us, increase our faith." And so you and I are to come to Him, saying : "If you expect this, or that, or the other great achievement, even the achievement of winning some poor soul, bedarkened and blinded by sin, away from such dreadful path, to God, then increase our faith." How may our faith be increased? If it is to be increased, then let us plead the promises of God. Oh, how great a privilege to plead the promises of God ! Of old, one had a way of talking to God like this: "Do as thou hast said." And when you and I come to pray, we need to fill our mouths with arguments to God, and those arguments are His own WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? 41 promises. "Lord Jesus, here is what thou hast said, and we plead that. We fill our mouth with thine own argument, and we plead that before thy face. Do as thou hast said. Do as thou hast said." What if hundreds and hundreds of these men and women before me, should go apart in groups of two, and should say: "Lord Jesus, here is a case, O, so difficult, speaking after the fashion of men, so difficult, so hopeless, but not at all difficult and hopeless if God will take charge of the case, and, therefore, we two take up thy promise, where thou sayest: If two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father in heaven.' Do as thou hast said. We plead this promise, and rest on it. Do as thou hast said." How are we to strengthen our faith? I have still another word. If we are to strengthen our faith, then we are to seek the guidance and power of God's Divine Spirit. In this divinest work of all, the work of winning souls to Christ, all along we are to seek the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit. Oh, how wonderful is His guidance, and how marvelous is His power! He does guide His people. There is such a thing as being led of the Spirit of God, and in this divinest work of all, the work of winning souls, we shall miss it utterly and be marplots, if we are not guided and empowered by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God does teach, guide and empower the servants of Jesus, in this holiest task of all, this work of win- ning souls to Christ. "When He is come," Jesus has promised it, "He will guide you into all truth." "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 Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." O brothers mine, you and I, with all humility and earnestness, want to ask God to guide us in this work we are in, and to give us His own wisdom and power at every step that we take. Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove. With all thy quickening powers; Come, shed abroad a Savior's love. And that shall kindle ours. You and I want the guidance and the power of the Divme Spirit in this heavenly task to which we are these days, please God. to put our hands. *2 A QUEST FOR SOULS V/onderful, how wonderful, is God's leadership by His Spirit and His power, when we yield ourselves to Him ! How wonderful it is ! A few years ago, I was in Minneapolis, that beautiful city of the Northwest, at one of the Bible conferences for the Northwestern states, speaking there daily for some two weeks, and it was my privilege, while there, to have daily fellowship with that nobly gifted preacher, Wayland Hoyt, one of the first preachers of his generation. I had heard of an incident in his life, and I asked him about it, and he confirmed it. This was the incident: Dr. Hoyt had prepared with unusual care in the other years a special sermon, hoping to reach one of the first citizens in his city on a certain Sunday night, with that same sermon. This citizen was an outstand- ing citizen, but not a Christian, and rarely came to church. The wife was a devoted Christian and church member. So at the Sunday morning service Mr. Hoyt signalled quietly to the wife, and sent by her a message to the distinguished husband : "Tell him that I ask specially that he will come to-night. I have pre- pared a sermon, hoping earnestly to help him. Tell him I ask him to come, I wish him to come." The wife gave the mes- sage when she reached home, and the husband went to the tele- phone—he was a gentleman in every instinct and habit of his life— and took down the receiver and called the minister and gave the minister his grateful thanks for his cordial invitation, saying: 'Certainly, I will be there to-night How kindly, how considerate of you to be so Interested In me. Certainly, I will be there to hear you." But before the nightfall came a blinding storm filled the heavens, and the floods poured out of the clouds, and the people could not gather. Only a little hand- ful hard by the church could gather at all. The minister made his way to the church and spoke to the little handful, but the one citizen he had thought about and specially prepared for was not there. The minister went home with his heart heavy, and he sat there late and long in his library that Sunday night, and he fell to musing like this : "What a poor out I am making reaching that man !" And then something said to him: "Why don't you Imitate your Master and go to the man and preach your sermon to just one man, as Jesus after nightfall preached His sermon on the new birth to Nicodemus, that fine citizen of old? Why don't you walk in the steps of your Master and preach your best sermon to one man?" And that suggestion WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? 43 fairly boomed like a cannon in his ears and heart. He looked at his watch. It was midnight. He said : "Why, I could not f o this late at night." And he sat, still thinking further, and something seemed to say to him, did say to him : "If you knew that that man's house was in danger, or that his family were in danger, you would brave any sort of weather, to help them. Though the storm beat down the avenue, you would breast it, to go and apprise him of the danger. Why won't you be con- sistent about the biggest, most important thing of all?" And then Dr. Hoyt said he found himself putting on his raincoat. He opened the door and breasted the great storm that still swept down the avenue. Block after block he trudged his way through the blinding storm. He said he found himself talking to himself, saying to himself: "Maybe, the man will say I am crazy. Maybe I am, but God knows I am trying to do the consistent thing." Presently he came to the right house, and as he came toward it there was a light in one of the lower rooms, and he came up softly to the door, and knocked gently, not caring to disturb the household at one o'clock in the morn- ing, and in a moment the door opened, and there standing was the citizen, who had not been in bed at all, and out into the storm and the night the big citizen thrust his arms and drew Wayland Hoyt out of the night and out of the storm, and drew him to his heart, and sobbed over him as a mother would sob over her children, saying to him : "Thank God, Mr. Hoyt, He sent you here to teach me how to be saved. I have been there in my library, reading the Bible and trying to pray. That word you sent me waked me up and stirred my heart. The storm kept me from going to church, but I could not sleep. I have been there reading the Bible and trying to pray, but it is all dark to me. Jesus sent you to teach me." And Wayland Hoyt told me that in five minutes his interested citizen was rejoicing in Christ Jesus the Lord. What if Wayland Hoyt had not gone ? God pity me and you maybe, as time and again your heart ached with a longing inexpressible for some lost soul, but you said : "I am unworthy. I am incompetent. I am unfit." And you deadened your impression, and you went your way, and such soul went his way, and maybe has gone into eternity ere this Tuesday night. Oh, seek the guidance of God's Spirit for this task, and then follow Him ! 44 A QUEST FOR SOULS We are going in a moment, for my message is done. I have a question to ask you, and you will answer it candidly. This is the question: Is there somebody in Fort Worth that you wish to be saved ? Is there somebody in Fort Worth that you wish to be saved during these meetings, in which our appeal shall be made to men's judgments and men's consciences? I have no respect for any other kind of appeal in the name of Christ's holy religion. Bethink you now — is there somebody that you wish to see saved during these midsummer days, set aside for some special meetings to help the people in the highest matters of all? Every Christian present who says: "Yes ; there is one, or there are some, that I wish to see saved, and by my standing I voice my wish, and ask you and ask others present who pray, to join me in prayer for these name- less ones that my heart thinks about, in these closing moments of this service," stand to your feet. Is there some person or persons whom you would see saved during these meetings, for whom you would have us to unite our prayers this night, and from day to day, that light and leading from God may be vouchsafed unto them that they may be saved? Does my call apply to others? Every man and woman who says: "That represents my heart's earnest desire," stand to your feet. Many have risen. Many persons are evidently now in your thoughts. The Lord teach us to pray for them as we ought ! THE CLOSING PRAYER. We go now, our Father, at the close of this service, appealing to thee that thy truth, by the power of thy Spirit, may be written in our deepest con- sciences. O, forgive us for our little faith, for our miserable unfaith.^ This night we would draw nigh to God. We would pay the price for power with God and for Him, wherever that would lead us, and whatever that would cost us. Whether by death or by life, we would do God's will. Behold the men and women who have risen to their feet to say that tHey are thinking of one, or thinking of more than one, whom they long to see saved during these midsummer days, in the special daily meetings. O God, fit us to speak as we ought to the people all about us concerning Jesus. Would it please thee for those now praying to pour forth their personal appeal to some soul thought about and prayed for right now? Then let the right person go to such soul and speak God's Word, however tim- idly. And even though with confession, first of 'all, for waywardness personal, and inconsistency of life, and incongruity of temper, yet may the soul who loves Christ and loves the soul of the one thought about and prayed for right now, go te such soul and speak as Christ would have the word spoken, to guide such soul out of the darkness and into the light. Holy Spirit Divine, thou Great Revealer of Jesus, come thou and teach us and lead us, and enable us hour by hour, in our talk, in our visits, by the use of the 'phone, by the letter, and in the secret places, when we bare our very souls before God in prayer, to behave ourselves in such a fashion that Christ with smiling face shall look on us, and with blessed lips shall say to us: "I am well pleased." And now, as the people go, may the blessing of God, even of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, whom we worship as one God, be granted you all and each, to abide with you forevermore. Amen. NOON SERVICE, JUNE 13, 1917. THE THREEFOLD SECRET OF A GREAT LIFE. Text: "Brethren, I count not myself to liave apprehended: 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 for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."— Phil. 3; 13, 14. Somebody has well said that "the proper study of mankind is man." The study of biography, therefore, is always a most fascinating and helpful study. Everybody who is normal is interested keenly in the lives of people who have succeeded. We would know all that we may about them, about their beginnings, their struggles, their habits, about their viewpoint in life. This morning I would direct your attention for a little while to the most remarkable Christian of the centuries, namely, the Apostle Paul. He was, and is, the greatest single credential that Christ's gospel has ever produced. One day, in writing to his favorite church, the Philippian church, in a burst of confi- dence, it would seem, he lets us into the secret of his marvelous life, and we are to study that threefold secret for a little while this morning. Mark his words : 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 for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. In those words, this greatest of all Christians states the three-fold secret of his incomparable life, and we will do well to look at that threefold secret today. The first element in it is the element of whole-hearted concentration. "This one thing I do" — not a dozen things, not even two things, but "this one thing I do." No life can be very great, or very happy, or very useful, without this element of concentration. Every one 45 46 A QUEST FOR SOULS should have a work to do, and know what it is, and do it with all his might. Decision is energy, and energy is power, and power is confidence, and confidence to a remarkable degree contributes to success. Many a man in life has failed, not from lack of ability, but from lack of this element of con- centration. The whole world is witness to its power. Turn to any realm that you will, and the vital meaning of concentration stands out in all human life, after the most striking fashion. Take the business world, and the element of concentration there is of prime importance, if success is to be achieved. The very watchwords in the business world magnify this element of concentration. They talk to us about specialization and con- solidation, and incorporation, and on and on, giving emphasis in all such words to the meaningful quality of concentration. A short time ago one of the world's most successful business men was waited upon by a group of young men, who sought his counsel about how to succeed, and he gave them this laconic advice : "Young gentlemen, get all your eggs into one basket, and then watch that basket." It was his way of giving emphasis to the tremendous value of concentration. The day for the jack-of-all-trades has passed. A man must do one thing and do it with all his might. The professional man understands that. The lawyer who is minded to reach the topmost rung of his high calling sets himself with all diligence and devotedness to that calling, and does not dissipate his energies on a half dozen other callings, as in the other days men sometimes did. The physician understands that. The day of the specialist has come. The teacher understands that. In all the world about us men understand that this winning element, stated by Paul as the first element, humanly speaking, of his marvelous career, is indispensable to success, namely, the power of concentration — "this one thing I do." And when we turn to the world of science, and look at the notable scientists, that truth of concentration seems to be written in their lives as with letters of living fire. Edison with all devotedness concentrates his energies in the realm of elec- tricity, and is constantly surprising the world by his marvelous discoveries. And the Wright brothers, with all their devoted- ness, gave themselves to the mastery of the secrets of the air, and constantly surprised us by their revelations. THE SECRET OF A GREAT LIFE 47 When we come to the highest realm of all — the realm relig- ious — ^this element of concentration there holds sway just as in these other realms. No man can serve two masters. One must be our Master, and Jesus stands above all mankind and says : *'If you would be my disciple, then I tell you I must come first. I must come before father or mother, or the dearest loved one of your life. I must come before your own business, or your own property. I must come before your own life. I must be Lord of all, or I will not be Lord at all." Now, you would not trust your soul's eternal welfare to a proffered Savior who would ask or allow an3rthing less than that He should be first. "Ye shall seek me and find me, when ye search for me with your whole heart." I care not what may be a man's difficulties or doubts in the world religious, if only such man, with definiteness of purpose, with whole-heartedness of aim, shall set himself to seek God's light and leading, I know that he will find Him. "In the day that thou seekest me with thy whole heart, I will be found of thee." Many a Christian man follows Christ afar off, and limps and grovels in the Christian life, because he is seeking to adjust himself in life to giving Christ some secondary place, and Christ will not have it. Concentration is a prime requisite in the victorious life anywhere. In the second place the great Christian leads us to the con- sideration of a second secret explanatory of his marvelous career, and that is that he cultivated a wise forgetfulness of the past. It rings like a trumpet blast in this Bible that we are to remember certain things that we ought to remember. That word "remember" rings out like a bugle blast, again and again in the Bible. But along with the factor of wisely remembering there is to go that other important factor of wisely forgetting. Many a man goes hobbled and crippled through life and never does come to the highest and best, because he cannot forget certain things that ought to be forgotten by him. And what are some of the things that we ought every one to forget ? Let me run over a brief list. We ought every one to learn how practically to forget our blunders. What blun- derers we all are, and how many blunders we all make ! Every man must learn how to forget his own blunders, or he will go manacled and crippled to his grave. The old saying comes in 48 A QUEST FOR SOULS point right clearly, that "the best of men are but men at the best." We are to learn, therefore, how to forget our blunders. Ebenezer was a field of defeat before it rang with the songs of victory. We are to learn how to take our very blunders and make them bridges over which we shall span the chasms and go to better days. And what else are we to learn how to forget? We are to learn how to forget our losses. In human life losses of all kinds come more or less in our experiences. We are to learn how to get past them, and practically to forget them. I have observed no more painfully tragical sight than a strong, alert man, down in spirit, singing his dirges and chanting his jere- miads because he had lost some property. I am thinking now of a man whose property burned up a day or two after the insurance had expired, and all was a total loss, and there he was without property at all, in the gray of that early morning, and with his face in his hands he kept chanting the pitiful cry: "I have lost all !" Presently his tiny little girl, of four or five summers, came to him, all puzzled, and said : "Why, no, papa, you have not lost all. You have me and mamma left !" And it took that to summon him and to hearten him and to bring him back to sobriety and to right-thinking. No man is to whine and mope and go down because losses come here and there and yonder. But, he is to learn how to get past them and to forget them. What else are we to forget? We are to learn how to forget life's injuries. It would seem that in this world of ours with its rivalries and competitions and frictions and alienations, it is difficult to get past the injuries that come in human life. And yet I tell you, my brother men, if for any cause you are cherish- ing hate in your heart, then 3^ou have lost the highest perspec- tive of life, and cannot have the highest perspective of life as long as the poison of hate is allowed in your heart and in your life. A man is terribly hindered and has around him a ball and a chain, if in his heart he cherishes something that says: "I will lie awake at nights, and I will turn many a corner, and I will await my day, to get even with some man for some cruel dart that he throws at me." Big men do not hate. Big men do not cherish resentments. Big men put them down and out, and go their way, and refuse to harbor them. They refuse to THE SECRET OF A GREAT LIFE 49 let them rankle like poisons in the heart, thus to vitiate every high thing that the spirit should hold most dear. What else are we to forget? We are to learn how to forget our successes. More men have been spoiled by suc- cess than you and I can begin to measure. There is danger in success, anywhere, for any man. If a man can bear success, he can bear anything. Easier far can the human spirit bear adversity than it can bear prosperity. It is better any day to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, for in the house of feasting the human spirit is lifted up, and pride always goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit always goes before a fall. When Uzziah of old came to his day of remarkable prosperity, then it was that the Bible tells us his heart was lifted up to destruction. The history of the rich American family stands out like a mountain range, that every third generation of such family goes to defeat and failure and poverty. The first generation wins success, the second generation spends it, and the third generation goes the down- ward way to poverty and failure. We are to learn how to forget our successes. If a man does not learn what success is for — any kind of success, financial success, political success, social success, intellectual success, any kind of success — if he does not learn what it is for, the day comes for his undoing and his downfall and his defeat. What else are we to forget ? We are to learn how to forget our sorrows — and sooner or later these sorrows come to us, each and all. We are to learn how to forget them. When the sorrows come, we are to learn how to take these sorrows to the great, refining, overruling Master, and ask Him so to dispose, so to rule and overrule in them and with them that we may come out of them all refined and disciplined, the better educated and more useful, because of such sorrows. They tell us that when you break the oyster's shell at a certain place it will go somewhere into the deep and find a pearl and mend that broken place in its shell with a beautiful pearl. Even so, when your sorrow in life comes, you are to learn how to take that sorrow, and so have it woven into the warp and woof of your life that you shall not be weaker and worse for the sorrow, but shall be richer and stronger and better, because of such sorrow. Read every now and then the polished essay of Emerson on 50 A QUEST FOR SOULS "Compensation." Running all through this world is that clear principle of compensation. The Bible recognizes it : "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." We are to lay to heart that sublimest truth that "all things work together for good to them that love God." Yonder in the asylum for the deaf and dumb a visitor went one day, and the superin- tendent of the asylum said: "Let me show you how bright these little children are, even though they are deaf and dumb. Ask any question you will," said the superintendent . to the visitor. "Write your question there on the board, and see the answers that these little mutes will give to your question." He asked question after question, did this visitor. After awhile he asked a cruel question. I wonder how he could have done k. He wrote this cruel question there on the board: "If God loved you, why did He make you deaf and dumb?" Then the little things bowed their shoulders and sobbed for a mo- ment with almost uncontrollable emotion, and presently a little tiny girl came from out her seat there, and went to the black- board, and wrote under that question these wonderful words of Jesus: "Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight." Wasn't it glorious? You and I are to take our sor- rows, our black Fridays, our lone and long nights, and we are to come to Him and say: "Manage thou these, thou won- drous Friend, who canst turn the very night into morning; manage these for me." And we are to sing with Whittier, when he sang: *'I know not where Hts islands lift Their fronded palms in air; But this I know, I cannot drift Beyond His love and care." What else are we to forget ? We are to learn how to forget our sins. If Paul had not learned how to forget his sins he would have been crippled utterly clear to his death. Paul con- sented to the death of Stephen. Paul persecuted the church. Paul was a ring-leader in sin. Paul seemed to run the whole gamut of sin. He called himself "the chief of sinners," and perhaps he was. If Paul had not learned how to forget those awful sins that mastered him back yonder, if he had not learned how to get past them, then he would have gone with accusing conscience and broken spirit clear to his grave. We shall have about us a ball and a chain, and shall go groveling and despair- THE SECRET OF A GREAT LIFE 51 ing and defeated, if we do not learn how to forget our sins. When we look at the debit side of our life, do our hearts faint within us? Mine faints within me. But then the Master of life summons me and says : "Come over here and look at the credit side, and the credit side will outfigure all that debit side." And when I come over there I say to Him: "What dost thou mean, oh, thou gracious Friend?" Listen to Him, and He tells us : "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." Listen to Him again : "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us." And listen to Him yet again: "I have put your sins behind my back. I have drowned them in the depths of the sea. I will remember them against you no more forever." Oh, isn't that wonderful? Listen to Him again and He tells us: "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin."- When Satan comes with his accusing cry, reminding me 6£ my weakness and my frailty and my transgressions and my proneness to sin and all that, he can make out his case, I grant it, but I come back and say to him: "But, sir, where sin abounded, grace has much more abounded, and in Christ, whose name is Jesus, I have victory, even over my sins." "Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." We have a real Savior from sin in Christ Jesus, and when we trust Him, no more are we to go hobbled> with ball and chain, because of sin, because Christ becomes our personal Savior from both the penalty and power of sin. Years ago, in South Texas, there was a little home in the country burned down, and before the neighbors could rescue the family all were burned to death save one little girl, some nine or ten years of age, and she was badly burned on one side of her face and little body. The rest were all burned to death. The neighbors, after a few days, when they had con- sulted, sent little Mary to the far-famed Buckner Orphans Home. They advised the noble head of that home when little Mary would come, on what train, and there good Dr. Buckner was waiting for her, of course. When she got off the train, her little eyes were red from weeping, and she seemed intuitive- ly to know that he was her protector henceforth, and she started toward him saying: "Is this Mr. Buckner?" He said: "Yes, and is this little Mary?" And then she came and laid 52 A QUEST FOR SOULS her littk head up against his knee, and sobbed with indiscriba- ble emotion, and looked up at last with that little burned face and said: "You will have to be my papa and mamma both." He said : "I will, the best I can, Mary." And then she went into the Home, and was looked after along with those hundreds of children. I have been there time and again and preached to them, and I have seen them come out to greet him when he would return to them, after an absence. The little tots come down the avenue, and vie with one another as they swing around him, each wishing to kiss him first. Along in that group one day came the little burned-faced Mary, and the little chil- dren kissed him as was their wont, but little Mary stood off, several feet away, and looked across her shoulder, watching the whole affair, sobbing like her heart would break. And when these little ones had kissed the good man, he looked across to her and said : *'Mary, why don't you come and kiss me?" That was entirely too much for her and she sobbed aloud, and then he went over and touched her little chin and lifted it up and said: I do not quite understand you, Mary. Why didn't you come to kiss me?" And the little thing had difficulty in speaking, and when she did speak she said: "O Papa Buckner, I could not ask you to kiss me, I am so ugly. After I got burned I am so ugly I could not ask you to kiss me, but if you will just love me like you love the other chil- dren and tell me you love me, then you need not kiss me at all." You know what he did. He pushed all those beautiful children away, and took up little Mary in his arms, and kissed the little burned cheek again and again and said : *'Mary, you are just as beautiful to Papa Buckner as are any of the rest." Ah, me ! I was that burned child once, and sin did it all ! I came to Jesus and said : "I am sorry. My heart is sick about it. Oh, I have repented of it all." And He said : "1 will receive you, and I will give you the kiss of reconciliation, the kiss of pardon, the kiss of forgiveness," and I was saved when I came like that. Now no more will I go fettered and bound because of sin, because Christ has made me free by His mighty grace. Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe, Sin had left its crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Let me detain you for the third word. Paul had a right anticipation. "Forgetting those things which are behind and THE SECRET OF A GREAT LIFE 53 ^caching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calHng of God in Christ Jesus." Paul had a right forward look. My men and women, at this busy noonday hour, I come to ask you, one by one, have you the right aim in your life? What are you living for ? What is that hand for ? What is the eye for ? What is human life for? What is your life for? How are you using your life? How are you investing your life? What is the aim of your life ? Does somebody say : "Why, I am taking it one world at a time ?" That is not bright. That is not clever. If a man does not include two worlds at a time, then he commits suicide for both. A man is to be a citizen of two worlds, and a man who lives simply for this world, no matter how success- fully, how victoriously, how notoriously, if a man lives simply for this present world, he commits suicide in it and suicide for the world endless that awaits us just out there. Oh, include two worlds in your plan ! Let me tell you about three men. One said : "One world at a time for me," and from early morning until dewy eve, he invested all his powers to win success, and he won it, but he died without hope, and without God, taking a leap into the dark with a wail, the memory of which must forever give agony to the hearts that heard it. The second one made pro- fession of religion, but he followed Christ afar off. He put his religion into a little tiny corner of his life. He gave Jesus the small places, and when he came to the last end, with his family and minister around him, the minister was saddened by his awful story: "Sir, I trust I shall get to heaven, but my works are burned up, because I have done little or nothing for Christ. Oh, if I could retrace my life and be the right kind of a man !" And then there was the third man. From life's young morning he dedicated his life to Jesus. He went his way a great business man, but with it all he was the faithful friend of Jesus. He chose Christ as his chief partner, his guide in all things. And when he came down to die, there was a halo of light about his face, and there was victory in his heart, and in his words, and all the men that knew him said : "If ever a Christian has lived, this man is he." Which one of these three men would you rather be? Listen to the words of a modem poet : 54 A QUEST FOR SOULS I had walked life's way with an easy tread. Had followed where comforts and pleasures led. Until one day in a quiet place I met the Master face to face. With station and rank and wealth for my goal. Much thought for my body, but none for my soul, I had entered to win in life's mad race. When I met the Master face to face. I had built my castles and reared them high. With their towers had pierced the blue of the sky, I had sworn to rule with an iron mace. When I met the Master face to face. I met Him and knew Him and blushed to see That His eyes, full of sorrow, were fixed on me; And I faltered and fell at His feet that day. While my castles melted and vanished away. Melted and vanished and in their place Naught else did I see but the Master's face. And I cried aloud, "Oh, make me meet To follow the steps of Thy wounded feet." My thought is now for the souls of men, I have lost my life to find it again, E'er since one day in a quiet place I met the Master face to face. O my men and women, you are not ready to die, you are not ready to live, you are not ready for any duty, even for five seconds, if you are putting the wisdom and love and power of Christ out of your life. Be wise, I summon you, and give heed to the supreme things, even in the day when you ought. That day is to-day. THE BENEDICTION. And now, as we go, may God vouchsafe unto us every one, His own search- ing truth, applied by its Divine Author, even by the Holy Spirit Himself, so that we shall from this day forward, put first things first, in the remaining life allowed us in the flesh. Oh, we beseech thee, our Father, that these busy men and women at this noontide hour, may go away with the heart inflexibly fixed to give Christ, the one Savior, the rightful Master of mankind, absolute supremacy in our every heart, and in every life, and in every life plan that we are to have from this day forward. And as you go now, may the blessing of God, bright like the light when the morning dawneth, and gracious as the dew when the eventide cometh, be granted you all and each, to abide with you today and tomorrow, and throughout God's vast beyond, forever. Amen. [Vi NIGHT SERVICE, JUNE 13, 1917. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. At the beginning of the service last evening I raised the question with the Christians w^ho were present if they would not set themselves apart definitely to do some earnest personal religious visiting every day during these meetings. Now, I am wondering how many of those Christians who heard that request have to-day heeded it, and to-day have sought to help somebody touching per- sonal religion. All about us there are people who are neglecting the highest things, and yet these peoole have their heart-hungers and their longings, because eternity hath been set in every heart, and therefore nothing other than the eternal can satisfy the human heart. Oh, I am so anxious, my fellow Christians, that we shall give our- selves during these midsummer days, in this brief meeting, like we ought, to the right kind of religious visiting. I believe — I wonder if you people believe it with me — that every night we come here every Christian listening to me now, can by the right sort of effort bring at least one with you to every night service, who is not a Christian. What if you were to do that? Remember: "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." What if every Christian listening to me now highly resolved in his or her heart : "As for me, I will do my best to bring at least one with me, every night, who is not a Christian!" Oh, I pray you, pass nobody by. Go after the tallest man in 55 56 A QUEST FOR SOULS this fair city. Jesus needs him, and surely that man's supreme need is Jesus. Go after the most gifted woman socially in all the city. How the Master needs her, and how she needs Him ! Go after the poorest and wretchedest. Jesus would have you pass nobody by. Now, I raise the question with you again, my fellow Christian. Will you not give yourself for an hour to-morrow, to the right kind of religious visiting? There is some duty-neglecting Christian you ought to see. There is some back-slidden Christian that you ought to confer with. And, above all, there is somebody that you ought to talk with who is not a Christian at all. Oh, what an incongruity for a Christian to go his way dumb in the presence of those not Chris- tians! Couldn't you give an hour to-morrow, to this greatest quest of all? And if it could not be an hour, couldn't it be half an hour? And if it could not be half an hour, couldn't it be five minutes? And if it could not be five minutes, couldn't you take one minute to ask some person face to face: "Is it well with your soul?" Be not afraid. Do your best, and God will be vnth you. You are ready now, I trust, quietly and reverently, to listen for some moments to the reading of the Holy Scrip- tures. I am reading from John's Gospel, in the first chap- ter: Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of Godl And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Just one sentence, and that led them to follow Jesus, and you can speak that sentence. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye.'* What are you men up to ? Oh, how candid is the good Master, Jesus ! He never misleads. He never deceives. How candid is Jesus ! What seek ye ? What are you men up to? Why do you follow me? They said unto Him, Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted. Master), where dwdlest thou? He saith unto them. Come and see. That is what He always says. That is Christ's standing challenge to mankind— come and see! They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two which heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother, Simon, and saith unto him. We have found the Messias, which is, being inter prated, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. A QUEST FOR SOULS 57 A QUEST FOR SOULS. Text: "And he brought him to Jesus."— John 1:42. The bringing of a soul to Jesus is the highest achieve- ment possible to a human life. Some one asked Lyman Beecher, probably the greatest of all the Beechers, this ques- tion : "Mr. Beecher, you know a great many things. What do you count the greatest thing that a human being can be or do?" And without any hesitation the famous pul- piteer replied : "The greatest thing is, not that one shall be a scientist, important as that is; nor that one shall be a statesman, vastly important as that is; nor even that one shall be a theologian, immeasurabl}^ important as that is ; but the greatest thing of all," he said, "is for one human being to bring another to Christ Jesus the Savior." Surely, he spoke wisely, and well. The supreme ambi- tion for every church and for every individual Christian should be to bring somebody to Christ. The supreme method for bringing people to Christ is indicated here in the story of Andrew, who brought his brother Simon to Jesus. The supreme method for winning the world to Christ is the personal method, the bringing of people to Christ one by one. That is Christ's plan. When you turn to the Holy Scriptures, they are as clear as light, that God expects every friend He has to go out and see if he cannot win other friends to the same great side and service of Jesus. "Ye shall be witnesses unto me," said Jesus, "both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." The early church went out and in one short generation shook the Roman empire to its very foundation. It was a pagan, selfish, sodden, rotten empire, and yet in one short generation, that early church had shaken that Roman empire from center to circumfer- ence, and kindled a gospel light in every part of the vast domain. And they did it by the personal method. The men and the women and the children who loved Christ, went out everywhere, and talked for Christ, in the hearing of those who knew Him not, and the hearers became inter- ested, and followed on, and found out for themselves the m A QUEST FOR SOULS saving truth that there is in Christ's gospel. Every Chris- tian, no matter how humble, can win somebody else to Christ. You would not challenge that, would you? Let me say it again. Every Christian, however humble, can win somebody to Christ. That is a most interesting and instructive story told of the nobly gifted Boston preacher. Dr. O. P. GifTord, who preached one morning to his congregation, making the insistence that it is the business, primary and funda- mental, of Christ's people to go out constantly and win others to the knowledge of the Savior. And as he brought to bear his message upon his waiting auditors, with words that breathed and thoughts that burned, the minister came on to say : "Every Christian can win somebody to Christ." When the sermon was done and the people were sent away, there tarried behind one of his humblest auditors — prob- ably the humblest, with reference to this world's goods, for she was a poor seamstress. She tarried behind to make her plea to the preacher that his sermon was over-stressed. Greatly moved she was, the preacher stated, as looking him in the face she said: "Pastor, this is the first time that I ever heard you when you seemed to be unfair." "Pray, wherein was I unfair?" he asked. Then she said: "You kept crowding the truth down upon us that every Christian could win somebody to Christ. Now, you did not make any exceptions, and surely I am an exception. Pray, tell me what could I do? I am but a poor seamstress, and I sew early and late to get enough to keep the wolf from the door for my fatherless children, and I have no educa- tion and no opportunity, and yet your statement was so sweeping that even I was included, and in that," she said, "I think you were unfair — the first time I ever knew yoit to be so." And then, when she had finished her vehement protest, he looked down at her in all her agitation, and said to her: "Does anybody ever come to your house?" She said: "Why, certainly, a few people come there." And then, waiting a moment, he said: "Does the milk* man ever come?" "To be sure," she said; "every morning he comes." "Does the bread-man come?" "Every day he comes." "Does the meat-man come?" "Every day he A QUEST FOR SOULS SB comes to my cottage." Then, waiting a moment for his questions to have their due effect, looking down earnestly at her, he said: "A word to the wise is sufficient," and he turned upon his heel, abruptly leaving her. She went her way, and the nightfall came and she went to her bed to ponder late and long the searching message she had heard that morning. Why, she had not even tried to win anybody to Christ. She had never made the effort. She claimed to be Christ's friend, and yet had never opened her lips for Him at all. She will try, and she will begin with her first opportunity to-morrow, even with the coming of the milk-man. Accordingly she was up before the daylight came, there waiting, if haply she might speak to him some word concerning personal religion. When he greeted her, he made the remark that he had never seen her up quite so early before, and she stammered out some embarrassing reply, not saying what she came to say, and now he had left her, and the gate clicked behind him as he left. Then she summoned her strength and called him back. *'Wait a minute," she pleaded, "I did have some- thing to say to you." And when he tarried to hear it, she poured out her heart to him in the query : "Do you know Christ? Are you a Christian? Are 3^ou the friend and follower of that glorious Savior who came down from heaven and died, that you might not forever die?" And fairly dropping his milk pails, he looked into her face with anguish in his own, as he said to her: "Little w^oman, what on earth provoked you to talk to me like this? Here for two nights, madam, I have been unable to sleep, and the burden of it all is that I am not a Christian, and I am in the darkness. If you know how to find the light, you are the one that I need, and you should tell me." And there, in a few brief minutes of conversation, she told him hov/ she had found the light, and he walked in that simple path that she indicated for him. And Dr. Gifford goes on to tell us that before that year was out, that same little seam- stress had won seven adults to Christ, not only to the open confession of Christ as their Savior, but to take their places promptly in His church. You can win somebody to Christ. 60 A QUEST FOR SOULS Have you tried? Will you try? Won't you try, looking to God to guide and help you? The text tells of a man who won somebody to Christ. The case of an ordinary man is this, and therefore he is chosen, for we are just ordinary people. This man Andrew is not Paul, the outstanding Christian of the centuries. He is not Apollos, that eloquent, winsome man, who could compel people to listen to him, his words were so en- trancing. He is just an ordinary, every-day, commonplace man. The Bible makes only three or four passing refer- ences to him. This man is the illustration we are to have tonight of the one person going out to win some other person to Christ. Let us fix our eyes upon him to-night, and learn from the story something to help us. Andrew here stands forth as one who has just found the Savior. How will he act? Two things stand out in response to that question — how will he act? First of all, Andrew is immediately interested that somebody else may be saved. Don't you like that? Isn't that a wonderful example for us? Immediately, this man Andrew is con- cerned that somebody else may be saved. Oh, there are different evidences, my friends, indicated in these Holy Scriptures, whereby we may pass upon this eternally con- sequential question, whether or not we have been born again. It may be that at one of these services we will group these Scriptural evidences, and focus them upon this question : "Have I been born again, and what are the Scriptural evidences that I have been born again?" Cer- tainly we might not be able to have a more interesting or profitable study. But whether we shall give ourselves or not to such service, here stands out for us one shining fact, like a mountain peak: If one is born again, that one is concerned that somebody else may be saved. "If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of His." And the spirit of Christ is the spirit of compassionate anxiety that lost people may be saved. Now, Andrew evinces his con- cern, straighway after he finds the Messiah, that somebody else may find that same blessed, forgiving Savior. Years agone, I was preaching in a series of 'daily meetings like these, and one Sunday morning, when I made the call for A QUEST FOR SOULS 61 those who would confess Christ to come forward and remain, there came a group down the aisles, and a number waited to be received into the church. When I came to question them about their coming into the church, I came presently to an humble German girl, a servant in one of the families. She was not long from the old country, and her English was barely intelligible, as we listened to it, and I said to her: "My child, why do you wish to join the church?" In her broken English, she made her reply to my question, and her English was so bad that it was well- nigh impossible for us to understand just what she was saying. Then I said to her: ''My child, if you won't mind, I will ask you to wait a week, and let us talk with you quietly and carefully, as is the custom with all the young people that come into the church. We would be careful about this great step. The church is for those who have found Christ as their Savior, who know the way, and too much care can hardly be exercised at that point, and I will just ask, if you don't mind, that you will wait and let us talk it over, that no mistake may be made." She readily assented to my proposal, and I passed to the next case, and when I was questioning him presently the child broke out in a sob audible to those in the rear of the large audito- rium. All of us were immediately embarrassed. Evident- ly I had grieved her, and I turned back to her frankly, and said: "Why, my child, I did not mean to grieve you by asking that you wait. That is not anything unusual. The church is doing that sort of thing here constantly. We are asking that the young people talk with the pastor, and talk with the parents carefully, before they come into the church. Coming into the church is one of the greatest steps for a human soul, and it ought to be taken with much deliberation and wisdom. It was for your good, my child, and it is not anything unusual that you are asked to wait." She said, with better English now: "Oh, sir, it is not that that makes me cry ! I forgot. I cried because my brother here in this city is such a wild boy, and he is lost, and my heart is breaking. I am so concerned that he shall be saved. Won't you ask everybody here to-day to join me in one prayer that my poor, lost, sinful brother may be 62 A' QUEST FOR SOULS saved? That is what made me cry/' And the dear old senior deacon spoke up, and said: "Pastor, we had better take her into the church now. She knows the way, and we need not wait another week/' She did know the way, and there was the outflashing in that conversation, in that last moment, of her deep knowledge of a forgiving Savior, and all that audience was swept with her tremulous appeal. They knew, every Christian there, that this woman knew the Lord, because of her heart's longing for others to be saved. There was another point about this man Andrew, strik- ingly suggested, when he found the Savior, and that point is that he went straight home to get his first work in for his Savior. Now, don't you like that? He went straight- way to get in his first work for the great Savior whom he had just found, in his own home. He went after a difficult case, let me tell you. He went after his own brother Simon. Rash and headstrong and impulsive was that man Simon, and yet plain Andrew, a weakling compared with Simon, went after that big, strong brother, nor did he cease until he had brought him to Christ. Oh, if the limits of this hour allowed, I should like, my brothers, to poui out my heart in a plea for home religion. There is an old saying that comiCS to mind just here: "The shoemaker's wife is the worst shod person in the village." Oh, if I might pour out my heart for a moment in a plea that our homes be or- dered like they ought to be in the realm of religion! If there be one place, let me say it to the parents, where you should put your best foot forward for Christ, it should be in your families. I tell you, that is an indictment against a father if his own boy does not believe in his religion. I tell you that is an indictment against a mother if her own girl does not believe: "My mother is the best Christian in all the world." Oh, that our religion in our homes shall be outshining and congruous and consistent, even after the highest and most heavenly fashion! The accent, in my humble judgment, that most of all needs to be pronounced this night, throughout this whole country, from border to border, is an accent on the religion of our homes. As goes A QUEST FOR SOULS 63 the home, so shall go everything in the social order. The citadel, both for church and for state, is the home. If we shall have the right kind of homes, then shall everything in the social order be conserved and saved, but if our homes shall be beaten down and unraveled and frazzled out by every superficial and foolish thing — God save the mark! — the nation is doomed and the land shall be lost. I wonder what your answer would be, as I look into the faces of Christian parents now, and ask you this simple question: Do you have family prayer at your house? Why don't you have it? You might have measured off to you one round thousand years in which to get up your reasons why a Christian parent should not have family prayer in his house, and when the thousand years had passed, you would come back without the semblance of even one rea- son. Oh, men and women who love Christ, with your chil- dren growing about you, or already fairly grown, is it possible that human life, invested as it is with such sacred meanings and opportunities and responsibilities, shall go passing away, and the chiefest j.lace of all to get in ycur witness for Christ, even under your own roof, shall be overlooked and lost ! One of the most menacing signs that you can find in any community, if you are able to find it there, is the decay of family prayer in such community. I am thinking now of two homes. To the first was I summoned one morning to the burial of their only child. She was a beautiful girl of some fifteen summers. They were not members of my congregation, but of another; but their minister was absent, and, therefore, was I sum- moned to conduct the funeral. I came to the splendid- looking home, and a vast concourse of people were in and about the house. I asked that I might see the family, and I was taken down the long hall and into the quiet room where the broken-hearted parents sat, and as tactfully as I could, I began to find my way to an apprehension of the situation, that I might the better speak in the funeral serv- ice to be had a few moments later. I found in response to questioning, presently, that both of these parents were professed Christians, and then I ventured to tell them that earth had no sorrow that heaven cannot heal, and that they 64 A QUEST FOR SOULS must refuse to turn aside into the abyss of despair and broken-heartedness, because they had a Savior, and they were His friends. By this time the mother was on her feet, and said : "Sir, I have something to tell you that has utterly broken our hearts." I waited to hear what it was, and then she said: "That beautiful girl yonder in her casket, our only child, has been here in our home these fifteen years, and yet in all these years, though her mother is a Christian, and her father is a Christian — in all these years that child never heard either one of us pray one time, sir." And then she waited a moment more, and said : "Sir, our horrible fear is that it was not well with the child, and that her blood will be on our garments." Will you say that it was not? Oh, cruelty of cruelties, inconsistency of inconsistencies, that a child should be in a Christian home fifteen years, and never hear the voice of a parent one time lifted in prayer ! There was another home of which I would speak. I pleaded with the people one morning in the other years, begging them that they put first things first, and that the men who were Christians would pause at the breakfast table for a little season of prayer with the loved ones around them, or in the evening time, when the day was done, that they would gather the circle about them, and speak with the great King and Savior in grateful acknowledgment and in continual plea for His m.ercies to be granted them. Num- bers that morning said that they would change their ways. One outstanding business man, whose voice was often heard in the city, searched me out and said: "Oh, I have lived miserably far from what is consistent and right. I will turn over a new leaf tonight. Family prayer shall be at my house to-night, and every night henceforth." I fol- low it just a moment more. The next morning, as I crossed the city, I saw his only son about fifteen or sixteen years of age, and as I was traveling rapidly along, the son sum- moned me, and when he reached me, I saw in his face that there was a deep battle of some sort going on, and I said: "What is it, my boy, that I can do for you?" And then he looked down with face averted, and then looked up with his face covered with tears, and said: "You ought to have A QUEST FOR SOULS 65 been at our house last night." "What happened at your house, my boy? I should like to know." He said: "Oh, you should have been there. Papa prayed last night! Papa had sister and me called into the room, and papa sobbed as he told us he had not lived like a Christian father ought, and papa asked sister and me to forgive him. Neither of us could talk. We did not know what to say. Both of us cried. Papa asked mother to open the Bible for him, and he tried to read it, but he could not, and then papa knelt down and prayed, mostly about himself, and then he said when he got up : 'Children, papa is going to live a different life from this time on/ " And the boy said : "I went to my room and I could not sleep." I said : "Why couldn't you sleep, my boy?" And then, as he leaned over on my shoulder, he said: "I found out last night that I am a sinner, and that I am lost. You do not know how I wanted to see you, that you might tell me what to do." We turned into a little store house, vacant, and there, in a few words, I told the lad how it is that Jesus saves a sinner, and the lad made his simple, honest surrender, and was saved that very Monday morning. You should have heard him the next Sunday morning, when the pastor said : "Tell us, my boy, what started you in this upward way?" He looked across at his father, on the other side of the house, and said : "Papa's prayer last Sunday night started me in the upward way." Oh, I know it is difficult to have family prayers, my men and women ! I know it is difficult, but listen to this : Everything on this earth worth while costs, and you and I must not, dare not, thrust back into some little inconse- quential corner in our lives the thing chiefest and com- manding that God has appointed for the winning of the world to God. There is another point for our consideration in the case of this man Andrew. Andrew's act magnifies the place and the power of personal work in the winning of lost people to Christ — the place and power of personal work — and just there are several suggestions for our consideration. There can be no substitutes for personal work. Jesus is depend- ing on His friends to get His gospel made known to a gain- 66 A QUEST FOR SOULS saying and unbelieving world. He is dependent on His friends. That is His own divinely appointed method. There can be no substitutes for personal work ! Life must make its impact upon life. Now, everybody seems to un- derstand that, I have sometimes thought, better than the church of God understands it. The business men under- stand the power of personal work. They send out their drummers up and down the land, to look into the faces of their customers, real or prospective, and explain their wares. And certainly the politicians understand the power of personal work. You let a great issue be on, city or state or national, with two virile parties each contending for supremacy, and you will observe that the champions of these parties send their spokesmen, their representatives, to look their fellovv''-men in the face and argue and plead and explain, if haply they may win their votes. Oh, will the church of God fail to lay to heart that the chief instru- mentality human for the winning of the world to Christ is the power of personal work? There can be no substitute for personal work, none at all. Elisha may send his serv- ant Gehazi, with the prophet's own staff back yonder to the chamber where the dead boy lies, saying to his servant: "Put my staff on that boy and see if it won't bring him to life," and the instructions may be carried out, but the boy will remain in the cold grip of death. Elisha, the prophet, himself must go, and stretch his own body, v/arm and puls- ing, on the cold body of that dead boy. Elisha himself must make the impact of life upon that dead body. The Divine Master of life himself gave an emphasis to personal work beyond anything that I can describe in my simple discourse this evening. Jesus preached His chlefest sermon on the new birth to just one man. My fellow-men, if Jesus thought it worth while to have just one for His congrega- tion, and there do His best work, surely the servant shall not be greater than his Master. And when Jesus came to preach His sermon on eternal life, He preached it yonder to a woman at the well of Samaria — a poor drab of a woman, about whose character the less said the better, and yet she had a soul that was to live forever, and when she came to that well to draw water therefrom, Jesus had His A QUEST FOR SOULS 67 opportunity, and with words tactful and honest and faith- ful, He found His way to that woman's conscience, and at the right time revealed himself the forgiving Savior to her. Jesus gave His best service for one soul. Listen to Him yonder as He tells the story of the shep- herd leaving his ninety and nine sheep safely housed in the sheep-cote. Ninety and nine of them were safe, but one was missing, and he left the ninety and nine safely housed in the sheep-cote, and went out after that missing sheep, over the hills and mountains, with his feet pi.erced by stones and thorns, searching, looking for that one miss- ing sheep. Nor did he give up his quest, until that sheep was found, and the shepherd brought it back and put it in the sheep-cote with the others. What is Jesus saying in this pungent parable? "Oh, my church," the compassion- ate Savior says, ''go out and seek earnestly until that lost sheep is found !" He is saying just that. Now, all experience and all observation confirm the point that I am seeking to make, that there can be no sub- stitutes for personal work. How shall we save our churches? My fellow Christians, there is one sure way, and that is that our churches be great life-saving stations to point lost sinners to Christ. The supreme indictmei;it that you can bring against a church, if you are able in truth to bring it, is that such church lacks in passion and compassion for human souls. A church is nothing better than an ethical club if its sympathies for lost souls do not overflow, and if it does not go out to seek to point lost souls to the knowledge of Jesus. But now I come to a practical question. How may you and I win sinners to Christ, as did Andrew of old? That is entirely practical, and this Wednesday evening let us focus our thoughts for a moment on the practical question, how may you and I, like Andrew, win people to Christ? There are several suggestions to be given in response to that question. First of all, let us magnify the Word of God and its Author, the Divine Spirit himself. We are to magnify both the Word of God and the Author of such Word, namely the Holy Spirit himself. The one is our sword, and the other is our power. We are to take this 68 A QUEST FOR SOULS Word of God and we are to deliver to the lost world about us the message of this Word of God concerning Jesus and the relation of humanity to Him. Our message is made out for us, fortunately: "Preach the preaching that I bid thee." "Preach the Word." The Word of God is to be proclaimed. The Word of God is to be avowed. The Word of God is to be declared. The Word of God is not bound. The Word of God will take care of itself, if only it be faithfully proclaimed. You and I are to come with this Word of God, and without mincing or reservation, are to tell men everywhere that outside of Jesus Christ they are lost, and shall never meet God in peace, if they are not forgiven by this Divine Savior. We are to declare that, and the Lord, in the power of His Spirit, shall apply and shall bring to pass such results as in His wisdom and mercy He deemeth best. Nor is that all. As we give ourselves to the task of winning souls to Christ, we are with all diligence and devotedness to seek the guidance and power of the Divine Spirit himself at every step. He would guide and help us. You do not have to see the man to-morrow by yourself — that difficult man. The talk you are to have with him is not to be in your own strength alone. Beside you shall stand the omnific Savior, and going with you shall be the counsel and power of His Spirit. You do not have to see that woman in your own poor, unaided wisdom. You are to do the best you can, leaning on the Arm Everlasting, and God's wisdom and God's power clothed upon from His Spirit shall accompany your simple, honest effort. Again, if you and I are to win people to Christ, then we are to use, like Andrew did, the power of personal testi- mony. When Andrew found his Savior, he said: "Broth- er, listen ! I have found the Messiah. Let me tell you about Him." And then, with words that thrilled and burned, Andrew told his brother what he had tasted and seen and felt of — Jesus, the long looked for Messiah. My fellow Christians, there Is nothing else human quite so powerful as the power of an earnest personal testimony concerning Jesus' experience in your own life, as you tell somebody else what Jesus has been and consciously is to A QUEST FOR SOULS 69 you yourself. You let some man in this audience come down this aisle and stand up and tell us: "This very day I have had definite dealings with God, and know it," and every ear is alert to catch what he says. There is no power like the power of personal testimony. You can tell that neighbor or friend how you heard Christ's voice, and how you responded, and what He said to you, and what He did, and what you have seen and experienced of His grace and love in your own little life. Tell that experience to somebody without delay. But that is not all. There is no power human like the power of personal love, as we go out to win people to Christ. Oh, do we care for the people round us who are lost? Do we really care? Of old there issued from the lips of one sorely pressed, this plaintive cry: ''No man cared for my soul." Are there men and women in Fort Worth who, if we could get at what they think, would say this to us: "They have their churches and their preachers and their Christians numbering many, but nobody ever cared for my soul ?" Is there somebody in this community, lost and grop- ing like a blind man for the wall, not ready to die, not ready to live, who in truth could say to us : "I have lived these long years, but nobody ever said that he cared for my soul?" Make that impossible as these days pass. Go with your word of witnessing and pleading and love, and go without delay. There is nothing so powerful in all this world as the power of love. Everybody ought to know the thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians by heart, and in its gracious spirit every one of us ought to live every day: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." Do we love lost sinners? Do we care for the young men about us who are coasting the downward road? Do we care for the people whose toil is rigorous and whose lot in life is hard? Do we care for business men and pro- fessional men, who are side-stepping with reference to the supreme things, namely, the things of God and the soul and eternity? Do we love these people well enough to go to them and earnestly and alone say to them : "Is it well with your soul?" There is no power in human life like 70 A QUEST FOR SOULS the power of love. The prayer that the psalmist of old prayed is the prayer that you and I ought to pray; "En- large my heart." He did not pray that his head might be enlarged. "Enlarge my heart," for out of the heart are the issues of life. One of the most heart-moving conversions that I have ever known, I witnessed years ago in my city, during the holiday period in mid-winter. There reached me the mes- sage that a little Sunday school boy in one of our mission Sunday schools had been accidentally shot by his little neighbor friend, and I hurried to the humble home as fast as I could go, an-d I found the unconscious little fellow in the hands of two skillful doctors, as they sought to diagnose the case. After awhile, when they had finished their diag- nosis and treatment, I asked them what of the case, and they said : "He will not live. The shot is unto death." I asked them if he would recover consciousness, and they answered that he might — that he might live two or three days, or he might not live until morning. I went back the next day, for this first day the boy's father was in the stupor of a terrible drunk. A great-hearted and kindly father he was, too, when he was sober. Oh, the tragedy that many of these big-hearted, capable men allow their lives thus to be cajoled and cheated and destro3^ed by some evil habit! I went back the next day, and the father was sobering up. He was a fine workman in a harness and saddlery estab- lishment. He was sobering up, and the agony of his case v/as something pitiful to behold. He would walk the floor, and then he v/ould pause, as the tears fell from his face, while he looked on that little suffering boy, nine or ten years of age. I sat down beside the boy and waited for awhile, and presently the child opened his eyes, and the little fellow was conscious. His eyes were intelligent. His lips moved as he spoke my name, for he had frequently heard me speak in the mission where he went to the Sun- day school. I bent over him, and the father came and sobbed and laughed as he observed the consciousness that had come to his little boy. And the father stroked the little fellow's face, and kissed him with all the affection of a mother, and said, as he laughed and cried: "My little A QUEST FOR SOULS 71 man is better, and he will soon be well." The little face was clouded as he feebly whispered, saying: "No, papa; I will not get well/' And then the father protested, as he said: "You will get well, and I will be a good man, and I will change my ways." The little fellow's face was clouded, and he kept trying to say something, and I reached for the man to bend over to catch it, and this is what we did catch, after *awhile : "When I am gone, papa, I want you to remember that I loved you, even if you did get drunk." That sentence broke the father's heart. He left the room, unable to tarry any longer. A few minutes later, I found him lying prone upon his face, there u-pon the ground, behind the little cottage, sobbing with brokenness of heart. I got down by him and sought to comfort and help him. And he said : "Sir, after my child loves me like that, oughtn't I to straighten up and be the right kind of a man?" I said : "I have a story ten thousand times sweet- er than that to tell you. God's only begotten Son loved you well enough to come down from heaven and die for you, himself the just, for you the unjust, that He might bring you to God. Won't you yield your wasting, sinful life to Him, utterly and honestly, and let Him save you His own divine way?" And then and there he made the great surrender. You should slip into one of our prayer- meetings some night, when the men and women talk about what Christ has done for them, and one of the most ap- pealing and powerful testimonies you would ever hear is the testimony of this harness workman, as he stands up, always with tears on his face, to tell you that love brought him home when everything else had failed. They criti- cised him because he drank. They scolded him because he drank. They railed at him because he drank. They pelted him with harsh words because he drank. But a little boy said: "Papa, I love you even if you do get drunk," and love won the day when everything else had failed. Oh, my fellow-men, when everything else shall fail, "love never faileth." Do you love these lost men and women of Fort Worth? Then, I pray you, in the great Master's name, go and tell them that you care for them, and tell it before an- other sun shall sink' to rest in the far west to-morrow evening. 72 A QUEST FOR SOULS Long enough have I talked, but I gather up as best I can all I should say for a final moment of appeal. Here it is: Oh, my fellow Christians, let us see to it that you and I, like Andrew, do our best to win people to Christ* What argument shall I marshal to get us to do that thing right now, and to get us to do that thing as we never did it before, and to get us to do that thing these passing days, linking our lives with God with a devotion, and giving our- selves with a humility and a personal appeal, such as we never knew before? What arguments shall I marshal to get us to do that right now ? Shall I talk about duty ? Then this is our first duty. And what a great word that word duty is! Robert E. Lee was right, that matchless man of the South, when he wrote to his son, saying: "Son, the great word is duty." Shall I talk about duty? My fellow Christians, your duty and mine, primal, fundamental, pre- eminent, supreme, tremendously urgent, is that we shall tell these around us that we want them saved. ' Shall I talk about happiness? Oh, was there ever an- other happiness on this earth comparable to this — the hear- ing from the lips of some soul the glad confession that you had said the word to win such soul to Christ? There is no happiness on this earth comparable to that. ^ Shall I talk about responsibility? What shall I say about responsibility? Your responsibility and mine for these souls about us lost, is a responsibility big enough to stagger God's archangel. You are your brother's keeper. What if you neglect him, and he shall die in his sins? If you shall neglect him, and he shall die in his sins, when you might have won him, then it shall turn out that you are your brother's spiritual murderer. Men can be killed by neglect. Women can be killed by neglect. A while ago there was condemned to death in England a notorious criminal, one of the hardest in all the records of crime. Minister after minister sought to get into his cell before the man's execution, to talk to such man about God and the hereafter, but he steadfastly refused to see any minister. Presently one somehow got into the cell, and began to talk with him, and the poor m.an, condemned to be executed to-morrow, realized that he was talking at last with a miri- A QUEST FOR SOULS 73 ister of the gospel, and the minister brought to bear his mightiest appeal to that man to turn to God, even in those last waiting hours. The man was stolid and was utterly indifferent, and presently the minister said to the man: "Don't you realize that in a few hours more your life shall be taken and you shall be in another world?" He said: "Quite well, sir, do I realize that my life will be taken, but whether there is another world or not, I do not know, and I have not any concern about that." And then the minister urged and remonstrated and pleaded, and at last the con- demned man rose up and said to him: "Sir, if I believed like you say, that a man dying without Christ is lost, and shall be lost forever— if I believed that and had your chance, I would crawl on my knees to tell the men of England, before it is too late, to repent of their sins and turn to God." Oh, do we believe it, that these men and women about us, and the dear young people under our own roofs, and the devoted husbands, beside whom walk gentle. Christian wives — do we believe that these men are lost, and that these young people are lost? Do we believe it? Then, I pray you, even as I summon myself, let us go to them in the right spirit, pleading with God to teach us, to empower us, to enable us to plead that now, before the day is gone, they may repent of sin and be saved forever. My message is done when I shall have asked one ques- tion. Mark it : Do these Christian men and women listen- ing to me to-night, down in their hearts really wish t^iat sinners shall be saved during these days of special meetings? Probably hundreds here present answer me back : "Sir, that is our deep wish, that sinners may be saved?" But I am going to make it stronger than that. Do these Christian men and women listening to me this Wednesday night say : "Sir, I promise you, yea, sir, I promise God, and in the pres- ence of God and of angels and men, I declare my promise, not only do I desire to see sinners saved in these special meetings, but I will try myself, frail as I am and weak as I am — I will try myself, like Andrew, to win somebody to Christ?" Do you say: "That is my wish, sir, and that 74 A QUEST FOR SOULS is my purpose, God helping me ?'' Everyone who says that, stand to your feet. ^A great number stood.) THE CLOSING PRAYER. Give us thy counsel and comfort, our Father, this hour, when our hearts have been searched by thy Word of truth, and in these last moments, ere we separate, we make our appeal to thee, that we may translate into life, into power, into ac- tion, this message from thy Book this night. How we rejoice that many in this presence stand, quietly and humbly, but courageously, to say that they not only desire to see sinners saved, but, what is of far more meaning, they purpose, look- ing to thee, O God, to help them, to strive personally to win others to Christ, in the hours and days just before us. O Divine Spirit, rest thou upon every head and heart, and be on every tongue, and send us to the right persons, and give us to speak what and as we ovight to speak to them concerning their personal salva- tion. Go thou before us, and prepare the heart, that we shall speak to, and open the understanding, and make the soul to be concerned by thine own life-giv- ing touch, thine own spiritual illumination. Our gracious Father, let these days be days when preachers and laymen, when parents and children, when Christians of every age and name, shall personally dedicate their very best to win the people to Christ. Let this be the time when the people all about us, of all conditions and classes and needs shall have brought home to them the all important truth that to live without God is to live vainly, is to miss the true end of being. Let the truth, terrible and sure, be written like fire in every conscience, that to live contrary to the will _ of God is to come to defeat and death. And let this be a time when, on the right hand and on the left, men and women and children shall come with honest, earnest and complete surrender of their lives to Christ. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. VI NOON SERVICE, JUNE 14, 1917. WHY DO SOULS GO AWAY FROM JESUS? Text: "Then said Jesus unto the twelve: Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life."— John 6:67, 68. In a very frank way, and with a deep desire to help you, I should like to ask you, one by one, the personal question, What are your relations to Jesus, the Savior and Master ? Every one must have personal relations with Him. We must be His friends or His foes. We must be for Him or against Him. What are your ^personal relations to the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you for Him or against Him ? Once when He was here among men in the flesh, and the multitudes were following Him, and He was teaching them pungently what following Him meant, the crowds were deplet- ed, and grew less and less before His searching teaching, and finally He turned to the twelve apostles, who were following Him, and put to them this plaintive question : "Will ye also go away?" Then Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." Our text this morning is that searching question Jesus asked the twelve: "Will ye also go away?" The text suggests two burning questions for us this morning. Why do people go away from Jesus? Where do they go? God give us to face faithfully for a little while at this midday service these two weighty questions. Why do people go away from Jesus? The fundamental reason is want of grace in the heart, the lack of true faith, the absence of vital Godliness. The Apostle John tells us: "5 76 A QUEST FOR SOULS "They went out from us, but they were not of us ; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us : but they went out from us that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." But we are back to that search- ing question, Why do people go away from Jesus ? Many do go away from Him. Why? Now, the outward reasons for their going reveal what is in their hearts, and we may glance this morning at some of these outward reasons why people go away from Jesus. Here, on the occasion of our text, they went away from Him because they objected to His teaching. Through the long centuries, again and again, many have manifestly gone away from Jesus because they objected to His teaching. Read the context here in the sixth chapter of John's Gospel, and you will hear the multitudes as they cry out under His teaching: ''This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" And so they turned away from Him because they objected to His teaching. The gospel of Jesus Christ, my friends, is very humbling to poor human nature. Pride revolts at the gospel of Christ. And yet such gospel is not designed to please m.an, but rather to save him. Jesus comes in His appeal to men, and puts before them the clear demand : "If you would have me for your Savior, I must come first, before father or mother or children or dearest loved ones, or your own property or your own life. I must come first." That is not easy. That is death to self. That is self -crucifixion. And yet you would not have it any other way. Let us make religion easy and we will play it out. Let us make religion hard, even with the hardness of the terms of disciple- ship laid down by Jesus, and it will be triumphant anywhere in the world. Why do people go away from Jesus? Full many a time they go away from Him because of the fear of man. That is indeed a biting saying in the Bible, where it is declared : "The fear of man bringeth a snare." Pilate was not the only man who betrayed Jesus, and in that same act betrayed himself through the fear of man. All about us the fear of man plays the most desperate havoc in human life. All through the social order, in the world intellectual, and the world of business, and the world political, and the world social, the highest interests are betrayed, and the supreme call of Christ set aside, through WHY DO SOULS GO AWAY FROM JESUS? 77 the fear of men. There comes in the tragic power and peril of influence. What can some men mean, and women, by the tragical misuse, the desperate waste, of their highest influence? One waits for another, and one acts because of another, or one does not act because another does not, and all through the social order the fear of man is one of the ravaging wastes of the highest influence that comes to human life. They tell us that in the capital city of one of the older States, in the long ago, a marvelous meeting was led by that eminent American evangelist, Charles G. Finney, probably the ablest evangelist that America ever saw. He preached there some three months, and thousands came to Christ. When he was preaching there one night, the story goes that there slipped into the great audi- ence to hear him the Chief Justice of the highest court of New York State. The learned Justice came out of sheer curiosity to hear a plain, pungent, powerful speaker. It was not his custom to go to church. Not for years had he been at any public service religious, and yet this evening the preach- er brought his message to bear on the conscience of this man, taking for his text: ''No man liveth to himself,'* and when the minister had finished his message, he said: "Now, I ask, appealing to your judgment and your conscience" — ^that is Christ's appeal always — to men's judgments and to men's con- sciences — His religion does not need any other kind of appeal — when the minister had finished his appeal, he said: **Now, is some man's judgment convinced, and is his con- science searched by the truth spoken to-night, and will he, for his own sake, and for the sake of everybody else whom he may influence, make his public surrender to Christ?" And down the long aisle came the Chief Justice, to make his con- fession of Christ. When he took the m^inister's hand, the Justice said: "If you will allow me, I should like even now to turn and speak some w^ords to this waiting audience." And facing them, the dignified Justice said: "If I have any in- fluence over anybody, I beg him to do as I have done, to yield life and all, utterly and now, to Christ." And he called for God's forgiving mercy, that he himself had so long delayed to make that greaJ: surrender. It is said that many lawyers at the bar, there assembled in that vast audience, came down every aisle, and stood around the great minister and Chief Justice, and said to the Judge: "O sir, because you have 78 A QUEST FOR SOULS come, and because of your appeal, we, too, will make our surrender to Christ." What if the great Judge had not come ? O my soul, I know the man, and you know him, who has not come, and yet, because he has not, there shelter behind him others, who perhaps will continue thus to hide behind him as long as he shall stay away from Christ. Why do people go away from Jesus? Full many a time they go away from Him, through captious doubts and ques- tions concerning religion. Many people ask. What if this and that be not so ? What if the Bible be not trustworthy ? What if Christ be not divine? What if there be no immortality for the soul? What if there be no heaven for Christ's friend, and no hell for those who will not have Christ? What if those things be not so? And with question marks, like that, they turn away from the vital verities of faith, and miss the way of life. Do I speak this midday hour to some man or woman who is in the grip of some serious religious doubt? Then I call to you, do not trifle with that doubt. Probe that doubt, I pray you, to its very depth. Superficial dealing with doubts in the realm of religion is utterly inexcusable. Well has some one said that "doubt is the agony of some earnest soul, or the trifling of some superficial fool." Do not trifle with your doubts. You have too much at stake, if you have doubts, in this lofty realm of religion, to go along carelessly with such doubts. Doubt is caused in various ways and comes from various sources. There is the doubt of the head. Nathanael had such doubt. "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" he asked, and the answer was given him: "Come and see," and he came and saw. There is the doubt of the heart. Some disappointment comes, beating us into the dust. Some poignant sorrow comes to blind us and to smite us and to check us. John the Bap- tist had such doubt. Those fine plans and hopes that swept through his mind and heart seemed all crushed as he lay there in the jail, and he sent some of his men to ask the pitiful question of Jesus : "Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another?" Be patient with somebody in doubt, when the dark and cloudy day is on, when the black Friday presses down upon the spirit with its fearful pressure. But I have come to believe, my fellow-men, that doubt is caused by a WHY DO SOULS GO AWAY FROM JESUS? 79 wrong life more than by anything else in all the world. Time and again when I have come into close quarters with the man who spoke out his doubts and paraded them and defended them, I have found on careful inquiry, full many a time, that underneath and behind that doubt, and evidently occasioning that doubt, was some wrong life. If a man will come with right attitude in the sight of God, he shall be delivered from every doubt, which leads me to call your attention to that great challenge Jesus has given. Notice it: *'If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God." That is as broad as the race. That is as com- prehensive as humanity. ^*If any man willeth to do the will of God, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God." Let any human being, no matter what the question, what the fear, what the doubt, what the difficulty, assume a perfectly honest attitude tov/ard God, saying: "I want light, and if thou wilt give it, no matter how, I will follow it," such person surely shall be brought into the light. Tim^e and again you have seen, as I have seen, that challenge of Jesus frankly ac- cepted and frankly proved, and men have been brought out of the darkness into the glorious liberty and light of the chil- dren of God. I was in an Eastern city, some years ago, for some two weeks in a daily mission, and every evening when I would finish my message, I said, as was their custom: "If there are interested men and women, who would tarry behind for per- sonal dealings touching personal religion, they will pass through this door into the smaller auditorium, and the rest may go while we are singing the last hymn." I stood there at the door, to greet the people as they passed into the smaller auditorium for more careful and for closer personal dealings, and along with the men who came this particular evening, there came an attractive looking man some thirty-six or thirty-eight years of age, and he tarried at the door to speak with me, fairly trembling as he did so, and yet putting on a brave face. He said to me as he tarried there at the door: "Well, sir, I do not believe a word you said to-night." I replied: "Then, pray, why do you tarry? My invitation was for serious people. My invitation was for men and wo- men in earnest, for those with a desire deep and true to find 80 A QUEST FOR SOULS light ami to get help. Why do you tarry?" "Oh," he said, "I thought I would like to see you at close range, and to hear what you said to these men in this room, and therefore I have come along." I felt that I could see underneath all that brave exterior an interest deeper than he was willing at all for me to know, and I said: "You tarry, and when the others are gone, then I should like to have some words with you alone." And so he did, and when the other service was finished, I had him alone, and as I sat beside him I asked him : "What brought you into this place? What gave you these doubts? Whence came all this uncertainty in your spirit concerning religion ?" He told me a story that I have neither the time nor the inclination here to repeat. He was the son of a minister in old Virginia. He was reared like a boy ought to be reared, and yet he had got far away from all that rearing, having been absent from home some fifteen years. Then I said to him : "If these things I preach to you tonight are true, wouldn't you like to know the truth of it all?" He made quick response: "Certainly, I should like to know the truth of it all." Then I said: "You can know it. Here is the challenge of Jesus: Tf any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God.' " I said : "Now as I bow my head, I will speak to your father's God and to my God, and I will ask Him just to lead you on, and to fill you with desire and purpose to follow His leading." And when I had finished the prayer I said, as we were bowed there at our chairs : "Let us remain bowed, and you try for a moment to pray." He started back and said: "Why, man, I would not know how to begin. I have not tried even in a dozen years." Think of a man's going a dozen years without calling on God! It seems impossible. "I would not know how to begin," he said. I answered: "Then I will frame a sentence for you, like I would frame it for my little child, and you say it after me." And so I did, and he repeated it, and I framed a second sentence, and he repeated that, and a third sentence, and he repeated that, and then I paused and said: "Prayer, sir, is the sanest thing in the world. Prayer is the outcry of a little, needy, finite, mortal being, to a great in- finite, omniscient, omnipotent, all powerful, all merciful Being. Tell Him what you would like. Tell Him like you would tell 2. man something you should hasten to tell him, without any WHY DO SOULS GO AWAY FROM JESUS? 81 reserve." And then, timidly and tremblingly and haltingly he began his prayer. In a moment or two his words came faster. In a moment or two his sentences rushed like a torrent. He was confessing his sins. He was bewailing his dreadful de- cline, and memory was burning like fire, and it blazed and burned, as he recalled the old home, with the family prayer, and the father as a preacher, and the mother singing the sim- ple songs of faith. And then he went on and said: **I re- member. Lord, the last sermon I heard good father preach. He preached from that text, the cry of the publican : 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner.'" He said: "That is my prayer. Be merciful to me, a sinner. I give up to thee. Help thou a helpless sinner!" And then he was still, and then in a moment more he was on his feet, and I looked up at him and waited for him to make his pronouncement, and then he looked down earnestly at me, with his outstretched hand, and said: "I have found the light!" Of course he had found the light. Any man on the earth who will assume the right atti- tude toward Jesus shall be brought into the light. My indictment against the skeptic who prates against the things of God is that he will not be candid about it and go deep enough. Any man in the world, doubter, skeptic, atheist, materialist, whoever he is, who will assume a perfectly candid and obedient attitude toward God, shall surely be brought into the light. Why do people go away from Jesus? Full many a time they go away from Him through the power of sensual enjoy- ments. There are two Scriptures that set forth that truth. Here they are : "The pleasures of sin for a season," and this other : "Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." Through the power of sensual enjoyment, full many a time men and women miss the upward way and go the downward way to doom and death. And yet this world has in it nothing that can really satisfy the ache of the human heart. That bril- liant Frenchman, Sabatier, was right, when he said: "Man is incurably religious." And then the Bible comes on, with its revealing statement, telling us that God hath set eternity in the human heart, and therefore nothing less than the eternal can satisfy the human heart. Temporal things, no matter how many, cannot satisfy the human heart. 82 A QUEST FOR SOULS This world can never give The bliss for which men sigh. 'Tis not the whole of life to live, Nor all of death to die. Beyond this vale of tears There is a life above. Unmeasured by the flight of years, And all that life is love. Nothing short of the infinite and the eternal can satisfy any human heart. Why do people go away from Christ? Full many a time they go away from Him through the simple, fearful, fateful power of procrastination. They tell us that procrastination is the thief of time, and so it is, but, oh, it is so much more than that. Procrastination is the thief of souls ! All about us are men and women who intend somewhere, sometime, to focus their thoughts on the things of God, and to say "yes" to the call of Christ, and yet through the power of procrasti- nation they are hurried on and daily lulled the more deeply to sleep, and the conscience is deadened, and the days go by and the highest things are lost. All about us there are men and women who, when we approach them concerning personal religion, will tell us that they intend to say yes to Christ, that they desire to be saved, that they fully expect this important matter of personal salvation to be settled a little later. But it is a little later that they say. It is to-morrow. It is by and by. Down yonder on the Mexican border, where I have often and joyfully preached to the cattlemen through the passing years, I have heard one cry escape the Mexicans' lips which is revelatory to a remarkable degree of the Mexican character. It would explain why Mexico is so belated in the development of her civilization. That little word that the Mexican uses so frequently is this: "Mananal" "To-morrow!" You may crowd upon him this duty, or that, or the other, and he will consent to what you are saying, but in an undertone he will say: ^'Manana! Manana! Manana!" To-morrow To-morrow! To-morrow ! And so it is Satan's supreme cry to the human soul concerning religion — ''Manana ! Mariana !" To-morrow ! To-morrow ! And as he cries it, men and women are beguiled and cajoled and deceived, and thus the battle is forever lost for the human soul. May God now arouse this audience from the awful peril of procrastination, that you may turn to God and be saved! WHY DO SOULS GO AWAY FROM JESUS? 83 I am coming to our second question briefly. I have asked you, Why do people go away from Jesus ? Now to the second question more briefly, Where do they go? Echo answers, Where? Where do they go ? Well, if they are Christians and go away from Jesus, as many of them, alas, do, they go into backslidings. Oh, what stories could be told in this fair city about us, and in any other, of drifting Christians, if only hearts were revealed, and we could read all that in them is. Back- slidden Christians! David went away from his Lord, and, oh, the hurt of it! Samson went away from his Lord. Oh, the hurt of it ! Simon Peter denied the Lord. Oh, the shame of it and the hurt of it! And through the long years the friends of Jesus have listened to siren voices and have gone away from the right path into backsliding. How they have harmed religion! How they have harmed souls for whom the Savior died! How they have harmed themselves! How they have grieved Jesus ! Do I speak to somebody here today who is a backslidden Christian? Oh, I exhort you, I summon you, I beseech you, for your own sake and for the sake of everybody else, hasten back to Christ ! I ask you this other question: Where do people go when they go away from Jesus, those that are not saved at all, those that are not born again, where do they go when they go away from Jesus? Jesus tells us in language unmistakable. "Ye shall die in your sins," He said to some who cavilled at His teachings, "and whither I go ye cannot come." You ask me if I believe in the fact of hell. I believe in the fact of hell as much as I believe in the fact of heaven, and I believe in the fact of the one for the same reason that I believe in the fact of the other. The one clear teacher concerning destiny, con- cerning the hereafter, was Christ Jesus the Lord, and He teaches that every man dying "shall go to his ov/n place." Moral gravity is as real in the world of morals as physical gravity is real in the world natural and physical about us. Every man shall go to his own place when he leaves this world. If a man says to Jesus: "I will go on without you," where Jesus is, such man shall not come. If a man says to Jesus: "I disdain all else, frail as I am and sinful, and I believe on Christ, I can do nothing else, God help me," when such man goes hence, he will go to be with Christ. 84 A QUEST FOR SOULS Now, if you go away from Christ, pray look at what you give up. If you go away from Jesus you must give up this Book. Christ and the Bible are indissolubly linked together. If you can get rid of the Bible, you can get rid of Christ. If you can get rid of Christ, you can get rid of the Bible. The one is the complement and counterpart of the other. Christ and the Bible are the binomial word of God. If you get rid of Christ you get rid of the Bible, and if you propose to get rid of the Bible, sing no more by the open grave that shep- herd's psalm, the twenty-third. Sing no more by the open grave, when you hide your loved ones from your sight, the glorious fourteenth chapter of John: "Let not your heart be troubled.'* You are done with Christ, if you are done with the Bible, and if done with Christ, you are done with the Bible. What else do you get rid of when you get rid of Christ? You discredit the testimony of every friend that Jesus has ever had in all the world, and He has had friends many, both great and small. Many of the world's most capable minds have been the devoutest friends and followers of Jesus. Glad- stone said he knew sixty of the greatest minds of his century, and that fifty-four of them — scientists, statesmen, mighty men in all callings — were the devoutest friends of Jesus that he ever saw. Oh, this gospel that we preach, my men and women, is not a collection of cunningly devised fables for people silly and thoughtless. The sanest thing on the face of the earth this Thursday morning is for a man or woman to be pro- nouncedly the friend of Christ — that is the sanest thing of all. Jesus is the needed Savior for the great as well as the weak. Will you look over the world's great names? In the list you will find many friends and followers of Jesus. Look yonder at the list of scientists, and in that list you will see Miller and Agassiz and Proctor, bowing obediently at the feet of Jesus. Look at the world's astronomers, and you will see Copernicus and Kepler and Newton showing their devotion to Jesus. Look at the world's first statesmen, and you will see Washington and Gladstone and others like them, showing their devotion to Jesus. And so through the centuries you will see the earth's first minds devotedly following Christ. But T would bring the truth nearer you than that. There in the little circles where you and I live, are some whose names WHY DO SOULS GO AWAY FROM JESUS? 85 never get into the newspapers at all, but you and I believe in them as we believe in nobody else in the world, and they tell us that they have tried Jesus and found Him true. Yonder in the United States Senate some time ago, when a group of senators were at a dinner, as the story was told me by one who knew, one senator looked across to the chiefest senator at that time in the Senate, and said to him: "Senator, do you believe in that old doctrine that a man must be born again to get to heaven?" The senator after a moment's pause made serious reply: "I certainly do. I am grieved to have to tell you that I am not a Christian myself, but I believe in the doctrine of the new birth as preached by Christ." Then the first senator, wincing under the remarkable answer, said to the second, after a moment more: "Pray tell me why you believe in that old exploded doctrine of the new birth?" The senator waited a moment, and his face was serious and a tear was in his eye, as he said : "My mother and my wife have both told me that they surrendered to Christ, and have been born again, and they both live like it is so." You cannot answer that! I detain you for a final word. If you go away from Jesus you are left baffled and broken in the presence of the three greatest mysteries of all, and I name them, and then we will go. If you go away from Jesus you are left broken and baffled in the presence of sin. You have no Savior if you reject Jesus. He is the only Savior. And the most terrible and obtruding fact on the earth this Thursday morning is the fact of sin in human life. If you get rid of Jesus you have no Savior from sin. And if you get rid of Jesus you are left beaten and broken, with all the sorrow that is regnant in human life. Pause anywhere and you will hear the undertone of sorrow — any- where. If you get rid of Jesus you have no delivering friend from the thralldom of sorrow. And still more, and most of all, if you get rid of Jesus you are left in the presence of death, without light and without hope and without life, broken in the presence of death. When you come to the grave you will need a Savior. Plato and Socrates merely speculated as they looked into the open grave. So did Caesar when he stood up in the Roman Senate. Job SQ A QUEST FOR SOULS asked the question: "If a man die, shall he live again?'* Only one person has answered that question. Only one can answer it, and His name is Jesus. He came and bowed His head to death, and went into the dark chambers of the grave, and on the third day after they laid Him in Joseph's tomb, He pushed the grave door open and came out, saying: "Because I live all who trust me shall live forever." Oh, you must not dare to live or die without Jesus ! 'Tis religion that can give Sweetest pleasures while we live. 'Tis religion must supply- Solid comfort when we die. After death its joys will be Lasting as eternity. Be the living God my friend. Then my joys will never end. Tell me, are you for Jesus ? I would be for Him, were I in your place today, if I had to go through flame and flood to follow Him. Be for Him before it is too late! Does He call you today? Follow Him, trust Him, yield yourself to Him whatever your condition or case may be, and His word for you is sure: "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out." THE CLOSING PRAYER. How deep is our joy, O, our Father, that we have such a Savior, even the Lord Jesus Christ, to forgive us and guide us and keep us forever, As_we stand here to-day may we promise one another, and above all may we promise Christ to cleave to Him and to cleave to Him forever. And if one is here to-day in the grip of doubt or sin or difficulty of any kind, lead such to be candid and whole- hearted, as such one seeks the way of life, and may such one soon tell us that he or she has found that blessed way and is going with us as we follow Christ. And as you go now, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion and blessing of the Holy Spirit, be granted you all and each, to abide with you to-day and forever. Amen. VII NIGHT SERVICE, JUNE 14, 1917. PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. It would be very interesting if we might know the ex- periences that God's people have had to-day in this com- munity, as here and there they have had conversations with others about personal religion. I am constrained to ask how many Christians gathered in this large assemblage to-night have made it a point to speak an earnest word with somebody to-day about personal religion? Did you do your best? Were you faithful? Then you may gladly leave the result with God. And now I come to ask if every Christian listening to me will not make it a point — a point of conscience — will not put it upon high principle, to speak to somebody, even to as many as you may and ought, about personal religion, before we come here to this tent again to-morrow night? Can't you give an hour to that weightiest of all matters, the effort to help others in the right care of the soul ? And if it could not be an hour, couldn't it be half an hour? And if it could not be half an hour, couldn't it be half a dozen minutes? Tell me, is there any Christian here who, for any cause, should allow to-morrow to pass without speak- ing to some soul about being right with God? I beseech you, my fellow-Christians, do your hest now to help those who need you in the realm of religion. The Lord be your constant inspiration and help in this heavenly work of shepherding souls! 87 88 A QUEST FOR SOULS PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD. Text: "Prepare to meet thy God." — Amos 4:12. For quite awhile now there has been a word thrust into prominence, through the press and from the platform, all over this land and in other lands. That word is ''prepar- edness." Its meaning is at once evident. In recent times its meaning has been associated with the realm military, and in such realm its meaning is entirely plain. The word is an equally suggestive one in the realm of education. Oh, what a summons there is to-day to the young people all over the land to get ready for life's work — to be worthily prepared. And this word "preparedness" is an equally worthy word in the important realm of business. And cer- tainly, in the highest realm of all, the realm of religion, this w^ord "preparedness" has an immeasurably important meaning. Our text points the lesson for us in five little words, quite familiar, but to the last degree suggestive: "Prepare to meet thy God." I shall not now stop to discuss these five words in their setting, but shall begin my message by asking you, one by one, this all-important question: Are you prepared for your meeting with God? Meet Him you must. Your re- lations to Him are inescapable: "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ." It is more serious than that: "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." Are you prepared for your inevitable meeting with God? These five little words suggest for us three infinitely important questions. Let us together ask them and an- swer them as faithfully as we may this Thursday evening. "Prepare to meet thy God" — why? "Prepare to meet thy God"-— how? "Prepare to meet thy God"— when? I have asked these questions as simply as it is possible for me to ask them, so that these boys and girls about me, of young and tender years, may know the points that I am seeking to enforce, for it behooves Christ's preacher ever so to preach, not simply that the people may understand him, but so that they must — ^^so that as they go their ways and speak one to another about what they have heard, or pon- PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD 89 der it in their hearts, their hearts shall say: "One thing is certain, and that is, we know what the man was driving at." God help us to-night to speak and to hear like we ought. Above all else, we now would pray for the leading of the Holy Spirit throughout this responsible hour! Let us consider the first question suggested by the text : "Prepare to meet thy God'' — why? It would be enough to say that God commands it. Running like an unbroken thread all through His Book is His command to the chil- dren of men to make preparation for their meeting with Him. We could rest our case right there. God commands it. When we know the mind of God about anything, it is the part of the highest wisdom for us to relate ourselves obediently to that command. This is God's command. And shall the poor little creature turn in defiance away from the great and holy Creator? Shall the human, whose life is utterly contingent upon the divine will, turn away from such will and seek to ignore Him? This is God's com- mand : "Oh, ye children of men, prepare ye to meet me !" And when we have His command about anything, then it is the part of the highest wisdom for us to follow that com- mand without reserve and with all devotion. But the reason for such preparation is revealed to us still further by the revelation God makes in His Book to us. Our condition demands that we shall make such prep- aration. And what of our conditon? There has come to us in our very natures a moral sickness, the name of which is sin, which has turned us all away from God. Sin is a moral sickness in human life, as real as the hand or the eye is a part of our physical life, and because of that moral sickness, calling for a helper, and because a helper has been vouchsafed, we are to turn to that helper and seek to have healing and recovery from our moral sickness. One little word describes it all, and that word trembled on the lips of Jesus when He was here: "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Oh, what a world of meaning, of horrible meaning, is condensed into that one little w^ord, "lost!" And outside of Christ, that is the con- dition of mankind. If that could only be realized, how different would be our attitude towards sin and towards 90 A QUEST FOR SOULS God, v^o would deliver us from sin's enthralling power. Oh, if that could be realized! One prayer, my fellow Christians, I adjure you to pray, as we gather here from evening to evening, and yonder at noonday in the Chamber of Commerce auditorium — one prayer: "Lord, open the eyes of men and women, that they may see, touch their hearts, that they may feel, their absolute need of God !" When I was a child — with awful vividness do I remember it — there went throughout the land a shuddering story that a little boy had been kidnaped away from his parents, had been stolen away from his home, had been lost to his loved ones. Not to my dying day can I forget the thrill of hor- ror that day by day went through my childish heart as I heard them discuss it in our home, and heard the neighbors discuss it when they would gather, that a little boy had been lost to his parents. Somebody had stolen him away, and parents were resorting to every possible means to find out about that little fellow, that he might be recovered and restored to his loved ones. When the older people in the country home where I lived would come in from the farms, they would look for the latest paper, if haply they might find some word about that lost little boy — Charlie Ross. And mothers drew their little fellows nearer to them and watched them more closely, as they pondered the direful meaning of the losing from the home of a precious child. Oh, if that truth could only be passed on and up, like it ought to be, to the realm of religion, and we could lay to heart like we ought what it means for the soul, for the self, for the personality, for the life, to be lost in the sight of God ! When we turn to the Scriptures, they are as clear as the light on this momentous point. I quote them now: "God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back ; they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.'* I quote again : "There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not." I quote again: "All we like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned every one to his own way." I am quoting again: "Marvel not that I said unto thee" — moral man though Nicodemus may have PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD 91 been, splendid in his position, cultured in his life — "marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again — except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." I am quoting again: "Except ye repent, ye shall all like- wise perish." I am quoting again: "There is no differ- ence, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." I am quoting again: "He that believeth the Son hath everlasting life ; and he that believeth not the Son" — he may have joined the church, he may have been baptized, he may sit with others at the Lord's table, to partake of the emblems of Jesus' broken body and poured out blood — never mind, nevertheless, "he that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Salvation is by a person. It is not by a church. It is not Sy an ordinance, nor by a sacrament, nor by a creed, nor by a ceremony, nor by a form, however beautiful ; nor by a man, however clever and pretentious. Salvation is by a person, and that person is none other than the Divine Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Whoever receives Him to be His Savior is saved by Him. Whoever turns away from Him does not have spiritual life, but spiritual death. Note further what is lost. What does it mean to be lost? When Jesus was here in the flesh. He asked the question, one of the most pungent that ever fell from His lips, indeed, if not the most pungent, and this was His question: "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" Whom was He talk- ing about? He was talking about you, "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world" — not simply this prosperous Tarrant county, not simply this progressive, fast-growing city of Fort Worth, not simply this imperial and powerful commomvealth, so dear to all our hearts ; not simply this nation, first of all in the galaxy of nations ; not simply this wide-spreading continent, with its measureless resources — "what shall it profit a man" — any man — "if he shall gain the Whole World and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" What did Jesus mean when He talked about losing the soul? Well, I will tell you, first of all, one thing He did not mean. He did not mean, as is sometimes falsely al- 92 A QUEST FOR SOULS legecl, that the soul of the wicked at death would go down into darkness and annihilation, to be heard of no more. He did not mean that. Jesus as thoroughly taught the immor- tality of the soul of the wicked as He taught the immor- tality of the soul of the believer in Christ. Immortality is never conditioned on character — never. If you shall die in your sins, going down into the grave and to eternity, without Christ, you shall consciously exist in the realm of waste and loss in another world forever, as really as the soul that trusts Christ and stakes all on Him shall go to live at His right hand, and be like Him and with Him forevermore. That man who teaches the doctrine of the annihilation of the wicked is an enemy both to God and to men. Jesus as distinctly teaches the conscious immor- tality of the soul of the wicked in another world after this, as He teaches the conscious and blissful immortality of the righteous in the heavenl}^ land, which He has gone to prepare for His friends. Oh, if death ends all, it is not such a serious thing to die! If death ends all, then this little life of ours is an awful bundle of contradictions. Would you say that the game is worth the candle, if we must suffer and be pained and have the soul swept with ten thousand vexations and disappointments and horrors, and then drop into the grave at the end of fifty or sixty or seventy years, or more or less, to be heard of no more for- ever? If that be all, is life's game worth the candle? Oh, my fellow-men, that is not all ! There Is a death whose pangr Outlasts this fleeting breath. Oh, what eternal horrors hang Around one's second death! One of the old Confederate soldiers told me of a young lad who went out from his community to the war of the '60's. The lad was barely grown. He would go to the war, and the mother pressed into his hands a copy of the New Testament, as on his forehead she pressed her lips, and tears and prayers were mingled as she bade him good- bye, urging him as he went to war, to read that little book every day, and follow its precepts, and whether he should come back or fall on the field of battle, ii he would follow the light of that little book, all would be well. And the old PREPARATION FOR MSSTING GOD 93 soldier told how the lad went into the war, and went into battle after battle, never reading the little book at all. They were getting ready to go into one of the most awful battles of that fearful struggle, and the commanding of- ficer was advising his men how to behave, and was saying : "You will play the men now. Many of you will not come back, but you will stand with your faces to duty/' And this young fellow was seen with face pale like death, while some of the older men twitted him about his being afraid. They said : "They will about get you, this time, lad, and you are afraid to die, are you? You are chicken-hearted, are you? You are afraid now, are you?" And drawing the little Testament from his pocket where he had carried it, from the inner pocket, he said: "When I went away from home, mother urged me to read this, and I meant to do iti and promised her I would, but I have never opened it. She said if I would follow its light and counsel all would be well, but I do not know what its light and coun- sel are, for I have not read it. Now I am going into this battle with the awful apprehension that I may not come back again. No, men, I am not specially afraid to die," but then he added, with an awful ejaculation, "My God, I am afraid of what is coming after death, for I have made no preparation for it!" Well might he fear. Well might he start back. There can be no sanity at all, there can be no reasonableness at all, in our coming to the end of the earthly life, and taking a leap into the dark all neg- lectful and unready and unprepared. What did Jesus mean when He talked about the soul being lost? He meant the soul's separation from God — just that. "Every man shall go to his own place" when he leaves this world. The law of moral gravity is just as inexorable as the law of physical gravity. Every law of science and philosophy would utterly be disannulled if a man should not reap as he sowed. And if a man turns indifferently and neglectfully away from the claims and calls of God and goes the downward way, his portion must be of the kind of his own sowing. Jesus taught it. You are not willing to defy Him, are you? I am not. Where will you spend eternity? You will spend it just as is your U A QUEST FOR SOULS relation to Christ Jesus while you are here in the flesh, on earth, in time. Surely, preparation for meeting God is a matter of transcendent concern. Teach us, oh, teach us, thou Friend Divine, the infinite importance of such prepa- ration to-day! But I pass to the second question suggested by the text; ''Prepare to meet thy God" — how? In answer to that question, I may say that I know the day when you will be saved, if, indeed, you ever are to be saved. I know the day, because God reveals it here in His Holy Word. Listen to Him : *Tn the day that thou seekest me with thy whole heart, I will be found of thee." Listen to Him again : "Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." Oh, if this Thursday night the man, the woman, the child, is here who is wrong with God, who rises up with high hopes, saying: "This very Thursday night with my whole heart I will seek God," then this Thursday night you shall meet Him and be saved. There were two plain truths sounded out by Jesus and His apostles, the record of which is kept here for us in His Holy Word, and those two truths are set forth in the two pithy sayings: "Repentance toward God," and "Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." Here we are, with our moral sick- ness, with our lapse and defeat and loss and moral failure. Here we are, hostile and disobedient in the sight of God. Here we are, having violated God's law and transgressed His precepts. And He calls to us, saying: "Will you not repent of that evil way? Will you not turn from it? Will you not forsake it? Will you not renounce that evil way and leave it utterly behind? Not only will you be sor- rowful for such evil course, but will you not translate that sorrow into action, and forsake the evil way and leave it behind?" That is, by repentance, to turn to God. And then, will you not by faith lean wholly and only upon Christ, the atoning Savior for those who have sinned in the sight of God? Will you not commit yourself to that di- vinely given Friend, who came, himself the just, to make atonement for us, the unjust, that by His own atoning sacrifice He might make us right with God? Will you not thus definitely by faith take Christ as your Savior? Who- PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD Q5 ever comes, turning definitely away from the wrong course — and he may make such turning in one moment — and turning with absolute surrender to Jesus, the Divine Savior — whoever comes like that to Christ, shall in that selfsame hour be forgiven and saved. Oh, that it might be to-night, for every soul here present who is wrong with God ! You set your heart to seek other things, and properly so. You set your heart to seek success in business, and properly so. You set your heart to mount the rung of the ladder of achievement, and properly so. You set your heart to reach a certain goal out there, noble and worthy, and properly so. Oh, I summon you, set your heart, by high resolve, that the greatest matter of all shall not be ignored and passed by and forfeited by you! Set your heart to seek God before it is too late. But we have another question suggested by this simple text: "Prepare to meet thy God" — when? I have asked you two questions : Why prepare to meet thy God ? And then, next: How prepare to meet Him? And now I am coming with this third question: "Prepare to meet thy God" — when? Oh, solemn truth, there are limits that you must not pass, for if you pass them you do it to your own deadly and eternal undoing. "Prepare to meet thy God" — when? There are limits beyond which if you go, the battle for the soul is lost forever. The Bible is clear at that point. The Bible is all along reminding us of the eternal value of this probationary period called time, in the which period the highest things of the soul are to be seen to and to be determined upon forevermore. Oh, the tragedy of being lost just by waiting too long to make proper preparation for meeting God ! Were you ever yonder above Niagara? If you have been, some hundreds of yards above that roaring, plung- ing Niagara, you have seen a strange sign, flung out on either side of the river, as the river rushes to take that last awful plunge. You recall it as I speak of it. A plank with three ominous words is flung out on either side of the river, and you are arrested as your eye sees those words — just three: "PAST REDEMPTION POINT." The meaning of the words is ominous and evident. Oh, 96 A QUEST FOR SOULS boatman, plying your little boat on the surface of that river, do not get below that sign! Oh, canoeman, floating idly and leisurely on the bosom of that river, do not get below that sign! For a little below the sign the river-bed falls, and the river rushes with the speed almost of the arrow let fly from the bow to take its fearful plunge over the awful precipice. Do not get below that sign. Some- where in the journeying of a human soul there is that awful sign flung out: "Past Redemption Point." Soul, do not get below that sign! Do not get into that current below that sign! When ought you to prepare to meet God? What does your best judgment say about it? When ought you to make this preparation for meeting with God? What does He, who was and is the incarnation of infinite wisdom, say to us in response to that question. When ought this preparation for meeting God to be made? He has just one message in answer to that question: "Boast not thy- self of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." Since I came to this platform this evening, one passed up to me a tragic note saying: "Have a prayer for stricken parents, whose son was torn into shreds by a passing train, on the outskirts of this city, a few minutes ago." We breathe our most earnest prayer up into the ears of our gracious Lord, that He will comfort and heal the parental hearts torn by such a sorrow. The tragedy itself points simply the truth that I am now emphasizing — that in the unexpected hour, the blow falls; in the unex- pected hour, the end comes. Therefore, God tells us: "Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." When ought this preparation to be made? I come to affirm, on the authority of God's teaching, confirmed by all human experience, that to-day and now, every man and woman and boy and girl under the sound of my voice, who is wrong with God ought to see about preparation for meeting God to-day and now. And why so? Let me give you two or three reasons. Judge ye yourselves wheth- er these reasons are worthy the consideration of your best judgment. PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD 97 You should make your preparations for meeting God to-day and now because you need that your life here and now should be saved. Did you think that I would say, in order that you might be prepared to die? I will say that, but not yet, for that does not come yet. That does not come first. Oh, men and women, there is not a human being before me or anywhere else competent to live life like it ought to be lived for one short second, if such being is in hostile array against God. You are not ready for any duty or any day or any experience, to meet it like you ought, if you are in wrong relations to God, if you are not positionized openly and honestly as the friend of God. So I am coming to say that you should prepare to meet God now, in order that your life, your busy, responsible life, here and now may be saved — your life saved. If I knew that twenty-five years from this Thursday night, I would come back to this growing city, and be right on this same spot, and under a tent like unto this, and this vast con- course of people would be back, and nobody would be missing, and we would all have our wits about us and be in our right minds on that far-off night, twenty-five years from to-night; if I knew that on that night, far-off, when I made the call for you to decide for Jesus and surrender to Him, everyone of you would come then and surrender to Christ and be saved, yet would I pour out my heart to you this Thursday night, and say, come now, that these twenty-five years may not be lost ! Come now, that these twenty-five years may not be given to Satan. Come now, that your influence may not be positionized against heaven and Christ and all that is dearest and highest and best. Come now, that your life may be saved to the right side. Come now, that your influence may be positionized where it ought to be. You can no more be separated from your influence over others than you can separate yourself from your shadow as you walk in the glowing sun. Come now, that your influence may be saved ! Oh, what do some men and women mean, whose influence is all against heaven and God and the highest life? What do they mean? Years agone, a man was converted under my ministry in my city, after he had reached the age of some sixty-eight 98 A QUEST FOR SOULS years, and then for the year or two afterward that he was spared, his devotion to Jesus was something to the last degree inspiring. Some months after his conversion, I noticed him at a morning service, profoundly agitated, and when I dismissed the people he tarried at his pew, and continued to sob like a heart-broken child, and I went around quietly to him, when the people had gone, and asked him to explain his strange and seemingly uncon- trollable emotion, and he said: "Why, man, it was your sermon, your sermon !" And then I remembered my text : "No man liveth to himself." No man can live to him- self. We are taking people up or down with us every day. We are making it easier or harder for people to get to heaven every day we live. "It was your sermon, sir," he said, and then he said: "I am the sad proof of the tragedy of a wasted influence. I came at sixty-eight to Christ, and as I came to this church house this morn- ing, I came by the home of my three sons, and I begged each one of these sons to come to church with me, and they all shrugged their shoulders and faintly essayed to smile, and said: 'We guess, father, that we will start to going to church when we get to be about sixty-eight.' Then I tried their sons, some of them coming into young manhood, my dear grandchildren, and they looked at one another with a wink, and said: 'Grandpa, we guess we will start to going to church when we are about sixty- eight or seventy.'" The old man said: "I came on with- out child or grandchild. I am myself, sir, the awful proof of the tragedy of a wasted influence." Then he rose up and looked at me with a pathos I can never forget, and stretched out his strong arm and said: "I would have that arm severed from my shoulder if I could turn time backward and live my life over again — if I could undo my wasted influence." And then, with a sob never to be for- gotten, he said : "Sir, I would be willing to have my head severed from my body, if I could go back and teach my little boys by example how a Christian father ought to live." Oh, the tragedy of wasted influence! A little boy slept with his father after the mother had died, and one night the little fellow awakened his father PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD 99 by his pitiful sobbing — this little six-year-old son — and the father said : "Why, my boy, why do you sob ?" And the little fellow did not wish to tell him, but the father urged him to tell him, and presently the little fellow said: 'Tt was a bad dream, papa." And then the father said: *'Tell me what it was/' And the little boy said : "I would rather not, papa. It is about you." The father, of course, was curious now, and said : 'Tell me, my boy, what it was." The little fellow said: "It is about what you have done to me. I do not think I can tell you." Then the father coaxed him and mothered him, and said : "Tell papa about it." And the little fellow said: "Papa, I dreamed that you, my own papa, had your hand to my throat, and were choking me to death." God pity us, that is not a dream ! I know parents who are doing that with the souls of their children. Sometimes it is a strong father, and he would lay down his life for the welfare of his child, and yet he has the grip of his parent's influence around the throat of that child's soul, and the child is missing the upward way. Sometimes it is a mother. Oh, God, and can it be? The highest dignity allowed to a human being is the dignity of motherhood, and can it be that a mother, on whose heart God lays a precious child for the mother to love and to guide— can it be that the mother goes her way, forgetful of the highest, and in those plastic days influences her children so that they go the downward road rather than the upward? I am pleading to you to-night for your life. You will not face life like you ought to face it; you will spoil it, you will mar it, you will debauch it, you will prostitute it, you will defile it, if you dare to go your way without God. Now I am going to say that second word. You should make your preparation for meeting God now in order that you may be ready for life's end, when such end shall come. And when shall that end come? No angel above us knows when that end shall come. It may come before midnight to-night. It may come before the Lord's day shall dawn. It may come with the gladsome ringing of the Christmas bells at the next holiday time. When shall I take that journey down into the valley of the shadow? Only God 100 A QUEST FOR SOULS knows. Not all of us will be here when the chimes of the Christmastide shall sound so sweetly in expectant ears. I am coming to say, my fellow-men, that there is no wisdom in our going our way to that inevitable end, and then taking a leap into the dark without preparedness, without readi- ness. There is no wisdom in that. Be ready for the time of your departure from earth. Be ready. Give heed, I pray you, to this other word : Every day you delay making your return to God, by that much do you add to your difficulty about ever coming. Therefore, should our interest be keyed to the highest for the young people. Oh, how I covet these boys and girls in their teens, and just beginning their teens ! How I covet every one of them for God! Wisdom has fled from God's people if they do not put forth their best efforts to save the people while they are young. It is God's time. Listen to Him: ^'Remember now thy Creator, in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.'' The voice of God's Book, confirmed by all experience, is that in the morning of life, this biggest question of all — right adjustment to God — should have proper settlement — in the morning of life. Remember it, my fellow-men ; remember it, my 3^oung people — every day that you delay your coming to God do you add to your difficulties about ever coming at all. Every day that you delay, you increase and strength- en your diffixculties. If a man will not do a thing for awhile, then by a law psychological, and physiological as well, after awhile he cannot do it. If through some freakish fancy I should have this arm tied to my body for a dozen years, refusing to use it, and at the end of those years I should say: "Cut the cord and watch me lift the ax and bring down the trees in the forest, as I used to do when a boy," it would be found that I could not lift the ax at all. I would be helpless and impotent to lift that ax at all. I would not lift it — I refused to use it, now I cannot. If through some fancy I should have my eyes bandaged and keep them in the dark for a dozen years, and then say to my friends : "Remove the bandages now, and watch me read as once I read from the book or the paper," you might give me PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD 101 the book or the paper, but I could not read at all. So long was I determinedly and positively in the darkness that light fled away. Every day that a human soul trifles with God's light and turns the back on God, does such soul add to its danger and difficulty and make its probability of sal- vation less and less and less. In my city, years ago, as I rode to a funeral with one of our well-known citizens, not a Christian, a man for whose salvation I had yearned, God knows, with a yearning inexpressible, he said to me, as we came back from the funeral, for he was quite reminiscent — we had buried his dear friend — he said: "A strange thing has happened to me, and I do not know hov/ to explain it." Then he added : "When you came to Dallas years ago, I heard you often on Sunday morning, and many a time I went away so stirred that I did not enjoy a mouthful of my midday meal Sunday. But I went my way, saying: 'This matter of religion will get my attention by and by, but I am pre- occupied; I am too busy now.' And I have heard you on and on, but less and less, as the years passed. I heard your words awhile ago," he said, "as you stood by the bier of my dear friend, and there was no emotion at all, that I could find in my heart. I have reached a strange place, and that place is that I have no feeling at all, none at all. I do not know what has happened." I did not tell him what had happened to him, and yet I think I know. The Scriptures are clear as the light that a human soul can trifle with light, and can resist God, and can refuse, and can protest, and can defer, and can wait, until after awhile the human conscience is seared as with a hot iron, and no more is there feeling for such duty- neglecting and light-forgetting soul — no more. There comes in a solemn song that our parents used to sing, when some of us were little tots about their knees. Maybe I can quote that solemn song. Oh, the depth of its meaning! There is a time, I know not when, A place, I know not where, Which marks the destiny of men. To glory or despair. There is a line by us unseen. Which crosses every path. The hidden boiuidary between ; God's patience and God's wrath. 102 A QUEST FOR SOULS To cross that limit is to die. To die as if by stealth. It may not pale the beaming eye. Nor quench the glowing health. The conscience may be still at ease. The spirits light and gay. That which is pleasing still may please. And care be thrust away. But on that forehead God hath set Indelibly a mark By man unseen, for man as yet Is blind and in the dark. And still that doomed man's path below May bloom like Eden bloomed. He did not, does not, will not, know. Nor feel that he is doomed. He feels, he says, that all is well. His every fear is calmed. He lives, he dies, he wakes in hell. Not only doomed, but damned. Oh, where is that mysterious bourn, By which each path is crossed. Beyond which God himself hath sworn. That he who goes is lost? How long may men go on in sin? How long will God forbear? Where does hope end, and where begin. The confines of despair? One answer from those skies is sent: "Ye who from God depart. While it is called. To-day, repent. And harden not your heart." My message is done. I have a question to ask you before I go. How many of you men and women have made preparation for meeting God? And by that I mean simply this, that turning away from yourself you have turned to Christ, and are trusting in Him only and utterly as your Savior. How many of this large throng of people can personally say : ''Sir, I have made that preparation. I have heard Christ's call. I have yielded myself to Him. I am trusting alone in Him as my Savior." Every man and woman and child in this press of people that can say: "I have made that preparation, sir, already," lift high your hand just now. [A sea of hands went up.] Oh, isn't it a sight to move our hearts ! It looked to me as if almost every hand was lifted. Blessed be God ! And yet I must ask another question. Are there men and women in this gathering to-night who could not in conscience lift their hands, thus witnessing that they are on Christ's side? Are there men and women listening to me who say: "Oh, sir, I am wrong with God and know it. I could not lift my PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD 103 hand. I am wrong with God and know it/' In- the church maybe, or out — a professor of religion once, or maybe never such — but your heart says this: "I am wrong with God and know it. I could not lift my hand a minute ago, but I would lift it on this, that I am wrong with God and know it, and I wish to be right with God, in His own time and way." We will offer our most fervent prayer for you in a moment, ere we go. Do you say: 'T lift my hand on that. I am wrong with God and know it, and I wish to be right with Him, and I wish you and all these who pray to ofifer a prayer for me that I may be right with God, in His own time and way. I would lift my hand on that." As I look this audience over for a minute, do you lift your hand? There where I am pointing, I see you, my brother, and you, dear lady. As I am pointing there to the left, does the hand lift, saying: "That includes me?" Where I am looking yonder, does the hand lift, saying: *'That includes me?" I see you, sir. Oh, sirs, breathe a prayer to God to bless these men and women. I see you, lady, and still another, and still another over there. Back to the rear, does the hand lift there, clear to my right? I see you, gentlemen, numbers of your hands. Oh, that to-night you would end your delay! Listen to Jesus : "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." Listen again : "Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." And again: "To-day, if ye hear His voice, harden not your heart." THE CLOSING PRAYER. Take the sennce, we pray thee, our Heavenly Father, into thine own gracious keeping, and turn it even as thou wilt. Oh, we cry unto thee, our Father, in the dear Savior's name, in behalf of these interested men and women and children, who this night have said to us : "We are consciously wrong with God, but wish to be right." How we covet them and long for them, that without delay they shall just surrender, simply and honestly, to Christ, that He may be their* Savior and Master. Teach them by thy Spirit that waiting has in it nothing but peril. Teach them that by every worthy motive that can move serious people to a great step, now, without delay, they should decide for Christ. May thy Word be bound upon their hearts, where thou sayest : "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out;" and where thou sayest: "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely;" and where thou sayest: "Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." Oh, may these men and women and children, wrong with God, but wishing to be right, know, because God shall teach them, -that it is Christ's business to save, but it is theirs to surrender to Him, entirely to Him, that He may save in His own way. May they make that surrender even this very night, before they sleep. And if in this throng there were others, who did not witness to their interest about being saved, and yet who are interested, we pray that their interest may be deepened, until speedily they shall find Christ. And if in this place there is one whose heart is not touched with any sense of interest 104 A' QUEST FOR SOULS touching personal religion, oh, may the Divine Spirit take of the things of Christ and convict such soul of the supreme and urgent need of Christ's forgiving grace. Take the whole audience now into thine own gracious care, and lead us as thou wilt. How we bless thee that such a vast number of the people present are able to make the great confession that Christ is their Savior even now. May each one go who loves Christ, and speak the word to whom and as Christ would have the word spoken, that others may be helped by us in the hours and days just before us, and helped in the highest and best way. Take this family, stricken with sorrow this very evening, and bind up their hearts with God's own healing comfort and grace. And now, as you go, may the blessed Holy Spirit brood over you all, and may the love of the Father, and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be granted you all and each, to abide with you forever. Amen, VIII NOON SERVICE, JUNE 15, 1917. THE OPENING PRAYER. Holy Father, deep is our gratitude to thee for thy goodness to us and ours. How wonderful it all seems ! Yea, how wonderful it really is ! We bless thee for it. And now as we come apart at this midday hour for a brief service, we pray that we may have the touch of thy hand upon us, all and each. We would wait here in thy presence now just like we ought. We would be humble before thee. We v.'ould be repentant on account of every evil way, and we would be cleansed from all unrighteousness. We would put our trust unreservedly in God. We would turn absolutely from every wrong course. We would have thee speak to us what thou wouldst have us to hear. We would know thy will, and then we would do it, by thy guidance and help, whatever it costs, wherever it leads. Let there be in the service something that shall help us every one, and that shall make for the glory of thy name. And to-day, and in the days just before us, may we make it our concern, as never before, to put first things first, to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, before all else. We ask this in the Master's name. Amen. A RELIGION THAT IS DIVINE. Text: "Christ the power of God."— I Cor. 1:24. A religion without a Divine Savior is a religion incom- petent and insufficient for a needy, sinning, suffering, dying humanity. No man has moral sources within himself suf- ficient to live the life that he ought to live. Systems of ethics and of morals, however beautiful and worthy, will not, and cannot, transform men and women who have the sense of sin in their lives — the sense of moral loss and lapse and failure. A little while ago it was my privilege to speak some ten days to the students of one of the coun- try's largest universities. One day I was waited upon by a group of Japanese students, who desired an interview concerning the relative claims of their country's religion and of our religion. I shall never forget the interview. These Japanese were upper class men in the university. They ranged themselves, some thirty men, in a semi-circle 105 106 A QUEST FOR SOULS about me, and then they began their questions. How bright, how sharp, how searching, were their questions! And presently they reached the question that they came to ask. They said: "We follow Buddha, and you follow Christ. Wherein does Christ excel Buddha? Buddha teaches this and that,'* they said, ''and Christ, whom you preach, teaches this and that. Wherein do the teachings of Christ excel the teachings of Buddha?" Now, you can see that the issue was sharply joined. You know what I said, I take it. I said: "My fellow-men, Buddha does teach so and so, and standards that he sets up in many cases are beautiful. Christ teaches so and so. But Christ does more. Christ proposes to put a power divine into the life that will yield itself to Him. For illustration: Here are two trains of cars, and at the head of each is an engine. Christ puts His power into that Christian engine, so that it can pull any train of cars, no matter how weighty. Buddha does not talk about putting power into human life. Buddha does not talk about a strength superhuman and unrivaled and divine, which he will put into his followers. He simply holds up a standard out there. Christ holds up a standard and says: 'Come to me, with all your weak- ness and ignorance and sin; let me save and guide you, and I will help you in your life to realize that standard,' Christianity is the religion of a person, and that person is Christ, and Christ not only points us the way wherein v/e ought to walk, but He comes to us in our moral weak- ness and lapse and failure, and says to us: Tf you will honestly commit yourself to me, that I may guide you and master you, I will help you to live the life you ought to i, live/ And, therefore, Christianity outdistances all systems of human religion, by as much as God outdistances a man." It was good to see the response made by the students from afar to such appeal. Five little words this morning make our text : "Christ the power of God." They are found in the first chapter of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. Let me come at once to the heart of what I wish to say, by asking the question : How is Christ the power of God? I answer, first of all. He is the power of God in His A RELIGION THAT IS DIVINE 107 own person. Christianity stands or falls with the person of Christ. What Hougoumont was to Waterloo, Christ's person is to Christianity. There have been only three views about the person of Christ — one that He was bad, another that He was mad, and the other that He was what He everywhere represented himself to be, namely, that He was God come in the flesh. When He was here there were those who affirmed that He was bad. They affirmed that He was in league with Beelzebub, the prince of de- mons. They said: "He hath an evil spirit, and is not to be trusted." And then there were those who affirmed that He was mad«. They said.: "He is beside himself." They said: "He is crazy." And then there stands out the third estimate of Him — that He was not bad, and that He was not mad, but that He was and is what He everywhere rep- resented himself to be — God come in the flesh. When Jesus became a man, He said in effect to men, wherever He went: "I am God manifest in the flesh. I am God uncovered ; I am God foreshortened, so that a man with all his limitations by reason of ignorance and weakness and sin can find God." The cry of the race through the ages has been: "We would see Jesus. Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us." Jesus came among men and everywhere represented himself as the possessor of the attributes and the perfections of Deity. That Jesus was and is in His own person the power of God is attested by what He said, and by what He did, and by what He was and is. I am compelled intellectually to believe that Christ was more than any mere man, no matter from what angle I look at Him. Will you look at His words? They attest His deity, "Never m.an spake like this man." I do not wonder that when Daniel Webster had finished the reading of the Ser- mon on the Mount, he rose up with pale face and trembling words, and said: "More than any mere man has spoken these words." Never man spake like this man. Christ's teachings concerning the great matters that pertain to life and conduct and man and sin and character and destiny are utterly revolutionary and transforming. 108 A QUEST FOR SOULS I am also compelled to believe that Jesus is more than any mere man when I look at His works, and one of His appeals to men is: "Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the works' sake." From the cradle to the grave there was in the life of Jesus the outflashings of His divine nature and power. When a little child yonder on His mother's heart the shep- herds came to worship Him, and the magi came with their rich gifts to lay before Him. When He was a child of a dozen years, yonder He was in the temple, and the ques- tions that He both asked and answered broke to pieces the superlative wisdom of those learned doctors and teachers assembled in that temple. And when He began His public ministry, the winds and the waves obeyed Him, and sick- nesses obeyed Him, and demons obeyed Him, and death obeyed Him. Jean Paul Richter was right when He said that Jesus with His pierced hand had lifted empires off their hinges, and had turned the stream of centuries back- wards in its channel. And Lecky, the astute philosopher, was right when he said that the three short years of Jesus' public ministry had done more to soften and regenerate mankind than all the disquisitions of all the philosophers, and all the exhortations of all the moralists since the world began. I am also compelled to believe in Christ, that His own nature was divine, and that in Him was the infinite power of God, when I look at His character. The standing chal- lenge of Jesus to mankind is: "Which of you convicteth me of sin?" And the universal response to that challenge is stated in the language of Pilate: "I find no fault in Him." Horace Bushnell was right when he said that the character of Jesus forbids all possible classification of Him with any and all other men. Behold Jesus, this Friday morning, not a Son of man, but the Son of man, for all humanity was summed up in Him. In all other men, goodness is but fragmentary and pitifully imperfect. In the character of Jesus, goodness is perfect and complete, and wanting nothing. If you would look for the highest example of meekness, you would not look to Moses, but to Jesus, who was unapproachably meek A RELIGION THAT IS DIVINE 109 and lowly in heart. If you would look for the highest example of patience, you would not look to Job, but to Jesus, who when He was reviled, reviled not again. If you would look for the highest example of wisdom, you would not look to Solomon, but to Jesus, who spake as never man spake. If you would look for the highest ex- ample of zeal, you would not look to Paul, but to Jesus, about whom it has been written : "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." If you would look for the highest example of love, you would not look to John, who leaned on Jesus' bosom, but you would look to Jesus, who while we were yet sinners so loved us as to die for us. Goodness in men, however wise and pure their character, is frag- mentary and imperfect and incomplete. Goodness and perfection stand out in their entirety in the person of Jesus. Men sometimes say to me that they cannot believe in miracles, and in every such case I ask them: "What will you do with Jesus of Nazareth?'' He is the miracle of the ages. Jesus of Nazareth — what will you do with Him? He is the outstanding miracle of all the centuries. Whs^t will you do with Jesus? Forever God, forever man. My Jesus shall endure, And fixed on Him my hope remains Eternally secure. It was said of Mozart that he brought angels down< and of Beethoven that he lifted mortals up. Jesus of Naza- reth does both, and more. Jesus is God's way to man. Jesus is man's way to God. Jesus is the only true Jacob's ladder, by which a sinning man or woman, if he or she will leave sin behind, m^y mount up to be with God and to be like Him foreve'r. Yes, Christ is the power of God in His own person. I marvel that intellectually every man in the world is not compelled to bow before the person of Christ. Nor is that all. Christ is the power of God in history. The standing marvel of the ages is Christ himself, the Rock of Ages. An humble prophet of Nazareth has gone up and down the earth, and has more influence, more sway, than all the teachers that earth ever saw combined. Hushed be the noise and the strife of the schools, Volume and pamphlet, sermon and speech, The lips of the wise and the prattle of fools. Let the Son of man teach. 110 A QUEST FOR SOULS Who has the key to the future but He? Who can unravel the knots of the skein? We have groaned and have travailed and sought to be free. We have travailed in vain. Bewildered, dejected and prone to despair, To Him, as at first, do we turn and beseech. Our ears are all open, give heed to our prayer, O Son of man, teach. He is the incomparable teacher of all the ages, and be- side Him earth's greatest teachers are as a tapering candle beside a great sun. Christ is the miracle of the centuries, and the church is His monument. The most glorious in- stitution in all the earth is Christ's monument — His church. It is the fairest among ten thousand, and an institution su- premely lovely and worthy. And Christ's gospel is the su- preme instrument of human civilization. There is not and can- not be any lasting civilization which excludes the teaching of Christ. You may have your systems of government, no matter how compact and militaristic and colossal ; you may have your schemes of education, no matter how subtle and clever and adroit and scientific ; but all systems human are doomed ultimately to go into the ditch, if the standards and teachings of Christ are flouted and disregarded. The Pan-European war is the demonstration of what I am say- ing on the most colossal scale in all human history. And now I am coming to say the most important word of all to you, my brother men, my gentle sisters. Christ is the power of God in human experience. That is the vital word of all. Christianity employs always the scientific method of demonstration, that is, the method by experi- ment. Somebody once asked Mr. Coleridge if a man could prove the truth of Christianity, and Mr. Coleridge made the simple but complete reply: "Why, certainly. Let him try it." Christ comes to mankind and confidently says to them: "Come and see. Come and try me. Come and test me. Put me to the extremest test. Come and test me and see for yourself, if I do net give you to know that I am the power of God in human life. Come and test me, and you shall sing thereafter, when your fellows ask you what has happened: 'Whereas I was blind, now I see/ Come and try me." I am thinking now of a young woman, unusually trained and cultured, bedarkened in her spiritual nature by the A RELIGION THAT IS DIVINE 111 direst kind of skepticism. She sought interview after in- terview with the preacher, and one day she said to him: ''Sir, intellectually, I just cannot accept your preaching that Christ rose from the dead on the third day, as your Scrip- tures allege." Presently, the preacher said to her: "Well, what do you think about Christ — waiving for a moment the fact of His resurrection — what do you think of Him?" She said: "He is the fairest among ten thousand. He is the one altogether lovely. I cannot find any fault with Him. Everything about His words and about His works and about His character to the last degree appeals to me." Then the minister went on to say: "If He be the Son of God himself, the power of God in His own personality, if that be so, do you wish to know it?" After a moment's pause, she said : "Assuredly, I do." Then the minister said: "You go alone and tell_JIim that you are vexed by doubt and held back by questions, but that you wish light, and that you will yield yourself to Him, who has already won your most admiring appreciation ; that you will yield yourself to Him, that He may teach you and help you and lead you in any way that He would have you go — ^just honestly yield yourself to Him. Try Him in that experi- mental way." She came back the next day with her face radiant like the morning, and said to the preacher: "I cannot prove by outside proof, that Jesus rose from the dead, but my heart knows He is alive, for He has made me alive." He is to be experimentally tested, my fellow-men. He is to be tested. Let me tell you, I see enough in one week, as do these honored brother ministers of mine about me, to shut us up to the conviction that Christ is the power of God. We see enough in one week in our dealings with men to be shut up to that unhesitating conviction. To illustrate: One day there came to me the news that one of my fellow-workers had gone down in the awful mael- strom of business failure. Fine fellow, rising, battling nobly, but the tides had turned, and down he went, and I went out to his home with my heart in my throat, dread- ing to see him and his wife. As he met me at the door, he looked years older, but there was no trace of bitterness 112 A QUEST FOR SOULS on his face or in his eye. He said: "We are glad to see you. You have heard about it?" I said; "Yes, I have heard, and I have come out to kneel beside you, and to- gether we will talk to Him who is able to turn the very shadow of death into morning. No man is to despair or to worry or to mope because all his property is swept away in a brief day.'' He said, speaking quickly : "Oh, no ; we are not bitter about it at all. We did not sleep any last night. We got up several times in the night, and like two little children we knelt beside our bed, and we promised new devotion to the service of Christ. Oh, no, we have not a bitter thought at all." And from that day to this, and that was years ago, never have I heard a note of bitterness or reproach escape their lips, and time and again they have said to me: "But for Christ consciously in our hearts we should have been submerged when that black Friday came." /' And then, on another day, I was summoned when one of our citizens lay a-dying, one of the most gifted scientists I have known, and also one of the noblest Christians. The sun sank to the west, an^jthejands of his life were gallop- ing to thejclose, and I sat there by him, in response to his invitation that I come for a final conference, and he said various and sundry things to me, as I held his hand. I never shall forget one thing he said. It was this: "Oh, pastor, go on and preach Christ to men, and nothing else, for nothing else, sir, will suffice men who are in the grip of moral loss and failure and defeat. Men do not have moral resources within themselves to rise and climb. Sir, preach a divine Savior to a lost world. Preach that only till the day of your death." That last conversation we had I can never forget. And then, when he quit talking like that to me, he said: "I should like to speak to the children," and the children were brought in, and he had his word, beautiful and blessed, for every child. And then, as his wife held that thin hand and bent over him and kissed the noble forehead, he said to her, with his whispers, as life's sands hastened to the end: "Mary, dear, you will know where to look for comfort and strength when I am gone." She said: "Indeed, I will." Then he said: "Mary, dear, four different times you and I have marched behind "" A RELIGION THAT IS DIVINE 113 the hearse to the cemetery, to put away out there, under the flowers, one child, two children, three children, four children, and we came back, and every turn of the carriage wheels whispered to us that the grace of God was suffi- cient. Now, Mary, dear, when I shall go away, as I shall to-night,- you will remember the Shepherd Psalm, and you will remember the fourteenth chapter of John, and you will remember always to call on Christ and be not afraid." And she kissed him, and said : "I will remember. I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." And then he quietly began the recitation of that Twenty- third Psalm, and when he reached that heavenly sentence: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me," he whis- pered, and we caught it : "See, Mary, He is with me now," and then he was gone to the yonderland. You should have seen her and the children bear their grief without .^ any murmur. God's grace was sufficient for them, and dX\J^ the people knew it. ^ And then, on still another morning, my phone rang and one of our young business men said to me: "Be ready. I will be at the door for you with a cab in a dozen minutes. I need you much just now." I was there at the door wait- ing when the cab drove up, and he jumped out of the cab, his face covered with tears and his agitation something pitiful, and I took his hand and said: "What on earth is it?" He said to me, with a plaintive sob, even with gasps of sobbing: "If you know how to pray, you must pray now, for our flaxen-haired little girl is at death's door, and the doctors give us no hope at all. Sir, if you know how to pray, you will ask God to spare her now." I said : "My friend, I will pray for her, but not the way you suggest. I would not pray the way you suggest even about my own little children. I will ask God, if it can comport with His will, to spare your little girl, but if that be not His will, that He will fortify you and the little mother, and give you grace and strength to face it all." And then he turned upon me wildly and said : "I suppose I could bear it if the little girl shall be taken, but the little girl's mother is an 114 A QUEST FOR SOULS invalid, and it v/ill kill her if the little girl is taken." I said: "No, no, my friend; your wife is a joyful Christian. She has a secret you do not know anything about. She has a secret that will bear her up and fortify her in the cloudiest day that ever comes." By this time we had reached the home, and we went in. The gentle wife was beside the crib, stroking the little forehead with its flaxen curls about it, talking to the child asj:he sands oj it^Jife hurriedjto J;h£ close, and then talking to God. And as we stood by her, the young father looked at me with a gasp and said: "Isn't my baby dying right now?" I said: "Yes, my friend; she is dying right now." And then he left the room, unable to face the rest. In a few moments more the little life was gone, and then after a few moments more the wife said to me: "Where is my husband?" I said: "I will find him,'' and I went out behind the cot- tage, and found him wild in his grief, and when he heard my footfall he turned to me and said : "It is all over, isn't it?" I -said: "It is all over." And then, with a wail never to be forgotten, he said: "You will see it will finish my poor little invalid wife." I said: "Not at all, my friend. She has a secret you do not know anything about. She has a power within her above the flesh, superhuman, God's own power. You come now and see." And we came on back, and at the door we paused, because she wa.s kneeling by that baby again, and it seemed sacrilege to enter, as we heard her praying. She was thanking God for the little girl, even though she had had her only three or four years. She was telling the Master that she would always be a better woman, because He had given her the child. She v/as saying that it was "better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." And then she paused, and I said: "We will go in now, my friend," And as we entered, she came, the invalid that she was, toward us, and her face was radiant. There were tears upon it, but there were smiles deeper than the tears. She put her frail arms about the big shoulders of her husband, and said: "Poor, broken-hearted husband, mother is so sorry for you ! Moth- er knows it is all right. Mother's heart is swept with peace. Little bits of heaven have come down, my husband, A RELIGION THAT IS DIVINE 115 to me. Mother is so sorry for you." Then the big fellow turned to me with the cry: "If Jesus Christ can do that for my frail wife, let me kneel beside my dead baby, and you tell Christ for me that I will give up to Him right now." Of course, Christ saved him then and there. '-^ Jesus Christ can do that. He docs do it. Hundreds here will so testify. He is the power of God in human life. Is He your power? God help you, if He is not! Oh, men, my brothers; oh, gentle women, m.y sisters, is Jesus Christ the power of your life? Is He your personal Savior? Is He your Master, by your own glad assent and consent? Let Him be ! I speak to you the sober truth this Friday morning, when I tell you that you may go and drink from every spring on the face of the earth, and you may try the aroma of every flower that earth can give, and you will come back desolate and dispirited and broken, without Christ. Earth cannot heal 3^our malady. Earth cannot cure your hurt. Byron tried it, that brilliant, gifted Byron, and he penned this as the result: My days are in the yellow leaf; The flowers and fruits of love are gone ; The worm, the canker, and the grief Are mine alone I I read the confession the other day of one of the most prominent actresses to-day on the world's stage. Admir- ers found her after a brilliant performance, after her ap- pearances had been often encored, and roars of applause had shaken the building — after it was all over, they found her sobbing like a broken-hearted child, and they said to her: "Why woman, you ought to be happy, unspeakably happy, even the happiest of women, because of such ap- plause as your every appearance calls forth." But she answered : "Oh, my heart is broken. My heart longs for something better and surer than this." And it does, be- cause God hath set eternity in the human heart, and the things temporal, therefore, cannot meet the cry of the eternal. Oh, where shall rest be found, Rest for a weary soul? 'Twere vain the ocean's depths to sound. Or pierce to either pole. Beyond this vale of tears There is a life above. Unmeasured by the flight of years, And all that life is love. 116 A QUEST FOR SOULS There is a death whose pang Outlasts this fleeting breath. Oh, what eternal horrors hang Around one's second death I Lord God of truth and grace. Teach us that death to shun, Lest we be banished from God's face And evermore undone 1 Are you willing for Christ to teach you? Are you will- ing for Him to be your Savior? Are you willing for Christ to be your Savior His way? He will never be otherwise. Are you willing for Him to be yonr Savior His way, and that He may master your life according to His will, which is infinite in wisdom and goodness? If you are, and will thus yield your life to Him, you shall know that Christ is the power of God in your own experience. Do you say, **Yes, to-day and now, I answer to Christ's call, yielding myself without reserve to Him, that He may have His way with me from this hour forward forever?" How we re- joice with you in your destiny-determ.ining decision, and we leave you with Him, who will never leave nor forsake the soul that trusts Him. THE CLOSING PRAYER. And now, as the people go, O Divine Savior, let us every one go, songful in praises, definitely fixed in heart, inflexibly resolved in purpose, that we v/ill cleave to Christ anci cleave to Him only and forever. Let us see that we shall feed our souls on ashes if we feed on any other food in this universe apart from Christ. He is the bread which comes down from heaven, which if a soul shall eat, such soul shall live, and live victoriously forevermore. Lord, at this noonday ser\'ice we would gather up every life here present in our prayers, and by humble, united and submissive prayer, we would bind one another, and by grace divine be bound, about the feet of Christ forever. The Lord keep you all and each, until the day is done, and beyond, forever. Amen. IX NIGHT SERVICE, JUNE 15, 1917. PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. Before coming to the message of the evening, I would take a moment to urge again, with all my heart, upon the Christians who hear me, all and each, to give yourselves as faithfully as possible, during these passing days, to the right kind of religious visiting. Remember, I pray you, my fellow Christians, that there can be no substitutes for the right kind of personal conversation concerning the Christian religion. All about us people are dying from the lack of personal attention. In sight of our church houses there are such people, and they cross our paths from day to day, and numbers of them, it may be, live under the very same roof with us. Oh, I beseech you, give yourselves these passing days to the right kind of religious visiting. If need be, I beseech you, do the unusual thing to help somebody who needs you religiously. Some years ago I was preaching in an outdoor meeting in the black lands belt, to multitudes of farmers, and one evening one of those honest, earnest, Christian farmers paused after the service was done to say to me: "If I am not here in the morning and to-morrow afternoon, then you may know that I have gone to my next-door neighbor, who is not a Christian, and have proffered to plow for him, that he may come. He is behind with his work. He has had sickness in his family, and if I go to ask him to come to the services, I know the excuses he will give; so I am 117 118 A QUEST FOR SOULS going in the morning to offer to plow for him, to do that neighborly act for him. I am going to urge it upon him, and if I am not present, you may know that he is present." And the next day I looked for my Christian farmer, and he was not present, and I preached that day to the man he had sent, for whom he plowed, that such man might come to the Savior, and when the service was done down the aisle came the second farmer, with his face covered with tears, to make his public confession of personal surrender to Christ. A simple thing it was for the first man to do, but wasn't the outcome glorious? A mother said to me : "If you miss me to-morrow, then you may know that* I am sending another little mother, who is not a Christian, for I shall proffer to stay at home and mind her baby, and insist that she come, and if you miss me, know that you have one woman there who needs to hear about Christ." And sure enough, at the close of that service down the aisle came the second little mother, and she said: "When that Christian mother proffered to stay to mind my baby, that I might go to God's house to hear about Christ, my heart went out, and I can no longer hold out against Christ." These are simple things, but see to what tremendous results they lead. If necessary, I pray you, do the unusual thing, the sacrificial thing-, to win somebody to Christ. Make it impossible, I pray you, my fellow Christians — make it im- possible for anybody around you to say : "They have their churches, and they have their preachers, and now and then they have their special meetings, but nobody really cares for my soul." Make that impossible. Some time ago a stranger came down the aisle in the church where I am glad to minister, to make his public confession of Christ as his Savior, and to take his place that Sunday morning in the church. He is the most widely traveled man that I have personally known with any intimacy. For some twenty years he has gone around the world writing articles and gathering important information for one of the fore- most journals of the East. Twelve different times he has been around the globe. He is a man who knows how to talk as well as write, and I said to him: "Mr. So-and-so, PRELIMINARY STATEMENT 119 won't you stand up and give your testimony about Christ to the people, without my asking you any questions?" And he gave a testimony that morning that we will never for- get. But there was one thing in it that probed our very hearts, and made us stand aghast, almost with horror, and it was this: He said to us that morning: "Though I have been around the world these twelve times in these twenty years, and have touched tens of thousands of lives at close range, in all realms and in all lands, only two people in all these twenty years have asked me if it was well with my soul!" Why the very thought is staggering! And when he had followed Christ that night in beautiful baptism, he said to me, as we came out of the baptismal waters: *T am going to my hotel now to write the most grateful word that I can write to those two men who thought enough of my soul to ask m.e if I was right with God." Oh, my fellow Christians, with an earnestness v/hlch God would have 3^ou feel, and with a faithfulness and with a humility and with a sanity, and Avith that blessed reasonableness that goes along with the religion of Christ, I pray you now, day by day, on the right hand and on the left, give yourselves like you ought, to the right kind of religious visiting. We will pause now for a moment and pray God to help us. THE OPENING PRAYER. We make our appeal to thee, O thou Friend Divine, thou Gracious Father I Forgive us, that, though we have been Christians, many of us, for many years, we have been timid, and worse than that, we have been recreant to duty with respect to this most vital matter of all, the matter of speaking the right word to people, concerning Jesus and His great salvation. We beseech thee that every Christian in this large throng this Friday evening may be personally dedicated from this moment for the days just before us, even as never before, to that highest, holiest business of all, the effort personal to point people in the heavenward way. Go thou with us, ro teach and help us in every effort, O thou Spirit Divine. Clothe us with wisdom and patience and let our work be such as Christ will honor, and whatever the result may be, give us to do our best and gladly leave the result with Christ. We pray for this goodly city, which by leaps and bounds is making its material expansion and progress. Let its spiritual progress be the city's crowning pros- f>erity. Lord, hear our prayer for every house in all this city. Hear our praver or the great army of laboring mtn and business men and professional men, who from early m.orn till dewy eve give themselves earnestly and diligently to the demands^ of the big battle of life. Hear our fervent prayer for^ those who rule and minister in the city's affairs. Clothe them with heavenly wisdom and grace that they may rule for the highest good of the people and for the glory of God. Hear our prayer for parents, charged with the solemn trust of rearing their chil- dren for present and eternal blessedness. Hear our prayer for every friend Christ has in this city, of every name. May the mercy of God and His grace be abun* dantly^ meted out to CTery such friend of God, and, oh, may we be better friend* for Him and better workers for Him with every passing hour. 120 A QUEST FOR SOULS Hear our prayer for this Friday evening's service. May our hearts be divinely opened by the good Spirit Divine to attend unto that wliich Christ would have us heed and hear. May the right word be said. Thou knowest, Lord, what such word should be. None of us know, but thou knowest. Guide us, that the right word shall be said, and said in the right temper, and wing it home, we pray thee, to every waiting heart. And may we do to-night with Christ's truth just what we ought to do, and what we will wish we had done when we stand in that day of days to give our personal account to Christ. And we pray it all in His all prevailing name. Amen! THE TRAGEDY OF NEGLECT. Text: "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" — Heb. 2:3. The Bible calls our attention always to the big ques- tions of life, to the immense questions, to the eternally important questions. For example: "If a man die, shall he live again?" Millions are asking that question afresh in this time of world war and world crisis. Or take this question: "Is thine heart right?" Or take this question: "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" Or take this question : "What is your life?" The Bible asks the big questions, the tran- scendently momentous questions. Let us take one of these big questions out of the Bible to-night for our text, a ques- tion intensely personal for us all and each: "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" There is one word in the text that points the reason why men and women are finally lost, and you have guessed that word, as I quoted the text, or you will guess it now, when I quote it again: "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" Now you know the word that points the reason why men and women are finally lost. In this Christian land of ours men and women are finally lost, not because they intend it. Do you suppose anybody really intends, deliberately intends, to be lost, deliberately in- tends to miss heaven, with all that it has and shall ever be? Do you suppose that any human being deliberately plans, definitely plans, to miss the upward way? Why, then, do they miss it? One little word in our text points the answer : "Neglect." "How shall we escape, if we neg- lect so great salvation?" The whole world is a battle-field covered over with the v/recks occasioned by neglect. You may behold such wrecks constantly in the world temporal all about you. THE TRAGEDY OF NEGLECT 121 How many a time is the sight vouchsafed unto us of young people, with prospect and promise, who in life's morning neglect proper habits, proper training, proper dis- cipline, and go out unprepared for the big battle of life. Oh, if in life's mtDrning, the time for preparation, the time for discipline and the forming of right habits, they would only study and give themselves to those habits that belong so properly and so vitally to youth, how different their life story and battle would be! Often when it is too late, the remorseful memory of neglect burns like some coal of fire! Or look into the realm of health. The kindly doctor is summoned some day to the loved one under our roof, and he makes his careful diagnosis, and his face is serious, and he makes the suggestion, tactfully but earnestly : "This case calls for a complete change, a change in climate. Con- ditions here are alarming. Make the change without de- lay." The skillful scientist advises, but we presume, and the suffering patient presumes. We hope against hope. We wonder if the doctor is not mistaken. And the weeks drag on, and the case suddenly plunges downward for the worse, and the doctor is summoned again, and again makes his careful diagnosis, and his face is now terribly be- clouded. Full-fledged tuberculosis holds the patient in its grasp! Oh, neglect, neglect, what mischiefs thou dost work in the realm of health! And now, when we pass the subject up to the higher realm, the supreme realm, the realm of religion, how trag- ically and how terribly true it is that neglect there, in that highest realm, gets in its most undoing work. Even we Christians must all along bewail ourselves that our neglect has been so serious. I daresay there is not a Christian lis- tening to me, certainly not one of any extended experi- ence, but whose heart is touched with a twinge of deepest sorrow as you give yourself for a little while to memory, to recollection, and have come trooping back to you the memories of duties neglected, of opportunities forfeited, of privileges that have been allowed to slip away unim- proved, which privileges are gone now and shall be re turnless forever. Even we Christians must all along* 122 A QUEST FOR SOULS wail ourselves that in this manner and that and the other we have so sadly neglected in the great matters of religion. We have neglected people. We have forgotten people. We have overlooked people. We have passed by people. We have given attention to the smaller things, the slighter things, the less consequential things; and the vast things, the supremely worthful things, have often gotten by us, and through neglect they have gone, and gone to come back no more. Have you ever had a religious census taken of this city? I daresay you have had such from time to time, even as I have seen such from time to time in my own city. Dur- ing the last one had in my city there came back into my hands some six thousand cards. Oh, what revelations were on those cards! Hundreds of names were on those cards of men and women who elsewhere had been mem.bers of the church, but who had turned away from their home back yonder in some other community, the city or the village or the countr}^ place ; who had come up to the city and had got caught in the currents and had drifted with the tide, and through neglect they had not positionized themselves with the church at all. Just through neglect they had gone with the tide and were far away from the church and religious habits. Here was one who was once a Sunday school worker, devoted back yonder, but now that a change of residence is made, he has drifted with the tide, and no deep religious habits hold him at all. Here v/as one who was an officer yonder in the church in an- other place, but he came to the city, and he was not known, and others did not specially take hold of him, and he sadly wandered, anr! ^*s religious habits were broken. Oh, the ■f-r- - ' ^.ome to many a man just in that way ! r if this Friday evening I am speaking ad women who in the other days walked great Master, who came up gladly and he house of God at the time appointed who followed the Christian habits de- ntiously; and yet you have come to langes have been marked from what re you lived, and your habits religious THE TRAGEDY OF NEGLECT 123 have been broken, and your duties religious have been neglected. Oh, I would lift up my voice, and I would send out to you the most brotherly pleading I can — change that course, and change it without delay! Take your place, I pray you, with God's people. Come back again, I pray you, to the church, v/hich since you have resided here you may have neglected. Take up again, I pray you, the habits that go along with the vital Christian life, and let those habits be again regnant in your life. See to it that in your own house and in your own life such ideals and prece- dents and standards are lifted up as shall give increasing gladness to your own heart, and as shall be a blessing to all about you. And if you Christian men and women who listen to me, who are positionized in the church with Christ's people, know of such people who are drifting with the tide, duty-neglecting Christians, with their church membership elsewhere, with their church letters in their trunks, with their memberships lapsed, oh, I pray you, give yourselves at that point, in the hours before you, to helping such men and women, who need your counsel and good cheer, and who need your re-enforcement. Every Chris- tian in this community, not positively identified with the people of God, every secret disciple of Jesus in this com- munity, or going his way with his light hidden under a bushel, makes it harder for Christ's people to do Christ's work in this city, and makes it more difficult for sinners about you to be saved. Oh, friend of Jesus, whoever and wherever you are, friend of Jesus, come now and cease your neglect, I pray you, and take your place positively; be positionized conscientiously and consistently, I pray you, with the people of God. But now I turn away from the appeal to duty-neglect- ing Christians to address my word to the one here v/ho is not a Christian at all. The tragedy of neglect in your case is a tragedy indeed appalling. How shall you escape, if you just neglect, if you simply neglect, if you merely neglect, so great salvation? Men do not have to blaspheme God to be finally lost. Men do not have to lift up their little fists clinched in the face of the holy and omnipotent Almighty, to be lost. Men have only to go on down the 124 A QUEST FOR SOULS tide, floating, drifting, neglecting, to be finally lost. Neg- lect is the tragedy of all tragedies in the deadly lujdoing of human souls. And now note, I pray you, what is involved in this matter of your neglect. Your salvation is involved. "How shall we escape," our text asks us, "if we neglect so great salvation?" Your salvation is involved. Your salvation! Oh, what can compare vnth that? Christ Jesus came down from heaven, and He comes yet, in the power of His gos- pel, to give us His great salvation. Christ comes to save us in our totality. He would save not only our souls, our spirits — Christ would save our lives. Christ would save our bodies. He would save our brains. He would save our influence. He would save our personality. He would save us completely, entirely, leaving nothing out. Christ came to save us from sin unto righteousness, from selfish- ness unto magnanimity and largeness and nobleness. Christ came to save us from littleness unto greatness. Christ came to save us from the small to the large. Christ came to save us from defeat to triumph. Christ came to save us from night unto day. Christ came to save us from hell unto heaven. Christ came to save us in our whole life, in our service, in our business, in our daily task, completely. Christ came thus to save us. Surely, His is a great sal- vation. Oh, my friend, getting to heaven is a very, very impor- tant matter, but Christ means a great deal more than that, by His great salvation.'^ Christ comes to fit you to live here and now, to fit you for your task, whatever your task is. Are you a toiler at this or that, a man of business, in the professional world — a man of leadership? Christ comes and proffers you His own grace and forgiveness and mercy and divine re-enforcement, that, whatever your sphere, your lot, your post, your task, life may be con- served and saved. Tell me, what is a human life for? What is that hand for? What is the eye for? What is human life for? Christ would save your life to all that is highest and truest and noblest and best. Christ comes to give a completed life. Christ does not come to crib and <:offin and confine you in some little, ignoble, superficial, THE TRAGEDY OF NEGLECT 125 unworthy life. Christ conies proffering to take out of your life not a solitary thing except that which poisons and maims and kills. The sanest thing on the face of this earth is to be a friend of Jesus Christ. He came to give His great salvation ; and no matter how much a man may rise, how high he may climb, how great may be his achieve- ments, man's life is vitiated and the true end of life is defeated and lost, if a man lives counter to the will of Christ Jesus, the one rightful Master of mankind. Napoleon came with his soldiers to cross the desert on one of his long marches, and in that early morning v/hen they started across the desert, the historian tells us that the hot sun came down on the white sands, and the light and heat reflected made the men pant for water, as they marched across that terrible desert. In their fierce thirst, they looked everywhere for water, but the wells were dry, and no water could be found. Then they looked out there a little distance ahead and saw a beautiful lake of water, right out in the desert before them, and they lifted up a shout of joy, and started in a run toward the water, but as they ran toward that lake, the lake ran. As they got nearer, the lake receded and got farther away. It was not a lake of water at all. It was a mirage of the desert, such as you and I have seen many a time in this great West. It was a cheat. It was a delusion. It was a snare. Oh, my fellow-man, traveling with me through time to an eter-^ nity endless, that picture of the mirage in the desert is the picture of human life at its best, without God. With- out God, life is defeated, and its true aim vitiated and missed and lost — without God. Awful expression is that in the Bible: "Having no hope, and without God in the world." -^ Jesus comes with His great salvation to save us from our past. Oh, that would be wonderful, wonderful, won- derful ! If some power could come into my life and take my life, with its chapters that I regret to think about, with its remorseful memories, with its evil hours, with its mistaken words and deeds, wonderful would be that power, to come into my life and say : "I will forgive it all, and I will blot out every evil thing in your past, every one. so that the 126 A QUEST FOR SOULS record shall be white like the snow." What a wonderful power that would be! Christ is that power. This is His promise: "I will blot out your sins, and put them as far from you as the East is from the West, oh, sinner, if you will come and honestly surrender to me." But that is not all. Christ saves us in our stressful, eventful, important present. Christ saves us and would save us in the big battle that we are fighting here and now, at the daily task, with the responsibilities thick and many that come to confront us. Christ is man's supreme need now.'*' More than he needs human support, more than he needs bread and meat, more than he needs good health, more than he needs fame, more than he needs money, a human being needs Christ to be the guide and re-enforce- ment of his daily earthly life. Christ offers to be that for those that will be His friends. Nor is that all. Christ comes to the one who will hon- estly be His friend and says to Him: ''You need not be afraid of what is coming next. You need not be afraid of the evil tidings that you shall hear. You need not be afraid of some black Friday in the future. You need not be afraid of that grim sarcasm of human life, which you shall face at the close, the name of which is Death. You need not be afraid of what is coming after death. You need not be afraid to face Christ at His judgment bar. You need not be afraid of what is coming during God's great beyond forever. You need not be afraid of anything at all, now or hereafter, if you will only be the friend of Christ. Oh, my brother men, isn't that a salvation worth having? Can you afrord for any consideration to leave it out, and pass it by, and do without it? Now I am coming, in view of all that is involved, to ask you who are neglecting your ow^n highest welfare, your soul's welfare, if you won't cease your neglect, and cease it from this hour? V/hat arguments shall I marshal to help you, to persuade you, to encourage you, if I may, to cease your neglect of your own highest v/elfare? What arguments shall I suaimon? Let me name three. There are m?ny to be named, but at this time let me briefly name three, with a passing THE TRAGEDY OF NEGLECT 12T word of amplification in each case. First of all, I am com- ing to say that you should give up your neglect of your own salvation because such neglect is unreasonable. Now, when the preacher comes and make his appeal to reason, what a great appeal it is! That is Christ's first appeal to the children of men. He makes the appeal to reason. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord." Come now, oh, men and women, and let us reason together. Sharpen your wits now and enter into a controvers}^ with God. Come now and let us reason together. So, then, the first appeal to you to cease your neglect is that your neg- lect of your spiritual welfare is utterly unreasonable. When the preacher makes the appeal to reason, every sentient, reasonable man ought to open wide the avenue to his mind and say: "I will listen to that appeal." Your neglect of your soul is unreasonable. Can it be reasonable for a human being to neglect God, who made him? Can that be reasonable? Can it be reasonable for me, the creature of a day, with my life utterly contingent on the will of God — can it be reasonable for me to turn my back and turn my heart away from God? Can that be reasonable? Do I not owe to my Maker certain inescapable obligations, and can it be reasonable for me to ignore them and forget them? And more, can it be reasonable for me, a creature who must face the future, to ignore that future, and fail to make provision for that inescapable future — can that be reason- able? Why, that little squirrel there in the autumn time would teach us. You can see it gathering the nuts and gathering the corn, and storing them away in the hollow tree, so that it shall have provision when the winter day comes and the day of need shall call. The little squirrel teaches us. And the little ant, which we trample all un- knowingly beneath our feet, if we would pause and look carefully, we should see it carrying its provisions out there to a common storehouse, that it may have supplies when the day of need and rigorous demand shall call for supplies. And shall a creature made in the image of G