The Art of Soul-Winning Part 5

How the great heart of the Savior was burdened for the lost! See him standing on Olivet and weeping as he said: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"

Where there is no real soul-burden for sinners, there will be no revival. The early Church travailed in pain for the souls of dying men.

One preacher said, "As I entered the pulpit, I could scarcely stand erect because of my concern for the people and solicitude for souls;"

and another said, "I spent a whole night in prayer, and what I pa.s.sed through was inexpressible." When we get a glimpse of the worth of a soul, and then of the death of a soul, and begin to realize that we stand between lost men and heaven or h.e.l.l, then we shall have real concern, and the Lord will hear our prayer of intercession.

When Mr. Moody first went to London he preached in a Congregational Church, Sunday morning. There was no particular stir. That evening he spoke to a large audience of men in the same place, and scores expressed a desire to become Christians. He went to Dublin next day, but was recalled by a telegram saying that a great revival had broken out. And Mr. Moody accounts for this wonderful work of grace which followed by telling that, on that Sunday morning, a lady went home and told her invalid sister that Mr. Moody from America had preached. "I know what that means," said the invalid. "We are going to have a great revival. I have been praying for months that the Lord would send him here." She would not eat any dinner, but spent the day in fasting and prayer. The revival began in that invalid's room.

A gentleman waked his wife up at three o'clock in the morning to have her join him in prayer in behalf of a neighboring family who were unsaved; and at daybreak went to his neighbor's house to entreat them to yield to Christ.

When such concern for the perishing is manifested by the Church, there is sure to be a gracious ingathering.

STUDY XXI.

A PERSONAL PENTECOST.

Memory Verse: "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."--(Acts i, 8.)

Scripture for Meditation: Acts ii, 1-4; xix, 1-6.

But, above all, the soul-winner must have _a personal Pentecost_. Christ does not send us alone to seek the lost. In the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of St. John's Gospel, he definitely promises the Comforter. And again, on the day of his ascension, he bids his disciples tarry at Jerusalem until the Holy Ghost is come. Then as they waited, "with one accord in one place," "a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind filled all the house where they were sitting, ... and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." Since that day the one supreme qualification for Christ's witnesses is _the enduement with the Holy Ghost_. He will give a better knowledge of the Scriptures; he will re-enforce tact and earnestness and perseverance; he will give tenderness of heart and the burden for souls.

What a marvelous change the coming of the Spirit wrought in those waiting disciples! They had forsaken him; they had doubted his word; Peter had denied him. But now they all became flaming evangels, and "spake the word of G.o.d with boldness."

A personal Pentecost will help the soul-winner to overcome timidity, give utterance and a holy boldness, and make effective the words he speaks. It is the supreme need of the Church to-day. G.o.d wants men and women in every vocation of life who are Spirit-filled; and who, by diligent study of the Word of G.o.d, by prayer, and by Christian testimony, live a Spirit-filled life that is perennial.

The personal worker will succeed only when endued and empowered with the Holy Ghost. Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman tells of a young Irishman who was a member of his Church, and who had not had the educational advantages many young people have. Dr. Chapman says:

"With a heart burdened for the men of the city, I called together a few of the men of the Church, and laying before them the plan I had in mind, told them first of all that we could do nothing without the 'infilling of the Holy Ghost.'

"When this had been explained, I noticed this man leave the room. He did not return while the meeting was in session. When I sought him I found him in one of the lower rooms of the church, literally on his face before G.o.d. He was in prayer.

"I shall never forget his pet.i.tion: 'O G.o.d, I plead with thee for this blessing!' then, as if G.o.d were showing him what was in the way, he said, 'My Father, I will give up every known sin, only I plead with thee for power;' and then, as if his individual sins were pa.s.sing before him, he said again and again, 'I will give them up; I will give them up.'

Then, without any emotion, he rose from his knees, turned his face heavenward, and simply said, 'And now I claim the blessing.'

"For the first time he became sensible of my presence, and with a shining countenance he reached out his hands to clasp mine. You could feel the very presence of the Spirit as he said, 'I have received him; I have received him!' And I believe he had, for in the next few months he led more than sixty men into the kingdom of G.o.d. His whole life had been transformed."

THE SOUL-WINNER'S METHODS.

"THAT I MAY, BY ALL MEANS, SAVE SOME."

STUDY XXII.

DIRECT APPROACH.

Memory Verse: "Jesus ... saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee."--(Mark v, 19.)

Scripture for Meditation: John iv, 1-42.

John Va.s.sar, than whom there has been no more successful soul-winner for a hundred years, accomplished his work through personal conversation, and declared that the best method of dealing with souls is to strike home at once with the most direct and searching question possible.

Without a word of introduction he would say, "Have you experienced that great change called the new birth?" That question could not be easily evaded.

Study the methods of Christ in dealing with such as Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, and the rich young man. How eagerly he used every opportunity! How his questions search the life! Without any apology, how he thrusts home warning and entreaty!

How easily we may lose opportunity to speak directly to men of their danger! While the great Dr. Chalmers was a guest at the home of his friend, a Highland country gentleman, his friend died suddenly. Dr.

Chalmers had never spoken to him about his soul. He was much distressed, and said, "If I had only known that he was going to be taken from earth so soon, how earnestly I would have pleaded with him about his soul!"

Dr. J.E. Carson, of New York City, said to his congregation one Sunday morning, that every saved man was either a channel through which the Spirit of G.o.d was reaching the unsaved, or a barrier preventing the Spirit doing his work. One of the trustees of the Church said to himself on the way home, "Am I a channel, or a barrier?" That night he could not sleep, and cried out, "O Lord, make me a channel!" Almost the first thought that came was that there were some men in his employ to whom he had never spoken a word about Jesus Christ. He confessed his fault, and told the Lord that if he would make him a channel he would speak to these men. The first man who entered his office the next morning was his confidential clerk, who had been with him eighteen years. The merchant said, "Edward, haven't I been a good employer to you?" "Yes, sir." "Have not I treated you well?" "Yes, sir." "Why, sir, what have I done," said the clerk, "that you are going to discharge me?" "Edward, I am on my way to heaven, and I want you to go with me." Tears came into the eyes of both men as Edward took the merchant's extended hand and said, "I will, sir." Dr. Carson afterwards received eleven men into his Church because this trustee had consented to be a channel for the Holy Spirit.

Dr. Manley S. Hard talked with a physician about his soul, and, two days after, the doctor entered the revival-meeting just before the benediction, walked straight to the altar, and begged the people to wait and pray for him, saying:

"I know it is late and you are all tired, but I want you to stay a little while and pray for me. This has been an awfully hard day. I have ridden fifty miles and visited more than twenty patients, but I am the sickest man of them all. Two sermons have been preached to me; a faithful one yesterday by my pastor; the other this morning when I had to tell a woman she had better get ready to die, for she could not live.

As I drove away I said to myself, 'You have warned another, but you are not ready yourself.'"

To go to a man and speak to him directly and plainly about his responsibility to G.o.d, and warn him to flee from "the wrath to come,"

may take more courage than to preach to a thousand; but it pays, and it must be done if the dying mult.i.tudes are ever saved.

STUDY XXIII.

CORRESPONDENCE.

Memory Verse: "Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand."--(Gal. vi, 11.)

Scripture for Meditation: Philemon.

What a beautiful letter is that which Paul wrote to Philemon! How it breathes affection, and sympathy, and tender entreaty! And it was written _by his own hand_. Study this letter, and have your heart saturated with its spirit. You will then know how to write "words that touch" to your unsaved friends.

There are special occasions [Transcriber's note: original reads 'ocasions'], such as the time of bereavement, of sickness, of trial, or of success, when this method may be employed to advantage. Many a soul has been won for Christ, and many a lonely life cheered by a sympathetic, wisely-worded letter, winged by prayer.

Sitting in a public park, a young man was seen poring over a letter while the tears rained down his face, and he almost sobbed aloud. "It is from my mother," he said. "She wrote it herself, and though I ran away from home and broke her heart, yet she says that she still loves me, and is praying for me, and wants me to come home."

Dr. T.L. Cuyler went to make his first call on a rich merchant. It was a cold winter evening, and as the door was opened when the minister was leaving, a cold, piercing gale swept in. Dr. Cuyler said, "What an awful night for the poor!" The merchant went back and brought a roll of bank-bills, saying, "Give these to the poorest people you know." Some days after, Dr. Cuyler wrote him, telling him how his bounty had relieved many poor, and then added, "How is it that a man so kind to his fellow-creatures has always been so unkind to his Savior as to refuse him his heart?" That sentence touched him. He sent for the minister to talk to him, was converted, and told Dr. Cuyler that he was the first person in twenty years who had spoken to him about his soul.

Do not allow letter-writing to excuse you from direct personal work; but watch for opportunity to write, as well as speak, that "by all means you may save some."