April 1925
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
164
P ra c t ic a l M e th o d s o f Pe rsona 1 W ork
F o r ^Defenders of th e F a ith ” T. C. H orton . am praying th a t God will make me a soul-w inner ju st for His glory. Am sending on a separate sheet some sub scriptions for The K ing’s Business and orders for more literatu re and also enrollment, blanks for Defenders of the F aith . P ray w ith me th a t God will use me in sta rtin g a revival in this city.” .. We know th a t all our “Defenders ’ will be glad to unite in prayer for th is dear woman. She has certainly proved th a t she is “ dead in earn est” and is doing real business for the King. We have before us a le tte r from a Sunday School teacher and another from a High School girl, both of which give intensely in teresting experiences in soul-winning work, bu t because of lack of space we will save them for the May issue. But— if you have not already enrolled— tu rn to Page 192 now, clip th e coupon, sign it and send it in, th a t you may begin as soon as possible to follow the example of the dentist quoted above, “ use th e sword” and share in th e joy th a t stirs all Heaven when a soul confesses Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord (Luke 15: 10 ) . LESSON TEN A rem inder to th e P ersonal W orker: Don’t forget th a t you m ust live a clean life. Yield each day to th e leading of th e indwelling Holy Spirit. P ray for guidance. Be on th e a le rt for souls. In our last lesson we studied the methods of dealing w ith “The Indif feren t.” This month we will consider those who are anxious concerning th eir so.ui’s salvation. (1 ) There are many people who would like to be Christians but no one has ever approached them on the sub ject. Over and over again men and women have testified th a t years have passed w ithout any one speaking to them about Christ and the Christian life. Many of these do not know what is th e essential thing for one to do in order to become a Christian. But few Christians know how to deal w ith the unsaved, and fewer still are conscious of any obligation to care for souls. As a consequence, th ere are ■multitud es ready for the reaper, b u t th e re are few reapers ready w ith th e sickle. (2) There aré some things you should not tell th e anxious inquirer to dp. Do not tell him to “ rep en t,” because th e Scripture word “rep en t” has many meanings. The New Testa m ent word means “ another m ind” of a “ change of m ind,” and if one is anx ious you w ant to elim inate everything from his m ind bu t th e one thing necessary. If one is occupied w ith doubt as to whether he has repented enough or is sorry enough for his sins, his though ts will be upon himself ra th e r th an upon his Saviour. ( 3 ) , Do not tell such an one to pray, because access to God is through th e m erits and in the name of the Lord Jesus, and one m ust accept Jesus Christ-as Saviour and Lord before he
can use His name. “No man Cometh unto tlie F ath e r, bu t by me” (John 14 :6 ). In presenting the Gospel it is essen tia l th a t the w orker understand th o r oughly the grace of God. God loves men and has manifested th a t love by the g ift of His Son. (John 3 :1 6 ,1 7 ). Have the inqu irer read these well known verses and ask:,. “W hat is it th a t God has given?” Ask why He gave His Son and to whom did He give Him. Emphasize th é word “whoso ever.” Ask, “W hat m ust one do w ith an offered g ift? ” “W hat did God desire to save us from in the g ift of His Son?” “W hat is included in His g ift? ” Show th a t eternal life includes the forgiveness of sin and th é im partation of the life of God. T hat when one has accepted Jesus Christ, God’s Son, he is born from above and has th e life of God (Col. 1 :14 ; John 1 7 :3 ), Read Isa. 53:6 and show w/hat God’s Son h a d .to suffer in order th a t He m ight become God’s love gift to men. Ask the inquirer to repeat after you: “He was bruised for my tra n s gression; He was bruised for my iniq u ity ,” etc. The simple repetition in th is m anner will help him greatly to apply th e statem én t to him self (1 Pet. 2 :2 4 ). “W h o h is o w n s e l f h a r e o u r si n o w n b o d y o n th e t re e, t h a t we, d e a d t o s in s, sh ou ld li v e unto ri ne ss : b y who se st ri pe s y e were Make the picture as graphic as you can. L e t the inquirer see it. Hold it before him. (4) Use John 1:12 next, reading “ children of God” iii place of “ sons of God,” for so it should be: “ B u t a s ma n y a s rece ived h im , g a v e h e po w er (o r au th or it y) t o th e sons (o r ch ildren ) o f G o d , th em t h a t be lieve o n h is n a m e .” When one receives th is gift of eter nal life, he- is born, by faith, into the fam ily of God and becomes His child; he receives Divine life and power and is able by th a t power to live the new life. This tak es place in a logical manner. As soon as one accepts Christ the Holy Spirit enters the body of the believer and makes it His dwelling place (1 Cor. 3:16; 6 :1 9 ). V (5) Now press the m atter home and ask th e inqu irer if he is w illing to receive the gift of God’s Spn and become a child of God, and if so, to confess him publicly, quoting to him Rom. 10:-9-ll. Emphasize th e neces sity of a full and fran k confession of Jesus as Saviour and Lord. The incident of th e conversion of th e Philippian jailer is very ap t (Acts 16:25-40). The conditions produced by the m iraculous freeing of P au l and Silas' and th e shaking of th e ja il awak ened conviction. The ja ile r was- anx ious; his question manifested it: “Wlfat must I do to be saved?” P au l’s reply was equally simple. He did not tell the jailer to “ pray.”' He did not tell him to “hold on.” He did not tell him to “w a it;” he told him to “ believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou sh alt be saved,” and th e jailer, in simple faith, believed and was saved.
L etters of encouragem ent from “Defenders of the F a ith ” come to us- from many different sections of the country, and from people in all walks of life. Men and women, young and old, are seeking to win souls to Christ and to pass on the Word of God to others. Let no “Defender” sh irk this responsibility laid upon them by reason of th e ir own acceptance of Christ, bu t let each in th e way the Holy Spirit leads, bu t all recognizing th eir individual responsibility, seek and save the lost (Luke 1 9 :1 0 ): We are His followers. He came to seek and to save sinners. Let us fol low His example. A California dentist, w riting us recently, sent in the little “Defender of the F a ith ” enrollm ent blank and said: “ 1 have intended enrolling for a long time, hut after talk ing w ith you th e other evening decided not to delay any longer, although I have been w ith you all th e time. I use ‘th e sword’ at every opportunity and have had sev eral people make a profession of faith in my office. One young man who came in recently said, he had been in dulging in some ‘bootleg gin’ which made him ill. I presented th e claims of Christ and he seemed interested. I gave him one of the red Gospels of John. The next tim e he came back he sdid ^e' iiad been thinking more about it dnd reading the Gospel. The next tim e he accepted Christ. He is th e first man in my experience of doing personal work who immediately went to work. He is talk ing to the boys where he works and seeking more ..light, studying the Word and growing rapidly. His thoughts and efforts are reaching out to others who are lost.” Ju st try to estim ate the possible value of th is one soul already reach ing out for others. It'm ay be th a t hun dreds and thousands may be brought into the kingdom through his te sti mony and the -testimony of those reached thereby, for, remember, the “ seed is th e W ord” and will bring fo rth a harvest in ever increasing ratio. A housewife, w riting from Missouri, tells of the use she has made of the “Ammunition” sent her. She says: - “Received your kind and welcome le tte r and th e literatu re . Had a won derful tim e reading it. Did not keep th e Gospel of John long for I was called to see a sick woman who had been in bed for a long time. 1 read Romans 3:23 to her and then read to h er from th e Gospel. She was saved and the Lord has touched her. Now she is sitting up and h er son, fifteen years old, has also been saved. She is a widow. How 1 praise God for His marvelous works! When X called today the son was by h er bed praying. He is reading' the GoSpei to her and all th e other literatu re I have given them. “ I find the Gospel of John so help ful in personal work. Please pray for me th a t X will be 2 ■Timothy 2:25. I
“ For th e S o n o f m a n i s c o m e to se ek a n d to sa ve t ha t wh ich w a s lo st . ” '
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