A Warning to aWatering Church Seven Great Promises for the Bible Student and Soul Winner. Baccalaureate Sermon, June 12, 1921
By DR. R. A . TORREY
tia n home. B u t all of you, by the good hand of God upon you, are to be soul- w inners. So I can th ink of no more appropriate subject for th is most joyous and a t th e same tim e most solemn, oc casion th an th a t which X have an- nounted, “The Seven G reat Prom ises of God for th e Bible S tudent and Soul W inner.” I. Psalm 1:1-3. The first G reat Prom ise is one upon which I preached th re e weeks ago th is morning, P s al m 1 :1 -8 . “Blessed is -the m an th a t w alketh n o t in th e counsel of th e ungodly, n o r stand eth in th e way of sinners, no r sitte th in th e seat of th e scornful. B u t h is deligh t is in th e law of th e L ord; an d in his law doth he m ed itate day and n igh t. And he shall be lik e a tre e p lan ted by th e rivers of w ater, th a t b ring eth fo rth h is fru it in h is season; h is le af also shall no t w ith er; and w hatsoever h e doeth shall prosper.” Please look a t th a t promise steadily and w ith open eyes and clear eyes un til you take in its wonderful meaning, “Blessed is th e man th a t walk eth no t in the counsel of th e ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in th e seat of th é scornful. But his delight is in the ïaw of th e Lord; and in his law doth he m editate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by th e rivers of w ater, th a t bringeth fo rth his fru it in his season; his leaf also shall not w ither; and w h at soever h e doeth shall prosper.” God here prom ises to th e Bible studen t and th e would-be soul-winner, th a t if he meets one of th e fundam ental con ditions of profitable Bible study, thorough-going separation from th e world, not walking in th e counsel of the ungodly, nor standing in th e way of sinners, nor sitting in th e seat of the scornful, and then m editates in God’s own Law, th e revealed will of God, as found in th is Book, which is demon strab ly the Word of God” (Mk. 7 :13 ; 1 Thess. 2 :1 3 ), m editates in it day and night, then he shall be a fru itfu l tree, a constantly, perpetually fru itfu l tree, a well-watered tree; w atered by the
HAVE tu rn ed over th e m atter Jin my m ind for some weeks as [to w hat subject I should speak Iupon this morning to the ‘G raduating Class. I though t it was p retty well, settled in my mind th a t I should speak on 2 Tim. 4:5, “Make fu ll proof of thy m inistry.” But not many days ago I was so stirred by reading a book en titled “Modern Religious Liber alism ” th a t I was strongly disposed to speak on “W hat to do w ith th e Bible,” and had th e sermon outlined in my mind. But when I w ent to God in definite pfayer about it la st Monday afternoon, He gave me th e subject, “The Seven G reat P rom ises of God for th e Bible S tuden t and Soul W inner.” F o r two years you have been diligently studying, th e Bible under the direction and encouragment of some of th e best known studen ts and teachers of the Bible in th e world, and you have been studying it, no t merely th a t you m ight get as complete an in tellectu al m astery of it as possible, b u t th a t you m ight find equipment for th e most glorious work in th e world, th a t of Soul Win ning. But you certainly are no t foolish enough to th in k th a t your studies are now a t an end. Only a hopeless fool could fancy for a moment th a t two years of study anywhere, or under any teachers th a t ever lived, could exhaust th is Book in which are hidden th e in finite and inexhaustible treasu res of th e wisdom and knowledge of God. Your Bible -studies are ju st begun. Bible study is to be your life-long employ ment, and you are going out to wear yourselves out in th e g reat work for which you have been preparing, Soul w inning. You are not all to be foreign m issionaries, or m inisters of th e Gospel a t home, b u t you are to be soul-winners all your days; some in th e foreign field; some in large churches, some in small churches, and some in obscure and neg lected unchurched fields a t home; and some Of you in th e most hallowed of all fields of Soul-winning, upon which the Bible lays so much em phasis,'th e Chris-
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