707
November 1927
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
The Scripture says:, “He that goeth forth and, weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with re joicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” God will help you and give you a tender compassion such as Jesus had for the lost, if you will definitely seek Him for that tender love and compassion. Then as you go witnessing, God will give you sometimes tears; and when God gives tears, if you will trust in God and not get trusting in the tears or anything of self, He will give you fruit for your labors. L et P astors S tress T h is If a pastor will patiently bring this truth that God calls everyone to be a soul-winner, before the minds of the saints, and urge them to the consecration of all their powersjf|to this blessed work of God, presenting their bodies living sacrifices, which is their reasonable service, he can soon have a group who will go forth as personal workers seeking the lost. By keeping right on with this teaching and with these exhortations and these calls to consecration to soul-winning efforts, he can add from week to week to the soul-winning group, until the church will be actually on fire for the salvation of the lost and a mighty revival will be on. Let a list be made of the unsaved in the church terri tory, with their church preference, if any. This could be done by a considerable number of the Christians spending a Sunday afternoon in calling on all the people in the territory. Let the effort be to see everyone in each house personally, and let him answer for himself whether he is living a real Christian life. Having this complete list of the unsaved or un churched, the leader can separate out the cards of those who have no church preference or whose preference is for the church making the campaign. These, then, are the prospects, and they are to be intensively worked on, with much prayer and love. The details of the campaign would be worked out differently by different pastors, but if it is kept in mind that everyone must be brought to Christ if possible, an astonishing amount of good will result. m . Th is From a Secular Paper— The National Republic for August, in an arresting editorial, “Whither Religion?” says: “For a clergyman to remain within the membership and even the ministry of a church whose doctrines he re pudiates, is evidence of a lack of stamina which must fall beneath the contempt of all normal-minded men and women. To be willing to take advantage of the oppor tunity for a hearing afforded by such profession and at the same time to use it for the purpose of subverting or destroying the institution to which he ostensibly yields allegiance, is a violation of the tenets of common honesty. . . . . It is about time for the rank and file of the churches of this country to rise up and demand that their disloyalists be required to do what honorable men need not be asked to do—get out under their own flag and fight from the side of the breastworks on which they belong, rather than to seek betrayal of the camp from within. Unless such rebellion is raised, vast injury is sure to be done to the cause of religion within the next few years.” Keep It Out of Your Heart Money never stays with me: it would burn me if it did. I throw it out of my hands as soon as possible, lest it should find a way into my heart .—John Wesley.
would throw you off when you tried to enter the pearly gates. Don’t you remember how He said to those pro fessors who wanted to come in, “Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity” ? Practical holiness is, of course, essential to successful soul-winning ; but then it is essential to being saved from hell too, so that is no argument against your going forth as a soul-winner. If you are not fit to go forth, in Jésus’ name I plead with you, get fit, and do it now and quickly. Another thing to be settled beforehand is that you cannot do anything. That you are smart, or wise, or in fluential is wholly beside the question. God is the only one who can break hearts and save souls? He will use you if you will be humble enough and keep going, and He can use you ,if you are of no reputation and have no ex perience and no education. In fact, such folks are more often used of God to get men saved than are the wise and grand, for it is easier for them to be sufficiently humble and fully enough dependent upon God. This also answers the objection made by some honest souls who say, “I would like to be a soul-winner, but I do not know how, and I fear I might do harm.” No one else knew how till he started, and then God took His humble child who was out on love’s mission to the lost, and just crowned his efforts with success. A nyone C an B ear W itness Another word of comfort to. the most lowly and inex perienced one who would like to save souls is that God expects you simply to witness. He has not called you to make and deliver great sermons. A witness tells what he knows. You can tell what you know about Jesus. You need not try to tell what someone says about Him, but just what you know about Him yourself. You know He gives you joy and peace instead of sadness and vexation as be fore; that He has given you power to resist temptations to sin which before you could not resist ; that He has taken away that terrible temper you had, or that overpowering lust, or that mighty love for the praise of men, or the desire to cut your hair and be like the world, or just what ever it is. You know what He does for you, and all you are called to do is to tell this to the sinner. You pray, and love him, and speak softly to the sinner, and God will do the part you cannot do. That brings me to another thing to think of before hand. Cover the sinner you are thinking of calling o n - bathe him in prayer. Can you not meditate on his sad state and the awfulness of his being a rebel against God, and under eternal condemnation, and of how he is reject ing the loving mercies of God, until, as you pray, your tears will flow down, out of your pity for him? Pray that God will enable you to witness the right thing to touch his heart, and pray that God will prepare him to receive your message ; and when you have prayed, arise and go in search o f him. When you find him, do not beat around the bush and try to lead up to the subject gradually, but tell him at once that you would like to see him alone. And when you are alone, tell him immediately that you are greatly interested in his soul and that you want to talk to him of what a wonderftil Savior you have. Tell him what Jesus is to you and what He does for you, and beg him to forsake his sjns and give his heart to -God. As you talk, pray in your heart all the time, and confidently expect God to break the hard heart of the sinner before you. You will be astonished, if you are new at such work, how fre quently. God will soften men with the hardest hearts when you talk to them that way.
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