Tke Groundwork of Soul Winning Rev. Charles F. Reitzel, Author and Teacher, Altoona, Pa. Reminds of the Need of a Teaching Ministry H HE m inistry of soul-saying or evangelism must never be di vorced from teaching. Both are p arts of God’s program
God correctly. Is th ere not something in this scene of th e physical universe th a t finds a correspondence in the sp iritu al world? We th ink so. K indly tu rn w ith us to th e tw elfth or last chapter of the Book of Daniel and see what is said th ere in th e th ird verse. And note the use of the word firma m ent in th a t verse, as well also as th a t of the word stars, the very two things w ith which we were confronted in th e second and fou rth days respectively of the first chapter of Genesis. But sup pose th a t you trace th e word “wise” as found in Daniel 12:3 to th e m argin and see what it is there. It is “teacher,” is it not? Now let us read it. “They th a t be wise (or teachers) shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they th a t tu rn many to righteousness (or do th e work of soul-saving) as th e stars for ever and ever.” Now what have we? Simply th is: Teaching linked up w ith th e firmament, and soul-saving m inistry associated w ith th e sta rs— th e /firm am e n t furnishing th e back ground or groundwork for the stars. And note the several num erals— the number two (or second day) and the number four (or th e fou rth day) — which have been brought into bold re lief in th a t which we have quoted from th e first chapter of Genesis. The num ber two stands for testim ony and th e number four for a universal or world wide field for th a t testimony,— tak ing in th e four points of th e compass. “They shall come from the east and from the west, and from th e no rth and from th e south.”. There is a portion of Scripture in the New Testam ent th a t is very illum inative and very closely akin to the m atter under consideration in the fou rth chapter of Ephesians. “And
for th e church. The two stand or fall together. To attem p t to evangelize a t th e expense of teaching would mean th e building up of a work th a t would be very superficial indeed. The con verts would very likely backslide in summer and would need to be renewed in th e w inter. They would altern ate w ith th e seasons between sp iritu al de clension and covenant renewal. The resu lt would be a namby-pamby, wishy- washy something not w orthy th e name of Christianity. On the other hand, if th e re is all teaching and little or no evangelism, it will not be long un til the church is filled w ith sp iritual dyspep tics or a super-abundance of cases of acute or chronic indigestion. In either case, the resu lt would be disastrous to th e best sp iritual in terests of the church. But let us come a little closer to our subject. And in order to do so, let us go to th e first chapter of the Book of Genesis. It is here th a t we find the seed plot, the very roots or germs of all lines of Bible tru th . Note w hat the Lord did on th e second day (Gen. 1: 6-8). He made th e firm ament and called th e firmament heaven. But tu rn also, if you will, to verses 14 to 19 of th a t chapter of Genesis and note the Lord’s doings on the fo u rth day. Here you have th e Lord placing th e lights in th e firmament. W hat we w ant you to see is th a t the firm ament served as a background or groundwork for the stars, etc. But you say, W hat has all this to do w ith soul-saving work? Very much indeed, if we understand th e Word of
THE SCHOLARSHIP (See Inset)
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