The Art of Soul-WinningMahood, J. W. (John Wilmot)
Religion
The Art of Soul-Winning
Mahood, J. W. (John Wilmot)
Evangelistic work
The testimony of Charles H. Spurgeon should have weight here. He said:
"If a man is to be a soul-winner, there must be in him intensity of
emotion as well as sincerity of heart. You may repeat the most
affectionate exhortations in such a half-hearted manner that no one will
be moved either by love or fear. I believe that for soul-winning there
is more in this matter of earnestness than in almost anything else."
When we become as much in earnest to rescue our friends and dear ones
from eternal death as we are to save them from physical suffering and
death, then we shall see the rapid spread of the kingdom of Christ. A
man falls overboard from the deck of a vessel, and his wife screams:
"Stop the boat! My God! My husband is drowning!" But no one criticises
the woman for her passionate outcry, or bids her keep still. It was so
natural for her to cry out for help. And when the Church of Jesus Christ
becomes thoroughly awake to the worth of a soul and the awful danger to
which all out of Christ are exposed, it will be the most natural thing
in the world for them to show an undying earnestness in seeking the
lost. Then propriety, and reticence, and restraint, and rules of
rhetoric will be thrown to the winds, and a divine passion will possess
the life. The world may sneer at it as fanaticism, but it is the
fanaticism of Pentecost. When the crowd saw the intensity of emotion
shown by the newly-anointed disciples, they exclaimed, "These men are
full of new wine." Here was shown an enthusiasm that leaps over all
difficulties and rises above every discouragement--the enthusiasm of
Pentecost; and every soul-winner must have it. Then, like Paul, wishing
himself accursed that Israel might be saved, or like John Welch, wrapped
in his plaid, kneeling in the snow, unable to sleep, and praying
mightily for the souls of men, this holy earnestness will not let us
rest until we see the salvation of the lost.
It will tell in look, and tone, and manner. It may lead us to do things
that may shock the sense of propriety of the dead, formal Church member,
such as being obedient to the Master's command, "Go ye out into the
highways and hedges, and compel them to come in." Jeremiah preached
repentance in the streets; and the early Church preached everywhere, on
the streets, by the river's bank, in the market-places, and in prisons.
John Livingstone stood on a tombstone, and preached with such power in
the midst of a falling rain that multitudes were born in a day. So did
John Wesley. O that the great Church of Jesus Christ might now have the
enthusiasm of Pentecost!
STUDY XVIII.
PERSEVERANCE.
Memory Verse: "Ye that are the Lord's remembrancers, take no
rest."--(Isa. lxii, 6, R.V.)
Scripture for Meditation: Luke xv, 1-10.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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