months he
led more than sixty men into the kingdom of God. His whole life had been
transformed."
THE SOUL-WINNER'S METHODS.
"THAT I MAY, BY ALL MEANS, SAVE SOME."
STUDY XXII.
DIRECT APPROACH.
Memory Verse: "Jesus ... saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and
tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee."--(Mark v,
19.)
Scripture for Meditation: John iv, 1-42.
John Vassar, than whom there has been no more successful soul-winner for
a hundred years, accomplished his work through personal conversation,
and declared that the best method of dealing with souls is to strike
home at once with the most direct and searching question possible.
Without a word of introduction he would say, "Have you experienced that
great change called the new birth?" That question could not be easily
evaded.
Study the methods of Christ in dealing with such as Nicodemus, the
Samaritan woman, and the rich young man. How eagerly he used every
opportunity! How his questions search the life! Without any apology,
how he thrusts home warning and entreaty!
How easily we may lose opportunity to speak directly to men of their
danger! While the great Dr. Chalmers was a guest at the home of his
friend, a Highland country gentleman, his friend died suddenly. Dr.
Chalmers had never spoken to him about his soul. He was much distressed,
and said, "If I had only known that he was going to be taken from earth
so soon, how earnestly I would have pleaded with him about his soul!"
Dr. J.E. Carson, of New York City, said to his congregation one Sunday
morning, that every saved man was either a channel through which the
Spirit of God was reaching the unsaved, or a barrier preventing the
Spirit doing his work. One of the trustees of the Church said to himself
on the way home, "Am I a channel, or a barrier?" That night he could not
sleep, and cried out, "O Lord, make me a channel!" Almost the first
thought that came was that there were some men in his employ to whom he
had never spoken a word about Jesus Christ. He confessed his fault, and
told the Lord that if he would make him a channel he would speak to
these men. The first man who entered his office the next morning was his
confidential clerk, who had been with him eighteen years. The merchant
said, "Edward, haven't I been a good employer to you?" "Yes, sir." "Have
not I treated you well?" "Yes, sir." "Why, sir, what have I done," said
the clerk, "that you are
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