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HOW TO BRING MEN TO CHRIST
BY
R. A. TORREY
_Superintendent Chicago Bible Institute_
CHICAGO:
THE BIBLE INSTITUTE COLPORTAGE ASSOCIATION
250 LA SALLE AVE.
Eastern Depot: East Northfield, Mass.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_JUST PUBLISHED. By the same Author._
=Vest Pocket Companion for Christian Workers.=
The best texts for personal work. Classified for practical use,
printed in full, and arranged for ready reference.
From Mr. Torrey’s preface:
“There is medicine in the Bible for every sin–sick soul, but
every soul does not need the same medicine. This book attempts
to arrange the remedies according to the maladies.”
120 pages, bound in Russia leather in vest pocket size, price 25
cents.
_Fleming H. Revell Company, Publishers_,
NEW YORK. CHICAGO. TORONTO.
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1893
BY FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington D. C.
_By the same Author._
=Ten Reasons Why I Believe the Bible is the Word =.15=
of God. 16mo., paper=
“Masterful.”―_Indiana Baptist._
“Of sterling excellence.”―_Christian at Work._
“Thoughtful, helpful and timely.”―_Golden Rule._
“It gives in clear and comprehensive style a cogent argument for
the complete inspiration and absolute authority of the Bible.
Because of its terseness and freedom from technical expressions
it will form a useful compendium of information for Christian
workers.”―_Messiah’s Herald._
_Fleming H. Revell Company, Publishers._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREFACE
This book is written because it seems to be needed. The author has been
repeatedly requested by Ministers, Y. M. C. A. Secretaries, Christian
Workers, and his own students to put into a permanent and convenient
shape the substance of what he has said at Conventions, Summer Schools
and in the class–room on personal work. The time has come to yield to
these requests. Never before in the history of the Church were there so
many who desire to win others to Christ. The good work done by the Young
People’s Society of Christian Endeavor is in no other direction so
evident as in the many thousands of young people in this land who to–day
are on fire with a desire to win souls. But while they desire to do this
work, many do not know how. This little book aims to tell them. There
are several well–known and valuable manuals of texts to be used with
inquirers, but this book is intended not only to point out passages to
be used but to show how to use them, illustrating this use by cases from
actual experience. It is hoped that from a careful study of these pages
any earnest Christian can learn how to do efficient work in bringing
others to the Saviour.
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CONTENTS.
PREFACE.
CHAPTER. PAGE.
I. THE GENERAL CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS IN BRINGING MEN TO CHRIST 7
II. HOW TO BEGIN 14
III. DEALING WITH THE INDIFFERENT OR CARELESS 20
IV. DEALING WITH THOSE WHO ARE ANXIOUS TO BE SAVED BUT DO NOT 29
KNOW HOW
V. DEALING WITH THOSE WHO ARE ANXIOUS TO BE SAVED AND KNOW 36
HOW, BUT WHO HAVE DIFFICULTIES
VI. DEALING WITH THOSE WHO ENTERTAIN FALSE HOPES 50
VII. DEALING WITH THOSE WHO LACK ASSURANCE, AND BACK–SLIDERS 57
VIII. DEALING WITH PROFESSED SKEPTICS AND INFIDELS 65
IX. DEALING WITH THE COMPLAINING 77
X. DEALING WITH THOSE WHO WISH TO PUT OFF DECISION UNTIL SOME 83
OTHER TIME
XI. DEALING WITH THE WILLFUL AND THE DELUDED 87
XII. SOME HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS 94
XIII. THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 104
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HOW TO BRING MEN TO CHRIST
CHAPTER I.
THE GENERAL CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS IN BRINGING MEN TO CHRIST
There are certain general conditions, the fulfilment of which is
absolutely essential to real success in bringing men to Christ. These
conditions, fortunately, are few and simple and such as any one can
meet.
1. _The one who would have real success in bringing others to Christ
must himself be_ A THOROUGHLY CONVERTED PERSON. Jesus said to Peter,
“When thou art _converted_ strengthen thy brethren.” He was in no
position to help his brethren until he himself, after his cowardly
denial, had turned again to his Lord with his whole heart. If we would
bring others to Christ we must turn away from all sin, and worldliness
and selfishness with our whole heart, yielding to Jesus the absolute
lordship over our thoughts, purposes and actions. If there is any
direction in which we are seeking to have our own way and not letting
Him have His own way in our lives, our power will be crippled and men
lost that we might have saved. The application of this principle to the
numerous questions that come up in the life of every young Christian as
to whether he should do this or that, each individual can settle for
himself if Christ’s honor and not his own pleasure is upper–most in his
mind and if he looks honestly to God to guide him.
2. _The one who would have real success in bringing others to Christ
must have a_ LOVE FOR SOULS, _i. e._ _a longing for the salvation of the
lost_. If we have no love for souls, our efforts will be mechanical and
powerless. We may know how to approach men and what to say to them, but
there will be no power in what we say and it will not touch the heart.
But if like Paul we have “great heaviness and unceasing pain in our
hearts” for the unsaved, there will be an earnestness in our tone and
manner that will impress the most careless. Furthermore if we have a
love for souls we will be on the constant watch for opportunities to
speak with the unsaved and will find opportunities on the street, in the
store, in the home, on the cars and everywhere that would otherwise have
entirely escaped our notice.
But how is one to get a love for souls? This question is easily
answered. First of all, a love for souls like every other grace of
Christian character, is the work of the Holy Spirit. If then we are
conscious that we do not have that love for souls that we should have,
the first thing to do is to go to God and humbly confess this lack in
our lives and ask Him by His Holy Spirit to supply that which we so
sorely need, and expect Him to do it (1 Jno. v. 14, 15; Phil. iv. 19).
In the second place Jesus Christ had an intense love for souls (Matt.
xxiii. 37; Luke xix. 10), and intimate and constant companionship with
Him will impart to our lives this grace which was so prominent in His.
In the third place feelings are the outcome of thoughts. If we desire
any given feeling in our lives we should dwell upon the thoughts which
are adapted to produce that feeling. If any saved person will dwell long
enough upon the peril and wretchedness of any man out of Christ and the
worth of his soul in God’s sight as seen in the death of God’s Son to
save him, a feeling of intense desire for that man’s salvation is almost
certain to follow. In the fourth place, reflection upon our own ruined
and unhappy condition without Christ and the great sacrifice that Christ
made to save us, is sure to fill our hearts with a desire to bring
others to the Saviour we have found.
3. _The one who would have real success in bringing men to Christ must
have a_ WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF THE BIBLE. The Word of God is the sword of
the Spirit (Eph. vi. 17). It is the instrument God uses to convict of
sin, to reveal Christ and to regenerate men. If we would work together
with God, the Bible is the instrument upon which we must rely and which
we must use in bringing men to Christ. We must know how to use the Bible
so as (1) to show men their need of a Saviour, (2) to show them Jesus as
the Saviour they need, (3) to show them how to make this Saviour their
own Saviour, (4) to meet the difficulties that stand in the way of their
accepting Christ. A large part of the following pages will be devoted to
imparting this knowledge.
4. _The one who would have real success in bringing men to Christ must_
PRAY MUCH. Solid work in soul winning must be accompanied by prayer at
every step. (1). We must pray God to lead us to the right persons to
approach. God does not intend that we speak to every one we meet. If we
try to do it, we will waste much valuable time in speaking to those whom
we cannot help, that we might have used in speaking to those to whom we
could have done much good. God alone knows the one to whom He intends us
to speak, and we must ask Him to point him out to us, and, expect Him to
do it. (Acts viii. 29). (2). We must pray God to show us just what to
say to those to whom He leads us. After all our study of the passages to
be used in dealing with the various classes of men, we shall need God’s
guidance in each specific case. Every experienced worker will testify to
the many instances in which God has led them to use some text of
Scripture that they would not otherwise have used but which proved to be
just the one needed. (3). We must pray God to give power to that which
He has given us to say. We need not only a message from God but power
from God to send the message home. Most workers have to learn this
lesson by humiliating experiences. They sit down beside an unsaved man
and reason and plead and bring forth texts from the word of God, but the
man does not accept Christ. At last it dawns upon them that they are
trying to convert the man in their own strength and then they lift an
humble and earnest prayer to God for his strength, and God hears and in
a short time this “very difficult case” has settled the matter and is
rejoicing in Christ. (4). We must pray God to carry on the work after
our work has come to an end. After having done that which seems to have
been our whole duty in any given instance, whatever may have been the
apparent issue of our work, whether successful or unsuccessful, we
should definitely commit the case to God in prayer. If there is anything
the average worker in this hurrying age needs to have impressed upon
him, it is the necessity of more prayer. By praying more we will not
work any less and we will accomplish vastly more.
5. _The one who would have real success in bringing men to Christ must
be_ “BAPTIZED WITH THE HOLY GHOST.” “Ye shall receive power after that
the Holy Ghost, is come upon you,” said Jesus to his disciples after
having given them the great commission to go out and bring men to
Himself. The supreme condition of soul winning power is the same to–day:
“after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” A later chapter will be
given to a study of what “the Baptism of the Holy Ghost” is and how any
Christian can obtain it.