Evangelistic sermons with an essay ...

Contents

SERMON I.

The Place and Power of Prayer in Evangelism. ■« But we will continue steadfastly in prayer, and in the ministry of the Word" (Acts vi. 4) 9-25

SERMON II.

II. Hearing The Gospel

"Hear, and your soul shall live. " — Isa. Iv. j.

A simple duty, is it not? But it may be the beginning of your salvation. Nay, in this duty of hearing, in the Bible sense of both hearing and heeding, there may be wrapt up the fullness of the blessing of Christ. It is, indeed, just this simple : that, first of all, where you sit, coming hither from night to night, you are exhorted to hear the Gospel; and it is just this full of blessing that, if you hear according to the Word of God, your soul shall live. We want to emphasize the old prophet's exhortation this second evening of these evangelistic services. So much depends on hearing. Whatever more of duty is preached to you, must grow out of this note of the Gospel. Whatever further step you take in the Way of salvation, must have before it this first step of hearing. There is the luminous promise — "Your soul shall live." To realize it, there is the need of doing what Isaiah exhorts us to do — "Hear."

It is a continuous and an emphatic note in the

Bible. It comes in so many times, and in so many

ways — now with a warning, now with a promise, then

a climax of doctrine, then a picture of danger, often

a Scripture of rational argument or precept, always

a deep-toned voice in the ear and heart of man for responsibility under God's judgment. "The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God " — there is a sublime stroke of the Gospel's power to wake man up to a sense of his obligation to God ; and the simple duty and the rich promise are coupled by the lips of Jesus — ''and they that hear shall live." "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do?" It is a scene in real life. The sword of the Spirit was puncturing the consciences of a crowd of sinners ; it was done as they heard the Apostle's home-thrust proofs of the authority of Christ, the risen Lord. Such a duty of hearing, such a way of doing it, was once a chain of logic under Paul's pen. "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed ? and how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard ? and how shall they hear, without a preacher ? and how shall they preach except they be sent?" And the Apostle draws a conclusion that stands forever as a shining proof-text of the origin of faith, against all revival mysticisms of doctrine : "So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. " Such a duty of hearing, the tremendous consequences of hearing, were once vividly pictured by the Master : ' ' Every one therefore which heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a wise man, which built his house upon the rock : and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house ; and it fell not : for it was founded upon the rock. And every one that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand : and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house: and it fell ; and great was the fall thereof."

This is not a hundreth part of the Scriptures that variedly sound the responsibility of hearing, the urgent responsibility, and the tremendous consequences. Every time, each one of these Scriptures by itself, all of them put together, spell the truth that salvation is something, first of all, to be heard. It is the voice of a herald. It is a message of good tidings. Need I stop to disprove the old-fashioned revival doctrine that a sinner is a dead quantity, so dead in sins that he can not hear? Must I take pains to elaborate Paul's teaching that faith comes of hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ ? Surely the old notion is well-nigh defunct which threw a slur on what it called "bookreligion," "religion learned from what a man says," "religion taught by speakers." Following the Word of God, we must see that upon every unsaved man there rests the responsibility to hear the Gospel. He can hear it ; he must hear it ; he is to be exhorted to hear it. That responsibility does not imply the absence of any influences of God as one hears. God is not shut out by the fact of the preacher's exhorting and warning the sinner to hear. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The power of God is in the Gospel, in the facts, the precepts, the promises of the Gospel — always there, never absent, ever present and making for the salvation of every believer. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. It is never less than the Spirit's sword, living, active, sharper and more penetrating than a Damascene blade, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. How unreasonable to conclude that, because sinners are exhorted to hear before they are saved, before they can be saved, exhorted to hear in order that they may be saved, therefore a slight is cast upon the grace and glory of God ! By no means. The responsibility of hearing is in view of the very grace of God enabling sinners to hear. The Gospel is the voice of the Son of God, a word of light and love, a word of warning, a word of promise ; a word to be preached in faith and love ; and all this divineness of it, the power of God, the grace of God, the love of God, creates, intensifies, irresistibly enforces the whole question of the responsibility of hearing the Gospel.

I It is not such a simple matter as one might sup. pose. The sinner must hear; but before he can hear, the Gospel must have been brought to his ears. i( How shall they hear without a preacher ? " It is not enough that this is Christendom ; not enough that the Word generally prevails; not enough that Bibles are pub. lished annually by the millions, and a copy offered gratis to every destitute individual or family; not enough that chapels are built, and pulpits supplied, and pews left open and free ; not enough that a congregation publishes a standing invitation for the people to come and hear. There is a duty for the Church of God to send the Gospel to the heathen who have never heard it nor heard of it. There is just as urgent a duty for the Church of God, within the bounds of Christendom, to send, to carry the Gospel to those who, while they may have heard of it, have never heard it, and do not hear it.

This is true in more ways than one : that while the sinner must hear in order that his soul may live, the Church must first bring the Gospel to his ears. In many a rural village or neighborhood it may be true that every resident, in his life-time, has both heard of the Gospel and directly heard it. But in many a huge and crowded city this is not always the fact. The contrary fact has become so plain, and so appalling, in this generation, that it has sprung a dark problem of duty upon the followers of Christ. " How can we save the masses ?" — " How can we win the non-churchgoer?" — "How can we reach the vast numbers of children still outside of the Sunday-school?" — so the distressing questions are heard amid the chimes of the church bells, and the songs of praise in worshiping assemblies. It is the glaring fact that, if multitudes should suddenly desire or conclude to go to church some Lord's day morning or evening, there is not room enough to seat them — not in London, nor in New York, nor in Chicago, nor here in Lexington. It is the glaring fact, for instance in New York, that the population is thinnest in the wards where churches are thickest, and that the population is thickest in the wards where churches are thinnest. Lofty spires do not rise one after another, in their silent beauty of testimony, amid the crowded tenement houses. Sanctuary after sanctuary, breathing comfort and rest with the presence of God, does not stand invitingly open here, there, again, as men, women, and little children swarm by tens of thousands in territory a mile 'square. There they are, huddled together without churches, away from churches, never hearing the Gospel, and becoming more and more, as the statesman fears, a dangerous class in their poverty, discontent, despair — a veritable menace to the peace of a Christian civilization. In no real sense do they hear the Gospel. Must the truth be told to our shame that, in no real sense, do they hear the Gospel, because of the Church's neglect to bring it to their ears? It is the problem of city evangelization. How shall our cities be evangelized? — the cry is raised, showing a new, strange depth of duty in the Great Commission. "Go ye into all the world," said the Master ; and, in one light, there is not far to go : a teeming world is near by our door, under our eye, almost within sound of- our voice, a world that close which has never been wholly evangelized. " He that believeth and is baptized, ' ' said the Master ; and Paul's logic becomes a fire of rebuke to hundreds of churches for their neglect of the children of God scattered in alleys and slums — " How shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher ? and how shall they preach except they be sent?"

That is one of the lights in which the duty first shines for the Church of God, on its part, to see that the Gospel is brought to the sinner's ears, that he may hear and be saved. But this duty of the Church shines in another direction, toward another unevangelized part of humanity. Who are they? They are a larger number than we may have supposed. They are not paupers. They are not in want. They are not all struggling in the dark to make a living. They are by no means universally involved as a class or classes in the problems of socialism. More generally they feel sure of their self-sufficiency as individuals. But they do not go to church. They make up an army of non-church-goers. Many a time he is an honest, sober, industrious mechanic — but he does not attend church. Often he is a prosperous merchant — but he does not attend church. Too frequently, alas ! he is a young man, beginning his life work, fired with the ambitions of some worldly success — but he does not attend church. They make a large number when all counted together. All of them have heard of the Gospel. Most all of them have so heard it as to know their responsibility under it. But they do not hear it any longer.

I proclaim to-night the duty of Christians toward both of these classes. I proclaim our duty to these fellow-men who do not hear the Gospel. If, after we have done our duty, they will not hear, but straightout refuse to hear, then we may sorrowfully say, ' ' Your blood be upon your own heads ; our consciences are clean." Our duty to these classes — it is the same toward both. It is the same simple duty to both, whether one be Lazarus, and the other Dives; whether one be a poor, sick beggar, and the other a rich fool. The same simple duty — so I mean it and emphasize it. It is the duty of going to all these non- church-goers as men, and dealing with them as men — not as rich nor poor, not as high nor low, not as miserable nor comfortable, not as cowed nor self-sufficient, but directly and primarily as fellow-men for whom Christ died. Let us have less and less of this talk about "masses" and "classes," in any exclusive significations. I know, on the one hand, there are problems of poverty and labor intricately connected with the evangelization of our cities. I am just as sure, on the other hand, it is just as serious a matter to be doing our duty to evangelize an immense number that are practically at ease on matters of a livelihood. You may say that thousands of our fellow-creatures need something besides Gospel revivals. You yourself know that they need something more than soup-houses ; and you know that there are far more of our fellows that have bread enough, and to spare, who need rather to hear the old truth, " Man shall not live by bread alone. " It cannot be denied that evangelism often necessarily means, both in heathendom and Christendom, both in Bilaspur and Lexington, feeding the hungry, medicating the sick, teaching the ignorant equally letters and morals, truly civilizing them while evangelizing them, Let us all honestly and plainly see the need of more legislation, the need of more education, the need of mightier and wiser organization, that this human life, between the cradle and the grave, may be made more tolerable for swarms of God 's creatures. But the Gospel of the glory of God, the Gospel of Christ and Him crucified, the Gospel of light and love, this Gospel not for ".masses" nor for "classes," but for " the whole creation," for a man as such, for a woman as such, for a child as such, each one duly and responsibly hearing it for himself and herself; deeper than any fact of environment, more than a match for any condition of society, the beacon for every step of progress in civilization afterwards, as it regenerates the individual and reforms the world — this is the Apostolic standard of truth and victory, set up in the wilds of Galatia, on the Areopagus in Athens, amid the hovels in Corinth, in Caesar's household in Rome.

Our duty is plain enough — what we have to do that the unevangelized of this city may hear the Word of life. It is duty so far that we hold these special services every night, here in the Lord's house, in this old historic building, so accessibly situated, so roomy ; here, the pews always free, a cordial invitation extended to all. We have a right to expect it, we shall not be disappointed, that many will be drawn hither, assured of a welcome, glad to hear the sweet songs of Zion, and feeling unmistakably the presence ot the Holy Spirit in light and love. You are already in attendance, many of you, to whom the voice may be imperatively spoken — " Hear, and your soul shall live. " We may thank God for such a large audience, and take courage. But more, alas ! more, far, far more are on the outside. They do not care that they may hear. They do not care to come. They roam the streets. They gossip in idle crowds. They frequent saloons and gambling hells. They ply their trades amid the cares of this world. Or, what is so sad, a stern reminder to you and me, many are sick, poor, burdened, ill-clad, cast down, helpless and hopeless : it would be a miracle of courage for them to come and hear. We must go to all these. We must go, on the outside to those that do not come to us. The Master speaks the duty for us to go out and constrain such to come in. The Gospel is for the public assembly ; the Gospel is for the individual by the wayside. In the highways and hedges, from house to house, warning every man, teaching every man — I hold up this manner of Christ, this Apostolic manner, not in the spirit of cant, not as a rhetorical flourish to ease our consciences, but as a picture for duty, an appeal for duty, in this evangelistic work. We can do it, if we will. Here, night after night, publicly ; everywhere, day after day, privately — so let the good work be done. Will you do your duty ? Will you ? Will you ? Do not exhort officially. Do not speak patronizingly. Pray for the opportunity. Pray for wisdom. Pray for courage. Do you go to that bed-ridden sinner in sympathy and cheer; and you to that wayward youth ; and you to that careless neighbor ; and you to that skeptical partner in business ; and you to your own son and daughter ; and you to your own husband : let us all consecrate ourselves before God for some such special mission and message, to tell the Gospel story to those that do not hear it, or to win them hither that they may hear it. Let us never doubt but God will guide us. He will open the way. He will bless us in our purpose, if first need be to make us better in life, an example for that one to whom we long and pray to speak.

When, however, the people have come together, if not as the city of Antioch came in Paul's day, to hear the Word of God, almost the whole city, yet a house full as we behold to-night, there arises another signal duty in regard to the prophet's exhortation. We are to be careful that nothing is done that will hinder or obstruct the possibility of the sinner's hearing the Gospel. The methods of evangelism, general and special, in idea and detail — not one of them must be allowed to dull the ears of the sinner under the Gospel's message ; every one of them must be made to help him to hear his need of salvation, and to feel his responsibility to accept the invitation of the Saviour. Have we not all seen obstructive methods used in revival services — of course, not purposely used, yet the practical effect just that, sadly enough ? The effect was to make the sinner quiescent, passive ; and if he was exhorted to do anything, it was to do everything but responsibly hear and heed the Gospel. The phrases current in such a revival indicate the methods. " Altar exercises, " "mourner's bench, " "anxious seat" — so the phrases run. The sinner has been invited to kneel night after night at the altar for prayer, and for nothing but prayer. He has taken his place regularly among the company of mourners, and steadily, genuinely mourning, still has not been comforted. He has been exhorted to come to the anxious seat, that he may show his great anxiety for salvation. Such methods, applied, repeated, filling most of the time in a service, have blurred or ignored the duty, the especial, distinct duty of men to hear the Gospel, their immediate responsibility to hear what the Spirit of truth has to say unto them. And the methods go on multiplying, branching off this way or that way, sometimes becoming almost trifles, undignified, unworthy of the Gospel, marring its beauty, totally silencing its appeal to the heart and conscience.

The scholarly and orthodox Phelps, of Andover, instructing preachers, trenchantly criticises these revival customs. He calls them "trivialities," "acts of religious substitution," "deceptive substitutions." He shows that the danger of them is to get men into the habit of regarding as duties customs that block the way to the great duty of deciding for eternal life. He is right. The more we see of these revival methods, in the light of Apostolic conversions, the more it appears that they hinder, delay, very often help not one step the power of the Gospel to convict and convert. What good is done by simply asking persons to arise who "desire to go to Heaven when they die " ? Is it not time lost, requesting "all that wish success in the protracted meeting," to come forward and give the preachers a hand of good-will? How does it help on the salvation of anyone by urging him, if he wants to be saved, to hold up his right hand ? Why should we stop over with inviting persons, vaguely and indefinitely, if they would ''like to have the prayers of God's people," to send in the name on a written request?

Phelps well and wisely urges ' ' Apostolic policy in the conduct of revivals/' as against these "indeterminate acts," "acts of apparent self-commital, " "acts which fall short of God's requirements." This does not mean, in a hard and fast sense, that we may not have, in evangelistic meetings, expedients nor customs not used by the Apostles. More expedients and customs different from theirs we may have, in the large, wise liberty of the Gospel. The power of the Gospel is not so bound. But it does mean that every custom, expedient, method, usage, manner, all must have the spirit and purpose of the Gospel in them. That grave purpose makes for the conviction of men as they hear, believe, repent, obey. So was Apostolic preaching. So were Apostolic conversions. Such was "Apostolic policy in the conduct of revivals. " The Apostles said nothing, advised nothing, did nothing that would blur the free invitation of the Gospel to all — nothing that kept them from pressing the Gospel home on the sinner's heart, to convict him then and there of his need of salvation, and of his responsibility to accept it immediately on the promises of God's grace. This was the first need of humanity, the first note of the Apostolic Gospel. " Ye men of Israel, hear these words " — such was Peter's prime exhortation on the remarkable day of Pentecost. "God made choice among you,

HEARING THE GOSPEL. 4T

that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe" — such was Peter's story of the conversion of Gentiles.

We are going to walk in this light, we are going to work to this end, throughout this series of meetings. " Hear, and your soul shall live " — here is the beginning of duty, and here is the fullness of blessing. What comes in between, whatever is said, known, felt, done, everything must point and lead straight from the duty to the blessing. There must be no asides, no delays, no interruptions, no time taken up in " indeterminate acts," nothing that will not urge the love of God as it makes the sinner responsible to accept immediately a salvation of grace. Certainly while we preach, and while you are exhorted to hear, we shall pray. Oh ! yes, this is the work of God. We are co-workers with Him. We depend on Him for strength, guidance, consecration. We shall pray — pray often, pray fervently, for all : for you, and for ourselves. But we shall not make prayer an obstruction. We shall not, we dare not, pray that God will save you by a miracle, apart from the Gospel, before you hear it and without your hearing it. We shall pray for His providences, for every grace needed to open a door that the Gospel may win your ear and. convert your heart. We shall sing for your salvation — sing the Gospel, that its light and love may be music in your soul, persuading you to come to the Saviour without delay. We shall be ready to help you in any special manner — if you have any special inquiries to make concerning the Way, if there are particular doubts that need to be dissolved, if there are trials in your life that call for instruction and prayer. But, mark it ! any and all of these various methods must agree and work with the prime standard, the Gospel preached, heard, believed, obeyed. In the Gospel is the power of God; in the Gospel is the sword of the Spirit. Prayer, song, inquiry, hearing, counsel, study, guidance — all of them are under the Gospel of the grace of God, as it is preached to guilty sinners, as they are responsible for hearing it and accepting it, to their salvation.

All of this is plain, is it not ? Is it not the truth ? Is it not at once scriptural and reasonable ? Is it not as beautiful as it is reasonable, this Way of salvation opening clearly before our eyes? Behold, then, your responsibility, just as clear and reasonable. It is twofold. ■ * Take heed what ye hear' ' — ' ' Take heed therefore how ye hear." What you hear — how you hear. You want to hear the Word ; not the traditions of the schools, but the truth; not the doctrines and commandments of men, but the Gospel. You want to hear " the word of the truth of the Gospel," as Paul summarily describes it. It is a Gospel of light — "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." It is a Gospel of love — "God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." It is a Gospel of grace — "Justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. " It is a Gospel of truth — "These [signs] are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." It is a Gospel of facts — "For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures ; and that he was buried ; and that he hath been raised again the third day according to the scriptures." It is a Gospel of universality — "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to the whole creation.'' It is a Gospel of precepts — ''He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." It is a Gospel of promises — "Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins ; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." It is a Gospel of character — " Let your manner of life be worthy of the Gospel of Christ."

This is the Gospel to be heard and preached during this meeting. It is what every sinner ought to hear in every evangelistic service. It is what you have a right to hear, and what you ought to see that you do hear — a clear Gospel, not clouded ; a definite Gospel, not vague; a complete Gospel, not emasculated; a Gospel of life, not of frigid dogma or rigid system. As you hear, you can think and judge for yourself, responsible to God alone. The Gospel of His glory, it is for the the good of man. Coming from Him, it is a Gospel of love and grace; and just as surely, meant for you and me, it is a Gospel of facts, precepts, promises — facts for us to believe, precepts for us to obey, promises for us to enjoy. And would we have a Scripture, a clear, broad, beautiful Scripture, in whose depths this Gospel of glory shines, its light and beauty unshaded by a single cloud, undisturbed by a single ripple, here it is: "For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world, looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works."

"Take heed what ye hear," but just as duly "Take heed how ye hear." You are to listen and learn while you hear. Hearing the Gospel is no thoughtless, irresponsible impression of catch-words and sepulchral tones. Salvation does not seize upon a man unknowingly, to his own surprise. I repeat, you are to listen and learn while you hear. Attention, judgment, knowledge, be sure, are involved in one's salvation. The influence of God, too — indeed, indeed so ; let let us not forget it once in this meeting. "No man can come to me, except the Father which sent me draw him" — it is Christ's own word. Those drawings of God, sweet, gentle, ceaseless — how blessed to know and feel them ! And hear how he draws us! " It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught of God. Every one that hath heard from the Father, and hath learned, cometh unto me." Hearing, listening — hearing so attentively that you intelligently learn the Way — then are you taking heed how you hear as well as what you hear. Keep on hearing, I beg you. Do not listen just once, and then go your way, not to return. Do not hear, as the Holy Spirit strives with you, and guiltily resist His strivings. Keep on hearing. Learn truth after truth. See light after light. Receive the inflow of God's love in your heart. Yield, turn, follow wherever your Saviour leads. So hearing, your soul shall live.