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Books by Catherine Booth
The Masters Indwelling Illustrated Edition. The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life. Complete - Genesis to Revelation. The God of All Comfort. The Digital Puritan - Vol. Volume 1 - Genesis to Proverbs. Volume 3 - Matthew to Acts. Mornings and Evenings with Spurgeon. Volume 2 - Ecclesiastes to Malachi. Sermon Classics by Great Preachers. His Personality, Power and Overthrow. Spurgeon's Sermons Volumes 1 to Notes on of Genesis. Volume 4 - Romans to Revelation. The Sermon on the Mount. Works of Charles Spurgeon. From the Library of Charles Spurgeon. The Youth's Instructor Articles.
Christian's Secret of Happy Life. Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 7. Sermons on Men of the Old Testament. Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 9. Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 8. Disciples of All Nations. An Alarm to the Unconverted. Fathering Leaders Motivating Mission. The Danger of Prosperity. Day By Day With D. Saint Paul and the New Evangelization. Notes on the Book of Genesis. The Way of Life. Studies On Saving Faith. The Bible According to Gen Z. Woman in Sacred History. Fresh Expressions of Church. You Are God's Plan A: Everyone Belongs to God.
I read the other day that it was only dead men who were living preachers.
- I luoghi magici di... TORINO (Esoterismo) (Italian Edition).
- Unisciti a Kobo e inizia a leggere oggi stesso.
- Allombra della cattedrale (Italian Edition).
- Books by Samuel Logan Brengle (Author of Helps To Holiness).
- Das Tagebuch als historische Quelle im Geschichtsunterricht (German Edition).
The obedience must be glad. The command is, "Serve the Lord with glad- ness. There was no grudging about his obedience; it was his joy. It is a love service God wants, and that is always a joy service. Prayer is the way of approach to God, and the soul-winner keeps it open by constant use. It is the channel by which all spiritual blessings and power are received, and there- fore the life of the soul-winner must be one of ceaseless prayer. It is the breath of the soul, and other things being equal, it is the secret of power. It is written of Jesus, "And it came to pass in those days that He went out into a mountain to pray, and' continued all night in prayer to God.
What an amazing statement is this: The soul-winner must pray in secret; he must get alone with God and pour his heart into his Heavenly Father's ear with inter- cessions and pleadings and arguments, if he would have good success. There is no sub- stitute for much wide-awake, expectant, secret waiting upon God for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the gift of wisdom, strength, courage, hope, faith, discernment of times and spirits, and a glowing, burning, comprehensive message from Him to the people.
H men fail at this point, they will in due time fail at every point. I say it reverently. He cannot turn away from us, but will surely reward us, and that openly, be- cause He said He would, and He cannot lie. Prayer must be definite. Once, when Jesus was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a great number of people, blind Bar- timeus sat by the wayside begging, and when he heard Jesus was passing by, he began to cry out and say: Jesus knew what Bar- timeus wanted, but He desired Bartimeus to state exactly what he desired, and said to him: We should be as definite when we go to God, in asking Him for what we want, as we are when we go to the store.
The sales- man is prepared to sell us anything and everything in the store, but he in reality sells us nothing until we tell him what we want, and so it is with our Heavenly Father. Our prayers must be bold. I have often been amused and amazed at the boldness with which chil- dren come to their parents for the things they need and the things they want, and how gladly does the true parent respond to the 22 THE soul-winner's secret. It is not our Heavenly Father's will to dis- appoint His trusting children but rather to give them their utmost desire, yea, "ex- ceeding abundantly above all they ask or think," for His heart is all love toward them; therefore let them not be timid and wavering, but steadfast and bold as His dear children.
Prayer must be importunate, persevering. Jesus teaches this very clearly in His par- able of the importunate friend. I cannot rise and give thee,' I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet be- cause of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth;" and then Jesus adds: For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh find- eth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened unto him;" by which Jesus means to teach that we are to hold on in prayer till we get an answer.
If the answer is delayed, our own hearts will be searched, the purity of our motives will be proved, and our faith will be purified, tried, devel- oped and strengthened for future and greater triumph. Jesus prayed three times that the cup of death in the garden of Gethsemane might pass from Him. It was not death on the Cross, but death in the garden He feared, and the apostle tells us, in Hebrews 5: Daniel abstained from all pleasant food for three weeks at one time, and prayed until God appeared unto 24 THE soul-winner's secret. And Elijah, after his victory over the priests of Baal, sent his servant seven times to look for the cloud that should bring rain, while he bowed his face between his knees, and poured out his heart to God in prayer until the cloud ap- peared that should bring the floods of rain.
Miiller sometimes prayed every day, and often several times a day, and that for months and years, for some things he wanted, before the answer came, but come it did, in due time. Though the answer be delayed, it is not God's purpose to deny us without letting us know the reason why. Prayer must be for the glory of God and according to His will. If we ask things simply to gratify our own desires, God cannot grant them.
James said of certain ones, "Ye ask Prayer must be mixed with faith — must be believing prayer. I laid hold of that promise and wrestled through to the solid rock of believing prayer, and had one of the most glorious soul-saving days in my life! The man whose faith is constantly wavering shali receive nothing from the Lord. Finally, prayer must be in the name of Jesus. It is said that Sheridan went to battle with all the fury of a madman, and reck- lessly exposed himself to the shot and shell of the enemy. He told General Horace Porter that he never went into a battle from which he cared to come back alive unless he came as a victor.
This desperation made him an irresistible inspiration to his own troops and enabled him to hurl them like thunderbolts against his foes. If he became so desperate in killing men, how much more desperate, if possible, should we become in our desire and effort to save them! It was written of Jesus, "The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up," and so it can be of every great soul-winner. Not until a man can say with Paul, 28 THE soul-winner's secret. There are various kinds of zeal which should be avoided as deadly evils. Partial zeal like that of Jehu. God set him to destroy the wicked house of Ahab and the worship of Baal, and he did so with fury, "but Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the God of Israel with all his heart, for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam which made Israel to sin," and in due time God had to cut oflf his house as well.
This kind of zeal is frequently seen in those who violently attack one sort of sin, while probably they themselves are secretly ZEAL. Such people are usually not only intolerant of the sin, but also of the sinner, while true zeal makes one infinitely tender and patient towards the sinner, while absolutely uncompromis- ing with his sin. Party zeal like that of the Pharisees and Sadducees. In these days it takes the form of excessive sectarian and denominational zeal and makes bigots of men.
Zeal for the particular church or organization to which one belongs is right within certain limits. We are converted through the instrumentality of a certain religious organization, and we become chil- dren of its household, or we are led into it by the Holy Spirit through a blessed, divine affinity with its members, methods, spirit and doctrine, and we should in that case be loyal and true to its leaders who are over us in the Lord and who watch for our souls, and follow them as they follow Christ.
We should also be loyal to the principles of the organization so far as they harmon- ize with the word of God, and we should seek in all true ways, by prayer and suppli- cation and ceaselessly zealous work to build up this organization in holiness and right- 30 THE soul-winner's SECRET. But we must at the same time beware of a party spirit that would despise other work and workers or tear them down that we may rise on their ruins.
Such zeal is from beneath and not from above. It is contrary to that "love that seeketh not her own," and that "looketh not upon her own things, but also upon the things of others," and will come back, boomerang-like, upon our own pates, and bring ruin upon ourselves. The zeal of ignorance. Paul said of his kinsmen, the Jews, "My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved, for I bear them record that they have a zeal for God but not ac- cording to knowledge, for they, being ignor- ant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have ZEAL.
True zeal is from above. Its source is in the mountains of the Lord's holiness, and its springing fountains in the deep cool val- leys of humility. It is born of the Holy Spirit, and springs from a knowledge of "the truth as it is in Jesus. It is the knowledge of the dread condition of the sinner without Christ — his slavery to Satan; the inherited depravity of his nature; his bondage to sin, his love of it; his enmity toward God, of which he is probably not aware; his guilt; his help- lessness and his ignorance of the way back to his Heavenly Father's house and happi- ness, and his awful danger, if he neglects the offer of salvation and life in Jesus Christ.
It is the knowledge of the un- speakable gift of God, of the possibilities of grace for the vilest sinner, of the Father's pitying, yearning love, of sins forgiven, guilt removed, adoption into the Father's family, illumination, consolation, guidance, keeping, depravity destroyed, cleansing through the Blood, sanctification by the 32 THE soul-winner's secret.
Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He was not content simply to get sinners to accept Jesus as their Saviour, but taught them that "Christ in you is the hope of glory, whom we preach, warn- ZEAL. Paul was jealous for the perfection in love and loyalty of all his converts, and his zeal led him to seek with all his might to lead them all into this blessed experience. And as was Paul, so also was Baxter, who labored indefatigably in spite of life-long sickness, and at times almost in intolerable pain, for the perfection of his people.
And so also was Wesley and Fox and General and Mrs. Booth, and so will be every soul- winner who is full of the zeal of God. True zeal is sacrificial. Jesus, consumed with zeal for the glory of God in the sav- ing and sanctifying of men, "was led as a lamb to the slaughter. Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows: But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.
The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He poured out His soul unto death for us, He gave His life a ransom for men. And the gift of His Spirit kindles and sus- tains this same sacrificial zeal in the hearts of all true soul-winners. The soul-winner must have the power of spiritual leadership, and spiritual leader- ship is a thing of the Spirit, and not of birth, or rank, or title, or education, or cir- cumstances.
Here is the secret of the power of humble Salvation Army officers from the lowly walks of life. Paul was a prisoner under Roman guards on board ship, hastening to Caesar's judg- ment bar; but one day, God's winds made the sea to boil, and winds and waves smote 36 THE soul-winner's secret. I knew a Lieutenant, a quiet, modest, thoughtful, prayerful, faithful, humble, holy lad, of moderate ability, stationed with an Ensign, at whose feet the Ensign and his wife sat for spiritual counsel, though the Lieutenant knew it not.
They hung on his God-wise words, and remembered his ex- ample, and treasured his spirit, and talked to me about his saintHness and Christlike- ness long after he, as Captain, had left them for a corps by himself. They commanded the corps, but he held spiritual supremacy because he walked with God, and God was with him and in him. Spiritual leadership is not won nor es- tablished by promotion, but by many prayers, tears and confessions of sin and heart-searchings and humblings before God, and self-surrender and a courageous sacri- fice of every idol and a bold and deathless, and uncompromising and uncomplaining em- brace of the Cross and an eternal, unfalter- ing looking unto Jesus crucified.
That is a great price, but it must be un- flinchingly paid by him who would be not merely a nominal, but a real spiritual leader of men — a leader whose power is recognized by three worlds and felt in heaven, earth and hell. Moses gained this spiritual leadership among Pharaoh's palace halls and Sinai's solitudes and fast- nesses, when he "refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.
Neither con- ferences, nor synods, nor councils can make them, but only God. Spiritual power is the outcome of spiritual life, and all life, from that of the moss and lichen on the wall to that of the arch- angel before the Throne, is from God, Therefore let those who aspire to this leader- ship pay the price, and seek it from God. Who made Elijah and John the Baptist — hairy, uncouth men of the wilderness and desert — prophets who awed kings and swayed nations? Who took Moses from the universities of Egypt and the palaces of Pharaoh and after drilling him among flocks of sheep on the back side of the desert for forty years, made him the meek, but unconquer- able leader of two millions of slaves, and the law-giver and fountain-head of jurispru- dence for all time?
Who took the baby Samuel and put into his mouth prophetic words to the aged priest Eli, and made him spiritual leader of Israel? Who took the boy David, trained to feed harmless, patient sheep, and put courage into his heart, and nerved his arm to fight the lion and the bear and the giant, and gave him skill to lead Israel's armies, so that the women sang: And why did God single them out and distinguish them, and give them this power above other men?
Because God was to them the supreme Fact. They believed God, sought God, feared and trusted and obeyed God. Read the Psalms and see how God fills the whole heaven of David's thought, desire and affection, and you will cease to wonder at his leadership. It was based on spiritual life, power and fellowship with God. This spiritual leadership once attained, can be maintained. Witness Moses, Elijah, Paul, Fox, Wesley, Finney and General Booth, and ten thousand leaders in hum- bler spheres who still bear "fruit in old age," and continue "fat and flourishing;" like a white-haired old saint of eighty years, on whom I called who, after I had prayed, burst into prayer, and said: Father, I testify to Thee, and the angels, and these young brothers, that old age is not a time of dotage and second childhood, but the springtime of eternal youth.
Neither conferences, nor synods, nor coun- cils, nor commanders, can make a man acceptable to the people, however long his service and varied his experience, if he has lost the spirit of prayer and faith and fiery- hearted love, and the sweet simplicity and trustfulness and self-sacrifice of his youth, and is now living on past victories and revelations and blessings. But fresh anointings of the Spirit and present-day experiences will make him acceptable, though his eye be dim and his back bent, and his voice husky with age.
There have been ministers who in their prime fought holiness and refused the baptism of the Holy Ghost, or who, hav- ing received the baptism, neglected and lost it, who filled big pulpits and drew fat salaries, but whose influence gradually waned and whose old age was full of complainings and disappointments and bitterness and jealousies, and whose sun went down behind clouds, if not into a starless night, because they neglected God. And I know men — old men — full of God, who were persecuted in their prime for Jesus' sake, but who had salt in them- selves and kept sweet and delighted themselves in the Lord, whose bow abides in strength, whose sun is shining in full- ness of splendor, and who are filling the world with divine messages that men are eager to hear.
God is always up to date. It is God men want. What service had they performed, and what experience had Moses, and David, and Daniel, and Paul, when God set them up as leaders? But they were in touch with God; they were pliable to His will, teachable, trustful, obedient, cour- ageous and uncomplaining. They were full of God. And know this, you who fear the time is coming when your services will no longer be appreci- ated or wanted, and you will be thrust into a corner, that a man full of God can- not be thrust aside. They thrust Paul into prison, but he spoke and wrote words of life and power that burn with unquenchable fire of the Holy Ghost, and are doing more to direct the thought, inspire the faith and inflame the affections of men to-day than ever be- fore.
But who can silence the thunder of God's power, or hush His "still small voice," when He chooses a man to speak through him? Their silent prisons but become public telephone stations, con- nected with the skies. The other day, in one of our great cities, died an old man, long since past three score years and ten, a minister, who at the age of forty-seven, broke down so utterly in health from over work, that for five years he never read a chapter from a book, not even from the Bible, but he held fast his faith in both God and man, kept his love all aglow, and at last died full of years and was mourned by hundreds in all parts of the globe who had been saved, sanc- tified, inspired and qualified for service by his words and life, and the agencies he set in motion for the sanctification of the church and the salvation of the world.
Full text of "The soul-winner's secret"
And, by odds, his greatest work was accom- plished after he had passed three score years. God was with him. But while this spiritual power and leader- ship may be maintained, yet it is a subtle thing that may be lost for evermore. When Saul was little in his own sight, he was made king, but, when lifted up he became disobedient, his kingdom was rent from him and given to another. And is it not this we are warned against in the words: The one talent was taken from the "wicked and slothful servant," and given to him that had ten.
I know a Christian worker surrounded by a number of other bright, earnest, teach- able, spiritually ambitious young workers, who looked to him for direction and guid- ance. As electric wires in order to carry the subtle current, must be insulated, so must men who hold spiritual leadership and who would transmit to their fellows spiritual power and life. Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and ever.
The soul-winner must value time. Dia- monds and gold nuggets are not so prec- ious as minutes. One morning, about 5 o'clock, John Wesley lost ten minutes through the tardiness of his coachman, and mourned for them more than over lost treasure. Johnson tells us that "Whenever Melanchthon made an appointment, he expected not only the hour, but the min- ute to be fixed, that the day might not run out in the idleness of suspense. Another young lady, better fitted for the position, arrived a bit late, and remarked, "I thought it wouldn't make any difference if I were a few minutes late.
Eternity is made up of mo- ments, and "lost time is lost eternity. What is life but a glad, present conscious- ness of God and self and duty, and a hearty obedience thereto? But he that kills time seeks to forget, and would be far better dead. Let no idle, foolish, hurtful thoughts be harbored for an instant, but begin at once to pray and praise God and to meditate on His glories.
His goodness and faithful- ness and truth, and your heart will soon burn within you and bubble over with joy. Bounce out of your bed at once and get the start of your work and push it, else it will get the start and push you. For "If you in the morning Tlirow minutes away, You can't pick them up In the course of the day. You may hurry a,nd scurry, And flurry and worry, You've lost them forever, Forever and aye. H a man forms the habit, he natur- ally turns to it.
I find it so with myself. I squander less time now than I used to do. One redeemed it for the purpose he had in view; the other squandered it. One was a miser of the minutes; the other was a spendthrift of the days and months and years. The one was ever up and doing, packing into every hour some search for truth, some prayer to God, some communion with Jesus, some service to man, some counsel to a saint, some warning or entreaty to a sinner; the other was ever neglecting the opportunity of the present, but full of vague purposes and dreams for an ever-receding, will-o'-the-wisp-like future.
The one plods his way patiently and surely to ''glory and honor, and peace, and immortality, and eternal life;" the other drifts dreamily, but certainly into the re- gions of "indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish," and finally lands in Hell. It was said of John Wesley that he was always in haste, but never in a hurry.
To save time the soul-winner will find it profitable to go to bed promptly after his meeting at night and to get up promptly on waking in the morning. Men who have accomplished anything in the world have usually gone to work early in the day. Albert Barnes wrote sixteen volumes in less than an equal number of years, devoting to them only the hours before breakfast. If you would save time, have a Bible, a note book and a pencil always at hand. Never go on to the street or take a journey without at least a Testament with you, and some other useful book if possible.
And don't forget to use them. The Gospel of St. Matthew can be read through in two hours. This may not be the most profit- able way to read it, and yet it will pay to read it right through at one sitting, that we may see the life of Jesus as a whole as we would the life of any man. Then don't throw away these minutes. General Booth had to snatch time from household duties and the care of small children to prepare her marvelous ad- dresses that stirred England, and helped so much in making and moulding The Army.
The minister who sits about smoking and reading novels, and The Salvation Army officer who whiles away the minutes idly thrumming on his guitar and reading the daily papers will not succeed at soul-saving work. Again, the soul-winner can redeem time by being "instant in season, out of season," in dealing with men about the things of God. Uncle John Vassar, an eccentric, but marvelously successful soul-winner, once saw two ladies in the parlor of a Boston hotel, and immediately inquired if they were at peace with God, and kindly and earnestly preached Jesus to them, and urged them to make ready for death and judgment by accepting Him as Saviour and Lord.
A few moments later the husband of one of them came in and found them in tears. He inquired for the reason, when his wife 52 THE soul-winner's secret. They met no more, and the stranger was ever wondering who the angel of mercy was that pointed him to Jesus. One day in Africa he received a box of books, and on opening a small volume of memoirs, he saw the picture of the saintly and sainted young man who was about his Father's business and redeemed the time at that watering trough by preaching Jesus and saving a soul, instead of idly gossiping about the weather.
With many much time is lost for want of sys- tem. Things are done at haphazard, duties are performed at random, and after one thing is done time is wasted in deciding what to do next. It is well, then, to have a pro- gram for every day, or, better still, for every hour and minute, as our General does when he goes on a tour.
For months ahead the General will have a program for every hour of the day, and whether he succeeds or not in perfectly carrying it out in all its de- tails, he at least works to it, saves anxious worry, loses no time and accomplishes a well-nigh incredible amount of business. Of course in this busy world, full of sur- prises and unexpected calls, any program must be flexible and not like cast iron, and in times of emergency the soul-winner must be prepared to cast it to the winds and follow according to his best judgment where the Spirit leads, singing with all his heart: My talents, gifts and graces, Lord, Into Thy blessed hands receive.
Nothing saps a man's energies, dulls his faculties and takes from him all incentive to holy and high effort like doubt and discouragement. It is your duty to expect victory. After the defeat at Ai, Joshua in a fit of discouragement stopped all efforts and fell flat on his face and stayed there till God came by and said, "Get thee up; where- fore liest thou thus upon thy face? Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies Up, sanctify the people and say, 'Sanc- tify yourselves.
God wanted Joshua to be up and doing, and if he could not whip the enemy, then he was to clean out his own camp and not be discouraged. Trust God, and trust man, and where men cannot be trusted, then love them and pray for them, and you will surely redeem the time and win souls to God. Neglect not the gift that is in thee. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. No man or woman need hope to be a per- manently successful soul-winner who is not a diligent student of the truth, of the will and ways of God, of men, and of methods.
A man cannot successfully build a house, or write a poem, or govern a city, or manage a store, or even shoe a horse or make a mouse-trap without thoughtful study. A lawyer must be a diligent student if he would win cases before judges and juries in the face of self-interest and skillful oppo- nents. How much more then should the soul-win- ner study in order that he may understand the diseases of the soul, the ramifications of evil, the deceitfulness of the human heart, and the application of the great remedy God has provided to meet all the needs of the soul; or, to change the figure, how must he study to win his case at the bar of man's conscience, when the man's own deceitful heart is the opposing counsel, assisted by that old adversary, the devil, who for six thousand years has been deceiv- ing the children of men and leading them down to Hell!
Oh, that every man who sets himself to be a soul-winner might fully recognize the tre- mendous odds against which he fights and set himself by much believing prayer and 58 THE soul-winner's secret.
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- Books by Samuel Logan Brengle.
- Trick or Treat (Entertaining the Billionaire Book 2);
- The Genehunter: The Complete Casebook;
- ?
- miraikarakururessha (Japanese Edition)?
- EMANATIONS (THE BOOK Book 2)?
- Adolescenza (Italian Edition).
Only let him not bury his talent in a napkin, nor spend his time in idle dreaming, but let him stir up the gift that is in him and faithfully give a little time each day to those studies that will enlighten the mind and fit him for the work God has called him to, and he shall surely be blessed of God and find himself "furnished unto every good work. The doctor may know all about law and art, history and theology, but if he is unacquainted with his medical books he is a failure as a doctor.
The law- yer may have devoured libraries, traveled the wide world over, and become a walk- ing encyclopedia and dictionary, but if he is unacquainted with his law books, as a lawyer he is a failure. He must become full of the thoughts of God. He must eat the Word and digest it and turn it into spiritual blood and bone and muscle and nerve and sinew, until he be- comes, as someone has said, "A living Bible, eighteen inches wide by six feet long, bound in human skin.
During one of his revival services in Boston he said, "I gave myself to a great deal of prayer. After my evening services I would retire as early as I could, but rose at 4 o'clock in the morning because I could sleep no longer, and immediately went to the study and engaged in prayer. And so deeply was my mind exercised, and so absorbed in prayer, that I frequently continued from the time I arose at 4 o'clock, till called to breakfast at 8 o'clock.
My days were spent as far as I could get time, in search- ing the Scriptures. I read nothing else all that Winter but my Bible, and a great deal of it seemed new to me. Again the Lord took me, as it were, from Genesis to Revela- tion. He said to Joshua, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate there- in day and night.
And the difference between him and the ungodly is the difference between a fruitful tree planted by the river and "the chaff which the wind driveth away. General Booth read her Bible through a number of times before she was twelve years old. No wonder God made her a "mother of nations. Whitefield read the Bible through many times on his knees with Henry's notes.
Again and again the writer has read his Bible through on his knees, and it is ever new, and as David said, "sweeter also than honey or the honeycomb. It is here that he is to study the mind and heart of God, the truth about Jesus Christ, sin and the way of escape from it, and the facts about Heaven and Hell, a Judgment Day 62 THE soul-winner's secret.
Here he is to find a law for the lawless, warnings for the careless, prom- ises for the penitent, encouragement for the distressed, balm for the wounded, healing for the sick, life for the dead. He is to "preach the Word," for it is "prof- itable for doctrine, for reproof, for correc- tion, for instruction in righteousness ; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work. It must pass through his own soul and become a part of his own spiritual life before he can preach it with power and apply it effectually to the saving of men.
And in order to do this he must be filled with the Holy Ghost. In fact, it is only as he is filled with the Spirit that he will be able to get much benefit from the Word of God or have much love for it. The Bible is a sealed book to unspiritual people, but when the Comforter comes it is unsealed and its wondrous meaning made clear. I read recently of a lad, who could not read, receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Then he got his unsaved sister to read the Bible to him and he explained it to her.
The Holy Ghost in him enabled him to understand what the Holy Ghost in holy m. Only the Holy Ghost can help men to understand His Book. An old colored lady loved her Bible very much. A friend who found her reading it frequently, gave her a commentary to assist her in getting at its meaning. A few days later seeing her, he asked, "Well, Auntie, how do you like that book I gave you?
They received the Word with all readiness. They searched the Scriptures. It was not with them just a hasty, careless, thoughtless reading; they searched as men would search for hid treasure. They did this daily. Personally, for years I have given the best hour of the day to the Bible, until I want it more than I want my food. It should be read early in the day, before other things crowd in. What is read should be remembered. In eating it is not the amount we eat, but the amount we digest that does us good, and just so is it in reading and studying.
It is not the amount we read, but what we remember and make our own that does us good. Ten pages a day will mean from ten to fifteen books a year. Hills, and Finney's and Caughey's works will make a library that can be read again and again with untold profit by soul-winners. Not too much time should be spent over newspapers.
It would probably not be wise to discard them altogether, but better do that than let them rob you of the time that should be spent in deep study and earnest prayer. I once heard the General say, "I have not read a newspaper for ten days. It is well to carry a note-book and constantly make notes. Glad- stone made notes on the margins of books he read.
The soul- winner should study not only books, but men and methods. He examined thousands of people — men, women and children, with reference to their religious experience, and especially their experiences of sanctification, until he became acquainted with the human heart and the workings of the Holy Spirit as few men have ever done. I know of no better and surer method of acquainting one's self with the human heart and the way the Holy Spirit works with men to save than by this close, personal, private conversation and in- quiry about the religious experiences of the Christians around us.
This is the scientific method applied to the study of the human heart, the Christian life and religious experience, and it can be carried on wher- ever you can find a human soul to talk with you. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper, and 6e in health, even as thy soul prospereth. The soul-winner must take the best care he knows how of his body, yet without everlast- ingly cuddling and petting and pitying him- self.
This is his sacred duty. The body is the instrument through which the mind and the soul work in this world. A good body is as essential to the soul-winner as is a good instrument to the musician, or a staunch boat to the strong rower, and should be no more despised and neglected than is his gun by the huntsman or his axe by the woods- man. Paul, "that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost?
Most men who have made a mark in the world, though there are some striking ex- ceptions, have had a splendid basis of physi- cal force and power. When Moses died on Mount Nebo at years of age, "his eyes were not dimmed nor his natural force abated," and that notwithstanding the fact that for forty years he had had the tremen- dous task of organizing, legislating for, judging, and ruling a great nation of slaves just delivered from years of bondage and wandering like sheep in a mountainous wilderness. Paul must have had a robust constitution and fairly good health to have endured the stonings and whippings, impris- onments and shipwrecks, hungerings and thirstings, fighting with fierce beasts and contentions with yet fiercer men, besides the care of all the churches which fell to his lot daily.
He was one of nineteen children, and his father was a poor clergy- man. For several years he had nothing to eat but bread, which may have accounted for his small size, but which he himself said probably laid the foundations of good health which he afterward enjoyed. It must have been whole wheat bread, however, and not the white, starchy stuff of modern bakers. In after years he always ate sparingly, and only ate a few articles of food at any one meal. He lived much out of doors, preached almost daily and sometimes several times a day in the open air. At the age of yz he makes this remarkable entry in his journal: What nat- ural means has God used to produce so wonderful an effect?
Continual exercise and change of air by traveling about 4, miles a year. Constant rising at 4 o'clock. The ability, if ever I want, of sleeping immediately. The never losing a night's sleep in my life. Two violent fevers and two deep consumptions. These, it is true, were rough medicines, but they were of admirable service, causing my flesh to come again as the flesh of a little child.
May I add, lastly, evenness of temper? I feel, I grieve, but by the grace of God I fret at nothing, but still the help that is done upon the earth God doeth it Himself; and this He doeth in answer to many prayers. Young people are usually prodigal of their health and strength, and nature will allow them to make large drafts upon these treasures, but keeps strict account, and will surely require interest and principal in due time.
Altri titoli da considerare
It is a rather remarkable fact that often those who have had poor health in youth so learn to take care of themselves and obey the laws of health and not impose upon their bodies, that they outlast and out- work many who started out with a greater physical capital. Those who desire good health, long life and a cheerful old age should live simply and regularly; they should seek enough sleep and at the same time be careful not to take too much sleep. Wesley could get along with six hours' sleep at night, though he had the happy faculty of taking naps through the day, even sleeping on horseback.
Na- poleon frequently got along with three hours' sleep, but General Grant said that when in the midst of his heaviest campaigns he required nine hours. I have heard Gen- eral Booth say that he needed eight hours at least. Women usually need at least an 72 THE soul-winner's secret. No rule can be laid down to fit every case, however, so that the soul-winner who is a conscientious man must find out for himself what is best for himself, make his own rule and keep it religiously as unto the Lord. There is a danger of lying in bed too long as well as too short a time.
The Duke of Wellington said: George Miiller, the great philanthropist of Bristol Orphanage fame, found the nerves of his head weak and painful, and thought to strengthen them by taking a nap after dinner each day, but in- stead of getting stronger they got weaker, and he suffered increasing pain. He finally decided that the relaxation of sleep produced the weakness, and substituted a cold bath for his head, and found immediate and in- creasing benefit from it. Sleep should be taken in a room that is well ventilated in Winter as well as in Sum- mer.
All good physicians and hygienists insist upon this, and also that one should not sleep in any garment worn during the day. He discovered that the sun came up in the morning. He thought that it would be a great financial saving to the world if people could only be brought to recognize this fact, and instead of turning night into day by artificial light, should go to bed early and get up with the sun. No doubt there would be many dol- lars saved and also much nervous energy. We have fallen on evil days, however, and it is not likely we shall ever get back to the habits of our forefathers and go to bed with the birds.
The soul-winner, though, ought conscientiously to go to bed as quick- ly as possible after meeting. This can be done, unless he foolishly prefers to sit up and indulge in small talk and late suppers, in which case, if he does not destroy his health, he will at least greatly injure it and cripple his soul-saving power. Exercise is also very necessary for health. A Salvation Army officer who does the regu- lation amount of visiting, War Cry selling and open-air meetings will get a great deal of exercise in the walking done, and if he throws back his shoulders and breathes deeply, will require very little additional 74 THE soul-winner's secret.
But as the human body, like a chain, is not stronger than at its weakest point, a little general systematic exercise is useful to keep every organ of the body in good health and vigor. This may have been God's will for him, but I can hardly believe it is His will, generally speaking, for soul- winners, and am persuaded that if Caughey had obeyed the injunction, "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work," and had religiously taken one day in seven for relaxation, refreshment and rest, he need not have spent those thirty years in retirement.
Work is absolutely necessary for health, but so also is rest. The heart of man works for ninety years and in some instances even longer, but it rests one half the time. There is a legend that when the Apostle John was nearly loo years of age, he was visited by a man who was anxious to see the beloved disciple of the Lord.
The man found the old apostle playing with some little children, rebuked the aged saint and told him it illy fitted an apostle of the Lord, at his age, to be indulging in childish games.
The old man replied in substance: In other words, there must be rest. I have found that when I get very tired and am least fit to do anything, that I then feel an imperative necessity for doing something, and then it is that I must put on the brakes and rest by sheer force of will, if need be. The next day he finds his nervous force restored and is ready for any amount of hard work. Sir Isaac Holden, the noted English Methodist, was a very delicate little man, but by careful attention to the laws of diet, ventilation of room, etc.
Stead says of him: If you doubt it and have a bad temper, my friend, let me implore you to try it," wrote a wise hygienist. Several years ago a friend took me to visit Neal Dow, "the Father of Prohibi- tion," who was then over ninety years of age, and in good health. My friend asked him the secret of his long life and splendid health. The old man replied: Second, I have always gone to bed early, slept well and gotten up early.
Third, I have always taken an active interest in public morals and in the welfare of my fellow men. Fourth, I never eat anything that I have found out by experience hurts me. I am very fond of baked beans, but they do me harm, therefore, I do not eat them. I knew a minister who was afiflicted with gastritis. He wanted some meat for supper; it was on the table in the form of mince pie. He ought to have known, and probably did, that with the kind of stomach he had, mince pie was no diet for him, but he liked it. He ate it, and he nearly died that night.
Rich, fatty suppers should not be eaten. Cold bread is preferable to hot bread. It is wise to follow a rule of Gladstone's: Daniel Waldo once said: Do you want to know how to grow old slowly and happily? Let me tell you. Always eat slowly, masticate well, go to your occupation smiling, keep a good nature and temper everywhere. Hanaford, in writing to a public singer who was afflicted with catarrh and sore throat, said: I am fully convinced that a large per cent, of the sore throats, inflamed eyes and nasal passages, and the like, so often attributed to colds, are due to stomach derangement resulting from large quantities of common food, and the too free use of such heating things as sweets, fats and oils and starches, fine flour being prominent.
Lost hope is a fatal disease. One of the fruits of the Spirit is hope. Court the fresh air day and night. If you have poor health and a broken constitution, don't despair. Baxter, one of the mightiest men of God that ever lived, the St. Paul and the General Booth of his day, was a life-long invalid and suf- fered almost intolerable things, but he praised God for it, for he declared it kept him alive to eternal things, weaned him from the world and led him constantly to "preach as a dying man to dying men. But few men in health and strength have been so used of God as he was in his weak- ness.
Personally I have suffered much from broken health, exhausted nerves and sleep- less nights, and at one time feared that my work was done, but by prayer and care I have been so far restored to health and strength that I can work six days in the HEALTH. Though our outward man perish, yet the in- ward man is renewed day by day.
To do God's work we must have God's power. And again He said: The soul-winner receives this power when he is sanctified wholly and filled with the Spirit, and he need never lose it. But while the Holy Spirit abides with the believer, there yet seems to be need for frequent renewals of the power He bestows. Years ago President Asa Mahan wrote as follows of his old friend: Sometimes the soul feels the need of a renewal of its power when confronted by great opposition, danger and powerful foes. The apostles were filled with the Holy Ghost, and had not only won their great pentecostal victory, but many others as well, when suddenly a stub- born wall of opposition arose before them.
They were arrested by the rulers, thrust into prison, brought before the high priest, sharply questioned by what power and name they were working their miracles, and then when no ground for punishment could be found, they were threatened and commanded to preach no more in the name of Jesus. For victory is usually secured as the result of great spiritual and mental activity, and often physical activity as well, and it is but natural that there should be a reaction; the pendulum, if left alone, swings to the other extreme. Depression may follow, the powers of soul and mind relax, joyful emotions subside, and the inexperienced soul-winner may at this point get into great perplexity, and suffer from fierce tempta- tion, and strain himself to keep up his accustomed spiritual activity, crying out with David, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted with- in me?
But what is needed now is not so much anxious wrestling with God as quiet wait- ing upon God for a renewal of power, say- ing to his soul, "Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God," and though heart and flesh do fail, "yet God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for- ever.
I once heard a wise old evangelist, one of the mightiest this country has produced, say that while at home after a season of rest, the Spirit of God would come upon him, leading him to earnest prayer and travail for the salvation of men. This was God's way of preparing him for a campaign, and for victory, and away he would go for battle and siege, to rescue the souls of men, and never did he fail to win. But after a while there seemed to be an abatement of power, when he would return home for another season of rest and quiet, waiting upon God for the renewal of his strength.
And thus he continued till he was past eighty, still bringing forth fruit in old age. Paul must have received a great addition of power when, instead of removing his "thorn," Jesus said to him, "My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.
Spiritual power is not necessarily dependent upon physical energy, and how- ever much he may be afflicted with in- firmities, there are mighty enduements of power for the soul-winner if he intel- ligently and with quiet and persistent faith seeks them from on high. There will be times of loneliness and spiritual agony such as Jesus suffered in the Garden, or Elijah when he felt that all the prophets were slain, and there was none true to God in Israel but himself.
And he may fully expect such a renewal. An angel came and strengthened Jesus in His agony Luke 2,2'. It was Jesus that cheered Paul in the chief captain's castle Acts These renewals of power are not always necessarily of an extraordinary character. And so there may be times when the Spirit of God falls upon the soul- winner, giving him great uplifts and visions and courage.
But ordinarily power comes by the use of the simple means of much regular prayer and patient, diligent search- ing of God's Word and a daily listening to God's voice. It is renewed like fire, not by the fall of lightning from Heaven, but by the addition of new fuel; like physical strength, not by some hypodermic injec- tion of fresh blood, but by proper food. David calls upon his soul to bless God "who satis- fieth thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. This will require time and attention on our part, but it will be time well spent.
It is by appropriate food, then, that the soul is strengthened. Jesus told us what that food was when He said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Through it we see Jesus and come to know our Lord.
Books by Catherine Booth
My own strength is usually renewed by the opening up of some new truth, or the powerful application of some promises, or portion of the Word of God to my soul, which I am enabled to make my own by a definite and bold, affectionate and dare-devil act of faith in secret prayer. He who thinks to succeed in this infinite business of saving souls with a heart that is divided as yet knows nothing as he ought to know concerning the matter.
That a man may by personal magnetism, grace of manners, power or persuasiveness of speech, and a certain skill in playing upon the emotions and self-interest of the people, create an excitement that fairly simulates a revival, and yet have a divided heart, I admit; but that he can bring men to a thorough repentance and renunciation of sin, a hearty embrace of the Cross, an affectionate surrender to Jesus as a personal Saviour and Master who requires deep humility and meekness and tender love 92 THE soul-winner's SECRET.
As certainly as like begets like, so cer- tainly will the soul-winner put the mark of his own spirit and consecration upon the people he influences; if he is himself not more than half won to the cause of his lowly Master, he will not more than half win others. His task is the mightiest to which men were ever set. The physical scientist manipulates and changes dead matter, the newspaper man seeks principally to amuse or interest people for the passing hour; the lawyer and poli- tician simply seek to change and mould the opinions of men; but the soul-winner is dealing with fundamentals.
His object is not merely to change the opinions and conduct, but to change character; to work a moral revolution in the affections, the dis- positions, the wills of men; to turn them from temporal things which they see, to eternal things, which they do not see, from all vices to virtues, from utter selfishness to utter self-sacrifice, and often in spite of all present self-interest, and in the face of the combined opposition of the world, the flesh and the devil.
Nor is it merely to save men from sin, which is rather a negative work, but to save them into all goodness and love and holiness through a vital and eternal union with Jesus — a union that gives perpetual vigor and energy and fruitfulness in righteous- ness to all the powers of the soul, filling it with grace and truth. This is no little work, and can never be the work of a man with a divided heart. It is like turning Niagara Falls back upon its source, or causing the sun and the moon to stand still on Ajalon; it can only be done by God's power, and that power is only fully bestowed upon, and only works freely in and through those whose hearts are per- fect toward Him.
The soul-winner, then, must once and for all, abandon himself to the Lord and to the Lord's work, and, having put his hand to the plow, must not look back, if he would succeed in this mighty business. Here it is that many fail; they have not a single eye. They make provisions for retreat.
They are doubleminded, like an officer I knew, who dabbled in photography till it divided his life and hearty and got him out of the work; like a minister of whom I heard the other day, who reads another man's sermons to his people, while he studies law, saying that when he gets a poor appointment he will fall back on the law and leave the ministry, forgetting Paul's words to Timothy: