PRACT 
 
 IDEALS 
 
 EVANGELISM 
 
 C.H.RUST 
 
 luliiiniiiiiiii 
 
BV 3790 .R9 1906 
 Rust, Charles Herbert, 1869 
 Practical ideals in 
 evangelism 
 
Erratum : 
 The foot-note on p. lOO should be on p. 50. 
 
PRACTICAL IDEALS 
 
 IN 
 
 EVANGELISM 
 
PRACTICAL IDEALS 
 
 IN 
 
 EVANGELISM 
 
 ^%^ftCAl St 
 
 By Charles Herbert Rust 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 XLbc (3rimtb Si IRowlanD IPrcas 
 
 1906 
 
Copyright 1906 by the 
 American Baptist Publication Society 
 
 Published November, 1906 
 
 from tbe Soc(eti?'8 own t>tee» 
 
Uo m^ Mite 
 
 WHOSE WINNING PERSONALITY AND 
 CONSECRATED VOICE IN SONG HAVE 
 GREATLY ADDED TO THE EFFECTIVE- 
 NESS OF THE WORK, I AFFECTION- 
 ATELY DEDICATE THIS VOLUME 
 
IPubIi0ber6* mote 
 
 At few periods of the church's history 
 has its attention been so generally directed 
 to the subject of evangelism. The form 
 may be somewhat changed, but the thing 
 itself looms up large. It is being more 
 and more felt that the church or pas- 
 tor that is unevangelistic is missing the 
 mark. There is a questioning also as to the 
 best methods and means. '' Hozv shall we 
 get zvhat we so generally desire ? " people 
 are asking. This book is an effort to get 
 at an answer. Mr. Rust has had wide ex- 
 perience, and is a most enthusiastic believer 
 in the work whose claims he advocates. It 
 is earnestly felt that his book cannot be 
 otherwise than a helpful influence among 
 our ministers and churches, and for evan- 
 gelists as well. 
 
Contente 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. The Importance of Evangelism .... 17 
 II. Some Phases of Evangelism 47 
 
 III. The Ideal Evangelist 87 
 
 IV. The Ideal Message 124 
 
 V. The Ideal Method 167 
 
 VI. The Ideal After-Meeting 222 
 
 VII. Evangelism with the Young People . 251 
 VIII. Evangelism with the Individual . . . 299 
 
Ilntro&uctton 
 
 OR a number of years, I have been 
 engaged in evangelistic work, and 
 during that time have endeavored 
 to make a careful examination of this form 
 of Christian service. 
 
 When I began, my motives were right no 
 doubt, but my ideas were exceedingly crude, 
 and my methods were far from the best. 
 However, God and man have taught me 
 much, and in response to appeals from those 
 who have heard my addresses on this sub- 
 ject, I humbly submit to the public, what the 
 word, the Spirit, and experience have been 
 quietly but surely teaching me concerning 
 twentieth-century evangelism. 
 
 Without doubt there is an evangelism 
 which does not appeal to cultured Chris- 
 tian people. We are sure that some good 
 is done by it, for God will bless whatever 
 of truth there is in it, though we may feel 
 that he can scarcely sanction the method 
 employed in the articulation of that truth. 
 But while it may be true that a certain class 
 of people are helped into the kingdom by 
 II 
 
UntroOuctfon 
 
 means of it, yet this sort of evangelistic ef- 
 fort can never satisfy people (inside or out- 
 side of the church) who are most thought- 
 ful, and it does not truly represent the 
 church of Christ, as she seeks to win men 
 and women to the Lord Jesus. 
 
 This form of evangelism has unquestion- 
 ably lowered the whole area of special soul- 
 saving to a position of ill repute, and be- 
 cause of it, many have had reason to think 
 that all so-called " revival " work is per- 
 petuated and bolstered up by a set of re- 
 ligious enthusiasts, and only sanctioned by 
 the church at times when lack of additions 
 to membership force her to do something 
 extraordinary, or on occasions when her 
 intelligent spiritual conscience is dull and 
 hard. But there is another kind which is 
 sane, commendable, Christlike, and no 
 spiritually minded and intelligent Christian 
 can discount or question its legitimate place 
 in the onward march of the kingdom. 
 
 I am willing to confess that my own con- 
 ceptions of evangelism were very narrow 
 when I began the work of an evangelist, 
 and I couched the message in the phrase- 
 ology used by the ordinary gospel exhorter 
 to a large extent. It seemed to me that cer- 
 tain phrases and methods were absolutely 
 
 12 
 
UntroDuction 
 
 indispensable to evangelistic effort. But 
 there has been a gradual evolution of ideas 
 in my mind, brought about by the consci- 
 entious study of actual conditions of church 
 and individual life. On my knees in prayer 
 with pastors who have unburdened their 
 hearts to me, with Christians who have con- 
 fided their problems to me, with inquiring 
 individuals who have expressed their soul 
 needs to me, there has come a vision of an 
 evangelism which thrills me to the very 
 center of my being. I am certain that its 
 author is God, that it appeals to every one 
 who really thinks, that it glorifies Christ 
 and his gospel, that it can be sanctioned by 
 every member of the church, that it holds 
 the attention of the indifferent, that it saves 
 the lost, that it builds up Christians, that it 
 is the normal activity of the church of 
 Christ. The result of this study I gladly 
 give to one and all. I am not to write what 
 has come to me in the reading of other 
 books alone, but rather that which has been 
 forced upon me by actual experience with 
 pastors, workers, church-members, and 
 people outside of the church who are in 
 the midst of real life. 
 
 I am fully aware of the fact that many 
 books have been written on this subject by 
 13 
 
UntroDuction 
 
 men who have been in the work longer 
 than I have, and it is not in my mind to 
 claim more knowledge than they. But I 
 have been impressed with the fact that not- 
 withstanding the number of valuable con- 
 tributions to evangelistic thought, yet there 
 seems to be something lacking; namely, 
 practical suggestions as to how to make 
 evangelism effective and at the same time 
 of a kind that will appeal to the general 
 public and to the church as being truly 
 sane. If from those solid foundation prin- 
 ciples and doctrines which must underlie 
 all service of this nature, we cannot evolve 
 messages and methods which will be of real 
 practical help to the thinking man and 
 woman who are in the struggle for bread 
 and butter and for moral victory, then how 
 can we be successful? 
 
 We may rest assured that there is a re- 
 ligious activity called evangelism which is 
 rational and effectual, and we need make no 
 apology for it. It will stand the test every- 
 where, even when subjected to the keenest 
 critical analysis. It fits into the needs of 
 man perfectly and God has prepared the 
 human heart for it. We may face the whole 
 world with it and command the attention 
 of the most intellectual. It satisfies the soul 
 14 
 
UntroDuction 
 
 of man, its fruit is practical ethics, and it 
 is reasonable from early morning till late 
 at night; yes, every hour of the day and 
 night. The preacher may walk into his 
 pulpit with its message thrilling his soul, 
 happily confident that he has the best news 
 on earth, and it may be presented in such 
 a manner as to cause every one to feel that 
 such truth is surely from God and for men. 
 The church of Christ may be permeated 
 with its spirit and reasonably expect that 
 God and the thoughtful people of the world 
 approve. We may consider that God has 
 given it to the world as a legacy and we are 
 the honored trustees to dispense it. We 
 may carry it forth to the humblest and the 
 most exalted, to peasants and kings, to rich 
 and poor, to sick and healthy, to living and 
 dying, to every creature of earth and be 
 proud of the fact that God has called us to 
 deliver the message of the evangel. 
 
 It is the prayer of the author of this little 
 volume that the record of God's dealings 
 concerning this most important subject may 
 in some way help to inspire all who read 
 to have a part in a continuous, convin- 
 cing, cultured, and conscientious gospel 
 evangelism. 
 
 New York City, August i, 1906. ^' "■' ^' 
 
 15 
 
Practical Ideals in 
 Evangelism 
 
 I 
 
 Zbc ITmportance ot JSvanaeUam 
 
 N this chapter and before referring 
 to the various phases or divisions 
 of a normal evangehstic Hfe in 
 the church, I would like to write of the 
 place that effort for the salvation of 
 others ought to have in the service of 
 every Christian. There has never been 
 a time in the history of the world 
 when this subject was as prominent as it is 
 to-day. It is getting to be the one theme 
 of the pulpit and the pew. There is a very 
 evident demand on the part of many of the 
 laymen in our churches for a spiritual evan- 
 gelistic ministry, and thousands of preach- 
 ers are determined to be evangelistic at 
 any cost, and are longing for hearty 
 co-operation from the pew. 
 B 17 
 
practical UDeals in :i6van9eli0m 
 
 Evangelism, which is that form of Chris- 
 tian activity that expresses itself in earnest 
 solicitation for the salvation of lost man, 
 is a term which is becoming actually popu- 
 lar. It is on the lips of millions of Chris- 
 tian workers as never before. It is a burn- 
 ing question in the ecclesiastical life of the 
 twentieth century. But the world needs to 
 be aroused even more to its importance, for 
 we are sure that God intended that work for 
 the unsaved should form a distinctive and 
 large part in the life of every church of 
 Christ. If there is any one feature of 
 Christian activity which is emphasized in 
 the New Testament more than another, it is 
 this. Surely every reader will agree with 
 me when I state that the effort to win others 
 to Christ has a definitely outlined place in 
 the work of the kingdom. It was in the 
 mind of Christ, for he came to seek and to 
 save the lost. It is the expression of the 
 spirit of the gospel which demands that we 
 give to others that which we possess. Paul 
 said, '' I am debtor to those who are not 
 saved, because I possess that which they 
 need." He also says, "My heart's desire and 
 prayer for Israel is that they might be 
 saved," and he adds, " I am seeking to be 
 all things to all men in order that I may 
 i8 
 
Zbc irmpoctance of iSvangeUsm 
 
 save some." All of this forces us to believe 
 that the essential work of the church is to 
 reach out for the unconverted. 
 
 To be sure there have been times of edu- 
 cation, of training, of edification, of cleans- 
 ing and of building up the body of Christ, 
 but all for one purpose, to get ready to work 
 the more intelligently to bring others into 
 the fold that they may be educated and 
 strengthened to bring others still, and thus 
 continue the glorious service of soul-saving. 
 
 I. Intelligent Self-interest Demands 
 IT. If no new life comes into the church, 
 then the church will soon be dead and an or- 
 ganization of the past. If we wish to keep 
 Christianity alive in the churches, and capa- 
 ble of exerting a continuous influence for 
 righteousness, we must see to it that the 
 birth-rate is more than equal to the death- 
 rate. It makes our hearts sick to know that 
 so many churches are facing their graves all 
 the time, and so many have actually died, 
 simply because they have no disposition and 
 energy to seek to bring others to Christ. It 
 would seem as if any church that simply 
 loved itself would make an effort to win 
 men and women to Jesus. Any Christian 
 who cared to have the cause of Christ per- 
 petuated by reason of the existence of his 
 19 
 
Ipractical Hdcals tn iBvmQciiem 
 
 own church ought to be aHve to the situa- 
 tion and reahze that this can only be se- 
 cured by hard work for the salvation of 
 others. How can one say that he loves 
 Christ and his church and yet make no ef- 
 fort to increase her membership ? Love for 
 the bridegroom would surely inspire one 
 to help perfect, or complete the church, 
 which is his bride. Well may the prea.cher 
 and the lay member question their love for 
 Christ, their devotion to the church whose 
 life they profess to be interested in, if there 
 is no zeal expressed in securing additions to 
 the flock. 
 
 11. Desire for Growth Demands it. 
 However, the desire to add to the member- 
 ship of the church simply that she may be 
 kept alive is not the highest motive for 
 evangelism. Every normal child wants 
 actually to grow. It is not enough barely to 
 exist, only to live, to be able to stand alone 
 with as much strength as at some previous 
 time. We are not to exist for ourselves 
 only, but for others, and with ordinary 
 consecrated efforts in the power of the 
 Holy Spirit, the church ought to grow 
 numerically. 
 
 Some one has said that " what we need is 
 not a greater number of Christians, but a 
 
 20 
 
^be ITmportance ot BvanQClism 
 
 number of greater Christians." I would 
 change it to read, " What we need in our 
 church Hfe of to-day is greater Christians 
 and greater numbers also." Is it at all cor- 
 rect to infer that numerical growth ought 
 to cease because greatness of character 
 among those now members of the church is 
 so much needed? 
 
 What we need is both, and there is no 
 reason for us to think that the two cannot 
 go together. Every true pastor endeavors 
 to train and build up in doctrine and char- 
 acter those under his care, but does he 
 spend the greater part of his strength and 
 time in edifying his church-members, simply 
 that they may be great, and glory in their 
 greatness? No. They have been strength- 
 ened that they may be more efficient to bring 
 others into the fold of Christ. We must not 
 allow ourselves to think that in order to 
 make those within better Christians we 
 must cease our efforts for those without. 
 The two processes can be moving on at the 
 same time, and I believe are in the ideal 
 church of to-day. We read in Acts 9:31: 
 '' So the church throughout all Judea and 
 Galilee and Samaria had peace, being edi- 
 fied: and, walking in the fear of the Lord, 
 and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost was 
 21 
 
{practical UDeals in iBvmgcliem 
 
 multiplied." Here was edification and 
 multiplication also. 
 
 Pastors have said to me, I am spending 
 these months in training, in building up my 
 church, in hopes that at some time in the 
 future we shall be ready to do the work of 
 gathering in some new members. I am fully 
 aware of the truth that there is in this 
 statement, and preparation for soul-saving 
 is sorely needed in many churches, but I 
 am profoundly convinced that the two can 
 go together, and that the one is a great help 
 to the other. There is danger of waiting 
 too long to do soul-saving work. Then I 
 fear that some are disposed to criticize the 
 pastor who has large numbers added to his 
 church, and jump at the conclusion that ad- 
 ditions in any considerable number, and real 
 development do not go together. I remem- 
 ber hearing a prominent city pastor say 
 that when he went off on some summer 
 outing and met a preacher on the veranda 
 of a hotel, who said with pride, " We had 
 one hundred and seventy-five additions by 
 baptism to our church during the past year," 
 this pastor wanted to know whether it was 
 real growth or simply bloat. His manner 
 rather forced his hearers to infer that he 
 thought it was a diseased bloat. 
 
 22 
 
tZbc ITmportance ot BvangeUsm 
 
 Now I appreciate the point and it is one 
 well taken. No doubt there are some 
 preachers whose work of ingathering can 
 be characterized thus, and there are some 
 pastors who do not realize the importance 
 of the teaching function of the ministry. 
 This fact hinders the work of edification 
 very much, but we must not decide that all 
 large growth is bloat, and thereby think 
 that we have reason to be satisfied with 
 very few additions to our churches, believ- 
 ing that any greater number would imply 
 a diseased condition. Possibly some one 
 might truthfully refer to the pastor who 
 rather sneered at the idea of receiving so 
 many into the church in one year, as the 
 one who constantly fed his people with the 
 rich food of the gospel, and they, not hav- 
 ing any evangelistic exercise to help digest 
 it, were growing into a diseased condition, 
 which was most emphatically " bloat." 
 
 We need to be very careful in our state- 
 ments, and well balanced in our inferences. 
 It is possible to have growth both in the 
 character of those within, and in the num- 
 bers of the church, at the same time. All 
 numerical growth is not bloat. Methinks it 
 would not hurt a few churches to see large 
 numbers of people coming to Christ and his 
 23 
 
practical HCJcals in Evangelism 
 
 church, even if some were determined to 
 call it bloat. I personally think the anxiety 
 ought to be on the other side. 
 
 Some pastors have gifts of teaching, 
 others gifts which make winning the un- 
 saved easy, but the one is not to misjudge 
 the other. Without doubt the ideal ministry 
 is both. Every pastor endowed with spe- 
 cial evangelistic gifts ought to cultivate by 
 hard study and effort the ability to teach and 
 build up those who are brought to Christ 
 under his ministry, and every pastor in 
 whom the teaching function is very evident, 
 should endeavor by careful study and genu- 
 ine, persistent effort to become efficient in 
 evangelism. I fully believe it is possible 
 for any preacher of the gospel whose heart 
 is on fire for the salvation and Christian 
 culture of men and women, to be in 
 possession of both of these powers. 
 
 A deacon in a Western church said to 
 me : " During a former pastorate of our 
 church large numbers of people were re- 
 ceived for membership ; there were continu- 
 ous additions, but all we thought of was get- 
 ting them in (that was the goal), and they 
 were not properly cared for after we re- 
 ceived them.. Then during another pastorate 
 the pastor spent about all of his time preach- 
 24 
 
^be fmportance ot Bvansclism 
 
 ing to and working for the church-members, 
 i. e., seeking to build them up, and we were 
 not working very hard to get the unsaved 
 in." Here are two extremes. Either con- 
 dition is not ideal. Evidently each pastor 
 thought he was doing the more important 
 service and neglected the other. To my 
 mind it seems as if the ideal church is the 
 one in which under the faithful preaching 
 of an able pastor each member is growing 
 stronger in faith and more intelligent in 
 heart and mind-culture, and yet at the same 
 time the church is actively engaged in evan- 
 gelism and receiving a goodly number of 
 additions each month. This is a healthful 
 condition, this is a normal state of spiritual 
 life, training and winning at the same time. 
 
 Not long ago a few workers were dis- 
 cussing the subject of soul-winning when a 
 pastor of a large church said : " I have not 
 received a new convert into my church this 
 year and yet it has been the best in my 
 pastorate." . No remarks were made, but his 
 startling statement stunned me, and I found 
 myself wondering what the other years in 
 his pastorate were and upon what basis he 
 decided which year was the best. 
 
 I suppose he wanted us to understand that 
 it had been an excellent year in edification. 
 25 
 
{practical UDealg In iBvmQclism 
 
 He had been conscious of real development 
 within the fold. But how could it be the 
 best year if there were no converts, no new 
 voices in testimony? His standard must 
 have been very low or he considered that 
 training and winning could not go together. 
 
 Personally I do not understand how a 
 pastor could be satisfied to go through 
 twelve months and see no converts even if 
 his people were growing rapidly. If his 
 teaching during those months had been 
 toward the definite end of soul-winning, and 
 he was perfectly confident that his church 
 would be at work for converts during the 
 thirteenth month, then I could understand 
 it (possibly), but simply to build up and 
 leave it there seems unsatisfactory indeed. 
 
 Then why could he not have had the best 
 year in training and at the same time have 
 seen people converted under his ministry? 
 Can any year be best without both of these 
 results visible? I feel sure that the pastor 
 would have had a much more satisfactory 
 year if he had been conscious of leading 
 some to Christ. Probably he did not really 
 intend us to think that the year would not 
 have been better if new voices in confession 
 of Christ had been heard. I am constrained 
 to think so anyway. 
 
 26 
 
Zbc ITmportance ot Bvangelism 
 
 The positive need for aggressive evangel- 
 ism is plainly seen in the statistics of ad- 
 ditions to our Northern Baptist churches, as 
 compiled by the editor of the " Examiner." 
 When he read Dr. Carroll's report that it 
 was estimated that the nine thousand Bap- 
 tist churches of the North had gained but 
 four thousand eight hundred and sixty-four 
 as a net increase in 1905, he believed it 
 must be a mistake, and at once instituted a 
 personal inquiry, with the result that 
 twenty-nine thousand is the correct number 
 of net additions. While Dr. Carroll was 
 mistaken and we are glad of it, yet have we 
 any reason to be satisfied with the results of 
 our ministry to a lost world ? The " Ex- 
 aminer's " report and conclusions are as 
 follows : 
 
 The figures for the twenty-eight States heard 
 from are as follows : 
 
 Accessions. Baptized, 51,872; restored, 9,174', 
 total, 61, 046. 
 
 Losses. Died, 6,687; excluded, 26,017; total, 
 32,704. Net gain, 28,342. 
 
 Estimating the net increase in the two States 
 not heard from — Minnesota and Montana — at 
 ninety per cent, of that in 1904, the total will not 
 be far from 29,000. 
 
 These figures, representing as nearly as pos- 
 sible actual results, are worthy of serious study. 
 27 
 
©tactical UDeals in Evangelism 
 
 They suggest several inquiries, i. As to the num- 
 ber of baptisms : Does not an average of less than 
 six baptisms to the church indicate a sad lack 
 of the evangeHstic spirit in our churches? 2. As 
 to the large number of exclusions : While in one 
 sense the figures may be regarded as gratifying, 
 because they indicate a wholesome desire to purge 
 the membership, do they not also indicate a seri- 
 ous lack of care in receiving members and of 
 proper " tending " of those who are received ? 
 The exclusion or " dropping " of more than half as 
 many as were received by baptism would seem to 
 indicate the need of more careful oversight of the 
 flock, as the comparatively small number of bap- 
 tisms does the spiritual inertia of a large pro- 
 portion of the members. If the Baptist brother- 
 hood would put a tithe of the energy into the 
 work of soul-saving which they put into their 
 secular business, the fifty-odd thousand conver- 
 sions last year would have aggregated, it is not 
 unreasonable to say, not less than three times that 
 number. We say this, not because we believe 
 that human energy alone could have compassed 
 such a result, but because we are sure that the 
 abundant blessing of God will always attend the 
 efforts of an alert, spiritual, aggressively evan- 
 gelistic church. 
 
 Added comment is hardly necessary, and 
 yet I must write that the evidence is all 
 too clear that the church needs a ministry 
 of edification and also one of evangelism. 
 Both should be strong and go hand in hand. 
 One is no less essential than the other. 
 28 
 
tTbe Ifmpottance ot JSvanselism 
 
 III. The Condition of the Unsaved 
 Demands it. i. In relation to eternity. 
 Not simply because we want to exist as a 
 church, or even because we want the church 
 to grow, do we feel the imperative need of 
 evangelistic effort, but for the sake of those 
 who are really ruined by sin and subject to 
 eternal doom, do we labor to win them to 
 Jesus. 
 
 No extended argument of mine is needed 
 to prove to any of my readers the force of 
 this statement, and yet we have become so 
 familiar with the fact that its incentive has 
 been largely rendered ineffectual. The fact 
 is that we do not actually believe that men 
 and women and young people who are not 
 true Christians are lost, are condemned eter- 
 nally. Or if we do have any convictions 
 which demand this conclusion, the fact is 
 not real to us. We can easily think of rea- 
 sons why we are not conscious of it, but 
 those reasons do not alter the fact. Here is 
 the core of the whole matter. Without 
 doubt this consciousness of the awful con- 
 dition of the unsaved as they yield to the 
 power of sin is the foundation-stone on 
 which much of our evangelistic zeal is to be 
 erected. If this were fully realized, evan- 
 gelism would be a natural consequence. We 
 29 
 
practical UDealg in ^mnQcliem 
 
 would not need to implore others to engage 
 in it. They simply could not help it. 
 
 But is it not true that we yield constantly 
 to the thought that God in his love and 
 mercy may, yea probably will, provide for 
 them in some other way? And do we not 
 at death, the death of one who never con- 
 fessed the name of Jesus as Saviour and 
 Lord, find ourselves trying to believe that 
 in the last moments of consciousness the 
 person may have truly sought forgiveness 
 and trusted Jesus ? How hard it is for any 
 of us (even the most orthodox) to say posi- 
 tively, of one who never showed any signs 
 of a new birth, or even confessed Christ, 
 that he was lost eternally, and we knczv it. 
 
 Do we not need to be awakened to the 
 true condition of all who are out of Christ ? 
 While the eternal state of every one is 
 known to us by revelation only, and there 
 is very much that is mysterious about it, 
 yet those of us who have faith in God, in 
 his son Jesus Christ, may settle it once for 
 all by the same processes of reasoning and 
 faith that cause us to say in calm assurance, 
 " I know Him whom I have believed and I 
 am persuaded that he is able to guard that 
 which I have committed unto him against 
 that day," that we are sure that those who 
 30 
 
Zbc Ifmportance of jevangelism 
 
 do not know him are not guarded against 
 that day. They are without hope as far as 
 we can judge. 
 
 If we know it then, how can we refrain 
 from striving hard to save those about us? 
 We see one drowning, or in a place of dan- 
 ger, and the whole nature rises to the need 
 of rescue; with no effort, impelled by an 
 irresistible force, we rush to his aid. But 
 we do not actually see our friends, and man 
 in general, in this position of danger, and 
 we think that the danger may not be immi- 
 nent, and thus we sleep while the world dies 
 in its sin. 
 
 May we not decide at once that a con- 
 sciousness of man's danger of an eternal 
 doom demands of us intense activity in ef- 
 fort for his salvation? The fact is before 
 us. " Awake thou that sleepest." 
 
 2. In relation to time. I cannot leave 
 this thought without saying that in addi- 
 tion to this last incentive to evangeHsm, 
 there is one phase of man's lost condition 
 that appeals to me greatly and the con- 
 sciousness of it has constantly demanded of 
 me effort for the salvation of those about 
 me. 
 
 That phase is the fact that those who re- 
 fuse Christ are lost to all the truest joy 
 31 
 
^•cactical llDeals in JEvangeliem 
 
 and possibilities of life this side the grave, 
 and also lost to God for his use in his 
 glorious service. The realization of this has 
 inspired me to work very hard for all of 
 every age in life to yield to Christ now. 
 It almost breaks my heart, I know it makes 
 me sad, and I actually suffer pain in my 
 soul when I see lives ruined, wasted, not 
 used, and individuals living or rather exist- 
 ing without God. It has forced me to pray 
 much for them, patiently to plead with them 
 after hours of reasoning, to enter the dis- 
 cipleship of Jesus at once. They must not 
 delay. There may be too much to pay if 
 they do, and every moment is freighted with 
 wonderful possibilities which are being lost. 
 I cannot see eternity after the grave. It 
 is not real to me. But life is. I CAN see 
 the effects of sin upon lives. I know with 
 a positive assurance what life with Christ 
 is. I KNOW what the evil one is doing with 
 precious souls, and minds, and bodies this 
 side of death. There is no guessing about 
 that. I know what Jesus can do for our 
 youth before they leave this earth. It is 
 perfectly clear. Its evidence is unmistaka- 
 ble and most convincing. We see all about 
 us fair flowers of promise, crushed in the 
 bud by sin, and that too, just as they were 
 32 
 
XLbc irmportance ot jevanseUsm 
 
 about to blossom into what we had hoped 
 might be a true manhood and womanhood. 
 We also see our youth yielding to Christ 
 and allowing him to develop them to this 
 noblest manhood and womanhood, and our 
 hearts are thrilled as we note these same 
 young people filling large places in the 
 church, in business, and in the home. 
 
 Some of my readers have seen the awful 
 destruction wrought by sin through one in- 
 dividual during fifty years of life on this 
 earth, and they have seen the wonderful 
 power of a life given to Christ, and yielded 
 to his ideals during the same fifty years. 
 As we think of this, the need of saving one 
 from sin for time demands of us activity in 
 evangelism, and the need of inducing our 
 youth to allow Jesus Christ to control and 
 direct their energies for time is forced upon 
 us. How can we be otherwise than in the 
 condition to work with all the power that 
 God can give us to win them to Jesus? 
 Apathy and indifference are inexcusable. 
 
 Only a few weeks ago the people of the 
 world were almost stunned with the news 
 of the terrible earthquake and fire disaster 
 on the Pacific coast. More than three hun- 
 dred million dollars' worth of property was 
 destroyed and hundreds of human lives were 
 c 33 
 
practical UDeals in BvangcUsnt 
 
 sacrificed. Every one who read the papers 
 was impressed with the fact that people of 
 all nations sympathized with the sufferers, 
 and soon messages of condolence were tele- 
 graphed from people of all classes on the 
 earth. The response to the appeal for ma- 
 terial aid was universal; in fact aid was 
 forthcoming before any appeal had been 
 sent out. In one week more than twenty 
 million dollars had been given and train- 
 load after trainload of provisions in rapid 
 succession was sent to the scene of the dis- 
 aster. Railroads gave transportation for 
 this freight, and also for people going to 
 help, and to take people from the district. 
 Surely we have reason to rejoice that the 
 human heart responds so quickly to the need 
 of humanity. 
 
 But something far worse than the Cali- 
 fornia catastrophe is occurring every year 
 in our fair land. The moral natures of 
 thousands are being desecrated and the 
 noble buildings of character are tumbling 
 to destruction under the power of sin. The 
 fires of passion and appetite are destroying 
 the temple of the body as well as the soul. 
 This loss of soul-property which really be- 
 longs to God, this destruction of character, 
 this defiling process of iniquity is continu- 
 34 
 
Zbc Ifmportance ot Bvangeliem 
 
 ously visible to us, and yet we do not seem 
 to realize it. Why is it? Why is not the 
 world alive to it ? Why are we not hurrying 
 to stop this avalanche of sin? Why are we 
 not seeking to save people every moment? 
 
 Is it not because physical and material 
 disasters are far more real to us than the 
 calamities of the soul, and also the fact that 
 the destruction of character goes on more 
 gradually? But we should not be blinded 
 to what is so evident even if it does 
 take a longer time to accomplish it. 
 The sorrows of San Francisco are more 
 than duplicated in the spiritual and moral 
 world every year. Precious gems of man- 
 hood and womanhood are being buried be- 
 neath the ruins of wasted lives every day, 
 and yet we carelessly pursue our way. 
 What would we have thought of the people 
 of America if they had been willing to sit 
 in comfort in their homes and never make 
 any effort to help the distressed ones in 
 California? What does our Lord think 
 of us, if when we are conscious of the 
 need of sin-cursed souls about us, we en- 
 joy the comforts of our salvation and never 
 earnestly seek to save them? 
 
 IV. Mistaken Ideas — Dangers. In our 
 desire to emphasize the importance of this 
 35 
 
Ipractlcal locals in BvatiQeligm 
 
 subject of evangelism, we must be careful 
 to keep it in its proper place. There is 
 danger of making it nothing more nor less 
 than a fad. 
 
 By a fad we mean a spasmodic activity 
 which does not last. If it could be a con- 
 tinual fad, then we wish more churches pos- 
 sessed it and were enthusiastic over it. But 
 a fad is known to be that which arises 
 spontaneously from no deep root-growth of 
 conviction and soon fades away from sight. 
 Then again a fad is that which comes into 
 general use because of the place others 
 have given it, and is popular simply and 
 only because of its acceptance by others. 
 We should not adopt evangelism because 
 others have adopted it. An outside show of 
 activity is not necessarily evangelism. It 
 may simply be a fad. An aggressiveness 
 which is assumed simply because it has be- 
 come momentarily popular is not the evan- 
 gelism we believe in by any means. All 
 evangelistic activity ought to be but the 
 fruit of an intelligent and genuine spiritual 
 life, the roots of which are permanently 
 settled in the abiding presence of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 The success of every church will depend 
 upon how much and in what way evangel- 
 
 36 
 
Zbc importance ot JEvangclism 
 
 ism is thought of by its members. There 
 is great difference between a healthful and 
 continuous work for the unsaved and a sort 
 of sentimental frothy evangelism which has 
 no depth to it. This latter we would call the 
 fad, namely the activity which is but the fad 
 of the emotions, and does not claim the will 
 and the purpose of the brain. I do not 
 blame some for deploring the existence of 
 a sporadic and spasmodic evangelism. It 
 certainly does harm. Hundreds of extrem- 
 ists with no balance of mind, may relegate 
 all other church work to utter uselessness 
 and rush into a sort of soul-saving business 
 which lasts for only a brief period and in the 
 end accomplishes little, and therefore does 
 not benefit the church permanently. These 
 same people may discount the work of the 
 faithful pastor and rush off to missions and 
 special meetings in other churches, declar- 
 ing that their pastors and churches are do- 
 ing nothing because they do not use the 
 same methods to reach the lost that the 
 workers in the missions do. If these people 
 were wise they would stop their criticizing 
 and help make their own church continu- 
 ously evangelistic. What the world needs 
 to-day is a spiritual church with every 
 member an intelligent, well-balanced Chris- 
 
 37 
 
Ipcactical UDeala in JBvawQcliem 
 
 tian, full of the fire of the Holy Spirit, con- 
 tinually engaged in a wise evangelistic 
 movement as opportunity offers itself. This 
 activity is to be the natural fruit of deep- 
 seated convictions concerning man's lost 
 condition in sin, and Christ's power to save, 
 and not some form of service which has 
 affected the outer life as a fad copied from 
 other persons. 
 
 V. Not a Cure-all. Surely we will 
 agree that the church on fire with the spirit 
 of aggressive evangelism will have life and 
 blessings unknown to those churches which 
 are indifferent to the needs of the unre- 
 generate, and from my heart I pity the 
 church where there is no evangelistic ac- 
 tivity. I would not utter a word that would 
 hinder any one in winning souls to Christ. 
 But it is an extreme statement for one 
 to make, when he says that the church 
 would have no difficulties of any nature if 
 she were evangelistic, and that every 
 problem could be settled if soul-saving were 
 the constant aim of the church. We may 
 be certain that it would cure some ills, but 
 we cannot trace every weakness, every fail- 
 ure in the church, to the lack of it. I am 
 convinced that we must not belittle its 
 power and we also must not overstate it. 
 
 38 
 
XLbc "irmportance ot Bvanaelism 
 
 There are many vexatious problems to be 
 solved in the non-evangelistic church, and 
 there are many problems in the church 
 which is filled with the spirit of evangelism. 
 Probably it is true, however, that the latter 
 church has fewer difficulties to adjust, and 
 can adjust all of its problems easier than 
 the one which is not aggressive for souls. 
 
 But we are not to forget that the pastor 
 who is extremely evangelistic, and at the 
 same time weak in executive ability and a 
 teaching ministry, will find many problems 
 to solve that will tax even a Spirit-illumined 
 mind. The incoming tide of material into 
 his church places a responsibility upon his 
 shoulders as well as upon those of the 
 church itself which it is not easy to meet 
 satisfactorily. The care of, the develop- 
 ment of this new life, will tax the powers, 
 the patience, the ingenuity of the most 
 spiritual and competent of leaders. How- 
 ever, we wish we could see more instances 
 where churches were at their wits' end in 
 planning for the assimilation of new con- 
 verts. There seem to be very few churches 
 that are bothered this way. 
 
 We may reasonably conclude that no 
 church should think that other churches are 
 passing through trying experiences simply 
 
 39 
 
pcacttcal TlDealg in Bvangelism 
 
 because they are not evangelistic, and the 
 non-evangehstic church had better cease its 
 criticism of that body of beUevers which 
 seeks continuously to win souls and lives to 
 Christ, even if it is a recognized fact that 
 a serious problem confronts this church in 
 the training of those who have been received 
 into its membership. Every church should 
 be so anxious for the lost that it would 
 gladly accept the responsibility of caring 
 for large numbers of new converts even 
 if it did demand ceaseless patience and hard 
 work ; and we need to remember that often- 
 times the influx of new material has saved 
 the church from death. 
 
 VI. Evangelism Helps to Solve 
 Church Problems. While it is true that 
 the evangelistic spirit and activity in a 
 church may not cure every ill nor overcome 
 every difficulty, yet we believe it to be posi- 
 tively certain that the presence of aggressive 
 evangelism will help very visibly to solve 
 many problems which confront almost num- 
 berless churches in the world. Its impor- 
 tance in this direction should not be lightly 
 estimated. We have never had a perfect 
 illustration of what it can do, for that 
 church where pastor and every member are 
 as one man filled with a passion to win men 
 40 
 
^be "ffrnportance of Evangelism 
 
 and women to Christ is not known. But we 
 have seen what God can do for some 
 churches when the pastor and a few mem- 
 bers are filled with evangelistic zeal, and 
 we can quite easily compute what he could 
 do if every member were actively engaged 
 in the same service. 
 
 I. It zvill help -financially. A regen- 
 erated life is the backbone of Christian 
 giving. A man who is soundly converted 
 will give as he never thought he could be- 
 fore. A church alive to the needs of souls 
 will contribute largely and easily toward 
 carrying on the work of the church. The 
 hearts are warm, the people want men and 
 women saved, and the fruit of this is an 
 open pocketbook. The financial problem is 
 a very real one to thousands of churches. 
 The men and women who have helped ma- 
 terially to pay the bills are rapidly leaving 
 these churches for their heavenly home. 
 Some one must take the place of these. 
 Many a pastor does not see the places filled. 
 A continuous evangelistic effort will greatly 
 help to solve this problem. I know of a 
 downtown church in an Eastern city, where 
 an evangelistic pastor has been hard at 
 work for a number of years. When he went 
 to the field, the church was depending 
 41 
 
practical UDeals in jemmcUem 
 
 largely for financial help upon one promi- 
 nent man. Soon after the pastorate began 
 this man died and the loss was keenly felt. 
 But in a few months under the faithful 
 preaching and personal work of that pas- 
 tor, a wealthy man was converted and soon 
 he was pouring in his gifts to the church 
 treasury. 
 
 Can any one tell what financial burdens 
 in home and foreign missions, in State 
 and local work could be lifted if the whole 
 church were in genuine soul-saving service ? 
 I am convinced that many a dark finan- 
 cial outlook could be wonderfully bright- 
 ened, if every individual member of that 
 church would go to his knees and pray God 
 to help him win some soul to Christ and 
 would then go out and truly seek by per- 
 sonal work to lead that one into the fold. 
 
 2. It zvill help the prayer-meeting. 
 Every one who is deeply interested in the 
 salvation of some other one believes in 
 prayer, believes in united prayer. He 
 knows that souls are born by the Spirit. 
 He knows he may have God's blessing upon 
 his work for others ; therefore a church 
 aroused to evangelism will make the prayer- 
 meeting a place of power. If all the church- 
 members are evangelistic, then they will 
 42 
 
XLbc ITmportance of JBvnmcUem 
 
 want to be at the prayer-meeting; that will 
 insure a good attendance, and when people 
 with warm hearts, anxious for others come 
 to tell each other how God has helped them 
 to help others to Christ, and how much they 
 are burdened for the lost, that will make 
 fire. There will be a warmth and a glow 
 about the meeting that will be uplifting and 
 contagious. I was in a prayer-meeting 
 awhile ago where every one was very evi- 
 dently anxious to have the privilege of 
 helping souls to Christ, and a marvelous 
 meeting we did have. 
 
 Almost any Christian can see what evan- 
 gelistic zeal will surely do for a prayer- 
 meeting. Then why should we not expect 
 conversions in the mid-week service? We 
 must believe that an ideal church will all 
 the time have a number of susceptible indi- 
 viduals in different stages of spiritual de- 
 velopment who can be easily induced to at- 
 tend the prayer-meeting and confess Christ 
 there. And we know that as many shrink 
 from public confession in a large gathering, 
 we could make this mid-week meeting a 
 place where it would be delightful to con- 
 fess the Lord Jesus. Thus evangelism 
 would stimulate activity regarding the 
 prayer-meeting. 
 
 43 
 
practical UDeale in iSvamcliem 
 
 3. It will help the Sunday evening serv- 
 ice. All will recognize that the Sunday 
 evening service is the working-meeting of 
 the church and they will be there. They 
 being anxious to win others to Christ will 
 bring unconverted persons with them, if 
 possible, and if the pastor is filled with the 
 spirit of evangelism and has a heart on 
 fire for lost souls there will be something 
 doing in the pulpit. Average ability and 
 passion for the salvation of men will make 
 pulpit power. A young man whom I know 
 went from Rochester Seminary to become 
 pastor of a large church in a flourishing 
 Western city. The church building seated 
 some five or six hundred people, but the 
 evening congregation had fallen to less than 
 fifty at times. When the committee met 
 him to ask him to consider the call, they 
 told him the fact and asked him what he 
 would do to get an audience Sunday even- 
 ings. He answered, " I believe if there 
 could be a good fire kindled each Sunday 
 evening in the pulpit, the people would 
 come to see it burn." There zvas a fire in 
 that pulpit, and while much larger churches 
 near him had small congregations he always 
 preached to many. We are sure that the 
 problem of the Sunday evening service will 
 44 
 
XLbc Ifmpoctancc ot lEvangeligm 
 
 find an aid to its solution in the presence of 
 the fires of evangelism in the hearts of 
 preacher and people. 
 
 4. It will help the Bible-school. There 
 is no field in the whole range of religious 
 activity which offers to the church an evan- 
 gelistic oportunity to be compared to the 
 Bible-school. Now it is a reasonable deduc- 
 tion to believe that if the church were 
 aroused to the need of evangelism as she 
 ought to be, she would immediately recog- 
 nize her opportunity in the Bible-school, and 
 would increase the corps of teachers, would 
 put life and energy in its work, and would 
 be alert to increase its membership. The 
 teachers would see the need of becoming 
 better acquainted with the Bible if they 
 were to win their scholars to Christ and the 
 teachers' meeting would thus be a school 
 in which to train personal workers. In the 
 Bible-school there is always a harvest of 
 fruit in every class, and if the evangelistic 
 conscience of the teachers were at the boil- 
 ing point or even blood heat, there would be 
 picking of fruit nearly every Sunday. The 
 teachers would be seen wending their way 
 to the superintendent almost every week, 
 with some bright boy or girl, young man or 
 woman with them, as a sample of fruit gath- 
 45 
 
Ipractical HOeala in iSvangelism 
 
 ered that day. I do not need to use more 
 space in elaborating this thought, for one 
 can readily perceive what evangelism could 
 do to help the Sunday Bible-school. 
 
 We are happily confident that the church 
 of Christ is being aroused to the importance 
 of a sane and continuous evangelism as 
 never before. One must be spiritually bHnd 
 not to see its place and power in the re- 
 ligious world. Activity for the salvation 
 of the world is absolutely necessary for the 
 church, necessary to the development of the 
 preacher and the Christian people, necessary 
 to express the principle of life, and also the 
 spirit of Jesus. It is essential to the evolu- 
 tion of the life of the individual Christian, 
 and the kingdom of our Lord. We can 
 hardly emphasize its importance too much. 
 
 Not long ago I was riding in Cleveland, 
 Ohio, and noted a marble tablet on the 
 magnificent new edifice of the East End 
 Baptist Church, on which were printed these 
 words : " This building is dedicated to the 
 worship of God, the fellowship of his people, 
 the conversion of men, and believers' bap- 
 tism." The one clause, " The conversion 
 of men," impressed me deeply. I do not 
 think I have ever seen it placed before the 
 public in a similar way in any other city. 
 
 46 
 
Some f>ba0c6 of yBvnmcUem 
 
 Should not every one emphasize this mis- 
 sion of the church and then in public serv- 
 ice and in private life seek to prove tliat 
 v^e believe this is our God-given task? 
 
 II 
 
 Some ipbases of Bvan^elism 
 
 AVING considered the great im- 
 portance of this subject, in gen- 
 eral, it will be proper now for 
 us to study it in its various places or di- 
 visions. Each division deserves careful 
 thought. It is certainly worthy of the most 
 serious consideration. This question nat- 
 urally arises, " How can evangelism be best 
 directed in connection with the work of the 
 church so that it shall be recognized as 
 normal ? " In endeavoring to answer this 
 inquiry, I would like to consider : 
 
 I. The Church at Work Continu- 
 ously IN Public Services. Given an evan- 
 gelistic atmosphere in the entire church- 
 membership, including the pastor, then 
 continuous work throughout the whole year 
 at the public services will be the natural con- 
 sequence. It would be impossible to have 
 47 
 
[practical UDeals in Bvanselism 
 
 it otherwise, and we are convinced that it 
 is the will of our Lord that it should be so. 
 
 I. The pastor, the evangelist. In one 
 sense the pastor and his flock form a host 
 of evangelists, and he is the leader. Prob- 
 ably the church will never be evangelistic, if 
 he is not. The pastor is the one to feel the 
 responsibility and to accept the opportunity. 
 There is a possibility of an evil being fos- 
 tered in the rising tide of evangelism, and 
 that is the danger of some pastors feeling 
 that to evangelize is a special gift possessed 
 by only a few gifted ones, and that God has 
 delegated the entire work of soul-saving 
 to these few. Rev. W. J. Dawson, the 
 English evangelist is quoted as saying, '' Of 
 all errors that have wrought ruin to the 
 church none has been more fatal than the 
 tacit admission that the work of the min- 
 ister is a thing separate from the work of 
 the evangelist." My deep conviction is that 
 God would have each pastor one of the best 
 evangelists who enter his pulpit. 
 
 To be sure many pastors seem to have 
 no evangelistic gift, and possibly there may 
 be some whom God does not expect it from, 
 but in almost every pastor this power to do 
 evangelistic work successfully can be culti- 
 vated. There is nothing about the pastoral 
 
 48 
 
Some ipbases ot jevangeUsm 
 
 office that really unfits a man for this work ; 
 in fact, the entire experience of the pastor- 
 ate is calculated to prepare the tender- 
 hearted, wise, sympathetic, cultured, and 
 godly pastor to be the very best sort of an 
 evangelist. Why should he need any special 
 gift to tell the old story of the gospel to 
 the sinful world? Have we a right to call 
 ourselves preachers of the gospel if we can- 
 not do this ? I confidently affirm that every 
 pastor who has been genuinely called of 
 God into his service, can preach effectively 
 to the unsaved, and can win them, if he will. 
 Dr. Adams, of San Francisco, gives us 
 the following: 
 
 Recently a pastor who stood well with his 
 people, had their continual respect, and whose 
 work along educative Christian lines was excel- 
 lent, had it impressed upon him that he could 
 conduct an evening service if he tried. Some 
 friends gathered about him and urged him to 
 make his evening services evangelistic. He said 
 it was difficult for him to do and he felt it was 
 out of his line. But being strongly urged, he be- 
 gan praying, and preparing for evangelistic serv- 
 ices at night. The result has been that his audi- 
 ences are very largely increased and that great 
 numbers of men are gathered about him. He 
 said to a friend not long ago that it was the 
 surprise of his life to find that he could conduct 
 an evangeHstic service at night. 
 D 49 
 
IPracttcal HDcals in jevangclism 
 
 I have been told that very Httle is done 
 in our theological seminaries to fit men to 
 be evangelistic pastors. I think, however^ 
 that many in the faculty of these seminaries 
 are rapidly coming to believe that some- 
 thing more than simply teaching the stu- 
 dent how a sermon ought to be built and de- 
 livered must be accomplished, and that they 
 are being forced to give considerable time 
 to help fit men to preach and work so that 
 constant conversions will characterize their 
 ministry. This is being done to some ex- 
 tent, and the efficient evangelistic preachers 
 whom some seminaries send out are proof 
 positive. However, there is room for more 
 of this most important training. 
 
 It may be true that many pastors wish to 
 do definite work for lost souls, but their 
 churches do not sanction it. This condition 
 is most deplorable. One can hardly under- 
 stand how a church-member could call him- 
 self a Christian, and in any way hinder this 
 divine impulse in the heart of the pastor. 
 I want to believe, however, that there are 
 few churches that would not respond to the 
 entreaties of a wise, sympathetic, and per- 
 sistent pastor. But if they refused to stand 
 back of him as he sought to lead in an 
 evangelistic ministry, the pastor had better 
 50 
 
Some ipbasce ot iBvmQciiem 
 
 listen to the voice of God, and the loud 
 call of the need of the unconverted, and 
 proceed in a tactful and winning way to 
 preach and work for the salvation of men 
 and women. In some cases it may be best 
 for the pastor to take a strong initiative and 
 by prayer and hard work practically force 
 his church to arise to its opportunity. I 
 heard of a Western preacher who made the 
 remark, " I am going to keep my church 
 out of the ruts if I have to upset the cart 
 to do it." He has had the pleasure of see- 
 ing conversions nearly every month in the 
 year. Strong men have yielded their hearts 
 to Christ under his fathful evangelistic 
 preaching, and as a result he has one of the 
 most powerful churches in the West. I 
 honestly believe that this question of the 
 pastor doing evangelistic work is more a 
 question of conviction and hard work than it 
 is of ability. Let the conviction be an irre- 
 sistible force and the ability will be forth- 
 coming, in most instances, at least. Every 
 pastor ought to have a copy of the book en- 
 titled " The Evangelistic Note," and read 
 carefully about the experience of the author, 
 Rev. W. J. Dawson, as recorded in the first 
 chapter. 
 
 The campaign of the Baptist Home Mis- 
 51 
 
I^ractical tt>M0 in iBvmQCliem 
 
 sion Society as led by Doctors Chivers and 
 Woelfkin is valuable indeed. These men 
 are going from city to city, meeting the 
 pastors in conferences and endeavoring to 
 inspire them to do this work of aggressive 
 evangelism. Dr. Chivers' motto is, " We be- 
 lieve it is better to inspire ten men to greater 
 effort on their individual fields than to send 
 ten men to do the work for them." 
 
 2. The Church Co-operating. No man, 
 even if he is the best of evangelistic pas- 
 tors, can do it all. He must have the 
 hearty co-operation of his members. The 
 success of such pastors, many of whom we 
 could easily mention, is directly traceable to 
 the help received from the pew. 
 
 Every church should be trained to be- 
 lieve that the regular Sunday Bible-school, 
 the young people's meeting, the Sunday 
 evening service, and at opportune times, the 
 morning service, are the occasions for the 
 church to be publicly at work. Not for one 
 moment would I forget or minimize the 
 functions of worship, and of fellowship, and 
 of praise that enter rightly into these meet- 
 ings; and meetings for worship alone are 
 commendable. We are living in a commer- 
 cialized age when worship of God is neg- 
 lected and it would be far from my thought 
 52 
 
Some ipbascs ot jevanecltsm 
 
 in any sense to discount the need and power 
 of these exercises of the soul. 
 
 But why is it not an excellent plan in 
 most churches to consider the morning serv- 
 ice to be one specially for devotion, quiet 
 worship, spiritual growth, and consider the 
 other meetings, and particularly the evening 
 service to be for work to reach the unsaved ? 
 
 The church could be '' fed " by the Lord 
 through the pastor in the morning, but why 
 give them another meal at night? I am 
 afraid some church-members are suffering 
 from spiritual dyspepsia, brought on by 
 over-feeding as well as poor food. They 
 would be benefited if they would but ex- 
 ercise themselves in hard work at the 
 evening service. 
 
 Then again the goal of church activity is 
 not fellowship. Is it not true that at times 
 we allow the ordinary fellowship (mutual 
 congratulation meetings of the church) to 
 comprise its entire work? We go to a serv- 
 ice where testimonies, prayers, and songs 
 warm our hearts, and do us good. We 
 greet each other afterward and say, " What 
 an excellent meeting we had." It did do 
 good, and it is needed, and is beneficial 
 toward Christian growth, but ought we to 
 be satisfied with it? Have we discharged 
 53 
 
Ipracttcal TlDeals in Bvanselism 
 
 our duty? Have we acted up to the standard 
 of our responsibility? Have we accepted 
 our opportunity by simply attending these 
 meetings? Is not there a work for each 
 church-member to do in reaching the un- 
 saved? Given a pastor who comes to the 
 Sunday evening service with a heart anx- 
 ious for the salvation of the unsaved, with 
 a message for them, and a people who loy- 
 ally support him by inviting their uncon- 
 verted friends and neighbors, can any one 
 doubt the result? We know that God mar- 
 velously blesses such co-operation for the 
 salvation of the non-Christian world and 
 the church that engages in it is filled with 
 the joy of Christian service. 
 
 However, I do not overlook the fact that 
 there is such a condition as religious dis- 
 sipation and some of our church -workers 
 are doing too much ; there ought to be some 
 time on Sunday for rest and home com- 
 fort. One can scarcely blame the clerk, or 
 the business man, who has been hard at 
 work through the week and has had no 
 time for quiet with his family at home, if he 
 feels that the Sunday morning service and 
 the Bible-school are the only meetings he 
 can attend on Sunday. The rush of our 
 American life certainly tends to rob us of 
 54 
 
Some ipbases ot Bvangelism 
 
 both home and church privileges. But let 
 us remember that if it could be true that 
 the entire church-membership were enlisted 
 to help the pastor in his evangelism, then 
 every other Sunday evening could be spent 
 at home, and by alternating, the work could 
 be continued most satisfactorily. All honor 
 to the many consecrated business men 
 who forego the pleasure of Sunday evening 
 at home in order to co-operate with the 
 pastor in the work of reaching the uncon- 
 verted. Not long ago a pastor of a large 
 church of one thousand members in the 
 East said to me with evident pride, 
 " Brother Rust, my church is with me in 
 endeavoring to save souls. Every last one 
 of my deacons is present at the Sunday 
 evening service." Happy indeed, are those 
 pastors who can say the same of their 
 churches. All over the world there are 
 pastors and churches alive to their evan- 
 gelistic opportunities. They believe that the 
 truth expressed in Acts i6 : 5 : "So the 
 churches were strengthened in faith, AND 
 increased in number daily " is the normal 
 condition of the church to-day, and they are 
 working toward this end. 
 
 While at the May meetings in St. Louis 
 in 1905, I was asked to preach at the Cen- 
 55 
 
Ipractical 1lDeal5 in Evangelism 
 
 tenary Methodist Church at a Sunday even- 
 ing service. This is a large church and 
 the building is downtown. There were 
 some nine hundred people in the audience, 
 which was composed of unconverted people 
 and Christians. I ascertained that nearly 
 every one of the trustees, deacons, and well- 
 to-do people of that church lived out in the 
 suburbs of the city, and yet they left their 
 homes on Sunday evenings and attended the 
 service of this church, and more than that, 
 worked hard to win the man or woman out 
 of Christ to the Saviour. The spirit of ag- 
 gressive evangelism seemed to permeate the 
 larger part of the membership and God 
 greatly blessed their efforts. I wonder if 
 it is too much to expect Christians to make 
 the Sunday evening meeting a place for real 
 worship and work? 
 
 Once during some meetings in a large 
 church in Minnesota I said publicly, " I 
 hope this church will be known as one 
 where pastor and people expect to give an 
 invitation every Sunday evening for those 
 who want to become Christians to express 
 the desire publicly." That pastor has since 
 told me that he has never forgotten it, and 
 his church-members have made it their ideal. 
 
 I know a young, talented, cultured, evan- 
 S6 
 
Some ipbaacs ot JEvan^clism 
 
 gelistic pastor in Wisconsin, in a large city 
 church who preaches to win people to Jesus 
 every Sunday night, asks for expressions in 
 a tactful way, has workers who watch for 
 inquirers, calls at their homes, and has a 
 constant stream of additions. He told me 
 awhile ago that he had seventy-five names 
 on his inquirers' list; he was watching and 
 helping them, and would baptize them as 
 soon as they were truly ready. All of this 
 with no special meetings. He said to me, 
 '' Some time, I want you to come and help 
 me, but I have my hands full now." I do 
 not believe he will ever need me very much. 
 
 To illustrate what I mean by hearty and 
 intelligent co-operation, I will mention an 
 experience that I had at the Tabernacle 
 Church in Boston a few years ago. After 
 my address the invitation was given and 
 six men arose to express a desire to be- 
 come Christians. They were not asked to 
 remain, but immediately at the close of the 
 meeting six Christian men, personal work- 
 ers, all prominent members of the church, 
 were ready, and each secured his inquirer, 
 leading him into another room where he 
 was dealt with and led to the Saviour. 
 
 There are some pastors who believe that 
 God specially blesses an effort to win people 
 57 
 
Ipractical HDcale in Bvan9eU6m 
 
 to Christ at the close of the morning serv- 
 ice. Of course we would not advocate 
 this as a regular and consecutive plan, but 
 at opportune times when the pastor knows 
 whom he is to have before him and when he 
 brings a message for them, it would cer- 
 tainly seem wise to ask for confessions. 
 Each pastor must decide this for himself. 
 During the pastorate of Dr. L. A. Clevenger 
 at Calvary Church, Minneapolis, there were 
 some notable conversions at the morning 
 services. 
 
 We know that Dr. A. C. Dixon believes 
 in it most emphatically. The following are 
 his own words: 
 
 And pastors need to remember that God is as 
 willing to save on Sunday morning as truly as 
 on Sunday evening. Though the message of the 
 morning should be for Christians, the sermon 
 should have in it something for the indifferent 
 business man who never goes to church on Sun- 
 day evening, and something for the stranger — a 
 stranger also to Christ — who expects to attend 
 another church, if not a place of amusement, in 
 the evening. A few conversions on Sunday morn- 
 ing will do more to edify and inspire Christians 
 than ever so many sermons on growing in grace. 
 If we expect conversions, we shall not be dis- 
 appointed. Some time ago earnest souls in the 
 Ruggles Street Church, of Boston, began to pray 
 for conversions in the morning, and it made me 
 
 58 
 
Some ©bases of Bvangcllem 
 
 careful to make clear in every sermon the way of 
 life. After the benediction one Sunday morning 
 I heard the unusual sound of sobbing and, on 
 looking in the direction of it, I saw a young 
 woman sitting on the front seat with her face in 
 her hands, weeping as if with broken heart. A 
 lady near me said, " That young woman is hys- 
 terical." I found, however, that it was not hys- 
 terics, but genuine conviction of sin. When I 
 asked her what troubled her, she replied in a 
 tone I shall not soon forget, " O pastor, my 
 heart aches so I feel that I cannot go home with- 
 out relief." My associate pastor, whose passion 
 is personal work, went with her into the study, 
 and in about twenty minutes she came out with 
 a radiant face, which left no doubt as to the 
 genuineness of her joy. As she walked down the 
 aisle she met a young lady friend who, not find- 
 ing her at home, had returned to the church in 
 search of her. She told her friend that she had 
 just accepted Christ and was very happy. My 
 associate pastor spoke a few words to her friend, 
 and she too, kneeling beside them in the aisle, 
 quietly accepted Jesus. That evening I saw one 
 of these young women in the after-meeting trying 
 to lead others into the light and joy she had 
 received through Christ. 
 
 Another Sunday morning as I closed my ser- 
 mon I felt impressed that the Spirit was moving 
 upon the people with unusual power, and I did 
 what I had never done in Boston before, asked all 
 who had not confessed Christ as Saviour and 
 Lord to come forward during the singing. The 
 first one who came was a man over fifty years of 
 age ; the next a lady over seventy, then young men 
 
 59 
 
Ipracttcal IFDeala in BvangcUem 
 
 and women, until fourteen were seated in the 
 front pews. It was a melting time. Those who 
 had been praying for conversions on Sunday 
 mornings wept tears of joy. I believe there was 
 more power in those fourteen quiet testimonies 
 for Christ than in my sermon. Indeed, I have 
 forgotten the subject of the sermon, and the 
 feature of that morning's service which stands 
 out most prominently in the minds of the people 
 is the fact that fourteen new converts gave 
 testimony for Christ. 
 
 Could I add more to prove that con- 
 tinuous evangelism through her public serv- 
 ices is what God expects of, and blesses in, 
 the church of to-day? Shall we not arise 
 to our privileges in this matter and go to 
 work at once to meet the need ? 
 
 II. The Church at Work in Special 
 Meetings. Professional, periodical. At this 
 point we are to discuss a very important 
 phase of evangelism. Here is where criti- 
 cism has fallen heavily. Because there has 
 been so much of the objectionable about 
 special meetings conducted by evangelists, 
 and in so many instances the real benefits 
 to the church have been so small, there are 
 many pastors who feel it is better to rele- 
 gate the whole business to non-use. We can 
 hardly blame some pastors for being doubly 
 dubious about meetings conducted by pro- 
 60 
 
Some ipbaees of JBvmQeliem 
 
 fessional evangelists, but the place of spe- 
 cial efforts by the church led by pastor, or 
 some trustworthy helper, is not to be en- 
 tirely ignored in the progress of the king- 
 dom. Without doubt they have a legitimate 
 and even large contribution to present to 
 the life of the church. 
 
 This phase of evangelism naturally intro- 
 duces the word revival. It is bitterly de- 
 nounced by some, it is hardly tolerated by 
 others, and even those who use it and be- 
 lieve in what it represents are kept busy 
 explaining what they mean by it. I sel- 
 dom use it to designate special meetings 
 because of the universal prejudice against 
 it. It is not my purpose to enter into an 
 extended discussion of it, but I firmly be- 
 lieve that the real fact which the word 
 stands for is reasonable, is necessary, is 
 from God. Dr. Spenser B. Meeser, of De- 
 troit, Mich., recently read a paper be- 
 fore the Methodist Ministers' Meeting of 
 that city on the subject, " Is the revival a 
 thing to be believed in and desired by in- 
 telligent Christians ? " It is a most com- 
 prehensive and rational treatise on the sub- 
 ject, which takes up in a scholarly way the 
 historical, philosophical, psychological, re- 
 ligious, and ethical justification of the re- 
 6i 
 
(Practical IfDeals in JEvrngcliem 
 
 vival. I would advise every worker, and 
 Christian, and inquirer, to get a copy of it. 
 It can be procured of the Methodist Book 
 Concern, of Detroit, for about ten cents. 
 
 In recent years it has been frequently 
 stated by those who we thought had rea- 
 son to know, that Dwight L. Moody, to- 
 ward the close of his life, became con- 
 vinced that the revival methods to reach the 
 unsaved had lost their efficiency, and that 
 he came to rely more upon the pedagogic 
 and inspirational method through church- 
 members than upon special effort. The fol- 
 lowing letter is an answer to an inquiry 
 which has recently been directed to the son, 
 Mr. W. R. Moody: 
 
 East Northfield, Mass., Jan. lo, 1906. 
 
 Dear Sir : Replying to the inquiry contained in 
 your letter of January 9th, I would say that my 
 father, Mr. D. L. Moody, never changed in any 
 way his estimate of the value of the " old-fash- 
 ioned mass-meeting " evangelistic services. He 
 believed in them thoroughly always, and when op- 
 portunity afforded never failed to conduct such 
 meetings. It was to just such a series of meetings 
 as would be termed "old-fashioned mass-meet- 
 ings " that he gave his last days of active service. 
 
 It is quite true that for the greater part of the 
 last ten years of his ministry his message was 
 devoted to Christian people. This, however, was 
 62 
 
Some ipbases of Bvangelism 
 
 rather necessitated by peculiar conditions than 
 by choice. He often expressed personal regret 
 that he could not conduct such services as he 
 had held earlier in his career, but it was the pen- 
 alty of having many friends as the result of 
 former services. Returning to a city where he 
 had conducted services in previous years, those 
 who held him in personal esteem for the help 
 which they had received on a former visit, or in 
 other places, came early to the services, and he 
 would find that the larger part of his audience 
 were Christian people and the non-Christian ele- 
 ment was in a very small minority or almost en- 
 tirely absent. It was for this reason, as he often 
 explained to me, that in the latter years he de- 
 voted much time to preaching to the converted. 
 He always felt, however, that the best way to 
 arouse Christians, where conditions permitted, 
 was to conduct evangelistic services which were 
 indirectly the greatest stimulus the church could 
 have. The report that in later years he became 
 indifferent to evangelistic effort is due to an en- 
 tire misconception of the real conditions and mo- 
 tives which led him to devote so much time 
 in the later years of his active service to work 
 among Christian people. 
 
 Trusting that this meets the inquiry you make, 
 believe me, 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 W. R. Moody. 
 
 Thus we see that Mr. Moody never lost 
 faith in the power of special meetings to 
 reach the unsaved. 
 
 63 
 
IPractical IfOeals In JBvnmcliGm 
 
 In talking with a pastor awhile ago, he 
 expressed his belief that every church was 
 not ready for special meetings, even if they 
 could be held and excellent results achieved. 
 He said hundreds might come to Christ, be 
 converted and then the church could not 
 take care of them. Certainly that is a con- 
 fession of a sad condition. One could wish 
 that there were very few churches that 
 could not assimilate into their life a goodly 
 lot of new material. It is probably true 
 that when a church is as low in spiritual 
 life as described, that no special effort will 
 be made, and the added burden of receiv- 
 ing new converts will not be imposed. 
 However, I firmly believe that should God 
 wonderfully bless in special meetings a 
 church like this, that its membership would 
 grow rapidly in spiritual power and in a 
 month would be able and glad to receive 
 and care for all who would come. 
 
 There are very few spiritual Christian 
 people who do not believe that there is a 
 possible place in the work of the church for 
 times of ingathering when special meet- 
 ings are to be conducted and emphasis laid 
 upon the need of immediate decision for 
 Christ. In addition to the regular services 
 of the church, there is a time when all the 
 
 64 
 
Some Ipba0e6 ot jevangeligm 
 
 forces ought to be gathered, all social en- 
 gagements stopped, and every latent power 
 of the entire organization brought into serv- 
 ice, for a supreme effort toward arousing 
 the indifferent, careless, wicked, and even 
 responsive to yield to Christ at once. 
 
 It matters not how devoted the pastor has 
 been, nor how excellently the church-mem- 
 bers have rallied to his call for continuous 
 evangelistic work, there comes a time for the 
 concentration of energy in the power of the 
 Holy Spirit, upon those who are apparently 
 unmovable under the ordinary conditions of 
 spiritual life that prevail in the church. 
 There needs to be a flood tide, a high 
 strong wave of religious activity to influ- 
 ence those who have remained stranded 
 on the shores of sin, indifference, and 
 indecision. 
 
 Right here, I would like to state, that spe- 
 cial meetings do not necessarily imply that 
 an evangelist or even another pastor is to 
 conduct them. Many, many times the pas- 
 tor is to lead. My point is, however, that 
 even with continuous evangelism at the pub- 
 lic services of the church, there is a legiti- 
 mate place for special efforts to reach the 
 unsaved, be the meetings conducted by the 
 pastor or by an evangelist. 
 E 65 
 
Impractical lIDeata in jSvangcliem 
 
 There should be no objection to the fact 
 that oftentimes a new voice is needed in 
 preaching and in inviting; it is not because 
 the old one, or the customary one is use- 
 less, but the ears of the unconverted have 
 become accustomed to certain tones, and the 
 brain to certain methods, therefore the 
 ordinary fails to arouse. A new tone and a 
 new method are practically demanded, and 
 God has provided for it in giving to the 
 kingdom the help of sane evangelists and 
 evangelistic pastors who can be secured. 
 
 It is also true that the pastor is a very 
 hard-worked man and special meetings are 
 the times when he wants to be free to do 
 personal work at the services and at the 
 homes of the interested ones. Because of 
 these facts the helper from the outside is 
 welcomed, and has his rightful position. 
 To be sure there are dangers, but the wise 
 pastor whose spiritual conscience is sensi- 
 tive to conditions, who knows men, can gen- 
 erally plan this special work so that it will 
 be a valuable contribution to the life of the 
 church. 
 
 We should not for a moment think that it 
 is the only time to expect results ; the con- 
 sideration of the previous phase of evan- 
 gelism has excluded any idea like this. 
 66 
 
Some ipbases of Bvangctism 
 
 It should not be simply a spurt, or only an 
 attempt, but rather a recognized time of 
 harvest which is but the natural result of 
 previous months of faithful and continuous 
 seed-sowing and cultivating. With constant 
 additions there is yet a rightful place for 
 special effort. 
 
 As we further consider this phase, note 
 three divisions. 
 
 I. Interdenominational. General. Un- 
 der this head reference is made to the work 
 of reaching every field in a city of some two 
 hundred thousand people. This is some- 
 what new and is ably represented by Dr. 
 J. W. Chapman and his corps of assistants. 
 Dr. Chapman is a general in evangelism. 
 His plan is to ask every church to unite, de- 
 cide on a center in which to hold special 
 meetings, and thus by making the needed 
 number of centers and having the meetings 
 conducted by different evangelists simul- 
 taneously, the whole city is stirred. In ad- 
 dition to this he, personally, with the aid 
 of those whom he wants, conducts meetings 
 in the business portion of the city, in 
 theaters, or halls, at the noon, evening, and 
 midnight hours. He also has an evangelist 
 and wife, who are called " the saloon 
 evangelists," whose business it is to hold 
 
 67 
 
Ibcactical "ffdeala in Bvanselism 
 
 meetings in the saloons each day during the 
 series. By this comprehensive plan, every 
 phase of life in the entire city is being 
 touched by the power of God's Spirit 
 through the spoken message at the same 
 time. 
 
 This certainly is a wise and effective phase 
 of evangelistic endeavor. The local church 
 cannot do this, the single denomination can- 
 not touch the city in this way, and there is 
 a mighty power in the plan. I do not know 
 of a better way to reach a city. It accom- 
 plishes four results, which other meetings 
 do not. 
 
 First. It creates a universal atmosphere 
 favorable to Christianity, so that the 
 unconverted can be approached easily. 
 
 Secondly. It greatly helps to clear the 
 mind of the inquirer who is mystified by 
 denominationalism, and effectively removes 
 prejudice against the church. 
 
 Thirdly. It effectually unites Christians 
 of all denominations in fellowship, in 
 service. 
 
 Fourthly. It reaches the apparently un- 
 reachable in all walks of life as local 
 meetings cannot. 
 
 I am fully aware of the criticisms which 
 have been expressed upon Dr. Chapman's 
 68 
 
Some ipbascs ot Evangelism 
 
 meetings in some cities, and probably there 
 has been some ground for them. Gross 
 exaggeration of the numbers converted at 
 Louisville, e. g., was exceedingly unfortu- 
 nate. The card system, which I never use, is 
 responsible for a portion of this. Dr. John 
 A. Broadus in speaking of such or similar 
 efforts used to say, ''So much good, plus 
 so much evil, equals x." At Louisville 
 there were some thoughtful people who said 
 that, as far as they could see, the results 
 were an unknown quantity which must be 
 designated by the letter x. 
 
 It is also true that the reports from At- 
 lanta are not at all satisfactory. The re- 
 ports of conversions were large and yet the 
 actual additions were so very few in number 
 that they were hardly mentionable. 
 
 However, we cannot measure such meet- 
 ings always by actual additions to churches. 
 We must remember that a great deal of 
 good has been done in simply creating an 
 atmosphere which makes it easy to approach 
 men and women on the subject of religion. 
 Then I am not sure that the method of 
 having many evangelists in many centers 
 was used in these cities. 
 
 But granting that exaggerations were 
 made in these two cities, the work at other 
 
 69 
 
practical ITOeals in JExfrnQcliem 
 
 points has been eminently successful, as 
 hundreds of pastors testify. The three re- 
 cent meetings of St. Paul, Minneapolis, and 
 Syracuse give proof of this which is most 
 conclusive. I have received letters from 
 friends in Minneapolis testifying of the 
 great blessing which came (and seems to 
 remain) to the local churches through the 
 Chapman meetings. 
 
 John T. Barnum, a prominent business 
 man of Minneapolis, says that the influence 
 on the business men was very perceptible, 
 and great good was done. Christianity was 
 dignified and ennobled. 
 
 Dr. A. T. Fowler, pastor of Calvary Bap- 
 tist Church, Minneapolis, writes that while 
 methods could have been improved, yet 
 much good was done, and this was mani- 
 fested, first in three hundred and twenty- 
 nine additions to Baptist churches (two 
 thousand three hundred and fifty additions 
 in all) ; secondly, Christian work for the 
 unsaved was made easier; that is, people 
 became approachable; thirdly. Christians 
 were stirred to do their duty as never be- 
 fore, and the churches feel the benefit of 
 this activity. 
 
 Rev. R. M. West, the able pastor of the 
 First Baptist Church, St. Paul, Minn., 
 70 
 
Some pbaeea of iBvmQcliem 
 
 writes me that in his opinion some of the 
 minor features of the Chapman campaign 
 ought to be eUminated perhaps, but the meet- 
 ings as a whole were commended by about 
 every one in the city. The following sen- 
 tences are from his pen : " Respecting the 
 Chapman meetings in St. Paul, I am very 
 glad to give my opinion. They were means 
 of a real and true spiritual uplift to the 
 churches of the city. / have not heard a 
 zvord to the contrary from any of the pas- 
 tors of churches which participated. I have 
 baptized forty-one since the meetings and 
 at least two-thirds of them may be attrib- 
 uted directly or indirectly to the meetings. 
 I am still conscious of an increased interest 
 and devotion to our church life that mani- 
 fested itself during the meetings and by 
 reason of the Chapman meetings." 
 
 2. Interdenominational. Local. By this 
 division I refer to the union of several 
 churches at some part of a large city or all 
 churches in a small city or town. 
 
 Sometimes these meetings are conducted 
 by the pastors, but often by an evangelist. 
 In this efifort there is no simultaneous move- 
 ment which has many centers of services, 
 but all meetings are held at some central 
 point. This would include the Torrey and 
 71 
 
practical IfDcals in Bvangeltsm 
 
 Alexander type. They may enlist help from 
 the entire city, and the influence of the 
 meetings may cover a wide area, but it is 
 not the same as the Chapman movement. 
 To be sure there may be many who have no 
 sympathy with the propaganda which Dr. 
 Torrey represents, with his dogmatic state- 
 ments or all of his methods, and some may 
 sanely question the lasting effects of the 
 services, but I contend that no unprejudiced 
 person can attend the meetings of these two 
 heaven-blessed men, or read the reports, 
 without being truly convinced that the 
 movement is from God, and that thousands 
 who might not be converted by other and 
 regular methods, have been reached. Can 
 we justly declare that they have no place 
 in God's plan to save men and women? I 
 think not. 
 
 If God can use men like Dr. Torrey and 
 Mr. Alexander to gather five thousand or 
 even two thousand unconverted, non- 
 church-going people into a great hall, and 
 hundreds of them can be truly saved 
 through Jesus, then I should say the meet- 
 ings would be conspicuously successful, and 
 from what I read I should judge that this 
 had been done in some cities. Recently, I 
 attended an evening meeting at Philadel- 
 72 
 
Some pbaees ot ^Evangelism 
 
 phia. The sermon by Dr. Torrey was a 
 calm, reasonable utterance from the text, 
 *' There is no peace, saith my God, to the 
 wicked." I do not see how the meeting 
 could have been conducted any better than 
 it was. The methods were sane, the tone 
 was reverent, the results were pleasing, the 
 whole effect was satisfactory. 
 
 I have mentioned these evangelists be- 
 cause I feel that meetings of the kind 
 which they conduct have a place in the 
 work of the church. This would also in- 
 clude such meetings as a certain famous and 
 sensational evangelist conducts. A large 
 tabernacle is built wherever he goes and 
 his engagements are filled for two years 
 ahead about all of the time. He visits 
 cities of from six to twenty-five thousand 
 people. The whole country is stirred by 
 his sensational methods in gospel preach- 
 ing. Very severe criticisms have been 
 heaped upon his meetings by cultured Chris- 
 tian people. It is certain that they have 
 little effect upon a class of people who 
 cannot reasonably associate gospel services 
 with such antics or expressions. But he can 
 preach a powerful and eloquent sermon and 
 because of his unique experiences on the 
 ball field and his tact with men, God won- 
 73 
 
Ipractical "ffOeals in Evangelism 
 
 derfully uses him to touch thousands of 
 non-church-goers, and to win hundreds of 
 people to Christ and a godly life, notwith- 
 standing the extraneous matter he feels he 
 must throw in. We can say that his meet- 
 ings do have a place in God's plan for the 
 salvation of the world, even if we could not 
 wholly indorse his remarks and his meth- 
 ods. Judging from reports which have 
 come first-hand, the moral atmosphere of 
 these small cities is changed for good per- 
 manently. He receives an average of about 
 two thousand five hundred dollars a month 
 from his meetings, but from what others 
 tell me, the consensus of opinion is that he 
 is worth it. He seldom leaves a town where 
 there is a weak Y. M. C. A. without raising 
 from five to ten thousand dollars for it. 
 
 I have just received a letter from a Bap- 
 tist pastor in a city where this evangelist 
 labored about a year ago, and while at that 
 time this pastor thought that much good 
 was done by the meetings, yet he cannot now 
 indorse the movement. Nevertheless this 
 man is used to reach a certain class of hard- 
 ened sinners. It seems to me we must con- 
 cede that. My motive in referring to these 
 men has not been to criticize, but to 
 
 74 
 
Some IPbascs ot Bvancjcliam 
 
 And we must not forget that this division 
 also includes the universal type of union 
 meetings. That is, several churches of dif- 
 ferent faith, engaged in a movement of con- 
 centration toward the single end of saving 
 men and women to Christ, no matter what 
 church they choose to unite with. As an 
 evangelist, I can easily see special power 
 in this form of evangelism. In addition 
 to the fact that numbers in public work 
 give prestige, and that there is power in 
 the concerted action of all Christians as 
 we present a solid front to the ungodly 
 world, and that many more can be at work 
 toward a single goal, it is easier for the 
 evangelist, if he is a man of executive ability 
 and knows how to handle large numbers. 
 
 ( 1 ) It is easier for him to preach to five 
 hundred in a room that seats five hundred 
 than it is to fifty in the same place. 
 
 (2) It is true that in such meetings there 
 is a probability that more unsaved people 
 will be present than in the single church 
 service. 
 
 (3) It is easier to reach these through 
 many personal workers than through a few. 
 
 (4) It is easier to have rousing singing 
 when there is a large chorus and a larger 
 number of people in the congregation. 
 
 75 
 
practical 1[C)eald in JEvarxQcliem 
 
 (5) It is also true that in such meetings 
 the backing of true preachers and noble 
 saints is much stronger than in small local 
 services. 
 
 (6) It is a fact that many single churches 
 cannot give to an evangelist enough money 
 to support him. The capable evangelist 
 ought to receive a goodly sum for his 
 services. 
 
 3. Denominational. With the individual 
 church. There are many pastors and many 
 church-members who have come to the con- 
 clusion that about the most satisfactory 
 method of holding special meetings is to 
 conduct them at the local church. There 
 may be some good things lost by this 
 method, but there are certainly many excel- 
 lent points gained. These services have a 
 very commendable place in the work of the 
 kingdom, because there are seasons when 
 the pastor feels that many people in his 
 congregation are on the verge of decision 
 for Christ, brought there as a result of the 
 work of his own church and his own min- 
 istry, and he desires to win them to the 
 Lord; and inspired by most conscientious 
 convictions he desires to bind them to his 
 own church. And again, there is no danger 
 of any hard feelings being aroused at the 
 
 76 
 
Some tMece of Bvanaclism 
 
 close of such a series, because of the influ- 
 ence any church or pastor may use to in- 
 duce converts to unite with a particular 
 body. Then he and his people do not en- 
 joy the noise, the excitement, that almost 
 invariably accompanies large union meet- 
 ings, and he very much prefers that a wise 
 helper be engaged, or even that he conduct 
 the meetings himself. In this way with no 
 undue excitement his church can receive a 
 great blessing and through personal work 
 the many unconverted whom he hopes to 
 help into the kingdom can deliberately and 
 quietly yield to Christ and publicly confess 
 him. 
 
 For many years I have been engaged as 
 a helper to pastors in this form of evangel- 
 ism and I know that it is exceedingly sat- 
 isfactory. There is no great reaction nor 
 any bad effect after the meetings. The pas- 
 tor's position is exalted, the church is hon- 
 ored because of the noble men and women 
 in her ranks, and the new converts believe 
 in their pastor and in their church more 
 than they did before the meetings were 
 held. This is as it should be. Then as the 
 methods employed are about the same in 
 principle as any evangelistic pastor would 
 employ in his regular work, the meetings 
 77 
 
Ipractical IFDeals In BvangcUsm 
 
 seem to be but a continuation of the life 
 of the church, with simply one fact added, 
 namely, that the pastor has a helper. After 
 such meetings, the people are not constantly 
 saying, " Well, if we only had that man 
 (the evangelist), if we could only introduce 
 some of his methods into the pulpit, if our 
 pastor could only sing as he sings, then we 
 might have a crowd too." 
 
 Personally I firmly believe that God has 
 ordained special meetings like these and 
 made them actually necessary to the life of 
 about every church. 
 
 IV. The Church at Work as Individ- 
 uals FOR Individuals. We are to consider 
 now what we may well recognize to be the 
 most important factor in successful twen- 
 tieth-century evangelism. All pastors and 
 evangelists agree that while we must not 
 discount the potency of the public services 
 of the church and the power of pulpit utter- 
 ance, yet after all the touch of the indi- 
 vidual upon the other individual is the most 
 effective method of doing evangelistic work. 
 Remember, I am not referring to the single 
 man as he touches many or even two, but 
 as he gets into hand to hand, heart to heart 
 contact with the single man. 
 
 This was the way our church life was 
 
 78 
 
Some iPbages of BvangcUsm 
 
 evolved. This is without doubt God's plan. 
 Here is the man with his sin, his need; 
 there is God anxious to help him, to save 
 him. How is contact established ? Through 
 the other man — the Christian man. In- 
 stances of direct communication from God 
 to the unsaved by spiritual illumination, 
 apart from human agency are rare indeed. 
 In order to reach Peter, God used Andrew ; 
 to help the eunuch, God used Philip; to 
 touch Cornelius, God used Peter. It has 
 been this way down the ages. No amount of 
 preaching from the pulpit can take the place 
 of this direct contact of the Christian with 
 the one who is not saved. Every evangelist 
 depends upon God's use of the personal 
 worker. Every pastor must have his pub- 
 lic utterances backed by the individual serv- 
 ice of the members. We are sure that the 
 genius of the gospel demands that every 
 one who knows Christ is bound to make a 
 decided effort to make Christ known to 
 every one who does not know him. 
 
 I am not referring to the spasmodic serv- 
 ice which the Christian may render on 
 Sundays, and occasionally in special meet- 
 ings, but the continual earnest work with 
 those who are not Christians, every day — 
 friends, acquaintances at the shop, rela- 
 79 
 
Ipcactical UDeale in jSvangeltsm 
 
 tives, the man and the woman whom we 
 meet for a day or two at the summer resort. 
 
 In this country we have about thirty- 
 eight milhon people, exckisive of Roman 
 CathoHcs, who are not members of our 
 churches. We meet some of them every 
 day. They are everywhere. The gospel 
 is for them. It is entrusted to us to de- 
 liver. The command is, '' go ye," and 
 '' preach to every creature." How can this 
 be done most effectually? you ask. I an- 
 swer, by every Christian feeling his respon- 
 sibility and supplementing the work of the 
 pulpit by individual personal soHcitation 
 with the unsaved. 
 
 Two important facts about these thirty- 
 eight million confront us. The first is, that 
 about three-fourths of them are men, and 
 the other is that they seldom go to church. 
 By this we can see that it is largely a matter 
 of man with man outside of the church 
 building. It is not baby work. It is far 
 from being effeminate. It demands the 
 strongest and pluckiest manhood known to 
 earth. But it can be done, and some noble 
 men of God are doing their best to achieve 
 it every day. 
 
 The pastor is the recognized leader and 
 much depends upon him concerning the de- 
 80 
 
Some ipbases ot jevangelism 
 
 velopment of this phase of the church's 
 evangeUsm. The pastor ought to be strong 
 in his own personal work with the indi- 
 vidual. I know some men find it easy to 
 preach and very hard to talk with people 
 about their souls, when not in the pulpit. 
 Personally I have found that my public 
 work has been rendered doubly effectual 
 because of the personal conversation pre- 
 vious to it, or after it. Every pastor should 
 be determined to cultivate, under the tu- 
 ition of the Spirit and actual service, the 
 power to help men to Christ in personal 
 conversation. 
 
 In addition to this the pastor can help 
 develop his church-members to be personal 
 workers by preaching with a purpose to 
 make each Christian before him a preacher, 
 i. e., one who can overcome timidity, and 
 conscious weakness, as he sees the needy 
 soul, and can soon talk in the frank, manly 
 way that wins. Would it not be wise for 
 each pastor to ask himself the question, "Do 
 I preach and work to develop the Chris- 
 tians under my care to be efficient in the 
 art of personal work?" 
 
 I believe that Dr. Torrey is correct when 
 he asserts that the church can have a re- 
 vival any time that it wants it. Without 
 F 8i 
 
Ipractlcal locals (n Bvangclism 
 
 doubt there is an abundant supply of latent 
 evangelistic force in the personnel of 
 preachers and members. If each person 
 were truly anxious enough to pray ear- 
 nestly for it, then willing to go to work to 
 try to answer his own prayer by laboring 
 tactfully with this and that person, the 
 church would be instantly in the midst of 
 a gracious revival. We may rest assured 
 that there is nothing on God's part to over- 
 come. He is willing. The Spirit is actu- 
 ally striving with men everywhere, but he 
 could strive much better, and more effectu- 
 ally, if each Christian would be willing and 
 anxious to be the channel through which he 
 might touch the heart of the unconverted 
 individual. We may pray as much as we 
 choose, long and loud, but it is almost 
 mockery to do it and then refuse to allow 
 God to make use of us in the answer of 
 our prayers. To request God to convict 
 and save men is to assume a most solemn 
 obligation to go to work at once and assist 
 him to do it. 
 
 At a camp-meeting in the East, the leader 
 of the meeting, which had been conducted 
 in the interest of foreign missions, asked 
 a brother to lead in prayer, praying specifi- 
 cally for five hundred dollars which was 
 82 
 
Some l^bascB of iBvnmcUem 
 
 needed at that moment for a mission in 
 Korea. The brother prayed in a loud voice 
 and asked God to show them where they 
 could get five hundred dollars. He heard 
 a voice from within saying, " Give it your- 
 self." He prayed louder. Still the voice 
 said, "Give it yourself." He arose from 
 his knees and said, " Brethren, I will give 
 you that five hundred dollars and answer 
 my own prayer." Christians meet and pray 
 for the unsaved. I believe in it, but broth- 
 ers and sisters in Christ, I am convinced 
 that what we need more than prayer is 
 that we engage in personal heart-to-heart 
 work with those about us who are not 
 Christians. Prayers would be answered 
 quickly if this were done. Prayer may 
 be needed to get us ready to do it, but 
 prayer is not needed to get God ready to 
 bless the lost. He is waiting for you and 
 me. I shall never forget an expression of 
 Phillips Brooks : " Prayer is not conquer- 
 ing God's reluctance; it is laying hold of 
 his willingness." By personal work with 
 the sinful out of Christ we actually lay 
 hold of God's willingness. 
 
 Doubtless all know of the wonderful re- 
 vival of Wales. Some have attempted to 
 attribute it to Doctor Torrey, Doctor Meyer 
 83 
 
practical HDcab in Evangelism 
 
 Evan Roberts ; but the facts give us abund- 
 ant evidence that it came as a result of the 
 church (practically in her lay membership) 
 being at work for souls. Evan Roberts 
 labored in only about twenty towns. The 
 great majority of the churches had no evan- 
 gelists. Pastors did less preaching than 
 usual. It was the church, as her individual 
 members worked personally, and gathered 
 in many instances with no leader to plead 
 with the unsaved. This is worth seriously 
 considering. 
 
 During meetings in a large church in a 
 Western city, the deacons and all were 
 pleaded with to do their utmost toward 
 helping their friends into the kingdom by 
 personal work. The response was very 
 gratifying to me and the success of the 
 meetings was insured because of it. One 
 night a deacon stopped on his way to the 
 church to invite a man whose wife was a 
 member. He received the deacon cordially 
 and said he could not go, because his wife 
 had just gone and he must stay home with 
 the child. The good deacon accepted the 
 opportunity and sat down with that man 
 and had a heart-talk with him. He 
 found the man responsive, groping in the 
 dark but anxious to live right, trust Christ, 
 
 84 
 
Some ipbaeee ot Bvangeli0m 
 
 and do his duty. After two hours of con- 
 versation, the man kneeled with the deacon 
 and prayer was offered. God wonderfully 
 blessed the effort, and the next Sunday 
 the man publicly confessed Christ and is 
 now a member of the church. On that 
 Sunday when the man came forward to 
 confess his Lord, the deacon saw him. 
 His emotions so controlled him as he came 
 to me to tell me how happy he was that he 
 could hardly speak as the joy of helping 
 a soul into the kingdom filled his entire 
 being. 
 
 I must believe that there are thousands in 
 just this same condition, and all they need 
 is the touch of the individual person. Re- 
 cently I learned of an incident that beauti- 
 fully illustrates the power of the human 
 touch. A party of friends were once in- 
 vited by Mr. Tiffany, the famous jeweler, 
 to come and see some gems which he 
 had received. As he showed them, one 
 lady asked, " But what is that black one ? " 
 He said, " I will tell you presently." He 
 went on to explain where they were gath- 
 ered, etc., and quietly slipped the black one 
 into the palm of his hand. After they had 
 expressed their admiration for them he said, 
 " But here is one that is more valuable than 
 
 8s 
 
practical HDcals in levangeUsm 
 
 any of the others." And he opened his 
 hand and showed them a magnificent fire 
 opal. His friends exclaimed as they real- 
 ized its beauty. He said, " This is that 
 black one you noticed. All that was 
 needed to bring out its splendor was the 
 touch and warmth of the human hand." 
 And is it not true that there are many gems 
 of humanity which appear black and sin- 
 scarred to us, but God can through the 
 warm touch of another personality change 
 them to jewels of beauty and worth? Oh, 
 that the church realized her opportunity in 
 personal work for the lost ones of the earth. 
 It is not enough that we give of our means 
 for them. We must give ourselves. 
 
 I truly sympathize with those who are 
 reticent and timid, to whom conversation 
 about religious subjects is exceedingly 
 hard, but people are dying without Christ, 
 the need is imperative, and we must bestir 
 ourselves into an active ministry for others. 
 God has promised to stand by us and he will 
 surely help and bless. 
 
 After considering these three phases of 
 the work of the church in evangelism, shall 
 we not recognize our places in the advance 
 of God's kingdom and quickly respond to 
 the call by enrolling ourselves as workers 
 86 
 
XLbe "ffOcal jevangcl(0t 
 
 to be used anywhere and everywhere our 
 Master would have us? 
 
 Ill 
 
 C^bc irtjcal Bvangelfst 
 
 N this chapter we are to consider a 
 very important factor in the evan- 
 geHsm of to-day. The success of 
 special meetings, where an evangelist is 
 engaged, stands or falls in most instances 
 with the evangelist. At no time in the 
 world's history is he being so severely ex- 
 amined as to-day. Thinking people de- 
 mand that his personality and work be 
 carefully considered. We may well spend 
 a little time in asking and answering the 
 question : " What sort of an individual is 
 the ideal evangelist whose business it is to 
 lead men and women to Christ through the 
 public and personal presentation of the 
 gospel message ? " 
 
 I. His Divine Calling. He is not a 
 man-made personage. The outlines of his 
 character and work were drawn in heaven. 
 Just as truly as any preacher-pastor has 
 been called of God to his service on earth, 
 
 87 
 
Ipractlcal HOeals in JEvangelism 
 
 so the ideal evangelist has been called from 
 heaven to enter his specific field of work. 
 Eph. 4 : 1 1 : " And he gave some to be 
 apostles, some prophets, and some evangel- 
 ists, and some pastors and teachers." God 
 places his work alongside of the other serv- 
 ice rendered by pastors and teachers. An 
 ancient writer describes the evangelist of 
 New Testament times as the " one who 
 went about preaching," evidently not settled 
 in any one place as a pastor was. He was a 
 missionary of that time. Perhaps we could 
 hardly say that the work of the evangelist 
 of that day was identical with the service of 
 the evangelist of to-day. But it was very 
 much like it. Commentators inform us 
 that the evangelist of the primitive day was 
 one whose special duty was to go about and 
 preach, and was distinctive from the work 
 of the pastor and teacher who cared for the 
 flock and had the leadership in the govern- 
 ment of the church. I am convinced that 
 he is to-day a man with special gifts in win- 
 ning persons to a decision for Christ and 
 that he is ordained of God to do a particular 
 work. 
 
 In view of this, no man ought to enter 
 the service carelessly. He should never 
 lower the dignity of his ofiice by thinking 
 88 
 
Zbc HDcal Bvangeligt 
 
 it is unimportant and less in God's sight 
 than a pastorate. While it may be true that 
 the evangelist of Scripture does not give 
 us a perfect precedent of the one of to- 
 day, yet the same might be said about the 
 pastor. This does not in any sense make 
 the evangehst less sanctioned by God, and 
 every person who enters this field ought to 
 be prayerfully convinced of the magnitude 
 of his divinely ordained office. 
 
 II. The Need of His Work. Please re- 
 member that we are not considering the 
 evangelistic pastor. Our thought is en- 
 tirely concerning the man whom we ordi- 
 narily style an evangelist. I am well aware 
 that in the minds of some he is certainly an 
 innovation. Many have no need for him. 
 At least they will not acknowledge it if they 
 do. They feel that they can get along bet- 
 ter without him, and many evangelistic pas- 
 tors can probably state this in very truth. 
 However, if we carefully analyze these 
 thoughts I think we would say we have 
 no need for some evangelists, while it is 
 true that we might use the one who fairly 
 approaches the ideal, if we could find him. 
 
 But if God has sent him, then there is 
 need for him. If God ordained him and 
 has given him special gifts to win people 
 
 89 
 
practical IDeals in ^Evangelism 
 
 to Christ, then the church needs him. There 
 is a place somewhere for him. God has not 
 created him, nor his powers, for nothing. 
 We do positively affirm that the true evan- 
 gelist is actually needed to assist the church 
 in winning the lost, and in training them 
 in Christian culture. 
 
 1. The church needs him to lead in a 
 special effort. Generally speaking, with a 
 possible exception now and then, every pas- 
 tor needs a wise helper to assist him and 
 his church to reach the unsaved. He wants 
 a man capable of leading. The church 
 needs a general of evangelism. 
 
 2. A new voice is needed. Hardened 
 hearts, deaf ears, need to be awakened to 
 the consciousness of sin and of the need of 
 a Saviour. The man may not be able to 
 preach as well as the pastor, but the church 
 needs the power of a new voice in the 
 presentation of the gospel in order to reach 
 the unconverted. 
 
 3. He is needed because of his gift. A 
 man is in demand because of what he can 
 do. If one man could do everything, and 
 had the time to do it and the strength to 
 execute it, then the other man might not 
 be needed, but such is not the case. This 
 is preeminently a day of specialists, and the 
 
 90 
 
Zbe "ffOeal Bvangellet 
 
 man is in demand who can do one thing 
 and do it well. 
 
 The true evangelist is the man who has 
 a gift, and he has through study and ex- 
 perience, under the tuition of the Holy 
 Spirit, sought to cultivate and perfect that 
 gift. He makes a specialty of the art of 
 soul-saving. All pastors have not this 
 power, although there are few of them who 
 could not have more of it if they would 
 go at it and make a study and work of it. 
 Pastors have acknowledged to me many 
 times that they can preach, they can train, 
 they can get people awakened, but they 
 cannot seem to get them over the line of 
 decision. And some they cannot even im- 
 press. Right here comes the need for a 
 helper, some one who can bring the work 
 of his ministry to blessed fruition. 
 
 I knew a pastor in the West who was a 
 remarkably brilliant man. He had many de- 
 grees from colleges, and was known as one 
 of the best preachers of the country. He 
 said to me after I helped him in meetings 
 and we had seen some scores of people 
 confess Christ, " If I could work hard with 
 my congregation for eleven months and 
 then have you the other month, we could 
 have great success." I humbly refer to 
 91 
 
practical UDeale tn jevangcltsm 
 
 this simply to show that the evangeHst is 
 actually needed in many churches, and to 
 the progress of the kingdom. 
 
 III. Popular Notions of Him. Notwith- 
 standing the fact that he has a place or- 
 dained of God, and that he is a necessity, 
 yet there are many who consider him only 
 a necessary evil. The experience of some 
 pastors with evangelists has been exceed- 
 ingly unsatisfactory, and one can hardly 
 blame them for thinking of him as they do. 
 The evangelistic field seems to throw the 
 door wide open to all freaks and extrem- 
 ists, who imagine that they have been 
 called of God to go out and preach the 
 gospel. I confess that sometimes I have 
 been ashamed to be named as an evangelist 
 simply because so many illiterate, unbal- 
 anced, and cranky individuals have included 
 themselves in this class. Here is the boy 
 evangelist with his long curls and childish 
 words, the slum evangelist with his slang 
 phrases and self-evident ignorance, the 
 woman evangelist with her mannishness 
 and lack of refinement, the '* cyclone evan- 
 gelist " with his uncouth and disgusting 
 demonstrations, the dude evangelist with 
 his soft hands and softer manner, the hypo- 
 critical evangelist, whose actions either dur- 
 92 
 
ing the meetings or after reveal his double 
 dealing; the egotistical evangelist, with his 
 long hair and know-it-all-air, until honestly 
 is has seemed as if almost every kind of 
 a monstrosity which was human had 
 crowded into the ranks of gospel evangel- 
 ists. However, I cannot say that all of 
 these have had no work to do in some fields, 
 and when I remember that even the pastor- 
 ate has about as many objectionable people 
 in its ranks, I am not totally discouraged; 
 and then when I think of such men as 
 Moody, Torrey, Chapman, Whittle, and our 
 own beloved Woelfkin, Francis, and Dixon, 
 I am not ashamed to be called an evangelist. 
 Yet in all of my meetings I am advertised 
 as simply " the pastor's helper." 
 
 It is true, nevertheless, that to many pas- 
 tors and many people almost all evangelists 
 are pompous, egotistical, dictatorial, hobby- 
 istical individuals, who make a great show 
 and noise like the gaudily painted empty 
 cart, and they would not have them around 
 their churches for any amount of money. 
 To some the evangelist is weak-minded and 
 narrow in thought, a man who never stud- 
 ies and never gets more than a few old 
 stock sermons to repeat glibly for a few 
 days in a place. They expect to sit on 
 93 
 
lliractical HOeale in ^evangelism 
 
 pins and needles while he is attempting to 
 preach for fear he will say something to 
 shock them either in gross misinterpreta- 
 tion of Scripture or slang phrase. They 
 expect him to make extreme statements, to 
 tell unheard-of and impossible stories, to 
 ask them to jump up and then sit down a 
 dozen times when they least expect it, and 
 to do much which would be unbecoming to 
 a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 
 But they must sit and bear it just the best 
 they know how, for they want souls saved 
 and it has been thought that the only way to 
 get them saved was to engage an evan- 
 gelist. He is the great monstrosity that 
 always goes with evangelism. If they can 
 only get through the meetings and have no 
 great and terrible harm done, they will 
 express profound thanks to God. 
 
 This has been all too true in many in- 
 stances, and it makes one sick at heart, dis- 
 gusted, and out of patience all at the same 
 time to think that any mortal man could 
 believe that such stuff ever ought to go 
 with his evangelism. No wonder that evan- 
 gelists are in disrepute among a certain 
 class of people. No wonder that pastors 
 have no use for them. No wonder that 
 thinking people have relegated them to the 
 94 
 
trbe irocal J6vangeli6t 
 
 religious scrap-heap. God may have used 
 the truth that these men have spoken, but 
 he never used their methods, their lack of 
 the sense of the decent, their slang, and 
 their lack of brains. He used them not- 
 withstanding. It is simply too bad. There 
 is no excuse for it. Some good men in 
 their desire to be all things to all men, and 
 to awaken dead churches, seem to have 
 completely lost their heads in the attempt 
 to reach the unsaved. Soul-saving, real sal- 
 vation, regenerating work for the unsaved 
 is hard enough without being obliged to 
 do it through such agents. I am glad" to 
 be able to state that all evangelists are not 
 like these. There is an ever-increasing 
 company of godly, cultured, refined preach- 
 ers of the gospel who do have a large place 
 in the hearts of Christian people and who 
 are exerting a marvelous influence for 
 righteousness in this world. One need not 
 be ashamed to be with this latter company. 
 IV. His Equipment. The efficient evan- 
 gelist must have an excellent and complete 
 equipment. Let the person who is thinking 
 of entering this field know at the outset 
 that it will take time to get ready. God 
 is not asking him to take up the work with- 
 out proper preparation. It will pay to 
 95 
 
Ipracttcal UDeals In iBvmQcUem 
 
 equip one's self with the best possible 
 training for the work. 
 
 I. Morally. First and foremost he 
 should be equipped with a personal ex- 
 perience in Jesus Christ, which is to be the 
 foundation of a true character. There is 
 nothing so important as this. What he is 
 will affect his entire work perhaps more 
 than what he does. Yes, what he is will 
 determine what he is to do. The people 
 must have perfect confidence in him as a 
 Christian man. His personal character 
 must be irreproachable. He must be even 
 noted for his piety. No matter what other 
 accomplishments he may have, if he in his 
 individual, secret life is not right, his work 
 will do harm. The pastor comes and lives 
 with the people. The evangelist comes as 
 a stranger, stays only a few days or weeks. 
 He ought to come equipped with the record 
 of a character which is known to be es- 
 sentially Christian. It is necessary that his 
 hearers understand this at the outset. 
 
 And this moral and spiritual equipment 
 should include the conscious presence and 
 power of the Holy Spirit. Some may term 
 it the baptism of the Spirit or the infilHng 
 of the Spirit. We care not about terms, 
 but surely every man who is to work on 
 
 96 
 
^be ITDcal £vanaeli0t 
 
 the evangelistic field ought to yield himself 
 to the Holy Spirit, to be possessed of him 
 for service, not once only but every mo- 
 ment of every day. This preparation is 
 most necessary. The evangelist should be 
 a man filled with God's Spirit. This is 
 realized largely through prayer. Continu- 
 ous communion with God must be the 
 foundation of the moral equipment of the 
 messenger. 
 
 2. Physically. The ideal evangelist must 
 have a strong body. Not necessarily need 
 he be a physical giant, but he ought to 
 have a physique that can endure severe 
 nervous strain. I think all evangelists will 
 agree with me that the preaching is a small 
 part of the work. That tires but little. It 
 is the sympathetic heart strain, the constant 
 tension, the excitement, the fast heart-beat, 
 that wears. It is continuous and one must 
 have vigor to endure it. 
 
 The man who meets people publicly must 
 surely be a man. He ought to have manly 
 powers even above the average. If he is 
 going to win men he must stand before 
 them as a recognized man. I am not dis- 
 counting the power of God's Spirit in using 
 a weak instrument. But if you will note the 
 names of successful evangelists you will 
 G 97 
 
I^ractical TlDeals in ^SvanQcUem 
 
 find that In almost every instance they have 
 been attractive, manly men. No effeminate 
 or weak man ought to be in the evangelistic 
 field. People are not likely to be won to 
 Christ by a flabby, soft-handed, afraid-of- 
 work sort of physique. Then the evangelist 
 ought to heed i Cor. 6 : 19, 20, and care- 
 fully train his body to be strong, by ex- 
 cluding every habit which would tend to 
 weaken it, and by including every habit 
 which would assist it in its development. 
 God uses psychic power. 
 
 3. Mentally. If any Christian worker 
 needs to have mental power, the evangelist 
 is at the top of the list. Some have 
 apparently thought that any one who has 
 had experience in Christ, and can talk in 
 the phraseology of salvation, can do good 
 work in the evangelistic field, even if he has 
 not had much training. But this is far from 
 being true. 
 
 It is also generally conceded that the 
 pastor needs far more training and reserve 
 force than the evangelist. While it is true 
 that to be able to preach commendably to 
 a congregation for years demands a man 
 of intellectual caliber somewhat different 
 from the evangelist, yet that does not make 
 it true that the illiterate, the ignoramus, is 
 
 98 
 
Zbe ITDeal JBvanQcliBt 
 
 fitted to be a leader in soul-saving. One 
 reason why so much harm has been done 
 is because men of no experience, of no 
 real mental acumen, have largely usurped 
 the evangelistic field. Of course there are 
 notable exceptions, but that does not alter 
 the fact. 
 
 The amount of schooling which he must 
 have, or the names of the schools which he 
 must attend, may not be stipulated by the 
 world or by God, but the evangelist must 
 be an educated man if he is to be efficient 
 and do a work among the people of to-day, 
 who from the boy and girl in the high 
 school up are better educated than ever. 
 He may get his education at the bench, as 
 did Carey, or at the schools ; but it is ab- 
 solutely imperative that he get it in some 
 way, and I would advise that he take the 
 regular academic, collegiate, and seminary 
 course as a foundation to that education. 
 I also believe that the time is coming when 
 the place of the evangelist will be such an 
 exalted one in the church that there will 
 be a special training arranged for him in 
 the seminary. Why not believe that God 
 has called one to do this special work of 
 soul-saving in connection with the church, 
 and deliberately aim to perfect yourself for 
 99 
 
IPractical UDeals in Bvanc^cliem 
 
 this vocation? Our seminary teachers are 
 coming to see its importance as they have 
 not previously reaHzed it.^ 
 
 Then in addition to this (and he may 
 be engaged in actual work all through his 
 course actually trying to win people to 
 Jesus) I would advise that every evangelist 
 take a two years' course in business train- 
 ing. Money could not repay me for the 
 value of what I had. Let him take this 
 while preaching evenings. I know a man 
 who is in business who is preaching every 
 week. This is actually needed in the men- 
 tal development of the man who would lead 
 men to Christ. Dr. J. M. English, of New- 
 ton Theological Institution, was accustomed 
 to say to the students in his classes, many 
 times during the year, words like these: 
 " I suppose when you boys leave the semi- 
 nary that you will settle down as pastors of 
 some little churches at once perfectly satis- 
 fied that you are fully prepared to preach 
 the gospel, but I advise each of you to spend 
 two years as a traveling man on the road 
 
 1 Since writing this, Dr. Cornelius Woelfkin, our ef- 
 ficient national evangelistic worker, has been called to 
 the chair of Homiletics in Rochester Theological Semi- 
 nary. This but proves that the faculty of our theological 
 seminaries are determined to fit our young men to be 
 evangelistic in ministry. 
 
 100 
 
Zbc "ffDeal JEvangellst 
 
 getting into touch with men." I think that 
 Doctor EngHsh reahzed the power of busi- 
 ness experience in fitting a man to win men. 
 
 To corroborate this statement let me 
 mention the fact that an evangeUst whom 
 I know held meetings in an Eastern town 
 and at the end of a week had to leave for 
 another engagement. He had been away 
 but a few days when he received a request 
 to return. This request was in the form 
 of a petition, which was signed by a hun- 
 dred men. Some of the men told the pas- 
 tor that the evangelist seemed to under- 
 stand them and they were very anxious to 
 have him return. Those men said, " Why, 
 that man seems to know just how we feel 
 and is evidently trying hard to help us." A 
 business training is invaluable to the man 
 who would help men into the kingdom. 
 
 I must also add that while it has been uni- 
 versally accepted to be the fact that the 
 evangelist was the man who did not study 
 compared to the pastor, yet there is no rea- 
 son for such a state of affairs to exist. The 
 evangelist who works with churches, and 
 holds about two meetings a day, has really 
 more time to study than the average city 
 pastor who is busy about multitudinous 
 matters that never bother the evangelist 
 
 lOI 
 
practical ITDeale in Evangelism 
 
 who has his mornings every day in which 
 to read and write. God knows I have been 
 a busy man the past few years and many 
 demands are made upon my time, but I 
 am ashamed of myself if a Saturday night 
 comes without some studying being done, 
 a book or two read, and at least one address 
 or sermon written. I cannot tolerate the 
 thought that the evangelist honors his pro- 
 fession when he never gets beyond a few 
 stock sermons and is satisfied to be the 
 same mentally that he was years or even a 
 year ago. The evangelistic field offers un- 
 excelled opportunities for the development 
 of the keenest intellect, the display of the 
 broadest sympathies, and for growth in the 
 highest Christian culture. If we do not 
 constantly use our minds and souls in study 
 of new phases of truth, we will become 
 weakened and incapable because of inactiv- 
 ity. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps truly says, 
 " You are disqualified from apprehending 
 truth by means of powers which you have 
 atrophied by disuse." We simply must read 
 and work at our desk every day or die 
 mentally. And we are never to stop this 
 mind culture while we are alive. While it 
 is true that at about forty years of age the 
 muscles of the body begin to lose their 
 
 I02 
 
^be ITDeal Bvangeli6t 
 
 ipower to respond to exercise and training, 
 the brain in a normal condition continues 
 to be capable of development up to the 
 end of life, so that there is no excuse for 
 laziness in the study. 
 
 While it is probably true that men can be 
 saved from " slumdum," and begin instantly 
 to exhort those about them to leave their 
 sins and accept Christ, with considerable 
 success, yet this gives us no reason to be- 
 lieve that the ranks of evangelists can be 
 filled with poorly trained minds that have 
 no mental balance. No, no. The art of 
 soul-saving is too important to place in the 
 hands of those who are not willing to put 
 hard work into the study of how they can 
 be more efficient in meeting the problems 
 which mentally confront the thousands of 
 inquirers with whom they are to deal. I 
 believe that many an honest intellectual 
 doubter has been turned away from Christ 
 by the uncharitable and unwise treatment 
 which he has received at the hands of an 
 enthusiastic, perhaps godly, but ignorant 
 evangelist. 
 
 May we ever remember that as evangel- 
 ists we occupy an important place in the 
 work of the church and we must seek to 
 perfect our minds for this great service. 
 103 
 
practical HDcals in Bvangclism 
 
 V. His Spirit. It does not take long for 
 the people, and especially the pastor, to size 
 up the evangelist. He might as well know 
 at the outset that from the moment he steps 
 off the train to the time he leaves he is 
 being carefully studied. No matter how 
 well he has written or what others say, they 
 will now watch him. If he demands a valet 
 to carry his grip, and a carriage in which 
 to ride the six blocks, and at once assumes 
 the kingly, dictatorial air, expecting numer- 
 ous attendants to run hither and yonder at 
 his bidding, and everywhere assumes first 
 place, there will always be a large " but " 
 after his name. 
 
 Every evangelist ought to be conspicu- 
 ously filled with the practical fruits of the 
 Holy Spirit, which are '* love, peace, long- 
 suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 
 meekness, and self-control." He needs abil- 
 ity as we have previously mentioned, but 
 it ought to be strongly coupled to amia- 
 bility. The one is weak without the other. 
 In fact men of amiability and weak in ability 
 can oftentimes do more than the one of 
 great ability and little amiability. We know 
 there are legitimate demands for an evan- 
 gelist to make, and he need not be styled 
 cranky always if he feels he must have a 
 104 
 
^be IfDeal JEvangelist 
 
 comfortable room, well ventilated, and good 
 food where he is to be entertained, etc., 
 but with every expressed desire let him in- 
 tensify its power to get what he needs by 
 adding to it a spirit of pleasantness and 
 humility. 
 
 But I fear many fail exactly here. Many 
 good sermons and much excellent work 
 have been entirely spoiled sometimes by 
 the spirit in which they were executed. 1 
 hear so much about the nonsensical cranky- 
 isms of evangelists that some of it is prob- 
 ably true. Some men stalk into town with a 
 bravado that kills them almost instantly. 
 The committee with which they have to 
 deal are wondering how God can use such 
 men. Let each evangelist study how he 
 can fit into the condition which he meets 
 and generally he can have all the comforts 
 he needs. I am obliged to write, however, 
 that it is not always the fault of the evan- 
 gelist. He has been treated shabbily more 
 than once. People have hardly realized 
 just what entertainment he ought to have. 
 But a sweet spirit will greatly remove the 
 possibility of such treatment being dupli- 
 cated. Generally speaking, the man with 
 the right spirit will win his way everywhere. 
 
 VI. His Personal Appearance. Does 
 105 
 
Ipractical IFDeals in Bvanaeliem 
 
 the religion of Jesus Christ have anything to 
 do with the collars, neckties, and clothes a 
 man wears? It certainly does, in my way 
 of thinking, anyway. I am well aware of 
 the warning that Paul gives the women 
 concerning spending too much time dress- 
 ing the hair and arranging the toilet, but 
 he wrote nothing along this line to the men. 
 Why was it? Did he think that he would 
 need actually to inspire them to be more 
 careful about their outward appearance? 
 Religion and slovenly appearance are not 
 synonymous, and this is especially true of 
 the man who is to represent this religion 
 publicly. Uncle Boston, in his " Spicy 
 Breezes," tells of a backwoods preacher 
 who appeared in the pulpit with no coat, 
 or shoes, or even stockings on; but we are 
 not to conclude that because that man might 
 possibly get to heaven and dress in that 
 fashion, the evangelist should not be care- 
 ful about his looks. A dirty shirt, spotted 
 vest and coat, and baggy trousers are no 
 credit to the one who professes to follow 
 Jesus. Cleanliness and scrupulous care of 
 personal appearance will do much toward 
 helping the evangelist to win people to the 
 truth of his messages. 
 
 What! you say, would you cater to the 
 io6 
 
worldliness of this age in order to preach 
 effectively? I would hardly say yes, and 
 yet in a legitimate way I would. The evan- 
 gelist who dresses as he should will be far 
 less conspicuous than if he did not. He 
 will not draw as much attention to his 
 own person by being scrupulously careful 
 of his clothes as he would if he were ex- 
 ceedingly careless. He need not be dudish 
 and yet be in style, and especially clean and 
 neat. If I must err, let it be on the side of 
 dressing too well rather than on the other. 
 I recall seeing a prominent evangelist who is 
 known the world over, in a large church 
 in the West. He is a large man. His 
 trousers had been worn for months and 
 months with no pressing; they were simply 
 pictures of great meal bags, out of shape 
 and dirty, and his whole personal appear- 
 ance as he stood before me caused me to 
 remark that his wife ought to have taken 
 him and given him a good lecture. I 
 think she would if she could, but he had 
 evidently been away from home for a long 
 time. As he walked up and down that 
 platform, clothes dirty and out of shape, I 
 confess it grated on me terribly and the 
 beauty of his message was lost in the 
 ugliness of his appearance. 
 107 
 
IPcactical ITOealB in JEvmQcliem 
 
 God help every evangelist to be clean in 
 secret, clean in home, at his desk, 
 everywhere, and especially in the pulpit. 
 
 VII. His Manners and Mannerisms. 
 Possibly some of us have more mannerisms 
 than manners. Mannerisms do not neces- 
 sarily reveal lack of character, but gen- 
 erally speaking, lack of manners means 
 lack of real refinement, of character, or 
 sheer ignorance. All manners and no man 
 will, however, kill the work of a preacher, 
 and just as truly all mannerisms and no 
 manners will defeat the purpose of the 
 ministry. Jesus Christ was never the au- 
 thor of anything short of the best manners. 
 He studied the customs of the times and 
 everywhere he went sought to be courteous 
 and kind. The entrance of the Christ-life 
 into a man does not tend to make him un- 
 couth. If our regeneration does not make 
 us refined and gentlemanly, then we had bet- 
 ter be born again. The incoming of the Holy 
 Spirit into us causes royal blood to flow 
 through the arteries of our spiritual na- 
 tures. We are children of a King, and our 
 manners should be those of a cultured royal 
 fainily. True manners are the opposite of 
 the dude, and the fop with his one eye- 
 glass. Hare said, " The Christian is God 
 io8 
 
Zbc flOeal Bvanaclist 
 
 Almighty's gentleman/' This ought to 
 be evident in the evangehst. He ought to 
 stand before his hearers every day first and 
 foremost as a Christian gentleman. 
 
 Yes, brethren in the evangehstic field, 
 gentlemanly courtesy is absolutely neces- 
 sary to the success of the man who preaches 
 the gospel. Gems seldom reveal their true 
 beauty in the natural state. They need to 
 be polished. Diamonds in the rough are 
 not those we wish to wear. While the 
 evangelist may be used of God notwith- 
 standing his lack of manners, I am positive 
 that he could be used more if he were pol- 
 ished. There is no excuse for coarseness 
 in the pulpit. I care not where he may be 
 preaching, even to the most ignorant and 
 unrefined, he never gains anything by acting 
 before them as if he were not a true 
 gentleman. 
 
 Nearly every preacher is guilty of more 
 or less mannerism. One man will stand 
 with both hands in his pockets, another 
 will constantly run his fingers through his 
 hair, another will continually rise on his 
 toes, another will all the time twist his chain 
 or a button, another will lie down on the 
 pulpit about every five minutes, another will 
 swing his arms and legs as if he were actu- 
 109 
 
©tactical Ifbcals in JBvnmclierw 
 
 ally performing at a circus. These manner- 
 isms are hindrances, and if you will ex- 
 amine yourself you will note that when you 
 have the least to say the more you rant 
 and tear around. We need not be slaves, 
 and yet it is wise to have a good wife critic 
 before us all the time. 
 
 VIII. His Attitude Toward Pastors 
 AND Churches. Personally I have not any 
 sympathy whatever with the evangelist who 
 belittles the work of the pastor or the 
 church. He is not to make light of their 
 attainments or to expose their weaknesses. 
 It is not his business to lambast them right 
 and left by harsh statements. If he is a 
 true evangelist, he is there to help them. 
 
 It is emphatically true that the results 
 brought about by the work of the evangelist 
 are very largely due to the faithful work 
 of pastors and their churches. There may 
 be some exceptions, but without doubt the 
 great body of pastors are devoted men who 
 are working wisely toward soul-salvation 
 and culture. Some people seem to think 
 that the only work on earth is evangelism 
 of the spasmodic type, and the pastor who 
 does not have continuous baptisms is doing 
 absolutely nothing. Surely we must not 
 excuse any pastor for lack of evangelistic 
 no 
 
Zbc troeal Bvangellst 
 
 zeal, but we ought to appreciate his faithful 
 ministrations, even if they seem to be those 
 of training and building up the flock. 
 
 I once had a pastor who, while not strong 
 in evangelism, was strong in a teaching 
 ministry. He is an able man, excellent 
 preacher, hard worker in every way, and 
 God has blessed his ministry. Several 
 young people have gone from his churches 
 to the missionary fields of the world. How 
 unwise for one to overlook the place of 
 this man in the ministry even if his church 
 is not in a continual state of revival. 
 
 Then again the evangelist who comes to 
 hold meetings with a pastor and after see- 
 ing many people yield to Christ, declares 
 that this is his work and that the pastor 
 has done nothing toward it, is either crazy 
 or insanely egotistical. He certainly is not 
 reasonable. You cannot always measure a 
 pastor's service by actual baptisms. Per- 
 sonally where I have labored with churches 
 I have recognized that many people 
 had been brought to a place of conviction 
 and almost decision under the preaching of 
 the pastor. My work under God was simply 
 to help them over the line of decision, and 
 the greater part of the work had been done 
 before I arrived. 
 
 Ill 
 
IPractfcal IfOeals in JBvnwQciiBm 
 
 We need a definition of salvation right 
 here. Read carefully. The evangelist goes 
 to a church. Fifty people give evidence of 
 genuine conversion. Can we say fifty 
 people are " saved " ? In one sense, yes. 
 But it is better, in my judgment, to say 
 " they have begun to be saved." God did 
 not use the evangelist to do all of it. Much 
 had been done before he arrived and the 
 greater part of their salvation is yet to 
 come. 
 
 Salvation implies more than simply 
 starting in the Christian life. Salvation is 
 a large term. If some of us were to die 
 on the day of conversion we would have a 
 very meager salvation to experience. Let 
 the evangelist remember that God has used 
 multitudinous agents in bringing about the 
 conversion of the individual, too many to 
 mention, but the pastor has in many in- 
 stances been a large factor ; and let him also 
 remember that while he had the privilege 
 of getting the one started right in con- 
 fessing Christ, yet the great work is now 
 in the hands of the pastor. Under his min- 
 istry the new-born soul is to grow into that 
 salvation which is to increase all through 
 eternity. Let the evangelist realize that 
 under favorable conditions his work was 
 
 IJ2 
 
Zbc "ffDeal jevaiiQcligt 
 
 easy and that the hard work of caring for 
 the converts, helping in discouragement, 
 and developing into a strong Christian life 
 is under God largely to be accompHshed 
 through the pastor. Sometimes the reap- 
 ing after the evangelist goes is far more 
 difficult than work done while the evangelist 
 was there. I think that we as evangelistic 
 workers need to realize this. It will keep 
 us from getting " swelled heads," and it 
 will greatly aid us in our ministry. 
 
 Let me add, however, that it is true that 
 many times in large union meetings there 
 are people converted who have not been to 
 church for years. They have been drawn 
 to the meetings by some unique attraction 
 of the evangelist or his helpers. Their 
 conversion cannot be attributed to others 
 than the evangeHsts and his workers. We 
 certainly ought to recognize that God is 
 using some men of peculiar personality and 
 power to accomplish this blessed result. 
 No pastor has been used recently in pre- 
 paring that soul for conversion. Yet it 
 is probably true that faithful work had been 
 done even with this person at some time 
 previous to the coming of the evangelist. 
 My point in this is simply that the evangelist 
 always needs to keep in mind that Paul 
 H 113 
 
practical ITDeals in jevanflclism 
 
 may plant, Apollos may water, but it is 
 God who does the work. The evangeHst is 
 but one of many used to accompHsh the 
 salvation of a soul. 
 
 Not for one moment would I minimize 
 the work of the evangelist, nor excuse the 
 indifference of any pastor to soul-saving 
 effort. Let each one recognize God's use 
 of the other. It is also very important that 
 the evangelist should earnestly purpose to 
 have God use him to do a work which 
 would be satisfactory to himself if he were 
 to remain as pastor and be leader in training 
 and caring for those who profess conver- 
 sion. There will be no temptation to do a 
 superficial work then, for if he is to live 
 with the people, its real value will soon be 
 evident. He should reason this way : " Now 
 this is not simply for a few days, but for 
 all time, and I must be faithful and thor- 
 ough in all my work, just as if I were the 
 pastor of this church." 
 
 The evangelist's attitude toward the 
 CHURCH-MEMBERS should be also appreci- 
 ative, and that of a helper. He is not to 
 be looked upon as a critic, as a man who 
 is an infallible judge and is prepared to haul 
 every church-member over the coals dis- 
 tributing to each his just deserts in the form 
 114 
 
tbe IfDeal l^vangctiet 
 
 of a dose of bitter sarcasm, or harsh de- 
 nunciations. I know that many men seem 
 to think that this is what God has sent 
 them to do, but I boldly differ with them, 
 and believe I speak the truth when I say 
 that they will have to overcome this atti- 
 tude before they can be of much real help 
 to the church. People are seldom assisted 
 into a higher life for Christ by such men. 
 They antagonize and repel, and while they 
 may get a few people to squirm and ac- 
 knowledge their shortcomings, they would 
 have done far more toward true Christian 
 growth if they had approached the members 
 in a different way. 
 
 We know that few church-members are 
 living up to their privileges, that there is 
 much worldliness in the ranks of the 
 church, that hypocrisy is sometimes evi- 
 dent, that it is most difficult to find ef- 
 ficient personal workers, but we cannot win 
 them by irony, ridicule, and stinging re- 
 marks. I am SURE of it. They may fall 
 into line under the lash of an evangelist's 
 words, but in large numbers there has not 
 been real heart response. There is a much 
 better way. I have seen it work in scores 
 of instances. First. Let the evangelist stand 
 before his hearers as a brother church- 
 ii5 
 
practical locale in iBvmQcliem 
 
 member, sympathizing with them in their 
 perplexities and difficulties. Secondly. Let 
 him impress them with the fact that he is 
 simply going to try to help them into a more 
 useful life in Christ. Thirdly. Let his re- 
 marks be kind and gentlemanly, even if re- 
 buke may seem at times necessary. 
 Fourthly. Let him pray mightily that God 
 may use him to show the church-members 
 their opportunity in the Christian life and 
 in service for others. Fifthly. Let him 
 patiently plead with them to yield to the 
 promptings of the Spirit. I am confident 
 that there are few church-members who will 
 not try hard to rise to the place that God 
 has for them, under the persuasive power 
 of such a ministry. 
 
 IX. His Generalship. The evangelist is 
 a recognized leader in evangelistic services. 
 He is more than an ordinary worker. He 
 ought to be a master in his business. To 
 be an efficient evangelist, either in large or 
 small meetings, demands an ability which 
 we can truthfully style generalship. While 
 the pastors whom he works with may be 
 men of executive ability, and the lay work- 
 ers of both sexes who are helping him may 
 also be very capable, yet it is wise to have 
 a leader who is at the head of the whole 
 1x6 
 
campaign. We believe the Holy Spirit can 
 fit a man through study and experience to 
 wisely lead in this great work. 
 
 It is certainly no insignificant affair. Not 
 every man can manage an evangelistic meet- 
 ing. It needs a trained man. He must be 
 a man of large vision. He must see much 
 that others do not. He has a goal to reach, 
 a point to gain, a battle to win. He is 
 praying for guidance. No other person 
 feels the responsibility as he does. He 
 must plan to use his workers in the best 
 way. He is to make charges, flank move- 
 ments, and use every tactic known in the 
 science of soul-winning to achieve the end 
 sought. Such work cannot be entered into 
 carelessly and success be assured. God has 
 generals in the business and the church may 
 well trust them. Every evangelist ought 
 to aim to be the best and most efficient 
 general that God can make him. He need 
 not be egotistical. Every efficient pastor is 
 a general in the same sense. The ambitious 
 pastor and the ambitious evangelist may 
 legitimately aim to be masters in the busi- 
 ness that God has called them to do, with- 
 out feeling condemned because they think 
 some one might say, " They think they 
 know it all." God has a special place for 
 117 
 
Ipracttcal H&eals in BvangcUem 
 
 the man who will earnestly seek to become 
 a master of the work God has for him 
 to do. 
 
 Evangelists are many, but evangelistic 
 generals are few. Too many are satisfied 
 to be itinerant exhorters with a few old 
 sermons to peddle out. There are some 
 men in this field, however, who are filled 
 with a passion to be experts in the science 
 of Holy Spirit gospel evangelism. From 
 every corner of the field they are making 
 observations and from their comprehensive 
 knowledge are able to go forth as leaders 
 to do his will in a masterly way. Years 
 of training under the tuition of God's Spirit 
 is fitting them for greater service than 
 ever. God help every man to be his best, 
 is my prayer. 
 
 X. PosTLUDE. The meetings are closing. 
 The last night comes. There has been un- 
 bounded enthusiasm. Religion has been at 
 white heat. There has been some emo- 
 tional excitement, for it is impossible to 
 get along without it. The evangelist is 
 going. Converts have very naturally been 
 drawn to him. This is always true more 
 or less with the successful evangelist. 
 Sometimes comparisons unfavorable to the 
 pastor will be made. The question very 
 ii8 
 
Zbc IfOcal Bvangeliet 
 
 naturally arises as to what tune the evan- 
 gelist ought to play as he leaves. What is 
 the dominant note in his postlude? Is it 
 the personal pronoun? Or is it Jesus, his 
 church, the pastor, others? The spirit, the 
 greatness of the man, will be manifested 
 here. It seems to me that a duty faces him 
 at this point and one that he ought not 
 to shirk. He ought to be magnanimous 
 enough to recognize some facts and after 
 he has given his counsel to the converts 
 and to the church publicly state them as 
 follows : 
 
 1. Express appreciation of the service 
 rendered by every one who has contributed 
 to the success of the meetings. The pastor, 
 the singers, the ushers, the personal work- 
 ers, the shut-ins at home who have been 
 constantly in prayer. 
 
 2. Give the glory to God for the success 
 of the meetings (i Cor. i : 31). 
 
 3. Emphasize the thought that many have 
 aided in bringing about the conversion of 
 those who have yielded to Christ. These 
 confessions of Christ by new voices are but 
 the harvest of many years of work done 
 by others and helped to blessed fruition 
 through his ministry. 
 
 4. Take time to state that all ought to 
 
 119 
 
practical UDeala in JEvangeligm 
 
 appreciate the pastor who toils faithfully 
 week in and week out. Perhaps they 
 might not think so much of the evangelist 
 if he stayed all the time and they heard him 
 every Sunday. Honor the pastor before the 
 people. 
 
 5. Then in case the meetings have not 
 been so successful as hoped, the evangelist 
 has an opportunity to be very charitable. 
 He should not lay the entire blame on the 
 church-members. I have heard of men who 
 when they had successful meetings seemed 
 to take all the glory to themselves; but if 
 there were any failures in the meetings, 
 then that blame was entirely on the 
 members of the churches. This is not fair. 
 
 6. In addition to this, the evangelist 
 needs to be careful as to what he says 
 when he gets away from the field. He also 
 needs to think sensibly about his work 
 there and not be puffed up. So many 
 people have '' patted him on the back," so 
 to speak, that he is tempted to think as I 
 have heard some men say, '' Well, if I 
 were pastor of that church, you. would see 
 that building filled with people every Sun- 
 day." Allowing for the fact that in some 
 cases the evangelist might do better work 
 than the pastors in some churches, yet I 
 
 120 
 
Zbc "ffOeal lEvangeligt 
 
 am a little afraid that if most evangelists 
 exchanged places with pastors, they would 
 find in nine cases out of ten that they could 
 not do so well. 
 
 During these many years of experience 
 in working with pastors who were faith- 
 fully toiling on for the Master, I have sel- 
 dom been tempted even to think in this way, 
 but rather have sympathized with them as 
 they have confided their problems and dif- 
 ficulties to me, and I have left them won- 
 dering if I could do half as well as they. 
 
 XI. The Pastor's Postlude. May I have 
 just a few words with the pastor who is 
 to remain after the evangelist? He can 
 greatly help, if he reasons fairly about re- 
 sults and does not criticize harshly unless 
 he is forced to. He needs to put himself 
 in the place of the evangelist and appreci- 
 ate how he would have done had he been 
 the leader. A failure to do this has caused 
 many an evangelist to suffer needlessly at 
 the hands of a pastor. 
 
 1. The pastor ought to believe in the 
 conversion of the boys and girls, surely 
 those over ten years of age. 
 
 2. He ought to know that there will be 
 many who do not realize just what they are 
 doing, and that there are others, converts 
 
 121 
 
{practical UDeals in Bvangelism 
 
 of all ages, who are weak, mystified, yet 
 anxious to trust Christ and live aright. 
 
 3. He ought not to expect too much. 
 He cannot think that all who confess Christ 
 are truly converted. Nor can he expect that 
 every convert will exhibit abundant and 
 perfect fruits at once. 
 
 4. Recognizing the unsettled condition 
 of many and the weakness and need of all, 
 he should gather the converts, both young 
 and old, into classes for study — one in 
 the afternoon for boys and girls, and one 
 every prayer-meeting night for adults. If 
 this is done and sympathetic help is ex- 
 tended to all, he will not need to criticize 
 the work of the evangelist so much. 
 
 5. He ought not to blame the evangelist 
 if some converts do fall back into the ways 
 of sin. I have never held meetings any- 
 where but what this has occurred. It would 
 probably be true if the pastor had conducted 
 the meetings himself. 
 
 In closing this chapter I can do no better 
 than to refer to what Dr. George E. Horr, 
 of Newton Theological Institution, wrote 
 in a recent ( 1906) letter to the '' Standard " 
 of the new appreciation of evangelists : 
 
 Probably the net result of this winter's work 
 in the number of additions to our churches will 
 122 
 
Zbc ITDeal JBvnmcliet 
 
 be larger than for several years. There appears 
 to be a general interest throughout our churches. 
 Many of them have had the help of evangehsts, 
 and without exception the result appears to be 
 happy. No matter what one's theory of what 
 ought to be, a church under the best pastoral 
 leadership sometimes reaches a situation in which 
 a new voice, a new personality and an appeal 
 from a new point of view may do for it what the 
 tossing of a lighted match into the grate does for 
 the smoking and smoldering fire. The tiny flame 
 causes the whole mass to burst into flame. 
 Throughout New England there is a distinct re- 
 action in favor of a more generous recognition 
 of the place of the evangelist in the economy of 
 the kingdom. A few years ago we were inclined 
 to judge the whole tree by the gnarled and 
 worm-eaten specimens. 
 
 Brethren, may we not positively assert 
 that there is a large place in the world for 
 the God-ordained, well-balanced, spiritually 
 minded, sympathetic, and cultured gospel 
 evangelist? While there is little room, if 
 any, for the sentimental sensatibnalist, the 
 empty emotionalist, the abnormal alarmist, 
 or the illiterate illusionist, the field is wide 
 open for men of piety and power, of sense 
 and soul, of work and worth, of truth and 
 tact, and of life and love. Shall it not be 
 the aim of every one of us in the service 
 to reach the topmost round of character and 
 123 
 
practical IfOeals in lEvanselism 
 
 efficiency, and may we not confidently ex- 
 pect the assistance of every Christian in 
 prayer, kindly criticism, advice, and love ? 
 
 IV 
 
 Zhc Vdeal fiQeedadc 
 
 E have considered the ideal evan- 
 gelist, so that this chapter can ap- 
 propriately be given to thoughts 
 concerning his message. While this is writ- 
 ten with the evangelist especially in mind, 
 it also pertains to the evangelistic pastor. 
 
 I. The Source of the Message. The 
 foundation thoughts which inspire all evan- 
 gelistic effort are about God and man. 
 They are the main factors in the case. 
 God the Creator and man his creature. God 
 has a will for that creature. He wants it 
 made known. He has established communi- 
 cation. He has a message to deliver. The 
 evangelistic worker is his messenger. 
 
 What a heart-breaking condition it would 
 be if God had not planned some way by 
 which the desires of his heart could be 
 expressed to man. The fact that he has a 
 message, and knows how to deliver it to us, 
 124 
 
Zbc UDeal fnieeBage 
 
 is the corner-stone of all evangelism, and 
 the whole world needs to realize this. 
 
 If in some way the hearers at an evan- 
 gelistic service could be impressed with the 
 fact that this enthusiasm, this singing, this 
 work by church-members, this coming of 
 an evangelist, is all because there is a God 
 and he has sent some message to each per- 
 son, a great victory would be achieved at 
 the very outset. What solemnity ought to 
 characterize the attitude of preacher and 
 hearer as the consciousness of this wonder- 
 ful truth settles upon them. Holding meet- 
 ings where the message of God to men is to 
 be delivered is no trifling matter. Its seri- 
 ousness should be fully realized by pulpit 
 and pew. How humbly, reverently, prayer- 
 fully, the messenger should deliver his mes- 
 sage and how thoughtfully and carefully the 
 hearer should listen. 
 
 In all of my evangelistic meetings, at a 
 very quiet moment, just before the sermon, 
 I like to ask the people in the congrega- 
 tion to bow and seriously to think of this 
 momentous fact, while the pastor prays 
 most earnestly that hearers and message 
 may come into close contact. I recall how 
 a talented pastor in a large city church in 
 the West prayed in power before each of 
 125 
 
l^ractical IfDeals In jBvamcUem 
 
 my sermons. When I began to preach, all 
 were conscious that God wanted to say 
 something through his messenger. It seems 
 to me that a condition like this is indis- 
 pensable to real work for souls. 
 
 II. The Message Should be Fitted to 
 THE Hearers. The character of the mes- 
 sage will depend largely upon the known 
 condition of the hearers. The evangelist 
 should have some knowledge of the general 
 spiritual condition of his hearers before he 
 delivers his message. A failure to under- 
 stand the heart condition of those who are 
 before him will greatly hinder the possi- 
 bility of God's using him to help them, as 
 he will deliver needless messages. 
 
 If it is true that God has a message for 
 man, then he will prepare the hearts of the 
 hearers to receive that message. I feel 
 sure that while local conditions differ much 
 and some people are more hardened than 
 others, yet in every community, without 
 one exception, there are some hearers ready 
 for the message of evangelism. They need 
 no thunderings from Sinai, no hell-fire 
 preaching to prepare them; they already 
 feel the awfulness of sin, they do not want 
 any life but the right life. All they need is 
 help; they are truly waiting for a message 
 126 
 
tn3e ITDeal fiHeaBage 
 
 of helpfulness, and they will instantly re- 
 ceive it when it comes. These hearts have 
 been prepared. The grain is ripe. It will 
 topple over the moment the sickle of help- 
 ful truth is put in. In recent years I have 
 never held meetings with a church, or even 
 in a wicked, churchless town, without be- 
 ing happily conscious of this fact. I have 
 looked into strange faces at the first meet- 
 ing, but always with the assurance that the 
 Holy Spirit had under previous preaching, 
 or in direct answer to prayer, or in some 
 way known only to himself, made some 
 ready for my message, and I have not been 
 disappointed. 
 
 In Acts i8 : lo we read that Paul was 
 advised to stay and preach because there 
 were many people for God in that city. 
 The Spirit had prepared the eunuch for 
 his message. One can easily see how an 
 appreciation of this fact afifects the message. 
 If the evangelist has an idea that all who 
 are before him are hardened sinners, that 
 there are no very responsive ones, he will 
 not preach the same as he would if he saw 
 in his audience many susceptible ones who 
 were struggling with perplexities and yet 
 were longing for light. We must not think 
 that all are viciously wicked. 
 127 
 
Ipractical IFDeals in ;i6vanc}cU0m 
 
 We need to study the cause of apparent 
 indifference also. There are some who have 
 never desired any Hfe but the one God 
 would have them lead ; and even those who 
 are wicked have hearts that can be touched. 
 I remember a visit to a churchless town 
 in Wisconsin some years ago. There were 
 about eighty people present at the first 
 meeting in the chapel car. We were told 
 that there was but one Christian in the 
 whole community, and he was a man sixty- 
 five years of age. I believed, however, that 
 there were some who truly wanted to be, 
 and preached to help them. About three 
 nights after, I gave an invitation to those 
 who really wanted to be true Christians to 
 stand. A number of young people arose. 
 Among them was a young woman some 
 twenty-two years of age, whose face re- 
 vealed considerable character. After a 
 little prayer-service together she came to 
 me and told me she had yielded to Christ 
 the best she knew how. I asked her, " Has 
 there ever been a time when you did not 
 want to be just what God wanted you to 
 be?" She answered, '* No." Her eyes 
 filled with tears as I said, " I thought so." 
 Yet she came from a home where there 
 were no Christians. How had God pre- 
 128 
 
pared her? I do not know. I am positive, 
 nevertheless, that she was prepared. I 
 baptized her, with twelve others, a short 
 time after that. 
 
 Because of a deep conviction that there 
 are many like this young lady and that there 
 are others not very far from the kingdom 
 in every congregation, the following has 
 been my plan of preaching: 
 
 Begin with a message of helpfulness, 
 endeavoring to show troubled and anxious 
 ones just what to do to be happily saved in 
 Jesus. When the opportune time comes, 
 give an invitation and the responsive ones 
 will yield and confess Christ. Their con- 
 fessions will assist in arousing and convict- 
 ing the indifferent, and soon they will be 
 yielding. By this time you are in a glorious 
 meeting almost before you know it, and by 
 continuing pointed, frank, and helpful mes- 
 sages the wicked ones will be convicted 
 and some of them will yield. This has been 
 my experience over and over again. 
 
 And may I add that with this method 
 two results are apparent. Those who were 
 not Christians have yielded to Christ, and 
 church-members have been aroused to re- 
 newed consecration and activity. The evan- 
 gelist has not told the Christians (so that 
 I 129 
 
practical flDcats in }6x>anactism 
 
 those unconverted could hear him) that they 
 were good for nothing and a discredit to 
 Christ and his church. Tell me how lash- 
 ing Christians prepares the hearts of the 
 unconverted to yield to Christ. I wonder 
 if it would make me feel like being a Chris- 
 tian if I constantly heard from the lips of 
 the evangelist (in harsh and extreme state- 
 ments) that about all of the church-mem- 
 bers were frauds and failures. I rather 
 think not. In my judgment it is far bet- 
 ter to do as I have outlined, and then, with 
 special messages to Christians, under the in- 
 fluence of the ever-increasing power of the 
 meetings, seek to inspire both at once. 
 
 III. Some Characteristics of the Mes- 
 sage. I. It is a Positive Message. The 
 messenger ought to be fully assured of the 
 source of his message at the outset. There 
 must be no uncertain sound about it. No 
 courier of mankind, of earthly potentate, 
 ever had so much reason to believe in his 
 message as does the one who heralds the 
 evangel. He is sure he has something to 
 say, and he may be assured that what he 
 has is the truth and that man needs it. 
 Therefore its deliverance is with power and 
 invariably secures a hearing. 
 
 No prophet ever stood before his hearers, 
 130 
 
no angel ever spoke to men, no statesman 
 ever enunciated truth to his countrymen 
 with more assurance of a definite message 
 to deHver, than the servant of the Lord 
 who is privileged to bear the glad tidings 
 of the gospel to the lost of earth. He is to 
 leave his doubts at home. His critical study 
 about questionable points of doctrine should 
 be in the study and never in the pulpit. 
 Let him stand before his congregation with 
 his whole being aglow with the truthful- 
 ness of his message. There should be no 
 question marks. If one has doubts, then 
 do not preach on those themes. The people 
 must not see any wavering. The preacher 
 must not act as if he were on thin ice, but 
 on solid rock. Paul said, " / know him.'' 
 We may know him and his truth, and we 
 may take our place before the unsaved 
 with conscientious convictions backing 
 every word we utter. Woe be to that evan- 
 gelist who does not preach what he honestly 
 believes. Some one has said, " He who 
 does not begin by preaching what he be- 
 lieves will end by believing what he 
 preaches." The consciousness of insincerity 
 will gradually wear away and the preacher 
 will be delivering messages concerning un- 
 realities as if they were real. Personally 
 131 
 
IPractical "ffOcals in Bvanaelism 
 
 I cannot bring myself to preach that which 
 is not a part of my own positive conviction. 
 If I did, I am very sure the audience would 
 detect it. We need constantly to pray that 
 God may keep us positively assured of his 
 truth. 
 
 The evangelistic message need not be 
 dogmatic nor conceited, but it should pour 
 forth from a heart that has the calm, in- 
 telligent assurance of its mighty truth. 
 The world does not need questions and 
 mysteries. It ought to have facts. The 
 message should be so filled with confidence, 
 humble and yet positive assertion, that all 
 hearers would feel like accepting it because 
 of its evident truthfulness. God forbid 
 that it should be characterized by a dreamy 
 indefiniteness, or be so flimsy or ethereal 
 that it would have no positive value to its 
 hearers. We as evangelistic workers may 
 state that after questions and doubts have 
 filled the air, and destructive and construct- 
 ive criticism has shaken the theological 
 skeleton most thoroughly, and modern re- 
 search has shed its wonderful light upon 
 every page of the best book in the world, 
 and illuminated the person and character 
 of our Lord so that facts are before us as 
 never before, we have more reason than 
 132 
 
Zbc IfDeal fincssage 
 
 ever to stand before our hearers on a 
 solid footing- with not one foundation- 
 stone out of place and give to this needy, 
 mystified, struggling, sinful world the sin- 
 cere message of a kind, loving, yet positive 
 gospel truth. We too may know and 
 therefore speak. 
 
 2. It is a Bible Message. The Christian 
 world recognizes the Bible as the book that 
 contains the revealed will of God to men, 
 and therefore the foundation of all evangel- 
 istic messages which are to be delivered 
 in this age. While it is true that the Holy 
 Spirit lends some distinctive coloring to the 
 truth, even while the messenger is speak- 
 ing, yet the word of God is the basis of his 
 message. What the world needs is this 
 Bible. The evangelist's mind should be sat- 
 urated with it. It may not always be given 
 in exact language, yet we do well if the 
 Scripture as it is were in the message con- 
 stantly. There is life in a word from God 
 when man's word may be dead. " It is 
 sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing 
 even to the dividing asunder of soul and 
 spirit and of the joints and marrow, and 
 is a discerner of the thoughts and intents 
 of the heart." It quickens. It is food for 
 the hungry traveler on the journey of Hfe. 
 133 
 
Ipracttcal ITDeals in iSvanacUsm 
 
 It is a light in a dark place. We fail if we 
 substitute anything for it. 
 
 I am not now referring to a schoolboy, 
 stereotyped quoting from the Bible, but 
 rather to its place in the structure of the 
 message. God's truth must underlie our 
 sermons, and the people ought easily to per- 
 ceive that it does. Human sentiment 
 and foolish stories can never take the 
 place of God's word. Some noble men 
 believe that the coming preaching is 
 to be expositional, but I have never 
 been able to use this kind very much 
 in messages to the unconverted. It has not 
 appealed to me as attractive enough to the 
 average person who is not a Christian. I 
 have used it in afternoon meetings with 
 Christians. There is, however, an attractive 
 expository message which has wonderful 
 power. Happy is that man whom God uses 
 to deliver it. The world is instantly im- 
 pressed that it is from God and we cannot 
 give it too large a place in twentieth-century 
 evangelism. 
 
 3. It is a Holy Spirit Message. The mes- 
 sage is not effectual unless indited by the 
 Holy Spirit. We do well to honor him. 
 We are not to argue as to what the baptism 
 of the Spirit is, nor how obtained, but it is 
 134 
 
Zbc UDeal fillessage 
 
 certain that the Spirit of God can so fill a 
 man's being and message that it will be 
 powerful to convict, help, and save men. 
 
 We must remember that there is a goal 
 to reach, an object to aim for. It is not 
 enough simply to deliver a truthful mes- 
 sage. We want it to be effective, actually 
 to accomplish something, to move people 
 heavenward. We want it to do something. 
 How many preachers have been conscious 
 of an utter helplessness, even with a logical, 
 convincing utterance at their tongue's end? 
 Winning personality, argument, influence, 
 logic, and magnetism are good, but they 
 fail to do the work. There must be the 
 presence of the Holy Spirit or we will not 
 succeed. As the years go by I am more and 
 more impressed that there is danger of re- 
 lying too much on attractiveness, logic, and 
 magnetism. These do not do the work, al- 
 though God uses all. I am convinced that 
 conviction of sin in relation to Jesus and 
 conviction of him as a Saviour comes by a 
 flash of the Holy Spirit. Therefore how 
 important that when we are preaching, his 
 power is sending the truth home to needy 
 hearts. And how blessed is the thought 
 that no messenger need be without his 
 power. If there is a genuine heart, a con- 
 135 
 
Ipractfcal KDcals in Bvanflelism 
 
 secrated soul, back of the message, then his 
 presence is had for the asking and for the 
 trusting. 
 
 4. It is a Loyal Message. It will be sane 
 as it is loyal to the revealed truth of God. 
 It will not over-estimate a single phase of 
 truth, but endeavor to bring a message to 
 the people which is based upon a compre- 
 hensive knowledge of Scripture. If it is 
 biblical and spiritual, then it will have many 
 characteristics quite universally recognized 
 by all adherents of an evangelical faith. It 
 will be loyal to the fundamental truths of 
 this faith. Let me emphasize two important 
 ones. 
 
 (i) It will be a message concerning sin. 
 It will endeavor in a bold yet kind way to 
 set forth God's thoughts regarding the 
 awfulness, the ruinous nature of sin, and 
 its dreadful consequences on the earth and 
 through eternity. This message will not 
 cover up or excuse or polish sin in the least. 
 
 It will also place before men what God 
 has revealed concerning the punishment of 
 sin, both for time and eternity. We 
 ought not to exclude this fact. We may 
 wish we could, but we cannot and be loyal 
 to God's truth. Sin and its consequences 
 are without doubt the most terrible facts 
 136 
 
TLbc ITDcal VSlceeaQc 
 
 of the moral world, and the consideration 
 of them is needed in this message. 
 
 Not long ago there appeared an editorial 
 in the Chicago '' Inter-Ocean," under the 
 title of ''The Preaching that Moves," as 
 follows : 
 
 To those who look upon men as they really 
 are, it is simply astounding that so many preach- 
 ers should act as if the hope of reward alone 
 could be efficient to move mankind to leave sin 
 and follow righteousness. In every other relation 
 of human Hfe every man is confronted with the 
 alternative: Do right, or do wrong and be pun- 
 ished. The pressure of fear as well as hope is 
 continually upon him. He knows he may conceal 
 his wrong-doing from the eye of man, but he 
 is constantly fearing the discovery and punish- 
 ment. Then he goes to church, and in nine cases 
 out of ten, the preacher while insisting that he 
 can hide nothing from the eye of God, says 
 nothing to arouse him to fear. 
 
 If he turns from religion to science, he finds 
 that science is more positive of the certainty of 
 punishment than of reward. Science cannot, for 
 example, assure him of a long life, even though 
 he scrupulously obey hygienic laws. But it can 
 assure him of a speedy death if he violates those 
 laws. 
 
 Precisely because the consequence of sin in 
 punishment can be foretold more positively than 
 the consequences of righteousness in reward, is 
 what makes fear the strongest influence dominat- 
 
Ipractlcal ITDeals (n Bvangelism 
 
 ing and directing human conduct. Yet many 
 preachers deliberately abandon the appeal to fear, 
 and wonder why their preaching does not move 
 men. When more preachers recover from the de- 
 lusion into which so many have fallen, such com- 
 plaints will diminish. For all human experience 
 proves that the preaching which appeals to fear, 
 fear of punishment, as well as to hope of re- 
 ward, is the preaching of all the great preachers, 
 is the preaching that moves. 
 
 No one can doubt that there is much 
 truth in this editorial, even if it is a sad 
 stigma upon the condition of the human 
 heart. Probably there are some people in 
 this world who could never be moved by 
 any appeal but that of fear. Yet there is 
 a way — a manner of preaching about sin 
 and its inevitable punishment, that accom- 
 plishes few results and needlessly antag- 
 onizes. Some evangelists preach about it 
 with a mad tone in the voice, when there 
 ought to be a sad tone. And some preach- 
 ers act as if they actually exulted in the 
 fact that they had caught a miserable sinner 
 in a trap and could announce to him the 
 nature of his punishment, when their en- 
 tire manner ought to impress the sinful one 
 that it causes the messenger intense and 
 actual suffering because he is obliged to 
 tell them of their sure doom if thev continue 
 
 138 
 
XLbc ITDcal fmcsgagc 
 
 in sin. The preacher ought to live so 
 close to God that he would truly experience 
 something of that which he feels as he per- 
 ceives the terrible results of sin. I firmly 
 believe that there is a way of presenting 
 this dark truth so that it will not antagonize, 
 but rather make men and women sit before 
 its presentation with intense conviction in 
 their hearts. 
 
 However, I am profoundly convinced that 
 the strongest appeal which the preacher 
 can use to arouse people to a conscious- 
 ness of all that sin and its punishment im- 
 plies is based on God's love, his compassion- 
 ate, suffering love as expressed in Jesus 
 Christ. I am forced to believe that more 
 hearts can be brought to a realization of 
 sin through a message of love than through 
 a message of hell. I mean that the preacher 
 who is filled with God's love, who has 
 caught a vision of its beauty and power, 
 can be used by the Holy Spirit to make 
 men feel the awfulness of their sin as it is 
 revealed in the light of God's own love 
 more than he can by picturing the suffer- 
 ings of hell. It is significant that one writes 
 concerning the great Welsh revival in these 
 words, " The great revival has sprung from 
 a verse of Scripture — Rom. 5:8:' But 
 139 
 
IPractical HDcale in jevtLWQcliem 
 
 God commendeth his love toward us, 
 in that while we were yet sinners, Christ 
 died for us.' God commending or praising 
 his love. That is the fact which has made 
 an apostle of Evan Roberts. And through- 
 out the country the gospel of love is the 
 message of the revival, melting hardest 
 hearts and transforming blackest lives." 
 
 I preached on this text in a Wisconsin 
 town. In the audience was a bartender, 
 an American man. When I gave the in- 
 vitation inviting all who wanted to appre- 
 ciate God's love to express it, no one moved. 
 Meeting was closed. I was turning out the 
 lights in my car when I heard a step on 
 the platform, and some one opened the 
 door. He was the bartender. He came 
 to me trembling with emotion, and as he 
 took my hand said, " Mr. Rust, I have come 
 back to tell you that I do want to love God, 
 and I am ashamed of my business and wish 
 I could quit it." I kneeled and prayed, as 
 he by my side sobbed over his sins. God's 
 love had broken his heart. He left the 
 business, and his wife and little girl are 
 happy with him in the service of Christ. 
 
 I preached on that text in another West- 
 ern town when the whole congregation in 
 the church seemed melted. Just about every 
 140 
 
^be llOcal micssaye 
 
 one present who had not confessed Christ 
 did it that night. A backshder, a skeptic, 
 and several young people arose. One 
 woman who was there for the first time 
 sobbed almost continuously. She came to 
 me after the meeting and said, '' I never 
 saw my sin as I see it to-night," and broke 
 down before me. It has certainly been my 
 experience that God's love gives us the 
 basis for the strongest appeal. 
 
 I would like incidentally to mention the 
 fact that in the delivering of the message 
 we must not be afraid to awaken the emo- 
 tions. I have always aimed to stimulate 
 real thinking, to touch the conscience, and 
 to move the will. Possibly I have erred in 
 appealing too much to mere cold reasoning 
 and mental arithmetic, but experience has 
 proven that the heart needs to be warmed, 
 the emotions touched, in order to have the 
 soul responsive and the will changed. Iron 
 is not bent easily unless it is heated. Man 
 seldom sets out in a cold, calculating man-, 
 ner to be what God would have him. There 
 may be a few people who would yield to 
 Christ in this way, but generally speak- 
 ing, we need to warm the soul before the 
 noblest impulse works. Feelings and emo- 
 tion have an important function in the mov- 
 141 
 
©tactical H^eals in JEvrngcMem 
 
 ing of the will. We should recognize it 
 and wisely make use of it. 
 
 (2) It will be a message concerning 
 ethics. As a basis for this message of ethics 
 we need to emphasize regeneration, repent- 
 ance, faith in Jesus as Saviour, and par- 
 ticularly as Lord. The one who would be 
 a Christian should be made to realize that 
 Jesus is to be more than his Saviour. He 
 is to be his Lord, his Master, his Ruler, his 
 King. Christ is to lead. I must not dwell 
 on this, but there should be in the message 
 a very clear presentation of the truth that to 
 be a Christian implies leaving Satan and all 
 of his works for Christ and his lordship. 
 There must be a definite aim for a char- 
 acter, for a victorious life in righteous- 
 ness. The relation of the Holy Spirit to 
 the believer in securing this life should have 
 an important place in the message also. 
 
 I am more and more convinced that we 
 need to emphasize Christian ethics in the 
 evangelistic message of to-day. It cannot 
 be complete if our hearers get a conception 
 of salvation to be simply accepting a ticket 
 to heaven after or during a life of willing 
 sinfulness. Jesus never grants a passport 
 to heaven to those who are not willing to 
 leave that which they know is contrary to 
 142 
 
his commands on earth. Some people seem 
 to think that all one needs on the gospel 
 train is a ticket, and it matters not how you 
 look or what sort of moral clothes you wear 
 while on the way to glory. They should be 
 reminded that the conductor on this line 
 adds to his command, " Show your tickets," 
 another, which is, *' Show yourselves." We 
 need to emphasize the fact that if one ac- 
 cepts a ''first-class" ticket, there must be 
 " first-class " conduct to go with it. In 
 fact, the ticket will not be accepted from 
 one who does not have clean hands and a 
 genuine purpose for righteousness. 
 
 I am inclined to state that we do not 
 need to dwell on specific details of ethics. 
 Let us emphasize rather the demand of 
 God that the individual have a lofty pur- 
 pose, a correct goal for life, a determination 
 to be right with God personally and right 
 with men in fear of and the love of God. 
 Christianity is not simply keeping a set of 
 rules, but rather yielding to the ruler, God, 
 then personally trusting and following 
 Christ. Have the hearer understand that 
 God wants him first of all, not simply rules 
 kept; and that Christian ethics are but the 
 natural fruit of this union. Let the in- 
 dividual be sure that his heart purpose is 
 143 
 
IPracttcal UDeals in JBv^mcliem 
 
 fitted into God's plan for him, and then let 
 him conscientiously frame the details of his 
 own statutes under the illumination of the 
 words and spirit of Jesus Christ. 
 
 But this is not a new message. Perhaps 
 it may have been forgotten at intervals in 
 time, yet the gospel message of regenera- 
 tion has always been one of ethics. I hardly 
 believe there are any great evangelists in 
 our world to-day who are preaching a gos- 
 pel devoid of regenerating ethical power. 
 I do not see how it is possible. 
 
 5. It is a Gospel Message. We may feel 
 sure that the essential message of twentieth- 
 century evangelism is the gospel. Not hell- 
 fire, but heart-fire, the expression of the 
 heart of God ; not sadness, but glad tidings ; 
 not condemnation, but deliverance; not 
 eternal woe, but salvation. 
 
 The old English preachers were called 
 gospelers, i. e., those who dispensed the 
 gospel. What higher privilege could come 
 to man than to be asked to disseminate the 
 best news that this old world has ever heard. 
 Notwithstanding the success that attended 
 the preaching of Finney and Edwards when 
 hell seemed to be the central theme, and 
 while I feel exceedingly insignificant when 
 placed by the side of them, I cannot be- 
 144 
 
^be IfDeal {nieesase 
 
 lieve that the essential message of the evan- 
 gehsm for to-day can be anything else than 
 the gospel of Jesus Christ as it represents 
 deliverance and salvation. Deliverance is 
 the heart of the message. 
 
 We hear much about a new evangelism 
 and a new message, but I cannot see why 
 we need it. It seems to me that the message 
 of the evangel always was and always 
 will be only the gospel. Nothing is bet- 
 ter. Nothing is more suited to man's needs. 
 To be sure there may be a demand for new 
 methods, as men must be appealed to some- 
 what differently in each succeeding age, 
 but the gospel has always been a rational 
 appeal in all ages since the death of Jesus. 
 Men are sinning, are lost, are as much in 
 need of a regeneration as ever, and where 
 can we find a better message than the gos- 
 pel of deliverance through Jesus Christ. 
 God does not change. His heart through 
 Old Testament times was love, as it is to- 
 day. Dr. Campbell Morgan says, " I can- 
 not find an instance of God's anger in the 
 Old Testament that was not based on love." 
 Personally, I cannot conceive of a true God 
 who could be a tyrant in one age and a 
 father, kind and loving, in another age. 
 The gospel is but a revelation of the great 
 K 145 
 
iPractical H^eals in jBvmQcliem 
 
 heart of God. We need not put the emphasis 
 on old or new ; it is simply gospel. 
 
 I have read many books on this theme, 
 including Drummond's " New Evangelism," 
 and those by authors who are at the other 
 pole of thought. Each writer can learn 
 much from the other, and we must be care- 
 ful about extremes. The gospel in its purity 
 and dignity is the message for all time. 
 A prominent city pastor in the West with 
 whom I was conducting meetings, said to 
 me one day, " Rust, you are filled with the 
 ' new thought.' " I answered, " If announc- 
 ing to a sin-cursed world the blessed fact of 
 God's love and of deliverance of sin through 
 Jesus Christ is new, then I confess that I am 
 in the swim of the new thought, but I did 
 not know it. I thought it was the only way 
 to preach the gospel." 
 
 I have heard of a deacon who exultantly 
 declared after listening to a sermon on 
 man's meanness and the eternal punishment 
 that must inevitably follow, " That was a 
 good gospel sermon. I like the old-fash- 
 ioned gospel." But I am ready to state that 
 if there was any gospel in that sermon it 
 was that part which revealed the fact of 
 God's forgiveness and love through Jesus. 
 What, you say that I am advocating a 
 146 
 
weak, sentimental conception of God, that 
 condones sin and excuses man's weakness? 
 Far be it from me to do this. I have pre- 
 viously said that we need to preach about 
 sin, but remember it is not to hit some one. 
 To strike our hearer a blow between the 
 eyes and make him squirm is not the ob- 
 ject of our message. No ! No ! The bull's- 
 eye of our target is not to send a dart 
 into the soul of man and leave it there 
 quivering as conviction strikes him. Never 
 can this be the goal of the message. I 
 have heard of evangelists who have stated 
 that they aim first to get people mad, and 
 then they can do something. I most em- 
 phatically differ with them. The aim 
 ought to be first, last, and always to help 
 men. This is the bull's-eye. To be sure, the 
 sinner needs to be convicted, but he should 
 always feel that the preacher is earnestly try- 
 ing to help him and not to throw something 
 at him which when it strikes will only sting. 
 We all know that the doctor may cut deeply, 
 and cause intense pain, but the patient is 
 conscious that he is endeavoring to help 
 him. That is his purpose. The true mes- 
 senger is the one who makes his plan 
 (which is to bring a message of helpfulness 
 in the gospel of Jesus to every lost sinner) 
 147 
 
practical H^ealg in jBvmxQcliem 
 
 plain to the hearers at the outset. Effective 
 preaching does help. One of our chapel- 
 car missionaries in the South was preaching 
 in his car one evening on the pov^er of the 
 gospel. He had a goodly number of people 
 around the car as well as inside who were 
 listening to his words of truth. After the 
 sermon a man on the outside was heard 
 to remark, ** Well, that preacher certainly 
 knows how to put the plaster where the 
 pain is." How could one better express 
 the true function of a gospel messenger? 
 
 He will preach on sin, but not to get 
 people mad. There is a right and wrong 
 way of preaching to cause conviction. We 
 need to ask God to grant us grace to preach 
 about sin with something of the feeling 
 that existed in the heart of Jesus when he 
 stood near Jerusalem and said, *' O Jerusa- 
 lem, Jerusalem, how often would I have 
 gathered thy children together even as a 
 hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, 
 and ye would not." And do you recall that 
 this was after those words of denunciation 
 addressed to the hypocritical Pharisees? 
 Why can we not, with the heart aching be- 
 cause of the awfulness of sin in the light 
 of God's goodness, tell the sinner of its 
 terrible nature, of the ultimate ruin caused 
 148 
 
by it, with a sadness that carries conviction 
 with the message far quicker than any 
 phraseology which was calculated to make 
 him mad? 
 
 I remember that my chapel car was side- 
 tracked at one time in a small churchless 
 town in Wisconsin. There were a half- 
 dozen rough young men on the section 
 gang, and because they did not think much 
 of preachers and our car was somewhat in 
 their way when they moved their tools from 
 the tool-house to the hand-car each morn- 
 ing, they determined to bother us by singing 
 vulgar songs and using profane language 
 as they went to their work. Prof. E. A. 
 Spear (my assistant) and I had a hard task 
 to endure it without loudly denouncing 
 them, but we went to our knees and asked 
 God to help us win them to Christ and 
 righteousness. They came to the meetings 
 and for the first two nights disturbed us 
 by talking, throwing peanut-shells, and 
 laughing. However, we soon went to them 
 and grasped their hands. They found we 
 could be friendly, and that we were not 
 fops even if we were Christian gentlemen. 
 The next night they were quiet, and be- 
 fore a week had elapsed they were on the 
 front seats helping us with the singing 
 149 
 
Ipractical TlC)cal0 in JBvmQcliem 
 
 and listening attentively to my sermons. 
 God helped me to understand something 
 of their surroundings and temptations. I 
 found that not one of them had a Chris- 
 tian home, they had never attended Sunday- 
 school or church except occasionally, and 
 they had been with rough men since boy- 
 hood. What could one expect of them? 
 Would we have been any better if we had 
 been trained as they were ? They were soon 
 very close to me personally, and not once did 
 I denounce them for their sins, but rather 
 talked of the God who was righteous, holy, 
 and loving, of the Christ who died for us, of 
 the awfulness of sin before God, of the need 
 of forgiveness, and of the glorious possibili- 
 ties of salvation. In less than two weeks 
 five of those young men were on their knees 
 with me in my study, and two of them gave 
 good evidence of having begun the Chris- 
 tian life, and all were changed. I might 
 have publicly denounced them, but they 
 would not have been won. I also believe 
 that it is absolutely necessary for the 
 preacher to put himself in men's places if 
 he is to help them. This incident proves 
 that there is a way to preach about sin that 
 carries conviction with it without making 
 the sinner angry. 
 
 150 
 
Zbe "ffOcal nnessage 
 
 Before leaving this thought I would like 
 to add that the message of the gospel, if 
 earnestly and intelligently delivered with 
 the unction of the Holy Spirit, is powerful 
 to produce conviction. Without doubt there 
 is a conviction which is related to the law, 
 and we are not to leave this out of our 
 presentation of the truth. In my work I 
 constantly emphasize the perfection of 
 God's law for us, and how it came from 
 a heart of love, and is best for us. That 
 man is a self-condemned sinner as he wil- 
 fully breaks that law. We ought not to 
 minimize this phase of the message. The 
 result of this we might style Sinai 
 conviction. 
 
 But there is another conviction which 
 comes when one realizes the double sin of 
 rejecting a Saviour who has been provided 
 for the one who transgresses the law. It 
 appears to me that there is no appeal so 
 strong to produce conviction as the one 
 from Calvary. We need to impress upon 
 the sinner that his wilful transgression of 
 God's law was bad enough, but to continue 
 in that sin and intelligently to refuse the for- 
 giveness and pardon of God through Christ 
 is even worse. A faithful, frank, and yet 
 kind presentation of this truth will cause 
 
{practical UDeals tn ^Evangelism 
 
 people to see their sin as never before. I 
 have seen hundreds melt before it. Ah, 
 brethren, the gospel is the central theme of 
 twentieth-century evangelism, and we may 
 rest assured that it is no weak or effeminate 
 message to take to man. Both messenger 
 and hearer may well consider its dignity 
 and power. 
 
 6. It is a Sympathetic Message. Not 
 for a moment would I belittle the message 
 of a prophet who could stand before the 
 guilty and declare " Thou art the man." 
 While we may recognize the place in this 
 message for rebuke and reproof, and per- 
 haps denunciation, yet I do feel that all 
 should be expressed in sympathy. And 
 there ought to be a sympathetic tone in the 
 voice. " What is the matter ? " asked the 
 visitor in alarm, hearing the sound of scold- 
 ing and recriminations in the next room. 
 " Oh, nothing," was the reply. " The mas- 
 ter is only giving a Bible lesson." Evi- 
 dently this teacher did not have the 
 sympathetic tone in the voice. 
 
 Some preachers feel kindly toward their 
 hearers, and yet the voice does not reveal 
 it. It may seem foolish, but I would advise 
 every preacher to take a course in voice 
 culture and learn how to " tone " his words. 
 152 
 
XLbc HDcal fiQessage 
 
 But back of this there ought to be a con- 
 viction that while some men and women 
 need stern and " straight from the shoul- 
 der " messages, yet the majority are calling 
 for sympathetic treatment. It is true per- 
 haps that a stinging sermon may touch a 
 few, but words teeming with love will gen- 
 erally reach many more. We are not to 
 lower the standard to that of pity and ex- 
 cuse ; sympathy does not expect this. We are 
 in some way to get into the life of our hear- 
 ers and feel for them as we see them strug- 
 gling against all forms of evil tendencies, 
 both without and within. I am confident 
 that we can never help them very much, no 
 matter what our ability may be, if this is 
 not true of us. When I first started out in 
 the work of evangelism I failed right here, 
 and I know it. It is a wonder to me that 
 God ever used my messages at all. I was 
 so blunt, so short-sighted. I am afraid that 
 I acted as if I had something to throw at 
 people's heads. How many times we mis- 
 judge the people in our congregations. At 
 times, after talking personally with people, 
 I have been thoroughly ashamed that I ever 
 entertained such thoughts about them. 
 
 Our message is not scolding, nor fault- 
 finding, nor cynical sarcasm, I do not care 
 153 
 
Ipuactlcal H^eals in Evangelism 
 
 what conditions we face. We are not to 
 think that it is the business of the evan- 
 gehst to hunt out every weakness of those 
 before him and put it up on a pedestal so 
 that one and all can see it. We never 
 help people in that way. There is a much 
 better way, namely: If we ascertain that 
 there is one in our congregation who has 
 a special sin, we are not to single him out 
 and speak of that weakness publicly, but 
 rather go to him and talk privately about 
 it. For years I have been convinced that 
 one can be used of God to help almost any 
 soul into the kingdom, provided he ap- 
 proaches him in a sympathetic way. Every 
 worker ought to read Dr. H. C. Mabie's 
 book, '' Method in Soul Winning." The in- 
 cident of Doctor Mabie helping the Irish- 
 man is along the line of my own experience. 
 If the evangelist manifests a genuine, frank, 
 and sympathetic interest in the people, he 
 can speak of sin, of weaknesses, of serious 
 lack in character, of anything he feels that 
 God would have him utter, in manly bold- 
 ness, never lowering the standard of right- 
 eousness one iota, and yet possess the al- 
 most undivided esteem of his hearers. To 
 speak sympathetically does not imply gush, 
 or nonsense, or the utterance of a man who 
 154 
 
dares not speak the truth in its season. If 
 the people trust the motives of a man, they 
 will listen to almost any word he may utter. 
 Sympathy simply means a message of truth 
 spoken in the most effective manner. We 
 need to sympathize with all, but especially 
 with the classes I shall briefly mention. 
 
 (i) The skeptical. We are not to rant, 
 and with no heart-feeling for the skeptical 
 who cannot understand the things of the 
 Spirit declare they are without character, 
 and condemn them instantly to eternal 
 doom. Because of training, of a peculiar 
 bent of mind, there are some people who 
 simply cannot perceive the reasonableness 
 of the plan of salvation, and the phraseology 
 of the church mystifies them. If they can- 
 not accept our message, we are not to re- 
 tort, " Well, believe or be damned." We 
 should kindly deal with them, seeking to 
 ascertain just what the difficulty is. We 
 can quite easily determine whether they 
 are hypocrites or are honest doubters. As 
 I write my mind carries me to a Western 
 town in which I held meetings. A promi- 
 nent man, who was an avowed skeptic, and 
 who had ridiculed the church, attended 
 nearly every service. People were some- 
 what surprised at his interest. I became 
 155 
 
Ipractlcal TlDeala in BvanscUsm 
 
 acquainted with him, and one day called at 
 his office. He was alone and seemed glad 
 to see me. I sat down and told him I had 
 come to ask him just how he felt in his 
 inmost soul about religion, and to try and 
 help him. He thanked me for my interest, 
 and I proceeded to tell him about God and 
 how he was revealed through Christ; how 
 he felt about sin, and wanted to help us 
 out of it and give us all the blessings of 
 life and of heaven. As I continued, he was 
 deeply moved, and I looked him squarely 
 in the eye and said, " My friend, tell me, 
 wouldn't you like to know you had such a 
 God and such a hope as I have?" and his 
 eyes filled with tears as he answered, " Yes, 
 Mr. Rust, I would." I told him he could 
 know, and explained the way, but he was 
 not willing to yield. He continued to at- 
 tend the meetings, invited me to his home, 
 and his entire attitude changed. Just as 
 the meetings were to close he wrote me 
 that he did not dare come any more, for he 
 was afraid that his emotions would con- 
 trol him, and my personal influence over 
 him would cause him to take a stand that 
 he might not fully mean in the days of 
 quietness after I had gone. The man really 
 thought that he would be a hypocrite if he 
 156 
 
yielded when he was under the influence of 
 the meetings and his emotions were aroused. 
 I beheved him to be sincere and my sym- 
 pathy was intense, so I went to his office 
 again and explained to him the function of 
 the emotions in helping the will to move. 
 He saw it and yet would not yield, but he 
 said, " Mr. Rust, I am making progress, 
 and will read what you have asked me to, 
 and hope to see this clearly by and by." We 
 were interrupted and I was obliged to leave 
 town, but I was confident that he was not 
 far from the kingdom, and the sympathetic 
 touch had been blessed of God to bring him 
 there. 
 
 (2) Sympathize with the young people. 
 Whatever else we may fail in, we must not 
 fail in winning our young people to an in- 
 telligent faith in Christ. The future church 
 depends upon them. Their lives are worth 
 saving. Their souls are of great value. I 
 fear that many preachers and evangelists 
 have not used the correct methods to help 
 them. The young people are not entirely 
 to blame for thinking that the preachers, and 
 especially the evangelists, are people whom 
 they ought to keep away from. The say- 
 ings of some workers have not helped these 
 young people to see that the preacher was 
 157 
 
l^ractical H^eals in jiEvangeiiem 
 
 their friend. He has too often acted and 
 spoken as if it were his special business to 
 hit the young people just as hard as he 
 could. While what the evangelist has said 
 may have been true of some of our young 
 people, yet it has been false concerning 
 thousands of them. We need to be very 
 careful how we refer to their jollifications 
 and frivolities, as well as how we speak of 
 their weaknesses and sins. 
 
 We ought to study them; get near to 
 them ; see as they see, and feel as they feel. 
 We must discriminate between fun and 
 deviltry. We are not to believe that the 
 overflowing life and vivacity which often- 
 times takes unpleasant forms is necessarily 
 vulgar and wicked. Because a girl enjoys 
 waltz music and has hard work to keep her 
 feet still we must not at once declare that it 
 proves that she is full of evil. 
 
 I have also found that many times the 
 young people whom we meet have very im- 
 perfect conceptions of what Christianity 
 really is. I remember holding meetings in 
 a town in northern Wisconsin. A young 
 lady music teacher whose deceased mother 
 was a Roman Catholic and whose father 
 was not a Christian came to the services. 
 On the second night I went to her after the 
 158 
 
meeting and asked her this question : " Will 
 you please tell me just why it is you are 
 not a Christian ? " Her eyes filled with 
 tears as she answered, " I think, Mr. Rust, 
 it is because I haven't understood it." It 
 was very easy for me to lead her to Christ. 
 
 I think we must be careful how we pre- 
 sent the Saviour, and also the Christian life. 
 Too many pictures of this life have been 
 framed in black. Nothing has been at- 
 tractive about it. I confess that if I thought 
 of Christian service as many of our young 
 people do I should not want to hurry about 
 beginning it. We do not need to minimize 
 the awfulness of sin, or the place of self- 
 denial and sacrifice in Christianity, and yet 
 God would have us paint the opportunities 
 of salvation in glowing colors. 
 
 Experience has proven to me that true 
 sympathy with the young people helps us 
 to win them. A few years ago Prof. E. A. 
 Spear and I were holding meetings in a 
 town in Iowa. We had gone to the school- 
 building to hand out printed invitations to 
 the boys and girls to attend the meetings 
 at the chapel car. As we left the school- 
 building three girls about fifteen years of 
 age went by, and one of them said quite 
 loudly, so that I could easily hear, " I don't 
 159 
 
Ipractical HDcale in iSvmQcliem 
 
 want any religion; my mother has enough 
 for our family." I paid no attention to 
 the remark, and was not surprised to see the 
 three girls in a rear pew at the service that 
 night. They chewed gum, and laughed, and 
 bothered many people near them. This con- 
 tinued for two or three nights. Mr. Spear 
 felt obliged to tie ropes along the back 
 seats, so that when they came in they would 
 be forced to go toward the front; but they 
 were too sharp for him. All they had to 
 do was to remain outside until he took the 
 ropes off to let others have seats, and they 
 then sat in the back pew again, exultant 
 over the fact that they had worsted the 
 young preachers. I determined to get ac- 
 quainted with them, and said nothing pub- 
 licly about their actions. They soon be- 
 came friendly and quiet, were willing to sit 
 near the center, and in about a week or ten 
 days they were about two seats from the 
 front, attentive, and evidently deeply inter- 
 ested. I had a talk with each one, and was 
 pleased to have all three of them arise and 
 say they wanted to be Christians, and come 
 with nine other young people into my study 
 about three nights after. As they were to 
 pass out of the after-meeting, the girl who 
 had spoken so unkindly of her mother and 
 i6o 
 
^bc UDeal fmeggage 
 
 her religion waited until the others had 
 gone. She came up to me, burst into tears, 
 and said, " O Mr. Rust, will you forgive 
 me for the way I have acted? " God for- 
 gave her, I forgave her, and she was happy. 
 I baptized those three girls about two weeks 
 after that. Does one imagine that this re- 
 sult would have been achieved if I had 
 publicly and continuously denounced them? 
 
 (3) Sympathize with the business man. 
 If there is one thing needed in this work 
 more than another it is a sane sort of evan- 
 gelism, which will appeal to the business 
 man of to-day. I have previously said that 
 I believe every preacher ought to have 
 some business training in order that he 
 may be better fitted to touch sympathetically 
 the brother who is immersed in the routine 
 and perplexities of an active business life. 
 There ought to be a constant communication 
 between the study of the preacher (and 
 especially of the evangelist) and the office 
 of the man of affairs. I fear that many 
 times the business man feels that there is 
 a thick wall between the two, instead of an 
 open door. 
 
 Then I have often thought that evangel- 
 ism was particularly weak at this point. 
 The sentimental exhortation of the ordi- 
 L 161 
 
practical "ffDeals In Bvangeltsm 
 
 nary evangelist does not appeal in any way 
 to the active, shrewd, and hard-working 
 man of the store and office. This man will 
 go to hear and will listen to the man who 
 he thinks understands his situation, and will 
 talk sense, but he will not waste his time 
 in an attempt to be attentive to a message 
 which very evidently manifests no knowl- 
 edge of or sympathy with the actual con- 
 ditions which a business man is in from 
 morning until night. He feels that it is 
 one thing glibly to talk and another to 
 walk humbly as a man should to be a Chris- 
 tian. I was very much impressed by a 
 statement of Doctor Carson, of Brooklyn, 
 concerning a preacher who supplied his pul- 
 pit for him one Sunday. He was a schol- 
 arly gentleman, and preached both morning 
 and evening. The morning sermon was a 
 brilliant and logical treatise of some pro- 
 found subject, and the evening sermon was 
 a frank, helpful gospel message. In the 
 congregation was a judge. Doctor Carson 
 called on him the next day and asked him 
 how he liked the sermons of the preacher. 
 He said, " The evening discourse helped 
 me." Doctor Carson expressed surprise, 
 because he thought that this intellectual 
 judge would have preferred the other one, 
 162 
 
trbe H^cal fRlegsa^e 
 
 and he said, " Tell me why you liked the 
 evening sermon better than the one of the 
 morning." He answered, '' Well, pastor, 
 the message of the morning was scholarly, 
 masterful in a way; it revealed wide re- 
 search and hard work, possibly, but for one 
 who is tied up to an office six days in a 
 week in the very midst of the struggles and 
 problems of a business life, and rtibbing up 
 against men, the frank, helpful, sympathetic 
 gospel message of the evening was what 
 I needed. It did me good. It is the truth 
 that we men need." 
 
 We may rest assured that what this judge 
 thought is true of thousands of men to-day. 
 They are the ones we want to reach. We 
 have not touched them as we ought, and 
 I am convinced that every preacher of evan- 
 gelism ought to make a special study of 
 their conditions, and then stand before them 
 with a message of real sympathy, full of 
 life, of manhood, of Holy Spirit power. 
 We need to get close to them. We are not 
 to hurl something at them as if they were 
 all thieves and robbers. Let each evangelist 
 put himself into the swing of things. Rec- 
 ognize men's problems and struggles. We 
 ought to know that there are many business 
 men who are convicted of sin, of a need 
 163 
 
practical H&cala in JBvmQciiem 
 
 of Christ, but they have seen so much 
 that they beHeve to be hypocrisy that they 
 have been bHnded as to what true Christi- 
 anity is ; and they also feel that they cannot 
 possibly be what a Christian ought to be, 
 and they will not be hypocrites; therefore 
 they foolishly reason with themselves in 
 their darkness. They have really come to 
 the conclusion that business and religion 
 cannot go together at times, and they had 
 better not try both at any time. 
 
 Not many years ago I met a Baptist 
 brother who was in active business, as he 
 was hurrying across the lower floor of a 
 building, and noting a troubled look on his 
 face, I went to him and asked him if he 
 were not bothered about something. He 
 answered, " Yes, Mr. Rust ; it is business, 
 business. Competition is keen, and I am 
 afraid of the outcome of a deal and am 
 really worried." I knew how hard he 
 worked to care for his loved ones, and 
 what he said touched me deeply. I grasped 
 his hand with a sympathetic grip and told 
 him to trust his God, be sure he was right, 
 do his best, and leave the rest with him." 
 He thanked me for my words and we 
 parted, but as I left him I was determined 
 that hereafter my ministry should be per- 
 164 
 
meated with an unmistakable sympathy for 
 the man who was hustUng every day to 
 make both ends meet. 
 
 At another time I was holding meetings 
 in a Western town. A young and ener- 
 getic business man came nightly. One even- 
 ing, after a sermon on " The True Source 
 of Moral Power," a young lady said to me, 
 " There is a man vv^ho needs you." He 
 was this gentleman, and I reached him be- 
 fore he passed out. We had a few words, 
 and then at the close of the meeting I 
 walked up to him as he stood at the out- 
 side of the building, and found him ready 
 to talk more. After a few moments' con- 
 versation, in which I found him greatly 
 moved, I said, " My friend, will you tell 
 me just what troubles you about this mat- 
 ter of being a Christian? It cannot be be- 
 cause you would be wicked." He said, 
 " No." " It cannot be because you are sat- 
 isfied to live without Christ and waste your 
 life and die hopelessly?" He said, ''No, 
 Mr. Rust." I then looked him in the eye, 
 grasped his hand, and said quietly, " Is it 
 simply because you fear you cannot be what 
 God would have you be ? " And his voice 
 trembled as he said, " Yes, Mr. Rust ; that 
 is where the trouble is." We had a tender 
 
 165 
 
Ipractical UDeals in JEv^nQcUem 
 
 time together, and before I left him he had 
 said, " I will kneel to-night and ask God 
 to forgive me and I will trust him the best 
 I know how." He did it. The next night 
 he arose to his feet and said so that all 
 could hear it, " I give myself to Christ to- 
 night." He is a strong member of a Bap- 
 tist church to-day, and recently I received 
 a letter from him, in which he said he was 
 striving to grow in grace every day, and 
 wanted me to help him formulate some 
 plans to make work with the young men of 
 the town successful. 
 
 Many more incidents could I relate con- 
 cerning my experience with business men. 
 I am positive that the coming evangelist is 
 the one who will preach and work along 
 the lines mentioned in these pages. We 
 may be confident that there are many skep- 
 tics, hundreds of business men, and thou- 
 sands of young people who can be won to 
 Jesus Christ by means of an intelligent, 
 sympathetic gospel message, and we must 
 not fail to be sympathetic with every one, 
 no matter what his condition in sin may be. 
 
 May I add, in closing this chapter, that 
 there is no place in this world for a bra- 
 vado evangelism, full of conceit, carnality, 
 coarseness, and human excitement. There 
 1 66 
 
Zbc HDcal fmetboD 
 
 is no place for an evangelism which seeks 
 to get every one mad, which is character- 
 ized by a message which lacks sympathy, 
 which makes extreme statements, and which 
 brings to the world a distorted gospel full 
 of hobbyism. We are, however, profoundly 
 convinced that there is a very large place 
 for a cultured evangelism, which has a 
 message replete with sadness as sin's ruin- 
 ous power and terrible consequences are 
 faithfully depicted, and conspicuously filled 
 with words of sympathy and helpfulness as 
 Jesus Christ and his gospel are held up 
 before men. 
 
 true "ffDeal nnetboJ) 
 
 HERE are few Christian workers 
 in this world who would attempt 
 to discount the importance of the 
 work we are considering, but the method 
 of its execution is what disturbs them. If 
 certain methods must accompany all spe- 
 cial efifort for the unconverted, then there 
 are thousands of sensible pastors and 
 church-members who cannot sanction the 
 167 
 
IPractical HDcals in BvangcUsm 
 
 work of the evangelist, and we can hardly 
 blame them. Judging from my personal 
 knowledge of pastors and workers whom 
 I have met, it is my conviction that the 
 great majority of the pastors of evangelical 
 churches of to-day are interested in sav- 
 ing the lost, and they will welcome any sane 
 endeavor to win people to Christ. Assum- 
 ing the fact that all Christians recognize 
 the place of evangelists and special meet- 
 ings in the progress of the church and 
 kingdom, I humbly ask my readers to con- 
 sider with me what the Holy Spirit and 
 experience have taught me concerning 
 method in evangelistic services. Please re- 
 member that we are now discussing the 
 method of the evangelist only. 
 
 I. There is Power in Method. Every 
 business man is aware of this. Many a 
 man with capital, customers, and capability, 
 has been financially ruined because of a 
 lack of method. Sometimes I have thought 
 that there was too much method in railway 
 life as I have seen the red tape In a great 
 ** system," and the army of clerks needed to 
 roll it up, but after more thoughtful consid- 
 eration I have come to the conclusion that it 
 would be disastrous to the entire business 
 of the line if the utility of method were 
 i68 
 
XLbc irocal metboO 
 
 disregarded. It would mean destruction of 
 property, lawsuits without number — all lost 
 to the company — and a constant tangle in 
 every department if the company did not 
 insist on a most rigid method throughout 
 the " system." 
 
 Just as truly as business has been dam- 
 aged by poor methods or lack of methods, 
 so the work of the church, and especially 
 the service of evangelism, has been seri- 
 ously hurt by the same. We need to take 
 lessons from the railroad company. Many 
 a message, good in itself and perhaps 
 prompted by sincere motives, has failed to 
 reach the results it deserved to have simply 
 because it was followed by poor methods — 
 methods which antagonized the hearer 
 instead of winning him. 
 
 No evangelist or Christian worker of any 
 kind should be indifferent to method. 
 Some, perhaps, are so spiritual as to rele- 
 gate it to the power of the evil one, but 
 the wise leader will recognize that he must 
 simply exercise great care at this point. Our 
 business is more important than railroading, 
 or any sort of mercantile activity, and we 
 ought to be more scrupulous regarding 
 method than any man. The art of conduct- 
 ing evangelistic meetings successfully de- 
 169 
 
practical HDcals in Bvanacliem 
 
 mands study of the place and power of 
 method. We must not allow it to take 
 the place of the Holy Spirit, however. We 
 are not to rely on the method, but on God. 
 We are to believe that he is the author of 
 method, and meetings which are conducted 
 in a haphazard, hop-skip-and-jump manner 
 are not necessarily the mind of the Spirit. 
 To be sure, we must not confine God to 
 any one of many man-made methods, but 
 accept the fact that God is a God of order, 
 and there are pretty clearly defined steps 
 toward the salvation of an individual. Let 
 us not depreciate the value of new methods, 
 nor think that certain old-time styles of 
 conducting meetings are indispensable to 
 success in evangelism. Let us with well- 
 balanced minds study to combine common 
 sense, a knowledge of the psychological con- 
 dition of the people, and the intuitions of 
 the Holy Spirit in forming methods which 
 are commendable to one and all. 
 
 n. A Change in Method Justifiable. 
 All will agree with me when I state that 
 the aim of the meetings under the evangel- 
 ist is to awaken the indifferent and care- 
 less in the church to a sense of their duty 
 and to lead the unsaved to Christ. The 
 regular methods employed by the pastor 
 170 
 
XLbc ITOeal naetboD 
 
 have not achieved this result. Another 
 method may. A change is justifiable as we 
 seek to reach this glorious end. All men 
 cannot be reached in the same way. Pastor 
 and people are cognizant of this fact, and 
 desire a change ; not radical, but legitimate. 
 A new view of truth, a different way of 
 approach, is planned. It is perfectly prop- 
 er. While I do not believe that we need 
 such a great change as some would have 
 us to think, yet something novel and new 
 is not out of place and is often powerful to 
 reach those whom we are desirous of reach- 
 ing. To my mind we do not need any par- 
 ticular change from the methods employed 
 by the up-to-date evangelistic pastor, wjiile 
 in some churches there ought to be a very 
 marked change. Nevertheless, any new 
 method which is legitimate and will ac- 
 tually help people into the kingdom is 
 justifiable. 
 
 III. Unwise Methods. It may be true 
 that at times we have justly concluded that 
 there was method in the madness of an 
 enthusiastic evangelist, but at other times 
 we have been forced to decide that there 
 was madness in his method. Not all of the 
 unwise methods in vogue during the last 
 century can be traced to insanity, or the 
 171 
 
practical HDcals in Bvanaclism 
 
 wicked intent of the worker. It is quite 
 easy to perceive that because the evangeHst 
 has thought that some great change in 
 method must be made, and has depended 
 so much upon this change he has lost 
 his balance and has allowed himself to re- 
 sort to almost any contrivance that the hu- 
 man mind could devise in order to do what 
 he thought the regular methods of the 
 church could not accomplish. When he 
 sits down really to think, he knows that 
 God cannot be the author of such methods. 
 He must have received his inspiration from 
 the evil one or man. 
 
 In justice to the evangelist who yields to 
 this temptation, I would also call attention to 
 the fact that no man enjoys preaching to 
 empty seats. He begins meetings in a 
 church where the attendance has been very 
 small and he knows pastor and people are 
 saying, " Well, we will see what he can do 
 toward filling the house and reaching souls," 
 and the evangelist does not want his repu- 
 tation spoiled (shame on him) so, spurred 
 on by the thought of possible failure (from 
 man's view-point), he forgets his true atti- 
 tude and determines to fill the house at any 
 cost. He will not preach to empty seats, 
 even if he is obliged to do that which is 
 172 
 
Zbc UDcal fBletboD 
 
 unbecoming to a messenger of the gospel. 
 I sympathize with him. But he is mistaken. 
 There is a way to attract the people in 
 nearly every town without resorting to in- 
 decorous methods. I cannot believe that it 
 is true that we must accept the well-known 
 ways of some evangelists before we can 
 bring our message to the attention of men. 
 If a man has a message for the people of 
 this century, and will deliver it in an at- 
 tractive manner, he can generally get a 
 hearing. He should use all the talent he 
 can wisely to assist in attracting people to 
 the meetings. Alexander and his chorus 
 are mighty in bringing people to hear the 
 gospel. There are legitimate helps to se- 
 cure an audience, which every up-to-date 
 preacher will secure. But why do we need 
 to do what some men have thought they 
 must? I knew of an evangelist in the East 
 who went to a certain church to begin meet- 
 ings, and finding but a few people there, 
 he began to walk on his hands (head down, 
 feet in the air) across the platform. He 
 then took his normal attitude and said, 
 " That will be all for to-night. Come 
 again." He had his crowd the next night, 
 to be sure. But! But! Here are some 
 specimen remarks of a famous evangelist 
 
 173 
 
lC>ractical ITDealg in iBvmQcliem 
 
 who works in the large towns and cities 
 of the West : " Some people are so stingy 
 that they talk through their nose, so as not 
 to wear out their false teeth." " They know 
 in heaven how much you pay, as well as 
 how much you pray. Don't pray if you 
 are not ready to dig up." " I like a man 
 with zeal, ginger, tabasco sauce." " If there 
 is anything I love it is a scrap." " God 
 wants deacons that will deak, church dig- 
 nitaries that will dig, stewards that will 
 stew and not make a muss of the stew." 
 
 We will allow that they are witty, per- 
 haps. But, but 
 
 I have heard evangelists make remarks 
 which cause me to feel ashamed that the 
 gospel message was ever spoken from those 
 lips. I am ready to state after these years 
 of service that these slangy and uncouth, 
 and even vulgar, expressions are entirely 
 uncalled for and never help any soul into 
 the kingdom, but rather hinder the progress 
 of the truth in the heart. It matters not 
 what class of people we are endeavoring 
 to reach, there is never any real reason 
 why we should lower the standard of the 
 gospel message to the language of the gut- 
 ter, the saloon, the vulgar tough, or the 
 slangy youth. I would say, never, never. 
 174 
 
Zbc "ITDcal flQctbob 
 
 I cannot take space to specify in detail all 
 the unwise methods which have been in use 
 by the evangelists of our day. I will men- 
 tion this, however, in regard to procuring 
 confessions of Christ in public meetings. 
 A Baptist pastor in a city in the West told 
 me of a singing evangelist who helped him 
 in meetings. The church was seated with 
 two hundred and fifty chairs, filled with 
 people, principally boys and girls. The 
 evangelist arose. All the people stood at 
 his invitation. He turned around the front 
 row of chairs, then asked those who wanted 
 to be Christians to take seats. He kept 
 them singing at the top of their voices and 
 turning chairs until the whole congrega- 
 tion was seated, faced the other way. He 
 considered these genuine conversions. They 
 were physically converted surely, but the 
 whole performance was a burlesque on 
 genuine heart conversion, and deserving of 
 the severest censure. 
 
 IV. The Holy Spirit is the Author 
 OF THE Best Method. If ever there was a 
 man or woman who needed to be led by 
 God's Spirit, it is the leader of an evan- 
 gelistic campaign. To have one inquiring 
 soul hindered, wounded, stopped in the at- 
 tempt to find God, because of wrong meth- 
 175 
 
practical HDcals in Evangelism 
 
 ods, is too sad to contemplate. We abso- 
 lutely must spend much time in prayer, in 
 the study of the methods of Jesus, of his 
 disciples, of Spirit-filled men in all ages, in 
 personal communion with the Holy Spirit, 
 in order to ascertain the wisest method of 
 reaching the unsaved. We cannot afford 
 to make mistakes. There is too much at 
 stake. God knows the avenue to every 
 heart. We can find that passageway if we 
 are led by his Spirit. Oh, how imperative 
 it is that an evangelist be under the direction 
 of God during every moment of his work. 
 I said to a brother worker, " It is not 
 preaching that tires one; it is the anxiety 
 to do the right thing at the right time, in 
 order that every help possible for the lost 
 may be theirs." In recent years God has 
 given me a calm assurance of his presence, 
 and I do not worry as I once did. Yet there 
 is an anxiety which is born of a desire to 
 please my Master in wisely helping men 
 heavenward. We may have confidence in 
 the Spirit. He was given to be the ex- 
 ecutive of God. He is to direct us. While 
 every detail is not written out, yet the great 
 principles of evangelism are before us in 
 the record of the lives of Jesus, his dis- 
 ciples, and his servants during all ages. 
 176 
 
^be IfDcal fUetboD 
 
 Every evangelist should be a man of the 
 Spirit. That is, sensitive to his impressions ; 
 possessed of a nature which responds 
 quickly to his pleadings. We will make 
 many mistakes if this is not the case. Well- 
 meaning individuals have bungled a great 
 deal in seeking for souls. It is an art which 
 demands care and thought. Doctor Talmage 
 once said : 
 
 ** There is no art quite so fine as that 
 of fishermen. Jesus knew exactly what he 
 was talking about and what he had in mind 
 for his disciples when he said, * I will make 
 you fishers of men.' When a true fisherman 
 fishes in these days, he selects the most deli- 
 cate rod, equips it with the finest line, and 
 puts upon it the most tempting fly. He 
 then wades carefully, and so far as possible, 
 noiselessly into the stream. With a dex- 
 terous throw he casts his line, and almost 
 instantly he has in his basket a beautiful 
 trout, which is the sure reward of a 
 fisher's skill. But," says Doctor Talmage, 
 " when we attempt to fish for men we do 
 exactly the opposite. We use a beam for 
 a rod, a cable for a line, and an anchor for 
 a hook, and then with great commotion we 
 cast into the sea of life and say to men, 
 ' Bite or be damned.' Is it any wonder," 
 M 177 
 
Iptactical irj)eal0 in JEvangeUsm 
 
 said the great preacher, " that we are so 
 unsuccessful when we have so far missed 
 the thought of the greatest of fishers of 
 men, even Jesus himself." There need be 
 no loud voice and great commotion about 
 the methods of evangelism. The Holy Spirit 
 speaks in the quiet hour, by the still, small 
 voice. He works noiselessly but effectively 
 in the hearts of men sometimes when there 
 is the least outward commotion. His meth- 
 ods are best. Let us be sure to ascertain 
 just what he would have us do. 
 
 We cannot declare that any method which 
 was in use when men were saved is the 
 right one. Oftentimes people have been 
 converted notwithstanding the method. 
 The method had nothing to do with it. It 
 was the truth spoken that God blessed to 
 their salvation and God was obliged to 
 overcome the weakness in the method to 
 accomplish it. 
 
 Then again the Holy Spirit uses differ- 
 ent methods in some fields from those he 
 uses in others. It stands to reason that he 
 must suit his methods to the condition of 
 men. Principle may not change, but tactics 
 do. An enthusiastic preacher called upon 
 the rector of St. George's Institutional 
 Church, and after looking over the plant, 
 
 178 
 
the Itbeal flllctbo5 
 
 said he would like the privilege of copy- 
 ing the plans, that he might use them in his 
 field. The rector said, " I might just as 
 well give you a suit of my own clothes for 
 you to wear. They would fit you about as 
 well as my plans would your work." Local 
 conditions change, and the wise evangelist 
 will not attempt to preach the same sermons 
 in every place nor approach men in the 
 same way everywhere. The Holy Spirit 
 can train the mind and heart to be very 
 resourceful, and he will enable the willing 
 one to fit into every field into which he 
 goes. It has been my plan to study care- 
 fully local conditions before I utter a word 
 from the pulpit. We ought to know some- 
 thing of the life of those whom we are to 
 reach, and then adjust our messages and 
 methods to the needs, and sometimes the 
 very peculiar needs which confront us. 
 
 And it is also important that we have a 
 sympathetic tolerance for a great difference 
 in the method. We must not decide at once 
 that methods which do not coincide with our 
 manner of thinking are surely wrong. As 
 long as they are at all within bounds of rea- 
 son, and do not lower the standard of Chris- 
 tianity in the minds of the people, we should 
 recognize their place even if we could hardly 
 179 
 
practical UDeals in iBvmQcUem 
 
 use them. We cannot monopolize the min- 
 istrations of the Spirit. If he uses other 
 methods than ours, let us be happy, be free 
 from harsh criticisms, and rejoice that souls 
 are being won. 
 
 We now consider the method of a special 
 meeting in detail. 
 
 I. Advertising. It matters not whether 
 the meetings are simply services to help 
 some pastor in a local church or large union 
 meetings, there ought to be systematic and 
 copious advertising done. The business 
 world uses printer's ink, and the Christian 
 world should do the same. Advertising in 
 mercantile life pays well. Millions are ex- 
 pended in it. We should be as wise as 
 business men. Ours is for heavenly gain, 
 while theirs is for worldly profit. Perhaps 
 we would not advise the same methods as 
 some business men use. I believe most 
 emphatically, however, in a large yet wise 
 use of printer's ink in evangelistic meetings. 
 
 It must be remembered, though, that you 
 must have something to advertise. It 
 should always be true to facts. The 
 public knows when it is deceived. It 
 must not be too ostentatious, yet very at- 
 tractive, unique, yea, sometimes startling. 
 We are not on a level of a circus, neverthe- 
 i8o 
 
Zbc iroeal metboD 
 
 less, and should govern ourselves accord- 
 ingly. But the eye-gate to the soul is a 
 large one, and the sinful, indifferent world 
 oftentimes needs some striking announce- 
 ment to attract its attention. Because of 
 this fact some men have erred and their 
 advertising has put the church to shame 
 more than once. I have learned that the 
 advertising agent of one evangelist in the 
 West slipped into one of the hotels of a city, 
 and while the people were at lunch pasted 
 a slip, which had printed on it the words, 
 " Get right with God," on the band of 
 each gentleman's hat. This is extreme, 
 and should never be resorted to. Acting 
 wrongly with men is a poor way to invite 
 them to be right with God. 
 
 God can use the ingenuity of man in 
 this matter, we are sure, and some evangel- 
 ists have proven themselves expert in at- 
 tractive advertising. I read awhile ago 
 of an evangelist in Kansas who had some 
 cards which certainly served a double pur- 
 pose. These cards were distributed among 
 a class of people whom he wanted to arouse. 
 On one side of the card was his name and 
 calling. On the other side, under the cap- 
 tion, " Just a few reasons why I do any 
 or all of these things," appeared the fol- 
 i8i 
 
Ipractical UDeals in Bvangelism 
 
 lowing : '' First, I swear because it is my 
 choice of nice words; every one likes to 
 hear it, and it is music in the devil's ear; 
 second, I keep no Sabbath because I need 
 no rest; it is none of my Maker's business 
 to require it of me, and it could not be the 
 shadow of eternal rest, for which I have no 
 hope whatever; third, I drink liquor be- 
 cause I have more money than I can spend 
 to good advantage; it makes home happy, 
 keeps me out of trouble, and sends me to 
 my long home sooner than I could get 
 there without it; fourth, I stay away from 
 church because I don't know much about 
 it and don't want to. I am engaged on the 
 other side, and have no doubt about the 
 devil's rewarding me for my long and faith- 
 ful service. P. S. — I won't tell you on this 
 card some awful things of which I am 
 ashamed." 
 
 It is true that there seems to be a large 
 waste in advertising, but it must be done. 
 
 At one of the Y. M. C. A. branches in 
 New York City twenty thousand cards ad- 
 vertising a special men's meeting, where 
 there was to be a powerful speaker, were 
 distributed, and the personal workers 
 hustled to give individual invitations, and 
 yet the secretary said he was gratified to 
 182 
 
a:be ITDeal niletbo& 
 
 have three hundred and fifty men attend. 
 He did not consider it a waste. According 
 to the returns received from general secular 
 advertising the result was good. 
 
 Recently I entered the advertising depart- 
 ment of a great factory, where some four 
 or five thousand persons are employed, and 
 gained from the head clerk some informa- 
 tion as to what they considered successful 
 advertising to be. This clerk told me that 
 they distributed a million copies of a certain 
 booklet which was printed in the most at- 
 tractive style and was sent out to make new 
 business. On the last million sent out he 
 said they had two thousand one hundred 
 responses. And he said he would consider 
 it profitable if only a thousand responses 
 came in. That is one in a thousand; no 
 response from nine hundred and ninety-nine 
 of every thousand copies mailed. Judging 
 by this we need not be discouraged. 
 
 In my own meetings I send the slip given 
 below to the pastor as my suggestion 
 concerning advertising : 
 
 Advertising. 
 Have large sign at front of church building. 
 Have II X 14 in. cards to put in windows. Have 
 small cards to distribute by hand. On each print 
 the following: 
 
 183 
 
Iptactical ITDcals in iSvmQcliem 
 
 MEETINGS TO HELP PEOPLE! 
 (Large Letters) 
 In this Church date Time of Day. 
 
 Led by Rev. Charles Herbert Rust, 
 of New York City. 
 Put on either set of words as follows : 
 Cultured, Biblical, 
 
 Conscientious, Spiritual, 
 
 Convincing, Rational, 
 
 Captivating, Evangelical. 
 
 Sensible Sermons for Thoughtful People. 
 Large Chorus of Voices in Song. 
 Special Soloists. 
 Come! Come! 
 
 For Special Meetings, other cards can be used 
 as services continue. 
 
 If meetings for boys and girls are to be held 
 on the afternoons during the week, then put this 
 notice on the cards. 
 
 Use local papers wisely. 
 
 2. Sermon Topics. There is no doubt 
 that some evangelists and preachers have 
 seriously injured the cause of Christ by 
 their sermon topics. To catch the people, 
 to arouse curiosity, to get a crowd, subjects 
 for sermons have been placed before the 
 eye and mind of the people which are un- 
 couth, even blasphemous, and a disgrace to 
 any preacher of the gospel. Here are three : 
 ''Damn it. Did she swear?" *' Why is 
 God like a hen ? " " Bucking the tiger, or 
 184 
 
^be ITDeal fHletboD 
 
 seeing the elephant." Such topics disgust 
 thinking and rehgiously sensitive people, 
 and I question whether they help at all to 
 win people to Christ. 
 
 There is, nevertheless, a place for what I 
 might term Christian sensationalism ; that is, 
 topics arranged in a manner that instantly 
 attracts attention. But after all it is not 
 the topic that holds. A preacher may have 
 a most striking topic and a mighty weak ser- 
 mon ; then if the people come to hear some- 
 thing and get fooled he has hard work to 
 get them to come again. Personally I do not 
 depend upon sensational topics. I have a 
 few, but the sermons are not strange to the 
 topics. We place little importance on this 
 extreme method of advertising subjects. 
 Sometimes I have conducted a whole series 
 without mentioning a topic, simply telling 
 the people that I should do my best, aided 
 by God's Spirit, to bring a message of help- 
 fulness each night. If they really get help 
 they will come again. 
 
 And I am convinced that we as pastors 
 and evangelists have been preaching on sub- 
 jects and themes which are too small. 
 Have we not harped on the minor matters 
 of life and neglected the weightier subjects 
 of truth? May I mention the fact that 
 
 185 
 
Ipractical UDeal^ In Evangelism 
 
 during recent years I find myself farther 
 and farther away from the thought of 
 preaching about the expressions and ef- 
 fects of sin simply, and drifting rapidly to 
 messages concerning fundamentals. Not 
 long ago I finished a series of six sermons 
 on the subject, *' The Christian's God. 
 Who he is. What he is," and another 
 series of seven sermons on the subject, 
 '' Christian submission," using one text for 
 the entire series, namely, " Present your- 
 selves unto God." These sermons are to 
 be used in special soul-saving meetings. 
 
 Each message has a practical application, 
 and is calculated to help people in everyday 
 life. My thought is that a correct concep- 
 tion of God (his nature, character, attitude 
 toward man, and what he expects of man) 
 is absolutely essential in a successful evan- 
 gelistic ministry. Our subjects can easily 
 be evolved from this conviction. 
 
 Dr. Charles E. Jefferson, minister at 
 Broadway Tabernacle, New York City, told 
 the Baptist ministers of the city one Mon- 
 day that the neglected theme in preaching 
 was God. I am constrained to believe, yes 
 I know, that messages springing from such 
 a theme are full of power to convict of sin, 
 and to help people into the kingdom. 
 i86 
 
XLbc IFOcal mietboD 
 
 It will be pertinent at this point to say 
 that the sermon ought not to be too long. 
 Better have twenty-five minutes of some- 
 thing interesting and to the point than an 
 hour of weak exhortation and story-telling. 
 I fear many evangelists get to the end of 
 their messages a long time before they actu- 
 ally stop. And the meeting ought not to 
 be too long. Do not tire the people out. 
 Do not nag the unsaved by continually ap- 
 pealing to them until a late hour. I have 
 known of some men who continue their 
 services until eleven and twelve o'clock at 
 night, sometimes even one o'clock. This 
 will kill a meeting generally. 
 
 3. Finance. I know that all evangelists 
 are called mercenary more or less, and the 
 financial methods of some are a stench in 
 the nostrils of many pastors. I am con- 
 scious that often the talk of the town after 
 the evangelist departs is, " Yes, but think of 
 the amount of money that he took away." 
 A few weeks ago a pastor who has had con- 
 siderable experience with evangelists told 
 me of some methods they used to get at 
 the pocket-books of the people. One can- 
 not blame people for wanting to have little 
 to do with such men. Their methods are 
 a reproach and an insult to the Bible, Jesus 
 
 187 
 
practtcal iroeals in iSvmQcliem 
 
 Christ, and all Christian people. I am 
 grateful that their number is decreasing. 
 We are facing a day when people can more 
 and more trust evangelists. 
 
 It is true that the spirit of the gospel 
 does not sanction undue emphasis on money 
 in payment for religious service rendered. 
 Some people say that the evangelist must 
 not be thinking at all of money, even if 
 church-members are. But this is almost im- 
 possible, especially if the evangelist has a 
 family to support. The payment of preach- 
 ers and evangelists is a much-discussed 
 question. There are two sides to it with- 
 out doubt. I think all will agree with me 
 that the Scriptures warrant the Christian 
 worker in seeking enough to take good care 
 of his family. The laborer is worthy of his 
 hire. 
 
 While it is true that some evangelists 
 may use the enthusiasm of the meetings to 
 bring cash to their own pockets, and their 
 mercenary motives are plainly evident in 
 their actions and words, yet all men are not 
 to be classed with them, and we need to ap- 
 preciate the position of the evangelist be- 
 fore judging him harshly. His work is 
 very taxing, and he seldom labors more 
 than nine months in the year, and many 
 i88 
 
trbc IfOcal fHletboD 
 
 weeks of these months are spent between 
 appointments. He must also have some rest 
 and see his loved ones at home occasionally. 
 He really ought to receive six weeks' pay 
 for every three weeks of actual work. 
 Many people forget this. Then some city 
 pastors are getting large salaries and he 
 feels that he is doing about as much good 
 in the world as they. We cannot justly 
 make comparisons like this, but we may be 
 certain that the sane, hard-working evangel- 
 ist is worthy of all that he gets. Money 
 can never pay him for his services, after all, 
 and he generally uses his money to extend 
 the kingdom of our Lord. I have known 
 of men who are receiving large sums for 
 their labors who support youth in school, 
 who give considerable for many causes, and 
 who oftentimes raise large sums of money 
 to help each city where they have worked. 
 Then we ought to recognize the fact that 
 the man who holds large union meetings 
 often draws a class of people to his meet- 
 ings who seldom go to church ; they have 
 not given much of anything to the cause of 
 Christ in their lives. If God uses the evan- 
 gelist to help these into the kingdom and 
 they feel like giving we ought not to find 
 fault with him for receiving it. This was 
 189 
 
f>ractlcai KOeals In JSvangclism 
 
 money which the Lord would never have 
 had, and no doubt the evangeUst has started 
 them in giving to Christ and his church 
 as long as they live. And again, it seems 
 to me that every evangelist ought to receive 
 enough above his expenses on the road to 
 enable him to erect a summer home, where 
 he can be with his family for at least three 
 months in the year. 
 
 Some men could rehearse some sad tales 
 of how they have been treated by churches, 
 but generally speaking the man who treats 
 the people right will be well taken care of. 
 I think, however, this financial problem 
 concerning the evangelist can be solved in a 
 great measure by his being under appoint- 
 ment of some Board, that Board guarantee- 
 ing him a reasonable salary, and he turning 
 all collections into the hands of the treas- 
 urer. If people choose to give him indi- 
 vidual special gifts, there should be no 
 reason why he could not receive them. 
 
 However, in this matter why is it not 
 best for the evangelist and the pastor to 
 have a frank understanding? Let the pas- 
 tor explain it to his Advisory Board. Let 
 them know at the outset just about what 
 the evangelist ought to have, and with this 
 Board as a finance committee, plan to raise 
 190 
 
^be IfOeal rnletboD 
 
 the amount, using envelopes for a special 
 offering at the end of the meetings. In my 
 judgment it is best for the evangelist to be 
 silent publicly concerning money matters. 
 Level-headed business men can easily for- 
 mulate a plan which will be practical. 
 4. Singing. The power of song is uni- 
 versally recognized the world over. It has 
 a large place in evangelism, even if Finney 
 did declare that he had never seen a singing 
 revival that was of God. Surely God has 
 used the consecrated voice to touch hearts 
 which had remained hard under the 
 preaching of the sermon. 
 
 Chorus singing under a competent leader 
 has unquestionable power. Witness Alex- 
 ander and others. It attracts. It helps to 
 prepare for the sermon. There ought to 
 be a large chorus and an excellent leader 
 of it in every special meeting. The leader 
 should be a gentleman in every respect. He 
 should have a keen perception of the fitness 
 of things. He should know that the sing- 
 ing of the chorus is a part of the worship. 
 He is not with a theater troupe. He is not 
 hired to entertain the crowd. He is not 
 expected to be all the time telling funny 
 stories when not singing. Many a leader 
 has spoiled his music by his interjections. 
 191 
 
practical HDcals in iBvamcliem 
 
 The leader should impress upon every 
 member of his chorus the importance of 
 singing the gospel in the Spirit. He should 
 meet them in prayer. Oftentimes it would 
 be delightful if he would quiet the chorus 
 and congregation and ask all to bow in 
 prayer, that they might sing the gospel with 
 power. Can any one tell what potency there 
 is in consecrated chorus singing? I heard 
 some awhile ago that made me wonder if 
 we could have any better singing in heaven. 
 But I am not willing to acknowledge that 
 the songs full of jingle and nonsense are 
 indispensable to successful evangelistic 
 meetings. Let us appreciate the new songs 
 and at the same time not forget the old 
 hymns. 
 
 Solo singing holds a large place in evan- 
 gelism. God alone knows what has been 
 accomplished through the voices of Sankey, 
 Bliss, Towner, Stebbins, and hosts of others, 
 both men and women. There are soloists 
 who sing for Christ and for souls. Their 
 voices carry the truth to the heart and win 
 where ordinary words fail. The soloist 
 should feel that he sings to save; not to 
 fill out a programme or to make a display of 
 himself. 
 
 5. In the Public Meeting. We are now 
 192 
 
^be ITDeal metboD 
 
 to consider a very important part in the 
 campaign. In fact, to the pubHc the meet- 
 ing is the whole thing. This is where the 
 evangelist reveals himself, his ideas, his 
 plans, his life to the world. Many of the 
 people never see him anywhere else but as 
 he leads the meeting. The evangelist is the 
 general and the meeting will be conducted 
 as he plans. All evangelistic meetings are 
 alike, more or less, and yet they may be 
 conducted very differently, so that one meet- 
 ing does not leave the exact impression that 
 the other did. I have been in some special 
 services where the whole affair seemed to 
 be a caricature of a true religious meeting. 
 We do not need to imitate another leader, 
 but perhaps we can get some helpful sug- 
 gestions from each other, so that our work 
 may be all the more powerful and attractive. 
 I think that we may settle it once for all 
 that no evangelist ought to plan to have 
 his public meetings as far removed from 
 true worship, quiet reverence, and solemn 
 seriousness as possible. Sometimes I have 
 thought that some men deliberately plan to 
 go to the extreme, and because they think 
 they must have something totally different 
 from any other preacher they rob the hour 
 of all that tends to make it what it ought 
 N 193 
 
tPractical ITOealg in jevanQcUem 
 
 to be. This meeting is no " show." It is 
 not an entertainment, it is not even a lecture 
 hour, where an essayist makes some inter- 
 esting remarks. It is not the time for a 
 humorist to control. It is preeminently a 
 religious gathering. People have been asked 
 to come together to think about the things of 
 God. The evangelist should never forget 
 this, and while he ought to endeavor to 
 make it attractive and bright, yet keep the 
 thought of its real significance in mind con- 
 stantly and plan accordingly. The moment 
 a meeting descends from this ideal it loses 
 its place in the minds of thoughtful people, 
 both those within the church and without. 
 One never gains anything in the long run 
 by giving to the public a gaudy, cheap, 
 and irreverent service, even if he does call 
 it a religious meeting. While I am not ob- 
 livious to the beauty and power of the or- 
 nate, yet there is a happy medium between 
 these two extremes, where all the serious- 
 ness of worship and reverence is preserved 
 and yet the whole is attractive and helpful. 
 As a result of years of experience, and 
 with sympathy and tolerance for the one 
 who differs with me, I offer the following 
 suggestions as to how to make an evangel- 
 istic meeting pleasing and powerful : 
 194 
 
trbc ITDeal fnietboO 
 
 ( 1 ) Advertise the meetings as meetings 
 to help people. Do not use the term 
 revival, simply because so many people are 
 prejudiced against it. They have associated 
 with it so much that was objectionable that 
 you gain a big point at the start if you 
 avoid the term mentioned. 
 
 (2) Avoid noise. Away with any at- 
 tempt to work up a man-made enthusiasm 
 by loud talking and physical gusto. It is 
 not needed to insure success. There is ef- 
 fectiveness in quietness. Some have thought 
 that there must be a great commotion in 
 order to possess the Spirit's presence. The 
 evangelist does not need to get scores to 
 jump up and down in order to get ready to 
 make his impression. Sometimes the surest 
 signs of a real work of grace are when all 
 are hushed in solemnity. 
 
 (3) Have quiet on the platform. There 
 should be no needless whispering or laugh- 
 ing. Have a complete programme of the 
 meeting up to the time of the sermon writ- 
 ten out on three slips of paper, one for 
 pastor, one for chorus leader, one for the 
 evangelist. Have everything work like 
 a clock. This impresses the audience. It 
 is not proper and pleasant for the different 
 leaders to hold constant consultations on 
 
 195 
 
practical UDeals in jevanselism 
 
 the platform. (Of course there will be oc- 
 casions when a change must be made.) 
 This will not limit the Spirit. He can di- 
 rect at first as well as last. He can prompt, 
 add, and change as he thinks best. 
 
 Have the whole service reverent. Have 
 no needless noise during singing and prayer. 
 Honor the soloist as much as the preacher. 
 Perhaps you have heard of the soprano 
 who at times bothered the pastor while he 
 was preaching by turning sheets of music, 
 and when the pastor asked her to stop it 
 she replied that she would when he would 
 stop turning over his sermon notes while she 
 was singing. 
 
 (4) Avoid nervousness. What do I 
 mean? Simply this: Let nothing cause us 
 to lose our patience so that an unkind or 
 cutting remark will be made. I knew of 
 an evangelist who lost his power entirely 
 through this miserable little loop-hole. A 
 lady was turning the leaves of a song-book, 
 looking for a hymn. He stopped, called the 
 attention of the whole congregation to her 
 and spoke. He lost every one. No amount 
 of pleading could bring them back to him. 
 He was nervous and irritable, and the 
 remark was uncalled for. 
 
 I remember once an experience in the 
 196 
 
Jibe UDeal HQetboO 
 
 East. I went out to hold a meeting. One 
 evening at a very quiet moment in my ser- 
 mon a couple of country people came in. 
 The usher did not stop them, and down to 
 the front seat they walked, making consid- 
 erable noise and bothering me greatly. God 
 helped me and I said nothing. I told a 
 friend afterwards how they bothered me 
 and how near I came to speaking out. He 
 answered, " Oh, I am so glad you did not, 
 for I have been trying for a long time to 
 get them to come to church." 
 
 I was in a Western town when two girls 
 who were thoughtless came tripping down 
 to the very front seat after I had begun 
 my sermon and with great commotion sat 
 down. But after repeated twists and ad- 
 justments they finally became quiet. It did 
 affect the whole meeting, but the time to 
 speak to them was afterward, not in public 
 service. Whatever happens, the evangelist 
 must not be irritable. Simply expect all 
 kinds of experiences. The ushers can 
 greatly assist in keeping " unpleasant possi- 
 bilities " at the rear. It is never wise to 
 make remarks about people who are coming 
 in late or who get up and go out before 
 the service is concluded. I knew of an 
 evangelist who thought he was exceedingly 
 197 
 
Ipractical HDcala in BvangeUem 
 
 witty on such occasions, but others saw 
 nothing smart about him. Once an old 
 gentleman arose and passed out while he 
 was preaching: Instantly the evangelist re- 
 marked, " There goes an old hypocrite." I 
 was ashamed of him for making such a 
 remark, and in this instance he was greatly 
 mistaken. He should have been publicly 
 rebuked, for he had no right to abuse his 
 position. 
 
 I have just read of an incident. A man 
 entered the church late one Sunday and 
 stood respectfully listening at the door. The 
 preacher saw him and remarked, " Come 
 in, my friend; we are always glad to see 
 those here late who can't come early." Thus 
 addressed the unknown man, conscious that 
 all were looking to see who it could be, 
 stepped forward, coolly took a seat and then 
 as coolly asked the preacher for his text. 
 It was given and the service proceeded. 
 But why will men make such remarks about 
 those coming in? How often I have found 
 myself mistaken in my thoughts regarding 
 them. Respect and gentlemanliness demand 
 that we proceed in a kind manner to preach 
 without ever mentioning the fact that any 
 interruption has been made. There may be 
 some extreme instances, however, when " a 
 198 
 
Zbc HDcal mctboO 
 
 word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in 
 network of silver." 
 
 (5) Avoid slang. May I emphasize this 
 again? To be able to use slang is not a 
 sign of smartness. I do not see how an 
 evangelist can stoop to it. We may speak 
 in common, everyday language, but there 
 is no reason for the use of words that are 
 low and slangy. We do not need to lower 
 our speech to the level of every hearer. 
 Why not bring them up to us? This does 
 not imply airs and pride. There should be 
 no thought of making any one feel as if you 
 were above them, but always possess a 
 humble bearing, and give the people a mes- 
 sage of divine truth couched in clean, 
 cultured language. 
 
 (6) State Purpose of the Meeting. It 
 has seemed wise to me to take time before 
 the sermon, at the beginning of the series, 
 to explain why we are engaged in evan- 
 gelistic effort. In a very frank and manly 
 way tell the people that you are there on 
 purpose to help Christians into a more use- 
 ful Christian life and to win those who are 
 not Christians to Christ, if possible. You 
 want them all to know it. You have no 
 scheme or deception of any kind. You are 
 there to try and help them in every way 
 
 199 
 
practical HDcala in Evangelism 
 
 you can. In these statements the evangeHst 
 gets very near his audience. The person 
 before you recognizes the nobility of your 
 purpose and respects you and your effort. 
 
 (7) Skilfully draw the net. This is the 
 crucial part of the meeting. The evangelist 
 has worked hard ; has preached powerfully, 
 perhaps, pleaded persistently. Now comes 
 the test. What method shall he use to se- 
 cure confession. This is what many people 
 dislike. The evangelist cannot say truth- 
 fully that any one must stand or come for- 
 ward before he can be saved. To demand 
 a certain sort of confession is not in order. 
 Standing is not a sure test. Many people 
 who stand are not so sincere as some who 
 do not. To be sure there is a place for 
 manly and womanly confession of Jesus, but 
 to do it in a public place with hundreds 
 there and more or less excitement is so 
 foreign to some timid natures that it is al- 
 most impossible for them to think of it. 
 How to eliminate the spectacular and yet 
 have real conversions and conscientious con- 
 fessions is a problem, we acknowledge. 
 Sometimes it may be best to ask for con- 
 fessions before the people are dismissed. 
 I am sure that some good can be done be- 
 fore any leave the room, and it will be an 
 200 
 
XLbc ITDcal fnietboD 
 
 excellent preparation for the after-meeting. 
 I oftentimes throw out a preparatory net 
 in the large meeting. Sometimes do not 
 have any after-meeting at all. There are 
 no patents on methods, and mine may not 
 be the best, but years of experience, during 
 which I have tried about every known way 
 to reach men, have brought to me the 
 following, namely : 
 
 I tell the people at the beginning of my 
 meetings that I will never ask all the Chris- 
 tian people to stand and leave the others 
 seated. This is understood. They can in- 
 vite their friends, knowing that this invita- 
 tion will never be given. It seems to me 
 that it is unfair, and it antagonizes and 
 hinders honest, deliberate decision and con- 
 fession. I knew of a husband and wife who 
 invited another husband and wife to go to 
 an evangelistic service one night. The sec- 
 ond pair were not Christians. The invita- 
 tion for Christians to stand was extended, 
 and the first couple felt obliged to get up. 
 There they stood by their friends. It is 
 hardly necessary to say that these friends 
 refused to go with them again. Was it 
 fair? I think not. There is a much better 
 way. I knew of a prominent clergyman who 
 was in a meeting awhile ago where a na- 
 
 201 
 
{practical HOcale in Bvangclism 
 
 tional evangelist gave his invitation, and 
 seeing one beside him who was not going 
 to stand, he remained seated with him. I 
 am not going to quarrel with the man who 
 differs with me, but I am never going to 
 use that method again. Experience, fair- 
 ness, and sympathy caused me to discard it 
 years ago. 
 
 As yet I have never used the card sys- 
 tem of securing confessions. It is too easy 
 and indefinite. Individuals are appointed to 
 take the names of inquirers or cards for ad- 
 dresses are handed to all personal workers, 
 and as they are stationed so as to cover 
 every part of the auditorium, names are 
 easily secured. 
 
 The invitation to ask people to " rise for 
 prayers " does not appeal to me as wise. It 
 may be true that the implication of every 
 invitation does not impress the mind of the 
 inquirer, yet I would rather not make a way 
 for any possibility of error. Anxious souls 
 are so easily muddled anyway that we must 
 keep the pathway to Christ free from mis- 
 leading objects. If one really wants to be- 
 come a Christian, why do Christians need 
 to pray for him? Should we not explain 
 to him that God has done all he can, the 
 way of salvation is open, nothing hinders 
 
 202 
 
Zbc "ffOcal mctboD 
 
 but sin? If one is sorry for sin and wants 
 to follow Christ, then yielding to him puts 
 one instantly in fellowship with God. I 
 have feared sometimes when people are 
 asked to express a desire that others pray 
 for them that they believe in answer to the 
 prayers of others, they may look for some 
 peculiar feeling or power which will carry 
 them over a chasm of mystery. That is, 
 that they must wait until these prayers are 
 answered before they can yield to Christ. 
 I always seek to impress them with the fact 
 that there is absolutely nothing to conquer 
 on God's part. The only hindrance to peace 
 and pardon and salvation is sin in the indi- 
 vidual. If he submits, then the part which 
 he was to have is accomplished. The re- 
 mainder is for God to do. Nevertheless, I 
 would not say that this form of invitation 
 has not been used to help people get started. 
 Close analysis, however, causes me to be- 
 lieve that there is a better way. After the 
 sermon has been delivered and solo sung, I 
 generally ask for the most serious consid- 
 eration of the individual soul-needs both of 
 church-members and those who are not. I 
 explain the way of salvation as simply, as 
 calmly as possible; then request each one 
 to settle what he is to do right there in 
 203 
 
IPractical ITDcals in Bvanaeltam 
 
 his seat. If some who are church-members 
 are conscious of sin and apathy, ask them 
 to consecrate all to Christ. If others who 
 are not church-members wish to know the 
 joys of sins forgiven and to become true fol- 
 lowers of Christ, ask them to yield to him 
 as they sit there in perfect quietness. Then 
 I generally ask all to bow their heads for- 
 ward, resting the forehead upon the back 
 of the seat in front, and as we are 
 thus bowed, yield intelligently and definitely 
 to Christ. Trust him to forgive. Have a 
 genuine heart transaction with him. Have 
 silent prayer, possibly one or two audible 
 prayers, possibly a verse of an appropriate 
 hymn sung quietly as each head is bowed. 
 It is most impressive, and some real soul 
 work is going on. After this I generally 
 say, " Now, brethren and sisters, what have 
 we done? God knows the heart. If you 
 have asked him to take you and save you, 
 he has." (Quote verses.) Feeling or no 
 feeling we will trust in his promises. Some 
 of you have said " Yes " to him. You are 
 his. He wants you to be happy. He prom- 
 ises to give you power. And you are not 
 ashamed of your decision or your desire. I 
 explain the place of confession, quoting 
 verses ; I then say : " In a few moments I 
 204 
 
XLbc HDcal metboD 
 
 am going to give you th^ opportunity to 
 stand or come forward to confess Christ." 
 This prepares them for confession. 
 
 If the meeting is not too large, and some- 
 times no matter how many there are in the 
 first service, I give people the privilege of 
 publicly stating their desires and purposes 
 before we have any after-meeting. Varied 
 are the invitations given. I rely upon the 
 promptings of the hour to give definite 
 form to my invitations, although their 
 general outline is predetermined. 
 
 Sometimes I ask the congregation to 
 stand and those desiring to become Chris- 
 tians to come forward. This is a most noble 
 way, but it is hard for timid people, and 
 can hardly be successfully carried out at the 
 beginning of a series of meetings. 
 
 Sometimes I simply ask those inquiring 
 to stand while the congregation remains 
 seated. This is manly, but hard for almost 
 every one. Yet I have seen hundreds do it. 
 At times I request all to bow in prayer, then 
 have a few special men and women to stand 
 at front or rear of the room to watch for 
 expressions as I ask those who want to 
 become Christians to arise and be seated 
 again. 
 
 Sometimes I ask for ten people to testify 
 205 
 
Ipractical locals in iBvamcliem 
 
 of God's goodness and express interest in 
 those who are not saved. Then ask the ten 
 to stand with me; then request those who 
 are not Christians to stand. 
 
 Sometimes I ask those who have been 
 members of the church twenty years or 
 more to stand ; then give invitations to 
 unsaved. 
 
 Sometimes I ask all the young people 
 who have consecrated their lives to Christ 
 to stand, then plead with others. 
 
 Sometimes I ask all who were converted 
 before fifteen to stand, and before twenty 
 years of age to stand with them, then 
 request others. 
 
 Many other invitations are given, but all 
 evolved from the fact that all the Christians 
 are never to be asked to stand while the 
 others are seated. 
 
 This is done in perfect quietness, some- 
 times with no singing at all. The personal 
 workers are stationed systematically, but 
 they never move about. They are to speak 
 to those near them. I might add at this 
 point that an organization of personal work- 
 ers has been efifected before the evangelist 
 arrives. They have a leader; they go to 
 him each night as they come to the meeting 
 and he tells them where to sit. He is the 
 206 
 
tbe 1^^cal rinetbo5 
 
 captain of the forces. Each worker has 
 cards that he may write names of inquirers 
 on them. There is work being done, but 
 no noise ; you cannot hear the grind of the 
 machinery. 
 
 As we proceed with the meeting the 
 leader is conscious that there is yet much 
 to do. All are seated again. The evangelist 
 explains the steps to Christ. He asks those 
 who arose as inquirers intelligently to re- 
 ceive Christ right there as they bow in 
 prayer. Then he gets ready to dismiss the 
 first meeting. This has really been a sort 
 of after-meeting, and can easily be con- 
 ducted thus, provided the church building 
 is not too crowded. Before the benediction 
 the leader requests all the inquirers to come 
 to the front as they sing the last song, or 
 just after. He also asks them to come to 
 him personally or to the pastor. Personal 
 workers have been instructed to note any 
 who arose in their sections, go to them 
 and remain with them. The inquirers come 
 to the very front seats while the people are 
 assembling for the after-meeting. The 
 evangelist hands them slips with verses. 
 Explains. Deals personally. Pastor helps. 
 Others help. A season of consecration and 
 prayer follows. Others testify. Requests 
 207 
 
practical UDealg in JEvancjelism 
 
 are made for others who have remained to 
 confess Christ. 
 
 Personal work goes on with individuals 
 who are undecided and perplexed, after the 
 after-meeting has been dismissed. That 
 evening the names of all who have confessed 
 are in the hands of the pastor, or if it is 
 a union meeting, are in the hands of a com- 
 mittee. No one has been taken advantage 
 of, there has been no confusion, each one 
 has been dealt with fairly. There has been 
 no undue coercion, each one has had an 
 opportunity to make a deliberate and 
 intelligent choice of his Lord. 
 
 In the next chapter I shall take up the 
 consideration of the after-meeting in general 
 and also in detail. 
 
 May I reiterate the statement that one 
 gains power in helping people to Christ and 
 to confession, especially meji, if he does not 
 allow them to think that he is insisting that 
 each one must confess his need and his faith 
 in a particularly prescribed manner ? Often- 
 times I tell them that what God wants and 
 what Christian people desire above every- 
 thing else is the real yielding of the heart 
 to God, and the primary thing is not the 
 standing in public service. I tell them over 
 and over again that I am not trying to force 
 208 
 
Ube UDeal mietboD 
 
 them to come forward, nor am I seeking to 
 put them in awkward positions in pubUc. 
 So many people disHke the pubHcity of the 
 confession, and they also have an aversion 
 to taking any stand in a special meeting. 
 Surely we as evangelists cannot consist- 
 ently demand that they confess Christ in 
 our meeting or in any particular way, so 
 I explain that if they truly ask God to 
 save, and yield to Christ, the deed has been 
 done, the life has begun, and they can con- 
 fess their Lord in any way and in any place 
 he would have them. I find that this won- 
 derfully helps, and many are the quiet de- 
 cisions. The great stone-wall obstruction, 
 namely, public confession in a special, so- 
 called revival service has been taken out of 
 the way. By doing this the mind is better 
 prepared to receive the truth and afterward 
 confession is easy. 
 
 During meetings at a city in New York 
 State I had explained this carefully. A 
 young lawyer in the city, who was the hus- 
 band of a Christian woman, came to a num- 
 ber of the meetings and was soon under 
 conviction. At the close of the meetings I 
 said, " Now, won't those of you who do 
 not want to confess while I am here and 
 during this special meeting go to your room 
 O 209 
 
Iptactlcal IfDeals in BvanscKsm 
 
 and settle the matter there, or, better still, 
 settle it here, then go and tell pastor and 
 friends and go to prayer-meeting and con- 
 fess your decision in a quiet manner ? " On 
 the Monday following my meetings this 
 young lawyer went to his office, but he 
 could not work, so he bowed his head, told 
 his Lord he would not put the matter off 
 any longer, and then and there yielded his 
 heart and life to Christ. He locked up his 
 office, went to his pastor and told him, then 
 to his wife and told her, and then went to 
 prayer-meeting the next Thursday night 
 and confessed the fact in a manly way be- 
 fore the church. Now, I ask one and all 
 if this is not a delightful way to deal with 
 people, and is it not far better than nagging 
 them and demanding that they do what they 
 ought to, in a certain way? While it may 
 be true that our meetings would have been 
 an excellent place in which to confess 
 Christ, yet I find some people who must be 
 helped with another method. 
 
 Before leaving this subject of procuring 
 public confession, I feel as if I must state 
 that experience has taught me that it is nec- 
 essary for the evangelist to be careful how 
 he presses forward his personality in the 
 matter. This is one reason why I never go 
 2IO 
 
ttbe "ffdcat rnietboD 
 
 to a person in the congregation during the 
 first service and ask him to yield. It might 
 be wise occasionally in an after-meeting 
 where very anxious ones had remained. 
 The pastor of a church in the State of 
 Illinois relates how an evangelist, by merely 
 walking down the aisles and saying a word 
 and touching people here and there, was 
 able to induce a large number to come for- 
 ward. The pastor felt sure that those who 
 went were unprepared. Within a few hours 
 a large proportion of those who went for- 
 ward in apparent penitence were laughing 
 the whole proceeding to scorn. 
 
 I have read that a certain evangelist some- 
 times cried out as he invited the unsaved 
 to come forward, " See them coming ! See 
 them coming ! " meantime pointing to vari- 
 ous parts of the house. This is hardly less 
 than coupling the law of psychological sug- 
 gestion with hypnotism. We should not 
 disregard the laws of the mind in our work, 
 but such extremes cannot be countenanced 
 by thoughtful workers. 
 
 In the matter of drawing the net it seems 
 to me that we must be exceedingly careful 
 not to go to extremes in the matter. We 
 ought not to state that certain methods 
 can never be used by any one wisely, and 
 
 2TI 
 
iPractical lIDcals in jerangclism 
 
 declare that our method is the only one that 
 can be used by any worker anywhere. And 
 when we state the weakness of another's 
 method let us be careful to speak of it in 
 the right spirit. 
 
 6. The Evangelist's Part in Helping 
 People to Unite with the Church. Of 
 course, the evangelist in union meetings 
 has no part in this whatever except in a 
 general way. He places the responsibility 
 almost entirely upon the pastors. They 
 must hustle for their own members. Yet 
 while he is not to utter a word favoring 
 any special church, he ought to emphasize 
 the privilege and duty of every true Chris- 
 tian to take his place in the ranks of the 
 church. A sane leader, while he has power 
 with the people during or at the end of a 
 successful campaign, can greatly aid all the 
 pastors by making church-membership plain 
 to the converts. He ought to do his utmost 
 to get them to do it. 
 
 The evangelist who works with a local 
 church and pastor, however, has the way 
 open for him to assist the pastor in every 
 possible way. I have found that he had 
 better consult with the pastor before he does 
 anything with individuals or takes any steps 
 to get people actually committed to church- 
 
 212 
 
^be Kdeal fnietboD 
 
 membership, for pastors differ. Some would 
 thank him for all he could do wisely, and 
 others would much rather that he do noth- 
 ing about it except to make a few general 
 statements concerning the necessity of it. 
 The pastors who prefer that he say nothing 
 about it generally have reasons. They know 
 who have been interested, and whether it is 
 best to hurry matters or not. ]\Iost pastors 
 are wise, and as they are expected to live in 
 the town after the evangelist has gone and 
 care for the flock, they are anxious to test 
 the sheep a little and see how they are going 
 to act before the door of the church is 
 opened wide. In my judgment it is best 
 for every evangelist to keep in closest heart- 
 touch with the pastor to the very end of the 
 meetings and do nothing and say nothing 
 about church-membership unless the pastor 
 advises it. 
 
 I was holding meetings in a large city 
 church in Ohio. Several evangelists had 
 held series in this church under the present 
 pastorate. The pastor told me that he had 
 been troubled with two types of evangelists. 
 One man was with him three weeks and 
 there were many confessions, but he could 
 not get him to say much of anything about 
 the converts uniting with the church, and 
 213 
 
Ipractical TlDcals in JEvmxQciism 
 
 he did not seem to have much interest in 
 the matter. The other man came and had 
 quite good meetings, but he tried to rush 
 all the converts, young and old, into the 
 church, regardless of who and what they 
 were. Now, there is a happy medium be- 
 tween the two. There is no need of any 
 evangelist going to either extreme. When 
 the pastor desires me to assist him in help- 
 ing the converts to definite decisions about 
 the church-membership, I generally follow 
 this method: 
 
 (i) Exalt Christ's church, its life, pur- 
 pose, and membership during my entire 
 stay. Never unjustly ridicule the church 
 or in any way belittle its place in the world. 
 After the remarks of some evangelists it is 
 no wonder that people hesitate about be- 
 coming members. One would think from 
 what they say that its ranks are filled with 
 hypocrites. 
 
 (2) Near the close of the meetings take 
 an afternoon and an after-meeting in the 
 evening to explain by Scripture method 
 what the church is and why all Christians 
 should be members. 
 
 (3) A day or two before the meetings 
 close tell the people that on the last day 
 or night an opportunity will be given for 
 
 214 
 
XLbc fTDcal fulctboO 
 
 people to express their wish to unite with 
 the church by experience, by letter, or by 
 baptism. I explain that they will not be 
 actually received then, but they can express 
 their desire in the matter. (There are 
 many people who need some special influ- 
 ence to act as a flood-tide, carrying them 
 over their hesitancy about church-member- 
 ship, and during the time of special meet- 
 ings it is wise to help them.) When this 
 last meeting comes, I ask the pastor to take 
 his place near the front seat and those who 
 would like to talk with him about becom- 
 ing members of his church to come forward. 
 He will then arrange to see them individ- 
 ually. This, as a rule, is very helpful. But 
 I would never do it except when a clear 
 understanding was made between evangelist 
 and pastor. My thought is simply this : Let 
 the evangelist study to help in every way 
 possible. 
 
 I am inserting some suggestions which 
 I have printed and sent to the pastors with 
 whom I am to work. The pastor can 
 greatly help the evangelist by making care- 
 ful preparation before the meetings begin. 
 Not long ago I helped a pastor in a large 
 church in western New York. This tal- 
 ented young man heeded every suggestion 
 215 
 
IPracttcal 1[J)cal6 tn levnmcliem 
 
 in detail, and even collected the money 
 needed to pay my carfare and the incidental 
 expenses before I arrived. We had a grand 
 meeting, and much of the success was due 
 to his thorough preparation. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS 
 
 Preparation, i. Prayer. Have two or more 
 special prayer-meetings at church. In some in- 
 stances cottage prayer-meetings are wisely held. 
 Request all spiritual " shut-ins " to be in prayer. 
 Request individuals to pray for friends. 
 
 2. Consecration. Let each one seek spiritual 
 heart preparation. Be on friendly terms with 
 every one. Yield time and talents to Christ. 
 Prayer and heart consecration do insure spiritual 
 power. 
 
 3. Effort for others. Realize the value of a 
 single life. Realize the awfulness of sin. Realize 
 that each of us must do something to help save 
 others. Overcome timidity. Be winsome and 
 tactful. Yield to the power of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 4. Plans regarding the meetings, (i) Pastor. 
 a. Appoint some one to organize a boys' and girls' 
 chorus, if meetings for the young people are to 
 be held on afternoons, b. Appoint some one to 
 organize chorus for evening meeting, c. Organ- 
 ize a workers' class among young men and 
 another one among young women. Appoint 
 leader for each. d. Please call on or write to 
 all indifferent and careless church-members, and 
 endeavor to get them to the meetings, e. Please 
 make out a list of names of unconverted and 
 
 216 
 
ITbc UDeal metboD 
 
 backsliders who ought to be touched by the meet- 
 ings, and appoint some one to pray for and work 
 for each. 
 
 (2) Bible-school superintendent, a. Ascertain 
 how many scholars you have over ten years of 
 age who are not church-members, b. Write to 
 every teacher and ask them to be present at my 
 first evening meeting, c. Have one or two meet- 
 ings with teachers alone. Have heart-talk with 
 them. Seek consecration and effort for scholars. 
 
 (3) People, a. Lay aside every social engage- 
 ment during the meetings, b. Promise to be pres- 
 ent at every service if possible, c. Make out Hst 
 of names of those whom you want helped by the 
 meetings. Call. Invite. Come with them. d. 
 Let each one plan to do his utmost for others, 
 and then depend upon the Holy Spirit to convict, 
 help, and save. 
 
 We certainly want the meetings to be quiet, yet 
 powerful with the Holy Spirit's presence. 
 
 (4) Special, a. Have a committee of ushers. 
 Head usher to see that every meeting is cared 
 for. Note ventilation, especially toward end of 
 meeting. Seat no one during prayer. Scripture 
 reading, or singing by the soloist, b. Have chorus 
 leader take charge of song service at each meet- 
 ing. I should be glad to have him wisely use 
 local talent in duets, solos, etc. c. Have a finance 
 committee. This committee will arrange for a 
 free-will envelope offering near the end of the 
 meetings. It ought to be secured in a business- 
 like way by sending a note to each member of the 
 church, d. Have a comfortable room for the 
 evangelist in a home if possible. He is not a 
 
 217 
 
practical UDeals in J6vanceli0m 
 
 crank. He will endeavor to fit into the life of 
 that home, and will pray that God may make him 
 a blessing to all in it. 
 
 Expectation, i. Believe that special meetings 
 have place in the progress of the kingdom. 
 
 2. Believe that God's Spirit is always working. 
 
 3. Believe that past seed-sowing of Bible-school 
 teachers, pastors, and workers is sure of a 
 harvest. 
 
 4. Believe that many are on the verge of de- 
 cision for Christ and that others have heart- 
 hunger for righteousness. 
 
 5. Believe that indifferent and hardened ones 
 can be touched by God's Spirit through con- 
 secrated workers. 
 
 6. Believe that God is to use you to help some 
 one into the kingdom. 
 
 7. Believe that God will bless real effort for 
 others at all times in the year. 
 
 8. Believe that prayer will be answered when 
 true piety and earnest work go with it. 
 
 9. Believe that the meetings will be successful 
 even if crowds, noise, and sensational features are 
 absent. 
 
 ID. Believe in God, his Book, in man, in Jesus 
 Christ, in his Church, in the Holy Spirit, in Salva- 
 tion, notwithstanding the fact of the awfulness 
 of sin, and the evident power of evil. 
 
 The pastor reads these suggestions to his 
 people before the evangeHst arrives : 
 
 Methods 
 
 I. Every meeting interesting and attractive, but 
 quiet and worshipful. 
 
 218 
 
Zbc irocal flQetboD 
 
 2. Every message a cultured, sympathetic, gos- 
 pel utterance calculated to command the attention 
 of thinking people. 
 
 3. Every song sung with reverence as well as 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 4. Every one relying on the power of the Holy 
 Spirit, and not on the attractiveness of the 
 services. 
 
 5. Every Christian interested in and working 
 for some careless or unconverted one. 
 
 6. Every one to be treated in a gentlemanly 
 manner. 
 
 7. No scheming, no attempt to get one into a 
 trap. Perfect frankness throughout. The purpose 
 of the meetings explained at the beginning. 
 
 8. No needless haste and coercion. Each indi- 
 vidual allowed to take time, and deliberately yield 
 to the influence of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 9. No expressions taken which will cause all 
 the Christians to stand, and leave only uncon- 
 verted seated. 
 
 ID. No attempts in the young people's meetings 
 to work upon the emotions of the boys and girls, 
 so that they would be forced beyond a calm and 
 thoughtful yielding to Christ as Saviour and 
 Lord. 
 
 A slip like this is given to each inquirer : 
 
 Please Read, Study, and Believe These Verses 
 FOR Yourself. 
 
 Paste this slip in your Bible or Testament. 
 I am a sinner. Rom. 3 : 23. 
 Jesus came to save me. i Tim. i : I5- 
 219 
 
practical IDeala in BvatiQcliem 
 
 We must be penitent for our sins. Luke i8 : 
 9-13. 
 
 I must repent (turn away from) sin. Luke 
 13 : 1-5- 
 
 Eternal life is a free gift. Rom. 6 : 23. 
 
 All our sin is laid on Christ. Isa. 53 : 6. 
 
 We must receive Jesus as our own Saviour. 
 John I : 12. 
 
 If we believe him, eternal life is ours. John 
 3 : 36; 5 : 24. 
 
 He promises to give us power to be true Chris- 
 tians. 2 Cor. 12 : 9; Phil. 1:6; Phil. 4 : 19; i 
 Cor. ID : 13. 
 
 We must publicly confess our faith in him. 
 Matt. 10 : 32; Rom. 10 : 9, 10. 
 
 Our Lord commands us to be baptized (after 
 we believe), as he was, and as is described in the 
 New Testament. Matt. 28 : 19; Mark 16 : 15, 16; 
 Acts 2 : 38-46; Acts 8 : 34-40; Rom. 6:4; Col. 
 2 : 12; Mark i : 9-1 1; Acts 5 : 29. 
 
 It is a matter of obedience. 
 
 It is important that we should obey. 
 
 We should consecrate all to Christ. Phil 3 : 7- 
 17; Col. 3 : I-I7- 
 
 We need to receive the Holy Spirit to give us 
 power for service in the Master's name. Luke 
 II : 13; Acts 2 : 38; Acts 10 : 44-48. 
 
 It might be well to mark each of these verses in 
 your Bible. 
 
 Sincerely your friend and brother, 
 
 Charles Herbert Rust, 
 Dist. Sec'y Am. Bapt. Pub. Soc, 
 132 East 23d Street, New York City. 
 
 220 
 
A slip like this is given to each convert: 
 COUNSEL FOR CONVERTS. 
 
 By Charles Herbert Rust. 
 
 1. Be sure you have yielded all to Christ. Phil. 
 
 3 : 7-9. 
 
 2. Be assured that you are saved in Christ. 
 John 5 : 24. 
 
 3. Be confident that you will be kept through 
 Christ. Phil, i : 6. 
 
 4. Be filled with the spirit of Christ. Eph. 
 5: 18. 
 
 5. Be careful to have your life glorify Christ. 
 Col. 3 : 17. 
 
 6. Be active in the service of Christ. John 
 
 9 : 4. 
 
 7. Be alert to help others to Christ. John i : 
 40-42. 
 
 8. Be often in communion with Christ. i 
 Thess. 5 : 17. 
 
 9. Be glad to confess Christ everywhere. Matt. 
 
 10 : 32. 
 
 10. Be a member of the church of Christ. 
 Acts 2 : 38-42. 
 
 1. Be diligent in Bible study. 2 Tim. 2 : 15. 
 
 2. Be a worker in the Bible-school. Matt. 
 28 : 19. 
 
 3. Be present at all church services. Heb. 
 10 : 25. 
 
 4. Be cheerful when others are not. John 
 
 15 : II- 
 
 221 
 
l^ractical HDcals In iBvmQciiem 
 
 5. Be slow to take offense. Matt. 5 : 43-44. 
 
 6. Be an overcomer. Rom. 12 : 21. 
 
 7. Be far from discouragement. Josh, i : 8-9. 
 
 8. Be obedient to God at any cost. Acts 5 : 29, 
 
 9. Be sympathetic and loving toward all. Eph. 
 4 : 32. 
 
 ID. Be satisfied with nothing less than the best. 
 I Cor. 12 : 31. 
 
 VI 
 XLbc UDeal BftcrsfiUcctins 
 
 HE demand for the consideration 
 of the place and power of the after- 
 meeting in the religious life of the 
 church is one of the optimistic signs of the 
 times. It is almost a sure proof that we are 
 in the midst of a revival. It is excellent 
 evidence that the church is deeply interested 
 in the redeeming of lives, and that it is 
 appreciating its God-given mission. 
 
 Never has there been a time previous to 
 to-day when Christian workers of all de- 
 nominations were so anxious about securing 
 the best methods of conducting religious 
 gatherings. This has its effects upon the 
 whole world, for the church that exhibits 
 a heart interest in the after-meeting proves 
 to one and all that it is solicitous about the 
 222 
 
Zbc UDeal Btter^fnleetln^ 
 
 salvation of men and women, and that the 
 spirit of Jesus is in the midst of it. There 
 is something doing, and the unsaved v^orld 
 admires its zeal. I am sure that hard work 
 to help people holds the respect of man- 
 kind in general. It is a forerunner of 
 good times to come. May I state that as 
 we discuss this important subject we should 
 know at the outset that it is not simply the 
 after-meeting which is held in special meet- 
 ings, but the after-meeting at all times and 
 everywhere that is being brought to our 
 attention. 
 
 I. Preparation. The success of nearly 
 every undertaking in this world depends 
 upon careful preparation. Satisfactory 
 after-meetings are most conclusively traced 
 to long and patient labor beforehand. The 
 after-meeting is largely a time of harvest, 
 not seed-sowing only; it is a result more 
 than a process. To be sure there is a be- 
 ginning in the after-meeting, but generally 
 speaking the seed-sowing belongs to a 
 period of preparation which precedes this 
 service. 
 
 Then we are not to think of this meeting 
 
 as a gathering that we can arrange for on 
 
 a moment's notice, regardless of existing 
 
 spiritual conditions. We may have some- 
 
 223 
 
practical H^eals in Bvanaelism 
 
 thing that is called an after-meeting, there 
 may be an excellent attendance, but it is 
 liable to be quite fruitless. The after-meet- 
 ing is like the capstone of a magnificent 
 building. There must be a carefully built 
 foundation under it, or it will be liable to 
 fall. Every effective after-service has 
 had many days of prayerful, hard work 
 preceding it. 
 
 I. Preparation by the Pastor. First in 
 the life of the church is the pastor. He is 
 the leader. His heart action sets the pace 
 for the people. He is most assuredly the 
 prime factor in preparing for this meeting. 
 No matter how excellent the spiritual con- 
 dition of the church may be, there must be 
 thorough work on the part of the preacher. 
 No other conditions will make up for lack 
 here, and generally failure on his part 
 implies no success in the after-service. 
 
 He Must Have a Conviction. This is 
 the foundation-stone of the whole structure. 
 He must possess a conviction regarding his 
 call to the ministry, concerning the message 
 he is to deliver, and relative to the purpose 
 of his ministry. If he has been called to 
 be an essayist, to bring to his hearers a dis- 
 course on matters of time only, and there is 
 no consciousness of his standing in the place 
 224 
 
XLbc HDcal BftersfBleetinfi 
 
 of God, and pleading with a sin-cursed, 
 heart-broken race to hear the words of sal- 
 vation, peace and pardon, ethics and man- 
 hood through Jesus Christ, tlien his after- 
 meeting is liable to be an absurdity. He 
 must realize that the people around him are 
 in sin and sorrow and trouble, and he has 
 the only true message of Hfe for them. He 
 must go into his pulpit with his soul on 
 fire for God and men, conscious of the con- 
 dition of those before him, burdened for 
 their salvation, sanguine that what he has 
 to say is what God wants them to hear at 
 that very time, and that he is to deliver the 
 message tenderly, hopefully, all the time be- 
 lieving that it will help to save some one in 
 the audience. 
 
 He has worked hard in the preparation 
 of his sermon, he has paced the floor, with 
 the words on his lips, and the faces of the 
 people in his coming congregation are be- 
 fore him. He has prayed while writing it 
 that God might give him spiritual power 
 in delivering it. His whole soul is wrought 
 up as he thinks of the import and possible 
 result of it; yes, his frame shakes with 
 emotion and even tears fall as he works in 
 his study. Through a friend I have re- 
 cently learned of the secret of the success 
 p 225 
 
f>ractical ifDeats in JSvanQciienx 
 
 of one of the most prominent clergymen in 
 the world. He told this friend that often- 
 times as he was preparing his sermons he 
 would be so exercised about the salvation of 
 those unsaved people whom he expected in 
 his congregation that the tears would fall 
 on his paper as he wrote. Is it any 
 wonder that many were converted in his 
 after-meeting ? 
 
 More than this, the pastor has a list of 
 the names of many whom he is anxious to 
 have come back to Christ or confess him 
 for the first time. He is constantly praying 
 for them, has seen some during the week, 
 and expects them to be present at the 
 preaching service. See him as he steps into 
 the pulpit. He has a message. He sees some 
 there whom he wants to help especially. 
 He has prayed that God might give him 
 power with the people. He opens his lips 
 when his whole soul is struggling for ut- 
 terance. He knows the needs, the power 
 of his message, and he speaks with a self- 
 evident sincerity that holds his audience 
 spellbound. This is the preparation that 
 every true pastor and evangelist makes for 
 the after-meetings. He studies his field and 
 fits his message to it. Fields dififer. In 
 some places it is easy to get goodly num- 
 226 
 
XLbc HOcal BftcrsfBlceting 
 
 bers of unconverted people to attend. In 
 others it is not. One cause of heartache 
 among our faithful preachers is the non- 
 attendance of the unsaved. Use every 
 known method v^hich is legitimate and even 
 then they rarely find but a few people who 
 are not Christians to preach to. This is 
 discouraging, and one can hardly blame the 
 man who has a message of salvation to de- 
 liver, who rather goes to the extreme in 
 endeavoring to secure a congregation. 
 Happy is that preacher who can look over 
 his Sunday evening audience and count 
 scores of unsaved people. I was preaching 
 for Dr. Cortland Myers at the Baptist 
 Temple in Brooklyn not long ago while he 
 was away, and words fail to express the 
 feelings that filled my soul as I stood be- 
 fore nearly two thousand people in that 
 great evening congregation. Doctor Myers 
 wisely uses attractive means to get the 
 people to come, but nothing objectionable. 
 He has a chorus choir of one hundred and 
 fifty voices, led by a competent, spiritual 
 leader, who is also a soul-winner. He has 
 a large orchestra, a trained force of ushers, 
 etc. Then he comes to the people with a 
 message. He discusses the matters which 
 pertain to their everyday lives. He takes 
 22y 
 
practtcal IfOcals in :ievangcli0m 
 
 them where he finds them and leads them 
 to the cross. He very manifestly labors 
 with one end in view, and that is the salva- 
 tion of men and women, boys and girls. 
 He thus prepares for his after-meeting, 
 which he holds every Sunday night in the 
 year, except during summer vacation. 
 
 Probably there are from five hundred 
 to a thousand unconverted in the Baptist 
 Temple, Brooklyn, every Sunday night. 
 Doctor Brougher, at the White Temple, 
 Portland, has about the same number, as 
 also does Doctor Ford at the Englewood 
 church, Chicago, and Dr. Johnston Myers 
 at Emmanuel, Chicago. Probably many 
 others have in churches of all denomina- 
 tions. I think it is also true that the preach- 
 ers who have these numbers are men who 
 are laboring definitely for the salvation of 
 souls, and thus prepare for the after- 
 meeting. The material for an excellent 
 after-service is there. 
 
 2. Preparation by the People. They 
 too must have conviction. The respon- 
 sibility is not entirely with the pastor. 
 All too often the pastor has felt obliged 
 to smother his convictions concerning the 
 soul-saving mission of the church because 
 his people did not respond to it. I heard 
 228 
 
^be HDcal Btter^nQeettufl 
 
 of a church where a colored brother asked 
 for admission, and he was told by the pastor 
 to wait awhile, and pray about it meantime. 
 He came back and asked again, and when 
 the pastor asked him if he had prayed about 
 it he answered, " Yes, and the Lord had 
 told him not to feel badly about it if they 
 did not want him in that church, for he 
 had been trying to get in for a long time 
 and could not." 
 
 However, I would not be uncharitable. 
 Probably there are not many churches that 
 would not make a way for the Lord, or for 
 any one who really gave evidence of piety. 
 I do not want to believe that there are many 
 churches that can be truthfully styled " re- 
 ligious clubs." There may be some where 
 the members seem to have no desire what- 
 ever to save men, yet nearly every true 
 Christian in evangelical churches is pleased 
 to see new members coming into the fold. 
 
 Nevertheless, the number of church-mem- 
 bers who realize that each one is called to 
 be a preacher, and to labor individually for 
 the salvation of men, is wofully small. Or 
 perhaps I had better state it this way: The 
 number who will actually work hard to lead 
 people to Christ is very small. There is 
 evident indifference right here. It arises 
 229 
 
Ipractical IFDcals in Bvanc^elism 
 
 from the fact of a low spiritual life in the 
 church, or from ignorance or timidity or 
 lack of confidence in one's ability, or be- 
 cause one is so absorbed in business, pleas- 
 ures, and domestic duties. If we are to have 
 powerful and fruitful after-meetings, the 
 church-members must be alive to their re- 
 sponsibility in the matter of soul-saving. 
 They need to be aroused. They ought to 
 be actually convicted, so deeply that they 
 would feel something must be done. This 
 conviction will effectually prepare for the 
 meeting. 
 
 They also must prepare by prayer and 
 work. As a result of the conviction there 
 ought to be action — action of soul in prayer, 
 of mind in method, of body in labor. 
 
 I wonder what proportion of the member- 
 ship of our churches regularly pray for the 
 pastor in his work, and particularly for him 
 as he comes before his Sunday evening con- 
 gregation. Think of the spiritual power 
 that there would be present to send home 
 the truth of his message if the people were 
 in earnest prayer for him as he preaches. 
 If the people have this conviction that it 
 is a part of their work to get people saved, 
 then they would pray most sincerely, and 
 thus help prepare for the after-meeting. 
 230 
 
TLbc HDcal Bttcr*nncetln0 
 
 We can easily imagine what the result of an 
 evangelistic service Sunday evening would 
 be if pastor and people were a unit in 
 regard to the salvation of sinners. Think 
 of it again. A whole pastor on fire with 
 a message, a whole church in prayer for 
 power. The power would be there without 
 a doubt. 
 
 In addition to prayer, the people ought 
 to prepare by genuine labor. It will not 
 be enough to stay on the knees or sit in 
 the pew and talk with God about souls. 
 Each Christian should make out a list of 
 names of non-attendants at church and those 
 not Christians. Go to them. Talk to them. 
 Invite them to come to the evening meet- 
 ing. That is, work in every way possible 
 to fill the seats with living people whom the 
 pastor can preach to. Rest assured that in 
 most instances the pastors will give them 
 something worth listening to. They will 
 not feed them on husks. I have known of 
 pastors securing large evening congrega- 
 tions and not giving the people one word 
 of real gospel. This is a sin without 
 doubt. But active spiritual workers in the 
 church can help them to see their mistakes 
 and persuade them to preach a gospel 
 message every Sunday night. 
 231 
 
Ipractical UDeals In Bvanaeliem 
 
 The members of every church ought to 
 be banded into a workers' class, on purpose 
 to devise ways to help the pastor to get 
 results on Sunday evening. I know of a 
 young men's league where the young men 
 plan to fill certain seats in the gallery of 
 the church building every Sabbath. Let this 
 class concentrate effort upon the Sunday 
 night preaching service. Be prepared to 
 assist the pastor in every way possible. 
 This is the people's preparation for the 
 after-meeting. 
 
 11. The Importance of the After- 
 Meeting. My experience has been with 
 two kinds, viz., pastoral and during special 
 evangelistic meetings. The importance of 
 this meeting is obvious to all preachers and 
 workers who are engaged in an intensely 
 evangelistic ministry. Given an energetic 
 pastor who stands before his congregation 
 with his soul aglow and a real message on 
 his lips, and a people prayerful and active 
 for souls, one can readily perceive that the 
 after-meeting is so important as to be an 
 absolute necessity. One will not have to 
 get up one or worry about deciding whether 
 he ought to have one or not. There will be 
 a demand for one. The praying and pre- 
 paratory work of the whole church has been 
 232 
 
^be IfOcal Bttetsfmectlng 
 
 toward reaching the people for Christ. The 
 after-meeting is the place in which this 
 work can be brought to blessed fruition. 
 The people who thus prepare will need no 
 one to emphasize the importance of this 
 meeting to them. Its influence is before 
 them constantly. This is the same in spe- 
 cial meetings. The evangelist and his la- 
 borers realize the function of this fruit- 
 gathering service. Not to have it would be 
 utter folly. What did we come together 
 f9r? Simply to hear a sermon? To have 
 a little fellowship? No, no! This Sunday 
 evening service and this evangelistic meet- 
 ing were planned to do a definite work. 
 How absurd, how disastrous it would be 
 after all this preparation if the after-meet- 
 ing should be left out. We could hardly 
 imagine it. It would be similar to our seeing 
 some men in a perilous position in a ra- 
 vine out among the mountains, and after 
 getting scores to help us save them and 
 the tackle and power and everything nec- 
 essary had been provided, and they wanted 
 to be saved and could be, we should sud- 
 denly and deliberately dismiss the helpers 
 and let the men sink lower out of sight to 
 death. 
 
 It would be like arranging for a fishing 
 233 
 
IPractical HDcals In Bvangelism 
 
 party with bait, rods, tackle, everything, then 
 going to the stream, throw in the Hnes, or 
 to the ocean and throw in the net, and never 
 draw in once to see if we had any fish. 
 The preacher and worker in a church full 
 of evangelism are far more sure to have 
 something in the after-meeting than hun- 
 dreds are who go to fish in the ocean every 
 season. If, however, it is true that in the 
 minds of Christians the function of the 
 public service does not include an appeal 
 to men and women to yield definitely 
 to Christ then the importance of the after- 
 meeting sinks out of sight. But we be- 
 lieve that the public preaching service is 
 one of the opportunities of the church to 
 this end. Not long ago I had an experi- 
 ence in preaching that gave me deep sorrow 
 at heart. I was preaching for a certain 
 pastor just to help him out. I had selected 
 an evangelistic sermon and was pressing 
 home the need of immediate decision all 
 through my discourse. From what the pas- 
 tor said I thought he did not care to have 
 an after-meeting, and after I had worked 
 hard I closed the meeting and the congre- 
 gation was dismissed. No invitation had 
 been given, and I actually suffered because 
 of it. Afterward I ascertained that the pas- 
 234 
 
^be ITDeal Bftcr^miecting 
 
 tor rather expected me to give an invita- 
 tion and hold an after-meeting. It taught 
 me a lesson. Never again shall I preach 
 with a soul on fire for the salvation of the 
 unsaved and then let them go with no op- 
 portunity to accept the message in public 
 confession. The reaction was something 
 awful, and I still suffer over it. We be- 
 lieve also that the after-meeting is so im- 
 portant that every building committee for 
 a church-house ought to plan the construc- 
 tion with the thought of a room in which 
 to hold it. It is exceedingly necessary that 
 this room be so placed that the outgoing 
 congregation can get to it easily. If it 
 must be in the basement, then there should 
 be large passageways leading to it. It is 
 much better to have it on the same floor 
 as the auditorium and convenient to all. 
 
 III. The Purpose of the After-Meet- 
 ing. 
 
 I. Its purpose is to win the unsaved to 
 Christ. There is no question about this. If 
 there were no unconverted, then there would 
 probably be no after-meetings in our church 
 life, or only occasionally at best. It is only 
 the soul-saving church that makes much of 
 it. Without doubt the great goal of this 
 service is to reach the lost. We gather here 
 235 
 
practical UDeals in Bvangeliem 
 
 to pluck fruit principally; there may be 
 testimonies, etc., but it is for one end. It 
 is to help the responsive but timid, to 
 deepen- conviction in inquirers, to give op- 
 portunity for the determined, to arouse the 
 thoughtless, yea, to touch the unsaved 
 primarily. 
 
 2. To Edify Christians. It is a potent 
 factor in Christian culture. The religious 
 plant grows rapidly in the warm spiritual 
 atmosphere of the after-meeting. Those 
 Christians who always absent themselves 
 from it, that is from the place where so 
 many souls are born into the kingdom, 
 where so much of the inner heart life is 
 revealed, where soul melts with soul in anx- 
 iety for the other, are constantly missing 
 one of the greatest helps to growth in 
 Christ's likeness that comes in their way. 
 Every Christian who loves the after-meeting 
 knows this full well. 
 
 3. To Develop Workers. Heart-culture 
 is not the only blessing which Christians 
 can receive from the after-meeting. It is 
 here that one may become efficient in hand- 
 ling the Bible, in leading inquirers to Christ, 
 and in teaching the truth of the Lord. 
 Many a weak, timid pastor has developed 
 into a confident, tactful, and strong personal 
 
 236 
 
Zbc IfDcal mtcx^VXlcctUxQ 
 
 worker in the after-meeting. There is noth- 
 ing that helps us toward efficiency in Chris- 
 tian service Hke actual work with the un- 
 saved. The workers' class finds here an 
 opportunity to use what has been learned 
 in the study. Unconsciously they grow into 
 valuable pastor's assistants under the tuition 
 and training of the after-meeting and its 
 many privileges for personal conversation 
 with the unconverted. The pastor who for- 
 gets it misses a large opportunity to develop 
 his workers. 
 
 IV. Methods of Conducting the Af- 
 ter-meeting. We are now prepared to 
 consider the methods which ought to be 
 used in accomplishing the purpose of this 
 meeting. It seems to me that there will be 
 little difficulty regarding methods if there 
 has been conviction concerning its place in 
 the aggressive church, and preparation 
 toward its success. Methods are generally 
 easily formulated when the heart is on fire 
 for Christ and souls. 
 
 Probably the Holy Spirit would not give 
 us any set manner of conducting it. Every 
 worker who leads the meeting ought to have 
 a good knowledge of psychology and of the 
 experiences of the soul in getting toward 
 God, and be in a close touch with the Holy 
 237 
 
Ipracttcal HOcals In JEvanaclism 
 
 Spirit, and then he need not worry about 
 methods. With pastor or evangehst or 
 worker full of prayer and zeal, of love and 
 sympathy for the unsaved, of tact and com- 
 mon sense, of Scripture and human ex- 
 perience, the method will come naturally in 
 simple adjustment to mind and heart con- 
 ditions of those present. 
 
 I have known of insignificant blunders 
 apparently spoiling an after-meeting, and 
 at other times the unmistakable presence of 
 the Holy Spirit, and the very evident love 
 and sincerity of the leader have overcome 
 all derogatory influences which may have 
 arisen from tactless methods of handling the 
 audience. 
 
 I. Hozv Often Should It he Held? It 
 would seem to me that no single answer 
 can be given to this inquiry. It depends 
 entirely upon local conditions. I am not 
 the one to declare that a pastor is not truly 
 presenting the gospel, or that he is asleep 
 if he does not think it wise to have an 
 after-meeting every Sunday night. Those 
 of us who have traveled much know that 
 there are fields that do not seem to give 
 to the preacher the opportunity of a con- 
 tinuous Sunday after-meeting, while in 
 some churches which are manned by strong 
 238 
 
the ITbcal Btter^fnleetin^ 
 
 evangelistic pastors the after-meeting every 
 Sunday evening is an imperative necessity; 
 it would be unwise to neglect it once. 
 
 Provided a pastor and church can se- 
 cure a number of unconverted to attend the 
 services Sunday evenings, and a message 
 has been directed to them, and the people 
 actually long for souls to be saved, I should 
 say that an after-meeting every Sunday is 
 about the only course one ought to take. 
 But there are so many places where this 
 seems to be quite impossible that an after- 
 meeting every Sunday would be weakened 
 by its constant use probably. In such 
 instances conditions must determine. 
 
 Some pastors are so evangelistic that 
 they deem it wise often to make an appeal 
 to the unconverted in the morning service, 
 and then have a quiet after-meeting with 
 any who respond. I know of a pastor in 
 a cultured Western church who at the close 
 of an impressive morning service invites 
 those in his congregation who would like to, 
 to remain for a brief season of prayer and 
 conference. This has been productive of 
 much good, even if unconverted people were 
 not present. I should say that every pas- 
 tor and evangelist ought to try and make 
 the after-meeting a necessity and then use 
 239 
 
iPractical tbcnlB in jevangeliem 
 
 his own judgment as to when he should 
 hold it. 
 
 2. Where Would You Have It? This de- 
 pends upon the architecture of the building 
 and upon the size of the congregation, and 
 also upon the number of unsaved that there 
 are to reach. 
 
 Sometimes hold it in . the main room. 
 Sometimes simply ask all who wish to be 
 Christians to express their desire, and re- 
 quest them to pass into another room with 
 friends and workers. Sometimes dismiss 
 the congregation and invite all to stay in 
 another room. I would not have any set 
 rule about it. It is generally best, however, 
 to get into a room where one and all will 
 feel at home and close together, 
 
 3. On the Way In. Supposing that con- 
 ditions demand the after-meeting, may we 
 not consider what ought to occur on the 
 way in? While one believes in the leader- 
 ship of the Holy Spirit, and realizes that 
 too much emphasis ought not be placed on 
 the value of machinery, yet we are forced 
 to recognize that there really is power in 
 the method of working. While looking at- 
 the various crews of a large circus at their 
 work I was greatly impressed with the value 
 of both machinery and method. There was 
 
 240 
 
Xlbc UDeal Btter=fiaecttna 
 
 no duplicating of labor. There was no 
 confusion. Each man knew just what he 
 had to do in the putting up of the great 
 tents and arranging the paraphernalia. All 
 was like clock-work. One can learn from 
 even a circus. I am convinced that an 
 after-meeting should be managed and con- 
 ducted in quietness, with no confusion and 
 every one methodically laboring for one pur- 
 pose. The leader should have his helpers 
 in consultation beforehand, and every de- 
 tail of the service outlined as nearly as pos- 
 sible. Every worker should be assigned, 
 from the janitor up to the leader, every man 
 knowing his duty, his part in getting ready 
 for business. This is business, and the 
 church needs to realize it. I want now to 
 offer a few suggestions concerning the 
 successful after-meeting. 
 
 ( 1 ) The room should be lighted and aired 
 before the main service is dismissed. Doors 
 should be opened quietly and quickly. Seats 
 and song books should be placed in position. 
 
 (2) The leader of the singing should be 
 Lt his place and his chorus and pianist with 
 him at once. Let the first song all arranged 
 for be begun at close of first service. It 
 should be inspiring, captivating, increasing 
 in volume as others come in. This will 
 
 Q 241 
 
Ipracttcal UDeals in iBvmQCliem 
 
 help indifferent ones to stay. .The song 
 should be a familiar one; no noise, but 
 enthusiastic singing. 
 
 (3) The pastor should consider his ush- 
 ers to be those who occupy dignified and 
 important positions. Let him have some 
 of his best men appointed to this duty. 
 They are on hand immediately, helping to 
 seat the people, taking the hand of a 
 stranger and requesting him to stay. They 
 see that people have song books, opened 
 at the song. They say a kindly word to 
 each one they can reach. 
 
 (4) Christian personal workers have been 
 watching for individuals who they think 
 are strangers or who they know ought to 
 be Christians. As the first meeting is dis- 
 missed they invite them to stay and go in 
 with them. These workers also watch for 
 known inquirers. 
 
 4. After the People are In. What I write 
 now pertains to every after-meeting, wheth- 
 er in regular church work or special evan- 
 gelistic service. 
 
 (i) The Leader Should he Perfectly 
 Frank With All. Frankness should char- 
 acterize every method employed. This is 
 emphatically needed. Much, yes every- 
 thing, depends upon the attitude of the evan- 
 242 
 
trbc HDcal Bfterstnlcctina 
 
 gelist or preacher who leads. There must 
 be no chasm between him and his people. 
 He ought to be transparent. He should let 
 his hearers see clear through him. His 
 heart must be on his sleeve. The uncon- 
 verted ought to know and understand him. 
 They must not be deceived. They will be 
 greatly helped at the outset if they can be 
 made to feel what he feels, and if they can 
 have confidence in him that he will do the 
 right thing by them. 
 
 I have found that many people who really 
 want to be Christians come into the after- 
 meeting desiring to confess Christ, but they 
 shrink from the publicity of it, and they sit 
 and tremble like frightened fawns, and 
 oftentimes do not do that which they actu- 
 ally in their hearts want to do. The leader 
 can help them greatly by being lovingly, 
 tenderly, and easily frank with them. By 
 his frankness he can make them feel at 
 home. Let him talk sympathetically. Never 
 rant. I knew a prominent pastor who 
 spoiled a good after-meeting by ranting. 
 The leader should talk on in a moderate 
 tone of voice, in the most deliberate man- 
 ner, asking the people to think it over. 
 Take time and do not get excited. Keep 
 their minds on one thing at a time. 
 243 
 
lC>ractical tbcale in BvangeUgm 
 
 Then let him explain what it means to be 
 a Christian. Talk like a man to men. Let 
 him impress upon each one the fact that he 
 is not trying to get any one in a trap, or 
 to make a public example of them, when he 
 asks them to publicly confess Christ. Per- 
 sonally, I generally take a few minutes at 
 the beginning of each after-service to get the 
 audience to understand me, what it means 
 to confess Christ, etc., and never think of 
 taking any expressions until I feel that the 
 people are with me in spirit. This to my 
 mind is very important. 
 
 Then again the leader ought to be per- 
 fectly calm. He is not to worry or to get 
 excited. He must act as if he were at 
 home with them, even if his whole nature 
 is wrought up. He should trust God's 
 leadership and his power. Then let him 
 proceed in faith, letting methods naturally, 
 easily evolve out of this calmness of soul 
 and consciousness of condition. 
 
 This matter of the after-meeting is 
 worthy of study. Every evangelist and 
 pastor ought to put time into it. Then 
 from experience learn every week. The 
 leader ought to sympathize with men in 
 all conditions of conviction and perplexity. 
 He ought to understand them better than 
 244 
 
XLbc ITDcal Bftcr^nneetinQ 
 
 they do themselves, and knowing what they 
 need, give them the medicine in the proper 
 way. This deahng with men and women 
 for eternity is no petty affair. It deserves 
 the time and serious attention of the best 
 of us. The preacher ought to feel badly 
 if he fails in the after-meeting; yes, just as 
 badly as he does (perhaps worse) when he 
 fails in his pulpit. To fail at the vital, 
 crucial point of leading a soul to decision 
 if it is possible for man to help, is fail- 
 ure indeed. I am convinced, nevertheless, 
 that love and perfect frankness with people 
 will make up for considerable lack in 
 knowledge. 
 
 (2) The Leader Should Have Full Control 
 of the Meeting. He should be at the helm. 
 There are many rocks on which an after- 
 meeting may be wrecked. The one who has 
 charge of the service should intelligently 
 steer clear of this danger. 
 
 a. The danger of having it too long. 
 Genuine interest in the meeting should de- 
 termine its length, and the leader knows 
 what real interest is. Have it long enough 
 to do what can be done and then quit. Do 
 not tire people out. Do not let patience 
 with the people carry you to the death of 
 the meeting. 
 
 245 
 
practical HOeals in Evangeliem 
 
 b. The danger of testimonies being too 
 long. Many a meeting has struck on this 
 rock. It is one of the hardest to keep 
 away from. The pastor can quit when 
 others stop, but when they will not, how can 
 he? I think it was Henry Ward Beecher 
 who was constantly annoyed by a woman 
 who spoke too long in meeting. One night 
 she had discoursed at length, when he arose 
 and quietly said, " And I still believe, not- 
 withstanding Paul, that women should 
 speak in meetings." But he never heard a 
 word from her again. 
 
 c. The danger of the hobbyist. Of all 
 rocks this is the most dangerous. If the 
 after-meeting strikes many of these, it is 
 doomed. And I am sorry to say that nearly 
 every special meeting shows up these rocks 
 as regular meetings do not. Every pastor 
 knows what I mean also. I heard of an 
 insane man who was astride a trunk. He 
 was asked if it was his horse. He said, 
 '' No." It was his hobby. When asked 
 to explain the difference, he answered, 
 " You can get off from a horse, but you 
 can't from a hobby." So there are people 
 who can't get off their hobbies. Look out 
 for them. Because of these dangers I often 
 limit the testimonies to two or three or a 
 
 246 
 
Zbe flDeal Bftec:=nilcetlng 
 
 few more. Sometimes I ask for ten, and 
 then ask those ten to stand while I invite 
 others to express a desire to become 
 Christians. Sometimes I ask a few Chris- 
 tians in a certain part of the room to testify. 
 At other times I have no testimonies. If 
 I am quite sure there are some people ready 
 to confess Christ I make a direct appeal 
 to them before the impression of the pre- 
 vious service can be spoiled by some crank, 
 and ask all to bow in prayer as they get 
 ready to confess Christ for the first time 
 that night. Then with a word of encour- 
 agement I say the time has come for those 
 who want to be Christians to stand, and re- 
 quest them to stand or come forward. I 
 would use practically the same method as 
 I outlined in the latter part of chapter V. 
 on " Drawing the Net." Great wisdom and 
 care should be exercised in obtaining ex- 
 pressions. Many sensitive natures can be 
 wounded when there is no need of it. With 
 men, however, manly frankness is about the 
 only' method to use. They like it and will 
 respond to it if they have a desire to be 
 Christians. 
 
 Oftentimes the leader words his invita- 
 tion unfortunately. I heard of an evan- 
 gelist who was holding meetings, and at 
 247 
 
practical IFDeals in Bvanacligm 
 
 the end of his discourse he said, " Now all 
 good people who mean to go to heaven 
 with me, stand up." With a surge of en- 
 thusiasm the people sprang to their feet, 
 but one old Scotchman on the front seat 
 would not budge. The horrified evangeHst 
 wrung his hands and cried, *' My good man, 
 don't you want to go to heaven ? " Clear 
 and deliberate came the answer, '' Aye, am 
 gangin', but no wi' a pairsonally condoocted 
 pairty." 
 
 (3) Hozv to Make Decisions Definite. 
 After the inquirers have expressed their 
 desire to become Christians they need help, 
 and ought to be dealt with after the other 
 people have retired. One can assist them 
 to yield intelligently to Christ right there 
 in the after-meeting, but it is generally bet- 
 ter to get them to remain, so that you can 
 have their undivided attention. One method 
 is to ask them to come forward and 
 meet the evangelist or pastor at the front 
 seat. Tell them you are not going to try 
 and force them. You will leave it to their 
 own sense of honor. This is a most de- 
 lightful way to secure deliberate and 
 thoughtful decisions. I have rejoiced in 
 my soul hundreds of times to see them wait, 
 think, then come boldly forward of their 
 248 
 
Zbc HDcal Bftcrsflleetinfl 
 
 own will. This is particularly fair also. It 
 is quite easy to lead all who come in this 
 way to an intelligent and happy faith in 
 Christ. 
 
 Another method is to request all who 
 arose to meet the leader in another room. 
 This has its advantages. There will be 
 quietness. The pastor and a few conse- 
 crated workers can help get the inquirers to 
 stay. In some churches there are always 
 those whom the pastor can rely on to do this 
 work. We were assisting Dr. Johnston 
 Myers in Chicago one Sunday, and learned 
 that he had a trained company of men and 
 women to help him in his work of ag- 
 gressive evangelism. It was exceedingly 
 helpful to me after preaching there to have 
 such intelligent aid in securing definite 
 decisions. 
 
 In the morning at the Bible-school I spoke 
 to the intermediate department of some 
 four hundred scholars. After my chalk 
 talk a number of the older scholars arose to 
 express a desire to become Christians. 
 Doctor Myers had told me that the teach- 
 ers would follow up any confessions. I 
 simply requested the teachers to look after 
 those in their classes, and that evening the 
 superintendent, Mr. John Nuveen, came to 
 249 
 
Ipractical irDeal6 in BvangeUem 
 
 me and said, ** I have the names of forty- 
 one scholars, Mr. Rust." There was no 
 delay, and it was done in the quietest way. 
 Doctor Myers baptized many of them a few 
 weeks afterwards. 
 
 After preaching to some twelve hundred 
 people in the evening, I went into a crowded 
 after-meeting downstairs, Doctor Myers 
 having told me to take charge. We had a 
 blessed meeting, and several adults arose to 
 confess Christ. Just before we were dis- 
 missed I asked those who stood as wanting 
 to be Christians to please come forward 
 to meet Doctor Myers. The moment I 
 spoke there was a Christian worker (a 
 prominent man or woman of his church) 
 by the side of each inquirer, and they were 
 soon leading these persons to the front. 
 In a few moments they had passed with 
 Doctor Myers into a small room. The same 
 was done on Monday evening. After the 
 experience of these years I can truthfully 
 state that in my judgment it is possible to 
 have a profitable after-meeting nearly every 
 Sunday evening, provided preparation has 
 been made for it, that material from which 
 to make it is at hand, and sane methods 
 are used in it. 
 
 And in all probability the after-meeting 
 250 
 
Evangelism witb ©ur loung people 
 
 would be an imperative necessity in our 
 churches if one and all were alive to the 
 needs for the opportunities of gospel 
 evangelism. 
 
 VII 
 
 Bvangellsm wltb ®ur l^oung people 
 
 OYS and girls and all young people 
 have a large place in every home 
 and every church. There never was 
 a time when the church of Christ was doing 
 more for them than at the present. We be- 
 lieve that the Christian forces of our land 
 are endeavoring to do all that they possibly 
 can for the mental, physical, and spiritual 
 development of our youth. The conscience 
 of the world is sensitive to their needs and 
 their possibilities as never before. 
 
 Nearly every evangelical pastor in the 
 world believes thoroughly in the conversion 
 of the children. It is true that there are 
 different viewpoints of this conversion, but 
 it is universally accepted all over the Chris- 
 tian world that boys and girls, and espe- 
 cially young people, ought to be intelligently 
 led to Christ in the earliest years possible. 
 251 
 
Ipracttcal locale in jevanselism 
 
 Definitions of conversion differ. Some 
 may think of the soul-culture of the boy 
 as does Professor Rishell, of Boston Uni- 
 versity, and some may think of it in the 
 old-fashioned orthodox way, but each be- 
 lieves in evangelism with the boys and girls. 
 Doctor Rishell declares that each child is 
 God's child, and that this child possesses 
 two natures, just as the adult Christian 
 does. He affirms that the Holy Spirit is in 
 each boy and girl, and that the Spirit can, 
 with proper training bring the child easily 
 and beautifully into an intelligent Christian 
 life. Thousands of Christian people agree 
 with him. 
 
 On the other hand, there are those who 
 think of the child in a totally different way. 
 I was in the study of a clergyman who 
 is renowned for his orthodox faith the 
 other day and we were talking about the 
 conversion of children. I told him about 
 my girls, their dispositions, character, etc. 
 I said it would be very hard for me to be- 
 lieve that they were children of the devil. 
 He answered, " Well, they are, just the 
 same." Whatever our views of children 
 may be, we all believe that they should be 
 led into a true Christian life as early as 
 possible. We know there is a great differ- 
 252 
 
:iSvan0eli0m witb ©ur l!)oung ipeople 
 
 ence in them, yet all need Christ, and we 
 should not defer conscientious labor with 
 them. 
 
 The greatest question is very evidently 
 one concerning method. It is my purpose 
 to give the reader what experience has 
 taught me concerning this inquiry as to 
 what is the best method to use in helping 
 boys and girls into an intelligent faith in 
 Christ as well as a life for him. For 
 many years I have labored with them. I 
 have been considered a teacher, but the fact 
 is I have been a pupil. I have sat at their 
 feet to learn of them as well as bowing to 
 my Lord to learn of him. These young 
 people have taught me much. At the be- 
 ginning of my evangelistic career I had not 
 clearly defined any particular place for 
 evangelism with them. Nor had I any 
 definite conception as to what methods 
 ought to be used, but experience has led 
 me to formulate an outline of work with 
 them. Years ago the magnificent possibil- 
 ities of this service had not dawned on me. 
 They grew into my consciousness gradu- 
 ally. In recent years a vision of the won- 
 derful opportunities and far-reaching influ- 
 ence of wise evangelistic eflfort with the 
 boys and girls has burst upon me. It is an 
 253 
 
l^ractical IfOeatg in iBmnQcliem 
 
 ever-widening view and grows in beauty 
 daily. 
 
 Life is made livable, and becomes a con- 
 stant delight as I walk in the light of these 
 opportunities. No money could pay me 
 for the experience of these years of con- 
 tact with our young people. I am in the 
 service almost every day of the year now, 
 and never expect to cease it until called to a 
 higher service above. My soul is thrilled 
 to the very center as I pen the lines of this 
 chapter. 
 
 I. Definition. It is wise at the outset to 
 clearly state what we mean by evangelism 
 with young people. 
 
 1. Who are the Young People f Do we 
 include all members of the Young People's 
 Societies? In answer I would say most em- 
 phatically " No." There are so many saints 
 with gray hairs in these societies that we 
 can hardly do this. In short, I mean the 
 boys and girls and youth under twenty-five 
 years of age, and generally those under 
 twenty. 
 
 2. What is Implied When we Speak of 
 Evangelism? I do not refer to teaching 
 and training, except that which is done with 
 the definite object in view of leading them 
 to Christ. Teaching initiates them into the 
 
 254 
 
iBvnmciiem witb ®ur ^omg people 
 
 life and develops them after they are in. 
 I do not refer to an attempt to frighten our 
 beloved boys and girls into an attitude of 
 assumed conversion, nor any purpose to get 
 them to profess, under emotional excite- 
 ment, that which is not true. Evangelism 
 with them is not synonymous with an empty 
 and sentimental story-telling presentation 
 of the gospel of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 I do refer to a conscientious effort to 
 bring our youth to see God as he really 
 is, to see themselves as they truly are, to 
 perceive the correct relationship between 
 the two, and to persuade them to yield 
 their hearts and lives intelligently and de- 
 liberately to Jesus Christ, trusting in him 
 as a personal Saviour and Lord, with the 
 purpose to make him King, and his work 
 on earth the supreme business of their lives. 
 
 We need make no apology for a service 
 like this. What could be more exalted? 
 I take it that there are very few who would 
 discount its dignity and value. It is pleas- 
 ing to read the Christian literature of to- 
 day on this subject. It seems as if there 
 were indications that it was going to have 
 even a larger place in the world than ever. 
 Books and written discourses on child cul- 
 ture and training are springing up every- 
 255 
 
{practical If^eals in :6vanaeli6m 
 
 where. It is perfectly natural that from 
 the teachings of Jesus, who is the best 
 friend the boys and girls ever had, there 
 should come this emphasis upon work for 
 them. I believe that no one can engage in 
 any form of philanthropy or Christian serv- 
 ice which could insure more of God's ap- 
 proval than this work with the young 
 people. 
 
 Surely I do not need to enter the field of 
 an extended argument to prove that God 
 has laid upon us great responsibility in this 
 matter. The grandest opportunity of life 
 for every worker, both in and out of the 
 Bible-school, is here. We may well take 
 time to study our own personal relation to 
 the subject. 
 
 Then God has given us a gospel message 
 which is adapted to the young people. To 
 be sure they have not realized it, and many 
 of us have not yet, but it is a fact neverthe- 
 less. The gospel of Jesus Christ is per- 
 fectly suitable for the boys and girls in 
 every avenue of life. Its principles fit into 
 the perfecting of the youth in all ways. 
 By accepting them as the rule of life, noth- 
 ing will be lost worth having, and every- 
 thing will be gained that is worth possess- 
 ing. Never for a moment should the boy 
 256 
 
JEvangeKsm vvitb ®ur ^o\xm People 
 
 or girl, or the Christian, imagine that there 
 is any chasm between the message of the 
 gospel and the youth of our land. It is 
 adjusted to them. It is needed by them. 
 It was not given for people to accept just 
 before they die. It was sent for the boys 
 and girls just as much as for the adults, if 
 not more. All need to appreciate this. If 
 we have been preaching a gospel which has 
 been devoid of features which would be 
 really attractive to the young people, then 
 we have missed the message some way. 
 There is a truth of the gospel which is 
 actually pleasing to the Christian-trained 
 youth. Perhaps it is not so for those who 
 are brought up in crime, but it is for the 
 normal boys and girls in our Sunday- 
 schools, and even for those who have wan- 
 dered somewhat from the influence of the 
 church. If we have believed that Jesus 
 gave us a message which was not suited to 
 those who love life and its pleasures, as 
 well as its dignified seriousness, then it 
 seems to me we must be mistaken. 
 
 What I have to say will apply both to 
 personal, individual effort with them and to 
 evangelistic meetings with them. 
 
 II. Prerequisites to Success, i. There 
 Must he an Atmosphere Charged with the 
 R 257 
 
Iptactical IfDeals in Bv^andelism 
 
 Spirit of God, or the Work Will he Empty 
 and in Vain. It will be froth simply and 
 will have no lasting effect upon the young 
 people. They may have a good time, there 
 may be a number who signify in some way 
 their desires to be Christians, but the work 
 will not be of God. I believe most sin- 
 cerely in the need of God's Spirit in all 
 work for them. Generally there will not 
 be a demand for such power as is needed 
 to turn wicked men to Christ. Seldom will 
 it be hard for God to use wise workers to 
 reach the boys and girls. But we must be 
 careful to have these young people won to 
 Christ, therefore the Holy Spirit must be 
 in all our service. We can have him at 
 any time when we are sincere and true. 
 
 2. There Must be a Loving and Frank 
 Presentation of the Truth of the Gospel. 
 Too many boys and girls are frightened 
 with statements regarding God and his feel- 
 ings toward us. There is something radi- 
 cally wrong in our gospel if it in any sense 
 frightens a child. I fear that many preach- 
 ers have erred here. Once I held meetings 
 in a city in the West. Scores of young 
 people had confessed Christ, but there was 
 one girl about sixteen who did not want to 
 come to the meetings at all, and her aunt 
 258 
 
BvangcUem witb ®ur ^owm People 
 
 with whom she was staymg had hard work 
 to persuade her to attend. She did not want 
 to hear the evangeHst. But just as the 
 meetings were closing, she came. On that 
 evening I tried to picture God, and his laws 
 which were made for our good. Just as 
 tenderly as I knew how did I place be- 
 fore the congregation the God and the 
 Christ who loved us and wanted to help us. 
 Then I closed by saying, " You should 
 never be kfraid of him because of what he 
 is, even if you are afraid of him because 
 of what you are. Have you turned against 
 him, have you refused Christ after all he 
 has done for you? How can you continue 
 to do it? Will you not let him forgive you 
 and save you ? " We had a delightful serv- 
 ice, many yielded to Christ, but this girl 
 went home broken-hearted. I did not know 
 she was there. The next day I was to leave 
 for home. While eating dinner at the pas- 
 tor's house she came. She asked for me. 
 I met her in the parlor. She was in tears, 
 and said at once, " Mr. Rust, I am so 
 sorry that I have stayed away from the 
 meetings. But I did not know what they 
 were. Do not think me a bad girl. I do 
 want to be a Christian and live right. But 
 several years ago I attended church where 
 259 
 
Ipractical IfOcals In Bvanaclism 
 
 the preacher told me so many things about 
 God punishing people in hell, that I have 
 been frightened when thinking of God; 
 then I thought if 1 yielded myself to him he 
 would take away all I enjoyed. But I see 
 him so differently now, and I have been 
 keeping away from my best friend. Last 
 night I could not sleep. To think God 
 was really so good and I so misunderstood 
 him. If he will only take me, I want to 
 give myself to him now." I explained the 
 way to Jesus. She was ready to kneel and 
 yield herself to him. So we kneeled there 
 in the parlor and she simply let Christ come 
 into her heart. She went away happy and 
 soon united with the church. Beloved read- 
 ers, why should a girl brought up in a 
 Christian home, one who has always wanted 
 to live right, get such a thought of God? 
 Why should it not be as natural for her to 
 go to God as to breathe ? I believe that it is 
 entirely possible for a child to be trained 
 so that the heart will grow as naturally 
 toward God as the flower grows toward the 
 sun. We cannot say that there will be no 
 wrong in their lives, but God will be one 
 to whom they will want to go, just the same 
 as they would to an earthly father. 
 
 And we must not forget that our gospel 
 260 
 
JEvangelism wttb ©ur Moung people 
 
 is a glorious and happy one. It beautifully 
 fits into the life of those who are anxious 
 to live and to whom life is exceedingly 
 real. There is a glory about the sacrifice 
 and nobility and demands of the message 
 of the gospel which actually shines as it is 
 presented properly to our young people. 
 We do not need to eliminate the solemn 
 features, but we do need to emphasize the 
 attractive. I firmly believe that there is a 
 rational way of presenting the facts of 
 sin, judgment, and eternity which leads our 
 youth to feel their own individual responsi- 
 bility and arouses within them an impulse 
 to respond to the noble in Christianity, as 
 they see the joy and satisfaction of yielding 
 the life to Christ. It is the one-sided, sad 
 view of the gospel that should never be 
 presented to young people. 
 
 In a series of meetings where the one 
 theme preached was death and what was to 
 come after there seemed to creep over the 
 work a feeling of depression. Much good 
 was probably done through the meetings, 
 but without doubt more could have been ac- 
 complished by a better message. An inci- 
 dent which occurred is worth thinking 
 about. Two girls of about twelve or four- 
 teen years met each other in the hall of the 
 261 
 
practical HDcals in levangelism 
 
 building. One asked the other, *' Are you 
 going in?" "Certainly; why not?" was 
 the response. But the first girl said, " I 
 shall not go in again. They are so sad in 
 there." 
 
 A man who was not a Christian over- 
 heard the remark. He went to his pastor 
 and told him. After consultation and ex- 
 amination it was discovered that no young 
 people were won to Christ during the serv- 
 ices, and no children were gathered in. 
 Usually the results are just the opposite. 
 In speaking with the evangelist the pastor 
 said, " Is it possible that we have been pre- 
 senting such a sorrowful side of the gospel 
 that it has lost its winsomeness ; that it 
 becomes nothing more than an escape from 
 an impending doom, instead of being the 
 entrance into a glorious and joyful life 
 which Christ has promised to every one 
 who yields to him ? " 
 
 It is also a frank presentation of the 
 truth. It would be bad enough to deceive 
 a man, but to delude a boy or girl is terrible. 
 Never, never attempt to win them by false 
 pretenses. I honestly believe that the trap 
 schemes to get boys into the kingdom are 
 sinful. We think we have to do it, but I 
 cannot believe it to be so necessary as we 
 262 
 
Bvangcllsm wltb ©ur l!)oung |^cople 
 
 imagine. We think the boys and girls do 
 not know what we want, but they do in 
 nearly every instance. Their little eyes and 
 ears are open. Then there is nothing in 
 Christianity for them to be afraid of. Why 
 keep it covered by all sorts of devices? 
 Open it up to them. Let them examine 
 every corner of it. Let them feel of it; 
 see what it will do for them ; whether it 
 hurts or the reverse if they accept it. How 
 many blessed hours I have spent with a 
 company of boys, talking frankly about the 
 things of God, in a natural way, just as if 
 I had the best thing a boy ever got hold 
 of. The worker who wins the boys of to- 
 day is frank and above-board in his every 
 tactic. 
 
 3. JVe Must BelicTc in Them. We are 
 not to think of them as wholly depraved; 
 nor are we to consider them as angels, for 
 they are not. We should believe in them 
 for all they really are and all they can be. 
 Wrapped up in them is the future of the 
 church. They are to lead the host of God 
 through the time of the next generation. 
 In but a few years they will be holding 
 prominent positions in church and nation. 
 Embryonic manhood and womanhood are 
 certainly in our hands to-day. God forbid 
 263 
 
practical IDealg in Evangelism 
 
 that we should forget or belittle their value. 
 We know that thousands of workers ap- 
 preciate these facts, but does not the rank 
 and file of our church people rather relegate 
 the boy and girl to a place of unimportance ? 
 It seems to me so, as far as real effort to 
 have them intelligent followers of Christ is 
 concerned. 
 
 However, we must not place work with 
 them on so high a pedestal that we over- 
 look the adults of our churches. We are 
 liable to see so much in the whirl of the 
 young people's societies of this century that 
 we become blind to those who have stayed 
 by " the stuff " in the church for decades 
 of years. Sometimes I have thought that 
 extreme statements concerning the young 
 people's work have been made — statements 
 which implied that the only people of a 
 church were the young people. We must 
 be careful here. While we may recognize 
 the value of this subject, yet we must not 
 reflect on the men and women who have 
 been pillars and workers in our churches 
 for years, who have paid the bills and been 
 faithful in all circumstances. What would 
 we have done without them? We must 
 not think that the young people know every- 
 thing, and that the older people are all old 
 264 
 
jevrnQeliem witb ®ur ^owm People 
 
 fogies, simply because they do not accept 
 every whim and fancy that we may suggest 
 about methods. 
 
 But after all it is true that nearly every 
 one who to-day is standing by his pastor 
 in aggressive church work was converted 
 to Christ before he was twenty years of 
 age. This fact forces us to see the value 
 of service with the youth. Many, many 
 times have I asked all in the congregation 
 who united with the church under twenty 
 to stand, and I have been amazed to see 
 what a large proportion of our church- 
 membership is included. There were men 
 and women with gray hair and infirm step, 
 but they yielded to Christ in youth. No 
 reasonable person can discount the worth 
 of evangelism with the boys and girls. 
 
 4. JVe Must Sympathize with Them. As 
 I look back over these years to the days 
 when I began my evangelistic career I 
 see how crude my thoughts of this subject 
 were. I was intolerant, critical, inconsid- 
 erate, and rather puritanical. Sometimes I 
 wonder that success could ever have at- 
 tended me. How little I realized the dif- 
 ferent conditions of mind with which I 
 came in contact. I rather thought that 
 there was only one phase of truth, and 
 265 
 
Ipractical KDcalg in iSvnmcliBm 
 
 that that phase must be spoken out and al- 
 most jammed into the mind and soul of 
 every one, old and young alike, regardless 
 of training and capability. I did not have 
 much if any sympathy with the youth who 
 could not take the gospel medicine just 
 as I prescribed it. I had a mold and they 
 must fit into it or be lost. I did what a 
 great many do, judged people by rules and 
 technicalities rather than by purpose of 
 heart. I ought to have struggled to find 
 the trend in life before I judged one. How 
 easy it is to pick out every little mistake 
 and unpleasant expression of life that we 
 find in one and forget to see the real life 
 that is back of the individual, yea, the soul 
 of the one whom we are talking about. I 
 pray God to give me an X-ray vision, that 
 I may actually see why one is what he is 
 and why one does what he does. This 
 reveals the heart. 
 
 This is especially needed as we deal with 
 young people. Think of what we have done 
 and have said. Then put yourself in the 
 place of the boy at his age and sympathize 
 with him. I well remember that as a boy 
 I attended a meeting in a church in our 
 town. Naturally quick and impatient, it 
 was hard for me to wait until all in the 
 266 
 
Bvangeligm witb ©ur loune people 
 
 church had passed out before I did. I had 
 taken a seat at the front and when I saw 
 that I would have to wait until every one 
 had gone before I could get to the door, on 
 the impulse of the moment I did something. 
 What it was is not needful for me to tell, 
 but at that time it did not occur to me that 
 I was doing anything very awful. How- 
 ever, word came to mother the next day, 
 and I soon learned the magnitude of my 
 transgression. This experience has helped 
 me a great deal in bearing with the 
 frolicsome boy and girl. 
 
 I would like to mention four ways in 
 which we ought to sympathize with the 
 young people: 
 
 (i) In their intellectual difficulties. 
 " What," I hear some one say, " ' intel- 
 lectual difficulties.' Fiddlesticks ! What 
 you want to do is to make that boy or girl 
 think the way you do. What do they know 
 about any mental troubles ? " But, my 
 friend, you are mistaken if you think that 
 religion is clear to them, and they are not 
 Christians simply and only because they love 
 pleasure and sin too much. 
 
 It is true that our young people are con- 
 stantly forced to hear statements concerning 
 Christianity in their common school and 
 267 
 
IPractical TlJ)cal0 in Bvangelism 
 
 collegiate training, which plunge them into 
 perplexity and doubt. They have believed 
 in Christ and the Bible easily, naturally, 
 but suddenly they are confronted with de- 
 nials, with ridicule by their teachers and 
 friends in school. They are staggered. It 
 is a real trouble to them. They hardly 
 know just what to say. They are not able 
 to meet every objection. Now what ought 
 we to do ? Laugh at them ? Tell them their 
 hearts are not right with God ? Make some 
 positive statements and then tell them to 
 believe or be lost? No, indeed. It will 
 not do to misunderstand them, coldly to 
 turn them over to the evil one, or to say, 
 " Well, your father believed, you must. It 
 will break your mother's heart if you ever 
 doubt, and you must someway believe, even 
 if you do not see how you can." We must 
 meet them fairly ; treat them kindly ; recog- 
 nize their difficulties; sit down with them 
 and refrain from all denunciations and in- 
 tolerant statements. Then look the trouble 
 squarely in the face, and try sympathetically 
 to help them. We may rant in the pulpit 
 and make insinuating remarks, but it will 
 only antagonize. While holding meetings 
 in a Western city where the State Univer- 
 sity was situated, a mother came to me after 
 268 
 
BrangcUsm witb ®uc ^o\xm People 
 
 one service and said, " Mr. Rust, I want you 
 to know my boy. He is having some 
 trouble. The professors at school have 
 made statements about the Bible that bother 
 him. Would you have a talk with him ? " 
 I said, ** Certainly, and be glad to." I met 
 the boy soon and we had a delightful con- 
 versation together. His trouble was not 
 so serious as I first thought and he seemed 
 to be delighted to have matters cleared up. 
 Perhaps there are some people who would 
 class Henry Ward Beecher with heretics, 
 but recently I was near the church where 
 he preached so many years, and I thought 
 of the experience which came to his soul 
 in young manhood. I give it in his own 
 words : 
 
 I was a child of teaching and prayer ; I was 
 reared in the household of faith ; I knew the 
 catechism as it was taught ; I was instructed in 
 the Scriptures as they were expounded from the 
 pulpit and read by men ; and yet, till after I was 
 twenty-one years old, I groped without the 
 knowledge of God in Christ Jesus. I know not 
 what the tablets of eternity have written down, 
 but I think that when I stand in Zion and be- 
 fore God, the brightest thing I shall look back 
 upon will be that blessed morning in May, when 
 it pleased God to reveal to my wandering soul 
 the idea that it was his nature to love a man in 
 269 
 
practical TlDcals in BvangeUsm 
 
 his sins for the sake of helping him out of them ; 
 that he did not do it out of comphment to 
 Christ, or to a law, or a plan of salvation, but 
 from the fulness of his great heart; that he was 
 a Being not made mad by sin, but sorry; that 
 he was not furious with wrath toward the sinner, 
 but pitied him — in short, that he felt toward me 
 as my mother felt toward me to whose eyes my 
 wrong-doing brought tears, who never pressed me 
 so close to her as when I had done wrong; and 
 who would fain with her yearning love, Hft me 
 out of trouble. And when I found that Jesus 
 Christ had such a disposition, and that when his 
 disciples did wrong he drew them closer to him 
 than he did before, and when pride and jealousy 
 and rivalry, and all vulgar and worldly feelings 
 rankled in their bosoms, he opened his heart to 
 them as a medicine to heal those infirmities ; 
 when I found that it was Christ's nature to lift 
 man out of weakness to strength, out of im- 
 purity to goodness, out of everything low and 
 debasing to superiority, I felt that I had found 
 a God. I shall never forget the feehngs with 
 which I walked forth that May morning. The 
 golden pavements will never feel to my feet as 
 then the grass felt to them; and the singing of 
 the birds in the woods — for I roamed in the 
 woods — was cacophonous to the sweet music of 
 my thoughts; and there were no forms in the 
 universe which seemed to me graceful enough to 
 represent the Being, a conception of whose char- 
 acter had just dawned on my mind. I felt when 
 I had with the psalmist called upon the heavens 
 the earth, the mountains, the streams, the floods, 
 
 270 
 
Bvanflellsm witb ®ur Mouna People 
 
 the birds, the beasts, and universal being to praise 
 God, that I had called upon nothing that could 
 praise him enough for the revelation of such a 
 nature as that in the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Time went on, and next came the disclosure of 
 a Christ ever present with me, a Christ that was 
 never far from me, but was always near me, as 
 a companion and friend, to uphold and sustain 
 me. This was the last and the best revelation 
 of God's Spirit to my soul. It is what I consider 
 to be the culminating work of God's grace in a 
 man; and no man is a Christian until he has 
 experienced it. I do not mean that a man cannot 
 be a good man until then; but he has not got to 
 Jerusalem till the gate has been opened to him, 
 and he has seen the King sitting in his glory, 
 with love to him individually. 
 
 Those who have heard Dr. Cornelius 
 Woelfkin relate the incident of the skepti- 
 cal young woman who went to the study 
 of his preacher-friend to talk about her 
 difficulties, and how tactfully and sympa- 
 thetically and wisely this friend led her to 
 see the reasonableness of a faith in Christ, 
 will never forget it. I am convinced that 
 this is the only method of reaching those 
 who are truly perplexed about God and 
 Christianity. The evangelistic field ought 
 to have thousands of preachers who know 
 how to deal sympathetically with the youth 
 who are meeting problems every day. I 
 271 
 
practical HDcals in Evangelism 
 
 believe that there are few who cannot be 
 helped into an intelligent faith in Christ. 
 God's Spirit will bless this method, we may 
 be sure. 
 
 (2) In their social difficulties. I am 
 very sure that we ought to exercise great 
 patience with young people in the matter 
 of their pleasures and pastimes. The so- 
 cial world is large and real to them. It is 
 their very life. Parents and business men 
 combine to make provision for this desire 
 of theirs to enjoy life. To be ostracized 
 from social pleasure would be almost death 
 to them, so they feel. Whatever hinders 
 them in their good times is an enemy. They 
 cannot conceive how any influence which 
 apparently takes away from them the very 
 things they like is for their best good. They 
 reason it out that God and the saints and 
 evangelists and preachers of all denomina- 
 tions have conspired to try and force them 
 to leave that which makes life worth living 
 to them. Deacons and church-members are 
 excellent people, but they had their good 
 times when they were young, and then 
 when they thought it was time to get ready 
 to die they joined the church and decided 
 to give up pleasures. This is the way so 
 many of them seem to reason and they just 
 272 
 
}Evanaclt6m witb ®ur l^oung ipcople 
 
 look daggers at the preacher or Christian 
 who tries to get them to unite with the 
 church. With this thought of Christianity 
 in their minds one can hardly blame them 
 for not rushing into it. Pleasures and so- 
 cial life among themselves are real indeed, 
 and religion is exceedingly vague to say the 
 least. They are going to have their good 
 times anyway, and by and by they may unite 
 with the church. They misunderstand what 
 Christianity is. To them it is principally 
 a restraint. You can't do this and you can't 
 do that. Poor blind souls ! How many 
 times have I heard them talk, and thought 
 how little they really knew about it. 
 
 And after all, are we not somewhat to 
 blame for their ever getting such thoughts? 
 Have we not sung over and over again, 
 " Worldly pleasures all forsaken, I sur- 
 render all," until they think that they could 
 not become Christians until they were will- 
 ing to say " no " to every desire for worldly 
 pleasure ? That should be sung, " Sinful 
 pleasures all forsaken." They would under- 
 stand it better then. Then they hear some 
 good woman speak in meeting and say, 
 '* When I became a Christian, all desire 
 for certain pleasures was taken away, and 
 I have never wanted to do those things 
 s 273 
 
Ipractical IfDeals in JEvanaellsm 
 
 since," until they believe that even the de- 
 sire to have a good time is wicked, and 
 Christians think that they are wicked be- 
 cause they want to have such good time. 
 Some preacher gets up and says if you 
 want to dance, that proves that you're im- 
 pure or sinful, and they know they like to 
 dance, and yet they cannot see why they 
 are bad or that it is bad. But they must be 
 wicked because others say so. We must 
 not conclude that because a girl desires to 
 move her feet to waltz or other dance music 
 that she is full of evil. It all depends on 
 what that dance is to her. And we never 
 help her or help the young man by declar- 
 ing that any one who wants to dance is 
 full of evil. There is a better way. For 
 years I have made a study of this question 
 and have talked with thousands of young 
 people, and rarely have I found one who 
 could not be reasoned with on the subject. 
 Let no one think for one moment that I am 
 sanctioning a worldly life or excusing any 
 for yielding themselves to be devotees of 
 pleasure. I am seeking to put myself where 
 the young people are and endeavoring to 
 see the world from their standpoint, trying 
 my best to induce them to let Christ come 
 into their lives and help them adjust them- 
 274 
 
iBvawQcliem witb Owx l^oung Ipcoplc 
 
 selves to life in a right manner. My method 
 with them generally is to get away from 
 the thought of specific pleasures or even 
 special sins, but to tell them of God through 
 Christ and what he wants them to be, and 
 what his purpose for them really is; then 
 the awfulness of sin in wasting a life in 
 which he wants to live and of refusing him 
 leadership; then ask them to yield to him 
 and not worry about anything. Ask them 
 then to give up anything which they know 
 to be wrong, and study questionable rela- 
 tions and not enter into them until they are 
 sure they are right. Urge them if they 
 find anything to be wrong to say '' No." 
 God simply wants our young people to be 
 kept from danger and devoted to the best. 
 I point out carefully the dangers of dan- 
 cing, etc., and very seldom do I find a young 
 person who does not see it. When he 
 does, he yields to a God who loves him, 
 and not to a tyrant who would try to force 
 him to live in a prison-house all his earthly 
 life. Scores and scores of instances could 
 I give of bright young people who had 
 failed to grasp the full meaning of the 
 Christian life, but who after sympathetic 
 help have given themselves with enthusi- 
 astic devotion to Christian service. My 
 275 
 
practical TlOeals in BvanQclism 
 
 plan has been to ask them to make Christ 
 and his work tiie supreme business in Hfe 
 and everything else secondary. I have tried 
 to show them that God had no thought of 
 destroying the pleasures of their lives, that 
 he simply wanted them to develop to the 
 best possible, and asked them to shun the 
 sinful and the better to gain the best. 
 How often I have quoted the following 
 verses and have been delighted to have the 
 young people individually respond by say- 
 ing, '' Mr. Rust, I am anxious to be God's 
 best, and I want everything excluded from 
 my life that is not actually helping me to 
 be his best." These are the verses wdiich 
 have helped me many times. They express 
 one of my life mottoes : 
 
 God has his best things for the few 
 
 Who dare to stand the test ; 
 God has his second choice for those 
 
 Who will not have his best. 
 
 It is not always open ill 
 
 That risks the Promised Rest; 
 The better, often, is the foe 
 
 That keeps us from the best. 
 
 There's scarcely one but vaguely wants 
 
 In some way to be blest; 
 Tis not the blessing, Lord, I seek, 
 
 I want the very best. 
 276 
 
Bvangeltam wltb ®ur L'oung {people 
 
 And others make the highest choice, 
 
 But when by trials pressed 
 They shrink, they yield, they shun the cross, 
 
 And so they lose the best. 
 
 I want, in this short hfe of mine, 
 
 As much as can be pressed 
 Of service true for God and man; 
 
 Help me to be my best. 
 
 I want to stand, when Christ appears, 
 
 In spotless raiment dressed; 
 Numbered among his chosen ones. 
 
 His holiest and best. 
 
 I want, among the victor throng. 
 
 To have my name confessed; 
 And hear my Master say at last, 
 " Well done, you did your best." 
 
 Give me, O Lord, thy highest choice; 
 
 Let others take the rest; 
 Their good things have no charm for me, 
 
 For I possess thy best. 
 
 Scorn the bad, tolerate the good, like the 
 better, but love the best. Be satisfied with 
 nothing less. 
 
 (3) In their physical difficulties. I do 
 not now refer to any deformity of the body, 
 or any particular disease, but rather to 
 the fact that there is a time in the life of 
 every boy and girl, between the ages of 
 277 
 
Ipractical UDeals in JEvangellam 
 
 twelve and twenty, when it is hard for them 
 to do even what they want to do. They 
 cannot concentrate the mind, or formulate 
 a definite purpose regarding anything. They 
 hardly know where they are. No clearly 
 defined outlines of life's meaning are be- 
 fore them, and there seems to be no special 
 goal to reach. They are between wind and 
 water, floating and drifting. They came 
 from somewhere, they pinch themselves and 
 say, " Yes, we are alive, but where we are 
 going we do not know." Have we for- 
 gotten the awkward days? The days of 
 wondering and amazement, when we could 
 not put matters of life in their proper re- 
 lation? When we acted so foolishly and 
 giddily and thoughtlessly? Sometimes I 
 think that we forget all this entirely when 
 we deal with the young people. We go at 
 them hammer and tongs. We strike them 
 right and left, chiding them for this, ridicul- 
 ing them for that. As the stinging blows fall 
 in rapid succession on them, they sit stunned 
 before us. They know it seems to be true, 
 and yet they hardly know why. They re- 
 sent it, they fight hard against it, and de- 
 clare they do not want to be good, when all 
 the time they feel differently. 
 
 Oh, for the power to see them as they 
 278 
 
BvangcUgm wltb ®ur l!?oun0 people 
 
 truly are, passing through some of the 
 physical changes which mean so much and 
 yet which force them to act in a way in 
 which they are not really normal. Oh, for 
 the power to go to them in their need and 
 lovingly, sympathetically lead them to a 
 real fellowship in Christ. How he can as- 
 sist them in the straightening out of life's 
 tangles. Should we not recognize the 
 period of adolescence and try in all of our 
 evangelistic work to know our young people 
 and what they are experiencing as we take 
 the gospel of Jesus to them? 
 
 (4) In their moral difficulties. Can we 
 name a boy or girl who hasn't them? 
 Hardly one. Those who have inherited the 
 best dispositions and have been shielded 
 almost perfectly from evil associates find 
 sooner or later that they are in the midst 
 of a world of moral difficulties. Every boy 
 and girl has been forced on a battlefield. 
 We have no disposition to criticize our 
 Lord in allowing it to be just as it is. 
 We recognize the value of the moral combat 
 of life. However, the mystery of evil has 
 perplexed more than one as he has looked 
 out on the clashing of it all. 
 
 The fact is that our youth come into this 
 world of continuous fighting through no 
 279 
 
Ipractical UDeale in iSvanQcliem 
 
 volition of their own. Thousands of them 
 are born with terrible moral handicaps, and 
 some of these are directly traceable to the 
 weaknesses of parents, while others come 
 from generations back. Sometimes it is 
 heartrending to see what innocent children 
 are obliged to carry all through life. It 
 would seem as if it were better had they 
 not been born. It is useless to blame the 
 parents, or ancestors, or God, for allowing 
 it. The fact is they are here and the fight 
 is on, and they will need all the help of 
 man and God to see them through victori- 
 ously. The difficulties have a twofold na- 
 ture. There are inherent tendencies and 
 outward temptations. Some are born with 
 tendencies that carry them on toward sin 
 with almost irresistible power. They follow 
 out the bent of these tendencies unaware of 
 why they do it and where they are going, 
 and it seems almost impossible to stem the 
 tide. Then before they really understand 
 the world they have been thrust into, mani- 
 fold temptations will allure them on every 
 side, and they will find themselves drawn 
 from without and impelled from within to 
 go toward evil. They have a tendency 
 toward some sin, and almost instantly that 
 tendency will find its counterpart in some 
 280 
 
jBvmc^cUem witb ©uc lUontiQ people 
 
 temptation which will cross their pathway. 
 Here they are driven from within and then 
 beset from without along the same line, and 
 they must withstand both, and the double 
 battle seems altogether too hard. They 
 declare it is enough to fight against their 
 inner handicaps without being obliged to 
 carry on the double warfare. May I not 
 ask if it is any wonder that so many go 
 down in the struggle? 
 
 Millions of youth are in the thraldom of 
 sin to-day. Some are satisfied, some are so 
 ashamed they feel there is no hope; they 
 have lost courage. Others are gloriously 
 battling. Not many boys and girls have 
 walked into sin with eyes wide-open and 
 because they have deliberately planned to 
 do so. Not for a second would we excuse 
 all; I am simply asking that we think of 
 the facts and then sympathize with the 
 boy and girl and wonder if we would have 
 done better had our lives been differently 
 circumstanced. 
 
 Some have been dealt fairly with, others 
 have not. Parents and preachers, I am 
 afraid, have hurled anathemas at them, and 
 declared they were fit only for perdition. 
 Some have been calmly warned, but many 
 have not. There are boys who have been 
 281 
 
Ipractical HOealg tn JBvmQCliem 
 
 led into sin, who have awakened to the 
 evil natLire of some inherent tendencies and 
 the temptation they have yielded to; but 
 they are ashamed to face the facts and 
 while they are suffering mentally because 
 of it and they wish they could be different, 
 no one approaches them in the right way. 
 They need help. There are others who 
 have not gone so far ; they need sympathetic 
 advice. 
 
 It is our privilege to go to them, sym- 
 pathize with them, show them that God in 
 his love has made provision to overcome 
 everything that is evil, so that they are 
 really without excuse if they continue in 
 sin, after he has sent to them a Christ and 
 his Spirit to give them grace to conquer. 
 Tell them that God does not condemn them 
 because temptation comes to them. Have 
 them understand it that God blames them 
 when he loves them enough to offer to help 
 them out of their difficulties through Christ, 
 and they love to continue in sin and refuse 
 Jesus as Saviour and Lord. 
 
 5. Use Correct Methods with Them. 
 Probably we cannot lay down any hard and 
 fast rules regarding methods, but the Holy 
 Spirit will illumine our common sense, and 
 experience will teacTi us daily how best to 
 282 
 
iBvawQcUem wltb ©uc ^owrxQ people 
 
 deal with them. I would say that in ap- 
 proaching the boy and girl as we desire to 
 lead them to Christ-life, we must not forget 
 to— 
 
 ( 1 ) Keep in mind the age of those whom 
 we are working with. This is important 
 both in individual conversation as well as 
 special meetings. We must plan intelli- 
 gently to reach the mind. This is to be 
 arrested first of all. We need not fear 
 psychology. To be conversant with its 
 deductions will not hinder us in real spirit- 
 ual service. We may say there is a spirit- 
 less psychology and a spiritual psychology. 
 We should know the story age, the history 
 age, the hero age, the social age, the philo- 
 sophical age, and suit our illustrations and 
 talks and methods to these facts. Surely 
 God would love to have us recognize mind- 
 workings of even the boys and girls as we 
 lead them on to Christ. 
 
 (2) Study individual propensities. While 
 there are some general facts which are in- 
 teresting to every child, yet there is usu- 
 ally in each boy and girl a special trend, 
 a peculiar bent, which we ought to ascer- 
 tain and use to reach the child. Our boys 
 and girls have hobbies, some game, some 
 mechanical invention, some art. If we 
 
 283 
 
Ipracttcal UDeals in iBvnnQcliem 
 
 show interest in these it will help us to get 
 into their hearts. I for the most part use 
 every legitimate means known to find out 
 just what this is in each one I deal with. 
 I take time to talk with them about it, and 
 if possible have them show me how accom- 
 plished they are in it. Commend them in it 
 and if possible help them concerning it. 
 
 (3) Get into close touch with them. 
 Notice them. Never pass them on the street 
 without recognizing them and speaking to 
 them. We must not be gazing at the stars 
 all the time; there are jewels at our feet 
 before us constantly. We must not be 
 mystical and ethereal with boys and girls. 
 They are not living in the heavenlies and 
 we must get down beside them. If we are 
 to help them we must get right into the 
 center of the life of the youth. Every 
 sucessful worker among them knows this. 
 Foolish dignity is laid aiside. 
 
 (4) Inspire them. We are to remember 
 that we are dealing with something which 
 is alive. There is much to work on. Given 
 a room full of young people from ten to 
 twenty years of age, there is movement. 
 They cannot keep still. FroHc and fun are 
 plainly written in their faces. Now what 
 are you going to do with them? First 
 
 284 
 
jevanflcliam witb ©ur HJouns 1I^coplc 
 
 know them before you speak. How the 
 first move ought to be studied. It is a 
 crucial time in their hves. Deahng with 
 young people is important business. We 
 must not err. Some of them are like fright- 
 ened fawns. Some are amazed at them- 
 selves and their surroundings. They fail 
 to see any adjustment of their insignificant 
 lives to the great world about them. They 
 are eating, sleeping, playing, studying every 
 day, but what is it all for? What is life 
 anyway? The problem is ours. We are 
 to hold them, to help them, but how? Let 
 it be decided for once and for all time 
 that we are not to scare them, nor antago- 
 nize them. Let them see at once that we 
 are their friends. We must not strike them, 
 condemn them, wound them needlessly. If 
 we are obliged to reveal their faults, let us 
 be more than careful how we do it. 
 
 But this is not what I wish to empha- 
 size. This is only one side of it. To 
 my mind and as a result of many years' 
 experience I would say that we are to ask 
 God to help us inspire them. Show them 
 the glory and grandeur of the God and 
 Christ whom we love, of the Christian life 
 we can live, of the possibilities of Christian 
 manhood and womanhood. Tell them that 
 
 285 
 
f>ractical IFOeals in JBvanQcliem 
 
 no moral handicap which may be theirs can 
 effectually hinder them in their desire to 
 climb the ladder to God and the best he 
 has for them. Away with denunciations 
 without inspirations. God's Spirit will do 
 the condemning as they see how far short 
 they are of what they might be and have 
 been inspired to be. Sin will be all the more 
 terrible as it causes them to waste and ruin 
 the life and the soul that Christ has prom- 
 ised to save and develop. To be sinful 
 when they might be righteous, to be weak 
 when they might be strong, to refuse Christ 
 when they might accept him, will seem too 
 mean to contemplate. That is, with the 
 vast majority of them this w^ill be true. 
 
 (5) Expect something of them. We are 
 to believe at the outset that there is some- 
 thing in every one to start on. We will 
 not argue as to when God put it there, but 
 we may be positive that it is there. We 
 are not to approach them as if each were 
 full of evil. I recall a visit to an inland 
 Western city of some ten thousand people. 
 While talking with the pastor of the church 
 about the young people he said, " We have 
 a bad lot here, and the girls are bad, num- 
 bers of them." But I asked him how many, 
 what proportion? As I pass along the 
 286 
 
lEvanaeliem witb ©ur ^owm iPeople 
 
 street would you have me believe that half 
 of the number of girls whom I meet are 
 bad, really bad?" He answered, ''No." 
 "Well," I asked, "one-fourth?" He an- 
 swered, "No." "Well, one in ten?" 
 "No." Finally I asked, "Well, tell me, 
 honestly, do you believe that one in fifty is 
 bad?" He said, "Well, I should hardly 
 want to say that; possibly one in a hun- 
 dred." So you see the girls were not so 
 bad as he thought at first, and he did not 
 think so, really. We may make statements 
 as if all were wicked, but we do not do it 
 thoughtfully. And we need to be very 
 careful how we say that a large proportion 
 are bad. 
 
 I do not believe we ought ever to ap- 
 proach them as if we believed they were al- 
 most hopelessly bad. W^e do not help them 
 much by making it public, either. Why 
 not meet them expectantly? Let them see 
 in your face that you believe they can be 
 something, even if they are not. Let them 
 know that God expects something of them. 
 I would have the face radiant with hope as 
 I stand before them, no matter what class 
 we are dealing with. 
 
 Then after I have hopefully tried to 
 help them for a week of meetings, and they 
 287 
 
Il^ractical Tibcale in iBv^mcUem 
 
 have realized the awfuhiess of sin and the 
 possibihty of a hfe with Christ as Lord, I 
 come to them again with expectation not 
 only expressed on my face, but actually 
 felt in my heart. Believing God and be- 
 lieving them, I truly expect that they will 
 yield themselves to Christ, and I act as 
 though I did. I do not see how 
 they could think of doing otherwise. 
 A little girl went into a grocery store in 
 Texas to buy some eggs. She walked up 
 to the storekeeper and said, " Is you got 
 any eggs?" He answered, " I ain't said I 
 ain't." She answered, " I didn't ask you ' is 
 you ain't you.' I asked you ' is you is you.' 
 Ain't you ? " She received the eggs. In 
 my meetings it is generally my method to 
 say, ** Is you is you," expecting them to 
 say '* yes " as the girl expected the eggs. 
 (6) Give them time for careful consid- 
 eration and deliberate choice. Criticism has 
 justly fallen on evangelists and workers 
 with young people because they often do not 
 give them time calmly and intelligently to 
 confess Christ. They have gathered a num- 
 ber of children together, and then after tell- 
 ing some pathetic story of some one dying 
 and going to heaven, at that moment ask 
 how many want to go to heaven? Where 
 288 
 
iBvanQciism wttb ®ur ^owwq People 
 
 is there a child who does not? This is 
 not sane. It is not to be commended. 
 
 I have also decided that it is not best to 
 ask them to raise their hands to express 
 their decision. I never do it now. In fact, 
 I tell them at the first that we are not to 
 raise the hands except when I specially re- 
 quest it as an answer to some question. 
 Why, all evangelists know that many times 
 the raising of the hand signifies almost 
 nothing. I have had boys and girls of in- 
 telligent years raise their hands to answer 
 in the affirmative questions which if they 
 had thought about at all would never have 
 been answered in that way. I have done 
 it at times simply to test them and have 
 proven to them its lack of significance, and 
 they have understood why I never ask them 
 to raise their hands to express their yielding 
 to Christ. 
 
 We should not ask for abrupt confessions, 
 or for them in concert. Boys and girls 
 are oftentimes like a flock of sheep. We 
 must deal with them directly, individually, 
 and practically demand of them to think it 
 out for themselves and yield to Christ one 
 by one. Of course we are to help them 
 and encourage them in every way possible. 
 Then there is no need of hurrying. We 
 
 T 289 
 
IPcacttcal HDcalg in iBvtinQcliem 
 
 must take time for their sake. There is 
 danger in haste. It will injure them. We 
 need not fear about them. Nearly every 
 one of them can be won to Christ easily. 
 We should also believe in a developed evan- 
 gelism, a growth to a thoughtful and in- 
 telligent yielding to Christ. Let the Holy 
 Spirit lead them day by day through the 
 meetings, adjusting the message of the gos- 
 pel to their heart and mind conditions and 
 at the end of a short time their confession 
 of Christ will be made beautifully and 
 deliberately. 
 
 I am profoundly convinced that there is 
 a wise evangelism with the young people 
 and even the children which commends itself 
 to every thoughtful Christian person. I 
 shall now outline in as concise and yet 
 comprehensive a manner as possible about 
 what my own method with them is. 
 
 This is the plan generally executed in 
 series of a week or ten days of meetings. 
 Of course every service is attractive, bright, 
 and enthusiastic, but reverent. We are in 
 the presence of God to think about what 
 he would have us be. All understand that 
 it is not a show. They know just why 
 we have come together. I explain it at 
 first meeting. 
 
 290 
 
iBvnmcliem witb ©ur ^onm People 
 
 Through the chalk talks we endeavor to 
 
 a. Reveal God to them ; who he is ; what 
 he is; how he feels toward them. 
 
 b. Reveal the value of a human life, their 
 lives. 
 
 c. Reveal the terrible character and power 
 of sin. It ruins the life. It turns against 
 God. 
 
 d. Reveal God's love in Jesus; his com- 
 ing to make us right with himself and to 
 save life from ruin and to all that is best for 
 time and eternity. 
 
 ' e. Reveal the awfulness of their sin, if 
 they deliberately refuse to yield to Christ 
 and let him save them to himself and his 
 kingdom. 
 
 /. Reveal what is expected of true Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 g. Reveal that now is the time to confess 
 all sin; to yield to Christ; to begin the 
 Christian life. 
 
 At the close of each meeting there has 
 been a time of prayer, with heads bowed 
 forward on the back of the seat in front. 
 During the week personal conversations 
 have been held with several of the older 
 and more thoughtful ones. We have got- 
 ten acquainted with all. Diffident ones 
 feel at home. They see that we are genial 
 291 
 
practical ITdeale in iBvnmcliem 
 
 and youthful even if we are Christians. 
 There is an atmosphere of faith in each 
 other in the service. There is very evi- 
 dent growth in grace and toward an intelU- 
 gent grasp of what it impHes to accept 
 Christ and begin the Christian Hfe. They 
 realize what God expects of them. What- 
 ever is done will be done intelligently. 
 Near the close of the meetings I ask them 
 to decide in their own hearts what they 
 are going to do. As we bow in prayer I 
 ask them to pray about the matter. They 
 have also been requested to set apart a 
 special time at home in their own rooms to 
 kneel and quietly yield their hearts and 
 lives to Jesus. Then following this, at the 
 close of the next meeting, I ask all who 
 really feel that they understand what it 
 means and want to be true Christians to 
 come back after the service is dismissed 
 and tell me. The meeting closes. They do 
 as they choose. It is delightful to have 
 many come, one by one, and tell me that 
 they are ready to begin a life for Jesus 
 Christ. I talk with them, pray with them, 
 give them verses to read, etc. The pastor 
 stays with us. He talks to them also. At 
 the close of a little after-meeting with them 
 I ask them to go directly to their pastor 
 292 
 
JBvmQcUsm witb ®ur l^oung people 
 
 and give him their names. He would like 
 to explain what church-membership means, 
 etc. Many pages of a book could be filled 
 with the record of beautiful incidents of 
 true conversions. There has been no ex- 
 citement. The young people know they 
 have done the right thing and they have 
 not been unduly urged. Of course there are 
 some who even with this method are super- 
 ficial and do not prove faithful. However, 
 I know of no better way to deal with them. 
 And is it not true that we go to the ex- 
 treme and expect too much of them? If 
 a boy or girl yields to Christ the best they 
 know how, up to the limit of their own 
 capacity, what more can they do? The 
 operation of the Holy Spirit is entirely with 
 God if they have done their very best to 
 turn to Christ. 
 
 Happiness has flooded my soul as the 
 young people have responded to Christ in 
 our meetings. Joy fills my being as I think 
 that God has used us to start many a boy 
 and girl toward him. During meetings at 
 a Western town the pastor of a neighboring 
 church stood by me as I dismissed a most 
 reverent and thoughtful company of young 
 people, after I had asked those who really 
 were in earnest in their desire to be Chris- 
 293 
 
practical IDcals in Evangelism 
 
 tians to come back to me and tell me. He 
 saw them come, and was with me as I 
 talked to them. By and by as we were 
 standing together I saw a boy of about 
 fifteen years of age coming; he stepped in 
 the doorway and then up to me, and look- 
 ing into my face, he manlily said, " Mr. 
 Rust, I would like to be a true Christian 
 boy." The pastor's eyes filled with tears. 
 I said, " God bless you, my boy," and put 
 my arm around him. He was a very in- 
 telligent boy, and was soon happy in Chris- 
 tian service. I baptized him shortly after- 
 ward, and I have heard that he is growing 
 rapidly into a noble Christian manhood. 
 
 This has been my experience in hundreds 
 of cases. After all what more glorious 
 work can we do for God and man? 
 
 (7) After conversion and confession, stay 
 with them every day. I fear many good 
 workers fail here. Remember confession 
 of Christ is but a beginning. Every one of 
 these young people will need constant care 
 and training. We must not drop them 
 after they have become members of the 
 church. I fear that many grow careless 
 and get discouraged at this point. I refer 
 to the boys and girls. They have been pass- 
 ing through exciting experiences. The 
 294 
 
BvangeKsm wttb ®ur l!?oung ipcople 
 
 public confession has demanded consider- 
 able nervous strain, and now it is over, they 
 begin to wonder why they do not feel just 
 the same every day; why they fail at all 
 when they try hard; why temptations seem 
 to come faster than ever, etc. 
 
 We as their helpers must have an over- 
 sight of them. Each boy and girl ought 
 to have at least one person who is a strong 
 Christian, who is wise and tactful, to con- 
 sult with at any time. The pastor cannot 
 reach every one. It is exceedingly impor- 
 tant that some provision be made for the 
 special care of each one of the young 
 people. It will save many to a happy 
 and consecrated life of service. 
 
 Too many foolishly criticize young people 
 after they become members of the church. 
 They enlarge their faults and minimize 
 their good points. They mistake their fun 
 for empty superficiality, and they judge 
 them by false standards. Some people de- 
 clare at once if they hear that a girl has 
 gone to a dance, " Well, she could not have 
 been sincere when she united with the 
 church," and they begin to gossip about 
 her and even treat her rather coldly. Now 
 this cannot be a Christian spirit, and it is 
 most disastrous to the life of the youth. 
 295 
 
Ipractical HDcals in BvangeUsm 
 
 We must not do it, simply must not. I 
 am not in any sense lowering the standard 
 of church-membership, I am simply plead- 
 ing for sympathetic care of the boys and 
 girls after they become church-members. 
 A thousand things come up to demand our 
 help. Let us make them feel that they may 
 confide everything in us and then stand by 
 them every day. Help them over hard 
 places, and help them to prepare for years 
 of usefulness in the service of their Lord. 
 The other day I received a letter from 
 a young man who as a high-school boy 
 was converted in my meetings some years 
 ago. I remember his conversion very well. 
 He had said that he would not yield to 
 Christ or confess his desire to become a 
 Christian in any public service. He was 
 most sincere in it. He was reticent and 
 diffident, and the idea of public confession 
 bothered him. I treated him kindly, waited 
 a few days and then went to him one night 
 and told him he had better come. He 
 said " No." But after the next Sunday's 
 men's meeting I went to him again and 
 asked him if he really did not want to be 
 a Christian. He answered, " Yes, Mr. 
 Rust, I believe I do." I then said, " It is 
 the standing or going forward in a public 
 296 
 
^evangelism witb ®ut l^ouns people 
 
 place that bothers you." He said, " Yes." 
 I then asked him if he thought I had bet- 
 ter give up asking people to confess Christ. 
 He said, " No ; it is all right." I asked 
 him if he thought God would make a 
 special rule for him. He said ** No." 
 Then I said, " Now, my dear fellow, kneel 
 with me and tell God you want his for- 
 giveness and do not worry about the con- 
 fession. Get right with God first." We 
 kneeled. He prayed. He was happy and 
 went home. It had not been said that he 
 must confess Christ in any prescribed way. 
 We cannot demand that of any one. How- 
 ever, he was present at the evening service, 
 and before the whole congregation came 
 boldly forward at my invitation for those 
 who had yielded to Christ to confess him. 
 He is a worker in the church, is superin- 
 tendent of the Sunday-school, and is a 
 promising Christian man. 
 
 I could easily lengthen this chapter by 
 writing of many young people who have 
 been truly converted in our meetings, and 
 who are now growing into efficient Chris- 
 tian manhood and womanhood, but I do not 
 need to. Surely we must realize that the 
 opportunity of the Christian world to-day 
 is with the young people and one can hardly 
 297 
 
Ipractical HDcals in Bvangeliem 
 
 be excused if he does not enter into active 
 evangelistic service for them. 
 
 I want to close this chapter by writing 
 of one who was converted not long ago. 
 During recent meetings in New York State 
 I witnessed one of the most beautiful inci- 
 dents of child conversion that has ever come 
 to my notice. A girl who was the daughter 
 of parents who were prominent in the 
 church, listened while I told of what it meant 
 to be a Christian. She was an intelligent 
 girl of nearly twelve years, quite mature 
 and womanly for her age. One evening 
 she came to me and asked if she might call 
 and talk with me the next day. The ap- 
 pointment was made and we talked for 
 about a half-hour. During our conversa- 
 tion she looked up and said : " Mr. Rust, 
 I want to tell all about it." She then pro- 
 ceeded to say that the other day as she was 
 lying on her couch she was thinking about 
 what it implied to be a Christian, and she 
 seemed to hear God saying, '' ' I want you to 
 be my own child. I want you to love me and 
 serve me forever. Will you ? ' And I said 
 quickly, ' Yes, Lord, I will be your child,' " 
 and then she said, " I was so happy." 
 
 She then told me that she had told 
 mamma that she wanted her to come into 
 298 
 
Bvanaelism witb tbc ITnDiviDual 
 
 her room on Easter morning (and this was 
 just before that time), as she had some- 
 thing she wanted to tell her. On Easter 
 morning her mother went to her room and 
 the girl opened her heart and told the 
 mother her experience. She had written a 
 note to her father, saying that he was to 
 open it Easter morning. I was preaching 
 in the church where these people attended 
 on this Easter day, and at the close of the 
 morning service this father came to me 
 and tears were in his eyes as he said, " Mr. 
 Rust, this is a happy day for me; my 
 daughter sent a note to me this morning, 
 informing me that she had yielded her 
 whole heart and life to Christ, and she 
 wants to be baptized just as soon as con- 
 venient. I am indeed a happy father." 
 
 VIII 
 
 iBvamcliem wttb tbe irnDivl^ual 
 
 HUS far we have considered evan- 
 gelism in many phases and have 
 covered the work of the church in 
 public meetings and the general service with 
 individuals, but we have not considered how 
 299 
 
IPracttcal IDeals in Bvandelism 
 
 best to lead a single soul to Christ. In 
 this chapter we want to put ourselves into 
 an actual conversation with one who is not 
 a Christian. 
 
 We are sure that we are to discuss a very 
 important feature of our subject. The suc- 
 cessful personal worker is a rare individual. 
 Many preachers who are a power in the 
 pulpit are weak here. They have courage 
 and strength before the many, but they are 
 bashful and awkward when dealing with 
 but one. And to thousands of church-mem- 
 bers this work of really leading a soul to 
 Christ is almost unknown. Some have rele- 
 gated it to the preachers, some are totally in- 
 different to it, and some would do it if they 
 only knew how. 
 
 We may at once believe that this service 
 deserves the study and effort of each Chris- 
 tian. We ought to be alive to its place in 
 the kingdom. I also firmly believe that 
 God can develop the most timid and ig- 
 norant person into an efficient soul-winner. 
 
 It is not my purpose in this discussion 
 to consider the preliminary and necessary 
 qualifications of the soul-winner at any 
 length, but rather confine our thoughts to 
 the method employed in accomplishing the 
 purpose of our work with the inquirer. 
 300 
 
iBvmQcUem witb tbe IfnDiviDual 
 
 However, we must recognize that certain 
 very positive qualifications are absolutely 
 needed to give one success. God may at 
 times use the ignorant, weak, and awkward 
 workers to help inquiring ones into the 
 light, but their inefficiency was no help to 
 them and God simply blessed the truth 
 they spoke, notwithstanding their methods. 
 He honored the motive, that spirit of heart 
 interest in the lost, even if the methods 
 were not polished and up-to-date. It is 
 true that almost any old plank or contri- 
 vance that will float might save a drowning 
 man, but it is not so easy nor so comfort- 
 able as the new life-saving devices which 
 are in use at our United States life-saving 
 stations; and this specially prepared ap- 
 paratus will help to save more than could 
 be saved in other ways. They will make 
 salvation more sure. God can use almost 
 any one to help another into the kingdom, 
 but he would rather have those with proper 
 equipment. There must be character, per- 
 sonal experience in the life and spirit of 
 Jesus as Saviour and Lord. We can hardly 
 imagine an ungodly, hypocritical person 
 leading souls to Christ. Such people are 
 not in this business very much. If a man 
 (who is afterward proven to be a hypo- 
 301 
 
practical UDeals in BvangeUam 
 
 crite) preaches the gospel and has success 
 in getting people to confess Christ, we must 
 remember that God simply blesses that part 
 of his message which was the gospel truth 
 to the saving of men. He could have used 
 the truth more if the man had been genu- 
 ine. There are very few hypocritical people 
 in our churches who are trying to save 
 people. One must be saved himself before 
 he can help another out of the depth of sin 
 to the solid rock of truth in Christ. 
 
 Then we ought to possess a passion for 
 souls, a longing, a constant anxiety for the 
 salvation of friends in particular, each and 
 every one. Jesus came to save. This was 
 his passion. Paul had it. See Romans 9 : 
 1-3; also Romans 10 : i. Paul had great 
 sorrow, actual anguish in the heart and un- 
 ceasing pain, no let-up at all. He was 
 constantly burdened for his brethren that 
 they might be saved. Then he adds that 
 he could wish himself cut off from Christ, 
 if by that he could have them all saved. 
 How different this is from the idea of sel- 
 fishly asking Christ to save us and forget- 
 ting the others who are lost. Probably there 
 are very few people in the world to-day 
 whose passion for souls is as intense as that 
 of Paul's. No man in recent years has 
 302 
 
}evan(ieU6m wkd tbe IfnDlviDual 
 
 revealed more of this longing for others 
 than did David Brainerd, the apostle to the 
 Indians in our country. He said : " I care 
 not where I go, nor what hardships I en- 
 dure, if I can only see souls saved. All I 
 think of by day and dream of by night 
 is the conversion of men." And the best 
 of it is that after nights of prayer and days 
 of work for others, he saw even the hard- 
 hearted and ignorant Indians brought to 
 Christ by scores. It is true without a doubt 
 that we will do little work for individuals 
 unless we are intensely anxious for them. 
 In my own life I seldom meet any one any- 
 where but about the first thought is, I 
 wonder if you are a Christian. With this 
 thought in mind, it is quite easy to work 
 toward their salvation. Without this 
 anxiety we will do little. May I add that 
 this passion can be cultivated? We can 
 grow into it. The Holy Spirit can repro- 
 duce in us that which was uppermost in 
 Christ and all men and women who have 
 Mved close to him throughout the ages. 
 
 The picture before us is something like 
 this. Here is a godly, consecrated Chris- 
 tian, anxious to help some one to Christ, 
 about to talk with one who is not a Chris- 
 tian. The worker has been in prayer, he 
 303 
 
practical 1lOcal6 in BvangcUgm 
 
 is conscious that he must be led by God 
 through his Spirit. He has also prayed 
 that God may prepare the heart of the one 
 with whom he is to talk. He has studied 
 his Bible, he knows the way of salvation, 
 and can point it out from Scripture. He 
 is willing to work hard. The two are to- 
 gether. Not a word has been spoken. The 
 question for us to consider is, How is he 
 to help that one to Christ? We confess 
 that it is a moment of anxiety to him. H,e 
 does not want to make a mistake. He is 
 not a novice. He is not an upstart. He 
 is not a crank nor a religious enthusiast 
 simply. He is a man with another man. 
 It is a matter of eternal importance. 
 
 We are well aware that we cannot lay 
 down any hard and fast rules. We are to 
 allow great latitude for the Spirit's guid- 
 ance, yet there are fundamental principles 
 concerning methods and sane details of 
 methods which we can generally rely on to 
 be used by God to help. 
 
 The worker needs to remember the actual 
 condition of the soul out of Christ, that 
 Jesus can save him, this one with whom 
 he is talking. There is no doubt about it. 
 The worker is sure of it. He is also as- 
 sured that God will give wisdom to both. 
 304 
 
JDSvanflelism witb tbe ITnOiviDual 
 
 With these convictions the Christian is to 
 proceed peacefully, calmly, confidently, no 
 nervousness or worry, simply resting in the 
 joy that God can by his Spirit save. 
 
 And may we not believe that our God has 
 not commissioned us to carry the message 
 of an intricate and difficult way of salva- 
 tion to this individual ? Bishop Brooks once 
 said that we make a theology which is a 
 hundred times harder to save a person than 
 God ever intended it should be. We can 
 hardly conceive of God making it as diffi- 
 cult as he could to get one into his king-* 
 dom. To be sure the task of saving men 
 is no insignificant one, but it is made as easy 
 as possible. God's heart would certainly 
 plan that for his creatures. He will lift man 
 out of sin and into righteousness, out of 
 hell and into heaven by the simplest means 
 and the easiest method that he can pro- 
 vide. He is not going to make it hard for 
 man to find him. No ; and a consciousness 
 of this will aid in work with the uncon- 
 verted. The hard part, the complete pro- 
 vision for the salvation of this man had been 
 accomplished through the Christ of the 
 cross and the resurrection. The part for 
 man ought to be easy. 
 
 I. Be Careful of Approach. W^e want 
 u 305 
 
IPractical UDeals in Bvansclism 
 
 to make an excellent start. Much depends 
 upon the first word, the manner of ap- 
 proach. Abruptness is always to be avoided. 
 Some go at it as one would to batter in a 
 door. We strike the individual a blow that 
 almost knocks him off his feet. Then there 
 are others who think the only way to ap- 
 proach a person concerning their soul's sal- 
 vation is to take the most roundabout route 
 they can find; so they begin to talk about 
 everything under the sun, and sometimes 
 they get lost in the maze they have prepared 
 for themselves and never actually open the 
 door of approach. We do not need to do 
 this. We must not think that the person 
 whom we are talking with is a fool ; and if 
 we are scheming to talk with him about re- 
 ligion and do it without his knowing it we 
 had better stop at once. Sometimes we miss 
 our opportunity by not taking up the sub- 
 ject in a tactful way at once. Many, many 
 times the one who is not a Christian is 
 anxious to have us help him, and wonders 
 why in the world we do not knock at the 
 door, instead of trying to get at his heart 
 through the roof. He begins to think that 
 religion is a mystical matter to us, if we 
 know so little as to how to talk to him 
 about it. Then oftentimes the method one 
 306 
 
jSvawQcliem witb tbe ITnMvtDual 
 
 employs (I mean this great hesitancy to 
 be in conversation about soul-needs di- 
 rectly) rather gives one the impression at 
 times that we are apologizing for our mes- 
 sage. We have some goods, but we are a 
 little afraid to show them. And we are 
 afraid that we will be asked if we are a 
 fair sample of what Christ can do, and that 
 bothers us. My experience has taught me 
 that if one is approached correctly there 
 are very few people who cannot be engaged 
 in a heart-to-heart religious conversation at 
 the outset. 
 
 But what is a tactful approach? This 
 is the question that is not easily answered 
 in a moment, and yet we may find some 
 solution of the problem. I heard of a min- 
 ister who was a great hand-shaker. He had 
 a grip like a vise. One day he took the 
 hand of a little boy and absent-mindedly 
 squeezed it terribly. Then he said, " Well, 
 my little man, I hope you are feeling well 
 to-day." The boy replied, " I was until 
 you shook hands with me." Now this was 
 not tactful. That boy would run from him 
 ever after that. 
 
 Perhaps some might think that the fol- 
 lowing is an illustration of over-sensitive- 
 ness in tact : " The story goes that a certain 
 307 
 
Ipractical HOcala (n iBvanQciiem 
 
 king had a dream and wished to have some 
 one interpret it. He called one wise man, 
 to whom he told the dream and asked him 
 to explain the meaning of it. He answered, 
 ' Your two sons and you are to die.' The 
 king had his head cut off instantly. He 
 called another wise man and asked his in- 
 terpretation of the dream. He answered, 
 " You will survive your sons." The state- 
 ments were equally true, but expressed in a 
 different way. 
 
 It certainly does make a great difference 
 as to how we break the news of a man's 
 moral need to him. I heard of an accident 
 where an Irishman whose name was Mi- 
 chael McCarthy was killed. His fellow- 
 laborers did not want to tell his wife about 
 it. Finally one man was despatched to 
 inform her of the bereavement, and he was 
 told to break it to her gently. Upon ar- 
 riving at the house he found the woman 
 sweeping the porch, and as he stepped 
 through the gateway he hailed her by say- 
 ing '* Good afternoon to yez. Widow Mc- 
 Carthy." She answered by saying, " Sure 
 and I'm not Widder McCarthy." He an- 
 swered by saying, '' You're mistaken ; they 
 are bringing home the corpse of Michael 
 this minute." This is certainly an extreme 
 308 
 
levanseligm witb tbc IfuDlvtOual 
 
 illustration, but it actually seems to be about 
 the manner in which some people meet 
 sensitive souls. 
 
 And there is an opportune time to help 
 the individual. The personal worker should 
 exhibit great wisdom here, for it is where 
 many have conspicuously failed. A preacher 
 was driving to an appointment when he 
 came up to a man walking who had a heavy 
 pack upon his back. The preacher asked 
 him to ride, so the man took his place on 
 the seat, depositing his pack at his feet. 
 The preacher was a conscientious man, and 
 believed that he ought to talk to this man 
 about his soul. He, however, procrastinated 
 and just as they were entering a strip of 
 dense woods he mustered up courage, 
 turned to the man and abruptly asked him, 
 "Are you prepared to die?" whereupon 
 the man answered " No," jumped out of 
 the carriage and ran. Only a story, but the 
 lesson is obvious. I fear that many consci- 
 entious souls have been almost as inju- 
 dicious as this preacher was. We should 
 be careful to speak in the right way at the 
 advantageous moment. 
 
 We need to study our man from all view- 
 points in order to approach him wisely. We 
 ought to be firmly convinced that there is 
 309 
 
IPracttcal UDeals in Evangelism 
 
 a way of approach, a door of entrance into 
 every heart. Not one is there who cannot 
 be approached in some degree. There is a 
 direct avenue to the soul of each individual. 
 It may seem to be covered up with all sorts 
 of debris and sin, but it can be found. 
 Sometimes we find an entrance through the 
 thing that the man is specially interested 
 in. We should study his tastes. I have 
 heard of a half-witted fellow who heard 
 that people were hunting for a horse and 
 he was asked to help find him. He sat down 
 where the horse was last seen and thought, 
 " If I were a horse where would I go ? " 
 He went there and found him. As I ap- 
 proach a man I generally reason this way. 
 If I were that man in his condition, how 
 would I like to have people ask me ? What 
 would interest me? And then I proceed 
 to talk to him as I would like to have some 
 one talk to me if I were in his place. 
 
 I have for a long time been convinced 
 that the successful worker with both sexes 
 of all classes of people must seek to de- 
 velop a power to read in the faces, the man- 
 ners, the circumstances, the conversation of 
 those with whom he deals, the actual heart 
 problems which are confronting these 
 people all the time. A friend wrote to a 
 310 
 
Bvaneelism witb tbe IfnDivtOual 
 
 missionary a letter of intelligent sympathy. 
 The missionary replied by using these 
 words : " You have a perfect genius for 
 understanding other people's difficulties." 
 Far be it from us to ever seek to pry into 
 the lives of others simply to know actual 
 conditions. But each of us ought to seek to 
 get near the other one, to put one's self in 
 his place, to understand his struggles and 
 motives. Constant practice in sympathetic 
 service will enable us to become more ef- 
 ficient in helping those who need assistance. 
 To approach them with intelligent sym- 
 pathy will give us an entrance into the life 
 which cannot be secured in any other way. 
 May we not work toward possessing this 
 genius of understanding the troubles and 
 problems of the one with whom we deal ? 
 
 Happy and useful is that person who 
 knows how to approach people in all con- 
 ditions of heart perplexity. What a joy 
 it is to know that you are actually getting 
 into the citadel of a life. You have found 
 a way and the door is opening up before 
 you. You can generally tell whether you 
 have found it out or not in a few moments 
 of conversation, although some will try and 
 hide it from you until the last moment. 
 Mysterious indeed are the workings of evil. 
 311 
 
Ipractical UDeale in :i6van9el(6m 
 
 At an informal meeting a pastor quoted 
 the objection, '' Have we any right to force 
 invitations upon people? " One of his lay- 
 men sprang to his feet and said, *' I take 
 no stock in that objection. For twenty-five 
 years in my business, I have been going to 
 people when I knew that they did not want 
 to see me. When they say so I smilingly 
 wish them good day and call again." One 
 can easily see the truth in the statement of 
 this business man. We should ever be per- 
 sistent, but be guarded as to the method of 
 our perseverance. Perhaps some of us are 
 getting to be so careful in our treatment of 
 lost men and women that are losing all 
 power to make any real impression upon 
 them. Just where the line between nagging 
 and persistent and safe invitation is, may be 
 difficult for some of us to determine, but 
 generally speaking, frank and continuous 
 solicitation for the salvation of our lost 
 friends will bring most satisfactory results. 
 
 II. Be Sure of Mutual Understand- 
 ing. It is of paramount importance that 
 the worker thoroughly knows what 
 dition the unconverted one is in, and also 
 that this one understands what the Christian 
 is trying to do with him. We must re- 
 member that oftentimes the inquirer mis- 
 312 
 
jBvmQcliem witb tbc ITnDiviDual 
 
 understands himself and you will have to 
 show him what he really is. There are 
 many patients who do not know what is 
 the matter with them, and it is the business 
 of the doctor to find out and tell them. 
 Just so in deahng with the unsaved 
 individual. 
 
 Then we cannot treat them correctly if 
 we misunderstand them. We will give the 
 wrong medicine. It is necessary that we 
 exercise great patience in endeavoring to 
 ascertain the exact heart condition of the 
 one with whom we are talking. We must 
 not jump at conclusions. He will some- 
 times make statements which after careful 
 questioning we find he really did not mean. 
 I recall a conversation with a young man in 
 Minneapolis. He appeared interested. I 
 asked him if he were satisfied to live in sin, 
 and he answered " Yes." But I found, on 
 further inquiry, that he meant that he felt 
 he must do wrong where he was placed 
 every day. He thought he could not be 
 different, therefore he must remain satisfied 
 to be in sin. How important it was for me 
 to understand him. 
 
 It is also necessary that the one whom we 
 are trying to help understand us. A student 
 tells of a mishap that happened to a presi- 
 313 
 
Ipractical IfOeals in BvangcHsm 
 
 dent of a college. He had boarded a car, 
 taken a seat, and was reading the paper 
 when, upon looking up, he espied one of his 
 students crumpled up in the corner of a seat. 
 The student was in a wretched plight, and 
 it was evident what the trouble was. The 
 president, fresh and vigorous from his 
 morning bath and breakfast, arose, and as 
 he passed this student he said grimly, 
 " Been on a drunk? " The student's sleepy 
 eyes opened a little and his tongue rolled 
 as he languidly said, *' So have I." Now 
 this student thought that the president was 
 in the same plight that he was in. He was 
 therefore in no position to help him. The 
 soul to be helped must recognize that we 
 have something that he has not ; that we 
 are in a clear atmosphere, while he is in the 
 fog; that we can see where we are going, 
 even if he cannot; that we are out of the 
 sea of doubt and sin, and on a sure founda- 
 tion, where we can assist him in his di- 
 lemma. He must believe that we know 
 what we are talking about before he will 
 have much confidence in what we say. 
 
 The inquirer must also understand our 
 motives. If he thinks we have come to criti- 
 cize simply, or because we have a sort of 
 sentimental pity for him, we cannot help 
 314 
 
Bvaneelism witb tbe "ffnDiviDual 
 
 him. Or if he imagines that we have set 
 ourselves up as models and look down upon 
 him and simply go to him because it is our 
 Christian duty, we cannot help him. We 
 should let him know that we are not talking 
 with him to condemn, but that we want 
 him to have the joy we have, to see life 
 as we see it, to have Christ as one to help 
 through all the trials of life and to save 
 us from the power and penalty of sin. Im- 
 press upon him the fact that we are only 
 anxious to help. 
 
 III. Make a Careful and Specific Di- 
 agnosis. When Henry Drummond was 
 a student, he composed and delivered a 
 paper in which he expressed his convic- 
 tion that there was great need of scientific 
 spiritual diagnosis. He said that instead of 
 hammering mankind in a lump we should 
 have some method of judging the varying 
 conditions and needs of each individual we 
 try to help. We are impressed with the 
 justice of this complaint and the wisdom 
 of this exhortation. We have proceeded so 
 often as if all people were alike, and could 
 be treated and led to Christ in the same 
 way. Because of this unreasonable method 
 many sincere souls have been led to believe 
 that they must expect what they never have 
 315 
 
IPractical HDcals tn Bvangeliem 
 
 had, and therefore there has been a reaction 
 and people have concluded because the pre- 
 scribed remedies did not bring the certified 
 result to them that it had to others, they 
 were not Christians. Tell me, why will 
 workers be so careless about the salvation 
 of a soul ? We should know that God wants 
 us to be extremely thoughtful about the 
 condition of heart of those whom we would 
 lead to Christ, and therefore there is a 
 demand for specific diagnosis. 
 
 In addition to the general understanding 
 of the case in hand we have learned by 
 preliminary questioning there must be a 
 more thorough analysis. We must go 
 deeper. As the doctor probes to the very 
 seat of the trouble as he examines a pa- 
 tient, so we are in some way to get to the 
 bottom, to the underlying causes for outside 
 troubles. We will need spiritual perception 
 here. It is easy to think that visible signs 
 are the real troubles when they are not. 
 We must remove outer obstructions, and 
 get down to heart motives, purposes, diffi- 
 culties, and misconceptions. God can give 
 us an X-ray vision to probe deeply. 
 
 Experience also helps. Yet no two cases 
 are exactly alike, I suppose. However, con- 
 stant service with individuals will enable 
 316 
 
aSvangelism witb tbe 1fnDlviJ)uat 
 
 one quite corrrectly to diagnose. Often- 
 times I have been amazed at the revelations 
 of this specific diagnosis. Sometimes it 
 has revealed an awful condition, and at 
 other times it has manifested a much better 
 condition than we thought. How many 
 times have I exclaimed in joy, " Oh, I see 
 what your trouble is. You need not worry 
 about that ! " I would never have known 
 how to deal with them had it not been for 
 a long and careful examination. Sometimes 
 I sit by the side of one who is perplexed 
 and say, " Now you understand me, don't 
 you? I want to find out just what the 
 trouble is, so that you can be helped. I 
 shall be obliged to ask a great many ques- 
 tions, but you will not think me rude, will 
 you ? " As this is being done we should 
 be calmly confident that God can suit a 
 remedy through Christ for every one. Not 
 one case is too difficult for him. This is 
 consolation, indeed. How heartrending it 
 must be for a physician to find after diag- 
 nosis that he can do nothing, and as far as 
 he knows no one can do anything for his 
 patient. Not so with us. There are no in- 
 curables. Go to the depths. Open up the 
 vilest sores. Expose the most terrible of 
 spiritual diseases, and even then there stands 
 317 
 
©tactical UDeala in ^vanaelism 
 
 One by us who declares positively, '' Whoso- 
 ever will may come." Remember, however, 
 that the gospel medicine is not given to 
 every heart and mind alike. It cannot be. 
 Some natures must have it differently from 
 others. Some are emotional and respond 
 to it with great demonstration and some 
 receive it quietly and slowly. 
 
 I. Ascertain What He has Not. This is 
 about the first step that the physician takes 
 as he examines a patient. He asks a num- 
 ber of questions at the outset, in order that 
 he may decide what is not the trouble. 
 After each question he mentally says, 
 " Well, it is not that " and " it is not that," 
 etc. By being reasonably sure of what it is 
 not, he can the more easily decide what it is. 
 We may wisely follow the same method in 
 dealing with a soul. There are many dan- 
 gerous symptoms which we hope will not be 
 manifest when we come to probe into the 
 inner nature. Let us inquire as if they were 
 not, and let him convict himself if they are 
 really there. 
 
 Ascertain the following: Has he a love 
 for sin? Has he a determination to con- 
 tinue in sin ? Has he rebellion against God ? 
 Has he self-righteousness and pride of 
 heart? Has he hate for some one? Has 
 
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Evangelism witb tbe UnDiviDual 
 
 he a consciousness of sin against his fellow- 
 men and will not ask forgiveness? etc. 
 
 If there are no symptoms of these con- 
 ditions, then we can hopefully expect to 
 help him. If these conditions are evident, 
 then we can point out the awfulness of the 
 sin. 
 
 2. Ascertain What he Has. Is he anx- 
 ious for the truth ? Does he want it at any 
 cost? Is he anxious to quit sin, all sin, 
 now ? Is he penitent for sin ; that is, sorry 
 because he has sinned against God and him- 
 self and others, or is he simply sorry be- 
 cause of the consequences of sin? Does he 
 suffer in heart because he has wronged 
 God? Is he conscious of any special great 
 sin in life? Is he convicted of a lack in 
 his life? What he is not. What he might 
 have been — shortcomings? Is he sorry be- 
 cause of the waste of life? Is he a genuine 
 penitent inquirer after Christ and salvation ? 
 
 3. Ascertain His Difficulties. Occasion- 
 ally we find one who can be easily led into 
 the light, but the larger number of those 
 whom we talk with have real difficulties. 
 If the one whom we are seeking to help has 
 no symptoms which are bad, and has all 
 the indications of one who ought to be as- 
 sured of salvation and yet is not happy and 
 
 319 
 
I^cactical ITDeatd in JBvmxQcliem 
 
 cannot be, then there is a difficulty some- 
 where. You are confident that he is not 
 purposing to sin, and that he is wilHng to 
 be a Christian, then you know that some 
 obstacle hinders him. He is sorry for sin, 
 and is as truly seeking the light as one could, 
 yet he cannot find his way. His heart is 
 right, yet he gets nowhere. There are 
 many like this. They need a little different 
 sort of diagnosis. We must in some way 
 ascertain what those troubles are. It takes 
 time to do it. We must find the real ob- 
 stacle. Sometimes it is only one. At other 
 times it is a complication. But the removal 
 of one will often open the way to clear up 
 all the others. 
 
 There are thousands of people outside of 
 the church who honestly want to be Chris- 
 tians, but they are stumbling over many im- 
 aginary difficulties as well as real. It is 
 our privilege to help them. I venture to 
 state that if every Christian would tactfully 
 approach a neighbor or friend who is not 
 a church-member, and patiently lead him 
 into a right conception of Christianity, we 
 could rejoice in the fact that millions of 
 people who have wanted to be right with 
 God, but misunderstood the way, were easily 
 brought to Christ. 
 
 320 
 
j&vmQcliem witb tbe InDiviOual 
 
 Men everywhere mistake churchianity for 
 Christianity, and misconceptions of the 
 whole Christian scheme are constantly 
 arising and controlling them. We must 
 help them by straightening out these 
 misunderstandings . 
 
 I shall mention some of the difficulties 
 that bother inquirers. Every successful 
 worker ought to be used of God to remove 
 these obstacles. 
 
 (i) Concerning doubts. There are hon- 
 est skeptics. Extreme statements have been 
 made about the Bible and they cannot accept 
 them, and because they cannot, they feel 
 that it will be impossible for them to be 
 Christians. Then their misinterpretations 
 of the Scripture have caused them to doubt, 
 and they need some intelligent person to 
 help them. Reason and faith seem contra- 
 dictory. They are blind. They do not un- 
 derstand the Christian faith. I remember 
 a professor in a Western university who 
 came to me and talked of his mental and 
 spiritual troubles. Tears were in his eyes 
 as he spoke to me. Almost every one of 
 these can be helped to a happy life in Christ 
 if we sympathetically deal with them. 
 
 (2) Concerning power. Many people 
 who want to be Christians are kept from it 
 V 321 
 
IPractical HDcals in JBvanacUsm 
 
 by the thought, '' I never could be what I 
 ought to be, and I will not start." The 
 consciousness of lack of power hinders thou- 
 sands. They cannot hold out. Of course 
 they do not reckon on God's power, and 
 they think if they ever fail that proves that 
 they are not Christians. To these people 
 religion is keeping rules perfectly in their 
 own strength, and they know full well that 
 they never can do it. They cannot see that 
 God's grace is sufficient. We need to as- 
 certain if this difficulty is in the way. I 
 have found this obstacle to be real to large 
 numbers of people. 
 
 (3 Concerning hypocrisy. While there 
 is much that is not reasonable in the 
 cry from the unconverted that there 
 are hypocrites in the churches, yet the 
 fact of hypocrisy is a perplexing prob- 
 lem for almost all inquirers and we 
 need to approach them sympathetically in 
 endeavoring to solve it. We must not at- 
 tempt to laugh it off, but get right down 
 to calm, serious, helpful conversation about 
 the matter. Without doubt there are few 
 intentional hypocrites in the churches of 
 Christ to-day. I mean by that those people 
 who deliberately plan to live double lives ; 
 that is, they openly avow their faith in 
 322 
 
lEvmQcUem witb tbc UnDivfOual 
 
 Christ and purpose to live for him, and yet 
 all the time (and conscious of it too) they 
 scheme to live a sinful and false life every 
 day. We may rest assured that there are 
 FEW people in the church who are doing 
 this. But remember that many unconverted 
 do not know this, and they misunderstand 
 what hypocrisy really is. They have been 
 led to think that every failure is hypocrisy. 
 They actually think that the majority of 
 Christians are hypocrites, because they see 
 so much about them which is not perfect. 
 The hypocrite is the one who plans a double 
 life from the heart. That is his purpose. 
 It is not always one who fails. Many with 
 genuine hearts fail. Yes, all of us do. 
 The hypocrite is the one who is satisfied 
 to fail, even if he may have had some desire 
 to be true. These distinctions must be 
 carefully explained to the inquirer. 
 
 However, the fact of hypocrisy is here. 
 The unconverted inquirer sees it very 
 plainly. He knows that some are wolves 
 in sheep's clothing. They do not deceive 
 him. We must grant that there is some 
 hypocrisy. We must recognize that this 
 hypocrisy flares up before the inquiring one 
 and really blinds his spiritual vision so that 
 he cannot see Christ and Christian living 
 323 
 
IPcactical UDeala in Bvansellgm 
 
 in the true light. It is a real difficulty. 
 Many times we cannot say to the inquirer, 
 ** You are trying to hide behind another's 
 double life." We ought to see the trouble 
 and lovingly seek to help the troubled one 
 out of it. There are thousands of people 
 in this world who honestly want to be Chris- 
 tians, if they thought they could; but they 
 will not be hypocrites, and they have 
 thought that if they rose to confess Christ 
 without some great feeling that some one 
 else has, they would be hypocrites; and 
 they have also thought that if they said they 
 wanted to be Christians and started, and 
 then slipped somewhere, they would be 
 hypocrites, therefore they shrink from start- 
 ing. From experience I know many honest 
 inquirers are seriously hindered at this 
 point. But in almost every instance sympa- 
 thetical reasoning will be blessed of God to 
 their happy acceptance of Jesus. 
 
 (4) Concerning amusements. This af- 
 fects our young people more than others. 
 It is surely a real obstruction in their way. 
 Life to the youth is largely a realm of pleas- 
 ure. It is all right that it should be more or 
 less. Of course it must not absorb the 
 whole being all the time. Yet we cannot 
 put forty-year heads on fifteen-year shoul- 
 324 
 
JEvnrxQcliem witb tbe UnDiviDual 
 
 ders. The young people cannot see every- 
 thing as older ones can. They do think 
 that '' the rules of the church " demand 
 their giving up pleasures which to them 
 seem innocent and harmless. They know 
 that THEY are not sinful in that they enjoy 
 these pastimes and they cannot see what 
 reason there is for them to stop. 
 
 My thought is that we must acknowledge 
 that it is a real difficulty to them. The 
 folly, yes, the evil influence, the nonsense 
 and the tendency to detract from spiritual 
 living may be plainly evident to us, but we 
 must see it from their view-point and then 
 kindly lead them to see what Christ really 
 expects of them. In large numbers they 
 will accept a reasonable view of the facts 
 if we seek to help them in the right spirit. 
 
 (5) Concerning feeling. I have found 
 that this trouble has been a stumbling-block 
 to hundreds, people of all ages and both 
 sexes. They are not entirely to blame for 
 it. Some presentations of the gospel have 
 forced them to consider themselves as not 
 being sincere inquirers because they have 
 not agonized or " felt " enough. 
 
 They have truly believed that certain 
 prescribed feelings must go with conver- 
 sion, etc. To be sure there are feeHngs, and 
 325 
 
{practical UDeals in Bvangeltsm 
 
 we are not to belittle their blessed power, 
 but all natures are not the same. God does 
 not demand the same accompaniments to 
 conversion from all. I have generally said 
 that their trouble is that they want to 
 feel just as they think others feel, and 
 they desire to feel before they yield to 
 Christ that which only comes by trusting 
 him. The only feelings that one can have 
 before he is a Christian are consciousness 
 of and sorrow for sin, willingness to quit it, 
 and a sincere desire to have Christ save him. 
 If one has these he is most assuredly a 
 genuine inquirer. Then when he yields, 
 with a heart purpose to live for Christ, he 
 is saved (better, perhaps, he has begun to 
 be saved), and resting on God's word he 
 may know that Christ and eternal salvation 
 are his. The feeling will come, will increase 
 as the work of God's Spirit continues in 
 the heart. This work will generally increase 
 as active service is entered and continued. 
 
 Once a young man and wife attended our 
 meetings. The wife arose, but the husband 
 did not. I went to him and asked him if 
 he did not want to be a Christian. He said 
 " Yes." I then asked him why he did not 
 stand. He answered, " I did not know that 
 I had feeling enough." I asked him, " How 
 326 
 
Bvangeliem witb tbe UnDfviOual 
 
 much do you think you need?" He said, 
 "I don't know." ''Well," I said, as I 
 smiled, " my dear fellow, you are in rather 
 a difficult situation; but I think there is a 
 way out," and proceeded to try and help 
 him. We talked on for a while and finally I 
 said, " Now supposing you wanted to go 
 from here to Minneapolis. Train was ready, 
 every one willing you should go, ticket of- 
 fered to you, etc., and as the train that you 
 said you really wanted to go on moved out, 
 I said, ' See here, my friend, your train is 
 going ; why do you not get on ? ' You an- 
 swered, * I am afraid I haven't feeling 
 enough.' " He smiled as he saw the point, 
 and I said, " Now you know you would 
 leap for that train, wouldn't you, feeling 
 or no feeling?" He said, "You're right; 
 I would." I then explained to him what it 
 really meant to be a Christian, and that he 
 did have the feeling he ought to have if he 
 was sorry for sin and wanted to be a fol- 
 lower of Christ. And he yielded then and 
 there. 
 
 A very intelligent man, husband of a 
 woman who is a member of a Baptist 
 church was in my meetings recently. He had 
 attended church for years, and yet misunder- 
 stood just what condition he ought to be 
 327 
 
{practical UDeals in JBvmQcWem 
 
 in to begin consciously the Christian life. 
 At the close of a service, in which his fif- 
 teen-year-old boy had been baptized, I went 
 to him and grasped his hand. After greet- 
 ings, I asked him if he was not about ready 
 to yield to Christ, and he said, " When I 
 feel the change I will start." Of course I 
 said to him, " Why, my dear brother, you 
 have it wrong end to; you will never feel 
 the change until you first yield. If you 
 wanted to take a trip from here to Paris 
 you could not feel that you were in Paris 
 before you had started." He wanted to be a 
 Christian, tears were in his eyes as he spoke, 
 his feelings were what he ought to have 
 and all he could expect before yielding, and 
 yet he was stumbling over the question of 
 feeling. I have met hundreds of thoughtful 
 men who totally misunderstand the nec- 
 essary prerequisites to conscientious de- 
 cision for Christ. Well, may we patiently 
 endeavor to help these and all others in the 
 same predicament. 
 
 (6) Concerning standards. Oftentimes 
 the inquirer has trouble because he thinks 
 that the standards of Christianity are so 
 high that he never could think of profess- 
 ing to be a Christian. He does not under- 
 stand that the true Christian is the one that 
 328 
 
Bvangelfsm wltb tbe fn^tvlDual 
 
 sincerely aims to be perfect. The goal is 
 perfection. Christ expects every Christian 
 to purpose to be this. But this does not 
 imply that a failure to be actually perfect 
 proves that one is not a Christian. While 
 the disciple of Christ aims at it he never 
 professes it. One may have a perfect aim, 
 a blameless heart, and yet be far from actual 
 perfection. 
 
 Then the inquirer has difficulty because 
 he thinks that he can try and be a Chris- 
 tian at heart and in secret more or less, and 
 it would not be such a disgrace to fail as 
 it would if he were a church-member. And 
 he also thinks that the standards of the 
 church are a little higher than those of a 
 Christian who is outside of the church. 
 We are to show him that these standards 
 are identical. One may do anything as a 
 church-member that he can conscientiously 
 do as a Christian. 
 
 It does make one feel badly to think that 
 many sincere people are kept out of Christ's 
 kingdom and also the visible organization of 
 the church because of difficulties real and 
 unreal. I am sure, however, that nearly 
 every one can be reached and led to a 
 happy Christian life in active service for 
 the Master if we deal with them reason- 
 329 
 
IPractfcal IFDeals in Evangelism 
 
 ably and sympathetically. By ascertaining 
 their difficulties we help them. Every evan- 
 gelist and worker ought to read carefully 
 Doctor James' book, " Varieties of Relig- 
 ious Experiences," and others which de- 
 monstrate the many ways that God's Spirit 
 leads people to Christ. It will greatly assist 
 us in our work of helping men and women, 
 boys and girls, to be Christians. 
 
 4. Accept What the Inquirer Has. We 
 have referred to ascertaining what he has 
 NOT and what he has; now shall we not 
 think of preparing to accept that which he 
 has as a basis from which to build ? In deal- 
 ing with him I find that it is not wise to in- 
 stantly tell him what he is not, but rather 
 probe him and reveal to him what he has 
 and then proceed from this point. Most 
 people have some excellent traits of char- 
 acter. We are not to tell them at once that 
 they have no character of the right kind, 
 but recognize what they have and tell them 
 where they really procured it, etc. Our 
 ideals have come from Christianity. 
 
 In our experience we have ascertained 
 that it was always best to let the uncon- 
 verted one make the first positive statement. 
 If we are too positive we may needlessly 
 antagonize. Let him say what he believes 
 330 
 
Bvangelism witb tbc "fftiMvi^ual 
 
 about any phase of Christianity and then 
 without thinking of contradicting that state- 
 ment, no matter how erroneous it may be, 
 say, " Yes, I am glad you beheve this," or 
 if it is really false to truth, say, " That may 
 seem true from some view-points. I can 
 easily see how one might believe that fact." 
 By talking this way we put our minds to- 
 gether and there is no chasm between the 
 two. To illustrate this : Once I was asked 
 by a friend to go with him and his wife to 
 Nantucket for a few days' blue-fishing. 
 This friend was wealthy, but at the same 
 time a most active Christian worker, and 
 was always on the lookout for those whom 
 he could win to Christ. One afternoon 
 after we had spent two days in fishing, we 
 were standing on the dock near the hotel, 
 when he espied a small steamer. He hailed 
 the captain, and asked him to allow him to 
 charter the boat for an hour. This request 
 granted, we stepped aboard. Soon I missed 
 my friend, and learned that he was busy 
 talking to the captain, and religion was 
 soon the subject of the conversation. That 
 evening at the hotel this friend told me 
 of the conversation, and I was much pleased 
 to know it had not been fruitless. He in- 
 formed me how he approached the captain, 
 331 
 
practical HOeals in BvattflcUsm 
 
 who was a profane, ungodly man. After a 
 few preliminary remarks, he asked the cap- 
 tain what he thought about religion. He re- 
 ceived a quick reply, to the effect that the 
 captain had no use whatever for church- 
 members and religion in general. Now my 
 friend might have answered, '' that a man 
 ought to be ashamed to express such senti- 
 ments," but he very tactfully said, " Well, 
 captain, do you know that was just what I 
 once thought, but when I became a Chris- 
 tian myself I saw it differently." He ac- 
 cepted even the erroneous idea of the cap- 
 tain's, and from it he evolved a conversation 
 which led him easily to speak of the cir- 
 cumstances and power of his own conver- 
 sion, and this made a deep impression on 
 the mind of that captain. 
 
 Oftentimes what the inquirer has will be 
 a most satisfactory foundation on which to 
 build. It may be a grain of real faith in 
 God, or a quiet purpose to live as Christ 
 would have him, or some other fruit of 
 God's Spirit which is always working in the 
 hearts of men. You have helped your in- 
 quirer very much if you bring to light 
 some commendable characteristic which he 
 thought he never could have, but which he 
 actually did possess in germ at least. Mr. 
 332 
 
iBvmQcliBm witb tbc ITnDiviOual 
 
 Wesley was a man of great tact and with 
 young people also. He was dining one day 
 at the house of a nobleman whose daughter 
 had been deeply impressed with the truth. 
 She was young, beautiful, and fashionable. 
 The father seized her hand, on which were 
 many rings, and holding it up to the gaze 
 of the guests said, *' Mr. Wesley, what do 
 you think of this for a Methodist hand?" 
 The girl blushed and expected a severe re- 
 buke, but Mr. Wesley looked, smiled kindly, 
 and then said, '' The hand is very beautiful." 
 He certainly accepted what she had and re- 
 frained from needlessly reproving her. Af- 
 terward it would be very easy to lead her 
 to see the vanity of show compared to the 
 worth of inner heart character. 
 
 In recent meetings in New York City 
 I was to be entertained one evening at the 
 home of a man where all were Christians 
 but the oldest son. I had been told that he 
 was a very diffident and bashful boy, and 
 one whom it was very hard to reach. When 
 I arrived at the house I found him alone. 
 The others were to be out until late. He 
 met me kindly, and we engaged in a con- 
 versation on current affairs. But I was 
 thinking that this did not happen in this 
 way. I was face to face with an opportunity 
 333 
 
practical UDeald in iSvmQcliem 
 
 without a doubt. Should I hesitate ? "No," 
 was my answer to myself. Therefore I 
 proceeded to have a heart-to-heart talk with 
 him. I said nothing about what he was 
 not, but asked at once if he had not been 
 thinking of being a Christian. He quickly 
 said, " Yes, I have." I found him quite re- 
 sponsive, and after a few minutes' conver- 
 sation he kneeled with me, and the best he 
 knew how yielded his life and heart to 
 Christ. I told him not to care for anything 
 or any one. God was his friend and 
 strength, and I hoped he would come out 
 to meeting and stand up to confess Christ. 
 He came, but did not stand. I saw him 
 again and asked him what his difficulty was, 
 and he said, " Mr. Rust, it is my nerve. 
 It is hard for me to do it." I said, " God 
 bless you, my brother. I knew you wanted 
 to." He came that evening, and before a 
 congregation of people that filled the church 
 he arose. He stayed to the after-meeting 
 and publicly committed himself to the 
 service of the Lord. 
 
 5. Lead the Inquirer to a Definite De- 
 cision. After we have ascertained what he 
 has not and what he has and what he really 
 wants to be, then aim to lead him to a de- 
 cision at once. We should not needlessly 
 334 
 
MvmQcliem witb tbe irnt>i\)iOual 
 
 frighten him, but impress upon him the 
 danger in delay. The danger of losing soul 
 and of wasting life. Reveal to him the sin 
 of deliberately choosing to disobey God 
 and sin against him awhile longer, expect- 
 ing some time to decide. By illustration, 
 by reasoning, and in every way possible 
 convince him that now is the only sure time 
 we have. Reiterate the statement, " Do it 
 now," until he cannot get away from it. 
 
 Also show him that God accepts a willing 
 mind, even if every difficulty is not cleared 
 up. Without doubt many will think they 
 must wait until they understand the Chris- 
 tian life perfectly, and others will feel that 
 because they cannot accept every statement 
 in the Bible they should not think of being 
 Christians now. Tell him to act up to the 
 light he has. God does not demand faith 
 when it is impossible. Simply believe the 
 best you can and as increased light comes, 
 act up to that. Faith acts on a reasonable 
 proposition and allows the proof to come 
 afterwards. Marconi believed that it was 
 reasonable to expect that messages could 
 be sent across the ocean without wire. He 
 acted. Proof came after. It will be wise 
 to trust God in any statement he makes and 
 any command he gives, but he will not force 
 335 
 
IPcactical UDeals in Evangelism 
 
 us to do that which we cannot consci- 
 entiously, nor say we beheve that which we 
 really do not. He is the most tender and 
 thoughtful of fathers, and we may be sure 
 he will accept every honest effort to see 
 his truth more clearly. We need not wait 
 until all is understood before we begin the 
 Christian life. 
 
 I remember reading in one of Dr. Charles 
 E. Jefferson's books of his interview with 
 Dr. Phillips Brooks. Doctor Jefferson was 
 a lawyer, and though not a Christian, was 
 thinking seriously of it, but immediate de- 
 cision was hindered because of moral hon- 
 esty. He could not understand the miracles. 
 He asked Doctor Brooks this question: 
 " Must I believe in the miracles in order 
 to be a Christian ? " Doctor Brooks an- 
 swered, " I would not say you must, but 
 you MAY." God would not force him to 
 believe what he could not, but would illumi- 
 nate his mind so that it would be possible. 
 God will lead one into the light if he will 
 act up to what he has. 
 
 A little boy once said to his mother when 
 he found himself getting into close quarters 
 about something which they disagreed 
 about : " Don't make me do it, mamma ; 
 LET me do it." 
 
 336 
 
IBvmQcUsm witb tbe 1fn5ivlC)ual 
 
 Little four-year-old Bud was playing with 
 his older sister, Ethel, when some plaything 
 was wanted from below. Ethel said, " Bud, 
 you go downstairs and get it." The young 
 man hesitated and then said, " You might 
 have said ' please.' " " But Bud, you must ; 
 I am the mother and the oldest." The little 
 chap straightened himself up and replied, 
 " Well, if I must, I won't." 
 
 Most people with whom we deal have as 
 much human nature as did these boys, and 
 we need to exercise tact in dealing with 
 them. There must never be any attempt to 
 force the inquirer. Have all the confidence 
 you can in him and then simply let him do 
 the right thing himself and be sure to have 
 him know that you are allowing him, and 
 not trying to make him. 
 
 No matter what condition our inquirer is 
 in, we must not allow him to think that 
 there is plenty of time in which to make 
 the decision. There is no reason why it 
 cannot be done now, if he is sincere. God 
 is ready. Provision has been made for him. 
 We do not need to pray for days or even 
 hours. We do not need to agonize with 
 God to get him to save us. He is imploring 
 us to be saved this minute. I have found 
 inquirers who procrastinated because they 
 w 337 
 
practical UDeals in JBvanaelism 
 
 thought they would have to begin a season 
 of seeking God which would, after weeks, 
 or even years, take them to a place where 
 they could decide. There is nothing be- 
 tween the inquirer and God but the will. 
 The moment the will is yielded in earnest 
 prayer for salvation he may be assured of 
 peace and pardon. We injure the inquirer, 
 we hinder him, if we allow him to imagine 
 that any other time is a better time, or that 
 he must wait a second for God. God is 
 waiting for him. 
 
 It is true that it may not be best to ap- 
 pear to force the inquirer to yield at once, 
 but do the utmost to eliminate from his 
 mind the thought that he must wait until he 
 has prayed longer, or that there is any rea- 
 son why he should not decide now. A few 
 years ago a man came into our meetings 
 and became deeply interested. It was his 
 second night, and as he was passing out, I 
 asked him if he did not want to be a Chris- 
 tian. He did not say no, so I took it for 
 granted that he really did want to. He 
 sat with me and we talked for a half-hour. 
 I asked him why he put it off. " Oh," he 
 said, " I want to hear two or three more 
 sermons before I decide." I found he was 
 convicted, penitent, and therefore I pressed 
 
 338 
 
iBvmQciiem witb tbe IfnDivtDual 
 
 immediate decision. I asked him if he could 
 dehberately decide to yield three nights 
 from that time, after he had concluded to 
 refuse to-night. I asked him if he would 
 not be obliged to ask God to forgive him 
 for not coming to-night. He said, *' Yes." 
 I perceived that he was about ready, so 
 asked him to bow with me and yield at 
 once. He said, " I will," and did. 
 
 We should also be careful never to give 
 any advice which, if taken, would cause one 
 to lose his soul if he died five minutes from 
 the time we left him. For instance: 
 
 Suppose we should say, " Think it over 
 for a week, or a month." It may be true 
 that the inquirer or unsaved one will have 
 a month, but we are not sure. It seems 
 to me that while we may allow one to say, 
 " Yes, I will think it over until to-morrow, 
 or next week, or next month," yet the only 
 wise and safe answer to give him is, " Now 
 is your only time for the decision." We 
 would feel terribly if after we had said, 
 " Well, think it over and decide at some 
 other time," that person should die before 
 that time came. All will understand me 
 when I state we should be careful to im- 
 press upon the inquirer the need of instant 
 decision and never advise him to wait. 
 339 
 
l^tactical "ITDeals in BvaiiQclism 
 
 I would also like to mention the fact that 
 there are a great many people in this world 
 who are not confessedly Christians who are 
 not in a state of rebellion, and the one rea- 
 son why they are not openly followers of 
 Christ is because they have lacked decision. 
 They need some influence to help them over 
 the one line of decision. It is hard to cross 
 even while they know they have wanted to 
 for a long time. A woman came into our 
 meetings once and listened to the talks to 
 boys and girls. One afternoon I went to 
 her and asked her if she were a Christian. 
 She said '' No," and as she said it rather 
 apologized for the statement. I asked her 
 if she could tell me why she was not. She 
 answered, " No, I cannot." Then I in- 
 quired if it was simply because she had not 
 said " I will." She as a mother had prayed; 
 had asked God to help her ; had wanted to 
 live right, and had thought of being a Chris- 
 tian, but she lacked '' I will." Then and 
 there she yielded, and that evening con- 
 fessed Christ. We ought to remember that 
 God has many just like her. All they need 
 is a little help over the line of decision. 
 We can find these people in our homes, in 
 the neighborhood, and almost everywhere. 
 
 It is also true in dealing with the inquirer 
 340 
 
jEvanflclism wttb tbe UnDtvlOual 
 
 that we should endeavor to present to him 
 the need of yielding to Jesus as both Sa- 
 viour and Lord. See Acts i6 : 31. It is 
 yielding to a Master, one who is to have 
 lordship over us, prisoners of the Lord, 
 saved out of something into something and 
 for something. Saved for service. I be- 
 lieve that the unsaved one ought to have 
 this brought to his attention at the outset. 
 
 Then he sure he has yielded. Method 
 does not amount to very much after all. 
 The one point for anxiety is, has he really 
 accepted Christ and begun the new life? 
 Is it becoming clear to him ? Has he passed 
 from death unto life? Is he actually in the 
 service of the Lord? We can bear with 
 almost any method which will bring the 
 lost one to Christ, and the best of methods 
 fail if this is not accomplished. 
 
 There ought to be a test, not to prove 
 one's power of psychological and spiritual 
 analysis, but to help the unsaved one. We 
 must not leave him until we think he has 
 started right. To pull a drowning person 
 out of the water and leave him on a slip- 
 pery rock is not salvation. We must rest 
 assured that he is out of danger and safe 
 in a new life. What test can we use? 
 Surely we must not put him through a 
 341 
 
Ipractical UDeald in lEvmQCliBm 
 
 theological examination, nor question him 
 on church history. We must not decide al- 
 ways by outward manifestations — that is, 
 all of them. Many parts of the old gar- 
 ments seem to cling to the new as one 
 clothes himself in the robes of Christ's 
 righteousness. Some old habits will not 
 drop instantly. What test would be satis- 
 factory to God ? There must be some fruits. 
 By these we shall know those who are truly 
 Christ's. It will take time to prove, and yet 
 at the outset we can judge pretty well. 
 God expects some proof to the world. He 
 knows motives as we do not, and therefore 
 his test is perfect. In a few weeks we 
 ought to see evidences quite unmistakable. 
 ( I ) We ought to be reasonably sure that 
 a new life is in the heart; new desires ex- 
 pressed; new activities. (2) Anxiety to do 
 right. Quickened conscience. (3) Anxiety 
 for others. Quite sure proof. (4) Effort 
 to live right. (5) Desire to know God's 
 word. (6) Conscious fellowship with God 
 in prayer. (7) Willingness to study ques- 
 tionable matters with an earnest desire to 
 ascertain what is right from the Christian 
 standpoint. (8) The fruits of the Spirit as 
 seen in Gal. 5 : 22, 23 will begin to bud, if 
 not blossom. (9) There will be unmistak- 
 342 
 
iBKfanQcliem witb tbe UnDivlDual 
 
 able manifestations of a purpose to live for 
 Christ and right. This reveals the heart. 
 ( lo) In seeking for proof do not take every 
 activity as coming from the main purpose. 
 Make allowances. 
 
 6. Lead the Inquirer to Open Confes- 
 sion. Heart-decision is not enough. God 
 has placed considerable emphasis upon oral 
 confession of Jesus. Heart-belief is funda- 
 mental, is essential. But there ought to be 
 added to it a noble confession. We should 
 lead the inquirer to see this. Many stumble 
 at this point. Many v^ho have truly yielded 
 never proceed any farther in the Christian 
 life because they misunderstand the power 
 and the need of confession. Every worker 
 should take a concordance and study the 
 Bible concerning the truth of confessing 
 Christ. I find that many people outside of 
 the church misunderstand it. They think 
 that Christian people believe that speaking 
 in public and uniting with the church after 
 being baptized is religion. We need to ex- 
 plain to them that religion is really the right 
 heart-condition before God, and confession 
 of Christ in its many ways is but the 
 expression of that heart-religion. 
 
 Then some people think that the only ex- 
 pressions of religion which are worth any- 
 343 
 
IPractical ITDeals in JEvanaelism 
 
 thing are the kind acts of charity and love 
 which make the world better. Surely if 
 Christianity is anything, it is seeking to live 
 for others as Christ did. But after all of 
 this there is a place for public confession of 
 Christ. He has a work to do on earth and 
 he wants us who accept him to do it. Yes, 
 he commits it to us. If we were to die 
 the minute we were converted, perhaps there 
 would not be the need for confession in pub- 
 lic church-membership that there is ; but we 
 are to live, and the service of the church 
 demands us. In Rom. lo : 9, 10, it would 
 seem as if confession were to be made that 
 the salvation of others might be assured. 
 
 Then again it is the principle of the gos- 
 pel to tell out the good news of salvation. 
 We are not to monopolize it. What we hear 
 in the ear, proclaim on the housetops; tell 
 it out among the nations that Christ is the 
 Saviour of the world. The medicine is good 
 for all. We have it; we must not hold it 
 at home. We are debtors to those who have 
 it not. Confession means service, means 
 honoring Christ. It implies rallying around 
 our leader. We have nothing in secret. 
 We are now to take our stand in the church 
 of Christ and labor to save others as long 
 as we live. All of this should be explained 
 344 
 
^evangelism witb tbe UnMvtDual 
 
 to the inquirer and he be requested to con- 
 fess his Lord in every way possible, by act 
 and by word. 
 
 We were once entertained in a home 
 where the husband was not a confessed 
 Christian. His wife said he truly was a 
 Christian, but he never had taken a public 
 stand nor united with any church. I 
 thought I would have a talk with him, so 
 went to his store and found him alone one 
 day. I asked him to tell me his difficulty, 
 and why he did not stand up in meeting and 
 confess Christ. He said, " Mr. Rust, I do 
 not believe in that thing." He then said that 
 he believed in living his religion. I said, 
 " So do I." He said it was not talking 
 about it, not standing up to make a show 
 of yourself, but living for God every day. 
 Now I understood why he talked to me 
 thus; it was simply because he had seen a 
 number of men who talked more than they 
 lived. I sympathized with him and asked 
 him to reason with me a little about it and 
 see just how it was. We finally came to 
 the conclusion that Christ wanted us to live 
 and talk too; to be true secretly and in- 
 wardly, and to be righteous publicly and 
 outwardly. There was a place for living 
 religion and also publicly working for 
 345 
 
Ipractlcal UDeals in Bvanaelism 
 
 Christ in his church. In arriving at this 
 conclusion I asked him several questions. 
 
 " Now, my brother, supposing I be- 
 lieved as you do, what might happen to 
 me ? " He answered, " Give up preaching." 
 Then I asked what would happen to all 
 other church-members and preachers. '' All 
 would quit," he said. " Would that be the 
 best thing to do ? " I inquired. He said, 
 *' No." So we decided that God both 
 wanted us to preach and practise. 
 
 "Do you think it is unreasonable?" 
 He said, '' No." To help him see the point, 
 I used this illustration about himself: It 
 was at the time when people were talking 
 gold or silver currency, gold or silver for 
 a basis. He was an ardent and enthusiastic 
 silverite. " Now," I said, '' you have your 
 convictions on this silver question, have you 
 not?" He said, "You are right; I have." 
 " Well," I said, " but you never say a word 
 about it, do you ? " He smiled, for he was 
 talking it about all the time. Then I said, 
 " Convictions ought to be enough to make 
 the currency right. You do not need to vote 
 or take any public position about the mat- 
 ter." He smiled again, for he was at the 
 polls on election day and doing his utmost 
 to get others to ''vote right." 
 346 
 
lEvmQciiem wltb tbe ITnOiviDual 
 
 I need not mention other questions. He 
 saw the point, and instantly reahzed that 
 convictions were not enough in reHgion, and 
 that he ought to confess his Lord publicly 
 and work in the church for others. How 
 pleased I was to have him come and speak 
 out at the next meeting, manfully declaring 
 his allegiance to Jesus and pleading with 
 others to yield to God. He became a mem- 
 ber of the church and a worker in the 
 Sunday-school. 
 
 I am very sure that we should seek to 
 impress upon the mind of the inquirer after 
 he has fully yielded to Christ that he ought 
 now to accept his opportunity of confession. 
 It has also been my experience that the 
 feeling and peace that many want come 
 at this time. Some way it seems to be the 
 full proof of a surrendered heart, and when 
 the first public stand has been taken the 
 longed-for joy comes. I knew of one man 
 who did not get any peace and joy to amount 
 to anything until his confession of Christ 
 in baptism. I knew of another who won- 
 dered why he had no feeling, but after his 
 first confession was flooded with happiness. 
 Confession is absolutely necessary to 
 growth, to fulness of joy, to usefulness, to 
 please Christ. 
 
 347 
 
IPtactical 1l2)cal6 in iBv^mcliem 
 
 I have thus outlined about what my 
 method in leading people to Christ is. I 
 do hope that each reader will give himself 
 to this delightful service. Thrice blessed 
 on earth is that person who can be used of 
 God wisely and effectually to help people 
 into the kingdom. Still more blessed will 
 he be throughout eternity as he, with his 
 Lord and those ransomed ones of earth 
 (some of whom were led to Christ by him- 
 self) continue in the perfected service of 
 heaven. 
 
 348 
 
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