Seek to Save Souls

God only can save a sou, in the liigli and proper sense. It is He who converts the sinner. Yet in Scripture human instruments are said to convert and save. The motives to attempt this, are regard for the glory of God, and love to the souls of men. In seasons of religiousrevival, both principles are operative in numbers of believers., Reader, pause and ask yourself, how it is with you?

To be the instrument of converting a single soul, is so great a blessing and honor, that if there were no other way to accomplish it, any true Christian would be willing to lay down his life. “He which converteth the sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. “2 Think thus: With God’s blessing, I

‘James 5: 20. 2 james 5: 20. shall save this soul from death; I shall glorify God by hiding all this sinner’s transgressions. At times, when the hearing ear is given to many; when your neighbors are accessible; when inquiry is wide-spread; and when the very rumor of wonderful conversions startles the once careless, oh I be up and doing I The greatness of the work can not be overrated. K you have done nothing yet towards saving a soul, you have that before you which exceeds in glory all that you have hitherto accomplished in your whole life. And if every professing Christian in our churches were rightly affected on this subject, we might expect to see efforts beyond all that the world has witnessed. Such awakenings and harvests would come, as in our present unbelief we hardly dare to pray for. If great and unexampled ingatherings of souls ever bless our world, as Christians pray and hope they may, these will doubtless be preceded by a spirit of individual earnestness in bringing sinners to Christ. Such a temper is inseparable from the new nature. ISTo sooner does a believer taste that the Lord is gracious, than he desires, yea longs, to make his excellency known to others. His language to all around is: “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul.“^ Such is the law of progress in the kingdom. “When Andrew hears John, and follows the Redeemer, see how he instantly goes in pursuit of his brother Simon, and brings him to Jesus. “When Philip, the townsman of these disciples, has b called by the Lord, he instantly seeks to bring in Nathaniel.^ Christian reader, whom have you sought and found? “What straying sheep, lost among thorns and wolves, have you ever brought back? Is it not high time to consider this duty and privilege?

A soul — a soul — an immortal soul! Think of its capacity, its duration, its value I Think of the hell it must endure, if impenitent; of the heaven it shall possess, if pardoned. Think of the price laid down by the incarnate Son of God. “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul; or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”^ These considerations will incite you to new efforts towards convincing and persuading sinners. 0 my brother I though

Psalm 66: 16. John 1: 43-51. yfark 8: 36. your endeavors should Jbe blessed to the saving of only one, what will be the reward of meeting that one in heaven I

There is powerful motive in the peril of the unconverted. Reflect, that the very arguments by which we try to work conviction in sinners, are equally valid to work in us zeal for theirHklvation. Do preachers and friends urge on them that they are under God’s awful wrath and curse? The same reason should impel us to pluck them as brands out of the burning. Are they every moment exposed to the damnation of hell? Then not a moment should we leave them in this jeopardy. Is it a horrible thing for sinners to be at enmity with God, and devoid of all love for our blessed Jesus? This is an unanswerable reason why we should pray and speak and labor, that they may be reconciled and saved. K we strongly believe the truth, and ardently love our fellow-men, we shall let no opportunity slip, of throwing divine lessons into their minds; nay, we shall devise and make opportunities, if such do not offer themselves.

Dear fellow-disciples, how far we fall below that law of souls which glowed m the Apostle of the Gentiles I He longed to win men to Christ. “I have made myself servant unto all,” says he, “that I might gain the more.”^ And again: “I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” Few of Tis sympathize, with his tears, shed while he wrote of the impenitent. “Many walk,” so he addressed the Philippians, “of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. “^ Can we really believe what we say of our unconverted friends? Are they truly “strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world “?^ Surely, there is some secret skepticism which palsies the sinews of our exertion. Did we inwardly and heartily believe what we profess, we should be calling upon the ungodly all around us, to turn to God. The heathen mariners exclaimed to Jonah: “What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise! call upon thy God I”^ Much more, if convinced that they are perishing, should we strive to alarm the guilty conscience of careless companions. What would be our course

1 Cor. 9: 19, 22, Phil, 3: 18.

3 Eph. 2:12. * Jonah 1: 6.

8 SEEK rO SAVE SOULS.

if a neighbor were discovered to be in danger of losing his life? Suppose a case. One whom jou esteem is sleeping in a house wbicb you know to be in flames. Or a beloved young friend is embarking on a vessel wbicb you know is net seaworthy. Or a person near and dear to you is about to be way-laid by assassins. You know what would be, your acts in such a juncture. But, oh! inconsistent brother! you behold an infinitely greater danger; yet you do nothing! You are as uncertain of this friend’s life, as of your own. The death of either will frustrate the plan now proposed to you. Before he is summoned to the awful bar of God, make some attempt to save his soul. Of such activity as this, we may say without hesitation: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest.”^ All exhortations and entreaties, to ungodly fellow-creatures, must be during the present life. And as you have sometimes feared for yourself, lest the Spirit of God should be quenched. and your day of grace overclouded, so ought

^Eccks. 9 :10.

joii to fear for them. How knowest thou, O Christian! but that the intercession has been only for a year, a month, or a day, in the case of your friend; and that even Jesus has said: * ‘After that, thou shalt cut it down “?i Peradventure, while you linger about this obvious piece of faithfulness, the just Judge is saying to the sinner: “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee!”^

How solemn is the reflection, and how should it press you forward to instant act, that many whom you might have addressed on this topic, are now beyond your reach. Sit down and ponder, as you recall the past. ‘There was M., who lived months in my house, yet to whom I never recommended my Lord. She is now in a foreign land, afar from all evangelical means. There is IST., who was misled by my worldliness and fashionable folly. She has died without hope. There is young P.; my lips were half-opened to warn him; but it is too late; he has been driven away in his wickedness.’^ Shall such events be occurring every day, and yet shall disciples of Jesus refrain from seeking to save souls? 0 reader! bring the claim home to

1 Luke 13:9. “- Luke 20: 20. s Prov. U: 32.

jour own conscience I Can you sleep to-night, without having tried to save a soul from death? Who is he, to whom you will address yourself? Go to your closet, and cry mightily unto God for his blessing on the weak endeavor. Then set about it, in tender love. It may be only a sentence, broken with sobs, yet it may go to the heart. It may be a book, a tract, a passage of Scripture, a hymn; each of these has proved the arrow from God’s bow. Above all, an affectionate and fiithful letter to an unconverted acquaintance is often the very message to be owned of the Spirit.

You have neglected souls I Your conduct has said: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”^ You have practically avowed the principle: “Go I serve other gods 1’’^ Many there are, who are tempted to exclaim:” No man cared for my soul.“^.”W^at words can depict the horrors of the case, where the impenitent person, thus neglected and thus liable to God’s wrath, is bone of your bone, and flesh of your flesh I^ Shall a man allow the wife of his bosom to hear no more from him concerning

Gen. 4:9. 5 1 Sam. 26:19.

3 Psalm 142: 4. 4 Gen. 2: 23.

salvation than if lie were a corpse? 0 hardened soul I shall thy husband perish without a word from thy lips? And who shall care for the souls of children, if their parents do not? There is not a family, a bank, a ship, a counting-house, a factory, a shop, a place of business, a school, in which these counsels have not direct application. He or she, whom you see every day, who is next to you, and who doubtless wonders at your cowardly silence, is the very person to whom you should speak.

Thousands of thousands are yet to love Jesus, and reflect his image. If some of these shall have been brought to glory by your means, what an honor and delight! Eminently faithful men and women have been the instruments of rescuing many. “And they that be wise, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever.”^

1 DaiL 12: 3.

UTTER AJICE.

If God the Lord will show to me

The glory of his grace,
My lips shall speak the promise free

Out in the holy place.

Let the live coal my lips refine,

And love inspire my heart, Then my glad voice shall loudly join,

The blessing to impart.

When guilt lies heavy on the soul,
The preacher’s voice is weak,

But joy can gush without control,
And bursting love can speak.

‘Tis utterance from within that finds,

Its way to hearts of stone. And Christ’s own Spirit melts the minds

When mercy breathes the tone.