{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_55743/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_55743","id":"gutenberg_55743","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55743","summary":null,"tags":["Category: How To ...","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian life -- Congregational authors"],"text":"HOW TO SUCCEED IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE\n\n\n\n\nWORKS BY R. A. TORREY\n\n_Superintendent of the Moody Bible Institute, Chicago_\n\n\n    =How to Succeed in the Christian Life.= 12mo, cloth, 50 cents,\n    net: paper, 25 cents, net.\n\n    =The Bible and Its Christ.= Being noon day talks with Business\n    Men on faith and unbelief. 12mo, cloth, 75 cents, net; paper, 25\n    cents, net.\n\n    =Revival Addresses.= 12mo, cloth, net $1.00.\n\n    =Real Salvation and Whole-Hearted Service.= Being a Second Volume\n    of Revival Addresses. 12mo, cloth, net $1.00.\n\n    =What the Bible Teaches.= A thorough and comprehensive study on\n    what the Bible has to say concerning the great doctrines of which\n    it treats. 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Leather, net, 25 cents.\n\n    =The Baptism with the Holy Spirit.= 12mo, cloth, 50 cents.\n\n    =A Vest-Pocket Companion for Christian Workers.= Long 18mo,\n    flexible leather, net, 25 cents; interleaved, gilt edges, net, 50\n    cents.\n\n    =Ten Reasons Why I Believe the Bible is Word of God.= 16mo,\n    paper, 15 cents.\n\n    =Ought Christians to Keep the Sabbath?= Paper, net, 10 cents.\n\n\n\n\n                            How to Succeed in\n                           The Christian Life\n\n                             By R. A. TORREY\n\n             _Author of \u201cHow to Bring Men to Christ,\u201d \u201cWhat\n             the Bible Teaches,\u201d \u201cTalks to Men,\u201d etc., etc._\n\n                             [Illustration]\n\n                        NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO\n                        Fleming H. Revell Company\n                          LONDON AND EDINBURGH\n\n                           Copyright, 1906, by\n                        FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY\n\n                     New York:  158 Fifth Avenue\n                     Chicago:    80 Wabash Avenue\n                     Toronto:    27 Richmond Street, W.\n                     London:     21 Paternoster Square\n                     Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street\n\n\n\n\n_Dedicated to the many thousands in many lands who have professed Christ\nin our meetings_\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n       I. BEGINNING RIGHT                       11\n\n      II. THE OPEN CONFESSION OF CHRIST         19\n\n     III. ASSURANCE OF SALVATION                22\n\n      IV. RECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT             29\n\n       V. LOOKING UNTO JESUS                    35\n\n      VI. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP                     41\n\n     VII. BIBLE STUDY                           46\n\n    VIII. DIFFICULTIES IN THE BIBLE             64\n\n      IX. PRAYER                                74\n\n       X. WORKING FOR CHRIST                    82\n\n      XI. FOREIGN MISSIONS                      90\n\n     XII. COMPANIONS                            98\n\n    XIII. AMUSEMENTS                           103\n\n     XIV. PERSECUTION                          108\n\n      XV. GUIDANCE                             113\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nI have for years felt the need of a book to put in the hands of those\nbeginning the Christian life that would tell them just how to make a\ncomplete success of this new life upon which they were entering. I could\nfind no such book, so I have been driven to write one. This book aims\nto tell the young convert just what he most needs to know. I hope that\npastors and evangelists and other Christian workers may find it a good\nbook to put in the hands of young converts. I hope that it may also prove\na helpful book to many who have long been Christians but have not made\nthat headway in the Christian life that they long for.\n\n\n\n\nHow to Succeed in the Christian Life\n\n\n\n\nI\n\nBEGINNING RIGHT\n\n\nThere is nothing more important in the Christian life than beginning\nright. If we begin right we can go on right. If we begin wrong the whole\nlife that follows is likely to be wrong. If any one who reads these pages\nhas begun wrong, it is a very simple matter to begin over again and begin\nright. What the right beginning in the Christian life is we are told in\nJohn 1: 12, \u201cBut as many as RECEIVED HIM, to them gave He power to become\nthe sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.\u201d The right way\nto begin the Christian life is by receiving Jesus Christ. To any one who\nreceives Him, He at once gives power to become a child of God. If the\nreader of this book should be the wickedest man on earth and should at\nthis moment receive Jesus Christ, that very instant he would become a\nchild of God. God says so in the most unqualified way in the verse quoted\nabove. No one can become a child of God in any other way. No man, no\nmatter how carefully he has been reared, no matter how well he has been\nsheltered from the vices and evils of this world, is a child of God until\nhe receives Jesus Christ. We are \u201csons of God through faith in Christ\nJesus\u201d (Gal. 3: 26, R. V.), and in no other way.\n\nWhat does it mean to receive Jesus Christ? It means to take Christ\nto be to yourself all that God offers Him to be to everybody. Jesus\nChrist is God\u2019s gift. \u201cFor God so loved the world that He gave His only\nbegotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have\neverlasting life\u201d (John 3: 16). Some accept this wondrous gift of God.\nEvery one who does accept this gift becomes a child of God. Many others\nrefuse this wondrous gift of God, and every one who refuses this gift of\nGod perishes. He is condemned already. \u201cHe that believeth on the Son is\nnot condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already because he\nhath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God\u201d (John 3:\n18).\n\nWhat does God offer His Son to be to us?\n\n1. First of all, _God offers Jesus to us to be our sin-bearer_. We have\nall sinned. There is not a man or woman or a boy or a girl who has not\nsinned (Romans 3: 22, 23). If any of us say that we have not sinned we\nare deceiving ourselves and giving the lie to God (1 John 1: 8, 10).\nNow we must each of us bear our own sin or some one else must bear it\nin our place. If we were to bear our own sins, it would mean we must\nbe banished forever from the presence of God, for God is holy. \u201cGod is\nlight and in Him is no darkness at all\u201d (1 John 1:5). But God Himself has\nprovided another to bear our sins in our place so that we should not need\nto bear them ourselves. This sin-bearer is God\u2019s own Son, Jesus Christ,\n\u201cFor He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be\nmade the righteousness of God in Him\u201d (2 Cor. 5:21). When Jesus Christ\ndied upon the cross of Calvary He redeemed us from the curse of the law\nby being made a curse in our stead (Gal. 3:13). To receive Christ then\nis to believe this testimony of God about His Son, to believe that Jesus\nChrist did bear our sins in His own body on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24), and\nto trust God to forgive all our sins because Jesus Christ has borne them\nin our place. \u201cAll we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every\none to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all\u201d\n(Is. 53:6). Our own good works, past, present or future have nothing to\ndo with the forgiveness of our sins. Our sins are forgiven, not because\nof any good works that we do, they are forgiven because of the atoning\nwork of Christ upon the cross of Calvary in our place. If we rest in\nthis atoning work we shall do good works, but our good works will be the\noutcome of our being saved and the outcome of our believing on Christ as\nour sin-bearer. Our good works will not be the ground of our salvation,\nbut the result of our salvation, and the proof of it. We must be very\ncareful not to mix in our good works at all as the ground of salvation.\nWe are not forgiven because of Christ\u2019s death _and our good works_, we\nare forgiven solely and entirely because of Christ\u2019s death. To see this\nclearly is the right beginning of the true Christian life.\n\n2. _God offers Jesus to us as our deliverer from the power of sin._\nJesus not only died, He rose again. To-day He is a living Saviour. He\nhas all power in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28: 18). He has power to\nkeep the weakest sinner from falling (Jude 24). He is able to save not\nonly from the uttermost but \u201cto the uttermost\u201d all that come unto the\nFather through Him. (Wherefore He is able to save to the uttermost them\nthat draw near unto God through Him, seeing that He ever liveth to make\nintercession for them.\u2014Heb. 7: 25, R. V.) \u201cIf the Son therefore shall\nmake you free, ye shall be free indeed\u201d (John 8: 36). To receive Jesus is\nto believe this that God tells us in His Word about Him, to believe that\nHe did rise from the dead, to believe that He does now live, to believe\nthat He has power to keep us from falling, to believe that He has power\nto keep us from the power of sin day by day, and just trust Him to do it.\n\nThis is the secret of daily victory over sin. If we try to fight sin in\nour own strength, we are bound to fail. If we just look up to the risen\nChrist to keep us every day and every hour, He will keep us. Through the\ncrucified Christ we get deliverance from the guilt of sin, our sins are\nall blotted out, we are free from all condemnation; but it is through\nthe risen Christ that we get daily victory over the power of sin. Some\nreceive Christ as a sin-bearer and thus find pardon, but do not get\nbeyond that, and so their life is one of daily failure. Others receive\nHim as their risen Saviour also, and thus enter into an experience\nof victory over sin. To begin right we must take Him not only as our\nsin-bearer, and thus find pardon; but we must also take Him as our risen\nSaviour, our Deliverer from the power of sin, our Keeper, and thus find\ndaily victory over sin.\n\n3. But _God offers Jesus to us, not only as our sin-bearer and our\nDeliverer from the power of sin, but He also offers Him to us as our Lord\nand King_. We read in Acts 2: 36, \u201cLet all the house of Israel know\nassuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified,\nboth Lord and Christ.\u201d Lord means Divine Master, and Christ means\nanointed King. To receive Jesus is to take Him as our Divine Master,\nas the One to whom we yield the absolute confidence of our intellects,\nthe One whose word we believe absolutely, the One whom we will believe\nthough many of the wisest of men may question or deny the truth of His\nteachings; and as our King to whom we gladly yield the absolute control\nof our lives, so that the question from this time on is never going to\nbe, what would I like to do or what do others tell me to do, or what do\nothers do, but the whole question is WHAT WOULD MY KING JESUS HAVE ME DO?\nA right beginning involves an unconditional surrender to the Lordship and\nKingship of Jesus.\n\nThe failure to realize that Jesus is Lord and King, as well as Saviour,\nhas led to many a false start in the Christian life. We begin with Him\nas our Saviour, as our sin-bearer and our Deliverer from the power of\nsin, but we must not end with Him merely as Saviour, we must know Him as\nLord and King. There is nothing more important in a right beginning of\nthe Christian life than an unconditional surrender, both of the thoughts\nand the conduct to Jesus. Say from your heart and say it again and again,\n\u201c_All_ for Jesus.\u201d Many fail because they shrink back from this entire\nsurrender. They wish to serve Jesus with half their heart, and part of\nthemselves and part of their possessions. To hold back anything from\nJesus means a wretched life of stumbling and failure.\n\nThe life of entire surrender is a joyous life all along the way. If you\nhave never done it before, go alone with God to-day, get down on your\nknees and say, \u201cAll for Jesus,\u201d and mean it. Say it very earnestly; say\nit from the bottom of your heart. Stay there until you realize what it\nmeans and what you are doing. It is a wondrous step forward when one\nreally takes it. If you have taken it already, take it again, take it\noften. It always has fresh meaning and brings fresh blessedness. In\nthis absolute surrender is found the key to the truth. Doubts rapidly\ndisappear for one who surrenders all (John 7: 17). In this absolute\nsurrender is found the secret of power in prayer (1 John 3: 22). In this\nabsolute surrender is found the supreme condition of receiving the Holy\nGhost (Acts 5: 32).\n\nTaking Christ as your Lord and King involves obedience to His will as far\nas you know it in each smallest detail of life. There are those who tell\nus that they have taken Christ as their Lord and King who at the same\ntime are disobeying Him daily in business, in domestic life, in social\nlife and in personal conduct Such persons are deceiving themselves. You\nhave not taken Jesus as your Lord and King if you are not striving to\nobey Him in everything each day. He Himself says, \u201cWhy call ye Me \u2018Lord,\nLord!\u2019 and do not the things that I say?\u201d (Luke 6: 46).\n\nTo sum it all up, the right way to begin the Christian life is to accept\nJesus Christ as your sin-bearer and to trust God to forgive your sins\nbecause Jesus Christ died in your place; to accept Him as your risen\nSaviour who ever lives to make intercession for you, and who has all\npower to keep you, and to trust Him to keep you from day to day; and\nto accept Him as your Lord and King to whom you surrender the absolute\ncontrol of your thoughts and of your life. This is the right beginning,\nthe only right beginning of the Christian life. If you have made this\nbeginning, all that follows will be comparatively easy. If you have not\nmade this beginning, make it now.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nTHE OPEN CONFESSION OF CHRIST\n\n\nHaving begun the Christian life right by taking the proper attitude\ntowards Christ in a private transaction between Himself and yourself,\nthe next step is an open confession of the relationship that now exists\nbetween yourself and Jesus Christ. Jesus says in Matt. 10: 32, \u201cWhosoever\ntherefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My\nFather which is in heaven.\u201d He demands a public confession. He demands\nit for your own sake. This is the path of blessing. Many attempt to\nbe disciples of Jesus and not let the world know it. No one has ever\nsucceeded in that attempt. To be a secret disciple means to be no\ndisciple at all. If one really has received Christ he cannot keep it\nto himself. \u201cFor out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh\u201d\n(Matt. 12: 34). So important is the public confession of Christ that Paul\nputs it first in his statement of the conditions of salvation. He says,\n\u201cIf thou shalt _confess with thy mouth_ the Lord Jesus and shalt believe\nin thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be\nsaved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the\nmouth confession is made unto salvation\u201d (Rom. 10: 9, 10). The life of\nconfession is the life of full salvation. Indeed, the life of confession\nis the life of the only real salvation. When we confess Christ before men\ndown here, He confesses us before the Father in heaven and the Father\ngives us the Holy Spirit as the seal of our salvation.\n\nIt is not enough that we confess Christ just once, as, for example, when\nwe are confirmed, or when we unite with the church, or when we come\nforward in a revival meeting. We should confess Christ constantly. We\nshould not be ashamed of our Lord and King. We should let people know\nthat we are on His side. In the home, in the church, at our work, and at\nour play, we should let others know where we stand. Of course, we should\nnot parade our Christianity or our piety, but we should leave no one in\ndoubt whether we belong to Christ. We should let it be seen that we glory\nin Him as our Lord and King.\n\nThe failure to confess Christ is one of the most frequent causes of\nbacksliding. Christians get into new relationships where they are not\nknown as Christians and where they are tempted to conceal the fact; they\nyield to the temptation and they soon find themselves drifting. The more\nyou make of Jesus Christ, the more He will make of you. It will save you\nfrom many a temptation if the fact is clearly known that you are one who\nacknowledges Christ as Lord in all things.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nASSURANCE OF SALVATION\n\n\nIf one is to have the fullest measure of joy and power in Christian\nservice, he must know that his sins are forgiven, that he is a child\nof God, and that he has eternal life. It is the believer\u2019s privilege\nto _know_ that he has eternal life. John says in 1 John 5: 13, R. V.,\n\u201cThese things have I written unto you, _that ye may know_ that ye have\neternal life, even unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God.\u201d\nJohn wrote this first epistle for the express purpose that any one who\nbelieves on the name of the Son of God _might know_ that he has eternal\nlife.\n\nThere are those who tell us that no one can know that he has eternal\nlife until he is dead and has been before the judgment seat of God, but\nGod Himself tells us that we may know. To deny the possibility of the\nbeliever\u2019s knowing that he has eternal life is to say that the First\nEpistle of John was written in vain, and it is to insult the Holy Spirit\nwho is its real author. Again Paul tells us in Acts 13: 39, R. V., \u201cBy\nHim (that is by Christ) every one that believeth _is justified_ from\nall things.\u201d So every one that believeth in Jesus may know that he is\njustified from all things. He may know it because the Word of God says\nso. Again John tells us in John 1: 12, R. V., \u201cBut _as many as received\nHim_ (that is Jesus Christ) to them gave He the right to become children\nof God, even to them that believe on His name.\u201d Here is a definite and\nunmistakable declaration that every one who receives Jesus becomes a\nchild of God. Therefore every believer in Jesus may know that he is a\nchild of God. He may know it on the surest of all grounds, _i. e._,\nbecause the Word of God asserts that he is a child of God.\n\nBut how may any individual know that he has eternal life? He may know\nit on the very best ground of knowledge, that is through the testimony\nof God Himself as given in the Bible. The testimony of Scripture is the\ntestimony of God. What the Scriptures say is absolutely sure. What the\nScriptures say God says. Now in John 3: 36 the Scriptures say, \u201cHe that\nbelieveth on the Son _hath_ everlasting life.\u201d Any one of us may know\nwhether we believe on the Son or not. Whether we have that real faith\nin Christ that leads us to receive Him. If we have this faith in Christ\nwe have God\u2019s own written testimony that we have eternal life, that our\nsins are forgiven, that we are the children of God. We may feel forgiven,\nor we may not feel forgiven, but that does not matter. It is not a\nquestion of what we feel but of what God says. God\u2019s Word is always to\nbe believed. Our own feelings are oftentimes to be doubted. There are\nmany who are led to doubt their sins are forgiven, to doubt that they\nhave everlasting life, to doubt that they are saved, because they do not\nfeel forgiven, or do not feel that they have everlasting life, or do not\nfeel that they are saved. Because you do not feel it is no reason why you\nshould doubt it.\n\nSuppose that you were sentenced to imprisonment and that your friends\nsecured a pardon for you. The legal document announcing your pardon is\nbrought to you. You read it and know you are pardoned because the legal\ndocument says so, but the news is so good and so sudden that you are\ndazed by it. You do not realize that you are pardoned. Some one comes to\nyou and says, \u201cAre you pardoned?\u201d What would you reply? You would say,\n\u201cYes, I am pardoned.\u201d Then he asks, \u201cDo you feel pardoned?\u201d You reply,\n\u201cNo, I do not feel pardoned. It is so sudden, it is so wonderful, I\ncannot realize it.\u201d Then he says to you, \u201cBut how can you know that you\nare pardoned if you do not feel it?\u201d You would hold out the document and\nyou would say, \u201cThis says so.\u201d The time would come, after you had read\nthe document over and over again and believed it, when you would not\nonly know you were pardoned because the document said so but you would\nfeel it. Now the Bible is God\u2019s authoritative document declaring that\nevery one that believeth in Jesus is justified; declaring that every one\nthat believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; declaring that every one\nwho receives Jesus is a child of God. If any one asks you if your sins\nare all forgiven, reply, \u201cYes, I know they are because God says so.\u201d If\nthey ask you if you know that you are a child of God, reply, \u201cYes, I know\nI am a child of God because God says so.\u201d If they ask you if you have\neverlasting life, reply, \u201cYes, I know I have everlasting life because\nGod says so. God says, \u2018He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting\nlife.\u2019 I know I believe on the Son, and therefore I know I have eternal\nlife\u2014because God says so.\u201d You may not feel it yet but if you will keep\nmeditating upon God\u2019s statement and believing what God says, the time\nwill come when you will feel it.\n\nFor one who believes on the Son of God to doubt that he has eternal\nlife is for him to make God a liar. \u201cHe that believeth on the Son of\nGod hath the witness in him. He that believeth not God, hath made Him a\nliar because he hath not believed in the witness that God hath borne\nconcerning His Son and the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal\nlife, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath the life: he\nthat hath not the Son of God hath not the life\u201d (1 John 5: 10-12, R. V.).\nAny one who does not believe God\u2019s testimony that He has given unto us\neternal life and that this life is in His Son and that he that hath the\nSon hath the life, makes God a liar.\n\nIt is sometimes said \u201cit is presumption for any one to say that he knows\nhe is saved, or to say that he knows that he has eternal life.\u201d But is it\npresumption to believe God? Is it not rather presumption not to believe\nGod, to make God a liar? When you who believe on the Son of God and yet\ndoubt that you have eternal life, you make God a liar. When Jesus said\nto the woman who was a sinner, \u201cThy sins are forgiven\u201d (Luke 7: 48),\nwas it presumption for her to go out and say, \u201cI know my sins are all\nforgiven\u201d? Would it not have been presumption for her to have doubted for\na moment that her sins were all forgiven? Jesus had said that they were\nforgiven. For her to doubt it would have been for her to give the lie to\nJesus. Is it then any more presumption for the believer to-day to say,\n\u201cMy sins are all forgiven, I have eternal life,\u201d when God says in His\nwritten testimony to every one that believeth, \u201cYou are justified from\nall things\u201d (Acts 13: 39), \u201cYou have eternal life\u201d (John 3: 36; 1 John\n5: 13)?\n\nBe very sure first of all that you really do believe on the name of the\nSon of God; that you really have received Jesus. If you are sure of this\nthen never doubt for a moment that your sins are all forgiven, never\ndoubt for a moment that you are a child of God, never doubt for a moment\nthat you have everlasting life. If Satan comes and whispers, \u201cYour sins\nare not forgiven,\u201d point Satan to the Word of God and say, \u201cGod says my\nsins are forgiven and I know they are.\u201d If Satan whispers, \u201cWell perhaps\nyou don\u2019t believe on Him,\u201d then say, \u201cWell if I never did before I will\nnow.\u201d And then go out rejoicing, knowing that your sins are forgiven,\nknowing that you are a child of God, knowing that you have everlasting\nlife.\n\nThere are doubtless many who say they know they have eternal life who\nreally do not believe on the name of the Son of God, who have not really\nreceived Jesus. This is not true assurance. It has no sure foundation in\nthe Word of God who cannot lie. If we wish to get assurance of salvation\nwe must first get saved. The reason why many have not the assurance that\nthey are saved is because they are not saved. They ought not to have\nassurance. What they need first is salvation. But if you have received\nJesus in the way described in the first chapter, YOU ARE SAVED, you are\na child of God, your sins are forgiven. Believe it, know it. Rejoice in\nit.\n\nHaving settled it, let it remain settled. Never doubt it. You may make\nmistakes, you may stumble, you may fall, but even if you do, if you have\nreally received Jesus, know that your sins are forgiven and rise from\nyour fall and go forward in the glad assurance that there is nothing\nbetween you and God.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nRECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT\n\n\nWhen the Apostle Paul came to Ephesus, he found a little group of twelve\ndisciples of Christ. There was something about these twelve disciples\nthat struck Paul unfavourably. We are not told what it was. It may be\nthat he did not find in them that overflowing joyfulness that one learns\nto expect in all Christians who have really entered into the fullness\nof blessing that there is for them in Christ. It may be that Paul was\ntroubled at the fact that there were only twelve of them, thinking that\nif these twelve were what they ought to be, there would certainly have\nbeen more than twelve of them by this time. Whatever it may have been\nthat impressed Paul unfavourably, he went right to the root of the\ndifficulty at once by putting to them the question, \u201cDid ye receive the\nHoly Ghost when ye believed?\u201d (Acts 19: 2, R. V.). It came out at once\nthat they had not received the Holy Ghost, that in fact they did not\nknow that the Holy Ghost had been given. Then Paul told them that the\nHoly Ghost had been given, and also showed them just what they must do\nto receive the Holy Ghost then and there, and before that gathering\nwas over the Holy Ghost came upon them. From that day on there was a\ndifferent state of affairs in Ephesus. A great revival sprang up at once\nso that the whole city was shaken, \u201cSo mightily grew the Word of God and\nprevailed\u201d (Acts 19: 20). Paul\u2019s question to these young disciples in\nEphesus should be put to young disciples everywhere, \u201cHave ye received\nthe Holy Ghost?\u201d In _receiving the Holy Spirit_ is the great secret of\njoyfulness in our own hearts, of victory over sin, of power in prayer,\nand of effective service.\n\nEvery one who has truly received Jesus must have the Holy Spirit dwelling\nin him in some sense; but in many believers, though the Holy Spirit\ndwells in them, He dwells way back in some hidden sanctuary of their\nbeing, back of consciousness. It is something quite different, something\nfar better than this, to receive the Holy Spirit in the sense that Paul\nmeant in his question. To receive the Holy Spirit in such a sense that\none knows experimentally that he has received the Holy Spirit, to receive\nthe Holy Spirit in such a sense that we are conscious of the joy with\nwhich He fills our hearts different from any joy that we have ever known\nin the world; to receive the Holy Spirit in such a sense that He rules\nour life and produces within us in ever increasing measure the fruit\nof the Spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness,\nfaith, meekness, temperance; to receive the Holy Spirit in such a sense\nthat we are conscious of His drawing our hearts out in prayer in a way\nthat is not of ourselves; to receive the Holy Spirit in such a sense that\nwe are conscious of His help when we witness for Christ, when we speak\nto others individually and try to lead them to accept Christ, or when we\nteach a Sunday-school class, or speak in public, or do any other work for\nthe Master. Have you received the Holy Spirit? If you have not, let me\ntell you how you may.\n\n1. First of all in order to receive the Holy Spirit, one must be resting\nin the death of Christ on the cross for us as the sole and all-sufficient\nground upon which God pardons all our sins and forgives us.\n\n2. In order to receive the Holy Spirit we must put away every known sin.\nWe should go to our heavenly Father and ask Him to search us through and\nthrough and bring to light anything in our life, our outward life or our\ninward life, that is wrong in His sight, and if He does bring anything to\nlight that is displeasing to Him, we should put it away, no matter how\ndear it is to us. There must be a complete renunciation of all sin in\norder to receive the Holy Spirit.\n\n3. In the third place, in order to receive the Holy Spirit, there must\nbe an open confession of Christ before the world. The Holy Spirit is not\ngiven to those who are trying to be disciples in secret, but to those who\nobey Christ and publicly confess Him before the world.\n\n4. In the fourth place, in order to receive the Holy Spirit, there must\nbe an absolute surrender of our lives to God. You must go to Him and say,\n\u201cHeavenly Father, here I am. Thou hast bought me with a price. I am Thy\nproperty. I renounce all claim to do my own will, all claim to govern my\nown life, all claim to have my own way. I give myself up unreservedly to\nThee\u2014all I am and all I have. Send me where Thou wilt, use me as Thou\nwilt, do with me what Thou wilt\u2014I am Thine.\u201d If we hold anything back\nfrom God, no matter how small it may seem, that spoils it all. But if we\nsurrender all to God, then God will give all that He has to us. There\nare some who shrink from this absolute surrender to God, but absolute\nsurrender to God is simply absolute surrender to infinite love. Surrender\nto the Father, to the Father whose love is not only wiser than any\nearthly father\u2019s, but more tender than any earthly mother\u2019s.\n\n5. In order to receive the Holy Spirit there should be definite asking\nfor the Holy Spirit. Our Lord Jesus says in Luke 11: 13, \u201cIf ye then,\nbeing evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more\nshall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?\u201d\nJust ask God to give you the Holy Spirit and expect Him to do it, because\nHe says He will.\n\n6. Last of all, in order to receive the Holy Spirit, there must be faith,\nsimply taking God at His Word. No matter how positive any promise of\nGod\u2019s Word may be, we enjoy it personally only when we believe. Our Lord\nJesus says, \u201cAll things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye\nhave received them, and ye shall have them\u201d (Mark 11: 24, R. V.). When\nyou pray for the Holy Spirit you have prayed for something according\nto God\u2019s will and therefore you may know that your prayer is heard and\nthat you have what you asked of Him (1 John 5: 14, 15). You may feel no\ndifferent, but do not look at your feelings but at God\u2019s promise. Believe\nthe prayer is heard, believe that God has given you the Holy Spirit and\nyou will afterwards have in actual experience what you have received in\nsimple faith on the bare promise of God\u2019s Word.\n\nIt is well to go often alone and kneel down and look up to the Holy\nSpirit and put into His hands anew the entire control of your life.\nAsk Him to take the control of your thoughts, the control of your\nimagination, the control of your affections, the control of your desires,\nthe control of your ambitions, the control of your choices, the control\nof your purposes, the control of your words, the control of your actions,\nthe control of everything, and just expect Him to do it. The whole secret\nof victory in the Christian life is letting the Holy Spirit who dwells\nwithin you, have undisputed right of way in the entire conduct of your\nlife.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nLOOKING UNTO JESUS\n\n\nIf we are to run with patience the race that is set before us, we must\nalways keep looking unto Jesus (Heb. 12: 1-3). One of the simplest and\nyet one of the mightiest secrets of abiding joy and victory is to _never\nlose sight of Jesus_.\n\n1. First of all _we must keep looking at Jesus as the ground of our\nacceptance before God_. Over and over again Satan will make an attempt\nto discourage us by bringing up our sins and failures and thus try to\nconvince us that we are not children of God, or not saved. If he succeeds\nin getting us to keep looking at and brooding over our sins, he will soon\nget us discouraged, and discouragement means failure. But if we will keep\nlooking at what God looks at, the death of Jesus Christ in our place that\ncompletely atones for every sin that we ever committed, we will never be\ndiscouraged because of the greatness of our sins. We shall see that while\nour sins are great, very great, that they have all been atoned for. Every\ntime Satan brings up one of our sins, we shall see that Jesus Christ has\nredeemed us from its curse by being made a curse in our place (Gal. 3:\n13). We shall see that while in ourselves we are full of unrighteousness,\nnevertheless in Christ we are made the righteousness of God, because\nChrist was made to be sin in our place (2 Cor. 5: 21). We will see that\nevery sin that Satan taunts us about has been borne and settled forever\n(1 Pet. 2: 24; Is. 53: 6). We shall always be able to sing,\n\n    \u201cJesus paid my debt,\n      All the debt I owe;\n    Sin had left a crimson stain,\n      He washed it white as snow.\u201d\n\nIf you are this moment troubled about any sin that you have ever\ncommitted, either in the past or in the present, just look at Jesus on\nthe cross; believe what God tells you about Him, that this sin which\ntroubles you was laid upon Him (Is. 53: 6). Thank God that the sin is\nall settled; be full of gratitude to Jesus who bore it in your place and\ntrouble about it no more. It is an act of base ingratitude to God to\nbrood over sins that He in His infinite love has cancelled. Keep looking\nat Christ on the cross and walk always in the sunlight of God\u2019s favour.\nThis favour of God has been purchased for you at great cost. Gratitude\ndemands that you should always believe in it and walk in the light of it.\n\n2. In the second place, _we must keep looking at Jesus as our risen\nSaviour, who has all power in heaven and on earth and is able to keep\nus every day and every hour_. Are you tempted to do some wrong at this\nmoment? If you are, remember that Jesus rose from the dead, remember\nthat at this moment He is living at the right hand of God in the glory;\nremember that He has all power in heaven and on earth, and that,\ntherefore, He can give you victory right now. Believe what God tells\nyou in His Word that Jesus has power to save you this moment \u201cto the\nuttermost\u201d (Heb. 7: 25). Believe that He has power to give you victory\nover this sin that now besets you. Ask Him to give you victory, expect\nHim to do it. In this way by looking unto the risen Christ for victory\nyou may have victory over sin every day, every hour, every moment.\n\u201cRemember Jesus Christ risen from the dead\u201d (2 Tim. 2: 8, R. V.).\n\nGod has called every one of us to a victorious life, and the secret of\nthis victorious life is always looking to the risen Christ for victory.\nThrough looking to Christ crucified we obtain pardon and enjoy peace.\nThrough looking to the risen Christ we obtain present victory over the\npower of sin. If you have lost sight of the risen Christ and have yielded\nto temptation, confess your sin and know that it is forgiven because God\nsays so (1 John 1: 9) and look to Jesus, the risen One, again to give\nyou victory now and keep looking to Him.\n\n3. In the third place, _we must keep looking to Jesus as the One whom\nwe should follow in our daily conduct_. Our Lord Jesus says to us, His\ndisciples to-day, as He said to His early disciples, \u201cFollow Me.\u201d The\nwhole secret of true Christian conduct can be summed up in these two\nwords \u201cFollow Me.\u201d \u201cHe that saith he abideth in Him ought himself so to\nwalk _even as He walked_\u201d (1 John 2: 6). One of the commonest causes of\nfailure in Christian life is found in the attempt to follow some good\nman, whom we greatly admire. No man and no woman, no matter how good,\ncan be safely followed. If we follow any man or woman, we are bound to\ngo astray. There never has been but one absolutely perfect Man upon this\nearth\u2014the Man Christ Jesus. If we try to follow any other man we are more\nsure to imitate his faults than his excellencies. Look at Jesus and Jesus\nonly as your Guide.\n\nIf at any time you are in any perplexity as to what to do, simply ask\nthe question, What would Jesus do? Ask God by His Holy Spirit to show\nyou what Jesus would do. Study your Bible to find out what Jesus did\ndo and follow Jesus. Even though no one else seems to be following\nJesus, be sure that you follow Him. Do not spend your time or thought in\ncriticising others because they do not follow Jesus. See that you follow\nHim yourself. When you are wasting your time criticising others for not\nfollowing Jesus, Jesus is always saying to you, \u201cWhat is that to thee;\nfollow THOU Me\u201d (John 21: 22). The question for you is not what following\nJesus may involve for other people. The question is what does following\nJesus mean for you?\n\nThis is the really simple life, the life of simply following Jesus. Many\nperplexing questions will come to you, but the most perplexing question\nwill soon become as clear as day if you determine with all your heart to\nfollow Jesus in everything. Satan will always be ready to whisper to you,\n\u201cSuch and such a good man does it,\u201d but all you need to do is to answer,\n\u201cIt matters not to me what this or that man may do or not do. The only\nquestion to me is, What would Jesus do?\u201d There is wonderful freedom in\nthis life of simply following Jesus. This path is straight and plain.\nBut the path of the one who tries to shape his conduct by observing the\nconduct of others is full of twists and turns and pitfalls. Keep looking\nat Jesus. Follow on trustingly where He leads. This is the path of the\njust which shineth more and more unto the perfect day (Prov. 4: 18). He\nis the Light of the World, any one who follows Him shall not walk in\ndarkness, but shall have the light of life all along the way (John 8:\n12).\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nCHURCH MEMBERSHIP\n\n\nNo young Christian and no old Christian can have real success in the\nChristian life without the fellowship of other believers. The church\nis a divine institution, built by Jesus Christ Himself. It is the one\ninstitution that abides. Other institutions come and go; they do their\nwork for their day and disappear, but the church will continue to the\nend. \u201cThe gates of hell shall not prevail against it\u201d (Matt. 16: 18).\nThe church is made up of men and women, imperfect men and women, and\nconsequently is an imperfect institution, but none the less it is of\ndivine origin and God loves it, and every believer should realize that\nhe belongs to it and should openly take his place in it and bear his\nresponsibilities regarding it.\n\nThe true church consists of all true believers, all who are united to\nJesus Christ by a living faith in Himself. In its outward organization\nat the present time, it is divided into numberless sects and local\ncongregations, but in spite of these divisions the true church is one. It\nhas one Lord, Jesus Christ. It has one faith, faith in Him as Saviour,\nDivine Lord and only King; one baptism, the baptism in the one Spirit\ninto the one body (Eph. 4: 4, 5; 1 Cor. 12: 13). But each individual\nChristian needs the fellowship of individual fellow believers. The\noutward expression of this fellowship is in membership in some organized\nbody of believers. If we hold aloof from all organized churches, hoping\nthus to have a broader fellowship with all believers belonging to all\nthe churches, we deceive ourselves. We will miss the helpfulness that\ncomes from intimate union with some local congregation. I have known many\nwell-meaning persons who have held aloof from membership in any specific\norganization, and I have never known a person who has done this, whose\nown spiritual life has not suffered by it. On the day of Pentecost the\nthree thousand who were converted were at once baptized and were added\nto the church (Acts 2: 41, 47), and \u201cThey continued steadfastly in the\napostle\u2019s doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in\nprayers.\u201d Their example is the one to follow. If you have really received\nJesus Christ, hunt up as soon as possible some company of others who have\nreceived Jesus Christ and unite yourself with them.\n\nIn many communities there may be no choice of churches, for there is only\none. In other communities one will be faced with the question, \u201cWith\nwhat body of believers shall I unite?\u201d Do not waste your time looking for\na perfect church. There is no perfect church. If you wait until you find\na perfect church before you unite with any, you will unite with none,\nand thus you will belong to a church in which you are the only member\nand that is the most imperfect church of all. I would rather belong to\nthe most imperfect Christian church I ever knew than not to belong to\nany church at all. The local churches in Paul\u2019s day were very imperfect\ninstitutions. Let one read the epistles to the Corinthians and see how\nimperfect was the church in Corinth, see how much there was that was evil\nin it, and yet Paul never thought of advising any believer in Corinth\nto get out of this imperfect church. He did tell them to come out of\nheathenism, to come out from fellowship with infidels (2 Cor. 6: 14-18),\nbut not a word on coming out of the imperfect church in Corinth. He did\ntell the church in Corinth to separate from their membership certain\npersons whose lives were wrong (1 Cor. 5: 11, 12), but he did not tell\nthe individual members of the church in Corinth to get out of the church\nbecause these persons had not yet been separated from their fellowship.\n\nAs you cannot find a perfect church, find the best church you can. Unite\nwith a church where they believe in the Bible and where they preach\nthe Bible. Avoid the churches where words are spoken open or veiled\nthat have a tendency to undermine your faith in the Bible as a reliable\nrevelation from God Himself, the all-sufficient rule of faith and\npractice. Unite with a church where there is a spirit of prayer, where\nthe prayer-meetings are well kept up. Unite with a church that has a real\nactive interest in the salvation of the lost, where young Christians are\nlooked after and helped, where minister and people have a love for the\npoor and outcast, a church that regards its mission in this world to\nbe the same as the mission of Christ, \u201cto seek and to save the lost.\u201d\nAs to denominational differences, other things being equal, unite with\nthat denomination whose ideas of doctrine and of government and of the\nordinances are most closely akin to your own. But it is better to unite\nwith a live church of some other denomination than to unite with a dead\nchurch of your own. We live in a day when denominational differences are\nbecoming ever less and less, and oftentimes they are of no practical\nconsequence whatever; and one will often feel more at home in a church\nof some other denomination than in any accessible church of his own\ndenomination. The things that divide the denominations are insignificant\ncompared with the great fundamental truths and purposes and faith that\nunite them.\n\nIf you cannot find the church that agrees with the pattern set forth\nabove, find the church that comes nearest to it. Go into that church\nand by prayer and by work try to bring that church as nearly as you can\nto the pattern of what you think a church of Christ ought to be. But do\nnot waste your strength in criticism against either church or minister.\nSeek for what is good in the church and in the minister and do your best\nto strengthen it. Hold aloof firmly, though unobtrusively, from what is\nwrong and seek to correct it. Do not be discouraged if you cannot correct\nit in a day or a week or a month or a year. Patient love and prayer\nand effort will tell in time. Drawing off by yourself and snarling and\ngrumbling will do no good. They will simply make you and the truths for\nwhich you stand repulsive.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nBIBLE STUDY\n\n\nThere is nothing more important for the development of the spiritual life\nof the Christian than regular, systematic Bible study. It is as true in\nthe spiritual life as it is in the physical life that health depends upon\nwhat we eat and how much we eat. The soul\u2019s proper food is found in one\nbook, the Bible. Of course, a true minister of the gospel will feed us on\nthe Word of God, but that is not enough. He feeds us but one or two days\nin the week and we need to be fed every day. Furthermore, it will not\ndo to depend upon being fed by others. We must learn to feed ourselves.\nIf we study the Bible for ourselves as we ought to study it, we shall\nbe in a large measure independent of human teachers. Even if we are so\nunfortunate as to have for our minister a man who is himself ignorant of\nthe truth of God we shall still be safe from harm.\n\nWe live in a day in which false doctrine abounds on every hand and the\nonly Christian who is safe from being led into error is the one who\nstudies his Bible for himself daily. The Apostle Paul warned the elders\nof the church in Ephesus that the time was soon coming when grievous\nwolves should enter in among them not sparing the flock and when of\ntheir own selves men should arise speaking perverse things to draw away\nthe disciples after them, but he told them how to be safe even in such\nperilous times as these. He said, \u201cI commend you to God and to the\nWord of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an\ninheritance among them which are sanctified.\u201d Through meditation on the\nWord of God\u2019s grace they would be safe even in the midst of abounding\nerror on the part of the leaders in the church (Acts 20: 29-32). Writing\nlater to the Bishop of the church in Ephesus Paul said, \u201cBut evil men and\nimpostors shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived\u201d (2\nTim. 3: 13, R. V.) but he goes on to tell Bishop Timothy how he and his\nfellow believers could be safe even in such times of increasing peril as\nwere coming. That way was through the study of the Holy Scriptures, which\nare able to make wise unto salvation (2 Tim. 3: 14, 15). \u201cAll Scripture,\u201d\nhe adds, \u201cis given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine,\nfor reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the\nman of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.\u201d\nThat is to say, through the study of the Bible one will be sound in\ndoctrine, will be led to see his sins and put them away, will find\ndiscipline in the righteous life and attain unto complete equipment for\nall good works. Our spiritual health, our growth, our strength, our\nvictory over sin, our soundness in doctrine, our joy and peace in Christ,\nour cleansing from inward and outward sin, our fitness for service, all\ndepend upon the study of the Word of God. The one who neglects his Bible\nis bound to make a failure of the Christian life. The one who studies his\nBible in the right spirit and by a true method is bound to make a success\nof the Christian life.\n\nThis brings us face to face with the question, \u201cWhat is the right way to\nstudy the Bible?\u201d\n\n1. First of all, we should _study it daily_ (Acts 17: 11). This is of\nprime importance. No matter how good the methods of Bible study that one\nfollows may be, no matter how much time one may put into Bible study now\nand then, the best results can only be secured when one makes it a matter\nof principle never to let a single day go by without earnest Bible study.\nThis is the only safe course. Any day that is allowed to pass without\nfaithful Bible study is a day thrown open to the advent into our hearts\nand lives of error or of sin. The writer has been a Christian for more\nthan a quarter of a century and yet to-day he would not dare to allow\neven a single day to pass over his head without listening to the voice\nof God as it speaks to him through the pages of His Book. It is at this\npoint that many fall away. They grow careless and let a day pass, or even\nseveral days pass, without going alone with God and letting Him speak to\nthem through His Word. Mr. Moody once wisely said, \u201cIn prayer we talk to\nGod. In Bible study, God talks to us, and we had better let God do most\nof the talking.\u201d\n\nA regular time should be set apart each day for the study of the Bible.\nI do not think it is well as a rule to say that we shall study so many\nchapters in a day, for that leads to undue haste and skimming and\nthoughtlessness, but it is well to set apart a certain length of time\neach day for Bible study. Some can give more time to Bible study than\nothers, but no one ought to give less than fifteen minutes a day. I set\nthe time so low in order that no one may be discouraged at the outset.\nIf a young Christian should set out to give an hour or two hours a day\nto Bible study, there is a strong probability that he would not keep\nto the resolution and he might become discouraged. Yet I know of many\nvery busy people who have given the first hour of every day for years to\nBible study and some who have given even two hours a day. The late Earl\nCairns, Lord Chancellor of England, was one of the busiest men of his\nday, but Lady Cairns told me a few months ago that no matter how late he\nreached home at night he always arose at the same early hour for prayer\nand Bible study. She said, \u201cWe would sometimes get home from Parliament\nat two o\u2019clock in the morning, but Lord Cairns would always arise at the\nsame early hour to pray and study the Bible.\u201d Lord Cairns is reported as\nsaying, \u201cIf I have had any success in life, I attribute it to the habit\nof giving the first two hours of each day to Bible study and prayer.\u201d\n\nIt is important that one choose the right time for this study. Wherever\nit is possible, the best time for this study is immediately after arising\nin the morning. The worst time of all is the last thing at night. Of\ncourse, it is well to give a little while just before we retire to Bible\nreading, in order that God\u2019s voice may be the last to which we listen,\nbut the bulk of our Bible study should be done at an hour when our minds\nare clearest and strongest. Whatever time is set apart for Bible study\nshould be kept sacredly for that purpose.\n\n2. We should _study the Bible systematically_. Much time is frittered\naway in random study of the Bible. The same amount of time put into\nsystematic study would yield far larger results. Have a definite place\nwhere you are studying and have a definite plan of study. A good way for\na young Christian to begin the study of the Bible is to read the Gospel\nof John. When you have read it through once, begin and read it again\nuntil you have gone over the Gospel five times. Then read the Gospel of\nLuke five times in the same way; then read the Acts of the Apostles five\ntimes, then 1 Thessalonians five times, then 1 John five times, then\nRomans five times, then Ephesians five times.\n\nBy this time you will be ready to take up a more thorough method of Bible\nstudy. A good method is to begin at Genesis and read the Bible through\nchapter by chapter. Read each chapter through several times and then\nanswer the following questions on the chapter:\n\n(1) What is the principal subject of the chapter? (State the principal\ncontents of the chapter in a single phrase or sentence.)\n\n(2) What is the truth most clearly taught and most emphasized in the\nchapter?\n\n(3) What is the best lesson?\n\n(4) What is the best verse?\n\n(5) Who are the principal people mentioned?\n\n(6) What does the chapter teach about Jesus Christ? Go through the entire\nBible in this way.\n\nAnother and more thorough method of Bible chapter study, which cannot\nbe applied to every chapter in the Bible, but which will yield excellent\nresults when applied to some of the more important chapters of the Bible,\nis as follows:\n\n(1) Read the chapter for to-day\u2019s study five times, reading it aloud at\nleast once. Each new reading will bring out some new point.\n\n(2) Divide the chapter into its natural divisions and find headings\nfor each division that describes in the most striking way the contents\nof that division. For example, suppose the chapter studied is 1 John\n5. You might divide it in this way: First division, verses 1-3, The\nBeliever\u2019s Noble Parentage. Second division, verses 4, 5, The Believer\u2019s\nGlorious Victory. Third division, verses 6-10, The Believer\u2019s Sure Ground\nof Faith. Fourth division, verses 11, 12, The Believer\u2019s Priceless\nPossession. Fifth division, verse 13, The Believer\u2019s Blessed Assurance.\nSixth division, verses 14, 15, The Believer\u2019s Unquestioning Confidence.\nSeventh division, verses 16, 17, The Believer\u2019s Great Power and\nResponsibility. Eighth division, verses 18, 19, The Believer\u2019s Perfect\nSecurity. Ninth division, verse 20, The Believer\u2019s Precious Knowledge.\nTenth division, verse 21, The Believer\u2019s Constant Duty.\n\n(3) Note the important differences between the Authorized Version and the\nRevised.\n\n(4) Write down the leading facts of the chapter in their proper order.\n\n(5) Make a note of the persons mentioned in the chapter and of any light\nthrown upon their character.\n\n(6) Note the principal lessons of the chapter. It would be well to\nclassify these. For instance lessons about God; lessons about Christ,\nlessons about the Holy Spirit, etc.\n\n(7) Find the central truth of the chapter.\n\n(8) The key verse of the chapter, if there is one.\n\n(9) The best verse in the chapter. Mark it and memorize it.\n\n(10) Write down what new truth you have learned from the chapter.\n\n(11) Write down what truth already known has come to you with new power.\n\n(12) What definite thing have you resolved to do as a result of studying\nthis chapter. It would be well to study in this way, all the chapters in\nMatthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts; the first eight chapters of Romans; 1\nCor. 12, 13 and 15; first six chapters of 2 Corinthians; all the chapters\nin Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, First Thessalonians and First\nEpistle of John. It would be well at times to vary this by taking up\nother methods of study for a time.\n\nAnother profitable method of Bible study is the topical method. This was\nMr. Moody\u2019s favourite method of study. Take up the great topics of which\nthe Bible teaches such as, the Holy Spirit, Prayer, the Blood of Christ,\nSin, Judgment, Grace, Justification, the New Birth, Sanctification,\nFaith, Repentance, the Character of Christ, the Resurrection of Christ,\nthe Ascension of Christ, the Second Coming of Christ, Assurance, Love of\nGod, Love (to God, to Christ, to Christians, to all men), Heaven, Hell.\nGet a Bible text-book and go through the Bible on each one of these\ntopics. (Other methods of Bible study, and more thorough methods for the\nadvanced student, will be found in the author\u2019s book \u201cHOW TO STUDY THE\nBIBLE FOR GREATEST PROFIT.\u201d)\n\n3. We should _study the Bible comprehensively_\u2014the whole Bible. Many who\nread their Bibles make the great mistake of confining all their reading\nto certain portions of the Bible that they enjoy, and in this way they\nget no knowledge of the Bible as a whole. They miss altogether many of\nthe most important phases of Bible truth. Begin and go through the Bible\nagain and again\u2014a certain portion each day from the Old Testament and a\nportion from the New Testament. Read carefully at least one Psalm every\nday.\n\nIt is well oftentimes to read a whole book of the Bible through at a\nsingle sitting. Of course, with a few books of the Bible this would take\none or two hours, but with most of the books of the Bible it can be done\nin a few minutes. With the shorter books of the Bible they should be read\nthrough again and again at a single sitting.\n\n4. _Study the Bible attentively._ Do not hurry. One of the worst faults\nin Bible study is haste and heedlessness. The Bible only does good by the\ntruth that it contains. It has no magic power. It is better to read one\nverse attentively than to read a dozen chapters thoughtlessly. Sometimes\nyou will read a verse that takes hold of you. Don\u2019t hurry on. Linger and\nponder that verse. As you read, mark in your Bible what impresses you\nmost. One does not need an elaborate system of Bible marking, simply\nmark what impresses you. Meditate upon what you mark. God pronounces\nthat man blessed who \u201cmeditates\u201d in God\u2019s law day and night (Ps. 1: 2).\nIt is wonderful how a verse of Scripture will open if one reads it over\nand over again and again, paying attention to each word as he reads\nit, trying to get its exact meaning and its full meaning. Memorize the\npassages that impress you most (Ps. 119: 11, R. V.). When you memorize\na passage of Scripture, memorize its location as well as its words. Fix\nin your mind chapter and verse where the words are found. A busy but\nspiritually-minded man who was hurrying to catch a train once said to\nme, \u201cTell me in a word how to study my Bible.\u201d I replied, \u201cThoughtfully.\u201d\n\n5. _Study your Bible comparatively._ That is compare Scripture with\nScripture. The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible itself. Wherever\nyou find a difficult passage in the Bible, there is always some passage\nelsewhere that explains its meaning. The best book to use in this\ncomparison of Scripture with Scripture is \u201cThe Treasury of Scripture\nKnowledge.\u201d On every verse in the Bible this book gives a large number\nof references. It is well to take up some book of the Bible and go\nthrough that book verse by verse, looking up carefully and studying every\nreference given in \u201cThe Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.\u201d This is a very\nfruitful method of Bible study. It is also well in studying the Bible by\nchapters to look up the references on the more important verses in the\nchapter. One will get more light on passages of Scripture by looking up\nthe references given in \u201cThe Treasury of Scripture Knowledge,\u201d than in\nany other way I know.\n\n6. _Study your Bible believingly._ The Apostle Paul in writing to the\nChristians in Thessalonica says, \u201cFor this cause also thank we God\nwithout ceasing, because, when ye received the Word of God which ye heard\nof us, ye received it not as the Word of men, but as it is in truth,\nthe Word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe\u201d (1\nThess. 2: 13). Happy is the one who receives the Word of God as these\nbelievers in Thessalonica received it, who receives it as what it really\nis, the Word of God. In such a one it \u201cworks effectually.\u201d The Bible is\nthe Word of God and we get the most out of any book by studying it as\nwhat it really is. It is often said that we should study the Bible just\nas we study any other book. That principle contains a truth, but it also\ncontains a great error. The Bible, it is true, is a book as other books\nare books, the same laws of grammatical and literary construction hold\nhere as in other books, but the Bible is a unique book. It is what no\nother book is, the Word of God. This can be easily proven to any candid\nman.[1] The Bible ought then to be studied as no other book is. It should\nbe studied as the Word of God. This involves five things:\n\n(1) A greater eagerness and more careful and candid study to find out\njust what it teaches than is bestowed upon all other books. It is\nimportant to know the mind of man. It is absolutely essential to know the\nmind of God. The place to discover the mind of God is the Bible. This is\nthe book in which God reveals His mind.\n\n(2) A prompt and unquestioning acceptance of, and submission to its\nteachings when definitely ascertained. These teachings may appear to us\nunreasonable or impossible, nevertheless we should accept them. If this\nbook is the Word of God, how foolish it is to submit its teachings to\nthe criticism of our finite reasoning. A little boy who discredits his\nwise father\u2019s statements simply because to his infant mind they appear\nunreasonable, is not a philosopher, but a fool. But the greatest of\nhuman thinkers is only an infant compared with the infinite God. And\nto discredit God\u2019s statements found in His Word because they appear\nunreasonable to our infantile minds is not to act the part of the\nphilosopher, but the part of a fool. When we are once satisfied that the\nBible is the Word of God, its clear teachings must be for us the end of\nall controversy and discussion.\n\n(3) Absolute reliance upon all its promises in all their length and\nbreadth and depth and height. The one who studies the Bible as the Word\nof God will say of any promise, no matter how vast and beyond belief it\nappears, \u201cGod who cannot lie has promised this, so I will claim it for\nmyself.\u201d Mark the promise you thus claim. Look each day for some new\npromise from your infinite Father. He has put \u201cHis riches in glory\u201d\nat your disposal (Phil. 4: 19). I know of no better way to grow rich\nspiritually than to search daily for promises, and when you find them\nappropriate them to yourself.\n\n(4) Obedience. Be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only deceiving\nyour own soul (James 1: 22). Nothing goes farther to help one understand\nthe Bible than the purpose to obey it. Jesus said, \u201cIf any man willeth\nto do His will, he shall know of the teaching\u201d (John 7: 17 R. V.). The\nsurrendered will means the clear eye. If our eye is single (that is, our\nwill is absolutely surrendered to God) our whole body shall be full of\nlight. But if our eye be evil (that is, if we are trying to serve two\nmasters and are not absolutely surrendered to one Master, God) our whole\nbody shall be full of darkness (Matt. 6: 22-24). Many a passage that\nlooks obscure to you now would become as clear as day if you were willing\nto obey in all things what the Bible teaches. Each commandment discovered\nin the Bible that is really intended as a commandment to us should be\nobeyed instantly. It is remarkable how soon one loses his relish for\nthe Bible and how soon the mind becomes obscured to its teachings when\nwe disobey the Bible at any point. Many a time I have known persons who\nhave loved their Bibles and have been useful in God\u2019s service and clear\nin their views of the truth who have come to something in the Bible that\nthey were unwilling to obey, some sacrifice was demanded that they were\nunwilling to make, and their love for the Bible has rapidly waned, their\nfaith in the Bible began to weaken, and soon they were drifting farther\nand farther away from clear views of the truth. Nothing clears the mind\nlike obedience; nothing darkens the mind like disobedience. To obey a\ntruth you see prepares you to see other truths. To disobey a truth you\nsee darkens your mind to all truths.\n\nCultivate prompt, exact, unquestioning, joyous obedience to every command\nthat it is evident from its context applies to you. Be on the lookout for\nnew orders from your King. Blessing lies in the direction of obedience to\nthem. God\u2019s commands are but sign-boards that mark the road to present\nsuccess and blessedness and to eternal glory.\n\n(5) Studying the Bible as the Word of God involves studying it as His own\nvoice speaking directly to you. When you open the Bible to study realize\nthat you have come into the very presence of God and that now He is going\nto speak to you. Realize that it is God who is talking to you as much as\nif you saw Him standing there. Say to yourself, \u201cGod is now going to\nspeak to me.\u201d Nothing goes farther to give a freshness and gladness to\nBible study than the realization that as you read God is actually talking\nto you. In this way Bible study becomes personal companionship with God\nHimself. That was a wonderful privilege that Mary had one day, of sitting\nat the feet of Jesus and listening to His voice, but if we will study the\nBible as the Word of God and as if we were in God\u2019s very presence, then\nwe shall enjoy the privilege of sitting at the feet of God and having Him\ntalk to us every day. How often what would otherwise be a mere mechanical\nperformance of a duty would become a wonderfully joyous privilege if one\nwould say as he opens the Bible, \u201cNow God, my Father, is going to speak\nto me.\u201d Oftentimes it helps us to a realization of the presence of God to\nread the Bible on our knees. The Bible became in some measure a new book\nto me when I took to reading it on my knees.\n\n7. _Study the Bible prayerfully._ God, who is the author of the Bible,\nis willing to act as interpreter of it. He does so when you ask Him to.\nThe one who prays with earnestness and faith the Psalmist\u2019s prayer, \u201cOpen\nThou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law\u201d (Ps.\n119: 18) will get his eyes opened to see new beauties and wonders in the\nWord of God that he never dreamed of before. Be very definite about\nthis. Each time you open the Bible to study it, even though it is but for\na few minutes, ask God to give you an open and discerning eye, and expect\nHim to do it. Every time you come to a difficulty in the Bible, lay it\nbefore God and ask an explanation and expect it. How often we think as we\npuzzle over hard passages, \u201cOh, if I only had some great Bible teacher\nhere to explain this to me!\u201d God is always present. He understands the\nBible better than any human teacher. Take your difficulty to Him and ask\nHim to explain it. Jesus said, \u201cWhen He the Spirit of Truth is come,\nHe shall guide you into all the truth\u201d (John 16: 13, R. V.). It is the\nprivilege of the humblest believer in Christ to have the Holy Spirit for\nhis guide in his study of the Word. I have known many very humble people,\npeople with almost no education, who got more out of their Bible study\nthan most of the great theological teachers that I have known; simply\nbecause they had learned that it was their privilege to have the Holy\nSpirit for their teacher as they studied the Bible. Commentaries on the\nBible are oftentimes of great value, but one will learn more of real\nvalue from the Bible by having the Holy Spirit for his teacher when he\nstudies his Bible than he will from all the commentaries that were ever\npublished.\n\n8. _Improve spare moments for Bible study._ In almost every man\u2019s life\nmany minutes each day are lost, while waiting for meals, riding on\ntrains, going from place to place in street-cars and so forth. Carry\na pocket Bible or Testament with you and save these golden moments by\nputting them to the very best use, listening to the voice of God.\n\n9. _Store away the Scripture in your mind and heart._ It will keep you\nfrom sin (Ps. 119: 11, R. V.); from false doctrine (Acts 20: 29, 30, 32;\n2 Tim. 3: 13-15). It will fill your heart with joy (Jer. 15: 16); and\npeace (Ps. 85: 8). It will give you victory over the evil one (1 John\n2: 14); it will give you power in prayer (John 15: 7); it will make you\nwiser than the aged and your enemies (Ps. 119: 98, 100, 130); it will\nmake you \u201ccomplete, furnished completely unto every good work\u201d (2 Tim. 3:\n16, 17, R. V.). Try it. Do not memorize at random but memorize Scripture\nin a connected way; memorize texts bearing on various subjects in proper\norder; memorize by chapter and verse that you may know where to put\nyour finger on the text if any one disputes it. You should have a good\nBible for your study. One of the best is \u201cThe Oxford Two Version Bible,\nWorkers\u2019 Edition.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nDIFFICULTIES IN THE BIBLE\n\n\nSooner or later every young Christian comes across passages in the\nBible which are hard to understand and difficult to believe. To many\na young Christian, these difficulties become a serious hindrance in\nthe development of their Christian life. For days and weeks and months\noftentimes faith suffers partial or total eclipse. At just this point\nwise counsel is needed. We have no desire to conceal the fact that these\ndifficulties exist. We rather desire to frankly face and consider them.\nWhat shall we do concerning these difficulties that every thoughtful\nstudent of the Bible will sooner or later encounter.\n\n1. _The first thing we have to say about these difficulties is that from\nthe very nature of the case difficulties are to be expected._ Some people\nare surprised and staggered because there are difficulties in the Bible.\nI would be more surprised and more staggered if there were not. What is\nthe Bible? It is a revelation of the mind and will and character and\nbeing of the infinitely great, perfectly wise, and absolutely holy God.\nBut to whom is this revelation made? To men and women like you and me, to\nfinite beings. To men who are imperfect in intellectual development and\nconsequently in knowledge, and in character and consequently in spiritual\ndiscernment.\n\nThere must, from the very necessities of the case, be difficulties\nin such a revelation made to such persons. When the finite tries to\nunderstand the infinite there is bound to be difficulty. When the\nignorant contemplate the utterances of one perfect in knowledge there\nmust be many things hard to be understood and some things which to their\nimmature and inaccurate minds appear absurd. When sinful beings listen to\nthe demands of an absolutely holy being they are bound to be staggered at\nsome of His demands, and when they consider His dealings they are bound\nto be staggered at some of His dealings. These dealings will necessarily\nappear too severe, stern, harsh, terrific. It is plain that there must be\ndifficulties for us in such a revelation as the Bible is proven to be. If\nsome one should hand me a book that was as simple as the multiplication\ntable and say, \u201cThis is the Word of God, in which He has revealed His\nwhole will and wisdom,\u201d I would shake my head and say, \u201cI cannot believe\nit. That is too easy to be a perfect revelation of infinite wisdom.\u201d\nThere must be in any complete revelation of God\u2019s mind and will and\ncharacter and being, things hard for a beginner to understand, and the\nwisest and best of us are but beginners.\n\n2. _The second thing to be said about these difficulties is that a\ndifficulty in a doctrine, or a grave objection to a doctrine, does not\nin any wise prove the doctrine to be untrue._ Many thoughtless people\nfancy that it does. If they come across some difficulty in the way of\nbelieving in the divine origin and absolute inerrancy and infallibility\nof the Bible, they at once conclude that the doctrine is exploded. That\nis very illogical. Stop a moment and think and learn to be reasonable and\nfair. There is scarcely a doctrine in science commonly believed to-day\nthat has not had some great difficulty in the way of its acceptance. When\nthe Copernican theory, now so universally accepted, was first proclaimed,\nit encountered a very grave difficulty. If this theory were true the\nplanet Venus should have phases as the moon has. But no phases could be\ndiscovered by the best glass then in existence. But the positive argument\nfor the theory was so strong that it was accepted in spite of this\napparently unanswerable objection. When a more powerful glass was made,\nit was discovered that Venus had phases after all. The whole difficulty\narose, as all those in the Bible arise, from man\u2019s ignorance of some of\nthe facts in the case. According to the common sense logic recognized\nin every department of science, if the positive proof of a theory is\nconclusive, it is believed by rational men, in spite of any number of\ndifficulties in minor details. Now the positive proof that the Bible is\nthe Word of God, that it is an absolutely trustworthy revelation from God\nHimself of Himself, His purposes and His will, of man\u2019s duty and destiny,\nof spiritual and eternal realities, is absolutely conclusive. Therefore\nevery rational man and woman must believe it in spite of any number of\ndifficulties in minor details. He is a shallow thinker who gives up a\nwell-attested truth because of some facts which he cannot reconcile with\nthat truth. And he is a very shallow Bible scholar who gives up the\ndivine origin and inerrancy of the Bible because there are some supposed\nfacts that he cannot reconcile with that doctrine.\n\n3. _The third thing to be said about the difficulties in the Bible is\nthat there are many more and much greater difficulties in the way of a\ndoctrine that holds the Bible to be of human origin, and hence fallible,\nthan are in the way of the doctrine that holds the Bible to be of divine\norigin and hence altogether trustworthy._ A man may bring you some\ndifficulty and say, \u201cHow do you explain that if the Bible is the Word\nof God?\u201d and perhaps you may not be able to answer him satisfactorily.\nThen he thinks he has you, but not at all. Turn on him and ask him how do\nyou account for the fulfilled prophecies of the Bible if it is of human\norigin? How do you account for the marvellous unity of the Book? How\ndo you account for its inexhaustible depth? How do you account for its\nunique power in lifting men up to God? How do you account for the history\nof the Book, its victory over all men\u2019s attacks, etc., etc., etc. For\nevery insignificant objection he can bring to your view, you can bring\nmany deeply significant objections to his view, and no candid man will\nhave any difficulty in deciding between the two views. The difficulties\nthat confront one who denies that the Bible is of divine origin and\nauthority are far more numerous and weighty than those that confront the\nones who believes it is of divine origin and authority.\n\n4. _The fourth thing to be said about the difficulties in the Bible\nis the fact that you cannot solve a difficulty does not prove that it\ncannot be solved, and the fact that you cannot answer an objection does\nnot prove at all that it cannot be answered._ It is passing strange how\noften we overlook this very evident fact. There are many who, when they\nmeet a difficulty in the Bible and give it a little thought and can see\nno possible solution, at once jump at the conclusion that a solution is\nimpossible by any one, and so throw up their faith in the reliability of\nthe Bible and in its divine origin. A little more of that modesty that\nis becoming in beings so limited in knowledge as we all are would have\nled them to say, \u201cThough I see no possible solution to this difficulty,\nsome one a little wiser than I might easily find one.\u201d Oh! if we would\nonly bear in mind that we do not know everything, and that there are a\ngreat many things that we cannot solve now that we could easily solve\nif we only knew a little more. Above all, we ought never to forget that\nthere may be a very easy solution to infinite wisdom of that which to\nour finite wisdom\u2014or ignorance\u2014appears absolutely insoluble. What would\nwe think of a beginner in algebra who, having tried in vain for half an\nhour to solve a difficult problem, declared that there was no possible\nsolution to the problem because he could find none? A man of much\nexperience and ability once left his work and came a long distance to see\nme in great perturbation of spirit because he had discovered what seemed\nto him a flat contradiction in the Bible. It had defied all his attempts\nat reconciliation, but in a few moments he was shown a very simple and\nsatisfactory solution of the difficulty.\n\n5. _The fifth thing to be said about the difficulties in the Bible is\nthat the seeming defects in the book are exceedingly insignificant\nwhen put in comparison with its many and marvellous excellencies._ It\ncertainly reveals great perversity of both mind and heart that men spend\nso much time expatiating on the insignificant points that they consider\ndefects in the Bible, and pass by absolutely unnoticed the incomparable\nbeauties and wonders that adorn and glorify almost every page. What\nwould we think of any man, who in studying some great masterpiece of\nart, concentrated his entire attention upon what looked to him like\na fly-speck in the corner. A large proportion of what is vaunted as\n\u201ccritical study of the Bible\u201d is a laborious and scholarly investigation\nof supposed fly-specks and an entire neglect of the countless glories of\nthe book.\n\n6. _The sixth thing to be said about the difficulties in the Bible is\nthat the difficulties in the Bible have far more weight with superficial\nreaders of it than with profound students._ Take a man who is totally\nignorant of the real contents and meaning of the Bible and devotes his\nwhole strength to discovering apparent inconsistencies in it, to such\nsuperficial students of the Bible these difficulties seem of immense\nimportance; but to the one who has learned to meditate on the Word of God\nday and night they have scarce any weight at all. That mighty man of\nGod, George M\u00fcller, who had carefully studied the Bible from beginning to\nend more than a hundred times, was not disturbed by any difficulties he\nencountered. But to the one who is reading it through carefully for the\nfirst or second time there are many things that perplex and stagger.\n\n7. _The seventh thing to be said about the difficulties in the Bible is\nthat they rapidly disappear upon careful and prayerful study._ How many\nthings there are in the Bible that once puzzled us and staggered us that\nhave been perfectly cleared up, and no longer present any difficulty at\nall! Is it not reasonable to suppose that the difficulties that still\nremain will also disappear upon further study?\n\nHow shall we deal with the difficulties which we do find in the Bible?\n\n1. First of all, _honestly_. Whenever you find a difficulty in the Bible,\nfrankly acknowledge it. If you cannot give a good honest explanation, do\nnot attempt as yet to give any at all.\n\n2. _Humbly._ Recognize the limitations of your own mind and knowledge,\nand do not imagine there is no solution just because you have found none.\nThere is in all probability a very simple solution. You will find it some\nday, though at present you can find no solution at all.\n\n3. _Determinedly._ Make up your mind that you will find the solution if\nyou can by any amount of study and hard thinking. The difficulties in the\nBible are your heavenly Father\u2019s challenge to you to set your brains to\nwork.\n\n4. _Fearlessly._ Do not be frightened when you find a difficulty, no\nmatter how unanswerable it appears upon first glance. Thousands have\nfound such before you. They were seen hundreds of years ago and still the\nOld Book stands. You are not likely to discover any difficulty that was\nnot discovered and probably settled long before you were born, though\nyou do not know just where to lay your hand upon the solution. The Bible\nwhich has stood eighteen centuries of rigid examination and incessant and\nawful assault, is not going under before any discoveries that you make\nor any attacks of modern infidels. All modern infidel attacks upon the\nBible are simply a revamping of old objections that have been disposed\nof a hundred times in the past. These old objections will prove no more\neffective in their new clothes than they did in the cast-off garments of\nthe past.\n\n5. _Patiently._ Do not be discouraged because you do not solve every\nproblem in a day. If some difficulty defies your best effort, lay it\naside for awhile. Very likely when you come back to it, it will have\ndisappeared and you will wonder how you were ever perplexed by it.\nThe writer often has to smile to-day when he thinks how sorely he was\nperplexed in the past over questions which are now as clear as day.\n\n6. _Scripturally._ If you find a difficulty in one part of the Bible,\nlook for other Scripture to throw light upon it and dissolve it. Nothing\nexplains Scripture like Scripture. Never let apparently obscure passages\nof Scripture darken the light that comes from clear passages, rather let\nthe light that comes from the clear passage illuminate the darkness that\nseems to surround the obscure passage.\n\n7. _Prayerfully._ It is wonderful how difficulties dissolve when one\nlooks at them on his knees. One great reason why some modern scholars\nhave learned to be destructive critics is because they have forgotten how\nto pray.\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\nPRAYER\n\n\nThe one who would succeed in the Christian life must lead a life of\nprayer. Very much of the failure in Christian living to-day, and in\nChristian work, results from neglect of prayer. Very few Christians spend\nas much time in prayer as they ought. The Apostle James told believers in\nhis day that the secret of the poverty and powerlessness of their lives\nand service was neglect of prayer. \u201cYe have not,\u201d says God through the\nApostle James, \u201cbecause ye ask not.\u201d So it is to-day. Why is it, many a\nChristian is asking, that I make such poor headway in my Christian life?\nWhy do I have so little victory over sin? Why do I accomplish so little\nby my effort? and God answers, \u201cYou have not because you ask not.\u201d\n\nIt is easy enough to lead a life of prayer if one only sets about it.\nSet apart some time each day for prayer. The rule of David and of Daniel\nis a good one; three times a day. \u201cEvening and morning and at noon,\u201d\nsays David, \u201cwill I pray and cry aloud and He shall hear my voice\u201d (Ps.\n55: 17). Of Daniel we read, \u201cNow when Daniel knew that the writing\nwas signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his\nchamber towards Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day,\nand prayed, and gave thanks before his God as he did aforetime\u201d (Dan. 6:\n10). Of course, one can pray while walking the street, or riding in the\ncar, or sitting at his desk, and one should learn to lift his heart to\nGod right in the busiest moments of his life, but we need set times of\nprayer, times when we go alone with God, shut to the door and talk to our\nFather in the secret place (Matt. 6: 6). God is in the secret place and\nwill meet with us there and listen to our petitions.\n\nPrayer is a wonderful privilege. It is an audience with the King. It\nis talking to our Father. How strange it is that people should ask the\nquestion, \u201cHow much time ought I to spend in prayer?\u201d When a subject is\nsummoned to an audience with his king, he never asks, \u201cHow much time must\nI spend with the king?\u201d His question is rather, \u201cHow much time will the\nking give me?\u201d And with any true child of God who realizes what prayer\nreally is, that it is an audience with the King of Kings, the question\nwill never be, \u201cHow much time must I spend in prayer,\u201d but \u201cHow much time\nmay I spend in prayer with a due regard to other duties and privileges?\u201d\n\nBegin the day with thanksgiving and prayer. Thanksgiving for the definite\nmercies of the past, prayer for the definite needs of the present day.\nThink of the temptations that you are likely to meet during the day; ask\nGod to show you the temptations that you are likely to meet and get from\nGod strength for victory over these temptations before the temptations\ncome. The reason why many fail in the battle is because they wait until\nthe hour of battle. The reason why others succeed is because they have\ngained their victory on their knees long before the battle came. Jesus\nconquered in the awful battles of Pilate\u2019s judgment hall and of the\ncross because He had the night before in prayer anticipated the battle\nand gained the victory before the struggle really came. He had told His\ndisciples to do the same. He had bidden them \u201cPray that ye enter not\ninto temptation\u201d (Luke 22: 40), but they had slept when they ought to\nhave prayed, and when the hour of temptation came they fell. Anticipate\nyour battles, fight them on your knees before temptation comes and you\nwill always have victory. At the very outset of the day, get counsel and\nstrength from God Himself for the duties of the day.\n\nNever let the rush of business crowd out prayer. The more work that any\nday has to do, the more time must be spent in prayer in preparation for\nthat work. You will not lose time by it, you will save time by it. Prayer\nis the greatest time saver known to man. The more the work crowds you the\nmore time take for prayer.\n\nStop in the midst of the bustle and hurry and temptation of the day for\nthanksgiving and prayer. A few minutes spent alone with God at midday\nwill go far to keep you calm in the midst of the worries and anxieties of\nmodern life.\n\nClose the day with thanksgiving and prayer. Review all the blessings\nof the day and thank God in detail for them. Nothing goes farther to\nincrease faith in God and in His Word than a calm review at the close\nof each day of what God has done for you that day. Nothing goes further\ntowards bringing new and larger blessings from God than intelligent\nthanksgiving for blessings already granted.\n\nThe last thing you do each day ask God to show you if there has been\nanything in the day that has been displeasing in His sight. Then wait\nquietly before God and give God an opportunity to speak to you. Listen.\nDo not be in a hurry. If God shows you anything in the day that has been\ndispleasing in His sight, confess it fully and frankly as to a holy and\nloving Father. Believe that God forgives it all, for He says He does\n(1 John 1: 9). Thus at the close of each day all your accounts with\nGod will be straightened out. You can lie down and sleep in the glad\nconsciousness that there is not a cloud between you and God. You can\narise the next day to begin life anew with a clean balance sheet. Do this\nand you can never backslide for more than twenty-four hours. Indeed, you\nwill not backslide at all. It is very hard to straighten out accounts\nin business that have been allowed to get crooked through a prolonged\nperiod. No bank ever closes its business day until its balance is found\nto be absolutely correct. And no Christian should close a single day\nuntil his accounts with God for that day have been perfectly adjusted\nalone with Him.\n\nThere should be special prayer in special temptation\u2014that is when we\nsee the temptation approaching. If you possibly can, get at once alone\nsomewhere with God and fight your battle out. Keep looking to God. \u201cPray\nwithout ceasing\u201d (1 Thess. 5: 17). It is not needful to be on your knees\nall the time but the heart should be on its knees all the time. We should\nbe often on our knees or on our faces literally. This is a joyous life,\nfree from worry and care. \u201cIn nothing be anxious; but in everything by\nprayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known\nunto God, and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall\nguard your hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus\u201d (Phil. 4: 6, 7, R. V.).\n\nThere are three things for which one who would succeed in the Christian\nlife must especially pray. 1. For wisdom. \u201cIf any of you lack wisdom (and\nwe all do) let him ask of God\u201d (James 1: 5). 2. For strength. \u201cFor they\nthat wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength\u201d (Is. 40: 31). 3. For\nthe Holy Spirit. \u201cYour heavenly Father shall give the Holy Spirit to them\nthat ask Him\u201d (Luke 11: 13). Even if you have received the Holy Spirit,\nyou should constantly pray for a new filling with the Holy Spirit and\ndefinitely expect to receive it. We need a new filling with the Spirit\nfor every new emergency of Christian life and Christian service. The\nApostle Peter was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of\nPentecost (Acts 2: 1-4) but he was filled anew in Acts 4: 8 and Acts 4:\n31. There are many Christians in the world who once had a very definite\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit and had great joy and were wonderfully\nused, but who have tried to go ever since in the power of that baptism\nreceived years ago, and to-day their lives are comparatively joyless and\npowerless. We need constantly to get new supplies of oil for our lamps.\nWe get these new supplies of oil by asking for them.\n\nIt is not enough that we have our times of secret prayer to God alone\nwith Him, we also need fellowship with others in prayer. If they\nhave a prayer-meeting in your church attend it regularly. Attend it\nfor your own sake; attend it for the sake of the church. If it is a\nprayer-meeting only in name and not in fact, use your influence quietly\nand constantly (not obtrusively) to make it a real prayer-meeting. Keep\nthe prayer-meeting night sacredly for that purpose. Refuse all social\nengagements for that night. A major-general in the United States army\nonce took command of the forces in a new district. A reception was\narranged for him for a certain night in the week. When he was informed\nof this public reception he replied that that was prayer-meeting night\nand everything else had to give way for prayer-meeting, that he could not\nattend the reception on that night. That general had proved himself a\nman that can be depended upon. The Church of Christ in America owes more\nto him than to almost any other officer in the American army. Ministers\nlearn to depend upon their prayer-meeting members. The prayer-meeting\nis the most important meeting in the church. If your church has no\nprayer-meeting, use your influence to have one. It does not take many\nmembers to make a good prayer-meeting. You can start with two but work\nfor many.\n\nIt is well to have a little company of Christian friends with whom you\nare in real sympathy and with whom you meet regularly every week simply\nfor prayer. There has been nothing of more importance in the development\nof my own spiritual life of recent years than a little prayer-meeting of\nless than a dozen friends who have met every Saturday night for years.\nWe met and together we waited upon God. If my life has been of any use\nto the Master, I attribute it largely to that prayer-meeting. Happy is\nthe young Christian that has a little band of friends like that that meet\ntogether regularly for prayer.[2]\n\n\n\n\nX\n\nWORKING FOR CHRIST\n\n\nOne of the important conditions of growth and strength in the Christian\nlife is work. No man can keep up his physical strength without exercise\nand no man can keep up his spiritual strength without spiritual exercise,\n_i. e._, without working for his Master. The working Christian is the\nhappy Christian. The working Christian is the strong Christian. Some\nChristians never backslide because they are too busy about their Master\u2019s\nbusiness to backslide. Many professed Christians do backslide because\nthey are too idle to do anything but backslide. Jesus said to the first\ndisciples, \u201cFollow Me and I will make you fishers of men\u201d (Matt. 4: 19).\nAny one who is not a fisher of men is not following Christ. Bearing fruit\nin bringing others to the Saviour is the purpose for which Jesus has\nchosen us and is one of the most important conditions of power in prayer.\nJesus says in John 15: 16, \u201cYe have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you\nand ordained you _that ye should go and bring forth fruit_, and that\nyour fruit should remain, _that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in\nMy name He may give it you_.\u201d These words of Jesus are very plain. They\ntell us that the one who is bearing fruit is the one who can pray in the\nname of Christ and get what he asks in that name. In the same chapter\nJesus tells us that bearing fruit in His strength is the condition of\nfullness of joy. He says, \u201cThese things have I spoken unto you (that is,\nthe things about abiding in Him and bearing fruit in His strength) that\nMy joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full\u201d (John 15:\n11). Experience abundantly proves the truth of these words of our Master.\nThose who are full of activity in winning others to Christ are those who\nare full of joy in Christ Himself.\n\nIf you wish to be a happy Christian; if you wish to be a strong\nChristian, if you wish to be a Christian who is mighty in prayer, begin\nat once to work for the Master and never let a day pass without doing\nsome definite work for Him. But how can a young Christian work for Him?\nHow can a young Christian bear fruit? The answer is very simple and very\neasy to follow. You can bear fruit for your Master by going to others and\ntelling them what your Saviour has done for you, and by urging them to\naccept this same Saviour and showing them how to do it. There is no other\nwork in the world that is so easy to do, so joyous, and so abundant in\nits fruitfulness, as personal hand to hand work. The youngest Christian\ncan do personal work. Of course, he cannot do it so well as he will do\nit later, after he has had more practice. But the way to learn how to do\nit is by doing it. I have known thousands of Christians all around the\nworld who have begun to work for Christ, and to bring others to Christ,\nthe very day that they were converted. How often young men and young\nwomen, yes, and old men and old women too, have come to me and said, \u201cI\naccepted Jesus Christ last night as my Saviour, my Lord and my King, and\nto-night I have led a friend to Christ.\u201d Then the next day they would\ncome and tell me of some one else they had led to Christ. When we were\nin Sheffield, a young man working in a warehouse accepted Christ. Before\nthe month\u2019s mission in Sheffield was over he had led thirty others to\nChrist, many of them in the same warehouse where he himself worked. This\nis but one instance among many. There are many books that tell how to do\npersonal work.[3]\n\nBut one does not need to wait until they have read some book on the\nsubject before they begin. One of the commonest and greatest mistakes\nthat is made is that of frittering one\u2019s life away in getting ready to\nget ready to get ready. Some never do get ready. The way to get ready is\nto begin at once. Make up your mind that you will speak about accepting\nChrist to at least one person every day. Early in his Christian life Mr.\nMoody made this resolution that he would never let a day pass over his\nhead without speaking to at least one person about Christ. One night he\nwas returning late from his work. As he got near home it occurred to him\nthat he had not spoken to any one that day. He said to himself, \u201cIt is\ntoo late now. I will not get an opportunity. Here will be one day gone\nwithout my speaking to any one about Christ.\u201d But a little ways ahead of\nhim he saw a man standing under a lamp-post. He said, \u201cHere is my last\nopportunity.\u201d The man was a stranger to him, though he knew who Mr. Moody\nwas. Mr. Moody hurried up to him and asked him, \u201cAre you a Christian?\u201d\nThe man replied, \u201cThat is none of your business. If you were not a sort\nof a preacher I would knock you into the gutter.\u201d But Mr. Moody spoke a\nfew faithful words to him and passed on. The next day this man called on\none of Mr. Moody\u2019s business friends in Chicago in great indignation. He\nsaid, \u201cThat man Moody of yours over on the Northside is doing more harm\nthan he is good. He has zeal without knowledge. He came up to me last\nnight, a perfect stranger, and asked me if I was a Christian. He insulted\nme. I told him if he had not been a sort of preacher I would have knocked\nhim into the gutter.\u201d Mr. Moody\u2019s friend called him in and said to\nhim, \u201cMoody, you are doing more harm than good. You have zeal without\nknowledge. You insulted a friend of mine on the street last night.\u201d Mr.\nMoody went out somewhat crestfallen, feeling that perhaps he was doing\nmore harm than good, that perhaps he did have zeal without knowledge.\nBut some weeks after, late at night, there was a great pounding on his\ndoor. Mr. Moody got out of bed and rushed to the door supposing that the\nhouse was on fire. That same man stood at the door. He said, \u201cMr. Moody,\nI have not had a night\u2019s rest since you spoke to me that night under the\nlamp-post and I have come around for you to tell me what to do to be\nsaved.\u201d Mr. Moody had the joy that night of leading that man to Christ.\nIt is better to have zeal without knowledge than to have knowledge\nwithout zeal, but it is better yet to have zeal with knowledge, and any\none may have this. The way to get knowledge is by experience, and the\nway to get experience is by doing the work. The man who is so afraid of\nmaking blunders that he never does anything, never learns anything.\nThe man who goes ahead and does his best and is willing to risk the\nblunders, is the man who learns to avoid the blunders in the future. Some\nof the most gifted men I have ever known have never really accomplished\nanything, they were so fearful of making blunders. Some of the most\nuseful men I have ever known were men who at the outset were the least\npromising, but who had a real love for souls and went on, at first in a\nblundering way, but they blundered on until they learned by experience\nto do things well. Do not be discouraged by your blunders. Pitch in and\nkeep pegging away. Every honest mistake is but a stepping-stone to future\nsuccess. Try every day to lead some one else to Christ. Of course, you\nwill not succeed every day, but the work will do you good any way, and\nyears after you will often find that where you thought you have made the\ngreatest blunders, you have accomplished the best results. The man who\ngets angriest at you, will often turn out in the end the man who is most\ngrateful to you. Be patient and hope on. Never be discouraged.\n\nMake a prayer list. Go alone with God. Write down at the top of a\nsheet of paper, \u201cGod helping me, I promise to pray daily and to work\npersistently for the conversion of the following persons.\u201d Then kneel\ndown and ask God to show you who to put on that list. Do not make the\nlist so long that your prayer and work become mechanical and superficial.\nAfter you have made the list keep your covenant, really pray for them\nevery day. Watch for opportunities to speak to them\u2014improve these\nopportunities. You may have to watch long for your opportunities with\nsome of them, and you may have to speak often, but never give up. I\nprayed about fifteen years for one man, one of the most discouraging\nmen I ever met, but I saw that man converted at last, and I saw him\na preacher of the gospel, and many others were converted through his\npreaching, and now he is in the Glory.\n\nLearn to use tracts. Get a few good tracts that are fitted to meet the\nneeds of different kinds of people. Then hand these tracts out to the\npeople whose needs they are adapted to meet. Follow your tracts up with\nprayer and with personal effort.\n\nGo to your pastor and ask him if there is some work he would like to have\nyou do for him in the church. Be a person that your pastor can depend\nupon. We live in a day in which there are many kinds of work going on\noutside the church, and many of these kinds of work are good and you\nshould take part in them as you are able, but never forget that your\nfirst duty is to the church of which you are a member. Be a person that\nyour pastor can count on. It may be that your pastor may not want to use\nyou, but at least give him the chance of refusing you. If he does refuse\nyou, don\u2019t be discouraged, but find work somewhere else. There is plenty\nto do and few to do it. It is as true to-day as it was in the days of\nour Saviour, \u201cThe harvest truly is plenteous but the labourers are few\u201d\n(Matt. 9: 37), \u201cPray therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send\nforth labourers into His harvest,\u201d and pray that He will send you (Matt.\n9: 38). The right kind of men are needed in the ministry. The right kind\nof men and women are needed for foreign mission work, but you may not be\nthe right kind of a man or woman for foreign missionary work, but none\nthe less there is work for you to do just as important in its place as\nthe work of the minister or the missionary is. See that you fill your\nplace and fill it well.[4]\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\nFOREIGN MISSIONS\n\n\nIn order to have the largest success in the Christian life one must be\ninterested in foreign missions. The last command of our Lord before\nleaving this earth was, \u201cGo ye therefore, and make disciples of all the\nnations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son and\nof the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have\ncommanded you: and lo, I am with you alway even unto the end of the\nworld\u201d (Matt. 28: 19, 20, R. V.). Here is a command and a promise. It\nis one of the sweetest promises in the Bible. But the enjoyment of the\npromise is conditioned upon obedience to the command. Our Lord commands\nevery one of His disciples to go and \u201cmake disciples\u201d of all the nations.\nThis command was not given to the apostles alone, but to every member of\nChrist\u2019s church in all ages. If we go, then Christ will be with us even\nunto the end of the age; but, if we do not go, we have no right to count\nupon His companionship. Are you going? How can we go? There are three\nways in which we can go, and in at least two of these ways we must go if\nwe are to enjoy the wonderful privilege of the personal companionship of\nJesus Christ every day unto the end of the age.\n\n1. First, _many of us can go in our own persons_. Many of us ought to\ngo. God does not call every one of us to go as foreign missionaries,\nbut He does call many of us to go who are not responding to the call.\nEvery Christian should offer himself for the foreign field and leave the\nresponsibility of choosing him or refusing him to the all-wise One, God\nHimself. No Christian has a right to stay at home until he has gone and\noffered himself definitely to God for the foreign field. If you have\nnot done it before, do it to-day. Go alone with God and say, \u201cHeavenly\nFather, here I am, Thy property, purchased by the precious blood of\nChrist. I belong to Thee. If Thou dost wish me in the foreign field, make\nit clear to me and I will go.\u201d Then keep watching for the leading of God.\nGod\u2019s leading is clear leading. He is light and in Him is no darkness at\nall (1 John 1: 5). If you are really willing to be led, He will make it\nclear as day. Until He does make it clear as day, you need have no morbid\nanxiety that perhaps you are staying at home when you ought to go to the\nforeign field. If He wants you, He will make it clear as day in His own\nway and time. If He does make it clear, then prepare to go step by step\nas He leads you. And when His hour comes, go, no matter what it costs. If\nHe does not make it clear that you ought to go in your own person, stay\nat home and do your duty at home and go in the other ways that will now\nbe told.\n\n2. _We all can go, and all ought to go to the foreign field by our\ngifts._ There are many who would like to go to the foreign field in\ntheir own person, but whom God providentially prevents, but who are\nstill going in the missionaries they support or help to support. It is\npossible for you to preach the Gospel in the remotest corners of the\nearth by supporting or helping to support a foreign missionary or a\nnative worker in that place. Many who read this book are able financially\nto support a foreign missionary out of their own pocket. If you are able\nto do it, do it. If you are not able to support a foreign missionary,\nyou may be able to support a native helper\u2014do it. You may be able to\nsupport one missionary in Japan and another in China, and another in\nIndia and another in Africa and another somewhere else\u2014do it. Oh! the\njoy of preaching the Gospel in lands that we shall never see with our\nown eyes. How few in the church of Christ to-day realize their privilege\nof preaching the Gospel and saving men and women and children in distant\nlands by sending substitute missionaries to them, that is, by sending\nsome one that goes for you where you cannot go yourself. They could\nnot go but for your gifts by which they are supported and you could\nnot go but for them, by their going in your place. You may be able to\ngive but very little to foreign missions, but every little counts. Many\ninsignificant streams together make a mighty river. If you cannot be a\nriver, at least be a stream.\n\nLearn to give largely. The large giver is the happy Christian. \u201cThe\nliberal soul shall be made fat\u201d (Prov. 11: 25). \u201cHe which soweth\nsparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully\nshall reap also bountifully,\u201d and \u201cGod is able to make all grace abound\ntowards you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things may\nabound to every good work\u201d (2 Cor. 9: 8, 9). Success and growth in the\nChristian life depend upon few things more than upon liberal giving.\nThe stingy Christian cannot be a growing Christian. It is wonderful how\na Christian man begins to grow when he begins to give. Power in prayer\ndepends on liberality in giving. One of the most wonderful statements\nabout prayer and its answers is 1 John 3: 22. John says there that,\nwhatsoever he asked of God he received; and he tells us why, because he\non his part, kept God\u2019s commandments and did those things which were\npleasing in His sight, and the immediate context shows that the special\ncommandments he was keeping were the commandments about giving. He tells\nus in the twenty-first verse that when our heart condemns us not in the\nmatter of giving then have we confidence in our prayers to God. God\u2019s\nanswers to our prayers come in through the same door that our gifts go\nout to others, and some of us open the door such a little ways by our\nsmall giving that God is not able to pass in to us any large answers to\nour prayers. One of the most remarkable promises in the Bible is that\nfound in Phil. 4: 19, \u201cMy God shall supply (R. V., fulfill, that is fill\nfull) all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus,\u201d\nbut this promise was made to believers who had distinguished themselves\nabove their fellows by the largeness and the frequency of their giving\n(Cf. vs. 14-18). Of course, we should not confine our giving to foreign\nmissions. We should give to the work of the home church: we should give\nto rescue work in our large cities. We should do good to all men as we\nhave opportunity, especially to those who are of the household of faith\n(Gal. 6: 10). But foreign missions should have a large part in our gifts.\n\nGive systematically. Set aside for Christ a fixed proportion of all the\nmoney or goods you get. Be exact and honest about it. Don\u2019t use that\npart of your income for yourself under any circumstances. The Christian\nis not under law, and there is no law binding on the Christian that he\nshould give a tenth of his income, but as a matter of free choice and\nglad gratitude a tenth is a good proportion to begin with. Don\u2019t let it\nbe less than a tenth. God required that of the Jews and the Christian\nought not to be more selfish than a Jew. After you have given your tenth,\nyou will soon learn the joy of giving free will offerings in addition to\nthe tenth.\n\n3. But there is another way in which we can go to the foreign field,\nthat is by our prayers. We can all go in this way. Any hour of the day\nor night you can reach any corner of the earth by your prayers. I go to\nJapan, to China and to Australia and to Tasmania and to New Zealand and\nto India and to Africa and to other parts of the earth every day, by my\nprayers. And prayer really brings things to pass where you go. Do not\nmake prayer an excuse for not going in your own person if God wishes you,\nand do not make prayer an excuse for small giving. There is no power in\nthat kind of prayer. If you are ready to go yourself if God wishes you,\nand if you are actually going by your gifts as God gives you ability,\nthen you can go effectually by your prayers also. The greatest need of\nthe work of Jesus Christ to-day is prayer. The greatest need of foreign\nmissions to-day is prayer. Foreign missions are a success, but they\nare no such success as they ought to be and might be. They are no such\nsuccess as they would be if Christians at home, as well as abroad, were\nliving up to the full measure of their opportunity in prayer.\n\nBe definite in your prayers for foreign missions. Pray first of all\nthat God will send forth labourers into His harvest, the right sort of\nlabourers. There are many men and women in the foreign field that ought\nnever to have gone there. There was not enough prayer about it. More\nforeign missionaries are greatly needed, but only more of the right\nkind of missionaries. Pray to God daily and believingly to send forth\nlabourers into the harvest.\n\nPray for the labourers who are already on the field. No class of men and\nwomen need our prayers more than foreign missionaries. No class of men\nand women are objects of more bitter hatred from Satan than they. Satan\ndelights to attack the reputation and the character of the brave men and\nwomen who have gone to the front in the battle for Christ and the Truth.\nNo persons are subjected to so numerous and to such subtle and awful\ntemptations as foreign missionaries. We owe it to them to support them by\nour prayers. Do not merely pray for foreign missionaries in general. Have\na few special missionaries of whose work you make a study that you may\npray intelligently for them.\n\nPray for the native converts. We Christians at home think we have\ndifficulties and trials and temptations and persecutions, but the burdens\nthat we have to bear are nothing to what the converts in heathen lands\nhave to bear. The obstacles oftentimes are enormous and discouragements\ncrushing. Christ alone can make them stand, but He works in answer to the\nprayers of His people. Pray often, pray earnestly, pray intensely and\npray believingly for native converts. How wonderfully God has answered\nprayer for native converts we are beginning to learn from missionary\nliterature. It is well to be definite here again and to have some\ndefinite field about whose needs you keep yourself informed and pray\nfor the converts of that field. Do not have so many that you become\nconfused and mechanical. Pray for conversions in the foreign field. Pray\nfor revivals in definite fields. The last few years have been years of\nspecial prayer for special revival in foreign fields and from every\ncorner of the earth tidings have come of how amazingly God is answering\nthese prayers. But the great things that God is beginning to do are small\nindeed in comparison with what He will do if there is more prayer.\n\n\n\n\nXII\n\nCOMPANIONS\n\n\nOur companions have a great deal to do with determining our character.\nThe companionships that we form create an intellectual, moral and\nspiritual atmosphere that we are constantly breathing, and our spiritual\nhealth is helped or hindered by it. Every young Christian should have\na few wisely chosen friends, intimate friends, with whom he can talk\nfreely. Search out for yourself a few persons of about your own age\nwith whom you can associate intimately. Be sure that they are spiritual\npersons in the best sense. Persons who love to study the Bible, persons\nwho love to converse on spiritual themes, persons who know how to pray\nand do pray, persons who are really working to bring others to Christ.\n\nDo not be at all uneasy about the fact that some Christian people are\nmore agreeable to you than others. God has made us in that way. Some\nare attracted to some persons and some to others, and it proves nothing\nagainst the others and nothing against yourself that you are not\nattracted to them as you are to some people. Cultivate the friendship of\nthose whose friendship you find helpful to your own spiritual life.\n\nOn the other hand avoid the companionships that you find spiritually and\nmorally hurtful. Of course, we are not to withdraw ourselves utterly\nfrom unconverted people, or even of very bad people. We are to cultivate\noftentimes the acquaintance of unspiritual people, and even of very bad\npeople, in order that we may win them for Christ; but we must always be\non our guard in such companionships to bear always in mind to seek to\nlift them up or else they will be sure to drag us down. If you find in\nspite of all your best effort that any companionship is doing harm to\nyour own spiritual life, then give it up. Some people are surrounded with\nsuch an atmosphere of unbelief or cynicism or censoriousness or impurity\nor greed or some other evil thing that it is impossible to associate with\nthem to any large extent without being contaminated. In such a case, the\npath of wisdom is plain; stop associating with them to any large extent.\nStop associating with them at all except in so far as there is some\nprospect of helping them.\n\nBut there are other companionships that mould our lives besides the\ncompanionships of living persons. The books that we read are our\ncompanions. They exert a tremendous influence for good or for evil. There\nis nothing that will help us more than a good book, and there is nothing\nthat will hurt us more than a bad book. Among the most helpful books are\nthe biographies of good men. Read again and again the lives of such good\nand truly great men as Wesley and Finney and Moody. We live in a day in\nwhich good biographies abound. Read them. Well written histories are good\ncompanions. No study is more practical and instructive than the study\nof history, and it is not only instructive but spiritually helpful if\nwe only watch to see the hand of God in history, to see the inevitable\ntriumph of right and the inevitable punishment of wrong in individuals\nand in nations.\n\nSome few books of fiction are helpful, but here one needs to be very much\non his guard. A large portion of modern fiction is positively pernicious\nmorally. Books of fiction that are not positively bad, at least give\nfalse views of life and unfit one for life as it really is. Much reading\nof fiction is mentally injurious. The inveterate novel reader ruins his\npowers of close and clear thinking. Fiction is so fascinating that it\nalways tends to drive out other reading that is more helpful mentally\nand morally. We should be on our guard in even reading good literature,\nthat the good does not crowd out the best; that is that the best of man\u2019s\nliterature does not crowd out the very best of all\u2014God\u2019s Book. God\u2019s\nBook, the Bible, must always have the first place.\n\nThen there is another kind of companionship that has a tremendous\ninfluence over our lives, that is the companionship of pictures. The\npictures that we see every day of our lives, and the pictures that we see\nonly occasionally, have a tremendous power in the shaping of our lives.\nA mother had two dearly loved sons. It was her dream and ambition that\nthese sons should enter the ministry, but both of them went to sea. She\ncould not understand it until a friend one day called her attention to\nthe picture of a magnificent ship in full sail careening through the\nocean that hung above the mantel in the dining-room. Every day of their\nlives her boys had gazed upon that picture, had been thrilled by it,\nand an unconquerable love for the sea and longing for it had thus been\ncreated and this had determined their lives. How many a picture that\nis a masterpiece of art, but in which there is an evil suggestion, has\nsent some young men on the road to ruin. Many of our art collections\nare so polluted with improper pictures that it is not safe for a young\nman or a young woman to visit them. The evil thought that they suggest\nmay be but for a moment, and yet Satan will know how to bring that\npicture back again and again and work injury by it. Don\u2019t look for a\nmoment at any picture, no matter how praised by art critics, that taints\nyour imagination with evil suggestion. Avoid as you would poison every\npainting, or engraving, every etching, every photograph that leaves a\nspot of impurity on your mind, but feast your soul upon the pictures that\nmake you holier, kinder, more sympathetic and more tender.\n\n\n\n\nXIII\n\nAMUSEMENTS\n\n\nYoung people need recreation. Our Saviour does not frown upon wholesome\nrecreation. He was interested in the games of the children when He was\nhere upon earth. He watched the children at their play (Matt. 12: 16-19),\nand He watches the children at their play to-day, and delights in their\nplay when it is wholesome and elevating. In the stress and strain of\nmodern life older people too need recreation if they are to do their very\nbest work. But there are recreations that are wholesome, and there are\namusements that are pernicious. It is impossible to take up amusements\none by one, and it is unnecessary. A few principles can be laid down.\n\n1. _Do not indulge in any form of amusement about whose propriety you\nhave any doubts._ Whenever you are in doubt, always give God the benefit\nof the doubt. There are plenty of recreations about which there can be no\nquestion. \u201cHe that doubteth is condemned: for whatsoever is not of faith\nis sin\u201d (Rom. 14: 32, R. V.). Many a young Christian will say, \u201cI am not\nsure that this amusement is wrong.\u201d Are you sure it is right? If not,\nleave it alone.\n\n2. _Do not indulge in any amusement that you cannot engage in to the\nglory of God._ \u201cWhether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do,\ndo all to the glory of God\u201d (1 Cor. 10: 31). Whenever you are in doubt as\nto whether you should engage in any amusement ask yourself, Can I do this\nat this time to the glory of God?\n\n3. _Do not engage in any amusement that will hurt your influence\nwith anybody._ There are amusements, which perhaps are all right in\nthemselves, but which we cannot engage in without losing our influence\nwith some one. Now every true Christian wishes his life to tell with\neverybody to the utmost. There is so much to be done and so few to do\nit that every Christian desires every last ounce of power for good that\nhe can have with everybody, and, if any amusement will injure your\ninfluence for good with any one, the price is too great. Do not engage\nin it. A Christian young lady had a great desire to lead others to\nChrist. She made up her mind that she would speak to a young friend of\nhers about coming to Christ, and while resting between the figures of\na dance she said to the young man who was her companion in the dance,\n\u201cGeorge, are you a Christian?\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d he said, \u201cI am not, are you?\u201d\n\u201cYes,\u201d she replied, \u201cI am.\u201d \u201cThen,\u201d he said, \u201cwhat are you doing here?\u201d\nWhether justly or unjustly the world discounts the professions of those\nChristians who indulge in certain forms of the world\u2019s own amusements. We\ncannot afford to have our professions thus discounted.\n\n4. _Do not engage in any amusement that you cannot make a matter of\nprayer_, that you cannot ask God\u2019s blessing upon. Pray before your play\njust as much as you would pray before your work.\n\n5. _Do not go to any place of amusement where you cannot take Christ with\nyou, and where you do not think Christ would feel at home._ Christ went\nto places of mirth when He was here upon earth. He went to the marriage\nfeast in Cana (John 2), and contributed to the joy of the occasion, but\nthere are many modern places of amusement where Christ would not be at\nhome. Would the atmosphere of the modern stage be congenial to that holy\nOne whom we call \u201cLord\u201d? If it would not, don\u2019t you go.\n\n6. _Don\u2019t engage in any amusement that you would not like to be found\nenjoying if the Lord should come._ He may come at any moment. Blessed is\nthat one whom when He cometh, He shall find watching and ready, and glad\nto open to Him immediately (Luke 12: 36, 40). I have a friend who was one\nday walking down the street thinking upon the return of his Lord. As he\nthought he was smoking a cigar. The thought came to him, \u201cWould you like\nto meet Christ now with that cigar in your mouth?\u201d He answered honestly,\n\u201cNo, I would not.\u201d He threw that cigar away and never lighted another.\n\n7. _Do not engage in any amusement, no matter how harmless it would be\nfor yourself, that might harm some one else._ Take for example card\nplaying. It is probable that thousands have played cards moderately all\ntheir lives and never suffered any direct moral injury from it, but\nevery one who has studied the matter knows that cards are the gamblers\u2019\nchosen tools. He also knows that most, if not all, gamblers took their\nfirst lessons in card playing at the quiet family card table. He knows\nthat if a young man goes out into the world knowing how to play cards\nand indulging at all in this amusement that before long he is going to\nbe put into a place where he is going to be asked to play cards for\nmoney, and if he does not consent he will get into serious trouble.\nCard playing is a dangerous amusement for the average young man. It is\npretty sure to lead to gambling on a larger or a smaller scale, and one\nof the most crying social evils of our time is the evil of gambling.\nSome young man may be encouraged to play cards by your playing who will\nafterwards become a gambler and part of the responsibility will lie at\nyour door. If I could repeat all the stories that have come to me from\nbroken-hearted men whose lives have been shipwrecked at the gaming table;\nif I could tell of all the broken-hearted mothers who have come to me,\nsome of them in high position, whose sons have committed suicide at Monte\nCarlo and other places, ruined by the cards, I think that all thoughtful\nand true Christians would give them up forever.\n\nFor most of us the recreations that are most helpful are those that\ndemand a considerable outlay of physical energy. Recreations that take\nus into the open air, recreations that leave us refreshed in body and\ninvigorated in mind. Physical exercises of the strenuous kind, but not\nover-exercise, is one of the great safeguards of the moral conduct of\nboys and young men. There is very little recreation in watching others\nplay the most vigorous game of football but there is real health for the\nbody and for the soul in a due amount of physical exercise for yourself.\n\n\n\n\nXIV\n\nPERSECUTION\n\n\nOne of the discouragements that meets every true Christian before he\nhas gone very far in the Christian life is persecution. God tells us in\nHis Word that \u201cAll that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer\npersecution\u201d (2 Tim. 3: 12). Sooner or later every one who surrenders\nabsolutely to God and seeks to follow Jesus Christ in everything will\nfind that this verse is true. We live in a God-hating world and in a\ncompromising age. The world\u2019s hatred of God in our day is veiled. It does\nnot express itself in our land in the same way that it expressed itself\nin Palestine in the days of Jesus Christ, but the world hates God to-day\nas much as it ever did, and it hates the one who is loyal to Christ.\nIt may not imprison him or kill him but in some way it will persecute\nhim. Persecution is inevitable for a loyal follower of Jesus Christ.\nMany a young Christian when he meets with persecution is surprised and\ndiscouraged and not a few fall away. Many a one seems to run well for\na few days but like those of whom Jesus spoke, \u201cThey have no root in\nthemselves, but endure for a while; then when tribulation or persecution\nariseth because of the Word straightway they stumble\u201d (Mark 4: 17). I\nhave seen many an apparently promising Christian life brought to an end\nin this way. But if persecution is rightly received, it is no longer a\nhindrance to the Christian life but a help to it.\n\nDo not be discouraged when you are persecuted. No matter how fierce and\nhard the persecution may be, be thankful for it. Jesus says, \u201cBlessed\nare they which are persecuted for righteousness\u2019 sake: for theirs is\nthe kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and\npersecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely,\nfor My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward\nin heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you\u201d\n(Matt. 5: 10-12). It is a great privilege to be persecuted for Christ\nand for the truth. Peter found this out and wrote to the Christians\nof his day: \u201cBeloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial\nwhich is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. But\nrejoice, inasmuch, as ye are partakers of Christ\u2019s suffering; that, when\nHis glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If\nye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit\nof glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part He is evil spoken\nof, but on your part He is glorified\u201d (1 Peter 4: 12-14). Be very sure\nthat the persecution is really for Christ\u2019s sake and not because of some\neccentricity of your own, or because of your stubbornness. There are\nmany who bring upon themselves the displeasure of others because they\nare stubborn and cranky and then flatter themselves that they are being\npersecuted for Christ\u2019s sake and for righteousness\u2019 sake. Be considerate\nof the opinions of others and be considerate of the conduct of others. Be\nsure that you do not push your opinions upon others in an unwarrantable\nway, or make your conscience a rule of life for other people. But never\nyield a jot of principle. Stand for what you believe to be the truth.\nDo it in love, but do it at any cost. And if when you are standing for\nconviction and principle you are disliked for it and slandered for it\nand treated with all manner of unkindness because of it, do not be sad\nbut rejoice. Do not speak evil of those who speak evil of you, \u201cbecause\nChrist also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow\nHis steps: who, when He was reviled, reviled not again, when He suffered,\nHe threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously\u201d\n(1 Peter 2: 21, 23).\n\nAt this point many a Christian makes a mistake. He stands loyally for the\ntruth, but he receives the persecution that comes for the truth with\nharshness, he grows bitter, he gets to condemning every one but himself.\nThere is no blessing in bearing persecution in that way. Persecution\nshould be borne meekly, lovingly, serenely. Don\u2019t talk about your own\npersecutions. Rejoice in them. Thank God for them, and go on obeying God.\nAnd don\u2019t forget to love and pray for them who persecute you (Matt. 5:\n44).\n\nIf at any time the persecution seems harder than you can bear, remember\nhow abundant the reward is, \u201cIf we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.\nIf we deny Him, He also will deny us\u201d (2 Tim. 2: 12). Every one must\nenter into the kingdom of God through much tribulation (Acts 14: 22),\nbut do not go back on that account. Remember always however fiercely the\nfire of persecution may burn, \u201cThat the sufferings of this present time\nare not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in\nus\u201d (Rom. 8: 18). Remember too that your light affliction is but for the\nmoment, and that it worketh out for you \u201ca far more exceeding and eternal\nweight of glory\u201d (2 Cor. 4: 17). Keep looking, not at the things which\nare seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which\nare seen are but for a time, but the things which are not seen are for\neternity (2 Cor. 4: 18). When the apostles were persecuted, even unto\nimprisonment and stripes, they departed from the presence of the council\nthat had ordered their terrible punishment, rejoicing that they were\ncounted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus, and they continued\ndaily in the temple and every house teaching and preaching Jesus Christ\n(Acts 5: 40-42).\n\nThe time may come when you think that you are being persecuted more than\nothers, but you do not know what others may have to endure. Even if it\nwere true,\u2014that you were being persecuted more than any one else, you\nought not to complain but to humbly thank God that He has bestowed upon\nyou such an honour. Keep your eyes fixed upon \u201cJesus, the Author and\nFinisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured\nthe cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of\nthe throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of\nsinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your mind\u201d (Heb.\n12: 2, 3). I was once talking with an old coloured man who in the slave\ndays had found his Saviour. The cruel master had him flogged again and\nagain for his loyalty to Christ but he said to me, \u201cI simply thought\nof my Saviour dying on the cross in my place, and I rejoiced to suffer\npersecution for Him.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nXV\n\nGUIDANCE\n\n\nI have met a great many who are trying to lead a Christian life who are\nmuch troubled over the question of guidance. They wish to do the will of\nGod in all things, but what puzzles them is to tell what the will of God\nmay be in every case. When any one starts out with the determination to\nobey God in everything and to be led by the Holy Spirit, Satan seeks to\ntrouble him by perplexing him as to what the will of God is. Satan comes\nand suggests that something is the will of God that is probably not the\nwill of God at all, and then when he does not do it, Satan says, \u201cThere\nyou disobeyed God.\u201d In this way, many a conscientious young Christian\ngets into a very morbid and unhappy state of mind, fearing that he has\ndisobeyed God and has lost His favour. This is one of the most frequent\ndevices of the devil to keep Christians from being cheerful.\n\nHow may we know the will of God?\n\nFirst of all let me say that a true Christian life is not a life governed\nby a whole lot of rules about what one shall eat, and what one shall\ndrink, and what one shall do, and what one shall not do. A life governed\nby a lot of rules is a life of bondage. One is sure sooner or later to\nbreak some of these man-made rules and to get into condemnation. Paul\ntells us in Rom. 8: 15, \u201cYe have not received the spirit of bondage\nagain to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption (placing us a\nson), whereby we cry, Abba, Father.\u201d The true Christian life is the life\nof a trusting, glad, fear-free child; not led by rules, but led by the\npersonal guidance of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. \u201cAs many as\nare led by the Spirit of God these are sons of God\u201d (Rom. 8: 14, R. V.).\nIf you have received the Holy Spirit, He dwells within you and is ready\nto lead you at every turn of life. A life governed by a multitude of\nrules is a life of bondage and anxiety. A life surrendered to the control\nof the Holy Spirit is a life of joy and peace and freedom. There is no\nanxiety in such a life, there is no fear in the presence of God. We trust\nGod and rejoice in His presence just as a true child trusts his earthly\nfather and rejoices in his presence. If we make a mistake at any point,\neven if we disobey God, we go and tell Him all about it as trustfully as\na child and know that He forgives us and that we are restored at once to\nHis full favour (1 John 1: 9).\n\nBut how can we tell the Holy Spirit\u2019s guidance that we may obey Him and\nthus have God\u2019s favour at every turn of life? This question is answered\nin James 1: 5-7, R. V., \u201cBut if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask\nof God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall\nbe given him, but let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that\ndoubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. For\nlet not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.\u201d This\nis very simple. It includes five points.\n\n(1) That you recognize your own ignorance and your own inability to guide\nyour own life\u2014that you lack wisdom.\n\n(2) The surrender of your will to God, and a real desire to be led by Him.\n\n(3) Definite prayer to Him for guidance.\n\n(4) Confident expectation that God will guide you. You \u201cask in faith,\nnothing doubting.\u201d\n\n(5) That you follow step by step as He guides. God may only show you a\nstep at a time. That is enough. All you need to know is the next step. It\nis here that many make a mistake. They wish God to show them the whole\nway before they take the first step. A university student once came to\nme over the question of guidance. He said, \u201cI cannot find out the will\nof God. I have been praying but God does not show me His will.\u201d This was\nin the month of July. I said, \u201cAbout what is it that you are seeking to\nknow the will of God?\u201d \u201cAbout what I should do next summer.\u201d I said, \u201cDo\nyou know what you ought to do to-morrow?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cDo you not know what\nyou ought to do next autumn?\u201d \u201cYes, finish my course. But what I want to\nknow is what I ought to do when my university course is over.\u201d He was\nsoon led to see that all he needed to know for the present was what God\nhad already shown him. That when he did that, God would show him the next\nstep. Do not worry about what you ought to do next week. Do what God\nshows you you ought to do to-day. Next week will take care of itself.\nIndeed, to-morrow will take care of itself. Obey the Spirit of God for\nto-day. \u201cBe not therefore anxious for the morrow; for the morrow will be\nanxious for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil\nthereof\u201d (Matt. 6: 34, R. V.). It is enough to live a day at a time, if\nwe do our very best for that day.\n\nGod\u2019s guidance is clear guidance, \u201cGod is light and in Him is no darkness\nat all\u201d (1 John 1: 5). Do not be anxious over obscure leadings. Do not\nlet your soul be ruffled by the thought, \u201cPerhaps this obscure leading\nis what God wants me to do.\u201d Obscure leadings are not divine leadings.\nGod\u2019s path is as clear as day. Satan\u2019s path is full of obscurity and\nuncertainty and anxiety and questioning. If there comes some leading\nof which you are not quite sure whether it is the will of God or not,\nsimply go to your Heavenly Father and say, \u201cHeavenly Father, I desire to\nknow Thy will. I will do Thy will if Thou wilt make it clear. But Thou\nart light and in Thee is no darkness at all. If this is Thy will make it\nclear as day and I will do it.\u201d Then wait quietly upon God and do not act\nuntil God makes it clear, but the moment it is made clear, act at once.\n\nThe whole secret of guidance is an absolutely surrendered will, a will\nthat is given up to God and ready to obey Him at any cost. Many of our\nuncertainties about God\u2019s guidance are simply because we are not really\nwilling to do what God is really guiding us to do. We are tempted to say,\n\u201cI cannot find out what God\u2019s will is,\u201d when the real trouble is we have\nfound out His will and it is something we do not wish to do and we are\ntrying to make ourselves think that God wants us to do something else.\n\nAll supposed leadings of God should be tested by the Word of God. The\nBible is God\u2019s revealed will. Any leading that contradicts the plain\nteaching of the Bible is certainly not the leading of the Holy Spirit.\nThe Holy Spirit does not contradict Himself. A man once came to me\nand said that God was leading him to marry a certain woman. He said\nthat she was a very devoted Christian woman and they had been greatly\ndrawn towards one another and they felt that God was leading them to be\nmarried. But I said to the man, \u201cYou already have a wife.\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d he\nsaid, \u201cbut we have never lived happily and we have not lived together for\nyears.\u201d \u201cBut,\u201d I replied, \u201cthat does not alter the case. God in His Word\nhas told us distinctly the duty of the husband to the wife and how wrong\nit is in His sight for a husband to divorce his wife and marry another.\u201d\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the man, \u201cbut the Holy Spirit is leading us to one another.\u201d\nI indignantly replied that \u201cWhatever spirit is leading you to marry one\nanother, it is certainly not the Holy Spirit but the spirit of the evil\none. The Holy Spirit never leads any one to disobey the Word of God.\u201d\n\nIn seeking to know the guidance of the Spirit always search the\nScriptures, study them prayerfully. Do not make a book of magic out of\nthe Bible. Do not ask God to show you His will and then open your Bible\nat random and put your finger upon some text and take it out of its\nconnection without any relation to its real meaning and decide the will\nof God in that way. This is an irreverent and improper use of Scripture.\nYou may open your Bible at just the right place to find right guidance,\nbut if you do, it will not be by some fanciful interpretation of the\npassage you find. It will be by taking the passage in its context and\ninterpreting it to mean just what it says as seen in its context. All\nsorts of mischief has arisen from using the Bible in this perverse\nway. I knew an earnest Christian woman once who was somewhat concerned\nabout the predictions made by a false prophetess that Chicago was to be\ndestroyed on a certain day. She opened her Bible at random. It opened to\nthe twelfth chapter of Ezekiel, \u201cSon of man, eat thy bread with quaking,\nand drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness.\u2026 And the cities\nthat are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate\u201d\n(Ezek. 12: 18, 20). Now this seemed to exactly fit the case and the woman\nwas considerably impressed, but if the verses had been studied in their\nconnection, it would have been evident at once that God was not speaking\nabout Chicago and that they were not applicable to Chicago. It was not\nan intelligent study of the Word of God and therefore led to a false\nconclusion.\n\nTo sum up, lead a life not led by rules but by the personal guidance of\nthe Holy Spirit. Surrender your will absolutely to God. Whenever you\nare in doubt as to His guidance, go to Him and ask Him to show you His\nwill, expect Him to do it, follow step by step as He leads. Test all the\nleadings by the plain and simple teachings of the Bible. Live free from\nanxiety and worry lest in some unguarded moment you have not done the\nright thing.\n\nAfter you have done what you think God led you to do, do not be always\ngoing back and wondering whether you did the right thing. You will get\ninto a morbid state if you do. If you really wished to do God\u2019s will and\nsought His guidance, and did what you thought He guided you to do, you\nmay rest assured you did the right thing, no matter what the outcome has\nbeen. Satan is bound that we shall not be happy, cheerful Christians\nif he can prevent it, but God wishes us to be happy, cheerful, bright\nChristians every day and every hour. He does not wish us to brood but\nto rejoice (Phil. 4: 4). A most excellent Christian man came to me one\nMonday morning in great gloom over the failures of the work of the\npreceding day. He said to me, \u201cI made wretched work of teaching my\nSunday-school class yesterday.\u201d I said, \u201cDid you honestly seek wisdom\nfrom God before you went to your class?\u201d He said, \u201cI did.\u201d I said, \u201cDid\nyou expect to receive it?\u201d He said, \u201cI did.\u201d \u201cThen,\u201d I said, \u201cin the\nface of God\u2019s promise what right have you to doubt that God did give\nyou wisdom?\u201d (James 1: 5-7). His gloom disappeared and he looked up with\na smile and said, \u201cI had no right to doubt.\u201d Let us learn to trust God.\nLet us remember that if our wills are surrendered to Him He is ever more\nwilling to guide us than we are to be guided. Let us trust that He does\nguide us at every step and even though what we do does not turn out as we\nexpected, let us never brood over it but trust God. Let us walk in the\nlight of simple trust in God. In this way we shall be glad and peaceful\nand strong and useful at every turn of life.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n\n[1] The author has given some of the proofs that the Bible is the Word of\nGod in his book, \u201cTalks to Men.\u201d\n\n[2] If any reader desires more full and definite instruction on the\nsubject of prayer he is referred to the author\u2019s book, \u201cHow to Pray.\u201d\n\n[3] The author has written a little book on this line named \u201cHow to Bring\nMen to Christ\u201d that has proved helpful to many.\n\n[4] The author\u2019s book, \u201cHow to Work for Christ,\u201d is a large work\ndescribing at length many ways of working for our Master.\n\n\n\n\nEVANGELISTIC.\n\n\nThe Evangelistic Note\n\nA study of needs and methods, together with a series of direct appeals.\n\n3rd Edition. 12mo, Cloth, net $1.25.\n\n=W. J. DAWSON=\n\n\u201cOne of the most remarkable and stirring of recent books. It is really\nthe story of a great crisis in the life of a great preacher. Mr. Dawson\u2019s\nexperience in his own church has justified his faith, and his book is\na most stimulating treatise on homiletics and pastoral theology. It is\nepoch-making in character.\u201d\u2014_The Watchman._\n\n\nTorrey and Alexander\n\nThe Story of a World-Wide Revival\n\nA record and study of the work and personality of the Evangelists DR. R.\nA. TORREY, D. D., and CHARLES M. ALEXANDER.\n\nIllustrated, 12mo, Cloth, net $1.00.\n\n=GEORGE T. B. DAVIS=\n\nThe multitudes who have followed the marvellous progress of the religious\nawakening in Australasia, India, and Great Britain, accompanying\nthe efforts of these evangelists will eagerly welcome this glimpse\nfrom the inside of their career, personality and work. Mr. Davis has\nbeen associated in a confidential capacity with the work of the two\nevangelists, and writes with keen appreciation of the interesting facts\nin stirring language.\n\n\nReal Salvation and Whole-Hearted Service\n\nA second volume of Revival Addresses.\n\n12mo, Cloth, net $1.00.\n\n=R. A. TORREY=\n\nThe multitudes led to decision in connection with the preaching of these\nsermons, gives assurance that their influence will be extended far beyond\nthe reach of the speaker\u2019s voice. Positive conviction and a loving plea\nas from a God-sent messenger, are the marked features of this new volume.\n\n\nTalks to Men\n\nAbout the Bible and the Christ of the Bible.\n\n12mo, Cloth, net 75c.\n\n=R. A. TORREY=\n\n\u201cThe directness, simplicity, with wide scholarship and literary charm\nof these talks, and unhesitating claim for the highest and fullest\ninspiration, inerrancy and authority for the Bible, make them trumpet\ncalls to faith.\u201d\u2014_N. Y. Observer._\n\n\nThe Passion for Souls\n\n16mo, Cloth, net 50c.\n\n=J. H. JOWETT=\n\nSeven sermons on tenderness, watchfulness, companionship, rest and vision\nof the apostle Paul\u2019s passion for human souls. This little volume shows\nhis keen, reverent insight at its best and is made rich with abundant and\nwell chosen illustrations.\n\n\nThe Worker\u2019s Weapon\n\nIts Perfection, Authority and Use.\n\n16mo, Cloth, net 25 cents.\n\n=JOHN H. ELLIOTT=\n\n\u201cA fine presentation of the unquestionable authority of God\u2019s Word and\npointed and clear directions and illustrations of how to study and use\nthe Bible.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nBIOGRAPHICAL AND EVANGELISTIC.\n\n\nMaltbie Davenport Babcock\n\nA biographical sketch and memorial. With portrait. _2d edition_\n\n12mo, Cloth, $1.00.\n\n=CHARLES E. ROBINSON=\n\n\u201cIt was indeed hard to give any true presentment of a man like Babcock,\nso vivid, so dazzling at times, so lovable always; but the writer\u2019s\nsuccess is quite wonderful.\u201d\u2014_Henry Van-Dyke._\n\n\nJohn Henry Barrows\n\nA Memoir by his daughter, with 3 hitherto unpublished portraits.\n\n8vo, gilt top, net $1.50.\n\n=MARY ELEANOR BARROWS=\n\n\u201cThe whole story from beginning to end, at home and abroad, is nobly\nfascinating, and wherever read will do much to waken into fresh power\nthe higher ideals of life. Were it fact or fiction, a more absorbingly\ninteresting story has not appeared for a long time.\u201d\u2014_Chicago Tribune._\n\n\nWhat Frances Willard Said\n\n12mo, Cloth, net 75c.\n\nEdited by =ANNA A. GORDON=, World\u2019s Vice President of the W. C. T. U.\n\nSelections of most striking statements on a great variety of topics, and\nrepresenting the many really remarkable qualities of America\u2019s \u201cuncrowned\nqueen\u201d of women.\n\n\nThe Soul-Winning Church\n\n2nd Edition. 12mo, Cloth, net 50c.\n\n=LEN G. BROUGHTON=\n\n\u201cDr. Broughton, of Atlanta, is a well-known revivalist. Some of his most\neffective addresses in this country and in England are comprised in\nthis volume. They are plain, pungent, and spiritually quickening.\u201d\u2014_The\nOutlook._\n\n\nThe Awakening in Wales\n\nAnd Some of the Hidden Springs.\n\n12mo, Paper, net 25c.\n\n=MRS. JESSIE PENN-LEWIS=\n\nMrs. Penn-Lewis writes from first-hand information of the great revival\nmovement and the events that led up to it. It is doubtless the most\npowerful and inspiring record yet written of the great revival.\n\n\nThe Story of the Welsh Revival\n\n4th Edition. 16mo, Paper, net 15c.\n\n=ARTHUR GOODRICH, B.A.=\n\nAs told by eye witnesses, together with a sketch of Evan Roberts and his\nmessage to the world. With added chapters by G. Campbell Morgan, D. D.,\nW. T. Stead, Rev. W. W. Moore, Rev. Evan Hopkins and others.\n\n\nThe Open Church for the Unchurched, or How to Reach the Masses.\n\n12mo, Cloth, $1.00.\n\n=J. E. McCULLOCH=\n\nThe remarkable movement in British cities organized by the Wesleyan\nchurch for reaching the masses has here been described and its lessons\nstudied as applied to the needs of this country.\n\n\n\n\nIDEALS OF LIFE AND CONDUCT.\n\n\nThe Choice of the Highest\n\nCity Temple Talks to Young Men.\n\n12mo, Cloth, net $1.00.\n\n=REGINALD J. CAMPBELL, M.A.=\n\n\u201cThese messages to the great audiences of men of business are of a high\nlevel of thought and expression. They are especially directed to young\nmen, and present ideals of life and conduct in winning appeals. Mr.\nCampbell is a virile thinker with a fineness of feeling, which makes him\na power in the pulpit which he holds.\u201d\u2014_Christian Intelligencer._\n\n\nChristianity as Taught by Christ\n\nA series of discourses on the teachings of Jesus.\n\n12mo, Cloth, net $1.25.\n\n=HENRY STILES BRADLEY=\n\n\u201cBecause he knows the present conditions of New Testament lore and is\nalert with the spirits of modern life, Dr. Bradley\u2019s discourses possess\na value both unique and practical.\u2026 Stirring, instructive, simple, easy\nto read and easy to understand, appealing to faith and inciting to\npractice.\u201d\u2014_Atlanta Constitution._\n\n\nChrist and Men\n\n12mo, Cloth, net $1.20.\n\n=DAVID J. BURRELL=\n\nDr. Burrell\u2019s sermons have a standard quality that marks all of his\nwriting. This series of sermons is intended to set out the human side\nof Jesus\u2019 character as shown in his interviews with men, his tact, his\ndiscernment, his delicate handling of people.\n\n\nThe Apostle Peter\n\nOutline Studies in his Life, Character and Writings.\n\n12mo, Cloth, net $1.25.\n\n=W. H. GRIFFITH THOMAS=\n\n\u201cAn excellent example of what Biblical analysis should be and should\nlead to. It is scholarly, logical, perspicuous, and sets forth the main\ntruths of each passage treated in a particularly exact and luminous\nway.\u201d\u2014_Advance._\n\n\nThe Culture of Simplicity\n\nBy the author of \u201cHeavenly Harmonies.\u201d\n\n2nd Edition. 12mo, Cloth, net $1.00.\n\n=MALCOLM J. McLEOD=\n\n\u201cThe first suspicion of imitation is quickly dispelled. The book stands\non its own merits. More vivacious, more practical for the American reader\nthan Charles Wagner\u2019s \u2018The Simple Life.\u2019 It explains more clearly how\nthe life may be lived, and reaches the root of things in the Gospel of\nChrist.\u201d\u2014_Congregationalist._\n\n\nElims of Life\n\nAnd other sermons.\n\n12mo, Cloth, net $1.00.\n\n=J. D. JONES=\n\n\u201cMr. Jones is of the general type of thought with which Mr. Dawson of\nLondon has made so many American audiences familiar. In these discourses\nthe form is plain and lucid, the aim is practical.\u201d\u2014_The Outlook._\n\n\nYoung Men Who Overcame\n\n12mo, Cloth, net $1.00.\n\n=ROBERT E. SPEER=\n\n\u201cThese fifteen condensed biographies exhibit the power and beauty of\nChristian principle in strong and active natures, who made their mark\nin whatever they undertook\u2014athletics, scholarship, business, Christian\nmissions.\u201d\u2014_The Outlook._\n\n\n\n\nSTUDIES ON BIBLICAL THEMES.\n\n\nThe Witness of Sin\n\nA Theodicy\n\n12mo, Cloth, net $1.00.\n\n=NATHAN ROBINSON WOOD=\n\nA splendidly thought-out presentation of the problem presented by the\npresence of sin in a world dominated by God. Some sort of a theodicy,\nsome conception of the solution of this question is necessary to any\nreligious thinking. Mr. Wood\u2019s work is a marked addition to present-day\ntheology.\n\n\nThe Walk, Conversation and Character of Jesus Christ Our Lord\n\n12mo, Cloth, net $1.50.\n\n=ALEXANDER WHYTE=\n\n\u201cRich and glowing meditations on the life of our Lord. A genuine\ncontribution to Christology. What distinguishes it most is the author\u2019s\nsingularly clear perception of Christ alone without sin. While always\nin touch with real life, Dr. Whyte has that power of separating himself\nfrom the stream of things which is essential to a great religious\nteacher.\u201d\u2014_British Weekly_ (_Robertson Nicoll, Editor._)\n\n\nJesus of Nazareth, the Anointed of God\n\nOr, The Inner History of a Consecrated Life.\n\n12mo, Cloth, net 75c.\n\n=P. COOK, M.A.=\n\n\u201cAs a brief and concise summary, a bird\u2019s-eye view of the life of Jesus\nthis volume will be of value.\u201d\u2014_Reformed Church Messenger._\n\n\nThe Divine Tragedy\n\nA Drama of the Christ\n\n12mo, Cloth, net $1.00.\n\n=PEYTON H. HOGE=\n\nThe author\u2019s ambition is \u201cto tell in the most vivid and practical form\nfor men living in the world to-day the story of Jesus of Nazareth in\nits culminating scenes.\u201d One could exhaust adjectives in praise of the\nauthor\u2019s management of the dramatic form and his blank verse. It is a\nwonderful work. The dedicatory poem alone is of such surpassing beauty\nthat one will never forget it.\n\n\nThe Directory of the Devout Life\n\nA Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount.\n\n12mo, Cloth, net $1.00.\n\n=F. B. MEYER, M.A.=\n\n\u201cIn many respects the best writings Mr. Meyer has issued. They are\neminently practical, and the pointed and piercing ideas of the Master\nare explained and brought home to personal character and life in an\nilluminating and stimulating way.\u201d\u2014_Watchman._\n\n\nWith the Sorrowing\n\nA Pastor\u2019s Handbook.\n\n16mo, Cloth flex., net 75 cts.\n\nEdited by =F. W. PALMER=\n\nPresented with confidence to pastors, missionaries and other visitors\nin the homes of sorrow, as likely to prove a most valuable aid in their\ntrying experiences. Although primarily a service book for funerals,\nit is vastly more than this. With Scripture selections of exceptional\nsuggestive values and a collection of poems of comfort both rare and\nstriking the little volume will be greatly prized.\n\n\n\n\nDEVOTIONAL STUDIES.\n\n\nThe Christ of To-Day\n\nWhat? Whence? Whither?\n\n16mo, Boards, net 50c.\n\n=G. CAMPBELL MORGAN=\n\nA study originally presented from the platform of the Northfield\nConferences, awakening exceptional interest at the time. No more\nsuggestive work has appeared from Dr. Morgan\u2019s pen.\n\n\nThe Redeemed Life After Death\n\n16mo, Boards, net 50c.\n\n=CHARLES CUTHBERT HALL=\n\nNot a new theory of Immortality or a review of old theories, but a\npresentation with rare literary charm and with the comprehension of wide\nscholarship, of the grip of the Christian heart upon the life to come. It\nwill comfort and assure the sorrowing, guide and convince the inquiring.\n\n\nMoments of Silence\n\n12mo, Cloth, net $1.25.\n\n=ALEXANDER SMELLIE, M.A.=\n\nA book of daily meditations for a year.\n\n\nYet Another Day\n\n32mo, Cloth, net 25c. Leather, net 35c.\n\n=J. H. JOWETT, M.A.=\n\nA brief prayer for every day of the year, and it is not too much to say\nthat, although scarcely any one of them contains one hundred words and\nmost of them far less, they will drive straight to the heart as nothing\nthat ever came from Mr. Jowett\u2019s pen. It is an extraordinary little book,\nthe flower of the sweetest, open eyed love of Christ. The impression of a\nsingle page is indelible.\n\n\nThe Inner Chamber of the Inner Life\n\n12mo, Cloth, net 75c.\n\n=ANDREW MURRAY=\n\nSuggests thoughts of the utmost importance as to the daily need of\nretirement, the true spirit of prayer, the fellowship with God, and\nkindred topics.\n\n\nInter-Communion With God\n\n12mo, Cloth, net $1.00.\n\n=MARSHALL P. TALLING, PH.D.=\n\n\u201cFollows the theme of \u2018Extempore prayer,\u2019 along wider and higher lines.\nIn the present book, true prayer is shown to be an approach from both the\nhuman and the divine sides.\u201d\u2014_The Westminster._\n\n\nBible Etchings of Immortality\n\n12mo, Cloth, decorated, net 50c.\n\n=CAMDEN M. COBERN=\n\n\u201cThe consolatory character of this little book makes it a suitable gift\nto a bereaved friend.\u201d\u2014_Outlook._\n\n\nScripture Selections to Memorize\n\nWith hanger, net $1.00.\n\n=HELEN MILLER GOULD=\n\nA Wall Roll of passages emphasizing the power and love of God, the\ndignity of man, Christ as teacher, Redeemer, King. The life of the\nChristian, his duties, his final reward; prayer; worship; love.\nSelections from the Old and New Testaments, most helpful in strengthening\nfaith, and deepening personal devotion.\n\n\n\n\nBIBLICAL STUDIES.\n\n\nStudies in the Life of the Christian\n\nHis Faith and His Service.\n\n16mo, Cloth, net 50c.; paper, net 25c.\n\n=H. T. SELL=\n\nThis work, prepared especially for the use of Bible Classes and study\ncircles, forms the seventh of the series of most popular manuals by Dr.\nSell, and well completes the whole. Every phase of the Christian life and\nits relations is dealt with.\n\n\nOutline Studies in the New Testament\n\nPhilippians to Hebrews.\n\n12mo, Cloth, net $1.20.\n\n=PROF. WILLIAM G. MOOREHEAD=\n\n\u201cIt is a book for thoughtful students of the Bible and will be found very\nhelpful and satisfactory by preachers in preparation of sermons and by\nBible class teachers.\u201d\u2014_The Watchman._\n\n\nStudents Chronological New Testament\n\nWith historical notes and brief outline on each Book, by\n\n8vo, Cloth, net $1.00.\n\n=PROF. A. T. ROBERTSON=\n\n\u201cThe text used is taken from the American Standard edition of the revised\nversion, and the books are considered in accordance with the generally\naccepted theory of their chronology. Each book is preceded by a brief\nsynopsis and outline. The volume is designed for all readers and students\nof the New Testament.\u201d\u2014_Epworth Herald._\n\n\nThe Biblical Illustrator\n\nNew vols. in Old Testament Series.\n\nLarge 8vo, Cloth, $2.00 each vol. Edited by =JOSEPH S. EXELL=\n\n    Psalms, vol. 1 [Psa. i. to xxvi.].\n    Isaiah, vol. 1 [Chapter i. to xxx.].\n    Deuteronomy\u2014in one volume.\n    Jeremiah, vol. 1.\n    Minor Prophets, vol. 1.\n    Minor Prophets, vol. 2.\n\n\nThe Men of the Bible by the Men of the Century\n\nIn Seventeen Handsome Cloth Volumes\n\nFormerly $17.00, now $6.00 net, per set.\n\nEdited by =JOSEPH S. EXELL, M. A.=\n\nAbraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Gideon and Judges, Kings of\nIsrael and Judah, David, Solomon, Samuel, and Saul, Daniel, Elijah,\nIsaiah, Jeremiah, Ezra and Nehemiah, Minor Prophets, St. Paul, Jesus\nChrist. _Send for circular of our special terms._\n\n\n\n\nBOOKLETS.\n\n\nWaxwing\n\nThe Story of a College Girl\u2019s Awakening.\n\nBoards, 30c.\n\n=CAROLINE ATWATER MASON=\n\nThe story of a healthy-minded college girl whose views of life are\ntransformed by the accidental meeting with a returned missionary.\n\n\nBreaking the Record.\n\nThe Swan Creek Blizzard.\n\nTwo booklets by the author of The Sky Pilot, The Prospector, etc.\n\nArt boards, each 30c.\n\n=RALPH CONNOR=\n\nSure to receive a large welcome among many admirers.","title":"How to Succeed in the Christian Life","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":28231}