Greetings to our radio listeners, because Christ is alive and offers life We bring to you the good news of the gospel, and it is our desire that all who are dead in trespasses and in sin will listen carefully and prayerfully as we present the offer of life, eternal life, in the person of God's beloved Son. Our hymns of praise are unto him who loved us and loosed us from our sins. This is Welcome Datwiler speaking. the bridegroom. The bridegroom. The bridegroom. The bridegroom. The bridegroom. Oh, is Christ your glory, and good your honor all? Y'all leave your strength with chasm of life, held in eternal blood. Forgive the Lord of all, and there is thy depart. Where the strength of Jesus Christ is your thanks of the Lord. and saving his great life with all his great gifts and made to part with all the light so that a free of God shall have ever come of your complex heart. He came from to Christ alone, and led him to God at last. He took your garden with growing their love of God. They gave every virtue, every grace, and glorified the whole. Some saints have praise the Lord. They are the world of your kingdom, and with your will so dear. Now will you join me in prayer, our gracious Father. We thank thee for the privilege we have of proclaiming the wonderful story of thy love and grace, and we ask that thou wilt prepare the hearts of those that are listening so that thy word may be of profit to their souls. We give thee our thanks for the Lord Jesus Christ and all that he means to those who know him as Savior in his worthy and precious name. Amen. Now listen to the Gospel Sitter Male Quartet, Thornton McGee, Wallace Jackson, Tyson Wren, and Dallas Jones as they sing, Wondering Child, O Come Home. Let you wander away from your father's care, heavy-hearted and sad to your own. There's a sweet, gentle voice calling now to you. Wandering child, wandering child, oh, come home. Child, come home. Child, come home. Wandering child, my love, my love. Our father is raging, Wondering child, come home. Is your frail barker drift on life's raging sea? Are you tossed on its billows and foam? There's a safe harbor home waiting now for you. Wandering child, wandering child, oh, come home. Child, come home. Child, come home. Wandering child, my love. surrounding, wandering child, oh, come home. He is pleading today, he is gentle voice, as he bid you no longer to roam. To that dear Father's house, haste without delay, Wondering child, wandering child, oh come home. Child come home, child come home, wandering child while a girl is rather entrenched, wandering child, I'll come home. We thank thee, Lord, for such a blessed object as thou thyself in glory on the throne, and pray that we with hearts and minds made subject may learn of thee as thou in heaven art known. And too, O Lord, for love so great and boundless which brought thee down to suffer on the tree, love which hath thrown its mighty arms around us, and called us sharers of that love to be. Love now made known to us in death relations, brought in as sons before the Father's face, brought in by thee head of the new creation, glorious firstborn of the heavenly race. No love but thine could make our hearts so tender. No love but thine could melt our hearts of stone. And now the answer is in our surrender, that we delight thy blessed name to own. And owning thee, the world would only hate us. Then give us, Lord, thy love's deep depths to prove. And to, O Lord, thy sympathy so precious that suckers us in every step to move. Tis sweet the thought that thou art soon returning, to call us to that home so bright and fair, and that thy love of which we now are learning throughout eternity with thee will share. We thank thee, Lord, for thought so sweet and precious, of thy blessed love while pilgrims here we roam. Thought thou thyself are giving to refresh us, till thou dost come to take us ever home. Thank you. Nothing every day Nothing will not go away Even if I take it all But it seems not to have been gone But we have no open sight What we do, what we know, what we keep of sight is all. What we keep of sight is all. Why we look with spirit shine, Make the name for God of life, why we Just be Jesus, that is God. Just be as the moment's life. Just be as the day of love. Just be as the day of love. Just be before. Just be Jesus, just be Nothing is my life till then, nothing is till death be done, till we live to death alone. Nothing need of every law, nothing as a moment's time, nothing as a day's life, nothing as a day's life. Up times the day seems long, our trials hard to bear. We've tended to complain, to murder and despair. But Christ will soon appear to catch his pride away, all tears forever over, When we see Jesus Life trials will sing so slow When we see Christ One glimpse of his dear faith All our own will So bravely rose a ray Till we see Christ Light's day will soon be all All storms forever pass We'll draw the great divine To glory's safe at last We'll share the joys of hell The heart, the heart crown. The pincer will be coming, we'll lay our burdens down. It will be worth it all when we see Life trials will seem so slow when we see Christ. One glimmer is the face of our will. So bravely roam the race till we see Christ. The subject that I want to call to your attention tonight is that of soul winning. And I read from John's Gospel chapter one, verse thirty-five. Again, the next day after, John stood and two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, Behold, the Lamb of God. One of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and said unto him, We have found the Messiah, which is being interpreted to Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonah. Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is thy interpretation of stone. The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Beseidae, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathaniel, and saith unto him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. In John's Gospel we see the Savior taking up one sinner after another, attracting them in amazing grace, drawing them out of the world into the circle of His love, leaving all for Him they find all they need in this newfound Savior. There are seven persons in our chapter. They are Christ the Gatherer and six others who were attracted and gathered to Him. John the Baptist was attracted to Christ and it was his work to point him out to others as the Lamb of God. The central truth in this passage is the methods Christ used to bring souls to himself. It is deeply interesting and instructive to notice the manner in which these first disciples found the Savior. They did not all come to him in the same way, for God does not confine himself to any particular method. Some have propagated the idea that God only saves people at the mourner's bench, and unless you are saved at the altar, it will not be a good conversion. This is absolutely unscriptural and is limiting God, for He is pleased to save people anywhere. I know of some who were saved alone in the bedroom, in the kitchen, on the porch, on the street, in the car, in the basement, in the barn, in the field. Paul was saved on the road. Nathaniel was saved under a tree. In fact, if you will observe closely, you will find that there is not one mourner's bench conversion to be found in the Bible. God can save people there. Of the four cases of conversion described in our chapter, no two are alike. The first two heard a preacher proclaiming Christ as the Lamb of God. Simon Peter was brought to Christ by his brother. Philip seemed to have no one who cared for his soul, and Nathaniel was brought to the Savior by Philip. Putting the four together, we notice that the first to be saved was the result of a preacher. He was preaching a message, and the second and the fourth are the result of personal work of a believer. In the third, there was no human instrument employed by God. The fact that the first two came to Christ as the result of the ministry of one of God's servants puts the preaching of the Word of God of great importance in the saving of sinners. The fact that God honored the personal witnessing of these early converts shows he is pleased to give a prominent place to the personal work as a means of saving souls. The fact that Philip was saved apart from human instrumentality should teach us that God has not reached the end of his resources even though preachers should prove unfaithful to their calling. and even though those who are saved fall down on the privilege of personal work. There are no doubt times when the human agency may stand in the way of sinners receiving Christ, for the seeker may become occupied with the soul-winner rather than with the Savior. However, the very fact that he has given the least prominence to souls finding the Savior without human instrumentality would indicate that he more often prefers to use one of the former methods. It is surely his way of dispensing two blessings at one time. For the soul-winner who has just pointed the soul to Christ receives as much joy in so doing as the sinner who receives eternal life. When Christ ascended to heaven, he gave gifts to men, according to Ephesians eight, or rather Ephesians four in verse eight. He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. These are recognized by God and by man. He has not called everyone to preach, and the greatest demonstration of a misfit is when a person gets the preaching itch without being called or gifted by our risen head in heaven. That's why we have some blacksmiths who ought to be preachers and some preachers who ought to be blacksmiths. Those who have this seemingly incurable preaching itch have forgotten that God has placed the earnest soul-winner on exactly the same plane as the preacher. And so far as God is concerned, there is no difference whether a soul is brought to Christ through preaching or through the personal contact of visitation. The missionary accomplishes more through personal work than through preaching while he is in the pioneer district. If you can lead souls to Christ during the week, at work or at home, there is no reason for you to envy the preacher, for there is no honor in being a preacher apart from the fact that he has the unspeakable privilege of leading souls to Christ through his ministry. and the soul-winner or personal worker has the same honor and privilege. The two must work harmoniously together. The soul-winner finds it helpful to bring his interested souls under the sound of the gospel, and the preacher finds his preaching difficult and without results apart from the cooperation of the personal worker. There are certain people who would never accept an invitation to hear the gospel from the preacher, but they will accept that invitation from the personal worker. And you do not need to be especially gifted to show an interest in a friend or a loved one. The secret of this is found in the measure in which you enjoy your own salvation. If you are not saved, personal work will become a difficult duty. But if you are saved and certain of it, and enjoying your salvation, you will find witnessing spontaneous. I think I should remind you of the tremendous responsibility of undertaking to lead a soul to Christ. For unless you are absolutely certain of the way of salvation, you may mislead souls and become a blind leader of the blind. And to mislead a soul is a serious thing. There are many confused souls who have been led into even deeper confusion by well-meaning but unqualified personal workers. One of the essential things of a soul winner is a good knowledge of the Scriptures. You can only lead a soul to Christ with an open Bible, for you must show him direct from the Scriptures how to be saved. If you are to expect the permanent conversion, it must be through the reading of the Scriptures. The soul winner must be patient. and do his work thoroughly. He must avoid rushing souls and begging them when there is not sufficient conviction. You cannot push a soul to Christ. You must lead him. And to accomplish anything for God, you must lead him to Christ. Not to a happy feeling, not to a mere reformation, but to a person, not to a creed, but to Christ. The successful soul winner must have his activity balanced with prayer. That is, He must talk to God about the seeking soul on his knees, before he can talk to the soul about God. His day must begin with a little prayer, Lord, lay some soul upon my heart and love that soul through me. And may I nobly do my part to win that soul for thee. It was D.L. Moody's prayer, Lead me to some soul today and teach me, Lord, just what to say. Friends of mine are lost in sin and cannot find the way. Few there are who seem to care. Few there are that pray. Melt my heart and fill my life. Give me one soul today. I'm persuaded that the record in heaven will prove that more souls are won by prayer than through any other means. And God in His infinite grace has made this provision so that those who are naturally too timid to speak to souls can win a soul by praying for that one daily. In the case of Philip's conversion in our chapter, Without any human instrumentality, we have something that should be a source of encouragement to you who are a bit discouraged because those souls that you've been longing to reach for Christ have not been saved. Remember this. You must lead souls to Christ. You cannot push them. Thirsty horses are easily led to the water and drink voluntarily. It's wonderful to observe in this passage the suitability of Christ to all the kinds of men. The Savior drew to himself men of such widely different types and temperaments. There are some superficial skeptics who sneeringly declare that Christianity only attracts those of a particular type, the effeminate, the emotional, the intellectually feeble. But such an objection is easily refuted by the fact of common observation. Christ has been worshipped and served by men and women of every variety of temperament and calling. Those who are enjoying his salvation have been drawn from every walk of life, as well as from every nation and tribe under the sun. Kings and queens, statesmen and soldiers, scientists and philosophers, poets and musicians, lawyers and physicians, farmers and fishermen have been among the number who have cried worthy of the Lamb. This truth is illustrated in our chapter tonight. John was a devoted affectionate character. Andrew seems to have been a man with a calculating mind. It was he who first observed the lad with the five loaves and two small fishes. Simon Peter was hot-headed, impulsive, full of zeal. Philip was materialistic. It was he who replied, Two hundred penny worth is not sufficient to feed such a multitude. Nathaniel, of whom least is known, was evidently a meditative and retiring disposition. Each one of these, though radically different, found in Christ, that which met His need and satisfied His heart. That same Christ that saved these in the early days, when Christ was upon the scene, is ready to save every guilty sinner who will put his or her trust in Him. I wonder if I have some out in my radio audience today. You have been called by the Savior, but you have never come to Him. You have ignored that call, and that's a very sad thing. Your history is a dark history, because a loving Savior in heaven is interested in you. He proved that interest by dying for you on Calvary's cross. And how sad if we should read in our chapter that there were some whom Jesus called, and they ignored that call, and they would not follow the Savior. Such is the sad commentary of your life. If you have never trusted the Savior and I beg of you to stop right where you are and to consider the importance of answering the call of a loving Savior who has provided salvation for you and desires that you might be with him in glory for all eternity rather than to pay for your sins in a dark and in a fearful eternity. May God help you to trust him this very hour for his namesake. Amen. Oh, what I say unto the Savior tonight, keep his early pleading with me. To ponder him now when I whisper the heart, for part of the whole and so freely. Why not pray yet for Israel tonight? Why, yes, why not? Why be so gentle, so tenderly free? Oh, accept me. For if you do not see, it will not always be, or do not reject him tonight. Tomorrow may bring you the darkness of death, unspoken by heavenly light. Why not take it and give it to the Lord? Why not? Why not? Why be so generous, why not? Why be so generous? of the goodness of the Lord. When I speak of the goodness of the Lord, I obey, I obey. When I speak of the goodness of the Lord, When I think how He watches over me, When I think how He watches over me, I'm okay, I'm okay When I think how He watches over me