USA > North Carolina > A history of the development of the Presbyterian Church in North Carolina, and of the Synodical home missions, together with evangelistic addresses by James I. Vance and others > Part 11
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From all of which we learn:
First. That God expects us to evangelize the unsaved and the unchurched masses. If a church is not evange- listic, it will soon cease to be evangelical.
Second. That God equips us to evangelize. He has left undone no part of his work. It is no question as to our own ability or fitness, but altogether a question as to his
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filling us with that power which enables us to do his will, " and this he has pledged himself in his word to do.
Third. If he expects and equips, then he will one day require at our hands an accounting for the field we might have occupied and the power we might have possessed.
I .- THE CHURCH.
What is the church? Whatever other definition may be given this at least is correct so far as our conception of the evangelistic church is concerned :
It is the body of believers united by faith to Christ, who is the living head. This at once suggests a line of truth regarding the conduct of the body.
There used to be a man in Washington who as he walked the streets always attracted the attention of passers-by to himself.
First. Because of his remarkable head, which they said was more like the head of Daniel Webster than any other since his day. And, secondly, because of his deformed body. The first was a look of admiration, the second one of pity, and is this not a truth for us? Our head is per- fect; when he was here among men they said, "Never man spake like this man." Now that he is exalted at the right hand of God he is the chiefest among ten thousand and the one altogether lovely. But concerning the body, in some places at least we are privileged to say that it poorly represents him and illy illustrates his spirit. If he is the head and the church is the body then it naturally follows that we are expected to do his will, and at once the question is asked, "But may we know his will"? "Cer- tainly we may know it, by studying carefully his instruc- tions to his disciples." In the early days he said, as he sent them forth, "I will make you fishers of men," and as he sent out the seventy it was to preach and to teach. In
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his parables and his sermons the same spirit is plainly manifest, and since he is the unchanging Christ, his will of other days is his will for to-day. In the Epistle to the Hebrews we read: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, to- day and forever," but in the Revision there is a change made in the translation and we read: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, to-day, yea and forever." There is the addition of the word "yea." Some one has suggested that the author of the Epistle is writing concerning the Jesus of yesterday and to-day being the same, when suddenly, as it were, the very angels in the skies break forth, " Yea and forever." He is the same in heaven in his purpose and desires as when he walked among men and commis- sioned them to go out and seek the lost until they were found.
There are some things which the evangelistic church is not.
First. It is not of necessity a church which holds extra services, although these are as a rule advisable, for it is by the extraordinary service that the attention of some is called to Christ who would not otherwise think of him in their busy lives, yet one of the strongest churches in America never passes a communion without a large acces- sion. Recently one hundred and sixty-six came to Christ at one communion service, and it is the exception rather than the rule that extra services are held. The sainted Andrew Bonar, it is said, rarely held an extra service, and never passed a communion without the coming of many into the fold.
Second. It is not of necessity a church of constant accessions. If the seed is faithfully sown and there is an earnest evangelistic purpose the Lord of the harvest will care for the result. For a time they may be meagre, but
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God's statement is true, " His word shall not return unto- him void."
Third. It is not of necessity a church having important accessions, for as men count the work frequently it is a failure, so few come to him; as God views it it is the most pronounced success. When the old Scotch minister said, no one fiad joined his church for a long period of time except Bobbie Moffatt, he little knew, as Joseph Parker once said, that when he added Robert Moffatt to the church he practically added a continent to the Kingdom of God. It is the spirit of the church that counts, and if underlying every public service, whether it be the preaching on Sunday, or the midweek prayer service, the gathering of the elders or the meeting of the Sunday- school teachers, there is plainly manifest a real concern for the lost. With such conditions prevailing we have an evangelistic church.
II .- THE EVANGELISTIC.
First. The evangelistic church is one, the spirit of which breathes a welcome to every one who crosses its threshold, and whether it be the minister's sermon, the music of the choir, the grace with which the ushering is accomplished, the welcome given to the stranger, the spirit is all the spirit of Christ, in which lost men are made to feel their need of him and are impressed with the thought that there is hope for every one away from him.
Second. The evangelistic church is one willing to use any method, whatever that method may be, so long as it may have the approval of the Great Head of the Church and may detract nothing from his honor and glory and not in any way grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Since the shepherd sought his sheep until lic found it, and the
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woman her piece of money until she recovered it, and the father waited for his boy until he was home once more, so let us change our methods if need be until we impress the lost with the fact that we long for them to know him who died that they might live. He said he would make us fishers of men.
Third. The evangelistic church is a church of prayer. It is said that when Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey went as strangers across the sea their first meeting in the morning was a discouragement, and in the evening it was a gra- cious manifestation of God's power, and some time after- wards it was found that one of the members of that church had read a little notice in a paper concerning the work of the unknown evangelists, Moody and Sankey, in America, and had prayed God to send them to her land and to her church. This little slip of paper she had kept under her pillow and when she knew that the evangelists had come, she burst into tears and cried: "Now, Lord, lettest thou thine servant depart, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." There never has been a revival in history that has not been born in prayer. There never has been an evangelistic church since the church was dedicated that was not nurtured by prayer. The time has come to call the followers of Christ to their knees. It would seem almost as if God's set time to favor Zion is now here.
Fourth. The evangelistic church is one in which pastor and church are practically of one mind. Since Jesus him- self could do no mighty works because of their unbelief, how can a pastor to-day accomplish very much if he is opposed by his church or hindered by indifference. They must both together have one mind, and that the mind of him who ever sought the lost, then there is a mighty force brought to play upon the conscience and life of the un- saved which cannot possibly be gainsaid.
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III .- A FINAL WORD.
First. The evangelistic church is an organized church. I am well aware that we may press the question of organi- zation too far, but at the same time I remember that our God is a God of order, and that a perfect piece of machin- ery may be so yielded to him as that we would lose all thought of the machinery and stand amazed at the exhi- bition of power.
(a) The church officers must be enlisted in this special service for Christ. Would it not be possible for the pastor to meet his officers before he preached, and that they then pray for the blessing of God upon his sermon? Would it not be feasible for pastor and church officers to have at least one meeting a month when only prayer should be offered for God's guidance of the church? In some churches this plan has been adopted, and nowhere has it been known to fail.
(b) The men of the church must be enlisted. Whatever may be said to the contrary this is the testimony of workers who have been successful in reaching men for Christ, the work must be done through men. I am not unmindful of the power of a mother's prayer, of a wife's example, but never until the fren are enlisted, banded together, thoroughly consecrated and filled with the Holy Ghost may we expect the ingathering from their ranks.
(c) The sympathies of the young people should be en- listed. Is it not a practical thing to suggest that for at least three months of time the young people of our churches should seek to win their comrades and com- panions for Christ? This could be done in many cases if the pastor and the church officers would show their syni- pathy, by their presence, would counsel the young people so that they might be saved from making grievous mis- takes. The young people of our churches might be com-
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pletely transformed if this mission were held up before them.
(d) The Sunday-school should be counted an evange- lizing agency. Since it is true that the majority of the people coming into the church come from the ranks of the Sunday-school scholars, we have an illustration which to say the least is forceful, but we have only begun our work in this direction. The majority of people in the church to-day come to Christ before they are twenty years of age, and if we miss the organization of our Sunday- schools along this line we are guilty at least of a mistake for which we will one day be called to an account. Could there not be arranged conferences with the superintend- ents and the teachers, the older scholars in the school, when prayer would be offered for the unsaved and an effort be made to lead them to Christ. What we need, however, is to be definite in our work.
(e) The church itself should be thoroughly organized. Is there any better suggestion to be made than that con- cerning the circle of prayer ?
HOW TO FORM A PRAYER CIRCLE.
I. Dedicate yourself to God for this service of inter- cession.
2. Ask him for the anointing of the Holy Spirit, that you may be "a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto 'this' work."
3. Ask that you may be guided as to whom you should invite to join the circle of prayer.
4. In prayer seek for guidance as to all details of indi- vidual or collective prayer, such as times of prayer or meeting together and subjects.
5. Watch for answers, and any indications of answers, to the prayers offered; but do not be discouraged if defi-
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nite answers be delayed. Intercessory prayer often re -- quires the exercise of much faith and patience.
Why should it not be possible for the pastor of the church to call upon his members to unite with him in a prayer circle, and perhaps have numerous circles in his congregation, which should meet from time to time with some degree of regularity? In many parts of our country this is already done and some of our most successful pastors are following this line of work.
Second. The evangelistic church is a spiritual church, and that church may be counted spiritual in which the Holy Ghost has his rightful place. If we should make it a rule in our churches to devise no plans, adopt no methods without these things were all submitted to God, and we were conscious of his approval a new day would dawn upon us. That church is spiritual in which the minister as well as a goodly number of the church people are wholly surrendered to Christ. When he has the right of way in our lives blessing will surely follow and the unsaved in large numbers will be won to him.
THE CHURCH SERVICE.
There is much criticism to-day concerning the Church, which is positively unjust. It is quite useless to say that there are no flaws in the present organization as men can see it, but it is also equally true that in the best ordered homes, in those households where there is the greatest amount of peace and comfort, there are elements of weak- ness. One could break up his home in less than three months if he should parade the flaws of his home life before all who would listen to him. It is both unjust to the Church and disloyal to Christ for one to keep con- stantly harping upon the weakness of our church life,
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when there is so much on the other side to arouse en- thusiasm and to provoke the most generous affection, and yet without having the least spirit of harsh criticism, it is, alas, also true that concerning the services of our Church, the following may be justly stated :
First: The service is too formal. Formality is gen- erally observed at the expense of spiritual power and life. In very many of our churches from one year's end to the other, there is no variation of the service. An invocation, frequently singing by a choir which cannot be understood, three hymns by the congregation sung in a half-hearted manner in many of our churches, two prayers by the minister, one short and the other long, a sermon of varying length, a benediction, and the ser- vice is over. It is inconceivable that the man of the world who cares nothing for the sentiment of the ser- vice and who feels no special obligation to attend church, should be interested by that which he knows will be the same whether he attends the service on the Atlantic Coast, on the Pacific, in the northern portion of our coun- try or in the extreme south. It would be far from me to wish too great an informality in the worship of God and the conduct of the services of his sanctuary, but I am quite sure that the time is upon us when if we would attract attention to him who is able to save to the utter- most, we must do the unusual thing.
One of our great Scotch preachers has said that the disposition which some of us have to pray regularly three times a day, is well enough in itself, but may not ac- complish its purpose, for the devil knows concerning our purpose, and he says that man will pray at morning, at noon and at night, and whenever he prays I will be there to attract his attention to other things, and his prayer will be lifeless and indifferent. Could he not say the same
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thing concerning some of the services of our churches ? .- If he knows anything at all, he must know just what we are going to do, for we know this ourselves.
John Robertson, the Scotch preacher, some little time ago, preached a sermon on that text found in I Peter ii. 7: "Unto you therefore which believe he is precious," and he said if the verse should be rightly read it would be like this, "Unto you therefore which believe," then there is a break in the manuscript, or a pause, and the word, "Precious," might be translated "preciousness," or to change it again, it might be translated "Hallelujah," and his interpretation was that Peter is writing along in his message and finds himself saying, "Unto you therefore which believe," and suddenly there came to him a vision of the one who had chosen him to be his follower and sent him forth to preach, had forgiven him his wander- ings, and sent a special messenger after his resurrection, and he is so full of emotion that suddenly he breaks forth with an exclamation of, "preciousness or hallelujah." Such a break as this in the service of an ordinary church would be counted a most extraordinary thing, but I can conceive that there might come into a church a great in- fusion of new life if there should be a disposition on the part of those who preach and teach to yield them- selves more perfectly to him who witnesses to Christ and allow him to have his way with us and through us, in- stead of our own will concerning that which might be proper in our judgment.
Again, may it not be said that the Church is too cold. There are certain things which may cause this condition. Following Christ afar off would make it possible; com- ing in touch with the world would produce it as an in- evitable result ; even indifference would not be without influence in the production of such a state of affairs. I
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can think of no one thing that would so bring new life to the Church, warmth to the preacher and a glow of en- thusiasm to every department of service as the culti- vation of the spirit of evangelism, or in other words, a devotion of the membership of the Church to the winning of souls to Christ.
Mr. Spurgeon used to tell of a census taker who went about the city of London, particularly in his part of the great city, to secure such information as might be valu- able to his workers. He found an old couple living in an attractive-looking house, everything outside was neat and inside it was almost perfect. The old people were sitting on either side of a fire-place, so far as the visitor could see, in perfect comfort, and when the questions had been answered he said to them, "I should think you would be very happy. You are away from the turmoil of life, you have fought your battles and won your victories, and you are here now in the evening time of your existence together, with naught to disturb you or make you afraid," and the old lady made response, saying: "Well, we are not happy ; we used to be, when we heard the sounds of children's voices about the house, but now we are here alone, and we have neither chick nor child about us. We sit here all the day long, my husband and I; he looks at me and I look at him, until we almost grow sick of the sight of each other. Oh," she said, "if we could only hear the children again we would have joy." This is a picture of many a church with the minister preaching to the people and the people simply looking at him, until sometimes he feels that he would welcome anything if only the church would be aroused, the formality driven away and the coldness depart. I know of nothing that would cause this result to be so quickly' apparent as to
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hear the sound of the voices of those who are new-born babes in Christ Jesus.
A soul winning church is never a church spiritually cold. The two positions are positively irreconcilable.
May it not also be true that the Church is too indefinite in its work. Wherever there is a successful church to- day, without exception that church will be found to be carrying on a definite work, both at home and abroad. The minister plans his work and works his plan. If he preaches a series of sermons, it is in order that some result may be accomplished not only in the present, but in the future; if he has a social gathering, it is in order that through this gathering he may accomplish some other purpose ; if he makes pastoral calls, it is because he earn- estly hopes to bring his influence to bear upon his people to lead them to take some new position for aggressive work for Christ. If business men must plan their busi- ness, and they must, then why should not the leaders of the Church plan their work, which is more important than any business in the world to-day, for the King's business not only requires haste, but requires ingenuity and careful planning. Why would it not be possible at the beginning of the church year for the minister and his officers to definitely decide that every aim and every effort throughout the year should be to accomplish cer- tain definite spiritual results, and for this they would plan and pray and work.
Nothing is so inspiring as the music of the church ser- vice, and nothing can be more distressing. It is quite as inconsistent to have an unconverted choir as to have an unconverted minister, for both lead in the worship of God. It is just as reasonable for a minister to preach in an unknown tongue as for a choir to sing after this fashion, and it is almost the exception rather than the
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rule to understand many of the choirs of our important churches. Sometimes the music fails because the words and the music clash; sometimes it fails because the sub- ject of the hymn is utterly foreign to the main part of the service, and frequently it fails because we attach too little importance to it as an element in reaching and influencing the lives of the people. It is quite true that the theology of very many people is obtained from the hymns they sing. Little children singing "Alas and did my Saviour bleed," catch an idea of the atonement ; when they sing, "Jesus paid it all," they begin to have some conception of justification, and under the influence of, "Nearer my God to thee," they learn great lessons of fellowship with Christ. It is said that one of the most attractive features of Mr. Spurgeon's service was the singing of his great congregation, when no choir took the place of the singing of the people, and when even an organ was dispensed with in order that the people might stand together and praise God, as they did in a most wonderful way, and yet what could be better than the choir of singers, consecrated to Christ, enthusiastic in their singing, because they realized that next to the min- ister they have to do with the reaching of the people, and in many cases beyond the minister, they have a power over the unsaved.
"It is impossible to hold the unconverted masses with- out interesting them. In gaining this purpose, the power of song has, in France, proved most effective. The Moody and Sankey songs are translated and sung quite as much in Paris as in New York. The wanderers on the street at night can be thus attracted. These songs are open to criticism on grounds of reverence and truthful- ness, as well as of æsthetics. But for their purpose of
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drawing and holding the masses, they are unequalled.". .. -. Scores of people will come off the street to sing -
" "The half was never told,'
who would turn away from the most eloquent sermon."1
What power there could be for good if frequently in the Sunday evening services at least sweet Gospel hymns should be announced, the whole congregation asked to sing, occasionally a solo sung by one who had prayed over the singing as the pastor ought to pray over his preaching. If the preaching of the Church to-day needs to be turned into evangelistic channels, there is far great- er necessity for insisting that the singing should be more evangelistic.
Mr. Moody was a shrewd leader of men, and there were few men who ever went beyond him in exalting the power of the singing of a hymn in which there was to be found the spirit of the Gospel. The preaching is, of course, the important part of the entire service, for by the foolishness of preaching God has ordained that men should come to know Christ and to understand his beau- ty, but there are certain points which must be emphasized in connection with the preaching which is to be evangel- istic in its purpose.
First: The truth preached must be experienced. No man can talk with any success about prayer and be prayerless, about consecration and withhold his gift from the altar, about love for souls and himself be indifferent to lost men.
"No one preaches the truth with power until he has had a deep personal experience of its power. The truths which were so mighty on the lips of Luther and Wesley
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and Finney and Moody had first been mighty in their own hearts. Suppose we ministers begin with ourselves, and make sure that we are ready for disinterested service ;- make it quite sure that we ourselves have been to Gol- gotha, and have there been crucified, so that we are dead, and the life in us is the life of Christ; make it quite sure that our own hearts are aglow with the love that over- flows to God and man. Then we may expect that these neglected truths of Jesus will be preached to the churches with mighty power until church membership really stands for Christian service, Christian sacrifice and Christian love. And then this Gospel of God will indeed be the power of God unto salvation to the multitudes to whom he is now unreal.
"When God becomes real to men, the guilt of sin be- comes real ; and, as we have seen, God is actualized when he is interpreted in the terms of present-day truth and in the every-day life of living epistles."
Second : Christ must be preached in all his fullness. It will not do to ignore any part of the scheme of redemp- tion. One might just as truly err in being over-zealous in what is properly called evangelistic services, as being indifferent on the other side to the necessity of preaching what we call the old, old story of Jesus and his love. Truth is always powerful if it is preached in all of its fullness.
" The rapid growth of 'Christian Science,' so-called, is a reaction from a Christianity which ignores the physi- cal, and therefore does not recognize the interrelation of soul and body ; precisely as Unitarianism was a reaction from an orthodoxy which practically ignored the humanity of our Lord; and reactions are naturally one-sided and extreme. The remedy for them is tospreach the well- rounded truth. We are slowly learning by costly exper-
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