We each must "do our bit" to win souls.
The following is from a
booklet by C. T. Studd, a millionaire who gave away all of his money and
his life to bring Christ to those who had never heard of Him before.
Are we "playing" church or are we living firebrands of Christ in this
cold world such as C. T. Studd and everyone who followed him were?
Pertinent Questions Answered.
Are we presumptuous?
"Is it presumptuous for men and women, conscious of their own utter inability, to obey God and seek by faith in Him to execute His will?
Are we fanatical?
Then the roots of our fanaticism are the commands of Christ and the words of Holy Scripture.
Are we premature?
"'Is it a time to dwell in our ceiled houses while God’s house lieth waste?' 'Go up,' 'Build My house, and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.' 'Consider, I pray you, from this day will I bless you.'
What will be the cost?
"Our all; but no more, nay, less, than it cost our God and our Saviour to redeem us and all mankind.
By what authority do we these things?
"By the will of God, by the command of Christ, by the constraint of the Holy Ghost, and by the Word of God.
What if we fail?
"We shall not fail; but it were better to fail obeying, trusting, and fighting than to fail disobeying, doubting, and living at ease.
Whence shall come the men and the means?
From God. Are not the hearts of all in His hands? Do not the silver and the gold belong to Him ?
Where are the men?
"Have we the men? Who can tell? That remains to be seen! There are, of course, Church members by the million. 'There are,' says Mr. Wishard, 'forty million evangelical communicants in Christendom'! ! ! At least ten millions of them must be males. Are they real 'men' or mere 'make- believes'? Will they quit themselves like men or will they be shirkers?
"The forty millions of Britain have produced three million soldiers, who at the call of King and Country have gone forth to fight the Germans! How many Christian soldiers have the forty million Church members sent forth at the call of their Saviour to fight His battles? A paltry twenty thousand, nay less!!
"How superb is our vaunted reverence and Christian devotion! How magnificent are the results of our boasted intellectual Christianity! All head but no or little heart. A tree is judged by its fruits!
"'If any man cometh unto Me and hateth not his father, mother, wife, children, brethren, sisters, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.' 'Whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple.' 'Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost its savour . . . it is good for nothing.'
"We have too many wise men and too few fools. The call of God and of a lost world is for more men who will be fools for Christ’s sake. Godly fools in the hands of The Almighty are heaven’s most powerful artillery. God will turn out His guns in sufficient quantity and quality, no fear; but the Churches and societies are often too proud to use them, and insist on cultured 'pop' guns.
But what of the Means ?
"God has provided the means. 'The money-power in the hands of believing Christians of our generation is enormous.' 'The resources of the Christian Church are more than adequate.' Thus declared the famous Edinburgh Conference. The only questions are: Shall we be unrighteous stewards and successors of the wicked husbandmen? Is our faith dead or alive?
"'Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth,' commanded Jesus. 'There is that scattereth and yet increaseth, there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty,' said the wise king. 'If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled, and yet ye give them not those things which be needful to the body, what doth it profit? Faith without works is dead. Can that faith save?' Yet how much worse to withhold the food of the soul, the Bread of Heaven! 'Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred?' 'Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto Me!, . . Depart'!
"Nineteen centuries ago the converts of Macedonia, but recently won from heathenism, though in deep poverty and dire affliction, were so prodigal in their liberality as to call forth the following testimony from the great Apostle of the Gentiles: 'For according to their power I bear witness, yea, and beyond their power they gave of their own accord, beseeching us with much entreaty in regard of this grace.'
"Depend upon it, if the Christian stewards to whom God has entrusted so great riches refuse to devote it to the purposes for which He gave it to them, their wealth will be taken from them; they shall be His stewards no longer."
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