The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1890-08-28
THE WORK OF THE Es An
GEL1ST.

y "a "a ', 49,
Such an Evangelist a., j. here /
contemplated .hould not have |
as his chief aim the hriDginl o' |
the Gospel /" bear upon tie
hearts Of ;.e unconve.ted Oh /
rectly, but the bringing NJ IT
;he churches and the p2s;orS |"
The work of converting souls
without the help Of Evangelist,
or any external aid indeed.
To effect this, two Very dam
aSeing impressions must BE re-
moved-tir,t, the idea Which eX-
ttnsively prevails that the pas
ton is responsible for the couve--
sion of the ungodly. The truth
Is, the church and pastor are
both equally responsible for
this blessed work-GOd has
made them so, and they were
intended i'll the divine economy
of grace TO work together. The
many figures used i'll the Bible,
the salt, the light, the seed, the
leaven, the epistles known and
read Of all men-every one of
these and many others, go to
show that the work of diffusing
the Gospel light and receiving
souls to Christ rests upon the
membership Of the church even
more than upon the pastors.
The philosophy Of the New
Testament Evangelism calls for
the personal influence and the
personal effort of every indiyid-
ual member Of Christ'S King
| dom. The best preaching on
the part Of the pastor will be
pOWerless to convert sinners un
less the church is interested i'll
and actively labOring for the
same end. Again and again has
this been demonstrated in the
Experience of all pastors. The
labOrs of the most successful,
and gifted evangelist may be
secured, but nothing Will he ac-
complished until the people
+ feel the worth and danger Of
souls and get down to praying
and laboring for their salvation
! The people then need to be
taught that they not only ought,
but that they can be effective
agents in winning souls &c
Christ.
The other serious error into
which the churches have ia lien
. is that they need not expect
conversions except as the result
Of special revival efforts. Given
a duly organized church, with 4
good pastor. and conversion
should follow Iegitimately-i1
is constituted for this very pur
pose and possesses powers AIDE
quate TO the production Of sucl
a result. AZ \ church, in a normal
heaIahy spiritual condition can
not fail to have conversions IN
der the ordinary preaching Oh
the Gospel. Times Of specia
refreshing from the presence OF
the Lord will come, aud ought
to be prayed for and eagerly de
sired. There always have beer
times Of gracious revival in The
history Of grace. but surely liz
church ought to be satisfied t,
remain long without the mani
teatatjOn Of converting power.
The custom Of our churches
), III town and country, OF exhib
iting a periodical, spasmodi,
convulsiye zeal for the regeneI
alton of souls has proven Pan
;, dora's box Of evils, most, if no
all Of which, might be avoided
:, if the churches were expectin!
the work Of tue Lord to go or
continuously and We're laborins
with that intent.
= 1t is very certain that I'll,
present state Of things III tn.
churches is far from satisfactO
~, and it is growing Wo,se ant
worse from year to year. I hay,
/ seen it illustrated in my chuscl
u Ill Wilmington. Last spring VI
had d series of meetings. Bro
". +. Oliver, of Fayetteville
preached the Gospel i'll great pu
rity and power for two weeks
$. IL have scarcely heard bette
:, preaching, Or that which wa
D better calculated to awaken
saints and sinners and yet tl
y net gain to the church was yer,
meager, and that just becans
the membership never becam
aroused; they never got to worl
III earnest and seemed to b,
!. awaiting some extraordinary ap
- planes to be used, such a
characterized tbs great an,
blessed Pearson meeting tw
years age. The good oldfash
Toned, spontaneous revival
which used to bless the church
es, under the leadership of tn
pastor, or with the help of
brother pastor, seem almost t
belong to tue past,-Charity an
Children.
Last week DR.. Talmage preach
ed a sermon at Farmers Ell
campment, during the course c
which he related the case of
farmt who said to his indorer
son. .sIharp are q hI1n6rad do