Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1902-11-21


Again, it is absolutely necessary in
order to carry out the command of my
text for the average church member
TO give the gospel invitation to his
friends and to strangers when they are
inside the church walls as
well as when they are scattered with
out, and it is also necessary for the
church members to extend this invita-
ton for a specified time and place. A
general invitation to come to supper is,
as a rule, worse than no invitation at
all. When a person comes to me and
says, "Oh, Mr.. Talmage, l
do wish you would come and visit us;
come any time you can and stay as
long as you please" | am sure or one
fact-that person wants to be polite,
but he does not want me to come. He
did not set a date. But when a friend
comes to me and says, 'Mr. Talmage,
will you and your wife take supper
with us next Thursday night; we are
poor folks, but we will give you the
best we have" l generally accept.
Why? Because think that man wants
me to come. He set a time and place
where he wished to entertain me. So,
when the minister of the Lord Jesus
Christ breaches a sermon and gives a
general invitation and says to the sin
ners. Come to Christ" and then dis
misses his audience with a benedic-
ton and goes home, as rule, that sur
mon has amounted to but very little in
its evangelistic results. But when the
minister of the Lord Jesus Christ can
90 to his church members and say;
Brethren, we must gather in the sin
ners who are living around this church.
We must go out into the highways and
the hedges and compel them to come in.
We will tonight as soon as the bene-
dietiOn has been pronounced have an
after meeting. AS members of this
church we will distribute ourselves
through the aisles and buttOnhOle every
man, woman and child, so that no one
shall leave the building without having
a special invitation for this after meet
ing" there will be no disappointment
in the spiritual results. Why? Because
the church members themselves are
asking their friends and the strangers
to meet Jesus Christ in a specified
place at a specified time. General in
vitatiOns in reference to the gOspe
banquet as well as to an earthly home
as a rule, are worse than no invitation
at all.
The Fault of the Pews.
So. today, l lay the blame for tn
lack of spiritual results in on
churches far more upon the pews thai
| do upon the pulpits. God knows,
| do not believe that our ministers ar
perfect men, but most of them ar
| earnest men. intense men. They wOul
/ do anything in their power to brin
immortal souls to Christ. But til
trouble is when the average ministt
Of the gospel announces an after NEE
ing, where sinners can be brought fac
to face with Christ, nlne-tenths, ay
ninety nine-hundredths, Of all I'll
church members will get up and pI
on their hats and go home. They wi
not only by their actions refuse
! personally extend an invitation to IL
men and women who are sitting /
their side, but they will absolutely +
fuse to go into the after meetings NJ
talk with sinners who are trying
find Christ. This charge which | NAL
against the church members l NAL
not only against the laymen, but al
against the church officers. | make
against the elders and the deacOns al
the trustees. | make it in the streng
Of the overwhelming fact that y
derelict church members cannot find
great evangelistic preacher who is {
complishing any great good for Chr
:. who is not backed up by a prayil
t consecrated band Of earnest chur
j workers. Yet you can find tod
+ church after church in our land til
s is nothing more or less than a slaug
: ter house for ministerial usefulne
q Their pastors will win great spiritI
s successes before they come to the
Is and those pastors will win great ST
e itual successes after they leave the
?. but while they are i'm those spiritua
II dead churches the pastors will STUN
le about blinded and helpless, as did
,e mighty Samson, bound with letters
brass, with his two eyes out, grind
)e about in the prison house of Ga
To Those evangelistic ministers are 81
a itually helpless in such churches
Dr. cause the people, the common chu
h. members, will not unite as a work
II force and personally present the Cos
IN of Jesus Christ to the strangers v
I come among them. Instead Of de
TO ing and Understanding the power
ho the ministry, it is high time for 81
en- one to thunder a philippe against
oh Indifference of the selfish church m
be hers who refuse to spiritually supl
to the pulpit. as the new ALWAYS M