Arkansas State press. [volume] (Little Rock, Ark.) 1941-1959, 1946-06-28

Friendship brings results. We re.
spond to it with our own interest,
and by our desire to bring others
into its helpful circle OF influence.
Obviously. the man who knows the
friendship of Jesus wants others to
meet his Friend and know his love
and power.
The disciples had seen the risen
Lord. a privilege which carried with
it the responsibility Of declaring the
good news Of completed redemp-
ton to all the nations Of the earth.
We find them engaged In
I. Blessed Preaching mark Is:
Is. l6. 49, 2O.
The call and commission Of the
Lord before he was caught up into
heaven was clear and definite.
How glad we are that the disciples
obeyed. went and preached, and had
such blessed results.
The response Of these early Chris
tians was immediate and enthusi-
astic. Would that such a spirit had
characterized the church through
all the generations since then, and
| il 1t had, the commission would long
since have been carried out. 1t has
been estimated that II everyone in
a church of two thousand were to
win one soul a year. and each con-
vert win one soul each year, the
world would be evangelical In less
than thirty-fve years. Why not?
But while on the whole the church
has failed. there have been valiant
souls all down through its history
who have given themselves to the
business Of preaching the gospel.
With them. as with these Of the nrst
century, the secret is ever. 1.-THE
Lord working with them"
II. Powerful Witnessing duke "a:
45-49).
The death and resurrection Of
Christ made possible the preac ching
Of repentance and remission Of sins,
the message Of redemption which
was to go out to all nations through
the disciples.
They were witnesses OF these
things, they spoke that which they
knew and had experienced, and SO
their word carried weight and con-
viction. That. however, was not the
secret of the success Of their ef
forts; there was something more.
1t is never enough for man to
speak Of the things Of God. no mat
ter how brilliant and eloquent he
may be. nor how certain he may be
Of his facts. He must have the
power Of God.
The early believers were 10 tarry
until they received the Holy Spirit.
We need only yield to him for he is
present with every believer-the in
dwelling One-ready to empower
and use us.
We need a real revival Of the Holy
Spirit power in the church. and we
need 1t now. II the church as
whole will not yield to God, let us
do so as individuals that we may
be witnesses with power
God Is looking for men. He has
always honored those who in faith
have obeyed his command The
whole history Of church and mis-
sionary endeavor bears eloquent
testimony to that fact.
III. Glad Soul Winning Acts 2:46.
n: SAD.
There are number Of things In
this passage. There is the fine fel.
lowship Of the believers in the ear.
~ church. We also note that they
we're regular In their attendance at
the temple They preached and
laugh, both in the temple and at
home. Blu, the significant thing
which we wish to note now Is that
1t all resulted in the salvation Of
souls
The Lord added to the church
day by day those that were
saved" for such is the proper read.
ing Of verse AZ. Day by day souls
we're won for Christ and added to
the church. Why do we not have
more churches Of that kind today7
The church, which is so much the
center Of life for Christians. is not
as well understood as 1t should be
We have come to regard II as just
one organization among many COM
peting for the attention and interest
OF men, when 1t is really a divine.
living organism established by
Christ as his body and representing
him in this world.
The church is made up of those
who are saved ". 40, those who
have received the word by faith
and witnessed a good confession Of
their faith in Christ ". 40 This is
a fact to be remembered in a time
when there is so much laxness In
receiving members into the church
II is not a religious or social club
II is not a rallying place for those
who wish to work for some eco
nomic, political, or social project.
II is not a gathering OF good people
who wish to share common in
terests.
The church needs to cleanse its
rolls of all unbelievers. all hangers