Encouragement to Soul-Winners
Charles Spurgeon · The Soul-Winner; or, How to Lead Sinners to the Saviour
Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one
convert him; let him know, that he which converteth the
sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from
death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." — James v. 19, 20.
ENCOURAGEMENT TO SOUL-
WINNERS.
James is pre-eminently practical. If he were, in-
deed, the James who was called "The Just," I can un-
derstand how he earned the title, for that distinguish-
ing trait in his character shows itself in his Epistle;
and if he were *'the Lord's brother," he did well to
show so close a resemblance to his great Relative and
Master, who commenced His Ministry with the prac-
tical Sermon on the i\lount. We ought to be very
grateful that, in the Holy Scriptures, we have food for
all classes of believers, and employment for all the
faculties of the saints. It was meet that the contem-
plative should be furnished with abundant sul)jects for
thought — Paul has supplied them; he has given to us
sound doctrine, arranged in the symmetry of exact
order; he has given us deep thoughts and profound
teachings; he has opened up the deep things of God.
No man who is inclined to reflection and thoughtful-
ness will be without food so long as the Epistles of Paul
are extant, for he feeds the soul with sacred manna.
For those whose predominating affections and imagina-
tion incline them to more mystic themes, John has writ-
ten sentences aglow with devotion, and blazing with
love. We have his simple but sublime Epistles — Epis-
tles which, when you glance at them, seem in their
wording to be fit for children, but when examined, their
298 THE SOUL-WINNER.
sense is seen to be too sublime to be fully grasped by
the most advanced of men. You have from that same
eagle-eyed and eagle-winged apostle the wondrous
visions of the Revelation, where awe, devotion and
imagination may enlarge their flight, and find scope
for the fullest exercise.
There will always be, however, a class of persons who
are more practical than contemplative, more active
than imaginative, and it was wise that there should be a
James, whose main point should be to stir up their
pure minds by way of remembrance, and help them
to persevere in the practical graces of the Holy Spirit.
The text before me is perhaps the most practical utter-
ance of the whole Epistle. The whole Epistle burns,
but this ascends in flames to heaven ; it is the culmina-
tion as it is the conclusion of the letter. There is not
a word to spare in it. It is like a naked sword, stripped
of its jewelled scabbard, and presented to us with noth-
ing to note but its keen edge. I wish I could preach
after the fashion of the text ; and if I cannot, I will at
least pray that you may act after the fashion of it. Down-
right living for the Lord Jesus is sadly wanted in many
quarters ; we have enough of Christian garnishing, but
solid, every-day, actual work for God is what we need.
If our lives, however unornamented they may be by
leaves of literary or polite attainments, shall neverthe-
less bring forth fruit unto God in the form of souls
converted by our efforts, it will be well ; they will then
stand forth before the Lord with the beauty of the
olive tree, which consists in its frultfulness.
I call your attention very earnestly to three matters.
First, here is a special case dealt with: **If any of you
do err from the truth, and one convert him." While
speaking of that special case, the apostle declares a
ge fie ral fact: * 'he which converteth the sinner from the
ENCOURAGEMENT TO SOUL-WINNERS. 299
error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall
hide a multitude of sins." When I have spoken of
these two points, I mean, thirdly, to make a particular
application of the text — not at all intended by the
apostle, but I believe abundantly justified — an applica-
tion of the text to increased effort for the conversion
of children.
I. First, then, here is A SPECIAL CASE DEALT
WITH. Read the verse, and you will see that it must
relate to a backslider from the visible Church of God.
The words, *Tf any of you," must refer to a professed
Christian. The erring one had been named by the
name of Jesus, and for a while had followed the truth ;
but in an evil hour he had been betrayed into doctrinal
error, and had erred from the truth. It was not mere-
ly that he fell into a mistake upon some lesser mat-
ter, which might be compared to the fringe of the
gospel, but he erred in some vital doctrine, he departed
from the faith in its fundamentals. There are some
truths which must be believed; they are essential to
salvation, and if not heartily accepted, the soul will
be ruined. This man had been professedly orthodox,
but he turned aside from the truth on an essential
point. Now, in those days, the saints did not say, as
the sham saints do now, "We must be largely charit-
able, and leave this brother to his own opinion; he
sees truth from a different standpoint, and has a rather
different way of putting it, but his opinions are as
good as our own, and we must not say that he is in
error." That is at present the fashionable way of
trifling with divine truth, and making things pleasant
all round. Thus the gospel is debased, and "another
gospel" propagated.
I should like to ask modern broad churchmen
whether there is any doctrine of any sort for which
300 THE SOUL- WINNER.
it would be worth a man's while to burn or to lie in
prison. I do not beUeve they could give me an an-
swer, for if their latitudinarianism be correct, the mar-
tyrs were fools of the first magnitude. From what I
see of their writings and their teachings, it appears to
me that the modern thinkers treat the whole compass
of revealed truth with entire indifference ; and, though
perhaps they may feel sorry that wilder spirits should go
too far in free thinking, and though they had rather
they would be more moderate, yet, upon the whole,
so large is their liberality that they are not sure enough
of anything to be able to condemn the reverse of it
as a deadly error. To them black and white are terms
which may be applied to the same colour, as you view it
from different standpoints. Yea and nay are equally
true in their esteem. Their theology shifts like the
Goodwin Sands, and they regard all firmness as so
much bigotry. Errors and truths are equally com-
prehensible within the circle of their charity. It was
not in this way that the apostles regarded error. They
did not prescribe large-hearted charity towards false-
hood, or hold up the errorist as a man of deep thought,
whose views were "refreshingly original"; far less did
they utter some wicked nonsense about the probability
of there living more faith in honest doubt than in half
the creeds. They did not believe In justification by
doubting, as our neologians do; they set about the
conversion of the erring brother; they treated him
as a person who needed conversion; and viewed him
as a man who, if he were not converted, would suffer
the death of his soul, and be covered with a multitude
of sins. They were not such easy-going people as our
cultured friends of the school of "modern thought,"
who have learned at last that the Deity of Christ may
be denied, the work of the Holy Spirit ignored, the
ENCOURAGEMENT TO SOUL-WINNERS. 301
inspiration of Scripture rejected, tlie atonement disbe-
lieved, and regeneration dir^pensed with, and yet the
man who does all this may be as good a Christian as
the most devout believer! O God, deliver us from this
deceitful infidelity, which, while it does damage to the
erring man, and often prevents his being reclaimed,
does yet more mischief to our own hearts by teaching
us that truth is unimportant, and falsehood a trifle, and
so destroys our allegiance to the God of truth, and
makes us traitors instead of loyal subjects to the King
of kings!
It appears from our text that this man, having erred
from the truth, followed the natural logical conse-
quence of doctrinal error, and he erreth in his life os
well; for the twentieth verse, which must of coursj
be read in connection with the nineteenth, speaks of
him as "a sinner converted from the error of his way."
His way went wrong after his thought had gone wrong.
You cannot deviate from truth without, ere long, in
some measure, at any rate, deviating from practical
righteousness. This man had erred from right acting
because he had erred from right believing. Suppose
a man shall imbibe a doctrine which leads him to think
little of Christ, he will soon have little faith in Him,
and become litde obedient to Him, and so will wander
into self-righteousness or licentiousness. Let him think
lightly of the punishment of sin, it is natural that he
will commit sin with less compunction, and burst
through all restraints. Let him deny the need of the
atonement, and the same result will follow if he acts out
his belief. Every error has its own outgrowth, as all
decay has its appropriate fungus. It is in vain for us
to imagine that holiness will be as readily produced
from erroneous as from truthful doctrine. Do men gath-
er grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? The facts of
302 THE SOUL-WINNER.
history prove the contrar}^ When truth is dominant,
morahty and hoHness are abundant; but when error
comes to the front, godly living retreats in shame.
The point aimed at with regard to this sinner in
thought and deed was his co7iversion — the turning of
him round, the bringing him to right thinking and to
right acting. Alas! I fear many professed Christians
do not look upon backsHders in this light, neither do
they regard them as hopeful subjects for conversion. I
have known a person who has erred, hunted down like
a wolf. He was wrong to some degree, but that wrong
has been aggravated and dwelt upon until the man has
been worried into defiance; the fault has been ex-
aggerated into a double wrong by ferocious attacks
upon it. The manhood of the man has taken sides with
his error because he has been so severely handled. The
man has been compelled, sinfully I admit, to take up an
extreme position, and to go further into mischief, be-
cause he could not brook being denounced instead of
being reasoned with. And when a man has been blame-
worthy in his life, it will often happen that his fault has
been blazed abroad, retailed from mouth to mouth, and
magnified, until the poor erring one has felt degraded,
and having lost all self-respect, has given way to far
more dreadful sins. The object of some professors
seems to be to amputate the limb rather than to heal
it. Justice has reigned instead of mercy. Away with
him! He is too foul to be washed, too diseased to
be restored. This is not according to the mind of
Christ, nor after the model of apostolic churches.
In the days of James, if any erred from the truth
and from holiness, there were brethren found who
sought their recovery, and whose joy it was thus to
save a soul from death, and to hide a multitude of
sins. There is something very significant in that ex-
ENCOURAGEMENT TO SOUL-WINNERS. 303
pression, * 'Brethren, if any of you do err from the
truth." It is akin to that other word, "Considering
thygelf, lest thou also be tempted," and that other ex-
hortation, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take
heed lest he fall." He who has erred was one of your-
selves, one who sat with you at the communion table,
one with whom you took sweet counsel; he has been
deceived, and by the subtlety of Satan he has been
decoyed; but do not judge him harshly; above all, do
not leave him to perish unpitied. If he ever was a
saved man, he is your brother still, and it should be
your business to bring back the prodigal, and so to
make glad your Father's heart. Still, for all slips of
his, he is one of God's children; follow him up, and
do not rest till you lead him home again. And if he
'be not a child of God, if his professed conversion was a
mistake, or a pretence, if he only made a profession,
but had not the possession of vital godliness, yet still
follow him wnth sacred importunity of love, remem-
bering how^ terrible will be his doom for daring to play
the hypocrite, and to profane holy things with his un-
hallowed hands. Weep over him the more if you feel
compelled to suspect that he has been a wilful deceiver,
for there is sevenfold cause for weeping. If you can-
not resist the feeling that he never was sincere, but
crept into the church under cover of a false profession,
I say, sorrow over him the more, for his doom must
be the more terrible, and therefore the greater should
be your commiseration for him. Seek his conversion
still.
The text gives us clear indications as to the persons
who are to aim at the conversio?i of erring brethren.
It says, "If any of you do err from the truth, and one
convert him." One what? One minister? No, any
one among the brethren. If the minister shall be the
304 THE SOUL-WINNER.
means of the restoration of a backslider, he is a happy-
man, and a good deed has been done; but there is
nothing said here concerning preachers or pastors,
not even a hint is given — it is left open to any one
member of the church; and the plain inference, I
think, is this — that every church member, seeing his
brother err from the truth, or err in practice, should
set himself, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to this
business of converting this special sinner from the
error of his way. Look after strangers by all means,
but neglect not your brethren. It is the business, not
of certain officers appointed by the vote of the church
thereunto, but of every member of the body of Jesus
Christ, to seek the good of all the other members.
Still, there are certain members upon whom in any one
case this may be more imperative. For instance, in
the case of a young believer, his father and his mother,
if they be believers, are called upon by a sevenfold
obligation to seek the conversion of their backsliding
child. In the case of a husband, none should be so
earnest for his restoration as his wife, and the same
rule holds good with regard to the wife. So also if the
connection be that of friendship, he with whom you
have had the most acquaintance should lie nearest to
your heart; and when you perceive that he has gone
aside, you should, above all others, act the shepherd
towards him with kindly zeal. You are bound to do
this to all your fellow-Christians, but doubly bound to
do it to those over whom you possess an influence,
which has been gained by former intimacy, by rela-
tionship, or by any other means. I beseech you, there-
fore, watch over one another in the Lord, and when
ye see a brother overtaken in a fault, "ye which are
spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meek-
ness." Ye see your duty ; do not neglect it. "
ENCOURAGEMENT TO SOUL-WINNERS. 305
Brethren, it ought to cheer us to know that the
attempt to convert a man who has erred from the truth
is a hopeful one, it is one in which success may be
looked for, and when the success comes, it will be of
the most joyful character. Verily, it is a great joy to
capture the wild, w^andering sinner; but the joy of
joys is to find the lost sheep which was once really in
the fold, and has sadly gone astray. It is a great thing
to transmute a piece of brass into silver, but to the
poor woman it was joy enough to find the piece of
silver which was silver already, and had the king's
stamp on it, though for a while it was lost. To bring
in a stranger and an alien, and to adopt him as a son,
suggests a festival; but the most joyous feasting and
the loudest music are for the son who was always a
son, but had played the prodigal, and yet after being
lost was found, and after being dead was made alive
again. I say, ring the bells twice for the reclaimed
backslider; ring them till the steeple rocks and reels.
Rejoice doubly over that which had gone astray, and
was ready to perish, but has now been restored. John
was glad when he found poor backsliding but weep-
ing Peter, who had denied his ^Master; he cheered and
comforted him, and consorted with him, till the Lord
Himself had said, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
Me?" It may not appear so brilliant a thing to bring
back a backslider as to reclaim a harlot or a drunkard,
but in the sight of God it is no small miracle of grace,
and to the instrument who has performed it it shall
yield no small comfort. Seek ye, then, my brethren,
those who were of us but have gone from us; seek yc
those who linger still in the congregation, but have
disgraced the church, and are put away from us, and
rightlv so, because we cannot countenance their un-
clcanness; seek them with prayers, and tears, and en-
30G THE SOUL- WINNER.
treaties, if peradventiirc God may grant them repent-
ance that they may be saved.
Here I would say to any backsHders who are present,
let this text cheer you if you have a desire to turn to
God. Return, ye backsliding children, for the Lord
has bidden His people seek you. If He had not cared
for you. He would not have spoken of our search after
you; but having put it so, and made it the duty of all
His people to seek those who err from the faith, there
is an open door before you, and there are hundreds who
sit waiting like porters at the gate to welcome you.
Come back to the God whom you have forsaken; or
if you never did know Him, oh, that this day His
Spirit may break your hearts, and lead you to true
repentance, that you may in real truth be saved ! God
bless you, poor backsliders! If He do not save you, a
multitude of sins will be upon you, and you must die
eternally. God have mercy upon you, for Christ's sake.
II. We have opened up the special case, and we
have now to dwell upon a GENERAL FACT.
This general fact is important, and we are bound to
give it special attention, since it is prefaced with the
words, "Let him know." If any one of you has been
the means of bringing back a backslider, it is said,
"Let him know." That is, let him think of it, be sure
of it, be comforted by it, be inspirited by it. "Let him
know" it, and never doubt it. Do not merely hear it,
beloved fellow-labourer, but let it sink deep into your
heart. When an apostle inspired of the Holy Ghost
says, "Let him know," I conjure you, do not let any
indolence of spirit forbid your ascertaining the full
weight of the truth.
What is it that you are to know? To know that he
who converteth a sinner from the error of his way
shall save a soul from death. This is something worth
ENCOURAGEMENT TO SOUL-WINNERS. 307
knowing, is it not? To save a soul from death is
no small matter. Why, we have men among us
whom we honour every time we cast our eyes upon
them, for they have saved many precious lives; they
have manned the lifeboat, or they have plunged into
the river to rescue the drowning; they have been ready
to risk their own lives amid burning timbers that they
might snatch the perishing from the devouring flames.
True heroes these, far worthier of renown than your
blood-stained men of war. God bless the brave hearts!
May England never lack a body of worthy men to
make her shores illustrious for humanity! When we
see a fellow-creature exposed to danger, our pulse beats
quickly, and we are agitated with desire to save him.
Is it not so?
But the saving of a soul from death is a far greater
matter. Let us think what that death is. It is not
non-existence; I do not know that I would lift a fin-
ger to save my fellow-creature from mere non-exist-
ence. I see no great hurt in annihilation; certainly
nothing that would alarm me as a punishment for sin.
Just as I see no great joy in mere eternal existence if
that is all that is meant by eternal life, so I discern no
terror in ceasing to be; I would as soon not be as be,
so far as mere colourless being or not being is con-
cerned. But "eternal life" means in Scripture a very
different thing from eternal existence; it means exist-
ing with all the faculties developed in fulness of joy;
existing not as the dried herb in the hay, but as the
flower in all its beauty. "To die," in Scripture, and
indeed in common language, is not to cease to exist.
Very wide is the difference between the two words to
die and to be annihilated. To die, as to the first death,
is the separation of the body from the soul; it is the
resolution of our nature into its component elements;
308 THE SOUL-WINNER.
and to die the second death, is to separate the man,
soul and body, from his God, who is the hfe and joy
of our manhood. This is eternal destruction from the
presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power;
this is to have the palace of manhood destroyed, and
turned into a desolate ruin, for the howling dragon of
remorse, and the hooting owl of despair, to inherit
for ever.
The descriptions which Holy Scripture gives of the
second death are terrible to the last degree. It speaks
of a ''worm that never dies," and a "fire that never can
be quenched," of ''the terror of the Lord," and "tear-
ing in pieces," of "the smoke of their torment which
goeth up for ever and ever," and of "the pit which hath
no bottom." I am not about to bring all these terrible
things together, but there are words in Scripture which,
if pondered, might make the flesh to creep, and the
hair to stand on end, at the very thought of the judg-
ment to come. Our joy is that if any one us are made,
in God's hands, the means of converting a man from
the error of his way, we shall have saved a soul from
this eternal death. That dreadful hell the saved one
will not know, that wrath he will not feel, that being
banished from the presence of God will never hap-
pen to him. Is there not a joy worth worlds in all this?
Remember the addition to the picture. If you have
saved a soul from death, you have introduced it into
eternal life; by God's good grace, there will be an-
other chorister amongst the white-robed host to sing
Jehovah's praise, another hand to smite eternally the
harp-strings of adoring gratitude, another sinner saved
to reward the Redeemer for his Passion. Oh, the hap-
piness of having saved a soul from death!
And it is added that, in such a case, you will have
covered a multitude of sins. We understand this to
ENCOURAGEMENT TO SOUL-WINNERS. 309
mean that the result of the conversion of any sinner
will be the covering up of all his sins by the atoning
blood of Jesus. How many those sins are, in any
case, none of us can tell; but if any man be converted
from the error of his way, the whole mass of his sins will
be drowned in the Red Sea of Jesus' blood, and washed
away for ever. Now remember that your Saviour came
to this world with two objects: He came to destroy
death, and to put away sin. If you convert a sinner
from the error of his way, you are made like to Him
in both these works; after your manner, in the power
of the Spirit of God, you overcome death, by snatching
a soul from the second death, and you also put away
sin from the sight of God by hiding a multitude of sins
beneath the propitiation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do observe here that the apostle offers no other
inducement to soul-winners: he does not say, "If you
convert a sinner from the error of his way, you will
have honour." True philanthropy scorns such a mo-
tive. He does not say, "If you convert a sinner from
the error of his way, you will have the respect of the
church, and the love of the individual." Such will be
the- case, but we are moved by far nobler motives. The
joy of doing good is found in the good itself; the
reward of a deed of love is found in its own result. If
we have saved a soul from death, and hidden a mul-
titude of sins, that is payment enough, though no ear
should ever hear of the deed, and no pen should ever
record it. Let it be forgotten that we were the instru-
ments if good be but effected; it shall give us joy even
if we be not appreciated, and are left in the cold shade
of forgetfulness. Yea, if others wear the honours of
the good deed which the Lord has wrought by us, we
will not murmur, it shall be joy enough to know that
a soul has been saved from death, and a multitude of
sins has been covered.
310 THE SOUL- WINNER.
And, dear brethren, let us recollect that the saving
of souls from death honours Jesus, for there is no
saving souls except through His blood. As for you
and for me, what can we do in saving a soul from
death? Of ourselves nothing, any more than that pen
which lies upon the table could write ''The Pilgrim's
Progress;" yet let a Bunyan grasp the pen, and the
matchless work is written. So you and I can do noth-
ing to convert souls till God's eternal Spirit takes us
in hand; but then He can do wonders by us, and get
to Himself glory by us, while it shall be joy enough
for us to know that Jesus is honoured, and the Spirit
magnified. Nobody talks of Homer's pen, no one has
encased it in gold, or published its illustrious achieve-
ments; nor do we wish for honour among men: it
will be enough for us to have been the pen in the
Saviour's hand with which He has written the covenant
of His grace upon the fleshy tablets of human hearts.
This is golden wages for a man who really loves his
Master; Jesus is glorified, sinners are saved.
Now I want you to notice particularly that all that
is said by the apostle here is about the conversion of
one person. "If any of you do err from the truth, and
one convert him, let him know that he which con-
verteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save
a soul from death. " Have you never wished you were
a Whitefield? Have you never felt, young man, in
your inmost soul, great aspirations to be another
]\IcCheyne, or Brainerd, or MofYat? Cultivate the aspi-
ration, but at the same time be happy to bring one
sinner to Jesus Christ, for he who converts only one
is bidden to know that no mean thing has been done ;
for he has saved a soul from death, and covered a mul-
titude of sins.
And it does not say anything about the person who
ENCOURAGEMENT TO SOUL-WINNERS. 311
is the means of this work. It is not said, "If a min-
ister shall convert a man, or if some noted elocjuent
divine shall have wrought it." If this deed shall be
performed by the least babe in our Israel, if a little
child shall tell the tale of Jesus to its father, if a ser-
vant girl shall drop a tract where some one poor soul
shall find it and receive salvation, if the humblest
preacher at the street corner shall have spoken to the
thief or to the harlot, and such shall be saved, let him
know that he that turncth any sinner from the error of
his way, whoever he may be, hath saved a soul from
death, and covered a multitude of sins.
Now, beloved, what comes out of this but these
suggestions? Let us long to be used in the conversion
of sinners. James does not speak concerning the Holy
Ghost in this passage, nor of the Lord Jesus Christ,
for he w-as writing to those who would not fail to
remember the important truths which concern both
the Spirit and the Son of God ; but yet it may be meet
here to remind you that we cannot do spiritual good
to our fellow-creatures apart from the Spirit of God,
neither can we be blessed to them if we do not preach
to them "Jesus Christ and Him crucified." God must
use us; but, oh, let us long to be used, pray to be
used, and pine to be used! Dear brethren and sis-
ters, let us purge ourselves of everything that would
prevent our being employed by the Lord. If there is
anything we are doing, or leaving undone, any evil
we are harbouring, or any grace we are neglecting,
which may make us unfit to be used of God, let us
pray the Lord to cleanse, and mend, and scour us, till
we are vessels fit for the blaster's use. Then let us
be on the watch for opportunities of usefulness; let
us go about the world with our ears and our eyes
open, ready to avail ourselves of every occasion for
312 THE SOUL-WINNER.
doing good; let us not be content till we are useful,
but make this the main desire and ambition of our
lives. Somehow or other, we must and will bring souls
to Jesus Christ. As Rachel cried, "Give me children,
or I die," so may none of you be content to be bar-
ren in the household of God. Cry and sigh until you
have snatched some brand from the burning, and have
brought at least one sinner to Jesus Christ, that so you
also may have saved a soul from death, and covered
a multitude of sins.
III. And, now, let us turn for a few minutes only
to the point which is not in the text. I want to make
A PARTICULAR APPLICATION of this whole
subject to the conversion of children.
Beloved friends, I hope you do not altogether forget
the Sabbath-school, and yet I am afraid a great many
Christians are scarcely aware that there are such things
as Sabbath-schools at all; they know it by hearsay,
but not by observation. Probably, in the course of
twenty years, they have never visited the school, nor
concerned themselves about it. They would be grati-
fied to hear of any success accomplished, but though
they may not have heard anything about the matter
one way or the other, they are well content. In most
churches, you will find a band of young and ardent
spirits giving themselves to Sunday-school work; but
there are numbers of others who might greatly
strengthen the school who never attempt anything of
the sort. In this they might be excused if they had
other work to do; but, unfortunately, they have no
godly occupation, but are mere killers of time, while
this work which lies ready to hand, and is accessible,
and demands their assistance, is entirely neglected. I
will not say there are any such sluggards here, but I
am not able to believe that we are quite free from them.
ENCOURAGEMENT TO SOUL-WINNERS. 313
aiid therefore I will ask conscience to do its work
with the guilty parties.
Children need to be saved; children may be saved;
children are to be saved by instrumentality. Children
may be saved while they are children. He who said,
"Suffer the litde children to come unto Me, and for-
bid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven,"
never intended that His Church should say, "We will
look after tlie children by-and-by when they have grown
up to be young men and v/omen." He intended that
it should be a subject of prayer and earnest endeavour
that children as children should be converted to God.
The conversion of a child involves tlie same work
of divine grace, and results in the same blessed con-
sequences as the conversion of the adult. There is
the saving of the soul from death in the child's case,
and the hiding of a multitude of sins, but there is this
additional matter for joy, that a great preventive work
is done when the young are converted. Conversion
saves a child from a multitude of sins. If God's eternal
mercy shall bless your teaching to a little prattler, how
happy that boy's life will be compared with what it
might have been if he had grown up in folly, sin,
and shame, and had only been converted after many
days! It is the highest wisdom and the truest prudence
to pray for our children that, w'hile they are yet young,
their hearts may be given to the Saviour.
" 'Twill save them from a thousand snares,
To mind religion young;
Grace will preserve their following years.
And make their virtues strong."
To reclaim the prodigal is well, but to save him from
ever being a prodigal is better. To bring back the
thief and the drunkard is a praiseworthy action, but
314 THE SOUL-WINNER.
SO to act that the boy shall never become a thief or a
drunkard is far better; hence Sabbath-school instruc-
tion stands very high in the list of philanthropic enter-
prises, and Christians ought to be most earnest in it.
He who converts a child from the error of his way,
prevents as well as covers a multitude of sins.
Moreover, this gives the Church the hope of being
furnished with the best of men and women. The
Church's Samuels and Solomons are made wise in
their youth; David and Josiah were tender of heart
when they were tender in years. Read the lives of
the most eminent ministers, and you shall usually find
that their Christian history began early. Though it is
not absolutely needful, yet it is highly propitious to
the growth of a well-developed Christian character,
that its foundation should be laid on the basis of youth-
ful piety. I do not expect to see the Churches of Jesus
Christ ordinarily built up by those who have through
life lived in sin, but by the bringing up in their midst,
in the fear and admonition of the Lord, young men
and women who become pillars in the house of our
God. If we want strong Christians, we must look to
those who were Christians in their youth. Trees must
be planted in the courts of the Lord while they are
yet young if they are to live long and to flourish well.
And, brethren, I feel that the work of teaching the
young has at this time an importance superior to any
which it ever had before, for at this time there are
abroad those who are creeping into our houses, and
deluding men and women with their false doctrine.
Let the Sunday-school teachers of England teach the
children well. Let them not merely occupy their time
with pious phrases, but teach them the whole gospel
and the doctrines of grace intelligently, and let them
pray over the children, and never be satisfied unless
ENCOURAGEMENT TO SOUL-WINNERS. 315
the children are turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, and
added to the Church, and then 1 shall not be afraid of
Popery. Popish priests said of old that they could
have won England back again to Rome, if it had not
been for the catechising of the children. Wc have laid
aside catechisms, I think with too little reason; but,
at any rate, if we do not use godly catechisms, we
must bring back decided, plain, simple teaching, and
there must be pleading and praying for the immediate
conversion of the children unto the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Spirit of God waits to help us in this effort. He is
with us if w^e be with Plim. He is ready to bless the
humblest teacher, and even the infant classes shall not
be without a benediction. He can give us words and
thoughts suitable to our little auditory. He can so
bless us that we shall know how to speak a word in
season to the youthful ear. And oh, if it be not so,
if teachers are not found, or, being found, are unfaith-
ful, we shall see the children that have been in our
schools go back into the w^orld, like their parents, hat-
ing religion because of the tedium of the hours spent
in the Sunday-school, and we shall produce a race of
infidels, or a generation of superstitious persons: the
golden opportunity will be lost, and most solenni re-
sponsibility will rest upon us! I pray the Church of
God to think much of the Sunday-school. I beseech
all lovers of the nation to pray for Sunday-schools:
I entreat all who love Jesus Christ, and would see His
kingdom come, to be very tender towards all youthful
people, and to pray that their hearts may be won to
Jesus.
I have not spoken as I should like to speak ; but the
theme lies very near my heart. It is one which ought
to press heavily upon all our consciences; but I must
leave it. God must lead your thoughts fully into it;
316 THE SOUL-WINNER.
I leave it, but not till I have asked these questions: —
What have you been doing for the conversion of chil-
dren, each one of you? What have you done for the
conversion of your own children? Are you quite clear
upon that matter? Do you ever put your arms around
your boy's neck, and pray for him, and with him?
Father, you will find that such an act will exercise
great influence over your lad. Mother, do you ever
talk to your little daughter about Christ, and Him cru-
cified? Under God's hands, you may be a spiritual as
well as a natural mother to that well-beloved child of
yours. What are you doing, you who are guardians
and teachers of youth? Are you clear about their
souls? You week-day schoolmasters, as well as you
who labour on the Sabbath, are you doing all you
should that your boys and girls may be brought early
to confess the Lord? I leave it with yourselves.
You shall receive a great reward if, when you enter
heaven, as I trust you will, you shall find many dear
children there to welcome you into eternal habitations ;
it will add another heaven to your own heaven, to
meet with heavenly beings who shall salute you as
their teacher who brought them to Jesus. I would not
wish to go to heaven alone;— would you? I would
not wish to have a crown in heaven without a star in
it, because no soul was ever saved by my means; —
would you? There they go, the sacred flock of blood-
bought sheep, the great Shepherd leads them; many
of them are followed by twins," and others have, each
one, their lamb; would you like to be a barren sheep
of the great Shepherd's flock? The scene changes.
Hearken to the trampings of a great host. I hear
their war music, my ears are filled with their songs
of victory. The warriors are coming home, and each one
is bringing his trophy on his shoulder, to the honour
ENCOURAGEMENT TO SOUL-WINNERS. 317
of the great Captain. They stream througli the giiw
of pearl, they march in triumph to the celestial Capitol,
along the golden streets, and each soldier bears with
him his own portion of the spoil. Will you be there?
And being there, will you march without a trophy,
and add nothing to the pomp of the triumph? Will
you bear nothing that you have won in battle, nothing
which you have ever taken for Jesus with your sword
and with your bow? Again, another scene is before me.
I hear them shout the "harvest home," and I see the
reapers bearing every one his sheaf. Some of them
are bowed down with the heaps of sheaves which load
their happy shoulders: they went forth weeping, but
they have come again rejoicing, bringing their sheaves
with them. Yonder comes one who bears but a little
handful, but it is rich grain; he had only a tiny plot,
and a little seed corn entrusted to him, yet it has mul-
tiplied well according to the rule of proportion.
Will you be there without so much as a solitary ear?
Xever having ploughed nor sown, and therefore never
having reaped? If so, every shout of every reaper
might well strike a fresh pang into your heart as you
remember that you did not sow, and therefore could
not reap. If you do not love my Master, do not pro-
fess to do so. If He never bought you with His blood,
do not lie unto Him, and come unto His table, and
sav that you are His servant; but if His dear wounds
bouglit you, give yourself to Him; and if you love
Him, feed His sheep and feed His lambs. He stands
here unseen by my sight, but recognised by my faith,
He exhibits to you the marks of the wounds upon
His hands and His feet, and He says to you, "Peace
be unto you! As :My Father hath sent Me. even so
send I you. Go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel to every creature ; and this know, that he who
318 THE SOUL-WINNER.
converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall
save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude- of
sins." Good Master, help us to serve Thee! Amen.
Charles H. Spurgeon.
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