Methods Of Christian Work

Chapter Eleven: Organizing And Conducting A Gospel Mission

I. Importance Of Gospel Missions

1. In every large city, and in many of our smaller cities, there are great masses of the people that the churches are not reaching. The reasons why they are not being reached by the church are various. First of all because of the location of the churches. The churches as a rule in our larger cities are inaccessible to the great majority of our poorer population. The churches follow the well-to-do people up-town, as a rule, and where the thickest population is, where the people are to whom the Lord Jesus especially ministered during His life, there the churches are not. The churches are not reaching them because they are not near enough to where these people are. In the second place, the services of the regularly organized church are of such a character that they do not reach them. Oftentimes when they pretend to preach the Gospel they do not preach it; and, when they do preach the Gospel, it is preached in such a manner that it does not take hold of the common people. A laboring man, a poor man, an ignorant man, a beggar or a drunkard, who wishes to be reformed, goes into many of our churches, and the minister stands up and preaches the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet he preaches the Gospel in such a manner that it does not leave any impression upon the man's mind. The preacher is before everything else a scholar and a literary gentleman, and he does not know how to get down to the hearts and lives of ordinary folks. In the third place, the whole atmosphere of the church is not such that these people feel at home. Sometimes the style of dress, the social etiquette, the music, the whole general conduct of the church, are such as to repel them Down in the mission, on the other hand, there is an entire absence of conventionality, but there is a friendliness, a kindliness, a home-likeness that their hearts warm to. There is something that attracts them to the place, and they go again and again until the Spirit of God opens their hearts and they are saved.

"It is the work of the mission to evangelize these masses of men and women and children existing in all our larger cities, and in many of our smaller cities, who are not reached by the ordinary ministrations of the church." It is to EVANGELIZE the masses not simply to reach them. It is of no great importance to know merely how to reach the masses, any one can reach the masses, but the question is, how to gospelize them. The work of the mission is not to conduct innocent entertainment, nor to provide a nice, warm, pleasant place for the people to go into from the streets; it is not to clothe the poor and the naked: but the work of the missions is to bring the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to bear upon the hearts and lives of lost men and lost women. What they find, or ought to find, in the mission is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ seven nights in the week. If they desire amusement, or weak imitations of dime museums, they can get them elsewhere. The true business of the mission, as well as the true business of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, is to preach the Word of God, and to bring it to bear upon lost men. The Word of God is the one lever that will lift them, not only out of the ditch, but into the kingdom of God.

2. THE GOSPEL MISSION IS IMPORTANT AS A SOUL WINNER. The question of how to evangelize the masses is often discussed as if it were a problem that nobody had solved, but it has been solved. There is no experiment about it. There are many who know exactly how to reach the masses with the Gospel, and prove that they know how by doing it. The Gospel missions are winning souls, and their chief importance lies in this fact. I have in mind a mission to which you can go any night in the fifty-two weeks in the year, and you will see anywhere from twelve to fifty men kneeling at the altar and seeking the Lord Jesus Christ. Go to many other missions and you will see practically the same thing. The Gospel missions of America are winning thousands upon thousands of poor lost men and women to Jesus Christ every year; winning them and saving them, transforming them, making them children of God, heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, by the power of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here is where the prime importance of the mission lies, not because it is trying to do the work, but because it is doing it.

3. GOSPEL MISSIONS ARE IMPORTANT AS AN INSPIRATION TO THE CHURCHES. Some of the most satisfactory local revivals in the history of the country have come from some member of a church attending a mission, getting a new conception of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, and going home and kindling his church. The fire has gone through the whole church, and the church has been awakened to a mighty work for God. Oftentimes when people who have not even attended a mission have read reports of the work, they have wakened to the fact that Paul meant just what he said when he wrote that the Gospel was the power of God unto salvation to every one that believed, and they have gone to work with new faith and new energy, and the Gospel has proved a saving power in their own community.

4. GOSPEL MISSIONS ARE IMPORTANT AS A FEEDER TO THE CHURCHES. Many of the best working members, and sometimes the best paying members, in our churches today are converts of missions. Many rich people have gone from the regular churches down to the missions, and have been there converted, and have gone back to their churches to be a power and blessing. Some people get an idea that all men who are converted in missions are men of no gifts or promise. It is a great mistake. Many a man who has been converted in a mission is indeed from the deepest depths of poverty and ruin, but it is sin that has brought him to his present condition. When the mission has gotten hold of him and won him to Christ, oftentimes the man regains his old position in society and business. A man who had been mayor of a large Southern city, but who had gone down through drink until he was a penniless tramp, was converted in a New York mission. He afterwards became the manager of one of the largest publishing houses in America. The night of his conversion, discouraged, disheartened, despairing, he had started from his lodging house to go and commit suicide in the East River. He had gone to a saloon to get one more drink, was thrown out because he was penniless, was brought into a mission by one who saw him thrown out of the saloon, and was converted that night. Many a man who is today in the regular Gospel ministry was converted in a mission. One of the brightest and most promising congregational ministers that I know in our land, the beloved pastor of a well-to-do church, was converted in a New York mission.

5. MISSIONS ARE IMPORTANT AS FURNISHING A PLACE WHERE MEMBERS OF OUR CHURCHES CAN WORK.

A Christian cannot grow without work. One of the great troubles in many of our churches today is that there is nothing to do. The members go Sunday after Sunday and are fed and fed and fed until they are dying of spiritual dyspepsia, apoplexy, or both. A minister once said to me, "My greatest difficulty is that I haven't anything for my members to do." It was literally true. It was a college church, and a parish in which there were more workers than work. A mission gives Christians something to do, something exceedingly inspiring to do, something in which there is a tremendous uplift to their own spiritual energy. What a blessing would come to many of our wealthy churches if the members of these churches who go Sunday after Sunday and hear the Gospel of the Lord Jesus would go out from these churches down into the lowest parts of the city, and come right into living touch with lost men and women, and try to use the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to lift them up where they ought to be. If they should do this, we would have new life in our prayer meeting, we would not have two or three long and labored prayers; we would have prayer after prayer, short, right to the point, appeals to God for His blessing upon this man or that woman. We would have a new conception of the power of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, we would have a new vision of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. I never knew Jesus as I know Him today, until I knew what it was to go down among the poor and outcast, and kneel right beside a dirty drunkard, and put my arm about his neck, and whisper to him that Jesus died for him, and that Jesus came to save him and could save him, and then hear him with breaking heart lift his voice to God in prayer, and then see him rise a new man in Christ Jesus. I understood the Gospel then; I understood Jesus then; I saw Jesus then as I never saw Him before. If you wish to be a better Christian than you ever were in all your life, if you wish to understand the Lord Jesus as you never understood Him before in all your life, if you wish to have the spirit of prayer as you never had it before in all your life, go to work in a mission. If you are a pastor and wish to have a better membership than you ever had in your life, send your members out to work in a mission. If you have not a mission where they can do it, start one, have one anyhow. I pity from the bottom of my heart the man or woman who does not know the inspiration, the joy and uplift, that come from going down into some mission where perhaps there are five, ten or one hundred lost men and women, and just pleading with them in the simplest language you can command to take the Lord Jesus Christ who saved you.

The best way to start a mission is to start it. A great many people talk about starting but they never start. In one city they had a great gathering and were going to build a $200,000 building. They had a wonderful meeting, and one man subscribed $30,000. Some one who was present was asked what he thought about it, and he replied, "I can tell you better after they have started." They never started. The whole thing went to pieces. Our country is full of people who are going to start missions and other Christian enterprises, but they never do it. The way to begin is by beginning.

1. IN THE FIRST PLACE, BE SURE GOD WISHES YOU TO START A MISSION. It is not enough to be sure that you wish to start one. It is as a rule far better to go and help a mission already existing, than to go and begin a new one of your own. Many people hear of the wonderful work they are doing in some mission, and then go and start one without consulting the Lord. There have been hundreds of missions opened in this country that the Lord never wished opened, and if those who started them had gone to Him about it they would never have been started.

2. IF YOU ARE SURE THAT IT IS THE LORD'S DESIRE THAT YOU START A MISSION, START WITH THE DETERMINATION TO GO THROUGH WITH IT. People attend conventions or read articles about missions, and see only the bright side, they do not see that the work is also full of discouragements. If there is any work that is full of discouragements, it is mission work; so when you start, begin with the determination that you will go through every obstacle, and then you will get through.

3. BE SURE YOU GET THE RIGHT LOCATION. That is very important. Be sure to consult God about the place. There is a great deal in the place, and the place that you think best may not be the best place. Here are a few hints as to location:

(1) Go where there is the hardest work, not the most attractive work, to do.

(2) Go where there is the most need for work.

(3) Go where there are a great many passers-by.

(4) As a rule the first floor is best for many reasons, but there are some advantages in a second-floor mission.

(5) A vacant store, saloon or theater will answer the purpose for a mission excellently.

(6) Don't start on too large a scale. Everybody seems to wish a bigger mission than anybody else, and if they start on a large scale, as a rule in a few months they have enough of it. Sometimes the best place to start a mission is on a street corner. Go and hold an open air meeting, and if the Lord approves of your work He will give you a more permanent place.

(7) The location of the mission must be largely determined by the purpose of the mission. If the purpose of the mission is to reach drunkards, the place for the mission is near the saloons; if the purpose of the mission is to reach fallen women, oftentimes it is desirable to have the mission right among the places that these women haunt, though if possible there should also be a home remote from the dens of iniquity to which the converts can be sent. If the purpose of the mission is to reach into the lives of the poor, of course the location of the mission has to be determined by that fact.

4. FURNISH PLAINLY. Fancy missions as a rule are failures. They are nice in theory, but plain ones do the work.

5. "When you have made up your mind where you are going to start, and have gotten everything ready, advertise your meetings everywhere; in the houses, in the stores, in the saloons and on the street." Send men and women out to bring people in, to "compel them to come in." Get as many consecrated Christian workers as you can together. Expect fresh infillings of the Holy Spirit as you seek to win souls.

1. DON'T SUPPORT IT ON CREDIT. Many people get in debt and call it walking by faith. God says, "Owe no man anything." Running into debt is not faith, but disobedience. It is better to shut a mission up than to run it into debt. Debt dishonors God. If you run into debt you will be discredited, the church will be discredited, God will be discredited, sinners will stumble to perdition over the dishonor brought to the name of Christ.

2. DO NOT SUPPORT YOUR MISSION BY FAIRS, SOCIALS, IMITATION DIME MUSEUMS, OR ANYTHING OF THAT SORT. The man who goes into the disgraceful methods of raising church finances that are so common in our day lacks faith in God.

3. DO NOT SUPPORT YOUR MISSION BY INDISCRIMINATE SOLICITATION. Never go to an ungodly man for money. God says that the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord. He certainly does not wish us to use an abomination to support His work.

4. IF YOU ARE ABLE TO DO IT, IT IS OFTENTIMES WELL TO SUPPORT A MISSION OUT OF YOUR OWN POCKET. In almost every large city there are many Christian men who could support a mission. One of the most efficient missions in the world was for years supported by a business man out of his own pocket. He worked six days in the week the entire day, spent all the evenings at the mission, then went fourteen miles to his home, and before he could go to bed would have a long list of people to pray for. He was past fifty years old when he began this work; he kept it up for many years, and the work continues to this day. Another man of wealth in another city put $10,000 or more a year into a mission that he organized. He found that that work paid so much better than his business, that he finally turned his back upon his business and put himself into the work. He is still in the work, a young man at nearly three score years and ten. It does not require a very rich man to support a mission. Four young men in one city, each of them working on a meager salary, supported a very successful mission with scarcely any help from others. Of course it required self-denial, but they felt that the self-denial abundantly paid.

5. ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO SUPPORT A MISSION IS TO HAVE AN INDIVIDUAL CHURCH BACK OF IT. The church will be a blessing to the mission, and the mission to the church. Every rich church ought to have one or more missions that it is supporting.

6. THE BEST WAY TO SUPPORT A MISSION IN MANY CASES IS TO SUPPORT IT BY THE FREE WILL OFFERINGS OF THOSE WHO ATTEND IT. This is best even where the attendants are all poor people. Very few realize how much poor people can give and will give if they are interested in a work, and if the work really is of God. Far more missions as well as churches could be self-supporting if the people only believed it and undertook it. The people always appreciate the mission better, and think more of it, when they have money in it.

7. MISSIONS CAN BE SUPPORTED BY FAITH. If you are SURE the Lord wishes you to carry on mission work, ask Him for means and He will supply them. You will not need to make personal solicitations from anybody but the Lord. I say this not from speculation, but from experience. Many others have had the same experience.

1. LET GOD CONDUCT IT. Missions often fail because there is too much of man's machinery and man's management. Cast-iron rules and cast-iron methods of conducting missions, red tape and other nonsense, shut God out. Give your mission over unreservedly to the control of God. Be sure you do it -- seek His guidance and wait for it. The promise of the thirty-second Psalm applies as well to mission work as to other work: "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go, I will guide thee with mine eye." The trouble is, oftentimes we are not near enough to see the glance of the Father's eye.

2. CONDUCT YOUR MISSION ALONG STRICTLY GOSPEL LINES. Refuse to be switched off on to side issues. Amusements and entertainments may be a good enough thing in their place, but the time is short and the Lord is at hand. We cannot afford to be reaching out in such indirect and indefinite ways. Thousands of souls are perishing, and the only thing that has God's power in it to save is the Gospel (Romans 1:16). A fine text for the mission worker is, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." The missions that have been successful are the missions that have held strictly to the Gospel, the missions that have given the Gospel clearly, simply and constantly. Experiments along other lines are nothing new. They have been tried for over a quarter of a century. I remember a church which in my early life seemed to me a model church. It had most cunningly devised machinery for reaching the people -- lectures, entertainments, clubs, classes, etc., etc. It did reach the people, but it did not convert them. It grew marvelously, but it was made up of such heterogeneous and unconverted material that it went to pieces and ended in a free-for-all fight; yet every little while some new work is springing up along these old and discredited lines, yet imagining that it is striking out in new and promising paths. The Gospel alone can do the work we aim to do. Run your mission along Gospel lines seven nights in the week.

3. TEND STRICTLY TO BUSINESS. Missions will not run themselves. People attend a few meetings of a successful mission, or read about them, and conclude that missions are a fine thing. Then they open one somewhere and expect it to go of itself, and it does go -- to pieces. This has occurred again and again. There is no form of Christian work that demands more careful and prayerful watching and attention to business than mission work. A single ill-conducted service in a church may not do much harm, but a single ill-conducted service in a mission is likely to have far-reaching consequences of evil. One unfortunate meeting in a mission may mar the work for years.

4. PUT ONLY TRIED MEN IN THE LEADERSHIP OF THE MISSION. Use only men of irreproachable character, and who have a good understanding of God's Word, men of good common sense, and uncommon push. It is too much the custom if a notorious sinner is converted, to open a mission for him at once and put him in charge. He has not been tested, and nothing is known of his qualifications, but he has a remarkable story. The condition of many missions is simply horrible because of this sort of thing. Of course such a man ought to be set to work, and there is much that he can do, and do well, and without any risk. He can be used to hand out dodgers and to get people into the mission; he can testify humbly and effectively as to what God has done for him; very likely he can do most efficient personal work, but for his own sake and for Christ's sake, do not put him into any place of leadership until he is tried, and has proven the stability of his Christian character, his gifts and his Bible knowledge, to be such as fit him for the work: "Lay hands hastily on no man" (1 Timothy 5:22 RV); however good a man he may be, it will hurt him to put him forward at once.

5. MAKE MUCH OF THE BIBLE. People in a mission should be given a great deal of the Word of God. Stable and well rounded Christian character is built upon a study of the Word of God. The Christian character that is built merely upon the foundation of experience is unreliable; it breaks down easily; but the Christian character that is built upon the Word of God never goes to pieces. The converts and attendants ought to be encouraged to study the Word for themselves. There should be classes also for thorough systematic instruction in Bible truth. There should be training classes where they are taught how to use the Bible in leading others to Christ. They should be encouraged to make much use of the Bible in giving their experience. In some successful missions the men always begin their testimony by a quotation from Scripture, giving chapter and verse.

6. MAKE MUCH USE OF TESTIMONY. There can be no doubt of the great power of living testimony, especially in mission work. Men and women who regard themselves not only lost, but hopelessly lost, come into the mission and there hear some other man or woman who has been as deep down in sin as themselves, tell the story of the saving power of Christ. Hope is kindled in their hearts, and they turn to Christ and are saved. There are thousands of earnest Christians in our land today who were saved through the testimonies of redeemed men and women. Of course care has to be exercised as to the character of the testimonies thus given. We should be careful to see that it is genuine and not hypocritical; we should see to it that the men live out in their daily lives what they testify to in the evening meeting. If men give their testimony about their past sinful life in a boastful way, they should be instructed in private not to do this. Sometimes it is necessary to say a word about it publicly. But the fact that there are evils connected with the relation of our experience is not a sufficient reason for altogether giving up this mighty weapon of testimony.

7. MAKE MUCH USE OF MUSIC. Get the best music you can. Be sure it is converted music. Tolerate nothing but a converted chorister, a converted organist and a converted choir. Have an organist that you can depend upon. An organist of modest ability who is always there is much better than a much better organist who is sometimes late or absent. Get the best soloist you can, but be sure they sing hymns that contain the real Gospel, and sing them in the power of the Holy Spirit. Have duets, quartets and choruses, but best of all, have a lively congregational singing. Be careful in your selection of hymns. Choose hymns that are full of life and full of the Gospel. Sing them over and over again until you have sung them into the hearts of the hearers. Many a man will go out of the mission unconverted, but the hymn that he has heard will go on singing itself in his heart until it has sung him into the kingdom of God. It is wonderful how the Gospel in song sticks in the minds of hearers.

8. MAKE A GREAT DEAL OF PERSONAL WORK IN THE MISSION. It is not enough to get those who desire to be saved up to the altar, though that is a good thing to do; have workers deal with them individually. Be sure that the workers themselves know how to do personal work. One great cause of the instability of much of our mission work is that there has been no thorough hand-to-hand dealing with the converts.

9. LOOK AFTER YOUR CONVERTS. Keep a list of them, and hunt them up in their homes if they have any. If they have no homes, hunt them up in their lodging houses or wherever they may be. Follow them up persistently, instruct them individually as to how to succeed in the Christian life. Be watchful to see that they follow the instructions given. Get them into some live church of Jesus Christ. We ought to be careful as to the church which mission converts join. Many churches would prove to be an icehouse to them, and would freeze them to death. It is oftentimes best to have the mission itself organized into a church, where there is regular church life, and where the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper are administered.

10. THROW AS MUCH OF THE WORK AS YOU CAN UPON THE CONVERTS OF THE MISSION. Send them out into the streets and saloons to invite people in; be careful, however, about sending reformed drunkards into saloons. Put the converts out on the street corners and in front of the mission with dodgers. Organize them into a choir and get them to sing. Train them to use their Bibles in dealing with inquirers. Work them into the Sunday School as officers and teachers as fast as it is wise. Organize them into lookout committees, sick committees, hospital committees, jail committees, etc. Set them to conducting cottage meetings. Use them in open-air work.

11. HAVE PLENTY OF GOOD USHERS. Let them meet people at the door and give them a warm handshake, and show them a seat. Ladies are oftentimes the best ushers for a mission. It has been a long time since some of those who enter the mission have come in contact with a pure woman, and her mere presence is a benediction; their hearts are touched, and memories of olden days come to mind.

12. LET NO ONE GO OUT WITHOUT A PERSONAL INVITATION TO COME TO CHRIST. The best work in many a mission is that which is done with those who start to go out before the meeting is over. Some one stays near the door and follows out every one who leaves and preaches Christ to them. Many have been won to Christ this way, just outside the mission.

13. HAVE NO CAST-IRON FORM OF SERVICE. It is well to begin one way one time and an entirely different way another. Let everything be unconventional. Avoid getting into ruts.

14. NEVER BE AFRAID OF DRUNKARDS, THIEVES, THUGS OR CRANKS. You have God back of you, and if you look to Him, He will give you the victory every time. Many things may happen that would frighten an ordinary preacher out of his wits, but out of these very unforeseen incidents blessing oftentimes comes.

I was once conducting a meeting when a drunken man rose in the back part of the audience and wanted to speak. As he came forward I said, "Do you want me to pray for you?" The man faced the audience and broke out, "I am a damned fool!" then he apologized for swearing. He said, "I did not mean to swear." I said, "My friend, you told the truth, you are a fool and you are damned, but Christ can save you. Do you wish us to pray for you?" And down the man went upon his knees. In a little while a tall, muscular, drunken lumber man rose to his feet and said he wished to ask a question. I replied, "All right, what is it?" He said, "I wish to ask about the blessed Trinity." I said, "Never mind that now, Christ died for you; do you wish us to pray for you?" The man replied, "I am not such a fool but what I am willing to be prayed for," and down he dropped upon his knees. The power of God came upon the meeting, and there was great blessing that night.

15. DEPEND UPON THE HOLY SPIRIT. You may have the right machinery, you may have the building and the crowds, you may have even the Word of God itself, but unless you have the power of the Holy Spirit to accompany the divine seed as you sow it, your work will come to nothing. All this machinery, unless the power of the Holy Spirit is in it, is worse than useless, but if you have the fire from above, you will win souls.

Jails, hospitals, poorhouses and other public institutions offer a very important and much neglected field of operations for the devoted soul winner.

1. MANY OF THE INMATES OF THESE INSTITUTIONS MUST BE REACHED WHILE THERE, OR NOT AT ALL. Many of them in fact spend pretty much all of their lives there, and many others still will die there.

2. THE INMATES ARE OFTENTIMES IN A FAVORABLE MOOD FOR THE RECEPTION OF THE GOSPEL. Things have gone against them. Life looks hopeless. The Gospel, which is full of hope, just appeals to their need. Take for example the men in jail. They have found out by bitter experience that "the way of the transgressor is hard"; they are humbled and sobered. They are very likely to be in a thoughtful mood; they have much time for thought, little opportunity in fact for anything else; furthermore the whisky is out of them, and with many of them the only time the whisky is out of them is when they are in jail or prison. There could not be a more favorable opportunity for preaching the Gospel. I have known many men who thanked God that they were ever sent to jail, for there they heard the Gospel, some of them for the first time, and others of them in a different mood from that in which they had ever heard it before.

3. THE CONVERTS CAN BE FOLLOWED UP. A prisoner is reached with the Gospel one Sunday in jail, he is likely to be there the next Sunday as well, and perhaps for many Sundays to come, and there is an opportunity to get him thoroughly established before he is out in the world again. The same is true of an inmate of a hospital; he is reached one day, and is likely to be there where he can be dealt with for many days to come.

4. THE INMATES HAVE TO ATTEND. In some instances attendance is compulsory. When one is confined to a sick bed in the ward of a hospital where a religious service is being held, they are obliged to hear the Gospel preached and sung. Further than this, where the inmates of such institutions are not compelled to attend, there is so little to do that they are willing to go to anything for a novelty.

5. THE RESULTS OF SUCH SERVICES ARE VERY LARGE. It has oftentimes been our privilege in the Cook County Jail to preach to fifty or more persons there under charge of murder, besides great numbers of others. Very many of the most desperate and hardened characters have been converted in jail services. There is scarcely any other work that yields so important and so good results as jail work. Some of the leading ministers and other Christian workers of this country were converted while incarcerated. One of the leading ministers of one of our evangelical denominations, a man whose name is known not only in this country but in Europe, a man who has remarkable power of preaching the Word of God, was first reached while in jail. At that time he was a brilliant but drunken lawyer. He was converted in jail, and has been for many years an honored preacher of the Gospel. In one of our cities a reckless young man was incarcerated under charge of arson. He had burned the property of his own father. His father was himself a Godless man. While in jail this young man was brought to Christ, and has been for years a most devoted Christian at the head of a very successful mission work. Jerry McAuley, perhaps the leader in rescue mission work in this country, was converted while in Sing Sing prison. Christian workers should see to it that every jail, poorhouse, and similar institution in the land has a regular evangelistic service. The formal services held under the city or state in such institutions frequently are purely formal, and of no real value. As a rule the best work is that which is done by volunteers. Service should also be held in every hospital in the land where it is possible to get an entrance.

1. FIRST OF ALL, YOU MUST GET PERMISSION. The way to get permission is to ask for it. The request should not be made in the way of a demand, it should be made with great tact and courtesy. If it is possible to get influence back of your request, get it.

2. KEEP THE GOOD WILL OF THE ATTENDANTS. Here is a place where many zealous but unwise workers make a mistake; they unnecessarily antagonize jailers or keepers or nurses or other attendants. This is the height of folly. It does not cost much to keep the good will of people, and in a case like this it is of inestimable value.

3. BE SURE TO VIOLATE NONE OF THE RULES OF THE INSTITUTION. Be careful at the outset to find what the rules of the institution are, and then observe them to the very letter. It makes no difference whether you think the rules of the institution are wise or not, keep them anyhow. It is not your business to make the rules, but to observe them.

4. ATTEND STRICTLY TO YOUR OWN BUSINESS. Don't try to run the whole jail or hospital. Some men when they go to preach in an institution seem to be seized with the idea that they own the whole institution. I have known workers to go to work among the inmates of a hospital, and then try to get them to give up the use of medicine and accept divine healing, or sometimes try to get them to go to some other hospital they thought was better. In such a case, the authorities are of course warranted in turning the workers into the street.

5. GO REGULARLY. Regular services, week after week, month after month, year after year, accomplish far more than spasmodic efforts. One great trouble in all this kind of work is that there are so many people who get enthusiastic for some weeks, and then their enthusiasm cools. When institutions have a number of experiences with this kind of work, they become unwilling to permit a new band of workers to take up again a work that has so often failed in the past.

6. HAVE GOOD MUSIC, AND PLENTY OF IT. These people get very little music, and they enjoy it. Frequently they enjoy the music more than they do the preaching, and it is easier to reach many of them by a solo sung in the power of the Spirit than it is by a sermon. Adapt your music to the circumstances; for example, in a hospital the music should not be loud or exciting; it should be bright and comforting. A doleful tune in a hospital may hasten the death of some of the patients, but a bright, cheerful, Gospel tune is likely to save the lives of some of the patients. The music that is adapted to a hospital is frequently not adapted to a jail, and vice versa.

7. PREACH THE WORD. Stick close to the Bible. Be simple, plain, vivacious, right to the point.

8. BE WISE IN YOUR PRAYER. An indiscreet prayer in a hospital may do much harm, so may an indiscreet prayer in a jail or workhouse.

9. IN A JAIL BE CAREFUL TO AVOID ALL AIR OF SUPERIORITY. Many an inexperienced man begins to talk to the inmates in jail, as if he were an angel and they were demons. Such a man will get no hearing. Let the prisoners feel that you realize that you are their brother. Do not assume a patronizing air, avoid all unnecessary sentimentality and gush.

10. MAKE USE OF TESTIMONY. Jerry McAuley was converted through the testimony of Orville Gardner. He had known Orville Gardner in the old days as a desperate character in New York, going by the nickname of "Awful Gardner." When he went to Sing Sing prison and saw Orville Gardner in the pulpit, he could hardly believe his own eyes; but when Orville Gardner rose and gave his testimony, it went home to Jerry McAuley's heart, and thoroughly roused him to a study of the Bible itself, with the result that he was converted in his cell. There are many men in this country today who in olden days have been inmates of jails and prisons -- notorious criminals -- but who are today living consistent Christian lives. The testimony of such a man has great weight with other convicts.

11. DEAL INDIVIDUALLY WITH THE INMATES. The public preaching does much good, but the personal work does more, it brings matters to a personal decision. The great majority of converts in jail work come through individual work. It may be difficult at first to get permission to deal individually with the inmates, but if you are wise, and win the confidence of the authorities, you will get the opportunity in time.

12. MAKE A LARGE USE OF TRACTS AND OTHER GOSPEL LITERATURE. Prisoners have so much time on their hands that they are ready to read anything. Select your literature very wisely. Goody-goody religious literature is not what is needed, but that which shows real ability and strength, and goes right to the heart of things. There is no better literature for use in jails and hospitals than that published by the Colportage Division of the Moody Press. It is possible to get free grants from this society. While their prison fund is usually overdrawn, somehow or other they manage to honor drafts made upon them.

13. PRAY MUCH IN SECRET. Prayer is one of the great secrets of success in all forms of religious enterprise, but this is peculiarly true regarding work in jails, hospitals and similar institutions. If a record could be kept and published regarding God's answers to prayers for work under such circumstances, it would make a most interesting and inspiring book.

By revival meetings we mean consecutive meetings, day after day and night after night, for the quickening of the life and activity of the church, and for the salvation of the lost. We speak of them as revival meetings because such meetings result from new life either in individuals or in the church as a whole, and if properly conducted always result in the impartation of new life to the church and the salvation of the lost.

The importance of revival services can scarcely be overestimated. There are those who say that we ought not to have special revival meetings, but should have a revival in the church all the time. It is true that there should be a revival in the church all the time. There was a continuous revival in the apostolic church; there are churches which have a continuous revival in these days; but it is almost always the case that the churches which have a continuous revival are those which believe in and make use of special revival services, and what are known as revival methods.

1. THE FIRST ADVANTAGE OF SPECIAL REVIVAL SERVICES IS THAT WHICH COMES FROM REPEATED AND CONSECUTIVE IMPRESSION. An unsaved man hears a sermon on Sunday evening. An impression is made upon his mind by the truth he has heard, but the impression has not been profound enough to lead to his acceptance of Jesus Christ then and there. Before the next regular preaching service of the church comes, the impression has faded away, and an entirely new impression has to be made. If the Sunday evening sermon had been followed up by another on Monday evening, the impression of Sunday evening would have been deepened; if that had been followed by still another sermon on Tuesday evening, the impression would have been made deeper still, and very likely before the week was over, the man would have been converted. Only those who have made a careful and prolonged study of this matter can realize how important in the work of bringing men to Christ is the element of repeated and consecutive impression. Men who have attended church for years, and who have been only superficially impressed, are oftentimes readily brought to Christ in a series of consecutive services.

2. THE SECOND ADVANTAGE OF REVIVAL SERVICES IS THAT, IF PROPERLY CONDUCTED, THERE WILL BE AN UNUSUAL AMOUNT OF PRAYER, AND UNACCUSTOMED EARNESTNESS IN PRAYER. Some one may say that Christians ought always to pray, and so they should, but we have to take the people as they are. As a matter of fact, the average Christian does far more praying in a time of special revival services than he does at any other time. The professed Christians who spend as much time as they ought in regular prayer day by day, when there is no special effort being made for the salvation of the lost, are very rare indeed.

3. THE THIRD ADVANTAGE OF REVIVAL SERVICES IS THAT AT SUCH TIMES cHRISTIANS PUT FORTH SPECIAL EFFORTS FOR THE SALVATION OF THE LOST. Every Christian should do everything in his power every day of his life to lead men to Christ, but in point of fact very few Christians do this. How often those who are cold and indifferent and do almost nothing at all for the salvation of the lost under ordinary circumstances will display a great activity at the time of special services, and not seldom those who have never been known as workers before not only take hold of the work during special meetings, but continue it after the meetings are over.

4. REVIVAL SERVICES AWAKEN AN UNUSUAL INTEREST IN THE SUBJECT OF RELIGION IN THE COMMUNITY. The outside world is aroused to the fact that the church exists, and that there is such a thing as religion. They begin to think about God, Christ, the Bible, eternity, heaven and hell. People who are never seen in the house of God at any other time in the year will flock there during revival meetings. Many of them will be converted, and others will become attendants at the church. They find out what the church has to offer, and suddenly wake up to the fact that what the church has to offer is just what they need.

5. AS A MATTER OF EXPERIENCE AND HISTORY, REVIVALS HAVE BEEN GREATLY HONORED OF GOD. This is true in the history of the church as a whole and also in the history of local churches. The church of Christ has been saved, humanly speaking from utter ruin by the revivals which God has graciously sent from time to time in its history. As regards local churches, the churches which have grown and prospered are those that have believed in and made use of revivals. Study the yearbooks of the various denominations, and you will find that the ministers who have believed in revivals and have fostered them in their churches, are the ones who have been able to report from year to year accessions to their church, and gifts to the various branches of Christian activity. On the other hand, it will be found as a rule, an almost universal rule, that the ministers who have pooh-poohed revivals have had their churches run down on their hands. If there is anything that the history of the church of Jesus Christ absolutely demonstrates, it is the tremendous importance, if not the imperative necessity, of revivals.

When shall revival meetings be held in a church or community?

1. WHEN THERE ARE INDICATIONS OF SPECIAL BLESSING. An alert pastor who keeps in touch with his people and the community will often be able to detect signs of special interest and blessing. He will notice a new interest in his preaching on the part of his congregation. He will have a new sense of liberty and power as he preaches. He will see tears in the eyes of his congregation as he speaks about sin and its consequences. People will come to him for spiritual counsel and to be shown the way of life. Perhaps members of his church who are more spiritually alert than himself will say to him that they think there are signs of blessing in the church or community. All these things are indications that God is ready to favor that church or community with an especial outpouring of His Spirit, and arrangements should be made at once to take advantage of these favorable conditions, and to gather a harvest of souls, by holding special revival services.

2. WHEN THERE IS SPIRITUAL DEARTH IN THE COMMUNITY AND CHURCH. When the Gospel seems to have lost its hold upon the people; when the congregations are constantly declining and conversions are few; when iniquity and infidelity are rampant in the community, such a time is also an important one. Special effort should be put forth to arouse the church and to save the perishing. God has promised His special blessing at such a time. He has said, "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him" (Isaiah 59:19). When everything goes hard in a church, and infidelity and irreligion and immorality seem to triumph, the minister whose trust is fixed upon God and in His Word need not become discouraged. Let him cry to God with a new earnestness and faith, and then go to work to bring about the conditions upon which God is always ready to bless His people.

3. REVIVAL MEETINGS SHOULD BE HELD IN EVERY CHURCH EVERY YEAR. This is entirely feasible. The writer of this book has been the pastor of four different churches, all quite different from one another; a village church with the usual village congregation and environment, a young suburban church in a large city, and an established metropolitan church with a large and varied membership. In each of these churches he found it quite possible to have special revival meetings every year. Largely as a result of these special revival meetings, each of these churches had what could probably justly be termed a continual revival, there being accessions to the church at every communion. Many other pastors ministering to churches of still different varieties from these here described testify to the same experience.

As to the time in the year when these services can most wisely be held, this depends upon local conditions. It seems to be the experience of most pastors that the especially favorable time is the week of prayer, and the weeks immediately following. People expect something to be done at that time, and to a certain extent are ready for it. There is, however, a growing tendency to begin these meetings during Easter week or earlier in Lent. This is an especially favorable time in large cities on account of the Roman Catholic and Episcopalian elements. In large cities the social life is at an ebb at that time. Even the theaters take this fact into consideration. While we may not personally believe in observing times and seasons and days, we ought not to lose sight of the fact that other people do believe in it, and we should take advantage of this fact as giving us an especially good opportunity of getting hold of people, and getting them out to hear the Word of God.

1. When it has been decided that the time has come to hold special services, A LETTER SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH, STATING THE PLANS, AND REQUESTING THEIR INTEREST AND PRAYER AND CO-OPERATION IN EVERY WAY. It is sometimes well in connection with this letter to give all members of the church some book to read that will stir them up to self-examination, to prayer and to effort. A book largely used by some evangelists and many pastors for this purpose, is the book, "How to Pray", by the author.* It can be secured in paper cover for this purpose at a very low price. In the letter there should be a request that all members should answer it, pledging themselves not only to read the book that is sent, but also to prayer and co-operation in the work. The members of the church who have been absenting themselves from the church service or from the prayer meeting should be visited personally and dealt with gently but earnestly, and led to realize their responsibility to Christ and His church, and also their responsibility regarding the unsaved in the community.

*{In 2001, "How to Pray" by R.A.Torrey is currently in print in a copyrighted Whittaker House edition, and is also available in a free public domain and freely distributable etext edition from the Christian Digital Library Foundation {http://www.cdlf.org}.}

2. MEETINGS FOR UNITED PRAYER SHOULD AT ONCE BE BEGUN. Sometimes it is wisest to hold these at the central church, but oftentimes, especially when the membership of the church is very much scattered, it is better to have cottage meetings at first, in the various neighborhoods of the parish. These separate cottage meetings can afterwards be brought together for a united meeting at the church. If the revival services are to be of a union character, it is well for each church to begin prayer meetings by itself, and for them afterwards to come together for union prayer meetings. There short addresses should be given upon the importance of prayer and how to pray, but the major part of the meeting should be devoted directly to prayer. The people should be instructed as to what they should pray for; they should be drown out in prayer for the membership of the church, then in prayer for the unsaved, and not merely for the unsaved in general, but for specific persons in whom they are interested; their duty to uphold the hands of the pastor in prayer should be emphasized; they should be instructed as to the lines along which they should seek God's help for the pastor -- in his personal life, in his selection of topics to preach upon, in his preparation of his sermons, and especially that his preaching may be in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Corinthians 2:4; Ephesians 6:19); they should be encouraged to pray for a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the community. Oftentimes it is important to get them to take a higher outlook than the needs of their own local community, and to pray for a general outpouring of the Spirit throughout the world.

3. IN THE NEXT PLACE, A CANVASS OF THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY SHOULD BE UNDERTAKEN. The whole village or city or section of the city should be carefully mapped out, different districts assigned to different workers, and every house and store in the community visited. Those visited should be informed of the meetings that are to be held, but more important than this, as far as possible they should be dealt with and prayed with personally in regard to their salvation. If the services are to be of a union character, the visitors should go out two and two, each one representing a different church in the community.

4. AFTER THIS PRELIMINARY WORK HAS BEEN DONE, MEETINGS SHOULD BE ANNOUNCED AT THE CHURCH. The number of meetings to be held each day will depend very much upon the location and the interest. In many places it will be possible to hold only an evening meeting at first. In other places the meetings can be begun with as many as three or four meetings a day, for what may be best in this line in one place is utterly impossible in another. The ideal is a meeting for prayer, a meeting for the study of the Bible on the part of believers and an evening evangelistic service for the unsaved, with possibly a fourth meeting for children; but this ideal is not attainable in every community. Where it is not, there should at least be in addition to the evening meeting, a gathering for prayer. It may be held for prayer and prayer alone, or it may be wiser to have a meeting in the afternoon, part of the time being given to prayer and part to the study of the Word of God. One great reason why our modern evangelistic movements have lacked the old-time power is because the emphasis is not laid upon the prayer meeting that was in former days. In the great revival of 1857, more time and strength was put into prayer meetings than into anything else. In many places the meetings were entirely prayer meetings. We have swung to the other extreme, and in many cases evangelistic meetings are entirely meetings for preaching and singing. This is a great mistake. Wherever the church becomes lax in united prayer, the meetings will soon lose in power and come to a close as far as any real results are concerned.

The question often rises whether it is wiser to hold the meetings at a church or in a hall. This will depend somewhat upon circumstances. Each method has its advantages. Doubtless many people can be gotten out to a hall or to an opera house who will not enter a church; on the other hand, if people are gotten out to church and converted there, they will be more likely to remain in the church after the special meetings are over than if the meetings are held in a hall or opera house. The wisest plan in many instances is to begin the meetings in a church and then go to a hall or opera house, and then back to the church before they close, in order that those who have been interested in the opera house may be accustomed to and interested in the church before the special interest is over. As to whether the meetings are held in a church or hall oftentimes too is dependent upon whether they are meetings of an individual church or a union of several churches. Here again there are advantages in each plan. There is likely to be more harmony and united effort and less controversy and suspicion if the meetings are held by an individual church. On the other hand there can be no doubt that a community is moved by a union of all the churches in it, as it is not moved and cannot be moved by revival services held by an individual church. If revival services are held in the summer, oftentimes it is well to hold them in a tent.

5. THE CHILDREN SHOULD NEVER BE FORGOTTEN IN TIMES OF SPECIAL INTEREST. Special meetings for the children should be held. As a rule they should be held in the afternoon just at the time the school is closing, so that children can go directly from school to the meeting. They should be held at least five afternoons in the week. More about these children's meetings will be said in the chapter upon children's meetings.

6. OF COURSE THE PREACHING IS OF VERY GREAT IMPORTANCE IN THE CONDUCT OF REVIVAL SERVICES.

(1) WHO SHOULD PREACH?

The first question that arises is as to who should do the preaching. Wherever it is possible, it is well for the pastor of the church to do the preaching himself. It is said that some pastors do not have the evangelistic gift, and this is doubtless in a measure true, but most pastors can, to some extent, cultivate the evangelistic gift, if they only will. There is a great advantage in the pastor himself preaching. There is not such a likelihood that the interest will suddenly die out when the special services are over. When it is not possible for the local pastor to do the preaching, he can often call in the help of some neighboring pastor who does possess the evangelistic gift. Even when the pastor himself is an evangelist, there is an advantage in calling in a fellow pastor for a special series of meetings. His is a new voice, and he is likely to preach the truth from another standpoint from that to which people have become accustomed. Many will go to hear him out of curiosity who might not attend special services conducted by the pastor, thinking they could hear him any Sunday. But we cannot depend altogether upon the local pastor or upon fellow pastors. It is by the ordination of God that there are evangelists in the church, and evangelists as a class have been greatly honored of God in the past history of the church. However clear it is that the pastor is possessed of the evangelistic gift, and however much he may have been used of God in leading the unsaved to Christ, if he is wise he will occasionally call to his help a man whom God has especially appointed to the work of an evangelist. Of course there are evangelists and evangelists. Some evangelists are mere adventurers, others are indiscreet and do much harm, but there are beyond question many men whom God has called to this specific work, and whom He wants in it, and there are indications that God is going to multiply the number of really reliable men who are in evangelistic work.

(2) WHAT TO PREACH.

What shall we preach in times of revival interest? (1) First of all, we should preach the Gospel, the Gospel that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, was buried and rose again. We should never get far from the Cross. We should preach the atonement over and over and over again. (2) We should also preach the utterly lost and ruined condition of man. (3) We should preach the bitter consequences of sin here and hereafter. We should declare the whole counsel of God regarding the judgment and regarding hell. (4) We should present the truth about conversion, regeneration and justification. (5) We should preach the Divinity of Christ. There is great correcting and converting and saving power in that doctrine. (Acts 2:36-37; 9:20,22; John 20:31.) (6) We should also preach to Christians about the Holy Spirit and His work, about prayer, about the power of the Word of God and the necessity of Bible study. One will find much instruction in regard to what to preach at such a time from the sermons of such men as Moody, Spurgeon and Finney. A study of the texts given in the first division of this volume in connection with the different classes of men with whom we have to deal in personal work will suggest many texts and topics for sermons.

7. IN REVIVAL SERVICES THE MUSIC IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE. If possible there should be a large choir of converted men and women. They should have the leadership of a godly chorister. He should be a man who not only knows how to sing himself, but who can get others to sing. If there are in the community, or if there can be secured, men or women who can sing Gospel solos effectively in the power of the Holy Spirit, their services should be obtained. Impress upon the singers that they are to sing not merely to interest the people, but to convert them, and that they need a definite anointing of the Holy Spirit for their work.

8. THE TESTIMONY OF SAVED PEOPLE TO THE POWER AND BLESSING OF THE GOSPEL IS OF GREAT VALUE IN SPECIAL REVIVAL SERVICES. Especially is the testimony of those recently converted effective. When men hear one who has recently come out from their ranks tell of what Jesus Christ has done for him, a longing is awakened in their hearts to find the same Savior.

9. WHEN THE MEETINGS ARE HELD IN A CITY OF CONSIDERABLE SIZE, IT IS WELL TO HAVE A NOON MEETING TO WHICH MEN IN BUSINESS AND OTHERS ARE INVITED. Many can be gotten hold of in this way that can be reached in no other way.

It is well usually in a series of special services to hold meetings for men alone, in which sin is very plainly dealt with, and Christ as the remedy for sin presented. Meetings for women are also desirable. As a rule they should be conducted by women, though there are some men who seem to have a special gift in preaching to women. Generally, however, the men who are most inclined to take such meetings are least qualified to do it.

10. CLASSES TO TRAIN THE WORKERS IN HOW TO DEAL WITH INQUIRERS ARE OF THE HIGHEST IMPORTANCE. Oftentimes it is well to hold these training classes before the general meetings begin, so that from the very first meeting you can have workers whom you may depend upon to do the work.

11. EVERY MEETING SHOULD BE FOLLOWED BY AN AFTER MEETING. Definite instructions an to the conduct of after meetings will be given in a separate chapter.

12. ALL THE CHRISTIAN PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY SHOULD BE SET TO WORK. They should be so aroused upon the subject of religion that all they will talk about everywhere is Christ and His claims upon men. They should be encouraged to go from house to house and store to store laboring with people and endeavoring to get them to accept Christ. Harm may be done in this way by indiscreet workers, but the harm that is done will be small indeed in comparison with the good that is accomplished.

13. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO MAKE USE OF GOOD RELIGIOUS LITERATURE IN TIMES OF SPECIAL INTEREST. Tracts and books should be generously used. The Bible Institute Colportage Association has a very large selection of the most useful literature along these lines that can be secured at a very low cost.

In successful soul-winning work the after meeting is of the highest importance. Every tent meeting, mission meeting and revival service should be followed by an after meeting. The wise and active pastor will also follow up every Sunday evening service with an after meeting. Many a mighty preacher fails to get the results he might from his preaching because he does not know how to draw the net. He is successful at hooking fish, but does not know how to land them. A friend told me a short time ago that he heard a man one evening preach to a large congregation of men one of the best sermons he ever heard, and continued my friend, "I believe there would have been fifty decisions just then but just at the critical moment the evangelist did not know what to do, and let the meeting slip through his fingers." He asked them to stand up and sing some hymn and the men began to go out in crowds. He tried to get them together again, and there were some inquirers, but nothing like the results there should have been. Much good preaching comes to nothing because it is not driven home to the individual, and the individual brought then and there to an acceptance and confession of Jesus as Savior and Lord.

1. THE FIRST ADVANTAGE OF THE AFTER MEETING IS THAT IT GETS RID OF THAT PORTION OF THE AUDIENCE WHICH IS NOT IN SYMPATHY AND IS A HINDRANCE TO CLOSE WORK. It enables us to get near to the inquirer and meet his immediate need. Many things that it is impossible to do in the general meeting are very easily done in the smaller meeting which follows it. Some workers are very anxious to have every one stay to the after meeting, but frequently it is very fortunate that all do not stay. The smaller gathering is not only easier to handle, on account of its size, but it is also more sympathetic and more in keeping with the purpose of soul saving which is now in view.

2. THE SECOND ADVANTAGE OF THE AFTER MEETING IS THAT MEN ARE BROUGHT TO AN IMMEDIATE DECISION FOR CHRIST. This advantage rises partly out of the first. In almost every wisely conducted evangelistic service there will be some who have not really decided for Christ, but who are on the verge of a decision. Of course some of those, if allowed to go home, will decide for Christ in the home; but there will be many others, who, unless the impressions are followed up then and there, will lose their interest before another meeting is held. There is great need in all soul-winning work that we strike while the iron is hot. A wise worker and one of much experience recently wrote substantially as follows about a meeting which she had attended in the East: "The sermon was grand, the Holy Spirit was manifestly present in power, and I could not help feeling if some experienced person was only present to conduct an after meeting then and there, we should have had great results, but the benediction was pronounced and the students allowed to go to their rooms. We have been trying to follow up the work since, and many have come out positively, but we could have had much larger results, with much less labor on our part, if an after meeting had been held at once." It would be difficult to put too much emphasis upon the after meeting.

1. THE FIRST POINT OF IMPORTANCE IN THE CONDUCT OF AN AFTER MEETING IS THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE MEETING. The number who attend the after meeting and the character of those who attend, will depend very much upon the announcement. The announcement should be very clear and definite so there can be no mistaking what is meant. The announcement should also be earnest. If this announcement is indifferent, people will think that the after meeting is of little consequence, and therefore will not stay to it. If the announcement is earnest, the people will think that the minister or evangelist thinks the meeting is of some importance, and will be likely to think so also. The announcement should be given in a winning and attractive way; it should also be urgent, but in our urgency we should avoid the impression that we think that any Christian who does not stay to the after meeting is necessarily committing some great sin. Many Christians have good reasons why they cannot stay to the after meeting, and if we are indiscreet in our urgency in giving the invitation to it, they will either stay to the after meeting when they ought not, or they will go away with the morbid sense that they have done something wrong, or worse yet, we shall bring them under the condemnation of the irreligious people who go away, and thus injure the cause of Christ. Sometimes an indiscreet urgency in the invitation to the after meeting keeps people away from the first meeting. The way we put the invitation, even in seemingly insignificant matters, is oftentimes of great consequence. For example, if we say, "Now, if there are any here tonight who are interested, we should be glad to have them stay to the after meeting," this will cause some person who may be interested to think that probably he is the only one in the whole audience who is, and as few people like to be considered singular, he will not be likely to stay. If on the other hand we say, "We hope that every one here tonight with whom the Spirit is working will stay to the after meeting," this will cause those who are somewhat interested to think, "Well, I am not alone, there are others interested besides myself," and so they will be likely to stay to the after meeting.

We do well to put our invitation in such a way that those who are not wanted in the after meeting will not feel at liberty to stay. For example, there are those who crowd after meetings out of mere curiosity, and are a great hindrance. If possible the invitation should be so worded as to shut this class out. There are others who go to oppose the work. The invitation should be so put as to shut this class out. It will not be possible to do it altogether in whatever way the invitation is put, and if the invitation does not succeed in doing it, other means will sometimes have to be taken. There are a third class who are very angry if you deal with them personally, but if the invitation has been wisely put, when any of them get angry when you approach them personally you can call their attention to what was said in the invitation, and show them courteously that, by coming to the after meeting, they expressed a willingness to be dealt with.

2. THE SECOND MATTER OF IMPORTANCE IN THE CONDUCT OF AN AFTER MEETING IS AS TO WHERE IT SHALL BE HELD. As a rule it is better to hold it in another room from that in which the general meeting is held. If the after meeting is held in the same room as the general service, when the invitation is given for the general audience to withdraw, many that might have stayed to the after meeting are carried out with the tide, whereas if the meeting is held in another room, they see the tide setting in there, and are carried in with it. Of course oftentimes there is no other room that is available, and the after meeting has to be held in the same room as the general service; and there are times when it is better to hold it in the same room even when another room is available.

If the meeting is to be held in another room, it is very desirable that it should be a room that the people have to pass as they go out. Workers should be posted at every door of this room, to invite and urge the people to go in as they pass. It is exceedingly important that these workers be wise men and women. I have heard workers shouting out invitations to this second meeting as if it were a side show to a circus. Oftentimes the best way to give the invitation is to quietly slip up beside the one that you wish to get into the after meeting, hold out your hand and engage him in a few minutes' conversation, and almost imperceptibly draw him into the meeting. Gentleness and courtesy and winsomeness in this matter are of great importance.

When the interest is very deep, you can have the second meeting in another building. Have the singing begin at once, just as soon as the people begin to pass the door.

3. MAKE MUCH OF PRAYER IN THE AFTER MEETING. The meeting should be begun with prayer. Wait until every one is in and all is quiet. Insist upon absolute silence, then have all the Christians engage in silent prayer. It is well to suggest to them objects of prayer, as for example, that they pray for those who have gone to their homes undecided, then that they pray for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the meeting, then for the unsaved who are in the room. Two or three or more audible prayers by men and women whom you can trust should follow. Do not take any chances at this point, and let any crank spoil the meeting. Unless you know your people very well, it is usually best to name those who shall lead in prayer. Of course one can trust the Holy Spirit to take change of the meeting, and should, but this does not mean that we should not exercise a wise control over the meeting. There will also be places for prayer later in the meeting, but there should certainly be prayer at the opening. If it should turn out in any meeting that there are no unsaved people there, it is oftentimes well to give the entire meeting up to prayer. A few months ago it turned out in an after meeting that there were only two or three unsaved people in the whole audience. These were taken to another room to be dealt with, and then I urged it upon the people that there must be something wrong with us or with the work because there were so few coming to Christ. The Holy Spirit carried the message home, and then we got down on our knees before God in prayer. The next night, largely as an outcome of that season of prayer, we had a meeting of great power.

4. WHEN THE OPENING PRAYERS ARE OVER, IT IS OFTENTIMES WISE TO EXPLAIN THE WAY OF LIFE IN AS PLAIN AND SIMPLE A MANNER AS POSSIBLE. This is especially important if there are few workers present to deal with individuals. After explaining the way of life, and the steps one must take to be saved then and there, an invitation can be given to those who are willing to take these steps at once. They should be asked to rise, hold up their hands, come forward, or in some other definite way express their desire to begin the Christian life.

5. FIND OUT JUST AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE IN THE MEETING WHERE ALL THE PEOPLE PRESENT STAND. Then you will know what to do next. It is frequently desirable to take some sort of an expression in the general meeting, though this should usually be done in such a way as not to put those who are not Christians in an awkward position. Indeed, as a rule, the moment the last word of the sermon is uttered there should be an opportunity for decision. This opportunity may be given in a variety of ways. You may ask the audience to bow a few moments in silent prayer, insisting courteously but firmly that no one go out for a few moments. If the interest is deep enough, you can then ask all those who wish to be saved, or all who have made up their minds "now and here" to accept Christ as their personal Savior, to surrender to Him as their Lord and Master, and to begin to confess Him as such before the world, to rise, or to "come forward and give me your hand," or come and kneel at the altar. If the interest hardly warrants that, you can ask all in the audience who are burdened for unsaved friends, or all who are anxious for the salvation of some friend in the audience, to rise, and when they have risen, invite all who wish to be saved "right now" to rise. It is not well usually in the general meeting to ask all Christians to rise, as this makes it awkward for the unsaved, and they may not come back again.

Another good way is to say, "We are going to sing a hymn, and I do not wish any one to go out until it is finished. The Holy Spirit is evidently working in this meeting (don't say this unless it is true), and any one moving about may distract some one who is on the verge of a decision for Christ. Now, while we are singing the second verse, let all who will accept Christ (don't say if any ONE will accept Christ) arise." Stop when the second verse is sung and call for decisions, and then sing the third and fourth in a similar way. If there is an altar in the church where you are preaching, it is often better to have them come to the altar. If there is no altar, you can have the front seats emptied and use them for an altar. A solo may often be used in the place of the congregational hymn, but be sure of your soloist and the solo which has been selected. It is safer as a rule to select the solo yourself.

Still another way is to say as you close your sermon, "We are going to have a second meeting, and all those who have been converted here tonight, and who desire to enter the joy of the Christian life, are invited to remain. We also want every one who is interested in his soul's salvation, and all Christians, to stay to that second meeting -- you cannot afford to go away." Once in the second meeting, there are a variety of ways of finding out where the people stand. If the interest is very deep, call at once for those who wish to accept Christ to rise and come forward. On other occasions ask all who have accepted Christ and know that they are saved, and are walking in fellowship with Him, to rise. Now you and your workers can readily see who the persons are with whom you ought to deal. They are for the most part those who are still seated. Next ask those who wish to become Christians to arise. It may be well to sing one or several verses as this is done. One and then another and then many at once will often rise.

Whenever it is possible, it is well to have now still a third room into which those who have risen and desire to become Christians shall go. Have a wise man in charge of this room until you get there yourself. Have him put one worker, and one only, with each inquirer. These workers should be trained for the work. Every church and mission should have a training class for this purpose. When you have gotten all you can into the inside room, turn the outside meeting into a meeting for testimony and prayer, which either you or some wise worker manages. It is a great advantage to have a choir leader who can do that. The unconverted ones who have not gone into the inside room can be gotten hold of personally in this testimony meeting or afterward. Do not have any holes anywhere in your net if you can avoid it.

Sometimes it is well in the second meeting to ask all who were converted after they were fifty to rise, and then those who were converted after they were forty, thirty, twenty, ten, before they were ten; then ask all who will accept Jesus "tonight" to rise, and then all who really desire to know the way of life. In other meetings, all who have been Christians fifty years may be asked to stand, and those who have been Christians forty years, thirty, twenty, and so on down. A good method to use occasionally in the second meeting is to ask all who were converted after they were fifty to come forward and gather about the platform, and then those who were converted after they were forty, and so on. This will gradually thin out those who are seated, and the unconverted will begin to feel that they are left in the minority, and it may lead them to desire to be saved also. Especially will this be true if a man sees his wife leaving him, or a son his mother. Some may say there is to much method or maneuvering in all this, but it wins souls and this is worth maneuvering for. Jesus Himself told us to be wise as serpents (Matthew 10:16), and again we are told that the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. Evidently Jesus would have us exercise all honest ingenuity in accomplishing His work, especially the work of soul- winning. The methods suggested will suggest others. The great purpose of all these methods is to get many to commit themselves, and to bring them to a decision to accept Christ.

6. THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE AFTER MEETING IS THE HAND TO HAND DEALING WITH INDIVIDUALS. There has already been a suggestion as to how this should be done, but the hand to hand work should not be limited to those who go into the third room. Trained personal workers should be scattered all over the meeting, each worker having his own assigned place, and feeling his responsibility for that section of the room. He should be on the lookout for persons with whom he can deal either during the testimony meeting, or after the formal meeting is over. These workers, however, should be instructed to obey at once any suggestion of the leader of the meeting. I have been in meetings where the leader requested absolute silence, but indiscreet workers would go on talking to those with whom they were dealing. I have heard other workers talking with an inquirer when there has been a call for prayer. Such irreverence does much harm.

7. THERE SHOULD ALWAYS BE WORKERS NEAR THE DOOR OF THE MEETING TO FOLLOW OUT ANY ONE WHO GOES BEFORE THE MEETING IS OVER. They should approach such a one personally and deal with him about his soul. Much of the best work that is done is done with people who have become so deeply interested that they try to run away from the meeting, but are followed out by some wise worker. It may be necessary for the worker to follow the fugitive down the street. I knew of one case where a very successful worker tried to engage a young man in conversation, and he started off on a run. The worker followed, and having better wind than the runaway, caught him after two or three blocks. The young man was so amazed, and so awakened by the worker's earnestness, and afterwards so instructed by his wisdom, that he accepted Christ then and there on the street. This would probably not be a wise method under ordinary circumstances.

8. A GOOD USE MAY BE MADE OF THE TESTIMONY OF SAVED PEOPLE IN THE AFTER MEETING. As a rule, however, there should not be a call for testimonies until those who are ripe for hand to hand work are taken into another room. Great caution needs to be exercised in the use of testimony. In almost every community there are men and women who are always willing to give their testimony at the first opportunity, but who kill any meeting where they are allowed to speak. It may be that they have no sense, or it may be that there is something crooked in their lives, and their testimony simply brings reproach on the cause which they pretend to represent. You must manage somehow to keep these people silent. You need to be on your guard, too, that the testimonies are not stereotyped or unreal. They should be short, to the point, real, and, above all, in the power of the Holy Ghost. There is a special power in the testimonies of those who have been recently saved. It is always a great help to the young converts themselves to be trained to give their testimony.

It is well oftentimes to have the Christians testify as to the Scripture which led them to Christ, or into a deeper experience of Christ's saving power. Dr. Dixon gives the following description of what was done and said in an after meeting which he attended:

"As soon as quiet was restored, there was an earnest prayer for guidance. The leader then arose and said: 'We will now hear from as many as can speak in five minutes the Scriptures which God used in showing them the way of life. We want simply the Word of God without comment. Rise and speak distinctly, with a prayer that God will bless others through the truth as He has blessed you.' The first one to respond was a young woman who quoted with a clear voice: 'Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.' The leader said: "That invitation is also a promise; it implies that all who come to Christ He will receive, but it says very much more. He will receive and never cast out. There is in it saving and keeping power. It is the Scripture for those of you who are afraid that you may not hold out.' The next witness was a man of middle age, who said: 'He is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him.' The leader: 'God is all-powerful, but you make Him able by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ, and this ability is based upon the fact that He ever liveth to make intercession for us.' Third witness: 'Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' Leader: 'Do you want rest of heart? Come to Jesus for it now.' Fourth witness: 'Look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth.' Leader: 'Looking is not a long process. You can look as quick as a lightning flash; look this moment and live.' Fifth witness: 'There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.' Leader: 'We who have accepted Christ need not fear the judgment day. Our case has been settled in the court of mercy where Jesus Christ is the Advocate.' Sixth witness: 'To as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God.' Leader: 'And if sons, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Will you not accept this rich inheritance through Christ this evening?' Seventh witness: 'The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.' Leader: 'Then do not try to cleanse yourself, and do not divide your trust between the blood and ordinances. The Blood is all sufficient; accept Jesus Christ and the Blood cleanses at once.

"There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel's veins, And sinners plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains."

"Eighth witness 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.' Leader: 'It does not say believe on Jesus, nor believe on Christ, nor believe on the Lord. Jesus means Savior, and a Savior from sin we need. Christ means the anointed one, the high priest and an intercessor, an advocate we need. Lord means Master, and the Master we need to rule our lives. You cannot accept Him as Savior while you reject Him as Lord, nor can you follow Him as Lord while you reject Him as Savior. His intercession is for those who accept Him as both Savior and Lord. So you see, Paul preached to the jailer the full Gospel when he said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.' The little word ON is very important; it does not say believe ABOUT the Lord Jesus Christ; you may believe all ABOUT Him without believing ON Him. I believe much about Washington, Lincoln, and Grant, but I am not conscious of believing on any of them in the sense that I am depending upon them for anything. When your faith ABOUT Christ has been translated into faith ON Christ, you are saved.' The invitation was then given, and a number came forward and gave the leader their hands, confessing Christ as their Savior and Lord, the leader remarking that it was well to begin the Christian life with a handshake and pass it on to others."

9. WHEN ANY ONE HAS CLEARLY AND FULLY ACCEPTED CHRIST, INSIST UPON AN OPEN CONFESSION OF CHRIST. If it can be done without disturbing other workers, have them stand right up then and there and confess Jesus as their Lord, and their acceptance of Him. If the inquirer has been taken into an inside room, ask him out into the room where the general after meeting is going on, and have him give his confession there. Many a young Christian does not come out into the clear light for many days, if ever, because he is not shown the necessity of a public confession of Christ with his mouth. There is nothing more important for a young Christian's life than a constant confession of the Lord.

10. DO NOT HOLD THE GENERAL AFTER MEETING TOO LONG. Oftentimes it is well to tell the people in the first meeting that the after meeting will only be fifteen or twenty minutes long, or whatever you have decided upon. Many will be encouraged to stay by this, who would not think it possible to stay if it were to be a long meeting. When you have made a promise of this kind, be sure you keep it.