TEE^' 
 
 Vp 
 
 V 4010 .G63 1883 
 Goodell, Charles LeRoy, 
 
 1854-1937. 
 How to build a church 
 
How TO Build a Church. 
 
 BY 
 
 KEY. C. L.'^GOODELL, D.D. 
 
 ST. LOUIS. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
 BY 
 
 REV. E. B. WEBB, D.D. 
 
 BOSTON. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 Consrrgational ^untiag*Scf)aol anU i3ublisf)ing ^ocietg, 
 co:ngbegational house, beacon stkeet. 
 
Copyright, by 
 Congregational Sunday-School and Publishing Society, 
 
 1883. 
 
 ELECTROTYPED. 
 
 POSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY, 
 ffO. 4 Pbapl STBB«T, 
 

 On the twenty-seventh of November, 1882, the 
 people of Pilgrim Congregational Church, St. Louis, 
 celebrated, by public exercises, the tenth anniversary 
 of their pastor's work among them. Rev. Robert 
 West, editor of the " Advance " at Chicaofo, took 
 part in the services, and said to the pastor, on leav- 
 ing : " Write a series of articles for the ' Advance ' 
 on * How to Build a Church.' It has been given you 
 to see two churches built up w^idely apart : one in 
 the conservative and solid East, and the other in the 
 progressive and swiftly-moving West. I believe it 
 "will do good to tell in the 'Advance' how it has 
 been done." 
 
 Mr. West had been for five years the successful 
 superintendent of Home Missions in Missouri and the 
 Southwest. He had often been present and helpful 
 in the services of Pilgrim Church, and had received 
 sympathy and aid in planting the waste places on his 
 field. He desired it to appear, as an important prin- 
 ciple, that churches everywhere, which had aided 
 heartily, according to their ability, in building in 
 the "regions beyond," had in this Avay contributed 
 much to their own temporal and spiritual welfare. 
 The ai'ticles were undertaken, ancl writteu by snatches 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 in the busiest of winters, amidst ever-pressing duties 
 and cares within the church and without. The pages 
 contain only liints and suggestions, and are, of course, 
 very limited and incomplete. They were not written 
 for those in the ministry older and wiser than the 
 writer, but in the hope that something might be said 
 that w^ould practically help many earnest builders in 
 the Church of God that are asking, " Who is suffi- 
 cient for those things ? " and prayerfully seeking aid 
 wherever it may be found. 
 
 This is an age ripe for the builder's work, that the 
 Church of Christ may be a temple worthy of her 
 glorious Lord. It is good to know our tools. It is 
 needful to come back to that place where we can see 
 what great things God can do with weak and imper- 
 fect men, if they only trust him and act on his word, 
 as seekers after souls. Their power hides here. It 
 is important to see that our failure, when we fail, lies 
 in our own want of faith in God. Moses and Joshua, 
 and Gideon and Paul, and the long line of conquerors 
 in the divine kingdom, have been foith-men. They 
 have taken God's word when He has said : " I will not 
 save them by bow, nor by sword, nor hy battle ; by 
 horses, nor by horsemen, but by the Lord their God." 
 Such confidence in His promises has made them 
 mighty spiritual warriors, for their hold on the sword 
 of the Lord has led them to wield with a powerful 
 hand the sword of Gideon also. 
 
 The spirit required for the workman of Christ, 
 East and West, is essentially the same. What will 
 
PREFACE. '5 
 
 succeed in one place will, us a rule, in another. The 
 failure is not so often from want of ability or learn- 
 ing or right location as it is from the wjmt of 
 deep, believing piety. Many workers often comfort 
 themselves too easily. They contend that the age 
 of miracles is past ; that apostolic methods are not 
 for us, and revivals are not wise ; so in the morn- 
 ing they sow the seed, and in the evening they 
 withhold their hand. Little matter, they say, about 
 their success ; that is God's part, — the great thing is 
 faithfulness. Fidelity is a great thing ; but Noah's 
 fidelity in the building of the ark would have availed 
 little, if he had not possessed the skill also to 
 lead in the households under his care. The faith- 
 fulness which God rewards is that which is not 
 content till it brings results to pass. It is never 
 satisfied to tread the old rut, year after year, making 
 it deeper, while the churches are gradually decaying 
 and dying under it. The truth is, faithfulness is 
 success. It never stops with routine. It carries 
 power and conveys blessing, and, although it may not 
 always add to the number of the saved, there is a 
 light and splendor in the fulness of its devotion to 
 Christ tliat makes the place of its feet glorious. 
 
 It stands knocking until Christ comes in and un- 
 veils His beauty, and fills the parish with a sense of 
 divine power, making all things new. 
 
 This preaching and going to sleep on our faithful- 
 ness till God o'ives the increase, is what is wastins^ 
 us. The pastor who calls nothing fidelity which does 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 not brino: constant blessinof from heaven in some 
 form on his people, and is ever close up to his Lord's 
 side, pleading for mercies and blessings, will be suc- 
 cessful in conveying spiritual gifts unto men, as well 
 as faithful in his work. The writer lives and works 
 in a great and abiding faith in these promises of 
 God to brine: forth fruit. 
 
 '' The Priest to the Temple," by George Herbert, 
 of Bemerton parish, suggested a kind of form for this 
 little work. His happy home, in sight of the wonder- 
 ful spire of Salisbury Cathedral, miles away, shining 
 through the vine-covered study windows of his pretty 
 parsonage in green and beautiful England, was often 
 in the author's mind as he Avrote, as well as the 
 thought of what Herbert left behind in the pomp and 
 vanity of a courtier's life, that he might be simply a 
 faithful priest of the Temple. And the gentle step and 
 helping hand at his side, ministering good, were also 
 as often brought to mind by the offices of love that 
 gladdened the author's own home as he wrote. 
 
 The closing articles, contributed to the " Congre- 
 gationalist " by the graceful and loving hand that pre- 
 sides at the Pilgrim parsonage, are added to this 
 volume, as altogether pertinent to the church-building 
 work. 
 
 Grateful for the fiivor with which the articles were 
 received, I commend this little volume in the name 
 of Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
 
 C. L. GOODELL. 
 
 St. Louis, Sept. 25, 1883. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction 9 
 
 I. The Pastor Saving Souls 13 
 
 II. The Pastor in the Pulpit 20 
 
 III. The Pastor in the Parish 28 
 
 IV. The Pastor among the Youth 35 
 
 V. The Pastor in the Prayer Meeting .... 41 
 
 VI. The Pastor dealing with Skepticism ... 48 
 
 VII. The Pastor in Revivals 55 
 
 VIII. The Privilege of Teach- 
 ing God's Word ... by I\Irs. C. L. Goodell, 62 
 
 IX. Ministers' Wives ... " ** 67 
 
 X. Woman's Work in Home 
 
 Evangelization ... " " 72 
 
INTEODUCTION. 
 
 The voice of experience — this is the one great 
 value of this book. It is the open avowal of convic- 
 tions and methods which have been found successful 
 in practice. Dr. Goodell as a Christian minister has 
 occasion to thank God profoundly for what he has 
 enabled him to do. I suppose he never thought of 
 making a book when he Avrote these papers, but he 
 certainly has a purpose and an aim in giving himself 
 to the work of the ministry. Hoav sharply he brings 
 it out in the very first sentence : " The supreme object 
 must be the salvation of men." And this has ever 
 been, and ever must be, the one, living, supreme, 
 imperative end of every true minister of Jesus Christ. 
 " For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that 
 which is lost." To convert sinners, to edify the body 
 of Christ ; aside from this he has nothing to do ; 
 short of this he cannot stop. And he will suit his 
 methods to his end ; and especially, and above all, he 
 
 GI keep his own mind and heart in tenderest and 
 
 9 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 quickest sympathy with Christ and his gospel. One 
 
 says of Baxter, '^ When he spoke of weighty soul 
 
 concerns, you might find his very spirit drenched 
 
 therein." 
 
 " Much impressed 
 
 Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, 
 And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds 
 May feel it, too." 
 
 And evidently the heart out of which these writings 
 came is full ; full of the joy of the Lord, and full of 
 watchful, eager desire to save souls. We see our 
 author about his Avork every day. He goes right on. 
 He has no time to dally with the fascinations of 
 aesthetics, or to pillow his head upon a lap where the 
 strontrest is sure to be shorn of his strens^th. He has 
 no affection for doubts which obstruct and darken the 
 Christian's way, and turn him aside to blaze a path — 
 a dubious and treacherous path for himself — through 
 swamps and deserts, w^here no sure ray of heaven's 
 light is seen, and no voice from above the tree-tops 
 is heard. From beginning to end these chapters 
 show a mind clear of that folly which assumes that a 
 man may entertain one thing and teach another. He 
 preaches what he believes, and believes what he 
 preaches. " For as he thinketh in his heart so is he." 
 He neither criticises the church nor complains of her 
 creeds. He neither doubts the authorship of the 
 Pentateuch, nor denies the logic of Paul. He is not 
 wise above what is written. He is not more liberal 
 
INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 than his Master. lie knows nothing of an unknown 
 God ; but he does know the crimson guilt and the 
 fearful sentence of the sinner. He does know the 
 gift of free grace, and the power of the Holy Spirit. 
 He knows the time for repentance. "Now is the 
 accepted time." He also knows the way of salvation. 
 Christ is the w^ay. "There is none other name given 
 under heaven among men whereby we must be saved." 
 And in such knowled^^e and convictions — knowded2:e 
 gained from the inspired Word and convictions wrought 
 by experience of the Spirit's power — is found the 
 secret of ministerial success. 
 
 Most grateful also and natural is the earnest spirit 
 of this little book — an earnestness that throbs in 
 every line, and inspires exertion everyAvhere, and to 
 the last. Here is an urgency like that which runs 
 through the teaching of the Master and his apostles. 
 "Strive to enter in at the strait £:ate." '^As 
 though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in 
 Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." 
 
 Timely and suggestive also is this book. Statistics 
 show that in some towns, cities, and even States the 
 church of Christ is not holdins^ her own. With multi- 
 tudes the pleasures and pursuits of this world are 
 all-absorbinof. There is a lowerino: of the law and a 
 cheapening of the gospel. Sinners ignore the claims 
 of Jesus Christ, and idle aw^ay their Sabbaths and 
 their probation in unbelief. The very atmosphere is 
 
12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 charged with the forces of skepticism. And just as a 
 nation ignorant of the true God sets up wooden gods, 
 so the people, when they have renounced the Chris- 
 tian religion, embrace superstitions that are hideous 
 and errors that are deadly. And is the Church free 
 from responsibility in all this? Are our robes, as 
 Christian ministers, without stain? Whoever reads 
 these pages attentively will find the impulses of his 
 own heart prompting him to an earnestness and 
 activity which are altogether the best antidote for the 
 evils which afflict our day. 
 
 The gospel is God's gift to sinners. To under- 
 stand and accept it makes a new man. ^' If any man 
 be in Christ he is a new creature." And the new 
 creature must have a new home. How to build this 
 home is briefly and forcil)ly told in this little book. 
 Most heartily do I commend it, especially to young 
 ministers, and pray that it may prove a guide and an 
 inspiration to all who build " ujoon the foundation of 
 the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being 
 
 the chief corner-stone." 
 
 E. B. WEBB. 
 
 Shawmut Church, Boston, July 30, 1883. 
 
. HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 I. 
 
 THE PASTOR SAYING SOULS. 
 
 To build a church, the supreme object must be the 
 salvation of men. It is the first business for which 
 the church exists. God sent his son into the world 
 that the world throuo:li him mie^ht be saved. Our 
 Lord himself came to seek and to save that Avhich 
 was lost. The Holy Spirit, at Pentecost, endued the 
 disciples with power to become witnesses for Christ 
 everywhere. The first sermon was a bow drawn for 
 sinners, and the prick of the arrow was felt in three 
 thousand hearts. From that hour there were daily 
 additions to the church. Here everything points 
 directly to the salvation of men. While this end 
 was kept in the forefront, the secret of success in 
 building the church was an open secret. 
 
 To recover men lost by sin is the deepest motive 
 which ever stirs the soul. It draws from God the 
 greatest gifts he ever imparts. This passion for souls 
 
 13 
 
14 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 is the engine that moves the whole train. Divine 
 power was not more conspicuous in the disciples than 
 the human energy they put into their work. '' This 
 one thing I do," says Paul. They all had an eye 
 single to the exaltation of the cross. They passed 
 by many good things to do this chief thing. First, 
 and continually, they won souls. It was their mis- 
 sion from their Master. 
 
 This purpose of converting souls and gathering 
 them into the fold, is to be kept uppermost to the 
 last. This is what the church is here for. There is 
 no true success if this fails. The church will not fill 
 its other functions fitly, if this leading one is lost 
 sio^ht of. Culture s^oes for nothino^ if there are no 
 new-born souls to cultivate. There is little buildins: 
 up without living stones to build with. But if there 
 is success in converting men, there will be life and 
 movement throughout the church. It is what the 
 church lives on, — the joy of new-born souls. 
 
 There are four sources from which to draw : the 
 family, the Sunday-school, church-goers unsaved, and 
 the great outside world. To keep four streams flow- 
 ing into the church from these, is back of everything. 
 In order to do this, ministers must be men of God, 
 masters of gospel methods, filled with its spirit, and 
 untiring fishers of men. 
 
 To build a church is to take hold in God's name 
 and build it, Every victory fov Christ costs prayer 
 
THE PASTOR SAVING SOULS. 15 
 
 and toil and blood. It must be sweat through. The 
 church will not grow in the chill air of this world, 
 without somebody to love it, and yearn over it with 
 watchful cjire, as the mother ov^er the cradle. The 
 pastor must give days and nights to it, counting all 
 things as gain which be can })ossibly do for it, what- 
 ever the loss to him. Men do this in business and 
 make no moan over their sacrifices. Should Christ's 
 disciples do less ? The strength put into business in 
 this age, if consecrated to saving men, would rapidlyC 
 build powerful churches all over this land. Business? 
 men move mountains to rear their rolling-mills and ) 
 grain-elevators and railways. The thunder of their f 
 captains fills the land. Ministers, with God over- ' 
 head, often fail to move mole-hills. Much of their ' 
 lack of progress is the sheer want of an enterprise 
 and endeavor in keeping with the greatness of the 
 object and reward. It never harms the religion of a 
 church to let a living stream of honest business 
 energy flow through. The religious life of a commu- 
 nity would never lag behind the business life, if the 
 same efibrts were put forth in its behalf. We need 
 work. I speak for St. James, the neglected saint of 
 the New Testament. Men believe and pray, but fail 
 to do. Thouofh manna lies thick on the orround, 
 God's people do not gather it. There is a soul to l^e 
 saved at every Christian's elbow, yet the heart to do 
 it is wanting. Some say the art is lost, jNIany of 
 
16 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 !the soldiers of the cross have called a halt in this 
 brightest day of the Lord, and are taken up in mend- 
 ino' the chariot of salvation, re-fashionins^ it after the 
 /wisdom of this world, putting on new attachments 
 of human device, not satisfied with the divine model. 
 We get what we strive for. A minister may be a 
 hard worker, yet his church decline because he does 
 not put his best work into it, or does not put it in 
 wisely. When the pastor is occupied with less than 
 the highest, the church feels the loss. The social life, 
 the educational interests, art circles, literary gather- 
 ings, lectures, concerts, public courtesies, and wide 
 outside demands, all bid for the preacher's time, and 
 he may give his left hand to them if he can. But to 
 build the church of God calls for the full powers of 
 a consecrated life. It may be good to be an accom- 
 plished scholar in curious learning, to be looking up 
 subjects of unique interest, to be an effective writer, 
 to have the oversight of schools, to lecture, and to 
 lend a hand all round. Benefit comes of it, after its 
 own kind. But it builds the church only remotely, 
 and it often weakens it. It is not the prize which 
 comes from drawing men into the fold ; ministers lose 
 unspeakably here. They are engaged in a thousand 
 profitable things besides this, and neglect this, which 
 is the very first work they are set to do. The gen- 
 eral interests outside flourish, and their own proper 
 work grows weak. They get what they live for, but 
 
THE PASTOR SAVING SOULS. 17 
 
 the churches dwindle. The minister is built up, but 
 the church is built down, and the end is loss to 
 the minister also. Men are built by what they 
 build. jN'othing so develops character as holding with 
 all one's soul to the one great mission. To live among 
 the miracles of the new birth, and the o^rowth of the 
 divine life, is to stand by the open gates of glory, 
 and be tilled and transligured by the outshining of the 
 mighty One. 
 
 Ministers justly seek to be widely useful for Christ, 
 but there is no influence which one can exert, single- 
 handed, to be compared with the power Avhich one 
 can wield under God through a well-ordered church, 
 instinct, and radiant with the life of its great Head. 
 The priest's breath, when the silver trumpet was put 
 to his lijis, became a bugle blast in the ears of all 
 Israel ; so the church, built by the Spirit of God, is 
 the pastor's trumpet, ringing the invitations and 
 warnino^s of the Word in the ears of the world. 
 What hio-her or holier ambition can any minister have 
 than to compact a community of spiritual lives into 
 one organic body, and lift it up as a pillar of testi- 
 mony, bringing its whole weight to bear in vindica- 
 tion of righteousness and truth, or scathing evil with 
 the lio'htnino: of its rebuke? What minister in the 
 land, sincerely seeking to be useful, yet making the 
 building of his church a secondary object, gains an 
 influence equal to what it might have been had he 
 
18 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 staked his soul in rearing a true church of the 
 Redeemer ? 
 
 It is common to say the power of the ministry is 
 decaying. If a minister is regarded as one ordained 
 to do everytiiing under heaven while his church is 
 simply an annex, it may be true. But when the 
 minister as a man of God sent to declare the gospel 
 of the new life sticks to his business, his power was 
 never i]:reater. On his own o-round to-day he is in- 
 vincible. This keeping the salvation of souls in the 
 lead, in building the church, is the best w^ay to edif}^ 
 those that are saved already. The warmth and earn- 
 estness of Christian living wdiich brings in converts 
 preserves them alive when Avon. The preaching 
 which produces conversions quickens at the same time 
 all the saints, and holds them in service. The con- 
 stant incoming of new members has a healthy and 
 happy effect on the church. The teachers teach bet- 
 ter. The preacher preaches better. The prayer- 
 meetin<rs have more life. The home altars blaze 
 more brightly. The brethren are fired with greater 
 ardor and zeal. The benevolence is stimulated. 
 Not a department of the church but feels the blessed 
 influence. The best way to train a church and keep it 
 alive to every good work is to so order it that fresh 
 rivers of regenerate life shall steadily flow into it. 
 
 Never was a greater error than to believe that 
 conversions must come at a certain time, and then 
 
THE PASTOR SAVING SOULS. 19 
 
 that the church must stop and train the converts. 
 Both are done. best alongside. 
 
 The best kind of edification and training the church 
 knows is that which comes from that style of church 
 Hving, and praying, and teaching, and giving, and 
 watching, and soul-seeking, which secures an inflow 
 of souls all the year round. Every member has a 
 place and a work then, and is built up and enlarged, 
 and led from strength to strength in the Lord. If 
 ten souls have been saved, and vou wish to train 
 them, set them to saving ten more, and let all the 
 church lead in the work by spirit and example. 
 
11. 
 
 THE PASTOR IN THE PULPIT. 
 
 We are living in an age of good preaching. The 
 pulpit is faithful and courageous in applying the 
 truth to the sins of the day. It has a special care for 
 children and youth. It urges a large benevolence. 
 The preaching of the times stimulates lay activity, 
 calling not only men but Christian Avomen and 3^outh 
 into service. It pleads for the planting and endow- 
 ing of Christian institutions and has enlarged concep- 
 tions of duty and service to the whole world, seeking 
 to win all nations to Christ. Thus many preach, and 
 the power of these truths is manifest. 
 
 But this preaching of Christ with so much beauty 
 and sweetness, often leaves out of sight and untouched 
 the awful fact of human sin and guilt, and thus fails 
 of the full effect that w^ould be secured, if the two 
 ofreat truths of man's dano^er in sin and Christ's 
 redemption were kept side by side. It makes a one- 
 sided gospel. Love is set forth, but not righteous- 
 ness ; salvation, but not punishment ; heaven, but not 
 hell. It is easy to break over all barriers of God's 
 20 
 
THE PASTOR IN THE PULPIT. 21 
 
 Word at this point, .iiid conclude that Christ, so 
 wondrous in his love, will save all men sometime 
 somewhere. So preachers often lay more stress on 
 widening the gate and broadening the Avay of salva- 
 tion, than in fitting men to walk in the path which 
 God has ai)pointed in his word. 
 
 Sin is not less in the human heart because less is 
 said in the pulpit. Out in the great world sin is stern 
 and desperate, and relentless unto death. Make sal- 
 vation easier in book and sermon, still the way of the 
 transfjressor is hard. Till sin lets ^o its hold on the 
 soul, preaching against sin cannot cease. AYe must 
 preach the great salvation ^'Avarning every man," be- 
 cause sin and punishment are so great. 
 
 The sermon must be judged by the Bible fruit it 
 bears in leadinof souls out of sin into the new life. It 
 may be good when it ought to be better. The final 
 test of pulpit discourse is the result that follows 
 after the pattern of the gospel. One of the dangers 
 of the ministry is that, preaching well, it shall yet 
 stop short of reaching the most important result. 
 ''They Avent forth," says Mark xvi. 20, ''and 
 preached everywhere, the Lonl working ivith tliem 
 and confirming the word with signs foUoiving ." This 
 is the fruit the pulpit should bear. We need often 
 to review our preaching, searching out its defects. 
 Paul calls us to judge ourselves, that we may not be 
 judged by God. " Not he who commendeth himself 
 
22 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 is approved, but he whom the Lord commendeth." 
 2 Cor. X. 18. 
 
 Some of the defects in modern preaching, according 
 to Bible tests, are these : — 
 
 1. Unbelievers are not converted. There are few 
 adequate "signs following" the Word. The gains in 
 many places are not equal to the losses. The mill 
 runs on, but little comes of it. Revivals are seldom, 
 and there is much distaste for them. In those por- 
 tions of the country where means and opportunities 
 for saving souls are greatest, conversions are fewest. 
 There is a want of direct, aggressive, gospel work. 
 Pastors are compelled to lament, " The harvest is 
 passed, the summer is ended, but the souls under our 
 charge are not saved." It is a terrible impeachment 
 of our preaching. The exceptions only make the 
 failures the more humiliating. We who sit in the 
 seats of Moses, and yet lead so few people forth, do 
 not feel as we should the great force of tliis charge 
 against us. We have stopped in the wilderness, 
 while Providence goes on and leaves us. Where is 
 the old passion for souls? How little revival power ! 
 How few call on the mighty God. We offer ex- 
 cuses, try new schemes of doctrine, and find fault 
 with the Bible, but God lays the charge at our door. 
 To save lost men w^as Christ's first work, and it is 
 ours, and nothing can blind God's eyes to our failure 
 here. 
 
THE PASTOR IN THE PULPIT. 23 
 
 2. The modern i)uli)it does not reach the mass( s, 
 the great multitude of the people. A\'ith the whc le 
 field given us, we lose ground each year. Church 3S 
 do not increase as fast as the population does rela- 
 tively, nor as fast as they ought and could. The 
 world waxes powerful and pours past the church 
 doors every Sabbath a vast, restless throng un- 
 touched. Our churches mainly give up, and do not 
 try to reach them. The ministers are educated often 
 away from the masses, and keep away. Few could 
 stand up on a street corner and deliver a simple 
 powerful gospel message. They are not masters 
 of assemblies, having little taste or inclination to 
 handle the crowd, and fasten the gospel in their 
 hearts as a nail in a sure place. The disciples " so 
 spake that a great nmltitude both of the Jews and 
 also of the Greeks believed." Acts xiv. 1. Many of 
 our clergymen read a paper to a chuich circle of 
 cultured people of their own set at tl.e top of 
 society (what right has any minister to have a 
 set?), and leave the great, sturdy, powerful, rising 
 multitudes at the bottom, untouched. They preach 
 to magazines and reviews and controversial books, 
 and only a few even of their hearers know or care 
 anything about the sermon. The pulpit becomes a 
 literary bureau, while the people, the vast, untamed, 
 restless throns:, infidel toward God and his Book, 
 trampling on his day and law, impatient of all 
 
 *i*A 
 
24 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 authority, setting up ti beer saloon and divorce court 
 on every corner, are swellinof in numbers and risins: in 
 power, and threaten soon to come to the top of society 
 and rule. With vigorous body, and all their faculties 
 sharpened by contact with the world, their dislike to 
 church-people intensified, they will come to leader- 
 ship, — they have now in many places, — and the tine 
 people who have taken the cream of the gospel for 
 themselves, and forgotten the needs of the many, will 
 be crushed and powerless in these vast upheavals. 
 God brings us the masses. Failing to invite them 
 in, the bulk of the people go in the great trains 
 thundering on, and the church rides in a dainty par- 
 lor-car behind. Christianity ought to be conductor 
 of the train. The answer to the blind groping of 
 the people in England for Christian leadership is the 
 Salvation Army; and the English Church, from the 
 classic shades of Oxford and Cambrido-e, is listenino: 
 to learn what can be done for the people. The solu- 
 tion of this question from Christ is, "The poor have 
 the Gospel preached unto them." The example from 
 the apostles is, "They went everywhere preaching 
 the Word." God's suggestion for us is Mood3^ How 
 truly the preaching of our time on this subject has 
 lost its way. God and his Book point one way, and 
 we go another. Under our preaching unbelief thrives, 
 and discontent increases. But God and his Word 
 will both hold us to account in eternity. 
 
THE PASTOR IN THE PULPIT. 25 
 
 3. Our lack of effort for foreigners is another de- 
 fect. The tide of foreign life is rising around us 
 every day, higher. We go on, unmindful of the 
 amazing changes going on in society, and learn next 
 to nothing from their presence among us — preaching 
 and conducting church affairs as if these people did 
 not exist. Seven million Germans among us ; in 
 several States more children of foreigners born than 
 of natives, and in many States the ratio of births in 
 a foreign family far greater than in the native family ; 
 immigration coming in at the rate of one million a 
 year, like the invasions of earlier centuries when the 
 character of whole continents was changed. Yet what 
 minister has converted a German? Who has really 
 cast his nets in on that side ? Our church is sfreat in 
 learning, and translates tons of German skepticism. 
 Who has preached a sermon to the Germans in their 
 tonofue? We discourse to one small class on one 
 phase of thought and philosophy, and scarcely make 
 any impression on these raging millions of our popu- 
 lation who imaoine a vain thinof, and in whose hands 
 are the destinies of the Republic and the church of 
 God. We are seeking after '^ wisdom," spinning our 
 theories and speculations, as Nero fiddled when 
 Rome burned. The wisdom of God's Book is greater 
 than all human learning, and the power of his Spirit 
 above all human power. The foolishness of God is 
 wiser than man. God has put the means for this 
 
26 now TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 work in our hands. For this duty God has brought 
 this nation to its present high standpoint in history. 
 How vast its achievement might be across the whole 
 continent, if it would address itself in its Christian 
 miofht to its work as Paul wrought for the Gentiles ! 
 4. The pulpit of the day does not call 3'oung men 
 to the work of the ministry as it ought. We are 
 losing here each year, and the decade past makes 
 sad revelations of decline. We call, they do not 
 come. We preach in their ears, and they go out to 
 business. There is some note wanting in the voice 
 of the ministry where this is true. There is a judg- 
 ment seat in every young man's soul. Roll the facts 
 of his duty on him, show him man's sin and need 
 of the Gospel, and no work will be more attractive 
 to him than work for Christ. What doctrine does 
 the missionary preach, the evangelist, the pastor 
 in revivals ? This doctrine of deliverance from sin 
 through Christ, pressed on the conscience. It brings 
 times of refreshing, fills the church with missionary 
 power, and begets ministers and teachers. These 
 truths have dropped out of much of our preaching, 
 and hence its want of effectiveness. The people slide 
 down into all sorts of errors, and young men have no 
 heart for the ministry. Call them to preach because 
 it is an easy service : they can find easier ones in the 
 world. Call them to suffering and sacrifice, to toil 
 and heroic service for Christ's sake, and they will 
 
THE PASTOR IN THE PULPIT. 27 
 
 come. Nothing was difficult to Paul when Christ 
 called him. 
 
 In these things, and others, our preaching has 
 turned aside somewhat into the pleasant groves of 
 the academy, and does not lay hold of the great 
 wicked world, and change its ways as it should. Its 
 movements are often sidewise and hesitating. We 
 suffer from the delays of unbelief, and the grand 
 work of the age which God appoints us to waits and 
 Avants the power which fails to come, " the Holy 
 Ghost sent down from Heaven." These are grievous 
 faults, and more so as we study them. The remedy 
 is in a firmer adherence to the AVord and Spirit of 
 God, anointing the soul with holy fire. If we make 
 the Bible teach what we think it ought, instead of 
 what it plainly does, in order that it may seem con- 
 sistent alwavs with human thouo^ht, and broad and 
 lil)eral toward sin from our standpoint, marking out 
 new channels for God's 2:race, instead of standins: by 
 his own methods, we shall preach the gospel of 
 the natural heart instead of the Gospel of the Son of 
 God, and so loss of power is certain. The highest 
 test of our love to God is our obedience to his Word ; 
 and obedience to God's Word in the pulpit is mighty 
 power over the souls of men. " Forever, O Lord, 
 thy Word is settled in Heaven." 
 
III. 
 
 THE PASTOR IN THE PARISH. 
 
 There is a greater dilFerence now between the 
 work of the pulpit and that of the parish than in the 
 early days of Christianity. We have lost much 
 which needs to be regained. Jesus Christ went 
 about amono' the homes of men doino- orood. Paul 
 
 o o o 
 
 ceased not to declare the gospel of life from house to 
 house, night and day, with tears. Christianity began 
 in a parish and worked parish-wise, going from door 
 to door and heart to heart among the people. 
 Planted in the household, the household still remains 
 its stronghold. It dicl not get into a church to 
 preach formally from a pulpit for more than a 
 century. Its greatest triumphs were won in this near 
 approach to souls through the personal wrestling of 
 love. Here is the foundation of the parish idea, and 
 of pastoral work. Let the early example and prac- 
 tice be restored, and salvation brought down from its 
 cold perches in the church to the hearts and homes 
 of the people. The family altar, at which Abraham 
 ministered, and to which for centuries prophet and 
 28 
 
THE PASTOR IN THE PAKISH. 29 
 
 apostle bent the knee, will he used hy the faithful 
 minister as a great factor of his power. " Salute the 
 church that is in their house." 
 
 The first w^ork, then, in the parish, as in the pul- 
 pit, is the rescuing of souls from the power of sin. 
 The pastor that determines with Paul not to know 
 anything among his peoi)le but Jesus Christ and him 
 cruciHed, will be swift to see and seize the special 
 opportunities for reaching and saving men, which 
 pastoral work presents. He will seek to imbue the 
 life of the parish with the spirit of grace. The one 
 day's teaching of the pulpit will )je illustrated and en- 
 forced by six days' faithful living among the people. 
 
 " What ! carry the solemn proprieties of the pulpit 
 down into the secularities of the week, and work there 
 to save men? It Avould repel them." Xo — rather 
 carry the sweet and blessed spirit of Christ into the 
 joy of Sabbath and sermon, and also into the hard- 
 ness and toil of the w^eek, and make them both glad 
 and helpful. 
 
 The pastor who goes around the parish in stone 
 like the two tables of the law, is a pagan, and hardlyf 
 less so is he wdio o^oes around amono- the tables of 
 the parish, a mere good felloAV, talking horses and 
 stocks, feeling he has done up his piety for the week 
 on Sunday. A pastor mistakes if he thinks by being 
 worldly in conversation and bearing he will be more 
 attractive. The ideal gentleman, according to Sir 
 
30 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 Philip Sidney, is a Christian gentleman. He wins 
 because of " high thoughts seated in the heart of 
 courtesy." The pastor that is filled with the spirit of 
 his Master will be welcome everywhere. He is all 
 the more loved and sought because he is a livins', 
 serving Christian. Instead of putting aside Christ to 
 make himself more acceptable, it is the Christ-like- 
 ness he bears that makes his coming a joy. There is 
 no place where the minister gains by leaving Christ 
 behind. What is called "society" kills clown per- 
 sonal effort. The fashions of this world act as an 
 exhausted receiver on the minister ; he loses heart 
 for individual labor, and courao^e wavers when the 
 rich and pleasure-loving are to be sought. Much 
 that ofoes as culture is as mildew, and even when a 
 pastor has worked his parish up into a fine social 
 state, a society tempest will upset it all ; for such 
 work, however pleasant, has little root. The same 
 time spent in deepening the spiritual life of the 
 church will secure a stability that endures when all 
 the waves are up and the winds are contrary, for 
 it is founded on a rock. For his spiritual work the 
 pastor has something to show. All else is '^ hay, 
 wood, and stubble," and the time is short, and multi- 
 tudes around him are unsaved. 
 
 The pastoral work has great possibilities. The 
 minister goes to the people with blessing, as Christ 
 came to the world. How shall we get souls? " Go 
 
THE PASTOR IN THE PARISH. 31 
 
 for them," says Moody. Give your prayers feet. 
 How do the bees till the hive? They go to the fields. 
 Where there is a will there is a way. It was a good 
 day's work when Andrew went out and brought in 
 Peter. The sermon will shake down nmch fruit, Ijut 
 there is much that must be hand-})icked. The pastor 
 is watching for souls, and selects the occasions that 
 promise most ; availing himself of every argument 
 of love and reason and individual interest. He can 
 go where his sermon cannot, and speak when it could 
 not, and say what it would not say. Providence is 
 always opening fresh opportunities, and the pastor is 
 also seeking them himself. A sick child, a son or 
 daughter away at school, a w^edding, a personal trial, 
 all such things are open doors. The parish work is 
 the short way to the heart. 
 
 There are six classes of which the pastor will be 
 always mindful : the sick ; those in trouble and 
 affliction ; children ; the aged and infirm ; the stran- 
 gers in the gates ; and souls seeking salvation. 
 Others are reached as time permits. Opportunities 
 like these are like angels encamping round about the 
 pastor. Timely visits make gains for eternity. Once 
 lost, the occasion cannot be recalled. We can never 
 draw souls to Christ as when trial comes. Then, if 
 ever, a man wants to see his pastor, and his heart is 
 open to the best he can give. He can represent his 
 Master to the soul's needs, and make the Saviour's love 
 
32 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 and aid indispensable. It opens the way for prayer 
 and the taking down of the old Bible. Such service 
 kindles the soul. It makes work for Christ real, 
 revealino" man's estate and his needs as they are. It 
 is preparation for other work. There is no school 
 like a parish. A good book is a boon to a minister 
 if it is wiser and better than he, but contact with 
 believing souls is more instructive and power-giving 
 than contact with books. Souls are God's star-points 
 of light in the world, — " living epistles " are they, 
 bearinof the Lord's own imao:e and sisfnature. It is 
 communion with the highest when you come into the 
 inner life of the sons and daughters of God ; you 
 meet God in his dealings with them, and witness his 
 wonder-working ; and nothing more strongly con- 
 vinces and impresses the mind with a sense of divine 
 truth. Pope saw God in nature. It is more to see 
 him in the parish. A pastor will find stronger 
 evidences of Cliristianity in God's dealings with souls 
 around him than in all the l)Ooks of his library. 
 God is there in the scenes of joy and sorrow, birth 
 and death. Work for God in the harvest-fields 
 of life is an educator that no minister can do without. 
 Love for souls is the spring of all best parish work. 
 The bird must be in your heart before you can find it 
 in the bush. You can go over seas and mountains 
 for the soul you love. The pastor Avho seeks to save 
 souls will find souls to save. There will always be 
 
THE PASTOR IN THE PARISH. 33 
 
 one more case — a straying sheep to be brought back. 
 And how shall souls ever be found, except they are 
 soujrht? Pastoral work strikes to the core. To sit 
 down beside a man and open to him the gates of 
 light, and let all you know of Christ's mercy and 
 goodness pass before him, setting forth the love and 
 grace that wait for his acceptance, as you have tasted 
 them in your own soul, Christ's image shining in you, 
 and the accents of his love blending with yours, is to 
 ofain that man for Christ. He will bow over and 
 accept the Beloved whose Spirit pleads at the door 
 of his soul. The greatest good the pastor can bestow 
 on his people is to come to them in their homes and 
 business in the fulness of the Gospel of Christ, and 
 such service is essential for the good of both pastor 
 and people. 
 
 Ministers often whet their blades all away in literary 
 studies, and never cut down thorn or briar in any 
 hard path. They keep the mind in the smudge of 
 book-doubt till the temper of the blade is drawn. 
 Real contact with the people corrects all this, and 
 keeps the pastor's heart warm with love, and strong 
 in faith, and active and wise in service. He gathers 
 up the dewdrops of God's grace out of praying 
 hearts as he goes, and his soul grows fuller until the 
 cloud breaks in revival showers. Beinof in the work 
 himself, the pastor can set all his people to work, and 
 the Pastoral Aid Society which he puts in motion, 
 
34 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 carries blessing to every nook and corner of the 
 community. 
 
 It is possible to turn every place into a pulpit or 
 to carry the parish everywhere. See St. Paul pray- 
 ing with the elders on the sand at Miletus, with 
 heaven for a canopy, and the voice of the great sea 
 in their ears. What a mighty reaper was he in the 
 parish, shut up neither to time nor place ! 
 
 The pastor needs to visit the homes of his people, 
 and talk of the o^ood thino^s of the kinsfdom. Where 
 does the heart flow out heavenward more readily than 
 at the board of hospitality, in the circles of household 
 confidence and affection, under a friendly roof, shel- 
 tered by divine care and surrounded by tokens of 
 God's presence? There, with the children present, 
 where the treasures of years of experience, both 
 happy and bitter, gather, how easy to speak of all 
 God's benefits, and to let the happy interview blossom 
 into songs of gratitude and praise from the quickened 
 hearts of the kneeling group. 
 
 Modern refinement is difficult of approach, and the 
 homes of wealth reticent concerning Christian expe- 
 riences. But the pastor is privileged. He is expected 
 to minister to the soul, and bear into the family circle 
 the flowers of paradise. The occasion of such visits 
 will be fragrant in the home as the coming of the 
 spring lilacs, and dewy Avith the breath of the eternal 
 morning. 
 
IV. 
 
 THE PASTOR AMONG THE YOUTH. 
 
 He who builds the church of Christ must save the 
 children. If we save the children, we save the 
 world. The w^orld is most easily and effectively 
 saved in childhood. The best Christian workers are 
 largely taken and consecrated to lives of benevolence 
 and sacrifice and service from circles of Christian 
 youth. Dr. Bushnell tells us of the out-populating 
 power of the Christian stock, exceeding all other in 
 its quality and influence over men and nations. The 
 advanced cohorts of Christ's army in every field of 
 work and in all lands were once the children of the 
 temple. Life and death are in the training of chil- 
 dren. The generation which takes the most children 
 alonsf w^itli it for Christ will do most to build his 
 kingdom, and to thin the ranks of the opposition. 
 Out of well-trained children we are to rear the 
 strongest defences of Christianity, — a soldiery of 
 godly souls, true to the great Captain. 
 
 The Holy Land is a barren, shadeless land for the 
 want of fresh }'oung trees. The church without the 
 
 35 
 
36 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 young ingathcred and trained is a deserted field. 
 Though aged palms are found in the courts of the 
 Lord's house, we need, as well, the straight and 
 beautiful rods of youth there. Wise kings these days 
 plant young forests in all waste places ; so wise pas- 
 tors will be busy setting plants in the gardens of the 
 Lord. Shepherds increase their flocks by carefully 
 nursing the lambs ; so pastors enlarge their folds by 
 caring for the young. 
 
 The question is being earnestly asked, ^^ How can 
 we bring the men to Christ?" Bring in the boys, 
 then you will have the men. The boys will come if 
 we seek them on their own ground, meeting thoughts 
 and hearts with thoughts and hearts that are kindred 
 and congenial. Seek the children early, seek them 
 faithfully. The pastor's best work will be in giving 
 direction to their life at the start. The pointing of 
 the ofun determines the entire course of the ball. 
 
 There is no escape from these truths. The 
 charm and beauty of Eden still cling to the children, 
 yet they possess a sinful nature, and must have a new 
 heart from above. Selfishness and disobedience and 
 anger stain the sparkling fountain of youth, except 
 the Spirit of God renew and redeem their lives. 
 No human training can take the place of this. It 
 is the new life in Christ Avhich makes the culture 
 availing and successful. Though God has gladdened 
 the earth with little children, if we would be spared 
 
TIIK PASTOR AMONG THE YOUTH. 37 
 
 the pain of seeing them drop in the blossom, their 
 feet must surely be directed to Christ and never mis- 
 led. The beginnings of the divine life must be put 
 in their hearts before the world gets in. 
 
 Many are the ways in which the pastor may reach 
 and guide the children. 1. He will first secure them 
 through the home. His own example and teaching 
 will, under God, make each household a joyous, liv- 
 ing church of Christ. There will be daily family 
 worship at the altar, bright with psalm and song. 
 Obedience will be cheerful and prompt ; kindness and 
 forbearance the atmosphere. The spirit of Christ 
 will abide in father and mother, leading all hearts into 
 loving unity. Good-will and helpfulness one to an- 
 other will abound, and every duty w411 be taught and 
 remembered in its time. Eeverence for God and his 
 Word and day and house, faith in Christ, regard for 
 the truth, love of right-doing, sorrow for sin, true 
 manliness, desire for usefulness, self-sacrifice for 
 others, and every excellence desirable in the Chris- 
 tian will be planted in the child. The pastor, thus, 
 bv seekinsf to make a true Christian home, will secure 
 the conditions of a successful start in the Christian 
 life among the children. They will bear the marks 
 of the home throucfh life. 
 
 2. The pastor will reach the children through the 
 Bible-school ; that is not the children's church, but it 
 is the church and pastor mingling with the children, 
 
38 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 and laying out all their experience and wisdom and 
 spiritual power on them for their instruction in 
 righteousness. The pastor is always in the Bible- 
 school. He thus brings the adults and youth to- 
 gether, retaining the older scholars in the school, and 
 all bound together by mutual interest. That great 
 and widening gulf between adults and children, so 
 harmful to each, is in this way prevented. The 
 Bible-school places an acting-pastor in the person of 
 the teacher over each circle of youth. It affords a 
 work to do which blesses both teacher and pupil. 
 It keeps the heart warm in service, and prepares the 
 whole church for usefulness. It prevents any gap 
 occurring in the services of the church. The young 
 worship with the parents, the adults study God's 
 Word with the young, and all grow up together, 
 homogeneous. The Sabbath-school becomes a con- 
 stant feeder of the church; the church becomes a 
 garden enclosed about the children. Is not this God's 
 order ? 
 
 3. The pastor will save the youth through the pul- 
 pit. They must be made to feel that they have a place 
 in the service, and a part in the worship ; that their 
 presence is desirable, and their absence regretted. 
 An entire sermon to the young is good now and then. 
 So is a five-minutes' talk, if it be fit and grood for 
 adults also. A special hymn for the young, a psalm 
 read responsively, repeated recognition of children in 
 
THE PASTOR AMONG THE YOUTfl. 39 
 
 sermons, the chanting of the Apostles' Creed, children 
 joining, the keeping of texts through the year in a 
 little book adapted for the purpose, and other methods 
 which the pastor will easily devise — all this always 
 bearing directly on their conversion and nurture and 
 not on their diversion, will constantly secure most 
 beneficial results. Given a pulpit to stand in, and a 
 Bible, and a Saviour, and the Holy Spirit, and a 
 group of bright immortals fresh from the hand of 
 God, with the sunny gleam of heaven still on their 
 faces every Lord's day in the year, and if he does not 
 lead many of them to Christ as the days go on, God 
 have mercy on his soul ! He has not yet taken his 
 stand on the heights from which he can see eternity. 
 
 The pastor will gather the young on certain stated 
 occasions for doctrinal instruction, laying down the 
 great landmarks of Christian truth, seeing that the 
 youth of his charge are established firmly and intelli- 
 gently on the Rock of Ages, and duly warned against 
 the pitfalls and dangers of this present evil world. 
 And if he have in his hand a catechism outlinino^ for 
 substance of doctrine the royal path along which mil- 
 lions of God's children have walked securely and re- 
 joicingly home to glory, nobody will be hurt by this. 
 
 The pastor will wish to have young people's meet- 
 ings and gatherings for Christian endeavor where 
 workers may be trained for special lines of usefulness, 
 the study of missions, the practice of benevolent 
 
40 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 giving, and the art of gathering in the straying. 
 He will give them printed matter to read. He will 
 guide them to habits of usefulness. He will enlist 
 every young person's service in some fit way, where 
 a responsibility will develop the character by sound 
 and healthful growth. His motto will be : "A work 
 for every boy, and a boy for every work." 
 
 Among the objects which the pastor will keep up- 
 permost, is the search among the young for those who 
 shall become missionaries and ministers and teachers 
 and devoted workers in the Church of God. To this 
 end he will labor and pray diligently, never content till 
 his church is in that state of spiritual life, that shall 
 be constantly yielding young men for the college and 
 the ministry, and daughters for the seminary, and 
 minute-men for all the diversities of service called for 
 by the church. A church bearing such fruit is happy 
 and blessed above all the households of faith. Begin- 
 ning with the young, every pastor may do this, and 
 end the famine in the ranks of the ministry. 
 
 There is great advantage here through personal 
 intercourse with the young as Providence opens the 
 way. The Timothies who have known the Scrip- 
 tures from a child, and been taught the foith at the 
 mother's knee may, in a sacred hour of personal 
 communion with the pastor, decide to preach the 
 glorious gospel at home, or to bear the cross over 
 strange seas to the dark places of the earth. 
 
Y. 
 
 THE PASTOR IN THE PRAYER-MEETING. 
 
 The secret power with God is prayer. The prayer- 
 meeting is the most important circle that gathers in 
 the church, both in its influence on Christians and on 
 the world. The Church of Christ was born in a ten- 
 days' prayer-meeting, and it must still be found in 
 the place of prayer. In building the Church of God, 
 prayer has the tirst place. Before sermon or parish 
 work is prayer. Above all other services is the 
 prayer service. God calls his house a House of 
 Prayer. He rears his church over the wells of salva- 
 tion, and by prayer the water of life with joy is 
 drawn. The believer that is always there receives 
 and gives a blessing which will hardly be exceeded 
 by any other work he ever does. 
 
 The prayer-meeting must have the pastor for its 
 guide. There may be scores of godly and able mem- 
 bers, but he stands at the centre, and none can under- 
 stand the needs and fitnesses, and bring out the gifts 
 and ojraces as he can. An enofine on the deck of a 
 steamship moves nothing ; but planted at the heart 
 
 41 
 
42 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 of the vessel, fired and throbbing, it gears on to 
 everything ; each part finds its place and use, and the 
 whole ship is in motion. So the pastor is the heart 
 of fire at the hour of prayer, setting everytliing in 
 order, calling each talent into service, and giving 
 direction and movement. 
 
 The staple of the prayer-meeting is its spirituality. 
 It is not a sociable, though it is social. It is not a 
 talking and singing meeting, though men talk and sing 
 with the heart. It is not a solemn rehearsal of prayer- 
 meeting prayers ; nor is it a weekly lecture by the pas- 
 tor, made up of what is left over. Such a meeting is 
 the poppy among the flowers in the garden of plants. 
 Nothing can be substituted for the pure gold of devo- 
 tion. Sprightliness and skill in displaying trifles will 
 not pass. You cannot have a soul-moving prayer- 
 meeting without soul-moving piety. There is auroral 
 light, and there are many stars, small and great, but 
 it is the sun that creates the day. The one thing that 
 makes the hour of prayer blessed is the light of the 
 living God in the souls of his communing children. 
 If our prayer-meetings are poor, it is because our 
 piety is shallow. Nothing will make them powerful 
 and profitable like more godliness. Deepen the con- 
 secration and you deepen the interest and helpfulness. 
 When the church has had most form, it has had least 
 prayer; when its power has been greatest, it has 
 been oftenest bowed at the mercy-seat. The gift of 
 
THE PASTOR IN THE PRAYER-MEETING. 43 
 
 knees is Pentecost. Wealth, worldliness, and fashion 
 fly to form and say prayers. Living faith lifts the 
 heart and bends the knee. George Herbert, in his 
 "Priest to the Temple," strange to say, makes no 
 mention of the prayer-meeting. It was choked by 
 the ritual, as it is now at times by unbelief, by con- 
 clusions of science, speculations of philosophy, and 
 the hi<2:her criticism. 
 
 Preparation for the hour of prayer is essential. It 
 will not go itself, however good the saints that are 
 gathered. It requires as much time and thought to 
 be charged for it as it does for a sermon ; and the 
 conduct of it, as much wisdom and skill. It deals 
 with the greatest principles of our being, and with 
 the most vital doctrines of revelation. He who 
 guides it, — his mind must be taught of God, his 
 heart must be near Christ's heart, and his ear long at 
 the lips of his Lord. The leader will not go up 
 lightly from the Avorld to this gathering, but come 
 down as from the high places, his face made like 
 Moses' face, from secret communings. 
 
 The prayer-meeting is a place of power. Miracles 
 are done in it. When the disciples were praying, the 
 Holy Spirit descended. When the church was pray- 
 ing at John Mark's house, Peter was let out of prison 
 by an angel. When the church prays now, there is 
 answer in India and China and Africa. While Chris- 
 tians pray there is fresh anointing from on high ; 
 
44 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 they become strong in the Lord and the power of his 
 might. The hour we stop doing for God and spend 
 in communino^ Avith him is the most streno^theninof in 
 the week. More prayers and less words. Less time 
 with men, and more with God. We o^et the victory 
 in the prayer-room where no eye sees but God's, and 
 all hearts are one before Him. 
 
 The prayer circle is a place of instruction. Prayer 
 is a great teacher. The Avord of truth is unfolded 
 there ; mysteries are explained ; promises are ful- 
 filled ; deliverances are wrought ; what God teacheu 
 in prayer is pure truth ; Avhat we learn on our knees, 
 Ave never unlearn. 
 
 The place of prayer is a place of rest after toil, oi' 
 comfort in perplexity and trouble. It is good to 
 draw near to God. "Draw nigh unto me and I Avill 
 draw nigh unto you." The gates to the mercy-seat 
 are many, and, like those to the Golden City, stand 
 open day and night, that every soul may enter in. 
 It is a place of felloAvship. Next to the joy of heaven 
 is the gladness of hearts gathered together in prayer. 
 It is a place for conversion of souls. Of hoAv many 
 it shall be AA'ritten : "They were born there." It is a 
 place for replenishing the daily losses of the heart, 
 and enthroning: God ac^ain at the seat of the soul. A 
 Christian is always helped in his association Avitii 
 other Christians. Single coals do not hold fire, but 
 gathered together there is glow. Double the number 
 
THE PASTOR IN THE PRAYER-MEETING. 45 
 
 in this fellowship and commission, and you more than 
 double the interest and power of the meeting. 
 
 A definite object is desirable, toward Avhich the 
 current of the meeting presses, that it may gather 
 force as it goes, and draw into itself the cold and 
 waiting ones. Variety is important ; sameness is 
 tameness. The tree of life bears twelve manner of 
 fruit, a great diversity ; and it sheds its leaves every 
 prayer-meeting hour for the healing of God's children. 
 Many a leader runs the wheels of salvation into the 
 old rut early in the meeting, and there he is stuck, 
 with no help from saint or sinner. 
 
 Make the meeting the centre of Christian work and 
 benevolence. Let the best life of the church gather 
 there ; cause it to be a place of resort and comfort for 
 all the weary and heavy laden, bringing what they 
 have learned in the daily conflict of life ; what defeats 
 and what progress ; see that it is the register of all 
 best thoughts, feelings, struggles, and triumphs for 
 each week. Make it a praise-meeting now and then. 
 Let each one give a reason for thanksgiving ; recount 
 hindrances to the better life ; sing sometimes through 
 the entire hour, alternating after each verse with 
 prayer. 
 
 Have a conference on such subjects as Sabbath- 
 keeping, family worship, training of children, amuse- 
 ments, and so on. Let any ask for prayers. Suggest 
 a season of silent prayer ; join in the Lord's Prayer. 
 
46 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 Write out a covenant each one, and resolutions, 
 and let them be presented. Have a Scripture read- 
 ing, all taking part. Privately ask several before- 
 hand to take part one after another without being 
 called on. For a Bible lesson, at the opening, let 
 each one repeat a verse, and so read the Scriptures 
 from the tablet of memory. Print a list of subjects 
 and circulate them. Have a question-box. Give out 
 the subject from the pulpit Sunday. Be on the watch 
 for fresh experience of God's love and goodness, of 
 promises fulfilled, of aid rendered, and prayers an- 
 swered, and new conversions, and let the facts be 
 spoken to the praise of God. 
 
 At the besrinnins: of a meetins^ «:ive out a livino^ 
 topic, and name six brethren before you to speak on 
 it, three minutes each, and after singing and prayer 
 call on them. If the meeting refuses to go at any 
 time, turn it into a conversation, all risinsf and m-eet- 
 ing the next neighbor ; they will soon find their 
 tongues. Appoint several members quietly before- 
 hand to discuss a subject, and set it going without 
 any public warning. Let a verse of Scripture be 
 handed to each one on entering, to be read or recited 
 in due time, and given away to some one before Sun- 
 day. There should be a great deal of Bible in the 
 meetings. Sit in silence a little time now and then 
 with God and your own thoughts. Let all bow some- 
 times, and one after another utter a sentence of 
 
THE PASTOR IN THE PIIAYER-MEETING. 47 
 
 prayer that most presses on the heart, without rising. 
 Take much pains with the music. Short sentiments 
 in prose and verse may be repeated by the young 
 with profit. Talk about the prayer-meeting through 
 the week. Never scold, or tease, or worry the 
 members. If you have any criticism or rebuke to 
 give, do it in private. Make it the happiest hour in 
 the week, and the most helpful place for the soul. 
 Let it all be mellowed and sanctified by the spirit of 
 prayer. Ask all the church to come, and make the 
 hour so profitable to the inner life that they cannot 
 aftbrd to stay away. You cannot drive the bees with 
 a whip, but plant a clover field and you will get 
 them, and they will fill the hive with honey. 
 
VI. 
 
 THE PASTOR DEALING WITH SKEPTICISM. 
 
 The pastor, in dealing with skeptics, will make it 
 his steadfast aim to win them to Christ. The way 
 to melt hardened steel is to give draught to the 
 furnace fires ; the w^ay for the pastor to draw 
 unbelievers to the truth is to have his own heart hot 
 w^ith love for souls. When the great Refiner of 
 silver sits by the pastor's heart till the Refiner can 
 see his own face there, the skeptic also will see in the 
 pastor's heart the divine face, and be drawn by the 
 power of redeeming love. The pastor then will 
 first charge himself with fault for his own low tone 
 of faith and life, and reproach himself that he has so 
 held forth the Word of life, that there are any in the 
 parish who doubt the truth of the glorious gospel of 
 the blessed God. With God's word in his hand, 
 " the powers of the world to come " on his side, and 
 the Almighty God over him, the honest skeptics will 
 be few. Pastors have to blame themselves for much 
 of the unbelief of the day, since their own doubts 
 keep them away from the cross, and carry others 
 
 48 
 
THE TASTOll DEALING WITH SKErTICISM. 49 
 
 farther than they themselves drift. When the life of 
 God fills the souls of his people, doubt and unbelief 
 find little place, and that will be less and less if the 
 pastor put the power of piety against infidelity as the 
 best cure. 
 
 1. The pastor will be patient with the doubters. 
 Christ was with Thomas, and won him. Thomas had 
 good stuff in him, such as eminent Christians are 
 made of. When Christ went up to Jerusalem, know- 
 ing that he should meet his death, no words could 
 be grander than Thomas's : " Let us go up too, that 
 we may die wath him." But when his Lord was 
 really dead, his faith received a great shock. He 
 drew off by himself for a time, unbelieving. But 
 Jesus w^as patient with him. He did not taunt him, 
 nor storm at him. And Avhen Thomas finally came 
 to him at the meeting, Christ's goodness won him. 
 By patience, a true soul was rescued from the snare 
 of doubt. This is our Lord's own example for our 
 
 use. 
 
 " There is nothing so kingly as kindness, 
 There is nothing so royal as truth." 
 
 2. The pastor will be Christ-like in dealing with 
 unbelievers. That is more than to be patient. He 
 will meet their darkness with that " true light which 
 lighteth every man that cometh into the world," and 
 not with his own human weapons. '' In Christ was 
 life ; and the life was the light of men." The pastor 
 
50 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 being himself in the light, will " bear witness to the 
 light, that all men through him might believe." 
 Unheeding the flings and jeers of skeptics, and blind 
 to their hostility, the pastor's fervent longing that 
 they may know Christ and come to the true light, will 
 melt the ice of their hearts, and the warmth of his 
 love for them under their criticism will carry con- 
 viction to their minds. For the perversity of men 
 the Lord bore the cross and conquered. The pastor's 
 own heart-break for their rescue from sin will 
 prevail. Love is the strongest power in the world, 
 for God is love. Railing accusations set the teeth of 
 unbelievers on edge. It is Greek meeting Greek. 
 When the pastor stoops to this, he is a loser. The 
 weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Any purpose 
 to triumph over unbelievers in contests of argument, 
 to ridicule them, or to humiliate and make a show of 
 them openly, only provokes opposition. Nothing is 
 gain to the pastor but the gain of their souls to 
 Christ ; and in this victory of grace both pastor and 
 unbeliever are alike blessed. When God's goodness 
 leadeth to repentance, no one is conquered. Un- 
 believers can stand anything better than the steady 
 flow of that love that sufiereth long and is kind, that 
 vaunteth not itself, is not provoked, that beareth all 
 thino^s and never faileth. It is not said that the time 
 never comes when a mean and dishonest infidelity 
 may not be soundly lashed by a whip of cords and 
 
THE PASTOR DEALING WITH SKEPTICISM. 51 
 
 shown up by a righteous indignation, but never with 
 a carnal heart gratifying the flesh. It is always the 
 new life of Christ in the soul, and not the old one of 
 sin, that conquers the opposers. The ^' old man" in 
 the Christian must keep out of the fight, however 
 much he aches to get in. " Vengeance is mine, I will 
 repay, saith the Lord." 
 
 3. The pastor, in dealing with skepticism, Avill be 
 filled with the Holy Spirit. It is by the Holy Spirit 
 that every soul is renewed. The Bible is a dead book 
 to a soul dead in sin ; and a sermon without the spirit 
 is a dry bough, though plucked from a cedar of 
 Lebanon, and having in learning and manner all the 
 excellency of Carmel. It is not social nor mental 
 power that is to transform this world, but the power 
 of the Spirit of God. God taught the prophets, " It 
 is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit." 
 Christ taught the disciples, " It is not ye that speak, 
 but the spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." 
 When Peter stood up to deliver the first discourse 
 under Christianity, he preached not his own wisdom, 
 nor the wisdom of this world, its learning, philosophy 
 or science, " lest the cross of Christ should be of 
 none efiect." He preached the gospel of the cross by 
 the power of the spirit, and God opened the hearts of 
 the hearers to receive it. Peter did not load himself 
 with human arguments for a conflict with unbelievers. 
 He was not a "disputer of this world." "Ye must 
 
52 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 be born again." The heart must be renewed, and 
 its disposition changed. God had taught him that, 
 and promised the power. Peter depended upon 
 the promise, and looked not in vain. The Spirit, 
 as he spoke, was manifested, and men cried out 
 for deliverance. This result came through their 
 hearts as he preached, the Spirit convicting them 
 of sin and moving them to seek immediate salva- 
 tion. When Paul came to Corinth, it was "not in 
 the enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demon- 
 stration of the Spirit and of power. '^ " He had not 
 received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which 
 is of God" for his hope of success. He did not 
 expect their " faith to stand in the wisdom of men, 
 but in the power of God." His words were accord- 
 ing to " the wisdom which the Holy Ghost teacheth," 
 and souls were thus born by the Spirit with which he 
 was filled into the light and joy of the kingdom of 
 God. Very truly may Paul say to those who are set 
 to lead men out of doubt and unbelief, " Be filled 
 with the Spirit ! " The Spirit of Pentecost still lives. 
 It is when the pastor is filled with the Spirit in 
 preaching the Word, that blind eyes are opened, 
 deaf ears unstopped, and unbelieving hearts are 
 made to see and receive the redemption of Christ. 
 The pastor will learn this secret of power with God, 
 hardest of all truths to learn, and bring in many 
 unbelievers. The sling of David brought in Goliath 
 
THE PASTOR DEALING WITH SKEPTICISM. 53 
 
 against all human expectation. To l)c filled with the 
 Spirit is the pastor's sling. He can say, " I have no 
 words of human power and wisdom to go against so 
 great a host, but I have the Spirit and promise of 
 God, and herein is the biding of power." 
 
 4. The pastor, in dealing with infidelity, will be 
 mighty in the Scriptures. The Bible belongs to the 
 weak things of this world and the things that are 
 not, in human esteem, bringing to naught the things 
 that are, the institutions and powers that so impress 
 and dazzle the world. The Bible is " wheat and not 
 bread," and, when cast into the soil of faith, grows, 
 and no power can stop it. The little kernel gives no 
 promise of the greatness of the harvest. The pastor 
 will be a sower going forth to sow on the fields of 
 life. The tares will perish, but the grain is not for 
 death. The Bible is an arsenal for the pastor's use ; 
 everything he needs is there shaped by divine wisdom. 
 It is a theological seminary. It is the library for 
 the whole church of God. To know it in head and 
 heart, by prayer and the teaching of the Spirit, is 
 above all other knowledge. It is the rod put in the 
 pastor's hand, by which he is to lead darkened and 
 doubting men through sea and wilderness to the final 
 home. "The entrance of thy Word giveth light." 
 How many times, when dealing with unbelief, has 
 an arrow from this quiver been efiective ! 
 
 5. The pastor will aim at great results. Pour 
 in the light of the Gospel on the darkness of 
 
54 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 doubt. Establish the true in all wisdom as against 
 the false. Cause men to see the right way over the 
 wrons:. Preach the truth as it is in Jesus, not as it 
 is in sentiment or poetry, or the wisdom of this Avorld. 
 Set a system of truth before men, and show them 
 what to believe. Every time you strike down an 
 error, lift up a sound doctrine. Whenever men see 
 the better, it will be easier to drop the worse. Doubt 
 and unbelief are negative. Infidelity is not a prin- 
 ciple, it is a mood. The other side of unbelief is 
 faith. When doul)t is orone, belief is come. The 
 pulpit is for enlightenment as well as for conversion. 
 Bring forth your strong arguments. Cause the people 
 to o^row in the knowledoe of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 Let there be instruction in righteousness. Our 
 modern faith has breadth ; give it depth and intensity. 
 The army of Gideon increased in power when it was 
 reduced in numbers. Fill not men's hearts with all 
 conceivable objections which they never thought of 
 before, and then try to answer them. Give the 
 truth bathed with holv fire. Preach no lonsfer on 
 little themes, but great ones. Build up Jerusalem 
 with vast blocks of stone hewn out of the mountains 
 of God. Be no longer babes with milk ; produce 
 strong meat. Under such a treatment there may be 
 waves of skepticism and moods of doubt and unbelief, 
 but they will be transient, and there will l)e, as in the 
 flowing of the tides, steady gain till the saving knowl- 
 edge of God floods the earth. 
 
VII. 
 THE PASTOR IN REVIVALS. 
 
 " The God that answereth by fire, let him be God." 
 In settino: forth the o^ifts that commend the ministers 
 of Christ, Paul mentions, among others, the. posses- 
 sion of " the Holy Ghost, the power of God." (2 Cor. 
 vi : 6, 7.) God's ambassadors must be Holy Ghost 
 men, power-of-God men. Revival work must be a 
 leadins: feature in the w^orkof ministers and churches. 
 To labor among the youth, bringing them early into 
 the fold, is of the utmost importance. Home piety 
 and the Christian culture of children is a foundation 
 stone in Zion. But our Saviour did not stop there, 
 and the church must not. Christ's mission ended at 
 Pentecost, where that of his disciples began, — with 
 the descent of the Holy Spirit, and revival power. 
 
 The church has therefore two special arms of ser- 
 vice — child nurture and revival work. The one 
 secures the young and tender before they stray, the 
 other reclaims the hardened and wandering. By the 
 former, covenant mercies are distilled into the heaii; 
 of childhood, bringing salvation quietly as the morn- 
 
56 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 ing dawns ; by the latter, the stout-souled sinner is 
 convinced of sin, and brought to the feet of Jesus. 
 
 God is God both of dew and of lire. The Christian 
 training of children provides for one whole side of the 
 community, — folding the lambs ; but the pastor will 
 find that he needs revival power from God to reach the 
 unbelieving and godless ones moving down the broad 
 way to death on the other side of the community. The 
 experience of ages shows that the pious care of chil- 
 dren, aided by baptismal water, and catechism, and 
 confirmation, without times of refreshino^ from on 
 high to give depth and power to their piety, results 
 in a lifeless, formal church. It needs a spark of the 
 new life from " the God that answers by fire." A 
 reviving from the Holy Spirit gives new life to the 
 church and new power to truth and doctrine. 
 
 The pastor, in building the church, will give both 
 these truths a place in his plans of work. They do 
 not come into conflict. They help each other. 
 Neither one can be dispensed with without great loss. 
 While we hold fast to the covenant-keeping God, to 
 the gentle "Shepherd who shall gather the lambs 
 with his arm and carry them in his bosom," let us, for 
 the sake of the waste places and dark corners in every 
 parish, keep near that Mighty One who speaks to 
 stony hearts in tongues of flame. This is the priv- 
 ilege of every pastor. It is the highest gift of God 
 to the ministry ; the anointing from heaven for the 
 
THE PASTOR IN REVIVALS. 57 
 
 conversion of souls. The pastor may or may not be 
 aided by evangelists or other pastors ; the spiritual 
 awakening in his church may be more or less extended 
 or frequent, but it is his own prerogative as a minister 
 of God, endued with the Holy Ghost and the power 
 of God, to see many souls converted from sin, and 
 the miracle of the new birth so wrought upon the 
 hearts of worldly and wicked men that the entire 
 church shall be moved midst tears of penitence and 
 gratitude to new consecration and better service. 
 Let no pastor say that these gifts of God are for 
 others and not for himself, until he has waited all the 
 night long, many a night, at the gates of the Temple, 
 praying and longing for the light as one that watcheth 
 for the morning, and until God finally makes answer 
 that there is no more mercy in the skies for lost men ; 
 that the wells of salvation are dry, and the promises 
 of redemption recalled. 
 
 If all the gods who are asleep or away on a journey 
 when they are worshipped, and Avho only supply 
 fancies and vaporings to the pulpit, were cast out for 
 the one God of Pentecost, what increase of power 
 there would be. To sit down on these s^ods as 
 Rachel did would be a step forward in the art of win- 
 ning souls, and the preaching that converts nobody 
 would end. The final test of all doctrine and method 
 is fruit-bearinof. Our churches must vield more 
 fruit, and have greater power with God, revival 
 
58 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 power. The pastor must " speak as one having 
 authority, and not as the Scribes." The grace that 
 converts one soul Avill avail as well for a hundred. It 
 is as near at hand, and as easily entreated. 
 
 If the pastor will carry a soul-saving faith and 
 prayerfulness and courage, he may secure many 
 conversions as surely as a few. He will constantly 
 watch his hour when he may move out into deeper 
 waters and cast his net in on the other side, drawing 
 it in full. 
 
 Christ walks all the waves of life with hands out- 
 stretched to save. The church needs nothing so much 
 as to be led out on these wide waters to rescue sink- 
 inof souls. 
 
 The pastor, then, builds thoroughly and powerfully 
 when he seeks for his church the converting presence 
 of the Holy Ghost in His promised fulness. Such 
 periods of divine quickening accomplish great results. 
 They arouse the indifferent, and reach the careless. 
 A great number of those who have had no early re- 
 ligious training, or have passed to manhood untouched 
 by it will be saved in no other way. 
 
 By revival work I do not mean such spasmodic 
 efforts as are followed hy long periods of repose, or 
 to such as leave the converts uncared for to return to 
 their old ways. I mean a faithful ingathering after 
 sowing — a sowing in order to a speedy and full 
 reaping. 
 
THE PASTOR IN REVIVALS. 59 
 
 The indifference to the harvest sometimes seen — 
 pastors thinking if they only sow and go to sleep sow- 
 ing, God will bring in the sheaves — is a fallacy and 
 a sin. While the good man sleeps, the enemy fills 
 the field with tares. God uses harvesters of living, 
 tireless men, and He needs man}^ for the fields that 
 are white. " In due time we shall reap." In many 
 churches the time is overdue because the pastor has 
 not put in the sickle, but has been waiting for God 
 to do it. 
 
 Kevivals will always have opposers ; nevertheless, 
 revivals are a part of God's plan in saving the world. 
 The church was begun in a revival, and in spiritual 
 outpouring it shall end, nations being born in a day, 
 the glory of God filling the earth. Earth's hope is in 
 these visits of God to his people. '^ The Lord, whom 
 ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple." (Mai. 
 3, i.) 
 
 Revivals awaken respect and awe for Christianity. 
 Skeptics who have ridiculed the Bible feel the might 
 of God, and the testimony of bad men converted 
 shuts the mouths of boasters, shaking down the castle 
 of self-riofhteousness. Revivals make the Bible a new 
 book. They deepen piety, incite to prayer, lift up 
 the family altar, and quicken all the drooping graces 
 of the church. Laymen are set to work, new streams 
 of influence are opened, and men are raised up to 
 special service. Difficulties are healed, alienations 
 
60 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 overcome, brotherly love made to abound, and knowl- 
 edge and experience of Christian truth extended. In 
 revivals God and Eternity seem great, Christ's love 
 near and precious, and Christian duty pressing. 
 
 Revivals bring the church back to the simplicities 
 of doctrine and worship, and Christian living. They 
 awaken regard for the Sabbath and the house of God., 
 the prayer-meeting, and all the divine ordinances.. 
 The}^ fill up the evening service, and make that houi' 
 the best in the Sabbath for reachino: and savins^ th(! 
 masses. By revivals ministers and churches are mor(t 
 united, pastors and people are drawn into mon-i 
 endearing fellowship and better established, benevo- 
 lence is enlarged, lost jo}^ restored, and both honid 
 and public standards of piety are elevated. Revival;.* 
 make preaching more Scriptural and pointed. Th(4 
 Word of God, pure and simple, comes to the front. 
 A personal Christ is set forth, and the evil of sin and 
 the eternal loss of the soul without salvation. 
 
 The doctrines of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, 
 forgiveness of sin through the sacrifice of Christ, and 
 the rewards and retributions at the judgment day., 
 are made vivid and weighty, half-truths and heresie* 
 starve, and sectarianism gives place to brotherly love . 
 
 Revivals take churches out of the rounds of formal- 
 ism and the fashions and pomps of this world, putting 
 new life into everything. They lighten the burdens 
 of the ministry. It is never so easy to preach and 
 
THE PASTOR IN REVIVALS. 61 
 
 pray as in the Spirit's presence. They pay church 
 debts, lift up the fallen, and give the church a wider 
 field and a fresh lease of life and usefulness. Many 
 " almost persuaded," will never start till this time 
 comes. Missionaries and ministers and teachers are 
 born in revivals, and great Christian societies which 
 bless the world follow them. The church is always 
 becominof cold and entano^led with the world without 
 this freshening power of the Spirit. 
 
 A revival is another chapter added to the Book of 
 Acts. Ministers and churches must have such sea- 
 sons of divine renewal, consecrating hearts more fully, 
 multiplying ofterings, increasing service, moving 
 thought and feeling profoundly toward God and the 
 new life. 
 
 The breath of the Highest is on the community, 
 and the hearts of believers yield a sweet odor like 
 the fragrance of spices outpoured. 
 
YIII. 
 THE PRIVILEGE OF TEACHING GOD'S WORD. 
 
 It is a joy to teach God's Word, to prepare for it, 
 to anticipate it, carrying it in one's heart. Many are 
 the teachers all over our land who knoAv this blessed- 
 ness. Our Bible-schools are full of them. 
 
 There is a blessing in the preparation. Among 
 the happiest hours are those with the open Bible at 
 the feet of the great Teacher. A Sunday-school 
 class is a good spur to Bible study. In this busy age 
 many a Christian is at a loss for time to read, much 
 less to search the Scriptures. This duty is crowded 
 out by the pressing cares and toils of active life. 
 While the body receives its nourishment the soul 
 goes starving. But when you pledge yourself to a 
 Bible-class, other things must give way ; the lesson 
 must be prepared, and this calls for faithful study of 
 the Bible. It leads to real searching of the Scrip- 
 tures. The teacher seeks diligently for the meaning 
 and mastery of the passage. It is thus fixed per- 
 manently in his mind, and he makes solid progress 
 through the demands of the class on him. He 
 62 
 
THE PRIVILEGE OF TEACHING GOD'S WORD. 63 
 
 endeavors to have his heart in accord with the truth 
 he studies, and with the object of the work before 
 him. It takes him out of a dreamy sentimental 
 Christianity, and settles him into the heart of divine 
 truth. It compels him to dig out the meat of the 
 Word and to be on his knees before God in earnest 
 prayer, and to exert all his powers in behalf of 
 his pupils. It keeps him on the watch for profitable 
 thoughts and illustrations. He becomes a daily 
 learner, searchino: for ofood thino^s to brins^ to his 
 class. Nothing could possibly occur better than this 
 for the spiritual growth and enlargement of the 
 teacher. It compels him to be in the spirit on the 
 Lord's day. It restrains from wandering thoughts, 
 dispels indifference, and leads him to abide by the 
 cross. He cannot squander time and opportunity. 
 He cannot let down in his faith, nor allow his life to 
 drift, being set to a lower grade of Christian living. 
 A few years of such teaching, bringing all the better 
 powers into play, establishes one's character on a 
 higher grade. The good obtained by such service 
 grows wider in its influence than the class taught, 
 and fits one for better work and a wider sphere 
 through life. We get more than we give, and that 
 which we undertake as a sacrifice comes to be a 
 special source of blessing. While pupils are under 
 obligations to the teacher, the teacher is under still 
 higher obligations to the pupils. 
 
64 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 There is blessing also in the teaching. When thus 
 brought into living contact with the Word, and your 
 ear is opened to hear the divine voice, you are filled 
 with a longing to tell others of these things, and 
 teachintr is but ofivinof utterance to the revelation of 
 God's Word to your own soul; it is only drawing 
 aside the veil that his riches may be seen. Teaching 
 is not simply asking questions. The substance of the 
 lesson must be opened up and brought into sight. 
 There must be something imparted to interest and 
 awaken the mind. Acquaintance with the lesson 
 gives confidence and courage. The teacher cannot 
 give what he has not got. But the soul, glowing 
 under the power of the truth, is able to send it forth 
 and awaken the same interest. Teacher and class 
 discoursing together as they turn their Bibles, com- 
 paring one passage with another, one reading a verse 
 aloud, another asking a question, another still sug- 
 gesting a practical thought, the teacher meanwhile 
 gathering up the main points of the lesson, and guid- 
 ing the thoughts of the class into spiritual channels ; 
 the moments are precious, and the hour is gone too 
 quickly. Few joys are greater than that of the 
 teacher who, first taught of God, gives to others 
 what he has received. Then again the teacher is 
 brought into close personal sympathy with the class ; 
 he feels a responsibility for their individual welfare. 
 He sits down by them. He learns their needs and 
 
THE PKIVILEGE OF TEACHING GOD's WORD. 65 
 
 difficulties, and enters into their yearnings for the 
 better life, and by loving counsel leads them on 
 higher. The teacher is thus a spiritual leader and 
 guide. Pleasant are the friendships formed between 
 teacher and pupils, — friendships that will continue 
 through eternity. 
 
 A blessing comes too, in results. The truth 
 searches the conscience and makes it tender and 
 receptive ; Christ comes near with his comforts and 
 helps ; light breaks in and cheer to troubled souls ; 
 burdens fall ; heavenly things seem real, and the dew 
 of Christ's love is distilled, and the ice melts from 
 cold hearts. Many testify of the good they find in 
 Bible study. "This is one of the most restful hours 
 I have in the week." " The Bible comes to be a 
 new book." "There is nothing that pays back such 
 rich rewards as the study of the Word." " What 
 a wonderful Book this is ! " "I never reofret the 
 time I spend in Bible study ; it helps me all the 
 week." 
 
 A special joy comes to the teacher who is per- 
 mitted to see the members of his class coming to 
 Christ. What an incentive this is to faithful teach- 
 ing ! We may not forget that we are dealing with 
 immortal souls, susceptible to the power of the Holy 
 Spirit. The truth we teach is God's truth, not ours. 
 What faith we may have in it ! Weakness ourselves, 
 the Word is power. 
 
6Q HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 There is a blessing in the memories. Who does 
 not recall his first Sunday-school class? Vividly 
 those bright faces come up before you now, though 
 years have passed since they gathered round you. 
 After months of patient toil you saw in one and 
 another the seed taking root, and you had the joy of 
 gathering the fruit into the fold. You recall hours 
 when a thoughtful silence rested upon the class. A 
 gentleness in manner, a subdued expression on their 
 faces, and here and there a moistened eye told you 
 the Holy Spirit was near sealing the truth. Your 
 soul yearned for them. You trembled as you realized 
 the issues of that hour. You breathed a silent prayer 
 for wisdom and help to lead them to Christ. The 
 joyous privilege was yours, and the memory of it will 
 abide forever. Here is treasure laid up. 
 
IX. 
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF MINISTERS' WIVES. 
 
 There is an unfortunate and mistaken notion some- 
 what prevalent respecting the duties of a pastor's 
 wife. It has sometimes been remarked by ministers, 
 and even from the pulpit : " When I was called, my 
 wife was not called " ; or, " My wife has no salary," 
 implying that no work in the parish must be required 
 of her. Again, words like these : ^' The parish ought 
 not to demand so much of the minister's wife," said in 
 a half-pitiful tone, as if she had a hard time, and the 
 parish were to blame for it ; as if she were a kind of 
 martyr to the cause. 
 
 Now, looking at this matter simply from a secular 
 standpoint, does not the true wife take to heart and 
 share the burdens and fortunes of her husband, what- 
 ever his calling is, whether mechanic or farmer, or 
 one of the learned professions ? And is she not ready 
 at all times to cheer and aid him, and show herself a 
 worthy helpmeet? And if, through her love for him, 
 she often denies herself and makes great sacri- 
 
 67 
 
68 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 fices in order that his interests may be advanced, are 
 others to be blamed for it ? 
 
 But there is a higher view to take of the position 
 of any Christian wife, whether her husband is a min- 
 ister or merchant or day-laborer. She has obliga- 
 tions hiofher than those she owes to her husband. 
 " One is your Master, even Christ." So it is to Him 
 that she owes her best service, and this, happily, 
 never conflicts with her duties to her husband. 
 
 The limit of our obligations to Christ is our oppor- 
 tunity. So if the minister's wife has a wider sphere 
 than some other Christian women, it is simply an 
 enlargement of her opportunity, and the duties that 
 grow from it are not laid on her by the church of 
 which her husband is the pastor, Ijut a bestowment 
 of great and blessed privilege from God, which 
 ought to be a joy to her, and for which she must 
 give account to Him. So it appears that the 
 duties of a pastor's wife are no more, after all, than 
 tliose of any Christian woman blessed with similar 
 opportunities. 
 
 But a minister's wife is a Christian ; she has her 
 own soul to save, and has her own work to 
 do. According to her ability she is bound to 
 God's service ; according to her greater oppor- 
 tunity she will be glad to do what is in her 
 power ; and instead of being burdened thereby, all 
 she thus does in His name and by His grace will add 
 
THE INFLUENCE OF MINISTERS' WIVES. 69 
 
 SO much to the depth of her joy and to the blessed- 
 ness of her life in Christ. 
 
 The more we dwell in sympathy and grateful love 
 on the humiliation and sacrihce of our ]:)lessed Lord 
 for sinners, the greater joy we shall count it to be 
 allowed to do something in return for him. Duty 
 becomes a pleasure then, and we hail with delight the 
 opportunities that are open to us. AVe cease talking 
 about "how much we have to do," or "the great 
 demands on our time and strength." 
 
 When we rise to consider, in any adequate sense, 
 what our Saviour has done for us, we are ashamed 
 that our service to Him has been so poor and meagre ; 
 and with quickened heart we cry out : '^ Lord, what 
 wdlt Thou have me to do ? " Let not any of us, then, 
 w^ho are ministers' wives, plan how little we can do to 
 help on the cause of Christ in our church, and in our 
 husband's parish ; how small we can narrow down 
 our influence ; how much time and strength we can 
 spare from our Christian duties to devote to "society," 
 to amusement, to recreation, to personal ease. With 
 such a spirit we shall dishonor our Saviour, and we 
 shall be sure to have a hard, uncomfortable time of it 
 ourselves, and the stars in our crown will be few. 
 There are souls all about us hungry for the Chris- 
 tian aid and comfort we can bring them from the 
 precious Word of God. There are those we can 
 bless and cheer on every hand. Let us not say, 
 
70 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 US Jeremiiih did: "I cannot — lam but a child." 
 If God gives the opportunity, He surely gives the 
 ability. 
 
 There are, it may be, younger ministers' wives who 
 are looking to us for a worthy example. I shall 
 never cease to be grateful for the bright, beautiful 
 life of my pastor's wife in the East — a lady who early 
 ripened for Heaven, and was called from great and 
 marked usefulness. I thought if I could only be like 
 her in devotion to Christ, — if I could be a blessing to 
 others, as she had been to me, in leading them nearer 
 to the feet of Jesus, — how happy I should be. And 
 for years after she had gone up higher, her noble, 
 sweet example was before me, a great inspiration in 
 my own daily life. 
 
 "Let your light so shine ..." This light must 
 be Christ in us, if others are led to glorify our Father 
 in Heaven. If we are God's children we shall have 
 the light of Christ in our hearts ; and if we drink deep 
 at the fountains of His love every day, and feed on the 
 riches of His Word, we shall have wherewith to 
 enrich and benefit others. "As we have therefore 
 opportunity let us do good unto all men." Instead 
 of murmuring and being sour because sacrifices and 
 burdens come upon us, — and much is to be done, — 
 let us thank God he has counted us worthy to be 
 sharers in the toils of the kingdom He is building, 
 leading back wandering feet to Him, and esteem the 
 
THE INFLUENCE OF MINISTERS* WIVES. 71 
 
 privilege of working with Him who has suffered for 
 us a orreat o^ain. 
 
 It is enough that the servant should be as his 
 Lord. 
 
 Who is the minister's wife above other wives, that 
 she cannot spend and be spent in the great company 
 of those who are freely yielding up themselves for 
 Him who kept not back his own life for us ? 
 
X. 
 
 WOMAN'S WORK IN HOME EYANGELI- 
 
 ZATION. 
 
 I LIVE close beside the great gates of the West 
 through which multitudes of the children of the East 
 pass in long procession to the ripe fields beyond. 
 Every day trains laden with immigrant families from 
 European countries roll over the great bridge of the 
 Mississippi, and emigrant wagons with their white 
 canvas covering the home treasures, from the Eastern 
 States, journey leisurely past my windows : both tides 
 alike, home and foreign, Avith their faces set towards 
 new homes far out on the great plains. 
 
 These things constantly keep the thought and 
 necessity of home missionary work in mind and heart, 
 and it comes by force into my daily prayer. I little 
 thought in early years to have spent so much of my 
 life amidst such scenes ; but it may have been so in 
 God's Providence that I might appeal, with more 
 directness and effectiveness, to my sisters that remain 
 in the East in behalf of this great work. Seeing is 
 believing. If you could look through my eyes I am 
 72 
 
woman's work in home evangelization. 73 
 
 sure your heart would be stirred with an impulse that 
 would not let you slumber in the face of these demands 
 upon us. 
 
 These emigrants come in families. Each family is 
 a hive of bright-faced, interesting children. Our 
 American families, as well as foreign families that 
 move West, abound in vigorous, healthy children — 
 boys and girls to be guided and instructed in good 
 w^ays. It is a sight to awaken the deep heart-yearn- 
 ings of any Christian mother. For these children 
 are on their way to homes as yet unmade, and to 
 communities unfurnished with Christian institutions 
 and influences, and which often abound with snares 
 and pitfalls for tender feet. Hence the pressing need 
 of ministers and churches in these places of spiritual 
 destitution, that the family altars may be set up in 
 the homes, the children gathered into Sunday-schools, 
 and taught the way of life. Here is a strong appeal 
 to mothers to work for home missions. Other coun- 
 tries, except the Catholic, are not sending mission- 
 aries to us. If we neglect our own country, there 
 are none to care for it. You look at your own children 
 in their comfortable homes with every advantage 
 of Christian culture, and the contrast is appalling; 
 and you say, "Important as my sphere of usefulness 
 is at home, I cannot stop with my own children ; my 
 duty is as wide as the opening fields " — for the 
 mother's power must reach wherever the children go. 
 
74 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 The work is not now so much to strengthen the 
 weak churches as to provide shepherds for these 
 incoming flocks. 
 
 Multitudes of children in the older States are des- 
 tined to make their homes and spend their lives on 
 these new fields. From every neighborhood in the 
 East some young men have gone out of your homes 
 to the frontiers ; great numbers of your sons and 
 daughters are sure to follow. What better work can 
 possibly be done than to seek to evangelize these 
 fields, and to brighten the atmosphere with Christian 
 light and love for the future welfare of these children ? 
 Their own children will be born there ; their lives will 
 be passed there. There they will be buried. We 
 need to lay the foundation of many generations now, 
 to begin to build such institutions as we are willing 
 to have our children spend their lives in. If we 
 commence they will complete the work, and carry 
 it still farther on after we are gone. 
 
 How much depends on right l)eginnings ! Much 
 has been said, and truly so, concerning the rapid 
 and luxuriant growths of these Western prairies. 
 It is no less true that the seed of divine truth has 
 been equally rapid in its growth, and the yield abun- 
 dant in places where it has been sown. It is 
 especially within the power of the Christian women 
 to aid in this work of sending the gospel missionary 
 to these fields. They may appeal to every element 
 
WOMAN^S WORK IN HOME KVANGELIZATION. 75 
 
 in the community around them. Other forms of mis- 
 sionary work may reach separate classes only. This 
 affects all classes. Each person in the church and 
 out of it may be asked for aid, according to their 
 means, to build up Christian institutions in the new 
 West. It is in the interest of business, of capital, of 
 good order, of labor, of education, of the family, and 
 home and country. It is in the interest of the life 
 eternal . 
 
 There is some diversity of opinion as to methods of 
 oro'anization anions: Christian women. Whoever is a 
 member of the church of Christ belongs to the best 
 organization in the world for Christian work. The 
 family is the divine unit, and in God's order we are 
 households for the Lord, and ordained to work 
 church-wise together — men, women, and children, 
 and the stranger within our gates. This, certainly, 
 can be done. Christian ladies in every church can 
 make, in behalf of home missions, an annual canvass 
 of the entire parish, visiting every person, subscrip- 
 tion paper in hand, in place of the meagre basket 
 collections, and thereby double and triple the amount 
 now raised. This is a very simple Avay ; but when 
 fifteen or twenty ladies systematize the work in a 
 parish, and go for the last dollar for the great home 
 missionary cause, they will return laden with bounti- 
 ful offerinofs. 
 
 We must read God's purpose and our duty in this 
 
76 HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH. 
 
 swelling tide of foreign population to this great West 
 land. From my childhood I have been taught to 
 reverence and love the work of foreign missions ; and 
 all the ardor I have felt for the multitudes abroad lost 
 in sin, now kindles in my soul for these whom God is 
 sending to my own land, past my own door. I see in 
 it God's plan to warm these cold hearts at our fire- 
 sides, and to feed these hungry souls from our own 
 loaf of life. As we draw the living water for our- 
 selves, we must draw it also for these parents and 
 their children. 
 
Date Due 
 
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