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W. F. MARTIN

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 1, 1916

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 27.

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W. F. MARTIN

By W. F. Martin

Soul-Winning

W. F. MARTIN

A LARGE part of the first chapter of John is a record of missionary work. It may be spoken of as the beginning of the work of the Christian church. It strikingly sets forth the plan adopted by the Master to carry on the work of the gospel. He yoked up his disciples with him in labor for souls. The record says, “The next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.” We but little realize the influence for good our words may be. The two disciples heard John “speak,” and what he said changed the course of their lives. It made them followers of Jesus. From then till now, faithful men and women have been winning followers to Jesus by speaking to others.
Thousands have had their lives and ambitions changed by words spoken in love and earnestness by the servants of Jesus. Discouragement has been dispelled, and light and joy have come into lives by words fitly spoken. “One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought himto Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.”
As soon as the first disciples had chosen to follow the Master and were accepted by him, they began to labor for their kinsmen and friends. Andrew sought his brother, and never ceased his labor till he “brought him to Jesus.” The first impulse of a converted soul, one who has seen a great truth, is to tell the glad news to some one else; in fact, to go out and bring some one to Jesus.
Jesus and the disciples united in this personal, soul-winning labor. “The day following Jesus . . . findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.” Then Philip found Nathanael, and so it has gone on from generation to generation, Jesus and the disciples working side by side in soul-winning. So it will be all the way to the end. “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.”
Santa Ana, Cal.