View source for Chapter 2. The Teacher's Aim

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<p>The highest work given to mortals is that of winning souls. It is the work which Christ himself came into the world to do. His part was to reveal the love of God and then make redemption for lost men; the winning and gathering of perishing ones--he committed to his disciples. In ordinary cases lost sinners are brought to repentance and faith, only through those who already believe. There is only one Savior, but human messengers must tell the story of his grace and bring men to him.<br><br>
Christ does not go along the paths of life; seeking the lost, save in the persons of his disciples. The Holy Spirit does not, at least ordinarily, convict men of sin and lead them in penitence to the cross, by his immediate agency, but through the inspired Word, as spoken by cleansed human lips.<br><br>
When we think of these truths, we see our great responsibility as Christians. Our mission in this world is to carry Christ to those who do not know him. This is especially true of all whom as preachers and teachers are sent to present the gospel to others. They have a peculiar responsibility in this work. The Sunday school teacher in whose heart there is not a strong desire to win souls, has not yet realized the seriousness of the relation which he sustains to the members of his class. Those who sit before others with the Bible in their hands, to guide them into knowledge of the truth, should make sure that they know their duty. The Holy Spirit desires through them to present Christ as Savior and Lord. There are those who may never be saved unless it be through us; if we fail in our duty to them they may perish, and their blood will be upon us.<br><br>
We have an illustration of the human part of salvation in our Lord's miracle of the loaves. The bread came from the Master's hands. The disciples themselves never could have fed the thousands with the little they happened to have. Yet neither did Jesus feed the multitude, except through his disciples. He gave the bread to them and they distributed it among the hungry ones who sat there on the green banks. The Master and his disciples were co-workers.<br><br>
In this we see a picture of the manner in which the blessings of redemption reach lost men. Christ alone can prepare these blessings; no other one in the world could do this. He gave his own life to be bread for the hungry world. No other one can provide bread for our souls. Yet he does not with his own hands carry the bread to the perishing and hungry. He gives the loaves to his disciples--and they pass them to the people.<br><br>
But suppose those twelve men who were the mediators of the blessing of the bread that day had taken the loaves from the Master's hands, and, sitting down on the grass, had merely fed themselves, eating until they were satisfied, then laying down the bread, and not passing it to the hungry multitude waiting beyond them, what would have been the result? While there was bread enough to feed all the thousands, they would have remained unfed, because of the indolence and the selfishness of the disciples. The Master would have been balked in his purpose of mercy and compassion toward the people, not through any lack of power in himself or of provision ready, but because his disciples had failed in their mission as distributors of the blessings which his hands had prepared.<br><br>
The disciples did not act thus that day, however. Gladly and eagerly they carried the bread from group to group, until all the multitude was fed. But in the spiritual counterpart to that feeding, do the Lord's disciples never merely feed themselves, taking no thought for the hungry ones who are beyond them? They sit down at the gospel feast table and eat of the provisions that are offered, but do not think of the souls outside, who are perishing of hunger.<br><br>
It is easy to see what terrible consequences may result from this neglect of duty. Souls may perish in their sins because we, in our thoughtlessness or in our spirit of self-indulgence, will not do our part by simply passing to them the bread of life. If we act thus we cannot say as Paul said, referring to the lost: "I am pure from the blood of all men."<br><br>
It should always be a question with us, when we are interceding from others, asking blessing or help of any kind for them, whether it may not be our duty to take to them what we ask God to give them. There are times when to pray for one to be sent to do some work of Christ is less than useless — is even presumptuous. A city missionary, on his rounds, was passing a miserable hovel and heard cries as of children from within. He knocked but received no answer, the cries still continuing and indicating sore distress. He opened the door and went in, and the spectacle that met his eyes was one to soften to tenderness the hardest heart. On a little heap of straw in one corner of the wretched apartment, lay a woman dead, and to her lifeless body two little children were clinging, weeping bitterly and calling to her. There was no fire and the room was cold.<br><br>
The missionary was deeply touched by the pitiful sight, and his sympathy went out to the orphan children. He did not know what to do for them, and therefore fell upon his knees and prayed to God. He prayed unadvisedly, however, for he said: "O God, my faith this instant dies, unless your open skies send help to these. Send someone — some angel, some messengers, to provide for them." But hardly had the words escaped his lips, when there came rebuke in answer to his rash thought. He seemed to hear, as if from the skies, the words: "You are my messenger — do not dare to leave my little ones. Lo, I have sent you here for the very purpose of caring for them. To your keeping this night I give them!"<br><br>
So he arose and answered his own prayer. Giving a hand to each child, he led them away to shelter and care. Thus, many times, the only answer to our cries to God for help to others is, "Go--and minister to them in my name. You are my messenger."<br><br>
When we ask how we may win souls, the answer is, that our part is that only of the messenger of Christ. When Jesus came down from the Mount of Transfiguration and the distressed father told him of his demoniac son, and how the disciples had tried in vain to cast out the demon, Jesus said, "Bring him here to me." That is what he asks us always to do with the souls in whose salvation we are interested — "Bring them to me." That really is all we are to do — all we can do.<br><br>
Yet there are some things to notice about the work of the messenger. Not everyone is ready to bring the lost to the Savior. We must be vessels fit for the Master's use--or he will not use us in this most sacred work.<br><br>
For one thing, we must seek to make lost sinners know that God loves them. This really is the heart of the gospel message. It was to reveal this fact to men in their sins that the Son of God came down from heaven to earth. This is the message that he spoke in the ears of the weary, the lost, wherever he went. This was the gospel which shone out in his incarnate life as he moved about, — "God--manifested in the flesh." This was the meaning of the cross — it declared that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son to be the world's Redeemer. This is the great burden of the message of the Church to men; it says to every sinner, "God loves you." He who really learns this one truth, whose heart learns it, and who can say in the glow of happy consciousness "God loves me!" is saved. The first thing, therefore, in those who sit down before others to try to win them, is to make it plain and clear to them that God loves them.<br><br>
For another thing, there should be in the teacher's own heart a genuine love for souls, a true compassion for the unsaved. Some measure of the love that brought Christ from heaven to earth, and led him to his wonderful condescension and sacrifice, we must have, if we would be his messengers in bringing others to him. If we would be soul winners, we must have the mind that was in Christ Jesus. Until we have in us something of this compassion, it is scarcely worth our while to try to lead souls to the Savior. "God loves you and I love you," was the message of Mr. McAll to the people the Paris, when he first began his work among them. There is little use in our telling people the first part of this message if we cannot tell them also the second part of it. We must love or we cannot tell of God's love. The love of Christ must throb in our hearts, shine in our faces, melt in our eyes, tremble in our words, and offer itself again on the cross in our lives, if we would win souls to heaven.<br><br>
There is a practical suggestion in the scriptural word: "He who is wise wins souls." Souls cannot be driven to Christ, they cannot be coerced into discipleship; they must be won. When we study the manner of Christ among men, we readily see how he sought to save the lost. He loved people into his kingdom. He proved himself the Friend of sinners. He sought not to be "ministered unto, but to minister." He loved to do good to others, to help them, to comfort them. Grace shone in his face and in his whole life.<br><br>
<p align="justify">If we would bring souls to Christ we must win them. The teacher who is cold in his manner may teach earnestly and evangelically, but he will not gain souls for his Master. It is the teacher that has a warm heart, and whose heart melts into his words and his life, who will be most greatly blessed in his work. We can win others for Christ and save them, only by love.<br><br>
The first bringing of pupils to Christ is not the whole of the teacher's work. They are then to be watched over with great care, wisely guided, faithfully shepherded, helped in all true ways, built up into strength and led out into fields of active service. To this sacred ministry every teacher is called and ordained. Fulfilling his ministry with faithful earnestness, he will shine as the stars forever and ever.
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