"Neither is he that planteth anything,
"Neither is he that
planteth anything,
Neither is he that watereth;
But God that giveth the
increase.
Now he that planteth
And he that watereth are
one" (1 Cor. 3:7,8).
"There is that scattereth,
and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it
tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat:and he that watereth
shall be watered also himself. He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse
him:but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it" (Prov.
11:24-26).
"If thou forbear to deliver
them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; if thou
sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not He that pondereth the heart consider
it? and He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it? and shall not He render
to every man according to his works?" (Prov. 24:11,12)
These Scriptures in the Proverbs
of King Solomon present a responsibility upon every Christian, old or young,
because all around us are people who are perishing. With the great blessings
that God has bestowed upon us through the Lord Jesus Christ—forgiveness of
sins, eternal life, peace, joy, rest, and hope—how our hearts should be stirred
to make known what Christ has done for us.
In Luke’s gospel, Chapter 8, we
read of a man who had been possessed with demons, and the Lord Jesus cast them
out of him. "But the man out of whom the demons had gone besought Him that
he might be with Him. But He sent him away, saying, Return to thine house and
relate how great things God has done for thee. And he went away through the
whole city, publishing how great things Jesus had done for him" (Luke
8:38-39, J.N.D. trans.).
We should ask the question which
Saul of Tarsus asked the Lord on that eventful day when the Lord Jesus spoke to
him, "Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6)
Dr. Cuyler has written regarding
tract distribution, "It is a blessed and heaven-honored agency for doing
good. Everyone who has some spare time, and a tongue, and a little tact can go
out with a bundle of tracts to the abodes of ignorance and irreligion."
A preacher in London some years
ago said that the Open-air Mission was doing a much-needed work among the
masses, one feature being the distribution of tracts, and he stated that he
himself had been converted by a tract given to him when attending some races in
a Midland town.
There was a poor boy who came to
a city missionary, and holding out a dirty and well-worn bit of paper, said,
"Please sir, father sent me to get a clean paper like that." Opening
it out, the missionary found that it was a page leaflet, containing that
beautiful hymn, "Just as I am, without one plea." The missionary
asked where he got it and why he wanted a clean one. "We found it, sir, in
sister’s pocket after she died. She was always singing it while she was ill,
and she loved it so much that father wanted to get a clean one and put it in a
frame and hang it up. Won’t you give us a clean one, sir?" That simple hymn
given to a little girl seems to have been, by God’s blessing, the means of
bringing her to Christ.
The late J. Denham Smith, with
his wife, was driving along a road. When passing a house, Mrs. Smith noticed an
aged man at the door. She asked her husband to stop and give him a tract. He
replied, "Not now, but when we return." Accordingly, when going back,
they stopped. Mr. Smith, going up to the old man, began to talk and asked if he
knew anything of God’s love to him. "That I do," was the response.
"He does love me, but I have not loved Him long. It is only a short time
ago since a lady came by and left a tract. It told me of the great truths of
the Bible, and led me to see that Christ came to save the lost and, therefore,
to save me." Mr. Smith thought that the writer of the tract would be
thankful to know the result of what he had done, so he asked the old man if he
still had this tract. He went into the house and quickly returned with it.
Great was Mr. Smith’s surprise and joy to recognize it as one written by
himself.
Finally, what will be the
results in joy to precious souls, as well as to ourselves? Let King David tell
us by the Holy Spirit:"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that
goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with
rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him" (Psalm 126:5-6). King Solomon
again speaks by the Holy Spirit:"Cast thy bread upon the waters:for thou
shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for
thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. … 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" (Eccl. 11:1, 2, 6).
"Behold, NOW is the
accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2).