We are truly thankful for the awakening that appears in many quarters concerning the subject of
repentance and faith and we hope this will produce fruitful and glorious results for eternity. We
have suffered great loss, we are persuaded, because there has been lack of wisdom and exercise
in giving repentance its right place; and the wonder now is that so many of us have in measure
neglected it, when the Word of truth gives it so prominent a place, and leaves us in no uncertainty
as to the order of proclaiming it.

Whether in the past or present dispensations (before law, under law, or now under grace), ever
since the fall of man (Gen. 3), men have become a prey to sin. All like sheep have followed their
own way, but God’s call has been loud and long to men on every hand. The light of His Word,
wherever it penetrates, leads distinctly, and with no uncertain sound it cries, "Repent, repent!"
This was the voice of the Spirit in the prophets of old; it was the special mission of John the
Baptist; and when the Saviour Himself appeared, His call to men was, "Repent ye, and believe
the gospel" (Mark 1:15). Later on when He sent out the twelve, they went out and preached that
men should repent (Mark 6:12); and His answer to those who spoke to Him concerning the
dreadful end of the Galileans was, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:1-5).

Now let us note the order in which the Holy Spirit presents that truth to us. "Repent ye, and
believe the gospel" was the divine order in which the Lord Himself presented it; and if Scripture
is closely followed, this is the divine order always. At the beginning of this subject let us state,
however, that repentance is not the gospel. We need to distinguish with care, yet not separate, the
two themes. We truly believe that this is where mistakes have been made; the deep, searching,
penetrating effect of the Word of God has been hindered and clouded by not rightly understanding
and giving repentance its true place in preaching.

The message of repentance is the loud and faithful call of a righteous God to His disobedient and
sinful creatures _responsible creatures. He has entrusted the preaching of it to the evangelist as
he goes forth among the masses of mankind. It is a message sent to sinners:"I am not come to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matt. 9:13). This is where God’s work begins in souls;
just as the plow prepares the ground for the seed, it is the breakdown of the sinner which prepares
the heart and the conscience to receive the gospel. The same hand that holds the plow also sows
the precious seed which produces new life with its golden harvest. The plow and the seed basket
are not one and the same thing. They are to be rightly distinguished, but not separated. To use one
without the other would be fatal; there would be no harvest. The plowman keeps the sowing in
view; the sower, the harvest.

As is God’s order in nature, so, we believe, is also His order in spiritual things. Repentance
comes first; in order that the work be solid and abiding, and that souls be not deceived or led into
too free a way of confessing Christ, the conscience must be plowed. We have often heard the
expression, "I believe in the Lord," and with yet no apparent conscience about sin. Of this danger
we would be warned, and seek also to warn others. We would warn everyone who preaches the
Word, as well as Sunday school teachers and parents:Look for exercise of heart and conscience
in every case of professed conversion, because it is written, "God . . . commandeth all men

everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30).

Repentance, let us repeat, is the work of the Holy Spirit in sinners. It may be deeper with some
than with others; it will grow deeper in all as they go on with God. But let us not accept a
profession of salvation as genuine apart from manifest repentance.

But what is repentance? We have already quoted from the words of the Lord Himself that it is
sinners who are called to it, hence it is a work of the Spirit of God with sinners. It is the
breakdown of the responsible man before God, and the confession of what he is, as very strikingly
illustrated in the case of the publican in the temple (Luke 18:13). When man is brought into God’s
presence by the Spirit of God, and gets a right view of himself and his sins, there will be
conviction, and confession too_the soul gives in and is conquered. This is repentance; and now
is seen the great struggle with the enemy of souls who ever seeks to hinder men from it. It is the
time when the preacher needs to be especially alive, needs to be of a specially prayerful spirit.
When the cry is heard, "I have sinned," the answer is readily given, "Deliver him from going
down to the pit; I have found a ransom" (Job 33:24). New birth now introduces the soul into a
new relationship with God; the man is no more a sinner, but a child of God; forgiveness of sins
and salvation are his. God, who is sovereign in all His works, may use various means to produce
this_to reach the conscience and heart of man_but whatever means He uses, all can be said to
be His goodness, for it is "the goodness of God that leadeth thee to repentance." It may be an
earnest warning of the judgment to come, an appeal as from God’s love, the holding up of the
cross and the work wrought there by the Son of God, the second coming of the Lord, or any other
part of the truth, to subdue man’s spirit. Whatever it may be, the Spirit uses it as He wills, but all
to get at the heart and conscience of man, and lead him to repentance.

The soul is thus made ready for the good seed of the gospel; and when this gospel message is
received by faith into the heart, life_new life_and salvation follow. Hence the Scripture order
is repentance first, and remission of sins second (Luke 24:47); repentance and conversion (Acts
3:19); repentance unto life (Acts 11:18); repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord
Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21); and repentance to salvation (2 Cor. 7:10). Repentance is a divine work,
and must not be confounded with divine life. Repentance is connected with the conviction of sin,
divine life with new birth. One is the closing up of the old life and history; the other, the
beginning of the new.

Oh that we were everywhere alive to the necessity of such work as this! A servant of Christ
remarked sometime ago, after this truth of repentance had been preached, "I see my mistake. I
have preached the gospel, but it has been like sowing seed upon the unbroken soil of the prairie.
I have not been using the plow, and there has been no breaking up_hence no fruit." Let these
words carry weight. Let us, in all our service, be definite and more decided in our appeals to men.
Let us yearn over sinners, plead with them, and warn them. Let the compassions of Christ fill our
hearts. Let His tears run from our eyes, His love constrain us, and remember in this earnest work
that preaching is not teaching, nor mere expositions of Scripture, but, with the Scriptures in hand,
a heart-to-heart contact with men. When souls are broken down it is an easy matter to unfold the
gospel; the heart is ready then, the soil is prepared, and the precious seed of the gospel has but
to be sown to produce readily new birth and new life.

There may be many Christians who believe that the proper sphere for evangelism_the
proclamation of the good news of God’s grace to sinners_is in the church pulpit, on the street
corner, in the hospitals, prisons, and rescue missions, and in faraway lands. But I wish to draw
our attention to, and have us consider prayerfully, the place evangelism should have in our homes.
Surely the home has for centuries been the sphere where Christian parents have faithfully
presented the gospel to their own children. But what beyond that? Let us consider a number of
aspects of evangelism in the home.

Neighborhood Children

If there are school-age children in the household, almost certainly there will be friends of the
children over to play from time to time. Let us always have a supply of children’s gospel tracts
and recent Sunday school papers on hand for the visiting children to take home with them.

And how about having friends over to spend the night? Some may regard this as a
nuisance_something done only to please our children. But we can turn such occasions into
wonderful opportunities to present the gospel to these neighbor children. This can be done in a
very natural way, provided the family is in the habit of getting together after supper for Bible
reading, singing, and prayer. It might be appropriate to read a special chapter that night, one like
Luke 15, John 3 or 4, Acts 16, etc. from which a clear gospel message can be brought out.

But what; if the family is not in such a habit of spending time together with the Lord each day?
The solution is straightforward, though not necessarily easy if there has been long neglect of this
vitally important family activity:Father and mother should confess to God and to their family their
past failure, and then ask God for the strength and purpose of heart to begin and maintain a
schedule of daily Bible reading and prayer with the family.

As a further suggestion for using the home as a center for evangelism, every Christian family
should earnestly seek God’s guidance and will concerning the possibility of having the
neighborhood children over regularly_say, once a week after school_for a Bible class. If this is
God’s will for you, He will open up the way for the children to come.

Adult Acquaintances

We may often have occasion to have our neighbors, friends, co-workers, and relatives over for
dinner. Is our purpose in this simply to enjoy the company of the guests, or to fulfill social
obligations? Or do we, having in mind the shortness of time (1 Cor. 7:29, Eph. 5:16), view each
occasion as a potential opportunity to present the gospel? Again, with the habit of a daily family
Bible reading there is a natural means of getting into the Word and the gospel. Some guests will
not appreciate it, but others will, surprisingly, be quite open to discussing the Bible. Let us always
remember to prepare the way for such occasions with much prayer that the Holy Spirit will work
conviction and a positive response to the gospel in the hearts of the guests.

Difficulties

A major difficulty of home evangelism is that in the setting of the home people see us as we really
are. And very often what they see is a picture not at all unlike themselves. We may claim to be
saved, to have eternal life and peace with God, and to be living for the world to come. But the
appearance that comes through to others is that we have the same interests (that is, enjoy the same
games and sports, listen to the same music, go to the same concerts, read the same magazines,
watch the same television shows, etc.); we are just as irritable and impatient when things do not
go quite right; we complain just as much about the inequities in the world and about our lot in Me
in general; we engage in as much jesting and frivolity; and we seem to be as conscious of status
symbols as they. So when we come along and tell them that we are saved and that God has
changed our lives, they will not understand a thing we tell them about the way of salvation because
our way of life_except perhaps for reading the Bible and going to church more
frequently_appears to be no different from theirs.

All this is not to suggest that we should put on a false front in order to win others to Christ. Nor
does it mean that we should make a great attempt to be different from our neighbor, just for the
sake of being different. Rather, we should seek to make sure that we are truly growing, maturing
Christians who are, more and more, gaining the victory over the old nature, and finding that the
pleasures and activities of the world which we formerly enjoyed are losing their attractiveness as
we become more heavenly-minded (Col. 3:1,2) and as our lives become more Christ-centered.
As we thus grow and mature spiritually, the change in our language, our habits, our attitudes, and
our interests will become increasingly apparent to those about us. "When I was a child, I spake
as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away
childish things" (1 Cor. 13:11).

God grant that we may have a greater concern for the souls about us who are on the broad way
to destruction (Matt. 7:13), and that we may seek to use our homes more as centers for evangelism
in our neighborhoods.

"To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you" (2 Cor. 10:16). These words, while they set
forth the largeheartedness of the self-denying and devoted apostle, do also furnish a fine model
for the evangelist in every age. The gospel is a traveler, and the preacher of the gospel must be
a traveler likewise. The divinely-qualified and divinely-sent evangelist will fix his eye upon "the
world." From house to house, from street to street, from city to city, from province to province,
from kingdom to kingdom, from continent to continent, from pole to pole_such is the range of
the "good news" and the publisher thereof. "The regions beyond" must ever be the grand gospel
motto. No sooner has the gospel lamp cast its cheering beams over a district than the bearer of that
lamp must think of the regions beyond. Thus the work goes on. Thus the mighty tide of grace
rolls, in enlightening and saving power, over a dark world which lies in "the valley of the shadow
of death."

Christian reader, are you thinking of "the regions beyond you"? This expression may, in your
case, mean the next house, the next street, the next village, the next city, the next country, or the
next continent. The application is for your own heart to ponder. Now I am not saying that you
should abandon your present post, at least not until you are fully persuaded that your work at the
post is done. But remember, the gospel plow should never stand still. "Onward? is the motto of
every true evangelist. Let the shepherds abide by the flocks; but let the evangelists go here and
there to gather the sheep. This is the design of the gospel. This should be the object of the
evangelist as he sighs after "the regions beyond." When Caesar beheld, from the coast of Gaul,
the white cliffs of Britain, he earnestly longed to carry his arms there. The evangelist, on the other
hand, as he casts his eye over the map of the world, longs to carry the gospel of peace into regions
which have heretofore been wrapped in midnight gloom, covered with the dark mantle of
superstition, or blasted beneath the withering influences of "a form of godliness without the
power."

It would be a profitable question for many of us to put to ourselves, how far are we discharging
our holy responsibilities to "the regions beyond." I believe the Christian who is not cultivating and
manifesting an evangelistic spirit is in a truly deplorable condition. I believe, too, that the
assembly which is not cultivating and manifesting an evangelistic spirit is in a dead state. One of
the truest marks of spiritual growth and prosperity, whether in an individual or in an assembly,
is earnest anxiety after the conversion of souls. It is hard to believe that "the word of Christ" is
"dwelling richly" in any one who is not making some effort to impart that word to his fellow-
sinners. It matters not what may be the amount of the effort; it may be to drop a few words in the
ear of a friend, to give a tract, to pen a note, to breathe a prayer. But one thing is certain, namely,
that a healthy, vigorous Christian will be an evangelistic Christian_a teller of good news_one
whose sympathies, desires, and energies are ever going forth toward "the regions beyond." "I
must preach the gospel to other cities also, for therefore am I sent." Such was the language of the
true Evangelist.

It is very doubtful whether many of the servants of Christ have not erred in allowing themselves,
through one influence or another, to become too much localized_too much tied in one place.
They have dropped into routine work_into a round of stated preaching in the same place_ and,

in many cases, have paralyzed themselves and paralyzed their hearers also. I speak not now of the
labors of the pastor, the elder, or the teacher which must, of course, be carried on in the midst
of those who are the proper subjects of such labors. I refer more particularly to the evangelist.
Such an one should never allow himself to be localized. The world is his sphere; "the regions
beyond," his motto; to gather out God’s elect, his object; the current of the Spirit, his line of
direction. If the reader should be one whom God has called and fitted to be an evangelist, let him
remember these four things_the sphere, the motto, the object, and the line of direction_which
all must adopt if they would prove fruitful laborers in the gospel field.

Finally, whether the reader be an evangelist or not, I would earnestly entreat him to examine how
far he is seeking to further the gospel of Christ. We must not stand idle. Time is short! Eternity
is rapidly approaching! The Master is most worthy! Souls are most precious! The season for work
will soon close! Let us, then, in the name of the Lord, be up and doing. And when we have done
what we can in the regions around, let us carry the precious seed into "the regions beyond."

(From Papers on Evangelization.)

FRAGMENT. A dying saint was heard to lament:"I was always waiting for the time when I
should have leisure to serve the Lord. I have been saved for thirty-five years, but the leisure time
has never come."

"And He gave some . . . evangelists" (Eph. 4:11). The gift of the evangelist is a most precious
one. I know perfectly well it is thought to be simple, and is sometimes looked down upon for that
reason. Still it is remarkable that here, where it is a question of the Lord giving that which is for
the blessing and good of the assembly, evangelists are spoken of, because if you had no
evangelists the assembly would not grow. The evangelist is full of the gospel; and what is the
gospel? It is the revelation of the heart of God, and what can be higher than that? It is the
unfolding of the testimony about His Son, and the object of the evangelist is to bring souls to Him,
and thus, as a consequence, into the assembly. The evangelist is a man who busies himself with
souls. He has a burning love for them and an unquenchable thirst for their salvation. His object
is by all means to win the soul for Christ; yet, mark you, he is, if laboring rightly, working out
from the bosom of the assembly. He is of the assembly. His work, therefore, though in no ways
in, yet goes out from the assembly; thus the soul that is led to Jesus becomes a member of His
Body, and ideally is gathered with other members of the Body. The evangelist should be like a
pair of compasses with one leg fixed and the other sweeping all around as far as it can reach. If
his work is to be successful not only in conversion but really in edifying the body, he must have
a fixed leg; that is, he must remember he is of the assembly, and works out from and returns to
it.

Too many evangelists look upon their work as a sort of guerrilla warfare. They are spiritual
sharpshooters, freelances, delighting in being "unattached." In all such, the will is working. They
are like a man who brings out a lot of stones from a quarry, and having got them out, has no
building to fit them into. You would surely say of all such that they are careless workmen. I ought
to have a definite object before me in preaching the gospel:first, to bring the soul to Christ, and
secondly, to put it into its right niche in God’s assembly on earth.

Now, what should the evangelist do when he gets the soul converted? He should introduce him
to the assembly, though not necessarily bring him into it. Others should do that. It is well to let
others judge of the reality and soundness of God’s work in the soul. They are responsible to do
so. Perhaps you say the evangelist should now teach him. No, the teacher should teach him. I
quite admit that, owing to the ruin of the Church, the evangelist often has to seek to do the
teaching as well, but it is not his work. Owing to the ruin and failure of the Church, practically
speaking, many of the gifted servants of God do not do the part for which they are fitted. The
reason is this. Many of those who possess spiritual gifts are buried under the ruins of
Christendom. Hampered, hindered, and restrained by ecclesiastical systems which prevent the
exercise and development of gift, they are not exercising the gift the Lord has given them. They
have been dislocated from their true functions by the purely human organizations with which
Christendom abounds; in these organizations the free activity of the Holy Spirit in the gifted
members of Christ’s Body is hindered by that which man calls "the ministry," but which, in
principle, is opposed to the direct and plain commandment of God’s Word.

Returning to our main theme, we see how beautiful is the divine order in God’s assembly. First,
the evangelist reaches the soul and brings him to the gateway of the assembly. Then those in the
assembly test him as to the reality and soundness of God’s work in his soul, preparatory to

receiving him. And it cannot be too strongly asserted that it is the assembly as a whole that
receives. Each and all composing it are responsible_not only the laborers or those who may
commend souls that seek admission. When the young convert, judged to be born of God and
indwelt of the Spirit, is admitted, he is to be instructed. Let us beware of keeping souls out of the
assembly until they have as much intelligence as those within. Such a thought is very common,
and some saints have the idea that all such should be kept outside until they have got a certain
amount of intelligence. That shows how little intelligence they possess who would act on such
lines, and how little they really know the mind of the Lord, because, you see, when a child is born
it needs a great deal of nursing, attention, and care. Now the assembly, if walking rightly, is just
the place to find all this, and is the spot to which the new-born soul is rightly led by the evangelist,
in the expectation that there, if anywhere, will be found plenty of nurses glad to foster and help
the infant life given of God. Would that we saw more of this.

(From Another Comforter.)

FRAGMENT
Oh, ye saints, arouse, be earnest;
Up and work, while yet ’tis day,
Ere the night of death o’ertakes you;
Work for Christ while yet you may.

There are very few references to fishing or fishermen in the Old Testament. Presumably fishing
was not an important occupation during this time. It seemed to be rather important in Egypt,
however (Isa. 19:8,10).

In the New Testament we meet at least four full-time fishermen_Peter, Andrew, James, and John.
Perhaps more of the men of Israel had turned to fishing at this time because foreign invaders had
taken over much of the good farming land.

We are all familiar with the Lord Jesus’ command to these fishermen which focuses our thoughts
on the concept of spiritual fishing:"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matt. 4:19).
Spiritual fishermen are evidently evangelists who draw men and women out of the deep waters
of sin and introduce them to the Saviour.

Are there qualities needed by literal fishermen which are also needed by spiritual fishermen or
evangelists? One quality needed by both is patience. Peter alluded to this when he said, "Master,
we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing" (Luke 5:5). A literal fisherman must often
work and wait a long time before catching anything. The spiritual fisherman must often spend
much time in prayer and waiting on the Lord before he sees results in his ministry. People cannot
be rushed into making the decision to repent and accept Christ as Lord and Saviour.

A good fisherman will try to conceal his presence from the fish. He will be as quiet as possible
and not make a disturbance. The spiritual fisherman should not try to attract attention to himself,
but should want to direct people’s attention to Christ.

The good fisherman going out for literal fish will study the habits of the fish he wishes to
catch_where they live, what bait will attract them, what is the best time of day to catch them. The
spiritual fisherman must be in constant communion with God so as to know the exact message to
give to any individual or group. He should have a good knowledge of Scripture so the Holy Spirit
can bring to his mind just the right passage at the right time.

The literal fisherman is dependent upon God for his catch, whether he realizes it or not. The
spiritual fisherman is, of course, also completely dependent upon God, although he may
sometimes forget that fact. The completeness of the dependence is illustrated by the miracle which
preceded the Lord’s command to Peter, James, and John to follow Him. They had toiled all night
in their own strength and had caught nothing. When the Lord gave the command, however, the
nets were filled to breaking and the catch was so large as to threaten the sinking of two ships
(Luke 5:6,7). This is a striking object lesson of Christ’s statement, "Without Me, ye can do
nothing" (John 15:5).

The spiritual fisherman must be obedient to his Master if he desires results. Peter was puzzled by
the timing of the Lord’s command to begin fishing, but his reply is instructive:"Nevertheless at
Thy word I will let down the net" (Luke 5:5). Has Christ told us to do a certain thing? Then we
must do it whether we think it is a good idea or not. His wisdom and love are infinite and we can

safely entrust the results to Him. He "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or
think" (Eph. 3:20).

When I was in Melbourne, Australia, I kept hearing stories about a woman, a cripple, and I never
believed them. I did not think the stories could be true. I went one day to offer comfort to her,
but before I had been in the room ten minutes I found it was I who was receiving instruction,
broken down, and dissolved in a flood of emotion. When she was eighteen she came down with
a dreadful disease which ultimately led to the complete amputation of both arms and both legs.
When I saw that woman, all that remained of her was a trunk, nothing more than a trunk. For
fifteen years she had been there in that condition. I went to offer comfort, but I did not know how
to speak to her, or what to say. I found a room the walls of which were covered with Scripture
texts, all of them radiating, speaking of joy, and peace, and power.

As she had lain in bed one day she asked what she_a dismembered woman without a joint in her
body_could do. Then an inspiration came to her and she got a friend who was a carpenter to
come. He fitted a pad to her shoulder and to that a fountain pen. She began to write letters with
it; and as there was no joint, she wrote with the whole of her body. And I will venture to say that
there is no person with handwriting half so beautiful as the writing of that woman. But most
impressive of all, she had received over 1,500 letters from people who had been brought to Christ
through the letters she had written in that way from that room. I asked her, "How do you do it?"
And she smiled and replied, "Well, you know Jesus said that they who believe in Him out of them
shall flow rivers of living water. I believed in Him, and that is all."

If one in such an absolutely helpless condition as this Christian woman could by the help of God
accomplish such amazing results in winning souls, who is there of us after this who need despair?
Who is there so crippled in body or circumstances that cannot in some way be made a blessing to
others? God seems to glory in doing the impossible. He still takes "the weak things of the world
to confound the things which are mighty" (1 Cor. 1:27). Nothing is too hard for Him.

FRAGMENT
No service in itself is small,
None great, though earth it fill;
But that is small that seeks its own,
And great that seeks God’s will.

Then hold my hand most gracious Lord,
Guide all my doings still;
And let this be my life’s one aim,
To do, or bear Thy will.