St. Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.”
Yes, the gospel is the power. The soul is as dead as a street car with the power gone, till it is touched by that special power. I could kneel at the side of a sinner and quote the very best things of Shakespeare or Milton, and the soul would step to no higher ground; but when the right verse of God's word is shown with the New Testament in hand, and the Holy Spirit makes that soul see that the passage before him is God's recorded wireless message for his soul alone, the power comes on and that verse again proves true, “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name,” and a soul is born into the kingdom of God. Dan Crawford, the great missionary to Africa, says not Livingstone, not Taylor, not Dan Crawford, are the real pioneer missionaries, but the Spirit of God Himself, and when the word is brought to a prepared soul it is a spark of powder. He tells of one besotted Negro who read John's Gospel. The Negro said, “I was startled that Christ could speak Chulba; I heard Him speak out of the printed page, and what He said to me was, 'Follow me.'” Mr. Crawford says, “When the guncotton of John's Gospel came in contact with the tinder of his rebellion, he was literally exploded into the kingdom,” and by continuing to study St. John's Gospel the transforming power of the gospel made him a good earnest Christian man, fit for the companionship of good people.
At a rescue mission we have such scenes almost every night of the year. In our case it is usually the word first implanted in the human heart either at a mother's knee or by some Sunday school teacher, or by a faithful preacher in early life, then the very room of the Mission is filled with the Holy Spirit in answer to the prayers of God's people. Now, when a heart-broken, world-buffeted sinner comes into the room, the words or music of some song, or the presentation of God's word, is used by God's Spirit to bring to memory all the sinner has known of these things; he hears redeemed men tell how God cured them of lust, of alcoholism, of gambling, of profane language, of all sin; he sees these men well clothed, radiantly happy, and sees and feels his own degradation; is it any wonder he drops on his knees and cries out, “Men and brethren, what shall I do to be saved”? When he wants God more than he wants deliverance from his besetting sin, when he wants God more than he wants his deserted wife and children, when he wants God for what God can do for his poor soul, the God of his soul comes down, and at that second the soul passes from death unto life eternal, for that soul the decisions of the judgment day have been settled, for Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my words and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.”
That verse comprehended and lived has power enough to carry a soul through all besetments into the very presence of God.
THE CASE OF MR. ABBOTT
During the winter of 1910, there came into the Gospel Mission a man, ragged, soiled, blear-eyed, doped and utterly down and out; he came only for the coffee and rolls given Sunday night. Before coming up the steps he had said to a friend, “I don't want to hear any of their blank sermons, but I am starving.” He heard no sermon, instead he received a warm hand-shake, he heard bright singing, but, best of all, he heard redeemed men tell how God had saved them from the alcohol habit, till he cried out, “If God has power to save me from the sin of drink, I want God!” He kneeled and poured out his soul in prayer. As soon as he began to pray aloud, we saw he was an educated man. The Spirit came upon him in great power, he really had the searchlight of God on his soul, and he saw himself for a short time as God saw him. Then God forgave him, he rose justified, strong, happy, a new man in Christ Jesus. The Mission gave him a bed for the night, and the next morning this man, who had not worked or desired work for two years, begged that we should find a place for him to earn his way. He obtained a situation to solicit business for a laundry, about as hard work as one can imagine, but he made good, and in six months he was made foreman of the laundry in which he was employed. He modernized its methods and doubled its business by the end of the year, and the company made him a present of five hundred shares of stock and elected him president of the company. Then he received $3000 a year salary, besides his percentage of all gains made by the house. His friends claim his income is now about $5000 a year. In the meantime, after he had been redeemed, probably four months, his wife, a most beautiful and accomplished Philadelphia woman, brought their lovely son, aged about eight, and they began housekeeping again. The home has given needed physical comfort, the companionship has given the mental and the spiritual help needed to make this former tramp into a first-class citizen. At night, during the last winter, he has been studying law in one of the university law schools, and on Sunday he acts as usher and vestryman in one of the largest Protestant Episcopal churches. As a child he had been a choir boy in a church in Philadelphia. Doubtless the knowledge gained there as a child made him able to understand his duty to God and man after his conversion better far than an ignorant, uninstructed person could have done after months of instruction.
CHILDREN OF ALL NATIONS
SETTLEMENT HOUSE