For instance, in the case of a young believer, his father and his mother, if they be believers, are called upon by a sevenfold obligation to seek the conversion of their backsliding child. In the case of a husband, none should be so earnest for his restoration as his wife, and the same rule holds good with regard to the wife. So also, if the connection be that of friendship, he with whom you have had the most acquaintance should lie nearest to your heart. And when you perceive that he has gone aside, you should above all others act the shepherd towards him with kindly zeal. You are bound to do this to all your fellow Christians, but doubly bound to do it to those over whom you possess an influence, which has been gained by former intimacy, by relationship, or by any other means. I beseech you, therefore, watch over one another in the Lord, and when you see a brother overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. Ye see your duty. do not neglect it. Brethren, it ought to cheer us to know that the attempt to convert a man who has erred from the truth is a hopeful one. It is one in which success may be looked for, and, when the success comes, it will be of the most joyful character. Verily, it is a great joy to capture the wild, wandering sinner. but the joy of joys is to find the lost sheep which was once really in the fold and has sadly gone astray. It is a great thing to transmute a piece of brass into silver, but to the poor woman it was joy enough to find the piece of silver which was silver already and had the king's stamp on it, though for a while it was lost. To bring in a stranger and an alien and to adopt him as a son Suggest a festival. But the most joyous feasting And the loudest music are for the son, Who was always a son, but had played the prodigal, And yet after being lost was found, And after being dead was made alive again. I say, ring the bells twice for the reclaimed backslider, Ring them till the steeple rocks and reels, Rejoice doubly over that which had gone astray And was ready to perish, but has now been restored. John was glad when he found poor backsliding, but weeping Peter, who had denied his master. He cheered and comforted him, and consorted with him, till the Lord himself had said, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? It may not appear so brilliant a thing to bring back a backslider, as to reclaim a harlot, or a drunkard, but in the sight of God it is no small miracle of grace, and to the instrument who has performed it, it shall yield no small comfort. Seek ye then, my brethren, those who were of us, but have gone from us. Seek ye those who linger still in the congregation, but have disgraced the church, and are put away from us, and rightly so, because we cannot countenance their uncleanness. Seek them with prayers, and tears, and entreaties, if peradventure God may grant them repentance, that they may be saved. Here I would say to any backsliders who are present, lest this text cheer you if you have a desire to turn to God. Return ye, backsliding children, for the Lord has bidden his people seek you. If he had not cared for you, he would not have spoken of our search after you. But having put it so, and made it the duty of all his people to seek those who err from the truth, there is an open door before you, and there is hundreds who sit waiting like porters at the gate to welcome you. Come back to God, whom you have forsaken, or if you never did know him, O, that this day his Spirit may break your hearts and lead you to true repentance, that you may in real truth be saved. God bless you, poor backsliders. If He does not save you, a multitude of sins will be upon you, and you must die eternally. God have mercy upon you, for Christ's sake. 2. We have opened up the special case, and we have now to dwell upon a general fact. This general fact is important, and we are bound to give it special attention, since it is prefaced with the words, Let him know If any one of you has been the means of bringing back a backslider, it is said, let him know. That is, let him think of it, be sure of it, be comforted by it, be inspired by it. Let him know it and never doubt it. Do not merely hear it, beloved fellow laborer, but let it sink deep into your heart. When an apostle inspired by the Holy Ghost says, let him know, I conjure you, do not let any indolence of spirit forbid your ascertaining the full weight of the truth. What is it that you are to know? To know that he who converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death. This is something worth knowing, is it not? To save a soul from death is no small matter. Why, we have men among us whom we honor every time we cast our eyes upon them, for they have saved many precious lives. They have manned the lifeboat, or they have plunged into the river to rescue the drowning. They have been ready to risk their own lives in burning timbers that they might snatch the perishing from the devouring flames. true heroes these, far worthier of renown than your blood-stained men of war. God bless the brave hearts. May England never lack a body of worthy men to make her shores illustrious for humanity. When we see a fellow creature exposed to danger, our pulse beats quickly, and we are ignited with desire to save him. Is it not so? But the saving of a soul from death is a far greater matter. Let us think what that death is. It is not non-existence. I do not know that I would lift a finger to save my fellow creature from mere non-existence. I see no great hurt in annihilation. Certainly nothing that would alarm me as a punishment for sin. Just as I see no great joy in mere eternal existence, if that is all that is meant by eternal life. So I discern no terror in ceasing to be. I would as soon not be as be, so far as mere colorless being or not being is concerned. But eternal life means in Scripture a very different thing from eternal existence. It means existing with all the faculties developed in fullness of joy, existing not as the dried herb in the hay, but as the flower in all its beauty. To die, in scripture, and indeed in common language, is not to cease to exist. Very wide is the difference between the two words, to die, and to be annihilated. To die, as the first death, is the separation of the body from the soul. It is the resolution of our nature into its component elements. And to die the second death is to separate the man, soul and body from his God, who is the life and joy of our manhood. This is eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. This is to have the palace of manhood destroyed and turned into a desolate ruin for the howling dragon of remorse and the hooting owl of despair to inherit forever. The descriptions which Holy Scripture gives of the second death are terrible to the last degree. It speaks of a worm that never dies and a fire that never can be quenched, of the terror of the Lord and tearing in pieces, of the smoke of their torment which goeth up forever and ever. and of the pit which hath no bottom. I am not about to bring all these terrible things together, but there are words in Scripture which, if pondered, might make the flesh to creep and the hair to stand on end at the very thought of the judgment to come. Our joy is that if any one of us are made in God's hands the means of converting a man from the error of his way, we shall have saved a soul from this eternal death. that dreadful hell the saved one will never know, that wrath he will not feel, that being banished from the presence of God will never happen to him. Is there not a joy worth worlds in all this? Remember the addition to the picture. If you have saved a soul from death, you have introduced it into eternal life. by God's good grace, there will be another chorister among the white-robed host to sing Jehovah's praise, another hand to smite eternally the hop-strings of adoring gratitude, another sinner saved to reward the Redeemer for his passion. Oh, the happiness of having saved a soul from death! And it is added that in such a case you will have covered a multitude of sins, We understand this to mean that the result of the conversion of any sinner will be the covering up of all his sins by the atoning blood of Jesus. How many those sins are, in any case, none of us can tell. But if any man be converted from the error of his way, the whole mass of his sins will be drowned in the red sea of Jesus' blood and washed away forever. Now remember that your Savior came to this world with two objects. He came to destroy death and to put away sin. If you convert a sinner from the error of his way, you are made like to him in both these works. After your manner, in the power of the Spirit of God, you overcome death by snatching a soul from the second death. and you also put away sin from the sight of God by hiding a multitude of sins beneath the propitiation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do observe here that the Apostle offers no other inducement to soul winners. He does not say if you convert a sinner from the error of his way, you will have honor. True philanthropy scorns such a motive. He does not say if you convert a sinner from the error of his way, you will have the respect of the church and the love of the individual. Such would be the case, but we are moved by far nobler motives. The joy of doing good is found in the good itself. The reward of a deed of love is found in its own result. If we have saved a soul from death and hidden a multitude of sins, that is payment enough though no ear should ever hear of the deed, and no pen should ever record it. Let it be forgotten that we were the instruments, if good be but affected. It shall give us joy even if we be not appreciated, and are left in the cold shade of forgetfulness. Yea, if others were the honours of the good deed which the Lord has wrought by us, we will not murmur. It shall be joy enough to know that a soul has been saved from death, and a multitude of sins has been covered. And, dear brethren, let us recollect that the saving of souls from death honors Jesus, for there is no saving souls except through His blood. As for you and for me, what can we do in saving a soul from death? Of ourselves, nothing, any more than that pen which lies upon the table can write the pilgrim's progress. But let a bunion grasp the pen, and the matchless work is written. So you and I can do nothing to convert souls till God's eternal Spirit takes us in hand, but then He can do wonders by us. and get to Himself glory by us, while it shall be joy enough for us to know that Jesus is honored and the Spirit magnified. Nobody talks of Homer's pen. No one has ever encased it in gold or published its illustrious achievement, nor do we wish for honor among men. It will be enough for us to have been the pen in the Savior's hand with which He has written the covenant of His grace upon the fleshly tablets of human hearts. This is golden wages for a man who really loves his master. Jesus is glorified, sinners are saved. Now I want you to notice particularly that all that is said by the Apostle here is about the conversion of one person. If any of you do err from the truth and one convert him, let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death. Have you never wished you were a Whitefield? Have you never felt, young man, in your innermost soul great aspirations to be another McShane, or Brainard, or Moffat? Cultivate the aspiration, but at the same time be happy to bring one sinner to Jesus Christ, For he who converts, only one is bidden to know that no mean thing has been done, for he has saved a soul from death and covered a multitude of sins. And it does not say anything about the person who is the means of this work. It is not said if a minister shall convert a man, or if some noted eloquent divine shall have wrought it. If this deed shall be performed by the least babe in our Israel, If a little child shall tell the tale of Jesus to its father, if a servant girl shall drop a tract where some one poor soul shall find it and receive salvation, if the humblest preacher at the street corner shall have spoken to the thief or to the harlot, and such shall be saved, Let him know that he that turneth any sinner from the error of his way, whoever he may be, hath saved a soul from death and covered a multitude of sins. Now, beloved, what comes out of this but these suggestions? Let us long to be used in the conversion of sinners James does not speak concerning the Holy Ghost in this passage, nor of the Lord Jesus Christ, for he was writing to those who would not fail to remember the important truths which concern both the Spirit and the Son of God. But yet it may be neat here to remind you that we cannot do spiritual good to our fellow creatures apart from the Spirit of God. Neither can we be blessed to them if we do not preach to them Jesus Christ and Him crucified. God must use us, but oh, let us long to be used, pray to be used, and pine to be used. Their brother and sisters Let us purge ourselves of everything that would prevent our being employed by the Lord. If there is anything we are doing, or leaving undone, any evil we are harboring, or any grace we are neglecting, which may make us unfit to be used of God, let us pray the Lord to cleanse, and mend, and scour us, till we are vessels fit for the Master's use. Then let us be on the watch for opportunities of usefulness. Let us go about the world with our ears and our eyes open, ready to avail ourselves of every occasion for doing good. Let us not be content till we are useful, but make this the main desire and ambition of our lives. Somehow or other, we must and will bring souls to Jesus Christ. As Rachel cried, give me children or I die. So may none of you be content to be barren in the household of God. Cry and sigh until you have snatched some bran from the burning and have brought at least one sinner to Jesus Christ, that so you also may have saved a soul from death and covered a multitude of sins. Three. And now let us turn for a few minutes only to the point which is not in the text. I want to make a particular application of this whole subject to the conversion of children. Beloved friends, I hope you do not altogether forget the Sabbath school, and yet I am afraid a great many Christians are scarcely aware that there are such things as Sabbath schools at all. They know it by hearsay, but not by observation. Probably in the course of twenty years they have never visited the school, nor concern themselves about it. They would be gratified to hear of any success accomplished, but though they may not have heard anything about the matter one way or the other, they are well content. In most churches you will find a band of young and ardent spirits giving themselves to Sunday school work. but there are numbers of others who might greatly strengthen the school who never attempt anything of the sort. In this they might be excused if they had other work to do, but unfortunately they have no godly occupation but are mere killers of time while this work which lies ready to hand and is accessible and demands their assistance is entirely neglected. I will not say there are any such sluggards here, but I am not able to believe that we are quite free from them, and therefore I will ask conscience to do its work with the guilty parties. Children need to be saved. Children may be saved. Children are to be saved by instrumentality. Children may be saved while they are children. He who said, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven, never intended that his church should say, We will look after the children by and by, when they have grown up to be young men and women. He intended that it should be a subject of prayer and earnest endeavor that children as children should be converted to God. The conversion of children involves the same work of divine grace and results in the same blessed consequences as the conversion of the adult. There is the saving of the soul from death in the child's case, in the hiding of a multitude of sins, but there is this additional matter for joy that a great preventive work is done when the young are converted. Conversion saves a child from a multitude of sins. If God's eternal mercy shall bless your teaching to a little prattler, how happy that boy's life will be if compared with what it might have been if he had grown up in folly, sin, and shame, and had only been converted after many days. It is the highest wisdom and the truest prudence to pray for our children that while they are yet young, their hearts may be given to the Savior. Twill save them from a thousand snares, to mine religion young. Grace will preserve their following years, and make their virtues strong. To reclaim the prodigal is well, but to save him from ever being a prodigal is better. To bring back the thief in the drunkard is a praiseworthy action, but so to act that the boy shall never become a thief or a drunkard is far better. Sabbath school instruction stands very high in the list of philanthropic enterprises, and Christians ought to be most earnest in it. He who converts a child from the error of his way prevents as well as covers a multitude of sins. Moreover, this gives the Church the hope of being furnished with the best of men and women. The Church's Samuels and Solomons are made wise in their youth David and Josiah were tender of heart when they were tender in years. Read the lives of the most eminent ministers, and you shall usually find that their Christian history began early. Though it is not absolutely needful, yet it is highly propitious to the growth of a well-developed Christian character that its foundation should be laid on the basis of youthful piety. I do not expect to see the churches of Jesus Christ ordinarily built up by those who have through life lived in sin, but by the bringing up in their midst, in the fear and admonition of the Lord, young men and women who become pillars in the house of our God. If we want strong Christians, we must look to those who were Christians in their youth. Trees must be planted in the courts of the Lord while they are yet young, if they are to live long and to flourish well. And, brethren, I feel that the work of teaching the young has at this time an importance superior to any which it ever had before, for at this time there are abroad those who are creeping into our homes and deluding men and women with their false doctrine. Let the Sunday School teachers of England teach the children well. Let them not merely occupy their time with pious phrases. but teach them the whole gospel and the doctrines of grace intelligently, and let them pray over the children, and never be satisfied unless the children are turned to the Lord Jesus Christ and added to the church. And then I shall not be afraid of potpourri." Popish priests said of old that they could have won England back again to Rome if it had not been for the catechizing of the children. we have laid aside catechisms, I think with too little reason. But at any rate, if we do not use godly catechisms, we must bring back decided, plain, simple teaching, and there must be pleading and praying for the immediate conversion of the children unto the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God waits to help us in this effort. He is with us if we be with Him. He is ready to bless the humblest teacher, and even the infant classes shall not be without a benediction. He can give us words and thoughts suitable to our little auditory. He can so bless us that we shall know how to speak a word and see them to the youthful ear. And oh, if it be not so, if teachers are not found, or being found, are unfaithful, We shall see the children that have been in our schools go back into the world, like their parents, hating religion because of the tedium of the hours spent in the Sunday school. And we shall produce a race of infidels or a generation of superstitious persons. The golden opportunity will be lost and most solemn responsibility will rest upon us. I pray the Church of God to think much of the Sunday School. I beseech all lovers of the nation to pray for Sunday Schools. I entreat all who love Jesus Christ and would see His Kingdom come to be very tender towards all youthful people and to pray that their hearts may be won to Jesus. I have not spoken as I should like to speak, but the theme lies very near my heart. It is one which ought to press heavily upon all our consciences, but I must leave it. God must lead your thoughts fully into it. I leave it, but not till I have asked these questions. What have you been doing for the conversion of children, each one of you? What have you done for the conversion of your own children? Are you quite clear upon that matter? Do you ever put your arms around your boy's neck and pray for him and with him? Father, you will find that such an act will exercise great influence upon your lad. Mother, do you ever talk to your little daughter about Christ and Him crucified? Under God's hand, you may be a spiritual as well as a natural mother to that well-beloved child of yours. What are you doing, you who are guardians and teachers of youth? Are you clear about their souls? You weekday schoolmasters, as well as you who labor on the Sabbath, are you doing all you should that your boys and girls may be brought early to confess the Lord? I leave it with yourselves. You shall receive a great reward if when you enter heaven, as I trust you will, you shall find many dear children there to welcome you into eternal habitations. It will add another heaven to your own heaven, to meet with heavenly beings who shall salute you as their teacher who brought them to Jesus. I would not wish to go to heaven alone, would you? I would not wish to have a crown in heaven without a star in it, because no soul was ever saved by my means, would you? There they go, the sacred flock of blood-bought sheep. The great shepherd leads them. Many of them are followers by twins, and others have each one their lamb. Would you like to be a barren sheep of the great shepherd's flock? The scene changes. Harken to the trampings of a great host. I hear their war music. My ears are filled with their songs of victory. The warriors are coming home, and each one is bringing his trophy on his shoulder to the honor of the great captain. They stream through the gate of Peru. They march in triumph to the celestial capital, along the golden streets, and each soldier bears with him his own portion of the spoil. Will you be there? And being there, will you march without a trophy and add nothing to the pomp of the triumph? Will you bear nothing that you have won in battle, nothing which you have ever taken for Jesus with your sword and with your bow? Again another scene is before me. I hear them shout, the harvest home, and I see the reapers bearing every one his sheaf Some of them are bowed down with the heaps of sheaves which load their happy shoulders. They went forth weeping, but they have come again rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them. Young becomes one who bears but a little handful, but it is rich grain. He had only a tiny plot and a little seed corn entrusted to him, yet it has multiplied well according to the rule of proportion. Will you be there without so much as a solitary ear, never having ploughed nor sown, and therefore never having reaped? If so, every shout of every reaper might well strike a fresh pang into your heart, as you remember that you did not sow, and therefore could not reap. If you do not love my master, do not profess to do so. If He never bought you with His blood, do not lie unto Him and come unto His table and say that you are His servant. But if His dear wounds bought you, give yourself to Him, and if you love Him, feed His sheep and feed His lambs. He stands here unseen in my sight, but recognized by my face. He exhibits to you the marks of the wounds upon His hands and His feet, And he says to you, Peace be unto you. As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. In this know that he who converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. Good Master, help us to serve thee. Amen. This is the end of the book. This Reformation audio track is a production of Stillwater's Revival Books. SWRB makes thousands of classic Reformation resources available, free and for sale, in audio, video, and printed formats. Our many free resources, as well as our complete mail-order catalog, Thank you by phone at 780-450-3730 by fax at 780-468-1096 or by mail at 4710-37A Edmonton, that's E-D-M-O-N-T-O-N Alberta, abbreviated capital A, capital B, Canada, T6L3T5. You may also request a free printed catalog. And remember that John Calvin, in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship, or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart. From his commentary on Jeremiah 731, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since He condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to His commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying His word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words, then, are very important, when he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind, as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.