Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Anne Folland, Tom Allen,
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed ProofreadingTeam
THE PERSONAL TOUCH
BY
J. WILBUR CHAPMAN, D.D.
CONTENTS
FOREWORD
I. A TESTIMONY
II. A GENERAL PRINCIPLE
III. A POLISHED SHAFT
IV. STARTING RIGHT
V. NO MAN CARED FOR MY SOUL
VI. WINNING THE YOUNG
VII. WINNING AND HOLDING
VIII. A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION
IX. WHOSOEVER WILL
X. CONVERSION IS A MIRACLE
XI. A FINAL WORD
FOREWORD
IF
If to be a Christian is worth while, then the most ordinary interest inthose with whom we come in contact should prompt us to speak to them ofChrist.
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If the New Testament be true—and we know that it is—who has given usthe right to place the responsibility for soul-winning on othershoulders than our own?
* * * * *
If they who reject Christ are in danger, is it not strange that we, whoare so sympathetic when the difficulties are physical or temporal,should apparently be so devoid of interest as to allow our friends andneighbours and kindred to come into our lives and pass out againwithout a word of invitation to accept Christ, to say nothing ofsounding a note of warning because of their peril?
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If to-day is the day of salvation, if to-morrow may never come, and iflife is equally uncertain, how can we eat, drink, and be merry whenthose who live with us, work with us, walk with us, and love us areunprepared for eternity because they are unprepared for time?
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If Jesus called His disciples to be fishers of men, who gave us theright to be satisfied with making fishing tackle or pointing the way tothe fishing banks instead of going ourselves to cast out the net untilit be filled?
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If Jesus Himself went seeking the lost, if Paul the Apostle was inagony because his kinsmen, according to the flesh, knew not Christ, whyshould we not consider it worth while to go out after the lost untilthey are found?
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If I am to stand at the judgment seat of Christ to render an accountfor the deeds done in the body, what shall I say to Him if my childrenare missing, my friends not saved, or if my employer or employee shouldmiss the way because I have been faithless?
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If I wish to be approved at the last, then let me remember that nointellectual superiority, no eloquence in preaching, no absorption inbusiness, no shrinking temperament, no spirit of timidity can take theplace of or be an excuse for my not making an honest, sincere, prayerfuleffort to win others to Christ by means of the Personal Touch.
CHAPTER I
A Testimony
I have the very best of reasons