"I am made all things to all men, that I might by
all means save some." I Corinthians 9:22

Paul's great object was not merely to instruct
and improve, but to save. Anything short of this
would have disappointed him; he would have men
renewed in heart, forgiven, sanctified; in fact,
saved. Have our Christian labours been aimed at
anything below this great point? Then let us
amend our ways, for of what avail will it be at
the last great day to have taught and moralized
men if they appear before God unsaved? Blood-
red will our hands be if through life we have
sought inferior things, and forgotten that what
men need is to be saved.
Paul knew the ruin of man's natural state, and
did not try to educate him, but to save him;
he saw men sinking down to hell, and did not
talk of refining them, but of saving them from
the wrath to come. To compass their salvation,
he gave himself fully with untiring zeal to
preaching abroad the gospel, to warning and
beseeching men to be reconciled to God. His
prayers were importunate and his labors
incessant. To save souls was his consuming
passion, his ambition, his calling. He became
a servant of all men, toiling for his race,
feeling a woe within him if he preached not the
gospel. He laid aside his preferences to prevent
prejudice; he submitted his will in things
indifferent, and if men would only receive the
gospel, he raised no questions about form or
ceremonies: the gospel was the one all-important
business with him. If he might save some, then
he would be content. This was the crown for
which he strove, the sole and sufficient reward
of all his labors and self-denials
Dear reader, have you and I lived to win souls
at this noble rate?? Are we possessed with the
same all-consuming desire?? If not, why not ??
Jesus died for sinners, cannot we live for them ?
Where is our compassion ?? Where our love for
Christ, if we seek not his honor in the saving
of men ??
Oh, that the Lord would saturate us through
and through with an undying zeal for the souls
of men.


C. H. SPURGEON

_________________
Martin G. Smith