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I am sorry to say that much of legerdemain and trickery are to be met with in the religious world. Why, there are those who pretend to save souls by curious tricks, intricate maneuvers, and dexterous posture-making! A basin of water, half-a-dozen drops, certain syllables—heigh, presto!—the infant is made a child of God, a member of Christ, and an inheritor of the kingdom of Heaven! This aqueous regeneration surpasses my belief; it is a trick which I do not understand: the initiated only can perform the beautiful piece of magic, which excels anything ever attempted by the Wizard of the North. There is a way, too, of winning souls by laying hands upon heads, only the elbows of the aforesaid hands must be encased in lawn, and then the machinery acts, and there is grace conferred by blessed fingers! I must confess I do not understand the occult science, but at this I need not wonder, for the profession of saving souls by such juggling can only be carried out by certain favored persons who have received apostolic succession direct from Judas Iscariot.

I command men in the name of Jesus to repent and believe the gospel, though I know they can do nothing of the kind apart from the grace of God. I'm not sent to work according to what my own reason might suggest but according to the orders of my Lord and Master. Ours is the miraculous method which comes from the endowment of the Spirit of God who asks His ministers to perform wonders in the name of the holy child Jesus. We are sent to say to blind eyes, "See," to deaf ears, "Hear," to dead hearts, "Live," and even to Lazarus rotting in that grave and stinking − "Lazarus, come forth." Dare we do this?

The life of the believer is, or ought to be, full of soul blessing, and the pursuit of the believer ought always to be soul-winning.

All manner of hurrying just to get members into the church is most harmful, both to the church and to the supposed converts. I remember very well several young men who were of good moral character and religiously promising. Instead of searching their hearts and aiming at their real conversion, the pastor never gave them any time to think about their spiritual condition. Instead, he pestered until he persuaded them (not the Spirit) to make a profession.