Evangelism

“The sketches in this short volume are studies of young men and women… who have been set free from self and and sin through captivity to Jesus Christ.” - from the Preface

“The aim of the author is to present a clear, concise, and yet as comprehensive a view as possible, of the way of salvation as taught in the Scriptures, and held by the Lutheran Church.

“Sweet First Fruits is a… story primarily designed to give scope and opportunity for presenting to the Muslim reader the proofs of the Christian faith, the purity and genuineness of our Bible, its attestation by the Koran, and the consequent obligation on Muslims to obey its precepts.

“In these godless and worldly times we must earnestly and diligently preach conversion. We must insist on its necessity. We must reason, exhort, convince, beseech, and plead; ‘Turn ye, turn ye; why will ye die?

“It has been frequently said that the grand object of preaching the Gospel, is to lead sinners to make the inquiry, ‘what must I do to be saved?’ Another subject of equal, if not of vastly greater importance to the minister of Christ is, how shall awakened and inquiring souls be treated?

“A good deal is said in these days about how to preach. In the days of Christ and Paul, what to preach seemed of vastly more importance. How to listen, what preparation of mind and heart is needful, what attitude toward the truth, what appreciation of the truth, these are more important questions than extempore or written preaching.

“He that believeth not shall be damned,” says your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You believe this. Pray tell me how can you let your relative, friend, neighbor, or enemy, ignorantly live in his sins and be damned?

“I realize that this city, and all cities, are filled with people who have been unfortunate enough not to have the right kind of parents, who have been unfortunate enough not to have had the right kind of training, who have become busy, and so busy that they must be saved in a few months time or lost forever… We have in view during the next seven Thursday evenings to show the Way and make it plain to every intelligent one who will come and sit down in this center row of pews…” — Simon Peter Long