Soul-Travail
The sermon emphasizes the importance of travail in prayer and extraordinary efforts in the spiritual realm to win souls and experience the power of God.
Oswald J. Smith emphasizes the urgent need for Christians to travail in prayer for the souls of the lost, comparing the natural anguish felt for a drowning child to the indifference often shown towards perishing souls. He challenges the church to reflect on their lack of deep compassion and fervent prayer, urging that extraordinary spiritual results require extraordinary efforts in prayer. Smith recalls the examples of biblical figures like Jacob and the faithful forefathers who dedicated themselves to agonizing prayer, suggesting that modern believers must follow their example to see similar results in soul-winning. He calls for a collective response to cry out to God, lamenting the complacency that has settled in the hearts of many spiritual leaders today. Ultimately, he implores the church to prioritize prayer and intercession for the lost, as this is the key to experiencing God's transformative power.
Text
Can we travail for a drowning child, but not for a perishing soul? It is not hard to weep when we realize that our little one is sinking below the surface for the last time. Anguish is spontaneous then. Nor is it hard to agonize when we see the casket containing all that we love on earth borne out of the home. Ah, no; tears are natural at such a time? But oh, to realize and know that souls, precious, never dying souls, are perishing all around us, going out into the blackness of darkness and despair, eternally lost, and yet to feel no anguish, shed no tears, know no travail! How could are our hearts! How little we know of the compassion of Jesus! And yet God can give us this, and the fault is our if we do not have it.
Jacob, you remember, travailed until he prevailed. but oh, who is doing it today? Who is really travailing in prayer? How many, even of your most spiritual Christian leaders, are content to spend half an hour a day on their knees and then pride themselves on the time they have given to God!
We expect extraordinary results, and extraordinary results are quite possible; sings and wonder will follow, but only through extraordinary efforts in the spiritual realm. Hence, nothing short of continuous, agonizing pleading for souls, hours upon hours, days and nights of prayer, will ever avail. Therefore, "gird yourselves, and lament ye priests; howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God.
Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and 'all the inhabitants of the load unto the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord." (Joel 1:13-14) Ah, yes Joel knew the secret. Let us then lay aside everything else and "cry unto the Lord". We read in the biographies of your forefathers, who were most successful in winning souls, that they prayed for hours in private. The question therefore arises, can we get the same results without following their example? If we can, then lets us prove to the world that we have found a better way, but if not, then in God's name let us begin to follow those who through faith an patience obtained the promise.
Our forefathers wept and prayed and agonized before the Lord for sinners to be saved, and would not rest until they were slain by the Sword of the Word of God. That was the secret of their mighty success; when things were slack and would not move, they wrestled in prayer till God poured out His Spirit upon the people and sinners were converted.
Sermon Outline
- I. The Call to Travail
- A. Recognizing the urgency of perishing souls
- B. The importance of anguish and travail in prayer
- C. The example of Jacob's travail and perseverance
- II. The Need for Extraordinary Efforts
- A. Expecting extraordinary results requires extraordinary efforts
- B. The importance of continuous and agonizing prayer
- C. The example of Joel's call to fasting and prayer
- III. The Secret of Success
- A. The importance of following the examples of successful soul-winners
- B. The need to weep, pray, and agonize for sinners to be saved
- C. The power of perseverance and faith in prayer
Key Quotes
“Can we travail for a drowning child, but not for a perishing soul?” — Oswald J. Smith
“How could our hearts be so little moved by the perishing of precious, never-dying souls?” — Oswald J. Smith
“Let us then lay aside everything else and 'cry unto the Lord'.” — Oswald J. Smith
Application Points
- We must be willing to travail in prayer and weep for sinners to be saved.
- Extraordinary efforts in the spiritual realm are necessary to bring about extraordinary results in soul-winning.
- We must persevere in prayer and follow the examples of successful soul-winners to experience the power of God in winning souls.