THE AFTER-MEETING – Rev. A. C. Dixon, D.D.

The owners of mill-ponds have a way of drawing off the water now and then for the purpose of catching the fish. If the pond covers ten acres of land, and the fish are distributed all through its waters, it is difficult to find them, and impossible to catch them without stealthy approach and enticing bait. But after the bulk of the water has been drawn off and the area reduced to half an acre, the fisherman casts in his net and draws the fish ashore with ease. Such is the object of the after-meeting. It gets rid of the ele­ments in a crowd which are not a help, but a hindrance to the work of soul-winning. It enables us to come nearer to the inquirer, and to point him to Jesus in face to face conversation. It reduces the size of the pond so that the Gospel hand-net may be used with good results. This reducing process may continue even in the after-meeting. If you have a man or a woman whom you know has grace for soul-winning, get together a group of inquirers and put him or her in the midst of them. The whole group may be rejoic­ing in Christ before the meeting closes. If you have small separate rooms to which you can invite these groups, all the better.

The Bible is the text-book for an after-meeting, as it ought to be for every religious service. The leader may take a few minutes to make plain the way of life from some text or paragraph of the Book. But let him remember that the purpose of the meeting is not edification, but salvation. An address to Christians, unless it be a few words at the close urging them to go out and seek the lost, is out of place in the after­meeting. If no unsaved person remains, it would be well for the Christians to have a season of humiliation and prayer. There should be earnest heart-searching while they ask God and each other, “Am I an Achan in the camp hindering the work of the Lord?’’

The testimony of Christians as to the Scriptures which led them to Christ, or into larger faith and brighter hope, is a most important part of the after­meeting. Let me give, as nearly as I can remember, what was done and said in an after-meeting which I attended a few weeks ago. As soon as quiet was restored, there was an earnest prayer for guidance. The leader then arose and said: “We will now hear from as many as can speak in five minutes the Scrip­tures which God used in showing them the way of life. We want simply the Word of God without comment. Rise and speak distinctly, with a prayer that God will bless others through the truth as He has blessed you.” The first one to respond was a young woman who quoted with a clear voice: “Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.” The leader said: “That invitation is also a promise; it implies that all who come to Christ He will receive, but it says very much more. He will receive and never cast out. There is in it saving and keeping power. It is the Scripture for those of you who are afraid that you may not hold out.” The next witness was a man of middle age, who said: “He is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him.’’ The leader: “God is all­-powerful, but you make Him able by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ, and this ability is based upon the fact that He ever liveth to make intercessions for us.” Third witness: “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Leader: “Do you want rest of heart? Come to Jesus for it now.” Fourth witness: “Look unto me and be ye saved all ye ends of the earth.” Leader: “Looking is not a long process. You can look as quick as a light­ning flash; look this moment and live.” Fifth wit­ness: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.” Leader: “We who have accepted Christ need not fear the judgment day. Our case has been settled in the court of mercy where Jesus Christ is the Advocate.” Sixth witness: “To as many as received Him to them gave He power to become the sons of God.” Leader: “And if sons, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Will you not accept this rich inheritance through Christ this evening?” Seventh witness: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Leader: “Then do not try to cleanse yourself, and do not divide your trust between the blood and ordinances. The Blood is all-sufficient; accept Jesus Christ and the Blood cleanses at once.

“ ‘There is a fountain filled with blood,

Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,

And sinners plunged beneath that flood,

Lose all their guilty stains.’ ”

Eighth witness: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Leader: “It does not say believe on Jesus nor believe on Christ nor believe on the Lord. Jesus means Savior, and a Savior from sin we need. Christ means the anointed one, the high priest and an intercessor, an advocate we need. Lord means Master, and the Master we need to rule our lives. You cannot accept Him as Savior while you reject Him as Lord, nor can you follow Him as Lord while you reject Him as Savior. His intercession is for those who accept Him as both Savior and Lord. So you see, Paul preached to the jailer the full Gospel when he said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.’ The little word on is very important; it does not say believe about the Lord Jesus Christ; you may believe all about Him without believ­ing on Him. I believe much about Washington, Lin­coln, and Grant, but I am not conscious of believing on either of them in the sense that I am depending upon them for anything. When your faith about Christ has been translated into faith on Christ, you are saved.” The invitation was then given, and a num­ber came forward and gave the leader their hands, confessing Christ as their Savior and Lord, the leader remarking that it was well to begin the Christian life with a handshake and pass it on to others.

This all took seven or eight minutes, and I do not say that it is a model method, but it has the advantage of being full of God’s Word.

I would not, however, always wait till the close of the after-meeting before asking converts to confess Christ. We ought to expect God to save people while we are preaching, and Jesus Christ is worthy of the most public confession. If the purpose of the after­meeting is to make it easy for people to confess Christ, because the unsympathetic crowd who might scoff are gone, it had better be abandoned. That scene on Calvary was not in a corner. Our Lord’s shameful death on the cross was public, and it is fitting that our confession of Him should be “before men,’’ not before Christians only, if we would have Him confess us before the Father and the holy angels.

It is well to have it understood that it is in order for the new convert to confess Christ at any time. There might be a little confusion now and then, but a glo­rious confusion it would be if caused by the confession of new-born faith in the Savior. While I was preach­ing to the unsaved, urging an immediate decision, about the middle of the sermon I saw a tall young man near the door rise up, step into the aisle, and come walking toward the pulpit. He stood just in front of me for a moment looking up into my face as if he wanted to say something. My first thought was that he was a little “off,’’ and might create a disturbance; so I paused for an explanation, when he reached out his hand and said, with a voice full of genuine emo­tion: “Excuse me, sir, but I have just accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior, and I felt I could not wait for you to get through before I told you. ’ ’ There was no need of any more sermon. The Spirit of God fell upon the audience. Oh, that our praying and preaching may be with such power that men and women will not wait for us to ask them to request us to pray for them, nor to confess Christ, but under the conviction of the Spirit will cry out as at Pentecost, What must we do? And when they have accepted Christ, so full of faith and joy that they will not wait for formal invitations, but at once “make known to all around what a dear Savior they have found. “

The praying in an after-meeting should be brief, and for but one thing—the salvation of the lost. Long general prayers that take in everything and everybody are apt to be powerless anywhere, but they are specially out of place in a meeting with a definite object.

In dealing with an inquirer, when you see that he has come to the point of accepting Christ, it is well to ask him to kneel with you and pray aloud. His prayer will be an index to his heart. If he begins with con­fessing sin and thanking God for the gift of Christ, you may be sure that he is saved. If he apologizes for sin and fails to make a full confession, he needs further instruction.

The workers in an after-meeting should be on fire with love to Christ and souls. If they are mature Christians with large experience, all the better, pro­vided they do not tell their experiences to inquirers, and thus put them to seeking a similar experience rather than Christ. Young, intelligent Christians with a great Savior and a little experience make very effective workers. Preach Jesus in the after-meeting, and spend no time in answering curious questions. A young college student rose for prayer in one of my meetings, and made an engagement to see me in my study next morning at ten o’clock. When alone with him I asked him: “What is it that troubles you?” “Well, sir,” he replied, “I have been greatly troubled for some time over the question as to where Cain got his wife, and I think, if I could settle that, I could take a step further.” I answered the question as best I could, and it seemed satisfactory to him. But with the next breath he asked another question just as frivolous. I answered that, and he asked another. I saw he was a sort of jack-in-the-box of questions, and that it was wasting time; so I said: “My friend, answering these questions is profitless; if we could answer them all and a thousand more like them, neither you nor I would be any nearer heaven. Will you kneel with me and ask God to save you from sin?’* He consented, and while we prayed he surrendered to Christ. I might have spent the whole day in answer­ing his questions without leading him to Christ.

A man came to Mr. Moody in an after-meeting with a long list of hard questions. Mr. Moody said, “I will answer your questions if you will promise me to do one thing.’’ “What is it?’’ “Promise me you will do it before I tell you.’’ “No sensible man does a thing like that.’’ “Will you promise me, then, that you will try to do it?’’ “Yes, I can make that promise.” “Well, give your heart to Jesus Christ and then come to me with your questions.” The man went away disappointed, but two nights afterwards he returned with a radiant face and told Mr. Moody that he had done what he asked him to do and that, for twenty-four hours, he had been one of the happiest men on earth. “Where are your questions?” asked Mr. Moody. “I haven’t any,” he said. “The moment I accepted Jesus Christ they were all answered, or appeared so insignificant that they were not worth answering.” Philip might have spent hours answer­ing the eunuch’s questions about Isaiah, but he began at the same Scripture and preached unto him Jesus, Let us follow his example.

The open Bible in face-to-face work is indispensable. Turn to the Scripture that suits the case and let the inquirer look at it while you read. The truth may enter through eye-gate more readily than through ear gate. A hand-book for soul-winners may be useful in the worker’s study, but do not take it into the after­meeting. Let the inquirer read directly from the Bible. The little New Testament which has about one hundred texts marked with red ink may do good service, and, if you can afford to give every inquirer or convert the copy from which you have read, it will be highly prized. God may continue in the home the work which began in the after-meeting.

After dealing with a poor drunkard in two after­meetings, and becoming a little discouraged because of the fact that in the second the fumes of drink remained upon his breath, I gave him a little Testament and asked him to go to his room and read on his knees John 3: 16. The next week I met him on the street sober and rejoicing in the Lord. He told me that he went at once to his garret-room, knelt down before the only chair in it, with the little book open before him, read aloud the verse I had marked, and while he read light came into his soul. Since that hour God had given him strength to pass saloons without entering, and though the thirst for drink was not gone, he was trusting God for grace to overcome.

As to the length of the after-meeting, that should depend upon the work to be done. If there are earnest souls seeking Christ, and loth to leave without comfort, we should remain with them as long as we think they need our services. The Holy Spirit may not watch the clock as we do, and the nervous haste that some Christians manifest to get away at a certain time may not be pleasing to Him. As I was about to begin an evening service in a New York church, the pastor whispered: “You must be careful to get through the whole service by nine o’clock.’’ “But,” I replied, “suppose the Spirit should indicate we ought to remain later?” “Oh, well, if you keep the people later than nine they will not come back to-morrow evening.” We remained until 9:45, and the next evening the audience was twice as large. To have sent the people home at nine would have been to miss the greatest blessing of the evening.

An after-meeting should be entered with the utmost reliance upon the Holy Spirit. It is to be a time of decision. There will be battles fought, and the power of the Spirit is needed to give the victory. Keep the upward look. If the Spirit seems to indicate that the program you have formed should be laid aside, let it go. Be willing that God should have the right of way. Rejoice if He burns up all red tape and makes the meeting thoroughly unconventional. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” If, as leader, you are under the complete control of the Holy Spirit, you will be able to decide at once what ought to be done or said. You will see at a glance that a brother is talking from force of habit, or for the purpose of airing a fad, and not with an earnest desire to lead souls to Christ, and you will be able to stop him with the right words and in the right tone. In an after-meeting a few evenings ago, just as the leader was giving an invitation for inquirers to accept Christ, a brother rose and began to make a speech on prayer. The leader was a stranger and had never seen the brother before, but it was evident to him that if the Holy Spirit to whom the meeting had been com­mitted was leading it the brother’s message was not of the Spirit. He therefore quietly suggested that the time would not admit of an address. The brother left the room at once indicating by his manner that he was angry, but the meeting, which would have been killed by his long speech, went smoothly on with good results. There are a class of Christians, especially in great cities, who attend all meetings—not for the good they can do or receive, but for the purpose of finding an opportunity to speak on some favorite theme. When they rise the meeting falls, and the leader needs the wisdom that God alone can give in dealing with this class of good but rather useless people.

A whispered word, or even an elbow-touch from a friend may do more than twenty sermons in leading to a decision. An earnest business man in New York City told me it was not the sermon nor a word, but just a touch on the shoulder which led him to confess Christ before men. He had already accepted Him as Savior, and just needed this little encouragement. He said: “While the evangelist was inviting all who loved Christ to confess Him by going forward and giv­ing him the hand, I felt a gentle touch on my shoulder. I looked around and saw the face of an old friend looking wistfully at me. He did not utter a word, but I knew what he meant, and I went right up and gave him my hand.” This was the beginning of a bus­iness man’s Christian life.”

For efficient work in the after-meeting our greatest need is that we be endued with the Holy Spirit. And this enduement comes in answer to prayer and a com­plete surrender of the will to God. Then the right word will be said to the right person, at the right time, in the right way.