As a rule, young people during their college years are thoughtful and easily reached; but if not saved before they leave the college halls and begin the active work of life, they are almost certainly lost to the kingdom.  How often, because of timidity or carelessness, Christian students and teachers allow this precious harvest time to go by, and lose the opportunity to win a soul for Christ!

A man, who is now an eminent and widely-known minister, says that he roomed with a young man at college for two years, and never said a word to him about his soul.  When he was about to leave for home, his room-mate said, “Why have you not spoken to me about my soul?” Said the Christian student, “I thought you did not care for me to do so.”  The young man replied, “Why, that is the very reason I roomed with you, and there has never been a day for these two years that you could not have done so.”

Let Christian students set out to win some trophies among their friends and room-mates for Christ.  The results of faithful personal work may not be immediate or apparent, but the blessed Spirit of God will water the seed.  For thirteen months a college student prayed for and urged a fellow-student to surrender to Christ, and died without seeing any result of his efforts.  But the seed was faithfully sown, and the young man was afterwards converted, and became Bishop Hannington, the martyr bishop of Africa.

STUDY XXVII.

MEETING OBJECTIONS.

Memory Verse:  “For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your
    adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.”—­(Luke xxi,
    15.)

Scripture for Meditation:  John ix, 1-41.

The zealous personal worker will be met by objections; but it must be remembered that these objections are often given for the sake of argument, and often for the sake of something to say.  They should be squarely met, however, and answered; and the best way to answer such is by Scripture.  There is not an objection advanced by the unconverted that can not be met and overcome by some passage of Scripture.  Just as Jesus in the wilderness met the tempter’s arguments with “It is written,” so we may meet every argument of the objector with the Word.

A faithful study of Christ’s conversations with seeking souls, such as
Nicodemus and the rich young man, will also be helpful.

Below are some of the objections usually given, with the Scripture references that may be used to meet them.  This arrangement of texts is taken from “Personal Work,” by S.M.  Sayford, by consent of the publishers: 

“I am good enough.” (Gen. vi, 5; Ps. li, 5-7; Luke xviii, 19.)

“I am as good as most Christians.” (Rom. xiv, 10-12; 2 Cor. v, 10; Rev. xx, 11; xii, 15.)

“I have never done anything really bad.” (Luke xvi, 15; James ii, 10.)

“I can not give up my pleasures.” (Eccl. ii, 1; xi, 9; Ps. xvi, 11.)