How to bring men to Christ 2

How to bring men to Christ 2

The one who would have real success in bringing men to Christ must

be_ “BAPTIZED WITH THE HOLY GHOST.” “Ye shall receive power after that

the Holy Ghost, is come upon you,” said Jesus to his disciples after

having given them the great commission to go out and bring men to

Himself. The supreme condition of soul winning power is the same to–day:

“after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” A later chapter will be

given to a study of what “the Baptism of the Holy Ghost” is and how any

Christian can obtain it.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER II.

 

HOW TO BEGIN

 

 

When God has led us to think that He wishes us to make an effort to lead

some given individual to Christ, the first question that confronts us

is, “How shall I begin?” If the person has gone into an inquiry room, or

remained to an after–meeting, or even if they are merely present at

prayer–meeting, Sunday–school or other ordinary service of the church,

it is comparatively easy. You can then ask him if he is a Christian, or

if he would not like to be a Christian, or why he is not a Christian or

some other direct and simple question that will lead inevitably to a

conversation along this line. But if the person is one in whom you have

become interested outside the religious meeting and who is perhaps an

entire stranger, it does not at first sight appear so simple, and yet it

is not so very difficult. The person can be engaged in conversation on

some general topic or on something suggested by passing events, and soon

brought around to the great subject. Christ’s conversation with the

woman of Samaria in the 4th chapter of John is a very instructive

illustration of this. Oftentimes even in dealing with entire strangers

it is well to broach the subject at once and ask them if they are

Christians or if they are saved or some similar question. If this is

done courteously and earnestly it will frequently set even careless

people to thinking and result in their conversion. It is astonishing how

often one who undertakes this work in humble dependence upon God and

under His direction, finds the way prepared and how seldom he receives

any rebuff. One day the writer met a man on one of the most crowded

streets of Chicago. As I passed him the impulse came to speak to him

about the Saviour. Stopping a moment and asking God to show me if the

impulse was from Him, I turned around and followed the man. I overtook

him in the middle of the street, laid my hand upon his shoulder and

said: “My friend, are you a Christian?” He started and said: “That’s a

strange question to ask a man.” I said, “I know it, and I do not ask

that question of every stranger, but God put it into my heart to ask it

of you.” He then told me that his cousin was a minister and had been

urging this very matter upon him, that he himself was a graduate of

Amherst college, but had been ruined by drink. After further

conversation we separated but later the man accepted Christ as his

Saviour.

 

It is often best to win a person’s confidence and affection before

broaching the subject. It is well to select some one and then lay your

plans to win him to Christ. Cultivate his acquaintance, show him many

attentions and perform many acts of kindness great and small and at last

when the fitting moment arrives take up the great question. An old and

thorough going infidel in Chicago was in this way won to Christ by a

young woman, who found him sick and alone. She called day after day and

showed him many kindnesses and as the consumption fastened itself more

firmly upon him she spoke to him of the Saviour and had the joy of

seeing him accept Christ.

 

A wisely chosen tract placed in the hand of the one with whom you wish

to speak will often lead easily and naturally to the subject. One day I

was riding on a train and praying that God would use me to lead some one

to His Son. A young lady, daughter of a minister, with whom I had had

some conversation on this subject came in with a friend and took the

seat immediately in front of me. I took out a little bundle of tracts

and selected one that seemed adapted for the purpose and handed it to

her and asked her to read it. As she read, I prayed. When she had

finished, I leaned over and asked her what she thought about it. She was

deeply moved and I asked her if she would not accept Christ right there.

Her difficulties were soon met and answered and she accepted Christ. As

she left the train she thanked me very heartily for what I had done for

her.

 

You will often meet some one whose face tells the story of unhappiness

or discontent: in such a case it is easy to ask the person if he is

happy and when he answers “no” you can say, “I can tell you of one who

will make you happy if you will only take Him.” Skill in beginning a

conversation will come with practice. One may be rather awkward about it

at first but as we go on we will acquire facility.

 

When the subject is once opened the first thing to find out is where the

person with whom you are dealing stands; then you will know how to

wisely treat his case. In the chapters immediately following this all

the classes of men one is likely to meet will be given, and the first

point to be ascertained is to which class any given individual belongs.

But how can we find out to which class any person belongs? First. By

asking him questions. Such questions as “Are you a Christian?” “Are you

saved?” “Do you know that your sins are forgiven?” “Have you eternal

life?” “Are you confessing Christ openly before the world?” “Are you a

friend of Jesus?” “Have you been born again?” One may answer these

questions untruthfully, either through ignorance or a desire to mislead

you. Nevertheless, their answers and the manner of them will show you a

great deal about their real state. Second. By watching his face. A man’s

face will often reveal that which his words try to conceal. Any one who

cultivates the study of the faces of those with whom he deals will soon

be able to tell in many instances the exact state of those with whom

they are dealing irrespective of anything they may say. Third. By the

Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit if we only look to Him to do it will often

flash into our minds a view of the man’s position, and just the

scripture he needs.

 

When we have learned where the person with whom we are dealing stands,

the next thing to do is to lead him as directly as we can to accept

Jesus Christ, as his personal Savior and Master. We must always bear in

mind that the primary purpose of our work, is not to get persons to join

the church or to give up their bad habits or to do anything else than

this, to accept Jesus Christ, as their Saviour—the one who bore their

sins in his own body on the tree and through whom they can have

immediate and entire forgiveness,—and as their Master to whom they

surrender absolutely the guidance of their thoughts, feelings, purposes

and actions. Having led any one to thus accept Christ the next step will

be to show him from God’s word that he has forgiveness of sins and

eternal life. Acts x. 43; xiii. 39; Jno. iii. 36; v. 24, will answer for

this purpose. The next step will be to show him how to make a success of

the Christian life upon which he has entered. How to do this will be

told later. Each person is to be led to accept Christ through a use of

the word of God. In the chapters that immediately follow this we will

try to show what specific portions of the word to use in given cases and

how to use them.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER III.

 

DEALING WITH THE INDIFFERENT OR CARELESS

 

 

One of the classes of men most frequently met with, is The Indifferent,

or Careless. There are several ways of dealing with them. One is to show

them their need of a Saviour. A good verse to use for this purpose is

Romans iii. 23. Get the person with whom you are dealing to read the

verse, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Then

say to him: “Who have sinned?” “All.” “Who does that include?” and keep

up the questioning until he says, “It includes me.” Then ask him what it

is that he has done, and keep at it until he comes out plainly and says:

“I have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” This is likely to

make him feel his need of a Saviour. Another good verse to use is Isaiah

liii. 6. After the verse has been read, ask him who it is that has gone

astray and by a series of questions bring him to the point where he will

say, “I have gone astray.” Then ask him what kind of a sheep one is that

has “gone astray” and hold him to it until he says “a lost sheep.” “What

are you then?” “Lost.” Then ask him what the Lord has done with his sin,

and hold him to that point until he sees the truth of the verse, that

God has laid his sin on Jesus Christ. Now, he is in a position for you

to put to him the direct question: “Will you accept this Saviour upon

whom the Lord has laid your sin?” Still another verse to use is Psalms

cxxx. 3. When the verse has been read, ask him, “If the Lord marked

iniquities could you stand?” In dealing with this class of men I use

Matthew xxii. 37, 38 more frequently than any other passage of

scripture. Before having the person read the verse, it is well to ask

him, “Do you know that you have committed the greatest sin that a man

can commit?” In all probability he will answer, “No, I have not.” Then

ask him what he thinks the greatest sin a man can commit. When he has

answered, say to him, Now let us see what God considers the greatest

sin. Read the verses and ask him, “What is the first and greatest of the

commandments?” Then ask him, “What then is the greatest sin?” He will

soon answer that the violation of the first and greatest of the

commandments must be the greatest sin. Ask him if he has kept that

commandment and when he confesses, as sooner or later he must, that he

has not, ask him of what he is guilty in the sight of God, and hold him

to that point until he admits that he is guilty of committing the

greatest sin that a man can commit. An illustration from life may help

to make the use of this verse clear. I was dealing with a very bright

young man who evidently had no deep sense of sin nor of his need of a

Saviour. In fact when I asked if he was a Christian he said promptly

that he always had been; but there was something in his manner that

showed that he had no clear understanding of what it meant to be a

Christian. I then asked if he had been born again and he did not even

understand what I was talking about. I next asked if he knew he had

committed the greatest sin that a man could possibly commit and he at

once answered, “No, I never did in my life.” I asked what he considered

the greatest sin, and he replied “murder.” I took my Bible and opened it

to Matthew xxii. 37, 38, and asked him to read the verses, which he did.

I then asked him, “If this is the first and greatest commandment, what