How to bring men to Christ 5

How to bring men to Christ 5

It is often times well, however, with this class of inquirers to show

them the passages for “The Indifferent” until they do feel that they are

sinners.

 

 

12. “_I am seeking Christ, but cannot find Him._”

 

Jer. xxix. 13, shows that when we seek him with the whole heart we shall

find him. Speaking with a woman one evening in an after–meeting she said

to me, “I have been seeking Christ two years and cannot find Him.” I

replied, “I can tell you when you will find him.” She looked at me in

surprise and I turned to Jer. xxix. 13, and read “And ye shall seek me,

and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” “There,”

I said, “that shows you when you will find Christ. You will find him

when you search for him with all your heart. Have you done that?” After

a little thought she answered “No.” “Well, then,” I said, “let us kneel

right down here now.” She did this and in a few moments she was

rejoicing in Christ. You can point one who has this difficulty to Luke

xv. 1‒10; xix. 10. These passages show that Jesus is seeking the sinner

and you can say, “if you are really seeking Christ it will not take a

seeking Saviour and a seeking sinner very long to find each other.”

 

 

13. “_I cannot believe._”

 

In most cases where one says this the real difficulty which lies back of

their inability to believe is unwillingness to forsake sin. John v. 44,

is a good passage to use with such a one, or Is. lv. 7. In the use of

the latter passage, hold the man’s attention to the fact that all God

asks of him is that he turn away from sin and turn to Him.

 

 

14. “_God won’t receive me_,” or “_I have sinned away the day of

grace_,” or “_I am afraid I have committed the unpardonable sin_.”

 

The people who honestly say this, are as a rule about the most difficult

class to deal with of any that you will meet. John vi. 37, is the great

text to use with them for it shows that Jesus will receive any one who

will come to him. Hold him continually to that point, “Him that cometh

to me I will in no wise cast out” and if they keep saying “He won’t

receive me” repeat the text, looking to the Spirit of God to carry the

truth home. Many an utterly despondent soul has found light and peace

through this verse in God’s word. Rev. xxii. 17, is also useful as it

shows that any one who will can have the water of life freely. Is. lv.

1, shows that any one who desires salvation can have it. Is. i. 18,

shows that no matter how great a man’s sins may be still here is pardon.

Acts x. 43, and John iii. 16, that “_whosoever_” will believe upon

Christ will find pardon and eternal life. Romans x. 13, shows that any

one, no matter who or what he is, who will “call upon the name of the

Lord shall be saved.” It is well sometimes to turn to Heb. vi. 4‒6, and

Matt. xii. 31‒32, and show the inquirer just what the unpardonable sin

is and what its results are. Matt. xii. 31, 32, shows that it is

blasphemy against the Holy Ghost and put it squarely to him, “have you

ever blasphemed against the Holy Ghost?” Heb. vi. 4‒6, shows that the

difficulty is not in God’s unwillingness to forgive, but in the man’s

unwillingness to repent and that any one who is concerned about his

salvation evidently has not committed the unpardonable sin nor sinned

away his day of grace. A little instruction along this line is often

times all that is needed.

 

 

15. “_It is too late._”

 

When an inquirer says this, it is often times well to use 2 Cor. vi. 2,

and tell him that God says, it is just the time. Luke xxiii. 39‒43, is

useful as showing that even at the last hour Jesus will hearken to the

sinner’s cry. 2 Peter iii. 9, will show that His will is that none

should perish, but that He is delaying the judgment that He may save as

many as will come. Deut. iv. 30, 31, is an especially helpful passage as

it says “Even in the latter days” if thou turn to the Lord he will be

merciful. Is. i. 18, and Rev. xxii. 17, can alone be used here.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER VI.

 

DEALING WITH THOSE WHO ENTERTAIN FALSE HOPES

 

 

1. Among those who entertain false hopes, perhaps the largest class are

_those who expect to be saved by their righteous lives_. These persons

are easily known by such sayings as these, “I am doing the best I can.”

“I do more good than evil.” “I am not a great sinner.” “I have never

done anything very bad.” Gal. iii. 10, is an excellent passage to use,

for it shows that all those who are trusting in their works are under

the curse of the law and that there is no hope on the ground of the law

for any one who does not “continue in all things which are written in

the book of the law to do them.” James ii. 10 is also useful. Gal. ii.

16, and Romans iii. 19, 20 are very effective by showing that by the

deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in God’s sight. Matt.

v. 20—All these passages show the kind of righteousness God demands and

that no man’s righteousness comes up to God’s standard, and that if a

man wishes to be saved he must find some other means of salvation than

by his own deeds. It is sometimes well in using these passages to say to

the inquirer: “You do not understand the kind of righteousness that God

demands or you would not talk as you do. Now let us turn to His word and

see what kind of righteousness it is that God demands.” There is another

way of dealing with this class, by the use of such passages as Luke xvi.

15; Rom. ii. 16; 1 Sam. xvi. 7. These passages show that God looks at

the heart. Hold the inquirer right to that point. Every man when brought

face to face with that, must tremble because he knows that whatever his

outward life may be, his heart will not stand the scrutiny of God’s eye.

No matter how selfrighteous a man is, we need not be discouraged for

somewhere in the depths of every man’s heart is the consciousness of sin

and all we have to do is to work away until we touch that point. Every

man’s conscience is on our side. Matt. xxii. 37, 38 can be used when a

man says “I am doing the best I can, or doing more good than evil.” Say

to him, “You are greatly mistaken about that; so far from doing more

good than evil, do you know that you have broken the first and greatest

of God’s laws?” Then show him the passage. Heb. xi. 6, John vi. 29, show

that the one thing that God demands is faith and that without that it is

impossible to please God, and John xvi. 9, shows that unbelief in Christ

is the greatest sin. John iii. 36, shows that the question of eternal

life depends solely upon a man’s accepting or rejecting Jesus Christ,

and Heb. x. 28, 29, that the sin which brings the heaviest punishment is

that of treading under foot the Son of God. Before using this latter

passage, it would be well to say, “You think you are very good, but do

you know that you are committing the most awful sin in God’s sight which

a man can commit?” If he replies, “No,” then say “Well let me show you

from God’s word that you are;” then turn to this passage and read it

with great solemnity and earnestness.

 

 

2. Another class of those who entertain false hopes, are _those who

think_ “_God is too good to damn anyone_.”

 

When any one says this, you can reply, “We know nothing of God’s

goodness but what we learn from the Bible, and we must go to that book

to find out the character of God’s goodness. Let us turn to Romans ii.

2, 4, 5.” Having read the verses, you can say something like this, “Now,

my friend, you see that the purpose of God’s goodness is to lead you to

repentance, not to encourage you in sin and when we trample upon his

goodness, then we are treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath and

revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” John viii. 21, 24 and iii.

36, will show the man that however good God may be that he will reject

all who reject His Son. Still another way to deal with these men is by

showing them from John v. 40; 2 Peter iii. 9‒11 or Ezek. xxxiii. 11,

that it is not so much God who damns men as men who damn themselves in

spite of God’s goodness because they will not come to Christ and accept

the life freely offered. You can say “God is not willing that any should

perish and he offers life freely to you, but there is one difficulty in

the way. Let us turn to John v. 40, and see what the difficulty is.”

Then read the passage: “Ye will not come to me that ye might have life,”

and say, “My friend here is the difficulty, you won’t come; life is

freely offered to you but if you will not accept it, you must perish.”

2 Peter ii. 4‒6, 9; Luke xiii. 3, show how the “good” God deals with

persons who persist in sin. Sometimes this last passage can be

effectively used in this way: “You say God is too good to damn any one.

Now let us see what God Himself says in his word.” Then turn to the

passage and read, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

Repeat the passage over and over again until it has been driven home.

 

 

3. A third class of those who entertain false hopes, are _those who say

“I am trying to be a Christian.”_ John i. 12, will show them that it is

not “trying” to be a Christian or “trying” to live a better life or

“trying” to do anything that God asks of us, but simply to receive Jesus

Christ, who did it all, and you can ask the inquirer, “will you now stop

your trying and simply receive Jesus as Saviour?” Acts xvi. 31, shows

that God does not ask us to _try_ what we can do but _trust_ Jesus and

what He has done and will do. Romans iii. 23‒25, shows that we are not

to be justified by trying to do, “but freely by His grace, through the

redemption that is in Christ Jesus” on the simple condition of faith.

 

 

4. Still another class of those who entertain false hopes are _those who

say_, “_I feel I am going to Heaven_,” or “_I feel I am saved_.” Show

them from John iii. 36 that it is not a question of what they feel but

what God says, and what God says distinctly in his word is that, “He

that believeth not on the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God

abideth on him.” One afternoon I was talking with a lady who a few weeks

before had lost her only child. At the time of the child’s death she had

been deeply interested, but her serious impressions had largely left

her. I put to her the question, “Do you not wish to go where your little

one has gone?” She replied at once “I expect to.” “What makes you think

you will?” I said. She replied, “I feel so, I feel that I will go to

heaven when I die.” I then asked her, if there was anything she could

point to in the word of God which gave her a reason for believing that