September, 1938
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever be- lieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Still other passages on this theme are John 3:36: "He that believ- eth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him,” and 1 John 5:12, 13: "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may be lieve on the name of the Son of God.” You may need to reveal to your listener that he cannot obtain this new life through edu cational processes nor through beautiful music, nor through the attractions of the arts and sciences. This life is a gift from God to those who receive Christ. Personal Application You will meet with those who will ac knowledge that the teachings of the church are right and that the Bible is true. And yet they will admit that they do not have that inner urge that makes them desire to live for Christ. T o these you must bring the necessity of applying personally the truths which they profess to believe. You may ask, "Whose sins did Jesus bear ‘in his own body on the tree’ as you find in 1 Peter 2:24?” Or you may ask, "Do you have the Lord Jesus for yourself as in John 1:12— ‘As many as received him [Jesus Christ], to them gave he power to become the sons of God’?” O r you might express it this way, “If God gave the Lord Jesus to men, why do you not personally accept the gift, for no gift becomes a possession until it is accepted? W hy do you not tell God that you will accept Christ and make Him the Lord and Saviour of your soul?” It may be a Christian with whom you are dealing—yet one who lacks joy and assur ance. He too needs to apply the Word per sonally to his own heart. Call his attention to the last word in that beautiful quotation in 2 Corinthians 12:9: “My grace is suf ficient for thee.” He will admit readily that God’s grace is sufficient in a general way, but the blessing only comes to him when this sufficiency becomes personal as in the word “thee.” The personal appropriation of the truth of the Scriptures is absolutely essential both to saved and unsaved persons. Gen eralities have no place in this blessed busi ness. Whether it be a message of condem nation or of wrath or of blessing or of hope, you must persuade the individual to apply to his own soul the words of the pas sage you may quote. Just a few days ago as I was dealing with a man about forty years of age who had driven sixty miles to the service to hear the gospel, this friend discovered that he needed this type of truth. I quoted John 3:16 to him slowly, and then quietly looking him in the face said, “T o whom did God give His Son?” He thought carefully of the matter just for a moment, and then the light of heaven flooded his face as he said, “T o me, to me! And I surely do take Him right now. My, how strange it is that I have read that verse over and over again, and I never saw
before that God gave Christ to me, and now He is mine!” The little touch of personal application quickly did what several months of arguing and reasoning had failed to do. Our business is not so much to urge people "to come” or even “to believe” or to ask them “to trust Jesus Christ” and cer tainly not to ask them "to give their hearts to God.” Salvation does not come about by what the person does, but rather through what a person sees. If by your explanations, illustrations, comparisons, and contrasts you can reveal what Christ is to the soul, that person will need no urging to trust Him. A grasping of the truth auto matically brings faith and trust with it when once this friend sees and realizes that it was his own sins that Christ blotted out. You will not need to ask him to believe it; he will know it is so. In dealing with hearts, deal with them not in generalities but in personalities. Use the second person as you talk with an indi vidual. Say "you” and "you” and “you.” Let the person know you are talking to him himself. Christ said to Nicodemus: “Ye must be born again.” Christ said to the woman at the well: "If thou knewest the gift of God . . . . ” Again, to the man at the pool of Bethesda, He said: "W ilt thou be made whole?” By this direct method you will reach the heart more quickly, and you will apply the medicine more effectively. Agreeing with the "Patient" It is often a wise procedure to agree if possible with the statements which the per son makes. A friend in whose home I was a guest once told me how good she was and explained it in no uncertain terms. She was so good that she did not need to be bom again. She was so clean and pure and delightful that she did not need the blood to cleanse her. Taking her on her own proposition, I asked her whether she would let me use her toothbrush. W ith astonish ment, she strenuously objected. I asked her whether she would permit me to use the washcloth and the towel after she was through using them. This horrified her. I asked permission to use her comb and brush, and this shocked her greatly. I then called to her attention the fact that if it would not be proper nor ethical nor suit able for me to use anything that she used, how could she expect to take her spirit into God’s presence and expect the Lord to be delighted with her and pleased because of her presence, unless she had been changed, cleansed, purified by the blood of the Sav iour? She saw the point quickly, and very soon thereafter trusted the Lord Jesus Christ. Another friend said, "I believe in salva tion by good works. I believe that one must be very good in order to be saved, and his good works will serve to put away his sins.” I replied, “I believe also in salvation by good works.” “How can that be?” she asked. “Why, I heard you preaching this very evening from the platform that salvation was by grace and not by good works!” I quickly replied, “W e are saved by good works, but it is the good works of the
Lord Jesus Christ and not the good works which we do." W e then turned to portions of the Scrip tures which confirmed this fact, and she also trusted the Saviour. Human "good works” are indeed "as filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6) in comparison with the work of Christ Jesus who “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4: 15) and who "by himself purged our sins” (Heb. 1 :3 ), offering Himself on the cross as “one sacrifice for sins for ever" (Heb. 10 : 12 ). An infidel said to me, “I believe that death ends all.” "So do I,” was my quick reply. “How is that?” he said. “I thought you were a Christian.” “So I am a Christian,” I answered, “but I believe that death ends all, and so do other Christians with whom I associate.” “That certainly is a strange thing to me,” he said in great surprise. “In fact, that is entirely a new theology to me. I did not know that Christians believed that way.” “Here is one that does,” I said, “and I am happy to confess it." "Explain that to me, Wilson,” he said. “I never heard of such a thing before.” “It is very simple,” I replied. "Death ends all your chances of being saved, all your chances of hearing the gospel. Death ends all the blessings that you are now re ceiving from God, and death ends all the sunshine, joy, and peace that surround you here. After death, you enter into the eter- [Continued on page 318]
G O D ’S SEM A PH O R E A semaphore with extended red arms would arrest the attention of any railway engineer. Men need to see that the outstretched arms of the crimson cross of the Lord Jesus are both a warning and a provision for the sinner's safety.
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