A Seeking Soul
by R Stuart Briscoe
O UR purpose in these discussions of personal evangelism is to point out the advantages of engaging in such a ministry. This is so that you might be stimulated to reach out, presenting the claims of the Lord Jesus Christ to those with whom you rub shoul ders day by day. Many Christians are fired with enthusiasm throughout the day but somehow they lose interest and drop off along the way. Others may be greatly challenged by some message, rush out to find a “subject” speaking to them about the Lord, only to be disappointed when n o th in g seems to happen. Then, too, they may whither and die when they meet with a rebuff or are insulted. This only happens when people fail to grasp the basic principles of personal evan gelism. The first thing to remember is that God has promised if a soul seeks, that soul will find. Experience teaches us that the vast majority of people who come to know the Lord do so through the instrumentality of another indi vidual. Therefore, at least three people are involved in every conversion: a gracious God, a seeking soul, and a willing worker. The soul who seeks has a tremendous desire to know the truth. He is recognized, understood and led by a gracious God. Someone who is willing and available must be put in contact with this potential convert. If we could only grasp this basic truth it would save a great deal of frustration. We must be in the right place at the right time to meet the right per son in the right way, saying the right thing to gain the right results. This is not a case of our enthusiasm mov ing us out and apprehending people. It is simply Almighty God first of all get ting a grip on us and putting us into contact with the people whom He knows are seeking the light. He is able
to work out His eternal purpose in their lives through us. The book of Acts reminds us that down in Samaria there was a great evangelistic campaign. Acts 8:8 tells us that there were great doings in the city. God speaks to Philip saying, “I have something I want you to do. I want you to leave the crusade and move out of Samaria today.” The Lord told him to go down the road which headed toward the desert. You can imagine the consternation of Philip being told to leave the good meetings and move out into a waste place. How wonderful to h e a r the testimony about Philip, “He arose and went” (Acts 8:27). He was certainly a will ing worker. He left the obvious and moved out into something that he couldn’t understand. Out in the desert he met a very important man driving along in what would be the equivalent of a Cadillac today. Being invited to ride along with the man of very high standing he discovered that the man was reading the Old Testament. Philip asked this total stranger if he under stood what he read. Since he didn’t he began the Spirit-led explanation. What an amazing series of events. God certainly ordained that all of this should work out. You see, a seeking soul had been recognized by a gracious God who had gotten in contact with a willing worker. The result was true conversion. In Acts nine the principle is re peated. Here we have a man called Saul of Tarsus. He moves along the road tow a rd Damascus. God, who knows that deep down in his heart he is seeking, meets with him. Con version was again the blessed result. In Acts 10 the seeking soul’s name is Cornelius. Our wonderful Lord knew all about him and determined that something had to be done about his need. The Lord had a word with 4
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