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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
October, 1938
Apply this scripture, and ask him how he knows that Christ will not accept him when he has never come and applied. Perhaps he will go with you to the Lord and will kneel with you in prayer, and perhaps you can
Q : Here is another Bible verse, John. 3: 36: "He that believeth 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." Let us substitute the idea-words here: “He that believeth on the idea hath eternal consciousness of truth, but he that believeth not the idea shall not have this consciousness, but the error of mind abideth on him.” Do you think that the new wording would convey the thought of the Bible to any one’s heart? A : Not very well. It doesn’t make good sense. Q : How would this sound? “In the be ginning truth, idea, mind created the heaven and the earth.” Do you think that would do to teach and preach to the people? A : I question whether they would un derstand much about it. Q : Do you not see that the Bible would become a jumbled mass of inconsistencies and mysteries if you should endeavor to substitute Mrs. Eddy’s idea-words for the true words of God? A : Yes, it would. But Mrs. Eddy’s idea-words convey the real truth, and the words of the Bible do not. The above conversation is' typical. Those who reject God’s Word and substi tute therefor the words of others place themselves in a position which is impreg nable. Your hold as a soul-winner is only on the Word of God. Men and women are "born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever" (1 Pet. 1:23). Only of the Lord can it be said, “The en- trance of thy words giveth light” (Psa. 119:130). When this Word is denied, re jected, and repudiated, you can only walk away from such a person and leave that one in the bondage of darkness. Those W h o H ave N o H ope There will be those who will say that they have sinned away the day of grace and that they cannot be saved now. Of course these friends are looking at them selves, their own hearts, their own guilt, their own sinfulness, and do not see at all the virtue and the value of Christ and His work. You should turn these friends com pletely away from their own thoughts and the consideration of their own condition so that they will see clearly the work of Cal vary and the living Lord in heaven waiting to apply that work to them. As you deal with one of them, ask him at once whose sins Jesus suffered for accord ing to 1 Peter 3:18: “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the un just, that he might bring us to God.” Turn this troubled one to Acts 13:38, 39: "Through this man [Jesus Christ] is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.”
A : No, I do not think of anybody just now. Q : Do you suppose it was you for whom He died? A : Oh, yes, for me and everybody. Q : Let us shut out all the other per sons for the present and think only of you. Are you sure Jesus died on the cross for you? A : Yes, of course He did. Q : Did it do any good? W as anything accomplished by His death? Do you get any good out of it? A : Oh, yes, of course it did some good. He did not die as a failure.
persuade him to come to Christ as one who needs to be forgiven and justified. Tell him that he will never know that he is rejected until first he has applied and has been re fused. You might remind him at the same time that none of those who apply are turn ed away. W e have Christ’s own word for it: “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:3 7 ). I have discovered some who feel that no body can know in this life that he is saved. They think that this decision is reached at the judgment throne. These need to read such scriptures as, "W e know that we have passed from death unto life” (1 John 3 :1 4 ), also, “unto us which are saved” (1 Cor. 1:18), and again, "that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5 :1 3 ). There are many such scriptures as these, which, when brought before the heart of the honest seeker, will convince that heart that it is possible to know here and now that the sins are gone, that eternal life has been re ceived, and that the name is written in the Book of Life. Others will be found who.feel that there are hidden sins which are so hateful and so very wicked that these can never be for given. W ith such friends, you will need to use those words which speak of forgiveness for all sins. Again Acts 13:39 is helpful, re minding us that those who believe are “jus tified from all things.” This truth is found also in Colossians 2:13: “Having forgiven you all trespasses.” You might read to the friend from Isaiah 44:22, where transgres sions and sins are blotted out. Find a number of passages which speak of the sufficiency and the completeness of the work of the Lord Jesus for the soul. Examples of this blessed truth are Romans 5:6, 8: “Christ died for the ungodly . . . God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”: 1 Peter 1:18, 19: "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradi tion from your fathers: But with the pre cious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,” and Ephesians 1:7: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, accord ing to the riches of his grace.” This assur ance from God’s Word will remove from our hearts the thought that there is any sin which may not be forgiven and blotted out by the living Lord Jesus Christ. Sticking to the M ain Issue There will be those who will argue about what will become of the heathen. You might suggest to them that the heathen are [Continued on pag e 359]
Q : W ell, let us be more specific. W hat good is there in it for you? W hat did Jesus do for you when He died for you on the cross? A : W ell, He died for our sins. Q : Do you mean He died for your sins? A: Yes. Q : W hat did it do to your sins, or what did it do for you? W as His death of no value with regard to your sins? O r did His death put away your sins and blot them out? A : I never thought of that before. It must have done some good, but, really, 1 do not know what good was done. Can you tell me? From this point on, it is simply a matter of revealing the sufficiency of the Saviour and His work. The honest Catholic who has been brought up to this point will nearly always trust the Lord Jesus and re ceive eternal life. Christian Science and Unity The hardest cases for you to handle will be the persons who are in the modem false religions. Those Who enter Christian Sci ence and Unity are perhaps the most dif ficult of all to reach. Here is a conver sation which did not result in the salvation of the friend I was seeking to win. Question: W hy is it that Mrs. Eddy does not use the words that are found in the Bible when she is describing her re ligion? Answer: I really think that in the orig inal at the beginning her words were really the ones that were used, but the translators have changed it around so often that the Bible now has the words of men and not the words of God. Q : Let us take the words that we have in our Bible for John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only be gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” By inserting Mrs. Eddy’s idea-words instead, we will make it read like this: “For mind so loved the world that he gave his only begotten idea that whosoever be lieveth in the god-idea should not perish but have an eternal consciousness of truth.” How do you think that would work? A : It doesn’t sound very well, but it cer tainly is the truth.
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