_A Final Word_
As has been suggested, it is necessary, if one is to be a successful
personal worker, to know well the Scriptures. The incorruptible seed,
which is the Word of God, when it is received into the human heart as
good and honest ground, will, without question, produce a satisfactory
harvest. If you should attempt to win one to Christ, who insists that
he is out of the Kingdom because of his doubts, tell him to come with
his doubts, and Christ will set him free. "My doubts are round about me
like a chain," said one in the audience, with whom one of our personal
workers was labouring, and the worker said quickly, "Come, chains and
all." The doubter hesitated a second, then said, "I will," and as he
rose to move forward, he testified that the chains were snapped, and he
was free.
If the one you are seeking to introduce to Christ says that he is such
a great sinner, and because of this he cannot come, then tell him to
come with his sins. He wants him just as he is, and stands ready to set
him free from the sins that have enslaved him and blinded his eyes so
that he could not see Christ as he stood waiting to save him.
It is a good thing to start by giving the assurance to the unsaved that
God is Love, and that His love is boundless. This may be easily proved
by the Scriptures. Tell him also that Christ is not only able, but
ready and willing to save. There are abundant evidences of this in the
New Testament. Tell him that no one is too sinful; none too far from
God; none too depraved by sin to be saved. There are evidences on every
side of us of many such seeking and finding pardon.
It is well to start with such a declaration as is found in John i. 12,
"But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on His name." Insist upon it that
Christ has laid down the conditions, and that if we are to be saved, we
must honestly and sincerely, with all our doubts and sins, receive Him
as a personal Saviour.
Make it very plain to the one with whom you are dealing that when one
comes into the Kingdom he is born into it. There is no other way than
this, for Jesus said, John iii. 3, "Except a man be born again he cannot
see the Kingdom of God." If the joy of regeneration is to be experienced,
it is necessary that the acceptance of Jesus as a Saviour should be
definite, and that there should be sufficient confidence in God's Word
to lead us to believe that when we have fulfilled our part
of the contract the Saviour will keep His.
If we are born into the Kingdom then we start as babes in Christ. We
are expected to grow. If we are to grow, we must have proper food; this
is found in the Word of God. We must be faithful in prayer. We must
have proper light and air; this is found by walking in fellowship with
Christ, and learning His will as we study the Scripture, we seek with
joy to do it. We may stumble as little children do, but He will help
us, and if at times we seem to fail, He will hold us fast.
As little babes in Christ it will not be strange that at times we grow
discouraged and faint-hearted, but if we press on to know the Lord we
shall find our strength increasing and our temptations decreasing until
at last we may enter into a continuous and joyous Christian experience.
Tell the one with whom you are dealing that the assurance of salvation
is possible. Jesus said, "He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him
that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life" (John v. 24). And the Apostle John
wrote, "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 believe on the name of the Son of God" (1 John v. 13).
State very plainly the fact that we are saved by faith and not by
feeling, and being thus saved we are kept by Divine Power.
When we have passed through the darkness of doubt into the light of our
conscious acceptance of Christ, and when on the authority of God's Word
we have the assurance of salvation, then let it ever be remembered that
we must seek to bring others to Him. And as we labour day by day our own
faith will grow stronger, our hope will be brighter, and our consciousness
of the presence of Christ will be more marked. Day by day we may walk
with Him and talk with Him until at last we shall see Him as He is and
then we may hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant ... enter
thou into the joy of thy Lord."