CHAPTER V.

DEALING WITH THOSE WHO ARE ANXIOUS TO BE SAVED AND KNOW HOW, BUT WHO HAVE DIFFICULTIES

A very large number of persons whom we try to lead to Christ, we will find are really anxious to be saved and know how, but are confronted with difficulties which they deem insurmountable.

1. One of the difficulties is, “_I am too great a sinner_.” 1 Tim. i. 15 meets this fully. One Sunday morning a man who had led a wild and wandering life and who had recently lost $35,000 and been separated from his wife, said to me in response to my question, why he was not Christian, “I am too great a sinner to be saved.” I turned at once to 1 Tim. i. 15. “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” He quickly replied, “well, I am the chief of sinners.” “Well,” I said, “that verse means you then.” He replied, “It is a precious promise.” I said, “Will you accept it now?” and he said, “I will.” Then I said, “Let us kneel down and tell God so,” and we knelt down and he confessed to God his sins, and asked God for Christ’s sake to forgive him his sins. I asked him if he had really accepted Christ and he said he had. I asked him if he really believed that he was saved and he said he did. He took an early opportunity of confessing Christ. He left the city in a short time but I was able to follow him. He became a most active Christian, working at his business day times but engaged in some form of Christian work every night in the week. He was reunited to his wife and adopted a little child out of an orphan asylum and had a happy Christian home. Luke xix. 10 is also a very useful passage to use in dealing with this class of men; especially useful when a man says, “I am lost.” You can say, “I have a passage intended expressly for you. If you really mean what you say, you are just the man Jesus is seeking. ‘For the Son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost.’” Romans v. 6‒8 is a very effective passage. I stopped a man one night as he was hurrying out of a meeting. Laying my hand on his shoulder I said “Did you not hold your hand up to–night for prayers?” He said “yes.” I said, “Why then are you hurrying away? Do you know God loves you?” He replied, “You do not know who you are talking to.” “I do not care who I am talking to but I know God loves you.” He said: “I am the meanest thief in Minneapolis.” I said “If you are the meanest thief in Minneapolis, then I know God loves you,” and I opened my Bible to Romans v. 8. “But God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” “Now,” I said, “If you are the meanest thief in Minneapolis, you are a sinner, and this verse tells that God loves sinners.” The man broke down and going into another room with me told me his story. He was just out of confinement for crime; had started out that very night to commit what he said would have been one of the most daring burglaries ever committed in the city of Minneapolis; with his two companions in crime he was passing a corner where he happened to hear an open–air meeting going on and stopped a few minutes to hear and in spite of the protests and oaths of his companions stayed through the meeting and went with us to the Mission. After telling me his story we kneeled in prayer. Through tears he cried to God for mercy, having been led by God’s precious promise to believe that God loved a sinner even as vile as he. Matt. ix. 12, 13; Romans x. 13 (Emphasize “whosoever”); John iii. 16 (Emphasize the “whosoever”); Isaiah i. 18; 1 John iv. 14; John ii. 1‒2; Isaiah xliv. 22; Isaiah xliii. 25 are also useful passages in dealing with this class of men. Isaiah i. 18 and Ps. li. 14 are especially useful in dealing with men who have committed murder. Never tell any one that his sins are not great. It is well sometimes to say to these men, “Yes, your sins are great, greater than you think, but they have all been settled” and show them Isaiah liii. 6; 1 Peter ii. 24. A woman once came to me in great agitation. After many ineffectual attempts she was at last able to unburden her heart. Fourteen years before she had killed a man and had borne the memory of the act upon her conscience until it had almost driven her crazy. When she told the story to another Christian and myself, we turned to Isaiah liii. 6. After reading the verse very carefully to her, I asked her what the Lord had done with her sin. After a few moments’ deep and anxious thought she said, “He has laid it on Christ,” I took a book in my hand. “Now,” I said “let my right hand represent you, and my left hand Christ, and this book your sin.” I laid the book upon my right hand and I said: “Where is your sin now?” She said “On me.” “Now,” I said, “what has God done with it?” She said “Laid it on Christ,” and I laid the book over on the other hand. “Where is your sin now?” I asked. It was long before she could summon courage to answer, and then with a desperate effort she said, “On Christ.” I said, “then is it on you any longer?” Slowly the light came into her face and she burst out with a cry, “No, it is on Him, it is on Christ.” John i. 29; Acts x. 43; Heb. vii. 25, are also helpful texts in dealing with this class of men.

2. Another difficulty we frequently meet with, is “_I can’t hold out_,” or “_I am afraid of failure_.” 1 Peter i. 5 is useful in showing that we are not to keep ourselves but are “kept by the power of God.” John x. 28, 29 shows that the safety of the one who accepts Christ does not depend upon his “holding out” but upon the keeping power of the Father and the Son. 2 Tim. i. 12 shows that it is Christ’s business and not ours to keep that which is entrusted to him and that he is able to do it. Isaiah xli. 10, 13 are also helpful. Jude 24 shows that whether we can keep from falling or not, Christ is able to keep us from falling. 2 Chron. xxxii. 7, 8; Romans xiv. 4; 2 Thes. iii. 3, are also good texts to use. 1 Cor. x. 13 is especially useful when one is afraid that some great temptation will overtake him and he will fall.

3. Another difficulty very similar to the preceding one, is “_I am too weak_.” With such a person, use 2 Cor. xii. 9, 10. Ask him “where is it that Christ’s strength is made perfect?” When he answers “in weakness,” tell him “then the weaker you are in your own strength the better.” Philippians iv. 13 shows that however weak we may be, we can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us. 1 Cor. x. 13 will show that God knows all about our weakness and will not permit us to be tempted above our strength.

4. “_I cannot give up my evil ways or bad habits._” Gal. vi. 7, 8, will show them that they must give them up or perish. Philippians iv. 13 will show them that they can give them up in Christ’s strength. It is an excellent plan to point the one who fears that he cannot give up his bad habits, to Christ, as a risen Saviour, 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4. A man once came to me and said: “I come to you to know if there is any way I can get power to overcome my evil habits.” He told me his story; he had been converted in childhood but had come to Chicago, fallen in with evil companions and gone down, and now could not break away from his sins. I said to him: “You know only half the gospel, the gospel of a crucified Saviour. Through trusting in the crucified Saviour you found pardon. But Jesus Christ is also a risen Saviour, 1 Cor. xv. 4, ‘All power is given unto Him,’ Matt. xxviii. 18. He has power to give you victory over your evil habits. Do you believe that?” He said, “yes.” “You trusted,” I continued, “in the crucified Christ and found pardon, did you not?” “Yes,” he replied. “Now,” I said, “will you trust the risen Christ to save you from the power of your sins?” “Yes, I will.” “Let us kneel down then, and tell him so.” We knelt and talked it all over with the Saviour. When he arose his very countenance was changed. “I am so glad I came,” he said. Some time after I received a letter from him telling me how he found constant victory through trusting in the _risen_ Christ.

5. “_I will be persecuted if I become a Christian._” Never tell any one that he will not be persecuted, but show him from such passages as 2 Tim. ii. 12; 2 Tim. iii. 12; Matt. v. 10, 11, 12; Mark viii. 35; Acts xiv. 22, that persecution is the only path to Glory. Show them from Romans viii. 18 that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed in us. Show them from Acts v. 41; 1 Peter ii. 20, 21, that it is a privilege to be persecuted for Christ’s sake. Heb. xii. 2, 3 is useful in showing them where to look for victory in persecution.

6. “_It will hurt my business_,” or “_I can’t be a Christian in my present business_.” Point such an one to Mark viii. 36. This will show him that it is better to lose his business than to lose his soul. After this thought has been sufficiently impressed upon his mind, show him Matt. vi. 32, 33 which contains God’s promise that if we put God and His kingdom first, that He will provide for all our real temporal needs. Matt. xvi. 24‒27; Luke xii. 16‒21; xvi. 24‒26 are also very effective passages to use with this class.

7. “_Too much to give up._” Mark viii. 36 will show them that they had better give up everything than to lose their soul. Philippians iii. 7, 8; Ps. xvi. 11 will show them that what they give up is nothing compared with what they get. Ps. lxxxiv. 11; Romans viii. 32 will show them that God will not ask them to give up any good thing; in other words, that the only things God asks them to give up are the things that are hurting them. A young woman once refused to come to the Saviour saying, “There is too much to give up.” “Do you think God loves you?” I answered. “Certainly.” “How much do you think he loves you?” She thought a moment and answered, “Enough to give his son to die for me.” “Do you think, if God loved you enough to give his son to die for you, he will ask you to give up anything it is for your good to keep?” “No.” “Do you wish to keep anything that it is not for your good to keep?” “No.” “Then you had better come to Christ at once.” And she did. 1 John ii. 17; Luke xii. 16‒21 will show them how worthless are the things which they are trying to keep.

8. “_The Christian life is too hard._” Say to the inquirer, “Let me show you from God’s word that you are mistaken about the Christian life being hard.” Then turn him to Matt. xi. 30; Prov. iii. 17; Ps. xvi. 11; 1 John