Militant Evangelism! (25 page)

It is some consolation to know that in recent polls 96% of Americans believe in God; 82% believe in an afterlife, and approximately 60% believe in Hell. So, few are offended by these questions.

When they answer out loud,
you have an excellent opportunity to ask why they think such a thing, and thus get to witness to them.

When someone says they think God doesn't care about right and wrong, most can be reasoned with by appealing to civil law. Almost everyone thinks murderers should be punished (even if they can't agree on its form). Then say that if man, with all his evils cares about right and wrong, how much more will his Creator!

With this little card, in two or three minutes, you can build a bridge with a stranger, break down his confidence in his own judgments (eight out of ten times), find out his crucial beliefs, find out whether he is trusting in self-righteousness or Grace, as well as witness to him, inoffensively. When he answers the six questions, you can say, "You did well ... you got four out of six correct. The ones you slipped up on were number three, when you said that God's standards are the same as ours. The Bible says, 'His way is perfect'—'Who shall ascend the Hill of the Lord; He who has clean hands and a pure heart,' 'Blessed are the pure in heart'" etc.

Learn the spirituality of the Law. Study what they mean in the light of New Testament revelation. So digest the
Commandments, that
you can go through them one by one, opening up each one to show that God requires truth in the inward parts.

Then, once you have clearly presented the Law, say, "And the other one you slipped up on, was you said we avoid Hell by living a good life. The Bible tells us, 'It is not by works of righteousness that He saved us, but according to His mercy' (Titus 3:5)."

After you have thoroughly brought the knowledge of what sin is, using the Law of God, uphold the cross in all its glory. Other advantages of these cards is their low cost ($3 for a hundred), they are easy to distribute, and are extremely convenient (you can easily carry twenty in your wallet or purse). Keep a stack with you because you will often be asked for more.

Don't feel as though you have to lead every person you witness to in a sinner's prayer. I pray with most people I witness to. If they are trembling, and saying something like, "What then should I do?" then I pray with them for salvation. If you lead someone in a prayer of repentance, and they haven't yet gained godly sorrow through conviction of the Holy Spirit, you may deliver them, but it will be a still-born, or a premature birth. If by chance they are genuine in their commitment, then you will have to incubate them and the odds are, like most premature babies that begin to grow, they will be sickly and weak. It is best to let them form in the womb of conviction, then in the timing of God, they will be born again, and merely need to be
fed
the sincere milk of the Word. When fruit is ripe for the picking, it should fall into your hand, and when someone is ready for the Savior, you shouldn't have to pry them away from the tree of the world. In fact, if someone is ready for salvation, you probably won't have to lead them in prayer, because the prayer will come from his own heart.

I once heard a respected pastor speak of being in an airport awaiting departure. He had trouble finding a seat, and after moving several times, found
himself
sitting next to a man whose wife had just died. Tears welled in the man's eyes as he spoke of the meaninglessness of life. The pastor was able to witness to the man about God's love for him. He even prayed with him, but he didn't lead him in a "decision." His reason was that when a person is in such a broken state, you can get them to pray anything. He gave him
literature,
put him in contact with a pastor in his area, but he left the man's salvation in the Hands of the Lord. That takes faith in God. It takes courage because the inclination in most of us is to get a decision for Jesus, and cut another notch into our evangelical belt.

Did your parents ever make you kiss and hug your brother or sister to "make up," after a fight? Did it come from your heart, or did you grit your teeth, and make up for fear of wrath if you didn't? A sinner's repentant prayer should come from his own heart, and not because he feels compelled to because of wrath, but because he has sinned against the God of Heaven. It should come to his heart as the words came to the heart of the prodigal son (Luke 15:18). He should have "godly" sorrow, because he has transgressed the Law, and "repentance towards God," because he has "sinned against Heaven."

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THE URGENCY OF COMBAT

”I must work the works of Him who sent
Me
while it is yet day; the night is coming when no man can work” (John 9:4).

I
t is obvious throughout scripture that God speaks to humanity through dreams. He spoke in this way to Joseph, Daniel and numbers of others, in fact, Joel Chapter 2 tells us that this will be one of the signs of the last days. I don't know if dreams I have had are from God, but I do know that some have attributed to my zeal for the lost.

I remember having a dream that I was standing at an outdoor restaurant. People were happily eating and drinking, when I distracted them by saying, "Excuse me, may I have your attention for a moment. Last week I came to this place and I was fearful to tell you something. This week I want to tell you what I should have then ... unless you repent, you will perish!"

Some carried on
eating,
others looked angered, while others looked down under conviction.

Even though many Christians would rather it not be so, this is the simple message of the Gospel. Jesus told his listeners that if they didn't repent, they would perish. This is the message of John 3:16. The reason Jesus died, was so that those who believe "should not
perish,
but have everlasting life." God gave His only begotten Son, so that sinners wouldn't have to spend eternity in Hell.

Like Paul, we must reason of "sin, righteousness and judgment." Yet, this has been a glaring omission from the message of twentieth century evangelism. We have failed to warn our hearers to flee from the fury of God. Another gospel has been preached, and another harvest has been reaped, leaving the Church impregnated with many false converts.

John Wesley knew what it was to "save with fear." He said, "I desire to have both Heaven and Hell in my eye." In other words, he wasn't happy merely to get his ticket to Heaven without reaching out,
by all means,
to save those from the fire of the wrath of God. He caught a glimpse of the vision of John's words in the Book of Revelation when he said that the heavens "departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every slave, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" (Revelation 6:14-17).

The word "wrath" means that God has a violent passion for justice—our "righteous Lord loves righteousness." If, when we see injustice, something in us cries out against it, how much more does God crave Eternal Justice! The reason God anointed Jesus, was because He "loved righteousness and hated iniquity." Look at these verses that give us insight into God's character:

"Let not the wise man glory in his
wisdom,
let not the mighty man glory in his might; nor let the rich man glory in his riches. But let him who glories, glory in this, that he understands and knows
Me
, that I am the Lord, exercising
lovingkindness
, justice and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, says the Lord" (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

If God gave us the
wisdom
of Solomon, we would have to give Him glory for the gift. If He gave us the strength of Samson, we would have to give Him glory for the endowment. If God gifted us with riches, we couldn't boast of them, for they came by the goodness of God.

Our glorying should be confined to the fact, not that we "understand God," for no one can understand the incredible mind of the Lord, but that we understand that:

1.    He is the "Lord." He is the Supreme Authority in the universe, that from Him and through Him and to Him
are
all things. Every man will give an account of every idle word to Him.

2.    We understand that He not only exercises
lovingkindness
, justice and righteousness in the earth, but that He
delights
in these things. This is seen in no better place than on the cross of Calvary. This is where there was a meeting of
lovingkindness
and justice. This is where righteousness and peace kissed each other. This is why Paul said, "God forbid that I should glory, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. . .
" It
is in the cross that we see the fearful Justice of our Divine Creator, as His fury-filled fist came down upon the Lamb of God. It is on the same cross we see infinite
lovingkindness
displayed, as we understand the substitutionary sacrifice, that we might live eternally.

Many years ago, when I was a teenager at school, we had a music teacher who lacked a lot in the area of discipline. The poor man was also slightly deaf and consequently, when he was playing the piano, chaos broke loose behind him. During one of these lessons, I noticed a friend two rows from the front, trying to shake off a classmate who had grabbed his leg and was pulling him under the bench. I crawled under the benches in front of me and took hold of the culprit's leg, when I felt someone grab my leg. Without looking behind me, I used my free leg to kick off this leg-puller with a firm grip. It was then that I glanced behind me,
and saw to my horror that it was the Principal, who had come into the room to see what all the noise was about!

The three of us were sent to his office. Before we were given our punishment, we had a ten minute wait. When the Principal finally arrived, he gave us two painful swats (on the area designed for the purpose) with a three foot piece of cane. But I must say that the fear we had while waiting for the cane, was just about as bad as the pain which came from the cane when it came.

With all the conviction I can muster, I can say without any qualms of conscience, that I would far rather receive 10,000 swats a day for 100 years, by the right hand of the most robust football player, than be in my sins on Judgment Day ...
it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

When God gave His Law "so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, 'I exceedingly fear and quake!'"
How fearful will it be when the wrath-filled God of Vengeance comes to punish those who have deliberately transgressed that Law?

Keith
Green,
wrote these sobering words:

"O God our Lord:

Who you
gonna
throw in the lake of fire,

O God our Lord?

Who you
gonna
throw when the flames get higher,

O God our Lord?

The devil and the man with the dark desire,

O God our Lord!"

Do we care enough to pray? Do we care enough to preach . . . to warn, to witness? God's Justice will be so thorough, that every sinner will be "ground to powder" by the stone of the wrath of God. They will drink the wine of His wrath. The Psalmist cried, "Horror has taken hold on me because of the wicked
who
forsake Your Law." J. Oswald Sanders pleaded in prayer, "Give us souls, lest we die!" Jeremiah cried, "My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart, my heart makes a noise in me,
I
cannot hold my peace, because you have heard.
Oh my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war" (Jeremiah 4:19).
Listen to the "sowing in tears" spirit behind these words of the Prince of Preachers: