Winning men and women from sin to righteousness is God's work. True, He has purposed to use man with his human limitations to help lift souls out of the kingdom of darkness into the light of the gospel, but we must never lose sight of the fact that "as the Spirit comes with more direct appeal, the soul gladly surrenders itself to Jesus," and that winning souls is "the result of long wooing by the Spirit of God,—a patient, protracted process." —"The Desire of Ages," p. 172.
Bringing individuals to a decision for Christ and the message for this time is not accomplished in a moment, nor does it come as a result of half-hearted, intermittent effort. There must be a background for such a weighty decision, and the human and the divine element must combine to bring about this experience.
The gospel worker must understand the forces involved in the issues of such a decision. He must remember that the controversy between truth and error, today especially, is a grim battle against indifference, bigotry, unbelief, and fear. The enemy has become skillful in the subtle art of confusion, and procrastination and truth-defiance are its by-products. He has so blinded the hearts of men that to them darkness appears as light, or light as darkness. The foe holds back no fiendish weapon, obstacle, or supposed benefit to the deciding soul.
When the hour of decision arrives—and there is an hour when such a stand is not only opportune but definitely urgent to salvation—then action on the part of the wavering soul must follow. The human instrument making the appeal must use the full force of a sanctified personality to help effect the decision. The appeal must become the very call of God to that struggling soul. It is imperative in this hour that the Bible instructor's relationship with God be such that He can use her words as a winsome appeal in wooing that soul from error into the truth. In a certain sense a work of mediation takes place. "Be ye reconciled to God" is the import of the call to the deciding one.
The "engrafted word . . . is able to save your souls." James I :21. The worker must have a thorough knowledge of the Bible. It is the "sword of the Spirit," which the soldier of Christ uses to storm the citadel of the soul effectively. The reader must clearly recognize what God expects him to do in this critical hour. Scripture, timely and pointed, must be tactfully, persuasively, and directly aimed at the soul in the balance. Men may try to evade all human appeals, but they cannot forever dodge God's claims or change His word. No argument is more important, and we know of no better method to bring about the right decision.
The soul winner must keep in mind that God did not make men according to just one pattern. We need a special supply of grace to be able to "discern the spirits" of men. Jesus beautifully mastered this art—"He knew what was in man." John 2 :25. We must know men before we may hope to know the methods by which to win them. A sympathetic touch is vital at this stage of the effort. Out of the memory of the anguish of our own soul's Gethsemane will come those sympathetic expressions that will strike a responsive chord in the experience of the struggling soul. It is indeed a "delicate work" requiring gentleness, pathos, patience, and persuasion. But as God uses the consecrated soul winner with power, the stony heart is softened; the barriers of prejudice break down; and procrastination is changed into decision.
After an experience of successive victories in gaining decisions for God there is always grave danger that the worker may begin to feel that she is mastering the only methods and the soundest technique to be found. Professional confidence may rob her of the power and glory which are due God alone. In one who has this self-confidence, the keen, soul-winning senses will become blunt. Her experience may be similar to that of the professional nurse who becomes so hardened to the scenes of the sickroom, so oblivious to the sufferings of the operating room, that though her actual skill in nursing may be improving, her own heart becomes calloused to the true anguish of the world's sorrows. This may also become true in the field of spiritual nursing—the work of the Bible instructor.
We recall frequent experiences when we were awakened in the hours of the night, with strong impressions crowding into the mind regarding one for whom we were laboring. There followed clear conviction about the next step to take in helping this soul gain the victory—even the very words to be employed in making further appeals. Needless to state, as these impressions were followed, the decision came quickly and easily. We recall that this was true when dealing with the more temperamental kind of individual. Moods materially affect reactions, and they are often baffling to the Bible teacher.
The worker must be in constant touch with God to know how to deal with all kinds of people.
Persuading souls for God is not the experience of the ordinary agent who goes from door to door selling encyclopedias, household articles, and so forth, although some of the same techniques are employed. It is not a battle of wits, high pressure salesmanship, or stampeding a person into a decision, although one might conclude so from some of the methods we occasionally hear discussed. It is the earnest wooing of a soul to yield to God that counts the most in the decision. The conviction must be present in the heart of the deciding soul that the worker is a "teacher sent from God." Then the tendency to delay or to escape taking a stand for truth, is changed into action and unreserved surrender. This is conversion, and all our efforts without this God-given experience are of little or no avail.
The fruitage that remains firm through spiritual test and storm is a heavenly miracle with no place for human glory. It is a process that never can be completely analyzed in human terms or by commercial comparisons, and the warmth of this spiritual experience is always chilled by the cold professionalism that employs the measuring rod of statistics.
In this critical hour of decision the worker must exhibit the qualities of Elijah and John the Baptist. We are messengers of God with the solemn message, "If the Lord be God, follow Him," and "Repent : for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The word of the Lord speaks through us, and it must be fearlessly given to His children. It is not an easy task but it is our bounden duty nevertheless. Even in our day God has been pleased to use human instruments to such a degree that souls who were facing decisions actually saw Christ in the messenger and dared not reject His message. Oh, for more of this power in our ministry for hesitating souls!
