If we would lead men and women to truly follow God, we need to build an evangelism according to God's order. The call of God to humanity today centers on three major steps of decision.
1. CONVERSION.—What is the first main step of decision that the Lord wants every person to take? Conversion is the first main step in the call of God. The Scriptures show that God's initial appeal to every soul in every land is "Give Me thine heart."
The Lord Jesus stands across the pathway of every man, woman, and child, and with outstretched hands He beckons, "Come unto Me, and I will give you a new heart. I will cause you to be born again. I will make you a new creature. I will reconstruct your sinful life in righteousness and holiness." His Word indicates that conversion is the first main step of decision: "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." "Except ye be converted, . . . ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."
2. DAILY OBEDIENCE.—Every soul by nature has a carnal mind. This carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Hence the Lord gives man a new heart, so he can keep the law of God. The second main step of decision, that the Lord asks every soul to take, is daily obedience to the commandments of God, or the subjection of one's life to the will of God.
In Ezekiel 26:12 we learn that God has appointed the keeping of the Sabbath as the sign of man's obedience to the law of God. "Moreover also I gave them My sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them."
Since God has chosen the Sabbath as the seal of His law and the sign of man's obedience, decision to keep His commandments centers around the keeping of the Sabbath.
3. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP.—III Revelation 12 :r7 and 14:12, we learn that God calls those who accept His Sabbath into His remnant church, to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Thus the Lord first calls man to give his heart to Christ; then to keep the Sabbath of Christ; then to join the church of Christ. In other words, the call of God to humanity today constitutes the three decision steps of conversion, Sabbathkeeping, and church membership. God's call to the people in these last days is summed up in three expressions: "Give Me thine heart," "Talge thy foot off the Sabbath," "Come out of the world and Babylon into My remnant church."
This same order of decision is marked out in the threefold message, which is the real basis of all Adventist evangelism. The first seven words of the threefold message are "Fear God, and give glory to Him." People can really fear God and give glory to Him only as they enter into the experiences of true conversion.
The second admonition of the message is "Worship Him that made heaven and earth." It is the fourth commandment that tells us how to worship Him that made' heaven and earth. The Sabbath is the sign of God as Creator. So this second admonition of God's message involves a return to the true Sabbath.
The next item in the message is the fall of Babylon and the call into the remnant church. Thus we see that conversion, Sabbath-'keeping, and membership in the remnant church are the three major steps of decision that the Lord has marked out for men in these last days.
Proper Approach and Correct Sequence
Let us notice how these three interrelated steps furnish guidance and direction in building an evangelism that will really win men to God's message. It reveals that the proper basis for bringing people into the Seventh-day Adventist Church is first leading them into the experience of true conversion to Christ, then to the acceptance of the S.abbath of Christ. We should put people in touch with Christ before we introduce the Sabbath truth. Getting people connected with Christ should be regarded as a necessary approach for securing a decision for the Sabbath.
The most vital feature in all evangelism is that the seed of truth may spring up and bear fruit to the glory of God. It must always be remembered that it is the bringing of the heart into contact with the living Christ which prepares the soil for the seed of truth to grow and bear fruit. Thus we have the counsel :
"Remember that great care is to be exercised in regard to the presentation of truth. Carry the minds along guardedly. Dwell upon practical godliness, weaving the same into doctrinal discourses. The teachings and love of Christ will soften and subdue the soil of the heart for the good seed of truth.'—ELLEN G. WHITE, Letter 14, 5887. (italics mine).
The non-Adventists in the average evangelistic audience may be classified into three groups : 1. Members of other churches who have a real Christian experience. 2. Church members who have only a form of godliness. 3. Unconverted nonchurch people. We should seek to touch the lives of all three groups spiritually before we introduce the Sabbath. The converted should be drawn into a closer walk with Christ. The unconverted should as far as possible be led into the experience of conversion. This is a necessary part of the proper groundwork for securing decisions on the Sabbath.
Sabbath as Key Factor in Decision
The order of these three parts of the call of God to humanity reveals that leading converted souls to keep the Sabbath is an essential basis for securing decisions for church membership. It shows the imperative need of concentrating on decisions for the Sabbath, as a means of producing the desired fruitage in accessions to the church. Experience proves that if a person can be led to keep the Sabbath, it is likely that he will accept the other features of the faith. To keep the Sabbath of Christ is a key decision which helps people into paying the tithe, which is Christ's ; into eating, drinking, dressing, and acting as will please Christ; into receiving the baptism of Christ, and uniting with the remnant church of Christ.
In working for souls we must take into account that if people begin to keep the Sabbath, it will also help them to harmonize with the peculiar practices of the Adventist faith regarding the nonuse of tobacco, pork, tea, and coffee, the payment of tithe and offerings, refraining from the wearing of ornaments forbidden by the Bible, and from following the sinful ways of the world such as dancing, cardplaying, theatergoing, etc.
It is generally better not to urge these unpopular and self-denying practices upon an interested person until he actually begins to keep the Sabbath. Many souls have been lost to the Adventist movement because someone attempted to press upon them these unpopular items before they were able to bear them, or before they had commenced to keep the Sabbath. It should be recognized that obedience to the Sabbath truth as God's special test makes it easier for them to adopt other self-denying practices. Hence there is great strategic value in directing the evangelistic endeavor for decision regarding the Sabbath at the right time.
These three parts of God's call to humanity furnish the proper objectives for each stage of the evangelistic effort. Suppose an evangelist is planning for a twelve weeks' series of meetings. Some present the Sabbath truth during the fifth week, and the truth about the identity of Christ's remnant church for the last days and the call out of Babylon in the ninth week.
(These suggestions as to the length of the effort and when these particular truths shall be presented are only for the sake of making a concrete illustration of the relation of these three major steps of decision to a series of meetings. They are not intended as any guide or norm for these procedures. Such items must vary even with the same evangelist according to the different situations which he encounters.)
The evangelist builds his effort from beginning to end on the objective of leading men and women into these three successive steps of decision. During the first four weeks his supreme objective is to lead into the experience of conversion. This is to prepare his hearers to keep the Sabbath of Christ when it shall be made known to them. During the fifth to eighth weeks, he seeks to lead the people to begin the observance of the Sabbath. During the last four weeks his objective is to have men and women to unite with the remnant church.
This gives him the right objectives for his successive sermons. It directs him in the choice of subjects and the building of sermons for the accomplishment of these objectives. It gives guidance in how to construct the successive sermon appeals and the public calls. It shows him how to plan the aftermeetings and the personal work. Thus the evangelist is able to blend the entire series of meetings into these three steps, and to carry many of his hearers through these decision steps into the remnant church.
Such well-directed effort means much in securing results. "By well-directed, persevering effort there might be many, very many, more souls brought to a knowledge of the truth."— —Testimonies to Ministers, p. 149.
It means much to get hold of the right objectives, and then direct and concentrate our effort where they will accomplish the most for the ultimate desired results. This is just as necessary as for the fisherman to know how and when to pull his line.
A worker may make his own way harder or easier in securing decisions for the Sabbath by the kind of effort he puts forth to prepare the people to accept the Sabbath. If a man is not converted, he cannot keep the Sabbath. It takes conversion to create an attitude toward God where he can truly observe the Lord's day. A man must be holy before he can keep the Sabbath holy.
We have been told that we would see many more souls flocking to the standard of truth if the ministers preached Christ for the conversion of the soul in connection with the explanation of the doctrines of the faith.
"If, in connection with the theory of the truth, our ministers would dwell more upon practical godliness . . . we should see many more souls flocking to the standard of truth; their hearts would be touched by the pleadings of the cross of Christ, the infinite generosity and pity of Jesus in suffering for man."— Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 375. (Italics ours.)
Leading converted souls to keep the Sabbath is not only an essential basis for securing decisions for church membership but also for holding them in the church. If we work for a person's conversion as the essential initiatory step toward making him a Seventh-day Adventist, we are laying a foundation for gains which will abide. But if we do the work backwards, and get him into the church before he is converted, we are in a certain sense helping him to fall out by the way.
With the right objectives before us we can, under God, secure better results as we learn how to direct our efforts more and more in keeping with His divine plan.
