IF a colporteur secures no decisions, he eventually must quit. But it seems that some ministers can continue indefinitely without being concerned about getting decisions. But make no mistake about it—the minister's main business is getting decisions for His Lord—decisions from the unconverted for surrender to Christ—decisions from the converted for a closer walk with Christ.
The minister's commission from His Lord may be reduced to four words—go, teach, make disciples. One of our perils is that we are so busy doing so many other good things that we are losing track of our main business—getting decisions for our Lord.
Stay on Your Knees for the Answer
It is well if a preacher takes time at least once a week—or better once a day—in the silence of his study to ask himself, "Why am I a minister?" Then he should stay on his knees until he has the Lord's answer.
The answer will be akin to what the Lord told Paul. "I ... make thee a minister . . . to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God" (Acts 26:16-18).
The Lord told Paul that he was His minister for the one purpose of winning men and women from Satan's side to the Lord's side—for leading them from the way of death into the way of life. This is why the Lord makes men His ministers.
From the time this call came to Paul he gave himself completely over to this divine task. He went on through all the difficulties, persecutions, and sufferings. He was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision. May the same be true of you and me! This is what makes a minister's finest hour.
Only the Holy Spirit
This question—"How to secure decisions for Christ?"—requires a comprehensive, multiple answer because there are so many factors that have their bearing upon it. The basic answer is found in Zechariah 4:6: "Not by army, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (margin). All true decisions in evangelism can come only by the work of the Holy Spirit. This must be the controlling principle—the steering wheel and the motive power for the evangelistic chariot.
Barnabas Formula
It was only by divine insight that the author of the Book of Acts connected up the securing of many decisions with the man who has a right experience for himself, and is filled with the Spirit and faith. He wrote of Barnabas: "For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord" (Acts 11:24). May this be the case with every minister. When this is the case, how quickly the work will be finished!
Consider what the Holy Spirit does in this matter of decision. He draws to Christ. He convicts a person of the wrong things from which he must turn. He also convicts a person of the right things he needs to do —the right day to observe each week, the right way to be baptized, the right church of which he should be a member.
The Holy Spirit leads into all truth. He gives the right understanding of Scripture. He gives victory over sin. He creates desire to obey the truth and furnishes the power to obey. He enables Christ to live His life in the believer. He implants the love of God in the heart—as the only true source of obedience. He creates a new heart in the believer, so he can obey. He changes the be-liver into the image of his blessed Lord—ready for heaven. Thank God for this marvelous work of the Holy Spirit in decision.
Soak Them in Prayer
This is why the Holy Spirit and prayer must be given first place in all that we do in evangelism. Take your evangelism—the sermons, the Bible studies, and the personal talks—and soak them in prayer, the love of God, the cross of Christ, the grace of God, and the Spirit of Jesus until they have absorbed the maximum. Then things will happen when you preach and do personal work.
In addition to giving these divine agencies their rightful place, God expects us to call to our aid every principle of persuasion and soul winning. Decision or persuasion or acceptance are not by chance nor by accident. No. They are regulated by laws ordained of God, even as the processes we see taking place all around us in the world of nature.
Here is one of the main keys for opening the door of decision. In Testimonies, volume 9, page 221, we read:
There are great laws that govern the word of nature, and spiritual things are controlled by principles equally certain. The means for an end must be employed, if the desired results are to be attained.
The Scientific Approach
This matter of securing decisions is generally left in the realm of the trial-anderror method—a sort of hit-or-miss proposition that is largely miss. The majority of preachers seem to be unaware of the scientific approach. The preacher who does not know how and why decisions are formulated in the mind is certainly at a disadvantage in his preaching and in the evangelistic interview with an interested person. The know-how is indispensable for accomplishment in any line.
Knowing Where to Hit
History tells us that Emperor Franz Josef of Austria was riding in his carriage one day when the vehicle broke down in a small village. Several of the servants tried to fix it without success, for the trouble was in the underpart. A local artisan came along and volunteered to help.
"I am stranded," said the monarch. "I will pay you anything if you can repair this damage."
The man got a hammer and crawled under, hitting the structure three sharp blows. He reappeared with the encouraging remark, "Your majesty, you will find it all right now."
"What do I owe you?" asked the Emperor.
"Five hundred schillings," he replied.
"Why, that is outrageous," exclaimed Franz Josef. "The whole carriage is worth only 600 schillings. You must give me an itemized bill."
The fellow took a pencil and a piece of paper, wrote down some figures, and handed it to the great man.
"There you are, sire," he said.
The account read: "Three blows with the hammer—one schilling each. Knowing where to hit, 497 schillings."
He got his money immediately, without another word being said.
If you want your preaching, your Bible studies, your personal work to count for decisions, you must know how and where to strike in what you present. You must know what are the leading laws of the mind for making decisions, in order to construct and direct the sermons and personal work in the most favorable manner to influence the will for the desired decision.
Did the messenger of the Lord take this into account? Yes. We read:
In order to lead souls to Jesus there must be . . . a study of the human mind.—Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 67.
Robert Oliver, in his Psychology of Persuasive Speech, says:
He who would influence the judgments of men must first, foremost, and finally know the inmost recesses of their minds.—Page 6.
If the persuasive speaker, then, is to succeed in initiating, activating, and directing the responses of his audience, he must first of all seek to understand the reasons why decisions are formulated.Ibid., p. 14.
Charles Woolbert states:
To study persuasion intensively is to study human nature minutely. Without a guide to men's action probabilities, without appreciating and understanding their action grooves, a speaker or writer works in a vacuum and has no possible basis for insuring success. . . . More than half of success in winning men is in understanding how they work. p. 3.
Interplay of Desire and Conviction
First of all, we need to understand that every decision any person ever makes for any item stems out of the interplay of desire and conviction in his mind relative to this given item. This is true whether it is a decision to buy a certain suit of clothes in preference to any other, or to buy a certain make of car in preference to any other kind, or to marry a certain person in preference to any of the other religious bodies. day in preference to any other day, or to unite with the Advent Movement in preference to any of the hundreds of other religious bodies.
In every case, desire and conviction are what move the mind to make the decision. We know, of course, that in decision for Christ or for the Sabbath of Christ, and other religious decisions, the Holy Spirit works through the desire and conviction to bring the decision.
Some may think, "Why not leave the entire matter of decision to the Holy Spirit?" This is not according to God's plan. His plan is for the Holy Spirit to work through the efforts of His disciples to lead people to decision for His truth.
On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit led three thousand to make decisions. But would this have happened if Peter and the other disciples had gone away on a vacation that day? No. Would it have happened if they had sat in rocking chairs meditating? No. The Holy Spirit used them to arouse the desire and conviction in the minds of those who made their decision.
Take what is recorded of Peter's sermon on that day. Analyze it from the standpoint of the factors of desire and conviction he brought to bear on their minds. What do you find? His sermon was a most effective and appropriate interweaving of desire and conviction for producing decision in its interrelation to his hearers. This shows how the Holy Spirit works according to the laws of the mind in leading to decision. He works through the minister in choosing the right content for the sermon, and in the proper sequence of his material, so that it is effective in creating the desire and implanting the conviction that produces the desired decision. What a challenge this becomes to us in selecting the content of the sermon and arranging its sequence for creating desire and arousing conviction. Yes, we must know "where to hit."
(To be continued)
