Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 66, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 March 1914 — How to Help Inquirers—The Fearful [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

How to Help Inquirers— The Fearful

Br REV. HOWARD W. POPE

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TEXT—"Look unto nos ’and:, be tb saved.”—lsaiah 45:22.

A very common excuse which is met in Christian work ,is this; 4 ‘I am afraid E cannot hold out” In dealing with any case it is well to dem o n strata first: the cause, and then look for a cure. There may be many causes, but whatever they are, there is always a sure cure in the Word of God. In

this case It is evident that the cause of the man’s fear is this: He is thinking of saving himself, Instead of committing the case to Christ. He means to try a little harder than ever before to do good, but he has failed so often in the past that he has little Confidence that he will succeed any better in the future. And the man ia right. He certainly will fall If he relies upon his own efforts to lead a Christian life. The remedy in this case is to taka the man’s attention away from himself, and fix it upon the Lord Jesus, who alone can save him. Say to him, “My dear friend, the question is not whether you can hold out, but whether or not God is able to save you. Let us see what he says about it." Opening your Bible ask him to read aloud Hebrews 7:25. “Wherefore he Is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” After he has read it, say to him, “If God is able to save to the uttermost, there Is certainly some* hope for you. With an ‘uttermost’ salvation such as Christ offers, there are no hopeless cases, do you see?” “Yes, it does look a little more hope-fnl.-J must confess, but l am afraid I should fail, if I started in the Christian life. My bump of persistence is not very prominent, and I am easily discouraged.” “That may be true, but do you know this ‘uttermost’ Savior has made provision also to keep you from falling? Read what he says In Jude 24.” “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” “Isn’t that splendid? ’Able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless.’ Blameless would mean a great deal, but without fault means much more. And that Is the condition In which Christ promises that you shall be when he presents you before the Father. (And the Joy referred to in that verse is not the Joy of the sinner, though that will be unspeakable, but the joy of the Savior as he looks with actual pride upon his finished work. It doesn't seem possible, does It, that you can be saved so completely, and made so perfect and beautiful, that the Lord Jesus will put yoa on exhibition as a sample of his handiwork, with actual pride and Joy? And yet that is precisely what he says he can do, and he certainly ought to know.) Now does not your case seem hopeful, looking at it from God’s standpoint?” “Yes, I must admit that it does, but you see my case is peculiar. I had a grandfather who was a drunkard, and I have inherited from him an appetite for liquor. Occasionally an awful craving for strong drink comes upon me with Irresistible power, and down I go before it. That is the real cause of my apprehension. If it were not for that I think I could be saved, but you see my case is peculiar.” “Yes, I see your case is peculiar, but do you know' we have a peculiar Savior? In the first place, he was acquainted with that grandfather of yours, and he knows all about that appetite. In the second place, he has made ample provision for It in the Book. Indeed, he has provided a special promise for just suqh cases. Read If you will 1 Corinthians 10:13, ‘God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it’ If the man is sincere In his desire to be a Christian there is only one alternative, and usually he will accept it. If these verses do not lead a person to a decision I have sometimes tried this method: "You are lost now, anyway, are you not?” “Yes, I am lost; now.” “Well, if you should try the Christian life and fail, you could not be any worse off than you are now, could you?” “No.” “But if you should succeed you would, he a great deal better off, would yoa not?” “Certainly." “Then It looks to me as if you had everything to win and nothing to lose by starting, is that not so?" “Yea, but I never thought of that before." "Will you then kneel right,down hers and commit the keeping of your soul to Christ?” “I will.” I have Beldom found a person whc could not be convinced by such simple reasoning, if they honestly desired to be a Christian.