Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 107, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 May 1914 — Dealing With Those Who Say “Not Now” [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Dealing With Those Who Say “Not Now”

By REV. HOWARD W. POPE

Superintendent of Men Moody Bible Institute. Chicago

TEXT—For he saith, behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. II Cor. 6:2.

Le? us consider first the cause and then the cure. Perhaps there Is some habit which must be abandoned, or some companion who must be dropped, or some unpleasant duty which must be done. It may be only the natural inertia of the soul which shrinks from grappling with a subject so serious, .but more

likely there is some secret sin which the man is unwilling to abandon. The real cause is that the man is not willing to surrender his will to God. He wants his own way, and! though he flatters himself that he win yield to God by and by, he is not wil* ling to do it now. Whatever the cause, the cure is always the same—God’s Word. Ask the man by whom he expects to be saved, if he is ever saved. He will answer, “God alone can save me.” Emphasize that thought by having him read aloud John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which sent me, draw him." Call his attention to

God’s Command. Acts 17:30, God “now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” After he has read the verse ask him .if God has a right to make such a command. Ask him if he, who is dependent bn God for salvation, has the audacity to refuse to obey this plain command. Show him the consequences of such a refusal. Proverbs 1:24, 25, 26, 28, “Because I have called, and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; I dlso will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me.” II Cor. 6:2, "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Show him that God’s time is the best time, and the only sure time. There is no certainty that he will be accepted tomorrow, but there is a positive promise for today. Make him realize that the habit,of putting off duty will grow constantly stronger, and that ten years from now he will be less disposed to repent than he is today. Show him that there must be some moment of definite surrender to God, and that no lapse of time will make that surrender any easier. Indeed, it will grow harder as the years pass by, and if he puts it off, the chances are that he will never do it. Proverbs 27:1, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Show him that in putting off repentance he is reckoning upon the continuance of life which is entirely uncertain. Remember that Satan is persuading him in his subtle way to wait a little longer. The old serpent does not dare suggest that he never repent, pr even that he put it off a long time, but he cunningly says, "Not now." Occasionally a soul may be won by taking the devil’s side of the argument, and pleading his cause so boldly that the absurdity of his reasoning is apparent. A friend of mine at a Northfield conference was asked to speak to a young man with whom many had labored in vpin. Meeting him alone one day, he said to him, “These people in the hotel are bothering you a good deal on the subject of religion, are they not?” Tlte man blushed and admitted that he had been somewhat annoyed. Then followed a conversation something like this: "You don’t need to give any thought to this matter for a long time yet. You had better put it off for at least a couple of years, don’t you think soT’ "I am not 4ure it would be well to put it off so long as that.” “Why not?” “Because I might not live two years.” “That is true. Well, put it off one year. That is safe enough, is it not?” “No, I don’t suppose it is entirely safe, for I might die in one year.” "Sure enough, you might. Well, put it off six months. Are you willing to do that?” The young' man hesitated? “Call it three months. Will you promise not to think of it for three months?” “I wouldn’t like to promise that.” “Why not?" “Bcfcause I might die in, three months.’ ' “Will you promise not to think of it for a week? That is safe enough, isn’t it?” "No. one can be sure ot'a Week, I suppose.’’ "You are certainly sure of one I day, aren’t you?” "No, not positively sure of even one day.”, "Well,” said my friend, “if you are not sure of even a' single day, hadn’t you better give your heart to the Lord now?” And be did, right then and there.