I love old books! When I'm out and about I love to stop at Antique Shops, Flea Markets, Book stores, and more, looking for old literature. The older the better, for modern books don't give you as much information as those of old.
My recent find was a book by R.A. Torrey from 1893, entitled, "How to Bring Men to Christ."
It his preface, the author writes: "This book is written because it seems to be needed. The author has been repeatedly requested by Ministers...Christian Workers, and his own students to put into a permanent and convenient shape the substance of what he has said at Conventions, Summer Schools, and in the classroom on personal work. The time has come to yield to these requests..."
When I read that I was stupified. He said that there was a NEED to write a book about how to bring men to Christ. Why would he say this? Didn't Christians in his day know how to bring men to Christ? I mean, shouldn't they know how to win souls? Obviously many of them didn't.
The author continues: "...Never before in the history of the Church were there so many who desire to win others to Christ... But while they desire to do this work, many do not know how. This little book aims to tell them."
What a confession! In 1893, the notable evangelist R. A. Torrey said that there were many that wanted to win souls, but very few that actually knew how to do so!
If that was true in 1893, I wonder what things are like today? Could there many in our day who also don't know how to win souls to Christ? Are there even any left who desire to see souls saved?
Obviously, we are in a time of apostasy. That means there are very few who have the truth. And, there are even fewer still who are preaching it.
The Independent Baptist Movement wants us to think that they are the last "bastillon of orthodoxy" and only they are holding up the truth amidst a day of darkness, as they are the only denomination left that hasn't fallen head-long into apostasy. But sadly, they too are apostate in many of their practices, especially in that of evangelism, as they are now preaching the same apostate Gospels that many other denominations are teaching. They are "BLOODLESS GOSPELS" which entirely omit the blood of Jesus Christ.
In short, there are more modern day "soul winners" that are damning souls then there are actually winning souls to Jesus.
This is undeniable, as the church is not growing, instead the world is growing wickeder, and there are less people in our churches than ever before. Yet, Independent Baptists, among almost all other denominations, are still bragging on how many souls they've won, and how big their "Mega-churches" are. But, if this is so, why aren't those souls they claim to have won changed? And, why aren't they in church? Why is it they are still in the world doing the same things they did before? And why isn't the world getting better if there are so many souls being won, as many denominations claim?
Let's look at what the Bible says and then at what modern day "soul winners" are saying.
In the Bible, the Gospel is found in 1 Cor. 15:1-4. There, it states:
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Here the scriptures tell us exactly what the Gospel is. It has five points, just as our Lord had five bleeding wounds. They are clearly seen in the above verses:
1. Christ died
2. On the cross
3. Was buried
4. Rose again
5. According to the Scriptures
This is the true Gospel, and one can't look at it without clearly understanding that it's Bloody. It's not about man and what he's supposed to do or not do. It's about Jesus, and what HE DID for man. He died a bloody death, crucified on a blood-stained cross, shedding every drop for our sins. He was then buried in the very same blood-soaked ground he died on, and then he rose again after three days to put his blood on the mercy-seat in heaven. And he did all of this, according to the scriptures, which prophecied of him in type with the death of sacrificial lambs mandated by the Old Testament law.
In short, the Gospel is BLOODY, and it's all about Jesus Christ and his SHED BLOOD for our sins to offer us forgiveness and eternal life, which we obtain not of works, but by simple FAITH in Jesus' bloody payment for our sins in our place!
But is this what is being taught today by modern soul winners? Unfortunately it is not. They quite often leave out the blood of Jesus in their presentation of what they call the "plan of salvation." Instead of stressing a sinner's need to trust Jesus' blood atonement for their sins on their behalf, most "soul winners" of today instruct Sinners to only do one of the following:
Repeat a Sinner's Prayer
Ask Jesus to Save them
Invite or Ask Jesus into their hearts
Beg Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins
Make their commitment to Christ
These are common sayings from many modern day "soul winners," but are they Biblical? Are any of these the true Gospel of salvation? According to the Bible, they most certainly are not! For they all have one thing in common, THEY LEAVE OUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST, and MAN'S FAITH IN IT ALONE FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF THEIR SINS. These then are BLOODLESS GOSPELS, devised by men to get sinners to DO something, rather than simply rest by faith in what Jesus has DONE for them 2000 years ago. They, then, are damnable heresies which twist the emphasis from Jesus to man himself. And they will save no one.
Oftentimes, so-called modern day soul winners will simply tell a Sinner to be saved all he has to do is "call" upon Jesus. They take Rom. 10:13 as their main text, (instead of 1 Cor. 15:1-4), and teach that this "calling" is only through prayer. But to do so, they wrestle the word of God to their own destruction. For in the scriptures, calling upon God for salvation is by FAITH, not by a vocal prayer alone. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT CALLING UPON GOD BIBLICALLY
This is important, as many of those today which brag about being "soul winners" don't make this distinction. In fact, they don't do much more than just quote Rom. 10:13, and then tell a Sinner they are saved by their prayer. This leads to a Sinner, if and when he doubts he is saved (which he will do, because he's not saved if he's not trusting the finished work of Christ alone), to simply repeat a prayer over again until he feels like God heard him. Sinners who believe they are saved by prayer never have assurance of salvation (something the scriptures say all true believers should have), so they often times pray the prayer again, many times every night of their lives before bed, hoping some how each mystical enchantation will give them eternal life. This leads to them doubting their salvation, as they never know for certain if they are saved. This is why they pray the prayer again, over and over.
And, many of those who do this are the very same people who claim to be "soul winners." It's all they know, and they go out instructing others to do what they have done. (Notice, it's all about what they have done, not about what Jesus did for them).
Maybe this is why in Chapter one of R. A. Torrey's book, "How to Bring Men to Christ," he says: "There are certain general conditions, the fulfilment of which is absolutely essential to real success in bringing men to Christ. These conditions, fortunately, are few and simple and such as any one can meet. First, The one who would have real success in bringing others to Christ must himself be a THOROUGHLY CONVERTED PERSON."
This is so important! For how can you get others saved if you are not saved yourself? Sadly, it appears that many of those who claim to be Christians today are not saved. They have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof (i.e. the BLOOD OF JESUS). They might be making "converts" but they are not truly, nor "thoroughly converted," for they oftentimes end up trusting in the prayer they SAID, instead of the blood God SHED.
If anyone doubt this, just ask anyone who claims to be a "Christian" what their testimony is, and you'll be surprised to see how very few will tell you they are trusting the finished work (i.e. the shed blood) of Jesus Christ. Instead, they'll say things like, "Well, I said the prayer," or "I asked Jesus into my heart," or "I commited my life to Him," or "I asked God to forgive me my sins."
But all of these things can be done by man without trusting in what Jesus did for him. Why do they all consistenly leave out the blood? And why are they trying to do something to be saved instead of simply resting by faith in what Jesus did for them?
I'm not saying that all those who claim to be "Christians" are lost. I'm not saying that. But I am saying that not all those who claim to be "Christians" are saved! There are countless millions of people who label themselves as Christians, that are religious but lost.
These people need the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, for they've been dooped into thinking they can obtain salvation by something they do; some religious ritual they must perform.
They truly need someone to show them how to come to Christ the right way-the Bible way-through FAITH in His bloody sacrifice as sufficient to forgive them of their sins.
Mr. Torrey wrote a good book, but he too left out the blood on many occasions in his illustrations and verses to present a Sinner in his many different ways to "come to Christ." However, he did redeem himself on page 34, when he said, "The way of salvation can be made plain by the use of Exod. 7:7,13, and 23. These verses show that it was the blood that made the Israelites safe and just so it is to-day the blood that makes us safe, and when God sees the blood he passes over us. The only thing for us to do is to get behind the blood. Then show the inquirer that the way to be behind the blood is by simple faith in Jesus Christ."
Have you come to the cross of Calvary and trusted the shed blood of Jesus Christ alone for salvation? Romans 3:25 says, "Whom God set forth to be a propitiation, THROUGH FAITH IN HIS BLOOD..." Is Jesus your propitiation? Have you trusted his blood for the forgiveness of your sins? If not, why not?
Or, are you one of those who prays the prayer every night, each time hoping somehow you'll get assurance and know you are on your way to heaven? If so, you can be saved and know it. You can be ASSURED of your place in heaven. Just trust the shed blood of Jesus.
It's clear that anyone can pray a prayer. But just because a man approaches God and speaks to him doesn't mean he's saved. Salvation is by heart-felt faith in the finished work of Christ. Any man who approaches God outside of believing upon him for salvation is not saved! Thus, they need to be brought to Christ. How? Through the Blood!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment