2. Those who complain of the bible. Men will often times say, “The Bible is contradictory and absurd;” or “the Bible seems foolish to me.” Two classes of passages can be used in dealing with such inquirers.
a. 1 Cor. i. 18; ii. 14; 2 Cor. iv. 3–4; Dan. xii. 10; Rom. xi. 33, 34 and in extreme cases 2 Thes. ii. 10, 11, 12.
b. Jno. vii. 17; Ps. xxv. 14; Matt. xi. 25, (see remarks under [Serious Minded Skeptics] and [Skeptics who are Triflers].) Sometimes the best thing to do with a man who says the Bible is full of contradictions, is to hand him your Bible and ask him to show you one. In most cases he will not attempt to do it; as people who complain about the Bible, as a rule know nothing about its contents. One day a man was brought to me to deal with and when I asked him why he was not a Christian he replied, “The Bible is full of contradictions.” I at once asked him to show me one. “Oh!” he said, “it’s full of them.” I said, “If it is full of them you ought to be able to show me one.” He said, “Well, there is one in Psalms.” I said, “Show it to me.” He commenced looking in the back of the New Testament for the book of Psalms. I said, “You are not looking in the right part of the Bible for Psalms. Let me find it for you.” I found him the book of Psalms and handed it to him. After fumbling around he said, “I could find it, if I had my own Bible here.” “Well,” I said, “Will you bring your Bible to–night?” He promised he would and agreed to meet me at a certain place in the church. The appointed hour came, but he did not. Some months afterwards in another series of meetings in the same church one of the workers stopped me and said, “Here’s a man I wish you would deal with; he is a skeptic.” I looked at him and recognized him as the same man. “Oh!” I said, “you are the man that lied to me here;” and with much confusion he admitted that he was, but he was still playing his old game of saying that the Bible was full of contradictions. In nine cases out of ten, men who say this, know nothing about the Bible, and when you ask them to show you a contradiction in the Bible they are filled with confusion.
3. Those who complain of God’s way of Salvation.
A great many men will say, “I do not see why God could not save men in some other way than by the death of His son.” Is. lv. 8, 9, Romans xi. 33 are useful in dealing with such. I have used Romans ix. 20 with effect with men of this sort. A young student said to me one night, when I asked why he was not a Christian, that he did not see why it was necessary for Christ to die for him; why God did not save him in some other way. I opened my Bible and read to him Romans ix. 20, and put the question right to him, “Who art thou that repliest against God?” and then said to him, “Do you realize what you are doing, that you are condemning God?” The young man very much confused said “I did not mean to do that.” “Well,” I said; “that is what you are doing.” “If that is so,” he replied, “I will take it back.” A good way to do with such men is to show them by the use of passages given under the chapter “[Dealing with the Indifferent]” that they are lost sinners. When any one is led to see this, God’s way of salvation will approve itself as just the thing.
4. Those who complain of Christians. Very frequently when we try to persuade men to accept Christ as their Saviour, they reply; “There are too many hypocrites in church.” Romans xiv. 4 and 12, especially the latter verse, are exceedingly effective in dealing with such.
Romans ii. 1, and Matt. vii. 1–5, are also excellent. Jno. xxi. 21, 22 is useful in showing the objector that he is solely responsible for his own relation to Christ and that what others do is none of his affairs. Sometimes the inquirer will complain of the way Christian people have treated him. In such a case turn the attention of the inquirer from the way in which Christian people have treated him to the way in which God has treated him. For this purpose use Jer. ii. 5; Is. liii. 5; Romans v. 6–8. Then ask him if the fact that Christians have treated him badly is any excuse for his treatment of a Heavenly Father who has treated him so well. One night turning to an aged man I asked him if he was a Christian. He replied that he was not, that he was a back–slider. I asked him why he back–slid. He replied that Christian people had treated him badly. I opened my Bible and read Jer. ii. 5, to him, “Thus saith the Lord, what iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity and are become vain?” I said, “Did you find any iniquity in God? Did God not use you well?” With a good deal of feeling the man admitted that God had not treated him badly and I held him right to this point of God’s treatment of him, and not man’s treatment, and his treatment of God. Matt. xviii. 23–35; Eph. iv. 30–32; Matt. vi. 14–15, are also useful as showing the absolute necessity of our forgiving men.
CHAPTER X.
DEALING WITH THOSE WHO WISH TO PUT OFF A DECISION UNTIL SOME OTHER TIME
1. There are several classes of those who wish to put off a decision. One of the largest is composed of those who say “I want to wait,” or “Not to–night,” or “I will think about it,” or “I will come to–morrow night,” or some such thing. Use Is. lv. 6. The inquirer having read the passage, ask him when it is that he is to seek the Lord, and when he answers “While he may be found,” ask him when that is and then drive it home. Ask him if he is sure that he can find Him to–morrow if he does not seek Him to–day. Or you can use Prov. xxix. 1. It is well after he has read this verse to ask the one with whom you are dealing what becomes of the one who “being often reproved hardeneth his neck” and when he answers “He shall be destroyed,” ask him how he shall be destroyed, and when he answers “Suddenly,” ask him if he is willing to run the risk. Or you can use Matt. xxv. 10–12. Ask him who it was that went into the marriage? and when he answers “They that were ready” ask him if he is ready. Then ask him what happened after those who were ready went in. Then ask him where “those who were not ready” were. Then put it to him, “Are you willing to be on the out–side?” Or you can use Luke xii. 19, 20. Ask the inquirer for how long a time this man thought he had made provision. Then ask him: “If God should call you to–night would you be ready?” Matt. xxiv. 44, is especially effective in dealing with those who say “I am not ready.” 1 Kings xviii. 21, can be used with good effect. An excellent way to use this verse is by asking the person whether he would be willing to wait a year and not have an opportunity under any circumstances, no matter what came up, of accepting Christ. When he answers, “No, I might die within a year,” ask him if he would be willing to wait a month. Then bring it down to a week and finally to a day, and ask him if he would like God and the Holy Spirit and all Christians to leave him alone for a day and he not have an opportunity, under any circumstances of accepting Christ? Almost any thoughtful person will say, “No.” Then tell him that if that is the case he had better accept Christ at once. Dr. Chalmers was the first one to use this method and it has been followed by many others with great success. Prov. xxvii. 1; James iv. 13, 14; Job. xxxvi. 18; Luke xiii. 24–28; xii. 19, 20; John viii. 21; xii. 35; vii. 33–34, can also be used with this class.
2. Those who say “I must get fixed in business first, then I will become a Christian,” or “I must do something else first.” Matt. vi. 33, is the great passage to use in such cases; for it shows that we must seek the kingdom of God first.