3. Those who say “I am waiting God’s time.” If one says this, ask him if he will accept Christ in God’s time if you will show him when God’s time is. Then turn to 2 Cor. vi. 2, or Heb. iii. 15.
4. Those who say “I am too young,” or “I want to wait until I am older.” Ecc. xii. 1, is an all–sufficient answer to such. Matt. xix. 14, and xviii. 3, are also good passages to use as they show that youth is the best time to come to Christ and that all must become children, even if they are old, before they can enter into the kingdom of Heaven. It is often times wise in dealing with persons who wish to put off a decision until some time in the future to use the passages given for “[The Indifferent],” until such a deep impression is made of their need of Christ that they will not be willing to postpone accepting Christ.
In dealing with those under “[1]” above, it is best to use only one passage and drive that home by constant repetition. One night I was dealing with a man who was quite interested but who kept saying “I cannot decide to–night.” I quoted Prov. xxix. 1. To every answer he made I would come back to this passage. I must have repeated it a great many times in the course of the talk until the man was made to feel not only his need of Christ but the danger of delaying and the necessity of a prompt decision. He tried to get away from the passage but I held him to this one point. The passage lingered with him and it was emphasized by the providence of God; for that very night he was assaulted and quite seriously injured, and he came the next night with his head bandaged and accepted Christ. The pounding which he received from his assailant would probably have done him little good if the text of scripture had not been pounded into his mind.
CHAPTER XI.
DEALING WITH THE WILLFUL AND THE DELUDED
1. The Willful
There are several varieties of the Willful. There are those for example who say “I do not wish you to talk to me.” In such a case it is usually best to give some pointed passage of scripture and let it talk for itself and then leave the person alone to reflect upon it. Romans vi. 23; Heb. x. 28, 29; Heb. xii. 25; Mark xvi. 16; Prov. xxix. 1, and Prov. i. 24–33, are passages which are good for this purpose.
Then there are those who say “I cannot forgive.” Matt. vi. 15 and xviii. 23–35, are good to use as showing that they must forgive or be lost. Phil. iv. 13, and Ezek. xxxvi. 26, will show them how they can forgive. There are a great many people who are kept from Christ by an unforgiving spirit. Some times this difficulty can be removed by getting the person to kneel in prayer and ask God to take away their unforgiving spirit. I once reasoned a long time with an inquirer who was under deep conviction, but was held back from accepting Christ by a hatred in her heart toward some one who had wronged her. She kept insisting that she could not forgive. Finally I said, “let us get down and tell God about this matter.” To this she consented and scarcely had we knelt when she burst into a flood of tears, and the difficulty was removed and she accepted Christ immediately.
There are those again who say “I love the world too much.” Mark viii. 36, is the great text to use with this class. Luke xiv. 33, will show the absolute necessity that the world be given up. Luke xii. 16–20; 1 Jno. ii. 15, 16, 17, will show the folly of holding on to the world and Ps. lxxxiv. 11, Romans viii. 32, will show that the Lord will hold back no good thing from them.
There are those who say “I cannot acknowledge a wrong that I have done.” Prov. xxviii. 13, will show the wretchedness and woe that is sure to follow unless the wrong is acknowledged. Others will say “I do not want to make a public confession.” Romans x. 10; Matt. x. 32, 33, will show that God will accept nothing else. Mark viii. 38; Jno. xii. 42, 43, and Prov. xxix. 25, will show the peril of not making it. There are those who say “I want to have my own way.” Is. lv. 8–9, will show how much better God’s way is, and Prov. xiv. 12, shows the consequences of having our own way. Finally there are those who say “I neither accept Christ nor reject Him.” Matt. xii. 30, will show that they must do one or the other. This verse has been used to the conviction of a great many.
2. The Deluded