sheep.” “What are you then?” “Lost.” Then ask him what the Lord has done with his sin, and hold him to that point until he sees the truth of the verse, that God has laid his sin on Jesus Christ. Now, he is in a position for you to put to him the direct question: “Will you accept this Saviour upon whom the Lord has laid your sin?” Still another verse to use is Psalms cxxx. 3. When the verse has been read, ask him, “If the Lord marked iniquities could you stand?” In dealing with this class of men I use Matthew xxii. 37, 38 more frequently than any other passage of Scripture. Before having the person read the verse, it is well to ask him, “Do you know that you have committed the greatest sin that a man can commit?” In all probability he will answer, “No, I have not.” Then ask him what he thinks the greatest sin a man can commit. When he has answered, say to him, Now let us see what God considers the greatest sin. Read the verses and ask him, “What is the first and greatest of the commandments?” Then ask him, “What then is the greatest sin?” He will soon answer that the violation of the first and greatest of the commandments must be the greatest sin. Ask him if he has kept that commandment and when he confesses, as sooner or later he must, that he has not, ask him of what he is guilty in the sight of God, and hold him to that point until he admits that he is guilty of committing the greatest sin that a man can commit. An illustration from life may help to make the use of this verse clear. I was dealing with a very bright young man who evidently had no deep sense of sin nor of his need of a Saviour. In fact when I asked if he was a Christian he said promptly that he always had been; but there was something in his manner that showed that he had no clear understanding of what it meant to be a Christian. I then asked if he had been born again and he did not even understand what I was talking about. I next asked if he knew he had committed the greatest sin that a man could possibly commit and he at once answered, “No, I never did in my life.” I asked what he considered the greatest sin, and he replied “murder.” I took my Bible and opened it to Matthew xxii. 37, 38, and asked him to read the verses, which he did. I then asked him, “If this is the first and greatest commandment, what must be the greatest sin?” He answered, “I suppose the breaking of that commandment.” I then asked if he had always kept that commandment, if he had always loved God with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his mind. If he had always put God first in everything. He replied that he had not. I then asked him, “Of what then are you guilty?” The Spirit of God carried the text home and with the greatest earnestness he replied, “I have committed the greatest sin that a man can commit, but I never saw it before in my life.” Another verse that can be used with effect is John viii. 34. After the man has read the verse, “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin,” ask him “what is one who commits sin?” Then ask him if he commits sin. Then put to him the direct question, “What are you then,” and hold him to it until he says “the servant of sin.” Then ask him if he does not desire to be delivered from that awful bondage. Hold him to this point until he sees his need of Jesus Christ as a Deliverer from the slavery of sin. The Holy Spirit has used Isaiah lvii. 21 to the salvation of many men who have been indifferent to the claims of the Gospel. After the verse, “There is no peace saith my God to the wicked,” has been read slowly, thoughtfully, and earnestly, ask him who it is that says this. Then ask him if it is true; then ask him if it is true in his case. “Have you peace?” One night a careless young man was going out of one of our tents in Chicago and as he passed by me I took him by the hand and said to him, “You need the Saviour.” He wanted to know why I thought so. I replied, “Because you have no peace.” He said, “Yes I have.” “No you have not.” He then asked me how I knew that. I told him God said so and quoted the above passage. He tried to laugh it off and say the verse was not true in his case. Then he became angry and went out of the tent in a rage, but the next night I saw him kneeling with one of our workers in prayer and when he arose from his knees, the worker came over and said he wished to speak with me. As I approached him he held out his hand and said, “I wanted to beg your pardon for what I said last night; what you said was true, I didn’t have peace.” I asked him if he had now accepted the Saviour. He said he had.
Galatians iii. 10 is a verse which we very frequently use in our work in dealing with the Indifferent. After the one with whom you are dealing has read the verse, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” ask him the question, “What is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them?” When he answers, “Cursed,” ask him if he has continued in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them and when he replies, “No, I have not,” put to him the direct question, “What are you then?” and hold him to that point until he says, “I am under the curse.” In very many cases the inquirer will be ready at once to be led to the thirteenth verse of the same chapter which shows how he may be saved from that curse under which he rests. Romans vi. 23 can often be used with good effect. “For the wages of sin is death.” Ask “what are the wages of sin?” Then, “who earns those wages?” Then, “Are you a sinner?” “What wages then have you earned?” “Do you wish to take your wages?” John iii. 36 is a verse which can be used in a similar way. Ask the question, “Upon whom is it that the wrath of God abides?” Then, “Do you believe on the Son?” “What then abides upon you?” Then put the decisive question, “Are you willing to go away with the wrath of God abiding upon you?” 2 Thes. i. 7–9, and John viii. 24; Rev. xx. 15; xxi. 8; xiv. 10–11, set forth in a most impressive way the awful consequences of sin. If these verses are used they should be read with the deepest earnestness and solemnity and dwelt upon until the person with whom you are dealing realizes their terrible import.
There is another way to arouse a man from his indifference, and that is by showing what Jesus has done for him. I have found Isaiah liii. 5–6 more effectual for this purpose than any other passage in the Bible. An incident from life will illustrate its use. A lady had asked prayers for her daughter, a young woman about twenty years of age. At the close of the services I stepped up to the daughter and asked her if she would not accept Jesus Christ as her Saviour at once. She stamped her foot in anger and said, “My mother should have known better than to do that; she knows it will only make me worse.” I asked her if she would not sit down for a few minutes and as soon as we were seated I opened my Bible to this passage and began to read, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” I made no comment upon the verses whatever, but the Spirit of God carried them home and tears began to roll down the cheeks of the young woman. She did not come out as a Christian that night but did shortly afterward. It is well in using these verses, whenever it is possible, to get the inquirer to change the pronoun from the plural to the singular. “He was wounded for my transgressions; he was bruised for my iniquities, etc.” John iii. 16 can be used in a similar way. I was talking one night to one who was apparently most indifferent and hardened. She told me the story of her sin, with seemingly very little sense of shame, and when I urged her to accept Christ, she simply refused. I put a Bible in her hands and asked her to read this verse. She began to read, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” and before she had finished reading the verse she had broken into tears, softened by the thought of God’s wondrous love to her. First Peter ii. 24 is a verse of similar character. Ask the inquirer whose sins they were that Jesus bore in his own body on the tree, and hold him to it until he says, “My sins.” 1 Peter i. 18–19; Luke xxii. 44; Matt. xxvii. 46, are useful as bringing out in detail what Christ has suffered for us.
There is still another way to arouse indifferent persons, and that is by showing them that the one damning sin is that of which they themselves are guilty—the sin of rejecting Jesus Christ. Heb. x. 28–29 is very effective for this purpose. John xvi. 9; iii. 18, 19, 20, and Acts ii. 36 can also be used.
Oftentimes you will meet one who is not willing to sit down and let you deal with him in this deliberate way. In that case the only thing to do is to look up to God for guidance and power and give him some pointed verse in great earnestness, such for example as Heb. x. 28–29; Romans vi. 23; John iii. 36; Isaiah lvii. 21, and leave it for the Spirit of God to carry the truth home to his heart. A passing