W.A. Criswell was for many
years the pastor at First Baptist in Dallas, TX. He once told a story about
being asked by a lady in the church to come make a home visit. The woman was
burdened for her husband who wouldn’t dare darken the threshold of a church and
had a heart harder than steel. Criswell went, and they enjoyed the wonderful
dinner she prepared. After the meal, Criswell talked with her husband for hours
about giving his life to Christ. But the man resisted and said, “No.” Criswell
went home a little discouraged, but at least he planted a seed.
The next Sunday, after preaching his message Criswell gave the normal invitation. Down the aisle came a boy. He told the preacher he was there to make a public profession of faith, in fact he had already given his life to Jesus and wanted to be baptized. Criswell asked the youngster, “When exactly did you repent of your sins?” The boy said, “Last Thursday night.” Criswell asked again, “Well sonny, who helped you understand the Gospel?” The boy looked puzzled, “You did sir.” Criswell corrected him, “No son, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. Last Thursday I was visiting with some friends.”
Then the boy explained, “I know, that was my home. I was out playing ball with friends while you were eating. When I came home you were already talking to my daddy. My mother had sent me to my room while you were talking to him. But the whole time I was listening from my room. I heard everything you said. Even though my daddy didn’t want Jesus, I did. I knelt by my bed, bowed my head and prayed to Jesus that he would forgive me that night.”[i]
What a powerful reminder of Isaiah 55:11, “My word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” In the coming year there will be several opportunities for you to share your witness with someone. In the moment will you step forward and share, or slink back in silence?
We can be confident that when we do share Christ there is no loss and nothing is wasted. God will honor His word, whether we see it or not. When we scatter Gospel seed we know not where some of it will land. I am challenged by what Spurgeon in one of his classic sermons:
“Sow again and again, for many are the foes of the wheat, and if you do not repeat your sowing you may never see a harvest. The seed must be sown everywhere, too, for there are no choice corners of the world that you can afford to leave alone, in the hope that they will be self-productive. You may not leave the rich and intelligent under the notion that surely the gospel will be found among them, for it is not so: the pride of life leads them away from God. You may not leave the poor and illiterate, and say, “Surely they will by themselves feel their need of Christ.” Not so: they will sink from degradation to degradation unless you lift them up with the gospel. No tribe of man, no particular constitution of the human mind, may be neglected by us, but everywhere we must preach the word, in season and out of season.”[ii] Amen.
-DM
[i]
William M. Templeton, Understanding Acts, vol. 1 (2012), p.113.
[ii]
C.H. Spurgeon, “What The Farm Labourers Can Do And What They Cannot Do,” A
Sermon Delivered On Sunday Morning, June 12, 1881 at The Metropolitan
Tabernacle <https://answersingenesis.org/education/spurgeon-sermons/1603-what-the-farm-labourers-can-do-and-what-they-cannot-do/>
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