Evangelistic Crusades

by Doodson, A. T. | Category: For Young Believers | Mar 1954

There is no doubt at all that the Lord, who yielded up His life on the Cross for the sins of men, still longs for men to be saved. That tender heart of His which caused Him to weep over the people of Jerusalem has in no way lost its tenderness, nor will it have done so in that day when He comes on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Proverbs say that a false balance is an abomination to the LORD, and, true as it is in relation to weights and measures of commerce, it is far more true in relation to spiritual things. Young people will find that this maxim will help them in many of the problems of life. God holds the scales of justice, and His judgement will be based on all the facts. Sentiment abhors the thought of men being doomed to hell, but sentiment without regard to other principles can be, and often is, a most deadly thing. Sentiment in its proper place is a lovely thing and finds expression in love to all, but if it is exercised at the expense of the principles laid down in the Word of God it will act as a cancer acts in the human body, living to itself at the cost of death t9 its host.

Sentiment will say that we should get men saved somehow or other, whatever such men do afterwards. That was not the way of the Lord, for His death on the Cross could have been left at that, without further instruction from Him, but in Resurrection He spent forty days carefully teaching His disciples things concerning the Kingdom of God. The converts of those disciples were not to be as sheep without shepherds, to be at the mercy of every wolf in the spiritual sphere, nor were they given alternative methods of pleasing the Lord.

I have been reading a booklet sent to me regarding a great evangelistic campaign, conducted by men who sincerely accept Christ as their Saviour, own His Deity and His virgin birth, fervent in spirit and successful in their work, so far as it goes, in that very many men and women have been led to see their need of a Saviour. Far be it from any of us to be sad about this, for the world is in a woeful and sinful condition surpassing any such state in past centuries. There were many men besides the apostles and other disciples who preached Christ, some of them from poor motives, but Paul rejoiced that in every way Christ was proclaimed (see Philippians 1.14-18).

That did not mean that he gave up one single principle that he knew to be right, given by the Lord Himself, that he might swell the work of conversion by joining with all those who were so preaching Christ.

I hope that my young friends will bear patiently with me if I express a few thoughts about this matter. It is natural to desire to see abundant results for our preaching of the Word of God, and we may wonder how it is that so many evangelistic crusades seem to have wonderful results, but let us remember that when Paul wrote to the Philippians he was in bonds, and before he finished his course he knew what it meant to see multitudes of saints forsaking the Way. All in Asia, he wrote on one occasion, had forsaken him. No doubt some would have said to him that he should yield some principles, and make an easier path for disciples to walk in, that there might be bigger assemblies and ecclesiastical prosperity. It is not only in our day that men have esteemed "big business."

You may feel that this does not help you in your desire to understand what the Lord would have you do in this day, and perhaps you may think that this day cannot be judged by past days. Now I think that matters of this kind can be examined by very simple methods which I have found of great value, myself. It is simplest to explain what I mean, and to enlist your interest, by telling you of three notices I saw in the middle of the United States, many years ago. As my friend was driving round a block of buildings I saw first of all a poster outside a church (so called), and it said simply, " Come, the Lord is here." Thought is quick, and I said to myself that it is indeed a lovely thing for any to be so assured that they could affirm that truly the Lord was in their midst. I would, of course, have wanted something more than a statement such as was made, for I knew from the Scriptures some things that the Lord would demand before such a statement could be made.

But as we turned the corner, I saw another church notice, saying, "Come, and bring the Lord with you." I had to comment on this strange juxtaposition. I asked, "Must one go to that first church and bring the Lord to this other church?" Believe me, beloved disciples, that I felt that day I had received a lesson of incalculable value, but strangely enough, in that very same town, I had the lesson reinforced, for outside the boundary there was a large noticeboard at the side of the road, and this said, "Come to church in..." Underneath it was a list of churches, among which were "Baptist, Christian, Episcopal, Christian Science, Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic." Evidently all these had agreed to collective action in this way. Sentiment would say that it was a good thing to encourage people to go to church, any one of them being better than nothing, but my mind was running on what has been stated above as to whether the Lord was in a particular church or whether one had to take the Lord with one to the church chosen by the man, not by the Lord.

I wonder if you have grasped the lesson that came so powerfully to me? Do I take the Lord with me wheresoever I choose to go, or is it that He takes me where He would have me go? If there had been seven of us reading that last notice-board and if we had gone our separate ways to one or other of the churches named, would the Lord have gone with each of us? Surely you can answer such a question for yourself.

Now in the booklet I have been reading, while there are many nice things and a good deal of evidence of evangelical zeal, there are some things which caused me to recall the above incidents. The evangelist says in one place, "I believe if a man is going to become a full-grown Christian he will be faithful in the Christian assembly, whatever place it may be." Apart from the last five words the sentiment is commendable if we are sure as to the meaning of the word "faithful." To what is he to be faithful? What does Paul say?

Thanks be to God, that ... ye became obedient to that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered" (Romans 6. 17). There was a pattern given through the apostles, and it was unique. It was not Paul that delivered them to his form of teaching. But when we turn again to the booklet, we read as to the procedure concerning those converted. The convert is passed to a "counsellor," who forwards to an office all information concerning him, "age groups, church preference," and so on. A card is sent to the church of his preference, but if he has none such then the card is sent to a committee of ministers, who choose a "church geographically close to him or one that they consider he could fit into." He is passed to that church, and receives letters from the evangelical organization, after which we read, "and then we start him on a Bible study programme." Surely that man is delivered to a form of teaching by men! Can we picture a committee of men holding different forms of teaching deciding which form will suit the convert? It is sad to note the last thing of all; it is only after all this that then the convert is introduced to the study of the Bible, which should be his only guide to the form of teaching referred to by Paul.

Where is the Lord in all this? Men are deepening sectarian foundations and putting conversion and religion and churches out of all relationship to the simple elements of the teaching of the Scriptures. I cannot believe for one moment that the Lord condones things like this. I could not have part in it, however many be the conversions made, for to do so would be to deny many of the truths I have learned from the Scriptures. From very early times the Fellowship has discerned that the evangelist has to do something more than to bring about conversions, disciples have to be made, baptism is enjoined before there can be any thought of reception into a church. Thus teaching follows conversion, and all is done in the hope that the one who has been reached will accept the Lord's leading.

I know, beloved young people, that separation is sometimes hard, but I do not speak apologetically about it. I would rather rejoice in it, as Moses in his day

"Wherein now shall it be known that I have found grace in Thy sight, I and Thy people; is it not in that Thou goest with us, so that we be separated, I and Thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth?" (Exodus 33.16).

There were in that day, very many round about the people of God, men and women living in sin and ignorance, but principles had to be set above sentiment. Those people were the custodians of the oracles of God, and I deem it to be the special responsibility of those called into the Churches of God, the Fellowship of His Son, to cherish the Word of God and to let principles of assembly life and service for God be exemplified in our lives. There is, of course, always a price to be paid : "Buy the truth, and sell it not."

Doodson, A. T. | Mar 1954
For Young Believers