Recently, in New York City, I was presenting the Gospel to a man who had just admitted being an adulterer. I pleaded with him to confess it to God and ask His forgiveness. He knew he needed to, but he still would not. I warned him that he was like a man walking toward the edge of a cliff; not knowing the road was about to end. At the end of that road, he would meet the cliff of eternity, and finally the Judgment Seat of God. As he turned to go back to his job near Wall Street sullen and sober-spirited, I gave him a Gospel tract and a final urging to confess his sins to God and place his faith in Christ.
The scenario I have described may be familiar to you. As obedient Christians, we plead with people to turn from their sins and place their faith in Christ for the forgiveness of those sins. But what if you never have anyone receive Christ after you share the Gospel with him or her? What does it mean if your personal evangelism is seemingly fruitless despite your attempts?
I struggled with this for years as a new Christian. I would plead with my friends and others I came into contact with. Much to my disappointment, however, no one ever professed Christ. Through this, God began to teach me very valuable lessons about His sovereignty in salvation, ones that I would take to the pulpit as well.
The first thing I learned is that we will only be held accountable for our faithfulness to witness and preach, not to convert. As long as I explain the Gospel clearly, urge people to place their faith in Christ, and warn them of the dangers for those who do not, I have been faithful in God’s eyes. The results of my witnessing and preaching are not my responsibility.
Furthermore, I began to trust more in the work of the Holy Spirit in people’s lives to bring them to Christ. I could picture the person mulling over my words, unable to push them out of his or her mind. I knew that the Holy Spirit could prick the conscience and convict of the truthfulness of the Gospel, bringing the person to faith in Christ. I came to understand that the process of salvation often takes a long period of time. Like a farmer, there is a period of sowing of seeds (i.e., witnessing and preaching), watering (through circumstances in life), until finally there can be a harvest (salvation). It is the Holy Spirit who sees people through this process. We are only workers in the field.
The whole process of conversion is a work of God. Jesus said, “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” (John 6:44). John wrote, “But as many as received Him (i.e., Christ), to them He gave the right to become children of God…who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (emphasis added, John 1:12-13). We must trust in the sovereignty of God in salvation. If we do not, there is only discouragement and disillusionment to come.
In the case of this New York businessman, he may not have received Christ standing there with me, but perhaps he went back to his office – his heart deeply impacted by the Gospel. Perhaps he dropped to his knees beside his desk and prayed to receive Christ. I may never know. But there is another story from the streets of New York City. A group of us were near Times Square, and there were several people in the streets selling comedy-club tickets. We stopped to talk to them. That is when I met Joel.
After I spoke for a few moments with him, Joel acknowledged that he was guilty of immorality. I went on to present the Gospel to him. Right there, in the middle of the sidewalk, Joel bowed his head and confessed his sin to God, out loud. He then prayed to receive Christ as his Savior. Joel’s heart was ripe for the harvest. God had done the work to prepare him. It was my privilege to lead him to Christ. Let us trust God to save souls. We just need to be faithful to do our part of sharing the Gospel.