Seed Time, or Harvest?

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.... In our previous posting we discussed the need for purity in a gospel presentation, because the gospel will not be able to save anyone if it is mixed with worldly wisdom such as philosophy or psychology (1 Corinthians 1:17). But someone will object to this and say, "That’s not fair to the listener! The evangelist may have known better, but how was the listener supposed to know? At least they were trying, which shows that they wanted to get saved!"

.... Neither is this point lost on the Lord, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). So how would Jesus handle a situation like this?

.... The Bible contains an example in the life of a man named Nicodemus. He came to Jesus on the basis of reason and logic, rather than a heartfelt belief in the gospel, and he came by night because he was apprehensive. Faith was obviously lacking in his appraoch and Jesus did not accept this, but neither did He abandon him. Instead, He corrected the situation and provided an example for the rest of us, including some literal applications of the spiritual truths involved:

.... "There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."

(John 3:1-2)

.... Nicodemus came to Jesus (both literally and spiritually) with a confession in his mouth. He and some friends had reasoned it out: "We know that this man comes from God and here are our reasons; here are the reasons – and who can blame us?" Like Pascal, they had added things up. And in their heads, they had actually gotten it right! But their hearts were still not there, and faith requires a heartfelt response. Also, they needed a better focus on the gospel message itself (Romans 10:9).

.... To answer the whole group (of which Nicodemus was the spokesman), Jesus began by gently backing them away again. "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (v 3). And then, in speaking to Nicodemus personally, He added, "Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’." (v 7). In other words Jesus was telling them, "Your type of approach will not bring you to salvation."

.... Nicodemus was confused. "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?" (v 4). At this point, whatever else may be true of the same passage, he is no longer relating to Jesus through head knowledge, and Jesus even points this out to him: "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?" (v 9). He then shifts the discussion to the four points of the gospel, with an emphasis on trust and a connection from the heart:

.... "11. Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13. No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15. that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

(John 3:11-17)

.... Jesus was telling Nicodemus, ‘You cannot come to Me through mere human logic; you must back away and approach Me again, but this time come through faith in the gospel alone. Here is My heart toward you in this matter; come, let us have a meeting of the hearts." and He personally saw to it that Nicodemus had this opportunity.

.... Nicodemus did not respond at this time, but he remained quietly interested. Later he made a rather judicial stand for Jesus, though he did not seem to do very well with that either (John 7:50-52). It was not until Jesus was crucified that Nicodemus finally made a proper stand for Him, identifying himself with Jesus in His death -- and in His resurrection to come -- as an act of love and devotion to Him (John 19:38-40). So once again we see a literal application of the truth in his life.

.... In a similar way, if someone mixes the gospel with human wisdom (even if the listener is the one who introduces this information) then our senior partner in evangelism, the Lord Himself, will not abandon them. He will still try to work with them, for Jesus told us "the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out." (John 6:37). But He will probably start by backing them away again, to try again for a purer approach on another day. So if this seems to occur during your evangelism, and you have the opportunity to explain it politely, then in doing so you might find that the other day is today after all.

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Daily Bible Reading: Mark 13