05.10. Wrong Orders
10. WRONG ORDERS
One night a passenger train slowly battled its way through a Montana snowstorm. It stopped for a few minutes and a salesman said to a woman and child, "Lady, this is your station.
I’ll help you off." He did, and the train immediately moved on. Later the conductor, walking through the car, missed the lady and made inquiry about her. The salesman said, "I put her off whenwe stopped at her station." "Man," said the conductor, "that was not a station; it was just a siding."
Later they found the mother and baby frozen to death. The salesman may have been a good man and may have been trying to help, but he was not familiar with the road and gave the wrong instructions.
How often at an altar of prayer workers have given the wrong orders -- instructions which, if followed, might hinder the seeker from ever finding peace! A worker should not only study the seeker but he should be familiar with the way of salvation.
Illustration
One night, in a Southern revival, several came forward for prayer. A young woman, kneeling somewhat apart from the others, was earnestly seeking to be saved. Her hand was raised, the tears were rolling down her uplifted face as she softly but audibly prayed: "Jesus, please forgive me. I’ll never go back on You. I’ll die before I’ll go back. Please forgive me." A minister friend listened to her prayer for a moment. Then kneeling by her, he asked, "Lady, does Jesus forgive you?"
She opened her tear-wet eyes and in a pitiful voice answered, "I believe I have Him almost persuaded to do it." Someone had given her wrong instructions.
Impress upon seekers that Jesus is not only faithful and just but willing to "cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). We do not have to pray to persuade Christ to forgive us. It sometimes takes considerable praying on our part before we are willing to let Him, but He is ready and willing now.
Restitution
He gives the wrong instruction who advises a seeker to leave the altar to go and make restitution. I know it has been done and has worked out well. Yet I also know that at times dire results have followed. When a soul leaves the altar to make restitution, the devil follows him and in his endeavor to defeat the seeker he paints the results so black the seeker may lose heart and not go through with his purpose and he may never come back. Do not send the seeker away on such a mission alone. Tell him that God will take him on credit. All God wants is his willingness to make things right and He will save him now and go with him to fix things up.
I have known many more who made restitution after leaving the altar with God in their hearts to help them than I have where they were sent away alone to fix things in their own strength.
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