I
have struggled in earnest sincerity, for many years, about this matter of
getting sinners to close with Christ. We don’t want to deceive men. Nor do we
merely desire to build up our church membership. But we do earnestly desire to
see men come to Christ in saving faith.
The
idea of an altar call we deplore. This modern practice appears to me to be a
swift return to Romanism, priestcraft, and idolatry. We recognize no altar but
Christ. Coming to Christ is not a physical act. It is a spiritual act of faith.
In the gospel the sinner and the Savior are to come together, with no priest,
no preacher, and no altar between. We must not leave men with the impression
that Christ is to be had at the front of the auditorium, or by walking an
aisle.
Yet,
I fear that too often, we who believe the gospel do not directly address
sinners, for fear of getting a false profession. This is as grave an error as
the practice of giving an altar call. It is our task in preaching the gospel to
lay the burden of sin and guilt at the sinner’s door, warning him of his
perilous condition, and to urging him to flee to Christ for mercy.
You,
sinner, sitting right
where you are, may have eternal life, if you will believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. God Almighty invites you to believe. Christ invites you to believe. And
I, as an ambassador of the King of Heaven, “pray you in Christ’s stead, be you
reconciled to God!” Do not wait to go to an altar, or to the front of the
church. It is not even essential for you to talk to a preacher. We do not have
the keys of the kingdom of heaven. If I could talk to you for a thousand years,
I could never tell you anything better than this – “He that believeth on the
Son hath everlasting life!”
Do
you believe on Christ? Then come today and confess him before men. Do not come
down an aisle to get Christ and salvation. You must get him by faith. But, if
the Lord has done something for you through the gospel, do come and let us
rejoice with you. Believe in your heart, then confess
with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Then show your faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ by following him in baptism. A believing heart is an obedient heart. And
Christ commands both that you believe and be baptized.