Preaching Christ Leaving the Results with Him — E.A. Johnston

Preaching Christ Without Manipulating Responses

I remember Stephen Alford sharing a story with me about his father, Frederick, who was a missionary to Africa. He had an American evangelist to come preach to the natives of the tribe in the village where he lived.

Frederick Alford set up a large tent and got things ready for the visiting evangelist. One by one, the African warriors came into the tent and stood there looking intimidating with their spears by their side.

Frederick Alford interpreted the message that the evangelist preached that evening. When the service was over, the Africans left the tent in single file, leaving an astonished Frederick Alford standing there scratching his head.

He walked to the back where the American's trailer was, and inside he found him sitting at a table eating a piece of chicken. Frederick Alford asked him, Dear brother, how can you sit there and eat your dinner knowing that not one of those Africans responded to your message tonight?

The American stopped eating and replied, Tonight I preach Christ to those natives, and as I preached, I kept my eyes on Christ sitting on his throne in glory while I exalted him in my message. I preach Christ, and I'll leave the results with him.

Now I'm going to finish my chicken. I like that story, friends, because it speaks volumes as to the work of a preacher. Too many times we evangelists get caught up in numbers, and we place an emphasis on making an emotional appeal so we can see folks respond by making a decision.

Leaving Evangelistic Results to the Holy Spirit

But I fear we do more harm than good, because we end up making our own converts through our own efforts, rather than leaving it to the work of the Holy Spirit, who is the one who brings conviction of sin.

Paul's Teaching in 2 Corinthians 2:14–16

There's a passage in my Bible in 2 Corinthians, in chapter 2. I'd like for us to turn there now. We're going to be in verses 14 through 16, which speaks directly to this very theme this evening, friends.

The title of my message is Preaching Christ and Leaving the Results with Him. Let me read you this striking passage of scripture at this time. Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

For we are unto God, a sweet savour of Christ in them that are saved, and in them that perish. To the one we are the savour of death unto death, and to the other the savour of life unto life. I will stop there, friends.

Faithful Witness and the Twofold Outcome of the Gospel

In this remarkable passage, the Apostle Paul declares that his work as a minister of the gospel is to preach the Christ of the gospel and lead the results to him. For whether one is saved by it or perishes by it, God still gets the glory.

Our job is to be faithful preachers and witnesses of the gospel, warning men everywhere to repent and trust in Christ Jesus. We must preach up the Christ of the cross who died there to reconcile sinners back to God.

To some he will be the savour of life unto life, and to others the savour of death unto death. But our task as Christian workers is to faithfully preach Christ and then lead the results with him. I want to share with you friends another story because it always stirs me when I hear it.

William Schubert's Cowboy Evangelism Story

A co-worker of John Song in China was the American missionary William Schubert who saw great revivals with Song and Nan Chang. But before William Schubert went to China, he was an evangelist in California in 1912 to the cowboys in the area.

And I'm going to let him tell a story in his words, and I'll close this message with it for it illustrates my point this evening, friends. One time I got to preach to the entire community at Shandon. A cowboy had died and everybody came to the funeral, and that was my chance.

I preached to the living the great necessity of salvation and how to be saved. They all had at least one opportunity to hear the way. Then we rode out very slowly to the cemetery about two miles across the river and up the cemetery hill and where we had the committal service.

When I pronounced the benediction and said amen, the cowboys whooped and ran and jumped on their horses and shot their six shooters in the air and then raced back to town to the blind pig saloon to get drunk.

The Gospel as Life unto Life and Death unto Death

It turned out I was the saver of life unto life and of death unto death there because in later years my aunt wrote me about this one and that one who had died suddenly. In some cases the cowboys had been thrown off their horses or the horse had fallen on them and they had been killed.

Two had a fight and one shot the other. In another case an automobile turned over and the driver was killed. There was a large number, within a year or two, of those cowboys I had pled with and that was their chance.

The saver of death unto death occurred that day.