Why Should We Bother to Witness — E.A. Johnston

The Cost of Neglected Witness

My message, friends, before we go to our time of prayer, is why should we bother to witness? I wish I could go back in all the times in my life through the years and redo the times where I failed to witness for the Lord, even after the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

I'll never forget the time I had some men come work on my house. They were three construction workers, and one man out of the crew, the youngest one, always seemed to show up early before his other co-workers.

He'd arrive about 20 minutes early, and I had to stand out there outside in the driveway and talk small talk with him. But I was just too busy to really talk to him about anything spiritual. In fact, I never bothered to even witness to that man.

Well, about a month after the work was completed on the house, I was reading the obituary columns in the newspaper, and there that young man's face stood out at me. My heart sunk like a ton of bricks.

There he was, a young man who'd been cut down quite suddenly and tragically, and there I had failed to witness to him. Why didn't I witness to that man? It was because I was too busy. Why should we bother to witness is the question.

The Church's Neglect of Evangelism

Today the church is too busy to witness. She's too busy building her campuses. How can you call yourself a church if the carpet in your sanctuary isn't wet with the tears of the brokenhearted saints crying over the lost, praying over the unsaved in your community?

But we just don't go out and ring doorbells anymore, or knock on doors and share the gospel with folks. We're too self-centered. Well, I want to relate a story to you, and then I want to read a story to you, friends, before we go to our time of prayer.

Marion Price and the Testimony of Persistent Prayer

I was down in Atlanta several years ago preaching in a conference, and when I was through preaching at the back of the church, there was a well-dressed elderly man sitting there, and his son came up to me and said his father would like to meet me.

And I walked back there, and this man had a set of my Whitfield biographies with him, and he wanted me to sign them. And the first words out of his mouth were that his name was Marion Price. And I said, well, now, are you the Marion Price who wrote the little book, Never Quit Praying for Your Loved Ones?

And he said he was. And I said, well, that book had had a strong impact on my life because of its testimony to prayer and its simple gospel witness. That story is remarkable, friends, and I want to read that story about Marion Price to us at this time because it shows us how important it is for us to swallow any fear we have and to make up for all the lost time we've missed in not witnessing enough.

Listen to this story of Never Quit Praying for Your Loved Ones. It's an account of the Lord's work in the life of Osborne M. Bounds, Sr., the son of E. M. Bounds. Marion Price had the privilege of leading the son of E. M. Bounds to the Lord.

Listen to the story as told by Marion Price. Years ago, I was introduced to the works of E. M. Bounds through the ministry of an evangelist and dear friend, Leonard Ravenhill. Mr. Ravenhill was ministering in our area, and for a week I sat under his preaching.

He referred often to Master Bounds. Ravenhill was so well acquainted with the writings of E. M. Bounds that he used them in compiling the book, Treasury of Prayer. Once I read this book, I was hooked.

For several months thereafter, I searched for everything I could find that was written by Bounds. I later discovered that the earth and remains of this dear saint of God were buried in Washington, Georgia, not more than two and one-half hours from where I lived at the time.

In the summer of 1976, I went to Washington to search for the grave. After looking through the city cemetery for some time, I could not find Bounds' resting place. As a last resort, I searched the telephone directory for any families with the Bounds name.

To my surprise, I found an Osborne M. Bounds Sr. listed. When I called the number, a young lady answered the phone. I asked if Osborne Bounds might possibly be a distant relative of the old Methodist preacher, E. M. Bounds.

Yes, Osborne is his son, the lady replied. His son? I responded in startled amazement. Yes, he's 84 years old, and I am his granddaughter, Ann Reynolds, she said. I told Ann that I was a Baptist pastor and that I would like to visit with Mr. Bounds if it were at all possible.

She said he would be delighted to see me. When I arrived at the Bounds' home, no one was there. At first, I thought perhaps I had misunderstood the directions and had ended up at the wrong address. Then a car entered the driveway.

A thin, frail, old white-haired gentleman exited the car and began walking toward me, taking half steps with the help of a young lady. It was Osborne Bounds and his granddaughter, Ann. They had run an errand before our appointment.

Osborne made his way to a rocking chair on the back porch and sat down. Looking up, he smiled and apologized for taking so long to get up the steps. After we had chatted with each other for a few minutes, another car rode into the driveway.

Outbounded, an aristocratic and spry southern lady who seemed to have more energy than I at 37, she was Mary Willis Bounds Armstrong, Osborne's 81-year-old sister. As the conversation between the three of us continued, I sat in absolute awe as I realized I was talking with two living children of E .M. Bounds.

I asked question after question about their father, and they graciously and patiently answered, telling me everything they could remember about him. After we talked for a short time, Mary offered to take me to the cemetery and show me where their father was buried.

Asking About Osborne's Spiritual Condition

I knew that it was getting late and I should be leaving. But before I went, I had a strong impulse to ask Osborne Bounds about his spiritual condition. All of our conversation to this point had been about their father and what a good man he was.

Mr. Bounds, are you a saved man, I asked. Osborne dropped his head in momentary silence. Then, as meekly as a man can answer such a question, he said, Oh, I don't know. I hope so, but I'm not sure. About this time, Mary, with her strong southern accent, interrupted, Why, Reverend Price, Os is one of the best men in the county.

Why, he's helped more people. You won't find a better man anywhere. Immediately, she rose from her chair and said, Let me take you to the cemetery. On the way, she told me that her father would rise at four o 'clock each morning and pray until breakfast at seven.

In his later years, she said, he would rise at three o 'clock. I asked Mary what time he would go to bed each night. Early, she replied, before anyone else. If visitors were at the house, he would excuse himself by saying something like, I have an early appointment.

We arrived at the gravesite. I again stood in awe. There was the marker at the head of the grave, Edward McKendree Bounds, D .D., August 15, 1835 to August 24, 1913. Another stood at the foot, Chaplain McKendree Bounds, Missouri Infantry, C .S .A.

When we left the cemetery, Mrs. Armstrong carried me by the old home place, which is now used by the Washington Wilkes Historical Society as a museum. As we looked through the home, she showed me the room, where Dr. Bounds often resorted for private prayer.

Soon we were back at Osborne's house, where I thanked him and Mrs. Armstrong for their gracious help and said goodbye. On my drive home, the spirit of God burdened my heart with the thought that neither of these children of a dear man of God, though one was 81 and the other 84 years old, was saved.

Their answers to simple gospel questions revealed their true spiritual standing. Pondering this terrible thought, I cried like a baby. I was a preacher with seven children. These two older Bounds children reminded me of two of my own, who in their early teen years had given me a few anxious moments.

Ann Reynolds, Osborne's granddaughter, had told me that she'd been praying for her granddaddy for some time. Known his age and frail condition, she was concerned about his soul. Brother Price, when you walked up on that porch and I saw a gospel track in your shirt pocket, I knew the Lord had sent you to talk to my granddaddy, she said.

Spiritual Warfare and Persevering Intercession

Ann's words humbled my heart. I began to realize that I was involved in spiritual warfare for the souls of two children of a preacher who'd already been in heaven for 63 years. After arriving home, I contacted 12 preachers in whom I had great confidence and asked them to help me pray for these two people.

Thereafter, each time I went to Washington, I would go by the cemetery, then to Dr. Bound's prayer room, and then to visit with Osborne. But each time I visited, there were people around and I did not have the liberty to talk with him about the gospel.

Next to the last time I visited him, he was in the hospital. His foot had been amputated. I prayed with him, but I still had no liberty to talk with him about the Lord. Finally, on what was to be my last visit to the Osborne's home, things were different.

Osborne Bounds Hears and Receives the Gospel

A dear black lady in a nurse's uniform met me at the door. Recognizing me from previous visits, she ushered me into Osborne's room where he lay in a hospital bed. As she was leaving, she turned and smiled at me as if to say, Now is the time.

I'll see that you're not disturbed. I felt confident that the dear soul stood in the gap for Osborne and made a spiritual hedge to protect the two of us. Talking with Osborne, I lost sight of the fact that he was the son of E .M. Bounds.

I saw him simply as a man who seemed to have a hungry heart for the things of God. Indeed, I was a preacher's son talking to a preacher's son. On the mantle behind me sat a picture of E .M. Bounds, who seemingly was overlooking our conversation.

More importantly, however, I sensed the presence of the living Lord actually overshadowing and directing the eternal affairs taking place. When I asked Osborne if I could read the scriptures, he replied, Certainly, please do.

Then I shared with him the gospel story and the hopelessness of man without the Lord Jesus. I told him that a man must come to God with a repentant heart, confess and sin, and then by faith receive him as Lord and Savior.

I asked Osborne if he thought much about these matters. He answered, All the time. Then with the boldness of a lion, and yet with a holy trembling inside, I asked, Are you ready to call on the Lord and ask him to save you?

Yes, sir, I would, Osborne said. As he began to pray, without being coaxed, like a little child, he confessed his sinful condition and his doubting heart, asking the Lord to forgive him. When he was finished, I asked, Mr. Bounds, did you really mean what you just prayed?

He tried to raise up a little in the bed, looked me straight in the eye and said, Oh, well, I guess I did. Then with a peaceful smile on his face, he slumped onto his pillow. Before leaving Osborne's room, I read more scripture, gave him some gospel literature and prayed with him.

God's Faithfulness in Salvation

In the days following, I questioned whether Osborne Bounds had been truly saved or I had talked him into a false profession. The Lord reminded me that this man had been bathed in prayer. His father had died praying for his children.

His granddaughter Anne had been praying for him. Twelve preachers and I had prayed three months for him. Besides these, there might have been countless numbers of people whom we did not know who prayed for him.

After Osborne's death in 1979, his daughter, Mrs. Rosemary Reynolds, told me, From the time Daddy talked with you that last time, he had more peace than he ever had before. Praise the Lord, that settled my own heart.

One of the first evidences of genuine salvation is the peace God gives to the heart. Hallelujah for the cross. God answers prayers. He is still faithful to save any who will come to him. John 6, 37 says, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

The children of Ian Bounds had the highest regard for their father. They spoke of him in glowing terms. Surely he had drilled them with the word of God in their youth. But the fact remains that Osborne Bounds was an old man before he came to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

We are assured that God will accomplish his purposes. John 17, 12 declares, Though that thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost. God had chosen before the foundation of the world to save Osborne.

And if I had not obeyed the Holy Spirit's leading and witnessing to him, the Lord would have sent someone else. I am so thankful that he used this servant. Lest you become weary in praying for your loved ones, remember Osborne Bounds.

Never Quit Praying and Witnessing

The Lord surely encouraged my heart with this glorious experience. The lesson for us is clear. We should never quit praying for our loved ones. We may not see the answer before we die, but we can go to the grave with a prayer on our lips for their salvation.

And God is not limited to my lifetime or yours. Sixty-three years after we die, he can send a simple gospel witness to speak to those for whom we have prayed. Those are the words of my good friend, Marian Price, who was a simple gospel witness to the son of Ian Bounds and had the great privilege of leading Osborne Bounds to the Lord.

We too, friends, need to bathe the ones that we know who are lost in prayer and receive for them that the Spirit of God will touch their hearts and then be a simple gospel witness ourselves and share the story, the wonderful story, about the Son of God who came down here so we can go up there.

Let us go now to this time of prayer.