“We will sell no wine before its time.” That was the slogan of a famous Paul Masson winery advertising campaign. However a lot of wine is sold before it's time.
“The cost of money is often the root of the
problem — wineries and restaurants find it too expensive to properly age fine
wines. Money is nearly free today, however — if you can get it. It
is the limited availability of credit that is the current constraint. I
suspect that we will see lots of product pushed into the wine value chain,
using cash flow to compensate for the lack of available credit. This fact
promises opportunity for the few and likely disappointment for the many”. [1]
It
is too bad that today’s so called “evangelists” don’t offer the same guarantee!
Many times the good news of the gospel is offered well before it is time to do
so. Unfortunately the problem lies in the fact most evangelistic evangelicals
are driven to get their “target” to “sign on the dotted line” of salvation.
I
realize that much of the time the motives of these “evangelistic gun-slingers”
are bon-a-fide. When one realizes the brevity of life and the fact “the night
is coming when no man can work” urgency becomes paramount. But just as a lot of
wine is sold before it has reached its peak, urgency in gospel presentations
often leads to expediency. Expediency can breed fatal messages, mistakes and
methods.
The
Puritan Samuel Bolton once said, “When
you see that men have been wounded by the law, then it is time to pour in the
gospel oil.”
One
of the greatest mistakes made in a gospel presentation is failing to confront
an individual with their absolute and total sinfulness and their helplessness.
Even when a presentation calls for “asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins,” a fatal mistake is made. The
focus is not on individual sins, although they need to be acknowledged, but the
focus is on the sin nature that the person whom you are witnessing to is
imprisoned.
For
example, David did not merely confess his sin of adultery with Bathsheba. David
confessed that sin and asked forgiveness, “Have
mercy on me, O God…blot out my transgressions (sins.) Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin! Against
you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” (Psalm
51:11, 2, 4, ESV)
David
also acknowledged his sin nature that tempted and enticed him to sin against
God. “Behold, I was brought forth in
iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5-6, ESV)
The
“oil – the good news” of the gospel cannot be preached to an unbeliever until
the unbeliever’s corrupt and sinful nature has been exposed. Why? It is
virtually impossible for an individual to completely understand his or her need
for the mercy and grace of God, “the oil” until the “wound” has been made by
the clear understanding of the abomination of his or her sin.
We
must be very careful and we must rely solely on the Holy Spirit to peel back
the layers of depravity, darkness, and deception by the use of Gods’ law to
create the wound that so desperately needs the oil. We must not rush the “time”
the Holy Spirit takes to bring an individual to the full acknowledge of their sin.
We don’t need to press for “the signature on the dotted line,” any more than we
need to press for a “decision.”
When
the wound is made by the accurate presentation of the law of God empowered by
the Holy Spirit, God will draw the sinner by his Holy Spirit to himself. He
will make the sinner aware of the crushing, burdensome, putrid wound of sin,
which will lead the sinner to seek the healing “oil” of the good news of the gospel.
This
was Christian’s quest as he headed towards the Celestial City. Christian wanted
relief from the burden that was crushing his back. The sinner who has been
awakened to his or her sin will (and needs to) experience the crushing weight
of his or her sin so that they will truly turn from that sin and turn to the “oil”
or the grace of God.
Evangelists
and Evangelicals, I plead with you – make the same pledge as the Paul Mason
Wineries did, (except keep the pledge.)
Whereas
they pledged to sell no wine before its time, pledge that “When you see that men have been wounded by the law, then it is time to
pour in the gospel oil.”
We
will “sell” no oil until we see the wound!
1 comment:
So true and so timely. Praise God for His sovereign work and timing!
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