Should Christians try to evangelize atheists?

To enumerate the possibilities and spheres of this most precious service would demand a separate publication, but a few may be noted. There was the Christian woman, elderly and weak in body, who, indignant at hearing an atheist in the open air proclaiming against all that was of God, went up to him and boldly testified to the preciousness of Christ before all who were listening, particularly affecting a young man present. The Christian octogenarian who still delights to "go fishing." He fishes in many places, a favourite one the bus in which he happens to be travelling. A typical conversation is — directed to the man sitting next to him — "I was praying for you this morning." "Praying for me — you do not know me or my name." "No — but I was praying for you. You see I asked God to help me to speak to the man who would sit next to me in the bus — that is you." These and similar incidents, are not for imitation, but for stimulation. I delight to think of my own younger brother, now with Christ, preaching to scores of men in the communication trenches (1914-18) before "zero" hour. His own words to me "I look to see many of those men in heaven."

An infidel may seek the uplifting of humanity, and a Christ-hater may labour for easier conditions and cleaner lives for the masses, and they may attempt to prove to the Christian that their schemes are better adapted to this end than the gospel We should not trouble to argue the point with them, but should go on preaching the gospel, for we know that nothing can uplift men more surely and lastingly than the gospel, and we would not make little of this, but rejoice in at. Yet we must always keep its great purpose in view.

We do not decide when people have crossed the line to assume positive hostility against God, but we should continue preaching the gospel to them as long as they will listen. But God knows, and when once He has decided that they are under the ban of devotion to destruction, nothing can change this. How dreadful a consideration for those who dare to resist the gracious pleadings of the Spirit of God! This is the case of those spoken of in Hebrews 6:4-8 and Hebrews 10:26-31.

The pearls are trampled upon where the gospel is laughed at and blasphemed. The persecutions the apostles suffered and many servants of the Lord still suffer today show the meaning of the Lord's words: '... lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you.' Does this imply that we cannot or ought not to be a witness for our Lord where there is mockery? Not at all! But in these very situations we need spiritual discernment to know what is the right thing to do. In such events we can call upon our Lord and implore him for wisdom and help. It might then be that he will tell us to reply the mockers with an earnest appeal: 'Be not deceived; God is not mocked.' Or we might have to suffer the mockery quietly. Lastly it might even be that we have to turn our back with sadness because the Lord reminds us of his words: 'Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.'

But there is another thing. In watching against hasty and harsh judgment, there might be the abuse of grace. And the Lord immediately couples this with the former: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." We must carefully remember that the Lord is not here speaking about the gospel going out to sinners. God forbid that we should not carry out the grace of God to every quarter under heaven, because nothing less than this ought to be the desire and effort of every saint of God. All ought to have the spirit of active love going out after others, energetic desires for the salvation and the blessing of souls; for it were a sad shortcoming if it went not beyond souls being brought to Christ. Seeking to grow up into Christ and glorify Him in all things, to know and do the will of God is our calling. In this verse the Lord is not taking up the question of the gospel going out indiscriminately; for, if there be a difference, the gospel best suits those called "dogs", which, to the Jews, was a figure of all that is abominable. Speaking of thieves, drunkards, extortioners, etc., the apostle says: "Such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

Faith says, "No; we must never give up. God's gospel must be preached to every creature under heaven. And even though men reject it, God is glorified and His heart is refreshed by the precious message of His love being told out in the ears of perishing sinners." We would encourage the heart of every beloved evangelist on the face of the earth by reminding him that however the Church has failed as God's witness to the world, yet the precious gospel tells out what He is to every poor, broken-hearted, bankrupt sinner who will only trust Him. The thought of this has cheered us during forty-eight years of evangelistic work, when the condition of the Church was heart-breaking to contemplate.

But it is more than unwise. It is positive opposition to the Word of God. Hearken to the risen Saviour’s commission to His first heralds: ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature’ (Mark 16:15). Is there so much as a single point, in these words, on which to base a question about election? Is anyone, to whom this glorious gospel is preached, called to settle a prior question about his election? Assuredly not.

But on the first day of the week Jesus arose from the dead. Before He ascended into glory He gathered His disciples around Him—they had been through no theological college, had received no tonsure, boasted no man-given credentials, nor had bishops hands been laid on their heads, they were but plain fishermen from Galilee’s shores. Listen! as He speaks to His chosen few. The risen Saviour puts the jubilee trumpet to His lips, and blows a mighty blast. “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes, and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believes not, shall be damned.” That is grand, is it not? “Go ye into all the world.” And the gospel spread from that little circle of disciples, gathered round the risen Lord that day, right through Judaea, to the learned Greeks and the martial Romans, winning its peaceful conquests in the palace of the Caesars themselves, reaching thence to the shores of Britain long centuries ago, and in more recent years carried across the Atlantic, in the “Mayflower,” to the shores of this great continent. Still the good news spreads till the glad tidings is carried to the heathen Chinese, the millions of India, the dusky native of Africa, and the far-off islands of the seas, encircling the whole globe. How many refuse the gospel; yet God offers salvation to all. He has no favourite tribe or nation. The gospel is to be proclaimed equally to every creature under the sun, to Jew and Gentile alike. “Go ye into ALL the world, and preach the gospel

In the sixteenth chapter of Mark, we find Him risen from the dead, and there He says in the fifteenth verse, "GO YE into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15) That is it. People sometimes say to me, Where shall we preach? He tells you, "Go ye into all the world." I quite admit, if you contend for it, that it was a special injunction to the twelve. But would you limit it to them? We have been noticing that "He gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry; for the edifying of the Body of Christ" (Eph. 4:11-12). That is to say, He gives in His blessed grace, all that is necessary for the pathway of the saints, and for the carrying out of His work down here, whether in the Assembly, or outside it in the world. "Go ye into all the world," is an imperative command. Have we hearts to obey? Are our hearts so sweetly in tune with Him as to be ready to go.

So believers who form part of the Church today are called to be separate from the world. This does not mean we are to be hermits or shut ourselves in a monastery. We are to be active, pointing men to Christ. When the Lord Jesus was here, referring to His disciples, He said: 'They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world' (John 17:14). However, before going back to His Father, He gave them a commission, and said: 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature' (Mark 16:15). The world of pleasure seeking and money making should have no attraction for the Christian. But there is a world of men and women in need of the Gospel. We should be diligent in this respect!