Bringing Others to the Truth
Jerry Sivnksty
FrontLine • November/December 2006
In John 8:32 the Lord Jesus Christ said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 1:17 says, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” The Lord told Thomas in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” What a wonderful and powerful message of hope we have to deliver to people concerning the Lord’s divine Truth—His beloved Son!
We are living in an age in which the waters have been muddied concerning right and wrong. My observation is that our judicial system is guilty of confusing our nation in its verdict on crime. It seems they justify the guilty, condemn the innocent, and blend right and wrong into a perplexing shade of gray. Also, the universities of our nation are destroying the very moral fiber of our young people by teaching that there are no absolutes. They undermine their belief in God, in Creation, and in ethics.
Many people have reached the point of exasperation and ask as Pilate did in John 18:38, “What is truth?” I’m grateful that there is an answer to those who are frustrated and are truly searching for the truth. In Galatians 2:5 the apostle Paul expressed his hope that “the truth of the gospel might continue with you.” Observe that the truth is the gospel. What is the gospel message? Paul declared in 1 Corinthians 15:3–4, “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” Here is the truth of the gospel: Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose from the grave! We have a glorious message to deliver to those who are searching for the truth.
In my ministry of evangelism, I am always amazed how the Lord leads individuals who are seeking salvation. This past fall we were holding meetings in Michigan. On the very first Sunday morning a lady in her early thirties was driving around town trying to decide which church to attend. She pulled into the parking lot of a church and was ready to go inside when she paused and thought to herself, “I don’t think I want to go to this church.” She looked across the street and saw another church and decided to go there. She had no idea that I was starting meetings there that morning. She listened to the sermon and was the first to come down the aisle to accept the Lord as her Savior! She came the entire week of meetings. On Friday night she approached me at the end of the service and gave me this testimony: “I want you to know that I was baptized in the Church of Christ. I also was supposed to have received the gift of the Holy Ghost in a Pentecostal church; however, I never heard preaching from either of these two churches that Jesus died for my sins until I heard you preach last Sunday. For the first time in my life I heard that going to Heaven doesn’t depend upon what I do, but what Christ did by giving His life so I can have eternal life!”
Recently we had another young lady in West Virginia who asked her grandmother to drive her around town so she could find a church to attend. Apparently her grandmother was not a Christian but said she would be willing to show her several churches. As they approached the church where I was going to start meetings on Sunday, the grandmother said she thought that that would be a good church to visit; so the next morning, this young college student came to the meeting. When I gave the invitation, she was the first to respond and receive Christ as her Savior. She, too, came every night to the meetings. What a thrill it is to see the Holy Spirit direct individuals who truly want to know God’s truth.
An interesting thing happened several years ago in our ministry. A man came to our meetings and hurried down the aisle during the invitation to accept Christ. At the close of the service he wanted to talk with me—he was so excited that he was now saved. But all of a sudden his countenance changed and he said, “You know, I have been searching for years how I could go to heaven. Why didn’t someone tell me sooner? Why didn’t someone tell me sooner?”
There are many of God’s people who need to be stirred in helping others come to the Truth—that is, our Lord Jesus Christ. I am aware that many Christians go out and witness to others, only to have doors slammed in their faces or be cursed and ridiculed. However, there are people who will be open to the gospel message, and we can have the privilege of bringing them to God’s glorious truth.
Evangelist Jerry Sivnksty may be contacted at P.O. Box 141, Starr, SC 29684 or via e-mail at .
(Originally published in FrontLine • November/December 2006. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.)