The second way to catch people is according to the result of sin. I would advise you not to use this way very much, but with some persons we must use this way. It always depends on what kind of person we are talking with. If a person is conscious of his sins and is more or less afraid of the result, we should take advantage of this. We may compare this to fighting a battle. We should not attack the stronghold; rather, we should find and attack the weak point. When we contact people, it is easy to find their weak point. If a person is afraid of death or has a consideration about the future, this is his weak point.
There are two kinds of suffering as the result of sin. One is the suffering in the present age, which we can illustrate to them. In the present age, one who sins in dancing, drinking, and gambling will suffer physically, financially, and in other ways. A gambler, for instance, will suffer in his health, have a loss in his business, and damage his family. In addition, one who drinks too much will shorten his life on the earth; he will die too quickly. The other kind of suffering as a result of sin is from the judgment and punishment after death, which we can show from the Scriptures. Again, we need to know the best verses of the Scriptures for this purpose.
The third way to deal with people is according to the vanity of human life. This is almost the best way to contact people. Especially today people have the sense that human life is empty, nothing but a vanity of vanities. If we find that this is a person’s weak point, we must take advantage and “attack.” We need to point out that they sense the emptiness in human life because they do not have God and Christ. If they have Christ, they have God, and their life will be full and their sense of vanity will be swallowed up. However, they are short of Christ, so there is a gap in their life. The best verses to use for this purpose are from Ecclesiastes, which speaks of “vanity of vanities” (Eccl. 1:2).
The fourth way to catch people is according to God. Many people on the earth have a problem and question concerning God. They ask, “Is there a God? What have I to do with God?” When we talk with a person, we should sense whether he is one who has this sense about God, whether he fears God or desires to know God. For this, again we should know the best verses from the Bible.
The fifth way is according to the love of God. We should take this way with persons experiencing trouble, sickness, loss, and sufferings, persons who are disappointed, suppressed, and oppressed. We need to show such persons that God is love. This is one of the best ways. It is very easy to use this way to win people, but we must use it with the right people. We should not take this way with people who are rich and well off in many ways. It is when people are suffering that they need the love of God. Many times God prepares people’s hearts by allowing them to suffer. When people suffer, it is easy for them to be won by the love of God.
The sixth way is the highest way, the way of Christ. However, this way is not easy to carry out. It is hard to preach the gospel with the subject of Christ. This is the highest standard for the gospel, but some people need this. The people of high class and standard, the highly cultured and educated people, have a certain philosophy of human life. If we talk with them about God or sin, they will not care. We should talk to them according to the Scriptures about Christ as the center of the universe, the central element of all things, the goal of God’s plan, and the need of the human life. In this message we do not have the adequate time to speak about this subject in detail; we need an entire morning and evening for six months to study this matter.
We should not speak about sin, hell, or heaven to this kind of person. We can never convince such a person in this way. I have met some professors who told me in principle, “We are not so selfish. We do not care about hell. We want something high.” I learned from them, and I changed my way. The subject of Christ is their weak point. We should simply speak about Christ as the goal, the aim, the standard, the center, the element, and all things. We should point out to them the highest standard and ultimate goal of life. Then we should give them the right passages of the Scriptures and the right illustrations. I have done this, and many people have been saved in this way. If we take this way, this kind of person will be won over.