P1010895 – We Love God!

For the woman: here is your first-date advice. Remember that God wants you to help this man, and he probably needs it! Many men will be awkward and nervous on a first date, so do everything you can to be encouraging and friendly. Dress attractively, appropriately, and modestly (unless you really are hoping to attract a cad). Immodest dress or suggestive conversation is nothing less than an attempt to manipulate his interest. Women who do this incite men to lust and cause them to stumble, while starting the relationship on a very poor footing. Furthermore, do not be demanding or critical and do not complain (remember Prov. 21:9), and speak in a careful and edifying manner. Take an interest in him and get to know things about his life – his family, his work, and his interests. Speak freely about your faith and inquire about his (Richard and Sharon Phillips).

Other Authors

1. It is wrong to put direct pressure on the will. The will should always be approached primarily through the mind, the intellect, and then through the affections. The action of the will should be determined by those influences. 2. In the end it may produce a condition in which what has determined the response of the man who ‘comes forward’ is not so much the Truth itself as, perhaps, the personality of the evangelist, or some vague general fear, or some other kind of influence. 3. The preaching of the Word and the call for decision should not be separated in our thinking 4. This method surely carries in it the implication that sinners have an inherent power of decision and of self-conversion. 5. There is an implication here that the evangelist somehow is in a position to manipulate the Holy Spirit and His work. Some organizers today even predict the results. 6. This method tends to produce a superficial conviction of sin, if any at all. People often respond because they have the impression that by doing so they will receive certain benefits. 7. You are encouraging people to think that their act of going forward somehow saves them. 8. It raises the whole question of the doctrine of regeneration. This is the most serious thing of all. This work is the work of the Holy Spirit, and His work alone, no one else can do it. And as it is His work it is always a thorough work; and it is always a work that will show itself. 9. No sinner ever really decides for Christ.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones