Who Can Tell?

 

 

 

Tell me, how oft have you heard

The following remark

He was saved under my preaching

Or something in that ball park?

 

Preachers often take credit

For seekers at the altar

And such become a notch in their memory

That none can alter.

 

“I remember that night,” they say,

“When the altar was full.

The Spirit was moving

And there was a very great pull.

 

People from all over the church

Just started a moving!

And while the Spirit gets the praise

It was me He was using.”

 

But who can tell

Under whose preaching Dave was saved?

For sure, the Holy Spirit,

And the only other person is Dave.

 

Salvation is always personal,

It is never ever a corporate thing

And it doesn’t matter how long the choir

Or the congregation sings.

 

 

So, a caution to all out there

Who are prone to make such claims,

None can save another:

Not even Billy Graham.

 

It is true, faith comes by hearing

And hearing the Word of God,

And though a preacher must preach it,

It is not the preacher we applaud.

 

I cannot now recount the details

Concerning when I was born again

But I have the witness of the Holy Spirit

That I am saved in Jesus’ name.

 

That was so long ago

When I was still in my teens

And then we went to the altar so often

Because then, that was the scene.

The invitation was the thing

Especially after a very convincing word

And many would run to the altar

Because they felt stirred.

 

While not as often as many others

I too have been a few times

And that is why the exact details

Are not fixed in my mind.

 

So, preachers should be very careful

Regarding such uninformed claims,

And, unless they are absolutely certain,

From such they should refrain.

 

For who can tell how,

Or, even when another was saved?

Instead, let’s thank God for the preachers

And for them that also prayed.

 

Stewart Russell © June 26, 2021