Calvinist, Charles Spurgeon, writes: “
Some of my Brethren are greatly scandalized by the general invitations which I am in the habit of giving to sinners, as sinners. Some of them go the length of asserting that there are no universal invitations in the Word of God.” (
The Silver Trumpet, 3/24/1861, emphasis mine)
Spurgeon concludes: “
I know the Lord has blessed my appeals to all sorts of sinners and
none shall stop me in giving free invitations as long as I find them in this Book. And I do cry with Peter this morning to this vast assembly, ‘Repent and he baptized, every one of you, in the name of the Lord Jesus. For the promise is unto you and to your children, even to as many as the Lord our God shall call.’” (
The Silver Trumpet, 3/24/1861, emphasis mine)
Spurgeon states: “I further believe, although certain persons deny it, that the ‘
influence of fear’ is to be exercised over the minds of men, and that it ought to operate upon the mind of the preacher himself.” (
How to Win Souls for Christ, emphasis mine)
Calvinist, James White, writes: “Jesus does not seek to ‘woo’ them to a ‘freewill decision,’ nor does He strike up a lengthy
invitation hymn and try to overcome their stubborn rejection of truth through an
emotional appeal.” (
Debating Calvinism, pp.121-122, emphasis mine)
One Calvinist explains: “I do not like
altar calls because I understand them to be an
emotional appeal which
pressures people to do something that the Bible does not necessitate.” (
Cobb: Altar Call, emphasis mine)
John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.