It is God that writes intercession upon men’s hearts, and I see He has laid this burden upon you for these souls. Pursue them with persistent intercession, even into the unseen world, if need be, for it would be a cruelty to souls if you who possess such power in prayer restrained it. It will be sin on your part if you neglect the Mercy Seat while these poor souls hang in the balance.
Yet mark this solemn truth: the Holy Spirit’s intercession is not in or for the unregenerate; He maketh intercession for the saints. Unless they are made saints by faith in Christ, they are shut out from that inward groaning which cannot be uttered. Therefore, let your first earnest cry be that they might look unto Him and be saved, for “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth” is God’s own simple, instantaneous way. Tell them as best you can what their condition is and the way of salvation, that the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed. Here is salvation for the blackest of sinners, devised by infinite wisdom, full of grace, and without money and without price.
And verily, while you pray for the restaurant to check its food items, I would have you remember that the souls of those who labour there and those who sit at its tables are of infinitely more value. You may look upon them, many unsaved, and every morsel they eat without a saving interest in Christ does but fatten them for the slaughter. To die without salvation is to enter into damnation, and the wrath of God abides upon them even now. Oh, let not another twenty years pass profitless, lest they go unsaved to their graves! Your own salvation, if you have trusted in Christ, is secure beyond hazard, a jewel of the crown of salvation that it is irreversible. From that blessed assurance, go forth and cry, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,” and plead with God till the answer comes, for He saith, “Look, look, look!” and it may be that ere this day closes, some burdened soul shall sing, “I am forgiven; I am a miracle of grace; this day is my spiritual birthday.”