Forgiveness Illustration

“Father Forgive”

Often God uses weak things to accomplish His great purposes.

A little girl was given a New Testament as a prize at her Sunday school.

Naturally, she was delighted and at once tried to read it. She was very young, and could only read the simplest words.

One day, her father, who had no interest in the Bible, sat near the window reading the Sunday newspaper. The child was reading the story of the cross, and reached those deeply touching words of our blessed Lord: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). The child haltingly spelled out “F-A-T-H-E-R, father.”

“Why father!” she cried, “here is your name; Jesus is talking to you here.”

“Nonsense,” he said, “nonsense,” and adding, “go on reading to yourself, child, and don’t make so much noise about it,” he returned to his paper.

But his attention was caught, and instinctively he listened in spite of himself. “Father, F-O-R-G-I-V-E, forgive―Father forgive him.”

“No, child, that is wrong, it is not ME―I mean it is not HIM―it is “forgive them. There now! Don’t interrupt me again.”

But the little girl, persisted in repeating the words, “Father, forgive, father forgive,” then hesitated at the word “them.”

Her father, in a tumult of annoyance and vexation, nervously folded his paper and, almost snatching the book from her hand, told her what the word was, and went out of the room.

But an arrow from God had pierced his “armor,” and the words echoed ceaselessly in his brain: “Father, forgive,” “Father. forgive.”

Finally he admitted, “Yes, it’s ME! I have sinned against God, and yet Jesus died for me. Forgive me, my God,” he prayed, “forgive my sins.”

Did God hear his cry? Of course. Has God EVER turned a deaf ear to a contrite sinner’s cry? Never! Even an angry thief, convicted and repentant, found pardon, and exchanged a malefactor’s cross for the crown of glory. “Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

He is the same today.

Adapted from In The Cleft of the Rock

Door-to-Door Tip

When you’re heading door-to-door with tract bags, tuck the hanging bag into the crack where the door meets the frame. The vast majority of doors will allow this and it keeps the bag from blowing away.

A Floating Foundation–Large Print Tract

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The giant print and message shown below make this an excellent tract for your next visit to a nursing home. It looks great in color or black and white.

A Floating Foundation
  Some years ago, near Winnipeg, a huge grain elevator full of grain suddenly settled and listed to an angle of about 30 degrees. It had been built on what is called a floating foundation; that is, a concrete “mat” was constructed to spread the load over the soil, and the elevator was built on it. For some time it stood apparently firm, but finally the soil could no longer bear its weight and gave way. It seemed that the structure would be a total loss, but a contracting firm which made a specialty of difficult undertakings was employed to fix it. They succeeded, by means of special equipment, in bringing the bins back into position; not, however, to rest again on a “mat” foundation but on concrete piers sunk to rock fifty feet below the level of the ground. More Unstable Foundations It would be wonderful if grain elevators were the only things built on “floating foundations.” We meet with people every day who are building not only their present life but their hopes for eternity on something just as unreliable. The Lord Jesus Christ had something to say about such people. He compared them to a foolish man who built his house on the sand. It is quite probable that the house was carefully constructed. Perhaps it was also nicely decorated. But the testing time came: “The rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:27). Then the owner realized that the thing that matters in building is not so much the appearance as the foundation. But he was too late — the storm had done its work. God speaks in His Word of a time when He will lay judgment “to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place” (Isaiah 28:17). In view of that time, is your foundation one that can be absolutely relied on? Or are you building on sand? Your own character is like sand. It doesn’t matter how you may attempt to “spread the load” by your good works or by your attempted keeping of God’s holy law. God distinctly says that salvation is “not of works” and that “by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified” (Ephesians 2:9; Romans 3:20). The One Solid Foundation There is only ONE FOUNDATION upon which you may safely build — only ONE that will withstand the fury of the coming tempest. God says: “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation” (Isaiah 28:16). He refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. “Other foundation can no man lay.” Do you know Him as your Saviour? This is the thing that matters. Do not rest on church membership. Do not boast of reputation, of citizenship, of “clean living”. These can never take the place of a foundation. If you have no more than these, you are at this moment lost, and when the storm breaks you will surely find yourself in the lake of fire forever. But receive Christ, rest upon Him, and you can calmly face eternity rejoicing with the Psalmist who could say, “He… set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings” (Psalm 40:2). “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

I Want Peace–Large Print Tract

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The giant print and message shown below make this an excellent tract for your next visit to a nursing home. It looks great in color or black and white.

I Want Peace

 

The power of an accusing conscience to banish peace, and the power of the blood of Christ to bring peace have been proved by millions alive today. On the other hand millions are searching for peace by many other means — without success.
The urgent quest for peace led an elderly gentleman into a little Christian bookstore. He arrived near closing time and insisted on being served by “the lady.”
“What may I do for you?” she asked pleasantly.
“I want to find peace,” he replied. “Can you tell me where I can find it?”
“This Book,” said the saleslady, picking up a Bible, “shows how to find peace.”
“But you told me that five years ago,” he replied. “I came into your store then and asked you the same question. But I am still looking for peace.” The saleslady had forgotten the incident, but not so the Lord Jesus who is the Good Shepherd. He continued over the years to seek this lost and wandering sheep and would not allow him to rest until he rested safely upon His shoulders.
The man was wealthy; it wasn’t poverty that kept gnawing at his soul. He had plenty of material things; but his mind was in turmoil. How true are Augustine’s words penned nearly 1500 years ago: “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee.”
“The trouble is,” continued the old man, “I can’t believe the Bible.”
“If you don’t believe the Bible, there is no hope of you ever finding peace,” said the saleslady; “the Bible is the only book that can teach us that.”
But the man contended that the Bible was written by human beings “so how was he to be sure that it was the Word of God?”

The Word of God
The Bible is in truth the very Word of God and carries its own credentials. Many who doubt and criticize it most have really read it the least. Finally the saleslady was able to persuade the gentleman to go home and read the gospel of John, especially the story of Nicodemus in the third chapter, and notice how the Lord Jesus insisted that even a morally upright “master in Israel” MUST be born again.
Having referred him to the Word of God she then referred him to a Christian doctor who lived near the old gentleman’s home. He said he would be glad to visit the doctor if he could only be cured of the turmoil in his heart.
“But,” said the saleslady as they parted, “the doctor will give you the same medicine; ‘ye MUST be born again’.”
On reaching her home she telephoned the doctor, explaining how she had referred to him a patient suffering from sin-sickness. The doctor, a true lover of others, said he would be pleased to be of use to His Lord if He could use him in this case. And He did.
As advised by the saleslady, our elderly friend kept an appointment with the doctor. But instead of prescribing medication or recommending a psychiatrist, the doctor opened his Bible and together they read in John’s Gospel.
“The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple” (Psalm 119:130).
At last light and understanding began to dawn on the man who for years had searched for peace. He saw indeed that he too “MUST be born again.” It took more than one visit to the good doctor’s office before the full light shone; but on the third visit — at midnight — the man believed the Word of God to the saving of His soul. The peace of God entered his troubled heart. He went home rejoicing with the knowledge of sins forgiven and peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

 

Where Am I Going?-LargePrint Tract

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The giant print and message shown below make this an excellent tract for your next visit to a nursing home. It looks great in color or black and white.

Where Am I Going?

 

Lovely and accomplished, she only lived for this life. Idolized by her parents, loved by her fiance, she had it all.
But she contracted a fatal disease. The skilled physician pronounced the heartrending verdict that her days were numbered.
“Dad,” she said, “I’m about to die. Where am I going?” Her father couldn’t answer.
“Mom, can you tell me what I need to do to get to heaven?” Her only reply was tears.
Her fiance couldn’t answer either.
“I’m lost!” she exclaimed. “Aren’t I? Is there anyone who can tell me what I must do to be saved?”
Finally her dad said, “You’ve always been a respectful daughter, and have never caused your parents trouble. You’ve regularly attended church, and helped in the services. The minister has performed the rites of the church, and said he was satisfied with your preparation.”
“But I feel that’s not enough. It’s no rest to my soul. It’s hollow it’s not real. O! I’m about to die, and I don’t know where I am going. Can’t anyone teach me what I can do to be saved?”
Death was around the corner. Eternity was looming. They didn’t how to answer the agonizing appeal of the young lady, awakened to a sense of sin — to a dread appearing before God — to the terrors of hell.
But she had a young servant who longed to tell her mistress but felt too shy. At last she got up her courage, and told her mistress, “There’s a preacher in who tells everyone they can have salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he urges us to accept forgiveness freely offered in the gospel.”
“O if I could only see him,” she exclaimed. She asked her father to invite the strange preacher to the house, and her wish was granted. Again the family were assembled, as the strange preacher entered the room. The dying girl, raising herself, appealed to him: “Can you tell me what I must do to obtain rest for my soul, and die at peace with God?”
“I’m afraid I can’t.”
“Is there no hope for me?”
“Wait,” he said, “though I can’t tell you what you can do to be saved, I can tell you what has been done for you!
“Jesus Christ, the Saviour-God, has completely finished a work by which lost and helpless sinners may be righteously saved. God, who is love, saw us in our lost state. He pitied us, and in love and compassion sent Jesus to die for us.
“ ‘God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’
“He shed His precious blood on the cross in the place of sinners, so that they might be pardoned and saved. ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.’ ”
“And I have nothing to do?”
“Nothing, but to believe. No doing, working, praying, giving, or abstaining, can give relief to the conscience burdened with a sense of guilt, or rest to the troubled heart. It is not a work done in you by yourself, but a work done for you by another, long ago. Jesus has completed the work of our redemption. He has said. “It is finished.” Through faith in Him you have pardon. It is impossible to add anything to the perfect work of Christ. Doing is not God’s way of salvation, but giving up on doing, and believing what God has already done for you. God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son:”
“I do believe that Jesus died on the cross for sinners; but how am I to know that God has accepted me?” she asked.
“Jesus the God-man has gone up into heaven. He has been accepted for us; and when you believe, you are accepted in Him.”
Listening eagerly, she received the Word of God, which revealed Christ to her. Looking upwards she exclaimed, “O, what love! what grace!”
Soon after she went home to be with Jesus, triumphant and rejoicing in her salvation.

The Greatest Question in the World-Large Print Tract

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The giant print and message shown below make this an excellent tract for your next visit to a nursing home. It looks great in color or black and white.

The Greatest Question in the World

 

Long ago a judge named Pilate asked, “What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?” (Matthew 27:22).
Did it ever occur to you that everyone must answer this question? You must answer it. I must answer it. It’s the most important question we will ever answer. God requires an answer. Our whole future depends upon our answer. I cannot answer for you and you cannot answer for me. Each must answer for himself. We must answer since God holds each of us personally responsible to accept Jesus the Saviour.
You and I need a Saviour, “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). In spite of our terrible condition, God has provided in His Son a Saviour for those whom He has shown to be guilty. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
The Lord Jesus Christ by His suffering and death met every just and holy claim God had against sin. “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. . . . All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6).
God’s work of redemption was finished at the cross. The great sin question was settled.
The question now is, What will you do with the Man Christ Jesus?
There is no way to avoid the question. To ignore it or neglect it is to reject Him who died to be your Saviour. Your only hope is to acknowledge that you are a guilty sinner.
While Pilate faced Jesus in his chambers, his wife sent him the following message: “Have thou nothing to do with that just man”
(Matthew 27:19). Later Pilate tried to excuse himself by washing his hands before the assembled crowd and saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person” (Matthew 27:24). They both in their own way tried to avoid the issue. Are you trying to avoid the issue as well? It did not work for them and it will not work for you or me.
We may meet Christ now as our Saviour, or we will face Him after death as our Judge. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). “He [God] hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man [Jesus Christ]” (Acts 17:31). I know Him as my Saviour. Do you?
What Will You Do With Jesus?
The question is not, Have you been baptized?
Have you joined the church? Are you doing the best you can? Are you sincere? Have you accepted a certain doctrine or creed?
No, it is a divine, living Person, the Son of God, that is before you, the One who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).
Have you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your own personal Saviour? Are you trusting in His shed blood and work on the cross alone for salvation? Or are you trusting in your good works, your morality, and what you are doing for God? If you have not as yet received God’s Son as your Saviour, then God says in His Word that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).
The all-important question is, Have you accepted Jesus Christ, God’s remedy for lost and guilty sinners?
“As many as received Him [Christ], to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).

WHAT WILL YOU DO THEN WITH JESUS?