The old church building was almost one hundred years old. My father wanted to visit it again and see the place where he had a spiritual awakening fifty-five years earlier. He found quite a market in progress inside the church building. Tartans from many parts of Scotland and many other things were being sold. He looked around.
On the wall, in the hallway off to the side of the main auditorium, was the picture of an old preacher. “Yes, that is the man who was visiting the church that month.” His thoughts went back over the years: “He’s the one who read the Bible and then preached from it.”
He looked at all the faces around him. Was there anyone still here who might remember those meetings? He asked a man who looked old enough to remember. “Oh, no,” he said, “I wasn’t here then, but I’ve heard that there were many who were converted at that time. That lady over there would know more.”
“Do you remember the meetings in the church back then?” he asked as he explained further. “I’m one of the ones who was converted or saved. I gave my life to the Lord Jesus then.”
She threw him a look of dismay. “Ah, really! That was then. Now we don’t hear that kind of preaching. You know, we’ve gotten over that saved stuff, and conversions.” She pulled at the label of her collar. “Look at this.”
The gold medallion with the number “50” on her lapel shone brightly. “Imagine that,” she said. “I’ve been here for over fifty years. That’s all a person needs. This is my special award!”
“But were you ever saved? Did you ever get to know God?” he asked carefully.
“Hey, we’re busy here. And that doesn’t matter anymore at all. I gotta go.”
Can I ask you, Does a church medallion make you ready for the next world? Is that old stuff about being saved or converted out of style now? Some seem to think so, but didn’t Jesus preach it? He said, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:99I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)).
Even Peter preached it: “We must be saved” (Acts 4:1212Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)). Does the word “must” mean “optional” or does it mean “necessary”? And Paul preached it! “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)). Being saved is important! Don’t trust in gleaming awards. They won’t impress God. He has expressly stated that “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8-98For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8‑9)).