Echoes of Grace: 1992

Homeless - without a home, without a place to call one’s own, without a place of rest, a refuge, a door to close, a roof to shelter - it is a dreary, weary way to live. In our time it is becoming a bitter reality for many, many people. Some are refugees from turmoil or famine in their homelands, some are victims of natural disasters, some have simply slipped into deep poverty without really understanding how it could have happened. But it is far from the worst that can happen!

The poorest man in all the world is the man who has no home for eternity.

No amount of wealth or luxury on earth can ever compensate for the loss of all things in eternity. What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Prosperity on earth, at the expense of bankruptcy of the soul, leads to everlasting remorse. There is no poverty like that which faces a Christless soul in the bitterness of a Christless eternity.

Better far to have nothing in this world, but to be “rich in faith” - faith in God, faith in Christ Jesus -therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace with God now, and a home in heaven! Wonderful!

A makeshift hut in a refugee camp, a temporary cot in a shelter for the homeless, or even a spot on a grate where a little warmth seeps up in the winter or under an overpass or a bit a plastic in the rain -none of these are lasting. One who knows God as his Father and the Lord Jesus as his Saviour can look forward and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God even though homeless on earth.

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. (1 Corinthians 2:9.) v

There is a time, we know not when,

A point, we know not where,

Which marks the destiny of men

To glory or despair.

There is a line by us unseen,

That crosses every path;

The hidden boundary between

God’s mercy and His wrath.

A point of time, a moment’s space,

The choice you make will tell,

Will land you in that heavenly place,

Or shut you up in hell!

Beautiful Hands

In England there was once a wealthy lady who always wore gloves; she was never seen without them. One day her little boy burst into her room and caught her by surprise. In confusion, she tried to hide her hands, but he had seen them. He shrank away in horror, for they were terribly scarred.

Quietly closing the door, the mother said, “Now, my dear, we are alone. You are old enough to hear about these scars, and maybe they will help you realize how very dear you are to me.

“When you were very little a fire broke out in our home. Your nursery was in a tower, and you were asleep there. The nurse fled for safety from the flames, leaving you to certain death.

“The stairway was too dangerous to climb with the flames and smoke, but there were old ivy branches clinging to the tower wall, and up these I climbed to the little window by your crib. I managed to crawl through and, taking you up, I swung you in a blanket over my shoulder.

“How I prayed for strength as I began to descend! The extra weight was almost more than I could bear, and the ivy was giving way under our weight. Clinging and sliding from branch to branch I reached the ground. The flesh was completely torn from my hands, but you were safe!”

The boy threw himself into his mother’s arms. Then taking her poor scarred hands in his own, he kissed them over and over again. He asked of her one favor: that when they were alone together she would not wear gloves. He wanted to keep before him what those hands had done for him. To him, they were beautiful hands.

Have you seen the nail-pierced hands of the Saviour? Have you realized that it was for you He bore the agony of those spikes? Can you now say, He is ALTOGETHER lovely?

And He showed unto them His hands and His side. (John 20:20.) v

A Religion Lost

“I lost twenty years’ religion here,” said an old lady as she took a farewell look around the little cottage that had been her home for many years. “And here,” she added, “I was born again after twenty years of a religious life.”

We asked her how she came to sustain such a loss, and if she had received anything instead. So she told us the story.

“I lived quite near your hall - so near that I could hear you folks singing. I sometimes raised my window to hear the hymns. I wondered what sort of folks you were - everybody seemed so happy.

“I was a member of a church, and lived a religious life, yet it was evident that you had something that I had not. Half through curiosity, half through anxiety, I finally ventured in one Sunday night. I sat down near the door so I would not be noticed.

“The preacher spoke of being born again. He said that one might be religious and pray and do the best he could, and yet be outside heaven at last. I felt that was me, for I never had been ‘born again’.

“There I sat, stripped of my religion, and conscious for the first time that I was a lost sinner. Then came the good news, the story of God’s love, and that there was life in a look to Jesus. I looked - and I live. I thought I could not leave here in peace until I told you!”

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:14,15.) v

Don't Make God a Liar!

A Christian man asked his new neighbor, “Do you believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ?”

The newcomer replied: “Why yes, certainly I believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You don’t take me to be a heathen, do you?”

“Well, then, you can be happy in the knowledge of your salvation. You are saved, aren’t you?”

The new neighbor flared up and answered angrily, “No one can say that while still in this world! Not till we pass out of it can we know. Some people say they know they’re saved, but that’s just presumption. All we can do is live the best we can, and God will take care of the rest.”

“Oh then, you make God a liar!” the Christian answered.

“Why do you say that?”

The Christian, taking his Bible, read 1 John 5:10: He that believeth not God hath made Him a liar.

Then he read on to the thirteenth verse of the chapter: These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.

The neighbor stared at him for a moment in amazement. Then deliberately and earnestly he said, “Well! Then I am saved!”

Do you believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you saved?

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36.) v

Time Is Short

The time is short! (1 Corinthians 7:29.)

How short? Have you the answer? No, man does not have the answer to that question. God alone controls time, and our times are in His hands. That is the only possible answer. That is why the Word of God so urgently states the great truth that now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2.)

That is why God invites: Come now, and let us reason together. (Isaiah 1:18.) That is why the Holy Spirit pleads and warns, To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts. (Hebrews 3:15.) Oh, the time is short!

How short? Who knows? Who can tell? Not you - not I. But we can be sure of one fact: TIME is shorter than we think. What God calls “short” cannot be made “long”. No man can stretch out his appointed life span, and it is disastrous to attempt to evade the final issue.

TIME IS SHORT! It is shorter than you realize. It is too short to be wasted in sin and wickedness. But it is just long enough for your soul to turn in repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:21.)

It is just long enough to say “Yes” to Jesus and to enter into the happiness that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. (2 Corinthians 5:17.) Time and life are far, far too short for anything less than that.

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36.) v

God's Bridge

See that light out there flashing in the darkness? One -two - three white flashes. It shines from the lighthouse on Morte Rock, a name that means “Death Rock”, and it has been a death rock to many even though it is not far from shore.

Years ago a Norwegian vessel, the Odin, was passing the rock, bound for Llanelli. It was laden with timber, and commanded by a Christian captain who read his Bible and prayed every day with his crew. During a storm in the dead of night the ship ran upon the rock. There was no lighthouse there then, so the disaster was not surprising.

The doom of the Odin was certain, as it lay alone and unseen on the rocks. Some of the crew wanted to take to the boats at once, but in that raging sea it would have been impossible for a boat to hold up.

It was certainly a time of trouble. Calls for help were useless, for no human help was near, but they could call to the Lord. He holds the sea in the hollow of His hand, and has said, Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me. (Psalm 50:15.) So the captain said, “Let us pray unto the good Lord; He can do great things.”

All knelt on the slippery, slanting deck, and the captain prayed in simple words to the One who was able to do what they could not do.

“What next?” was the crewmen’s anxious question.

“We will wait and see,” was the only answer the captain gave.

Soon their danger became greater than ever: a heavy sea broke over the ship and split it in two. Was God trying their faith, or was their prayer in vain?

The crew kept together as much as possible, still asking, “What now, Captain?”

Still the same answer was given: “We will wait and see.”

Through the hole in its side made by the great wave that broke their ship apart, the timber stored in the hold began to wash out. One by one the planks and logs floated out and were tossed upon the rocks. The watching men soon noticed the amazing thing that was taking place. The waves were tossing the logs in such a way that they were forming a bridge of logs from the wreck to the shore!

“Captain, I believe we can cross to land!” Was this to be their way of deliverance?

The captain looked at what was being done by the waves. “Not yet, men; wait a little longer,” was his reply.

They prayed again. Light was dawning, and they could see that there was just one space between the rocks which they could not pass. Then, guided by the Divine hand, another wave swept out some fresh logs and laid them exactly where they were needed. The bridge was now complete - a God-built bridge - and over it the drenched sailors scrambled. By God’s preserving care they reached the shore, and climbed a little path to the fields above.

Those who ought to have been on the lookout for those in trouble on their coast seem to have neglected their duty, for there were none watching to give the shipwrecked men any help, but the Lord led them over the fields into a road. “It leads somewhere,” they said. “Let’s follow it.”

Drenched and hungry, soon they came into a little town where they found food and warmth. The first thing the captain did was to assemble his men to give thanks to God. They had cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He had brought them out of their distresses. Now they were safe and grateful.

Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

God has made a bridge from a sinful life to everlasting life for all whose faith rests in the saving power of the shed blood of His Son - Jesus Christ. That bridge is Christ Himself. A wonderful bridge spans the waters of death, even Jesus, the new and living way, and no man can come to the Father but by Him.

Who could have planned God’s way of salvation from the wreck of sin? It is not of man’s work, not by the help of angels, but all by His own wisdom and by His own strong arm. The only hope, the only escape from the wreckage of sin is trust in the Saviour of sinners. Will you accept Him and His way now?

Salvation is of the Lord. (Jonah 2:9.)

Since that lighthouse has been on Morte Rock no wrecks have taken place on that rock, but what can we say of those who run upon the rocks of sin in spite of the clear rays of God’s lighthouse. Such wrecks are willful, not accidental, but still that bridge of salvation, that one way of escape from destruction, is open to all who will take it. Only turn from the way of death; only turn to God’s way of life - Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life - and you too will prove that He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him. v

Not by works of righteousness
which we have done,
but according to His mercy
He saved us.

Titus 3:5

He was wounded for
our transgressions, He was
bruised for our iniquities.

Isaiah 53:5

Behold the Saviour at the door!

He gently knocks - has knocked before;

Has waited long - is waiting still;

You use no other friend so ill.

Admit Him, for the human breast

Ne’er entertained so kind a guest;

No mortal tongue their joys can tell,

With whom He condescends to dwell.

Life at best is very brief,

Like the falling of a leaf,

Like the binding of a sheaf,

Be in time!

Fleeting days are telling fast

That the die will soon be cast,

And the fatal line be past,

Be in time!

Time is gliding swiftly by;

Death and judgment both draw nigh,

To the arms of Jesus fly.

Be in time!

Oh! I pray you count the cost,

Ere the fatal line be crossed,

And your Christless soul be lost.

Be in time!

Under the Light

Half-past ten at night found the little town almost as still as a ghost town. A policeman on night duty, standing near a corner, noticed a man walking along talking to himself. Stepping back into the shadow of a wall, he heard the man muttering: “I’ll catch ‘em, maybe, if I wait here.”

The policeman wondered whom he was waiting to “catch”, and what he wanted to do with “them” if he caught them. So he continued to watch and listen.

Soon he heard voices and footsteps, and saw that the man peered cautiously around the corner. He seemed to be a little excited as he saw who approached. Two men appeared and stopped under the streetlight. They shook hands and one said, “Good-by! I hope you will get home safely!”

The waiting man stepped forward quickly and said, “Excuse me, but can I talk to you a minute?”

“Certainly!”

“I was at your meeting tonight, sir! I’m sober the first time for many a year, leastways at night, and I’m real shook up tonight. I saw I was a sinner as you talked, and nobody can help me ’cept it’s Jesus, but where can I go to find Him? I just don’t understand that.”

Both the listening policeman and the two friends were sure that the man’s question was honest and sincere.

“You can find Him right here, under this light,” said the evangelist. “The Bible says, The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Do you really come, sorry for your sin? Do you really want to find Jesus, and to have Him as your Saviour from sin?”

“Yes, I do, for sure.”

“Then He says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Will you call upon Him now?”

“Oh, yes!” was the eager reply.

In a minute the two friends were kneeling with the anxious man under the light of that streetlight where they had met, and the latter prayed earnestly, telling God all his need and accepting the Word of God that he was redeemed.

The policeman, who had often seen the man before as he stumbled home from the bar at night, watched him carefully for many months afterwards. He could only admit that there had been a real change in him. He had become a Christian - a real Christian.

It was not because that poor man did such an odd thing as to kneel in a public street under the streetlight that he went home “justified”, but because he believed God. He found Christ - pardon - peace -just where he was. So can you. It is certain that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and therefore to save you. All you need to do is to believe this, and accept Him as your Saviour.

Vvv

Will You Be There?

Beyond this life of hopes and fears,

Beyond this world of grief and tears,

There is a region fair.

It knows no change and no decay,

No night, but one unending day,

Oh, say, will you be there?

Its glorious gates are closed to sin;

Naught that defiles can enter in

To mar its beauty rare.

Upon that bright eternal shore

Earth’s bitter curse is known no more;

Oh, say, will you be there?

No feeble hands, no tearful eye,

No aching heart, no weary sigh,

No pain, no grief, no care,

But joys which here we cannot know

Like a calm river ever flow -

Oh, say, will you be there?

The Old Question

The old question of almost 2000 years ago is still often asked: What must I do to be saved? And, after all those years, the answer is still the same. It bears, as nothing else will, the repetition of centuries: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. (Acts 16:31.)

“But,” you say, “I cannot believe, though I have often tried.”

Do not try to believe! The Lord Jesus knows all about it and you may just tell Him, Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief! He understands your case, no matter how difficult it may seem to be.

Believing on the Lord Jesus is not some effort of the mind, but simply trusting as a child. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and He says, Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. Just lean on His words.

Christ died! Let this be your watchword. Whenever troubled by your doubts, think of this: Christ has died . . . and is risen again! Then your doubts will be chased away by your thoughts of His grace and His love in dying for you.

One of the many doubts that come to those who have recently trusted in Jesus is caused by a wish to have a feeling of salvation. It is a mistake. Our feeling of happiness is not a necessity to God’s salvation.

Trust the mighty Redeemer! Go on in His name and not in the power of your happiness. Come to Him first, and after He has pardoned you - as He surely will - trust Him and Him only for your future life. He will give you more joy than you ever believed possible. All the days of your life He will keep you, and nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:39.)

He will not only keep you safe in life, but will carry you on to be with Him in heaven. v

My Life Has Meaning

My life wasn’t really that different from that of many young people today. Maybe it was even somewhat like yours is now. Early in my life, my parents decided to get a divorce, and my brothers, sisters and I ended up in a children’s home. The divorce and everything were hard for us to understand, and even though I was the oldest, my nine years of age didn’t make it any easier for me. In defense, I rebelled and hated.

It wasn’t long before I found myself getting into trouble. The strangest thing was that I didn’t want to do the things I was doing, but I did them anyway. Smoking, swearing, hating, fighting, all came into my life before I had even reached my teens.

As I grew older, I found myself trying new things, and that ended up in trouble with the law. The first time I was really in trouble was when I was sixteen or seventeen years of age. I served four months for stealing a car. Less than a year later, I was in the Elmira State Reformatory in New York for burglary. I was paroled after eighteen months, but I had not learned one thing about obeying the law.

I was almost immediately in trouble with the law again, but this time it was really serious. I was twenty years of age, and my sentence for armed robbery was twenty years in the State Penitentiary. The time ahead looked long and grim, and with the hatred and coldness inside my soul I wasn’t really looking to get out soon. Trouble was still my constant companion.

Within my first six months, I had killed another prisoner. It was done in self-defense and the case was dropped, but the repercussions were enormous. Suddenly the guards all hated me, my fellow-prisoners feared me, and I was sentenced to one year in maximum security.

I fed my hatred there and decided that as long as I had to be in prison I would make the best of it. I would be tough. If I wanted something, I took it. I told people what I thought of them. I walked all over anybody I chose to. So what if somebody wanted to kill me? Who cared anyway? I would just as soon die as live the life I was living.

As the years passed, violence, hatred and drugs all became common things in my life. I was fit for nothing but hell, and I did not even care.

But all this time, there was One who cared. I did not know it, but there was a girl who did know and she wanted to tell me about that Person and His love for me.

We often invited people from the free world to come to the prison and listen as we held a speech contest. This particular girl came with a group of young people from the college that was in the same town as the prison. I never noticed her, but I guess she listened carefully to each speaker and took notes of what each one said.

I had spoken about life, a pretty confused speech since I really did not know what it was all about anyway, and a part of me really wanted to find out. All I could say was that life was a great big NOTHING - cold, cruel and ugly.

I never even noticed the girl, but a few days later I received a letter from her. She wrote saying she had an answer to the meaning of life and that she wanted to help me find it. Now this really stunned me, because there I was, a convict, and why would a person I did not even know care enough about me to go to all that trouble? I was sure she was after something.

But she kept writing, and in all the letters she talked about a Man named Jesus. She told me that He loved me and that He could give my life meaning. She spoke of my sins and my unworthiness to ever stand before God. She told of Christ and His death on the cross, and how that death could pay for my sins and make me worthy to stand in God’s holy presence. To me, most of it did not make much sense, but we kept exchanging letters.

Slowly and insistently, Christ spoke to my heart through the letters and the verses that the girl asked me to read in the Bible. And then one night in my cell I finally came to understand the great love that she spoke about. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had come to earth and had willingly laid down His life on the cross to make me fit for heaven. There was hope for me - there was a meaning for my life!

Tears streamed from my eyes as I fell on my knees before God. The Lord Jesus Christ had entered my life. I was saved, forgiven, a new man with a new life - I was a child of God. Christ had cleansed me from my sins with His precious blood shed on the cross. He had taken my punishment from the hand of a holy God. My sins no longer counted, not in God’s eyes. Before man I was guilty, serving twenty years in prison, but before God I was cleansed, free and without blame.

Yes, I was still in prison, but I had a new life and I had Christ and His love and grace to comfort me, His strength to help me. Undreamed-of happiness became mine. Life suddenly had a meaning.

Time passed slowly, but now I faced each parole board meeting with hope and thankfulness. Struggles and temptations met me, but Jesus helped me to face them. I slipped and fell many times, but now I had Someone to lift me back to my feet, Someone to give me a reason for going on.

Finally I was paroled, and I left prison a free man. I had entered that prison ten years before a prisoner of man, a prisoner of Satan, and a prisoner of myself. But I left free, saved by Christ. And I knew that He would always be with me.

Four days after my release the Lord allowed me to marry the girl He had used to bring me to Himself! We are now joyously serving our wonderful Lord Jesus together!

Maybe you are just like I was: confused, full of hatred, not knowing the wonderful meaning of life. All of us have sinned. We have all come short of the glory of God. But not one of us has to stay that way. Christ saved me, and if He could love me with all of my ugliness and sin, surely you can see that He loves you too.

The Bible says that Christ died for the ungodly. He died for our sins, was buried, and three days later He rose again, conquering Satan and death. The blood of Jesus Christ His [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin. Wonderful joy is awaiting you. Please look at Christ; see that His blood was shed for you too. Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.

By the grace of God I found the meaning of life, I found love, and I found peace all through Christ. I want you to know Him too as your Saviour, and then you will be able to say with me: “MY LIFE HAS MEANING!” v

He Is Coming!

There is a growing conviction on the part of Christians all over the world that the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is near at hand. Also, there is a general feeling in the world, apart from Christianity altogether, that everything is changing; the old orders are being broken up, and “something is going to happen.” How true are the words of the Bible: Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.

The fact is, the world must go from bad to worse just in proportion as the world gives up God. And the only way to get right with God is through the Lord Jesus Christ. He must be known first as Saviour.

Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. (1 Peter 3:18.) There is no other way to God than through Christ.

If the Lord were to come right now, would you welcome Him? Are you ready for that coming? He will come quickly. HE MAY COME TODAY!

vvv

Joyce Kilmer's Desire

M ost of us, I suppose, best remember Joyce Kilmer for his famous poem on the tree:

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree . . .

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

But others of Kilmer’s poems speak of his sense of God’s love and of the all-sufficiency of the work accomplished by His only begotten Son:

Lord, Thou didst suffer more for me,

Than all the hosts of land and sea.

Joyce Kilmer was only thirty years old when he was killed in France. He was the father of five small children. Already well known as a poet, one would say that he had everything to live for. But in a letter home shortly before his death, Kilmer admitted that he had not written much while he was away.

“Writing is not the tremendously important thing I once considered it,” he said, and added: “Pray for me, that I may love God more, and that I may be unceasingly conscious of Him - that is the greatest desire I have.”

What is your greatest desire? God grant that it may truly be that of Kilmer - to love Him more who first loved you, to say from your heart with the poet:

Lord, Thou didst suffer more for me,

Than all the hosts of land and sea.

All that He suffered on the cross He suffered for you, for your sins, that you might have life -everlasting life - and might know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9.) v

Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends.

John 15:13

Thou wilt keep him in
perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed
on Thee: because
he trusteth in Thee.

Isaiah 26:3

Look unto Me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth:
for I am God,
and there is none else.

Isaiah 45:22

Come, sinners, see Him lifted up

On the cross! On the cross!

He drinks for you the bitter cup

On the cross! On the cross!

The rocks do rend, the mountains quake,

While Jesus doth atonement make,

While Jesus suffers for our sake,

On the cross! On the cross!

The Preacher in the Rafters

Bill was driving down the dark streets of town one summer night, a very unhappy man. He had begun to drink because he and his wife quarreled - then they fought because he drank. At last he had been so abusive that she could bear no more and had turned him out of their home.

Friendless, homeless and hopeless, he planned tonight to drive to the bay and end it all in the deep water.

Deep in his own troubled thoughts, he missed the right turn to the bay and had to turn around. As he drove back he passed a small building still lighted though it was near midnight. On an impulse he parked the car and went inside. Up in the rafters a man was working. Maybe Bill thought he knew something that could help him, for he called up to him, “I need help! I wonder if I could talk with you.”

The man in the rafters quickly climbed down. He was a trim, dark man with a warm friendly smile that advertised to everyone he met that the love of God was in his heart. He was the servant of Christ who preached in this building and had been working at this late hour repairing the ceiling.

Sitting down with Bill, he opened his Bible to John 3:16. Bill told him of his desperation and that he felt life was no longer worth living. He planned in his heart to end it all tonight.

The preacher had no need to tell Bill he was a sinner - Bill knew he had brought all this sorrow on himself. The preacher did not need to tell Bill he needed Someone more powerful than himself to save him - Bill had been fighting his addiction for too long; he knew he was licked.

Quietly the preacher read to Bill the precious old words: 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.

Could he make Bill understand it? God loved Bill. In spite of all his misery and sin, God loved him. He handed the Bible over to Bill and pointed to the verse. “Here, you read it for yourself. Only, where it says ‘world,’ and ‘whosoever,’ put your own name in.”

The book felt strange in Bill’s hands, but the friendly warmth of the man beside him gave him confidence. Bill began to read hesitantly: “For God - so - loved - B-B-Bill, that He gave His only begotten Son, that B-Bill believing on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life!”

Could it be? It seemed too wonderful. Love for a man like him! Did God really love Bill? His wife couldn’t put up with him any longer - could God still love him?

Together the two men read Ephesians 2:8,9. For 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.

It was past midnight now, but the preacher was in no hurry. The destiny of a soul hung in the balance. Finally towards one o’clock Bill understood the message. Down on his knees Bill received Christ into his heart.

Bill left his new-found friend in the early hours of the morning, forgiven and happy. He wasted little time in going to his wife with his good news. Words were scarcely needed, for she could see the change in him. Soon she too wanted “what Bill got that night,” and came to the Saviour. She too found peace and happiness in the Lord Jesus, and they became a family united in Christ Jesus. Their great joy is to tell others of what He has done for them. v

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Acts 16:31

Simple Faith

And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched His garment.

For she said, If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole.

And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out of Him, turned Him about in the press, and said, Who touched My clothes? . . . And He looked round to see her that had done this thing.

But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him all the truth.

And He said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. (Mark 5:25-34.)

For twelve years the woman had been sick. She had spent all she had and was not better, but rather grew worse. She was completely miserable. Every human resource had been found to be a source of disappointment, not of healing. Complete poverty was the result, for she had spent all.

How beautifully simple her faith was! She had heard of Jesus, and what she had heard had convinced her that to get into contact with Him meant sure and certain blessing. So convinced, her course was simple. She heard, she came, she touched, and straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up. As a very simple consequence, she was healed.

Not only is she made well, but peace fills her heart as she thinks of the future. Be whole of thy plague are His last words to her. She had therefore the divinely-given certainty that she could never relapse into that state from which Jesus had rescued her. How comforting to one who trusts Him! That one is entitled to know that forgiveness and eternal life are present possessions and never can be lost. What He gives in grace He does not recall, even though the recipient be faulty and failing.

These things have I written
unto you that believe
on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know
that ye have eternal life,
and that ye may believe
on the name of the Son of God.

1 John 5:13

vvv

Christ's Appeal

The police in Los Angeles stop a black man for a traffic violation. The man, Rodney King, is allegedly beaten up by the four white policemen. The “police brutality” case goes to court and the jury acquits the policemen. The people feel it is so unjust that they riot, start fires, break store windows and steal from stores. Anarchy breaks out. There is no control. It is terrifying to the residents of that area.

Feelings are so strong that the violence spreads to other cites. Leaders of minority groups make speeches saying that unless something is done to stop the injustice there will be more violence.

So it goes in this world. Early in this world’s history the earth was filled with violence and corruption. The earth also was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence. (Genesis 6:11.) At that time God intervened in judgment with the flood.

The judgment did not stop the wickedness and injustice of the human race. There have been many cases of injustice, but the worst took place over nineteen hundred years ago.

It was like this: Jesus was born into this world. He never disobeyed, hurt or destroyed. God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:17.)

Jesus’ mission in this world is summed up in Matthew 4:23: Jesus went about . . . teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. He also fed crowds of people. He raised the dead.

His perfect sinlessness was declared: He knew no sin - He did no sin - In Him is no sin. At last God had One in this world who pleased Him. The heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:16,17.)

How did the world treat this holy, harmless, undefiled One? They took counsel how they might entangle Him in His talk. The religious leaders assembled together . . . and consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill Him. They spit in His face and buffeted Him. One of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand.

Pilate, the Roman judge, asked, What evil hath He done? and the people cried out, Let Him be crucified. Pilate washed his hands before them and said, I am innocent of the blood of this just person.

Pilate then ordered Jesus to be whipped and commanded his soldiers to crucify Him. The soldiers took Jesus and stripped Him and put a crown of thorns on His head and spit on Him. There was more that was done to this innocent One of whom the judge declared three times, I find no fault in this man.

Enough has been recounted to show that there was a gross injustice done that day, the worst this world has ever seen. Even the sun stopped shining for three hours and there was a great earthquake, BUT no one rioted or caused a stir on behalf of this holy Sufferer!

What was the result of all this?

Rodney King pleaded with the people to calm down and stop causing a disturbance.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the victim of hatred and injustice, pleads with you now to come to Him for pardon for your sins. Even though we are guilty, He wants to forgive us. He will not only forgive you, but will give you eternal life and a home in heaven to be eternally with Him in His Father’s house.

He says, Come unto Me. . . . Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.

He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24.)

Have you come to Him, believing? If not, why not?

Do it now!

vvv

I am standing outside your door tonight,

Seeking your heart to win;

The world for a while has withdrawn its light -

Will you open and let Me in?

I am standing to plead with you tonight

While the dews of evening fall;

O’er the moaning and surging wave of life

Do you hear My yearning call?

From the glorious heights of heaven I came

To seek you and to save,

But the world, it gave Me a cross of shame

And a lonely, borrowed grave.

You have wandered far in the paths of sin;

You are weary and sad and lone,

But My blood can cleanse, and My blood can win;

May I make your heart My own?

The world, it has given you care and pain,

Often famine and misery;

I can offer the treasures of priceless gain -

Will you open the door to Me?

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.

Revelation 3:20

Divine Love

What does God’s love mean to you? Have you opened your heart to that love? Have you believed and been wooed and won by such well-proved love - the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge?

This is how an old man once learned that love. The great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, had been preaching to a vast audience. When they left the building, a solitary old man was found weeping in a seat in the rear of the hall. He was asked what part of the sermon affected him so.

“Oh,” he sobbed, “I am partially deaf and did not hear the sermon. But when they sang that hymn, ‘Jesus, lover of my soul,’ it was too much. I thought, If He loves me, why should I live any longer at enmity to Him? It’s that love that breaks my heart.”

Oh, may that love touch your heart. Live no longer as an enemy of Jesus. He has never been your enemy. He loved you even unto death. No man ever loved like Him.

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10.) v

Forty Years Nearer

One day, when I was a young girl, I was walking along the street and saw a notice outside a theater: COME! AND BRING YOUR BIBLES!

What a strange thing! I thought. Bring your Bibles to a theater? What can it mean?

I had often been to the theater, but had never been told to bring a Bible. I did not even own one! But I made up my mind to go that night just to see what it was all about. I would borrow a Bible just for once. I did so, and that night, full of curiosity I entered the theater.

On the wall near the stage were charts, and a man stood up to explain them. He had a long stick in his hand and pointed to the different diagrams as he spoke. He continually referred to the Bible and asked his audience to turn to the different passages for themselves.

I sat there unable to find one verse. I had never read the Bible. I could hear the flutter of the pages as the other people turned from chapter to chapter, and I listened to the speaker’s voice. He told us of the Lord’s coming again. He said, “He may come at any moment!”

I was terrified! For the first time I learned I was a sinner, and I felt the great burden of my sins.

Suppose it should be true, I said to myself, that the Lord is coming quickly. Am I ready to meet Him? I knew I was not, so I sat with my head bowed, down feeling that God’s wrath was hanging over me. One thought was in my mind: The Lord Jesus is coming soon - and I am not ready.

I left that place and went to a neighbor who had tried to speak to me of the Lord Jesus. She and her husband welcomed me into their house. They told me what they knew themselves, and I learned that the Lord Jesus had died on the cross for sinners. My heart just opened to Him when I realized that He had died for me. But I was not at rest, for I had not learned that God can righteously forgive a sinner. I felt that my safety depended on myself - on my being good and doing good.

Sometimes I was bright and happy and would say to myself, I wish the Lord Jesus would come today; I am sure I am ready to meet Him now. At other times I would think, I hope He will not come today; I believe He would leave me behind!

I went on like that, up and down, for forty years. At the end of that time a neighbor of my daughter invited her to a meeting. She went, and the Lord saved her soul. Then she came to see me and urged me to attend those meetings.

I didn’t want to go! I was so used to my doubts and fear that I thought there was nothing better. But my daughter persuaded me and on the next occasion I went.

I can never forget that evening! The subject was John 5:24. He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

The preacher explained so clearly that the work was finished. I had only to believe what Christ had done. I could doubt no longer and, half rising from my seat, I exclaimed: “I believe it!”

From that moment I knew that I had passed from death to life. I turned my eyes from myself to the Saviour in heaven. Do you think I have ever doubted since?

Then the preacher spoke of the coming of the Lord. I had heard nothing of His return since that evening in the theater forty years before. Now I live in daily anticipation of seeing Him, and comfort myself with the thought that His coming is forty years nearer than when I first heard of it.

Surely I come quickly.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20.)

vvv

Something Beyond

the country of Spain had for her motto: “Ne plus ultra” -“Nothing Beyond.” In those days Spaniards had sailed the length of the Mediterranean. They had passed through the Strait of Gibraltar. Seeing nothing beyond but the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, they imagined that they had reached the limits of the habitable earth; hence, the adoption of the motto “Nothing Beyond,” which was engraved on their coat of arms and the coins of the country.

Spain had to learn, however, that this motto was not founded on fact. When Columbus landed in the western hemisphere, it became very clear that instead of there being “Nothing Beyond,” there was indeed a great deal beyond. Accordingly, they dropped the first word, leaving the two words: “Plus Ultra!” -”Something Beyond!”

Something beyond. What wonderful possibilities are in these words. They were proven to be true in the physical world by Columbus and his men long ago. They are equally true in the spiritual world. There is something beyond this present life.

Yes, beyond this life lies ETERNITY - life that will never end. And there are only two places to spend this future life: Heaven and Hell. Toward which are you headed? v

Why Should I Come to Christ?

Because He died for me.
Because He loves me.
Because He wants me.
Because I cannot face God alone.
Because I have no other refuge.
Because no other can save me.
Because the devil hates me.
Because eternity is before me.
Because my soul must live forever.

God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

"Stick to That, Sandy!"

In a little fishing village Sandy was a notorious character. He was so wicked that he earned for himself the nickname of “Satan.”

One day, a Christian worker, walking along the shore, saw Sandy mending his nets. He stopped to talk with him and asked if he had been going to the gospel meetings.

Sandy replied, “No! and I don’t intend to.”

He continued, “Preaching does no good. Depend on it, it won’t last, for when the preachers leave, the converts will be as much servants of the devil as I am.”

The Christian replied, “God is able to save you. We will pray for you.” And he walked away.

Sandy began to think of what he had heard. Why are they going to pray for me? If they are going to pray for me, maybe it is time I should be praying for myself. He began to review his past. Memory pointed him to his life of sin and shame. His sins rose up before him like mountains, and so miserable did he become that he laid his nets down and went home.

His wife greeted him with, “Sandy, I am going to the meeting tonight.”

“Why, what are you going to do there?”

“Oh, I am going to hear those preachers. My mother has been converted. She says she knows her sins are forgiven. And our Mary, you would hardly know her! She is so happy now.”

Sandy was astonished at this news, but his pride would not allow him to go with his wife and she went alone to the preaching, leaving Sandy much disturbed.

After she was gone and he was left alone in the house, he realized in some measure the full weight of his sin. He saw himself lost and ruined, a hell-deserving sinner, and now his conscience began to trouble him for refusing to attend the meeting.

“Shall I go, or shall I not?” After a good deal of deliberation he resolved that he would go. Slipping out of the house, he hurried off to the place where the meetings were being held.

His courage failed him at the door, so he walked to the opposite end of the building. Standing under the window, he listened attentively to the story of Jesus and His love. Amazed, he heard that the worst sinner may be saved by simply believing on Him who suffered and died for all his sins.

He was intensely interested in what he had heard. Could it be that eternal salvation was to be had as a gift? This was truly news to him.

Toward the end of the meeting, fearing that he might be seen by his wife, Sandy hurried home and undressed. Jumping into bed, he pretended to be asleep when his wife arrived.

She entered the room and, coming to the bed, she shook him vigorously. “Sandy! Sandy!” she cried. “Wake up! I have it now - I am converted.”

Suddenly forgetting that he was asleep, he opened his eyes wide and asked earnestly: “And how do you feel, Jeanie?”

“Feelings have nothing to do with it at all, Sandy. It is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. All you do is believe on Him!”

Sandy could hold out no longer. His wife’s mother and sister, and now his own wife, had been converted. In an agony of soul he besought his wife to help him get converted too - to pray that God would give to him His great salvation. Jeanie tried to explain to him that salvation was not to be gained by prayer or work, but that it came wholly by faith in what Christ had done on Calvary’s cross. Earnestly she told him that the moment he believed on the One who had died for him and had borne his punishment at Calvary, that very moment he would be saved and have everlasting life.

She told him in her own way of the verses of Scripture that had given light to her soul: Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Sandy pondered the precious words he had been hearing. Suddenly he exclaimed: “I see it now, Jeanie! I see! There is Jesus hanging on the cross, and all my sins are on Him.”

Joyfully his wife cried out, “Stick to that, Sandy, my man! Stick to that!”

Peace and joy now filled his heart, because he believed that Jesus died for him.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life. (John 6:47.) v

Willie's Escape

Long ago During World War II, when the government of France collapsed, the army was ordered to stop fighting and to lay down their arms. There were many officers who tried to save their men and themselves from surrender. Among these was the Colonel of an artillery regiment which was stationed well west of the Maginot Line.

When the Colonel heard of the fall of Paris and of the rapid advance of the Germans, he ordered his regiment to retreat at once towards a district where it was thought they would be safe.

The order was issued on the 14th of June and three days and nights of rapid travel were needed. The retreat began on the evening of June 14th and continued on the 15th and 16th. Willie was a young ambulance driver, and on that third day his motor suddenly stopped. Something was wrong. There was nothing to do but move aside and try to find and repair the damage. None dare stop to help, and soon Willie was alone with his one passenger, an officer. There was no time to be lost, for the German army was close at hand.

Willie’s parents were Christian missionaries in China. On that 16th of June they had it greatly pressed upon their hearts that their beloved son was in special danger, and they prayed earnestly that the Lord would protect and deliver him.

Willie himself knew that same source of guidance and help and prayed that he might speedily find the cause of trouble in his engine.

The prayers were answered. Willie was led to prompt discovery of the trouble and was able to fix it. But the regiment had passed on and there was no guide to show him the way. The officer who was his passenger in the ambulance “happened” to have with him a road map covering just that very district, and using it they proceeded.

As they advanced they found bridges destroyed and roads blocked. At times shells fell to the left and right of them, but they were unhurt. Several times they narrowly escaped capture by German troops. Without the road map they would have been almost helpless; using it, they reached the expected place of safety. Their ambulance was the very last to arrive.

There are some who will perhaps think that the statement of God’s answering prayer, causing the ambulance driver quickly to discover the problem in his engine, and to have so ordered it that the one passenger had the needed road map, was nothing but religious sentiment. If this is your thought, it is clear that you know nothing of the love of God for us poor human creatures. Did you never read what our Lord said when on this earth, Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? He adds: Ye are of more value than many sparrows - even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Of our Lord Jesus we are told that He was the brightness of God’s glory, the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power (Hebrews 1). In love to you and me He laid aside that glory for a time. He came into this world, became a man and went to the cross of Calvary to bear your sins and mine. He accomplished the work of redemption for us.

Surely, you will not close your heart against such love as this? v

Only One Man

Is it possible that the great God above can care for one soul among all the millions on earth? It is, for the One who came to tell us all we know of the heart of God said, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. God desires that all should be saved, but He rejoices over one. Has He rejoiced over you yet?

The lifeboat men will save the whole of the shipwrecked crew if they can; if not, they rejoice to be able to bring even one safe to land. An instance of this is found in the records of the Deal lifeboat. Looking out through his glass late one spring evening, Richard Roberts, the coxswain of the boat, saw a new wreck on the Goodwin Sands, and a solitary man. Only one man! Was it worthwhile launching the lifeboat for his sake?

The lifeboat-men never stopped to question that, for as soon as the tide would permit there was a rush for life belts and over the wild waves the boat sped to the rescue. But to save that one man was no easy matter. Night came on, inky black, and their eyes could see nothing. The waves rolled over the boat and though they shouted and strained their ears for an answer no voice could be heard above the noise of the sea. They cast anchor and waited through the long night for the dawn.

With the first gray light they caught sight of the object of their search not more than four hundred yards away. It was but the work of a few minutes to get him into the safety of the boat. Unable to save himself, help came to him from without. So Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Has He saved you?

The saved man was captain of a Norwegian boat which had run onto the shoals the morning before, and he had seen the six men that formed his crew drown before his eyes. He had lashed himself to the wheel, and so escaped the fate of the rest.

He received a royal welcome when he was brought in to the town of Deal, and you may be sure not one of the lifeboat men resented the labor and the hardships they had undergone to save only one man.

Who can estimate the value of one soul? The whole world is nothing in comparison to it. For one soul, as well as for millions, Jesus died. He seeks for one soul today, and that one soul is yours. Welcome Him; welcome Him now. Take this message from God Himself to you, and make it your very own.

God so loved you, that He gave His only begotten Son, that if you will believe in His name you shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Then over your soul there will be joy in the presence of the angels of God, and with joy you can exclaim, The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20.)

Vvv

The Stony Heart

Mr. Duncan, a traveling preacher, was passing a quarry where the stones were being cracked. Hearing the noise of the machinery, he walked in and stood watching the process of breaking. Some stones were ground very small, and others were broken in large pieces.

The workers soon noticed him and began to make remarks about “the loafer in the coat and tie” and to compare his work with their own. Duncan heard their comments and asked, “What is that you say about hard work? I say that from your appearance you know very little about what real hard work is.

“Look,” he continued, “at your great strong limbs! You could wheel up three times as much as you do, could you not?”

“Dare say we could,” replied the men.

“Very well, then, you are not overworked, but you laugh at my coat and say that I know nothing about hard work. Tell me - would twenty miles be a day’s walk for you?”

“Shouldn’t like to do more,” was the reply.

“Well,” said the preacher; “I do that much walking in addition to my daily work of visiting and preaching.

“But more than that, and far harder than all the rest of my work put together, I have stones to break. Hard stones they are too, and sometimes it will take many months to crack one of them. Once I remember it took eighteen months of pounding one, for the stones my Master expects me to crack are stony hearts. That work is so hard that the greater part must be done on my knees, and only by using the hammer of God’s Word and the powerful lever of His Spirit can I crack such hard stones.”

The preacher walked away from the quarry, leaving the men silenced.

With thankfulness to God he thought of the hard, stony heart which he had mentioned as taking eighteen months to crack. The salvation of Ned Lane had been on Duncan’s heart for that full eighteen months, and he had made it a practice to knock at Ned’s door every time he passed his house. Each time he knocked Ned would shout; “Go away! I don’t want you nor your preaching neither.”

Still Duncan knocked again and again, saying as he knocked on Tuesday evenings, “We’re having preaching in the hall tonight. We’d be glad to see you over, friend.”

One day as Ned was at work, one of his friends said to him, “I say, Ned! How about going to the meeting at the hall tonight? Would you like to go with me?”

“Why Jim, I was thinking the same thing, but I thought you would laugh at me.”

So they both went to the meeting, and as the preacher walked to the front of the crowded room, he heard Ned joining in the singing:

There is a stream of precious blood

Which flowed from Jesus’ veins;

And sinners washed in that blest flood

Lose all their guilty stains.

“Why, friend,” asked the preacher, “can you sing that?”

“Yes, and I mean it,” was Ned’s reply as the tears ran down his cheeks.

Ned was brought to God that night. His was truly a broken and contrite heart. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise. (Psalm 51:17.)

Vvv

A Drink

Have you drunk the deep drafts of earth’s pleasures?

Have you tasted her joy and mirth?

Have you gathered together her treasures,

What the world deems of value and worth?

Have you sought to drink at her fountains -

It may be, the purest and best -

After climbing o’er weary mountains

And seeking in vain for rest?

Have you stooped to drink at earth’s rivers?

Oh, you know how true it is, then:

He that drinketh of these waters

SHALL THIRST AGAIN.

Have you tasted the living waters?

Have you drunk at the living spring?

Have you come to the loving Saviour

And asked for a drink from Him?

Have you come to Him, earth-weary,

Forlorn and discouraged and sad?

Have you drunk at the living fountain,

And has He not made you glad?

Ah, well you may sing of His goodness,

And praise from your glad lips burst:

Whoso drinketh of this water

SHALL NEVER THIRST.

Who Are You Voting for?

It’s election time again.

On every level - city, county, state, all the way up to the national election for the president of the country - people are deciding how to vote, which choices to make.

You may cast your vote for the winner, or you may see your candidate lose, or you may not vote at all. Life is full of decisions, but there is one decision and one vote that you cannot evade. The issues are of far greater importance to you than the issues of this election year.

In fact, the eternal future of your soul is at stake. Perhaps you have already cast your vote for the only Man who can completely satisfy the longings of your soul . . . the only Man who can promise you the forgiveness of sins, peace with God and eternal life. If you have already “voted” for the Lord Jesus Christ, He is your Lord and Saviour and by faith you have become a child of God.

But perhaps you have never voted or pledged your allegiance to the Lord Jesus, the Son of God. Perhaps you have decided that you would put it off until some more convenient day.

Friend, the time is short. You cannot be neutral in the matter of your soul’s salvation! Either you cast your vote for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, or you are actually voting for His enemy, Satan. (He that is not with Me is against Me.) No room for fence-sitting here! v

How I Came to Christ

You ask me how I came to Christ?

I do not know.

There came a longing for Him in my heart

So long ago.

I found earth’s flowers would fade and die,

I wept for something that would satisfy;

And then - and then somehow I seemed to dare

To lift my burdened heart to Him in prayer.

I do not know, I cannot tell you how,

I only know He is my Saviour now.

You ask me when I came to Christ?

I cannot tell

The day or just the hour, I do not now

Remember well.

It must have been when I was all alone

The light of His forgiving Spirit shone

Into my heart, so clouded o’er with sin,

I think - I think ’twas then I let Him in.

I do not know, I cannot tell you when,

I only know He is so dear since then.

"I Don't Want to Be a Christian!"

“I don’t want to be a Christian,” I said. “Why, I’d have to give up everything that makes life pleasant. I’d have to go around with a long face all the rest of my life. No, thank you! I’m happy as I am.”

I turned my back on my sister’s pleading and put the disagreeable thought from my mind. I was determined to go on as I was. Why should I give up the world at nineteen? I had all that any girl could want - a happy home, plenty of friends, and parties without number. If I became a Christian I would have to give up the parties, so of course I wouldn’t even think of it!

Just about this time some gospel meetings were being held and I heard of one or two “conversions” among the girls I knew. When I heard of the wonderful change that had come into their lives and how happy they were now, I just laughed and predicted that “it would soon wear off!”

“Won’t you come and hear for yourself?” begged my sister. “It can’t hurt you to just go once.”

I steadily refused.

One day my mother asked me to take a note to the house of a friend of hers who lived nearby. “I think you may have to wait for an answer,” she said as she sealed and handed it to me.

At first I rebelled. I knew the woman the letter was addressed to was one of those religious ones I usually avoided. Finally I agreed to go, determining in my own mind to let her see that I had no intention of being spoken to about my soul. So, feeling very determined, I set off.

At the door I was invited in. I went in, inwardly resolving to hold my own, no matter what happened.

To my horror, when we reached the living room I found myself in the midst of one of the dreaded meetings I had heard so much about. My mother’s friend rose to greet me and motioned me to a seat.

I will never forget my feelings as I sat there! I could see it all! I had fallen unsuspectingly into the trap that had been laid for me by my mother and her friend.

Curiously and critically I listened, wondering what there could be in that dry and uninteresting Book to be so important to these people. Soon, bored with listening to what I could not understand, I began planning how I could slip out of the room and get away without attracting any attention.

Prayers followed the discussion, and I thought, “Now is my chance!” but the person sitting next to me began to pray, pleading with God for “the one outside the fold.” Others followed, all asking the Lord not to let me leave without a blessing.

Deeper and deeper their words sunk into my heart. I felt as I knelt there that a holy God was searching me through and through. All my sins came sweeping over me like a great wave.

What had I been doing? How had I dared to turn away from the God who was at this moment reading my very soul?

Terrified, I rose from my knees and stood waiting as all the others except my mother’s friend left the room. She came to me at once, and asked me that question I had always dreaded, “Are you saved?”

“No,” I answered flatly.

“Do you want to be?”

For a moment I hesitated. Then, “Am I too wicked?” I faltered. “Oh, you don’t know what I am, and all the dreadful things I have done.”

“Never mind what you have been, or what you have done,” she said quietly. “If you know yourself to be a sinner, just listen to what God says to you.” Opening her Bible she read, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

I said doubtfully, “But how can I know that was meant for me? How can I know that God wants me?”

From the last chapter of Revelation she read this verse: “Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely. Now, do you suppose God has left you out of that ‘whosoever’?”

“No-o,” I answered slowly, while the wonderful truth began to dawn across my mind.

At last I saw and believed. I needed no more! I saw it all so clearly, and a joy I had never known before flooded my whole being. Oh, the wonderful grace of God to me!

From that moment the current of my life was changed. Old things are passed away . . . all things are become new! v

Last Chance

This may be it! I do not know and I cannot tell for sure. I hope that this may not be it, but there is not a single soul in all the world that can know that it is not so. I cannot tell; you cannot tell; no one can ever tell!

This may be it! This may be the last gospel article that you will ever have the opportunity to read. This may be your last chance to read the good news that Christ died for our sins. This could be your very last opportunity to read about Him who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree. (1 Peter 2:24.)

This may be it! The choice is up to you. You will read, or you may refuse to read. It may be the last chance for choice that you will ever make. I hope not; I pray not, but I don’t know.

This grim uncertainty as to life is a terrifying thing without Christ. You cannot know from one hour to another, for you might be suddenly struck down and taken away within the next fifteen minutes. What a gamble it is!

You have no choice concerning death, but you have the golden choice of LIFE everlasting. For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored [helped] thee; behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2.)

Is this an old story to you - often heard but never accepted? Whose fault is that? And who has continued to give you this precious time that you might hear the story of God’s love again and again? Can you once more ignore the invitation: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved?

You may throw it away. You may forget it. But -this may be it! This may be your last chance to accept God’s love.

He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. (Proverbs 29:1.) If this is the last time -there will be no remedy!

This may be it! I do not know - you do not know. I hope not - but who knows - except God? v

The Glass of Nails

Scofield, the engineer, faced the visiting evangelist defiantly. “No, sir,” he said emphatically; “there is no place for religion in a factory! Why, even my engine won’t run if I don’t swear at times.”

Behind him Tom, the foreman, snickered, and Scofield angrily ordered him off to another job. He began to be very busy, opening and shutting off valves, oiling the slides, and giving the appearance of being much too busy to talk.

The visitor held out his hand, saying, “I must leave you now, but will you not give the subject some thought?”

The engineer shook his head. “It’s no place for religion, I tell you,” he said. “To my mind, factories ought never to have been built. God intended man to live out in the free air and enjoy nature. There is plenty of room for religion out of doors, but here, where the very pulleys swear at their work - where machines shriek and curse - here is no place for religion.”

“Tom,” cried Scofield after the evangelist had left, “come on back - I was out of sorts when I spoke.”

“I couldn’t help laughing, though,” said Tom, wiping the sweat from his face. “You know that you never did try to do anything without swearing.”

The engineer made no reply, but most vividly the foreman’s words came back to him again and again.

Was it as bad as that? Could he do nothing without swearing? He resolved to test himself. He would begin early next morning and for every curse he uttered he would drop a small brass nail into a glass that was in the window. He rather thought that the glass would be empty at night, now that he had made his mind up.

The next day came. Scofield rose at five as usual, and going downstairs in his stocking feet stepped on a tack. The volley of oaths that followed counted out seven nails for the glass. The pancakes, a missing button, the cat, a slow clock and the remembrance of his purpose scored five more.

Then, with grim determination, he shut his mouth and said not a word more until he reached the engine room, where he counted out the nails and threw them into the glass with an oath - yes, an oath of relief. He was half across the room before the last one dawned upon him, but true to his purpose he walked back and put another nail in the glass.

All day long he struggled, and at night the glass held thirty nails. Scofield was startled. He had never dreamed that the habit had such a grip on him. He had thought his willpower was equal to any test.

At last he went to “Christian Tim,” an old man in the steelworks, and told him the whole affair. Tim pondered a while, and then said: “You may be able to leave off in time by your own willpower, but I know a better way.”

“What is it?” asked the engineer.

“Ask the help of the Lord Jesus Christ,” said Tim earnestly. “Hasn’t He heard every oath? Isn’t it against Him that you have sinned?” And Tim went on to tell him of Christ the Saviour who could give him a new nature and a new life - eternal life. All the old oaths and curses and every other sin he had ever committed could be washed away and gone forever. He could never make himself perfect, never make himself good enough for the presence of God by exercising his willpower.

“I had the same experience myself years ago,” said Tim, and went on to tell him how he had simply stopped trying to be better and turned in simple faith to the Lord Jesus Christ. He had learned that when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly, and had thankfully accepted the free gift of God.

He added, “Now I never feel the least inclination to swear. And as for being happy - I can hardly tell where the days go!”

The evangelist called on Scofield again and was greeted warmly. The engineer happily told him that the great change had come both to him and to foreman Tom. He said, “There is a Bible in that desk, and we find time to read some in it every day. And to tell the truth, I believe the work is less hard, the wheels run more smoothly, the valves are tighter, and the whole place is lighter, cleaner and better!”

Vvv

Why God Is Silent

For 2000 years God appears to have been silent. It is true that during this time He has been at work in the lives of multitudes, bringing them back to Himself through the Lord Jesus Christ, regenerating them by the power of the Holy Spirit and giving them new experiences, desires, hopes and ambitions. But His operations have been largely hidden. For twenty centuries God has not given this world any outward manifestation of His presence and power such as human sense can see or feel. He has, as it were, withdrawn Himself.

And why is God silent now? In giving His Son He did all that could be done for the salvation of men and women. In the gospel He has spoken His last word of mercy, and the day of wrath has not yet come. He who is to come as Judge is now sitting on the throne as Saviour. The great amnesty is still in force. The day of grace still runs it course.

But there is a day coming when the world will have to answer for how it treated the Son of God. And you will have to answer the question: “What have you done with Christ?”

It is of no use for you to say, “I’ll be neutral,” for the Lord Jesus Christ says, He that is not with Me is against Me. There is no middle ground: Christ, or Self? Christ, or the world? Which have you chosen? v

What will you do

with Jesus?

Neutral you cannot be;

Someday your heart

will be asking,

“What will He do

with me?”

I tried the broken cisterns, Lord,

But, ah! the waters failed!

E’en as I stooped to drink they fled

And mocked me as I wailed.

Now none but Christ can satisfy,

None other name for me!

There’s love, and life, and lasting joy,

Lord Jesus found in Thee!

Ye know not what hour
[the] Lord doth come.
Therefore be ye also ready:
for in such an hour as
ye think not
the Son of man cometh.

Matthew 24:42,44

Almost Sold

An argument was going on in the hotel bar. Several voices were raised; different opinions were expressed, and no two seemed quite to agree. The subject under discussion was Christianity—was it greater than other religions? One insisted that it was merely one religion among many, and its value was due to the greater number of people who had accepted it as their faith.

One man seemed deeply interested in all that was said, though taking no part in the discussion. After listening in silence for some time he rose and approached the debaters. His flushed face and glassy eyes, his very motions as he staggered forward, showed that he was under the influence of alcohol. Yet he seemed perfectly calm, and spoke seriously.

He said, “I probably know more about Jesus Christ than any of you, but I am willing to sell my claim to Him for five dollars.”

The strange offer startled them all but, realizing the man’s condition, no one took him seriously. One man said: “Do you really mean it? Would you sell out for five dollars?”

“Yes,” was the reply. “For five dollars cash - and that’s cheap, mighty cheap.”

“Are you ready to sell me, here and now, for five dollars, all your right and claims to Jesus Christ?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I said.”

“Well then, I’ll buy.”

“Where’s your money? Hand over the five dollars and you may take my rights. I renounce in your favor all claims to Christ Jesus forever.”

“Here’s your money,” said the buyer, showing a five-dollar bill, “but you must sign a written agreement.”

“Draw up the document and I’ll sign.”

“For the sum of five dollars, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, I, John Jones, now and forever, sell my right and claim to Jesus Christ as my Saviour. I further agree not to trust in Him at any time, nor pray to Him, nor even ask anything of Him through others; neither will I accept anything He may offer me, neither will I, in any way whatsoever, own Him as my Lord. This agreement is for eternity.”

Taking the pen from the writer of the agreement, he seated himself at a table to sign his name.

As he read the document he raised his hand from the paper. After a third reading he laid the pen aside. Then with shaking hands he took up the agreement and read it aloud.

Next he laid down the paper, leaned back in his chair, folded his hands and sat with his eyes fixed on the document.

“Why don’t you sign?” asked an impatient spectator.

“Sign that? Sign that paper? Did you hear it? Sign such an agreement as that? No, sir, never never! Would you have a man - any man - do that? I might sign my death warrant, but not that agreement! This is for eternity. This would settle my doom without a possibility of hope - without escape. I will not sign!”

Turning to the buyer he said: “I do not want your money. I will not take it. If there is a forfeit, I will pay it, but never will I sign that paper.”

The man was now cold sober and deeply serious as well, and they all listened in silence as he told his story.

“I had a Christian mother. She taught me in my childhood to pray to God, and she begged me to receive the Lord Jesus as my Saviour and be ready to meet her in heaven. Never, until a few minutes ago have I lost the hope of meeting my mother there. To sign that paper would mean that I break all the promises I made to her and render void forever all the prayers that have gone up for me.

“But I came near doing it! One more drink, and I would have sworn away my soul for eternity! Who says that one drink will do no harm? If liquor will lead a man to sign away his soul, then I am forever done with it. I dare not drink again! I will not sign that paper! My soul, my eternal future, are too precious to risk again.”

He left the group, thoroughly sobered, and hurried away - hurried to escape from the snare of the devil - hurried away to redeem his promise to his mother and to receive the salvation he had neglected so long.

The others quietly left, each to his own room, without comment, without a laugh or a joke. They were conscious of the near-tragedy they had witnessed, and the bartender wondered what had happened to his guests, for no one who had listened to the reading of that agreement drank again that night.

How easy it is to sell out to Satan! The pleasures of sin for a season are deceitful - they are the devil’s own snare to entice you into the way that seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Proverbs 16:25.)

Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. (James 1:14,15.)

vvv

Alone With God

I’m happy sitting here, alone with God,

A sure and glorious future is in view;

One only thought of sadness drags me back -

A weary, ceaseless longing after you!

I know the precious blood has cleansed my soul;

I know the words of peace for me are true;

I have a changeless Friend for evermore,

But oh, I want this happiness for you!

The Bible words are living truth to me

Each day revealing wonders ever new.

Yes! I can feed my soul upon the Word,

But oh, I want to have it thus for you!

Though cloudy days in this life often come,

The sky above my soul is always blue;

Nothing around disturbs my peace within -

I long - oh, how I long! - for it for you!

Earth’s joys are broken cisterns at the best;

You’ve tried them and you know the Word is true;

One Fountain only never fails the soul -

Oh, could I see its waters proved by you!

Old Billy

Poor old Billy had nearly reached the end of the road. Long out of touch with family and friends, in his last days there was nothing better for him than a cot in a shelter. Bleak and bare it was, but at least he was off the street and out of the weather. But worse than all else, Billy was dying without God, and without hope in the world.

But God had not forgotten poor old Billy and He sent one of His servants to visit the shelter where Billy lay. Stopping beside Billy, he asked, “Do you know the Lord Jesus?”

“No.”

“Do you know who He is?”

“Oh, I’ve heard of Him, but I don’t know Him. I’m not a Christian.”

And Billy responded to everything his visitor said with absolute indifference. He did not want to hear anything about God. Poor Billy! Time was so short for him. At last the visitor tried to appeal directly to his heart. “Tell me,” he said, “what about your soul?”

“It seems to me that there is a great wall between me and God.”

“But Billy, there is no wall on God’s side, for He loves you. Remember that all your sins are no hindrance to your being saved today. God is love and Christ died for you. Do you fear God, Billy?”

“Yes,” answered the dying man, but he added, “I don’t want to know Him.”

He did not want to have anything to do with God. Job tells us that the wicked say to God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways. (Job 21:14.) Such was the case with Billy.

At last Billy had another visitor. An old drinking buddy had recently been converted, and when he heard of Billy’s sad condition he came to tell him what God had done for him. He spoke to Billy in simple language of Jesus “who died for such fellows as we.”

“You know what I was once, Billy,” he said. “But the Lord gave peace to my soul. Now I have come to tell you about Him. God has often spoken to you by His Holy Spirit, but you have always turned away. Now I want you to hear Him tonight.”

Billy began to grumble. All this noise about his bed was too much! He wanted to sleep!

His old friend would not be discouraged.

“You are a dreadful sinner,” he continued. “What would become of you if Jesus had not died on the cross for you? You can’t do anything, Billy, but God tells you that He sent His Son to die for sinners. We are all sinners. You are a sinner yourself, Billy.”

Billy began paying a little attention, and his friend continued to tell him about the One who came into the world to save sinners. Finally the friend said, “Billy, I want you to pray.”

“I can’t pray,” groaned the old man.

“Then listen; I will pray for you.”

While the prayer of faith went up to God, the heart of old Billy began to be softened by his old friend’s pleadings. Great tears began to roll down his thin cheeks, and at long last Billy turned to the Saviour.

The report soon spread through the dilapidated shelter that old Billy was a changed man. He said little, but the expression on his face testified to his inward joy. To those who asked a reason for his hope he replied simply that he had been a great sinner, but that he had found a wonderful Saviour. In the little while left to him he could often be heard whispering softly:

“Jesus, lover of my soul,

Let me to Thy bosom fly.”

vvv

There's No Safety in Numbers!

As long as lots of people believe like I do, then I’ll be safe when I meet God.

After all, God won’t throw millions of people into hell, will He? As long as I’m no worse than most people, I’ll be safe.

Have you ever had these thoughts? Thomas, a welder, recently said this sort of thing to me. He felt that as long as he wasn’t too bad, God would receive him.

“Don’t forget one thing,” I said to Thomas. “In the days of Noah, God saved only Noah and his family - eight people - and all the rest of the whole world perished in the flood.”

No! There’s no safety in numbers! God has even told us in His Word that strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:14.) It was God’s own Son, the Lord Jesus, who said, Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. (Matthew 7:13.)

There are many who are on the wide road going to hell, but you don’t have to be one of them! There are “few” entering the narrow way of life that leads to heaven, but you can be one of them! Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. (John 14:6.)

If you have been hoping to get to heaven just because there are many like you who are “not too bad,” then remember that God cannot have even one stain of sin in heaven. Jesus suffered and died on the cross to take away those sins. The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7.)

When you stand before God, He will not look to see if there are many like you. He will look to see if your sins are washed away in the blood of Christ. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. (Romans 14:12.) You can be saved and be ready to stand all alone before God if you come to Jesus for salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13.)

Don’t count on numbers to save you. It’s Jesus who saves! v

There is none other name
under heaven
given among men,
whereby we must be saved.

Acts 4:12

If He Should Come Tonight

Two sisters shared one bedroom; one was a Christian and lived for Christ, the other lived for pleasure.

One night the Christian girl went to hear a lecture on the coming of the Lord. On her return she told her sister what she had heard and then told her the feeling that came over her.

“I felt like this: I thought if He should come tonight what a terrible thing it would be for you. I should be taken up to be forever with the Lord, and you would be left behind for judgment. I could not bear to think of it!” Her sister did not answer.

They slept in the same bed, and in the night the Christian lay awake thinking, “If the Lord should come - oh! my poor sister!”

At last, unable to bear the dreadful thought any longer, she rose quietly and slipped to a corner of the room. There she knelt down and poured out her heart in silent prayer to God.

Presently the other girl woke up. She felt for her sister, but she was not there. Not knowing what had happened, in sudden terror she thought to herself, “Can it be that the Lord has come?”

Frantically she scrambled out of bed and in a frenzy of fear searched about the dark room until she found her sister still on her knees. She knelt beside her, and before they arose she too had trusted in Jesus and was ready to meet Him.

Are you ready?

Christ is coming; oh, be ready!

Let not slumber dull your eyes;

Do not say, “My Lord delayeth.”

He is coming; Oh, be wise!

The Repentant Thief

One wonders sometimes about the thief whose earthly journey ended on Calvary’s hill. Had he ever seen Jesus before? We cannot tell, but he was, in God’s plan, a picture of the repentant sinner receiving from men the just reward of his deeds. Yet in the hour in which he was to pass to the judgment of God, he was delivered from condemnation and assured of a place in Paradise.

Could anything better illustrate the simple power of faith, the immediateness with which Christ makes a penitent sinner welcome, or the completeness with which He makes that sinner safe for all eternity?

The circumstances of this man - this dying thief - were terrible. He is the very last person we would have thought likely to become a believer at such a time. In his own case and that of the other thief who was being crucified at the same time, he accepted judgment as right in condemning them. Yet, beholding the sinless holy One on that middle cross, he judged both Jewish and Gentile rulers to have been entirely wrong. He recognized that this despised One was the Prince of Life.

He believed this even when all who had believed in Him had fled from Him. What a miracle of faith was his! His faith rose to the utmost, giving expression to its newborn trust in that confident cry: Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.

He was saved at the cross, when others were fleeing in terror from it - saved when many, looking on, were saying: He saved others; Himself He cannot save!

He was saved after he had doubted, not after he had been assured of Paradise. He was saved simply by looking to Jesus, and trusting in His grace. This teaches us how direct and simple and infallible faith is. No past sinning need be a hindrance to one being saved. The impossibility of proving his faith by living a good life afterwards did not interfere with instant, assured, eternal salvation. It was simply believing in Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. (Acts 16:31.) v

"Find and Beseech"

In South Miami after the disaster that Hurricane Andrew produced, the U.S. Military had a new mission. Accustomed to being sent out on missions to “search and attack,” the troops were deployed under new orders: “Find and beseech!”

They were sent into the midst of chaos, into miles of demolished housing with all utilities destroyed. Communities were so devastated that there was little to distinguish one street from another. All looked the same - nothing in sight but mounds of debris.

Into this disorder the military moved, setting up field kitchens and hospitals and shelter tents, establishing distribution centers for the tons of supplies that were being rushed to the stricken area. Everything was soon ready to give help to the survivors, but where were they?

While tents waited, empty, thousands upon thousands (an estimated 250,000 were made homeless by the storm) of people - men, women, and children -huddled in the wreckage of their homes, hungry and miserable. Frequent heavy rain showers and swarms of mosquitoes made life even more unbearable.

Help was near, but with no electricity and dead batteries in radios it was difficult to get the news out. Sometimes people only two blocks away did not know of relief efforts.

Something more was necessary, hence the new mission: “Find and beseech.” Find the people and beseech them to leave their crumbling houses or demolished mobile homes and come where there was food and shelter, help and compassion.

One spokesman for the military said, “They will go out into each block and neighborhood so they can put their arms around people and tell them it’s OK.”

So the military went out door-to-door (or “void-to-void”!) to find and persuade people to come to shelter, to dry beds and hot showers and three meals a day - to safety at last.

“Find - and beseech” - and the tents were filled.

It is so like what the Lord Jesus is doing today. He said, The Son of man [Jesus] is come to seek and to save. He has a home prepared, a home of eternal safety, and He invites - no, He beseeches - all to come: Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

The Army and National Guard had orders to go out and find the needy and suffering ones and bring them to the centers where food was being provided. God too has a feast ready, and His servants have been sent out with invitations into the highways and hedges. There are people hurrying along on the highway with a goal in view and apparently the ability and means to attain it; others seem to be trapped in the hedges, wrapped around with all the trials and perplexities of modern life and unable to make any progress. But the invitation is to all, and yet there is room.

One day God’s house will be filled, and the door to heaven will be shut forever.

“Come, for angel hosts are musing

O’er this sight so strangely sad,

God beseeching, man refusing

To be made forever glad!”

Vvv

He Knows the Way

I know not what the New Year

Holds in store! I cannot tell;

But Jesus is my Shepherd, and

He will do all things well.

I know not what a day may bring!

One step I cannot see;

But Jesus knows the pathway, and

He’s leading you and me.

I know He’s going on before

To be my daily Guide;

And He will not forsake His child

Whatever may betide.

If sorrow, burdens, troubles, care,

Tomorrow I must face,

I know He has abundant power

To give sufficient grace.

I know that happiness and joy

‘Tis His delight to bring;

For everything I bless His name,

And grateful praises sing.

It is enough that Jesus knows

The path from day to day,

For He will take me by the hand

And lead me all the way.

He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. John 5:24

“Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners.”

1 Timothy 1:15

"Ten Dollars, Man!"

I had given out some gospel books in the village, and as I walked on down the street I was overtaken by a prosperous-looking man. He spoke to me and said he was glad to see me doing such a good work.

“Are you a Christian too?” I asked.

“Do you see that building over there? We had a meeting for the Sunday school there last evening,” he answered.

“Then you must be interested in such matters. Are you a Christian?” I repeated.

“We had a collection last evening for the Sunday school,” said he.

“Really! But are you a Christian?”

“I gave ten dollars to the good work. Besides doing the school good, that is a good example, isn’t it?”

“Well, but are you a Christian? Or, speaking more plainly” (for he seemed a little deaf as to my question), “are your sins forgiven? If you should die this moment, are you ready to enter God’s presence?”

“Humph,” muttered the old man; “who knows that? Haven’t I helped the good cause for the Almighty?”

“Then do you think that God needs your ten dollars?” I asked.

“I have helped on the good cause,” he said. Walking along more briskly he repeated: “Ten dollars, man! Money!”

“Man!” I cried, “Do you mean to go out of this world offering God your money? He is freely offering to you the value of the precious blood of Christ, and you are turning from the wonderful gift of His own dear Son to boast how you dragged out a bit of money from your unwilling pocket.”

At this point the annoyed man turned off to another street, and as he went I could hear him still repeating, “I gave ten dollars to the schools last night!”

He expressed his own opinion of his good deeds and generosity, but there are many like him who imagine that money given to the collection on Sunday or a large subscription to a charity is, to say the least, one step up the ladder to heaven.

Not so! The Apostle Peter said to Simon the Sorcerer, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.

God’s way is very different. Sin earns wages, and the wages of sin is death, but eternal life is the gift of God . . . through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Are you earning the wages - or receiving the gift? v

Nicodemus

Many years ago there lived in the city of Jerusalem a man named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jewish nation. He was religiously connected with a respectable denomination called the Pharisees, a people zealous of the law and most attentive in keeping all the fasts and feasts.

During the Passover week when a great many strangers from all over the country were in the city, there was a considerable stir concerning one Jesus of Nazareth who was at that time in Jerusalem. He had been working miracles, and had thrown out of the temple a number of men who had been making a market of it. The denomination to which Nicodemus belonged was against Him, almost to a man.

Notwithstanding this, Nicodemus was not satisfied. He would not be led by public opinion, but was determined to go and hear for himself. So after it was dark one night he set off alone to have an interview with Jesus.

Before Nicodemus had been very long in the company of Jesus, he was told that except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

This shocked Nicodemus; he believed in men being religious and keeping the law, but of being born again he knew nothing. Then Jesus told him something else more startling: Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. Not only wicked men, like drunkards and thieves, need to be born again, but also you - your own self!

This cuts at the root of all human religion. It does not matter how good people are, or what church they belong to; Jesus says they must be born again or never enter the kingdom of God. They may say their prayers, read their Bibles, and “do the best they can.” If they are not born again they cannot see the kingdom of God. It’s a must be, you see.

A man once told us he did not think he needed to be born again because he was brought up religiously as a Christian. Now, if any man could have gone to heaven without it, that man was Nicodemus, and yet to him the Saviour said, Ye must be born again.

What must one do to be born again? Not pray for it; not work for it; not try to love God, but receive Jesus Christ, the gift of God. Listen! God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, and as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.

When a person receives Jesus Christ, the gift of God, he becomes a Christian. In other words, he becomes God’s child.

Have you received Jesus as your own Saviour? Are you a believer? Do you believe that the Jesus who died on Calvary for your sins was the Christ of God - that He lived, He died, and He rose again, for you? If not, you are at this moment outside the kingdom of God. If you live outside and die outside, you will be out of heaven and in hell forever.

vvv

Prospects

How often, as a new year begins, we begin to think of our prospects for the new year. We all have prospects - some bright, some dark.

How dark the prospects of many are at this time! Uncertainty and misery are darkening the outlook of this poor world, and the hearts of those who do not know God must often fail them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.

Perhaps your prospects in this world seem bright, but what about the next? The Bible speaks plainly of another world - the world to come, whereof we speak - and another life beyond the grave.

All the prospects of men in this world are bounded by death, for it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Friend, you know not what a day may bring forth, but, however uncertain your prospects are in this world, they are certain in the next! Think of your sure prospect of leaving this earth. Will that be a happy prospect for you? God says it is a certain one, and He never fails to keep His appointments.

There are other prospects just as certain. Think of this one: Every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Can you face that prospect without fear? You may say, “I am not afraid to die!” But are you not afraid to meet God?

The good news is that your prospects can be entirely changed. Yes, changed from fear to joy -from darkness to light. This has happened to millions - why not to you?

All your prospects for ETERNITY depend on one Man, and your treatment of Him. Who is that Man? The Lord Jesus Christ. Though you may have despised and hated Him, He is the only One who can, with absolute certainty, assure you of a bright and happy future both in this world and in the world to come and throughout all eternity.

Jesus died to open up the way for forgiveness and life for mankind. He stands out before the world as the only solution for all man’s problems. He is truly the Saviour of the world and is the unfailing Resource.

He is waiting and willing to bless you. Then why not let Him do so now? Do you want bright and happy prospects? If so, turn to Him now, before it is too late, for soon He is coming to be the Judge of the world. Then it will be too late for blessing and bright prospects.

Accept Him! Trust the Lord Jesus now as your own personal Saviour, and then you will be able to sing with His redeemed ones:

“Lord, we can see, by faith in Thee,

A prospect bright, unfailing,

Where God shall shine in light divine,

In glory never fading.”

vvv

He Knows the Way Straight to Port

Have you ever wondered how sailors find their way across the tossing waves? On land we can easily follow road maps, whether traveling in town or across country, but at sea one wave looks just like another.

Recently we rose early one morning just before dawn and watched two fishing boats making toward shore.

The white beam from the lighthouse and the red light at the harbor mouth were shining brightly. Steering the fishing boats was easy work when the lights were in view, but what about the many miles they had traveled from the fishing grounds with no guiding light in sight?

They had a tested chart and a good compass, and a skillful pilot who knew how to read both correctly. That was the secret of their sailing so peacefully straight to port.

What is the secret of peacefully steering straight to heaven? First of all, it is believing in and trusting to the best of captains, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has given you God’s holy Word, the Bible, which is an infallible chart.

If you have really believed in Jesus and accepted Him as your Saviour and Lord, you have begun the heavenly journey. Then, by listening to His voice and obeying His Word you will have a very happy voyage on the way. You will not only be headed for heaven, but you will be able to steer straight for port.

Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. (Isaiah 30:21.)

vvv

“Be it known unto you therefore . . .
that through this man [Jesus]
is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins:
and by Him all that believe
are justified from all things.”

Acts 13:38,39

Ungodly

He was an old, old man, sitting on his porch one Sunday afternoon. He had been reading in a large-type New Testament, and I questioned him about the state of his soul. I asked, “Are all your sins forgiven?”

“I can’t say they are,” he replied in a troubled voice.

Such an old, old man! Over the years his sins must have added up to a considerable amount - and still unforgiven! In pity I asked, “And how do you know they are not forgiven?”

“Well, you see, I’ve been reading this Testament, but somehow I don’t seem to understand it.”

Taking the Book, I turned to Romans 5 and pointed to verse 6: Christ died for the ungodly.

“Now, for whom did Christ die?”

“Why, for all of us.”

“But was it for you? Look at this verse again. What does that last word mean - the ungodly? Are you ungodly?”

The word startled him and, like many others, he began to try to prove that he was fairly good.

“I’m not so very bad.”

Now, the Bible does not mention Not-so-very-bad! The Not-so-very-bads are to be found in every town, in every church, in almost every house. But there are none by that name in heaven, nor are they spoken of in God’s proclamation of grace.

You see, this verse says, Christ died for the ungodly. Is that your name? Admit it, and receive the blessings obtained by Christ’s death.

The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, but, though God hates ungodliness, He loves the ungodly and, that He might show God’s love, Christ took upon Himself the penalty of ungodliness, that the ungodly might believe and be saved. v

Safe From the Flames

John Underwood was worried. One of the worst fires of this century was raging in the Idaho foothills, and his vacation cabin was in danger. As he hurried to see what he could do to save it, he met a weary group of firefighters. They stopped to ask directions, and in leaving they advised him to head for land already burned if the fire came close.

At his cabin he found the fire moving forward, but it was slow. A plane came over with fire-retardant chemicals, a helicopter dropped water, and he began “raking burnables away, hoping to form a firebreak. I felt optimistic,” he said.

“Then I heard a roar, looked up and saw fire moving quickly. Trees were burning like giant blowtorches. I could feel the heat!”

Suddenly fire was all around him. He had seen a patch of burned-over ground on his way in, and there was still a narrow path between the flames. He sprinted toward it as the flames closed in on both sides.

He reached the blackened ground where the fire had passed, and there he stayed in the choking smoke and heat until the blaze had raced on away from him. The cabin was gone, but he stood alive and safe - safe where the fire had been.

And that is just where every saved soul stands today - safe, where the fire has been. The Lord Jesus Christ went into the fire of God’s judgment on sin. No human being could ever have borne that fire, but Jesus could and did.

Now there is a safe place for every one who comes and says, “I know I am a sinner, but Jesus died to bear the penalty of my sins. I believe in Him; I accept His offer, and I am safe forever!”

John Underwood did not hesitate when he saw the flames. He ran for safety - and he lived.

Don’t delay!

NOW is the accepted time . . . NOW is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2.) v

Why Not Know?

Can it be right for me to go

On in this dark, uncertain way;

Say “I believe” and yet not know

Whether my sins are put away?

Not know my trespasses forgiven

Until I meet Him in the air?

Not know that I shall get to heaven

Until I wake and find me there?

Must clouds and darkness veil my brow

Until I dwell with saints in light?

And must I walk in darkness now

Because I cannot walk by sight?

Is this the way to treat the God

Who bids me trust and love Him now?

Is this the way to use the Word

Given to guide me here below?

How can I be like Christ below,

How like my Lord in witness shine,

Unless with conscious joy I know

His Father and His God as mine?

Oh, crush this cruel unbelief!

These needless, shameful doubts remove,

And suffer me no more to grieve

The God whom I do really love.

Welcome News

“That’s what I needed to hear!”

An evangelist was preaching in a park. Lying in the grass, apparently asleep, was a young man. He seemed to hear nothing, but he had been convinced of sin by the Holy Spirit. He knew he was a sinner! He dreaded the fact that after death he had to stand before God. He was sure that there was no hope for him - he was too bad.

The preacher was joyfully proclaiming: “There is a living Saviour in heaven - Christ Jesus! He came into this world to save sinners. Now Paul says that he, the chief of sinners, has already been saved. Therefore no one else is too bad to be saved!”

Our friend, forgetting himself, forgetting everything else, sprang to his feet and shouted: “That’s what I needed to hear!”

He knew now that a living Saviour in heaven would save him if he would trust in Him. He received the Lord Jesus and entered into a new life. He was a changed man, and rejoiced in Him who had come into the world for the purpose of saving such as he.

Can you thank Him for having saved you?

All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23,24.)

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

Adrift on the Pacific Ocean

Three fliers were forced down in mid-Pacific waters. They survived for 34 days in a rubber raft, finally reaching a friendly island. This is their story.

Harold Dixon, of the U.S. Navy, in giving the account of their experiences says: “All the morning we sat and longed for rain, for we knew, if we did not get it, we wouldn’t last long, and death by thirst is terrible torture. It was then Gene suggested we pray for help. I had thought of the same thing too, but had been ashamed to make the suggestion! I know the hesitation was wrong. We had all been brought up in Christian homes, but Gene and I, like many servicemen, had drifted away from God. Tony was more religious.

“So in the blazing sun, in shark-infested water, we held our first prayer meeting. Each of us stuttered and mumbled in his own way through a prayer, then asked God to bless our loved ones at home and care for them and, should we die, to protect our shipmates. In His almighty goodness, God was pleased to answer. Hardly had we finished praying when there appeared a tremendous dark cloud, and down poured the rain. We had our first drink in days.

“Late that afternoon, God still seemed with us, for as I was bringing up my ‘chart’ by marking another day on the port oarlock where I made marks for each day at sea, the wind shifted abruptly to northeast. This was just what we wanted, especially as it held that way through the night.

“On the evening of the sixth day we decided to hold another prayer meeting. We badly needed more rain and something to eat. We started with singing hymns - that is, we sang what we could remember and hummed the rest. Once more we asked for rain and food and blessings on our loved ones and shipmates.

“Next day we had rain and caught fish. They swarmed around apparently attracted by our orange-colored raft. Gene caught them by simply leaning over and stabbing them with his pocket knife - these we ate raw. That afternoon we had another shower.”

For 34 days these experiences continued, and finally, when all hope had gone, the boat reached a friendly island of the Pacific, gently drifting ashore. That night a terrific storm raged, but God had heard prayer and the men were saved.

It is unlikely that such an experience will ever happen to you, but there will be a time when the reality of God and eternity will be forced on you. Perhaps you too have “drifted away from God,” yet in His long-suffering grace He still pleads with you: Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18.) v

Peace at Last

I was only eight years old when my father died, leaving us with no home. My mother had to go out to work, and I was sent to live with her sister.

My aunt’s home was very different from what ours had been. Her friends lived just for this world, and I soon began to follow in their footsteps even though I had been taught by my Christian parents to “say my prayers” night and morning. Prayer had only been a duty to me, and I had not yet known anything of the saving grace of God.

Deep in my heart I longed for the old home where Christ was honored; I saw Christian people happy in the Lord, while I could not find true happiness however hard I tried.

My mother was worried about me, and she grieved because I seemed indifferent about the welfare of my soul. I know she offered up many prayers to God for me. I thank God for them, and that He has answered her prayers.

It happened this way: my best friend was a girl of about my own age. She was a real Christian, and often spoke to me about the Lord and explained portions from the Bible.

However, I could not believe how simple a thing salvation really is. I thought I must do much good, and make myself very different, before God would pardon me. I could not see the meaning of the words of the Lord Jesus, when on the cross He said: It is finished. Nor did I understand that He had done all the work His Father gave Him to do and that therefore there was nothing for me to do but to accept with humility and thanksgiving the full salvation of God.

One day, while I was talking to my friend, she asked me if I believed God’s Word.

I answered, “Of course!”

Then she quoted the Lord’s own words: He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life. She pleaded earnestly, stressing the fact that Jesus is God and that I must believe on Him to be saved.

At that moment I realized that I was either saved or lost.

I knew I did believe, and suddenly I saw the truth so plainly that I cried out, “Then I am saved! Through the blood of Jesus my sins are washed away. He did it all - thank God!”

Deep peace filled my heart, the lasting peace of God which passes understanding, and it is still there today. v

The Fate of the World

“The world is hastening
to a tragic end!”

This was not said by a Christian, who might be thought pessimistic and taking a gloomy view of things. The speaker was a man of the world, one in whom (as far as we know) there is no faith in God. But being an observant man, he can see the present trend of things and the course they are taking, which will shortly end in its destruction by the judgment of God.

This is a deeply important matter, and one that demands the serious consideration of everybody, especially those who are not prepared for such a terrible calamity.

You ask, “Is it really true?”

Yes, for God has said, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. (Hebrews 12:26,27.)

When God shakes everything, the world, as we know it, will crumble and disappear. What have you that cannot be shaken? Are you resting on the firm foundation of the finished work of Christ? If so, you have nothing to fear in view of the dissolution of everything connected with man’s world.

God has said: Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe He is precious. (1 Peter 2:6,7.)

Is Christ precious to you, my friend? Do you know Him as your personal Saviour? If so, then even in view of the destruction, which is surely and swiftly coming on this world, you need have no fear. Your destiny will be heaven, to which Christ will remove you before He comes in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Vvv

"Everlasting Life"

The most precious thing you have is your life. If you had millions of dollars, and your life was in danger, you would give it all to save your life. But this life is so full of disappointment, loss, pain and grief. What would a life be which was full of joy and peace, a life in which there was rest of soul, a life which death could not end?

You are afraid of death because you know you must meet God. You know that after death is the judgment. God Himself warns you of the judgment which your sins will bring on you, and it is God Himself who tells you of everlasting life.

This life must soon end. It may not last another day; this day may be the last day of your life. What would you give for a life that never ends? A life over which death has no power? EVERLASTING LIFE!

You can have this life and have it now. God offers it to you: He offers you forgiveness, salvation, deliverance from sin, power to do His will.

How?

Jesus says: He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24.)

It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the One who died for you, the One who bore your sins on the cross, in whom you have to believe. He has proved His love by dying for you; He now offers you everlasting life.

He offers life freely to you. You have nothing to pay for it, not a thing. No matter how rich you are, no matter how much you may possess, you have nothing to give to Him for that life. It is - it must be - a free gift. The only question is, will you receive it now? V

The Door Will Be Shut

O come now to Jesus,

That dear loving Saviour,

Receive Him this moment,

And peace shall be thine.

Be in time!

While the voice of Jesus calls you,

Be in time!

If in sin you longer wait,

You may find no open gate,

And your cry be “Just too late!”

Be in time!

The time is fast approaching when every person who has not accepted Christ as his Saviour will be found in an awful position. All those who are Christ’s - the sleeping ones raised, the living changed - will soon be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

What a moment that will be for every person left behind. Every soul born of God, every real child of God, will have gone to be with Jesus forever. All who are not His will be left behind. In which company will YOU then be found?

It will be too late to flee: there will be no escape. The door will be shut. Left behind, outside the door, for a fearful, lost eternity! Be warned now. Flee from the wrath to come! Flee to Christ!

Jesus said: He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24.)

Faith is not what we see or feel;

It is a simple trust

In what the God of love has said

Of Jesus as the Just.

The Confession of Alva Reis

My childhood was spent in a well-to-do home in which the Word of God was quite unknown. Never in that home was God’s name mentioned - except perhaps in mockery.

I could not understand a God who seemed to care nothing for sickness, poverty and suffering; who permitted war, crime and death unchecked. Where was that God who was proclaimed to be Light and Love? Our Father? One who could permit His children to live as they do?

I set to work to persecute the Church of God by all means in my power. Being of the opinion that foreign missionaries were doing anti-patriotic work, I opposed them continually. I even caused arms to be hidden in the premises of the Ambriz Mission, with the intent that they should afford evidence of the Mission’s being involved in revolutionary activities! So from my childhood till I landed in prison I fought against God - the God of love.

My aim was patriotic; in my way I meant well -yet all was of the devil and based on lies and fraud.

When I was arrested and imprisoned, I devoted all my energy to my defense. I studied piles of books. I did everything to cover up my own tracks by unmasking the faults of others. I worked unremittingly against the day when my case would be brought before the court, being persuaded that anything and everything I could do for my own defense was quite legitimate.

Only God and I knew all the facts, and I well knew that I, and I alone, was guilty. Not even my poor wife so much as dreamed what was the reality.

A fellow prisoner supplied me with a Bible. I smiled scornfully, and began a controversial correspondence with him. But in the course of this correspondence I became gradually convinced that there was something mysterious about the Bible -it all pointed to Christ! The Bible written at various times, by various writers, under a variety of circumstances, formed but one complete whole -Christ! He was the solution of the mystery!

A tremendous struggle began. Could the Bible really be the Word of God? Could I call on Him? I made an experiment in prayer - and God answered me!

Day by day I carried on my study of the Word of God, and better and better did I appreciate it. A day came when light burst upon me! It was His work, not mine. I was not overcome by human agency, but by the Word of God. It was to Christ I surrendered.

At last I gave up my defense. I decided to sacrifice the large sum of money involved - I would make full confession. No human influence was involved in my decision; it was solely due to the Word of God brought to bear on me.

For five hours I addressed the Court, making full public confession. Why did I? It was just the work of God’s Spirit in me. He worked on me; He transformed me, made a new man of me.

In all the years of my tribulation He has never failed me. He has said: Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me. Thousands of times He has delivered me. He is the living God.

This was the old Alva Reis - now I am a new Alva Reis! v

I saw Him stretched upon the cross,

The Son of God - for me!

I saw Him bow His kingly head

And die on Calvary’s tree.

I saw those pierced hands and feet

Scarred with eternal scar;

I felt His loving, breaking heart -

Call mine from depths afar.

I writhed within my chains of sin,

I groaned in my despair -

As lightning in the blackened storm

His radiance smote me there.

And all my life was changed to light

By love - His love divine -

The judgment for my sins was His,

The love that took them, mine!

O hungry souls that toil and strain

In the dark world of sin,

Know that one heart is seeking you

With life you could not win!

Look up! A substitute in heaven

Is lifting wounded hand

To show His own that His were nailed -

Love’s everlasting brand.

A Refuge

As Charles Wesley sat at his desk writing, a little bird flew into his room through an open window. After fluttering around frantically for a while it landed on his chest and clung there. Gently he caught it and held it to him.

The little body was quivering with fear. It had been pursued by a hawk, and in its distraction it had seen the open window and had come to him for refuge. Some instinct had led the frightened bird to trust him in its extreme danger, and in him it had found a safe hiding place.

This was the Charles Wesley who wrote so many beautiful hymns. The little incident suggested to him the opening lines of a hymn which he immediately wrote:

Jesus, lover of my soul,

Let me to Thy bosom fly.

It is no surprise that Wesley’s thoughts were turned by this incident to the Saviour of sinners -the One who in the fullest sense is a refuge for the perishing. This wonderful Person is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is able and willing to save from Satan’s power all who come to Him in faith.

A great work had to be accomplished before He could be revealed as the triumphant Saviour. Through Adam’s sin the whole race of mankind had been sold - sold to the usurper, Satan. Only a sinless One - One who knew no sin - could buy it back or redeem it to God. This work of atonement was accomplished by God’s Son on Calvary’s cross when He suffered for our sins.

Has He not proved Himself to be the lover of your soul? Could He have done more? Impossible! He loves us even to death. He gave His life that we might be eternally saved. He paid the full price in His own blood.

Now, what is the Lord Jesus Christ to you? Have you profited by His atoning death on the cross? Have you accepted Him as your Saviour? Have you fled to Him for refuge from the great destroyer of souls? Your only safety is in Christ. He is your only refuge, your only Saviour. His heart longs to receive you, to give you freely the rich salvation that He has purchased at such a cost.

Flee from the wrath to come. (Luke 3:7.) v

Hurricane!

Hurricanes do not strike without warning. From the day the first small disturbance is spotted in the tropical waters they are watched and measured and examined constantly. As intensity increases, forecasters begin issuing storm “advisories” which, in time, place an area on hurricane “watch.” At last comes the dreaded hurricane warning and it is time to take shelter - or to escape.

In the case of recent hurricane Andrew there was almost a week of tracking the storm; almost a week when it could be seen blowing in a straight path toward South Florida. There were certainly warnings!

Governor Lawton Chiles issued an appeal on the emergency network, pleading with the residents of the threatened area to evacuate.

The Dade County Manager: “We’re looking at a very, very bad storm and it’s coming straight at us.”

The Director of the National Hurricane Center: “It’s a dead course for South Florida,” and he added, “I hoped I would never experience this.”

Another forecast: “It’s the Big One. We always knew it would come.”

It was hard to believe the warnings. The Sunday before the hurricane it was warm and sunny, with a fitful breeze blowing in from the ocean. Only the ominous red and black warning flags and the serious voices of the forecasters told a grim story of death and destruction heading toward the area.

There were believers. Nearly a million people streamed away from the South Florida coast as the day wore on. Thousands more moved to temporary shelters. As late as 11:00 o’clock that night the stars were shining, but a little after midnight the wind began to pick up. Soon the wind became a roaring gale, and as the storm approached landfall trees began to fall, roofs to blow away and buildings to crumble.

Would anyone willingly brave that storm’s fury?

After the storm the sensible man sadly talked of his brother’s death: “Couldn’t anybody get him inside?”

There were others who refused to leave flimsy buildings, and others with sad stories to tell. But God was merciful, and there was comparatively little loss of life in spite of the devastation. Most had sought shelter in time.

There are other storm warnings flying today. Not just the increasingly severe hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and other upheavals of nature, but the turmoil of the inhabitants of the world. Nations are splitting up, section against section - tribe against tribe - clan against clan. There is crime in the streets; there are monetary crises; there are storm signals everywhere we look. The word today is flee! Seek shelter!

Where?

Oh, not to an underground shelter or a concrete and steel building or a distant safe corner of the world (if there be such!) but to a Person. A Person who is all-powerful, a Person who can say to the wind and the waves, Peace, be still, and the winds and the waves obey Him.

That Person is the Son of God - the Lord Jesus Christ. He offers eternal security to all who put their trust in Him; that means security for ever and ever!

And for now, He will be a sure Guide through all the problems and puzzles of life today. Everyone who has trusted in Christ, who has received Him by faith in His name, can be sure of God’s love and care through every circumstance of life, and a warm “Welcome home!” at the end.

If you find that the winds and waves of trouble are overwhelming you, why not take God’s promise for yourself? Why not experience for yourself that, for those who cry unto the Lord in their trouble, He can make the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

O God . . . when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the Rock that is higher than I. For Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower. (Psalm 61:1-3.)

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled. (Psalm 46:1-3.)

Vvv

"No Salvation for You"

“I never did anybody any harm; I have always paid my way; I have been honest in everything I did, and never had any ill will toward anybody. In fact, if anybody can consider he is all right, I am the one.”

“There is no salvation for you, then!”

“What do you mean?”

“I have no message of salvation for you. There is no good news for you.”

“Why not?”

“Simply because you do not need it. You are, according to your own account, a righteous person. My Bible tells me expressly that Christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners. So if you are not a sinner, Christ did not come to save you.”

“Well, I did not mean exactly that I could do without the work of Christ.”

“Quite so, but Romans 5 says that Christ died for the ungodly, for sinners, for His enemies. If you do not own yourself to be without God, an enemy by nature and a sinner in practice, how can you claim a part in His great salvation? As long as you stand on the platform of your own goodness, how can you be saved?”

“What must I do then?”

“Admit that what God says about you is true! Own that all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Take the place of a guilty sinner before Him, like the publican who cried, God be merciful to me a sinner. Then, like him, you will be saved.”

The believer can say, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. (Titus 3:5.) v

"What Must I Do to Be Saved?"

How clear and reassuring are the answers of God through the Bible to the questions of an anxious heart!

How can I get right with God?

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. (Ephesians 2:8,9.)

But how can God save me, a sinful person, without anything on my part to deserve it?

Through this Man [Christ Jesus] is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things. (Acts 13:38,39.)

But how can I know that this is for me?

Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise [no way] cast out. (John 6:37.)

Then how can I make this salvation my own?

Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17.)

Claim for yourself the full, free forgiveness which God offers to all by virtue of the great redemption price paid on Calvary’s cross - the atoning death of Christ - for you.

What must I do to be saved?

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. v

Which Side of the Line Are You on?

An unbeliever.

A believer.

Sins unforgiven.

Sins forgiven.

Lost.

Saved.

Without God.

Brought to God.

Without hope.

Hope of glory.

Eternal death.

Eternal life.

Judgment.

No condemnation.

Everlasting punishment.

Everlasting joy.

The lake of fire.

Realms of glory

HOW TO CROSS THE DIVIDING LINE:

Look unto Me, and be ye saved . . . for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:22.)

vvv

He knew no sin, that Holy One,

Yet was made sin for us,

God gave His well-beloved Son

To die for sinners thus.

In righteousness God now can bless

All who His Word believe,

And life eternal they possess

Who Christ the Son receive.

The Mirage

We were travelling on the Cape Railway between De Aar Junction and Beaufort West. The night had been very cool, but as noon approached and the sun got high in the heavens it grew really warm. I casually lifted my eyes from a book and, glancing out the window, I saw that we were running towards a large lake. My companion and I watched it together, and in the course of a few minutes everything stood out more clearly. Islands covered with trees and vegetation rose out of the glassy-surfaced waters.

I had seen a map of the district, and felt certain no lake was marked there. Moreover, the season had been dry, a regular drought in fact. It was a real puzzle! We discussed it, and were just wondering if it could possibly be a mirage when our questions were answered.

The waters of the lake began to quiver. Their motion increased. Then the islands began to move in an extraordinary way. They became very elongated, parts of them broke off and disappeared. The lovely lake became a chaotic muddle.

Like a dream, the vision passed and ugly realities were in its place. Of course! It was as plain as possible now. Those “islands” were only the tops of the flat-topped hills which were dotted about the plain. The “water” was the heat-waves which shimmered over the surface of the earth.

Not in Africa only, but in all parts of the world another kind of mirage appears before our eyes, especially when we are young. One sees a prosperous life filled with all the good things of material possessions. Another looks to sports and physical fitness - but neither can last forever. It is only the mirage again.

Even that young couple working so hard to provide an education for their children and comfort and security for their own old age - they too will have to die, so it is only the mirage after all.

And when the mirage has faded, only ugly facts remain. Let me name three.

The fact of SIN.

People may deny it, but a fact it still remains. The Bible says: All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23.)

The fact of DEATH.

This nobody can deny. It stares us too plainly in the face. It is the direct result of sin.

The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23.)

The fact of JUDGMENT.

Unpleasant, but inevitable. So surely as two and two make four, sin and death mean judgment to come.

It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. (Hebrews 9:27.)

Do not shut your eyes to these things, nor allow them to be obscured by the mirage-like haze of this life. Look at them honestly.

Christ has been once offered to bear the sins of many. He took up the death sentence which is sin’s just wage, and bore the judgment which sin deserved. Do you confess your sin and believe in Him? Then you may truthfully sing:

Death and judgment are behind me,

Grace and glory are before;

All the billows rolled o’er Jesus,

There they spent their utmost power.

And instead of being deceived by a mirage which death will break up, you will have a prospect of glory which will never fade away. V

"Get Right With God."

“Get right with God.” Your load of guilt is heavy,

And God alone can take that load away;

He gave His well-beloved Son to suffer

Upon the cross, your every debt to pay.

“Get right with God.” No longer be rebellious

Against the love that seeks your soul to win;

Bow down at last, and as your Lord confess Him

Whose blood alone can cleanse away your sin.

“Get right with God.” Eternity’s before you;

How dark ’twill be if, banished from His face,

You must go forth into a night of sorrow -

A stranger ever to His saving grace.

For 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.

Ephesians 2:8,9

Complete Insurance

FIRE! FIRE!

What a heart-chilling sound! But how comforting to the owner of the burning building if he can say: “It is completely insured. Everything is covered by insurance.”

Why is it that so many people take every precaution to preserve their material possessions, and take so little thought for the intangible? They seek to preserve intact or insure for equal value every tangible thing that belongs to them, but pay no attention to the things of eternity. If a house is destroyed by fire the first thought is: “How much insurance?” In contrast, if their earthly house of this tabernacle - the body - meets with disaster and death is threatening, the question must be: “Is salvation insured? Are you saved?”

God has made provision for your eternal security, at tremendous cost to Himself, and He offers it to you for nothing. If you refuse such wonderful love, what provision will you be able to make of your own that will satisfy God? None.

Friend, own to God you are a sinner. Receive Christ as your own personal Saviour, and your name will be written in God’s book of life and kept securely in the safety vault of heaven. God assures you that you shall never perish, but shall have everlasting life.

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 give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. (John 10:28.) v

Conversion

What is conversion?

It is a genuine turning of the heart to God from one’s own previous course.

Other things can be mistaken for it. There may be a change of ways, a profession made, a religious course adopted, but the heart still remains a stranger to God.

In true and full conversion to God there is the sense of deep need, of guilt and unworthiness. When the soul is brought into the light of the divine presence and the conscience comes in contact with the glory, then God is heard to speak. The sinner sees the crucified Lord and confesses his sin.

It is then also through the word of the gospel that Christ is seen as the Saviour, and trusted in. The gospel brings knowledge of salvation and forgiveness of sins. In full, genuine conversion, the Lord Jesus Christ becomes personally known. The guilty conscience is set at rest, and the heart is satisfied. Every truly converted soul is a miracle of God’s grace. v

Trying to Believe

Two inquiring women, sisters, came to see me. They had heard the gospel and had been deeply impressed by it. I asked them, “Have you really and truly believed in the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you saved?”

One of them answered, “I have been trying hard to believe.”

“No,” I said, “that will not do. Did you ever tell your father that you tried to believe him?”

They admitted that such language would have been an insult to their father.

I then begged them, in as simple language as I could find, to believe Jesus, who is more worthy of faith than the best of fathers. One of them said, “I cannot be sure, I cannot believe I am saved.”

I answered: “God says that whosoever trusts in His Son is saved. Will you make Him a liar now, or will you believe His Word?”

While I spoke, one of them exclaimed in astonishment, “Oh, I see it all! I am saved! Oh, do thank Jesus for me! He has shown me the way! He has saved me! I see it now!”

The change that comes over the heart when the understanding grasps the gospel is often reflected in the face and shines like the light of heaven. Such newly enlightened people have often exclaimed, “Why, it is so plain! Why didn’t I see it before? I understand what I read in the Bible now, though I never could before.”

In fact, the truth is always plain and simple, but so many are looking for signs and wonders in themselves. Therefore they cannot see the One who is near them - Christ Jesus ever at hand, ready and waiting to become the light of life to all who will receive Him. Childlike trust in Him opens the eyes of the heart to see and understand His Word.

Will you believe Him now? If you take Him by faith, you have Him and no one can take Him from you. Throw away your doubts and receive Him at once! v

Testimony Concerning Jesus

Pontius Pilate, the Governor: I, having examined Him before you, have found no fault in this man. (Luke 23:14.)

Pilate’s wife: Have thou nothing to do with that just man. (Matthew 27:19.)

Herod, the king: Nothing worthy of death. (Luke 23:15.)

Judas: I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. (Matthew 27:4.)

The repenting thief: This man hath done nothing amiss. (Luke 23:41.)

The Roman centurion at Calvary: Certainly this was a righteous man. (Luke 23:47.) v

The Cleft of the Rock

Lead me to the rock
that is
higher than I.

Psalm 61:2

“Tom, did you hear that preacher say that a terrible time is ahead for this world, and that the only place to hide from it is in the cleft of the rock? What did he mean?”

“In the cleft of the rock? Sure, I know what that means. I was saved that way once, and I can never forget it.”

“How did it happen? Tell us about it.”

“You remember that old railroad that ran through our town? It was a single track, and where it ran in that long curve at the foot of the hill mighty little space was left between the rocks on the one side and the river on the other.”

“Yes, I often thought what an awful wreck it would have been if the train jumped the track there. Just enough space for a train to pass without hitting the rocks on the side of the hill.”

“And no place for a person to stand on the other side if a train should come while he was there. It was an awful place before the roadbed was widened and the second track was laid. I shudder to think of what might have happened to me there.

“It was when I was just a boy. My sister and I were coming home from school, and we thought it would be shorter and easier to try the railroad track instead of the long walk over the hill. It was after the time for the express, and no other train was scheduled, so we felt safe enough. We hardly thought of danger anyway. She was older than I was, and I left all the worry to her.

“We were going along pretty slowly; I was throwing stones into the water and she was watching, when suddenly she caught my hand and screamed, ‘Run! Run! A train is coming!’

“I heard its roar, and then the whistle as it came near the curve. My heart seemed to stop. I knew it was the express. If my sister had not forced me on I might have been powerless to run. We ran as fast as we could, but how can the feet of children win a race with an express train, especially if that train is behind time and trying to make it up?

“Oh, the awful terror of that minute! Every moment we felt must be our last. We could hear the roar of the train coming nearer and nearer, but we dared not look around. Tightly holding each other’s hand, we ran.

“Suddenly the whistle blew. The engineer had seen us, but too late to stop the train. Whether or not the whistle made my sister notice, I don’t know, but just then we reached a place where a large chunk of rock had been blown out of the cliff beside the track. It seemed as if the rock had parted and a wedge had been taken out. Before I had time to think, my sister pushed me into the cleft in the rock. Then she threw herself forward and crowded me into the opening.

“The train rushed by - and left us safe in the cleft. We were saved by a fraction of space and a single moment only. Had we gone any further the train would have caught us and - well I would not be here to tell you about it.”

“That was a narrow escape!”

“Yes, and I never think of it without a chill. We were saved by that cleft in the rock. If ever children were thankful for anything, we were for that cleft in the rock. I often think, Suppose it had not been there?”

“But what has that to do with the sermon we heard yesterday? Of course it was a good sermon, but I don’t see how it applies to us, Tom. You and I are pretty good men. It doesn’t concern us about God punishing sinners. I believe He will, but not men like you and me.”

“Jim, I’ll tell you why it concerns me, and maybe you too. I know I am not a Christian, and so I am in the way of danger. Destruction’s express train may be coming along soon; it may overtake me. Then what? That sermon meant me, and I’m afraid it meant you too. But that minister spoke of the cleft in the rock. That is on my mind all the time, and I know what he means.

“We must find some place to hide, some place where destruction’s train cannot reach us. Right alongside of where we are is a cleft Rock, and in that is the place to hide. That Rock is Christ, and that is what the minister meant when he said that we must ‘hide in the Rock, Christ.’ That is what is meant by that hymn:

Rock of ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee.

“Jim, I’ve made up my mind to hide in that Rock! That is the place of safety we both need - and Christ is our only way to be saved.”

“Well, it does have more meaning to me now, Tom, than it did before. Yes, you are right! Thank God we have found that cleft in time!”

Have you who read this found that cleft in the Rock - God’s provision for your eternal safety? Time is fast slipping away. Cast yourself into it, and make Christ your Saviour now. In Him is everlasting peace and security. v

A Cowboy's Story

Bob Hanson didn’t look like a regular Bible-store customer. He looked like a relic of the old Wild West! One eye was gone (shot out in a gunfight); his hand was tucked in his hip pocket as though feeling his revolver, and his ten gallon hat balanced itself on the back of his head. In fact, he looked like a bandit ready to hold up the stage when he strode briskly into the American Bible Society bookstore in San Francisco and demanded, “I want the book of Mark!”

As the surprised clerk in the store brought him a copy of the gospel of Mark, Bob brought his huge fist down on the counter with a resounding whack. He said: “This is the book that brought me to God four years ago, in one of the lowest lodging houses in this city. Funny how God works, isn’t it? I’ll tell you the story.

“For years I was a cowboy in Arizona. I came to ’Frisco four years ago for a blowout. After a night of hitting it up, I woke up in one of the rottenest lodging houses in this city. But you know, I saw on the table in my room a little book. I read its title: ‘The Gospel by Mark.’ I knew it belonged in the Bible, but why was it in that room? It bothered me, wondering how it got into that place, but I left it alone.

“The next day, after another wild night, I saw the book again and had a sudden feeling that it was there for me. I picked up the book and went over to the Union Park Square and sat on one of the benches in the park.

“I had never read any of the book before, and I just turned the pages to the eleventh chapter. I read there about Jesus driving the thieves out of the temple in Jerusalem.

“That very day I had planned to do something which, if found out, would have sent me to San Quentin. ‘There,’ I said, ‘that’s what I am! I’m a gambler and a thief, and God knows it. Christ could drive out those thieves - He could throw me into hell! He’s a great Man, all right! He’s the One I need!’ And there on the park bench four years ago I put my trust in Christ.

“Mister, I want that book of Mark. That book, and that book alone, brought me to God.”

What a testimony to the life-giving Word of God!

You may know nothing of the kind of life which this cowboy had lived, but you need the same Saviour. The Bible says: There is no difference: for all have sinned. (Romans 3:22,23.) Degrees of guilt there may be, but all are sinners before God and on the way to everlasting punishment. Will you not turn now to Him and be saved? V

Pass It on

When the Lord has given blessing

By a tract or little book,

Do not leave it idly lying in

Some soon-forgotten nook!

There are others to be watered

And hungry souls to feed,

So seek to spread the blessing that

Has reached you in your need.

With its freshness still upon you,

Ere the first glad glow has gone,

Let your heart look up for guidance,

That your hand may pass it on.

And the one from you receiving,

Blessing gaining, just like you,

Can keep that blessing flowing,

And pass it on anew.

And when “the day declares it”

And you hear the words, “Well done,”

How sweet to know the Lord was pleased!

You’ve read this - PASS IT ON!

Where Is Your

SOUL?

How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?

Hebrews 2:3

A Deadly Mistake

The September night was warm and dark. Clouds covered the face of the moon, and only the soft splash of waves on the sand told of the dark Gulf of Mexico just beyond. High on the beach there was movement in the sand - a whisper of anticipation - a stirring of new life.

Word was hurried to members of Longboat Key Turtle Watch, and soon the watchers were rewarded by seeing 90 baby loggerhead turtles breaking from their shells in the protected nest.

Long abandoned by their mother, emerging alone into an unfamiliar world, how does a little turtle find its way to water and safety? The guide is light on the water - moonlight - starlight - phosphorescence. So it has been on the beaches for thousands of years, and for so long a time the turtle hatchlings have turned naturally to the water.

What is different now?

There are conflicting lights on the shore - street lights, porch lights, automobile headlights - and the baby turtles turn in confusion and flounder toward the brightest light.

It is a deadly mistake. Born to swim free in the cool waters of the Gulf, they cannot survive on dry land. If they escape being crushed under the wheels of passing cars as they cross the beach road, it will only be to die miserably of starvation and dehydration on the land.

Here the Turtle Watch comes to the rescue! Wading out from shore, they hold lights on the water just where the hatchlings can see them. Soon all the little flippers are scuffling across the beach, scurrying to water and life.

Are there any false and confusing lights for us too? Most certainly there are! In fact, in all the glitter and glare of our modern world it is possible for us to be completely dazzled and disoriented. The fantastic achievements and technological advances of our time are almost beyond our comprehension, and as everything around seems to be changing we look for some guiding light to steer by.

New lights spring up in all directions: New Thought, New Wave, New Morality, but they lead only to disaster - soul disaster. We need - we must have - a true light. There is one, and only one: Jesus Christ is the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (John 1:9.)

Jesus said: I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12.) The light of life! Not flickering, temporary candles that may be blown out at a breath, but light of life - everlasting life. We can have that light only by accepting the One who is light and life; we must receive the Lord Jesus as our own Saviour. He will be our light all through this life, and our light and life forever. v

For whosoever shall call upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved.

Romans 10:13

No Tomorrow

The doctor was puzzled. He hardly knew what to tell me. He knew I was very sick, and I felt sorry for the doctor’s indecision. I thought I would relieve him of his difficulty by asking: “What do you think, doctor? Tell me honestly if you think I am going to die. I must know.”

Hesitantly, the doctor replied: “To tell you the honest truth, unless you take a decided turn for the better within the next hour, I do not think you can last more than two or three hours.”

“Thank you for telling me,” I answered. “Now, please leave me by myself. Come back to see me at the end of the hour.”

I was very ill and in a foreign land, far from home and loved ones. From my earliest years I had determined to enjoy life in my own way. As for my soul and eternity, I had resolved that I would cry to God for mercy on my deathbed. “And now,” I said to myself after the doctor had left, “the time has come at last. It came sooner than I thought, and I have only an hour or two to cry for mercy.”

I lay quiet for a few moments to compose myself. A quarter of an hour slipped by. My thoughts flew to my home, and I wondered how those I loved would hear of my death.

I again glanced at the clock. Only twenty minutes left! How did one cry to God for mercy? What words should I use?

Strength was failing. I could not collect my thoughts. Making a desperate effort I pulled myself on to my knees. With stammering lips I said: “Our Father which art - ” but I could go no further. Helpless, wordless, I fell down upon my bed in terror. What a realization! On my deathbed it was too late to cry to God for mercy. I sank into oblivion.

It pleased God to spare my life. He brought me back from the brink of death and gave me another opportunity to learn of Him in the land of the living. Soon I was listening to the good news of free and full salvation. The preacher pointed out that this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

For the first time I learned that if one came as a sinner to Christ, believing in Him, trusting in Him, that very moment Christ would receive him. However weak and sinful he might be, a gracious and merciful God would give him everlasting life.

The preacher said, “Now is the accepted time . . . now is the day of salvation. There is no promise of salvation tomorrow - there may be no tomorrow!”

It flashed across my mind, “How foolish to delay!” Through grace I came to Christ and as a guilty, lost sinner I accepted His wonderful offer of mercy. Since that moment I have been blessed with the assurance of my perfect safety for time and eternity.

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.

You also may have this great salvation. God offers it to you. Will you not take it now? v

Whiskey John

It was Sunday afternoon and the fishing boats were lying at anchor in the little harbor. The fishermen were scattered on the wharf or along the beach enjoying the Sunday rest. But not all, for at the point where the only street of the fishing village extended to the beach, a number of men and women had gathered around a young man, almost a boy, who was standing on the top of a herring barrel. He was reading aloud the words of a hymn which the little company began to sing.

“It sounds real nice, doesn’t it, Dieter?” asked one of the two men who sat on the edge of the pier.

Dieter Lange, a strongly built old man with snow-white beard, was a person of influence among the villagers and he had refused to listen to the preaching, and because of this Henry Lehman had spoken somewhat shyly.

Dieter nodded carelessly, and Henry continued: “It is really strange - the son of Whiskey John wants to preach to us. They say he speaks very nicely. My wife was here last Sunday, and she wanted me to go with her this time.”

“I have nothing against the boy,” said Dieter, thoughtfully. “As far as I am concerned, he can preach as often as he wishes, but I don’t see that I need his preaching. How can this young fellow tell me anything that I have not known long before him? I have done well without these religious notions until now, and do you think I would let a boy like him teach me?”

Henry rose slowly and in embarrassment muttered, “Well, I have promised my wife, so I had better go.”

After a little while, words were heard plainly by Dieter. “He gave His life for you! While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He died, the just for the unjust!” He pointed them to Christ, who gave His life for the unjust - for sinners. The listeners could feel that the young man had experienced what he was speaking about - the saving love of Christ. They all listened quietly and with good attention. When the circle broke up, Henry came back to sit again with his friend.

“It is the sheerest nonsense,” growled the older man as they rose and loitered along the beach. “It goes altogether against reason that one should die for those who hate him and try to injure him at every chance.”

“Well, it sounds nice; it’s too bad if it isn’t true,” answered his friend sadly.

Monday morning the boats were still at anchor, for a storm had risen during the night and the waves were tossing furiously. At noon Henry went to the wharf to look at the weather, but old Dieter was there already. Looking through his glass, he called Henry to him, saying, “Whose boat do you think that is out there?”

Henry looked through the glass. “It is making straight for the rocks,” he cried.

“That fellow seems to be beside himself. It has to be Whiskey John’s boat; I saw him drunk this morning.”

The two men were watching the boat intently. “Now it is all right; it is out of the current. No, no! He is much too intoxicated - he doesn’t know what he is doing. No boat could get to him in such a storm.”

“There goes a boat out! Who can be so crazy as to risk his life in this storm for that man?”

“It is the boy!”

Yes, it was the young preacher of yesterday that ventured out to save his stepfather - Whiskey John - if it were possible. A crowd of men and women gathered together and with anxious eyes watched the two boats, asking each other if there was a chance to save them. The little boat disappeared every little while among the high waves, and several times it seemed as though it must have gone down, but again it could be seen carried on the crest of a mighty wave. At last it reached the large boat. Too late! That boat was on the rocks!

“Pray for the boy! Pray!” cried one of the women, and one and another went to their knees.

Another moment of suspense. Dieter Lange cried, “They are in the water! Now the boy stands on the rock and he is pulling his father out of the water. A rope! A rope! Run - run - and throw out a rope!”

“They have gone down,” cried a woman.

“No, no! They are there yet! Now the rope!”

They ran down the shore to the edge of the rocks and threw out a rope.

“Now, pull as if it meant your own life,” Dieter cries out, taking hold with his own strong hands.

With difficulty they pulled in the rope on which was tied an old man . . . a sin-stained man who had been given a little longer time for repentance. But they will not see his son again until the Lord shall come and the sea shall give up the dead.

There is still preaching in the village on the beach on Sunday afternoons. It is not now a young man but an old one, a man whose gray head looks above the little circle; it is Dieter Lange.

“It is all true what the lad told you,” he said that Sunday. “You know how I mocked, and said it was nonsense, that one could give his life for his enemies. But the boy did it himself for the one who treated him so cruelly. And now I know who gave him the strength to do it. I know his Lord as my Redeemer and my Saviour too.” v

Friend, Where Is Your Soul?

There is no more generally accepted truth than that of the existence of the human soul, yet there is no truth more commonly disregarded. The body reigns everywhere. The body is fed, nursed, exercised, comforted, every limb clothed, every organ gratified. But the soul is undervalued, famished, forgotten. Its claims are slighted; its eternal destiny is unheeded; its very existence is ignored.

My friend, your soul is really you. It is the living being that lives within your body - thinking, speaking, acting - using your body as a vehicle of communication with the world.

Your soul, with all its attributes - conscience, reason, will, affections - destined for immortality, but ruined by sin - is of infinite importance.

Where is your soul? Have you surrendered it by faith into the Redeemer’s hands? Are you committing the keeping of your soul to Him as a faithful Creator?

Do not think that there can be safety or lasting happiness otherwise. The sensualist, hoping for satisfaction in pleasure, may say to his soul: Soul . . . take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But, What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Only Christ, the Son of God, can save, and feed, and keep your soul unto life eternal. And why does He prize it so? Because it cost Him so much - His very life.

Will you not come to Jesus, the eternal Lover of your precious soul, and give it into His keeping NOW? Tomorrow may be too late. v

What If Tomorrow . . . ?

During World War I soldiers were being moved pretty rapidly. In a town in the south of France a regiment had halted briefly for a period of rest. A Bible seller was there too, carrying on his work of distributing and selling small Bibles. He was surrounded by a group of soldiers, and one soldier stepped forward. Speaking to the Bible man in a serious voice he said, “You have convinced me of my need of possessing a copy of the Word of God. But oh!” he went on with a deep sigh, “I have not a cent to buy it with.”

“That need not matter,” the seller at once replied. “If you are so anxious to possess a copy of God’s Word I shall not let you go away without giving you one, even though I have to pay for it myself.”

Taking a small book from his packet, the Christian handed it with pleasure to the soldier. But to his surprise, scarcely had the soldier got possession of the book when he burst out laughing.

“You are done for, my fine fellow!” he cried. “I am Joker Number One of the regiment. It’s as plain as the nose on your face that I fooled you. When I am dead, do you see, my dear friend - ”

Here the Christian interrupted him by exclaiming: “After death, poor man, the judgment will follow - and what a judgment! Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.”

For a moment the young soldier appeared to be silenced, but his laughter soon returned and he called out to the others: “I do believe that the old boy wants to insult me.”

“Give me back the book,” said the Christian earnestly.

“Oh, no, old fellow,” replied the soldier. “Whatever was given was given willingly, so I shall keep it. It may be of use to me; isn’t that what you wish? Much obliged to you!”

Sadly the Christian went away after giving that last serious warning: “Be careful what you do, for it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

His heart was heavy with deep sorrow and compassion for the young man, and he cried in prayer to God: “Lord, pardon him! O God, cause the Word to reach his conscience. Convert him! Save him!”

After several months in which he continued to distribute his Bibles, the Christian stopped in a small village and went to an inn to rest. He soon saw that the landlady, an elderly woman, was in deep grief. Sympathetically he inquired the cause, and she replied, “Only a few hours ago my son - the happiness of my life - was placed in the grave.”

“I have a book,” said the Christian, “which I never open without finding some comfort. Let me read a few lines of it to you.”

He drew from his pocket a small New Testament and began to read to her. As he read, the woman snatched it out of his hand and exclaimed, “You wicked man! You have stolen the most precious thing my son left to me!”

Then glancing hastily at the book, the poor woman dropped it on the floor in astonishment. “No, this is not my precious book,” she said. “Mine is torn. Forgive me.”

Running from the room, she returned with a New Testament like the one the Christian had. But it was not complete. Many pages had been torn out of it. The Christian opened the little book and read: “Received from a Bible man in France. Despised at first and badly misused, but afterward read, believed, and loved as the instrument of my salvation. J.L., 4th Company, 6th Regiment of the line.”

The young soldier had told his mother that, on the night before his last battle, serious thoughts came into his mind. The words of the man whom he had tricked came back like a thunderclap: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

“What if tomorrow I should fall into His hands!” he thought.

All through the night this thought haunted him, and as soon as it was light he took out the book to read it. He was astonished when, instead of the threats which he expected to read in its pages, he found appeals such as: God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved!

By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

This last verse deeply affected him and he kept it in his heart. Injured in the battle, the wounded soldier was able to be sent home for a little while before he died, and he comforted his mother’s heart with the news of his eternal salvation. V

Entreaty

There is a cry throughout the ages sounding,

A pleading mightier than our lips can know;

Who is this Suppliant our lives surrounding?

Whose are the tears that through this pleading flow?

There is a Voice now in the silence speaking,

A knock that comes when no one else can hear;

Who is the One that, through the darkness seeking,

Again - again - and still again draws near?

What is the power that takes the feeble preaching,

And bears its message with resistless might?

Oh, stop and listen; it is God beseeching -

God calling us from darkness into light.

There is a love that from heaven’s height of blessing

Poured out itself upon the bitter cross,

And millions since, with joy that love confessing,

Have counted for it all earth’s gains but loss.

What is the power throughout the ages reaching,

Still drawing hearts to Jesus everywhere?

Oh, wonder not, for it is God beseeching -

God’s love untold still waiting for us there.

As though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20.

The Big One

Last year on the 29th of June, the residents of Southern California had a rude awakening. Jolted from their beds at 4:58 a.m. by an earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale, the first thought of many was, Is this the Big One? Has it come at last?

No, it was not the Big One. Almost three times as strong as the destructive quake in San Francisco in 1989, stronger than any other in California in 40 years, it still was not the Big One.

But - seismologists had little good news for worried Californians. Instead of releasing tension on the San Andreas fault line, the earthquake and another one three hours later may have increased seismic strain in the region.

One resident, seeking reassurance, asked a scientist if it was not foolish to sleep outside while the aftershocks continued. The scientist answered, “No, it is not foolish.”

Most certainly not foolish! Living in an earthquake-prone area, it is wise to adopt all possible safety measures whenever an earthquake advisory is issued.

But there are wise precautions to take, and also foolish ones. When a devastating earthquake destroyed much of the city of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1886, people came from miles around to be close to a certain preacher. They were not there because his home was particularly strong and safe; they were depending on being safe while near “such a good man.”

It was a nice thought, but the goodness of another man, of anyone, was no shelter. And when the final judgment shakes this world of ours, no amount of “goodness” will save - not our own, or another’s, or even the perfect, sinless life of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself will shelter one soul.

If Jesus had only lived His perfect life on earth and then returned to heaven without dying, there would have been no opened way back to God. We poor humans would have been left to struggle through our little while on earth and then sink into eternal darkness, eternal separation from God, forever barred from all light and love.

But Jesus came in love, came to suffer and die. The way to God and heaven is open now. It would be truly foolish to try to depend on “goodness,” whether real or only imagined. It is not enough to say, “Oh, my father was such a good man; I’ll be all right.” “My wife prays and goes to church; that’ll take care of me”; not even to believe that “I don’t do bad things - I’m pretty good myself!”

No, only those who have admitted that there is no “goodness” in themselves and that they must have a Saviour and who have accepted the Lord Jesus as that Saviour will be safe for time and all eternity. Jesus said: I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. There is the way of safety - and there alone.

If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved! (Romans 10:9.) v

"Where Is Judgment?"

The door of the bookstore opened slowly and a man entered. He had been interested in the window display where many copies of the Bible and books about the Word of God were arranged. He walked directly to the back of the store where the owner stood behind his counter and said, “I live in Denton, but I was told that here in this city is a place where poor people can get a free Bible. Is this the place?”

“What do you want with a Bible,” asked the bookseller.

“I want to read it,” quietly replied the man. “I have owned only a New Testament before, and now I want a whole Bible.”

“Do you pray for God’s help when you read it? Do you realize it is the Word of God, and that you need the Holy Spirit to lead you to a right understanding of it?”

The man saw that the bookseller was interested in his soul, and he assured him that he had not read his New Testament in vain, by saying, “Why, I have been a professor of religion for years.”

“But that does not necessarily mean that you are a child of God,” insisted the storekeeper. “I am anxious to know if you are saved?”

“Well, I hope so,” was the hesitating reply, “but you know none of us can be sure of that while here.”

“Are you sure of judgment?”

“Oh, yes, I am sure of that!” And the man began to look very earnest.

“Well, then I ask you,” continued his questioner, “on which side of you is the judgment - before or behind?”

Quickly he replied: “It is before me, of course, for the judgment is only at the end of the world. That hasn’t come yet.”

“How do you expect to escape it?”

“Well, I am trying hard to live a Christian life. I am doing what good I can in my poor way, and hoping in that way to be found worthy to have eternal life.”

“Now, let me tell you something,” said the bookseller. “I also believe in judgment at the end of the world, but I can also tell you that judgment is behind me! If I waited for judgment at the great white throne I would be forever condemned - eternally lost. In God’s Word I read that I was condemned already. He that believeth not is condemned already. Then in that same Book I read that Christ died for sinners. I saw that it was for my very sins that Jesus had suffered God’s judgment on the cross. He, the Just, had suffered for the unjust - me. By the sacrifice of Himself I was forever free, if I accepted Him as my substitute. Judgment is past for me since Jesus has passed through it in my place. How glad I am to say, ‘Thank God!’ ”

He that heareth My word and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [judgment]; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24.)

The man’s eyes were shining with joy. Taking hold of the bookseller’s arm with both hands he said earnestly, “I see it! He bore my judgment too!”

He had found a new treasure, and the bookseller was happy in the knowledge that the whole Bible he gave him had new value to one who was truly past judgment. v

High-Level Jack

“High-level Jack! High-level Jack, with a chapel on his back!”

Laughing and joking, jostling and scuffling with one and another, the boys followed the old man down the street as he went steadily on his way with the shouts of “High-level Jack” ringing in his ears. Who was he, and how did he come by such a strange nickname?

Years ago, when the bridge over the River Tyne was being built at Newcastle, England, it was considered a marvel of construction. Designed by Robert Stevenson and built at the then-tremendous cost of half a million pounds, it was a great wonder. It had a roadway for public traffic and -most marvelous! - an overhead railway track 112 feet above the river.

Among the workmen there was one, Jack, who was working on the upper portion of the bridge, on the “high-level,” high above the dark water flowing beneath it. Suddenly the plank of the scaffold on which he stood slipped. Horrified and helpless, his fellow-workmen watched him fall. Surely, they thought, that was the last of Jack. His death was certain.

But God had His eye on the poor fellow who seemed destined so soon to stand before Him. Just below the treacherous plank, on the lower part of the scaffolding, a huge nail projected. As Jack’s thrashing body hurtled down, the heavy corduroy trousers which he wore caught on this nail.

There Jack hung suspended in midair between sky and water, between life and death. In those first awful moments when death seemed imminent, the frightened man was thoroughly awakened to the realities of eternity. But his concern was not for the physical death that seemed so sure, but rather for the eternal death now facing his lost soul. In his agony he cried out loud: “Save, Lord, or I perish!”

Did God hear the cry of his penitent, desperate creature? He who delights to show mercy had prepared the way of escape for Jack. The nail was strong, and firmly embedded in the structure. The cloth was good, and it held till the other workers could lower ropes and reach their almost-hopeless fellow-workman. High-level Jack, weary and aching throughout his wrenched body, stood again on the riverbank with a heart overflowing with gratitude to the God who is able to save . . . to the uttermost. There, a sinner saved by grace, he dedicated himself to the spreading of the good news of salvation.

Afterwards he travelled through the country carrying with him quantities of Bibles and gospel tracts. His fame as High-level Jack was spread abroad by his experience, and his constant load of gospel literature suggested the thought of “the chapel on his back.” God used His rescued one to turn many from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.

You may never fall physically on this earth, but if you are not born again and come to stand unsaved before the great white throne, you will be among those of whom it will be true: And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15.) Awful descent with nothing to intercept - no hope of a return!

Now you have a choice. In that fateful moment, Jack was brought face to face with life and death, blessing and cursing. He chose life eternal and so may you. Will you not choose life, and say with High-level Jack: “Christ for me.” v

Echoes of Grace: 1992

Table of Contents

Homeless

Beautiful Hands

A Religion Lost

Don't Make God a Liar!

Time Is Short

God's Bridge

Under the Light

Will You Be There?

The Old Question

My Life Has Meaning

He Is Coming!

Joyce Kilmer's Desire

The Preacher in the Rafters

Simple Faith

Christ's Appeal

Divine Love

Forty Years Nearer

Something Beyond

Why Should I Come to Christ?

"Stick to That, Sandy!"

Willie's Escape

Only One Man

The Stony Heart

A Drink

Who Are You Voting for?

How I Came to Christ

"I Don't Want to Be a Christian!"

Last Chance

The Glass of Nails

Why God Is Silent

Almost Sold

Alone With God

Old Billy

There's No Safety in Numbers!

If He Should Come Tonight

The Repentant Thief

"Find and Beseech"

He Knows the Way

"Ten Dollars, Man!"

Nicodemus

Prospects

He Knows the Way Straight to Port

Ungodly

Safe From the Flames

Why Not Know?

Welcome News

Adrift on the Pacific Ocean

Peace at Last

The Fate of the World

"Everlasting Life"

The Door Will Be Shut

The Confession of Alva Reis

A Refuge

Hurricane!

"No Salvation for You"

"What Must I Do to Be Saved?"

Which Side of the Line Are You on?

The Mirage

"Get Right With God."

Complete Insurance

Conversion

Trying to Believe

Testimony Concerning Jesus

The Cleft of the Rock

A Cowboy's Story

Pass It on

A Deadly Mistake

No Tomorrow

Whiskey John

Friend, Where Is Your Soul?

What If Tomorrow . . . ?

Entreaty

The Big One

"Where Is Judgment?"

High-Level Jack